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"Ben Carson",
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] | C_8c698173e273415a9ad5450fbc5b9341_0 | Where did Carson attend high school | 1 | Where did Carson attend high school | Ben Carson | By ninth grade, the family's financial situation had improved, his mother surprising neighbors by paying cash to buy a new Chrysler car, and the only government assistance they still relied on was food stamps. Carson attended the predominantly black Southwestern High School for ninth through 12th grades, graduating third in his class academically. In high school he played the baritone horn in the band, and participated in forensics (public speaking), chess club, and the U.S. Army Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) program where he reached its highest rank--cadet colonel. Carson served as a laboratory assistant in the high school's biology, chemistry, physics school laboratories beginning in 10th, 11th, and 12th grade, respectively, and worked as a biology laboratory assistant at Wayne State University the summer between 11th and 12th grades. In his book Gifted Hands, Carson relates that as a youth he had a violent temper. "As a teenager, I would go after people with rocks, and bricks, and baseball bats, and hammers," Carson told NBC's Meet the Press in October 2015. He said he once tried to hit his mother on the head with a hammer over a clothing dispute, while in the ninth grade he tried to stab a friend who had changed the radio station. Fortunately, the blade broke in his friend's belt buckle. Carson said that the intended victim, whose identity he wants to protect, was a classmate, a friend, or a close relative. After this incident, Carson said that he began reading the Book of Proverbs and applying verses on anger. As a result, he states he "never had another problem with temper". In his various books and at campaign events, he repeated these stories and said he once attacked a schoolmate with a combination lock. Nine friends, classmates, and neighbors who grew up with him told CNN in 2015 they did not remember the anger or violence he has described. In response, Carson posted on Facebook a 1997 Parade Magazine issue, in which his mother verified the stabbing incident. He then questioned the extent of the effort CNN had exerted in the investigation. He has said that he protected white students in a biology lab after a race riot broke out at his high school in response to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. The Wall Street Journal confirmed the riot but could not find anyone who remembered Carson sheltering white students. CANNOTANSWER | Southwestern High School | Benjamin Solomon Carson Sr. (born September 18, 1951) is an American retired neurosurgeon and politician who served as the 17th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 2017 to 2021. He was a candidate for President of the United States in the 2016 Republican primaries. He is considered a pioneer in the field of neurosurgery.
Carson became the director of pediatric neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center in 1984 at age 33, then the youngest chief of pediatric neurosurgery in the United States. At retirement, he was professor of neurosurgery, oncology, plastic surgery, and pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Carson's achievements include participating in the first reported separation of conjoined twins joined at the back of the head. Although surgically a success, the twins continued to suffer neurologic/medical complications. Additional accomplishments include performing the first successful neurosurgical procedure on a fetus inside the womb, developing new methods to treat brain-stem tumors, and revitalizing hemispherectomy techniques for controlling seizures. He wrote over 100 neurosurgical publications. He retired from medicine in 2013.
Carson gained national fame among political conservatives after delivering a speech at the 2013 National Prayer Breakfast which was perceived as critical of the policies of President Barack Obama. Following widespread speculation of a presidential run, Carson officially announced his campaign for the 2016 Republican nomination for President in May 2015. Carson performed strongly in early polls, leading to his being considered a frontrunner for the nomination during the fall of 2015; however, his polling support began to decline following scrutiny of his foreign policy credentials after the November 2015 Paris attacks. Carson withdrew from the race after Super Tuesday, following a string of disappointing primary results, and endorsed Donald Trump. Following Trump's victory, Trump nominated Carson as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, being confirmed by the United States Senate in a 58–41 vote on March 2, 2017. Carson is one of the most prominent black conservatives in America.
Carson has received numerous honors for his neurosurgery work, including more than 60 honorary doctorate degrees and numerous national merit citations. In 2001, he was named by CNN and Time magazine as one of the nation's 20 foremost physicians and scientists and was selected by the Library of Congress as one of 89 "Living Legends" on its 200th anniversary. In 2008, Carson was bestowed the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States. In 2010, he was elected into the National Academy of Medicine. He was the subject of the 2009 TV film Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story, wherein he was portrayed by Cuba Gooding Jr. Carson has also written or co-written six bestselling books.
Early life and education
Carson's parents were Robert Solomon Carson Jr. (1914–1992), a World War II U.S. Army veteran, and Sonya Carson (née Copeland, 1928–2017). Robert Carson was a Baptist minister, but he later became a Cadillac automobile plant laborer. Both his parents came from large families in rural Georgia, and they were living in rural Tennessee when they met and married. Carson's mother was 13 and his father was 28 when they married, and after his father finished his military service, they moved from Chattanooga, Tennessee, to Detroit, where they lived in a large house in the Indian Village neighborhood. Carson's older brother, Curtis, was born in 1949, when his mother was 20. In 1950, Carson's parents purchased a new 733-square foot single-family detached home on Deacon Street in the Boynton neighborhood in southwest Detroit. Carson was born in Detroit, Michigan, on September 18, 1951.
Carson's Detroit Public Schools education began in 1956 with kindergarten at the Fisher School and continued through first, second, and the first half of third grade, during which time he was an average student. At the age of five, his mother learned that his father had a prior family and had not divorced his first wife. In 1959, at the age of eight, his parents separated and he moved with his mother and brother to live for two years with his mother's Seventh-day Adventist older sister and her sister's husband in multi-family dwellings in the Dorchester and Roxbury neighborhoods of Boston. In Boston, Carson's mother attempted suicide, had several psychiatric hospitalizations for depression, and for the first time began working outside the home as a domestic worker, while Carson and his brother attended a two-classroom school at the Berea Seventh-day Adventist church where two teachers taught eight grades, and the vast majority of time was spent singing songs and playing games.
In 1961, at the age of 10, he moved with his mother and brother back to southwest Detroit, where they lived in a multi-family dwelling in a primarily white neighborhood, (Springwells Village), across the railroad tracks from the Delray neighborhood, while renting out their house on Deacon Street, which his mother received in a divorce settlement. When they returned to Detroit public schools, Carson and his brother's academic performance initially lagged far behind their new classmates, having, according to Carson, "essentially lost a year of school" by attending the small Seventh-day Adventist parochial school in Boston, but they both improved when their mother limited their time watching television and required them to read and write book reports on two library books per week. Carson attended the predominantly white Higgins Elementary School for fifth and sixth grades and the predominantly white Wilson Junior High School for seventh and the first half of eighth grade. In 1965, at the age of 13, he moved with his mother and brother back to their house on Deacon Street. He attended the predominantly black Hunter Junior High School for the second half of eighth grade. At the age of eight, Carson dreamt of becoming a missionary doctor, but five years later he aspired to the lucrative lifestyles of psychiatrists portrayed on television, and his brother bought him a subscription to Psychology Today for his 13th birthday.
High school
By grade 9, the family's financial situation had improved, his mother surprising neighbors by paying cash to buy a new Chrysler car, and the only government assistance they still relied on was food stamps. Carson attended the predominantly black Southwestern High School for grades nine through twelve, graduating third in his class academically. In high school, he played the euphonium in band and participated in forensics (public speaking), chess club, and the U.S. Army Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) program where he reached its highest rank—cadet colonel. Carson served as a laboratory assistant in the high school's biology, chemistry, and physics school laboratories beginning in grades 10, 11, and 12, respectively, and worked as a biology laboratory assistant at Wayne State University the summer between grade 11 and 12.
In his book Gifted Hands, Carson relates that as a youth, he had a violent temper. "As a teenager, I would go after people with rocks, and bricks, and baseball bats, and hammers", Carson told NBC's Meet the Press in October 2015. He said he once tried to hit his mother on the head with a hammer over a clothing dispute, while in the ninth grade he tried to stab a friend who had changed the radio station. Fortunately, the blade broke in his friend's belt buckle. Carson said the intended victim, whose identity he wants to protect, was a classmate, a friend, or a close relative. After this incident, Carson said he began reading the Book of Proverbs and applying verses on anger. As a result, he states he "never had another problem with temper". In his various books and at campaign events, he repeated these stories and said he once attacked a schoolmate with a combination lock. Nine friends, classmates, and neighbors who grew up with him told CNN in 2015 they did not remember the anger or violence he has described. In response, Carson posted on Facebook a 1997 Parade magazine issue, in which his mother verified the stabbing incident. He then questioned the extent of the effort CNN had exerted in the investigation.
Carson has said that he protected white students in a biology lab after a race riot broke out at his high school in response to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. The Wall Street Journal confirmed the riot but could not find anyone who remembered Carson sheltering white students.
College
Carson's SAT college admission test scores ranked him somewhere in the low 90th percentile. He wanted to attend college farther away than his brother who was at the University of Michigan. Carson says he narrowed his college choices to Harvard or Yale but could only afford the $10 application fee to apply for only one of them. He said he decided to apply to Yale after seeing a team from Yale defeat a team from Harvard on the G.E. College Bowl television show. Carson was accepted by Yale and offered a full scholarship covering tuition, room and board. In 1973, Carson graduated with a B.A. in psychology from Yale "with a fairly respectable grade point average although far from the top of the class".
Carson does not say in his books whether he received a college student deferment during the Vietnam War. He does say that his older brother, then a student at the University of Michigan, received a low number (26) in the first draft lottery in 1969 and was able to enlist in the Navy for four years instead of being drafted, whereas he received a high number (333) in the second draft lottery in 1970. Carson said he would have readily accepted his responsibility to fight had he been drafted, but he "identified strongly with the anti-war protesters and the revolutionaries" and enthusiastically voted for anti-war Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern in 1972. In his book, America the Beautiful (2012), Carson said: "The Vietnam War was, in retrospect, not a noble conflict. It brought shame to our nation because of both the outcome and the cause."
In the summers following his high school graduation until his second year in medical school, Carson worked at a variety of jobs: as a clerk in the payroll office of Ford Motor Company, supervisor of a six-person crew picking up trash along the highway under a federal jobs program for inner-city students, a clerk in the mailroom of Young & Rubicam Advertising, assembling fender parts and inspecting back window louvers on the assembly line at Chrysler, a crane operator at Sennett Steel, and finally a radiology technician taking X-rays. At Yale, Carson had a part-time job on campus as a student police aide.
In his autobiography, Carson said he had been offered a scholarship to West Point. Politico reported that West Point has no record of his ever seeking admission. The academy does not award scholarships to anyone; cadets receive a free education and room and board in exchange for a commitment to serve in the military for at least five years after graduation. Carson also said the University of Michigan had offered him a scholarship. His staff later said the described scenario was similar to that of West Point, as he never actually applied for entry to the University of Michigan.
In his autobiography, Gifted Hands, Carson recounted that exams for a Yale psychology course he took his junior year, "Perceptions 301", were inexplicably burned, forcing students to retake the exam. Carson said other students walked out in protest when they discovered the retest was significantly harder than the original examination, but that he alone finished the test. On doing so, Carson said he was congratulated by the course instructor, who told him the retest was a hoax intended to find "the most honest student in the class". Carson said the professor awarded him $10 and that a photographer for the Yale Daily News was present to take his picture, which appeared in the student newspaper with a story about the experiment. Doubts were raised about this story in 2015 during Carson's presidential campaign. The Wall Street Journal attempted to verify Carson's account, reporting that Yale undergraduate courses were identified with only two digits in the early 1970s, that Yale had offered no course called "Perceptions 301" at the time, and that Carson's photo had never appeared in the Yale Daily News. Carson, while acknowledging the class number was not correct, said: "You know, when you write a book with a co-writer and you say that there was a class, a lot of [the] time they'll put a number or something just to give it more meat. You know, obviously, decades later, I'm not going to remember the course number."
Medical school
Carson entered the University of Michigan Medical School in 1973, and at first he struggled academically, doing so poorly on his first set of comprehensive exams that his faculty adviser recommended he drop out of medical school or take a reduced academic load and take longer to finish. He continued with a regular academic load, and his grades improved to average in his first year of medical school. By his second year of medical school, Carson began to excel academically by seldom attending lectures and instead studying textbooks and lecture notes from 6a.m. to 11p.m. Carson graduated from the University of Michigan Medical School with an M.D. degree in 1977, and he was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society.
Carson was then accepted by the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine neurosurgery program, where he served one year as a surgical intern and five years as a neurosurgery resident, completing the final year as chief resident in 1983. He then spent one year (1983–1984) as a Senior Registrar in neurosurgery at the Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Nedlands, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia.
Medical career
Upon returning to Johns Hopkins in 1984, Carson was appointed the university's director of pediatric neurosurgery. As a surgeon, he specialized in traumatic brain injuries, brain and spinal cord tumors, achondroplasia, neurological and congenital disorders, craniosynostosis, epilepsy, and trigeminal neuralgia. He has said that his hand–eye coordination and three-dimensional reasoning made him a gifted surgeon.
While at Johns Hopkins, Carson figured in the revival of the hemispherectomy, a drastic surgical procedure in which part or all of one hemisphere of the brain is removed to control severe pediatric epilepsy. Encouraged by John M. Freeman, he refined the procedure in the 1980s and performed it many times.
In 1987, Carson was the lead neurosurgeon of a 70-member surgical team that separated conjoined twins Patrick and Benjamin Binder, who had been joined at the back of the head (craniopagus twins). The separation surgery held promise in part because the twin boys had separate brains. The Johns Hopkins Children's Center surgical team rehearsed the surgery for weeks, practicing on two dolls secured together by Velcro. Although there were few follow-up stories following the Binder twins' return to Germany seven months after the operation, both twins were reportedly "far from normal" two years after the procedure, with one in a vegetative state. Neither twin was ever able to talk or care for himself, and both eventually became institutionalized wards of the state. Patrick Binder died sometime during the last decade, according to his uncle, who was located by The Washington Post in 2015. The Binder surgery served as a blueprint for similar twin separations, a procedure that was refined in subsequent decades. Carson participated in four subsequent high-risk conjoined-twin separations, including a 1997 operation on craniopagus Zambian twins Joseph and Luka Banda, which resulted in a normal neurological outcome. Two sets of twins died, including Iranian twins Ladan and Laleh Bijani. Another separation resulted in the death of one twin and the survival of the other, who is legally blind and struggles to walk.
According to The Washington Post, the Binder surgery "launched the stardom" of Carson, who "walked out of the operating room that day into a spotlight that has never dimmed", beginning with a press conference that was covered worldwide and created name recognition leading to publishing deals and a motivational speaking career. On the condition the film would have its premiere in Baltimore, Carson agreed to a cameo appearance as "head surgeon" in the 2003 Farrelly brothers' comedy Stuck on You, starring Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear as conjoined twins who, unhappy after their surgical separation, continue life attached to each other by Velcro.
In March 2013, Carson announced he would retire as a surgeon, saying he would "much rather quit when I'm at the top of my game". His retirement became official on July 1, 2013.
In 2021, Carson joined Galectin Therapeutics to assist with development of the company's galectin-3 inhibitor, belapectin, as a treatment for NASH cirrhosis and in combination with immunotherapy for the treatment of cancers.
Articles, books, business relationships, media posts
Carson has written many articles in peer-reviewed journals and six bestselling books published by Zondervan, an international Christian media and publishing company. The first book was an autobiography published in 1992. Two others are about his personal philosophies of success and what he sees as the stabilizing influence of religion.
According to CNN, Carson had an "extensive relationship" from 2004 to 2014 with Mannatech, a multi-level marketing company that produces dietary supplements made from substances such as aloe vera extract and larch-tree bark. Carson gave four paid speeches at company events. He has denied being paid by Mannatech to do anything else, saying he has been a "prolific speaker" who has addressed many groups. In a 2004 speech, he credited the company's products with the disappearance of his prostate cancer symptoms. The nature of this relationship became an issue in 2015 during Carson's presidential campaign. Carson's relationship with Mannatech continued after the company paid $7 million in 2009 to settle a deceptive-marketing lawsuit in Texas over claims that its products could cure autism and cancer. His most recent paid speech for the company was in 2013, for which he was paid $42,000. His image appeared on the corporation's website in 2014, and in the same year, he praised their "glyconutrient" supplements in a PBS special that was subsequently featured on the site.
Carson delivered the keynote address at a Mannatech distributor convention in 2011, during which he said the company had donated funds to help him obtain a coveted endowed-chair post at Johns Hopkins Medicine: "three years ago I had an endowed chair bestowed upon me and uh, it requires $2.5 million to do an endowed chair, and I'm proud to say that part of that $2.5 million came from Mannatech." In October 2015, Carson's campaign team said that "there was no contribution from Mannatech to Johns Hopkins" and that his statement had been "a legitimate mistake on his part. Confusion. He had been doing some fundraising for the hospital and some other chairs about that time, and he simply got things mixed up."
During the CNBC GOP debate on October 28, 2015, Carson was asked about his relationship with Mannatech. He replied, "That's easy to answer. I didn't have any involvement with Mannatech. Total propaganda. I did a couple speeches for them. I did speeches for other people—they were paid speeches. It is absolutely absurd to say I had any kind of relation with them. Do I take the product? Yes. I think it is a good product." Politifact rated Carson's denial of any involvement as "false", pointing to his paid speeches for Mannatech and his appearances in promotional videos in which he favorably reviewed its products, despite not being "an official spokesman or sales associate". When the CNBC moderator commented that Carson was on Mannatech's website, Carson replied that he had not given his permission. Earlier, he had said he was unaware of the company's legal history.
On November 3, 2015, Mannatech said on its website that for compliance with federal campaign finance regulations, the company had removed all references to Carson before he announced his bid for the presidency.
In July 2013, Carson was hired by The Washington Times as a weekly opinion columnist. In October 2013, Fox News hired Carson as a contributor to provide analysis and commentary across Fox News Channel's daytime and primetime programming, a relationship that lasted until the end of 2014.
In 2014, some House Republicans (who later formed the House Freedom Caucus) approached Carson about the possibility of his standing for Speaker of the House in the event that the incumbent Speaker, John Boehner, had to step down because of intraparty disunion. Carson declined, citing preparations for his 2016 presidential campaign. Ultimately, Boehner resigned in October 2015, and Paul Ryan was elected as the new Speaker.
In financial disclosure forms, Carson and his wife reported income of between $8.9 million and $27 million from January 2014 to May 3, 2015, when he announced his presidential campaign. Over that period, Carson received over $4 million from 141 paid speeches, between $1.1 million and $6 million in book royalties, between $200,000 and $2 million as a contributor to The Washington Times and Fox News, and between $2 million and $10 million as a member of the boards of Kellogg Co. and Costco Wholesale Corp. He resigned from Costco's board in mid-2015, after serving on it for more than 16 years. Carson was chairman of the Baltimore-based biotechnology company Vaccinogen from August 2014 until the announcement of his US presidential bid in May 2015. Carson had previously served on Vaccinogen's Medical Advisory Board.
2016 presidential campaign
Background and increasing political visibility
Carson, who had been registered as a Republican, changed his registration to independent in the 1990s after watching Republicans impeach President Clinton for perjury regarding an extramarital affair with Monica Lewinsky. "I just saw so much hypocrisy in both parties", he said. In February 2013, Carson said he was not a member of any political party.
In his book America the Beautiful (2013), he wrote: "I believe it is a very good idea for physicians, scientists, engineers, and others trained to make decisions based on facts and empirical data to get involved in the political arena."
Carson was the keynote speaker at the National Prayer Breakfast on February 7, 2013. The speech garnered Carson considerable attention because the event is normally apolitical in nature, and the speech was critical of the philosophy and policies of President Barack Obama, who was sitting 10 feet away. About the speech, Carson said: "I don't think it was particularly political... You know, I'm a physician." Regarding the policies of President Obama, he said: "There are a number of policies that I don't believe lead to the growth of our nation and don't lead to the elevation of our nation. I don't want to sit here and say all of his policies are bad. What I would like to see more often in this nation is an open and intelligent conversation."
Carson's sudden popularity among conservatives led to his being invited as a featured speaker at the 2013 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). He tied for seventh place in the Washington Times/CPAC 2013 Straw Poll with 4% of the 3,000 ballots cast. In the 2014 CPAC straw poll, he was in third place with 9% of the vote, behind senators Ted Cruz of Texas (with 11%) and Rand Paul of Kentucky (31%). In the presidential straw poll at the 2013 Values Voter Summit, he and Rick Santorum polled 13%, with winner Ted Cruz polling 42%, and in 2014 he polled 20% to Cruz's winning 25%.
On November 4, 2014, the day of the 2014 midterms, he rejoined the Republican Party, saying it was "truly a pragmatic move" because he was considering running for president in 2016.
In January 2015, The Weekly Standard reported that the Draft Carson Committee had raised $13 million by the end of 2014, shortly after Carson performed well in a CNN/ORC poll of potential candidates in December 2014, coming second in two different versions. He polled 10% to Mitt Romney's 20%, but in the same poll with Romney removed from the list, Carson polled 11% to Jeb Bush's 14%. The Wall Street Journal mentioned that the Draft Carson Committee had chairmen in all of Iowa's 99 counties, and that Carson had recently led two separate Public Policy polls for the state of Pennsylvania.
Announcement of campaign
On May 2, 2015, Carson proclaimed that in two days he was going to make a major announcement on his decision on whether to enter the presidential race. In an interview with Cincinnati station WKRC-TV on May 3, 2015, Carson accidentally confirmed his candidacy for president. The interview was also broadcast live on WPEC. The next day, May 4, 2015, at the Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts in his home town of Detroit, he officially announced his run for the Republican nomination in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The announcement speech was preceded by a choir singing "Lose Yourself" with Carson sitting in the audience. After the song, Carson took the stage and announced his candidacy alongside a speech on his rags to riches life story, at one point stating: "I remember when our favorite drug dealer was killed."
Surge in polls
In October 2015, the Super PAC supporting Carson, The 2016 Committee (formerly the Draft Carson Committee), announced it had received donations in mostly $100 increments from more than 200 small businesses around the country over the course of one week. Fox Business reported that "Carson's outsider status is growing his small business support base." Ben Walters, a fundraiser for The 2016 Committee, expressed optimism about Carson's small business support base: "It's unbelievable the diversity of businesses that we are bringing on. We are seeing everything from doctors' offices and folks in the healthcare profession to motorcycle repair shops and bed and breakfasts."
In October, it was noted that Carson's "improbable" political career had surged in polls and fundraising, while he continued to participate in nationally televised Republican debates.
Decline in polls
The campaign brought considerable attention to Carson's past. CBS News described Carson's narrative of "overcoming impossible odds as a child growing up in an impoverished, single-parent household to reach international prominence as a pediatric neurosurgeon" as "a key part of his presidential campaign". The Wall Street Journal said the narrative came under "the harsh scrutiny of presidential politics, where rivals and media hunt for embellishments and omissions that can hobble a campaign". CNN characterized the core narrative as "acts of violence as an angry young man", followed by a spiritual epiphany that transformed Carson into the "composed figure" he now portrays. Media challenges to a number of Carson's statements included allegations of discrepancies between documented facts and certain assertions in his autobiography Gifted Hands—allegations dismissed by Carson as a media "witch hunt". In November 2015, the Detroit Free Press republished an article from 1988 "to try to bring some clarity to the claims currently being brought into question".
In November 2015, Carson's campaign aired a 60-second TV advertisement in which excerpts from Carson's stump speech were intercut with a rap by an artist named Aspiring Mogul. They spent $150,000 on the ads, which were aired in Atlanta, Detroit and Miami. Carson defended the ad, saying "Well, there are people in the campaign who felt that was a good way to do things... I support them in doing that, but I probably would have taken a little different approach." Later, he said the advertisement was done without his knowledge, that "it was done by people who have no concept of the black community and what they were doing", and that he was "horrified" by it.
The New York Times reported in 2015, "Carson has acknowledged being something of a novice on foreign affairs." Regarding the Ukrainian crisis, Carson would send arms to Ukraine to aid it in its fight against pro-Russian rebels. He also believes the Baltic states, current NATO members, should "get involved in NATO".
In a November 2015 Republican debate, Carson declared his intentions to make ISIS "look like losers" as he would "destroy their caliphate". Carson also advocated capturing a "big energy field" outside of Anbar, Iraq, which he said could be accomplished "fairly easily". Regarding the Middle East, he also claimed that "the Chinese are there".
Carson said he is not opposed to a Palestinian state, but he questioned why it needs "to be within the confines of Israeli territory ... Is that necessary, or can you sort of slip that area down into Egypt?"
Withdrawal from campaign
On March 2, following the Super Tuesday 2016 primaries, Carson announced that he did "not see a political path forward" and would not attend the next Republican debate in Detroit. He said, "[T]his grassroots movement on behalf of 'We the People' will continue", indicating that he would give more details later in the week. He suspended his campaign on March4 and announced he would be the new national chairman of My Faith Votes, a group that encourages Christians to exercise their civic duty to vote.
In total, Ben Carson's campaign spent $58 million. However, most of the money went to political consultants and fundraising rather than advertising. Carson questioned whether his campaign was economically sabotaged from within.
Further activities during the 2016 election
On March 11, 2016, a week after Carson ended his presidential campaign, he endorsed Trump, calling him part of "the voice of the people to be heard". Carson's subsequent comments that Americans would have to sustain Trump for only four years if he was not a good president drew criticism, and he admitted that he would have preferred another candidate, though he thought Trump had the best chance of winning the general election.
On the other hand, at the press conference Carson said Trump had a "cerebral" side.
On April 25, Carson expressed opposition to Harriet Tubman replacing Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill the day after dubbing the replacement "political expediency", though he indicated interest in Tubman having another tribute. In late April, Carson wrote to the Nevada Republican Party, requesting the two delegates he won in Nevada be released and free to support whoever they want.
On May 4, after Trump wrapped up the Republican nomination, he hinted that Carson would be among those who would vet his vice-presidential pick. The same day, in an interview Carson expressed interest in Ted Cruz serving as Attorney General of the United States, a position that Carson said would allow Cruz to prosecute Hillary Clinton, and then as a Supreme Court Justice nominee from the Trump administration. On May 6, Carson said in an interview that Trump would consider a Democrat as his running mate, conflicting with Trump's assertion that he would not. A Carson spokesperson later said Carson expected Trump to select a Republican.
Carson was said by aide Armstrong Williams in a May 10 interview to have withdrawn from the Trump campaign's vetting team, though the campaign confirmed he was still involved. Later that month, Carson revealed a list of potential vice-presidential candidates in an interview with The Washington Post. On May 16, Carson said the media could not keep opinion out of reporting and cited Walter Cronkite as a fair journalist who was, in his words, a "left-wing radical".
During the Republican National Convention, Carson appeared with former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani in support of the pro-Donald Trump Great America PAC at an event in Cleveland.
Results
In total, Carson received 857,039 votes during the Republican primaries; this total represented 2.75% of the votes cast. He received the support of seven delegates at the Republican National Convention. Trump received the Republican nomination and went on to be elected president on November 8, 2016.
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
Nomination and confirmation
After Donald Trump's win in the 2016 election, Carson joined Trump's transition team as vice chairman. Carson was also offered a cabinet position in the administration. He declined, in part because of his lack of experience, with an aide stating, "The last thing he would want to do was take a position that could cripple the presidency." Although it was reported that the position was for Secretary of Health and Human Services, Carson's business manager has disputed this, stating, "Dr. Carson was never offered a specific position, but everything was open to him." He was eventually offered the position of Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, which he accepted.
On December 5, 2016, Trump announced that he would nominate Carson to the position of Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. During the confirmation process, Carson was scrutinized by some housing advocates for what they perceived as his lack of relevant experience.
On January 24, 2017, the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs voted unanimously to approve the nomination. Senate Democrats attempted to defeat Carson's nomination via filibuster, but that vote failed on March 1, 2017, and he was then confirmed by the Senate by a 58–41 vote the next day.
Tenure
In December 2017, The Economist described the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), led by Ben Carson, as "directionless". Most of the top HUD positions were unfilled and Carson's leadership was "inconspicuous and inscrutable". Of the policies HUD was enacting, The Economist wrote, "it is hard not to conclude that the governing principle at HUD is to take whatever the Obama administration was doing, and do the opposite." HUD scaled back the enforcement of fair housing laws, halted several fair housing investigations started by the Obama administration and removed the words "inclusive" and "free from discrimination" from its mission statement. HUD saw an exodus of career officials during Carson's tenure.
On March 6, his first day as secretary, while addressing Housing and Urban Development (HUD) employees, Carson saluted the work ethic of immigrants, and during his comments, he likened slaves to involuntary immigrants. A HUD spokesman said that no one present thought Carson "was equating voluntary immigration with involuntary servitude". In the same speech, Carson was criticized by some for saying that the human brain "was incapable of forgetting and could be electrically stimulated into perfect recall".
Under the federal budget proposed by Trump in 2017, HUD's budget for the fiscal year 2018 would be cut by $6.2 billion (13%) and the Community Development Block Grant, a program which Carson praised in a trip to Detroit as HUD secretary, would be eliminated. Carson issued a statement supporting the proposed cuts. Carson suggested that federal funds for housing in Detroit could be part of an expected infrastructure bill.
In April 2017, while speaking in Washington at the National Low Income Housing Coalition conference, Carson said that housing funding would be included in an upcoming infrastructure bill from the Trump administration.
In July 2017, during his keynote address at the LeadingAge Florida annual convention, Carson stated his concern about "seniors who become destitute" and reported that the Department of Housing and Urban Development had increased public housing programs for the elderly by an unspecified number.
In summer 2017, Carson allowed his son, Baltimore businessman, Ben Carson Jr., to participate in organizing a HUD "listening tour" in Baltimore. Internal documents obtained by The Washington Post under the Freedom of Information Act showed that the younger Carson "put people he'd invited in touch with his father's deputies, joined agency staff on official conference calls about the listening tour and copied his wife on related email exchanges". The son's involvement prompted HUD staff to express concern; the department's deputy general counsel for operations wrote in a memorandum "that this gave the appearance that the Secretary may be using his position for his son's private gain". Carson's wife, son, and daughter-in-law also attended official meetings. In February 2018, the HUD inspector general's office confirmed that it was looking into the role Carson's family played at the department.
During congressional testimony in May 2019, while being questioned by U.S. Representative Katie Porter, Carson did not know what the term REO ("Real Estate Owned" refers to housing owned by a bank or lending institution post-foreclosure) stood for and confused it with the cookie, Oreo. In response, Carson went on the Fox Business Network where he accused Democrats of adhering to "Saul Alinsky" tactics.
On March 1, 2020, the office of Vice President Mike Pence announced Carson's addition to the White House Coronavirus Task Force.
On November 9, 2020, Carson tested positive for COVID-19 after attending President Trump's Election Night party. He initially treated himself with a homeopathic oleander extract on the recommendation of Mike Lindell, the founder of My Pillow, Inc., which Carson said caused his symptoms to disappear. Oleander was previously rejected by the Food and Drug Administration as a treatment for COVID-19 and Carson received criticism for promoting an unscientific homeopathic treatment. He disclosed on November 20 that he subsequently became "extremely sick" and attributed his recovery to Regeneron's experimental antibody therapy. He said that President Trump had given him access to the drug.
Office furnishing scandal
Carson received criticism for spending up to $31,000 on a dining set in his office in late 2017. This expenditure was discovered after Helen Foster, a career HUD official, filed a complaint alleging that she had been demoted from her position because she refused to spend more than the legal $5,000 limit for office redecorations. Carson and his spokesman said that he had little or no involvement in the purchase of the dining set. Later, email communications revealed that Carson and his wife selected the dining set. On March 20, 2018, Carson testified before the United States House Committee on Appropriations that he had "dismissed" himself from the decision to buy the $31,000 dining room set and "left it to my wife, you know, to choose something". On September 12, 2019, HUD's inspector general released a report clearing Carson of misconduct.
Remarks on transgender use of homeless shelters
Carson was accused by members of the Department of Housing and Urban Development of making transphobic remarks at a meeting in San Francisco in September 2019. He warned that "big, hairy men" might infiltrate homeless shelters for women, prompting one woman to walk out. Reps. Joe Kennedy III of Massachusetts and Jennifer Wexton of Virginia called for his resignation, but Carson said the accusations were a "mischaracterization". A HUD spokesperson responded that Carson "does not use derogatory language to refer to transgendered individuals. Any reporting to the contrary is false."
Carson Scholars Fund
In 1994, Carson and his wife started the Carson Scholars Fund that awards scholarships to students in grades 4–11 for "academic excellence and humanitarian qualities".
Recipients of the Carson Scholars Fund receive a $1,000 scholarship towards their college education. It has awarded 6,700 scholarships. In recognition for his work with the Carson Scholars Fund and other charitable giving throughout his lifetime, Carson was awarded the William E. Simon Prize for Philanthropic Leadership in 2005.
American Cornerstone Institute
In 2021, Carson founded the American Cornerstone Institute or ACI, a conservative think tank centered around advancing policies that promote "faith, liberty, community, and life".
The ACI's mission statement is "dedicated to promoting and preserving individual and religious liberty, helping our country's most vulnerable find new hope, and developing methods to decrease the federal government's role in society and to improve efficiency to best serve ALL our nation's citizens. Headed by world-renowned neurosurgeon, presidential candidate, and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Dr. Ben Carson, ACI will be a voice for reason and civility in a nation that is increasingly devoid of common sense."
Personal life
Carson and his wife, fellow Detroit native Lacena "Candy" Rustin, met in 1971 as students at Yale University and married in 1975. They began living in West Friendship, Maryland, in 1988. Together, the couple have three sons (Rhoeyce, Benjamin Jr., and Murray), as well as several grandchildren. Their oldest son, Murray, was born in Perth, Australia, while Carson was undertaking a residency there. In 1981 Carson's wife became pregnant with twins before miscarrying in the fifth month of her pregnancy.
In 2001, Ben and Candy Carson bought a 48-acre property in Upperco, Maryland.
After being diagnosed with prostate cancer, Carson underwent a two-hour operation at the Johns Hopkins Hospital on August 7, 2002.
In 2013, Carson, his wife, and Carson's mother moved to West Palm Beach, Florida.
Surrounding his confirmation as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Carson bought a $1.22 million home in Vienna, Virginia, in February 2017 and sold his West Palm Beach home for over $900,000 in May 2017.
Religion
Carson and his wife are members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA). Carson was baptized at Burns Seventh-day Adventist Church in Detroit. A few years later, he told the pastor at a church he was attending in Inkster, Michigan, that he had not fully understood his first baptism and wanted to be baptized again. He has served as a local elder and Sabbath School teacher in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Although Carson is an Adventist, the church has officially cautioned church employees to remain politically neutral.
In keeping with his Seventh-day Adventist faith, Carson announced in 2014 his belief "that the United States will play a big role" in the coming apocalypse. He went on to say, "I hope by that time I'm not around anymore."
In an interview with Katie Couric, Carson said that Jesus Christ came to Earth to redeem the world through his atoning sacrifice and that all people are sinners and need his redemption.
Carson has stated that he does not believe in hell as understood by some Christians: "You know, I see God as a very loving individual. And why would he torment somebody forever who only had a life of 60 or 70 or 80 years? Even if they were evil. Even if they were only evil for 80 years?" This is fully in line with Adventist teaching, which promotes annihilationism.
Carson endorsed Seventh-day Adventist theology, which includes belief in a literal reading of the first chapters of Genesis. In a 2013 interview with Adventist News Network, Carson said: "You know, I'm proud of the fact that I believe what God has said, and I've said many times that I'll defend it before anyone. If they want to criticize the fact that I believe in a literal, six-day creation, let's have at it because I will poke all kinds of holes in what they believe." Carson's Adventism was raised as an issue by his then-primary rival Donald Trump. Some Adventists have argued that Carson's political positions on gun rights and religious liberty conflict with historic Adventist teachings in favor of nonviolence, pacifism, and the separation of church and state.
Claim about Egyptian pyramids
During a commencement speech at Andrews University in Michigan in 1998, Carson stated that he believed that the pyramids of Giza were created by the biblical figure Joseph to store grain, despite the fact that the story of Joseph is set in the time of Egypt's Middle Kingdom, five centuries after the pyramids of Giza were built. When questioned about it again in 2015, he stood by his original assertion.
Vegetarianism
Consistent with the practice of many Adventists, Carson is a lacto-ovo vegetarian (he will eat dishes containing milk, eggs, or cheese, and occasionally, poultry). He has said his main reason for becoming vegetarian was health concerns, including avoiding parasites and heart disease, and he emphasizes the environmental benefits of vegetarianism. His transition was made easier because he had eaten little meat for aesthetic reasons as a child, and he readily adopted his wife's vegetarianism because she does much of the cooking in their household. Speaking in 1990, he said that with the increasing availability of meat substitutes, "It might take 20 years. But eventually there will no longer be a reason for most people to eat meat. And animals will breathe a sigh of relief." To avoid causing others discomfort, he is willing to occasionally eat chicken or turkey, although he finds eating pork highly unpleasant.
Awards and honors
Carson is a member of the American Academy of Achievement, Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society, and the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans.
Carson has been awarded 38 honorary doctorate degrees and dozens of national merit citations. Detroit Public Schools opened the Dr. Benjamin Carson High School of Science and Medicine for students interested in pursuing healthcare careers. The school is partnering with Detroit Receiving Hospital and Michigan State University.
In 2000, he received the Award for Greatest Public Service Benefiting the Disadvantaged, an award given out annually by Jefferson Awards.
In 2001, he was elected by the Library of Congress on the occasion of its 200th anniversary to be one of the 89 who earned the designation Library of Congress Living Legend.
In 2004, he was appointed to serve on The President's Council on Bioethics.
In 2005, Carson was awarded the William E. Simon Prize for Philanthropic Leadership.
In 2006, he received the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP, their highest honor for outstanding achievement.
In 2008, the White House awarded Carson the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.
In 2008, Ford's Theatre Society awarded Carson the Ford's Theatre Lincoln Medal, for exemplifying the qualities embodied by President Abraham Lincoln—including courage, integrity, tolerance, equality, and creative expression—through superior achievements.
In 2008, U.S. News & World Report named Carson as one of "America's Best Leaders".
In 2010, he was elected into the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine, considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine.
In 2012, Carson was the Influential Marylander Award recipient from The Daily Record, Baltimore's legal and business newspaper.
In 2014, a poll of Americans conducted by Gallup ranked Carson sixth on a list of the most admired persons.
He is an emeritus fellow of the Yale Corporation.
Books
(with Cecil Murphey)
(with Gregg Lewis)
(with Candy Carson)
(with Candy Carson), on The New York Times bestsellers list for 20 straight weeks, five of them as number one
(with Candy Carson)
(with Gregg Lewis, Deborah Shaw Lewis)
(with Cecil Murphey)
(with Candy Carson)
See also
Ben Carson 2016 presidential campaign
Ben Carson office furnishing scandal
List of African-American Republicans
2016 Republican Party presidential candidates
Notes
References
Further reading
Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story (February 7, 2009), a television movie with the same title as Carson's first book premiered on TNT with Academy Award winner Cuba Gooding Jr. in the lead role and Kimberly Elise portraying his mother.
A Doctor in the House: My Life with Ben Carson (January 5, 2016), a book by Candy Carson
External links
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson
Ben Carson:Dialogue with an Adventist Neurosurgeon College and University Dialogue Retrieved October 12, 2018
1951 births
Living people
20th-century American male writers
20th-century Protestants
21st-century American male writers
21st-century American politicians
21st-century Protestants
African-American Christians
African-American members of the Cabinet of the United States
African-American physicians
African-American government officials
African-American candidates for President of the United States
African-American writers
American neurosurgeons
American Seventh-day Adventists
American Christian creationists
American Christian writers
Candidates in the 2016 United States presidential election
Christian vegetarianism
Florida Republicans
Johns Hopkins Hospital physicians
Kellogg's people
Maryland Republicans
Michigan Republicans
Members of the National Academy of Medicine
Physicians from Detroit
People from Dorchester, Massachusetts
People from Roxbury, Boston
People from Vienna, Virginia
Politicians from Detroit
People from West Friendship, Maryland
People from West Palm Beach, Florida
Physicians from Michigan
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
Seventh-day Adventists from Michigan
Seventh-day Adventists in health science
Spingarn Medal winners
Tea Party movement activists
Trump administration cabinet members
United States Secretaries of Housing and Urban Development
University of Michigan Medical School alumni
The Washington Times people
Yale University alumni
20th-century American writers
Southwestern High School (Michigan) alumni | true | [
"Carson High School can refer to:\n\nCarson High School (Carson City, Nevada)\nCarson High School (Carson, California)\nJesse C. Carson High School, China Grove, North Carolina\nRachel Carson High School for Coastal Studies, New York City",
"Jesse C. Carson High School (often referred to as Carson High School or Carson) is a public, co-educational secondary school located in China Grove, NC. It is one of seven high schools in the Rowan-Salisbury School System.\n\nHistory\nCarson High School opened in 2006, drawing students from four other high schools in Rowan County. It was named for former Rowan County School System Superintendent Jesse C. Carson.\n\nSchool information\nFor the 2010–11 school year, Carson High School had a total population of 1,173 students and 73.60 teachers on a (FTE) basis. This produced a student-teacher ratio of 15.94:1. That same year out of the student total, the gender ratio was 50.04% male to 49.96% female. The demographic group makeup was: White, 83.89%; Black, 6.22%; Hispanic, 7.25%; Asian/Pacific Islander, 1.19%; and American Indian, 0.26% (two or more races: 1.19%). For the same school year, 46.06% of the students received free and reduced-cost lunches.\n\nGraduations are generally held at the Carson High School campus.\n\nCampus\nThe campus was designed by Shuller, Ferris, Lindstrom & Associates (sfl+a Architects) and built by New Atlantic Contracting, Inc.\n\nAcademics\nCarson High School was rated a School of Distinction for the 2009–10 and 2010–11 school years on the North Carolina State Board of Education's yearly School Report Cards. In 2012, Carson High School was listed as one of U.S. News & World Report's Best High Schools. It was ranked at the Bronze Level. For the 2016–2017 year, Carson ranked first in growth among all high schools in Rowan, Cabarrus and Iredell Counties and neighboring Kannapolis City. Ranked in the 94th percentile of all North Carolina public schools, Carson boasts an 88% graduation rate, triple-digit population growth, and a total amount of scholarship funds earned that has increased from $775,000 in 2014 to $4.98 million for the 2016–2017 school year.\n\nAthletics\nCarson High School is a 3A school in the North Piedmont Conference. Other high schools in the conference include East Rowan, North Iredell, South Iredell, Statesville, and West Rowan. Carson fields teams in the following sports: baseball (boys), tennis (boys/girls), basketball (boys/girls), football (boys), soccer (boys/girls), softball (girls), volleyball (girls), wrestling (boys), cross country (boys/girls), indoor track (boys/girls), outdoor track (boys/girls), swimming (boys/girls), golf (boys/girls) and cheerleading (girls) . The school's mascot is the Cougars, and the school's colors are orange and midnight blue. To date, their primary in-county athletic rivals are the South Rowan Raiders.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nPublic high schools in North Carolina\nEducational institutions established in 2006\nSchools in Rowan County, North Carolina\n2006 establishments in North Carolina"
] |
[
"Ben Carson",
"High school",
"Where did Carson attend high school",
"Southwestern High School"
] | C_8c698173e273415a9ad5450fbc5b9341_0 | What years did Carson attend Southwestern High School | 2 | What years did Carson attend Southwestern High School | Ben Carson | By ninth grade, the family's financial situation had improved, his mother surprising neighbors by paying cash to buy a new Chrysler car, and the only government assistance they still relied on was food stamps. Carson attended the predominantly black Southwestern High School for ninth through 12th grades, graduating third in his class academically. In high school he played the baritone horn in the band, and participated in forensics (public speaking), chess club, and the U.S. Army Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) program where he reached its highest rank--cadet colonel. Carson served as a laboratory assistant in the high school's biology, chemistry, physics school laboratories beginning in 10th, 11th, and 12th grade, respectively, and worked as a biology laboratory assistant at Wayne State University the summer between 11th and 12th grades. In his book Gifted Hands, Carson relates that as a youth he had a violent temper. "As a teenager, I would go after people with rocks, and bricks, and baseball bats, and hammers," Carson told NBC's Meet the Press in October 2015. He said he once tried to hit his mother on the head with a hammer over a clothing dispute, while in the ninth grade he tried to stab a friend who had changed the radio station. Fortunately, the blade broke in his friend's belt buckle. Carson said that the intended victim, whose identity he wants to protect, was a classmate, a friend, or a close relative. After this incident, Carson said that he began reading the Book of Proverbs and applying verses on anger. As a result, he states he "never had another problem with temper". In his various books and at campaign events, he repeated these stories and said he once attacked a schoolmate with a combination lock. Nine friends, classmates, and neighbors who grew up with him told CNN in 2015 they did not remember the anger or violence he has described. In response, Carson posted on Facebook a 1997 Parade Magazine issue, in which his mother verified the stabbing incident. He then questioned the extent of the effort CNN had exerted in the investigation. He has said that he protected white students in a biology lab after a race riot broke out at his high school in response to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. The Wall Street Journal confirmed the riot but could not find anyone who remembered Carson sheltering white students. CANNOTANSWER | ninth through 12th grades, | Benjamin Solomon Carson Sr. (born September 18, 1951) is an American retired neurosurgeon and politician who served as the 17th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 2017 to 2021. He was a candidate for President of the United States in the 2016 Republican primaries. He is considered a pioneer in the field of neurosurgery.
Carson became the director of pediatric neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center in 1984 at age 33, then the youngest chief of pediatric neurosurgery in the United States. At retirement, he was professor of neurosurgery, oncology, plastic surgery, and pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Carson's achievements include participating in the first reported separation of conjoined twins joined at the back of the head. Although surgically a success, the twins continued to suffer neurologic/medical complications. Additional accomplishments include performing the first successful neurosurgical procedure on a fetus inside the womb, developing new methods to treat brain-stem tumors, and revitalizing hemispherectomy techniques for controlling seizures. He wrote over 100 neurosurgical publications. He retired from medicine in 2013.
Carson gained national fame among political conservatives after delivering a speech at the 2013 National Prayer Breakfast which was perceived as critical of the policies of President Barack Obama. Following widespread speculation of a presidential run, Carson officially announced his campaign for the 2016 Republican nomination for President in May 2015. Carson performed strongly in early polls, leading to his being considered a frontrunner for the nomination during the fall of 2015; however, his polling support began to decline following scrutiny of his foreign policy credentials after the November 2015 Paris attacks. Carson withdrew from the race after Super Tuesday, following a string of disappointing primary results, and endorsed Donald Trump. Following Trump's victory, Trump nominated Carson as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, being confirmed by the United States Senate in a 58–41 vote on March 2, 2017. Carson is one of the most prominent black conservatives in America.
Carson has received numerous honors for his neurosurgery work, including more than 60 honorary doctorate degrees and numerous national merit citations. In 2001, he was named by CNN and Time magazine as one of the nation's 20 foremost physicians and scientists and was selected by the Library of Congress as one of 89 "Living Legends" on its 200th anniversary. In 2008, Carson was bestowed the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States. In 2010, he was elected into the National Academy of Medicine. He was the subject of the 2009 TV film Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story, wherein he was portrayed by Cuba Gooding Jr. Carson has also written or co-written six bestselling books.
Early life and education
Carson's parents were Robert Solomon Carson Jr. (1914–1992), a World War II U.S. Army veteran, and Sonya Carson (née Copeland, 1928–2017). Robert Carson was a Baptist minister, but he later became a Cadillac automobile plant laborer. Both his parents came from large families in rural Georgia, and they were living in rural Tennessee when they met and married. Carson's mother was 13 and his father was 28 when they married, and after his father finished his military service, they moved from Chattanooga, Tennessee, to Detroit, where they lived in a large house in the Indian Village neighborhood. Carson's older brother, Curtis, was born in 1949, when his mother was 20. In 1950, Carson's parents purchased a new 733-square foot single-family detached home on Deacon Street in the Boynton neighborhood in southwest Detroit. Carson was born in Detroit, Michigan, on September 18, 1951.
Carson's Detroit Public Schools education began in 1956 with kindergarten at the Fisher School and continued through first, second, and the first half of third grade, during which time he was an average student. At the age of five, his mother learned that his father had a prior family and had not divorced his first wife. In 1959, at the age of eight, his parents separated and he moved with his mother and brother to live for two years with his mother's Seventh-day Adventist older sister and her sister's husband in multi-family dwellings in the Dorchester and Roxbury neighborhoods of Boston. In Boston, Carson's mother attempted suicide, had several psychiatric hospitalizations for depression, and for the first time began working outside the home as a domestic worker, while Carson and his brother attended a two-classroom school at the Berea Seventh-day Adventist church where two teachers taught eight grades, and the vast majority of time was spent singing songs and playing games.
In 1961, at the age of 10, he moved with his mother and brother back to southwest Detroit, where they lived in a multi-family dwelling in a primarily white neighborhood, (Springwells Village), across the railroad tracks from the Delray neighborhood, while renting out their house on Deacon Street, which his mother received in a divorce settlement. When they returned to Detroit public schools, Carson and his brother's academic performance initially lagged far behind their new classmates, having, according to Carson, "essentially lost a year of school" by attending the small Seventh-day Adventist parochial school in Boston, but they both improved when their mother limited their time watching television and required them to read and write book reports on two library books per week. Carson attended the predominantly white Higgins Elementary School for fifth and sixth grades and the predominantly white Wilson Junior High School for seventh and the first half of eighth grade. In 1965, at the age of 13, he moved with his mother and brother back to their house on Deacon Street. He attended the predominantly black Hunter Junior High School for the second half of eighth grade. At the age of eight, Carson dreamt of becoming a missionary doctor, but five years later he aspired to the lucrative lifestyles of psychiatrists portrayed on television, and his brother bought him a subscription to Psychology Today for his 13th birthday.
High school
By grade 9, the family's financial situation had improved, his mother surprising neighbors by paying cash to buy a new Chrysler car, and the only government assistance they still relied on was food stamps. Carson attended the predominantly black Southwestern High School for grades nine through twelve, graduating third in his class academically. In high school, he played the euphonium in band and participated in forensics (public speaking), chess club, and the U.S. Army Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) program where he reached its highest rank—cadet colonel. Carson served as a laboratory assistant in the high school's biology, chemistry, and physics school laboratories beginning in grades 10, 11, and 12, respectively, and worked as a biology laboratory assistant at Wayne State University the summer between grade 11 and 12.
In his book Gifted Hands, Carson relates that as a youth, he had a violent temper. "As a teenager, I would go after people with rocks, and bricks, and baseball bats, and hammers", Carson told NBC's Meet the Press in October 2015. He said he once tried to hit his mother on the head with a hammer over a clothing dispute, while in the ninth grade he tried to stab a friend who had changed the radio station. Fortunately, the blade broke in his friend's belt buckle. Carson said the intended victim, whose identity he wants to protect, was a classmate, a friend, or a close relative. After this incident, Carson said he began reading the Book of Proverbs and applying verses on anger. As a result, he states he "never had another problem with temper". In his various books and at campaign events, he repeated these stories and said he once attacked a schoolmate with a combination lock. Nine friends, classmates, and neighbors who grew up with him told CNN in 2015 they did not remember the anger or violence he has described. In response, Carson posted on Facebook a 1997 Parade magazine issue, in which his mother verified the stabbing incident. He then questioned the extent of the effort CNN had exerted in the investigation.
Carson has said that he protected white students in a biology lab after a race riot broke out at his high school in response to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. The Wall Street Journal confirmed the riot but could not find anyone who remembered Carson sheltering white students.
College
Carson's SAT college admission test scores ranked him somewhere in the low 90th percentile. He wanted to attend college farther away than his brother who was at the University of Michigan. Carson says he narrowed his college choices to Harvard or Yale but could only afford the $10 application fee to apply for only one of them. He said he decided to apply to Yale after seeing a team from Yale defeat a team from Harvard on the G.E. College Bowl television show. Carson was accepted by Yale and offered a full scholarship covering tuition, room and board. In 1973, Carson graduated with a B.A. in psychology from Yale "with a fairly respectable grade point average although far from the top of the class".
Carson does not say in his books whether he received a college student deferment during the Vietnam War. He does say that his older brother, then a student at the University of Michigan, received a low number (26) in the first draft lottery in 1969 and was able to enlist in the Navy for four years instead of being drafted, whereas he received a high number (333) in the second draft lottery in 1970. Carson said he would have readily accepted his responsibility to fight had he been drafted, but he "identified strongly with the anti-war protesters and the revolutionaries" and enthusiastically voted for anti-war Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern in 1972. In his book, America the Beautiful (2012), Carson said: "The Vietnam War was, in retrospect, not a noble conflict. It brought shame to our nation because of both the outcome and the cause."
In the summers following his high school graduation until his second year in medical school, Carson worked at a variety of jobs: as a clerk in the payroll office of Ford Motor Company, supervisor of a six-person crew picking up trash along the highway under a federal jobs program for inner-city students, a clerk in the mailroom of Young & Rubicam Advertising, assembling fender parts and inspecting back window louvers on the assembly line at Chrysler, a crane operator at Sennett Steel, and finally a radiology technician taking X-rays. At Yale, Carson had a part-time job on campus as a student police aide.
In his autobiography, Carson said he had been offered a scholarship to West Point. Politico reported that West Point has no record of his ever seeking admission. The academy does not award scholarships to anyone; cadets receive a free education and room and board in exchange for a commitment to serve in the military for at least five years after graduation. Carson also said the University of Michigan had offered him a scholarship. His staff later said the described scenario was similar to that of West Point, as he never actually applied for entry to the University of Michigan.
In his autobiography, Gifted Hands, Carson recounted that exams for a Yale psychology course he took his junior year, "Perceptions 301", were inexplicably burned, forcing students to retake the exam. Carson said other students walked out in protest when they discovered the retest was significantly harder than the original examination, but that he alone finished the test. On doing so, Carson said he was congratulated by the course instructor, who told him the retest was a hoax intended to find "the most honest student in the class". Carson said the professor awarded him $10 and that a photographer for the Yale Daily News was present to take his picture, which appeared in the student newspaper with a story about the experiment. Doubts were raised about this story in 2015 during Carson's presidential campaign. The Wall Street Journal attempted to verify Carson's account, reporting that Yale undergraduate courses were identified with only two digits in the early 1970s, that Yale had offered no course called "Perceptions 301" at the time, and that Carson's photo had never appeared in the Yale Daily News. Carson, while acknowledging the class number was not correct, said: "You know, when you write a book with a co-writer and you say that there was a class, a lot of [the] time they'll put a number or something just to give it more meat. You know, obviously, decades later, I'm not going to remember the course number."
Medical school
Carson entered the University of Michigan Medical School in 1973, and at first he struggled academically, doing so poorly on his first set of comprehensive exams that his faculty adviser recommended he drop out of medical school or take a reduced academic load and take longer to finish. He continued with a regular academic load, and his grades improved to average in his first year of medical school. By his second year of medical school, Carson began to excel academically by seldom attending lectures and instead studying textbooks and lecture notes from 6a.m. to 11p.m. Carson graduated from the University of Michigan Medical School with an M.D. degree in 1977, and he was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society.
Carson was then accepted by the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine neurosurgery program, where he served one year as a surgical intern and five years as a neurosurgery resident, completing the final year as chief resident in 1983. He then spent one year (1983–1984) as a Senior Registrar in neurosurgery at the Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Nedlands, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia.
Medical career
Upon returning to Johns Hopkins in 1984, Carson was appointed the university's director of pediatric neurosurgery. As a surgeon, he specialized in traumatic brain injuries, brain and spinal cord tumors, achondroplasia, neurological and congenital disorders, craniosynostosis, epilepsy, and trigeminal neuralgia. He has said that his hand–eye coordination and three-dimensional reasoning made him a gifted surgeon.
While at Johns Hopkins, Carson figured in the revival of the hemispherectomy, a drastic surgical procedure in which part or all of one hemisphere of the brain is removed to control severe pediatric epilepsy. Encouraged by John M. Freeman, he refined the procedure in the 1980s and performed it many times.
In 1987, Carson was the lead neurosurgeon of a 70-member surgical team that separated conjoined twins Patrick and Benjamin Binder, who had been joined at the back of the head (craniopagus twins). The separation surgery held promise in part because the twin boys had separate brains. The Johns Hopkins Children's Center surgical team rehearsed the surgery for weeks, practicing on two dolls secured together by Velcro. Although there were few follow-up stories following the Binder twins' return to Germany seven months after the operation, both twins were reportedly "far from normal" two years after the procedure, with one in a vegetative state. Neither twin was ever able to talk or care for himself, and both eventually became institutionalized wards of the state. Patrick Binder died sometime during the last decade, according to his uncle, who was located by The Washington Post in 2015. The Binder surgery served as a blueprint for similar twin separations, a procedure that was refined in subsequent decades. Carson participated in four subsequent high-risk conjoined-twin separations, including a 1997 operation on craniopagus Zambian twins Joseph and Luka Banda, which resulted in a normal neurological outcome. Two sets of twins died, including Iranian twins Ladan and Laleh Bijani. Another separation resulted in the death of one twin and the survival of the other, who is legally blind and struggles to walk.
According to The Washington Post, the Binder surgery "launched the stardom" of Carson, who "walked out of the operating room that day into a spotlight that has never dimmed", beginning with a press conference that was covered worldwide and created name recognition leading to publishing deals and a motivational speaking career. On the condition the film would have its premiere in Baltimore, Carson agreed to a cameo appearance as "head surgeon" in the 2003 Farrelly brothers' comedy Stuck on You, starring Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear as conjoined twins who, unhappy after their surgical separation, continue life attached to each other by Velcro.
In March 2013, Carson announced he would retire as a surgeon, saying he would "much rather quit when I'm at the top of my game". His retirement became official on July 1, 2013.
In 2021, Carson joined Galectin Therapeutics to assist with development of the company's galectin-3 inhibitor, belapectin, as a treatment for NASH cirrhosis and in combination with immunotherapy for the treatment of cancers.
Articles, books, business relationships, media posts
Carson has written many articles in peer-reviewed journals and six bestselling books published by Zondervan, an international Christian media and publishing company. The first book was an autobiography published in 1992. Two others are about his personal philosophies of success and what he sees as the stabilizing influence of religion.
According to CNN, Carson had an "extensive relationship" from 2004 to 2014 with Mannatech, a multi-level marketing company that produces dietary supplements made from substances such as aloe vera extract and larch-tree bark. Carson gave four paid speeches at company events. He has denied being paid by Mannatech to do anything else, saying he has been a "prolific speaker" who has addressed many groups. In a 2004 speech, he credited the company's products with the disappearance of his prostate cancer symptoms. The nature of this relationship became an issue in 2015 during Carson's presidential campaign. Carson's relationship with Mannatech continued after the company paid $7 million in 2009 to settle a deceptive-marketing lawsuit in Texas over claims that its products could cure autism and cancer. His most recent paid speech for the company was in 2013, for which he was paid $42,000. His image appeared on the corporation's website in 2014, and in the same year, he praised their "glyconutrient" supplements in a PBS special that was subsequently featured on the site.
Carson delivered the keynote address at a Mannatech distributor convention in 2011, during which he said the company had donated funds to help him obtain a coveted endowed-chair post at Johns Hopkins Medicine: "three years ago I had an endowed chair bestowed upon me and uh, it requires $2.5 million to do an endowed chair, and I'm proud to say that part of that $2.5 million came from Mannatech." In October 2015, Carson's campaign team said that "there was no contribution from Mannatech to Johns Hopkins" and that his statement had been "a legitimate mistake on his part. Confusion. He had been doing some fundraising for the hospital and some other chairs about that time, and he simply got things mixed up."
During the CNBC GOP debate on October 28, 2015, Carson was asked about his relationship with Mannatech. He replied, "That's easy to answer. I didn't have any involvement with Mannatech. Total propaganda. I did a couple speeches for them. I did speeches for other people—they were paid speeches. It is absolutely absurd to say I had any kind of relation with them. Do I take the product? Yes. I think it is a good product." Politifact rated Carson's denial of any involvement as "false", pointing to his paid speeches for Mannatech and his appearances in promotional videos in which he favorably reviewed its products, despite not being "an official spokesman or sales associate". When the CNBC moderator commented that Carson was on Mannatech's website, Carson replied that he had not given his permission. Earlier, he had said he was unaware of the company's legal history.
On November 3, 2015, Mannatech said on its website that for compliance with federal campaign finance regulations, the company had removed all references to Carson before he announced his bid for the presidency.
In July 2013, Carson was hired by The Washington Times as a weekly opinion columnist. In October 2013, Fox News hired Carson as a contributor to provide analysis and commentary across Fox News Channel's daytime and primetime programming, a relationship that lasted until the end of 2014.
In 2014, some House Republicans (who later formed the House Freedom Caucus) approached Carson about the possibility of his standing for Speaker of the House in the event that the incumbent Speaker, John Boehner, had to step down because of intraparty disunion. Carson declined, citing preparations for his 2016 presidential campaign. Ultimately, Boehner resigned in October 2015, and Paul Ryan was elected as the new Speaker.
In financial disclosure forms, Carson and his wife reported income of between $8.9 million and $27 million from January 2014 to May 3, 2015, when he announced his presidential campaign. Over that period, Carson received over $4 million from 141 paid speeches, between $1.1 million and $6 million in book royalties, between $200,000 and $2 million as a contributor to The Washington Times and Fox News, and between $2 million and $10 million as a member of the boards of Kellogg Co. and Costco Wholesale Corp. He resigned from Costco's board in mid-2015, after serving on it for more than 16 years. Carson was chairman of the Baltimore-based biotechnology company Vaccinogen from August 2014 until the announcement of his US presidential bid in May 2015. Carson had previously served on Vaccinogen's Medical Advisory Board.
2016 presidential campaign
Background and increasing political visibility
Carson, who had been registered as a Republican, changed his registration to independent in the 1990s after watching Republicans impeach President Clinton for perjury regarding an extramarital affair with Monica Lewinsky. "I just saw so much hypocrisy in both parties", he said. In February 2013, Carson said he was not a member of any political party.
In his book America the Beautiful (2013), he wrote: "I believe it is a very good idea for physicians, scientists, engineers, and others trained to make decisions based on facts and empirical data to get involved in the political arena."
Carson was the keynote speaker at the National Prayer Breakfast on February 7, 2013. The speech garnered Carson considerable attention because the event is normally apolitical in nature, and the speech was critical of the philosophy and policies of President Barack Obama, who was sitting 10 feet away. About the speech, Carson said: "I don't think it was particularly political... You know, I'm a physician." Regarding the policies of President Obama, he said: "There are a number of policies that I don't believe lead to the growth of our nation and don't lead to the elevation of our nation. I don't want to sit here and say all of his policies are bad. What I would like to see more often in this nation is an open and intelligent conversation."
Carson's sudden popularity among conservatives led to his being invited as a featured speaker at the 2013 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). He tied for seventh place in the Washington Times/CPAC 2013 Straw Poll with 4% of the 3,000 ballots cast. In the 2014 CPAC straw poll, he was in third place with 9% of the vote, behind senators Ted Cruz of Texas (with 11%) and Rand Paul of Kentucky (31%). In the presidential straw poll at the 2013 Values Voter Summit, he and Rick Santorum polled 13%, with winner Ted Cruz polling 42%, and in 2014 he polled 20% to Cruz's winning 25%.
On November 4, 2014, the day of the 2014 midterms, he rejoined the Republican Party, saying it was "truly a pragmatic move" because he was considering running for president in 2016.
In January 2015, The Weekly Standard reported that the Draft Carson Committee had raised $13 million by the end of 2014, shortly after Carson performed well in a CNN/ORC poll of potential candidates in December 2014, coming second in two different versions. He polled 10% to Mitt Romney's 20%, but in the same poll with Romney removed from the list, Carson polled 11% to Jeb Bush's 14%. The Wall Street Journal mentioned that the Draft Carson Committee had chairmen in all of Iowa's 99 counties, and that Carson had recently led two separate Public Policy polls for the state of Pennsylvania.
Announcement of campaign
On May 2, 2015, Carson proclaimed that in two days he was going to make a major announcement on his decision on whether to enter the presidential race. In an interview with Cincinnati station WKRC-TV on May 3, 2015, Carson accidentally confirmed his candidacy for president. The interview was also broadcast live on WPEC. The next day, May 4, 2015, at the Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts in his home town of Detroit, he officially announced his run for the Republican nomination in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The announcement speech was preceded by a choir singing "Lose Yourself" with Carson sitting in the audience. After the song, Carson took the stage and announced his candidacy alongside a speech on his rags to riches life story, at one point stating: "I remember when our favorite drug dealer was killed."
Surge in polls
In October 2015, the Super PAC supporting Carson, The 2016 Committee (formerly the Draft Carson Committee), announced it had received donations in mostly $100 increments from more than 200 small businesses around the country over the course of one week. Fox Business reported that "Carson's outsider status is growing his small business support base." Ben Walters, a fundraiser for The 2016 Committee, expressed optimism about Carson's small business support base: "It's unbelievable the diversity of businesses that we are bringing on. We are seeing everything from doctors' offices and folks in the healthcare profession to motorcycle repair shops and bed and breakfasts."
In October, it was noted that Carson's "improbable" political career had surged in polls and fundraising, while he continued to participate in nationally televised Republican debates.
Decline in polls
The campaign brought considerable attention to Carson's past. CBS News described Carson's narrative of "overcoming impossible odds as a child growing up in an impoverished, single-parent household to reach international prominence as a pediatric neurosurgeon" as "a key part of his presidential campaign". The Wall Street Journal said the narrative came under "the harsh scrutiny of presidential politics, where rivals and media hunt for embellishments and omissions that can hobble a campaign". CNN characterized the core narrative as "acts of violence as an angry young man", followed by a spiritual epiphany that transformed Carson into the "composed figure" he now portrays. Media challenges to a number of Carson's statements included allegations of discrepancies between documented facts and certain assertions in his autobiography Gifted Hands—allegations dismissed by Carson as a media "witch hunt". In November 2015, the Detroit Free Press republished an article from 1988 "to try to bring some clarity to the claims currently being brought into question".
In November 2015, Carson's campaign aired a 60-second TV advertisement in which excerpts from Carson's stump speech were intercut with a rap by an artist named Aspiring Mogul. They spent $150,000 on the ads, which were aired in Atlanta, Detroit and Miami. Carson defended the ad, saying "Well, there are people in the campaign who felt that was a good way to do things... I support them in doing that, but I probably would have taken a little different approach." Later, he said the advertisement was done without his knowledge, that "it was done by people who have no concept of the black community and what they were doing", and that he was "horrified" by it.
The New York Times reported in 2015, "Carson has acknowledged being something of a novice on foreign affairs." Regarding the Ukrainian crisis, Carson would send arms to Ukraine to aid it in its fight against pro-Russian rebels. He also believes the Baltic states, current NATO members, should "get involved in NATO".
In a November 2015 Republican debate, Carson declared his intentions to make ISIS "look like losers" as he would "destroy their caliphate". Carson also advocated capturing a "big energy field" outside of Anbar, Iraq, which he said could be accomplished "fairly easily". Regarding the Middle East, he also claimed that "the Chinese are there".
Carson said he is not opposed to a Palestinian state, but he questioned why it needs "to be within the confines of Israeli territory ... Is that necessary, or can you sort of slip that area down into Egypt?"
Withdrawal from campaign
On March 2, following the Super Tuesday 2016 primaries, Carson announced that he did "not see a political path forward" and would not attend the next Republican debate in Detroit. He said, "[T]his grassroots movement on behalf of 'We the People' will continue", indicating that he would give more details later in the week. He suspended his campaign on March4 and announced he would be the new national chairman of My Faith Votes, a group that encourages Christians to exercise their civic duty to vote.
In total, Ben Carson's campaign spent $58 million. However, most of the money went to political consultants and fundraising rather than advertising. Carson questioned whether his campaign was economically sabotaged from within.
Further activities during the 2016 election
On March 11, 2016, a week after Carson ended his presidential campaign, he endorsed Trump, calling him part of "the voice of the people to be heard". Carson's subsequent comments that Americans would have to sustain Trump for only four years if he was not a good president drew criticism, and he admitted that he would have preferred another candidate, though he thought Trump had the best chance of winning the general election.
On the other hand, at the press conference Carson said Trump had a "cerebral" side.
On April 25, Carson expressed opposition to Harriet Tubman replacing Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill the day after dubbing the replacement "political expediency", though he indicated interest in Tubman having another tribute. In late April, Carson wrote to the Nevada Republican Party, requesting the two delegates he won in Nevada be released and free to support whoever they want.
On May 4, after Trump wrapped up the Republican nomination, he hinted that Carson would be among those who would vet his vice-presidential pick. The same day, in an interview Carson expressed interest in Ted Cruz serving as Attorney General of the United States, a position that Carson said would allow Cruz to prosecute Hillary Clinton, and then as a Supreme Court Justice nominee from the Trump administration. On May 6, Carson said in an interview that Trump would consider a Democrat as his running mate, conflicting with Trump's assertion that he would not. A Carson spokesperson later said Carson expected Trump to select a Republican.
Carson was said by aide Armstrong Williams in a May 10 interview to have withdrawn from the Trump campaign's vetting team, though the campaign confirmed he was still involved. Later that month, Carson revealed a list of potential vice-presidential candidates in an interview with The Washington Post. On May 16, Carson said the media could not keep opinion out of reporting and cited Walter Cronkite as a fair journalist who was, in his words, a "left-wing radical".
During the Republican National Convention, Carson appeared with former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani in support of the pro-Donald Trump Great America PAC at an event in Cleveland.
Results
In total, Carson received 857,039 votes during the Republican primaries; this total represented 2.75% of the votes cast. He received the support of seven delegates at the Republican National Convention. Trump received the Republican nomination and went on to be elected president on November 8, 2016.
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
Nomination and confirmation
After Donald Trump's win in the 2016 election, Carson joined Trump's transition team as vice chairman. Carson was also offered a cabinet position in the administration. He declined, in part because of his lack of experience, with an aide stating, "The last thing he would want to do was take a position that could cripple the presidency." Although it was reported that the position was for Secretary of Health and Human Services, Carson's business manager has disputed this, stating, "Dr. Carson was never offered a specific position, but everything was open to him." He was eventually offered the position of Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, which he accepted.
On December 5, 2016, Trump announced that he would nominate Carson to the position of Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. During the confirmation process, Carson was scrutinized by some housing advocates for what they perceived as his lack of relevant experience.
On January 24, 2017, the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs voted unanimously to approve the nomination. Senate Democrats attempted to defeat Carson's nomination via filibuster, but that vote failed on March 1, 2017, and he was then confirmed by the Senate by a 58–41 vote the next day.
Tenure
In December 2017, The Economist described the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), led by Ben Carson, as "directionless". Most of the top HUD positions were unfilled and Carson's leadership was "inconspicuous and inscrutable". Of the policies HUD was enacting, The Economist wrote, "it is hard not to conclude that the governing principle at HUD is to take whatever the Obama administration was doing, and do the opposite." HUD scaled back the enforcement of fair housing laws, halted several fair housing investigations started by the Obama administration and removed the words "inclusive" and "free from discrimination" from its mission statement. HUD saw an exodus of career officials during Carson's tenure.
On March 6, his first day as secretary, while addressing Housing and Urban Development (HUD) employees, Carson saluted the work ethic of immigrants, and during his comments, he likened slaves to involuntary immigrants. A HUD spokesman said that no one present thought Carson "was equating voluntary immigration with involuntary servitude". In the same speech, Carson was criticized by some for saying that the human brain "was incapable of forgetting and could be electrically stimulated into perfect recall".
Under the federal budget proposed by Trump in 2017, HUD's budget for the fiscal year 2018 would be cut by $6.2 billion (13%) and the Community Development Block Grant, a program which Carson praised in a trip to Detroit as HUD secretary, would be eliminated. Carson issued a statement supporting the proposed cuts. Carson suggested that federal funds for housing in Detroit could be part of an expected infrastructure bill.
In April 2017, while speaking in Washington at the National Low Income Housing Coalition conference, Carson said that housing funding would be included in an upcoming infrastructure bill from the Trump administration.
In July 2017, during his keynote address at the LeadingAge Florida annual convention, Carson stated his concern about "seniors who become destitute" and reported that the Department of Housing and Urban Development had increased public housing programs for the elderly by an unspecified number.
In summer 2017, Carson allowed his son, Baltimore businessman, Ben Carson Jr., to participate in organizing a HUD "listening tour" in Baltimore. Internal documents obtained by The Washington Post under the Freedom of Information Act showed that the younger Carson "put people he'd invited in touch with his father's deputies, joined agency staff on official conference calls about the listening tour and copied his wife on related email exchanges". The son's involvement prompted HUD staff to express concern; the department's deputy general counsel for operations wrote in a memorandum "that this gave the appearance that the Secretary may be using his position for his son's private gain". Carson's wife, son, and daughter-in-law also attended official meetings. In February 2018, the HUD inspector general's office confirmed that it was looking into the role Carson's family played at the department.
During congressional testimony in May 2019, while being questioned by U.S. Representative Katie Porter, Carson did not know what the term REO ("Real Estate Owned" refers to housing owned by a bank or lending institution post-foreclosure) stood for and confused it with the cookie, Oreo. In response, Carson went on the Fox Business Network where he accused Democrats of adhering to "Saul Alinsky" tactics.
On March 1, 2020, the office of Vice President Mike Pence announced Carson's addition to the White House Coronavirus Task Force.
On November 9, 2020, Carson tested positive for COVID-19 after attending President Trump's Election Night party. He initially treated himself with a homeopathic oleander extract on the recommendation of Mike Lindell, the founder of My Pillow, Inc., which Carson said caused his symptoms to disappear. Oleander was previously rejected by the Food and Drug Administration as a treatment for COVID-19 and Carson received criticism for promoting an unscientific homeopathic treatment. He disclosed on November 20 that he subsequently became "extremely sick" and attributed his recovery to Regeneron's experimental antibody therapy. He said that President Trump had given him access to the drug.
Office furnishing scandal
Carson received criticism for spending up to $31,000 on a dining set in his office in late 2017. This expenditure was discovered after Helen Foster, a career HUD official, filed a complaint alleging that she had been demoted from her position because she refused to spend more than the legal $5,000 limit for office redecorations. Carson and his spokesman said that he had little or no involvement in the purchase of the dining set. Later, email communications revealed that Carson and his wife selected the dining set. On March 20, 2018, Carson testified before the United States House Committee on Appropriations that he had "dismissed" himself from the decision to buy the $31,000 dining room set and "left it to my wife, you know, to choose something". On September 12, 2019, HUD's inspector general released a report clearing Carson of misconduct.
Remarks on transgender use of homeless shelters
Carson was accused by members of the Department of Housing and Urban Development of making transphobic remarks at a meeting in San Francisco in September 2019. He warned that "big, hairy men" might infiltrate homeless shelters for women, prompting one woman to walk out. Reps. Joe Kennedy III of Massachusetts and Jennifer Wexton of Virginia called for his resignation, but Carson said the accusations were a "mischaracterization". A HUD spokesperson responded that Carson "does not use derogatory language to refer to transgendered individuals. Any reporting to the contrary is false."
Carson Scholars Fund
In 1994, Carson and his wife started the Carson Scholars Fund that awards scholarships to students in grades 4–11 for "academic excellence and humanitarian qualities".
Recipients of the Carson Scholars Fund receive a $1,000 scholarship towards their college education. It has awarded 6,700 scholarships. In recognition for his work with the Carson Scholars Fund and other charitable giving throughout his lifetime, Carson was awarded the William E. Simon Prize for Philanthropic Leadership in 2005.
American Cornerstone Institute
In 2021, Carson founded the American Cornerstone Institute or ACI, a conservative think tank centered around advancing policies that promote "faith, liberty, community, and life".
The ACI's mission statement is "dedicated to promoting and preserving individual and religious liberty, helping our country's most vulnerable find new hope, and developing methods to decrease the federal government's role in society and to improve efficiency to best serve ALL our nation's citizens. Headed by world-renowned neurosurgeon, presidential candidate, and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Dr. Ben Carson, ACI will be a voice for reason and civility in a nation that is increasingly devoid of common sense."
Personal life
Carson and his wife, fellow Detroit native Lacena "Candy" Rustin, met in 1971 as students at Yale University and married in 1975. They began living in West Friendship, Maryland, in 1988. Together, the couple have three sons (Rhoeyce, Benjamin Jr., and Murray), as well as several grandchildren. Their oldest son, Murray, was born in Perth, Australia, while Carson was undertaking a residency there. In 1981 Carson's wife became pregnant with twins before miscarrying in the fifth month of her pregnancy.
In 2001, Ben and Candy Carson bought a 48-acre property in Upperco, Maryland.
After being diagnosed with prostate cancer, Carson underwent a two-hour operation at the Johns Hopkins Hospital on August 7, 2002.
In 2013, Carson, his wife, and Carson's mother moved to West Palm Beach, Florida.
Surrounding his confirmation as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Carson bought a $1.22 million home in Vienna, Virginia, in February 2017 and sold his West Palm Beach home for over $900,000 in May 2017.
Religion
Carson and his wife are members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA). Carson was baptized at Burns Seventh-day Adventist Church in Detroit. A few years later, he told the pastor at a church he was attending in Inkster, Michigan, that he had not fully understood his first baptism and wanted to be baptized again. He has served as a local elder and Sabbath School teacher in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Although Carson is an Adventist, the church has officially cautioned church employees to remain politically neutral.
In keeping with his Seventh-day Adventist faith, Carson announced in 2014 his belief "that the United States will play a big role" in the coming apocalypse. He went on to say, "I hope by that time I'm not around anymore."
In an interview with Katie Couric, Carson said that Jesus Christ came to Earth to redeem the world through his atoning sacrifice and that all people are sinners and need his redemption.
Carson has stated that he does not believe in hell as understood by some Christians: "You know, I see God as a very loving individual. And why would he torment somebody forever who only had a life of 60 or 70 or 80 years? Even if they were evil. Even if they were only evil for 80 years?" This is fully in line with Adventist teaching, which promotes annihilationism.
Carson endorsed Seventh-day Adventist theology, which includes belief in a literal reading of the first chapters of Genesis. In a 2013 interview with Adventist News Network, Carson said: "You know, I'm proud of the fact that I believe what God has said, and I've said many times that I'll defend it before anyone. If they want to criticize the fact that I believe in a literal, six-day creation, let's have at it because I will poke all kinds of holes in what they believe." Carson's Adventism was raised as an issue by his then-primary rival Donald Trump. Some Adventists have argued that Carson's political positions on gun rights and religious liberty conflict with historic Adventist teachings in favor of nonviolence, pacifism, and the separation of church and state.
Claim about Egyptian pyramids
During a commencement speech at Andrews University in Michigan in 1998, Carson stated that he believed that the pyramids of Giza were created by the biblical figure Joseph to store grain, despite the fact that the story of Joseph is set in the time of Egypt's Middle Kingdom, five centuries after the pyramids of Giza were built. When questioned about it again in 2015, he stood by his original assertion.
Vegetarianism
Consistent with the practice of many Adventists, Carson is a lacto-ovo vegetarian (he will eat dishes containing milk, eggs, or cheese, and occasionally, poultry). He has said his main reason for becoming vegetarian was health concerns, including avoiding parasites and heart disease, and he emphasizes the environmental benefits of vegetarianism. His transition was made easier because he had eaten little meat for aesthetic reasons as a child, and he readily adopted his wife's vegetarianism because she does much of the cooking in their household. Speaking in 1990, he said that with the increasing availability of meat substitutes, "It might take 20 years. But eventually there will no longer be a reason for most people to eat meat. And animals will breathe a sigh of relief." To avoid causing others discomfort, he is willing to occasionally eat chicken or turkey, although he finds eating pork highly unpleasant.
Awards and honors
Carson is a member of the American Academy of Achievement, Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society, and the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans.
Carson has been awarded 38 honorary doctorate degrees and dozens of national merit citations. Detroit Public Schools opened the Dr. Benjamin Carson High School of Science and Medicine for students interested in pursuing healthcare careers. The school is partnering with Detroit Receiving Hospital and Michigan State University.
In 2000, he received the Award for Greatest Public Service Benefiting the Disadvantaged, an award given out annually by Jefferson Awards.
In 2001, he was elected by the Library of Congress on the occasion of its 200th anniversary to be one of the 89 who earned the designation Library of Congress Living Legend.
In 2004, he was appointed to serve on The President's Council on Bioethics.
In 2005, Carson was awarded the William E. Simon Prize for Philanthropic Leadership.
In 2006, he received the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP, their highest honor for outstanding achievement.
In 2008, the White House awarded Carson the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.
In 2008, Ford's Theatre Society awarded Carson the Ford's Theatre Lincoln Medal, for exemplifying the qualities embodied by President Abraham Lincoln—including courage, integrity, tolerance, equality, and creative expression—through superior achievements.
In 2008, U.S. News & World Report named Carson as one of "America's Best Leaders".
In 2010, he was elected into the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine, considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine.
In 2012, Carson was the Influential Marylander Award recipient from The Daily Record, Baltimore's legal and business newspaper.
In 2014, a poll of Americans conducted by Gallup ranked Carson sixth on a list of the most admired persons.
He is an emeritus fellow of the Yale Corporation.
Books
(with Cecil Murphey)
(with Gregg Lewis)
(with Candy Carson)
(with Candy Carson), on The New York Times bestsellers list for 20 straight weeks, five of them as number one
(with Candy Carson)
(with Gregg Lewis, Deborah Shaw Lewis)
(with Cecil Murphey)
(with Candy Carson)
See also
Ben Carson 2016 presidential campaign
Ben Carson office furnishing scandal
List of African-American Republicans
2016 Republican Party presidential candidates
Notes
References
Further reading
Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story (February 7, 2009), a television movie with the same title as Carson's first book premiered on TNT with Academy Award winner Cuba Gooding Jr. in the lead role and Kimberly Elise portraying his mother.
A Doctor in the House: My Life with Ben Carson (January 5, 2016), a book by Candy Carson
External links
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson
Ben Carson:Dialogue with an Adventist Neurosurgeon College and University Dialogue Retrieved October 12, 2018
1951 births
Living people
20th-century American male writers
20th-century Protestants
21st-century American male writers
21st-century American politicians
21st-century Protestants
African-American Christians
African-American members of the Cabinet of the United States
African-American physicians
African-American government officials
African-American candidates for President of the United States
African-American writers
American neurosurgeons
American Seventh-day Adventists
American Christian creationists
American Christian writers
Candidates in the 2016 United States presidential election
Christian vegetarianism
Florida Republicans
Johns Hopkins Hospital physicians
Kellogg's people
Maryland Republicans
Michigan Republicans
Members of the National Academy of Medicine
Physicians from Detroit
People from Dorchester, Massachusetts
People from Roxbury, Boston
People from Vienna, Virginia
Politicians from Detroit
People from West Friendship, Maryland
People from West Palm Beach, Florida
Physicians from Michigan
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
Seventh-day Adventists from Michigan
Seventh-day Adventists in health science
Spingarn Medal winners
Tea Party movement activists
Trump administration cabinet members
United States Secretaries of Housing and Urban Development
University of Michigan Medical School alumni
The Washington Times people
Yale University alumni
20th-century American writers
Southwestern High School (Michigan) alumni | false | [
"The Detroit Public School League (PSL) is a high school conference based in the city of Detroit, Michigan and is governed by Detroit Public Schools (DPS) Office of Athletics. The PSL is affiliated with the MHSAA.\n\nCurrent members\n\nDefunct high schools\n Detroit Crockett High School\n Detroit Chadsey High School\n Detroit Cooley High School\n Detroit City High School\n Detroit Finney High School\n Detroit Kettering High School\n Detroit Mackenzie High School\n Detroit Sidney D. Miller High School \n Detroit Murray–Wright High School\n Detroit Northeastern High School\n Detroit Northern High School\n Detroit Redford High School\n Detroit Southwestern High School\n\nNotes\n Detroit Douglass is all boys while Detroit International Academy is all girls\n Detroit Ben Carson and Detroit School of Arts do not field sports teams of their own; Ben Carson co-ops with Douglass (boys sports) and International Academy (girls sports) while Detroit School of Arts co-ops with West Side Academy\n Detroit Delta Prep and Detroit Edison Academy are charter schools not affiliated with Detroit Public Schools\n Detroit Edison Academy is an independent in football as they did not want to play Cass Tech\n\nSports\n\nBoys\n\nGirls\n\nLeague Championships\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nMichigan High School Athletic Association\nDetroit Public Schools\n\nMichigan high school sports conferences\nHigh schools in Detroit\nSports competitions in Detroit",
"Fountain-Fort Carson School District 8, shortened as FFC8 or D8, is a public school district serving the southwestern area of El Paso County, Colorado, United States. Its schools are mostly based in Fountain, but it also has schools on the nearby Fort Carson military installation.\n\nList of schools\nFountain-Fort Carson School District 8 has thirteen schools, including five on Fort Carson.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nSchool districts in Colorado"
] |
[
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"Where did Carson attend high school",
"Southwestern High School",
"What years did Carson attend Southwestern High School",
"ninth through 12th grades,"
] | C_8c698173e273415a9ad5450fbc5b9341_0 | Did Carson participate in any extra curricular activities in High School | 3 | Did Carson participate in any extra curricular activities in High School | Ben Carson | By ninth grade, the family's financial situation had improved, his mother surprising neighbors by paying cash to buy a new Chrysler car, and the only government assistance they still relied on was food stamps. Carson attended the predominantly black Southwestern High School for ninth through 12th grades, graduating third in his class academically. In high school he played the baritone horn in the band, and participated in forensics (public speaking), chess club, and the U.S. Army Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) program where he reached its highest rank--cadet colonel. Carson served as a laboratory assistant in the high school's biology, chemistry, physics school laboratories beginning in 10th, 11th, and 12th grade, respectively, and worked as a biology laboratory assistant at Wayne State University the summer between 11th and 12th grades. In his book Gifted Hands, Carson relates that as a youth he had a violent temper. "As a teenager, I would go after people with rocks, and bricks, and baseball bats, and hammers," Carson told NBC's Meet the Press in October 2015. He said he once tried to hit his mother on the head with a hammer over a clothing dispute, while in the ninth grade he tried to stab a friend who had changed the radio station. Fortunately, the blade broke in his friend's belt buckle. Carson said that the intended victim, whose identity he wants to protect, was a classmate, a friend, or a close relative. After this incident, Carson said that he began reading the Book of Proverbs and applying verses on anger. As a result, he states he "never had another problem with temper". In his various books and at campaign events, he repeated these stories and said he once attacked a schoolmate with a combination lock. Nine friends, classmates, and neighbors who grew up with him told CNN in 2015 they did not remember the anger or violence he has described. In response, Carson posted on Facebook a 1997 Parade Magazine issue, in which his mother verified the stabbing incident. He then questioned the extent of the effort CNN had exerted in the investigation. He has said that he protected white students in a biology lab after a race riot broke out at his high school in response to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. The Wall Street Journal confirmed the riot but could not find anyone who remembered Carson sheltering white students. CANNOTANSWER | played the baritone horn in the band, and participated in forensics ( | Benjamin Solomon Carson Sr. (born September 18, 1951) is an American retired neurosurgeon and politician who served as the 17th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 2017 to 2021. He was a candidate for President of the United States in the 2016 Republican primaries. He is considered a pioneer in the field of neurosurgery.
Carson became the director of pediatric neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center in 1984 at age 33, then the youngest chief of pediatric neurosurgery in the United States. At retirement, he was professor of neurosurgery, oncology, plastic surgery, and pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Carson's achievements include participating in the first reported separation of conjoined twins joined at the back of the head. Although surgically a success, the twins continued to suffer neurologic/medical complications. Additional accomplishments include performing the first successful neurosurgical procedure on a fetus inside the womb, developing new methods to treat brain-stem tumors, and revitalizing hemispherectomy techniques for controlling seizures. He wrote over 100 neurosurgical publications. He retired from medicine in 2013.
Carson gained national fame among political conservatives after delivering a speech at the 2013 National Prayer Breakfast which was perceived as critical of the policies of President Barack Obama. Following widespread speculation of a presidential run, Carson officially announced his campaign for the 2016 Republican nomination for President in May 2015. Carson performed strongly in early polls, leading to his being considered a frontrunner for the nomination during the fall of 2015; however, his polling support began to decline following scrutiny of his foreign policy credentials after the November 2015 Paris attacks. Carson withdrew from the race after Super Tuesday, following a string of disappointing primary results, and endorsed Donald Trump. Following Trump's victory, Trump nominated Carson as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, being confirmed by the United States Senate in a 58–41 vote on March 2, 2017. Carson is one of the most prominent black conservatives in America.
Carson has received numerous honors for his neurosurgery work, including more than 60 honorary doctorate degrees and numerous national merit citations. In 2001, he was named by CNN and Time magazine as one of the nation's 20 foremost physicians and scientists and was selected by the Library of Congress as one of 89 "Living Legends" on its 200th anniversary. In 2008, Carson was bestowed the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States. In 2010, he was elected into the National Academy of Medicine. He was the subject of the 2009 TV film Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story, wherein he was portrayed by Cuba Gooding Jr. Carson has also written or co-written six bestselling books.
Early life and education
Carson's parents were Robert Solomon Carson Jr. (1914–1992), a World War II U.S. Army veteran, and Sonya Carson (née Copeland, 1928–2017). Robert Carson was a Baptist minister, but he later became a Cadillac automobile plant laborer. Both his parents came from large families in rural Georgia, and they were living in rural Tennessee when they met and married. Carson's mother was 13 and his father was 28 when they married, and after his father finished his military service, they moved from Chattanooga, Tennessee, to Detroit, where they lived in a large house in the Indian Village neighborhood. Carson's older brother, Curtis, was born in 1949, when his mother was 20. In 1950, Carson's parents purchased a new 733-square foot single-family detached home on Deacon Street in the Boynton neighborhood in southwest Detroit. Carson was born in Detroit, Michigan, on September 18, 1951.
Carson's Detroit Public Schools education began in 1956 with kindergarten at the Fisher School and continued through first, second, and the first half of third grade, during which time he was an average student. At the age of five, his mother learned that his father had a prior family and had not divorced his first wife. In 1959, at the age of eight, his parents separated and he moved with his mother and brother to live for two years with his mother's Seventh-day Adventist older sister and her sister's husband in multi-family dwellings in the Dorchester and Roxbury neighborhoods of Boston. In Boston, Carson's mother attempted suicide, had several psychiatric hospitalizations for depression, and for the first time began working outside the home as a domestic worker, while Carson and his brother attended a two-classroom school at the Berea Seventh-day Adventist church where two teachers taught eight grades, and the vast majority of time was spent singing songs and playing games.
In 1961, at the age of 10, he moved with his mother and brother back to southwest Detroit, where they lived in a multi-family dwelling in a primarily white neighborhood, (Springwells Village), across the railroad tracks from the Delray neighborhood, while renting out their house on Deacon Street, which his mother received in a divorce settlement. When they returned to Detroit public schools, Carson and his brother's academic performance initially lagged far behind their new classmates, having, according to Carson, "essentially lost a year of school" by attending the small Seventh-day Adventist parochial school in Boston, but they both improved when their mother limited their time watching television and required them to read and write book reports on two library books per week. Carson attended the predominantly white Higgins Elementary School for fifth and sixth grades and the predominantly white Wilson Junior High School for seventh and the first half of eighth grade. In 1965, at the age of 13, he moved with his mother and brother back to their house on Deacon Street. He attended the predominantly black Hunter Junior High School for the second half of eighth grade. At the age of eight, Carson dreamt of becoming a missionary doctor, but five years later he aspired to the lucrative lifestyles of psychiatrists portrayed on television, and his brother bought him a subscription to Psychology Today for his 13th birthday.
High school
By grade 9, the family's financial situation had improved, his mother surprising neighbors by paying cash to buy a new Chrysler car, and the only government assistance they still relied on was food stamps. Carson attended the predominantly black Southwestern High School for grades nine through twelve, graduating third in his class academically. In high school, he played the euphonium in band and participated in forensics (public speaking), chess club, and the U.S. Army Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) program where he reached its highest rank—cadet colonel. Carson served as a laboratory assistant in the high school's biology, chemistry, and physics school laboratories beginning in grades 10, 11, and 12, respectively, and worked as a biology laboratory assistant at Wayne State University the summer between grade 11 and 12.
In his book Gifted Hands, Carson relates that as a youth, he had a violent temper. "As a teenager, I would go after people with rocks, and bricks, and baseball bats, and hammers", Carson told NBC's Meet the Press in October 2015. He said he once tried to hit his mother on the head with a hammer over a clothing dispute, while in the ninth grade he tried to stab a friend who had changed the radio station. Fortunately, the blade broke in his friend's belt buckle. Carson said the intended victim, whose identity he wants to protect, was a classmate, a friend, or a close relative. After this incident, Carson said he began reading the Book of Proverbs and applying verses on anger. As a result, he states he "never had another problem with temper". In his various books and at campaign events, he repeated these stories and said he once attacked a schoolmate with a combination lock. Nine friends, classmates, and neighbors who grew up with him told CNN in 2015 they did not remember the anger or violence he has described. In response, Carson posted on Facebook a 1997 Parade magazine issue, in which his mother verified the stabbing incident. He then questioned the extent of the effort CNN had exerted in the investigation.
Carson has said that he protected white students in a biology lab after a race riot broke out at his high school in response to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. The Wall Street Journal confirmed the riot but could not find anyone who remembered Carson sheltering white students.
College
Carson's SAT college admission test scores ranked him somewhere in the low 90th percentile. He wanted to attend college farther away than his brother who was at the University of Michigan. Carson says he narrowed his college choices to Harvard or Yale but could only afford the $10 application fee to apply for only one of them. He said he decided to apply to Yale after seeing a team from Yale defeat a team from Harvard on the G.E. College Bowl television show. Carson was accepted by Yale and offered a full scholarship covering tuition, room and board. In 1973, Carson graduated with a B.A. in psychology from Yale "with a fairly respectable grade point average although far from the top of the class".
Carson does not say in his books whether he received a college student deferment during the Vietnam War. He does say that his older brother, then a student at the University of Michigan, received a low number (26) in the first draft lottery in 1969 and was able to enlist in the Navy for four years instead of being drafted, whereas he received a high number (333) in the second draft lottery in 1970. Carson said he would have readily accepted his responsibility to fight had he been drafted, but he "identified strongly with the anti-war protesters and the revolutionaries" and enthusiastically voted for anti-war Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern in 1972. In his book, America the Beautiful (2012), Carson said: "The Vietnam War was, in retrospect, not a noble conflict. It brought shame to our nation because of both the outcome and the cause."
In the summers following his high school graduation until his second year in medical school, Carson worked at a variety of jobs: as a clerk in the payroll office of Ford Motor Company, supervisor of a six-person crew picking up trash along the highway under a federal jobs program for inner-city students, a clerk in the mailroom of Young & Rubicam Advertising, assembling fender parts and inspecting back window louvers on the assembly line at Chrysler, a crane operator at Sennett Steel, and finally a radiology technician taking X-rays. At Yale, Carson had a part-time job on campus as a student police aide.
In his autobiography, Carson said he had been offered a scholarship to West Point. Politico reported that West Point has no record of his ever seeking admission. The academy does not award scholarships to anyone; cadets receive a free education and room and board in exchange for a commitment to serve in the military for at least five years after graduation. Carson also said the University of Michigan had offered him a scholarship. His staff later said the described scenario was similar to that of West Point, as he never actually applied for entry to the University of Michigan.
In his autobiography, Gifted Hands, Carson recounted that exams for a Yale psychology course he took his junior year, "Perceptions 301", were inexplicably burned, forcing students to retake the exam. Carson said other students walked out in protest when they discovered the retest was significantly harder than the original examination, but that he alone finished the test. On doing so, Carson said he was congratulated by the course instructor, who told him the retest was a hoax intended to find "the most honest student in the class". Carson said the professor awarded him $10 and that a photographer for the Yale Daily News was present to take his picture, which appeared in the student newspaper with a story about the experiment. Doubts were raised about this story in 2015 during Carson's presidential campaign. The Wall Street Journal attempted to verify Carson's account, reporting that Yale undergraduate courses were identified with only two digits in the early 1970s, that Yale had offered no course called "Perceptions 301" at the time, and that Carson's photo had never appeared in the Yale Daily News. Carson, while acknowledging the class number was not correct, said: "You know, when you write a book with a co-writer and you say that there was a class, a lot of [the] time they'll put a number or something just to give it more meat. You know, obviously, decades later, I'm not going to remember the course number."
Medical school
Carson entered the University of Michigan Medical School in 1973, and at first he struggled academically, doing so poorly on his first set of comprehensive exams that his faculty adviser recommended he drop out of medical school or take a reduced academic load and take longer to finish. He continued with a regular academic load, and his grades improved to average in his first year of medical school. By his second year of medical school, Carson began to excel academically by seldom attending lectures and instead studying textbooks and lecture notes from 6a.m. to 11p.m. Carson graduated from the University of Michigan Medical School with an M.D. degree in 1977, and he was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society.
Carson was then accepted by the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine neurosurgery program, where he served one year as a surgical intern and five years as a neurosurgery resident, completing the final year as chief resident in 1983. He then spent one year (1983–1984) as a Senior Registrar in neurosurgery at the Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Nedlands, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia.
Medical career
Upon returning to Johns Hopkins in 1984, Carson was appointed the university's director of pediatric neurosurgery. As a surgeon, he specialized in traumatic brain injuries, brain and spinal cord tumors, achondroplasia, neurological and congenital disorders, craniosynostosis, epilepsy, and trigeminal neuralgia. He has said that his hand–eye coordination and three-dimensional reasoning made him a gifted surgeon.
While at Johns Hopkins, Carson figured in the revival of the hemispherectomy, a drastic surgical procedure in which part or all of one hemisphere of the brain is removed to control severe pediatric epilepsy. Encouraged by John M. Freeman, he refined the procedure in the 1980s and performed it many times.
In 1987, Carson was the lead neurosurgeon of a 70-member surgical team that separated conjoined twins Patrick and Benjamin Binder, who had been joined at the back of the head (craniopagus twins). The separation surgery held promise in part because the twin boys had separate brains. The Johns Hopkins Children's Center surgical team rehearsed the surgery for weeks, practicing on two dolls secured together by Velcro. Although there were few follow-up stories following the Binder twins' return to Germany seven months after the operation, both twins were reportedly "far from normal" two years after the procedure, with one in a vegetative state. Neither twin was ever able to talk or care for himself, and both eventually became institutionalized wards of the state. Patrick Binder died sometime during the last decade, according to his uncle, who was located by The Washington Post in 2015. The Binder surgery served as a blueprint for similar twin separations, a procedure that was refined in subsequent decades. Carson participated in four subsequent high-risk conjoined-twin separations, including a 1997 operation on craniopagus Zambian twins Joseph and Luka Banda, which resulted in a normal neurological outcome. Two sets of twins died, including Iranian twins Ladan and Laleh Bijani. Another separation resulted in the death of one twin and the survival of the other, who is legally blind and struggles to walk.
According to The Washington Post, the Binder surgery "launched the stardom" of Carson, who "walked out of the operating room that day into a spotlight that has never dimmed", beginning with a press conference that was covered worldwide and created name recognition leading to publishing deals and a motivational speaking career. On the condition the film would have its premiere in Baltimore, Carson agreed to a cameo appearance as "head surgeon" in the 2003 Farrelly brothers' comedy Stuck on You, starring Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear as conjoined twins who, unhappy after their surgical separation, continue life attached to each other by Velcro.
In March 2013, Carson announced he would retire as a surgeon, saying he would "much rather quit when I'm at the top of my game". His retirement became official on July 1, 2013.
In 2021, Carson joined Galectin Therapeutics to assist with development of the company's galectin-3 inhibitor, belapectin, as a treatment for NASH cirrhosis and in combination with immunotherapy for the treatment of cancers.
Articles, books, business relationships, media posts
Carson has written many articles in peer-reviewed journals and six bestselling books published by Zondervan, an international Christian media and publishing company. The first book was an autobiography published in 1992. Two others are about his personal philosophies of success and what he sees as the stabilizing influence of religion.
According to CNN, Carson had an "extensive relationship" from 2004 to 2014 with Mannatech, a multi-level marketing company that produces dietary supplements made from substances such as aloe vera extract and larch-tree bark. Carson gave four paid speeches at company events. He has denied being paid by Mannatech to do anything else, saying he has been a "prolific speaker" who has addressed many groups. In a 2004 speech, he credited the company's products with the disappearance of his prostate cancer symptoms. The nature of this relationship became an issue in 2015 during Carson's presidential campaign. Carson's relationship with Mannatech continued after the company paid $7 million in 2009 to settle a deceptive-marketing lawsuit in Texas over claims that its products could cure autism and cancer. His most recent paid speech for the company was in 2013, for which he was paid $42,000. His image appeared on the corporation's website in 2014, and in the same year, he praised their "glyconutrient" supplements in a PBS special that was subsequently featured on the site.
Carson delivered the keynote address at a Mannatech distributor convention in 2011, during which he said the company had donated funds to help him obtain a coveted endowed-chair post at Johns Hopkins Medicine: "three years ago I had an endowed chair bestowed upon me and uh, it requires $2.5 million to do an endowed chair, and I'm proud to say that part of that $2.5 million came from Mannatech." In October 2015, Carson's campaign team said that "there was no contribution from Mannatech to Johns Hopkins" and that his statement had been "a legitimate mistake on his part. Confusion. He had been doing some fundraising for the hospital and some other chairs about that time, and he simply got things mixed up."
During the CNBC GOP debate on October 28, 2015, Carson was asked about his relationship with Mannatech. He replied, "That's easy to answer. I didn't have any involvement with Mannatech. Total propaganda. I did a couple speeches for them. I did speeches for other people—they were paid speeches. It is absolutely absurd to say I had any kind of relation with them. Do I take the product? Yes. I think it is a good product." Politifact rated Carson's denial of any involvement as "false", pointing to his paid speeches for Mannatech and his appearances in promotional videos in which he favorably reviewed its products, despite not being "an official spokesman or sales associate". When the CNBC moderator commented that Carson was on Mannatech's website, Carson replied that he had not given his permission. Earlier, he had said he was unaware of the company's legal history.
On November 3, 2015, Mannatech said on its website that for compliance with federal campaign finance regulations, the company had removed all references to Carson before he announced his bid for the presidency.
In July 2013, Carson was hired by The Washington Times as a weekly opinion columnist. In October 2013, Fox News hired Carson as a contributor to provide analysis and commentary across Fox News Channel's daytime and primetime programming, a relationship that lasted until the end of 2014.
In 2014, some House Republicans (who later formed the House Freedom Caucus) approached Carson about the possibility of his standing for Speaker of the House in the event that the incumbent Speaker, John Boehner, had to step down because of intraparty disunion. Carson declined, citing preparations for his 2016 presidential campaign. Ultimately, Boehner resigned in October 2015, and Paul Ryan was elected as the new Speaker.
In financial disclosure forms, Carson and his wife reported income of between $8.9 million and $27 million from January 2014 to May 3, 2015, when he announced his presidential campaign. Over that period, Carson received over $4 million from 141 paid speeches, between $1.1 million and $6 million in book royalties, between $200,000 and $2 million as a contributor to The Washington Times and Fox News, and between $2 million and $10 million as a member of the boards of Kellogg Co. and Costco Wholesale Corp. He resigned from Costco's board in mid-2015, after serving on it for more than 16 years. Carson was chairman of the Baltimore-based biotechnology company Vaccinogen from August 2014 until the announcement of his US presidential bid in May 2015. Carson had previously served on Vaccinogen's Medical Advisory Board.
2016 presidential campaign
Background and increasing political visibility
Carson, who had been registered as a Republican, changed his registration to independent in the 1990s after watching Republicans impeach President Clinton for perjury regarding an extramarital affair with Monica Lewinsky. "I just saw so much hypocrisy in both parties", he said. In February 2013, Carson said he was not a member of any political party.
In his book America the Beautiful (2013), he wrote: "I believe it is a very good idea for physicians, scientists, engineers, and others trained to make decisions based on facts and empirical data to get involved in the political arena."
Carson was the keynote speaker at the National Prayer Breakfast on February 7, 2013. The speech garnered Carson considerable attention because the event is normally apolitical in nature, and the speech was critical of the philosophy and policies of President Barack Obama, who was sitting 10 feet away. About the speech, Carson said: "I don't think it was particularly political... You know, I'm a physician." Regarding the policies of President Obama, he said: "There are a number of policies that I don't believe lead to the growth of our nation and don't lead to the elevation of our nation. I don't want to sit here and say all of his policies are bad. What I would like to see more often in this nation is an open and intelligent conversation."
Carson's sudden popularity among conservatives led to his being invited as a featured speaker at the 2013 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). He tied for seventh place in the Washington Times/CPAC 2013 Straw Poll with 4% of the 3,000 ballots cast. In the 2014 CPAC straw poll, he was in third place with 9% of the vote, behind senators Ted Cruz of Texas (with 11%) and Rand Paul of Kentucky (31%). In the presidential straw poll at the 2013 Values Voter Summit, he and Rick Santorum polled 13%, with winner Ted Cruz polling 42%, and in 2014 he polled 20% to Cruz's winning 25%.
On November 4, 2014, the day of the 2014 midterms, he rejoined the Republican Party, saying it was "truly a pragmatic move" because he was considering running for president in 2016.
In January 2015, The Weekly Standard reported that the Draft Carson Committee had raised $13 million by the end of 2014, shortly after Carson performed well in a CNN/ORC poll of potential candidates in December 2014, coming second in two different versions. He polled 10% to Mitt Romney's 20%, but in the same poll with Romney removed from the list, Carson polled 11% to Jeb Bush's 14%. The Wall Street Journal mentioned that the Draft Carson Committee had chairmen in all of Iowa's 99 counties, and that Carson had recently led two separate Public Policy polls for the state of Pennsylvania.
Announcement of campaign
On May 2, 2015, Carson proclaimed that in two days he was going to make a major announcement on his decision on whether to enter the presidential race. In an interview with Cincinnati station WKRC-TV on May 3, 2015, Carson accidentally confirmed his candidacy for president. The interview was also broadcast live on WPEC. The next day, May 4, 2015, at the Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts in his home town of Detroit, he officially announced his run for the Republican nomination in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The announcement speech was preceded by a choir singing "Lose Yourself" with Carson sitting in the audience. After the song, Carson took the stage and announced his candidacy alongside a speech on his rags to riches life story, at one point stating: "I remember when our favorite drug dealer was killed."
Surge in polls
In October 2015, the Super PAC supporting Carson, The 2016 Committee (formerly the Draft Carson Committee), announced it had received donations in mostly $100 increments from more than 200 small businesses around the country over the course of one week. Fox Business reported that "Carson's outsider status is growing his small business support base." Ben Walters, a fundraiser for The 2016 Committee, expressed optimism about Carson's small business support base: "It's unbelievable the diversity of businesses that we are bringing on. We are seeing everything from doctors' offices and folks in the healthcare profession to motorcycle repair shops and bed and breakfasts."
In October, it was noted that Carson's "improbable" political career had surged in polls and fundraising, while he continued to participate in nationally televised Republican debates.
Decline in polls
The campaign brought considerable attention to Carson's past. CBS News described Carson's narrative of "overcoming impossible odds as a child growing up in an impoverished, single-parent household to reach international prominence as a pediatric neurosurgeon" as "a key part of his presidential campaign". The Wall Street Journal said the narrative came under "the harsh scrutiny of presidential politics, where rivals and media hunt for embellishments and omissions that can hobble a campaign". CNN characterized the core narrative as "acts of violence as an angry young man", followed by a spiritual epiphany that transformed Carson into the "composed figure" he now portrays. Media challenges to a number of Carson's statements included allegations of discrepancies between documented facts and certain assertions in his autobiography Gifted Hands—allegations dismissed by Carson as a media "witch hunt". In November 2015, the Detroit Free Press republished an article from 1988 "to try to bring some clarity to the claims currently being brought into question".
In November 2015, Carson's campaign aired a 60-second TV advertisement in which excerpts from Carson's stump speech were intercut with a rap by an artist named Aspiring Mogul. They spent $150,000 on the ads, which were aired in Atlanta, Detroit and Miami. Carson defended the ad, saying "Well, there are people in the campaign who felt that was a good way to do things... I support them in doing that, but I probably would have taken a little different approach." Later, he said the advertisement was done without his knowledge, that "it was done by people who have no concept of the black community and what they were doing", and that he was "horrified" by it.
The New York Times reported in 2015, "Carson has acknowledged being something of a novice on foreign affairs." Regarding the Ukrainian crisis, Carson would send arms to Ukraine to aid it in its fight against pro-Russian rebels. He also believes the Baltic states, current NATO members, should "get involved in NATO".
In a November 2015 Republican debate, Carson declared his intentions to make ISIS "look like losers" as he would "destroy their caliphate". Carson also advocated capturing a "big energy field" outside of Anbar, Iraq, which he said could be accomplished "fairly easily". Regarding the Middle East, he also claimed that "the Chinese are there".
Carson said he is not opposed to a Palestinian state, but he questioned why it needs "to be within the confines of Israeli territory ... Is that necessary, or can you sort of slip that area down into Egypt?"
Withdrawal from campaign
On March 2, following the Super Tuesday 2016 primaries, Carson announced that he did "not see a political path forward" and would not attend the next Republican debate in Detroit. He said, "[T]his grassroots movement on behalf of 'We the People' will continue", indicating that he would give more details later in the week. He suspended his campaign on March4 and announced he would be the new national chairman of My Faith Votes, a group that encourages Christians to exercise their civic duty to vote.
In total, Ben Carson's campaign spent $58 million. However, most of the money went to political consultants and fundraising rather than advertising. Carson questioned whether his campaign was economically sabotaged from within.
Further activities during the 2016 election
On March 11, 2016, a week after Carson ended his presidential campaign, he endorsed Trump, calling him part of "the voice of the people to be heard". Carson's subsequent comments that Americans would have to sustain Trump for only four years if he was not a good president drew criticism, and he admitted that he would have preferred another candidate, though he thought Trump had the best chance of winning the general election.
On the other hand, at the press conference Carson said Trump had a "cerebral" side.
On April 25, Carson expressed opposition to Harriet Tubman replacing Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill the day after dubbing the replacement "political expediency", though he indicated interest in Tubman having another tribute. In late April, Carson wrote to the Nevada Republican Party, requesting the two delegates he won in Nevada be released and free to support whoever they want.
On May 4, after Trump wrapped up the Republican nomination, he hinted that Carson would be among those who would vet his vice-presidential pick. The same day, in an interview Carson expressed interest in Ted Cruz serving as Attorney General of the United States, a position that Carson said would allow Cruz to prosecute Hillary Clinton, and then as a Supreme Court Justice nominee from the Trump administration. On May 6, Carson said in an interview that Trump would consider a Democrat as his running mate, conflicting with Trump's assertion that he would not. A Carson spokesperson later said Carson expected Trump to select a Republican.
Carson was said by aide Armstrong Williams in a May 10 interview to have withdrawn from the Trump campaign's vetting team, though the campaign confirmed he was still involved. Later that month, Carson revealed a list of potential vice-presidential candidates in an interview with The Washington Post. On May 16, Carson said the media could not keep opinion out of reporting and cited Walter Cronkite as a fair journalist who was, in his words, a "left-wing radical".
During the Republican National Convention, Carson appeared with former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani in support of the pro-Donald Trump Great America PAC at an event in Cleveland.
Results
In total, Carson received 857,039 votes during the Republican primaries; this total represented 2.75% of the votes cast. He received the support of seven delegates at the Republican National Convention. Trump received the Republican nomination and went on to be elected president on November 8, 2016.
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
Nomination and confirmation
After Donald Trump's win in the 2016 election, Carson joined Trump's transition team as vice chairman. Carson was also offered a cabinet position in the administration. He declined, in part because of his lack of experience, with an aide stating, "The last thing he would want to do was take a position that could cripple the presidency." Although it was reported that the position was for Secretary of Health and Human Services, Carson's business manager has disputed this, stating, "Dr. Carson was never offered a specific position, but everything was open to him." He was eventually offered the position of Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, which he accepted.
On December 5, 2016, Trump announced that he would nominate Carson to the position of Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. During the confirmation process, Carson was scrutinized by some housing advocates for what they perceived as his lack of relevant experience.
On January 24, 2017, the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs voted unanimously to approve the nomination. Senate Democrats attempted to defeat Carson's nomination via filibuster, but that vote failed on March 1, 2017, and he was then confirmed by the Senate by a 58–41 vote the next day.
Tenure
In December 2017, The Economist described the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), led by Ben Carson, as "directionless". Most of the top HUD positions were unfilled and Carson's leadership was "inconspicuous and inscrutable". Of the policies HUD was enacting, The Economist wrote, "it is hard not to conclude that the governing principle at HUD is to take whatever the Obama administration was doing, and do the opposite." HUD scaled back the enforcement of fair housing laws, halted several fair housing investigations started by the Obama administration and removed the words "inclusive" and "free from discrimination" from its mission statement. HUD saw an exodus of career officials during Carson's tenure.
On March 6, his first day as secretary, while addressing Housing and Urban Development (HUD) employees, Carson saluted the work ethic of immigrants, and during his comments, he likened slaves to involuntary immigrants. A HUD spokesman said that no one present thought Carson "was equating voluntary immigration with involuntary servitude". In the same speech, Carson was criticized by some for saying that the human brain "was incapable of forgetting and could be electrically stimulated into perfect recall".
Under the federal budget proposed by Trump in 2017, HUD's budget for the fiscal year 2018 would be cut by $6.2 billion (13%) and the Community Development Block Grant, a program which Carson praised in a trip to Detroit as HUD secretary, would be eliminated. Carson issued a statement supporting the proposed cuts. Carson suggested that federal funds for housing in Detroit could be part of an expected infrastructure bill.
In April 2017, while speaking in Washington at the National Low Income Housing Coalition conference, Carson said that housing funding would be included in an upcoming infrastructure bill from the Trump administration.
In July 2017, during his keynote address at the LeadingAge Florida annual convention, Carson stated his concern about "seniors who become destitute" and reported that the Department of Housing and Urban Development had increased public housing programs for the elderly by an unspecified number.
In summer 2017, Carson allowed his son, Baltimore businessman, Ben Carson Jr., to participate in organizing a HUD "listening tour" in Baltimore. Internal documents obtained by The Washington Post under the Freedom of Information Act showed that the younger Carson "put people he'd invited in touch with his father's deputies, joined agency staff on official conference calls about the listening tour and copied his wife on related email exchanges". The son's involvement prompted HUD staff to express concern; the department's deputy general counsel for operations wrote in a memorandum "that this gave the appearance that the Secretary may be using his position for his son's private gain". Carson's wife, son, and daughter-in-law also attended official meetings. In February 2018, the HUD inspector general's office confirmed that it was looking into the role Carson's family played at the department.
During congressional testimony in May 2019, while being questioned by U.S. Representative Katie Porter, Carson did not know what the term REO ("Real Estate Owned" refers to housing owned by a bank or lending institution post-foreclosure) stood for and confused it with the cookie, Oreo. In response, Carson went on the Fox Business Network where he accused Democrats of adhering to "Saul Alinsky" tactics.
On March 1, 2020, the office of Vice President Mike Pence announced Carson's addition to the White House Coronavirus Task Force.
On November 9, 2020, Carson tested positive for COVID-19 after attending President Trump's Election Night party. He initially treated himself with a homeopathic oleander extract on the recommendation of Mike Lindell, the founder of My Pillow, Inc., which Carson said caused his symptoms to disappear. Oleander was previously rejected by the Food and Drug Administration as a treatment for COVID-19 and Carson received criticism for promoting an unscientific homeopathic treatment. He disclosed on November 20 that he subsequently became "extremely sick" and attributed his recovery to Regeneron's experimental antibody therapy. He said that President Trump had given him access to the drug.
Office furnishing scandal
Carson received criticism for spending up to $31,000 on a dining set in his office in late 2017. This expenditure was discovered after Helen Foster, a career HUD official, filed a complaint alleging that she had been demoted from her position because she refused to spend more than the legal $5,000 limit for office redecorations. Carson and his spokesman said that he had little or no involvement in the purchase of the dining set. Later, email communications revealed that Carson and his wife selected the dining set. On March 20, 2018, Carson testified before the United States House Committee on Appropriations that he had "dismissed" himself from the decision to buy the $31,000 dining room set and "left it to my wife, you know, to choose something". On September 12, 2019, HUD's inspector general released a report clearing Carson of misconduct.
Remarks on transgender use of homeless shelters
Carson was accused by members of the Department of Housing and Urban Development of making transphobic remarks at a meeting in San Francisco in September 2019. He warned that "big, hairy men" might infiltrate homeless shelters for women, prompting one woman to walk out. Reps. Joe Kennedy III of Massachusetts and Jennifer Wexton of Virginia called for his resignation, but Carson said the accusations were a "mischaracterization". A HUD spokesperson responded that Carson "does not use derogatory language to refer to transgendered individuals. Any reporting to the contrary is false."
Carson Scholars Fund
In 1994, Carson and his wife started the Carson Scholars Fund that awards scholarships to students in grades 4–11 for "academic excellence and humanitarian qualities".
Recipients of the Carson Scholars Fund receive a $1,000 scholarship towards their college education. It has awarded 6,700 scholarships. In recognition for his work with the Carson Scholars Fund and other charitable giving throughout his lifetime, Carson was awarded the William E. Simon Prize for Philanthropic Leadership in 2005.
American Cornerstone Institute
In 2021, Carson founded the American Cornerstone Institute or ACI, a conservative think tank centered around advancing policies that promote "faith, liberty, community, and life".
The ACI's mission statement is "dedicated to promoting and preserving individual and religious liberty, helping our country's most vulnerable find new hope, and developing methods to decrease the federal government's role in society and to improve efficiency to best serve ALL our nation's citizens. Headed by world-renowned neurosurgeon, presidential candidate, and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Dr. Ben Carson, ACI will be a voice for reason and civility in a nation that is increasingly devoid of common sense."
Personal life
Carson and his wife, fellow Detroit native Lacena "Candy" Rustin, met in 1971 as students at Yale University and married in 1975. They began living in West Friendship, Maryland, in 1988. Together, the couple have three sons (Rhoeyce, Benjamin Jr., and Murray), as well as several grandchildren. Their oldest son, Murray, was born in Perth, Australia, while Carson was undertaking a residency there. In 1981 Carson's wife became pregnant with twins before miscarrying in the fifth month of her pregnancy.
In 2001, Ben and Candy Carson bought a 48-acre property in Upperco, Maryland.
After being diagnosed with prostate cancer, Carson underwent a two-hour operation at the Johns Hopkins Hospital on August 7, 2002.
In 2013, Carson, his wife, and Carson's mother moved to West Palm Beach, Florida.
Surrounding his confirmation as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Carson bought a $1.22 million home in Vienna, Virginia, in February 2017 and sold his West Palm Beach home for over $900,000 in May 2017.
Religion
Carson and his wife are members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA). Carson was baptized at Burns Seventh-day Adventist Church in Detroit. A few years later, he told the pastor at a church he was attending in Inkster, Michigan, that he had not fully understood his first baptism and wanted to be baptized again. He has served as a local elder and Sabbath School teacher in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Although Carson is an Adventist, the church has officially cautioned church employees to remain politically neutral.
In keeping with his Seventh-day Adventist faith, Carson announced in 2014 his belief "that the United States will play a big role" in the coming apocalypse. He went on to say, "I hope by that time I'm not around anymore."
In an interview with Katie Couric, Carson said that Jesus Christ came to Earth to redeem the world through his atoning sacrifice and that all people are sinners and need his redemption.
Carson has stated that he does not believe in hell as understood by some Christians: "You know, I see God as a very loving individual. And why would he torment somebody forever who only had a life of 60 or 70 or 80 years? Even if they were evil. Even if they were only evil for 80 years?" This is fully in line with Adventist teaching, which promotes annihilationism.
Carson endorsed Seventh-day Adventist theology, which includes belief in a literal reading of the first chapters of Genesis. In a 2013 interview with Adventist News Network, Carson said: "You know, I'm proud of the fact that I believe what God has said, and I've said many times that I'll defend it before anyone. If they want to criticize the fact that I believe in a literal, six-day creation, let's have at it because I will poke all kinds of holes in what they believe." Carson's Adventism was raised as an issue by his then-primary rival Donald Trump. Some Adventists have argued that Carson's political positions on gun rights and religious liberty conflict with historic Adventist teachings in favor of nonviolence, pacifism, and the separation of church and state.
Claim about Egyptian pyramids
During a commencement speech at Andrews University in Michigan in 1998, Carson stated that he believed that the pyramids of Giza were created by the biblical figure Joseph to store grain, despite the fact that the story of Joseph is set in the time of Egypt's Middle Kingdom, five centuries after the pyramids of Giza were built. When questioned about it again in 2015, he stood by his original assertion.
Vegetarianism
Consistent with the practice of many Adventists, Carson is a lacto-ovo vegetarian (he will eat dishes containing milk, eggs, or cheese, and occasionally, poultry). He has said his main reason for becoming vegetarian was health concerns, including avoiding parasites and heart disease, and he emphasizes the environmental benefits of vegetarianism. His transition was made easier because he had eaten little meat for aesthetic reasons as a child, and he readily adopted his wife's vegetarianism because she does much of the cooking in their household. Speaking in 1990, he said that with the increasing availability of meat substitutes, "It might take 20 years. But eventually there will no longer be a reason for most people to eat meat. And animals will breathe a sigh of relief." To avoid causing others discomfort, he is willing to occasionally eat chicken or turkey, although he finds eating pork highly unpleasant.
Awards and honors
Carson is a member of the American Academy of Achievement, Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society, and the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans.
Carson has been awarded 38 honorary doctorate degrees and dozens of national merit citations. Detroit Public Schools opened the Dr. Benjamin Carson High School of Science and Medicine for students interested in pursuing healthcare careers. The school is partnering with Detroit Receiving Hospital and Michigan State University.
In 2000, he received the Award for Greatest Public Service Benefiting the Disadvantaged, an award given out annually by Jefferson Awards.
In 2001, he was elected by the Library of Congress on the occasion of its 200th anniversary to be one of the 89 who earned the designation Library of Congress Living Legend.
In 2004, he was appointed to serve on The President's Council on Bioethics.
In 2005, Carson was awarded the William E. Simon Prize for Philanthropic Leadership.
In 2006, he received the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP, their highest honor for outstanding achievement.
In 2008, the White House awarded Carson the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.
In 2008, Ford's Theatre Society awarded Carson the Ford's Theatre Lincoln Medal, for exemplifying the qualities embodied by President Abraham Lincoln—including courage, integrity, tolerance, equality, and creative expression—through superior achievements.
In 2008, U.S. News & World Report named Carson as one of "America's Best Leaders".
In 2010, he was elected into the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine, considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine.
In 2012, Carson was the Influential Marylander Award recipient from The Daily Record, Baltimore's legal and business newspaper.
In 2014, a poll of Americans conducted by Gallup ranked Carson sixth on a list of the most admired persons.
He is an emeritus fellow of the Yale Corporation.
Books
(with Cecil Murphey)
(with Gregg Lewis)
(with Candy Carson)
(with Candy Carson), on The New York Times bestsellers list for 20 straight weeks, five of them as number one
(with Candy Carson)
(with Gregg Lewis, Deborah Shaw Lewis)
(with Cecil Murphey)
(with Candy Carson)
See also
Ben Carson 2016 presidential campaign
Ben Carson office furnishing scandal
List of African-American Republicans
2016 Republican Party presidential candidates
Notes
References
Further reading
Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story (February 7, 2009), a television movie with the same title as Carson's first book premiered on TNT with Academy Award winner Cuba Gooding Jr. in the lead role and Kimberly Elise portraying his mother.
A Doctor in the House: My Life with Ben Carson (January 5, 2016), a book by Candy Carson
External links
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson
Ben Carson:Dialogue with an Adventist Neurosurgeon College and University Dialogue Retrieved October 12, 2018
1951 births
Living people
20th-century American male writers
20th-century Protestants
21st-century American male writers
21st-century American politicians
21st-century Protestants
African-American Christians
African-American members of the Cabinet of the United States
African-American physicians
African-American government officials
African-American candidates for President of the United States
African-American writers
American neurosurgeons
American Seventh-day Adventists
American Christian creationists
American Christian writers
Candidates in the 2016 United States presidential election
Christian vegetarianism
Florida Republicans
Johns Hopkins Hospital physicians
Kellogg's people
Maryland Republicans
Michigan Republicans
Members of the National Academy of Medicine
Physicians from Detroit
People from Dorchester, Massachusetts
People from Roxbury, Boston
People from Vienna, Virginia
Politicians from Detroit
People from West Friendship, Maryland
People from West Palm Beach, Florida
Physicians from Michigan
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
Seventh-day Adventists from Michigan
Seventh-day Adventists in health science
Spingarn Medal winners
Tea Party movement activists
Trump administration cabinet members
United States Secretaries of Housing and Urban Development
University of Michigan Medical School alumni
The Washington Times people
Yale University alumni
20th-century American writers
Southwestern High School (Michigan) alumni | false | [
"Rancho Cotate High School is a four-year comprehensive high school in Rohnert Park, California. It is located at 5450 Snyder Lane, adjacent to the campus of Sonoma State University. Students have opportunities to participate in a wide variety of sports and extra curricular activities.\n\nIt was established in 1966 and named after the Rancho Cotate land grant. It serves the Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School District. Enrollment in the 2006-2007 school year was about 1800-1900 students. A new football stadium was built in 2008. In the summer of 2019, the construction of a new Theatre, Arts, and Gymnasium building was completed.\n\nThe high school is fed by Lawrence E. Jones Middle School.\n\nExtracurricular activities\nStudents have opportunities to participate in a wide variety of sports and extra curricular activities. There are over forty organizations on campus, and more than eighteen different sports are offered.\n\nThe journalism program produces the student-run publication for the school, which has received recognition on the local, regional, and national level. Such accolades have been awarded by the Press Democrat, Society of Professional Journalists, and Journalism Education Association/National Scholastic Press Association.\n\nNotable alumni\n Brandon Morrow (Class of 2003) is a Major League Baseball pitcher\nNicole Aunapu Mann (Class of 1995) is a Lt. Col in the USMC and NASA astronaut. She is currently in training for the international Artemis program and is a contender to be the first woman on the Moon.\n Brande Roderick (Class of 1992) is a model and actress\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\nEducational institutions established in 1966\nHigh schools in Sonoma County, California\nPublic high schools in California\nRohnert Park, California\n1966 establishments in California",
"Calvine High School is a continuation high school located in Sacramento County, California directly next to Elk Grove, California. It is part of the Elk Grove Unified School District.\n\nSchool history \n\nCalvine gets its name from the California Vineyard Company, a huge grape growing enterprise of the early 1900s, located east of Bradshaw Road. Calvine Road leads from what is now Highway 99 to the land belonging to the company. Calvine was the outgrowth of two smaller high schools. They were Omochumnes High, with its Miwok Indian name, located near what is now the Education Center, and Pioneer High, which had been at two different locations during its lifespan. On April 25, 1992.\n\nExtra-curricular activities \n\nCalvine students have participated in many extra curricular activities such as Marsh Madness, which was a youth leadership program. This program helps train Calvine students to mentor elementary school students on all aspects of existing natural resources. Some other activities that Calvine students experience are things like “In a Blink of an Eye” which shows students what can happen when teenagers participate in illegal street racing; which is the loss of one's life. Another activity that students participate in is the trip to the nimbus fish hatchery where students observe the final stages of salmon migration.\n\nCalvine students participate in a rigorous service learning program using nearby areas for environmental studies. Students learn in a non-classroom environment while taking part in community enhancing projects fostering real world learning.\n\nSchool staff \nThe school currently employs eleven teachers.\n\nGoals \n\nCalvine High School is a credit recovery program for credit deficient students. Students are no longer required to pass the California High School Exit Exam.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Calvine High School official web site\n Elk Grove City web site\n\nEducational institutions established in 1991\nHigh schools in Sacramento, California\nContinuation high schools in California\nPublic high schools in California\n1991 establishments in California"
] |
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] | C_8c698173e273415a9ad5450fbc5b9341_0 | Was he involved in any sports | 4 | Was Ben Carson involved in any sports | Ben Carson | By ninth grade, the family's financial situation had improved, his mother surprising neighbors by paying cash to buy a new Chrysler car, and the only government assistance they still relied on was food stamps. Carson attended the predominantly black Southwestern High School for ninth through 12th grades, graduating third in his class academically. In high school he played the baritone horn in the band, and participated in forensics (public speaking), chess club, and the U.S. Army Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) program where he reached its highest rank--cadet colonel. Carson served as a laboratory assistant in the high school's biology, chemistry, physics school laboratories beginning in 10th, 11th, and 12th grade, respectively, and worked as a biology laboratory assistant at Wayne State University the summer between 11th and 12th grades. In his book Gifted Hands, Carson relates that as a youth he had a violent temper. "As a teenager, I would go after people with rocks, and bricks, and baseball bats, and hammers," Carson told NBC's Meet the Press in October 2015. He said he once tried to hit his mother on the head with a hammer over a clothing dispute, while in the ninth grade he tried to stab a friend who had changed the radio station. Fortunately, the blade broke in his friend's belt buckle. Carson said that the intended victim, whose identity he wants to protect, was a classmate, a friend, or a close relative. After this incident, Carson said that he began reading the Book of Proverbs and applying verses on anger. As a result, he states he "never had another problem with temper". In his various books and at campaign events, he repeated these stories and said he once attacked a schoolmate with a combination lock. Nine friends, classmates, and neighbors who grew up with him told CNN in 2015 they did not remember the anger or violence he has described. In response, Carson posted on Facebook a 1997 Parade Magazine issue, in which his mother verified the stabbing incident. He then questioned the extent of the effort CNN had exerted in the investigation. He has said that he protected white students in a biology lab after a race riot broke out at his high school in response to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. The Wall Street Journal confirmed the riot but could not find anyone who remembered Carson sheltering white students. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Benjamin Solomon Carson Sr. (born September 18, 1951) is an American retired neurosurgeon and politician who served as the 17th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 2017 to 2021. He was a candidate for President of the United States in the 2016 Republican primaries. He is considered a pioneer in the field of neurosurgery.
Carson became the director of pediatric neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center in 1984 at age 33, then the youngest chief of pediatric neurosurgery in the United States. At retirement, he was professor of neurosurgery, oncology, plastic surgery, and pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Carson's achievements include participating in the first reported separation of conjoined twins joined at the back of the head. Although surgically a success, the twins continued to suffer neurologic/medical complications. Additional accomplishments include performing the first successful neurosurgical procedure on a fetus inside the womb, developing new methods to treat brain-stem tumors, and revitalizing hemispherectomy techniques for controlling seizures. He wrote over 100 neurosurgical publications. He retired from medicine in 2013.
Carson gained national fame among political conservatives after delivering a speech at the 2013 National Prayer Breakfast which was perceived as critical of the policies of President Barack Obama. Following widespread speculation of a presidential run, Carson officially announced his campaign for the 2016 Republican nomination for President in May 2015. Carson performed strongly in early polls, leading to his being considered a frontrunner for the nomination during the fall of 2015; however, his polling support began to decline following scrutiny of his foreign policy credentials after the November 2015 Paris attacks. Carson withdrew from the race after Super Tuesday, following a string of disappointing primary results, and endorsed Donald Trump. Following Trump's victory, Trump nominated Carson as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, being confirmed by the United States Senate in a 58–41 vote on March 2, 2017. Carson is one of the most prominent black conservatives in America.
Carson has received numerous honors for his neurosurgery work, including more than 60 honorary doctorate degrees and numerous national merit citations. In 2001, he was named by CNN and Time magazine as one of the nation's 20 foremost physicians and scientists and was selected by the Library of Congress as one of 89 "Living Legends" on its 200th anniversary. In 2008, Carson was bestowed the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States. In 2010, he was elected into the National Academy of Medicine. He was the subject of the 2009 TV film Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story, wherein he was portrayed by Cuba Gooding Jr. Carson has also written or co-written six bestselling books.
Early life and education
Carson's parents were Robert Solomon Carson Jr. (1914–1992), a World War II U.S. Army veteran, and Sonya Carson (née Copeland, 1928–2017). Robert Carson was a Baptist minister, but he later became a Cadillac automobile plant laborer. Both his parents came from large families in rural Georgia, and they were living in rural Tennessee when they met and married. Carson's mother was 13 and his father was 28 when they married, and after his father finished his military service, they moved from Chattanooga, Tennessee, to Detroit, where they lived in a large house in the Indian Village neighborhood. Carson's older brother, Curtis, was born in 1949, when his mother was 20. In 1950, Carson's parents purchased a new 733-square foot single-family detached home on Deacon Street in the Boynton neighborhood in southwest Detroit. Carson was born in Detroit, Michigan, on September 18, 1951.
Carson's Detroit Public Schools education began in 1956 with kindergarten at the Fisher School and continued through first, second, and the first half of third grade, during which time he was an average student. At the age of five, his mother learned that his father had a prior family and had not divorced his first wife. In 1959, at the age of eight, his parents separated and he moved with his mother and brother to live for two years with his mother's Seventh-day Adventist older sister and her sister's husband in multi-family dwellings in the Dorchester and Roxbury neighborhoods of Boston. In Boston, Carson's mother attempted suicide, had several psychiatric hospitalizations for depression, and for the first time began working outside the home as a domestic worker, while Carson and his brother attended a two-classroom school at the Berea Seventh-day Adventist church where two teachers taught eight grades, and the vast majority of time was spent singing songs and playing games.
In 1961, at the age of 10, he moved with his mother and brother back to southwest Detroit, where they lived in a multi-family dwelling in a primarily white neighborhood, (Springwells Village), across the railroad tracks from the Delray neighborhood, while renting out their house on Deacon Street, which his mother received in a divorce settlement. When they returned to Detroit public schools, Carson and his brother's academic performance initially lagged far behind their new classmates, having, according to Carson, "essentially lost a year of school" by attending the small Seventh-day Adventist parochial school in Boston, but they both improved when their mother limited their time watching television and required them to read and write book reports on two library books per week. Carson attended the predominantly white Higgins Elementary School for fifth and sixth grades and the predominantly white Wilson Junior High School for seventh and the first half of eighth grade. In 1965, at the age of 13, he moved with his mother and brother back to their house on Deacon Street. He attended the predominantly black Hunter Junior High School for the second half of eighth grade. At the age of eight, Carson dreamt of becoming a missionary doctor, but five years later he aspired to the lucrative lifestyles of psychiatrists portrayed on television, and his brother bought him a subscription to Psychology Today for his 13th birthday.
High school
By grade 9, the family's financial situation had improved, his mother surprising neighbors by paying cash to buy a new Chrysler car, and the only government assistance they still relied on was food stamps. Carson attended the predominantly black Southwestern High School for grades nine through twelve, graduating third in his class academically. In high school, he played the euphonium in band and participated in forensics (public speaking), chess club, and the U.S. Army Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) program where he reached its highest rank—cadet colonel. Carson served as a laboratory assistant in the high school's biology, chemistry, and physics school laboratories beginning in grades 10, 11, and 12, respectively, and worked as a biology laboratory assistant at Wayne State University the summer between grade 11 and 12.
In his book Gifted Hands, Carson relates that as a youth, he had a violent temper. "As a teenager, I would go after people with rocks, and bricks, and baseball bats, and hammers", Carson told NBC's Meet the Press in October 2015. He said he once tried to hit his mother on the head with a hammer over a clothing dispute, while in the ninth grade he tried to stab a friend who had changed the radio station. Fortunately, the blade broke in his friend's belt buckle. Carson said the intended victim, whose identity he wants to protect, was a classmate, a friend, or a close relative. After this incident, Carson said he began reading the Book of Proverbs and applying verses on anger. As a result, he states he "never had another problem with temper". In his various books and at campaign events, he repeated these stories and said he once attacked a schoolmate with a combination lock. Nine friends, classmates, and neighbors who grew up with him told CNN in 2015 they did not remember the anger or violence he has described. In response, Carson posted on Facebook a 1997 Parade magazine issue, in which his mother verified the stabbing incident. He then questioned the extent of the effort CNN had exerted in the investigation.
Carson has said that he protected white students in a biology lab after a race riot broke out at his high school in response to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. The Wall Street Journal confirmed the riot but could not find anyone who remembered Carson sheltering white students.
College
Carson's SAT college admission test scores ranked him somewhere in the low 90th percentile. He wanted to attend college farther away than his brother who was at the University of Michigan. Carson says he narrowed his college choices to Harvard or Yale but could only afford the $10 application fee to apply for only one of them. He said he decided to apply to Yale after seeing a team from Yale defeat a team from Harvard on the G.E. College Bowl television show. Carson was accepted by Yale and offered a full scholarship covering tuition, room and board. In 1973, Carson graduated with a B.A. in psychology from Yale "with a fairly respectable grade point average although far from the top of the class".
Carson does not say in his books whether he received a college student deferment during the Vietnam War. He does say that his older brother, then a student at the University of Michigan, received a low number (26) in the first draft lottery in 1969 and was able to enlist in the Navy for four years instead of being drafted, whereas he received a high number (333) in the second draft lottery in 1970. Carson said he would have readily accepted his responsibility to fight had he been drafted, but he "identified strongly with the anti-war protesters and the revolutionaries" and enthusiastically voted for anti-war Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern in 1972. In his book, America the Beautiful (2012), Carson said: "The Vietnam War was, in retrospect, not a noble conflict. It brought shame to our nation because of both the outcome and the cause."
In the summers following his high school graduation until his second year in medical school, Carson worked at a variety of jobs: as a clerk in the payroll office of Ford Motor Company, supervisor of a six-person crew picking up trash along the highway under a federal jobs program for inner-city students, a clerk in the mailroom of Young & Rubicam Advertising, assembling fender parts and inspecting back window louvers on the assembly line at Chrysler, a crane operator at Sennett Steel, and finally a radiology technician taking X-rays. At Yale, Carson had a part-time job on campus as a student police aide.
In his autobiography, Carson said he had been offered a scholarship to West Point. Politico reported that West Point has no record of his ever seeking admission. The academy does not award scholarships to anyone; cadets receive a free education and room and board in exchange for a commitment to serve in the military for at least five years after graduation. Carson also said the University of Michigan had offered him a scholarship. His staff later said the described scenario was similar to that of West Point, as he never actually applied for entry to the University of Michigan.
In his autobiography, Gifted Hands, Carson recounted that exams for a Yale psychology course he took his junior year, "Perceptions 301", were inexplicably burned, forcing students to retake the exam. Carson said other students walked out in protest when they discovered the retest was significantly harder than the original examination, but that he alone finished the test. On doing so, Carson said he was congratulated by the course instructor, who told him the retest was a hoax intended to find "the most honest student in the class". Carson said the professor awarded him $10 and that a photographer for the Yale Daily News was present to take his picture, which appeared in the student newspaper with a story about the experiment. Doubts were raised about this story in 2015 during Carson's presidential campaign. The Wall Street Journal attempted to verify Carson's account, reporting that Yale undergraduate courses were identified with only two digits in the early 1970s, that Yale had offered no course called "Perceptions 301" at the time, and that Carson's photo had never appeared in the Yale Daily News. Carson, while acknowledging the class number was not correct, said: "You know, when you write a book with a co-writer and you say that there was a class, a lot of [the] time they'll put a number or something just to give it more meat. You know, obviously, decades later, I'm not going to remember the course number."
Medical school
Carson entered the University of Michigan Medical School in 1973, and at first he struggled academically, doing so poorly on his first set of comprehensive exams that his faculty adviser recommended he drop out of medical school or take a reduced academic load and take longer to finish. He continued with a regular academic load, and his grades improved to average in his first year of medical school. By his second year of medical school, Carson began to excel academically by seldom attending lectures and instead studying textbooks and lecture notes from 6a.m. to 11p.m. Carson graduated from the University of Michigan Medical School with an M.D. degree in 1977, and he was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society.
Carson was then accepted by the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine neurosurgery program, where he served one year as a surgical intern and five years as a neurosurgery resident, completing the final year as chief resident in 1983. He then spent one year (1983–1984) as a Senior Registrar in neurosurgery at the Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Nedlands, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia.
Medical career
Upon returning to Johns Hopkins in 1984, Carson was appointed the university's director of pediatric neurosurgery. As a surgeon, he specialized in traumatic brain injuries, brain and spinal cord tumors, achondroplasia, neurological and congenital disorders, craniosynostosis, epilepsy, and trigeminal neuralgia. He has said that his hand–eye coordination and three-dimensional reasoning made him a gifted surgeon.
While at Johns Hopkins, Carson figured in the revival of the hemispherectomy, a drastic surgical procedure in which part or all of one hemisphere of the brain is removed to control severe pediatric epilepsy. Encouraged by John M. Freeman, he refined the procedure in the 1980s and performed it many times.
In 1987, Carson was the lead neurosurgeon of a 70-member surgical team that separated conjoined twins Patrick and Benjamin Binder, who had been joined at the back of the head (craniopagus twins). The separation surgery held promise in part because the twin boys had separate brains. The Johns Hopkins Children's Center surgical team rehearsed the surgery for weeks, practicing on two dolls secured together by Velcro. Although there were few follow-up stories following the Binder twins' return to Germany seven months after the operation, both twins were reportedly "far from normal" two years after the procedure, with one in a vegetative state. Neither twin was ever able to talk or care for himself, and both eventually became institutionalized wards of the state. Patrick Binder died sometime during the last decade, according to his uncle, who was located by The Washington Post in 2015. The Binder surgery served as a blueprint for similar twin separations, a procedure that was refined in subsequent decades. Carson participated in four subsequent high-risk conjoined-twin separations, including a 1997 operation on craniopagus Zambian twins Joseph and Luka Banda, which resulted in a normal neurological outcome. Two sets of twins died, including Iranian twins Ladan and Laleh Bijani. Another separation resulted in the death of one twin and the survival of the other, who is legally blind and struggles to walk.
According to The Washington Post, the Binder surgery "launched the stardom" of Carson, who "walked out of the operating room that day into a spotlight that has never dimmed", beginning with a press conference that was covered worldwide and created name recognition leading to publishing deals and a motivational speaking career. On the condition the film would have its premiere in Baltimore, Carson agreed to a cameo appearance as "head surgeon" in the 2003 Farrelly brothers' comedy Stuck on You, starring Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear as conjoined twins who, unhappy after their surgical separation, continue life attached to each other by Velcro.
In March 2013, Carson announced he would retire as a surgeon, saying he would "much rather quit when I'm at the top of my game". His retirement became official on July 1, 2013.
In 2021, Carson joined Galectin Therapeutics to assist with development of the company's galectin-3 inhibitor, belapectin, as a treatment for NASH cirrhosis and in combination with immunotherapy for the treatment of cancers.
Articles, books, business relationships, media posts
Carson has written many articles in peer-reviewed journals and six bestselling books published by Zondervan, an international Christian media and publishing company. The first book was an autobiography published in 1992. Two others are about his personal philosophies of success and what he sees as the stabilizing influence of religion.
According to CNN, Carson had an "extensive relationship" from 2004 to 2014 with Mannatech, a multi-level marketing company that produces dietary supplements made from substances such as aloe vera extract and larch-tree bark. Carson gave four paid speeches at company events. He has denied being paid by Mannatech to do anything else, saying he has been a "prolific speaker" who has addressed many groups. In a 2004 speech, he credited the company's products with the disappearance of his prostate cancer symptoms. The nature of this relationship became an issue in 2015 during Carson's presidential campaign. Carson's relationship with Mannatech continued after the company paid $7 million in 2009 to settle a deceptive-marketing lawsuit in Texas over claims that its products could cure autism and cancer. His most recent paid speech for the company was in 2013, for which he was paid $42,000. His image appeared on the corporation's website in 2014, and in the same year, he praised their "glyconutrient" supplements in a PBS special that was subsequently featured on the site.
Carson delivered the keynote address at a Mannatech distributor convention in 2011, during which he said the company had donated funds to help him obtain a coveted endowed-chair post at Johns Hopkins Medicine: "three years ago I had an endowed chair bestowed upon me and uh, it requires $2.5 million to do an endowed chair, and I'm proud to say that part of that $2.5 million came from Mannatech." In October 2015, Carson's campaign team said that "there was no contribution from Mannatech to Johns Hopkins" and that his statement had been "a legitimate mistake on his part. Confusion. He had been doing some fundraising for the hospital and some other chairs about that time, and he simply got things mixed up."
During the CNBC GOP debate on October 28, 2015, Carson was asked about his relationship with Mannatech. He replied, "That's easy to answer. I didn't have any involvement with Mannatech. Total propaganda. I did a couple speeches for them. I did speeches for other people—they were paid speeches. It is absolutely absurd to say I had any kind of relation with them. Do I take the product? Yes. I think it is a good product." Politifact rated Carson's denial of any involvement as "false", pointing to his paid speeches for Mannatech and his appearances in promotional videos in which he favorably reviewed its products, despite not being "an official spokesman or sales associate". When the CNBC moderator commented that Carson was on Mannatech's website, Carson replied that he had not given his permission. Earlier, he had said he was unaware of the company's legal history.
On November 3, 2015, Mannatech said on its website that for compliance with federal campaign finance regulations, the company had removed all references to Carson before he announced his bid for the presidency.
In July 2013, Carson was hired by The Washington Times as a weekly opinion columnist. In October 2013, Fox News hired Carson as a contributor to provide analysis and commentary across Fox News Channel's daytime and primetime programming, a relationship that lasted until the end of 2014.
In 2014, some House Republicans (who later formed the House Freedom Caucus) approached Carson about the possibility of his standing for Speaker of the House in the event that the incumbent Speaker, John Boehner, had to step down because of intraparty disunion. Carson declined, citing preparations for his 2016 presidential campaign. Ultimately, Boehner resigned in October 2015, and Paul Ryan was elected as the new Speaker.
In financial disclosure forms, Carson and his wife reported income of between $8.9 million and $27 million from January 2014 to May 3, 2015, when he announced his presidential campaign. Over that period, Carson received over $4 million from 141 paid speeches, between $1.1 million and $6 million in book royalties, between $200,000 and $2 million as a contributor to The Washington Times and Fox News, and between $2 million and $10 million as a member of the boards of Kellogg Co. and Costco Wholesale Corp. He resigned from Costco's board in mid-2015, after serving on it for more than 16 years. Carson was chairman of the Baltimore-based biotechnology company Vaccinogen from August 2014 until the announcement of his US presidential bid in May 2015. Carson had previously served on Vaccinogen's Medical Advisory Board.
2016 presidential campaign
Background and increasing political visibility
Carson, who had been registered as a Republican, changed his registration to independent in the 1990s after watching Republicans impeach President Clinton for perjury regarding an extramarital affair with Monica Lewinsky. "I just saw so much hypocrisy in both parties", he said. In February 2013, Carson said he was not a member of any political party.
In his book America the Beautiful (2013), he wrote: "I believe it is a very good idea for physicians, scientists, engineers, and others trained to make decisions based on facts and empirical data to get involved in the political arena."
Carson was the keynote speaker at the National Prayer Breakfast on February 7, 2013. The speech garnered Carson considerable attention because the event is normally apolitical in nature, and the speech was critical of the philosophy and policies of President Barack Obama, who was sitting 10 feet away. About the speech, Carson said: "I don't think it was particularly political... You know, I'm a physician." Regarding the policies of President Obama, he said: "There are a number of policies that I don't believe lead to the growth of our nation and don't lead to the elevation of our nation. I don't want to sit here and say all of his policies are bad. What I would like to see more often in this nation is an open and intelligent conversation."
Carson's sudden popularity among conservatives led to his being invited as a featured speaker at the 2013 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). He tied for seventh place in the Washington Times/CPAC 2013 Straw Poll with 4% of the 3,000 ballots cast. In the 2014 CPAC straw poll, he was in third place with 9% of the vote, behind senators Ted Cruz of Texas (with 11%) and Rand Paul of Kentucky (31%). In the presidential straw poll at the 2013 Values Voter Summit, he and Rick Santorum polled 13%, with winner Ted Cruz polling 42%, and in 2014 he polled 20% to Cruz's winning 25%.
On November 4, 2014, the day of the 2014 midterms, he rejoined the Republican Party, saying it was "truly a pragmatic move" because he was considering running for president in 2016.
In January 2015, The Weekly Standard reported that the Draft Carson Committee had raised $13 million by the end of 2014, shortly after Carson performed well in a CNN/ORC poll of potential candidates in December 2014, coming second in two different versions. He polled 10% to Mitt Romney's 20%, but in the same poll with Romney removed from the list, Carson polled 11% to Jeb Bush's 14%. The Wall Street Journal mentioned that the Draft Carson Committee had chairmen in all of Iowa's 99 counties, and that Carson had recently led two separate Public Policy polls for the state of Pennsylvania.
Announcement of campaign
On May 2, 2015, Carson proclaimed that in two days he was going to make a major announcement on his decision on whether to enter the presidential race. In an interview with Cincinnati station WKRC-TV on May 3, 2015, Carson accidentally confirmed his candidacy for president. The interview was also broadcast live on WPEC. The next day, May 4, 2015, at the Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts in his home town of Detroit, he officially announced his run for the Republican nomination in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The announcement speech was preceded by a choir singing "Lose Yourself" with Carson sitting in the audience. After the song, Carson took the stage and announced his candidacy alongside a speech on his rags to riches life story, at one point stating: "I remember when our favorite drug dealer was killed."
Surge in polls
In October 2015, the Super PAC supporting Carson, The 2016 Committee (formerly the Draft Carson Committee), announced it had received donations in mostly $100 increments from more than 200 small businesses around the country over the course of one week. Fox Business reported that "Carson's outsider status is growing his small business support base." Ben Walters, a fundraiser for The 2016 Committee, expressed optimism about Carson's small business support base: "It's unbelievable the diversity of businesses that we are bringing on. We are seeing everything from doctors' offices and folks in the healthcare profession to motorcycle repair shops and bed and breakfasts."
In October, it was noted that Carson's "improbable" political career had surged in polls and fundraising, while he continued to participate in nationally televised Republican debates.
Decline in polls
The campaign brought considerable attention to Carson's past. CBS News described Carson's narrative of "overcoming impossible odds as a child growing up in an impoverished, single-parent household to reach international prominence as a pediatric neurosurgeon" as "a key part of his presidential campaign". The Wall Street Journal said the narrative came under "the harsh scrutiny of presidential politics, where rivals and media hunt for embellishments and omissions that can hobble a campaign". CNN characterized the core narrative as "acts of violence as an angry young man", followed by a spiritual epiphany that transformed Carson into the "composed figure" he now portrays. Media challenges to a number of Carson's statements included allegations of discrepancies between documented facts and certain assertions in his autobiography Gifted Hands—allegations dismissed by Carson as a media "witch hunt". In November 2015, the Detroit Free Press republished an article from 1988 "to try to bring some clarity to the claims currently being brought into question".
In November 2015, Carson's campaign aired a 60-second TV advertisement in which excerpts from Carson's stump speech were intercut with a rap by an artist named Aspiring Mogul. They spent $150,000 on the ads, which were aired in Atlanta, Detroit and Miami. Carson defended the ad, saying "Well, there are people in the campaign who felt that was a good way to do things... I support them in doing that, but I probably would have taken a little different approach." Later, he said the advertisement was done without his knowledge, that "it was done by people who have no concept of the black community and what they were doing", and that he was "horrified" by it.
The New York Times reported in 2015, "Carson has acknowledged being something of a novice on foreign affairs." Regarding the Ukrainian crisis, Carson would send arms to Ukraine to aid it in its fight against pro-Russian rebels. He also believes the Baltic states, current NATO members, should "get involved in NATO".
In a November 2015 Republican debate, Carson declared his intentions to make ISIS "look like losers" as he would "destroy their caliphate". Carson also advocated capturing a "big energy field" outside of Anbar, Iraq, which he said could be accomplished "fairly easily". Regarding the Middle East, he also claimed that "the Chinese are there".
Carson said he is not opposed to a Palestinian state, but he questioned why it needs "to be within the confines of Israeli territory ... Is that necessary, or can you sort of slip that area down into Egypt?"
Withdrawal from campaign
On March 2, following the Super Tuesday 2016 primaries, Carson announced that he did "not see a political path forward" and would not attend the next Republican debate in Detroit. He said, "[T]his grassroots movement on behalf of 'We the People' will continue", indicating that he would give more details later in the week. He suspended his campaign on March4 and announced he would be the new national chairman of My Faith Votes, a group that encourages Christians to exercise their civic duty to vote.
In total, Ben Carson's campaign spent $58 million. However, most of the money went to political consultants and fundraising rather than advertising. Carson questioned whether his campaign was economically sabotaged from within.
Further activities during the 2016 election
On March 11, 2016, a week after Carson ended his presidential campaign, he endorsed Trump, calling him part of "the voice of the people to be heard". Carson's subsequent comments that Americans would have to sustain Trump for only four years if he was not a good president drew criticism, and he admitted that he would have preferred another candidate, though he thought Trump had the best chance of winning the general election.
On the other hand, at the press conference Carson said Trump had a "cerebral" side.
On April 25, Carson expressed opposition to Harriet Tubman replacing Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill the day after dubbing the replacement "political expediency", though he indicated interest in Tubman having another tribute. In late April, Carson wrote to the Nevada Republican Party, requesting the two delegates he won in Nevada be released and free to support whoever they want.
On May 4, after Trump wrapped up the Republican nomination, he hinted that Carson would be among those who would vet his vice-presidential pick. The same day, in an interview Carson expressed interest in Ted Cruz serving as Attorney General of the United States, a position that Carson said would allow Cruz to prosecute Hillary Clinton, and then as a Supreme Court Justice nominee from the Trump administration. On May 6, Carson said in an interview that Trump would consider a Democrat as his running mate, conflicting with Trump's assertion that he would not. A Carson spokesperson later said Carson expected Trump to select a Republican.
Carson was said by aide Armstrong Williams in a May 10 interview to have withdrawn from the Trump campaign's vetting team, though the campaign confirmed he was still involved. Later that month, Carson revealed a list of potential vice-presidential candidates in an interview with The Washington Post. On May 16, Carson said the media could not keep opinion out of reporting and cited Walter Cronkite as a fair journalist who was, in his words, a "left-wing radical".
During the Republican National Convention, Carson appeared with former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani in support of the pro-Donald Trump Great America PAC at an event in Cleveland.
Results
In total, Carson received 857,039 votes during the Republican primaries; this total represented 2.75% of the votes cast. He received the support of seven delegates at the Republican National Convention. Trump received the Republican nomination and went on to be elected president on November 8, 2016.
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
Nomination and confirmation
After Donald Trump's win in the 2016 election, Carson joined Trump's transition team as vice chairman. Carson was also offered a cabinet position in the administration. He declined, in part because of his lack of experience, with an aide stating, "The last thing he would want to do was take a position that could cripple the presidency." Although it was reported that the position was for Secretary of Health and Human Services, Carson's business manager has disputed this, stating, "Dr. Carson was never offered a specific position, but everything was open to him." He was eventually offered the position of Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, which he accepted.
On December 5, 2016, Trump announced that he would nominate Carson to the position of Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. During the confirmation process, Carson was scrutinized by some housing advocates for what they perceived as his lack of relevant experience.
On January 24, 2017, the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs voted unanimously to approve the nomination. Senate Democrats attempted to defeat Carson's nomination via filibuster, but that vote failed on March 1, 2017, and he was then confirmed by the Senate by a 58–41 vote the next day.
Tenure
In December 2017, The Economist described the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), led by Ben Carson, as "directionless". Most of the top HUD positions were unfilled and Carson's leadership was "inconspicuous and inscrutable". Of the policies HUD was enacting, The Economist wrote, "it is hard not to conclude that the governing principle at HUD is to take whatever the Obama administration was doing, and do the opposite." HUD scaled back the enforcement of fair housing laws, halted several fair housing investigations started by the Obama administration and removed the words "inclusive" and "free from discrimination" from its mission statement. HUD saw an exodus of career officials during Carson's tenure.
On March 6, his first day as secretary, while addressing Housing and Urban Development (HUD) employees, Carson saluted the work ethic of immigrants, and during his comments, he likened slaves to involuntary immigrants. A HUD spokesman said that no one present thought Carson "was equating voluntary immigration with involuntary servitude". In the same speech, Carson was criticized by some for saying that the human brain "was incapable of forgetting and could be electrically stimulated into perfect recall".
Under the federal budget proposed by Trump in 2017, HUD's budget for the fiscal year 2018 would be cut by $6.2 billion (13%) and the Community Development Block Grant, a program which Carson praised in a trip to Detroit as HUD secretary, would be eliminated. Carson issued a statement supporting the proposed cuts. Carson suggested that federal funds for housing in Detroit could be part of an expected infrastructure bill.
In April 2017, while speaking in Washington at the National Low Income Housing Coalition conference, Carson said that housing funding would be included in an upcoming infrastructure bill from the Trump administration.
In July 2017, during his keynote address at the LeadingAge Florida annual convention, Carson stated his concern about "seniors who become destitute" and reported that the Department of Housing and Urban Development had increased public housing programs for the elderly by an unspecified number.
In summer 2017, Carson allowed his son, Baltimore businessman, Ben Carson Jr., to participate in organizing a HUD "listening tour" in Baltimore. Internal documents obtained by The Washington Post under the Freedom of Information Act showed that the younger Carson "put people he'd invited in touch with his father's deputies, joined agency staff on official conference calls about the listening tour and copied his wife on related email exchanges". The son's involvement prompted HUD staff to express concern; the department's deputy general counsel for operations wrote in a memorandum "that this gave the appearance that the Secretary may be using his position for his son's private gain". Carson's wife, son, and daughter-in-law also attended official meetings. In February 2018, the HUD inspector general's office confirmed that it was looking into the role Carson's family played at the department.
During congressional testimony in May 2019, while being questioned by U.S. Representative Katie Porter, Carson did not know what the term REO ("Real Estate Owned" refers to housing owned by a bank or lending institution post-foreclosure) stood for and confused it with the cookie, Oreo. In response, Carson went on the Fox Business Network where he accused Democrats of adhering to "Saul Alinsky" tactics.
On March 1, 2020, the office of Vice President Mike Pence announced Carson's addition to the White House Coronavirus Task Force.
On November 9, 2020, Carson tested positive for COVID-19 after attending President Trump's Election Night party. He initially treated himself with a homeopathic oleander extract on the recommendation of Mike Lindell, the founder of My Pillow, Inc., which Carson said caused his symptoms to disappear. Oleander was previously rejected by the Food and Drug Administration as a treatment for COVID-19 and Carson received criticism for promoting an unscientific homeopathic treatment. He disclosed on November 20 that he subsequently became "extremely sick" and attributed his recovery to Regeneron's experimental antibody therapy. He said that President Trump had given him access to the drug.
Office furnishing scandal
Carson received criticism for spending up to $31,000 on a dining set in his office in late 2017. This expenditure was discovered after Helen Foster, a career HUD official, filed a complaint alleging that she had been demoted from her position because she refused to spend more than the legal $5,000 limit for office redecorations. Carson and his spokesman said that he had little or no involvement in the purchase of the dining set. Later, email communications revealed that Carson and his wife selected the dining set. On March 20, 2018, Carson testified before the United States House Committee on Appropriations that he had "dismissed" himself from the decision to buy the $31,000 dining room set and "left it to my wife, you know, to choose something". On September 12, 2019, HUD's inspector general released a report clearing Carson of misconduct.
Remarks on transgender use of homeless shelters
Carson was accused by members of the Department of Housing and Urban Development of making transphobic remarks at a meeting in San Francisco in September 2019. He warned that "big, hairy men" might infiltrate homeless shelters for women, prompting one woman to walk out. Reps. Joe Kennedy III of Massachusetts and Jennifer Wexton of Virginia called for his resignation, but Carson said the accusations were a "mischaracterization". A HUD spokesperson responded that Carson "does not use derogatory language to refer to transgendered individuals. Any reporting to the contrary is false."
Carson Scholars Fund
In 1994, Carson and his wife started the Carson Scholars Fund that awards scholarships to students in grades 4–11 for "academic excellence and humanitarian qualities".
Recipients of the Carson Scholars Fund receive a $1,000 scholarship towards their college education. It has awarded 6,700 scholarships. In recognition for his work with the Carson Scholars Fund and other charitable giving throughout his lifetime, Carson was awarded the William E. Simon Prize for Philanthropic Leadership in 2005.
American Cornerstone Institute
In 2021, Carson founded the American Cornerstone Institute or ACI, a conservative think tank centered around advancing policies that promote "faith, liberty, community, and life".
The ACI's mission statement is "dedicated to promoting and preserving individual and religious liberty, helping our country's most vulnerable find new hope, and developing methods to decrease the federal government's role in society and to improve efficiency to best serve ALL our nation's citizens. Headed by world-renowned neurosurgeon, presidential candidate, and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Dr. Ben Carson, ACI will be a voice for reason and civility in a nation that is increasingly devoid of common sense."
Personal life
Carson and his wife, fellow Detroit native Lacena "Candy" Rustin, met in 1971 as students at Yale University and married in 1975. They began living in West Friendship, Maryland, in 1988. Together, the couple have three sons (Rhoeyce, Benjamin Jr., and Murray), as well as several grandchildren. Their oldest son, Murray, was born in Perth, Australia, while Carson was undertaking a residency there. In 1981 Carson's wife became pregnant with twins before miscarrying in the fifth month of her pregnancy.
In 2001, Ben and Candy Carson bought a 48-acre property in Upperco, Maryland.
After being diagnosed with prostate cancer, Carson underwent a two-hour operation at the Johns Hopkins Hospital on August 7, 2002.
In 2013, Carson, his wife, and Carson's mother moved to West Palm Beach, Florida.
Surrounding his confirmation as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Carson bought a $1.22 million home in Vienna, Virginia, in February 2017 and sold his West Palm Beach home for over $900,000 in May 2017.
Religion
Carson and his wife are members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA). Carson was baptized at Burns Seventh-day Adventist Church in Detroit. A few years later, he told the pastor at a church he was attending in Inkster, Michigan, that he had not fully understood his first baptism and wanted to be baptized again. He has served as a local elder and Sabbath School teacher in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Although Carson is an Adventist, the church has officially cautioned church employees to remain politically neutral.
In keeping with his Seventh-day Adventist faith, Carson announced in 2014 his belief "that the United States will play a big role" in the coming apocalypse. He went on to say, "I hope by that time I'm not around anymore."
In an interview with Katie Couric, Carson said that Jesus Christ came to Earth to redeem the world through his atoning sacrifice and that all people are sinners and need his redemption.
Carson has stated that he does not believe in hell as understood by some Christians: "You know, I see God as a very loving individual. And why would he torment somebody forever who only had a life of 60 or 70 or 80 years? Even if they were evil. Even if they were only evil for 80 years?" This is fully in line with Adventist teaching, which promotes annihilationism.
Carson endorsed Seventh-day Adventist theology, which includes belief in a literal reading of the first chapters of Genesis. In a 2013 interview with Adventist News Network, Carson said: "You know, I'm proud of the fact that I believe what God has said, and I've said many times that I'll defend it before anyone. If they want to criticize the fact that I believe in a literal, six-day creation, let's have at it because I will poke all kinds of holes in what they believe." Carson's Adventism was raised as an issue by his then-primary rival Donald Trump. Some Adventists have argued that Carson's political positions on gun rights and religious liberty conflict with historic Adventist teachings in favor of nonviolence, pacifism, and the separation of church and state.
Claim about Egyptian pyramids
During a commencement speech at Andrews University in Michigan in 1998, Carson stated that he believed that the pyramids of Giza were created by the biblical figure Joseph to store grain, despite the fact that the story of Joseph is set in the time of Egypt's Middle Kingdom, five centuries after the pyramids of Giza were built. When questioned about it again in 2015, he stood by his original assertion.
Vegetarianism
Consistent with the practice of many Adventists, Carson is a lacto-ovo vegetarian (he will eat dishes containing milk, eggs, or cheese, and occasionally, poultry). He has said his main reason for becoming vegetarian was health concerns, including avoiding parasites and heart disease, and he emphasizes the environmental benefits of vegetarianism. His transition was made easier because he had eaten little meat for aesthetic reasons as a child, and he readily adopted his wife's vegetarianism because she does much of the cooking in their household. Speaking in 1990, he said that with the increasing availability of meat substitutes, "It might take 20 years. But eventually there will no longer be a reason for most people to eat meat. And animals will breathe a sigh of relief." To avoid causing others discomfort, he is willing to occasionally eat chicken or turkey, although he finds eating pork highly unpleasant.
Awards and honors
Carson is a member of the American Academy of Achievement, Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society, and the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans.
Carson has been awarded 38 honorary doctorate degrees and dozens of national merit citations. Detroit Public Schools opened the Dr. Benjamin Carson High School of Science and Medicine for students interested in pursuing healthcare careers. The school is partnering with Detroit Receiving Hospital and Michigan State University.
In 2000, he received the Award for Greatest Public Service Benefiting the Disadvantaged, an award given out annually by Jefferson Awards.
In 2001, he was elected by the Library of Congress on the occasion of its 200th anniversary to be one of the 89 who earned the designation Library of Congress Living Legend.
In 2004, he was appointed to serve on The President's Council on Bioethics.
In 2005, Carson was awarded the William E. Simon Prize for Philanthropic Leadership.
In 2006, he received the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP, their highest honor for outstanding achievement.
In 2008, the White House awarded Carson the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.
In 2008, Ford's Theatre Society awarded Carson the Ford's Theatre Lincoln Medal, for exemplifying the qualities embodied by President Abraham Lincoln—including courage, integrity, tolerance, equality, and creative expression—through superior achievements.
In 2008, U.S. News & World Report named Carson as one of "America's Best Leaders".
In 2010, he was elected into the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine, considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine.
In 2012, Carson was the Influential Marylander Award recipient from The Daily Record, Baltimore's legal and business newspaper.
In 2014, a poll of Americans conducted by Gallup ranked Carson sixth on a list of the most admired persons.
He is an emeritus fellow of the Yale Corporation.
Books
(with Cecil Murphey)
(with Gregg Lewis)
(with Candy Carson)
(with Candy Carson), on The New York Times bestsellers list for 20 straight weeks, five of them as number one
(with Candy Carson)
(with Gregg Lewis, Deborah Shaw Lewis)
(with Cecil Murphey)
(with Candy Carson)
See also
Ben Carson 2016 presidential campaign
Ben Carson office furnishing scandal
List of African-American Republicans
2016 Republican Party presidential candidates
Notes
References
Further reading
Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story (February 7, 2009), a television movie with the same title as Carson's first book premiered on TNT with Academy Award winner Cuba Gooding Jr. in the lead role and Kimberly Elise portraying his mother.
A Doctor in the House: My Life with Ben Carson (January 5, 2016), a book by Candy Carson
External links
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson
Ben Carson:Dialogue with an Adventist Neurosurgeon College and University Dialogue Retrieved October 12, 2018
1951 births
Living people
20th-century American male writers
20th-century Protestants
21st-century American male writers
21st-century American politicians
21st-century Protestants
African-American Christians
African-American members of the Cabinet of the United States
African-American physicians
African-American government officials
African-American candidates for President of the United States
African-American writers
American neurosurgeons
American Seventh-day Adventists
American Christian creationists
American Christian writers
Candidates in the 2016 United States presidential election
Christian vegetarianism
Florida Republicans
Johns Hopkins Hospital physicians
Kellogg's people
Maryland Republicans
Michigan Republicans
Members of the National Academy of Medicine
Physicians from Detroit
People from Dorchester, Massachusetts
People from Roxbury, Boston
People from Vienna, Virginia
Politicians from Detroit
People from West Friendship, Maryland
People from West Palm Beach, Florida
Physicians from Michigan
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
Seventh-day Adventists from Michigan
Seventh-day Adventists in health science
Spingarn Medal winners
Tea Party movement activists
Trump administration cabinet members
United States Secretaries of Housing and Urban Development
University of Michigan Medical School alumni
The Washington Times people
Yale University alumni
20th-century American writers
Southwestern High School (Michigan) alumni | false | [
"Knut Villy Korsæth (born 19 January 1932, in Berg i Østfold) is a Norwegian former educator, sports official and politician for the Labour Party. Mainly working as a school director during his professional life, he was also involved in politics and sports administration where he lived. His highest office was that of County Governor, and he was also a member of the board of the Norwegian Confederation of Sports.\n\nCareer\nKorsæth's first job was as a school teacher in Sagene from 1953 to 1961. At the same time, he completed the examen artium in 1954, and took exams to work as a teacher in English and physical education. In 1967 he graduated in geography with a minor in history. He had already worked as the municipal school inspector in Flå since 1961, and in Nordre Land from 1965 to 1971. He was a member of Nordre Land municipal council from 1967 to 1971.\n\nFrom 1971 to 1974 he was the school director in Lillehammer. He was the school director of Oppland county from 1974 to 1981, but had a leave of absence most of the period, as he served as the mayor of Lillehammer from 1975 to 1981. From 1973 to 1981 he was also a deputy member of the Parliament of Norway. He was then the County Governor of Oppland from 1981 to 2002.\n\nKorsæth was involved in the Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities between 1976 and 1983. He was also a member of the board of De Sandvigske Samlinger from 1976 to 1983, of Norsk Rikstoto from 1988 to 1990 and of Norway Crafts from 1990 to 1995.\n\nKorsæth was also involved in sports for many years. While living in Flå, he was the chairman of the local sports club Flå IL from 1961 to 1965, and from 1963 to 1965 he was deputy chairman of the district athletics association and chaired the district skiing association. From 1984 to 1985 he chaired Lillehammer IF, and also the Gudbrandsdal athletics district association. He also chaired its successor organization, the Oppland district athletics association, from 1985 to 1987 and 2005 to 2007. He was a central board member of the Norwegian Athletics Association from 1985 to 1990, and of the Norwegian Confederation of Sports from 1991 to 1994. He helped organize the 1994 Winter Olympics at Lillehammer. He later chaired the Oppland district sports association from 1994 to 2002, and the handball club Gjøvik og Vardal HK from 2002 to 2004.\n\nIn 2003 he was proclaimed an honorary member of the Norwegian Olympic Committee and Confederation of Sports. He was decorated as a Commander of the Order of St. Olav in 1998.\n\nReferences\n\n1932 births\nLiving people\nPeople from Nordre Land\nPeople from Lillehammer\nNorwegian schoolteachers\nMayors of places in Oppland\nDeputy members of the Storting\nLabour Party (Norway) politicians\nCounty Governors of Norway\nNorwegian sports executives and administrators",
"Graham Lovett (May 1936 – 2 September 1999) was an Australian tennis player and later one of the top sports administrators in Australia. In his 20s he was State manager of Dunlop sporting goods and later became managing director of Dunlop Slazenger. Lovett set up the Australian Indoors tennis tournament, which ran from 1973 to 1994 (he was also on the ATP board). In 1982 Lovett founded Sport Australia. He was involved in many different sports such as rugby league, swimming, cricket, basketball, triathlon and squash. He was involved in Sydney's successful Olympic bid for the 2000 Olympics, though died of cancer a few months before the Olympics were held. Outside of sports, Lovett was chairman of the Sydney Eye Hospital Foundation. He first entered the Australian tennis championships in 1956 and lost in round one to Don Candy. At the 1957 championships, Lovett beat Mike Davies before being beaten easily by Neale Fraser in the quarter finals. In 1958 he lost in round two to Bob Howe.\n\nReferences\n\n1936 births\n1999 deaths\nAustralian male tennis players\nTennis people from New South Wales"
] |
[
"Ben Carson",
"High school",
"Where did Carson attend high school",
"Southwestern High School",
"What years did Carson attend Southwestern High School",
"ninth through 12th grades,",
"Did Carson participate in any extra curricular activities in High School",
"played the baritone horn in the band, and participated in forensics (",
"Was he involved in any sports",
"I don't know."
] | C_8c698173e273415a9ad5450fbc5b9341_0 | did he win any awards in band or forensics | 5 | did Ben Carson win any awards in band or forensics | Ben Carson | By ninth grade, the family's financial situation had improved, his mother surprising neighbors by paying cash to buy a new Chrysler car, and the only government assistance they still relied on was food stamps. Carson attended the predominantly black Southwestern High School for ninth through 12th grades, graduating third in his class academically. In high school he played the baritone horn in the band, and participated in forensics (public speaking), chess club, and the U.S. Army Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) program where he reached its highest rank--cadet colonel. Carson served as a laboratory assistant in the high school's biology, chemistry, physics school laboratories beginning in 10th, 11th, and 12th grade, respectively, and worked as a biology laboratory assistant at Wayne State University the summer between 11th and 12th grades. In his book Gifted Hands, Carson relates that as a youth he had a violent temper. "As a teenager, I would go after people with rocks, and bricks, and baseball bats, and hammers," Carson told NBC's Meet the Press in October 2015. He said he once tried to hit his mother on the head with a hammer over a clothing dispute, while in the ninth grade he tried to stab a friend who had changed the radio station. Fortunately, the blade broke in his friend's belt buckle. Carson said that the intended victim, whose identity he wants to protect, was a classmate, a friend, or a close relative. After this incident, Carson said that he began reading the Book of Proverbs and applying verses on anger. As a result, he states he "never had another problem with temper". In his various books and at campaign events, he repeated these stories and said he once attacked a schoolmate with a combination lock. Nine friends, classmates, and neighbors who grew up with him told CNN in 2015 they did not remember the anger or violence he has described. In response, Carson posted on Facebook a 1997 Parade Magazine issue, in which his mother verified the stabbing incident. He then questioned the extent of the effort CNN had exerted in the investigation. He has said that he protected white students in a biology lab after a race riot broke out at his high school in response to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. The Wall Street Journal confirmed the riot but could not find anyone who remembered Carson sheltering white students. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Benjamin Solomon Carson Sr. (born September 18, 1951) is an American retired neurosurgeon and politician who served as the 17th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 2017 to 2021. He was a candidate for President of the United States in the 2016 Republican primaries. He is considered a pioneer in the field of neurosurgery.
Carson became the director of pediatric neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center in 1984 at age 33, then the youngest chief of pediatric neurosurgery in the United States. At retirement, he was professor of neurosurgery, oncology, plastic surgery, and pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Carson's achievements include participating in the first reported separation of conjoined twins joined at the back of the head. Although surgically a success, the twins continued to suffer neurologic/medical complications. Additional accomplishments include performing the first successful neurosurgical procedure on a fetus inside the womb, developing new methods to treat brain-stem tumors, and revitalizing hemispherectomy techniques for controlling seizures. He wrote over 100 neurosurgical publications. He retired from medicine in 2013.
Carson gained national fame among political conservatives after delivering a speech at the 2013 National Prayer Breakfast which was perceived as critical of the policies of President Barack Obama. Following widespread speculation of a presidential run, Carson officially announced his campaign for the 2016 Republican nomination for President in May 2015. Carson performed strongly in early polls, leading to his being considered a frontrunner for the nomination during the fall of 2015; however, his polling support began to decline following scrutiny of his foreign policy credentials after the November 2015 Paris attacks. Carson withdrew from the race after Super Tuesday, following a string of disappointing primary results, and endorsed Donald Trump. Following Trump's victory, Trump nominated Carson as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, being confirmed by the United States Senate in a 58–41 vote on March 2, 2017. Carson is one of the most prominent black conservatives in America.
Carson has received numerous honors for his neurosurgery work, including more than 60 honorary doctorate degrees and numerous national merit citations. In 2001, he was named by CNN and Time magazine as one of the nation's 20 foremost physicians and scientists and was selected by the Library of Congress as one of 89 "Living Legends" on its 200th anniversary. In 2008, Carson was bestowed the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States. In 2010, he was elected into the National Academy of Medicine. He was the subject of the 2009 TV film Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story, wherein he was portrayed by Cuba Gooding Jr. Carson has also written or co-written six bestselling books.
Early life and education
Carson's parents were Robert Solomon Carson Jr. (1914–1992), a World War II U.S. Army veteran, and Sonya Carson (née Copeland, 1928–2017). Robert Carson was a Baptist minister, but he later became a Cadillac automobile plant laborer. Both his parents came from large families in rural Georgia, and they were living in rural Tennessee when they met and married. Carson's mother was 13 and his father was 28 when they married, and after his father finished his military service, they moved from Chattanooga, Tennessee, to Detroit, where they lived in a large house in the Indian Village neighborhood. Carson's older brother, Curtis, was born in 1949, when his mother was 20. In 1950, Carson's parents purchased a new 733-square foot single-family detached home on Deacon Street in the Boynton neighborhood in southwest Detroit. Carson was born in Detroit, Michigan, on September 18, 1951.
Carson's Detroit Public Schools education began in 1956 with kindergarten at the Fisher School and continued through first, second, and the first half of third grade, during which time he was an average student. At the age of five, his mother learned that his father had a prior family and had not divorced his first wife. In 1959, at the age of eight, his parents separated and he moved with his mother and brother to live for two years with his mother's Seventh-day Adventist older sister and her sister's husband in multi-family dwellings in the Dorchester and Roxbury neighborhoods of Boston. In Boston, Carson's mother attempted suicide, had several psychiatric hospitalizations for depression, and for the first time began working outside the home as a domestic worker, while Carson and his brother attended a two-classroom school at the Berea Seventh-day Adventist church where two teachers taught eight grades, and the vast majority of time was spent singing songs and playing games.
In 1961, at the age of 10, he moved with his mother and brother back to southwest Detroit, where they lived in a multi-family dwelling in a primarily white neighborhood, (Springwells Village), across the railroad tracks from the Delray neighborhood, while renting out their house on Deacon Street, which his mother received in a divorce settlement. When they returned to Detroit public schools, Carson and his brother's academic performance initially lagged far behind their new classmates, having, according to Carson, "essentially lost a year of school" by attending the small Seventh-day Adventist parochial school in Boston, but they both improved when their mother limited their time watching television and required them to read and write book reports on two library books per week. Carson attended the predominantly white Higgins Elementary School for fifth and sixth grades and the predominantly white Wilson Junior High School for seventh and the first half of eighth grade. In 1965, at the age of 13, he moved with his mother and brother back to their house on Deacon Street. He attended the predominantly black Hunter Junior High School for the second half of eighth grade. At the age of eight, Carson dreamt of becoming a missionary doctor, but five years later he aspired to the lucrative lifestyles of psychiatrists portrayed on television, and his brother bought him a subscription to Psychology Today for his 13th birthday.
High school
By grade 9, the family's financial situation had improved, his mother surprising neighbors by paying cash to buy a new Chrysler car, and the only government assistance they still relied on was food stamps. Carson attended the predominantly black Southwestern High School for grades nine through twelve, graduating third in his class academically. In high school, he played the euphonium in band and participated in forensics (public speaking), chess club, and the U.S. Army Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) program where he reached its highest rank—cadet colonel. Carson served as a laboratory assistant in the high school's biology, chemistry, and physics school laboratories beginning in grades 10, 11, and 12, respectively, and worked as a biology laboratory assistant at Wayne State University the summer between grade 11 and 12.
In his book Gifted Hands, Carson relates that as a youth, he had a violent temper. "As a teenager, I would go after people with rocks, and bricks, and baseball bats, and hammers", Carson told NBC's Meet the Press in October 2015. He said he once tried to hit his mother on the head with a hammer over a clothing dispute, while in the ninth grade he tried to stab a friend who had changed the radio station. Fortunately, the blade broke in his friend's belt buckle. Carson said the intended victim, whose identity he wants to protect, was a classmate, a friend, or a close relative. After this incident, Carson said he began reading the Book of Proverbs and applying verses on anger. As a result, he states he "never had another problem with temper". In his various books and at campaign events, he repeated these stories and said he once attacked a schoolmate with a combination lock. Nine friends, classmates, and neighbors who grew up with him told CNN in 2015 they did not remember the anger or violence he has described. In response, Carson posted on Facebook a 1997 Parade magazine issue, in which his mother verified the stabbing incident. He then questioned the extent of the effort CNN had exerted in the investigation.
Carson has said that he protected white students in a biology lab after a race riot broke out at his high school in response to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. The Wall Street Journal confirmed the riot but could not find anyone who remembered Carson sheltering white students.
College
Carson's SAT college admission test scores ranked him somewhere in the low 90th percentile. He wanted to attend college farther away than his brother who was at the University of Michigan. Carson says he narrowed his college choices to Harvard or Yale but could only afford the $10 application fee to apply for only one of them. He said he decided to apply to Yale after seeing a team from Yale defeat a team from Harvard on the G.E. College Bowl television show. Carson was accepted by Yale and offered a full scholarship covering tuition, room and board. In 1973, Carson graduated with a B.A. in psychology from Yale "with a fairly respectable grade point average although far from the top of the class".
Carson does not say in his books whether he received a college student deferment during the Vietnam War. He does say that his older brother, then a student at the University of Michigan, received a low number (26) in the first draft lottery in 1969 and was able to enlist in the Navy for four years instead of being drafted, whereas he received a high number (333) in the second draft lottery in 1970. Carson said he would have readily accepted his responsibility to fight had he been drafted, but he "identified strongly with the anti-war protesters and the revolutionaries" and enthusiastically voted for anti-war Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern in 1972. In his book, America the Beautiful (2012), Carson said: "The Vietnam War was, in retrospect, not a noble conflict. It brought shame to our nation because of both the outcome and the cause."
In the summers following his high school graduation until his second year in medical school, Carson worked at a variety of jobs: as a clerk in the payroll office of Ford Motor Company, supervisor of a six-person crew picking up trash along the highway under a federal jobs program for inner-city students, a clerk in the mailroom of Young & Rubicam Advertising, assembling fender parts and inspecting back window louvers on the assembly line at Chrysler, a crane operator at Sennett Steel, and finally a radiology technician taking X-rays. At Yale, Carson had a part-time job on campus as a student police aide.
In his autobiography, Carson said he had been offered a scholarship to West Point. Politico reported that West Point has no record of his ever seeking admission. The academy does not award scholarships to anyone; cadets receive a free education and room and board in exchange for a commitment to serve in the military for at least five years after graduation. Carson also said the University of Michigan had offered him a scholarship. His staff later said the described scenario was similar to that of West Point, as he never actually applied for entry to the University of Michigan.
In his autobiography, Gifted Hands, Carson recounted that exams for a Yale psychology course he took his junior year, "Perceptions 301", were inexplicably burned, forcing students to retake the exam. Carson said other students walked out in protest when they discovered the retest was significantly harder than the original examination, but that he alone finished the test. On doing so, Carson said he was congratulated by the course instructor, who told him the retest was a hoax intended to find "the most honest student in the class". Carson said the professor awarded him $10 and that a photographer for the Yale Daily News was present to take his picture, which appeared in the student newspaper with a story about the experiment. Doubts were raised about this story in 2015 during Carson's presidential campaign. The Wall Street Journal attempted to verify Carson's account, reporting that Yale undergraduate courses were identified with only two digits in the early 1970s, that Yale had offered no course called "Perceptions 301" at the time, and that Carson's photo had never appeared in the Yale Daily News. Carson, while acknowledging the class number was not correct, said: "You know, when you write a book with a co-writer and you say that there was a class, a lot of [the] time they'll put a number or something just to give it more meat. You know, obviously, decades later, I'm not going to remember the course number."
Medical school
Carson entered the University of Michigan Medical School in 1973, and at first he struggled academically, doing so poorly on his first set of comprehensive exams that his faculty adviser recommended he drop out of medical school or take a reduced academic load and take longer to finish. He continued with a regular academic load, and his grades improved to average in his first year of medical school. By his second year of medical school, Carson began to excel academically by seldom attending lectures and instead studying textbooks and lecture notes from 6a.m. to 11p.m. Carson graduated from the University of Michigan Medical School with an M.D. degree in 1977, and he was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society.
Carson was then accepted by the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine neurosurgery program, where he served one year as a surgical intern and five years as a neurosurgery resident, completing the final year as chief resident in 1983. He then spent one year (1983–1984) as a Senior Registrar in neurosurgery at the Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Nedlands, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia.
Medical career
Upon returning to Johns Hopkins in 1984, Carson was appointed the university's director of pediatric neurosurgery. As a surgeon, he specialized in traumatic brain injuries, brain and spinal cord tumors, achondroplasia, neurological and congenital disorders, craniosynostosis, epilepsy, and trigeminal neuralgia. He has said that his hand–eye coordination and three-dimensional reasoning made him a gifted surgeon.
While at Johns Hopkins, Carson figured in the revival of the hemispherectomy, a drastic surgical procedure in which part or all of one hemisphere of the brain is removed to control severe pediatric epilepsy. Encouraged by John M. Freeman, he refined the procedure in the 1980s and performed it many times.
In 1987, Carson was the lead neurosurgeon of a 70-member surgical team that separated conjoined twins Patrick and Benjamin Binder, who had been joined at the back of the head (craniopagus twins). The separation surgery held promise in part because the twin boys had separate brains. The Johns Hopkins Children's Center surgical team rehearsed the surgery for weeks, practicing on two dolls secured together by Velcro. Although there were few follow-up stories following the Binder twins' return to Germany seven months after the operation, both twins were reportedly "far from normal" two years after the procedure, with one in a vegetative state. Neither twin was ever able to talk or care for himself, and both eventually became institutionalized wards of the state. Patrick Binder died sometime during the last decade, according to his uncle, who was located by The Washington Post in 2015. The Binder surgery served as a blueprint for similar twin separations, a procedure that was refined in subsequent decades. Carson participated in four subsequent high-risk conjoined-twin separations, including a 1997 operation on craniopagus Zambian twins Joseph and Luka Banda, which resulted in a normal neurological outcome. Two sets of twins died, including Iranian twins Ladan and Laleh Bijani. Another separation resulted in the death of one twin and the survival of the other, who is legally blind and struggles to walk.
According to The Washington Post, the Binder surgery "launched the stardom" of Carson, who "walked out of the operating room that day into a spotlight that has never dimmed", beginning with a press conference that was covered worldwide and created name recognition leading to publishing deals and a motivational speaking career. On the condition the film would have its premiere in Baltimore, Carson agreed to a cameo appearance as "head surgeon" in the 2003 Farrelly brothers' comedy Stuck on You, starring Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear as conjoined twins who, unhappy after their surgical separation, continue life attached to each other by Velcro.
In March 2013, Carson announced he would retire as a surgeon, saying he would "much rather quit when I'm at the top of my game". His retirement became official on July 1, 2013.
In 2021, Carson joined Galectin Therapeutics to assist with development of the company's galectin-3 inhibitor, belapectin, as a treatment for NASH cirrhosis and in combination with immunotherapy for the treatment of cancers.
Articles, books, business relationships, media posts
Carson has written many articles in peer-reviewed journals and six bestselling books published by Zondervan, an international Christian media and publishing company. The first book was an autobiography published in 1992. Two others are about his personal philosophies of success and what he sees as the stabilizing influence of religion.
According to CNN, Carson had an "extensive relationship" from 2004 to 2014 with Mannatech, a multi-level marketing company that produces dietary supplements made from substances such as aloe vera extract and larch-tree bark. Carson gave four paid speeches at company events. He has denied being paid by Mannatech to do anything else, saying he has been a "prolific speaker" who has addressed many groups. In a 2004 speech, he credited the company's products with the disappearance of his prostate cancer symptoms. The nature of this relationship became an issue in 2015 during Carson's presidential campaign. Carson's relationship with Mannatech continued after the company paid $7 million in 2009 to settle a deceptive-marketing lawsuit in Texas over claims that its products could cure autism and cancer. His most recent paid speech for the company was in 2013, for which he was paid $42,000. His image appeared on the corporation's website in 2014, and in the same year, he praised their "glyconutrient" supplements in a PBS special that was subsequently featured on the site.
Carson delivered the keynote address at a Mannatech distributor convention in 2011, during which he said the company had donated funds to help him obtain a coveted endowed-chair post at Johns Hopkins Medicine: "three years ago I had an endowed chair bestowed upon me and uh, it requires $2.5 million to do an endowed chair, and I'm proud to say that part of that $2.5 million came from Mannatech." In October 2015, Carson's campaign team said that "there was no contribution from Mannatech to Johns Hopkins" and that his statement had been "a legitimate mistake on his part. Confusion. He had been doing some fundraising for the hospital and some other chairs about that time, and he simply got things mixed up."
During the CNBC GOP debate on October 28, 2015, Carson was asked about his relationship with Mannatech. He replied, "That's easy to answer. I didn't have any involvement with Mannatech. Total propaganda. I did a couple speeches for them. I did speeches for other people—they were paid speeches. It is absolutely absurd to say I had any kind of relation with them. Do I take the product? Yes. I think it is a good product." Politifact rated Carson's denial of any involvement as "false", pointing to his paid speeches for Mannatech and his appearances in promotional videos in which he favorably reviewed its products, despite not being "an official spokesman or sales associate". When the CNBC moderator commented that Carson was on Mannatech's website, Carson replied that he had not given his permission. Earlier, he had said he was unaware of the company's legal history.
On November 3, 2015, Mannatech said on its website that for compliance with federal campaign finance regulations, the company had removed all references to Carson before he announced his bid for the presidency.
In July 2013, Carson was hired by The Washington Times as a weekly opinion columnist. In October 2013, Fox News hired Carson as a contributor to provide analysis and commentary across Fox News Channel's daytime and primetime programming, a relationship that lasted until the end of 2014.
In 2014, some House Republicans (who later formed the House Freedom Caucus) approached Carson about the possibility of his standing for Speaker of the House in the event that the incumbent Speaker, John Boehner, had to step down because of intraparty disunion. Carson declined, citing preparations for his 2016 presidential campaign. Ultimately, Boehner resigned in October 2015, and Paul Ryan was elected as the new Speaker.
In financial disclosure forms, Carson and his wife reported income of between $8.9 million and $27 million from January 2014 to May 3, 2015, when he announced his presidential campaign. Over that period, Carson received over $4 million from 141 paid speeches, between $1.1 million and $6 million in book royalties, between $200,000 and $2 million as a contributor to The Washington Times and Fox News, and between $2 million and $10 million as a member of the boards of Kellogg Co. and Costco Wholesale Corp. He resigned from Costco's board in mid-2015, after serving on it for more than 16 years. Carson was chairman of the Baltimore-based biotechnology company Vaccinogen from August 2014 until the announcement of his US presidential bid in May 2015. Carson had previously served on Vaccinogen's Medical Advisory Board.
2016 presidential campaign
Background and increasing political visibility
Carson, who had been registered as a Republican, changed his registration to independent in the 1990s after watching Republicans impeach President Clinton for perjury regarding an extramarital affair with Monica Lewinsky. "I just saw so much hypocrisy in both parties", he said. In February 2013, Carson said he was not a member of any political party.
In his book America the Beautiful (2013), he wrote: "I believe it is a very good idea for physicians, scientists, engineers, and others trained to make decisions based on facts and empirical data to get involved in the political arena."
Carson was the keynote speaker at the National Prayer Breakfast on February 7, 2013. The speech garnered Carson considerable attention because the event is normally apolitical in nature, and the speech was critical of the philosophy and policies of President Barack Obama, who was sitting 10 feet away. About the speech, Carson said: "I don't think it was particularly political... You know, I'm a physician." Regarding the policies of President Obama, he said: "There are a number of policies that I don't believe lead to the growth of our nation and don't lead to the elevation of our nation. I don't want to sit here and say all of his policies are bad. What I would like to see more often in this nation is an open and intelligent conversation."
Carson's sudden popularity among conservatives led to his being invited as a featured speaker at the 2013 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). He tied for seventh place in the Washington Times/CPAC 2013 Straw Poll with 4% of the 3,000 ballots cast. In the 2014 CPAC straw poll, he was in third place with 9% of the vote, behind senators Ted Cruz of Texas (with 11%) and Rand Paul of Kentucky (31%). In the presidential straw poll at the 2013 Values Voter Summit, he and Rick Santorum polled 13%, with winner Ted Cruz polling 42%, and in 2014 he polled 20% to Cruz's winning 25%.
On November 4, 2014, the day of the 2014 midterms, he rejoined the Republican Party, saying it was "truly a pragmatic move" because he was considering running for president in 2016.
In January 2015, The Weekly Standard reported that the Draft Carson Committee had raised $13 million by the end of 2014, shortly after Carson performed well in a CNN/ORC poll of potential candidates in December 2014, coming second in two different versions. He polled 10% to Mitt Romney's 20%, but in the same poll with Romney removed from the list, Carson polled 11% to Jeb Bush's 14%. The Wall Street Journal mentioned that the Draft Carson Committee had chairmen in all of Iowa's 99 counties, and that Carson had recently led two separate Public Policy polls for the state of Pennsylvania.
Announcement of campaign
On May 2, 2015, Carson proclaimed that in two days he was going to make a major announcement on his decision on whether to enter the presidential race. In an interview with Cincinnati station WKRC-TV on May 3, 2015, Carson accidentally confirmed his candidacy for president. The interview was also broadcast live on WPEC. The next day, May 4, 2015, at the Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts in his home town of Detroit, he officially announced his run for the Republican nomination in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The announcement speech was preceded by a choir singing "Lose Yourself" with Carson sitting in the audience. After the song, Carson took the stage and announced his candidacy alongside a speech on his rags to riches life story, at one point stating: "I remember when our favorite drug dealer was killed."
Surge in polls
In October 2015, the Super PAC supporting Carson, The 2016 Committee (formerly the Draft Carson Committee), announced it had received donations in mostly $100 increments from more than 200 small businesses around the country over the course of one week. Fox Business reported that "Carson's outsider status is growing his small business support base." Ben Walters, a fundraiser for The 2016 Committee, expressed optimism about Carson's small business support base: "It's unbelievable the diversity of businesses that we are bringing on. We are seeing everything from doctors' offices and folks in the healthcare profession to motorcycle repair shops and bed and breakfasts."
In October, it was noted that Carson's "improbable" political career had surged in polls and fundraising, while he continued to participate in nationally televised Republican debates.
Decline in polls
The campaign brought considerable attention to Carson's past. CBS News described Carson's narrative of "overcoming impossible odds as a child growing up in an impoverished, single-parent household to reach international prominence as a pediatric neurosurgeon" as "a key part of his presidential campaign". The Wall Street Journal said the narrative came under "the harsh scrutiny of presidential politics, where rivals and media hunt for embellishments and omissions that can hobble a campaign". CNN characterized the core narrative as "acts of violence as an angry young man", followed by a spiritual epiphany that transformed Carson into the "composed figure" he now portrays. Media challenges to a number of Carson's statements included allegations of discrepancies between documented facts and certain assertions in his autobiography Gifted Hands—allegations dismissed by Carson as a media "witch hunt". In November 2015, the Detroit Free Press republished an article from 1988 "to try to bring some clarity to the claims currently being brought into question".
In November 2015, Carson's campaign aired a 60-second TV advertisement in which excerpts from Carson's stump speech were intercut with a rap by an artist named Aspiring Mogul. They spent $150,000 on the ads, which were aired in Atlanta, Detroit and Miami. Carson defended the ad, saying "Well, there are people in the campaign who felt that was a good way to do things... I support them in doing that, but I probably would have taken a little different approach." Later, he said the advertisement was done without his knowledge, that "it was done by people who have no concept of the black community and what they were doing", and that he was "horrified" by it.
The New York Times reported in 2015, "Carson has acknowledged being something of a novice on foreign affairs." Regarding the Ukrainian crisis, Carson would send arms to Ukraine to aid it in its fight against pro-Russian rebels. He also believes the Baltic states, current NATO members, should "get involved in NATO".
In a November 2015 Republican debate, Carson declared his intentions to make ISIS "look like losers" as he would "destroy their caliphate". Carson also advocated capturing a "big energy field" outside of Anbar, Iraq, which he said could be accomplished "fairly easily". Regarding the Middle East, he also claimed that "the Chinese are there".
Carson said he is not opposed to a Palestinian state, but he questioned why it needs "to be within the confines of Israeli territory ... Is that necessary, or can you sort of slip that area down into Egypt?"
Withdrawal from campaign
On March 2, following the Super Tuesday 2016 primaries, Carson announced that he did "not see a political path forward" and would not attend the next Republican debate in Detroit. He said, "[T]his grassroots movement on behalf of 'We the People' will continue", indicating that he would give more details later in the week. He suspended his campaign on March4 and announced he would be the new national chairman of My Faith Votes, a group that encourages Christians to exercise their civic duty to vote.
In total, Ben Carson's campaign spent $58 million. However, most of the money went to political consultants and fundraising rather than advertising. Carson questioned whether his campaign was economically sabotaged from within.
Further activities during the 2016 election
On March 11, 2016, a week after Carson ended his presidential campaign, he endorsed Trump, calling him part of "the voice of the people to be heard". Carson's subsequent comments that Americans would have to sustain Trump for only four years if he was not a good president drew criticism, and he admitted that he would have preferred another candidate, though he thought Trump had the best chance of winning the general election.
On the other hand, at the press conference Carson said Trump had a "cerebral" side.
On April 25, Carson expressed opposition to Harriet Tubman replacing Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill the day after dubbing the replacement "political expediency", though he indicated interest in Tubman having another tribute. In late April, Carson wrote to the Nevada Republican Party, requesting the two delegates he won in Nevada be released and free to support whoever they want.
On May 4, after Trump wrapped up the Republican nomination, he hinted that Carson would be among those who would vet his vice-presidential pick. The same day, in an interview Carson expressed interest in Ted Cruz serving as Attorney General of the United States, a position that Carson said would allow Cruz to prosecute Hillary Clinton, and then as a Supreme Court Justice nominee from the Trump administration. On May 6, Carson said in an interview that Trump would consider a Democrat as his running mate, conflicting with Trump's assertion that he would not. A Carson spokesperson later said Carson expected Trump to select a Republican.
Carson was said by aide Armstrong Williams in a May 10 interview to have withdrawn from the Trump campaign's vetting team, though the campaign confirmed he was still involved. Later that month, Carson revealed a list of potential vice-presidential candidates in an interview with The Washington Post. On May 16, Carson said the media could not keep opinion out of reporting and cited Walter Cronkite as a fair journalist who was, in his words, a "left-wing radical".
During the Republican National Convention, Carson appeared with former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani in support of the pro-Donald Trump Great America PAC at an event in Cleveland.
Results
In total, Carson received 857,039 votes during the Republican primaries; this total represented 2.75% of the votes cast. He received the support of seven delegates at the Republican National Convention. Trump received the Republican nomination and went on to be elected president on November 8, 2016.
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
Nomination and confirmation
After Donald Trump's win in the 2016 election, Carson joined Trump's transition team as vice chairman. Carson was also offered a cabinet position in the administration. He declined, in part because of his lack of experience, with an aide stating, "The last thing he would want to do was take a position that could cripple the presidency." Although it was reported that the position was for Secretary of Health and Human Services, Carson's business manager has disputed this, stating, "Dr. Carson was never offered a specific position, but everything was open to him." He was eventually offered the position of Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, which he accepted.
On December 5, 2016, Trump announced that he would nominate Carson to the position of Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. During the confirmation process, Carson was scrutinized by some housing advocates for what they perceived as his lack of relevant experience.
On January 24, 2017, the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs voted unanimously to approve the nomination. Senate Democrats attempted to defeat Carson's nomination via filibuster, but that vote failed on March 1, 2017, and he was then confirmed by the Senate by a 58–41 vote the next day.
Tenure
In December 2017, The Economist described the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), led by Ben Carson, as "directionless". Most of the top HUD positions were unfilled and Carson's leadership was "inconspicuous and inscrutable". Of the policies HUD was enacting, The Economist wrote, "it is hard not to conclude that the governing principle at HUD is to take whatever the Obama administration was doing, and do the opposite." HUD scaled back the enforcement of fair housing laws, halted several fair housing investigations started by the Obama administration and removed the words "inclusive" and "free from discrimination" from its mission statement. HUD saw an exodus of career officials during Carson's tenure.
On March 6, his first day as secretary, while addressing Housing and Urban Development (HUD) employees, Carson saluted the work ethic of immigrants, and during his comments, he likened slaves to involuntary immigrants. A HUD spokesman said that no one present thought Carson "was equating voluntary immigration with involuntary servitude". In the same speech, Carson was criticized by some for saying that the human brain "was incapable of forgetting and could be electrically stimulated into perfect recall".
Under the federal budget proposed by Trump in 2017, HUD's budget for the fiscal year 2018 would be cut by $6.2 billion (13%) and the Community Development Block Grant, a program which Carson praised in a trip to Detroit as HUD secretary, would be eliminated. Carson issued a statement supporting the proposed cuts. Carson suggested that federal funds for housing in Detroit could be part of an expected infrastructure bill.
In April 2017, while speaking in Washington at the National Low Income Housing Coalition conference, Carson said that housing funding would be included in an upcoming infrastructure bill from the Trump administration.
In July 2017, during his keynote address at the LeadingAge Florida annual convention, Carson stated his concern about "seniors who become destitute" and reported that the Department of Housing and Urban Development had increased public housing programs for the elderly by an unspecified number.
In summer 2017, Carson allowed his son, Baltimore businessman, Ben Carson Jr., to participate in organizing a HUD "listening tour" in Baltimore. Internal documents obtained by The Washington Post under the Freedom of Information Act showed that the younger Carson "put people he'd invited in touch with his father's deputies, joined agency staff on official conference calls about the listening tour and copied his wife on related email exchanges". The son's involvement prompted HUD staff to express concern; the department's deputy general counsel for operations wrote in a memorandum "that this gave the appearance that the Secretary may be using his position for his son's private gain". Carson's wife, son, and daughter-in-law also attended official meetings. In February 2018, the HUD inspector general's office confirmed that it was looking into the role Carson's family played at the department.
During congressional testimony in May 2019, while being questioned by U.S. Representative Katie Porter, Carson did not know what the term REO ("Real Estate Owned" refers to housing owned by a bank or lending institution post-foreclosure) stood for and confused it with the cookie, Oreo. In response, Carson went on the Fox Business Network where he accused Democrats of adhering to "Saul Alinsky" tactics.
On March 1, 2020, the office of Vice President Mike Pence announced Carson's addition to the White House Coronavirus Task Force.
On November 9, 2020, Carson tested positive for COVID-19 after attending President Trump's Election Night party. He initially treated himself with a homeopathic oleander extract on the recommendation of Mike Lindell, the founder of My Pillow, Inc., which Carson said caused his symptoms to disappear. Oleander was previously rejected by the Food and Drug Administration as a treatment for COVID-19 and Carson received criticism for promoting an unscientific homeopathic treatment. He disclosed on November 20 that he subsequently became "extremely sick" and attributed his recovery to Regeneron's experimental antibody therapy. He said that President Trump had given him access to the drug.
Office furnishing scandal
Carson received criticism for spending up to $31,000 on a dining set in his office in late 2017. This expenditure was discovered after Helen Foster, a career HUD official, filed a complaint alleging that she had been demoted from her position because she refused to spend more than the legal $5,000 limit for office redecorations. Carson and his spokesman said that he had little or no involvement in the purchase of the dining set. Later, email communications revealed that Carson and his wife selected the dining set. On March 20, 2018, Carson testified before the United States House Committee on Appropriations that he had "dismissed" himself from the decision to buy the $31,000 dining room set and "left it to my wife, you know, to choose something". On September 12, 2019, HUD's inspector general released a report clearing Carson of misconduct.
Remarks on transgender use of homeless shelters
Carson was accused by members of the Department of Housing and Urban Development of making transphobic remarks at a meeting in San Francisco in September 2019. He warned that "big, hairy men" might infiltrate homeless shelters for women, prompting one woman to walk out. Reps. Joe Kennedy III of Massachusetts and Jennifer Wexton of Virginia called for his resignation, but Carson said the accusations were a "mischaracterization". A HUD spokesperson responded that Carson "does not use derogatory language to refer to transgendered individuals. Any reporting to the contrary is false."
Carson Scholars Fund
In 1994, Carson and his wife started the Carson Scholars Fund that awards scholarships to students in grades 4–11 for "academic excellence and humanitarian qualities".
Recipients of the Carson Scholars Fund receive a $1,000 scholarship towards their college education. It has awarded 6,700 scholarships. In recognition for his work with the Carson Scholars Fund and other charitable giving throughout his lifetime, Carson was awarded the William E. Simon Prize for Philanthropic Leadership in 2005.
American Cornerstone Institute
In 2021, Carson founded the American Cornerstone Institute or ACI, a conservative think tank centered around advancing policies that promote "faith, liberty, community, and life".
The ACI's mission statement is "dedicated to promoting and preserving individual and religious liberty, helping our country's most vulnerable find new hope, and developing methods to decrease the federal government's role in society and to improve efficiency to best serve ALL our nation's citizens. Headed by world-renowned neurosurgeon, presidential candidate, and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Dr. Ben Carson, ACI will be a voice for reason and civility in a nation that is increasingly devoid of common sense."
Personal life
Carson and his wife, fellow Detroit native Lacena "Candy" Rustin, met in 1971 as students at Yale University and married in 1975. They began living in West Friendship, Maryland, in 1988. Together, the couple have three sons (Rhoeyce, Benjamin Jr., and Murray), as well as several grandchildren. Their oldest son, Murray, was born in Perth, Australia, while Carson was undertaking a residency there. In 1981 Carson's wife became pregnant with twins before miscarrying in the fifth month of her pregnancy.
In 2001, Ben and Candy Carson bought a 48-acre property in Upperco, Maryland.
After being diagnosed with prostate cancer, Carson underwent a two-hour operation at the Johns Hopkins Hospital on August 7, 2002.
In 2013, Carson, his wife, and Carson's mother moved to West Palm Beach, Florida.
Surrounding his confirmation as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Carson bought a $1.22 million home in Vienna, Virginia, in February 2017 and sold his West Palm Beach home for over $900,000 in May 2017.
Religion
Carson and his wife are members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA). Carson was baptized at Burns Seventh-day Adventist Church in Detroit. A few years later, he told the pastor at a church he was attending in Inkster, Michigan, that he had not fully understood his first baptism and wanted to be baptized again. He has served as a local elder and Sabbath School teacher in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Although Carson is an Adventist, the church has officially cautioned church employees to remain politically neutral.
In keeping with his Seventh-day Adventist faith, Carson announced in 2014 his belief "that the United States will play a big role" in the coming apocalypse. He went on to say, "I hope by that time I'm not around anymore."
In an interview with Katie Couric, Carson said that Jesus Christ came to Earth to redeem the world through his atoning sacrifice and that all people are sinners and need his redemption.
Carson has stated that he does not believe in hell as understood by some Christians: "You know, I see God as a very loving individual. And why would he torment somebody forever who only had a life of 60 or 70 or 80 years? Even if they were evil. Even if they were only evil for 80 years?" This is fully in line with Adventist teaching, which promotes annihilationism.
Carson endorsed Seventh-day Adventist theology, which includes belief in a literal reading of the first chapters of Genesis. In a 2013 interview with Adventist News Network, Carson said: "You know, I'm proud of the fact that I believe what God has said, and I've said many times that I'll defend it before anyone. If they want to criticize the fact that I believe in a literal, six-day creation, let's have at it because I will poke all kinds of holes in what they believe." Carson's Adventism was raised as an issue by his then-primary rival Donald Trump. Some Adventists have argued that Carson's political positions on gun rights and religious liberty conflict with historic Adventist teachings in favor of nonviolence, pacifism, and the separation of church and state.
Claim about Egyptian pyramids
During a commencement speech at Andrews University in Michigan in 1998, Carson stated that he believed that the pyramids of Giza were created by the biblical figure Joseph to store grain, despite the fact that the story of Joseph is set in the time of Egypt's Middle Kingdom, five centuries after the pyramids of Giza were built. When questioned about it again in 2015, he stood by his original assertion.
Vegetarianism
Consistent with the practice of many Adventists, Carson is a lacto-ovo vegetarian (he will eat dishes containing milk, eggs, or cheese, and occasionally, poultry). He has said his main reason for becoming vegetarian was health concerns, including avoiding parasites and heart disease, and he emphasizes the environmental benefits of vegetarianism. His transition was made easier because he had eaten little meat for aesthetic reasons as a child, and he readily adopted his wife's vegetarianism because she does much of the cooking in their household. Speaking in 1990, he said that with the increasing availability of meat substitutes, "It might take 20 years. But eventually there will no longer be a reason for most people to eat meat. And animals will breathe a sigh of relief." To avoid causing others discomfort, he is willing to occasionally eat chicken or turkey, although he finds eating pork highly unpleasant.
Awards and honors
Carson is a member of the American Academy of Achievement, Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society, and the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans.
Carson has been awarded 38 honorary doctorate degrees and dozens of national merit citations. Detroit Public Schools opened the Dr. Benjamin Carson High School of Science and Medicine for students interested in pursuing healthcare careers. The school is partnering with Detroit Receiving Hospital and Michigan State University.
In 2000, he received the Award for Greatest Public Service Benefiting the Disadvantaged, an award given out annually by Jefferson Awards.
In 2001, he was elected by the Library of Congress on the occasion of its 200th anniversary to be one of the 89 who earned the designation Library of Congress Living Legend.
In 2004, he was appointed to serve on The President's Council on Bioethics.
In 2005, Carson was awarded the William E. Simon Prize for Philanthropic Leadership.
In 2006, he received the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP, their highest honor for outstanding achievement.
In 2008, the White House awarded Carson the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.
In 2008, Ford's Theatre Society awarded Carson the Ford's Theatre Lincoln Medal, for exemplifying the qualities embodied by President Abraham Lincoln—including courage, integrity, tolerance, equality, and creative expression—through superior achievements.
In 2008, U.S. News & World Report named Carson as one of "America's Best Leaders".
In 2010, he was elected into the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine, considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine.
In 2012, Carson was the Influential Marylander Award recipient from The Daily Record, Baltimore's legal and business newspaper.
In 2014, a poll of Americans conducted by Gallup ranked Carson sixth on a list of the most admired persons.
He is an emeritus fellow of the Yale Corporation.
Books
(with Cecil Murphey)
(with Gregg Lewis)
(with Candy Carson)
(with Candy Carson), on The New York Times bestsellers list for 20 straight weeks, five of them as number one
(with Candy Carson)
(with Gregg Lewis, Deborah Shaw Lewis)
(with Cecil Murphey)
(with Candy Carson)
See also
Ben Carson 2016 presidential campaign
Ben Carson office furnishing scandal
List of African-American Republicans
2016 Republican Party presidential candidates
Notes
References
Further reading
Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story (February 7, 2009), a television movie with the same title as Carson's first book premiered on TNT with Academy Award winner Cuba Gooding Jr. in the lead role and Kimberly Elise portraying his mother.
A Doctor in the House: My Life with Ben Carson (January 5, 2016), a book by Candy Carson
External links
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson
Ben Carson:Dialogue with an Adventist Neurosurgeon College and University Dialogue Retrieved October 12, 2018
1951 births
Living people
20th-century American male writers
20th-century Protestants
21st-century American male writers
21st-century American politicians
21st-century Protestants
African-American Christians
African-American members of the Cabinet of the United States
African-American physicians
African-American government officials
African-American candidates for President of the United States
African-American writers
American neurosurgeons
American Seventh-day Adventists
American Christian creationists
American Christian writers
Candidates in the 2016 United States presidential election
Christian vegetarianism
Florida Republicans
Johns Hopkins Hospital physicians
Kellogg's people
Maryland Republicans
Michigan Republicans
Members of the National Academy of Medicine
Physicians from Detroit
People from Dorchester, Massachusetts
People from Roxbury, Boston
People from Vienna, Virginia
Politicians from Detroit
People from West Friendship, Maryland
People from West Palm Beach, Florida
Physicians from Michigan
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
Seventh-day Adventists from Michigan
Seventh-day Adventists in health science
Spingarn Medal winners
Tea Party movement activists
Trump administration cabinet members
United States Secretaries of Housing and Urban Development
University of Michigan Medical School alumni
The Washington Times people
Yale University alumni
20th-century American writers
Southwestern High School (Michigan) alumni | false | [
"The Rhino Band was a popular band in Kenya. It was in formed in 1946 from the Entertainment Unit of the King's African Rifles. Their music did not win any awards, however a prominent member, George Senoga-Zake, jointly composed the Kenyan National Anthem.\n\nExternal links \n https://web.archive.org/web/20070927234418/http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/25/483097\nKenyan musical groups\n1946 establishments in Kenya",
"Stochastic forensics is a method to forensically reconstruct digital activity lacking artifacts, by analyzing emergent properties resulting from the stochastic nature of modern computers. Unlike traditional computer forensics, which relies on digital artifacts, stochastic forensics does not require artifacts and can therefore recreate activity which would otherwise be invisible. Its chief application is the investigation of insider data theft.\n\nHistory\n\nStochastic forensics was invented in 2010 by computer scientist Jonathan Grier to detect and investigate insider data theft. Insider data theft has been notoriously difficult to investigate using traditional methods, since it does not create any artifacts (such as changes to the file attributes or Windows Registry). Consequently, industry demanded a new investigative technique.\n\nSince its invention, stochastic forensics has been used in real world investigation of insider data theft, been the subject of academic research, and met with industry demand for tools and training.\n\nOrigins in statistical mechanics\n\nStochastic forensics is inspired by the statistical mechanics method used in physics. Classical Newtonian mechanics calculates the exact position and momentum of every particle in a system. This works well for systems, such as the Solar System, which consist of a small number of objects. However, it cannot be used to study things like a gas, which have intractably large numbers of molecules. Statistical mechanics, however, doesn't attempt to track properties of individual particles, but only the properties which emerge statistically. Hence, it can analyze complex systems without needing to know the exact position of their individual particles.\n\nLikewise, modern day computer systems, which can have over states, are too complex to be completely analyzed. Therefore, stochastic forensics views computers as a stochastic process, which, although unpredictable, has well defined probabilistic properties. By analyzing these properties statistically, stochastic mechanics can reconstruct activity that took place, even if the activity did not create any artifacts.\n\nUse in investigating insider data theft\n\nStochastic forensics chief application is detecting and investigating insider data theft. Insider data theft is often done by someone who is technically authorized to access the data, and who uses it regularly as part of their job. It does not create artifacts or change the file attributes or Windows Registry. Consequently, unlike external computer attacks, which, by their nature, leave traces of the attack, insider data theft is practically invisible.\n\nHowever, the statistical distribution of filesystems' metadata is affected by such large scale copying. By analyzing this distribution, stochastic forensics is able to identify and examine such data theft. Typical filesystems have a heavy tailed distribution of file access. Copying in bulk disturbs this pattern, and is consequently detectable.\n\nDrawing on this, stochastic mechanics has been used to successfully investigate insider data theft where other techniques have failed. Typically, after stochastic forensics has identified the data theft, follow up using traditional forensic techniques is required.\n\nCriticism\n\nStochastic forensics has been criticized as only providing evidence and indications of data theft, and not concrete proof. Indeed, it requires a practitioner to \"think like Sherlock, not Aristotle.\" Certain authorized activities besides data theft may cause similar disturbances in statistical distributions.\n\nFurthermore, many operating systems do not track access timestamps by default, making stochastic forensics not directly applicable. Research is underway in applying stochastic forensics to these operating systems as well as databases.\n\nAdditionally, in its current state, stochastic forensics requires a trained forensic analyst to apply and evaluate. There have been calls for development of tools to automate stochastic forensics by Guidance Software and others.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \"Detecting Data Theft Using Stochastic Forensics\", Journal of Digital Investigation\n \"How Digital Forensics Detects Insider Theft\", Information Week\n \"New Forensics Method May Nab Insider Thieves\", Dark Reading\n\nDigital forensics"
] |
[
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"High school",
"Where did Carson attend high school",
"Southwestern High School",
"What years did Carson attend Southwestern High School",
"ninth through 12th grades,",
"Did Carson participate in any extra curricular activities in High School",
"played the baritone horn in the band, and participated in forensics (",
"Was he involved in any sports",
"I don't know.",
"did he win any awards in band or forensics",
"I don't know."
] | C_8c698173e273415a9ad5450fbc5b9341_0 | Was he popular in High School | 6 | Was Ben Carson popular in High School | Ben Carson | By ninth grade, the family's financial situation had improved, his mother surprising neighbors by paying cash to buy a new Chrysler car, and the only government assistance they still relied on was food stamps. Carson attended the predominantly black Southwestern High School for ninth through 12th grades, graduating third in his class academically. In high school he played the baritone horn in the band, and participated in forensics (public speaking), chess club, and the U.S. Army Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) program where he reached its highest rank--cadet colonel. Carson served as a laboratory assistant in the high school's biology, chemistry, physics school laboratories beginning in 10th, 11th, and 12th grade, respectively, and worked as a biology laboratory assistant at Wayne State University the summer between 11th and 12th grades. In his book Gifted Hands, Carson relates that as a youth he had a violent temper. "As a teenager, I would go after people with rocks, and bricks, and baseball bats, and hammers," Carson told NBC's Meet the Press in October 2015. He said he once tried to hit his mother on the head with a hammer over a clothing dispute, while in the ninth grade he tried to stab a friend who had changed the radio station. Fortunately, the blade broke in his friend's belt buckle. Carson said that the intended victim, whose identity he wants to protect, was a classmate, a friend, or a close relative. After this incident, Carson said that he began reading the Book of Proverbs and applying verses on anger. As a result, he states he "never had another problem with temper". In his various books and at campaign events, he repeated these stories and said he once attacked a schoolmate with a combination lock. Nine friends, classmates, and neighbors who grew up with him told CNN in 2015 they did not remember the anger or violence he has described. In response, Carson posted on Facebook a 1997 Parade Magazine issue, in which his mother verified the stabbing incident. He then questioned the extent of the effort CNN had exerted in the investigation. He has said that he protected white students in a biology lab after a race riot broke out at his high school in response to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. The Wall Street Journal confirmed the riot but could not find anyone who remembered Carson sheltering white students. CANNOTANSWER | Hands, Carson relates that as a youth he had a violent temper. "As a teenager, I would go after people with rocks, and bricks, and baseball bats, and hammers," | Benjamin Solomon Carson Sr. (born September 18, 1951) is an American retired neurosurgeon and politician who served as the 17th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 2017 to 2021. He was a candidate for President of the United States in the 2016 Republican primaries. He is considered a pioneer in the field of neurosurgery.
Carson became the director of pediatric neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center in 1984 at age 33, then the youngest chief of pediatric neurosurgery in the United States. At retirement, he was professor of neurosurgery, oncology, plastic surgery, and pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Carson's achievements include participating in the first reported separation of conjoined twins joined at the back of the head. Although surgically a success, the twins continued to suffer neurologic/medical complications. Additional accomplishments include performing the first successful neurosurgical procedure on a fetus inside the womb, developing new methods to treat brain-stem tumors, and revitalizing hemispherectomy techniques for controlling seizures. He wrote over 100 neurosurgical publications. He retired from medicine in 2013.
Carson gained national fame among political conservatives after delivering a speech at the 2013 National Prayer Breakfast which was perceived as critical of the policies of President Barack Obama. Following widespread speculation of a presidential run, Carson officially announced his campaign for the 2016 Republican nomination for President in May 2015. Carson performed strongly in early polls, leading to his being considered a frontrunner for the nomination during the fall of 2015; however, his polling support began to decline following scrutiny of his foreign policy credentials after the November 2015 Paris attacks. Carson withdrew from the race after Super Tuesday, following a string of disappointing primary results, and endorsed Donald Trump. Following Trump's victory, Trump nominated Carson as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, being confirmed by the United States Senate in a 58–41 vote on March 2, 2017. Carson is one of the most prominent black conservatives in America.
Carson has received numerous honors for his neurosurgery work, including more than 60 honorary doctorate degrees and numerous national merit citations. In 2001, he was named by CNN and Time magazine as one of the nation's 20 foremost physicians and scientists and was selected by the Library of Congress as one of 89 "Living Legends" on its 200th anniversary. In 2008, Carson was bestowed the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States. In 2010, he was elected into the National Academy of Medicine. He was the subject of the 2009 TV film Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story, wherein he was portrayed by Cuba Gooding Jr. Carson has also written or co-written six bestselling books.
Early life and education
Carson's parents were Robert Solomon Carson Jr. (1914–1992), a World War II U.S. Army veteran, and Sonya Carson (née Copeland, 1928–2017). Robert Carson was a Baptist minister, but he later became a Cadillac automobile plant laborer. Both his parents came from large families in rural Georgia, and they were living in rural Tennessee when they met and married. Carson's mother was 13 and his father was 28 when they married, and after his father finished his military service, they moved from Chattanooga, Tennessee, to Detroit, where they lived in a large house in the Indian Village neighborhood. Carson's older brother, Curtis, was born in 1949, when his mother was 20. In 1950, Carson's parents purchased a new 733-square foot single-family detached home on Deacon Street in the Boynton neighborhood in southwest Detroit. Carson was born in Detroit, Michigan, on September 18, 1951.
Carson's Detroit Public Schools education began in 1956 with kindergarten at the Fisher School and continued through first, second, and the first half of third grade, during which time he was an average student. At the age of five, his mother learned that his father had a prior family and had not divorced his first wife. In 1959, at the age of eight, his parents separated and he moved with his mother and brother to live for two years with his mother's Seventh-day Adventist older sister and her sister's husband in multi-family dwellings in the Dorchester and Roxbury neighborhoods of Boston. In Boston, Carson's mother attempted suicide, had several psychiatric hospitalizations for depression, and for the first time began working outside the home as a domestic worker, while Carson and his brother attended a two-classroom school at the Berea Seventh-day Adventist church where two teachers taught eight grades, and the vast majority of time was spent singing songs and playing games.
In 1961, at the age of 10, he moved with his mother and brother back to southwest Detroit, where they lived in a multi-family dwelling in a primarily white neighborhood, (Springwells Village), across the railroad tracks from the Delray neighborhood, while renting out their house on Deacon Street, which his mother received in a divorce settlement. When they returned to Detroit public schools, Carson and his brother's academic performance initially lagged far behind their new classmates, having, according to Carson, "essentially lost a year of school" by attending the small Seventh-day Adventist parochial school in Boston, but they both improved when their mother limited their time watching television and required them to read and write book reports on two library books per week. Carson attended the predominantly white Higgins Elementary School for fifth and sixth grades and the predominantly white Wilson Junior High School for seventh and the first half of eighth grade. In 1965, at the age of 13, he moved with his mother and brother back to their house on Deacon Street. He attended the predominantly black Hunter Junior High School for the second half of eighth grade. At the age of eight, Carson dreamt of becoming a missionary doctor, but five years later he aspired to the lucrative lifestyles of psychiatrists portrayed on television, and his brother bought him a subscription to Psychology Today for his 13th birthday.
High school
By grade 9, the family's financial situation had improved, his mother surprising neighbors by paying cash to buy a new Chrysler car, and the only government assistance they still relied on was food stamps. Carson attended the predominantly black Southwestern High School for grades nine through twelve, graduating third in his class academically. In high school, he played the euphonium in band and participated in forensics (public speaking), chess club, and the U.S. Army Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) program where he reached its highest rank—cadet colonel. Carson served as a laboratory assistant in the high school's biology, chemistry, and physics school laboratories beginning in grades 10, 11, and 12, respectively, and worked as a biology laboratory assistant at Wayne State University the summer between grade 11 and 12.
In his book Gifted Hands, Carson relates that as a youth, he had a violent temper. "As a teenager, I would go after people with rocks, and bricks, and baseball bats, and hammers", Carson told NBC's Meet the Press in October 2015. He said he once tried to hit his mother on the head with a hammer over a clothing dispute, while in the ninth grade he tried to stab a friend who had changed the radio station. Fortunately, the blade broke in his friend's belt buckle. Carson said the intended victim, whose identity he wants to protect, was a classmate, a friend, or a close relative. After this incident, Carson said he began reading the Book of Proverbs and applying verses on anger. As a result, he states he "never had another problem with temper". In his various books and at campaign events, he repeated these stories and said he once attacked a schoolmate with a combination lock. Nine friends, classmates, and neighbors who grew up with him told CNN in 2015 they did not remember the anger or violence he has described. In response, Carson posted on Facebook a 1997 Parade magazine issue, in which his mother verified the stabbing incident. He then questioned the extent of the effort CNN had exerted in the investigation.
Carson has said that he protected white students in a biology lab after a race riot broke out at his high school in response to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. The Wall Street Journal confirmed the riot but could not find anyone who remembered Carson sheltering white students.
College
Carson's SAT college admission test scores ranked him somewhere in the low 90th percentile. He wanted to attend college farther away than his brother who was at the University of Michigan. Carson says he narrowed his college choices to Harvard or Yale but could only afford the $10 application fee to apply for only one of them. He said he decided to apply to Yale after seeing a team from Yale defeat a team from Harvard on the G.E. College Bowl television show. Carson was accepted by Yale and offered a full scholarship covering tuition, room and board. In 1973, Carson graduated with a B.A. in psychology from Yale "with a fairly respectable grade point average although far from the top of the class".
Carson does not say in his books whether he received a college student deferment during the Vietnam War. He does say that his older brother, then a student at the University of Michigan, received a low number (26) in the first draft lottery in 1969 and was able to enlist in the Navy for four years instead of being drafted, whereas he received a high number (333) in the second draft lottery in 1970. Carson said he would have readily accepted his responsibility to fight had he been drafted, but he "identified strongly with the anti-war protesters and the revolutionaries" and enthusiastically voted for anti-war Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern in 1972. In his book, America the Beautiful (2012), Carson said: "The Vietnam War was, in retrospect, not a noble conflict. It brought shame to our nation because of both the outcome and the cause."
In the summers following his high school graduation until his second year in medical school, Carson worked at a variety of jobs: as a clerk in the payroll office of Ford Motor Company, supervisor of a six-person crew picking up trash along the highway under a federal jobs program for inner-city students, a clerk in the mailroom of Young & Rubicam Advertising, assembling fender parts and inspecting back window louvers on the assembly line at Chrysler, a crane operator at Sennett Steel, and finally a radiology technician taking X-rays. At Yale, Carson had a part-time job on campus as a student police aide.
In his autobiography, Carson said he had been offered a scholarship to West Point. Politico reported that West Point has no record of his ever seeking admission. The academy does not award scholarships to anyone; cadets receive a free education and room and board in exchange for a commitment to serve in the military for at least five years after graduation. Carson also said the University of Michigan had offered him a scholarship. His staff later said the described scenario was similar to that of West Point, as he never actually applied for entry to the University of Michigan.
In his autobiography, Gifted Hands, Carson recounted that exams for a Yale psychology course he took his junior year, "Perceptions 301", were inexplicably burned, forcing students to retake the exam. Carson said other students walked out in protest when they discovered the retest was significantly harder than the original examination, but that he alone finished the test. On doing so, Carson said he was congratulated by the course instructor, who told him the retest was a hoax intended to find "the most honest student in the class". Carson said the professor awarded him $10 and that a photographer for the Yale Daily News was present to take his picture, which appeared in the student newspaper with a story about the experiment. Doubts were raised about this story in 2015 during Carson's presidential campaign. The Wall Street Journal attempted to verify Carson's account, reporting that Yale undergraduate courses were identified with only two digits in the early 1970s, that Yale had offered no course called "Perceptions 301" at the time, and that Carson's photo had never appeared in the Yale Daily News. Carson, while acknowledging the class number was not correct, said: "You know, when you write a book with a co-writer and you say that there was a class, a lot of [the] time they'll put a number or something just to give it more meat. You know, obviously, decades later, I'm not going to remember the course number."
Medical school
Carson entered the University of Michigan Medical School in 1973, and at first he struggled academically, doing so poorly on his first set of comprehensive exams that his faculty adviser recommended he drop out of medical school or take a reduced academic load and take longer to finish. He continued with a regular academic load, and his grades improved to average in his first year of medical school. By his second year of medical school, Carson began to excel academically by seldom attending lectures and instead studying textbooks and lecture notes from 6a.m. to 11p.m. Carson graduated from the University of Michigan Medical School with an M.D. degree in 1977, and he was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society.
Carson was then accepted by the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine neurosurgery program, where he served one year as a surgical intern and five years as a neurosurgery resident, completing the final year as chief resident in 1983. He then spent one year (1983–1984) as a Senior Registrar in neurosurgery at the Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Nedlands, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia.
Medical career
Upon returning to Johns Hopkins in 1984, Carson was appointed the university's director of pediatric neurosurgery. As a surgeon, he specialized in traumatic brain injuries, brain and spinal cord tumors, achondroplasia, neurological and congenital disorders, craniosynostosis, epilepsy, and trigeminal neuralgia. He has said that his hand–eye coordination and three-dimensional reasoning made him a gifted surgeon.
While at Johns Hopkins, Carson figured in the revival of the hemispherectomy, a drastic surgical procedure in which part or all of one hemisphere of the brain is removed to control severe pediatric epilepsy. Encouraged by John M. Freeman, he refined the procedure in the 1980s and performed it many times.
In 1987, Carson was the lead neurosurgeon of a 70-member surgical team that separated conjoined twins Patrick and Benjamin Binder, who had been joined at the back of the head (craniopagus twins). The separation surgery held promise in part because the twin boys had separate brains. The Johns Hopkins Children's Center surgical team rehearsed the surgery for weeks, practicing on two dolls secured together by Velcro. Although there were few follow-up stories following the Binder twins' return to Germany seven months after the operation, both twins were reportedly "far from normal" two years after the procedure, with one in a vegetative state. Neither twin was ever able to talk or care for himself, and both eventually became institutionalized wards of the state. Patrick Binder died sometime during the last decade, according to his uncle, who was located by The Washington Post in 2015. The Binder surgery served as a blueprint for similar twin separations, a procedure that was refined in subsequent decades. Carson participated in four subsequent high-risk conjoined-twin separations, including a 1997 operation on craniopagus Zambian twins Joseph and Luka Banda, which resulted in a normal neurological outcome. Two sets of twins died, including Iranian twins Ladan and Laleh Bijani. Another separation resulted in the death of one twin and the survival of the other, who is legally blind and struggles to walk.
According to The Washington Post, the Binder surgery "launched the stardom" of Carson, who "walked out of the operating room that day into a spotlight that has never dimmed", beginning with a press conference that was covered worldwide and created name recognition leading to publishing deals and a motivational speaking career. On the condition the film would have its premiere in Baltimore, Carson agreed to a cameo appearance as "head surgeon" in the 2003 Farrelly brothers' comedy Stuck on You, starring Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear as conjoined twins who, unhappy after their surgical separation, continue life attached to each other by Velcro.
In March 2013, Carson announced he would retire as a surgeon, saying he would "much rather quit when I'm at the top of my game". His retirement became official on July 1, 2013.
In 2021, Carson joined Galectin Therapeutics to assist with development of the company's galectin-3 inhibitor, belapectin, as a treatment for NASH cirrhosis and in combination with immunotherapy for the treatment of cancers.
Articles, books, business relationships, media posts
Carson has written many articles in peer-reviewed journals and six bestselling books published by Zondervan, an international Christian media and publishing company. The first book was an autobiography published in 1992. Two others are about his personal philosophies of success and what he sees as the stabilizing influence of religion.
According to CNN, Carson had an "extensive relationship" from 2004 to 2014 with Mannatech, a multi-level marketing company that produces dietary supplements made from substances such as aloe vera extract and larch-tree bark. Carson gave four paid speeches at company events. He has denied being paid by Mannatech to do anything else, saying he has been a "prolific speaker" who has addressed many groups. In a 2004 speech, he credited the company's products with the disappearance of his prostate cancer symptoms. The nature of this relationship became an issue in 2015 during Carson's presidential campaign. Carson's relationship with Mannatech continued after the company paid $7 million in 2009 to settle a deceptive-marketing lawsuit in Texas over claims that its products could cure autism and cancer. His most recent paid speech for the company was in 2013, for which he was paid $42,000. His image appeared on the corporation's website in 2014, and in the same year, he praised their "glyconutrient" supplements in a PBS special that was subsequently featured on the site.
Carson delivered the keynote address at a Mannatech distributor convention in 2011, during which he said the company had donated funds to help him obtain a coveted endowed-chair post at Johns Hopkins Medicine: "three years ago I had an endowed chair bestowed upon me and uh, it requires $2.5 million to do an endowed chair, and I'm proud to say that part of that $2.5 million came from Mannatech." In October 2015, Carson's campaign team said that "there was no contribution from Mannatech to Johns Hopkins" and that his statement had been "a legitimate mistake on his part. Confusion. He had been doing some fundraising for the hospital and some other chairs about that time, and he simply got things mixed up."
During the CNBC GOP debate on October 28, 2015, Carson was asked about his relationship with Mannatech. He replied, "That's easy to answer. I didn't have any involvement with Mannatech. Total propaganda. I did a couple speeches for them. I did speeches for other people—they were paid speeches. It is absolutely absurd to say I had any kind of relation with them. Do I take the product? Yes. I think it is a good product." Politifact rated Carson's denial of any involvement as "false", pointing to his paid speeches for Mannatech and his appearances in promotional videos in which he favorably reviewed its products, despite not being "an official spokesman or sales associate". When the CNBC moderator commented that Carson was on Mannatech's website, Carson replied that he had not given his permission. Earlier, he had said he was unaware of the company's legal history.
On November 3, 2015, Mannatech said on its website that for compliance with federal campaign finance regulations, the company had removed all references to Carson before he announced his bid for the presidency.
In July 2013, Carson was hired by The Washington Times as a weekly opinion columnist. In October 2013, Fox News hired Carson as a contributor to provide analysis and commentary across Fox News Channel's daytime and primetime programming, a relationship that lasted until the end of 2014.
In 2014, some House Republicans (who later formed the House Freedom Caucus) approached Carson about the possibility of his standing for Speaker of the House in the event that the incumbent Speaker, John Boehner, had to step down because of intraparty disunion. Carson declined, citing preparations for his 2016 presidential campaign. Ultimately, Boehner resigned in October 2015, and Paul Ryan was elected as the new Speaker.
In financial disclosure forms, Carson and his wife reported income of between $8.9 million and $27 million from January 2014 to May 3, 2015, when he announced his presidential campaign. Over that period, Carson received over $4 million from 141 paid speeches, between $1.1 million and $6 million in book royalties, between $200,000 and $2 million as a contributor to The Washington Times and Fox News, and between $2 million and $10 million as a member of the boards of Kellogg Co. and Costco Wholesale Corp. He resigned from Costco's board in mid-2015, after serving on it for more than 16 years. Carson was chairman of the Baltimore-based biotechnology company Vaccinogen from August 2014 until the announcement of his US presidential bid in May 2015. Carson had previously served on Vaccinogen's Medical Advisory Board.
2016 presidential campaign
Background and increasing political visibility
Carson, who had been registered as a Republican, changed his registration to independent in the 1990s after watching Republicans impeach President Clinton for perjury regarding an extramarital affair with Monica Lewinsky. "I just saw so much hypocrisy in both parties", he said. In February 2013, Carson said he was not a member of any political party.
In his book America the Beautiful (2013), he wrote: "I believe it is a very good idea for physicians, scientists, engineers, and others trained to make decisions based on facts and empirical data to get involved in the political arena."
Carson was the keynote speaker at the National Prayer Breakfast on February 7, 2013. The speech garnered Carson considerable attention because the event is normally apolitical in nature, and the speech was critical of the philosophy and policies of President Barack Obama, who was sitting 10 feet away. About the speech, Carson said: "I don't think it was particularly political... You know, I'm a physician." Regarding the policies of President Obama, he said: "There are a number of policies that I don't believe lead to the growth of our nation and don't lead to the elevation of our nation. I don't want to sit here and say all of his policies are bad. What I would like to see more often in this nation is an open and intelligent conversation."
Carson's sudden popularity among conservatives led to his being invited as a featured speaker at the 2013 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). He tied for seventh place in the Washington Times/CPAC 2013 Straw Poll with 4% of the 3,000 ballots cast. In the 2014 CPAC straw poll, he was in third place with 9% of the vote, behind senators Ted Cruz of Texas (with 11%) and Rand Paul of Kentucky (31%). In the presidential straw poll at the 2013 Values Voter Summit, he and Rick Santorum polled 13%, with winner Ted Cruz polling 42%, and in 2014 he polled 20% to Cruz's winning 25%.
On November 4, 2014, the day of the 2014 midterms, he rejoined the Republican Party, saying it was "truly a pragmatic move" because he was considering running for president in 2016.
In January 2015, The Weekly Standard reported that the Draft Carson Committee had raised $13 million by the end of 2014, shortly after Carson performed well in a CNN/ORC poll of potential candidates in December 2014, coming second in two different versions. He polled 10% to Mitt Romney's 20%, but in the same poll with Romney removed from the list, Carson polled 11% to Jeb Bush's 14%. The Wall Street Journal mentioned that the Draft Carson Committee had chairmen in all of Iowa's 99 counties, and that Carson had recently led two separate Public Policy polls for the state of Pennsylvania.
Announcement of campaign
On May 2, 2015, Carson proclaimed that in two days he was going to make a major announcement on his decision on whether to enter the presidential race. In an interview with Cincinnati station WKRC-TV on May 3, 2015, Carson accidentally confirmed his candidacy for president. The interview was also broadcast live on WPEC. The next day, May 4, 2015, at the Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts in his home town of Detroit, he officially announced his run for the Republican nomination in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The announcement speech was preceded by a choir singing "Lose Yourself" with Carson sitting in the audience. After the song, Carson took the stage and announced his candidacy alongside a speech on his rags to riches life story, at one point stating: "I remember when our favorite drug dealer was killed."
Surge in polls
In October 2015, the Super PAC supporting Carson, The 2016 Committee (formerly the Draft Carson Committee), announced it had received donations in mostly $100 increments from more than 200 small businesses around the country over the course of one week. Fox Business reported that "Carson's outsider status is growing his small business support base." Ben Walters, a fundraiser for The 2016 Committee, expressed optimism about Carson's small business support base: "It's unbelievable the diversity of businesses that we are bringing on. We are seeing everything from doctors' offices and folks in the healthcare profession to motorcycle repair shops and bed and breakfasts."
In October, it was noted that Carson's "improbable" political career had surged in polls and fundraising, while he continued to participate in nationally televised Republican debates.
Decline in polls
The campaign brought considerable attention to Carson's past. CBS News described Carson's narrative of "overcoming impossible odds as a child growing up in an impoverished, single-parent household to reach international prominence as a pediatric neurosurgeon" as "a key part of his presidential campaign". The Wall Street Journal said the narrative came under "the harsh scrutiny of presidential politics, where rivals and media hunt for embellishments and omissions that can hobble a campaign". CNN characterized the core narrative as "acts of violence as an angry young man", followed by a spiritual epiphany that transformed Carson into the "composed figure" he now portrays. Media challenges to a number of Carson's statements included allegations of discrepancies between documented facts and certain assertions in his autobiography Gifted Hands—allegations dismissed by Carson as a media "witch hunt". In November 2015, the Detroit Free Press republished an article from 1988 "to try to bring some clarity to the claims currently being brought into question".
In November 2015, Carson's campaign aired a 60-second TV advertisement in which excerpts from Carson's stump speech were intercut with a rap by an artist named Aspiring Mogul. They spent $150,000 on the ads, which were aired in Atlanta, Detroit and Miami. Carson defended the ad, saying "Well, there are people in the campaign who felt that was a good way to do things... I support them in doing that, but I probably would have taken a little different approach." Later, he said the advertisement was done without his knowledge, that "it was done by people who have no concept of the black community and what they were doing", and that he was "horrified" by it.
The New York Times reported in 2015, "Carson has acknowledged being something of a novice on foreign affairs." Regarding the Ukrainian crisis, Carson would send arms to Ukraine to aid it in its fight against pro-Russian rebels. He also believes the Baltic states, current NATO members, should "get involved in NATO".
In a November 2015 Republican debate, Carson declared his intentions to make ISIS "look like losers" as he would "destroy their caliphate". Carson also advocated capturing a "big energy field" outside of Anbar, Iraq, which he said could be accomplished "fairly easily". Regarding the Middle East, he also claimed that "the Chinese are there".
Carson said he is not opposed to a Palestinian state, but he questioned why it needs "to be within the confines of Israeli territory ... Is that necessary, or can you sort of slip that area down into Egypt?"
Withdrawal from campaign
On March 2, following the Super Tuesday 2016 primaries, Carson announced that he did "not see a political path forward" and would not attend the next Republican debate in Detroit. He said, "[T]his grassroots movement on behalf of 'We the People' will continue", indicating that he would give more details later in the week. He suspended his campaign on March4 and announced he would be the new national chairman of My Faith Votes, a group that encourages Christians to exercise their civic duty to vote.
In total, Ben Carson's campaign spent $58 million. However, most of the money went to political consultants and fundraising rather than advertising. Carson questioned whether his campaign was economically sabotaged from within.
Further activities during the 2016 election
On March 11, 2016, a week after Carson ended his presidential campaign, he endorsed Trump, calling him part of "the voice of the people to be heard". Carson's subsequent comments that Americans would have to sustain Trump for only four years if he was not a good president drew criticism, and he admitted that he would have preferred another candidate, though he thought Trump had the best chance of winning the general election.
On the other hand, at the press conference Carson said Trump had a "cerebral" side.
On April 25, Carson expressed opposition to Harriet Tubman replacing Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill the day after dubbing the replacement "political expediency", though he indicated interest in Tubman having another tribute. In late April, Carson wrote to the Nevada Republican Party, requesting the two delegates he won in Nevada be released and free to support whoever they want.
On May 4, after Trump wrapped up the Republican nomination, he hinted that Carson would be among those who would vet his vice-presidential pick. The same day, in an interview Carson expressed interest in Ted Cruz serving as Attorney General of the United States, a position that Carson said would allow Cruz to prosecute Hillary Clinton, and then as a Supreme Court Justice nominee from the Trump administration. On May 6, Carson said in an interview that Trump would consider a Democrat as his running mate, conflicting with Trump's assertion that he would not. A Carson spokesperson later said Carson expected Trump to select a Republican.
Carson was said by aide Armstrong Williams in a May 10 interview to have withdrawn from the Trump campaign's vetting team, though the campaign confirmed he was still involved. Later that month, Carson revealed a list of potential vice-presidential candidates in an interview with The Washington Post. On May 16, Carson said the media could not keep opinion out of reporting and cited Walter Cronkite as a fair journalist who was, in his words, a "left-wing radical".
During the Republican National Convention, Carson appeared with former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani in support of the pro-Donald Trump Great America PAC at an event in Cleveland.
Results
In total, Carson received 857,039 votes during the Republican primaries; this total represented 2.75% of the votes cast. He received the support of seven delegates at the Republican National Convention. Trump received the Republican nomination and went on to be elected president on November 8, 2016.
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
Nomination and confirmation
After Donald Trump's win in the 2016 election, Carson joined Trump's transition team as vice chairman. Carson was also offered a cabinet position in the administration. He declined, in part because of his lack of experience, with an aide stating, "The last thing he would want to do was take a position that could cripple the presidency." Although it was reported that the position was for Secretary of Health and Human Services, Carson's business manager has disputed this, stating, "Dr. Carson was never offered a specific position, but everything was open to him." He was eventually offered the position of Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, which he accepted.
On December 5, 2016, Trump announced that he would nominate Carson to the position of Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. During the confirmation process, Carson was scrutinized by some housing advocates for what they perceived as his lack of relevant experience.
On January 24, 2017, the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs voted unanimously to approve the nomination. Senate Democrats attempted to defeat Carson's nomination via filibuster, but that vote failed on March 1, 2017, and he was then confirmed by the Senate by a 58–41 vote the next day.
Tenure
In December 2017, The Economist described the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), led by Ben Carson, as "directionless". Most of the top HUD positions were unfilled and Carson's leadership was "inconspicuous and inscrutable". Of the policies HUD was enacting, The Economist wrote, "it is hard not to conclude that the governing principle at HUD is to take whatever the Obama administration was doing, and do the opposite." HUD scaled back the enforcement of fair housing laws, halted several fair housing investigations started by the Obama administration and removed the words "inclusive" and "free from discrimination" from its mission statement. HUD saw an exodus of career officials during Carson's tenure.
On March 6, his first day as secretary, while addressing Housing and Urban Development (HUD) employees, Carson saluted the work ethic of immigrants, and during his comments, he likened slaves to involuntary immigrants. A HUD spokesman said that no one present thought Carson "was equating voluntary immigration with involuntary servitude". In the same speech, Carson was criticized by some for saying that the human brain "was incapable of forgetting and could be electrically stimulated into perfect recall".
Under the federal budget proposed by Trump in 2017, HUD's budget for the fiscal year 2018 would be cut by $6.2 billion (13%) and the Community Development Block Grant, a program which Carson praised in a trip to Detroit as HUD secretary, would be eliminated. Carson issued a statement supporting the proposed cuts. Carson suggested that federal funds for housing in Detroit could be part of an expected infrastructure bill.
In April 2017, while speaking in Washington at the National Low Income Housing Coalition conference, Carson said that housing funding would be included in an upcoming infrastructure bill from the Trump administration.
In July 2017, during his keynote address at the LeadingAge Florida annual convention, Carson stated his concern about "seniors who become destitute" and reported that the Department of Housing and Urban Development had increased public housing programs for the elderly by an unspecified number.
In summer 2017, Carson allowed his son, Baltimore businessman, Ben Carson Jr., to participate in organizing a HUD "listening tour" in Baltimore. Internal documents obtained by The Washington Post under the Freedom of Information Act showed that the younger Carson "put people he'd invited in touch with his father's deputies, joined agency staff on official conference calls about the listening tour and copied his wife on related email exchanges". The son's involvement prompted HUD staff to express concern; the department's deputy general counsel for operations wrote in a memorandum "that this gave the appearance that the Secretary may be using his position for his son's private gain". Carson's wife, son, and daughter-in-law also attended official meetings. In February 2018, the HUD inspector general's office confirmed that it was looking into the role Carson's family played at the department.
During congressional testimony in May 2019, while being questioned by U.S. Representative Katie Porter, Carson did not know what the term REO ("Real Estate Owned" refers to housing owned by a bank or lending institution post-foreclosure) stood for and confused it with the cookie, Oreo. In response, Carson went on the Fox Business Network where he accused Democrats of adhering to "Saul Alinsky" tactics.
On March 1, 2020, the office of Vice President Mike Pence announced Carson's addition to the White House Coronavirus Task Force.
On November 9, 2020, Carson tested positive for COVID-19 after attending President Trump's Election Night party. He initially treated himself with a homeopathic oleander extract on the recommendation of Mike Lindell, the founder of My Pillow, Inc., which Carson said caused his symptoms to disappear. Oleander was previously rejected by the Food and Drug Administration as a treatment for COVID-19 and Carson received criticism for promoting an unscientific homeopathic treatment. He disclosed on November 20 that he subsequently became "extremely sick" and attributed his recovery to Regeneron's experimental antibody therapy. He said that President Trump had given him access to the drug.
Office furnishing scandal
Carson received criticism for spending up to $31,000 on a dining set in his office in late 2017. This expenditure was discovered after Helen Foster, a career HUD official, filed a complaint alleging that she had been demoted from her position because she refused to spend more than the legal $5,000 limit for office redecorations. Carson and his spokesman said that he had little or no involvement in the purchase of the dining set. Later, email communications revealed that Carson and his wife selected the dining set. On March 20, 2018, Carson testified before the United States House Committee on Appropriations that he had "dismissed" himself from the decision to buy the $31,000 dining room set and "left it to my wife, you know, to choose something". On September 12, 2019, HUD's inspector general released a report clearing Carson of misconduct.
Remarks on transgender use of homeless shelters
Carson was accused by members of the Department of Housing and Urban Development of making transphobic remarks at a meeting in San Francisco in September 2019. He warned that "big, hairy men" might infiltrate homeless shelters for women, prompting one woman to walk out. Reps. Joe Kennedy III of Massachusetts and Jennifer Wexton of Virginia called for his resignation, but Carson said the accusations were a "mischaracterization". A HUD spokesperson responded that Carson "does not use derogatory language to refer to transgendered individuals. Any reporting to the contrary is false."
Carson Scholars Fund
In 1994, Carson and his wife started the Carson Scholars Fund that awards scholarships to students in grades 4–11 for "academic excellence and humanitarian qualities".
Recipients of the Carson Scholars Fund receive a $1,000 scholarship towards their college education. It has awarded 6,700 scholarships. In recognition for his work with the Carson Scholars Fund and other charitable giving throughout his lifetime, Carson was awarded the William E. Simon Prize for Philanthropic Leadership in 2005.
American Cornerstone Institute
In 2021, Carson founded the American Cornerstone Institute or ACI, a conservative think tank centered around advancing policies that promote "faith, liberty, community, and life".
The ACI's mission statement is "dedicated to promoting and preserving individual and religious liberty, helping our country's most vulnerable find new hope, and developing methods to decrease the federal government's role in society and to improve efficiency to best serve ALL our nation's citizens. Headed by world-renowned neurosurgeon, presidential candidate, and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Dr. Ben Carson, ACI will be a voice for reason and civility in a nation that is increasingly devoid of common sense."
Personal life
Carson and his wife, fellow Detroit native Lacena "Candy" Rustin, met in 1971 as students at Yale University and married in 1975. They began living in West Friendship, Maryland, in 1988. Together, the couple have three sons (Rhoeyce, Benjamin Jr., and Murray), as well as several grandchildren. Their oldest son, Murray, was born in Perth, Australia, while Carson was undertaking a residency there. In 1981 Carson's wife became pregnant with twins before miscarrying in the fifth month of her pregnancy.
In 2001, Ben and Candy Carson bought a 48-acre property in Upperco, Maryland.
After being diagnosed with prostate cancer, Carson underwent a two-hour operation at the Johns Hopkins Hospital on August 7, 2002.
In 2013, Carson, his wife, and Carson's mother moved to West Palm Beach, Florida.
Surrounding his confirmation as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Carson bought a $1.22 million home in Vienna, Virginia, in February 2017 and sold his West Palm Beach home for over $900,000 in May 2017.
Religion
Carson and his wife are members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA). Carson was baptized at Burns Seventh-day Adventist Church in Detroit. A few years later, he told the pastor at a church he was attending in Inkster, Michigan, that he had not fully understood his first baptism and wanted to be baptized again. He has served as a local elder and Sabbath School teacher in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Although Carson is an Adventist, the church has officially cautioned church employees to remain politically neutral.
In keeping with his Seventh-day Adventist faith, Carson announced in 2014 his belief "that the United States will play a big role" in the coming apocalypse. He went on to say, "I hope by that time I'm not around anymore."
In an interview with Katie Couric, Carson said that Jesus Christ came to Earth to redeem the world through his atoning sacrifice and that all people are sinners and need his redemption.
Carson has stated that he does not believe in hell as understood by some Christians: "You know, I see God as a very loving individual. And why would he torment somebody forever who only had a life of 60 or 70 or 80 years? Even if they were evil. Even if they were only evil for 80 years?" This is fully in line with Adventist teaching, which promotes annihilationism.
Carson endorsed Seventh-day Adventist theology, which includes belief in a literal reading of the first chapters of Genesis. In a 2013 interview with Adventist News Network, Carson said: "You know, I'm proud of the fact that I believe what God has said, and I've said many times that I'll defend it before anyone. If they want to criticize the fact that I believe in a literal, six-day creation, let's have at it because I will poke all kinds of holes in what they believe." Carson's Adventism was raised as an issue by his then-primary rival Donald Trump. Some Adventists have argued that Carson's political positions on gun rights and religious liberty conflict with historic Adventist teachings in favor of nonviolence, pacifism, and the separation of church and state.
Claim about Egyptian pyramids
During a commencement speech at Andrews University in Michigan in 1998, Carson stated that he believed that the pyramids of Giza were created by the biblical figure Joseph to store grain, despite the fact that the story of Joseph is set in the time of Egypt's Middle Kingdom, five centuries after the pyramids of Giza were built. When questioned about it again in 2015, he stood by his original assertion.
Vegetarianism
Consistent with the practice of many Adventists, Carson is a lacto-ovo vegetarian (he will eat dishes containing milk, eggs, or cheese, and occasionally, poultry). He has said his main reason for becoming vegetarian was health concerns, including avoiding parasites and heart disease, and he emphasizes the environmental benefits of vegetarianism. His transition was made easier because he had eaten little meat for aesthetic reasons as a child, and he readily adopted his wife's vegetarianism because she does much of the cooking in their household. Speaking in 1990, he said that with the increasing availability of meat substitutes, "It might take 20 years. But eventually there will no longer be a reason for most people to eat meat. And animals will breathe a sigh of relief." To avoid causing others discomfort, he is willing to occasionally eat chicken or turkey, although he finds eating pork highly unpleasant.
Awards and honors
Carson is a member of the American Academy of Achievement, Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society, and the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans.
Carson has been awarded 38 honorary doctorate degrees and dozens of national merit citations. Detroit Public Schools opened the Dr. Benjamin Carson High School of Science and Medicine for students interested in pursuing healthcare careers. The school is partnering with Detroit Receiving Hospital and Michigan State University.
In 2000, he received the Award for Greatest Public Service Benefiting the Disadvantaged, an award given out annually by Jefferson Awards.
In 2001, he was elected by the Library of Congress on the occasion of its 200th anniversary to be one of the 89 who earned the designation Library of Congress Living Legend.
In 2004, he was appointed to serve on The President's Council on Bioethics.
In 2005, Carson was awarded the William E. Simon Prize for Philanthropic Leadership.
In 2006, he received the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP, their highest honor for outstanding achievement.
In 2008, the White House awarded Carson the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.
In 2008, Ford's Theatre Society awarded Carson the Ford's Theatre Lincoln Medal, for exemplifying the qualities embodied by President Abraham Lincoln—including courage, integrity, tolerance, equality, and creative expression—through superior achievements.
In 2008, U.S. News & World Report named Carson as one of "America's Best Leaders".
In 2010, he was elected into the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine, considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine.
In 2012, Carson was the Influential Marylander Award recipient from The Daily Record, Baltimore's legal and business newspaper.
In 2014, a poll of Americans conducted by Gallup ranked Carson sixth on a list of the most admired persons.
He is an emeritus fellow of the Yale Corporation.
Books
(with Cecil Murphey)
(with Gregg Lewis)
(with Candy Carson)
(with Candy Carson), on The New York Times bestsellers list for 20 straight weeks, five of them as number one
(with Candy Carson)
(with Gregg Lewis, Deborah Shaw Lewis)
(with Cecil Murphey)
(with Candy Carson)
See also
Ben Carson 2016 presidential campaign
Ben Carson office furnishing scandal
List of African-American Republicans
2016 Republican Party presidential candidates
Notes
References
Further reading
Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story (February 7, 2009), a television movie with the same title as Carson's first book premiered on TNT with Academy Award winner Cuba Gooding Jr. in the lead role and Kimberly Elise portraying his mother.
A Doctor in the House: My Life with Ben Carson (January 5, 2016), a book by Candy Carson
External links
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson
Ben Carson:Dialogue with an Adventist Neurosurgeon College and University Dialogue Retrieved October 12, 2018
1951 births
Living people
20th-century American male writers
20th-century Protestants
21st-century American male writers
21st-century American politicians
21st-century Protestants
African-American Christians
African-American members of the Cabinet of the United States
African-American physicians
African-American government officials
African-American candidates for President of the United States
African-American writers
American neurosurgeons
American Seventh-day Adventists
American Christian creationists
American Christian writers
Candidates in the 2016 United States presidential election
Christian vegetarianism
Florida Republicans
Johns Hopkins Hospital physicians
Kellogg's people
Maryland Republicans
Michigan Republicans
Members of the National Academy of Medicine
Physicians from Detroit
People from Dorchester, Massachusetts
People from Roxbury, Boston
People from Vienna, Virginia
Politicians from Detroit
People from West Friendship, Maryland
People from West Palm Beach, Florida
Physicians from Michigan
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
Seventh-day Adventists from Michigan
Seventh-day Adventists in health science
Spingarn Medal winners
Tea Party movement activists
Trump administration cabinet members
United States Secretaries of Housing and Urban Development
University of Michigan Medical School alumni
The Washington Times people
Yale University alumni
20th-century American writers
Southwestern High School (Michigan) alumni | false | [
"Sewickley High School is a public school in Sewickley, Pennsylvania. The school's roots can be traced back to 1834, when it was located in an old log church. In 1894, a new building for the school was built, known as the Richardson Romanesque Sewickley Public School, often affectionately called the \"yellow brick\" school. This served as Sewickley High School's location until 1926, when the school was moved to a new location on Harbaugh street, and was renamed Sewickley High School. The old \"yellow brick\" building became Sewickley Elementary School, until it was razed in 1975. Sewickley High School became a popular rival of Leetsdale High School. The school closed in 1956 when the Quaker Valley School District was formed, and the building was converted to a junior high school, known as Quaker Valley Junior High. It was then changed to Quaker Valley Middle School in 1997. Since its closing, the building has undergone significant remodeling and has had two major additions. The \"Sewickley High School\" name still remains on the front entrance of the school.\n\nSchools in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania\nDefunct schools in Pennsylvania\n1834 establishments in Pennsylvania",
"Oley Valley High School is a high school in Oley Valley, Pennsylvania, United States. The current principal is Gina Finnerty and the assistant principal is Sean Ryan.\n\nHistory\nThe current Oley Valley High School was built in 1961. The current high school was adjacent to the Oley Valley School District Administration building, which was formerly the Oley Valley K-5 building until 1993. In 2018, the Administration Building was knocked down.\n\nThe high school was renovated in 1981 to have a joint middle school. In 2002, a new middle school was built and the left-over wing incorporated into the high school, primarily as the social studies wing.\n\nThe school district superintendent was Jeffrey Zackon, until he died due to a heart attack during the German class trip on April 20, 2011 while in the Swiss Alps. The Oley Valley School District's new superintendent is Tracy Shank.\n\nAthletics\nThe baseball team won the county championship for the first time in 28 years. The girls' field hockey team has won at least three Berks County titles, two PIAA district titles, and one state title.\n\nThe girls' basketball team and the baseball team have enjoyed PIAA District titles and state appearances.\n\nEvents\nThe Oley Valley FFA Chapter placed first in the United States in Environmental Science and FFA National Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana.\n\nThe school made the national news on January 24, 2002 when 62-old bus driver Otto Nuss took 13 children on an unauthorized five-hour detour of to Landover Hills, Maryland outside Washington, D.C. on what was supposed to be a six-mile, 15-minute trip to Berks Christian School in Birdsboro, Pennsylvania. On September 23, 2003, Nuss was sentenced to four years in prison for federal kidnapping.\n\nA student wearing a gorilla mask climbed onto the school roof on February 15, 2005 as a prank. He was charged with disorderly conduct and trespassing despite prompting police, the FBI, a bomb squad and a state police helicopter to respond.\n\nThe school won the 2006 Envirothon, the most popular high school environmental knowledge competition in North America.\n\nNotable alumni \n Carl Mathias, retired MLB player\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Official site\n\nPublic high schools in Pennsylvania\nEducational institutions established in 1961\nSchools in Berks County, Pennsylvania\n1961 establishments in Pennsylvania"
] |
[
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"High school",
"Where did Carson attend high school",
"Southwestern High School",
"What years did Carson attend Southwestern High School",
"ninth through 12th grades,",
"Did Carson participate in any extra curricular activities in High School",
"played the baritone horn in the band, and participated in forensics (",
"Was he involved in any sports",
"I don't know.",
"did he win any awards in band or forensics",
"I don't know.",
"Was he popular in High School",
"Hands, Carson relates that as a youth he had a violent temper. \"As a teenager, I would go after people with rocks, and bricks, and baseball bats, and hammers,\""
] | C_8c698173e273415a9ad5450fbc5b9341_0 | id he get into trouble often when he was in High School | 7 | Did Ben Carson get into trouble often when he was in High School | Ben Carson | By ninth grade, the family's financial situation had improved, his mother surprising neighbors by paying cash to buy a new Chrysler car, and the only government assistance they still relied on was food stamps. Carson attended the predominantly black Southwestern High School for ninth through 12th grades, graduating third in his class academically. In high school he played the baritone horn in the band, and participated in forensics (public speaking), chess club, and the U.S. Army Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) program where he reached its highest rank--cadet colonel. Carson served as a laboratory assistant in the high school's biology, chemistry, physics school laboratories beginning in 10th, 11th, and 12th grade, respectively, and worked as a biology laboratory assistant at Wayne State University the summer between 11th and 12th grades. In his book Gifted Hands, Carson relates that as a youth he had a violent temper. "As a teenager, I would go after people with rocks, and bricks, and baseball bats, and hammers," Carson told NBC's Meet the Press in October 2015. He said he once tried to hit his mother on the head with a hammer over a clothing dispute, while in the ninth grade he tried to stab a friend who had changed the radio station. Fortunately, the blade broke in his friend's belt buckle. Carson said that the intended victim, whose identity he wants to protect, was a classmate, a friend, or a close relative. After this incident, Carson said that he began reading the Book of Proverbs and applying verses on anger. As a result, he states he "never had another problem with temper". In his various books and at campaign events, he repeated these stories and said he once attacked a schoolmate with a combination lock. Nine friends, classmates, and neighbors who grew up with him told CNN in 2015 they did not remember the anger or violence he has described. In response, Carson posted on Facebook a 1997 Parade Magazine issue, in which his mother verified the stabbing incident. He then questioned the extent of the effort CNN had exerted in the investigation. He has said that he protected white students in a biology lab after a race riot broke out at his high school in response to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. The Wall Street Journal confirmed the riot but could not find anyone who remembered Carson sheltering white students. CANNOTANSWER | while in the ninth grade he tried to stab a friend who had changed the radio station. | Benjamin Solomon Carson Sr. (born September 18, 1951) is an American retired neurosurgeon and politician who served as the 17th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 2017 to 2021. He was a candidate for President of the United States in the 2016 Republican primaries. He is considered a pioneer in the field of neurosurgery.
Carson became the director of pediatric neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center in 1984 at age 33, then the youngest chief of pediatric neurosurgery in the United States. At retirement, he was professor of neurosurgery, oncology, plastic surgery, and pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Carson's achievements include participating in the first reported separation of conjoined twins joined at the back of the head. Although surgically a success, the twins continued to suffer neurologic/medical complications. Additional accomplishments include performing the first successful neurosurgical procedure on a fetus inside the womb, developing new methods to treat brain-stem tumors, and revitalizing hemispherectomy techniques for controlling seizures. He wrote over 100 neurosurgical publications. He retired from medicine in 2013.
Carson gained national fame among political conservatives after delivering a speech at the 2013 National Prayer Breakfast which was perceived as critical of the policies of President Barack Obama. Following widespread speculation of a presidential run, Carson officially announced his campaign for the 2016 Republican nomination for President in May 2015. Carson performed strongly in early polls, leading to his being considered a frontrunner for the nomination during the fall of 2015; however, his polling support began to decline following scrutiny of his foreign policy credentials after the November 2015 Paris attacks. Carson withdrew from the race after Super Tuesday, following a string of disappointing primary results, and endorsed Donald Trump. Following Trump's victory, Trump nominated Carson as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, being confirmed by the United States Senate in a 58–41 vote on March 2, 2017. Carson is one of the most prominent black conservatives in America.
Carson has received numerous honors for his neurosurgery work, including more than 60 honorary doctorate degrees and numerous national merit citations. In 2001, he was named by CNN and Time magazine as one of the nation's 20 foremost physicians and scientists and was selected by the Library of Congress as one of 89 "Living Legends" on its 200th anniversary. In 2008, Carson was bestowed the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States. In 2010, he was elected into the National Academy of Medicine. He was the subject of the 2009 TV film Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story, wherein he was portrayed by Cuba Gooding Jr. Carson has also written or co-written six bestselling books.
Early life and education
Carson's parents were Robert Solomon Carson Jr. (1914–1992), a World War II U.S. Army veteran, and Sonya Carson (née Copeland, 1928–2017). Robert Carson was a Baptist minister, but he later became a Cadillac automobile plant laborer. Both his parents came from large families in rural Georgia, and they were living in rural Tennessee when they met and married. Carson's mother was 13 and his father was 28 when they married, and after his father finished his military service, they moved from Chattanooga, Tennessee, to Detroit, where they lived in a large house in the Indian Village neighborhood. Carson's older brother, Curtis, was born in 1949, when his mother was 20. In 1950, Carson's parents purchased a new 733-square foot single-family detached home on Deacon Street in the Boynton neighborhood in southwest Detroit. Carson was born in Detroit, Michigan, on September 18, 1951.
Carson's Detroit Public Schools education began in 1956 with kindergarten at the Fisher School and continued through first, second, and the first half of third grade, during which time he was an average student. At the age of five, his mother learned that his father had a prior family and had not divorced his first wife. In 1959, at the age of eight, his parents separated and he moved with his mother and brother to live for two years with his mother's Seventh-day Adventist older sister and her sister's husband in multi-family dwellings in the Dorchester and Roxbury neighborhoods of Boston. In Boston, Carson's mother attempted suicide, had several psychiatric hospitalizations for depression, and for the first time began working outside the home as a domestic worker, while Carson and his brother attended a two-classroom school at the Berea Seventh-day Adventist church where two teachers taught eight grades, and the vast majority of time was spent singing songs and playing games.
In 1961, at the age of 10, he moved with his mother and brother back to southwest Detroit, where they lived in a multi-family dwelling in a primarily white neighborhood, (Springwells Village), across the railroad tracks from the Delray neighborhood, while renting out their house on Deacon Street, which his mother received in a divorce settlement. When they returned to Detroit public schools, Carson and his brother's academic performance initially lagged far behind their new classmates, having, according to Carson, "essentially lost a year of school" by attending the small Seventh-day Adventist parochial school in Boston, but they both improved when their mother limited their time watching television and required them to read and write book reports on two library books per week. Carson attended the predominantly white Higgins Elementary School for fifth and sixth grades and the predominantly white Wilson Junior High School for seventh and the first half of eighth grade. In 1965, at the age of 13, he moved with his mother and brother back to their house on Deacon Street. He attended the predominantly black Hunter Junior High School for the second half of eighth grade. At the age of eight, Carson dreamt of becoming a missionary doctor, but five years later he aspired to the lucrative lifestyles of psychiatrists portrayed on television, and his brother bought him a subscription to Psychology Today for his 13th birthday.
High school
By grade 9, the family's financial situation had improved, his mother surprising neighbors by paying cash to buy a new Chrysler car, and the only government assistance they still relied on was food stamps. Carson attended the predominantly black Southwestern High School for grades nine through twelve, graduating third in his class academically. In high school, he played the euphonium in band and participated in forensics (public speaking), chess club, and the U.S. Army Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) program where he reached its highest rank—cadet colonel. Carson served as a laboratory assistant in the high school's biology, chemistry, and physics school laboratories beginning in grades 10, 11, and 12, respectively, and worked as a biology laboratory assistant at Wayne State University the summer between grade 11 and 12.
In his book Gifted Hands, Carson relates that as a youth, he had a violent temper. "As a teenager, I would go after people with rocks, and bricks, and baseball bats, and hammers", Carson told NBC's Meet the Press in October 2015. He said he once tried to hit his mother on the head with a hammer over a clothing dispute, while in the ninth grade he tried to stab a friend who had changed the radio station. Fortunately, the blade broke in his friend's belt buckle. Carson said the intended victim, whose identity he wants to protect, was a classmate, a friend, or a close relative. After this incident, Carson said he began reading the Book of Proverbs and applying verses on anger. As a result, he states he "never had another problem with temper". In his various books and at campaign events, he repeated these stories and said he once attacked a schoolmate with a combination lock. Nine friends, classmates, and neighbors who grew up with him told CNN in 2015 they did not remember the anger or violence he has described. In response, Carson posted on Facebook a 1997 Parade magazine issue, in which his mother verified the stabbing incident. He then questioned the extent of the effort CNN had exerted in the investigation.
Carson has said that he protected white students in a biology lab after a race riot broke out at his high school in response to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. The Wall Street Journal confirmed the riot but could not find anyone who remembered Carson sheltering white students.
College
Carson's SAT college admission test scores ranked him somewhere in the low 90th percentile. He wanted to attend college farther away than his brother who was at the University of Michigan. Carson says he narrowed his college choices to Harvard or Yale but could only afford the $10 application fee to apply for only one of them. He said he decided to apply to Yale after seeing a team from Yale defeat a team from Harvard on the G.E. College Bowl television show. Carson was accepted by Yale and offered a full scholarship covering tuition, room and board. In 1973, Carson graduated with a B.A. in psychology from Yale "with a fairly respectable grade point average although far from the top of the class".
Carson does not say in his books whether he received a college student deferment during the Vietnam War. He does say that his older brother, then a student at the University of Michigan, received a low number (26) in the first draft lottery in 1969 and was able to enlist in the Navy for four years instead of being drafted, whereas he received a high number (333) in the second draft lottery in 1970. Carson said he would have readily accepted his responsibility to fight had he been drafted, but he "identified strongly with the anti-war protesters and the revolutionaries" and enthusiastically voted for anti-war Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern in 1972. In his book, America the Beautiful (2012), Carson said: "The Vietnam War was, in retrospect, not a noble conflict. It brought shame to our nation because of both the outcome and the cause."
In the summers following his high school graduation until his second year in medical school, Carson worked at a variety of jobs: as a clerk in the payroll office of Ford Motor Company, supervisor of a six-person crew picking up trash along the highway under a federal jobs program for inner-city students, a clerk in the mailroom of Young & Rubicam Advertising, assembling fender parts and inspecting back window louvers on the assembly line at Chrysler, a crane operator at Sennett Steel, and finally a radiology technician taking X-rays. At Yale, Carson had a part-time job on campus as a student police aide.
In his autobiography, Carson said he had been offered a scholarship to West Point. Politico reported that West Point has no record of his ever seeking admission. The academy does not award scholarships to anyone; cadets receive a free education and room and board in exchange for a commitment to serve in the military for at least five years after graduation. Carson also said the University of Michigan had offered him a scholarship. His staff later said the described scenario was similar to that of West Point, as he never actually applied for entry to the University of Michigan.
In his autobiography, Gifted Hands, Carson recounted that exams for a Yale psychology course he took his junior year, "Perceptions 301", were inexplicably burned, forcing students to retake the exam. Carson said other students walked out in protest when they discovered the retest was significantly harder than the original examination, but that he alone finished the test. On doing so, Carson said he was congratulated by the course instructor, who told him the retest was a hoax intended to find "the most honest student in the class". Carson said the professor awarded him $10 and that a photographer for the Yale Daily News was present to take his picture, which appeared in the student newspaper with a story about the experiment. Doubts were raised about this story in 2015 during Carson's presidential campaign. The Wall Street Journal attempted to verify Carson's account, reporting that Yale undergraduate courses were identified with only two digits in the early 1970s, that Yale had offered no course called "Perceptions 301" at the time, and that Carson's photo had never appeared in the Yale Daily News. Carson, while acknowledging the class number was not correct, said: "You know, when you write a book with a co-writer and you say that there was a class, a lot of [the] time they'll put a number or something just to give it more meat. You know, obviously, decades later, I'm not going to remember the course number."
Medical school
Carson entered the University of Michigan Medical School in 1973, and at first he struggled academically, doing so poorly on his first set of comprehensive exams that his faculty adviser recommended he drop out of medical school or take a reduced academic load and take longer to finish. He continued with a regular academic load, and his grades improved to average in his first year of medical school. By his second year of medical school, Carson began to excel academically by seldom attending lectures and instead studying textbooks and lecture notes from 6a.m. to 11p.m. Carson graduated from the University of Michigan Medical School with an M.D. degree in 1977, and he was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society.
Carson was then accepted by the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine neurosurgery program, where he served one year as a surgical intern and five years as a neurosurgery resident, completing the final year as chief resident in 1983. He then spent one year (1983–1984) as a Senior Registrar in neurosurgery at the Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Nedlands, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia.
Medical career
Upon returning to Johns Hopkins in 1984, Carson was appointed the university's director of pediatric neurosurgery. As a surgeon, he specialized in traumatic brain injuries, brain and spinal cord tumors, achondroplasia, neurological and congenital disorders, craniosynostosis, epilepsy, and trigeminal neuralgia. He has said that his hand–eye coordination and three-dimensional reasoning made him a gifted surgeon.
While at Johns Hopkins, Carson figured in the revival of the hemispherectomy, a drastic surgical procedure in which part or all of one hemisphere of the brain is removed to control severe pediatric epilepsy. Encouraged by John M. Freeman, he refined the procedure in the 1980s and performed it many times.
In 1987, Carson was the lead neurosurgeon of a 70-member surgical team that separated conjoined twins Patrick and Benjamin Binder, who had been joined at the back of the head (craniopagus twins). The separation surgery held promise in part because the twin boys had separate brains. The Johns Hopkins Children's Center surgical team rehearsed the surgery for weeks, practicing on two dolls secured together by Velcro. Although there were few follow-up stories following the Binder twins' return to Germany seven months after the operation, both twins were reportedly "far from normal" two years after the procedure, with one in a vegetative state. Neither twin was ever able to talk or care for himself, and both eventually became institutionalized wards of the state. Patrick Binder died sometime during the last decade, according to his uncle, who was located by The Washington Post in 2015. The Binder surgery served as a blueprint for similar twin separations, a procedure that was refined in subsequent decades. Carson participated in four subsequent high-risk conjoined-twin separations, including a 1997 operation on craniopagus Zambian twins Joseph and Luka Banda, which resulted in a normal neurological outcome. Two sets of twins died, including Iranian twins Ladan and Laleh Bijani. Another separation resulted in the death of one twin and the survival of the other, who is legally blind and struggles to walk.
According to The Washington Post, the Binder surgery "launched the stardom" of Carson, who "walked out of the operating room that day into a spotlight that has never dimmed", beginning with a press conference that was covered worldwide and created name recognition leading to publishing deals and a motivational speaking career. On the condition the film would have its premiere in Baltimore, Carson agreed to a cameo appearance as "head surgeon" in the 2003 Farrelly brothers' comedy Stuck on You, starring Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear as conjoined twins who, unhappy after their surgical separation, continue life attached to each other by Velcro.
In March 2013, Carson announced he would retire as a surgeon, saying he would "much rather quit when I'm at the top of my game". His retirement became official on July 1, 2013.
In 2021, Carson joined Galectin Therapeutics to assist with development of the company's galectin-3 inhibitor, belapectin, as a treatment for NASH cirrhosis and in combination with immunotherapy for the treatment of cancers.
Articles, books, business relationships, media posts
Carson has written many articles in peer-reviewed journals and six bestselling books published by Zondervan, an international Christian media and publishing company. The first book was an autobiography published in 1992. Two others are about his personal philosophies of success and what he sees as the stabilizing influence of religion.
According to CNN, Carson had an "extensive relationship" from 2004 to 2014 with Mannatech, a multi-level marketing company that produces dietary supplements made from substances such as aloe vera extract and larch-tree bark. Carson gave four paid speeches at company events. He has denied being paid by Mannatech to do anything else, saying he has been a "prolific speaker" who has addressed many groups. In a 2004 speech, he credited the company's products with the disappearance of his prostate cancer symptoms. The nature of this relationship became an issue in 2015 during Carson's presidential campaign. Carson's relationship with Mannatech continued after the company paid $7 million in 2009 to settle a deceptive-marketing lawsuit in Texas over claims that its products could cure autism and cancer. His most recent paid speech for the company was in 2013, for which he was paid $42,000. His image appeared on the corporation's website in 2014, and in the same year, he praised their "glyconutrient" supplements in a PBS special that was subsequently featured on the site.
Carson delivered the keynote address at a Mannatech distributor convention in 2011, during which he said the company had donated funds to help him obtain a coveted endowed-chair post at Johns Hopkins Medicine: "three years ago I had an endowed chair bestowed upon me and uh, it requires $2.5 million to do an endowed chair, and I'm proud to say that part of that $2.5 million came from Mannatech." In October 2015, Carson's campaign team said that "there was no contribution from Mannatech to Johns Hopkins" and that his statement had been "a legitimate mistake on his part. Confusion. He had been doing some fundraising for the hospital and some other chairs about that time, and he simply got things mixed up."
During the CNBC GOP debate on October 28, 2015, Carson was asked about his relationship with Mannatech. He replied, "That's easy to answer. I didn't have any involvement with Mannatech. Total propaganda. I did a couple speeches for them. I did speeches for other people—they were paid speeches. It is absolutely absurd to say I had any kind of relation with them. Do I take the product? Yes. I think it is a good product." Politifact rated Carson's denial of any involvement as "false", pointing to his paid speeches for Mannatech and his appearances in promotional videos in which he favorably reviewed its products, despite not being "an official spokesman or sales associate". When the CNBC moderator commented that Carson was on Mannatech's website, Carson replied that he had not given his permission. Earlier, he had said he was unaware of the company's legal history.
On November 3, 2015, Mannatech said on its website that for compliance with federal campaign finance regulations, the company had removed all references to Carson before he announced his bid for the presidency.
In July 2013, Carson was hired by The Washington Times as a weekly opinion columnist. In October 2013, Fox News hired Carson as a contributor to provide analysis and commentary across Fox News Channel's daytime and primetime programming, a relationship that lasted until the end of 2014.
In 2014, some House Republicans (who later formed the House Freedom Caucus) approached Carson about the possibility of his standing for Speaker of the House in the event that the incumbent Speaker, John Boehner, had to step down because of intraparty disunion. Carson declined, citing preparations for his 2016 presidential campaign. Ultimately, Boehner resigned in October 2015, and Paul Ryan was elected as the new Speaker.
In financial disclosure forms, Carson and his wife reported income of between $8.9 million and $27 million from January 2014 to May 3, 2015, when he announced his presidential campaign. Over that period, Carson received over $4 million from 141 paid speeches, between $1.1 million and $6 million in book royalties, between $200,000 and $2 million as a contributor to The Washington Times and Fox News, and between $2 million and $10 million as a member of the boards of Kellogg Co. and Costco Wholesale Corp. He resigned from Costco's board in mid-2015, after serving on it for more than 16 years. Carson was chairman of the Baltimore-based biotechnology company Vaccinogen from August 2014 until the announcement of his US presidential bid in May 2015. Carson had previously served on Vaccinogen's Medical Advisory Board.
2016 presidential campaign
Background and increasing political visibility
Carson, who had been registered as a Republican, changed his registration to independent in the 1990s after watching Republicans impeach President Clinton for perjury regarding an extramarital affair with Monica Lewinsky. "I just saw so much hypocrisy in both parties", he said. In February 2013, Carson said he was not a member of any political party.
In his book America the Beautiful (2013), he wrote: "I believe it is a very good idea for physicians, scientists, engineers, and others trained to make decisions based on facts and empirical data to get involved in the political arena."
Carson was the keynote speaker at the National Prayer Breakfast on February 7, 2013. The speech garnered Carson considerable attention because the event is normally apolitical in nature, and the speech was critical of the philosophy and policies of President Barack Obama, who was sitting 10 feet away. About the speech, Carson said: "I don't think it was particularly political... You know, I'm a physician." Regarding the policies of President Obama, he said: "There are a number of policies that I don't believe lead to the growth of our nation and don't lead to the elevation of our nation. I don't want to sit here and say all of his policies are bad. What I would like to see more often in this nation is an open and intelligent conversation."
Carson's sudden popularity among conservatives led to his being invited as a featured speaker at the 2013 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). He tied for seventh place in the Washington Times/CPAC 2013 Straw Poll with 4% of the 3,000 ballots cast. In the 2014 CPAC straw poll, he was in third place with 9% of the vote, behind senators Ted Cruz of Texas (with 11%) and Rand Paul of Kentucky (31%). In the presidential straw poll at the 2013 Values Voter Summit, he and Rick Santorum polled 13%, with winner Ted Cruz polling 42%, and in 2014 he polled 20% to Cruz's winning 25%.
On November 4, 2014, the day of the 2014 midterms, he rejoined the Republican Party, saying it was "truly a pragmatic move" because he was considering running for president in 2016.
In January 2015, The Weekly Standard reported that the Draft Carson Committee had raised $13 million by the end of 2014, shortly after Carson performed well in a CNN/ORC poll of potential candidates in December 2014, coming second in two different versions. He polled 10% to Mitt Romney's 20%, but in the same poll with Romney removed from the list, Carson polled 11% to Jeb Bush's 14%. The Wall Street Journal mentioned that the Draft Carson Committee had chairmen in all of Iowa's 99 counties, and that Carson had recently led two separate Public Policy polls for the state of Pennsylvania.
Announcement of campaign
On May 2, 2015, Carson proclaimed that in two days he was going to make a major announcement on his decision on whether to enter the presidential race. In an interview with Cincinnati station WKRC-TV on May 3, 2015, Carson accidentally confirmed his candidacy for president. The interview was also broadcast live on WPEC. The next day, May 4, 2015, at the Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts in his home town of Detroit, he officially announced his run for the Republican nomination in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The announcement speech was preceded by a choir singing "Lose Yourself" with Carson sitting in the audience. After the song, Carson took the stage and announced his candidacy alongside a speech on his rags to riches life story, at one point stating: "I remember when our favorite drug dealer was killed."
Surge in polls
In October 2015, the Super PAC supporting Carson, The 2016 Committee (formerly the Draft Carson Committee), announced it had received donations in mostly $100 increments from more than 200 small businesses around the country over the course of one week. Fox Business reported that "Carson's outsider status is growing his small business support base." Ben Walters, a fundraiser for The 2016 Committee, expressed optimism about Carson's small business support base: "It's unbelievable the diversity of businesses that we are bringing on. We are seeing everything from doctors' offices and folks in the healthcare profession to motorcycle repair shops and bed and breakfasts."
In October, it was noted that Carson's "improbable" political career had surged in polls and fundraising, while he continued to participate in nationally televised Republican debates.
Decline in polls
The campaign brought considerable attention to Carson's past. CBS News described Carson's narrative of "overcoming impossible odds as a child growing up in an impoverished, single-parent household to reach international prominence as a pediatric neurosurgeon" as "a key part of his presidential campaign". The Wall Street Journal said the narrative came under "the harsh scrutiny of presidential politics, where rivals and media hunt for embellishments and omissions that can hobble a campaign". CNN characterized the core narrative as "acts of violence as an angry young man", followed by a spiritual epiphany that transformed Carson into the "composed figure" he now portrays. Media challenges to a number of Carson's statements included allegations of discrepancies between documented facts and certain assertions in his autobiography Gifted Hands—allegations dismissed by Carson as a media "witch hunt". In November 2015, the Detroit Free Press republished an article from 1988 "to try to bring some clarity to the claims currently being brought into question".
In November 2015, Carson's campaign aired a 60-second TV advertisement in which excerpts from Carson's stump speech were intercut with a rap by an artist named Aspiring Mogul. They spent $150,000 on the ads, which were aired in Atlanta, Detroit and Miami. Carson defended the ad, saying "Well, there are people in the campaign who felt that was a good way to do things... I support them in doing that, but I probably would have taken a little different approach." Later, he said the advertisement was done without his knowledge, that "it was done by people who have no concept of the black community and what they were doing", and that he was "horrified" by it.
The New York Times reported in 2015, "Carson has acknowledged being something of a novice on foreign affairs." Regarding the Ukrainian crisis, Carson would send arms to Ukraine to aid it in its fight against pro-Russian rebels. He also believes the Baltic states, current NATO members, should "get involved in NATO".
In a November 2015 Republican debate, Carson declared his intentions to make ISIS "look like losers" as he would "destroy their caliphate". Carson also advocated capturing a "big energy field" outside of Anbar, Iraq, which he said could be accomplished "fairly easily". Regarding the Middle East, he also claimed that "the Chinese are there".
Carson said he is not opposed to a Palestinian state, but he questioned why it needs "to be within the confines of Israeli territory ... Is that necessary, or can you sort of slip that area down into Egypt?"
Withdrawal from campaign
On March 2, following the Super Tuesday 2016 primaries, Carson announced that he did "not see a political path forward" and would not attend the next Republican debate in Detroit. He said, "[T]his grassroots movement on behalf of 'We the People' will continue", indicating that he would give more details later in the week. He suspended his campaign on March4 and announced he would be the new national chairman of My Faith Votes, a group that encourages Christians to exercise their civic duty to vote.
In total, Ben Carson's campaign spent $58 million. However, most of the money went to political consultants and fundraising rather than advertising. Carson questioned whether his campaign was economically sabotaged from within.
Further activities during the 2016 election
On March 11, 2016, a week after Carson ended his presidential campaign, he endorsed Trump, calling him part of "the voice of the people to be heard". Carson's subsequent comments that Americans would have to sustain Trump for only four years if he was not a good president drew criticism, and he admitted that he would have preferred another candidate, though he thought Trump had the best chance of winning the general election.
On the other hand, at the press conference Carson said Trump had a "cerebral" side.
On April 25, Carson expressed opposition to Harriet Tubman replacing Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill the day after dubbing the replacement "political expediency", though he indicated interest in Tubman having another tribute. In late April, Carson wrote to the Nevada Republican Party, requesting the two delegates he won in Nevada be released and free to support whoever they want.
On May 4, after Trump wrapped up the Republican nomination, he hinted that Carson would be among those who would vet his vice-presidential pick. The same day, in an interview Carson expressed interest in Ted Cruz serving as Attorney General of the United States, a position that Carson said would allow Cruz to prosecute Hillary Clinton, and then as a Supreme Court Justice nominee from the Trump administration. On May 6, Carson said in an interview that Trump would consider a Democrat as his running mate, conflicting with Trump's assertion that he would not. A Carson spokesperson later said Carson expected Trump to select a Republican.
Carson was said by aide Armstrong Williams in a May 10 interview to have withdrawn from the Trump campaign's vetting team, though the campaign confirmed he was still involved. Later that month, Carson revealed a list of potential vice-presidential candidates in an interview with The Washington Post. On May 16, Carson said the media could not keep opinion out of reporting and cited Walter Cronkite as a fair journalist who was, in his words, a "left-wing radical".
During the Republican National Convention, Carson appeared with former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani in support of the pro-Donald Trump Great America PAC at an event in Cleveland.
Results
In total, Carson received 857,039 votes during the Republican primaries; this total represented 2.75% of the votes cast. He received the support of seven delegates at the Republican National Convention. Trump received the Republican nomination and went on to be elected president on November 8, 2016.
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
Nomination and confirmation
After Donald Trump's win in the 2016 election, Carson joined Trump's transition team as vice chairman. Carson was also offered a cabinet position in the administration. He declined, in part because of his lack of experience, with an aide stating, "The last thing he would want to do was take a position that could cripple the presidency." Although it was reported that the position was for Secretary of Health and Human Services, Carson's business manager has disputed this, stating, "Dr. Carson was never offered a specific position, but everything was open to him." He was eventually offered the position of Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, which he accepted.
On December 5, 2016, Trump announced that he would nominate Carson to the position of Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. During the confirmation process, Carson was scrutinized by some housing advocates for what they perceived as his lack of relevant experience.
On January 24, 2017, the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs voted unanimously to approve the nomination. Senate Democrats attempted to defeat Carson's nomination via filibuster, but that vote failed on March 1, 2017, and he was then confirmed by the Senate by a 58–41 vote the next day.
Tenure
In December 2017, The Economist described the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), led by Ben Carson, as "directionless". Most of the top HUD positions were unfilled and Carson's leadership was "inconspicuous and inscrutable". Of the policies HUD was enacting, The Economist wrote, "it is hard not to conclude that the governing principle at HUD is to take whatever the Obama administration was doing, and do the opposite." HUD scaled back the enforcement of fair housing laws, halted several fair housing investigations started by the Obama administration and removed the words "inclusive" and "free from discrimination" from its mission statement. HUD saw an exodus of career officials during Carson's tenure.
On March 6, his first day as secretary, while addressing Housing and Urban Development (HUD) employees, Carson saluted the work ethic of immigrants, and during his comments, he likened slaves to involuntary immigrants. A HUD spokesman said that no one present thought Carson "was equating voluntary immigration with involuntary servitude". In the same speech, Carson was criticized by some for saying that the human brain "was incapable of forgetting and could be electrically stimulated into perfect recall".
Under the federal budget proposed by Trump in 2017, HUD's budget for the fiscal year 2018 would be cut by $6.2 billion (13%) and the Community Development Block Grant, a program which Carson praised in a trip to Detroit as HUD secretary, would be eliminated. Carson issued a statement supporting the proposed cuts. Carson suggested that federal funds for housing in Detroit could be part of an expected infrastructure bill.
In April 2017, while speaking in Washington at the National Low Income Housing Coalition conference, Carson said that housing funding would be included in an upcoming infrastructure bill from the Trump administration.
In July 2017, during his keynote address at the LeadingAge Florida annual convention, Carson stated his concern about "seniors who become destitute" and reported that the Department of Housing and Urban Development had increased public housing programs for the elderly by an unspecified number.
In summer 2017, Carson allowed his son, Baltimore businessman, Ben Carson Jr., to participate in organizing a HUD "listening tour" in Baltimore. Internal documents obtained by The Washington Post under the Freedom of Information Act showed that the younger Carson "put people he'd invited in touch with his father's deputies, joined agency staff on official conference calls about the listening tour and copied his wife on related email exchanges". The son's involvement prompted HUD staff to express concern; the department's deputy general counsel for operations wrote in a memorandum "that this gave the appearance that the Secretary may be using his position for his son's private gain". Carson's wife, son, and daughter-in-law also attended official meetings. In February 2018, the HUD inspector general's office confirmed that it was looking into the role Carson's family played at the department.
During congressional testimony in May 2019, while being questioned by U.S. Representative Katie Porter, Carson did not know what the term REO ("Real Estate Owned" refers to housing owned by a bank or lending institution post-foreclosure) stood for and confused it with the cookie, Oreo. In response, Carson went on the Fox Business Network where he accused Democrats of adhering to "Saul Alinsky" tactics.
On March 1, 2020, the office of Vice President Mike Pence announced Carson's addition to the White House Coronavirus Task Force.
On November 9, 2020, Carson tested positive for COVID-19 after attending President Trump's Election Night party. He initially treated himself with a homeopathic oleander extract on the recommendation of Mike Lindell, the founder of My Pillow, Inc., which Carson said caused his symptoms to disappear. Oleander was previously rejected by the Food and Drug Administration as a treatment for COVID-19 and Carson received criticism for promoting an unscientific homeopathic treatment. He disclosed on November 20 that he subsequently became "extremely sick" and attributed his recovery to Regeneron's experimental antibody therapy. He said that President Trump had given him access to the drug.
Office furnishing scandal
Carson received criticism for spending up to $31,000 on a dining set in his office in late 2017. This expenditure was discovered after Helen Foster, a career HUD official, filed a complaint alleging that she had been demoted from her position because she refused to spend more than the legal $5,000 limit for office redecorations. Carson and his spokesman said that he had little or no involvement in the purchase of the dining set. Later, email communications revealed that Carson and his wife selected the dining set. On March 20, 2018, Carson testified before the United States House Committee on Appropriations that he had "dismissed" himself from the decision to buy the $31,000 dining room set and "left it to my wife, you know, to choose something". On September 12, 2019, HUD's inspector general released a report clearing Carson of misconduct.
Remarks on transgender use of homeless shelters
Carson was accused by members of the Department of Housing and Urban Development of making transphobic remarks at a meeting in San Francisco in September 2019. He warned that "big, hairy men" might infiltrate homeless shelters for women, prompting one woman to walk out. Reps. Joe Kennedy III of Massachusetts and Jennifer Wexton of Virginia called for his resignation, but Carson said the accusations were a "mischaracterization". A HUD spokesperson responded that Carson "does not use derogatory language to refer to transgendered individuals. Any reporting to the contrary is false."
Carson Scholars Fund
In 1994, Carson and his wife started the Carson Scholars Fund that awards scholarships to students in grades 4–11 for "academic excellence and humanitarian qualities".
Recipients of the Carson Scholars Fund receive a $1,000 scholarship towards their college education. It has awarded 6,700 scholarships. In recognition for his work with the Carson Scholars Fund and other charitable giving throughout his lifetime, Carson was awarded the William E. Simon Prize for Philanthropic Leadership in 2005.
American Cornerstone Institute
In 2021, Carson founded the American Cornerstone Institute or ACI, a conservative think tank centered around advancing policies that promote "faith, liberty, community, and life".
The ACI's mission statement is "dedicated to promoting and preserving individual and religious liberty, helping our country's most vulnerable find new hope, and developing methods to decrease the federal government's role in society and to improve efficiency to best serve ALL our nation's citizens. Headed by world-renowned neurosurgeon, presidential candidate, and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Dr. Ben Carson, ACI will be a voice for reason and civility in a nation that is increasingly devoid of common sense."
Personal life
Carson and his wife, fellow Detroit native Lacena "Candy" Rustin, met in 1971 as students at Yale University and married in 1975. They began living in West Friendship, Maryland, in 1988. Together, the couple have three sons (Rhoeyce, Benjamin Jr., and Murray), as well as several grandchildren. Their oldest son, Murray, was born in Perth, Australia, while Carson was undertaking a residency there. In 1981 Carson's wife became pregnant with twins before miscarrying in the fifth month of her pregnancy.
In 2001, Ben and Candy Carson bought a 48-acre property in Upperco, Maryland.
After being diagnosed with prostate cancer, Carson underwent a two-hour operation at the Johns Hopkins Hospital on August 7, 2002.
In 2013, Carson, his wife, and Carson's mother moved to West Palm Beach, Florida.
Surrounding his confirmation as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Carson bought a $1.22 million home in Vienna, Virginia, in February 2017 and sold his West Palm Beach home for over $900,000 in May 2017.
Religion
Carson and his wife are members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA). Carson was baptized at Burns Seventh-day Adventist Church in Detroit. A few years later, he told the pastor at a church he was attending in Inkster, Michigan, that he had not fully understood his first baptism and wanted to be baptized again. He has served as a local elder and Sabbath School teacher in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Although Carson is an Adventist, the church has officially cautioned church employees to remain politically neutral.
In keeping with his Seventh-day Adventist faith, Carson announced in 2014 his belief "that the United States will play a big role" in the coming apocalypse. He went on to say, "I hope by that time I'm not around anymore."
In an interview with Katie Couric, Carson said that Jesus Christ came to Earth to redeem the world through his atoning sacrifice and that all people are sinners and need his redemption.
Carson has stated that he does not believe in hell as understood by some Christians: "You know, I see God as a very loving individual. And why would he torment somebody forever who only had a life of 60 or 70 or 80 years? Even if they were evil. Even if they were only evil for 80 years?" This is fully in line with Adventist teaching, which promotes annihilationism.
Carson endorsed Seventh-day Adventist theology, which includes belief in a literal reading of the first chapters of Genesis. In a 2013 interview with Adventist News Network, Carson said: "You know, I'm proud of the fact that I believe what God has said, and I've said many times that I'll defend it before anyone. If they want to criticize the fact that I believe in a literal, six-day creation, let's have at it because I will poke all kinds of holes in what they believe." Carson's Adventism was raised as an issue by his then-primary rival Donald Trump. Some Adventists have argued that Carson's political positions on gun rights and religious liberty conflict with historic Adventist teachings in favor of nonviolence, pacifism, and the separation of church and state.
Claim about Egyptian pyramids
During a commencement speech at Andrews University in Michigan in 1998, Carson stated that he believed that the pyramids of Giza were created by the biblical figure Joseph to store grain, despite the fact that the story of Joseph is set in the time of Egypt's Middle Kingdom, five centuries after the pyramids of Giza were built. When questioned about it again in 2015, he stood by his original assertion.
Vegetarianism
Consistent with the practice of many Adventists, Carson is a lacto-ovo vegetarian (he will eat dishes containing milk, eggs, or cheese, and occasionally, poultry). He has said his main reason for becoming vegetarian was health concerns, including avoiding parasites and heart disease, and he emphasizes the environmental benefits of vegetarianism. His transition was made easier because he had eaten little meat for aesthetic reasons as a child, and he readily adopted his wife's vegetarianism because she does much of the cooking in their household. Speaking in 1990, he said that with the increasing availability of meat substitutes, "It might take 20 years. But eventually there will no longer be a reason for most people to eat meat. And animals will breathe a sigh of relief." To avoid causing others discomfort, he is willing to occasionally eat chicken or turkey, although he finds eating pork highly unpleasant.
Awards and honors
Carson is a member of the American Academy of Achievement, Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society, and the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans.
Carson has been awarded 38 honorary doctorate degrees and dozens of national merit citations. Detroit Public Schools opened the Dr. Benjamin Carson High School of Science and Medicine for students interested in pursuing healthcare careers. The school is partnering with Detroit Receiving Hospital and Michigan State University.
In 2000, he received the Award for Greatest Public Service Benefiting the Disadvantaged, an award given out annually by Jefferson Awards.
In 2001, he was elected by the Library of Congress on the occasion of its 200th anniversary to be one of the 89 who earned the designation Library of Congress Living Legend.
In 2004, he was appointed to serve on The President's Council on Bioethics.
In 2005, Carson was awarded the William E. Simon Prize for Philanthropic Leadership.
In 2006, he received the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP, their highest honor for outstanding achievement.
In 2008, the White House awarded Carson the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.
In 2008, Ford's Theatre Society awarded Carson the Ford's Theatre Lincoln Medal, for exemplifying the qualities embodied by President Abraham Lincoln—including courage, integrity, tolerance, equality, and creative expression—through superior achievements.
In 2008, U.S. News & World Report named Carson as one of "America's Best Leaders".
In 2010, he was elected into the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine, considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine.
In 2012, Carson was the Influential Marylander Award recipient from The Daily Record, Baltimore's legal and business newspaper.
In 2014, a poll of Americans conducted by Gallup ranked Carson sixth on a list of the most admired persons.
He is an emeritus fellow of the Yale Corporation.
Books
(with Cecil Murphey)
(with Gregg Lewis)
(with Candy Carson)
(with Candy Carson), on The New York Times bestsellers list for 20 straight weeks, five of them as number one
(with Candy Carson)
(with Gregg Lewis, Deborah Shaw Lewis)
(with Cecil Murphey)
(with Candy Carson)
See also
Ben Carson 2016 presidential campaign
Ben Carson office furnishing scandal
List of African-American Republicans
2016 Republican Party presidential candidates
Notes
References
Further reading
Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story (February 7, 2009), a television movie with the same title as Carson's first book premiered on TNT with Academy Award winner Cuba Gooding Jr. in the lead role and Kimberly Elise portraying his mother.
A Doctor in the House: My Life with Ben Carson (January 5, 2016), a book by Candy Carson
External links
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson
Ben Carson:Dialogue with an Adventist Neurosurgeon College and University Dialogue Retrieved October 12, 2018
1951 births
Living people
20th-century American male writers
20th-century Protestants
21st-century American male writers
21st-century American politicians
21st-century Protestants
African-American Christians
African-American members of the Cabinet of the United States
African-American physicians
African-American government officials
African-American candidates for President of the United States
African-American writers
American neurosurgeons
American Seventh-day Adventists
American Christian creationists
American Christian writers
Candidates in the 2016 United States presidential election
Christian vegetarianism
Florida Republicans
Johns Hopkins Hospital physicians
Kellogg's people
Maryland Republicans
Michigan Republicans
Members of the National Academy of Medicine
Physicians from Detroit
People from Dorchester, Massachusetts
People from Roxbury, Boston
People from Vienna, Virginia
Politicians from Detroit
People from West Friendship, Maryland
People from West Palm Beach, Florida
Physicians from Michigan
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
Seventh-day Adventists from Michigan
Seventh-day Adventists in health science
Spingarn Medal winners
Tea Party movement activists
Trump administration cabinet members
United States Secretaries of Housing and Urban Development
University of Michigan Medical School alumni
The Washington Times people
Yale University alumni
20th-century American writers
Southwestern High School (Michigan) alumni | true | [
"\n\n34001–34100 \n\n|-id=002\n| 34002 Movsesian || || Karina Movsesian (born 1999) was awarded best of category and first place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her biochemistry project. She also received the Dudley R. Herschbach Award. She attends the Prvni Ceske Gymnazium v Karlovych Varech, Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic. || \n|-id=003\n| 34003 Ivozell || || Ivo Zell (born 1998) was awarded best of category and first place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his engineering mechanics project. He also received the Gordon E. Moore Award. He attends the Internatsschule Schloss Hansenberg, Geisenheim-Johannesberg, Germany. || \n|-id=004\n| 34004 Gregorini || || Loretta Gregorini, astronomer who concentrate in the field of radioastronomy and observational cosmology || \n|-id=010\n| 34010 Tassiloschwarz || || Tassilo Constantin Schwarz (born 1999) was awarded best of category and first place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his robotics and intelligent machines project. He also received the Cultural and Scientific Visit to China Award. He attended the Johannes Heidenhain Gymnasium, Traunreut, Germany. Currently, he studies at ETH Zurich. || \n|-id=011\n| 34011 Divyakranthi || || Divya Kranthi (born 2000) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her biochemistry team project. She attends the Ambedkar College, Nagpur, India. || \n|-id=012\n| 34012 Prashaant || || Prashaant Ranganathan (born 1999) was awarded best of category and first place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his environmental engineering project. He also received the Philip V. Streich Memorial Award. He attends the Carmel Junior College, Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, India. || \n|-id=014\n| 34014 Pingali || || Sahithi Rohini Pingali (born 2000) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her earth and environmental sciences project. She attends the Inventure Academy, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. || \n|-id=016\n| 34016 Chaitanya || || Chaitanya (born 1999) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his biomedical engineering team project. He attends the Little Rock Indian School, Brahmavar, Karnataka, India. || \n|-id=017\n| 34017 Geeve || || Geeve (born 1999) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his biomedical engineering team project. He attends the Little Rock Indian School, Brahmavar, Karnataka, India. || \n|-id=021\n| 34021 Suhanijain || || Suhani Sachin Jain (born 2000) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her biochemistry team project. She attends the Taywade College, Nagpur, India. || \n|-id=024\n| 34024 Cormaclarkin || || Cormac James Larkin (born 1997) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his physics and astronomy project. He attends the Colaiste an Spioraid Naoimh, Cork City, Munster, Ireland. || \n|-id=025\n| 34025 Caolannbrady || || Caolann Ellen Brady (born 1999) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her biomedical and health sciences project. She attends the St. Wolstan's Community School, Celbridge, Leinster, Ireland. || \n|-id=026\n| 34026 Valpagliarino || || Valerio Pagliarino (born 2000) was awarded best of category and first place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his embedded systems project. He also received the Intel Foundation Young Scientist Award. He attends the I.I.S. Nicola Pellati, Nizza Monferrato, Asti, Italy. || \n|-id=028\n| 34028 Wuhuiyi || || Huiyi Wu (born 1999) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her energy project. She attends the Ichikawa Gakuen Ichikawa High School, Ichikawa, Chiba, Japan. || \n|-id=030\n| 34030 Tabuchi || || Kotaro Tabuchi (born 1999) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his engineering mechanics project. He attends the Nanzan Boys' Senior High School, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan. || \n|-id=031\n| 34031 Fukumitsu || || Nodoka Fukumitsu (born 1998) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her animal sciences project. She attends the Shimane Prefectural Masuda High School, Masuda, Shimane, Japan. || \n|-id=034\n| 34034 Shehadeh || || Ayah Hayel Shehadeh (born 2000) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her chemistry team project. She attends the Al-Hasaad Al-Tarbawi School, Amman, Jordan. || \n|-id=038\n| 34038 Abualragheb || || Bayan Osama Abu Alragheb (born 2000) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her chemistry team project. She attends the Al-Hasaad Al-Tarbawi School, Amman, Jordan. || \n|-id=039\n| 34039 Torsteinvik || || Torstein Vik (born 1999) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his math team project. He attends the Fagerlia Videregaende Skole, Alesund, More og Romsdal, Norway. || \n|-id=042\n| 34042 Espeseth || || Ane Kristine Espeseth (born 1998) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her math team project. She attends the Fagerlia Videregaende Skole, Alesund, More og Romsdal, Norway. || \n|-id=044\n| 34044 Obafial || || Nadine Antonette Obafial (born 2000) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her plant sciences team project. She attends the Davao City National High School, Davao City, Philippines. || \n|-id=047\n| 34047 Gloria || || Rubeliene Chezka Fernandez Gloria (born 2001) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her plant sciences team project. She attends the Davao City National High School, Davao City, Philippines. || \n|-id=049\n| 34049 Myrelleangela || || Myrelle Angela T. Colas (born 2001) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her plant sciences team project. She attends the Davao City National High School, Davao City, Philippines. || \n|-id=053\n| 34053 Carlquines || || Carl Joshua Tiangco Quines (born 2000) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his math team project. He attends the Valenzuela City School of Mathematics and Science, Valenzuela, Manila, Philippines. || \n|-id=063\n| 34063 Mariamakarova || || Maria Makarova (born 1999) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her chemistry team project. She attends the Moscow Chemical Lyceum, Moscow, Russia. || \n|-id=077\n| 34077 Yoshiakifuse || || Yoshiaki Fuse, father of astronomer and Subaru Telescope staff member Tetsuru Fuse || \n|-id=079\n| 34079 Samoylova || || Alexandra Samoylova (born 1999) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her chemistry team project. She attends the Moscow Chemical Lyceum, Moscow, Russia. || \n|-id=080\n| 34080 Clarakeng || || Clara Keng (born 1999) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her materials science team project. She attends the Raffles Institution, Singapore. || \n|-id=081\n| 34081 Chowkitmun || || Chow Kit Mun (born 1999) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her materials science team project. She attends the River Valley High School, Singapore. || \n|-id=083\n| 34083 Feretova || || Miriam Feretova (born 1999) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her animal sciences team project. She attends the Grammar School of St. Nicholas, Presov, Presovsky, Slovakia. || \n|-id=088\n| 34088 Satokosuka || || Kosuke Sato, the winner of the 2008 Space Day Award painting competition for elementary school || \n|-id=089\n| 34089 Smoter || || Samuel Smoter (born 1999) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his animal sciences team project. He attends the Grammar School of St. Nicholas, Presov, Presovsky, Slovakia. || \n|-id=090\n| 34090 Cewhang || || Clairisse Eunhae Whang (born 2000) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her biomedical and health sciences project. She attends the Academy for Medical Science Technology, Hackensack, New Jersey, U.S.A. || \n|-id=100\n| 34100 Thapa || || Devina Thapa (born 1999) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her translational medical science project. She attends the Academy of Science, Sterling, Virginia, U.S.A. || \n|}\n\n34101–34200 \n\n|-\n| 34101 Hesrivastava || || Hemant Srivastava (born 1999) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his translational medical science project. He attends the Alabama School of Fine Arts, Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.A. || \n|-id=102\n| 34102 Shawnzhang || || Shawn Brian Zhang (born 2000) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his physics and astronomy team project. He attends the Amador Valley, Pleasanton, California, U.S.A. || \n|-id=103\n| 34103 Suganthkannan || || Suganth Kannan (born 1999) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his chemistry project. He attends the American Heritage School, Plantation, Florida, U.S.A. || \n|-id=104\n| 34104 Jeremiahpate || || Jeremiah Thomas Pate (born 1998) was awarded best of category and first place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his translational medical science project. He also received the Dudley R. Herschbach Award. He attends the BASIS Oro Valley, Arizona. || \n|-id=106\n| 34106 Sakhrani || || Neeraj Sakhrani (born 1999) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his earth and environmental sciences project. He attends the Bronx High School of Science, Bronx, New York, U.S.A. || \n|-id=107\n| 34107 Kashfiarahman || || Kashfia Nehrin Rahman (born 2000) was awarded first place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her behavioral and social sciences project. She attends the Brookings High School, Brookings, South Dakota, U.S.A. || \n|-id=123\n| 34123 Uedayukika || 2000 QD || Yukika Ueda (born 1994), the prizewinner in the 2008 Space-Day Award painting competition || \n|-id=127\n| 34127 Adamnayak || || Adam C. Nayak (born 2000) was awarded best of category and first place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his earth and environmental sciences project. He attends the Cleveland High School, Portland, Oregon, U.S.A. || \n|-id=128\n| 34128 Hannahbrown || || Hannah Louise Brown (born 1998) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her behavioral and social sciences project. She attends the Dobbs Ferry High School, Dobbs Ferry, New York, U.S.A. || \n|-id=129\n| 34129 Madisonsneve || || Madison Andrea Sneve (born 1999) was awarded first place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her cellular and molecular biology project. She attends the duPont Manual High School, Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.A. || \n|-id=130\n| 34130 Isabellaivy || || Isabella Ivy Bowland (born 2000) was awarded best of category and first place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her plant sciences project. She attends the Fairview High School, Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A. || \n|-id=132\n| 34132 Theoguerin || || Theo Calvin Guerin (born 1999) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his engineering mechanics team project. He attends the Falmouth Academy, Falmouth, Massachusetts, U.S.A. || \n|-id=133\n| 34133 Charlesfenske || || Charles Johannes Fenske (born 1999) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his engineering mechanics team project. He attends the Falmouth Academy, Falmouth, Massachusetts, U.S.A. || \n|-id=134\n| 34134 Zlokapa || || Alexander Zlokapa (born 1999) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his systems software project. He attends the Golden Hills Academy, Danville, California, U.S.A. || \n|-id=135\n| 34135 Rahulsubra || || Rahul Subramaniam (born 2001) was awarded best of category, first place, and the Scientific and Cultural Visit to India in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his microbiology project. He attends the Greenwich High School, Greenwich, Connecticut. || \n|-id=137\n| 34137 Lonnielinda || || Lonnie and Linda Wolfe, parents of the American discoverer Chris Wolfe || \n|-id=138\n| 34138 Frasso Sabino || || Frasso Sabino, Italy, which hosts the discovering Frasso Sabino Observatory || \n|-id=139\n| 34139 Lucabarcelo || || Luca Jose Barcelo (born 2000) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his environmental engineering project. He attends the Greenwich High School, Greenwich, Connecticut, U.S.A. || \n|-id=141\n| 34141 Antonwu || || Anton Wu (born 2000) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his math project. He attends the Half Hollow Hills High School East, Dix Hills, New York, U.S.A. || \n|-id=142\n| 34142 Sachinkonan || || Sachin Ganesh Konan (born 2000) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his embedded systems project. He attends the Hamilton High School, Chandler, Arizona, U.S.A. || \n|-id=143\n| 34143 Heeric || || Eric He (born 2000) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his embedded systems project. He attends the High Technology High School, Lincroft, New Jersey, U.S.A. || \n|-id=144\n| 34144 Alexandersun || || Alexander Karl Sun (born 1999) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his behavioral and social sciences team project. He attends the Hillcrest High School, Midvale, Utah, U.S.A. || \n|-id=147\n| 34147 Vengadesan || || Suryaprakash Vengadesan (born 2000) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his materials science project. He attends the Irvine High School, Irvine, California, U.S.A. || \n|-id=148\n| 34148 Marchuo || || Marc Huo (born 2000) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his cellular and molecular biology project. He attends the Jericho High School, Jericho, New York, U.S.A. || \n|-id=152\n| 34152 Kendrazhang || || Kendra Zhang (born 2000) was awarded best of category and first place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her energy project. She also received the European Union Contest for Young Scientists Award. She attends the Jericho High School, Jericho, New York, U.S.A. || \n|-id=153\n| 34153 Deeannguo || || DeeAnn Guo (born 1999) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her behavioral and social sciences project. She attends the John Jay High School, Cross River, New York, U.S.A. || \n|-id=154\n| 34154 Anushkanair || || Anushka M. Nair (born 2000) was awarded first place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her earth and environmental sciences project. She attends the Lake Oswego High School, Lake Oswego, Oregon, U.S.A. || \n|-id=156\n| 34156 Gopalakrishnan || || Vivek Gopalakrishnan (born 1999) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his microbiology project. He attends the Lexington High School, Lexington, Massachusetts, U.S.A. || \n|-id=158\n| 34158 Rachelchang || || Rachel Chang (born 2000) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her environmental engineering team project. She attends the Manhasset High School, Manhasset, New York, U.S.A. || \n|-id=159\n| 34159 Ryanthorpe || || Ryan Matthew Thorpe (born 2000) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his environmental engineering team project. He attends the Manhasset High School, Manhasset, New York, U.S.A. || \n|-id=161\n| 34161 Michaellee || || Michael Yoomin Lee (born 1998) was awarded best of category and first place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his systems software project. He also received the Intel Foundation Cultural and Scientific Visit to China Award. He attends the Manhasset High School, Manhasset, New York, U.S.A. || \n|-id=162\n| 34162 Yegnesh || || Karthik Yegnesh (born 2000) was awarded best of category and first place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his math project. He also received the Intel Foundation Cultural and Scientific Visit to China Award. He attends the Methacton High School, Eagleville, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. || \n|-id=163\n| 34163 Neyveli || || Pranav Sundar Neyveli (born 2000) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his computational biology and bioinformatics project. He attends the Mills E. Godwin High School, Henrico, Virginia, U.S.A. || \n|-id=164\n| 34164 Anikacheerla || || Anika Cheerla (born 2001) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her robotics and intelligent machines team project. She attends the Monta Vista High School, Cupertino, California, U.S.A. || \n|-id=165\n| 34165 Nikhilcheerla || || Nikhil Cheerla (born 1999) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his robotics and intelligent machines team project. He attends the Monta Vista High School, Cupertino, California, U.S.A. || \n|-id=166\n| 34166 Neildeshmukh || || Neil Deshmukh (born 2002) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his systems software project. He attends the Moravian Academy, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. || \n|-id=172\n| 34172 Camillemiles || || Camille Alden Miles (born 1999) was awarded best of category and first place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her energy project. She also received the Intel Foundation Cultural and Scientific Visit to China Award. She attends the Niceville High School, Niceville, Florida, U.S.A. || \n|-id=175\n| 34175 Joshuadong || || Joshua Dong (born 1999) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his engineering mechanics project. He attends the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, Durham, North Carolina, U.S.A. || \n|-id=176\n| 34176 Balamurugan || || Vishaal N. Balamurugan (born 2000) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his biochemistry project. He attends the North Oldham High School, Goshen, Kentucky, U.S.A. || \n|-id=177\n| 34177 Amandawilson || || Amanda Grace Wilson (born 2000) was awarded first place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her plant sciences project. She attends the Northwestern High School, Kokomo, Indiana, U.S.A. || \n|-id=178\n| 34178 Sarahmarie || || Sarah Marie Romanelli (born 1999) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her translational medical science project. She attends the Oceanside High School, Oceanside, New York, U.S.A. || \n|-id=179\n| 34179 Bryanchun || || Bryan Hoo Hao Chun (born 1998) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his energy project. He attends the Oregon Episcopal School, Portland, Oregon, U.S.A. || \n|-id=180\n| 34180 Jessicayoung || || Jessica E. Young (born 1998) was awarded best of category and first place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her animal sciences project. She attends the Palm Beach Central High School, Wellington, Florida, U.S.A. || \n|-id=181\n| 34181 Patnaik || || Ritik Patnaik (born 2001) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his systems software project. He attends the Plano East Senior High School, Plano, Texas, U.S.A. || \n|-id=182\n| 34182 Sachan || || Kshitij Sachan (born 2000) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his cellular and molecular biology team project. He attends the Plano East Senior High School, Plano, Texas, U.S.A. || \n|-id=183\n| 34183 Yeshdoctor || || Yesh Satyajit Doctor (born 2000) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his cellular and molecular biology team project. He attends the Plano East Senior High School, Plano, Texas, U.S.A. || \n|-id=184\n| 34184 Hegde || || Sahil Hegde (born 1999) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his physics and astronomy team project. He attends the Prospect High School, Saratoga, California, U.S.A. || \n|-id=187\n| 34187 Tomaino || || Shane Tomaino (born 2000) was awarded first place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her engineering mechanics project. She attends the Rye Country Day School, Rye, New York, U.S.A. || \n|-id=188\n| 34188 Clarawagner || || Clara Elizabeth Wagner (born 1998) was awarded best of category, first place, and the Scientific and Cultural Visit to India Awards in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her biomedical engineering project. She attends the Saginaw Arts and Sciences Academy, Saginaw, Michigan. || \n|-id=189\n| 34189 Ambatipudi || || Mythri Ambatipudi (born 2000) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her computational biology and bioinformatics project. She attends the Saint Francis High School, Mountain View, California, U.S.A. || \n|-id=190\n| 34190 Erinsmith || || Erin Smith (born 1999) was awarded best of category and first place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her behavioral and social sciences project. She also received the Cultural and Scientific Visit to China Award. She attends the Shawnee Mission West High School, Overland Park, Kansas, U.S.A. || \n|-id=191\n| 34191 Jakhete || || Shantanu Jakhete (born 2000) was awarded first place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his animal sciences project. He attends the South Fork High School, Stuart, Florida, U.S.A. || \n|-id=192\n| 34192 Sappington || || James Donovan Sappington (born 2001) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his earth and environmental sciences project. He attends the South River High School, Edgewater, Maryland, U.S.A. || \n|-id=193\n| 34193 Annakoonce || || Anna Colleen Koonce (born 2000) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her plant sciences project. She attends the St. Joseph's Academy, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S.A. || \n|-id=194\n| 34194 Serenajing || || Serena Liang Jing (born 1998) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her biomedical engineering project. She attends the St. Paul Central High School, St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S.A. || \n|-id=197\n| 34197 Susrinivasan || || Suraj Sai Srinivasan (born 2000) was awarded first place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his biomedical engineering project. He attends the Strongsville High School, Strongsville, Ohio, U.S.A. || \n|-id=198\n| 34198 Oliverleitner || || Oliver Leitner (born 2000) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his energy project. He attends the Davidson Academy of Nevada, Reno, Nevada, U.S.A. || \n|-id=199\n| 34199 Amyjin || || Amy Yue Jin (born 2000) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her robotics and intelligent machines project. She attends the Harker School, San Jose, California, U.S.A. || \n|-id=200\n| 34200 Emmasun || || Emma Sun (born 2002) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her behavioral and social sciences team project. She attends the Waterford School, Sandy, Utah, U.S.A. || \n|}\n\n34201–34300 \n\n|-id=202\n| 34202 Sionaprasad || || Siona Prasad (born 2001) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her earth and environmental sciences project. She attends the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Alexandria, Virginia, U.S.A. || \n|-id=204\n| 34204 Quryshi || || Nabeel Jami Quryshi (born 2000) was awarded first place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his biomedical and health sciences project. He attends the University School of Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.A. || \n|-id=205\n| 34205 Mizerak || || Evan James Mizerak (born 1999) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his animal sciences project. He attends the Wachusett Regional High School, Holden, Massachusetts, U.S.A. || \n|-id=206\n| 34206 Zhiyuewang || || Zhiyue Wang (born 1999) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her biomedical and health sciences project. She attends the West Lafayette Junior-Senior High School, West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S.A. || \n|-id=208\n| 34208 Danielzhang || || Daniel Danxu Zhang (born 1999) was awarded best of category and first place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his biomedical and health sciences project. He also received the Philip V. Streich Memorial Award. He attends the Westview High School, San Diego, California, U.S.A. || \n|-id=215\n| 34215 Stutigarg || || Stuti Paavani Garg (born 2000) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her microbiology project. She attends the Westview High School, Portland, Oregon, U.S.A. || \n|-id=218\n| 34218 Padiyath || || Manashree Seth Padiyath (born 2002) was awarded first place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her environmental engineering project. She attends the Woodbury High School, Woodbury, Minnesota, U.S.A. || \n|-id=219\n| 34219 Megantang || || Megan Taiyue Tang (born 2000) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her earth and environmental sciences project. She attends the York School, Monterey, California, U.S.A. || \n|-id=220\n| 34220 Pelagiamajoni || || Pelagia Maria Majoni (born 1999) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her energy project. She attends the Queen Elizabeth Girls High School, Harare, Zimbabwe. || \n|-id=224\n| 34224 Maggiechen || || Maggie Shin-Young Chen (born 2000) was a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron STS, and was awarded 1st place at the 2017 International Science and Engineering Fair for her bioengineering project. She attends the Canyon Crest Academy, San Diego, California. || \n|-id=225\n| 34225 Fridberg || || Kyle Oskar Fridberg (born 2000) was a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron STS, and was awarded best of category, 1st place and the Scientific and Cultural Visit to India Award at the 2017 International Science and Engineering Fair for his chemistry project. He attends the Fairview High School, Boulder, Colorado. || \n|-id=227\n| 34227 Daveyhuang || || Davey H. Huang (born 1999) was a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron STS, and was awarded best of category and 1st place at the 2017 International Science and Engineering Fair for his cellular and molecular biology project. He attends the Iolani School, Honolulu, Hawaii. || \n|-id=231\n| 34231 Isanisingh || || Isani Singh (born 1999) was a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron STS, and was awarded 2nd place at the 2017 International Science and Engineering Fair for her genomics project. She attends the Cherry Creek High School, Greenwood Village, Colorado. || \n|-id=233\n| 34233 Caldwell || || Reese Caldwell (born 2000) is a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS), a science competition for high school seniors, for his bioengineering project. He attends the Conestoga High School, Berwyn, Pennsylvania. || \n|-id=234\n| 34234 Andrewfang || || Andrew Fang (born 2000) is a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS), a science competition for high school seniors, for his medicine and health project. He attends the Jericho Senior High School, Jericho, New York. || \n|-id=235\n| 34235 Ellafeiner || || Ella Feiner (born 1999) is a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS), a science competition for high school seniors, for her cellular and molecular biology project. She attends the Horace Mann School, Bronx, New York. || \n|-id=236\n| 34236 Firester || || Benjamin J. Firester (born 1999) is a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS), a science competition for high school seniors, for his plant sciences project. He attends the Hunter College High School, New York, New York. || \n|-id=237\n| 34237 Sarahgao || || Sarah Gao (born 2000) is a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS), a science competition for high school seniors, for her cellular and molecular biology project. She attends the Montgomery Blair High School, Silver Spring, Maryland. || \n|-id=239\n| 34239 Louisgolowich || || Louis Golowich (born 2000) is a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS), a science competition for high school seniors, for his computer science project. He attends Harvard University. || \n|-id=240\n| 34240 Charleyhutch || || Charley Hutchison (born 2000) is a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS), a science competition for high school seniors, for his chemistry project. He attends the St. Andrew's Episcopal School, Ridgeland, Mississippi. || \n|-id=241\n| 34241 Skylerjones || || Skyler Chloe Jones (born 2000) is a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS), a science competition for high school seniors, for her chemistry project. She attends the Ossining High School, Ossining, New York. || \n|-id=245\n| 34245 Andrewkomo || || Andrew Komo (born 2000) is a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS), a science competition for high school seniors, for his computer science project. He attends the Montgomery Blair High School, Silver Spring, Maryland. || \n|-id=246\n| 34246 Kopparapu || || Kavya Kopparapu (born 2000) is a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS), a science competition for high school seniors, for her computational biology and bioinformatics project. She attends the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Alexandria, Virginia. || \n|-id=249\n| 34249 Leolo || || Chiu Fan Bowen Lo (born 1999) is a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS), a science competition for high school seniors, for his physics project. He attends the Jericho Senior High School, Jericho, New York. || \n|-id=250\n| 34250 Mamichael || || Michael Yuanchao Ma (born 2000) is a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS), a science competition for high school seniors, for his mathematics project. He attends the Plano West Senior High School, Plano, Texas. || \n|-id=251\n| 34251 Rohanmehrotra || || Rohan Mehrotra (born 2000) is a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS), a science competition for high school seniors, for her chemistry project. She attends the Lynbrook High School, San Jose, California. || \n|-id=252\n| 34252 Orlovsky || || Natalia Orlovsky (born 2000) is a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS), a science competition for high school seniors, for her cellular and molecular biology project. She attends the Garnet Valley High School, Glen Mills, Pennsylvania. || \n|-id=253\n| 34253 Nitya || || Nitya Parthasarathy (born 2000) is a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS), a science competition for high school seniors, for her behavioral and social sciences project. She attends the Northwood High School, Irvine, California. || \n|-id=254\n| 34254 Mihirpatel || || Mihir Vipul Patel (born 2000) is a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS), a science competition for high school seniors, for his computer science project. He attends the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Alexandria, Virginia. || \n|-id=256\n| 34256 Advaitpatil || || Advait Patil (born 2000) is a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS), a science competition for high school seniors, for his genomics project. He attends the Lynbrook High School, San Jose, California. || \n|-id=258\n| 34258 Pentland || || Dylan Pentland (born 1999) is a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS), a science competition for high school seniors, for his mathematics project. He attends the Newman School, Boston, Massachusetts. || \n|-id=259\n| 34259 Abprabhakaran || || Abilash Prabhakaran (born 2000) is a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS), a science competition for high school seniors, for his cellular and molecular biology project. He attends the Cherry Creek High School, Greenwood Village, Colorado. || \n|-id=261\n| 34261 Musharahman || || Muhammad Shahir Rahman (born 2000) is a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS), a science competition for high school seniors, for his engineering project. He attends the Westview High School, Portland, Oregon. || \n|-id=262\n| 34262 Michaelren || || Michael Ren (born 2000) is a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS), a science competition for high school seniors, for his mathematics project. He attends the Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts. || \n|-id=264\n| 34264 Sadhuka || || Shuvom Sadhuka (born 1999) is a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS), a science competition for high school seniors, for his physics project. He attends the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, Cambridge, Massachusetts. || \n|-id=266\n| 34266 Schweinfurth || || Raley Schweinfurth (born 1999) is a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS), a science competition for high school seniors, for her environmental science project. She attends the Oregon Episcopal School, Portland, Oregon. || \n|-id=267\n| 34267 Haniya || || Haniya Shareef (born 2000) is a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS), a science competition for high school seniors, for her plant sciences project. She attends the Lincoln Park Academy, Fort Pierce, Florida. || \n|-id=268\n| 34268 Gracetian || || Grace Tian (born 2000) is a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS), a science competition for high school seniors, for her mathematics project. She attends the Wellington School, Columbus, Ohio. || \n|-id=271\n| 34271 Vinjaivale || || Vinjai Vale (born 2000) is a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS), a science competition for high school seniors, for his computer science project. He attends the Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, New Hampshire. || \n|-id=272\n| 34272 Veeramacheneni || || Teja Sai Veeramacheneni (born 2000) is a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS), a science competition for high school seniors, for his computer science project. He attends the Archbishop Mitty High School, San Jose, California. || \n|-id=273\n| 34273 Franklynwang || || Franklyn Hai Wang (born 2000) is a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS), a science competition for high school seniors, for his mathematics project. He attends the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Alexandria, Virginia. || \n|-id=277\n| 34277 Davidxingwu || || David Xing Wu (born 2000) is a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS), a science competition for high school seniors, for his mathematics project. He attends the Montgomery Blair High School, Silver Spring, Maryland. || \n|-id=278\n| 34278 Justinxie || || Justin Long Xie (born 2000) is a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS), a science competition for high school seniors, for his space science project. He attends the Harker School, San Jose, California. || \n|-id=279\n| 34279 Alicezhang || || Alice Anran Zhang (born 2000) is a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS), a science competition for high school seniors, for her computer science project. She attends the Montgomery Blair High School, Silver Spring, Maryland. || \n|-id=280\n| 34280 Victoradler || || Victor Adler mentored a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors. He teaches at the Harker School, San Jose, California. || \n|-id=281\n| 34281 Albritton || || Daniel Albritton mentored a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors. He teaches at the Fairview High School, Boulder, Colorado. || \n|-id=282\n| 34282 Applegate || || John Applegate mentored a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors. He teaches at the St. Andrew's Episcopal School, Ridgeland, Mississippi. || \n|-id=283\n| 34283 Bagley || || Michelle Bagley mentored a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors. She teaches at the Centennial High School, Ellicott City, Maryland. || \n|-id=284\n| 34284 Seancampbell || || Sean Campbell mentored a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors. He teaches at the Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, New Hampshire. || \n|-id=285\n| 34285 Dorothydady || || Dorothy Dady mentored a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors. She teaches at the Cherry Creek High School, Greenwood Village, Colorado. || \n|-id=288\n| 34288 Bevindaglen || || Bevin Daglen mentored a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors. She teaches at the Oregon Episcopal School, Portland, Oregon. || \n|-id=289\n| 34289 Johndell || || John Dell mentored a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors. He teaches at the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Alexandria, Virginia. || \n|-id=293\n| 34293 Khiemdoba || || Khiem Doba mentored a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors. He teaches at the Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts. || \n|-id=294\n| 34294 Taylordufford || || Taylor Dufford mentored a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors. He teaches at the Cherry Creek High School, Greenwood Village, Colorado. || \n|-id=297\n| 34297 Willfrazer || || Will Frazer mentored a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors. He teaches at the Buchholz High School, Gainesville, Florida. || \n|-id=300\n| 34300 Brendafrost || || Brenda Frost mentored a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors. She teaches at the Garnet Valley High School, Glen Mills, Pennsylvania. || \n|}\n\n34301–34400 \n\n|-id=302\n| 34302 Riagalanos || || Ria Galanos mentored a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors. She teaches at the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Alexandria, Virginia. || \n|-id=304\n| 34304 Alainagarza || || Alaina Garza mentored a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors. She teaches at the Clear Brook High School, Friendswood, Texas. || \n|-id=307\n| 34307 Arielhaas || || Ariel Haas mentored a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors. Haas teaches at Canyon Crest Academy, San Diego, California. || \n|-id=308\n| 34308 Roberthall || || Robert L. Hall mentored a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors. He teaches at the Newman School, Boston, Massachusetts. || \n|-id=310\n| 34310 Markhannum || || Mark G. Hannum mentored a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors. He teaches at the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Alexandria, Virginia. || \n|-id=312\n| 34312 Deahaupt || || Dea Michael Haupt mentored a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors. She teaches at the Lexington High School, Lexington, Massachusetts. || \n|-id=313\n| 34313 Lisahevner || || Lisa R. Hevner mentored a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors. She teaches at the Lincoln Park Academy, Fort Pierce, Florida. || \n|-id=314\n| 34314 Jasonlee || || Jason Lee mentored a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors. He teaches at the Lynbrook High School, San Jose, California. || \n|-id=316\n| 34316 Christineleo || || Christine Leo mentored a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors. She teaches at the Horace Mann School, Bronx, New York. || \n|-id=317\n| 34317 Fabianmak || || Fabian Mak mentored a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors. He teaches at the Westview High School, Portland, Oregon. || \n|-id=319\n| 34319 Neilmilburn || || Neil Milburn mentored a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors. He teaches at the Plano West Senior High School, Plano, Texas. || \n|-id=320\n| 34320 Davidmonge || || David R. Monge mentored a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors. He teaches at the Northwood High School, Irvine, California. || \n|-id=321\n| 34321 Russellmotter || || Russell Motter mentored a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors. He teaches at the Iolani School, Honolulu, Hawaii. || \n|-id=322\n| 34322 Marknandor || || Mark Nandor mentored a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors. He teaches at the Wellington School, Columbus, Ohio. || \n|-id=323\n| 34323 Williamrose || || William Rose mentored a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors. He teaches at the Montgomery Blair High School, Silver Spring, Maryland. || \n|-id=324\n| 34324 Jeremyschwartz || || Jeremy Schwartz mentored a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors. He teaches at the Montgomery Blair High School, Silver Spring, Maryland. || \n|-id=325\n| 34325 Terrencevale || || Terrence Vale mentored a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors. He teaches at the Broad Run High School, Ashburn, Virginia. || \n|-id=326\n| 34326 Zhaurova || || Irene Zhaurova mentored a finalist in the 2018 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors. She teaches at the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, Cambridge, Massachusetts. || \n|-id=351\n| 34351 Decatur || || Decatur, Alabama, the discovery site (Emerald Lane Observatory) || \n|-id=366\n| 34366 Rosavestal || || Rosa Vallee Warner, née Vestal, the discoverer's mother || \n|-id=398\n| 34398 Terryschmidt || || Terry Eugene Schmidt, American meteoriticist || \n|-id=399\n| 34399 Hachiojihigashi || || The team of Hachiojihigashi, composed of Nishi, Sakurai and Tamai from the Hachioji-higashi High School, is a prizewinner in the sixteenth Satellite Design Contest 2008 for their space experiment proposal || \n|}\n\n34401–34500 \n\n|-id=414\n| 34414 MacLennan || || Eric MacLennan (born 1990) is a postdoctoral researcher in the Physics Department at the University of Helsinki. He studies the production, physical and chemical evolution, and mobilization of regolith using telescopic reflectance spectroscopy and thermal analysis. || \n|-id=419\n| 34419 Corning || || Corning, New York, home of a glassworks that makes professional telescope mirrors, including the disk for the 5-m Hale Telescope at Palomar; the one-tenth-scale engineering model of that telescope still resides there, and was used to discover this minor planet || \n|-id=420\n| 34420 Peterpau || || Peter Pau, Hong Kong-born cinematographer || \n|-id=424\n| 34424 Utashima || || Masayoshi Utashima (born 1951), a researcher in the field of orbital mechanics in Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. || \n|}\n\n34501–34600 \n\n|-id=543\n| 34543 Davidbriggs || || David L. Briggs, American director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Lincoln Laboratory from 1998 to 2006 || \n|}\n\n34601–34700 \n\n|-id=611\n| 34611 Nacogdoches || || Nacogdoches, Texas an Indian settlement, named for the Nacogdoche Indians. This minor planet was discovered at the Stephen F. Austin State University Observatory, located just outside of the city, || \n|-id=636\n| 34636 Lauwingkai || || Lau Wing Kai (1965–2003) was a nurse at Tuen Mun Hospital in Hong Kong. During the 2003 SARS epidemic, he selflessly carried out his duty and unfortunately died from the disease. || \n|-id=645\n| 34645 Vieiramartins || || Roberto Vieira Martins (born 1947) is a Senior Researcher at the National Observatory of Brazil. He works on theoretical and observational activities in dynamics, as well as astrometry of small solar system bodies and their physical characterization through stellar occultations. || \n|-id=666\n| 34666 Bohyunsan || || Mount Bohyunsan, South Korea, where the discovery site, the Bohyunsan Optical Astronomy Observatory, is located || \n|-id=689\n| 34689 Flewelling || || Heather Flewelling (born 1979) is an ATLAS Planetary Defense Researcher at the University of Hawai'i (Manoa). Her work includes development of robotic telescopes and data pipelines, studying transient objects, and outreach activities. || \n|-id=696\n| 34696 Risoldi || || Vairo Risoldi, Italian amateur astronomer || \n|}\n\n34701–34800 \n\n|-id=708\n| 34708 Grasset || || Olivier Grasset (born 1968), a planetary scientist and professor at the University of Nantes' Laboratory of Planetology and Geodynamics. || \n|-id=716\n| 34716 Guzzo || || Massimiliano Guzzo (born 1970), Italian researcher at the University of Padua, member of the board of directors of the SIMCA (Società Italiana di Meccanica Celeste e Astrodinamica, Italian Society of Celestial Mechanics and Astrodynamics) || \n|-id=717\n| 34717 Mirkovilli || || Mirko Villi (born 1961), Italian amateur astronomer, supernova hunter, and founder of the International Supernovae Network || \n|-id=718\n| 34718 Cantagalli || || Michela Cantagalli (born 1965), daughter-in-law of Italian co-discoverer Luciano Tesi || \n|-id=738\n| 34738 Hulbert || || Sam Hulbert (1936–2016), American president of the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, host to the discovery site, the Oakley Observatory || \n|-id=746\n| 34746 Thoon || || Thoon from Greek mythology. He was a Trojan warrior killed by Odysseus. || \n|-id=753\n| 34753 Zdeněkmatyáš || || Zdeněk Matyáš (1914–1956), Czech theoretical physicist || \n|-id=760\n| 34760 Ciccone || || Madonna (Madonna Louise Ciccone, born 1958) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She frequently reinvented both her music and image and was named as \"Queen of Pop\" in the 1980s. Her musical CD Evita has accompanied the discoverer on numerous blinking nights. || \n|-id=778\n| 34778 Huhunglick || || Henry Hu (Henry Hung-lick Hu; born 1920), Chinese barrister-at-law, co-founder of Shue Yan (\"the cultivation of virtue\") College, the first privately funded university in Hong Kong || \n|-id=779\n| 34779 Chungchiyung || || Chung Chi-yung (born 1920), wife of Henry Hu, co-founder of Shue Yan College, see || \n|-id=791\n| 34791 Ericcraine || || Eric Craine (born 1946) has been involved in astronomy for nearly 50 years and has published over one hundred research papers and five books. His work includes quantitative sky brightness measurements, stellar photometry and spectroscopy, astronomy education, and medical applications of astronomical imaging techniques. || \n|}\n\n34801–34900 \n\n|-id=817\n| 34817 Shiominemoto || || Shiomi Nemoto (born 1965) is a volunteer for the Japan International Cooperation Agency. She works for the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, and was the first secretary of the Japan Spaceguard Association. || \n|-id=838\n| 34838 Lazowski || || Eugene Lazowski (1913–2006), a Polish medical doctor. || \n|-id=846\n| 34846 Vincent || || Jean-Baptiste Vincent (born 1983) is a Researcher at the DLR Institute of Planetary Research, Berlin, Germany. He is a planetary scientist studying the formation and evolution of asteroids and comets through their surface properties and activity from ground-based observations and space missions. || \n|-id=854\n| 34854 Paquifrutos || || Paqui Frutos Frutos, wife of the discoverer. || \n|-id=892\n| 34892 Evapalisa || || Eva Palisa, great-grand-niece of Johann Palisa, the leading visual discoverer of minor planets || \n|-id=893\n| 34893 Mihomasatoshi || || Husband and wife Masatoshi Taga (born 1969) and Miho Taga (born 1969) worked for several years at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan. Masatoshi engaged in the studies of galaxies and astronomical data archive systems. Miho designed the logo for the Japan Spaceguard Association. || \n|}\n\n34901–35000 \n\n|-\n| 34901 Mauna Loa || 2699 P-L || Mauna Loa (means Long Mountain), the volcano forms the largest part of the Big Island of Hawaii || \n|-id=919\n| 34919 Imelda || 4710 P-L || Imelda Gentile, cousin of Heidelberg astronomer Joachim Schubart || \n|-id=978\n| 34978 van 't Hoff || 1901 T-3 || Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff (1852–1911), a Dutch physical chemist who was awarded the first Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1901. The award was for his work showing that the laws describing the behavior of very dilute solutions resemble the laws describing the behavior of gases. || \n|-id=993\n| 34993 Euaimon || || Euaimon, mythological king of Atlantis, son of Poseidon and father of Eurypylos, one of the Greeks that sacked Troy || \n|-id=995\n| 34995 Dainihonshi || || The Dai Nihonshi is a historical record of Japan, comprising 397 volumes, covering the period from Emperor Jimmu (c. 650 BCE) to Emperor Go-Komatsu (1377–1433). || \n|-id=996\n| 34996 Mitokoumon || || Mitokoumon is a popular name of Mitsukuni Tokugara (1628–1701), a vice Shogun of the Tokugawa family and a lord of the Mito domain. || \n|}\n\nReferences \n\n034001-035000",
"\n\n33001–33100 \n\n|-id=002\n| 33002 Everest || 1997 DM || Mount Everest (also known as Sagarmāthā in Nepal and Chomolungma in China) is the world's highest mountain. The summit is 8848 m above sea level. || \n|-id=004\n| 33004 Dianesipiera || 1997 EP || Diane M. Sipiera (born 1955), American executive director of the Planetary Studies Foundation, author, and operator of the Star-Lab Planetarium || \n|-id=010\n| 33010 Enricoprosperi || || Enrico Prosperi (born 1954), Italian astronomer and a discoverer of minor planets. Owner of the Castelmartini Observatory in Tuscany, he has undertaken observing programs on many kinds of astronomical objects, including comets and minor planets since 1998. Prosperi is a member of the Italian astronomical associations UAI and SAIt. || \n|-id=011\n| 33011 Kurtiscarsch || || Kurtis Mickel Carsch (born 1994) is a finalist in the 2012 Intel Science Talent Search, a science competition for high-school seniors, for his chemistry project. || \n|-id=012\n| 33012 Eddieirizarry || || Eddie Irizarry (born 1969), an astronomer at the Sociedad de Astronomia del Caribe. || \n|-id=014\n| 33014 Kalinich || || Adam Orval Kalinich (born 1994) is a finalist in the 2012 Intel Science Talent Search, a science competition for high-school seniors, for his mathematics project. || \n|-id=017\n| 33017 Wronski || || Józef Maria Hoëne-Wron'ski (1778–1853), Polish mathematician and philosopher || \n|-id=027\n| 33027 Brouillac || 1997 QE || Laurent Brouillac (born 1967), a member of the Association des Utilisateurs de Détecteurs Electroniques (AUDE), has contributed to the promotion of astronomical observations using Webcams. || \n|-id=034\n| 33034 Dianadamrau || || Diana Damrau (born 1971) is a German soprano, who is a Kammersängerin of the Bavarian State Opera. She has a very broad repertoire, but is the epitomic Queen of the night in Mozart's The Magic Flute. || \n|-id=035\n| 33035 Pareschi || || Giovanni Pareschi (born 1966), Italian astronomer || \n|-id=040\n| 33040 Pavelmayer || || Pavel Mayer (born 1932), Czech astronomer at the Charles University in Prague || \n|-id=044\n| 33044 Erikdavy || 1997 UE || Erik Davy Rees (born 2003), grandson of the discoverer Paul G. Comba || \n|-id=056\n| 33056 Ogunimachi || || Ogunimachi, Niigata prefecture, Japan, famous for its washi (Japanese paper) production || \n|-id=058\n| 33058 Kovařík || || Oton Kovařík (1928–2010), Czech actor, orator and painter, is now living in California with his wife Dása, also an actress. The Kovaříks have propagated European culture and helped to maintain European cultural traditions among immigrants in California, by public recitals of poems and by art exhibitions Src. || \n|-id=061\n| 33061 Václavmorava || || Václav Morava (1933–2005) was a psychiatrist who specialized in treating children, youths and families in southern Bohemia. He was also known as a painter, graphic artist, sculptor, musician, essayist and poet. He was good, wise, helpful and never-to-be-forgotten friend. || \n|-id=100\n| 33100 Udine || || Udine, chief town of the Friuli district in northeast Italy. Founded by Celtic tribes and later occupied by the Romans, it grew to great influence under the Patriarchate of Aquileia in the Middle Ages. Nowadays it is renowned for its castle and excellent wines. The citation was prepared by G. Sostero. || \n|}\n\n33101–33200 \n\n|-id=103\n| 33103 Pintar || || James Anthony Pintarr (born 1947), American physicist and helioseismologist || \n|-id=113\n| 33113 Julabeth || || Jula Elizabeth Rees, granddaughter of the discoverer || \n|-id=117\n| 33117 Ashinimodi || || Ashini A. Modi (born 2004), a finalist in the 2016 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students, for her physics project. || \n|-id=118\n| 33118 Naiknaware || || Anushka Naiknaware (born 2003), a finalist in the 2016 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students, for her materials & bioengineering project. || \n|-id=129\n| 33129 Ivankrasko || 1998 CB || Ivan Krasko (né Ján Botto, 1876–1958) was a symbolist poet, founder of Slovak modernist literature, prosaist and translator from Romanian and German || \n|-id=135\n| 33135 Davidrisoldi || 1998 DX || David Risoldi (born 2012), the second grandson of one of the discoverers at Santa Lucia observatory. || \n|-id=137\n| 33137 Strejček || || Alfred Strejček (born 1941), a Czech actor, moderator, musician, screenwriter, narrator, reciter and professor of artistic rhetoric. || \n|-id=154\n| 33154 Talent || || David L. Talent, American contractor team leader for the NEAT camera transition to the 1.2-m AMOS telescope on Haleakala || \n|-id=157\n| 33157 Pertile || || Tomáš Pertile (born 1933), a Czech amateur astronomer at the Johann Palisa Observatory and the Ostrava–Poruba Planetarium || \n|-id=158\n| 33158 Rúfus || || Milan Rúfus, Slvak poet, essayist and translator || \n|-id=160\n| 33160 Denismukwege || || Denis Mukwege (born 1950), a Congolese gynecologist and director of the Panzi Hospital in Bukavu which he founded in 1999. || \n|-id=162\n| 33162 Sofiarandich || || Sofia Randich (born 1962), Italian astrophysicist and director of the Arcetri Observatory of the National Institute for Astrophysics since 2018. Her research includes star formation, stellar structure and spectroscopy, formation and evolution of the Milky Way. She is a member of the Gaia science team and the co-lead of the \"Gaia–ESO Spectroscopic Survey\", using the Very Large Telescope at Cerro Paranal in Chile (Src). || \n|-id=163\n| 33163 Alainaspect || 1998 EH || Alain Aspect (born 1947) is a French physicist who performed the first conclusive test of the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox. He is a member of the French Académie des sciences , a laureate of the Holweck prize (1991), a gold medalist of the CNRS (1995), an Albert Einstein medalist (2012) and a Niels Bohr medalist (2013). || \n|-id=165\n| 33165 Joschhambsch || || Franz-Josef (Josch) Hambsch (born 1957) is a retired nuclear physicist, who worked for the Joint Research Centre in Geel, Belgium from 1984 to 2018. An active variable star observer, he has participated in many scientific research projects. Hambsch discovered the first white-dwarf pulsar AR Sco. || \n|-id=175\n| 33175 Isabellegleeson || || Isabelle Jane Pravdova Gleeson (born 2019), granddaughter of Slovak astronomer Alexander Pravda, who co-discovered this minor planet. Isabelle and her parents live in Ireland. || \n|-id=179\n| 33179 Arsènewenger || || Arsène Wenger, French manager, former manager of the English football team Arsenal Football Club || \n|-id=181\n| 33181 Aalokpatwa || || Aalok Nital Patwa (born 2002), a finalist in the 2016 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students, for his materials & bioengineering project. || \n|-id=187\n| 33187 Pizzolato || || Rachel Michelle Pizzolato (born 2004), a finalist in the 2016 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students, for her energy and sustainability project. || \n|-id=188\n| 33188 Shreya || || Shreya Ramachandran (born 2003), a finalist in the 2016 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students, for her environmental and earth sciences project. || \n|-id=189\n| 33189 Ritzdorf || || Lucas Lee Ritzdorf (born 2002) is a finalist in the 2016 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students, for his environmental and earth sciences project. || \n|-id=190\n| 33190 Sigrest || || Eleanor Wren Sigrest (born 2003), a finalist in the 2016 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students, for her electrical and mechanical engineering project. || \n|-id=191\n| 33191 Santiagostone || || Santiago Stone (born 2001), a finalist in the 2016 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students, for his materials & bioengineering project. || \n|-id=193\n| 33193 Emhyr || || Emhyr Subramanian (born 2002), a finalist in the 2016 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students, for his chemistry project. || \n|-id=195\n| 33195 Davenyadav || || Daven Raymond Yadav (born 2002), a finalist in the 2016 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students, for his materials & bioengineering project. || \n|-id=196\n| 33196 Kaienyang || || Kaien Yang (born 2002), a finalist in the 2016 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students, for his medicine and health sciences project. || \n|-id=197\n| 33197 Charlallen || || Charla Allen, a mentor of finalist in the 2016 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students. || \n|-id=198\n| 33198 Mackewicz || || Heather Mackewicz, a mentor of finalist in the 2016 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students. || \n|-id=200\n| 33200 Carasummit || || Cara Summit mentored a finalist in the 2016 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students. She teaches at the Canterbury School, Fort Myers, Florida. || \n|}\n\n33201–33300 \n\n|-\n| 33201 Thomasartiss || || Thomas Artiss mentored a finalist in the 2016 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students. He teaches at the Harker School, San Jose, California. || \n|-id=202\n| 33202 Davignon || || Aimee Davignon mentored a finalist in the 2016 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students. She teaches at the Henry E. Huntington Middle School, San Marino, California. || \n|-id=205\n| 33205 Graigmarx || || Graig Marx mentored a finalist in the 2016 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students. He teaches at the Winchester Thurston School, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. || \n|-id=210\n| 33210 Johnrobertson || || John Robertson mentored a finalist in the 2016 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students. He teaches at the Alcott Elementary School, Riverside, California. || \n|-id=213\n| 33213 Diggs || || Katherine Diggs mentored a finalist in the 2016 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students. She teaches at the St. Joseph School Fullerton, Baltimore, Maryland. || \n|-id=215\n| 33215 Garyjones || || Gary Jones mentored a finalist in the 2016 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students. He teaches at the Westminster Schools, Atlanta, Georgia. || \n|-id=217\n| 33217 Bonnybasu || || Bonny Basu mentored a finalist in the 2016 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students. She teaches at the Challenger School, Shawnee, San Jose, California. || \n|-id=219\n| 33219 De Los Santos || || Tomas De Los Santos mentored a finalist in the 2016 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students. He teaches at the Santa Gertrudis School, Kingsville, Texas. || \n|-id=221\n| 33221 Raqueljacobson || || Raquel Jacobson-Peregrino mentored a finalist in the 2016 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students. She teaches at the Boston Latin School, Boston, Massachusetts. || \n|-id=222\n| 33222 Gillingham || || David Gillingham mentored a finalist in the 2016 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students. He teaches at the High Tech Middle, San Diego, California. || \n|-id=224\n| 33224 Lesrogers || || Les Rogers mentored a finalist in the 2016 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students. He teaches at the Saint Edward's School, Vero Beach, Florida. || \n|-id=226\n| 33226 Melissamacko || || Melissa Macko mentored a finalist in the 2016 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students. She teaches at the Aventura Waterways K-8 Center, Miami, Florida. || \n|-id=230\n| 33230 Libbyrobertson || || Libby Robertson mentored a finalist in the 2016 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students. She teaches at the Franklin Fine Arts Center, Chicago, Illinois. || \n|-id=247\n| 33247 Iannacone || || Kelli Iannacone mentored a finalist in the 2016 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students. She teaches at the Timberlane Middle School, Pennington, New Jersey. || \n|-id=248\n| 33248 Nataliehowell || || Natalie Howell mentored a finalist in the 2016 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students. She teaches at the Caddo Middle Magnet, Shreveport, Louisiana. || \n|-id=249\n| 33249 Pamelasvenson || || Pamela Svenson mentored a finalist in the 2016 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students. She teaches at the Stoller Middle School, Portland, Oregon. || \n|-id=254\n| 33254 Sundaresakumar || || Preethi Sundaresakumar mentored a finalist in the 2016 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students. She teaches at the Stratford Middle School, San Jose, California. || \n|-id=255\n| 33255 Kathybush || || Kathy Bush mentored a finalist in the 2016 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students. She teaches at the John Curtis Christian School, River Ridge, Louisiana. || \n|-id=258\n| 33258 Femariebustos || || Fe Marie Bustos mentored a finalist in the 2016 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students. She teaches at the Stratford Middle School, Fremont, California. || \n|-id=261\n| 33261 Ginagarlie || || Gina Garlie mentored a finalist in the 2016 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students. She teaches at the Kalispell Middle School, Kalispell, Montana. || \n|-id=263\n| 33263 Willhutch || || William Hutchinson mentored a finalist in the 2016 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students. He teaches at the Louise A. Benton Middle School, Manassas, Virginia. || \n|-id=264\n| 33264 Maryrogers || || Mary Rogers mentored a finalist in the 2016 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students. She teaches at St. John the Evangelist, Severna Park, Maryland. || \n|-id=269\n| 33269 Broccoli || || JoMarie Broccoli mentored a finalist in the 2016 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students. She teaches at the Nysmith School for the Gifted and Talented, Herndon, Virginia. || \n|-id=270\n| 33270 Katiecrysup || || Kathrine Crysup-Sikes mentored a finalist in the 2016 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students. She teaches at the Seashore Middle Academy, Corpus Christi, Texas. || \n|-id=274\n| 33274 Beaubingham || || Beau Taylor Bingham (born 1999) was a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron STS, and was awarded 2nd place at the 2016 ISEF for his medicine and health project. He attends the Cascia Hall Preparatory School, Tulsa, Oklahoma. || \n|-id=282\n| 33282 Arjunramani || || Arjun Srinivasan Ramani (born 1998) was a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron STS, and was awarded 2nd place at the 2016 ISEF for his computer science project. He attends the West Lafayette Junior-Senior High School, West Lafayette, Indiana. || \n|-id=288\n| 33288 Shixian || || Xian Shi (born 1983) of the Max-Planck Institute (Göttingen) analyzed image data of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko taken by the OSIRIS camera system of the Rosetta mission to discover sunset and sunrise jets as well as the ejection of meter-size boulders by the local gas flow on the comet. || \n|-id=290\n| 33290 Carloszuluaga || || Carlos A. Zuluaga (born 1982) is a Senior Research Support Associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, MA). His work includes photometry and astrometry of Pluto and other trans-Neptunian bodies, particularly to predict and analyze stellar occultation observations. || \n|}\n\n33301–33400 \n\n|-id=319\n| 33319 Kunqu || || Kunqu, one of the oldest forms of Chinese theater (opera), evolved from a melody, Kumshan diao, from the city of Kumshan. || \n|-id=328\n| 33328 Archanaverma || || Archana Verma (born 1999) was a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron STS, and was awarded 1st place at the 2016 ISEF for her chemistry project. She attends the Jericho Senior High School, Jericho, New York. || \n|-id=329\n| 33329 Stefanwan || || Stefan Wan (born 1999) was a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron STS, and was awarded 2nd place at the 2016 ISEF for his engineering project. He attends the Alexander W. Dreyfoos Jr. School of the Arts, West Palm Beach, Florida. || \n|-id=330\n| 33330 Barèges || 1998 SW || Barèges, France, at the foot of the Pic du Midi || \n|-id=334\n| 33334 Turon || || Catherine Turon (born 1944), a French astrometrist || \n|-id=335\n| 33335 Guibert || || Jean Guibert (born 1937), a French astronomer. || \n|-id=337\n| 33337 Amberyang || || Amber Zoe Yang (born 1999) was a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron STS, and was awarded 2nd place at the 2016 ISEF for her space science project. She attends the Trinity Preparatory School, Winter Park, Florida. || \n|-id=343\n| 33343 Madorobin || || Mado Robin (1918–1960) was a French coloratura soprano, noted for her extreme vocal range. || \n|-id=344\n| 33344 Madymesple || || Mady Mesplé (born 1931) was the leading French soprano between the 1950s and 1970s. She played Lakmé 145 times. She is one of the great dames of French opera. || \n|-id=345\n| 33345 Nataliedessay || || Natalie Dessay (born 1965) is a French soprano and actress || \n|-id=346\n| 33346 Sabinedevieilhe || || Sabine Devieilhe (born 1985) is a rising French soprano. She graduated with a first prize of the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse de Paris in 2011, and triumphed in Lakmé at the Opéra-comique in 2014. || \n|-id=347\n| 33347 Maryzhu || || Mary Zhu (born 1998) was a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron STS, and was awarded 2nd place at the 2016 ISEF for her behavioral and social sciences project. She attended the Nashua High School South, Nashua, New Hampshire and now attends Stanford University in Stanford, CA. || \n|-id=348\n| 33348 Stevelliott || || Steven Thomas Elliott (born 1998) was a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron STS, and was awarded 2nd place at the 2016 ISEF for his engineering project. He is homeschooled at the Magnolia Academy, Parker, Texas. || \n|-id=353\n| 33353 Chattopadhyay || || Sambuddha Chattopadhyay (born 1999), a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors, for his physics project || \n|-id=372\n| 33372 Jonathanchung || || Jonathan H Chung (born 1999), a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors, for his cellular and molecular biology project. || \n|-id=376\n| 33376 Medi || || Enrico Medi (1911–1974), Italian physicist who was director of the National Institute of Geophysics and vice president of the European Atomic Energy Community. || \n|-id=377\n| 33377 Večerníček || || Večerníček, Czech television animated figure || \n|-id=379\n| 33379 Rohandalvi || || Rohan Dalvi (born 1999) is a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors, for his chemistry project. || \n|-id=382\n| 33382 Indranidas || || Indrani Das (born 1999), a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors, for her medicine and health project. || \n|-id=383\n| 33383 Edupuganti || || Vineet Edupuganti (born 1999), a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors, for his engineering project. || \n|-id=384\n| 33384 Jacyfang || || Jacy Fang (born 1999), a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors, for her medicine and health project. || \n|-id=389\n| 33389 Isairisgreco || || Isabella Iris Greco (born 1999), a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors, for her behavioral and social sciences project. || \n|-id=390\n| 33390 Hajlasz || || Natalia Hajlasz (born 2000), a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors, for her chemistry project. || \n|-id=392\n| 33392 Blakehord || || Blake Hord (born 1999), a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors, for his space science project. || \n|-id=393\n| 33393 Khandelwal || || Apoorv Khandelwal (born 1999), a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors, for his materials science project. || \n|-id=394\n| 33394 Nathaniellee || || Nathaniel Paul Lee (born 1999), a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors, for his physics project. || \n|-id=395\n| 33395 Dylanli || || Dylan Li (born 1999), a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors, for his medicine and health project. || \n|-id=396\n| 33396 Vrindamadan || || Vrinda Madan (born 1999), a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors, for her cellular and molecular biology project. || \n|-id=397\n| 33397 Prathiknaidu || || Prathik Naidu (born 1999), a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors, for his computational biology and bioinformatics project. || \n|-id=399\n| 33399 Emilyann || || Emily Ann Peterson (born 1999), a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors, for her cellular and molecular biology project. || \n|-id=400\n| 33400 Laurapierson || || Laura Catherine Pierson (born 1999) is a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors, for her mathematics project. She attends the College Preparatory School, Oakland, California. || \n|}\n\n33401–33500 \n\n|-\n| 33401 Radiya-Dixit || || Evani Radiya-Dixit (born 1999) is a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors, for her computational biology and bioinformatics project. She attends the Harker School, San Jose, California. || \n|-id=402\n| 33402 Canizares || || Claude R. Canizares (born 1945) is a renowned physicist, the Bruno Rossi Professor of Physics at MIT, Associate Director of the Chandra X-ray Observatory, and former director of MIT's Center for Space Research. || \n|-id=405\n| 33405 Rekhtman || || David Boris Rekhtman (born 1998) is a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors, for his medicine and health project. He attends the Walt Whitman High School, Bethesda, Maryland. || \n|-id=406\n| 33406 Saltzman || || Audrey Saltzman (born 1999) is a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors, for her space science project. She attends the Byram Hills High School, Armonk, New York. || \n|-id=408\n| 33408 Mananshah || || Manan Ajay Shah (born 1999) is a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors, for his computational biology and bioinformatics project. He attends the Harker School, San Jose, California. || \n|-id=412\n| 33412 Arjunsubra || || Arjun Subramaniam (born 1999) is a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors, for his computational biology and bioinformatics project. He attends the Harker School, San Jose, California. || \n|-id=413\n| 33413 Alecsun || || Alec Sun (born 1998) is a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors, for his mathematics project. He attends the Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, New Hampshire. || \n|-id=414\n| 33414 Jessicatian || || Jessica C Tian (born 1999) is a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors, for her chemistry project. She attends the Del Norte High School, San Diego, California. || \n|-id=415\n| 33415 Felixwang || || Felix Wang (born 1998) is a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors, for his mathematics project. He attends the Roxbury Latin School, West Roxbury, Massachusetts. || \n|-id=418\n| 33418 Jacksonweaver || || Jackson Barker Weaver (born 1999) is a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors, for his biochemistry project. He attends the Dr. Ronald E. McNair Academic High School, Jersey City, New Jersey. || \n|-id=419\n| 33419 Wellman || || Julian Wellman (born 1998) is a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors, for his mathematics project. He attends the Greenhills School, Ann Arbor, Michigan. || \n|-id=420\n| 33420 Derekwoo || || Derek Woo (born 1999) is a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors, for his environmental science project. He attends the Greenwich High School, Greenwich, Connecticut. || \n|-id=421\n| 33421 Byronxu || || Byron Lee Xu (born 1999) is a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors, for his earth and planetary project. He attends the William P. Clements High School, Sugar Land, Texas. || \n|-id=433\n| 33433 Maurilia || || Maurilia Sposetti, sister of the discoverer † || \n|-id=434\n| 33434 Scottmanley || 1999 FU || Scott Manley (born 1972) is a popular science communicator, best known for his videos on YouTube combining science and games. A software engineer trained as an astrophysicist, he created visualizations of the asteroid belt and near-Earth asteroids. || \n|-id=440\n| 33440 Nicholasprato || || Nicholas Prato (born 1952) is an artist/craftsman who is a science, space and astronomy enthusiast and supporter. He has worked on the reduction of infrared spectra taken at the Keck II telescope. || \n|-id=441\n| 33441 Catherineprato || || Catherine Coulacos Prato (born 1957) is a writer, editor, and supporter of women and other underrepresented groups in science and academia. || \n|-id=446\n| 33446 Michaelyang || || Michael Yang (born 1998) is a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors, for his computational biology and bioinformatics project. He attends the Charlotte Latin School, Charlotte, North Carolina. || \n|-id=448\n| 33448 Aaronyeiser || || Aaron Joseph Yeiser (born 1998) is a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors, for his mathematics project. He attends the Perkiomen Valley High School, Collegeville, Pennsylvania. || \n|-id=450\n| 33450 Allender || || Kate Allender mentored a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors. She teaches at the Tesla STEM High School, Redmond, Washington. || \n|-id=451\n| 33451 Michaelarney || || Michael Arney mentored a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors. He teaches at the Trinity Preparatory School, Winter Park, Florida. || \n|-id=452\n| 33452 Olivebryan || || Olive Bryan mentored a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors. She teaches at the Alexander W. Dreyfoos Jr. School of the Arts, West Palm Beach, Florida. || \n|-id=453\n| 33453 Townley || || Townley Chisholm mentored a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors. He teaches at the Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, New Hampshire. || \n|-id=454\n| 33454 Neilclaffey || || Neil Claffey mentored a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors. He teaches at the Nashua High School South, Nashua, New Hampshire. || \n|-id=455\n| 33455 Coakley || || Jack Coakley mentored a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors. He teaches at the College Preparatory School, Oakland, California. || \n|-id=456\n| 33456 Ericacurran || || Erica Curran mentored a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors. She teaches at the Dobbs Ferry High School, Dobbs Ferry, New York. || \n|-id=457\n| 33457 Cutillo || || Mary Cutillo mentored a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors. She teaches at the Perkiomen Valley High School, Collegeville, Pennsylvania. || \n|-id=458\n| 33458 Fialkow || || Joshua Fialkow mentored a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors. He teaches at the Bronx High School of Science, Bronx, New York. || \n|-id=462\n| 33462 Tophergee || || Topher Gee mentored a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors. He teaches at the Charlotte Latin School, Charlotte, North Carolina. || \n|-id=463\n| 33463 Bettinagregg || || Bettina Gregg mentored a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors. She teaches at the Oregon Episcopal School, Portland, Oregon. || \n|-id=464\n| 33464 Melahudock || || Melanie L. Hudock mentored a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors. She teaches at the Walt Whitman High School, Bethesda, Maryland. || \n|-id=466\n| 33466 Thomaslarson || || Thomas G. Larson mentored a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors. He teaches at the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Alexandria, Virginia. || \n|-id=467\n| 33467 Johnlieb || || John Michael Lieb mentored a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors. He teaches at the Roxbury Latin School, West Roxbury, Massachusetts. || \n|-id=468\n| 33468 Nelsoneric || || Eric R. Nelson mentored a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors. He teaches at the Harker School, San Jose, California. || \n|-id=471\n| 33471 Ozuna || || Kenneth Ozuna mentored a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors. He teaches at the Del Norte High School, San Diego, California. || \n|-id=472\n| 33472 Yunorperalta || || Yunor Peralta mentored a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors. He teaches at the Mission San Jose High School, Fremont, California. || \n|-id=473\n| 33473 Porterfield || || Pam Porterfield mentored a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors. She teaches at the West Lafayette Junior-Senior High School, West Lafayette, Indiana. || \n|-id=476\n| 33476 Gilanareiss || || Gilana Reiss mentored a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors. She teaches at the Hunter College High School, New York, New York. || \n|-id=478\n| 33478 Deniselivon || 1999 GB || Denise Selivon, Brazilian biologist and professor at the University of São Paulo || \n|-id=480\n| 33480 Bartolucci || || Osvaldo Bartolucci, Italian director of the Osservatorio Astronomico di Alpette || \n|-id=489\n| 33489 Myungjinkim || || Myung-Jin Kim (born 1978) is a senior research scientist at the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute. His research includes the photometric characterization of asteroids, involvement in the Hayabusa2 mission to asteroid (162173) Ryugu, and contributions to the large-scale KMTNet and OWL-Net surveys. || \n|-id=492\n| 33492 Christirogers || || Christine Rogers mentored a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors. She teaches at the Hendrick Hudson High School, Montrose, New York. || \n|-id=495\n| 33495 Schaferjames || || James R. Schafer mentored a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors. He teaches at the Montgomery Blair High School, Silver Spring, Maryland. || \n|-id=498\n| 33498 Juliesmith || || Julie Smith mentored a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors. She teaches at the Greenhills School, Ann Arbor, Michigan. || \n|-id=499\n| 33499 Stanton || || Jeremy Stanton mentored a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors. He teaches at the Dr. Ronald E. McNair Academic High School, Jersey City, New Jersey. || \n|}\n\n33501–33600 \n\n|-\n| 33501 Juliethompson || || Julie Thompson mentored a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors. She teaches at the William P. Clements High School, Sugar Land, Texas. || \n|-id=502\n| 33502 Janetwaldeck || || Janet Waldeck mentored a finalist in the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a science competition for high school seniors. She teaches at the Taylor Allderdice High School, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. || \n|-id=503\n| 33503 Dasilvaborges || || Luiz Fernando da Silva Borges (born 1998) was awarded best of category and first place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his biomedical engineering project. He also received the Philip V. Streich Memorial Award. || \n|-id=504\n| 33504 Rebrouwer || || Rachel Elizabeth Brouwer (born 2002) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her earth and environmental sciences project. || \n|-id=508\n| 33508 Drewnik || || Dennis Adrian Drewnik (born 1998) was awarded best of category and first place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his plant sciences project. He also received the Dudley R. Herschbach SIYSS Award || \n|-id=509\n| 33509 Mogilny || || Daniel Mogilny (born 1998) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his systems software project. || \n|-id=511\n| 33511 Austinwang || || Han Jie (Austin) Wang (born 1998) was awarded best of category and first place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his microbiology project. He also received the Gordon E. Moore Award. || \n|-id=514\n| 33514 Changpeihsuan || || Chang Pei-Hsuan (born 1998) was awarded best of category and first place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her math project. She also received the European Union Contest for Young Scientists Award. || \n|-id=515\n| 33515 Linbohan || || Lin Bo-Han (born 1998) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his physics and astronomy project. || \n|-id=516\n| 33516 Timonen || || Petteri Timonen (born 1997) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his systems software project. || \n|-id=517\n| 33517 Paulfoltin || || Paul Foltin (born 1999) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his embedded systems team project. He attends the Franz-Haniel-Gymnasium, Duisburg, Germany. || \n|-id=518\n| 33518 Stoetzer || || Myrijam Stoetzer (born 2001) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her embedded systems team project. She attends the Franz-Haniel-Gymnasium, Duisburg, Germany. || \n|-id=520\n| 33520 Ichige || || Takahiro Ichige (born 1998) was awarded best of category and first place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his engineering mechanics project. He attends the Chiba Municipal High School, Chiba-City, Chiba-pref., Japan. || \n|-id=522\n| 33522 Chizumimaeta || || Chizumi Maeta (born 1997) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her energy team project. She attends the Yonago National College of Technology, Yonago-City, Tottori-pref., Japan. || \n|-id=523\n| 33523 Warashina || || Tomoro Warashina (born 1997) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his cellular and molecular biology project. He attends the Yokohama Science Frontier High School, Yokohama-City, Kanagawa-pref., Japan. || \n|-id=525\n| 33525 Teresinha || || Teresinha Rodrigues (born 1957) is a researcher at the Observatorio Nacional in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). She played a fundamental role in the implementation of outreach programs at the Observatorio Astronomico do Sertão de Itaparica (Brazil) dedicated to the study of small Solar System bodies. || \n|-id=528\n| 33528 Jinzeman || 1999 HL || Jindřich Zeman, Czech amateur astronomer, winner of the František Nušl Award of the Czech Astronomical Society in 1942 || \n|-id=529\n| 33529 Henden || || Arne A. Henden, American astronomer, co-author of Astronomical Photometry, director of the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) || \n|-id=532\n| 33532 Gabriellacoli || || Gabriella Coli, Italian elementary school teacher of the first discoverer || \n|-id=534\n| 33534 Meiyamamura || || Mei Yamamura (born 1998) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her energy team project. She attends the Yonago National College of Technology, Yonago-city, Tottori-pref., Japan. || \n|-id=535\n| 33535 Alshaikh || || Fatimah Abdulmonem Alshaikh (born 1998) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her plant sciences project. She attends the Al Faisaliah Islamic Schools, Khobar, Saudi Arabia. || \n|-id=536\n| 33536 Charpugdee || || Runglawan Charpugdee (born 1998) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her animal sciences team project. She attends the Damrongratsongkroh School, Chiang Rai, Thailand. || \n|-id=537\n| 33537 Doungnga || || Charuntorn Doungnga (born 1998) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her animal sciences team project. She attends the Damrongratsongkroh School, Chiang Rai, Thailand. || \n|-id=538\n| 33538 Jaredbergen || || Jared Randolph Bergen (born 1998) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his animal sciences project. He attends the Sayville High School, West Sayville, New York, U.S.A. || \n|-id=539\n| 33539 Elenaberman || || Elena Alexandra Berman (born 1999) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her computational biology and bioinformatics team project. She attends the Breck School, Golden Valley, Minnesota, U.S.A. || \n|-id=544\n| 33544 Jerold || || Jerold Z. Kaplan, American physician, surgeon, and amateur astronomer || \n|-id=550\n| 33550 Blackburn || || Lee Blackburn (born 1998) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his energy project. He attends the Lawrence High School, Cedarhurst, New York, U.S.A. || \n|-id=553\n| 33553 Nagai || || Nagai, Yamagata prefecture, Japan, where a meteorite fell in 1922 || \n|-id=555\n| 33555 Nataliebush || || Natalie Marie Bush (born 1998) was awarded best of category and first place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her earth and environmental sciences project. She also received the Intel and Indo-US Science & Technology Forum Award. She attends the Saint Josephs Academy, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S.A. || \n|-id=556\n| 33556 Brennanclark || || Brennan Scott Clark (born 1997) was awarded best of category and first place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his translational medical science team project. He attends the Breck School, Golden Valley, Minnesota, U.S.A. || \n|-id=559\n| 33559 Laurencooper || || Lauren Cooper (born 1999) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her materials science project. She attends the Lake Oswego High School, Lake Oswego, Oregon, U.S.A. || \n|-id=560\n| 33560 D'Alessandro || || Alexis Maria D´Alessandro (born 1997) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her environmental engineering project. She attends the Half Hollow Hills High School West, Dix Hills, New York, U.S.A. || \n|-id=561\n| 33561 Brianjasondu || || Brian Jason Du (born 1998) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his cellular and molecular biology project. He attends the Plano West Senior High School, Plano, Texas, U.S.A. || \n|-id=562\n| 33562 Amydunphy || || Amy Dunphy (born 2000) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her chemistry project. She attends the Harker School, San Jose, California, U.S.A. || \n|-id=564\n| 33564 Miriamshira || || Miriam Shira Eisenberg (born 1998) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her behavioral and social sciences project. She attends the North Shore Hebrew Academy High School, Great Neck, New York, U.S.A. || \n|-id=565\n| 33565 Samferguson || || Samuel Ferguson (born 1999) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her biomedical engineering project. She attends the Christian Unified High School, El Cajon, California, U.S.A. || \n|-id=567\n| 33567 Sulekhfrederic || || Sulekh Frederic Fernando-Peiris (born 2000) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his physics and astronomy project. He attends the Mount Vernon High School, Mount Vernon, Ohio, U.S.A. || \n|-id=568\n| 33568 Godishala || || Prashant Sai Godishala (born 1998) was awarded best of category and first place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his translational medical science team project. He attends the Breck School, Golden Valley, Minnesota, U.S.A. || \n|-id=569\n| 33569 Nikhilgopal || || Nikhil Sajan Gopal (born 2000) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his microbiology project. He attends the Lawrenceville School, Lawerenceville, New Jersey, U.S.A. || \n|-id=570\n| 33570 Jagruenstein || || Joshua Aaron Gruenstein (born 1999) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his robotics and intelligent machines team project. He attends the Horace Mann School, Bronx, New York, U.S.A. || \n|-id=571\n| 33571 Jaygupta || || Jay Gupta (born 1998) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his cellular and molecular biology project. He attends the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Alexandria, Virginia, U.S.A. || \n|-id=572\n| 33572 Mandolin || || Mandolin Harris (born 1997) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her earth and environmental sciences project. She attends the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts, Hot Springs, Arkansas, U.S.A. || \n|-id=573\n| 33573 Hugrace || || Grace Hu (born 1999) was awarded first place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her materials science project. She attends the Jericho High School, Jericho, New York, U.S.A. || \n|-id=574\n| 33574 Shailaja || || Shailaja Humane (born 1997) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her physics and astronomy project. She attends the Watchung Hills Regional High School, Warren, New Jersey, U.S.A. || \n|-id=575\n| 33575 Joshuajacob || || Joshua Murphy Jacob (born 1999) was awarded first place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his engineering mechanics project. He attends the Saint Xavier High School, Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.A. || \n|-id=580\n| 33580 Priyankajain || || Priyanka Jain (born 1998) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her biomedical and health sciences project. She attends the La Cueva High School, Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S.A. || \n|-id=581\n| 33581 Rajeevjha || || Rajeev Jha (born 1998) was awarded best of category and first place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his behavioral and social sciences project. He also received the European Union Contest for Young Scientists Award. He attends the President Theodore Roosevelt High School, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.A. || \n|-id=582\n| 33582 Tiashajoardar || || Tiasha Joardar (born 1998) was awarded best of category and first place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her energy project. She also received the Innovation Exploration Award. She attends the Plano West Senior High School, Plano, Texas, U.S.A. || \n|-id=583\n| 33583 Karamchedu || || Chaitanya Dasharathi Karamchedu (born 1999) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his environmental engineering project. He attends the Jesuit High School, Portland, Oregon, U.S.A. || \n|-id=584\n| 33584 Austinkatzer || || Austin Wolfgang Katzer (born 1999) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his animal sciences team project. He attends the Jasper High School, Plano, Texas, U.S.A. || \n|-id=586\n| 33586 Keeley || || Charlotte Underwood Keeley (born 1998) was awarded first place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her plant sciences project. She attends the Ossining High School, Ossining, New York, U.S.A. || \n|-id=587\n| 33587 Arianakim || || Ariana Kim (born 1998) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her environmental engineering team project. She attends the Saint Andrew's Priory School, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.A. || \n|-id=589\n| 33589 Edwardkim || || Edward Sangyoon Kim (born 1999) was awarded best of category and first place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his biochemistry project. He also received the Intel and Indo-US Science & Technology Forum Award. He attends the Midway High School, Waco, Texas, U.S.A. || \n|-id=590\n| 33590 Sreelakshmi || || Sreelakshmi Kutty (born 1998) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her environmental engineering team project. She attends the Saint Andrew's Priory School, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.A. || \n|-id=591\n| 33591 Landsberger || || Huws Yoshito Landsberger (born 1998) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his physics and astronomy project. He attends the Palos Verdes Peninsula High School, Rolling Hills Estates, California, U.S.A. || \n|-id=592\n| 33592 Kathrynanna || || Kathryn Anna Lawrence (born 1998) was awarded best of category and first place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her chemistry team project. She also received the Intel Foundation Cultural and Scientific Visit to China Award. She attends the Fairview High School, Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A. || \n|-id=594\n| 33594 Ralphlawton || || Ralph Ignacio Lawton (born 1998) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his biomedical and health sciences project. He attends the Pennsylvania Leadership Charter School, West Chester, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. || \n|-id=595\n| 33595 Jiwoolee || || Jiwoo Lee (born 1999) was awarded best of category and first place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her biomedical and health sciences project. She also received the Intel and Indo-US Science & Technology Forum Award. She attends the Academy for Medical Science Technology, Hackensack, NJ, U.S.A. || \n|-id=596\n| 33596 Taesoolee || || Taesoo Daniel Lee (born 1998) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his materials science project. He attends the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, Durham, North Carolina, U.S.A. || \n|-id=598\n| 33598 Christineliu || || Christine Joy Liu (born 1999) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her computational biology and bioinformatics project. She attends the Westminster Schools, Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A. || \n|-id=599\n| 33599 Mckennaloop || || McKenna Kristin Loop (born 1999) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her energy project. She attends the Arizona College Preparatory- Erie, Chandler, Arizona, U.S.A. || \n|-id=600\n| 33600 Davidlu || || David M. Lu (born 1997) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his microbiology project. He attends the Mills E. Godwin High School, Henrico, Virginia, U.S.A. || \n|}\n\n33601–33700 \n\n|-id=602\n| 33602 Varunmandi || || Varun Mandi (born 1998) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his biomedical and health sciences project. He attends the Troy High School, Fullerton, California, U.S.A. || \n|-id=603\n| 33603 Saramason || || Sara Mason (born 1998) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her embedded systems team project. She attends the Merrimack High School, Merrimack, New Hampshire, U.S.A. || \n|-id=604\n| 33604 McChesney || || Evelyn Grace McChesney (born 1999) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her biomedical engineering team project. She attends the Breck School, Golden Valley, Minnesota, U.S.A. || \n|-id=605\n| 33605 McCue || || Madeline Chawla McCue (born 1998) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her biomedical engineering team project. She attends the Breck School, Golden Valley, Minnesota, U.S.A. || \n|-id=606\n| 33606 Brandonmuncan || || Brandon Michael Muncan (born 1999) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his translational medical science project. He attends the Queens High School for the Sciences at York College, Jamaica, New York, U.S.A. || \n|-id=607\n| 33607 Archanamurali || || Archana Bhagyalakshmi Murali (born 1999) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her computational biology and bioinformatics team project. She attends the Breck School, Golden Valley, Minnesota, U.S.A. || \n|-id=608\n| 33608 Paladugu || || Praharshasai Paladugu (born 1999) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his translational medical science project. He attends the duPont Manual High School, Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.A. || \n|-id=609\n| 33609 Harishpalani || || Harish Palani (born 2000) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his earth and environmental sciences project. He attends the Sunset High School, Portland, Oregon, U.S.A. || \n|-id=610\n| 33610 Payra || || Syamantak Payra (born 2001) was awarded best of category and first place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his embedded systems project. He also received the Intel Foundation Young Scientist Award. He attends the Clear Brook High School, Friendswood, Texas, U.S.A. || \n|-id=613\n| 33613 Pendharkar || || Aarushi Iris Pendharkar (born 2001) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her biomedical and health sciences project. She attends the Massachusetts Academy of Math and Science, Worcester, Massachusetts, U.S.A. || \n|-id=614\n| 33614 Meganploch || || Megan Coral Ploch (born 1999) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her environmental engineering project. She attends the Pelham Memorial High School, Pelham, New York, U.S.A. || \n|-id=617\n| 33617 Kailashraman || || Kailash Raman (born 1999) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his chemistry project. He attends the Sandra Day O'Connor High School, Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.A. || \n|-id=619\n| 33619 Dominickrowan || || Dominick Michael Rowan (born 1998) was awarded first place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his physics and astronomy project. He attends the Byram Hills High School, Armonk, New York, U.S.A. || \n|-id=621\n| 33621 Sathish || || Sanjeev-Kumar Mamalapuram Sathish (born 1999) was awarded first place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his cellular and molecular biology project. || \n|-id=622\n| 33622 Sedigh || || Kameron Sedigh (born 1998) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his biochemistry project. || \n|-id=623\n| 33623 Kyraseevers || || Kyra Leigh Seevers (born 1998) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her engineering mechanics project. || \n|-id=624\n| 33624 Omersiddiqui || || Omer Siddiqui (born 1999) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his math project. || \n|-id=625\n| 33625 Slepyan || || Ariel Slepyan (born 1998) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his microbiology project. || \n|-id=626\n| 33626 Jasonsmith || || Jason Tanner Smith (born 1999) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his animal sciences team project. || \n|-id=628\n| 33628 Spettel || || Matthew Thomas Spettel (born 1997) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his embedded systems team project. || \n|-id=630\n| 33630 Swathiravi || || Swathi Ravi Srinivasan (born 1999) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her biochemistry project. || \n|-id=633\n| 33633 Strickland || || Edmond Bruce Strickland (born 1998) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his engineering mechanics project. || \n|-id=634\n| 33634 Strickler || || Sarah Kay Strickler (born 1997) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her microbiology project. || \n|-id=655\n| 33655 Sumathipala || || Marissa Sumathipala (born 2000) was awarded best of category and first place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her cellular and molecular biology project. She attends the Broad Run High School, Ashburn, Virginia, U.S.A. || \n|-id=660\n| 33660 Rishishankar || || Rishi Shankar Sundaresan (born 1998) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his energy project. || \n|-id=661\n| 33661 Sophiaswartz || || Sophia Edith Swartz (born 2000) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her plant sciences project. || \n|-id=662\n| 33662 Tacescu || || Alex Cristian Tacescu (born 1998) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his engineering mechanics project. || \n|-id=667\n| 33667 Uttripathii || || Uttkarshni Tripathii (born 2000) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her earth and environmental sciences project. || \n|-id=677\n| 33677 Truell || || Michael Truell (born 2000) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his robotics and intelligent machines team project. || \n|-id=680\n| 33680 Vasconcelos || || Francisca Vasconcelos (born 1998) was awarded second place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her robotics and intelligent machines project. || \n|-id=681\n| 33681 Wamsley || || Nick A.Wamsley (born 1999) was awarded first place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his microbiology project. || \n|-id=682\n| 33682 Waylonreid || || Waylon Reid Williams (born 1997) was awarded first place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his environmental engineering project. || \n|-id=684\n| 33684 Xiaomichael || || Michael Xiao (born 1998) was awarded first place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his biomedical and health sciences project. || \n|-id=685\n| 33685 Younglove || || Katherine Afton Younglove (born 1998) was awarded best of category and first place in the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her chemistry team project. She also received the Intel Foundation Cultural and Scientific Visit to China Award. || \n|-id=687\n| 33687 Julianbain || || Julian Manitou Bain (born 2003) is a finalist in the 2017 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students, for his electrical and mechanical engineering project. He attends the Missoula International School, Missoula, Montana. || \n|-id=688\n| 33688 Meghnabehari || || Meghna Swaminathan Behari (born 2002) is a finalist in the 2017 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students, for her materials & bioengineering project. She attends the Marshall Middle School, Wexford, Pennsylvania. || \n|-id=690\n| 33690 Noahcain || || Noah Miles Cain (born 2005) is a finalist in the 2017 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students, for his environmental and earth sciences project. He attends the Krystal School of Science, Math, and Technology, Hesperia, California. || \n|-id=691\n| 33691 Andrewchiang || || Andrew Chiang (born 2002) is a finalist in the 2017 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students, for his electrical and mechanical engineering project. He attends the BASIS Independent Silicon Valley, San Jose, California. || \n|-id=696\n| 33696 Crouchley || || Austin Vincent Crouchley (born 2003) is a finalist in the 2017 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students, for his electrical and mechanical engineering project. He attends the Garden City Middle School, Garden City, New York. || \n|-id=699\n| 33699 Jessiegan || || Jessie Low Gan (born 2003) is a finalist in the 2017 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students, for her microbiology and biochemistry project. She attends the San Diego Jewish Academy, San Diego, California. || \n|-id=700\n| 33700 Gluckman || || Leia Ruth Gluckman (born 2004) is a finalist in the 2017 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students, for her materials & bioengineering project. She attends the Beverly Vista Middle School, Beverly Hills, California. || \n|}\n\n33701–33800 \n\n|-\n| 33701 Gotthold || || Zoe Anne Gotthold (born 2002) is a finalist in the 2017 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students, for her environmental and earth sciences project. She attends the Carmichael Middle School, Richland, Washington. || \n|-id=702\n| 33702 Spencergreen || || Spencer S. Green (born 2004) is a finalist in the 2017 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students, for his electrical and mechanical engineering project. He attends the Pegasus School, Huntington Beach, California. || \n|-id=703\n| 33703 Anthonyhill || || Anthony Glenn Hill (born 2002) is a finalist in the 2017 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students, for his plant science project. He attends the Churchill Junior High, Salt Lake City, Utah. || \n|-id=704\n| 33704 Herinkang || || Herin Kang (born 2004) is a finalist in the 2017 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students, for her environmental and earth sciences project. She attends the Stratford Middle School, San Jose, California. || \n|-id=713\n| 33713 Mithravamshi || || Mithra Vamshi Karamchedu (born 2003) is a finalist in the 2017 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students, for his environmental and earth sciences project. He attends the Stoller Middle School, Portland, Oregon. || \n|-id=714\n| 33714 Sarakaufman || || Sara Lillian Kaufman (born 2005) is a finalist in the 2017 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students, for her electrical and mechanical engineering project. She attends the American Heritage School, Plantation, Florida. || \n|-id=725\n| 33725 Robertkent || || Robert Allen Kent (born 2002) is a finalist in the 2017 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students, for his environmental and earth sciences project. He attends the Saint Anselm School, Chesterland, Ohio. || \n|-id=727\n| 33727 Kummel || || Kathryn Tsi-Pak Kummel (born 2003) is a finalist in the 2017 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students, for her environmental and earth sciences project. She attends the North Middle School, Colorado Springs, Colorado. || \n|-id=734\n| 33734 Stephenlitt || || Stephen Robert Litt (born 2004) is a finalist in the 2017 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students, for his medicine and health sciences project. He attends the Lovinggood Middle School, Powder Springs, Georgia. || \n|-id=737\n| 33737 Helenlyons || || Helen L. Lyons (born 2003) is a finalist in the 2017 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students, for her electrical and mechanical engineering project. She attends the Hunter College High School, New York, New York. || \n|-id=740\n| 33740 Arjunmoorthy || || Arjun Moorthy (born 2002) is a finalist in the 2017 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students, for his behavioral and social sciences project. He attends the BASIS Scottsdale, Scottsdale, Arizona. || \n|-id=746\n| 33746 Sombart || 1999 OK || Jean-Pierre Sombart, a French amateur astronomer who constructed the 0.4-m Newtonian-Cassegrain telescope at the Pises Observatory and also took an active part in using it to observe minor planets || \n|-id=747\n| 33747 Clingan || || Roy Clingan (born 1950), an American amateur astronomer and discoverer of minor planets || \n|-id=750\n| 33750 Davehiggins || || David J. Higgins (born 1961), Australian business analyst and amateur astronomer, operator of Hunters Hill Observatory and a discoverer of minor planets || \n|-id=761\n| 33761 Honoranavid || || Honora Ellen Navid (born 2003) is a finalist in the 2017 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students, for her environmental and earth sciences project. She attends the Shady Side Academy Middle School, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. || \n|-id=762\n| 33762 Sanjayseshan || || Sanjay Seshan (born 2002) is a finalist in the 2017 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students, for his electrical and mechanical engineering project. He attends the Dorseyville Middle School, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. || \n|-id=789\n| 33789 Sharmacam || || Cameron Sharma (born 2004) is a finalist in the 2017 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students, for his medicine and health sciences project. He attends the George H. Moody Middle School, Richmond, Virginia. || \n|-id=799\n| 33799 Myra || || Myra J. Halpin, American finalist in both NASA's Teacher in Space (1985) and Educator Astronaut Teacher (2004) competitions || \n|-id=800\n| 33800 Gross || || John Gross (born 1959), American amateur astronomer || \n|}\n\n33801–33900 \n\n|-\n| 33801 Emilyshi || || Emily Tian Shi (born 2003) is a finalist in the 2017 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students, for her plant science project. She attends the Cambridge School, San Diego, California. || \n|-id=806\n| 33806 Shrivastava || || Aryansh Shrivastava (born 2004) is a finalist in the 2017 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students, for his computer science and software engineering project. He attends the Washington High School, Fremont, California. || \n|-id=810\n| 33810 Tangirala || || Pujita Srilalitha Tangirala (born 2004) is a finalist in the 2017 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students, for her chemistry project. She attends the Challenger School, Strawberry Park, San Jose, California. || \n|-id=811\n| 33811 Scottobin || || Scott Russell Tobin (born 2003) is a finalist in the 2017 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students, for his environmental and earth sciences project. He attends the Creekside Middle School, Port Orange, Florida. || \n|-id=814\n| 33814 Viswesh || || Annika Viswesh (born 2003) is a finalist in the 2017 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students, for her computer science and software engineering project. She attends the Stratford Sunnyvale Raynor Middle School, Sunnyvale, California. || \n|-id=817\n| 33817 Fariswald || || Faris Irwin Wald (born 2002) is a finalist in the 2017 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students, for his environmental and earth sciences project. He attends the Capshaw Middle School, Santa Fe, New Mexico. || \n|-id=823\n| 33823 Mariorigutti || || Mario Rigutti (born 1926) is an accomplished astronomer. He worked at the Arcetri Observatory, was president of the IAS, was chairman of the Solar Eclipses Working Group of the International Astronomical Union and was director of the Capodimonte Astronomical Observatory in Naples. || \n|-id=825\n| 33825 Reganwill || || Regan Catherine Williams (born 2005) is a finalist in the 2017 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students, for her animal science project. She attends the Roland-Grise Middle School, Wilmington, North Carolina. || \n|-id=826\n| 33826 Kevynadams || || Kevyn Adams mentored a finalist in the 2017 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students. He teaches at the BASIS Independent Silicon Valley, San Jose, California. || \n|-id=829\n| 33829 Asherson || || Caryn Asherson mentored a finalist in the 2017 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students. She teaches at the Beverly Vista Middle School, Beverly Hills, California. || \n|-id=834\n| 33834 Hannahkaplan || || Hannah Kaplan (born 1991) is a postdoctoral researcher at the Southwest Research Institute (Boulder, CO) working on the OSIRIS-REx mission. She specializes in using remote sensing techniques and spectroscopy for research in Earth and Planetary Sciences. || \n|-id=838\n| 33838 Brandabaker || || Branda Baker mentored a finalist in the 2017 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students. She teaches at the Carmichael Middle School, Richland, Washington. || \n|-id=852\n| 33852 Baschnagel || || Amy Baschnagel mentored a finalist in the 2017 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students. She teaches at the Marshall Middle School, Wexford, Pennsylvania. || \n|-id=861\n| 33861 Boucvalt || || Cathy Boucvalt mentored a finalist in the 2017 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students. She teaches at the John Curtis Christian School, River Ridge, Louisiana. || \n|-id=863\n| 33863 Elfriederwin || || Elfriede and Erwin Schwab Sr., parents of German astronomer Erwin Schwab, member of the group that discovered this body ‡ || \n|-id=869\n| 33869 Brunnermatt || || Matt Brunner mentored a finalist in the 2017 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students. He teaches at the Shady Side Academy Middle School, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. || \n|-id=871\n| 33871 Locastillo || || Lourdie Castillo mentored a finalist in the 2017 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students. He teaches at the Hunter College High School, New York, New York. || \n|-id=872\n| 33872 Kristichung || || Kristi Chung mentored a finalist in the 2017 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students. She teaches at the Stratford Middle School, San Jose, California. || \n|-id=875\n| 33875 Laurencooney || || Lauren Cooney mentored a finalist in the 2017 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students. She teaches at the BASIS Scottsdale, Scottsdale, Arizona. || \n|-id=879\n| 33879 Kierstendeen || || Kiersten Deen mentored a finalist in the 2017 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students. She teaches at the North Middle School, Colorado Springs, Colorado. || \n|-id=886\n| 33886 Lilydeveau || || Lily Deveau mentored a finalist in the 2017 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students. She teaches at the San Diego Jewish Academy, San Diego, California. || \n|-id=889\n| 33889 Jengebo || || Jen Gebo mentored a finalist in the 2017 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students. She teaches at the Missoula International School, Missoula, Montana. || \n|-id=892\n| 33892 Meligingrich || || Melissa Gingrich mentored a finalist in the 2017 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students. She teaches at the Cambridge School, San Diego, California. || \n|-id=896\n| 33896 Hickson || || Dylan Hickson (born 1991) is a postdoctoral scholar at the Arecibo Observatory, Puerto Rico, who specializes in radar observations of near-Earth asteroids and understanding the properties of planetary surfaces and regolith using radar scattering measurements. || \n|-id=897\n| 33897 Erikagreen || || Erika Green mentored a finalist in the 2017 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students. She teaches at the Burlington Township Middle School, Burlington, New Jersey. || \n|-id=898\n| 33898 Kendra || || Kendra Harrison mentored a finalist in the 2017 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students. She teaches at the Roland-Grise Middle School, Wilmington, North Carolina. || \n|}\n\n33901–34000 \n\n|-id=902\n| 33902 Ingoldsby || || Martin Ingoldsby mentored a finalist in the 2017 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students. He teaches at the Creekside Middle School, Port Orange, Florida. || \n|-id=904\n| 33904 Janardhanan || || Vidya Janardhanan mentored a finalist in the 2017 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students. She teaches at the Stratford Sunnyvale Raynor Middle School, Sunnyvale, California. || \n|-id=905\n| 33905 Leyajoykutty || || Leya Joykutty mentored a finalist in the 2017 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students. She teaches at the American Heritage School, Plantation, Florida. || \n|-id=907\n| 33907 Christykrenek || || Christy Krenek mentored a finalist in the 2017 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students. She teaches at the Capshaw Middle School, Santa Fe, New Mexico. || \n|-id=910\n| 33910 Lestarge || || Brian LeStarge mentored a finalist in the 2017 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students. He teaches at the Churchill Junior High, Salt Lake City, Utah. || \n|-id=912\n| 33912 Melissanoland || || Melissa Noland mentored a finalist in the 2017 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students. She teaches at the Krystal School of Science, Math, and Technology, Hesperia, California. || \n|-id=917\n| 33917 Kellyoconnor || || Kelly O'Connor mentored a finalist in the 2017 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students. She teaches at the George H. Moody Middle School, Richmond, Virginia. || \n|-id=918\n| 33918 Janiscoville || || Janice Scoville mentored a finalist in the 2017 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students. She teaches at the Lovinggood Middle School, Powder Springs, Georgia. || \n|-id=920\n| 33920 Trivisonno || || Andrea Trivisonno mentored a finalist in the 2017 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students. She teaches at the Saint Anselm School, Chesterland, Ohio. || \n|-id=923\n| 33923 Juliewarren || || Julie Warren mentored a finalist in the 2017 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students. She teaches at the Pegasus School, Huntington Beach, California. || \n|-id=929\n| 33929 Lisaprato || || Lisa A. Prato, assistant astronomer at Lowell Observatory || \n|-id=932\n| 33932 Keane || || Jacqueline V. Keane (born 1973) is an Assistant Astronomer at the Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii whose research interests include the use of ground- and space-based facilities to study the comae and nuclei of comets. || \n|-id=936\n| 33936 Johnwells || || John Wells mentored a finalist in the 2017 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students. He teaches at the William Hopkins Junior High School, Fremont, California. || \n|-id=937\n| 33937 Raphaelmarschall || || Raphael Marschall (born 1987) is a Research Scholar at the Southwest Research Institute whose studies include modeling the gas and dust emission from cometary nuclei and interpretation of a complementary set of observations of comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko acquired by the Rosetta mission. || \n|-id=958\n| 33958 Zaferiou || || Paraskevy Zaferiou mentored a finalist in the 2017 Broadcom MASTERS, a math and science competition for middle school students. She teaches at the Garden City Middle School, Garden City, New York. || \n|-id=961\n| 33961 Macinleyneve || || Macinley Neve Butson (born 2000) was awarded first place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her translational medical science project. She attends the Illawarra Grammar School, Mangerton, NSW, Australia. || \n|-id=963\n| 33963 Moranhidalgo || || Camila Moran-Hidalgo (born 2002) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her biomedical engineering project. She attends the Westdale Secondary School, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. || \n|-id=979\n| 33979 Sunhaochun || || Sun Haochun Michael (born 2000) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his math team project. He attends the Shanghai American School Puxi, Shanghai, China. || \n|-id=991\n| 33991 Weixunjing || || Wei Xunjing (born 1999) was awarded first place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her physics and astronomy project. She attends the Shanghai High School, Shanghai, China. || \n|-id=994\n| 33994 Regidufour || || Reginald Dufour, professor in Rice University, Houston || \n|-id=000\n| 34000 Martinmatl || || Martin Matl (born 1999) was awarded second place in the 2017 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his plant sciences project. He attends the Gymnazium Brno, Trida Kapitana Jarose, Brno, Czech Republic. || \n|}\n\nReferences \n\n033001-034000"
] |
[
"Ben Carson",
"High school",
"Where did Carson attend high school",
"Southwestern High School",
"What years did Carson attend Southwestern High School",
"ninth through 12th grades,",
"Did Carson participate in any extra curricular activities in High School",
"played the baritone horn in the band, and participated in forensics (",
"Was he involved in any sports",
"I don't know.",
"did he win any awards in band or forensics",
"I don't know.",
"Was he popular in High School",
"Hands, Carson relates that as a youth he had a violent temper. \"As a teenager, I would go after people with rocks, and bricks, and baseball bats, and hammers,\"",
"id he get into trouble often when he was in High School",
"while in the ninth grade he tried to stab a friend who had changed the radio station."
] | C_8c698173e273415a9ad5450fbc5b9341_0 | What other trouble did he get into in high school | 8 | What other trouble did Ben Carson get into in high school besides the stabbing of a friend? | Ben Carson | By ninth grade, the family's financial situation had improved, his mother surprising neighbors by paying cash to buy a new Chrysler car, and the only government assistance they still relied on was food stamps. Carson attended the predominantly black Southwestern High School for ninth through 12th grades, graduating third in his class academically. In high school he played the baritone horn in the band, and participated in forensics (public speaking), chess club, and the U.S. Army Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) program where he reached its highest rank--cadet colonel. Carson served as a laboratory assistant in the high school's biology, chemistry, physics school laboratories beginning in 10th, 11th, and 12th grade, respectively, and worked as a biology laboratory assistant at Wayne State University the summer between 11th and 12th grades. In his book Gifted Hands, Carson relates that as a youth he had a violent temper. "As a teenager, I would go after people with rocks, and bricks, and baseball bats, and hammers," Carson told NBC's Meet the Press in October 2015. He said he once tried to hit his mother on the head with a hammer over a clothing dispute, while in the ninth grade he tried to stab a friend who had changed the radio station. Fortunately, the blade broke in his friend's belt buckle. Carson said that the intended victim, whose identity he wants to protect, was a classmate, a friend, or a close relative. After this incident, Carson said that he began reading the Book of Proverbs and applying verses on anger. As a result, he states he "never had another problem with temper". In his various books and at campaign events, he repeated these stories and said he once attacked a schoolmate with a combination lock. Nine friends, classmates, and neighbors who grew up with him told CNN in 2015 they did not remember the anger or violence he has described. In response, Carson posted on Facebook a 1997 Parade Magazine issue, in which his mother verified the stabbing incident. He then questioned the extent of the effort CNN had exerted in the investigation. He has said that he protected white students in a biology lab after a race riot broke out at his high school in response to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. The Wall Street Journal confirmed the riot but could not find anyone who remembered Carson sheltering white students. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Benjamin Solomon Carson Sr. (born September 18, 1951) is an American retired neurosurgeon and politician who served as the 17th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 2017 to 2021. He was a candidate for President of the United States in the 2016 Republican primaries. He is considered a pioneer in the field of neurosurgery.
Carson became the director of pediatric neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center in 1984 at age 33, then the youngest chief of pediatric neurosurgery in the United States. At retirement, he was professor of neurosurgery, oncology, plastic surgery, and pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Carson's achievements include participating in the first reported separation of conjoined twins joined at the back of the head. Although surgically a success, the twins continued to suffer neurologic/medical complications. Additional accomplishments include performing the first successful neurosurgical procedure on a fetus inside the womb, developing new methods to treat brain-stem tumors, and revitalizing hemispherectomy techniques for controlling seizures. He wrote over 100 neurosurgical publications. He retired from medicine in 2013.
Carson gained national fame among political conservatives after delivering a speech at the 2013 National Prayer Breakfast which was perceived as critical of the policies of President Barack Obama. Following widespread speculation of a presidential run, Carson officially announced his campaign for the 2016 Republican nomination for President in May 2015. Carson performed strongly in early polls, leading to his being considered a frontrunner for the nomination during the fall of 2015; however, his polling support began to decline following scrutiny of his foreign policy credentials after the November 2015 Paris attacks. Carson withdrew from the race after Super Tuesday, following a string of disappointing primary results, and endorsed Donald Trump. Following Trump's victory, Trump nominated Carson as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, being confirmed by the United States Senate in a 58–41 vote on March 2, 2017. Carson is one of the most prominent black conservatives in America.
Carson has received numerous honors for his neurosurgery work, including more than 60 honorary doctorate degrees and numerous national merit citations. In 2001, he was named by CNN and Time magazine as one of the nation's 20 foremost physicians and scientists and was selected by the Library of Congress as one of 89 "Living Legends" on its 200th anniversary. In 2008, Carson was bestowed the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States. In 2010, he was elected into the National Academy of Medicine. He was the subject of the 2009 TV film Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story, wherein he was portrayed by Cuba Gooding Jr. Carson has also written or co-written six bestselling books.
Early life and education
Carson's parents were Robert Solomon Carson Jr. (1914–1992), a World War II U.S. Army veteran, and Sonya Carson (née Copeland, 1928–2017). Robert Carson was a Baptist minister, but he later became a Cadillac automobile plant laborer. Both his parents came from large families in rural Georgia, and they were living in rural Tennessee when they met and married. Carson's mother was 13 and his father was 28 when they married, and after his father finished his military service, they moved from Chattanooga, Tennessee, to Detroit, where they lived in a large house in the Indian Village neighborhood. Carson's older brother, Curtis, was born in 1949, when his mother was 20. In 1950, Carson's parents purchased a new 733-square foot single-family detached home on Deacon Street in the Boynton neighborhood in southwest Detroit. Carson was born in Detroit, Michigan, on September 18, 1951.
Carson's Detroit Public Schools education began in 1956 with kindergarten at the Fisher School and continued through first, second, and the first half of third grade, during which time he was an average student. At the age of five, his mother learned that his father had a prior family and had not divorced his first wife. In 1959, at the age of eight, his parents separated and he moved with his mother and brother to live for two years with his mother's Seventh-day Adventist older sister and her sister's husband in multi-family dwellings in the Dorchester and Roxbury neighborhoods of Boston. In Boston, Carson's mother attempted suicide, had several psychiatric hospitalizations for depression, and for the first time began working outside the home as a domestic worker, while Carson and his brother attended a two-classroom school at the Berea Seventh-day Adventist church where two teachers taught eight grades, and the vast majority of time was spent singing songs and playing games.
In 1961, at the age of 10, he moved with his mother and brother back to southwest Detroit, where they lived in a multi-family dwelling in a primarily white neighborhood, (Springwells Village), across the railroad tracks from the Delray neighborhood, while renting out their house on Deacon Street, which his mother received in a divorce settlement. When they returned to Detroit public schools, Carson and his brother's academic performance initially lagged far behind their new classmates, having, according to Carson, "essentially lost a year of school" by attending the small Seventh-day Adventist parochial school in Boston, but they both improved when their mother limited their time watching television and required them to read and write book reports on two library books per week. Carson attended the predominantly white Higgins Elementary School for fifth and sixth grades and the predominantly white Wilson Junior High School for seventh and the first half of eighth grade. In 1965, at the age of 13, he moved with his mother and brother back to their house on Deacon Street. He attended the predominantly black Hunter Junior High School for the second half of eighth grade. At the age of eight, Carson dreamt of becoming a missionary doctor, but five years later he aspired to the lucrative lifestyles of psychiatrists portrayed on television, and his brother bought him a subscription to Psychology Today for his 13th birthday.
High school
By grade 9, the family's financial situation had improved, his mother surprising neighbors by paying cash to buy a new Chrysler car, and the only government assistance they still relied on was food stamps. Carson attended the predominantly black Southwestern High School for grades nine through twelve, graduating third in his class academically. In high school, he played the euphonium in band and participated in forensics (public speaking), chess club, and the U.S. Army Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) program where he reached its highest rank—cadet colonel. Carson served as a laboratory assistant in the high school's biology, chemistry, and physics school laboratories beginning in grades 10, 11, and 12, respectively, and worked as a biology laboratory assistant at Wayne State University the summer between grade 11 and 12.
In his book Gifted Hands, Carson relates that as a youth, he had a violent temper. "As a teenager, I would go after people with rocks, and bricks, and baseball bats, and hammers", Carson told NBC's Meet the Press in October 2015. He said he once tried to hit his mother on the head with a hammer over a clothing dispute, while in the ninth grade he tried to stab a friend who had changed the radio station. Fortunately, the blade broke in his friend's belt buckle. Carson said the intended victim, whose identity he wants to protect, was a classmate, a friend, or a close relative. After this incident, Carson said he began reading the Book of Proverbs and applying verses on anger. As a result, he states he "never had another problem with temper". In his various books and at campaign events, he repeated these stories and said he once attacked a schoolmate with a combination lock. Nine friends, classmates, and neighbors who grew up with him told CNN in 2015 they did not remember the anger or violence he has described. In response, Carson posted on Facebook a 1997 Parade magazine issue, in which his mother verified the stabbing incident. He then questioned the extent of the effort CNN had exerted in the investigation.
Carson has said that he protected white students in a biology lab after a race riot broke out at his high school in response to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. The Wall Street Journal confirmed the riot but could not find anyone who remembered Carson sheltering white students.
College
Carson's SAT college admission test scores ranked him somewhere in the low 90th percentile. He wanted to attend college farther away than his brother who was at the University of Michigan. Carson says he narrowed his college choices to Harvard or Yale but could only afford the $10 application fee to apply for only one of them. He said he decided to apply to Yale after seeing a team from Yale defeat a team from Harvard on the G.E. College Bowl television show. Carson was accepted by Yale and offered a full scholarship covering tuition, room and board. In 1973, Carson graduated with a B.A. in psychology from Yale "with a fairly respectable grade point average although far from the top of the class".
Carson does not say in his books whether he received a college student deferment during the Vietnam War. He does say that his older brother, then a student at the University of Michigan, received a low number (26) in the first draft lottery in 1969 and was able to enlist in the Navy for four years instead of being drafted, whereas he received a high number (333) in the second draft lottery in 1970. Carson said he would have readily accepted his responsibility to fight had he been drafted, but he "identified strongly with the anti-war protesters and the revolutionaries" and enthusiastically voted for anti-war Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern in 1972. In his book, America the Beautiful (2012), Carson said: "The Vietnam War was, in retrospect, not a noble conflict. It brought shame to our nation because of both the outcome and the cause."
In the summers following his high school graduation until his second year in medical school, Carson worked at a variety of jobs: as a clerk in the payroll office of Ford Motor Company, supervisor of a six-person crew picking up trash along the highway under a federal jobs program for inner-city students, a clerk in the mailroom of Young & Rubicam Advertising, assembling fender parts and inspecting back window louvers on the assembly line at Chrysler, a crane operator at Sennett Steel, and finally a radiology technician taking X-rays. At Yale, Carson had a part-time job on campus as a student police aide.
In his autobiography, Carson said he had been offered a scholarship to West Point. Politico reported that West Point has no record of his ever seeking admission. The academy does not award scholarships to anyone; cadets receive a free education and room and board in exchange for a commitment to serve in the military for at least five years after graduation. Carson also said the University of Michigan had offered him a scholarship. His staff later said the described scenario was similar to that of West Point, as he never actually applied for entry to the University of Michigan.
In his autobiography, Gifted Hands, Carson recounted that exams for a Yale psychology course he took his junior year, "Perceptions 301", were inexplicably burned, forcing students to retake the exam. Carson said other students walked out in protest when they discovered the retest was significantly harder than the original examination, but that he alone finished the test. On doing so, Carson said he was congratulated by the course instructor, who told him the retest was a hoax intended to find "the most honest student in the class". Carson said the professor awarded him $10 and that a photographer for the Yale Daily News was present to take his picture, which appeared in the student newspaper with a story about the experiment. Doubts were raised about this story in 2015 during Carson's presidential campaign. The Wall Street Journal attempted to verify Carson's account, reporting that Yale undergraduate courses were identified with only two digits in the early 1970s, that Yale had offered no course called "Perceptions 301" at the time, and that Carson's photo had never appeared in the Yale Daily News. Carson, while acknowledging the class number was not correct, said: "You know, when you write a book with a co-writer and you say that there was a class, a lot of [the] time they'll put a number or something just to give it more meat. You know, obviously, decades later, I'm not going to remember the course number."
Medical school
Carson entered the University of Michigan Medical School in 1973, and at first he struggled academically, doing so poorly on his first set of comprehensive exams that his faculty adviser recommended he drop out of medical school or take a reduced academic load and take longer to finish. He continued with a regular academic load, and his grades improved to average in his first year of medical school. By his second year of medical school, Carson began to excel academically by seldom attending lectures and instead studying textbooks and lecture notes from 6a.m. to 11p.m. Carson graduated from the University of Michigan Medical School with an M.D. degree in 1977, and he was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society.
Carson was then accepted by the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine neurosurgery program, where he served one year as a surgical intern and five years as a neurosurgery resident, completing the final year as chief resident in 1983. He then spent one year (1983–1984) as a Senior Registrar in neurosurgery at the Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Nedlands, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia.
Medical career
Upon returning to Johns Hopkins in 1984, Carson was appointed the university's director of pediatric neurosurgery. As a surgeon, he specialized in traumatic brain injuries, brain and spinal cord tumors, achondroplasia, neurological and congenital disorders, craniosynostosis, epilepsy, and trigeminal neuralgia. He has said that his hand–eye coordination and three-dimensional reasoning made him a gifted surgeon.
While at Johns Hopkins, Carson figured in the revival of the hemispherectomy, a drastic surgical procedure in which part or all of one hemisphere of the brain is removed to control severe pediatric epilepsy. Encouraged by John M. Freeman, he refined the procedure in the 1980s and performed it many times.
In 1987, Carson was the lead neurosurgeon of a 70-member surgical team that separated conjoined twins Patrick and Benjamin Binder, who had been joined at the back of the head (craniopagus twins). The separation surgery held promise in part because the twin boys had separate brains. The Johns Hopkins Children's Center surgical team rehearsed the surgery for weeks, practicing on two dolls secured together by Velcro. Although there were few follow-up stories following the Binder twins' return to Germany seven months after the operation, both twins were reportedly "far from normal" two years after the procedure, with one in a vegetative state. Neither twin was ever able to talk or care for himself, and both eventually became institutionalized wards of the state. Patrick Binder died sometime during the last decade, according to his uncle, who was located by The Washington Post in 2015. The Binder surgery served as a blueprint for similar twin separations, a procedure that was refined in subsequent decades. Carson participated in four subsequent high-risk conjoined-twin separations, including a 1997 operation on craniopagus Zambian twins Joseph and Luka Banda, which resulted in a normal neurological outcome. Two sets of twins died, including Iranian twins Ladan and Laleh Bijani. Another separation resulted in the death of one twin and the survival of the other, who is legally blind and struggles to walk.
According to The Washington Post, the Binder surgery "launched the stardom" of Carson, who "walked out of the operating room that day into a spotlight that has never dimmed", beginning with a press conference that was covered worldwide and created name recognition leading to publishing deals and a motivational speaking career. On the condition the film would have its premiere in Baltimore, Carson agreed to a cameo appearance as "head surgeon" in the 2003 Farrelly brothers' comedy Stuck on You, starring Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear as conjoined twins who, unhappy after their surgical separation, continue life attached to each other by Velcro.
In March 2013, Carson announced he would retire as a surgeon, saying he would "much rather quit when I'm at the top of my game". His retirement became official on July 1, 2013.
In 2021, Carson joined Galectin Therapeutics to assist with development of the company's galectin-3 inhibitor, belapectin, as a treatment for NASH cirrhosis and in combination with immunotherapy for the treatment of cancers.
Articles, books, business relationships, media posts
Carson has written many articles in peer-reviewed journals and six bestselling books published by Zondervan, an international Christian media and publishing company. The first book was an autobiography published in 1992. Two others are about his personal philosophies of success and what he sees as the stabilizing influence of religion.
According to CNN, Carson had an "extensive relationship" from 2004 to 2014 with Mannatech, a multi-level marketing company that produces dietary supplements made from substances such as aloe vera extract and larch-tree bark. Carson gave four paid speeches at company events. He has denied being paid by Mannatech to do anything else, saying he has been a "prolific speaker" who has addressed many groups. In a 2004 speech, he credited the company's products with the disappearance of his prostate cancer symptoms. The nature of this relationship became an issue in 2015 during Carson's presidential campaign. Carson's relationship with Mannatech continued after the company paid $7 million in 2009 to settle a deceptive-marketing lawsuit in Texas over claims that its products could cure autism and cancer. His most recent paid speech for the company was in 2013, for which he was paid $42,000. His image appeared on the corporation's website in 2014, and in the same year, he praised their "glyconutrient" supplements in a PBS special that was subsequently featured on the site.
Carson delivered the keynote address at a Mannatech distributor convention in 2011, during which he said the company had donated funds to help him obtain a coveted endowed-chair post at Johns Hopkins Medicine: "three years ago I had an endowed chair bestowed upon me and uh, it requires $2.5 million to do an endowed chair, and I'm proud to say that part of that $2.5 million came from Mannatech." In October 2015, Carson's campaign team said that "there was no contribution from Mannatech to Johns Hopkins" and that his statement had been "a legitimate mistake on his part. Confusion. He had been doing some fundraising for the hospital and some other chairs about that time, and he simply got things mixed up."
During the CNBC GOP debate on October 28, 2015, Carson was asked about his relationship with Mannatech. He replied, "That's easy to answer. I didn't have any involvement with Mannatech. Total propaganda. I did a couple speeches for them. I did speeches for other people—they were paid speeches. It is absolutely absurd to say I had any kind of relation with them. Do I take the product? Yes. I think it is a good product." Politifact rated Carson's denial of any involvement as "false", pointing to his paid speeches for Mannatech and his appearances in promotional videos in which he favorably reviewed its products, despite not being "an official spokesman or sales associate". When the CNBC moderator commented that Carson was on Mannatech's website, Carson replied that he had not given his permission. Earlier, he had said he was unaware of the company's legal history.
On November 3, 2015, Mannatech said on its website that for compliance with federal campaign finance regulations, the company had removed all references to Carson before he announced his bid for the presidency.
In July 2013, Carson was hired by The Washington Times as a weekly opinion columnist. In October 2013, Fox News hired Carson as a contributor to provide analysis and commentary across Fox News Channel's daytime and primetime programming, a relationship that lasted until the end of 2014.
In 2014, some House Republicans (who later formed the House Freedom Caucus) approached Carson about the possibility of his standing for Speaker of the House in the event that the incumbent Speaker, John Boehner, had to step down because of intraparty disunion. Carson declined, citing preparations for his 2016 presidential campaign. Ultimately, Boehner resigned in October 2015, and Paul Ryan was elected as the new Speaker.
In financial disclosure forms, Carson and his wife reported income of between $8.9 million and $27 million from January 2014 to May 3, 2015, when he announced his presidential campaign. Over that period, Carson received over $4 million from 141 paid speeches, between $1.1 million and $6 million in book royalties, between $200,000 and $2 million as a contributor to The Washington Times and Fox News, and between $2 million and $10 million as a member of the boards of Kellogg Co. and Costco Wholesale Corp. He resigned from Costco's board in mid-2015, after serving on it for more than 16 years. Carson was chairman of the Baltimore-based biotechnology company Vaccinogen from August 2014 until the announcement of his US presidential bid in May 2015. Carson had previously served on Vaccinogen's Medical Advisory Board.
2016 presidential campaign
Background and increasing political visibility
Carson, who had been registered as a Republican, changed his registration to independent in the 1990s after watching Republicans impeach President Clinton for perjury regarding an extramarital affair with Monica Lewinsky. "I just saw so much hypocrisy in both parties", he said. In February 2013, Carson said he was not a member of any political party.
In his book America the Beautiful (2013), he wrote: "I believe it is a very good idea for physicians, scientists, engineers, and others trained to make decisions based on facts and empirical data to get involved in the political arena."
Carson was the keynote speaker at the National Prayer Breakfast on February 7, 2013. The speech garnered Carson considerable attention because the event is normally apolitical in nature, and the speech was critical of the philosophy and policies of President Barack Obama, who was sitting 10 feet away. About the speech, Carson said: "I don't think it was particularly political... You know, I'm a physician." Regarding the policies of President Obama, he said: "There are a number of policies that I don't believe lead to the growth of our nation and don't lead to the elevation of our nation. I don't want to sit here and say all of his policies are bad. What I would like to see more often in this nation is an open and intelligent conversation."
Carson's sudden popularity among conservatives led to his being invited as a featured speaker at the 2013 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). He tied for seventh place in the Washington Times/CPAC 2013 Straw Poll with 4% of the 3,000 ballots cast. In the 2014 CPAC straw poll, he was in third place with 9% of the vote, behind senators Ted Cruz of Texas (with 11%) and Rand Paul of Kentucky (31%). In the presidential straw poll at the 2013 Values Voter Summit, he and Rick Santorum polled 13%, with winner Ted Cruz polling 42%, and in 2014 he polled 20% to Cruz's winning 25%.
On November 4, 2014, the day of the 2014 midterms, he rejoined the Republican Party, saying it was "truly a pragmatic move" because he was considering running for president in 2016.
In January 2015, The Weekly Standard reported that the Draft Carson Committee had raised $13 million by the end of 2014, shortly after Carson performed well in a CNN/ORC poll of potential candidates in December 2014, coming second in two different versions. He polled 10% to Mitt Romney's 20%, but in the same poll with Romney removed from the list, Carson polled 11% to Jeb Bush's 14%. The Wall Street Journal mentioned that the Draft Carson Committee had chairmen in all of Iowa's 99 counties, and that Carson had recently led two separate Public Policy polls for the state of Pennsylvania.
Announcement of campaign
On May 2, 2015, Carson proclaimed that in two days he was going to make a major announcement on his decision on whether to enter the presidential race. In an interview with Cincinnati station WKRC-TV on May 3, 2015, Carson accidentally confirmed his candidacy for president. The interview was also broadcast live on WPEC. The next day, May 4, 2015, at the Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts in his home town of Detroit, he officially announced his run for the Republican nomination in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The announcement speech was preceded by a choir singing "Lose Yourself" with Carson sitting in the audience. After the song, Carson took the stage and announced his candidacy alongside a speech on his rags to riches life story, at one point stating: "I remember when our favorite drug dealer was killed."
Surge in polls
In October 2015, the Super PAC supporting Carson, The 2016 Committee (formerly the Draft Carson Committee), announced it had received donations in mostly $100 increments from more than 200 small businesses around the country over the course of one week. Fox Business reported that "Carson's outsider status is growing his small business support base." Ben Walters, a fundraiser for The 2016 Committee, expressed optimism about Carson's small business support base: "It's unbelievable the diversity of businesses that we are bringing on. We are seeing everything from doctors' offices and folks in the healthcare profession to motorcycle repair shops and bed and breakfasts."
In October, it was noted that Carson's "improbable" political career had surged in polls and fundraising, while he continued to participate in nationally televised Republican debates.
Decline in polls
The campaign brought considerable attention to Carson's past. CBS News described Carson's narrative of "overcoming impossible odds as a child growing up in an impoverished, single-parent household to reach international prominence as a pediatric neurosurgeon" as "a key part of his presidential campaign". The Wall Street Journal said the narrative came under "the harsh scrutiny of presidential politics, where rivals and media hunt for embellishments and omissions that can hobble a campaign". CNN characterized the core narrative as "acts of violence as an angry young man", followed by a spiritual epiphany that transformed Carson into the "composed figure" he now portrays. Media challenges to a number of Carson's statements included allegations of discrepancies between documented facts and certain assertions in his autobiography Gifted Hands—allegations dismissed by Carson as a media "witch hunt". In November 2015, the Detroit Free Press republished an article from 1988 "to try to bring some clarity to the claims currently being brought into question".
In November 2015, Carson's campaign aired a 60-second TV advertisement in which excerpts from Carson's stump speech were intercut with a rap by an artist named Aspiring Mogul. They spent $150,000 on the ads, which were aired in Atlanta, Detroit and Miami. Carson defended the ad, saying "Well, there are people in the campaign who felt that was a good way to do things... I support them in doing that, but I probably would have taken a little different approach." Later, he said the advertisement was done without his knowledge, that "it was done by people who have no concept of the black community and what they were doing", and that he was "horrified" by it.
The New York Times reported in 2015, "Carson has acknowledged being something of a novice on foreign affairs." Regarding the Ukrainian crisis, Carson would send arms to Ukraine to aid it in its fight against pro-Russian rebels. He also believes the Baltic states, current NATO members, should "get involved in NATO".
In a November 2015 Republican debate, Carson declared his intentions to make ISIS "look like losers" as he would "destroy their caliphate". Carson also advocated capturing a "big energy field" outside of Anbar, Iraq, which he said could be accomplished "fairly easily". Regarding the Middle East, he also claimed that "the Chinese are there".
Carson said he is not opposed to a Palestinian state, but he questioned why it needs "to be within the confines of Israeli territory ... Is that necessary, or can you sort of slip that area down into Egypt?"
Withdrawal from campaign
On March 2, following the Super Tuesday 2016 primaries, Carson announced that he did "not see a political path forward" and would not attend the next Republican debate in Detroit. He said, "[T]his grassroots movement on behalf of 'We the People' will continue", indicating that he would give more details later in the week. He suspended his campaign on March4 and announced he would be the new national chairman of My Faith Votes, a group that encourages Christians to exercise their civic duty to vote.
In total, Ben Carson's campaign spent $58 million. However, most of the money went to political consultants and fundraising rather than advertising. Carson questioned whether his campaign was economically sabotaged from within.
Further activities during the 2016 election
On March 11, 2016, a week after Carson ended his presidential campaign, he endorsed Trump, calling him part of "the voice of the people to be heard". Carson's subsequent comments that Americans would have to sustain Trump for only four years if he was not a good president drew criticism, and he admitted that he would have preferred another candidate, though he thought Trump had the best chance of winning the general election.
On the other hand, at the press conference Carson said Trump had a "cerebral" side.
On April 25, Carson expressed opposition to Harriet Tubman replacing Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill the day after dubbing the replacement "political expediency", though he indicated interest in Tubman having another tribute. In late April, Carson wrote to the Nevada Republican Party, requesting the two delegates he won in Nevada be released and free to support whoever they want.
On May 4, after Trump wrapped up the Republican nomination, he hinted that Carson would be among those who would vet his vice-presidential pick. The same day, in an interview Carson expressed interest in Ted Cruz serving as Attorney General of the United States, a position that Carson said would allow Cruz to prosecute Hillary Clinton, and then as a Supreme Court Justice nominee from the Trump administration. On May 6, Carson said in an interview that Trump would consider a Democrat as his running mate, conflicting with Trump's assertion that he would not. A Carson spokesperson later said Carson expected Trump to select a Republican.
Carson was said by aide Armstrong Williams in a May 10 interview to have withdrawn from the Trump campaign's vetting team, though the campaign confirmed he was still involved. Later that month, Carson revealed a list of potential vice-presidential candidates in an interview with The Washington Post. On May 16, Carson said the media could not keep opinion out of reporting and cited Walter Cronkite as a fair journalist who was, in his words, a "left-wing radical".
During the Republican National Convention, Carson appeared with former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani in support of the pro-Donald Trump Great America PAC at an event in Cleveland.
Results
In total, Carson received 857,039 votes during the Republican primaries; this total represented 2.75% of the votes cast. He received the support of seven delegates at the Republican National Convention. Trump received the Republican nomination and went on to be elected president on November 8, 2016.
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
Nomination and confirmation
After Donald Trump's win in the 2016 election, Carson joined Trump's transition team as vice chairman. Carson was also offered a cabinet position in the administration. He declined, in part because of his lack of experience, with an aide stating, "The last thing he would want to do was take a position that could cripple the presidency." Although it was reported that the position was for Secretary of Health and Human Services, Carson's business manager has disputed this, stating, "Dr. Carson was never offered a specific position, but everything was open to him." He was eventually offered the position of Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, which he accepted.
On December 5, 2016, Trump announced that he would nominate Carson to the position of Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. During the confirmation process, Carson was scrutinized by some housing advocates for what they perceived as his lack of relevant experience.
On January 24, 2017, the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs voted unanimously to approve the nomination. Senate Democrats attempted to defeat Carson's nomination via filibuster, but that vote failed on March 1, 2017, and he was then confirmed by the Senate by a 58–41 vote the next day.
Tenure
In December 2017, The Economist described the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), led by Ben Carson, as "directionless". Most of the top HUD positions were unfilled and Carson's leadership was "inconspicuous and inscrutable". Of the policies HUD was enacting, The Economist wrote, "it is hard not to conclude that the governing principle at HUD is to take whatever the Obama administration was doing, and do the opposite." HUD scaled back the enforcement of fair housing laws, halted several fair housing investigations started by the Obama administration and removed the words "inclusive" and "free from discrimination" from its mission statement. HUD saw an exodus of career officials during Carson's tenure.
On March 6, his first day as secretary, while addressing Housing and Urban Development (HUD) employees, Carson saluted the work ethic of immigrants, and during his comments, he likened slaves to involuntary immigrants. A HUD spokesman said that no one present thought Carson "was equating voluntary immigration with involuntary servitude". In the same speech, Carson was criticized by some for saying that the human brain "was incapable of forgetting and could be electrically stimulated into perfect recall".
Under the federal budget proposed by Trump in 2017, HUD's budget for the fiscal year 2018 would be cut by $6.2 billion (13%) and the Community Development Block Grant, a program which Carson praised in a trip to Detroit as HUD secretary, would be eliminated. Carson issued a statement supporting the proposed cuts. Carson suggested that federal funds for housing in Detroit could be part of an expected infrastructure bill.
In April 2017, while speaking in Washington at the National Low Income Housing Coalition conference, Carson said that housing funding would be included in an upcoming infrastructure bill from the Trump administration.
In July 2017, during his keynote address at the LeadingAge Florida annual convention, Carson stated his concern about "seniors who become destitute" and reported that the Department of Housing and Urban Development had increased public housing programs for the elderly by an unspecified number.
In summer 2017, Carson allowed his son, Baltimore businessman, Ben Carson Jr., to participate in organizing a HUD "listening tour" in Baltimore. Internal documents obtained by The Washington Post under the Freedom of Information Act showed that the younger Carson "put people he'd invited in touch with his father's deputies, joined agency staff on official conference calls about the listening tour and copied his wife on related email exchanges". The son's involvement prompted HUD staff to express concern; the department's deputy general counsel for operations wrote in a memorandum "that this gave the appearance that the Secretary may be using his position for his son's private gain". Carson's wife, son, and daughter-in-law also attended official meetings. In February 2018, the HUD inspector general's office confirmed that it was looking into the role Carson's family played at the department.
During congressional testimony in May 2019, while being questioned by U.S. Representative Katie Porter, Carson did not know what the term REO ("Real Estate Owned" refers to housing owned by a bank or lending institution post-foreclosure) stood for and confused it with the cookie, Oreo. In response, Carson went on the Fox Business Network where he accused Democrats of adhering to "Saul Alinsky" tactics.
On March 1, 2020, the office of Vice President Mike Pence announced Carson's addition to the White House Coronavirus Task Force.
On November 9, 2020, Carson tested positive for COVID-19 after attending President Trump's Election Night party. He initially treated himself with a homeopathic oleander extract on the recommendation of Mike Lindell, the founder of My Pillow, Inc., which Carson said caused his symptoms to disappear. Oleander was previously rejected by the Food and Drug Administration as a treatment for COVID-19 and Carson received criticism for promoting an unscientific homeopathic treatment. He disclosed on November 20 that he subsequently became "extremely sick" and attributed his recovery to Regeneron's experimental antibody therapy. He said that President Trump had given him access to the drug.
Office furnishing scandal
Carson received criticism for spending up to $31,000 on a dining set in his office in late 2017. This expenditure was discovered after Helen Foster, a career HUD official, filed a complaint alleging that she had been demoted from her position because she refused to spend more than the legal $5,000 limit for office redecorations. Carson and his spokesman said that he had little or no involvement in the purchase of the dining set. Later, email communications revealed that Carson and his wife selected the dining set. On March 20, 2018, Carson testified before the United States House Committee on Appropriations that he had "dismissed" himself from the decision to buy the $31,000 dining room set and "left it to my wife, you know, to choose something". On September 12, 2019, HUD's inspector general released a report clearing Carson of misconduct.
Remarks on transgender use of homeless shelters
Carson was accused by members of the Department of Housing and Urban Development of making transphobic remarks at a meeting in San Francisco in September 2019. He warned that "big, hairy men" might infiltrate homeless shelters for women, prompting one woman to walk out. Reps. Joe Kennedy III of Massachusetts and Jennifer Wexton of Virginia called for his resignation, but Carson said the accusations were a "mischaracterization". A HUD spokesperson responded that Carson "does not use derogatory language to refer to transgendered individuals. Any reporting to the contrary is false."
Carson Scholars Fund
In 1994, Carson and his wife started the Carson Scholars Fund that awards scholarships to students in grades 4–11 for "academic excellence and humanitarian qualities".
Recipients of the Carson Scholars Fund receive a $1,000 scholarship towards their college education. It has awarded 6,700 scholarships. In recognition for his work with the Carson Scholars Fund and other charitable giving throughout his lifetime, Carson was awarded the William E. Simon Prize for Philanthropic Leadership in 2005.
American Cornerstone Institute
In 2021, Carson founded the American Cornerstone Institute or ACI, a conservative think tank centered around advancing policies that promote "faith, liberty, community, and life".
The ACI's mission statement is "dedicated to promoting and preserving individual and religious liberty, helping our country's most vulnerable find new hope, and developing methods to decrease the federal government's role in society and to improve efficiency to best serve ALL our nation's citizens. Headed by world-renowned neurosurgeon, presidential candidate, and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Dr. Ben Carson, ACI will be a voice for reason and civility in a nation that is increasingly devoid of common sense."
Personal life
Carson and his wife, fellow Detroit native Lacena "Candy" Rustin, met in 1971 as students at Yale University and married in 1975. They began living in West Friendship, Maryland, in 1988. Together, the couple have three sons (Rhoeyce, Benjamin Jr., and Murray), as well as several grandchildren. Their oldest son, Murray, was born in Perth, Australia, while Carson was undertaking a residency there. In 1981 Carson's wife became pregnant with twins before miscarrying in the fifth month of her pregnancy.
In 2001, Ben and Candy Carson bought a 48-acre property in Upperco, Maryland.
After being diagnosed with prostate cancer, Carson underwent a two-hour operation at the Johns Hopkins Hospital on August 7, 2002.
In 2013, Carson, his wife, and Carson's mother moved to West Palm Beach, Florida.
Surrounding his confirmation as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Carson bought a $1.22 million home in Vienna, Virginia, in February 2017 and sold his West Palm Beach home for over $900,000 in May 2017.
Religion
Carson and his wife are members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA). Carson was baptized at Burns Seventh-day Adventist Church in Detroit. A few years later, he told the pastor at a church he was attending in Inkster, Michigan, that he had not fully understood his first baptism and wanted to be baptized again. He has served as a local elder and Sabbath School teacher in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Although Carson is an Adventist, the church has officially cautioned church employees to remain politically neutral.
In keeping with his Seventh-day Adventist faith, Carson announced in 2014 his belief "that the United States will play a big role" in the coming apocalypse. He went on to say, "I hope by that time I'm not around anymore."
In an interview with Katie Couric, Carson said that Jesus Christ came to Earth to redeem the world through his atoning sacrifice and that all people are sinners and need his redemption.
Carson has stated that he does not believe in hell as understood by some Christians: "You know, I see God as a very loving individual. And why would he torment somebody forever who only had a life of 60 or 70 or 80 years? Even if they were evil. Even if they were only evil for 80 years?" This is fully in line with Adventist teaching, which promotes annihilationism.
Carson endorsed Seventh-day Adventist theology, which includes belief in a literal reading of the first chapters of Genesis. In a 2013 interview with Adventist News Network, Carson said: "You know, I'm proud of the fact that I believe what God has said, and I've said many times that I'll defend it before anyone. If they want to criticize the fact that I believe in a literal, six-day creation, let's have at it because I will poke all kinds of holes in what they believe." Carson's Adventism was raised as an issue by his then-primary rival Donald Trump. Some Adventists have argued that Carson's political positions on gun rights and religious liberty conflict with historic Adventist teachings in favor of nonviolence, pacifism, and the separation of church and state.
Claim about Egyptian pyramids
During a commencement speech at Andrews University in Michigan in 1998, Carson stated that he believed that the pyramids of Giza were created by the biblical figure Joseph to store grain, despite the fact that the story of Joseph is set in the time of Egypt's Middle Kingdom, five centuries after the pyramids of Giza were built. When questioned about it again in 2015, he stood by his original assertion.
Vegetarianism
Consistent with the practice of many Adventists, Carson is a lacto-ovo vegetarian (he will eat dishes containing milk, eggs, or cheese, and occasionally, poultry). He has said his main reason for becoming vegetarian was health concerns, including avoiding parasites and heart disease, and he emphasizes the environmental benefits of vegetarianism. His transition was made easier because he had eaten little meat for aesthetic reasons as a child, and he readily adopted his wife's vegetarianism because she does much of the cooking in their household. Speaking in 1990, he said that with the increasing availability of meat substitutes, "It might take 20 years. But eventually there will no longer be a reason for most people to eat meat. And animals will breathe a sigh of relief." To avoid causing others discomfort, he is willing to occasionally eat chicken or turkey, although he finds eating pork highly unpleasant.
Awards and honors
Carson is a member of the American Academy of Achievement, Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society, and the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans.
Carson has been awarded 38 honorary doctorate degrees and dozens of national merit citations. Detroit Public Schools opened the Dr. Benjamin Carson High School of Science and Medicine for students interested in pursuing healthcare careers. The school is partnering with Detroit Receiving Hospital and Michigan State University.
In 2000, he received the Award for Greatest Public Service Benefiting the Disadvantaged, an award given out annually by Jefferson Awards.
In 2001, he was elected by the Library of Congress on the occasion of its 200th anniversary to be one of the 89 who earned the designation Library of Congress Living Legend.
In 2004, he was appointed to serve on The President's Council on Bioethics.
In 2005, Carson was awarded the William E. Simon Prize for Philanthropic Leadership.
In 2006, he received the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP, their highest honor for outstanding achievement.
In 2008, the White House awarded Carson the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.
In 2008, Ford's Theatre Society awarded Carson the Ford's Theatre Lincoln Medal, for exemplifying the qualities embodied by President Abraham Lincoln—including courage, integrity, tolerance, equality, and creative expression—through superior achievements.
In 2008, U.S. News & World Report named Carson as one of "America's Best Leaders".
In 2010, he was elected into the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine, considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine.
In 2012, Carson was the Influential Marylander Award recipient from The Daily Record, Baltimore's legal and business newspaper.
In 2014, a poll of Americans conducted by Gallup ranked Carson sixth on a list of the most admired persons.
He is an emeritus fellow of the Yale Corporation.
Books
(with Cecil Murphey)
(with Gregg Lewis)
(with Candy Carson)
(with Candy Carson), on The New York Times bestsellers list for 20 straight weeks, five of them as number one
(with Candy Carson)
(with Gregg Lewis, Deborah Shaw Lewis)
(with Cecil Murphey)
(with Candy Carson)
See also
Ben Carson 2016 presidential campaign
Ben Carson office furnishing scandal
List of African-American Republicans
2016 Republican Party presidential candidates
Notes
References
Further reading
Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story (February 7, 2009), a television movie with the same title as Carson's first book premiered on TNT with Academy Award winner Cuba Gooding Jr. in the lead role and Kimberly Elise portraying his mother.
A Doctor in the House: My Life with Ben Carson (January 5, 2016), a book by Candy Carson
External links
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson
Ben Carson:Dialogue with an Adventist Neurosurgeon College and University Dialogue Retrieved October 12, 2018
1951 births
Living people
20th-century American male writers
20th-century Protestants
21st-century American male writers
21st-century American politicians
21st-century Protestants
African-American Christians
African-American members of the Cabinet of the United States
African-American physicians
African-American government officials
African-American candidates for President of the United States
African-American writers
American neurosurgeons
American Seventh-day Adventists
American Christian creationists
American Christian writers
Candidates in the 2016 United States presidential election
Christian vegetarianism
Florida Republicans
Johns Hopkins Hospital physicians
Kellogg's people
Maryland Republicans
Michigan Republicans
Members of the National Academy of Medicine
Physicians from Detroit
People from Dorchester, Massachusetts
People from Roxbury, Boston
People from Vienna, Virginia
Politicians from Detroit
People from West Friendship, Maryland
People from West Palm Beach, Florida
Physicians from Michigan
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
Seventh-day Adventists from Michigan
Seventh-day Adventists in health science
Spingarn Medal winners
Tea Party movement activists
Trump administration cabinet members
United States Secretaries of Housing and Urban Development
University of Michigan Medical School alumni
The Washington Times people
Yale University alumni
20th-century American writers
Southwestern High School (Michigan) alumni | false | [
"The Academy at Swift River, also known as ASR, was a coeducational therapeutic boarding school for teenagers, located in Plainfield and Cummington, Massachusetts. Established in 1997 and closed in 2013, it was a part of the Aspen Education Group, which in turn is owned by Bain Capital's CRC health group.\n\nThe school's student population was described as \"bright but underachieving kids\" with a variety of behavioral problems. The majority of students use prescribed psychiatric medications. ASR was in session year-round and offered a college preparatory curriculum for high school grades 9 to 12. Total enrollment was about 55 students.\n\nThe school was the focus of the 2005 book What It Takes To Pull Me Through: Why Teenagers Get in Trouble and How Four of Them Got Out by journalist David Marcus.\n\nShane Reardon, son of major league baseball pitcher Jeff Reardon, graduated from ASR with honors, but later died from a drug overdose at age 20 in the year of 2004.\n\nIn July 2013, Aspen Education Group announced that it would close the school later that summer.\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading\n David L. Marcus (2005), What It Takes To Pull Me Through: Why Teenagers Get in Trouble and How Four of Them Got Out, Houghton Mifflin, \n\nTherapeutic community\nSchools in Hampshire County, Massachusetts\nBain Capital companies\nBoarding schools in Massachusetts\nTherapeutic boarding schools in the United States\n1997 establishments in Massachusetts\n2013 disestablishments in Massachusetts",
"The Katy series is a set of novels by Sarah Chauncey Woolsey, writing under the pen-name of Susan Coolidge. The first in the series, What Katy Did, was published in 1872 and followed the next year by What Katy Did at School. What Katy Did Next was released in 1886. Two further novels, Clover (1888) and In the High Valley (1890), focused upon other members of the eponymous character's family. The series was popular with readers in the late 19th century.\n\nThe series was later adapted into a TV series entitled Katy in 1962, and two films, one also called Katy in 1972 and What Katy Did in 1999.\n\nNovels\n What Katy Did\n What Katy Did at School\n What Katy Did Next\n Clover\n In the High Valley\n\nAdaptions\n Katy (TV series, 1962)\n Katy (film, 1972)\n What Katy Did (film, 1999)\n\nLiterary Criticism\nCritics are divided about how much the series played into period gender norms and often compare the series to Little Women. Foster and Simmons argue for its subversion of gender in their book What Katy Read: Feminist Re-Readings of ‘Classic’ Stories for Girls by suggesting the series “deconstructs family hierarchies”.\n\nInfluence\nThe series is unusual for its time by having an entry which focuses not on the family life at home but at school in What Katy Did at School.\n\nIn a 1995 survey, What Katy Did was voted as one of the top 10 books for 12-year-old girls.\n\nSee also\n\nSarah Chauncey Woolsey\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nSeries details at Fantastic Fiction\n\nKaty series\n1870s novels\nNovel series\nSeries of children's books\nNovels by Susan Coolidge\n1880s novels\n1890s novels\n1962 American television series debuts\n1972 films\n1999 films"
] |
[
"Mike Judge",
"1990-1997: Early career and Beavis and Butt-Head"
] | C_81e3eab6e02a4e1abcedb12adf463565_1 | What did he try | 1 | What did Mike Judge try? | Mike Judge | He graduated in 1986 from University of California, San Diego. In 1987, he moved to Silicon Valley to join Parallax Graphics, a startup video card company with about 40 employees based in Santa Clara. Disliking the company's culture and his colleagues ("The people I met were like Stepford Wives. They were true believers in something, and I don't know what it was"), Judge quit after less than three months and became a bass player with a touring blues band. He was a part of Anson Funderburgh's band for two years, playing on their 1990 Black Top Records release "Rack 'Em Up", while taking graduate math classes at the University of Texas at Dallas. In 1989, after seeing animation cels on display in a movie theater, Judge purchased a Bolex 16 mm film camera and began creating his own animated shorts. In 1991, his short film "Office Space" (also known as the Milton series of shorts) was acquired by Comedy Central, following an animation festival in Dallas. In the early 1990s, he was playing blues bass with Doyle Bramhall. In 1992, he developed Frog Baseball, a short film featuring the characters Beavis and Butt-Head, to be featured on Liquid Television, a 1990s animation showcase that appeared on MTV. The short led to the creation of the Beavis and Butt-Head series on MTV, in which Judge voiced both title characters as well as the majority of supporting characters and wrote and directed the majority of the episodes. The show centers on two socially incompetent, heavy metal-loving teenage wannabe delinquents, Beavis and Butt-Head (both voiced by Judge), who go to High School at Highland High in Albuquerque, New Mexico (the same city where Judge was raised and attended high school). The two have no adult supervision, are dim-witted, sex-obsessed, uneducated, barely literate, and lack any empathy or moral scruples, even regarding each other. Over its run, Beavis and Butt-Head drew a notable amount of both positive and negative reaction from the public with its combination of lewd humor and implied criticism of society. Judge himself is highly critical of the animation and quality of earlier episodes, in particular the first two - Blood Drive/Give Blood and Door to Door - which he described as "awful, I don't know why anybody liked it... I was burying my head in the sand." The series spawned the feature-length film Beavis and Butt-Head Do America and the spin-off show Daria. After two decades, the series aired its new season on October 27, 2011. The premiere was dubbed a ratings hit, with an audience of 3.3 million total viewers. On January 10, 2014, Judge announced that there is still a chance to pitch Beavis and Butt-Head to another network and that he wouldn't mind making more episodes. CANNOTANSWER | He graduated in 1986 from University of California, San Diego. | Michael Craig Judge (born October 17, 1962) is an American actor, animator, writer, producer, director and musician. He is the creator of the animated television series Beavis and Butt-Head (1993–1997, 2011, 2021–present), and co-creator of the television series King of the Hill (1997–2010), The Goode Family (2009), Silicon Valley (2014–2019), and Mike Judge Presents: Tales from the Tour Bus (2017–2018). He also wrote and directed the films Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (1996), Office Space (1999), Idiocracy (2006), and Extract (2009).
Judge was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and raised in the U.S. state of New Mexico. He graduated from the University of California, San Diego, where he studied physics. After losing interest in a career in science, Judge began to focus on animation and creating short films. One of these (Frog Baseball) was developed into the successful MTV series Beavis and Butt-Head, which eventually spawned a 1996 feature film, as well as the spin-off series Daria (with which Judge had no involvement).
In 1995, Judge and former The Simpsons writer Greg Daniels developed King of the Hill, which debuted on Fox in 1997 and quickly became a hit with both critics and audiences; running for 13 seasons, it became one of the longest-running American animated series. During the run of the show, Judge took some time off to write and direct Office Space, Idiocracy, and Extract. As King of the Hill was coming to an end, Judge created his third show, ABC's The Goode Family, which received mixed reviews and was cancelled after 13 episodes. After a four-year hiatus, he created his fourth show, the live-action Silicon Valley for HBO, which has received critical acclaim since its premiere. In 2017, Judge's fourth animated series, the music-themed Tales from the Tour Bus, premiered on Cinemax, to critical and audience acclaim.
Judge has won a Primetime Emmy Award and two Annie Awards for King of the Hill and two Critics' Choice Television Awards and Satellite Awards for Silicon Valley.
Early life
Michael Craig Judge was born on October 17, 1962, in Guayaquil, Ecuador. He is the middle of three children born to Margaret Yvonne (née Blue), a librarian, and William James Judge, an archaeologist. At the time of his birth, his father was working for a nonprofit organization in Guayaquil and other parts of Ecuador, promoting agricultural development. Judge was raised from age seven in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he spent a small portion of his life working on a chicken farm. He attended St. Pius X High School and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in physics from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) in 1985.
Career
1985–1997: Early science career; musician; animation and Beavis and Butt-Head
After graduating from UCSD in 1985, he held several brief jobs in physics and mechanical engineering, but found himself growing bored with science. In 1987, he moved to Silicon Valley to join Parallax Graphics, a startup video card company with about 40 employees based in Santa Clara, California. Disliking the company's culture and his colleagues ("The people I met were like Stepford Wives. They were true believers in something, and I don't know what it was"), Judge quit after less than three months and became a bass player with a touring blues band.
He was a part of Anson Funderburgh's band for two years, playing on their 1990 Black Top Records release "Rack 'Em Up", while taking graduate math classes at the University of Texas at Dallas. In 1989, after seeing animation cels on display in a movie theater, Judge purchased a Bolex 16 mm film camera and began creating his own animated shorts in his home in Richardson, Texas. In 1991, his short film "Office Space" (also known as the Milton series of shorts) was acquired by Comedy Central, following an animation festival in Dallas. In the early 1990s, he was playing blues bass with Doyle Bramhall.
In 1992, he developed Frog Baseball, a short film featuring the characters Beavis and Butt-Head, to be featured on Liquid Television, a 1990s animation showcase that appeared on MTV. The short led to the creation of the Beavis and Butt-Head series on MTV, in which Judge voiced both title characters as well as the majority of supporting characters and wrote and directed the majority of the episodes. The show centers on two socially incompetent, heavy metal-loving teenage wannabe delinquents, Beavis and Butt-Head, who live in the fictional town of Highland, Texas. The two have no adult supervision, are dim-witted, sex-obsessed, uneducated, barely literate, and lack any empathy or moral scruples, even regarding each other. Over its run, Beavis and Butt-Head drew a notable amount of both positive and negative reaction from the public with its combination of lewd humor and implied criticism of society.
Judge himself is highly critical of the animation and quality of earlier episodes, in particular the first two – Blood Drive/Give Blood and Door to Door – which he described as "awful, I don't know why anybody liked it ... I was burying my head in the sand." The series spawned the feature-length film Beavis and Butt-Head Do America and the spin-off show Daria.
After two decades, the series aired its new season on October 27, 2011. The premiere was a ratings hit, with an audience of 3.3 million total viewers. On January 10, 2014, Judge announced that there is still a chance to pitch Beavis and Butt-Head to another network and that he wouldn't mind making more episodes.
1997–2009: King of the Hill, Office Space, and Idiocracy
In early 1995, after the successful first run of Beavis and Butt-Head on MTV, Mike Judge co-created the show King of the Hill with former The Simpsons writer Greg Daniels. Judge was a former resident of Garland, Texas, upon which the fictional community of Arlen was loosely based, but as Judge stated in a later interview, the show was based more specifically on the Dallas suburb of Richardson. Judge conceived the idea for the show, drew the main characters, and wrote the pilot script. Judge voiced characters Hank Hill and Jeff Boomhauer. The show is about a middle-class Methodist family named the Hills living in a small town called Arlen, Texas. It attempts to retain a naturalistic approach, seeking humor in the conventional and mundane aspects of everyday life while dealing with issues comically. After its debut in 1997, the series became a large success for Fox and was named one of the best television series of the year by various publications, including Entertainment Weekly, Time, and TV Guide.
For the 1997–1998 season, the series became one of Fox's highest-rated programs and even briefly outperformed The Simpsons in ratings. Although ratings remained consistent throughout the 10th, 11th and 12th seasons and had begun to rise in the overall Nielsen ratings (up to the 105th most watched series on television, from 118 in season 8), Fox abruptly announced in 2008 that King of the Hill had been cancelled. The cancellation coincided with the announcement that Seth MacFarlane, creator of Family Guy and American Dad!, would be creating a Family Guy spin-off called The Cleveland Show, which would take over King of the Hill's time slot. Hopes to keep the show afloat surfaced as sources indicated that ABC (which was already airing Judge's new animated comedy, The Goode Family) was interested in securing the rights to the show, but in January 2009, ABC president Steve McPherson said he had "no plans to pick up the animated comedy." On April 30, 2009, it was announced that Fox ordered at least two more episodes to give the show a proper finale. The show's 14th season was supposed to air sometime in the 2009–10 season, but Fox later announced that it would not air the episodes, opting instead for syndication. On August 10, 2009, however, Fox released a statement that the network would air a one-hour series finale (which consisted of a regular 30-minute episode followed by a 30-minute finale) on September 13, 2009. The four remaining episodes of the series aired in syndication the week of May 3, 2010, and again on Adult Swim during the week of May 17, 2010. During the panel discussion for the return of Beavis and Butt-Head at Comic-Con 2011, Mike Judge said that no current plans exist to revive King of the Hill, although he would not rule out the possibility of it returning.
Judge began to develop one of his four animated short films entitled Milton, about an office drone named Milton that Judge created, which first aired on Liquid Television and Night After Night with Allan Havey and later aired on Saturday Night Live. The inspiration came from a temp job he once had that involved alphabetizing purchase orders and a job he had as an engineer for three months in the San Francisco Bay Area during the 1980s, "just in the heart of Silicon Valley and in the middle of that overachiever yuppie thing, it was just awful". Judge sold the completed film Office Space to 20th Century Fox based on his script and a cast that included Jennifer Aniston, Ron Livingston, and David Herman. Originally, the studio wanted to make a film out of the Milton character but Judge was not interested, opting instead to make more of an ensemble cast–based film. The studio suggested that he should make a film like Car Wash but "just set in an office". Judge made the relatively painless transition from animation to live-action with the help of the film's director of photography who taught him about lenses and where to put the camera. Judge says, "I had a great crew, and it's good going into it not pretending you're an expert." Studio executives were not happy with the footage Judge was getting. He remembers them telling him, "More energy! More energy! We gotta reshoot it! You're failing! You're failing!" In addition, Fox did not like the gangsta rap music used in the film until a focus group approved of it. Judge hated the ending and felt that a complete rewrite of the third act was necessary. In the film, he made a cameo appearance as Stan (complete with hairpiece and fake mustache), the manager of Chotchkie's, a fictionalized parody of chain restaurants like Chili's, Applebee's and TGI Friday's, and the boss of Jennifer Aniston's character, whom he continually undermines and interrogates over her lack of sufficient enthusiasm for the job and the insufficient quantity of "flair" (buttons, ribbons, etc.) she wears on her uniform. The film was released on February 19, 1999, and it was well received by critics. Although not particularly successful at the box office, it sold well on VHS and DVD, and it has come to be recognized as a cult classic.
Since fall 2003, Judge and fellow animator Don Hertzfeldt have run an animation festival called "The Animation Show". "The Animation Show" tours the country every year, screening animated shorts. In 2005, Judge was presented with the Austin Film Festival's Outstanding Television Writer Award by Johnny Hardwick.
Judge has made supporting and cameo appearances in numerous films. Judge had a voice cameo in South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut (1999), the feature-length film adaptation of the popular Comedy Central series; he voiced Kenny McCormick when he was unhooded towards the end of the film. He later acted in the science-fiction family comedy franchise Spy Kids, where he played Donnagon Giggles in the first three films. His next film appearance was Serving Sara (2002) where he played a motel manager. He later appeared in the comedy Jackass Number Two (2006), in which he can be seen during the closing credits. An extended version of his sequence can be seen in Jackass 2.5 (2007) which was a direct-to-video release. Judge also created a video clip of Beavis and Butt-Head ripping into Steve-O for his video Poke the Puss, where the two try imagining if they would like the video better if they were black. The clip aired as a part of Jackassworld.com: 24-Hour Takeover, a February 23, 2008, television special on MTV to coincide with the official launch of jackassworld.com. The characters appeared again in the third Jackass film, titled Jackass 3D, at the beginning of the film, telling viewers to put on their 3D glasses for the film.
Judge's third film, Idiocracy, a dystopian comedy starring Luke Wilson and Maya Rudolph, was given a limited release theatrically by 20th Century Fox in September 2006, two years after production. The film's original release date was intended to be on August 5, 2005, according to Mike Judge.
In April 2006, a release date was set for September 1, 2006. The film was released without a trailer or substantial marketing campaign. The film was not screened for critics beforehand as is usually done. Lack of concrete information from Fox led to speculation that the distributor may have actively attempted to keep the film from being seen by a large audience, while fulfilling a contractual obligation for theatrical release ahead of a DVD release, according to Ryan Pearson of the AP.
That speculation was followed by open criticism of the studio's lack of support from Ain't It Cool News, Time, and Esquire. Times Joel Stein wrote "the film's ads and trailers tested atrociously", but "still, abandoning Idiocracy seems particularly unjust, since Judge has made a lot of money for Fox." Despite the film not being screened for critics, the film received positive reviews and was a minor box-office success.
In the U.S., the film was released to DVD in January 2007 and later aired on premium-television, multiplex channels Cinemax in September 2007 and HBO in January 2008. Since then, it has gained a cult following.
2009–2013: The Goode Family, Extract, and other projects
Judge's fourth directorial effort was 2009's Extract. Shortly after completing Office Space, Judge was already about 40 pages into his follow-up script, set in the world of an extract factory, when he was convinced by his representative team that he needed to shelve that and concentrate on something more commercial. Over the next several years, he focused his energy on developing Idiocracy. But years later, by the time of the film's release, audiences had decided that Office Space had struck a chord, so they were ready to see Judge return to on-the-job humor, and thus the Extract script was given new life.
Seeking to keep Extract below the radar of the studio system, Judge and his producers set up a production company, Ternion Productions, and arranged private financing while partnering with Miramax for domestic distribution of the film. Judge relied heavily on his own personal knowledge of the industrial world to bring the story to life. "I actually worked in a factory a little bit myself ... I hopefully write stuff that is recognizable as the archetypes of this world," Judge stated.
Keeping true to this baseline of reality, Extract was shot in a working factory, in this case a water bottling plant south of Los Angeles, in the City of Commerce. He makes an uncredited appearance as Jim, a union organizer. The film premiered on September 4, 2009, and received mixed to positive reviews from critics and was a minor commercial success.
Judge's third television series, The Goode Family, debuted on ABC but was cancelled after one season. Comedy Central first aired the series in reruns on January 4, 2010. However, the series was pulled off the schedule shortly thereafter. It was confirmed on The Goode Family Facebook page that Comedy Central had picked up the reruns of the series, which were to be evaluated for a chance of being renewed for a second season. On August 8, 2009, however, ABC Entertainment President Steve McPherson stated that the show, along with Surviving Suburbia, had officially been canceled due to low ratings.
In 2010, reruns of The Goode Family aired Monday nights at 10 pm on Comedy Central, beginning January 4. It departed the network's primetime schedule after four weeks, returning occasionally in low-trafficked timeslots.
In 2012, Judge directed the music video (animation by Titmouse) for country music group Zac Brown Band's "The Wind". In 2013, Judge collaborated with Seth MacFarlane on a mashup episode of Family Guy, in which, complete with a Hill-themed opening, Judge reprises his role as Hank Hill. Earlier in 2010 and 2012, Judge played cameos as Hank on two episodes of MacFarlane's The Cleveland Show.
2014–present: Silicon Valley and Tales from the Tour Bus
Judge created his fourth show, Silicon Valley, with King of the Hill executive producers John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky. The HBO comedy is a single-camera live-action sitcom set in Northern California. One of its main themes is the idea that "the people most qualified to succeed are the least capable of handling success". The first season of Silicon Valley was 8 episodes long and received critical and public acclaim. Silicon Valley was renewed for a second season on April 21, 2014, and a third season on April 13, 2015. Silicon Valley aired its fourth season, which premiered on April 23, 2017. The series was renewed for a fifth season, which premiered on March 25, 2018.
On January 12, 2017, Deadline confirmed that Cinemax ordered 8 episodes of Judge's new animated series, Mike Judge Presents: Tales from the Tour Bus. The series premiered on September 22, 2017. In 2019, Judge announced he had been developing two projects for HBO: QualityLand and A5, both of which were later scrapped by HBO in 2021.
Personal life
Judge married his wife Francesca Morocco in 1989. They remained married for twenty years until they divorced in 2009. Together they have two daughters and a son. The family resides in Austin, Texas, and Malibu, California.
Political views
While King of the Hill is often a satire of protagonist Hank Hill, identifiable as a conservative, and his The Goode Family is essentially a satire centered around liberal family, Judge avoids discussing his political leanings.
In reviewing Idiocracy, Salon stated, "Judge's gimlet eye is so ruthless that at times his politics seem to border on South Park libertarianism." A writer for the libertarian magazine Reason seems to agree, comparing King of the Hill to the anti-authoritarian point of view of South Park and The Simpsons, though he calls the show more populist, noting the disdain King of the Hill seems to have for bureaucrats, professionals, and big-box chains.
Still, Judge denies having political messages in his shows, saying in an IGN interview about King of the Hill:
In June 2016, before the presidential election in November, Rolling Stone published an article claiming that Judge would produce Idiocracy-themed campaign advertisements mocking Donald Trump's presidential campaign if given permission from 20th Century Fox to do so. It was later reported by Business Insider that the ads would not go forward.
Filmography
Film
Television
Other appearances
Awards and nominations
References
External links
1962 births
Living people
People from Albuquerque, New Mexico
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
21st-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century American comedians
21st-century American comedians
Male actors from Albuquerque, New Mexico
21st-century American screenwriters
American animators
American animated film directors
American animated film producers
American blues musicians
American cartoonists
Film producers from California
American male comedians
American male film actors
American blues guitarists
American bass guitarists
American male screenwriters
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American music video directors
American satirists
American television directors
Comedy film directors
Television producers from California
American television writers
Annie Award winners
Film directors from Texas
Male actors from Austin, Texas
American male television writers
Musicians from Austin, Texas
Writers from Albuquerque, New Mexico
People from Guayaquil
People from Austin, Texas
Primetime Emmy Award winners
Showrunners
American physicists
American mechanical engineers
University of California, San Diego alumni
Writers from Austin, Texas
Animators from New Mexico
Animators from Texas
Film directors from New Mexico
Inkpot Award winners
American male non-fiction writers
Screenwriters from Texas
Television producers from Texas
Film producers from Texas
Screenwriters from New Mexico
Screenwriters from California
Comedians from California
Comedians from Texas
21st-century American male writers | false | [
"The Real Donovan is the first compilation album from Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan. It was released in the US (Hickory LPM 135 (monaural) /LPS 135 (stereo)) in September 1966.\n\nHistory\nWhen Donovan signed a contract with Epic Records, he became entangled in a legal dispute with Pye Records over the rights to his music. These legal proceedings withheld any new Donovan releases in the United Kingdom until late 1966. In the meantime, Pye Records' United States distributor Hickory Records compiled The Real Donovan from Donovan's Pye Records releases, choosing several songs that had not yet appeared on any United States release.\n\nThe Real Donovan was released within the same month as Donovan's first Epic Records album Sunshine Superman. Both albums were intended to capitalize on the success of the \"Sunshine Superman\" single, which hit No. 1 on the Billboard charts in the United States. While it did not match the Billboard chart success and sales of Sunshine Superman, The Real Donovan did chart, ultimately reaching No. 96.\n\nAlbum origins of tracks\nThe following is a list explaining the original releases of each song. Tracks that were previously unreleased in the United States are noted with *, followed by explanations of their origin.\n\n \"Turquoise\" (UK single, released 30 October 1965; Released in U.S. as b-side to \"To Try for the Sun\" in January 1966)\n \"Oh Deed I Do\"* (from UK version of Fairytale, released 22 October 1965)\n \"Catch the Wind\" (from What's Bin Did and What's Bin Hid, released 14 May 1965)\n \"Remember the Alamo\" (from What's Bin Did and What's Bin Hid, released 14 May 1965)\n \"Ballad of a Crystal Man\"* (from The Universal Soldier EP, released 15 August 1965)\n \"Colours\" (from Fairytale, released 22 October 1965)\n \"Hey Gyp (Dig the Slowness)\"* (b-side of \"Turquoise\", released 30 October 1965)\n \"Belated Forgiveness Plea\" (from Fairytale, released 22 October 1965)\n \"Ramblin' Boy\" (from What's Bin Did and What's Bin Hid, released 14 May 1965)\n \"The War Drags On\"* (from The Universal Soldier EP, released 15 August 1965)\n \"Josie\" (from What's Bin Did and What's Bin Hid, released 14 May 1965)\n \"To Try for the Sun\" (from Fairytale, released 22 October 1965)\n\nTrack listing\nAll tracks by Donovan Leitch, except where noted.\n\nSide one\n\n\"Turquoise\"\n\"Oh Deed I Do\" (Bert Jansch)\n\"Catch the Wind\"\n\"Remember the Alamo\" (Jane Bowers)\n\"Ballad of a Crystal Man\"\n\"Colours\"\n\nSide two\n\n\"Hey Gyp (Dig the Slowness)\"\n\"Belated Forgiveness Plea\"\n\"Rambin' Boy\"\n\"The War Drags On\" (Mick Softley)\n\"Josie\"\n\"To Try for the Sun\"\n\nExternal links\n The Real Donovan – Donovan Unofficial Site\n\nReal Donovan\nReal Donovan\nHickory Records compilation albums",
"Compliance gaining is a term used in the social sciences that encompasses the intentional act of altering another's behavior. Research in this area originated in the field of social psychology, but communication scholars have also provided ample research in compliance gaining. While persuasion focuses on attitudes and beliefs, compliance gaining focuses on behavior.\n\nOverview\nCompliance gaining occurs whenever a person intentionally induces another person to do something that they might have not done otherwise. Compliance gaining and persuasion are related; however, they are not one and the same. Changes in attitudes and beliefs are often the goal in persuasion; compliance gaining seeks to change the behavior of a target. It is not necessary to change a person's attitude or beliefs to gain compliance. For instance, an automobile driver might have positive attitudes towards driving fast. The threat of a speeding ticket from a police officer positioned in a speed trap may gain compliance from the driver. Conversely, persuading someone to change their attitude or belief will not necessarily gain compliance. A doctor might tell a patient that tobacco use poses a serious threat to a smoker's health. The patient may accept this as a fact and view smoking negatively, but might also continue to use tobacco.\n\nDevelopments\nCompliance gaining research has its roots in social psychology, but overlaps with many other disciplines such as communication and sociology. Compliance gaining can occur via mediated channels, but the research is most associated with interpersonal communication. In 1967, sociologists Marwell and Schmitt attempted to explain how people select compliance gaining messages. The researchers posited that people have a mental bank of strategies that they draw from when selecting a message. Marwell and Schmitt created a typology for compliance gaining techniques: promise, threat, positive expertise, negative expertise, liking, pregiving, aversive stimulation, debt, moral appeal, positive self-feeling, negative self-feeling, positive altercasting, negative altertcasting, altruism, positive esteem, and negative esteem. This study was the catalyst for more interest in compliance gaining from communication scholars.\n\nMiller, Boster, Roloff, and Seibold (1977) as well as Cody and McLaughlin (1980) studied the situational variables that influences compliance gaining strategies. The latter study identified six different typologies of situations that can influence compliance gaining behaviors: personal benefits (how much personal gain an actor can yield from the influencing behavior), dominance (the power relation between the actor and the target), rights (whether the actor has the right to expect compliance), resistance (how easy will the target be influenced), intimacy (whether the relation between actor and target is shallow), and consequences (what sort of effect this situation would have on the relationship between actor and target). Dillard and Burgoon (1985) later investigated the Cody-McLaughlin typologies. They concluded that situational variables, as described by Cody and McLaughlin, did very little to predict compliance gaining strategy selection. As early as 1982, there was already strong criticism about the strength of the relationships between situational variables and compliance gaining message selection.\n\nBy the 1990s, many research efforts attempting to link compliance gaining strategy selection and features of a situation or features of the individual \"failed to coalesce into a coherent body of knowledge\". Situational dimensions and individual differences were not effective in predicting so researchers went into other perspectives in an effort to understand compliance gaining. For instance, Schrader and Dillard (1998) linked primary and secondary goals to compliance gaining strategy. Using the theoretical framework of Goals-Plans-Actions developed by Dillard in 1980, Schrader and Dillard operate from the assumption that individuals possess and act on multiple goals. In any compliance seeking situation, the actor has primary goals that drive the attempt to influence a target. The primary goal is what the interaction is all about. For instance, if an actor wants a target to stop smoking, this is the primary goal and this is what drives the interaction. However, in the course of pursuing that goal, there are \"secondary\" goals to consider. These are goals that limit the behavior of the actor. If getting a target to stop smoking is the primary goal, then a secondary goal might be to maintain a friendly relationship with the target. Dillard specifies five types of secondary goals that temper the compliance gaining behavior: identity goals (morals and personal standards), interaction goals (impression management), relational resource goals (relationship management), personal resource goals (material concerns of the actor), and arousal management goals (efforts to manage anxiety about the compliance gaining attempt).\n\nDespite the charges of individual differences making very little progress in prediction compliance gaining strategies, some researchers in the 2000s have focused their efforts to rectify this weakness in the research to link individual differences with compliance gaining effectiveness. King (2001), acknowledging the paucity of robust situational and trait studies linked to compliance gaining, attempted to isolate one situation as a predictor for compliance gaining message selection. King's research suggested that when target of compliance gaining were perceived to be less resistant to influence attempts, the actors used more compliance gaining tactics. When targets were perceived as strongly resistant, the actors used less tactics. Elias and Loomis (2004) found that gender and race affect an instructor's ability to gain compliance in a college classroom. Punyanunt (2000) found that using humor may enhance the effectiveness of pro-social compliance gaining techniques in the classroom. Remland and Jones (1994) found that vocal intensity and touch also affect compliance gaining. Goei et al. (2003) posited that \"feelings of liking\" between target and actor as well as doing favors for the target lead to liking and obligation, which leads to increased compliance. Pre-giving (giving a target a small gift or favor such as a free sample of food) is positively associated with increased compliance in strangers. \nOne of the major criticisms of examining compliance gaining literature is that very little research studies actual compliance. Filling out a survey and reporting intent to comply with a request is certainly different than actually completing the request. For example, many people might report that they will comply with a doctor's order, but away from the doctor's office, they may ignore medical advice.\n\nApplication\nCompliance gaining research has a fairly diverse background so much of the research uses alternate paradigms and perspectives. As mentioned above, the field of compliance gaining originated in social psychology, but was adopted by many communication scholars as well. Many fields from consumer psychology to primary education pedagogy have taken great interest in compliance gaining.\n\nMedicine \nDoctors have expressed much frustration with compliance resistance from their patients. A reported 50% of patients do not comply with medical advice and prescriptions. Researchers, as well as medical professionals, have a vested interest in learning strategies that can increase compliance in their patients. Many severe and chronic conditions can be avoided if early treatments are followed as prescribed, avoiding death, permanent injury, and costlier medical treatments later on. Researchers in communication have reported some key findings such as: clear and effective communication about a patient's condition or illness increases the likelihood of patient compliance with medical advice; doctors that use humor in their communication with patients have higher satisfaction rates; high satisfaction rates with physicians is highly correlated with patient compliance.\n\nPedagogy \nFor teachers, gaining compliance from students is a must for effective teaching. Studies in compliance gaining have ranged from elementary education all the way to adult and higher education.\n\nSales and consumer psychology \nAdvertising and marketing are tools of persuasion. There is literally centuries' worth of literature available about persuasion. However, changing attitudes and beliefs about a product does not necessarily change behaviors. Purchasing a product is a behavior. Researchers such as Parrish-Sprowl, Carveth, & Senk (1994) have applied compliance gaining research to effective sales.\n\nCompliance\nCompliance gaining was not originally conceived in the field of communication but found its roots in the late 1960s as a result of studies and research by two sociologists, Gerald Marwell and David Schmitt. In 1967, Marwell and Schmitt produced some interesting compliance-gaining tactics concerning the act of getting a teenager to study. The tactics, sixteen in all, are as follows.\n\n Promise: If you comply, I will reward you. For example, you offer to increase Dick's allowance if he studies more.\n Threat: If you do not comply, I will punish you. For example, you threaten to forbid Dick to use the car if he doesn't start studying more.\n Expertise (positive): If you comply, you will be rewarded because of the \"nature of things.\" For example, you tell Dick that if he gets good grades he be able to get into college and get a good job.\n Expertise (negative): If you do not comply, you will be punished because of the \"nature of things.\" For example, you tell Dick that if he does not get good grades he will not be able to get into college or get a good job.\n Liking: Act friendly and helpful to get the person in a \"good frame of mind\" so they comply with the request. For example, you try to be as friendly and pleasant as possible to put Dick in a good mood before asking him to study.\n Pre-giving: Reward the person before requesting compliance. For example, raise Dick's allowance and tell him you now expect him to study.\n Aversive stimulation: Continuously punish the person, making cessation contingent on compliance. For example, you tell Dick he may not use the car until he studies more.\n Debt: You owe me compliance because of past favors. For example, you point out that you have sacrificed and saved to pay for Dick's education and that he owes it to you to get good enough grades to get into a good college.\n Moral appeal: You are immoral if you do not comply. You tell Dick that it is morally wrong for anyone not to get as good grades as possible and that he should study more.\n Self-feeling (positive): You will feel better about yourself if you comply. For example, you tell Dick that he will feel proud if he gets himself to study more.\n Self-feeling (negative): You will feel worse about yourself if you do not comply. For example, you tell Dick that he will feel ashamed of himself if he gets bad grades.\n Altercasting (positive): A person with \"good\" qualities would comply. For example, you tell Dick that because he is a mature and intelligent person he naturally will want to study more and get good grades.\n Altercasting (negative): Only a person with \"bad\" qualities would not comply. For example, you tell Dick that he should study because only someone very childish does not study.\n Altruism: I need your compliance very badly, so do it for me. For example, you tell Dick that you really want very badly for him to get into a good college and that you wish he would study more as a personal favor to you.\n Esteem (positive): People you value will think better of you if you comply. For example, you tell Dick that the whole family will be very proud of him if he gets good grades.\n Esteem (negative): People you value will think the worse of you if you do not comply. For example, you tell Dick that the whole family will be very disappointed in him if he gets poor grades.\n\nIn 1967, Marwell and Schmitt conducted experimental research, using the sixteen compliance gaining tactics and identified five basic compliance-gaining strategies: Rewarding activity, Punishing activity, Expertise, Activation of impersonal commitments, and Activation of personal commitments.\n\nPower\nAnother element of compliance-gaining was produced in the early 1960s, as French and Raven were researching the concepts of power, legitimacy, and politeness. They identified five influential aspects associated with power, which help illustrate elements of the study of compliance. The fives bases of power are as follows:\n\n Reward Power: A person with reward power has control over some valued resource (e.g., promotions and raises).\n Coercive Power: A person with coercive power has the ability to inflict punishments (e.g., fire you).\n Expert Power: Expert power is based on what a person knows (e.g., you may do what a doctor tells you to do because they know more about medicine than you do).\n Legitimate Power: Legitimate power is based on formal rank or position (e.g., you obey someone's commands because they are the vice president in the company for which you work).\n Referent Power: People have referent power when the person they are trying to influence wants to be like them (e.g., a mentor often has this type of power).\n\n(French & Raven, 1960)\n\nTechniques\nThe study of compliance gaining has been central in the development of many commonly used or heard of techniques. The following techniques are a few of what has evolved as a product of the study of compliance gaining strategies. Note, many of these techniques have been empirically documented increasing compliance.\n\nFoot-in-the-door (FITD) \n\nWith research starting in 1966 by Freedman & Fraser, foot-in-the door is one of the earliest and most researched compliance gaining techniques. This technique gains compliance by making a smaller easy request then a larger more difficult request at a later time. The smaller request is usually one that would be widely accepted without scrutiny. The larger request is usually the actual the task or goal wanted to be completed.\n\nEffectivity \nFreedman and Fraser thought that after satisfying the smaller initial request, if the person was not forced to do then they must be \"the type of person who fulfills such requests\".\n\nThe smaller task/request should relate to the larger request and not be trivial. For the foot-in-the-door technique to be successful it must generate the self-aware \"I am the kind of person who fulfills this type of request\" other wise known as the self-perception theory. Other studies found that if the initial request is easy but unusual or bizarre, it would also generate the foot-in-the-door effectiveness. This idea was developed further into the Disrupt-Then-Reframe technique.\n\nThere are other reasons besides the self-perception theory that makes the foot-in-the-door technique successful.\n\nConsistency – Cialdini and Guadagno, Asher, and Demaine believe that what makes people want to fulfill larger request is the need to be consistent.\n\nThe Norm to Help Others – Harris believed that after the first request, the norm to help others becomes clear. It only becomes evident after the person reviews his or her reason why they completed the original request.\n\nSatisfying the First Request – Crano and Sivacek thought what made the technique so effective was personal satisfaction. \"The person learns that the fulfillment of request brings the reward of a positive experience. One may assume that the likelihood that satisfaction of this type appears willi increase if the person has to react to something unusual that awakens his or her mindfulness, and will decrease in situations in which the person reacts automatically and habitually\".\n\nDoor-in-the-face (DITF) \n\nDoor-in-the-face was first introduced in 1975 by Cialdini and colleagues. The opposite of foot-in-the-door, in the door-in-the-face technique, the requestor asks a large objectionable request which is denied by the target instead of gaining compliance by asking a smaller easy request. The requestor seeking compliance ask a smaller more reasonable request.\n\nThere are several theories that explain why door-in-the-face is an effective gaining compliance technique.\n\nSelf-presentation theory – \"that individuals will comply with a second request due to fears one will be perceived negatively by rejecting successive prosocial request for compliance\".\n\nReciprocal concessions – this theory describes the effects of door-in-the-face as a \"process of mutual concessions\". \"The second request represents a concession on the part of the sender (from his or her initial request), and compliance to the second request represents a concession on the part of the receiver (from his or her inclination to not comply with the first request)\".\n\nGuilt – One reason that makes door-in-the-face such an effective technique is people feel guilty for refusing to comply with a request twice.\n\nSocial Responsibility – this theory describes the social repercussions and pressures that occur if an individual declines a request.\n\nAll together the theories propose that a target who declines the first request feel a \"personal or social responsibility\" to comply with the second request. In an effort to avoid feeling guilty or reduce the sense of obligation the target would have.\n\nRecent techniques\n\nDisrupt-then-reframe (DTR) \nDTR was first introduced by Barbara Price Davis and Eric S. Knowles in 1999. This technique states that a person will be more likely to comply with a request if the initial request or pitch is confusing. The pitch is immediately followed by a reframing or a reason to comply with the request.\n\nAn example of this technique is: A waiter states that \"the steak dinner is on special for 800 pennies; it's a really good deal\". Disrupting the couple by saying \"800 pennies\" instead of \"8 dollars\", the waiter is able to increase the likelihood that they will buy the steak dinner.\n\nDTR was found to be a very effective way to gain compliance in non-profit instances such as raising money for charities or asking people to take a survey. DTR was found to be less successful as a sales technique; this may be because the message is more scrutinized, making it harder to confuse the target.\n\nPersistence \nPersistence used as a compliance gaining technique, gets the target to comply by repeating the message. In 1979, Cacioppo and Petty found that repeating the message more than five times lead to decrease in compliance. Success is enhanced if the repetition comes from more than one person and is enhanced further if the message has the same idea or meaning but is not exact.\n\nAn example of this technique would be: \"My wife kept reminding me to take out the trash until I finally did it.\"\n\nDump and chase (DAC) \nPersistence has a high probability of annoying the target and creating a negative interaction which could be viewed as \"nagging\". A way to avoid this would be rejecting the targets objection to your request by asking \"why not?\", then forming another message to overcome the second objection to gain compliance. This technique is called dump and chase.\n\nMechanics of this technique are urgency and guilt. When the repeated message is presented to the target it may be perceived as urgent, thus making it seem more important, and more willing to comply. By creating a sense of obligation in the request, the target may develop guilt if not willing to comply.\n\nJust-One-More (JOM) \nJust-One-More was developed as a way to make a donation seem more important. The use of this technique involves using the language of \"Just-One-More\" to gain compliance. The technique is found to be most useful in instances regarding volunteering and donations. It is seen as \"the last person to help will be more rewarding than being one of the first or those in the middle, due to the expectation that the requestor will appreciate the last person more than any of those who complied previously\".\nFor Example: \"Do you want to buy this car? I need just one more sale to reach my quota this month.\"\n\nIf the target finds that the requestor is lying or being deceptive about being the last one, it will create a negative outlook on the person and the organization that he or she represents. Even though losing some of the effectiveness the requestor could state that they are \"close to their goal\" or \"almost there\".\n\n64 compliance gaining strategies \nIn \"Classifying Compliance Gaining Messages: Taxonomic Disorder and Strategic Confusion\", Kathy Kellermann and Tim Cole put together 64 compliance gaining strategies as an attempt to classify more than 820 previous strategies.\n Actor Takes Responsibility: Try to get others to comply by stating your willingness to help them or even work on the request yourself. That is, try to gain their compliance by offering to do it yourself as a means of getting them to do what you want. Example: \"Is there anything I can do to so you can finish the project on time?\"\n Altercasting (Negative): Try to get others to comply by pointing out that only a bad person would not do what is wanted. That is, try to gain their compliance by noting that only a person with negative qualities wouldn't comply. Example: \"You should stop watching these types of television shows as only a disturbed person would like them.\" \n Altercasting (Positive): Try to get others to comply by pointing out that a good person would do what is wanted. That is, try to gain their compliance by noting that any person with positive qualities would comply. Example: \"A good boy would eat all his vegetables.\"\n Altruism: Try to get others to comply by asking them to give you a hand out of the goodness of their heart. That is, try to gain their compliance by asking them to be altruistic and just do it for you. Example: \"Could you help me move, I would really appreciate it.\"\n Assertion: Try to get others to comply by asserting (forcefully stating) what you want. That is, try to gain their compliance by demanding (commanding) them to comply. Example: \"Go get a bandaid now!\"\n Audience-Use: Try to get others to comply by having a group of other people present when you make your request. That is, try to gain their compliance by asking them in front of other people as a way to back up your request. Example: \"I asked her to go to the prom with me in front of her friends.\" \n Authority Appeal: Try to get others to comply on the basis of the authority that you or other people have. That is, try to gain their compliance by using or relying on a position of power over them to get them do to what you want. Example: \"My boss told me to get him the reports by 10 am so I did.\"\n Aversive Stimulation: Try to get others to comply by doing things they don't like until they agree to comply. That is, try to gain their compliance by bothering them until they do what you want. Example: \"My co-worker kept bothering me to quit smoking until I finally did.\"\n Bargaining: Try to get others to comply by striking a bargain with them. That is, try to gain their compliance by negotiating a deal where you each do something for the other so everyone gets what they want. Example: \"If you help me with the dishes, I will help you with the laundry.\"\n Benefit (Other): Try to get others to comply by telling them people other than themselves would benefit if they do what you want. That is, try to gain their compliance by pointing out how it helps people other than themselves if they comply. Example: \"By donating to our fundraiser, You ensure that everyone will have a coat this winter.\"\nBenefit (Self): Try to get others to comply by telling them you personally would benefit if they do what you want. That is, try to gain their compliance by pointing out how it helps oneself if they comply. Example: \"If you helped me with the yard work, then I won't get a ticket by the city tomorrow.\"\nBenefit (Target): Try to get others to comply by telling them they personally would benefit if they do what you want. That is, try to gain their compliance by pointing out how it helps them if they comply. Example: \"If you go grocery shopping for me tonight then you will have something for lunch tomorrow.\"\nChallenge: Try to get others to comply by challenging them to do what you want. That is, try to gain their compliance by provoking, stimulating, tempting, goading, and/or galvanizing them to comply. Example: I didn't want to race until his car pulled beside mine and he revved the engine. \nCompliment: Try to get others to comply by complimenting them on their abilities or accomplishments. That is, try to gain their compliance by praising them to get them to do what you want. Example: With that jump shot, you would be really good at basketball. \nCompromise: Try to get others to comply by offering to compromise with them. That is, try to gain their compliance by making a concession to them so they'll make their concession to you and do what you want. Example: \"I will drop you off at the airport if you will go to the dentist with me.\"\n Cooperation: Try to get others to comply by being cooperative and collaborating with them. That is, try to gain their compliance not by telling the other person what to do but by offering to discuss things and work them out together. Example: \"We should get the team together and brainstorm new ideas for this problem.\"\nCriticize: Try to get others to comply by criticizing them. That is, try to gain their compliance by attacking them on a personal level to get them to do what you want. Example: \"It looks like you're really gaining some weight, why don't you go on a run with me.\"\nDebasement: Try to get others to comply by acting pitiful and pleading. That is, try to gain their compliance by debasing, demeaning, degrading, devaluing, humiliating, and/or lowering yourself so as to deprive yourself of esteem or self-worth to get them to do what you want. Example: \"I am so stupid, I can't believe I deleted the report. Can you please go delay the presentation.\" \nDebt: Try to get others to comply by reminding them they are in debt to you because of things you have done for them in the past. That is, try to gain their compliance by indicating that they owe it to you to do what you want. Example: \"You should paid for my lunch, I bought your lunch last time.\"\nDeceit: Try to get others to comply by misleading them. That is, try to gain their compliance by lying to or deceiving them. Example: \"We told them the car was in perfect working order, but the transmission is about to go out.\"\nDirect Request: Try to get others to comply by just making a direct request. That is, try to gain their compliance by simply asking or stating what you want without giving any reasons for them to comply. Example: \"Can I use the computer?\"\nDisclaimer (Norms/Rules): Try to get others to comply by downplaying or disavowing restrictions and constraints that might prevent them from doing what you want them to do. That is, try to gain their compliance by pointing out that otherwise applicable procedures, rules, norms, and/or expectations should be broken in this instance. Example: \"You should drive faster than the speed limit, this is an emergency!\"\nDisclaimer (Other): Try to get others to comply by downplaying or disavowing the ability of anyone else to do so. That is, try to gain their compliance by pointing out that other people can't help you or do what is needed. Example: \"I would ask Ted for his help but we know that he is not good at presentations.\"\nDisclaimer (Self): Try to get others to comply by downplaying or disavowing your reasons for asking. That is, try to gain their compliance by indicating that: (a) you don't want to make a bad impression nor do you have bad intentions, (b) you don't really want to make the request and you are only doing so reluctantly, and/or (c) you simply have no choice but to make the request. Example: \"I'm sorry that I am asking you for money, I'm really not a beggar.\"\nDisclaimer (Target): Try to get others to comply by acknowledging and sympathizing with why they may not want to do so. That is, try to gain their compliance by indicating that: (a) you understand and are aware of their reasons, feelings, and abilities, and/or (b) that you are sensitive to their needs and concerns even though you must ask them to do what you want. Example: \"I know that you're disappointed that you can't go on the trip, but do you mind helping me get the presentation ready?\"\nDisclaimer (Task): Try to get others to comply by downplaying what you are asking them to do. That is, try to gain their compliance by indicating that what you want them to do isn't what they think it is and shouldn't pose a problem; it isn't awful, effortful, difficult, or dumb. Example: \"Updating the database shouldn't take that much time.\"\nDisclaimer (Time): Try to get others to comply by downplaying or disavowing being busy as a reason to refuse your request. That is, try to gain their compliance by pointing out that there is or soon will be enough time for them to do what you want. Example: \"We should go to the store now, you can finish your report later.\"\nDuty: Try to get others to comply by pointing out it is their duty to do so. That is, try to gain their compliance by stating they should fulfill obligations, responsibilities, and commitments that they have. Example: \"Taking out the trash at the end of the day is a part of your job.\"\nEquity: Try to get others to comply on the grounds that it is equitable to do so. That is, try to gain their compliance by pointing out that being fair, just, and impartial means they should do what you want. Example: \"Your brother cleaned the house last time; it's your turn now.\"\nEsteem (Negative) by Others: Try to get others to comply by pointing out that, if they do not do so, other people will think worse of them. That is, try to gain their compliance by noting that in the eyes of others they will be viewed more negatively if they don't do what you want. Example: \"If you don't go to that college, other people will think you're going to a party school.\"\nEsteem (Positive) by Others: Try to get others to comply by pointing out that, if they do so, other people will think better of them. That is, try to gain their compliance by noting that in the eyes of others they will be viewed more positively if they do what you want. Example: \"If you play football, everyone will think that you're really tough.\"\nEsteem (Negative) by Actor: Try to get others to comply by pointing out that, if they do not do so, you will think worse of them. That is, try to gain their compliance by noting that in your eyes they will be viewed more negatively if they don't do what you want. Example: \"I would be really disappointed if you went to the party instead of studying.\"\nEsteem (Positive) by Actor: Try to get others to comply by pointing out that, if they do so, you will think better of them. That is, try to gain their compliance by noting that in your eyes they will be viewed more positively if they do what you want. Example: \"If you went to law school, I would have a new level of respect for you.\"\nExpertise (Negative): Try to get others to comply by pointing out that because of the way the world works, unfavorable things will happen if they don't change their behavior. That is, try to gain their compliance by noting that in the natural course of things, bad outcomes will occur if they don't do what you want. Example: \"You will get the flu, if you don't get a flu shot.\"\nExpertise (Positive): Try to get others to comply by pointing out that because the way the world works, favorable things will happen if they change their behavior. That is, try to gain their compliance by noting that in the natural course of things, good outcomes will occur if they do what you want. Example: \"If you work hard at your job, you're sure to get that promotion.\"\nHinting: Try to get others to comply by hinting around at what you want them to do. That is, try to gain their compliance by indicating indirectly what you want, hoping they will figure it out and comply even though you never come out and really say it. Example: \"I left the trash by the front door, so Dan would take it out.\" \nI Want: Try to get others to comply for no reason other than you want them to. That is, try to gain their compliance by telling them to do what you want because you desire it. Example: \"I want you to go with me to the city.\"\nInvoke Norm: Try to get others to comply by indicating they would be out of step with the norm if they didn't do what you want. That is, try to gain their compliance by prodding them to conform to what others have, do, or desire. Example: \"Everyone is going to the gym after work.\"\nIt's Up to You: Try to get others to comply by telling them the decision is theirs to make and it's up to them. That is, try to gain their compliance by telling them the choice to comply is up to them. Example: \"It's up to you to save your money, instead of spending it on video games.\"\nLogical Empirical: Try to get others to comply by making logical arguments. That is, try to gain their compliance through the use of reasoning, evidence, facts, and data. Example: \"Statistics show that non-smokers live longer than smokers.\"\nMoral Appeal: Try to get others to comply by appealing to their moral or ethical standards. That is, try to gain their compliance by letting them know what is right and what is wrong. Example: \"Don't buy those shoes they are made using child labor.\"\nMy Concern for You: Try to get others to comply because of your concern for them. That is, try to gain their compliance by referring to your regard for, consideration of, interest in, and feelings for them. Example: \"Please go to the doctor, I'm worried about you.\"\nNature of Situation: Try to get others to comply by being attentive to the situation or circumstances you find yourselves in. That is, try to gain their compliance by taking note of the appropriateness of their behavior to the situation and/or the appropriateness of your request in the situation. Example: \"I told my son that the bed was not a trampoline.\" \nNegative Affect: Try to get others to comply by being really negative: expressing negative emotions, acting really unfriendly, and creating an unappealing impression. That is, try to gain their compliance by acting displeased to get them to do what you want. Example: \"Angrily, I told her to put her phone on silent after it went off in class..\"\nNot Seek Compliance: No attempt is made to get others to do what you want. That is, no compliance is sought. Example: \"I didn't ask if I could go out tonight.\"\nPersistence: Try to get others to comply by being persistent. That is, try to gain their compliance by persevering (continuing) in your attempts to get them to do what you want. Example: \"After asking for over a year, we are finally getting a pool.\"\nPersonal Expertise: Try to get others to comply by referring to your credibility (your personal expertise). That is, try to gain their compliance based on your experience, know-how, trustworthiness, and judgment. Example: \"You should get those shoes, I have them and they feel great when running. \nPositive Affect: Try to get others to comply by being really positive: expressing positive emotions, acting really friendly, and creating an appealing impression. That is, try to gain their compliance by charming them into doing what you want. Example: \"She was really happy, when she asked for a raise.\"\nPre-Giving: Try to get others to comply by doing positive and nice things for them in advance of asking them to do what you want. That is, try to gain their compliance by giving them things they'd like and then only afterwards making your request. Example: \"I bought my wife flowers, then later asked if I could go fishing this weekend.\"\nPromise: Try to get others to comply by making a promise. That is, try to gain their compliance by offering to give them a reward or something they'd like if they do what is wanted. Example: \"If you behave in the store, I promise that we will stop for ice cream on the way home.\"\nPromote Task: Try to get others to comply by promoting the value and worth of what you want them to do. That is, try to gain their compliance by identifying one or more positive qualities of the thing you are asking them to do (e.g., what you want them to do is important, meaningful, rewarding, enjoyable etc.). Example: \"If you complete this presentation on time, you will be less stressed and will get a good grade.\"\nSelf-Feeling (Negative): Try to get others to comply by stating that not doing so will result in an automatic decrease in their self-worth. That is, try to gain their compliance by pointing out that they will feel worse about themselves if they don't do what you want. Example: \"You will feel bad if you throw all that food away instead of donating it.\"\nSelf-Feeling (Positive): Try to get others to comply by stating that doing so will result in an automatic increase in their self-worth. That is, try to gain their compliance by pointing out that they will feel better about themselves if they do what you want. Example: \"You will feel better if you donate that old coat to charity instead of selling it in the garage sale.\" \nSuggest: Try to get others to comply by offering suggestions about what it is you want them to do. That is, try to gain their compliance by subtly proposing an idea that indirectly points out and describes what it is you want them to do. Example: \"Why don't you try the steak instead of the chicken?\"\nSurveillance: Try to get others to comply by indicating your awareness and observation of what they do. That is, try to gain their compliance by referring to your general vigilance, surveillance, scrutiny, and/or monitoring of their behavior. Example: \"I will find out if you're lying to me about the car accident.\" \nThird Party: Try to get others to comply by having someone else ask them for you. That is, try to gain their compliance by getting someone else to intervene and do it for you. Example: \"Jane don't you think Jim should go on that date with the girl from accounting.\" \nThis Is the Way Things Are: Try to get others to comply by telling them they have to because that is just the way things are. That is, try to gain their compliance by referring to rules, procedures, policies, or customs that require them to comply. Example: \"You should slow down since the speed limit is only 25 mph.\"\nThought Manipulation: Try to get others to comply by convincing them that the request you are making is really their own idea. That is, try to gain their compliance by having them think they were the ones who really wanted to do it in the first place. Example: \"We should go on the roller coaster, since you wanted to come to the fair in the first place.\" \nThreat: Try to get others to comply by threatening them. That is, try to gain their compliance by saying you will punish them if they don't do what you want. Example: \"If you go to the bar again tonight, consider us done.\" \nValue Appeal: Try to get others to comply because of important values that compel action in this instance. That is, try to gain their compliance by pointing to central and joint beliefs that should guide what they do. Example: \"Since we both care about the ocean, we should volunteer for the cleanup.\"\nWarning: Try to get others to comply by warning them about what they are doing. That is, try to gain their compliance by alerting them to possible negative consequences of their behavior. Example: \"You might get fired if you stay up all night.\" \nWelfare (Others): Try to get others to comply by telling them how other people would be hurt if they don't do what you want. That is, try to gain their compliance by pointing out that the welfare of other people is at stake. Example: \"If you are not going to be in the family photo then we won't take one.\" \nWhy Not?: Try to get others to comply by making them justify why they should not. That is, try to gain their compliance by pointing out there are no real grounds for not doing so. Example: \"Why wouldn't you help your sister?\"\nYour Concern for Me: Try to get others to comply because of their concern for you. That is, try to gain their compliance by referring to their regard for, consideration of, interest in, and feelings for you. Example: \"If you really cared for me then you would go to the dance recital.\"\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading\n \n Dillard, J.P. (2004). The goals-plans-action model of interpersonal influence. In J. S. Seiter & R. H. Gass (Eds.) Readings in persuasion, social influence, and compliance gaining (pp. 185–206). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.\n French, J. P. R., Jr., & Raven, B. (1960). The bases of social power. In D. Cartwright & A. Zander (Eds.), Group dynamics (pp. 607–623). New York: Harper & Row.\n \n \n \n McQuillen, J. S., Higginbotham, D. C., & Cummings, M. C. (1984). Compliance-resisting behaviors: The effects of age, agent, and types of request. In R. N. Bostrom (Ed.), Communication yearbook 8 (pp. 747–762). Beverly Hills: SAGE.\n \n \n Wheeless, L. R., Barraclough, R., & Stewart, R. (1983). Compliance-gaining and power in persuasion. In R. Bostrom (Ed.), Communication yearbook 7 (pp. 105–145). Beverly Hills: Sage.\n\nPersuasion\nAttitude change\nSociological theories"
] |
[
"Mike Judge",
"1990-1997: Early career and Beavis and Butt-Head",
"What did he try",
"He graduated in 1986 from University of California, San Diego."
] | C_81e3eab6e02a4e1abcedb12adf463565_1 | What did he try and do next | 2 | What did Judge try and do after graduating from University of California? | Mike Judge | He graduated in 1986 from University of California, San Diego. In 1987, he moved to Silicon Valley to join Parallax Graphics, a startup video card company with about 40 employees based in Santa Clara. Disliking the company's culture and his colleagues ("The people I met were like Stepford Wives. They were true believers in something, and I don't know what it was"), Judge quit after less than three months and became a bass player with a touring blues band. He was a part of Anson Funderburgh's band for two years, playing on their 1990 Black Top Records release "Rack 'Em Up", while taking graduate math classes at the University of Texas at Dallas. In 1989, after seeing animation cels on display in a movie theater, Judge purchased a Bolex 16 mm film camera and began creating his own animated shorts. In 1991, his short film "Office Space" (also known as the Milton series of shorts) was acquired by Comedy Central, following an animation festival in Dallas. In the early 1990s, he was playing blues bass with Doyle Bramhall. In 1992, he developed Frog Baseball, a short film featuring the characters Beavis and Butt-Head, to be featured on Liquid Television, a 1990s animation showcase that appeared on MTV. The short led to the creation of the Beavis and Butt-Head series on MTV, in which Judge voiced both title characters as well as the majority of supporting characters and wrote and directed the majority of the episodes. The show centers on two socially incompetent, heavy metal-loving teenage wannabe delinquents, Beavis and Butt-Head (both voiced by Judge), who go to High School at Highland High in Albuquerque, New Mexico (the same city where Judge was raised and attended high school). The two have no adult supervision, are dim-witted, sex-obsessed, uneducated, barely literate, and lack any empathy or moral scruples, even regarding each other. Over its run, Beavis and Butt-Head drew a notable amount of both positive and negative reaction from the public with its combination of lewd humor and implied criticism of society. Judge himself is highly critical of the animation and quality of earlier episodes, in particular the first two - Blood Drive/Give Blood and Door to Door - which he described as "awful, I don't know why anybody liked it... I was burying my head in the sand." The series spawned the feature-length film Beavis and Butt-Head Do America and the spin-off show Daria. After two decades, the series aired its new season on October 27, 2011. The premiere was dubbed a ratings hit, with an audience of 3.3 million total viewers. On January 10, 2014, Judge announced that there is still a chance to pitch Beavis and Butt-Head to another network and that he wouldn't mind making more episodes. CANNOTANSWER | In 1987, he moved to Silicon Valley to join Parallax Graphics, a startup video card company with about 40 employees based in Santa Clara. | Michael Craig Judge (born October 17, 1962) is an American actor, animator, writer, producer, director and musician. He is the creator of the animated television series Beavis and Butt-Head (1993–1997, 2011, 2021–present), and co-creator of the television series King of the Hill (1997–2010), The Goode Family (2009), Silicon Valley (2014–2019), and Mike Judge Presents: Tales from the Tour Bus (2017–2018). He also wrote and directed the films Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (1996), Office Space (1999), Idiocracy (2006), and Extract (2009).
Judge was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and raised in the U.S. state of New Mexico. He graduated from the University of California, San Diego, where he studied physics. After losing interest in a career in science, Judge began to focus on animation and creating short films. One of these (Frog Baseball) was developed into the successful MTV series Beavis and Butt-Head, which eventually spawned a 1996 feature film, as well as the spin-off series Daria (with which Judge had no involvement).
In 1995, Judge and former The Simpsons writer Greg Daniels developed King of the Hill, which debuted on Fox in 1997 and quickly became a hit with both critics and audiences; running for 13 seasons, it became one of the longest-running American animated series. During the run of the show, Judge took some time off to write and direct Office Space, Idiocracy, and Extract. As King of the Hill was coming to an end, Judge created his third show, ABC's The Goode Family, which received mixed reviews and was cancelled after 13 episodes. After a four-year hiatus, he created his fourth show, the live-action Silicon Valley for HBO, which has received critical acclaim since its premiere. In 2017, Judge's fourth animated series, the music-themed Tales from the Tour Bus, premiered on Cinemax, to critical and audience acclaim.
Judge has won a Primetime Emmy Award and two Annie Awards for King of the Hill and two Critics' Choice Television Awards and Satellite Awards for Silicon Valley.
Early life
Michael Craig Judge was born on October 17, 1962, in Guayaquil, Ecuador. He is the middle of three children born to Margaret Yvonne (née Blue), a librarian, and William James Judge, an archaeologist. At the time of his birth, his father was working for a nonprofit organization in Guayaquil and other parts of Ecuador, promoting agricultural development. Judge was raised from age seven in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he spent a small portion of his life working on a chicken farm. He attended St. Pius X High School and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in physics from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) in 1985.
Career
1985–1997: Early science career; musician; animation and Beavis and Butt-Head
After graduating from UCSD in 1985, he held several brief jobs in physics and mechanical engineering, but found himself growing bored with science. In 1987, he moved to Silicon Valley to join Parallax Graphics, a startup video card company with about 40 employees based in Santa Clara, California. Disliking the company's culture and his colleagues ("The people I met were like Stepford Wives. They were true believers in something, and I don't know what it was"), Judge quit after less than three months and became a bass player with a touring blues band.
He was a part of Anson Funderburgh's band for two years, playing on their 1990 Black Top Records release "Rack 'Em Up", while taking graduate math classes at the University of Texas at Dallas. In 1989, after seeing animation cels on display in a movie theater, Judge purchased a Bolex 16 mm film camera and began creating his own animated shorts in his home in Richardson, Texas. In 1991, his short film "Office Space" (also known as the Milton series of shorts) was acquired by Comedy Central, following an animation festival in Dallas. In the early 1990s, he was playing blues bass with Doyle Bramhall.
In 1992, he developed Frog Baseball, a short film featuring the characters Beavis and Butt-Head, to be featured on Liquid Television, a 1990s animation showcase that appeared on MTV. The short led to the creation of the Beavis and Butt-Head series on MTV, in which Judge voiced both title characters as well as the majority of supporting characters and wrote and directed the majority of the episodes. The show centers on two socially incompetent, heavy metal-loving teenage wannabe delinquents, Beavis and Butt-Head, who live in the fictional town of Highland, Texas. The two have no adult supervision, are dim-witted, sex-obsessed, uneducated, barely literate, and lack any empathy or moral scruples, even regarding each other. Over its run, Beavis and Butt-Head drew a notable amount of both positive and negative reaction from the public with its combination of lewd humor and implied criticism of society.
Judge himself is highly critical of the animation and quality of earlier episodes, in particular the first two – Blood Drive/Give Blood and Door to Door – which he described as "awful, I don't know why anybody liked it ... I was burying my head in the sand." The series spawned the feature-length film Beavis and Butt-Head Do America and the spin-off show Daria.
After two decades, the series aired its new season on October 27, 2011. The premiere was a ratings hit, with an audience of 3.3 million total viewers. On January 10, 2014, Judge announced that there is still a chance to pitch Beavis and Butt-Head to another network and that he wouldn't mind making more episodes.
1997–2009: King of the Hill, Office Space, and Idiocracy
In early 1995, after the successful first run of Beavis and Butt-Head on MTV, Mike Judge co-created the show King of the Hill with former The Simpsons writer Greg Daniels. Judge was a former resident of Garland, Texas, upon which the fictional community of Arlen was loosely based, but as Judge stated in a later interview, the show was based more specifically on the Dallas suburb of Richardson. Judge conceived the idea for the show, drew the main characters, and wrote the pilot script. Judge voiced characters Hank Hill and Jeff Boomhauer. The show is about a middle-class Methodist family named the Hills living in a small town called Arlen, Texas. It attempts to retain a naturalistic approach, seeking humor in the conventional and mundane aspects of everyday life while dealing with issues comically. After its debut in 1997, the series became a large success for Fox and was named one of the best television series of the year by various publications, including Entertainment Weekly, Time, and TV Guide.
For the 1997–1998 season, the series became one of Fox's highest-rated programs and even briefly outperformed The Simpsons in ratings. Although ratings remained consistent throughout the 10th, 11th and 12th seasons and had begun to rise in the overall Nielsen ratings (up to the 105th most watched series on television, from 118 in season 8), Fox abruptly announced in 2008 that King of the Hill had been cancelled. The cancellation coincided with the announcement that Seth MacFarlane, creator of Family Guy and American Dad!, would be creating a Family Guy spin-off called The Cleveland Show, which would take over King of the Hill's time slot. Hopes to keep the show afloat surfaced as sources indicated that ABC (which was already airing Judge's new animated comedy, The Goode Family) was interested in securing the rights to the show, but in January 2009, ABC president Steve McPherson said he had "no plans to pick up the animated comedy." On April 30, 2009, it was announced that Fox ordered at least two more episodes to give the show a proper finale. The show's 14th season was supposed to air sometime in the 2009–10 season, but Fox later announced that it would not air the episodes, opting instead for syndication. On August 10, 2009, however, Fox released a statement that the network would air a one-hour series finale (which consisted of a regular 30-minute episode followed by a 30-minute finale) on September 13, 2009. The four remaining episodes of the series aired in syndication the week of May 3, 2010, and again on Adult Swim during the week of May 17, 2010. During the panel discussion for the return of Beavis and Butt-Head at Comic-Con 2011, Mike Judge said that no current plans exist to revive King of the Hill, although he would not rule out the possibility of it returning.
Judge began to develop one of his four animated short films entitled Milton, about an office drone named Milton that Judge created, which first aired on Liquid Television and Night After Night with Allan Havey and later aired on Saturday Night Live. The inspiration came from a temp job he once had that involved alphabetizing purchase orders and a job he had as an engineer for three months in the San Francisco Bay Area during the 1980s, "just in the heart of Silicon Valley and in the middle of that overachiever yuppie thing, it was just awful". Judge sold the completed film Office Space to 20th Century Fox based on his script and a cast that included Jennifer Aniston, Ron Livingston, and David Herman. Originally, the studio wanted to make a film out of the Milton character but Judge was not interested, opting instead to make more of an ensemble cast–based film. The studio suggested that he should make a film like Car Wash but "just set in an office". Judge made the relatively painless transition from animation to live-action with the help of the film's director of photography who taught him about lenses and where to put the camera. Judge says, "I had a great crew, and it's good going into it not pretending you're an expert." Studio executives were not happy with the footage Judge was getting. He remembers them telling him, "More energy! More energy! We gotta reshoot it! You're failing! You're failing!" In addition, Fox did not like the gangsta rap music used in the film until a focus group approved of it. Judge hated the ending and felt that a complete rewrite of the third act was necessary. In the film, he made a cameo appearance as Stan (complete with hairpiece and fake mustache), the manager of Chotchkie's, a fictionalized parody of chain restaurants like Chili's, Applebee's and TGI Friday's, and the boss of Jennifer Aniston's character, whom he continually undermines and interrogates over her lack of sufficient enthusiasm for the job and the insufficient quantity of "flair" (buttons, ribbons, etc.) she wears on her uniform. The film was released on February 19, 1999, and it was well received by critics. Although not particularly successful at the box office, it sold well on VHS and DVD, and it has come to be recognized as a cult classic.
Since fall 2003, Judge and fellow animator Don Hertzfeldt have run an animation festival called "The Animation Show". "The Animation Show" tours the country every year, screening animated shorts. In 2005, Judge was presented with the Austin Film Festival's Outstanding Television Writer Award by Johnny Hardwick.
Judge has made supporting and cameo appearances in numerous films. Judge had a voice cameo in South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut (1999), the feature-length film adaptation of the popular Comedy Central series; he voiced Kenny McCormick when he was unhooded towards the end of the film. He later acted in the science-fiction family comedy franchise Spy Kids, where he played Donnagon Giggles in the first three films. His next film appearance was Serving Sara (2002) where he played a motel manager. He later appeared in the comedy Jackass Number Two (2006), in which he can be seen during the closing credits. An extended version of his sequence can be seen in Jackass 2.5 (2007) which was a direct-to-video release. Judge also created a video clip of Beavis and Butt-Head ripping into Steve-O for his video Poke the Puss, where the two try imagining if they would like the video better if they were black. The clip aired as a part of Jackassworld.com: 24-Hour Takeover, a February 23, 2008, television special on MTV to coincide with the official launch of jackassworld.com. The characters appeared again in the third Jackass film, titled Jackass 3D, at the beginning of the film, telling viewers to put on their 3D glasses for the film.
Judge's third film, Idiocracy, a dystopian comedy starring Luke Wilson and Maya Rudolph, was given a limited release theatrically by 20th Century Fox in September 2006, two years after production. The film's original release date was intended to be on August 5, 2005, according to Mike Judge.
In April 2006, a release date was set for September 1, 2006. The film was released without a trailer or substantial marketing campaign. The film was not screened for critics beforehand as is usually done. Lack of concrete information from Fox led to speculation that the distributor may have actively attempted to keep the film from being seen by a large audience, while fulfilling a contractual obligation for theatrical release ahead of a DVD release, according to Ryan Pearson of the AP.
That speculation was followed by open criticism of the studio's lack of support from Ain't It Cool News, Time, and Esquire. Times Joel Stein wrote "the film's ads and trailers tested atrociously", but "still, abandoning Idiocracy seems particularly unjust, since Judge has made a lot of money for Fox." Despite the film not being screened for critics, the film received positive reviews and was a minor box-office success.
In the U.S., the film was released to DVD in January 2007 and later aired on premium-television, multiplex channels Cinemax in September 2007 and HBO in January 2008. Since then, it has gained a cult following.
2009–2013: The Goode Family, Extract, and other projects
Judge's fourth directorial effort was 2009's Extract. Shortly after completing Office Space, Judge was already about 40 pages into his follow-up script, set in the world of an extract factory, when he was convinced by his representative team that he needed to shelve that and concentrate on something more commercial. Over the next several years, he focused his energy on developing Idiocracy. But years later, by the time of the film's release, audiences had decided that Office Space had struck a chord, so they were ready to see Judge return to on-the-job humor, and thus the Extract script was given new life.
Seeking to keep Extract below the radar of the studio system, Judge and his producers set up a production company, Ternion Productions, and arranged private financing while partnering with Miramax for domestic distribution of the film. Judge relied heavily on his own personal knowledge of the industrial world to bring the story to life. "I actually worked in a factory a little bit myself ... I hopefully write stuff that is recognizable as the archetypes of this world," Judge stated.
Keeping true to this baseline of reality, Extract was shot in a working factory, in this case a water bottling plant south of Los Angeles, in the City of Commerce. He makes an uncredited appearance as Jim, a union organizer. The film premiered on September 4, 2009, and received mixed to positive reviews from critics and was a minor commercial success.
Judge's third television series, The Goode Family, debuted on ABC but was cancelled after one season. Comedy Central first aired the series in reruns on January 4, 2010. However, the series was pulled off the schedule shortly thereafter. It was confirmed on The Goode Family Facebook page that Comedy Central had picked up the reruns of the series, which were to be evaluated for a chance of being renewed for a second season. On August 8, 2009, however, ABC Entertainment President Steve McPherson stated that the show, along with Surviving Suburbia, had officially been canceled due to low ratings.
In 2010, reruns of The Goode Family aired Monday nights at 10 pm on Comedy Central, beginning January 4. It departed the network's primetime schedule after four weeks, returning occasionally in low-trafficked timeslots.
In 2012, Judge directed the music video (animation by Titmouse) for country music group Zac Brown Band's "The Wind". In 2013, Judge collaborated with Seth MacFarlane on a mashup episode of Family Guy, in which, complete with a Hill-themed opening, Judge reprises his role as Hank Hill. Earlier in 2010 and 2012, Judge played cameos as Hank on two episodes of MacFarlane's The Cleveland Show.
2014–present: Silicon Valley and Tales from the Tour Bus
Judge created his fourth show, Silicon Valley, with King of the Hill executive producers John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky. The HBO comedy is a single-camera live-action sitcom set in Northern California. One of its main themes is the idea that "the people most qualified to succeed are the least capable of handling success". The first season of Silicon Valley was 8 episodes long and received critical and public acclaim. Silicon Valley was renewed for a second season on April 21, 2014, and a third season on April 13, 2015. Silicon Valley aired its fourth season, which premiered on April 23, 2017. The series was renewed for a fifth season, which premiered on March 25, 2018.
On January 12, 2017, Deadline confirmed that Cinemax ordered 8 episodes of Judge's new animated series, Mike Judge Presents: Tales from the Tour Bus. The series premiered on September 22, 2017. In 2019, Judge announced he had been developing two projects for HBO: QualityLand and A5, both of which were later scrapped by HBO in 2021.
Personal life
Judge married his wife Francesca Morocco in 1989. They remained married for twenty years until they divorced in 2009. Together they have two daughters and a son. The family resides in Austin, Texas, and Malibu, California.
Political views
While King of the Hill is often a satire of protagonist Hank Hill, identifiable as a conservative, and his The Goode Family is essentially a satire centered around liberal family, Judge avoids discussing his political leanings.
In reviewing Idiocracy, Salon stated, "Judge's gimlet eye is so ruthless that at times his politics seem to border on South Park libertarianism." A writer for the libertarian magazine Reason seems to agree, comparing King of the Hill to the anti-authoritarian point of view of South Park and The Simpsons, though he calls the show more populist, noting the disdain King of the Hill seems to have for bureaucrats, professionals, and big-box chains.
Still, Judge denies having political messages in his shows, saying in an IGN interview about King of the Hill:
In June 2016, before the presidential election in November, Rolling Stone published an article claiming that Judge would produce Idiocracy-themed campaign advertisements mocking Donald Trump's presidential campaign if given permission from 20th Century Fox to do so. It was later reported by Business Insider that the ads would not go forward.
Filmography
Film
Television
Other appearances
Awards and nominations
References
External links
1962 births
Living people
People from Albuquerque, New Mexico
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
21st-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century American comedians
21st-century American comedians
Male actors from Albuquerque, New Mexico
21st-century American screenwriters
American animators
American animated film directors
American animated film producers
American blues musicians
American cartoonists
Film producers from California
American male comedians
American male film actors
American blues guitarists
American bass guitarists
American male screenwriters
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American music video directors
American satirists
American television directors
Comedy film directors
Television producers from California
American television writers
Annie Award winners
Film directors from Texas
Male actors from Austin, Texas
American male television writers
Musicians from Austin, Texas
Writers from Albuquerque, New Mexico
People from Guayaquil
People from Austin, Texas
Primetime Emmy Award winners
Showrunners
American physicists
American mechanical engineers
University of California, San Diego alumni
Writers from Austin, Texas
Animators from New Mexico
Animators from Texas
Film directors from New Mexico
Inkpot Award winners
American male non-fiction writers
Screenwriters from Texas
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Film producers from Texas
Screenwriters from New Mexico
Screenwriters from California
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Comedians from Texas
21st-century American male writers | false | [
"Compliance gaining is a term used in the social sciences that encompasses the intentional act of altering another's behavior. Research in this area originated in the field of social psychology, but communication scholars have also provided ample research in compliance gaining. While persuasion focuses on attitudes and beliefs, compliance gaining focuses on behavior.\n\nOverview\nCompliance gaining occurs whenever a person intentionally induces another person to do something that they might have not done otherwise. Compliance gaining and persuasion are related; however, they are not one and the same. Changes in attitudes and beliefs are often the goal in persuasion; compliance gaining seeks to change the behavior of a target. It is not necessary to change a person's attitude or beliefs to gain compliance. For instance, an automobile driver might have positive attitudes towards driving fast. The threat of a speeding ticket from a police officer positioned in a speed trap may gain compliance from the driver. Conversely, persuading someone to change their attitude or belief will not necessarily gain compliance. A doctor might tell a patient that tobacco use poses a serious threat to a smoker's health. The patient may accept this as a fact and view smoking negatively, but might also continue to use tobacco.\n\nDevelopments\nCompliance gaining research has its roots in social psychology, but overlaps with many other disciplines such as communication and sociology. Compliance gaining can occur via mediated channels, but the research is most associated with interpersonal communication. In 1967, sociologists Marwell and Schmitt attempted to explain how people select compliance gaining messages. The researchers posited that people have a mental bank of strategies that they draw from when selecting a message. Marwell and Schmitt created a typology for compliance gaining techniques: promise, threat, positive expertise, negative expertise, liking, pregiving, aversive stimulation, debt, moral appeal, positive self-feeling, negative self-feeling, positive altercasting, negative altertcasting, altruism, positive esteem, and negative esteem. This study was the catalyst for more interest in compliance gaining from communication scholars.\n\nMiller, Boster, Roloff, and Seibold (1977) as well as Cody and McLaughlin (1980) studied the situational variables that influences compliance gaining strategies. The latter study identified six different typologies of situations that can influence compliance gaining behaviors: personal benefits (how much personal gain an actor can yield from the influencing behavior), dominance (the power relation between the actor and the target), rights (whether the actor has the right to expect compliance), resistance (how easy will the target be influenced), intimacy (whether the relation between actor and target is shallow), and consequences (what sort of effect this situation would have on the relationship between actor and target). Dillard and Burgoon (1985) later investigated the Cody-McLaughlin typologies. They concluded that situational variables, as described by Cody and McLaughlin, did very little to predict compliance gaining strategy selection. As early as 1982, there was already strong criticism about the strength of the relationships between situational variables and compliance gaining message selection.\n\nBy the 1990s, many research efforts attempting to link compliance gaining strategy selection and features of a situation or features of the individual \"failed to coalesce into a coherent body of knowledge\". Situational dimensions and individual differences were not effective in predicting so researchers went into other perspectives in an effort to understand compliance gaining. For instance, Schrader and Dillard (1998) linked primary and secondary goals to compliance gaining strategy. Using the theoretical framework of Goals-Plans-Actions developed by Dillard in 1980, Schrader and Dillard operate from the assumption that individuals possess and act on multiple goals. In any compliance seeking situation, the actor has primary goals that drive the attempt to influence a target. The primary goal is what the interaction is all about. For instance, if an actor wants a target to stop smoking, this is the primary goal and this is what drives the interaction. However, in the course of pursuing that goal, there are \"secondary\" goals to consider. These are goals that limit the behavior of the actor. If getting a target to stop smoking is the primary goal, then a secondary goal might be to maintain a friendly relationship with the target. Dillard specifies five types of secondary goals that temper the compliance gaining behavior: identity goals (morals and personal standards), interaction goals (impression management), relational resource goals (relationship management), personal resource goals (material concerns of the actor), and arousal management goals (efforts to manage anxiety about the compliance gaining attempt).\n\nDespite the charges of individual differences making very little progress in prediction compliance gaining strategies, some researchers in the 2000s have focused their efforts to rectify this weakness in the research to link individual differences with compliance gaining effectiveness. King (2001), acknowledging the paucity of robust situational and trait studies linked to compliance gaining, attempted to isolate one situation as a predictor for compliance gaining message selection. King's research suggested that when target of compliance gaining were perceived to be less resistant to influence attempts, the actors used more compliance gaining tactics. When targets were perceived as strongly resistant, the actors used less tactics. Elias and Loomis (2004) found that gender and race affect an instructor's ability to gain compliance in a college classroom. Punyanunt (2000) found that using humor may enhance the effectiveness of pro-social compliance gaining techniques in the classroom. Remland and Jones (1994) found that vocal intensity and touch also affect compliance gaining. Goei et al. (2003) posited that \"feelings of liking\" between target and actor as well as doing favors for the target lead to liking and obligation, which leads to increased compliance. Pre-giving (giving a target a small gift or favor such as a free sample of food) is positively associated with increased compliance in strangers. \nOne of the major criticisms of examining compliance gaining literature is that very little research studies actual compliance. Filling out a survey and reporting intent to comply with a request is certainly different than actually completing the request. For example, many people might report that they will comply with a doctor's order, but away from the doctor's office, they may ignore medical advice.\n\nApplication\nCompliance gaining research has a fairly diverse background so much of the research uses alternate paradigms and perspectives. As mentioned above, the field of compliance gaining originated in social psychology, but was adopted by many communication scholars as well. Many fields from consumer psychology to primary education pedagogy have taken great interest in compliance gaining.\n\nMedicine \nDoctors have expressed much frustration with compliance resistance from their patients. A reported 50% of patients do not comply with medical advice and prescriptions. Researchers, as well as medical professionals, have a vested interest in learning strategies that can increase compliance in their patients. Many severe and chronic conditions can be avoided if early treatments are followed as prescribed, avoiding death, permanent injury, and costlier medical treatments later on. Researchers in communication have reported some key findings such as: clear and effective communication about a patient's condition or illness increases the likelihood of patient compliance with medical advice; doctors that use humor in their communication with patients have higher satisfaction rates; high satisfaction rates with physicians is highly correlated with patient compliance.\n\nPedagogy \nFor teachers, gaining compliance from students is a must for effective teaching. Studies in compliance gaining have ranged from elementary education all the way to adult and higher education.\n\nSales and consumer psychology \nAdvertising and marketing are tools of persuasion. There is literally centuries' worth of literature available about persuasion. However, changing attitudes and beliefs about a product does not necessarily change behaviors. Purchasing a product is a behavior. Researchers such as Parrish-Sprowl, Carveth, & Senk (1994) have applied compliance gaining research to effective sales.\n\nCompliance\nCompliance gaining was not originally conceived in the field of communication but found its roots in the late 1960s as a result of studies and research by two sociologists, Gerald Marwell and David Schmitt. In 1967, Marwell and Schmitt produced some interesting compliance-gaining tactics concerning the act of getting a teenager to study. The tactics, sixteen in all, are as follows.\n\n Promise: If you comply, I will reward you. For example, you offer to increase Dick's allowance if he studies more.\n Threat: If you do not comply, I will punish you. For example, you threaten to forbid Dick to use the car if he doesn't start studying more.\n Expertise (positive): If you comply, you will be rewarded because of the \"nature of things.\" For example, you tell Dick that if he gets good grades he be able to get into college and get a good job.\n Expertise (negative): If you do not comply, you will be punished because of the \"nature of things.\" For example, you tell Dick that if he does not get good grades he will not be able to get into college or get a good job.\n Liking: Act friendly and helpful to get the person in a \"good frame of mind\" so they comply with the request. For example, you try to be as friendly and pleasant as possible to put Dick in a good mood before asking him to study.\n Pre-giving: Reward the person before requesting compliance. For example, raise Dick's allowance and tell him you now expect him to study.\n Aversive stimulation: Continuously punish the person, making cessation contingent on compliance. For example, you tell Dick he may not use the car until he studies more.\n Debt: You owe me compliance because of past favors. For example, you point out that you have sacrificed and saved to pay for Dick's education and that he owes it to you to get good enough grades to get into a good college.\n Moral appeal: You are immoral if you do not comply. You tell Dick that it is morally wrong for anyone not to get as good grades as possible and that he should study more.\n Self-feeling (positive): You will feel better about yourself if you comply. For example, you tell Dick that he will feel proud if he gets himself to study more.\n Self-feeling (negative): You will feel worse about yourself if you do not comply. For example, you tell Dick that he will feel ashamed of himself if he gets bad grades.\n Altercasting (positive): A person with \"good\" qualities would comply. For example, you tell Dick that because he is a mature and intelligent person he naturally will want to study more and get good grades.\n Altercasting (negative): Only a person with \"bad\" qualities would not comply. For example, you tell Dick that he should study because only someone very childish does not study.\n Altruism: I need your compliance very badly, so do it for me. For example, you tell Dick that you really want very badly for him to get into a good college and that you wish he would study more as a personal favor to you.\n Esteem (positive): People you value will think better of you if you comply. For example, you tell Dick that the whole family will be very proud of him if he gets good grades.\n Esteem (negative): People you value will think the worse of you if you do not comply. For example, you tell Dick that the whole family will be very disappointed in him if he gets poor grades.\n\nIn 1967, Marwell and Schmitt conducted experimental research, using the sixteen compliance gaining tactics and identified five basic compliance-gaining strategies: Rewarding activity, Punishing activity, Expertise, Activation of impersonal commitments, and Activation of personal commitments.\n\nPower\nAnother element of compliance-gaining was produced in the early 1960s, as French and Raven were researching the concepts of power, legitimacy, and politeness. They identified five influential aspects associated with power, which help illustrate elements of the study of compliance. The fives bases of power are as follows:\n\n Reward Power: A person with reward power has control over some valued resource (e.g., promotions and raises).\n Coercive Power: A person with coercive power has the ability to inflict punishments (e.g., fire you).\n Expert Power: Expert power is based on what a person knows (e.g., you may do what a doctor tells you to do because they know more about medicine than you do).\n Legitimate Power: Legitimate power is based on formal rank or position (e.g., you obey someone's commands because they are the vice president in the company for which you work).\n Referent Power: People have referent power when the person they are trying to influence wants to be like them (e.g., a mentor often has this type of power).\n\n(French & Raven, 1960)\n\nTechniques\nThe study of compliance gaining has been central in the development of many commonly used or heard of techniques. The following techniques are a few of what has evolved as a product of the study of compliance gaining strategies. Note, many of these techniques have been empirically documented increasing compliance.\n\nFoot-in-the-door (FITD) \n\nWith research starting in 1966 by Freedman & Fraser, foot-in-the door is one of the earliest and most researched compliance gaining techniques. This technique gains compliance by making a smaller easy request then a larger more difficult request at a later time. The smaller request is usually one that would be widely accepted without scrutiny. The larger request is usually the actual the task or goal wanted to be completed.\n\nEffectivity \nFreedman and Fraser thought that after satisfying the smaller initial request, if the person was not forced to do then they must be \"the type of person who fulfills such requests\".\n\nThe smaller task/request should relate to the larger request and not be trivial. For the foot-in-the-door technique to be successful it must generate the self-aware \"I am the kind of person who fulfills this type of request\" other wise known as the self-perception theory. Other studies found that if the initial request is easy but unusual or bizarre, it would also generate the foot-in-the-door effectiveness. This idea was developed further into the Disrupt-Then-Reframe technique.\n\nThere are other reasons besides the self-perception theory that makes the foot-in-the-door technique successful.\n\nConsistency – Cialdini and Guadagno, Asher, and Demaine believe that what makes people want to fulfill larger request is the need to be consistent.\n\nThe Norm to Help Others – Harris believed that after the first request, the norm to help others becomes clear. It only becomes evident after the person reviews his or her reason why they completed the original request.\n\nSatisfying the First Request – Crano and Sivacek thought what made the technique so effective was personal satisfaction. \"The person learns that the fulfillment of request brings the reward of a positive experience. One may assume that the likelihood that satisfaction of this type appears willi increase if the person has to react to something unusual that awakens his or her mindfulness, and will decrease in situations in which the person reacts automatically and habitually\".\n\nDoor-in-the-face (DITF) \n\nDoor-in-the-face was first introduced in 1975 by Cialdini and colleagues. The opposite of foot-in-the-door, in the door-in-the-face technique, the requestor asks a large objectionable request which is denied by the target instead of gaining compliance by asking a smaller easy request. The requestor seeking compliance ask a smaller more reasonable request.\n\nThere are several theories that explain why door-in-the-face is an effective gaining compliance technique.\n\nSelf-presentation theory – \"that individuals will comply with a second request due to fears one will be perceived negatively by rejecting successive prosocial request for compliance\".\n\nReciprocal concessions – this theory describes the effects of door-in-the-face as a \"process of mutual concessions\". \"The second request represents a concession on the part of the sender (from his or her initial request), and compliance to the second request represents a concession on the part of the receiver (from his or her inclination to not comply with the first request)\".\n\nGuilt – One reason that makes door-in-the-face such an effective technique is people feel guilty for refusing to comply with a request twice.\n\nSocial Responsibility – this theory describes the social repercussions and pressures that occur if an individual declines a request.\n\nAll together the theories propose that a target who declines the first request feel a \"personal or social responsibility\" to comply with the second request. In an effort to avoid feeling guilty or reduce the sense of obligation the target would have.\n\nRecent techniques\n\nDisrupt-then-reframe (DTR) \nDTR was first introduced by Barbara Price Davis and Eric S. Knowles in 1999. This technique states that a person will be more likely to comply with a request if the initial request or pitch is confusing. The pitch is immediately followed by a reframing or a reason to comply with the request.\n\nAn example of this technique is: A waiter states that \"the steak dinner is on special for 800 pennies; it's a really good deal\". Disrupting the couple by saying \"800 pennies\" instead of \"8 dollars\", the waiter is able to increase the likelihood that they will buy the steak dinner.\n\nDTR was found to be a very effective way to gain compliance in non-profit instances such as raising money for charities or asking people to take a survey. DTR was found to be less successful as a sales technique; this may be because the message is more scrutinized, making it harder to confuse the target.\n\nPersistence \nPersistence used as a compliance gaining technique, gets the target to comply by repeating the message. In 1979, Cacioppo and Petty found that repeating the message more than five times lead to decrease in compliance. Success is enhanced if the repetition comes from more than one person and is enhanced further if the message has the same idea or meaning but is not exact.\n\nAn example of this technique would be: \"My wife kept reminding me to take out the trash until I finally did it.\"\n\nDump and chase (DAC) \nPersistence has a high probability of annoying the target and creating a negative interaction which could be viewed as \"nagging\". A way to avoid this would be rejecting the targets objection to your request by asking \"why not?\", then forming another message to overcome the second objection to gain compliance. This technique is called dump and chase.\n\nMechanics of this technique are urgency and guilt. When the repeated message is presented to the target it may be perceived as urgent, thus making it seem more important, and more willing to comply. By creating a sense of obligation in the request, the target may develop guilt if not willing to comply.\n\nJust-One-More (JOM) \nJust-One-More was developed as a way to make a donation seem more important. The use of this technique involves using the language of \"Just-One-More\" to gain compliance. The technique is found to be most useful in instances regarding volunteering and donations. It is seen as \"the last person to help will be more rewarding than being one of the first or those in the middle, due to the expectation that the requestor will appreciate the last person more than any of those who complied previously\".\nFor Example: \"Do you want to buy this car? I need just one more sale to reach my quota this month.\"\n\nIf the target finds that the requestor is lying or being deceptive about being the last one, it will create a negative outlook on the person and the organization that he or she represents. Even though losing some of the effectiveness the requestor could state that they are \"close to their goal\" or \"almost there\".\n\n64 compliance gaining strategies \nIn \"Classifying Compliance Gaining Messages: Taxonomic Disorder and Strategic Confusion\", Kathy Kellermann and Tim Cole put together 64 compliance gaining strategies as an attempt to classify more than 820 previous strategies.\n Actor Takes Responsibility: Try to get others to comply by stating your willingness to help them or even work on the request yourself. That is, try to gain their compliance by offering to do it yourself as a means of getting them to do what you want. Example: \"Is there anything I can do to so you can finish the project on time?\"\n Altercasting (Negative): Try to get others to comply by pointing out that only a bad person would not do what is wanted. That is, try to gain their compliance by noting that only a person with negative qualities wouldn't comply. Example: \"You should stop watching these types of television shows as only a disturbed person would like them.\" \n Altercasting (Positive): Try to get others to comply by pointing out that a good person would do what is wanted. That is, try to gain their compliance by noting that any person with positive qualities would comply. Example: \"A good boy would eat all his vegetables.\"\n Altruism: Try to get others to comply by asking them to give you a hand out of the goodness of their heart. That is, try to gain their compliance by asking them to be altruistic and just do it for you. Example: \"Could you help me move, I would really appreciate it.\"\n Assertion: Try to get others to comply by asserting (forcefully stating) what you want. That is, try to gain their compliance by demanding (commanding) them to comply. Example: \"Go get a bandaid now!\"\n Audience-Use: Try to get others to comply by having a group of other people present when you make your request. That is, try to gain their compliance by asking them in front of other people as a way to back up your request. Example: \"I asked her to go to the prom with me in front of her friends.\" \n Authority Appeal: Try to get others to comply on the basis of the authority that you or other people have. That is, try to gain their compliance by using or relying on a position of power over them to get them do to what you want. Example: \"My boss told me to get him the reports by 10 am so I did.\"\n Aversive Stimulation: Try to get others to comply by doing things they don't like until they agree to comply. That is, try to gain their compliance by bothering them until they do what you want. Example: \"My co-worker kept bothering me to quit smoking until I finally did.\"\n Bargaining: Try to get others to comply by striking a bargain with them. That is, try to gain their compliance by negotiating a deal where you each do something for the other so everyone gets what they want. Example: \"If you help me with the dishes, I will help you with the laundry.\"\n Benefit (Other): Try to get others to comply by telling them people other than themselves would benefit if they do what you want. That is, try to gain their compliance by pointing out how it helps people other than themselves if they comply. Example: \"By donating to our fundraiser, You ensure that everyone will have a coat this winter.\"\nBenefit (Self): Try to get others to comply by telling them you personally would benefit if they do what you want. That is, try to gain their compliance by pointing out how it helps oneself if they comply. Example: \"If you helped me with the yard work, then I won't get a ticket by the city tomorrow.\"\nBenefit (Target): Try to get others to comply by telling them they personally would benefit if they do what you want. That is, try to gain their compliance by pointing out how it helps them if they comply. Example: \"If you go grocery shopping for me tonight then you will have something for lunch tomorrow.\"\nChallenge: Try to get others to comply by challenging them to do what you want. That is, try to gain their compliance by provoking, stimulating, tempting, goading, and/or galvanizing them to comply. Example: I didn't want to race until his car pulled beside mine and he revved the engine. \nCompliment: Try to get others to comply by complimenting them on their abilities or accomplishments. That is, try to gain their compliance by praising them to get them to do what you want. Example: With that jump shot, you would be really good at basketball. \nCompromise: Try to get others to comply by offering to compromise with them. That is, try to gain their compliance by making a concession to them so they'll make their concession to you and do what you want. Example: \"I will drop you off at the airport if you will go to the dentist with me.\"\n Cooperation: Try to get others to comply by being cooperative and collaborating with them. That is, try to gain their compliance not by telling the other person what to do but by offering to discuss things and work them out together. Example: \"We should get the team together and brainstorm new ideas for this problem.\"\nCriticize: Try to get others to comply by criticizing them. That is, try to gain their compliance by attacking them on a personal level to get them to do what you want. Example: \"It looks like you're really gaining some weight, why don't you go on a run with me.\"\nDebasement: Try to get others to comply by acting pitiful and pleading. That is, try to gain their compliance by debasing, demeaning, degrading, devaluing, humiliating, and/or lowering yourself so as to deprive yourself of esteem or self-worth to get them to do what you want. Example: \"I am so stupid, I can't believe I deleted the report. Can you please go delay the presentation.\" \nDebt: Try to get others to comply by reminding them they are in debt to you because of things you have done for them in the past. That is, try to gain their compliance by indicating that they owe it to you to do what you want. Example: \"You should paid for my lunch, I bought your lunch last time.\"\nDeceit: Try to get others to comply by misleading them. That is, try to gain their compliance by lying to or deceiving them. Example: \"We told them the car was in perfect working order, but the transmission is about to go out.\"\nDirect Request: Try to get others to comply by just making a direct request. That is, try to gain their compliance by simply asking or stating what you want without giving any reasons for them to comply. Example: \"Can I use the computer?\"\nDisclaimer (Norms/Rules): Try to get others to comply by downplaying or disavowing restrictions and constraints that might prevent them from doing what you want them to do. That is, try to gain their compliance by pointing out that otherwise applicable procedures, rules, norms, and/or expectations should be broken in this instance. Example: \"You should drive faster than the speed limit, this is an emergency!\"\nDisclaimer (Other): Try to get others to comply by downplaying or disavowing the ability of anyone else to do so. That is, try to gain their compliance by pointing out that other people can't help you or do what is needed. Example: \"I would ask Ted for his help but we know that he is not good at presentations.\"\nDisclaimer (Self): Try to get others to comply by downplaying or disavowing your reasons for asking. That is, try to gain their compliance by indicating that: (a) you don't want to make a bad impression nor do you have bad intentions, (b) you don't really want to make the request and you are only doing so reluctantly, and/or (c) you simply have no choice but to make the request. Example: \"I'm sorry that I am asking you for money, I'm really not a beggar.\"\nDisclaimer (Target): Try to get others to comply by acknowledging and sympathizing with why they may not want to do so. That is, try to gain their compliance by indicating that: (a) you understand and are aware of their reasons, feelings, and abilities, and/or (b) that you are sensitive to their needs and concerns even though you must ask them to do what you want. Example: \"I know that you're disappointed that you can't go on the trip, but do you mind helping me get the presentation ready?\"\nDisclaimer (Task): Try to get others to comply by downplaying what you are asking them to do. That is, try to gain their compliance by indicating that what you want them to do isn't what they think it is and shouldn't pose a problem; it isn't awful, effortful, difficult, or dumb. Example: \"Updating the database shouldn't take that much time.\"\nDisclaimer (Time): Try to get others to comply by downplaying or disavowing being busy as a reason to refuse your request. That is, try to gain their compliance by pointing out that there is or soon will be enough time for them to do what you want. Example: \"We should go to the store now, you can finish your report later.\"\nDuty: Try to get others to comply by pointing out it is their duty to do so. That is, try to gain their compliance by stating they should fulfill obligations, responsibilities, and commitments that they have. Example: \"Taking out the trash at the end of the day is a part of your job.\"\nEquity: Try to get others to comply on the grounds that it is equitable to do so. That is, try to gain their compliance by pointing out that being fair, just, and impartial means they should do what you want. Example: \"Your brother cleaned the house last time; it's your turn now.\"\nEsteem (Negative) by Others: Try to get others to comply by pointing out that, if they do not do so, other people will think worse of them. That is, try to gain their compliance by noting that in the eyes of others they will be viewed more negatively if they don't do what you want. Example: \"If you don't go to that college, other people will think you're going to a party school.\"\nEsteem (Positive) by Others: Try to get others to comply by pointing out that, if they do so, other people will think better of them. That is, try to gain their compliance by noting that in the eyes of others they will be viewed more positively if they do what you want. Example: \"If you play football, everyone will think that you're really tough.\"\nEsteem (Negative) by Actor: Try to get others to comply by pointing out that, if they do not do so, you will think worse of them. That is, try to gain their compliance by noting that in your eyes they will be viewed more negatively if they don't do what you want. Example: \"I would be really disappointed if you went to the party instead of studying.\"\nEsteem (Positive) by Actor: Try to get others to comply by pointing out that, if they do so, you will think better of them. That is, try to gain their compliance by noting that in your eyes they will be viewed more positively if they do what you want. Example: \"If you went to law school, I would have a new level of respect for you.\"\nExpertise (Negative): Try to get others to comply by pointing out that because of the way the world works, unfavorable things will happen if they don't change their behavior. That is, try to gain their compliance by noting that in the natural course of things, bad outcomes will occur if they don't do what you want. Example: \"You will get the flu, if you don't get a flu shot.\"\nExpertise (Positive): Try to get others to comply by pointing out that because the way the world works, favorable things will happen if they change their behavior. That is, try to gain their compliance by noting that in the natural course of things, good outcomes will occur if they do what you want. Example: \"If you work hard at your job, you're sure to get that promotion.\"\nHinting: Try to get others to comply by hinting around at what you want them to do. That is, try to gain their compliance by indicating indirectly what you want, hoping they will figure it out and comply even though you never come out and really say it. Example: \"I left the trash by the front door, so Dan would take it out.\" \nI Want: Try to get others to comply for no reason other than you want them to. That is, try to gain their compliance by telling them to do what you want because you desire it. Example: \"I want you to go with me to the city.\"\nInvoke Norm: Try to get others to comply by indicating they would be out of step with the norm if they didn't do what you want. That is, try to gain their compliance by prodding them to conform to what others have, do, or desire. Example: \"Everyone is going to the gym after work.\"\nIt's Up to You: Try to get others to comply by telling them the decision is theirs to make and it's up to them. That is, try to gain their compliance by telling them the choice to comply is up to them. Example: \"It's up to you to save your money, instead of spending it on video games.\"\nLogical Empirical: Try to get others to comply by making logical arguments. That is, try to gain their compliance through the use of reasoning, evidence, facts, and data. Example: \"Statistics show that non-smokers live longer than smokers.\"\nMoral Appeal: Try to get others to comply by appealing to their moral or ethical standards. That is, try to gain their compliance by letting them know what is right and what is wrong. Example: \"Don't buy those shoes they are made using child labor.\"\nMy Concern for You: Try to get others to comply because of your concern for them. That is, try to gain their compliance by referring to your regard for, consideration of, interest in, and feelings for them. Example: \"Please go to the doctor, I'm worried about you.\"\nNature of Situation: Try to get others to comply by being attentive to the situation or circumstances you find yourselves in. That is, try to gain their compliance by taking note of the appropriateness of their behavior to the situation and/or the appropriateness of your request in the situation. Example: \"I told my son that the bed was not a trampoline.\" \nNegative Affect: Try to get others to comply by being really negative: expressing negative emotions, acting really unfriendly, and creating an unappealing impression. That is, try to gain their compliance by acting displeased to get them to do what you want. Example: \"Angrily, I told her to put her phone on silent after it went off in class..\"\nNot Seek Compliance: No attempt is made to get others to do what you want. That is, no compliance is sought. Example: \"I didn't ask if I could go out tonight.\"\nPersistence: Try to get others to comply by being persistent. That is, try to gain their compliance by persevering (continuing) in your attempts to get them to do what you want. Example: \"After asking for over a year, we are finally getting a pool.\"\nPersonal Expertise: Try to get others to comply by referring to your credibility (your personal expertise). That is, try to gain their compliance based on your experience, know-how, trustworthiness, and judgment. Example: \"You should get those shoes, I have them and they feel great when running. \nPositive Affect: Try to get others to comply by being really positive: expressing positive emotions, acting really friendly, and creating an appealing impression. That is, try to gain their compliance by charming them into doing what you want. Example: \"She was really happy, when she asked for a raise.\"\nPre-Giving: Try to get others to comply by doing positive and nice things for them in advance of asking them to do what you want. That is, try to gain their compliance by giving them things they'd like and then only afterwards making your request. Example: \"I bought my wife flowers, then later asked if I could go fishing this weekend.\"\nPromise: Try to get others to comply by making a promise. That is, try to gain their compliance by offering to give them a reward or something they'd like if they do what is wanted. Example: \"If you behave in the store, I promise that we will stop for ice cream on the way home.\"\nPromote Task: Try to get others to comply by promoting the value and worth of what you want them to do. That is, try to gain their compliance by identifying one or more positive qualities of the thing you are asking them to do (e.g., what you want them to do is important, meaningful, rewarding, enjoyable etc.). Example: \"If you complete this presentation on time, you will be less stressed and will get a good grade.\"\nSelf-Feeling (Negative): Try to get others to comply by stating that not doing so will result in an automatic decrease in their self-worth. That is, try to gain their compliance by pointing out that they will feel worse about themselves if they don't do what you want. Example: \"You will feel bad if you throw all that food away instead of donating it.\"\nSelf-Feeling (Positive): Try to get others to comply by stating that doing so will result in an automatic increase in their self-worth. That is, try to gain their compliance by pointing out that they will feel better about themselves if they do what you want. Example: \"You will feel better if you donate that old coat to charity instead of selling it in the garage sale.\" \nSuggest: Try to get others to comply by offering suggestions about what it is you want them to do. That is, try to gain their compliance by subtly proposing an idea that indirectly points out and describes what it is you want them to do. Example: \"Why don't you try the steak instead of the chicken?\"\nSurveillance: Try to get others to comply by indicating your awareness and observation of what they do. That is, try to gain their compliance by referring to your general vigilance, surveillance, scrutiny, and/or monitoring of their behavior. Example: \"I will find out if you're lying to me about the car accident.\" \nThird Party: Try to get others to comply by having someone else ask them for you. That is, try to gain their compliance by getting someone else to intervene and do it for you. Example: \"Jane don't you think Jim should go on that date with the girl from accounting.\" \nThis Is the Way Things Are: Try to get others to comply by telling them they have to because that is just the way things are. That is, try to gain their compliance by referring to rules, procedures, policies, or customs that require them to comply. Example: \"You should slow down since the speed limit is only 25 mph.\"\nThought Manipulation: Try to get others to comply by convincing them that the request you are making is really their own idea. That is, try to gain their compliance by having them think they were the ones who really wanted to do it in the first place. Example: \"We should go on the roller coaster, since you wanted to come to the fair in the first place.\" \nThreat: Try to get others to comply by threatening them. That is, try to gain their compliance by saying you will punish them if they don't do what you want. Example: \"If you go to the bar again tonight, consider us done.\" \nValue Appeal: Try to get others to comply because of important values that compel action in this instance. That is, try to gain their compliance by pointing to central and joint beliefs that should guide what they do. Example: \"Since we both care about the ocean, we should volunteer for the cleanup.\"\nWarning: Try to get others to comply by warning them about what they are doing. That is, try to gain their compliance by alerting them to possible negative consequences of their behavior. Example: \"You might get fired if you stay up all night.\" \nWelfare (Others): Try to get others to comply by telling them how other people would be hurt if they don't do what you want. That is, try to gain their compliance by pointing out that the welfare of other people is at stake. Example: \"If you are not going to be in the family photo then we won't take one.\" \nWhy Not?: Try to get others to comply by making them justify why they should not. That is, try to gain their compliance by pointing out there are no real grounds for not doing so. Example: \"Why wouldn't you help your sister?\"\nYour Concern for Me: Try to get others to comply because of their concern for you. That is, try to gain their compliance by referring to their regard for, consideration of, interest in, and feelings for you. Example: \"If you really cared for me then you would go to the dance recital.\"\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading\n \n Dillard, J.P. (2004). The goals-plans-action model of interpersonal influence. In J. S. Seiter & R. H. Gass (Eds.) Readings in persuasion, social influence, and compliance gaining (pp. 185–206). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.\n French, J. P. R., Jr., & Raven, B. (1960). The bases of social power. In D. Cartwright & A. Zander (Eds.), Group dynamics (pp. 607–623). New York: Harper & Row.\n \n \n \n McQuillen, J. S., Higginbotham, D. C., & Cummings, M. C. (1984). Compliance-resisting behaviors: The effects of age, agent, and types of request. In R. N. Bostrom (Ed.), Communication yearbook 8 (pp. 747–762). Beverly Hills: SAGE.\n \n \n Wheeless, L. R., Barraclough, R., & Stewart, R. (1983). Compliance-gaining and power in persuasion. In R. Bostrom (Ed.), Communication yearbook 7 (pp. 105–145). Beverly Hills: Sage.\n\nPersuasion\nAttitude change\nSociological theories",
"Daniel S. Burt is an American author and literary critic.\n\nCareer\n\nDaniel S. Burt, Ph.D. received his doctorate in English and American Literature with a specialization in Victorian fiction from New York University. He taught undergraduate- and graduate-level courses in writing and literature at New York University, Wesleyan University, Trinity College, Northeastern University, Wentworth Institute of Technology, and Cape Cod Community College. At Wentworth Institute of Technology, he served as a dean for almost a decade. During his time at New York University, he was director of the NYU in London program, wherein he traveled with students to Russia, Spain, Britain and Ireland. \n\nSince 2003, Burt has served as the Academic Director for the Irish Academic Enrichment Workshops, which are held in Ireland every summer.\n\nBibliography\n\nThe Literary 100: A Ranking Of The Most Influential Novelists, Playwrights, And Poets Of All Time. Checkmark Books. October 1, 1999.\nThe Biography Book: A Reader's Guide To Nonfiction, Fictional, And Film Biographies Of More Than 500 Of The Most Fascinating Individuals Of All Time. Oryx Press. February 1, 2001.\nThe Novel 100: A Ranking Of The Greatest Novels Of All Time. Checkmark Books. November 1, 2003.\nThe Chronology of American Literature: America's Literary Achievements from the Colonial Era to Modern Times. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. February 10, 2004.\nThe Drama 100: A Ranking of the Greatest Plays of All Time. Checkmark Books. December 1, 2007.\nThe Handy Literature Answer Book: An Engaging Guide to Unraveling Symbols, Signs and Meanings in Great Works with Deborah G. Felder. Visible Ink Press. July 1, 2018.\n\nWhat Do I Read Next? Series \n\n What Historical Novel Do I Read Next? Gale Cengage.1997.\nWhat Do I Read Next? 2000, Volume 1 with Neil Barron. Gale Cengage. June 1, 2000.\nWhat Fantastic Fiction Do I Read Next? 2001, Volume 1 with Neil Barron and Tom Barton. Gale Cengage. June 1, 2001. \nWhat Do I Read Next? 2003, Volume 2 with Neil Barron and Tom Barton. Gale Cengage. October 17, 20013.\nWhat Do I Read Next? 2005, Volume 1 with Neil Barron and Tom Barton. Thomson Gale. May 27, 2005.\nWhat Do I Read Next? 2005, Volume 2 with Neil Barron. Gale. October 21, 2005. \nWhat Do I Read Next? 2006, Volume 1 with Neil Barron and Tom Barton. Thomson Gale. May 25, 2006.\n What Do I Read Next? 2007, Volume 1 with Natalie Danford and Don D'Ammassa. Gale Cengage. June 8, 2007.\nWhat Do I Read Next? 2007, Volume 2: A Reader's Guide to Current Genre Fiction with Don D'Ammassa, Natalie Danford, Stefan R. Dziemianowicz, Jim Huang, and Melissa Hudak. Gale Cengage. October 19, 2007. \nWhat Do I Read Next? 2008, Volume 1 with Natalie Danford and Don D'Ammassa. Gale. May 23, 2008. \n What Do I Read Next? 2009. Volume 1 with Michelle Kazensky, Marie Toft, and Hazel Rumney. Gale Cengage. June 12, 2009.\nWhat Do I Read Next? 2010, Volume 1 with Neil Barron. Gale. 2010.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \nBibliography on GoodReads\n\nYear of birth missing (living people)\nLiving people\nAmerican male non-fiction writers\nAmerican literary critics\nNew York University alumni\nWesleyan University faculty"
] |
[
"Mike Judge",
"1990-1997: Early career and Beavis and Butt-Head",
"What did he try",
"He graduated in 1986 from University of California, San Diego.",
"What did he try and do next",
"In 1987, he moved to Silicon Valley to join Parallax Graphics, a startup video card company with about 40 employees based in Santa Clara."
] | C_81e3eab6e02a4e1abcedb12adf463565_1 | What did this mean to him | 3 | What did Judge joining Parallax Graphics mean to Judge? | Mike Judge | He graduated in 1986 from University of California, San Diego. In 1987, he moved to Silicon Valley to join Parallax Graphics, a startup video card company with about 40 employees based in Santa Clara. Disliking the company's culture and his colleagues ("The people I met were like Stepford Wives. They were true believers in something, and I don't know what it was"), Judge quit after less than three months and became a bass player with a touring blues band. He was a part of Anson Funderburgh's band for two years, playing on their 1990 Black Top Records release "Rack 'Em Up", while taking graduate math classes at the University of Texas at Dallas. In 1989, after seeing animation cels on display in a movie theater, Judge purchased a Bolex 16 mm film camera and began creating his own animated shorts. In 1991, his short film "Office Space" (also known as the Milton series of shorts) was acquired by Comedy Central, following an animation festival in Dallas. In the early 1990s, he was playing blues bass with Doyle Bramhall. In 1992, he developed Frog Baseball, a short film featuring the characters Beavis and Butt-Head, to be featured on Liquid Television, a 1990s animation showcase that appeared on MTV. The short led to the creation of the Beavis and Butt-Head series on MTV, in which Judge voiced both title characters as well as the majority of supporting characters and wrote and directed the majority of the episodes. The show centers on two socially incompetent, heavy metal-loving teenage wannabe delinquents, Beavis and Butt-Head (both voiced by Judge), who go to High School at Highland High in Albuquerque, New Mexico (the same city where Judge was raised and attended high school). The two have no adult supervision, are dim-witted, sex-obsessed, uneducated, barely literate, and lack any empathy or moral scruples, even regarding each other. Over its run, Beavis and Butt-Head drew a notable amount of both positive and negative reaction from the public with its combination of lewd humor and implied criticism of society. Judge himself is highly critical of the animation and quality of earlier episodes, in particular the first two - Blood Drive/Give Blood and Door to Door - which he described as "awful, I don't know why anybody liked it... I was burying my head in the sand." The series spawned the feature-length film Beavis and Butt-Head Do America and the spin-off show Daria. After two decades, the series aired its new season on October 27, 2011. The premiere was dubbed a ratings hit, with an audience of 3.3 million total viewers. On January 10, 2014, Judge announced that there is still a chance to pitch Beavis and Butt-Head to another network and that he wouldn't mind making more episodes. CANNOTANSWER | The people I met were like Stepford Wives. They were true believers in something, and I don't know what it was"), | Michael Craig Judge (born October 17, 1962) is an American actor, animator, writer, producer, director and musician. He is the creator of the animated television series Beavis and Butt-Head (1993–1997, 2011, 2021–present), and co-creator of the television series King of the Hill (1997–2010), The Goode Family (2009), Silicon Valley (2014–2019), and Mike Judge Presents: Tales from the Tour Bus (2017–2018). He also wrote and directed the films Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (1996), Office Space (1999), Idiocracy (2006), and Extract (2009).
Judge was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and raised in the U.S. state of New Mexico. He graduated from the University of California, San Diego, where he studied physics. After losing interest in a career in science, Judge began to focus on animation and creating short films. One of these (Frog Baseball) was developed into the successful MTV series Beavis and Butt-Head, which eventually spawned a 1996 feature film, as well as the spin-off series Daria (with which Judge had no involvement).
In 1995, Judge and former The Simpsons writer Greg Daniels developed King of the Hill, which debuted on Fox in 1997 and quickly became a hit with both critics and audiences; running for 13 seasons, it became one of the longest-running American animated series. During the run of the show, Judge took some time off to write and direct Office Space, Idiocracy, and Extract. As King of the Hill was coming to an end, Judge created his third show, ABC's The Goode Family, which received mixed reviews and was cancelled after 13 episodes. After a four-year hiatus, he created his fourth show, the live-action Silicon Valley for HBO, which has received critical acclaim since its premiere. In 2017, Judge's fourth animated series, the music-themed Tales from the Tour Bus, premiered on Cinemax, to critical and audience acclaim.
Judge has won a Primetime Emmy Award and two Annie Awards for King of the Hill and two Critics' Choice Television Awards and Satellite Awards for Silicon Valley.
Early life
Michael Craig Judge was born on October 17, 1962, in Guayaquil, Ecuador. He is the middle of three children born to Margaret Yvonne (née Blue), a librarian, and William James Judge, an archaeologist. At the time of his birth, his father was working for a nonprofit organization in Guayaquil and other parts of Ecuador, promoting agricultural development. Judge was raised from age seven in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he spent a small portion of his life working on a chicken farm. He attended St. Pius X High School and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in physics from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) in 1985.
Career
1985–1997: Early science career; musician; animation and Beavis and Butt-Head
After graduating from UCSD in 1985, he held several brief jobs in physics and mechanical engineering, but found himself growing bored with science. In 1987, he moved to Silicon Valley to join Parallax Graphics, a startup video card company with about 40 employees based in Santa Clara, California. Disliking the company's culture and his colleagues ("The people I met were like Stepford Wives. They were true believers in something, and I don't know what it was"), Judge quit after less than three months and became a bass player with a touring blues band.
He was a part of Anson Funderburgh's band for two years, playing on their 1990 Black Top Records release "Rack 'Em Up", while taking graduate math classes at the University of Texas at Dallas. In 1989, after seeing animation cels on display in a movie theater, Judge purchased a Bolex 16 mm film camera and began creating his own animated shorts in his home in Richardson, Texas. In 1991, his short film "Office Space" (also known as the Milton series of shorts) was acquired by Comedy Central, following an animation festival in Dallas. In the early 1990s, he was playing blues bass with Doyle Bramhall.
In 1992, he developed Frog Baseball, a short film featuring the characters Beavis and Butt-Head, to be featured on Liquid Television, a 1990s animation showcase that appeared on MTV. The short led to the creation of the Beavis and Butt-Head series on MTV, in which Judge voiced both title characters as well as the majority of supporting characters and wrote and directed the majority of the episodes. The show centers on two socially incompetent, heavy metal-loving teenage wannabe delinquents, Beavis and Butt-Head, who live in the fictional town of Highland, Texas. The two have no adult supervision, are dim-witted, sex-obsessed, uneducated, barely literate, and lack any empathy or moral scruples, even regarding each other. Over its run, Beavis and Butt-Head drew a notable amount of both positive and negative reaction from the public with its combination of lewd humor and implied criticism of society.
Judge himself is highly critical of the animation and quality of earlier episodes, in particular the first two – Blood Drive/Give Blood and Door to Door – which he described as "awful, I don't know why anybody liked it ... I was burying my head in the sand." The series spawned the feature-length film Beavis and Butt-Head Do America and the spin-off show Daria.
After two decades, the series aired its new season on October 27, 2011. The premiere was a ratings hit, with an audience of 3.3 million total viewers. On January 10, 2014, Judge announced that there is still a chance to pitch Beavis and Butt-Head to another network and that he wouldn't mind making more episodes.
1997–2009: King of the Hill, Office Space, and Idiocracy
In early 1995, after the successful first run of Beavis and Butt-Head on MTV, Mike Judge co-created the show King of the Hill with former The Simpsons writer Greg Daniels. Judge was a former resident of Garland, Texas, upon which the fictional community of Arlen was loosely based, but as Judge stated in a later interview, the show was based more specifically on the Dallas suburb of Richardson. Judge conceived the idea for the show, drew the main characters, and wrote the pilot script. Judge voiced characters Hank Hill and Jeff Boomhauer. The show is about a middle-class Methodist family named the Hills living in a small town called Arlen, Texas. It attempts to retain a naturalistic approach, seeking humor in the conventional and mundane aspects of everyday life while dealing with issues comically. After its debut in 1997, the series became a large success for Fox and was named one of the best television series of the year by various publications, including Entertainment Weekly, Time, and TV Guide.
For the 1997–1998 season, the series became one of Fox's highest-rated programs and even briefly outperformed The Simpsons in ratings. Although ratings remained consistent throughout the 10th, 11th and 12th seasons and had begun to rise in the overall Nielsen ratings (up to the 105th most watched series on television, from 118 in season 8), Fox abruptly announced in 2008 that King of the Hill had been cancelled. The cancellation coincided with the announcement that Seth MacFarlane, creator of Family Guy and American Dad!, would be creating a Family Guy spin-off called The Cleveland Show, which would take over King of the Hill's time slot. Hopes to keep the show afloat surfaced as sources indicated that ABC (which was already airing Judge's new animated comedy, The Goode Family) was interested in securing the rights to the show, but in January 2009, ABC president Steve McPherson said he had "no plans to pick up the animated comedy." On April 30, 2009, it was announced that Fox ordered at least two more episodes to give the show a proper finale. The show's 14th season was supposed to air sometime in the 2009–10 season, but Fox later announced that it would not air the episodes, opting instead for syndication. On August 10, 2009, however, Fox released a statement that the network would air a one-hour series finale (which consisted of a regular 30-minute episode followed by a 30-minute finale) on September 13, 2009. The four remaining episodes of the series aired in syndication the week of May 3, 2010, and again on Adult Swim during the week of May 17, 2010. During the panel discussion for the return of Beavis and Butt-Head at Comic-Con 2011, Mike Judge said that no current plans exist to revive King of the Hill, although he would not rule out the possibility of it returning.
Judge began to develop one of his four animated short films entitled Milton, about an office drone named Milton that Judge created, which first aired on Liquid Television and Night After Night with Allan Havey and later aired on Saturday Night Live. The inspiration came from a temp job he once had that involved alphabetizing purchase orders and a job he had as an engineer for three months in the San Francisco Bay Area during the 1980s, "just in the heart of Silicon Valley and in the middle of that overachiever yuppie thing, it was just awful". Judge sold the completed film Office Space to 20th Century Fox based on his script and a cast that included Jennifer Aniston, Ron Livingston, and David Herman. Originally, the studio wanted to make a film out of the Milton character but Judge was not interested, opting instead to make more of an ensemble cast–based film. The studio suggested that he should make a film like Car Wash but "just set in an office". Judge made the relatively painless transition from animation to live-action with the help of the film's director of photography who taught him about lenses and where to put the camera. Judge says, "I had a great crew, and it's good going into it not pretending you're an expert." Studio executives were not happy with the footage Judge was getting. He remembers them telling him, "More energy! More energy! We gotta reshoot it! You're failing! You're failing!" In addition, Fox did not like the gangsta rap music used in the film until a focus group approved of it. Judge hated the ending and felt that a complete rewrite of the third act was necessary. In the film, he made a cameo appearance as Stan (complete with hairpiece and fake mustache), the manager of Chotchkie's, a fictionalized parody of chain restaurants like Chili's, Applebee's and TGI Friday's, and the boss of Jennifer Aniston's character, whom he continually undermines and interrogates over her lack of sufficient enthusiasm for the job and the insufficient quantity of "flair" (buttons, ribbons, etc.) she wears on her uniform. The film was released on February 19, 1999, and it was well received by critics. Although not particularly successful at the box office, it sold well on VHS and DVD, and it has come to be recognized as a cult classic.
Since fall 2003, Judge and fellow animator Don Hertzfeldt have run an animation festival called "The Animation Show". "The Animation Show" tours the country every year, screening animated shorts. In 2005, Judge was presented with the Austin Film Festival's Outstanding Television Writer Award by Johnny Hardwick.
Judge has made supporting and cameo appearances in numerous films. Judge had a voice cameo in South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut (1999), the feature-length film adaptation of the popular Comedy Central series; he voiced Kenny McCormick when he was unhooded towards the end of the film. He later acted in the science-fiction family comedy franchise Spy Kids, where he played Donnagon Giggles in the first three films. His next film appearance was Serving Sara (2002) where he played a motel manager. He later appeared in the comedy Jackass Number Two (2006), in which he can be seen during the closing credits. An extended version of his sequence can be seen in Jackass 2.5 (2007) which was a direct-to-video release. Judge also created a video clip of Beavis and Butt-Head ripping into Steve-O for his video Poke the Puss, where the two try imagining if they would like the video better if they were black. The clip aired as a part of Jackassworld.com: 24-Hour Takeover, a February 23, 2008, television special on MTV to coincide with the official launch of jackassworld.com. The characters appeared again in the third Jackass film, titled Jackass 3D, at the beginning of the film, telling viewers to put on their 3D glasses for the film.
Judge's third film, Idiocracy, a dystopian comedy starring Luke Wilson and Maya Rudolph, was given a limited release theatrically by 20th Century Fox in September 2006, two years after production. The film's original release date was intended to be on August 5, 2005, according to Mike Judge.
In April 2006, a release date was set for September 1, 2006. The film was released without a trailer or substantial marketing campaign. The film was not screened for critics beforehand as is usually done. Lack of concrete information from Fox led to speculation that the distributor may have actively attempted to keep the film from being seen by a large audience, while fulfilling a contractual obligation for theatrical release ahead of a DVD release, according to Ryan Pearson of the AP.
That speculation was followed by open criticism of the studio's lack of support from Ain't It Cool News, Time, and Esquire. Times Joel Stein wrote "the film's ads and trailers tested atrociously", but "still, abandoning Idiocracy seems particularly unjust, since Judge has made a lot of money for Fox." Despite the film not being screened for critics, the film received positive reviews and was a minor box-office success.
In the U.S., the film was released to DVD in January 2007 and later aired on premium-television, multiplex channels Cinemax in September 2007 and HBO in January 2008. Since then, it has gained a cult following.
2009–2013: The Goode Family, Extract, and other projects
Judge's fourth directorial effort was 2009's Extract. Shortly after completing Office Space, Judge was already about 40 pages into his follow-up script, set in the world of an extract factory, when he was convinced by his representative team that he needed to shelve that and concentrate on something more commercial. Over the next several years, he focused his energy on developing Idiocracy. But years later, by the time of the film's release, audiences had decided that Office Space had struck a chord, so they were ready to see Judge return to on-the-job humor, and thus the Extract script was given new life.
Seeking to keep Extract below the radar of the studio system, Judge and his producers set up a production company, Ternion Productions, and arranged private financing while partnering with Miramax for domestic distribution of the film. Judge relied heavily on his own personal knowledge of the industrial world to bring the story to life. "I actually worked in a factory a little bit myself ... I hopefully write stuff that is recognizable as the archetypes of this world," Judge stated.
Keeping true to this baseline of reality, Extract was shot in a working factory, in this case a water bottling plant south of Los Angeles, in the City of Commerce. He makes an uncredited appearance as Jim, a union organizer. The film premiered on September 4, 2009, and received mixed to positive reviews from critics and was a minor commercial success.
Judge's third television series, The Goode Family, debuted on ABC but was cancelled after one season. Comedy Central first aired the series in reruns on January 4, 2010. However, the series was pulled off the schedule shortly thereafter. It was confirmed on The Goode Family Facebook page that Comedy Central had picked up the reruns of the series, which were to be evaluated for a chance of being renewed for a second season. On August 8, 2009, however, ABC Entertainment President Steve McPherson stated that the show, along with Surviving Suburbia, had officially been canceled due to low ratings.
In 2010, reruns of The Goode Family aired Monday nights at 10 pm on Comedy Central, beginning January 4. It departed the network's primetime schedule after four weeks, returning occasionally in low-trafficked timeslots.
In 2012, Judge directed the music video (animation by Titmouse) for country music group Zac Brown Band's "The Wind". In 2013, Judge collaborated with Seth MacFarlane on a mashup episode of Family Guy, in which, complete with a Hill-themed opening, Judge reprises his role as Hank Hill. Earlier in 2010 and 2012, Judge played cameos as Hank on two episodes of MacFarlane's The Cleveland Show.
2014–present: Silicon Valley and Tales from the Tour Bus
Judge created his fourth show, Silicon Valley, with King of the Hill executive producers John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky. The HBO comedy is a single-camera live-action sitcom set in Northern California. One of its main themes is the idea that "the people most qualified to succeed are the least capable of handling success". The first season of Silicon Valley was 8 episodes long and received critical and public acclaim. Silicon Valley was renewed for a second season on April 21, 2014, and a third season on April 13, 2015. Silicon Valley aired its fourth season, which premiered on April 23, 2017. The series was renewed for a fifth season, which premiered on March 25, 2018.
On January 12, 2017, Deadline confirmed that Cinemax ordered 8 episodes of Judge's new animated series, Mike Judge Presents: Tales from the Tour Bus. The series premiered on September 22, 2017. In 2019, Judge announced he had been developing two projects for HBO: QualityLand and A5, both of which were later scrapped by HBO in 2021.
Personal life
Judge married his wife Francesca Morocco in 1989. They remained married for twenty years until they divorced in 2009. Together they have two daughters and a son. The family resides in Austin, Texas, and Malibu, California.
Political views
While King of the Hill is often a satire of protagonist Hank Hill, identifiable as a conservative, and his The Goode Family is essentially a satire centered around liberal family, Judge avoids discussing his political leanings.
In reviewing Idiocracy, Salon stated, "Judge's gimlet eye is so ruthless that at times his politics seem to border on South Park libertarianism." A writer for the libertarian magazine Reason seems to agree, comparing King of the Hill to the anti-authoritarian point of view of South Park and The Simpsons, though he calls the show more populist, noting the disdain King of the Hill seems to have for bureaucrats, professionals, and big-box chains.
Still, Judge denies having political messages in his shows, saying in an IGN interview about King of the Hill:
In June 2016, before the presidential election in November, Rolling Stone published an article claiming that Judge would produce Idiocracy-themed campaign advertisements mocking Donald Trump's presidential campaign if given permission from 20th Century Fox to do so. It was later reported by Business Insider that the ads would not go forward.
Filmography
Film
Television
Other appearances
Awards and nominations
References
External links
1962 births
Living people
People from Albuquerque, New Mexico
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
21st-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century American comedians
21st-century American comedians
Male actors from Albuquerque, New Mexico
21st-century American screenwriters
American animators
American animated film directors
American animated film producers
American blues musicians
American cartoonists
Film producers from California
American male comedians
American male film actors
American blues guitarists
American bass guitarists
American male screenwriters
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American music video directors
American satirists
American television directors
Comedy film directors
Television producers from California
American television writers
Annie Award winners
Film directors from Texas
Male actors from Austin, Texas
American male television writers
Musicians from Austin, Texas
Writers from Albuquerque, New Mexico
People from Guayaquil
People from Austin, Texas
Primetime Emmy Award winners
Showrunners
American physicists
American mechanical engineers
University of California, San Diego alumni
Writers from Austin, Texas
Animators from New Mexico
Animators from Texas
Film directors from New Mexico
Inkpot Award winners
American male non-fiction writers
Screenwriters from Texas
Television producers from Texas
Film producers from Texas
Screenwriters from New Mexico
Screenwriters from California
Comedians from California
Comedians from Texas
21st-century American male writers | true | [
"Mean What You Say may refer to:\n\n Mean What You Say (Philly Joe Jones album)\n Mean What You Say (Thad Jones/Pepper Adams Quintet album)\n Mean What You Say (Witness album)\n Mean What You Say (Sent by Ravens album)",
"John 1:10 is the tenth verse in the first chapter of the Gospel of John in the New Testament of the Christian Bible.\n\nContent\nIn the original Greek according to Westcott-Hort this verse is:\nἘν τῷ κόσμῳ ἦν, καὶ ὁ κόσμος δι᾿ αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, καὶ ὁ κόσμος αὐτὸν οὐκ ἔγνω. \n\nIn the King James Version of the Bible the text reads:\nHe was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.\n\nThe New International Version translates the passage as:\nHe was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.\n\nAnalysis\nConcerning the verse \"He was in the world, ... \", many have understood this verse to refer to Christ, who was in the world from the start of its first creation, producing and ruling over everything. According to MacEvilly the second verse tells us that the blind sinful world did not know and worship him, since it was caught up in worldly business.\n\nCommentary from the Church Fathers\nAugustine: \"The Light which lighteneth every man that cometh into the world, came here in the flesh; because while He was here in His Divinity alone, the foolish, blind, and un-righteous could not discern Him; those of whom it is said above, The darkness comprehended it not. Hence the text; He was in the world.\"\n\nOrigen: \"For as, when a person leaves off speaking, his voice ceases to be, and vanishes; so if the Heavenly Father should cease to speak His Word, the effect of that Word, i. e. the universe which is created in the Word, shall cease to exist.\"\n\nAugustine: \"You must not suppose, however, that He was in the world in the same sense in which the earth, cattle, men, are in the world; but in the sense in which an artificer controls his own work; whence the text, And the world was made by Him. Nor again did He make it after the manner of an artificer; for whereas an artificer is external to what he fabricates, God pervades the world, carrying on the work of creation in every part, and never absent from any part: by the presence of His Majesty He both makes and controls what is made. Thus He was in the world, as He by Whom the world was made.\"\n\nChrysostom: \"And again, because He was in the world, but not coeval with the world, for this cause he introduced the words, and the world was made by Him: thus taking you back again to the eternal existence of the Only-Begotten. For when we are told that the whole of creation was made by Him, we must be very dull not to acknowledge that the Maker existed before the work.\"\n\nTheophylact of Ohrid: \"Here he overthrows at once the insane notion of the Manichæano, who says that the world is the work of a malignant creature, and the opinion of the Arian, that the Son of God is a creature.\"\n\nAugustine: \"But what meaneth this, The world was made by Him? The earth, sky, and sea, and all that are therein, are called the world. But in another sense, the lovers of the world are called the world, of whom he says, And the world knew Him not. For did the sky, or Angels, not know their Creator, Whom the very devils confess, Whom the whole universe has borne witness to? Who then did not know Him? Those who, from their love of the world, are called the world; for such live in heart in the world, while those who do not love it, have their body in the world, but their heart in heaven; as saith the Apostle, our conversation is in heaven. (Phil. 3:20) By their love of the world, such men merit being called by the name of the place where they live. And just as in speaking of a bad house, or good house, we do not mean praise or blame to the walls, but to the inhabitants; so when we talk of the world, we mean those who live there in the love of it.\"\n\nChrysostom: \"But they who were the friends of God, knew Him even before His presence in the body; whence Christ saith below, Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day. When the Gentiles then interrupt us with the question, Why has He come in these last times to work our salvation, having neglected us so long? we reply, that He was in the world before, superintending what He had made, and was known to all who were worthy of Him; and that, if the world knew Him not, those of whom the world was not worthy knew Him. The reason follows, why the world knew Him not. The Evangelist calls those men the world, who are tied to the world, and savour of worldly things; for there is nothing that disturbs the mind so much, as this melting with the love of present things.\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nOther translations of John 1:10 at BibleHub\n\n01:10"
] |
[
"Mike Judge",
"1990-1997: Early career and Beavis and Butt-Head",
"What did he try",
"He graduated in 1986 from University of California, San Diego.",
"What did he try and do next",
"In 1987, he moved to Silicon Valley to join Parallax Graphics, a startup video card company with about 40 employees based in Santa Clara.",
"What did this mean to him",
"The people I met were like Stepford Wives. They were true believers in something, and I don't know what it was\"),"
] | C_81e3eab6e02a4e1abcedb12adf463565_1 | What did he attempt to do next | 4 | What did Judge attempt to do after joining Parallax Graphics? | Mike Judge | He graduated in 1986 from University of California, San Diego. In 1987, he moved to Silicon Valley to join Parallax Graphics, a startup video card company with about 40 employees based in Santa Clara. Disliking the company's culture and his colleagues ("The people I met were like Stepford Wives. They were true believers in something, and I don't know what it was"), Judge quit after less than three months and became a bass player with a touring blues band. He was a part of Anson Funderburgh's band for two years, playing on their 1990 Black Top Records release "Rack 'Em Up", while taking graduate math classes at the University of Texas at Dallas. In 1989, after seeing animation cels on display in a movie theater, Judge purchased a Bolex 16 mm film camera and began creating his own animated shorts. In 1991, his short film "Office Space" (also known as the Milton series of shorts) was acquired by Comedy Central, following an animation festival in Dallas. In the early 1990s, he was playing blues bass with Doyle Bramhall. In 1992, he developed Frog Baseball, a short film featuring the characters Beavis and Butt-Head, to be featured on Liquid Television, a 1990s animation showcase that appeared on MTV. The short led to the creation of the Beavis and Butt-Head series on MTV, in which Judge voiced both title characters as well as the majority of supporting characters and wrote and directed the majority of the episodes. The show centers on two socially incompetent, heavy metal-loving teenage wannabe delinquents, Beavis and Butt-Head (both voiced by Judge), who go to High School at Highland High in Albuquerque, New Mexico (the same city where Judge was raised and attended high school). The two have no adult supervision, are dim-witted, sex-obsessed, uneducated, barely literate, and lack any empathy or moral scruples, even regarding each other. Over its run, Beavis and Butt-Head drew a notable amount of both positive and negative reaction from the public with its combination of lewd humor and implied criticism of society. Judge himself is highly critical of the animation and quality of earlier episodes, in particular the first two - Blood Drive/Give Blood and Door to Door - which he described as "awful, I don't know why anybody liked it... I was burying my head in the sand." The series spawned the feature-length film Beavis and Butt-Head Do America and the spin-off show Daria. After two decades, the series aired its new season on October 27, 2011. The premiere was dubbed a ratings hit, with an audience of 3.3 million total viewers. On January 10, 2014, Judge announced that there is still a chance to pitch Beavis and Butt-Head to another network and that he wouldn't mind making more episodes. CANNOTANSWER | Judge quit after less than three months and became a bass player with a touring blues band. | Michael Craig Judge (born October 17, 1962) is an American actor, animator, writer, producer, director and musician. He is the creator of the animated television series Beavis and Butt-Head (1993–1997, 2011, 2021–present), and co-creator of the television series King of the Hill (1997–2010), The Goode Family (2009), Silicon Valley (2014–2019), and Mike Judge Presents: Tales from the Tour Bus (2017–2018). He also wrote and directed the films Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (1996), Office Space (1999), Idiocracy (2006), and Extract (2009).
Judge was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and raised in the U.S. state of New Mexico. He graduated from the University of California, San Diego, where he studied physics. After losing interest in a career in science, Judge began to focus on animation and creating short films. One of these (Frog Baseball) was developed into the successful MTV series Beavis and Butt-Head, which eventually spawned a 1996 feature film, as well as the spin-off series Daria (with which Judge had no involvement).
In 1995, Judge and former The Simpsons writer Greg Daniels developed King of the Hill, which debuted on Fox in 1997 and quickly became a hit with both critics and audiences; running for 13 seasons, it became one of the longest-running American animated series. During the run of the show, Judge took some time off to write and direct Office Space, Idiocracy, and Extract. As King of the Hill was coming to an end, Judge created his third show, ABC's The Goode Family, which received mixed reviews and was cancelled after 13 episodes. After a four-year hiatus, he created his fourth show, the live-action Silicon Valley for HBO, which has received critical acclaim since its premiere. In 2017, Judge's fourth animated series, the music-themed Tales from the Tour Bus, premiered on Cinemax, to critical and audience acclaim.
Judge has won a Primetime Emmy Award and two Annie Awards for King of the Hill and two Critics' Choice Television Awards and Satellite Awards for Silicon Valley.
Early life
Michael Craig Judge was born on October 17, 1962, in Guayaquil, Ecuador. He is the middle of three children born to Margaret Yvonne (née Blue), a librarian, and William James Judge, an archaeologist. At the time of his birth, his father was working for a nonprofit organization in Guayaquil and other parts of Ecuador, promoting agricultural development. Judge was raised from age seven in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he spent a small portion of his life working on a chicken farm. He attended St. Pius X High School and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in physics from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) in 1985.
Career
1985–1997: Early science career; musician; animation and Beavis and Butt-Head
After graduating from UCSD in 1985, he held several brief jobs in physics and mechanical engineering, but found himself growing bored with science. In 1987, he moved to Silicon Valley to join Parallax Graphics, a startup video card company with about 40 employees based in Santa Clara, California. Disliking the company's culture and his colleagues ("The people I met were like Stepford Wives. They were true believers in something, and I don't know what it was"), Judge quit after less than three months and became a bass player with a touring blues band.
He was a part of Anson Funderburgh's band for two years, playing on their 1990 Black Top Records release "Rack 'Em Up", while taking graduate math classes at the University of Texas at Dallas. In 1989, after seeing animation cels on display in a movie theater, Judge purchased a Bolex 16 mm film camera and began creating his own animated shorts in his home in Richardson, Texas. In 1991, his short film "Office Space" (also known as the Milton series of shorts) was acquired by Comedy Central, following an animation festival in Dallas. In the early 1990s, he was playing blues bass with Doyle Bramhall.
In 1992, he developed Frog Baseball, a short film featuring the characters Beavis and Butt-Head, to be featured on Liquid Television, a 1990s animation showcase that appeared on MTV. The short led to the creation of the Beavis and Butt-Head series on MTV, in which Judge voiced both title characters as well as the majority of supporting characters and wrote and directed the majority of the episodes. The show centers on two socially incompetent, heavy metal-loving teenage wannabe delinquents, Beavis and Butt-Head, who live in the fictional town of Highland, Texas. The two have no adult supervision, are dim-witted, sex-obsessed, uneducated, barely literate, and lack any empathy or moral scruples, even regarding each other. Over its run, Beavis and Butt-Head drew a notable amount of both positive and negative reaction from the public with its combination of lewd humor and implied criticism of society.
Judge himself is highly critical of the animation and quality of earlier episodes, in particular the first two – Blood Drive/Give Blood and Door to Door – which he described as "awful, I don't know why anybody liked it ... I was burying my head in the sand." The series spawned the feature-length film Beavis and Butt-Head Do America and the spin-off show Daria.
After two decades, the series aired its new season on October 27, 2011. The premiere was a ratings hit, with an audience of 3.3 million total viewers. On January 10, 2014, Judge announced that there is still a chance to pitch Beavis and Butt-Head to another network and that he wouldn't mind making more episodes.
1997–2009: King of the Hill, Office Space, and Idiocracy
In early 1995, after the successful first run of Beavis and Butt-Head on MTV, Mike Judge co-created the show King of the Hill with former The Simpsons writer Greg Daniels. Judge was a former resident of Garland, Texas, upon which the fictional community of Arlen was loosely based, but as Judge stated in a later interview, the show was based more specifically on the Dallas suburb of Richardson. Judge conceived the idea for the show, drew the main characters, and wrote the pilot script. Judge voiced characters Hank Hill and Jeff Boomhauer. The show is about a middle-class Methodist family named the Hills living in a small town called Arlen, Texas. It attempts to retain a naturalistic approach, seeking humor in the conventional and mundane aspects of everyday life while dealing with issues comically. After its debut in 1997, the series became a large success for Fox and was named one of the best television series of the year by various publications, including Entertainment Weekly, Time, and TV Guide.
For the 1997–1998 season, the series became one of Fox's highest-rated programs and even briefly outperformed The Simpsons in ratings. Although ratings remained consistent throughout the 10th, 11th and 12th seasons and had begun to rise in the overall Nielsen ratings (up to the 105th most watched series on television, from 118 in season 8), Fox abruptly announced in 2008 that King of the Hill had been cancelled. The cancellation coincided with the announcement that Seth MacFarlane, creator of Family Guy and American Dad!, would be creating a Family Guy spin-off called The Cleveland Show, which would take over King of the Hill's time slot. Hopes to keep the show afloat surfaced as sources indicated that ABC (which was already airing Judge's new animated comedy, The Goode Family) was interested in securing the rights to the show, but in January 2009, ABC president Steve McPherson said he had "no plans to pick up the animated comedy." On April 30, 2009, it was announced that Fox ordered at least two more episodes to give the show a proper finale. The show's 14th season was supposed to air sometime in the 2009–10 season, but Fox later announced that it would not air the episodes, opting instead for syndication. On August 10, 2009, however, Fox released a statement that the network would air a one-hour series finale (which consisted of a regular 30-minute episode followed by a 30-minute finale) on September 13, 2009. The four remaining episodes of the series aired in syndication the week of May 3, 2010, and again on Adult Swim during the week of May 17, 2010. During the panel discussion for the return of Beavis and Butt-Head at Comic-Con 2011, Mike Judge said that no current plans exist to revive King of the Hill, although he would not rule out the possibility of it returning.
Judge began to develop one of his four animated short films entitled Milton, about an office drone named Milton that Judge created, which first aired on Liquid Television and Night After Night with Allan Havey and later aired on Saturday Night Live. The inspiration came from a temp job he once had that involved alphabetizing purchase orders and a job he had as an engineer for three months in the San Francisco Bay Area during the 1980s, "just in the heart of Silicon Valley and in the middle of that overachiever yuppie thing, it was just awful". Judge sold the completed film Office Space to 20th Century Fox based on his script and a cast that included Jennifer Aniston, Ron Livingston, and David Herman. Originally, the studio wanted to make a film out of the Milton character but Judge was not interested, opting instead to make more of an ensemble cast–based film. The studio suggested that he should make a film like Car Wash but "just set in an office". Judge made the relatively painless transition from animation to live-action with the help of the film's director of photography who taught him about lenses and where to put the camera. Judge says, "I had a great crew, and it's good going into it not pretending you're an expert." Studio executives were not happy with the footage Judge was getting. He remembers them telling him, "More energy! More energy! We gotta reshoot it! You're failing! You're failing!" In addition, Fox did not like the gangsta rap music used in the film until a focus group approved of it. Judge hated the ending and felt that a complete rewrite of the third act was necessary. In the film, he made a cameo appearance as Stan (complete with hairpiece and fake mustache), the manager of Chotchkie's, a fictionalized parody of chain restaurants like Chili's, Applebee's and TGI Friday's, and the boss of Jennifer Aniston's character, whom he continually undermines and interrogates over her lack of sufficient enthusiasm for the job and the insufficient quantity of "flair" (buttons, ribbons, etc.) she wears on her uniform. The film was released on February 19, 1999, and it was well received by critics. Although not particularly successful at the box office, it sold well on VHS and DVD, and it has come to be recognized as a cult classic.
Since fall 2003, Judge and fellow animator Don Hertzfeldt have run an animation festival called "The Animation Show". "The Animation Show" tours the country every year, screening animated shorts. In 2005, Judge was presented with the Austin Film Festival's Outstanding Television Writer Award by Johnny Hardwick.
Judge has made supporting and cameo appearances in numerous films. Judge had a voice cameo in South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut (1999), the feature-length film adaptation of the popular Comedy Central series; he voiced Kenny McCormick when he was unhooded towards the end of the film. He later acted in the science-fiction family comedy franchise Spy Kids, where he played Donnagon Giggles in the first three films. His next film appearance was Serving Sara (2002) where he played a motel manager. He later appeared in the comedy Jackass Number Two (2006), in which he can be seen during the closing credits. An extended version of his sequence can be seen in Jackass 2.5 (2007) which was a direct-to-video release. Judge also created a video clip of Beavis and Butt-Head ripping into Steve-O for his video Poke the Puss, where the two try imagining if they would like the video better if they were black. The clip aired as a part of Jackassworld.com: 24-Hour Takeover, a February 23, 2008, television special on MTV to coincide with the official launch of jackassworld.com. The characters appeared again in the third Jackass film, titled Jackass 3D, at the beginning of the film, telling viewers to put on their 3D glasses for the film.
Judge's third film, Idiocracy, a dystopian comedy starring Luke Wilson and Maya Rudolph, was given a limited release theatrically by 20th Century Fox in September 2006, two years after production. The film's original release date was intended to be on August 5, 2005, according to Mike Judge.
In April 2006, a release date was set for September 1, 2006. The film was released without a trailer or substantial marketing campaign. The film was not screened for critics beforehand as is usually done. Lack of concrete information from Fox led to speculation that the distributor may have actively attempted to keep the film from being seen by a large audience, while fulfilling a contractual obligation for theatrical release ahead of a DVD release, according to Ryan Pearson of the AP.
That speculation was followed by open criticism of the studio's lack of support from Ain't It Cool News, Time, and Esquire. Times Joel Stein wrote "the film's ads and trailers tested atrociously", but "still, abandoning Idiocracy seems particularly unjust, since Judge has made a lot of money for Fox." Despite the film not being screened for critics, the film received positive reviews and was a minor box-office success.
In the U.S., the film was released to DVD in January 2007 and later aired on premium-television, multiplex channels Cinemax in September 2007 and HBO in January 2008. Since then, it has gained a cult following.
2009–2013: The Goode Family, Extract, and other projects
Judge's fourth directorial effort was 2009's Extract. Shortly after completing Office Space, Judge was already about 40 pages into his follow-up script, set in the world of an extract factory, when he was convinced by his representative team that he needed to shelve that and concentrate on something more commercial. Over the next several years, he focused his energy on developing Idiocracy. But years later, by the time of the film's release, audiences had decided that Office Space had struck a chord, so they were ready to see Judge return to on-the-job humor, and thus the Extract script was given new life.
Seeking to keep Extract below the radar of the studio system, Judge and his producers set up a production company, Ternion Productions, and arranged private financing while partnering with Miramax for domestic distribution of the film. Judge relied heavily on his own personal knowledge of the industrial world to bring the story to life. "I actually worked in a factory a little bit myself ... I hopefully write stuff that is recognizable as the archetypes of this world," Judge stated.
Keeping true to this baseline of reality, Extract was shot in a working factory, in this case a water bottling plant south of Los Angeles, in the City of Commerce. He makes an uncredited appearance as Jim, a union organizer. The film premiered on September 4, 2009, and received mixed to positive reviews from critics and was a minor commercial success.
Judge's third television series, The Goode Family, debuted on ABC but was cancelled after one season. Comedy Central first aired the series in reruns on January 4, 2010. However, the series was pulled off the schedule shortly thereafter. It was confirmed on The Goode Family Facebook page that Comedy Central had picked up the reruns of the series, which were to be evaluated for a chance of being renewed for a second season. On August 8, 2009, however, ABC Entertainment President Steve McPherson stated that the show, along with Surviving Suburbia, had officially been canceled due to low ratings.
In 2010, reruns of The Goode Family aired Monday nights at 10 pm on Comedy Central, beginning January 4. It departed the network's primetime schedule after four weeks, returning occasionally in low-trafficked timeslots.
In 2012, Judge directed the music video (animation by Titmouse) for country music group Zac Brown Band's "The Wind". In 2013, Judge collaborated with Seth MacFarlane on a mashup episode of Family Guy, in which, complete with a Hill-themed opening, Judge reprises his role as Hank Hill. Earlier in 2010 and 2012, Judge played cameos as Hank on two episodes of MacFarlane's The Cleveland Show.
2014–present: Silicon Valley and Tales from the Tour Bus
Judge created his fourth show, Silicon Valley, with King of the Hill executive producers John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky. The HBO comedy is a single-camera live-action sitcom set in Northern California. One of its main themes is the idea that "the people most qualified to succeed are the least capable of handling success". The first season of Silicon Valley was 8 episodes long and received critical and public acclaim. Silicon Valley was renewed for a second season on April 21, 2014, and a third season on April 13, 2015. Silicon Valley aired its fourth season, which premiered on April 23, 2017. The series was renewed for a fifth season, which premiered on March 25, 2018.
On January 12, 2017, Deadline confirmed that Cinemax ordered 8 episodes of Judge's new animated series, Mike Judge Presents: Tales from the Tour Bus. The series premiered on September 22, 2017. In 2019, Judge announced he had been developing two projects for HBO: QualityLand and A5, both of which were later scrapped by HBO in 2021.
Personal life
Judge married his wife Francesca Morocco in 1989. They remained married for twenty years until they divorced in 2009. Together they have two daughters and a son. The family resides in Austin, Texas, and Malibu, California.
Political views
While King of the Hill is often a satire of protagonist Hank Hill, identifiable as a conservative, and his The Goode Family is essentially a satire centered around liberal family, Judge avoids discussing his political leanings.
In reviewing Idiocracy, Salon stated, "Judge's gimlet eye is so ruthless that at times his politics seem to border on South Park libertarianism." A writer for the libertarian magazine Reason seems to agree, comparing King of the Hill to the anti-authoritarian point of view of South Park and The Simpsons, though he calls the show more populist, noting the disdain King of the Hill seems to have for bureaucrats, professionals, and big-box chains.
Still, Judge denies having political messages in his shows, saying in an IGN interview about King of the Hill:
In June 2016, before the presidential election in November, Rolling Stone published an article claiming that Judge would produce Idiocracy-themed campaign advertisements mocking Donald Trump's presidential campaign if given permission from 20th Century Fox to do so. It was later reported by Business Insider that the ads would not go forward.
Filmography
Film
Television
Other appearances
Awards and nominations
References
External links
1962 births
Living people
People from Albuquerque, New Mexico
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
21st-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century American comedians
21st-century American comedians
Male actors from Albuquerque, New Mexico
21st-century American screenwriters
American animators
American animated film directors
American animated film producers
American blues musicians
American cartoonists
Film producers from California
American male comedians
American male film actors
American blues guitarists
American bass guitarists
American male screenwriters
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American music video directors
American satirists
American television directors
Comedy film directors
Television producers from California
American television writers
Annie Award winners
Film directors from Texas
Male actors from Austin, Texas
American male television writers
Musicians from Austin, Texas
Writers from Albuquerque, New Mexico
People from Guayaquil
People from Austin, Texas
Primetime Emmy Award winners
Showrunners
American physicists
American mechanical engineers
University of California, San Diego alumni
Writers from Austin, Texas
Animators from New Mexico
Animators from Texas
Film directors from New Mexico
Inkpot Award winners
American male non-fiction writers
Screenwriters from Texas
Television producers from Texas
Film producers from Texas
Screenwriters from New Mexico
Screenwriters from California
Comedians from California
Comedians from Texas
21st-century American male writers | true | [
"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",
"Arthur Adam was the Chief Telephonist at Adolf Hitler's Wolfschanze HQ at East Prussia. Adam was a Wachtmeister (Master Sargeant) in the German Army.\n\nBomb attempt against Hitler \nWhen Colonel Count Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg carried out a bomb attempt against Hitler’s life on 20 July 1944, it was first supposed that it had been a time bomb left by the workers of the Todt Organization who had been renovating the bunkers in the period just before.\n\nIn the following hours, von Stauffenberg was not a suspect. Arthur Adam's telephone hall was next to the vestibule where Stauffenberg had left his cap and his belt.\n\nAt this time, the Chief Telephonist Arthur Adam who saw Stauffenberg running away from the HQ, leaving his belongings behind did not know what to do. He walked about the site of the explosion. It was not his duty to take part in the investigation, however, he wanted to tell the investigators what he saw.\n\nHe systematically tried to approach various army officers to report that he saw the suspicious Stauffenberg escapade. However, he was often called to attention and reminded not to raise suspicion against such a highly reputed colonel.\n\nAdam did not give up his detective role and came to see Hitler’s personal adjutant Heinz Linge to inform him that Colonel von Stauffenberg came out of the conference room and went straight into a car out of the HQ.\n\nThey end up telling the story to Martin Bormann, Hitler's Secretary and in the practice, the most powerful man in the Nazi Party after Hitler himself.\n\nAdam tells Bormann that he is sure that Stauffenberg must have committed the attempt against the Führer's life, as he saw the colonel leaving the conference in a hurry without his cap, his valise and his belt. Bormann does not hesitate for a moment and takes Adam directly before Hitler. When Hitler heard Adam's testimony, he is supposed to have declared: “Stauffenberg is the perpetrator of the attack! Arrest him immediately!”\n\nFor identifying Stauffenberg, Adam received a bônus (of 30,000 or 20,000 Reichmarks) and a (large or small) house in Berlin.\n\nHe is described to be the chief intelligence officer in the Chancellery of the Reich on 26 April 1945.\n\nReferences \n\nPersonal staff of Adolf Hitler\nYear of death missing\nYear of birth missing"
] |
[
"Mike Judge",
"1990-1997: Early career and Beavis and Butt-Head",
"What did he try",
"He graduated in 1986 from University of California, San Diego.",
"What did he try and do next",
"In 1987, he moved to Silicon Valley to join Parallax Graphics, a startup video card company with about 40 employees based in Santa Clara.",
"What did this mean to him",
"The people I met were like Stepford Wives. They were true believers in something, and I don't know what it was\"),",
"What did he attempt to do next",
"Judge quit after less than three months and became a bass player with a touring blues band."
] | C_81e3eab6e02a4e1abcedb12adf463565_1 | What did this do to him | 5 | What did being a bass player do to Judge? | Mike Judge | He graduated in 1986 from University of California, San Diego. In 1987, he moved to Silicon Valley to join Parallax Graphics, a startup video card company with about 40 employees based in Santa Clara. Disliking the company's culture and his colleagues ("The people I met were like Stepford Wives. They were true believers in something, and I don't know what it was"), Judge quit after less than three months and became a bass player with a touring blues band. He was a part of Anson Funderburgh's band for two years, playing on their 1990 Black Top Records release "Rack 'Em Up", while taking graduate math classes at the University of Texas at Dallas. In 1989, after seeing animation cels on display in a movie theater, Judge purchased a Bolex 16 mm film camera and began creating his own animated shorts. In 1991, his short film "Office Space" (also known as the Milton series of shorts) was acquired by Comedy Central, following an animation festival in Dallas. In the early 1990s, he was playing blues bass with Doyle Bramhall. In 1992, he developed Frog Baseball, a short film featuring the characters Beavis and Butt-Head, to be featured on Liquid Television, a 1990s animation showcase that appeared on MTV. The short led to the creation of the Beavis and Butt-Head series on MTV, in which Judge voiced both title characters as well as the majority of supporting characters and wrote and directed the majority of the episodes. The show centers on two socially incompetent, heavy metal-loving teenage wannabe delinquents, Beavis and Butt-Head (both voiced by Judge), who go to High School at Highland High in Albuquerque, New Mexico (the same city where Judge was raised and attended high school). The two have no adult supervision, are dim-witted, sex-obsessed, uneducated, barely literate, and lack any empathy or moral scruples, even regarding each other. Over its run, Beavis and Butt-Head drew a notable amount of both positive and negative reaction from the public with its combination of lewd humor and implied criticism of society. Judge himself is highly critical of the animation and quality of earlier episodes, in particular the first two - Blood Drive/Give Blood and Door to Door - which he described as "awful, I don't know why anybody liked it... I was burying my head in the sand." The series spawned the feature-length film Beavis and Butt-Head Do America and the spin-off show Daria. After two decades, the series aired its new season on October 27, 2011. The premiere was dubbed a ratings hit, with an audience of 3.3 million total viewers. On January 10, 2014, Judge announced that there is still a chance to pitch Beavis and Butt-Head to another network and that he wouldn't mind making more episodes. CANNOTANSWER | In 1991, his short film "Office Space" (also known as the Milton series of shorts) | Michael Craig Judge (born October 17, 1962) is an American actor, animator, writer, producer, director and musician. He is the creator of the animated television series Beavis and Butt-Head (1993–1997, 2011, 2021–present), and co-creator of the television series King of the Hill (1997–2010), The Goode Family (2009), Silicon Valley (2014–2019), and Mike Judge Presents: Tales from the Tour Bus (2017–2018). He also wrote and directed the films Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (1996), Office Space (1999), Idiocracy (2006), and Extract (2009).
Judge was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and raised in the U.S. state of New Mexico. He graduated from the University of California, San Diego, where he studied physics. After losing interest in a career in science, Judge began to focus on animation and creating short films. One of these (Frog Baseball) was developed into the successful MTV series Beavis and Butt-Head, which eventually spawned a 1996 feature film, as well as the spin-off series Daria (with which Judge had no involvement).
In 1995, Judge and former The Simpsons writer Greg Daniels developed King of the Hill, which debuted on Fox in 1997 and quickly became a hit with both critics and audiences; running for 13 seasons, it became one of the longest-running American animated series. During the run of the show, Judge took some time off to write and direct Office Space, Idiocracy, and Extract. As King of the Hill was coming to an end, Judge created his third show, ABC's The Goode Family, which received mixed reviews and was cancelled after 13 episodes. After a four-year hiatus, he created his fourth show, the live-action Silicon Valley for HBO, which has received critical acclaim since its premiere. In 2017, Judge's fourth animated series, the music-themed Tales from the Tour Bus, premiered on Cinemax, to critical and audience acclaim.
Judge has won a Primetime Emmy Award and two Annie Awards for King of the Hill and two Critics' Choice Television Awards and Satellite Awards for Silicon Valley.
Early life
Michael Craig Judge was born on October 17, 1962, in Guayaquil, Ecuador. He is the middle of three children born to Margaret Yvonne (née Blue), a librarian, and William James Judge, an archaeologist. At the time of his birth, his father was working for a nonprofit organization in Guayaquil and other parts of Ecuador, promoting agricultural development. Judge was raised from age seven in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he spent a small portion of his life working on a chicken farm. He attended St. Pius X High School and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in physics from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) in 1985.
Career
1985–1997: Early science career; musician; animation and Beavis and Butt-Head
After graduating from UCSD in 1985, he held several brief jobs in physics and mechanical engineering, but found himself growing bored with science. In 1987, he moved to Silicon Valley to join Parallax Graphics, a startup video card company with about 40 employees based in Santa Clara, California. Disliking the company's culture and his colleagues ("The people I met were like Stepford Wives. They were true believers in something, and I don't know what it was"), Judge quit after less than three months and became a bass player with a touring blues band.
He was a part of Anson Funderburgh's band for two years, playing on their 1990 Black Top Records release "Rack 'Em Up", while taking graduate math classes at the University of Texas at Dallas. In 1989, after seeing animation cels on display in a movie theater, Judge purchased a Bolex 16 mm film camera and began creating his own animated shorts in his home in Richardson, Texas. In 1991, his short film "Office Space" (also known as the Milton series of shorts) was acquired by Comedy Central, following an animation festival in Dallas. In the early 1990s, he was playing blues bass with Doyle Bramhall.
In 1992, he developed Frog Baseball, a short film featuring the characters Beavis and Butt-Head, to be featured on Liquid Television, a 1990s animation showcase that appeared on MTV. The short led to the creation of the Beavis and Butt-Head series on MTV, in which Judge voiced both title characters as well as the majority of supporting characters and wrote and directed the majority of the episodes. The show centers on two socially incompetent, heavy metal-loving teenage wannabe delinquents, Beavis and Butt-Head, who live in the fictional town of Highland, Texas. The two have no adult supervision, are dim-witted, sex-obsessed, uneducated, barely literate, and lack any empathy or moral scruples, even regarding each other. Over its run, Beavis and Butt-Head drew a notable amount of both positive and negative reaction from the public with its combination of lewd humor and implied criticism of society.
Judge himself is highly critical of the animation and quality of earlier episodes, in particular the first two – Blood Drive/Give Blood and Door to Door – which he described as "awful, I don't know why anybody liked it ... I was burying my head in the sand." The series spawned the feature-length film Beavis and Butt-Head Do America and the spin-off show Daria.
After two decades, the series aired its new season on October 27, 2011. The premiere was a ratings hit, with an audience of 3.3 million total viewers. On January 10, 2014, Judge announced that there is still a chance to pitch Beavis and Butt-Head to another network and that he wouldn't mind making more episodes.
1997–2009: King of the Hill, Office Space, and Idiocracy
In early 1995, after the successful first run of Beavis and Butt-Head on MTV, Mike Judge co-created the show King of the Hill with former The Simpsons writer Greg Daniels. Judge was a former resident of Garland, Texas, upon which the fictional community of Arlen was loosely based, but as Judge stated in a later interview, the show was based more specifically on the Dallas suburb of Richardson. Judge conceived the idea for the show, drew the main characters, and wrote the pilot script. Judge voiced characters Hank Hill and Jeff Boomhauer. The show is about a middle-class Methodist family named the Hills living in a small town called Arlen, Texas. It attempts to retain a naturalistic approach, seeking humor in the conventional and mundane aspects of everyday life while dealing with issues comically. After its debut in 1997, the series became a large success for Fox and was named one of the best television series of the year by various publications, including Entertainment Weekly, Time, and TV Guide.
For the 1997–1998 season, the series became one of Fox's highest-rated programs and even briefly outperformed The Simpsons in ratings. Although ratings remained consistent throughout the 10th, 11th and 12th seasons and had begun to rise in the overall Nielsen ratings (up to the 105th most watched series on television, from 118 in season 8), Fox abruptly announced in 2008 that King of the Hill had been cancelled. The cancellation coincided with the announcement that Seth MacFarlane, creator of Family Guy and American Dad!, would be creating a Family Guy spin-off called The Cleveland Show, which would take over King of the Hill's time slot. Hopes to keep the show afloat surfaced as sources indicated that ABC (which was already airing Judge's new animated comedy, The Goode Family) was interested in securing the rights to the show, but in January 2009, ABC president Steve McPherson said he had "no plans to pick up the animated comedy." On April 30, 2009, it was announced that Fox ordered at least two more episodes to give the show a proper finale. The show's 14th season was supposed to air sometime in the 2009–10 season, but Fox later announced that it would not air the episodes, opting instead for syndication. On August 10, 2009, however, Fox released a statement that the network would air a one-hour series finale (which consisted of a regular 30-minute episode followed by a 30-minute finale) on September 13, 2009. The four remaining episodes of the series aired in syndication the week of May 3, 2010, and again on Adult Swim during the week of May 17, 2010. During the panel discussion for the return of Beavis and Butt-Head at Comic-Con 2011, Mike Judge said that no current plans exist to revive King of the Hill, although he would not rule out the possibility of it returning.
Judge began to develop one of his four animated short films entitled Milton, about an office drone named Milton that Judge created, which first aired on Liquid Television and Night After Night with Allan Havey and later aired on Saturday Night Live. The inspiration came from a temp job he once had that involved alphabetizing purchase orders and a job he had as an engineer for three months in the San Francisco Bay Area during the 1980s, "just in the heart of Silicon Valley and in the middle of that overachiever yuppie thing, it was just awful". Judge sold the completed film Office Space to 20th Century Fox based on his script and a cast that included Jennifer Aniston, Ron Livingston, and David Herman. Originally, the studio wanted to make a film out of the Milton character but Judge was not interested, opting instead to make more of an ensemble cast–based film. The studio suggested that he should make a film like Car Wash but "just set in an office". Judge made the relatively painless transition from animation to live-action with the help of the film's director of photography who taught him about lenses and where to put the camera. Judge says, "I had a great crew, and it's good going into it not pretending you're an expert." Studio executives were not happy with the footage Judge was getting. He remembers them telling him, "More energy! More energy! We gotta reshoot it! You're failing! You're failing!" In addition, Fox did not like the gangsta rap music used in the film until a focus group approved of it. Judge hated the ending and felt that a complete rewrite of the third act was necessary. In the film, he made a cameo appearance as Stan (complete with hairpiece and fake mustache), the manager of Chotchkie's, a fictionalized parody of chain restaurants like Chili's, Applebee's and TGI Friday's, and the boss of Jennifer Aniston's character, whom he continually undermines and interrogates over her lack of sufficient enthusiasm for the job and the insufficient quantity of "flair" (buttons, ribbons, etc.) she wears on her uniform. The film was released on February 19, 1999, and it was well received by critics. Although not particularly successful at the box office, it sold well on VHS and DVD, and it has come to be recognized as a cult classic.
Since fall 2003, Judge and fellow animator Don Hertzfeldt have run an animation festival called "The Animation Show". "The Animation Show" tours the country every year, screening animated shorts. In 2005, Judge was presented with the Austin Film Festival's Outstanding Television Writer Award by Johnny Hardwick.
Judge has made supporting and cameo appearances in numerous films. Judge had a voice cameo in South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut (1999), the feature-length film adaptation of the popular Comedy Central series; he voiced Kenny McCormick when he was unhooded towards the end of the film. He later acted in the science-fiction family comedy franchise Spy Kids, where he played Donnagon Giggles in the first three films. His next film appearance was Serving Sara (2002) where he played a motel manager. He later appeared in the comedy Jackass Number Two (2006), in which he can be seen during the closing credits. An extended version of his sequence can be seen in Jackass 2.5 (2007) which was a direct-to-video release. Judge also created a video clip of Beavis and Butt-Head ripping into Steve-O for his video Poke the Puss, where the two try imagining if they would like the video better if they were black. The clip aired as a part of Jackassworld.com: 24-Hour Takeover, a February 23, 2008, television special on MTV to coincide with the official launch of jackassworld.com. The characters appeared again in the third Jackass film, titled Jackass 3D, at the beginning of the film, telling viewers to put on their 3D glasses for the film.
Judge's third film, Idiocracy, a dystopian comedy starring Luke Wilson and Maya Rudolph, was given a limited release theatrically by 20th Century Fox in September 2006, two years after production. The film's original release date was intended to be on August 5, 2005, according to Mike Judge.
In April 2006, a release date was set for September 1, 2006. The film was released without a trailer or substantial marketing campaign. The film was not screened for critics beforehand as is usually done. Lack of concrete information from Fox led to speculation that the distributor may have actively attempted to keep the film from being seen by a large audience, while fulfilling a contractual obligation for theatrical release ahead of a DVD release, according to Ryan Pearson of the AP.
That speculation was followed by open criticism of the studio's lack of support from Ain't It Cool News, Time, and Esquire. Times Joel Stein wrote "the film's ads and trailers tested atrociously", but "still, abandoning Idiocracy seems particularly unjust, since Judge has made a lot of money for Fox." Despite the film not being screened for critics, the film received positive reviews and was a minor box-office success.
In the U.S., the film was released to DVD in January 2007 and later aired on premium-television, multiplex channels Cinemax in September 2007 and HBO in January 2008. Since then, it has gained a cult following.
2009–2013: The Goode Family, Extract, and other projects
Judge's fourth directorial effort was 2009's Extract. Shortly after completing Office Space, Judge was already about 40 pages into his follow-up script, set in the world of an extract factory, when he was convinced by his representative team that he needed to shelve that and concentrate on something more commercial. Over the next several years, he focused his energy on developing Idiocracy. But years later, by the time of the film's release, audiences had decided that Office Space had struck a chord, so they were ready to see Judge return to on-the-job humor, and thus the Extract script was given new life.
Seeking to keep Extract below the radar of the studio system, Judge and his producers set up a production company, Ternion Productions, and arranged private financing while partnering with Miramax for domestic distribution of the film. Judge relied heavily on his own personal knowledge of the industrial world to bring the story to life. "I actually worked in a factory a little bit myself ... I hopefully write stuff that is recognizable as the archetypes of this world," Judge stated.
Keeping true to this baseline of reality, Extract was shot in a working factory, in this case a water bottling plant south of Los Angeles, in the City of Commerce. He makes an uncredited appearance as Jim, a union organizer. The film premiered on September 4, 2009, and received mixed to positive reviews from critics and was a minor commercial success.
Judge's third television series, The Goode Family, debuted on ABC but was cancelled after one season. Comedy Central first aired the series in reruns on January 4, 2010. However, the series was pulled off the schedule shortly thereafter. It was confirmed on The Goode Family Facebook page that Comedy Central had picked up the reruns of the series, which were to be evaluated for a chance of being renewed for a second season. On August 8, 2009, however, ABC Entertainment President Steve McPherson stated that the show, along with Surviving Suburbia, had officially been canceled due to low ratings.
In 2010, reruns of The Goode Family aired Monday nights at 10 pm on Comedy Central, beginning January 4. It departed the network's primetime schedule after four weeks, returning occasionally in low-trafficked timeslots.
In 2012, Judge directed the music video (animation by Titmouse) for country music group Zac Brown Band's "The Wind". In 2013, Judge collaborated with Seth MacFarlane on a mashup episode of Family Guy, in which, complete with a Hill-themed opening, Judge reprises his role as Hank Hill. Earlier in 2010 and 2012, Judge played cameos as Hank on two episodes of MacFarlane's The Cleveland Show.
2014–present: Silicon Valley and Tales from the Tour Bus
Judge created his fourth show, Silicon Valley, with King of the Hill executive producers John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky. The HBO comedy is a single-camera live-action sitcom set in Northern California. One of its main themes is the idea that "the people most qualified to succeed are the least capable of handling success". The first season of Silicon Valley was 8 episodes long and received critical and public acclaim. Silicon Valley was renewed for a second season on April 21, 2014, and a third season on April 13, 2015. Silicon Valley aired its fourth season, which premiered on April 23, 2017. The series was renewed for a fifth season, which premiered on March 25, 2018.
On January 12, 2017, Deadline confirmed that Cinemax ordered 8 episodes of Judge's new animated series, Mike Judge Presents: Tales from the Tour Bus. The series premiered on September 22, 2017. In 2019, Judge announced he had been developing two projects for HBO: QualityLand and A5, both of which were later scrapped by HBO in 2021.
Personal life
Judge married his wife Francesca Morocco in 1989. They remained married for twenty years until they divorced in 2009. Together they have two daughters and a son. The family resides in Austin, Texas, and Malibu, California.
Political views
While King of the Hill is often a satire of protagonist Hank Hill, identifiable as a conservative, and his The Goode Family is essentially a satire centered around liberal family, Judge avoids discussing his political leanings.
In reviewing Idiocracy, Salon stated, "Judge's gimlet eye is so ruthless that at times his politics seem to border on South Park libertarianism." A writer for the libertarian magazine Reason seems to agree, comparing King of the Hill to the anti-authoritarian point of view of South Park and The Simpsons, though he calls the show more populist, noting the disdain King of the Hill seems to have for bureaucrats, professionals, and big-box chains.
Still, Judge denies having political messages in his shows, saying in an IGN interview about King of the Hill:
In June 2016, before the presidential election in November, Rolling Stone published an article claiming that Judge would produce Idiocracy-themed campaign advertisements mocking Donald Trump's presidential campaign if given permission from 20th Century Fox to do so. It was later reported by Business Insider that the ads would not go forward.
Filmography
Film
Television
Other appearances
Awards and nominations
References
External links
1962 births
Living people
People from Albuquerque, New Mexico
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
21st-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century American comedians
21st-century American comedians
Male actors from Albuquerque, New Mexico
21st-century American screenwriters
American animators
American animated film directors
American animated film producers
American blues musicians
American cartoonists
Film producers from California
American male comedians
American male film actors
American blues guitarists
American bass guitarists
American male screenwriters
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American music video directors
American satirists
American television directors
Comedy film directors
Television producers from California
American television writers
Annie Award winners
Film directors from Texas
Male actors from Austin, Texas
American male television writers
Musicians from Austin, Texas
Writers from Albuquerque, New Mexico
People from Guayaquil
People from Austin, Texas
Primetime Emmy Award winners
Showrunners
American physicists
American mechanical engineers
University of California, San Diego alumni
Writers from Austin, Texas
Animators from New Mexico
Animators from Texas
Film directors from New Mexico
Inkpot Award winners
American male non-fiction writers
Screenwriters from Texas
Television producers from Texas
Film producers from Texas
Screenwriters from New Mexico
Screenwriters from California
Comedians from California
Comedians from Texas
21st-century American male writers | true | [
"is a real-time strategy game for the PlayStation Portable. The game centers on creating mazes and monsters to help defend a demon lord from heroes seeking to capture him.\n\nThe game was released in North America exclusively as a download game on the PlayStation Store, under the title Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman! What Did I Do To Deserve This?. However, on February 9, 2010, NIS America revealed it would be changing the game's name to avoid conflict with the Batman franchise. The game was re-released on April 22, 2010 on the PlayStation Network after it was removed to make the changes, while its sequel, What Did I Do to Deserve This, My Lord? 2, had been delayed to May 4, 2010.\n\nGameplay \nUsing a limited number of \"Dig Power\" and a pickaxe, the player must dig and create a dungeon, and populate it with monsters to defend the demon lord Badman from heroes. More steps are given when a stage is cleared, based on how well the player did. The \"Dig Power\" has another function, however: it is also used to upgrade monsters. The player is given some time to dig out the dungeon and create monsters before a hero comes to capture the demon lord. When the hero is about to enter the dungeon, the player must take Badman and change his location, preferably making it harder for the hero to find him. When the hero gets into the dungeon, he will navigate the dungeon until he finds and captures the demon lord. The hero will fight against any monster that gets in his way.\n\nWhen the hero captures the demon lord, he will retrace the same path, taking the demon lord with him. It is possible to create monsters to save the demon lord during this.\n\nMonsters are created depending on the number of nutrients or mana in the blocks of the dungeon. If the block is covered with moss, and the player uses his pickaxe on this block, a slime will be released. These slimes move around the dungeon, absorbing, and expelling the nutrients from adjacent blocks, creating blocks with more and more nutrients. Once a block obtains enough nutrients, it will change textures depending on just how much is in the block. Stronger, more powerful monsters will be released the more nutrients a block has. The death of monsters or heroes, along with some of the heroes' actions, has varied effects on the surrounding ground. For example, if a hero casts a spell, the surrounding blocks will be filled with mana, which can be used to create different monsters. More so, if that hero dies, the remainder of his mana is expelled onto surrounding blocks.\n\nDevelopment \nThis game is mostly unknown outside Japan and is considered to be a cult hit. A sequel was released entitled Yuusha no Kuse Ni Namaikida or2, which features almost identical gameplay with a few different additions and changes. In April 2009, it was announced that the game was released in North America under the name Holy Invasion Of Privacy, Badman! What Did I Do To Deserve This? On February 9, 2010, the name was changed again to What Did I Do To Deserve This, My Lord!?, to avoid infringing upon the Batman IP. A third game, No Heroes Allowed! was released in late 2010.\n\nReception \n\nWith the exception of Japan, Holy Invasion Of Privacy, Badman! What Did I Do To Deserve This? received average reviews. \"Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman! is an extremely quirky, challenging title that has a few frustrating elements that keep it from being a stellar downloadable,\" IGN said about the game. Game Revolution gave the game a C-, stating, \"A weird and unique freak of nature amongst the mundane shooters and RPGs with their played out themes of morality, but it's trying too hard to be clever.\" The game currently holds 69/100 on Metacritic.\n\nSequels\nThere have been two sequels to What Did I Do to Deserve This, My Lord? released on PSP: What Did I Do to Deserve This, My Lord? 2 and No Heroes Allowed!. A third sequel, No Heroes Allowed: No Puzzles Either!, was released in 2014 for PlayStation Vita, with a fourth, No Heroes Allowed! VR, released on October 14 2017 for PlayStation VR.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nOfficial website\n\n2007 video games\nGod games\nPlayStation Portable games\nPlayStation Portable-only games\nReal-time strategy video games\nSony Interactive Entertainment games\nVideo games developed in Japan",
"\"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)"
] |
[
"Mike Judge",
"1990-1997: Early career and Beavis and Butt-Head",
"What did he try",
"He graduated in 1986 from University of California, San Diego.",
"What did he try and do next",
"In 1987, he moved to Silicon Valley to join Parallax Graphics, a startup video card company with about 40 employees based in Santa Clara.",
"What did this mean to him",
"The people I met were like Stepford Wives. They were true believers in something, and I don't know what it was\"),",
"What did he attempt to do next",
"Judge quit after less than three months and became a bass player with a touring blues band.",
"What did this do to him",
"In 1991, his short film \"Office Space\" (also known as the Milton series of shorts)"
] | C_81e3eab6e02a4e1abcedb12adf463565_1 | What did this do for him | 6 | What did the short film Office Space do for Judge? | Mike Judge | He graduated in 1986 from University of California, San Diego. In 1987, he moved to Silicon Valley to join Parallax Graphics, a startup video card company with about 40 employees based in Santa Clara. Disliking the company's culture and his colleagues ("The people I met were like Stepford Wives. They were true believers in something, and I don't know what it was"), Judge quit after less than three months and became a bass player with a touring blues band. He was a part of Anson Funderburgh's band for two years, playing on their 1990 Black Top Records release "Rack 'Em Up", while taking graduate math classes at the University of Texas at Dallas. In 1989, after seeing animation cels on display in a movie theater, Judge purchased a Bolex 16 mm film camera and began creating his own animated shorts. In 1991, his short film "Office Space" (also known as the Milton series of shorts) was acquired by Comedy Central, following an animation festival in Dallas. In the early 1990s, he was playing blues bass with Doyle Bramhall. In 1992, he developed Frog Baseball, a short film featuring the characters Beavis and Butt-Head, to be featured on Liquid Television, a 1990s animation showcase that appeared on MTV. The short led to the creation of the Beavis and Butt-Head series on MTV, in which Judge voiced both title characters as well as the majority of supporting characters and wrote and directed the majority of the episodes. The show centers on two socially incompetent, heavy metal-loving teenage wannabe delinquents, Beavis and Butt-Head (both voiced by Judge), who go to High School at Highland High in Albuquerque, New Mexico (the same city where Judge was raised and attended high school). The two have no adult supervision, are dim-witted, sex-obsessed, uneducated, barely literate, and lack any empathy or moral scruples, even regarding each other. Over its run, Beavis and Butt-Head drew a notable amount of both positive and negative reaction from the public with its combination of lewd humor and implied criticism of society. Judge himself is highly critical of the animation and quality of earlier episodes, in particular the first two - Blood Drive/Give Blood and Door to Door - which he described as "awful, I don't know why anybody liked it... I was burying my head in the sand." The series spawned the feature-length film Beavis and Butt-Head Do America and the spin-off show Daria. After two decades, the series aired its new season on October 27, 2011. The premiere was dubbed a ratings hit, with an audience of 3.3 million total viewers. On January 10, 2014, Judge announced that there is still a chance to pitch Beavis and Butt-Head to another network and that he wouldn't mind making more episodes. CANNOTANSWER | Comedy Central, following an animation festival in Dallas. In the early 1990s, he was playing blues bass with Doyle Bramhall. | Michael Craig Judge (born October 17, 1962) is an American actor, animator, writer, producer, director and musician. He is the creator of the animated television series Beavis and Butt-Head (1993–1997, 2011, 2021–present), and co-creator of the television series King of the Hill (1997–2010), The Goode Family (2009), Silicon Valley (2014–2019), and Mike Judge Presents: Tales from the Tour Bus (2017–2018). He also wrote and directed the films Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (1996), Office Space (1999), Idiocracy (2006), and Extract (2009).
Judge was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and raised in the U.S. state of New Mexico. He graduated from the University of California, San Diego, where he studied physics. After losing interest in a career in science, Judge began to focus on animation and creating short films. One of these (Frog Baseball) was developed into the successful MTV series Beavis and Butt-Head, which eventually spawned a 1996 feature film, as well as the spin-off series Daria (with which Judge had no involvement).
In 1995, Judge and former The Simpsons writer Greg Daniels developed King of the Hill, which debuted on Fox in 1997 and quickly became a hit with both critics and audiences; running for 13 seasons, it became one of the longest-running American animated series. During the run of the show, Judge took some time off to write and direct Office Space, Idiocracy, and Extract. As King of the Hill was coming to an end, Judge created his third show, ABC's The Goode Family, which received mixed reviews and was cancelled after 13 episodes. After a four-year hiatus, he created his fourth show, the live-action Silicon Valley for HBO, which has received critical acclaim since its premiere. In 2017, Judge's fourth animated series, the music-themed Tales from the Tour Bus, premiered on Cinemax, to critical and audience acclaim.
Judge has won a Primetime Emmy Award and two Annie Awards for King of the Hill and two Critics' Choice Television Awards and Satellite Awards for Silicon Valley.
Early life
Michael Craig Judge was born on October 17, 1962, in Guayaquil, Ecuador. He is the middle of three children born to Margaret Yvonne (née Blue), a librarian, and William James Judge, an archaeologist. At the time of his birth, his father was working for a nonprofit organization in Guayaquil and other parts of Ecuador, promoting agricultural development. Judge was raised from age seven in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he spent a small portion of his life working on a chicken farm. He attended St. Pius X High School and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in physics from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) in 1985.
Career
1985–1997: Early science career; musician; animation and Beavis and Butt-Head
After graduating from UCSD in 1985, he held several brief jobs in physics and mechanical engineering, but found himself growing bored with science. In 1987, he moved to Silicon Valley to join Parallax Graphics, a startup video card company with about 40 employees based in Santa Clara, California. Disliking the company's culture and his colleagues ("The people I met were like Stepford Wives. They were true believers in something, and I don't know what it was"), Judge quit after less than three months and became a bass player with a touring blues band.
He was a part of Anson Funderburgh's band for two years, playing on their 1990 Black Top Records release "Rack 'Em Up", while taking graduate math classes at the University of Texas at Dallas. In 1989, after seeing animation cels on display in a movie theater, Judge purchased a Bolex 16 mm film camera and began creating his own animated shorts in his home in Richardson, Texas. In 1991, his short film "Office Space" (also known as the Milton series of shorts) was acquired by Comedy Central, following an animation festival in Dallas. In the early 1990s, he was playing blues bass with Doyle Bramhall.
In 1992, he developed Frog Baseball, a short film featuring the characters Beavis and Butt-Head, to be featured on Liquid Television, a 1990s animation showcase that appeared on MTV. The short led to the creation of the Beavis and Butt-Head series on MTV, in which Judge voiced both title characters as well as the majority of supporting characters and wrote and directed the majority of the episodes. The show centers on two socially incompetent, heavy metal-loving teenage wannabe delinquents, Beavis and Butt-Head, who live in the fictional town of Highland, Texas. The two have no adult supervision, are dim-witted, sex-obsessed, uneducated, barely literate, and lack any empathy or moral scruples, even regarding each other. Over its run, Beavis and Butt-Head drew a notable amount of both positive and negative reaction from the public with its combination of lewd humor and implied criticism of society.
Judge himself is highly critical of the animation and quality of earlier episodes, in particular the first two – Blood Drive/Give Blood and Door to Door – which he described as "awful, I don't know why anybody liked it ... I was burying my head in the sand." The series spawned the feature-length film Beavis and Butt-Head Do America and the spin-off show Daria.
After two decades, the series aired its new season on October 27, 2011. The premiere was a ratings hit, with an audience of 3.3 million total viewers. On January 10, 2014, Judge announced that there is still a chance to pitch Beavis and Butt-Head to another network and that he wouldn't mind making more episodes.
1997–2009: King of the Hill, Office Space, and Idiocracy
In early 1995, after the successful first run of Beavis and Butt-Head on MTV, Mike Judge co-created the show King of the Hill with former The Simpsons writer Greg Daniels. Judge was a former resident of Garland, Texas, upon which the fictional community of Arlen was loosely based, but as Judge stated in a later interview, the show was based more specifically on the Dallas suburb of Richardson. Judge conceived the idea for the show, drew the main characters, and wrote the pilot script. Judge voiced characters Hank Hill and Jeff Boomhauer. The show is about a middle-class Methodist family named the Hills living in a small town called Arlen, Texas. It attempts to retain a naturalistic approach, seeking humor in the conventional and mundane aspects of everyday life while dealing with issues comically. After its debut in 1997, the series became a large success for Fox and was named one of the best television series of the year by various publications, including Entertainment Weekly, Time, and TV Guide.
For the 1997–1998 season, the series became one of Fox's highest-rated programs and even briefly outperformed The Simpsons in ratings. Although ratings remained consistent throughout the 10th, 11th and 12th seasons and had begun to rise in the overall Nielsen ratings (up to the 105th most watched series on television, from 118 in season 8), Fox abruptly announced in 2008 that King of the Hill had been cancelled. The cancellation coincided with the announcement that Seth MacFarlane, creator of Family Guy and American Dad!, would be creating a Family Guy spin-off called The Cleveland Show, which would take over King of the Hill's time slot. Hopes to keep the show afloat surfaced as sources indicated that ABC (which was already airing Judge's new animated comedy, The Goode Family) was interested in securing the rights to the show, but in January 2009, ABC president Steve McPherson said he had "no plans to pick up the animated comedy." On April 30, 2009, it was announced that Fox ordered at least two more episodes to give the show a proper finale. The show's 14th season was supposed to air sometime in the 2009–10 season, but Fox later announced that it would not air the episodes, opting instead for syndication. On August 10, 2009, however, Fox released a statement that the network would air a one-hour series finale (which consisted of a regular 30-minute episode followed by a 30-minute finale) on September 13, 2009. The four remaining episodes of the series aired in syndication the week of May 3, 2010, and again on Adult Swim during the week of May 17, 2010. During the panel discussion for the return of Beavis and Butt-Head at Comic-Con 2011, Mike Judge said that no current plans exist to revive King of the Hill, although he would not rule out the possibility of it returning.
Judge began to develop one of his four animated short films entitled Milton, about an office drone named Milton that Judge created, which first aired on Liquid Television and Night After Night with Allan Havey and later aired on Saturday Night Live. The inspiration came from a temp job he once had that involved alphabetizing purchase orders and a job he had as an engineer for three months in the San Francisco Bay Area during the 1980s, "just in the heart of Silicon Valley and in the middle of that overachiever yuppie thing, it was just awful". Judge sold the completed film Office Space to 20th Century Fox based on his script and a cast that included Jennifer Aniston, Ron Livingston, and David Herman. Originally, the studio wanted to make a film out of the Milton character but Judge was not interested, opting instead to make more of an ensemble cast–based film. The studio suggested that he should make a film like Car Wash but "just set in an office". Judge made the relatively painless transition from animation to live-action with the help of the film's director of photography who taught him about lenses and where to put the camera. Judge says, "I had a great crew, and it's good going into it not pretending you're an expert." Studio executives were not happy with the footage Judge was getting. He remembers them telling him, "More energy! More energy! We gotta reshoot it! You're failing! You're failing!" In addition, Fox did not like the gangsta rap music used in the film until a focus group approved of it. Judge hated the ending and felt that a complete rewrite of the third act was necessary. In the film, he made a cameo appearance as Stan (complete with hairpiece and fake mustache), the manager of Chotchkie's, a fictionalized parody of chain restaurants like Chili's, Applebee's and TGI Friday's, and the boss of Jennifer Aniston's character, whom he continually undermines and interrogates over her lack of sufficient enthusiasm for the job and the insufficient quantity of "flair" (buttons, ribbons, etc.) she wears on her uniform. The film was released on February 19, 1999, and it was well received by critics. Although not particularly successful at the box office, it sold well on VHS and DVD, and it has come to be recognized as a cult classic.
Since fall 2003, Judge and fellow animator Don Hertzfeldt have run an animation festival called "The Animation Show". "The Animation Show" tours the country every year, screening animated shorts. In 2005, Judge was presented with the Austin Film Festival's Outstanding Television Writer Award by Johnny Hardwick.
Judge has made supporting and cameo appearances in numerous films. Judge had a voice cameo in South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut (1999), the feature-length film adaptation of the popular Comedy Central series; he voiced Kenny McCormick when he was unhooded towards the end of the film. He later acted in the science-fiction family comedy franchise Spy Kids, where he played Donnagon Giggles in the first three films. His next film appearance was Serving Sara (2002) where he played a motel manager. He later appeared in the comedy Jackass Number Two (2006), in which he can be seen during the closing credits. An extended version of his sequence can be seen in Jackass 2.5 (2007) which was a direct-to-video release. Judge also created a video clip of Beavis and Butt-Head ripping into Steve-O for his video Poke the Puss, where the two try imagining if they would like the video better if they were black. The clip aired as a part of Jackassworld.com: 24-Hour Takeover, a February 23, 2008, television special on MTV to coincide with the official launch of jackassworld.com. The characters appeared again in the third Jackass film, titled Jackass 3D, at the beginning of the film, telling viewers to put on their 3D glasses for the film.
Judge's third film, Idiocracy, a dystopian comedy starring Luke Wilson and Maya Rudolph, was given a limited release theatrically by 20th Century Fox in September 2006, two years after production. The film's original release date was intended to be on August 5, 2005, according to Mike Judge.
In April 2006, a release date was set for September 1, 2006. The film was released without a trailer or substantial marketing campaign. The film was not screened for critics beforehand as is usually done. Lack of concrete information from Fox led to speculation that the distributor may have actively attempted to keep the film from being seen by a large audience, while fulfilling a contractual obligation for theatrical release ahead of a DVD release, according to Ryan Pearson of the AP.
That speculation was followed by open criticism of the studio's lack of support from Ain't It Cool News, Time, and Esquire. Times Joel Stein wrote "the film's ads and trailers tested atrociously", but "still, abandoning Idiocracy seems particularly unjust, since Judge has made a lot of money for Fox." Despite the film not being screened for critics, the film received positive reviews and was a minor box-office success.
In the U.S., the film was released to DVD in January 2007 and later aired on premium-television, multiplex channels Cinemax in September 2007 and HBO in January 2008. Since then, it has gained a cult following.
2009–2013: The Goode Family, Extract, and other projects
Judge's fourth directorial effort was 2009's Extract. Shortly after completing Office Space, Judge was already about 40 pages into his follow-up script, set in the world of an extract factory, when he was convinced by his representative team that he needed to shelve that and concentrate on something more commercial. Over the next several years, he focused his energy on developing Idiocracy. But years later, by the time of the film's release, audiences had decided that Office Space had struck a chord, so they were ready to see Judge return to on-the-job humor, and thus the Extract script was given new life.
Seeking to keep Extract below the radar of the studio system, Judge and his producers set up a production company, Ternion Productions, and arranged private financing while partnering with Miramax for domestic distribution of the film. Judge relied heavily on his own personal knowledge of the industrial world to bring the story to life. "I actually worked in a factory a little bit myself ... I hopefully write stuff that is recognizable as the archetypes of this world," Judge stated.
Keeping true to this baseline of reality, Extract was shot in a working factory, in this case a water bottling plant south of Los Angeles, in the City of Commerce. He makes an uncredited appearance as Jim, a union organizer. The film premiered on September 4, 2009, and received mixed to positive reviews from critics and was a minor commercial success.
Judge's third television series, The Goode Family, debuted on ABC but was cancelled after one season. Comedy Central first aired the series in reruns on January 4, 2010. However, the series was pulled off the schedule shortly thereafter. It was confirmed on The Goode Family Facebook page that Comedy Central had picked up the reruns of the series, which were to be evaluated for a chance of being renewed for a second season. On August 8, 2009, however, ABC Entertainment President Steve McPherson stated that the show, along with Surviving Suburbia, had officially been canceled due to low ratings.
In 2010, reruns of The Goode Family aired Monday nights at 10 pm on Comedy Central, beginning January 4. It departed the network's primetime schedule after four weeks, returning occasionally in low-trafficked timeslots.
In 2012, Judge directed the music video (animation by Titmouse) for country music group Zac Brown Band's "The Wind". In 2013, Judge collaborated with Seth MacFarlane on a mashup episode of Family Guy, in which, complete with a Hill-themed opening, Judge reprises his role as Hank Hill. Earlier in 2010 and 2012, Judge played cameos as Hank on two episodes of MacFarlane's The Cleveland Show.
2014–present: Silicon Valley and Tales from the Tour Bus
Judge created his fourth show, Silicon Valley, with King of the Hill executive producers John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky. The HBO comedy is a single-camera live-action sitcom set in Northern California. One of its main themes is the idea that "the people most qualified to succeed are the least capable of handling success". The first season of Silicon Valley was 8 episodes long and received critical and public acclaim. Silicon Valley was renewed for a second season on April 21, 2014, and a third season on April 13, 2015. Silicon Valley aired its fourth season, which premiered on April 23, 2017. The series was renewed for a fifth season, which premiered on March 25, 2018.
On January 12, 2017, Deadline confirmed that Cinemax ordered 8 episodes of Judge's new animated series, Mike Judge Presents: Tales from the Tour Bus. The series premiered on September 22, 2017. In 2019, Judge announced he had been developing two projects for HBO: QualityLand and A5, both of which were later scrapped by HBO in 2021.
Personal life
Judge married his wife Francesca Morocco in 1989. They remained married for twenty years until they divorced in 2009. Together they have two daughters and a son. The family resides in Austin, Texas, and Malibu, California.
Political views
While King of the Hill is often a satire of protagonist Hank Hill, identifiable as a conservative, and his The Goode Family is essentially a satire centered around liberal family, Judge avoids discussing his political leanings.
In reviewing Idiocracy, Salon stated, "Judge's gimlet eye is so ruthless that at times his politics seem to border on South Park libertarianism." A writer for the libertarian magazine Reason seems to agree, comparing King of the Hill to the anti-authoritarian point of view of South Park and The Simpsons, though he calls the show more populist, noting the disdain King of the Hill seems to have for bureaucrats, professionals, and big-box chains.
Still, Judge denies having political messages in his shows, saying in an IGN interview about King of the Hill:
In June 2016, before the presidential election in November, Rolling Stone published an article claiming that Judge would produce Idiocracy-themed campaign advertisements mocking Donald Trump's presidential campaign if given permission from 20th Century Fox to do so. It was later reported by Business Insider that the ads would not go forward.
Filmography
Film
Television
Other appearances
Awards and nominations
References
External links
1962 births
Living people
People from Albuquerque, New Mexico
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
21st-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century American comedians
21st-century American comedians
Male actors from Albuquerque, New Mexico
21st-century American screenwriters
American animators
American animated film directors
American animated film producers
American blues musicians
American cartoonists
Film producers from California
American male comedians
American male film actors
American blues guitarists
American bass guitarists
American male screenwriters
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American music video directors
American satirists
American television directors
Comedy film directors
Television producers from California
American television writers
Annie Award winners
Film directors from Texas
Male actors from Austin, Texas
American male television writers
Musicians from Austin, Texas
Writers from Albuquerque, New Mexico
People from Guayaquil
People from Austin, Texas
Primetime Emmy Award winners
Showrunners
American physicists
American mechanical engineers
University of California, San Diego alumni
Writers from Austin, Texas
Animators from New Mexico
Animators from Texas
Film directors from New Mexico
Inkpot Award winners
American male non-fiction writers
Screenwriters from Texas
Television producers from Texas
Film producers from Texas
Screenwriters from New Mexico
Screenwriters from California
Comedians from California
Comedians from Texas
21st-century American male writers | true | [
"This One's for You is the sixth album by R&B crooner Teddy Pendergrass. It was released just after a bad car accident Pendergrass was involved in, which left him paralyzed from the waist down due to a spinal cord injury. The album did not do as well as his previous albums did on the Billboard 200, peaking at only #59, but it did do well on the R&B album chart, reaching #6. Only one single was released, \"I Can't Win for Losing\", which peaked at only #32 on the R&B charts.\n\nTrack listing\n \"I Can't Win for Losing\" 4:16 (Victor Carstarphen, Gene McFadden, John Whitehead)\n \"This One's for You\" 6:18 (Barry Manilow, Marty Panzer)\n \"Loving You Was Good\" 3:35 (LeRoy Bell, Casey James)\n \"This Gift of Life\" 4:27 (Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff)\n \"Now Tell Me That You Love Me\" 5:15 (Gamble, Huff)\n \"It's Up to You (What You Do With Your Life)\" 5:37 (Gamble, Huff)\n \"Don't Leave Me out Along the Road\" 3:34 (Richard Roebuck)\n \"Only to You\" 3:53 (Nickolas Ashford, Valerie Simpson)\n\nReferences\n\n1982 albums\nTeddy Pendergrass albums\nAlbums produced by Kenneth Gamble\nAlbums produced by Leon Huff\nAlbums produced by Thom Bell\nAlbums produced by Ashford & Simpson\nAlbums arranged by Bobby Martin\nAlbums recorded at Sigma Sound Studios\nPhiladelphia International Records albums",
"\"Do What You Do\" is a song by American R&B singer Jermaine Jackson, sibling of singers Michael and Janet Jackson and former member of The Jackson 5. It was released as the second single from his 1984 album, entitled Jermaine Jackson in the United States but marketed as Dynamite in the United Kingdom and other countries.\n\nThis was one of Jermaine's first releases with Arista Records after a long recording career with Motown Records, first as a member of The Jackson 5, then later as a solo artist. Although Jermaine Jackson never achieved the same level of solo success as sister Janet or brother Michael, \"Do What You Do\" was one of six top 20 solo hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the singer. The song peaked at No. 13 on the Hot 100, No. 14 on the Billboard R&B chart, and spent three weeks atop the Billboard adult contemporary chart. In Canada it peaked on the RPM Top Singles chart at No. 29. The song was one of Jackson's biggest hits in the UK, where it reached No. 6 on the UK Singles Chart.\n\nIn the ballad, Jackson is requesting that his lover continue with certain enjoyable events they have both experienced in the past: Why don't you do what you do / when you did what you did to me?\n\nSamples and covers\nThe song was sampled by Lil Wayne for \"How Could Something\" and by Chamillionaire for \"Void In My Life\".\n\nMusic video\nThe music video was an imitation of The Godfather and supermodel Iman played Jackson's love interest who eventually betrays him by trying to shoot him. After his henchmen take her away, it is not revealed what happened to her.\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nCertifications\n\nSee also\n List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1984 (U.S.)\n\nReferences\n\n1984 singles\nJermaine Jackson songs\nMusic videos directed by Bob Giraldi\nContemporary R&B ballads\n1984 songs\n1980s ballads"
] |
[
"Mike Judge",
"1990-1997: Early career and Beavis and Butt-Head",
"What did he try",
"He graduated in 1986 from University of California, San Diego.",
"What did he try and do next",
"In 1987, he moved to Silicon Valley to join Parallax Graphics, a startup video card company with about 40 employees based in Santa Clara.",
"What did this mean to him",
"The people I met were like Stepford Wives. They were true believers in something, and I don't know what it was\"),",
"What did he attempt to do next",
"Judge quit after less than three months and became a bass player with a touring blues band.",
"What did this do to him",
"In 1991, his short film \"Office Space\" (also known as the Milton series of shorts)",
"What did this do for him",
"Comedy Central, following an animation festival in Dallas. In the early 1990s, he was playing blues bass with Doyle Bramhall."
] | C_81e3eab6e02a4e1abcedb12adf463565_1 | What did this do to him | 7 | What did playing blues bass do to Judge? | Mike Judge | He graduated in 1986 from University of California, San Diego. In 1987, he moved to Silicon Valley to join Parallax Graphics, a startup video card company with about 40 employees based in Santa Clara. Disliking the company's culture and his colleagues ("The people I met were like Stepford Wives. They were true believers in something, and I don't know what it was"), Judge quit after less than three months and became a bass player with a touring blues band. He was a part of Anson Funderburgh's band for two years, playing on their 1990 Black Top Records release "Rack 'Em Up", while taking graduate math classes at the University of Texas at Dallas. In 1989, after seeing animation cels on display in a movie theater, Judge purchased a Bolex 16 mm film camera and began creating his own animated shorts. In 1991, his short film "Office Space" (also known as the Milton series of shorts) was acquired by Comedy Central, following an animation festival in Dallas. In the early 1990s, he was playing blues bass with Doyle Bramhall. In 1992, he developed Frog Baseball, a short film featuring the characters Beavis and Butt-Head, to be featured on Liquid Television, a 1990s animation showcase that appeared on MTV. The short led to the creation of the Beavis and Butt-Head series on MTV, in which Judge voiced both title characters as well as the majority of supporting characters and wrote and directed the majority of the episodes. The show centers on two socially incompetent, heavy metal-loving teenage wannabe delinquents, Beavis and Butt-Head (both voiced by Judge), who go to High School at Highland High in Albuquerque, New Mexico (the same city where Judge was raised and attended high school). The two have no adult supervision, are dim-witted, sex-obsessed, uneducated, barely literate, and lack any empathy or moral scruples, even regarding each other. Over its run, Beavis and Butt-Head drew a notable amount of both positive and negative reaction from the public with its combination of lewd humor and implied criticism of society. Judge himself is highly critical of the animation and quality of earlier episodes, in particular the first two - Blood Drive/Give Blood and Door to Door - which he described as "awful, I don't know why anybody liked it... I was burying my head in the sand." The series spawned the feature-length film Beavis and Butt-Head Do America and the spin-off show Daria. After two decades, the series aired its new season on October 27, 2011. The premiere was dubbed a ratings hit, with an audience of 3.3 million total viewers. On January 10, 2014, Judge announced that there is still a chance to pitch Beavis and Butt-Head to another network and that he wouldn't mind making more episodes. CANNOTANSWER | In 1991, his short film "Office Space" (also known as the Milton series of shorts) | Michael Craig Judge (born October 17, 1962) is an American actor, animator, writer, producer, director and musician. He is the creator of the animated television series Beavis and Butt-Head (1993–1997, 2011, 2021–present), and co-creator of the television series King of the Hill (1997–2010), The Goode Family (2009), Silicon Valley (2014–2019), and Mike Judge Presents: Tales from the Tour Bus (2017–2018). He also wrote and directed the films Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (1996), Office Space (1999), Idiocracy (2006), and Extract (2009).
Judge was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and raised in the U.S. state of New Mexico. He graduated from the University of California, San Diego, where he studied physics. After losing interest in a career in science, Judge began to focus on animation and creating short films. One of these (Frog Baseball) was developed into the successful MTV series Beavis and Butt-Head, which eventually spawned a 1996 feature film, as well as the spin-off series Daria (with which Judge had no involvement).
In 1995, Judge and former The Simpsons writer Greg Daniels developed King of the Hill, which debuted on Fox in 1997 and quickly became a hit with both critics and audiences; running for 13 seasons, it became one of the longest-running American animated series. During the run of the show, Judge took some time off to write and direct Office Space, Idiocracy, and Extract. As King of the Hill was coming to an end, Judge created his third show, ABC's The Goode Family, which received mixed reviews and was cancelled after 13 episodes. After a four-year hiatus, he created his fourth show, the live-action Silicon Valley for HBO, which has received critical acclaim since its premiere. In 2017, Judge's fourth animated series, the music-themed Tales from the Tour Bus, premiered on Cinemax, to critical and audience acclaim.
Judge has won a Primetime Emmy Award and two Annie Awards for King of the Hill and two Critics' Choice Television Awards and Satellite Awards for Silicon Valley.
Early life
Michael Craig Judge was born on October 17, 1962, in Guayaquil, Ecuador. He is the middle of three children born to Margaret Yvonne (née Blue), a librarian, and William James Judge, an archaeologist. At the time of his birth, his father was working for a nonprofit organization in Guayaquil and other parts of Ecuador, promoting agricultural development. Judge was raised from age seven in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he spent a small portion of his life working on a chicken farm. He attended St. Pius X High School and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in physics from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) in 1985.
Career
1985–1997: Early science career; musician; animation and Beavis and Butt-Head
After graduating from UCSD in 1985, he held several brief jobs in physics and mechanical engineering, but found himself growing bored with science. In 1987, he moved to Silicon Valley to join Parallax Graphics, a startup video card company with about 40 employees based in Santa Clara, California. Disliking the company's culture and his colleagues ("The people I met were like Stepford Wives. They were true believers in something, and I don't know what it was"), Judge quit after less than three months and became a bass player with a touring blues band.
He was a part of Anson Funderburgh's band for two years, playing on their 1990 Black Top Records release "Rack 'Em Up", while taking graduate math classes at the University of Texas at Dallas. In 1989, after seeing animation cels on display in a movie theater, Judge purchased a Bolex 16 mm film camera and began creating his own animated shorts in his home in Richardson, Texas. In 1991, his short film "Office Space" (also known as the Milton series of shorts) was acquired by Comedy Central, following an animation festival in Dallas. In the early 1990s, he was playing blues bass with Doyle Bramhall.
In 1992, he developed Frog Baseball, a short film featuring the characters Beavis and Butt-Head, to be featured on Liquid Television, a 1990s animation showcase that appeared on MTV. The short led to the creation of the Beavis and Butt-Head series on MTV, in which Judge voiced both title characters as well as the majority of supporting characters and wrote and directed the majority of the episodes. The show centers on two socially incompetent, heavy metal-loving teenage wannabe delinquents, Beavis and Butt-Head, who live in the fictional town of Highland, Texas. The two have no adult supervision, are dim-witted, sex-obsessed, uneducated, barely literate, and lack any empathy or moral scruples, even regarding each other. Over its run, Beavis and Butt-Head drew a notable amount of both positive and negative reaction from the public with its combination of lewd humor and implied criticism of society.
Judge himself is highly critical of the animation and quality of earlier episodes, in particular the first two – Blood Drive/Give Blood and Door to Door – which he described as "awful, I don't know why anybody liked it ... I was burying my head in the sand." The series spawned the feature-length film Beavis and Butt-Head Do America and the spin-off show Daria.
After two decades, the series aired its new season on October 27, 2011. The premiere was a ratings hit, with an audience of 3.3 million total viewers. On January 10, 2014, Judge announced that there is still a chance to pitch Beavis and Butt-Head to another network and that he wouldn't mind making more episodes.
1997–2009: King of the Hill, Office Space, and Idiocracy
In early 1995, after the successful first run of Beavis and Butt-Head on MTV, Mike Judge co-created the show King of the Hill with former The Simpsons writer Greg Daniels. Judge was a former resident of Garland, Texas, upon which the fictional community of Arlen was loosely based, but as Judge stated in a later interview, the show was based more specifically on the Dallas suburb of Richardson. Judge conceived the idea for the show, drew the main characters, and wrote the pilot script. Judge voiced characters Hank Hill and Jeff Boomhauer. The show is about a middle-class Methodist family named the Hills living in a small town called Arlen, Texas. It attempts to retain a naturalistic approach, seeking humor in the conventional and mundane aspects of everyday life while dealing with issues comically. After its debut in 1997, the series became a large success for Fox and was named one of the best television series of the year by various publications, including Entertainment Weekly, Time, and TV Guide.
For the 1997–1998 season, the series became one of Fox's highest-rated programs and even briefly outperformed The Simpsons in ratings. Although ratings remained consistent throughout the 10th, 11th and 12th seasons and had begun to rise in the overall Nielsen ratings (up to the 105th most watched series on television, from 118 in season 8), Fox abruptly announced in 2008 that King of the Hill had been cancelled. The cancellation coincided with the announcement that Seth MacFarlane, creator of Family Guy and American Dad!, would be creating a Family Guy spin-off called The Cleveland Show, which would take over King of the Hill's time slot. Hopes to keep the show afloat surfaced as sources indicated that ABC (which was already airing Judge's new animated comedy, The Goode Family) was interested in securing the rights to the show, but in January 2009, ABC president Steve McPherson said he had "no plans to pick up the animated comedy." On April 30, 2009, it was announced that Fox ordered at least two more episodes to give the show a proper finale. The show's 14th season was supposed to air sometime in the 2009–10 season, but Fox later announced that it would not air the episodes, opting instead for syndication. On August 10, 2009, however, Fox released a statement that the network would air a one-hour series finale (which consisted of a regular 30-minute episode followed by a 30-minute finale) on September 13, 2009. The four remaining episodes of the series aired in syndication the week of May 3, 2010, and again on Adult Swim during the week of May 17, 2010. During the panel discussion for the return of Beavis and Butt-Head at Comic-Con 2011, Mike Judge said that no current plans exist to revive King of the Hill, although he would not rule out the possibility of it returning.
Judge began to develop one of his four animated short films entitled Milton, about an office drone named Milton that Judge created, which first aired on Liquid Television and Night After Night with Allan Havey and later aired on Saturday Night Live. The inspiration came from a temp job he once had that involved alphabetizing purchase orders and a job he had as an engineer for three months in the San Francisco Bay Area during the 1980s, "just in the heart of Silicon Valley and in the middle of that overachiever yuppie thing, it was just awful". Judge sold the completed film Office Space to 20th Century Fox based on his script and a cast that included Jennifer Aniston, Ron Livingston, and David Herman. Originally, the studio wanted to make a film out of the Milton character but Judge was not interested, opting instead to make more of an ensemble cast–based film. The studio suggested that he should make a film like Car Wash but "just set in an office". Judge made the relatively painless transition from animation to live-action with the help of the film's director of photography who taught him about lenses and where to put the camera. Judge says, "I had a great crew, and it's good going into it not pretending you're an expert." Studio executives were not happy with the footage Judge was getting. He remembers them telling him, "More energy! More energy! We gotta reshoot it! You're failing! You're failing!" In addition, Fox did not like the gangsta rap music used in the film until a focus group approved of it. Judge hated the ending and felt that a complete rewrite of the third act was necessary. In the film, he made a cameo appearance as Stan (complete with hairpiece and fake mustache), the manager of Chotchkie's, a fictionalized parody of chain restaurants like Chili's, Applebee's and TGI Friday's, and the boss of Jennifer Aniston's character, whom he continually undermines and interrogates over her lack of sufficient enthusiasm for the job and the insufficient quantity of "flair" (buttons, ribbons, etc.) she wears on her uniform. The film was released on February 19, 1999, and it was well received by critics. Although not particularly successful at the box office, it sold well on VHS and DVD, and it has come to be recognized as a cult classic.
Since fall 2003, Judge and fellow animator Don Hertzfeldt have run an animation festival called "The Animation Show". "The Animation Show" tours the country every year, screening animated shorts. In 2005, Judge was presented with the Austin Film Festival's Outstanding Television Writer Award by Johnny Hardwick.
Judge has made supporting and cameo appearances in numerous films. Judge had a voice cameo in South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut (1999), the feature-length film adaptation of the popular Comedy Central series; he voiced Kenny McCormick when he was unhooded towards the end of the film. He later acted in the science-fiction family comedy franchise Spy Kids, where he played Donnagon Giggles in the first three films. His next film appearance was Serving Sara (2002) where he played a motel manager. He later appeared in the comedy Jackass Number Two (2006), in which he can be seen during the closing credits. An extended version of his sequence can be seen in Jackass 2.5 (2007) which was a direct-to-video release. Judge also created a video clip of Beavis and Butt-Head ripping into Steve-O for his video Poke the Puss, where the two try imagining if they would like the video better if they were black. The clip aired as a part of Jackassworld.com: 24-Hour Takeover, a February 23, 2008, television special on MTV to coincide with the official launch of jackassworld.com. The characters appeared again in the third Jackass film, titled Jackass 3D, at the beginning of the film, telling viewers to put on their 3D glasses for the film.
Judge's third film, Idiocracy, a dystopian comedy starring Luke Wilson and Maya Rudolph, was given a limited release theatrically by 20th Century Fox in September 2006, two years after production. The film's original release date was intended to be on August 5, 2005, according to Mike Judge.
In April 2006, a release date was set for September 1, 2006. The film was released without a trailer or substantial marketing campaign. The film was not screened for critics beforehand as is usually done. Lack of concrete information from Fox led to speculation that the distributor may have actively attempted to keep the film from being seen by a large audience, while fulfilling a contractual obligation for theatrical release ahead of a DVD release, according to Ryan Pearson of the AP.
That speculation was followed by open criticism of the studio's lack of support from Ain't It Cool News, Time, and Esquire. Times Joel Stein wrote "the film's ads and trailers tested atrociously", but "still, abandoning Idiocracy seems particularly unjust, since Judge has made a lot of money for Fox." Despite the film not being screened for critics, the film received positive reviews and was a minor box-office success.
In the U.S., the film was released to DVD in January 2007 and later aired on premium-television, multiplex channels Cinemax in September 2007 and HBO in January 2008. Since then, it has gained a cult following.
2009–2013: The Goode Family, Extract, and other projects
Judge's fourth directorial effort was 2009's Extract. Shortly after completing Office Space, Judge was already about 40 pages into his follow-up script, set in the world of an extract factory, when he was convinced by his representative team that he needed to shelve that and concentrate on something more commercial. Over the next several years, he focused his energy on developing Idiocracy. But years later, by the time of the film's release, audiences had decided that Office Space had struck a chord, so they were ready to see Judge return to on-the-job humor, and thus the Extract script was given new life.
Seeking to keep Extract below the radar of the studio system, Judge and his producers set up a production company, Ternion Productions, and arranged private financing while partnering with Miramax for domestic distribution of the film. Judge relied heavily on his own personal knowledge of the industrial world to bring the story to life. "I actually worked in a factory a little bit myself ... I hopefully write stuff that is recognizable as the archetypes of this world," Judge stated.
Keeping true to this baseline of reality, Extract was shot in a working factory, in this case a water bottling plant south of Los Angeles, in the City of Commerce. He makes an uncredited appearance as Jim, a union organizer. The film premiered on September 4, 2009, and received mixed to positive reviews from critics and was a minor commercial success.
Judge's third television series, The Goode Family, debuted on ABC but was cancelled after one season. Comedy Central first aired the series in reruns on January 4, 2010. However, the series was pulled off the schedule shortly thereafter. It was confirmed on The Goode Family Facebook page that Comedy Central had picked up the reruns of the series, which were to be evaluated for a chance of being renewed for a second season. On August 8, 2009, however, ABC Entertainment President Steve McPherson stated that the show, along with Surviving Suburbia, had officially been canceled due to low ratings.
In 2010, reruns of The Goode Family aired Monday nights at 10 pm on Comedy Central, beginning January 4. It departed the network's primetime schedule after four weeks, returning occasionally in low-trafficked timeslots.
In 2012, Judge directed the music video (animation by Titmouse) for country music group Zac Brown Band's "The Wind". In 2013, Judge collaborated with Seth MacFarlane on a mashup episode of Family Guy, in which, complete with a Hill-themed opening, Judge reprises his role as Hank Hill. Earlier in 2010 and 2012, Judge played cameos as Hank on two episodes of MacFarlane's The Cleveland Show.
2014–present: Silicon Valley and Tales from the Tour Bus
Judge created his fourth show, Silicon Valley, with King of the Hill executive producers John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky. The HBO comedy is a single-camera live-action sitcom set in Northern California. One of its main themes is the idea that "the people most qualified to succeed are the least capable of handling success". The first season of Silicon Valley was 8 episodes long and received critical and public acclaim. Silicon Valley was renewed for a second season on April 21, 2014, and a third season on April 13, 2015. Silicon Valley aired its fourth season, which premiered on April 23, 2017. The series was renewed for a fifth season, which premiered on March 25, 2018.
On January 12, 2017, Deadline confirmed that Cinemax ordered 8 episodes of Judge's new animated series, Mike Judge Presents: Tales from the Tour Bus. The series premiered on September 22, 2017. In 2019, Judge announced he had been developing two projects for HBO: QualityLand and A5, both of which were later scrapped by HBO in 2021.
Personal life
Judge married his wife Francesca Morocco in 1989. They remained married for twenty years until they divorced in 2009. Together they have two daughters and a son. The family resides in Austin, Texas, and Malibu, California.
Political views
While King of the Hill is often a satire of protagonist Hank Hill, identifiable as a conservative, and his The Goode Family is essentially a satire centered around liberal family, Judge avoids discussing his political leanings.
In reviewing Idiocracy, Salon stated, "Judge's gimlet eye is so ruthless that at times his politics seem to border on South Park libertarianism." A writer for the libertarian magazine Reason seems to agree, comparing King of the Hill to the anti-authoritarian point of view of South Park and The Simpsons, though he calls the show more populist, noting the disdain King of the Hill seems to have for bureaucrats, professionals, and big-box chains.
Still, Judge denies having political messages in his shows, saying in an IGN interview about King of the Hill:
In June 2016, before the presidential election in November, Rolling Stone published an article claiming that Judge would produce Idiocracy-themed campaign advertisements mocking Donald Trump's presidential campaign if given permission from 20th Century Fox to do so. It was later reported by Business Insider that the ads would not go forward.
Filmography
Film
Television
Other appearances
Awards and nominations
References
External links
1962 births
Living people
People from Albuquerque, New Mexico
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
21st-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century American comedians
21st-century American comedians
Male actors from Albuquerque, New Mexico
21st-century American screenwriters
American animators
American animated film directors
American animated film producers
American blues musicians
American cartoonists
Film producers from California
American male comedians
American male film actors
American blues guitarists
American bass guitarists
American male screenwriters
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American music video directors
American satirists
American television directors
Comedy film directors
Television producers from California
American television writers
Annie Award winners
Film directors from Texas
Male actors from Austin, Texas
American male television writers
Musicians from Austin, Texas
Writers from Albuquerque, New Mexico
People from Guayaquil
People from Austin, Texas
Primetime Emmy Award winners
Showrunners
American physicists
American mechanical engineers
University of California, San Diego alumni
Writers from Austin, Texas
Animators from New Mexico
Animators from Texas
Film directors from New Mexico
Inkpot Award winners
American male non-fiction writers
Screenwriters from Texas
Television producers from Texas
Film producers from Texas
Screenwriters from New Mexico
Screenwriters from California
Comedians from California
Comedians from Texas
21st-century American male writers | true | [
"is a real-time strategy game for the PlayStation Portable. The game centers on creating mazes and monsters to help defend a demon lord from heroes seeking to capture him.\n\nThe game was released in North America exclusively as a download game on the PlayStation Store, under the title Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman! What Did I Do To Deserve This?. However, on February 9, 2010, NIS America revealed it would be changing the game's name to avoid conflict with the Batman franchise. The game was re-released on April 22, 2010 on the PlayStation Network after it was removed to make the changes, while its sequel, What Did I Do to Deserve This, My Lord? 2, had been delayed to May 4, 2010.\n\nGameplay \nUsing a limited number of \"Dig Power\" and a pickaxe, the player must dig and create a dungeon, and populate it with monsters to defend the demon lord Badman from heroes. More steps are given when a stage is cleared, based on how well the player did. The \"Dig Power\" has another function, however: it is also used to upgrade monsters. The player is given some time to dig out the dungeon and create monsters before a hero comes to capture the demon lord. When the hero is about to enter the dungeon, the player must take Badman and change his location, preferably making it harder for the hero to find him. When the hero gets into the dungeon, he will navigate the dungeon until he finds and captures the demon lord. The hero will fight against any monster that gets in his way.\n\nWhen the hero captures the demon lord, he will retrace the same path, taking the demon lord with him. It is possible to create monsters to save the demon lord during this.\n\nMonsters are created depending on the number of nutrients or mana in the blocks of the dungeon. If the block is covered with moss, and the player uses his pickaxe on this block, a slime will be released. These slimes move around the dungeon, absorbing, and expelling the nutrients from adjacent blocks, creating blocks with more and more nutrients. Once a block obtains enough nutrients, it will change textures depending on just how much is in the block. Stronger, more powerful monsters will be released the more nutrients a block has. The death of monsters or heroes, along with some of the heroes' actions, has varied effects on the surrounding ground. For example, if a hero casts a spell, the surrounding blocks will be filled with mana, which can be used to create different monsters. More so, if that hero dies, the remainder of his mana is expelled onto surrounding blocks.\n\nDevelopment \nThis game is mostly unknown outside Japan and is considered to be a cult hit. A sequel was released entitled Yuusha no Kuse Ni Namaikida or2, which features almost identical gameplay with a few different additions and changes. In April 2009, it was announced that the game was released in North America under the name Holy Invasion Of Privacy, Badman! What Did I Do To Deserve This? On February 9, 2010, the name was changed again to What Did I Do To Deserve This, My Lord!?, to avoid infringing upon the Batman IP. A third game, No Heroes Allowed! was released in late 2010.\n\nReception \n\nWith the exception of Japan, Holy Invasion Of Privacy, Badman! What Did I Do To Deserve This? received average reviews. \"Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman! is an extremely quirky, challenging title that has a few frustrating elements that keep it from being a stellar downloadable,\" IGN said about the game. Game Revolution gave the game a C-, stating, \"A weird and unique freak of nature amongst the mundane shooters and RPGs with their played out themes of morality, but it's trying too hard to be clever.\" The game currently holds 69/100 on Metacritic.\n\nSequels\nThere have been two sequels to What Did I Do to Deserve This, My Lord? released on PSP: What Did I Do to Deserve This, My Lord? 2 and No Heroes Allowed!. A third sequel, No Heroes Allowed: No Puzzles Either!, was released in 2014 for PlayStation Vita, with a fourth, No Heroes Allowed! VR, released on October 14 2017 for PlayStation VR.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nOfficial website\n\n2007 video games\nGod games\nPlayStation Portable games\nPlayStation Portable-only games\nReal-time strategy video games\nSony Interactive Entertainment games\nVideo games developed in Japan",
"\"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)"
] |
[
"Mike Judge",
"1990-1997: Early career and Beavis and Butt-Head",
"What did he try",
"He graduated in 1986 from University of California, San Diego.",
"What did he try and do next",
"In 1987, he moved to Silicon Valley to join Parallax Graphics, a startup video card company with about 40 employees based in Santa Clara.",
"What did this mean to him",
"The people I met were like Stepford Wives. They were true believers in something, and I don't know what it was\"),",
"What did he attempt to do next",
"Judge quit after less than three months and became a bass player with a touring blues band.",
"What did this do to him",
"In 1991, his short film \"Office Space\" (also known as the Milton series of shorts)",
"What did this do for him",
"Comedy Central, following an animation festival in Dallas. In the early 1990s, he was playing blues bass with Doyle Bramhall.",
"What did this do to him",
"1990s animation showcase that appeared on MTV."
] | C_81e3eab6e02a4e1abcedb12adf463565_1 | What was this into him | 8 | What was the 1990s animation showcase into Judge? | Mike Judge | He graduated in 1986 from University of California, San Diego. In 1987, he moved to Silicon Valley to join Parallax Graphics, a startup video card company with about 40 employees based in Santa Clara. Disliking the company's culture and his colleagues ("The people I met were like Stepford Wives. They were true believers in something, and I don't know what it was"), Judge quit after less than three months and became a bass player with a touring blues band. He was a part of Anson Funderburgh's band for two years, playing on their 1990 Black Top Records release "Rack 'Em Up", while taking graduate math classes at the University of Texas at Dallas. In 1989, after seeing animation cels on display in a movie theater, Judge purchased a Bolex 16 mm film camera and began creating his own animated shorts. In 1991, his short film "Office Space" (also known as the Milton series of shorts) was acquired by Comedy Central, following an animation festival in Dallas. In the early 1990s, he was playing blues bass with Doyle Bramhall. In 1992, he developed Frog Baseball, a short film featuring the characters Beavis and Butt-Head, to be featured on Liquid Television, a 1990s animation showcase that appeared on MTV. The short led to the creation of the Beavis and Butt-Head series on MTV, in which Judge voiced both title characters as well as the majority of supporting characters and wrote and directed the majority of the episodes. The show centers on two socially incompetent, heavy metal-loving teenage wannabe delinquents, Beavis and Butt-Head (both voiced by Judge), who go to High School at Highland High in Albuquerque, New Mexico (the same city where Judge was raised and attended high school). The two have no adult supervision, are dim-witted, sex-obsessed, uneducated, barely literate, and lack any empathy or moral scruples, even regarding each other. Over its run, Beavis and Butt-Head drew a notable amount of both positive and negative reaction from the public with its combination of lewd humor and implied criticism of society. Judge himself is highly critical of the animation and quality of earlier episodes, in particular the first two - Blood Drive/Give Blood and Door to Door - which he described as "awful, I don't know why anybody liked it... I was burying my head in the sand." The series spawned the feature-length film Beavis and Butt-Head Do America and the spin-off show Daria. After two decades, the series aired its new season on October 27, 2011. The premiere was dubbed a ratings hit, with an audience of 3.3 million total viewers. On January 10, 2014, Judge announced that there is still a chance to pitch Beavis and Butt-Head to another network and that he wouldn't mind making more episodes. CANNOTANSWER | animation showcase that appeared on MTV. The short led to the creation of the Beavis and Butt-Head series on MTV, | Michael Craig Judge (born October 17, 1962) is an American actor, animator, writer, producer, director and musician. He is the creator of the animated television series Beavis and Butt-Head (1993–1997, 2011, 2021–present), and co-creator of the television series King of the Hill (1997–2010), The Goode Family (2009), Silicon Valley (2014–2019), and Mike Judge Presents: Tales from the Tour Bus (2017–2018). He also wrote and directed the films Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (1996), Office Space (1999), Idiocracy (2006), and Extract (2009).
Judge was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and raised in the U.S. state of New Mexico. He graduated from the University of California, San Diego, where he studied physics. After losing interest in a career in science, Judge began to focus on animation and creating short films. One of these (Frog Baseball) was developed into the successful MTV series Beavis and Butt-Head, which eventually spawned a 1996 feature film, as well as the spin-off series Daria (with which Judge had no involvement).
In 1995, Judge and former The Simpsons writer Greg Daniels developed King of the Hill, which debuted on Fox in 1997 and quickly became a hit with both critics and audiences; running for 13 seasons, it became one of the longest-running American animated series. During the run of the show, Judge took some time off to write and direct Office Space, Idiocracy, and Extract. As King of the Hill was coming to an end, Judge created his third show, ABC's The Goode Family, which received mixed reviews and was cancelled after 13 episodes. After a four-year hiatus, he created his fourth show, the live-action Silicon Valley for HBO, which has received critical acclaim since its premiere. In 2017, Judge's fourth animated series, the music-themed Tales from the Tour Bus, premiered on Cinemax, to critical and audience acclaim.
Judge has won a Primetime Emmy Award and two Annie Awards for King of the Hill and two Critics' Choice Television Awards and Satellite Awards for Silicon Valley.
Early life
Michael Craig Judge was born on October 17, 1962, in Guayaquil, Ecuador. He is the middle of three children born to Margaret Yvonne (née Blue), a librarian, and William James Judge, an archaeologist. At the time of his birth, his father was working for a nonprofit organization in Guayaquil and other parts of Ecuador, promoting agricultural development. Judge was raised from age seven in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he spent a small portion of his life working on a chicken farm. He attended St. Pius X High School and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in physics from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) in 1985.
Career
1985–1997: Early science career; musician; animation and Beavis and Butt-Head
After graduating from UCSD in 1985, he held several brief jobs in physics and mechanical engineering, but found himself growing bored with science. In 1987, he moved to Silicon Valley to join Parallax Graphics, a startup video card company with about 40 employees based in Santa Clara, California. Disliking the company's culture and his colleagues ("The people I met were like Stepford Wives. They were true believers in something, and I don't know what it was"), Judge quit after less than three months and became a bass player with a touring blues band.
He was a part of Anson Funderburgh's band for two years, playing on their 1990 Black Top Records release "Rack 'Em Up", while taking graduate math classes at the University of Texas at Dallas. In 1989, after seeing animation cels on display in a movie theater, Judge purchased a Bolex 16 mm film camera and began creating his own animated shorts in his home in Richardson, Texas. In 1991, his short film "Office Space" (also known as the Milton series of shorts) was acquired by Comedy Central, following an animation festival in Dallas. In the early 1990s, he was playing blues bass with Doyle Bramhall.
In 1992, he developed Frog Baseball, a short film featuring the characters Beavis and Butt-Head, to be featured on Liquid Television, a 1990s animation showcase that appeared on MTV. The short led to the creation of the Beavis and Butt-Head series on MTV, in which Judge voiced both title characters as well as the majority of supporting characters and wrote and directed the majority of the episodes. The show centers on two socially incompetent, heavy metal-loving teenage wannabe delinquents, Beavis and Butt-Head, who live in the fictional town of Highland, Texas. The two have no adult supervision, are dim-witted, sex-obsessed, uneducated, barely literate, and lack any empathy or moral scruples, even regarding each other. Over its run, Beavis and Butt-Head drew a notable amount of both positive and negative reaction from the public with its combination of lewd humor and implied criticism of society.
Judge himself is highly critical of the animation and quality of earlier episodes, in particular the first two – Blood Drive/Give Blood and Door to Door – which he described as "awful, I don't know why anybody liked it ... I was burying my head in the sand." The series spawned the feature-length film Beavis and Butt-Head Do America and the spin-off show Daria.
After two decades, the series aired its new season on October 27, 2011. The premiere was a ratings hit, with an audience of 3.3 million total viewers. On January 10, 2014, Judge announced that there is still a chance to pitch Beavis and Butt-Head to another network and that he wouldn't mind making more episodes.
1997–2009: King of the Hill, Office Space, and Idiocracy
In early 1995, after the successful first run of Beavis and Butt-Head on MTV, Mike Judge co-created the show King of the Hill with former The Simpsons writer Greg Daniels. Judge was a former resident of Garland, Texas, upon which the fictional community of Arlen was loosely based, but as Judge stated in a later interview, the show was based more specifically on the Dallas suburb of Richardson. Judge conceived the idea for the show, drew the main characters, and wrote the pilot script. Judge voiced characters Hank Hill and Jeff Boomhauer. The show is about a middle-class Methodist family named the Hills living in a small town called Arlen, Texas. It attempts to retain a naturalistic approach, seeking humor in the conventional and mundane aspects of everyday life while dealing with issues comically. After its debut in 1997, the series became a large success for Fox and was named one of the best television series of the year by various publications, including Entertainment Weekly, Time, and TV Guide.
For the 1997–1998 season, the series became one of Fox's highest-rated programs and even briefly outperformed The Simpsons in ratings. Although ratings remained consistent throughout the 10th, 11th and 12th seasons and had begun to rise in the overall Nielsen ratings (up to the 105th most watched series on television, from 118 in season 8), Fox abruptly announced in 2008 that King of the Hill had been cancelled. The cancellation coincided with the announcement that Seth MacFarlane, creator of Family Guy and American Dad!, would be creating a Family Guy spin-off called The Cleveland Show, which would take over King of the Hill's time slot. Hopes to keep the show afloat surfaced as sources indicated that ABC (which was already airing Judge's new animated comedy, The Goode Family) was interested in securing the rights to the show, but in January 2009, ABC president Steve McPherson said he had "no plans to pick up the animated comedy." On April 30, 2009, it was announced that Fox ordered at least two more episodes to give the show a proper finale. The show's 14th season was supposed to air sometime in the 2009–10 season, but Fox later announced that it would not air the episodes, opting instead for syndication. On August 10, 2009, however, Fox released a statement that the network would air a one-hour series finale (which consisted of a regular 30-minute episode followed by a 30-minute finale) on September 13, 2009. The four remaining episodes of the series aired in syndication the week of May 3, 2010, and again on Adult Swim during the week of May 17, 2010. During the panel discussion for the return of Beavis and Butt-Head at Comic-Con 2011, Mike Judge said that no current plans exist to revive King of the Hill, although he would not rule out the possibility of it returning.
Judge began to develop one of his four animated short films entitled Milton, about an office drone named Milton that Judge created, which first aired on Liquid Television and Night After Night with Allan Havey and later aired on Saturday Night Live. The inspiration came from a temp job he once had that involved alphabetizing purchase orders and a job he had as an engineer for three months in the San Francisco Bay Area during the 1980s, "just in the heart of Silicon Valley and in the middle of that overachiever yuppie thing, it was just awful". Judge sold the completed film Office Space to 20th Century Fox based on his script and a cast that included Jennifer Aniston, Ron Livingston, and David Herman. Originally, the studio wanted to make a film out of the Milton character but Judge was not interested, opting instead to make more of an ensemble cast–based film. The studio suggested that he should make a film like Car Wash but "just set in an office". Judge made the relatively painless transition from animation to live-action with the help of the film's director of photography who taught him about lenses and where to put the camera. Judge says, "I had a great crew, and it's good going into it not pretending you're an expert." Studio executives were not happy with the footage Judge was getting. He remembers them telling him, "More energy! More energy! We gotta reshoot it! You're failing! You're failing!" In addition, Fox did not like the gangsta rap music used in the film until a focus group approved of it. Judge hated the ending and felt that a complete rewrite of the third act was necessary. In the film, he made a cameo appearance as Stan (complete with hairpiece and fake mustache), the manager of Chotchkie's, a fictionalized parody of chain restaurants like Chili's, Applebee's and TGI Friday's, and the boss of Jennifer Aniston's character, whom he continually undermines and interrogates over her lack of sufficient enthusiasm for the job and the insufficient quantity of "flair" (buttons, ribbons, etc.) she wears on her uniform. The film was released on February 19, 1999, and it was well received by critics. Although not particularly successful at the box office, it sold well on VHS and DVD, and it has come to be recognized as a cult classic.
Since fall 2003, Judge and fellow animator Don Hertzfeldt have run an animation festival called "The Animation Show". "The Animation Show" tours the country every year, screening animated shorts. In 2005, Judge was presented with the Austin Film Festival's Outstanding Television Writer Award by Johnny Hardwick.
Judge has made supporting and cameo appearances in numerous films. Judge had a voice cameo in South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut (1999), the feature-length film adaptation of the popular Comedy Central series; he voiced Kenny McCormick when he was unhooded towards the end of the film. He later acted in the science-fiction family comedy franchise Spy Kids, where he played Donnagon Giggles in the first three films. His next film appearance was Serving Sara (2002) where he played a motel manager. He later appeared in the comedy Jackass Number Two (2006), in which he can be seen during the closing credits. An extended version of his sequence can be seen in Jackass 2.5 (2007) which was a direct-to-video release. Judge also created a video clip of Beavis and Butt-Head ripping into Steve-O for his video Poke the Puss, where the two try imagining if they would like the video better if they were black. The clip aired as a part of Jackassworld.com: 24-Hour Takeover, a February 23, 2008, television special on MTV to coincide with the official launch of jackassworld.com. The characters appeared again in the third Jackass film, titled Jackass 3D, at the beginning of the film, telling viewers to put on their 3D glasses for the film.
Judge's third film, Idiocracy, a dystopian comedy starring Luke Wilson and Maya Rudolph, was given a limited release theatrically by 20th Century Fox in September 2006, two years after production. The film's original release date was intended to be on August 5, 2005, according to Mike Judge.
In April 2006, a release date was set for September 1, 2006. The film was released without a trailer or substantial marketing campaign. The film was not screened for critics beforehand as is usually done. Lack of concrete information from Fox led to speculation that the distributor may have actively attempted to keep the film from being seen by a large audience, while fulfilling a contractual obligation for theatrical release ahead of a DVD release, according to Ryan Pearson of the AP.
That speculation was followed by open criticism of the studio's lack of support from Ain't It Cool News, Time, and Esquire. Times Joel Stein wrote "the film's ads and trailers tested atrociously", but "still, abandoning Idiocracy seems particularly unjust, since Judge has made a lot of money for Fox." Despite the film not being screened for critics, the film received positive reviews and was a minor box-office success.
In the U.S., the film was released to DVD in January 2007 and later aired on premium-television, multiplex channels Cinemax in September 2007 and HBO in January 2008. Since then, it has gained a cult following.
2009–2013: The Goode Family, Extract, and other projects
Judge's fourth directorial effort was 2009's Extract. Shortly after completing Office Space, Judge was already about 40 pages into his follow-up script, set in the world of an extract factory, when he was convinced by his representative team that he needed to shelve that and concentrate on something more commercial. Over the next several years, he focused his energy on developing Idiocracy. But years later, by the time of the film's release, audiences had decided that Office Space had struck a chord, so they were ready to see Judge return to on-the-job humor, and thus the Extract script was given new life.
Seeking to keep Extract below the radar of the studio system, Judge and his producers set up a production company, Ternion Productions, and arranged private financing while partnering with Miramax for domestic distribution of the film. Judge relied heavily on his own personal knowledge of the industrial world to bring the story to life. "I actually worked in a factory a little bit myself ... I hopefully write stuff that is recognizable as the archetypes of this world," Judge stated.
Keeping true to this baseline of reality, Extract was shot in a working factory, in this case a water bottling plant south of Los Angeles, in the City of Commerce. He makes an uncredited appearance as Jim, a union organizer. The film premiered on September 4, 2009, and received mixed to positive reviews from critics and was a minor commercial success.
Judge's third television series, The Goode Family, debuted on ABC but was cancelled after one season. Comedy Central first aired the series in reruns on January 4, 2010. However, the series was pulled off the schedule shortly thereafter. It was confirmed on The Goode Family Facebook page that Comedy Central had picked up the reruns of the series, which were to be evaluated for a chance of being renewed for a second season. On August 8, 2009, however, ABC Entertainment President Steve McPherson stated that the show, along with Surviving Suburbia, had officially been canceled due to low ratings.
In 2010, reruns of The Goode Family aired Monday nights at 10 pm on Comedy Central, beginning January 4. It departed the network's primetime schedule after four weeks, returning occasionally in low-trafficked timeslots.
In 2012, Judge directed the music video (animation by Titmouse) for country music group Zac Brown Band's "The Wind". In 2013, Judge collaborated with Seth MacFarlane on a mashup episode of Family Guy, in which, complete with a Hill-themed opening, Judge reprises his role as Hank Hill. Earlier in 2010 and 2012, Judge played cameos as Hank on two episodes of MacFarlane's The Cleveland Show.
2014–present: Silicon Valley and Tales from the Tour Bus
Judge created his fourth show, Silicon Valley, with King of the Hill executive producers John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky. The HBO comedy is a single-camera live-action sitcom set in Northern California. One of its main themes is the idea that "the people most qualified to succeed are the least capable of handling success". The first season of Silicon Valley was 8 episodes long and received critical and public acclaim. Silicon Valley was renewed for a second season on April 21, 2014, and a third season on April 13, 2015. Silicon Valley aired its fourth season, which premiered on April 23, 2017. The series was renewed for a fifth season, which premiered on March 25, 2018.
On January 12, 2017, Deadline confirmed that Cinemax ordered 8 episodes of Judge's new animated series, Mike Judge Presents: Tales from the Tour Bus. The series premiered on September 22, 2017. In 2019, Judge announced he had been developing two projects for HBO: QualityLand and A5, both of which were later scrapped by HBO in 2021.
Personal life
Judge married his wife Francesca Morocco in 1989. They remained married for twenty years until they divorced in 2009. Together they have two daughters and a son. The family resides in Austin, Texas, and Malibu, California.
Political views
While King of the Hill is often a satire of protagonist Hank Hill, identifiable as a conservative, and his The Goode Family is essentially a satire centered around liberal family, Judge avoids discussing his political leanings.
In reviewing Idiocracy, Salon stated, "Judge's gimlet eye is so ruthless that at times his politics seem to border on South Park libertarianism." A writer for the libertarian magazine Reason seems to agree, comparing King of the Hill to the anti-authoritarian point of view of South Park and The Simpsons, though he calls the show more populist, noting the disdain King of the Hill seems to have for bureaucrats, professionals, and big-box chains.
Still, Judge denies having political messages in his shows, saying in an IGN interview about King of the Hill:
In June 2016, before the presidential election in November, Rolling Stone published an article claiming that Judge would produce Idiocracy-themed campaign advertisements mocking Donald Trump's presidential campaign if given permission from 20th Century Fox to do so. It was later reported by Business Insider that the ads would not go forward.
Filmography
Film
Television
Other appearances
Awards and nominations
References
External links
1962 births
Living people
People from Albuquerque, New Mexico
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
21st-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century American comedians
21st-century American comedians
Male actors from Albuquerque, New Mexico
21st-century American screenwriters
American animators
American animated film directors
American animated film producers
American blues musicians
American cartoonists
Film producers from California
American male comedians
American male film actors
American blues guitarists
American bass guitarists
American male screenwriters
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American music video directors
American satirists
American television directors
Comedy film directors
Television producers from California
American television writers
Annie Award winners
Film directors from Texas
Male actors from Austin, Texas
American male television writers
Musicians from Austin, Texas
Writers from Albuquerque, New Mexico
People from Guayaquil
People from Austin, Texas
Primetime Emmy Award winners
Showrunners
American physicists
American mechanical engineers
University of California, San Diego alumni
Writers from Austin, Texas
Animators from New Mexico
Animators from Texas
Film directors from New Mexico
Inkpot Award winners
American male non-fiction writers
Screenwriters from Texas
Television producers from Texas
Film producers from Texas
Screenwriters from New Mexico
Screenwriters from California
Comedians from California
Comedians from Texas
21st-century American male writers | true | [
"Timanthes of Cleonae () was an ancient victor of the Pankration from Cleonae.\nA statue of him was created by Myron.\n\nAncient sources wrote that when he retired from athletics he continued to test his strength by drawing a great bow every day. His practice with the bow was interrupted during a period when he was away from home. When he returned, he was no longer able to bend the bow. Because of that he lit a fire and threw himself alive into it. \nPausanias wrote that according to him this should be regarded as an act of madness rather than of courage. Suda also wrote what Pausanias believed.\n\nReferences\n\nAncient Olympic competitors\nPankratiasts\nDeaths from fire",
"John 1:4 is the fourth verse in the first chapter of the Gospel of John in the New Testament of the Christian Bible.\n\nContent\nIn the original Greek according to Westcott-Hort this verse is:\nἘν αὐτῷ ζωὴ ἦν, καὶ ἡ ζωὴ ἦν τὸ φῶς τῶν ἀνθρώπων, \n\nIn the King James Version of the Bible the text reads:\nIn him was life; and the life was the light of men.\n\nThe New International Version translates the passage as:\nIn him was life, and that life was the light of men.\n\nAnalysis\nAccording to Witham \"In him:\" i.e. in this word, was life because he gives life to everything, or of the spiritual life, that is, lights of graces, which he gives to Christians.\n\nThere appears to be an allusion in this verse to Psalm 46, “With Thee is the Well of Life, and in Thy light shall we see life.”\n\nCommentary from the Church Fathers\nBede: \"The Evangelist having said that every creature was made by the Word, lest perchance any one might think that His will was changeable, as though He willed on a sudden to make a creature, which from eternity he had not made; he took care to show that, though a creature was made in time, in the Wisdom of the Creator it had been from eternity arranged what and when He should create.\"\n\nAugustine: \"The passage can be read thus: What was made in Him was life1. Therefore the whole universe is life: for what was there not made in Him? He is the Wisdom of God, as is said, In Wisdom hast Thou made them all. All things therefore are made in Him, even as they are by Him. But, if whatever was made in Him is life, the earth is life, a stone is life. We must not interpret it so unsoundly, lest the sect of the Manicheans creep in upon us, and say, that a stone has life, and that a wall has life; for they do insanely assert so, and when reprehended or refuted, appeal as though to Scripture, and ask, why was it said, That which was made in Him was life? Read the passage then thus: make the stop after What was made, and then proceed, In Him was life. The earth was made; but, the earth itself which was made is not life. In the Wisdom of God however there is spiritually a certain Reason after which the earth is made. This is Lifef. A chest in workmanship is not life, a chest in art is, inasmuch as the mind of the workman lives wherein that original pattern exists. And in this sense the Wisdom of God, by Which all things are made, containeth in art ‘all things which are made, according to that art.’ And therefore whatever is made, is not in itself life, but is life in Him.\"\n\nOrigen: \"It may also be divided thus: That which was made in him; and then, was life; the sense being, that all things that were made by Him and in Him, are life in Him, and are one in Him. They were, that is, in Him; they exist as the cause, before they exist in themselves as effects. If thou ask how and in what manner all things which were made by the Word subsist in Him vitally, immutably, causally, take some examples from the created world. See how that all things within the arch of the world of sense have their causes simultaneously and harmoniously subsisting in that sun which is the greatest luminary of the world: how multitudinous crops of herbs and fruits are contained in single seeds: how the most complex variety of rules, in the art of the artificer, and the mind of the director, are a living unit, how an infinite number of lines coexist in one point. Contemplate these several instances, and thou wilt be able as it were on the wings of physical science, to penetrate with thy intellectual eye the secrets of the Word, and as far as is allowed to a human understanding, to see how all things which were made by the Word, live in Him, and were made in Him.\"\n\nHilary of Poitiers: \" Or it can be understood thus. In that he had said, without Him was not any thing made, one might have been perplexed, and have asked, Was then any thing made by another, which yet was not made without Him? if so, then though nothing is made without, all things are not made by Him: it being one thing to make, another to be with the maker. On this account the Evangelist declares what it was which was not made without Him, viz. what was made in Him. This then it was which was not made without Him, viz. what was made in Him. And that which was made in Him, was also made by Him. For all things were created in Him and by Him. Now things were made in Him, because He was born God the Creator. And for this reason also things that were made in Him, were not made without Him, viz. that God, in that He was born, was life, and He who was life, was not made life after being born. Nothing then which was made in Him, was made without Him, because He was life, in Whom they were made; because God Who was born of God was God, not after, but in that He was bornh.\"\n\nOrigen: \"Or thus: Our Saviour is said to be some things not for Himself, but for others; others again, both for Himself and others. When it is said then, That which was made in Him was life; we must enquire whether the life is for Himself and others, or for others only; and if for others, for whom? Now the Life and the Light are both the same Person: He is the light of men: He is therefore their life. The Saviour is called Life here, not to Himself, but to others; whose Light He also is. This life is inseparable from the Word, from the time it is added on to it. For Reason or the Word must exist before in the soul, cleansing it from sin, till it is pure enough to receive the life, which is thus ingrafted or inborn in every one who renders himself fit to receive the Word of God. Hence observe, that though the Word itself in the beginning was not made, the Beginning never having been without the Word; yet the life of men was not always in the Word. This life of men was made, in that It was the light of men; and this light of men could not be before man was; the light of men being understood relatively to menk. And therefore he says, That which was made in the Word was life; not That which was in the Word was life. Some copies read, not amiss, “That which was made, in Him is life.” If we understand the life in the Word, to be He who says below, ‘I am the life,’ we shall confess that none who believe not in Christ live, and that all who live not in God, are dead. (John 11:25; 14:6)\"\n\nTheophylact of Ohrid: \"He had said, In him was life, that you might not suppose that the Word was without life. Now he shows that life is spiritual, and the light of all reasonable creatures. And the life was the light of men: i. e. not sensible, but intellectual light, illuminating the very soul.\"\n\nAugustine: \"Life of itself gives illumination to men, but to cattle not: for they have not rational souls, by which to discern wisdom: whereas man, being made in the image of God, has a rational soul, by which he can discern wisdom. Hence that life, by which all things are made, is light, not however of all animals whatsoever, but of men.\"\n\nTheophylact of Ohrid: \" He saith not, the Light of the Jews only, but of all men: for all of us, in so far as we have received intellect and reason, from that Word which created us, are said to be illuminated by Him. For the reason which is given to us, and which constitutes us the reasonable beings we are, is a light directing us what to do, and what not to do.\"\n\nOrigen: \"We must not omit to notice, that he puts the life before the light of men. For it would be a contradiction to suppose a being without life to be illuminated; as if life were an addition to illumination. . But to proceed: if the life was the light of men, meaning men only, Christ is the light and the life of men only; an heretical supposition. It does not follow then, when a thing is predicated of any, that it is predicated of those only; for of God it is written, that He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and yet He is not the God of those fathers only. In the same way, the light of men is not excluded from being the light of others as well. . Some moreover contend from Genesis, (Gen. 1:26) Let us make man after our image, that man means whatever is made after the image and similitude of God. If so, the light of men is the light of any rational creature what ever.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nOther translations of John 1:4 at BibleHub\n\n01:4"
] |
[
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"1990-1997: Early career and Beavis and Butt-Head",
"What did he try",
"He graduated in 1986 from University of California, San Diego.",
"What did he try and do next",
"In 1987, he moved to Silicon Valley to join Parallax Graphics, a startup video card company with about 40 employees based in Santa Clara.",
"What did this mean to him",
"The people I met were like Stepford Wives. They were true believers in something, and I don't know what it was\"),",
"What did he attempt to do next",
"Judge quit after less than three months and became a bass player with a touring blues band.",
"What did this do to him",
"In 1991, his short film \"Office Space\" (also known as the Milton series of shorts)",
"What did this do for him",
"Comedy Central, following an animation festival in Dallas. In the early 1990s, he was playing blues bass with Doyle Bramhall.",
"What did this do to him",
"1990s animation showcase that appeared on MTV.",
"What was this into him",
"animation showcase that appeared on MTV. The short led to the creation of the Beavis and Butt-Head series on MTV,"
] | C_81e3eab6e02a4e1abcedb12adf463565_1 | What did this lead him too | 9 | What did Beavis and Butt-Head lead Judge too? | Mike Judge | He graduated in 1986 from University of California, San Diego. In 1987, he moved to Silicon Valley to join Parallax Graphics, a startup video card company with about 40 employees based in Santa Clara. Disliking the company's culture and his colleagues ("The people I met were like Stepford Wives. They were true believers in something, and I don't know what it was"), Judge quit after less than three months and became a bass player with a touring blues band. He was a part of Anson Funderburgh's band for two years, playing on their 1990 Black Top Records release "Rack 'Em Up", while taking graduate math classes at the University of Texas at Dallas. In 1989, after seeing animation cels on display in a movie theater, Judge purchased a Bolex 16 mm film camera and began creating his own animated shorts. In 1991, his short film "Office Space" (also known as the Milton series of shorts) was acquired by Comedy Central, following an animation festival in Dallas. In the early 1990s, he was playing blues bass with Doyle Bramhall. In 1992, he developed Frog Baseball, a short film featuring the characters Beavis and Butt-Head, to be featured on Liquid Television, a 1990s animation showcase that appeared on MTV. The short led to the creation of the Beavis and Butt-Head series on MTV, in which Judge voiced both title characters as well as the majority of supporting characters and wrote and directed the majority of the episodes. The show centers on two socially incompetent, heavy metal-loving teenage wannabe delinquents, Beavis and Butt-Head (both voiced by Judge), who go to High School at Highland High in Albuquerque, New Mexico (the same city where Judge was raised and attended high school). The two have no adult supervision, are dim-witted, sex-obsessed, uneducated, barely literate, and lack any empathy or moral scruples, even regarding each other. Over its run, Beavis and Butt-Head drew a notable amount of both positive and negative reaction from the public with its combination of lewd humor and implied criticism of society. Judge himself is highly critical of the animation and quality of earlier episodes, in particular the first two - Blood Drive/Give Blood and Door to Door - which he described as "awful, I don't know why anybody liked it... I was burying my head in the sand." The series spawned the feature-length film Beavis and Butt-Head Do America and the spin-off show Daria. After two decades, the series aired its new season on October 27, 2011. The premiere was dubbed a ratings hit, with an audience of 3.3 million total viewers. On January 10, 2014, Judge announced that there is still a chance to pitch Beavis and Butt-Head to another network and that he wouldn't mind making more episodes. CANNOTANSWER | in which Judge voiced both title characters as well as the majority of supporting characters and wrote and directed the majority of the episodes. | Michael Craig Judge (born October 17, 1962) is an American actor, animator, writer, producer, director and musician. He is the creator of the animated television series Beavis and Butt-Head (1993–1997, 2011, 2021–present), and co-creator of the television series King of the Hill (1997–2010), The Goode Family (2009), Silicon Valley (2014–2019), and Mike Judge Presents: Tales from the Tour Bus (2017–2018). He also wrote and directed the films Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (1996), Office Space (1999), Idiocracy (2006), and Extract (2009).
Judge was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and raised in the U.S. state of New Mexico. He graduated from the University of California, San Diego, where he studied physics. After losing interest in a career in science, Judge began to focus on animation and creating short films. One of these (Frog Baseball) was developed into the successful MTV series Beavis and Butt-Head, which eventually spawned a 1996 feature film, as well as the spin-off series Daria (with which Judge had no involvement).
In 1995, Judge and former The Simpsons writer Greg Daniels developed King of the Hill, which debuted on Fox in 1997 and quickly became a hit with both critics and audiences; running for 13 seasons, it became one of the longest-running American animated series. During the run of the show, Judge took some time off to write and direct Office Space, Idiocracy, and Extract. As King of the Hill was coming to an end, Judge created his third show, ABC's The Goode Family, which received mixed reviews and was cancelled after 13 episodes. After a four-year hiatus, he created his fourth show, the live-action Silicon Valley for HBO, which has received critical acclaim since its premiere. In 2017, Judge's fourth animated series, the music-themed Tales from the Tour Bus, premiered on Cinemax, to critical and audience acclaim.
Judge has won a Primetime Emmy Award and two Annie Awards for King of the Hill and two Critics' Choice Television Awards and Satellite Awards for Silicon Valley.
Early life
Michael Craig Judge was born on October 17, 1962, in Guayaquil, Ecuador. He is the middle of three children born to Margaret Yvonne (née Blue), a librarian, and William James Judge, an archaeologist. At the time of his birth, his father was working for a nonprofit organization in Guayaquil and other parts of Ecuador, promoting agricultural development. Judge was raised from age seven in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he spent a small portion of his life working on a chicken farm. He attended St. Pius X High School and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in physics from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) in 1985.
Career
1985–1997: Early science career; musician; animation and Beavis and Butt-Head
After graduating from UCSD in 1985, he held several brief jobs in physics and mechanical engineering, but found himself growing bored with science. In 1987, he moved to Silicon Valley to join Parallax Graphics, a startup video card company with about 40 employees based in Santa Clara, California. Disliking the company's culture and his colleagues ("The people I met were like Stepford Wives. They were true believers in something, and I don't know what it was"), Judge quit after less than three months and became a bass player with a touring blues band.
He was a part of Anson Funderburgh's band for two years, playing on their 1990 Black Top Records release "Rack 'Em Up", while taking graduate math classes at the University of Texas at Dallas. In 1989, after seeing animation cels on display in a movie theater, Judge purchased a Bolex 16 mm film camera and began creating his own animated shorts in his home in Richardson, Texas. In 1991, his short film "Office Space" (also known as the Milton series of shorts) was acquired by Comedy Central, following an animation festival in Dallas. In the early 1990s, he was playing blues bass with Doyle Bramhall.
In 1992, he developed Frog Baseball, a short film featuring the characters Beavis and Butt-Head, to be featured on Liquid Television, a 1990s animation showcase that appeared on MTV. The short led to the creation of the Beavis and Butt-Head series on MTV, in which Judge voiced both title characters as well as the majority of supporting characters and wrote and directed the majority of the episodes. The show centers on two socially incompetent, heavy metal-loving teenage wannabe delinquents, Beavis and Butt-Head, who live in the fictional town of Highland, Texas. The two have no adult supervision, are dim-witted, sex-obsessed, uneducated, barely literate, and lack any empathy or moral scruples, even regarding each other. Over its run, Beavis and Butt-Head drew a notable amount of both positive and negative reaction from the public with its combination of lewd humor and implied criticism of society.
Judge himself is highly critical of the animation and quality of earlier episodes, in particular the first two – Blood Drive/Give Blood and Door to Door – which he described as "awful, I don't know why anybody liked it ... I was burying my head in the sand." The series spawned the feature-length film Beavis and Butt-Head Do America and the spin-off show Daria.
After two decades, the series aired its new season on October 27, 2011. The premiere was a ratings hit, with an audience of 3.3 million total viewers. On January 10, 2014, Judge announced that there is still a chance to pitch Beavis and Butt-Head to another network and that he wouldn't mind making more episodes.
1997–2009: King of the Hill, Office Space, and Idiocracy
In early 1995, after the successful first run of Beavis and Butt-Head on MTV, Mike Judge co-created the show King of the Hill with former The Simpsons writer Greg Daniels. Judge was a former resident of Garland, Texas, upon which the fictional community of Arlen was loosely based, but as Judge stated in a later interview, the show was based more specifically on the Dallas suburb of Richardson. Judge conceived the idea for the show, drew the main characters, and wrote the pilot script. Judge voiced characters Hank Hill and Jeff Boomhauer. The show is about a middle-class Methodist family named the Hills living in a small town called Arlen, Texas. It attempts to retain a naturalistic approach, seeking humor in the conventional and mundane aspects of everyday life while dealing with issues comically. After its debut in 1997, the series became a large success for Fox and was named one of the best television series of the year by various publications, including Entertainment Weekly, Time, and TV Guide.
For the 1997–1998 season, the series became one of Fox's highest-rated programs and even briefly outperformed The Simpsons in ratings. Although ratings remained consistent throughout the 10th, 11th and 12th seasons and had begun to rise in the overall Nielsen ratings (up to the 105th most watched series on television, from 118 in season 8), Fox abruptly announced in 2008 that King of the Hill had been cancelled. The cancellation coincided with the announcement that Seth MacFarlane, creator of Family Guy and American Dad!, would be creating a Family Guy spin-off called The Cleveland Show, which would take over King of the Hill's time slot. Hopes to keep the show afloat surfaced as sources indicated that ABC (which was already airing Judge's new animated comedy, The Goode Family) was interested in securing the rights to the show, but in January 2009, ABC president Steve McPherson said he had "no plans to pick up the animated comedy." On April 30, 2009, it was announced that Fox ordered at least two more episodes to give the show a proper finale. The show's 14th season was supposed to air sometime in the 2009–10 season, but Fox later announced that it would not air the episodes, opting instead for syndication. On August 10, 2009, however, Fox released a statement that the network would air a one-hour series finale (which consisted of a regular 30-minute episode followed by a 30-minute finale) on September 13, 2009. The four remaining episodes of the series aired in syndication the week of May 3, 2010, and again on Adult Swim during the week of May 17, 2010. During the panel discussion for the return of Beavis and Butt-Head at Comic-Con 2011, Mike Judge said that no current plans exist to revive King of the Hill, although he would not rule out the possibility of it returning.
Judge began to develop one of his four animated short films entitled Milton, about an office drone named Milton that Judge created, which first aired on Liquid Television and Night After Night with Allan Havey and later aired on Saturday Night Live. The inspiration came from a temp job he once had that involved alphabetizing purchase orders and a job he had as an engineer for three months in the San Francisco Bay Area during the 1980s, "just in the heart of Silicon Valley and in the middle of that overachiever yuppie thing, it was just awful". Judge sold the completed film Office Space to 20th Century Fox based on his script and a cast that included Jennifer Aniston, Ron Livingston, and David Herman. Originally, the studio wanted to make a film out of the Milton character but Judge was not interested, opting instead to make more of an ensemble cast–based film. The studio suggested that he should make a film like Car Wash but "just set in an office". Judge made the relatively painless transition from animation to live-action with the help of the film's director of photography who taught him about lenses and where to put the camera. Judge says, "I had a great crew, and it's good going into it not pretending you're an expert." Studio executives were not happy with the footage Judge was getting. He remembers them telling him, "More energy! More energy! We gotta reshoot it! You're failing! You're failing!" In addition, Fox did not like the gangsta rap music used in the film until a focus group approved of it. Judge hated the ending and felt that a complete rewrite of the third act was necessary. In the film, he made a cameo appearance as Stan (complete with hairpiece and fake mustache), the manager of Chotchkie's, a fictionalized parody of chain restaurants like Chili's, Applebee's and TGI Friday's, and the boss of Jennifer Aniston's character, whom he continually undermines and interrogates over her lack of sufficient enthusiasm for the job and the insufficient quantity of "flair" (buttons, ribbons, etc.) she wears on her uniform. The film was released on February 19, 1999, and it was well received by critics. Although not particularly successful at the box office, it sold well on VHS and DVD, and it has come to be recognized as a cult classic.
Since fall 2003, Judge and fellow animator Don Hertzfeldt have run an animation festival called "The Animation Show". "The Animation Show" tours the country every year, screening animated shorts. In 2005, Judge was presented with the Austin Film Festival's Outstanding Television Writer Award by Johnny Hardwick.
Judge has made supporting and cameo appearances in numerous films. Judge had a voice cameo in South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut (1999), the feature-length film adaptation of the popular Comedy Central series; he voiced Kenny McCormick when he was unhooded towards the end of the film. He later acted in the science-fiction family comedy franchise Spy Kids, where he played Donnagon Giggles in the first three films. His next film appearance was Serving Sara (2002) where he played a motel manager. He later appeared in the comedy Jackass Number Two (2006), in which he can be seen during the closing credits. An extended version of his sequence can be seen in Jackass 2.5 (2007) which was a direct-to-video release. Judge also created a video clip of Beavis and Butt-Head ripping into Steve-O for his video Poke the Puss, where the two try imagining if they would like the video better if they were black. The clip aired as a part of Jackassworld.com: 24-Hour Takeover, a February 23, 2008, television special on MTV to coincide with the official launch of jackassworld.com. The characters appeared again in the third Jackass film, titled Jackass 3D, at the beginning of the film, telling viewers to put on their 3D glasses for the film.
Judge's third film, Idiocracy, a dystopian comedy starring Luke Wilson and Maya Rudolph, was given a limited release theatrically by 20th Century Fox in September 2006, two years after production. The film's original release date was intended to be on August 5, 2005, according to Mike Judge.
In April 2006, a release date was set for September 1, 2006. The film was released without a trailer or substantial marketing campaign. The film was not screened for critics beforehand as is usually done. Lack of concrete information from Fox led to speculation that the distributor may have actively attempted to keep the film from being seen by a large audience, while fulfilling a contractual obligation for theatrical release ahead of a DVD release, according to Ryan Pearson of the AP.
That speculation was followed by open criticism of the studio's lack of support from Ain't It Cool News, Time, and Esquire. Times Joel Stein wrote "the film's ads and trailers tested atrociously", but "still, abandoning Idiocracy seems particularly unjust, since Judge has made a lot of money for Fox." Despite the film not being screened for critics, the film received positive reviews and was a minor box-office success.
In the U.S., the film was released to DVD in January 2007 and later aired on premium-television, multiplex channels Cinemax in September 2007 and HBO in January 2008. Since then, it has gained a cult following.
2009–2013: The Goode Family, Extract, and other projects
Judge's fourth directorial effort was 2009's Extract. Shortly after completing Office Space, Judge was already about 40 pages into his follow-up script, set in the world of an extract factory, when he was convinced by his representative team that he needed to shelve that and concentrate on something more commercial. Over the next several years, he focused his energy on developing Idiocracy. But years later, by the time of the film's release, audiences had decided that Office Space had struck a chord, so they were ready to see Judge return to on-the-job humor, and thus the Extract script was given new life.
Seeking to keep Extract below the radar of the studio system, Judge and his producers set up a production company, Ternion Productions, and arranged private financing while partnering with Miramax for domestic distribution of the film. Judge relied heavily on his own personal knowledge of the industrial world to bring the story to life. "I actually worked in a factory a little bit myself ... I hopefully write stuff that is recognizable as the archetypes of this world," Judge stated.
Keeping true to this baseline of reality, Extract was shot in a working factory, in this case a water bottling plant south of Los Angeles, in the City of Commerce. He makes an uncredited appearance as Jim, a union organizer. The film premiered on September 4, 2009, and received mixed to positive reviews from critics and was a minor commercial success.
Judge's third television series, The Goode Family, debuted on ABC but was cancelled after one season. Comedy Central first aired the series in reruns on January 4, 2010. However, the series was pulled off the schedule shortly thereafter. It was confirmed on The Goode Family Facebook page that Comedy Central had picked up the reruns of the series, which were to be evaluated for a chance of being renewed for a second season. On August 8, 2009, however, ABC Entertainment President Steve McPherson stated that the show, along with Surviving Suburbia, had officially been canceled due to low ratings.
In 2010, reruns of The Goode Family aired Monday nights at 10 pm on Comedy Central, beginning January 4. It departed the network's primetime schedule after four weeks, returning occasionally in low-trafficked timeslots.
In 2012, Judge directed the music video (animation by Titmouse) for country music group Zac Brown Band's "The Wind". In 2013, Judge collaborated with Seth MacFarlane on a mashup episode of Family Guy, in which, complete with a Hill-themed opening, Judge reprises his role as Hank Hill. Earlier in 2010 and 2012, Judge played cameos as Hank on two episodes of MacFarlane's The Cleveland Show.
2014–present: Silicon Valley and Tales from the Tour Bus
Judge created his fourth show, Silicon Valley, with King of the Hill executive producers John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky. The HBO comedy is a single-camera live-action sitcom set in Northern California. One of its main themes is the idea that "the people most qualified to succeed are the least capable of handling success". The first season of Silicon Valley was 8 episodes long and received critical and public acclaim. Silicon Valley was renewed for a second season on April 21, 2014, and a third season on April 13, 2015. Silicon Valley aired its fourth season, which premiered on April 23, 2017. The series was renewed for a fifth season, which premiered on March 25, 2018.
On January 12, 2017, Deadline confirmed that Cinemax ordered 8 episodes of Judge's new animated series, Mike Judge Presents: Tales from the Tour Bus. The series premiered on September 22, 2017. In 2019, Judge announced he had been developing two projects for HBO: QualityLand and A5, both of which were later scrapped by HBO in 2021.
Personal life
Judge married his wife Francesca Morocco in 1989. They remained married for twenty years until they divorced in 2009. Together they have two daughters and a son. The family resides in Austin, Texas, and Malibu, California.
Political views
While King of the Hill is often a satire of protagonist Hank Hill, identifiable as a conservative, and his The Goode Family is essentially a satire centered around liberal family, Judge avoids discussing his political leanings.
In reviewing Idiocracy, Salon stated, "Judge's gimlet eye is so ruthless that at times his politics seem to border on South Park libertarianism." A writer for the libertarian magazine Reason seems to agree, comparing King of the Hill to the anti-authoritarian point of view of South Park and The Simpsons, though he calls the show more populist, noting the disdain King of the Hill seems to have for bureaucrats, professionals, and big-box chains.
Still, Judge denies having political messages in his shows, saying in an IGN interview about King of the Hill:
In June 2016, before the presidential election in November, Rolling Stone published an article claiming that Judge would produce Idiocracy-themed campaign advertisements mocking Donald Trump's presidential campaign if given permission from 20th Century Fox to do so. It was later reported by Business Insider that the ads would not go forward.
Filmography
Film
Television
Other appearances
Awards and nominations
References
External links
1962 births
Living people
People from Albuquerque, New Mexico
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
21st-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century American comedians
21st-century American comedians
Male actors from Albuquerque, New Mexico
21st-century American screenwriters
American animators
American animated film directors
American animated film producers
American blues musicians
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Film producers from California
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American blues guitarists
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People from Guayaquil
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Showrunners
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American male non-fiction writers
Screenwriters from Texas
Television producers from Texas
Film producers from Texas
Screenwriters from New Mexico
Screenwriters from California
Comedians from California
Comedians from Texas
21st-century American male writers | true | [
"Glam-A-Geddon (also known as Glam-A-Geddon 25 or Glam-A-Geddon 25/30/40) was a concert tour co-headlined by the heavy metal band Mötley Crüe, American rock band Poison and glam rock band New York Dolls. It was announced by Bret Michaels on March 1, 2011.\n\nThe tour was called Glam-A-Geddon 25 from some sources because 2011 marks the 25th anniversary of Poison's debut, Look What the Cat Dragged In. 2011 also marks the 30th anniversary of Mötley Crüe's debut, Too Fast For Love. It ran from May 29 in Pryor, Oklahoma and ended August 5 in Tomah, Wisconsin.\n\nSetlists\nMötley Crüe\n\"Wild Side\"\n\"Saints of Los Angeles\"\n\"Live Wire\"\n\"Shout at the Devil\"\n\"Same Ol' Situation (S.O.S.)\"\n\"Primal Scream\"\n\"Home Sweet Home\"\n\"Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)\"/Tommy Lee drum solo/Mick Mars guitar solo\n\"Looks That Kill\"\n\"Dr. Feelgood\"\n\"Too Young to Fall in Love\"\n\"Girls, Girls, Girls\"\n\"Smokin' in the Boys' Room\" (Brownsville Station cover)\n\"Kickstart My Heart\"\n\nPoison\n\"Look What the Cat Dragged In\"\n\"Ride the Wind\"\n\"We're an American Band\" (Grand Funk Railroad cover)\n\"Your Mama Don't Dance\" (Loggins & Messina cover) and Rikki Rockett guitar solo\n\"Fallen Angel\"\n\"Unskinny Bop\" and Rikki Rockett drum solo\n\"Every Rose Has Its Thorn\"\n\"Talk Dirty to Me\"\n\"Nothin' but a Good Time\"\n\nNew York Dolls\n\"Looking for a Kiss\"\n\"Cause I Sez So\"\n\"Dance Like a Monkey\"\n\"Who Are the Mystery Girls?\"\n\"Talk to Me Baby\"\n\"Kids Like You\"\n\"Personality Crisis\"\n\"Pills\" (Bo Diddley cover)\n\"Trash\"\n\nTour dates\n\nThis show only featured Mötley Crüe and New York Dolls. Poison did not perform on this date.\nThis show only featured Mötley Crüe. Poison and New York Dolls did not perform on this date.\n\nPersonnel \n\nMötley Crüe\n Nikki Sixx – bass, keyboards, piano, backing vocals\n Mick Mars – lead guitar, backing vocals\n Vince Neil – lead vocals, rhythm guitar\n Tommy Lee – drums, keyboards, piano, backing vocals\n\nPoison\n Bret Michaels – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, harmonica \n Rikki Rockett – drums, percussion, backing vocals\n Bobby Dall – bass, piano, backing vocals \n C.C. DeVille – lead guitar, vocals\n\nNew York Dolls\n David Johansen – vocals, harmonica \n Sylvain Sylvain – guitar, piano\n Jason Sutter – drums\n Kenny Aaronson – bass\n Earl Slick – guitar\n\nReferences\n\n2011 concert tours\nMötley Crüe concert tours",
"The 1982 Melbourne Cup was a two-mile handicap horse race which took place on Tuesday, 2 November 1982. The race, run over , at Flemington Racecourse.\n\nThe race is best remembered for the defeat of champion Kingston Town who had won his third Cox Plate the start before. Fellow Tommy Smith trained Just A Dash was sent out the 11/2 favourite. Gelding Gurner's Lane ran third in the Metropolitan Handicap and then won the Caulfield Cup and incurred a 3 kg penalty for the cup. Gurner's Lane won by a neck beating Kingston Town. Malcolm Johnston was heavily criticised for taking 'The King' to the lead too early. Kingston Town went to Perth and broke down after winning what would be his last race, now named the Kingston Town Classic; Gurner's Lane never won another race. He did also win the 1982 AJC and the VRC St Leger Stakes. This impressive run of race victories saw him awarded the Australian Horse of the Year for the 1982–1983 season.\n\nField \n\nThis is a list of horses which ran in the 1982 Melbourne Cup.\n\nReferences\n\n1982\nMelbourne Cup\nMelbourne Cup\n1980s in Melbourne"
] |
[
"August Strindberg",
"Politics"
] | C_2268672bf3a74c23a47499e266cc7d59_0 | What was Stridberg's involvement with politics? | 1 | What was August Strindberg involvement with politics? | August Strindberg | Influenced by the history of the Paris Commune, during 1871, young Strindberg embraced the view, that politics is a conflict between the upper and lower classes. He was admired by many as a far-left writer. He was a socialist (or perhaps more of an anarchist, meaning a libertarian socialist, which he himself claimed on at least one occasion). Strindberg's political opinions nevertheless changed considerably within this category over the years, and he was never primarily a political writer. Nor did he often campaign for any one issue, preferring instead to scorn his enemies manifesto-style - the military, the church, the monarchy, the politicians, the stingy publishers, the incompetent reviewers, the narrow-minded, the idiots - and he was not loyal to any party or ideology. Many of his works, however, had at least some politics and sometimes an abundance of it. They often displayed that life and the prevailing system were profoundly unjust and injurious to ordinary citizens. The changing nature of his political positions shows in his changing stance on the women's rights issue. Early on, Strindberg was sympathetic to women of 19th-century Sweden, calling for women's suffrage as early as 1884. However, during other periods he had strongly misogynistic opinions, calling for lawmakers to reconsider the emancipation of these "half-apes ... mad ... criminal, instinctively evil animals." This is controversial in contemporary assessments of Strindberg, as have his antisemitic descriptions of Jews (and, in particular, Jewish enemies of his in Swedish cultural life) in some works (e.g., Det nya riket), particularly during the early 1880s. Strindberg's antisemitic pronouncements, just like his opinions of women, have been debated, and also seem to have varied considerably. Many of these attitudes, passions and behaviours may have been developed for literary reasons and ended as soon as he had exploited them in books. In satirizing Swedish society - in particular the upper classes, the cultural and political establishment, and his many personal and professional foes - he could be very confrontational, with scarcely concealed caricatures of political opponents. This could take the form of brutal character disparagement or mockery, and while the presentation was generally skilful, it was not necessarily subtle. His daughter Karin Strindberg married a Russian Bolshevik of partially Swedish ancestry, Vladimir Smirnov ("Paulsson"). Because of his political views, Strindberg was promoted strongly in socialist countries in Central and Eastern Europe, as well as in the Soviet Union and Cuba. CANNOTANSWER | young Strindberg embraced the view, that politics is a conflict between the upper and lower classes. | Johan August Strindberg (, ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than sixty plays and more than thirty works of fiction, autobiography, history, cultural analysis, and politics during his career, which spanned four decades. A bold experimenter and iconoclast throughout, he explored a wide range of dramatic methods and purposes, from naturalistic tragedy, monodrama, and history plays, to his anticipations of expressionist and surrealist dramatic techniques. From his earliest work, Strindberg developed innovative forms of dramatic action, language, and visual composition. He is considered the "father" of modern Swedish literature and his The Red Room (1879) has frequently been described as the first modern Swedish novel. In Sweden, Strindberg is known as an essayist, painter, poet, and especially as a novelist and playwright, but in other countries he is known mostly as a playwright.
The Royal Theatre rejected his first major play, Master Olof, in 1872; it was not until 1881, when he was thirty-two, that its première at the New Theatre gave him his theatrical breakthrough. In his plays The Father (1887), Miss Julie (1888), and Creditors (1889), he created naturalistic dramas that – building on the established accomplishments of Henrik Ibsen's prose problem plays while rejecting their use of the structure of the well-made play – responded to the call-to-arms of Émile Zola's manifesto "Naturalism in the Theatre" (1881) and the example set by André Antoine's newly established (opened 1887). In Miss Julie, characterisation replaces plot as the predominant dramatic element (in contrast to melodrama and the well-made play) and the determining role of heredity and the environment on the "vacillating, disintegrated" characters is emphasized. Strindberg modeled his short-lived Scandinavian Experimental Theatre (1889) in Copenhagen on Antoine's theatre and he explored the theory of Naturalism in his essays "On Psychic Murder" (1887), "On Modern Drama and the Modern Theatre" (1889), and a preface to Miss Julie, the last of which is probably the best-known statement of the principles of the theatrical movement.
During the 1890s he spent significant time abroad engaged in scientific experiments and studies of the occult. A series of apparent psychotic attacks between 1894 and 1896 (referred to as his "Inferno crisis") led to his hospitalization and return to Sweden. Under the influence of the ideas of Emanuel Swedenborg, he resolved after his recovery to become "the Zola of the Occult". In 1898 he returned to play-writing with To Damascus, which, like The Great Highway (1909), is a dream-play of spiritual pilgrimage. His A Dream Play (1902) – with its radical attempt to dramatize the workings of the unconscious by means of an abolition of conventional dramatic time and space and the splitting, doubling, merging, and multiplication of its characters – was an important precursor to both expressionism and surrealism. He also returned to writing historical drama, the genre with which he had begun his play-writing career. He helped to run the Intimate Theatre from 1907, a small-scale theatre, modeled on Max Reinhardt's , that staged his chamber plays (such as The Ghost Sonata).
Biography
Youth
Strindberg was born on 22 January 1849 in Stockholm, Sweden, the third surviving son of Carl Oscar Strindberg (a shipping agent) and Eleonora Ulrika Norling (a serving-maid). In his autobiographical novel The Son of a Servant, Strindberg describes a childhood affected by "emotional insecurity, poverty, religious fanaticism and neglect". When he was seven, Strindberg moved to Norrtullsgatan on the northern, almost-rural periphery of the city. A year later the family moved near to Sabbatsberg, where they stayed for three years before returning to Norrtullsgatan. He attended a harsh school in Klara for four years, an experience that haunted him in his adult life. He was moved to the school in Jakob in 1860, which he found far more pleasant, though he remained there for only a year. In the autumn of 1861, he was moved to the Stockholm Lyceum, a progressive private school for middle-class boys, where he remained for six years. As a child he had a keen interest in natural science, photography, and religion (following his mother's Pietism). His mother, Strindberg recalled later with bitterness, always resented her son's intelligence. She died when he was thirteen, and although his grief lasted for only three months, in later life he came to feel a sense of loss and longing for an idealized maternal figure. Less than a year after her death, his father married the children's governess, Emilia Charlotta Pettersson. According to his sisters, Strindberg came to regard them as his worst enemies. He passed his graduation examination in May 1867 and enrolled at the Uppsala University, where he began on 13 September.
Strindberg spent the next few years in Uppsala and Stockholm, alternately studying for examinations and trying his hand at non-academic pursuits. As a young student, Strindberg also worked as an assistant in a pharmacy in the university town of Lund in southern Sweden. He supported himself in between studies as a substitute primary-school teacher and as a tutor for the children of two well-known physicians in Stockholm. He first left Uppsala in 1868 to work as a schoolteacher, but then studied chemistry for some time at the Institute of Technology in Stockholm in preparation for medical studies, later working as a private tutor before becoming an extra at the Royal Theatre in Stockholm. In May 1869, he failed his qualifying chemistry examination which in turn made him uninterested in schooling.
1870s
Strindberg returned to Uppsala University in January 1870 to study aesthetics and modern languages and to work on a number of plays. It was at this time that he first learnt about the ideas of Charles Darwin. He co-founded the Rune Society, a small literary club whose members adopted pseudonyms taken from runes of the ancient Teutonic alphabet – Strindberg called himself Frö (Seed), after the god of fertility. After abandoning a draft of a play about Eric XIV of Sweden halfway through in the face of criticism from the Rune Society, on 30 March he completed a one-act comedy in verse called In Rome about Bertel Thorvaldsen, which he had begun the previous autumn. The play was accepted by the Royal Theatre, where it premièred on 13 September 1870. As he watched it performed, he realised that it was not good and felt like drowning himself, though the reviews published the following day were generally favourable. That year he also first read works of Søren Kierkegaard and Georg Brandes, both of whom influenced him.
Taking his cue from William Shakespeare, he began to use colloquial and realistic speech in his historical dramas, which challenged the convention that they should be written in stately verse. During the Christmas holiday of 1870–71, he re-wrote a historical tragedy, Sven the Sacrificer, as a one-act play in prose called The Outlaw. Depressed by Uppsala, he stayed in Stockholm, returning to the university in April to pass an exam in Latin and in June to defend his thesis on Adam Gottlob Oehlenschläger's Romantic tragedy Earl Haakon (1802). Following further revision in the summer, The Outlaw opened at the Royal Theatre on 16 October 1871. Despite hostile reviews, the play earned him an audience with King Charles XV, who supported his studies with a payment of 200 riksdaler. Towards the end of the year Strindberg completed a first draft of his first major work, a play about Olaus Petri called Master Olof. In September 1872, the Royal Theatre rejected it, leading to decades of rewrites, bitterness, and a contempt for official institutions. Returning to the university for what would be his final term in the spring, he left on 2 March 1872, without graduating. In Town and Gown (1877), a collection of short stories describing student life, he ridiculed Uppsala and its professors.
Strindberg embarked on his career as a journalist and critic for newspapers in Stockholm. He was particularly excited at this time by Henry Thomas Buckle's History of Civilization and the first volume of Georg Brandes' Main Currents of Nineteenth-Century Literature. From December 1874, Strindberg worked for eight years as an assistant librarian at the Royal Library. That same month, Strindberg offered Master Olof to Edvard Stjernström (the director of the newly built New Theatre in Stockholm), but it was rejected. He socialised with writers, painters, journalists, and other librarians; they often met in the Red Room in Bern's Restaurant.
Early in the summer of 1875, he met Siri von Essen, a 24-year-old aspiring actress who, by virtue of her husband, was a baroness – he became infatuated with her. Strindberg described himself as a "failed author" at this time: "I feel like a deaf-mute," he wrote, "as I cannot speak and am not permitted to write; sometimes I stand in the middle of my room that seems like a prison cell, and then I want to scream so that walls and ceilings would fly apart, and I have so much to scream about, and therefore I remain silent." As a result of an argument in January 1876 concerning the inheritance of the family firm, Strindberg's relationship with his father was terminated (he did not attend his funeral in February 1883). From the beginning of 1876, Strindberg and Siri began to meet in secret, and that same year Siri and her husband divorced. Following a successful audition that December, Siri became an actress at the Royal Theatre. They married a year later, on 30 December 1877; Siri was seven months pregnant at the time. Their first child was born prematurely on 21 January 1878 and died two days later. On 9 January 1879, Strindberg was declared bankrupt. In November 1879, his novel The Red Room was published. A satire of Stockholm society, it has frequently been described as the first modern Swedish novel. While receiving mixed reviews in Sweden, it was acclaimed in Denmark, where Strindberg was hailed as a genius. As a result of The Red Room, he had become famous throughout Scandinavia. Edvard Brandes wrote that the novel "makes the reader want to join the fight against hypocrisy and reaction." In his response to Brandes, Strindberg explained that:
1880s
Strindberg and Siri's daughter Karin was born on 26 February 1880. Buoyant from the reception of The Red Room, Strindberg swiftly completed The Secret of the Guild, an historical drama set in Uppsala at the beginning of the 15th century about the conflict between two masons over the completion of the city cathedral, which opened at the Royal Theatre on 3 May 1880 (his first première in nine years); Siri played Margaretha. That spring he formed a friendship with the painter Carl Larsson. A collected edition of all of Strindberg's previous writings was published under the title Spring Harvest. From 1881, at the invitation of Edvard Brandes, Strindberg began to contribute articles to the Morgenbladet, a Copenhagen daily newspaper. In April he began work on The Swedish People, a four-part cultural history of Sweden written as a series of depictions of ordinary people's lives from the 9th century onwards, which he undertook mainly for financial reasons and which absorbed him for the next year; Larsson provided illustrations. At Strindberg's insistence, Siri resigned from the Royal Theatre in the spring, having become pregnant again. Their second daughter, Greta, was born on 9 June 1881, while they were staying on the island of Kymmendö. That month, a collection of essays from the past ten years, Studies in Cultural History, was published. Ludvig Josephson (the new artistic director of Stockholm's New Theatre) agreed to stage Master Olof, eventually opting for the prose version – the five-hour-long production opened on 30 December 1881 under the direction of August Lindberg to favourable reviews. While this production of Master Olof was his breakthrough in the theatre, Strindberg's five-act fairy-tale play Lucky Peter's Journey, which opened on 22 December 1883, brought him his first significant success, although he dismissed it as a potboiler. In March 1882 he wrote in a letter to Josephson: "My interest in the theatre, I must frankly state, has but one focus and one goal – my wife's career as an actress"; Josephson duly cast her in two roles the following season.
Having returned to Kymmendö during the summer of 1882, Strindberg wrote a collection of anti-establishment short stories, The New Kingdom. While there, to provide a lead role for his wife and as a reply to Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House (1879), he also wrote Sir Bengt's Wife, which opened on 25 November 1882 at the New Theatre. He moved to Grez-sur-Loing, just south of Paris, France, where Larsson was staying. He then moved to Paris, which they found noisy and polluted. Income earned from Lucky Peter's Journey enabled him to move to Switzerland in 1883. He resided in Ouchy, where he stayed for some years. On 3 April 1884, Siri gave birth to their son, Hans.
In 1884 Strindberg wrote a collection of short stories, Getting Married, that presented women in an egalitarian light and for which he was tried for and acquitted of blasphemy in Sweden. Two groups "led by influential members of the upper classes, supported by the right-wing press" probably instigated the prosecution; at the time, most people in Stockholm thought that Queen Sophia was behind it. By the end of that year Strindberg was in a despondent mood: "My view now is," he wrote, "everything is shit. No way out. The skein is too tangled to be unravelled. It can only be sheared. The building is too solid to be pulled down. It can only be blown up." In May 1885 he wrote: "I am on my way to becoming an atheist." In the wake of the publication of Getting Married, he began to correspond with Émile Zola. During the summer he completed a sequel volume of stories, though some were quite different in tone from those of the first. Another collection of stories, Utopias in Reality, was published in September 1885, though it was not well received.
In 1885, they moved back to Paris. In September 1887 he began to write a novel in French about his relationship with Siri von Essen called The Defence of a Fool. In 1887, they moved to Issigatsbühl, near Lindau by Lake Constance. His next play, Comrades (1886), was his first in a contemporary setting. After the trial he evaluated his religious beliefs, and concluded that he needed to leave Lutheranism, though he had been Lutheran since childhood; and after briefly being a deist, he became an atheist. He needed a credo and he used Jean-Jacques Rousseau nature worshiping, which he had studied while a student, as one. His works The People of Hemsö (1887) and Among French Peasants (1889) were influenced by his study of Rousseau. He then moved to Germany, where he fell in love with Chancellor Otto von Bismarck's Prussia status of the officer corps. After that, he grew very critical of Rousseau and turned to Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophies, which emphasized the male intellect. Nietzsche's influence can be seen in The Defence of a Fool (1893), Pariah (1889), Creditors (1889), and By the Open Sea (1890).
Another change in his life after the trial is that Strindberg decided he wanted a scientific life instead of a literary one, and began to write about non-literary subjects. When he was 37, he began The Son of a Servant, a four-part autobiography. The first part ends in 1867, the year he left home for Uppsala. Part two describes his youth up to 1872. Part three, or The Red Room, describes his years as a poet and journalist; it ends with his meeting Siri von Essen. Part four, which dealt with the years from 1877 to 1886, was banned by his publishers and was not published until after his death. The three missing years, 1875–1877, were the time when Strindberg was wooing von Essen and their marriage; entitled He and She, this portion of his autobiography was not printed until 1919, after his death. It contains the love letters between the two during that period.
In the later half of the 1880s Strindberg discovered Naturalism. After completing The Father in a matter of weeks, he sent a copy to Émile Zola for his approval, though Zola's reaction was lukewarm. The drama revolves around the conflict between the Captain, a father, husband, and scientist, and his wife, Laura, over the education of their only child, a fourteen-year-old daughter named Berta. Through unscrupulous means, Laura gets the Captain to doubt his fatherhood until he suffers a mental and physical collapse. While writing The Father, Strindberg himself was experiencing marital problems and doubted the paternity of his children. He also suspected that Ibsen had based Hjalmar Ekdal in The Wild Duck (1884) on Strindberg because he felt that Ibsen viewed him as a weak and pathetic husband; he reworked the situation of Ibsen's play into a warfare between the two sexes. From November 1887 to April 1889, Strindberg stayed in Copenhagen. While there he had several opportunities to meet with both Georg Brandes and his brother Edvard Brandes. Georg helped him put on The Father, which had its première on 14 November 1887 at the Casino Theatre in Copenhagen. It enjoyed a successful run for eleven days after which it toured the Danish provinces.
Before writing Creditors, Strindberg completed one of his most famous pieces, Miss Julie. He wrote the play with a Parisian stage in mind, in particular the Théâtre Libre, founded in 1887 by André Antoine. In the play he used Charles Darwin's theory of survival of the fittest and dramatized a doomed sexual encounter that crosses the division of social classes. It is believed that this play was inspired by the marriage of Strindberg, the son of a servant, to an aristocratic woman.
In the essay On Psychic Murder (1887), he referred to the psychological theories of the Nancy School, which advocated the use of hypnosis. Strindberg developed a theory that sexual warfare was not motivated by carnal desire but by relentless human will. The winner was the one who had the strongest and most unscrupulous mind, someone who, like a hypnotist, could coerce a more impressionable psyche into submission. His view on psychological power struggles may be seen in works such as Creditors (1889), The Stronger (1889), and Pariah (1889).
In 1888, after a separation and reconciliation with Siri von Essen, he founded the Scandinavian Experimental Theatre in Copenhagen, where Siri became manager. He asked writers to send him scripts, which he received from Herman Bang, Gustav Wied and Nathalia Larsen. Less than a year later, with the theatre and reconciliation short lived, he moved back to Sweden while Siri moved back to her native Finland with the children. While there, he rode out the final phase of the divorce and later used this agonizing ordeal for the basis of The Bond and the Link (1893). Strindberg also became interested in short drama, called Quart d'heure. He was inspired by writers such as Gustave Guiche and Henri de Lavedan. His notable contribution was The Stronger (1889). As a result of the failure of the Scandinavian Experimental Theatre, Strindberg did not work as a playwright for three years. In 1889, he published an essay entitled "On Modern Drama and the Modern Theatre", in which he disassociated himself from naturalism, arguing that it was petty and unimaginative realism. His sympathy for Nietzsche's philosophy and atheism in general was also on the wane. He entered the period of his "Inferno crisis," in which he had psychological and religious upheavals that influenced his later works.
August Strindberg's Inferno is his personal account of sinking deeper into some kind of madness, typified by visions and paranoia. In Strindberg och alkoholen (1985), James Spens discusses Strindberg's drinking habits, including his liking for absinthe and its possible implications for Strindberg's mental health during the inferno period.
1890s
After his disenchantment with naturalism, Strindberg had a growing interest in transcendental matters. Symbolism was just beginning at this time. Verner von Heidenstam and Ola Hanson had dismissed naturalism as "shoemaker realism" that rendered human experience in simplistic terms. This is believed to have stalled Strindberg's creativity, and Strindberg insisted that he was in a rivalry and forced to defend naturalism, even though he had exhausted its literary potential. These works include: Debit and Credit (1892), Facing Death (1892), Motherly Love (1892), and The First Warning (1893). His play The Keys of Heaven (1892) was inspired by the loss of his children in his divorce. He also completed one of his few comedies, Playing with Fire (1893), and the first two parts of his post-inferno trilogy To Damascus (1898–1904).
In 1892, he experienced writer's block, which led to a drastic reduction in his income. Depression followed as he was unable to meet his financial obligations and to support his children and former wife. A fund was set up through an appeal in a German magazine. This money allowed him to leave Sweden and he joined artistic circles in Berlin. Otto Brahm's Freie Bühne theatre premiered some of his famous works in Germany, including The Father, Miss Julie, and Creditors.
Similar to twenty years earlier when he frequented The Red Room, he now went to the German tavern The Black Porker. Here he met a diverse group of artists from Scandinavia, Poland, and Germany. His attention turned to Frida Uhl, who was twenty-three years younger than Strindberg. They were married in 1893. Less than a year later, their daughter Kerstin was born and the couple separated, though their marriage was not officially dissolved until 1897. Frida's family, in particular her mother, who was a devout Catholic, had an important influence on Strindberg, and in an 1894 letter he declared "I feel the hand of our Lord resting over me."
Some critics think that Strindberg suffered from severe paranoia in the mid-1890s, and perhaps that he temporarily experienced insanity. Others, including Evert Sprinchorn and Olof Lagercrantz, believed that he intentionally turned himself into his own guinea pig by doing psychological and drug-induced self-experimentation. He wrote on subjects such as botany, chemistry, and optics before returning to literature with the publication of Inferno (1897), a (half fictionalized) account of his "wilderness years" in Austria and Paris, then a collection of short stories, Legends, and a semi-dramatic novella, Jacob Wrestling (both printed in the same book 1898). Both volumes aroused curiosity and controversy, not least due to the religious element; earlier, Strindberg had been known to be indifferent or hostile to religion and especially priests, but now he had undergone some sort of conversion to a personal faith. In a postscript, he noted the impact of Emanuel Swedenborg on his current work.
"The Powers" were central to Strindberg's later work. He said that "the Powers" were an outside force that had caused him his physical and mental suffering because they were acting in retribution to humankind for their wrongdoings. As William Blake, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Honoré de Balzac, and William Butler Yeats had been, he was drawn to Swedenborg's mystical visions, with their depictions of spiritual landscape and Christian morality. Strindberg believed for the rest of his life that the relationship between the transcendental and the real world was described by a series of "correspondences" and that everyday events were really messages from above of which only the enlightened could make sense. He also felt that he was chosen by Providence to atone for the moral decay of others and that his tribulations were payback for misdeeds earlier in his life.
Strindberg had spent the tail end of 1896 and most of 1897 in the university town of Lund in southern Sweden, a sojourn during which he made a number of new friendships, felt his mental stability and health improving and also firmly returned to literary writing; Inferno, Legends and Jacob Wrestling were written there. In 1899, he returned permanently to Stockholm, following a successful production there of Master Olof in 1897 (which was re-staged in 1899 to mark Strindberg's fiftieth birthday). He had the desire to become recognized as a leadíng figure in Swedish literature, and to put earlier controversies behind him, and felt that historical dramas were the way to attain that status. Though Strindberg claimed that he was writing "realistically," he freely altered past events and biographical information, and telescoped chronology (as often done in most historical fiction): more importantly, he felt a flow of resurgent inspiration, writing almost twenty new plays (many in a historical setting) between 1898 and 1902. His new works included the so-called Vasa Trilogy: The Saga of the Folkungs (1899), Gustavus Vasa (1899), and Erik XIV (1899) and A Dream Play (written in 1901, first performed in 1907).
1900s
Strindberg was pivotal in the creation of chamber plays. Max Reinhardt was a big supporter of his, staging some of his plays at the Kleines Theatre in 1902 (including The Bond, The Stronger, and The Outlaw). Once Otto Brahm relinquished his role as head as of the Deutsches Theatre, Reinhardt took over and produced Strindberg's plays.
In 1903, Strindberg planned to write a grand cycle of plays based on world history, but the idea soon faded. He had completed short plays about Martin Luther, Plato, Moses, Jesus Christ, and Socrates. He wrote another historical drama in 1908 after the Royal Theatre convinced him to put on a new play for its sixtieth birthday. He wrote The Last of the Knights (1908), Earl Birger of Bjalbo (1909), and The Regents (1909).
His other works, such as Days of Loneliness (1903), The Roofing Ceremony (1907), and The Scapegoat (1907), and the novels The Gothic Rooms (1904) and Black Banners Genre Scenes from the Turn of the Century, (1907) have been viewed as precursors to Marcel Proust and Franz Kafka.
August Falck, an actor, wanted to put on a production of Miss Julie and wrote to Strindberg for permission. In September 1906 he staged the first Swedish production of Miss Julie. August Falck, played Jean and Manda Bjorling played Julie.
In 1909, Strindberg thought he might get the Nobel Prize in Literature, but instead lost to Selma Lagerlöf, the first woman and first Swede to win the award. The leader of the Social Democrat Youth Alliance started a fund-raiser for a special "people's award". Nathan Söderblom (friend of Strindberg since the mid-90s years in Paris, a prominent theologian and later to become archbishop of Sweden) was noted as a donor, and both he and Strindberg came under attack from circles close to the conservative party and the church. In total 45,000 Swedish crowns were collected, by more than 20,000 donors, most of whom were workers. Albert Bonniers förlag, who had already published much of his work over the years, paid him 200,000 Swedish crowns for the publishing rights to his complete works; the first volumes of the edition would appear in print in 1912, a few months before his death. He invited his first three children (now, like their mother, living in Finland) to Stockholm and divided the money into five shares, one for each child, one for Siri (absent), and the last one for himself. In setting apart one share for Siri, Strindberg noted, in a shy voice, "This is for your mother - it's to settle an old debt". When the children returned to Helsinki, Siri was surprised to hear that she had been included, but accepted the money and told them in a voice that was, according to her daughter Karin, both proud and moved, "I shall accept it, receiving it as an old debt". The debt was less financial than mental and emotional; Strindberg knew he had sometimes treated her unfairly during the later years of their marriage and at their divorce trial. In 1912, she would pass away only a few weeks before him.
In 1907 Strindberg co-founded The Intimate Theatre in Stockholm, together with the young actor and stage director August Falck. His theatre was modeled after Max Reinhardt's Kammerspiel Haus. Strindberg and Falck had the intention of the theatre being used for his plays and his plays only, Strindberg also wanted to try out a more chamber-oriented and sparse style of dramatic writing and production. In time for the theatre's opening, Strindberg wrote four chamber plays: Thunder in the Air, The Burned Site, The Ghost Sonata, and The Pelican; these were generally not a success with audiences or newspaper critics at the time but have been highly influential on modern drama (and soon would reach wider audiences at Reinhardt's theatre in Berlin and other German stages). Strindberg had very specific ideas about how the theatre would be opened and operated. He drafted a series of rules for his theatre in a letter to August Falck: 1. No liquor. 2. No Sunday performances. 3. Short performances without intermissions. 4. No calls. 5. Only 160 seats in the auditorium. 6. No prompter. No orchestra, only music on stage. 7. The text will be sold at the box office and in the lobby. 8. Summer performances. Falck helped to design the auditorium, which was decorated in a deep-green tone. The ceiling lighting was a yellow silk cover which created an effect of mild daylight. The floor was covered with a deep-green carpet, and the auditorium was decorated by six ultra modern columns with elaborate up-to-date capitals. Instead of the usual restaurant Strindberg offered a lounge for the ladies and a smoking-room for the gentlemen. The stage was unusually small, only 6 by 9 metres. The small stage and minimal number of seats was meant to give the audience a greater feeling of involvement in the work. Unlike most theatres at this time, the Intima Teater was not a place in which people could come to socialize. By setting up his rules and creating an intimate atmosphere, Strindberg was able to demand the audience's focus. When the theatre opened in 1907 with a performance of The Pelican it was a rather large hit. Strindberg used a minimal technique, as was his way, by only having a back drop and some sea shells on the stage for scene design and props. Strindberg was much more concerned with the actors portraying the written word than the stage looking pretty. The theatre ran into a financial difficulty in February 1908 and Falck had to borrow money from Prince Eugen, Duke of Närke, who attended the première of The Pelican. The theatre eventually went bankrupt in 1910, but did not close until Strindberg's death in 1912. The newspapers wrote about the theatre until its death.
Death and funeral
Strindberg died shortly after the first staging of one of his plays in the United States — The Father opened on 9 April 1912 at the Berkeley Theatre in New York, in a translation by painter and playwright Edith Gardener Shearn Oland and her husband actor Warner Oland. They jointly published their translations of his plays in book form in 1912.
During Christmas 1911, Strindberg became sick with pneumonia and he never recovered completely. He also began to suffer more clearly from a stomach cancer (early signs of which had been felt in 1908). The final weeks of his life were painful. He had long since become a national celebrity, even if highly controversial, and when it became clear that he was seriously ill the daily papers in Stockholm began reporting on his health in every edition. He received many letters and telegrams from admirers across the country. He died on 14 May 1912 at the age of 63.
Strindberg was interred at Norra begravningsplatsen in Stockholm. He had given strict instructions concerning his funeral and how his body should be treated after death: only members of his immediate family were allowed to view his body, there would be no obduction, no photographs were taken, and no death mask was made. Strindberg had also requested that his funeral should take place as soon as possible after his death to avoid crowds of onlookers. However, the workers' organisations requested that the funeral should take place on a Sunday to make it possible for working men to pay their respects, and the funeral was postponed for five days, until Sunday, 19 May. According to Strindberg's last wish, the funeral procession was to start at 8am, again to avoid crowds, but large groups of people were nevertheless waiting outside his home as well as at the cemetery, as early as 7am. A short service was conducted by Nathan Söderblom by the bier in Strindberg's home, in the presence of three of Strindberg's children and his housekeeper, after which the coffin was taken outside for the funeral procession. The procession was followed by groups of students, workers, members of Parliament and a couple of cabinet ministers, and it was estimated that up to 60,000 people lined the streets. King Gustaf V sent a wreath for the bier.
Legacy
Tennessee Williams, Edward Albee, Maxim Gorky, John Osborne, and Ingmar Bergman are among the many artists who have cited Strindberg as an influence. Eugene O'Neill, upon receiving the Nobel Prize in Literature, dedicated much of his acceptance speech to describing Strindberg's influence on his work, and referred to him as "that greatest genius of all modern dramatists." Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges said of Strindberg: "[he] was, for a time, my god, alongside Nietzsche".
A multi-faceted author, Strindberg was often extreme. His novel The Red Room (1879) made him famous. His early plays belong to the Naturalistic movement. His works from this time are often compared with the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. Strindberg's best-known play from this period is Miss Julie. Among his most widely read works is the novel The People of Hemsö.
Strindberg wanted to attain what he called "greater Naturalism." He disliked the expository character backgrounds that characterise the work of Henrik Ibsen and rejected the convention of a dramatic "slice of life" because he felt that the resulting plays were mundane and uninteresting. Strindberg felt that true naturalism was a psychological "battle of brains": two people who hate each other in the immediate moment and strive to drive the other to doom is the type of mental hostility that Strindberg strove to describe. He intended his plays to be impartial and objective, citing a desire to make literature akin to a science.
Following the inner turmoil that he experienced during the "Inferno crisis," he wrote an important book in French, Inferno (1896–7), in which he dramatised his experiences. He also exchanged a few cryptic letters with Friedrich Nietzsche.
Strindberg subsequently ended his association with Naturalism and began to produce works informed by Symbolism. He is considered one of the pioneers of the modern European stage and Expressionism. The Dance of Death, A Dream Play, and The Ghost Sonata are well-known plays from this period.
His most famous and produced plays are Master Olof, Miss Julie, and The Father.
Internationally, Strindberg is chiefly remembered as a playwright, but in his native Sweden his name is associated no less with novels and other writings. Röda rummet (The Red Room), Hemsöborna (The People of Hemsö), Giftas (Getting Married), En dåres försvarstal (The Confession of a Fool), and Inferno remain among his most celebrated novels, representing different genres and styles. He is often, though not universally, viewed as Sweden's greatest author, and taught in schools as a key figure of Swedish culture. The most important contemporary literary award in Sweden, Augustpriset, is named for Strindberg.
The Swedish composer Ture Rangström dedicated his first Symphony, which was finished in 1914, to August Strindberg in memoriam.
Politics
An acerbic polemicist who was often vehemently opposed to conventional authority, Strindberg was difficult to pigeon-hole as a political figure. Through his long career, he penned scathing attacks on the military, the church, and the monarchy. For most of his public life, he was seen as a major figure on the literary left and a standard-bearer of cultural radicalism, but, especially from the 1890s, he espoused conservative and religious views that alienated many former supporters. He resumed his attacks on conservative society with great vigor in the years immediately preceding his death.
Strindberg's opinions were typically stated with great force and vitriol, and sometimes humorously over-stated. He was involved in a variety of crises and feuds, skirmishing regularly with the literary and cultural establishment of his day, including erstwhile allies and friends. His youthful reputation as a genial enfant terrible of Swedish literature, transformed, eventually, into the role of a sort of ill-tempered towering giant of Swedish public life.
Strindberg was a prolific letter-writer, whose private communications have been collected in several annotated volumes. He often voiced political views privately to friends and literary acquaintances, phrased in a no-holds-barred jargon of scathing attacks, drastic humor, and flippant hyperbole. Many of his most controversial political statements are drawn from this private correspondence.
Influenced by the history of the 1871 Paris Commune, young Strindberg had embraced the view that politics is a conflict between the upper and lower classes. Early works like the Red Room or Master Olof took aim at public hypocrisy, royalty, and organized religion. He was, at this time, an outspoken socialist, mainly influenced by anarchist or libertarian socialist ideas. However, Strindberg's socialism was utopian and undogmatic, rooted less in economic or philosophic doctrine than in a fiery anti-establishment attitude, pitting "the people" against kings, priests, and merchants.
He read widely among socialist thinkers, including Cabet, Fourier, Babeuf, Saint-Simon, Proudhon, and Owen, whom he referred to as "friends of humanity and sharp thinkers." "Strindberg adopted ideas from everyone," writes Jan Olsson, who notes that Strindberg lived in a period where "terms like anarchism, socialism, and communism were alternately used as synonyms and as different terms."
By the early 1880s, many young political and literary radicals in Sweden had come to view Strindberg as a champion of their causes. However, in contrast to the Marxist-influenced socialism then rising within the Swedish labor movement, Strindberg espoused an older type of utopian, agrarian radicalism accompanied by spiritual and even mystical ideas. His views remained as fluid and eclectic as they were uncompromising, and on certain issues he could be wildly out of step with the younger generation of socialists. To Martin Kylhammar, the young Strindberg "was a 'reactionary radical' whose writing was populist and democratic but who persisted in an antiquated romanticizing of agrarian life."
Although he had been an early proponent of women's rights, calling for women's suffrage in 1884, Strindberg later became disenchanted with what he viewed as an unnatural equation of the sexes. In times of personal conflict and marital trouble (which was much of the time), he could lash out with crudely misogynistic statements. His troubled marriage with Siri von Essen, ended in an upsetting divorce in 1891, became the inspiration for The Defence of a Fool, begun in 1887 and published in 1893. Strindberg famously sought to insert a warning to lawmakers against "granting citizens' rights to half-apes, lower beings, sick children, [who are] sick and crazed thirteen times a year during their periods, completely insane while pregnant, and irresponsible throughout the rest of their lives." The paragraph was ultimately removed before printing by his publisher.
Strindberg's misogyny was at odds with the younger generation of socialist activists and has drawn attention in contemporary Strindberg scholarship. So was Strindberg's anti-Jewish rhetoric. Although particularly targeting Jewish enemies of his in Swedish cultural life, he also attacked Jews and Judaism as such. The antisemitic outbursts were particularly pronounced in the early 1880s, when Strindberg dedicated an entire chapter ("Moses") in a work of social and political satire, Det nya riket, dedicated to heckling Swedish Jews (including an unflattering portrayal of Albert Bonnier). Although anti-Jewish prejudice was far from uncommon in wider society in the 1880s, Jan Myrdal notes that "the entire liberal and democratic intelligentsia of the time distanced themselves from the older, left-wing antisemitism of August Strindberg." Yet, as with many things, Strindberg's opinions and passions shifted with time. In the mid-1880s he toned down and then mostly ended his anti-Jewish rhetoric, after publicly declaring himself not to be an anti-Semite in 1884.
A self-declared atheist in his younger years, Strindberg would also re-embrace Christianity, without necessarily making his peace with the church. As noted by Stockholm's Strindberg Museum, the personal and spiritual crisis that Strindberg underwent in Paris in the 1890s, which prompted the writing of Inferno, had aesthetic as well as philosophical and political implications: "Before the Inferno crisis (1869 – 92), Strindberg was influenced by anarchism, Rousseau, Schopenhauer, and Nietzsche; in the years after the crisis (1897 – 1911) he was influenced by Swedenborg, Goethe, Shakespeare, and Beethoven."
In Inferno, Strindberg notes his ideological and spiritual evolution:
What is the purpose of having toiled through thirty years only to gain, through experience, that which I had already understood as a concept? In my youth, I was a sincere believer, and you [i.e. the powers that be] have made me a free-thinker. Out of a free-thinker you have made me an atheist; out of an atheist, a religious believer. Inspired by humanitarian ideas, I have praised socialism. Five years later, you have proven to me the unreasonableness of socialism. Everything that once enthralled me you have invalidated! And presuming that I will now abandon myself to religion, I am certain that you will, in ten years, disprove religion. (Strindberg, Inferno, Chapter XV.)
Despite his reactionary attitudes on issues such as women's rights and his conservative, mystical turn from the early 1890s, Strindberg remained popular with some in the socialist-liberal camp on the strength of his past radicalism and his continued salience as a literary modernizer. However, several former admirers were disappointed and troubled by what they viewed as Strindberg's descent into religious conservatism and, perhaps, madness. His former ally and friend, Social Democrat leader Hjalmar Branting, now dismissed the author as a "disaster" who had betrayed his past ideals for a reactionary, mystical elitism. In 1909, Branting remarked on Strindberg's shifting political and cultural posture, on the occasion of the author's sixtieth birthday:
To the young Strindberg, the trail-blazer, the rouser from sleep, let us offer all our praise and admiration. To the writer in a more mature age [let us offer] a place of rank on the Aeropagus of European erudition. But to the Strindberg of Black Banners [1907] and A Blue Book [1907-1912], who, in the shadows of Inferno [1898] has been converted to a belief in the sickly, empty gospels of mysticism – let us wish, from our hearts, that he may once again become his past self. (Hjalmar Branting, in Social-Demokraten, 22 January 1909.)
Toward the end of his life, however, Strindberg would dramatically reassert his role as a radical standard-bearer and return to the good graces of progressive Swedish opinion.
In April 1910, Strindberg launched a series of unprompted, insult-laden attacks on popular conservative symbols, viciously thrashing the nationalist cult of former king Charles XII ("pharao worship"), the lauded poet Verner von Heidenstam ("the spirit-seer of Djursholm"), and the famous author and traveler Sven Hedin ("the humbug explorer"). The ensuing debate, known as "Strindbergsfejden" or "The Strindberg Feud", is one of the most significant literary debates in Swedish history. It came to comprise about a thousand articles by various authors across some eighty newspapers, raging for two years until Strindberg's death in 1912. The Feud served to revive Strindberg's reputation as an implacable enemy of bourgeois tastes, while also reestablishing beyond doubt his centrality to Swedish culture and politics. In 1912, Strindberg's funeral was co-organized by Branting and heavily attended by members of the Swedish labor movement, with "more than 100 red banners" in attendance alongside the entire Social Democrat parliamentary contingent.
Strindberg's daughter Karin Strindberg married a Russian Bolshevik of partially Swedish ancestry, ("Paulsson").
Painting
Strindberg, something of a polymath, was also a telegrapher, theosophist, painter, photographer and alchemist.
Painting and photography offered vehicles for his belief that chance played a crucial part in the creative process.
Strindberg's paintings were unique for their time, and went beyond those of his contemporaries for their radical lack of adherence to visual reality. The 117 paintings that are acknowledged as his were mostly painted within the span of a few years, and are now seen by some as among the most original works of 19th-century art.
Today, his best-known pieces are stormy, expressionist seascapes, selling at high prices in auction houses. Though Strindberg was friends with Edvard Munch and Paul Gauguin, and was thus familiar with modern trends, the spontaneous and subjective expressiveness of his landscapes and seascapes can be ascribed also to the fact that he painted only in periods of personal crisis. Anders Zorn also did a portrait.
Photography
Strindberg's interest in photography resulted, among other things, in a large number of arranged self-portraits in various environments, which now number among the best-known pictures of him. Strindberg also embarked on a series of camera-less images, using an experimental quasi-scientific approach. He produced a type of photogram that encouraged the development and growth of crystals on the photographic emulsion, sometimes exposed for lengthy periods to heat or cold in the open air or at night facing the stars. The suggestiveness of these, which he called Celestographs, provided an object for contemplation, and he noted;
His interest in the occult in the 1890s finds sympathy with the chance quality of these images, but for him they are also scientific.
In 1895 Strindberg met Camille Flammarion and became a member of the Société astronomique de France. He gave some of his experimental astronomical photographs to the Society.
Occult studies
Alchemy, occultism, Swedenborgianism, and various other eccentric interests were pursued by Strindberg with some intensity for periods of his life.
In the curious and experimental 1897 work Inferno – a dark, paranoid, and confusing tale of his time in Paris, written in French, which takes the form of an autobiographical journal – Strindberg, as the narrator, claims to have successfully performed alchemical experiments and cast black magic spells on his daughter. Much of Inferno indicates that the author suffered from paranoid delusions, as he writes of being stalked through Paris, haunted by evil forces, and targeted with mind-altering electric rays emitted by an "infernal machine" covertly installed in his hotel. It remains unclear to what extent the book represents a genuine attempt at autobiography or exaggerates for literary effect. Olof Lagercrantz has suggested that Strindberg staged and imagined elements of the crisis as material for his literary production.
Personal life
Strindberg was married three times, as follows:
Siri von Essen: married 1877–1891 (14 years), 3 daughters (Karin Smirnov, Greta, and another who died in infancy), 1 son (Hans);
Frida Uhl: married 1893–1895, (2 years) 1 daughter (Kerstin); and
Harriet Bosse: married 1901–1904 (3 years), 1 daughter (Anne-Marie).
Strindberg was age 28 and Siri was 27 at the time of their marriage. He was 44 and Frida was 21 when they married, and he was 52 and Harriet was 23 when they married. Late during his life he met the young actress and painter Fanny Falkner (1890–1963) who was 41 years younger than Strindberg. She wrote a book which illuminates his last years, but the exact nature of their relationship is debated. He had a brief affair in Berlin with Dagny Juel before his marriage to Frida; it has been suggested that the news of her murder in 1901 was the reason he cancelled his honeymoon with his third wife, Harriet.
He was related to Nils Strindberg (a son of one of August's cousins).
Strindberg's relationships with women were troubled and have often been interpreted as misogynistic by contemporaries and modern readers. Marriage and families were being stressed in Strindberg's lifetime as Sweden industrialized and urbanized at a rapid pace. Problems of prostitution and poverty were debated among writers, critics and politicians. His early writing often dealt with the traditional roles of the sexes imposed by society, which he criticized as unjust.
Strindberg's last home was Blå tornet in central Stockholm, where he lived from 1908 until 1912. It is now a museum. Of several statues and busts of him erected in Stockholm, the most prominent is Carl Eldh's, erected in 1942 in Tegnérlunden, a park adjoining this house.
Bibliography
La cruauté et le théâtre de Strindberg de Pascale Roger, coll "Univers théâtral", L'Harmattan, Paris, 2004, 278 p.
The Growth of a Soul (1914)
The German Lieutenant, and Other Stories (1915)
There Are Crimes and Crimes
Further reading
Everdell, William R., The First Moderns: Profiles in the Origins of Twentieth-Century Thought. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1997. (cloth) (bpk)
Brita M. E. Mortensen, Brian W. Downs, Strindberg: An Introduction to His Life and Work, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1965
Gundlach, Angelika; Scherzer, Jörg (Ed.): Der andere Strindberg – Materialien zu Malerei, Photographie und Theaterpraxis, Frankfurt a. M.: Insel-Verlag, 1981. ISBN 3-458-31929-8
Prideaux, Sue, Strindberg: A Life, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012.
Schroeder, J., Stenport, A., and Szalczer, E., editors, August Strindberg and Visual Culture, New York: Bloomsbury, 2018.
Sprinchorn, Evert, Strindberg As Dramatist, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1982.
Stamper, Judith (1975), review of the production of To Damascus at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh in April 1975, in Calgacus 2, Summer 1975, p. 56,
Sources
Adams, Ann-Charlotte Gavel, ed. 2002. Dictionary of Literary Biography. Vol. 259 Twentieth-Century Swedish Writers Before World War II. Detroit, MI: Gale. .
Carlson, Marvin. 1993. Theories of the Theatre: A Historical and Critical Survey from the Greeks to the Present. Expanded ed. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press. .
Ekman, Hans-Göran. 2000. Strindberg and the Five Senses: Studies in Strindberg's Chamber Plays. London and New Brunswick, New Jersey: Athlone. .
Gunnarsson, Torsten. 1998. Nordic Landscape Painting in the Nineteenth Century. New Haven: Yale UP. .
Innes, Christopher, ed. 2000. A Sourcebook on Naturalist Theatre. London and New York: Routledge. .
Lagercrantz, Olof. 1984. August Strindberg. Trans. Anselm Hollo. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux. .
Lane, Harry. 1998. "Strindberg, August." In The Cambridge Guide to Theatre. Ed. Martin Banham. Cambridge: Cambridge UP. 1040–41. .
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Ward, John. 1980. The Social and Religious Plays of Strindberg. London: Athlone. .
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References
External links
English-language translations in the public domain
Public domain translations of Strindberg's drama
The Father, Countess Julie, The Outlaw, The Stronger
Comrades, Facing Death, Pariah, Easter
Swanwhite, Advent, The Storm
There are Crimes and Crimes, Miss Julia, The Stronger, Creditors, and Pariah
To Damascus Part 1
Road To Damascus Parts 1, 2, and 3
Public domain translations of Strindberg's novels
The Red Room.
The Confession of a Fool.
Other
Photographs by Strindberg from the National Library of Sweden on Flickr
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August Strindberg and absinthe; in his life and in his works
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A Dream Play (manuscript) at World Digital Library
Burkhart Brückner: Biography of Johan August Strindberg in: Biographical Archive of Psychiatry (BIAPSY).
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Writers from Stockholm | false | [
"Michael Douglas Finley (July 25, 1946 – May 11, 2013) was a Canadian Senator and was Campaign Director for the Conservative Party of Canada during the 2006 and 2008 federal elections and the party's director of Political Operations.\n\nHistory\n\nFinley was born in Exeter, England, and later raised in Hamilton, Scotland. In his professional life, Finley worked for Rolls Royce Canada in Montreal, where he rose to the position of Director of Production, Strategic Planning and New Business Development. He then served as President of Standard Aero Corporation and Senior Vice President of Avcorp Industries. Later in his business career he worked as General Manager and Chief Operating Officer of Fernlea Flowers, of Delhi, Ontario.\n\nDouglas Finley was described as Prime Minister Stephen Harper's \"number two man\" and an \"attack dog\", responsible for vetting and disciplining candidates and MPs. Prior to his involvement with Canadian federal politics, Finley was involved with the Scottish National Party. His first Canadian federal political involvement was in the 1974 campaign of Liberal candidate Rod Blaker, who was campaigning for re-election in the Quebec riding of Lachine. He later was involved with the former Reform and Canadian Alliance parties, predecessor parties to the Conservative Party of Canada.\n\nFinley was married to cabinet minister Diane Finley, his second wife, for more than 30 years.\n\nWhile working as Campaign Director for the Conservative Party of Canada during the 2006 federal election, Finley, with his colleagues Irving Gerstein, Michael Donison and Susan Kehoe, was involved in what became known as the In and Out scandal, in relation to campaign funding.\n\nIn 2009, Finley was appointed to the Senate.\n\nFinley died of cancer on May 11, 2013, after a long illness.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\n1946 births\nEnglish emigrants to Canada\nCanadian political consultants\nCanadian senators from Ontario\nConservative Party of Canada senators\n2013 deaths\nDeaths from cancer in Ontario\nPoliticians from Ottawa\n21st-century Canadian politicians",
"William Henry Hartley (26 October 1930 – 18 February 2006) was an Australian political activist who was State Secretary of the Victorian branch of the Australian Labor Party between 1965 and 1970.\n\nHartley was born in Southern Cross, Western Australia and before his involvement in left-wing politics, he was a Young Liberal and was active in the University of Western Australia's Liberal Club. He also edited the student newspaper. Service in the RAAF in the early 1950s, combined with the Suez Crisis and the Split in the Labor movement, radicalised Hartley and he joined the ALP in 1956. After this, he combined his journalism with his new politics, becoming co-editor of the ALP's WA newspaper, the Western Sun.\n\nHartley lost his position as State Secretary when formal intervention in the Victorian branch by the Federal ALP Executive led to the replacement of the Victorian Central Executive of the Party in October 1970. He remained a leading figure within the Victorian ALP's Socialist Left faction until his expulsion in 1986.\n\nHe was a radio broadcaster from 1978 to 1995 on community radio 3CR with a left-wing programme called Par Avion.\n\nHe gained later public attention following his involvement with Gough Whitlam and David Combe in attempts to raise large sums of money for the Labor Party from the Iraqi Ba'ath Party (later led by Saddam Hussein) in 1975, and for his outspoken views on a variety of issues, particularly the Middle East conflict.\n\nHartley died in Geraldton, Western Australia, aged 75.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\n1930 births\n2006 deaths\nAustralian activists\nAustralian radio personalities\nPeople from Southern Cross, Western Australia"
] |
[
"August Strindberg",
"Politics",
"What was Stridberg's involvement with politics?",
"young Strindberg embraced the view, that politics is a conflict between the upper and lower classes."
] | C_2268672bf3a74c23a47499e266cc7d59_0 | Did he publish anything about this? | 2 | Did August Strindberg publish anything about a conflict between the upper and lower classes? | August Strindberg | Influenced by the history of the Paris Commune, during 1871, young Strindberg embraced the view, that politics is a conflict between the upper and lower classes. He was admired by many as a far-left writer. He was a socialist (or perhaps more of an anarchist, meaning a libertarian socialist, which he himself claimed on at least one occasion). Strindberg's political opinions nevertheless changed considerably within this category over the years, and he was never primarily a political writer. Nor did he often campaign for any one issue, preferring instead to scorn his enemies manifesto-style - the military, the church, the monarchy, the politicians, the stingy publishers, the incompetent reviewers, the narrow-minded, the idiots - and he was not loyal to any party or ideology. Many of his works, however, had at least some politics and sometimes an abundance of it. They often displayed that life and the prevailing system were profoundly unjust and injurious to ordinary citizens. The changing nature of his political positions shows in his changing stance on the women's rights issue. Early on, Strindberg was sympathetic to women of 19th-century Sweden, calling for women's suffrage as early as 1884. However, during other periods he had strongly misogynistic opinions, calling for lawmakers to reconsider the emancipation of these "half-apes ... mad ... criminal, instinctively evil animals." This is controversial in contemporary assessments of Strindberg, as have his antisemitic descriptions of Jews (and, in particular, Jewish enemies of his in Swedish cultural life) in some works (e.g., Det nya riket), particularly during the early 1880s. Strindberg's antisemitic pronouncements, just like his opinions of women, have been debated, and also seem to have varied considerably. Many of these attitudes, passions and behaviours may have been developed for literary reasons and ended as soon as he had exploited them in books. In satirizing Swedish society - in particular the upper classes, the cultural and political establishment, and his many personal and professional foes - he could be very confrontational, with scarcely concealed caricatures of political opponents. This could take the form of brutal character disparagement or mockery, and while the presentation was generally skilful, it was not necessarily subtle. His daughter Karin Strindberg married a Russian Bolshevik of partially Swedish ancestry, Vladimir Smirnov ("Paulsson"). Because of his political views, Strindberg was promoted strongly in socialist countries in Central and Eastern Europe, as well as in the Soviet Union and Cuba. CANNOTANSWER | Many of his works, however, had at least some politics and sometimes an abundance of it. | Johan August Strindberg (, ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than sixty plays and more than thirty works of fiction, autobiography, history, cultural analysis, and politics during his career, which spanned four decades. A bold experimenter and iconoclast throughout, he explored a wide range of dramatic methods and purposes, from naturalistic tragedy, monodrama, and history plays, to his anticipations of expressionist and surrealist dramatic techniques. From his earliest work, Strindberg developed innovative forms of dramatic action, language, and visual composition. He is considered the "father" of modern Swedish literature and his The Red Room (1879) has frequently been described as the first modern Swedish novel. In Sweden, Strindberg is known as an essayist, painter, poet, and especially as a novelist and playwright, but in other countries he is known mostly as a playwright.
The Royal Theatre rejected his first major play, Master Olof, in 1872; it was not until 1881, when he was thirty-two, that its première at the New Theatre gave him his theatrical breakthrough. In his plays The Father (1887), Miss Julie (1888), and Creditors (1889), he created naturalistic dramas that – building on the established accomplishments of Henrik Ibsen's prose problem plays while rejecting their use of the structure of the well-made play – responded to the call-to-arms of Émile Zola's manifesto "Naturalism in the Theatre" (1881) and the example set by André Antoine's newly established (opened 1887). In Miss Julie, characterisation replaces plot as the predominant dramatic element (in contrast to melodrama and the well-made play) and the determining role of heredity and the environment on the "vacillating, disintegrated" characters is emphasized. Strindberg modeled his short-lived Scandinavian Experimental Theatre (1889) in Copenhagen on Antoine's theatre and he explored the theory of Naturalism in his essays "On Psychic Murder" (1887), "On Modern Drama and the Modern Theatre" (1889), and a preface to Miss Julie, the last of which is probably the best-known statement of the principles of the theatrical movement.
During the 1890s he spent significant time abroad engaged in scientific experiments and studies of the occult. A series of apparent psychotic attacks between 1894 and 1896 (referred to as his "Inferno crisis") led to his hospitalization and return to Sweden. Under the influence of the ideas of Emanuel Swedenborg, he resolved after his recovery to become "the Zola of the Occult". In 1898 he returned to play-writing with To Damascus, which, like The Great Highway (1909), is a dream-play of spiritual pilgrimage. His A Dream Play (1902) – with its radical attempt to dramatize the workings of the unconscious by means of an abolition of conventional dramatic time and space and the splitting, doubling, merging, and multiplication of its characters – was an important precursor to both expressionism and surrealism. He also returned to writing historical drama, the genre with which he had begun his play-writing career. He helped to run the Intimate Theatre from 1907, a small-scale theatre, modeled on Max Reinhardt's , that staged his chamber plays (such as The Ghost Sonata).
Biography
Youth
Strindberg was born on 22 January 1849 in Stockholm, Sweden, the third surviving son of Carl Oscar Strindberg (a shipping agent) and Eleonora Ulrika Norling (a serving-maid). In his autobiographical novel The Son of a Servant, Strindberg describes a childhood affected by "emotional insecurity, poverty, religious fanaticism and neglect". When he was seven, Strindberg moved to Norrtullsgatan on the northern, almost-rural periphery of the city. A year later the family moved near to Sabbatsberg, where they stayed for three years before returning to Norrtullsgatan. He attended a harsh school in Klara for four years, an experience that haunted him in his adult life. He was moved to the school in Jakob in 1860, which he found far more pleasant, though he remained there for only a year. In the autumn of 1861, he was moved to the Stockholm Lyceum, a progressive private school for middle-class boys, where he remained for six years. As a child he had a keen interest in natural science, photography, and religion (following his mother's Pietism). His mother, Strindberg recalled later with bitterness, always resented her son's intelligence. She died when he was thirteen, and although his grief lasted for only three months, in later life he came to feel a sense of loss and longing for an idealized maternal figure. Less than a year after her death, his father married the children's governess, Emilia Charlotta Pettersson. According to his sisters, Strindberg came to regard them as his worst enemies. He passed his graduation examination in May 1867 and enrolled at the Uppsala University, where he began on 13 September.
Strindberg spent the next few years in Uppsala and Stockholm, alternately studying for examinations and trying his hand at non-academic pursuits. As a young student, Strindberg also worked as an assistant in a pharmacy in the university town of Lund in southern Sweden. He supported himself in between studies as a substitute primary-school teacher and as a tutor for the children of two well-known physicians in Stockholm. He first left Uppsala in 1868 to work as a schoolteacher, but then studied chemistry for some time at the Institute of Technology in Stockholm in preparation for medical studies, later working as a private tutor before becoming an extra at the Royal Theatre in Stockholm. In May 1869, he failed his qualifying chemistry examination which in turn made him uninterested in schooling.
1870s
Strindberg returned to Uppsala University in January 1870 to study aesthetics and modern languages and to work on a number of plays. It was at this time that he first learnt about the ideas of Charles Darwin. He co-founded the Rune Society, a small literary club whose members adopted pseudonyms taken from runes of the ancient Teutonic alphabet – Strindberg called himself Frö (Seed), after the god of fertility. After abandoning a draft of a play about Eric XIV of Sweden halfway through in the face of criticism from the Rune Society, on 30 March he completed a one-act comedy in verse called In Rome about Bertel Thorvaldsen, which he had begun the previous autumn. The play was accepted by the Royal Theatre, where it premièred on 13 September 1870. As he watched it performed, he realised that it was not good and felt like drowning himself, though the reviews published the following day were generally favourable. That year he also first read works of Søren Kierkegaard and Georg Brandes, both of whom influenced him.
Taking his cue from William Shakespeare, he began to use colloquial and realistic speech in his historical dramas, which challenged the convention that they should be written in stately verse. During the Christmas holiday of 1870–71, he re-wrote a historical tragedy, Sven the Sacrificer, as a one-act play in prose called The Outlaw. Depressed by Uppsala, he stayed in Stockholm, returning to the university in April to pass an exam in Latin and in June to defend his thesis on Adam Gottlob Oehlenschläger's Romantic tragedy Earl Haakon (1802). Following further revision in the summer, The Outlaw opened at the Royal Theatre on 16 October 1871. Despite hostile reviews, the play earned him an audience with King Charles XV, who supported his studies with a payment of 200 riksdaler. Towards the end of the year Strindberg completed a first draft of his first major work, a play about Olaus Petri called Master Olof. In September 1872, the Royal Theatre rejected it, leading to decades of rewrites, bitterness, and a contempt for official institutions. Returning to the university for what would be his final term in the spring, he left on 2 March 1872, without graduating. In Town and Gown (1877), a collection of short stories describing student life, he ridiculed Uppsala and its professors.
Strindberg embarked on his career as a journalist and critic for newspapers in Stockholm. He was particularly excited at this time by Henry Thomas Buckle's History of Civilization and the first volume of Georg Brandes' Main Currents of Nineteenth-Century Literature. From December 1874, Strindberg worked for eight years as an assistant librarian at the Royal Library. That same month, Strindberg offered Master Olof to Edvard Stjernström (the director of the newly built New Theatre in Stockholm), but it was rejected. He socialised with writers, painters, journalists, and other librarians; they often met in the Red Room in Bern's Restaurant.
Early in the summer of 1875, he met Siri von Essen, a 24-year-old aspiring actress who, by virtue of her husband, was a baroness – he became infatuated with her. Strindberg described himself as a "failed author" at this time: "I feel like a deaf-mute," he wrote, "as I cannot speak and am not permitted to write; sometimes I stand in the middle of my room that seems like a prison cell, and then I want to scream so that walls and ceilings would fly apart, and I have so much to scream about, and therefore I remain silent." As a result of an argument in January 1876 concerning the inheritance of the family firm, Strindberg's relationship with his father was terminated (he did not attend his funeral in February 1883). From the beginning of 1876, Strindberg and Siri began to meet in secret, and that same year Siri and her husband divorced. Following a successful audition that December, Siri became an actress at the Royal Theatre. They married a year later, on 30 December 1877; Siri was seven months pregnant at the time. Their first child was born prematurely on 21 January 1878 and died two days later. On 9 January 1879, Strindberg was declared bankrupt. In November 1879, his novel The Red Room was published. A satire of Stockholm society, it has frequently been described as the first modern Swedish novel. While receiving mixed reviews in Sweden, it was acclaimed in Denmark, where Strindberg was hailed as a genius. As a result of The Red Room, he had become famous throughout Scandinavia. Edvard Brandes wrote that the novel "makes the reader want to join the fight against hypocrisy and reaction." In his response to Brandes, Strindberg explained that:
1880s
Strindberg and Siri's daughter Karin was born on 26 February 1880. Buoyant from the reception of The Red Room, Strindberg swiftly completed The Secret of the Guild, an historical drama set in Uppsala at the beginning of the 15th century about the conflict between two masons over the completion of the city cathedral, which opened at the Royal Theatre on 3 May 1880 (his first première in nine years); Siri played Margaretha. That spring he formed a friendship with the painter Carl Larsson. A collected edition of all of Strindberg's previous writings was published under the title Spring Harvest. From 1881, at the invitation of Edvard Brandes, Strindberg began to contribute articles to the Morgenbladet, a Copenhagen daily newspaper. In April he began work on The Swedish People, a four-part cultural history of Sweden written as a series of depictions of ordinary people's lives from the 9th century onwards, which he undertook mainly for financial reasons and which absorbed him for the next year; Larsson provided illustrations. At Strindberg's insistence, Siri resigned from the Royal Theatre in the spring, having become pregnant again. Their second daughter, Greta, was born on 9 June 1881, while they were staying on the island of Kymmendö. That month, a collection of essays from the past ten years, Studies in Cultural History, was published. Ludvig Josephson (the new artistic director of Stockholm's New Theatre) agreed to stage Master Olof, eventually opting for the prose version – the five-hour-long production opened on 30 December 1881 under the direction of August Lindberg to favourable reviews. While this production of Master Olof was his breakthrough in the theatre, Strindberg's five-act fairy-tale play Lucky Peter's Journey, which opened on 22 December 1883, brought him his first significant success, although he dismissed it as a potboiler. In March 1882 he wrote in a letter to Josephson: "My interest in the theatre, I must frankly state, has but one focus and one goal – my wife's career as an actress"; Josephson duly cast her in two roles the following season.
Having returned to Kymmendö during the summer of 1882, Strindberg wrote a collection of anti-establishment short stories, The New Kingdom. While there, to provide a lead role for his wife and as a reply to Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House (1879), he also wrote Sir Bengt's Wife, which opened on 25 November 1882 at the New Theatre. He moved to Grez-sur-Loing, just south of Paris, France, where Larsson was staying. He then moved to Paris, which they found noisy and polluted. Income earned from Lucky Peter's Journey enabled him to move to Switzerland in 1883. He resided in Ouchy, where he stayed for some years. On 3 April 1884, Siri gave birth to their son, Hans.
In 1884 Strindberg wrote a collection of short stories, Getting Married, that presented women in an egalitarian light and for which he was tried for and acquitted of blasphemy in Sweden. Two groups "led by influential members of the upper classes, supported by the right-wing press" probably instigated the prosecution; at the time, most people in Stockholm thought that Queen Sophia was behind it. By the end of that year Strindberg was in a despondent mood: "My view now is," he wrote, "everything is shit. No way out. The skein is too tangled to be unravelled. It can only be sheared. The building is too solid to be pulled down. It can only be blown up." In May 1885 he wrote: "I am on my way to becoming an atheist." In the wake of the publication of Getting Married, he began to correspond with Émile Zola. During the summer he completed a sequel volume of stories, though some were quite different in tone from those of the first. Another collection of stories, Utopias in Reality, was published in September 1885, though it was not well received.
In 1885, they moved back to Paris. In September 1887 he began to write a novel in French about his relationship with Siri von Essen called The Defence of a Fool. In 1887, they moved to Issigatsbühl, near Lindau by Lake Constance. His next play, Comrades (1886), was his first in a contemporary setting. After the trial he evaluated his religious beliefs, and concluded that he needed to leave Lutheranism, though he had been Lutheran since childhood; and after briefly being a deist, he became an atheist. He needed a credo and he used Jean-Jacques Rousseau nature worshiping, which he had studied while a student, as one. His works The People of Hemsö (1887) and Among French Peasants (1889) were influenced by his study of Rousseau. He then moved to Germany, where he fell in love with Chancellor Otto von Bismarck's Prussia status of the officer corps. After that, he grew very critical of Rousseau and turned to Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophies, which emphasized the male intellect. Nietzsche's influence can be seen in The Defence of a Fool (1893), Pariah (1889), Creditors (1889), and By the Open Sea (1890).
Another change in his life after the trial is that Strindberg decided he wanted a scientific life instead of a literary one, and began to write about non-literary subjects. When he was 37, he began The Son of a Servant, a four-part autobiography. The first part ends in 1867, the year he left home for Uppsala. Part two describes his youth up to 1872. Part three, or The Red Room, describes his years as a poet and journalist; it ends with his meeting Siri von Essen. Part four, which dealt with the years from 1877 to 1886, was banned by his publishers and was not published until after his death. The three missing years, 1875–1877, were the time when Strindberg was wooing von Essen and their marriage; entitled He and She, this portion of his autobiography was not printed until 1919, after his death. It contains the love letters between the two during that period.
In the later half of the 1880s Strindberg discovered Naturalism. After completing The Father in a matter of weeks, he sent a copy to Émile Zola for his approval, though Zola's reaction was lukewarm. The drama revolves around the conflict between the Captain, a father, husband, and scientist, and his wife, Laura, over the education of their only child, a fourteen-year-old daughter named Berta. Through unscrupulous means, Laura gets the Captain to doubt his fatherhood until he suffers a mental and physical collapse. While writing The Father, Strindberg himself was experiencing marital problems and doubted the paternity of his children. He also suspected that Ibsen had based Hjalmar Ekdal in The Wild Duck (1884) on Strindberg because he felt that Ibsen viewed him as a weak and pathetic husband; he reworked the situation of Ibsen's play into a warfare between the two sexes. From November 1887 to April 1889, Strindberg stayed in Copenhagen. While there he had several opportunities to meet with both Georg Brandes and his brother Edvard Brandes. Georg helped him put on The Father, which had its première on 14 November 1887 at the Casino Theatre in Copenhagen. It enjoyed a successful run for eleven days after which it toured the Danish provinces.
Before writing Creditors, Strindberg completed one of his most famous pieces, Miss Julie. He wrote the play with a Parisian stage in mind, in particular the Théâtre Libre, founded in 1887 by André Antoine. In the play he used Charles Darwin's theory of survival of the fittest and dramatized a doomed sexual encounter that crosses the division of social classes. It is believed that this play was inspired by the marriage of Strindberg, the son of a servant, to an aristocratic woman.
In the essay On Psychic Murder (1887), he referred to the psychological theories of the Nancy School, which advocated the use of hypnosis. Strindberg developed a theory that sexual warfare was not motivated by carnal desire but by relentless human will. The winner was the one who had the strongest and most unscrupulous mind, someone who, like a hypnotist, could coerce a more impressionable psyche into submission. His view on psychological power struggles may be seen in works such as Creditors (1889), The Stronger (1889), and Pariah (1889).
In 1888, after a separation and reconciliation with Siri von Essen, he founded the Scandinavian Experimental Theatre in Copenhagen, where Siri became manager. He asked writers to send him scripts, which he received from Herman Bang, Gustav Wied and Nathalia Larsen. Less than a year later, with the theatre and reconciliation short lived, he moved back to Sweden while Siri moved back to her native Finland with the children. While there, he rode out the final phase of the divorce and later used this agonizing ordeal for the basis of The Bond and the Link (1893). Strindberg also became interested in short drama, called Quart d'heure. He was inspired by writers such as Gustave Guiche and Henri de Lavedan. His notable contribution was The Stronger (1889). As a result of the failure of the Scandinavian Experimental Theatre, Strindberg did not work as a playwright for three years. In 1889, he published an essay entitled "On Modern Drama and the Modern Theatre", in which he disassociated himself from naturalism, arguing that it was petty and unimaginative realism. His sympathy for Nietzsche's philosophy and atheism in general was also on the wane. He entered the period of his "Inferno crisis," in which he had psychological and religious upheavals that influenced his later works.
August Strindberg's Inferno is his personal account of sinking deeper into some kind of madness, typified by visions and paranoia. In Strindberg och alkoholen (1985), James Spens discusses Strindberg's drinking habits, including his liking for absinthe and its possible implications for Strindberg's mental health during the inferno period.
1890s
After his disenchantment with naturalism, Strindberg had a growing interest in transcendental matters. Symbolism was just beginning at this time. Verner von Heidenstam and Ola Hanson had dismissed naturalism as "shoemaker realism" that rendered human experience in simplistic terms. This is believed to have stalled Strindberg's creativity, and Strindberg insisted that he was in a rivalry and forced to defend naturalism, even though he had exhausted its literary potential. These works include: Debit and Credit (1892), Facing Death (1892), Motherly Love (1892), and The First Warning (1893). His play The Keys of Heaven (1892) was inspired by the loss of his children in his divorce. He also completed one of his few comedies, Playing with Fire (1893), and the first two parts of his post-inferno trilogy To Damascus (1898–1904).
In 1892, he experienced writer's block, which led to a drastic reduction in his income. Depression followed as he was unable to meet his financial obligations and to support his children and former wife. A fund was set up through an appeal in a German magazine. This money allowed him to leave Sweden and he joined artistic circles in Berlin. Otto Brahm's Freie Bühne theatre premiered some of his famous works in Germany, including The Father, Miss Julie, and Creditors.
Similar to twenty years earlier when he frequented The Red Room, he now went to the German tavern The Black Porker. Here he met a diverse group of artists from Scandinavia, Poland, and Germany. His attention turned to Frida Uhl, who was twenty-three years younger than Strindberg. They were married in 1893. Less than a year later, their daughter Kerstin was born and the couple separated, though their marriage was not officially dissolved until 1897. Frida's family, in particular her mother, who was a devout Catholic, had an important influence on Strindberg, and in an 1894 letter he declared "I feel the hand of our Lord resting over me."
Some critics think that Strindberg suffered from severe paranoia in the mid-1890s, and perhaps that he temporarily experienced insanity. Others, including Evert Sprinchorn and Olof Lagercrantz, believed that he intentionally turned himself into his own guinea pig by doing psychological and drug-induced self-experimentation. He wrote on subjects such as botany, chemistry, and optics before returning to literature with the publication of Inferno (1897), a (half fictionalized) account of his "wilderness years" in Austria and Paris, then a collection of short stories, Legends, and a semi-dramatic novella, Jacob Wrestling (both printed in the same book 1898). Both volumes aroused curiosity and controversy, not least due to the religious element; earlier, Strindberg had been known to be indifferent or hostile to religion and especially priests, but now he had undergone some sort of conversion to a personal faith. In a postscript, he noted the impact of Emanuel Swedenborg on his current work.
"The Powers" were central to Strindberg's later work. He said that "the Powers" were an outside force that had caused him his physical and mental suffering because they were acting in retribution to humankind for their wrongdoings. As William Blake, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Honoré de Balzac, and William Butler Yeats had been, he was drawn to Swedenborg's mystical visions, with their depictions of spiritual landscape and Christian morality. Strindberg believed for the rest of his life that the relationship between the transcendental and the real world was described by a series of "correspondences" and that everyday events were really messages from above of which only the enlightened could make sense. He also felt that he was chosen by Providence to atone for the moral decay of others and that his tribulations were payback for misdeeds earlier in his life.
Strindberg had spent the tail end of 1896 and most of 1897 in the university town of Lund in southern Sweden, a sojourn during which he made a number of new friendships, felt his mental stability and health improving and also firmly returned to literary writing; Inferno, Legends and Jacob Wrestling were written there. In 1899, he returned permanently to Stockholm, following a successful production there of Master Olof in 1897 (which was re-staged in 1899 to mark Strindberg's fiftieth birthday). He had the desire to become recognized as a leadíng figure in Swedish literature, and to put earlier controversies behind him, and felt that historical dramas were the way to attain that status. Though Strindberg claimed that he was writing "realistically," he freely altered past events and biographical information, and telescoped chronology (as often done in most historical fiction): more importantly, he felt a flow of resurgent inspiration, writing almost twenty new plays (many in a historical setting) between 1898 and 1902. His new works included the so-called Vasa Trilogy: The Saga of the Folkungs (1899), Gustavus Vasa (1899), and Erik XIV (1899) and A Dream Play (written in 1901, first performed in 1907).
1900s
Strindberg was pivotal in the creation of chamber plays. Max Reinhardt was a big supporter of his, staging some of his plays at the Kleines Theatre in 1902 (including The Bond, The Stronger, and The Outlaw). Once Otto Brahm relinquished his role as head as of the Deutsches Theatre, Reinhardt took over and produced Strindberg's plays.
In 1903, Strindberg planned to write a grand cycle of plays based on world history, but the idea soon faded. He had completed short plays about Martin Luther, Plato, Moses, Jesus Christ, and Socrates. He wrote another historical drama in 1908 after the Royal Theatre convinced him to put on a new play for its sixtieth birthday. He wrote The Last of the Knights (1908), Earl Birger of Bjalbo (1909), and The Regents (1909).
His other works, such as Days of Loneliness (1903), The Roofing Ceremony (1907), and The Scapegoat (1907), and the novels The Gothic Rooms (1904) and Black Banners Genre Scenes from the Turn of the Century, (1907) have been viewed as precursors to Marcel Proust and Franz Kafka.
August Falck, an actor, wanted to put on a production of Miss Julie and wrote to Strindberg for permission. In September 1906 he staged the first Swedish production of Miss Julie. August Falck, played Jean and Manda Bjorling played Julie.
In 1909, Strindberg thought he might get the Nobel Prize in Literature, but instead lost to Selma Lagerlöf, the first woman and first Swede to win the award. The leader of the Social Democrat Youth Alliance started a fund-raiser for a special "people's award". Nathan Söderblom (friend of Strindberg since the mid-90s years in Paris, a prominent theologian and later to become archbishop of Sweden) was noted as a donor, and both he and Strindberg came under attack from circles close to the conservative party and the church. In total 45,000 Swedish crowns were collected, by more than 20,000 donors, most of whom were workers. Albert Bonniers förlag, who had already published much of his work over the years, paid him 200,000 Swedish crowns for the publishing rights to his complete works; the first volumes of the edition would appear in print in 1912, a few months before his death. He invited his first three children (now, like their mother, living in Finland) to Stockholm and divided the money into five shares, one for each child, one for Siri (absent), and the last one for himself. In setting apart one share for Siri, Strindberg noted, in a shy voice, "This is for your mother - it's to settle an old debt". When the children returned to Helsinki, Siri was surprised to hear that she had been included, but accepted the money and told them in a voice that was, according to her daughter Karin, both proud and moved, "I shall accept it, receiving it as an old debt". The debt was less financial than mental and emotional; Strindberg knew he had sometimes treated her unfairly during the later years of their marriage and at their divorce trial. In 1912, she would pass away only a few weeks before him.
In 1907 Strindberg co-founded The Intimate Theatre in Stockholm, together with the young actor and stage director August Falck. His theatre was modeled after Max Reinhardt's Kammerspiel Haus. Strindberg and Falck had the intention of the theatre being used for his plays and his plays only, Strindberg also wanted to try out a more chamber-oriented and sparse style of dramatic writing and production. In time for the theatre's opening, Strindberg wrote four chamber plays: Thunder in the Air, The Burned Site, The Ghost Sonata, and The Pelican; these were generally not a success with audiences or newspaper critics at the time but have been highly influential on modern drama (and soon would reach wider audiences at Reinhardt's theatre in Berlin and other German stages). Strindberg had very specific ideas about how the theatre would be opened and operated. He drafted a series of rules for his theatre in a letter to August Falck: 1. No liquor. 2. No Sunday performances. 3. Short performances without intermissions. 4. No calls. 5. Only 160 seats in the auditorium. 6. No prompter. No orchestra, only music on stage. 7. The text will be sold at the box office and in the lobby. 8. Summer performances. Falck helped to design the auditorium, which was decorated in a deep-green tone. The ceiling lighting was a yellow silk cover which created an effect of mild daylight. The floor was covered with a deep-green carpet, and the auditorium was decorated by six ultra modern columns with elaborate up-to-date capitals. Instead of the usual restaurant Strindberg offered a lounge for the ladies and a smoking-room for the gentlemen. The stage was unusually small, only 6 by 9 metres. The small stage and minimal number of seats was meant to give the audience a greater feeling of involvement in the work. Unlike most theatres at this time, the Intima Teater was not a place in which people could come to socialize. By setting up his rules and creating an intimate atmosphere, Strindberg was able to demand the audience's focus. When the theatre opened in 1907 with a performance of The Pelican it was a rather large hit. Strindberg used a minimal technique, as was his way, by only having a back drop and some sea shells on the stage for scene design and props. Strindberg was much more concerned with the actors portraying the written word than the stage looking pretty. The theatre ran into a financial difficulty in February 1908 and Falck had to borrow money from Prince Eugen, Duke of Närke, who attended the première of The Pelican. The theatre eventually went bankrupt in 1910, but did not close until Strindberg's death in 1912. The newspapers wrote about the theatre until its death.
Death and funeral
Strindberg died shortly after the first staging of one of his plays in the United States — The Father opened on 9 April 1912 at the Berkeley Theatre in New York, in a translation by painter and playwright Edith Gardener Shearn Oland and her husband actor Warner Oland. They jointly published their translations of his plays in book form in 1912.
During Christmas 1911, Strindberg became sick with pneumonia and he never recovered completely. He also began to suffer more clearly from a stomach cancer (early signs of which had been felt in 1908). The final weeks of his life were painful. He had long since become a national celebrity, even if highly controversial, and when it became clear that he was seriously ill the daily papers in Stockholm began reporting on his health in every edition. He received many letters and telegrams from admirers across the country. He died on 14 May 1912 at the age of 63.
Strindberg was interred at Norra begravningsplatsen in Stockholm. He had given strict instructions concerning his funeral and how his body should be treated after death: only members of his immediate family were allowed to view his body, there would be no obduction, no photographs were taken, and no death mask was made. Strindberg had also requested that his funeral should take place as soon as possible after his death to avoid crowds of onlookers. However, the workers' organisations requested that the funeral should take place on a Sunday to make it possible for working men to pay their respects, and the funeral was postponed for five days, until Sunday, 19 May. According to Strindberg's last wish, the funeral procession was to start at 8am, again to avoid crowds, but large groups of people were nevertheless waiting outside his home as well as at the cemetery, as early as 7am. A short service was conducted by Nathan Söderblom by the bier in Strindberg's home, in the presence of three of Strindberg's children and his housekeeper, after which the coffin was taken outside for the funeral procession. The procession was followed by groups of students, workers, members of Parliament and a couple of cabinet ministers, and it was estimated that up to 60,000 people lined the streets. King Gustaf V sent a wreath for the bier.
Legacy
Tennessee Williams, Edward Albee, Maxim Gorky, John Osborne, and Ingmar Bergman are among the many artists who have cited Strindberg as an influence. Eugene O'Neill, upon receiving the Nobel Prize in Literature, dedicated much of his acceptance speech to describing Strindberg's influence on his work, and referred to him as "that greatest genius of all modern dramatists." Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges said of Strindberg: "[he] was, for a time, my god, alongside Nietzsche".
A multi-faceted author, Strindberg was often extreme. His novel The Red Room (1879) made him famous. His early plays belong to the Naturalistic movement. His works from this time are often compared with the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. Strindberg's best-known play from this period is Miss Julie. Among his most widely read works is the novel The People of Hemsö.
Strindberg wanted to attain what he called "greater Naturalism." He disliked the expository character backgrounds that characterise the work of Henrik Ibsen and rejected the convention of a dramatic "slice of life" because he felt that the resulting plays were mundane and uninteresting. Strindberg felt that true naturalism was a psychological "battle of brains": two people who hate each other in the immediate moment and strive to drive the other to doom is the type of mental hostility that Strindberg strove to describe. He intended his plays to be impartial and objective, citing a desire to make literature akin to a science.
Following the inner turmoil that he experienced during the "Inferno crisis," he wrote an important book in French, Inferno (1896–7), in which he dramatised his experiences. He also exchanged a few cryptic letters with Friedrich Nietzsche.
Strindberg subsequently ended his association with Naturalism and began to produce works informed by Symbolism. He is considered one of the pioneers of the modern European stage and Expressionism. The Dance of Death, A Dream Play, and The Ghost Sonata are well-known plays from this period.
His most famous and produced plays are Master Olof, Miss Julie, and The Father.
Internationally, Strindberg is chiefly remembered as a playwright, but in his native Sweden his name is associated no less with novels and other writings. Röda rummet (The Red Room), Hemsöborna (The People of Hemsö), Giftas (Getting Married), En dåres försvarstal (The Confession of a Fool), and Inferno remain among his most celebrated novels, representing different genres and styles. He is often, though not universally, viewed as Sweden's greatest author, and taught in schools as a key figure of Swedish culture. The most important contemporary literary award in Sweden, Augustpriset, is named for Strindberg.
The Swedish composer Ture Rangström dedicated his first Symphony, which was finished in 1914, to August Strindberg in memoriam.
Politics
An acerbic polemicist who was often vehemently opposed to conventional authority, Strindberg was difficult to pigeon-hole as a political figure. Through his long career, he penned scathing attacks on the military, the church, and the monarchy. For most of his public life, he was seen as a major figure on the literary left and a standard-bearer of cultural radicalism, but, especially from the 1890s, he espoused conservative and religious views that alienated many former supporters. He resumed his attacks on conservative society with great vigor in the years immediately preceding his death.
Strindberg's opinions were typically stated with great force and vitriol, and sometimes humorously over-stated. He was involved in a variety of crises and feuds, skirmishing regularly with the literary and cultural establishment of his day, including erstwhile allies and friends. His youthful reputation as a genial enfant terrible of Swedish literature, transformed, eventually, into the role of a sort of ill-tempered towering giant of Swedish public life.
Strindberg was a prolific letter-writer, whose private communications have been collected in several annotated volumes. He often voiced political views privately to friends and literary acquaintances, phrased in a no-holds-barred jargon of scathing attacks, drastic humor, and flippant hyperbole. Many of his most controversial political statements are drawn from this private correspondence.
Influenced by the history of the 1871 Paris Commune, young Strindberg had embraced the view that politics is a conflict between the upper and lower classes. Early works like the Red Room or Master Olof took aim at public hypocrisy, royalty, and organized religion. He was, at this time, an outspoken socialist, mainly influenced by anarchist or libertarian socialist ideas. However, Strindberg's socialism was utopian and undogmatic, rooted less in economic or philosophic doctrine than in a fiery anti-establishment attitude, pitting "the people" against kings, priests, and merchants.
He read widely among socialist thinkers, including Cabet, Fourier, Babeuf, Saint-Simon, Proudhon, and Owen, whom he referred to as "friends of humanity and sharp thinkers." "Strindberg adopted ideas from everyone," writes Jan Olsson, who notes that Strindberg lived in a period where "terms like anarchism, socialism, and communism were alternately used as synonyms and as different terms."
By the early 1880s, many young political and literary radicals in Sweden had come to view Strindberg as a champion of their causes. However, in contrast to the Marxist-influenced socialism then rising within the Swedish labor movement, Strindberg espoused an older type of utopian, agrarian radicalism accompanied by spiritual and even mystical ideas. His views remained as fluid and eclectic as they were uncompromising, and on certain issues he could be wildly out of step with the younger generation of socialists. To Martin Kylhammar, the young Strindberg "was a 'reactionary radical' whose writing was populist and democratic but who persisted in an antiquated romanticizing of agrarian life."
Although he had been an early proponent of women's rights, calling for women's suffrage in 1884, Strindberg later became disenchanted with what he viewed as an unnatural equation of the sexes. In times of personal conflict and marital trouble (which was much of the time), he could lash out with crudely misogynistic statements. His troubled marriage with Siri von Essen, ended in an upsetting divorce in 1891, became the inspiration for The Defence of a Fool, begun in 1887 and published in 1893. Strindberg famously sought to insert a warning to lawmakers against "granting citizens' rights to half-apes, lower beings, sick children, [who are] sick and crazed thirteen times a year during their periods, completely insane while pregnant, and irresponsible throughout the rest of their lives." The paragraph was ultimately removed before printing by his publisher.
Strindberg's misogyny was at odds with the younger generation of socialist activists and has drawn attention in contemporary Strindberg scholarship. So was Strindberg's anti-Jewish rhetoric. Although particularly targeting Jewish enemies of his in Swedish cultural life, he also attacked Jews and Judaism as such. The antisemitic outbursts were particularly pronounced in the early 1880s, when Strindberg dedicated an entire chapter ("Moses") in a work of social and political satire, Det nya riket, dedicated to heckling Swedish Jews (including an unflattering portrayal of Albert Bonnier). Although anti-Jewish prejudice was far from uncommon in wider society in the 1880s, Jan Myrdal notes that "the entire liberal and democratic intelligentsia of the time distanced themselves from the older, left-wing antisemitism of August Strindberg." Yet, as with many things, Strindberg's opinions and passions shifted with time. In the mid-1880s he toned down and then mostly ended his anti-Jewish rhetoric, after publicly declaring himself not to be an anti-Semite in 1884.
A self-declared atheist in his younger years, Strindberg would also re-embrace Christianity, without necessarily making his peace with the church. As noted by Stockholm's Strindberg Museum, the personal and spiritual crisis that Strindberg underwent in Paris in the 1890s, which prompted the writing of Inferno, had aesthetic as well as philosophical and political implications: "Before the Inferno crisis (1869 – 92), Strindberg was influenced by anarchism, Rousseau, Schopenhauer, and Nietzsche; in the years after the crisis (1897 – 1911) he was influenced by Swedenborg, Goethe, Shakespeare, and Beethoven."
In Inferno, Strindberg notes his ideological and spiritual evolution:
What is the purpose of having toiled through thirty years only to gain, through experience, that which I had already understood as a concept? In my youth, I was a sincere believer, and you [i.e. the powers that be] have made me a free-thinker. Out of a free-thinker you have made me an atheist; out of an atheist, a religious believer. Inspired by humanitarian ideas, I have praised socialism. Five years later, you have proven to me the unreasonableness of socialism. Everything that once enthralled me you have invalidated! And presuming that I will now abandon myself to religion, I am certain that you will, in ten years, disprove religion. (Strindberg, Inferno, Chapter XV.)
Despite his reactionary attitudes on issues such as women's rights and his conservative, mystical turn from the early 1890s, Strindberg remained popular with some in the socialist-liberal camp on the strength of his past radicalism and his continued salience as a literary modernizer. However, several former admirers were disappointed and troubled by what they viewed as Strindberg's descent into religious conservatism and, perhaps, madness. His former ally and friend, Social Democrat leader Hjalmar Branting, now dismissed the author as a "disaster" who had betrayed his past ideals for a reactionary, mystical elitism. In 1909, Branting remarked on Strindberg's shifting political and cultural posture, on the occasion of the author's sixtieth birthday:
To the young Strindberg, the trail-blazer, the rouser from sleep, let us offer all our praise and admiration. To the writer in a more mature age [let us offer] a place of rank on the Aeropagus of European erudition. But to the Strindberg of Black Banners [1907] and A Blue Book [1907-1912], who, in the shadows of Inferno [1898] has been converted to a belief in the sickly, empty gospels of mysticism – let us wish, from our hearts, that he may once again become his past self. (Hjalmar Branting, in Social-Demokraten, 22 January 1909.)
Toward the end of his life, however, Strindberg would dramatically reassert his role as a radical standard-bearer and return to the good graces of progressive Swedish opinion.
In April 1910, Strindberg launched a series of unprompted, insult-laden attacks on popular conservative symbols, viciously thrashing the nationalist cult of former king Charles XII ("pharao worship"), the lauded poet Verner von Heidenstam ("the spirit-seer of Djursholm"), and the famous author and traveler Sven Hedin ("the humbug explorer"). The ensuing debate, known as "Strindbergsfejden" or "The Strindberg Feud", is one of the most significant literary debates in Swedish history. It came to comprise about a thousand articles by various authors across some eighty newspapers, raging for two years until Strindberg's death in 1912. The Feud served to revive Strindberg's reputation as an implacable enemy of bourgeois tastes, while also reestablishing beyond doubt his centrality to Swedish culture and politics. In 1912, Strindberg's funeral was co-organized by Branting and heavily attended by members of the Swedish labor movement, with "more than 100 red banners" in attendance alongside the entire Social Democrat parliamentary contingent.
Strindberg's daughter Karin Strindberg married a Russian Bolshevik of partially Swedish ancestry, ("Paulsson").
Painting
Strindberg, something of a polymath, was also a telegrapher, theosophist, painter, photographer and alchemist.
Painting and photography offered vehicles for his belief that chance played a crucial part in the creative process.
Strindberg's paintings were unique for their time, and went beyond those of his contemporaries for their radical lack of adherence to visual reality. The 117 paintings that are acknowledged as his were mostly painted within the span of a few years, and are now seen by some as among the most original works of 19th-century art.
Today, his best-known pieces are stormy, expressionist seascapes, selling at high prices in auction houses. Though Strindberg was friends with Edvard Munch and Paul Gauguin, and was thus familiar with modern trends, the spontaneous and subjective expressiveness of his landscapes and seascapes can be ascribed also to the fact that he painted only in periods of personal crisis. Anders Zorn also did a portrait.
Photography
Strindberg's interest in photography resulted, among other things, in a large number of arranged self-portraits in various environments, which now number among the best-known pictures of him. Strindberg also embarked on a series of camera-less images, using an experimental quasi-scientific approach. He produced a type of photogram that encouraged the development and growth of crystals on the photographic emulsion, sometimes exposed for lengthy periods to heat or cold in the open air or at night facing the stars. The suggestiveness of these, which he called Celestographs, provided an object for contemplation, and he noted;
His interest in the occult in the 1890s finds sympathy with the chance quality of these images, but for him they are also scientific.
In 1895 Strindberg met Camille Flammarion and became a member of the Société astronomique de France. He gave some of his experimental astronomical photographs to the Society.
Occult studies
Alchemy, occultism, Swedenborgianism, and various other eccentric interests were pursued by Strindberg with some intensity for periods of his life.
In the curious and experimental 1897 work Inferno – a dark, paranoid, and confusing tale of his time in Paris, written in French, which takes the form of an autobiographical journal – Strindberg, as the narrator, claims to have successfully performed alchemical experiments and cast black magic spells on his daughter. Much of Inferno indicates that the author suffered from paranoid delusions, as he writes of being stalked through Paris, haunted by evil forces, and targeted with mind-altering electric rays emitted by an "infernal machine" covertly installed in his hotel. It remains unclear to what extent the book represents a genuine attempt at autobiography or exaggerates for literary effect. Olof Lagercrantz has suggested that Strindberg staged and imagined elements of the crisis as material for his literary production.
Personal life
Strindberg was married three times, as follows:
Siri von Essen: married 1877–1891 (14 years), 3 daughters (Karin Smirnov, Greta, and another who died in infancy), 1 son (Hans);
Frida Uhl: married 1893–1895, (2 years) 1 daughter (Kerstin); and
Harriet Bosse: married 1901–1904 (3 years), 1 daughter (Anne-Marie).
Strindberg was age 28 and Siri was 27 at the time of their marriage. He was 44 and Frida was 21 when they married, and he was 52 and Harriet was 23 when they married. Late during his life he met the young actress and painter Fanny Falkner (1890–1963) who was 41 years younger than Strindberg. She wrote a book which illuminates his last years, but the exact nature of their relationship is debated. He had a brief affair in Berlin with Dagny Juel before his marriage to Frida; it has been suggested that the news of her murder in 1901 was the reason he cancelled his honeymoon with his third wife, Harriet.
He was related to Nils Strindberg (a son of one of August's cousins).
Strindberg's relationships with women were troubled and have often been interpreted as misogynistic by contemporaries and modern readers. Marriage and families were being stressed in Strindberg's lifetime as Sweden industrialized and urbanized at a rapid pace. Problems of prostitution and poverty were debated among writers, critics and politicians. His early writing often dealt with the traditional roles of the sexes imposed by society, which he criticized as unjust.
Strindberg's last home was Blå tornet in central Stockholm, where he lived from 1908 until 1912. It is now a museum. Of several statues and busts of him erected in Stockholm, the most prominent is Carl Eldh's, erected in 1942 in Tegnérlunden, a park adjoining this house.
Bibliography
La cruauté et le théâtre de Strindberg de Pascale Roger, coll "Univers théâtral", L'Harmattan, Paris, 2004, 278 p.
The Growth of a Soul (1914)
The German Lieutenant, and Other Stories (1915)
There Are Crimes and Crimes
Further reading
Everdell, William R., The First Moderns: Profiles in the Origins of Twentieth-Century Thought. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1997. (cloth) (bpk)
Brita M. E. Mortensen, Brian W. Downs, Strindberg: An Introduction to His Life and Work, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1965
Gundlach, Angelika; Scherzer, Jörg (Ed.): Der andere Strindberg – Materialien zu Malerei, Photographie und Theaterpraxis, Frankfurt a. M.: Insel-Verlag, 1981. ISBN 3-458-31929-8
Prideaux, Sue, Strindberg: A Life, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012.
Schroeder, J., Stenport, A., and Szalczer, E., editors, August Strindberg and Visual Culture, New York: Bloomsbury, 2018.
Sprinchorn, Evert, Strindberg As Dramatist, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1982.
Stamper, Judith (1975), review of the production of To Damascus at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh in April 1975, in Calgacus 2, Summer 1975, p. 56,
Sources
Adams, Ann-Charlotte Gavel, ed. 2002. Dictionary of Literary Biography. Vol. 259 Twentieth-Century Swedish Writers Before World War II. Detroit, MI: Gale. .
Carlson, Marvin. 1993. Theories of the Theatre: A Historical and Critical Survey from the Greeks to the Present. Expanded ed. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press. .
Ekman, Hans-Göran. 2000. Strindberg and the Five Senses: Studies in Strindberg's Chamber Plays. London and New Brunswick, New Jersey: Athlone. .
Gunnarsson, Torsten. 1998. Nordic Landscape Painting in the Nineteenth Century. New Haven: Yale UP. .
Innes, Christopher, ed. 2000. A Sourcebook on Naturalist Theatre. London and New York: Routledge. .
Lagercrantz, Olof. 1984. August Strindberg. Trans. Anselm Hollo. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux. .
Lane, Harry. 1998. "Strindberg, August." In The Cambridge Guide to Theatre. Ed. Martin Banham. Cambridge: Cambridge UP. 1040–41. .
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Ward, John. 1980. The Social and Religious Plays of Strindberg. London: Athlone. .
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References
External links
English-language translations in the public domain
Public domain translations of Strindberg's drama
The Father, Countess Julie, The Outlaw, The Stronger
Comrades, Facing Death, Pariah, Easter
Swanwhite, Advent, The Storm
There are Crimes and Crimes, Miss Julia, The Stronger, Creditors, and Pariah
To Damascus Part 1
Road To Damascus Parts 1, 2, and 3
Public domain translations of Strindberg's novels
The Red Room.
The Confession of a Fool.
Other
Photographs by Strindberg from the National Library of Sweden on Flickr
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August Strindberg and absinthe; in his life and in his works
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A Dream Play (manuscript) at World Digital Library
Burkhart Brückner: Biography of Johan August Strindberg in: Biographical Archive of Psychiatry (BIAPSY).
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Writers about activism and social change
Writers from Stockholm | false | [
"Izvorne i novokomponovane narodne pesme is the seventeenth studio album by pop-folk singer Lepa Brena. It was released 11 December 2013 through the record label Grand Production. The record was primarily produced by Dragan Stojković Bosanac.\n\nRelease \nOn February 13, 2013 Brena announced that she will publish the album of original and newly composed folk dedicated to her mother. \"I'm doing a new album, something different, something I love and what I enjoy. I record original songs, I'm doing it slowly because I'm not in a hurry anymore. I still do not know how many tracks will be on the album and when I publish it. These songs are singing in a specific way, and you can not love them. All my life, I had to make songs for other people. I do not have to do anything at the moment and I want to dedicate the edition to my mother Ifeta. Thanks to her I learned to sing and love many beautiful original songs.\n\nBackground\nNineteen old hits by Lepa Brena were included on her new album, which, as she had previously announced, she dedicated to her mother Ifeta, who sang folk songs to her when she was a child.. Namely, Brena recently said that her mother is waiting for an operation, which of course is very worrying for the singer. Therefore, the new album dedicates to her, so that with the old hits she likes, she can easily overcome the health problems. \"I've been thinking all my life about how in music I never did anything for my parents. My father, unfortunately, did not live to hear that I recorded many tracks he loved very much. So I dedicate this album to my mother because I recorded the songs she sang to me when I was a little girl.\"'' — said Brena.\n\nHer mother died on 21 November 2014, less than a year after the album's release.\n\nTrack listing\n\nYear-end charts\n\nPersonnel\n\nCrew\nAccordion – Aleksandar Sofronijević\nArranged By – Aleksandar Sofronijević (tracks: 3 to 12, 15, 19)\nBass Guitar – Nikola Labović\nClarinet, Saxophone, Fife – Marko Kojadinović\nFlute – Nevenka Tomašević\nGoblet Drum – Dragan Stojković\nGuitar – Aleksandar Popović\nMastered By – Daniel Jovanović*\nMixed By, Edited By – Zoran Beočanin Sotir\nOrchestrated By – Aleksandar Sofronijević\nProducer – Dragan Stojković-Bosanac*\nViolin – Nemanja Mijatović, Stefan Ilić\nWritten-By – Narodna* (tracks: 3 to 12, 15, 19)\n\nReferences\n\n2013 albums\nLepa Brena albums\nGrand Production albums\nSerbo-Croatian language albums",
"Branko Ve Poljanski (pseudonym of Branislav Micić, 22 October 1898, Sošice - 14 January, 1947, Recloses, France ) was a Serb poet and painter active in the Serbo-Croat avant-garde. He was the co-founder of the avant-garde movement Zenitism and its magazine Zenit.\n\nBiography \nHe was born Branislav Micić in Austro-Hungarian Empire's part of nowadays Croatia. Both he and his brother, Ljubomir Micić became prominent avant-garde artists. Branko qualified as teacher in Zagreb and moved to Ljubljana where he founded Svetokret journal in 1921. He then moved first to Vienna and then Berlin, where he got involved with Der Sturm, the Avant-garde magazine published by Herwarth Walden.\n\nHe married a French woman, with whom he had four children. He did not publish anything after 1940, although he died only in 1947.\n\nReferences\n\nSerbian artists\nSerbian painters\nSerbian writers\nSerbian actors\n1898 births\n1947 deaths\nAustro-Hungarian Serbs\n20th-century Serbian people\nSerbs of Croatia\nZenitism"
] |
[
"August Strindberg",
"Politics",
"What was Stridberg's involvement with politics?",
"young Strindberg embraced the view, that politics is a conflict between the upper and lower classes.",
"Did he publish anything about this?",
"Many of his works, however, had at least some politics and sometimes an abundance of it."
] | C_2268672bf3a74c23a47499e266cc7d59_0 | What are the names of his politically oriented works? | 3 | What are the names of August Strindberg politically oriented works? | August Strindberg | Influenced by the history of the Paris Commune, during 1871, young Strindberg embraced the view, that politics is a conflict between the upper and lower classes. He was admired by many as a far-left writer. He was a socialist (or perhaps more of an anarchist, meaning a libertarian socialist, which he himself claimed on at least one occasion). Strindberg's political opinions nevertheless changed considerably within this category over the years, and he was never primarily a political writer. Nor did he often campaign for any one issue, preferring instead to scorn his enemies manifesto-style - the military, the church, the monarchy, the politicians, the stingy publishers, the incompetent reviewers, the narrow-minded, the idiots - and he was not loyal to any party or ideology. Many of his works, however, had at least some politics and sometimes an abundance of it. They often displayed that life and the prevailing system were profoundly unjust and injurious to ordinary citizens. The changing nature of his political positions shows in his changing stance on the women's rights issue. Early on, Strindberg was sympathetic to women of 19th-century Sweden, calling for women's suffrage as early as 1884. However, during other periods he had strongly misogynistic opinions, calling for lawmakers to reconsider the emancipation of these "half-apes ... mad ... criminal, instinctively evil animals." This is controversial in contemporary assessments of Strindberg, as have his antisemitic descriptions of Jews (and, in particular, Jewish enemies of his in Swedish cultural life) in some works (e.g., Det nya riket), particularly during the early 1880s. Strindberg's antisemitic pronouncements, just like his opinions of women, have been debated, and also seem to have varied considerably. Many of these attitudes, passions and behaviours may have been developed for literary reasons and ended as soon as he had exploited them in books. In satirizing Swedish society - in particular the upper classes, the cultural and political establishment, and his many personal and professional foes - he could be very confrontational, with scarcely concealed caricatures of political opponents. This could take the form of brutal character disparagement or mockery, and while the presentation was generally skilful, it was not necessarily subtle. His daughter Karin Strindberg married a Russian Bolshevik of partially Swedish ancestry, Vladimir Smirnov ("Paulsson"). Because of his political views, Strindberg was promoted strongly in socialist countries in Central and Eastern Europe, as well as in the Soviet Union and Cuba. CANNOTANSWER | The changing nature of his political positions shows in his changing stance on the women's rights issue. | Johan August Strindberg (, ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than sixty plays and more than thirty works of fiction, autobiography, history, cultural analysis, and politics during his career, which spanned four decades. A bold experimenter and iconoclast throughout, he explored a wide range of dramatic methods and purposes, from naturalistic tragedy, monodrama, and history plays, to his anticipations of expressionist and surrealist dramatic techniques. From his earliest work, Strindberg developed innovative forms of dramatic action, language, and visual composition. He is considered the "father" of modern Swedish literature and his The Red Room (1879) has frequently been described as the first modern Swedish novel. In Sweden, Strindberg is known as an essayist, painter, poet, and especially as a novelist and playwright, but in other countries he is known mostly as a playwright.
The Royal Theatre rejected his first major play, Master Olof, in 1872; it was not until 1881, when he was thirty-two, that its première at the New Theatre gave him his theatrical breakthrough. In his plays The Father (1887), Miss Julie (1888), and Creditors (1889), he created naturalistic dramas that – building on the established accomplishments of Henrik Ibsen's prose problem plays while rejecting their use of the structure of the well-made play – responded to the call-to-arms of Émile Zola's manifesto "Naturalism in the Theatre" (1881) and the example set by André Antoine's newly established (opened 1887). In Miss Julie, characterisation replaces plot as the predominant dramatic element (in contrast to melodrama and the well-made play) and the determining role of heredity and the environment on the "vacillating, disintegrated" characters is emphasized. Strindberg modeled his short-lived Scandinavian Experimental Theatre (1889) in Copenhagen on Antoine's theatre and he explored the theory of Naturalism in his essays "On Psychic Murder" (1887), "On Modern Drama and the Modern Theatre" (1889), and a preface to Miss Julie, the last of which is probably the best-known statement of the principles of the theatrical movement.
During the 1890s he spent significant time abroad engaged in scientific experiments and studies of the occult. A series of apparent psychotic attacks between 1894 and 1896 (referred to as his "Inferno crisis") led to his hospitalization and return to Sweden. Under the influence of the ideas of Emanuel Swedenborg, he resolved after his recovery to become "the Zola of the Occult". In 1898 he returned to play-writing with To Damascus, which, like The Great Highway (1909), is a dream-play of spiritual pilgrimage. His A Dream Play (1902) – with its radical attempt to dramatize the workings of the unconscious by means of an abolition of conventional dramatic time and space and the splitting, doubling, merging, and multiplication of its characters – was an important precursor to both expressionism and surrealism. He also returned to writing historical drama, the genre with which he had begun his play-writing career. He helped to run the Intimate Theatre from 1907, a small-scale theatre, modeled on Max Reinhardt's , that staged his chamber plays (such as The Ghost Sonata).
Biography
Youth
Strindberg was born on 22 January 1849 in Stockholm, Sweden, the third surviving son of Carl Oscar Strindberg (a shipping agent) and Eleonora Ulrika Norling (a serving-maid). In his autobiographical novel The Son of a Servant, Strindberg describes a childhood affected by "emotional insecurity, poverty, religious fanaticism and neglect". When he was seven, Strindberg moved to Norrtullsgatan on the northern, almost-rural periphery of the city. A year later the family moved near to Sabbatsberg, where they stayed for three years before returning to Norrtullsgatan. He attended a harsh school in Klara for four years, an experience that haunted him in his adult life. He was moved to the school in Jakob in 1860, which he found far more pleasant, though he remained there for only a year. In the autumn of 1861, he was moved to the Stockholm Lyceum, a progressive private school for middle-class boys, where he remained for six years. As a child he had a keen interest in natural science, photography, and religion (following his mother's Pietism). His mother, Strindberg recalled later with bitterness, always resented her son's intelligence. She died when he was thirteen, and although his grief lasted for only three months, in later life he came to feel a sense of loss and longing for an idealized maternal figure. Less than a year after her death, his father married the children's governess, Emilia Charlotta Pettersson. According to his sisters, Strindberg came to regard them as his worst enemies. He passed his graduation examination in May 1867 and enrolled at the Uppsala University, where he began on 13 September.
Strindberg spent the next few years in Uppsala and Stockholm, alternately studying for examinations and trying his hand at non-academic pursuits. As a young student, Strindberg also worked as an assistant in a pharmacy in the university town of Lund in southern Sweden. He supported himself in between studies as a substitute primary-school teacher and as a tutor for the children of two well-known physicians in Stockholm. He first left Uppsala in 1868 to work as a schoolteacher, but then studied chemistry for some time at the Institute of Technology in Stockholm in preparation for medical studies, later working as a private tutor before becoming an extra at the Royal Theatre in Stockholm. In May 1869, he failed his qualifying chemistry examination which in turn made him uninterested in schooling.
1870s
Strindberg returned to Uppsala University in January 1870 to study aesthetics and modern languages and to work on a number of plays. It was at this time that he first learnt about the ideas of Charles Darwin. He co-founded the Rune Society, a small literary club whose members adopted pseudonyms taken from runes of the ancient Teutonic alphabet – Strindberg called himself Frö (Seed), after the god of fertility. After abandoning a draft of a play about Eric XIV of Sweden halfway through in the face of criticism from the Rune Society, on 30 March he completed a one-act comedy in verse called In Rome about Bertel Thorvaldsen, which he had begun the previous autumn. The play was accepted by the Royal Theatre, where it premièred on 13 September 1870. As he watched it performed, he realised that it was not good and felt like drowning himself, though the reviews published the following day were generally favourable. That year he also first read works of Søren Kierkegaard and Georg Brandes, both of whom influenced him.
Taking his cue from William Shakespeare, he began to use colloquial and realistic speech in his historical dramas, which challenged the convention that they should be written in stately verse. During the Christmas holiday of 1870–71, he re-wrote a historical tragedy, Sven the Sacrificer, as a one-act play in prose called The Outlaw. Depressed by Uppsala, he stayed in Stockholm, returning to the university in April to pass an exam in Latin and in June to defend his thesis on Adam Gottlob Oehlenschläger's Romantic tragedy Earl Haakon (1802). Following further revision in the summer, The Outlaw opened at the Royal Theatre on 16 October 1871. Despite hostile reviews, the play earned him an audience with King Charles XV, who supported his studies with a payment of 200 riksdaler. Towards the end of the year Strindberg completed a first draft of his first major work, a play about Olaus Petri called Master Olof. In September 1872, the Royal Theatre rejected it, leading to decades of rewrites, bitterness, and a contempt for official institutions. Returning to the university for what would be his final term in the spring, he left on 2 March 1872, without graduating. In Town and Gown (1877), a collection of short stories describing student life, he ridiculed Uppsala and its professors.
Strindberg embarked on his career as a journalist and critic for newspapers in Stockholm. He was particularly excited at this time by Henry Thomas Buckle's History of Civilization and the first volume of Georg Brandes' Main Currents of Nineteenth-Century Literature. From December 1874, Strindberg worked for eight years as an assistant librarian at the Royal Library. That same month, Strindberg offered Master Olof to Edvard Stjernström (the director of the newly built New Theatre in Stockholm), but it was rejected. He socialised with writers, painters, journalists, and other librarians; they often met in the Red Room in Bern's Restaurant.
Early in the summer of 1875, he met Siri von Essen, a 24-year-old aspiring actress who, by virtue of her husband, was a baroness – he became infatuated with her. Strindberg described himself as a "failed author" at this time: "I feel like a deaf-mute," he wrote, "as I cannot speak and am not permitted to write; sometimes I stand in the middle of my room that seems like a prison cell, and then I want to scream so that walls and ceilings would fly apart, and I have so much to scream about, and therefore I remain silent." As a result of an argument in January 1876 concerning the inheritance of the family firm, Strindberg's relationship with his father was terminated (he did not attend his funeral in February 1883). From the beginning of 1876, Strindberg and Siri began to meet in secret, and that same year Siri and her husband divorced. Following a successful audition that December, Siri became an actress at the Royal Theatre. They married a year later, on 30 December 1877; Siri was seven months pregnant at the time. Their first child was born prematurely on 21 January 1878 and died two days later. On 9 January 1879, Strindberg was declared bankrupt. In November 1879, his novel The Red Room was published. A satire of Stockholm society, it has frequently been described as the first modern Swedish novel. While receiving mixed reviews in Sweden, it was acclaimed in Denmark, where Strindberg was hailed as a genius. As a result of The Red Room, he had become famous throughout Scandinavia. Edvard Brandes wrote that the novel "makes the reader want to join the fight against hypocrisy and reaction." In his response to Brandes, Strindberg explained that:
1880s
Strindberg and Siri's daughter Karin was born on 26 February 1880. Buoyant from the reception of The Red Room, Strindberg swiftly completed The Secret of the Guild, an historical drama set in Uppsala at the beginning of the 15th century about the conflict between two masons over the completion of the city cathedral, which opened at the Royal Theatre on 3 May 1880 (his first première in nine years); Siri played Margaretha. That spring he formed a friendship with the painter Carl Larsson. A collected edition of all of Strindberg's previous writings was published under the title Spring Harvest. From 1881, at the invitation of Edvard Brandes, Strindberg began to contribute articles to the Morgenbladet, a Copenhagen daily newspaper. In April he began work on The Swedish People, a four-part cultural history of Sweden written as a series of depictions of ordinary people's lives from the 9th century onwards, which he undertook mainly for financial reasons and which absorbed him for the next year; Larsson provided illustrations. At Strindberg's insistence, Siri resigned from the Royal Theatre in the spring, having become pregnant again. Their second daughter, Greta, was born on 9 June 1881, while they were staying on the island of Kymmendö. That month, a collection of essays from the past ten years, Studies in Cultural History, was published. Ludvig Josephson (the new artistic director of Stockholm's New Theatre) agreed to stage Master Olof, eventually opting for the prose version – the five-hour-long production opened on 30 December 1881 under the direction of August Lindberg to favourable reviews. While this production of Master Olof was his breakthrough in the theatre, Strindberg's five-act fairy-tale play Lucky Peter's Journey, which opened on 22 December 1883, brought him his first significant success, although he dismissed it as a potboiler. In March 1882 he wrote in a letter to Josephson: "My interest in the theatre, I must frankly state, has but one focus and one goal – my wife's career as an actress"; Josephson duly cast her in two roles the following season.
Having returned to Kymmendö during the summer of 1882, Strindberg wrote a collection of anti-establishment short stories, The New Kingdom. While there, to provide a lead role for his wife and as a reply to Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House (1879), he also wrote Sir Bengt's Wife, which opened on 25 November 1882 at the New Theatre. He moved to Grez-sur-Loing, just south of Paris, France, where Larsson was staying. He then moved to Paris, which they found noisy and polluted. Income earned from Lucky Peter's Journey enabled him to move to Switzerland in 1883. He resided in Ouchy, where he stayed for some years. On 3 April 1884, Siri gave birth to their son, Hans.
In 1884 Strindberg wrote a collection of short stories, Getting Married, that presented women in an egalitarian light and for which he was tried for and acquitted of blasphemy in Sweden. Two groups "led by influential members of the upper classes, supported by the right-wing press" probably instigated the prosecution; at the time, most people in Stockholm thought that Queen Sophia was behind it. By the end of that year Strindberg was in a despondent mood: "My view now is," he wrote, "everything is shit. No way out. The skein is too tangled to be unravelled. It can only be sheared. The building is too solid to be pulled down. It can only be blown up." In May 1885 he wrote: "I am on my way to becoming an atheist." In the wake of the publication of Getting Married, he began to correspond with Émile Zola. During the summer he completed a sequel volume of stories, though some were quite different in tone from those of the first. Another collection of stories, Utopias in Reality, was published in September 1885, though it was not well received.
In 1885, they moved back to Paris. In September 1887 he began to write a novel in French about his relationship with Siri von Essen called The Defence of a Fool. In 1887, they moved to Issigatsbühl, near Lindau by Lake Constance. His next play, Comrades (1886), was his first in a contemporary setting. After the trial he evaluated his religious beliefs, and concluded that he needed to leave Lutheranism, though he had been Lutheran since childhood; and after briefly being a deist, he became an atheist. He needed a credo and he used Jean-Jacques Rousseau nature worshiping, which he had studied while a student, as one. His works The People of Hemsö (1887) and Among French Peasants (1889) were influenced by his study of Rousseau. He then moved to Germany, where he fell in love with Chancellor Otto von Bismarck's Prussia status of the officer corps. After that, he grew very critical of Rousseau and turned to Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophies, which emphasized the male intellect. Nietzsche's influence can be seen in The Defence of a Fool (1893), Pariah (1889), Creditors (1889), and By the Open Sea (1890).
Another change in his life after the trial is that Strindberg decided he wanted a scientific life instead of a literary one, and began to write about non-literary subjects. When he was 37, he began The Son of a Servant, a four-part autobiography. The first part ends in 1867, the year he left home for Uppsala. Part two describes his youth up to 1872. Part three, or The Red Room, describes his years as a poet and journalist; it ends with his meeting Siri von Essen. Part four, which dealt with the years from 1877 to 1886, was banned by his publishers and was not published until after his death. The three missing years, 1875–1877, were the time when Strindberg was wooing von Essen and their marriage; entitled He and She, this portion of his autobiography was not printed until 1919, after his death. It contains the love letters between the two during that period.
In the later half of the 1880s Strindberg discovered Naturalism. After completing The Father in a matter of weeks, he sent a copy to Émile Zola for his approval, though Zola's reaction was lukewarm. The drama revolves around the conflict between the Captain, a father, husband, and scientist, and his wife, Laura, over the education of their only child, a fourteen-year-old daughter named Berta. Through unscrupulous means, Laura gets the Captain to doubt his fatherhood until he suffers a mental and physical collapse. While writing The Father, Strindberg himself was experiencing marital problems and doubted the paternity of his children. He also suspected that Ibsen had based Hjalmar Ekdal in The Wild Duck (1884) on Strindberg because he felt that Ibsen viewed him as a weak and pathetic husband; he reworked the situation of Ibsen's play into a warfare between the two sexes. From November 1887 to April 1889, Strindberg stayed in Copenhagen. While there he had several opportunities to meet with both Georg Brandes and his brother Edvard Brandes. Georg helped him put on The Father, which had its première on 14 November 1887 at the Casino Theatre in Copenhagen. It enjoyed a successful run for eleven days after which it toured the Danish provinces.
Before writing Creditors, Strindberg completed one of his most famous pieces, Miss Julie. He wrote the play with a Parisian stage in mind, in particular the Théâtre Libre, founded in 1887 by André Antoine. In the play he used Charles Darwin's theory of survival of the fittest and dramatized a doomed sexual encounter that crosses the division of social classes. It is believed that this play was inspired by the marriage of Strindberg, the son of a servant, to an aristocratic woman.
In the essay On Psychic Murder (1887), he referred to the psychological theories of the Nancy School, which advocated the use of hypnosis. Strindberg developed a theory that sexual warfare was not motivated by carnal desire but by relentless human will. The winner was the one who had the strongest and most unscrupulous mind, someone who, like a hypnotist, could coerce a more impressionable psyche into submission. His view on psychological power struggles may be seen in works such as Creditors (1889), The Stronger (1889), and Pariah (1889).
In 1888, after a separation and reconciliation with Siri von Essen, he founded the Scandinavian Experimental Theatre in Copenhagen, where Siri became manager. He asked writers to send him scripts, which he received from Herman Bang, Gustav Wied and Nathalia Larsen. Less than a year later, with the theatre and reconciliation short lived, he moved back to Sweden while Siri moved back to her native Finland with the children. While there, he rode out the final phase of the divorce and later used this agonizing ordeal for the basis of The Bond and the Link (1893). Strindberg also became interested in short drama, called Quart d'heure. He was inspired by writers such as Gustave Guiche and Henri de Lavedan. His notable contribution was The Stronger (1889). As a result of the failure of the Scandinavian Experimental Theatre, Strindberg did not work as a playwright for three years. In 1889, he published an essay entitled "On Modern Drama and the Modern Theatre", in which he disassociated himself from naturalism, arguing that it was petty and unimaginative realism. His sympathy for Nietzsche's philosophy and atheism in general was also on the wane. He entered the period of his "Inferno crisis," in which he had psychological and religious upheavals that influenced his later works.
August Strindberg's Inferno is his personal account of sinking deeper into some kind of madness, typified by visions and paranoia. In Strindberg och alkoholen (1985), James Spens discusses Strindberg's drinking habits, including his liking for absinthe and its possible implications for Strindberg's mental health during the inferno period.
1890s
After his disenchantment with naturalism, Strindberg had a growing interest in transcendental matters. Symbolism was just beginning at this time. Verner von Heidenstam and Ola Hanson had dismissed naturalism as "shoemaker realism" that rendered human experience in simplistic terms. This is believed to have stalled Strindberg's creativity, and Strindberg insisted that he was in a rivalry and forced to defend naturalism, even though he had exhausted its literary potential. These works include: Debit and Credit (1892), Facing Death (1892), Motherly Love (1892), and The First Warning (1893). His play The Keys of Heaven (1892) was inspired by the loss of his children in his divorce. He also completed one of his few comedies, Playing with Fire (1893), and the first two parts of his post-inferno trilogy To Damascus (1898–1904).
In 1892, he experienced writer's block, which led to a drastic reduction in his income. Depression followed as he was unable to meet his financial obligations and to support his children and former wife. A fund was set up through an appeal in a German magazine. This money allowed him to leave Sweden and he joined artistic circles in Berlin. Otto Brahm's Freie Bühne theatre premiered some of his famous works in Germany, including The Father, Miss Julie, and Creditors.
Similar to twenty years earlier when he frequented The Red Room, he now went to the German tavern The Black Porker. Here he met a diverse group of artists from Scandinavia, Poland, and Germany. His attention turned to Frida Uhl, who was twenty-three years younger than Strindberg. They were married in 1893. Less than a year later, their daughter Kerstin was born and the couple separated, though their marriage was not officially dissolved until 1897. Frida's family, in particular her mother, who was a devout Catholic, had an important influence on Strindberg, and in an 1894 letter he declared "I feel the hand of our Lord resting over me."
Some critics think that Strindberg suffered from severe paranoia in the mid-1890s, and perhaps that he temporarily experienced insanity. Others, including Evert Sprinchorn and Olof Lagercrantz, believed that he intentionally turned himself into his own guinea pig by doing psychological and drug-induced self-experimentation. He wrote on subjects such as botany, chemistry, and optics before returning to literature with the publication of Inferno (1897), a (half fictionalized) account of his "wilderness years" in Austria and Paris, then a collection of short stories, Legends, and a semi-dramatic novella, Jacob Wrestling (both printed in the same book 1898). Both volumes aroused curiosity and controversy, not least due to the religious element; earlier, Strindberg had been known to be indifferent or hostile to religion and especially priests, but now he had undergone some sort of conversion to a personal faith. In a postscript, he noted the impact of Emanuel Swedenborg on his current work.
"The Powers" were central to Strindberg's later work. He said that "the Powers" were an outside force that had caused him his physical and mental suffering because they were acting in retribution to humankind for their wrongdoings. As William Blake, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Honoré de Balzac, and William Butler Yeats had been, he was drawn to Swedenborg's mystical visions, with their depictions of spiritual landscape and Christian morality. Strindberg believed for the rest of his life that the relationship between the transcendental and the real world was described by a series of "correspondences" and that everyday events were really messages from above of which only the enlightened could make sense. He also felt that he was chosen by Providence to atone for the moral decay of others and that his tribulations were payback for misdeeds earlier in his life.
Strindberg had spent the tail end of 1896 and most of 1897 in the university town of Lund in southern Sweden, a sojourn during which he made a number of new friendships, felt his mental stability and health improving and also firmly returned to literary writing; Inferno, Legends and Jacob Wrestling were written there. In 1899, he returned permanently to Stockholm, following a successful production there of Master Olof in 1897 (which was re-staged in 1899 to mark Strindberg's fiftieth birthday). He had the desire to become recognized as a leadíng figure in Swedish literature, and to put earlier controversies behind him, and felt that historical dramas were the way to attain that status. Though Strindberg claimed that he was writing "realistically," he freely altered past events and biographical information, and telescoped chronology (as often done in most historical fiction): more importantly, he felt a flow of resurgent inspiration, writing almost twenty new plays (many in a historical setting) between 1898 and 1902. His new works included the so-called Vasa Trilogy: The Saga of the Folkungs (1899), Gustavus Vasa (1899), and Erik XIV (1899) and A Dream Play (written in 1901, first performed in 1907).
1900s
Strindberg was pivotal in the creation of chamber plays. Max Reinhardt was a big supporter of his, staging some of his plays at the Kleines Theatre in 1902 (including The Bond, The Stronger, and The Outlaw). Once Otto Brahm relinquished his role as head as of the Deutsches Theatre, Reinhardt took over and produced Strindberg's plays.
In 1903, Strindberg planned to write a grand cycle of plays based on world history, but the idea soon faded. He had completed short plays about Martin Luther, Plato, Moses, Jesus Christ, and Socrates. He wrote another historical drama in 1908 after the Royal Theatre convinced him to put on a new play for its sixtieth birthday. He wrote The Last of the Knights (1908), Earl Birger of Bjalbo (1909), and The Regents (1909).
His other works, such as Days of Loneliness (1903), The Roofing Ceremony (1907), and The Scapegoat (1907), and the novels The Gothic Rooms (1904) and Black Banners Genre Scenes from the Turn of the Century, (1907) have been viewed as precursors to Marcel Proust and Franz Kafka.
August Falck, an actor, wanted to put on a production of Miss Julie and wrote to Strindberg for permission. In September 1906 he staged the first Swedish production of Miss Julie. August Falck, played Jean and Manda Bjorling played Julie.
In 1909, Strindberg thought he might get the Nobel Prize in Literature, but instead lost to Selma Lagerlöf, the first woman and first Swede to win the award. The leader of the Social Democrat Youth Alliance started a fund-raiser for a special "people's award". Nathan Söderblom (friend of Strindberg since the mid-90s years in Paris, a prominent theologian and later to become archbishop of Sweden) was noted as a donor, and both he and Strindberg came under attack from circles close to the conservative party and the church. In total 45,000 Swedish crowns were collected, by more than 20,000 donors, most of whom were workers. Albert Bonniers förlag, who had already published much of his work over the years, paid him 200,000 Swedish crowns for the publishing rights to his complete works; the first volumes of the edition would appear in print in 1912, a few months before his death. He invited his first three children (now, like their mother, living in Finland) to Stockholm and divided the money into five shares, one for each child, one for Siri (absent), and the last one for himself. In setting apart one share for Siri, Strindberg noted, in a shy voice, "This is for your mother - it's to settle an old debt". When the children returned to Helsinki, Siri was surprised to hear that she had been included, but accepted the money and told them in a voice that was, according to her daughter Karin, both proud and moved, "I shall accept it, receiving it as an old debt". The debt was less financial than mental and emotional; Strindberg knew he had sometimes treated her unfairly during the later years of their marriage and at their divorce trial. In 1912, she would pass away only a few weeks before him.
In 1907 Strindberg co-founded The Intimate Theatre in Stockholm, together with the young actor and stage director August Falck. His theatre was modeled after Max Reinhardt's Kammerspiel Haus. Strindberg and Falck had the intention of the theatre being used for his plays and his plays only, Strindberg also wanted to try out a more chamber-oriented and sparse style of dramatic writing and production. In time for the theatre's opening, Strindberg wrote four chamber plays: Thunder in the Air, The Burned Site, The Ghost Sonata, and The Pelican; these were generally not a success with audiences or newspaper critics at the time but have been highly influential on modern drama (and soon would reach wider audiences at Reinhardt's theatre in Berlin and other German stages). Strindberg had very specific ideas about how the theatre would be opened and operated. He drafted a series of rules for his theatre in a letter to August Falck: 1. No liquor. 2. No Sunday performances. 3. Short performances without intermissions. 4. No calls. 5. Only 160 seats in the auditorium. 6. No prompter. No orchestra, only music on stage. 7. The text will be sold at the box office and in the lobby. 8. Summer performances. Falck helped to design the auditorium, which was decorated in a deep-green tone. The ceiling lighting was a yellow silk cover which created an effect of mild daylight. The floor was covered with a deep-green carpet, and the auditorium was decorated by six ultra modern columns with elaborate up-to-date capitals. Instead of the usual restaurant Strindberg offered a lounge for the ladies and a smoking-room for the gentlemen. The stage was unusually small, only 6 by 9 metres. The small stage and minimal number of seats was meant to give the audience a greater feeling of involvement in the work. Unlike most theatres at this time, the Intima Teater was not a place in which people could come to socialize. By setting up his rules and creating an intimate atmosphere, Strindberg was able to demand the audience's focus. When the theatre opened in 1907 with a performance of The Pelican it was a rather large hit. Strindberg used a minimal technique, as was his way, by only having a back drop and some sea shells on the stage for scene design and props. Strindberg was much more concerned with the actors portraying the written word than the stage looking pretty. The theatre ran into a financial difficulty in February 1908 and Falck had to borrow money from Prince Eugen, Duke of Närke, who attended the première of The Pelican. The theatre eventually went bankrupt in 1910, but did not close until Strindberg's death in 1912. The newspapers wrote about the theatre until its death.
Death and funeral
Strindberg died shortly after the first staging of one of his plays in the United States — The Father opened on 9 April 1912 at the Berkeley Theatre in New York, in a translation by painter and playwright Edith Gardener Shearn Oland and her husband actor Warner Oland. They jointly published their translations of his plays in book form in 1912.
During Christmas 1911, Strindberg became sick with pneumonia and he never recovered completely. He also began to suffer more clearly from a stomach cancer (early signs of which had been felt in 1908). The final weeks of his life were painful. He had long since become a national celebrity, even if highly controversial, and when it became clear that he was seriously ill the daily papers in Stockholm began reporting on his health in every edition. He received many letters and telegrams from admirers across the country. He died on 14 May 1912 at the age of 63.
Strindberg was interred at Norra begravningsplatsen in Stockholm. He had given strict instructions concerning his funeral and how his body should be treated after death: only members of his immediate family were allowed to view his body, there would be no obduction, no photographs were taken, and no death mask was made. Strindberg had also requested that his funeral should take place as soon as possible after his death to avoid crowds of onlookers. However, the workers' organisations requested that the funeral should take place on a Sunday to make it possible for working men to pay their respects, and the funeral was postponed for five days, until Sunday, 19 May. According to Strindberg's last wish, the funeral procession was to start at 8am, again to avoid crowds, but large groups of people were nevertheless waiting outside his home as well as at the cemetery, as early as 7am. A short service was conducted by Nathan Söderblom by the bier in Strindberg's home, in the presence of three of Strindberg's children and his housekeeper, after which the coffin was taken outside for the funeral procession. The procession was followed by groups of students, workers, members of Parliament and a couple of cabinet ministers, and it was estimated that up to 60,000 people lined the streets. King Gustaf V sent a wreath for the bier.
Legacy
Tennessee Williams, Edward Albee, Maxim Gorky, John Osborne, and Ingmar Bergman are among the many artists who have cited Strindberg as an influence. Eugene O'Neill, upon receiving the Nobel Prize in Literature, dedicated much of his acceptance speech to describing Strindberg's influence on his work, and referred to him as "that greatest genius of all modern dramatists." Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges said of Strindberg: "[he] was, for a time, my god, alongside Nietzsche".
A multi-faceted author, Strindberg was often extreme. His novel The Red Room (1879) made him famous. His early plays belong to the Naturalistic movement. His works from this time are often compared with the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. Strindberg's best-known play from this period is Miss Julie. Among his most widely read works is the novel The People of Hemsö.
Strindberg wanted to attain what he called "greater Naturalism." He disliked the expository character backgrounds that characterise the work of Henrik Ibsen and rejected the convention of a dramatic "slice of life" because he felt that the resulting plays were mundane and uninteresting. Strindberg felt that true naturalism was a psychological "battle of brains": two people who hate each other in the immediate moment and strive to drive the other to doom is the type of mental hostility that Strindberg strove to describe. He intended his plays to be impartial and objective, citing a desire to make literature akin to a science.
Following the inner turmoil that he experienced during the "Inferno crisis," he wrote an important book in French, Inferno (1896–7), in which he dramatised his experiences. He also exchanged a few cryptic letters with Friedrich Nietzsche.
Strindberg subsequently ended his association with Naturalism and began to produce works informed by Symbolism. He is considered one of the pioneers of the modern European stage and Expressionism. The Dance of Death, A Dream Play, and The Ghost Sonata are well-known plays from this period.
His most famous and produced plays are Master Olof, Miss Julie, and The Father.
Internationally, Strindberg is chiefly remembered as a playwright, but in his native Sweden his name is associated no less with novels and other writings. Röda rummet (The Red Room), Hemsöborna (The People of Hemsö), Giftas (Getting Married), En dåres försvarstal (The Confession of a Fool), and Inferno remain among his most celebrated novels, representing different genres and styles. He is often, though not universally, viewed as Sweden's greatest author, and taught in schools as a key figure of Swedish culture. The most important contemporary literary award in Sweden, Augustpriset, is named for Strindberg.
The Swedish composer Ture Rangström dedicated his first Symphony, which was finished in 1914, to August Strindberg in memoriam.
Politics
An acerbic polemicist who was often vehemently opposed to conventional authority, Strindberg was difficult to pigeon-hole as a political figure. Through his long career, he penned scathing attacks on the military, the church, and the monarchy. For most of his public life, he was seen as a major figure on the literary left and a standard-bearer of cultural radicalism, but, especially from the 1890s, he espoused conservative and religious views that alienated many former supporters. He resumed his attacks on conservative society with great vigor in the years immediately preceding his death.
Strindberg's opinions were typically stated with great force and vitriol, and sometimes humorously over-stated. He was involved in a variety of crises and feuds, skirmishing regularly with the literary and cultural establishment of his day, including erstwhile allies and friends. His youthful reputation as a genial enfant terrible of Swedish literature, transformed, eventually, into the role of a sort of ill-tempered towering giant of Swedish public life.
Strindberg was a prolific letter-writer, whose private communications have been collected in several annotated volumes. He often voiced political views privately to friends and literary acquaintances, phrased in a no-holds-barred jargon of scathing attacks, drastic humor, and flippant hyperbole. Many of his most controversial political statements are drawn from this private correspondence.
Influenced by the history of the 1871 Paris Commune, young Strindberg had embraced the view that politics is a conflict between the upper and lower classes. Early works like the Red Room or Master Olof took aim at public hypocrisy, royalty, and organized religion. He was, at this time, an outspoken socialist, mainly influenced by anarchist or libertarian socialist ideas. However, Strindberg's socialism was utopian and undogmatic, rooted less in economic or philosophic doctrine than in a fiery anti-establishment attitude, pitting "the people" against kings, priests, and merchants.
He read widely among socialist thinkers, including Cabet, Fourier, Babeuf, Saint-Simon, Proudhon, and Owen, whom he referred to as "friends of humanity and sharp thinkers." "Strindberg adopted ideas from everyone," writes Jan Olsson, who notes that Strindberg lived in a period where "terms like anarchism, socialism, and communism were alternately used as synonyms and as different terms."
By the early 1880s, many young political and literary radicals in Sweden had come to view Strindberg as a champion of their causes. However, in contrast to the Marxist-influenced socialism then rising within the Swedish labor movement, Strindberg espoused an older type of utopian, agrarian radicalism accompanied by spiritual and even mystical ideas. His views remained as fluid and eclectic as they were uncompromising, and on certain issues he could be wildly out of step with the younger generation of socialists. To Martin Kylhammar, the young Strindberg "was a 'reactionary radical' whose writing was populist and democratic but who persisted in an antiquated romanticizing of agrarian life."
Although he had been an early proponent of women's rights, calling for women's suffrage in 1884, Strindberg later became disenchanted with what he viewed as an unnatural equation of the sexes. In times of personal conflict and marital trouble (which was much of the time), he could lash out with crudely misogynistic statements. His troubled marriage with Siri von Essen, ended in an upsetting divorce in 1891, became the inspiration for The Defence of a Fool, begun in 1887 and published in 1893. Strindberg famously sought to insert a warning to lawmakers against "granting citizens' rights to half-apes, lower beings, sick children, [who are] sick and crazed thirteen times a year during their periods, completely insane while pregnant, and irresponsible throughout the rest of their lives." The paragraph was ultimately removed before printing by his publisher.
Strindberg's misogyny was at odds with the younger generation of socialist activists and has drawn attention in contemporary Strindberg scholarship. So was Strindberg's anti-Jewish rhetoric. Although particularly targeting Jewish enemies of his in Swedish cultural life, he also attacked Jews and Judaism as such. The antisemitic outbursts were particularly pronounced in the early 1880s, when Strindberg dedicated an entire chapter ("Moses") in a work of social and political satire, Det nya riket, dedicated to heckling Swedish Jews (including an unflattering portrayal of Albert Bonnier). Although anti-Jewish prejudice was far from uncommon in wider society in the 1880s, Jan Myrdal notes that "the entire liberal and democratic intelligentsia of the time distanced themselves from the older, left-wing antisemitism of August Strindberg." Yet, as with many things, Strindberg's opinions and passions shifted with time. In the mid-1880s he toned down and then mostly ended his anti-Jewish rhetoric, after publicly declaring himself not to be an anti-Semite in 1884.
A self-declared atheist in his younger years, Strindberg would also re-embrace Christianity, without necessarily making his peace with the church. As noted by Stockholm's Strindberg Museum, the personal and spiritual crisis that Strindberg underwent in Paris in the 1890s, which prompted the writing of Inferno, had aesthetic as well as philosophical and political implications: "Before the Inferno crisis (1869 – 92), Strindberg was influenced by anarchism, Rousseau, Schopenhauer, and Nietzsche; in the years after the crisis (1897 – 1911) he was influenced by Swedenborg, Goethe, Shakespeare, and Beethoven."
In Inferno, Strindberg notes his ideological and spiritual evolution:
What is the purpose of having toiled through thirty years only to gain, through experience, that which I had already understood as a concept? In my youth, I was a sincere believer, and you [i.e. the powers that be] have made me a free-thinker. Out of a free-thinker you have made me an atheist; out of an atheist, a religious believer. Inspired by humanitarian ideas, I have praised socialism. Five years later, you have proven to me the unreasonableness of socialism. Everything that once enthralled me you have invalidated! And presuming that I will now abandon myself to religion, I am certain that you will, in ten years, disprove religion. (Strindberg, Inferno, Chapter XV.)
Despite his reactionary attitudes on issues such as women's rights and his conservative, mystical turn from the early 1890s, Strindberg remained popular with some in the socialist-liberal camp on the strength of his past radicalism and his continued salience as a literary modernizer. However, several former admirers were disappointed and troubled by what they viewed as Strindberg's descent into religious conservatism and, perhaps, madness. His former ally and friend, Social Democrat leader Hjalmar Branting, now dismissed the author as a "disaster" who had betrayed his past ideals for a reactionary, mystical elitism. In 1909, Branting remarked on Strindberg's shifting political and cultural posture, on the occasion of the author's sixtieth birthday:
To the young Strindberg, the trail-blazer, the rouser from sleep, let us offer all our praise and admiration. To the writer in a more mature age [let us offer] a place of rank on the Aeropagus of European erudition. But to the Strindberg of Black Banners [1907] and A Blue Book [1907-1912], who, in the shadows of Inferno [1898] has been converted to a belief in the sickly, empty gospels of mysticism – let us wish, from our hearts, that he may once again become his past self. (Hjalmar Branting, in Social-Demokraten, 22 January 1909.)
Toward the end of his life, however, Strindberg would dramatically reassert his role as a radical standard-bearer and return to the good graces of progressive Swedish opinion.
In April 1910, Strindberg launched a series of unprompted, insult-laden attacks on popular conservative symbols, viciously thrashing the nationalist cult of former king Charles XII ("pharao worship"), the lauded poet Verner von Heidenstam ("the spirit-seer of Djursholm"), and the famous author and traveler Sven Hedin ("the humbug explorer"). The ensuing debate, known as "Strindbergsfejden" or "The Strindberg Feud", is one of the most significant literary debates in Swedish history. It came to comprise about a thousand articles by various authors across some eighty newspapers, raging for two years until Strindberg's death in 1912. The Feud served to revive Strindberg's reputation as an implacable enemy of bourgeois tastes, while also reestablishing beyond doubt his centrality to Swedish culture and politics. In 1912, Strindberg's funeral was co-organized by Branting and heavily attended by members of the Swedish labor movement, with "more than 100 red banners" in attendance alongside the entire Social Democrat parliamentary contingent.
Strindberg's daughter Karin Strindberg married a Russian Bolshevik of partially Swedish ancestry, ("Paulsson").
Painting
Strindberg, something of a polymath, was also a telegrapher, theosophist, painter, photographer and alchemist.
Painting and photography offered vehicles for his belief that chance played a crucial part in the creative process.
Strindberg's paintings were unique for their time, and went beyond those of his contemporaries for their radical lack of adherence to visual reality. The 117 paintings that are acknowledged as his were mostly painted within the span of a few years, and are now seen by some as among the most original works of 19th-century art.
Today, his best-known pieces are stormy, expressionist seascapes, selling at high prices in auction houses. Though Strindberg was friends with Edvard Munch and Paul Gauguin, and was thus familiar with modern trends, the spontaneous and subjective expressiveness of his landscapes and seascapes can be ascribed also to the fact that he painted only in periods of personal crisis. Anders Zorn also did a portrait.
Photography
Strindberg's interest in photography resulted, among other things, in a large number of arranged self-portraits in various environments, which now number among the best-known pictures of him. Strindberg also embarked on a series of camera-less images, using an experimental quasi-scientific approach. He produced a type of photogram that encouraged the development and growth of crystals on the photographic emulsion, sometimes exposed for lengthy periods to heat or cold in the open air or at night facing the stars. The suggestiveness of these, which he called Celestographs, provided an object for contemplation, and he noted;
His interest in the occult in the 1890s finds sympathy with the chance quality of these images, but for him they are also scientific.
In 1895 Strindberg met Camille Flammarion and became a member of the Société astronomique de France. He gave some of his experimental astronomical photographs to the Society.
Occult studies
Alchemy, occultism, Swedenborgianism, and various other eccentric interests were pursued by Strindberg with some intensity for periods of his life.
In the curious and experimental 1897 work Inferno – a dark, paranoid, and confusing tale of his time in Paris, written in French, which takes the form of an autobiographical journal – Strindberg, as the narrator, claims to have successfully performed alchemical experiments and cast black magic spells on his daughter. Much of Inferno indicates that the author suffered from paranoid delusions, as he writes of being stalked through Paris, haunted by evil forces, and targeted with mind-altering electric rays emitted by an "infernal machine" covertly installed in his hotel. It remains unclear to what extent the book represents a genuine attempt at autobiography or exaggerates for literary effect. Olof Lagercrantz has suggested that Strindberg staged and imagined elements of the crisis as material for his literary production.
Personal life
Strindberg was married three times, as follows:
Siri von Essen: married 1877–1891 (14 years), 3 daughters (Karin Smirnov, Greta, and another who died in infancy), 1 son (Hans);
Frida Uhl: married 1893–1895, (2 years) 1 daughter (Kerstin); and
Harriet Bosse: married 1901–1904 (3 years), 1 daughter (Anne-Marie).
Strindberg was age 28 and Siri was 27 at the time of their marriage. He was 44 and Frida was 21 when they married, and he was 52 and Harriet was 23 when they married. Late during his life he met the young actress and painter Fanny Falkner (1890–1963) who was 41 years younger than Strindberg. She wrote a book which illuminates his last years, but the exact nature of their relationship is debated. He had a brief affair in Berlin with Dagny Juel before his marriage to Frida; it has been suggested that the news of her murder in 1901 was the reason he cancelled his honeymoon with his third wife, Harriet.
He was related to Nils Strindberg (a son of one of August's cousins).
Strindberg's relationships with women were troubled and have often been interpreted as misogynistic by contemporaries and modern readers. Marriage and families were being stressed in Strindberg's lifetime as Sweden industrialized and urbanized at a rapid pace. Problems of prostitution and poverty were debated among writers, critics and politicians. His early writing often dealt with the traditional roles of the sexes imposed by society, which he criticized as unjust.
Strindberg's last home was Blå tornet in central Stockholm, where he lived from 1908 until 1912. It is now a museum. Of several statues and busts of him erected in Stockholm, the most prominent is Carl Eldh's, erected in 1942 in Tegnérlunden, a park adjoining this house.
Bibliography
La cruauté et le théâtre de Strindberg de Pascale Roger, coll "Univers théâtral", L'Harmattan, Paris, 2004, 278 p.
The Growth of a Soul (1914)
The German Lieutenant, and Other Stories (1915)
There Are Crimes and Crimes
Further reading
Everdell, William R., The First Moderns: Profiles in the Origins of Twentieth-Century Thought. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1997. (cloth) (bpk)
Brita M. E. Mortensen, Brian W. Downs, Strindberg: An Introduction to His Life and Work, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1965
Gundlach, Angelika; Scherzer, Jörg (Ed.): Der andere Strindberg – Materialien zu Malerei, Photographie und Theaterpraxis, Frankfurt a. M.: Insel-Verlag, 1981. ISBN 3-458-31929-8
Prideaux, Sue, Strindberg: A Life, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012.
Schroeder, J., Stenport, A., and Szalczer, E., editors, August Strindberg and Visual Culture, New York: Bloomsbury, 2018.
Sprinchorn, Evert, Strindberg As Dramatist, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1982.
Stamper, Judith (1975), review of the production of To Damascus at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh in April 1975, in Calgacus 2, Summer 1975, p. 56,
Sources
Adams, Ann-Charlotte Gavel, ed. 2002. Dictionary of Literary Biography. Vol. 259 Twentieth-Century Swedish Writers Before World War II. Detroit, MI: Gale. .
Carlson, Marvin. 1993. Theories of the Theatre: A Historical and Critical Survey from the Greeks to the Present. Expanded ed. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press. .
Ekman, Hans-Göran. 2000. Strindberg and the Five Senses: Studies in Strindberg's Chamber Plays. London and New Brunswick, New Jersey: Athlone. .
Gunnarsson, Torsten. 1998. Nordic Landscape Painting in the Nineteenth Century. New Haven: Yale UP. .
Innes, Christopher, ed. 2000. A Sourcebook on Naturalist Theatre. London and New York: Routledge. .
Lagercrantz, Olof. 1984. August Strindberg. Trans. Anselm Hollo. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux. .
Lane, Harry. 1998. "Strindberg, August." In The Cambridge Guide to Theatre. Ed. Martin Banham. Cambridge: Cambridge UP. 1040–41. .
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Ward, John. 1980. The Social and Religious Plays of Strindberg. London: Athlone. .
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References
External links
English-language translations in the public domain
Public domain translations of Strindberg's drama
The Father, Countess Julie, The Outlaw, The Stronger
Comrades, Facing Death, Pariah, Easter
Swanwhite, Advent, The Storm
There are Crimes and Crimes, Miss Julia, The Stronger, Creditors, and Pariah
To Damascus Part 1
Road To Damascus Parts 1, 2, and 3
Public domain translations of Strindberg's novels
The Red Room.
The Confession of a Fool.
Other
Photographs by Strindberg from the National Library of Sweden on Flickr
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August Strindberg and absinthe; in his life and in his works
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A Dream Play (manuscript) at World Digital Library
Burkhart Brückner: Biography of Johan August Strindberg in: Biographical Archive of Psychiatry (BIAPSY).
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"Art Is... The Permanent Revolution is a 2012 documentary film by Manfred Kirchheimer that explores how politics and the artists of the past have affected the art and process of four artists presented in documentary. There are two strands that run in parallel through the film. The first is a stream of politically inspired images by famous artists of the past and the second strand consist of interviews with four artists as they produce their politically inspired art. The documentary was viewed positively by reviewers.\n\nSynopsis\nThe film focuses on four American artists as they discuss politics and their creative process. As these artists talk and produce their art, interspersed are some 400 politically oriented images from some 60 artists such as Rembrandt, Honoré Daumier, George Grosz, Frans Masereel, Käthe Kollwitz, Otto Dix, and Francisco Goya.\n\nThe documentary can be characterized by two parallel lines that converge at the end. In the first line, there is a near continuous stream of images (drawings, engravings, lithographs, etchings, and woodcuts) by a large number of artists from the past matched by music that expresses their political subject matter. The second line consists of interviews with four artists as they practice their art to create a politically inspired product. It is not until the end, when the creative products of each artist are finished that the two lines of the movie converge in the artistic processes and political perspectives that allow them to create their politically-inspired artistic products.\n\nThe four artists interviewed during the film are: Paul Marcus who is a woodcutter concerned with torture.\nSigmund Abeles who is a painter, etcher and works on a war-themed etching. \nAnn Chernow who is a painter, lithographer, and creates a cemetery concerning oil and war.\nJames Read who is a master print maker who operates a lithography press and \"who is not that different in many respects from the old-time pressmen and women who worked in the bowels of a largely dying print industry\".\n\nCritical reception\nRotten Tomatoes reported 100% of the reviewers liked the documentary. Writing for The Village Voice, Michelle Orange wrote that taken together in the film \"these images, produced across centuries, form a larger, contiguous critique of who we are and what we do to one another\". David Noh, writing for Film Journal International states that the \"entire history of politically inspired printmaking unfolds in Manfred Kirchheimer's admirably serious, hands-on documentary\". \nWriting for Time Out, Andrew Schenker concludes that \"Art Is... does offer up compelling portraits of practicing artists intelligently probing their status as socially conscious image makers\".\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nOfficial Website\n\n2012 films",
"In botany, the phrase ordo naturalis, 'natural order', was once used for what today is a family. Its origins lie with Carl Linnaeus who used the phrase when he referred to natural groups of plants in his lesser-known work, particularly Philosophia Botanica. In his more famous works the Systema Naturae and the Species Plantarum, plants were arranged according to his artificial \"Sexual system\", and Linnaeus used the word for an artificial unit. In those works, only genera and species (sometimes varieties) were \"real\" taxa.\n\nIn nineteenth-century works such as the Prodromus of and the Genera Plantarum of Bentham & Hooker, the word did indicate taxa that are now given the rank of family. Contemporary French works used the word for these same taxa. In the first international Rules of botanical nomenclature of 1906 the word family () was assigned to this rank, while the term order () was reserved for a higher rank, for what in the nineteenth century had often been named a (plural ).\n\nThe International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants provides for names published in the rank of in Art 18.2: normally, these are to be accepted as family names.\n\nSome plant families retain the name they were given by pre-Linnaean authors, recognised by Linnaeus as \"natural orders\" (e.g. Palmae or Labiatae). Such names are known as descriptive family names.\n\nReferences\n\nPlant taxonomy"
] |
[
"August Strindberg",
"Politics",
"What was Stridberg's involvement with politics?",
"young Strindberg embraced the view, that politics is a conflict between the upper and lower classes.",
"Did he publish anything about this?",
"Many of his works, however, had at least some politics and sometimes an abundance of it.",
"What are the names of his politically oriented works?",
"The changing nature of his political positions shows in his changing stance on the women's rights issue."
] | C_2268672bf3a74c23a47499e266cc7d59_0 | What was his thinking on women's rights? | 4 | What was August Strindberg thinking on women's rights? | August Strindberg | Influenced by the history of the Paris Commune, during 1871, young Strindberg embraced the view, that politics is a conflict between the upper and lower classes. He was admired by many as a far-left writer. He was a socialist (or perhaps more of an anarchist, meaning a libertarian socialist, which he himself claimed on at least one occasion). Strindberg's political opinions nevertheless changed considerably within this category over the years, and he was never primarily a political writer. Nor did he often campaign for any one issue, preferring instead to scorn his enemies manifesto-style - the military, the church, the monarchy, the politicians, the stingy publishers, the incompetent reviewers, the narrow-minded, the idiots - and he was not loyal to any party or ideology. Many of his works, however, had at least some politics and sometimes an abundance of it. They often displayed that life and the prevailing system were profoundly unjust and injurious to ordinary citizens. The changing nature of his political positions shows in his changing stance on the women's rights issue. Early on, Strindberg was sympathetic to women of 19th-century Sweden, calling for women's suffrage as early as 1884. However, during other periods he had strongly misogynistic opinions, calling for lawmakers to reconsider the emancipation of these "half-apes ... mad ... criminal, instinctively evil animals." This is controversial in contemporary assessments of Strindberg, as have his antisemitic descriptions of Jews (and, in particular, Jewish enemies of his in Swedish cultural life) in some works (e.g., Det nya riket), particularly during the early 1880s. Strindberg's antisemitic pronouncements, just like his opinions of women, have been debated, and also seem to have varied considerably. Many of these attitudes, passions and behaviours may have been developed for literary reasons and ended as soon as he had exploited them in books. In satirizing Swedish society - in particular the upper classes, the cultural and political establishment, and his many personal and professional foes - he could be very confrontational, with scarcely concealed caricatures of political opponents. This could take the form of brutal character disparagement or mockery, and while the presentation was generally skilful, it was not necessarily subtle. His daughter Karin Strindberg married a Russian Bolshevik of partially Swedish ancestry, Vladimir Smirnov ("Paulsson"). Because of his political views, Strindberg was promoted strongly in socialist countries in Central and Eastern Europe, as well as in the Soviet Union and Cuba. CANNOTANSWER | Early on, Strindberg was sympathetic to women of 19th-century Sweden, calling for women's suffrage as early as 1884. | Johan August Strindberg (, ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than sixty plays and more than thirty works of fiction, autobiography, history, cultural analysis, and politics during his career, which spanned four decades. A bold experimenter and iconoclast throughout, he explored a wide range of dramatic methods and purposes, from naturalistic tragedy, monodrama, and history plays, to his anticipations of expressionist and surrealist dramatic techniques. From his earliest work, Strindberg developed innovative forms of dramatic action, language, and visual composition. He is considered the "father" of modern Swedish literature and his The Red Room (1879) has frequently been described as the first modern Swedish novel. In Sweden, Strindberg is known as an essayist, painter, poet, and especially as a novelist and playwright, but in other countries he is known mostly as a playwright.
The Royal Theatre rejected his first major play, Master Olof, in 1872; it was not until 1881, when he was thirty-two, that its première at the New Theatre gave him his theatrical breakthrough. In his plays The Father (1887), Miss Julie (1888), and Creditors (1889), he created naturalistic dramas that – building on the established accomplishments of Henrik Ibsen's prose problem plays while rejecting their use of the structure of the well-made play – responded to the call-to-arms of Émile Zola's manifesto "Naturalism in the Theatre" (1881) and the example set by André Antoine's newly established (opened 1887). In Miss Julie, characterisation replaces plot as the predominant dramatic element (in contrast to melodrama and the well-made play) and the determining role of heredity and the environment on the "vacillating, disintegrated" characters is emphasized. Strindberg modeled his short-lived Scandinavian Experimental Theatre (1889) in Copenhagen on Antoine's theatre and he explored the theory of Naturalism in his essays "On Psychic Murder" (1887), "On Modern Drama and the Modern Theatre" (1889), and a preface to Miss Julie, the last of which is probably the best-known statement of the principles of the theatrical movement.
During the 1890s he spent significant time abroad engaged in scientific experiments and studies of the occult. A series of apparent psychotic attacks between 1894 and 1896 (referred to as his "Inferno crisis") led to his hospitalization and return to Sweden. Under the influence of the ideas of Emanuel Swedenborg, he resolved after his recovery to become "the Zola of the Occult". In 1898 he returned to play-writing with To Damascus, which, like The Great Highway (1909), is a dream-play of spiritual pilgrimage. His A Dream Play (1902) – with its radical attempt to dramatize the workings of the unconscious by means of an abolition of conventional dramatic time and space and the splitting, doubling, merging, and multiplication of its characters – was an important precursor to both expressionism and surrealism. He also returned to writing historical drama, the genre with which he had begun his play-writing career. He helped to run the Intimate Theatre from 1907, a small-scale theatre, modeled on Max Reinhardt's , that staged his chamber plays (such as The Ghost Sonata).
Biography
Youth
Strindberg was born on 22 January 1849 in Stockholm, Sweden, the third surviving son of Carl Oscar Strindberg (a shipping agent) and Eleonora Ulrika Norling (a serving-maid). In his autobiographical novel The Son of a Servant, Strindberg describes a childhood affected by "emotional insecurity, poverty, religious fanaticism and neglect". When he was seven, Strindberg moved to Norrtullsgatan on the northern, almost-rural periphery of the city. A year later the family moved near to Sabbatsberg, where they stayed for three years before returning to Norrtullsgatan. He attended a harsh school in Klara for four years, an experience that haunted him in his adult life. He was moved to the school in Jakob in 1860, which he found far more pleasant, though he remained there for only a year. In the autumn of 1861, he was moved to the Stockholm Lyceum, a progressive private school for middle-class boys, where he remained for six years. As a child he had a keen interest in natural science, photography, and religion (following his mother's Pietism). His mother, Strindberg recalled later with bitterness, always resented her son's intelligence. She died when he was thirteen, and although his grief lasted for only three months, in later life he came to feel a sense of loss and longing for an idealized maternal figure. Less than a year after her death, his father married the children's governess, Emilia Charlotta Pettersson. According to his sisters, Strindberg came to regard them as his worst enemies. He passed his graduation examination in May 1867 and enrolled at the Uppsala University, where he began on 13 September.
Strindberg spent the next few years in Uppsala and Stockholm, alternately studying for examinations and trying his hand at non-academic pursuits. As a young student, Strindberg also worked as an assistant in a pharmacy in the university town of Lund in southern Sweden. He supported himself in between studies as a substitute primary-school teacher and as a tutor for the children of two well-known physicians in Stockholm. He first left Uppsala in 1868 to work as a schoolteacher, but then studied chemistry for some time at the Institute of Technology in Stockholm in preparation for medical studies, later working as a private tutor before becoming an extra at the Royal Theatre in Stockholm. In May 1869, he failed his qualifying chemistry examination which in turn made him uninterested in schooling.
1870s
Strindberg returned to Uppsala University in January 1870 to study aesthetics and modern languages and to work on a number of plays. It was at this time that he first learnt about the ideas of Charles Darwin. He co-founded the Rune Society, a small literary club whose members adopted pseudonyms taken from runes of the ancient Teutonic alphabet – Strindberg called himself Frö (Seed), after the god of fertility. After abandoning a draft of a play about Eric XIV of Sweden halfway through in the face of criticism from the Rune Society, on 30 March he completed a one-act comedy in verse called In Rome about Bertel Thorvaldsen, which he had begun the previous autumn. The play was accepted by the Royal Theatre, where it premièred on 13 September 1870. As he watched it performed, he realised that it was not good and felt like drowning himself, though the reviews published the following day were generally favourable. That year he also first read works of Søren Kierkegaard and Georg Brandes, both of whom influenced him.
Taking his cue from William Shakespeare, he began to use colloquial and realistic speech in his historical dramas, which challenged the convention that they should be written in stately verse. During the Christmas holiday of 1870–71, he re-wrote a historical tragedy, Sven the Sacrificer, as a one-act play in prose called The Outlaw. Depressed by Uppsala, he stayed in Stockholm, returning to the university in April to pass an exam in Latin and in June to defend his thesis on Adam Gottlob Oehlenschläger's Romantic tragedy Earl Haakon (1802). Following further revision in the summer, The Outlaw opened at the Royal Theatre on 16 October 1871. Despite hostile reviews, the play earned him an audience with King Charles XV, who supported his studies with a payment of 200 riksdaler. Towards the end of the year Strindberg completed a first draft of his first major work, a play about Olaus Petri called Master Olof. In September 1872, the Royal Theatre rejected it, leading to decades of rewrites, bitterness, and a contempt for official institutions. Returning to the university for what would be his final term in the spring, he left on 2 March 1872, without graduating. In Town and Gown (1877), a collection of short stories describing student life, he ridiculed Uppsala and its professors.
Strindberg embarked on his career as a journalist and critic for newspapers in Stockholm. He was particularly excited at this time by Henry Thomas Buckle's History of Civilization and the first volume of Georg Brandes' Main Currents of Nineteenth-Century Literature. From December 1874, Strindberg worked for eight years as an assistant librarian at the Royal Library. That same month, Strindberg offered Master Olof to Edvard Stjernström (the director of the newly built New Theatre in Stockholm), but it was rejected. He socialised with writers, painters, journalists, and other librarians; they often met in the Red Room in Bern's Restaurant.
Early in the summer of 1875, he met Siri von Essen, a 24-year-old aspiring actress who, by virtue of her husband, was a baroness – he became infatuated with her. Strindberg described himself as a "failed author" at this time: "I feel like a deaf-mute," he wrote, "as I cannot speak and am not permitted to write; sometimes I stand in the middle of my room that seems like a prison cell, and then I want to scream so that walls and ceilings would fly apart, and I have so much to scream about, and therefore I remain silent." As a result of an argument in January 1876 concerning the inheritance of the family firm, Strindberg's relationship with his father was terminated (he did not attend his funeral in February 1883). From the beginning of 1876, Strindberg and Siri began to meet in secret, and that same year Siri and her husband divorced. Following a successful audition that December, Siri became an actress at the Royal Theatre. They married a year later, on 30 December 1877; Siri was seven months pregnant at the time. Their first child was born prematurely on 21 January 1878 and died two days later. On 9 January 1879, Strindberg was declared bankrupt. In November 1879, his novel The Red Room was published. A satire of Stockholm society, it has frequently been described as the first modern Swedish novel. While receiving mixed reviews in Sweden, it was acclaimed in Denmark, where Strindberg was hailed as a genius. As a result of The Red Room, he had become famous throughout Scandinavia. Edvard Brandes wrote that the novel "makes the reader want to join the fight against hypocrisy and reaction." In his response to Brandes, Strindberg explained that:
1880s
Strindberg and Siri's daughter Karin was born on 26 February 1880. Buoyant from the reception of The Red Room, Strindberg swiftly completed The Secret of the Guild, an historical drama set in Uppsala at the beginning of the 15th century about the conflict between two masons over the completion of the city cathedral, which opened at the Royal Theatre on 3 May 1880 (his first première in nine years); Siri played Margaretha. That spring he formed a friendship with the painter Carl Larsson. A collected edition of all of Strindberg's previous writings was published under the title Spring Harvest. From 1881, at the invitation of Edvard Brandes, Strindberg began to contribute articles to the Morgenbladet, a Copenhagen daily newspaper. In April he began work on The Swedish People, a four-part cultural history of Sweden written as a series of depictions of ordinary people's lives from the 9th century onwards, which he undertook mainly for financial reasons and which absorbed him for the next year; Larsson provided illustrations. At Strindberg's insistence, Siri resigned from the Royal Theatre in the spring, having become pregnant again. Their second daughter, Greta, was born on 9 June 1881, while they were staying on the island of Kymmendö. That month, a collection of essays from the past ten years, Studies in Cultural History, was published. Ludvig Josephson (the new artistic director of Stockholm's New Theatre) agreed to stage Master Olof, eventually opting for the prose version – the five-hour-long production opened on 30 December 1881 under the direction of August Lindberg to favourable reviews. While this production of Master Olof was his breakthrough in the theatre, Strindberg's five-act fairy-tale play Lucky Peter's Journey, which opened on 22 December 1883, brought him his first significant success, although he dismissed it as a potboiler. In March 1882 he wrote in a letter to Josephson: "My interest in the theatre, I must frankly state, has but one focus and one goal – my wife's career as an actress"; Josephson duly cast her in two roles the following season.
Having returned to Kymmendö during the summer of 1882, Strindberg wrote a collection of anti-establishment short stories, The New Kingdom. While there, to provide a lead role for his wife and as a reply to Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House (1879), he also wrote Sir Bengt's Wife, which opened on 25 November 1882 at the New Theatre. He moved to Grez-sur-Loing, just south of Paris, France, where Larsson was staying. He then moved to Paris, which they found noisy and polluted. Income earned from Lucky Peter's Journey enabled him to move to Switzerland in 1883. He resided in Ouchy, where he stayed for some years. On 3 April 1884, Siri gave birth to their son, Hans.
In 1884 Strindberg wrote a collection of short stories, Getting Married, that presented women in an egalitarian light and for which he was tried for and acquitted of blasphemy in Sweden. Two groups "led by influential members of the upper classes, supported by the right-wing press" probably instigated the prosecution; at the time, most people in Stockholm thought that Queen Sophia was behind it. By the end of that year Strindberg was in a despondent mood: "My view now is," he wrote, "everything is shit. No way out. The skein is too tangled to be unravelled. It can only be sheared. The building is too solid to be pulled down. It can only be blown up." In May 1885 he wrote: "I am on my way to becoming an atheist." In the wake of the publication of Getting Married, he began to correspond with Émile Zola. During the summer he completed a sequel volume of stories, though some were quite different in tone from those of the first. Another collection of stories, Utopias in Reality, was published in September 1885, though it was not well received.
In 1885, they moved back to Paris. In September 1887 he began to write a novel in French about his relationship with Siri von Essen called The Defence of a Fool. In 1887, they moved to Issigatsbühl, near Lindau by Lake Constance. His next play, Comrades (1886), was his first in a contemporary setting. After the trial he evaluated his religious beliefs, and concluded that he needed to leave Lutheranism, though he had been Lutheran since childhood; and after briefly being a deist, he became an atheist. He needed a credo and he used Jean-Jacques Rousseau nature worshiping, which he had studied while a student, as one. His works The People of Hemsö (1887) and Among French Peasants (1889) were influenced by his study of Rousseau. He then moved to Germany, where he fell in love with Chancellor Otto von Bismarck's Prussia status of the officer corps. After that, he grew very critical of Rousseau and turned to Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophies, which emphasized the male intellect. Nietzsche's influence can be seen in The Defence of a Fool (1893), Pariah (1889), Creditors (1889), and By the Open Sea (1890).
Another change in his life after the trial is that Strindberg decided he wanted a scientific life instead of a literary one, and began to write about non-literary subjects. When he was 37, he began The Son of a Servant, a four-part autobiography. The first part ends in 1867, the year he left home for Uppsala. Part two describes his youth up to 1872. Part three, or The Red Room, describes his years as a poet and journalist; it ends with his meeting Siri von Essen. Part four, which dealt with the years from 1877 to 1886, was banned by his publishers and was not published until after his death. The three missing years, 1875–1877, were the time when Strindberg was wooing von Essen and their marriage; entitled He and She, this portion of his autobiography was not printed until 1919, after his death. It contains the love letters between the two during that period.
In the later half of the 1880s Strindberg discovered Naturalism. After completing The Father in a matter of weeks, he sent a copy to Émile Zola for his approval, though Zola's reaction was lukewarm. The drama revolves around the conflict between the Captain, a father, husband, and scientist, and his wife, Laura, over the education of their only child, a fourteen-year-old daughter named Berta. Through unscrupulous means, Laura gets the Captain to doubt his fatherhood until he suffers a mental and physical collapse. While writing The Father, Strindberg himself was experiencing marital problems and doubted the paternity of his children. He also suspected that Ibsen had based Hjalmar Ekdal in The Wild Duck (1884) on Strindberg because he felt that Ibsen viewed him as a weak and pathetic husband; he reworked the situation of Ibsen's play into a warfare between the two sexes. From November 1887 to April 1889, Strindberg stayed in Copenhagen. While there he had several opportunities to meet with both Georg Brandes and his brother Edvard Brandes. Georg helped him put on The Father, which had its première on 14 November 1887 at the Casino Theatre in Copenhagen. It enjoyed a successful run for eleven days after which it toured the Danish provinces.
Before writing Creditors, Strindberg completed one of his most famous pieces, Miss Julie. He wrote the play with a Parisian stage in mind, in particular the Théâtre Libre, founded in 1887 by André Antoine. In the play he used Charles Darwin's theory of survival of the fittest and dramatized a doomed sexual encounter that crosses the division of social classes. It is believed that this play was inspired by the marriage of Strindberg, the son of a servant, to an aristocratic woman.
In the essay On Psychic Murder (1887), he referred to the psychological theories of the Nancy School, which advocated the use of hypnosis. Strindberg developed a theory that sexual warfare was not motivated by carnal desire but by relentless human will. The winner was the one who had the strongest and most unscrupulous mind, someone who, like a hypnotist, could coerce a more impressionable psyche into submission. His view on psychological power struggles may be seen in works such as Creditors (1889), The Stronger (1889), and Pariah (1889).
In 1888, after a separation and reconciliation with Siri von Essen, he founded the Scandinavian Experimental Theatre in Copenhagen, where Siri became manager. He asked writers to send him scripts, which he received from Herman Bang, Gustav Wied and Nathalia Larsen. Less than a year later, with the theatre and reconciliation short lived, he moved back to Sweden while Siri moved back to her native Finland with the children. While there, he rode out the final phase of the divorce and later used this agonizing ordeal for the basis of The Bond and the Link (1893). Strindberg also became interested in short drama, called Quart d'heure. He was inspired by writers such as Gustave Guiche and Henri de Lavedan. His notable contribution was The Stronger (1889). As a result of the failure of the Scandinavian Experimental Theatre, Strindberg did not work as a playwright for three years. In 1889, he published an essay entitled "On Modern Drama and the Modern Theatre", in which he disassociated himself from naturalism, arguing that it was petty and unimaginative realism. His sympathy for Nietzsche's philosophy and atheism in general was also on the wane. He entered the period of his "Inferno crisis," in which he had psychological and religious upheavals that influenced his later works.
August Strindberg's Inferno is his personal account of sinking deeper into some kind of madness, typified by visions and paranoia. In Strindberg och alkoholen (1985), James Spens discusses Strindberg's drinking habits, including his liking for absinthe and its possible implications for Strindberg's mental health during the inferno period.
1890s
After his disenchantment with naturalism, Strindberg had a growing interest in transcendental matters. Symbolism was just beginning at this time. Verner von Heidenstam and Ola Hanson had dismissed naturalism as "shoemaker realism" that rendered human experience in simplistic terms. This is believed to have stalled Strindberg's creativity, and Strindberg insisted that he was in a rivalry and forced to defend naturalism, even though he had exhausted its literary potential. These works include: Debit and Credit (1892), Facing Death (1892), Motherly Love (1892), and The First Warning (1893). His play The Keys of Heaven (1892) was inspired by the loss of his children in his divorce. He also completed one of his few comedies, Playing with Fire (1893), and the first two parts of his post-inferno trilogy To Damascus (1898–1904).
In 1892, he experienced writer's block, which led to a drastic reduction in his income. Depression followed as he was unable to meet his financial obligations and to support his children and former wife. A fund was set up through an appeal in a German magazine. This money allowed him to leave Sweden and he joined artistic circles in Berlin. Otto Brahm's Freie Bühne theatre premiered some of his famous works in Germany, including The Father, Miss Julie, and Creditors.
Similar to twenty years earlier when he frequented The Red Room, he now went to the German tavern The Black Porker. Here he met a diverse group of artists from Scandinavia, Poland, and Germany. His attention turned to Frida Uhl, who was twenty-three years younger than Strindberg. They were married in 1893. Less than a year later, their daughter Kerstin was born and the couple separated, though their marriage was not officially dissolved until 1897. Frida's family, in particular her mother, who was a devout Catholic, had an important influence on Strindberg, and in an 1894 letter he declared "I feel the hand of our Lord resting over me."
Some critics think that Strindberg suffered from severe paranoia in the mid-1890s, and perhaps that he temporarily experienced insanity. Others, including Evert Sprinchorn and Olof Lagercrantz, believed that he intentionally turned himself into his own guinea pig by doing psychological and drug-induced self-experimentation. He wrote on subjects such as botany, chemistry, and optics before returning to literature with the publication of Inferno (1897), a (half fictionalized) account of his "wilderness years" in Austria and Paris, then a collection of short stories, Legends, and a semi-dramatic novella, Jacob Wrestling (both printed in the same book 1898). Both volumes aroused curiosity and controversy, not least due to the religious element; earlier, Strindberg had been known to be indifferent or hostile to religion and especially priests, but now he had undergone some sort of conversion to a personal faith. In a postscript, he noted the impact of Emanuel Swedenborg on his current work.
"The Powers" were central to Strindberg's later work. He said that "the Powers" were an outside force that had caused him his physical and mental suffering because they were acting in retribution to humankind for their wrongdoings. As William Blake, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Honoré de Balzac, and William Butler Yeats had been, he was drawn to Swedenborg's mystical visions, with their depictions of spiritual landscape and Christian morality. Strindberg believed for the rest of his life that the relationship between the transcendental and the real world was described by a series of "correspondences" and that everyday events were really messages from above of which only the enlightened could make sense. He also felt that he was chosen by Providence to atone for the moral decay of others and that his tribulations were payback for misdeeds earlier in his life.
Strindberg had spent the tail end of 1896 and most of 1897 in the university town of Lund in southern Sweden, a sojourn during which he made a number of new friendships, felt his mental stability and health improving and also firmly returned to literary writing; Inferno, Legends and Jacob Wrestling were written there. In 1899, he returned permanently to Stockholm, following a successful production there of Master Olof in 1897 (which was re-staged in 1899 to mark Strindberg's fiftieth birthday). He had the desire to become recognized as a leadíng figure in Swedish literature, and to put earlier controversies behind him, and felt that historical dramas were the way to attain that status. Though Strindberg claimed that he was writing "realistically," he freely altered past events and biographical information, and telescoped chronology (as often done in most historical fiction): more importantly, he felt a flow of resurgent inspiration, writing almost twenty new plays (many in a historical setting) between 1898 and 1902. His new works included the so-called Vasa Trilogy: The Saga of the Folkungs (1899), Gustavus Vasa (1899), and Erik XIV (1899) and A Dream Play (written in 1901, first performed in 1907).
1900s
Strindberg was pivotal in the creation of chamber plays. Max Reinhardt was a big supporter of his, staging some of his plays at the Kleines Theatre in 1902 (including The Bond, The Stronger, and The Outlaw). Once Otto Brahm relinquished his role as head as of the Deutsches Theatre, Reinhardt took over and produced Strindberg's plays.
In 1903, Strindberg planned to write a grand cycle of plays based on world history, but the idea soon faded. He had completed short plays about Martin Luther, Plato, Moses, Jesus Christ, and Socrates. He wrote another historical drama in 1908 after the Royal Theatre convinced him to put on a new play for its sixtieth birthday. He wrote The Last of the Knights (1908), Earl Birger of Bjalbo (1909), and The Regents (1909).
His other works, such as Days of Loneliness (1903), The Roofing Ceremony (1907), and The Scapegoat (1907), and the novels The Gothic Rooms (1904) and Black Banners Genre Scenes from the Turn of the Century, (1907) have been viewed as precursors to Marcel Proust and Franz Kafka.
August Falck, an actor, wanted to put on a production of Miss Julie and wrote to Strindberg for permission. In September 1906 he staged the first Swedish production of Miss Julie. August Falck, played Jean and Manda Bjorling played Julie.
In 1909, Strindberg thought he might get the Nobel Prize in Literature, but instead lost to Selma Lagerlöf, the first woman and first Swede to win the award. The leader of the Social Democrat Youth Alliance started a fund-raiser for a special "people's award". Nathan Söderblom (friend of Strindberg since the mid-90s years in Paris, a prominent theologian and later to become archbishop of Sweden) was noted as a donor, and both he and Strindberg came under attack from circles close to the conservative party and the church. In total 45,000 Swedish crowns were collected, by more than 20,000 donors, most of whom were workers. Albert Bonniers förlag, who had already published much of his work over the years, paid him 200,000 Swedish crowns for the publishing rights to his complete works; the first volumes of the edition would appear in print in 1912, a few months before his death. He invited his first three children (now, like their mother, living in Finland) to Stockholm and divided the money into five shares, one for each child, one for Siri (absent), and the last one for himself. In setting apart one share for Siri, Strindberg noted, in a shy voice, "This is for your mother - it's to settle an old debt". When the children returned to Helsinki, Siri was surprised to hear that she had been included, but accepted the money and told them in a voice that was, according to her daughter Karin, both proud and moved, "I shall accept it, receiving it as an old debt". The debt was less financial than mental and emotional; Strindberg knew he had sometimes treated her unfairly during the later years of their marriage and at their divorce trial. In 1912, she would pass away only a few weeks before him.
In 1907 Strindberg co-founded The Intimate Theatre in Stockholm, together with the young actor and stage director August Falck. His theatre was modeled after Max Reinhardt's Kammerspiel Haus. Strindberg and Falck had the intention of the theatre being used for his plays and his plays only, Strindberg also wanted to try out a more chamber-oriented and sparse style of dramatic writing and production. In time for the theatre's opening, Strindberg wrote four chamber plays: Thunder in the Air, The Burned Site, The Ghost Sonata, and The Pelican; these were generally not a success with audiences or newspaper critics at the time but have been highly influential on modern drama (and soon would reach wider audiences at Reinhardt's theatre in Berlin and other German stages). Strindberg had very specific ideas about how the theatre would be opened and operated. He drafted a series of rules for his theatre in a letter to August Falck: 1. No liquor. 2. No Sunday performances. 3. Short performances without intermissions. 4. No calls. 5. Only 160 seats in the auditorium. 6. No prompter. No orchestra, only music on stage. 7. The text will be sold at the box office and in the lobby. 8. Summer performances. Falck helped to design the auditorium, which was decorated in a deep-green tone. The ceiling lighting was a yellow silk cover which created an effect of mild daylight. The floor was covered with a deep-green carpet, and the auditorium was decorated by six ultra modern columns with elaborate up-to-date capitals. Instead of the usual restaurant Strindberg offered a lounge for the ladies and a smoking-room for the gentlemen. The stage was unusually small, only 6 by 9 metres. The small stage and minimal number of seats was meant to give the audience a greater feeling of involvement in the work. Unlike most theatres at this time, the Intima Teater was not a place in which people could come to socialize. By setting up his rules and creating an intimate atmosphere, Strindberg was able to demand the audience's focus. When the theatre opened in 1907 with a performance of The Pelican it was a rather large hit. Strindberg used a minimal technique, as was his way, by only having a back drop and some sea shells on the stage for scene design and props. Strindberg was much more concerned with the actors portraying the written word than the stage looking pretty. The theatre ran into a financial difficulty in February 1908 and Falck had to borrow money from Prince Eugen, Duke of Närke, who attended the première of The Pelican. The theatre eventually went bankrupt in 1910, but did not close until Strindberg's death in 1912. The newspapers wrote about the theatre until its death.
Death and funeral
Strindberg died shortly after the first staging of one of his plays in the United States — The Father opened on 9 April 1912 at the Berkeley Theatre in New York, in a translation by painter and playwright Edith Gardener Shearn Oland and her husband actor Warner Oland. They jointly published their translations of his plays in book form in 1912.
During Christmas 1911, Strindberg became sick with pneumonia and he never recovered completely. He also began to suffer more clearly from a stomach cancer (early signs of which had been felt in 1908). The final weeks of his life were painful. He had long since become a national celebrity, even if highly controversial, and when it became clear that he was seriously ill the daily papers in Stockholm began reporting on his health in every edition. He received many letters and telegrams from admirers across the country. He died on 14 May 1912 at the age of 63.
Strindberg was interred at Norra begravningsplatsen in Stockholm. He had given strict instructions concerning his funeral and how his body should be treated after death: only members of his immediate family were allowed to view his body, there would be no obduction, no photographs were taken, and no death mask was made. Strindberg had also requested that his funeral should take place as soon as possible after his death to avoid crowds of onlookers. However, the workers' organisations requested that the funeral should take place on a Sunday to make it possible for working men to pay their respects, and the funeral was postponed for five days, until Sunday, 19 May. According to Strindberg's last wish, the funeral procession was to start at 8am, again to avoid crowds, but large groups of people were nevertheless waiting outside his home as well as at the cemetery, as early as 7am. A short service was conducted by Nathan Söderblom by the bier in Strindberg's home, in the presence of three of Strindberg's children and his housekeeper, after which the coffin was taken outside for the funeral procession. The procession was followed by groups of students, workers, members of Parliament and a couple of cabinet ministers, and it was estimated that up to 60,000 people lined the streets. King Gustaf V sent a wreath for the bier.
Legacy
Tennessee Williams, Edward Albee, Maxim Gorky, John Osborne, and Ingmar Bergman are among the many artists who have cited Strindberg as an influence. Eugene O'Neill, upon receiving the Nobel Prize in Literature, dedicated much of his acceptance speech to describing Strindberg's influence on his work, and referred to him as "that greatest genius of all modern dramatists." Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges said of Strindberg: "[he] was, for a time, my god, alongside Nietzsche".
A multi-faceted author, Strindberg was often extreme. His novel The Red Room (1879) made him famous. His early plays belong to the Naturalistic movement. His works from this time are often compared with the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. Strindberg's best-known play from this period is Miss Julie. Among his most widely read works is the novel The People of Hemsö.
Strindberg wanted to attain what he called "greater Naturalism." He disliked the expository character backgrounds that characterise the work of Henrik Ibsen and rejected the convention of a dramatic "slice of life" because he felt that the resulting plays were mundane and uninteresting. Strindberg felt that true naturalism was a psychological "battle of brains": two people who hate each other in the immediate moment and strive to drive the other to doom is the type of mental hostility that Strindberg strove to describe. He intended his plays to be impartial and objective, citing a desire to make literature akin to a science.
Following the inner turmoil that he experienced during the "Inferno crisis," he wrote an important book in French, Inferno (1896–7), in which he dramatised his experiences. He also exchanged a few cryptic letters with Friedrich Nietzsche.
Strindberg subsequently ended his association with Naturalism and began to produce works informed by Symbolism. He is considered one of the pioneers of the modern European stage and Expressionism. The Dance of Death, A Dream Play, and The Ghost Sonata are well-known plays from this period.
His most famous and produced plays are Master Olof, Miss Julie, and The Father.
Internationally, Strindberg is chiefly remembered as a playwright, but in his native Sweden his name is associated no less with novels and other writings. Röda rummet (The Red Room), Hemsöborna (The People of Hemsö), Giftas (Getting Married), En dåres försvarstal (The Confession of a Fool), and Inferno remain among his most celebrated novels, representing different genres and styles. He is often, though not universally, viewed as Sweden's greatest author, and taught in schools as a key figure of Swedish culture. The most important contemporary literary award in Sweden, Augustpriset, is named for Strindberg.
The Swedish composer Ture Rangström dedicated his first Symphony, which was finished in 1914, to August Strindberg in memoriam.
Politics
An acerbic polemicist who was often vehemently opposed to conventional authority, Strindberg was difficult to pigeon-hole as a political figure. Through his long career, he penned scathing attacks on the military, the church, and the monarchy. For most of his public life, he was seen as a major figure on the literary left and a standard-bearer of cultural radicalism, but, especially from the 1890s, he espoused conservative and religious views that alienated many former supporters. He resumed his attacks on conservative society with great vigor in the years immediately preceding his death.
Strindberg's opinions were typically stated with great force and vitriol, and sometimes humorously over-stated. He was involved in a variety of crises and feuds, skirmishing regularly with the literary and cultural establishment of his day, including erstwhile allies and friends. His youthful reputation as a genial enfant terrible of Swedish literature, transformed, eventually, into the role of a sort of ill-tempered towering giant of Swedish public life.
Strindberg was a prolific letter-writer, whose private communications have been collected in several annotated volumes. He often voiced political views privately to friends and literary acquaintances, phrased in a no-holds-barred jargon of scathing attacks, drastic humor, and flippant hyperbole. Many of his most controversial political statements are drawn from this private correspondence.
Influenced by the history of the 1871 Paris Commune, young Strindberg had embraced the view that politics is a conflict between the upper and lower classes. Early works like the Red Room or Master Olof took aim at public hypocrisy, royalty, and organized religion. He was, at this time, an outspoken socialist, mainly influenced by anarchist or libertarian socialist ideas. However, Strindberg's socialism was utopian and undogmatic, rooted less in economic or philosophic doctrine than in a fiery anti-establishment attitude, pitting "the people" against kings, priests, and merchants.
He read widely among socialist thinkers, including Cabet, Fourier, Babeuf, Saint-Simon, Proudhon, and Owen, whom he referred to as "friends of humanity and sharp thinkers." "Strindberg adopted ideas from everyone," writes Jan Olsson, who notes that Strindberg lived in a period where "terms like anarchism, socialism, and communism were alternately used as synonyms and as different terms."
By the early 1880s, many young political and literary radicals in Sweden had come to view Strindberg as a champion of their causes. However, in contrast to the Marxist-influenced socialism then rising within the Swedish labor movement, Strindberg espoused an older type of utopian, agrarian radicalism accompanied by spiritual and even mystical ideas. His views remained as fluid and eclectic as they were uncompromising, and on certain issues he could be wildly out of step with the younger generation of socialists. To Martin Kylhammar, the young Strindberg "was a 'reactionary radical' whose writing was populist and democratic but who persisted in an antiquated romanticizing of agrarian life."
Although he had been an early proponent of women's rights, calling for women's suffrage in 1884, Strindberg later became disenchanted with what he viewed as an unnatural equation of the sexes. In times of personal conflict and marital trouble (which was much of the time), he could lash out with crudely misogynistic statements. His troubled marriage with Siri von Essen, ended in an upsetting divorce in 1891, became the inspiration for The Defence of a Fool, begun in 1887 and published in 1893. Strindberg famously sought to insert a warning to lawmakers against "granting citizens' rights to half-apes, lower beings, sick children, [who are] sick and crazed thirteen times a year during their periods, completely insane while pregnant, and irresponsible throughout the rest of their lives." The paragraph was ultimately removed before printing by his publisher.
Strindberg's misogyny was at odds with the younger generation of socialist activists and has drawn attention in contemporary Strindberg scholarship. So was Strindberg's anti-Jewish rhetoric. Although particularly targeting Jewish enemies of his in Swedish cultural life, he also attacked Jews and Judaism as such. The antisemitic outbursts were particularly pronounced in the early 1880s, when Strindberg dedicated an entire chapter ("Moses") in a work of social and political satire, Det nya riket, dedicated to heckling Swedish Jews (including an unflattering portrayal of Albert Bonnier). Although anti-Jewish prejudice was far from uncommon in wider society in the 1880s, Jan Myrdal notes that "the entire liberal and democratic intelligentsia of the time distanced themselves from the older, left-wing antisemitism of August Strindberg." Yet, as with many things, Strindberg's opinions and passions shifted with time. In the mid-1880s he toned down and then mostly ended his anti-Jewish rhetoric, after publicly declaring himself not to be an anti-Semite in 1884.
A self-declared atheist in his younger years, Strindberg would also re-embrace Christianity, without necessarily making his peace with the church. As noted by Stockholm's Strindberg Museum, the personal and spiritual crisis that Strindberg underwent in Paris in the 1890s, which prompted the writing of Inferno, had aesthetic as well as philosophical and political implications: "Before the Inferno crisis (1869 – 92), Strindberg was influenced by anarchism, Rousseau, Schopenhauer, and Nietzsche; in the years after the crisis (1897 – 1911) he was influenced by Swedenborg, Goethe, Shakespeare, and Beethoven."
In Inferno, Strindberg notes his ideological and spiritual evolution:
What is the purpose of having toiled through thirty years only to gain, through experience, that which I had already understood as a concept? In my youth, I was a sincere believer, and you [i.e. the powers that be] have made me a free-thinker. Out of a free-thinker you have made me an atheist; out of an atheist, a religious believer. Inspired by humanitarian ideas, I have praised socialism. Five years later, you have proven to me the unreasonableness of socialism. Everything that once enthralled me you have invalidated! And presuming that I will now abandon myself to religion, I am certain that you will, in ten years, disprove religion. (Strindberg, Inferno, Chapter XV.)
Despite his reactionary attitudes on issues such as women's rights and his conservative, mystical turn from the early 1890s, Strindberg remained popular with some in the socialist-liberal camp on the strength of his past radicalism and his continued salience as a literary modernizer. However, several former admirers were disappointed and troubled by what they viewed as Strindberg's descent into religious conservatism and, perhaps, madness. His former ally and friend, Social Democrat leader Hjalmar Branting, now dismissed the author as a "disaster" who had betrayed his past ideals for a reactionary, mystical elitism. In 1909, Branting remarked on Strindberg's shifting political and cultural posture, on the occasion of the author's sixtieth birthday:
To the young Strindberg, the trail-blazer, the rouser from sleep, let us offer all our praise and admiration. To the writer in a more mature age [let us offer] a place of rank on the Aeropagus of European erudition. But to the Strindberg of Black Banners [1907] and A Blue Book [1907-1912], who, in the shadows of Inferno [1898] has been converted to a belief in the sickly, empty gospels of mysticism – let us wish, from our hearts, that he may once again become his past self. (Hjalmar Branting, in Social-Demokraten, 22 January 1909.)
Toward the end of his life, however, Strindberg would dramatically reassert his role as a radical standard-bearer and return to the good graces of progressive Swedish opinion.
In April 1910, Strindberg launched a series of unprompted, insult-laden attacks on popular conservative symbols, viciously thrashing the nationalist cult of former king Charles XII ("pharao worship"), the lauded poet Verner von Heidenstam ("the spirit-seer of Djursholm"), and the famous author and traveler Sven Hedin ("the humbug explorer"). The ensuing debate, known as "Strindbergsfejden" or "The Strindberg Feud", is one of the most significant literary debates in Swedish history. It came to comprise about a thousand articles by various authors across some eighty newspapers, raging for two years until Strindberg's death in 1912. The Feud served to revive Strindberg's reputation as an implacable enemy of bourgeois tastes, while also reestablishing beyond doubt his centrality to Swedish culture and politics. In 1912, Strindberg's funeral was co-organized by Branting and heavily attended by members of the Swedish labor movement, with "more than 100 red banners" in attendance alongside the entire Social Democrat parliamentary contingent.
Strindberg's daughter Karin Strindberg married a Russian Bolshevik of partially Swedish ancestry, ("Paulsson").
Painting
Strindberg, something of a polymath, was also a telegrapher, theosophist, painter, photographer and alchemist.
Painting and photography offered vehicles for his belief that chance played a crucial part in the creative process.
Strindberg's paintings were unique for their time, and went beyond those of his contemporaries for their radical lack of adherence to visual reality. The 117 paintings that are acknowledged as his were mostly painted within the span of a few years, and are now seen by some as among the most original works of 19th-century art.
Today, his best-known pieces are stormy, expressionist seascapes, selling at high prices in auction houses. Though Strindberg was friends with Edvard Munch and Paul Gauguin, and was thus familiar with modern trends, the spontaneous and subjective expressiveness of his landscapes and seascapes can be ascribed also to the fact that he painted only in periods of personal crisis. Anders Zorn also did a portrait.
Photography
Strindberg's interest in photography resulted, among other things, in a large number of arranged self-portraits in various environments, which now number among the best-known pictures of him. Strindberg also embarked on a series of camera-less images, using an experimental quasi-scientific approach. He produced a type of photogram that encouraged the development and growth of crystals on the photographic emulsion, sometimes exposed for lengthy periods to heat or cold in the open air or at night facing the stars. The suggestiveness of these, which he called Celestographs, provided an object for contemplation, and he noted;
His interest in the occult in the 1890s finds sympathy with the chance quality of these images, but for him they are also scientific.
In 1895 Strindberg met Camille Flammarion and became a member of the Société astronomique de France. He gave some of his experimental astronomical photographs to the Society.
Occult studies
Alchemy, occultism, Swedenborgianism, and various other eccentric interests were pursued by Strindberg with some intensity for periods of his life.
In the curious and experimental 1897 work Inferno – a dark, paranoid, and confusing tale of his time in Paris, written in French, which takes the form of an autobiographical journal – Strindberg, as the narrator, claims to have successfully performed alchemical experiments and cast black magic spells on his daughter. Much of Inferno indicates that the author suffered from paranoid delusions, as he writes of being stalked through Paris, haunted by evil forces, and targeted with mind-altering electric rays emitted by an "infernal machine" covertly installed in his hotel. It remains unclear to what extent the book represents a genuine attempt at autobiography or exaggerates for literary effect. Olof Lagercrantz has suggested that Strindberg staged and imagined elements of the crisis as material for his literary production.
Personal life
Strindberg was married three times, as follows:
Siri von Essen: married 1877–1891 (14 years), 3 daughters (Karin Smirnov, Greta, and another who died in infancy), 1 son (Hans);
Frida Uhl: married 1893–1895, (2 years) 1 daughter (Kerstin); and
Harriet Bosse: married 1901–1904 (3 years), 1 daughter (Anne-Marie).
Strindberg was age 28 and Siri was 27 at the time of their marriage. He was 44 and Frida was 21 when they married, and he was 52 and Harriet was 23 when they married. Late during his life he met the young actress and painter Fanny Falkner (1890–1963) who was 41 years younger than Strindberg. She wrote a book which illuminates his last years, but the exact nature of their relationship is debated. He had a brief affair in Berlin with Dagny Juel before his marriage to Frida; it has been suggested that the news of her murder in 1901 was the reason he cancelled his honeymoon with his third wife, Harriet.
He was related to Nils Strindberg (a son of one of August's cousins).
Strindberg's relationships with women were troubled and have often been interpreted as misogynistic by contemporaries and modern readers. Marriage and families were being stressed in Strindberg's lifetime as Sweden industrialized and urbanized at a rapid pace. Problems of prostitution and poverty were debated among writers, critics and politicians. His early writing often dealt with the traditional roles of the sexes imposed by society, which he criticized as unjust.
Strindberg's last home was Blå tornet in central Stockholm, where he lived from 1908 until 1912. It is now a museum. Of several statues and busts of him erected in Stockholm, the most prominent is Carl Eldh's, erected in 1942 in Tegnérlunden, a park adjoining this house.
Bibliography
La cruauté et le théâtre de Strindberg de Pascale Roger, coll "Univers théâtral", L'Harmattan, Paris, 2004, 278 p.
The Growth of a Soul (1914)
The German Lieutenant, and Other Stories (1915)
There Are Crimes and Crimes
Further reading
Everdell, William R., The First Moderns: Profiles in the Origins of Twentieth-Century Thought. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1997. (cloth) (bpk)
Brita M. E. Mortensen, Brian W. Downs, Strindberg: An Introduction to His Life and Work, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1965
Gundlach, Angelika; Scherzer, Jörg (Ed.): Der andere Strindberg – Materialien zu Malerei, Photographie und Theaterpraxis, Frankfurt a. M.: Insel-Verlag, 1981. ISBN 3-458-31929-8
Prideaux, Sue, Strindberg: A Life, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012.
Schroeder, J., Stenport, A., and Szalczer, E., editors, August Strindberg and Visual Culture, New York: Bloomsbury, 2018.
Sprinchorn, Evert, Strindberg As Dramatist, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1982.
Stamper, Judith (1975), review of the production of To Damascus at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh in April 1975, in Calgacus 2, Summer 1975, p. 56,
Sources
Adams, Ann-Charlotte Gavel, ed. 2002. Dictionary of Literary Biography. Vol. 259 Twentieth-Century Swedish Writers Before World War II. Detroit, MI: Gale. .
Carlson, Marvin. 1993. Theories of the Theatre: A Historical and Critical Survey from the Greeks to the Present. Expanded ed. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press. .
Ekman, Hans-Göran. 2000. Strindberg and the Five Senses: Studies in Strindberg's Chamber Plays. London and New Brunswick, New Jersey: Athlone. .
Gunnarsson, Torsten. 1998. Nordic Landscape Painting in the Nineteenth Century. New Haven: Yale UP. .
Innes, Christopher, ed. 2000. A Sourcebook on Naturalist Theatre. London and New York: Routledge. .
Lagercrantz, Olof. 1984. August Strindberg. Trans. Anselm Hollo. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux. .
Lane, Harry. 1998. "Strindberg, August." In The Cambridge Guide to Theatre. Ed. Martin Banham. Cambridge: Cambridge UP. 1040–41. .
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Ward, John. 1980. The Social and Religious Plays of Strindberg. London: Athlone. .
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References
External links
English-language translations in the public domain
Public domain translations of Strindberg's drama
The Father, Countess Julie, The Outlaw, The Stronger
Comrades, Facing Death, Pariah, Easter
Swanwhite, Advent, The Storm
There are Crimes and Crimes, Miss Julia, The Stronger, Creditors, and Pariah
To Damascus Part 1
Road To Damascus Parts 1, 2, and 3
Public domain translations of Strindberg's novels
The Red Room.
The Confession of a Fool.
Other
Photographs by Strindberg from the National Library of Sweden on Flickr
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August Strindberg and absinthe; in his life and in his works
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A Dream Play (manuscript) at World Digital Library
Burkhart Brückner: Biography of Johan August Strindberg in: Biographical Archive of Psychiatry (BIAPSY).
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Writers from Stockholm | false | [
"\"What Were We Thinking Of\" is a song recorded by American singer Barbra Streisand for her 25th studio album, Till I Loved You (1988). It was released as the album's third and final single in February 1989 by Columbia Records. The track was written by Antonina Armato and Scott Cutler and produced by Denny Diante. It features guest vocals from the singer's then-boyfriend Don Johnson, who had previously collaborated with Streisand on her 1988 single \"Till I Loved You\".\n\nThe physical release of \"What Were We Thinking Of\" includes the B-side track \"Why Let It Go?\", which is also featured on the parent album. A pop song, the track is about the end of a relationship that has soured over time. Critically, the song was well-received with several music critics calling it one of the best tracks on Till I Loved You. On Billboards Adult Contemporary chart in the United States, \"What Were We Thinking Of\" peaked at number 32.\n\nRecording and release \n\"What Were We Thinking Of\" was taken from Streisand's 25th studio album, Till I Loved You (1988). The song was written by Antonina Armato and Scott Cutler, and among the first ones to be penned by Armato. While recording songs for the album, Streisand's then-boyfriend Don Johnson, decided to serve as a featured artist on the album's title track, \"Till I Loved You\". The singer remarked that she enjoyed duetting with him because he is \"very musical and has a unique sounding voice\"; she was also interested in their collaborations due to the fact that he was able \"act\" out the lyrics while singing. Because of the success they had found while creating the aforementioned track, it was decided that Johnson would also lend his voice for background vocals on \"What Were We Thinking Of\". In order to return the favor to him, Streisand would later contribute guest vocals for his second studio album, Let It Roll (1989).\n\nThe track was released by Columbia Records in February 1989 as the final of the three singles from Till I Loved You. The standard 7\" single and cassette single features B-side track \"Why Let It Go?\", which was taken from the parent album. A promotional version of the release, exclusive to the United States, used \"What Were We Thinking Of\" as both the A-side and B-side on the 7\" record. In Spain, a single-sided format featuring just the album version of the song was also created.\n\nLyrics and production \nLike the majority of the songs on Till I Loved You, \"What Were We Thinking Of\" is a \"nontheatrical pop song\". According to the official sheet music published by the Warner Music Group, the song is written in the key of B major with a moderately fast beat consisting of 138 beats per minute. Since Till I Loved You is a concept album based on the beginnings and ends of relationships, \"What Were We Thinking Of\" was placed towards the end of the album's track listing where the accompanying songs' lyrics discuss break-ups and how to eventually move on from them. Lyrics from the track include: \"Where did we go wrong? Is it really over? / Where does my heart belong if it's not with you?\". To accompany the production, a number of instruments are present on the track, including a saxophone played by Dave Boruff, a guitar played by Michael Thompson, and drums played by Randy Waldman and Cutler.\n\nReception \nResponses from music critics suggested that \"What Were We Thinking Of\" was a standout track on Till I Loved You. Paul Grein, a writer for the Los Angeles Times, considered the song and \"Some Good Things Never Last\" as the two best cuts on side two of the parent album. Despite claiming that Streisand's album varied deeply in terms of quality, author Allison J. Waldman, who wrote The Barbra Streisand Scrapbook in 2001, listed the single in addition to album tracks \"On My Way to You\" and \"Two People\" as the three \"especially fine cuts\" included on Till I Loved You.\n\nThe single did not enter the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, but did reach the same publication's Adult Contemporary chart. It spent a total of seven weeks on the chart and peaked at number 32 on May 13, 1989.\n\nTrack listings \n\nStandard 7\" single and cassette\n A1 \"What Were We Thinking Of\" – 4:27\n B1 \"Why Let It Go?\" – 4:23\n\nSpain 7\" single\n A1 \"What Were We Thinking Of\" – 4:27\n\nPromotional 7\" single\n A1 \"What Were We Thinking Of\" – 4:27\n B1 \"What Were We Thinking Of\" – 4:27\n\nCharts\n\nReferences\n\nCitations\n\nBibliography \n\n1988 songs\n1989 singles\nBarbra Streisand songs\nColumbia Records singles\nSongs written by Antonina Armato",
"Naw Ohn Hla (; ; born 5 August 1962) is a Karen democracy activist, politician, human rights defender, environmental rights and land rights activist for decades. She has been active in campaigning against the Letpadaung mining project in northern Myanmar. Naw Ohn Hla is the general secretary of United Nationalities Democracy Party (UNDP).\n\nEarly life and education\nNaw was born on 5 August 1962 in Karen state to ethnic Karen parents, a daughter of Thein Aung. She currently lives in Yangon.\n\nCareer and movement\nNaw Ohn Hla is a prominent advocate for land rights and political prisoners, and has been imprisoned on more than ten occasions since 1989, as a result of her peaceful efforts to free political prisoners and assist Buddhist monks during the 2007 uprising. She work for the promotion of human rights and environmental rights and also campaigned for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi while the opposition leader was under house arrest. She has repeatedly called for the suspension of the Chinese-backed Letpadaung mining project in Burma's Sagaing Region. The project is strongly opposed by local communities due its damaging effect on the environment. She was sentenced in 2013 August to two years in prison for protesting without permission against the Letpadaung copper mine. In 15 November 2013, she was one of 69 political prisoners released by a pardon from President Thein Sein. But Naw Ohn Hla is in custody again after she was arrested over a 29 Nov 2014 protest against the mining project, at which a Chinese flag was burned outside the Chinese Embassy in Yangon. She faces up to two years in jail for flag-burning case was arrested on 30 December 2014. She was still a separate lawsuit for organizing prayers in 2007 for opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, then under house arrest. She had also faced charges of violating the Peaceful Assembly Law in different townships court across Yangon (Pabedan, Kyauktada, Latha, and Lanmadaw) with regards to the embassy protest.\n\nOn May 15, 2015, the Dagon Township Court in Yangoon found them guilty and sentenced them to four years and four months in prison. She also sentenced to four months in prison prior to this verdict on April 2, 2015 by the Bahan Township Court for violating the Peaceful Assembly Law during a protest on September 29, 2014. She was serving in a prison sentence of six years and two months in Insein Prison for protesting. She has been released on April 17, 2016 from Insein Prison due to Presidential amnesty from President Htin Kyaw.\n\nShe is co-founder of the Rangoon-based Democracy and Peace Women Network (DPWN), which raises awareness of human rights, land rights and also campaigns against domestic violence. The Yangoon-based DPWN was honored with an N-Peace Awards, under the category of \"Thinking Outside the Box\" in October 2014.\n\nIn 2019, she was awarded the Karen Women of Courage Award by International Karen Organization (IKO) and honorable certificate by Karen National Union (KNU) and N-Peace Award (Thinking Outside of the Box) (2014).\n\nIn 2020, she contested the post of Yangon Region Government ethnic Karen affairs minister in the 2020 general elections representing United Nationalities Democracy Party (UNDP).\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Naw Ohn Hla on gettyimages\n Activists Nay Myo Zin and Naw Ohn Hla Released- RFA\n\n1963 births\nLiving people\nBurmese activists\nBurmese human rights activists\n21st-century Burmese women politicians\nBurmese politicians\nPeople from Kayin State\nBurmese people of Karen descent"
] |
[
"August Strindberg",
"Politics",
"What was Stridberg's involvement with politics?",
"young Strindberg embraced the view, that politics is a conflict between the upper and lower classes.",
"Did he publish anything about this?",
"Many of his works, however, had at least some politics and sometimes an abundance of it.",
"What are the names of his politically oriented works?",
"The changing nature of his political positions shows in his changing stance on the women's rights issue.",
"What was his thinking on women's rights?",
"Early on, Strindberg was sympathetic to women of 19th-century Sweden, calling for women's suffrage as early as 1884."
] | C_2268672bf3a74c23a47499e266cc7d59_0 | How did his attitude change? | 5 | How did August Strindberg attitude change? | August Strindberg | Influenced by the history of the Paris Commune, during 1871, young Strindberg embraced the view, that politics is a conflict between the upper and lower classes. He was admired by many as a far-left writer. He was a socialist (or perhaps more of an anarchist, meaning a libertarian socialist, which he himself claimed on at least one occasion). Strindberg's political opinions nevertheless changed considerably within this category over the years, and he was never primarily a political writer. Nor did he often campaign for any one issue, preferring instead to scorn his enemies manifesto-style - the military, the church, the monarchy, the politicians, the stingy publishers, the incompetent reviewers, the narrow-minded, the idiots - and he was not loyal to any party or ideology. Many of his works, however, had at least some politics and sometimes an abundance of it. They often displayed that life and the prevailing system were profoundly unjust and injurious to ordinary citizens. The changing nature of his political positions shows in his changing stance on the women's rights issue. Early on, Strindberg was sympathetic to women of 19th-century Sweden, calling for women's suffrage as early as 1884. However, during other periods he had strongly misogynistic opinions, calling for lawmakers to reconsider the emancipation of these "half-apes ... mad ... criminal, instinctively evil animals." This is controversial in contemporary assessments of Strindberg, as have his antisemitic descriptions of Jews (and, in particular, Jewish enemies of his in Swedish cultural life) in some works (e.g., Det nya riket), particularly during the early 1880s. Strindberg's antisemitic pronouncements, just like his opinions of women, have been debated, and also seem to have varied considerably. Many of these attitudes, passions and behaviours may have been developed for literary reasons and ended as soon as he had exploited them in books. In satirizing Swedish society - in particular the upper classes, the cultural and political establishment, and his many personal and professional foes - he could be very confrontational, with scarcely concealed caricatures of political opponents. This could take the form of brutal character disparagement or mockery, and while the presentation was generally skilful, it was not necessarily subtle. His daughter Karin Strindberg married a Russian Bolshevik of partially Swedish ancestry, Vladimir Smirnov ("Paulsson"). Because of his political views, Strindberg was promoted strongly in socialist countries in Central and Eastern Europe, as well as in the Soviet Union and Cuba. CANNOTANSWER | during other periods he had strongly misogynistic opinions, calling for lawmakers to reconsider the emancipation of these "half-apes ... mad ... criminal, instinctively evil animals." | Johan August Strindberg (, ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than sixty plays and more than thirty works of fiction, autobiography, history, cultural analysis, and politics during his career, which spanned four decades. A bold experimenter and iconoclast throughout, he explored a wide range of dramatic methods and purposes, from naturalistic tragedy, monodrama, and history plays, to his anticipations of expressionist and surrealist dramatic techniques. From his earliest work, Strindberg developed innovative forms of dramatic action, language, and visual composition. He is considered the "father" of modern Swedish literature and his The Red Room (1879) has frequently been described as the first modern Swedish novel. In Sweden, Strindberg is known as an essayist, painter, poet, and especially as a novelist and playwright, but in other countries he is known mostly as a playwright.
The Royal Theatre rejected his first major play, Master Olof, in 1872; it was not until 1881, when he was thirty-two, that its première at the New Theatre gave him his theatrical breakthrough. In his plays The Father (1887), Miss Julie (1888), and Creditors (1889), he created naturalistic dramas that – building on the established accomplishments of Henrik Ibsen's prose problem plays while rejecting their use of the structure of the well-made play – responded to the call-to-arms of Émile Zola's manifesto "Naturalism in the Theatre" (1881) and the example set by André Antoine's newly established (opened 1887). In Miss Julie, characterisation replaces plot as the predominant dramatic element (in contrast to melodrama and the well-made play) and the determining role of heredity and the environment on the "vacillating, disintegrated" characters is emphasized. Strindberg modeled his short-lived Scandinavian Experimental Theatre (1889) in Copenhagen on Antoine's theatre and he explored the theory of Naturalism in his essays "On Psychic Murder" (1887), "On Modern Drama and the Modern Theatre" (1889), and a preface to Miss Julie, the last of which is probably the best-known statement of the principles of the theatrical movement.
During the 1890s he spent significant time abroad engaged in scientific experiments and studies of the occult. A series of apparent psychotic attacks between 1894 and 1896 (referred to as his "Inferno crisis") led to his hospitalization and return to Sweden. Under the influence of the ideas of Emanuel Swedenborg, he resolved after his recovery to become "the Zola of the Occult". In 1898 he returned to play-writing with To Damascus, which, like The Great Highway (1909), is a dream-play of spiritual pilgrimage. His A Dream Play (1902) – with its radical attempt to dramatize the workings of the unconscious by means of an abolition of conventional dramatic time and space and the splitting, doubling, merging, and multiplication of its characters – was an important precursor to both expressionism and surrealism. He also returned to writing historical drama, the genre with which he had begun his play-writing career. He helped to run the Intimate Theatre from 1907, a small-scale theatre, modeled on Max Reinhardt's , that staged his chamber plays (such as The Ghost Sonata).
Biography
Youth
Strindberg was born on 22 January 1849 in Stockholm, Sweden, the third surviving son of Carl Oscar Strindberg (a shipping agent) and Eleonora Ulrika Norling (a serving-maid). In his autobiographical novel The Son of a Servant, Strindberg describes a childhood affected by "emotional insecurity, poverty, religious fanaticism and neglect". When he was seven, Strindberg moved to Norrtullsgatan on the northern, almost-rural periphery of the city. A year later the family moved near to Sabbatsberg, where they stayed for three years before returning to Norrtullsgatan. He attended a harsh school in Klara for four years, an experience that haunted him in his adult life. He was moved to the school in Jakob in 1860, which he found far more pleasant, though he remained there for only a year. In the autumn of 1861, he was moved to the Stockholm Lyceum, a progressive private school for middle-class boys, where he remained for six years. As a child he had a keen interest in natural science, photography, and religion (following his mother's Pietism). His mother, Strindberg recalled later with bitterness, always resented her son's intelligence. She died when he was thirteen, and although his grief lasted for only three months, in later life he came to feel a sense of loss and longing for an idealized maternal figure. Less than a year after her death, his father married the children's governess, Emilia Charlotta Pettersson. According to his sisters, Strindberg came to regard them as his worst enemies. He passed his graduation examination in May 1867 and enrolled at the Uppsala University, where he began on 13 September.
Strindberg spent the next few years in Uppsala and Stockholm, alternately studying for examinations and trying his hand at non-academic pursuits. As a young student, Strindberg also worked as an assistant in a pharmacy in the university town of Lund in southern Sweden. He supported himself in between studies as a substitute primary-school teacher and as a tutor for the children of two well-known physicians in Stockholm. He first left Uppsala in 1868 to work as a schoolteacher, but then studied chemistry for some time at the Institute of Technology in Stockholm in preparation for medical studies, later working as a private tutor before becoming an extra at the Royal Theatre in Stockholm. In May 1869, he failed his qualifying chemistry examination which in turn made him uninterested in schooling.
1870s
Strindberg returned to Uppsala University in January 1870 to study aesthetics and modern languages and to work on a number of plays. It was at this time that he first learnt about the ideas of Charles Darwin. He co-founded the Rune Society, a small literary club whose members adopted pseudonyms taken from runes of the ancient Teutonic alphabet – Strindberg called himself Frö (Seed), after the god of fertility. After abandoning a draft of a play about Eric XIV of Sweden halfway through in the face of criticism from the Rune Society, on 30 March he completed a one-act comedy in verse called In Rome about Bertel Thorvaldsen, which he had begun the previous autumn. The play was accepted by the Royal Theatre, where it premièred on 13 September 1870. As he watched it performed, he realised that it was not good and felt like drowning himself, though the reviews published the following day were generally favourable. That year he also first read works of Søren Kierkegaard and Georg Brandes, both of whom influenced him.
Taking his cue from William Shakespeare, he began to use colloquial and realistic speech in his historical dramas, which challenged the convention that they should be written in stately verse. During the Christmas holiday of 1870–71, he re-wrote a historical tragedy, Sven the Sacrificer, as a one-act play in prose called The Outlaw. Depressed by Uppsala, he stayed in Stockholm, returning to the university in April to pass an exam in Latin and in June to defend his thesis on Adam Gottlob Oehlenschläger's Romantic tragedy Earl Haakon (1802). Following further revision in the summer, The Outlaw opened at the Royal Theatre on 16 October 1871. Despite hostile reviews, the play earned him an audience with King Charles XV, who supported his studies with a payment of 200 riksdaler. Towards the end of the year Strindberg completed a first draft of his first major work, a play about Olaus Petri called Master Olof. In September 1872, the Royal Theatre rejected it, leading to decades of rewrites, bitterness, and a contempt for official institutions. Returning to the university for what would be his final term in the spring, he left on 2 March 1872, without graduating. In Town and Gown (1877), a collection of short stories describing student life, he ridiculed Uppsala and its professors.
Strindberg embarked on his career as a journalist and critic for newspapers in Stockholm. He was particularly excited at this time by Henry Thomas Buckle's History of Civilization and the first volume of Georg Brandes' Main Currents of Nineteenth-Century Literature. From December 1874, Strindberg worked for eight years as an assistant librarian at the Royal Library. That same month, Strindberg offered Master Olof to Edvard Stjernström (the director of the newly built New Theatre in Stockholm), but it was rejected. He socialised with writers, painters, journalists, and other librarians; they often met in the Red Room in Bern's Restaurant.
Early in the summer of 1875, he met Siri von Essen, a 24-year-old aspiring actress who, by virtue of her husband, was a baroness – he became infatuated with her. Strindberg described himself as a "failed author" at this time: "I feel like a deaf-mute," he wrote, "as I cannot speak and am not permitted to write; sometimes I stand in the middle of my room that seems like a prison cell, and then I want to scream so that walls and ceilings would fly apart, and I have so much to scream about, and therefore I remain silent." As a result of an argument in January 1876 concerning the inheritance of the family firm, Strindberg's relationship with his father was terminated (he did not attend his funeral in February 1883). From the beginning of 1876, Strindberg and Siri began to meet in secret, and that same year Siri and her husband divorced. Following a successful audition that December, Siri became an actress at the Royal Theatre. They married a year later, on 30 December 1877; Siri was seven months pregnant at the time. Their first child was born prematurely on 21 January 1878 and died two days later. On 9 January 1879, Strindberg was declared bankrupt. In November 1879, his novel The Red Room was published. A satire of Stockholm society, it has frequently been described as the first modern Swedish novel. While receiving mixed reviews in Sweden, it was acclaimed in Denmark, where Strindberg was hailed as a genius. As a result of The Red Room, he had become famous throughout Scandinavia. Edvard Brandes wrote that the novel "makes the reader want to join the fight against hypocrisy and reaction." In his response to Brandes, Strindberg explained that:
1880s
Strindberg and Siri's daughter Karin was born on 26 February 1880. Buoyant from the reception of The Red Room, Strindberg swiftly completed The Secret of the Guild, an historical drama set in Uppsala at the beginning of the 15th century about the conflict between two masons over the completion of the city cathedral, which opened at the Royal Theatre on 3 May 1880 (his first première in nine years); Siri played Margaretha. That spring he formed a friendship with the painter Carl Larsson. A collected edition of all of Strindberg's previous writings was published under the title Spring Harvest. From 1881, at the invitation of Edvard Brandes, Strindberg began to contribute articles to the Morgenbladet, a Copenhagen daily newspaper. In April he began work on The Swedish People, a four-part cultural history of Sweden written as a series of depictions of ordinary people's lives from the 9th century onwards, which he undertook mainly for financial reasons and which absorbed him for the next year; Larsson provided illustrations. At Strindberg's insistence, Siri resigned from the Royal Theatre in the spring, having become pregnant again. Their second daughter, Greta, was born on 9 June 1881, while they were staying on the island of Kymmendö. That month, a collection of essays from the past ten years, Studies in Cultural History, was published. Ludvig Josephson (the new artistic director of Stockholm's New Theatre) agreed to stage Master Olof, eventually opting for the prose version – the five-hour-long production opened on 30 December 1881 under the direction of August Lindberg to favourable reviews. While this production of Master Olof was his breakthrough in the theatre, Strindberg's five-act fairy-tale play Lucky Peter's Journey, which opened on 22 December 1883, brought him his first significant success, although he dismissed it as a potboiler. In March 1882 he wrote in a letter to Josephson: "My interest in the theatre, I must frankly state, has but one focus and one goal – my wife's career as an actress"; Josephson duly cast her in two roles the following season.
Having returned to Kymmendö during the summer of 1882, Strindberg wrote a collection of anti-establishment short stories, The New Kingdom. While there, to provide a lead role for his wife and as a reply to Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House (1879), he also wrote Sir Bengt's Wife, which opened on 25 November 1882 at the New Theatre. He moved to Grez-sur-Loing, just south of Paris, France, where Larsson was staying. He then moved to Paris, which they found noisy and polluted. Income earned from Lucky Peter's Journey enabled him to move to Switzerland in 1883. He resided in Ouchy, where he stayed for some years. On 3 April 1884, Siri gave birth to their son, Hans.
In 1884 Strindberg wrote a collection of short stories, Getting Married, that presented women in an egalitarian light and for which he was tried for and acquitted of blasphemy in Sweden. Two groups "led by influential members of the upper classes, supported by the right-wing press" probably instigated the prosecution; at the time, most people in Stockholm thought that Queen Sophia was behind it. By the end of that year Strindberg was in a despondent mood: "My view now is," he wrote, "everything is shit. No way out. The skein is too tangled to be unravelled. It can only be sheared. The building is too solid to be pulled down. It can only be blown up." In May 1885 he wrote: "I am on my way to becoming an atheist." In the wake of the publication of Getting Married, he began to correspond with Émile Zola. During the summer he completed a sequel volume of stories, though some were quite different in tone from those of the first. Another collection of stories, Utopias in Reality, was published in September 1885, though it was not well received.
In 1885, they moved back to Paris. In September 1887 he began to write a novel in French about his relationship with Siri von Essen called The Defence of a Fool. In 1887, they moved to Issigatsbühl, near Lindau by Lake Constance. His next play, Comrades (1886), was his first in a contemporary setting. After the trial he evaluated his religious beliefs, and concluded that he needed to leave Lutheranism, though he had been Lutheran since childhood; and after briefly being a deist, he became an atheist. He needed a credo and he used Jean-Jacques Rousseau nature worshiping, which he had studied while a student, as one. His works The People of Hemsö (1887) and Among French Peasants (1889) were influenced by his study of Rousseau. He then moved to Germany, where he fell in love with Chancellor Otto von Bismarck's Prussia status of the officer corps. After that, he grew very critical of Rousseau and turned to Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophies, which emphasized the male intellect. Nietzsche's influence can be seen in The Defence of a Fool (1893), Pariah (1889), Creditors (1889), and By the Open Sea (1890).
Another change in his life after the trial is that Strindberg decided he wanted a scientific life instead of a literary one, and began to write about non-literary subjects. When he was 37, he began The Son of a Servant, a four-part autobiography. The first part ends in 1867, the year he left home for Uppsala. Part two describes his youth up to 1872. Part three, or The Red Room, describes his years as a poet and journalist; it ends with his meeting Siri von Essen. Part four, which dealt with the years from 1877 to 1886, was banned by his publishers and was not published until after his death. The three missing years, 1875–1877, were the time when Strindberg was wooing von Essen and their marriage; entitled He and She, this portion of his autobiography was not printed until 1919, after his death. It contains the love letters between the two during that period.
In the later half of the 1880s Strindberg discovered Naturalism. After completing The Father in a matter of weeks, he sent a copy to Émile Zola for his approval, though Zola's reaction was lukewarm. The drama revolves around the conflict between the Captain, a father, husband, and scientist, and his wife, Laura, over the education of their only child, a fourteen-year-old daughter named Berta. Through unscrupulous means, Laura gets the Captain to doubt his fatherhood until he suffers a mental and physical collapse. While writing The Father, Strindberg himself was experiencing marital problems and doubted the paternity of his children. He also suspected that Ibsen had based Hjalmar Ekdal in The Wild Duck (1884) on Strindberg because he felt that Ibsen viewed him as a weak and pathetic husband; he reworked the situation of Ibsen's play into a warfare between the two sexes. From November 1887 to April 1889, Strindberg stayed in Copenhagen. While there he had several opportunities to meet with both Georg Brandes and his brother Edvard Brandes. Georg helped him put on The Father, which had its première on 14 November 1887 at the Casino Theatre in Copenhagen. It enjoyed a successful run for eleven days after which it toured the Danish provinces.
Before writing Creditors, Strindberg completed one of his most famous pieces, Miss Julie. He wrote the play with a Parisian stage in mind, in particular the Théâtre Libre, founded in 1887 by André Antoine. In the play he used Charles Darwin's theory of survival of the fittest and dramatized a doomed sexual encounter that crosses the division of social classes. It is believed that this play was inspired by the marriage of Strindberg, the son of a servant, to an aristocratic woman.
In the essay On Psychic Murder (1887), he referred to the psychological theories of the Nancy School, which advocated the use of hypnosis. Strindberg developed a theory that sexual warfare was not motivated by carnal desire but by relentless human will. The winner was the one who had the strongest and most unscrupulous mind, someone who, like a hypnotist, could coerce a more impressionable psyche into submission. His view on psychological power struggles may be seen in works such as Creditors (1889), The Stronger (1889), and Pariah (1889).
In 1888, after a separation and reconciliation with Siri von Essen, he founded the Scandinavian Experimental Theatre in Copenhagen, where Siri became manager. He asked writers to send him scripts, which he received from Herman Bang, Gustav Wied and Nathalia Larsen. Less than a year later, with the theatre and reconciliation short lived, he moved back to Sweden while Siri moved back to her native Finland with the children. While there, he rode out the final phase of the divorce and later used this agonizing ordeal for the basis of The Bond and the Link (1893). Strindberg also became interested in short drama, called Quart d'heure. He was inspired by writers such as Gustave Guiche and Henri de Lavedan. His notable contribution was The Stronger (1889). As a result of the failure of the Scandinavian Experimental Theatre, Strindberg did not work as a playwright for three years. In 1889, he published an essay entitled "On Modern Drama and the Modern Theatre", in which he disassociated himself from naturalism, arguing that it was petty and unimaginative realism. His sympathy for Nietzsche's philosophy and atheism in general was also on the wane. He entered the period of his "Inferno crisis," in which he had psychological and religious upheavals that influenced his later works.
August Strindberg's Inferno is his personal account of sinking deeper into some kind of madness, typified by visions and paranoia. In Strindberg och alkoholen (1985), James Spens discusses Strindberg's drinking habits, including his liking for absinthe and its possible implications for Strindberg's mental health during the inferno period.
1890s
After his disenchantment with naturalism, Strindberg had a growing interest in transcendental matters. Symbolism was just beginning at this time. Verner von Heidenstam and Ola Hanson had dismissed naturalism as "shoemaker realism" that rendered human experience in simplistic terms. This is believed to have stalled Strindberg's creativity, and Strindberg insisted that he was in a rivalry and forced to defend naturalism, even though he had exhausted its literary potential. These works include: Debit and Credit (1892), Facing Death (1892), Motherly Love (1892), and The First Warning (1893). His play The Keys of Heaven (1892) was inspired by the loss of his children in his divorce. He also completed one of his few comedies, Playing with Fire (1893), and the first two parts of his post-inferno trilogy To Damascus (1898–1904).
In 1892, he experienced writer's block, which led to a drastic reduction in his income. Depression followed as he was unable to meet his financial obligations and to support his children and former wife. A fund was set up through an appeal in a German magazine. This money allowed him to leave Sweden and he joined artistic circles in Berlin. Otto Brahm's Freie Bühne theatre premiered some of his famous works in Germany, including The Father, Miss Julie, and Creditors.
Similar to twenty years earlier when he frequented The Red Room, he now went to the German tavern The Black Porker. Here he met a diverse group of artists from Scandinavia, Poland, and Germany. His attention turned to Frida Uhl, who was twenty-three years younger than Strindberg. They were married in 1893. Less than a year later, their daughter Kerstin was born and the couple separated, though their marriage was not officially dissolved until 1897. Frida's family, in particular her mother, who was a devout Catholic, had an important influence on Strindberg, and in an 1894 letter he declared "I feel the hand of our Lord resting over me."
Some critics think that Strindberg suffered from severe paranoia in the mid-1890s, and perhaps that he temporarily experienced insanity. Others, including Evert Sprinchorn and Olof Lagercrantz, believed that he intentionally turned himself into his own guinea pig by doing psychological and drug-induced self-experimentation. He wrote on subjects such as botany, chemistry, and optics before returning to literature with the publication of Inferno (1897), a (half fictionalized) account of his "wilderness years" in Austria and Paris, then a collection of short stories, Legends, and a semi-dramatic novella, Jacob Wrestling (both printed in the same book 1898). Both volumes aroused curiosity and controversy, not least due to the religious element; earlier, Strindberg had been known to be indifferent or hostile to religion and especially priests, but now he had undergone some sort of conversion to a personal faith. In a postscript, he noted the impact of Emanuel Swedenborg on his current work.
"The Powers" were central to Strindberg's later work. He said that "the Powers" were an outside force that had caused him his physical and mental suffering because they were acting in retribution to humankind for their wrongdoings. As William Blake, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Honoré de Balzac, and William Butler Yeats had been, he was drawn to Swedenborg's mystical visions, with their depictions of spiritual landscape and Christian morality. Strindberg believed for the rest of his life that the relationship between the transcendental and the real world was described by a series of "correspondences" and that everyday events were really messages from above of which only the enlightened could make sense. He also felt that he was chosen by Providence to atone for the moral decay of others and that his tribulations were payback for misdeeds earlier in his life.
Strindberg had spent the tail end of 1896 and most of 1897 in the university town of Lund in southern Sweden, a sojourn during which he made a number of new friendships, felt his mental stability and health improving and also firmly returned to literary writing; Inferno, Legends and Jacob Wrestling were written there. In 1899, he returned permanently to Stockholm, following a successful production there of Master Olof in 1897 (which was re-staged in 1899 to mark Strindberg's fiftieth birthday). He had the desire to become recognized as a leadíng figure in Swedish literature, and to put earlier controversies behind him, and felt that historical dramas were the way to attain that status. Though Strindberg claimed that he was writing "realistically," he freely altered past events and biographical information, and telescoped chronology (as often done in most historical fiction): more importantly, he felt a flow of resurgent inspiration, writing almost twenty new plays (many in a historical setting) between 1898 and 1902. His new works included the so-called Vasa Trilogy: The Saga of the Folkungs (1899), Gustavus Vasa (1899), and Erik XIV (1899) and A Dream Play (written in 1901, first performed in 1907).
1900s
Strindberg was pivotal in the creation of chamber plays. Max Reinhardt was a big supporter of his, staging some of his plays at the Kleines Theatre in 1902 (including The Bond, The Stronger, and The Outlaw). Once Otto Brahm relinquished his role as head as of the Deutsches Theatre, Reinhardt took over and produced Strindberg's plays.
In 1903, Strindberg planned to write a grand cycle of plays based on world history, but the idea soon faded. He had completed short plays about Martin Luther, Plato, Moses, Jesus Christ, and Socrates. He wrote another historical drama in 1908 after the Royal Theatre convinced him to put on a new play for its sixtieth birthday. He wrote The Last of the Knights (1908), Earl Birger of Bjalbo (1909), and The Regents (1909).
His other works, such as Days of Loneliness (1903), The Roofing Ceremony (1907), and The Scapegoat (1907), and the novels The Gothic Rooms (1904) and Black Banners Genre Scenes from the Turn of the Century, (1907) have been viewed as precursors to Marcel Proust and Franz Kafka.
August Falck, an actor, wanted to put on a production of Miss Julie and wrote to Strindberg for permission. In September 1906 he staged the first Swedish production of Miss Julie. August Falck, played Jean and Manda Bjorling played Julie.
In 1909, Strindberg thought he might get the Nobel Prize in Literature, but instead lost to Selma Lagerlöf, the first woman and first Swede to win the award. The leader of the Social Democrat Youth Alliance started a fund-raiser for a special "people's award". Nathan Söderblom (friend of Strindberg since the mid-90s years in Paris, a prominent theologian and later to become archbishop of Sweden) was noted as a donor, and both he and Strindberg came under attack from circles close to the conservative party and the church. In total 45,000 Swedish crowns were collected, by more than 20,000 donors, most of whom were workers. Albert Bonniers förlag, who had already published much of his work over the years, paid him 200,000 Swedish crowns for the publishing rights to his complete works; the first volumes of the edition would appear in print in 1912, a few months before his death. He invited his first three children (now, like their mother, living in Finland) to Stockholm and divided the money into five shares, one for each child, one for Siri (absent), and the last one for himself. In setting apart one share for Siri, Strindberg noted, in a shy voice, "This is for your mother - it's to settle an old debt". When the children returned to Helsinki, Siri was surprised to hear that she had been included, but accepted the money and told them in a voice that was, according to her daughter Karin, both proud and moved, "I shall accept it, receiving it as an old debt". The debt was less financial than mental and emotional; Strindberg knew he had sometimes treated her unfairly during the later years of their marriage and at their divorce trial. In 1912, she would pass away only a few weeks before him.
In 1907 Strindberg co-founded The Intimate Theatre in Stockholm, together with the young actor and stage director August Falck. His theatre was modeled after Max Reinhardt's Kammerspiel Haus. Strindberg and Falck had the intention of the theatre being used for his plays and his plays only, Strindberg also wanted to try out a more chamber-oriented and sparse style of dramatic writing and production. In time for the theatre's opening, Strindberg wrote four chamber plays: Thunder in the Air, The Burned Site, The Ghost Sonata, and The Pelican; these were generally not a success with audiences or newspaper critics at the time but have been highly influential on modern drama (and soon would reach wider audiences at Reinhardt's theatre in Berlin and other German stages). Strindberg had very specific ideas about how the theatre would be opened and operated. He drafted a series of rules for his theatre in a letter to August Falck: 1. No liquor. 2. No Sunday performances. 3. Short performances without intermissions. 4. No calls. 5. Only 160 seats in the auditorium. 6. No prompter. No orchestra, only music on stage. 7. The text will be sold at the box office and in the lobby. 8. Summer performances. Falck helped to design the auditorium, which was decorated in a deep-green tone. The ceiling lighting was a yellow silk cover which created an effect of mild daylight. The floor was covered with a deep-green carpet, and the auditorium was decorated by six ultra modern columns with elaborate up-to-date capitals. Instead of the usual restaurant Strindberg offered a lounge for the ladies and a smoking-room for the gentlemen. The stage was unusually small, only 6 by 9 metres. The small stage and minimal number of seats was meant to give the audience a greater feeling of involvement in the work. Unlike most theatres at this time, the Intima Teater was not a place in which people could come to socialize. By setting up his rules and creating an intimate atmosphere, Strindberg was able to demand the audience's focus. When the theatre opened in 1907 with a performance of The Pelican it was a rather large hit. Strindberg used a minimal technique, as was his way, by only having a back drop and some sea shells on the stage for scene design and props. Strindberg was much more concerned with the actors portraying the written word than the stage looking pretty. The theatre ran into a financial difficulty in February 1908 and Falck had to borrow money from Prince Eugen, Duke of Närke, who attended the première of The Pelican. The theatre eventually went bankrupt in 1910, but did not close until Strindberg's death in 1912. The newspapers wrote about the theatre until its death.
Death and funeral
Strindberg died shortly after the first staging of one of his plays in the United States — The Father opened on 9 April 1912 at the Berkeley Theatre in New York, in a translation by painter and playwright Edith Gardener Shearn Oland and her husband actor Warner Oland. They jointly published their translations of his plays in book form in 1912.
During Christmas 1911, Strindberg became sick with pneumonia and he never recovered completely. He also began to suffer more clearly from a stomach cancer (early signs of which had been felt in 1908). The final weeks of his life were painful. He had long since become a national celebrity, even if highly controversial, and when it became clear that he was seriously ill the daily papers in Stockholm began reporting on his health in every edition. He received many letters and telegrams from admirers across the country. He died on 14 May 1912 at the age of 63.
Strindberg was interred at Norra begravningsplatsen in Stockholm. He had given strict instructions concerning his funeral and how his body should be treated after death: only members of his immediate family were allowed to view his body, there would be no obduction, no photographs were taken, and no death mask was made. Strindberg had also requested that his funeral should take place as soon as possible after his death to avoid crowds of onlookers. However, the workers' organisations requested that the funeral should take place on a Sunday to make it possible for working men to pay their respects, and the funeral was postponed for five days, until Sunday, 19 May. According to Strindberg's last wish, the funeral procession was to start at 8am, again to avoid crowds, but large groups of people were nevertheless waiting outside his home as well as at the cemetery, as early as 7am. A short service was conducted by Nathan Söderblom by the bier in Strindberg's home, in the presence of three of Strindberg's children and his housekeeper, after which the coffin was taken outside for the funeral procession. The procession was followed by groups of students, workers, members of Parliament and a couple of cabinet ministers, and it was estimated that up to 60,000 people lined the streets. King Gustaf V sent a wreath for the bier.
Legacy
Tennessee Williams, Edward Albee, Maxim Gorky, John Osborne, and Ingmar Bergman are among the many artists who have cited Strindberg as an influence. Eugene O'Neill, upon receiving the Nobel Prize in Literature, dedicated much of his acceptance speech to describing Strindberg's influence on his work, and referred to him as "that greatest genius of all modern dramatists." Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges said of Strindberg: "[he] was, for a time, my god, alongside Nietzsche".
A multi-faceted author, Strindberg was often extreme. His novel The Red Room (1879) made him famous. His early plays belong to the Naturalistic movement. His works from this time are often compared with the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. Strindberg's best-known play from this period is Miss Julie. Among his most widely read works is the novel The People of Hemsö.
Strindberg wanted to attain what he called "greater Naturalism." He disliked the expository character backgrounds that characterise the work of Henrik Ibsen and rejected the convention of a dramatic "slice of life" because he felt that the resulting plays were mundane and uninteresting. Strindberg felt that true naturalism was a psychological "battle of brains": two people who hate each other in the immediate moment and strive to drive the other to doom is the type of mental hostility that Strindberg strove to describe. He intended his plays to be impartial and objective, citing a desire to make literature akin to a science.
Following the inner turmoil that he experienced during the "Inferno crisis," he wrote an important book in French, Inferno (1896–7), in which he dramatised his experiences. He also exchanged a few cryptic letters with Friedrich Nietzsche.
Strindberg subsequently ended his association with Naturalism and began to produce works informed by Symbolism. He is considered one of the pioneers of the modern European stage and Expressionism. The Dance of Death, A Dream Play, and The Ghost Sonata are well-known plays from this period.
His most famous and produced plays are Master Olof, Miss Julie, and The Father.
Internationally, Strindberg is chiefly remembered as a playwright, but in his native Sweden his name is associated no less with novels and other writings. Röda rummet (The Red Room), Hemsöborna (The People of Hemsö), Giftas (Getting Married), En dåres försvarstal (The Confession of a Fool), and Inferno remain among his most celebrated novels, representing different genres and styles. He is often, though not universally, viewed as Sweden's greatest author, and taught in schools as a key figure of Swedish culture. The most important contemporary literary award in Sweden, Augustpriset, is named for Strindberg.
The Swedish composer Ture Rangström dedicated his first Symphony, which was finished in 1914, to August Strindberg in memoriam.
Politics
An acerbic polemicist who was often vehemently opposed to conventional authority, Strindberg was difficult to pigeon-hole as a political figure. Through his long career, he penned scathing attacks on the military, the church, and the monarchy. For most of his public life, he was seen as a major figure on the literary left and a standard-bearer of cultural radicalism, but, especially from the 1890s, he espoused conservative and religious views that alienated many former supporters. He resumed his attacks on conservative society with great vigor in the years immediately preceding his death.
Strindberg's opinions were typically stated with great force and vitriol, and sometimes humorously over-stated. He was involved in a variety of crises and feuds, skirmishing regularly with the literary and cultural establishment of his day, including erstwhile allies and friends. His youthful reputation as a genial enfant terrible of Swedish literature, transformed, eventually, into the role of a sort of ill-tempered towering giant of Swedish public life.
Strindberg was a prolific letter-writer, whose private communications have been collected in several annotated volumes. He often voiced political views privately to friends and literary acquaintances, phrased in a no-holds-barred jargon of scathing attacks, drastic humor, and flippant hyperbole. Many of his most controversial political statements are drawn from this private correspondence.
Influenced by the history of the 1871 Paris Commune, young Strindberg had embraced the view that politics is a conflict between the upper and lower classes. Early works like the Red Room or Master Olof took aim at public hypocrisy, royalty, and organized religion. He was, at this time, an outspoken socialist, mainly influenced by anarchist or libertarian socialist ideas. However, Strindberg's socialism was utopian and undogmatic, rooted less in economic or philosophic doctrine than in a fiery anti-establishment attitude, pitting "the people" against kings, priests, and merchants.
He read widely among socialist thinkers, including Cabet, Fourier, Babeuf, Saint-Simon, Proudhon, and Owen, whom he referred to as "friends of humanity and sharp thinkers." "Strindberg adopted ideas from everyone," writes Jan Olsson, who notes that Strindberg lived in a period where "terms like anarchism, socialism, and communism were alternately used as synonyms and as different terms."
By the early 1880s, many young political and literary radicals in Sweden had come to view Strindberg as a champion of their causes. However, in contrast to the Marxist-influenced socialism then rising within the Swedish labor movement, Strindberg espoused an older type of utopian, agrarian radicalism accompanied by spiritual and even mystical ideas. His views remained as fluid and eclectic as they were uncompromising, and on certain issues he could be wildly out of step with the younger generation of socialists. To Martin Kylhammar, the young Strindberg "was a 'reactionary radical' whose writing was populist and democratic but who persisted in an antiquated romanticizing of agrarian life."
Although he had been an early proponent of women's rights, calling for women's suffrage in 1884, Strindberg later became disenchanted with what he viewed as an unnatural equation of the sexes. In times of personal conflict and marital trouble (which was much of the time), he could lash out with crudely misogynistic statements. His troubled marriage with Siri von Essen, ended in an upsetting divorce in 1891, became the inspiration for The Defence of a Fool, begun in 1887 and published in 1893. Strindberg famously sought to insert a warning to lawmakers against "granting citizens' rights to half-apes, lower beings, sick children, [who are] sick and crazed thirteen times a year during their periods, completely insane while pregnant, and irresponsible throughout the rest of their lives." The paragraph was ultimately removed before printing by his publisher.
Strindberg's misogyny was at odds with the younger generation of socialist activists and has drawn attention in contemporary Strindberg scholarship. So was Strindberg's anti-Jewish rhetoric. Although particularly targeting Jewish enemies of his in Swedish cultural life, he also attacked Jews and Judaism as such. The antisemitic outbursts were particularly pronounced in the early 1880s, when Strindberg dedicated an entire chapter ("Moses") in a work of social and political satire, Det nya riket, dedicated to heckling Swedish Jews (including an unflattering portrayal of Albert Bonnier). Although anti-Jewish prejudice was far from uncommon in wider society in the 1880s, Jan Myrdal notes that "the entire liberal and democratic intelligentsia of the time distanced themselves from the older, left-wing antisemitism of August Strindberg." Yet, as with many things, Strindberg's opinions and passions shifted with time. In the mid-1880s he toned down and then mostly ended his anti-Jewish rhetoric, after publicly declaring himself not to be an anti-Semite in 1884.
A self-declared atheist in his younger years, Strindberg would also re-embrace Christianity, without necessarily making his peace with the church. As noted by Stockholm's Strindberg Museum, the personal and spiritual crisis that Strindberg underwent in Paris in the 1890s, which prompted the writing of Inferno, had aesthetic as well as philosophical and political implications: "Before the Inferno crisis (1869 – 92), Strindberg was influenced by anarchism, Rousseau, Schopenhauer, and Nietzsche; in the years after the crisis (1897 – 1911) he was influenced by Swedenborg, Goethe, Shakespeare, and Beethoven."
In Inferno, Strindberg notes his ideological and spiritual evolution:
What is the purpose of having toiled through thirty years only to gain, through experience, that which I had already understood as a concept? In my youth, I was a sincere believer, and you [i.e. the powers that be] have made me a free-thinker. Out of a free-thinker you have made me an atheist; out of an atheist, a religious believer. Inspired by humanitarian ideas, I have praised socialism. Five years later, you have proven to me the unreasonableness of socialism. Everything that once enthralled me you have invalidated! And presuming that I will now abandon myself to religion, I am certain that you will, in ten years, disprove religion. (Strindberg, Inferno, Chapter XV.)
Despite his reactionary attitudes on issues such as women's rights and his conservative, mystical turn from the early 1890s, Strindberg remained popular with some in the socialist-liberal camp on the strength of his past radicalism and his continued salience as a literary modernizer. However, several former admirers were disappointed and troubled by what they viewed as Strindberg's descent into religious conservatism and, perhaps, madness. His former ally and friend, Social Democrat leader Hjalmar Branting, now dismissed the author as a "disaster" who had betrayed his past ideals for a reactionary, mystical elitism. In 1909, Branting remarked on Strindberg's shifting political and cultural posture, on the occasion of the author's sixtieth birthday:
To the young Strindberg, the trail-blazer, the rouser from sleep, let us offer all our praise and admiration. To the writer in a more mature age [let us offer] a place of rank on the Aeropagus of European erudition. But to the Strindberg of Black Banners [1907] and A Blue Book [1907-1912], who, in the shadows of Inferno [1898] has been converted to a belief in the sickly, empty gospels of mysticism – let us wish, from our hearts, that he may once again become his past self. (Hjalmar Branting, in Social-Demokraten, 22 January 1909.)
Toward the end of his life, however, Strindberg would dramatically reassert his role as a radical standard-bearer and return to the good graces of progressive Swedish opinion.
In April 1910, Strindberg launched a series of unprompted, insult-laden attacks on popular conservative symbols, viciously thrashing the nationalist cult of former king Charles XII ("pharao worship"), the lauded poet Verner von Heidenstam ("the spirit-seer of Djursholm"), and the famous author and traveler Sven Hedin ("the humbug explorer"). The ensuing debate, known as "Strindbergsfejden" or "The Strindberg Feud", is one of the most significant literary debates in Swedish history. It came to comprise about a thousand articles by various authors across some eighty newspapers, raging for two years until Strindberg's death in 1912. The Feud served to revive Strindberg's reputation as an implacable enemy of bourgeois tastes, while also reestablishing beyond doubt his centrality to Swedish culture and politics. In 1912, Strindberg's funeral was co-organized by Branting and heavily attended by members of the Swedish labor movement, with "more than 100 red banners" in attendance alongside the entire Social Democrat parliamentary contingent.
Strindberg's daughter Karin Strindberg married a Russian Bolshevik of partially Swedish ancestry, ("Paulsson").
Painting
Strindberg, something of a polymath, was also a telegrapher, theosophist, painter, photographer and alchemist.
Painting and photography offered vehicles for his belief that chance played a crucial part in the creative process.
Strindberg's paintings were unique for their time, and went beyond those of his contemporaries for their radical lack of adherence to visual reality. The 117 paintings that are acknowledged as his were mostly painted within the span of a few years, and are now seen by some as among the most original works of 19th-century art.
Today, his best-known pieces are stormy, expressionist seascapes, selling at high prices in auction houses. Though Strindberg was friends with Edvard Munch and Paul Gauguin, and was thus familiar with modern trends, the spontaneous and subjective expressiveness of his landscapes and seascapes can be ascribed also to the fact that he painted only in periods of personal crisis. Anders Zorn also did a portrait.
Photography
Strindberg's interest in photography resulted, among other things, in a large number of arranged self-portraits in various environments, which now number among the best-known pictures of him. Strindberg also embarked on a series of camera-less images, using an experimental quasi-scientific approach. He produced a type of photogram that encouraged the development and growth of crystals on the photographic emulsion, sometimes exposed for lengthy periods to heat or cold in the open air or at night facing the stars. The suggestiveness of these, which he called Celestographs, provided an object for contemplation, and he noted;
His interest in the occult in the 1890s finds sympathy with the chance quality of these images, but for him they are also scientific.
In 1895 Strindberg met Camille Flammarion and became a member of the Société astronomique de France. He gave some of his experimental astronomical photographs to the Society.
Occult studies
Alchemy, occultism, Swedenborgianism, and various other eccentric interests were pursued by Strindberg with some intensity for periods of his life.
In the curious and experimental 1897 work Inferno – a dark, paranoid, and confusing tale of his time in Paris, written in French, which takes the form of an autobiographical journal – Strindberg, as the narrator, claims to have successfully performed alchemical experiments and cast black magic spells on his daughter. Much of Inferno indicates that the author suffered from paranoid delusions, as he writes of being stalked through Paris, haunted by evil forces, and targeted with mind-altering electric rays emitted by an "infernal machine" covertly installed in his hotel. It remains unclear to what extent the book represents a genuine attempt at autobiography or exaggerates for literary effect. Olof Lagercrantz has suggested that Strindberg staged and imagined elements of the crisis as material for his literary production.
Personal life
Strindberg was married three times, as follows:
Siri von Essen: married 1877–1891 (14 years), 3 daughters (Karin Smirnov, Greta, and another who died in infancy), 1 son (Hans);
Frida Uhl: married 1893–1895, (2 years) 1 daughter (Kerstin); and
Harriet Bosse: married 1901–1904 (3 years), 1 daughter (Anne-Marie).
Strindberg was age 28 and Siri was 27 at the time of their marriage. He was 44 and Frida was 21 when they married, and he was 52 and Harriet was 23 when they married. Late during his life he met the young actress and painter Fanny Falkner (1890–1963) who was 41 years younger than Strindberg. She wrote a book which illuminates his last years, but the exact nature of their relationship is debated. He had a brief affair in Berlin with Dagny Juel before his marriage to Frida; it has been suggested that the news of her murder in 1901 was the reason he cancelled his honeymoon with his third wife, Harriet.
He was related to Nils Strindberg (a son of one of August's cousins).
Strindberg's relationships with women were troubled and have often been interpreted as misogynistic by contemporaries and modern readers. Marriage and families were being stressed in Strindberg's lifetime as Sweden industrialized and urbanized at a rapid pace. Problems of prostitution and poverty were debated among writers, critics and politicians. His early writing often dealt with the traditional roles of the sexes imposed by society, which he criticized as unjust.
Strindberg's last home was Blå tornet in central Stockholm, where he lived from 1908 until 1912. It is now a museum. Of several statues and busts of him erected in Stockholm, the most prominent is Carl Eldh's, erected in 1942 in Tegnérlunden, a park adjoining this house.
Bibliography
La cruauté et le théâtre de Strindberg de Pascale Roger, coll "Univers théâtral", L'Harmattan, Paris, 2004, 278 p.
The Growth of a Soul (1914)
The German Lieutenant, and Other Stories (1915)
There Are Crimes and Crimes
Further reading
Everdell, William R., The First Moderns: Profiles in the Origins of Twentieth-Century Thought. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1997. (cloth) (bpk)
Brita M. E. Mortensen, Brian W. Downs, Strindberg: An Introduction to His Life and Work, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1965
Gundlach, Angelika; Scherzer, Jörg (Ed.): Der andere Strindberg – Materialien zu Malerei, Photographie und Theaterpraxis, Frankfurt a. M.: Insel-Verlag, 1981. ISBN 3-458-31929-8
Prideaux, Sue, Strindberg: A Life, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012.
Schroeder, J., Stenport, A., and Szalczer, E., editors, August Strindberg and Visual Culture, New York: Bloomsbury, 2018.
Sprinchorn, Evert, Strindberg As Dramatist, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1982.
Stamper, Judith (1975), review of the production of To Damascus at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh in April 1975, in Calgacus 2, Summer 1975, p. 56,
Sources
Adams, Ann-Charlotte Gavel, ed. 2002. Dictionary of Literary Biography. Vol. 259 Twentieth-Century Swedish Writers Before World War II. Detroit, MI: Gale. .
Carlson, Marvin. 1993. Theories of the Theatre: A Historical and Critical Survey from the Greeks to the Present. Expanded ed. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press. .
Ekman, Hans-Göran. 2000. Strindberg and the Five Senses: Studies in Strindberg's Chamber Plays. London and New Brunswick, New Jersey: Athlone. .
Gunnarsson, Torsten. 1998. Nordic Landscape Painting in the Nineteenth Century. New Haven: Yale UP. .
Innes, Christopher, ed. 2000. A Sourcebook on Naturalist Theatre. London and New York: Routledge. .
Lagercrantz, Olof. 1984. August Strindberg. Trans. Anselm Hollo. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux. .
Lane, Harry. 1998. "Strindberg, August." In The Cambridge Guide to Theatre. Ed. Martin Banham. Cambridge: Cambridge UP. 1040–41. .
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Ward, John. 1980. The Social and Religious Plays of Strindberg. London: Athlone. .
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References
External links
English-language translations in the public domain
Public domain translations of Strindberg's drama
The Father, Countess Julie, The Outlaw, The Stronger
Comrades, Facing Death, Pariah, Easter
Swanwhite, Advent, The Storm
There are Crimes and Crimes, Miss Julia, The Stronger, Creditors, and Pariah
To Damascus Part 1
Road To Damascus Parts 1, 2, and 3
Public domain translations of Strindberg's novels
The Red Room.
The Confession of a Fool.
Other
Photographs by Strindberg from the National Library of Sweden on Flickr
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August Strindberg and absinthe; in his life and in his works
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A Dream Play (manuscript) at World Digital Library
Burkhart Brückner: Biography of Johan August Strindberg in: Biographical Archive of Psychiatry (BIAPSY).
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"Attitudes are associated beliefs and behaviors towards some object. They are not stable, and because of the communication and behavior of other people, are subject to change by social influences, as well as by the individual's motivation to maintain cognitive consistency when cognitive dissonance occurs—when two attitudes or attitude and behavior conflict. Attitudes and attitude objects are functions of affective and cognitive components. It has been suggested that the inter-structural composition of an associative network can be altered by the activation of a single node. Thus, by activating an affective or emotional node, attitude change may be possible, though affective and cognitive components tend to be intertwined.\n\nBases\nThere are three bases for attitude change: compliance, identification, and internalization. These three processes represent the different levels of attitude change.\n\nCompliance\n\nCompliance refers to a change in behavior based on consequences, such as an individual's hopes to gain rewards or avoid punishment from another group or person. The individual does not necessarily experience changes in beliefs or evaluations of an attitude object, but rather is influenced by the social outcomes of adopting a change in behavior. \nThe individual is also often aware that he or she is being urged to respond in a certain way.\n\nCompliance was demonstrated through a series of laboratory experiments known as the Asch experiments. Experiments led by Solomon Asch of Swarthmore College asked groups of students to participate in a \"vision test\". In reality, all but one of the participants were confederates of the experimenter, and the study was really about how the remaining student would react to the confederates' behavior. Participants were asked to pick, out of three line options, the line that is the same length as a sample and were asked to give the answer out loud. Unbeknown to the participants, Asch had placed a number of confederates to deliberately give the wrong answer before the participant. The results showed that 75% of responses were in line with majority influence and were the same answers the confederates picked. Variations in the experiments showed that compliance rates increased as the number of confederates increased, and the plateau was reached with around 15 confederates. The likelihood of compliance dropped with minority opposition, even if only one confederate gave the correct answer. The basis for compliance is founded on the fundamental idea that people want to be accurate and right.\n\nIdentification\nIdentification explains one's change of beliefs and affect in order to be similar to someone one admires or likes. In this case, the individual adopts the new attitude, not due to the specific content of the attitude object, but because it is associated with the desired relationship. Often, children's attitudes on race, or their political party affiliations are adopted from their parents' attitudes and beliefs.\n\nInternalization\nInternalization refers to the change in beliefs and affect when one finds the content of the attitude to be intrinsically rewarding, and thus leads to actual change in beliefs or evaluations of an attitude object. The new attitude or behavior is consistent with the individual's value system, and tends to be merged with the individual's existing values and beliefs. Therefore, behaviors adopted through internalization are due to the content of the attitude object.\n\nThe expectancy-value theory is based on internalization of attitude change. This model states that the behavior towards some object is a function of an individual's intent, which is a function of one's overall attitude towards the action.\n\nEmotion-based\nEmotion plays a major role in persuasion, social influence, and attitude change. Much of attitude research has emphasised the importance of affective or emotion components. Emotion works hand-in-hand with the cognitive process, or the way we think, about an issue or situation. Emotional appeals are commonly found in advertising, health campaigns and political messages. Recent examples include no-smoking health campaigns (see tobacco advertising) and political campaigns emphasizing the fear of terrorism. Attitude change based on emotions can be seen vividly in serial killers who are faced with major stress. There is considerable empirical support for the idea that emotions in the form of fear arousal, empathy, or a positive mood can enhance attitude change under certain conditions.\n\nImportant factors that influence the impact of emotional appeals include self-efficacy, attitude accessibility, issue involvement, and message/source features. Attitudes that are central to one's being are highly resistant to change while others that are less fixed may change with new experiences or information. A new attitude (e.g. to time-keeping or absenteeism or quality) may challenge existing beliefs or norms so creating a feeling of psychological discomfort known as cognitive dissonance. It is difficult to measure attitude change since attitudes may only be inferred and there might be significant divergence between those publicly declared and privately held. Self-efficacy is a perception of one's own human agency; in other words, it is the perception of our own ability to deal with a situation. It is an important variable in emotional appeal messages because it dictates a person's ability to deal with both the emotion and the situation. For example, if a person is not self-efficacious about their ability to impact the global environment, they are not likely to change their attitude or behaviour about global warming.\n\nAffective forecasting, otherwise known as intuition or the prediction of emotion, also impacts attitude change. Research suggests that predicting emotions is an important component of decision making, in addition to the cognitive processes. How we feel about an outcome may override purely cognitive rationales.\nIn terms of research methodology, the challenge for researchers is measuring emotion and subsequent impacts on attitude. Since we cannot see into the brain, various models and measurement tools have been constructed to obtain emotion and attitude information. Measures may include the use of physiological cues like facial expressions, vocal changes, and other body rate measures. For instance, fear is associated with raised eyebrows, increased heart rate and increased body tension. Other methods include concept or network mapping, and using primes or word cues.\n\nDual models: depth of processing\nMany dual process models are used to explain the affective (emotional) and cognitive processing and interpretations of messages, as well as the different depths of attitude change. These include the heuristic-systematic model of information processing and the elaboration likelihood model.\n\nHeuristic-systematic model of information processing\n\nThe heuristic-systematic model of information processing describes two depths in the processing of attitude change, systematic processing and heuristic processing. In this model information is either processed in a high-involvement and high-effort systematic way, or information is processed through shortcuts known as heuristics. For example, emotions are affect-based heuristics, in which feelings and gut-feeling reactions are often used as shortcuts.\n\nSystematic processing\nSystematic processing occurs when individuals are motivated and have high cognition to process a message. Individuals using systematic processing are motivated to pay attention and have the cognitive ability to think deeply about a message; they are persuaded by the content of the message, such as the strength or logic of the argument. Motivation can be determined by many factors, such as how personally relevant the topic is, and cognitive ability can be determined by how knowledgeable an individual is on the message topic, or whether or not there is a distraction in the room. Individuals who receive a message through systematic processing usually internalize the message, resulting in a longer and more stable attitude change.\n\nAccording to the heuristic-systematic model of information processing, people are motivated to use systematic processing when they want to achieve a \"desired level of confidence\" in their judgments. There are factors that have been found to increase the use of systematic processing; these factors are associated with either decreasing an individual's actual confidence or increasing an individual's perceived confidence. These factors may include framing persuasive messages in an unexpected manner; self-relevancy of the message.\n\nSystematic processing has been shown to be beneficial in social influence settings. Systematic reasoning has been shown to be successful in producing more valid solutions during group discussions and greater solution accuracy. Shestowsky's (1998) research in dyad discussions revealed that the individual in the dyad who had high motivation and high need in cognition had the greater impact on group decisions.\n\nHeuristic processing\nHeuristic processing occurs when individuals have low motivation and/or low cognitive ability to process a message. Instead of focusing on the argument of the message, recipients using heuristic processing focus on more readily accessible information and other unrelated cues, such as the authority or attractiveness of the speaker. Individuals who process a message through heuristic processing do not internalize the message, and thus any attitude change resulting from the persuasive message is temporary and unstable.\n\nFor example, people are more likely to grant favors if reasons are provided. A study shows that when people said, \"Excuse me, I have five pages to xerox. May I use the copier?\" they received a positive response of 60%. The statement, \"Excuse me, I have five pages to xerox. I am in a rush. May I use the copier?\" produced a 95% success rate.\n\nHeuristic processing examples include social proof, reciprocity, authority, and liking.\n\nSocial proof is the means by which we utilize other people's behaviors in order to form our own beliefs. Our attitudes toward following the majority change when a situation appears uncertain or ambiguous to us, when the source is an expert, or when the source is similar to us. In a study conducted by Sherif, he discovered the power of crowds when he worked with experimenters who looked up in the middle of New York City. As the number of the precipitating group increased, the percentage of passers-by who looked up increased as well.\nReciprocity is returning a favor. People are more likely to return a favor if they have a positive attitude towards the other party. Reciprocities also develop interdependence and societal bonds. \nAuthority plays a role in attitude change in situations where there are superior-inferior relationships. We are more likely to become obedient to authorities when the authority's expertise is perceived as high and when we anticipate receiving rewards. A famous study that constitutes the difference in attitude change is the Milgram experiment, where people changed their attitude to \"shocking their partner\" more when they followed authorities whereas the subjects themselves would have not done so otherwise.\nLiking has shown that if one likes another party, one is more inclined to carry out a favor. The attitude changes are based on whether an individual likes an idea or person, and if he or she does not like the other party, he/she may not carry out the favor or do so out of obligation. Liking can influence one's opinions through factors such as physical attractiveness, similarities, compliments, contact and cooperation.\n\nElaboration likelihood model\n\nThe elaboration likelihood model is similar in concept to and shares many ideas with other dual processing models, such as the heuristic-systematic model of information processing. In the elaboration likelihood model, cognitive processing is the central route and affective/emotion processing is often associated with the peripheral route. The central route pertains to an elaborate cognitive processing of information while the peripheral route relies on cues or feelings. The ELM suggests that true attitude change only happens through the central processing route that incorporates both cognitive and affective components as opposed to the more heuristics-based peripheral route. This suggests that motivation through emotion alone will not result in an attitude change.\n\nCognitive dissonance theory\n\nCognitive dissonance, a theory originally developed by Festinger (1957), is the idea that people experience a sense of guilt or uneasiness when two linked cognitions are inconsistent, such as when there are two conflicting attitudes about a topic, or inconsistencies between one's attitude and behavior on a certain topic. The basic idea of the Cognitive Dissonance Theory relating to attitude change, is that people are motivated to reduce dissonance which can be achieved through changing their attitudes and beliefs. Cooper & Fazio's (1984) have also added that cognitive dissonance does not arise from any simple cognitive inconsistency, but rather results from freely chosen behavior that may bring about negative consequences. These negative consequences may be threats to the consistency, stability, predictability, competence, moral goodness of the self-concept, or violation of general self-integrity.\n\nResearch has suggested multiple routes that cognitive dissonance can be reduced. Self-affirmation has been shown to reduce dissonance, however it is not always the mode of choice when trying to reduce dissonance. When multiple routes are available, it has been found that people prefer to reduce dissonance by directly altering their attitudes and behaviors rather than through self-affirmation. People who have high levels of self-esteem, who are postulated to possess abilities to reduce dissonance by focusing on positive aspects of the self, have also been found to prefer modifying cognitions, such as attitudes and beliefs, over self-affirmation. A simple example of cognitive dissonance resulting in attitude change would be when a heavy smoker learns that his sister died young from lung cancer due to heavy smoking as well, this individual experiences conflicting cognitions: the desire to smoke, and the knowledge that smoking could lead to death and a desire not to die. In order to reduce dissonance, this smoker could change his behavior (i.e. stop smoking), change his attitude about smoking (i.e. smoking is harmful), or retain his original attitude about smoking and modify his new cognition to be consistent with the first one--\"I also work out so smoking won't be harmful to me\". Thus, attitude change is achieved when individuals experience feelings of uneasiness or guilt due to cognitive dissonance, and actively reduce the dissonance through changing their attitude, beliefs, or behavior relating in order to achieve consistency with the inconsistent cognitions.\n\nSorts of studies\nCarl Hovland and his band of persuasion researchers learned a great deal during World War 2 and later at Yale about the process of attitude change.\nHigh-credibility sources lead to more attitude change immediately following the communication act, but a sleeper effect occurs in which the source is forgotten after a period of time.\nMild fear appeals lead to more attitude change than strong fear appeals. Propagandists had often used fear appeals. Hoveland's evidence about the effect of such appeals suggested that a source should be cautious in using fear appeals, because strong fear messages may interfere with the intended persuasion attempt.\n\nBelief rationalization\nThe process of how people change their own attitudes has been studied for years. Belief rationalization has been recognized as an important aspect to understand this process. The stability of people's past attitudes can be influenced if they hold beliefs that are inconsistent with their own behaviors. The influence of past behavior on current attitudes is stable when little information conflicts with the behavior. Alternatively, people's attitudes may lean more radically toward the prior behavior if the conflict makes it difficult to ignore, and forces them to rationalize their past behavior. \n\nAttitudes are often restructured at the time people are asked to report them. As a result, inconsistencies between the information that enters into the reconstruction and the original attitudes can produce changes in prior attitudes, whereas consistency between these elements often elicits stability in prior attitudes. Individuals need to resolve the conflict between their own behaviors and the subsequent beliefs. However, people usually align themselves with their attitudes and beliefs instead of their behaviors. More importantly, this process of resolving people's cognitive conflicts that emerges cuts across both self-perception and dissonance even when the associated effect may only be strong in changing prior attitudes\n\nComparative processing\nHuman judgment is comparative in nature. Departing from identifying people's need to justify their own beliefs in the context of their own behaviors, psychologists also believe that people have the need to carefully evaluate new messages on the basis of whether these messages support or contradict with prior messages, regardless of whether they can recall the prior messages after they reach a conclusion. This comparative processing mechanism is built on \"information-integration theory\" and \"social judgement theory\". Both of these theories have served to model people's attitude change in judging the new information while they haven't adequately explained the influential factors that motivate people to integrate the information.\n\nMore recent work in the area of persuasion has further explored this \"comparative processing\" from the perspective of focusing on comparing between different sets of information on one single issue or object instead of simply making comparisons among different issues or objects. As previous research demonstrated, analyzing information on one target product may trigger less impact of comparative information than comparing this product with the same product under competing brands.\n\nWhen people compare different sets of information on one single issue or object, the effect of people's effort to compare new information with prior information seemed to correlate with the perceived strength of the new, strong information when considered jointly with the initial information. Comparison processes can be enhanced when prior evaluations, associated information, or both are accessible. People will simply construct a current judgment based on the new information or adjust the prior judgment when they are not able to retrieve the information from prior messages. The impact this comparative process can have on people's attitude change is mediated by changes in the strength of new information perceived by receivers. The effects of comparison on judgment change were mediated by changes in the perceived strength of the information. These findings above have wide range of applications in social marketing, political communication, and health promotion. For example, designing an advertisement that is counteractive against an existing attitude towards a behavior or policy is perhaps most effective if the advertisement uses the same format, characters, or music of ads associated with the initial attitudes.\n\nSee also \n\n Attitudinal fix\n Fear appeals\n Reactance (psychology)\n Yale attitude change approach\n\nReferences\n\n \nHuman behavior\nPsychological attitude\nChildren's rights\nParenting",
"An attitude object is the concept around which an attitude is formed and can change over time. This attitude represents an evaluative integration of both cognition and affect in relation to the attitude object. An example of an attitude object is a product (e.g., a car). People can hold various beliefs about cars (cognitions, e.g., that a car is fast) as well as evaluations of those beliefs (affect, e.g., they might like or enjoy that the car is fast). Together these beliefs and affective evaluations of those beliefs represent an attitude toward the object.\n\nSee also \n Attitude (psychology)\n\nReferences \n\nAttitude change"
] |
[
"August Strindberg",
"Politics",
"What was Stridberg's involvement with politics?",
"young Strindberg embraced the view, that politics is a conflict between the upper and lower classes.",
"Did he publish anything about this?",
"Many of his works, however, had at least some politics and sometimes an abundance of it.",
"What are the names of his politically oriented works?",
"The changing nature of his political positions shows in his changing stance on the women's rights issue.",
"What was his thinking on women's rights?",
"Early on, Strindberg was sympathetic to women of 19th-century Sweden, calling for women's suffrage as early as 1884.",
"How did his attitude change?",
"during other periods he had strongly misogynistic opinions, calling for lawmakers to reconsider the emancipation of these \"half-apes ... mad ... criminal, instinctively evil animals.\""
] | C_2268672bf3a74c23a47499e266cc7d59_0 | What were some of his other political attitudes? | 6 | What were some of August Strindberg other political attitudes in addition to women's suffrage? | August Strindberg | Influenced by the history of the Paris Commune, during 1871, young Strindberg embraced the view, that politics is a conflict between the upper and lower classes. He was admired by many as a far-left writer. He was a socialist (or perhaps more of an anarchist, meaning a libertarian socialist, which he himself claimed on at least one occasion). Strindberg's political opinions nevertheless changed considerably within this category over the years, and he was never primarily a political writer. Nor did he often campaign for any one issue, preferring instead to scorn his enemies manifesto-style - the military, the church, the monarchy, the politicians, the stingy publishers, the incompetent reviewers, the narrow-minded, the idiots - and he was not loyal to any party or ideology. Many of his works, however, had at least some politics and sometimes an abundance of it. They often displayed that life and the prevailing system were profoundly unjust and injurious to ordinary citizens. The changing nature of his political positions shows in his changing stance on the women's rights issue. Early on, Strindberg was sympathetic to women of 19th-century Sweden, calling for women's suffrage as early as 1884. However, during other periods he had strongly misogynistic opinions, calling for lawmakers to reconsider the emancipation of these "half-apes ... mad ... criminal, instinctively evil animals." This is controversial in contemporary assessments of Strindberg, as have his antisemitic descriptions of Jews (and, in particular, Jewish enemies of his in Swedish cultural life) in some works (e.g., Det nya riket), particularly during the early 1880s. Strindberg's antisemitic pronouncements, just like his opinions of women, have been debated, and also seem to have varied considerably. Many of these attitudes, passions and behaviours may have been developed for literary reasons and ended as soon as he had exploited them in books. In satirizing Swedish society - in particular the upper classes, the cultural and political establishment, and his many personal and professional foes - he could be very confrontational, with scarcely concealed caricatures of political opponents. This could take the form of brutal character disparagement or mockery, and while the presentation was generally skilful, it was not necessarily subtle. His daughter Karin Strindberg married a Russian Bolshevik of partially Swedish ancestry, Vladimir Smirnov ("Paulsson"). Because of his political views, Strindberg was promoted strongly in socialist countries in Central and Eastern Europe, as well as in the Soviet Union and Cuba. CANNOTANSWER | Nor did he often campaign for any one issue, preferring instead to scorn his enemies manifesto-style - | Johan August Strindberg (, ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than sixty plays and more than thirty works of fiction, autobiography, history, cultural analysis, and politics during his career, which spanned four decades. A bold experimenter and iconoclast throughout, he explored a wide range of dramatic methods and purposes, from naturalistic tragedy, monodrama, and history plays, to his anticipations of expressionist and surrealist dramatic techniques. From his earliest work, Strindberg developed innovative forms of dramatic action, language, and visual composition. He is considered the "father" of modern Swedish literature and his The Red Room (1879) has frequently been described as the first modern Swedish novel. In Sweden, Strindberg is known as an essayist, painter, poet, and especially as a novelist and playwright, but in other countries he is known mostly as a playwright.
The Royal Theatre rejected his first major play, Master Olof, in 1872; it was not until 1881, when he was thirty-two, that its première at the New Theatre gave him his theatrical breakthrough. In his plays The Father (1887), Miss Julie (1888), and Creditors (1889), he created naturalistic dramas that – building on the established accomplishments of Henrik Ibsen's prose problem plays while rejecting their use of the structure of the well-made play – responded to the call-to-arms of Émile Zola's manifesto "Naturalism in the Theatre" (1881) and the example set by André Antoine's newly established (opened 1887). In Miss Julie, characterisation replaces plot as the predominant dramatic element (in contrast to melodrama and the well-made play) and the determining role of heredity and the environment on the "vacillating, disintegrated" characters is emphasized. Strindberg modeled his short-lived Scandinavian Experimental Theatre (1889) in Copenhagen on Antoine's theatre and he explored the theory of Naturalism in his essays "On Psychic Murder" (1887), "On Modern Drama and the Modern Theatre" (1889), and a preface to Miss Julie, the last of which is probably the best-known statement of the principles of the theatrical movement.
During the 1890s he spent significant time abroad engaged in scientific experiments and studies of the occult. A series of apparent psychotic attacks between 1894 and 1896 (referred to as his "Inferno crisis") led to his hospitalization and return to Sweden. Under the influence of the ideas of Emanuel Swedenborg, he resolved after his recovery to become "the Zola of the Occult". In 1898 he returned to play-writing with To Damascus, which, like The Great Highway (1909), is a dream-play of spiritual pilgrimage. His A Dream Play (1902) – with its radical attempt to dramatize the workings of the unconscious by means of an abolition of conventional dramatic time and space and the splitting, doubling, merging, and multiplication of its characters – was an important precursor to both expressionism and surrealism. He also returned to writing historical drama, the genre with which he had begun his play-writing career. He helped to run the Intimate Theatre from 1907, a small-scale theatre, modeled on Max Reinhardt's , that staged his chamber plays (such as The Ghost Sonata).
Biography
Youth
Strindberg was born on 22 January 1849 in Stockholm, Sweden, the third surviving son of Carl Oscar Strindberg (a shipping agent) and Eleonora Ulrika Norling (a serving-maid). In his autobiographical novel The Son of a Servant, Strindberg describes a childhood affected by "emotional insecurity, poverty, religious fanaticism and neglect". When he was seven, Strindberg moved to Norrtullsgatan on the northern, almost-rural periphery of the city. A year later the family moved near to Sabbatsberg, where they stayed for three years before returning to Norrtullsgatan. He attended a harsh school in Klara for four years, an experience that haunted him in his adult life. He was moved to the school in Jakob in 1860, which he found far more pleasant, though he remained there for only a year. In the autumn of 1861, he was moved to the Stockholm Lyceum, a progressive private school for middle-class boys, where he remained for six years. As a child he had a keen interest in natural science, photography, and religion (following his mother's Pietism). His mother, Strindberg recalled later with bitterness, always resented her son's intelligence. She died when he was thirteen, and although his grief lasted for only three months, in later life he came to feel a sense of loss and longing for an idealized maternal figure. Less than a year after her death, his father married the children's governess, Emilia Charlotta Pettersson. According to his sisters, Strindberg came to regard them as his worst enemies. He passed his graduation examination in May 1867 and enrolled at the Uppsala University, where he began on 13 September.
Strindberg spent the next few years in Uppsala and Stockholm, alternately studying for examinations and trying his hand at non-academic pursuits. As a young student, Strindberg also worked as an assistant in a pharmacy in the university town of Lund in southern Sweden. He supported himself in between studies as a substitute primary-school teacher and as a tutor for the children of two well-known physicians in Stockholm. He first left Uppsala in 1868 to work as a schoolteacher, but then studied chemistry for some time at the Institute of Technology in Stockholm in preparation for medical studies, later working as a private tutor before becoming an extra at the Royal Theatre in Stockholm. In May 1869, he failed his qualifying chemistry examination which in turn made him uninterested in schooling.
1870s
Strindberg returned to Uppsala University in January 1870 to study aesthetics and modern languages and to work on a number of plays. It was at this time that he first learnt about the ideas of Charles Darwin. He co-founded the Rune Society, a small literary club whose members adopted pseudonyms taken from runes of the ancient Teutonic alphabet – Strindberg called himself Frö (Seed), after the god of fertility. After abandoning a draft of a play about Eric XIV of Sweden halfway through in the face of criticism from the Rune Society, on 30 March he completed a one-act comedy in verse called In Rome about Bertel Thorvaldsen, which he had begun the previous autumn. The play was accepted by the Royal Theatre, where it premièred on 13 September 1870. As he watched it performed, he realised that it was not good and felt like drowning himself, though the reviews published the following day were generally favourable. That year he also first read works of Søren Kierkegaard and Georg Brandes, both of whom influenced him.
Taking his cue from William Shakespeare, he began to use colloquial and realistic speech in his historical dramas, which challenged the convention that they should be written in stately verse. During the Christmas holiday of 1870–71, he re-wrote a historical tragedy, Sven the Sacrificer, as a one-act play in prose called The Outlaw. Depressed by Uppsala, he stayed in Stockholm, returning to the university in April to pass an exam in Latin and in June to defend his thesis on Adam Gottlob Oehlenschläger's Romantic tragedy Earl Haakon (1802). Following further revision in the summer, The Outlaw opened at the Royal Theatre on 16 October 1871. Despite hostile reviews, the play earned him an audience with King Charles XV, who supported his studies with a payment of 200 riksdaler. Towards the end of the year Strindberg completed a first draft of his first major work, a play about Olaus Petri called Master Olof. In September 1872, the Royal Theatre rejected it, leading to decades of rewrites, bitterness, and a contempt for official institutions. Returning to the university for what would be his final term in the spring, he left on 2 March 1872, without graduating. In Town and Gown (1877), a collection of short stories describing student life, he ridiculed Uppsala and its professors.
Strindberg embarked on his career as a journalist and critic for newspapers in Stockholm. He was particularly excited at this time by Henry Thomas Buckle's History of Civilization and the first volume of Georg Brandes' Main Currents of Nineteenth-Century Literature. From December 1874, Strindberg worked for eight years as an assistant librarian at the Royal Library. That same month, Strindberg offered Master Olof to Edvard Stjernström (the director of the newly built New Theatre in Stockholm), but it was rejected. He socialised with writers, painters, journalists, and other librarians; they often met in the Red Room in Bern's Restaurant.
Early in the summer of 1875, he met Siri von Essen, a 24-year-old aspiring actress who, by virtue of her husband, was a baroness – he became infatuated with her. Strindberg described himself as a "failed author" at this time: "I feel like a deaf-mute," he wrote, "as I cannot speak and am not permitted to write; sometimes I stand in the middle of my room that seems like a prison cell, and then I want to scream so that walls and ceilings would fly apart, and I have so much to scream about, and therefore I remain silent." As a result of an argument in January 1876 concerning the inheritance of the family firm, Strindberg's relationship with his father was terminated (he did not attend his funeral in February 1883). From the beginning of 1876, Strindberg and Siri began to meet in secret, and that same year Siri and her husband divorced. Following a successful audition that December, Siri became an actress at the Royal Theatre. They married a year later, on 30 December 1877; Siri was seven months pregnant at the time. Their first child was born prematurely on 21 January 1878 and died two days later. On 9 January 1879, Strindberg was declared bankrupt. In November 1879, his novel The Red Room was published. A satire of Stockholm society, it has frequently been described as the first modern Swedish novel. While receiving mixed reviews in Sweden, it was acclaimed in Denmark, where Strindberg was hailed as a genius. As a result of The Red Room, he had become famous throughout Scandinavia. Edvard Brandes wrote that the novel "makes the reader want to join the fight against hypocrisy and reaction." In his response to Brandes, Strindberg explained that:
1880s
Strindberg and Siri's daughter Karin was born on 26 February 1880. Buoyant from the reception of The Red Room, Strindberg swiftly completed The Secret of the Guild, an historical drama set in Uppsala at the beginning of the 15th century about the conflict between two masons over the completion of the city cathedral, which opened at the Royal Theatre on 3 May 1880 (his first première in nine years); Siri played Margaretha. That spring he formed a friendship with the painter Carl Larsson. A collected edition of all of Strindberg's previous writings was published under the title Spring Harvest. From 1881, at the invitation of Edvard Brandes, Strindberg began to contribute articles to the Morgenbladet, a Copenhagen daily newspaper. In April he began work on The Swedish People, a four-part cultural history of Sweden written as a series of depictions of ordinary people's lives from the 9th century onwards, which he undertook mainly for financial reasons and which absorbed him for the next year; Larsson provided illustrations. At Strindberg's insistence, Siri resigned from the Royal Theatre in the spring, having become pregnant again. Their second daughter, Greta, was born on 9 June 1881, while they were staying on the island of Kymmendö. That month, a collection of essays from the past ten years, Studies in Cultural History, was published. Ludvig Josephson (the new artistic director of Stockholm's New Theatre) agreed to stage Master Olof, eventually opting for the prose version – the five-hour-long production opened on 30 December 1881 under the direction of August Lindberg to favourable reviews. While this production of Master Olof was his breakthrough in the theatre, Strindberg's five-act fairy-tale play Lucky Peter's Journey, which opened on 22 December 1883, brought him his first significant success, although he dismissed it as a potboiler. In March 1882 he wrote in a letter to Josephson: "My interest in the theatre, I must frankly state, has but one focus and one goal – my wife's career as an actress"; Josephson duly cast her in two roles the following season.
Having returned to Kymmendö during the summer of 1882, Strindberg wrote a collection of anti-establishment short stories, The New Kingdom. While there, to provide a lead role for his wife and as a reply to Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House (1879), he also wrote Sir Bengt's Wife, which opened on 25 November 1882 at the New Theatre. He moved to Grez-sur-Loing, just south of Paris, France, where Larsson was staying. He then moved to Paris, which they found noisy and polluted. Income earned from Lucky Peter's Journey enabled him to move to Switzerland in 1883. He resided in Ouchy, where he stayed for some years. On 3 April 1884, Siri gave birth to their son, Hans.
In 1884 Strindberg wrote a collection of short stories, Getting Married, that presented women in an egalitarian light and for which he was tried for and acquitted of blasphemy in Sweden. Two groups "led by influential members of the upper classes, supported by the right-wing press" probably instigated the prosecution; at the time, most people in Stockholm thought that Queen Sophia was behind it. By the end of that year Strindberg was in a despondent mood: "My view now is," he wrote, "everything is shit. No way out. The skein is too tangled to be unravelled. It can only be sheared. The building is too solid to be pulled down. It can only be blown up." In May 1885 he wrote: "I am on my way to becoming an atheist." In the wake of the publication of Getting Married, he began to correspond with Émile Zola. During the summer he completed a sequel volume of stories, though some were quite different in tone from those of the first. Another collection of stories, Utopias in Reality, was published in September 1885, though it was not well received.
In 1885, they moved back to Paris. In September 1887 he began to write a novel in French about his relationship with Siri von Essen called The Defence of a Fool. In 1887, they moved to Issigatsbühl, near Lindau by Lake Constance. His next play, Comrades (1886), was his first in a contemporary setting. After the trial he evaluated his religious beliefs, and concluded that he needed to leave Lutheranism, though he had been Lutheran since childhood; and after briefly being a deist, he became an atheist. He needed a credo and he used Jean-Jacques Rousseau nature worshiping, which he had studied while a student, as one. His works The People of Hemsö (1887) and Among French Peasants (1889) were influenced by his study of Rousseau. He then moved to Germany, where he fell in love with Chancellor Otto von Bismarck's Prussia status of the officer corps. After that, he grew very critical of Rousseau and turned to Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophies, which emphasized the male intellect. Nietzsche's influence can be seen in The Defence of a Fool (1893), Pariah (1889), Creditors (1889), and By the Open Sea (1890).
Another change in his life after the trial is that Strindberg decided he wanted a scientific life instead of a literary one, and began to write about non-literary subjects. When he was 37, he began The Son of a Servant, a four-part autobiography. The first part ends in 1867, the year he left home for Uppsala. Part two describes his youth up to 1872. Part three, or The Red Room, describes his years as a poet and journalist; it ends with his meeting Siri von Essen. Part four, which dealt with the years from 1877 to 1886, was banned by his publishers and was not published until after his death. The three missing years, 1875–1877, were the time when Strindberg was wooing von Essen and their marriage; entitled He and She, this portion of his autobiography was not printed until 1919, after his death. It contains the love letters between the two during that period.
In the later half of the 1880s Strindberg discovered Naturalism. After completing The Father in a matter of weeks, he sent a copy to Émile Zola for his approval, though Zola's reaction was lukewarm. The drama revolves around the conflict between the Captain, a father, husband, and scientist, and his wife, Laura, over the education of their only child, a fourteen-year-old daughter named Berta. Through unscrupulous means, Laura gets the Captain to doubt his fatherhood until he suffers a mental and physical collapse. While writing The Father, Strindberg himself was experiencing marital problems and doubted the paternity of his children. He also suspected that Ibsen had based Hjalmar Ekdal in The Wild Duck (1884) on Strindberg because he felt that Ibsen viewed him as a weak and pathetic husband; he reworked the situation of Ibsen's play into a warfare between the two sexes. From November 1887 to April 1889, Strindberg stayed in Copenhagen. While there he had several opportunities to meet with both Georg Brandes and his brother Edvard Brandes. Georg helped him put on The Father, which had its première on 14 November 1887 at the Casino Theatre in Copenhagen. It enjoyed a successful run for eleven days after which it toured the Danish provinces.
Before writing Creditors, Strindberg completed one of his most famous pieces, Miss Julie. He wrote the play with a Parisian stage in mind, in particular the Théâtre Libre, founded in 1887 by André Antoine. In the play he used Charles Darwin's theory of survival of the fittest and dramatized a doomed sexual encounter that crosses the division of social classes. It is believed that this play was inspired by the marriage of Strindberg, the son of a servant, to an aristocratic woman.
In the essay On Psychic Murder (1887), he referred to the psychological theories of the Nancy School, which advocated the use of hypnosis. Strindberg developed a theory that sexual warfare was not motivated by carnal desire but by relentless human will. The winner was the one who had the strongest and most unscrupulous mind, someone who, like a hypnotist, could coerce a more impressionable psyche into submission. His view on psychological power struggles may be seen in works such as Creditors (1889), The Stronger (1889), and Pariah (1889).
In 1888, after a separation and reconciliation with Siri von Essen, he founded the Scandinavian Experimental Theatre in Copenhagen, where Siri became manager. He asked writers to send him scripts, which he received from Herman Bang, Gustav Wied and Nathalia Larsen. Less than a year later, with the theatre and reconciliation short lived, he moved back to Sweden while Siri moved back to her native Finland with the children. While there, he rode out the final phase of the divorce and later used this agonizing ordeal for the basis of The Bond and the Link (1893). Strindberg also became interested in short drama, called Quart d'heure. He was inspired by writers such as Gustave Guiche and Henri de Lavedan. His notable contribution was The Stronger (1889). As a result of the failure of the Scandinavian Experimental Theatre, Strindberg did not work as a playwright for three years. In 1889, he published an essay entitled "On Modern Drama and the Modern Theatre", in which he disassociated himself from naturalism, arguing that it was petty and unimaginative realism. His sympathy for Nietzsche's philosophy and atheism in general was also on the wane. He entered the period of his "Inferno crisis," in which he had psychological and religious upheavals that influenced his later works.
August Strindberg's Inferno is his personal account of sinking deeper into some kind of madness, typified by visions and paranoia. In Strindberg och alkoholen (1985), James Spens discusses Strindberg's drinking habits, including his liking for absinthe and its possible implications for Strindberg's mental health during the inferno period.
1890s
After his disenchantment with naturalism, Strindberg had a growing interest in transcendental matters. Symbolism was just beginning at this time. Verner von Heidenstam and Ola Hanson had dismissed naturalism as "shoemaker realism" that rendered human experience in simplistic terms. This is believed to have stalled Strindberg's creativity, and Strindberg insisted that he was in a rivalry and forced to defend naturalism, even though he had exhausted its literary potential. These works include: Debit and Credit (1892), Facing Death (1892), Motherly Love (1892), and The First Warning (1893). His play The Keys of Heaven (1892) was inspired by the loss of his children in his divorce. He also completed one of his few comedies, Playing with Fire (1893), and the first two parts of his post-inferno trilogy To Damascus (1898–1904).
In 1892, he experienced writer's block, which led to a drastic reduction in his income. Depression followed as he was unable to meet his financial obligations and to support his children and former wife. A fund was set up through an appeal in a German magazine. This money allowed him to leave Sweden and he joined artistic circles in Berlin. Otto Brahm's Freie Bühne theatre premiered some of his famous works in Germany, including The Father, Miss Julie, and Creditors.
Similar to twenty years earlier when he frequented The Red Room, he now went to the German tavern The Black Porker. Here he met a diverse group of artists from Scandinavia, Poland, and Germany. His attention turned to Frida Uhl, who was twenty-three years younger than Strindberg. They were married in 1893. Less than a year later, their daughter Kerstin was born and the couple separated, though their marriage was not officially dissolved until 1897. Frida's family, in particular her mother, who was a devout Catholic, had an important influence on Strindberg, and in an 1894 letter he declared "I feel the hand of our Lord resting over me."
Some critics think that Strindberg suffered from severe paranoia in the mid-1890s, and perhaps that he temporarily experienced insanity. Others, including Evert Sprinchorn and Olof Lagercrantz, believed that he intentionally turned himself into his own guinea pig by doing psychological and drug-induced self-experimentation. He wrote on subjects such as botany, chemistry, and optics before returning to literature with the publication of Inferno (1897), a (half fictionalized) account of his "wilderness years" in Austria and Paris, then a collection of short stories, Legends, and a semi-dramatic novella, Jacob Wrestling (both printed in the same book 1898). Both volumes aroused curiosity and controversy, not least due to the religious element; earlier, Strindberg had been known to be indifferent or hostile to religion and especially priests, but now he had undergone some sort of conversion to a personal faith. In a postscript, he noted the impact of Emanuel Swedenborg on his current work.
"The Powers" were central to Strindberg's later work. He said that "the Powers" were an outside force that had caused him his physical and mental suffering because they were acting in retribution to humankind for their wrongdoings. As William Blake, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Honoré de Balzac, and William Butler Yeats had been, he was drawn to Swedenborg's mystical visions, with their depictions of spiritual landscape and Christian morality. Strindberg believed for the rest of his life that the relationship between the transcendental and the real world was described by a series of "correspondences" and that everyday events were really messages from above of which only the enlightened could make sense. He also felt that he was chosen by Providence to atone for the moral decay of others and that his tribulations were payback for misdeeds earlier in his life.
Strindberg had spent the tail end of 1896 and most of 1897 in the university town of Lund in southern Sweden, a sojourn during which he made a number of new friendships, felt his mental stability and health improving and also firmly returned to literary writing; Inferno, Legends and Jacob Wrestling were written there. In 1899, he returned permanently to Stockholm, following a successful production there of Master Olof in 1897 (which was re-staged in 1899 to mark Strindberg's fiftieth birthday). He had the desire to become recognized as a leadíng figure in Swedish literature, and to put earlier controversies behind him, and felt that historical dramas were the way to attain that status. Though Strindberg claimed that he was writing "realistically," he freely altered past events and biographical information, and telescoped chronology (as often done in most historical fiction): more importantly, he felt a flow of resurgent inspiration, writing almost twenty new plays (many in a historical setting) between 1898 and 1902. His new works included the so-called Vasa Trilogy: The Saga of the Folkungs (1899), Gustavus Vasa (1899), and Erik XIV (1899) and A Dream Play (written in 1901, first performed in 1907).
1900s
Strindberg was pivotal in the creation of chamber plays. Max Reinhardt was a big supporter of his, staging some of his plays at the Kleines Theatre in 1902 (including The Bond, The Stronger, and The Outlaw). Once Otto Brahm relinquished his role as head as of the Deutsches Theatre, Reinhardt took over and produced Strindberg's plays.
In 1903, Strindberg planned to write a grand cycle of plays based on world history, but the idea soon faded. He had completed short plays about Martin Luther, Plato, Moses, Jesus Christ, and Socrates. He wrote another historical drama in 1908 after the Royal Theatre convinced him to put on a new play for its sixtieth birthday. He wrote The Last of the Knights (1908), Earl Birger of Bjalbo (1909), and The Regents (1909).
His other works, such as Days of Loneliness (1903), The Roofing Ceremony (1907), and The Scapegoat (1907), and the novels The Gothic Rooms (1904) and Black Banners Genre Scenes from the Turn of the Century, (1907) have been viewed as precursors to Marcel Proust and Franz Kafka.
August Falck, an actor, wanted to put on a production of Miss Julie and wrote to Strindberg for permission. In September 1906 he staged the first Swedish production of Miss Julie. August Falck, played Jean and Manda Bjorling played Julie.
In 1909, Strindberg thought he might get the Nobel Prize in Literature, but instead lost to Selma Lagerlöf, the first woman and first Swede to win the award. The leader of the Social Democrat Youth Alliance started a fund-raiser for a special "people's award". Nathan Söderblom (friend of Strindberg since the mid-90s years in Paris, a prominent theologian and later to become archbishop of Sweden) was noted as a donor, and both he and Strindberg came under attack from circles close to the conservative party and the church. In total 45,000 Swedish crowns were collected, by more than 20,000 donors, most of whom were workers. Albert Bonniers förlag, who had already published much of his work over the years, paid him 200,000 Swedish crowns for the publishing rights to his complete works; the first volumes of the edition would appear in print in 1912, a few months before his death. He invited his first three children (now, like their mother, living in Finland) to Stockholm and divided the money into five shares, one for each child, one for Siri (absent), and the last one for himself. In setting apart one share for Siri, Strindberg noted, in a shy voice, "This is for your mother - it's to settle an old debt". When the children returned to Helsinki, Siri was surprised to hear that she had been included, but accepted the money and told them in a voice that was, according to her daughter Karin, both proud and moved, "I shall accept it, receiving it as an old debt". The debt was less financial than mental and emotional; Strindberg knew he had sometimes treated her unfairly during the later years of their marriage and at their divorce trial. In 1912, she would pass away only a few weeks before him.
In 1907 Strindberg co-founded The Intimate Theatre in Stockholm, together with the young actor and stage director August Falck. His theatre was modeled after Max Reinhardt's Kammerspiel Haus. Strindberg and Falck had the intention of the theatre being used for his plays and his plays only, Strindberg also wanted to try out a more chamber-oriented and sparse style of dramatic writing and production. In time for the theatre's opening, Strindberg wrote four chamber plays: Thunder in the Air, The Burned Site, The Ghost Sonata, and The Pelican; these were generally not a success with audiences or newspaper critics at the time but have been highly influential on modern drama (and soon would reach wider audiences at Reinhardt's theatre in Berlin and other German stages). Strindberg had very specific ideas about how the theatre would be opened and operated. He drafted a series of rules for his theatre in a letter to August Falck: 1. No liquor. 2. No Sunday performances. 3. Short performances without intermissions. 4. No calls. 5. Only 160 seats in the auditorium. 6. No prompter. No orchestra, only music on stage. 7. The text will be sold at the box office and in the lobby. 8. Summer performances. Falck helped to design the auditorium, which was decorated in a deep-green tone. The ceiling lighting was a yellow silk cover which created an effect of mild daylight. The floor was covered with a deep-green carpet, and the auditorium was decorated by six ultra modern columns with elaborate up-to-date capitals. Instead of the usual restaurant Strindberg offered a lounge for the ladies and a smoking-room for the gentlemen. The stage was unusually small, only 6 by 9 metres. The small stage and minimal number of seats was meant to give the audience a greater feeling of involvement in the work. Unlike most theatres at this time, the Intima Teater was not a place in which people could come to socialize. By setting up his rules and creating an intimate atmosphere, Strindberg was able to demand the audience's focus. When the theatre opened in 1907 with a performance of The Pelican it was a rather large hit. Strindberg used a minimal technique, as was his way, by only having a back drop and some sea shells on the stage for scene design and props. Strindberg was much more concerned with the actors portraying the written word than the stage looking pretty. The theatre ran into a financial difficulty in February 1908 and Falck had to borrow money from Prince Eugen, Duke of Närke, who attended the première of The Pelican. The theatre eventually went bankrupt in 1910, but did not close until Strindberg's death in 1912. The newspapers wrote about the theatre until its death.
Death and funeral
Strindberg died shortly after the first staging of one of his plays in the United States — The Father opened on 9 April 1912 at the Berkeley Theatre in New York, in a translation by painter and playwright Edith Gardener Shearn Oland and her husband actor Warner Oland. They jointly published their translations of his plays in book form in 1912.
During Christmas 1911, Strindberg became sick with pneumonia and he never recovered completely. He also began to suffer more clearly from a stomach cancer (early signs of which had been felt in 1908). The final weeks of his life were painful. He had long since become a national celebrity, even if highly controversial, and when it became clear that he was seriously ill the daily papers in Stockholm began reporting on his health in every edition. He received many letters and telegrams from admirers across the country. He died on 14 May 1912 at the age of 63.
Strindberg was interred at Norra begravningsplatsen in Stockholm. He had given strict instructions concerning his funeral and how his body should be treated after death: only members of his immediate family were allowed to view his body, there would be no obduction, no photographs were taken, and no death mask was made. Strindberg had also requested that his funeral should take place as soon as possible after his death to avoid crowds of onlookers. However, the workers' organisations requested that the funeral should take place on a Sunday to make it possible for working men to pay their respects, and the funeral was postponed for five days, until Sunday, 19 May. According to Strindberg's last wish, the funeral procession was to start at 8am, again to avoid crowds, but large groups of people were nevertheless waiting outside his home as well as at the cemetery, as early as 7am. A short service was conducted by Nathan Söderblom by the bier in Strindberg's home, in the presence of three of Strindberg's children and his housekeeper, after which the coffin was taken outside for the funeral procession. The procession was followed by groups of students, workers, members of Parliament and a couple of cabinet ministers, and it was estimated that up to 60,000 people lined the streets. King Gustaf V sent a wreath for the bier.
Legacy
Tennessee Williams, Edward Albee, Maxim Gorky, John Osborne, and Ingmar Bergman are among the many artists who have cited Strindberg as an influence. Eugene O'Neill, upon receiving the Nobel Prize in Literature, dedicated much of his acceptance speech to describing Strindberg's influence on his work, and referred to him as "that greatest genius of all modern dramatists." Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges said of Strindberg: "[he] was, for a time, my god, alongside Nietzsche".
A multi-faceted author, Strindberg was often extreme. His novel The Red Room (1879) made him famous. His early plays belong to the Naturalistic movement. His works from this time are often compared with the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. Strindberg's best-known play from this period is Miss Julie. Among his most widely read works is the novel The People of Hemsö.
Strindberg wanted to attain what he called "greater Naturalism." He disliked the expository character backgrounds that characterise the work of Henrik Ibsen and rejected the convention of a dramatic "slice of life" because he felt that the resulting plays were mundane and uninteresting. Strindberg felt that true naturalism was a psychological "battle of brains": two people who hate each other in the immediate moment and strive to drive the other to doom is the type of mental hostility that Strindberg strove to describe. He intended his plays to be impartial and objective, citing a desire to make literature akin to a science.
Following the inner turmoil that he experienced during the "Inferno crisis," he wrote an important book in French, Inferno (1896–7), in which he dramatised his experiences. He also exchanged a few cryptic letters with Friedrich Nietzsche.
Strindberg subsequently ended his association with Naturalism and began to produce works informed by Symbolism. He is considered one of the pioneers of the modern European stage and Expressionism. The Dance of Death, A Dream Play, and The Ghost Sonata are well-known plays from this period.
His most famous and produced plays are Master Olof, Miss Julie, and The Father.
Internationally, Strindberg is chiefly remembered as a playwright, but in his native Sweden his name is associated no less with novels and other writings. Röda rummet (The Red Room), Hemsöborna (The People of Hemsö), Giftas (Getting Married), En dåres försvarstal (The Confession of a Fool), and Inferno remain among his most celebrated novels, representing different genres and styles. He is often, though not universally, viewed as Sweden's greatest author, and taught in schools as a key figure of Swedish culture. The most important contemporary literary award in Sweden, Augustpriset, is named for Strindberg.
The Swedish composer Ture Rangström dedicated his first Symphony, which was finished in 1914, to August Strindberg in memoriam.
Politics
An acerbic polemicist who was often vehemently opposed to conventional authority, Strindberg was difficult to pigeon-hole as a political figure. Through his long career, he penned scathing attacks on the military, the church, and the monarchy. For most of his public life, he was seen as a major figure on the literary left and a standard-bearer of cultural radicalism, but, especially from the 1890s, he espoused conservative and religious views that alienated many former supporters. He resumed his attacks on conservative society with great vigor in the years immediately preceding his death.
Strindberg's opinions were typically stated with great force and vitriol, and sometimes humorously over-stated. He was involved in a variety of crises and feuds, skirmishing regularly with the literary and cultural establishment of his day, including erstwhile allies and friends. His youthful reputation as a genial enfant terrible of Swedish literature, transformed, eventually, into the role of a sort of ill-tempered towering giant of Swedish public life.
Strindberg was a prolific letter-writer, whose private communications have been collected in several annotated volumes. He often voiced political views privately to friends and literary acquaintances, phrased in a no-holds-barred jargon of scathing attacks, drastic humor, and flippant hyperbole. Many of his most controversial political statements are drawn from this private correspondence.
Influenced by the history of the 1871 Paris Commune, young Strindberg had embraced the view that politics is a conflict between the upper and lower classes. Early works like the Red Room or Master Olof took aim at public hypocrisy, royalty, and organized religion. He was, at this time, an outspoken socialist, mainly influenced by anarchist or libertarian socialist ideas. However, Strindberg's socialism was utopian and undogmatic, rooted less in economic or philosophic doctrine than in a fiery anti-establishment attitude, pitting "the people" against kings, priests, and merchants.
He read widely among socialist thinkers, including Cabet, Fourier, Babeuf, Saint-Simon, Proudhon, and Owen, whom he referred to as "friends of humanity and sharp thinkers." "Strindberg adopted ideas from everyone," writes Jan Olsson, who notes that Strindberg lived in a period where "terms like anarchism, socialism, and communism were alternately used as synonyms and as different terms."
By the early 1880s, many young political and literary radicals in Sweden had come to view Strindberg as a champion of their causes. However, in contrast to the Marxist-influenced socialism then rising within the Swedish labor movement, Strindberg espoused an older type of utopian, agrarian radicalism accompanied by spiritual and even mystical ideas. His views remained as fluid and eclectic as they were uncompromising, and on certain issues he could be wildly out of step with the younger generation of socialists. To Martin Kylhammar, the young Strindberg "was a 'reactionary radical' whose writing was populist and democratic but who persisted in an antiquated romanticizing of agrarian life."
Although he had been an early proponent of women's rights, calling for women's suffrage in 1884, Strindberg later became disenchanted with what he viewed as an unnatural equation of the sexes. In times of personal conflict and marital trouble (which was much of the time), he could lash out with crudely misogynistic statements. His troubled marriage with Siri von Essen, ended in an upsetting divorce in 1891, became the inspiration for The Defence of a Fool, begun in 1887 and published in 1893. Strindberg famously sought to insert a warning to lawmakers against "granting citizens' rights to half-apes, lower beings, sick children, [who are] sick and crazed thirteen times a year during their periods, completely insane while pregnant, and irresponsible throughout the rest of their lives." The paragraph was ultimately removed before printing by his publisher.
Strindberg's misogyny was at odds with the younger generation of socialist activists and has drawn attention in contemporary Strindberg scholarship. So was Strindberg's anti-Jewish rhetoric. Although particularly targeting Jewish enemies of his in Swedish cultural life, he also attacked Jews and Judaism as such. The antisemitic outbursts were particularly pronounced in the early 1880s, when Strindberg dedicated an entire chapter ("Moses") in a work of social and political satire, Det nya riket, dedicated to heckling Swedish Jews (including an unflattering portrayal of Albert Bonnier). Although anti-Jewish prejudice was far from uncommon in wider society in the 1880s, Jan Myrdal notes that "the entire liberal and democratic intelligentsia of the time distanced themselves from the older, left-wing antisemitism of August Strindberg." Yet, as with many things, Strindberg's opinions and passions shifted with time. In the mid-1880s he toned down and then mostly ended his anti-Jewish rhetoric, after publicly declaring himself not to be an anti-Semite in 1884.
A self-declared atheist in his younger years, Strindberg would also re-embrace Christianity, without necessarily making his peace with the church. As noted by Stockholm's Strindberg Museum, the personal and spiritual crisis that Strindberg underwent in Paris in the 1890s, which prompted the writing of Inferno, had aesthetic as well as philosophical and political implications: "Before the Inferno crisis (1869 – 92), Strindberg was influenced by anarchism, Rousseau, Schopenhauer, and Nietzsche; in the years after the crisis (1897 – 1911) he was influenced by Swedenborg, Goethe, Shakespeare, and Beethoven."
In Inferno, Strindberg notes his ideological and spiritual evolution:
What is the purpose of having toiled through thirty years only to gain, through experience, that which I had already understood as a concept? In my youth, I was a sincere believer, and you [i.e. the powers that be] have made me a free-thinker. Out of a free-thinker you have made me an atheist; out of an atheist, a religious believer. Inspired by humanitarian ideas, I have praised socialism. Five years later, you have proven to me the unreasonableness of socialism. Everything that once enthralled me you have invalidated! And presuming that I will now abandon myself to religion, I am certain that you will, in ten years, disprove religion. (Strindberg, Inferno, Chapter XV.)
Despite his reactionary attitudes on issues such as women's rights and his conservative, mystical turn from the early 1890s, Strindberg remained popular with some in the socialist-liberal camp on the strength of his past radicalism and his continued salience as a literary modernizer. However, several former admirers were disappointed and troubled by what they viewed as Strindberg's descent into religious conservatism and, perhaps, madness. His former ally and friend, Social Democrat leader Hjalmar Branting, now dismissed the author as a "disaster" who had betrayed his past ideals for a reactionary, mystical elitism. In 1909, Branting remarked on Strindberg's shifting political and cultural posture, on the occasion of the author's sixtieth birthday:
To the young Strindberg, the trail-blazer, the rouser from sleep, let us offer all our praise and admiration. To the writer in a more mature age [let us offer] a place of rank on the Aeropagus of European erudition. But to the Strindberg of Black Banners [1907] and A Blue Book [1907-1912], who, in the shadows of Inferno [1898] has been converted to a belief in the sickly, empty gospels of mysticism – let us wish, from our hearts, that he may once again become his past self. (Hjalmar Branting, in Social-Demokraten, 22 January 1909.)
Toward the end of his life, however, Strindberg would dramatically reassert his role as a radical standard-bearer and return to the good graces of progressive Swedish opinion.
In April 1910, Strindberg launched a series of unprompted, insult-laden attacks on popular conservative symbols, viciously thrashing the nationalist cult of former king Charles XII ("pharao worship"), the lauded poet Verner von Heidenstam ("the spirit-seer of Djursholm"), and the famous author and traveler Sven Hedin ("the humbug explorer"). The ensuing debate, known as "Strindbergsfejden" or "The Strindberg Feud", is one of the most significant literary debates in Swedish history. It came to comprise about a thousand articles by various authors across some eighty newspapers, raging for two years until Strindberg's death in 1912. The Feud served to revive Strindberg's reputation as an implacable enemy of bourgeois tastes, while also reestablishing beyond doubt his centrality to Swedish culture and politics. In 1912, Strindberg's funeral was co-organized by Branting and heavily attended by members of the Swedish labor movement, with "more than 100 red banners" in attendance alongside the entire Social Democrat parliamentary contingent.
Strindberg's daughter Karin Strindberg married a Russian Bolshevik of partially Swedish ancestry, ("Paulsson").
Painting
Strindberg, something of a polymath, was also a telegrapher, theosophist, painter, photographer and alchemist.
Painting and photography offered vehicles for his belief that chance played a crucial part in the creative process.
Strindberg's paintings were unique for their time, and went beyond those of his contemporaries for their radical lack of adherence to visual reality. The 117 paintings that are acknowledged as his were mostly painted within the span of a few years, and are now seen by some as among the most original works of 19th-century art.
Today, his best-known pieces are stormy, expressionist seascapes, selling at high prices in auction houses. Though Strindberg was friends with Edvard Munch and Paul Gauguin, and was thus familiar with modern trends, the spontaneous and subjective expressiveness of his landscapes and seascapes can be ascribed also to the fact that he painted only in periods of personal crisis. Anders Zorn also did a portrait.
Photography
Strindberg's interest in photography resulted, among other things, in a large number of arranged self-portraits in various environments, which now number among the best-known pictures of him. Strindberg also embarked on a series of camera-less images, using an experimental quasi-scientific approach. He produced a type of photogram that encouraged the development and growth of crystals on the photographic emulsion, sometimes exposed for lengthy periods to heat or cold in the open air or at night facing the stars. The suggestiveness of these, which he called Celestographs, provided an object for contemplation, and he noted;
His interest in the occult in the 1890s finds sympathy with the chance quality of these images, but for him they are also scientific.
In 1895 Strindberg met Camille Flammarion and became a member of the Société astronomique de France. He gave some of his experimental astronomical photographs to the Society.
Occult studies
Alchemy, occultism, Swedenborgianism, and various other eccentric interests were pursued by Strindberg with some intensity for periods of his life.
In the curious and experimental 1897 work Inferno – a dark, paranoid, and confusing tale of his time in Paris, written in French, which takes the form of an autobiographical journal – Strindberg, as the narrator, claims to have successfully performed alchemical experiments and cast black magic spells on his daughter. Much of Inferno indicates that the author suffered from paranoid delusions, as he writes of being stalked through Paris, haunted by evil forces, and targeted with mind-altering electric rays emitted by an "infernal machine" covertly installed in his hotel. It remains unclear to what extent the book represents a genuine attempt at autobiography or exaggerates for literary effect. Olof Lagercrantz has suggested that Strindberg staged and imagined elements of the crisis as material for his literary production.
Personal life
Strindberg was married three times, as follows:
Siri von Essen: married 1877–1891 (14 years), 3 daughters (Karin Smirnov, Greta, and another who died in infancy), 1 son (Hans);
Frida Uhl: married 1893–1895, (2 years) 1 daughter (Kerstin); and
Harriet Bosse: married 1901–1904 (3 years), 1 daughter (Anne-Marie).
Strindberg was age 28 and Siri was 27 at the time of their marriage. He was 44 and Frida was 21 when they married, and he was 52 and Harriet was 23 when they married. Late during his life he met the young actress and painter Fanny Falkner (1890–1963) who was 41 years younger than Strindberg. She wrote a book which illuminates his last years, but the exact nature of their relationship is debated. He had a brief affair in Berlin with Dagny Juel before his marriage to Frida; it has been suggested that the news of her murder in 1901 was the reason he cancelled his honeymoon with his third wife, Harriet.
He was related to Nils Strindberg (a son of one of August's cousins).
Strindberg's relationships with women were troubled and have often been interpreted as misogynistic by contemporaries and modern readers. Marriage and families were being stressed in Strindberg's lifetime as Sweden industrialized and urbanized at a rapid pace. Problems of prostitution and poverty were debated among writers, critics and politicians. His early writing often dealt with the traditional roles of the sexes imposed by society, which he criticized as unjust.
Strindberg's last home was Blå tornet in central Stockholm, where he lived from 1908 until 1912. It is now a museum. Of several statues and busts of him erected in Stockholm, the most prominent is Carl Eldh's, erected in 1942 in Tegnérlunden, a park adjoining this house.
Bibliography
La cruauté et le théâtre de Strindberg de Pascale Roger, coll "Univers théâtral", L'Harmattan, Paris, 2004, 278 p.
The Growth of a Soul (1914)
The German Lieutenant, and Other Stories (1915)
There Are Crimes and Crimes
Further reading
Everdell, William R., The First Moderns: Profiles in the Origins of Twentieth-Century Thought. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1997. (cloth) (bpk)
Brita M. E. Mortensen, Brian W. Downs, Strindberg: An Introduction to His Life and Work, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1965
Gundlach, Angelika; Scherzer, Jörg (Ed.): Der andere Strindberg – Materialien zu Malerei, Photographie und Theaterpraxis, Frankfurt a. M.: Insel-Verlag, 1981. ISBN 3-458-31929-8
Prideaux, Sue, Strindberg: A Life, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012.
Schroeder, J., Stenport, A., and Szalczer, E., editors, August Strindberg and Visual Culture, New York: Bloomsbury, 2018.
Sprinchorn, Evert, Strindberg As Dramatist, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1982.
Stamper, Judith (1975), review of the production of To Damascus at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh in April 1975, in Calgacus 2, Summer 1975, p. 56,
Sources
Adams, Ann-Charlotte Gavel, ed. 2002. Dictionary of Literary Biography. Vol. 259 Twentieth-Century Swedish Writers Before World War II. Detroit, MI: Gale. .
Carlson, Marvin. 1993. Theories of the Theatre: A Historical and Critical Survey from the Greeks to the Present. Expanded ed. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press. .
Ekman, Hans-Göran. 2000. Strindberg and the Five Senses: Studies in Strindberg's Chamber Plays. London and New Brunswick, New Jersey: Athlone. .
Gunnarsson, Torsten. 1998. Nordic Landscape Painting in the Nineteenth Century. New Haven: Yale UP. .
Innes, Christopher, ed. 2000. A Sourcebook on Naturalist Theatre. London and New York: Routledge. .
Lagercrantz, Olof. 1984. August Strindberg. Trans. Anselm Hollo. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux. .
Lane, Harry. 1998. "Strindberg, August." In The Cambridge Guide to Theatre. Ed. Martin Banham. Cambridge: Cambridge UP. 1040–41. .
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Ward, John. 1980. The Social and Religious Plays of Strindberg. London: Athlone. .
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References
External links
English-language translations in the public domain
Public domain translations of Strindberg's drama
The Father, Countess Julie, The Outlaw, The Stronger
Comrades, Facing Death, Pariah, Easter
Swanwhite, Advent, The Storm
There are Crimes and Crimes, Miss Julia, The Stronger, Creditors, and Pariah
To Damascus Part 1
Road To Damascus Parts 1, 2, and 3
Public domain translations of Strindberg's novels
The Red Room.
The Confession of a Fool.
Other
Photographs by Strindberg from the National Library of Sweden on Flickr
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August Strindberg and absinthe; in his life and in his works
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A Dream Play (manuscript) at World Digital Library
Burkhart Brückner: Biography of Johan August Strindberg in: Biographical Archive of Psychiatry (BIAPSY).
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Writers from Stockholm | false | [
"The impressionable years hypothesis is a theory of political psychology that posits that individuals form durable political attitudes and party affiliations during late adolescence and early adulthood. In United States political history, the theory has been used to explain the waxing and waning in the strength of the two major political parties. The theory has also been applied outside of the United States.\n\nHypothesis\n\nAccording to the impressionable years hypothesis, the historical environment has an important socializing influence on individuals of entire generations, and individuals within these generations thus tend to share values and attitudes compared to individuals within other generations. Under the strictest definition of this hypothesis, attitudes remain fixed in individuals after they exit their early adulthood. Political change thus happens primarily through a process known as cohort replacement, in which a generation dies out and is replaced by another generation. Two theories contrast to the impressionable years hypothesis. The \"increasing persistence hypothesis\" posits that attitudes become less likely to change as individuals become older, while the \"life-long openness hypothesis\" proposes that the attitudes of individuals remain flexible regardless of age.\n\nAn influential 1928 essay by Karl Mannheim proposed that political leanings were heavily influenced by the historical context of an individual's youth. Another early exploration of the idea began in the 1930s under the direction of Theodore Newcomb. In the Bennington College Study, Newcomb tracked the political attitudes of a cohort of female students attending Bennington College. In follow-up interviews conducted decades later, Newcomb found that the previously-conservative women had retained liberal political attitudes that they had first gained at Bennington.\n\nUnited States\n\nPolling and analyses by Gallup, the Pew Research Center, and other sources have found that year of birth is an important predictor of political affiliation. For example, Baby boomers born during the early-to-mid 1950s tend to be significantly more Democratic-leaning than those born earlier or later. These Baby Boomers entered adulthood in the late 1960s and early 1970s, a period which saw the liberalization of American social views. By contrast, younger Boomers who came of age during the stagflation and tax revolts of the late 1970s have tended to favor the Republican Party.\n\nAccording to a 2014 model developed by Catalist and Columbia University, presidential approval ratings inform voting behaviors for decades. The model works best with white voters, as black voters have tended to more consistently vote for Democratic candidates, and there is less data available for the remaining demographic groups. According to the model, popular presidents such as Dwight D. Eisenhower can leave lasting impressions on voters in their young adulthood. The model estimates that events that occur between the ages of 14 and 24 are the most important in determining an individual's political attitudes, though those attitudes continue to change after age 24. A separate model developed by Professor Dan Hopkins found that the political affiliation of a given individual was strongly affected by the popularity of presidents when that individual turned 18 years old.\n\nNew Deal coalition in the South\n\nOsborne et al. use the theory to partially explain the decline of the Democratic Party and the New Deal coalition in the South. According to their theory, the events of the civil rights movement were extremely unpopular among white Southerners and the support of national Democratic leadership for the civil rights movement alienated white Southerners from the party. While older Southern voters resisted changes to their political affiliations and attitudes, younger voters moved to the Republican Party. As, older, Democratic voters died out, the Republican Party became the dominant party in the South.\n\nOutside the United States\n\nThe impressionable years hypothesis has also been explored in other countries. A 2002 study by James Tilley found that individuals in the United Kingdom who came of age during the 1920s, 1950s, and 1980s tended to more strongly support the Conservative Party, which was dominant during those decades. A 2004 study in Algeria found that most generations were not strongly affected by the circumstances of their youth, with some exceptions regarding certain attitudes in certain generations.\n\nSee also\nTheories of political behavior\nPostmaterialism\n\nReferences\n\nPolitical science theories",
"Genopolitics is the study of the genetic basis of political behavior and attitudes. It combines behavior genetics, psychology, and political science and it is closely related to the emerging fields of neuropolitics (the study of the neural basis of political attitudes and behavior) and political physiology (the study of biophysical correlates of political attitudes and behavior).\n\nIn 2008, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported on the increase in academicians' recognition of and engagement in genopolitics as a discrete field of study, and New York Times Magazine included genopolitics in its \"Eighth Annual Year in Ideas\" for the same year, noting that the term was originally coined by James Fowler. Critics of genopolitics have argued that it is \"a fundamentally misguided undertaking\", and that it is inconsistent with evidence in the fields of genetics, neuroscience, and evolutionary psychology.\n\nTwin studies of political attitudes\nPsychologists and behavior geneticists began using twin studies in the 1980s to study variation in social attitudes, and these studies suggested that both genes and environment played a role. In particular, Nick Martin and his colleagues published an influential twin study of social attitudes in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in 1986.\n\nHowever, this early work did not specifically analyze whether or not political orientations were heritable, and political scientists remained mostly unaware of the heritability of social attitudes until 2005. In that year, the American Political Science Review published a reanalysis of political questions on Martin's social attitude survey of twins in that the suggested liberal and conservative ideology is heritable. The article sparked considerable debate between critics, the authors and their defenders.\n\nTwin studies of political behavior\nInitial twin studies suggested that predispositions toward espousal of certain political ideas are heritable, but they said little about political behavior (patterns of voting and/or activism) or predispositions toward it. A 2008 article published in the American Political Science Review matched publicly available voter registration records to a twin registry in Los Angeles, analyzed self-reported voter turnout in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), and studied other forms of political participation. In all three cases, both genes and environment contributed significantly to variation in political behavior.\n\nHowever, other studies showed that the decision to affiliate with any political party and the strength of this attachment are significantly influenced by genes.\n\nGene association studies\n\nCandidate genes\nScholars therefore recently turned their attention to specific genes that might be associated with political behaviors and attitudes. In the first-ever research to link specific genes to political phenotypes, a direct association was established between voter turnout and monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A) and a gene–environment interaction between turnout and the serotonin transporter (5HTT) gene among those who frequently participated in religious activities. In other research scholars have also found an association between voter turnout and a dopamine receptor (DRD2) gene that is mediated by a significant association between that gene and the tendency to affiliate with a political party. More recent studies show an interaction between friendships and the dopamine receptor (DRD4) gene that is associated with political ideology. Although this work is preliminary and needs replication, it suggests that neurotransmitter function has an important effect on political behavior.\n\nThe candidate genes approach to genopolitics received substantial criticism in a 2012 article, published in the American Political Science Review, which argued that many of the candidate genes identified in the above research are associated with innumerable traits and behaviors. The degree to which these genes are associated with so many outcomes thus undermines the apparent important of evidence linking a gene to any particular outcome.\n\nLinkage analysis\nEmploying a more general approach, researchers used genome-wide linkage analysis to identify chromosomal regions associated with political attitudes assessed using scores on a liberalism-conservativism scale. Their analysis identified several significant linkage peaks and the associated chromosomal regions implicate a possible role for NMDA and glutamate related receptors in forming political attitudes. However, this role is speculative as linkage analysis cannot identify the effect of individual genes.\n\nOther explanations\nAssociations between genetic markers and political behavior are often assumed to predict a causal connection between the two. Scholars have little incentive to be skeptical of this presumed causal link. Yet it is possible that a confounding factor exists which makes the genetic relationship with politics purely correlative. For instance work on Irish parties, which shows some evidence of a genetic basis for the otherwise inexplicable distinction between the historically two main parties there, is also and more easily explained by socialization.\n\nSee also\n Biology and political science, sometimes called biopolitics\n Biology and political orientation\n\nNotes\n\nFurther reading\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\nApplied psychology\nGenetics\nPolitical science"
] |
[
"August Strindberg",
"Politics",
"What was Stridberg's involvement with politics?",
"young Strindberg embraced the view, that politics is a conflict between the upper and lower classes.",
"Did he publish anything about this?",
"Many of his works, however, had at least some politics and sometimes an abundance of it.",
"What are the names of his politically oriented works?",
"The changing nature of his political positions shows in his changing stance on the women's rights issue.",
"What was his thinking on women's rights?",
"Early on, Strindberg was sympathetic to women of 19th-century Sweden, calling for women's suffrage as early as 1884.",
"How did his attitude change?",
"during other periods he had strongly misogynistic opinions, calling for lawmakers to reconsider the emancipation of these \"half-apes ... mad ... criminal, instinctively evil animals.\"",
"What were some of his other political attitudes?",
"Nor did he often campaign for any one issue, preferring instead to scorn his enemies manifesto-style -"
] | C_2268672bf3a74c23a47499e266cc7d59_0 | Were any of his plays about politics? | 7 | Were any of August Strideberg's plays about politics? | August Strindberg | Influenced by the history of the Paris Commune, during 1871, young Strindberg embraced the view, that politics is a conflict between the upper and lower classes. He was admired by many as a far-left writer. He was a socialist (or perhaps more of an anarchist, meaning a libertarian socialist, which he himself claimed on at least one occasion). Strindberg's political opinions nevertheless changed considerably within this category over the years, and he was never primarily a political writer. Nor did he often campaign for any one issue, preferring instead to scorn his enemies manifesto-style - the military, the church, the monarchy, the politicians, the stingy publishers, the incompetent reviewers, the narrow-minded, the idiots - and he was not loyal to any party or ideology. Many of his works, however, had at least some politics and sometimes an abundance of it. They often displayed that life and the prevailing system were profoundly unjust and injurious to ordinary citizens. The changing nature of his political positions shows in his changing stance on the women's rights issue. Early on, Strindberg was sympathetic to women of 19th-century Sweden, calling for women's suffrage as early as 1884. However, during other periods he had strongly misogynistic opinions, calling for lawmakers to reconsider the emancipation of these "half-apes ... mad ... criminal, instinctively evil animals." This is controversial in contemporary assessments of Strindberg, as have his antisemitic descriptions of Jews (and, in particular, Jewish enemies of his in Swedish cultural life) in some works (e.g., Det nya riket), particularly during the early 1880s. Strindberg's antisemitic pronouncements, just like his opinions of women, have been debated, and also seem to have varied considerably. Many of these attitudes, passions and behaviours may have been developed for literary reasons and ended as soon as he had exploited them in books. In satirizing Swedish society - in particular the upper classes, the cultural and political establishment, and his many personal and professional foes - he could be very confrontational, with scarcely concealed caricatures of political opponents. This could take the form of brutal character disparagement or mockery, and while the presentation was generally skilful, it was not necessarily subtle. His daughter Karin Strindberg married a Russian Bolshevik of partially Swedish ancestry, Vladimir Smirnov ("Paulsson"). Because of his political views, Strindberg was promoted strongly in socialist countries in Central and Eastern Europe, as well as in the Soviet Union and Cuba. CANNOTANSWER | Many of these attitudes, passions and behaviours may have been developed for literary reasons and ended as soon as he had exploited them in books. | Johan August Strindberg (, ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than sixty plays and more than thirty works of fiction, autobiography, history, cultural analysis, and politics during his career, which spanned four decades. A bold experimenter and iconoclast throughout, he explored a wide range of dramatic methods and purposes, from naturalistic tragedy, monodrama, and history plays, to his anticipations of expressionist and surrealist dramatic techniques. From his earliest work, Strindberg developed innovative forms of dramatic action, language, and visual composition. He is considered the "father" of modern Swedish literature and his The Red Room (1879) has frequently been described as the first modern Swedish novel. In Sweden, Strindberg is known as an essayist, painter, poet, and especially as a novelist and playwright, but in other countries he is known mostly as a playwright.
The Royal Theatre rejected his first major play, Master Olof, in 1872; it was not until 1881, when he was thirty-two, that its première at the New Theatre gave him his theatrical breakthrough. In his plays The Father (1887), Miss Julie (1888), and Creditors (1889), he created naturalistic dramas that – building on the established accomplishments of Henrik Ibsen's prose problem plays while rejecting their use of the structure of the well-made play – responded to the call-to-arms of Émile Zola's manifesto "Naturalism in the Theatre" (1881) and the example set by André Antoine's newly established (opened 1887). In Miss Julie, characterisation replaces plot as the predominant dramatic element (in contrast to melodrama and the well-made play) and the determining role of heredity and the environment on the "vacillating, disintegrated" characters is emphasized. Strindberg modeled his short-lived Scandinavian Experimental Theatre (1889) in Copenhagen on Antoine's theatre and he explored the theory of Naturalism in his essays "On Psychic Murder" (1887), "On Modern Drama and the Modern Theatre" (1889), and a preface to Miss Julie, the last of which is probably the best-known statement of the principles of the theatrical movement.
During the 1890s he spent significant time abroad engaged in scientific experiments and studies of the occult. A series of apparent psychotic attacks between 1894 and 1896 (referred to as his "Inferno crisis") led to his hospitalization and return to Sweden. Under the influence of the ideas of Emanuel Swedenborg, he resolved after his recovery to become "the Zola of the Occult". In 1898 he returned to play-writing with To Damascus, which, like The Great Highway (1909), is a dream-play of spiritual pilgrimage. His A Dream Play (1902) – with its radical attempt to dramatize the workings of the unconscious by means of an abolition of conventional dramatic time and space and the splitting, doubling, merging, and multiplication of its characters – was an important precursor to both expressionism and surrealism. He also returned to writing historical drama, the genre with which he had begun his play-writing career. He helped to run the Intimate Theatre from 1907, a small-scale theatre, modeled on Max Reinhardt's , that staged his chamber plays (such as The Ghost Sonata).
Biography
Youth
Strindberg was born on 22 January 1849 in Stockholm, Sweden, the third surviving son of Carl Oscar Strindberg (a shipping agent) and Eleonora Ulrika Norling (a serving-maid). In his autobiographical novel The Son of a Servant, Strindberg describes a childhood affected by "emotional insecurity, poverty, religious fanaticism and neglect". When he was seven, Strindberg moved to Norrtullsgatan on the northern, almost-rural periphery of the city. A year later the family moved near to Sabbatsberg, where they stayed for three years before returning to Norrtullsgatan. He attended a harsh school in Klara for four years, an experience that haunted him in his adult life. He was moved to the school in Jakob in 1860, which he found far more pleasant, though he remained there for only a year. In the autumn of 1861, he was moved to the Stockholm Lyceum, a progressive private school for middle-class boys, where he remained for six years. As a child he had a keen interest in natural science, photography, and religion (following his mother's Pietism). His mother, Strindberg recalled later with bitterness, always resented her son's intelligence. She died when he was thirteen, and although his grief lasted for only three months, in later life he came to feel a sense of loss and longing for an idealized maternal figure. Less than a year after her death, his father married the children's governess, Emilia Charlotta Pettersson. According to his sisters, Strindberg came to regard them as his worst enemies. He passed his graduation examination in May 1867 and enrolled at the Uppsala University, where he began on 13 September.
Strindberg spent the next few years in Uppsala and Stockholm, alternately studying for examinations and trying his hand at non-academic pursuits. As a young student, Strindberg also worked as an assistant in a pharmacy in the university town of Lund in southern Sweden. He supported himself in between studies as a substitute primary-school teacher and as a tutor for the children of two well-known physicians in Stockholm. He first left Uppsala in 1868 to work as a schoolteacher, but then studied chemistry for some time at the Institute of Technology in Stockholm in preparation for medical studies, later working as a private tutor before becoming an extra at the Royal Theatre in Stockholm. In May 1869, he failed his qualifying chemistry examination which in turn made him uninterested in schooling.
1870s
Strindberg returned to Uppsala University in January 1870 to study aesthetics and modern languages and to work on a number of plays. It was at this time that he first learnt about the ideas of Charles Darwin. He co-founded the Rune Society, a small literary club whose members adopted pseudonyms taken from runes of the ancient Teutonic alphabet – Strindberg called himself Frö (Seed), after the god of fertility. After abandoning a draft of a play about Eric XIV of Sweden halfway through in the face of criticism from the Rune Society, on 30 March he completed a one-act comedy in verse called In Rome about Bertel Thorvaldsen, which he had begun the previous autumn. The play was accepted by the Royal Theatre, where it premièred on 13 September 1870. As he watched it performed, he realised that it was not good and felt like drowning himself, though the reviews published the following day were generally favourable. That year he also first read works of Søren Kierkegaard and Georg Brandes, both of whom influenced him.
Taking his cue from William Shakespeare, he began to use colloquial and realistic speech in his historical dramas, which challenged the convention that they should be written in stately verse. During the Christmas holiday of 1870–71, he re-wrote a historical tragedy, Sven the Sacrificer, as a one-act play in prose called The Outlaw. Depressed by Uppsala, he stayed in Stockholm, returning to the university in April to pass an exam in Latin and in June to defend his thesis on Adam Gottlob Oehlenschläger's Romantic tragedy Earl Haakon (1802). Following further revision in the summer, The Outlaw opened at the Royal Theatre on 16 October 1871. Despite hostile reviews, the play earned him an audience with King Charles XV, who supported his studies with a payment of 200 riksdaler. Towards the end of the year Strindberg completed a first draft of his first major work, a play about Olaus Petri called Master Olof. In September 1872, the Royal Theatre rejected it, leading to decades of rewrites, bitterness, and a contempt for official institutions. Returning to the university for what would be his final term in the spring, he left on 2 March 1872, without graduating. In Town and Gown (1877), a collection of short stories describing student life, he ridiculed Uppsala and its professors.
Strindberg embarked on his career as a journalist and critic for newspapers in Stockholm. He was particularly excited at this time by Henry Thomas Buckle's History of Civilization and the first volume of Georg Brandes' Main Currents of Nineteenth-Century Literature. From December 1874, Strindberg worked for eight years as an assistant librarian at the Royal Library. That same month, Strindberg offered Master Olof to Edvard Stjernström (the director of the newly built New Theatre in Stockholm), but it was rejected. He socialised with writers, painters, journalists, and other librarians; they often met in the Red Room in Bern's Restaurant.
Early in the summer of 1875, he met Siri von Essen, a 24-year-old aspiring actress who, by virtue of her husband, was a baroness – he became infatuated with her. Strindberg described himself as a "failed author" at this time: "I feel like a deaf-mute," he wrote, "as I cannot speak and am not permitted to write; sometimes I stand in the middle of my room that seems like a prison cell, and then I want to scream so that walls and ceilings would fly apart, and I have so much to scream about, and therefore I remain silent." As a result of an argument in January 1876 concerning the inheritance of the family firm, Strindberg's relationship with his father was terminated (he did not attend his funeral in February 1883). From the beginning of 1876, Strindberg and Siri began to meet in secret, and that same year Siri and her husband divorced. Following a successful audition that December, Siri became an actress at the Royal Theatre. They married a year later, on 30 December 1877; Siri was seven months pregnant at the time. Their first child was born prematurely on 21 January 1878 and died two days later. On 9 January 1879, Strindberg was declared bankrupt. In November 1879, his novel The Red Room was published. A satire of Stockholm society, it has frequently been described as the first modern Swedish novel. While receiving mixed reviews in Sweden, it was acclaimed in Denmark, where Strindberg was hailed as a genius. As a result of The Red Room, he had become famous throughout Scandinavia. Edvard Brandes wrote that the novel "makes the reader want to join the fight against hypocrisy and reaction." In his response to Brandes, Strindberg explained that:
1880s
Strindberg and Siri's daughter Karin was born on 26 February 1880. Buoyant from the reception of The Red Room, Strindberg swiftly completed The Secret of the Guild, an historical drama set in Uppsala at the beginning of the 15th century about the conflict between two masons over the completion of the city cathedral, which opened at the Royal Theatre on 3 May 1880 (his first première in nine years); Siri played Margaretha. That spring he formed a friendship with the painter Carl Larsson. A collected edition of all of Strindberg's previous writings was published under the title Spring Harvest. From 1881, at the invitation of Edvard Brandes, Strindberg began to contribute articles to the Morgenbladet, a Copenhagen daily newspaper. In April he began work on The Swedish People, a four-part cultural history of Sweden written as a series of depictions of ordinary people's lives from the 9th century onwards, which he undertook mainly for financial reasons and which absorbed him for the next year; Larsson provided illustrations. At Strindberg's insistence, Siri resigned from the Royal Theatre in the spring, having become pregnant again. Their second daughter, Greta, was born on 9 June 1881, while they were staying on the island of Kymmendö. That month, a collection of essays from the past ten years, Studies in Cultural History, was published. Ludvig Josephson (the new artistic director of Stockholm's New Theatre) agreed to stage Master Olof, eventually opting for the prose version – the five-hour-long production opened on 30 December 1881 under the direction of August Lindberg to favourable reviews. While this production of Master Olof was his breakthrough in the theatre, Strindberg's five-act fairy-tale play Lucky Peter's Journey, which opened on 22 December 1883, brought him his first significant success, although he dismissed it as a potboiler. In March 1882 he wrote in a letter to Josephson: "My interest in the theatre, I must frankly state, has but one focus and one goal – my wife's career as an actress"; Josephson duly cast her in two roles the following season.
Having returned to Kymmendö during the summer of 1882, Strindberg wrote a collection of anti-establishment short stories, The New Kingdom. While there, to provide a lead role for his wife and as a reply to Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House (1879), he also wrote Sir Bengt's Wife, which opened on 25 November 1882 at the New Theatre. He moved to Grez-sur-Loing, just south of Paris, France, where Larsson was staying. He then moved to Paris, which they found noisy and polluted. Income earned from Lucky Peter's Journey enabled him to move to Switzerland in 1883. He resided in Ouchy, where he stayed for some years. On 3 April 1884, Siri gave birth to their son, Hans.
In 1884 Strindberg wrote a collection of short stories, Getting Married, that presented women in an egalitarian light and for which he was tried for and acquitted of blasphemy in Sweden. Two groups "led by influential members of the upper classes, supported by the right-wing press" probably instigated the prosecution; at the time, most people in Stockholm thought that Queen Sophia was behind it. By the end of that year Strindberg was in a despondent mood: "My view now is," he wrote, "everything is shit. No way out. The skein is too tangled to be unravelled. It can only be sheared. The building is too solid to be pulled down. It can only be blown up." In May 1885 he wrote: "I am on my way to becoming an atheist." In the wake of the publication of Getting Married, he began to correspond with Émile Zola. During the summer he completed a sequel volume of stories, though some were quite different in tone from those of the first. Another collection of stories, Utopias in Reality, was published in September 1885, though it was not well received.
In 1885, they moved back to Paris. In September 1887 he began to write a novel in French about his relationship with Siri von Essen called The Defence of a Fool. In 1887, they moved to Issigatsbühl, near Lindau by Lake Constance. His next play, Comrades (1886), was his first in a contemporary setting. After the trial he evaluated his religious beliefs, and concluded that he needed to leave Lutheranism, though he had been Lutheran since childhood; and after briefly being a deist, he became an atheist. He needed a credo and he used Jean-Jacques Rousseau nature worshiping, which he had studied while a student, as one. His works The People of Hemsö (1887) and Among French Peasants (1889) were influenced by his study of Rousseau. He then moved to Germany, where he fell in love with Chancellor Otto von Bismarck's Prussia status of the officer corps. After that, he grew very critical of Rousseau and turned to Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophies, which emphasized the male intellect. Nietzsche's influence can be seen in The Defence of a Fool (1893), Pariah (1889), Creditors (1889), and By the Open Sea (1890).
Another change in his life after the trial is that Strindberg decided he wanted a scientific life instead of a literary one, and began to write about non-literary subjects. When he was 37, he began The Son of a Servant, a four-part autobiography. The first part ends in 1867, the year he left home for Uppsala. Part two describes his youth up to 1872. Part three, or The Red Room, describes his years as a poet and journalist; it ends with his meeting Siri von Essen. Part four, which dealt with the years from 1877 to 1886, was banned by his publishers and was not published until after his death. The three missing years, 1875–1877, were the time when Strindberg was wooing von Essen and their marriage; entitled He and She, this portion of his autobiography was not printed until 1919, after his death. It contains the love letters between the two during that period.
In the later half of the 1880s Strindberg discovered Naturalism. After completing The Father in a matter of weeks, he sent a copy to Émile Zola for his approval, though Zola's reaction was lukewarm. The drama revolves around the conflict between the Captain, a father, husband, and scientist, and his wife, Laura, over the education of their only child, a fourteen-year-old daughter named Berta. Through unscrupulous means, Laura gets the Captain to doubt his fatherhood until he suffers a mental and physical collapse. While writing The Father, Strindberg himself was experiencing marital problems and doubted the paternity of his children. He also suspected that Ibsen had based Hjalmar Ekdal in The Wild Duck (1884) on Strindberg because he felt that Ibsen viewed him as a weak and pathetic husband; he reworked the situation of Ibsen's play into a warfare between the two sexes. From November 1887 to April 1889, Strindberg stayed in Copenhagen. While there he had several opportunities to meet with both Georg Brandes and his brother Edvard Brandes. Georg helped him put on The Father, which had its première on 14 November 1887 at the Casino Theatre in Copenhagen. It enjoyed a successful run for eleven days after which it toured the Danish provinces.
Before writing Creditors, Strindberg completed one of his most famous pieces, Miss Julie. He wrote the play with a Parisian stage in mind, in particular the Théâtre Libre, founded in 1887 by André Antoine. In the play he used Charles Darwin's theory of survival of the fittest and dramatized a doomed sexual encounter that crosses the division of social classes. It is believed that this play was inspired by the marriage of Strindberg, the son of a servant, to an aristocratic woman.
In the essay On Psychic Murder (1887), he referred to the psychological theories of the Nancy School, which advocated the use of hypnosis. Strindberg developed a theory that sexual warfare was not motivated by carnal desire but by relentless human will. The winner was the one who had the strongest and most unscrupulous mind, someone who, like a hypnotist, could coerce a more impressionable psyche into submission. His view on psychological power struggles may be seen in works such as Creditors (1889), The Stronger (1889), and Pariah (1889).
In 1888, after a separation and reconciliation with Siri von Essen, he founded the Scandinavian Experimental Theatre in Copenhagen, where Siri became manager. He asked writers to send him scripts, which he received from Herman Bang, Gustav Wied and Nathalia Larsen. Less than a year later, with the theatre and reconciliation short lived, he moved back to Sweden while Siri moved back to her native Finland with the children. While there, he rode out the final phase of the divorce and later used this agonizing ordeal for the basis of The Bond and the Link (1893). Strindberg also became interested in short drama, called Quart d'heure. He was inspired by writers such as Gustave Guiche and Henri de Lavedan. His notable contribution was The Stronger (1889). As a result of the failure of the Scandinavian Experimental Theatre, Strindberg did not work as a playwright for three years. In 1889, he published an essay entitled "On Modern Drama and the Modern Theatre", in which he disassociated himself from naturalism, arguing that it was petty and unimaginative realism. His sympathy for Nietzsche's philosophy and atheism in general was also on the wane. He entered the period of his "Inferno crisis," in which he had psychological and religious upheavals that influenced his later works.
August Strindberg's Inferno is his personal account of sinking deeper into some kind of madness, typified by visions and paranoia. In Strindberg och alkoholen (1985), James Spens discusses Strindberg's drinking habits, including his liking for absinthe and its possible implications for Strindberg's mental health during the inferno period.
1890s
After his disenchantment with naturalism, Strindberg had a growing interest in transcendental matters. Symbolism was just beginning at this time. Verner von Heidenstam and Ola Hanson had dismissed naturalism as "shoemaker realism" that rendered human experience in simplistic terms. This is believed to have stalled Strindberg's creativity, and Strindberg insisted that he was in a rivalry and forced to defend naturalism, even though he had exhausted its literary potential. These works include: Debit and Credit (1892), Facing Death (1892), Motherly Love (1892), and The First Warning (1893). His play The Keys of Heaven (1892) was inspired by the loss of his children in his divorce. He also completed one of his few comedies, Playing with Fire (1893), and the first two parts of his post-inferno trilogy To Damascus (1898–1904).
In 1892, he experienced writer's block, which led to a drastic reduction in his income. Depression followed as he was unable to meet his financial obligations and to support his children and former wife. A fund was set up through an appeal in a German magazine. This money allowed him to leave Sweden and he joined artistic circles in Berlin. Otto Brahm's Freie Bühne theatre premiered some of his famous works in Germany, including The Father, Miss Julie, and Creditors.
Similar to twenty years earlier when he frequented The Red Room, he now went to the German tavern The Black Porker. Here he met a diverse group of artists from Scandinavia, Poland, and Germany. His attention turned to Frida Uhl, who was twenty-three years younger than Strindberg. They were married in 1893. Less than a year later, their daughter Kerstin was born and the couple separated, though their marriage was not officially dissolved until 1897. Frida's family, in particular her mother, who was a devout Catholic, had an important influence on Strindberg, and in an 1894 letter he declared "I feel the hand of our Lord resting over me."
Some critics think that Strindberg suffered from severe paranoia in the mid-1890s, and perhaps that he temporarily experienced insanity. Others, including Evert Sprinchorn and Olof Lagercrantz, believed that he intentionally turned himself into his own guinea pig by doing psychological and drug-induced self-experimentation. He wrote on subjects such as botany, chemistry, and optics before returning to literature with the publication of Inferno (1897), a (half fictionalized) account of his "wilderness years" in Austria and Paris, then a collection of short stories, Legends, and a semi-dramatic novella, Jacob Wrestling (both printed in the same book 1898). Both volumes aroused curiosity and controversy, not least due to the religious element; earlier, Strindberg had been known to be indifferent or hostile to religion and especially priests, but now he had undergone some sort of conversion to a personal faith. In a postscript, he noted the impact of Emanuel Swedenborg on his current work.
"The Powers" were central to Strindberg's later work. He said that "the Powers" were an outside force that had caused him his physical and mental suffering because they were acting in retribution to humankind for their wrongdoings. As William Blake, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Honoré de Balzac, and William Butler Yeats had been, he was drawn to Swedenborg's mystical visions, with their depictions of spiritual landscape and Christian morality. Strindberg believed for the rest of his life that the relationship between the transcendental and the real world was described by a series of "correspondences" and that everyday events were really messages from above of which only the enlightened could make sense. He also felt that he was chosen by Providence to atone for the moral decay of others and that his tribulations were payback for misdeeds earlier in his life.
Strindberg had spent the tail end of 1896 and most of 1897 in the university town of Lund in southern Sweden, a sojourn during which he made a number of new friendships, felt his mental stability and health improving and also firmly returned to literary writing; Inferno, Legends and Jacob Wrestling were written there. In 1899, he returned permanently to Stockholm, following a successful production there of Master Olof in 1897 (which was re-staged in 1899 to mark Strindberg's fiftieth birthday). He had the desire to become recognized as a leadíng figure in Swedish literature, and to put earlier controversies behind him, and felt that historical dramas were the way to attain that status. Though Strindberg claimed that he was writing "realistically," he freely altered past events and biographical information, and telescoped chronology (as often done in most historical fiction): more importantly, he felt a flow of resurgent inspiration, writing almost twenty new plays (many in a historical setting) between 1898 and 1902. His new works included the so-called Vasa Trilogy: The Saga of the Folkungs (1899), Gustavus Vasa (1899), and Erik XIV (1899) and A Dream Play (written in 1901, first performed in 1907).
1900s
Strindberg was pivotal in the creation of chamber plays. Max Reinhardt was a big supporter of his, staging some of his plays at the Kleines Theatre in 1902 (including The Bond, The Stronger, and The Outlaw). Once Otto Brahm relinquished his role as head as of the Deutsches Theatre, Reinhardt took over and produced Strindberg's plays.
In 1903, Strindberg planned to write a grand cycle of plays based on world history, but the idea soon faded. He had completed short plays about Martin Luther, Plato, Moses, Jesus Christ, and Socrates. He wrote another historical drama in 1908 after the Royal Theatre convinced him to put on a new play for its sixtieth birthday. He wrote The Last of the Knights (1908), Earl Birger of Bjalbo (1909), and The Regents (1909).
His other works, such as Days of Loneliness (1903), The Roofing Ceremony (1907), and The Scapegoat (1907), and the novels The Gothic Rooms (1904) and Black Banners Genre Scenes from the Turn of the Century, (1907) have been viewed as precursors to Marcel Proust and Franz Kafka.
August Falck, an actor, wanted to put on a production of Miss Julie and wrote to Strindberg for permission. In September 1906 he staged the first Swedish production of Miss Julie. August Falck, played Jean and Manda Bjorling played Julie.
In 1909, Strindberg thought he might get the Nobel Prize in Literature, but instead lost to Selma Lagerlöf, the first woman and first Swede to win the award. The leader of the Social Democrat Youth Alliance started a fund-raiser for a special "people's award". Nathan Söderblom (friend of Strindberg since the mid-90s years in Paris, a prominent theologian and later to become archbishop of Sweden) was noted as a donor, and both he and Strindberg came under attack from circles close to the conservative party and the church. In total 45,000 Swedish crowns were collected, by more than 20,000 donors, most of whom were workers. Albert Bonniers förlag, who had already published much of his work over the years, paid him 200,000 Swedish crowns for the publishing rights to his complete works; the first volumes of the edition would appear in print in 1912, a few months before his death. He invited his first three children (now, like their mother, living in Finland) to Stockholm and divided the money into five shares, one for each child, one for Siri (absent), and the last one for himself. In setting apart one share for Siri, Strindberg noted, in a shy voice, "This is for your mother - it's to settle an old debt". When the children returned to Helsinki, Siri was surprised to hear that she had been included, but accepted the money and told them in a voice that was, according to her daughter Karin, both proud and moved, "I shall accept it, receiving it as an old debt". The debt was less financial than mental and emotional; Strindberg knew he had sometimes treated her unfairly during the later years of their marriage and at their divorce trial. In 1912, she would pass away only a few weeks before him.
In 1907 Strindberg co-founded The Intimate Theatre in Stockholm, together with the young actor and stage director August Falck. His theatre was modeled after Max Reinhardt's Kammerspiel Haus. Strindberg and Falck had the intention of the theatre being used for his plays and his plays only, Strindberg also wanted to try out a more chamber-oriented and sparse style of dramatic writing and production. In time for the theatre's opening, Strindberg wrote four chamber plays: Thunder in the Air, The Burned Site, The Ghost Sonata, and The Pelican; these were generally not a success with audiences or newspaper critics at the time but have been highly influential on modern drama (and soon would reach wider audiences at Reinhardt's theatre in Berlin and other German stages). Strindberg had very specific ideas about how the theatre would be opened and operated. He drafted a series of rules for his theatre in a letter to August Falck: 1. No liquor. 2. No Sunday performances. 3. Short performances without intermissions. 4. No calls. 5. Only 160 seats in the auditorium. 6. No prompter. No orchestra, only music on stage. 7. The text will be sold at the box office and in the lobby. 8. Summer performances. Falck helped to design the auditorium, which was decorated in a deep-green tone. The ceiling lighting was a yellow silk cover which created an effect of mild daylight. The floor was covered with a deep-green carpet, and the auditorium was decorated by six ultra modern columns with elaborate up-to-date capitals. Instead of the usual restaurant Strindberg offered a lounge for the ladies and a smoking-room for the gentlemen. The stage was unusually small, only 6 by 9 metres. The small stage and minimal number of seats was meant to give the audience a greater feeling of involvement in the work. Unlike most theatres at this time, the Intima Teater was not a place in which people could come to socialize. By setting up his rules and creating an intimate atmosphere, Strindberg was able to demand the audience's focus. When the theatre opened in 1907 with a performance of The Pelican it was a rather large hit. Strindberg used a minimal technique, as was his way, by only having a back drop and some sea shells on the stage for scene design and props. Strindberg was much more concerned with the actors portraying the written word than the stage looking pretty. The theatre ran into a financial difficulty in February 1908 and Falck had to borrow money from Prince Eugen, Duke of Närke, who attended the première of The Pelican. The theatre eventually went bankrupt in 1910, but did not close until Strindberg's death in 1912. The newspapers wrote about the theatre until its death.
Death and funeral
Strindberg died shortly after the first staging of one of his plays in the United States — The Father opened on 9 April 1912 at the Berkeley Theatre in New York, in a translation by painter and playwright Edith Gardener Shearn Oland and her husband actor Warner Oland. They jointly published their translations of his plays in book form in 1912.
During Christmas 1911, Strindberg became sick with pneumonia and he never recovered completely. He also began to suffer more clearly from a stomach cancer (early signs of which had been felt in 1908). The final weeks of his life were painful. He had long since become a national celebrity, even if highly controversial, and when it became clear that he was seriously ill the daily papers in Stockholm began reporting on his health in every edition. He received many letters and telegrams from admirers across the country. He died on 14 May 1912 at the age of 63.
Strindberg was interred at Norra begravningsplatsen in Stockholm. He had given strict instructions concerning his funeral and how his body should be treated after death: only members of his immediate family were allowed to view his body, there would be no obduction, no photographs were taken, and no death mask was made. Strindberg had also requested that his funeral should take place as soon as possible after his death to avoid crowds of onlookers. However, the workers' organisations requested that the funeral should take place on a Sunday to make it possible for working men to pay their respects, and the funeral was postponed for five days, until Sunday, 19 May. According to Strindberg's last wish, the funeral procession was to start at 8am, again to avoid crowds, but large groups of people were nevertheless waiting outside his home as well as at the cemetery, as early as 7am. A short service was conducted by Nathan Söderblom by the bier in Strindberg's home, in the presence of three of Strindberg's children and his housekeeper, after which the coffin was taken outside for the funeral procession. The procession was followed by groups of students, workers, members of Parliament and a couple of cabinet ministers, and it was estimated that up to 60,000 people lined the streets. King Gustaf V sent a wreath for the bier.
Legacy
Tennessee Williams, Edward Albee, Maxim Gorky, John Osborne, and Ingmar Bergman are among the many artists who have cited Strindberg as an influence. Eugene O'Neill, upon receiving the Nobel Prize in Literature, dedicated much of his acceptance speech to describing Strindberg's influence on his work, and referred to him as "that greatest genius of all modern dramatists." Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges said of Strindberg: "[he] was, for a time, my god, alongside Nietzsche".
A multi-faceted author, Strindberg was often extreme. His novel The Red Room (1879) made him famous. His early plays belong to the Naturalistic movement. His works from this time are often compared with the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. Strindberg's best-known play from this period is Miss Julie. Among his most widely read works is the novel The People of Hemsö.
Strindberg wanted to attain what he called "greater Naturalism." He disliked the expository character backgrounds that characterise the work of Henrik Ibsen and rejected the convention of a dramatic "slice of life" because he felt that the resulting plays were mundane and uninteresting. Strindberg felt that true naturalism was a psychological "battle of brains": two people who hate each other in the immediate moment and strive to drive the other to doom is the type of mental hostility that Strindberg strove to describe. He intended his plays to be impartial and objective, citing a desire to make literature akin to a science.
Following the inner turmoil that he experienced during the "Inferno crisis," he wrote an important book in French, Inferno (1896–7), in which he dramatised his experiences. He also exchanged a few cryptic letters with Friedrich Nietzsche.
Strindberg subsequently ended his association with Naturalism and began to produce works informed by Symbolism. He is considered one of the pioneers of the modern European stage and Expressionism. The Dance of Death, A Dream Play, and The Ghost Sonata are well-known plays from this period.
His most famous and produced plays are Master Olof, Miss Julie, and The Father.
Internationally, Strindberg is chiefly remembered as a playwright, but in his native Sweden his name is associated no less with novels and other writings. Röda rummet (The Red Room), Hemsöborna (The People of Hemsö), Giftas (Getting Married), En dåres försvarstal (The Confession of a Fool), and Inferno remain among his most celebrated novels, representing different genres and styles. He is often, though not universally, viewed as Sweden's greatest author, and taught in schools as a key figure of Swedish culture. The most important contemporary literary award in Sweden, Augustpriset, is named for Strindberg.
The Swedish composer Ture Rangström dedicated his first Symphony, which was finished in 1914, to August Strindberg in memoriam.
Politics
An acerbic polemicist who was often vehemently opposed to conventional authority, Strindberg was difficult to pigeon-hole as a political figure. Through his long career, he penned scathing attacks on the military, the church, and the monarchy. For most of his public life, he was seen as a major figure on the literary left and a standard-bearer of cultural radicalism, but, especially from the 1890s, he espoused conservative and religious views that alienated many former supporters. He resumed his attacks on conservative society with great vigor in the years immediately preceding his death.
Strindberg's opinions were typically stated with great force and vitriol, and sometimes humorously over-stated. He was involved in a variety of crises and feuds, skirmishing regularly with the literary and cultural establishment of his day, including erstwhile allies and friends. His youthful reputation as a genial enfant terrible of Swedish literature, transformed, eventually, into the role of a sort of ill-tempered towering giant of Swedish public life.
Strindberg was a prolific letter-writer, whose private communications have been collected in several annotated volumes. He often voiced political views privately to friends and literary acquaintances, phrased in a no-holds-barred jargon of scathing attacks, drastic humor, and flippant hyperbole. Many of his most controversial political statements are drawn from this private correspondence.
Influenced by the history of the 1871 Paris Commune, young Strindberg had embraced the view that politics is a conflict between the upper and lower classes. Early works like the Red Room or Master Olof took aim at public hypocrisy, royalty, and organized religion. He was, at this time, an outspoken socialist, mainly influenced by anarchist or libertarian socialist ideas. However, Strindberg's socialism was utopian and undogmatic, rooted less in economic or philosophic doctrine than in a fiery anti-establishment attitude, pitting "the people" against kings, priests, and merchants.
He read widely among socialist thinkers, including Cabet, Fourier, Babeuf, Saint-Simon, Proudhon, and Owen, whom he referred to as "friends of humanity and sharp thinkers." "Strindberg adopted ideas from everyone," writes Jan Olsson, who notes that Strindberg lived in a period where "terms like anarchism, socialism, and communism were alternately used as synonyms and as different terms."
By the early 1880s, many young political and literary radicals in Sweden had come to view Strindberg as a champion of their causes. However, in contrast to the Marxist-influenced socialism then rising within the Swedish labor movement, Strindberg espoused an older type of utopian, agrarian radicalism accompanied by spiritual and even mystical ideas. His views remained as fluid and eclectic as they were uncompromising, and on certain issues he could be wildly out of step with the younger generation of socialists. To Martin Kylhammar, the young Strindberg "was a 'reactionary radical' whose writing was populist and democratic but who persisted in an antiquated romanticizing of agrarian life."
Although he had been an early proponent of women's rights, calling for women's suffrage in 1884, Strindberg later became disenchanted with what he viewed as an unnatural equation of the sexes. In times of personal conflict and marital trouble (which was much of the time), he could lash out with crudely misogynistic statements. His troubled marriage with Siri von Essen, ended in an upsetting divorce in 1891, became the inspiration for The Defence of a Fool, begun in 1887 and published in 1893. Strindberg famously sought to insert a warning to lawmakers against "granting citizens' rights to half-apes, lower beings, sick children, [who are] sick and crazed thirteen times a year during their periods, completely insane while pregnant, and irresponsible throughout the rest of their lives." The paragraph was ultimately removed before printing by his publisher.
Strindberg's misogyny was at odds with the younger generation of socialist activists and has drawn attention in contemporary Strindberg scholarship. So was Strindberg's anti-Jewish rhetoric. Although particularly targeting Jewish enemies of his in Swedish cultural life, he also attacked Jews and Judaism as such. The antisemitic outbursts were particularly pronounced in the early 1880s, when Strindberg dedicated an entire chapter ("Moses") in a work of social and political satire, Det nya riket, dedicated to heckling Swedish Jews (including an unflattering portrayal of Albert Bonnier). Although anti-Jewish prejudice was far from uncommon in wider society in the 1880s, Jan Myrdal notes that "the entire liberal and democratic intelligentsia of the time distanced themselves from the older, left-wing antisemitism of August Strindberg." Yet, as with many things, Strindberg's opinions and passions shifted with time. In the mid-1880s he toned down and then mostly ended his anti-Jewish rhetoric, after publicly declaring himself not to be an anti-Semite in 1884.
A self-declared atheist in his younger years, Strindberg would also re-embrace Christianity, without necessarily making his peace with the church. As noted by Stockholm's Strindberg Museum, the personal and spiritual crisis that Strindberg underwent in Paris in the 1890s, which prompted the writing of Inferno, had aesthetic as well as philosophical and political implications: "Before the Inferno crisis (1869 – 92), Strindberg was influenced by anarchism, Rousseau, Schopenhauer, and Nietzsche; in the years after the crisis (1897 – 1911) he was influenced by Swedenborg, Goethe, Shakespeare, and Beethoven."
In Inferno, Strindberg notes his ideological and spiritual evolution:
What is the purpose of having toiled through thirty years only to gain, through experience, that which I had already understood as a concept? In my youth, I was a sincere believer, and you [i.e. the powers that be] have made me a free-thinker. Out of a free-thinker you have made me an atheist; out of an atheist, a religious believer. Inspired by humanitarian ideas, I have praised socialism. Five years later, you have proven to me the unreasonableness of socialism. Everything that once enthralled me you have invalidated! And presuming that I will now abandon myself to religion, I am certain that you will, in ten years, disprove religion. (Strindberg, Inferno, Chapter XV.)
Despite his reactionary attitudes on issues such as women's rights and his conservative, mystical turn from the early 1890s, Strindberg remained popular with some in the socialist-liberal camp on the strength of his past radicalism and his continued salience as a literary modernizer. However, several former admirers were disappointed and troubled by what they viewed as Strindberg's descent into religious conservatism and, perhaps, madness. His former ally and friend, Social Democrat leader Hjalmar Branting, now dismissed the author as a "disaster" who had betrayed his past ideals for a reactionary, mystical elitism. In 1909, Branting remarked on Strindberg's shifting political and cultural posture, on the occasion of the author's sixtieth birthday:
To the young Strindberg, the trail-blazer, the rouser from sleep, let us offer all our praise and admiration. To the writer in a more mature age [let us offer] a place of rank on the Aeropagus of European erudition. But to the Strindberg of Black Banners [1907] and A Blue Book [1907-1912], who, in the shadows of Inferno [1898] has been converted to a belief in the sickly, empty gospels of mysticism – let us wish, from our hearts, that he may once again become his past self. (Hjalmar Branting, in Social-Demokraten, 22 January 1909.)
Toward the end of his life, however, Strindberg would dramatically reassert his role as a radical standard-bearer and return to the good graces of progressive Swedish opinion.
In April 1910, Strindberg launched a series of unprompted, insult-laden attacks on popular conservative symbols, viciously thrashing the nationalist cult of former king Charles XII ("pharao worship"), the lauded poet Verner von Heidenstam ("the spirit-seer of Djursholm"), and the famous author and traveler Sven Hedin ("the humbug explorer"). The ensuing debate, known as "Strindbergsfejden" or "The Strindberg Feud", is one of the most significant literary debates in Swedish history. It came to comprise about a thousand articles by various authors across some eighty newspapers, raging for two years until Strindberg's death in 1912. The Feud served to revive Strindberg's reputation as an implacable enemy of bourgeois tastes, while also reestablishing beyond doubt his centrality to Swedish culture and politics. In 1912, Strindberg's funeral was co-organized by Branting and heavily attended by members of the Swedish labor movement, with "more than 100 red banners" in attendance alongside the entire Social Democrat parliamentary contingent.
Strindberg's daughter Karin Strindberg married a Russian Bolshevik of partially Swedish ancestry, ("Paulsson").
Painting
Strindberg, something of a polymath, was also a telegrapher, theosophist, painter, photographer and alchemist.
Painting and photography offered vehicles for his belief that chance played a crucial part in the creative process.
Strindberg's paintings were unique for their time, and went beyond those of his contemporaries for their radical lack of adherence to visual reality. The 117 paintings that are acknowledged as his were mostly painted within the span of a few years, and are now seen by some as among the most original works of 19th-century art.
Today, his best-known pieces are stormy, expressionist seascapes, selling at high prices in auction houses. Though Strindberg was friends with Edvard Munch and Paul Gauguin, and was thus familiar with modern trends, the spontaneous and subjective expressiveness of his landscapes and seascapes can be ascribed also to the fact that he painted only in periods of personal crisis. Anders Zorn also did a portrait.
Photography
Strindberg's interest in photography resulted, among other things, in a large number of arranged self-portraits in various environments, which now number among the best-known pictures of him. Strindberg also embarked on a series of camera-less images, using an experimental quasi-scientific approach. He produced a type of photogram that encouraged the development and growth of crystals on the photographic emulsion, sometimes exposed for lengthy periods to heat or cold in the open air or at night facing the stars. The suggestiveness of these, which he called Celestographs, provided an object for contemplation, and he noted;
His interest in the occult in the 1890s finds sympathy with the chance quality of these images, but for him they are also scientific.
In 1895 Strindberg met Camille Flammarion and became a member of the Société astronomique de France. He gave some of his experimental astronomical photographs to the Society.
Occult studies
Alchemy, occultism, Swedenborgianism, and various other eccentric interests were pursued by Strindberg with some intensity for periods of his life.
In the curious and experimental 1897 work Inferno – a dark, paranoid, and confusing tale of his time in Paris, written in French, which takes the form of an autobiographical journal – Strindberg, as the narrator, claims to have successfully performed alchemical experiments and cast black magic spells on his daughter. Much of Inferno indicates that the author suffered from paranoid delusions, as he writes of being stalked through Paris, haunted by evil forces, and targeted with mind-altering electric rays emitted by an "infernal machine" covertly installed in his hotel. It remains unclear to what extent the book represents a genuine attempt at autobiography or exaggerates for literary effect. Olof Lagercrantz has suggested that Strindberg staged and imagined elements of the crisis as material for his literary production.
Personal life
Strindberg was married three times, as follows:
Siri von Essen: married 1877–1891 (14 years), 3 daughters (Karin Smirnov, Greta, and another who died in infancy), 1 son (Hans);
Frida Uhl: married 1893–1895, (2 years) 1 daughter (Kerstin); and
Harriet Bosse: married 1901–1904 (3 years), 1 daughter (Anne-Marie).
Strindberg was age 28 and Siri was 27 at the time of their marriage. He was 44 and Frida was 21 when they married, and he was 52 and Harriet was 23 when they married. Late during his life he met the young actress and painter Fanny Falkner (1890–1963) who was 41 years younger than Strindberg. She wrote a book which illuminates his last years, but the exact nature of their relationship is debated. He had a brief affair in Berlin with Dagny Juel before his marriage to Frida; it has been suggested that the news of her murder in 1901 was the reason he cancelled his honeymoon with his third wife, Harriet.
He was related to Nils Strindberg (a son of one of August's cousins).
Strindberg's relationships with women were troubled and have often been interpreted as misogynistic by contemporaries and modern readers. Marriage and families were being stressed in Strindberg's lifetime as Sweden industrialized and urbanized at a rapid pace. Problems of prostitution and poverty were debated among writers, critics and politicians. His early writing often dealt with the traditional roles of the sexes imposed by society, which he criticized as unjust.
Strindberg's last home was Blå tornet in central Stockholm, where he lived from 1908 until 1912. It is now a museum. Of several statues and busts of him erected in Stockholm, the most prominent is Carl Eldh's, erected in 1942 in Tegnérlunden, a park adjoining this house.
Bibliography
La cruauté et le théâtre de Strindberg de Pascale Roger, coll "Univers théâtral", L'Harmattan, Paris, 2004, 278 p.
The Growth of a Soul (1914)
The German Lieutenant, and Other Stories (1915)
There Are Crimes and Crimes
Further reading
Everdell, William R., The First Moderns: Profiles in the Origins of Twentieth-Century Thought. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1997. (cloth) (bpk)
Brita M. E. Mortensen, Brian W. Downs, Strindberg: An Introduction to His Life and Work, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1965
Gundlach, Angelika; Scherzer, Jörg (Ed.): Der andere Strindberg – Materialien zu Malerei, Photographie und Theaterpraxis, Frankfurt a. M.: Insel-Verlag, 1981. ISBN 3-458-31929-8
Prideaux, Sue, Strindberg: A Life, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2012.
Schroeder, J., Stenport, A., and Szalczer, E., editors, August Strindberg and Visual Culture, New York: Bloomsbury, 2018.
Sprinchorn, Evert, Strindberg As Dramatist, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1982.
Stamper, Judith (1975), review of the production of To Damascus at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh in April 1975, in Calgacus 2, Summer 1975, p. 56,
Sources
Adams, Ann-Charlotte Gavel, ed. 2002. Dictionary of Literary Biography. Vol. 259 Twentieth-Century Swedish Writers Before World War II. Detroit, MI: Gale. .
Carlson, Marvin. 1993. Theories of the Theatre: A Historical and Critical Survey from the Greeks to the Present. Expanded ed. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press. .
Ekman, Hans-Göran. 2000. Strindberg and the Five Senses: Studies in Strindberg's Chamber Plays. London and New Brunswick, New Jersey: Athlone. .
Gunnarsson, Torsten. 1998. Nordic Landscape Painting in the Nineteenth Century. New Haven: Yale UP. .
Innes, Christopher, ed. 2000. A Sourcebook on Naturalist Theatre. London and New York: Routledge. .
Lagercrantz, Olof. 1984. August Strindberg. Trans. Anselm Hollo. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux. .
Lane, Harry. 1998. "Strindberg, August." In The Cambridge Guide to Theatre. Ed. Martin Banham. Cambridge: Cambridge UP. 1040–41. .
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Ward, John. 1980. The Social and Religious Plays of Strindberg. London: Athlone. .
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References
External links
English-language translations in the public domain
Public domain translations of Strindberg's drama
The Father, Countess Julie, The Outlaw, The Stronger
Comrades, Facing Death, Pariah, Easter
Swanwhite, Advent, The Storm
There are Crimes and Crimes, Miss Julia, The Stronger, Creditors, and Pariah
To Damascus Part 1
Road To Damascus Parts 1, 2, and 3
Public domain translations of Strindberg's novels
The Red Room.
The Confession of a Fool.
Other
Photographs by Strindberg from the National Library of Sweden on Flickr
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August Strindberg and absinthe; in his life and in his works
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A Dream Play (manuscript) at World Digital Library
Burkhart Brückner: Biography of Johan August Strindberg in: Biographical Archive of Psychiatry (BIAPSY).
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Writers from Stockholm | false | [
"The Glorious First of June is a 1794 play by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. It depicts the Glorious First of June, a British naval victory over the French that took place on 1 June 1794 during the French Revolutionary War. It premiered on 2 July 1794 at the Drury Lane theatre, and was based on newspaper accounts of the battle. It contains a debate on the question of naval patriotism – a key issue at the time. The profits made from the play were donated to the families of those killed in the battle.\n\nCharacters\nComodore Broadside\nEndless\nOld Cottager\nRobin\nWilliam\nTom Oakum\nBen\nSplicem\nBoy\nDick\nBusy\nCottager's Wife\nMary\nSusan\nGirl\nCicely\nMargaretta\nSailors, Countrymen, Countrylasses\n\nReferences\n\nBibliography\n Jenks, Timothy. Naval engagements: patriotism, cultural politics, and the Royal Navy, 1793-1815. Oxford University Press, 2006, \n\nPlays by Richard Brinsley Sheridan\n1794 plays\nGlorious First of June\nWest End plays\nPlays about war\nPlays set in the 18th century",
"Pasquin is a 1736 comedy play by Henry Fielding. It is a satire on both politics and the theatre, with a play within a play plot about a group of actors attempting to put on a production about a local election. It takes its name from Pasquin, a historic statue in Rome.\n\nThe original Haymarket cast included John Roberts as Trapwell, James Lacy as Fustian, Charlotte Charke as Lord Place and John Freeman as Colonel Promise. It was the success of the season with an estimated 25,000 people seeing its original run of forty performances.\n\nReferences\n\nBibliography\n Bullard, Paddy. The Oxford Handbook of Eighteenth-Century Satire. Oxford University Press, 2019.\n Burling, William J. A Checklist of New Plays and Entertainments on the London Stage, 1700-1737. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press, 1992.\n Nicoll, Allardyce. A History of Early Eighteenth Century Drama: 1700-1750. CUP Archive, 1927.\n\n1736 plays\nComedy plays\nWest End plays\nPlays by Henry Fielding"
] |
[
"Daniel Boone",
"Businessman on the Ohio River"
] | C_772cc11b9fe54084b4f80a51b869fc06_0 | What were his businesses? | 1 | What were Daniel Boone's businesses? | Daniel Boone | After the Revolution, Boone resettled in Limestone (renamed Maysville, Kentucky in 1786), then a booming Ohio River port. In 1787, he was elected to the Virginia state assembly as a representative from Bourbon County. In Maysville, he kept a tavern and worked as a surveyor, horse trader, and land speculator. He was initially prosperous, owning seven slaves by 1787, a relatively large number for Kentucky at the time. Boone became a celebrity while living in Maysville. In 1784, on his 50th birthday, historian John Filson published The Discovery, Settlement And present State of Kentucke, a book which included a chronicle of Boone's adventures. The Revolutionary War had ended, but the border war with American Indians north of the Ohio River resumed with the Northwest Indian War. In September 1786, Boone took part in a military expedition into the Ohio Country led by Benjamin Logan. Back in Limestone, Boone housed and fed Shawnees who were captured during the raid, and helped to negotiate a truce and prisoner exchange. Although the war escalated and would not end until the American victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794, the 1786 expedition was the last time Boone saw military action. Boone began to have financial troubles while living in Maysville. According to the later folk image, Boone the trailblazer was too unsophisticated for the civilization which followed him and which eventually defrauded him of his land. Boone was not the simple frontiersman of legend, however: he engaged in land speculation on a large scale, buying and selling claims to tens of thousands of acres. The land market in frontier Kentucky was chaotic, and Boone's ventures ultimately failed because his investment strategy was faulty and because his sense of honor made him reluctant to profit at someone else's expense. According to Faragher, "Boone lacked the ruthless instincts that speculation demanded." Frustrated with the legal hassles that went with land speculation, in 1788, Boone moved upriver to Point Pleasant, Virginia (now West Virginia). There he operated a trading post and occasionally worked as a surveyor's assistant. When Virginia created Kanawha County in 1789, Boone was appointed lieutenant colonel of the county militia. In 1791, he was elected to the Virginia legislature for the third time. He contracted to provide supplies for the Kanawha militia, but his debts prevented him from buying goods on credit, so he closed his store and returned to hunting and trapping. In 1795, Rebecca and he moved back to Kentucky, living in present Nicholas County on land owned by their son Daniel Morgan Boone. The next year, Boone applied to Isaac Shelby, the first governor of the new state of Kentucky, for a contract to widen the Wilderness Road into a wagon route, but the contract was awarded to someone else. Meanwhile, lawsuits over conflicting land claims continued to make their way through the Kentucky courts. Boone's remaining land claims were sold off to pay legal fees and taxes, but he no longer paid attention to the process. In 1798, a warrant was issued for Boone's arrest after he ignored a summons to testify in a court case, although the sheriff never found him. That same year, the Kentucky assembly named Boone County in his honor. CANNOTANSWER | he kept a tavern and worked as a surveyor, horse trader, and land speculator. | Daniel Boone (September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and frontiersman whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. Boone became famous for his exploration and settlement of what is now Kentucky, which was then beyond the western borders of the Thirteen Colonies. Despite resistance from American Indians, for whom Kentucky was a traditional hunting ground, in 1775 Boone blazed the Wilderness Road through the Cumberland Gap and into Kentucky. There he founded Boonesborough, one of the first English-speaking settlements west of the Appalachian Mountains. By the end of the 18th century, more than 200,000 people had entered Kentucky by following the route marked by Boone.
Boone served as a militia officer during the Revolutionary War (1775–1783), which, in Kentucky, was fought primarily between American settlers and British-allied American Indians. Boone was captured by Shawnees in 1778 and adopted into the tribe, but he escaped and continued to help defend the Kentucky settlements. He was elected to the first of his three terms in the Virginia General Assembly during the war, and fought in the Battle of Blue Licks in 1782, one of the last battles of the American Revolution. Boone worked as a surveyor and merchant after the war, but he went deep into debt as a Kentucky land speculator. Frustrated with legal problems resulting from his land claims, in 1799 Boone resettled in Missouri, where he spent most of the last two decades of his life.
Boone remains an iconic, if imperfectly remembered, figure in American history. He was a legend in his own lifetime, especially after an account of his adventures was published in 1784, making him famous in America and Europe. After his death, Boone became the subject of many heroic tall tales and works of fiction. His adventures—real and legendary—helped create the archetypal frontier hero of American folklore. In American popular culture, Boone is remembered as one of the foremost early frontiersmen, even though mythology often overshadows the historical details of his life.
Early life
Boone was born on October 22, 1734 ("New Style" November 2), the sixth of eleven children in a family of Quakers. His father, Squire Boone (1696–1765), had emigrated to colonial Pennsylvania from the small town of Bradninch, England, in 1713. Squire, a weaver and blacksmith, married Sarah Morgan (1700–1777), whose family were Quakers from Wales. In 1731, the Boones built a one-room log cabin in the Oley Valley in what is now Berks County, Pennsylvania, near present Reading, where Daniel was born.
Boone spent his early years on the Pennsylvania frontier, often interacting with American Indians. Boone learned to hunt from local settlers and Indians; by the age of fifteen, he had a reputation as one of the region’s best hunters. Many stories about Boone emphasize his hunting skills. In one tale, the young Boone was hunting in the woods with some other boys when the howl of a panther scattered all but Boone. He calmly cocked his rifle and shot the predator through the heart just as it leaped at him. The story may be a folktale, one of many that became part of Boone’s popular image.
In Boone's youth, his family became a source of controversy in the local Quaker community. In 1742, Boone's parents were compelled to publicly apologize after their eldest child Sarah married a "worldling", or non-Quaker, while she was visibly pregnant. When Boone's oldest brother Israel also married a "worldling" in 1747, Squire Boone stood by his son and was therefore expelled from the Quakers, although his wife continued to attend monthly meetings with her children. Perhaps as a result of this controversy, in 1750 Squire sold his land and moved the family to North Carolina. Daniel Boone did not attend church again, although he always considered himself a Christian and had all of his children baptized. The Boones eventually settled on the Yadkin River, in what is now Davie County, North Carolina, about two miles (3 km) west of Mocksville.
Boone received little formal education, since he preferred to spend his time hunting, apparently with his parents’ blessing. According to a family tradition, when a schoolteacher expressed concern over Boone's education, Boone's father said, "Let the girls do the spelling and Dan will do the shooting." Boone was tutored by family members, though his spelling remained unorthodox. Historian John Mack Faragher cautions that the folk image of Boone as semiliterate is misleading, arguing that Boone "acquired a level of literacy that was the equal of most men of his times." Boone regularly took reading material with him on his hunting expeditions—the Bible and Gulliver's Travels were favorites. He was often the only literate person in groups of frontiersmen, and would sometimes entertain his hunting companions by reading to them around the campfire.
Hunter, husband, and soldier
When the French and Indian War (1754–1763) broke out between the French, British, and their respective Indian allies, Boone joined a North Carolina militia company as a teamster and blacksmith. In 1755, his unit accompanied General Edward Braddock’s attempt to drive the French out of the Ohio Country, which ended in disaster at the Battle of the Monongahela. Boone, in the rear with the wagons, took no part in the battle, and fled with the retreating soldiers.
Boone returned home after the defeat, and on August 14, 1756, he married Rebecca Bryan, a neighbor in the Yadkin Valley. The couple initially lived in a cabin on his father's farm, and would eventually have ten children, in addition to raising eight children of deceased relatives.
In 1758, conflict erupted between British colonists and the Cherokees, their former allies in the French and Indian War. After the Yadkin Valley was raided by Cherokees, the Boones and many other families fled north to Culpeper County, Virginia. Boone saw action as a member of the North Carolina militia during this "Cherokee Uprising," periodically serving under Captain Hugh Waddell on the North Carolina frontier until 1760.
Boone supported his growing family in these years as a market hunter and trapper, collecting pelts for the fur trade. Almost every autumn, despite the unrest on the frontier, Boone would go on "long hunts", extended expeditions into the wilderness lasting weeks or months. Boone went alone or with a small group of men, accumulating hundreds of deer skins in the autumn, and trapping beaver and otter over the winter. When the long hunters returned in the spring, they sold their take to commercial fur traders. On their journeys, frontiersmen often carved messages on trees or wrote their names on cave walls, and Boone's name or initials have been found in many places. A tree in present Washington County, Tennessee, reads "D. Boon Cilled a. Bar on tree in the year 1760". A similar carving, preserved in the museum of the Filson Historical Society in Louisville, Kentucky, reads "D. Boon Kilt a Bar, 1803." The inscriptions may be genuine, or part of a long tradition of phony Boone relics.
According to a popular story, Boone returned home after a long absence to find Rebecca had given birth to a daughter. Rebecca confessed she had thought Daniel was dead, and that Boone’s brother had fathered the child. Boone did not blame Rebecca, and raised the girl as his own child. Boone's early biographers knew the story but did not publish it. Modern biographers regard the tale as possibly folklore, since the identity of the brother and the daughter vary in different versions of the tale.
In the mid-1760s, Boone began to look for a new place to settle. The population was growing in the Yadkin Valley, which decreased the amount of game available for hunting. Boone had difficulty making ends meet; he was often taken to court for nonpayment of debts. He sold what land he owned to pay off creditors. After his father's death in 1765, Boone traveled with a group of men to Florida, which had become British territory after the end of the war, to look into the possibility of settling there. According to a family story, Boone purchased land in Pensacola, but Rebecca refused to move so far away from friends and family. The Boones instead moved to a more remote area of the Yadkin Valley, and Boone began to hunt westward into the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Into Kentucky
Years before entering Kentucky, Boone had heard about the region’s fertile land and abundant game. In 1767, Boone and his brother Squire first crossed into what would become the state of Kentucky, but they failed to reach the rich hunting grounds. In May 1769, Boone set out again with a party of five others, beginning a two-year hunting expedition in which Boone thoroughly explored Kentucky. His first sighting of the Bluegrass region from atop Pilot Knob became "an icon of American history," and was the frequent subject of paintings.
On December 22, 1769, Boone and a fellow hunter were captured by a party of Shawnees, who confiscated all of their skins and told them to leave and never return. The Shawnees had not signed the 1768 Treaty of Fort Stanwix, in which the Iroquois had ceded their claim to Kentucky to the British. The Shawnees regarded Kentucky as their hunting ground; they considered American hunters there to be poachers. Boone, undeterred, continued hunting and exploring in Kentucky. On one occasion, he shot a man to avoid capture, which historian John Mack Faragher says "was one of the few Indians that Boone acknowledged killing." Boone returned to North Carolina in 1771, but came back to hunt in Kentucky in the autumn of 1772.
In 1773, Boone packed up his family and, with his brother, Squire, and a group of about 50 others, began the first attempt by British colonists to establish a settlement. Boone was still an obscure figure at the time; the most prominent member of the expedition was William Russell, a well-known Virginian and future brother-in-law of Patrick Henry. Another member of this expedition was Boone's friend and fellow long-hunter, Michael Stoner.
Included in this group were an unknown number of enslaved Blacks, including Charles and Adam. On October 9, Boone's oldest son, James, and several whites as well as Charles and Adam left the main party to seek provisions in a nearby settlement. They were attacked by a band of Delawares, Shawnees, and Cherokees. Following the Fort Stanwix treaty, American Indians in the region had been debating what do to about the influx of settlers. This group had decided, in the words of Faragher, "to send a message of their opposition to settlement". James Boone and William Russell's son, Henry, were tortured and killed. Charles was captured. Adam witnessed the horror concealed in riverbank driftwood. After wandering In the woods for 11 days, Adam located the group and informed Boone of the circumstances of their deaths. Charles's body was found by the pioneers 40 miles from the abduction site, dead from a blow to his head. The brutality of the killings sent shockwaves along the frontier, and Boone's party abandoned their expedition.
The attack was one of the first events in what became known as Dunmore's War, a struggle between Virginia and American Indians for control of what is now West Virginia and Kentucky. In the summer of 1774, Boone traveled with a companion to Kentucky to notify surveyors there about the outbreak of war. They journeyed more than in two months to warn those who had not already fled the region. Upon his return to Virginia, Boone helped defend colonial settlements along the Clinch River, earning a promotion to captain in the militia, as well as acclaim from fellow citizens. After the brief war, which ended soon after Virginia's victory in the Battle of Point Pleasant in October 1774, the Shawnees relinquished their claims to Kentucky.
Following Dunmore's War, Richard Henderson, a prominent judge from North Carolina, hired Boone to help establish a colony to be called Transylvania. Boone traveled to several Cherokee towns and invited them to a meeting, held at Sycamore Shoals in March 1775, where Henderson purchased the Cherokee claim to Kentucky.
Boone then blazed "Boone's Trace," later known as the Wilderness Road, through the Cumberland Gap and into central Kentucky. Sam, an enslaved black “body servant,” and other enslaved laborers were among this group of settlers. When this group camped near the present day Richmond, KY, Indians attacked, killing Sam and his enslaver. After driving off the attackers, the party buried the two men side by side.
He founded Boonesborough along the Kentucky River; other settlements, notably Harrodsburg, were also established at this time. Despite occasional Indian attacks, Boone brought his family and other settlers to Boonesborough on September 8, 1775.
American Revolution
Violence in Kentucky increased with the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783). American Indians who were unhappy about the loss of Kentucky in treaties saw the war as a chance to drive out the colonists. Isolated settlers and hunters became the frequent target of attacks, convincing many to abandon Kentucky. By late spring of 1776, Boone and his family were among the fewer than 200 colonists who remained in Kentucky, primarily at the fortified settlements of Boonesborough, Harrodsburg, and Logan's Station.
On July 14, 1776, Boone's daughter Jemima and two other girls were captured outside Boonesborough by an Indian war party, who carried the girls north toward the Shawnee towns in the Ohio country. Boone and a group of men from Boonesborough followed in pursuit, finally catching up with them two days later. Boone and his men ambushed the Indians, rescuing the girls and driving off their captors. The incident became the most celebrated event of Boone's life. James Fenimore Cooper created a fictionalized version of the episode in his classic novel The Last of the Mohicans (1826).
In 1777, Henry Hamilton, British Lieutenant Governor of Canada, began to recruit American Indian war parties to raid the Kentucky settlements. That same year in March, the newly formed militia of Kentucky County, VA mustered in Boonesborough, whose population included ten to 15 enslaved people. On April 24, 1778, the British-allied Shawnees led by Chief Blackfish mounted the siege of Boonesborough. Armed enslaved men fought alongside their enslavers at the fort's walls. After going beyond the fort walls to engage the attackers, London, one of the enslaved, was killed.
Boone was shot in the ankle while outside the fort but, amid a flurry of bullets, he was carried back inside by Simon Kenton, a recent arrival at Boonesborough. Kenton became Boone's close friend, as well as a legendary frontiersman in his own right.
Capture and court-martial
While Boone recovered, Shawnees kept up their attacks outside Boonesborough, killing cattle and destroying crops. With food running low, the settlers needed salt to preserve what meat they had, so in January 1778, Boone led a party of 30 men to the salt springs on the Licking River. On February 7, when Boone was hunting meat for the expedition, he was captured by Blackfish's warriors. Because Boone's party was greatly outnumbered, Boone returned to camp the next day with Blackfish and persuaded his men to surrender rather than put up a fight.
Blackfish intended to move on to Boonesborough and capture it, but Boone argued the women and children would not survive a winter trek as prisoners back to the Shawnee villages. Instead, Boone promised that Boonesborough would surrender willingly the following spring. Boone did not have an opportunity to tell his men that he was bluffing to prevent an immediate attack on Boonesborough. Boone pursued this strategy so convincingly some of his men concluded he had switched sides, an impression that led to his court-martial (see below).
Many of the Shawnees wanted to execute the prisoners in retaliation for the recent murder of Shawnee Chief Cornstalk by Virginia militiamen. Because Shawnee chiefs led by seeking consensus, Blackfish held a council. After an impassioned speech by Boone, the warriors voted to spare the prisoners. Although Boone had saved his men, Blackfish pointed out that Boone had not included himself in the agreement, so Boone was forced to run the gauntlet through the warriors, which he survived with minor injuries.
Boone and his men were taken to Blackfish's town of Chillicothe. As was their custom, the Shawnees adopted some of the prisoners to replace fallen warriors. Boone was adopted into a Shawnee family at Chillicothe, perhaps into Blackfish's family, and given the name Sheltowee (Big Turtle). In March 1778, the Shawnees took the unadopted prisoners to Governor Hamilton in Detroit. Blackfish brought Boone along, though he refused Hamilton's offers to release Boone to the British. Hamilton gave Boone gifts, attempting to win his loyalty, while Boone continued to pretend that he intended to surrender Boonesborough. Boone returned with Blackfish to Chillicothe. On June 16, 1778, when he learned Blackfish was about to return to Boonesborough with a large force, Boone eluded his captors and raced home, covering the to Boonesborough in five days on horseback and, after his horse gave out, on foot. Biographer Robert Morgan calls Boone's escape and return "one of the great legends of frontier history."
Upon Boone's return to Boonesborough, some of the men expressed doubts about Boone's loyalty, since he had apparently lived happily among the Shawnees for months. Boone responded by leading a preemptive raid against the Shawnees across the Ohio River, and then by helping to successfully defend Boonesborough against a 10-day siege led by Blackfish, which began on September 7, 1778. After the siege, Captain Benjamin Logan and Colonel Richard Callaway—both of whom had nephews who were still captives surrendered by Boone—brought charges against Boone for his recent activities. In the court-martial that followed, Boone was found "not guilty," and was even promoted after the court heard his testimony. Despite this vindication, Boone was humiliated by the court-martial, and he rarely spoke of it.
Final years of the Revolution
After the trial, Boone returned to North Carolina to bring his family back to Kentucky. In the autumn of 1779, a large party of emigrants came with him, including the family of Captain Abraham Lincoln, grandfather of the future president. Rather than remain in Boonesborough, Boone founded the nearby settlement of Boone's Station. He began earning money by locating good land for other settlers. Transylvania land claims had been invalidated after Virginia created Kentucky County, so settlers needed to file new land claims with Virginia. In 1780, Boone collected about $20,000 in cash from various settlers and traveled to Williamsburg to purchase their land warrants. While he was sleeping in a tavern during the trip, the cash was stolen from his room. Some of the settlers forgave Boone the loss; others insisted he repay the stolen money, which took him several years to do.
In contrast to the later folk image of Boone as a backwoodsman who had little affinity for "civilized" society, Boone was a leading citizen of Kentucky at this time. When Kentucky was divided into three Virginia counties in November 1780, Boone was promoted to lieutenant colonel in the Fayette County militia. In April 1781, he was elected as a representative to the Virginia General Assembly, which was held in Richmond. In 1782, he was elected sheriff of Fayette County.
Meanwhile, the American Revolutionary War continued. Boone joined General George Rogers Clark's invasion of the Ohio country in 1780, fighting in the Battle of Piqua against the Shawnee on August 7. On the way home from the campaign, Boone was hunting with his brother Ned when Shawnees shot and killed Ned, who resembled Daniel. The Shawnees beheaded Ned, believing him to be Daniel, and took the head as evidence that Daniel Boone had finally been slain.
In 1781, Boone traveled to Richmond to take his seat in the legislature, but British dragoons under Banastre Tarleton captured Boone and several other legislators near Charlottesville. The British released Boone on parole several days later. During Boone's term, Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown in October 1781, but the fighting continued in Kentucky. Boone returned to Kentucky and in August 1782 fought in the Battle of Blue Licks, a disastrous defeat for the Kentuckians in which Boone's son Israel was killed. In November 1782, Boone took part in another Clark-led expedition into Ohio, the last major campaign of the war.
Businessman and politician
After the Revolutionary War ended, Boone resettled in Limestone (later renamed Maysville, Kentucky), then a booming Ohio River port. He kept a tavern and worked as a surveyor, horse trader, and land speculator. In 1784, on Boone’s 50th birthday, frontier historian John Filson published The Discovery, Settlement and Present State of Kentucke. The popular book included a chronicle of Boone's adventures, which made Boone a celebrity.
As settlers poured into Kentucky, the border war with American Indians north of the Ohio River resumed. In September 1786, Boone took part in a military expedition into the Ohio Country led by Benjamin Logan. Returning to Limestone, Boone housed and fed Shawnees who were captured during the raid, and helped to negotiate a truce and prisoner exchange. Although the war would not end until the American victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers eight years later, the 1786 expedition was the last time Boone saw military action.
Boone was initially prosperous in Limestone, owning seven slaves, a relatively large number for Kentucky at the time. In 1786, he purchased a Pennsylvania enslaved woman, age of about 20, for “Ninety poundes Current Lawfull (sic) money.”. A leader, he served as militia colonel, sheriff, and county coroner. In 1787, he was again elected to the Virginia state assembly, this time from Bourbon County. He began to have financial troubles after engaging in land speculation, buying and selling claims to tens of thousands of acres. These ventures ultimately failed because of the chaotic nature of land speculation in frontier Kentucky and Boone’s poor business instincts. Frustrated with the legal hassles that went with land speculation, in 1789 Boone moved upriver to Point Pleasant, Virginia (now West Virginia). There he operated a trading post and occasionally worked as a surveyor's assistant. That same year, when Virginia created Kanawha County, Boone became the lieutenant colonel of the county militia. In 1791, he was elected to the Virginia legislature for the third time. He contracted to provide supplies for the Kanawha militia, but his debts prevented him from buying goods on credit, so he closed his store and returned to hunting and trapping, though he was often hampered by rheumatism.
In 1795, Boone and his wife moved back to Kentucky, on land owned by their son Daniel Morgan Boone in what became Nicholas County. The next year, Boone applied to Isaac Shelby, the first governor of the new state of Kentucky, for a contract to widen the Wilderness Road into a wagon route, but the contract was awarded to someone else. Meanwhile, lawsuits over conflicting land claims continued to make their way through the Kentucky courts. Boone's remaining land claims were sold off to pay legal fees and taxes, but he no longer paid attention to the process. In 1798, a warrant was issued for Boone's arrest after he ignored a summons to testify in a court case, although the sheriff never found him. That same year, the Kentucky assembly named Boone County in his honor.
Into Missouri
Having endured legal and financial setbacks, Boone sought to make a fresh start by leaving the United States. In 1799, he moved his extended family to what is now St. Charles County, Missouri, but was then part of Spanish Louisiana. The Spanish, eager to promote settlement in the sparsely populated region, did not enforce the official requirement that all immigrants be Catholic. The Spanish governor appointed Boone "syndic" (judge and jury) and commandant (military leader) of the Femme Osage district. Anecdotes of Boone's tenure as syndic suggest he sought to render fair judgments rather than strictly observe the letter of the law.
Boone served as syndic and commandant until 1804, when Missouri became part of the United States following the Louisiana Purchase. He was appointed captain of the local militia. Because Boone's land grants from the Spanish government had been largely based on oral agreements, he again lost his land claims. In 1809, he petitioned Congress to restore his Spanish land claims, which was finally done in 1814. Boone sold most of this land to repay old Kentucky debts. When the War of 1812 came to Missouri, Boone's sons Daniel Morgan Boone and Nathan Boone took part, but by that time Boone was much too old for militia duty.
Although Boone reportedly vowed never to return to Kentucky after moving to Missouri, stories (possibly folk tales) were told of him making one last visit to Kentucky to pay off his creditors. American painter John James Audubon claimed to have gone hunting with Boone in Kentucky around 1810. Years later, Audubon painted a portrait of Boone, supposedly from memory, although skeptics noted the similarity of his painting to the well-known portraits by Chester Harding. Some historians believe Boone visited his brother Squire near Kentucky in 1810 and have accepted the veracity of Audubon's account.
Boone spent his final years in Missouri, often in the company of children and grandchildren. He continued to hunt and trap as much as his health and energy levels permitted, intruding upon the territory of the Osage tribe, who once captured him and confiscated his furs. In 1810, at the age of 76, he went with a group on a six-month hunt up the Missouri River, reportedly as far as the Yellowstone River, a round trip of more than 2,000 miles. He began one of his final trapping expeditions in 1815, in the company of a Shawnee and Derry Coburn, a slave who was frequently with Boone in his final years. They reached Fort Osage in 1816, where an officer wrote, "We have been honored by a visit from Col. Boone... He has taken part in all the wars of America, from Braddock's war to the present hour," but "he prefers the woods, where you see him in the dress of the roughest, poorest hunter."
Death and burial
Boone died on September 26, 1820, at his son Nathan Boone's home on Femme Osage Creek, Missouri. He was buried next to Rebecca, who had died on March 18, 1813. The graves, which were unmarked until the mid-1830s, were near Jemima (Boone) Callaway's home on Tuque Creek, about two miles (3 km) from present-day Marthasville, Missouri.
In 1845, the Boones' remains were disinterred and reburied in a new cemetery in Frankfort, Kentucky. Resentment in Missouri about the disinterment grew over the years, and a legend arose that Boone's remains never left Missouri. According to this story, Boone's tombstone in Missouri had been inadvertently placed over the wrong grave, but no one had corrected the error. Boone's Missouri relatives, displeased with the Kentuckians who came to exhume Boone, kept quiet about the mistake and allowed the Kentuckians to dig up the wrong remains. No contemporary evidence indicates this actually happened, but in 1983, a forensic anthropologist examined a crude plaster cast of Boone's skull made before the Kentucky reburial and announced it might be the skull of an African American. Black slaves were also buried at Tuque Creek, so it is possible that the wrong remains were mistakenly removed from the crowded graveyard. Both the Frankfort Cemetery in Kentucky and the Old Bryan Farm graveyard in Missouri claim to have Boone's remains.
Legacy
Daniel Boone remains an iconic figure in American history, although his status as an early American folk hero and later as a subject of fiction has tended to obscure the actual details of his life. He emerged as a legend in large part because of John Filson's "The Adventures of Colonel Daniel Boon", part of his book The Discovery, Settlement and present State of Kentucke. First published in 1784, Filson's book was primarily intended to popularize Kentucky to immigrants. It was translated into French and German, and made Boone famous in America and Europe. Based on interviews with Boone, Filson's book contained a mostly factual account of Boone's adventures from the exploration of Kentucky through the American Revolution, although many have doubted if the florid, philosophical dialogue attributed to Boone was authentic. Often reprinted, Filson's book established Boone as one of the first popular heroes of the United States.
Timothy Flint also interviewed Boone, and his Biographical Memoir of Daniel Boone, the First Settler of Kentucky (1833) became one of the best-selling biographies of the 19th century. Flint embellished Boone's adventures, doing for Boone what Parson Weems did for George Washington. In Flint's book, Boone fought with a bear, escaped from Indians by swinging on vines (as Tarzan would later do), and so on. Although Boone's family thought the book was absurd, Flint greatly influenced the popular conception of Boone, since these tall tales were recycled in countless dime novels and books aimed at young boys.
Symbol and stereotype
Thanks to Filson's book, Boone became a symbol of the "natural man" who lives a virtuous, uncomplicated existence in the wilderness. This was famously expressed in Lord Byron's epic poem Don Juan (1822), which devoted a number of stanzas to Boone, including this one:
Byron's poem celebrated Boone as someone who found happiness by turning his back on civilization. In a similar vein, many folk tales depicted Boone as a man who migrated to more remote areas whenever civilization crowded in on him. In a typical anecdote, when asked why he was moving to Missouri, Boone supposedly replied, "I want more elbow room!" Boone rejected this interpretation. "Nothing embitters my old age," he said late in life, like "the circulation of absurd stories that I retire as civilization advances."
Existing simultaneously with the image of Boone as a refugee from society was, paradoxically, the popular portrayal of him as civilization's trailblazer. Boone was celebrated as an agent of Manifest Destiny, a pathfinder who tamed the wilderness, paving the way for the extension of American civilization. In 1852, critic Henry Tuckerman dubbed Boone "the Columbus of the woods," comparing Boone's passage through the Cumberland Gap to Christopher Columbus's voyage to the New World. In popular mythology, Boone became the first to explore and settle Kentucky, opening the way for countless others to follow. In fact, other Americans had explored Kentucky before Boone, as debunkers in the 20th century often pointed out, but Boone came to symbolize them all, making him what historian Michael Lofaro called "the founding father of westward expansion."
In the 19th century, when Native Americans were being displaced from their lands and confined on reservations, Boone's image was often reshaped into the stereotype of the belligerent, Indian-hating frontiersman which was then popular. In John A. McClung's Sketches of Western Adventure (1832), for example, Boone was portrayed as longing for the "thrilling excitement of savage warfare." Boone was transformed in the popular imagination into someone who regarded Indians with contempt and had killed scores of the "savages." The real Boone disliked bloodshed. According to historian John Bakeless, there is no record that Boone ever scalped Indians, unlike other frontiersmen of the era. Boone once told his son Nathan that he was certain of having killed only one Indian, during the battle at Blue Licks, although on another occasion he said, "I never killed but three." He expressed regret over the killings, saying the Indians "have always been kinder to me than the whites." Even though Boone had lost two sons and a brother in wars with Indians, he respected Indians and was respected by them. In Missouri, Boone went hunting with the Shawnees who had captured and adopted him decades earlier. Some 19th-century writers regarded Boone's sympathy for Indians as a character flaw and altered his words to conform to contemporary attitudes.
The character John Boone in Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy is inspired by Daniel Boone. In the story, John Boone is an American astronaut, the first human to walk on Mars in the year 2020. John Boone is one of the "First Hundred" colonists sent to permanently colonize Mars. His accomplishments and natural charm yield him an informal leadership role. After being assassinated, his larger-than-life persona plays a legendary role in the culture of colonized Mars.
Commemoration and portrayals
Many places in the United States are named for Boone, including the Daniel Boone National Forest in Kentucky and the Sheltowee Trace Trail in Tennessee. His name has long been synonymous with the American outdoors. The Boone and Crockett Club is a conservationist organization founded by Theodore Roosevelt in 1887, and the Sons of Daniel Boone was the precursor of the Boy Scouts of America. A half-dollar coin was minted in 1934 to mark the bicentennial of Boone’s birth; a commemorative stamp was issued in 1968.
Boone's adventures, real and mythical, formed the basis of the archetypal hero of the American West, popular in 19th-century novels and 20th-century films. The main character of James Fenimore Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales, the first of which was published in 1823, bore striking similarities to Boone; even his name, Nathaniel Bumppo, echoed Daniel Boone's name. As mentioned above, The Last of the Mohicans (1826), Cooper's second Leatherstocking novel, featured a fictionalized version of Boone's rescue of his daughter. After Cooper, other writers developed the Western hero, an iconic figure which began as a variation of Daniel Boone.
In the 20th century, Boone was featured in numerous comic strips, radio programs, novels, and films, such as the 1936 film Daniel Boone. Boone was the subject of a TV series that ran from 1964 to 1970. In the theme song for the series, Boone was described as a "big man" in a "coonskin cap," and the "rippin'est, roarin'est, fightin'est man the frontier ever knew!" This did not describe the real Boone, who was not a big man and did not wear a coonskin cap, which he thought uncouth and uncomfortable. Boone was portrayed this way in the TV series because Fess Parker, the tall actor who played him, was essentially reprising his role as Davy Crockett from an earlier TV series. That Boone could be portrayed the same way as Crockett, another American frontiersman with a very different personality, was another example of how Boone's image was reshaped to suit popular tastes. He was also the subject matter for the song sung by Ed Ames called "Daniel Boone". It was released in 1966.
In Blood and Treasure, released in 2021, authors Tom Clavin and Bob Drury painted a much broader historical portrait of Boone than has been commonly described.
The Taking of Jemima Boone by Matthew Pearl, published in 2021, is an account of the abduction of the daughter of Daniel Boone and, after her rescue by Boone, then shifts to the conflicts between Boone, his political rival Richard Callaway, and Shawnee leader Blackfish, with resulting impacts to the Western theater of the American Revolutionary War.
See also
Edward Morgan Log House
Daniel Boone Homestead
Daniel Boone School
Thomas S. Hinde, close friend of the Boone Family, neighbor in Kentucky, and interviewer of Boone
Boone's Cave Park
Daniel Boone National Forest
Boone Trail, between Virginia Beach, Virginia and San Francisco, California
References
Notes
Citations
Sources
The definitive Boone biography of its era, the first to make full use of the immense material collected by Lyman Draper.
Belue's notes provide a modern scholarly perspective to Draper's unfinished 19th century biography.
Guide to historical sites associated with Boone.
Further reading
Filson, John. The Discovery, Settlement and present State of Kentucke, including the "Appendix" life of Boone
Hammon, Neal O., ed. My Father, Daniel Boone: The Draper Interviews with Nathan Boone. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1999. .
Reid, Darren R., ed. Daniel Boone and Others on the Kentucky Frontier: Autobiographies and Narratives, 1769–1795. Jefferson: McFarland and Company, 2009. .
Personal papers of Daniel Boone at the Wisconsin Historical Society searchable 32-volume collection of Boone manuscripts and correspondence, part of the Lyman Draper collection
1734 births
1820 deaths
American explorers
American folklore
American hunters
American people of English descent
American people of Welsh descent
American slave owners
American surveyors
Kentucky pioneers
Appalachian people
Boone County, Missouri
Daniel
Burials at Frankfort Cemetery
Captives of Native Americans
Hall of Fame for Great Americans inductees
Kentucky militiamen in the American Revolution
Members of the Virginia House of Delegates
Mountain men
People of colonial Pennsylvania
People from Berks County, Pennsylvania
People from Kentucky
People from St. Charles County, Missouri
People of Pennsylvania in the French and Indian War
People of Kentucky in the American Revolution
People who were court-martialed
Tall tales | true | [
"Growth planning is a strategic business activity that enables business owners to plan and track organic growth in their revenue. It allows businesses to allocate their limited resources toward a centered effort to adapt to changes in the industry driven by digital disruption and differentiate from competitors. The strategies and tactics included in a Growth Plan focus on the key driver of revenue generation - the customer.\n\nWhy Businesses Develop a Growth Plan\nBusinesses often develop a growth plan following certain trigger events. These could include a lack of sales, intense competition and unexpected growth. Businesses in situations like these will develop a Growth Plan to prioritize resources and take corrective action to stay on track.\n\nWhat is in a Growth Plan\nA Growth Plan only contains the elements of a business where the customer can see value. It begins by setting out business goals and leads to the strategies and tactics for reaching them. The benefit of this is it enables businesses to connect their goals with precise actions. Small businesses focus on market penetration to sell more to existing customers. A growth plan for more mature small businesses is market development where they sell existing offerings to a different market (e.g. a neighboring state or country). Larger businesses tend to focus on reaching customers through alternate channels (e.g. online) or broadening their target customer through product development to solve their unique problems.\n\nWhen starting to develop a growth plan, 3 key questions are considered:\nWhat is the current state of the business?\nWhat do the key stakeholders envision the future state to be?\nHow do you bridge the gap?\n\nTo answer these questions businesses outline the following 9 step blueprint:\n\nPreparing for Growth\nWhen implementing a growth plan, management will investigate whether it is aligned with the current organizational structure. In cases where it is not aligned, management must question whether to adapt the organizational structure or not. Further, rapid growth can place pressure on existing processes. If processes aren’t scalable, management should address these issues before growing as the costs of fixing the problems afterwards is greater.\n\nBusiness Plan vs Growth Plan\nA Business plan focuses on the business goals and background information about the organization and key team members. It is commonly developed for a 3-5 year time frame and is useful when seeking external funding from either banks or investors.\n\nOn the other hand, a Growth Plan is short term, typically 1–2 years or less. It focuses at a much deeper level on the go-to-market section usually seen in a Business Plan. Growth Planning aims to be agile and adapt to changing market conditions that businesses are facing, particularly through technology and digital media. Further, a Business Plan may give a high level view of the plans in place to reach business goals whereas a Growth Plan is more granular and ensures rapid execution, usually in 90-day sprints.\n\nReferences\n\nStrategy\nPlanning",
"The Commitment Engine: Making Work Worth It is the third book by John Jantsch. The book is a follow up of Jantsch's previous book, The Referral Engine, and teaches readers how to establish lasting commitment in their employees, customers, and businesses and explores what makes some businesses worth referring.\n\nSynopsis\nThe book developed out of Jantsch's quest to understand why one successful entrepreneur can be fulfilled by their business while another successful entrepreneur cannot, which led him the commitment connection.\n\nThe Commitment Engine looks into what makes some businesses worth referring – and according to Jantsch, it’s the commitment engine that drives the success of these businesses. The book also looks into what creates great company culture. The book is divided up into three parts:\n\nThe Path, which explores clarity of purpose, passion and the strategies used to bring purpose to life in your work.\nThe Patron, which shows how to become a supportive leader who pulls all these characteristics together inside business.\nThe Promise, where all of these elements come together to create a powerful brand where customers experience characteristics of commitment that contribute to customer loyalty and profitability.\n\nReception\nThe Commitment Engine has been featured in Forbes, CNBC, The New York Enterprise Report, and was reviewed positively by Trust Agents author Chris Brogan. Additionally, Jantsch gave a TEDx talk about the book.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nCommitment Engine Website\nCommitment Engine Blog\nJohn Jantsch on Twitter\n\n2012 non-fiction books\nBusiness books\nSelf-help books"
] |
[
"Daniel Boone",
"Businessman on the Ohio River",
"What were his businesses?",
"he kept a tavern and worked as a surveyor, horse trader, and land speculator."
] | C_772cc11b9fe54084b4f80a51b869fc06_0 | Was he successful? | 2 | Was Daniel Boone successful in his business? | Daniel Boone | After the Revolution, Boone resettled in Limestone (renamed Maysville, Kentucky in 1786), then a booming Ohio River port. In 1787, he was elected to the Virginia state assembly as a representative from Bourbon County. In Maysville, he kept a tavern and worked as a surveyor, horse trader, and land speculator. He was initially prosperous, owning seven slaves by 1787, a relatively large number for Kentucky at the time. Boone became a celebrity while living in Maysville. In 1784, on his 50th birthday, historian John Filson published The Discovery, Settlement And present State of Kentucke, a book which included a chronicle of Boone's adventures. The Revolutionary War had ended, but the border war with American Indians north of the Ohio River resumed with the Northwest Indian War. In September 1786, Boone took part in a military expedition into the Ohio Country led by Benjamin Logan. Back in Limestone, Boone housed and fed Shawnees who were captured during the raid, and helped to negotiate a truce and prisoner exchange. Although the war escalated and would not end until the American victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794, the 1786 expedition was the last time Boone saw military action. Boone began to have financial troubles while living in Maysville. According to the later folk image, Boone the trailblazer was too unsophisticated for the civilization which followed him and which eventually defrauded him of his land. Boone was not the simple frontiersman of legend, however: he engaged in land speculation on a large scale, buying and selling claims to tens of thousands of acres. The land market in frontier Kentucky was chaotic, and Boone's ventures ultimately failed because his investment strategy was faulty and because his sense of honor made him reluctant to profit at someone else's expense. According to Faragher, "Boone lacked the ruthless instincts that speculation demanded." Frustrated with the legal hassles that went with land speculation, in 1788, Boone moved upriver to Point Pleasant, Virginia (now West Virginia). There he operated a trading post and occasionally worked as a surveyor's assistant. When Virginia created Kanawha County in 1789, Boone was appointed lieutenant colonel of the county militia. In 1791, he was elected to the Virginia legislature for the third time. He contracted to provide supplies for the Kanawha militia, but his debts prevented him from buying goods on credit, so he closed his store and returned to hunting and trapping. In 1795, Rebecca and he moved back to Kentucky, living in present Nicholas County on land owned by their son Daniel Morgan Boone. The next year, Boone applied to Isaac Shelby, the first governor of the new state of Kentucky, for a contract to widen the Wilderness Road into a wagon route, but the contract was awarded to someone else. Meanwhile, lawsuits over conflicting land claims continued to make their way through the Kentucky courts. Boone's remaining land claims were sold off to pay legal fees and taxes, but he no longer paid attention to the process. In 1798, a warrant was issued for Boone's arrest after he ignored a summons to testify in a court case, although the sheriff never found him. That same year, the Kentucky assembly named Boone County in his honor. CANNOTANSWER | He was initially prosperous, owning seven slaves by 1787, a relatively large number for Kentucky at the time. | Daniel Boone (September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and frontiersman whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. Boone became famous for his exploration and settlement of what is now Kentucky, which was then beyond the western borders of the Thirteen Colonies. Despite resistance from American Indians, for whom Kentucky was a traditional hunting ground, in 1775 Boone blazed the Wilderness Road through the Cumberland Gap and into Kentucky. There he founded Boonesborough, one of the first English-speaking settlements west of the Appalachian Mountains. By the end of the 18th century, more than 200,000 people had entered Kentucky by following the route marked by Boone.
Boone served as a militia officer during the Revolutionary War (1775–1783), which, in Kentucky, was fought primarily between American settlers and British-allied American Indians. Boone was captured by Shawnees in 1778 and adopted into the tribe, but he escaped and continued to help defend the Kentucky settlements. He was elected to the first of his three terms in the Virginia General Assembly during the war, and fought in the Battle of Blue Licks in 1782, one of the last battles of the American Revolution. Boone worked as a surveyor and merchant after the war, but he went deep into debt as a Kentucky land speculator. Frustrated with legal problems resulting from his land claims, in 1799 Boone resettled in Missouri, where he spent most of the last two decades of his life.
Boone remains an iconic, if imperfectly remembered, figure in American history. He was a legend in his own lifetime, especially after an account of his adventures was published in 1784, making him famous in America and Europe. After his death, Boone became the subject of many heroic tall tales and works of fiction. His adventures—real and legendary—helped create the archetypal frontier hero of American folklore. In American popular culture, Boone is remembered as one of the foremost early frontiersmen, even though mythology often overshadows the historical details of his life.
Early life
Boone was born on October 22, 1734 ("New Style" November 2), the sixth of eleven children in a family of Quakers. His father, Squire Boone (1696–1765), had emigrated to colonial Pennsylvania from the small town of Bradninch, England, in 1713. Squire, a weaver and blacksmith, married Sarah Morgan (1700–1777), whose family were Quakers from Wales. In 1731, the Boones built a one-room log cabin in the Oley Valley in what is now Berks County, Pennsylvania, near present Reading, where Daniel was born.
Boone spent his early years on the Pennsylvania frontier, often interacting with American Indians. Boone learned to hunt from local settlers and Indians; by the age of fifteen, he had a reputation as one of the region’s best hunters. Many stories about Boone emphasize his hunting skills. In one tale, the young Boone was hunting in the woods with some other boys when the howl of a panther scattered all but Boone. He calmly cocked his rifle and shot the predator through the heart just as it leaped at him. The story may be a folktale, one of many that became part of Boone’s popular image.
In Boone's youth, his family became a source of controversy in the local Quaker community. In 1742, Boone's parents were compelled to publicly apologize after their eldest child Sarah married a "worldling", or non-Quaker, while she was visibly pregnant. When Boone's oldest brother Israel also married a "worldling" in 1747, Squire Boone stood by his son and was therefore expelled from the Quakers, although his wife continued to attend monthly meetings with her children. Perhaps as a result of this controversy, in 1750 Squire sold his land and moved the family to North Carolina. Daniel Boone did not attend church again, although he always considered himself a Christian and had all of his children baptized. The Boones eventually settled on the Yadkin River, in what is now Davie County, North Carolina, about two miles (3 km) west of Mocksville.
Boone received little formal education, since he preferred to spend his time hunting, apparently with his parents’ blessing. According to a family tradition, when a schoolteacher expressed concern over Boone's education, Boone's father said, "Let the girls do the spelling and Dan will do the shooting." Boone was tutored by family members, though his spelling remained unorthodox. Historian John Mack Faragher cautions that the folk image of Boone as semiliterate is misleading, arguing that Boone "acquired a level of literacy that was the equal of most men of his times." Boone regularly took reading material with him on his hunting expeditions—the Bible and Gulliver's Travels were favorites. He was often the only literate person in groups of frontiersmen, and would sometimes entertain his hunting companions by reading to them around the campfire.
Hunter, husband, and soldier
When the French and Indian War (1754–1763) broke out between the French, British, and their respective Indian allies, Boone joined a North Carolina militia company as a teamster and blacksmith. In 1755, his unit accompanied General Edward Braddock’s attempt to drive the French out of the Ohio Country, which ended in disaster at the Battle of the Monongahela. Boone, in the rear with the wagons, took no part in the battle, and fled with the retreating soldiers.
Boone returned home after the defeat, and on August 14, 1756, he married Rebecca Bryan, a neighbor in the Yadkin Valley. The couple initially lived in a cabin on his father's farm, and would eventually have ten children, in addition to raising eight children of deceased relatives.
In 1758, conflict erupted between British colonists and the Cherokees, their former allies in the French and Indian War. After the Yadkin Valley was raided by Cherokees, the Boones and many other families fled north to Culpeper County, Virginia. Boone saw action as a member of the North Carolina militia during this "Cherokee Uprising," periodically serving under Captain Hugh Waddell on the North Carolina frontier until 1760.
Boone supported his growing family in these years as a market hunter and trapper, collecting pelts for the fur trade. Almost every autumn, despite the unrest on the frontier, Boone would go on "long hunts", extended expeditions into the wilderness lasting weeks or months. Boone went alone or with a small group of men, accumulating hundreds of deer skins in the autumn, and trapping beaver and otter over the winter. When the long hunters returned in the spring, they sold their take to commercial fur traders. On their journeys, frontiersmen often carved messages on trees or wrote their names on cave walls, and Boone's name or initials have been found in many places. A tree in present Washington County, Tennessee, reads "D. Boon Cilled a. Bar on tree in the year 1760". A similar carving, preserved in the museum of the Filson Historical Society in Louisville, Kentucky, reads "D. Boon Kilt a Bar, 1803." The inscriptions may be genuine, or part of a long tradition of phony Boone relics.
According to a popular story, Boone returned home after a long absence to find Rebecca had given birth to a daughter. Rebecca confessed she had thought Daniel was dead, and that Boone’s brother had fathered the child. Boone did not blame Rebecca, and raised the girl as his own child. Boone's early biographers knew the story but did not publish it. Modern biographers regard the tale as possibly folklore, since the identity of the brother and the daughter vary in different versions of the tale.
In the mid-1760s, Boone began to look for a new place to settle. The population was growing in the Yadkin Valley, which decreased the amount of game available for hunting. Boone had difficulty making ends meet; he was often taken to court for nonpayment of debts. He sold what land he owned to pay off creditors. After his father's death in 1765, Boone traveled with a group of men to Florida, which had become British territory after the end of the war, to look into the possibility of settling there. According to a family story, Boone purchased land in Pensacola, but Rebecca refused to move so far away from friends and family. The Boones instead moved to a more remote area of the Yadkin Valley, and Boone began to hunt westward into the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Into Kentucky
Years before entering Kentucky, Boone had heard about the region’s fertile land and abundant game. In 1767, Boone and his brother Squire first crossed into what would become the state of Kentucky, but they failed to reach the rich hunting grounds. In May 1769, Boone set out again with a party of five others, beginning a two-year hunting expedition in which Boone thoroughly explored Kentucky. His first sighting of the Bluegrass region from atop Pilot Knob became "an icon of American history," and was the frequent subject of paintings.
On December 22, 1769, Boone and a fellow hunter were captured by a party of Shawnees, who confiscated all of their skins and told them to leave and never return. The Shawnees had not signed the 1768 Treaty of Fort Stanwix, in which the Iroquois had ceded their claim to Kentucky to the British. The Shawnees regarded Kentucky as their hunting ground; they considered American hunters there to be poachers. Boone, undeterred, continued hunting and exploring in Kentucky. On one occasion, he shot a man to avoid capture, which historian John Mack Faragher says "was one of the few Indians that Boone acknowledged killing." Boone returned to North Carolina in 1771, but came back to hunt in Kentucky in the autumn of 1772.
In 1773, Boone packed up his family and, with his brother, Squire, and a group of about 50 others, began the first attempt by British colonists to establish a settlement. Boone was still an obscure figure at the time; the most prominent member of the expedition was William Russell, a well-known Virginian and future brother-in-law of Patrick Henry. Another member of this expedition was Boone's friend and fellow long-hunter, Michael Stoner.
Included in this group were an unknown number of enslaved Blacks, including Charles and Adam. On October 9, Boone's oldest son, James, and several whites as well as Charles and Adam left the main party to seek provisions in a nearby settlement. They were attacked by a band of Delawares, Shawnees, and Cherokees. Following the Fort Stanwix treaty, American Indians in the region had been debating what do to about the influx of settlers. This group had decided, in the words of Faragher, "to send a message of their opposition to settlement". James Boone and William Russell's son, Henry, were tortured and killed. Charles was captured. Adam witnessed the horror concealed in riverbank driftwood. After wandering In the woods for 11 days, Adam located the group and informed Boone of the circumstances of their deaths. Charles's body was found by the pioneers 40 miles from the abduction site, dead from a blow to his head. The brutality of the killings sent shockwaves along the frontier, and Boone's party abandoned their expedition.
The attack was one of the first events in what became known as Dunmore's War, a struggle between Virginia and American Indians for control of what is now West Virginia and Kentucky. In the summer of 1774, Boone traveled with a companion to Kentucky to notify surveyors there about the outbreak of war. They journeyed more than in two months to warn those who had not already fled the region. Upon his return to Virginia, Boone helped defend colonial settlements along the Clinch River, earning a promotion to captain in the militia, as well as acclaim from fellow citizens. After the brief war, which ended soon after Virginia's victory in the Battle of Point Pleasant in October 1774, the Shawnees relinquished their claims to Kentucky.
Following Dunmore's War, Richard Henderson, a prominent judge from North Carolina, hired Boone to help establish a colony to be called Transylvania. Boone traveled to several Cherokee towns and invited them to a meeting, held at Sycamore Shoals in March 1775, where Henderson purchased the Cherokee claim to Kentucky.
Boone then blazed "Boone's Trace," later known as the Wilderness Road, through the Cumberland Gap and into central Kentucky. Sam, an enslaved black “body servant,” and other enslaved laborers were among this group of settlers. When this group camped near the present day Richmond, KY, Indians attacked, killing Sam and his enslaver. After driving off the attackers, the party buried the two men side by side.
He founded Boonesborough along the Kentucky River; other settlements, notably Harrodsburg, were also established at this time. Despite occasional Indian attacks, Boone brought his family and other settlers to Boonesborough on September 8, 1775.
American Revolution
Violence in Kentucky increased with the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783). American Indians who were unhappy about the loss of Kentucky in treaties saw the war as a chance to drive out the colonists. Isolated settlers and hunters became the frequent target of attacks, convincing many to abandon Kentucky. By late spring of 1776, Boone and his family were among the fewer than 200 colonists who remained in Kentucky, primarily at the fortified settlements of Boonesborough, Harrodsburg, and Logan's Station.
On July 14, 1776, Boone's daughter Jemima and two other girls were captured outside Boonesborough by an Indian war party, who carried the girls north toward the Shawnee towns in the Ohio country. Boone and a group of men from Boonesborough followed in pursuit, finally catching up with them two days later. Boone and his men ambushed the Indians, rescuing the girls and driving off their captors. The incident became the most celebrated event of Boone's life. James Fenimore Cooper created a fictionalized version of the episode in his classic novel The Last of the Mohicans (1826).
In 1777, Henry Hamilton, British Lieutenant Governor of Canada, began to recruit American Indian war parties to raid the Kentucky settlements. That same year in March, the newly formed militia of Kentucky County, VA mustered in Boonesborough, whose population included ten to 15 enslaved people. On April 24, 1778, the British-allied Shawnees led by Chief Blackfish mounted the siege of Boonesborough. Armed enslaved men fought alongside their enslavers at the fort's walls. After going beyond the fort walls to engage the attackers, London, one of the enslaved, was killed.
Boone was shot in the ankle while outside the fort but, amid a flurry of bullets, he was carried back inside by Simon Kenton, a recent arrival at Boonesborough. Kenton became Boone's close friend, as well as a legendary frontiersman in his own right.
Capture and court-martial
While Boone recovered, Shawnees kept up their attacks outside Boonesborough, killing cattle and destroying crops. With food running low, the settlers needed salt to preserve what meat they had, so in January 1778, Boone led a party of 30 men to the salt springs on the Licking River. On February 7, when Boone was hunting meat for the expedition, he was captured by Blackfish's warriors. Because Boone's party was greatly outnumbered, Boone returned to camp the next day with Blackfish and persuaded his men to surrender rather than put up a fight.
Blackfish intended to move on to Boonesborough and capture it, but Boone argued the women and children would not survive a winter trek as prisoners back to the Shawnee villages. Instead, Boone promised that Boonesborough would surrender willingly the following spring. Boone did not have an opportunity to tell his men that he was bluffing to prevent an immediate attack on Boonesborough. Boone pursued this strategy so convincingly some of his men concluded he had switched sides, an impression that led to his court-martial (see below).
Many of the Shawnees wanted to execute the prisoners in retaliation for the recent murder of Shawnee Chief Cornstalk by Virginia militiamen. Because Shawnee chiefs led by seeking consensus, Blackfish held a council. After an impassioned speech by Boone, the warriors voted to spare the prisoners. Although Boone had saved his men, Blackfish pointed out that Boone had not included himself in the agreement, so Boone was forced to run the gauntlet through the warriors, which he survived with minor injuries.
Boone and his men were taken to Blackfish's town of Chillicothe. As was their custom, the Shawnees adopted some of the prisoners to replace fallen warriors. Boone was adopted into a Shawnee family at Chillicothe, perhaps into Blackfish's family, and given the name Sheltowee (Big Turtle). In March 1778, the Shawnees took the unadopted prisoners to Governor Hamilton in Detroit. Blackfish brought Boone along, though he refused Hamilton's offers to release Boone to the British. Hamilton gave Boone gifts, attempting to win his loyalty, while Boone continued to pretend that he intended to surrender Boonesborough. Boone returned with Blackfish to Chillicothe. On June 16, 1778, when he learned Blackfish was about to return to Boonesborough with a large force, Boone eluded his captors and raced home, covering the to Boonesborough in five days on horseback and, after his horse gave out, on foot. Biographer Robert Morgan calls Boone's escape and return "one of the great legends of frontier history."
Upon Boone's return to Boonesborough, some of the men expressed doubts about Boone's loyalty, since he had apparently lived happily among the Shawnees for months. Boone responded by leading a preemptive raid against the Shawnees across the Ohio River, and then by helping to successfully defend Boonesborough against a 10-day siege led by Blackfish, which began on September 7, 1778. After the siege, Captain Benjamin Logan and Colonel Richard Callaway—both of whom had nephews who were still captives surrendered by Boone—brought charges against Boone for his recent activities. In the court-martial that followed, Boone was found "not guilty," and was even promoted after the court heard his testimony. Despite this vindication, Boone was humiliated by the court-martial, and he rarely spoke of it.
Final years of the Revolution
After the trial, Boone returned to North Carolina to bring his family back to Kentucky. In the autumn of 1779, a large party of emigrants came with him, including the family of Captain Abraham Lincoln, grandfather of the future president. Rather than remain in Boonesborough, Boone founded the nearby settlement of Boone's Station. He began earning money by locating good land for other settlers. Transylvania land claims had been invalidated after Virginia created Kentucky County, so settlers needed to file new land claims with Virginia. In 1780, Boone collected about $20,000 in cash from various settlers and traveled to Williamsburg to purchase their land warrants. While he was sleeping in a tavern during the trip, the cash was stolen from his room. Some of the settlers forgave Boone the loss; others insisted he repay the stolen money, which took him several years to do.
In contrast to the later folk image of Boone as a backwoodsman who had little affinity for "civilized" society, Boone was a leading citizen of Kentucky at this time. When Kentucky was divided into three Virginia counties in November 1780, Boone was promoted to lieutenant colonel in the Fayette County militia. In April 1781, he was elected as a representative to the Virginia General Assembly, which was held in Richmond. In 1782, he was elected sheriff of Fayette County.
Meanwhile, the American Revolutionary War continued. Boone joined General George Rogers Clark's invasion of the Ohio country in 1780, fighting in the Battle of Piqua against the Shawnee on August 7. On the way home from the campaign, Boone was hunting with his brother Ned when Shawnees shot and killed Ned, who resembled Daniel. The Shawnees beheaded Ned, believing him to be Daniel, and took the head as evidence that Daniel Boone had finally been slain.
In 1781, Boone traveled to Richmond to take his seat in the legislature, but British dragoons under Banastre Tarleton captured Boone and several other legislators near Charlottesville. The British released Boone on parole several days later. During Boone's term, Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown in October 1781, but the fighting continued in Kentucky. Boone returned to Kentucky and in August 1782 fought in the Battle of Blue Licks, a disastrous defeat for the Kentuckians in which Boone's son Israel was killed. In November 1782, Boone took part in another Clark-led expedition into Ohio, the last major campaign of the war.
Businessman and politician
After the Revolutionary War ended, Boone resettled in Limestone (later renamed Maysville, Kentucky), then a booming Ohio River port. He kept a tavern and worked as a surveyor, horse trader, and land speculator. In 1784, on Boone’s 50th birthday, frontier historian John Filson published The Discovery, Settlement and Present State of Kentucke. The popular book included a chronicle of Boone's adventures, which made Boone a celebrity.
As settlers poured into Kentucky, the border war with American Indians north of the Ohio River resumed. In September 1786, Boone took part in a military expedition into the Ohio Country led by Benjamin Logan. Returning to Limestone, Boone housed and fed Shawnees who were captured during the raid, and helped to negotiate a truce and prisoner exchange. Although the war would not end until the American victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers eight years later, the 1786 expedition was the last time Boone saw military action.
Boone was initially prosperous in Limestone, owning seven slaves, a relatively large number for Kentucky at the time. In 1786, he purchased a Pennsylvania enslaved woman, age of about 20, for “Ninety poundes Current Lawfull (sic) money.”. A leader, he served as militia colonel, sheriff, and county coroner. In 1787, he was again elected to the Virginia state assembly, this time from Bourbon County. He began to have financial troubles after engaging in land speculation, buying and selling claims to tens of thousands of acres. These ventures ultimately failed because of the chaotic nature of land speculation in frontier Kentucky and Boone’s poor business instincts. Frustrated with the legal hassles that went with land speculation, in 1789 Boone moved upriver to Point Pleasant, Virginia (now West Virginia). There he operated a trading post and occasionally worked as a surveyor's assistant. That same year, when Virginia created Kanawha County, Boone became the lieutenant colonel of the county militia. In 1791, he was elected to the Virginia legislature for the third time. He contracted to provide supplies for the Kanawha militia, but his debts prevented him from buying goods on credit, so he closed his store and returned to hunting and trapping, though he was often hampered by rheumatism.
In 1795, Boone and his wife moved back to Kentucky, on land owned by their son Daniel Morgan Boone in what became Nicholas County. The next year, Boone applied to Isaac Shelby, the first governor of the new state of Kentucky, for a contract to widen the Wilderness Road into a wagon route, but the contract was awarded to someone else. Meanwhile, lawsuits over conflicting land claims continued to make their way through the Kentucky courts. Boone's remaining land claims were sold off to pay legal fees and taxes, but he no longer paid attention to the process. In 1798, a warrant was issued for Boone's arrest after he ignored a summons to testify in a court case, although the sheriff never found him. That same year, the Kentucky assembly named Boone County in his honor.
Into Missouri
Having endured legal and financial setbacks, Boone sought to make a fresh start by leaving the United States. In 1799, he moved his extended family to what is now St. Charles County, Missouri, but was then part of Spanish Louisiana. The Spanish, eager to promote settlement in the sparsely populated region, did not enforce the official requirement that all immigrants be Catholic. The Spanish governor appointed Boone "syndic" (judge and jury) and commandant (military leader) of the Femme Osage district. Anecdotes of Boone's tenure as syndic suggest he sought to render fair judgments rather than strictly observe the letter of the law.
Boone served as syndic and commandant until 1804, when Missouri became part of the United States following the Louisiana Purchase. He was appointed captain of the local militia. Because Boone's land grants from the Spanish government had been largely based on oral agreements, he again lost his land claims. In 1809, he petitioned Congress to restore his Spanish land claims, which was finally done in 1814. Boone sold most of this land to repay old Kentucky debts. When the War of 1812 came to Missouri, Boone's sons Daniel Morgan Boone and Nathan Boone took part, but by that time Boone was much too old for militia duty.
Although Boone reportedly vowed never to return to Kentucky after moving to Missouri, stories (possibly folk tales) were told of him making one last visit to Kentucky to pay off his creditors. American painter John James Audubon claimed to have gone hunting with Boone in Kentucky around 1810. Years later, Audubon painted a portrait of Boone, supposedly from memory, although skeptics noted the similarity of his painting to the well-known portraits by Chester Harding. Some historians believe Boone visited his brother Squire near Kentucky in 1810 and have accepted the veracity of Audubon's account.
Boone spent his final years in Missouri, often in the company of children and grandchildren. He continued to hunt and trap as much as his health and energy levels permitted, intruding upon the territory of the Osage tribe, who once captured him and confiscated his furs. In 1810, at the age of 76, he went with a group on a six-month hunt up the Missouri River, reportedly as far as the Yellowstone River, a round trip of more than 2,000 miles. He began one of his final trapping expeditions in 1815, in the company of a Shawnee and Derry Coburn, a slave who was frequently with Boone in his final years. They reached Fort Osage in 1816, where an officer wrote, "We have been honored by a visit from Col. Boone... He has taken part in all the wars of America, from Braddock's war to the present hour," but "he prefers the woods, where you see him in the dress of the roughest, poorest hunter."
Death and burial
Boone died on September 26, 1820, at his son Nathan Boone's home on Femme Osage Creek, Missouri. He was buried next to Rebecca, who had died on March 18, 1813. The graves, which were unmarked until the mid-1830s, were near Jemima (Boone) Callaway's home on Tuque Creek, about two miles (3 km) from present-day Marthasville, Missouri.
In 1845, the Boones' remains were disinterred and reburied in a new cemetery in Frankfort, Kentucky. Resentment in Missouri about the disinterment grew over the years, and a legend arose that Boone's remains never left Missouri. According to this story, Boone's tombstone in Missouri had been inadvertently placed over the wrong grave, but no one had corrected the error. Boone's Missouri relatives, displeased with the Kentuckians who came to exhume Boone, kept quiet about the mistake and allowed the Kentuckians to dig up the wrong remains. No contemporary evidence indicates this actually happened, but in 1983, a forensic anthropologist examined a crude plaster cast of Boone's skull made before the Kentucky reburial and announced it might be the skull of an African American. Black slaves were also buried at Tuque Creek, so it is possible that the wrong remains were mistakenly removed from the crowded graveyard. Both the Frankfort Cemetery in Kentucky and the Old Bryan Farm graveyard in Missouri claim to have Boone's remains.
Legacy
Daniel Boone remains an iconic figure in American history, although his status as an early American folk hero and later as a subject of fiction has tended to obscure the actual details of his life. He emerged as a legend in large part because of John Filson's "The Adventures of Colonel Daniel Boon", part of his book The Discovery, Settlement and present State of Kentucke. First published in 1784, Filson's book was primarily intended to popularize Kentucky to immigrants. It was translated into French and German, and made Boone famous in America and Europe. Based on interviews with Boone, Filson's book contained a mostly factual account of Boone's adventures from the exploration of Kentucky through the American Revolution, although many have doubted if the florid, philosophical dialogue attributed to Boone was authentic. Often reprinted, Filson's book established Boone as one of the first popular heroes of the United States.
Timothy Flint also interviewed Boone, and his Biographical Memoir of Daniel Boone, the First Settler of Kentucky (1833) became one of the best-selling biographies of the 19th century. Flint embellished Boone's adventures, doing for Boone what Parson Weems did for George Washington. In Flint's book, Boone fought with a bear, escaped from Indians by swinging on vines (as Tarzan would later do), and so on. Although Boone's family thought the book was absurd, Flint greatly influenced the popular conception of Boone, since these tall tales were recycled in countless dime novels and books aimed at young boys.
Symbol and stereotype
Thanks to Filson's book, Boone became a symbol of the "natural man" who lives a virtuous, uncomplicated existence in the wilderness. This was famously expressed in Lord Byron's epic poem Don Juan (1822), which devoted a number of stanzas to Boone, including this one:
Byron's poem celebrated Boone as someone who found happiness by turning his back on civilization. In a similar vein, many folk tales depicted Boone as a man who migrated to more remote areas whenever civilization crowded in on him. In a typical anecdote, when asked why he was moving to Missouri, Boone supposedly replied, "I want more elbow room!" Boone rejected this interpretation. "Nothing embitters my old age," he said late in life, like "the circulation of absurd stories that I retire as civilization advances."
Existing simultaneously with the image of Boone as a refugee from society was, paradoxically, the popular portrayal of him as civilization's trailblazer. Boone was celebrated as an agent of Manifest Destiny, a pathfinder who tamed the wilderness, paving the way for the extension of American civilization. In 1852, critic Henry Tuckerman dubbed Boone "the Columbus of the woods," comparing Boone's passage through the Cumberland Gap to Christopher Columbus's voyage to the New World. In popular mythology, Boone became the first to explore and settle Kentucky, opening the way for countless others to follow. In fact, other Americans had explored Kentucky before Boone, as debunkers in the 20th century often pointed out, but Boone came to symbolize them all, making him what historian Michael Lofaro called "the founding father of westward expansion."
In the 19th century, when Native Americans were being displaced from their lands and confined on reservations, Boone's image was often reshaped into the stereotype of the belligerent, Indian-hating frontiersman which was then popular. In John A. McClung's Sketches of Western Adventure (1832), for example, Boone was portrayed as longing for the "thrilling excitement of savage warfare." Boone was transformed in the popular imagination into someone who regarded Indians with contempt and had killed scores of the "savages." The real Boone disliked bloodshed. According to historian John Bakeless, there is no record that Boone ever scalped Indians, unlike other frontiersmen of the era. Boone once told his son Nathan that he was certain of having killed only one Indian, during the battle at Blue Licks, although on another occasion he said, "I never killed but three." He expressed regret over the killings, saying the Indians "have always been kinder to me than the whites." Even though Boone had lost two sons and a brother in wars with Indians, he respected Indians and was respected by them. In Missouri, Boone went hunting with the Shawnees who had captured and adopted him decades earlier. Some 19th-century writers regarded Boone's sympathy for Indians as a character flaw and altered his words to conform to contemporary attitudes.
The character John Boone in Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy is inspired by Daniel Boone. In the story, John Boone is an American astronaut, the first human to walk on Mars in the year 2020. John Boone is one of the "First Hundred" colonists sent to permanently colonize Mars. His accomplishments and natural charm yield him an informal leadership role. After being assassinated, his larger-than-life persona plays a legendary role in the culture of colonized Mars.
Commemoration and portrayals
Many places in the United States are named for Boone, including the Daniel Boone National Forest in Kentucky and the Sheltowee Trace Trail in Tennessee. His name has long been synonymous with the American outdoors. The Boone and Crockett Club is a conservationist organization founded by Theodore Roosevelt in 1887, and the Sons of Daniel Boone was the precursor of the Boy Scouts of America. A half-dollar coin was minted in 1934 to mark the bicentennial of Boone’s birth; a commemorative stamp was issued in 1968.
Boone's adventures, real and mythical, formed the basis of the archetypal hero of the American West, popular in 19th-century novels and 20th-century films. The main character of James Fenimore Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales, the first of which was published in 1823, bore striking similarities to Boone; even his name, Nathaniel Bumppo, echoed Daniel Boone's name. As mentioned above, The Last of the Mohicans (1826), Cooper's second Leatherstocking novel, featured a fictionalized version of Boone's rescue of his daughter. After Cooper, other writers developed the Western hero, an iconic figure which began as a variation of Daniel Boone.
In the 20th century, Boone was featured in numerous comic strips, radio programs, novels, and films, such as the 1936 film Daniel Boone. Boone was the subject of a TV series that ran from 1964 to 1970. In the theme song for the series, Boone was described as a "big man" in a "coonskin cap," and the "rippin'est, roarin'est, fightin'est man the frontier ever knew!" This did not describe the real Boone, who was not a big man and did not wear a coonskin cap, which he thought uncouth and uncomfortable. Boone was portrayed this way in the TV series because Fess Parker, the tall actor who played him, was essentially reprising his role as Davy Crockett from an earlier TV series. That Boone could be portrayed the same way as Crockett, another American frontiersman with a very different personality, was another example of how Boone's image was reshaped to suit popular tastes. He was also the subject matter for the song sung by Ed Ames called "Daniel Boone". It was released in 1966.
In Blood and Treasure, released in 2021, authors Tom Clavin and Bob Drury painted a much broader historical portrait of Boone than has been commonly described.
The Taking of Jemima Boone by Matthew Pearl, published in 2021, is an account of the abduction of the daughter of Daniel Boone and, after her rescue by Boone, then shifts to the conflicts between Boone, his political rival Richard Callaway, and Shawnee leader Blackfish, with resulting impacts to the Western theater of the American Revolutionary War.
See also
Edward Morgan Log House
Daniel Boone Homestead
Daniel Boone School
Thomas S. Hinde, close friend of the Boone Family, neighbor in Kentucky, and interviewer of Boone
Boone's Cave Park
Daniel Boone National Forest
Boone Trail, between Virginia Beach, Virginia and San Francisco, California
References
Notes
Citations
Sources
The definitive Boone biography of its era, the first to make full use of the immense material collected by Lyman Draper.
Belue's notes provide a modern scholarly perspective to Draper's unfinished 19th century biography.
Guide to historical sites associated with Boone.
Further reading
Filson, John. The Discovery, Settlement and present State of Kentucke, including the "Appendix" life of Boone
Hammon, Neal O., ed. My Father, Daniel Boone: The Draper Interviews with Nathan Boone. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1999. .
Reid, Darren R., ed. Daniel Boone and Others on the Kentucky Frontier: Autobiographies and Narratives, 1769–1795. Jefferson: McFarland and Company, 2009. .
Personal papers of Daniel Boone at the Wisconsin Historical Society searchable 32-volume collection of Boone manuscripts and correspondence, part of the Lyman Draper collection
1734 births
1820 deaths
American explorers
American folklore
American hunters
American people of English descent
American people of Welsh descent
American slave owners
American surveyors
Kentucky pioneers
Appalachian people
Boone County, Missouri
Daniel
Burials at Frankfort Cemetery
Captives of Native Americans
Hall of Fame for Great Americans inductees
Kentucky militiamen in the American Revolution
Members of the Virginia House of Delegates
Mountain men
People of colonial Pennsylvania
People from Berks County, Pennsylvania
People from Kentucky
People from St. Charles County, Missouri
People of Pennsylvania in the French and Indian War
People of Kentucky in the American Revolution
People who were court-martialed
Tall tales | 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"
] |
[
"Daniel Boone",
"Businessman on the Ohio River",
"What were his businesses?",
"he kept a tavern and worked as a surveyor, horse trader, and land speculator.",
"Was he successful?",
"He was initially prosperous, owning seven slaves by 1787, a relatively large number for Kentucky at the time."
] | C_772cc11b9fe54084b4f80a51b869fc06_0 | what happened to change his prosperity? | 3 | what happened to change Daniel Boone's prosperity? | Daniel Boone | After the Revolution, Boone resettled in Limestone (renamed Maysville, Kentucky in 1786), then a booming Ohio River port. In 1787, he was elected to the Virginia state assembly as a representative from Bourbon County. In Maysville, he kept a tavern and worked as a surveyor, horse trader, and land speculator. He was initially prosperous, owning seven slaves by 1787, a relatively large number for Kentucky at the time. Boone became a celebrity while living in Maysville. In 1784, on his 50th birthday, historian John Filson published The Discovery, Settlement And present State of Kentucke, a book which included a chronicle of Boone's adventures. The Revolutionary War had ended, but the border war with American Indians north of the Ohio River resumed with the Northwest Indian War. In September 1786, Boone took part in a military expedition into the Ohio Country led by Benjamin Logan. Back in Limestone, Boone housed and fed Shawnees who were captured during the raid, and helped to negotiate a truce and prisoner exchange. Although the war escalated and would not end until the American victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794, the 1786 expedition was the last time Boone saw military action. Boone began to have financial troubles while living in Maysville. According to the later folk image, Boone the trailblazer was too unsophisticated for the civilization which followed him and which eventually defrauded him of his land. Boone was not the simple frontiersman of legend, however: he engaged in land speculation on a large scale, buying and selling claims to tens of thousands of acres. The land market in frontier Kentucky was chaotic, and Boone's ventures ultimately failed because his investment strategy was faulty and because his sense of honor made him reluctant to profit at someone else's expense. According to Faragher, "Boone lacked the ruthless instincts that speculation demanded." Frustrated with the legal hassles that went with land speculation, in 1788, Boone moved upriver to Point Pleasant, Virginia (now West Virginia). There he operated a trading post and occasionally worked as a surveyor's assistant. When Virginia created Kanawha County in 1789, Boone was appointed lieutenant colonel of the county militia. In 1791, he was elected to the Virginia legislature for the third time. He contracted to provide supplies for the Kanawha militia, but his debts prevented him from buying goods on credit, so he closed his store and returned to hunting and trapping. In 1795, Rebecca and he moved back to Kentucky, living in present Nicholas County on land owned by their son Daniel Morgan Boone. The next year, Boone applied to Isaac Shelby, the first governor of the new state of Kentucky, for a contract to widen the Wilderness Road into a wagon route, but the contract was awarded to someone else. Meanwhile, lawsuits over conflicting land claims continued to make their way through the Kentucky courts. Boone's remaining land claims were sold off to pay legal fees and taxes, but he no longer paid attention to the process. In 1798, a warrant was issued for Boone's arrest after he ignored a summons to testify in a court case, although the sheriff never found him. That same year, the Kentucky assembly named Boone County in his honor. CANNOTANSWER | Boone the trailblazer was too unsophisticated for the civilization which followed him and which eventually defrauded him of his land. | Daniel Boone (September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and frontiersman whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. Boone became famous for his exploration and settlement of what is now Kentucky, which was then beyond the western borders of the Thirteen Colonies. Despite resistance from American Indians, for whom Kentucky was a traditional hunting ground, in 1775 Boone blazed the Wilderness Road through the Cumberland Gap and into Kentucky. There he founded Boonesborough, one of the first English-speaking settlements west of the Appalachian Mountains. By the end of the 18th century, more than 200,000 people had entered Kentucky by following the route marked by Boone.
Boone served as a militia officer during the Revolutionary War (1775–1783), which, in Kentucky, was fought primarily between American settlers and British-allied American Indians. Boone was captured by Shawnees in 1778 and adopted into the tribe, but he escaped and continued to help defend the Kentucky settlements. He was elected to the first of his three terms in the Virginia General Assembly during the war, and fought in the Battle of Blue Licks in 1782, one of the last battles of the American Revolution. Boone worked as a surveyor and merchant after the war, but he went deep into debt as a Kentucky land speculator. Frustrated with legal problems resulting from his land claims, in 1799 Boone resettled in Missouri, where he spent most of the last two decades of his life.
Boone remains an iconic, if imperfectly remembered, figure in American history. He was a legend in his own lifetime, especially after an account of his adventures was published in 1784, making him famous in America and Europe. After his death, Boone became the subject of many heroic tall tales and works of fiction. His adventures—real and legendary—helped create the archetypal frontier hero of American folklore. In American popular culture, Boone is remembered as one of the foremost early frontiersmen, even though mythology often overshadows the historical details of his life.
Early life
Boone was born on October 22, 1734 ("New Style" November 2), the sixth of eleven children in a family of Quakers. His father, Squire Boone (1696–1765), had emigrated to colonial Pennsylvania from the small town of Bradninch, England, in 1713. Squire, a weaver and blacksmith, married Sarah Morgan (1700–1777), whose family were Quakers from Wales. In 1731, the Boones built a one-room log cabin in the Oley Valley in what is now Berks County, Pennsylvania, near present Reading, where Daniel was born.
Boone spent his early years on the Pennsylvania frontier, often interacting with American Indians. Boone learned to hunt from local settlers and Indians; by the age of fifteen, he had a reputation as one of the region’s best hunters. Many stories about Boone emphasize his hunting skills. In one tale, the young Boone was hunting in the woods with some other boys when the howl of a panther scattered all but Boone. He calmly cocked his rifle and shot the predator through the heart just as it leaped at him. The story may be a folktale, one of many that became part of Boone’s popular image.
In Boone's youth, his family became a source of controversy in the local Quaker community. In 1742, Boone's parents were compelled to publicly apologize after their eldest child Sarah married a "worldling", or non-Quaker, while she was visibly pregnant. When Boone's oldest brother Israel also married a "worldling" in 1747, Squire Boone stood by his son and was therefore expelled from the Quakers, although his wife continued to attend monthly meetings with her children. Perhaps as a result of this controversy, in 1750 Squire sold his land and moved the family to North Carolina. Daniel Boone did not attend church again, although he always considered himself a Christian and had all of his children baptized. The Boones eventually settled on the Yadkin River, in what is now Davie County, North Carolina, about two miles (3 km) west of Mocksville.
Boone received little formal education, since he preferred to spend his time hunting, apparently with his parents’ blessing. According to a family tradition, when a schoolteacher expressed concern over Boone's education, Boone's father said, "Let the girls do the spelling and Dan will do the shooting." Boone was tutored by family members, though his spelling remained unorthodox. Historian John Mack Faragher cautions that the folk image of Boone as semiliterate is misleading, arguing that Boone "acquired a level of literacy that was the equal of most men of his times." Boone regularly took reading material with him on his hunting expeditions—the Bible and Gulliver's Travels were favorites. He was often the only literate person in groups of frontiersmen, and would sometimes entertain his hunting companions by reading to them around the campfire.
Hunter, husband, and soldier
When the French and Indian War (1754–1763) broke out between the French, British, and their respective Indian allies, Boone joined a North Carolina militia company as a teamster and blacksmith. In 1755, his unit accompanied General Edward Braddock’s attempt to drive the French out of the Ohio Country, which ended in disaster at the Battle of the Monongahela. Boone, in the rear with the wagons, took no part in the battle, and fled with the retreating soldiers.
Boone returned home after the defeat, and on August 14, 1756, he married Rebecca Bryan, a neighbor in the Yadkin Valley. The couple initially lived in a cabin on his father's farm, and would eventually have ten children, in addition to raising eight children of deceased relatives.
In 1758, conflict erupted between British colonists and the Cherokees, their former allies in the French and Indian War. After the Yadkin Valley was raided by Cherokees, the Boones and many other families fled north to Culpeper County, Virginia. Boone saw action as a member of the North Carolina militia during this "Cherokee Uprising," periodically serving under Captain Hugh Waddell on the North Carolina frontier until 1760.
Boone supported his growing family in these years as a market hunter and trapper, collecting pelts for the fur trade. Almost every autumn, despite the unrest on the frontier, Boone would go on "long hunts", extended expeditions into the wilderness lasting weeks or months. Boone went alone or with a small group of men, accumulating hundreds of deer skins in the autumn, and trapping beaver and otter over the winter. When the long hunters returned in the spring, they sold their take to commercial fur traders. On their journeys, frontiersmen often carved messages on trees or wrote their names on cave walls, and Boone's name or initials have been found in many places. A tree in present Washington County, Tennessee, reads "D. Boon Cilled a. Bar on tree in the year 1760". A similar carving, preserved in the museum of the Filson Historical Society in Louisville, Kentucky, reads "D. Boon Kilt a Bar, 1803." The inscriptions may be genuine, or part of a long tradition of phony Boone relics.
According to a popular story, Boone returned home after a long absence to find Rebecca had given birth to a daughter. Rebecca confessed she had thought Daniel was dead, and that Boone’s brother had fathered the child. Boone did not blame Rebecca, and raised the girl as his own child. Boone's early biographers knew the story but did not publish it. Modern biographers regard the tale as possibly folklore, since the identity of the brother and the daughter vary in different versions of the tale.
In the mid-1760s, Boone began to look for a new place to settle. The population was growing in the Yadkin Valley, which decreased the amount of game available for hunting. Boone had difficulty making ends meet; he was often taken to court for nonpayment of debts. He sold what land he owned to pay off creditors. After his father's death in 1765, Boone traveled with a group of men to Florida, which had become British territory after the end of the war, to look into the possibility of settling there. According to a family story, Boone purchased land in Pensacola, but Rebecca refused to move so far away from friends and family. The Boones instead moved to a more remote area of the Yadkin Valley, and Boone began to hunt westward into the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Into Kentucky
Years before entering Kentucky, Boone had heard about the region’s fertile land and abundant game. In 1767, Boone and his brother Squire first crossed into what would become the state of Kentucky, but they failed to reach the rich hunting grounds. In May 1769, Boone set out again with a party of five others, beginning a two-year hunting expedition in which Boone thoroughly explored Kentucky. His first sighting of the Bluegrass region from atop Pilot Knob became "an icon of American history," and was the frequent subject of paintings.
On December 22, 1769, Boone and a fellow hunter were captured by a party of Shawnees, who confiscated all of their skins and told them to leave and never return. The Shawnees had not signed the 1768 Treaty of Fort Stanwix, in which the Iroquois had ceded their claim to Kentucky to the British. The Shawnees regarded Kentucky as their hunting ground; they considered American hunters there to be poachers. Boone, undeterred, continued hunting and exploring in Kentucky. On one occasion, he shot a man to avoid capture, which historian John Mack Faragher says "was one of the few Indians that Boone acknowledged killing." Boone returned to North Carolina in 1771, but came back to hunt in Kentucky in the autumn of 1772.
In 1773, Boone packed up his family and, with his brother, Squire, and a group of about 50 others, began the first attempt by British colonists to establish a settlement. Boone was still an obscure figure at the time; the most prominent member of the expedition was William Russell, a well-known Virginian and future brother-in-law of Patrick Henry. Another member of this expedition was Boone's friend and fellow long-hunter, Michael Stoner.
Included in this group were an unknown number of enslaved Blacks, including Charles and Adam. On October 9, Boone's oldest son, James, and several whites as well as Charles and Adam left the main party to seek provisions in a nearby settlement. They were attacked by a band of Delawares, Shawnees, and Cherokees. Following the Fort Stanwix treaty, American Indians in the region had been debating what do to about the influx of settlers. This group had decided, in the words of Faragher, "to send a message of their opposition to settlement". James Boone and William Russell's son, Henry, were tortured and killed. Charles was captured. Adam witnessed the horror concealed in riverbank driftwood. After wandering In the woods for 11 days, Adam located the group and informed Boone of the circumstances of their deaths. Charles's body was found by the pioneers 40 miles from the abduction site, dead from a blow to his head. The brutality of the killings sent shockwaves along the frontier, and Boone's party abandoned their expedition.
The attack was one of the first events in what became known as Dunmore's War, a struggle between Virginia and American Indians for control of what is now West Virginia and Kentucky. In the summer of 1774, Boone traveled with a companion to Kentucky to notify surveyors there about the outbreak of war. They journeyed more than in two months to warn those who had not already fled the region. Upon his return to Virginia, Boone helped defend colonial settlements along the Clinch River, earning a promotion to captain in the militia, as well as acclaim from fellow citizens. After the brief war, which ended soon after Virginia's victory in the Battle of Point Pleasant in October 1774, the Shawnees relinquished their claims to Kentucky.
Following Dunmore's War, Richard Henderson, a prominent judge from North Carolina, hired Boone to help establish a colony to be called Transylvania. Boone traveled to several Cherokee towns and invited them to a meeting, held at Sycamore Shoals in March 1775, where Henderson purchased the Cherokee claim to Kentucky.
Boone then blazed "Boone's Trace," later known as the Wilderness Road, through the Cumberland Gap and into central Kentucky. Sam, an enslaved black “body servant,” and other enslaved laborers were among this group of settlers. When this group camped near the present day Richmond, KY, Indians attacked, killing Sam and his enslaver. After driving off the attackers, the party buried the two men side by side.
He founded Boonesborough along the Kentucky River; other settlements, notably Harrodsburg, were also established at this time. Despite occasional Indian attacks, Boone brought his family and other settlers to Boonesborough on September 8, 1775.
American Revolution
Violence in Kentucky increased with the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783). American Indians who were unhappy about the loss of Kentucky in treaties saw the war as a chance to drive out the colonists. Isolated settlers and hunters became the frequent target of attacks, convincing many to abandon Kentucky. By late spring of 1776, Boone and his family were among the fewer than 200 colonists who remained in Kentucky, primarily at the fortified settlements of Boonesborough, Harrodsburg, and Logan's Station.
On July 14, 1776, Boone's daughter Jemima and two other girls were captured outside Boonesborough by an Indian war party, who carried the girls north toward the Shawnee towns in the Ohio country. Boone and a group of men from Boonesborough followed in pursuit, finally catching up with them two days later. Boone and his men ambushed the Indians, rescuing the girls and driving off their captors. The incident became the most celebrated event of Boone's life. James Fenimore Cooper created a fictionalized version of the episode in his classic novel The Last of the Mohicans (1826).
In 1777, Henry Hamilton, British Lieutenant Governor of Canada, began to recruit American Indian war parties to raid the Kentucky settlements. That same year in March, the newly formed militia of Kentucky County, VA mustered in Boonesborough, whose population included ten to 15 enslaved people. On April 24, 1778, the British-allied Shawnees led by Chief Blackfish mounted the siege of Boonesborough. Armed enslaved men fought alongside their enslavers at the fort's walls. After going beyond the fort walls to engage the attackers, London, one of the enslaved, was killed.
Boone was shot in the ankle while outside the fort but, amid a flurry of bullets, he was carried back inside by Simon Kenton, a recent arrival at Boonesborough. Kenton became Boone's close friend, as well as a legendary frontiersman in his own right.
Capture and court-martial
While Boone recovered, Shawnees kept up their attacks outside Boonesborough, killing cattle and destroying crops. With food running low, the settlers needed salt to preserve what meat they had, so in January 1778, Boone led a party of 30 men to the salt springs on the Licking River. On February 7, when Boone was hunting meat for the expedition, he was captured by Blackfish's warriors. Because Boone's party was greatly outnumbered, Boone returned to camp the next day with Blackfish and persuaded his men to surrender rather than put up a fight.
Blackfish intended to move on to Boonesborough and capture it, but Boone argued the women and children would not survive a winter trek as prisoners back to the Shawnee villages. Instead, Boone promised that Boonesborough would surrender willingly the following spring. Boone did not have an opportunity to tell his men that he was bluffing to prevent an immediate attack on Boonesborough. Boone pursued this strategy so convincingly some of his men concluded he had switched sides, an impression that led to his court-martial (see below).
Many of the Shawnees wanted to execute the prisoners in retaliation for the recent murder of Shawnee Chief Cornstalk by Virginia militiamen. Because Shawnee chiefs led by seeking consensus, Blackfish held a council. After an impassioned speech by Boone, the warriors voted to spare the prisoners. Although Boone had saved his men, Blackfish pointed out that Boone had not included himself in the agreement, so Boone was forced to run the gauntlet through the warriors, which he survived with minor injuries.
Boone and his men were taken to Blackfish's town of Chillicothe. As was their custom, the Shawnees adopted some of the prisoners to replace fallen warriors. Boone was adopted into a Shawnee family at Chillicothe, perhaps into Blackfish's family, and given the name Sheltowee (Big Turtle). In March 1778, the Shawnees took the unadopted prisoners to Governor Hamilton in Detroit. Blackfish brought Boone along, though he refused Hamilton's offers to release Boone to the British. Hamilton gave Boone gifts, attempting to win his loyalty, while Boone continued to pretend that he intended to surrender Boonesborough. Boone returned with Blackfish to Chillicothe. On June 16, 1778, when he learned Blackfish was about to return to Boonesborough with a large force, Boone eluded his captors and raced home, covering the to Boonesborough in five days on horseback and, after his horse gave out, on foot. Biographer Robert Morgan calls Boone's escape and return "one of the great legends of frontier history."
Upon Boone's return to Boonesborough, some of the men expressed doubts about Boone's loyalty, since he had apparently lived happily among the Shawnees for months. Boone responded by leading a preemptive raid against the Shawnees across the Ohio River, and then by helping to successfully defend Boonesborough against a 10-day siege led by Blackfish, which began on September 7, 1778. After the siege, Captain Benjamin Logan and Colonel Richard Callaway—both of whom had nephews who were still captives surrendered by Boone—brought charges against Boone for his recent activities. In the court-martial that followed, Boone was found "not guilty," and was even promoted after the court heard his testimony. Despite this vindication, Boone was humiliated by the court-martial, and he rarely spoke of it.
Final years of the Revolution
After the trial, Boone returned to North Carolina to bring his family back to Kentucky. In the autumn of 1779, a large party of emigrants came with him, including the family of Captain Abraham Lincoln, grandfather of the future president. Rather than remain in Boonesborough, Boone founded the nearby settlement of Boone's Station. He began earning money by locating good land for other settlers. Transylvania land claims had been invalidated after Virginia created Kentucky County, so settlers needed to file new land claims with Virginia. In 1780, Boone collected about $20,000 in cash from various settlers and traveled to Williamsburg to purchase their land warrants. While he was sleeping in a tavern during the trip, the cash was stolen from his room. Some of the settlers forgave Boone the loss; others insisted he repay the stolen money, which took him several years to do.
In contrast to the later folk image of Boone as a backwoodsman who had little affinity for "civilized" society, Boone was a leading citizen of Kentucky at this time. When Kentucky was divided into three Virginia counties in November 1780, Boone was promoted to lieutenant colonel in the Fayette County militia. In April 1781, he was elected as a representative to the Virginia General Assembly, which was held in Richmond. In 1782, he was elected sheriff of Fayette County.
Meanwhile, the American Revolutionary War continued. Boone joined General George Rogers Clark's invasion of the Ohio country in 1780, fighting in the Battle of Piqua against the Shawnee on August 7. On the way home from the campaign, Boone was hunting with his brother Ned when Shawnees shot and killed Ned, who resembled Daniel. The Shawnees beheaded Ned, believing him to be Daniel, and took the head as evidence that Daniel Boone had finally been slain.
In 1781, Boone traveled to Richmond to take his seat in the legislature, but British dragoons under Banastre Tarleton captured Boone and several other legislators near Charlottesville. The British released Boone on parole several days later. During Boone's term, Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown in October 1781, but the fighting continued in Kentucky. Boone returned to Kentucky and in August 1782 fought in the Battle of Blue Licks, a disastrous defeat for the Kentuckians in which Boone's son Israel was killed. In November 1782, Boone took part in another Clark-led expedition into Ohio, the last major campaign of the war.
Businessman and politician
After the Revolutionary War ended, Boone resettled in Limestone (later renamed Maysville, Kentucky), then a booming Ohio River port. He kept a tavern and worked as a surveyor, horse trader, and land speculator. In 1784, on Boone’s 50th birthday, frontier historian John Filson published The Discovery, Settlement and Present State of Kentucke. The popular book included a chronicle of Boone's adventures, which made Boone a celebrity.
As settlers poured into Kentucky, the border war with American Indians north of the Ohio River resumed. In September 1786, Boone took part in a military expedition into the Ohio Country led by Benjamin Logan. Returning to Limestone, Boone housed and fed Shawnees who were captured during the raid, and helped to negotiate a truce and prisoner exchange. Although the war would not end until the American victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers eight years later, the 1786 expedition was the last time Boone saw military action.
Boone was initially prosperous in Limestone, owning seven slaves, a relatively large number for Kentucky at the time. In 1786, he purchased a Pennsylvania enslaved woman, age of about 20, for “Ninety poundes Current Lawfull (sic) money.”. A leader, he served as militia colonel, sheriff, and county coroner. In 1787, he was again elected to the Virginia state assembly, this time from Bourbon County. He began to have financial troubles after engaging in land speculation, buying and selling claims to tens of thousands of acres. These ventures ultimately failed because of the chaotic nature of land speculation in frontier Kentucky and Boone’s poor business instincts. Frustrated with the legal hassles that went with land speculation, in 1789 Boone moved upriver to Point Pleasant, Virginia (now West Virginia). There he operated a trading post and occasionally worked as a surveyor's assistant. That same year, when Virginia created Kanawha County, Boone became the lieutenant colonel of the county militia. In 1791, he was elected to the Virginia legislature for the third time. He contracted to provide supplies for the Kanawha militia, but his debts prevented him from buying goods on credit, so he closed his store and returned to hunting and trapping, though he was often hampered by rheumatism.
In 1795, Boone and his wife moved back to Kentucky, on land owned by their son Daniel Morgan Boone in what became Nicholas County. The next year, Boone applied to Isaac Shelby, the first governor of the new state of Kentucky, for a contract to widen the Wilderness Road into a wagon route, but the contract was awarded to someone else. Meanwhile, lawsuits over conflicting land claims continued to make their way through the Kentucky courts. Boone's remaining land claims were sold off to pay legal fees and taxes, but he no longer paid attention to the process. In 1798, a warrant was issued for Boone's arrest after he ignored a summons to testify in a court case, although the sheriff never found him. That same year, the Kentucky assembly named Boone County in his honor.
Into Missouri
Having endured legal and financial setbacks, Boone sought to make a fresh start by leaving the United States. In 1799, he moved his extended family to what is now St. Charles County, Missouri, but was then part of Spanish Louisiana. The Spanish, eager to promote settlement in the sparsely populated region, did not enforce the official requirement that all immigrants be Catholic. The Spanish governor appointed Boone "syndic" (judge and jury) and commandant (military leader) of the Femme Osage district. Anecdotes of Boone's tenure as syndic suggest he sought to render fair judgments rather than strictly observe the letter of the law.
Boone served as syndic and commandant until 1804, when Missouri became part of the United States following the Louisiana Purchase. He was appointed captain of the local militia. Because Boone's land grants from the Spanish government had been largely based on oral agreements, he again lost his land claims. In 1809, he petitioned Congress to restore his Spanish land claims, which was finally done in 1814. Boone sold most of this land to repay old Kentucky debts. When the War of 1812 came to Missouri, Boone's sons Daniel Morgan Boone and Nathan Boone took part, but by that time Boone was much too old for militia duty.
Although Boone reportedly vowed never to return to Kentucky after moving to Missouri, stories (possibly folk tales) were told of him making one last visit to Kentucky to pay off his creditors. American painter John James Audubon claimed to have gone hunting with Boone in Kentucky around 1810. Years later, Audubon painted a portrait of Boone, supposedly from memory, although skeptics noted the similarity of his painting to the well-known portraits by Chester Harding. Some historians believe Boone visited his brother Squire near Kentucky in 1810 and have accepted the veracity of Audubon's account.
Boone spent his final years in Missouri, often in the company of children and grandchildren. He continued to hunt and trap as much as his health and energy levels permitted, intruding upon the territory of the Osage tribe, who once captured him and confiscated his furs. In 1810, at the age of 76, he went with a group on a six-month hunt up the Missouri River, reportedly as far as the Yellowstone River, a round trip of more than 2,000 miles. He began one of his final trapping expeditions in 1815, in the company of a Shawnee and Derry Coburn, a slave who was frequently with Boone in his final years. They reached Fort Osage in 1816, where an officer wrote, "We have been honored by a visit from Col. Boone... He has taken part in all the wars of America, from Braddock's war to the present hour," but "he prefers the woods, where you see him in the dress of the roughest, poorest hunter."
Death and burial
Boone died on September 26, 1820, at his son Nathan Boone's home on Femme Osage Creek, Missouri. He was buried next to Rebecca, who had died on March 18, 1813. The graves, which were unmarked until the mid-1830s, were near Jemima (Boone) Callaway's home on Tuque Creek, about two miles (3 km) from present-day Marthasville, Missouri.
In 1845, the Boones' remains were disinterred and reburied in a new cemetery in Frankfort, Kentucky. Resentment in Missouri about the disinterment grew over the years, and a legend arose that Boone's remains never left Missouri. According to this story, Boone's tombstone in Missouri had been inadvertently placed over the wrong grave, but no one had corrected the error. Boone's Missouri relatives, displeased with the Kentuckians who came to exhume Boone, kept quiet about the mistake and allowed the Kentuckians to dig up the wrong remains. No contemporary evidence indicates this actually happened, but in 1983, a forensic anthropologist examined a crude plaster cast of Boone's skull made before the Kentucky reburial and announced it might be the skull of an African American. Black slaves were also buried at Tuque Creek, so it is possible that the wrong remains were mistakenly removed from the crowded graveyard. Both the Frankfort Cemetery in Kentucky and the Old Bryan Farm graveyard in Missouri claim to have Boone's remains.
Legacy
Daniel Boone remains an iconic figure in American history, although his status as an early American folk hero and later as a subject of fiction has tended to obscure the actual details of his life. He emerged as a legend in large part because of John Filson's "The Adventures of Colonel Daniel Boon", part of his book The Discovery, Settlement and present State of Kentucke. First published in 1784, Filson's book was primarily intended to popularize Kentucky to immigrants. It was translated into French and German, and made Boone famous in America and Europe. Based on interviews with Boone, Filson's book contained a mostly factual account of Boone's adventures from the exploration of Kentucky through the American Revolution, although many have doubted if the florid, philosophical dialogue attributed to Boone was authentic. Often reprinted, Filson's book established Boone as one of the first popular heroes of the United States.
Timothy Flint also interviewed Boone, and his Biographical Memoir of Daniel Boone, the First Settler of Kentucky (1833) became one of the best-selling biographies of the 19th century. Flint embellished Boone's adventures, doing for Boone what Parson Weems did for George Washington. In Flint's book, Boone fought with a bear, escaped from Indians by swinging on vines (as Tarzan would later do), and so on. Although Boone's family thought the book was absurd, Flint greatly influenced the popular conception of Boone, since these tall tales were recycled in countless dime novels and books aimed at young boys.
Symbol and stereotype
Thanks to Filson's book, Boone became a symbol of the "natural man" who lives a virtuous, uncomplicated existence in the wilderness. This was famously expressed in Lord Byron's epic poem Don Juan (1822), which devoted a number of stanzas to Boone, including this one:
Byron's poem celebrated Boone as someone who found happiness by turning his back on civilization. In a similar vein, many folk tales depicted Boone as a man who migrated to more remote areas whenever civilization crowded in on him. In a typical anecdote, when asked why he was moving to Missouri, Boone supposedly replied, "I want more elbow room!" Boone rejected this interpretation. "Nothing embitters my old age," he said late in life, like "the circulation of absurd stories that I retire as civilization advances."
Existing simultaneously with the image of Boone as a refugee from society was, paradoxically, the popular portrayal of him as civilization's trailblazer. Boone was celebrated as an agent of Manifest Destiny, a pathfinder who tamed the wilderness, paving the way for the extension of American civilization. In 1852, critic Henry Tuckerman dubbed Boone "the Columbus of the woods," comparing Boone's passage through the Cumberland Gap to Christopher Columbus's voyage to the New World. In popular mythology, Boone became the first to explore and settle Kentucky, opening the way for countless others to follow. In fact, other Americans had explored Kentucky before Boone, as debunkers in the 20th century often pointed out, but Boone came to symbolize them all, making him what historian Michael Lofaro called "the founding father of westward expansion."
In the 19th century, when Native Americans were being displaced from their lands and confined on reservations, Boone's image was often reshaped into the stereotype of the belligerent, Indian-hating frontiersman which was then popular. In John A. McClung's Sketches of Western Adventure (1832), for example, Boone was portrayed as longing for the "thrilling excitement of savage warfare." Boone was transformed in the popular imagination into someone who regarded Indians with contempt and had killed scores of the "savages." The real Boone disliked bloodshed. According to historian John Bakeless, there is no record that Boone ever scalped Indians, unlike other frontiersmen of the era. Boone once told his son Nathan that he was certain of having killed only one Indian, during the battle at Blue Licks, although on another occasion he said, "I never killed but three." He expressed regret over the killings, saying the Indians "have always been kinder to me than the whites." Even though Boone had lost two sons and a brother in wars with Indians, he respected Indians and was respected by them. In Missouri, Boone went hunting with the Shawnees who had captured and adopted him decades earlier. Some 19th-century writers regarded Boone's sympathy for Indians as a character flaw and altered his words to conform to contemporary attitudes.
The character John Boone in Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy is inspired by Daniel Boone. In the story, John Boone is an American astronaut, the first human to walk on Mars in the year 2020. John Boone is one of the "First Hundred" colonists sent to permanently colonize Mars. His accomplishments and natural charm yield him an informal leadership role. After being assassinated, his larger-than-life persona plays a legendary role in the culture of colonized Mars.
Commemoration and portrayals
Many places in the United States are named for Boone, including the Daniel Boone National Forest in Kentucky and the Sheltowee Trace Trail in Tennessee. His name has long been synonymous with the American outdoors. The Boone and Crockett Club is a conservationist organization founded by Theodore Roosevelt in 1887, and the Sons of Daniel Boone was the precursor of the Boy Scouts of America. A half-dollar coin was minted in 1934 to mark the bicentennial of Boone’s birth; a commemorative stamp was issued in 1968.
Boone's adventures, real and mythical, formed the basis of the archetypal hero of the American West, popular in 19th-century novels and 20th-century films. The main character of James Fenimore Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales, the first of which was published in 1823, bore striking similarities to Boone; even his name, Nathaniel Bumppo, echoed Daniel Boone's name. As mentioned above, The Last of the Mohicans (1826), Cooper's second Leatherstocking novel, featured a fictionalized version of Boone's rescue of his daughter. After Cooper, other writers developed the Western hero, an iconic figure which began as a variation of Daniel Boone.
In the 20th century, Boone was featured in numerous comic strips, radio programs, novels, and films, such as the 1936 film Daniel Boone. Boone was the subject of a TV series that ran from 1964 to 1970. In the theme song for the series, Boone was described as a "big man" in a "coonskin cap," and the "rippin'est, roarin'est, fightin'est man the frontier ever knew!" This did not describe the real Boone, who was not a big man and did not wear a coonskin cap, which he thought uncouth and uncomfortable. Boone was portrayed this way in the TV series because Fess Parker, the tall actor who played him, was essentially reprising his role as Davy Crockett from an earlier TV series. That Boone could be portrayed the same way as Crockett, another American frontiersman with a very different personality, was another example of how Boone's image was reshaped to suit popular tastes. He was also the subject matter for the song sung by Ed Ames called "Daniel Boone". It was released in 1966.
In Blood and Treasure, released in 2021, authors Tom Clavin and Bob Drury painted a much broader historical portrait of Boone than has been commonly described.
The Taking of Jemima Boone by Matthew Pearl, published in 2021, is an account of the abduction of the daughter of Daniel Boone and, after her rescue by Boone, then shifts to the conflicts between Boone, his political rival Richard Callaway, and Shawnee leader Blackfish, with resulting impacts to the Western theater of the American Revolutionary War.
See also
Edward Morgan Log House
Daniel Boone Homestead
Daniel Boone School
Thomas S. Hinde, close friend of the Boone Family, neighbor in Kentucky, and interviewer of Boone
Boone's Cave Park
Daniel Boone National Forest
Boone Trail, between Virginia Beach, Virginia and San Francisco, California
References
Notes
Citations
Sources
The definitive Boone biography of its era, the first to make full use of the immense material collected by Lyman Draper.
Belue's notes provide a modern scholarly perspective to Draper's unfinished 19th century biography.
Guide to historical sites associated with Boone.
Further reading
Filson, John. The Discovery, Settlement and present State of Kentucke, including the "Appendix" life of Boone
Hammon, Neal O., ed. My Father, Daniel Boone: The Draper Interviews with Nathan Boone. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1999. .
Reid, Darren R., ed. Daniel Boone and Others on the Kentucky Frontier: Autobiographies and Narratives, 1769–1795. Jefferson: McFarland and Company, 2009. .
Personal papers of Daniel Boone at the Wisconsin Historical Society searchable 32-volume collection of Boone manuscripts and correspondence, part of the Lyman Draper collection
1734 births
1820 deaths
American explorers
American folklore
American hunters
American people of English descent
American people of Welsh descent
American slave owners
American surveyors
Kentucky pioneers
Appalachian people
Boone County, Missouri
Daniel
Burials at Frankfort Cemetery
Captives of Native Americans
Hall of Fame for Great Americans inductees
Kentucky militiamen in the American Revolution
Members of the Virginia House of Delegates
Mountain men
People of colonial Pennsylvania
People from Berks County, Pennsylvania
People from Kentucky
People from St. Charles County, Missouri
People of Pennsylvania in the French and Indian War
People of Kentucky in the American Revolution
People who were court-martialed
Tall tales | false | [
"Don Juan Manuel's Tales of Count Lucanor, in Spanish Libro de los ejemplos del conde Lucanor y de Patronio (Book of the Examples of Count Lucanor and of Patronio), also commonly known as El Conde Lucanor, Libro de Patronio, or Libro de los ejemplos (original Old Castilian: Libro de los enxiemplos del Conde Lucanor et de Patronio), is one of the earliest works of prose in Castilian Spanish. It was first written in 1335.\n\nThe book is divided into four parts. The first and most well-known part is a series of 51 short stories (some no more than a page or two) drawn from various sources, such as Aesop and other classical writers, and Arabic folktales.\n\nTales of Count Lucanor was first printed in 1575 when it was published at Seville under the auspices of Argote de Molina. It was again printed at Madrid in 1642, after which it lay forgotten for nearly two centuries.\n\nPurpose and structure\n\nA didactic, moralistic purpose, which would color so much of the Spanish literature to follow (see Novela picaresca), is the mark of this book. Count Lucanor engages in conversation with his advisor Patronio, putting to him a problem (\"Some man has made me a proposition...\" or \"I fear that such and such person intends to...\") and asking for advice. Patronio responds always with the greatest humility, claiming not to wish to offer advice to so illustrious a person as the Count, but offering to tell him a story of which the Count's problem reminds him. (Thus, the stories are \"examples\" [ejemplos] of wise action.) At the end he advises the Count to do as the protagonist of his story did.\n\nEach chapter ends in more or less the same way, with slight variations on: \"And this pleased the Count greatly and he did just so, and found it well. And Don Johán (Juan) saw that this example was very good, and had it written in this book, and composed the following verses.\" A rhymed couplet closes, giving the moral of the story.\n\nOrigin of stories and influence on later literature\nMany of the stories written in the book are the first examples written in a modern European language of various stories, which many other writers would use in the proceeding centuries. Many of the stories he included were themselves derived from other stories, coming from western and Arab sources.\n\nShakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew has the basic elements of Tale 35, \"What Happened to a Young Man Who Married a Strong and Ill-tempered Woman\".\n\nTale 32, \"What Happened to the King and the Tricksters Who Made Cloth\" tells the story that Hans Christian Andersen made popular as The Emperor's New Clothes.\n\nStory 7, \"What Happened to a Woman Named Truhana\", a version of Aesop's The Milkmaid and Her Pail, was claimed by Max Müller to originate in the Hindu cycle Panchatantra.\n\nTale 2, \"What happened to a good Man and his Son, leading a beast to market,\" is the familiar fable The miller, his son and the donkey.\n\nIn 2016, Baroque Decay released a game under the name \"The Count Lucanor\". As well as some protagonists' names, certain events from the books inspired past events in the game.\n\nThe stories\n\nThe book opens with a prologue which introduces the characters of the Count and Patronio. The titles in the following list are those given in Keller and Keating's 1977 translation into English. James York's 1868 translation into English gives a significantly different ordering of the stories and omits the fifty-first.\n\n What Happened to a King and His Favorite \n What Happened to a Good Man and His Son \n How King Richard of England Leapt into the Sea against the Moors\n What a Genoese Said to His Soul When He Was about to Die \n What Happened to a Fox and a Crow Who Had a Piece of Cheese in His Beak\n How the Swallow Warned the Other Birds When She Saw Flax Being Sown \n What Happened to a Woman Named Truhana \n What Happened to a Man Whose Liver Had to Be Washed \n What Happened to Two Horses Which Were Thrown to the Lion \n What Happened to a Man Who on Account of Poverty and Lack of Other Food Was Eating Bitter Lentils \n What Happened to a Dean of Santiago de Compostela and Don Yllán, the Grand Master of Toledo\n What Happened to the Fox and the Rooster \n What Happened to a Man Who Was Hunting Partridges \n The Miracle of Saint Dominick When He Preached against the Usurer \n What Happened to Lorenzo Suárez at the Siege of Seville \n The Reply that count Fernán González Gave to His Relative Núño Laynes \n What Happened to a Very Hungry Man Who Was Half-heartedly Invited to Dinner \n What Happened to Pero Meléndez de Valdés When He Broke His Leg \n What Happened to the Crows and the Owls \n What Happened to a King for Whom a Man Promised to Perform Alchemy \n What Happened to a Young King and a Philosopher to Whom his Father Commended Him \n What Happened to the Lion and the Bull \n How the Ants Provide for Themselves \n What Happened to the King Who Wanted to Test His Three Sons \n What Happened to the Count of Provence and How He Was Freed from Prison by the Advice of Saladin\n What Happened to the Tree of Lies \n What Happened to an Emperor and to Don Alvarfáñez Minaya and Their Wives \n What Happened in Granada to Don Lorenzo Suárez Gallinato When He Beheaded the Renegade Chaplain \n What Happened to a Fox Who Lay down in the Street to Play Dead \n What Happened to King Abenabet of Seville and Ramayquía His Wife \n How a Cardinal Judged between the Canons of Paris and the Friars Minor \n What Happened to the King and the Tricksters Who Made Cloth \n What Happened to Don Juan Manuel's Saker Falcon and an Eagle and a Heron \n What Happened to a Blind Man Who Was Leading Another \n What Happened to a Young Man Who Married a Strong and Ill-tempered Woman\n What Happened to a Merchant When He Found His Son and His Wife Sleeping Together \n What Happened to Count Fernán González with His Men after He Had Won the Battle of Hacinas \n What Happened to a Man Who Was Loaded down with Precious Stones and Drowned in the River \n What Happened to a Man and a Swallow and a Sparrow \n Why the Seneschal of Carcassonne Lost His Soul \n What Happened to a King of Córdova Named Al-Haquem \n What Happened to a Woman of Sham Piety \n What Happened to Good and Evil and the Wise Man and the Madman \n What Happened to Don Pero Núñez the Loyal, to Don Ruy González de Zavallos, and to Don Gutier Roiz de Blaguiello with Don Rodrigo the Generous \n What Happened to a Man Who Became the Devil's Friend and Vassal \n What Happened to a Philosopher who by Accident Went down a Street Where Prostitutes Lived \n What Befell a Moor and His Sister Who Pretended That She Was Timid \n What Happened to a Man Who Tested His Friends \n What Happened to the Man Whom They Cast out Naked on an Island When They Took away from Him the Kingdom He Ruled \n What Happened to Saladin and a Lady, the Wife of a Knight Who Was His Vassal \n What Happened to a Christian King Who Was Very Powerful and Haughty\n\nReferences\n\nNotes\n\nBibliography\n\n Sturm, Harlan\n\n Wacks, David\n\nExternal links\n\nThe Internet Archive provides free access to the 1868 translation by James York.\nJSTOR has the to the 1977 translation by Keller and Keating.\nSelections in English and Spanish (pedagogical edition) with introduction, notes, and bibliography in Open Iberia/América (open access teaching anthology)\n\n14th-century books\nSpanish literature\n1335 books",
"What Happened to 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"
] |
[
"Daniel Boone",
"Businessman on the Ohio River",
"What were his businesses?",
"he kept a tavern and worked as a surveyor, horse trader, and land speculator.",
"Was he successful?",
"He was initially prosperous, owning seven slaves by 1787, a relatively large number for Kentucky at the time.",
"what happened to change his prosperity?",
"Boone the trailblazer was too unsophisticated for the civilization which followed him and which eventually defrauded him of his land."
] | C_772cc11b9fe54084b4f80a51b869fc06_0 | what did he do after this happened? | 4 | what did Daniel Boone do after the defraudation of his land? | Daniel Boone | After the Revolution, Boone resettled in Limestone (renamed Maysville, Kentucky in 1786), then a booming Ohio River port. In 1787, he was elected to the Virginia state assembly as a representative from Bourbon County. In Maysville, he kept a tavern and worked as a surveyor, horse trader, and land speculator. He was initially prosperous, owning seven slaves by 1787, a relatively large number for Kentucky at the time. Boone became a celebrity while living in Maysville. In 1784, on his 50th birthday, historian John Filson published The Discovery, Settlement And present State of Kentucke, a book which included a chronicle of Boone's adventures. The Revolutionary War had ended, but the border war with American Indians north of the Ohio River resumed with the Northwest Indian War. In September 1786, Boone took part in a military expedition into the Ohio Country led by Benjamin Logan. Back in Limestone, Boone housed and fed Shawnees who were captured during the raid, and helped to negotiate a truce and prisoner exchange. Although the war escalated and would not end until the American victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794, the 1786 expedition was the last time Boone saw military action. Boone began to have financial troubles while living in Maysville. According to the later folk image, Boone the trailblazer was too unsophisticated for the civilization which followed him and which eventually defrauded him of his land. Boone was not the simple frontiersman of legend, however: he engaged in land speculation on a large scale, buying and selling claims to tens of thousands of acres. The land market in frontier Kentucky was chaotic, and Boone's ventures ultimately failed because his investment strategy was faulty and because his sense of honor made him reluctant to profit at someone else's expense. According to Faragher, "Boone lacked the ruthless instincts that speculation demanded." Frustrated with the legal hassles that went with land speculation, in 1788, Boone moved upriver to Point Pleasant, Virginia (now West Virginia). There he operated a trading post and occasionally worked as a surveyor's assistant. When Virginia created Kanawha County in 1789, Boone was appointed lieutenant colonel of the county militia. In 1791, he was elected to the Virginia legislature for the third time. He contracted to provide supplies for the Kanawha militia, but his debts prevented him from buying goods on credit, so he closed his store and returned to hunting and trapping. In 1795, Rebecca and he moved back to Kentucky, living in present Nicholas County on land owned by their son Daniel Morgan Boone. The next year, Boone applied to Isaac Shelby, the first governor of the new state of Kentucky, for a contract to widen the Wilderness Road into a wagon route, but the contract was awarded to someone else. Meanwhile, lawsuits over conflicting land claims continued to make their way through the Kentucky courts. Boone's remaining land claims were sold off to pay legal fees and taxes, but he no longer paid attention to the process. In 1798, a warrant was issued for Boone's arrest after he ignored a summons to testify in a court case, although the sheriff never found him. That same year, the Kentucky assembly named Boone County in his honor. CANNOTANSWER | Frustrated with the legal hassles that went with land speculation, in 1788, Boone moved upriver to Point Pleasant, Virginia ( | Daniel Boone (September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and frontiersman whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. Boone became famous for his exploration and settlement of what is now Kentucky, which was then beyond the western borders of the Thirteen Colonies. Despite resistance from American Indians, for whom Kentucky was a traditional hunting ground, in 1775 Boone blazed the Wilderness Road through the Cumberland Gap and into Kentucky. There he founded Boonesborough, one of the first English-speaking settlements west of the Appalachian Mountains. By the end of the 18th century, more than 200,000 people had entered Kentucky by following the route marked by Boone.
Boone served as a militia officer during the Revolutionary War (1775–1783), which, in Kentucky, was fought primarily between American settlers and British-allied American Indians. Boone was captured by Shawnees in 1778 and adopted into the tribe, but he escaped and continued to help defend the Kentucky settlements. He was elected to the first of his three terms in the Virginia General Assembly during the war, and fought in the Battle of Blue Licks in 1782, one of the last battles of the American Revolution. Boone worked as a surveyor and merchant after the war, but he went deep into debt as a Kentucky land speculator. Frustrated with legal problems resulting from his land claims, in 1799 Boone resettled in Missouri, where he spent most of the last two decades of his life.
Boone remains an iconic, if imperfectly remembered, figure in American history. He was a legend in his own lifetime, especially after an account of his adventures was published in 1784, making him famous in America and Europe. After his death, Boone became the subject of many heroic tall tales and works of fiction. His adventures—real and legendary—helped create the archetypal frontier hero of American folklore. In American popular culture, Boone is remembered as one of the foremost early frontiersmen, even though mythology often overshadows the historical details of his life.
Early life
Boone was born on October 22, 1734 ("New Style" November 2), the sixth of eleven children in a family of Quakers. His father, Squire Boone (1696–1765), had emigrated to colonial Pennsylvania from the small town of Bradninch, England, in 1713. Squire, a weaver and blacksmith, married Sarah Morgan (1700–1777), whose family were Quakers from Wales. In 1731, the Boones built a one-room log cabin in the Oley Valley in what is now Berks County, Pennsylvania, near present Reading, where Daniel was born.
Boone spent his early years on the Pennsylvania frontier, often interacting with American Indians. Boone learned to hunt from local settlers and Indians; by the age of fifteen, he had a reputation as one of the region’s best hunters. Many stories about Boone emphasize his hunting skills. In one tale, the young Boone was hunting in the woods with some other boys when the howl of a panther scattered all but Boone. He calmly cocked his rifle and shot the predator through the heart just as it leaped at him. The story may be a folktale, one of many that became part of Boone’s popular image.
In Boone's youth, his family became a source of controversy in the local Quaker community. In 1742, Boone's parents were compelled to publicly apologize after their eldest child Sarah married a "worldling", or non-Quaker, while she was visibly pregnant. When Boone's oldest brother Israel also married a "worldling" in 1747, Squire Boone stood by his son and was therefore expelled from the Quakers, although his wife continued to attend monthly meetings with her children. Perhaps as a result of this controversy, in 1750 Squire sold his land and moved the family to North Carolina. Daniel Boone did not attend church again, although he always considered himself a Christian and had all of his children baptized. The Boones eventually settled on the Yadkin River, in what is now Davie County, North Carolina, about two miles (3 km) west of Mocksville.
Boone received little formal education, since he preferred to spend his time hunting, apparently with his parents’ blessing. According to a family tradition, when a schoolteacher expressed concern over Boone's education, Boone's father said, "Let the girls do the spelling and Dan will do the shooting." Boone was tutored by family members, though his spelling remained unorthodox. Historian John Mack Faragher cautions that the folk image of Boone as semiliterate is misleading, arguing that Boone "acquired a level of literacy that was the equal of most men of his times." Boone regularly took reading material with him on his hunting expeditions—the Bible and Gulliver's Travels were favorites. He was often the only literate person in groups of frontiersmen, and would sometimes entertain his hunting companions by reading to them around the campfire.
Hunter, husband, and soldier
When the French and Indian War (1754–1763) broke out between the French, British, and their respective Indian allies, Boone joined a North Carolina militia company as a teamster and blacksmith. In 1755, his unit accompanied General Edward Braddock’s attempt to drive the French out of the Ohio Country, which ended in disaster at the Battle of the Monongahela. Boone, in the rear with the wagons, took no part in the battle, and fled with the retreating soldiers.
Boone returned home after the defeat, and on August 14, 1756, he married Rebecca Bryan, a neighbor in the Yadkin Valley. The couple initially lived in a cabin on his father's farm, and would eventually have ten children, in addition to raising eight children of deceased relatives.
In 1758, conflict erupted between British colonists and the Cherokees, their former allies in the French and Indian War. After the Yadkin Valley was raided by Cherokees, the Boones and many other families fled north to Culpeper County, Virginia. Boone saw action as a member of the North Carolina militia during this "Cherokee Uprising," periodically serving under Captain Hugh Waddell on the North Carolina frontier until 1760.
Boone supported his growing family in these years as a market hunter and trapper, collecting pelts for the fur trade. Almost every autumn, despite the unrest on the frontier, Boone would go on "long hunts", extended expeditions into the wilderness lasting weeks or months. Boone went alone or with a small group of men, accumulating hundreds of deer skins in the autumn, and trapping beaver and otter over the winter. When the long hunters returned in the spring, they sold their take to commercial fur traders. On their journeys, frontiersmen often carved messages on trees or wrote their names on cave walls, and Boone's name or initials have been found in many places. A tree in present Washington County, Tennessee, reads "D. Boon Cilled a. Bar on tree in the year 1760". A similar carving, preserved in the museum of the Filson Historical Society in Louisville, Kentucky, reads "D. Boon Kilt a Bar, 1803." The inscriptions may be genuine, or part of a long tradition of phony Boone relics.
According to a popular story, Boone returned home after a long absence to find Rebecca had given birth to a daughter. Rebecca confessed she had thought Daniel was dead, and that Boone’s brother had fathered the child. Boone did not blame Rebecca, and raised the girl as his own child. Boone's early biographers knew the story but did not publish it. Modern biographers regard the tale as possibly folklore, since the identity of the brother and the daughter vary in different versions of the tale.
In the mid-1760s, Boone began to look for a new place to settle. The population was growing in the Yadkin Valley, which decreased the amount of game available for hunting. Boone had difficulty making ends meet; he was often taken to court for nonpayment of debts. He sold what land he owned to pay off creditors. After his father's death in 1765, Boone traveled with a group of men to Florida, which had become British territory after the end of the war, to look into the possibility of settling there. According to a family story, Boone purchased land in Pensacola, but Rebecca refused to move so far away from friends and family. The Boones instead moved to a more remote area of the Yadkin Valley, and Boone began to hunt westward into the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Into Kentucky
Years before entering Kentucky, Boone had heard about the region’s fertile land and abundant game. In 1767, Boone and his brother Squire first crossed into what would become the state of Kentucky, but they failed to reach the rich hunting grounds. In May 1769, Boone set out again with a party of five others, beginning a two-year hunting expedition in which Boone thoroughly explored Kentucky. His first sighting of the Bluegrass region from atop Pilot Knob became "an icon of American history," and was the frequent subject of paintings.
On December 22, 1769, Boone and a fellow hunter were captured by a party of Shawnees, who confiscated all of their skins and told them to leave and never return. The Shawnees had not signed the 1768 Treaty of Fort Stanwix, in which the Iroquois had ceded their claim to Kentucky to the British. The Shawnees regarded Kentucky as their hunting ground; they considered American hunters there to be poachers. Boone, undeterred, continued hunting and exploring in Kentucky. On one occasion, he shot a man to avoid capture, which historian John Mack Faragher says "was one of the few Indians that Boone acknowledged killing." Boone returned to North Carolina in 1771, but came back to hunt in Kentucky in the autumn of 1772.
In 1773, Boone packed up his family and, with his brother, Squire, and a group of about 50 others, began the first attempt by British colonists to establish a settlement. Boone was still an obscure figure at the time; the most prominent member of the expedition was William Russell, a well-known Virginian and future brother-in-law of Patrick Henry. Another member of this expedition was Boone's friend and fellow long-hunter, Michael Stoner.
Included in this group were an unknown number of enslaved Blacks, including Charles and Adam. On October 9, Boone's oldest son, James, and several whites as well as Charles and Adam left the main party to seek provisions in a nearby settlement. They were attacked by a band of Delawares, Shawnees, and Cherokees. Following the Fort Stanwix treaty, American Indians in the region had been debating what do to about the influx of settlers. This group had decided, in the words of Faragher, "to send a message of their opposition to settlement". James Boone and William Russell's son, Henry, were tortured and killed. Charles was captured. Adam witnessed the horror concealed in riverbank driftwood. After wandering In the woods for 11 days, Adam located the group and informed Boone of the circumstances of their deaths. Charles's body was found by the pioneers 40 miles from the abduction site, dead from a blow to his head. The brutality of the killings sent shockwaves along the frontier, and Boone's party abandoned their expedition.
The attack was one of the first events in what became known as Dunmore's War, a struggle between Virginia and American Indians for control of what is now West Virginia and Kentucky. In the summer of 1774, Boone traveled with a companion to Kentucky to notify surveyors there about the outbreak of war. They journeyed more than in two months to warn those who had not already fled the region. Upon his return to Virginia, Boone helped defend colonial settlements along the Clinch River, earning a promotion to captain in the militia, as well as acclaim from fellow citizens. After the brief war, which ended soon after Virginia's victory in the Battle of Point Pleasant in October 1774, the Shawnees relinquished their claims to Kentucky.
Following Dunmore's War, Richard Henderson, a prominent judge from North Carolina, hired Boone to help establish a colony to be called Transylvania. Boone traveled to several Cherokee towns and invited them to a meeting, held at Sycamore Shoals in March 1775, where Henderson purchased the Cherokee claim to Kentucky.
Boone then blazed "Boone's Trace," later known as the Wilderness Road, through the Cumberland Gap and into central Kentucky. Sam, an enslaved black “body servant,” and other enslaved laborers were among this group of settlers. When this group camped near the present day Richmond, KY, Indians attacked, killing Sam and his enslaver. After driving off the attackers, the party buried the two men side by side.
He founded Boonesborough along the Kentucky River; other settlements, notably Harrodsburg, were also established at this time. Despite occasional Indian attacks, Boone brought his family and other settlers to Boonesborough on September 8, 1775.
American Revolution
Violence in Kentucky increased with the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783). American Indians who were unhappy about the loss of Kentucky in treaties saw the war as a chance to drive out the colonists. Isolated settlers and hunters became the frequent target of attacks, convincing many to abandon Kentucky. By late spring of 1776, Boone and his family were among the fewer than 200 colonists who remained in Kentucky, primarily at the fortified settlements of Boonesborough, Harrodsburg, and Logan's Station.
On July 14, 1776, Boone's daughter Jemima and two other girls were captured outside Boonesborough by an Indian war party, who carried the girls north toward the Shawnee towns in the Ohio country. Boone and a group of men from Boonesborough followed in pursuit, finally catching up with them two days later. Boone and his men ambushed the Indians, rescuing the girls and driving off their captors. The incident became the most celebrated event of Boone's life. James Fenimore Cooper created a fictionalized version of the episode in his classic novel The Last of the Mohicans (1826).
In 1777, Henry Hamilton, British Lieutenant Governor of Canada, began to recruit American Indian war parties to raid the Kentucky settlements. That same year in March, the newly formed militia of Kentucky County, VA mustered in Boonesborough, whose population included ten to 15 enslaved people. On April 24, 1778, the British-allied Shawnees led by Chief Blackfish mounted the siege of Boonesborough. Armed enslaved men fought alongside their enslavers at the fort's walls. After going beyond the fort walls to engage the attackers, London, one of the enslaved, was killed.
Boone was shot in the ankle while outside the fort but, amid a flurry of bullets, he was carried back inside by Simon Kenton, a recent arrival at Boonesborough. Kenton became Boone's close friend, as well as a legendary frontiersman in his own right.
Capture and court-martial
While Boone recovered, Shawnees kept up their attacks outside Boonesborough, killing cattle and destroying crops. With food running low, the settlers needed salt to preserve what meat they had, so in January 1778, Boone led a party of 30 men to the salt springs on the Licking River. On February 7, when Boone was hunting meat for the expedition, he was captured by Blackfish's warriors. Because Boone's party was greatly outnumbered, Boone returned to camp the next day with Blackfish and persuaded his men to surrender rather than put up a fight.
Blackfish intended to move on to Boonesborough and capture it, but Boone argued the women and children would not survive a winter trek as prisoners back to the Shawnee villages. Instead, Boone promised that Boonesborough would surrender willingly the following spring. Boone did not have an opportunity to tell his men that he was bluffing to prevent an immediate attack on Boonesborough. Boone pursued this strategy so convincingly some of his men concluded he had switched sides, an impression that led to his court-martial (see below).
Many of the Shawnees wanted to execute the prisoners in retaliation for the recent murder of Shawnee Chief Cornstalk by Virginia militiamen. Because Shawnee chiefs led by seeking consensus, Blackfish held a council. After an impassioned speech by Boone, the warriors voted to spare the prisoners. Although Boone had saved his men, Blackfish pointed out that Boone had not included himself in the agreement, so Boone was forced to run the gauntlet through the warriors, which he survived with minor injuries.
Boone and his men were taken to Blackfish's town of Chillicothe. As was their custom, the Shawnees adopted some of the prisoners to replace fallen warriors. Boone was adopted into a Shawnee family at Chillicothe, perhaps into Blackfish's family, and given the name Sheltowee (Big Turtle). In March 1778, the Shawnees took the unadopted prisoners to Governor Hamilton in Detroit. Blackfish brought Boone along, though he refused Hamilton's offers to release Boone to the British. Hamilton gave Boone gifts, attempting to win his loyalty, while Boone continued to pretend that he intended to surrender Boonesborough. Boone returned with Blackfish to Chillicothe. On June 16, 1778, when he learned Blackfish was about to return to Boonesborough with a large force, Boone eluded his captors and raced home, covering the to Boonesborough in five days on horseback and, after his horse gave out, on foot. Biographer Robert Morgan calls Boone's escape and return "one of the great legends of frontier history."
Upon Boone's return to Boonesborough, some of the men expressed doubts about Boone's loyalty, since he had apparently lived happily among the Shawnees for months. Boone responded by leading a preemptive raid against the Shawnees across the Ohio River, and then by helping to successfully defend Boonesborough against a 10-day siege led by Blackfish, which began on September 7, 1778. After the siege, Captain Benjamin Logan and Colonel Richard Callaway—both of whom had nephews who were still captives surrendered by Boone—brought charges against Boone for his recent activities. In the court-martial that followed, Boone was found "not guilty," and was even promoted after the court heard his testimony. Despite this vindication, Boone was humiliated by the court-martial, and he rarely spoke of it.
Final years of the Revolution
After the trial, Boone returned to North Carolina to bring his family back to Kentucky. In the autumn of 1779, a large party of emigrants came with him, including the family of Captain Abraham Lincoln, grandfather of the future president. Rather than remain in Boonesborough, Boone founded the nearby settlement of Boone's Station. He began earning money by locating good land for other settlers. Transylvania land claims had been invalidated after Virginia created Kentucky County, so settlers needed to file new land claims with Virginia. In 1780, Boone collected about $20,000 in cash from various settlers and traveled to Williamsburg to purchase their land warrants. While he was sleeping in a tavern during the trip, the cash was stolen from his room. Some of the settlers forgave Boone the loss; others insisted he repay the stolen money, which took him several years to do.
In contrast to the later folk image of Boone as a backwoodsman who had little affinity for "civilized" society, Boone was a leading citizen of Kentucky at this time. When Kentucky was divided into three Virginia counties in November 1780, Boone was promoted to lieutenant colonel in the Fayette County militia. In April 1781, he was elected as a representative to the Virginia General Assembly, which was held in Richmond. In 1782, he was elected sheriff of Fayette County.
Meanwhile, the American Revolutionary War continued. Boone joined General George Rogers Clark's invasion of the Ohio country in 1780, fighting in the Battle of Piqua against the Shawnee on August 7. On the way home from the campaign, Boone was hunting with his brother Ned when Shawnees shot and killed Ned, who resembled Daniel. The Shawnees beheaded Ned, believing him to be Daniel, and took the head as evidence that Daniel Boone had finally been slain.
In 1781, Boone traveled to Richmond to take his seat in the legislature, but British dragoons under Banastre Tarleton captured Boone and several other legislators near Charlottesville. The British released Boone on parole several days later. During Boone's term, Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown in October 1781, but the fighting continued in Kentucky. Boone returned to Kentucky and in August 1782 fought in the Battle of Blue Licks, a disastrous defeat for the Kentuckians in which Boone's son Israel was killed. In November 1782, Boone took part in another Clark-led expedition into Ohio, the last major campaign of the war.
Businessman and politician
After the Revolutionary War ended, Boone resettled in Limestone (later renamed Maysville, Kentucky), then a booming Ohio River port. He kept a tavern and worked as a surveyor, horse trader, and land speculator. In 1784, on Boone’s 50th birthday, frontier historian John Filson published The Discovery, Settlement and Present State of Kentucke. The popular book included a chronicle of Boone's adventures, which made Boone a celebrity.
As settlers poured into Kentucky, the border war with American Indians north of the Ohio River resumed. In September 1786, Boone took part in a military expedition into the Ohio Country led by Benjamin Logan. Returning to Limestone, Boone housed and fed Shawnees who were captured during the raid, and helped to negotiate a truce and prisoner exchange. Although the war would not end until the American victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers eight years later, the 1786 expedition was the last time Boone saw military action.
Boone was initially prosperous in Limestone, owning seven slaves, a relatively large number for Kentucky at the time. In 1786, he purchased a Pennsylvania enslaved woman, age of about 20, for “Ninety poundes Current Lawfull (sic) money.”. A leader, he served as militia colonel, sheriff, and county coroner. In 1787, he was again elected to the Virginia state assembly, this time from Bourbon County. He began to have financial troubles after engaging in land speculation, buying and selling claims to tens of thousands of acres. These ventures ultimately failed because of the chaotic nature of land speculation in frontier Kentucky and Boone’s poor business instincts. Frustrated with the legal hassles that went with land speculation, in 1789 Boone moved upriver to Point Pleasant, Virginia (now West Virginia). There he operated a trading post and occasionally worked as a surveyor's assistant. That same year, when Virginia created Kanawha County, Boone became the lieutenant colonel of the county militia. In 1791, he was elected to the Virginia legislature for the third time. He contracted to provide supplies for the Kanawha militia, but his debts prevented him from buying goods on credit, so he closed his store and returned to hunting and trapping, though he was often hampered by rheumatism.
In 1795, Boone and his wife moved back to Kentucky, on land owned by their son Daniel Morgan Boone in what became Nicholas County. The next year, Boone applied to Isaac Shelby, the first governor of the new state of Kentucky, for a contract to widen the Wilderness Road into a wagon route, but the contract was awarded to someone else. Meanwhile, lawsuits over conflicting land claims continued to make their way through the Kentucky courts. Boone's remaining land claims were sold off to pay legal fees and taxes, but he no longer paid attention to the process. In 1798, a warrant was issued for Boone's arrest after he ignored a summons to testify in a court case, although the sheriff never found him. That same year, the Kentucky assembly named Boone County in his honor.
Into Missouri
Having endured legal and financial setbacks, Boone sought to make a fresh start by leaving the United States. In 1799, he moved his extended family to what is now St. Charles County, Missouri, but was then part of Spanish Louisiana. The Spanish, eager to promote settlement in the sparsely populated region, did not enforce the official requirement that all immigrants be Catholic. The Spanish governor appointed Boone "syndic" (judge and jury) and commandant (military leader) of the Femme Osage district. Anecdotes of Boone's tenure as syndic suggest he sought to render fair judgments rather than strictly observe the letter of the law.
Boone served as syndic and commandant until 1804, when Missouri became part of the United States following the Louisiana Purchase. He was appointed captain of the local militia. Because Boone's land grants from the Spanish government had been largely based on oral agreements, he again lost his land claims. In 1809, he petitioned Congress to restore his Spanish land claims, which was finally done in 1814. Boone sold most of this land to repay old Kentucky debts. When the War of 1812 came to Missouri, Boone's sons Daniel Morgan Boone and Nathan Boone took part, but by that time Boone was much too old for militia duty.
Although Boone reportedly vowed never to return to Kentucky after moving to Missouri, stories (possibly folk tales) were told of him making one last visit to Kentucky to pay off his creditors. American painter John James Audubon claimed to have gone hunting with Boone in Kentucky around 1810. Years later, Audubon painted a portrait of Boone, supposedly from memory, although skeptics noted the similarity of his painting to the well-known portraits by Chester Harding. Some historians believe Boone visited his brother Squire near Kentucky in 1810 and have accepted the veracity of Audubon's account.
Boone spent his final years in Missouri, often in the company of children and grandchildren. He continued to hunt and trap as much as his health and energy levels permitted, intruding upon the territory of the Osage tribe, who once captured him and confiscated his furs. In 1810, at the age of 76, he went with a group on a six-month hunt up the Missouri River, reportedly as far as the Yellowstone River, a round trip of more than 2,000 miles. He began one of his final trapping expeditions in 1815, in the company of a Shawnee and Derry Coburn, a slave who was frequently with Boone in his final years. They reached Fort Osage in 1816, where an officer wrote, "We have been honored by a visit from Col. Boone... He has taken part in all the wars of America, from Braddock's war to the present hour," but "he prefers the woods, where you see him in the dress of the roughest, poorest hunter."
Death and burial
Boone died on September 26, 1820, at his son Nathan Boone's home on Femme Osage Creek, Missouri. He was buried next to Rebecca, who had died on March 18, 1813. The graves, which were unmarked until the mid-1830s, were near Jemima (Boone) Callaway's home on Tuque Creek, about two miles (3 km) from present-day Marthasville, Missouri.
In 1845, the Boones' remains were disinterred and reburied in a new cemetery in Frankfort, Kentucky. Resentment in Missouri about the disinterment grew over the years, and a legend arose that Boone's remains never left Missouri. According to this story, Boone's tombstone in Missouri had been inadvertently placed over the wrong grave, but no one had corrected the error. Boone's Missouri relatives, displeased with the Kentuckians who came to exhume Boone, kept quiet about the mistake and allowed the Kentuckians to dig up the wrong remains. No contemporary evidence indicates this actually happened, but in 1983, a forensic anthropologist examined a crude plaster cast of Boone's skull made before the Kentucky reburial and announced it might be the skull of an African American. Black slaves were also buried at Tuque Creek, so it is possible that the wrong remains were mistakenly removed from the crowded graveyard. Both the Frankfort Cemetery in Kentucky and the Old Bryan Farm graveyard in Missouri claim to have Boone's remains.
Legacy
Daniel Boone remains an iconic figure in American history, although his status as an early American folk hero and later as a subject of fiction has tended to obscure the actual details of his life. He emerged as a legend in large part because of John Filson's "The Adventures of Colonel Daniel Boon", part of his book The Discovery, Settlement and present State of Kentucke. First published in 1784, Filson's book was primarily intended to popularize Kentucky to immigrants. It was translated into French and German, and made Boone famous in America and Europe. Based on interviews with Boone, Filson's book contained a mostly factual account of Boone's adventures from the exploration of Kentucky through the American Revolution, although many have doubted if the florid, philosophical dialogue attributed to Boone was authentic. Often reprinted, Filson's book established Boone as one of the first popular heroes of the United States.
Timothy Flint also interviewed Boone, and his Biographical Memoir of Daniel Boone, the First Settler of Kentucky (1833) became one of the best-selling biographies of the 19th century. Flint embellished Boone's adventures, doing for Boone what Parson Weems did for George Washington. In Flint's book, Boone fought with a bear, escaped from Indians by swinging on vines (as Tarzan would later do), and so on. Although Boone's family thought the book was absurd, Flint greatly influenced the popular conception of Boone, since these tall tales were recycled in countless dime novels and books aimed at young boys.
Symbol and stereotype
Thanks to Filson's book, Boone became a symbol of the "natural man" who lives a virtuous, uncomplicated existence in the wilderness. This was famously expressed in Lord Byron's epic poem Don Juan (1822), which devoted a number of stanzas to Boone, including this one:
Byron's poem celebrated Boone as someone who found happiness by turning his back on civilization. In a similar vein, many folk tales depicted Boone as a man who migrated to more remote areas whenever civilization crowded in on him. In a typical anecdote, when asked why he was moving to Missouri, Boone supposedly replied, "I want more elbow room!" Boone rejected this interpretation. "Nothing embitters my old age," he said late in life, like "the circulation of absurd stories that I retire as civilization advances."
Existing simultaneously with the image of Boone as a refugee from society was, paradoxically, the popular portrayal of him as civilization's trailblazer. Boone was celebrated as an agent of Manifest Destiny, a pathfinder who tamed the wilderness, paving the way for the extension of American civilization. In 1852, critic Henry Tuckerman dubbed Boone "the Columbus of the woods," comparing Boone's passage through the Cumberland Gap to Christopher Columbus's voyage to the New World. In popular mythology, Boone became the first to explore and settle Kentucky, opening the way for countless others to follow. In fact, other Americans had explored Kentucky before Boone, as debunkers in the 20th century often pointed out, but Boone came to symbolize them all, making him what historian Michael Lofaro called "the founding father of westward expansion."
In the 19th century, when Native Americans were being displaced from their lands and confined on reservations, Boone's image was often reshaped into the stereotype of the belligerent, Indian-hating frontiersman which was then popular. In John A. McClung's Sketches of Western Adventure (1832), for example, Boone was portrayed as longing for the "thrilling excitement of savage warfare." Boone was transformed in the popular imagination into someone who regarded Indians with contempt and had killed scores of the "savages." The real Boone disliked bloodshed. According to historian John Bakeless, there is no record that Boone ever scalped Indians, unlike other frontiersmen of the era. Boone once told his son Nathan that he was certain of having killed only one Indian, during the battle at Blue Licks, although on another occasion he said, "I never killed but three." He expressed regret over the killings, saying the Indians "have always been kinder to me than the whites." Even though Boone had lost two sons and a brother in wars with Indians, he respected Indians and was respected by them. In Missouri, Boone went hunting with the Shawnees who had captured and adopted him decades earlier. Some 19th-century writers regarded Boone's sympathy for Indians as a character flaw and altered his words to conform to contemporary attitudes.
The character John Boone in Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy is inspired by Daniel Boone. In the story, John Boone is an American astronaut, the first human to walk on Mars in the year 2020. John Boone is one of the "First Hundred" colonists sent to permanently colonize Mars. His accomplishments and natural charm yield him an informal leadership role. After being assassinated, his larger-than-life persona plays a legendary role in the culture of colonized Mars.
Commemoration and portrayals
Many places in the United States are named for Boone, including the Daniel Boone National Forest in Kentucky and the Sheltowee Trace Trail in Tennessee. His name has long been synonymous with the American outdoors. The Boone and Crockett Club is a conservationist organization founded by Theodore Roosevelt in 1887, and the Sons of Daniel Boone was the precursor of the Boy Scouts of America. A half-dollar coin was minted in 1934 to mark the bicentennial of Boone’s birth; a commemorative stamp was issued in 1968.
Boone's adventures, real and mythical, formed the basis of the archetypal hero of the American West, popular in 19th-century novels and 20th-century films. The main character of James Fenimore Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales, the first of which was published in 1823, bore striking similarities to Boone; even his name, Nathaniel Bumppo, echoed Daniel Boone's name. As mentioned above, The Last of the Mohicans (1826), Cooper's second Leatherstocking novel, featured a fictionalized version of Boone's rescue of his daughter. After Cooper, other writers developed the Western hero, an iconic figure which began as a variation of Daniel Boone.
In the 20th century, Boone was featured in numerous comic strips, radio programs, novels, and films, such as the 1936 film Daniel Boone. Boone was the subject of a TV series that ran from 1964 to 1970. In the theme song for the series, Boone was described as a "big man" in a "coonskin cap," and the "rippin'est, roarin'est, fightin'est man the frontier ever knew!" This did not describe the real Boone, who was not a big man and did not wear a coonskin cap, which he thought uncouth and uncomfortable. Boone was portrayed this way in the TV series because Fess Parker, the tall actor who played him, was essentially reprising his role as Davy Crockett from an earlier TV series. That Boone could be portrayed the same way as Crockett, another American frontiersman with a very different personality, was another example of how Boone's image was reshaped to suit popular tastes. He was also the subject matter for the song sung by Ed Ames called "Daniel Boone". It was released in 1966.
In Blood and Treasure, released in 2021, authors Tom Clavin and Bob Drury painted a much broader historical portrait of Boone than has been commonly described.
The Taking of Jemima Boone by Matthew Pearl, published in 2021, is an account of the abduction of the daughter of Daniel Boone and, after her rescue by Boone, then shifts to the conflicts between Boone, his political rival Richard Callaway, and Shawnee leader Blackfish, with resulting impacts to the Western theater of the American Revolutionary War.
See also
Edward Morgan Log House
Daniel Boone Homestead
Daniel Boone School
Thomas S. Hinde, close friend of the Boone Family, neighbor in Kentucky, and interviewer of Boone
Boone's Cave Park
Daniel Boone National Forest
Boone Trail, between Virginia Beach, Virginia and San Francisco, California
References
Notes
Citations
Sources
The definitive Boone biography of its era, the first to make full use of the immense material collected by Lyman Draper.
Belue's notes provide a modern scholarly perspective to Draper's unfinished 19th century biography.
Guide to historical sites associated with Boone.
Further reading
Filson, John. The Discovery, Settlement and present State of Kentucke, including the "Appendix" life of Boone
Hammon, Neal O., ed. My Father, Daniel Boone: The Draper Interviews with Nathan Boone. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1999. .
Reid, Darren R., ed. Daniel Boone and Others on the Kentucky Frontier: Autobiographies and Narratives, 1769–1795. Jefferson: McFarland and Company, 2009. .
Personal papers of Daniel Boone at the Wisconsin Historical Society searchable 32-volume collection of Boone manuscripts and correspondence, part of the Lyman Draper collection
1734 births
1820 deaths
American explorers
American folklore
American hunters
American people of English descent
American people of Welsh descent
American slave owners
American surveyors
Kentucky pioneers
Appalachian people
Boone County, Missouri
Daniel
Burials at Frankfort Cemetery
Captives of Native Americans
Hall of Fame for Great Americans inductees
Kentucky militiamen in the American Revolution
Members of the Virginia House of Delegates
Mountain men
People of colonial Pennsylvania
People from Berks County, Pennsylvania
People from Kentucky
People from St. Charles County, Missouri
People of Pennsylvania in the French and Indian War
People of Kentucky in the American Revolution
People who were court-martialed
Tall tales | 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",
"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"
] |
[
"Daniel Boone",
"Businessman on the Ohio River",
"What were his businesses?",
"he kept a tavern and worked as a surveyor, horse trader, and land speculator.",
"Was he successful?",
"He was initially prosperous, owning seven slaves by 1787, a relatively large number for Kentucky at the time.",
"what happened to change his prosperity?",
"Boone the trailblazer was too unsophisticated for the civilization which followed him and which eventually defrauded him of his land.",
"what did he do after this happened?",
"Frustrated with the legal hassles that went with land speculation, in 1788, Boone moved upriver to Point Pleasant, Virginia ("
] | C_772cc11b9fe54084b4f80a51b869fc06_0 | What did he do there? | 5 | What did Daniel Boone do in Point Pleasant? | Daniel Boone | After the Revolution, Boone resettled in Limestone (renamed Maysville, Kentucky in 1786), then a booming Ohio River port. In 1787, he was elected to the Virginia state assembly as a representative from Bourbon County. In Maysville, he kept a tavern and worked as a surveyor, horse trader, and land speculator. He was initially prosperous, owning seven slaves by 1787, a relatively large number for Kentucky at the time. Boone became a celebrity while living in Maysville. In 1784, on his 50th birthday, historian John Filson published The Discovery, Settlement And present State of Kentucke, a book which included a chronicle of Boone's adventures. The Revolutionary War had ended, but the border war with American Indians north of the Ohio River resumed with the Northwest Indian War. In September 1786, Boone took part in a military expedition into the Ohio Country led by Benjamin Logan. Back in Limestone, Boone housed and fed Shawnees who were captured during the raid, and helped to negotiate a truce and prisoner exchange. Although the war escalated and would not end until the American victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794, the 1786 expedition was the last time Boone saw military action. Boone began to have financial troubles while living in Maysville. According to the later folk image, Boone the trailblazer was too unsophisticated for the civilization which followed him and which eventually defrauded him of his land. Boone was not the simple frontiersman of legend, however: he engaged in land speculation on a large scale, buying and selling claims to tens of thousands of acres. The land market in frontier Kentucky was chaotic, and Boone's ventures ultimately failed because his investment strategy was faulty and because his sense of honor made him reluctant to profit at someone else's expense. According to Faragher, "Boone lacked the ruthless instincts that speculation demanded." Frustrated with the legal hassles that went with land speculation, in 1788, Boone moved upriver to Point Pleasant, Virginia (now West Virginia). There he operated a trading post and occasionally worked as a surveyor's assistant. When Virginia created Kanawha County in 1789, Boone was appointed lieutenant colonel of the county militia. In 1791, he was elected to the Virginia legislature for the third time. He contracted to provide supplies for the Kanawha militia, but his debts prevented him from buying goods on credit, so he closed his store and returned to hunting and trapping. In 1795, Rebecca and he moved back to Kentucky, living in present Nicholas County on land owned by their son Daniel Morgan Boone. The next year, Boone applied to Isaac Shelby, the first governor of the new state of Kentucky, for a contract to widen the Wilderness Road into a wagon route, but the contract was awarded to someone else. Meanwhile, lawsuits over conflicting land claims continued to make their way through the Kentucky courts. Boone's remaining land claims were sold off to pay legal fees and taxes, but he no longer paid attention to the process. In 1798, a warrant was issued for Boone's arrest after he ignored a summons to testify in a court case, although the sheriff never found him. That same year, the Kentucky assembly named Boone County in his honor. CANNOTANSWER | he operated a trading post and occasionally worked as a surveyor's assistant. | Daniel Boone (September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and frontiersman whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. Boone became famous for his exploration and settlement of what is now Kentucky, which was then beyond the western borders of the Thirteen Colonies. Despite resistance from American Indians, for whom Kentucky was a traditional hunting ground, in 1775 Boone blazed the Wilderness Road through the Cumberland Gap and into Kentucky. There he founded Boonesborough, one of the first English-speaking settlements west of the Appalachian Mountains. By the end of the 18th century, more than 200,000 people had entered Kentucky by following the route marked by Boone.
Boone served as a militia officer during the Revolutionary War (1775–1783), which, in Kentucky, was fought primarily between American settlers and British-allied American Indians. Boone was captured by Shawnees in 1778 and adopted into the tribe, but he escaped and continued to help defend the Kentucky settlements. He was elected to the first of his three terms in the Virginia General Assembly during the war, and fought in the Battle of Blue Licks in 1782, one of the last battles of the American Revolution. Boone worked as a surveyor and merchant after the war, but he went deep into debt as a Kentucky land speculator. Frustrated with legal problems resulting from his land claims, in 1799 Boone resettled in Missouri, where he spent most of the last two decades of his life.
Boone remains an iconic, if imperfectly remembered, figure in American history. He was a legend in his own lifetime, especially after an account of his adventures was published in 1784, making him famous in America and Europe. After his death, Boone became the subject of many heroic tall tales and works of fiction. His adventures—real and legendary—helped create the archetypal frontier hero of American folklore. In American popular culture, Boone is remembered as one of the foremost early frontiersmen, even though mythology often overshadows the historical details of his life.
Early life
Boone was born on October 22, 1734 ("New Style" November 2), the sixth of eleven children in a family of Quakers. His father, Squire Boone (1696–1765), had emigrated to colonial Pennsylvania from the small town of Bradninch, England, in 1713. Squire, a weaver and blacksmith, married Sarah Morgan (1700–1777), whose family were Quakers from Wales. In 1731, the Boones built a one-room log cabin in the Oley Valley in what is now Berks County, Pennsylvania, near present Reading, where Daniel was born.
Boone spent his early years on the Pennsylvania frontier, often interacting with American Indians. Boone learned to hunt from local settlers and Indians; by the age of fifteen, he had a reputation as one of the region’s best hunters. Many stories about Boone emphasize his hunting skills. In one tale, the young Boone was hunting in the woods with some other boys when the howl of a panther scattered all but Boone. He calmly cocked his rifle and shot the predator through the heart just as it leaped at him. The story may be a folktale, one of many that became part of Boone’s popular image.
In Boone's youth, his family became a source of controversy in the local Quaker community. In 1742, Boone's parents were compelled to publicly apologize after their eldest child Sarah married a "worldling", or non-Quaker, while she was visibly pregnant. When Boone's oldest brother Israel also married a "worldling" in 1747, Squire Boone stood by his son and was therefore expelled from the Quakers, although his wife continued to attend monthly meetings with her children. Perhaps as a result of this controversy, in 1750 Squire sold his land and moved the family to North Carolina. Daniel Boone did not attend church again, although he always considered himself a Christian and had all of his children baptized. The Boones eventually settled on the Yadkin River, in what is now Davie County, North Carolina, about two miles (3 km) west of Mocksville.
Boone received little formal education, since he preferred to spend his time hunting, apparently with his parents’ blessing. According to a family tradition, when a schoolteacher expressed concern over Boone's education, Boone's father said, "Let the girls do the spelling and Dan will do the shooting." Boone was tutored by family members, though his spelling remained unorthodox. Historian John Mack Faragher cautions that the folk image of Boone as semiliterate is misleading, arguing that Boone "acquired a level of literacy that was the equal of most men of his times." Boone regularly took reading material with him on his hunting expeditions—the Bible and Gulliver's Travels were favorites. He was often the only literate person in groups of frontiersmen, and would sometimes entertain his hunting companions by reading to them around the campfire.
Hunter, husband, and soldier
When the French and Indian War (1754–1763) broke out between the French, British, and their respective Indian allies, Boone joined a North Carolina militia company as a teamster and blacksmith. In 1755, his unit accompanied General Edward Braddock’s attempt to drive the French out of the Ohio Country, which ended in disaster at the Battle of the Monongahela. Boone, in the rear with the wagons, took no part in the battle, and fled with the retreating soldiers.
Boone returned home after the defeat, and on August 14, 1756, he married Rebecca Bryan, a neighbor in the Yadkin Valley. The couple initially lived in a cabin on his father's farm, and would eventually have ten children, in addition to raising eight children of deceased relatives.
In 1758, conflict erupted between British colonists and the Cherokees, their former allies in the French and Indian War. After the Yadkin Valley was raided by Cherokees, the Boones and many other families fled north to Culpeper County, Virginia. Boone saw action as a member of the North Carolina militia during this "Cherokee Uprising," periodically serving under Captain Hugh Waddell on the North Carolina frontier until 1760.
Boone supported his growing family in these years as a market hunter and trapper, collecting pelts for the fur trade. Almost every autumn, despite the unrest on the frontier, Boone would go on "long hunts", extended expeditions into the wilderness lasting weeks or months. Boone went alone or with a small group of men, accumulating hundreds of deer skins in the autumn, and trapping beaver and otter over the winter. When the long hunters returned in the spring, they sold their take to commercial fur traders. On their journeys, frontiersmen often carved messages on trees or wrote their names on cave walls, and Boone's name or initials have been found in many places. A tree in present Washington County, Tennessee, reads "D. Boon Cilled a. Bar on tree in the year 1760". A similar carving, preserved in the museum of the Filson Historical Society in Louisville, Kentucky, reads "D. Boon Kilt a Bar, 1803." The inscriptions may be genuine, or part of a long tradition of phony Boone relics.
According to a popular story, Boone returned home after a long absence to find Rebecca had given birth to a daughter. Rebecca confessed she had thought Daniel was dead, and that Boone’s brother had fathered the child. Boone did not blame Rebecca, and raised the girl as his own child. Boone's early biographers knew the story but did not publish it. Modern biographers regard the tale as possibly folklore, since the identity of the brother and the daughter vary in different versions of the tale.
In the mid-1760s, Boone began to look for a new place to settle. The population was growing in the Yadkin Valley, which decreased the amount of game available for hunting. Boone had difficulty making ends meet; he was often taken to court for nonpayment of debts. He sold what land he owned to pay off creditors. After his father's death in 1765, Boone traveled with a group of men to Florida, which had become British territory after the end of the war, to look into the possibility of settling there. According to a family story, Boone purchased land in Pensacola, but Rebecca refused to move so far away from friends and family. The Boones instead moved to a more remote area of the Yadkin Valley, and Boone began to hunt westward into the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Into Kentucky
Years before entering Kentucky, Boone had heard about the region’s fertile land and abundant game. In 1767, Boone and his brother Squire first crossed into what would become the state of Kentucky, but they failed to reach the rich hunting grounds. In May 1769, Boone set out again with a party of five others, beginning a two-year hunting expedition in which Boone thoroughly explored Kentucky. His first sighting of the Bluegrass region from atop Pilot Knob became "an icon of American history," and was the frequent subject of paintings.
On December 22, 1769, Boone and a fellow hunter were captured by a party of Shawnees, who confiscated all of their skins and told them to leave and never return. The Shawnees had not signed the 1768 Treaty of Fort Stanwix, in which the Iroquois had ceded their claim to Kentucky to the British. The Shawnees regarded Kentucky as their hunting ground; they considered American hunters there to be poachers. Boone, undeterred, continued hunting and exploring in Kentucky. On one occasion, he shot a man to avoid capture, which historian John Mack Faragher says "was one of the few Indians that Boone acknowledged killing." Boone returned to North Carolina in 1771, but came back to hunt in Kentucky in the autumn of 1772.
In 1773, Boone packed up his family and, with his brother, Squire, and a group of about 50 others, began the first attempt by British colonists to establish a settlement. Boone was still an obscure figure at the time; the most prominent member of the expedition was William Russell, a well-known Virginian and future brother-in-law of Patrick Henry. Another member of this expedition was Boone's friend and fellow long-hunter, Michael Stoner.
Included in this group were an unknown number of enslaved Blacks, including Charles and Adam. On October 9, Boone's oldest son, James, and several whites as well as Charles and Adam left the main party to seek provisions in a nearby settlement. They were attacked by a band of Delawares, Shawnees, and Cherokees. Following the Fort Stanwix treaty, American Indians in the region had been debating what do to about the influx of settlers. This group had decided, in the words of Faragher, "to send a message of their opposition to settlement". James Boone and William Russell's son, Henry, were tortured and killed. Charles was captured. Adam witnessed the horror concealed in riverbank driftwood. After wandering In the woods for 11 days, Adam located the group and informed Boone of the circumstances of their deaths. Charles's body was found by the pioneers 40 miles from the abduction site, dead from a blow to his head. The brutality of the killings sent shockwaves along the frontier, and Boone's party abandoned their expedition.
The attack was one of the first events in what became known as Dunmore's War, a struggle between Virginia and American Indians for control of what is now West Virginia and Kentucky. In the summer of 1774, Boone traveled with a companion to Kentucky to notify surveyors there about the outbreak of war. They journeyed more than in two months to warn those who had not already fled the region. Upon his return to Virginia, Boone helped defend colonial settlements along the Clinch River, earning a promotion to captain in the militia, as well as acclaim from fellow citizens. After the brief war, which ended soon after Virginia's victory in the Battle of Point Pleasant in October 1774, the Shawnees relinquished their claims to Kentucky.
Following Dunmore's War, Richard Henderson, a prominent judge from North Carolina, hired Boone to help establish a colony to be called Transylvania. Boone traveled to several Cherokee towns and invited them to a meeting, held at Sycamore Shoals in March 1775, where Henderson purchased the Cherokee claim to Kentucky.
Boone then blazed "Boone's Trace," later known as the Wilderness Road, through the Cumberland Gap and into central Kentucky. Sam, an enslaved black “body servant,” and other enslaved laborers were among this group of settlers. When this group camped near the present day Richmond, KY, Indians attacked, killing Sam and his enslaver. After driving off the attackers, the party buried the two men side by side.
He founded Boonesborough along the Kentucky River; other settlements, notably Harrodsburg, were also established at this time. Despite occasional Indian attacks, Boone brought his family and other settlers to Boonesborough on September 8, 1775.
American Revolution
Violence in Kentucky increased with the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783). American Indians who were unhappy about the loss of Kentucky in treaties saw the war as a chance to drive out the colonists. Isolated settlers and hunters became the frequent target of attacks, convincing many to abandon Kentucky. By late spring of 1776, Boone and his family were among the fewer than 200 colonists who remained in Kentucky, primarily at the fortified settlements of Boonesborough, Harrodsburg, and Logan's Station.
On July 14, 1776, Boone's daughter Jemima and two other girls were captured outside Boonesborough by an Indian war party, who carried the girls north toward the Shawnee towns in the Ohio country. Boone and a group of men from Boonesborough followed in pursuit, finally catching up with them two days later. Boone and his men ambushed the Indians, rescuing the girls and driving off their captors. The incident became the most celebrated event of Boone's life. James Fenimore Cooper created a fictionalized version of the episode in his classic novel The Last of the Mohicans (1826).
In 1777, Henry Hamilton, British Lieutenant Governor of Canada, began to recruit American Indian war parties to raid the Kentucky settlements. That same year in March, the newly formed militia of Kentucky County, VA mustered in Boonesborough, whose population included ten to 15 enslaved people. On April 24, 1778, the British-allied Shawnees led by Chief Blackfish mounted the siege of Boonesborough. Armed enslaved men fought alongside their enslavers at the fort's walls. After going beyond the fort walls to engage the attackers, London, one of the enslaved, was killed.
Boone was shot in the ankle while outside the fort but, amid a flurry of bullets, he was carried back inside by Simon Kenton, a recent arrival at Boonesborough. Kenton became Boone's close friend, as well as a legendary frontiersman in his own right.
Capture and court-martial
While Boone recovered, Shawnees kept up their attacks outside Boonesborough, killing cattle and destroying crops. With food running low, the settlers needed salt to preserve what meat they had, so in January 1778, Boone led a party of 30 men to the salt springs on the Licking River. On February 7, when Boone was hunting meat for the expedition, he was captured by Blackfish's warriors. Because Boone's party was greatly outnumbered, Boone returned to camp the next day with Blackfish and persuaded his men to surrender rather than put up a fight.
Blackfish intended to move on to Boonesborough and capture it, but Boone argued the women and children would not survive a winter trek as prisoners back to the Shawnee villages. Instead, Boone promised that Boonesborough would surrender willingly the following spring. Boone did not have an opportunity to tell his men that he was bluffing to prevent an immediate attack on Boonesborough. Boone pursued this strategy so convincingly some of his men concluded he had switched sides, an impression that led to his court-martial (see below).
Many of the Shawnees wanted to execute the prisoners in retaliation for the recent murder of Shawnee Chief Cornstalk by Virginia militiamen. Because Shawnee chiefs led by seeking consensus, Blackfish held a council. After an impassioned speech by Boone, the warriors voted to spare the prisoners. Although Boone had saved his men, Blackfish pointed out that Boone had not included himself in the agreement, so Boone was forced to run the gauntlet through the warriors, which he survived with minor injuries.
Boone and his men were taken to Blackfish's town of Chillicothe. As was their custom, the Shawnees adopted some of the prisoners to replace fallen warriors. Boone was adopted into a Shawnee family at Chillicothe, perhaps into Blackfish's family, and given the name Sheltowee (Big Turtle). In March 1778, the Shawnees took the unadopted prisoners to Governor Hamilton in Detroit. Blackfish brought Boone along, though he refused Hamilton's offers to release Boone to the British. Hamilton gave Boone gifts, attempting to win his loyalty, while Boone continued to pretend that he intended to surrender Boonesborough. Boone returned with Blackfish to Chillicothe. On June 16, 1778, when he learned Blackfish was about to return to Boonesborough with a large force, Boone eluded his captors and raced home, covering the to Boonesborough in five days on horseback and, after his horse gave out, on foot. Biographer Robert Morgan calls Boone's escape and return "one of the great legends of frontier history."
Upon Boone's return to Boonesborough, some of the men expressed doubts about Boone's loyalty, since he had apparently lived happily among the Shawnees for months. Boone responded by leading a preemptive raid against the Shawnees across the Ohio River, and then by helping to successfully defend Boonesborough against a 10-day siege led by Blackfish, which began on September 7, 1778. After the siege, Captain Benjamin Logan and Colonel Richard Callaway—both of whom had nephews who were still captives surrendered by Boone—brought charges against Boone for his recent activities. In the court-martial that followed, Boone was found "not guilty," and was even promoted after the court heard his testimony. Despite this vindication, Boone was humiliated by the court-martial, and he rarely spoke of it.
Final years of the Revolution
After the trial, Boone returned to North Carolina to bring his family back to Kentucky. In the autumn of 1779, a large party of emigrants came with him, including the family of Captain Abraham Lincoln, grandfather of the future president. Rather than remain in Boonesborough, Boone founded the nearby settlement of Boone's Station. He began earning money by locating good land for other settlers. Transylvania land claims had been invalidated after Virginia created Kentucky County, so settlers needed to file new land claims with Virginia. In 1780, Boone collected about $20,000 in cash from various settlers and traveled to Williamsburg to purchase their land warrants. While he was sleeping in a tavern during the trip, the cash was stolen from his room. Some of the settlers forgave Boone the loss; others insisted he repay the stolen money, which took him several years to do.
In contrast to the later folk image of Boone as a backwoodsman who had little affinity for "civilized" society, Boone was a leading citizen of Kentucky at this time. When Kentucky was divided into three Virginia counties in November 1780, Boone was promoted to lieutenant colonel in the Fayette County militia. In April 1781, he was elected as a representative to the Virginia General Assembly, which was held in Richmond. In 1782, he was elected sheriff of Fayette County.
Meanwhile, the American Revolutionary War continued. Boone joined General George Rogers Clark's invasion of the Ohio country in 1780, fighting in the Battle of Piqua against the Shawnee on August 7. On the way home from the campaign, Boone was hunting with his brother Ned when Shawnees shot and killed Ned, who resembled Daniel. The Shawnees beheaded Ned, believing him to be Daniel, and took the head as evidence that Daniel Boone had finally been slain.
In 1781, Boone traveled to Richmond to take his seat in the legislature, but British dragoons under Banastre Tarleton captured Boone and several other legislators near Charlottesville. The British released Boone on parole several days later. During Boone's term, Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown in October 1781, but the fighting continued in Kentucky. Boone returned to Kentucky and in August 1782 fought in the Battle of Blue Licks, a disastrous defeat for the Kentuckians in which Boone's son Israel was killed. In November 1782, Boone took part in another Clark-led expedition into Ohio, the last major campaign of the war.
Businessman and politician
After the Revolutionary War ended, Boone resettled in Limestone (later renamed Maysville, Kentucky), then a booming Ohio River port. He kept a tavern and worked as a surveyor, horse trader, and land speculator. In 1784, on Boone’s 50th birthday, frontier historian John Filson published The Discovery, Settlement and Present State of Kentucke. The popular book included a chronicle of Boone's adventures, which made Boone a celebrity.
As settlers poured into Kentucky, the border war with American Indians north of the Ohio River resumed. In September 1786, Boone took part in a military expedition into the Ohio Country led by Benjamin Logan. Returning to Limestone, Boone housed and fed Shawnees who were captured during the raid, and helped to negotiate a truce and prisoner exchange. Although the war would not end until the American victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers eight years later, the 1786 expedition was the last time Boone saw military action.
Boone was initially prosperous in Limestone, owning seven slaves, a relatively large number for Kentucky at the time. In 1786, he purchased a Pennsylvania enslaved woman, age of about 20, for “Ninety poundes Current Lawfull (sic) money.”. A leader, he served as militia colonel, sheriff, and county coroner. In 1787, he was again elected to the Virginia state assembly, this time from Bourbon County. He began to have financial troubles after engaging in land speculation, buying and selling claims to tens of thousands of acres. These ventures ultimately failed because of the chaotic nature of land speculation in frontier Kentucky and Boone’s poor business instincts. Frustrated with the legal hassles that went with land speculation, in 1789 Boone moved upriver to Point Pleasant, Virginia (now West Virginia). There he operated a trading post and occasionally worked as a surveyor's assistant. That same year, when Virginia created Kanawha County, Boone became the lieutenant colonel of the county militia. In 1791, he was elected to the Virginia legislature for the third time. He contracted to provide supplies for the Kanawha militia, but his debts prevented him from buying goods on credit, so he closed his store and returned to hunting and trapping, though he was often hampered by rheumatism.
In 1795, Boone and his wife moved back to Kentucky, on land owned by their son Daniel Morgan Boone in what became Nicholas County. The next year, Boone applied to Isaac Shelby, the first governor of the new state of Kentucky, for a contract to widen the Wilderness Road into a wagon route, but the contract was awarded to someone else. Meanwhile, lawsuits over conflicting land claims continued to make their way through the Kentucky courts. Boone's remaining land claims were sold off to pay legal fees and taxes, but he no longer paid attention to the process. In 1798, a warrant was issued for Boone's arrest after he ignored a summons to testify in a court case, although the sheriff never found him. That same year, the Kentucky assembly named Boone County in his honor.
Into Missouri
Having endured legal and financial setbacks, Boone sought to make a fresh start by leaving the United States. In 1799, he moved his extended family to what is now St. Charles County, Missouri, but was then part of Spanish Louisiana. The Spanish, eager to promote settlement in the sparsely populated region, did not enforce the official requirement that all immigrants be Catholic. The Spanish governor appointed Boone "syndic" (judge and jury) and commandant (military leader) of the Femme Osage district. Anecdotes of Boone's tenure as syndic suggest he sought to render fair judgments rather than strictly observe the letter of the law.
Boone served as syndic and commandant until 1804, when Missouri became part of the United States following the Louisiana Purchase. He was appointed captain of the local militia. Because Boone's land grants from the Spanish government had been largely based on oral agreements, he again lost his land claims. In 1809, he petitioned Congress to restore his Spanish land claims, which was finally done in 1814. Boone sold most of this land to repay old Kentucky debts. When the War of 1812 came to Missouri, Boone's sons Daniel Morgan Boone and Nathan Boone took part, but by that time Boone was much too old for militia duty.
Although Boone reportedly vowed never to return to Kentucky after moving to Missouri, stories (possibly folk tales) were told of him making one last visit to Kentucky to pay off his creditors. American painter John James Audubon claimed to have gone hunting with Boone in Kentucky around 1810. Years later, Audubon painted a portrait of Boone, supposedly from memory, although skeptics noted the similarity of his painting to the well-known portraits by Chester Harding. Some historians believe Boone visited his brother Squire near Kentucky in 1810 and have accepted the veracity of Audubon's account.
Boone spent his final years in Missouri, often in the company of children and grandchildren. He continued to hunt and trap as much as his health and energy levels permitted, intruding upon the territory of the Osage tribe, who once captured him and confiscated his furs. In 1810, at the age of 76, he went with a group on a six-month hunt up the Missouri River, reportedly as far as the Yellowstone River, a round trip of more than 2,000 miles. He began one of his final trapping expeditions in 1815, in the company of a Shawnee and Derry Coburn, a slave who was frequently with Boone in his final years. They reached Fort Osage in 1816, where an officer wrote, "We have been honored by a visit from Col. Boone... He has taken part in all the wars of America, from Braddock's war to the present hour," but "he prefers the woods, where you see him in the dress of the roughest, poorest hunter."
Death and burial
Boone died on September 26, 1820, at his son Nathan Boone's home on Femme Osage Creek, Missouri. He was buried next to Rebecca, who had died on March 18, 1813. The graves, which were unmarked until the mid-1830s, were near Jemima (Boone) Callaway's home on Tuque Creek, about two miles (3 km) from present-day Marthasville, Missouri.
In 1845, the Boones' remains were disinterred and reburied in a new cemetery in Frankfort, Kentucky. Resentment in Missouri about the disinterment grew over the years, and a legend arose that Boone's remains never left Missouri. According to this story, Boone's tombstone in Missouri had been inadvertently placed over the wrong grave, but no one had corrected the error. Boone's Missouri relatives, displeased with the Kentuckians who came to exhume Boone, kept quiet about the mistake and allowed the Kentuckians to dig up the wrong remains. No contemporary evidence indicates this actually happened, but in 1983, a forensic anthropologist examined a crude plaster cast of Boone's skull made before the Kentucky reburial and announced it might be the skull of an African American. Black slaves were also buried at Tuque Creek, so it is possible that the wrong remains were mistakenly removed from the crowded graveyard. Both the Frankfort Cemetery in Kentucky and the Old Bryan Farm graveyard in Missouri claim to have Boone's remains.
Legacy
Daniel Boone remains an iconic figure in American history, although his status as an early American folk hero and later as a subject of fiction has tended to obscure the actual details of his life. He emerged as a legend in large part because of John Filson's "The Adventures of Colonel Daniel Boon", part of his book The Discovery, Settlement and present State of Kentucke. First published in 1784, Filson's book was primarily intended to popularize Kentucky to immigrants. It was translated into French and German, and made Boone famous in America and Europe. Based on interviews with Boone, Filson's book contained a mostly factual account of Boone's adventures from the exploration of Kentucky through the American Revolution, although many have doubted if the florid, philosophical dialogue attributed to Boone was authentic. Often reprinted, Filson's book established Boone as one of the first popular heroes of the United States.
Timothy Flint also interviewed Boone, and his Biographical Memoir of Daniel Boone, the First Settler of Kentucky (1833) became one of the best-selling biographies of the 19th century. Flint embellished Boone's adventures, doing for Boone what Parson Weems did for George Washington. In Flint's book, Boone fought with a bear, escaped from Indians by swinging on vines (as Tarzan would later do), and so on. Although Boone's family thought the book was absurd, Flint greatly influenced the popular conception of Boone, since these tall tales were recycled in countless dime novels and books aimed at young boys.
Symbol and stereotype
Thanks to Filson's book, Boone became a symbol of the "natural man" who lives a virtuous, uncomplicated existence in the wilderness. This was famously expressed in Lord Byron's epic poem Don Juan (1822), which devoted a number of stanzas to Boone, including this one:
Byron's poem celebrated Boone as someone who found happiness by turning his back on civilization. In a similar vein, many folk tales depicted Boone as a man who migrated to more remote areas whenever civilization crowded in on him. In a typical anecdote, when asked why he was moving to Missouri, Boone supposedly replied, "I want more elbow room!" Boone rejected this interpretation. "Nothing embitters my old age," he said late in life, like "the circulation of absurd stories that I retire as civilization advances."
Existing simultaneously with the image of Boone as a refugee from society was, paradoxically, the popular portrayal of him as civilization's trailblazer. Boone was celebrated as an agent of Manifest Destiny, a pathfinder who tamed the wilderness, paving the way for the extension of American civilization. In 1852, critic Henry Tuckerman dubbed Boone "the Columbus of the woods," comparing Boone's passage through the Cumberland Gap to Christopher Columbus's voyage to the New World. In popular mythology, Boone became the first to explore and settle Kentucky, opening the way for countless others to follow. In fact, other Americans had explored Kentucky before Boone, as debunkers in the 20th century often pointed out, but Boone came to symbolize them all, making him what historian Michael Lofaro called "the founding father of westward expansion."
In the 19th century, when Native Americans were being displaced from their lands and confined on reservations, Boone's image was often reshaped into the stereotype of the belligerent, Indian-hating frontiersman which was then popular. In John A. McClung's Sketches of Western Adventure (1832), for example, Boone was portrayed as longing for the "thrilling excitement of savage warfare." Boone was transformed in the popular imagination into someone who regarded Indians with contempt and had killed scores of the "savages." The real Boone disliked bloodshed. According to historian John Bakeless, there is no record that Boone ever scalped Indians, unlike other frontiersmen of the era. Boone once told his son Nathan that he was certain of having killed only one Indian, during the battle at Blue Licks, although on another occasion he said, "I never killed but three." He expressed regret over the killings, saying the Indians "have always been kinder to me than the whites." Even though Boone had lost two sons and a brother in wars with Indians, he respected Indians and was respected by them. In Missouri, Boone went hunting with the Shawnees who had captured and adopted him decades earlier. Some 19th-century writers regarded Boone's sympathy for Indians as a character flaw and altered his words to conform to contemporary attitudes.
The character John Boone in Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy is inspired by Daniel Boone. In the story, John Boone is an American astronaut, the first human to walk on Mars in the year 2020. John Boone is one of the "First Hundred" colonists sent to permanently colonize Mars. His accomplishments and natural charm yield him an informal leadership role. After being assassinated, his larger-than-life persona plays a legendary role in the culture of colonized Mars.
Commemoration and portrayals
Many places in the United States are named for Boone, including the Daniel Boone National Forest in Kentucky and the Sheltowee Trace Trail in Tennessee. His name has long been synonymous with the American outdoors. The Boone and Crockett Club is a conservationist organization founded by Theodore Roosevelt in 1887, and the Sons of Daniel Boone was the precursor of the Boy Scouts of America. A half-dollar coin was minted in 1934 to mark the bicentennial of Boone’s birth; a commemorative stamp was issued in 1968.
Boone's adventures, real and mythical, formed the basis of the archetypal hero of the American West, popular in 19th-century novels and 20th-century films. The main character of James Fenimore Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales, the first of which was published in 1823, bore striking similarities to Boone; even his name, Nathaniel Bumppo, echoed Daniel Boone's name. As mentioned above, The Last of the Mohicans (1826), Cooper's second Leatherstocking novel, featured a fictionalized version of Boone's rescue of his daughter. After Cooper, other writers developed the Western hero, an iconic figure which began as a variation of Daniel Boone.
In the 20th century, Boone was featured in numerous comic strips, radio programs, novels, and films, such as the 1936 film Daniel Boone. Boone was the subject of a TV series that ran from 1964 to 1970. In the theme song for the series, Boone was described as a "big man" in a "coonskin cap," and the "rippin'est, roarin'est, fightin'est man the frontier ever knew!" This did not describe the real Boone, who was not a big man and did not wear a coonskin cap, which he thought uncouth and uncomfortable. Boone was portrayed this way in the TV series because Fess Parker, the tall actor who played him, was essentially reprising his role as Davy Crockett from an earlier TV series. That Boone could be portrayed the same way as Crockett, another American frontiersman with a very different personality, was another example of how Boone's image was reshaped to suit popular tastes. He was also the subject matter for the song sung by Ed Ames called "Daniel Boone". It was released in 1966.
In Blood and Treasure, released in 2021, authors Tom Clavin and Bob Drury painted a much broader historical portrait of Boone than has been commonly described.
The Taking of Jemima Boone by Matthew Pearl, published in 2021, is an account of the abduction of the daughter of Daniel Boone and, after her rescue by Boone, then shifts to the conflicts between Boone, his political rival Richard Callaway, and Shawnee leader Blackfish, with resulting impacts to the Western theater of the American Revolutionary War.
See also
Edward Morgan Log House
Daniel Boone Homestead
Daniel Boone School
Thomas S. Hinde, close friend of the Boone Family, neighbor in Kentucky, and interviewer of Boone
Boone's Cave Park
Daniel Boone National Forest
Boone Trail, between Virginia Beach, Virginia and San Francisco, California
References
Notes
Citations
Sources
The definitive Boone biography of its era, the first to make full use of the immense material collected by Lyman Draper.
Belue's notes provide a modern scholarly perspective to Draper's unfinished 19th century biography.
Guide to historical sites associated with Boone.
Further reading
Filson, John. The Discovery, Settlement and present State of Kentucke, including the "Appendix" life of Boone
Hammon, Neal O., ed. My Father, Daniel Boone: The Draper Interviews with Nathan Boone. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1999. .
Reid, Darren R., ed. Daniel Boone and Others on the Kentucky Frontier: Autobiographies and Narratives, 1769–1795. Jefferson: McFarland and Company, 2009. .
Personal papers of Daniel Boone at the Wisconsin Historical Society searchable 32-volume collection of Boone manuscripts and correspondence, part of the Lyman Draper collection
1734 births
1820 deaths
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American hunters
American people of English descent
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Kentucky pioneers
Appalachian people
Boone County, Missouri
Daniel
Burials at Frankfort Cemetery
Captives of Native Americans
Hall of Fame for Great Americans inductees
Kentucky militiamen in the American Revolution
Members of the Virginia House of Delegates
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People of colonial Pennsylvania
People from Berks County, Pennsylvania
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People from St. Charles County, Missouri
People of Pennsylvania in the French and Indian War
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People who were court-martialed
Tall tales | true | [
"\"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)",
"Follow Me! is a series of television programmes produced by Bayerischer Rundfunk and the BBC in the late 1970s to provide a crash course in the English language. It became popular in many overseas countries as a first introduction to English; in 1983, one hundred million people watched the show in China alone, featuring Kathy Flower.\n\nThe British actor Francis Matthews hosted and narrated the series.\n\nThe course consists of sixty lessons. Each lesson lasts from 12 to 15 minutes and covers a specific lexis. The lessons follow a consistent group of actors, with the relationships between their characters developing during the course.\n\nFollow Me! actors\n Francis Matthews\n Raymond Mason\n David Savile\n Ian Bamforth\n Keith Alexander\n Diane Mercer\n Jane Argyle\n Diana King\n Veronica Leigh\n Elaine Wells\n Danielle Cohn\n Lashawnda Bell\n\nEpisodes \n \"What's your name\"\n \"How are you\"\n \"Can you help me\"\n \"Left, right, straight ahead\"\n \"Where are they\"\n \"What's the time\"\n \"What's this What's that\"\n \"I like it very much\"\n \"Have you got any wine\"\n \"What are they doing\"\n \"Can I have your name, please\"\n \"What does she look like\"\n \"No smoking\"\n \"It's on the first floor\"\n \"Where's he gone\"\n \"Going away\"\n \"Buying things\"\n \"Why do you like it\"\n \"What do you need\"\n \"I sometimes work late\"\n \"Welcome to Britain\"\n \"Who's that\"\n \"What would you like to do\"\n \"How can I get there?\"\n \"Where is it\"\n \"What's the date\"\n \"Whose is it\"\n \"I enjoy it\"\n \"How many and how much\"\n \"What have you done\"\n \"Haven't we met before\"\n \"What did you say\"\n \"Please stop\"\n \"How can I get to Brightly\"\n \"Where can I get it\"\n \"There's a concert on Wednesday\"\n \"What's it like\"\n \"What do you think of him\"\n \"I need someone\"\n \"What were you doing\"\n \"What do you do\"\n \"What do you know about him\"\n \"You shouldn't do that\"\n \"I hope you enjoy your holiday\"\n \"Where can I see a football match\"\n \"When will it be ready\"\n \"Where did you go\"\n \"I think it's awful\"\n \"A room with a view\"\n \"You'll be ill\"\n \"I don't believe in strikes\"\n \"They look tired\"\n \"Would you like to\"\n \"Holiday plans\"\n \"The second shelf on the left\"\n \"When you are ready\"\n \"Tell them about Britain\"\n \"I liked everything\"\n \"Classical or modern\"\n \"Finale\"\n\nReferences \n\n BBC article about the series in China\n\nExternal links \n Follow Me – Beginner level \n Follow Me – Elementary level\n Follow Me – Intermediate level\n Follow Me – Advanced level\n\nAdult education television series\nEnglish-language education television programming"
] |
[
"Daniel Boone",
"Businessman on the Ohio River",
"What were his businesses?",
"he kept a tavern and worked as a surveyor, horse trader, and land speculator.",
"Was he successful?",
"He was initially prosperous, owning seven slaves by 1787, a relatively large number for Kentucky at the time.",
"what happened to change his prosperity?",
"Boone the trailblazer was too unsophisticated for the civilization which followed him and which eventually defrauded him of his land.",
"what did he do after this happened?",
"Frustrated with the legal hassles that went with land speculation, in 1788, Boone moved upriver to Point Pleasant, Virginia (",
"What did he do there?",
"he operated a trading post and occasionally worked as a surveyor's assistant."
] | C_772cc11b9fe54084b4f80a51b869fc06_0 | Did he take a more permanent position anywhere? | 6 | Did Daniel Boone take a more permanent position anywhere? | Daniel Boone | After the Revolution, Boone resettled in Limestone (renamed Maysville, Kentucky in 1786), then a booming Ohio River port. In 1787, he was elected to the Virginia state assembly as a representative from Bourbon County. In Maysville, he kept a tavern and worked as a surveyor, horse trader, and land speculator. He was initially prosperous, owning seven slaves by 1787, a relatively large number for Kentucky at the time. Boone became a celebrity while living in Maysville. In 1784, on his 50th birthday, historian John Filson published The Discovery, Settlement And present State of Kentucke, a book which included a chronicle of Boone's adventures. The Revolutionary War had ended, but the border war with American Indians north of the Ohio River resumed with the Northwest Indian War. In September 1786, Boone took part in a military expedition into the Ohio Country led by Benjamin Logan. Back in Limestone, Boone housed and fed Shawnees who were captured during the raid, and helped to negotiate a truce and prisoner exchange. Although the war escalated and would not end until the American victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794, the 1786 expedition was the last time Boone saw military action. Boone began to have financial troubles while living in Maysville. According to the later folk image, Boone the trailblazer was too unsophisticated for the civilization which followed him and which eventually defrauded him of his land. Boone was not the simple frontiersman of legend, however: he engaged in land speculation on a large scale, buying and selling claims to tens of thousands of acres. The land market in frontier Kentucky was chaotic, and Boone's ventures ultimately failed because his investment strategy was faulty and because his sense of honor made him reluctant to profit at someone else's expense. According to Faragher, "Boone lacked the ruthless instincts that speculation demanded." Frustrated with the legal hassles that went with land speculation, in 1788, Boone moved upriver to Point Pleasant, Virginia (now West Virginia). There he operated a trading post and occasionally worked as a surveyor's assistant. When Virginia created Kanawha County in 1789, Boone was appointed lieutenant colonel of the county militia. In 1791, he was elected to the Virginia legislature for the third time. He contracted to provide supplies for the Kanawha militia, but his debts prevented him from buying goods on credit, so he closed his store and returned to hunting and trapping. In 1795, Rebecca and he moved back to Kentucky, living in present Nicholas County on land owned by their son Daniel Morgan Boone. The next year, Boone applied to Isaac Shelby, the first governor of the new state of Kentucky, for a contract to widen the Wilderness Road into a wagon route, but the contract was awarded to someone else. Meanwhile, lawsuits over conflicting land claims continued to make their way through the Kentucky courts. Boone's remaining land claims were sold off to pay legal fees and taxes, but he no longer paid attention to the process. In 1798, a warrant was issued for Boone's arrest after he ignored a summons to testify in a court case, although the sheriff never found him. That same year, the Kentucky assembly named Boone County in his honor. CANNOTANSWER | When Virginia created Kanawha County in 1789, Boone was appointed lieutenant colonel of the county militia. | Daniel Boone (September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and frontiersman whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. Boone became famous for his exploration and settlement of what is now Kentucky, which was then beyond the western borders of the Thirteen Colonies. Despite resistance from American Indians, for whom Kentucky was a traditional hunting ground, in 1775 Boone blazed the Wilderness Road through the Cumberland Gap and into Kentucky. There he founded Boonesborough, one of the first English-speaking settlements west of the Appalachian Mountains. By the end of the 18th century, more than 200,000 people had entered Kentucky by following the route marked by Boone.
Boone served as a militia officer during the Revolutionary War (1775–1783), which, in Kentucky, was fought primarily between American settlers and British-allied American Indians. Boone was captured by Shawnees in 1778 and adopted into the tribe, but he escaped and continued to help defend the Kentucky settlements. He was elected to the first of his three terms in the Virginia General Assembly during the war, and fought in the Battle of Blue Licks in 1782, one of the last battles of the American Revolution. Boone worked as a surveyor and merchant after the war, but he went deep into debt as a Kentucky land speculator. Frustrated with legal problems resulting from his land claims, in 1799 Boone resettled in Missouri, where he spent most of the last two decades of his life.
Boone remains an iconic, if imperfectly remembered, figure in American history. He was a legend in his own lifetime, especially after an account of his adventures was published in 1784, making him famous in America and Europe. After his death, Boone became the subject of many heroic tall tales and works of fiction. His adventures—real and legendary—helped create the archetypal frontier hero of American folklore. In American popular culture, Boone is remembered as one of the foremost early frontiersmen, even though mythology often overshadows the historical details of his life.
Early life
Boone was born on October 22, 1734 ("New Style" November 2), the sixth of eleven children in a family of Quakers. His father, Squire Boone (1696–1765), had emigrated to colonial Pennsylvania from the small town of Bradninch, England, in 1713. Squire, a weaver and blacksmith, married Sarah Morgan (1700–1777), whose family were Quakers from Wales. In 1731, the Boones built a one-room log cabin in the Oley Valley in what is now Berks County, Pennsylvania, near present Reading, where Daniel was born.
Boone spent his early years on the Pennsylvania frontier, often interacting with American Indians. Boone learned to hunt from local settlers and Indians; by the age of fifteen, he had a reputation as one of the region’s best hunters. Many stories about Boone emphasize his hunting skills. In one tale, the young Boone was hunting in the woods with some other boys when the howl of a panther scattered all but Boone. He calmly cocked his rifle and shot the predator through the heart just as it leaped at him. The story may be a folktale, one of many that became part of Boone’s popular image.
In Boone's youth, his family became a source of controversy in the local Quaker community. In 1742, Boone's parents were compelled to publicly apologize after their eldest child Sarah married a "worldling", or non-Quaker, while she was visibly pregnant. When Boone's oldest brother Israel also married a "worldling" in 1747, Squire Boone stood by his son and was therefore expelled from the Quakers, although his wife continued to attend monthly meetings with her children. Perhaps as a result of this controversy, in 1750 Squire sold his land and moved the family to North Carolina. Daniel Boone did not attend church again, although he always considered himself a Christian and had all of his children baptized. The Boones eventually settled on the Yadkin River, in what is now Davie County, North Carolina, about two miles (3 km) west of Mocksville.
Boone received little formal education, since he preferred to spend his time hunting, apparently with his parents’ blessing. According to a family tradition, when a schoolteacher expressed concern over Boone's education, Boone's father said, "Let the girls do the spelling and Dan will do the shooting." Boone was tutored by family members, though his spelling remained unorthodox. Historian John Mack Faragher cautions that the folk image of Boone as semiliterate is misleading, arguing that Boone "acquired a level of literacy that was the equal of most men of his times." Boone regularly took reading material with him on his hunting expeditions—the Bible and Gulliver's Travels were favorites. He was often the only literate person in groups of frontiersmen, and would sometimes entertain his hunting companions by reading to them around the campfire.
Hunter, husband, and soldier
When the French and Indian War (1754–1763) broke out between the French, British, and their respective Indian allies, Boone joined a North Carolina militia company as a teamster and blacksmith. In 1755, his unit accompanied General Edward Braddock’s attempt to drive the French out of the Ohio Country, which ended in disaster at the Battle of the Monongahela. Boone, in the rear with the wagons, took no part in the battle, and fled with the retreating soldiers.
Boone returned home after the defeat, and on August 14, 1756, he married Rebecca Bryan, a neighbor in the Yadkin Valley. The couple initially lived in a cabin on his father's farm, and would eventually have ten children, in addition to raising eight children of deceased relatives.
In 1758, conflict erupted between British colonists and the Cherokees, their former allies in the French and Indian War. After the Yadkin Valley was raided by Cherokees, the Boones and many other families fled north to Culpeper County, Virginia. Boone saw action as a member of the North Carolina militia during this "Cherokee Uprising," periodically serving under Captain Hugh Waddell on the North Carolina frontier until 1760.
Boone supported his growing family in these years as a market hunter and trapper, collecting pelts for the fur trade. Almost every autumn, despite the unrest on the frontier, Boone would go on "long hunts", extended expeditions into the wilderness lasting weeks or months. Boone went alone or with a small group of men, accumulating hundreds of deer skins in the autumn, and trapping beaver and otter over the winter. When the long hunters returned in the spring, they sold their take to commercial fur traders. On their journeys, frontiersmen often carved messages on trees or wrote their names on cave walls, and Boone's name or initials have been found in many places. A tree in present Washington County, Tennessee, reads "D. Boon Cilled a. Bar on tree in the year 1760". A similar carving, preserved in the museum of the Filson Historical Society in Louisville, Kentucky, reads "D. Boon Kilt a Bar, 1803." The inscriptions may be genuine, or part of a long tradition of phony Boone relics.
According to a popular story, Boone returned home after a long absence to find Rebecca had given birth to a daughter. Rebecca confessed she had thought Daniel was dead, and that Boone’s brother had fathered the child. Boone did not blame Rebecca, and raised the girl as his own child. Boone's early biographers knew the story but did not publish it. Modern biographers regard the tale as possibly folklore, since the identity of the brother and the daughter vary in different versions of the tale.
In the mid-1760s, Boone began to look for a new place to settle. The population was growing in the Yadkin Valley, which decreased the amount of game available for hunting. Boone had difficulty making ends meet; he was often taken to court for nonpayment of debts. He sold what land he owned to pay off creditors. After his father's death in 1765, Boone traveled with a group of men to Florida, which had become British territory after the end of the war, to look into the possibility of settling there. According to a family story, Boone purchased land in Pensacola, but Rebecca refused to move so far away from friends and family. The Boones instead moved to a more remote area of the Yadkin Valley, and Boone began to hunt westward into the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Into Kentucky
Years before entering Kentucky, Boone had heard about the region’s fertile land and abundant game. In 1767, Boone and his brother Squire first crossed into what would become the state of Kentucky, but they failed to reach the rich hunting grounds. In May 1769, Boone set out again with a party of five others, beginning a two-year hunting expedition in which Boone thoroughly explored Kentucky. His first sighting of the Bluegrass region from atop Pilot Knob became "an icon of American history," and was the frequent subject of paintings.
On December 22, 1769, Boone and a fellow hunter were captured by a party of Shawnees, who confiscated all of their skins and told them to leave and never return. The Shawnees had not signed the 1768 Treaty of Fort Stanwix, in which the Iroquois had ceded their claim to Kentucky to the British. The Shawnees regarded Kentucky as their hunting ground; they considered American hunters there to be poachers. Boone, undeterred, continued hunting and exploring in Kentucky. On one occasion, he shot a man to avoid capture, which historian John Mack Faragher says "was one of the few Indians that Boone acknowledged killing." Boone returned to North Carolina in 1771, but came back to hunt in Kentucky in the autumn of 1772.
In 1773, Boone packed up his family and, with his brother, Squire, and a group of about 50 others, began the first attempt by British colonists to establish a settlement. Boone was still an obscure figure at the time; the most prominent member of the expedition was William Russell, a well-known Virginian and future brother-in-law of Patrick Henry. Another member of this expedition was Boone's friend and fellow long-hunter, Michael Stoner.
Included in this group were an unknown number of enslaved Blacks, including Charles and Adam. On October 9, Boone's oldest son, James, and several whites as well as Charles and Adam left the main party to seek provisions in a nearby settlement. They were attacked by a band of Delawares, Shawnees, and Cherokees. Following the Fort Stanwix treaty, American Indians in the region had been debating what do to about the influx of settlers. This group had decided, in the words of Faragher, "to send a message of their opposition to settlement". James Boone and William Russell's son, Henry, were tortured and killed. Charles was captured. Adam witnessed the horror concealed in riverbank driftwood. After wandering In the woods for 11 days, Adam located the group and informed Boone of the circumstances of their deaths. Charles's body was found by the pioneers 40 miles from the abduction site, dead from a blow to his head. The brutality of the killings sent shockwaves along the frontier, and Boone's party abandoned their expedition.
The attack was one of the first events in what became known as Dunmore's War, a struggle between Virginia and American Indians for control of what is now West Virginia and Kentucky. In the summer of 1774, Boone traveled with a companion to Kentucky to notify surveyors there about the outbreak of war. They journeyed more than in two months to warn those who had not already fled the region. Upon his return to Virginia, Boone helped defend colonial settlements along the Clinch River, earning a promotion to captain in the militia, as well as acclaim from fellow citizens. After the brief war, which ended soon after Virginia's victory in the Battle of Point Pleasant in October 1774, the Shawnees relinquished their claims to Kentucky.
Following Dunmore's War, Richard Henderson, a prominent judge from North Carolina, hired Boone to help establish a colony to be called Transylvania. Boone traveled to several Cherokee towns and invited them to a meeting, held at Sycamore Shoals in March 1775, where Henderson purchased the Cherokee claim to Kentucky.
Boone then blazed "Boone's Trace," later known as the Wilderness Road, through the Cumberland Gap and into central Kentucky. Sam, an enslaved black “body servant,” and other enslaved laborers were among this group of settlers. When this group camped near the present day Richmond, KY, Indians attacked, killing Sam and his enslaver. After driving off the attackers, the party buried the two men side by side.
He founded Boonesborough along the Kentucky River; other settlements, notably Harrodsburg, were also established at this time. Despite occasional Indian attacks, Boone brought his family and other settlers to Boonesborough on September 8, 1775.
American Revolution
Violence in Kentucky increased with the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783). American Indians who were unhappy about the loss of Kentucky in treaties saw the war as a chance to drive out the colonists. Isolated settlers and hunters became the frequent target of attacks, convincing many to abandon Kentucky. By late spring of 1776, Boone and his family were among the fewer than 200 colonists who remained in Kentucky, primarily at the fortified settlements of Boonesborough, Harrodsburg, and Logan's Station.
On July 14, 1776, Boone's daughter Jemima and two other girls were captured outside Boonesborough by an Indian war party, who carried the girls north toward the Shawnee towns in the Ohio country. Boone and a group of men from Boonesborough followed in pursuit, finally catching up with them two days later. Boone and his men ambushed the Indians, rescuing the girls and driving off their captors. The incident became the most celebrated event of Boone's life. James Fenimore Cooper created a fictionalized version of the episode in his classic novel The Last of the Mohicans (1826).
In 1777, Henry Hamilton, British Lieutenant Governor of Canada, began to recruit American Indian war parties to raid the Kentucky settlements. That same year in March, the newly formed militia of Kentucky County, VA mustered in Boonesborough, whose population included ten to 15 enslaved people. On April 24, 1778, the British-allied Shawnees led by Chief Blackfish mounted the siege of Boonesborough. Armed enslaved men fought alongside their enslavers at the fort's walls. After going beyond the fort walls to engage the attackers, London, one of the enslaved, was killed.
Boone was shot in the ankle while outside the fort but, amid a flurry of bullets, he was carried back inside by Simon Kenton, a recent arrival at Boonesborough. Kenton became Boone's close friend, as well as a legendary frontiersman in his own right.
Capture and court-martial
While Boone recovered, Shawnees kept up their attacks outside Boonesborough, killing cattle and destroying crops. With food running low, the settlers needed salt to preserve what meat they had, so in January 1778, Boone led a party of 30 men to the salt springs on the Licking River. On February 7, when Boone was hunting meat for the expedition, he was captured by Blackfish's warriors. Because Boone's party was greatly outnumbered, Boone returned to camp the next day with Blackfish and persuaded his men to surrender rather than put up a fight.
Blackfish intended to move on to Boonesborough and capture it, but Boone argued the women and children would not survive a winter trek as prisoners back to the Shawnee villages. Instead, Boone promised that Boonesborough would surrender willingly the following spring. Boone did not have an opportunity to tell his men that he was bluffing to prevent an immediate attack on Boonesborough. Boone pursued this strategy so convincingly some of his men concluded he had switched sides, an impression that led to his court-martial (see below).
Many of the Shawnees wanted to execute the prisoners in retaliation for the recent murder of Shawnee Chief Cornstalk by Virginia militiamen. Because Shawnee chiefs led by seeking consensus, Blackfish held a council. After an impassioned speech by Boone, the warriors voted to spare the prisoners. Although Boone had saved his men, Blackfish pointed out that Boone had not included himself in the agreement, so Boone was forced to run the gauntlet through the warriors, which he survived with minor injuries.
Boone and his men were taken to Blackfish's town of Chillicothe. As was their custom, the Shawnees adopted some of the prisoners to replace fallen warriors. Boone was adopted into a Shawnee family at Chillicothe, perhaps into Blackfish's family, and given the name Sheltowee (Big Turtle). In March 1778, the Shawnees took the unadopted prisoners to Governor Hamilton in Detroit. Blackfish brought Boone along, though he refused Hamilton's offers to release Boone to the British. Hamilton gave Boone gifts, attempting to win his loyalty, while Boone continued to pretend that he intended to surrender Boonesborough. Boone returned with Blackfish to Chillicothe. On June 16, 1778, when he learned Blackfish was about to return to Boonesborough with a large force, Boone eluded his captors and raced home, covering the to Boonesborough in five days on horseback and, after his horse gave out, on foot. Biographer Robert Morgan calls Boone's escape and return "one of the great legends of frontier history."
Upon Boone's return to Boonesborough, some of the men expressed doubts about Boone's loyalty, since he had apparently lived happily among the Shawnees for months. Boone responded by leading a preemptive raid against the Shawnees across the Ohio River, and then by helping to successfully defend Boonesborough against a 10-day siege led by Blackfish, which began on September 7, 1778. After the siege, Captain Benjamin Logan and Colonel Richard Callaway—both of whom had nephews who were still captives surrendered by Boone—brought charges against Boone for his recent activities. In the court-martial that followed, Boone was found "not guilty," and was even promoted after the court heard his testimony. Despite this vindication, Boone was humiliated by the court-martial, and he rarely spoke of it.
Final years of the Revolution
After the trial, Boone returned to North Carolina to bring his family back to Kentucky. In the autumn of 1779, a large party of emigrants came with him, including the family of Captain Abraham Lincoln, grandfather of the future president. Rather than remain in Boonesborough, Boone founded the nearby settlement of Boone's Station. He began earning money by locating good land for other settlers. Transylvania land claims had been invalidated after Virginia created Kentucky County, so settlers needed to file new land claims with Virginia. In 1780, Boone collected about $20,000 in cash from various settlers and traveled to Williamsburg to purchase their land warrants. While he was sleeping in a tavern during the trip, the cash was stolen from his room. Some of the settlers forgave Boone the loss; others insisted he repay the stolen money, which took him several years to do.
In contrast to the later folk image of Boone as a backwoodsman who had little affinity for "civilized" society, Boone was a leading citizen of Kentucky at this time. When Kentucky was divided into three Virginia counties in November 1780, Boone was promoted to lieutenant colonel in the Fayette County militia. In April 1781, he was elected as a representative to the Virginia General Assembly, which was held in Richmond. In 1782, he was elected sheriff of Fayette County.
Meanwhile, the American Revolutionary War continued. Boone joined General George Rogers Clark's invasion of the Ohio country in 1780, fighting in the Battle of Piqua against the Shawnee on August 7. On the way home from the campaign, Boone was hunting with his brother Ned when Shawnees shot and killed Ned, who resembled Daniel. The Shawnees beheaded Ned, believing him to be Daniel, and took the head as evidence that Daniel Boone had finally been slain.
In 1781, Boone traveled to Richmond to take his seat in the legislature, but British dragoons under Banastre Tarleton captured Boone and several other legislators near Charlottesville. The British released Boone on parole several days later. During Boone's term, Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown in October 1781, but the fighting continued in Kentucky. Boone returned to Kentucky and in August 1782 fought in the Battle of Blue Licks, a disastrous defeat for the Kentuckians in which Boone's son Israel was killed. In November 1782, Boone took part in another Clark-led expedition into Ohio, the last major campaign of the war.
Businessman and politician
After the Revolutionary War ended, Boone resettled in Limestone (later renamed Maysville, Kentucky), then a booming Ohio River port. He kept a tavern and worked as a surveyor, horse trader, and land speculator. In 1784, on Boone’s 50th birthday, frontier historian John Filson published The Discovery, Settlement and Present State of Kentucke. The popular book included a chronicle of Boone's adventures, which made Boone a celebrity.
As settlers poured into Kentucky, the border war with American Indians north of the Ohio River resumed. In September 1786, Boone took part in a military expedition into the Ohio Country led by Benjamin Logan. Returning to Limestone, Boone housed and fed Shawnees who were captured during the raid, and helped to negotiate a truce and prisoner exchange. Although the war would not end until the American victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers eight years later, the 1786 expedition was the last time Boone saw military action.
Boone was initially prosperous in Limestone, owning seven slaves, a relatively large number for Kentucky at the time. In 1786, he purchased a Pennsylvania enslaved woman, age of about 20, for “Ninety poundes Current Lawfull (sic) money.”. A leader, he served as militia colonel, sheriff, and county coroner. In 1787, he was again elected to the Virginia state assembly, this time from Bourbon County. He began to have financial troubles after engaging in land speculation, buying and selling claims to tens of thousands of acres. These ventures ultimately failed because of the chaotic nature of land speculation in frontier Kentucky and Boone’s poor business instincts. Frustrated with the legal hassles that went with land speculation, in 1789 Boone moved upriver to Point Pleasant, Virginia (now West Virginia). There he operated a trading post and occasionally worked as a surveyor's assistant. That same year, when Virginia created Kanawha County, Boone became the lieutenant colonel of the county militia. In 1791, he was elected to the Virginia legislature for the third time. He contracted to provide supplies for the Kanawha militia, but his debts prevented him from buying goods on credit, so he closed his store and returned to hunting and trapping, though he was often hampered by rheumatism.
In 1795, Boone and his wife moved back to Kentucky, on land owned by their son Daniel Morgan Boone in what became Nicholas County. The next year, Boone applied to Isaac Shelby, the first governor of the new state of Kentucky, for a contract to widen the Wilderness Road into a wagon route, but the contract was awarded to someone else. Meanwhile, lawsuits over conflicting land claims continued to make their way through the Kentucky courts. Boone's remaining land claims were sold off to pay legal fees and taxes, but he no longer paid attention to the process. In 1798, a warrant was issued for Boone's arrest after he ignored a summons to testify in a court case, although the sheriff never found him. That same year, the Kentucky assembly named Boone County in his honor.
Into Missouri
Having endured legal and financial setbacks, Boone sought to make a fresh start by leaving the United States. In 1799, he moved his extended family to what is now St. Charles County, Missouri, but was then part of Spanish Louisiana. The Spanish, eager to promote settlement in the sparsely populated region, did not enforce the official requirement that all immigrants be Catholic. The Spanish governor appointed Boone "syndic" (judge and jury) and commandant (military leader) of the Femme Osage district. Anecdotes of Boone's tenure as syndic suggest he sought to render fair judgments rather than strictly observe the letter of the law.
Boone served as syndic and commandant until 1804, when Missouri became part of the United States following the Louisiana Purchase. He was appointed captain of the local militia. Because Boone's land grants from the Spanish government had been largely based on oral agreements, he again lost his land claims. In 1809, he petitioned Congress to restore his Spanish land claims, which was finally done in 1814. Boone sold most of this land to repay old Kentucky debts. When the War of 1812 came to Missouri, Boone's sons Daniel Morgan Boone and Nathan Boone took part, but by that time Boone was much too old for militia duty.
Although Boone reportedly vowed never to return to Kentucky after moving to Missouri, stories (possibly folk tales) were told of him making one last visit to Kentucky to pay off his creditors. American painter John James Audubon claimed to have gone hunting with Boone in Kentucky around 1810. Years later, Audubon painted a portrait of Boone, supposedly from memory, although skeptics noted the similarity of his painting to the well-known portraits by Chester Harding. Some historians believe Boone visited his brother Squire near Kentucky in 1810 and have accepted the veracity of Audubon's account.
Boone spent his final years in Missouri, often in the company of children and grandchildren. He continued to hunt and trap as much as his health and energy levels permitted, intruding upon the territory of the Osage tribe, who once captured him and confiscated his furs. In 1810, at the age of 76, he went with a group on a six-month hunt up the Missouri River, reportedly as far as the Yellowstone River, a round trip of more than 2,000 miles. He began one of his final trapping expeditions in 1815, in the company of a Shawnee and Derry Coburn, a slave who was frequently with Boone in his final years. They reached Fort Osage in 1816, where an officer wrote, "We have been honored by a visit from Col. Boone... He has taken part in all the wars of America, from Braddock's war to the present hour," but "he prefers the woods, where you see him in the dress of the roughest, poorest hunter."
Death and burial
Boone died on September 26, 1820, at his son Nathan Boone's home on Femme Osage Creek, Missouri. He was buried next to Rebecca, who had died on March 18, 1813. The graves, which were unmarked until the mid-1830s, were near Jemima (Boone) Callaway's home on Tuque Creek, about two miles (3 km) from present-day Marthasville, Missouri.
In 1845, the Boones' remains were disinterred and reburied in a new cemetery in Frankfort, Kentucky. Resentment in Missouri about the disinterment grew over the years, and a legend arose that Boone's remains never left Missouri. According to this story, Boone's tombstone in Missouri had been inadvertently placed over the wrong grave, but no one had corrected the error. Boone's Missouri relatives, displeased with the Kentuckians who came to exhume Boone, kept quiet about the mistake and allowed the Kentuckians to dig up the wrong remains. No contemporary evidence indicates this actually happened, but in 1983, a forensic anthropologist examined a crude plaster cast of Boone's skull made before the Kentucky reburial and announced it might be the skull of an African American. Black slaves were also buried at Tuque Creek, so it is possible that the wrong remains were mistakenly removed from the crowded graveyard. Both the Frankfort Cemetery in Kentucky and the Old Bryan Farm graveyard in Missouri claim to have Boone's remains.
Legacy
Daniel Boone remains an iconic figure in American history, although his status as an early American folk hero and later as a subject of fiction has tended to obscure the actual details of his life. He emerged as a legend in large part because of John Filson's "The Adventures of Colonel Daniel Boon", part of his book The Discovery, Settlement and present State of Kentucke. First published in 1784, Filson's book was primarily intended to popularize Kentucky to immigrants. It was translated into French and German, and made Boone famous in America and Europe. Based on interviews with Boone, Filson's book contained a mostly factual account of Boone's adventures from the exploration of Kentucky through the American Revolution, although many have doubted if the florid, philosophical dialogue attributed to Boone was authentic. Often reprinted, Filson's book established Boone as one of the first popular heroes of the United States.
Timothy Flint also interviewed Boone, and his Biographical Memoir of Daniel Boone, the First Settler of Kentucky (1833) became one of the best-selling biographies of the 19th century. Flint embellished Boone's adventures, doing for Boone what Parson Weems did for George Washington. In Flint's book, Boone fought with a bear, escaped from Indians by swinging on vines (as Tarzan would later do), and so on. Although Boone's family thought the book was absurd, Flint greatly influenced the popular conception of Boone, since these tall tales were recycled in countless dime novels and books aimed at young boys.
Symbol and stereotype
Thanks to Filson's book, Boone became a symbol of the "natural man" who lives a virtuous, uncomplicated existence in the wilderness. This was famously expressed in Lord Byron's epic poem Don Juan (1822), which devoted a number of stanzas to Boone, including this one:
Byron's poem celebrated Boone as someone who found happiness by turning his back on civilization. In a similar vein, many folk tales depicted Boone as a man who migrated to more remote areas whenever civilization crowded in on him. In a typical anecdote, when asked why he was moving to Missouri, Boone supposedly replied, "I want more elbow room!" Boone rejected this interpretation. "Nothing embitters my old age," he said late in life, like "the circulation of absurd stories that I retire as civilization advances."
Existing simultaneously with the image of Boone as a refugee from society was, paradoxically, the popular portrayal of him as civilization's trailblazer. Boone was celebrated as an agent of Manifest Destiny, a pathfinder who tamed the wilderness, paving the way for the extension of American civilization. In 1852, critic Henry Tuckerman dubbed Boone "the Columbus of the woods," comparing Boone's passage through the Cumberland Gap to Christopher Columbus's voyage to the New World. In popular mythology, Boone became the first to explore and settle Kentucky, opening the way for countless others to follow. In fact, other Americans had explored Kentucky before Boone, as debunkers in the 20th century often pointed out, but Boone came to symbolize them all, making him what historian Michael Lofaro called "the founding father of westward expansion."
In the 19th century, when Native Americans were being displaced from their lands and confined on reservations, Boone's image was often reshaped into the stereotype of the belligerent, Indian-hating frontiersman which was then popular. In John A. McClung's Sketches of Western Adventure (1832), for example, Boone was portrayed as longing for the "thrilling excitement of savage warfare." Boone was transformed in the popular imagination into someone who regarded Indians with contempt and had killed scores of the "savages." The real Boone disliked bloodshed. According to historian John Bakeless, there is no record that Boone ever scalped Indians, unlike other frontiersmen of the era. Boone once told his son Nathan that he was certain of having killed only one Indian, during the battle at Blue Licks, although on another occasion he said, "I never killed but three." He expressed regret over the killings, saying the Indians "have always been kinder to me than the whites." Even though Boone had lost two sons and a brother in wars with Indians, he respected Indians and was respected by them. In Missouri, Boone went hunting with the Shawnees who had captured and adopted him decades earlier. Some 19th-century writers regarded Boone's sympathy for Indians as a character flaw and altered his words to conform to contemporary attitudes.
The character John Boone in Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy is inspired by Daniel Boone. In the story, John Boone is an American astronaut, the first human to walk on Mars in the year 2020. John Boone is one of the "First Hundred" colonists sent to permanently colonize Mars. His accomplishments and natural charm yield him an informal leadership role. After being assassinated, his larger-than-life persona plays a legendary role in the culture of colonized Mars.
Commemoration and portrayals
Many places in the United States are named for Boone, including the Daniel Boone National Forest in Kentucky and the Sheltowee Trace Trail in Tennessee. His name has long been synonymous with the American outdoors. The Boone and Crockett Club is a conservationist organization founded by Theodore Roosevelt in 1887, and the Sons of Daniel Boone was the precursor of the Boy Scouts of America. A half-dollar coin was minted in 1934 to mark the bicentennial of Boone’s birth; a commemorative stamp was issued in 1968.
Boone's adventures, real and mythical, formed the basis of the archetypal hero of the American West, popular in 19th-century novels and 20th-century films. The main character of James Fenimore Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales, the first of which was published in 1823, bore striking similarities to Boone; even his name, Nathaniel Bumppo, echoed Daniel Boone's name. As mentioned above, The Last of the Mohicans (1826), Cooper's second Leatherstocking novel, featured a fictionalized version of Boone's rescue of his daughter. After Cooper, other writers developed the Western hero, an iconic figure which began as a variation of Daniel Boone.
In the 20th century, Boone was featured in numerous comic strips, radio programs, novels, and films, such as the 1936 film Daniel Boone. Boone was the subject of a TV series that ran from 1964 to 1970. In the theme song for the series, Boone was described as a "big man" in a "coonskin cap," and the "rippin'est, roarin'est, fightin'est man the frontier ever knew!" This did not describe the real Boone, who was not a big man and did not wear a coonskin cap, which he thought uncouth and uncomfortable. Boone was portrayed this way in the TV series because Fess Parker, the tall actor who played him, was essentially reprising his role as Davy Crockett from an earlier TV series. That Boone could be portrayed the same way as Crockett, another American frontiersman with a very different personality, was another example of how Boone's image was reshaped to suit popular tastes. He was also the subject matter for the song sung by Ed Ames called "Daniel Boone". It was released in 1966.
In Blood and Treasure, released in 2021, authors Tom Clavin and Bob Drury painted a much broader historical portrait of Boone than has been commonly described.
The Taking of Jemima Boone by Matthew Pearl, published in 2021, is an account of the abduction of the daughter of Daniel Boone and, after her rescue by Boone, then shifts to the conflicts between Boone, his political rival Richard Callaway, and Shawnee leader Blackfish, with resulting impacts to the Western theater of the American Revolutionary War.
See also
Edward Morgan Log House
Daniel Boone Homestead
Daniel Boone School
Thomas S. Hinde, close friend of the Boone Family, neighbor in Kentucky, and interviewer of Boone
Boone's Cave Park
Daniel Boone National Forest
Boone Trail, between Virginia Beach, Virginia and San Francisco, California
References
Notes
Citations
Sources
The definitive Boone biography of its era, the first to make full use of the immense material collected by Lyman Draper.
Belue's notes provide a modern scholarly perspective to Draper's unfinished 19th century biography.
Guide to historical sites associated with Boone.
Further reading
Filson, John. The Discovery, Settlement and present State of Kentucke, including the "Appendix" life of Boone
Hammon, Neal O., ed. My Father, Daniel Boone: The Draper Interviews with Nathan Boone. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1999. .
Reid, Darren R., ed. Daniel Boone and Others on the Kentucky Frontier: Autobiographies and Narratives, 1769–1795. Jefferson: McFarland and Company, 2009. .
Personal papers of Daniel Boone at the Wisconsin Historical Society searchable 32-volume collection of Boone manuscripts and correspondence, part of the Lyman Draper collection
1734 births
1820 deaths
American explorers
American folklore
American hunters
American people of English descent
American people of Welsh descent
American slave owners
American surveyors
Kentucky pioneers
Appalachian people
Boone County, Missouri
Daniel
Burials at Frankfort Cemetery
Captives of Native Americans
Hall of Fame for Great Americans inductees
Kentucky militiamen in the American Revolution
Members of the Virginia House of Delegates
Mountain men
People of colonial Pennsylvania
People from Berks County, Pennsylvania
People from Kentucky
People from St. Charles County, Missouri
People of Pennsylvania in the French and Indian War
People of Kentucky in the American Revolution
People who were court-martialed
Tall tales | false | [
"Chief resident may refer to:\n\n Resident (medicine), specifically a senior resident in the last year of their residency (residencies are after medical school but before the fellowship; residencies in the U.S., including the first internship year, can last anywhere from 2 or 3 to 7 years) who is given a position that allows them some control over the scheduling, hours, discipline, and duties of other residents in their same specialty of residency; in some hospitals or other facilities, there may be a separate chief resident for the whole hospital or facility. \n Resident (title), a government official required to take up permanent residence with diplomatic functions in another country\n\nSee also\n head resident\n Resident (disambiguation)\n Chief (disambiguation)",
"The Permanent Secretary to the Lord Chancellor's Department was the most senior civil servant in the Lord Chancellor's Department and a senior member of Her Majesty's Civil Service. Officially titled Her Majesty's Permanent Under-Secretary of State to the Lord Chancellor's Department (although the full title was rarely used) the Permanent Secretary oversaw the day-to-day running of the Department. The position ceased to exist in 2003 when the Lord Chancellor's Department was subsumed into the newly created Department for Constitutional Affairs, which became the Ministry of Justice in 2007. Despite existing for 118 years the position was held by only nine individuals, most notably Claud Schuster who served as Permanent Secretary for 29 years under 10 different Lord Chancellors.\n\nHistory\nThe position was created in 1885 by Lord Selborne, who was the Lord Chancellor at the time and decided to rearrange the offices in the Lord Chancellor's Department, justifying this by pointing out that:\nThe Lord Chancellor, though Minister of Justice for almost every purpose unconnected with the Criminal Law, had no assistance of the kind given to the other chief Departments of State, either of permanent secretaries or under secretaries. The officers attached to him were personal and liable to change with every change of government.. but on each change of government the lack of continuity was more or less felt; and as the Lord Chancellor's Department work had a constant tendency to increase, the pressure of that lack increased with it.\n\nAs well as creating the position of Permanent Secretary Selborne's reforms also unified that position with the title of Clerk of the Crown in Chancery. The first Permanent Secretary was Kenneth Muir Mackenzie, who had served as Principal Secretary before the reforms. Mackenzie's tenure as Permanent Secretary was marked by traditionalism and cronyism; he refused to use shorthand or typewriting, only employed those who did not oppose him and refused to delegate duties to his subordinates. As such when Claud Schuster was appointed in 1915 he found \"a lack of method for the discharge of the ordinary business of the Department and the complete absence of any organisation for a continuous examination of the functions which the department supervised and for laying plans for the future\". He immediately attempted to reform the department, expanding the staff and introducing the use of shorthand and typewriters. During his time as Permanent Secretary Schuster showed a greater ability to delegate than his predecessor, and when he left in 1944 the Lord Chancellor's Department was \"running like a well-oiled machine\". The position underwent greater reform after the Courts Act 1971 came into effect, and was finally abolished after the merger of the Lord Chancellor's Department into the Department for Constitutional Affairs, with the last holder of the office (Sir Hayden Phillips) becoming Permanent Secretary of the Department for Constitutional Affairs.\n\nDuties\nThe Permanent Secretary was required to have \"an unusual degree of ability, energy and tact\", The Fulton Committee defined a Permanent Secretary's duties as:\n\nTo be the Minister's most immediate adviser on policy.\nTo be the managing director of the day-to-day operations of the department.\nTo hold the ultimate responsibility for questions of staff and organisation.\nTo be the Accounting Officer and as such to hold the ultimate responsibility for all departmental expenditure.\n\nDespite his position in the Lord Chancellor's Department the Permanent Secretary was in theory politically neutral, and could not be seen to be influencing legislature or judicial appointments. As well as advising on policy the Permanent Secretary was also to be consulted (since the time of William Ewart Gladstone) whenever a question of public expenditure arose.\n\nHolders of the office\n\nReferences\n\nBibliography\n\nCrown Office\nCivil service positions in the United Kingdom\n \n1885 establishments in the United Kingdom"
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"Daniel Boone",
"Businessman on the Ohio River",
"What were his businesses?",
"he kept a tavern and worked as a surveyor, horse trader, and land speculator.",
"Was he successful?",
"He was initially prosperous, owning seven slaves by 1787, a relatively large number for Kentucky at the time.",
"what happened to change his prosperity?",
"Boone the trailblazer was too unsophisticated for the civilization which followed him and which eventually defrauded him of his land.",
"what did he do after this happened?",
"Frustrated with the legal hassles that went with land speculation, in 1788, Boone moved upriver to Point Pleasant, Virginia (",
"What did he do there?",
"he operated a trading post and occasionally worked as a surveyor's assistant.",
"Did he take a more permanent position anywhere?",
"When Virginia created Kanawha County in 1789, Boone was appointed lieutenant colonel of the county militia."
] | C_772cc11b9fe54084b4f80a51b869fc06_0 | How long was he lieutenant colonel? | 7 | How long was Daniel Boone lieutenant colonel? | Daniel Boone | After the Revolution, Boone resettled in Limestone (renamed Maysville, Kentucky in 1786), then a booming Ohio River port. In 1787, he was elected to the Virginia state assembly as a representative from Bourbon County. In Maysville, he kept a tavern and worked as a surveyor, horse trader, and land speculator. He was initially prosperous, owning seven slaves by 1787, a relatively large number for Kentucky at the time. Boone became a celebrity while living in Maysville. In 1784, on his 50th birthday, historian John Filson published The Discovery, Settlement And present State of Kentucke, a book which included a chronicle of Boone's adventures. The Revolutionary War had ended, but the border war with American Indians north of the Ohio River resumed with the Northwest Indian War. In September 1786, Boone took part in a military expedition into the Ohio Country led by Benjamin Logan. Back in Limestone, Boone housed and fed Shawnees who were captured during the raid, and helped to negotiate a truce and prisoner exchange. Although the war escalated and would not end until the American victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794, the 1786 expedition was the last time Boone saw military action. Boone began to have financial troubles while living in Maysville. According to the later folk image, Boone the trailblazer was too unsophisticated for the civilization which followed him and which eventually defrauded him of his land. Boone was not the simple frontiersman of legend, however: he engaged in land speculation on a large scale, buying and selling claims to tens of thousands of acres. The land market in frontier Kentucky was chaotic, and Boone's ventures ultimately failed because his investment strategy was faulty and because his sense of honor made him reluctant to profit at someone else's expense. According to Faragher, "Boone lacked the ruthless instincts that speculation demanded." Frustrated with the legal hassles that went with land speculation, in 1788, Boone moved upriver to Point Pleasant, Virginia (now West Virginia). There he operated a trading post and occasionally worked as a surveyor's assistant. When Virginia created Kanawha County in 1789, Boone was appointed lieutenant colonel of the county militia. In 1791, he was elected to the Virginia legislature for the third time. He contracted to provide supplies for the Kanawha militia, but his debts prevented him from buying goods on credit, so he closed his store and returned to hunting and trapping. In 1795, Rebecca and he moved back to Kentucky, living in present Nicholas County on land owned by their son Daniel Morgan Boone. The next year, Boone applied to Isaac Shelby, the first governor of the new state of Kentucky, for a contract to widen the Wilderness Road into a wagon route, but the contract was awarded to someone else. Meanwhile, lawsuits over conflicting land claims continued to make their way through the Kentucky courts. Boone's remaining land claims were sold off to pay legal fees and taxes, but he no longer paid attention to the process. In 1798, a warrant was issued for Boone's arrest after he ignored a summons to testify in a court case, although the sheriff never found him. That same year, the Kentucky assembly named Boone County in his honor. CANNOTANSWER | When Virginia created Kanawha County in 1789, Boone was appointed lieutenant colonel of the county militia. In 1791, he was elected to the Virginia legislature for the third time. | Daniel Boone (September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and frontiersman whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. Boone became famous for his exploration and settlement of what is now Kentucky, which was then beyond the western borders of the Thirteen Colonies. Despite resistance from American Indians, for whom Kentucky was a traditional hunting ground, in 1775 Boone blazed the Wilderness Road through the Cumberland Gap and into Kentucky. There he founded Boonesborough, one of the first English-speaking settlements west of the Appalachian Mountains. By the end of the 18th century, more than 200,000 people had entered Kentucky by following the route marked by Boone.
Boone served as a militia officer during the Revolutionary War (1775–1783), which, in Kentucky, was fought primarily between American settlers and British-allied American Indians. Boone was captured by Shawnees in 1778 and adopted into the tribe, but he escaped and continued to help defend the Kentucky settlements. He was elected to the first of his three terms in the Virginia General Assembly during the war, and fought in the Battle of Blue Licks in 1782, one of the last battles of the American Revolution. Boone worked as a surveyor and merchant after the war, but he went deep into debt as a Kentucky land speculator. Frustrated with legal problems resulting from his land claims, in 1799 Boone resettled in Missouri, where he spent most of the last two decades of his life.
Boone remains an iconic, if imperfectly remembered, figure in American history. He was a legend in his own lifetime, especially after an account of his adventures was published in 1784, making him famous in America and Europe. After his death, Boone became the subject of many heroic tall tales and works of fiction. His adventures—real and legendary—helped create the archetypal frontier hero of American folklore. In American popular culture, Boone is remembered as one of the foremost early frontiersmen, even though mythology often overshadows the historical details of his life.
Early life
Boone was born on October 22, 1734 ("New Style" November 2), the sixth of eleven children in a family of Quakers. His father, Squire Boone (1696–1765), had emigrated to colonial Pennsylvania from the small town of Bradninch, England, in 1713. Squire, a weaver and blacksmith, married Sarah Morgan (1700–1777), whose family were Quakers from Wales. In 1731, the Boones built a one-room log cabin in the Oley Valley in what is now Berks County, Pennsylvania, near present Reading, where Daniel was born.
Boone spent his early years on the Pennsylvania frontier, often interacting with American Indians. Boone learned to hunt from local settlers and Indians; by the age of fifteen, he had a reputation as one of the region’s best hunters. Many stories about Boone emphasize his hunting skills. In one tale, the young Boone was hunting in the woods with some other boys when the howl of a panther scattered all but Boone. He calmly cocked his rifle and shot the predator through the heart just as it leaped at him. The story may be a folktale, one of many that became part of Boone’s popular image.
In Boone's youth, his family became a source of controversy in the local Quaker community. In 1742, Boone's parents were compelled to publicly apologize after their eldest child Sarah married a "worldling", or non-Quaker, while she was visibly pregnant. When Boone's oldest brother Israel also married a "worldling" in 1747, Squire Boone stood by his son and was therefore expelled from the Quakers, although his wife continued to attend monthly meetings with her children. Perhaps as a result of this controversy, in 1750 Squire sold his land and moved the family to North Carolina. Daniel Boone did not attend church again, although he always considered himself a Christian and had all of his children baptized. The Boones eventually settled on the Yadkin River, in what is now Davie County, North Carolina, about two miles (3 km) west of Mocksville.
Boone received little formal education, since he preferred to spend his time hunting, apparently with his parents’ blessing. According to a family tradition, when a schoolteacher expressed concern over Boone's education, Boone's father said, "Let the girls do the spelling and Dan will do the shooting." Boone was tutored by family members, though his spelling remained unorthodox. Historian John Mack Faragher cautions that the folk image of Boone as semiliterate is misleading, arguing that Boone "acquired a level of literacy that was the equal of most men of his times." Boone regularly took reading material with him on his hunting expeditions—the Bible and Gulliver's Travels were favorites. He was often the only literate person in groups of frontiersmen, and would sometimes entertain his hunting companions by reading to them around the campfire.
Hunter, husband, and soldier
When the French and Indian War (1754–1763) broke out between the French, British, and their respective Indian allies, Boone joined a North Carolina militia company as a teamster and blacksmith. In 1755, his unit accompanied General Edward Braddock’s attempt to drive the French out of the Ohio Country, which ended in disaster at the Battle of the Monongahela. Boone, in the rear with the wagons, took no part in the battle, and fled with the retreating soldiers.
Boone returned home after the defeat, and on August 14, 1756, he married Rebecca Bryan, a neighbor in the Yadkin Valley. The couple initially lived in a cabin on his father's farm, and would eventually have ten children, in addition to raising eight children of deceased relatives.
In 1758, conflict erupted between British colonists and the Cherokees, their former allies in the French and Indian War. After the Yadkin Valley was raided by Cherokees, the Boones and many other families fled north to Culpeper County, Virginia. Boone saw action as a member of the North Carolina militia during this "Cherokee Uprising," periodically serving under Captain Hugh Waddell on the North Carolina frontier until 1760.
Boone supported his growing family in these years as a market hunter and trapper, collecting pelts for the fur trade. Almost every autumn, despite the unrest on the frontier, Boone would go on "long hunts", extended expeditions into the wilderness lasting weeks or months. Boone went alone or with a small group of men, accumulating hundreds of deer skins in the autumn, and trapping beaver and otter over the winter. When the long hunters returned in the spring, they sold their take to commercial fur traders. On their journeys, frontiersmen often carved messages on trees or wrote their names on cave walls, and Boone's name or initials have been found in many places. A tree in present Washington County, Tennessee, reads "D. Boon Cilled a. Bar on tree in the year 1760". A similar carving, preserved in the museum of the Filson Historical Society in Louisville, Kentucky, reads "D. Boon Kilt a Bar, 1803." The inscriptions may be genuine, or part of a long tradition of phony Boone relics.
According to a popular story, Boone returned home after a long absence to find Rebecca had given birth to a daughter. Rebecca confessed she had thought Daniel was dead, and that Boone’s brother had fathered the child. Boone did not blame Rebecca, and raised the girl as his own child. Boone's early biographers knew the story but did not publish it. Modern biographers regard the tale as possibly folklore, since the identity of the brother and the daughter vary in different versions of the tale.
In the mid-1760s, Boone began to look for a new place to settle. The population was growing in the Yadkin Valley, which decreased the amount of game available for hunting. Boone had difficulty making ends meet; he was often taken to court for nonpayment of debts. He sold what land he owned to pay off creditors. After his father's death in 1765, Boone traveled with a group of men to Florida, which had become British territory after the end of the war, to look into the possibility of settling there. According to a family story, Boone purchased land in Pensacola, but Rebecca refused to move so far away from friends and family. The Boones instead moved to a more remote area of the Yadkin Valley, and Boone began to hunt westward into the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Into Kentucky
Years before entering Kentucky, Boone had heard about the region’s fertile land and abundant game. In 1767, Boone and his brother Squire first crossed into what would become the state of Kentucky, but they failed to reach the rich hunting grounds. In May 1769, Boone set out again with a party of five others, beginning a two-year hunting expedition in which Boone thoroughly explored Kentucky. His first sighting of the Bluegrass region from atop Pilot Knob became "an icon of American history," and was the frequent subject of paintings.
On December 22, 1769, Boone and a fellow hunter were captured by a party of Shawnees, who confiscated all of their skins and told them to leave and never return. The Shawnees had not signed the 1768 Treaty of Fort Stanwix, in which the Iroquois had ceded their claim to Kentucky to the British. The Shawnees regarded Kentucky as their hunting ground; they considered American hunters there to be poachers. Boone, undeterred, continued hunting and exploring in Kentucky. On one occasion, he shot a man to avoid capture, which historian John Mack Faragher says "was one of the few Indians that Boone acknowledged killing." Boone returned to North Carolina in 1771, but came back to hunt in Kentucky in the autumn of 1772.
In 1773, Boone packed up his family and, with his brother, Squire, and a group of about 50 others, began the first attempt by British colonists to establish a settlement. Boone was still an obscure figure at the time; the most prominent member of the expedition was William Russell, a well-known Virginian and future brother-in-law of Patrick Henry. Another member of this expedition was Boone's friend and fellow long-hunter, Michael Stoner.
Included in this group were an unknown number of enslaved Blacks, including Charles and Adam. On October 9, Boone's oldest son, James, and several whites as well as Charles and Adam left the main party to seek provisions in a nearby settlement. They were attacked by a band of Delawares, Shawnees, and Cherokees. Following the Fort Stanwix treaty, American Indians in the region had been debating what do to about the influx of settlers. This group had decided, in the words of Faragher, "to send a message of their opposition to settlement". James Boone and William Russell's son, Henry, were tortured and killed. Charles was captured. Adam witnessed the horror concealed in riverbank driftwood. After wandering In the woods for 11 days, Adam located the group and informed Boone of the circumstances of their deaths. Charles's body was found by the pioneers 40 miles from the abduction site, dead from a blow to his head. The brutality of the killings sent shockwaves along the frontier, and Boone's party abandoned their expedition.
The attack was one of the first events in what became known as Dunmore's War, a struggle between Virginia and American Indians for control of what is now West Virginia and Kentucky. In the summer of 1774, Boone traveled with a companion to Kentucky to notify surveyors there about the outbreak of war. They journeyed more than in two months to warn those who had not already fled the region. Upon his return to Virginia, Boone helped defend colonial settlements along the Clinch River, earning a promotion to captain in the militia, as well as acclaim from fellow citizens. After the brief war, which ended soon after Virginia's victory in the Battle of Point Pleasant in October 1774, the Shawnees relinquished their claims to Kentucky.
Following Dunmore's War, Richard Henderson, a prominent judge from North Carolina, hired Boone to help establish a colony to be called Transylvania. Boone traveled to several Cherokee towns and invited them to a meeting, held at Sycamore Shoals in March 1775, where Henderson purchased the Cherokee claim to Kentucky.
Boone then blazed "Boone's Trace," later known as the Wilderness Road, through the Cumberland Gap and into central Kentucky. Sam, an enslaved black “body servant,” and other enslaved laborers were among this group of settlers. When this group camped near the present day Richmond, KY, Indians attacked, killing Sam and his enslaver. After driving off the attackers, the party buried the two men side by side.
He founded Boonesborough along the Kentucky River; other settlements, notably Harrodsburg, were also established at this time. Despite occasional Indian attacks, Boone brought his family and other settlers to Boonesborough on September 8, 1775.
American Revolution
Violence in Kentucky increased with the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783). American Indians who were unhappy about the loss of Kentucky in treaties saw the war as a chance to drive out the colonists. Isolated settlers and hunters became the frequent target of attacks, convincing many to abandon Kentucky. By late spring of 1776, Boone and his family were among the fewer than 200 colonists who remained in Kentucky, primarily at the fortified settlements of Boonesborough, Harrodsburg, and Logan's Station.
On July 14, 1776, Boone's daughter Jemima and two other girls were captured outside Boonesborough by an Indian war party, who carried the girls north toward the Shawnee towns in the Ohio country. Boone and a group of men from Boonesborough followed in pursuit, finally catching up with them two days later. Boone and his men ambushed the Indians, rescuing the girls and driving off their captors. The incident became the most celebrated event of Boone's life. James Fenimore Cooper created a fictionalized version of the episode in his classic novel The Last of the Mohicans (1826).
In 1777, Henry Hamilton, British Lieutenant Governor of Canada, began to recruit American Indian war parties to raid the Kentucky settlements. That same year in March, the newly formed militia of Kentucky County, VA mustered in Boonesborough, whose population included ten to 15 enslaved people. On April 24, 1778, the British-allied Shawnees led by Chief Blackfish mounted the siege of Boonesborough. Armed enslaved men fought alongside their enslavers at the fort's walls. After going beyond the fort walls to engage the attackers, London, one of the enslaved, was killed.
Boone was shot in the ankle while outside the fort but, amid a flurry of bullets, he was carried back inside by Simon Kenton, a recent arrival at Boonesborough. Kenton became Boone's close friend, as well as a legendary frontiersman in his own right.
Capture and court-martial
While Boone recovered, Shawnees kept up their attacks outside Boonesborough, killing cattle and destroying crops. With food running low, the settlers needed salt to preserve what meat they had, so in January 1778, Boone led a party of 30 men to the salt springs on the Licking River. On February 7, when Boone was hunting meat for the expedition, he was captured by Blackfish's warriors. Because Boone's party was greatly outnumbered, Boone returned to camp the next day with Blackfish and persuaded his men to surrender rather than put up a fight.
Blackfish intended to move on to Boonesborough and capture it, but Boone argued the women and children would not survive a winter trek as prisoners back to the Shawnee villages. Instead, Boone promised that Boonesborough would surrender willingly the following spring. Boone did not have an opportunity to tell his men that he was bluffing to prevent an immediate attack on Boonesborough. Boone pursued this strategy so convincingly some of his men concluded he had switched sides, an impression that led to his court-martial (see below).
Many of the Shawnees wanted to execute the prisoners in retaliation for the recent murder of Shawnee Chief Cornstalk by Virginia militiamen. Because Shawnee chiefs led by seeking consensus, Blackfish held a council. After an impassioned speech by Boone, the warriors voted to spare the prisoners. Although Boone had saved his men, Blackfish pointed out that Boone had not included himself in the agreement, so Boone was forced to run the gauntlet through the warriors, which he survived with minor injuries.
Boone and his men were taken to Blackfish's town of Chillicothe. As was their custom, the Shawnees adopted some of the prisoners to replace fallen warriors. Boone was adopted into a Shawnee family at Chillicothe, perhaps into Blackfish's family, and given the name Sheltowee (Big Turtle). In March 1778, the Shawnees took the unadopted prisoners to Governor Hamilton in Detroit. Blackfish brought Boone along, though he refused Hamilton's offers to release Boone to the British. Hamilton gave Boone gifts, attempting to win his loyalty, while Boone continued to pretend that he intended to surrender Boonesborough. Boone returned with Blackfish to Chillicothe. On June 16, 1778, when he learned Blackfish was about to return to Boonesborough with a large force, Boone eluded his captors and raced home, covering the to Boonesborough in five days on horseback and, after his horse gave out, on foot. Biographer Robert Morgan calls Boone's escape and return "one of the great legends of frontier history."
Upon Boone's return to Boonesborough, some of the men expressed doubts about Boone's loyalty, since he had apparently lived happily among the Shawnees for months. Boone responded by leading a preemptive raid against the Shawnees across the Ohio River, and then by helping to successfully defend Boonesborough against a 10-day siege led by Blackfish, which began on September 7, 1778. After the siege, Captain Benjamin Logan and Colonel Richard Callaway—both of whom had nephews who were still captives surrendered by Boone—brought charges against Boone for his recent activities. In the court-martial that followed, Boone was found "not guilty," and was even promoted after the court heard his testimony. Despite this vindication, Boone was humiliated by the court-martial, and he rarely spoke of it.
Final years of the Revolution
After the trial, Boone returned to North Carolina to bring his family back to Kentucky. In the autumn of 1779, a large party of emigrants came with him, including the family of Captain Abraham Lincoln, grandfather of the future president. Rather than remain in Boonesborough, Boone founded the nearby settlement of Boone's Station. He began earning money by locating good land for other settlers. Transylvania land claims had been invalidated after Virginia created Kentucky County, so settlers needed to file new land claims with Virginia. In 1780, Boone collected about $20,000 in cash from various settlers and traveled to Williamsburg to purchase their land warrants. While he was sleeping in a tavern during the trip, the cash was stolen from his room. Some of the settlers forgave Boone the loss; others insisted he repay the stolen money, which took him several years to do.
In contrast to the later folk image of Boone as a backwoodsman who had little affinity for "civilized" society, Boone was a leading citizen of Kentucky at this time. When Kentucky was divided into three Virginia counties in November 1780, Boone was promoted to lieutenant colonel in the Fayette County militia. In April 1781, he was elected as a representative to the Virginia General Assembly, which was held in Richmond. In 1782, he was elected sheriff of Fayette County.
Meanwhile, the American Revolutionary War continued. Boone joined General George Rogers Clark's invasion of the Ohio country in 1780, fighting in the Battle of Piqua against the Shawnee on August 7. On the way home from the campaign, Boone was hunting with his brother Ned when Shawnees shot and killed Ned, who resembled Daniel. The Shawnees beheaded Ned, believing him to be Daniel, and took the head as evidence that Daniel Boone had finally been slain.
In 1781, Boone traveled to Richmond to take his seat in the legislature, but British dragoons under Banastre Tarleton captured Boone and several other legislators near Charlottesville. The British released Boone on parole several days later. During Boone's term, Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown in October 1781, but the fighting continued in Kentucky. Boone returned to Kentucky and in August 1782 fought in the Battle of Blue Licks, a disastrous defeat for the Kentuckians in which Boone's son Israel was killed. In November 1782, Boone took part in another Clark-led expedition into Ohio, the last major campaign of the war.
Businessman and politician
After the Revolutionary War ended, Boone resettled in Limestone (later renamed Maysville, Kentucky), then a booming Ohio River port. He kept a tavern and worked as a surveyor, horse trader, and land speculator. In 1784, on Boone’s 50th birthday, frontier historian John Filson published The Discovery, Settlement and Present State of Kentucke. The popular book included a chronicle of Boone's adventures, which made Boone a celebrity.
As settlers poured into Kentucky, the border war with American Indians north of the Ohio River resumed. In September 1786, Boone took part in a military expedition into the Ohio Country led by Benjamin Logan. Returning to Limestone, Boone housed and fed Shawnees who were captured during the raid, and helped to negotiate a truce and prisoner exchange. Although the war would not end until the American victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers eight years later, the 1786 expedition was the last time Boone saw military action.
Boone was initially prosperous in Limestone, owning seven slaves, a relatively large number for Kentucky at the time. In 1786, he purchased a Pennsylvania enslaved woman, age of about 20, for “Ninety poundes Current Lawfull (sic) money.”. A leader, he served as militia colonel, sheriff, and county coroner. In 1787, he was again elected to the Virginia state assembly, this time from Bourbon County. He began to have financial troubles after engaging in land speculation, buying and selling claims to tens of thousands of acres. These ventures ultimately failed because of the chaotic nature of land speculation in frontier Kentucky and Boone’s poor business instincts. Frustrated with the legal hassles that went with land speculation, in 1789 Boone moved upriver to Point Pleasant, Virginia (now West Virginia). There he operated a trading post and occasionally worked as a surveyor's assistant. That same year, when Virginia created Kanawha County, Boone became the lieutenant colonel of the county militia. In 1791, he was elected to the Virginia legislature for the third time. He contracted to provide supplies for the Kanawha militia, but his debts prevented him from buying goods on credit, so he closed his store and returned to hunting and trapping, though he was often hampered by rheumatism.
In 1795, Boone and his wife moved back to Kentucky, on land owned by their son Daniel Morgan Boone in what became Nicholas County. The next year, Boone applied to Isaac Shelby, the first governor of the new state of Kentucky, for a contract to widen the Wilderness Road into a wagon route, but the contract was awarded to someone else. Meanwhile, lawsuits over conflicting land claims continued to make their way through the Kentucky courts. Boone's remaining land claims were sold off to pay legal fees and taxes, but he no longer paid attention to the process. In 1798, a warrant was issued for Boone's arrest after he ignored a summons to testify in a court case, although the sheriff never found him. That same year, the Kentucky assembly named Boone County in his honor.
Into Missouri
Having endured legal and financial setbacks, Boone sought to make a fresh start by leaving the United States. In 1799, he moved his extended family to what is now St. Charles County, Missouri, but was then part of Spanish Louisiana. The Spanish, eager to promote settlement in the sparsely populated region, did not enforce the official requirement that all immigrants be Catholic. The Spanish governor appointed Boone "syndic" (judge and jury) and commandant (military leader) of the Femme Osage district. Anecdotes of Boone's tenure as syndic suggest he sought to render fair judgments rather than strictly observe the letter of the law.
Boone served as syndic and commandant until 1804, when Missouri became part of the United States following the Louisiana Purchase. He was appointed captain of the local militia. Because Boone's land grants from the Spanish government had been largely based on oral agreements, he again lost his land claims. In 1809, he petitioned Congress to restore his Spanish land claims, which was finally done in 1814. Boone sold most of this land to repay old Kentucky debts. When the War of 1812 came to Missouri, Boone's sons Daniel Morgan Boone and Nathan Boone took part, but by that time Boone was much too old for militia duty.
Although Boone reportedly vowed never to return to Kentucky after moving to Missouri, stories (possibly folk tales) were told of him making one last visit to Kentucky to pay off his creditors. American painter John James Audubon claimed to have gone hunting with Boone in Kentucky around 1810. Years later, Audubon painted a portrait of Boone, supposedly from memory, although skeptics noted the similarity of his painting to the well-known portraits by Chester Harding. Some historians believe Boone visited his brother Squire near Kentucky in 1810 and have accepted the veracity of Audubon's account.
Boone spent his final years in Missouri, often in the company of children and grandchildren. He continued to hunt and trap as much as his health and energy levels permitted, intruding upon the territory of the Osage tribe, who once captured him and confiscated his furs. In 1810, at the age of 76, he went with a group on a six-month hunt up the Missouri River, reportedly as far as the Yellowstone River, a round trip of more than 2,000 miles. He began one of his final trapping expeditions in 1815, in the company of a Shawnee and Derry Coburn, a slave who was frequently with Boone in his final years. They reached Fort Osage in 1816, where an officer wrote, "We have been honored by a visit from Col. Boone... He has taken part in all the wars of America, from Braddock's war to the present hour," but "he prefers the woods, where you see him in the dress of the roughest, poorest hunter."
Death and burial
Boone died on September 26, 1820, at his son Nathan Boone's home on Femme Osage Creek, Missouri. He was buried next to Rebecca, who had died on March 18, 1813. The graves, which were unmarked until the mid-1830s, were near Jemima (Boone) Callaway's home on Tuque Creek, about two miles (3 km) from present-day Marthasville, Missouri.
In 1845, the Boones' remains were disinterred and reburied in a new cemetery in Frankfort, Kentucky. Resentment in Missouri about the disinterment grew over the years, and a legend arose that Boone's remains never left Missouri. According to this story, Boone's tombstone in Missouri had been inadvertently placed over the wrong grave, but no one had corrected the error. Boone's Missouri relatives, displeased with the Kentuckians who came to exhume Boone, kept quiet about the mistake and allowed the Kentuckians to dig up the wrong remains. No contemporary evidence indicates this actually happened, but in 1983, a forensic anthropologist examined a crude plaster cast of Boone's skull made before the Kentucky reburial and announced it might be the skull of an African American. Black slaves were also buried at Tuque Creek, so it is possible that the wrong remains were mistakenly removed from the crowded graveyard. Both the Frankfort Cemetery in Kentucky and the Old Bryan Farm graveyard in Missouri claim to have Boone's remains.
Legacy
Daniel Boone remains an iconic figure in American history, although his status as an early American folk hero and later as a subject of fiction has tended to obscure the actual details of his life. He emerged as a legend in large part because of John Filson's "The Adventures of Colonel Daniel Boon", part of his book The Discovery, Settlement and present State of Kentucke. First published in 1784, Filson's book was primarily intended to popularize Kentucky to immigrants. It was translated into French and German, and made Boone famous in America and Europe. Based on interviews with Boone, Filson's book contained a mostly factual account of Boone's adventures from the exploration of Kentucky through the American Revolution, although many have doubted if the florid, philosophical dialogue attributed to Boone was authentic. Often reprinted, Filson's book established Boone as one of the first popular heroes of the United States.
Timothy Flint also interviewed Boone, and his Biographical Memoir of Daniel Boone, the First Settler of Kentucky (1833) became one of the best-selling biographies of the 19th century. Flint embellished Boone's adventures, doing for Boone what Parson Weems did for George Washington. In Flint's book, Boone fought with a bear, escaped from Indians by swinging on vines (as Tarzan would later do), and so on. Although Boone's family thought the book was absurd, Flint greatly influenced the popular conception of Boone, since these tall tales were recycled in countless dime novels and books aimed at young boys.
Symbol and stereotype
Thanks to Filson's book, Boone became a symbol of the "natural man" who lives a virtuous, uncomplicated existence in the wilderness. This was famously expressed in Lord Byron's epic poem Don Juan (1822), which devoted a number of stanzas to Boone, including this one:
Byron's poem celebrated Boone as someone who found happiness by turning his back on civilization. In a similar vein, many folk tales depicted Boone as a man who migrated to more remote areas whenever civilization crowded in on him. In a typical anecdote, when asked why he was moving to Missouri, Boone supposedly replied, "I want more elbow room!" Boone rejected this interpretation. "Nothing embitters my old age," he said late in life, like "the circulation of absurd stories that I retire as civilization advances."
Existing simultaneously with the image of Boone as a refugee from society was, paradoxically, the popular portrayal of him as civilization's trailblazer. Boone was celebrated as an agent of Manifest Destiny, a pathfinder who tamed the wilderness, paving the way for the extension of American civilization. In 1852, critic Henry Tuckerman dubbed Boone "the Columbus of the woods," comparing Boone's passage through the Cumberland Gap to Christopher Columbus's voyage to the New World. In popular mythology, Boone became the first to explore and settle Kentucky, opening the way for countless others to follow. In fact, other Americans had explored Kentucky before Boone, as debunkers in the 20th century often pointed out, but Boone came to symbolize them all, making him what historian Michael Lofaro called "the founding father of westward expansion."
In the 19th century, when Native Americans were being displaced from their lands and confined on reservations, Boone's image was often reshaped into the stereotype of the belligerent, Indian-hating frontiersman which was then popular. In John A. McClung's Sketches of Western Adventure (1832), for example, Boone was portrayed as longing for the "thrilling excitement of savage warfare." Boone was transformed in the popular imagination into someone who regarded Indians with contempt and had killed scores of the "savages." The real Boone disliked bloodshed. According to historian John Bakeless, there is no record that Boone ever scalped Indians, unlike other frontiersmen of the era. Boone once told his son Nathan that he was certain of having killed only one Indian, during the battle at Blue Licks, although on another occasion he said, "I never killed but three." He expressed regret over the killings, saying the Indians "have always been kinder to me than the whites." Even though Boone had lost two sons and a brother in wars with Indians, he respected Indians and was respected by them. In Missouri, Boone went hunting with the Shawnees who had captured and adopted him decades earlier. Some 19th-century writers regarded Boone's sympathy for Indians as a character flaw and altered his words to conform to contemporary attitudes.
The character John Boone in Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy is inspired by Daniel Boone. In the story, John Boone is an American astronaut, the first human to walk on Mars in the year 2020. John Boone is one of the "First Hundred" colonists sent to permanently colonize Mars. His accomplishments and natural charm yield him an informal leadership role. After being assassinated, his larger-than-life persona plays a legendary role in the culture of colonized Mars.
Commemoration and portrayals
Many places in the United States are named for Boone, including the Daniel Boone National Forest in Kentucky and the Sheltowee Trace Trail in Tennessee. His name has long been synonymous with the American outdoors. The Boone and Crockett Club is a conservationist organization founded by Theodore Roosevelt in 1887, and the Sons of Daniel Boone was the precursor of the Boy Scouts of America. A half-dollar coin was minted in 1934 to mark the bicentennial of Boone’s birth; a commemorative stamp was issued in 1968.
Boone's adventures, real and mythical, formed the basis of the archetypal hero of the American West, popular in 19th-century novels and 20th-century films. The main character of James Fenimore Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales, the first of which was published in 1823, bore striking similarities to Boone; even his name, Nathaniel Bumppo, echoed Daniel Boone's name. As mentioned above, The Last of the Mohicans (1826), Cooper's second Leatherstocking novel, featured a fictionalized version of Boone's rescue of his daughter. After Cooper, other writers developed the Western hero, an iconic figure which began as a variation of Daniel Boone.
In the 20th century, Boone was featured in numerous comic strips, radio programs, novels, and films, such as the 1936 film Daniel Boone. Boone was the subject of a TV series that ran from 1964 to 1970. In the theme song for the series, Boone was described as a "big man" in a "coonskin cap," and the "rippin'est, roarin'est, fightin'est man the frontier ever knew!" This did not describe the real Boone, who was not a big man and did not wear a coonskin cap, which he thought uncouth and uncomfortable. Boone was portrayed this way in the TV series because Fess Parker, the tall actor who played him, was essentially reprising his role as Davy Crockett from an earlier TV series. That Boone could be portrayed the same way as Crockett, another American frontiersman with a very different personality, was another example of how Boone's image was reshaped to suit popular tastes. He was also the subject matter for the song sung by Ed Ames called "Daniel Boone". It was released in 1966.
In Blood and Treasure, released in 2021, authors Tom Clavin and Bob Drury painted a much broader historical portrait of Boone than has been commonly described.
The Taking of Jemima Boone by Matthew Pearl, published in 2021, is an account of the abduction of the daughter of Daniel Boone and, after her rescue by Boone, then shifts to the conflicts between Boone, his political rival Richard Callaway, and Shawnee leader Blackfish, with resulting impacts to the Western theater of the American Revolutionary War.
See also
Edward Morgan Log House
Daniel Boone Homestead
Daniel Boone School
Thomas S. Hinde, close friend of the Boone Family, neighbor in Kentucky, and interviewer of Boone
Boone's Cave Park
Daniel Boone National Forest
Boone Trail, between Virginia Beach, Virginia and San Francisco, California
References
Notes
Citations
Sources
The definitive Boone biography of its era, the first to make full use of the immense material collected by Lyman Draper.
Belue's notes provide a modern scholarly perspective to Draper's unfinished 19th century biography.
Guide to historical sites associated with Boone.
Further reading
Filson, John. The Discovery, Settlement and present State of Kentucke, including the "Appendix" life of Boone
Hammon, Neal O., ed. My Father, Daniel Boone: The Draper Interviews with Nathan Boone. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1999. .
Reid, Darren R., ed. Daniel Boone and Others on the Kentucky Frontier: Autobiographies and Narratives, 1769–1795. Jefferson: McFarland and Company, 2009. .
Personal papers of Daniel Boone at the Wisconsin Historical Society searchable 32-volume collection of Boone manuscripts and correspondence, part of the Lyman Draper collection
1734 births
1820 deaths
American explorers
American folklore
American hunters
American people of English descent
American people of Welsh descent
American slave owners
American surveyors
Kentucky pioneers
Appalachian people
Boone County, Missouri
Daniel
Burials at Frankfort Cemetery
Captives of Native Americans
Hall of Fame for Great Americans inductees
Kentucky militiamen in the American Revolution
Members of the Virginia House of Delegates
Mountain men
People of colonial Pennsylvania
People from Berks County, Pennsylvania
People from Kentucky
People from St. Charles County, Missouri
People of Pennsylvania in the French and Indian War
People of Kentucky in the American Revolution
People who were court-martialed
Tall tales | false | [
"407 Long Range Patrol Squadron (abbreviated 407 LRP Sqn, formerly 407 Maritime Patrol Squadron) is a long range and maritime patrol squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Force. It is located at 19 Wing Comox, on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, and operates the CP-140 Aurora.\n\nHistory\nNo. 407 Coastal Strike Squadron was formed at RAF Thorney Island, England on 8 May 1941, first training on the Bristol Blenheim. It was one of seven Article XV RCAF units to serve with RAF Coastal Command.\n\nThe squadron's wartime history can be divided into two periods. From September 1941 to January 1943, the squadron operated as a \"strike\" squadron attacking enemy shipping with the Lockheed Hudson. It was as a strike squadron that it won its reputation and its nickname \"The Demon Squadron\". On 29 January 1943 it was re-designated as 407 General Reconnaissance Squadron, and for the remainder of the war it protected friendly shipping from the U-boat threat operating the Vickers Wellington.\n\nThe squadron was disbanded on 4 June 1945 following the end of the Second World War. On 1 July 1952 the squadron was reactivated at RCAF Station Comox as 407 Maritime Reconnaissance Squadron flying the Avro Lancaster. On 17 July 1956 it was redesignated as a Maritime Patrol Squadron.\n\nThe squadron has served continuously in Comox since 1952 flying the Lancaster, Lockheed Neptune, and Canadair CP-107 Argus. On 28 June 1975, the squadron was presented its Standard by the Honourable Walter Owen, Q.C. L.L.D. Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia.\n\nCurrently, 407 Squadron flies the Lockheed CP-140 Aurora on coastal patrol, anti-submarine and long range patrol duties. It used these aircraft to conduct operations in the Arabian Sea after the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks.\n\nSquadron commanding officers\nLieutenant Colonel Garry Rheaume: 1997-1999\nLieutenant Colonel Gary Szczerbaniwicz: 1999-2002\nLieutenant Colonel Fred Bigelow: 2002 – 2004\nLieutenant Colonel Paul Ormsby: 2004 – 2006\nLieutenant Colonel Mike Hogan: 2006 – 2008\nLieutenant Colonel Mario Leblanc: 2008 – 2010\nLieutenant Colonel Dave Robinson: 2010 – 2012\nLieutenant Colonel Jason Kenny: 2012 – 2014\nLieutenant Colonel Andrew McCorquodale: 2014 - 2016\nMajor Kreager Graham: May 2016 - August 2016\nLieutenant Colonel Jean-Philippe Gagnon: August 2016 - August 2018\nLieutenant Colonel Patrick Castonguay: August 2018 – August 2020\nLieutenant Colonel Fil Bohac: August 2020 - Present\n\nReferences\n\nCitations\n\nBibliography\n\n \n\n Canadian Department of National Defence - Honours & Recognition for the Men and Women of the Canadian Armed Forces 10th Edition - 2016. Accessed 14 March 2019\n\nExternal links\n 407 Long Range Patrol Squadron website\n CAF – History of 407 Squadron\n CAF – World War II Coastal Command\n\nRoyal Canadian Air Force squadrons\nCanadian Forces aircraft squadrons",
"Charles Wigram Long (1842 – 13 December 1911) was a British Conservative Party politician. He sat in the House of Commons for 1895 to 1910.\n\nBiography\nLong was the son of Charles Long, who was Archdeacon of the East Riding of Yorkshire, and his wife Anna Maria, the daughter of Sir Robert Wigram, 1st Baronet.\nHe entered the Royal Artillery in 1860, becoming a Captain (land) in 1874, a Brevet Major in 1881, and a Lieutenant-Colonel (retired) in 1886.\nHe later became a Justice of the Peace and a Deputy Lieutenant of Worcestershire.\n\nHe was elected at the 1895 general election as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Evesham division of Worcestershire, and held the seat until he stood down at the January 1910 general election.\n\nFamily \nIn 1889 Long married Constance Vansittart, daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Vansittart of the Coldstream Guards.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n \n\n1842 births\n1911 deaths\nConservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies\nUK MPs 1895–1900\nUK MPs 1900–1906\nUK MPs 1906–1910\nRoyal Artillery officers\nDeputy Lieutenants of Worcestershire"
] |
[
"Daniel Boone",
"Businessman on the Ohio River",
"What were his businesses?",
"he kept a tavern and worked as a surveyor, horse trader, and land speculator.",
"Was he successful?",
"He was initially prosperous, owning seven slaves by 1787, a relatively large number for Kentucky at the time.",
"what happened to change his prosperity?",
"Boone the trailblazer was too unsophisticated for the civilization which followed him and which eventually defrauded him of his land.",
"what did he do after this happened?",
"Frustrated with the legal hassles that went with land speculation, in 1788, Boone moved upriver to Point Pleasant, Virginia (",
"What did he do there?",
"he operated a trading post and occasionally worked as a surveyor's assistant.",
"Did he take a more permanent position anywhere?",
"When Virginia created Kanawha County in 1789, Boone was appointed lieutenant colonel of the county militia.",
"How long was he lieutenant colonel?",
"When Virginia created Kanawha County in 1789, Boone was appointed lieutenant colonel of the county militia. In 1791, he was elected to the Virginia legislature for the third time."
] | C_772cc11b9fe54084b4f80a51b869fc06_0 | Did he have any money issues? | 8 | Did Daniel Boone have any money issues? | Daniel Boone | After the Revolution, Boone resettled in Limestone (renamed Maysville, Kentucky in 1786), then a booming Ohio River port. In 1787, he was elected to the Virginia state assembly as a representative from Bourbon County. In Maysville, he kept a tavern and worked as a surveyor, horse trader, and land speculator. He was initially prosperous, owning seven slaves by 1787, a relatively large number for Kentucky at the time. Boone became a celebrity while living in Maysville. In 1784, on his 50th birthday, historian John Filson published The Discovery, Settlement And present State of Kentucke, a book which included a chronicle of Boone's adventures. The Revolutionary War had ended, but the border war with American Indians north of the Ohio River resumed with the Northwest Indian War. In September 1786, Boone took part in a military expedition into the Ohio Country led by Benjamin Logan. Back in Limestone, Boone housed and fed Shawnees who were captured during the raid, and helped to negotiate a truce and prisoner exchange. Although the war escalated and would not end until the American victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794, the 1786 expedition was the last time Boone saw military action. Boone began to have financial troubles while living in Maysville. According to the later folk image, Boone the trailblazer was too unsophisticated for the civilization which followed him and which eventually defrauded him of his land. Boone was not the simple frontiersman of legend, however: he engaged in land speculation on a large scale, buying and selling claims to tens of thousands of acres. The land market in frontier Kentucky was chaotic, and Boone's ventures ultimately failed because his investment strategy was faulty and because his sense of honor made him reluctant to profit at someone else's expense. According to Faragher, "Boone lacked the ruthless instincts that speculation demanded." Frustrated with the legal hassles that went with land speculation, in 1788, Boone moved upriver to Point Pleasant, Virginia (now West Virginia). There he operated a trading post and occasionally worked as a surveyor's assistant. When Virginia created Kanawha County in 1789, Boone was appointed lieutenant colonel of the county militia. In 1791, he was elected to the Virginia legislature for the third time. He contracted to provide supplies for the Kanawha militia, but his debts prevented him from buying goods on credit, so he closed his store and returned to hunting and trapping. In 1795, Rebecca and he moved back to Kentucky, living in present Nicholas County on land owned by their son Daniel Morgan Boone. The next year, Boone applied to Isaac Shelby, the first governor of the new state of Kentucky, for a contract to widen the Wilderness Road into a wagon route, but the contract was awarded to someone else. Meanwhile, lawsuits over conflicting land claims continued to make their way through the Kentucky courts. Boone's remaining land claims were sold off to pay legal fees and taxes, but he no longer paid attention to the process. In 1798, a warrant was issued for Boone's arrest after he ignored a summons to testify in a court case, although the sheriff never found him. That same year, the Kentucky assembly named Boone County in his honor. CANNOTANSWER | He contracted to provide supplies for the Kanawha militia, but his debts prevented him from buying goods on credit, | Daniel Boone (September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and frontiersman whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. Boone became famous for his exploration and settlement of what is now Kentucky, which was then beyond the western borders of the Thirteen Colonies. Despite resistance from American Indians, for whom Kentucky was a traditional hunting ground, in 1775 Boone blazed the Wilderness Road through the Cumberland Gap and into Kentucky. There he founded Boonesborough, one of the first English-speaking settlements west of the Appalachian Mountains. By the end of the 18th century, more than 200,000 people had entered Kentucky by following the route marked by Boone.
Boone served as a militia officer during the Revolutionary War (1775–1783), which, in Kentucky, was fought primarily between American settlers and British-allied American Indians. Boone was captured by Shawnees in 1778 and adopted into the tribe, but he escaped and continued to help defend the Kentucky settlements. He was elected to the first of his three terms in the Virginia General Assembly during the war, and fought in the Battle of Blue Licks in 1782, one of the last battles of the American Revolution. Boone worked as a surveyor and merchant after the war, but he went deep into debt as a Kentucky land speculator. Frustrated with legal problems resulting from his land claims, in 1799 Boone resettled in Missouri, where he spent most of the last two decades of his life.
Boone remains an iconic, if imperfectly remembered, figure in American history. He was a legend in his own lifetime, especially after an account of his adventures was published in 1784, making him famous in America and Europe. After his death, Boone became the subject of many heroic tall tales and works of fiction. His adventures—real and legendary—helped create the archetypal frontier hero of American folklore. In American popular culture, Boone is remembered as one of the foremost early frontiersmen, even though mythology often overshadows the historical details of his life.
Early life
Boone was born on October 22, 1734 ("New Style" November 2), the sixth of eleven children in a family of Quakers. His father, Squire Boone (1696–1765), had emigrated to colonial Pennsylvania from the small town of Bradninch, England, in 1713. Squire, a weaver and blacksmith, married Sarah Morgan (1700–1777), whose family were Quakers from Wales. In 1731, the Boones built a one-room log cabin in the Oley Valley in what is now Berks County, Pennsylvania, near present Reading, where Daniel was born.
Boone spent his early years on the Pennsylvania frontier, often interacting with American Indians. Boone learned to hunt from local settlers and Indians; by the age of fifteen, he had a reputation as one of the region’s best hunters. Many stories about Boone emphasize his hunting skills. In one tale, the young Boone was hunting in the woods with some other boys when the howl of a panther scattered all but Boone. He calmly cocked his rifle and shot the predator through the heart just as it leaped at him. The story may be a folktale, one of many that became part of Boone’s popular image.
In Boone's youth, his family became a source of controversy in the local Quaker community. In 1742, Boone's parents were compelled to publicly apologize after their eldest child Sarah married a "worldling", or non-Quaker, while she was visibly pregnant. When Boone's oldest brother Israel also married a "worldling" in 1747, Squire Boone stood by his son and was therefore expelled from the Quakers, although his wife continued to attend monthly meetings with her children. Perhaps as a result of this controversy, in 1750 Squire sold his land and moved the family to North Carolina. Daniel Boone did not attend church again, although he always considered himself a Christian and had all of his children baptized. The Boones eventually settled on the Yadkin River, in what is now Davie County, North Carolina, about two miles (3 km) west of Mocksville.
Boone received little formal education, since he preferred to spend his time hunting, apparently with his parents’ blessing. According to a family tradition, when a schoolteacher expressed concern over Boone's education, Boone's father said, "Let the girls do the spelling and Dan will do the shooting." Boone was tutored by family members, though his spelling remained unorthodox. Historian John Mack Faragher cautions that the folk image of Boone as semiliterate is misleading, arguing that Boone "acquired a level of literacy that was the equal of most men of his times." Boone regularly took reading material with him on his hunting expeditions—the Bible and Gulliver's Travels were favorites. He was often the only literate person in groups of frontiersmen, and would sometimes entertain his hunting companions by reading to them around the campfire.
Hunter, husband, and soldier
When the French and Indian War (1754–1763) broke out between the French, British, and their respective Indian allies, Boone joined a North Carolina militia company as a teamster and blacksmith. In 1755, his unit accompanied General Edward Braddock’s attempt to drive the French out of the Ohio Country, which ended in disaster at the Battle of the Monongahela. Boone, in the rear with the wagons, took no part in the battle, and fled with the retreating soldiers.
Boone returned home after the defeat, and on August 14, 1756, he married Rebecca Bryan, a neighbor in the Yadkin Valley. The couple initially lived in a cabin on his father's farm, and would eventually have ten children, in addition to raising eight children of deceased relatives.
In 1758, conflict erupted between British colonists and the Cherokees, their former allies in the French and Indian War. After the Yadkin Valley was raided by Cherokees, the Boones and many other families fled north to Culpeper County, Virginia. Boone saw action as a member of the North Carolina militia during this "Cherokee Uprising," periodically serving under Captain Hugh Waddell on the North Carolina frontier until 1760.
Boone supported his growing family in these years as a market hunter and trapper, collecting pelts for the fur trade. Almost every autumn, despite the unrest on the frontier, Boone would go on "long hunts", extended expeditions into the wilderness lasting weeks or months. Boone went alone or with a small group of men, accumulating hundreds of deer skins in the autumn, and trapping beaver and otter over the winter. When the long hunters returned in the spring, they sold their take to commercial fur traders. On their journeys, frontiersmen often carved messages on trees or wrote their names on cave walls, and Boone's name or initials have been found in many places. A tree in present Washington County, Tennessee, reads "D. Boon Cilled a. Bar on tree in the year 1760". A similar carving, preserved in the museum of the Filson Historical Society in Louisville, Kentucky, reads "D. Boon Kilt a Bar, 1803." The inscriptions may be genuine, or part of a long tradition of phony Boone relics.
According to a popular story, Boone returned home after a long absence to find Rebecca had given birth to a daughter. Rebecca confessed she had thought Daniel was dead, and that Boone’s brother had fathered the child. Boone did not blame Rebecca, and raised the girl as his own child. Boone's early biographers knew the story but did not publish it. Modern biographers regard the tale as possibly folklore, since the identity of the brother and the daughter vary in different versions of the tale.
In the mid-1760s, Boone began to look for a new place to settle. The population was growing in the Yadkin Valley, which decreased the amount of game available for hunting. Boone had difficulty making ends meet; he was often taken to court for nonpayment of debts. He sold what land he owned to pay off creditors. After his father's death in 1765, Boone traveled with a group of men to Florida, which had become British territory after the end of the war, to look into the possibility of settling there. According to a family story, Boone purchased land in Pensacola, but Rebecca refused to move so far away from friends and family. The Boones instead moved to a more remote area of the Yadkin Valley, and Boone began to hunt westward into the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Into Kentucky
Years before entering Kentucky, Boone had heard about the region’s fertile land and abundant game. In 1767, Boone and his brother Squire first crossed into what would become the state of Kentucky, but they failed to reach the rich hunting grounds. In May 1769, Boone set out again with a party of five others, beginning a two-year hunting expedition in which Boone thoroughly explored Kentucky. His first sighting of the Bluegrass region from atop Pilot Knob became "an icon of American history," and was the frequent subject of paintings.
On December 22, 1769, Boone and a fellow hunter were captured by a party of Shawnees, who confiscated all of their skins and told them to leave and never return. The Shawnees had not signed the 1768 Treaty of Fort Stanwix, in which the Iroquois had ceded their claim to Kentucky to the British. The Shawnees regarded Kentucky as their hunting ground; they considered American hunters there to be poachers. Boone, undeterred, continued hunting and exploring in Kentucky. On one occasion, he shot a man to avoid capture, which historian John Mack Faragher says "was one of the few Indians that Boone acknowledged killing." Boone returned to North Carolina in 1771, but came back to hunt in Kentucky in the autumn of 1772.
In 1773, Boone packed up his family and, with his brother, Squire, and a group of about 50 others, began the first attempt by British colonists to establish a settlement. Boone was still an obscure figure at the time; the most prominent member of the expedition was William Russell, a well-known Virginian and future brother-in-law of Patrick Henry. Another member of this expedition was Boone's friend and fellow long-hunter, Michael Stoner.
Included in this group were an unknown number of enslaved Blacks, including Charles and Adam. On October 9, Boone's oldest son, James, and several whites as well as Charles and Adam left the main party to seek provisions in a nearby settlement. They were attacked by a band of Delawares, Shawnees, and Cherokees. Following the Fort Stanwix treaty, American Indians in the region had been debating what do to about the influx of settlers. This group had decided, in the words of Faragher, "to send a message of their opposition to settlement". James Boone and William Russell's son, Henry, were tortured and killed. Charles was captured. Adam witnessed the horror concealed in riverbank driftwood. After wandering In the woods for 11 days, Adam located the group and informed Boone of the circumstances of their deaths. Charles's body was found by the pioneers 40 miles from the abduction site, dead from a blow to his head. The brutality of the killings sent shockwaves along the frontier, and Boone's party abandoned their expedition.
The attack was one of the first events in what became known as Dunmore's War, a struggle between Virginia and American Indians for control of what is now West Virginia and Kentucky. In the summer of 1774, Boone traveled with a companion to Kentucky to notify surveyors there about the outbreak of war. They journeyed more than in two months to warn those who had not already fled the region. Upon his return to Virginia, Boone helped defend colonial settlements along the Clinch River, earning a promotion to captain in the militia, as well as acclaim from fellow citizens. After the brief war, which ended soon after Virginia's victory in the Battle of Point Pleasant in October 1774, the Shawnees relinquished their claims to Kentucky.
Following Dunmore's War, Richard Henderson, a prominent judge from North Carolina, hired Boone to help establish a colony to be called Transylvania. Boone traveled to several Cherokee towns and invited them to a meeting, held at Sycamore Shoals in March 1775, where Henderson purchased the Cherokee claim to Kentucky.
Boone then blazed "Boone's Trace," later known as the Wilderness Road, through the Cumberland Gap and into central Kentucky. Sam, an enslaved black “body servant,” and other enslaved laborers were among this group of settlers. When this group camped near the present day Richmond, KY, Indians attacked, killing Sam and his enslaver. After driving off the attackers, the party buried the two men side by side.
He founded Boonesborough along the Kentucky River; other settlements, notably Harrodsburg, were also established at this time. Despite occasional Indian attacks, Boone brought his family and other settlers to Boonesborough on September 8, 1775.
American Revolution
Violence in Kentucky increased with the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783). American Indians who were unhappy about the loss of Kentucky in treaties saw the war as a chance to drive out the colonists. Isolated settlers and hunters became the frequent target of attacks, convincing many to abandon Kentucky. By late spring of 1776, Boone and his family were among the fewer than 200 colonists who remained in Kentucky, primarily at the fortified settlements of Boonesborough, Harrodsburg, and Logan's Station.
On July 14, 1776, Boone's daughter Jemima and two other girls were captured outside Boonesborough by an Indian war party, who carried the girls north toward the Shawnee towns in the Ohio country. Boone and a group of men from Boonesborough followed in pursuit, finally catching up with them two days later. Boone and his men ambushed the Indians, rescuing the girls and driving off their captors. The incident became the most celebrated event of Boone's life. James Fenimore Cooper created a fictionalized version of the episode in his classic novel The Last of the Mohicans (1826).
In 1777, Henry Hamilton, British Lieutenant Governor of Canada, began to recruit American Indian war parties to raid the Kentucky settlements. That same year in March, the newly formed militia of Kentucky County, VA mustered in Boonesborough, whose population included ten to 15 enslaved people. On April 24, 1778, the British-allied Shawnees led by Chief Blackfish mounted the siege of Boonesborough. Armed enslaved men fought alongside their enslavers at the fort's walls. After going beyond the fort walls to engage the attackers, London, one of the enslaved, was killed.
Boone was shot in the ankle while outside the fort but, amid a flurry of bullets, he was carried back inside by Simon Kenton, a recent arrival at Boonesborough. Kenton became Boone's close friend, as well as a legendary frontiersman in his own right.
Capture and court-martial
While Boone recovered, Shawnees kept up their attacks outside Boonesborough, killing cattle and destroying crops. With food running low, the settlers needed salt to preserve what meat they had, so in January 1778, Boone led a party of 30 men to the salt springs on the Licking River. On February 7, when Boone was hunting meat for the expedition, he was captured by Blackfish's warriors. Because Boone's party was greatly outnumbered, Boone returned to camp the next day with Blackfish and persuaded his men to surrender rather than put up a fight.
Blackfish intended to move on to Boonesborough and capture it, but Boone argued the women and children would not survive a winter trek as prisoners back to the Shawnee villages. Instead, Boone promised that Boonesborough would surrender willingly the following spring. Boone did not have an opportunity to tell his men that he was bluffing to prevent an immediate attack on Boonesborough. Boone pursued this strategy so convincingly some of his men concluded he had switched sides, an impression that led to his court-martial (see below).
Many of the Shawnees wanted to execute the prisoners in retaliation for the recent murder of Shawnee Chief Cornstalk by Virginia militiamen. Because Shawnee chiefs led by seeking consensus, Blackfish held a council. After an impassioned speech by Boone, the warriors voted to spare the prisoners. Although Boone had saved his men, Blackfish pointed out that Boone had not included himself in the agreement, so Boone was forced to run the gauntlet through the warriors, which he survived with minor injuries.
Boone and his men were taken to Blackfish's town of Chillicothe. As was their custom, the Shawnees adopted some of the prisoners to replace fallen warriors. Boone was adopted into a Shawnee family at Chillicothe, perhaps into Blackfish's family, and given the name Sheltowee (Big Turtle). In March 1778, the Shawnees took the unadopted prisoners to Governor Hamilton in Detroit. Blackfish brought Boone along, though he refused Hamilton's offers to release Boone to the British. Hamilton gave Boone gifts, attempting to win his loyalty, while Boone continued to pretend that he intended to surrender Boonesborough. Boone returned with Blackfish to Chillicothe. On June 16, 1778, when he learned Blackfish was about to return to Boonesborough with a large force, Boone eluded his captors and raced home, covering the to Boonesborough in five days on horseback and, after his horse gave out, on foot. Biographer Robert Morgan calls Boone's escape and return "one of the great legends of frontier history."
Upon Boone's return to Boonesborough, some of the men expressed doubts about Boone's loyalty, since he had apparently lived happily among the Shawnees for months. Boone responded by leading a preemptive raid against the Shawnees across the Ohio River, and then by helping to successfully defend Boonesborough against a 10-day siege led by Blackfish, which began on September 7, 1778. After the siege, Captain Benjamin Logan and Colonel Richard Callaway—both of whom had nephews who were still captives surrendered by Boone—brought charges against Boone for his recent activities. In the court-martial that followed, Boone was found "not guilty," and was even promoted after the court heard his testimony. Despite this vindication, Boone was humiliated by the court-martial, and he rarely spoke of it.
Final years of the Revolution
After the trial, Boone returned to North Carolina to bring his family back to Kentucky. In the autumn of 1779, a large party of emigrants came with him, including the family of Captain Abraham Lincoln, grandfather of the future president. Rather than remain in Boonesborough, Boone founded the nearby settlement of Boone's Station. He began earning money by locating good land for other settlers. Transylvania land claims had been invalidated after Virginia created Kentucky County, so settlers needed to file new land claims with Virginia. In 1780, Boone collected about $20,000 in cash from various settlers and traveled to Williamsburg to purchase their land warrants. While he was sleeping in a tavern during the trip, the cash was stolen from his room. Some of the settlers forgave Boone the loss; others insisted he repay the stolen money, which took him several years to do.
In contrast to the later folk image of Boone as a backwoodsman who had little affinity for "civilized" society, Boone was a leading citizen of Kentucky at this time. When Kentucky was divided into three Virginia counties in November 1780, Boone was promoted to lieutenant colonel in the Fayette County militia. In April 1781, he was elected as a representative to the Virginia General Assembly, which was held in Richmond. In 1782, he was elected sheriff of Fayette County.
Meanwhile, the American Revolutionary War continued. Boone joined General George Rogers Clark's invasion of the Ohio country in 1780, fighting in the Battle of Piqua against the Shawnee on August 7. On the way home from the campaign, Boone was hunting with his brother Ned when Shawnees shot and killed Ned, who resembled Daniel. The Shawnees beheaded Ned, believing him to be Daniel, and took the head as evidence that Daniel Boone had finally been slain.
In 1781, Boone traveled to Richmond to take his seat in the legislature, but British dragoons under Banastre Tarleton captured Boone and several other legislators near Charlottesville. The British released Boone on parole several days later. During Boone's term, Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown in October 1781, but the fighting continued in Kentucky. Boone returned to Kentucky and in August 1782 fought in the Battle of Blue Licks, a disastrous defeat for the Kentuckians in which Boone's son Israel was killed. In November 1782, Boone took part in another Clark-led expedition into Ohio, the last major campaign of the war.
Businessman and politician
After the Revolutionary War ended, Boone resettled in Limestone (later renamed Maysville, Kentucky), then a booming Ohio River port. He kept a tavern and worked as a surveyor, horse trader, and land speculator. In 1784, on Boone’s 50th birthday, frontier historian John Filson published The Discovery, Settlement and Present State of Kentucke. The popular book included a chronicle of Boone's adventures, which made Boone a celebrity.
As settlers poured into Kentucky, the border war with American Indians north of the Ohio River resumed. In September 1786, Boone took part in a military expedition into the Ohio Country led by Benjamin Logan. Returning to Limestone, Boone housed and fed Shawnees who were captured during the raid, and helped to negotiate a truce and prisoner exchange. Although the war would not end until the American victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers eight years later, the 1786 expedition was the last time Boone saw military action.
Boone was initially prosperous in Limestone, owning seven slaves, a relatively large number for Kentucky at the time. In 1786, he purchased a Pennsylvania enslaved woman, age of about 20, for “Ninety poundes Current Lawfull (sic) money.”. A leader, he served as militia colonel, sheriff, and county coroner. In 1787, he was again elected to the Virginia state assembly, this time from Bourbon County. He began to have financial troubles after engaging in land speculation, buying and selling claims to tens of thousands of acres. These ventures ultimately failed because of the chaotic nature of land speculation in frontier Kentucky and Boone’s poor business instincts. Frustrated with the legal hassles that went with land speculation, in 1789 Boone moved upriver to Point Pleasant, Virginia (now West Virginia). There he operated a trading post and occasionally worked as a surveyor's assistant. That same year, when Virginia created Kanawha County, Boone became the lieutenant colonel of the county militia. In 1791, he was elected to the Virginia legislature for the third time. He contracted to provide supplies for the Kanawha militia, but his debts prevented him from buying goods on credit, so he closed his store and returned to hunting and trapping, though he was often hampered by rheumatism.
In 1795, Boone and his wife moved back to Kentucky, on land owned by their son Daniel Morgan Boone in what became Nicholas County. The next year, Boone applied to Isaac Shelby, the first governor of the new state of Kentucky, for a contract to widen the Wilderness Road into a wagon route, but the contract was awarded to someone else. Meanwhile, lawsuits over conflicting land claims continued to make their way through the Kentucky courts. Boone's remaining land claims were sold off to pay legal fees and taxes, but he no longer paid attention to the process. In 1798, a warrant was issued for Boone's arrest after he ignored a summons to testify in a court case, although the sheriff never found him. That same year, the Kentucky assembly named Boone County in his honor.
Into Missouri
Having endured legal and financial setbacks, Boone sought to make a fresh start by leaving the United States. In 1799, he moved his extended family to what is now St. Charles County, Missouri, but was then part of Spanish Louisiana. The Spanish, eager to promote settlement in the sparsely populated region, did not enforce the official requirement that all immigrants be Catholic. The Spanish governor appointed Boone "syndic" (judge and jury) and commandant (military leader) of the Femme Osage district. Anecdotes of Boone's tenure as syndic suggest he sought to render fair judgments rather than strictly observe the letter of the law.
Boone served as syndic and commandant until 1804, when Missouri became part of the United States following the Louisiana Purchase. He was appointed captain of the local militia. Because Boone's land grants from the Spanish government had been largely based on oral agreements, he again lost his land claims. In 1809, he petitioned Congress to restore his Spanish land claims, which was finally done in 1814. Boone sold most of this land to repay old Kentucky debts. When the War of 1812 came to Missouri, Boone's sons Daniel Morgan Boone and Nathan Boone took part, but by that time Boone was much too old for militia duty.
Although Boone reportedly vowed never to return to Kentucky after moving to Missouri, stories (possibly folk tales) were told of him making one last visit to Kentucky to pay off his creditors. American painter John James Audubon claimed to have gone hunting with Boone in Kentucky around 1810. Years later, Audubon painted a portrait of Boone, supposedly from memory, although skeptics noted the similarity of his painting to the well-known portraits by Chester Harding. Some historians believe Boone visited his brother Squire near Kentucky in 1810 and have accepted the veracity of Audubon's account.
Boone spent his final years in Missouri, often in the company of children and grandchildren. He continued to hunt and trap as much as his health and energy levels permitted, intruding upon the territory of the Osage tribe, who once captured him and confiscated his furs. In 1810, at the age of 76, he went with a group on a six-month hunt up the Missouri River, reportedly as far as the Yellowstone River, a round trip of more than 2,000 miles. He began one of his final trapping expeditions in 1815, in the company of a Shawnee and Derry Coburn, a slave who was frequently with Boone in his final years. They reached Fort Osage in 1816, where an officer wrote, "We have been honored by a visit from Col. Boone... He has taken part in all the wars of America, from Braddock's war to the present hour," but "he prefers the woods, where you see him in the dress of the roughest, poorest hunter."
Death and burial
Boone died on September 26, 1820, at his son Nathan Boone's home on Femme Osage Creek, Missouri. He was buried next to Rebecca, who had died on March 18, 1813. The graves, which were unmarked until the mid-1830s, were near Jemima (Boone) Callaway's home on Tuque Creek, about two miles (3 km) from present-day Marthasville, Missouri.
In 1845, the Boones' remains were disinterred and reburied in a new cemetery in Frankfort, Kentucky. Resentment in Missouri about the disinterment grew over the years, and a legend arose that Boone's remains never left Missouri. According to this story, Boone's tombstone in Missouri had been inadvertently placed over the wrong grave, but no one had corrected the error. Boone's Missouri relatives, displeased with the Kentuckians who came to exhume Boone, kept quiet about the mistake and allowed the Kentuckians to dig up the wrong remains. No contemporary evidence indicates this actually happened, but in 1983, a forensic anthropologist examined a crude plaster cast of Boone's skull made before the Kentucky reburial and announced it might be the skull of an African American. Black slaves were also buried at Tuque Creek, so it is possible that the wrong remains were mistakenly removed from the crowded graveyard. Both the Frankfort Cemetery in Kentucky and the Old Bryan Farm graveyard in Missouri claim to have Boone's remains.
Legacy
Daniel Boone remains an iconic figure in American history, although his status as an early American folk hero and later as a subject of fiction has tended to obscure the actual details of his life. He emerged as a legend in large part because of John Filson's "The Adventures of Colonel Daniel Boon", part of his book The Discovery, Settlement and present State of Kentucke. First published in 1784, Filson's book was primarily intended to popularize Kentucky to immigrants. It was translated into French and German, and made Boone famous in America and Europe. Based on interviews with Boone, Filson's book contained a mostly factual account of Boone's adventures from the exploration of Kentucky through the American Revolution, although many have doubted if the florid, philosophical dialogue attributed to Boone was authentic. Often reprinted, Filson's book established Boone as one of the first popular heroes of the United States.
Timothy Flint also interviewed Boone, and his Biographical Memoir of Daniel Boone, the First Settler of Kentucky (1833) became one of the best-selling biographies of the 19th century. Flint embellished Boone's adventures, doing for Boone what Parson Weems did for George Washington. In Flint's book, Boone fought with a bear, escaped from Indians by swinging on vines (as Tarzan would later do), and so on. Although Boone's family thought the book was absurd, Flint greatly influenced the popular conception of Boone, since these tall tales were recycled in countless dime novels and books aimed at young boys.
Symbol and stereotype
Thanks to Filson's book, Boone became a symbol of the "natural man" who lives a virtuous, uncomplicated existence in the wilderness. This was famously expressed in Lord Byron's epic poem Don Juan (1822), which devoted a number of stanzas to Boone, including this one:
Byron's poem celebrated Boone as someone who found happiness by turning his back on civilization. In a similar vein, many folk tales depicted Boone as a man who migrated to more remote areas whenever civilization crowded in on him. In a typical anecdote, when asked why he was moving to Missouri, Boone supposedly replied, "I want more elbow room!" Boone rejected this interpretation. "Nothing embitters my old age," he said late in life, like "the circulation of absurd stories that I retire as civilization advances."
Existing simultaneously with the image of Boone as a refugee from society was, paradoxically, the popular portrayal of him as civilization's trailblazer. Boone was celebrated as an agent of Manifest Destiny, a pathfinder who tamed the wilderness, paving the way for the extension of American civilization. In 1852, critic Henry Tuckerman dubbed Boone "the Columbus of the woods," comparing Boone's passage through the Cumberland Gap to Christopher Columbus's voyage to the New World. In popular mythology, Boone became the first to explore and settle Kentucky, opening the way for countless others to follow. In fact, other Americans had explored Kentucky before Boone, as debunkers in the 20th century often pointed out, but Boone came to symbolize them all, making him what historian Michael Lofaro called "the founding father of westward expansion."
In the 19th century, when Native Americans were being displaced from their lands and confined on reservations, Boone's image was often reshaped into the stereotype of the belligerent, Indian-hating frontiersman which was then popular. In John A. McClung's Sketches of Western Adventure (1832), for example, Boone was portrayed as longing for the "thrilling excitement of savage warfare." Boone was transformed in the popular imagination into someone who regarded Indians with contempt and had killed scores of the "savages." The real Boone disliked bloodshed. According to historian John Bakeless, there is no record that Boone ever scalped Indians, unlike other frontiersmen of the era. Boone once told his son Nathan that he was certain of having killed only one Indian, during the battle at Blue Licks, although on another occasion he said, "I never killed but three." He expressed regret over the killings, saying the Indians "have always been kinder to me than the whites." Even though Boone had lost two sons and a brother in wars with Indians, he respected Indians and was respected by them. In Missouri, Boone went hunting with the Shawnees who had captured and adopted him decades earlier. Some 19th-century writers regarded Boone's sympathy for Indians as a character flaw and altered his words to conform to contemporary attitudes.
The character John Boone in Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy is inspired by Daniel Boone. In the story, John Boone is an American astronaut, the first human to walk on Mars in the year 2020. John Boone is one of the "First Hundred" colonists sent to permanently colonize Mars. His accomplishments and natural charm yield him an informal leadership role. After being assassinated, his larger-than-life persona plays a legendary role in the culture of colonized Mars.
Commemoration and portrayals
Many places in the United States are named for Boone, including the Daniel Boone National Forest in Kentucky and the Sheltowee Trace Trail in Tennessee. His name has long been synonymous with the American outdoors. The Boone and Crockett Club is a conservationist organization founded by Theodore Roosevelt in 1887, and the Sons of Daniel Boone was the precursor of the Boy Scouts of America. A half-dollar coin was minted in 1934 to mark the bicentennial of Boone’s birth; a commemorative stamp was issued in 1968.
Boone's adventures, real and mythical, formed the basis of the archetypal hero of the American West, popular in 19th-century novels and 20th-century films. The main character of James Fenimore Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales, the first of which was published in 1823, bore striking similarities to Boone; even his name, Nathaniel Bumppo, echoed Daniel Boone's name. As mentioned above, The Last of the Mohicans (1826), Cooper's second Leatherstocking novel, featured a fictionalized version of Boone's rescue of his daughter. After Cooper, other writers developed the Western hero, an iconic figure which began as a variation of Daniel Boone.
In the 20th century, Boone was featured in numerous comic strips, radio programs, novels, and films, such as the 1936 film Daniel Boone. Boone was the subject of a TV series that ran from 1964 to 1970. In the theme song for the series, Boone was described as a "big man" in a "coonskin cap," and the "rippin'est, roarin'est, fightin'est man the frontier ever knew!" This did not describe the real Boone, who was not a big man and did not wear a coonskin cap, which he thought uncouth and uncomfortable. Boone was portrayed this way in the TV series because Fess Parker, the tall actor who played him, was essentially reprising his role as Davy Crockett from an earlier TV series. That Boone could be portrayed the same way as Crockett, another American frontiersman with a very different personality, was another example of how Boone's image was reshaped to suit popular tastes. He was also the subject matter for the song sung by Ed Ames called "Daniel Boone". It was released in 1966.
In Blood and Treasure, released in 2021, authors Tom Clavin and Bob Drury painted a much broader historical portrait of Boone than has been commonly described.
The Taking of Jemima Boone by Matthew Pearl, published in 2021, is an account of the abduction of the daughter of Daniel Boone and, after her rescue by Boone, then shifts to the conflicts between Boone, his political rival Richard Callaway, and Shawnee leader Blackfish, with resulting impacts to the Western theater of the American Revolutionary War.
See also
Edward Morgan Log House
Daniel Boone Homestead
Daniel Boone School
Thomas S. Hinde, close friend of the Boone Family, neighbor in Kentucky, and interviewer of Boone
Boone's Cave Park
Daniel Boone National Forest
Boone Trail, between Virginia Beach, Virginia and San Francisco, California
References
Notes
Citations
Sources
The definitive Boone biography of its era, the first to make full use of the immense material collected by Lyman Draper.
Belue's notes provide a modern scholarly perspective to Draper's unfinished 19th century biography.
Guide to historical sites associated with Boone.
Further reading
Filson, John. The Discovery, Settlement and present State of Kentucke, including the "Appendix" life of Boone
Hammon, Neal O., ed. My Father, Daniel Boone: The Draper Interviews with Nathan Boone. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1999. .
Reid, Darren R., ed. Daniel Boone and Others on the Kentucky Frontier: Autobiographies and Narratives, 1769–1795. Jefferson: McFarland and Company, 2009. .
Personal papers of Daniel Boone at the Wisconsin Historical Society searchable 32-volume collection of Boone manuscripts and correspondence, part of the Lyman Draper collection
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People who were court-martialed
Tall tales | true | [
"Commonwealth v. Mitchneck, 130 Pa. Super. 433, 198 A. 463 (1938), is a criminal case involving the meaning of theft and ownership. Mitchneck operated a coal mine. Mitchneck's employees signed orders directing Mitchneck to deduct amounts from their wages to pay their bills at a store. Mitchneck did not pay their bills. Mitchneck was convicted of fraudulent conversion of the employee's money.\n\nThe Pennsylvania Superior Court reversed the conviction and ordered acquittal. The court found that although Mitchneck owed money to the employees, any money held by Mitchneck (if it ever existed) did not yet belong to the employees, since it never entered into their hands in order to transfer ownership. The court held that criminal court cannot be used as a substitute for civil court to collect a debt.\n\nThe court wrote,\n\n\"The defendant...had not received, nor did he have in his possession, any money belonging to his employees. True, he owed them money, but that did not transfer to them the title and ownership of the money... The money, if Mitchneck actually had it, of which there was no proof, was still his own, but, after he accepted the assignments, he owed the money to [the store] instead of to [the employees]... Failure to pay the amount due to the new creditor was not fraudulent conversion... Defendant's liability for the unpaid wages due to his employees was, and remained, civil, not criminal. His liability for the amounat due [to the store] after his agreement... was likewise civil and not criminal...\"\n\nReferences\n\n1938 in Pennsylvania\n1938 in law\nPennsylvania law",
"Yang Chunhong (, born 24 August 1987) is a Chinese retired goalball player. He won a gold medal at the 2008 Summer Paralympics.\n\nYang was from the mountains in Luquan Yi and Miao Autonomous County, Yunnan province. He was blinded by a doctor's steroid eyedrops which damaged his cornea when he was in the third year of junior high. Although his family won the medical malpractice lawsuit, it did not receive any compensation because the doctor did not have money. The family had to borrow money to pay for his eye surgery.\n\nReferences\n\nMale goalball players\n1987 births\nLiving people\nSportspeople from Kunming\nPeople from Luquan Yi and Miao Autonomous County\nParalympic goalball players of China\nParalympic gold medalists for China\nGoalball players at the 2008 Summer Paralympics\nMedalists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics\nParalympic medalists in goalball"
] |
[
"Daniel Boone",
"Businessman on the Ohio River",
"What were his businesses?",
"he kept a tavern and worked as a surveyor, horse trader, and land speculator.",
"Was he successful?",
"He was initially prosperous, owning seven slaves by 1787, a relatively large number for Kentucky at the time.",
"what happened to change his prosperity?",
"Boone the trailblazer was too unsophisticated for the civilization which followed him and which eventually defrauded him of his land.",
"what did he do after this happened?",
"Frustrated with the legal hassles that went with land speculation, in 1788, Boone moved upriver to Point Pleasant, Virginia (",
"What did he do there?",
"he operated a trading post and occasionally worked as a surveyor's assistant.",
"Did he take a more permanent position anywhere?",
"When Virginia created Kanawha County in 1789, Boone was appointed lieutenant colonel of the county militia.",
"How long was he lieutenant colonel?",
"When Virginia created Kanawha County in 1789, Boone was appointed lieutenant colonel of the county militia. In 1791, he was elected to the Virginia legislature for the third time.",
"Did he have any money issues?",
"He contracted to provide supplies for the Kanawha militia, but his debts prevented him from buying goods on credit,"
] | C_772cc11b9fe54084b4f80a51b869fc06_0 | was he able to resolve the problem? | 9 | was Daniel Boone able to resolve the problem of buying goods on credit? | Daniel Boone | After the Revolution, Boone resettled in Limestone (renamed Maysville, Kentucky in 1786), then a booming Ohio River port. In 1787, he was elected to the Virginia state assembly as a representative from Bourbon County. In Maysville, he kept a tavern and worked as a surveyor, horse trader, and land speculator. He was initially prosperous, owning seven slaves by 1787, a relatively large number for Kentucky at the time. Boone became a celebrity while living in Maysville. In 1784, on his 50th birthday, historian John Filson published The Discovery, Settlement And present State of Kentucke, a book which included a chronicle of Boone's adventures. The Revolutionary War had ended, but the border war with American Indians north of the Ohio River resumed with the Northwest Indian War. In September 1786, Boone took part in a military expedition into the Ohio Country led by Benjamin Logan. Back in Limestone, Boone housed and fed Shawnees who were captured during the raid, and helped to negotiate a truce and prisoner exchange. Although the war escalated and would not end until the American victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794, the 1786 expedition was the last time Boone saw military action. Boone began to have financial troubles while living in Maysville. According to the later folk image, Boone the trailblazer was too unsophisticated for the civilization which followed him and which eventually defrauded him of his land. Boone was not the simple frontiersman of legend, however: he engaged in land speculation on a large scale, buying and selling claims to tens of thousands of acres. The land market in frontier Kentucky was chaotic, and Boone's ventures ultimately failed because his investment strategy was faulty and because his sense of honor made him reluctant to profit at someone else's expense. According to Faragher, "Boone lacked the ruthless instincts that speculation demanded." Frustrated with the legal hassles that went with land speculation, in 1788, Boone moved upriver to Point Pleasant, Virginia (now West Virginia). There he operated a trading post and occasionally worked as a surveyor's assistant. When Virginia created Kanawha County in 1789, Boone was appointed lieutenant colonel of the county militia. In 1791, he was elected to the Virginia legislature for the third time. He contracted to provide supplies for the Kanawha militia, but his debts prevented him from buying goods on credit, so he closed his store and returned to hunting and trapping. In 1795, Rebecca and he moved back to Kentucky, living in present Nicholas County on land owned by their son Daniel Morgan Boone. The next year, Boone applied to Isaac Shelby, the first governor of the new state of Kentucky, for a contract to widen the Wilderness Road into a wagon route, but the contract was awarded to someone else. Meanwhile, lawsuits over conflicting land claims continued to make their way through the Kentucky courts. Boone's remaining land claims were sold off to pay legal fees and taxes, but he no longer paid attention to the process. In 1798, a warrant was issued for Boone's arrest after he ignored a summons to testify in a court case, although the sheriff never found him. That same year, the Kentucky assembly named Boone County in his honor. CANNOTANSWER | he closed his store and returned to hunting and trapping. | Daniel Boone (September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and frontiersman whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. Boone became famous for his exploration and settlement of what is now Kentucky, which was then beyond the western borders of the Thirteen Colonies. Despite resistance from American Indians, for whom Kentucky was a traditional hunting ground, in 1775 Boone blazed the Wilderness Road through the Cumberland Gap and into Kentucky. There he founded Boonesborough, one of the first English-speaking settlements west of the Appalachian Mountains. By the end of the 18th century, more than 200,000 people had entered Kentucky by following the route marked by Boone.
Boone served as a militia officer during the Revolutionary War (1775–1783), which, in Kentucky, was fought primarily between American settlers and British-allied American Indians. Boone was captured by Shawnees in 1778 and adopted into the tribe, but he escaped and continued to help defend the Kentucky settlements. He was elected to the first of his three terms in the Virginia General Assembly during the war, and fought in the Battle of Blue Licks in 1782, one of the last battles of the American Revolution. Boone worked as a surveyor and merchant after the war, but he went deep into debt as a Kentucky land speculator. Frustrated with legal problems resulting from his land claims, in 1799 Boone resettled in Missouri, where he spent most of the last two decades of his life.
Boone remains an iconic, if imperfectly remembered, figure in American history. He was a legend in his own lifetime, especially after an account of his adventures was published in 1784, making him famous in America and Europe. After his death, Boone became the subject of many heroic tall tales and works of fiction. His adventures—real and legendary—helped create the archetypal frontier hero of American folklore. In American popular culture, Boone is remembered as one of the foremost early frontiersmen, even though mythology often overshadows the historical details of his life.
Early life
Boone was born on October 22, 1734 ("New Style" November 2), the sixth of eleven children in a family of Quakers. His father, Squire Boone (1696–1765), had emigrated to colonial Pennsylvania from the small town of Bradninch, England, in 1713. Squire, a weaver and blacksmith, married Sarah Morgan (1700–1777), whose family were Quakers from Wales. In 1731, the Boones built a one-room log cabin in the Oley Valley in what is now Berks County, Pennsylvania, near present Reading, where Daniel was born.
Boone spent his early years on the Pennsylvania frontier, often interacting with American Indians. Boone learned to hunt from local settlers and Indians; by the age of fifteen, he had a reputation as one of the region’s best hunters. Many stories about Boone emphasize his hunting skills. In one tale, the young Boone was hunting in the woods with some other boys when the howl of a panther scattered all but Boone. He calmly cocked his rifle and shot the predator through the heart just as it leaped at him. The story may be a folktale, one of many that became part of Boone’s popular image.
In Boone's youth, his family became a source of controversy in the local Quaker community. In 1742, Boone's parents were compelled to publicly apologize after their eldest child Sarah married a "worldling", or non-Quaker, while she was visibly pregnant. When Boone's oldest brother Israel also married a "worldling" in 1747, Squire Boone stood by his son and was therefore expelled from the Quakers, although his wife continued to attend monthly meetings with her children. Perhaps as a result of this controversy, in 1750 Squire sold his land and moved the family to North Carolina. Daniel Boone did not attend church again, although he always considered himself a Christian and had all of his children baptized. The Boones eventually settled on the Yadkin River, in what is now Davie County, North Carolina, about two miles (3 km) west of Mocksville.
Boone received little formal education, since he preferred to spend his time hunting, apparently with his parents’ blessing. According to a family tradition, when a schoolteacher expressed concern over Boone's education, Boone's father said, "Let the girls do the spelling and Dan will do the shooting." Boone was tutored by family members, though his spelling remained unorthodox. Historian John Mack Faragher cautions that the folk image of Boone as semiliterate is misleading, arguing that Boone "acquired a level of literacy that was the equal of most men of his times." Boone regularly took reading material with him on his hunting expeditions—the Bible and Gulliver's Travels were favorites. He was often the only literate person in groups of frontiersmen, and would sometimes entertain his hunting companions by reading to them around the campfire.
Hunter, husband, and soldier
When the French and Indian War (1754–1763) broke out between the French, British, and their respective Indian allies, Boone joined a North Carolina militia company as a teamster and blacksmith. In 1755, his unit accompanied General Edward Braddock’s attempt to drive the French out of the Ohio Country, which ended in disaster at the Battle of the Monongahela. Boone, in the rear with the wagons, took no part in the battle, and fled with the retreating soldiers.
Boone returned home after the defeat, and on August 14, 1756, he married Rebecca Bryan, a neighbor in the Yadkin Valley. The couple initially lived in a cabin on his father's farm, and would eventually have ten children, in addition to raising eight children of deceased relatives.
In 1758, conflict erupted between British colonists and the Cherokees, their former allies in the French and Indian War. After the Yadkin Valley was raided by Cherokees, the Boones and many other families fled north to Culpeper County, Virginia. Boone saw action as a member of the North Carolina militia during this "Cherokee Uprising," periodically serving under Captain Hugh Waddell on the North Carolina frontier until 1760.
Boone supported his growing family in these years as a market hunter and trapper, collecting pelts for the fur trade. Almost every autumn, despite the unrest on the frontier, Boone would go on "long hunts", extended expeditions into the wilderness lasting weeks or months. Boone went alone or with a small group of men, accumulating hundreds of deer skins in the autumn, and trapping beaver and otter over the winter. When the long hunters returned in the spring, they sold their take to commercial fur traders. On their journeys, frontiersmen often carved messages on trees or wrote their names on cave walls, and Boone's name or initials have been found in many places. A tree in present Washington County, Tennessee, reads "D. Boon Cilled a. Bar on tree in the year 1760". A similar carving, preserved in the museum of the Filson Historical Society in Louisville, Kentucky, reads "D. Boon Kilt a Bar, 1803." The inscriptions may be genuine, or part of a long tradition of phony Boone relics.
According to a popular story, Boone returned home after a long absence to find Rebecca had given birth to a daughter. Rebecca confessed she had thought Daniel was dead, and that Boone’s brother had fathered the child. Boone did not blame Rebecca, and raised the girl as his own child. Boone's early biographers knew the story but did not publish it. Modern biographers regard the tale as possibly folklore, since the identity of the brother and the daughter vary in different versions of the tale.
In the mid-1760s, Boone began to look for a new place to settle. The population was growing in the Yadkin Valley, which decreased the amount of game available for hunting. Boone had difficulty making ends meet; he was often taken to court for nonpayment of debts. He sold what land he owned to pay off creditors. After his father's death in 1765, Boone traveled with a group of men to Florida, which had become British territory after the end of the war, to look into the possibility of settling there. According to a family story, Boone purchased land in Pensacola, but Rebecca refused to move so far away from friends and family. The Boones instead moved to a more remote area of the Yadkin Valley, and Boone began to hunt westward into the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Into Kentucky
Years before entering Kentucky, Boone had heard about the region’s fertile land and abundant game. In 1767, Boone and his brother Squire first crossed into what would become the state of Kentucky, but they failed to reach the rich hunting grounds. In May 1769, Boone set out again with a party of five others, beginning a two-year hunting expedition in which Boone thoroughly explored Kentucky. His first sighting of the Bluegrass region from atop Pilot Knob became "an icon of American history," and was the frequent subject of paintings.
On December 22, 1769, Boone and a fellow hunter were captured by a party of Shawnees, who confiscated all of their skins and told them to leave and never return. The Shawnees had not signed the 1768 Treaty of Fort Stanwix, in which the Iroquois had ceded their claim to Kentucky to the British. The Shawnees regarded Kentucky as their hunting ground; they considered American hunters there to be poachers. Boone, undeterred, continued hunting and exploring in Kentucky. On one occasion, he shot a man to avoid capture, which historian John Mack Faragher says "was one of the few Indians that Boone acknowledged killing." Boone returned to North Carolina in 1771, but came back to hunt in Kentucky in the autumn of 1772.
In 1773, Boone packed up his family and, with his brother, Squire, and a group of about 50 others, began the first attempt by British colonists to establish a settlement. Boone was still an obscure figure at the time; the most prominent member of the expedition was William Russell, a well-known Virginian and future brother-in-law of Patrick Henry. Another member of this expedition was Boone's friend and fellow long-hunter, Michael Stoner.
Included in this group were an unknown number of enslaved Blacks, including Charles and Adam. On October 9, Boone's oldest son, James, and several whites as well as Charles and Adam left the main party to seek provisions in a nearby settlement. They were attacked by a band of Delawares, Shawnees, and Cherokees. Following the Fort Stanwix treaty, American Indians in the region had been debating what do to about the influx of settlers. This group had decided, in the words of Faragher, "to send a message of their opposition to settlement". James Boone and William Russell's son, Henry, were tortured and killed. Charles was captured. Adam witnessed the horror concealed in riverbank driftwood. After wandering In the woods for 11 days, Adam located the group and informed Boone of the circumstances of their deaths. Charles's body was found by the pioneers 40 miles from the abduction site, dead from a blow to his head. The brutality of the killings sent shockwaves along the frontier, and Boone's party abandoned their expedition.
The attack was one of the first events in what became known as Dunmore's War, a struggle between Virginia and American Indians for control of what is now West Virginia and Kentucky. In the summer of 1774, Boone traveled with a companion to Kentucky to notify surveyors there about the outbreak of war. They journeyed more than in two months to warn those who had not already fled the region. Upon his return to Virginia, Boone helped defend colonial settlements along the Clinch River, earning a promotion to captain in the militia, as well as acclaim from fellow citizens. After the brief war, which ended soon after Virginia's victory in the Battle of Point Pleasant in October 1774, the Shawnees relinquished their claims to Kentucky.
Following Dunmore's War, Richard Henderson, a prominent judge from North Carolina, hired Boone to help establish a colony to be called Transylvania. Boone traveled to several Cherokee towns and invited them to a meeting, held at Sycamore Shoals in March 1775, where Henderson purchased the Cherokee claim to Kentucky.
Boone then blazed "Boone's Trace," later known as the Wilderness Road, through the Cumberland Gap and into central Kentucky. Sam, an enslaved black “body servant,” and other enslaved laborers were among this group of settlers. When this group camped near the present day Richmond, KY, Indians attacked, killing Sam and his enslaver. After driving off the attackers, the party buried the two men side by side.
He founded Boonesborough along the Kentucky River; other settlements, notably Harrodsburg, were also established at this time. Despite occasional Indian attacks, Boone brought his family and other settlers to Boonesborough on September 8, 1775.
American Revolution
Violence in Kentucky increased with the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783). American Indians who were unhappy about the loss of Kentucky in treaties saw the war as a chance to drive out the colonists. Isolated settlers and hunters became the frequent target of attacks, convincing many to abandon Kentucky. By late spring of 1776, Boone and his family were among the fewer than 200 colonists who remained in Kentucky, primarily at the fortified settlements of Boonesborough, Harrodsburg, and Logan's Station.
On July 14, 1776, Boone's daughter Jemima and two other girls were captured outside Boonesborough by an Indian war party, who carried the girls north toward the Shawnee towns in the Ohio country. Boone and a group of men from Boonesborough followed in pursuit, finally catching up with them two days later. Boone and his men ambushed the Indians, rescuing the girls and driving off their captors. The incident became the most celebrated event of Boone's life. James Fenimore Cooper created a fictionalized version of the episode in his classic novel The Last of the Mohicans (1826).
In 1777, Henry Hamilton, British Lieutenant Governor of Canada, began to recruit American Indian war parties to raid the Kentucky settlements. That same year in March, the newly formed militia of Kentucky County, VA mustered in Boonesborough, whose population included ten to 15 enslaved people. On April 24, 1778, the British-allied Shawnees led by Chief Blackfish mounted the siege of Boonesborough. Armed enslaved men fought alongside their enslavers at the fort's walls. After going beyond the fort walls to engage the attackers, London, one of the enslaved, was killed.
Boone was shot in the ankle while outside the fort but, amid a flurry of bullets, he was carried back inside by Simon Kenton, a recent arrival at Boonesborough. Kenton became Boone's close friend, as well as a legendary frontiersman in his own right.
Capture and court-martial
While Boone recovered, Shawnees kept up their attacks outside Boonesborough, killing cattle and destroying crops. With food running low, the settlers needed salt to preserve what meat they had, so in January 1778, Boone led a party of 30 men to the salt springs on the Licking River. On February 7, when Boone was hunting meat for the expedition, he was captured by Blackfish's warriors. Because Boone's party was greatly outnumbered, Boone returned to camp the next day with Blackfish and persuaded his men to surrender rather than put up a fight.
Blackfish intended to move on to Boonesborough and capture it, but Boone argued the women and children would not survive a winter trek as prisoners back to the Shawnee villages. Instead, Boone promised that Boonesborough would surrender willingly the following spring. Boone did not have an opportunity to tell his men that he was bluffing to prevent an immediate attack on Boonesborough. Boone pursued this strategy so convincingly some of his men concluded he had switched sides, an impression that led to his court-martial (see below).
Many of the Shawnees wanted to execute the prisoners in retaliation for the recent murder of Shawnee Chief Cornstalk by Virginia militiamen. Because Shawnee chiefs led by seeking consensus, Blackfish held a council. After an impassioned speech by Boone, the warriors voted to spare the prisoners. Although Boone had saved his men, Blackfish pointed out that Boone had not included himself in the agreement, so Boone was forced to run the gauntlet through the warriors, which he survived with minor injuries.
Boone and his men were taken to Blackfish's town of Chillicothe. As was their custom, the Shawnees adopted some of the prisoners to replace fallen warriors. Boone was adopted into a Shawnee family at Chillicothe, perhaps into Blackfish's family, and given the name Sheltowee (Big Turtle). In March 1778, the Shawnees took the unadopted prisoners to Governor Hamilton in Detroit. Blackfish brought Boone along, though he refused Hamilton's offers to release Boone to the British. Hamilton gave Boone gifts, attempting to win his loyalty, while Boone continued to pretend that he intended to surrender Boonesborough. Boone returned with Blackfish to Chillicothe. On June 16, 1778, when he learned Blackfish was about to return to Boonesborough with a large force, Boone eluded his captors and raced home, covering the to Boonesborough in five days on horseback and, after his horse gave out, on foot. Biographer Robert Morgan calls Boone's escape and return "one of the great legends of frontier history."
Upon Boone's return to Boonesborough, some of the men expressed doubts about Boone's loyalty, since he had apparently lived happily among the Shawnees for months. Boone responded by leading a preemptive raid against the Shawnees across the Ohio River, and then by helping to successfully defend Boonesborough against a 10-day siege led by Blackfish, which began on September 7, 1778. After the siege, Captain Benjamin Logan and Colonel Richard Callaway—both of whom had nephews who were still captives surrendered by Boone—brought charges against Boone for his recent activities. In the court-martial that followed, Boone was found "not guilty," and was even promoted after the court heard his testimony. Despite this vindication, Boone was humiliated by the court-martial, and he rarely spoke of it.
Final years of the Revolution
After the trial, Boone returned to North Carolina to bring his family back to Kentucky. In the autumn of 1779, a large party of emigrants came with him, including the family of Captain Abraham Lincoln, grandfather of the future president. Rather than remain in Boonesborough, Boone founded the nearby settlement of Boone's Station. He began earning money by locating good land for other settlers. Transylvania land claims had been invalidated after Virginia created Kentucky County, so settlers needed to file new land claims with Virginia. In 1780, Boone collected about $20,000 in cash from various settlers and traveled to Williamsburg to purchase their land warrants. While he was sleeping in a tavern during the trip, the cash was stolen from his room. Some of the settlers forgave Boone the loss; others insisted he repay the stolen money, which took him several years to do.
In contrast to the later folk image of Boone as a backwoodsman who had little affinity for "civilized" society, Boone was a leading citizen of Kentucky at this time. When Kentucky was divided into three Virginia counties in November 1780, Boone was promoted to lieutenant colonel in the Fayette County militia. In April 1781, he was elected as a representative to the Virginia General Assembly, which was held in Richmond. In 1782, he was elected sheriff of Fayette County.
Meanwhile, the American Revolutionary War continued. Boone joined General George Rogers Clark's invasion of the Ohio country in 1780, fighting in the Battle of Piqua against the Shawnee on August 7. On the way home from the campaign, Boone was hunting with his brother Ned when Shawnees shot and killed Ned, who resembled Daniel. The Shawnees beheaded Ned, believing him to be Daniel, and took the head as evidence that Daniel Boone had finally been slain.
In 1781, Boone traveled to Richmond to take his seat in the legislature, but British dragoons under Banastre Tarleton captured Boone and several other legislators near Charlottesville. The British released Boone on parole several days later. During Boone's term, Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown in October 1781, but the fighting continued in Kentucky. Boone returned to Kentucky and in August 1782 fought in the Battle of Blue Licks, a disastrous defeat for the Kentuckians in which Boone's son Israel was killed. In November 1782, Boone took part in another Clark-led expedition into Ohio, the last major campaign of the war.
Businessman and politician
After the Revolutionary War ended, Boone resettled in Limestone (later renamed Maysville, Kentucky), then a booming Ohio River port. He kept a tavern and worked as a surveyor, horse trader, and land speculator. In 1784, on Boone’s 50th birthday, frontier historian John Filson published The Discovery, Settlement and Present State of Kentucke. The popular book included a chronicle of Boone's adventures, which made Boone a celebrity.
As settlers poured into Kentucky, the border war with American Indians north of the Ohio River resumed. In September 1786, Boone took part in a military expedition into the Ohio Country led by Benjamin Logan. Returning to Limestone, Boone housed and fed Shawnees who were captured during the raid, and helped to negotiate a truce and prisoner exchange. Although the war would not end until the American victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers eight years later, the 1786 expedition was the last time Boone saw military action.
Boone was initially prosperous in Limestone, owning seven slaves, a relatively large number for Kentucky at the time. In 1786, he purchased a Pennsylvania enslaved woman, age of about 20, for “Ninety poundes Current Lawfull (sic) money.”. A leader, he served as militia colonel, sheriff, and county coroner. In 1787, he was again elected to the Virginia state assembly, this time from Bourbon County. He began to have financial troubles after engaging in land speculation, buying and selling claims to tens of thousands of acres. These ventures ultimately failed because of the chaotic nature of land speculation in frontier Kentucky and Boone’s poor business instincts. Frustrated with the legal hassles that went with land speculation, in 1789 Boone moved upriver to Point Pleasant, Virginia (now West Virginia). There he operated a trading post and occasionally worked as a surveyor's assistant. That same year, when Virginia created Kanawha County, Boone became the lieutenant colonel of the county militia. In 1791, he was elected to the Virginia legislature for the third time. He contracted to provide supplies for the Kanawha militia, but his debts prevented him from buying goods on credit, so he closed his store and returned to hunting and trapping, though he was often hampered by rheumatism.
In 1795, Boone and his wife moved back to Kentucky, on land owned by their son Daniel Morgan Boone in what became Nicholas County. The next year, Boone applied to Isaac Shelby, the first governor of the new state of Kentucky, for a contract to widen the Wilderness Road into a wagon route, but the contract was awarded to someone else. Meanwhile, lawsuits over conflicting land claims continued to make their way through the Kentucky courts. Boone's remaining land claims were sold off to pay legal fees and taxes, but he no longer paid attention to the process. In 1798, a warrant was issued for Boone's arrest after he ignored a summons to testify in a court case, although the sheriff never found him. That same year, the Kentucky assembly named Boone County in his honor.
Into Missouri
Having endured legal and financial setbacks, Boone sought to make a fresh start by leaving the United States. In 1799, he moved his extended family to what is now St. Charles County, Missouri, but was then part of Spanish Louisiana. The Spanish, eager to promote settlement in the sparsely populated region, did not enforce the official requirement that all immigrants be Catholic. The Spanish governor appointed Boone "syndic" (judge and jury) and commandant (military leader) of the Femme Osage district. Anecdotes of Boone's tenure as syndic suggest he sought to render fair judgments rather than strictly observe the letter of the law.
Boone served as syndic and commandant until 1804, when Missouri became part of the United States following the Louisiana Purchase. He was appointed captain of the local militia. Because Boone's land grants from the Spanish government had been largely based on oral agreements, he again lost his land claims. In 1809, he petitioned Congress to restore his Spanish land claims, which was finally done in 1814. Boone sold most of this land to repay old Kentucky debts. When the War of 1812 came to Missouri, Boone's sons Daniel Morgan Boone and Nathan Boone took part, but by that time Boone was much too old for militia duty.
Although Boone reportedly vowed never to return to Kentucky after moving to Missouri, stories (possibly folk tales) were told of him making one last visit to Kentucky to pay off his creditors. American painter John James Audubon claimed to have gone hunting with Boone in Kentucky around 1810. Years later, Audubon painted a portrait of Boone, supposedly from memory, although skeptics noted the similarity of his painting to the well-known portraits by Chester Harding. Some historians believe Boone visited his brother Squire near Kentucky in 1810 and have accepted the veracity of Audubon's account.
Boone spent his final years in Missouri, often in the company of children and grandchildren. He continued to hunt and trap as much as his health and energy levels permitted, intruding upon the territory of the Osage tribe, who once captured him and confiscated his furs. In 1810, at the age of 76, he went with a group on a six-month hunt up the Missouri River, reportedly as far as the Yellowstone River, a round trip of more than 2,000 miles. He began one of his final trapping expeditions in 1815, in the company of a Shawnee and Derry Coburn, a slave who was frequently with Boone in his final years. They reached Fort Osage in 1816, where an officer wrote, "We have been honored by a visit from Col. Boone... He has taken part in all the wars of America, from Braddock's war to the present hour," but "he prefers the woods, where you see him in the dress of the roughest, poorest hunter."
Death and burial
Boone died on September 26, 1820, at his son Nathan Boone's home on Femme Osage Creek, Missouri. He was buried next to Rebecca, who had died on March 18, 1813. The graves, which were unmarked until the mid-1830s, were near Jemima (Boone) Callaway's home on Tuque Creek, about two miles (3 km) from present-day Marthasville, Missouri.
In 1845, the Boones' remains were disinterred and reburied in a new cemetery in Frankfort, Kentucky. Resentment in Missouri about the disinterment grew over the years, and a legend arose that Boone's remains never left Missouri. According to this story, Boone's tombstone in Missouri had been inadvertently placed over the wrong grave, but no one had corrected the error. Boone's Missouri relatives, displeased with the Kentuckians who came to exhume Boone, kept quiet about the mistake and allowed the Kentuckians to dig up the wrong remains. No contemporary evidence indicates this actually happened, but in 1983, a forensic anthropologist examined a crude plaster cast of Boone's skull made before the Kentucky reburial and announced it might be the skull of an African American. Black slaves were also buried at Tuque Creek, so it is possible that the wrong remains were mistakenly removed from the crowded graveyard. Both the Frankfort Cemetery in Kentucky and the Old Bryan Farm graveyard in Missouri claim to have Boone's remains.
Legacy
Daniel Boone remains an iconic figure in American history, although his status as an early American folk hero and later as a subject of fiction has tended to obscure the actual details of his life. He emerged as a legend in large part because of John Filson's "The Adventures of Colonel Daniel Boon", part of his book The Discovery, Settlement and present State of Kentucke. First published in 1784, Filson's book was primarily intended to popularize Kentucky to immigrants. It was translated into French and German, and made Boone famous in America and Europe. Based on interviews with Boone, Filson's book contained a mostly factual account of Boone's adventures from the exploration of Kentucky through the American Revolution, although many have doubted if the florid, philosophical dialogue attributed to Boone was authentic. Often reprinted, Filson's book established Boone as one of the first popular heroes of the United States.
Timothy Flint also interviewed Boone, and his Biographical Memoir of Daniel Boone, the First Settler of Kentucky (1833) became one of the best-selling biographies of the 19th century. Flint embellished Boone's adventures, doing for Boone what Parson Weems did for George Washington. In Flint's book, Boone fought with a bear, escaped from Indians by swinging on vines (as Tarzan would later do), and so on. Although Boone's family thought the book was absurd, Flint greatly influenced the popular conception of Boone, since these tall tales were recycled in countless dime novels and books aimed at young boys.
Symbol and stereotype
Thanks to Filson's book, Boone became a symbol of the "natural man" who lives a virtuous, uncomplicated existence in the wilderness. This was famously expressed in Lord Byron's epic poem Don Juan (1822), which devoted a number of stanzas to Boone, including this one:
Byron's poem celebrated Boone as someone who found happiness by turning his back on civilization. In a similar vein, many folk tales depicted Boone as a man who migrated to more remote areas whenever civilization crowded in on him. In a typical anecdote, when asked why he was moving to Missouri, Boone supposedly replied, "I want more elbow room!" Boone rejected this interpretation. "Nothing embitters my old age," he said late in life, like "the circulation of absurd stories that I retire as civilization advances."
Existing simultaneously with the image of Boone as a refugee from society was, paradoxically, the popular portrayal of him as civilization's trailblazer. Boone was celebrated as an agent of Manifest Destiny, a pathfinder who tamed the wilderness, paving the way for the extension of American civilization. In 1852, critic Henry Tuckerman dubbed Boone "the Columbus of the woods," comparing Boone's passage through the Cumberland Gap to Christopher Columbus's voyage to the New World. In popular mythology, Boone became the first to explore and settle Kentucky, opening the way for countless others to follow. In fact, other Americans had explored Kentucky before Boone, as debunkers in the 20th century often pointed out, but Boone came to symbolize them all, making him what historian Michael Lofaro called "the founding father of westward expansion."
In the 19th century, when Native Americans were being displaced from their lands and confined on reservations, Boone's image was often reshaped into the stereotype of the belligerent, Indian-hating frontiersman which was then popular. In John A. McClung's Sketches of Western Adventure (1832), for example, Boone was portrayed as longing for the "thrilling excitement of savage warfare." Boone was transformed in the popular imagination into someone who regarded Indians with contempt and had killed scores of the "savages." The real Boone disliked bloodshed. According to historian John Bakeless, there is no record that Boone ever scalped Indians, unlike other frontiersmen of the era. Boone once told his son Nathan that he was certain of having killed only one Indian, during the battle at Blue Licks, although on another occasion he said, "I never killed but three." He expressed regret over the killings, saying the Indians "have always been kinder to me than the whites." Even though Boone had lost two sons and a brother in wars with Indians, he respected Indians and was respected by them. In Missouri, Boone went hunting with the Shawnees who had captured and adopted him decades earlier. Some 19th-century writers regarded Boone's sympathy for Indians as a character flaw and altered his words to conform to contemporary attitudes.
The character John Boone in Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy is inspired by Daniel Boone. In the story, John Boone is an American astronaut, the first human to walk on Mars in the year 2020. John Boone is one of the "First Hundred" colonists sent to permanently colonize Mars. His accomplishments and natural charm yield him an informal leadership role. After being assassinated, his larger-than-life persona plays a legendary role in the culture of colonized Mars.
Commemoration and portrayals
Many places in the United States are named for Boone, including the Daniel Boone National Forest in Kentucky and the Sheltowee Trace Trail in Tennessee. His name has long been synonymous with the American outdoors. The Boone and Crockett Club is a conservationist organization founded by Theodore Roosevelt in 1887, and the Sons of Daniel Boone was the precursor of the Boy Scouts of America. A half-dollar coin was minted in 1934 to mark the bicentennial of Boone’s birth; a commemorative stamp was issued in 1968.
Boone's adventures, real and mythical, formed the basis of the archetypal hero of the American West, popular in 19th-century novels and 20th-century films. The main character of James Fenimore Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales, the first of which was published in 1823, bore striking similarities to Boone; even his name, Nathaniel Bumppo, echoed Daniel Boone's name. As mentioned above, The Last of the Mohicans (1826), Cooper's second Leatherstocking novel, featured a fictionalized version of Boone's rescue of his daughter. After Cooper, other writers developed the Western hero, an iconic figure which began as a variation of Daniel Boone.
In the 20th century, Boone was featured in numerous comic strips, radio programs, novels, and films, such as the 1936 film Daniel Boone. Boone was the subject of a TV series that ran from 1964 to 1970. In the theme song for the series, Boone was described as a "big man" in a "coonskin cap," and the "rippin'est, roarin'est, fightin'est man the frontier ever knew!" This did not describe the real Boone, who was not a big man and did not wear a coonskin cap, which he thought uncouth and uncomfortable. Boone was portrayed this way in the TV series because Fess Parker, the tall actor who played him, was essentially reprising his role as Davy Crockett from an earlier TV series. That Boone could be portrayed the same way as Crockett, another American frontiersman with a very different personality, was another example of how Boone's image was reshaped to suit popular tastes. He was also the subject matter for the song sung by Ed Ames called "Daniel Boone". It was released in 1966.
In Blood and Treasure, released in 2021, authors Tom Clavin and Bob Drury painted a much broader historical portrait of Boone than has been commonly described.
The Taking of Jemima Boone by Matthew Pearl, published in 2021, is an account of the abduction of the daughter of Daniel Boone and, after her rescue by Boone, then shifts to the conflicts between Boone, his political rival Richard Callaway, and Shawnee leader Blackfish, with resulting impacts to the Western theater of the American Revolutionary War.
See also
Edward Morgan Log House
Daniel Boone Homestead
Daniel Boone School
Thomas S. Hinde, close friend of the Boone Family, neighbor in Kentucky, and interviewer of Boone
Boone's Cave Park
Daniel Boone National Forest
Boone Trail, between Virginia Beach, Virginia and San Francisco, California
References
Notes
Citations
Sources
The definitive Boone biography of its era, the first to make full use of the immense material collected by Lyman Draper.
Belue's notes provide a modern scholarly perspective to Draper's unfinished 19th century biography.
Guide to historical sites associated with Boone.
Further reading
Filson, John. The Discovery, Settlement and present State of Kentucke, including the "Appendix" life of Boone
Hammon, Neal O., ed. My Father, Daniel Boone: The Draper Interviews with Nathan Boone. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1999. .
Reid, Darren R., ed. Daniel Boone and Others on the Kentucky Frontier: Autobiographies and Narratives, 1769–1795. Jefferson: McFarland and Company, 2009. .
Personal papers of Daniel Boone at the Wisconsin Historical Society searchable 32-volume collection of Boone manuscripts and correspondence, part of the Lyman Draper collection
1734 births
1820 deaths
American explorers
American folklore
American hunters
American people of English descent
American people of Welsh descent
American slave owners
American surveyors
Kentucky pioneers
Appalachian people
Boone County, Missouri
Daniel
Burials at Frankfort Cemetery
Captives of Native Americans
Hall of Fame for Great Americans inductees
Kentucky militiamen in the American Revolution
Members of the Virginia House of Delegates
Mountain men
People of colonial Pennsylvania
People from Berks County, Pennsylvania
People from Kentucky
People from St. Charles County, Missouri
People of Pennsylvania in the French and Indian War
People of Kentucky in the American Revolution
People who were court-martialed
Tall tales | false | [
"Claris Resolve was a spreadsheet computer program for the Apple Macintosh. It was released by Claris in 1991 and sold until 1994.\n\nIn an effort to flesh out their software suite, in the early 1990s Claris wanted to introduce a spreadsheet application, and decided to buy an existing one. This was not particularly difficult, as Informix had essentially abandoned the Mac version of WingZ, and Claris was able to purchase the non-exclusive rights to the codebase. After changing the interface to conform to their new \"Pro\" line of product's GUI, they released it at the MacWorld Expo Boston on June 6, 1991, as Resolve.\n\nResolve supports a worksheet size of more than one billion cells and includes 149 built-in functions that allow users to create financial, statistical and mathematical models. Resolve also contains object-oriented, MacDraw-like drawing tools for combining illustrations, clip art, text, charts and numbers in reports. Resolve also included WingZ scripting language, renamed Resolve Script. Resolve also offered 3D charting that Wingz was the first to bring on Macintosh.\n\nResolve failed to gain significant market share due to Microsoft Excel, which also stopped Lotus 1-2-3 becoming popular on the Macintosh. This led to disappointing sales, and in 1993 development was stopped. On 31 March 1994 Claris stopped selling Resolve, the program was supported up until 31 March 1995. Claris suggested existing Resolve users to upgrade to the spreadsheet module of ClarisWorks.\n\nReception\n\nResolve 1.0v3 got mice (out of 5) in June 1992 issue of MacUser, praising the familiar interface and the scripting.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n TidBITS#76/12-Aug-91 Claris Resolve introduction information\n TidBITS#216/07-Mar-94 Claris Resolve discontinuation info\n Claris Resolve Information and Screenshots on knubbelmac.de\n\nMacintosh-only software\nSpreadsheet software",
"Yu Qin (, 1284–1333) was a Chinese geographer of the Yuan dynasty. In 1319, he was appointed the official of Jinan to resolve the starvation problem caused by bad harvesting. He started to write the geography book Qi Sheng during this period, which was the oldest known geography book about Shandong Province.\n\nChinese geographers\n1284 births\n1333 deaths\nYuan dynasty politicians\nPolitical office-holders in Shandong"
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"Daniel Boone",
"Businessman on the Ohio River",
"What were his businesses?",
"he kept a tavern and worked as a surveyor, horse trader, and land speculator.",
"Was he successful?",
"He was initially prosperous, owning seven slaves by 1787, a relatively large number for Kentucky at the time.",
"what happened to change his prosperity?",
"Boone the trailblazer was too unsophisticated for the civilization which followed him and which eventually defrauded him of his land.",
"what did he do after this happened?",
"Frustrated with the legal hassles that went with land speculation, in 1788, Boone moved upriver to Point Pleasant, Virginia (",
"What did he do there?",
"he operated a trading post and occasionally worked as a surveyor's assistant.",
"Did he take a more permanent position anywhere?",
"When Virginia created Kanawha County in 1789, Boone was appointed lieutenant colonel of the county militia.",
"How long was he lieutenant colonel?",
"When Virginia created Kanawha County in 1789, Boone was appointed lieutenant colonel of the county militia. In 1791, he was elected to the Virginia legislature for the third time.",
"Did he have any money issues?",
"He contracted to provide supplies for the Kanawha militia, but his debts prevented him from buying goods on credit,",
"was he able to resolve the problem?",
"he closed his store and returned to hunting and trapping."
] | C_772cc11b9fe54084b4f80a51b869fc06_0 | anything else significant happen? | 10 | anything else significant happen to Daniel Boone other than returning to hunting and trapping? | Daniel Boone | After the Revolution, Boone resettled in Limestone (renamed Maysville, Kentucky in 1786), then a booming Ohio River port. In 1787, he was elected to the Virginia state assembly as a representative from Bourbon County. In Maysville, he kept a tavern and worked as a surveyor, horse trader, and land speculator. He was initially prosperous, owning seven slaves by 1787, a relatively large number for Kentucky at the time. Boone became a celebrity while living in Maysville. In 1784, on his 50th birthday, historian John Filson published The Discovery, Settlement And present State of Kentucke, a book which included a chronicle of Boone's adventures. The Revolutionary War had ended, but the border war with American Indians north of the Ohio River resumed with the Northwest Indian War. In September 1786, Boone took part in a military expedition into the Ohio Country led by Benjamin Logan. Back in Limestone, Boone housed and fed Shawnees who were captured during the raid, and helped to negotiate a truce and prisoner exchange. Although the war escalated and would not end until the American victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794, the 1786 expedition was the last time Boone saw military action. Boone began to have financial troubles while living in Maysville. According to the later folk image, Boone the trailblazer was too unsophisticated for the civilization which followed him and which eventually defrauded him of his land. Boone was not the simple frontiersman of legend, however: he engaged in land speculation on a large scale, buying and selling claims to tens of thousands of acres. The land market in frontier Kentucky was chaotic, and Boone's ventures ultimately failed because his investment strategy was faulty and because his sense of honor made him reluctant to profit at someone else's expense. According to Faragher, "Boone lacked the ruthless instincts that speculation demanded." Frustrated with the legal hassles that went with land speculation, in 1788, Boone moved upriver to Point Pleasant, Virginia (now West Virginia). There he operated a trading post and occasionally worked as a surveyor's assistant. When Virginia created Kanawha County in 1789, Boone was appointed lieutenant colonel of the county militia. In 1791, he was elected to the Virginia legislature for the third time. He contracted to provide supplies for the Kanawha militia, but his debts prevented him from buying goods on credit, so he closed his store and returned to hunting and trapping. In 1795, Rebecca and he moved back to Kentucky, living in present Nicholas County on land owned by their son Daniel Morgan Boone. The next year, Boone applied to Isaac Shelby, the first governor of the new state of Kentucky, for a contract to widen the Wilderness Road into a wagon route, but the contract was awarded to someone else. Meanwhile, lawsuits over conflicting land claims continued to make their way through the Kentucky courts. Boone's remaining land claims were sold off to pay legal fees and taxes, but he no longer paid attention to the process. In 1798, a warrant was issued for Boone's arrest after he ignored a summons to testify in a court case, although the sheriff never found him. That same year, the Kentucky assembly named Boone County in his honor. CANNOTANSWER | Boone's remaining land claims were sold off to pay legal fees and taxes, but he no longer paid attention to the process. | Daniel Boone (September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and frontiersman whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. Boone became famous for his exploration and settlement of what is now Kentucky, which was then beyond the western borders of the Thirteen Colonies. Despite resistance from American Indians, for whom Kentucky was a traditional hunting ground, in 1775 Boone blazed the Wilderness Road through the Cumberland Gap and into Kentucky. There he founded Boonesborough, one of the first English-speaking settlements west of the Appalachian Mountains. By the end of the 18th century, more than 200,000 people had entered Kentucky by following the route marked by Boone.
Boone served as a militia officer during the Revolutionary War (1775–1783), which, in Kentucky, was fought primarily between American settlers and British-allied American Indians. Boone was captured by Shawnees in 1778 and adopted into the tribe, but he escaped and continued to help defend the Kentucky settlements. He was elected to the first of his three terms in the Virginia General Assembly during the war, and fought in the Battle of Blue Licks in 1782, one of the last battles of the American Revolution. Boone worked as a surveyor and merchant after the war, but he went deep into debt as a Kentucky land speculator. Frustrated with legal problems resulting from his land claims, in 1799 Boone resettled in Missouri, where he spent most of the last two decades of his life.
Boone remains an iconic, if imperfectly remembered, figure in American history. He was a legend in his own lifetime, especially after an account of his adventures was published in 1784, making him famous in America and Europe. After his death, Boone became the subject of many heroic tall tales and works of fiction. His adventures—real and legendary—helped create the archetypal frontier hero of American folklore. In American popular culture, Boone is remembered as one of the foremost early frontiersmen, even though mythology often overshadows the historical details of his life.
Early life
Boone was born on October 22, 1734 ("New Style" November 2), the sixth of eleven children in a family of Quakers. His father, Squire Boone (1696–1765), had emigrated to colonial Pennsylvania from the small town of Bradninch, England, in 1713. Squire, a weaver and blacksmith, married Sarah Morgan (1700–1777), whose family were Quakers from Wales. In 1731, the Boones built a one-room log cabin in the Oley Valley in what is now Berks County, Pennsylvania, near present Reading, where Daniel was born.
Boone spent his early years on the Pennsylvania frontier, often interacting with American Indians. Boone learned to hunt from local settlers and Indians; by the age of fifteen, he had a reputation as one of the region’s best hunters. Many stories about Boone emphasize his hunting skills. In one tale, the young Boone was hunting in the woods with some other boys when the howl of a panther scattered all but Boone. He calmly cocked his rifle and shot the predator through the heart just as it leaped at him. The story may be a folktale, one of many that became part of Boone’s popular image.
In Boone's youth, his family became a source of controversy in the local Quaker community. In 1742, Boone's parents were compelled to publicly apologize after their eldest child Sarah married a "worldling", or non-Quaker, while she was visibly pregnant. When Boone's oldest brother Israel also married a "worldling" in 1747, Squire Boone stood by his son and was therefore expelled from the Quakers, although his wife continued to attend monthly meetings with her children. Perhaps as a result of this controversy, in 1750 Squire sold his land and moved the family to North Carolina. Daniel Boone did not attend church again, although he always considered himself a Christian and had all of his children baptized. The Boones eventually settled on the Yadkin River, in what is now Davie County, North Carolina, about two miles (3 km) west of Mocksville.
Boone received little formal education, since he preferred to spend his time hunting, apparently with his parents’ blessing. According to a family tradition, when a schoolteacher expressed concern over Boone's education, Boone's father said, "Let the girls do the spelling and Dan will do the shooting." Boone was tutored by family members, though his spelling remained unorthodox. Historian John Mack Faragher cautions that the folk image of Boone as semiliterate is misleading, arguing that Boone "acquired a level of literacy that was the equal of most men of his times." Boone regularly took reading material with him on his hunting expeditions—the Bible and Gulliver's Travels were favorites. He was often the only literate person in groups of frontiersmen, and would sometimes entertain his hunting companions by reading to them around the campfire.
Hunter, husband, and soldier
When the French and Indian War (1754–1763) broke out between the French, British, and their respective Indian allies, Boone joined a North Carolina militia company as a teamster and blacksmith. In 1755, his unit accompanied General Edward Braddock’s attempt to drive the French out of the Ohio Country, which ended in disaster at the Battle of the Monongahela. Boone, in the rear with the wagons, took no part in the battle, and fled with the retreating soldiers.
Boone returned home after the defeat, and on August 14, 1756, he married Rebecca Bryan, a neighbor in the Yadkin Valley. The couple initially lived in a cabin on his father's farm, and would eventually have ten children, in addition to raising eight children of deceased relatives.
In 1758, conflict erupted between British colonists and the Cherokees, their former allies in the French and Indian War. After the Yadkin Valley was raided by Cherokees, the Boones and many other families fled north to Culpeper County, Virginia. Boone saw action as a member of the North Carolina militia during this "Cherokee Uprising," periodically serving under Captain Hugh Waddell on the North Carolina frontier until 1760.
Boone supported his growing family in these years as a market hunter and trapper, collecting pelts for the fur trade. Almost every autumn, despite the unrest on the frontier, Boone would go on "long hunts", extended expeditions into the wilderness lasting weeks or months. Boone went alone or with a small group of men, accumulating hundreds of deer skins in the autumn, and trapping beaver and otter over the winter. When the long hunters returned in the spring, they sold their take to commercial fur traders. On their journeys, frontiersmen often carved messages on trees or wrote their names on cave walls, and Boone's name or initials have been found in many places. A tree in present Washington County, Tennessee, reads "D. Boon Cilled a. Bar on tree in the year 1760". A similar carving, preserved in the museum of the Filson Historical Society in Louisville, Kentucky, reads "D. Boon Kilt a Bar, 1803." The inscriptions may be genuine, or part of a long tradition of phony Boone relics.
According to a popular story, Boone returned home after a long absence to find Rebecca had given birth to a daughter. Rebecca confessed she had thought Daniel was dead, and that Boone’s brother had fathered the child. Boone did not blame Rebecca, and raised the girl as his own child. Boone's early biographers knew the story but did not publish it. Modern biographers regard the tale as possibly folklore, since the identity of the brother and the daughter vary in different versions of the tale.
In the mid-1760s, Boone began to look for a new place to settle. The population was growing in the Yadkin Valley, which decreased the amount of game available for hunting. Boone had difficulty making ends meet; he was often taken to court for nonpayment of debts. He sold what land he owned to pay off creditors. After his father's death in 1765, Boone traveled with a group of men to Florida, which had become British territory after the end of the war, to look into the possibility of settling there. According to a family story, Boone purchased land in Pensacola, but Rebecca refused to move so far away from friends and family. The Boones instead moved to a more remote area of the Yadkin Valley, and Boone began to hunt westward into the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Into Kentucky
Years before entering Kentucky, Boone had heard about the region’s fertile land and abundant game. In 1767, Boone and his brother Squire first crossed into what would become the state of Kentucky, but they failed to reach the rich hunting grounds. In May 1769, Boone set out again with a party of five others, beginning a two-year hunting expedition in which Boone thoroughly explored Kentucky. His first sighting of the Bluegrass region from atop Pilot Knob became "an icon of American history," and was the frequent subject of paintings.
On December 22, 1769, Boone and a fellow hunter were captured by a party of Shawnees, who confiscated all of their skins and told them to leave and never return. The Shawnees had not signed the 1768 Treaty of Fort Stanwix, in which the Iroquois had ceded their claim to Kentucky to the British. The Shawnees regarded Kentucky as their hunting ground; they considered American hunters there to be poachers. Boone, undeterred, continued hunting and exploring in Kentucky. On one occasion, he shot a man to avoid capture, which historian John Mack Faragher says "was one of the few Indians that Boone acknowledged killing." Boone returned to North Carolina in 1771, but came back to hunt in Kentucky in the autumn of 1772.
In 1773, Boone packed up his family and, with his brother, Squire, and a group of about 50 others, began the first attempt by British colonists to establish a settlement. Boone was still an obscure figure at the time; the most prominent member of the expedition was William Russell, a well-known Virginian and future brother-in-law of Patrick Henry. Another member of this expedition was Boone's friend and fellow long-hunter, Michael Stoner.
Included in this group were an unknown number of enslaved Blacks, including Charles and Adam. On October 9, Boone's oldest son, James, and several whites as well as Charles and Adam left the main party to seek provisions in a nearby settlement. They were attacked by a band of Delawares, Shawnees, and Cherokees. Following the Fort Stanwix treaty, American Indians in the region had been debating what do to about the influx of settlers. This group had decided, in the words of Faragher, "to send a message of their opposition to settlement". James Boone and William Russell's son, Henry, were tortured and killed. Charles was captured. Adam witnessed the horror concealed in riverbank driftwood. After wandering In the woods for 11 days, Adam located the group and informed Boone of the circumstances of their deaths. Charles's body was found by the pioneers 40 miles from the abduction site, dead from a blow to his head. The brutality of the killings sent shockwaves along the frontier, and Boone's party abandoned their expedition.
The attack was one of the first events in what became known as Dunmore's War, a struggle between Virginia and American Indians for control of what is now West Virginia and Kentucky. In the summer of 1774, Boone traveled with a companion to Kentucky to notify surveyors there about the outbreak of war. They journeyed more than in two months to warn those who had not already fled the region. Upon his return to Virginia, Boone helped defend colonial settlements along the Clinch River, earning a promotion to captain in the militia, as well as acclaim from fellow citizens. After the brief war, which ended soon after Virginia's victory in the Battle of Point Pleasant in October 1774, the Shawnees relinquished their claims to Kentucky.
Following Dunmore's War, Richard Henderson, a prominent judge from North Carolina, hired Boone to help establish a colony to be called Transylvania. Boone traveled to several Cherokee towns and invited them to a meeting, held at Sycamore Shoals in March 1775, where Henderson purchased the Cherokee claim to Kentucky.
Boone then blazed "Boone's Trace," later known as the Wilderness Road, through the Cumberland Gap and into central Kentucky. Sam, an enslaved black “body servant,” and other enslaved laborers were among this group of settlers. When this group camped near the present day Richmond, KY, Indians attacked, killing Sam and his enslaver. After driving off the attackers, the party buried the two men side by side.
He founded Boonesborough along the Kentucky River; other settlements, notably Harrodsburg, were also established at this time. Despite occasional Indian attacks, Boone brought his family and other settlers to Boonesborough on September 8, 1775.
American Revolution
Violence in Kentucky increased with the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783). American Indians who were unhappy about the loss of Kentucky in treaties saw the war as a chance to drive out the colonists. Isolated settlers and hunters became the frequent target of attacks, convincing many to abandon Kentucky. By late spring of 1776, Boone and his family were among the fewer than 200 colonists who remained in Kentucky, primarily at the fortified settlements of Boonesborough, Harrodsburg, and Logan's Station.
On July 14, 1776, Boone's daughter Jemima and two other girls were captured outside Boonesborough by an Indian war party, who carried the girls north toward the Shawnee towns in the Ohio country. Boone and a group of men from Boonesborough followed in pursuit, finally catching up with them two days later. Boone and his men ambushed the Indians, rescuing the girls and driving off their captors. The incident became the most celebrated event of Boone's life. James Fenimore Cooper created a fictionalized version of the episode in his classic novel The Last of the Mohicans (1826).
In 1777, Henry Hamilton, British Lieutenant Governor of Canada, began to recruit American Indian war parties to raid the Kentucky settlements. That same year in March, the newly formed militia of Kentucky County, VA mustered in Boonesborough, whose population included ten to 15 enslaved people. On April 24, 1778, the British-allied Shawnees led by Chief Blackfish mounted the siege of Boonesborough. Armed enslaved men fought alongside their enslavers at the fort's walls. After going beyond the fort walls to engage the attackers, London, one of the enslaved, was killed.
Boone was shot in the ankle while outside the fort but, amid a flurry of bullets, he was carried back inside by Simon Kenton, a recent arrival at Boonesborough. Kenton became Boone's close friend, as well as a legendary frontiersman in his own right.
Capture and court-martial
While Boone recovered, Shawnees kept up their attacks outside Boonesborough, killing cattle and destroying crops. With food running low, the settlers needed salt to preserve what meat they had, so in January 1778, Boone led a party of 30 men to the salt springs on the Licking River. On February 7, when Boone was hunting meat for the expedition, he was captured by Blackfish's warriors. Because Boone's party was greatly outnumbered, Boone returned to camp the next day with Blackfish and persuaded his men to surrender rather than put up a fight.
Blackfish intended to move on to Boonesborough and capture it, but Boone argued the women and children would not survive a winter trek as prisoners back to the Shawnee villages. Instead, Boone promised that Boonesborough would surrender willingly the following spring. Boone did not have an opportunity to tell his men that he was bluffing to prevent an immediate attack on Boonesborough. Boone pursued this strategy so convincingly some of his men concluded he had switched sides, an impression that led to his court-martial (see below).
Many of the Shawnees wanted to execute the prisoners in retaliation for the recent murder of Shawnee Chief Cornstalk by Virginia militiamen. Because Shawnee chiefs led by seeking consensus, Blackfish held a council. After an impassioned speech by Boone, the warriors voted to spare the prisoners. Although Boone had saved his men, Blackfish pointed out that Boone had not included himself in the agreement, so Boone was forced to run the gauntlet through the warriors, which he survived with minor injuries.
Boone and his men were taken to Blackfish's town of Chillicothe. As was their custom, the Shawnees adopted some of the prisoners to replace fallen warriors. Boone was adopted into a Shawnee family at Chillicothe, perhaps into Blackfish's family, and given the name Sheltowee (Big Turtle). In March 1778, the Shawnees took the unadopted prisoners to Governor Hamilton in Detroit. Blackfish brought Boone along, though he refused Hamilton's offers to release Boone to the British. Hamilton gave Boone gifts, attempting to win his loyalty, while Boone continued to pretend that he intended to surrender Boonesborough. Boone returned with Blackfish to Chillicothe. On June 16, 1778, when he learned Blackfish was about to return to Boonesborough with a large force, Boone eluded his captors and raced home, covering the to Boonesborough in five days on horseback and, after his horse gave out, on foot. Biographer Robert Morgan calls Boone's escape and return "one of the great legends of frontier history."
Upon Boone's return to Boonesborough, some of the men expressed doubts about Boone's loyalty, since he had apparently lived happily among the Shawnees for months. Boone responded by leading a preemptive raid against the Shawnees across the Ohio River, and then by helping to successfully defend Boonesborough against a 10-day siege led by Blackfish, which began on September 7, 1778. After the siege, Captain Benjamin Logan and Colonel Richard Callaway—both of whom had nephews who were still captives surrendered by Boone—brought charges against Boone for his recent activities. In the court-martial that followed, Boone was found "not guilty," and was even promoted after the court heard his testimony. Despite this vindication, Boone was humiliated by the court-martial, and he rarely spoke of it.
Final years of the Revolution
After the trial, Boone returned to North Carolina to bring his family back to Kentucky. In the autumn of 1779, a large party of emigrants came with him, including the family of Captain Abraham Lincoln, grandfather of the future president. Rather than remain in Boonesborough, Boone founded the nearby settlement of Boone's Station. He began earning money by locating good land for other settlers. Transylvania land claims had been invalidated after Virginia created Kentucky County, so settlers needed to file new land claims with Virginia. In 1780, Boone collected about $20,000 in cash from various settlers and traveled to Williamsburg to purchase their land warrants. While he was sleeping in a tavern during the trip, the cash was stolen from his room. Some of the settlers forgave Boone the loss; others insisted he repay the stolen money, which took him several years to do.
In contrast to the later folk image of Boone as a backwoodsman who had little affinity for "civilized" society, Boone was a leading citizen of Kentucky at this time. When Kentucky was divided into three Virginia counties in November 1780, Boone was promoted to lieutenant colonel in the Fayette County militia. In April 1781, he was elected as a representative to the Virginia General Assembly, which was held in Richmond. In 1782, he was elected sheriff of Fayette County.
Meanwhile, the American Revolutionary War continued. Boone joined General George Rogers Clark's invasion of the Ohio country in 1780, fighting in the Battle of Piqua against the Shawnee on August 7. On the way home from the campaign, Boone was hunting with his brother Ned when Shawnees shot and killed Ned, who resembled Daniel. The Shawnees beheaded Ned, believing him to be Daniel, and took the head as evidence that Daniel Boone had finally been slain.
In 1781, Boone traveled to Richmond to take his seat in the legislature, but British dragoons under Banastre Tarleton captured Boone and several other legislators near Charlottesville. The British released Boone on parole several days later. During Boone's term, Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown in October 1781, but the fighting continued in Kentucky. Boone returned to Kentucky and in August 1782 fought in the Battle of Blue Licks, a disastrous defeat for the Kentuckians in which Boone's son Israel was killed. In November 1782, Boone took part in another Clark-led expedition into Ohio, the last major campaign of the war.
Businessman and politician
After the Revolutionary War ended, Boone resettled in Limestone (later renamed Maysville, Kentucky), then a booming Ohio River port. He kept a tavern and worked as a surveyor, horse trader, and land speculator. In 1784, on Boone’s 50th birthday, frontier historian John Filson published The Discovery, Settlement and Present State of Kentucke. The popular book included a chronicle of Boone's adventures, which made Boone a celebrity.
As settlers poured into Kentucky, the border war with American Indians north of the Ohio River resumed. In September 1786, Boone took part in a military expedition into the Ohio Country led by Benjamin Logan. Returning to Limestone, Boone housed and fed Shawnees who were captured during the raid, and helped to negotiate a truce and prisoner exchange. Although the war would not end until the American victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers eight years later, the 1786 expedition was the last time Boone saw military action.
Boone was initially prosperous in Limestone, owning seven slaves, a relatively large number for Kentucky at the time. In 1786, he purchased a Pennsylvania enslaved woman, age of about 20, for “Ninety poundes Current Lawfull (sic) money.”. A leader, he served as militia colonel, sheriff, and county coroner. In 1787, he was again elected to the Virginia state assembly, this time from Bourbon County. He began to have financial troubles after engaging in land speculation, buying and selling claims to tens of thousands of acres. These ventures ultimately failed because of the chaotic nature of land speculation in frontier Kentucky and Boone’s poor business instincts. Frustrated with the legal hassles that went with land speculation, in 1789 Boone moved upriver to Point Pleasant, Virginia (now West Virginia). There he operated a trading post and occasionally worked as a surveyor's assistant. That same year, when Virginia created Kanawha County, Boone became the lieutenant colonel of the county militia. In 1791, he was elected to the Virginia legislature for the third time. He contracted to provide supplies for the Kanawha militia, but his debts prevented him from buying goods on credit, so he closed his store and returned to hunting and trapping, though he was often hampered by rheumatism.
In 1795, Boone and his wife moved back to Kentucky, on land owned by their son Daniel Morgan Boone in what became Nicholas County. The next year, Boone applied to Isaac Shelby, the first governor of the new state of Kentucky, for a contract to widen the Wilderness Road into a wagon route, but the contract was awarded to someone else. Meanwhile, lawsuits over conflicting land claims continued to make their way through the Kentucky courts. Boone's remaining land claims were sold off to pay legal fees and taxes, but he no longer paid attention to the process. In 1798, a warrant was issued for Boone's arrest after he ignored a summons to testify in a court case, although the sheriff never found him. That same year, the Kentucky assembly named Boone County in his honor.
Into Missouri
Having endured legal and financial setbacks, Boone sought to make a fresh start by leaving the United States. In 1799, he moved his extended family to what is now St. Charles County, Missouri, but was then part of Spanish Louisiana. The Spanish, eager to promote settlement in the sparsely populated region, did not enforce the official requirement that all immigrants be Catholic. The Spanish governor appointed Boone "syndic" (judge and jury) and commandant (military leader) of the Femme Osage district. Anecdotes of Boone's tenure as syndic suggest he sought to render fair judgments rather than strictly observe the letter of the law.
Boone served as syndic and commandant until 1804, when Missouri became part of the United States following the Louisiana Purchase. He was appointed captain of the local militia. Because Boone's land grants from the Spanish government had been largely based on oral agreements, he again lost his land claims. In 1809, he petitioned Congress to restore his Spanish land claims, which was finally done in 1814. Boone sold most of this land to repay old Kentucky debts. When the War of 1812 came to Missouri, Boone's sons Daniel Morgan Boone and Nathan Boone took part, but by that time Boone was much too old for militia duty.
Although Boone reportedly vowed never to return to Kentucky after moving to Missouri, stories (possibly folk tales) were told of him making one last visit to Kentucky to pay off his creditors. American painter John James Audubon claimed to have gone hunting with Boone in Kentucky around 1810. Years later, Audubon painted a portrait of Boone, supposedly from memory, although skeptics noted the similarity of his painting to the well-known portraits by Chester Harding. Some historians believe Boone visited his brother Squire near Kentucky in 1810 and have accepted the veracity of Audubon's account.
Boone spent his final years in Missouri, often in the company of children and grandchildren. He continued to hunt and trap as much as his health and energy levels permitted, intruding upon the territory of the Osage tribe, who once captured him and confiscated his furs. In 1810, at the age of 76, he went with a group on a six-month hunt up the Missouri River, reportedly as far as the Yellowstone River, a round trip of more than 2,000 miles. He began one of his final trapping expeditions in 1815, in the company of a Shawnee and Derry Coburn, a slave who was frequently with Boone in his final years. They reached Fort Osage in 1816, where an officer wrote, "We have been honored by a visit from Col. Boone... He has taken part in all the wars of America, from Braddock's war to the present hour," but "he prefers the woods, where you see him in the dress of the roughest, poorest hunter."
Death and burial
Boone died on September 26, 1820, at his son Nathan Boone's home on Femme Osage Creek, Missouri. He was buried next to Rebecca, who had died on March 18, 1813. The graves, which were unmarked until the mid-1830s, were near Jemima (Boone) Callaway's home on Tuque Creek, about two miles (3 km) from present-day Marthasville, Missouri.
In 1845, the Boones' remains were disinterred and reburied in a new cemetery in Frankfort, Kentucky. Resentment in Missouri about the disinterment grew over the years, and a legend arose that Boone's remains never left Missouri. According to this story, Boone's tombstone in Missouri had been inadvertently placed over the wrong grave, but no one had corrected the error. Boone's Missouri relatives, displeased with the Kentuckians who came to exhume Boone, kept quiet about the mistake and allowed the Kentuckians to dig up the wrong remains. No contemporary evidence indicates this actually happened, but in 1983, a forensic anthropologist examined a crude plaster cast of Boone's skull made before the Kentucky reburial and announced it might be the skull of an African American. Black slaves were also buried at Tuque Creek, so it is possible that the wrong remains were mistakenly removed from the crowded graveyard. Both the Frankfort Cemetery in Kentucky and the Old Bryan Farm graveyard in Missouri claim to have Boone's remains.
Legacy
Daniel Boone remains an iconic figure in American history, although his status as an early American folk hero and later as a subject of fiction has tended to obscure the actual details of his life. He emerged as a legend in large part because of John Filson's "The Adventures of Colonel Daniel Boon", part of his book The Discovery, Settlement and present State of Kentucke. First published in 1784, Filson's book was primarily intended to popularize Kentucky to immigrants. It was translated into French and German, and made Boone famous in America and Europe. Based on interviews with Boone, Filson's book contained a mostly factual account of Boone's adventures from the exploration of Kentucky through the American Revolution, although many have doubted if the florid, philosophical dialogue attributed to Boone was authentic. Often reprinted, Filson's book established Boone as one of the first popular heroes of the United States.
Timothy Flint also interviewed Boone, and his Biographical Memoir of Daniel Boone, the First Settler of Kentucky (1833) became one of the best-selling biographies of the 19th century. Flint embellished Boone's adventures, doing for Boone what Parson Weems did for George Washington. In Flint's book, Boone fought with a bear, escaped from Indians by swinging on vines (as Tarzan would later do), and so on. Although Boone's family thought the book was absurd, Flint greatly influenced the popular conception of Boone, since these tall tales were recycled in countless dime novels and books aimed at young boys.
Symbol and stereotype
Thanks to Filson's book, Boone became a symbol of the "natural man" who lives a virtuous, uncomplicated existence in the wilderness. This was famously expressed in Lord Byron's epic poem Don Juan (1822), which devoted a number of stanzas to Boone, including this one:
Byron's poem celebrated Boone as someone who found happiness by turning his back on civilization. In a similar vein, many folk tales depicted Boone as a man who migrated to more remote areas whenever civilization crowded in on him. In a typical anecdote, when asked why he was moving to Missouri, Boone supposedly replied, "I want more elbow room!" Boone rejected this interpretation. "Nothing embitters my old age," he said late in life, like "the circulation of absurd stories that I retire as civilization advances."
Existing simultaneously with the image of Boone as a refugee from society was, paradoxically, the popular portrayal of him as civilization's trailblazer. Boone was celebrated as an agent of Manifest Destiny, a pathfinder who tamed the wilderness, paving the way for the extension of American civilization. In 1852, critic Henry Tuckerman dubbed Boone "the Columbus of the woods," comparing Boone's passage through the Cumberland Gap to Christopher Columbus's voyage to the New World. In popular mythology, Boone became the first to explore and settle Kentucky, opening the way for countless others to follow. In fact, other Americans had explored Kentucky before Boone, as debunkers in the 20th century often pointed out, but Boone came to symbolize them all, making him what historian Michael Lofaro called "the founding father of westward expansion."
In the 19th century, when Native Americans were being displaced from their lands and confined on reservations, Boone's image was often reshaped into the stereotype of the belligerent, Indian-hating frontiersman which was then popular. In John A. McClung's Sketches of Western Adventure (1832), for example, Boone was portrayed as longing for the "thrilling excitement of savage warfare." Boone was transformed in the popular imagination into someone who regarded Indians with contempt and had killed scores of the "savages." The real Boone disliked bloodshed. According to historian John Bakeless, there is no record that Boone ever scalped Indians, unlike other frontiersmen of the era. Boone once told his son Nathan that he was certain of having killed only one Indian, during the battle at Blue Licks, although on another occasion he said, "I never killed but three." He expressed regret over the killings, saying the Indians "have always been kinder to me than the whites." Even though Boone had lost two sons and a brother in wars with Indians, he respected Indians and was respected by them. In Missouri, Boone went hunting with the Shawnees who had captured and adopted him decades earlier. Some 19th-century writers regarded Boone's sympathy for Indians as a character flaw and altered his words to conform to contemporary attitudes.
The character John Boone in Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy is inspired by Daniel Boone. In the story, John Boone is an American astronaut, the first human to walk on Mars in the year 2020. John Boone is one of the "First Hundred" colonists sent to permanently colonize Mars. His accomplishments and natural charm yield him an informal leadership role. After being assassinated, his larger-than-life persona plays a legendary role in the culture of colonized Mars.
Commemoration and portrayals
Many places in the United States are named for Boone, including the Daniel Boone National Forest in Kentucky and the Sheltowee Trace Trail in Tennessee. His name has long been synonymous with the American outdoors. The Boone and Crockett Club is a conservationist organization founded by Theodore Roosevelt in 1887, and the Sons of Daniel Boone was the precursor of the Boy Scouts of America. A half-dollar coin was minted in 1934 to mark the bicentennial of Boone’s birth; a commemorative stamp was issued in 1968.
Boone's adventures, real and mythical, formed the basis of the archetypal hero of the American West, popular in 19th-century novels and 20th-century films. The main character of James Fenimore Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales, the first of which was published in 1823, bore striking similarities to Boone; even his name, Nathaniel Bumppo, echoed Daniel Boone's name. As mentioned above, The Last of the Mohicans (1826), Cooper's second Leatherstocking novel, featured a fictionalized version of Boone's rescue of his daughter. After Cooper, other writers developed the Western hero, an iconic figure which began as a variation of Daniel Boone.
In the 20th century, Boone was featured in numerous comic strips, radio programs, novels, and films, such as the 1936 film Daniel Boone. Boone was the subject of a TV series that ran from 1964 to 1970. In the theme song for the series, Boone was described as a "big man" in a "coonskin cap," and the "rippin'est, roarin'est, fightin'est man the frontier ever knew!" This did not describe the real Boone, who was not a big man and did not wear a coonskin cap, which he thought uncouth and uncomfortable. Boone was portrayed this way in the TV series because Fess Parker, the tall actor who played him, was essentially reprising his role as Davy Crockett from an earlier TV series. That Boone could be portrayed the same way as Crockett, another American frontiersman with a very different personality, was another example of how Boone's image was reshaped to suit popular tastes. He was also the subject matter for the song sung by Ed Ames called "Daniel Boone". It was released in 1966.
In Blood and Treasure, released in 2021, authors Tom Clavin and Bob Drury painted a much broader historical portrait of Boone than has been commonly described.
The Taking of Jemima Boone by Matthew Pearl, published in 2021, is an account of the abduction of the daughter of Daniel Boone and, after her rescue by Boone, then shifts to the conflicts between Boone, his political rival Richard Callaway, and Shawnee leader Blackfish, with resulting impacts to the Western theater of the American Revolutionary War.
See also
Edward Morgan Log House
Daniel Boone Homestead
Daniel Boone School
Thomas S. Hinde, close friend of the Boone Family, neighbor in Kentucky, and interviewer of Boone
Boone's Cave Park
Daniel Boone National Forest
Boone Trail, between Virginia Beach, Virginia and San Francisco, California
References
Notes
Citations
Sources
The definitive Boone biography of its era, the first to make full use of the immense material collected by Lyman Draper.
Belue's notes provide a modern scholarly perspective to Draper's unfinished 19th century biography.
Guide to historical sites associated with Boone.
Further reading
Filson, John. The Discovery, Settlement and present State of Kentucke, including the "Appendix" life of Boone
Hammon, Neal O., ed. My Father, Daniel Boone: The Draper Interviews with Nathan Boone. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1999. .
Reid, Darren R., ed. Daniel Boone and Others on the Kentucky Frontier: Autobiographies and Narratives, 1769–1795. Jefferson: McFarland and Company, 2009. .
Personal papers of Daniel Boone at the Wisconsin Historical Society searchable 32-volume collection of Boone manuscripts and correspondence, part of the Lyman Draper collection
1734 births
1820 deaths
American explorers
American folklore
American hunters
American people of English descent
American people of Welsh descent
American slave owners
American surveyors
Kentucky pioneers
Appalachian people
Boone County, Missouri
Daniel
Burials at Frankfort Cemetery
Captives of Native Americans
Hall of Fame for Great Americans inductees
Kentucky militiamen in the American Revolution
Members of the Virginia House of Delegates
Mountain men
People of colonial Pennsylvania
People from Berks County, Pennsylvania
People from Kentucky
People from St. Charles County, Missouri
People of Pennsylvania in the French and Indian War
People of Kentucky in the American Revolution
People who were court-martialed
Tall tales | true | [
"Anything Can Happen is a 1952 comedy-drama film.\n\nAnything Can Happen may also refer to:\n\n Anything Can Happen (album), by Leon Russell, 1994\n \"Anything Can Happen\", a 2019 song by Saint Jhn \n Edhuvum Nadakkum ('Anything Can Happen'), a season of the Tamil TV series Marmadesam\n \"Anything Can Happen in the Next Half Hour\", or \"Anything Can Happen\", a 2007 song by Enter Shikari\n Anything Can Happen in the Next Half Hour (EP), 2004\n\nSee also\n \"Anything Could Happen\", a 2012 song by Ellie Goulding \n Anything Might Happen, 1934 British crime film\n Special Effects: Anything Can Happen, a 1996 American documentary film\n \"Anything Can Happen on Halloween\", a song from the 1986 film The Worst Witch \n Anything Can Happen in the Theatre, a musical revue of works by Maury Yeston\n \"The Anything Can Happen Recurrence\", an episode of The Big Bang Theory (season 7)\n The Anupam Kher Show - Kucch Bhi Ho Sakta Hai ('The Anupam Kher Show — Anything Can Happen') an Indian TV show",
"Tunnel vision is a term used when a shooter is focused on a target, and thus misses what goes on around that target. Therefore an innocent bystander may pass in front or behind of the target and be shot accidentally. This is easily understandable if the bystander is not visible in the telescopic sight (see Tunnel vision#Optical instruments), but can also happen without one. In this case, the mental concentration of the shooter is so focused on the target, that they fail to notice anything else.\n\nMarksmanship\nShooting sports"
] |
[
"Johnny Young",
"Later career"
] | C_79dff681128047c686d285e48d6597ac_0 | Did he ever settle down | 1 | Did Johnny Young ever settle down? | Johnny Young | After Young Talent Time, Young continued in entertainment, he worked as a radio disc jockey and occasionally performed live. In 1999 he produced Cavalcade of Stars for Foxtel including repackaging segments of Young Talent Time and showcasing new Australian bands. In December 2000, Young relocated to Perth to become the breakfast host on Perth AM station 6IX. During 2001 to 2004, he periodically performed with Rowe, Buddy England (ex-The Seekers, The Mixtures) and Marcie Jones (Marcie and The Cookies) as the 'Legends of Sixties Rock' at venues across Australia - all four had appeared on The Go-Show. While living in Perth, Young established a new outlet for his Johnny Young Talent School franchise. In 2001, the 30th anniversary of Young Talent Time was celebrated by Network Ten with a special documentary, Young Talent Time Tells All, which was followed on 4 November by a reunion party for former cast members. Young attended with his daughter Anna - who had appeared on the show. Back in Perth, Young hosted The Pet Show on ABC Television in 2006. On 27 October 2010, Johnny Young was inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame. On news of his impending induction Young said "I have always felt like the luckiest kid on the block to be able to continue working in the music industry for 50 years in so many areas when basically I am just a rock and roller. To receive this honour is the cherry on an amazing cake. I am very grateful to all those who supported and encouraged me." Young was inducted by Tina Arena, a former Young Talent Team member, who performed his song, "Here Comes the Star" as a musical tribute. Contemporary pop group, Short Stack performed Young's version of "Cara-Lyn" CANNOTANSWER | After Young Talent Time, Young continued in entertainment, he worked as a radio disc jockey and occasionally performed live. | Johnny Young (born Johnny Benjamin de Jong; 12 March 1947) is a Dutch Australian singer, composer, record producer, disc jockey, television producer and host. Originally from Rotterdam, The Netherlands, his family settled in Perth in the early 1950s. Young was a 1960s pop singer and had a number-one hit with the double-A-sided, "Step Back" and a cover of the Strangeloves' "Cara-lyn" in 1966. Young's profile was enhanced by a concurrent stint as host of TV pop music program The Go!! Show. Also in the mid-1960s, Young toured with the Rolling Stones and supported Roy Orbison.
As a composer, he penned number-one hits, "The Real Thing" and "The Girl That I Love" for Russell Morris, "The Star" for Ross D. Wyllie and "I Thank You" for Lionel Rose. He also wrote a number-two single, "Smiley" for Ronnie Burns. He presented and produced the TV show, Young Talent Time, which screened on Network Ten from 1971 to 1988. It launched the careers of teen pop stars and theatre actors, Danni Minogue, Tina Arena, Jamie Redfern, Jane Scali, Debra Byrne, Sally Boyden and Karen Knowles. Typically each episode closed with a sing-along rendition of the Beatles' song, "All My Loving".
At the Logie Awards of 1990, sponsored by TV Week, Young was inducted into the Logies Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association's Hall of Fame in 2010 by Arena who performed Young's song, "The Star". He is the first person inducted into both halls.
Biography
Early life
Johnny Young was born as Johnny Benjamin de Jong on 12 March 1947 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.[A] He was conceived as a result of an affair between his mother, Anna W. (20 July 1913 – 1989) and a musician, Johannes. He was raised as the youngest son of Anna and her husband Fokke Jan de Jong (22 March 1914 – 1989), who was in the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army and served in Indonesia after World War II. His half-siblings are Cornellia (born 13 February 1936), Antonia (born 22 August 1937) and Ferdinand (born 13 November 1944). Their father was still in Indonesia from December 1946 until September 1948 when Young was one-and-a-half years old. The family migrated to Western Australia, Fokke arrived in July 1953, and they settled in the Perth Hills suburb of Kalamunda, in the 1950s. Fokke worked as a welder on industrial projects including the Kwinana Oil Refinery. His mother was in a choir and inspired his early interest in music. On 25 August 1959 Johnny, Ferdinand and Fokke were naturalised as Australian citizens.
Young's mother took him to Saturday morning radio shows for children and he would sing along. He performed solo songs wearing a specially made jacket. After leaving school, he worked as a trainee disc jockey and started singing at local dances. From the age of 14, for 18 months he was lead vocalist of the Nomads, later known as the Strangers (not the Melbourne group called the Strangers), which consisted of Young, John Eddy (guitar), Warwick Findlay (drums), Don Prior (bass guitar) and Tony Summers (guitar).
Pop singer
At eighteen-years-old, Young was host of TVW-7 Perth television pop music show Club Seventeen in early 1965. As Johnny Young & the Strangers he released two singles, "Club Seventeen"/"Oh Johnny, No" and "No Other Love"/"Heigh Ho", both on the 7-Teen label. Young then signed with Clarion Records, a Perth-based label run by Martin Clarke. In an interview Clarke said "We just got together and he said he wanted to make a national hit and branch out, he was very ambitious." Clarke, armed with his recordings of Young, went to Sydney and secured a deal with Festival Records to have the Clarion label manufactured and distributed throughout Australia.
The following year, 1966, he formed Johnny Young & Kompany, As lead vocalist he was backed by Eddy (guitar), Findlay (drums), Summers (guitar) and Jim Griffiths (bass). After performing as supporting act to the Easybeats in early 1966, Young recorded "Step Back", which was co-written by the Easybeats' members Stevie Wright and George Young (no relation). The single was released in May 1966 as a double-A-side with his cover version of "Cara-Lyn", originally by the Strangeloves. The release peaked at number one on the Go-Set National Top 40 in November. It was one of the biggest-selling Australian singles of the 1960s, behind Normie Rowe's "Que Sera Sera"/"Shakin' All Over". In October, his EP Let It Be Me went to number four on Go-Set National Top 40.
Johnny Young & Kompany moved to Melbourne in mid-1966. Mick Wade (ex-the Vibrants) joined on guitar and organ. Young was interviewed by Go-Set writer, Ian "Molly" Meldrum for their 13 July issue. Later that year Young compered the short-lived television pop show Too Much and in 1967 he hosted The Go!! Show, following the resignation of Ian Turpie. In January the band released covers of the Everly Brothers' hits "When Will I Be Loved?" /"Kiss Me Now" as another double-A-sided single which peaked at number three. He disbanded Kompany to go solo and supported Roy Orbison, The Walker Brothers, The Mixtures and The Yardbirds at the Festival Hall, Melbourne on Australia Day (26 January). While touring in Brisbane he met Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees and provided Gibb with airfare to Sydney for a television spot. Another hit for Young was his slower version of the Beatles' song "All My Loving" which reached number four nationally in May; it later became his signature song.
Young won a Logie for "Best Teenage Personality" in 1967 for his work on The Go!! Show. On 9 August Go-Set published its annual pop poll and Young was voted third "Most Popular Male" behind Ronnie Burns and Rowe. However, the show was axed by mid-year and he relocated to London where he shared a flat with Gibb. In July, he released "Lady", written by Gibb especially for him, which reached the Top 40. "Craise Finton Kirk", written by Barry and Robin Gibb, was released in August and peaked at number 14. It was followed by "Every Christian Lion Hearted Man Will Show You", written by Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb, but did not chart. Young briefly returned to Perth in September and teamed up with drummer Danny Finley (ex-MPD Ltd), they both flew to London to form Danny's Word with Rob Alexander on guitar and Pete Friedberg on bass guitar. After four weeks rehearsal in London the band played a residency at the Star Club in Hamburg as a precursor to touring Australia. Due to other commitments the band split on return from Germany when Pete Friedberg left to work with other bands including Ainsley Dunbar's Blue Whale and Dusty Springfield. Young returned to Australia in January 1968 with Rod Alexander and recorded "Unconcientious Objector" and his last Top 40 single, "It's a Sunny Day". Subsequent singles did not reach the Top 40. Young became a news and gossip writer for Go-Set from December 1968 to August 1969.
Songwriter
While sharing a flat with Barry Gibb in London in late 1967, Young was encouraged to write songs. Gibb taught him that "there are no rules in song-writing, there is a structure, but what you need to do is find the 'hook', and it could be in the melody, the chorus, the words or even an identifiable riff, and that can be the difference in writing a hit record." During 1968, back in Australia, Young wrote "The Real Thing" as a reaction against a Coca-Cola jingle, "Coke is the real thing". Young envisaged the song as a low-key acoustic ballad (in the style of The Beatles "Strawberry Fields Forever") and he originally intended it for his friend and fellow singer Ronnie Burns. Young was practising the song in a dressing room during taping of TV pop music show Uptight when pop producer and fellow Go-Set writer Ian Meldrum heard it. Meldrum (who was also manager for solo singer Russell Morris (ex-Somebody's Image) was greatly impressed by the song and immediately insisted that Young cut a demo of it for Morris. Under Meldrum's production and with the collaboration of engineer John L. Sayers the song was radically transformed into a seven-minute psychedelic epic, with an elaborately edited backing track performed by an all-star band including ex-Zoot guitarist Roger Hicks (who composed the acoustic guitar intro), members of Melbourne band The Groop and backing vocalist Maureen Elkner. Reportedly the most expensive single ever recorded in Australia up to that time, it became one of the biggest Australian pop hits of 1969, peaking at number one in May and was number one on Go-Set Top Records for the Year of 1969, and made Morris an immediate national star. It was later covered by Kylie Minogue and by Midnight Oil. Young's next song for Morris, "The Girl That I Love", was released as a double-A-side with "Part Three into Paper Walls" (another epic extended production co-written by Morris and Young) which reached number one in October.
TV pop music show, Uptight, was hosted by Ross D. Wyllie who recorded the Young-penned, "The Star" – it was later covered by Herman's Hermits as "Here Comes the Star" – which replaced "The Girl That I Love" at number one in November. It had been written to describe the loneliness associated with fame in show business. Young also wrote and produced hits for Burns including "Smiley", which peaked at number two in February 1970. It described their mutual friend, Rowe, who had been conscripted to serve in the Vietnam War. Rowe recorded his own version on Missing in Action (2007). Young wrote "I Thank You" for former boxing champion Lionel Rose which reached number one in March. It was used by comedy duo, Roy and HG, for their calls of football grand finals in the 1990s. On 11 July 1970, Go-Set pop poll voted Young as most popular 'Composer' of the year and in 1971 he finished second behind Morris.
Young Talent Time
In 1970, Young formed a production company with Kevin Lewis (former Festival Records executive), Lewis-Young Productions, which developed the pop music television show Happening '70 – hosted by Wyllie – for the ATV-0 channel, it was subsequently followed by Happening '71 and Happening '72. Lewis-Young Productions also developed Young Talent Time from April 1971, a children's variety show and talent quest with Young as host. Regular cast members were known as the Young Talent Team, the show was a launching pad for several Australian performers including Jamie Redfern, Debra Byrne, Dannii Minogue and Tina Arena. The directors were Garry Dunstan and Terry Higgins. Each episode typically ended with Young and the team singing "All My Loving" as a lullaby. Young established the Johnny Young Talent School for performance arts in 1979, some of its students became contestants and regulars on Young Talent Time. 2004 Australian Idol runner-up Anthony Callea trained with the school, as did the 2008 winner, Wes Carr.
As well as producing the television series, Lewis-Young Productions distributed related merchandise including records on their own label (L&Y), books and magazines, a board game and a set of chewing gum cards. In 1972, Caravan Holiday, a short film, featured the original six Young Talent Team members plus two recently recruited new members, Greg Mills (later to be musical director in last years of YTT) and Julie Ryles (who died in early 2011) with cameos by pop star Johnny Farnham and long term judge Evie Hayes. Young was cast in multiple cameo roles as a service station attendant, farmer, speed boat attendant and camping park manager.
In 1989, Ten Network (formerly ATV-0), axed Young Talent Time quoting poor ratings against the popular variety series Hey Hey Its Saturday. Young had committed to building his own television studios to film Young Talent Time and was forced to sell his family home to finance the debts. During the year his stepfather died and, with his mother, he tracked down his biological father. Soon after his mother also died, and his marriage was in trouble. On 9 March 1990, Young was inducted into the TV Week Logie Awards' Hall of Fame for "an outstanding and sustained contribution to Australian television."
From 24 October 2006, weekly magazine New Idea featured articles on Byrne's autobiography, Not Quite Ripe, which alleged that from the age of 12 she was introduced to sex, drugs and alcohol on Young Talent Time. The claims were vigorously denied by Young, he stated that Byrne was already 14 when she started and that drugs were not available on set, "Any drug-taking Debra did, she certainly didn't do it on our show." He said no-one on the show was aware of her affair with "Michael", a boom operator ten years her senior. According to Byrne the pair had run off together for a weekend when she was 15. A producer for the show had "Michael" replaced as boom operator. Byrne also claimed that her parents knew of her relationship with "Michael".
In 2009, Young indicated that he was in talks with Network Ten to create an updated version of Young Talent Time. The new series aired on Network Ten from 22 January to 4 May 2012 and was hosted by Rob Mills, with Young serving as executive producer and judge.
Philippines controversy
In the early 1990s, Young learned that Terry Higgins, a former Young Talent Time studio director, had contracted HIV. By 1993, Young had financially supported Higgins, who sought alternative ozone therapy in the Philippines, but the clinic turned out to have a forged license and when it was raided, the Filipino authorities mistook Young for the owner and arrested him under charges of running an illegal AIDS clinic after accompanying Higgins. Young was tested for AIDS and threatened with deportation back to Australia. Subsequently, all charges were dropped, but Young's public image was damaged by media coverage of rumours regarding his sexuality. ABC Television produced an episode on Australian Story in February 2000 in which he discussed the events and their effect on his life and career. A year after seeking the ozone therapy, Higgins died of AIDS with Young still supporting him.
Later career
After Young Talent Time, Young continued in entertainment, he worked as a radio disc jockey and occasionally performed live. In 1999 he produced Cavalcade of Stars for Foxtel including repackaging segments of Young Talent Time and showcasing new Australian bands.
In December 2000, Young relocated to Perth to become the breakfast host on Perth AM station 6IX. During 2001 to 2004, he periodically performed with Rowe, Buddy England (ex-The Seekers, The Mixtures) and Marcie Jones (Marcie and The Cookies) as the 'Legends of Sixties Rock' at venues across Australia – all four had appeared on The Go-Show. While living in Perth, Young established a new outlet for his Johnny Young Talent School franchise. In 2001, the 30th anniversary of Young Talent Time was celebrated by Network Ten with a special documentary, Young Talent Time Tells All, which was followed on 4 November by a reunion party for former cast members. Young attended with his daughter Anna – who had appeared on the show. Back in Perth, Young hosted The Pet Show on ABC Television in 2006.
On 27 October 2010, Johnny Young was inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame. On news of his impending induction Young said "I have always felt like the luckiest kid on the block to be able to continue working in the music industry for 50 years in so many areas when basically I am just a rock and roller. To receive this honour is the cherry on an amazing cake. I am very grateful to all those who supported and encouraged me." Young was inducted by Tina Arena, a former Young Talent Team member, who performed his song, "Here Comes the Star" as a musical tribute. Twenty-first century pop group, Short Stack performed Young's version of "Cara-Lyn". In late September 2021, Young Talent Time: Unmasked, a special celebrating the 50th anniversary of Young Talent Time, was broadcast, with Young, Dannii Minogue and Arena reminiscing via teleconferencing.
Personal life
Young was raised as the son of Fokke Jan de Jong and his wife Anna. They already had three children Cornelia, Antonia and Ferdinand. His mother had an affair while her husband was stationed in Indonesia, and Young's biological father was a singer, Johannes. When Young was in his 40s he met Johannes and found that he had three other half-siblings. His first marriage was to Jane, with whom he had his son Craig, but the marriage ended in divorce and Jane died of leukaemia. In the early 1970s, he married his second wife Cathy and they had two daughters Anna and Fleur.
Both his mother and step-father died in 1989 and his marriage to Cathy ended by 1995. Young married Rose McKimmie on 24 December 1999 in Bali and they lived in a battery-operated rural cottage about an hour-and-half from Melbourne. In February 2014 he said the marriage to Rose had been a mistake and lasted only eighteen months. He married Marisha, an economist, in 2002 and they remain together as of 2017.
Young has had three children, Craig (died c. 2014 of pancreatic cancer), Anna and Fleur; nine grandchildren; and one great-grandchild. Anna is a singing and dancing teacher for seniors at The Johnny Young Talent School, after studying at Melbourne Conservatorium of Music and performing in musical theatre. Fleur works in fashion.
Discography
Albums
Young Johnny (Johnny Young & Kompany) – Festival (1966)
Johnny Young's Golden LP (Johnny Young & Kompany) – Clarion (MCL 32124) (1966)
It's a Wonderful World – Clarion (MCL 32234) (1967)
Surprises – Clarion (MCL 32752) (1968)
The Young Man and His Music – Festival (L 34343) (1971)
A Musical Portrait – L&Y (L 25071) (1973)
The Best of Johnny Young – Calendar (L-15086) (1974)
EPs
Let It Be Me (Johnny Young & Kompany) – Clarion (MCX 11205) (1966)
Kiss Me Now (Johnny Young & Kompany) – Clarion (MCX 11246) (1966)
All My Loving – Clarion (MCX 11251) (April 1967)
Craise Finton Kirk – Clarion (MCX 11379) (1968)
Singles
Awards and nominations
ARIA Music Awards
The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. They commenced in 1987. Young was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2010.
|-
| ARIA Music Awards of 2010
| himself
| ARIA Hall of Fame
|
Australian Songwriter's Hall of Fame
The Australian Songwriters Hall of Fame was established in 2004 to honour the lifetime achievements of some of Australia's greatest songwriters.
|-
| 2015
| himself
| Australian Songwriter's Hall of Fame
|
|}
Go-Set Pop Poll
The Go-Set Pop Poll was coordinated by teen-oriented pop music newspaper, Go-Set and was established in February 1966 and conducted an annual poll during 1966 to 1972 of its readers to determine the most popular personalities.
|-
| 1967
| himself
| Top Male Singer
| style="background:tan;"| 3rd
|-
| 1970
| himself
| Best Composer
| style="background:gold;"| 1st
|-
| 1971
| himself
| Best Composer / Songwriter
| style="background:silver;"| 2nd
|-
| 1972
| himself
| Best Songwriter
| 5th
West Australian Music Industry Awards
The West Australian Music Industry Awards are annual awards celebrating achievements for Western Australian music. They commenced in 1985.
|-
| 2019 || Johnny Young || Hall of Fame ||
|-
Notes
<li id="noteFoot01a"
>^For name as Johnny B De Jong see National Archives of Australia, Australian Netherlands Migration Agreement, item No. A2478, DE JONG FJ/BOX 176. For Johnny B De Jong is same as Johnny Young and for middle name as Benjamin see Australian Story interview transcript. For birth date as 12 March 1947 see A2478. For name as Johnny Benjamin De Jong born on 12 March 1947 in Rotterdam, Netherlands see item No. PP168/1, W1957/10576, page 8. However, Australian Story has birth date as 11 March 1947. Other sources give birth year as 1945. For birthplace as Netherlands see A2478. For Rotterdam see Australian Story. Other sources give Indonesia as birth country.
I."Club Seventeen" / "Go Johnny Go" was released by Johnny Young & the Strangers on 7 Teen label (CST 001) as a double-A-sided single in January 1965 in Perth.
II."Heigh Ho" / "No Other Love" was released by Johnny Young & the Strangers on 7 Teen label (CST 002) as a double-A-sided single in March 1965 in Perth.
III."Step Back" / "Cara-Lyn" was released by Johnny Young & Kompany on Clarion label by Festival Records (MCK 1359) as a double-A-sided single in May 1966 in Perth.
References
General
Note: Archived [on-line] copy has limited functionality.
Specific
External links
Item PP135/2, De Jong, Anna Wilhelmina, Ferdinand, Johnny (migrant selection documents) at National Archives of Australia, page 4, includes a photo of De Jong, Johnny at age 11, taken before 23 May 1958.
1947 births
APRA Award winners
ARIA Award winners
ARIA Hall of Fame inductees
Australian DJs
Australian expatriates in the United Kingdom
Australian pop singers
Australian radio personalities
Australian singer-songwriters
Australian television presenters
Dutch emigrants to Australia
Living people
Logie Award winners
Musicians from Perth, Western Australia
Musicians from Rotterdam
Naturalised citizens of Australia
Singers from Melbourne
Australian record producers
Australian male singer-songwriters | true | [
"Settle Down may refer to:\n\n\"Settle Down\" (Kimbra song)\n\"Settle Down\" (No Doubt song)\n\"Settle Down\" (The 1975 song)\n\"Settle Down\", by Breaks Co-Op, from the album The Sound Inside (2005)\n\"Settle Down (Goin' Down That Highway)\", a song written by Mike Settle\n Settle Down (album)",
"Settle Down City is the debut album by the American rock band Young Widows. The album was released on September 12, 2006 through Jade Tree.\n\nIn December 2005, vocalist Steve Sindoni parted ways with the band Breather Resist, leaving Evan Patterson, Nick Thieneman and Geoff Paton to write and record a follow-up to their debut album Charmer (2004) as a three-piece. The remaining three members entered the studio in April 2006 Settle Down City, but decided that their sound had changed too much and changed their name and released the album under the name Young Widows instead.\n\nSettle Down City received generally favorable reviews from music critics.\n\nTrack listing \n \"Settle Down City\" – 2:56\n \"Almost Dead Beat\" – 4:05\n \"Glad He Ate Her\" – 3:31\n \"Small Talk\" – 4:31\n \"Formererer\" – 2:03\n \"Bruised Knees\" – 4:11\n \"Mirrorfucker\" – 3:02\n \"The Charmers\" – 3:29\n \"New Forest\" – 2:15\n \"The First Half\" – 1:39\n \"We Don't Know\" – 3:44\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Settle Down City at Bandcamp\n\n2006 debut albums\nYoung Widows albums\nJade Tree (record label) albums"
] |
[
"Johnny Young",
"Later career",
"Did he ever settle down",
"After Young Talent Time, Young continued in entertainment, he worked as a radio disc jockey and occasionally performed live."
] | C_79dff681128047c686d285e48d6597ac_0 | Did he ever suffer any health issues | 2 | Did Johnny Young ever suffer any health issues? | Johnny Young | After Young Talent Time, Young continued in entertainment, he worked as a radio disc jockey and occasionally performed live. In 1999 he produced Cavalcade of Stars for Foxtel including repackaging segments of Young Talent Time and showcasing new Australian bands. In December 2000, Young relocated to Perth to become the breakfast host on Perth AM station 6IX. During 2001 to 2004, he periodically performed with Rowe, Buddy England (ex-The Seekers, The Mixtures) and Marcie Jones (Marcie and The Cookies) as the 'Legends of Sixties Rock' at venues across Australia - all four had appeared on The Go-Show. While living in Perth, Young established a new outlet for his Johnny Young Talent School franchise. In 2001, the 30th anniversary of Young Talent Time was celebrated by Network Ten with a special documentary, Young Talent Time Tells All, which was followed on 4 November by a reunion party for former cast members. Young attended with his daughter Anna - who had appeared on the show. Back in Perth, Young hosted The Pet Show on ABC Television in 2006. On 27 October 2010, Johnny Young was inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame. On news of his impending induction Young said "I have always felt like the luckiest kid on the block to be able to continue working in the music industry for 50 years in so many areas when basically I am just a rock and roller. To receive this honour is the cherry on an amazing cake. I am very grateful to all those who supported and encouraged me." Young was inducted by Tina Arena, a former Young Talent Team member, who performed his song, "Here Comes the Star" as a musical tribute. Contemporary pop group, Short Stack performed Young's version of "Cara-Lyn" CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Johnny Young (born Johnny Benjamin de Jong; 12 March 1947) is a Dutch Australian singer, composer, record producer, disc jockey, television producer and host. Originally from Rotterdam, The Netherlands, his family settled in Perth in the early 1950s. Young was a 1960s pop singer and had a number-one hit with the double-A-sided, "Step Back" and a cover of the Strangeloves' "Cara-lyn" in 1966. Young's profile was enhanced by a concurrent stint as host of TV pop music program The Go!! Show. Also in the mid-1960s, Young toured with the Rolling Stones and supported Roy Orbison.
As a composer, he penned number-one hits, "The Real Thing" and "The Girl That I Love" for Russell Morris, "The Star" for Ross D. Wyllie and "I Thank You" for Lionel Rose. He also wrote a number-two single, "Smiley" for Ronnie Burns. He presented and produced the TV show, Young Talent Time, which screened on Network Ten from 1971 to 1988. It launched the careers of teen pop stars and theatre actors, Danni Minogue, Tina Arena, Jamie Redfern, Jane Scali, Debra Byrne, Sally Boyden and Karen Knowles. Typically each episode closed with a sing-along rendition of the Beatles' song, "All My Loving".
At the Logie Awards of 1990, sponsored by TV Week, Young was inducted into the Logies Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association's Hall of Fame in 2010 by Arena who performed Young's song, "The Star". He is the first person inducted into both halls.
Biography
Early life
Johnny Young was born as Johnny Benjamin de Jong on 12 March 1947 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.[A] He was conceived as a result of an affair between his mother, Anna W. (20 July 1913 – 1989) and a musician, Johannes. He was raised as the youngest son of Anna and her husband Fokke Jan de Jong (22 March 1914 – 1989), who was in the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army and served in Indonesia after World War II. His half-siblings are Cornellia (born 13 February 1936), Antonia (born 22 August 1937) and Ferdinand (born 13 November 1944). Their father was still in Indonesia from December 1946 until September 1948 when Young was one-and-a-half years old. The family migrated to Western Australia, Fokke arrived in July 1953, and they settled in the Perth Hills suburb of Kalamunda, in the 1950s. Fokke worked as a welder on industrial projects including the Kwinana Oil Refinery. His mother was in a choir and inspired his early interest in music. On 25 August 1959 Johnny, Ferdinand and Fokke were naturalised as Australian citizens.
Young's mother took him to Saturday morning radio shows for children and he would sing along. He performed solo songs wearing a specially made jacket. After leaving school, he worked as a trainee disc jockey and started singing at local dances. From the age of 14, for 18 months he was lead vocalist of the Nomads, later known as the Strangers (not the Melbourne group called the Strangers), which consisted of Young, John Eddy (guitar), Warwick Findlay (drums), Don Prior (bass guitar) and Tony Summers (guitar).
Pop singer
At eighteen-years-old, Young was host of TVW-7 Perth television pop music show Club Seventeen in early 1965. As Johnny Young & the Strangers he released two singles, "Club Seventeen"/"Oh Johnny, No" and "No Other Love"/"Heigh Ho", both on the 7-Teen label. Young then signed with Clarion Records, a Perth-based label run by Martin Clarke. In an interview Clarke said "We just got together and he said he wanted to make a national hit and branch out, he was very ambitious." Clarke, armed with his recordings of Young, went to Sydney and secured a deal with Festival Records to have the Clarion label manufactured and distributed throughout Australia.
The following year, 1966, he formed Johnny Young & Kompany, As lead vocalist he was backed by Eddy (guitar), Findlay (drums), Summers (guitar) and Jim Griffiths (bass). After performing as supporting act to the Easybeats in early 1966, Young recorded "Step Back", which was co-written by the Easybeats' members Stevie Wright and George Young (no relation). The single was released in May 1966 as a double-A-side with his cover version of "Cara-Lyn", originally by the Strangeloves. The release peaked at number one on the Go-Set National Top 40 in November. It was one of the biggest-selling Australian singles of the 1960s, behind Normie Rowe's "Que Sera Sera"/"Shakin' All Over". In October, his EP Let It Be Me went to number four on Go-Set National Top 40.
Johnny Young & Kompany moved to Melbourne in mid-1966. Mick Wade (ex-the Vibrants) joined on guitar and organ. Young was interviewed by Go-Set writer, Ian "Molly" Meldrum for their 13 July issue. Later that year Young compered the short-lived television pop show Too Much and in 1967 he hosted The Go!! Show, following the resignation of Ian Turpie. In January the band released covers of the Everly Brothers' hits "When Will I Be Loved?" /"Kiss Me Now" as another double-A-sided single which peaked at number three. He disbanded Kompany to go solo and supported Roy Orbison, The Walker Brothers, The Mixtures and The Yardbirds at the Festival Hall, Melbourne on Australia Day (26 January). While touring in Brisbane he met Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees and provided Gibb with airfare to Sydney for a television spot. Another hit for Young was his slower version of the Beatles' song "All My Loving" which reached number four nationally in May; it later became his signature song.
Young won a Logie for "Best Teenage Personality" in 1967 for his work on The Go!! Show. On 9 August Go-Set published its annual pop poll and Young was voted third "Most Popular Male" behind Ronnie Burns and Rowe. However, the show was axed by mid-year and he relocated to London where he shared a flat with Gibb. In July, he released "Lady", written by Gibb especially for him, which reached the Top 40. "Craise Finton Kirk", written by Barry and Robin Gibb, was released in August and peaked at number 14. It was followed by "Every Christian Lion Hearted Man Will Show You", written by Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb, but did not chart. Young briefly returned to Perth in September and teamed up with drummer Danny Finley (ex-MPD Ltd), they both flew to London to form Danny's Word with Rob Alexander on guitar and Pete Friedberg on bass guitar. After four weeks rehearsal in London the band played a residency at the Star Club in Hamburg as a precursor to touring Australia. Due to other commitments the band split on return from Germany when Pete Friedberg left to work with other bands including Ainsley Dunbar's Blue Whale and Dusty Springfield. Young returned to Australia in January 1968 with Rod Alexander and recorded "Unconcientious Objector" and his last Top 40 single, "It's a Sunny Day". Subsequent singles did not reach the Top 40. Young became a news and gossip writer for Go-Set from December 1968 to August 1969.
Songwriter
While sharing a flat with Barry Gibb in London in late 1967, Young was encouraged to write songs. Gibb taught him that "there are no rules in song-writing, there is a structure, but what you need to do is find the 'hook', and it could be in the melody, the chorus, the words or even an identifiable riff, and that can be the difference in writing a hit record." During 1968, back in Australia, Young wrote "The Real Thing" as a reaction against a Coca-Cola jingle, "Coke is the real thing". Young envisaged the song as a low-key acoustic ballad (in the style of The Beatles "Strawberry Fields Forever") and he originally intended it for his friend and fellow singer Ronnie Burns. Young was practising the song in a dressing room during taping of TV pop music show Uptight when pop producer and fellow Go-Set writer Ian Meldrum heard it. Meldrum (who was also manager for solo singer Russell Morris (ex-Somebody's Image) was greatly impressed by the song and immediately insisted that Young cut a demo of it for Morris. Under Meldrum's production and with the collaboration of engineer John L. Sayers the song was radically transformed into a seven-minute psychedelic epic, with an elaborately edited backing track performed by an all-star band including ex-Zoot guitarist Roger Hicks (who composed the acoustic guitar intro), members of Melbourne band The Groop and backing vocalist Maureen Elkner. Reportedly the most expensive single ever recorded in Australia up to that time, it became one of the biggest Australian pop hits of 1969, peaking at number one in May and was number one on Go-Set Top Records for the Year of 1969, and made Morris an immediate national star. It was later covered by Kylie Minogue and by Midnight Oil. Young's next song for Morris, "The Girl That I Love", was released as a double-A-side with "Part Three into Paper Walls" (another epic extended production co-written by Morris and Young) which reached number one in October.
TV pop music show, Uptight, was hosted by Ross D. Wyllie who recorded the Young-penned, "The Star" – it was later covered by Herman's Hermits as "Here Comes the Star" – which replaced "The Girl That I Love" at number one in November. It had been written to describe the loneliness associated with fame in show business. Young also wrote and produced hits for Burns including "Smiley", which peaked at number two in February 1970. It described their mutual friend, Rowe, who had been conscripted to serve in the Vietnam War. Rowe recorded his own version on Missing in Action (2007). Young wrote "I Thank You" for former boxing champion Lionel Rose which reached number one in March. It was used by comedy duo, Roy and HG, for their calls of football grand finals in the 1990s. On 11 July 1970, Go-Set pop poll voted Young as most popular 'Composer' of the year and in 1971 he finished second behind Morris.
Young Talent Time
In 1970, Young formed a production company with Kevin Lewis (former Festival Records executive), Lewis-Young Productions, which developed the pop music television show Happening '70 – hosted by Wyllie – for the ATV-0 channel, it was subsequently followed by Happening '71 and Happening '72. Lewis-Young Productions also developed Young Talent Time from April 1971, a children's variety show and talent quest with Young as host. Regular cast members were known as the Young Talent Team, the show was a launching pad for several Australian performers including Jamie Redfern, Debra Byrne, Dannii Minogue and Tina Arena. The directors were Garry Dunstan and Terry Higgins. Each episode typically ended with Young and the team singing "All My Loving" as a lullaby. Young established the Johnny Young Talent School for performance arts in 1979, some of its students became contestants and regulars on Young Talent Time. 2004 Australian Idol runner-up Anthony Callea trained with the school, as did the 2008 winner, Wes Carr.
As well as producing the television series, Lewis-Young Productions distributed related merchandise including records on their own label (L&Y), books and magazines, a board game and a set of chewing gum cards. In 1972, Caravan Holiday, a short film, featured the original six Young Talent Team members plus two recently recruited new members, Greg Mills (later to be musical director in last years of YTT) and Julie Ryles (who died in early 2011) with cameos by pop star Johnny Farnham and long term judge Evie Hayes. Young was cast in multiple cameo roles as a service station attendant, farmer, speed boat attendant and camping park manager.
In 1989, Ten Network (formerly ATV-0), axed Young Talent Time quoting poor ratings against the popular variety series Hey Hey Its Saturday. Young had committed to building his own television studios to film Young Talent Time and was forced to sell his family home to finance the debts. During the year his stepfather died and, with his mother, he tracked down his biological father. Soon after his mother also died, and his marriage was in trouble. On 9 March 1990, Young was inducted into the TV Week Logie Awards' Hall of Fame for "an outstanding and sustained contribution to Australian television."
From 24 October 2006, weekly magazine New Idea featured articles on Byrne's autobiography, Not Quite Ripe, which alleged that from the age of 12 she was introduced to sex, drugs and alcohol on Young Talent Time. The claims were vigorously denied by Young, he stated that Byrne was already 14 when she started and that drugs were not available on set, "Any drug-taking Debra did, she certainly didn't do it on our show." He said no-one on the show was aware of her affair with "Michael", a boom operator ten years her senior. According to Byrne the pair had run off together for a weekend when she was 15. A producer for the show had "Michael" replaced as boom operator. Byrne also claimed that her parents knew of her relationship with "Michael".
In 2009, Young indicated that he was in talks with Network Ten to create an updated version of Young Talent Time. The new series aired on Network Ten from 22 January to 4 May 2012 and was hosted by Rob Mills, with Young serving as executive producer and judge.
Philippines controversy
In the early 1990s, Young learned that Terry Higgins, a former Young Talent Time studio director, had contracted HIV. By 1993, Young had financially supported Higgins, who sought alternative ozone therapy in the Philippines, but the clinic turned out to have a forged license and when it was raided, the Filipino authorities mistook Young for the owner and arrested him under charges of running an illegal AIDS clinic after accompanying Higgins. Young was tested for AIDS and threatened with deportation back to Australia. Subsequently, all charges were dropped, but Young's public image was damaged by media coverage of rumours regarding his sexuality. ABC Television produced an episode on Australian Story in February 2000 in which he discussed the events and their effect on his life and career. A year after seeking the ozone therapy, Higgins died of AIDS with Young still supporting him.
Later career
After Young Talent Time, Young continued in entertainment, he worked as a radio disc jockey and occasionally performed live. In 1999 he produced Cavalcade of Stars for Foxtel including repackaging segments of Young Talent Time and showcasing new Australian bands.
In December 2000, Young relocated to Perth to become the breakfast host on Perth AM station 6IX. During 2001 to 2004, he periodically performed with Rowe, Buddy England (ex-The Seekers, The Mixtures) and Marcie Jones (Marcie and The Cookies) as the 'Legends of Sixties Rock' at venues across Australia – all four had appeared on The Go-Show. While living in Perth, Young established a new outlet for his Johnny Young Talent School franchise. In 2001, the 30th anniversary of Young Talent Time was celebrated by Network Ten with a special documentary, Young Talent Time Tells All, which was followed on 4 November by a reunion party for former cast members. Young attended with his daughter Anna – who had appeared on the show. Back in Perth, Young hosted The Pet Show on ABC Television in 2006.
On 27 October 2010, Johnny Young was inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame. On news of his impending induction Young said "I have always felt like the luckiest kid on the block to be able to continue working in the music industry for 50 years in so many areas when basically I am just a rock and roller. To receive this honour is the cherry on an amazing cake. I am very grateful to all those who supported and encouraged me." Young was inducted by Tina Arena, a former Young Talent Team member, who performed his song, "Here Comes the Star" as a musical tribute. Twenty-first century pop group, Short Stack performed Young's version of "Cara-Lyn". In late September 2021, Young Talent Time: Unmasked, a special celebrating the 50th anniversary of Young Talent Time, was broadcast, with Young, Dannii Minogue and Arena reminiscing via teleconferencing.
Personal life
Young was raised as the son of Fokke Jan de Jong and his wife Anna. They already had three children Cornelia, Antonia and Ferdinand. His mother had an affair while her husband was stationed in Indonesia, and Young's biological father was a singer, Johannes. When Young was in his 40s he met Johannes and found that he had three other half-siblings. His first marriage was to Jane, with whom he had his son Craig, but the marriage ended in divorce and Jane died of leukaemia. In the early 1970s, he married his second wife Cathy and they had two daughters Anna and Fleur.
Both his mother and step-father died in 1989 and his marriage to Cathy ended by 1995. Young married Rose McKimmie on 24 December 1999 in Bali and they lived in a battery-operated rural cottage about an hour-and-half from Melbourne. In February 2014 he said the marriage to Rose had been a mistake and lasted only eighteen months. He married Marisha, an economist, in 2002 and they remain together as of 2017.
Young has had three children, Craig (died c. 2014 of pancreatic cancer), Anna and Fleur; nine grandchildren; and one great-grandchild. Anna is a singing and dancing teacher for seniors at The Johnny Young Talent School, after studying at Melbourne Conservatorium of Music and performing in musical theatre. Fleur works in fashion.
Discography
Albums
Young Johnny (Johnny Young & Kompany) – Festival (1966)
Johnny Young's Golden LP (Johnny Young & Kompany) – Clarion (MCL 32124) (1966)
It's a Wonderful World – Clarion (MCL 32234) (1967)
Surprises – Clarion (MCL 32752) (1968)
The Young Man and His Music – Festival (L 34343) (1971)
A Musical Portrait – L&Y (L 25071) (1973)
The Best of Johnny Young – Calendar (L-15086) (1974)
EPs
Let It Be Me (Johnny Young & Kompany) – Clarion (MCX 11205) (1966)
Kiss Me Now (Johnny Young & Kompany) – Clarion (MCX 11246) (1966)
All My Loving – Clarion (MCX 11251) (April 1967)
Craise Finton Kirk – Clarion (MCX 11379) (1968)
Singles
Awards and nominations
ARIA Music Awards
The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. They commenced in 1987. Young was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2010.
|-
| ARIA Music Awards of 2010
| himself
| ARIA Hall of Fame
|
Australian Songwriter's Hall of Fame
The Australian Songwriters Hall of Fame was established in 2004 to honour the lifetime achievements of some of Australia's greatest songwriters.
|-
| 2015
| himself
| Australian Songwriter's Hall of Fame
|
|}
Go-Set Pop Poll
The Go-Set Pop Poll was coordinated by teen-oriented pop music newspaper, Go-Set and was established in February 1966 and conducted an annual poll during 1966 to 1972 of its readers to determine the most popular personalities.
|-
| 1967
| himself
| Top Male Singer
| style="background:tan;"| 3rd
|-
| 1970
| himself
| Best Composer
| style="background:gold;"| 1st
|-
| 1971
| himself
| Best Composer / Songwriter
| style="background:silver;"| 2nd
|-
| 1972
| himself
| Best Songwriter
| 5th
West Australian Music Industry Awards
The West Australian Music Industry Awards are annual awards celebrating achievements for Western Australian music. They commenced in 1985.
|-
| 2019 || Johnny Young || Hall of Fame ||
|-
Notes
<li id="noteFoot01a"
>^For name as Johnny B De Jong see National Archives of Australia, Australian Netherlands Migration Agreement, item No. A2478, DE JONG FJ/BOX 176. For Johnny B De Jong is same as Johnny Young and for middle name as Benjamin see Australian Story interview transcript. For birth date as 12 March 1947 see A2478. For name as Johnny Benjamin De Jong born on 12 March 1947 in Rotterdam, Netherlands see item No. PP168/1, W1957/10576, page 8. However, Australian Story has birth date as 11 March 1947. Other sources give birth year as 1945. For birthplace as Netherlands see A2478. For Rotterdam see Australian Story. Other sources give Indonesia as birth country.
I."Club Seventeen" / "Go Johnny Go" was released by Johnny Young & the Strangers on 7 Teen label (CST 001) as a double-A-sided single in January 1965 in Perth.
II."Heigh Ho" / "No Other Love" was released by Johnny Young & the Strangers on 7 Teen label (CST 002) as a double-A-sided single in March 1965 in Perth.
III."Step Back" / "Cara-Lyn" was released by Johnny Young & Kompany on Clarion label by Festival Records (MCK 1359) as a double-A-sided single in May 1966 in Perth.
References
General
Note: Archived [on-line] copy has limited functionality.
Specific
External links
Item PP135/2, De Jong, Anna Wilhelmina, Ferdinand, Johnny (migrant selection documents) at National Archives of Australia, page 4, includes a photo of De Jong, Johnny at age 11, taken before 23 May 1958.
1947 births
APRA Award winners
ARIA Award winners
ARIA Hall of Fame inductees
Australian DJs
Australian expatriates in the United Kingdom
Australian pop singers
Australian radio personalities
Australian singer-songwriters
Australian television presenters
Dutch emigrants to Australia
Living people
Logie Award winners
Musicians from Perth, Western Australia
Musicians from Rotterdam
Naturalised citizens of Australia
Singers from Melbourne
Australian record producers
Australian male singer-songwriters | false | [
"\"You Suffer\" is a song by English grindcore band Napalm Death from the band's debut studio album, Scum (1987). The song is precisely 1.316 seconds long. The song was written by Nicholas Bullen, Justin Broadrick, and Mick Harris during the March 1986 demo sessions for From Enslavement to Obliteration. \n\nThe song is also well known for being the shortest song of all time, as it currently holds the world record for the shortest song ever.\n\nBackground and influence \nThe official four-word lyrics to the song are: \"You suffer, but why?\". Justin Broadrick said about the song:\n\nNicholas Bullen, writer of the song's four-word lyrics, said that the brevity of \"You Suffer\" was inspired by Wehrmacht's 1985 song \"E!\". The song has since been recognized by Guinness World Records as the shortest ever recorded.\n\"You Suffer\" would become an influence on the \"noisecore\" micro-genre, inspiring many bands such as Sore Throat, 7 Minutes of Nausea, Deche-Charge, Anal Cunt, and others to release full-length recordings of exclusively \"microsong\" content. Swedish metal band Opeth has covered the song live.\n\nRelease \nIn 1989, \"You Suffer\" appeared on one side of a 7\" single given away free with copies of a compilation album entitled Grindcrusher. The song on the other side, \"Mega-Armageddon Death Part 3\" by the Electro Hippies, also lasts approximately one second, making the disc the shortest single ever released. Each side features one groove at the outer edge of the disc containing the music, with the rest of the surface containing etched writing and cartoons.\n\nTo coincide with the release of the Scum DualDisc in March 2007, a music video produced by Earache Records was released for the song. The video shows a girl jumping up and down with fake blood/gunshot effects overlayed on the footage.\n\nTrack listing\n\nVinyl release\n\nSide one\n \"You Suffer\" :01\n\nSide Two \n \"Mega-Armageddon Death Part 3\" (preformed by Electro Hippies) :01\n\nDigital release\n \"You Suffer\" :01\n \"Dead\" :02\n\nIn popular culture \nIn 2018, \"You Suffer\" was featured in the 2014 HBO television series Silicon Valley in the episode \"Chief Operating Officer\". The character Gilfoyle uses the song as a notification for Bitcoin price fluctuations, when the price drops below a certain threshold.\n\nZak Smith quotes the lyrics to the song, which he describes as the \"shortest punk song on the subject of suffering (or any subject)\" at the conclusion of his memoir We Did Porn.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n \n Discogs entry\n\n1987 songs\nNapalm Death songs\n1989 singles\nComedy rock songs\nGrindcore songs",
"Mosh (Get Mosh) is a digital health clinic for men that facilitates online telehealth consultations and, if appropriate, delivery of treatments to its users that suffer from hair loss and issues relating to sexual health, skincare and mental health. Mosh was founded in 2017 and in 2019 it saw Tinder co-founders take an undisclosed stake in the company. Other investors in Mosh include Parc Capital. The company is headquartered in Sydney.\n\nPlatforms\nUsers complete a confidential questionnaire which asks questions about their health and medical history. A doctor will review the answers and assess the user’s suitability for treatment. If the treatment requires a prescription, the doctor will contact the user via a video consult. Treatments are packaged discreetly and are dispensed by partner pharmacies on a subscription basis.\n\nReferences \n\nMedical websites\nMen's health organizations"
] |
[
"Johnny Young",
"Later career",
"Did he ever settle down",
"After Young Talent Time, Young continued in entertainment, he worked as a radio disc jockey and occasionally performed live.",
"Did he ever suffer any health issues",
"I don't know."
] | C_79dff681128047c686d285e48d6597ac_0 | Was his family ever a reason for a break | 3 | Was Johnny Young family ever the reason for a break? | Johnny Young | After Young Talent Time, Young continued in entertainment, he worked as a radio disc jockey and occasionally performed live. In 1999 he produced Cavalcade of Stars for Foxtel including repackaging segments of Young Talent Time and showcasing new Australian bands. In December 2000, Young relocated to Perth to become the breakfast host on Perth AM station 6IX. During 2001 to 2004, he periodically performed with Rowe, Buddy England (ex-The Seekers, The Mixtures) and Marcie Jones (Marcie and The Cookies) as the 'Legends of Sixties Rock' at venues across Australia - all four had appeared on The Go-Show. While living in Perth, Young established a new outlet for his Johnny Young Talent School franchise. In 2001, the 30th anniversary of Young Talent Time was celebrated by Network Ten with a special documentary, Young Talent Time Tells All, which was followed on 4 November by a reunion party for former cast members. Young attended with his daughter Anna - who had appeared on the show. Back in Perth, Young hosted The Pet Show on ABC Television in 2006. On 27 October 2010, Johnny Young was inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame. On news of his impending induction Young said "I have always felt like the luckiest kid on the block to be able to continue working in the music industry for 50 years in so many areas when basically I am just a rock and roller. To receive this honour is the cherry on an amazing cake. I am very grateful to all those who supported and encouraged me." Young was inducted by Tina Arena, a former Young Talent Team member, who performed his song, "Here Comes the Star" as a musical tribute. Contemporary pop group, Short Stack performed Young's version of "Cara-Lyn" CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Johnny Young (born Johnny Benjamin de Jong; 12 March 1947) is a Dutch Australian singer, composer, record producer, disc jockey, television producer and host. Originally from Rotterdam, The Netherlands, his family settled in Perth in the early 1950s. Young was a 1960s pop singer and had a number-one hit with the double-A-sided, "Step Back" and a cover of the Strangeloves' "Cara-lyn" in 1966. Young's profile was enhanced by a concurrent stint as host of TV pop music program The Go!! Show. Also in the mid-1960s, Young toured with the Rolling Stones and supported Roy Orbison.
As a composer, he penned number-one hits, "The Real Thing" and "The Girl That I Love" for Russell Morris, "The Star" for Ross D. Wyllie and "I Thank You" for Lionel Rose. He also wrote a number-two single, "Smiley" for Ronnie Burns. He presented and produced the TV show, Young Talent Time, which screened on Network Ten from 1971 to 1988. It launched the careers of teen pop stars and theatre actors, Danni Minogue, Tina Arena, Jamie Redfern, Jane Scali, Debra Byrne, Sally Boyden and Karen Knowles. Typically each episode closed with a sing-along rendition of the Beatles' song, "All My Loving".
At the Logie Awards of 1990, sponsored by TV Week, Young was inducted into the Logies Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association's Hall of Fame in 2010 by Arena who performed Young's song, "The Star". He is the first person inducted into both halls.
Biography
Early life
Johnny Young was born as Johnny Benjamin de Jong on 12 March 1947 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.[A] He was conceived as a result of an affair between his mother, Anna W. (20 July 1913 – 1989) and a musician, Johannes. He was raised as the youngest son of Anna and her husband Fokke Jan de Jong (22 March 1914 – 1989), who was in the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army and served in Indonesia after World War II. His half-siblings are Cornellia (born 13 February 1936), Antonia (born 22 August 1937) and Ferdinand (born 13 November 1944). Their father was still in Indonesia from December 1946 until September 1948 when Young was one-and-a-half years old. The family migrated to Western Australia, Fokke arrived in July 1953, and they settled in the Perth Hills suburb of Kalamunda, in the 1950s. Fokke worked as a welder on industrial projects including the Kwinana Oil Refinery. His mother was in a choir and inspired his early interest in music. On 25 August 1959 Johnny, Ferdinand and Fokke were naturalised as Australian citizens.
Young's mother took him to Saturday morning radio shows for children and he would sing along. He performed solo songs wearing a specially made jacket. After leaving school, he worked as a trainee disc jockey and started singing at local dances. From the age of 14, for 18 months he was lead vocalist of the Nomads, later known as the Strangers (not the Melbourne group called the Strangers), which consisted of Young, John Eddy (guitar), Warwick Findlay (drums), Don Prior (bass guitar) and Tony Summers (guitar).
Pop singer
At eighteen-years-old, Young was host of TVW-7 Perth television pop music show Club Seventeen in early 1965. As Johnny Young & the Strangers he released two singles, "Club Seventeen"/"Oh Johnny, No" and "No Other Love"/"Heigh Ho", both on the 7-Teen label. Young then signed with Clarion Records, a Perth-based label run by Martin Clarke. In an interview Clarke said "We just got together and he said he wanted to make a national hit and branch out, he was very ambitious." Clarke, armed with his recordings of Young, went to Sydney and secured a deal with Festival Records to have the Clarion label manufactured and distributed throughout Australia.
The following year, 1966, he formed Johnny Young & Kompany, As lead vocalist he was backed by Eddy (guitar), Findlay (drums), Summers (guitar) and Jim Griffiths (bass). After performing as supporting act to the Easybeats in early 1966, Young recorded "Step Back", which was co-written by the Easybeats' members Stevie Wright and George Young (no relation). The single was released in May 1966 as a double-A-side with his cover version of "Cara-Lyn", originally by the Strangeloves. The release peaked at number one on the Go-Set National Top 40 in November. It was one of the biggest-selling Australian singles of the 1960s, behind Normie Rowe's "Que Sera Sera"/"Shakin' All Over". In October, his EP Let It Be Me went to number four on Go-Set National Top 40.
Johnny Young & Kompany moved to Melbourne in mid-1966. Mick Wade (ex-the Vibrants) joined on guitar and organ. Young was interviewed by Go-Set writer, Ian "Molly" Meldrum for their 13 July issue. Later that year Young compered the short-lived television pop show Too Much and in 1967 he hosted The Go!! Show, following the resignation of Ian Turpie. In January the band released covers of the Everly Brothers' hits "When Will I Be Loved?" /"Kiss Me Now" as another double-A-sided single which peaked at number three. He disbanded Kompany to go solo and supported Roy Orbison, The Walker Brothers, The Mixtures and The Yardbirds at the Festival Hall, Melbourne on Australia Day (26 January). While touring in Brisbane he met Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees and provided Gibb with airfare to Sydney for a television spot. Another hit for Young was his slower version of the Beatles' song "All My Loving" which reached number four nationally in May; it later became his signature song.
Young won a Logie for "Best Teenage Personality" in 1967 for his work on The Go!! Show. On 9 August Go-Set published its annual pop poll and Young was voted third "Most Popular Male" behind Ronnie Burns and Rowe. However, the show was axed by mid-year and he relocated to London where he shared a flat with Gibb. In July, he released "Lady", written by Gibb especially for him, which reached the Top 40. "Craise Finton Kirk", written by Barry and Robin Gibb, was released in August and peaked at number 14. It was followed by "Every Christian Lion Hearted Man Will Show You", written by Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb, but did not chart. Young briefly returned to Perth in September and teamed up with drummer Danny Finley (ex-MPD Ltd), they both flew to London to form Danny's Word with Rob Alexander on guitar and Pete Friedberg on bass guitar. After four weeks rehearsal in London the band played a residency at the Star Club in Hamburg as a precursor to touring Australia. Due to other commitments the band split on return from Germany when Pete Friedberg left to work with other bands including Ainsley Dunbar's Blue Whale and Dusty Springfield. Young returned to Australia in January 1968 with Rod Alexander and recorded "Unconcientious Objector" and his last Top 40 single, "It's a Sunny Day". Subsequent singles did not reach the Top 40. Young became a news and gossip writer for Go-Set from December 1968 to August 1969.
Songwriter
While sharing a flat with Barry Gibb in London in late 1967, Young was encouraged to write songs. Gibb taught him that "there are no rules in song-writing, there is a structure, but what you need to do is find the 'hook', and it could be in the melody, the chorus, the words or even an identifiable riff, and that can be the difference in writing a hit record." During 1968, back in Australia, Young wrote "The Real Thing" as a reaction against a Coca-Cola jingle, "Coke is the real thing". Young envisaged the song as a low-key acoustic ballad (in the style of The Beatles "Strawberry Fields Forever") and he originally intended it for his friend and fellow singer Ronnie Burns. Young was practising the song in a dressing room during taping of TV pop music show Uptight when pop producer and fellow Go-Set writer Ian Meldrum heard it. Meldrum (who was also manager for solo singer Russell Morris (ex-Somebody's Image) was greatly impressed by the song and immediately insisted that Young cut a demo of it for Morris. Under Meldrum's production and with the collaboration of engineer John L. Sayers the song was radically transformed into a seven-minute psychedelic epic, with an elaborately edited backing track performed by an all-star band including ex-Zoot guitarist Roger Hicks (who composed the acoustic guitar intro), members of Melbourne band The Groop and backing vocalist Maureen Elkner. Reportedly the most expensive single ever recorded in Australia up to that time, it became one of the biggest Australian pop hits of 1969, peaking at number one in May and was number one on Go-Set Top Records for the Year of 1969, and made Morris an immediate national star. It was later covered by Kylie Minogue and by Midnight Oil. Young's next song for Morris, "The Girl That I Love", was released as a double-A-side with "Part Three into Paper Walls" (another epic extended production co-written by Morris and Young) which reached number one in October.
TV pop music show, Uptight, was hosted by Ross D. Wyllie who recorded the Young-penned, "The Star" – it was later covered by Herman's Hermits as "Here Comes the Star" – which replaced "The Girl That I Love" at number one in November. It had been written to describe the loneliness associated with fame in show business. Young also wrote and produced hits for Burns including "Smiley", which peaked at number two in February 1970. It described their mutual friend, Rowe, who had been conscripted to serve in the Vietnam War. Rowe recorded his own version on Missing in Action (2007). Young wrote "I Thank You" for former boxing champion Lionel Rose which reached number one in March. It was used by comedy duo, Roy and HG, for their calls of football grand finals in the 1990s. On 11 July 1970, Go-Set pop poll voted Young as most popular 'Composer' of the year and in 1971 he finished second behind Morris.
Young Talent Time
In 1970, Young formed a production company with Kevin Lewis (former Festival Records executive), Lewis-Young Productions, which developed the pop music television show Happening '70 – hosted by Wyllie – for the ATV-0 channel, it was subsequently followed by Happening '71 and Happening '72. Lewis-Young Productions also developed Young Talent Time from April 1971, a children's variety show and talent quest with Young as host. Regular cast members were known as the Young Talent Team, the show was a launching pad for several Australian performers including Jamie Redfern, Debra Byrne, Dannii Minogue and Tina Arena. The directors were Garry Dunstan and Terry Higgins. Each episode typically ended with Young and the team singing "All My Loving" as a lullaby. Young established the Johnny Young Talent School for performance arts in 1979, some of its students became contestants and regulars on Young Talent Time. 2004 Australian Idol runner-up Anthony Callea trained with the school, as did the 2008 winner, Wes Carr.
As well as producing the television series, Lewis-Young Productions distributed related merchandise including records on their own label (L&Y), books and magazines, a board game and a set of chewing gum cards. In 1972, Caravan Holiday, a short film, featured the original six Young Talent Team members plus two recently recruited new members, Greg Mills (later to be musical director in last years of YTT) and Julie Ryles (who died in early 2011) with cameos by pop star Johnny Farnham and long term judge Evie Hayes. Young was cast in multiple cameo roles as a service station attendant, farmer, speed boat attendant and camping park manager.
In 1989, Ten Network (formerly ATV-0), axed Young Talent Time quoting poor ratings against the popular variety series Hey Hey Its Saturday. Young had committed to building his own television studios to film Young Talent Time and was forced to sell his family home to finance the debts. During the year his stepfather died and, with his mother, he tracked down his biological father. Soon after his mother also died, and his marriage was in trouble. On 9 March 1990, Young was inducted into the TV Week Logie Awards' Hall of Fame for "an outstanding and sustained contribution to Australian television."
From 24 October 2006, weekly magazine New Idea featured articles on Byrne's autobiography, Not Quite Ripe, which alleged that from the age of 12 she was introduced to sex, drugs and alcohol on Young Talent Time. The claims were vigorously denied by Young, he stated that Byrne was already 14 when she started and that drugs were not available on set, "Any drug-taking Debra did, she certainly didn't do it on our show." He said no-one on the show was aware of her affair with "Michael", a boom operator ten years her senior. According to Byrne the pair had run off together for a weekend when she was 15. A producer for the show had "Michael" replaced as boom operator. Byrne also claimed that her parents knew of her relationship with "Michael".
In 2009, Young indicated that he was in talks with Network Ten to create an updated version of Young Talent Time. The new series aired on Network Ten from 22 January to 4 May 2012 and was hosted by Rob Mills, with Young serving as executive producer and judge.
Philippines controversy
In the early 1990s, Young learned that Terry Higgins, a former Young Talent Time studio director, had contracted HIV. By 1993, Young had financially supported Higgins, who sought alternative ozone therapy in the Philippines, but the clinic turned out to have a forged license and when it was raided, the Filipino authorities mistook Young for the owner and arrested him under charges of running an illegal AIDS clinic after accompanying Higgins. Young was tested for AIDS and threatened with deportation back to Australia. Subsequently, all charges were dropped, but Young's public image was damaged by media coverage of rumours regarding his sexuality. ABC Television produced an episode on Australian Story in February 2000 in which he discussed the events and their effect on his life and career. A year after seeking the ozone therapy, Higgins died of AIDS with Young still supporting him.
Later career
After Young Talent Time, Young continued in entertainment, he worked as a radio disc jockey and occasionally performed live. In 1999 he produced Cavalcade of Stars for Foxtel including repackaging segments of Young Talent Time and showcasing new Australian bands.
In December 2000, Young relocated to Perth to become the breakfast host on Perth AM station 6IX. During 2001 to 2004, he periodically performed with Rowe, Buddy England (ex-The Seekers, The Mixtures) and Marcie Jones (Marcie and The Cookies) as the 'Legends of Sixties Rock' at venues across Australia – all four had appeared on The Go-Show. While living in Perth, Young established a new outlet for his Johnny Young Talent School franchise. In 2001, the 30th anniversary of Young Talent Time was celebrated by Network Ten with a special documentary, Young Talent Time Tells All, which was followed on 4 November by a reunion party for former cast members. Young attended with his daughter Anna – who had appeared on the show. Back in Perth, Young hosted The Pet Show on ABC Television in 2006.
On 27 October 2010, Johnny Young was inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame. On news of his impending induction Young said "I have always felt like the luckiest kid on the block to be able to continue working in the music industry for 50 years in so many areas when basically I am just a rock and roller. To receive this honour is the cherry on an amazing cake. I am very grateful to all those who supported and encouraged me." Young was inducted by Tina Arena, a former Young Talent Team member, who performed his song, "Here Comes the Star" as a musical tribute. Twenty-first century pop group, Short Stack performed Young's version of "Cara-Lyn". In late September 2021, Young Talent Time: Unmasked, a special celebrating the 50th anniversary of Young Talent Time, was broadcast, with Young, Dannii Minogue and Arena reminiscing via teleconferencing.
Personal life
Young was raised as the son of Fokke Jan de Jong and his wife Anna. They already had three children Cornelia, Antonia and Ferdinand. His mother had an affair while her husband was stationed in Indonesia, and Young's biological father was a singer, Johannes. When Young was in his 40s he met Johannes and found that he had three other half-siblings. His first marriage was to Jane, with whom he had his son Craig, but the marriage ended in divorce and Jane died of leukaemia. In the early 1970s, he married his second wife Cathy and they had two daughters Anna and Fleur.
Both his mother and step-father died in 1989 and his marriage to Cathy ended by 1995. Young married Rose McKimmie on 24 December 1999 in Bali and they lived in a battery-operated rural cottage about an hour-and-half from Melbourne. In February 2014 he said the marriage to Rose had been a mistake and lasted only eighteen months. He married Marisha, an economist, in 2002 and they remain together as of 2017.
Young has had three children, Craig (died c. 2014 of pancreatic cancer), Anna and Fleur; nine grandchildren; and one great-grandchild. Anna is a singing and dancing teacher for seniors at The Johnny Young Talent School, after studying at Melbourne Conservatorium of Music and performing in musical theatre. Fleur works in fashion.
Discography
Albums
Young Johnny (Johnny Young & Kompany) – Festival (1966)
Johnny Young's Golden LP (Johnny Young & Kompany) – Clarion (MCL 32124) (1966)
It's a Wonderful World – Clarion (MCL 32234) (1967)
Surprises – Clarion (MCL 32752) (1968)
The Young Man and His Music – Festival (L 34343) (1971)
A Musical Portrait – L&Y (L 25071) (1973)
The Best of Johnny Young – Calendar (L-15086) (1974)
EPs
Let It Be Me (Johnny Young & Kompany) – Clarion (MCX 11205) (1966)
Kiss Me Now (Johnny Young & Kompany) – Clarion (MCX 11246) (1966)
All My Loving – Clarion (MCX 11251) (April 1967)
Craise Finton Kirk – Clarion (MCX 11379) (1968)
Singles
Awards and nominations
ARIA Music Awards
The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. They commenced in 1987. Young was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2010.
|-
| ARIA Music Awards of 2010
| himself
| ARIA Hall of Fame
|
Australian Songwriter's Hall of Fame
The Australian Songwriters Hall of Fame was established in 2004 to honour the lifetime achievements of some of Australia's greatest songwriters.
|-
| 2015
| himself
| Australian Songwriter's Hall of Fame
|
|}
Go-Set Pop Poll
The Go-Set Pop Poll was coordinated by teen-oriented pop music newspaper, Go-Set and was established in February 1966 and conducted an annual poll during 1966 to 1972 of its readers to determine the most popular personalities.
|-
| 1967
| himself
| Top Male Singer
| style="background:tan;"| 3rd
|-
| 1970
| himself
| Best Composer
| style="background:gold;"| 1st
|-
| 1971
| himself
| Best Composer / Songwriter
| style="background:silver;"| 2nd
|-
| 1972
| himself
| Best Songwriter
| 5th
West Australian Music Industry Awards
The West Australian Music Industry Awards are annual awards celebrating achievements for Western Australian music. They commenced in 1985.
|-
| 2019 || Johnny Young || Hall of Fame ||
|-
Notes
<li id="noteFoot01a"
>^For name as Johnny B De Jong see National Archives of Australia, Australian Netherlands Migration Agreement, item No. A2478, DE JONG FJ/BOX 176. For Johnny B De Jong is same as Johnny Young and for middle name as Benjamin see Australian Story interview transcript. For birth date as 12 March 1947 see A2478. For name as Johnny Benjamin De Jong born on 12 March 1947 in Rotterdam, Netherlands see item No. PP168/1, W1957/10576, page 8. However, Australian Story has birth date as 11 March 1947. Other sources give birth year as 1945. For birthplace as Netherlands see A2478. For Rotterdam see Australian Story. Other sources give Indonesia as birth country.
I."Club Seventeen" / "Go Johnny Go" was released by Johnny Young & the Strangers on 7 Teen label (CST 001) as a double-A-sided single in January 1965 in Perth.
II."Heigh Ho" / "No Other Love" was released by Johnny Young & the Strangers on 7 Teen label (CST 002) as a double-A-sided single in March 1965 in Perth.
III."Step Back" / "Cara-Lyn" was released by Johnny Young & Kompany on Clarion label by Festival Records (MCK 1359) as a double-A-sided single in May 1966 in Perth.
References
General
Note: Archived [on-line] copy has limited functionality.
Specific
External links
Item PP135/2, De Jong, Anna Wilhelmina, Ferdinand, Johnny (migrant selection documents) at National Archives of Australia, page 4, includes a photo of De Jong, Johnny at age 11, taken before 23 May 1958.
1947 births
APRA Award winners
ARIA Award winners
ARIA Hall of Fame inductees
Australian DJs
Australian expatriates in the United Kingdom
Australian pop singers
Australian radio personalities
Australian singer-songwriters
Australian television presenters
Dutch emigrants to Australia
Living people
Logie Award winners
Musicians from Perth, Western Australia
Musicians from Rotterdam
Naturalised citizens of Australia
Singers from Melbourne
Australian record producers
Australian male singer-songwriters | false | [
"David Reason (14 April 1897 — 17 February 1955) was a Welsh cricketer. He was a right-handed batsman and right-arm off-break bowler and wicket-keeper for Glamorgan. He was born in Cadoxton, Neath, and died in Blackheath.\n\nReason was a regular player for Neath cricket club during the 1920s, but made two first-class appearances for Glamorgan in 1921 and 1922, having made four appearances in the Minor Counties Championship a year previously.\n\nAt the end of his first-class career, Reason served on the Glamorgan committee, having found it difficult to fit in enough time to star in first-class cricket because of business commitments.\n\nExternal links\nDavid Reason at Cricket Archive \n\n1897 births\n1955 deaths\nWelsh cricketers\nGlamorgan cricketers\nWicket-keepers",
"The 1984 Masters (officially the 1984 Benson & Hedges Masters) was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place between 22 and 29 January 1984 at the Wembley Conference Centre. The Masters, in its 10th year, changed the format into a championship for the game's top 16 ranked players. The BBC extended their television coverage to show all 8 days of the event and the prize money was more than double that of the previous year.\n\nDefending champion Cliff Thorburn lost to John Spencer in the first round, but it was fellow Canadian Kirk Stevens' maximum break against Jimmy White in the 9th frame of their semi-final, for which the tournament is perhaps best remembered. The break earned Stevens £10,000 for the 147, £1,000 for the highest break, and a gold award for breaking the tournament record. It was Stevens' second maximum break, the other being made in a practice session, and only the 3rd ever televised 147 break by any player. \"I couldn't believe how I felt. I was just enthralled in it, lost in it\" Stevens said. Meanwhile, White won the match 6–4 with a 119 break in the next frame and went on to win his only Masters title. In front of his home crowd he beat Welshman Terry Griffiths by 9 frames to 5, playing in his fourth Masters final in five years.\n\nField\nDefending champion Cliff Thorburn was the number 1 seed with World Champion Steve Davis seeded 2. The remaining places were allocated to the top 16 players in the world rankings. Tony Knowles was making his debut in the Masters.\n\nMain draw\n\nFinal\n\nCentury breaks\nTotal: 6\n 147, 105 Kirk Stevens\n 119, 113 Jimmy White\n 112 Ray Reardon\n 100 Doug Mountjoy\n\nReferences\n\n1984\nMasters Snooker\nMasters Snooker\nMasters Snooker"
] |
[
"Johnny Young",
"Later career",
"Did he ever settle down",
"After Young Talent Time, Young continued in entertainment, he worked as a radio disc jockey and occasionally performed live.",
"Did he ever suffer any health issues",
"I don't know.",
"Was his family ever a reason for a break",
"I don't know."
] | C_79dff681128047c686d285e48d6597ac_0 | Did he ever go on tour with anyone | 4 | Did Johnny Young ever go on tour with anyone else? | Johnny Young | After Young Talent Time, Young continued in entertainment, he worked as a radio disc jockey and occasionally performed live. In 1999 he produced Cavalcade of Stars for Foxtel including repackaging segments of Young Talent Time and showcasing new Australian bands. In December 2000, Young relocated to Perth to become the breakfast host on Perth AM station 6IX. During 2001 to 2004, he periodically performed with Rowe, Buddy England (ex-The Seekers, The Mixtures) and Marcie Jones (Marcie and The Cookies) as the 'Legends of Sixties Rock' at venues across Australia - all four had appeared on The Go-Show. While living in Perth, Young established a new outlet for his Johnny Young Talent School franchise. In 2001, the 30th anniversary of Young Talent Time was celebrated by Network Ten with a special documentary, Young Talent Time Tells All, which was followed on 4 November by a reunion party for former cast members. Young attended with his daughter Anna - who had appeared on the show. Back in Perth, Young hosted The Pet Show on ABC Television in 2006. On 27 October 2010, Johnny Young was inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame. On news of his impending induction Young said "I have always felt like the luckiest kid on the block to be able to continue working in the music industry for 50 years in so many areas when basically I am just a rock and roller. To receive this honour is the cherry on an amazing cake. I am very grateful to all those who supported and encouraged me." Young was inducted by Tina Arena, a former Young Talent Team member, who performed his song, "Here Comes the Star" as a musical tribute. Contemporary pop group, Short Stack performed Young's version of "Cara-Lyn" CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Johnny Young (born Johnny Benjamin de Jong; 12 March 1947) is a Dutch Australian singer, composer, record producer, disc jockey, television producer and host. Originally from Rotterdam, The Netherlands, his family settled in Perth in the early 1950s. Young was a 1960s pop singer and had a number-one hit with the double-A-sided, "Step Back" and a cover of the Strangeloves' "Cara-lyn" in 1966. Young's profile was enhanced by a concurrent stint as host of TV pop music program The Go!! Show. Also in the mid-1960s, Young toured with the Rolling Stones and supported Roy Orbison.
As a composer, he penned number-one hits, "The Real Thing" and "The Girl That I Love" for Russell Morris, "The Star" for Ross D. Wyllie and "I Thank You" for Lionel Rose. He also wrote a number-two single, "Smiley" for Ronnie Burns. He presented and produced the TV show, Young Talent Time, which screened on Network Ten from 1971 to 1988. It launched the careers of teen pop stars and theatre actors, Danni Minogue, Tina Arena, Jamie Redfern, Jane Scali, Debra Byrne, Sally Boyden and Karen Knowles. Typically each episode closed with a sing-along rendition of the Beatles' song, "All My Loving".
At the Logie Awards of 1990, sponsored by TV Week, Young was inducted into the Logies Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association's Hall of Fame in 2010 by Arena who performed Young's song, "The Star". He is the first person inducted into both halls.
Biography
Early life
Johnny Young was born as Johnny Benjamin de Jong on 12 March 1947 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.[A] He was conceived as a result of an affair between his mother, Anna W. (20 July 1913 – 1989) and a musician, Johannes. He was raised as the youngest son of Anna and her husband Fokke Jan de Jong (22 March 1914 – 1989), who was in the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army and served in Indonesia after World War II. His half-siblings are Cornellia (born 13 February 1936), Antonia (born 22 August 1937) and Ferdinand (born 13 November 1944). Their father was still in Indonesia from December 1946 until September 1948 when Young was one-and-a-half years old. The family migrated to Western Australia, Fokke arrived in July 1953, and they settled in the Perth Hills suburb of Kalamunda, in the 1950s. Fokke worked as a welder on industrial projects including the Kwinana Oil Refinery. His mother was in a choir and inspired his early interest in music. On 25 August 1959 Johnny, Ferdinand and Fokke were naturalised as Australian citizens.
Young's mother took him to Saturday morning radio shows for children and he would sing along. He performed solo songs wearing a specially made jacket. After leaving school, he worked as a trainee disc jockey and started singing at local dances. From the age of 14, for 18 months he was lead vocalist of the Nomads, later known as the Strangers (not the Melbourne group called the Strangers), which consisted of Young, John Eddy (guitar), Warwick Findlay (drums), Don Prior (bass guitar) and Tony Summers (guitar).
Pop singer
At eighteen-years-old, Young was host of TVW-7 Perth television pop music show Club Seventeen in early 1965. As Johnny Young & the Strangers he released two singles, "Club Seventeen"/"Oh Johnny, No" and "No Other Love"/"Heigh Ho", both on the 7-Teen label. Young then signed with Clarion Records, a Perth-based label run by Martin Clarke. In an interview Clarke said "We just got together and he said he wanted to make a national hit and branch out, he was very ambitious." Clarke, armed with his recordings of Young, went to Sydney and secured a deal with Festival Records to have the Clarion label manufactured and distributed throughout Australia.
The following year, 1966, he formed Johnny Young & Kompany, As lead vocalist he was backed by Eddy (guitar), Findlay (drums), Summers (guitar) and Jim Griffiths (bass). After performing as supporting act to the Easybeats in early 1966, Young recorded "Step Back", which was co-written by the Easybeats' members Stevie Wright and George Young (no relation). The single was released in May 1966 as a double-A-side with his cover version of "Cara-Lyn", originally by the Strangeloves. The release peaked at number one on the Go-Set National Top 40 in November. It was one of the biggest-selling Australian singles of the 1960s, behind Normie Rowe's "Que Sera Sera"/"Shakin' All Over". In October, his EP Let It Be Me went to number four on Go-Set National Top 40.
Johnny Young & Kompany moved to Melbourne in mid-1966. Mick Wade (ex-the Vibrants) joined on guitar and organ. Young was interviewed by Go-Set writer, Ian "Molly" Meldrum for their 13 July issue. Later that year Young compered the short-lived television pop show Too Much and in 1967 he hosted The Go!! Show, following the resignation of Ian Turpie. In January the band released covers of the Everly Brothers' hits "When Will I Be Loved?" /"Kiss Me Now" as another double-A-sided single which peaked at number three. He disbanded Kompany to go solo and supported Roy Orbison, The Walker Brothers, The Mixtures and The Yardbirds at the Festival Hall, Melbourne on Australia Day (26 January). While touring in Brisbane he met Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees and provided Gibb with airfare to Sydney for a television spot. Another hit for Young was his slower version of the Beatles' song "All My Loving" which reached number four nationally in May; it later became his signature song.
Young won a Logie for "Best Teenage Personality" in 1967 for his work on The Go!! Show. On 9 August Go-Set published its annual pop poll and Young was voted third "Most Popular Male" behind Ronnie Burns and Rowe. However, the show was axed by mid-year and he relocated to London where he shared a flat with Gibb. In July, he released "Lady", written by Gibb especially for him, which reached the Top 40. "Craise Finton Kirk", written by Barry and Robin Gibb, was released in August and peaked at number 14. It was followed by "Every Christian Lion Hearted Man Will Show You", written by Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb, but did not chart. Young briefly returned to Perth in September and teamed up with drummer Danny Finley (ex-MPD Ltd), they both flew to London to form Danny's Word with Rob Alexander on guitar and Pete Friedberg on bass guitar. After four weeks rehearsal in London the band played a residency at the Star Club in Hamburg as a precursor to touring Australia. Due to other commitments the band split on return from Germany when Pete Friedberg left to work with other bands including Ainsley Dunbar's Blue Whale and Dusty Springfield. Young returned to Australia in January 1968 with Rod Alexander and recorded "Unconcientious Objector" and his last Top 40 single, "It's a Sunny Day". Subsequent singles did not reach the Top 40. Young became a news and gossip writer for Go-Set from December 1968 to August 1969.
Songwriter
While sharing a flat with Barry Gibb in London in late 1967, Young was encouraged to write songs. Gibb taught him that "there are no rules in song-writing, there is a structure, but what you need to do is find the 'hook', and it could be in the melody, the chorus, the words or even an identifiable riff, and that can be the difference in writing a hit record." During 1968, back in Australia, Young wrote "The Real Thing" as a reaction against a Coca-Cola jingle, "Coke is the real thing". Young envisaged the song as a low-key acoustic ballad (in the style of The Beatles "Strawberry Fields Forever") and he originally intended it for his friend and fellow singer Ronnie Burns. Young was practising the song in a dressing room during taping of TV pop music show Uptight when pop producer and fellow Go-Set writer Ian Meldrum heard it. Meldrum (who was also manager for solo singer Russell Morris (ex-Somebody's Image) was greatly impressed by the song and immediately insisted that Young cut a demo of it for Morris. Under Meldrum's production and with the collaboration of engineer John L. Sayers the song was radically transformed into a seven-minute psychedelic epic, with an elaborately edited backing track performed by an all-star band including ex-Zoot guitarist Roger Hicks (who composed the acoustic guitar intro), members of Melbourne band The Groop and backing vocalist Maureen Elkner. Reportedly the most expensive single ever recorded in Australia up to that time, it became one of the biggest Australian pop hits of 1969, peaking at number one in May and was number one on Go-Set Top Records for the Year of 1969, and made Morris an immediate national star. It was later covered by Kylie Minogue and by Midnight Oil. Young's next song for Morris, "The Girl That I Love", was released as a double-A-side with "Part Three into Paper Walls" (another epic extended production co-written by Morris and Young) which reached number one in October.
TV pop music show, Uptight, was hosted by Ross D. Wyllie who recorded the Young-penned, "The Star" – it was later covered by Herman's Hermits as "Here Comes the Star" – which replaced "The Girl That I Love" at number one in November. It had been written to describe the loneliness associated with fame in show business. Young also wrote and produced hits for Burns including "Smiley", which peaked at number two in February 1970. It described their mutual friend, Rowe, who had been conscripted to serve in the Vietnam War. Rowe recorded his own version on Missing in Action (2007). Young wrote "I Thank You" for former boxing champion Lionel Rose which reached number one in March. It was used by comedy duo, Roy and HG, for their calls of football grand finals in the 1990s. On 11 July 1970, Go-Set pop poll voted Young as most popular 'Composer' of the year and in 1971 he finished second behind Morris.
Young Talent Time
In 1970, Young formed a production company with Kevin Lewis (former Festival Records executive), Lewis-Young Productions, which developed the pop music television show Happening '70 – hosted by Wyllie – for the ATV-0 channel, it was subsequently followed by Happening '71 and Happening '72. Lewis-Young Productions also developed Young Talent Time from April 1971, a children's variety show and talent quest with Young as host. Regular cast members were known as the Young Talent Team, the show was a launching pad for several Australian performers including Jamie Redfern, Debra Byrne, Dannii Minogue and Tina Arena. The directors were Garry Dunstan and Terry Higgins. Each episode typically ended with Young and the team singing "All My Loving" as a lullaby. Young established the Johnny Young Talent School for performance arts in 1979, some of its students became contestants and regulars on Young Talent Time. 2004 Australian Idol runner-up Anthony Callea trained with the school, as did the 2008 winner, Wes Carr.
As well as producing the television series, Lewis-Young Productions distributed related merchandise including records on their own label (L&Y), books and magazines, a board game and a set of chewing gum cards. In 1972, Caravan Holiday, a short film, featured the original six Young Talent Team members plus two recently recruited new members, Greg Mills (later to be musical director in last years of YTT) and Julie Ryles (who died in early 2011) with cameos by pop star Johnny Farnham and long term judge Evie Hayes. Young was cast in multiple cameo roles as a service station attendant, farmer, speed boat attendant and camping park manager.
In 1989, Ten Network (formerly ATV-0), axed Young Talent Time quoting poor ratings against the popular variety series Hey Hey Its Saturday. Young had committed to building his own television studios to film Young Talent Time and was forced to sell his family home to finance the debts. During the year his stepfather died and, with his mother, he tracked down his biological father. Soon after his mother also died, and his marriage was in trouble. On 9 March 1990, Young was inducted into the TV Week Logie Awards' Hall of Fame for "an outstanding and sustained contribution to Australian television."
From 24 October 2006, weekly magazine New Idea featured articles on Byrne's autobiography, Not Quite Ripe, which alleged that from the age of 12 she was introduced to sex, drugs and alcohol on Young Talent Time. The claims were vigorously denied by Young, he stated that Byrne was already 14 when she started and that drugs were not available on set, "Any drug-taking Debra did, she certainly didn't do it on our show." He said no-one on the show was aware of her affair with "Michael", a boom operator ten years her senior. According to Byrne the pair had run off together for a weekend when she was 15. A producer for the show had "Michael" replaced as boom operator. Byrne also claimed that her parents knew of her relationship with "Michael".
In 2009, Young indicated that he was in talks with Network Ten to create an updated version of Young Talent Time. The new series aired on Network Ten from 22 January to 4 May 2012 and was hosted by Rob Mills, with Young serving as executive producer and judge.
Philippines controversy
In the early 1990s, Young learned that Terry Higgins, a former Young Talent Time studio director, had contracted HIV. By 1993, Young had financially supported Higgins, who sought alternative ozone therapy in the Philippines, but the clinic turned out to have a forged license and when it was raided, the Filipino authorities mistook Young for the owner and arrested him under charges of running an illegal AIDS clinic after accompanying Higgins. Young was tested for AIDS and threatened with deportation back to Australia. Subsequently, all charges were dropped, but Young's public image was damaged by media coverage of rumours regarding his sexuality. ABC Television produced an episode on Australian Story in February 2000 in which he discussed the events and their effect on his life and career. A year after seeking the ozone therapy, Higgins died of AIDS with Young still supporting him.
Later career
After Young Talent Time, Young continued in entertainment, he worked as a radio disc jockey and occasionally performed live. In 1999 he produced Cavalcade of Stars for Foxtel including repackaging segments of Young Talent Time and showcasing new Australian bands.
In December 2000, Young relocated to Perth to become the breakfast host on Perth AM station 6IX. During 2001 to 2004, he periodically performed with Rowe, Buddy England (ex-The Seekers, The Mixtures) and Marcie Jones (Marcie and The Cookies) as the 'Legends of Sixties Rock' at venues across Australia – all four had appeared on The Go-Show. While living in Perth, Young established a new outlet for his Johnny Young Talent School franchise. In 2001, the 30th anniversary of Young Talent Time was celebrated by Network Ten with a special documentary, Young Talent Time Tells All, which was followed on 4 November by a reunion party for former cast members. Young attended with his daughter Anna – who had appeared on the show. Back in Perth, Young hosted The Pet Show on ABC Television in 2006.
On 27 October 2010, Johnny Young was inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame. On news of his impending induction Young said "I have always felt like the luckiest kid on the block to be able to continue working in the music industry for 50 years in so many areas when basically I am just a rock and roller. To receive this honour is the cherry on an amazing cake. I am very grateful to all those who supported and encouraged me." Young was inducted by Tina Arena, a former Young Talent Team member, who performed his song, "Here Comes the Star" as a musical tribute. Twenty-first century pop group, Short Stack performed Young's version of "Cara-Lyn". In late September 2021, Young Talent Time: Unmasked, a special celebrating the 50th anniversary of Young Talent Time, was broadcast, with Young, Dannii Minogue and Arena reminiscing via teleconferencing.
Personal life
Young was raised as the son of Fokke Jan de Jong and his wife Anna. They already had three children Cornelia, Antonia and Ferdinand. His mother had an affair while her husband was stationed in Indonesia, and Young's biological father was a singer, Johannes. When Young was in his 40s he met Johannes and found that he had three other half-siblings. His first marriage was to Jane, with whom he had his son Craig, but the marriage ended in divorce and Jane died of leukaemia. In the early 1970s, he married his second wife Cathy and they had two daughters Anna and Fleur.
Both his mother and step-father died in 1989 and his marriage to Cathy ended by 1995. Young married Rose McKimmie on 24 December 1999 in Bali and they lived in a battery-operated rural cottage about an hour-and-half from Melbourne. In February 2014 he said the marriage to Rose had been a mistake and lasted only eighteen months. He married Marisha, an economist, in 2002 and they remain together as of 2017.
Young has had three children, Craig (died c. 2014 of pancreatic cancer), Anna and Fleur; nine grandchildren; and one great-grandchild. Anna is a singing and dancing teacher for seniors at The Johnny Young Talent School, after studying at Melbourne Conservatorium of Music and performing in musical theatre. Fleur works in fashion.
Discography
Albums
Young Johnny (Johnny Young & Kompany) – Festival (1966)
Johnny Young's Golden LP (Johnny Young & Kompany) – Clarion (MCL 32124) (1966)
It's a Wonderful World – Clarion (MCL 32234) (1967)
Surprises – Clarion (MCL 32752) (1968)
The Young Man and His Music – Festival (L 34343) (1971)
A Musical Portrait – L&Y (L 25071) (1973)
The Best of Johnny Young – Calendar (L-15086) (1974)
EPs
Let It Be Me (Johnny Young & Kompany) – Clarion (MCX 11205) (1966)
Kiss Me Now (Johnny Young & Kompany) – Clarion (MCX 11246) (1966)
All My Loving – Clarion (MCX 11251) (April 1967)
Craise Finton Kirk – Clarion (MCX 11379) (1968)
Singles
Awards and nominations
ARIA Music Awards
The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. They commenced in 1987. Young was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2010.
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| ARIA Music Awards of 2010
| himself
| ARIA Hall of Fame
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Australian Songwriter's Hall of Fame
The Australian Songwriters Hall of Fame was established in 2004 to honour the lifetime achievements of some of Australia's greatest songwriters.
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| 2015
| himself
| Australian Songwriter's Hall of Fame
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Go-Set Pop Poll
The Go-Set Pop Poll was coordinated by teen-oriented pop music newspaper, Go-Set and was established in February 1966 and conducted an annual poll during 1966 to 1972 of its readers to determine the most popular personalities.
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| 1967
| himself
| Top Male Singer
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| 1970
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| Best Composer
| style="background:gold;"| 1st
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| 1971
| himself
| Best Composer / Songwriter
| style="background:silver;"| 2nd
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| 1972
| himself
| Best Songwriter
| 5th
West Australian Music Industry Awards
The West Australian Music Industry Awards are annual awards celebrating achievements for Western Australian music. They commenced in 1985.
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| 2019 || Johnny Young || Hall of Fame ||
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Notes
<li id="noteFoot01a"
>^For name as Johnny B De Jong see National Archives of Australia, Australian Netherlands Migration Agreement, item No. A2478, DE JONG FJ/BOX 176. For Johnny B De Jong is same as Johnny Young and for middle name as Benjamin see Australian Story interview transcript. For birth date as 12 March 1947 see A2478. For name as Johnny Benjamin De Jong born on 12 March 1947 in Rotterdam, Netherlands see item No. PP168/1, W1957/10576, page 8. However, Australian Story has birth date as 11 March 1947. Other sources give birth year as 1945. For birthplace as Netherlands see A2478. For Rotterdam see Australian Story. Other sources give Indonesia as birth country.
I."Club Seventeen" / "Go Johnny Go" was released by Johnny Young & the Strangers on 7 Teen label (CST 001) as a double-A-sided single in January 1965 in Perth.
II."Heigh Ho" / "No Other Love" was released by Johnny Young & the Strangers on 7 Teen label (CST 002) as a double-A-sided single in March 1965 in Perth.
III."Step Back" / "Cara-Lyn" was released by Johnny Young & Kompany on Clarion label by Festival Records (MCK 1359) as a double-A-sided single in May 1966 in Perth.
References
General
Note: Archived [on-line] copy has limited functionality.
Specific
External links
Item PP135/2, De Jong, Anna Wilhelmina, Ferdinand, Johnny (migrant selection documents) at National Archives of Australia, page 4, includes a photo of De Jong, Johnny at age 11, taken before 23 May 1958.
1947 births
APRA Award winners
ARIA Award winners
ARIA Hall of Fame inductees
Australian DJs
Australian expatriates in the United Kingdom
Australian pop singers
Australian radio personalities
Australian singer-songwriters
Australian television presenters
Dutch emigrants to Australia
Living people
Logie Award winners
Musicians from Perth, Western Australia
Musicians from Rotterdam
Naturalised citizens of Australia
Singers from Melbourne
Australian record producers
Australian male singer-songwriters | false | [
"The Reptile World Tour (sometimes: The Reptile Tour) a worldwide concert tour by British Rock musician Eric Clapton in support of his album Reptile. The tour began on February 3, 2001 at London's Royal Albert Hall and ended on December 15, 2001 at the Yokohama Arena in Yokohama. In 2001, Clapton said this was going to be his last major world tour. However, he did perform another world tour in 2011 to support his Clapton album.\n\nSet list\n \"Key to the Highway\"\n \"Reptile\"\n \"Got You on My Mind\"\n \"Tears in Heaven\"\n \"Bell Bottom Blues\"\n \"Change the World\"\n \"My Father's Eyes\"\n \"River of Tears\"\n \"Going Down Slow\"\n \"She's Gone\"\n \"I Want a Little Girl\"\n \"Badge\"\n \"(I'm Your) Hoochie Coochie Man\"\n \"Have You Ever Loved a Woman\"\n \"Cocaine\"\n \"Wonderful Tonight\"\n \"Layla\"\n \"Sunshine of Your Love\"\n \"Over the Rainbow\"\n\nSometimes Clapton performed songs like \"It's Alright\", \"Finally Got Myself Together\" and \"I Ain't Gonna Stand for It\" just when The Impressions were included on concert dates. If the vocal group had not appeared on a gig with Clapton, he did not perform the song. For dates in the North American tour, Billy Preston sang Will It Go Round in Circles.\n\nTour Dates\n\nCancelled Shows\n\nReferences\n\n2001 concert tours\nEric Clapton",
"Stevie Nicks supported the release of her third album Rock a Little with a world tour, which included shows in the United States, Canada and Australia. The tour started on April 11, 1986 in Houston, Texas and ended on October 6, 1986, in Sydney, Australia.\n\nFor the tour, Stevie performed four songs from Rock a Little: \"Talk to Me\", \"No Spoken Word\", \"I Can’t Wait\" and \"Has Anyone Ever Written Anything for You?\".\n\nThe August 20 Red Rocks Amphitheatre show in Morrison, Colorado was taped and subsequently released on video in 1987. The September 16 Cayuga County Fairgrounds show in Weedsport, New York was recorded and later rebroadcast for the Westwood One Radio Networks Superstar Concert Series.\n\nThe Austrian band Opus and Peter Frampton were the support acts.\n\nSet list \n Gold Dust Woman*\n Outside the Rain\n Dreams\n Talk to Me\n I Need to Know (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers cover)\n No Spoken Word\n Sara*\n Beauty and the Beast\n I Can't Wait\n Leather and Lace\n Stand Back\n Stop Draggin' My Heart Around\n Edge of Seventeen\nEncore\n Rhiannon\n Has Anyone Ever Written Anything for You?\n\n*Performed at some shows early on the tour.\n\nTour dates\n\nPersonnel \nSources\n Stevie Nicks – lead vocals\n Jennifer Condos – bass\n Bobbye Hall – percussion\n Rick Marotta – drums \n Bobby Martin – keyboards, horns, vocals\n Jai Winding – keyboards\n Waddy Wachtel – guitar\n Sharon Celani – backing vocals\n Lori Perry – backing vocals\n Elisecia Wright – backing vocals\n\nReferences \n\n1986 concert tours\nStevie Nicks concert tours"
] |
[
"Roger Clemens",
"Boston Red Sox"
] | C_0d846a1614904fcf97343b0d8d340347_0 | What year did he play for Boston Red Sox? | 1 | What year did Roger Clemens play for Boston Red Sox? | Roger Clemens | In the 1986 American League Championship Series, Clemens pitched poorly in the opening game, watched the Boston bullpen blow his 3-0 lead in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 4, and then pitched a strong Game 7 to wrap up the series for Boston. The 1986 ALCS clincher was Clemens' first postseason career victory. He did not win his second until 13 years later. After a bad start in Game 2 of the 1986 World Series, Clemens returned to the mound for Game 6, which would have clinched the World Series for the Boston Red Sox. Clemens left the game after 7 innings leading 3-2, but the Red Sox went on to lose the game in the 10th inning, and subsequently, the championship. Clemens' departure was highly debated and remains a bone of contention among the participants. Red Sox manager John McNamara claimed Clemens took himself out due to a blister, though Clemens strongly denies that. Clemens greatest postseason failure came in the second inning of the final game of the 1990 ALCS against the Oakland Athletics, when he was ejected for arguing balls and strikes with umpire Terry Cooney, accentuating the A's three-game sweep of the Red Sox. He was suspended for the first five games of the 1991 season and fined $10,000. Clemens had two other playoff no-decisions, in 1988 and 1995, both occurring while Boston was being swept. Clemens' overall postseason record with Boston was 1-2 with a 3.88 ERA, and 45 strikeouts and 19 walks in 56 innings. CANNOTANSWER | 1986 | William Roger Clemens (born August 4, 1962), nicknamed "Rocket", is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 24 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily with the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees. Clemens was one of the most dominant pitchers in major league history, tallying 354 wins, a 3.12 earned run average (ERA), and 4,672 strikeouts, the third-most all time. An 11-time All-Star and two-time World Series champion, he won seven Cy Young Awards during his career, more than any other pitcher in history. Clemens was known for his fierce competitive nature and hard-throwing pitching style, which he used to intimidate batters.
Clemens debuted in MLB in 1984 with the Red Sox, whose pitching staff he anchored for 12 years. In 1986, he won the American League (AL) Cy Young Award, the AL Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award, and the All-Star Game MVP Award, and he struck out an MLB-record 20 batters in a single game. After the 1996 season, in which he achieved his second 20-strikeout performance, Clemens left Boston via free agency and joined the Toronto Blue Jays. In each of his two seasons with Toronto, Clemens won a Cy Young Award, as well as the pitching triple crown by leading the league in wins, ERA, and strikeouts. Prior to the 1999 season, Clemens was traded to the Yankees where he won his two World Series titles. In 2001, Clemens became the first pitcher in major league history to start a season with a win-loss record of 20–1. In 2003, he reached his 300th win and 4,000th strikeout in the same game. Clemens left for the Houston Astros in 2004, where he spent three seasons and won his seventh Cy Young Award. He rejoined the Yankees in 2007 for one last season before retiring. He is the only pitcher in Major League history to record over 350 wins and strike out over 4,500 batters.
Clemens was alleged by the Mitchell Report to have used anabolic steroids during his late career, mainly based on testimony given by his former trainer, Brian McNamee. Clemens firmly denied these allegations under oath before the United States Congress, leading congressional leaders to refer his case to the Justice Department on suspicions of perjury. On August 19, 2010, a federal grand jury at the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., indicted Clemens on six felony counts involving perjury, false statements and Contempt of Congress. Clemens pleaded not guilty, but proceedings were complicated by prosecutorial misconduct, leading to a mistrial. The verdict from his second trial came in June 2012, when Clemens was found not guilty on all six counts of lying to Congress. These controversies hurt his chances for election to the Baseball Hall of Fame. He never received the 75% of the votes required in his ten years of eligibility, ending with 65.2% in 2022.
Early life
Clemens was born in Dayton, Ohio, the fifth child of Bill and Bess (Lee) Clemens. He is of German descent, his great-grandfather Joseph Clemens having immigrated in the 1880s. Clemens's parents separated when he was an infant. His mother soon married Woody Booher, whom Clemens considers his father. Booher died when Clemens was nine years old, and Clemens has said that the only time he ever felt envious of other players was when he saw them in the clubhouse with their fathers. Clemens lived in Vandalia, Ohio, until 1977, and then spent most of his high school years in Houston, Texas. At Spring Woods High School, Clemens played baseball for longtime head coach Charles Maiorana and also played football and basketball. He was scouted by the Philadelphia Phillies and Minnesota Twins during his senior year, but opted to go to college.
Collegiate career
He began his college career pitching for San Jacinto College North in 1981, where he was 9–2. The New York Mets selected Clemens in the 12th round of the 1981 Major League Baseball draft, but he did not sign. He then attended the University of Texas at Austin, compiling a 25–7 record in two All-American seasons, and was on the mound when the Longhorns won the 1983 College World Series. He became the first player to have his baseball uniform number retired at the University of Texas. In 2004, the Rotary Smith Award, given to America's best college baseball player, was changed to the Roger Clemens Award, honoring the best pitcher.
At Texas, Clemens pitched 35 consecutive scoreless innings, an NCAA record that stood until Justin Pope broke it in 2001.
Professional career
Boston Red Sox (1984–1996)
Clemens was selected in the first round (19th overall) of the 1983 MLB draft by the Boston Red Sox and quickly rose through the minor league system, making his MLB debut on May 15, 1984. An undiagnosed torn labrum threatened to end his career early; he underwent successful arthroscopic surgery by Dr. James Andrews.
In 1986, Clemens won the American League MVP award, finishing with a 24–4 record, 2.48 ERA, and 238 strikeouts. Clemens started the 1986 All-Star Game in the Astrodome and was named the Most Valuable Player of the contest by throwing three perfect innings and striking out two. He also won the first of his seven Cy Young Awards. When Hank Aaron said that pitchers should not be eligible for the MVP, Clemens responded: "I wish he were still playing. I'd probably crack his head open to show him how valuable I was." Clemens was the only starting pitcher since Vida Blue in 1971 to win a league MVP award until Justin Verlander won the award in 2011.
On April 29, 1986, Clemens became the first pitcher in MLB history to strike out 20 batters in a nine-inning game, against the Seattle Mariners at Boston's Fenway Park. Following his performance, Clemens made the cover of Sports Illustrated which carried the headline "Lord of the K's [strikeouts]." Other than Clemens, only Kerry Wood and Max Scherzer have matched the total. (Randy Johnson fanned 20 batters in nine innings on May 8, 2001. However, as the game went into extra innings, it is not categorized as occurring in a nine-inning game. Tom Cheney holds the record for any game: 21 strikeouts in 16 innings.) Clemens attributes his switch from what he calls a "thrower" to a "pitcher" to the partial season Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver spent with the Red Sox in 1986.
Facing the California Angels in the 1986 ALCS, Clemens pitched poorly in the opening game, watched the Boston bullpen blow his 3–1 lead in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 4, and then pitched a strong Game 7 to wrap up the series for Boston. The League Championship Series clincher was Clemens's first postseason career victory. He did not win his second until 13 years later. After a victory in game five, Boston led 3 games to 2 over the New York Mets in the 1986 World Series with Clemens set to start game six at Shea Stadium. Clemens who was pitching on five days rest started strong by striking out eight while throwing a no-hitter through four innings. In the top of eighth and with Boston ahead 3–2, manager John McNamara sent rookie Mike Greenwell to pinch hit for Roger Clemens. It was initially said that Clemens was removed from the game due to a blister forming on one of his fingers, but both he and McNamara dispute this. Clemens said to Bob Costas on an MLB Network program concerning the 1986 postseason that McNamara decided to pull him despite Clemens wanting to pitch. McNamara said to Costas that Clemens "begged out" of the game. The Mets rallied and took both game six and seven to win the World Series.
The Red Sox had a miserable 1987 season, finishing at 78–84, though Clemens won his second consecutive Cy Young Award with a 20–9 record, 2.97 ERA, 256 strikeouts, and seven shutouts. He was the first AL pitcher with back-to-back 20-win seasons since Tommy John won 20 with the Yankees in 1979 and '80. Boston rebounded with success in 1988 and 1990, clinching the AL East Division each year, but were swept by the Oakland Athletics in each ALCS matchup. His greatest postseason failure came in the second inning of the final game of the 1990 ALCS, when he was ejected for arguing balls and strikes with umpire Terry Cooney, accentuating the A's four-game sweep of the Red Sox. He was suspended for the first five games of the 1991 season and fined $10,000.
Clemens led the American League in 1988 with 291 strikeouts and a career-high 8 shutouts. On September 10, 1988, Clemens threw a one-hitter against the Cleveland Indians at Fenway Park. Dave Clark's one-out single in the eighth inning was the only hit Clemens allowed in the game. In a 9–1 victory over Cleveland on April 13, 1989, Clemens recorded his 1,000 career strikeout by fanning Brook Jacoby with the bases loaded in the second inning. Clemens finished second to Oakland's Bob Welch for the 1990 AL Cy Young Award, despite the fact that Clemens crushed Welch in ERA (1.93 to 2.95), strikeouts (209 to 127), walks (54 to 77), home runs allowed (7 to 26), and WAR (10.4 to 2.9). Clemens did, however, capture his third Cy Young Award in 1991 with an 18–10 record, 2.62 ERA, and 241 strikeouts. On June 21, 1989, Clemens surrendered the first of 609 home runs in the career of Sammy Sosa.
Clemens accomplished the 20-strikeout feat twice, the only player ever to do so. The second performance came more than 10 years later, on September 18, 1996, against the Detroit Tigers at Tiger Stadium. This second 20-K day occurred in his third-to-last game as a member of the Boston Red Sox. Later, the Tigers presented him with a baseball containing the autographs of each batter who had struck out (those with multiple strikeouts signed the appropriate number of times).
The Red Sox did not re-sign Clemens following the 1996 season, despite leading the A.L. with 257 strikeouts and offering him "by far the most money ever offered to a player in the history of the Red Sox franchise." General Manager Dan Duquette remarked that he "hoped to keep him in Boston during the twilight of his career", but Clemens left and signed with the Toronto Blue Jays.
The emphasis on the misquoted 1996 "twilight" comment took on a life of its own following Clemens's post-Boston successes, and Duquette was vilified for letting the star pitcher go. Ultimately, Clemens would go on to have a record of 162–73 for the rest of his career after leaving the Red Sox.
Clemens recorded 192 wins and 38 shutouts for the Red Sox, both tied with Cy Young for the franchise record and is their all-time strikeout leader with 2,590. Clemens's overall postseason record with Boston was 1–2 with a 3.88 ERA, and 45 strikeouts, and 19 walks in 56 innings. No Red Sox player has worn his uniform #21 since Clemens left the team in the 1996–97 offseason.
Toronto Blue Jays (1997–1998)
Clemens signed a four-year, $40 million deal with the Toronto Blue Jays after the 1996 season. In his first start in Fenway Park as a member of the Blue Jays, he pitched eight innings allowing only 4 hits and 1 earned run. 16 of his 24 outs were strikeouts, and every batter who faced him struck out at least once. As he left the field following his last inning of work, he stared up angrily towards the owner's box.
Clemens was dominant in his two seasons with the Blue Jays, winning the pitching Triple Crown and the Cy Young Award in both seasons (1997: 21–7 record, 2.05 ERA, and 292 strikeouts; 1998: 20–6 record, 2.65 ERA, and 271 strikeouts). After the 1998 season, Clemens asked to be traded, indicating that he did not believe the Blue Jays would be competitive enough the following year and that he was dedicated to winning a championship.
New York Yankees (1999–2003)
Clemens was traded to the New York Yankees before the 1999 season for David Wells, Homer Bush, and Graeme Lloyd. Since his longtime uniform number #21 was in use by teammate Paul O'Neill, Clemens initially wore #12, before switching mid-season to #22.
Clemens made an immediate impact on the Yankees' staff, anchoring the top of the rotation as the team went on to win a pair of World Series titles in 1999 and 2000. During the 1999 regular season, Clemens posted a 14–10 record with a 4.60 ERA. He logged a pair of wins in the postseason, though he lost Game 3 of the 1999 ALCS in a matchup against Red Sox ace Pedro Martínez, which was the Yankees' only loss in the 1999 playoffs. Clemens pitched 7.2 innings of 1-run baseball during the Yankees' game 4 clincher over the Atlanta Braves. Clemens followed up with a strong 2000 season, in which he finished with a 13–8 record with a 3.70 ERA for the regular season. During the 2000 postseason, he helped the Yankees win their third consecutive championship. Clemens set the ALCS record for strikeouts in a game when he fanned 15 batters in a one-hit shutout of the Seattle Mariners in Game 4 of the ALCS. A seventh-inning lead-off double by Seattle's Al Martin was all that prevented Clemens from throwing what was, at the time, only the second no-hitter in postseason history. In Game 2 of the 2000 World Series, Clemens pitched eight scoreless innings against the New York Mets.
In 2001, Clemens became the first pitcher in MLB history to start a season 20–1 (finishing 20–3) and winning his sixth Cy Young Award. As of the 2020 season, he is the last Yankee pitcher to win the Cy Young Award. Clemens started for the Yankees in Game 7 of the 2001 World Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, where he dueled Curt Schilling to a standstill after 6 innings, yielding only one run. The Diamondbacks went on to win the game in the 9th.
Early in 2003, Clemens announced his retirement, effective at the end of that season. On June 13, 2003, pitching against the St. Louis Cardinals in Yankee Stadium, Clemens recorded his 300th career win and 4,000th career strikeout, the only player in history to record both milestones in the same game. The 300th win came on his fourth try; the Yankee bullpen had blown his chance of a win in his previous two attempts. He became the 21st pitcher ever to record 300 wins and the third ever to record 4,000 strikeouts. His career record upon reaching the milestones was 300–155. Clemens finished the season with a 17–9 record and a 3.91 ERA.
The end of Clemens's 2003 season became a series of public farewells met with appreciative cheering. His last games in each AL park were given extra attention, particularly his final regular-season appearance in Fenway Park, when despite wearing the uniform of the hated arch-rival, he was afforded a standing ovation by Red Sox fans as he left the field. (This spectacle was repeated when the Yankees ended up playing the Red Sox in the 2003 ALCS and Clemens got a second "final start" in his original stadium.) As part of a tradition of manager Joe Torre, Clemens was chosen to manage the Yankees' last game of the regular season. Clemens made one start in the World Series against the Florida Marlins; when he left trailing 3–1 after seven innings, the Marlins left their dugout to give him a standing ovation.
Houston Astros (2004–2006)
Clemens came out of retirement, signing a one-year deal with his adopted hometown Houston Astros on January 12, 2004, joining close friend and former Yankees teammate Andy Pettitte. On May 5, 2004, Clemens recorded his 4,137th career strikeout to place him second on the all-time list behind Nolan Ryan. He was named the starter for the National League All-Star team but ultimately was the losing pitcher in that game after allowing six runs on five hits, including a three-run home run to Alfonso Soriano. Clemens finished the season with an 18–4 record, and was awarded his seventh Cy Young Award, becoming the oldest player ever to win the Cy Young at age 42. This made him one of six pitchers to win the award in both leagues, joining Gaylord Perry, Pedro Martínez, and Randy Johnson and later joined by Roy Halladay and Max Scherzer. Clemens was the losing pitcher for the Astros in Game Seven of the 2004 NLCS against the St. Louis Cardinals, allowing four runs in six innings. Although he pitched well, he tired in the sixth inning, surrendering all four runs.
Clemens again decided to put off retirement before the 2005 season after the Houston Astros offered salary arbitration. The Astros submitted an offer of $13.5 million, and Clemens countered with a record $22 million demand. On January 21, 2005, both sides agreed on a one-year, $18,000,022 contract, thus avoiding arbitration. The deal gave Clemens the highest yearly salary earned by a pitcher in MLB history.
Clemens's 2005 season ended as one of the finest he had ever posted. His 1.87 ERA was the lowest in the major leagues, the lowest of his 22-season career, and the lowest by any National Leaguer since Greg Maddux in 1995. He finished with a 13–8 record, with his lower win total primarily due to the fact that he ranked near the bottom of the major leagues in run support. The Astros scored an average of only 3.5 runs per game in games in which he was the pitcher of record. The Astros were shut out nine times in Clemens's 32 starts, and failed to score in a 10th until after Clemens was out of the game. The Astros lost five of Clemens's starts by scores of 1–0. In April, Clemens did not allow a run in three consecutive starts. However, the Astros lost all three of those starts by a 1–0 score in extra innings.
Clemens won an emotional start on September 15, following his mother's death that morning. In his final start of the 2005 season, Clemens got his 4,500th strikeout. On October 9, 2005, Clemens made his first relief appearance since 1984, entering as a pinch hitter in the 15th, then pitching three innings to get the win as the Astros defeated the Atlanta Braves in Game 4 of the NLDS. It is the longest postseason game in MLB history at 18 innings. Clemens lasted only two innings in Game 1 of the 2005 World Series, and the Astros went on to be swept by the Chicago White Sox. It was the Astros' first World Series appearance. Clemens had aggravated a hamstring pull that had limited his performance since at least September.
Clemens said that he would retire again after the World Series but he wanted to represent the United States in the inaugural World Baseball Classic, which would be played in March 2006. He went 1–1 in the tournament, with a 2.08 ERA, striking out 10 batters in innings. After pitching in a second-round loss to Mexico that eliminated the United States, Clemens began considering a return to the major leagues. On May 31, 2006, following another extended period of speculation, it was announced that Clemens was coming out of retirement for the third time to pitch for the Astros for the remainder of the 2006 season. Clemens signed a contract worth $22,000,022 (his uniform number #22). Since Clemens did not play a full season, he received a prorated percentage of that: approximately $12.25 million. Clemens made his return on June 22, 2006, against the Minnesota Twins, losing to their rookie phenom, Francisco Liriano, 4–2. For the second year in a row, his win total did not match his performance, as he finished the season with a 7–6 record, a 2.30 ERA, and a 1.04 WHIP. However, Clemens averaged just under 6 innings in his starts and never pitched into the eighth.
Return to the Yankees (2007)
Clemens unexpectedly appeared in the owner's box at Yankee Stadium on May 6, 2007, during the seventh-inning stretch of a game against the Seattle Mariners, and made a brief statement: "Thank y'all. Well they came and got me out of Texas, and uhh, I can tell you it's a privilege to be back. I'll be talkin' to y'all soon." It was simultaneously announced that Clemens had rejoined the Yankees roster, agreeing to a pro-rated one-year deal worth $28,000,022, or about $4.7 million per month. Over the contract life, he would make $18.7 million. This equated to just over $1 million per start that season.
Clemens made his 2007 return on June 9, defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates by pitching six innings with seven strikeouts and three runs allowed. On June 21, with a single in the 5th inning against the Colorado Rockies, Clemens became the oldest New York Yankee to record a hit (44 years, 321 days). On June 24, Clemens pitched an inning in relief against the San Francisco Giants. It had been 22 years and 341 days since his previous regular-season relief appearance, the longest such gap in major league history. On July 2, Clemens collected his 350th win against the Minnesota Twins at Yankee Stadium, giving up just two hits and one run over eight innings. Clemens is one of only three pitchers to pitch his entire career in the live-ball era and reach 350 wins. The other two are Warren Spahn (whose catcher for his 350th win was Joe Torre, Clemens's manager for his 350th), and Greg Maddux, who earned his 350th win in 2008. His final regular-season appearance was a start against the Red Sox at Fenway Park, in which he allowed two hits and one unearned run in six innings, and received a no-decision. Clemens finished the 2007 regular season with a record of 6–6 and a 4.18 ERA.
Clemens was forced to leave Game 3 of the 2007 ALDS in the third inning after aggravating a hamstring injury. He struck out Victor Martinez of the Cleveland Indians with his final pitch, and was replaced by right-hander Phil Hughes. Yankees manager Joe Torre removed Clemens from the roster due to his injury, and replaced him with left-hander Ron Villone. Clemens's overall postseason record with the Yankees was 7–4 with a 2.97 ERA, 98 strikeouts and 35 walks in 102 innings.
Pitching appearances after retirement
On August 20, 2012, Clemens signed with the Sugar Land Skeeters of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. He made his debut for the Skeeters against the Bridgeport Bluefish on August 25, 2012, in front of a crowd of 7,724. It was the first time the 50-year-old had taken the mound in almost five years. Clemens pitched scoreless innings and struck out two: former major leaguers Joey Gathright and Prentice Redman. He also retired Luis Figueroa, who played briefly with the Pirates, Blue Jays and the Giants. Clemens allowed only one hit and no walks on 37 pitches in the Skeeters' 1–0 victory. Clemens made his second start for the Skeeters on September 7 against the Long Island Ducks. He pitched scoreless innings, with his son, Koby, as his catcher. He retired former New York Met outfielder Timo Perez for the final out in the fourth inning, and was named the winning pitcher by the official scorer. Clemens's fastball was clocked as high as 88 mph, and the Astros sent scouts to both of his outings with the Skeeters in consideration of a possible return to the team that season.
Roger Clemens joined the Kansas Stars, a group of 24 retired major leaguers and his son Koby, to compete in the 2016 National Baseball Congress World Series. The team was put together by Kansas natives Adam LaRoche and Nate Robertson, and featured eleven former All-Stars, including Tim Hudson, Roy Oswalt, and J. D. Drew as well as Clemens. Pitching just six days after his 54th birthday, Clemens started for the Kansas Stars in a game against the NJCAA National Team on August 10, 2016. He pitched innings, allowing 3 runs with one strikeout in an 11–10 loss. On August 22, 2019, Clemens wore his Red Sox uniform and pitched in the Abbot Financial Management Oldtime Baseball Game, an annual charity event held at St. Peter's Field in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The 2019 game benefitted Compassionate Care ALS, in memory of longtime Fenway Park supervisor John Welch, who died from Lou Gehrig's Disease in December 2018. Facing mostly young college players, Clemens pitched two shutout innings in the game, then moved to first base.
Pitching style
Clemens was a prototypical power pitcher with an aggressive edge for his entire career. This was especially the case when he was a young man. Clemens was said to throw "two pitches: a 98-mph fastball and a hard breaking ball. At 23, Clemens simply reared back and threw the ball past batters." Later in his career, Clemens developed a devastating split-finger fastball to use as an off-speed pitch in concert with his fastball. Clemens has jocularly referred to this pitch as "Mr. Splitty".
By the time Clemens retired from Major League Baseball in 2007, his four-seam fastball had settled in the 91–94 mph range. He also threw a two-seam fastball, a slider in the mid 80s, his hard splitter, and an occasional curveball. Clemens was a highly durable pitcher, leading the American League in complete games three times and innings pitched twice. His 18 complete games in 1987 is more than any pitcher has thrown since. Clemens was also known as a strikeout pitcher, leading the AL in K's five times and strikeouts per nine innings three times.
Controversies
Clemens has been the focal point of several controversies. His reputation has always been that of a pitcher unafraid to throw close to batters. Clemens led his league in hit batsmen only once, in 1995, but he was among the leaders in several other seasons. This tendency was more pronounced during his earlier career and subsequently tapered off. After the 2000 ALCS game against the Mariners where he knocked down future teammate Alex Rodriguez and then argued with him, Seattle Mariners manager Lou Piniella called Clemens a "headhunter." His beaning earlier that year of Mike Piazza, followed by throwing a broken-bat in Piazza's direction in the 2000 World Series, cemented Clemens's surly, unapologetic image in the minds of many. In 2009, former manager Cito Gaston publicly denounced Clemens as a "double-talker" and "a complete asshole". Clemens was ranked 14th all-time in hit batsmen after the 2020 season. 14th all time may be misleading, as his rate of hit batsmen per batter faced is not out of line with other pitchers of his era at 1 hit batsmen per 125 batters faced. Numbers reflect similar rate of hit batsmen to pitchers such as Nolan Ryan, Justin Verlander, Greg Maddux.
Clemens has attracted controversy over the years for his outspoken comments, such as his complaints about having to carry his own luggage through an airport and his criticism of Fenway Park for being a subpar facility. On April 4, 2006, Clemens made an insulting remark when asked about the devotion of Japanese and South Korean fans during the World Baseball Classic: "None of the dry cleaners were open, they were all at the game, Japan and Korea". Toward the end of his career, his annual on-and-off "retirements" revived a reputation for diva-like behavior.
Clemens has received criticism for getting special treatment from the teams that sign him. While playing for Houston, Clemens was not obliged to travel with the team on road trips if he was not pitching. His 2007 contract with the New York Yankees had a "family plan" clause that stipulated that he not be required to go on road trips in which he was not scheduled to pitch and allowed him to leave the team between starts to be with his family. These perks were publicly criticized by Yankee reliever Kyle Farnsworth. Most of Clemens's teammates, however, did not complain of such perks because of Clemens's success on the mound and valuable presence in the clubhouse. Yankee teammate Jason Giambi spoke for such players when he said, "I'd carry his bags for him, just as long as he is on the mound."
Steroid use accusations
In José Canseco's book, Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got Big, Canseco suggested that Clemens had expert knowledge about steroids and suggested that he used them, based on the improvement in his performance after leaving the Red Sox. While not addressing the allegations directly, Clemens stated: "I could care less about the rules" and "I've talked to some friends of his and I've teased them that when you're under house arrest and have ankle bracelets on, you have a lot of time to write a book."
Jason Grimsley named Clemens, as well as Andy Pettitte, as a user of performance-enhancing drugs. According to a 20-page search warrant affidavit signed by IRS Special Agent Jeff Novitzky, Grimsley told investigators he obtained amphetamines, anabolic steroids and human growth hormone from someone recommended to him by former Yankees trainer Brian McNamee. McNamee was a personal strength coach for Clemens and Pettitte, hired by Clemens in 1998. At the time of the Grimsley revelations, McNamee denied knowledge of steroid use by Clemens and Pettitte. Despite initial media reports, the affidavit made no mention of Clemens or Pettitte.
However, Clemens's name was mentioned 82 times in the Mitchell Report on steroid use in baseball. In the report, McNamee stated that during the 1998, 2000, and 2001 baseball seasons, he injected Clemens with Winstrol. Clemens's attorney Rusty Hardin denied the claims, calling McNamee "a troubled and unreliable witness" who has changed his story five times in an attempt to avoid criminal prosecution. He noted that Clemens has never tested positive in a steroid test. Former U.S. Senator George Mitchell, who prepared the report, stated that he relayed the allegations to each athlete implicated in the report and gave them a chance to respond before his findings were published.
On January 6, 2008, Clemens went on 60 Minutes to address the allegations. He told Mike Wallace that his longevity in baseball was due to "hard work" rather than illegal substances and denied all of McNamee's assertions that he injected Clemens with steroids, saying it "never happened". On January 7, Clemens filed a defamation lawsuit against McNamee, claiming that the former trainer lied after being threatened with prosecution. McNamee's attorneys argued that he was compelled to cooperate by federal officials and so his statements were protected. A federal judge agreed, throwing out all claims related to McNamee's statements to investigators on February 13, 2009, but allowing the case to proceed on statements McNamee made about Clemens to Pettitte.
On February 13, 2008, Clemens appeared before a Congressional committee, along with Brian McNamee and swore under oath that he did not take steroids, that he did not discuss HGH with McNamee, that he did not attend a party at José Canseco's where steroids were the topic of conversation, that he was only injected with B-12 and lidocaine and that he never told Pettitte he had taken HGH. This last point was in contradiction to testimony Pettitte had given under oath on February 4, 2008, wherein Pettitte said he repeated to McNamee a conversation Pettitte had with Clemens. During this conversation, Pettitte said Clemens had told him that McNamee had injected Clemens with human growth hormone. Pettitte said McNamee reacted angrily, saying that Clemens "shouldn't have done that."<ref name=tj>Quinn, T.J. "In court of public opinion, a Clemens verdict: Game over." ESPN.com,
December 12, 2008. Retrieved November 6, 2017.</ref>
The bipartisan House committee in front of which Clemens appeared, citing seven apparent inconsistencies in Clemens's testimony, recommended that the Justice Department investigate whether Clemens lied under oath about using performance-enhancing drugs. In a letter sent February 27 to Attorney General Michael Mukasey, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman Henry Waxman and ranking Republican Tom Davis said Clemens's testimony that he "never used anabolic steroids or human growth hormone warrants further investigation".
As a result of the Mitchell Report, Clemens was asked to end his involvement with the Giff Nielsen Day of Golf for Kids charity tournament in Houston that he has hosted for four years. As well, his name has been removed from the Houston-based Roger Clemens Institute for Sports Medicine and will be renamed the Memorial Hermann Sports Medicine Institute.
After Washington prosecutors showed "a renewed interest in the case in the final months of 2008", a federal grand jury was convened in January 2009 to hear evidence of Clemens's possible perjury before Congress. The grand jury indicted Clemens on August 19, 2010, on charges of making false statements to Congress about his use of performance-enhancing drugs. The indictment charges Clemens with one count of obstruction of Congress, three counts of making false statements and two counts of perjury in connection with his February 2008 testimony.
His first trial began on July 13, 2011, but on the second day of testimony the judge in the case declared a mistrial over prosecutorial misconduct after prosecutors showed the jury prejudicial evidence they were not allowed to. Clemens was subsequently retried. The verdict from his second trial came in on June 18, 2012. Clemens was found not guilty on all six counts of lying to Congress in 2008, when he testified that he never took performance-enhancing drugs.
In January 2016, after Clemens once again fell short of the votes required for election into the Hall of Fame, former major-league star Roy Halladay tweeted "No Clemens no Bonds" as part of a message indicating no performance-enhancing substance users should be voted into the Hall. Clemens countered by accusing Halladay of using amphetamines during his playing career.
Adultery accusations
In April 2008, the New York Daily News reported on a possible long-term relationship between Clemens and country music singer Mindy McCready that began when she was 15 years old. Clemens's attorney Rusty Hardin denied the affair and also stated that Clemens would be bringing a defamation suit regarding this allegation. Clemens's attorney admitted that a relationship existed but described McCready as a "close family friend". He also stated that McCready had traveled on Clemens's personal jet and that Clemens's wife was aware of the relationship. However, when contacted by the Daily News, McCready said, "I cannot refute anything in the story."
On November 17, 2008, McCready spoke in more detail to Inside Edition about her affair with Clemens, saying their relationship lasted for more than a decade and that it ended when Clemens refused to leave his wife to marry her. However, she denied that she was 15 years old when it began, saying that they met when she was 16 and the affair only became sexual "several years later". In another soon-to-be-released sex tape by Vivid Entertainment she claimed that the first time she had sex with him was when she was 21. She also said that he often had erectile dysfunction. A few days after the Daily News broke the story about the McCready relationship, they reported on another Clemens extramarital relationship, this time with Paulette Dean Daly, the now ex-wife of pro golfer John Daly. Daly declined to elaborate on the nature of her relationship with the pitcher but did not deny that it was romantic and included financial support.
There have been reports of Clemens having at least three other affairs with women. On April 29, 2008, the New York Post reported that Clemens had relationships with two or more women. One, a former bartender in Manhattan, refused comment on the story, while another, a woman from Tampa, could not be located. On May 2 of the same year, the Daily News reported a stripper in Detroit called a local radio station and said she had an affair with Clemens. He also gave tickets to baseball games, jewelry, and trips to women he was wooing.
Other media
Clemens has appeared as himself in several movies and television episodes and has also occasionally acted in films. Perhaps best known was his appearance in the season three episode of The Simpsons ("Homer at the Bat"), in which he is recruited to the Springfield nuclear plant's softball team but is accidentally hypnotized into thinking he is a chicken; in addition to his lines, Clemens voiced his own clucking. Clemens has also made guest appearances as himself on the TV shows Hope & Faith, Spin City, Arli$$, and Saturday Night Live as well as the movie Anger Management, and makes a brief appearance in the movie Kingpin as the character Skidmark. He also is shown playing an actual game with the Houston Astros in the film Boyhood.
He appeared in the 1994 movie Cobb as an unidentified pitcher for the Philadelphia A's. In 2003, he was part of an advertising campaign for Armour hot dogs with MLB players Ken Griffey Jr., Derek Jeter, and Sammy Sosa. Since 2005, Clemens has also appeared in many commercials for Texas-based supermarket chain H-E-B. In 2007, he appeared on a baseball-themed episode of MythBusters ("Baseball Myths"). He has also starred in a commercial for Cingular parodying his return from retirement. He was calling his wife, Debra Godfrey, and a dropped call resulted in his return to the Yankees.
He released an early autobiography, Rocket Man: The Roger Clemens Story written with Peter Gammons, in 1987. Clemens is also the spokesperson for Champion car dealerships in South Texas. In April 2009, Clemens was the subject of an unauthorized biography by Jeff Pearlman, titled The Rocket that Fell to Earth-Roger Clemens and the Rage for Baseball Immortality, that focused on his childhood and early career and accused Mike Piazza of using steroids. On May 12, Clemens broke a long silence to denounce a heavily researched expose by four investigative reporters from the New York Daily News, called American Icon: The Fall of Roger Clemens and the Rise of Steroids in America's Pastime. Clemens went on ESPN's Mike and Mike show to call the book "garbage", but a review by Michiko Kakutani of The New York Times called the book "gripping" and compared it to the work of Bob Woodward.
Awards and recognition
In 1999, while many of his performances and milestones were yet to come he ranked number 53 on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was elected by the fans to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. In 2005, the updated Sporting News list moved Clemens up to #15.
By the end of the 2005 season, Clemens had won seven Cy Young Awards (he won the AL award in 1986, 1987, 1991, 1997, 1998, and 2001, and the National League award in 2004), an MVP and two pitching triple crowns. With his 2004 win, he joined Gaylord Perry, Randy Johnson, and Pedro Martínez as the only pitchers to win it in both leagues and became the oldest pitcher to ever win the Cy Young. He has also won the Sporting News Pitcher of the Year Award five times, was named an All-Star 11 times, and won the All-Star MVP in 1986.
In October 2006, Clemens was named to Sports Illustrateds "all-time" team.
On August 18, 2007, Clemens got his 1,000th strikeout as a Yankee. He is only the ninth player in major league history to record 1,000 or more strikeouts with two different teams. Clemens has recorded a total of 2,590 strikeouts as a member of the Red Sox and 1,014 strikeouts as a Yankee. He also had 563 strikeouts for Toronto, and 505 strikeouts for Houston.
Clemens was inducted into the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2014, and was inducted into the Pawtucket Red Sox Hall of Fame on June 21, 2019.
National Baseball Hall of Fame consideration
In 2013 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, his first year of eligibility, Clemens received 37.6% of the votes cast by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA), falling well short of the 75% required for induction into the Hall of Fame. He has garnered more votes in subsequent elections without reaching the 75% threshold: he received 59.5% in 2019, 61.0% in 2020, and 61.6% in 2021. With the inductions of Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine in 2014 and Randy Johnson in 2015, Clemens is currently the only eligible member of the 300 win club not to be inducted into the Hall. He received 65.2% of the votes in his final year of eligibility, 2022.
Despite falling off the ballot, Clemens is still eligible for induction through the Hall of Fame’s Today’s Game Committee. The committee is a 16-member electorate “comprised of members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, executives, and veteran media members" (hence the nickname of “veteran’s committee”) who consider retired players who lost ballot eligibility while still having made notable contributions to baseball from 1986-2016. Voting will be held in December 2022, and 12 votes are required for induction.
Personal life
Clemens married Debra Lynn Godfrey (born May 27, 1963) on November 24, 1984. The couple has four sons: Koby Aaron, Kory Allen, Kacy Austin, and Kody Alec—all given "K" names to honor Clemens's strikeouts ("K's"). Koby was at one time a minor league prospect for some MLB clubs. Kacy played college baseball for the Texas Longhorns and was drafted by the Blue Jays in the eighth round of the 2017 Major League Baseball draft. Kacy is an infielder who is currently a free agent. Kody also played college baseball for the Texas Longhorns and was drafted 79th overall by the Detroit Tigers in the third round of the 2018 Major League Baseball draft.
Debra once left a Red Sox game, when Clemens pitched for another team, in tears from the heckling she received. This is documented in an updated later edition to Dan Shaughnessy's best-selling book, Curse of the Bambino. Debra also was quoted in the book as stating that it was the poor attitude of Red Sox fans that prevented the team from ever winning the World Series (this was quoted prior to the Red Sox' 2004 World Series victory).
Clemens is a member of the Republican Party and donated money to Texas congressman Ted Poe during his 2006 campaign.
Debra posed in a bikini with her husband for a Sports Illustrated pictorial regarding athletes and their wives. This appeared in the annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition'' for 2003. Roger wore his Yankees uniform, with the jersey open.
On February 27, 2006, to train for the World Baseball Classic, Roger pitched in an exhibition game between the Astros and his son's minor league team. In his first at-bat, Koby hit a home run off his father. In his next at-bat, Roger threw an inside pitch that almost hit Koby. Koby laughed in an interview after the game about the incident.
See also
Houston Astros award winners and league leaders
List of Boston Red Sox award winners
List of Boston Red Sox team records
List of Major League Baseball annual shutout leaders
List of Major League Baseball career hit batsmen leaders
List of Major League Baseball career wins leaders
List of Major League Baseball players named in the Mitchell Report
List of Major League Baseball single-game strikeout leaders
List of people from Dayton, Ohio
List of Toronto Blue Jays team records
List of University of Texas at Austin alumni
Major League Baseball titles leaders
Toronto Blue Jays award winners and league leaders
References
External links
Roger Clemens Foundation
1962 births
Living people
American expatriate baseball players in Canada
American League All-Stars
American League ERA champions
American League Most Valuable Player Award winners
American League Pitching Triple Crown winners
American League strikeout champions
American League wins champions
American people of German descent
Baseball players from Dayton, Ohio
Boston Red Sox players
Bridgeport Bluefish guest managers
Corpus Christi Hooks players
Cy Young Award winners
Houston Astros players
Lexington Legends players
Major League Baseball All-Star Game MVPs
Major League Baseball controversies
Major League Baseball pitchers
National League All-Stars
National League ERA champions
New Britain Red Sox players
New York Yankees players
Norwich Navigators players
Pawtucket Red Sox players
People from Vandalia, Ohio
Round Rock Express players
San Jacinto Central Ravens baseball players
Sarasota Red Sox players
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees players
Sugar Land Skeeters players
Tampa Yankees players
Texas Longhorns baseball players
Texas Republicans
Trenton Thunder players
Toronto Blue Jays players
Winter Haven Red Sox players
World Baseball Classic players of the United States
2006 World Baseball Classic players | true | [
"Héctor Martínez is a former Major League Baseball player who was the first play-by-play announcer for the Boston Red Sox Spanish Beisbol Network.\n\nMartinez joined the Red Sox in 1990 when the Sox became the tenth in Major League Baseball to offer a Spanish-language broadcast. He remained with the Red Sox until 2001 when he was replaced by ESPN announcer Adrian Garcia Marquez. Martinez also called games nationally for ESPN and NBC, including the 1994 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. Before joining the Red Sox, Martinez served as a news and sports reporter for WUNR radio in Boston and play-by-play announcer for amateur baseball in Hartford.\n\nReferences\n\nYear of birth missing (living people)\nLiving people\nBoston Red Sox announcers\nMajor League Baseball broadcasters\nSportspeople from Boston",
"Julio Julián Castillo Valdez (born June 3, 1956) is a Dominican former professional baseball infielder and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Boston Red Sox from 1980 to 1983, and later managed in Minor League Baseball. Listed at and , he was a switch-hitter and threw right-handed.\n\nBiography\nValdez began his professional baseball career in 1976 with the Winter Haven Red Sox, a farm team of the Boston Red Sox; he reached the Triple-A level in 1979. Valdez went on to play in MLB for parts of four seasons (1980–1983) with Boston, mainly as a shortstop. In 65 MLB games with Red Sox, Valdez hit .207 (18-for-87) with one home run and eight RBIs. In 1981, while with the Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox, he played in the longest professional baseball game in history, batting 2-for-13 in the 33-inning contest.\n\nOn May 6, 1983, Valdez was arrested at Fenway Park by members of the Boston Police Department during a game against the Seattle Mariners. Valdez had not played for the team since the end of April, and was not in uniform when arrested. Charged with statutory rape, it was subsequently reported that the minor involved had lied to Valdez about her age. The charges were dismissed in July of that year, after a grand jury refused to return an indictment.\n\nFollowing his arrest, Valdez was suspended with pay by the Red Sox and later designated for assignment. He did not play in another major league game. He played in Minor League Baseball for the Red Sox organization though 1984, and then for the Chicago Cubs organization through 1988.\n\nAfter his playing career, Valdez managed the Dominican Summer League teams for several MLB franchises, including the Cubs, New York Yankees, and Chicago White Sox.\n\nSee also\nList of Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n1956 births\nLiving people\nBoston Red Sox players\nPeople from San Cristóbal, Dominican Republic\nDominican Republic expatriate baseball players in the United States\nMajor League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic\nMajor League Baseball shortstops\nMinor league baseball managers\nBristol Red Sox players\nIowa Cubs players\nNew Britain Red Sox players\nPawtucket Red Sox players\nPittsfield Cubs players\nWinston-Salem Red Sox players\nWinston-Salem Spirits players\nWinter Haven Red Sox players"
] |
[
"Roger Clemens",
"Boston Red Sox",
"What year did he play for Boston Red Sox?",
"1986"
] | C_0d846a1614904fcf97343b0d8d340347_0 | Did he win any awards while playing that year? | 2 | Did Roger Clemens win any awards while playing in 1986? | Roger Clemens | In the 1986 American League Championship Series, Clemens pitched poorly in the opening game, watched the Boston bullpen blow his 3-0 lead in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 4, and then pitched a strong Game 7 to wrap up the series for Boston. The 1986 ALCS clincher was Clemens' first postseason career victory. He did not win his second until 13 years later. After a bad start in Game 2 of the 1986 World Series, Clemens returned to the mound for Game 6, which would have clinched the World Series for the Boston Red Sox. Clemens left the game after 7 innings leading 3-2, but the Red Sox went on to lose the game in the 10th inning, and subsequently, the championship. Clemens' departure was highly debated and remains a bone of contention among the participants. Red Sox manager John McNamara claimed Clemens took himself out due to a blister, though Clemens strongly denies that. Clemens greatest postseason failure came in the second inning of the final game of the 1990 ALCS against the Oakland Athletics, when he was ejected for arguing balls and strikes with umpire Terry Cooney, accentuating the A's three-game sweep of the Red Sox. He was suspended for the first five games of the 1991 season and fined $10,000. Clemens had two other playoff no-decisions, in 1988 and 1995, both occurring while Boston was being swept. Clemens' overall postseason record with Boston was 1-2 with a 3.88 ERA, and 45 strikeouts and 19 walks in 56 innings. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | William Roger Clemens (born August 4, 1962), nicknamed "Rocket", is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 24 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily with the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees. Clemens was one of the most dominant pitchers in major league history, tallying 354 wins, a 3.12 earned run average (ERA), and 4,672 strikeouts, the third-most all time. An 11-time All-Star and two-time World Series champion, he won seven Cy Young Awards during his career, more than any other pitcher in history. Clemens was known for his fierce competitive nature and hard-throwing pitching style, which he used to intimidate batters.
Clemens debuted in MLB in 1984 with the Red Sox, whose pitching staff he anchored for 12 years. In 1986, he won the American League (AL) Cy Young Award, the AL Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award, and the All-Star Game MVP Award, and he struck out an MLB-record 20 batters in a single game. After the 1996 season, in which he achieved his second 20-strikeout performance, Clemens left Boston via free agency and joined the Toronto Blue Jays. In each of his two seasons with Toronto, Clemens won a Cy Young Award, as well as the pitching triple crown by leading the league in wins, ERA, and strikeouts. Prior to the 1999 season, Clemens was traded to the Yankees where he won his two World Series titles. In 2001, Clemens became the first pitcher in major league history to start a season with a win-loss record of 20–1. In 2003, he reached his 300th win and 4,000th strikeout in the same game. Clemens left for the Houston Astros in 2004, where he spent three seasons and won his seventh Cy Young Award. He rejoined the Yankees in 2007 for one last season before retiring. He is the only pitcher in Major League history to record over 350 wins and strike out over 4,500 batters.
Clemens was alleged by the Mitchell Report to have used anabolic steroids during his late career, mainly based on testimony given by his former trainer, Brian McNamee. Clemens firmly denied these allegations under oath before the United States Congress, leading congressional leaders to refer his case to the Justice Department on suspicions of perjury. On August 19, 2010, a federal grand jury at the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., indicted Clemens on six felony counts involving perjury, false statements and Contempt of Congress. Clemens pleaded not guilty, but proceedings were complicated by prosecutorial misconduct, leading to a mistrial. The verdict from his second trial came in June 2012, when Clemens was found not guilty on all six counts of lying to Congress. These controversies hurt his chances for election to the Baseball Hall of Fame. He never received the 75% of the votes required in his ten years of eligibility, ending with 65.2% in 2022.
Early life
Clemens was born in Dayton, Ohio, the fifth child of Bill and Bess (Lee) Clemens. He is of German descent, his great-grandfather Joseph Clemens having immigrated in the 1880s. Clemens's parents separated when he was an infant. His mother soon married Woody Booher, whom Clemens considers his father. Booher died when Clemens was nine years old, and Clemens has said that the only time he ever felt envious of other players was when he saw them in the clubhouse with their fathers. Clemens lived in Vandalia, Ohio, until 1977, and then spent most of his high school years in Houston, Texas. At Spring Woods High School, Clemens played baseball for longtime head coach Charles Maiorana and also played football and basketball. He was scouted by the Philadelphia Phillies and Minnesota Twins during his senior year, but opted to go to college.
Collegiate career
He began his college career pitching for San Jacinto College North in 1981, where he was 9–2. The New York Mets selected Clemens in the 12th round of the 1981 Major League Baseball draft, but he did not sign. He then attended the University of Texas at Austin, compiling a 25–7 record in two All-American seasons, and was on the mound when the Longhorns won the 1983 College World Series. He became the first player to have his baseball uniform number retired at the University of Texas. In 2004, the Rotary Smith Award, given to America's best college baseball player, was changed to the Roger Clemens Award, honoring the best pitcher.
At Texas, Clemens pitched 35 consecutive scoreless innings, an NCAA record that stood until Justin Pope broke it in 2001.
Professional career
Boston Red Sox (1984–1996)
Clemens was selected in the first round (19th overall) of the 1983 MLB draft by the Boston Red Sox and quickly rose through the minor league system, making his MLB debut on May 15, 1984. An undiagnosed torn labrum threatened to end his career early; he underwent successful arthroscopic surgery by Dr. James Andrews.
In 1986, Clemens won the American League MVP award, finishing with a 24–4 record, 2.48 ERA, and 238 strikeouts. Clemens started the 1986 All-Star Game in the Astrodome and was named the Most Valuable Player of the contest by throwing three perfect innings and striking out two. He also won the first of his seven Cy Young Awards. When Hank Aaron said that pitchers should not be eligible for the MVP, Clemens responded: "I wish he were still playing. I'd probably crack his head open to show him how valuable I was." Clemens was the only starting pitcher since Vida Blue in 1971 to win a league MVP award until Justin Verlander won the award in 2011.
On April 29, 1986, Clemens became the first pitcher in MLB history to strike out 20 batters in a nine-inning game, against the Seattle Mariners at Boston's Fenway Park. Following his performance, Clemens made the cover of Sports Illustrated which carried the headline "Lord of the K's [strikeouts]." Other than Clemens, only Kerry Wood and Max Scherzer have matched the total. (Randy Johnson fanned 20 batters in nine innings on May 8, 2001. However, as the game went into extra innings, it is not categorized as occurring in a nine-inning game. Tom Cheney holds the record for any game: 21 strikeouts in 16 innings.) Clemens attributes his switch from what he calls a "thrower" to a "pitcher" to the partial season Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver spent with the Red Sox in 1986.
Facing the California Angels in the 1986 ALCS, Clemens pitched poorly in the opening game, watched the Boston bullpen blow his 3–1 lead in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 4, and then pitched a strong Game 7 to wrap up the series for Boston. The League Championship Series clincher was Clemens's first postseason career victory. He did not win his second until 13 years later. After a victory in game five, Boston led 3 games to 2 over the New York Mets in the 1986 World Series with Clemens set to start game six at Shea Stadium. Clemens who was pitching on five days rest started strong by striking out eight while throwing a no-hitter through four innings. In the top of eighth and with Boston ahead 3–2, manager John McNamara sent rookie Mike Greenwell to pinch hit for Roger Clemens. It was initially said that Clemens was removed from the game due to a blister forming on one of his fingers, but both he and McNamara dispute this. Clemens said to Bob Costas on an MLB Network program concerning the 1986 postseason that McNamara decided to pull him despite Clemens wanting to pitch. McNamara said to Costas that Clemens "begged out" of the game. The Mets rallied and took both game six and seven to win the World Series.
The Red Sox had a miserable 1987 season, finishing at 78–84, though Clemens won his second consecutive Cy Young Award with a 20–9 record, 2.97 ERA, 256 strikeouts, and seven shutouts. He was the first AL pitcher with back-to-back 20-win seasons since Tommy John won 20 with the Yankees in 1979 and '80. Boston rebounded with success in 1988 and 1990, clinching the AL East Division each year, but were swept by the Oakland Athletics in each ALCS matchup. His greatest postseason failure came in the second inning of the final game of the 1990 ALCS, when he was ejected for arguing balls and strikes with umpire Terry Cooney, accentuating the A's four-game sweep of the Red Sox. He was suspended for the first five games of the 1991 season and fined $10,000.
Clemens led the American League in 1988 with 291 strikeouts and a career-high 8 shutouts. On September 10, 1988, Clemens threw a one-hitter against the Cleveland Indians at Fenway Park. Dave Clark's one-out single in the eighth inning was the only hit Clemens allowed in the game. In a 9–1 victory over Cleveland on April 13, 1989, Clemens recorded his 1,000 career strikeout by fanning Brook Jacoby with the bases loaded in the second inning. Clemens finished second to Oakland's Bob Welch for the 1990 AL Cy Young Award, despite the fact that Clemens crushed Welch in ERA (1.93 to 2.95), strikeouts (209 to 127), walks (54 to 77), home runs allowed (7 to 26), and WAR (10.4 to 2.9). Clemens did, however, capture his third Cy Young Award in 1991 with an 18–10 record, 2.62 ERA, and 241 strikeouts. On June 21, 1989, Clemens surrendered the first of 609 home runs in the career of Sammy Sosa.
Clemens accomplished the 20-strikeout feat twice, the only player ever to do so. The second performance came more than 10 years later, on September 18, 1996, against the Detroit Tigers at Tiger Stadium. This second 20-K day occurred in his third-to-last game as a member of the Boston Red Sox. Later, the Tigers presented him with a baseball containing the autographs of each batter who had struck out (those with multiple strikeouts signed the appropriate number of times).
The Red Sox did not re-sign Clemens following the 1996 season, despite leading the A.L. with 257 strikeouts and offering him "by far the most money ever offered to a player in the history of the Red Sox franchise." General Manager Dan Duquette remarked that he "hoped to keep him in Boston during the twilight of his career", but Clemens left and signed with the Toronto Blue Jays.
The emphasis on the misquoted 1996 "twilight" comment took on a life of its own following Clemens's post-Boston successes, and Duquette was vilified for letting the star pitcher go. Ultimately, Clemens would go on to have a record of 162–73 for the rest of his career after leaving the Red Sox.
Clemens recorded 192 wins and 38 shutouts for the Red Sox, both tied with Cy Young for the franchise record and is their all-time strikeout leader with 2,590. Clemens's overall postseason record with Boston was 1–2 with a 3.88 ERA, and 45 strikeouts, and 19 walks in 56 innings. No Red Sox player has worn his uniform #21 since Clemens left the team in the 1996–97 offseason.
Toronto Blue Jays (1997–1998)
Clemens signed a four-year, $40 million deal with the Toronto Blue Jays after the 1996 season. In his first start in Fenway Park as a member of the Blue Jays, he pitched eight innings allowing only 4 hits and 1 earned run. 16 of his 24 outs were strikeouts, and every batter who faced him struck out at least once. As he left the field following his last inning of work, he stared up angrily towards the owner's box.
Clemens was dominant in his two seasons with the Blue Jays, winning the pitching Triple Crown and the Cy Young Award in both seasons (1997: 21–7 record, 2.05 ERA, and 292 strikeouts; 1998: 20–6 record, 2.65 ERA, and 271 strikeouts). After the 1998 season, Clemens asked to be traded, indicating that he did not believe the Blue Jays would be competitive enough the following year and that he was dedicated to winning a championship.
New York Yankees (1999–2003)
Clemens was traded to the New York Yankees before the 1999 season for David Wells, Homer Bush, and Graeme Lloyd. Since his longtime uniform number #21 was in use by teammate Paul O'Neill, Clemens initially wore #12, before switching mid-season to #22.
Clemens made an immediate impact on the Yankees' staff, anchoring the top of the rotation as the team went on to win a pair of World Series titles in 1999 and 2000. During the 1999 regular season, Clemens posted a 14–10 record with a 4.60 ERA. He logged a pair of wins in the postseason, though he lost Game 3 of the 1999 ALCS in a matchup against Red Sox ace Pedro Martínez, which was the Yankees' only loss in the 1999 playoffs. Clemens pitched 7.2 innings of 1-run baseball during the Yankees' game 4 clincher over the Atlanta Braves. Clemens followed up with a strong 2000 season, in which he finished with a 13–8 record with a 3.70 ERA for the regular season. During the 2000 postseason, he helped the Yankees win their third consecutive championship. Clemens set the ALCS record for strikeouts in a game when he fanned 15 batters in a one-hit shutout of the Seattle Mariners in Game 4 of the ALCS. A seventh-inning lead-off double by Seattle's Al Martin was all that prevented Clemens from throwing what was, at the time, only the second no-hitter in postseason history. In Game 2 of the 2000 World Series, Clemens pitched eight scoreless innings against the New York Mets.
In 2001, Clemens became the first pitcher in MLB history to start a season 20–1 (finishing 20–3) and winning his sixth Cy Young Award. As of the 2020 season, he is the last Yankee pitcher to win the Cy Young Award. Clemens started for the Yankees in Game 7 of the 2001 World Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, where he dueled Curt Schilling to a standstill after 6 innings, yielding only one run. The Diamondbacks went on to win the game in the 9th.
Early in 2003, Clemens announced his retirement, effective at the end of that season. On June 13, 2003, pitching against the St. Louis Cardinals in Yankee Stadium, Clemens recorded his 300th career win and 4,000th career strikeout, the only player in history to record both milestones in the same game. The 300th win came on his fourth try; the Yankee bullpen had blown his chance of a win in his previous two attempts. He became the 21st pitcher ever to record 300 wins and the third ever to record 4,000 strikeouts. His career record upon reaching the milestones was 300–155. Clemens finished the season with a 17–9 record and a 3.91 ERA.
The end of Clemens's 2003 season became a series of public farewells met with appreciative cheering. His last games in each AL park were given extra attention, particularly his final regular-season appearance in Fenway Park, when despite wearing the uniform of the hated arch-rival, he was afforded a standing ovation by Red Sox fans as he left the field. (This spectacle was repeated when the Yankees ended up playing the Red Sox in the 2003 ALCS and Clemens got a second "final start" in his original stadium.) As part of a tradition of manager Joe Torre, Clemens was chosen to manage the Yankees' last game of the regular season. Clemens made one start in the World Series against the Florida Marlins; when he left trailing 3–1 after seven innings, the Marlins left their dugout to give him a standing ovation.
Houston Astros (2004–2006)
Clemens came out of retirement, signing a one-year deal with his adopted hometown Houston Astros on January 12, 2004, joining close friend and former Yankees teammate Andy Pettitte. On May 5, 2004, Clemens recorded his 4,137th career strikeout to place him second on the all-time list behind Nolan Ryan. He was named the starter for the National League All-Star team but ultimately was the losing pitcher in that game after allowing six runs on five hits, including a three-run home run to Alfonso Soriano. Clemens finished the season with an 18–4 record, and was awarded his seventh Cy Young Award, becoming the oldest player ever to win the Cy Young at age 42. This made him one of six pitchers to win the award in both leagues, joining Gaylord Perry, Pedro Martínez, and Randy Johnson and later joined by Roy Halladay and Max Scherzer. Clemens was the losing pitcher for the Astros in Game Seven of the 2004 NLCS against the St. Louis Cardinals, allowing four runs in six innings. Although he pitched well, he tired in the sixth inning, surrendering all four runs.
Clemens again decided to put off retirement before the 2005 season after the Houston Astros offered salary arbitration. The Astros submitted an offer of $13.5 million, and Clemens countered with a record $22 million demand. On January 21, 2005, both sides agreed on a one-year, $18,000,022 contract, thus avoiding arbitration. The deal gave Clemens the highest yearly salary earned by a pitcher in MLB history.
Clemens's 2005 season ended as one of the finest he had ever posted. His 1.87 ERA was the lowest in the major leagues, the lowest of his 22-season career, and the lowest by any National Leaguer since Greg Maddux in 1995. He finished with a 13–8 record, with his lower win total primarily due to the fact that he ranked near the bottom of the major leagues in run support. The Astros scored an average of only 3.5 runs per game in games in which he was the pitcher of record. The Astros were shut out nine times in Clemens's 32 starts, and failed to score in a 10th until after Clemens was out of the game. The Astros lost five of Clemens's starts by scores of 1–0. In April, Clemens did not allow a run in three consecutive starts. However, the Astros lost all three of those starts by a 1–0 score in extra innings.
Clemens won an emotional start on September 15, following his mother's death that morning. In his final start of the 2005 season, Clemens got his 4,500th strikeout. On October 9, 2005, Clemens made his first relief appearance since 1984, entering as a pinch hitter in the 15th, then pitching three innings to get the win as the Astros defeated the Atlanta Braves in Game 4 of the NLDS. It is the longest postseason game in MLB history at 18 innings. Clemens lasted only two innings in Game 1 of the 2005 World Series, and the Astros went on to be swept by the Chicago White Sox. It was the Astros' first World Series appearance. Clemens had aggravated a hamstring pull that had limited his performance since at least September.
Clemens said that he would retire again after the World Series but he wanted to represent the United States in the inaugural World Baseball Classic, which would be played in March 2006. He went 1–1 in the tournament, with a 2.08 ERA, striking out 10 batters in innings. After pitching in a second-round loss to Mexico that eliminated the United States, Clemens began considering a return to the major leagues. On May 31, 2006, following another extended period of speculation, it was announced that Clemens was coming out of retirement for the third time to pitch for the Astros for the remainder of the 2006 season. Clemens signed a contract worth $22,000,022 (his uniform number #22). Since Clemens did not play a full season, he received a prorated percentage of that: approximately $12.25 million. Clemens made his return on June 22, 2006, against the Minnesota Twins, losing to their rookie phenom, Francisco Liriano, 4–2. For the second year in a row, his win total did not match his performance, as he finished the season with a 7–6 record, a 2.30 ERA, and a 1.04 WHIP. However, Clemens averaged just under 6 innings in his starts and never pitched into the eighth.
Return to the Yankees (2007)
Clemens unexpectedly appeared in the owner's box at Yankee Stadium on May 6, 2007, during the seventh-inning stretch of a game against the Seattle Mariners, and made a brief statement: "Thank y'all. Well they came and got me out of Texas, and uhh, I can tell you it's a privilege to be back. I'll be talkin' to y'all soon." It was simultaneously announced that Clemens had rejoined the Yankees roster, agreeing to a pro-rated one-year deal worth $28,000,022, or about $4.7 million per month. Over the contract life, he would make $18.7 million. This equated to just over $1 million per start that season.
Clemens made his 2007 return on June 9, defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates by pitching six innings with seven strikeouts and three runs allowed. On June 21, with a single in the 5th inning against the Colorado Rockies, Clemens became the oldest New York Yankee to record a hit (44 years, 321 days). On June 24, Clemens pitched an inning in relief against the San Francisco Giants. It had been 22 years and 341 days since his previous regular-season relief appearance, the longest such gap in major league history. On July 2, Clemens collected his 350th win against the Minnesota Twins at Yankee Stadium, giving up just two hits and one run over eight innings. Clemens is one of only three pitchers to pitch his entire career in the live-ball era and reach 350 wins. The other two are Warren Spahn (whose catcher for his 350th win was Joe Torre, Clemens's manager for his 350th), and Greg Maddux, who earned his 350th win in 2008. His final regular-season appearance was a start against the Red Sox at Fenway Park, in which he allowed two hits and one unearned run in six innings, and received a no-decision. Clemens finished the 2007 regular season with a record of 6–6 and a 4.18 ERA.
Clemens was forced to leave Game 3 of the 2007 ALDS in the third inning after aggravating a hamstring injury. He struck out Victor Martinez of the Cleveland Indians with his final pitch, and was replaced by right-hander Phil Hughes. Yankees manager Joe Torre removed Clemens from the roster due to his injury, and replaced him with left-hander Ron Villone. Clemens's overall postseason record with the Yankees was 7–4 with a 2.97 ERA, 98 strikeouts and 35 walks in 102 innings.
Pitching appearances after retirement
On August 20, 2012, Clemens signed with the Sugar Land Skeeters of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. He made his debut for the Skeeters against the Bridgeport Bluefish on August 25, 2012, in front of a crowd of 7,724. It was the first time the 50-year-old had taken the mound in almost five years. Clemens pitched scoreless innings and struck out two: former major leaguers Joey Gathright and Prentice Redman. He also retired Luis Figueroa, who played briefly with the Pirates, Blue Jays and the Giants. Clemens allowed only one hit and no walks on 37 pitches in the Skeeters' 1–0 victory. Clemens made his second start for the Skeeters on September 7 against the Long Island Ducks. He pitched scoreless innings, with his son, Koby, as his catcher. He retired former New York Met outfielder Timo Perez for the final out in the fourth inning, and was named the winning pitcher by the official scorer. Clemens's fastball was clocked as high as 88 mph, and the Astros sent scouts to both of his outings with the Skeeters in consideration of a possible return to the team that season.
Roger Clemens joined the Kansas Stars, a group of 24 retired major leaguers and his son Koby, to compete in the 2016 National Baseball Congress World Series. The team was put together by Kansas natives Adam LaRoche and Nate Robertson, and featured eleven former All-Stars, including Tim Hudson, Roy Oswalt, and J. D. Drew as well as Clemens. Pitching just six days after his 54th birthday, Clemens started for the Kansas Stars in a game against the NJCAA National Team on August 10, 2016. He pitched innings, allowing 3 runs with one strikeout in an 11–10 loss. On August 22, 2019, Clemens wore his Red Sox uniform and pitched in the Abbot Financial Management Oldtime Baseball Game, an annual charity event held at St. Peter's Field in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The 2019 game benefitted Compassionate Care ALS, in memory of longtime Fenway Park supervisor John Welch, who died from Lou Gehrig's Disease in December 2018. Facing mostly young college players, Clemens pitched two shutout innings in the game, then moved to first base.
Pitching style
Clemens was a prototypical power pitcher with an aggressive edge for his entire career. This was especially the case when he was a young man. Clemens was said to throw "two pitches: a 98-mph fastball and a hard breaking ball. At 23, Clemens simply reared back and threw the ball past batters." Later in his career, Clemens developed a devastating split-finger fastball to use as an off-speed pitch in concert with his fastball. Clemens has jocularly referred to this pitch as "Mr. Splitty".
By the time Clemens retired from Major League Baseball in 2007, his four-seam fastball had settled in the 91–94 mph range. He also threw a two-seam fastball, a slider in the mid 80s, his hard splitter, and an occasional curveball. Clemens was a highly durable pitcher, leading the American League in complete games three times and innings pitched twice. His 18 complete games in 1987 is more than any pitcher has thrown since. Clemens was also known as a strikeout pitcher, leading the AL in K's five times and strikeouts per nine innings three times.
Controversies
Clemens has been the focal point of several controversies. His reputation has always been that of a pitcher unafraid to throw close to batters. Clemens led his league in hit batsmen only once, in 1995, but he was among the leaders in several other seasons. This tendency was more pronounced during his earlier career and subsequently tapered off. After the 2000 ALCS game against the Mariners where he knocked down future teammate Alex Rodriguez and then argued with him, Seattle Mariners manager Lou Piniella called Clemens a "headhunter." His beaning earlier that year of Mike Piazza, followed by throwing a broken-bat in Piazza's direction in the 2000 World Series, cemented Clemens's surly, unapologetic image in the minds of many. In 2009, former manager Cito Gaston publicly denounced Clemens as a "double-talker" and "a complete asshole". Clemens was ranked 14th all-time in hit batsmen after the 2020 season. 14th all time may be misleading, as his rate of hit batsmen per batter faced is not out of line with other pitchers of his era at 1 hit batsmen per 125 batters faced. Numbers reflect similar rate of hit batsmen to pitchers such as Nolan Ryan, Justin Verlander, Greg Maddux.
Clemens has attracted controversy over the years for his outspoken comments, such as his complaints about having to carry his own luggage through an airport and his criticism of Fenway Park for being a subpar facility. On April 4, 2006, Clemens made an insulting remark when asked about the devotion of Japanese and South Korean fans during the World Baseball Classic: "None of the dry cleaners were open, they were all at the game, Japan and Korea". Toward the end of his career, his annual on-and-off "retirements" revived a reputation for diva-like behavior.
Clemens has received criticism for getting special treatment from the teams that sign him. While playing for Houston, Clemens was not obliged to travel with the team on road trips if he was not pitching. His 2007 contract with the New York Yankees had a "family plan" clause that stipulated that he not be required to go on road trips in which he was not scheduled to pitch and allowed him to leave the team between starts to be with his family. These perks were publicly criticized by Yankee reliever Kyle Farnsworth. Most of Clemens's teammates, however, did not complain of such perks because of Clemens's success on the mound and valuable presence in the clubhouse. Yankee teammate Jason Giambi spoke for such players when he said, "I'd carry his bags for him, just as long as he is on the mound."
Steroid use accusations
In José Canseco's book, Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got Big, Canseco suggested that Clemens had expert knowledge about steroids and suggested that he used them, based on the improvement in his performance after leaving the Red Sox. While not addressing the allegations directly, Clemens stated: "I could care less about the rules" and "I've talked to some friends of his and I've teased them that when you're under house arrest and have ankle bracelets on, you have a lot of time to write a book."
Jason Grimsley named Clemens, as well as Andy Pettitte, as a user of performance-enhancing drugs. According to a 20-page search warrant affidavit signed by IRS Special Agent Jeff Novitzky, Grimsley told investigators he obtained amphetamines, anabolic steroids and human growth hormone from someone recommended to him by former Yankees trainer Brian McNamee. McNamee was a personal strength coach for Clemens and Pettitte, hired by Clemens in 1998. At the time of the Grimsley revelations, McNamee denied knowledge of steroid use by Clemens and Pettitte. Despite initial media reports, the affidavit made no mention of Clemens or Pettitte.
However, Clemens's name was mentioned 82 times in the Mitchell Report on steroid use in baseball. In the report, McNamee stated that during the 1998, 2000, and 2001 baseball seasons, he injected Clemens with Winstrol. Clemens's attorney Rusty Hardin denied the claims, calling McNamee "a troubled and unreliable witness" who has changed his story five times in an attempt to avoid criminal prosecution. He noted that Clemens has never tested positive in a steroid test. Former U.S. Senator George Mitchell, who prepared the report, stated that he relayed the allegations to each athlete implicated in the report and gave them a chance to respond before his findings were published.
On January 6, 2008, Clemens went on 60 Minutes to address the allegations. He told Mike Wallace that his longevity in baseball was due to "hard work" rather than illegal substances and denied all of McNamee's assertions that he injected Clemens with steroids, saying it "never happened". On January 7, Clemens filed a defamation lawsuit against McNamee, claiming that the former trainer lied after being threatened with prosecution. McNamee's attorneys argued that he was compelled to cooperate by federal officials and so his statements were protected. A federal judge agreed, throwing out all claims related to McNamee's statements to investigators on February 13, 2009, but allowing the case to proceed on statements McNamee made about Clemens to Pettitte.
On February 13, 2008, Clemens appeared before a Congressional committee, along with Brian McNamee and swore under oath that he did not take steroids, that he did not discuss HGH with McNamee, that he did not attend a party at José Canseco's where steroids were the topic of conversation, that he was only injected with B-12 and lidocaine and that he never told Pettitte he had taken HGH. This last point was in contradiction to testimony Pettitte had given under oath on February 4, 2008, wherein Pettitte said he repeated to McNamee a conversation Pettitte had with Clemens. During this conversation, Pettitte said Clemens had told him that McNamee had injected Clemens with human growth hormone. Pettitte said McNamee reacted angrily, saying that Clemens "shouldn't have done that."<ref name=tj>Quinn, T.J. "In court of public opinion, a Clemens verdict: Game over." ESPN.com,
December 12, 2008. Retrieved November 6, 2017.</ref>
The bipartisan House committee in front of which Clemens appeared, citing seven apparent inconsistencies in Clemens's testimony, recommended that the Justice Department investigate whether Clemens lied under oath about using performance-enhancing drugs. In a letter sent February 27 to Attorney General Michael Mukasey, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman Henry Waxman and ranking Republican Tom Davis said Clemens's testimony that he "never used anabolic steroids or human growth hormone warrants further investigation".
As a result of the Mitchell Report, Clemens was asked to end his involvement with the Giff Nielsen Day of Golf for Kids charity tournament in Houston that he has hosted for four years. As well, his name has been removed from the Houston-based Roger Clemens Institute for Sports Medicine and will be renamed the Memorial Hermann Sports Medicine Institute.
After Washington prosecutors showed "a renewed interest in the case in the final months of 2008", a federal grand jury was convened in January 2009 to hear evidence of Clemens's possible perjury before Congress. The grand jury indicted Clemens on August 19, 2010, on charges of making false statements to Congress about his use of performance-enhancing drugs. The indictment charges Clemens with one count of obstruction of Congress, three counts of making false statements and two counts of perjury in connection with his February 2008 testimony.
His first trial began on July 13, 2011, but on the second day of testimony the judge in the case declared a mistrial over prosecutorial misconduct after prosecutors showed the jury prejudicial evidence they were not allowed to. Clemens was subsequently retried. The verdict from his second trial came in on June 18, 2012. Clemens was found not guilty on all six counts of lying to Congress in 2008, when he testified that he never took performance-enhancing drugs.
In January 2016, after Clemens once again fell short of the votes required for election into the Hall of Fame, former major-league star Roy Halladay tweeted "No Clemens no Bonds" as part of a message indicating no performance-enhancing substance users should be voted into the Hall. Clemens countered by accusing Halladay of using amphetamines during his playing career.
Adultery accusations
In April 2008, the New York Daily News reported on a possible long-term relationship between Clemens and country music singer Mindy McCready that began when she was 15 years old. Clemens's attorney Rusty Hardin denied the affair and also stated that Clemens would be bringing a defamation suit regarding this allegation. Clemens's attorney admitted that a relationship existed but described McCready as a "close family friend". He also stated that McCready had traveled on Clemens's personal jet and that Clemens's wife was aware of the relationship. However, when contacted by the Daily News, McCready said, "I cannot refute anything in the story."
On November 17, 2008, McCready spoke in more detail to Inside Edition about her affair with Clemens, saying their relationship lasted for more than a decade and that it ended when Clemens refused to leave his wife to marry her. However, she denied that she was 15 years old when it began, saying that they met when she was 16 and the affair only became sexual "several years later". In another soon-to-be-released sex tape by Vivid Entertainment she claimed that the first time she had sex with him was when she was 21. She also said that he often had erectile dysfunction. A few days after the Daily News broke the story about the McCready relationship, they reported on another Clemens extramarital relationship, this time with Paulette Dean Daly, the now ex-wife of pro golfer John Daly. Daly declined to elaborate on the nature of her relationship with the pitcher but did not deny that it was romantic and included financial support.
There have been reports of Clemens having at least three other affairs with women. On April 29, 2008, the New York Post reported that Clemens had relationships with two or more women. One, a former bartender in Manhattan, refused comment on the story, while another, a woman from Tampa, could not be located. On May 2 of the same year, the Daily News reported a stripper in Detroit called a local radio station and said she had an affair with Clemens. He also gave tickets to baseball games, jewelry, and trips to women he was wooing.
Other media
Clemens has appeared as himself in several movies and television episodes and has also occasionally acted in films. Perhaps best known was his appearance in the season three episode of The Simpsons ("Homer at the Bat"), in which he is recruited to the Springfield nuclear plant's softball team but is accidentally hypnotized into thinking he is a chicken; in addition to his lines, Clemens voiced his own clucking. Clemens has also made guest appearances as himself on the TV shows Hope & Faith, Spin City, Arli$$, and Saturday Night Live as well as the movie Anger Management, and makes a brief appearance in the movie Kingpin as the character Skidmark. He also is shown playing an actual game with the Houston Astros in the film Boyhood.
He appeared in the 1994 movie Cobb as an unidentified pitcher for the Philadelphia A's. In 2003, he was part of an advertising campaign for Armour hot dogs with MLB players Ken Griffey Jr., Derek Jeter, and Sammy Sosa. Since 2005, Clemens has also appeared in many commercials for Texas-based supermarket chain H-E-B. In 2007, he appeared on a baseball-themed episode of MythBusters ("Baseball Myths"). He has also starred in a commercial for Cingular parodying his return from retirement. He was calling his wife, Debra Godfrey, and a dropped call resulted in his return to the Yankees.
He released an early autobiography, Rocket Man: The Roger Clemens Story written with Peter Gammons, in 1987. Clemens is also the spokesperson for Champion car dealerships in South Texas. In April 2009, Clemens was the subject of an unauthorized biography by Jeff Pearlman, titled The Rocket that Fell to Earth-Roger Clemens and the Rage for Baseball Immortality, that focused on his childhood and early career and accused Mike Piazza of using steroids. On May 12, Clemens broke a long silence to denounce a heavily researched expose by four investigative reporters from the New York Daily News, called American Icon: The Fall of Roger Clemens and the Rise of Steroids in America's Pastime. Clemens went on ESPN's Mike and Mike show to call the book "garbage", but a review by Michiko Kakutani of The New York Times called the book "gripping" and compared it to the work of Bob Woodward.
Awards and recognition
In 1999, while many of his performances and milestones were yet to come he ranked number 53 on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was elected by the fans to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. In 2005, the updated Sporting News list moved Clemens up to #15.
By the end of the 2005 season, Clemens had won seven Cy Young Awards (he won the AL award in 1986, 1987, 1991, 1997, 1998, and 2001, and the National League award in 2004), an MVP and two pitching triple crowns. With his 2004 win, he joined Gaylord Perry, Randy Johnson, and Pedro Martínez as the only pitchers to win it in both leagues and became the oldest pitcher to ever win the Cy Young. He has also won the Sporting News Pitcher of the Year Award five times, was named an All-Star 11 times, and won the All-Star MVP in 1986.
In October 2006, Clemens was named to Sports Illustrateds "all-time" team.
On August 18, 2007, Clemens got his 1,000th strikeout as a Yankee. He is only the ninth player in major league history to record 1,000 or more strikeouts with two different teams. Clemens has recorded a total of 2,590 strikeouts as a member of the Red Sox and 1,014 strikeouts as a Yankee. He also had 563 strikeouts for Toronto, and 505 strikeouts for Houston.
Clemens was inducted into the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2014, and was inducted into the Pawtucket Red Sox Hall of Fame on June 21, 2019.
National Baseball Hall of Fame consideration
In 2013 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, his first year of eligibility, Clemens received 37.6% of the votes cast by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA), falling well short of the 75% required for induction into the Hall of Fame. He has garnered more votes in subsequent elections without reaching the 75% threshold: he received 59.5% in 2019, 61.0% in 2020, and 61.6% in 2021. With the inductions of Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine in 2014 and Randy Johnson in 2015, Clemens is currently the only eligible member of the 300 win club not to be inducted into the Hall. He received 65.2% of the votes in his final year of eligibility, 2022.
Despite falling off the ballot, Clemens is still eligible for induction through the Hall of Fame’s Today’s Game Committee. The committee is a 16-member electorate “comprised of members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, executives, and veteran media members" (hence the nickname of “veteran’s committee”) who consider retired players who lost ballot eligibility while still having made notable contributions to baseball from 1986-2016. Voting will be held in December 2022, and 12 votes are required for induction.
Personal life
Clemens married Debra Lynn Godfrey (born May 27, 1963) on November 24, 1984. The couple has four sons: Koby Aaron, Kory Allen, Kacy Austin, and Kody Alec—all given "K" names to honor Clemens's strikeouts ("K's"). Koby was at one time a minor league prospect for some MLB clubs. Kacy played college baseball for the Texas Longhorns and was drafted by the Blue Jays in the eighth round of the 2017 Major League Baseball draft. Kacy is an infielder who is currently a free agent. Kody also played college baseball for the Texas Longhorns and was drafted 79th overall by the Detroit Tigers in the third round of the 2018 Major League Baseball draft.
Debra once left a Red Sox game, when Clemens pitched for another team, in tears from the heckling she received. This is documented in an updated later edition to Dan Shaughnessy's best-selling book, Curse of the Bambino. Debra also was quoted in the book as stating that it was the poor attitude of Red Sox fans that prevented the team from ever winning the World Series (this was quoted prior to the Red Sox' 2004 World Series victory).
Clemens is a member of the Republican Party and donated money to Texas congressman Ted Poe during his 2006 campaign.
Debra posed in a bikini with her husband for a Sports Illustrated pictorial regarding athletes and their wives. This appeared in the annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition'' for 2003. Roger wore his Yankees uniform, with the jersey open.
On February 27, 2006, to train for the World Baseball Classic, Roger pitched in an exhibition game between the Astros and his son's minor league team. In his first at-bat, Koby hit a home run off his father. In his next at-bat, Roger threw an inside pitch that almost hit Koby. Koby laughed in an interview after the game about the incident.
See also
Houston Astros award winners and league leaders
List of Boston Red Sox award winners
List of Boston Red Sox team records
List of Major League Baseball annual shutout leaders
List of Major League Baseball career hit batsmen leaders
List of Major League Baseball career wins leaders
List of Major League Baseball players named in the Mitchell Report
List of Major League Baseball single-game strikeout leaders
List of people from Dayton, Ohio
List of Toronto Blue Jays team records
List of University of Texas at Austin alumni
Major League Baseball titles leaders
Toronto Blue Jays award winners and league leaders
References
External links
Roger Clemens Foundation
1962 births
Living people
American expatriate baseball players in Canada
American League All-Stars
American League ERA champions
American League Most Valuable Player Award winners
American League Pitching Triple Crown winners
American League strikeout champions
American League wins champions
American people of German descent
Baseball players from Dayton, Ohio
Boston Red Sox players
Bridgeport Bluefish guest managers
Corpus Christi Hooks players
Cy Young Award winners
Houston Astros players
Lexington Legends players
Major League Baseball All-Star Game MVPs
Major League Baseball controversies
Major League Baseball pitchers
National League All-Stars
National League ERA champions
New Britain Red Sox players
New York Yankees players
Norwich Navigators players
Pawtucket Red Sox players
People from Vandalia, Ohio
Round Rock Express players
San Jacinto Central Ravens baseball players
Sarasota Red Sox players
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees players
Sugar Land Skeeters players
Tampa Yankees players
Texas Longhorns baseball players
Texas Republicans
Trenton Thunder players
Toronto Blue Jays players
Winter Haven Red Sox players
World Baseball Classic players of the United States
2006 World Baseball Classic players | false | [
"Onyi Papa Jey (real name Bernard Onyango Ranginya, born in 1982 in Kiyembe, Suba District) is an ohangla musician form Kenya\n\nOnyi Papa Jey started playing orutu while at primary school. He dropped from Tonga Secondary School after failing to pay the school fees. He joined Tony Nyadundo's band in 1999 and performed with in 2002. Later he performed for a while with Nyamolo traditional dancers. He also led a band called Langasta Stars in Eldoret for one year. He then toured with Jack Nyadundo (elder brother of Tony Nyadundo) in Kenya and Tanzania. While in Tanzania he formed the Super Suba and Koleko Newface band. He left Tanzania after three years and rejoined the Nyamolo traditional dancers before going solo.\n\nHis career catapulted into national fame with the release of his debut album \"Raila ODM\" and particularly its title track, which was devoted to Raila Odinga, the Orange Democratic Movement's presidential candidate at the 2007 Elections. Onyi Papa Jey is signed to the SoundAfrica label.\n\nHe was nominated for three categories at the 2008 Kisima Music Awards: Artist of the Year, Ethnic Fusion Artist, and Song of the Year (\"Raila ODM\"). However, he did not win any of these categories.\n\nDiscography\nAlbums:\nRaila ODM\nMapatano\n\nReferences\n\n1982 births\nKenyan musicians\nLiving people\nPeople from Homa Bay County",
"Peter McDonnell (c.1874– 24 May 1950) was a New Zealand rugby union player who represented the All Blacks in 1896. His position of choice was wing three-quarter. McDonnell did not play in any test matches as New Zealand did not play their first until 1903.\n\nCareer \nDescribed as \"tricky and clever\", McDonnell was educated at Wanganui High School and then Te Aute College. McDonnell first played provincially for Hawke's Bay in 1893. The next year he switched to the Wanganui province. He then returned to play for Hawke's Bay in 1895. In 1896 he again represented Wanganui and continued playing in the province until 1900.\n\nIt was in 1896, the start of his second stint playing for Wanganui that McDonnell became an All Black. He was called into the team to play Queensland in Wellington after the initial pick, Alfred Wilson, became unable to play because of injury. The game was won 9-0. McDonnell did not score any points in his sole appearance.\n\nAlso in 1896, while playing for Wanganui in a 32-0 win over Manawatu, McDonnell became the first player in New Zealand first class history to score four tries in a game.\n\nReferences \n\n1950 deaths\nPeople educated at Wanganui High School\nPeople educated at Te Aute College\nNew Zealand rugby union players\nWanganui rugby union players\nNew Zealand international rugby union players\nRugby union players from Whanganui"
] |
[
"Roger Clemens",
"Boston Red Sox",
"What year did he play for Boston Red Sox?",
"1986",
"Did he win any awards while playing that year?",
"I don't know."
] | C_0d846a1614904fcf97343b0d8d340347_0 | Did the team have many wins when Clemens was part of the team? | 3 | Did the Boston Red Sox have many wins when Clemens was part of the team? | Roger Clemens | In the 1986 American League Championship Series, Clemens pitched poorly in the opening game, watched the Boston bullpen blow his 3-0 lead in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 4, and then pitched a strong Game 7 to wrap up the series for Boston. The 1986 ALCS clincher was Clemens' first postseason career victory. He did not win his second until 13 years later. After a bad start in Game 2 of the 1986 World Series, Clemens returned to the mound for Game 6, which would have clinched the World Series for the Boston Red Sox. Clemens left the game after 7 innings leading 3-2, but the Red Sox went on to lose the game in the 10th inning, and subsequently, the championship. Clemens' departure was highly debated and remains a bone of contention among the participants. Red Sox manager John McNamara claimed Clemens took himself out due to a blister, though Clemens strongly denies that. Clemens greatest postseason failure came in the second inning of the final game of the 1990 ALCS against the Oakland Athletics, when he was ejected for arguing balls and strikes with umpire Terry Cooney, accentuating the A's three-game sweep of the Red Sox. He was suspended for the first five games of the 1991 season and fined $10,000. Clemens had two other playoff no-decisions, in 1988 and 1995, both occurring while Boston was being swept. Clemens' overall postseason record with Boston was 1-2 with a 3.88 ERA, and 45 strikeouts and 19 walks in 56 innings. CANNOTANSWER | Clemens returned to the mound for Game 6, which would have clinched the World Series for the Boston Red Sox. | William Roger Clemens (born August 4, 1962), nicknamed "Rocket", is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 24 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily with the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees. Clemens was one of the most dominant pitchers in major league history, tallying 354 wins, a 3.12 earned run average (ERA), and 4,672 strikeouts, the third-most all time. An 11-time All-Star and two-time World Series champion, he won seven Cy Young Awards during his career, more than any other pitcher in history. Clemens was known for his fierce competitive nature and hard-throwing pitching style, which he used to intimidate batters.
Clemens debuted in MLB in 1984 with the Red Sox, whose pitching staff he anchored for 12 years. In 1986, he won the American League (AL) Cy Young Award, the AL Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award, and the All-Star Game MVP Award, and he struck out an MLB-record 20 batters in a single game. After the 1996 season, in which he achieved his second 20-strikeout performance, Clemens left Boston via free agency and joined the Toronto Blue Jays. In each of his two seasons with Toronto, Clemens won a Cy Young Award, as well as the pitching triple crown by leading the league in wins, ERA, and strikeouts. Prior to the 1999 season, Clemens was traded to the Yankees where he won his two World Series titles. In 2001, Clemens became the first pitcher in major league history to start a season with a win-loss record of 20–1. In 2003, he reached his 300th win and 4,000th strikeout in the same game. Clemens left for the Houston Astros in 2004, where he spent three seasons and won his seventh Cy Young Award. He rejoined the Yankees in 2007 for one last season before retiring. He is the only pitcher in Major League history to record over 350 wins and strike out over 4,500 batters.
Clemens was alleged by the Mitchell Report to have used anabolic steroids during his late career, mainly based on testimony given by his former trainer, Brian McNamee. Clemens firmly denied these allegations under oath before the United States Congress, leading congressional leaders to refer his case to the Justice Department on suspicions of perjury. On August 19, 2010, a federal grand jury at the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., indicted Clemens on six felony counts involving perjury, false statements and Contempt of Congress. Clemens pleaded not guilty, but proceedings were complicated by prosecutorial misconduct, leading to a mistrial. The verdict from his second trial came in June 2012, when Clemens was found not guilty on all six counts of lying to Congress. These controversies hurt his chances for election to the Baseball Hall of Fame. He never received the 75% of the votes required in his ten years of eligibility, ending with 65.2% in 2022.
Early life
Clemens was born in Dayton, Ohio, the fifth child of Bill and Bess (Lee) Clemens. He is of German descent, his great-grandfather Joseph Clemens having immigrated in the 1880s. Clemens's parents separated when he was an infant. His mother soon married Woody Booher, whom Clemens considers his father. Booher died when Clemens was nine years old, and Clemens has said that the only time he ever felt envious of other players was when he saw them in the clubhouse with their fathers. Clemens lived in Vandalia, Ohio, until 1977, and then spent most of his high school years in Houston, Texas. At Spring Woods High School, Clemens played baseball for longtime head coach Charles Maiorana and also played football and basketball. He was scouted by the Philadelphia Phillies and Minnesota Twins during his senior year, but opted to go to college.
Collegiate career
He began his college career pitching for San Jacinto College North in 1981, where he was 9–2. The New York Mets selected Clemens in the 12th round of the 1981 Major League Baseball draft, but he did not sign. He then attended the University of Texas at Austin, compiling a 25–7 record in two All-American seasons, and was on the mound when the Longhorns won the 1983 College World Series. He became the first player to have his baseball uniform number retired at the University of Texas. In 2004, the Rotary Smith Award, given to America's best college baseball player, was changed to the Roger Clemens Award, honoring the best pitcher.
At Texas, Clemens pitched 35 consecutive scoreless innings, an NCAA record that stood until Justin Pope broke it in 2001.
Professional career
Boston Red Sox (1984–1996)
Clemens was selected in the first round (19th overall) of the 1983 MLB draft by the Boston Red Sox and quickly rose through the minor league system, making his MLB debut on May 15, 1984. An undiagnosed torn labrum threatened to end his career early; he underwent successful arthroscopic surgery by Dr. James Andrews.
In 1986, Clemens won the American League MVP award, finishing with a 24–4 record, 2.48 ERA, and 238 strikeouts. Clemens started the 1986 All-Star Game in the Astrodome and was named the Most Valuable Player of the contest by throwing three perfect innings and striking out two. He also won the first of his seven Cy Young Awards. When Hank Aaron said that pitchers should not be eligible for the MVP, Clemens responded: "I wish he were still playing. I'd probably crack his head open to show him how valuable I was." Clemens was the only starting pitcher since Vida Blue in 1971 to win a league MVP award until Justin Verlander won the award in 2011.
On April 29, 1986, Clemens became the first pitcher in MLB history to strike out 20 batters in a nine-inning game, against the Seattle Mariners at Boston's Fenway Park. Following his performance, Clemens made the cover of Sports Illustrated which carried the headline "Lord of the K's [strikeouts]." Other than Clemens, only Kerry Wood and Max Scherzer have matched the total. (Randy Johnson fanned 20 batters in nine innings on May 8, 2001. However, as the game went into extra innings, it is not categorized as occurring in a nine-inning game. Tom Cheney holds the record for any game: 21 strikeouts in 16 innings.) Clemens attributes his switch from what he calls a "thrower" to a "pitcher" to the partial season Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver spent with the Red Sox in 1986.
Facing the California Angels in the 1986 ALCS, Clemens pitched poorly in the opening game, watched the Boston bullpen blow his 3–1 lead in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 4, and then pitched a strong Game 7 to wrap up the series for Boston. The League Championship Series clincher was Clemens's first postseason career victory. He did not win his second until 13 years later. After a victory in game five, Boston led 3 games to 2 over the New York Mets in the 1986 World Series with Clemens set to start game six at Shea Stadium. Clemens who was pitching on five days rest started strong by striking out eight while throwing a no-hitter through four innings. In the top of eighth and with Boston ahead 3–2, manager John McNamara sent rookie Mike Greenwell to pinch hit for Roger Clemens. It was initially said that Clemens was removed from the game due to a blister forming on one of his fingers, but both he and McNamara dispute this. Clemens said to Bob Costas on an MLB Network program concerning the 1986 postseason that McNamara decided to pull him despite Clemens wanting to pitch. McNamara said to Costas that Clemens "begged out" of the game. The Mets rallied and took both game six and seven to win the World Series.
The Red Sox had a miserable 1987 season, finishing at 78–84, though Clemens won his second consecutive Cy Young Award with a 20–9 record, 2.97 ERA, 256 strikeouts, and seven shutouts. He was the first AL pitcher with back-to-back 20-win seasons since Tommy John won 20 with the Yankees in 1979 and '80. Boston rebounded with success in 1988 and 1990, clinching the AL East Division each year, but were swept by the Oakland Athletics in each ALCS matchup. His greatest postseason failure came in the second inning of the final game of the 1990 ALCS, when he was ejected for arguing balls and strikes with umpire Terry Cooney, accentuating the A's four-game sweep of the Red Sox. He was suspended for the first five games of the 1991 season and fined $10,000.
Clemens led the American League in 1988 with 291 strikeouts and a career-high 8 shutouts. On September 10, 1988, Clemens threw a one-hitter against the Cleveland Indians at Fenway Park. Dave Clark's one-out single in the eighth inning was the only hit Clemens allowed in the game. In a 9–1 victory over Cleveland on April 13, 1989, Clemens recorded his 1,000 career strikeout by fanning Brook Jacoby with the bases loaded in the second inning. Clemens finished second to Oakland's Bob Welch for the 1990 AL Cy Young Award, despite the fact that Clemens crushed Welch in ERA (1.93 to 2.95), strikeouts (209 to 127), walks (54 to 77), home runs allowed (7 to 26), and WAR (10.4 to 2.9). Clemens did, however, capture his third Cy Young Award in 1991 with an 18–10 record, 2.62 ERA, and 241 strikeouts. On June 21, 1989, Clemens surrendered the first of 609 home runs in the career of Sammy Sosa.
Clemens accomplished the 20-strikeout feat twice, the only player ever to do so. The second performance came more than 10 years later, on September 18, 1996, against the Detroit Tigers at Tiger Stadium. This second 20-K day occurred in his third-to-last game as a member of the Boston Red Sox. Later, the Tigers presented him with a baseball containing the autographs of each batter who had struck out (those with multiple strikeouts signed the appropriate number of times).
The Red Sox did not re-sign Clemens following the 1996 season, despite leading the A.L. with 257 strikeouts and offering him "by far the most money ever offered to a player in the history of the Red Sox franchise." General Manager Dan Duquette remarked that he "hoped to keep him in Boston during the twilight of his career", but Clemens left and signed with the Toronto Blue Jays.
The emphasis on the misquoted 1996 "twilight" comment took on a life of its own following Clemens's post-Boston successes, and Duquette was vilified for letting the star pitcher go. Ultimately, Clemens would go on to have a record of 162–73 for the rest of his career after leaving the Red Sox.
Clemens recorded 192 wins and 38 shutouts for the Red Sox, both tied with Cy Young for the franchise record and is their all-time strikeout leader with 2,590. Clemens's overall postseason record with Boston was 1–2 with a 3.88 ERA, and 45 strikeouts, and 19 walks in 56 innings. No Red Sox player has worn his uniform #21 since Clemens left the team in the 1996–97 offseason.
Toronto Blue Jays (1997–1998)
Clemens signed a four-year, $40 million deal with the Toronto Blue Jays after the 1996 season. In his first start in Fenway Park as a member of the Blue Jays, he pitched eight innings allowing only 4 hits and 1 earned run. 16 of his 24 outs were strikeouts, and every batter who faced him struck out at least once. As he left the field following his last inning of work, he stared up angrily towards the owner's box.
Clemens was dominant in his two seasons with the Blue Jays, winning the pitching Triple Crown and the Cy Young Award in both seasons (1997: 21–7 record, 2.05 ERA, and 292 strikeouts; 1998: 20–6 record, 2.65 ERA, and 271 strikeouts). After the 1998 season, Clemens asked to be traded, indicating that he did not believe the Blue Jays would be competitive enough the following year and that he was dedicated to winning a championship.
New York Yankees (1999–2003)
Clemens was traded to the New York Yankees before the 1999 season for David Wells, Homer Bush, and Graeme Lloyd. Since his longtime uniform number #21 was in use by teammate Paul O'Neill, Clemens initially wore #12, before switching mid-season to #22.
Clemens made an immediate impact on the Yankees' staff, anchoring the top of the rotation as the team went on to win a pair of World Series titles in 1999 and 2000. During the 1999 regular season, Clemens posted a 14–10 record with a 4.60 ERA. He logged a pair of wins in the postseason, though he lost Game 3 of the 1999 ALCS in a matchup against Red Sox ace Pedro Martínez, which was the Yankees' only loss in the 1999 playoffs. Clemens pitched 7.2 innings of 1-run baseball during the Yankees' game 4 clincher over the Atlanta Braves. Clemens followed up with a strong 2000 season, in which he finished with a 13–8 record with a 3.70 ERA for the regular season. During the 2000 postseason, he helped the Yankees win their third consecutive championship. Clemens set the ALCS record for strikeouts in a game when he fanned 15 batters in a one-hit shutout of the Seattle Mariners in Game 4 of the ALCS. A seventh-inning lead-off double by Seattle's Al Martin was all that prevented Clemens from throwing what was, at the time, only the second no-hitter in postseason history. In Game 2 of the 2000 World Series, Clemens pitched eight scoreless innings against the New York Mets.
In 2001, Clemens became the first pitcher in MLB history to start a season 20–1 (finishing 20–3) and winning his sixth Cy Young Award. As of the 2020 season, he is the last Yankee pitcher to win the Cy Young Award. Clemens started for the Yankees in Game 7 of the 2001 World Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, where he dueled Curt Schilling to a standstill after 6 innings, yielding only one run. The Diamondbacks went on to win the game in the 9th.
Early in 2003, Clemens announced his retirement, effective at the end of that season. On June 13, 2003, pitching against the St. Louis Cardinals in Yankee Stadium, Clemens recorded his 300th career win and 4,000th career strikeout, the only player in history to record both milestones in the same game. The 300th win came on his fourth try; the Yankee bullpen had blown his chance of a win in his previous two attempts. He became the 21st pitcher ever to record 300 wins and the third ever to record 4,000 strikeouts. His career record upon reaching the milestones was 300–155. Clemens finished the season with a 17–9 record and a 3.91 ERA.
The end of Clemens's 2003 season became a series of public farewells met with appreciative cheering. His last games in each AL park were given extra attention, particularly his final regular-season appearance in Fenway Park, when despite wearing the uniform of the hated arch-rival, he was afforded a standing ovation by Red Sox fans as he left the field. (This spectacle was repeated when the Yankees ended up playing the Red Sox in the 2003 ALCS and Clemens got a second "final start" in his original stadium.) As part of a tradition of manager Joe Torre, Clemens was chosen to manage the Yankees' last game of the regular season. Clemens made one start in the World Series against the Florida Marlins; when he left trailing 3–1 after seven innings, the Marlins left their dugout to give him a standing ovation.
Houston Astros (2004–2006)
Clemens came out of retirement, signing a one-year deal with his adopted hometown Houston Astros on January 12, 2004, joining close friend and former Yankees teammate Andy Pettitte. On May 5, 2004, Clemens recorded his 4,137th career strikeout to place him second on the all-time list behind Nolan Ryan. He was named the starter for the National League All-Star team but ultimately was the losing pitcher in that game after allowing six runs on five hits, including a three-run home run to Alfonso Soriano. Clemens finished the season with an 18–4 record, and was awarded his seventh Cy Young Award, becoming the oldest player ever to win the Cy Young at age 42. This made him one of six pitchers to win the award in both leagues, joining Gaylord Perry, Pedro Martínez, and Randy Johnson and later joined by Roy Halladay and Max Scherzer. Clemens was the losing pitcher for the Astros in Game Seven of the 2004 NLCS against the St. Louis Cardinals, allowing four runs in six innings. Although he pitched well, he tired in the sixth inning, surrendering all four runs.
Clemens again decided to put off retirement before the 2005 season after the Houston Astros offered salary arbitration. The Astros submitted an offer of $13.5 million, and Clemens countered with a record $22 million demand. On January 21, 2005, both sides agreed on a one-year, $18,000,022 contract, thus avoiding arbitration. The deal gave Clemens the highest yearly salary earned by a pitcher in MLB history.
Clemens's 2005 season ended as one of the finest he had ever posted. His 1.87 ERA was the lowest in the major leagues, the lowest of his 22-season career, and the lowest by any National Leaguer since Greg Maddux in 1995. He finished with a 13–8 record, with his lower win total primarily due to the fact that he ranked near the bottom of the major leagues in run support. The Astros scored an average of only 3.5 runs per game in games in which he was the pitcher of record. The Astros were shut out nine times in Clemens's 32 starts, and failed to score in a 10th until after Clemens was out of the game. The Astros lost five of Clemens's starts by scores of 1–0. In April, Clemens did not allow a run in three consecutive starts. However, the Astros lost all three of those starts by a 1–0 score in extra innings.
Clemens won an emotional start on September 15, following his mother's death that morning. In his final start of the 2005 season, Clemens got his 4,500th strikeout. On October 9, 2005, Clemens made his first relief appearance since 1984, entering as a pinch hitter in the 15th, then pitching three innings to get the win as the Astros defeated the Atlanta Braves in Game 4 of the NLDS. It is the longest postseason game in MLB history at 18 innings. Clemens lasted only two innings in Game 1 of the 2005 World Series, and the Astros went on to be swept by the Chicago White Sox. It was the Astros' first World Series appearance. Clemens had aggravated a hamstring pull that had limited his performance since at least September.
Clemens said that he would retire again after the World Series but he wanted to represent the United States in the inaugural World Baseball Classic, which would be played in March 2006. He went 1–1 in the tournament, with a 2.08 ERA, striking out 10 batters in innings. After pitching in a second-round loss to Mexico that eliminated the United States, Clemens began considering a return to the major leagues. On May 31, 2006, following another extended period of speculation, it was announced that Clemens was coming out of retirement for the third time to pitch for the Astros for the remainder of the 2006 season. Clemens signed a contract worth $22,000,022 (his uniform number #22). Since Clemens did not play a full season, he received a prorated percentage of that: approximately $12.25 million. Clemens made his return on June 22, 2006, against the Minnesota Twins, losing to their rookie phenom, Francisco Liriano, 4–2. For the second year in a row, his win total did not match his performance, as he finished the season with a 7–6 record, a 2.30 ERA, and a 1.04 WHIP. However, Clemens averaged just under 6 innings in his starts and never pitched into the eighth.
Return to the Yankees (2007)
Clemens unexpectedly appeared in the owner's box at Yankee Stadium on May 6, 2007, during the seventh-inning stretch of a game against the Seattle Mariners, and made a brief statement: "Thank y'all. Well they came and got me out of Texas, and uhh, I can tell you it's a privilege to be back. I'll be talkin' to y'all soon." It was simultaneously announced that Clemens had rejoined the Yankees roster, agreeing to a pro-rated one-year deal worth $28,000,022, or about $4.7 million per month. Over the contract life, he would make $18.7 million. This equated to just over $1 million per start that season.
Clemens made his 2007 return on June 9, defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates by pitching six innings with seven strikeouts and three runs allowed. On June 21, with a single in the 5th inning against the Colorado Rockies, Clemens became the oldest New York Yankee to record a hit (44 years, 321 days). On June 24, Clemens pitched an inning in relief against the San Francisco Giants. It had been 22 years and 341 days since his previous regular-season relief appearance, the longest such gap in major league history. On July 2, Clemens collected his 350th win against the Minnesota Twins at Yankee Stadium, giving up just two hits and one run over eight innings. Clemens is one of only three pitchers to pitch his entire career in the live-ball era and reach 350 wins. The other two are Warren Spahn (whose catcher for his 350th win was Joe Torre, Clemens's manager for his 350th), and Greg Maddux, who earned his 350th win in 2008. His final regular-season appearance was a start against the Red Sox at Fenway Park, in which he allowed two hits and one unearned run in six innings, and received a no-decision. Clemens finished the 2007 regular season with a record of 6–6 and a 4.18 ERA.
Clemens was forced to leave Game 3 of the 2007 ALDS in the third inning after aggravating a hamstring injury. He struck out Victor Martinez of the Cleveland Indians with his final pitch, and was replaced by right-hander Phil Hughes. Yankees manager Joe Torre removed Clemens from the roster due to his injury, and replaced him with left-hander Ron Villone. Clemens's overall postseason record with the Yankees was 7–4 with a 2.97 ERA, 98 strikeouts and 35 walks in 102 innings.
Pitching appearances after retirement
On August 20, 2012, Clemens signed with the Sugar Land Skeeters of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. He made his debut for the Skeeters against the Bridgeport Bluefish on August 25, 2012, in front of a crowd of 7,724. It was the first time the 50-year-old had taken the mound in almost five years. Clemens pitched scoreless innings and struck out two: former major leaguers Joey Gathright and Prentice Redman. He also retired Luis Figueroa, who played briefly with the Pirates, Blue Jays and the Giants. Clemens allowed only one hit and no walks on 37 pitches in the Skeeters' 1–0 victory. Clemens made his second start for the Skeeters on September 7 against the Long Island Ducks. He pitched scoreless innings, with his son, Koby, as his catcher. He retired former New York Met outfielder Timo Perez for the final out in the fourth inning, and was named the winning pitcher by the official scorer. Clemens's fastball was clocked as high as 88 mph, and the Astros sent scouts to both of his outings with the Skeeters in consideration of a possible return to the team that season.
Roger Clemens joined the Kansas Stars, a group of 24 retired major leaguers and his son Koby, to compete in the 2016 National Baseball Congress World Series. The team was put together by Kansas natives Adam LaRoche and Nate Robertson, and featured eleven former All-Stars, including Tim Hudson, Roy Oswalt, and J. D. Drew as well as Clemens. Pitching just six days after his 54th birthday, Clemens started for the Kansas Stars in a game against the NJCAA National Team on August 10, 2016. He pitched innings, allowing 3 runs with one strikeout in an 11–10 loss. On August 22, 2019, Clemens wore his Red Sox uniform and pitched in the Abbot Financial Management Oldtime Baseball Game, an annual charity event held at St. Peter's Field in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The 2019 game benefitted Compassionate Care ALS, in memory of longtime Fenway Park supervisor John Welch, who died from Lou Gehrig's Disease in December 2018. Facing mostly young college players, Clemens pitched two shutout innings in the game, then moved to first base.
Pitching style
Clemens was a prototypical power pitcher with an aggressive edge for his entire career. This was especially the case when he was a young man. Clemens was said to throw "two pitches: a 98-mph fastball and a hard breaking ball. At 23, Clemens simply reared back and threw the ball past batters." Later in his career, Clemens developed a devastating split-finger fastball to use as an off-speed pitch in concert with his fastball. Clemens has jocularly referred to this pitch as "Mr. Splitty".
By the time Clemens retired from Major League Baseball in 2007, his four-seam fastball had settled in the 91–94 mph range. He also threw a two-seam fastball, a slider in the mid 80s, his hard splitter, and an occasional curveball. Clemens was a highly durable pitcher, leading the American League in complete games three times and innings pitched twice. His 18 complete games in 1987 is more than any pitcher has thrown since. Clemens was also known as a strikeout pitcher, leading the AL in K's five times and strikeouts per nine innings three times.
Controversies
Clemens has been the focal point of several controversies. His reputation has always been that of a pitcher unafraid to throw close to batters. Clemens led his league in hit batsmen only once, in 1995, but he was among the leaders in several other seasons. This tendency was more pronounced during his earlier career and subsequently tapered off. After the 2000 ALCS game against the Mariners where he knocked down future teammate Alex Rodriguez and then argued with him, Seattle Mariners manager Lou Piniella called Clemens a "headhunter." His beaning earlier that year of Mike Piazza, followed by throwing a broken-bat in Piazza's direction in the 2000 World Series, cemented Clemens's surly, unapologetic image in the minds of many. In 2009, former manager Cito Gaston publicly denounced Clemens as a "double-talker" and "a complete asshole". Clemens was ranked 14th all-time in hit batsmen after the 2020 season. 14th all time may be misleading, as his rate of hit batsmen per batter faced is not out of line with other pitchers of his era at 1 hit batsmen per 125 batters faced. Numbers reflect similar rate of hit batsmen to pitchers such as Nolan Ryan, Justin Verlander, Greg Maddux.
Clemens has attracted controversy over the years for his outspoken comments, such as his complaints about having to carry his own luggage through an airport and his criticism of Fenway Park for being a subpar facility. On April 4, 2006, Clemens made an insulting remark when asked about the devotion of Japanese and South Korean fans during the World Baseball Classic: "None of the dry cleaners were open, they were all at the game, Japan and Korea". Toward the end of his career, his annual on-and-off "retirements" revived a reputation for diva-like behavior.
Clemens has received criticism for getting special treatment from the teams that sign him. While playing for Houston, Clemens was not obliged to travel with the team on road trips if he was not pitching. His 2007 contract with the New York Yankees had a "family plan" clause that stipulated that he not be required to go on road trips in which he was not scheduled to pitch and allowed him to leave the team between starts to be with his family. These perks were publicly criticized by Yankee reliever Kyle Farnsworth. Most of Clemens's teammates, however, did not complain of such perks because of Clemens's success on the mound and valuable presence in the clubhouse. Yankee teammate Jason Giambi spoke for such players when he said, "I'd carry his bags for him, just as long as he is on the mound."
Steroid use accusations
In José Canseco's book, Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got Big, Canseco suggested that Clemens had expert knowledge about steroids and suggested that he used them, based on the improvement in his performance after leaving the Red Sox. While not addressing the allegations directly, Clemens stated: "I could care less about the rules" and "I've talked to some friends of his and I've teased them that when you're under house arrest and have ankle bracelets on, you have a lot of time to write a book."
Jason Grimsley named Clemens, as well as Andy Pettitte, as a user of performance-enhancing drugs. According to a 20-page search warrant affidavit signed by IRS Special Agent Jeff Novitzky, Grimsley told investigators he obtained amphetamines, anabolic steroids and human growth hormone from someone recommended to him by former Yankees trainer Brian McNamee. McNamee was a personal strength coach for Clemens and Pettitte, hired by Clemens in 1998. At the time of the Grimsley revelations, McNamee denied knowledge of steroid use by Clemens and Pettitte. Despite initial media reports, the affidavit made no mention of Clemens or Pettitte.
However, Clemens's name was mentioned 82 times in the Mitchell Report on steroid use in baseball. In the report, McNamee stated that during the 1998, 2000, and 2001 baseball seasons, he injected Clemens with Winstrol. Clemens's attorney Rusty Hardin denied the claims, calling McNamee "a troubled and unreliable witness" who has changed his story five times in an attempt to avoid criminal prosecution. He noted that Clemens has never tested positive in a steroid test. Former U.S. Senator George Mitchell, who prepared the report, stated that he relayed the allegations to each athlete implicated in the report and gave them a chance to respond before his findings were published.
On January 6, 2008, Clemens went on 60 Minutes to address the allegations. He told Mike Wallace that his longevity in baseball was due to "hard work" rather than illegal substances and denied all of McNamee's assertions that he injected Clemens with steroids, saying it "never happened". On January 7, Clemens filed a defamation lawsuit against McNamee, claiming that the former trainer lied after being threatened with prosecution. McNamee's attorneys argued that he was compelled to cooperate by federal officials and so his statements were protected. A federal judge agreed, throwing out all claims related to McNamee's statements to investigators on February 13, 2009, but allowing the case to proceed on statements McNamee made about Clemens to Pettitte.
On February 13, 2008, Clemens appeared before a Congressional committee, along with Brian McNamee and swore under oath that he did not take steroids, that he did not discuss HGH with McNamee, that he did not attend a party at José Canseco's where steroids were the topic of conversation, that he was only injected with B-12 and lidocaine and that he never told Pettitte he had taken HGH. This last point was in contradiction to testimony Pettitte had given under oath on February 4, 2008, wherein Pettitte said he repeated to McNamee a conversation Pettitte had with Clemens. During this conversation, Pettitte said Clemens had told him that McNamee had injected Clemens with human growth hormone. Pettitte said McNamee reacted angrily, saying that Clemens "shouldn't have done that."<ref name=tj>Quinn, T.J. "In court of public opinion, a Clemens verdict: Game over." ESPN.com,
December 12, 2008. Retrieved November 6, 2017.</ref>
The bipartisan House committee in front of which Clemens appeared, citing seven apparent inconsistencies in Clemens's testimony, recommended that the Justice Department investigate whether Clemens lied under oath about using performance-enhancing drugs. In a letter sent February 27 to Attorney General Michael Mukasey, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman Henry Waxman and ranking Republican Tom Davis said Clemens's testimony that he "never used anabolic steroids or human growth hormone warrants further investigation".
As a result of the Mitchell Report, Clemens was asked to end his involvement with the Giff Nielsen Day of Golf for Kids charity tournament in Houston that he has hosted for four years. As well, his name has been removed from the Houston-based Roger Clemens Institute for Sports Medicine and will be renamed the Memorial Hermann Sports Medicine Institute.
After Washington prosecutors showed "a renewed interest in the case in the final months of 2008", a federal grand jury was convened in January 2009 to hear evidence of Clemens's possible perjury before Congress. The grand jury indicted Clemens on August 19, 2010, on charges of making false statements to Congress about his use of performance-enhancing drugs. The indictment charges Clemens with one count of obstruction of Congress, three counts of making false statements and two counts of perjury in connection with his February 2008 testimony.
His first trial began on July 13, 2011, but on the second day of testimony the judge in the case declared a mistrial over prosecutorial misconduct after prosecutors showed the jury prejudicial evidence they were not allowed to. Clemens was subsequently retried. The verdict from his second trial came in on June 18, 2012. Clemens was found not guilty on all six counts of lying to Congress in 2008, when he testified that he never took performance-enhancing drugs.
In January 2016, after Clemens once again fell short of the votes required for election into the Hall of Fame, former major-league star Roy Halladay tweeted "No Clemens no Bonds" as part of a message indicating no performance-enhancing substance users should be voted into the Hall. Clemens countered by accusing Halladay of using amphetamines during his playing career.
Adultery accusations
In April 2008, the New York Daily News reported on a possible long-term relationship between Clemens and country music singer Mindy McCready that began when she was 15 years old. Clemens's attorney Rusty Hardin denied the affair and also stated that Clemens would be bringing a defamation suit regarding this allegation. Clemens's attorney admitted that a relationship existed but described McCready as a "close family friend". He also stated that McCready had traveled on Clemens's personal jet and that Clemens's wife was aware of the relationship. However, when contacted by the Daily News, McCready said, "I cannot refute anything in the story."
On November 17, 2008, McCready spoke in more detail to Inside Edition about her affair with Clemens, saying their relationship lasted for more than a decade and that it ended when Clemens refused to leave his wife to marry her. However, she denied that she was 15 years old when it began, saying that they met when she was 16 and the affair only became sexual "several years later". In another soon-to-be-released sex tape by Vivid Entertainment she claimed that the first time she had sex with him was when she was 21. She also said that he often had erectile dysfunction. A few days after the Daily News broke the story about the McCready relationship, they reported on another Clemens extramarital relationship, this time with Paulette Dean Daly, the now ex-wife of pro golfer John Daly. Daly declined to elaborate on the nature of her relationship with the pitcher but did not deny that it was romantic and included financial support.
There have been reports of Clemens having at least three other affairs with women. On April 29, 2008, the New York Post reported that Clemens had relationships with two or more women. One, a former bartender in Manhattan, refused comment on the story, while another, a woman from Tampa, could not be located. On May 2 of the same year, the Daily News reported a stripper in Detroit called a local radio station and said she had an affair with Clemens. He also gave tickets to baseball games, jewelry, and trips to women he was wooing.
Other media
Clemens has appeared as himself in several movies and television episodes and has also occasionally acted in films. Perhaps best known was his appearance in the season three episode of The Simpsons ("Homer at the Bat"), in which he is recruited to the Springfield nuclear plant's softball team but is accidentally hypnotized into thinking he is a chicken; in addition to his lines, Clemens voiced his own clucking. Clemens has also made guest appearances as himself on the TV shows Hope & Faith, Spin City, Arli$$, and Saturday Night Live as well as the movie Anger Management, and makes a brief appearance in the movie Kingpin as the character Skidmark. He also is shown playing an actual game with the Houston Astros in the film Boyhood.
He appeared in the 1994 movie Cobb as an unidentified pitcher for the Philadelphia A's. In 2003, he was part of an advertising campaign for Armour hot dogs with MLB players Ken Griffey Jr., Derek Jeter, and Sammy Sosa. Since 2005, Clemens has also appeared in many commercials for Texas-based supermarket chain H-E-B. In 2007, he appeared on a baseball-themed episode of MythBusters ("Baseball Myths"). He has also starred in a commercial for Cingular parodying his return from retirement. He was calling his wife, Debra Godfrey, and a dropped call resulted in his return to the Yankees.
He released an early autobiography, Rocket Man: The Roger Clemens Story written with Peter Gammons, in 1987. Clemens is also the spokesperson for Champion car dealerships in South Texas. In April 2009, Clemens was the subject of an unauthorized biography by Jeff Pearlman, titled The Rocket that Fell to Earth-Roger Clemens and the Rage for Baseball Immortality, that focused on his childhood and early career and accused Mike Piazza of using steroids. On May 12, Clemens broke a long silence to denounce a heavily researched expose by four investigative reporters from the New York Daily News, called American Icon: The Fall of Roger Clemens and the Rise of Steroids in America's Pastime. Clemens went on ESPN's Mike and Mike show to call the book "garbage", but a review by Michiko Kakutani of The New York Times called the book "gripping" and compared it to the work of Bob Woodward.
Awards and recognition
In 1999, while many of his performances and milestones were yet to come he ranked number 53 on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was elected by the fans to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. In 2005, the updated Sporting News list moved Clemens up to #15.
By the end of the 2005 season, Clemens had won seven Cy Young Awards (he won the AL award in 1986, 1987, 1991, 1997, 1998, and 2001, and the National League award in 2004), an MVP and two pitching triple crowns. With his 2004 win, he joined Gaylord Perry, Randy Johnson, and Pedro Martínez as the only pitchers to win it in both leagues and became the oldest pitcher to ever win the Cy Young. He has also won the Sporting News Pitcher of the Year Award five times, was named an All-Star 11 times, and won the All-Star MVP in 1986.
In October 2006, Clemens was named to Sports Illustrateds "all-time" team.
On August 18, 2007, Clemens got his 1,000th strikeout as a Yankee. He is only the ninth player in major league history to record 1,000 or more strikeouts with two different teams. Clemens has recorded a total of 2,590 strikeouts as a member of the Red Sox and 1,014 strikeouts as a Yankee. He also had 563 strikeouts for Toronto, and 505 strikeouts for Houston.
Clemens was inducted into the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2014, and was inducted into the Pawtucket Red Sox Hall of Fame on June 21, 2019.
National Baseball Hall of Fame consideration
In 2013 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, his first year of eligibility, Clemens received 37.6% of the votes cast by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA), falling well short of the 75% required for induction into the Hall of Fame. He has garnered more votes in subsequent elections without reaching the 75% threshold: he received 59.5% in 2019, 61.0% in 2020, and 61.6% in 2021. With the inductions of Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine in 2014 and Randy Johnson in 2015, Clemens is currently the only eligible member of the 300 win club not to be inducted into the Hall. He received 65.2% of the votes in his final year of eligibility, 2022.
Despite falling off the ballot, Clemens is still eligible for induction through the Hall of Fame’s Today’s Game Committee. The committee is a 16-member electorate “comprised of members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, executives, and veteran media members" (hence the nickname of “veteran’s committee”) who consider retired players who lost ballot eligibility while still having made notable contributions to baseball from 1986-2016. Voting will be held in December 2022, and 12 votes are required for induction.
Personal life
Clemens married Debra Lynn Godfrey (born May 27, 1963) on November 24, 1984. The couple has four sons: Koby Aaron, Kory Allen, Kacy Austin, and Kody Alec—all given "K" names to honor Clemens's strikeouts ("K's"). Koby was at one time a minor league prospect for some MLB clubs. Kacy played college baseball for the Texas Longhorns and was drafted by the Blue Jays in the eighth round of the 2017 Major League Baseball draft. Kacy is an infielder who is currently a free agent. Kody also played college baseball for the Texas Longhorns and was drafted 79th overall by the Detroit Tigers in the third round of the 2018 Major League Baseball draft.
Debra once left a Red Sox game, when Clemens pitched for another team, in tears from the heckling she received. This is documented in an updated later edition to Dan Shaughnessy's best-selling book, Curse of the Bambino. Debra also was quoted in the book as stating that it was the poor attitude of Red Sox fans that prevented the team from ever winning the World Series (this was quoted prior to the Red Sox' 2004 World Series victory).
Clemens is a member of the Republican Party and donated money to Texas congressman Ted Poe during his 2006 campaign.
Debra posed in a bikini with her husband for a Sports Illustrated pictorial regarding athletes and their wives. This appeared in the annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition'' for 2003. Roger wore his Yankees uniform, with the jersey open.
On February 27, 2006, to train for the World Baseball Classic, Roger pitched in an exhibition game between the Astros and his son's minor league team. In his first at-bat, Koby hit a home run off his father. In his next at-bat, Roger threw an inside pitch that almost hit Koby. Koby laughed in an interview after the game about the incident.
See also
Houston Astros award winners and league leaders
List of Boston Red Sox award winners
List of Boston Red Sox team records
List of Major League Baseball annual shutout leaders
List of Major League Baseball career hit batsmen leaders
List of Major League Baseball career wins leaders
List of Major League Baseball players named in the Mitchell Report
List of Major League Baseball single-game strikeout leaders
List of people from Dayton, Ohio
List of Toronto Blue Jays team records
List of University of Texas at Austin alumni
Major League Baseball titles leaders
Toronto Blue Jays award winners and league leaders
References
External links
Roger Clemens Foundation
1962 births
Living people
American expatriate baseball players in Canada
American League All-Stars
American League ERA champions
American League Most Valuable Player Award winners
American League Pitching Triple Crown winners
American League strikeout champions
American League wins champions
American people of German descent
Baseball players from Dayton, Ohio
Boston Red Sox players
Bridgeport Bluefish guest managers
Corpus Christi Hooks players
Cy Young Award winners
Houston Astros players
Lexington Legends players
Major League Baseball All-Star Game MVPs
Major League Baseball controversies
Major League Baseball pitchers
National League All-Stars
National League ERA champions
New Britain Red Sox players
New York Yankees players
Norwich Navigators players
Pawtucket Red Sox players
People from Vandalia, Ohio
Round Rock Express players
San Jacinto Central Ravens baseball players
Sarasota Red Sox players
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees players
Sugar Land Skeeters players
Tampa Yankees players
Texas Longhorns baseball players
Texas Republicans
Trenton Thunder players
Toronto Blue Jays players
Winter Haven Red Sox players
World Baseball Classic players of the United States
2006 World Baseball Classic players | false | [
"William Roger Clemens (born August 4, 1962), nicknamed \"Rocket\", is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 24 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily with the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees. Clemens was one of the most dominant pitchers in major league history, tallying 354 wins, a 3.12 earned run average (ERA), and 4,672 strikeouts, the third-most all time. An 11-time All-Star and two-time World Series champion, he won seven Cy Young Awards during his career, more than any other pitcher in history. Clemens was known for his fierce competitive nature and hard-throwing pitching style, which he used to intimidate batters.\n\nClemens debuted in MLB in 1984 with the Red Sox, whose pitching staff he anchored for 12 years. In 1986, he won the American League (AL) Cy Young Award, the AL Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award, and the All-Star Game MVP Award, and he struck out an MLB-record 20 batters in a single game. After the 1996 season, in which he achieved his second 20-strikeout performance, Clemens left Boston via free agency and joined the Toronto Blue Jays. In each of his two seasons with Toronto, Clemens won a Cy Young Award, as well as the pitching triple crown by leading the league in wins, ERA, and strikeouts. Prior to the 1999 season, Clemens was traded to the Yankees where he won his two World Series titles. In 2001, Clemens became the first pitcher in major league history to start a season with a win-loss record of 20–1. In 2003, he reached his 300th win and 4,000th strikeout in the same game. Clemens left for the Houston Astros in 2004, where he spent three seasons and won his seventh Cy Young Award. He rejoined the Yankees in 2007 for one last season before retiring. He is the only pitcher in Major League history to record over 350 wins and strike out over 4,500 batters.\n\nClemens was alleged by the Mitchell Report to have used anabolic steroids during his late career, mainly based on testimony given by his former trainer, Brian McNamee. Clemens firmly denied these allegations under oath before the United States Congress, leading congressional leaders to refer his case to the Justice Department on suspicions of perjury. On August 19, 2010, a federal grand jury at the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., indicted Clemens on six felony counts involving perjury, false statements and Contempt of Congress. Clemens pleaded not guilty, but proceedings were complicated by prosecutorial misconduct, leading to a mistrial. The verdict from his second trial came in June 2012, when Clemens was found not guilty on all six counts of lying to Congress. These controversies hurt his chances for election to the Baseball Hall of Fame. He never received the 75% of the votes required in his ten years of eligibility, ending with 65.2% in 2022.\n\nEarly life\nClemens was born in Dayton, Ohio, the fifth child of Bill and Bess (Lee) Clemens. He is of German descent, his great-grandfather Joseph Clemens having immigrated in the 1880s. Clemens's parents separated when he was an infant. His mother soon married Woody Booher, whom Clemens considers his father. Booher died when Clemens was nine years old, and Clemens has said that the only time he ever felt envious of other players was when he saw them in the clubhouse with their fathers. Clemens lived in Vandalia, Ohio, until 1977, and then spent most of his high school years in Houston, Texas. At Spring Woods High School, Clemens played baseball for longtime head coach Charles Maiorana and also played football and basketball. He was scouted by the Philadelphia Phillies and Minnesota Twins during his senior year, but opted to go to college.\n\nCollegiate career\nHe began his college career pitching for San Jacinto College North in 1981, where he was 9–2. The New York Mets selected Clemens in the 12th round of the 1981 Major League Baseball draft, but he did not sign. He then attended the University of Texas at Austin, compiling a 25–7 record in two All-American seasons, and was on the mound when the Longhorns won the 1983 College World Series. He became the first player to have his baseball uniform number retired at the University of Texas. In 2004, the Rotary Smith Award, given to America's best college baseball player, was changed to the Roger Clemens Award, honoring the best pitcher.\n\nAt Texas, Clemens pitched 35 consecutive scoreless innings, an NCAA record that stood until Justin Pope broke it in 2001.\n\nProfessional career\n\nBoston Red Sox (1984–1996)\nClemens was selected in the first round (19th overall) of the 1983 MLB draft by the Boston Red Sox and quickly rose through the minor league system, making his MLB debut on May 15, 1984. An undiagnosed torn labrum threatened to end his career early; he underwent successful arthroscopic surgery by Dr. James Andrews.\n\nIn 1986, Clemens won the American League MVP award, finishing with a 24–4 record, 2.48 ERA, and 238 strikeouts. Clemens started the 1986 All-Star Game in the Astrodome and was named the Most Valuable Player of the contest by throwing three perfect innings and striking out two. He also won the first of his seven Cy Young Awards. When Hank Aaron said that pitchers should not be eligible for the MVP, Clemens responded: \"I wish he were still playing. I'd probably crack his head open to show him how valuable I was.\" Clemens was the only starting pitcher since Vida Blue in 1971 to win a league MVP award until Justin Verlander won the award in 2011.\n\nOn April 29, 1986, Clemens became the first pitcher in MLB history to strike out 20 batters in a nine-inning game, against the Seattle Mariners at Boston's Fenway Park. Following his performance, Clemens made the cover of Sports Illustrated which carried the headline \"Lord of the K's [strikeouts].\" Other than Clemens, only Kerry Wood and Max Scherzer have matched the total. (Randy Johnson fanned 20 batters in nine innings on May 8, 2001. However, as the game went into extra innings, it is not categorized as occurring in a nine-inning game. Tom Cheney holds the record for any game: 21 strikeouts in 16 innings.) Clemens attributes his switch from what he calls a \"thrower\" to a \"pitcher\" to the partial season Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver spent with the Red Sox in 1986.\n\nFacing the California Angels in the 1986 ALCS, Clemens pitched poorly in the opening game, watched the Boston bullpen blow his 3–1 lead in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 4, and then pitched a strong Game 7 to wrap up the series for Boston. The League Championship Series clincher was Clemens's first postseason career victory. He did not win his second until 13 years later. After a victory in game five, Boston led 3 games to 2 over the New York Mets in the 1986 World Series with Clemens set to start game six at Shea Stadium. Clemens who was pitching on five days rest started strong by striking out eight while throwing a no-hitter through four innings. In the top of eighth and with Boston ahead 3–2, manager John McNamara sent rookie Mike Greenwell to pinch hit for Roger Clemens. It was initially said that Clemens was removed from the game due to a blister forming on one of his fingers, but both he and McNamara dispute this. Clemens said to Bob Costas on an MLB Network program concerning the 1986 postseason that McNamara decided to pull him despite Clemens wanting to pitch. McNamara said to Costas that Clemens \"begged out\" of the game. The Mets rallied and took both game six and seven to win the World Series.\n\nThe Red Sox had a miserable 1987 season, finishing at 78–84, though Clemens won his second consecutive Cy Young Award with a 20–9 record, 2.97 ERA, 256 strikeouts, and seven shutouts. He was the first AL pitcher with back-to-back 20-win seasons since Tommy John won 20 with the Yankees in 1979 and '80. Boston rebounded with success in 1988 and 1990, clinching the AL East Division each year, but were swept by the Oakland Athletics in each ALCS matchup. His greatest postseason failure came in the second inning of the final game of the 1990 ALCS, when he was ejected for arguing balls and strikes with umpire Terry Cooney, accentuating the A's four-game sweep of the Red Sox. He was suspended for the first five games of the 1991 season and fined $10,000.\n\nClemens led the American League in 1988 with 291 strikeouts and a career-high 8 shutouts. On September 10, 1988, Clemens threw a one-hitter against the Cleveland Indians at Fenway Park. Dave Clark's one-out single in the eighth inning was the only hit Clemens allowed in the game. In a 9–1 victory over Cleveland on April 13, 1989, Clemens recorded his 1,000 career strikeout by fanning Brook Jacoby with the bases loaded in the second inning. Clemens finished second to Oakland's Bob Welch for the 1990 AL Cy Young Award, despite the fact that Clemens crushed Welch in ERA (1.93 to 2.95), strikeouts (209 to 127), walks (54 to 77), home runs allowed (7 to 26), and WAR (10.4 to 2.9). Clemens did, however, capture his third Cy Young Award in 1991 with an 18–10 record, 2.62 ERA, and 241 strikeouts. On June 21, 1989, Clemens surrendered the first of 609 home runs in the career of Sammy Sosa.\n\nClemens accomplished the 20-strikeout feat twice, the only player ever to do so. The second performance came more than 10 years later, on September 18, 1996, against the Detroit Tigers at Tiger Stadium. This second 20-K day occurred in his third-to-last game as a member of the Boston Red Sox. Later, the Tigers presented him with a baseball containing the autographs of each batter who had struck out (those with multiple strikeouts signed the appropriate number of times).\n\nThe Red Sox did not re-sign Clemens following the 1996 season, despite leading the A.L. with 257 strikeouts and offering him \"by far the most money ever offered to a player in the history of the Red Sox franchise.\" General Manager Dan Duquette remarked that he \"hoped to keep him in Boston during the twilight of his career\", but Clemens left and signed with the Toronto Blue Jays.\n\nThe emphasis on the misquoted 1996 \"twilight\" comment took on a life of its own following Clemens's post-Boston successes, and Duquette was vilified for letting the star pitcher go. Ultimately, Clemens would go on to have a record of 162–73 for the rest of his career after leaving the Red Sox.\n\nClemens recorded 192 wins and 38 shutouts for the Red Sox, both tied with Cy Young for the franchise record and is their all-time strikeout leader with 2,590. Clemens's overall postseason record with Boston was 1–2 with a 3.88 ERA, and 45 strikeouts, and 19 walks in 56 innings. No Red Sox player has worn his uniform #21 since Clemens left the team in the 1996–97 offseason.\n\nToronto Blue Jays (1997–1998)\nClemens signed a four-year, $40 million deal with the Toronto Blue Jays after the 1996 season. In his first start in Fenway Park as a member of the Blue Jays, he pitched eight innings allowing only 4 hits and 1 earned run. 16 of his 24 outs were strikeouts, and every batter who faced him struck out at least once. As he left the field following his last inning of work, he stared up angrily towards the owner's box.\n\nClemens was dominant in his two seasons with the Blue Jays, winning the pitching Triple Crown and the Cy Young Award in both seasons (1997: 21–7 record, 2.05 ERA, and 292 strikeouts; 1998: 20–6 record, 2.65 ERA, and 271 strikeouts). After the 1998 season, Clemens asked to be traded, indicating that he did not believe the Blue Jays would be competitive enough the following year and that he was dedicated to winning a championship.\n\nNew York Yankees (1999–2003)\nClemens was traded to the New York Yankees before the 1999 season for David Wells, Homer Bush, and Graeme Lloyd. Since his longtime uniform number #21 was in use by teammate Paul O'Neill, Clemens initially wore #12, before switching mid-season to #22.\n\nClemens made an immediate impact on the Yankees' staff, anchoring the top of the rotation as the team went on to win a pair of World Series titles in 1999 and 2000. During the 1999 regular season, Clemens posted a 14–10 record with a 4.60 ERA. He logged a pair of wins in the postseason, though he lost Game 3 of the 1999 ALCS in a matchup against Red Sox ace Pedro Martínez, which was the Yankees' only loss in the 1999 playoffs. Clemens pitched 7.2 innings of 1-run baseball during the Yankees' game 4 clincher over the Atlanta Braves. Clemens followed up with a strong 2000 season, in which he finished with a 13–8 record with a 3.70 ERA for the regular season. During the 2000 postseason, he helped the Yankees win their third consecutive championship. Clemens set the ALCS record for strikeouts in a game when he fanned 15 batters in a one-hit shutout of the Seattle Mariners in Game 4 of the ALCS. A seventh-inning lead-off double by Seattle's Al Martin was all that prevented Clemens from throwing what was, at the time, only the second no-hitter in postseason history. In Game 2 of the 2000 World Series, Clemens pitched eight scoreless innings against the New York Mets.\n\nIn 2001, Clemens became the first pitcher in MLB history to start a season 20–1 (finishing 20–3) and winning his sixth Cy Young Award. As of the 2020 season, he is the last Yankee pitcher to win the Cy Young Award. Clemens started for the Yankees in Game 7 of the 2001 World Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, where he dueled Curt Schilling to a standstill after 6 innings, yielding only one run. The Diamondbacks went on to win the game in the 9th.\n\nEarly in 2003, Clemens announced his retirement, effective at the end of that season. On June 13, 2003, pitching against the St. Louis Cardinals in Yankee Stadium, Clemens recorded his 300th career win and 4,000th career strikeout, the only player in history to record both milestones in the same game. The 300th win came on his fourth try; the Yankee bullpen had blown his chance of a win in his previous two attempts. He became the 21st pitcher ever to record 300 wins and the third ever to record 4,000 strikeouts. His career record upon reaching the milestones was 300–155. Clemens finished the season with a 17–9 record and a 3.91 ERA.\n\nThe end of Clemens's 2003 season became a series of public farewells met with appreciative cheering. His last games in each AL park were given extra attention, particularly his final regular-season appearance in Fenway Park, when despite wearing the uniform of the hated arch-rival, he was afforded a standing ovation by Red Sox fans as he left the field. (This spectacle was repeated when the Yankees ended up playing the Red Sox in the 2003 ALCS and Clemens got a second \"final start\" in his original stadium.) As part of a tradition of manager Joe Torre, Clemens was chosen to manage the Yankees' last game of the regular season. Clemens made one start in the World Series against the Florida Marlins; when he left trailing 3–1 after seven innings, the Marlins left their dugout to give him a standing ovation.\n\nHouston Astros (2004–2006)\n\nClemens came out of retirement, signing a one-year deal with his adopted hometown Houston Astros on January 12, 2004, joining close friend and former Yankees teammate Andy Pettitte. On May 5, 2004, Clemens recorded his 4,137th career strikeout to place him second on the all-time list behind Nolan Ryan. He was named the starter for the National League All-Star team but ultimately was the losing pitcher in that game after allowing six runs on five hits, including a three-run home run to Alfonso Soriano. Clemens finished the season with an 18–4 record, and was awarded his seventh Cy Young Award, becoming the oldest player ever to win the Cy Young at age 42. This made him one of six pitchers to win the award in both leagues, joining Gaylord Perry, Pedro Martínez, and Randy Johnson and later joined by Roy Halladay and Max Scherzer. Clemens was the losing pitcher for the Astros in Game Seven of the 2004 NLCS against the St. Louis Cardinals, allowing four runs in six innings. Although he pitched well, he tired in the sixth inning, surrendering all four runs.\n\nClemens again decided to put off retirement before the 2005 season after the Houston Astros offered salary arbitration. The Astros submitted an offer of $13.5 million, and Clemens countered with a record $22 million demand. On January 21, 2005, both sides agreed on a one-year, $18,000,022 contract, thus avoiding arbitration. The deal gave Clemens the highest yearly salary earned by a pitcher in MLB history.\n\nClemens's 2005 season ended as one of the finest he had ever posted. His 1.87 ERA was the lowest in the major leagues, the lowest of his 22-season career, and the lowest by any National Leaguer since Greg Maddux in 1995. He finished with a 13–8 record, with his lower win total primarily due to the fact that he ranked near the bottom of the major leagues in run support. The Astros scored an average of only 3.5 runs per game in games in which he was the pitcher of record. The Astros were shut out nine times in Clemens's 32 starts, and failed to score in a 10th until after Clemens was out of the game. The Astros lost five of Clemens's starts by scores of 1–0. In April, Clemens did not allow a run in three consecutive starts. However, the Astros lost all three of those starts by a 1–0 score in extra innings.\n\nClemens won an emotional start on September 15, following his mother's death that morning. In his final start of the 2005 season, Clemens got his 4,500th strikeout. On October 9, 2005, Clemens made his first relief appearance since 1984, entering as a pinch hitter in the 15th, then pitching three innings to get the win as the Astros defeated the Atlanta Braves in Game 4 of the NLDS. It is the longest postseason game in MLB history at 18 innings. Clemens lasted only two innings in Game 1 of the 2005 World Series, and the Astros went on to be swept by the Chicago White Sox. It was the Astros' first World Series appearance. Clemens had aggravated a hamstring pull that had limited his performance since at least September.\n\nClemens said that he would retire again after the World Series but he wanted to represent the United States in the inaugural World Baseball Classic, which would be played in March 2006. He went 1–1 in the tournament, with a 2.08 ERA, striking out 10 batters in innings. After pitching in a second-round loss to Mexico that eliminated the United States, Clemens began considering a return to the major leagues. On May 31, 2006, following another extended period of speculation, it was announced that Clemens was coming out of retirement for the third time to pitch for the Astros for the remainder of the 2006 season. Clemens signed a contract worth $22,000,022 (his uniform number #22). Since Clemens did not play a full season, he received a prorated percentage of that: approximately $12.25 million. Clemens made his return on June 22, 2006, against the Minnesota Twins, losing to their rookie phenom, Francisco Liriano, 4–2. For the second year in a row, his win total did not match his performance, as he finished the season with a 7–6 record, a 2.30 ERA, and a 1.04 WHIP. However, Clemens averaged just under 6 innings in his starts and never pitched into the eighth.\n\nReturn to the Yankees (2007)\n\nClemens unexpectedly appeared in the owner's box at Yankee Stadium on May 6, 2007, during the seventh-inning stretch of a game against the Seattle Mariners, and made a brief statement: \"Thank y'all. Well they came and got me out of Texas, and uhh, I can tell you it's a privilege to be back. I'll be talkin' to y'all soon.\" It was simultaneously announced that Clemens had rejoined the Yankees roster, agreeing to a pro-rated one-year deal worth $28,000,022, or about $4.7 million per month. Over the contract life, he would make $18.7 million. This equated to just over $1 million per start that season.\n\nClemens made his 2007 return on June 9, defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates by pitching six innings with seven strikeouts and three runs allowed. On June 21, with a single in the 5th inning against the Colorado Rockies, Clemens became the oldest New York Yankee to record a hit (44 years, 321 days). On June 24, Clemens pitched an inning in relief against the San Francisco Giants. It had been 22 years and 341 days since his previous regular-season relief appearance, the longest such gap in major league history. On July 2, Clemens collected his 350th win against the Minnesota Twins at Yankee Stadium, giving up just two hits and one run over eight innings. Clemens is one of only three pitchers to pitch his entire career in the live-ball era and reach 350 wins. The other two are Warren Spahn (whose catcher for his 350th win was Joe Torre, Clemens's manager for his 350th), and Greg Maddux, who earned his 350th win in 2008. His final regular-season appearance was a start against the Red Sox at Fenway Park, in which he allowed two hits and one unearned run in six innings, and received a no-decision. Clemens finished the 2007 regular season with a record of 6–6 and a 4.18 ERA.\n\nClemens was forced to leave Game 3 of the 2007 ALDS in the third inning after aggravating a hamstring injury. He struck out Victor Martinez of the Cleveland Indians with his final pitch, and was replaced by right-hander Phil Hughes. Yankees manager Joe Torre removed Clemens from the roster due to his injury, and replaced him with left-hander Ron Villone. Clemens's overall postseason record with the Yankees was 7–4 with a 2.97 ERA, 98 strikeouts and 35 walks in 102 innings.\n\nPitching appearances after retirement\nOn August 20, 2012, Clemens signed with the Sugar Land Skeeters of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. He made his debut for the Skeeters against the Bridgeport Bluefish on August 25, 2012, in front of a crowd of 7,724. It was the first time the 50-year-old had taken the mound in almost five years. Clemens pitched scoreless innings and struck out two: former major leaguers Joey Gathright and Prentice Redman. He also retired Luis Figueroa, who played briefly with the Pirates, Blue Jays and the Giants. Clemens allowed only one hit and no walks on 37 pitches in the Skeeters' 1–0 victory. Clemens made his second start for the Skeeters on September 7 against the Long Island Ducks. He pitched scoreless innings, with his son, Koby, as his catcher. He retired former New York Met outfielder Timo Perez for the final out in the fourth inning, and was named the winning pitcher by the official scorer. Clemens's fastball was clocked as high as 88 mph, and the Astros sent scouts to both of his outings with the Skeeters in consideration of a possible return to the team that season.\n\nRoger Clemens joined the Kansas Stars, a group of 24 retired major leaguers and his son Koby, to compete in the 2016 National Baseball Congress World Series. The team was put together by Kansas natives Adam LaRoche and Nate Robertson, and featured eleven former All-Stars, including Tim Hudson, Roy Oswalt, and J. D. Drew as well as Clemens. Pitching just six days after his 54th birthday, Clemens started for the Kansas Stars in a game against the NJCAA National Team on August 10, 2016. He pitched innings, allowing 3 runs with one strikeout in an 11–10 loss. On August 22, 2019, Clemens wore his Red Sox uniform and pitched in the Abbot Financial Management Oldtime Baseball Game, an annual charity event held at St. Peter's Field in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The 2019 game benefitted Compassionate Care ALS, in memory of longtime Fenway Park supervisor John Welch, who died from Lou Gehrig's Disease in December 2018. Facing mostly young college players, Clemens pitched two shutout innings in the game, then moved to first base.\n\nPitching style\nClemens was a prototypical power pitcher with an aggressive edge for his entire career. This was especially the case when he was a young man. Clemens was said to throw \"two pitches: a 98-mph fastball and a hard breaking ball. At 23, Clemens simply reared back and threw the ball past batters.\" Later in his career, Clemens developed a devastating split-finger fastball to use as an off-speed pitch in concert with his fastball. Clemens has jocularly referred to this pitch as \"Mr. Splitty\".\n\nBy the time Clemens retired from Major League Baseball in 2007, his four-seam fastball had settled in the 91–94 mph range. He also threw a two-seam fastball, a slider in the mid 80s, his hard splitter, and an occasional curveball. Clemens was a highly durable pitcher, leading the American League in complete games three times and innings pitched twice. His 18 complete games in 1987 is more than any pitcher has thrown since. Clemens was also known as a strikeout pitcher, leading the AL in K's five times and strikeouts per nine innings three times.\n\nControversies\nClemens has been the focal point of several controversies. His reputation has always been that of a pitcher unafraid to throw close to batters. Clemens led his league in hit batsmen only once, in 1995, but he was among the leaders in several other seasons. This tendency was more pronounced during his earlier career and subsequently tapered off. After the 2000 ALCS game against the Mariners where he knocked down future teammate Alex Rodriguez and then argued with him, Seattle Mariners manager Lou Piniella called Clemens a \"headhunter.\" His beaning earlier that year of Mike Piazza, followed by throwing a broken-bat in Piazza's direction in the 2000 World Series, cemented Clemens's surly, unapologetic image in the minds of many. In 2009, former manager Cito Gaston publicly denounced Clemens as a \"double-talker\" and \"a complete asshole\". Clemens was ranked 14th all-time in hit batsmen after the 2020 season. 14th all time may be misleading, as his rate of hit batsmen per batter faced is not out of line with other pitchers of his era at 1 hit batsmen per 125 batters faced. Numbers reflect similar rate of hit batsmen to pitchers such as Nolan Ryan, Justin Verlander, Greg Maddux.\n\nClemens has attracted controversy over the years for his outspoken comments, such as his complaints about having to carry his own luggage through an airport and his criticism of Fenway Park for being a subpar facility. On April 4, 2006, Clemens made an insulting remark when asked about the devotion of Japanese and South Korean fans during the World Baseball Classic: \"None of the dry cleaners were open, they were all at the game, Japan and Korea\". Toward the end of his career, his annual on-and-off \"retirements\" revived a reputation for diva-like behavior.\n\nClemens has received criticism for getting special treatment from the teams that sign him. While playing for Houston, Clemens was not obliged to travel with the team on road trips if he was not pitching. His 2007 contract with the New York Yankees had a \"family plan\" clause that stipulated that he not be required to go on road trips in which he was not scheduled to pitch and allowed him to leave the team between starts to be with his family. These perks were publicly criticized by Yankee reliever Kyle Farnsworth. Most of Clemens's teammates, however, did not complain of such perks because of Clemens's success on the mound and valuable presence in the clubhouse. Yankee teammate Jason Giambi spoke for such players when he said, \"I'd carry his bags for him, just as long as he is on the mound.\"\n\nSteroid use accusations \nIn José Canseco's book, Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got Big, Canseco suggested that Clemens had expert knowledge about steroids and suggested that he used them, based on the improvement in his performance after leaving the Red Sox. While not addressing the allegations directly, Clemens stated: \"I could care less about the rules\" and \"I've talked to some friends of his and I've teased them that when you're under house arrest and have ankle bracelets on, you have a lot of time to write a book.\"\n\nJason Grimsley named Clemens, as well as Andy Pettitte, as a user of performance-enhancing drugs. According to a 20-page search warrant affidavit signed by IRS Special Agent Jeff Novitzky, Grimsley told investigators he obtained amphetamines, anabolic steroids and human growth hormone from someone recommended to him by former Yankees trainer Brian McNamee. McNamee was a personal strength coach for Clemens and Pettitte, hired by Clemens in 1998. At the time of the Grimsley revelations, McNamee denied knowledge of steroid use by Clemens and Pettitte. Despite initial media reports, the affidavit made no mention of Clemens or Pettitte.\n\nHowever, Clemens's name was mentioned 82 times in the Mitchell Report on steroid use in baseball. In the report, McNamee stated that during the 1998, 2000, and 2001 baseball seasons, he injected Clemens with Winstrol. Clemens's attorney Rusty Hardin denied the claims, calling McNamee \"a troubled and unreliable witness\" who has changed his story five times in an attempt to avoid criminal prosecution. He noted that Clemens has never tested positive in a steroid test. Former U.S. Senator George Mitchell, who prepared the report, stated that he relayed the allegations to each athlete implicated in the report and gave them a chance to respond before his findings were published.\n\nOn January 6, 2008, Clemens went on 60 Minutes to address the allegations. He told Mike Wallace that his longevity in baseball was due to \"hard work\" rather than illegal substances and denied all of McNamee's assertions that he injected Clemens with steroids, saying it \"never happened\". On January 7, Clemens filed a defamation lawsuit against McNamee, claiming that the former trainer lied after being threatened with prosecution. McNamee's attorneys argued that he was compelled to cooperate by federal officials and so his statements were protected. A federal judge agreed, throwing out all claims related to McNamee's statements to investigators on February 13, 2009, but allowing the case to proceed on statements McNamee made about Clemens to Pettitte.\n\nOn February 13, 2008, Clemens appeared before a Congressional committee, along with Brian McNamee and swore under oath that he did not take steroids, that he did not discuss HGH with McNamee, that he did not attend a party at José Canseco's where steroids were the topic of conversation, that he was only injected with B-12 and lidocaine and that he never told Pettitte he had taken HGH. This last point was in contradiction to testimony Pettitte had given under oath on February 4, 2008, wherein Pettitte said he repeated to McNamee a conversation Pettitte had with Clemens. During this conversation, Pettitte said Clemens had told him that McNamee had injected Clemens with human growth hormone. Pettitte said McNamee reacted angrily, saying that Clemens \"shouldn't have done that.\"<ref name=tj>Quinn, T.J. \"In court of public opinion, a Clemens verdict: Game over.\" ESPN.com,\nDecember 12, 2008. Retrieved November 6, 2017.</ref>\n\nThe bipartisan House committee in front of which Clemens appeared, citing seven apparent inconsistencies in Clemens's testimony, recommended that the Justice Department investigate whether Clemens lied under oath about using performance-enhancing drugs. In a letter sent February 27 to Attorney General Michael Mukasey, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman Henry Waxman and ranking Republican Tom Davis said Clemens's testimony that he \"never used anabolic steroids or human growth hormone warrants further investigation\".\n\nAs a result of the Mitchell Report, Clemens was asked to end his involvement with the Giff Nielsen Day of Golf for Kids charity tournament in Houston that he has hosted for four years. As well, his name has been removed from the Houston-based Roger Clemens Institute for Sports Medicine and will be renamed the Memorial Hermann Sports Medicine Institute.\n\nAfter Washington prosecutors showed \"a renewed interest in the case in the final months of 2008\", a federal grand jury was convened in January 2009 to hear evidence of Clemens's possible perjury before Congress. The grand jury indicted Clemens on August 19, 2010, on charges of making false statements to Congress about his use of performance-enhancing drugs. The indictment charges Clemens with one count of obstruction of Congress, three counts of making false statements and two counts of perjury in connection with his February 2008 testimony.\n\nHis first trial began on July 13, 2011, but on the second day of testimony the judge in the case declared a mistrial over prosecutorial misconduct after prosecutors showed the jury prejudicial evidence they were not allowed to. Clemens was subsequently retried. The verdict from his second trial came in on June 18, 2012. Clemens was found not guilty on all six counts of lying to Congress in 2008, when he testified that he never took performance-enhancing drugs.\n\nIn January 2016, after Clemens once again fell short of the votes required for election into the Hall of Fame, former major-league star Roy Halladay tweeted \"No Clemens no Bonds\" as part of a message indicating no performance-enhancing substance users should be voted into the Hall. Clemens countered by accusing Halladay of using amphetamines during his playing career.\n\nAdultery accusations\nIn April 2008, the New York Daily News reported on a possible long-term relationship between Clemens and country music singer Mindy McCready that began when she was 15 years old. Clemens's attorney Rusty Hardin denied the affair and also stated that Clemens would be bringing a defamation suit regarding this allegation. Clemens's attorney admitted that a relationship existed but described McCready as a \"close family friend\". He also stated that McCready had traveled on Clemens's personal jet and that Clemens's wife was aware of the relationship. However, when contacted by the Daily News, McCready said, \"I cannot refute anything in the story.\"\n\nOn November 17, 2008, McCready spoke in more detail to Inside Edition about her affair with Clemens, saying their relationship lasted for more than a decade and that it ended when Clemens refused to leave his wife to marry her. However, she denied that she was 15 years old when it began, saying that they met when she was 16 and the affair only became sexual \"several years later\". In another soon-to-be-released sex tape by Vivid Entertainment she claimed that the first time she had sex with him was when she was 21. She also said that he often had erectile dysfunction. A few days after the Daily News broke the story about the McCready relationship, they reported on another Clemens extramarital relationship, this time with Paulette Dean Daly, the now ex-wife of pro golfer John Daly. Daly declined to elaborate on the nature of her relationship with the pitcher but did not deny that it was romantic and included financial support.\n\nThere have been reports of Clemens having at least three other affairs with women. On April 29, 2008, the New York Post reported that Clemens had relationships with two or more women. One, a former bartender in Manhattan, refused comment on the story, while another, a woman from Tampa, could not be located. On May 2 of the same year, the Daily News reported a stripper in Detroit called a local radio station and said she had an affair with Clemens. He also gave tickets to baseball games, jewelry, and trips to women he was wooing.\n\nOther media\n\nClemens has appeared as himself in several movies and television episodes and has also occasionally acted in films. Perhaps best known was his appearance in the season three episode of The Simpsons (\"Homer at the Bat\"), in which he is recruited to the Springfield nuclear plant's softball team but is accidentally hypnotized into thinking he is a chicken; in addition to his lines, Clemens voiced his own clucking. Clemens has also made guest appearances as himself on the TV shows Hope & Faith, Spin City, Arli$$, and Saturday Night Live as well as the movie Anger Management, and makes a brief appearance in the movie Kingpin as the character Skidmark. He also is shown playing an actual game with the Houston Astros in the film Boyhood.\n\nHe appeared in the 1994 movie Cobb as an unidentified pitcher for the Philadelphia A's. In 2003, he was part of an advertising campaign for Armour hot dogs with MLB players Ken Griffey Jr., Derek Jeter, and Sammy Sosa. Since 2005, Clemens has also appeared in many commercials for Texas-based supermarket chain H-E-B. In 2007, he appeared on a baseball-themed episode of MythBusters (\"Baseball Myths\"). He has also starred in a commercial for Cingular parodying his return from retirement. He was calling his wife, Debra Godfrey, and a dropped call resulted in his return to the Yankees.\n\nHe released an early autobiography, Rocket Man: The Roger Clemens Story written with Peter Gammons, in 1987. Clemens is also the spokesperson for Champion car dealerships in South Texas. In April 2009, Clemens was the subject of an unauthorized biography by Jeff Pearlman, titled The Rocket that Fell to Earth-Roger Clemens and the Rage for Baseball Immortality, that focused on his childhood and early career and accused Mike Piazza of using steroids. On May 12, Clemens broke a long silence to denounce a heavily researched expose by four investigative reporters from the New York Daily News, called American Icon: The Fall of Roger Clemens and the Rise of Steroids in America's Pastime. Clemens went on ESPN's Mike and Mike show to call the book \"garbage\", but a review by Michiko Kakutani of The New York Times called the book \"gripping\" and compared it to the work of Bob Woodward.\n\nAwards and recognition\nIn 1999, while many of his performances and milestones were yet to come he ranked number 53 on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was elected by the fans to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. In 2005, the updated Sporting News list moved Clemens up to #15.\n\nBy the end of the 2005 season, Clemens had won seven Cy Young Awards (he won the AL award in 1986, 1987, 1991, 1997, 1998, and 2001, and the National League award in 2004), an MVP and two pitching triple crowns. With his 2004 win, he joined Gaylord Perry, Randy Johnson, and Pedro Martínez as the only pitchers to win it in both leagues and became the oldest pitcher to ever win the Cy Young. He has also won the Sporting News Pitcher of the Year Award five times, was named an All-Star 11 times, and won the All-Star MVP in 1986.\n\nIn October 2006, Clemens was named to Sports Illustrateds \"all-time\" team.\n\nOn August 18, 2007, Clemens got his 1,000th strikeout as a Yankee. He is only the ninth player in major league history to record 1,000 or more strikeouts with two different teams. Clemens has recorded a total of 2,590 strikeouts as a member of the Red Sox and 1,014 strikeouts as a Yankee. He also had 563 strikeouts for Toronto, and 505 strikeouts for Houston.\n\nClemens was inducted into the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2014, and was inducted into the Pawtucket Red Sox Hall of Fame on June 21, 2019.\n\nNational Baseball Hall of Fame consideration\nIn 2013 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, his first year of eligibility, Clemens received 37.6% of the votes cast by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA), falling well short of the 75% required for induction into the Hall of Fame. He has garnered more votes in subsequent elections without reaching the 75% threshold: he received 59.5% in 2019, 61.0% in 2020, and 61.6% in 2021. With the inductions of Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine in 2014 and Randy Johnson in 2015, Clemens is currently the only eligible member of the 300 win club not to be inducted into the Hall. He received 65.2% of the votes in his final year of eligibility, 2022.\n\nDespite falling off the ballot, Clemens is still eligible for induction through the Hall of Fame’s Today’s Game Committee. The committee is a 16-member electorate “comprised of members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, executives, and veteran media members\" (hence the nickname of “veteran’s committee”) who consider retired players who lost ballot eligibility while still having made notable contributions to baseball from 1986-2016. Voting will be held in December 2022, and 12 votes are required for induction.\n\nPersonal life\nClemens married Debra Lynn Godfrey (born May 27, 1963) on November 24, 1984. The couple has four sons: Koby Aaron, Kory Allen, Kacy Austin, and Kody Alec—all given \"K\" names to honor Clemens's strikeouts (\"K's\"). Koby was at one time a minor league prospect for some MLB clubs. Kacy played college baseball for the Texas Longhorns and was drafted by the Blue Jays in the eighth round of the 2017 Major League Baseball draft. Kacy is an infielder who is currently a free agent. Kody also played college baseball for the Texas Longhorns and was drafted 79th overall by the Detroit Tigers in the third round of the 2018 Major League Baseball draft.\n\nDebra once left a Red Sox game, when Clemens pitched for another team, in tears from the heckling she received. This is documented in an updated later edition to Dan Shaughnessy's best-selling book, Curse of the Bambino. Debra also was quoted in the book as stating that it was the poor attitude of Red Sox fans that prevented the team from ever winning the World Series (this was quoted prior to the Red Sox' 2004 World Series victory).\n\nClemens is a member of the Republican Party and donated money to Texas congressman Ted Poe during his 2006 campaign.\n\nDebra posed in a bikini with her husband for a Sports Illustrated pictorial regarding athletes and their wives. This appeared in the annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition'' for 2003. Roger wore his Yankees uniform, with the jersey open.\nOn February 27, 2006, to train for the World Baseball Classic, Roger pitched in an exhibition game between the Astros and his son's minor league team. In his first at-bat, Koby hit a home run off his father. In his next at-bat, Roger threw an inside pitch that almost hit Koby. Koby laughed in an interview after the game about the incident.\n\nSee also\n\n Houston Astros award winners and league leaders\n List of Boston Red Sox award winners\n List of Boston Red Sox team records\n List of Major League Baseball annual shutout leaders\n List of Major League Baseball career hit batsmen leaders\n List of Major League Baseball career wins leaders\n List of Major League Baseball players named in the Mitchell Report\n List of Major League Baseball single-game strikeout leaders\n List of people from Dayton, Ohio\n List of Toronto Blue Jays team records\n List of University of Texas at Austin alumni\n Major League Baseball titles leaders\n Toronto Blue Jays award winners and league leaders\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nRoger Clemens Foundation\n\n \n \n\n \n \n\n \n \n\n \n \n\n \n \n\n \n \n\n1962 births\nLiving people\nAmerican expatriate baseball players in Canada\nAmerican League All-Stars\nAmerican League ERA champions\nAmerican League Most Valuable Player Award winners\nAmerican League Pitching Triple Crown winners\nAmerican League strikeout champions\nAmerican League wins champions\nAmerican people of German descent\nBaseball players from Dayton, Ohio\nBoston Red Sox players\nBridgeport Bluefish guest managers\nCorpus Christi Hooks players\nCy Young Award winners\nHouston Astros players\nLexington Legends players\nMajor League Baseball All-Star Game MVPs\nMajor League Baseball controversies\nMajor League Baseball pitchers\nNational League All-Stars\nNational League ERA champions\nNew Britain Red Sox players\nNew York Yankees players\nNorwich Navigators players\nPawtucket Red Sox players\nPeople from Vandalia, Ohio\nRound Rock Express players\nSan Jacinto Central Ravens baseball players\nSarasota Red Sox players\nScranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees players\nSugar Land Skeeters players\nTampa Yankees players\nTexas Longhorns baseball players\nTexas Republicans\nTrenton Thunder players\nToronto Blue Jays players\nWinter Haven Red Sox players\nWorld Baseball Classic players of the United States\n2006 World Baseball Classic players",
"Kody Clemens (born May 15, 1996) is an American professional baseball second baseman in the Detroit Tigers organization. Clemens was selected by the Detroit Tigers with the 79th overall pick of the 2018 Major League Baseball draft. He played college baseball for the Texas Longhorns. Clemens is the son of former MLB pitcher Roger Clemens.\n\nCareer\nClemens attended Memorial High School in Houston, Texas. Playing for the school's baseball team, he batted .553 during his senior season. He was named first team all-district selection in 2013 and was a Perfect Game Honorable Mention for high school in 2013 and 2014. He committed to the University of Texas at Austin to play college baseball for the Texas Longhorns\n\nAs a freshman in 2016, batted with a .242 batting average and five home runs. As a sophomore in 2017, Clemens underwent Tommy John surgery. However, Clemens did play as the team's designated hitter. Clemens had a breakout junior season batting .352 with 23 home runs. These stats even earned him Big 12 player of the week. On June 7, 2018, Clemens was named a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award and the Dick Howser Trophy.\n\nThe Detroit Tigers selected Clemens with the 79th overall pick in the 2018 Major League Baseball draft. He received a $600,000 signing bonus and made his professional debut with the West Michigan Whitecaps of the Class A Midwest League. He was promoted to the Lakeland Flying Tigers of the Class A-Advanced Florida State League in August. In 52 total games between the two clubs, Clemens slashed .288/.365/.450 with five home runs and 20 RBIs.\n\nClemens began 2019 with Lakeland before being promoted to the Erie SeaWolves at the end of the season. Over 128 games between both teams, he batted .231/.310/.397 with 12 home runs and 63 RBIs.\n\nIn July 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Clemens signed on to play for Team Texas of the Constellation Energy League, a makeshift four-team independent league, for the season. He was subsequently named MVP of his team.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nTexas Longhorns bio\n\n1996 births\nLiving people\nBaseball players from Houston\nBaseball second basemen\nTexas Longhorns baseball players\nWest Michigan Whitecaps players\nLakeland Flying Tigers players\nErie SeaWolves players\nAll-American college baseball players\nMemorial High School (Hedwig Village, Texas) alumni"
] |
[
"Roger Clemens",
"Boston Red Sox",
"What year did he play for Boston Red Sox?",
"1986",
"Did he win any awards while playing that year?",
"I don't know.",
"Did the team have many wins when Clemens was part of the team?",
"Clemens returned to the mound for Game 6, which would have clinched the World Series for the Boston Red Sox."
] | C_0d846a1614904fcf97343b0d8d340347_0 | Do it list some players that Clemens played with in the league? | 4 | Who are some players that Clemens played with in the league? | Roger Clemens | In the 1986 American League Championship Series, Clemens pitched poorly in the opening game, watched the Boston bullpen blow his 3-0 lead in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 4, and then pitched a strong Game 7 to wrap up the series for Boston. The 1986 ALCS clincher was Clemens' first postseason career victory. He did not win his second until 13 years later. After a bad start in Game 2 of the 1986 World Series, Clemens returned to the mound for Game 6, which would have clinched the World Series for the Boston Red Sox. Clemens left the game after 7 innings leading 3-2, but the Red Sox went on to lose the game in the 10th inning, and subsequently, the championship. Clemens' departure was highly debated and remains a bone of contention among the participants. Red Sox manager John McNamara claimed Clemens took himself out due to a blister, though Clemens strongly denies that. Clemens greatest postseason failure came in the second inning of the final game of the 1990 ALCS against the Oakland Athletics, when he was ejected for arguing balls and strikes with umpire Terry Cooney, accentuating the A's three-game sweep of the Red Sox. He was suspended for the first five games of the 1991 season and fined $10,000. Clemens had two other playoff no-decisions, in 1988 and 1995, both occurring while Boston was being swept. Clemens' overall postseason record with Boston was 1-2 with a 3.88 ERA, and 45 strikeouts and 19 walks in 56 innings. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | William Roger Clemens (born August 4, 1962), nicknamed "Rocket", is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 24 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily with the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees. Clemens was one of the most dominant pitchers in major league history, tallying 354 wins, a 3.12 earned run average (ERA), and 4,672 strikeouts, the third-most all time. An 11-time All-Star and two-time World Series champion, he won seven Cy Young Awards during his career, more than any other pitcher in history. Clemens was known for his fierce competitive nature and hard-throwing pitching style, which he used to intimidate batters.
Clemens debuted in MLB in 1984 with the Red Sox, whose pitching staff he anchored for 12 years. In 1986, he won the American League (AL) Cy Young Award, the AL Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award, and the All-Star Game MVP Award, and he struck out an MLB-record 20 batters in a single game. After the 1996 season, in which he achieved his second 20-strikeout performance, Clemens left Boston via free agency and joined the Toronto Blue Jays. In each of his two seasons with Toronto, Clemens won a Cy Young Award, as well as the pitching triple crown by leading the league in wins, ERA, and strikeouts. Prior to the 1999 season, Clemens was traded to the Yankees where he won his two World Series titles. In 2001, Clemens became the first pitcher in major league history to start a season with a win-loss record of 20–1. In 2003, he reached his 300th win and 4,000th strikeout in the same game. Clemens left for the Houston Astros in 2004, where he spent three seasons and won his seventh Cy Young Award. He rejoined the Yankees in 2007 for one last season before retiring. He is the only pitcher in Major League history to record over 350 wins and strike out over 4,500 batters.
Clemens was alleged by the Mitchell Report to have used anabolic steroids during his late career, mainly based on testimony given by his former trainer, Brian McNamee. Clemens firmly denied these allegations under oath before the United States Congress, leading congressional leaders to refer his case to the Justice Department on suspicions of perjury. On August 19, 2010, a federal grand jury at the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., indicted Clemens on six felony counts involving perjury, false statements and Contempt of Congress. Clemens pleaded not guilty, but proceedings were complicated by prosecutorial misconduct, leading to a mistrial. The verdict from his second trial came in June 2012, when Clemens was found not guilty on all six counts of lying to Congress. These controversies hurt his chances for election to the Baseball Hall of Fame. He never received the 75% of the votes required in his ten years of eligibility, ending with 65.2% in 2022.
Early life
Clemens was born in Dayton, Ohio, the fifth child of Bill and Bess (Lee) Clemens. He is of German descent, his great-grandfather Joseph Clemens having immigrated in the 1880s. Clemens's parents separated when he was an infant. His mother soon married Woody Booher, whom Clemens considers his father. Booher died when Clemens was nine years old, and Clemens has said that the only time he ever felt envious of other players was when he saw them in the clubhouse with their fathers. Clemens lived in Vandalia, Ohio, until 1977, and then spent most of his high school years in Houston, Texas. At Spring Woods High School, Clemens played baseball for longtime head coach Charles Maiorana and also played football and basketball. He was scouted by the Philadelphia Phillies and Minnesota Twins during his senior year, but opted to go to college.
Collegiate career
He began his college career pitching for San Jacinto College North in 1981, where he was 9–2. The New York Mets selected Clemens in the 12th round of the 1981 Major League Baseball draft, but he did not sign. He then attended the University of Texas at Austin, compiling a 25–7 record in two All-American seasons, and was on the mound when the Longhorns won the 1983 College World Series. He became the first player to have his baseball uniform number retired at the University of Texas. In 2004, the Rotary Smith Award, given to America's best college baseball player, was changed to the Roger Clemens Award, honoring the best pitcher.
At Texas, Clemens pitched 35 consecutive scoreless innings, an NCAA record that stood until Justin Pope broke it in 2001.
Professional career
Boston Red Sox (1984–1996)
Clemens was selected in the first round (19th overall) of the 1983 MLB draft by the Boston Red Sox and quickly rose through the minor league system, making his MLB debut on May 15, 1984. An undiagnosed torn labrum threatened to end his career early; he underwent successful arthroscopic surgery by Dr. James Andrews.
In 1986, Clemens won the American League MVP award, finishing with a 24–4 record, 2.48 ERA, and 238 strikeouts. Clemens started the 1986 All-Star Game in the Astrodome and was named the Most Valuable Player of the contest by throwing three perfect innings and striking out two. He also won the first of his seven Cy Young Awards. When Hank Aaron said that pitchers should not be eligible for the MVP, Clemens responded: "I wish he were still playing. I'd probably crack his head open to show him how valuable I was." Clemens was the only starting pitcher since Vida Blue in 1971 to win a league MVP award until Justin Verlander won the award in 2011.
On April 29, 1986, Clemens became the first pitcher in MLB history to strike out 20 batters in a nine-inning game, against the Seattle Mariners at Boston's Fenway Park. Following his performance, Clemens made the cover of Sports Illustrated which carried the headline "Lord of the K's [strikeouts]." Other than Clemens, only Kerry Wood and Max Scherzer have matched the total. (Randy Johnson fanned 20 batters in nine innings on May 8, 2001. However, as the game went into extra innings, it is not categorized as occurring in a nine-inning game. Tom Cheney holds the record for any game: 21 strikeouts in 16 innings.) Clemens attributes his switch from what he calls a "thrower" to a "pitcher" to the partial season Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver spent with the Red Sox in 1986.
Facing the California Angels in the 1986 ALCS, Clemens pitched poorly in the opening game, watched the Boston bullpen blow his 3–1 lead in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 4, and then pitched a strong Game 7 to wrap up the series for Boston. The League Championship Series clincher was Clemens's first postseason career victory. He did not win his second until 13 years later. After a victory in game five, Boston led 3 games to 2 over the New York Mets in the 1986 World Series with Clemens set to start game six at Shea Stadium. Clemens who was pitching on five days rest started strong by striking out eight while throwing a no-hitter through four innings. In the top of eighth and with Boston ahead 3–2, manager John McNamara sent rookie Mike Greenwell to pinch hit for Roger Clemens. It was initially said that Clemens was removed from the game due to a blister forming on one of his fingers, but both he and McNamara dispute this. Clemens said to Bob Costas on an MLB Network program concerning the 1986 postseason that McNamara decided to pull him despite Clemens wanting to pitch. McNamara said to Costas that Clemens "begged out" of the game. The Mets rallied and took both game six and seven to win the World Series.
The Red Sox had a miserable 1987 season, finishing at 78–84, though Clemens won his second consecutive Cy Young Award with a 20–9 record, 2.97 ERA, 256 strikeouts, and seven shutouts. He was the first AL pitcher with back-to-back 20-win seasons since Tommy John won 20 with the Yankees in 1979 and '80. Boston rebounded with success in 1988 and 1990, clinching the AL East Division each year, but were swept by the Oakland Athletics in each ALCS matchup. His greatest postseason failure came in the second inning of the final game of the 1990 ALCS, when he was ejected for arguing balls and strikes with umpire Terry Cooney, accentuating the A's four-game sweep of the Red Sox. He was suspended for the first five games of the 1991 season and fined $10,000.
Clemens led the American League in 1988 with 291 strikeouts and a career-high 8 shutouts. On September 10, 1988, Clemens threw a one-hitter against the Cleveland Indians at Fenway Park. Dave Clark's one-out single in the eighth inning was the only hit Clemens allowed in the game. In a 9–1 victory over Cleveland on April 13, 1989, Clemens recorded his 1,000 career strikeout by fanning Brook Jacoby with the bases loaded in the second inning. Clemens finished second to Oakland's Bob Welch for the 1990 AL Cy Young Award, despite the fact that Clemens crushed Welch in ERA (1.93 to 2.95), strikeouts (209 to 127), walks (54 to 77), home runs allowed (7 to 26), and WAR (10.4 to 2.9). Clemens did, however, capture his third Cy Young Award in 1991 with an 18–10 record, 2.62 ERA, and 241 strikeouts. On June 21, 1989, Clemens surrendered the first of 609 home runs in the career of Sammy Sosa.
Clemens accomplished the 20-strikeout feat twice, the only player ever to do so. The second performance came more than 10 years later, on September 18, 1996, against the Detroit Tigers at Tiger Stadium. This second 20-K day occurred in his third-to-last game as a member of the Boston Red Sox. Later, the Tigers presented him with a baseball containing the autographs of each batter who had struck out (those with multiple strikeouts signed the appropriate number of times).
The Red Sox did not re-sign Clemens following the 1996 season, despite leading the A.L. with 257 strikeouts and offering him "by far the most money ever offered to a player in the history of the Red Sox franchise." General Manager Dan Duquette remarked that he "hoped to keep him in Boston during the twilight of his career", but Clemens left and signed with the Toronto Blue Jays.
The emphasis on the misquoted 1996 "twilight" comment took on a life of its own following Clemens's post-Boston successes, and Duquette was vilified for letting the star pitcher go. Ultimately, Clemens would go on to have a record of 162–73 for the rest of his career after leaving the Red Sox.
Clemens recorded 192 wins and 38 shutouts for the Red Sox, both tied with Cy Young for the franchise record and is their all-time strikeout leader with 2,590. Clemens's overall postseason record with Boston was 1–2 with a 3.88 ERA, and 45 strikeouts, and 19 walks in 56 innings. No Red Sox player has worn his uniform #21 since Clemens left the team in the 1996–97 offseason.
Toronto Blue Jays (1997–1998)
Clemens signed a four-year, $40 million deal with the Toronto Blue Jays after the 1996 season. In his first start in Fenway Park as a member of the Blue Jays, he pitched eight innings allowing only 4 hits and 1 earned run. 16 of his 24 outs were strikeouts, and every batter who faced him struck out at least once. As he left the field following his last inning of work, he stared up angrily towards the owner's box.
Clemens was dominant in his two seasons with the Blue Jays, winning the pitching Triple Crown and the Cy Young Award in both seasons (1997: 21–7 record, 2.05 ERA, and 292 strikeouts; 1998: 20–6 record, 2.65 ERA, and 271 strikeouts). After the 1998 season, Clemens asked to be traded, indicating that he did not believe the Blue Jays would be competitive enough the following year and that he was dedicated to winning a championship.
New York Yankees (1999–2003)
Clemens was traded to the New York Yankees before the 1999 season for David Wells, Homer Bush, and Graeme Lloyd. Since his longtime uniform number #21 was in use by teammate Paul O'Neill, Clemens initially wore #12, before switching mid-season to #22.
Clemens made an immediate impact on the Yankees' staff, anchoring the top of the rotation as the team went on to win a pair of World Series titles in 1999 and 2000. During the 1999 regular season, Clemens posted a 14–10 record with a 4.60 ERA. He logged a pair of wins in the postseason, though he lost Game 3 of the 1999 ALCS in a matchup against Red Sox ace Pedro Martínez, which was the Yankees' only loss in the 1999 playoffs. Clemens pitched 7.2 innings of 1-run baseball during the Yankees' game 4 clincher over the Atlanta Braves. Clemens followed up with a strong 2000 season, in which he finished with a 13–8 record with a 3.70 ERA for the regular season. During the 2000 postseason, he helped the Yankees win their third consecutive championship. Clemens set the ALCS record for strikeouts in a game when he fanned 15 batters in a one-hit shutout of the Seattle Mariners in Game 4 of the ALCS. A seventh-inning lead-off double by Seattle's Al Martin was all that prevented Clemens from throwing what was, at the time, only the second no-hitter in postseason history. In Game 2 of the 2000 World Series, Clemens pitched eight scoreless innings against the New York Mets.
In 2001, Clemens became the first pitcher in MLB history to start a season 20–1 (finishing 20–3) and winning his sixth Cy Young Award. As of the 2020 season, he is the last Yankee pitcher to win the Cy Young Award. Clemens started for the Yankees in Game 7 of the 2001 World Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, where he dueled Curt Schilling to a standstill after 6 innings, yielding only one run. The Diamondbacks went on to win the game in the 9th.
Early in 2003, Clemens announced his retirement, effective at the end of that season. On June 13, 2003, pitching against the St. Louis Cardinals in Yankee Stadium, Clemens recorded his 300th career win and 4,000th career strikeout, the only player in history to record both milestones in the same game. The 300th win came on his fourth try; the Yankee bullpen had blown his chance of a win in his previous two attempts. He became the 21st pitcher ever to record 300 wins and the third ever to record 4,000 strikeouts. His career record upon reaching the milestones was 300–155. Clemens finished the season with a 17–9 record and a 3.91 ERA.
The end of Clemens's 2003 season became a series of public farewells met with appreciative cheering. His last games in each AL park were given extra attention, particularly his final regular-season appearance in Fenway Park, when despite wearing the uniform of the hated arch-rival, he was afforded a standing ovation by Red Sox fans as he left the field. (This spectacle was repeated when the Yankees ended up playing the Red Sox in the 2003 ALCS and Clemens got a second "final start" in his original stadium.) As part of a tradition of manager Joe Torre, Clemens was chosen to manage the Yankees' last game of the regular season. Clemens made one start in the World Series against the Florida Marlins; when he left trailing 3–1 after seven innings, the Marlins left their dugout to give him a standing ovation.
Houston Astros (2004–2006)
Clemens came out of retirement, signing a one-year deal with his adopted hometown Houston Astros on January 12, 2004, joining close friend and former Yankees teammate Andy Pettitte. On May 5, 2004, Clemens recorded his 4,137th career strikeout to place him second on the all-time list behind Nolan Ryan. He was named the starter for the National League All-Star team but ultimately was the losing pitcher in that game after allowing six runs on five hits, including a three-run home run to Alfonso Soriano. Clemens finished the season with an 18–4 record, and was awarded his seventh Cy Young Award, becoming the oldest player ever to win the Cy Young at age 42. This made him one of six pitchers to win the award in both leagues, joining Gaylord Perry, Pedro Martínez, and Randy Johnson and later joined by Roy Halladay and Max Scherzer. Clemens was the losing pitcher for the Astros in Game Seven of the 2004 NLCS against the St. Louis Cardinals, allowing four runs in six innings. Although he pitched well, he tired in the sixth inning, surrendering all four runs.
Clemens again decided to put off retirement before the 2005 season after the Houston Astros offered salary arbitration. The Astros submitted an offer of $13.5 million, and Clemens countered with a record $22 million demand. On January 21, 2005, both sides agreed on a one-year, $18,000,022 contract, thus avoiding arbitration. The deal gave Clemens the highest yearly salary earned by a pitcher in MLB history.
Clemens's 2005 season ended as one of the finest he had ever posted. His 1.87 ERA was the lowest in the major leagues, the lowest of his 22-season career, and the lowest by any National Leaguer since Greg Maddux in 1995. He finished with a 13–8 record, with his lower win total primarily due to the fact that he ranked near the bottom of the major leagues in run support. The Astros scored an average of only 3.5 runs per game in games in which he was the pitcher of record. The Astros were shut out nine times in Clemens's 32 starts, and failed to score in a 10th until after Clemens was out of the game. The Astros lost five of Clemens's starts by scores of 1–0. In April, Clemens did not allow a run in three consecutive starts. However, the Astros lost all three of those starts by a 1–0 score in extra innings.
Clemens won an emotional start on September 15, following his mother's death that morning. In his final start of the 2005 season, Clemens got his 4,500th strikeout. On October 9, 2005, Clemens made his first relief appearance since 1984, entering as a pinch hitter in the 15th, then pitching three innings to get the win as the Astros defeated the Atlanta Braves in Game 4 of the NLDS. It is the longest postseason game in MLB history at 18 innings. Clemens lasted only two innings in Game 1 of the 2005 World Series, and the Astros went on to be swept by the Chicago White Sox. It was the Astros' first World Series appearance. Clemens had aggravated a hamstring pull that had limited his performance since at least September.
Clemens said that he would retire again after the World Series but he wanted to represent the United States in the inaugural World Baseball Classic, which would be played in March 2006. He went 1–1 in the tournament, with a 2.08 ERA, striking out 10 batters in innings. After pitching in a second-round loss to Mexico that eliminated the United States, Clemens began considering a return to the major leagues. On May 31, 2006, following another extended period of speculation, it was announced that Clemens was coming out of retirement for the third time to pitch for the Astros for the remainder of the 2006 season. Clemens signed a contract worth $22,000,022 (his uniform number #22). Since Clemens did not play a full season, he received a prorated percentage of that: approximately $12.25 million. Clemens made his return on June 22, 2006, against the Minnesota Twins, losing to their rookie phenom, Francisco Liriano, 4–2. For the second year in a row, his win total did not match his performance, as he finished the season with a 7–6 record, a 2.30 ERA, and a 1.04 WHIP. However, Clemens averaged just under 6 innings in his starts and never pitched into the eighth.
Return to the Yankees (2007)
Clemens unexpectedly appeared in the owner's box at Yankee Stadium on May 6, 2007, during the seventh-inning stretch of a game against the Seattle Mariners, and made a brief statement: "Thank y'all. Well they came and got me out of Texas, and uhh, I can tell you it's a privilege to be back. I'll be talkin' to y'all soon." It was simultaneously announced that Clemens had rejoined the Yankees roster, agreeing to a pro-rated one-year deal worth $28,000,022, or about $4.7 million per month. Over the contract life, he would make $18.7 million. This equated to just over $1 million per start that season.
Clemens made his 2007 return on June 9, defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates by pitching six innings with seven strikeouts and three runs allowed. On June 21, with a single in the 5th inning against the Colorado Rockies, Clemens became the oldest New York Yankee to record a hit (44 years, 321 days). On June 24, Clemens pitched an inning in relief against the San Francisco Giants. It had been 22 years and 341 days since his previous regular-season relief appearance, the longest such gap in major league history. On July 2, Clemens collected his 350th win against the Minnesota Twins at Yankee Stadium, giving up just two hits and one run over eight innings. Clemens is one of only three pitchers to pitch his entire career in the live-ball era and reach 350 wins. The other two are Warren Spahn (whose catcher for his 350th win was Joe Torre, Clemens's manager for his 350th), and Greg Maddux, who earned his 350th win in 2008. His final regular-season appearance was a start against the Red Sox at Fenway Park, in which he allowed two hits and one unearned run in six innings, and received a no-decision. Clemens finished the 2007 regular season with a record of 6–6 and a 4.18 ERA.
Clemens was forced to leave Game 3 of the 2007 ALDS in the third inning after aggravating a hamstring injury. He struck out Victor Martinez of the Cleveland Indians with his final pitch, and was replaced by right-hander Phil Hughes. Yankees manager Joe Torre removed Clemens from the roster due to his injury, and replaced him with left-hander Ron Villone. Clemens's overall postseason record with the Yankees was 7–4 with a 2.97 ERA, 98 strikeouts and 35 walks in 102 innings.
Pitching appearances after retirement
On August 20, 2012, Clemens signed with the Sugar Land Skeeters of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. He made his debut for the Skeeters against the Bridgeport Bluefish on August 25, 2012, in front of a crowd of 7,724. It was the first time the 50-year-old had taken the mound in almost five years. Clemens pitched scoreless innings and struck out two: former major leaguers Joey Gathright and Prentice Redman. He also retired Luis Figueroa, who played briefly with the Pirates, Blue Jays and the Giants. Clemens allowed only one hit and no walks on 37 pitches in the Skeeters' 1–0 victory. Clemens made his second start for the Skeeters on September 7 against the Long Island Ducks. He pitched scoreless innings, with his son, Koby, as his catcher. He retired former New York Met outfielder Timo Perez for the final out in the fourth inning, and was named the winning pitcher by the official scorer. Clemens's fastball was clocked as high as 88 mph, and the Astros sent scouts to both of his outings with the Skeeters in consideration of a possible return to the team that season.
Roger Clemens joined the Kansas Stars, a group of 24 retired major leaguers and his son Koby, to compete in the 2016 National Baseball Congress World Series. The team was put together by Kansas natives Adam LaRoche and Nate Robertson, and featured eleven former All-Stars, including Tim Hudson, Roy Oswalt, and J. D. Drew as well as Clemens. Pitching just six days after his 54th birthday, Clemens started for the Kansas Stars in a game against the NJCAA National Team on August 10, 2016. He pitched innings, allowing 3 runs with one strikeout in an 11–10 loss. On August 22, 2019, Clemens wore his Red Sox uniform and pitched in the Abbot Financial Management Oldtime Baseball Game, an annual charity event held at St. Peter's Field in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The 2019 game benefitted Compassionate Care ALS, in memory of longtime Fenway Park supervisor John Welch, who died from Lou Gehrig's Disease in December 2018. Facing mostly young college players, Clemens pitched two shutout innings in the game, then moved to first base.
Pitching style
Clemens was a prototypical power pitcher with an aggressive edge for his entire career. This was especially the case when he was a young man. Clemens was said to throw "two pitches: a 98-mph fastball and a hard breaking ball. At 23, Clemens simply reared back and threw the ball past batters." Later in his career, Clemens developed a devastating split-finger fastball to use as an off-speed pitch in concert with his fastball. Clemens has jocularly referred to this pitch as "Mr. Splitty".
By the time Clemens retired from Major League Baseball in 2007, his four-seam fastball had settled in the 91–94 mph range. He also threw a two-seam fastball, a slider in the mid 80s, his hard splitter, and an occasional curveball. Clemens was a highly durable pitcher, leading the American League in complete games three times and innings pitched twice. His 18 complete games in 1987 is more than any pitcher has thrown since. Clemens was also known as a strikeout pitcher, leading the AL in K's five times and strikeouts per nine innings three times.
Controversies
Clemens has been the focal point of several controversies. His reputation has always been that of a pitcher unafraid to throw close to batters. Clemens led his league in hit batsmen only once, in 1995, but he was among the leaders in several other seasons. This tendency was more pronounced during his earlier career and subsequently tapered off. After the 2000 ALCS game against the Mariners where he knocked down future teammate Alex Rodriguez and then argued with him, Seattle Mariners manager Lou Piniella called Clemens a "headhunter." His beaning earlier that year of Mike Piazza, followed by throwing a broken-bat in Piazza's direction in the 2000 World Series, cemented Clemens's surly, unapologetic image in the minds of many. In 2009, former manager Cito Gaston publicly denounced Clemens as a "double-talker" and "a complete asshole". Clemens was ranked 14th all-time in hit batsmen after the 2020 season. 14th all time may be misleading, as his rate of hit batsmen per batter faced is not out of line with other pitchers of his era at 1 hit batsmen per 125 batters faced. Numbers reflect similar rate of hit batsmen to pitchers such as Nolan Ryan, Justin Verlander, Greg Maddux.
Clemens has attracted controversy over the years for his outspoken comments, such as his complaints about having to carry his own luggage through an airport and his criticism of Fenway Park for being a subpar facility. On April 4, 2006, Clemens made an insulting remark when asked about the devotion of Japanese and South Korean fans during the World Baseball Classic: "None of the dry cleaners were open, they were all at the game, Japan and Korea". Toward the end of his career, his annual on-and-off "retirements" revived a reputation for diva-like behavior.
Clemens has received criticism for getting special treatment from the teams that sign him. While playing for Houston, Clemens was not obliged to travel with the team on road trips if he was not pitching. His 2007 contract with the New York Yankees had a "family plan" clause that stipulated that he not be required to go on road trips in which he was not scheduled to pitch and allowed him to leave the team between starts to be with his family. These perks were publicly criticized by Yankee reliever Kyle Farnsworth. Most of Clemens's teammates, however, did not complain of such perks because of Clemens's success on the mound and valuable presence in the clubhouse. Yankee teammate Jason Giambi spoke for such players when he said, "I'd carry his bags for him, just as long as he is on the mound."
Steroid use accusations
In José Canseco's book, Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got Big, Canseco suggested that Clemens had expert knowledge about steroids and suggested that he used them, based on the improvement in his performance after leaving the Red Sox. While not addressing the allegations directly, Clemens stated: "I could care less about the rules" and "I've talked to some friends of his and I've teased them that when you're under house arrest and have ankle bracelets on, you have a lot of time to write a book."
Jason Grimsley named Clemens, as well as Andy Pettitte, as a user of performance-enhancing drugs. According to a 20-page search warrant affidavit signed by IRS Special Agent Jeff Novitzky, Grimsley told investigators he obtained amphetamines, anabolic steroids and human growth hormone from someone recommended to him by former Yankees trainer Brian McNamee. McNamee was a personal strength coach for Clemens and Pettitte, hired by Clemens in 1998. At the time of the Grimsley revelations, McNamee denied knowledge of steroid use by Clemens and Pettitte. Despite initial media reports, the affidavit made no mention of Clemens or Pettitte.
However, Clemens's name was mentioned 82 times in the Mitchell Report on steroid use in baseball. In the report, McNamee stated that during the 1998, 2000, and 2001 baseball seasons, he injected Clemens with Winstrol. Clemens's attorney Rusty Hardin denied the claims, calling McNamee "a troubled and unreliable witness" who has changed his story five times in an attempt to avoid criminal prosecution. He noted that Clemens has never tested positive in a steroid test. Former U.S. Senator George Mitchell, who prepared the report, stated that he relayed the allegations to each athlete implicated in the report and gave them a chance to respond before his findings were published.
On January 6, 2008, Clemens went on 60 Minutes to address the allegations. He told Mike Wallace that his longevity in baseball was due to "hard work" rather than illegal substances and denied all of McNamee's assertions that he injected Clemens with steroids, saying it "never happened". On January 7, Clemens filed a defamation lawsuit against McNamee, claiming that the former trainer lied after being threatened with prosecution. McNamee's attorneys argued that he was compelled to cooperate by federal officials and so his statements were protected. A federal judge agreed, throwing out all claims related to McNamee's statements to investigators on February 13, 2009, but allowing the case to proceed on statements McNamee made about Clemens to Pettitte.
On February 13, 2008, Clemens appeared before a Congressional committee, along with Brian McNamee and swore under oath that he did not take steroids, that he did not discuss HGH with McNamee, that he did not attend a party at José Canseco's where steroids were the topic of conversation, that he was only injected with B-12 and lidocaine and that he never told Pettitte he had taken HGH. This last point was in contradiction to testimony Pettitte had given under oath on February 4, 2008, wherein Pettitte said he repeated to McNamee a conversation Pettitte had with Clemens. During this conversation, Pettitte said Clemens had told him that McNamee had injected Clemens with human growth hormone. Pettitte said McNamee reacted angrily, saying that Clemens "shouldn't have done that."<ref name=tj>Quinn, T.J. "In court of public opinion, a Clemens verdict: Game over." ESPN.com,
December 12, 2008. Retrieved November 6, 2017.</ref>
The bipartisan House committee in front of which Clemens appeared, citing seven apparent inconsistencies in Clemens's testimony, recommended that the Justice Department investigate whether Clemens lied under oath about using performance-enhancing drugs. In a letter sent February 27 to Attorney General Michael Mukasey, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman Henry Waxman and ranking Republican Tom Davis said Clemens's testimony that he "never used anabolic steroids or human growth hormone warrants further investigation".
As a result of the Mitchell Report, Clemens was asked to end his involvement with the Giff Nielsen Day of Golf for Kids charity tournament in Houston that he has hosted for four years. As well, his name has been removed from the Houston-based Roger Clemens Institute for Sports Medicine and will be renamed the Memorial Hermann Sports Medicine Institute.
After Washington prosecutors showed "a renewed interest in the case in the final months of 2008", a federal grand jury was convened in January 2009 to hear evidence of Clemens's possible perjury before Congress. The grand jury indicted Clemens on August 19, 2010, on charges of making false statements to Congress about his use of performance-enhancing drugs. The indictment charges Clemens with one count of obstruction of Congress, three counts of making false statements and two counts of perjury in connection with his February 2008 testimony.
His first trial began on July 13, 2011, but on the second day of testimony the judge in the case declared a mistrial over prosecutorial misconduct after prosecutors showed the jury prejudicial evidence they were not allowed to. Clemens was subsequently retried. The verdict from his second trial came in on June 18, 2012. Clemens was found not guilty on all six counts of lying to Congress in 2008, when he testified that he never took performance-enhancing drugs.
In January 2016, after Clemens once again fell short of the votes required for election into the Hall of Fame, former major-league star Roy Halladay tweeted "No Clemens no Bonds" as part of a message indicating no performance-enhancing substance users should be voted into the Hall. Clemens countered by accusing Halladay of using amphetamines during his playing career.
Adultery accusations
In April 2008, the New York Daily News reported on a possible long-term relationship between Clemens and country music singer Mindy McCready that began when she was 15 years old. Clemens's attorney Rusty Hardin denied the affair and also stated that Clemens would be bringing a defamation suit regarding this allegation. Clemens's attorney admitted that a relationship existed but described McCready as a "close family friend". He also stated that McCready had traveled on Clemens's personal jet and that Clemens's wife was aware of the relationship. However, when contacted by the Daily News, McCready said, "I cannot refute anything in the story."
On November 17, 2008, McCready spoke in more detail to Inside Edition about her affair with Clemens, saying their relationship lasted for more than a decade and that it ended when Clemens refused to leave his wife to marry her. However, she denied that she was 15 years old when it began, saying that they met when she was 16 and the affair only became sexual "several years later". In another soon-to-be-released sex tape by Vivid Entertainment she claimed that the first time she had sex with him was when she was 21. She also said that he often had erectile dysfunction. A few days after the Daily News broke the story about the McCready relationship, they reported on another Clemens extramarital relationship, this time with Paulette Dean Daly, the now ex-wife of pro golfer John Daly. Daly declined to elaborate on the nature of her relationship with the pitcher but did not deny that it was romantic and included financial support.
There have been reports of Clemens having at least three other affairs with women. On April 29, 2008, the New York Post reported that Clemens had relationships with two or more women. One, a former bartender in Manhattan, refused comment on the story, while another, a woman from Tampa, could not be located. On May 2 of the same year, the Daily News reported a stripper in Detroit called a local radio station and said she had an affair with Clemens. He also gave tickets to baseball games, jewelry, and trips to women he was wooing.
Other media
Clemens has appeared as himself in several movies and television episodes and has also occasionally acted in films. Perhaps best known was his appearance in the season three episode of The Simpsons ("Homer at the Bat"), in which he is recruited to the Springfield nuclear plant's softball team but is accidentally hypnotized into thinking he is a chicken; in addition to his lines, Clemens voiced his own clucking. Clemens has also made guest appearances as himself on the TV shows Hope & Faith, Spin City, Arli$$, and Saturday Night Live as well as the movie Anger Management, and makes a brief appearance in the movie Kingpin as the character Skidmark. He also is shown playing an actual game with the Houston Astros in the film Boyhood.
He appeared in the 1994 movie Cobb as an unidentified pitcher for the Philadelphia A's. In 2003, he was part of an advertising campaign for Armour hot dogs with MLB players Ken Griffey Jr., Derek Jeter, and Sammy Sosa. Since 2005, Clemens has also appeared in many commercials for Texas-based supermarket chain H-E-B. In 2007, he appeared on a baseball-themed episode of MythBusters ("Baseball Myths"). He has also starred in a commercial for Cingular parodying his return from retirement. He was calling his wife, Debra Godfrey, and a dropped call resulted in his return to the Yankees.
He released an early autobiography, Rocket Man: The Roger Clemens Story written with Peter Gammons, in 1987. Clemens is also the spokesperson for Champion car dealerships in South Texas. In April 2009, Clemens was the subject of an unauthorized biography by Jeff Pearlman, titled The Rocket that Fell to Earth-Roger Clemens and the Rage for Baseball Immortality, that focused on his childhood and early career and accused Mike Piazza of using steroids. On May 12, Clemens broke a long silence to denounce a heavily researched expose by four investigative reporters from the New York Daily News, called American Icon: The Fall of Roger Clemens and the Rise of Steroids in America's Pastime. Clemens went on ESPN's Mike and Mike show to call the book "garbage", but a review by Michiko Kakutani of The New York Times called the book "gripping" and compared it to the work of Bob Woodward.
Awards and recognition
In 1999, while many of his performances and milestones were yet to come he ranked number 53 on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was elected by the fans to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. In 2005, the updated Sporting News list moved Clemens up to #15.
By the end of the 2005 season, Clemens had won seven Cy Young Awards (he won the AL award in 1986, 1987, 1991, 1997, 1998, and 2001, and the National League award in 2004), an MVP and two pitching triple crowns. With his 2004 win, he joined Gaylord Perry, Randy Johnson, and Pedro Martínez as the only pitchers to win it in both leagues and became the oldest pitcher to ever win the Cy Young. He has also won the Sporting News Pitcher of the Year Award five times, was named an All-Star 11 times, and won the All-Star MVP in 1986.
In October 2006, Clemens was named to Sports Illustrateds "all-time" team.
On August 18, 2007, Clemens got his 1,000th strikeout as a Yankee. He is only the ninth player in major league history to record 1,000 or more strikeouts with two different teams. Clemens has recorded a total of 2,590 strikeouts as a member of the Red Sox and 1,014 strikeouts as a Yankee. He also had 563 strikeouts for Toronto, and 505 strikeouts for Houston.
Clemens was inducted into the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2014, and was inducted into the Pawtucket Red Sox Hall of Fame on June 21, 2019.
National Baseball Hall of Fame consideration
In 2013 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, his first year of eligibility, Clemens received 37.6% of the votes cast by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA), falling well short of the 75% required for induction into the Hall of Fame. He has garnered more votes in subsequent elections without reaching the 75% threshold: he received 59.5% in 2019, 61.0% in 2020, and 61.6% in 2021. With the inductions of Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine in 2014 and Randy Johnson in 2015, Clemens is currently the only eligible member of the 300 win club not to be inducted into the Hall. He received 65.2% of the votes in his final year of eligibility, 2022.
Despite falling off the ballot, Clemens is still eligible for induction through the Hall of Fame’s Today’s Game Committee. The committee is a 16-member electorate “comprised of members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, executives, and veteran media members" (hence the nickname of “veteran’s committee”) who consider retired players who lost ballot eligibility while still having made notable contributions to baseball from 1986-2016. Voting will be held in December 2022, and 12 votes are required for induction.
Personal life
Clemens married Debra Lynn Godfrey (born May 27, 1963) on November 24, 1984. The couple has four sons: Koby Aaron, Kory Allen, Kacy Austin, and Kody Alec—all given "K" names to honor Clemens's strikeouts ("K's"). Koby was at one time a minor league prospect for some MLB clubs. Kacy played college baseball for the Texas Longhorns and was drafted by the Blue Jays in the eighth round of the 2017 Major League Baseball draft. Kacy is an infielder who is currently a free agent. Kody also played college baseball for the Texas Longhorns and was drafted 79th overall by the Detroit Tigers in the third round of the 2018 Major League Baseball draft.
Debra once left a Red Sox game, when Clemens pitched for another team, in tears from the heckling she received. This is documented in an updated later edition to Dan Shaughnessy's best-selling book, Curse of the Bambino. Debra also was quoted in the book as stating that it was the poor attitude of Red Sox fans that prevented the team from ever winning the World Series (this was quoted prior to the Red Sox' 2004 World Series victory).
Clemens is a member of the Republican Party and donated money to Texas congressman Ted Poe during his 2006 campaign.
Debra posed in a bikini with her husband for a Sports Illustrated pictorial regarding athletes and their wives. This appeared in the annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition'' for 2003. Roger wore his Yankees uniform, with the jersey open.
On February 27, 2006, to train for the World Baseball Classic, Roger pitched in an exhibition game between the Astros and his son's minor league team. In his first at-bat, Koby hit a home run off his father. In his next at-bat, Roger threw an inside pitch that almost hit Koby. Koby laughed in an interview after the game about the incident.
See also
Houston Astros award winners and league leaders
List of Boston Red Sox award winners
List of Boston Red Sox team records
List of Major League Baseball annual shutout leaders
List of Major League Baseball career hit batsmen leaders
List of Major League Baseball career wins leaders
List of Major League Baseball players named in the Mitchell Report
List of Major League Baseball single-game strikeout leaders
List of people from Dayton, Ohio
List of Toronto Blue Jays team records
List of University of Texas at Austin alumni
Major League Baseball titles leaders
Toronto Blue Jays award winners and league leaders
References
External links
Roger Clemens Foundation
1962 births
Living people
American expatriate baseball players in Canada
American League All-Stars
American League ERA champions
American League Most Valuable Player Award winners
American League Pitching Triple Crown winners
American League strikeout champions
American League wins champions
American people of German descent
Baseball players from Dayton, Ohio
Boston Red Sox players
Bridgeport Bluefish guest managers
Corpus Christi Hooks players
Cy Young Award winners
Houston Astros players
Lexington Legends players
Major League Baseball All-Star Game MVPs
Major League Baseball controversies
Major League Baseball pitchers
National League All-Stars
National League ERA champions
New Britain Red Sox players
New York Yankees players
Norwich Navigators players
Pawtucket Red Sox players
People from Vandalia, Ohio
Round Rock Express players
San Jacinto Central Ravens baseball players
Sarasota Red Sox players
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees players
Sugar Land Skeeters players
Tampa Yankees players
Texas Longhorns baseball players
Texas Republicans
Trenton Thunder players
Toronto Blue Jays players
Winter Haven Red Sox players
World Baseball Classic players of the United States
2006 World Baseball Classic players | false | [
"Koby Aaron Clemens (born December 4, 1986) is an American former professional baseball infielder and outfielder. He is currently a coach for the Houston Astros farm system. He is the eldest son of former Major League Baseball pitcher Roger Clemens.\n\nEarly life\nBorn on December 4, 1986, in Houston, Texas, he was a two-sport star at Memorial High School, splitting time between football and baseball, before he suffered a back injury ending his brief football career.\n\nHe hit .413 as a junior, with 4 home runs and 23 RBIs in 2004. He had a .519 batting average and was named all-state in his senior year. As a pitcher, he had a 7–1 record and a 1.75 ERA.\n\nHe signed with the University of Texas at Austin (where his father played) to play first base on November 17, 2004, but never attended, choosing to go straight to professional baseball after he was drafted by the Houston Astros.\n\nMinor leagues\nThe Houston Astros picked Clemens in the 8th round of the amateur draft, 254th overall. The Astros organization had intended to use him as either a first or third baseman. He signed for a $380,000 bonus.\n\nIn 2005, he played his first minor league baseball season, hitting .297 with 4 homers and 17 RBIs in 33 games for the Rookie League Greeneville Astros, and .281 with 6 RBIs in 9 games with the Class A Tri-City ValleyCats. He committed 15 errors in 32 games at third base.\n\nIn 2006, he played with the Single-A Lexington Legends of the South Atlantic League, where he batted .229 with 5 home runs and 39 RBIs in 91 games. Clemens' sole appearance as a pitcher in professional baseball was for the Legends in 2006. On June 25, 2006, Clemens was in the news in a game against the Asheville Tourists. He was declared safe in a controversial play on second, leading the Tourists manager Joe Mikulik to go on a rampage. Through 2006, in the minors he batted .249 with 9 home runs, 63 RBIs, 7 stolen bases (while being caught once), and a .385 slugging percentage in 449 at bats. That season he hit a home run off his 43-year-old father, Roger Clemens, in a minor league exhibition game. In Koby's next at bat, Roger threw a brushback pitch at Koby in retaliation. They also played a game together in 2006,when the elder Clemens was making his comeback with the Astros and pitched a game for Lexington. \n\nIn the 2006 Hawaiian Winter League, playing for North Shore Honu, Clemens batted .196 with 1 home run and 9 RBIs in 32 games.\n\nIn 2007 he returned to the Single-A Lexington Legends, where he batted .252 with 15 home runs and 56 RBIs in 115 games.\n\nIn 2008 he played with the Single-A Salem Avalanche in the Carolina League, batting .268.\n\nHe converted to play as a catcher and played for the Corpus Christi Hooks in the Double-A Texas League. As of June 12, 2009, he returned to play with the Lancaster JetHawks in Advanced A in the California League in the roles of a catcher and designated hitter.\n\nIn 2010, he again played for Corpus Christi, then played with the Peoria Javelinas in the Arizona Fall League. \n\nIn 2011, Koby was with the Houston Astros' Triple-A affiliate, the Oklahoma City RedHawks of the Pacific Coast League, as their first baseman.\n\nClemens started playing at the Puerto Rico Baseball League with the Mayagüez Indians as a first baseman in the fall of 2011. However, he abandoned the team abruptly on November 10, 2011. There were rumors his father, former MLB pitcher Roger Clemens, persuaded him to leave the island because of the kidnapping of Washington Nationals catcher, Wilson Ramos in Venezuela the day before. For abandoning the team with no reason given, Koby was banned from playing baseball in the Caribbean Baseball Confederation.\n\nOn February 9, 2012, Clemens signed a minor league contract with the Toronto Blue Jays. During the 2012 season, he played for the Blue Jays' Double-A affiliate, the New Hampshire Fisher Cats of the Eastern League, and their high Single-A team, the Dunedin Blue Jays of the Florida State League as a catcher, first baseman, third baseman, outfielder, and designated hitter. He was released at the end of the season.\n\nKoby played in the California Winter League in Palm Springs, California from January 18 to February 16, 2013. From 2012-2014 he played for the Sugar Land Skeeters, including a game when he caught pitches thrown by his father.\n\nOn February 13, 2015, Clemens was hired as a minor league spring instructor for the Astros farm system. Astros Director of Player Development Quentin McCracken said the Astros \"expect by the end of the year or by next season he will be on staff fully.\" He now owns his own baseball company called Koby Clemens Baseball Clinics and teaches individual and private lessons.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n1986 births\nLiving people\nBaseball players from Houston\nGreeneville Astros players\nTri-City ValleyCats players\nLexington Legends players\nSalem Avalanche players\nCorpus Christi Hooks players\nLancaster JetHawks players\nOklahoma City RedHawks players\nDunedin Blue Jays players\nNew Hampshire Fisher Cats players\nSugar Land Skeeters players\nMemorial High School (Hedwig Village, Texas) alumni",
"Douglas Horace Clemens (June 9, 1939), is an American former professional baseball outfielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from – for the Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies and St. Louis Cardinals. During Clemens’ playing days, he stood tall, weighing . He batted left-handed and threw right-handed.\n\nEarly life\nBorn in Leesport, Berks County, Pennsylvania, in 1939, Clemens attended Muhlenberg High School, lettering in both football and baseball, while under the tutelage of his own father, Head Coach Lloyd “Scoop” Clemens (himself, a Phillies scout). A highly-recruited halfback, he (young Clemens) played collegiately in Jim Brown’s footsteps, at Syracuse University. While on a full athletic (gridiron) scholarship, Clemens suffered a severe knee injury, early on in Fall, 1957; however, the Orangemen transferred his scholarship to the diamond, where he played first base, lettering in baseball in both and . Following his Junior year, Clemens turned pro, signing with the Cardinals.\n\nBaseball career\nA pinch-hitting specialist for most of his MLB career, Clemens’ main claim to fame stems from the June 15, 1964, trade that brought future Hall of Famer Lou Brock to the Cardinals.\n\nThat spring, Clemens broke camp with the Cards. In early-season action, he tallied 33 games played, while hitting .205, with six walks, and 16 strikeouts. On June 15, the Cardinals traded Clemens, Bobby Shantz, and Ernie Broglio to the Chicago Cubs, in exchange for Jack Spring, Paul Toth, and (although not-yet-evident) Cooperstown-bound outfielder Brock.\n\nClemens continued in platoon and pinch-hitting roles until retiring as a Phillie, following a 1968 season, most of which was spent with their Triple-A San Diego Padres (PCL) club.\n\nDuring his nine-year MLB career, including the full seasons of through , Clemens collected 211 hits, with 34 doubles seven triples, and 12 home runs. He batted .229 and was credited with 88 runs batted in (RBI).\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nDoug Clemens at SABR (Baseball BioProject)\nDoug Clemens at Baseball Almanac\nDoug Clemens at Baseball Library\nDoug Clemens at Baseball Gauge\n\n1939 births\nLiving people\nAtlanta Crackers players\nBaseball players from Pennsylvania\nBillings Mustangs players\nCharleston Marlins players\nChicago Cubs players\nMajor League Baseball outfielders\nPeople from Berks County, Pennsylvania\nPhiladelphia Phillies players\nSt. Louis Cardinals players\nSan Diego Padres (minor league) players\nSan Juan Marlins players\nSyracuse Orange football players\nSyracuse Orangemen baseball players\nTulsa Oilers (baseball) players"
] |
[
"Roger Clemens",
"Boston Red Sox",
"What year did he play for Boston Red Sox?",
"1986",
"Did he win any awards while playing that year?",
"I don't know.",
"Did the team have many wins when Clemens was part of the team?",
"Clemens returned to the mound for Game 6, which would have clinched the World Series for the Boston Red Sox.",
"Do it list some players that Clemens played with in the league?",
"I don't know."
] | C_0d846a1614904fcf97343b0d8d340347_0 | What was Clemens role on the team like what position did he play? | 5 | What was Clemens role on the Boston Red Sox, like what position did Roger Clemens play? | Roger Clemens | In the 1986 American League Championship Series, Clemens pitched poorly in the opening game, watched the Boston bullpen blow his 3-0 lead in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 4, and then pitched a strong Game 7 to wrap up the series for Boston. The 1986 ALCS clincher was Clemens' first postseason career victory. He did not win his second until 13 years later. After a bad start in Game 2 of the 1986 World Series, Clemens returned to the mound for Game 6, which would have clinched the World Series for the Boston Red Sox. Clemens left the game after 7 innings leading 3-2, but the Red Sox went on to lose the game in the 10th inning, and subsequently, the championship. Clemens' departure was highly debated and remains a bone of contention among the participants. Red Sox manager John McNamara claimed Clemens took himself out due to a blister, though Clemens strongly denies that. Clemens greatest postseason failure came in the second inning of the final game of the 1990 ALCS against the Oakland Athletics, when he was ejected for arguing balls and strikes with umpire Terry Cooney, accentuating the A's three-game sweep of the Red Sox. He was suspended for the first five games of the 1991 season and fined $10,000. Clemens had two other playoff no-decisions, in 1988 and 1995, both occurring while Boston was being swept. Clemens' overall postseason record with Boston was 1-2 with a 3.88 ERA, and 45 strikeouts and 19 walks in 56 innings. CANNOTANSWER | Clemens returned to the mound | William Roger Clemens (born August 4, 1962), nicknamed "Rocket", is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 24 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily with the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees. Clemens was one of the most dominant pitchers in major league history, tallying 354 wins, a 3.12 earned run average (ERA), and 4,672 strikeouts, the third-most all time. An 11-time All-Star and two-time World Series champion, he won seven Cy Young Awards during his career, more than any other pitcher in history. Clemens was known for his fierce competitive nature and hard-throwing pitching style, which he used to intimidate batters.
Clemens debuted in MLB in 1984 with the Red Sox, whose pitching staff he anchored for 12 years. In 1986, he won the American League (AL) Cy Young Award, the AL Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award, and the All-Star Game MVP Award, and he struck out an MLB-record 20 batters in a single game. After the 1996 season, in which he achieved his second 20-strikeout performance, Clemens left Boston via free agency and joined the Toronto Blue Jays. In each of his two seasons with Toronto, Clemens won a Cy Young Award, as well as the pitching triple crown by leading the league in wins, ERA, and strikeouts. Prior to the 1999 season, Clemens was traded to the Yankees where he won his two World Series titles. In 2001, Clemens became the first pitcher in major league history to start a season with a win-loss record of 20–1. In 2003, he reached his 300th win and 4,000th strikeout in the same game. Clemens left for the Houston Astros in 2004, where he spent three seasons and won his seventh Cy Young Award. He rejoined the Yankees in 2007 for one last season before retiring. He is the only pitcher in Major League history to record over 350 wins and strike out over 4,500 batters.
Clemens was alleged by the Mitchell Report to have used anabolic steroids during his late career, mainly based on testimony given by his former trainer, Brian McNamee. Clemens firmly denied these allegations under oath before the United States Congress, leading congressional leaders to refer his case to the Justice Department on suspicions of perjury. On August 19, 2010, a federal grand jury at the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., indicted Clemens on six felony counts involving perjury, false statements and Contempt of Congress. Clemens pleaded not guilty, but proceedings were complicated by prosecutorial misconduct, leading to a mistrial. The verdict from his second trial came in June 2012, when Clemens was found not guilty on all six counts of lying to Congress. These controversies hurt his chances for election to the Baseball Hall of Fame. He never received the 75% of the votes required in his ten years of eligibility, ending with 65.2% in 2022.
Early life
Clemens was born in Dayton, Ohio, the fifth child of Bill and Bess (Lee) Clemens. He is of German descent, his great-grandfather Joseph Clemens having immigrated in the 1880s. Clemens's parents separated when he was an infant. His mother soon married Woody Booher, whom Clemens considers his father. Booher died when Clemens was nine years old, and Clemens has said that the only time he ever felt envious of other players was when he saw them in the clubhouse with their fathers. Clemens lived in Vandalia, Ohio, until 1977, and then spent most of his high school years in Houston, Texas. At Spring Woods High School, Clemens played baseball for longtime head coach Charles Maiorana and also played football and basketball. He was scouted by the Philadelphia Phillies and Minnesota Twins during his senior year, but opted to go to college.
Collegiate career
He began his college career pitching for San Jacinto College North in 1981, where he was 9–2. The New York Mets selected Clemens in the 12th round of the 1981 Major League Baseball draft, but he did not sign. He then attended the University of Texas at Austin, compiling a 25–7 record in two All-American seasons, and was on the mound when the Longhorns won the 1983 College World Series. He became the first player to have his baseball uniform number retired at the University of Texas. In 2004, the Rotary Smith Award, given to America's best college baseball player, was changed to the Roger Clemens Award, honoring the best pitcher.
At Texas, Clemens pitched 35 consecutive scoreless innings, an NCAA record that stood until Justin Pope broke it in 2001.
Professional career
Boston Red Sox (1984–1996)
Clemens was selected in the first round (19th overall) of the 1983 MLB draft by the Boston Red Sox and quickly rose through the minor league system, making his MLB debut on May 15, 1984. An undiagnosed torn labrum threatened to end his career early; he underwent successful arthroscopic surgery by Dr. James Andrews.
In 1986, Clemens won the American League MVP award, finishing with a 24–4 record, 2.48 ERA, and 238 strikeouts. Clemens started the 1986 All-Star Game in the Astrodome and was named the Most Valuable Player of the contest by throwing three perfect innings and striking out two. He also won the first of his seven Cy Young Awards. When Hank Aaron said that pitchers should not be eligible for the MVP, Clemens responded: "I wish he were still playing. I'd probably crack his head open to show him how valuable I was." Clemens was the only starting pitcher since Vida Blue in 1971 to win a league MVP award until Justin Verlander won the award in 2011.
On April 29, 1986, Clemens became the first pitcher in MLB history to strike out 20 batters in a nine-inning game, against the Seattle Mariners at Boston's Fenway Park. Following his performance, Clemens made the cover of Sports Illustrated which carried the headline "Lord of the K's [strikeouts]." Other than Clemens, only Kerry Wood and Max Scherzer have matched the total. (Randy Johnson fanned 20 batters in nine innings on May 8, 2001. However, as the game went into extra innings, it is not categorized as occurring in a nine-inning game. Tom Cheney holds the record for any game: 21 strikeouts in 16 innings.) Clemens attributes his switch from what he calls a "thrower" to a "pitcher" to the partial season Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver spent with the Red Sox in 1986.
Facing the California Angels in the 1986 ALCS, Clemens pitched poorly in the opening game, watched the Boston bullpen blow his 3–1 lead in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 4, and then pitched a strong Game 7 to wrap up the series for Boston. The League Championship Series clincher was Clemens's first postseason career victory. He did not win his second until 13 years later. After a victory in game five, Boston led 3 games to 2 over the New York Mets in the 1986 World Series with Clemens set to start game six at Shea Stadium. Clemens who was pitching on five days rest started strong by striking out eight while throwing a no-hitter through four innings. In the top of eighth and with Boston ahead 3–2, manager John McNamara sent rookie Mike Greenwell to pinch hit for Roger Clemens. It was initially said that Clemens was removed from the game due to a blister forming on one of his fingers, but both he and McNamara dispute this. Clemens said to Bob Costas on an MLB Network program concerning the 1986 postseason that McNamara decided to pull him despite Clemens wanting to pitch. McNamara said to Costas that Clemens "begged out" of the game. The Mets rallied and took both game six and seven to win the World Series.
The Red Sox had a miserable 1987 season, finishing at 78–84, though Clemens won his second consecutive Cy Young Award with a 20–9 record, 2.97 ERA, 256 strikeouts, and seven shutouts. He was the first AL pitcher with back-to-back 20-win seasons since Tommy John won 20 with the Yankees in 1979 and '80. Boston rebounded with success in 1988 and 1990, clinching the AL East Division each year, but were swept by the Oakland Athletics in each ALCS matchup. His greatest postseason failure came in the second inning of the final game of the 1990 ALCS, when he was ejected for arguing balls and strikes with umpire Terry Cooney, accentuating the A's four-game sweep of the Red Sox. He was suspended for the first five games of the 1991 season and fined $10,000.
Clemens led the American League in 1988 with 291 strikeouts and a career-high 8 shutouts. On September 10, 1988, Clemens threw a one-hitter against the Cleveland Indians at Fenway Park. Dave Clark's one-out single in the eighth inning was the only hit Clemens allowed in the game. In a 9–1 victory over Cleveland on April 13, 1989, Clemens recorded his 1,000 career strikeout by fanning Brook Jacoby with the bases loaded in the second inning. Clemens finished second to Oakland's Bob Welch for the 1990 AL Cy Young Award, despite the fact that Clemens crushed Welch in ERA (1.93 to 2.95), strikeouts (209 to 127), walks (54 to 77), home runs allowed (7 to 26), and WAR (10.4 to 2.9). Clemens did, however, capture his third Cy Young Award in 1991 with an 18–10 record, 2.62 ERA, and 241 strikeouts. On June 21, 1989, Clemens surrendered the first of 609 home runs in the career of Sammy Sosa.
Clemens accomplished the 20-strikeout feat twice, the only player ever to do so. The second performance came more than 10 years later, on September 18, 1996, against the Detroit Tigers at Tiger Stadium. This second 20-K day occurred in his third-to-last game as a member of the Boston Red Sox. Later, the Tigers presented him with a baseball containing the autographs of each batter who had struck out (those with multiple strikeouts signed the appropriate number of times).
The Red Sox did not re-sign Clemens following the 1996 season, despite leading the A.L. with 257 strikeouts and offering him "by far the most money ever offered to a player in the history of the Red Sox franchise." General Manager Dan Duquette remarked that he "hoped to keep him in Boston during the twilight of his career", but Clemens left and signed with the Toronto Blue Jays.
The emphasis on the misquoted 1996 "twilight" comment took on a life of its own following Clemens's post-Boston successes, and Duquette was vilified for letting the star pitcher go. Ultimately, Clemens would go on to have a record of 162–73 for the rest of his career after leaving the Red Sox.
Clemens recorded 192 wins and 38 shutouts for the Red Sox, both tied with Cy Young for the franchise record and is their all-time strikeout leader with 2,590. Clemens's overall postseason record with Boston was 1–2 with a 3.88 ERA, and 45 strikeouts, and 19 walks in 56 innings. No Red Sox player has worn his uniform #21 since Clemens left the team in the 1996–97 offseason.
Toronto Blue Jays (1997–1998)
Clemens signed a four-year, $40 million deal with the Toronto Blue Jays after the 1996 season. In his first start in Fenway Park as a member of the Blue Jays, he pitched eight innings allowing only 4 hits and 1 earned run. 16 of his 24 outs were strikeouts, and every batter who faced him struck out at least once. As he left the field following his last inning of work, he stared up angrily towards the owner's box.
Clemens was dominant in his two seasons with the Blue Jays, winning the pitching Triple Crown and the Cy Young Award in both seasons (1997: 21–7 record, 2.05 ERA, and 292 strikeouts; 1998: 20–6 record, 2.65 ERA, and 271 strikeouts). After the 1998 season, Clemens asked to be traded, indicating that he did not believe the Blue Jays would be competitive enough the following year and that he was dedicated to winning a championship.
New York Yankees (1999–2003)
Clemens was traded to the New York Yankees before the 1999 season for David Wells, Homer Bush, and Graeme Lloyd. Since his longtime uniform number #21 was in use by teammate Paul O'Neill, Clemens initially wore #12, before switching mid-season to #22.
Clemens made an immediate impact on the Yankees' staff, anchoring the top of the rotation as the team went on to win a pair of World Series titles in 1999 and 2000. During the 1999 regular season, Clemens posted a 14–10 record with a 4.60 ERA. He logged a pair of wins in the postseason, though he lost Game 3 of the 1999 ALCS in a matchup against Red Sox ace Pedro Martínez, which was the Yankees' only loss in the 1999 playoffs. Clemens pitched 7.2 innings of 1-run baseball during the Yankees' game 4 clincher over the Atlanta Braves. Clemens followed up with a strong 2000 season, in which he finished with a 13–8 record with a 3.70 ERA for the regular season. During the 2000 postseason, he helped the Yankees win their third consecutive championship. Clemens set the ALCS record for strikeouts in a game when he fanned 15 batters in a one-hit shutout of the Seattle Mariners in Game 4 of the ALCS. A seventh-inning lead-off double by Seattle's Al Martin was all that prevented Clemens from throwing what was, at the time, only the second no-hitter in postseason history. In Game 2 of the 2000 World Series, Clemens pitched eight scoreless innings against the New York Mets.
In 2001, Clemens became the first pitcher in MLB history to start a season 20–1 (finishing 20–3) and winning his sixth Cy Young Award. As of the 2020 season, he is the last Yankee pitcher to win the Cy Young Award. Clemens started for the Yankees in Game 7 of the 2001 World Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, where he dueled Curt Schilling to a standstill after 6 innings, yielding only one run. The Diamondbacks went on to win the game in the 9th.
Early in 2003, Clemens announced his retirement, effective at the end of that season. On June 13, 2003, pitching against the St. Louis Cardinals in Yankee Stadium, Clemens recorded his 300th career win and 4,000th career strikeout, the only player in history to record both milestones in the same game. The 300th win came on his fourth try; the Yankee bullpen had blown his chance of a win in his previous two attempts. He became the 21st pitcher ever to record 300 wins and the third ever to record 4,000 strikeouts. His career record upon reaching the milestones was 300–155. Clemens finished the season with a 17–9 record and a 3.91 ERA.
The end of Clemens's 2003 season became a series of public farewells met with appreciative cheering. His last games in each AL park were given extra attention, particularly his final regular-season appearance in Fenway Park, when despite wearing the uniform of the hated arch-rival, he was afforded a standing ovation by Red Sox fans as he left the field. (This spectacle was repeated when the Yankees ended up playing the Red Sox in the 2003 ALCS and Clemens got a second "final start" in his original stadium.) As part of a tradition of manager Joe Torre, Clemens was chosen to manage the Yankees' last game of the regular season. Clemens made one start in the World Series against the Florida Marlins; when he left trailing 3–1 after seven innings, the Marlins left their dugout to give him a standing ovation.
Houston Astros (2004–2006)
Clemens came out of retirement, signing a one-year deal with his adopted hometown Houston Astros on January 12, 2004, joining close friend and former Yankees teammate Andy Pettitte. On May 5, 2004, Clemens recorded his 4,137th career strikeout to place him second on the all-time list behind Nolan Ryan. He was named the starter for the National League All-Star team but ultimately was the losing pitcher in that game after allowing six runs on five hits, including a three-run home run to Alfonso Soriano. Clemens finished the season with an 18–4 record, and was awarded his seventh Cy Young Award, becoming the oldest player ever to win the Cy Young at age 42. This made him one of six pitchers to win the award in both leagues, joining Gaylord Perry, Pedro Martínez, and Randy Johnson and later joined by Roy Halladay and Max Scherzer. Clemens was the losing pitcher for the Astros in Game Seven of the 2004 NLCS against the St. Louis Cardinals, allowing four runs in six innings. Although he pitched well, he tired in the sixth inning, surrendering all four runs.
Clemens again decided to put off retirement before the 2005 season after the Houston Astros offered salary arbitration. The Astros submitted an offer of $13.5 million, and Clemens countered with a record $22 million demand. On January 21, 2005, both sides agreed on a one-year, $18,000,022 contract, thus avoiding arbitration. The deal gave Clemens the highest yearly salary earned by a pitcher in MLB history.
Clemens's 2005 season ended as one of the finest he had ever posted. His 1.87 ERA was the lowest in the major leagues, the lowest of his 22-season career, and the lowest by any National Leaguer since Greg Maddux in 1995. He finished with a 13–8 record, with his lower win total primarily due to the fact that he ranked near the bottom of the major leagues in run support. The Astros scored an average of only 3.5 runs per game in games in which he was the pitcher of record. The Astros were shut out nine times in Clemens's 32 starts, and failed to score in a 10th until after Clemens was out of the game. The Astros lost five of Clemens's starts by scores of 1–0. In April, Clemens did not allow a run in three consecutive starts. However, the Astros lost all three of those starts by a 1–0 score in extra innings.
Clemens won an emotional start on September 15, following his mother's death that morning. In his final start of the 2005 season, Clemens got his 4,500th strikeout. On October 9, 2005, Clemens made his first relief appearance since 1984, entering as a pinch hitter in the 15th, then pitching three innings to get the win as the Astros defeated the Atlanta Braves in Game 4 of the NLDS. It is the longest postseason game in MLB history at 18 innings. Clemens lasted only two innings in Game 1 of the 2005 World Series, and the Astros went on to be swept by the Chicago White Sox. It was the Astros' first World Series appearance. Clemens had aggravated a hamstring pull that had limited his performance since at least September.
Clemens said that he would retire again after the World Series but he wanted to represent the United States in the inaugural World Baseball Classic, which would be played in March 2006. He went 1–1 in the tournament, with a 2.08 ERA, striking out 10 batters in innings. After pitching in a second-round loss to Mexico that eliminated the United States, Clemens began considering a return to the major leagues. On May 31, 2006, following another extended period of speculation, it was announced that Clemens was coming out of retirement for the third time to pitch for the Astros for the remainder of the 2006 season. Clemens signed a contract worth $22,000,022 (his uniform number #22). Since Clemens did not play a full season, he received a prorated percentage of that: approximately $12.25 million. Clemens made his return on June 22, 2006, against the Minnesota Twins, losing to their rookie phenom, Francisco Liriano, 4–2. For the second year in a row, his win total did not match his performance, as he finished the season with a 7–6 record, a 2.30 ERA, and a 1.04 WHIP. However, Clemens averaged just under 6 innings in his starts and never pitched into the eighth.
Return to the Yankees (2007)
Clemens unexpectedly appeared in the owner's box at Yankee Stadium on May 6, 2007, during the seventh-inning stretch of a game against the Seattle Mariners, and made a brief statement: "Thank y'all. Well they came and got me out of Texas, and uhh, I can tell you it's a privilege to be back. I'll be talkin' to y'all soon." It was simultaneously announced that Clemens had rejoined the Yankees roster, agreeing to a pro-rated one-year deal worth $28,000,022, or about $4.7 million per month. Over the contract life, he would make $18.7 million. This equated to just over $1 million per start that season.
Clemens made his 2007 return on June 9, defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates by pitching six innings with seven strikeouts and three runs allowed. On June 21, with a single in the 5th inning against the Colorado Rockies, Clemens became the oldest New York Yankee to record a hit (44 years, 321 days). On June 24, Clemens pitched an inning in relief against the San Francisco Giants. It had been 22 years and 341 days since his previous regular-season relief appearance, the longest such gap in major league history. On July 2, Clemens collected his 350th win against the Minnesota Twins at Yankee Stadium, giving up just two hits and one run over eight innings. Clemens is one of only three pitchers to pitch his entire career in the live-ball era and reach 350 wins. The other two are Warren Spahn (whose catcher for his 350th win was Joe Torre, Clemens's manager for his 350th), and Greg Maddux, who earned his 350th win in 2008. His final regular-season appearance was a start against the Red Sox at Fenway Park, in which he allowed two hits and one unearned run in six innings, and received a no-decision. Clemens finished the 2007 regular season with a record of 6–6 and a 4.18 ERA.
Clemens was forced to leave Game 3 of the 2007 ALDS in the third inning after aggravating a hamstring injury. He struck out Victor Martinez of the Cleveland Indians with his final pitch, and was replaced by right-hander Phil Hughes. Yankees manager Joe Torre removed Clemens from the roster due to his injury, and replaced him with left-hander Ron Villone. Clemens's overall postseason record with the Yankees was 7–4 with a 2.97 ERA, 98 strikeouts and 35 walks in 102 innings.
Pitching appearances after retirement
On August 20, 2012, Clemens signed with the Sugar Land Skeeters of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. He made his debut for the Skeeters against the Bridgeport Bluefish on August 25, 2012, in front of a crowd of 7,724. It was the first time the 50-year-old had taken the mound in almost five years. Clemens pitched scoreless innings and struck out two: former major leaguers Joey Gathright and Prentice Redman. He also retired Luis Figueroa, who played briefly with the Pirates, Blue Jays and the Giants. Clemens allowed only one hit and no walks on 37 pitches in the Skeeters' 1–0 victory. Clemens made his second start for the Skeeters on September 7 against the Long Island Ducks. He pitched scoreless innings, with his son, Koby, as his catcher. He retired former New York Met outfielder Timo Perez for the final out in the fourth inning, and was named the winning pitcher by the official scorer. Clemens's fastball was clocked as high as 88 mph, and the Astros sent scouts to both of his outings with the Skeeters in consideration of a possible return to the team that season.
Roger Clemens joined the Kansas Stars, a group of 24 retired major leaguers and his son Koby, to compete in the 2016 National Baseball Congress World Series. The team was put together by Kansas natives Adam LaRoche and Nate Robertson, and featured eleven former All-Stars, including Tim Hudson, Roy Oswalt, and J. D. Drew as well as Clemens. Pitching just six days after his 54th birthday, Clemens started for the Kansas Stars in a game against the NJCAA National Team on August 10, 2016. He pitched innings, allowing 3 runs with one strikeout in an 11–10 loss. On August 22, 2019, Clemens wore his Red Sox uniform and pitched in the Abbot Financial Management Oldtime Baseball Game, an annual charity event held at St. Peter's Field in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The 2019 game benefitted Compassionate Care ALS, in memory of longtime Fenway Park supervisor John Welch, who died from Lou Gehrig's Disease in December 2018. Facing mostly young college players, Clemens pitched two shutout innings in the game, then moved to first base.
Pitching style
Clemens was a prototypical power pitcher with an aggressive edge for his entire career. This was especially the case when he was a young man. Clemens was said to throw "two pitches: a 98-mph fastball and a hard breaking ball. At 23, Clemens simply reared back and threw the ball past batters." Later in his career, Clemens developed a devastating split-finger fastball to use as an off-speed pitch in concert with his fastball. Clemens has jocularly referred to this pitch as "Mr. Splitty".
By the time Clemens retired from Major League Baseball in 2007, his four-seam fastball had settled in the 91–94 mph range. He also threw a two-seam fastball, a slider in the mid 80s, his hard splitter, and an occasional curveball. Clemens was a highly durable pitcher, leading the American League in complete games three times and innings pitched twice. His 18 complete games in 1987 is more than any pitcher has thrown since. Clemens was also known as a strikeout pitcher, leading the AL in K's five times and strikeouts per nine innings three times.
Controversies
Clemens has been the focal point of several controversies. His reputation has always been that of a pitcher unafraid to throw close to batters. Clemens led his league in hit batsmen only once, in 1995, but he was among the leaders in several other seasons. This tendency was more pronounced during his earlier career and subsequently tapered off. After the 2000 ALCS game against the Mariners where he knocked down future teammate Alex Rodriguez and then argued with him, Seattle Mariners manager Lou Piniella called Clemens a "headhunter." His beaning earlier that year of Mike Piazza, followed by throwing a broken-bat in Piazza's direction in the 2000 World Series, cemented Clemens's surly, unapologetic image in the minds of many. In 2009, former manager Cito Gaston publicly denounced Clemens as a "double-talker" and "a complete asshole". Clemens was ranked 14th all-time in hit batsmen after the 2020 season. 14th all time may be misleading, as his rate of hit batsmen per batter faced is not out of line with other pitchers of his era at 1 hit batsmen per 125 batters faced. Numbers reflect similar rate of hit batsmen to pitchers such as Nolan Ryan, Justin Verlander, Greg Maddux.
Clemens has attracted controversy over the years for his outspoken comments, such as his complaints about having to carry his own luggage through an airport and his criticism of Fenway Park for being a subpar facility. On April 4, 2006, Clemens made an insulting remark when asked about the devotion of Japanese and South Korean fans during the World Baseball Classic: "None of the dry cleaners were open, they were all at the game, Japan and Korea". Toward the end of his career, his annual on-and-off "retirements" revived a reputation for diva-like behavior.
Clemens has received criticism for getting special treatment from the teams that sign him. While playing for Houston, Clemens was not obliged to travel with the team on road trips if he was not pitching. His 2007 contract with the New York Yankees had a "family plan" clause that stipulated that he not be required to go on road trips in which he was not scheduled to pitch and allowed him to leave the team between starts to be with his family. These perks were publicly criticized by Yankee reliever Kyle Farnsworth. Most of Clemens's teammates, however, did not complain of such perks because of Clemens's success on the mound and valuable presence in the clubhouse. Yankee teammate Jason Giambi spoke for such players when he said, "I'd carry his bags for him, just as long as he is on the mound."
Steroid use accusations
In José Canseco's book, Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got Big, Canseco suggested that Clemens had expert knowledge about steroids and suggested that he used them, based on the improvement in his performance after leaving the Red Sox. While not addressing the allegations directly, Clemens stated: "I could care less about the rules" and "I've talked to some friends of his and I've teased them that when you're under house arrest and have ankle bracelets on, you have a lot of time to write a book."
Jason Grimsley named Clemens, as well as Andy Pettitte, as a user of performance-enhancing drugs. According to a 20-page search warrant affidavit signed by IRS Special Agent Jeff Novitzky, Grimsley told investigators he obtained amphetamines, anabolic steroids and human growth hormone from someone recommended to him by former Yankees trainer Brian McNamee. McNamee was a personal strength coach for Clemens and Pettitte, hired by Clemens in 1998. At the time of the Grimsley revelations, McNamee denied knowledge of steroid use by Clemens and Pettitte. Despite initial media reports, the affidavit made no mention of Clemens or Pettitte.
However, Clemens's name was mentioned 82 times in the Mitchell Report on steroid use in baseball. In the report, McNamee stated that during the 1998, 2000, and 2001 baseball seasons, he injected Clemens with Winstrol. Clemens's attorney Rusty Hardin denied the claims, calling McNamee "a troubled and unreliable witness" who has changed his story five times in an attempt to avoid criminal prosecution. He noted that Clemens has never tested positive in a steroid test. Former U.S. Senator George Mitchell, who prepared the report, stated that he relayed the allegations to each athlete implicated in the report and gave them a chance to respond before his findings were published.
On January 6, 2008, Clemens went on 60 Minutes to address the allegations. He told Mike Wallace that his longevity in baseball was due to "hard work" rather than illegal substances and denied all of McNamee's assertions that he injected Clemens with steroids, saying it "never happened". On January 7, Clemens filed a defamation lawsuit against McNamee, claiming that the former trainer lied after being threatened with prosecution. McNamee's attorneys argued that he was compelled to cooperate by federal officials and so his statements were protected. A federal judge agreed, throwing out all claims related to McNamee's statements to investigators on February 13, 2009, but allowing the case to proceed on statements McNamee made about Clemens to Pettitte.
On February 13, 2008, Clemens appeared before a Congressional committee, along with Brian McNamee and swore under oath that he did not take steroids, that he did not discuss HGH with McNamee, that he did not attend a party at José Canseco's where steroids were the topic of conversation, that he was only injected with B-12 and lidocaine and that he never told Pettitte he had taken HGH. This last point was in contradiction to testimony Pettitte had given under oath on February 4, 2008, wherein Pettitte said he repeated to McNamee a conversation Pettitte had with Clemens. During this conversation, Pettitte said Clemens had told him that McNamee had injected Clemens with human growth hormone. Pettitte said McNamee reacted angrily, saying that Clemens "shouldn't have done that."<ref name=tj>Quinn, T.J. "In court of public opinion, a Clemens verdict: Game over." ESPN.com,
December 12, 2008. Retrieved November 6, 2017.</ref>
The bipartisan House committee in front of which Clemens appeared, citing seven apparent inconsistencies in Clemens's testimony, recommended that the Justice Department investigate whether Clemens lied under oath about using performance-enhancing drugs. In a letter sent February 27 to Attorney General Michael Mukasey, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman Henry Waxman and ranking Republican Tom Davis said Clemens's testimony that he "never used anabolic steroids or human growth hormone warrants further investigation".
As a result of the Mitchell Report, Clemens was asked to end his involvement with the Giff Nielsen Day of Golf for Kids charity tournament in Houston that he has hosted for four years. As well, his name has been removed from the Houston-based Roger Clemens Institute for Sports Medicine and will be renamed the Memorial Hermann Sports Medicine Institute.
After Washington prosecutors showed "a renewed interest in the case in the final months of 2008", a federal grand jury was convened in January 2009 to hear evidence of Clemens's possible perjury before Congress. The grand jury indicted Clemens on August 19, 2010, on charges of making false statements to Congress about his use of performance-enhancing drugs. The indictment charges Clemens with one count of obstruction of Congress, three counts of making false statements and two counts of perjury in connection with his February 2008 testimony.
His first trial began on July 13, 2011, but on the second day of testimony the judge in the case declared a mistrial over prosecutorial misconduct after prosecutors showed the jury prejudicial evidence they were not allowed to. Clemens was subsequently retried. The verdict from his second trial came in on June 18, 2012. Clemens was found not guilty on all six counts of lying to Congress in 2008, when he testified that he never took performance-enhancing drugs.
In January 2016, after Clemens once again fell short of the votes required for election into the Hall of Fame, former major-league star Roy Halladay tweeted "No Clemens no Bonds" as part of a message indicating no performance-enhancing substance users should be voted into the Hall. Clemens countered by accusing Halladay of using amphetamines during his playing career.
Adultery accusations
In April 2008, the New York Daily News reported on a possible long-term relationship between Clemens and country music singer Mindy McCready that began when she was 15 years old. Clemens's attorney Rusty Hardin denied the affair and also stated that Clemens would be bringing a defamation suit regarding this allegation. Clemens's attorney admitted that a relationship existed but described McCready as a "close family friend". He also stated that McCready had traveled on Clemens's personal jet and that Clemens's wife was aware of the relationship. However, when contacted by the Daily News, McCready said, "I cannot refute anything in the story."
On November 17, 2008, McCready spoke in more detail to Inside Edition about her affair with Clemens, saying their relationship lasted for more than a decade and that it ended when Clemens refused to leave his wife to marry her. However, she denied that she was 15 years old when it began, saying that they met when she was 16 and the affair only became sexual "several years later". In another soon-to-be-released sex tape by Vivid Entertainment she claimed that the first time she had sex with him was when she was 21. She also said that he often had erectile dysfunction. A few days after the Daily News broke the story about the McCready relationship, they reported on another Clemens extramarital relationship, this time with Paulette Dean Daly, the now ex-wife of pro golfer John Daly. Daly declined to elaborate on the nature of her relationship with the pitcher but did not deny that it was romantic and included financial support.
There have been reports of Clemens having at least three other affairs with women. On April 29, 2008, the New York Post reported that Clemens had relationships with two or more women. One, a former bartender in Manhattan, refused comment on the story, while another, a woman from Tampa, could not be located. On May 2 of the same year, the Daily News reported a stripper in Detroit called a local radio station and said she had an affair with Clemens. He also gave tickets to baseball games, jewelry, and trips to women he was wooing.
Other media
Clemens has appeared as himself in several movies and television episodes and has also occasionally acted in films. Perhaps best known was his appearance in the season three episode of The Simpsons ("Homer at the Bat"), in which he is recruited to the Springfield nuclear plant's softball team but is accidentally hypnotized into thinking he is a chicken; in addition to his lines, Clemens voiced his own clucking. Clemens has also made guest appearances as himself on the TV shows Hope & Faith, Spin City, Arli$$, and Saturday Night Live as well as the movie Anger Management, and makes a brief appearance in the movie Kingpin as the character Skidmark. He also is shown playing an actual game with the Houston Astros in the film Boyhood.
He appeared in the 1994 movie Cobb as an unidentified pitcher for the Philadelphia A's. In 2003, he was part of an advertising campaign for Armour hot dogs with MLB players Ken Griffey Jr., Derek Jeter, and Sammy Sosa. Since 2005, Clemens has also appeared in many commercials for Texas-based supermarket chain H-E-B. In 2007, he appeared on a baseball-themed episode of MythBusters ("Baseball Myths"). He has also starred in a commercial for Cingular parodying his return from retirement. He was calling his wife, Debra Godfrey, and a dropped call resulted in his return to the Yankees.
He released an early autobiography, Rocket Man: The Roger Clemens Story written with Peter Gammons, in 1987. Clemens is also the spokesperson for Champion car dealerships in South Texas. In April 2009, Clemens was the subject of an unauthorized biography by Jeff Pearlman, titled The Rocket that Fell to Earth-Roger Clemens and the Rage for Baseball Immortality, that focused on his childhood and early career and accused Mike Piazza of using steroids. On May 12, Clemens broke a long silence to denounce a heavily researched expose by four investigative reporters from the New York Daily News, called American Icon: The Fall of Roger Clemens and the Rise of Steroids in America's Pastime. Clemens went on ESPN's Mike and Mike show to call the book "garbage", but a review by Michiko Kakutani of The New York Times called the book "gripping" and compared it to the work of Bob Woodward.
Awards and recognition
In 1999, while many of his performances and milestones were yet to come he ranked number 53 on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was elected by the fans to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. In 2005, the updated Sporting News list moved Clemens up to #15.
By the end of the 2005 season, Clemens had won seven Cy Young Awards (he won the AL award in 1986, 1987, 1991, 1997, 1998, and 2001, and the National League award in 2004), an MVP and two pitching triple crowns. With his 2004 win, he joined Gaylord Perry, Randy Johnson, and Pedro Martínez as the only pitchers to win it in both leagues and became the oldest pitcher to ever win the Cy Young. He has also won the Sporting News Pitcher of the Year Award five times, was named an All-Star 11 times, and won the All-Star MVP in 1986.
In October 2006, Clemens was named to Sports Illustrateds "all-time" team.
On August 18, 2007, Clemens got his 1,000th strikeout as a Yankee. He is only the ninth player in major league history to record 1,000 or more strikeouts with two different teams. Clemens has recorded a total of 2,590 strikeouts as a member of the Red Sox and 1,014 strikeouts as a Yankee. He also had 563 strikeouts for Toronto, and 505 strikeouts for Houston.
Clemens was inducted into the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2014, and was inducted into the Pawtucket Red Sox Hall of Fame on June 21, 2019.
National Baseball Hall of Fame consideration
In 2013 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, his first year of eligibility, Clemens received 37.6% of the votes cast by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA), falling well short of the 75% required for induction into the Hall of Fame. He has garnered more votes in subsequent elections without reaching the 75% threshold: he received 59.5% in 2019, 61.0% in 2020, and 61.6% in 2021. With the inductions of Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine in 2014 and Randy Johnson in 2015, Clemens is currently the only eligible member of the 300 win club not to be inducted into the Hall. He received 65.2% of the votes in his final year of eligibility, 2022.
Despite falling off the ballot, Clemens is still eligible for induction through the Hall of Fame’s Today’s Game Committee. The committee is a 16-member electorate “comprised of members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, executives, and veteran media members" (hence the nickname of “veteran’s committee”) who consider retired players who lost ballot eligibility while still having made notable contributions to baseball from 1986-2016. Voting will be held in December 2022, and 12 votes are required for induction.
Personal life
Clemens married Debra Lynn Godfrey (born May 27, 1963) on November 24, 1984. The couple has four sons: Koby Aaron, Kory Allen, Kacy Austin, and Kody Alec—all given "K" names to honor Clemens's strikeouts ("K's"). Koby was at one time a minor league prospect for some MLB clubs. Kacy played college baseball for the Texas Longhorns and was drafted by the Blue Jays in the eighth round of the 2017 Major League Baseball draft. Kacy is an infielder who is currently a free agent. Kody also played college baseball for the Texas Longhorns and was drafted 79th overall by the Detroit Tigers in the third round of the 2018 Major League Baseball draft.
Debra once left a Red Sox game, when Clemens pitched for another team, in tears from the heckling she received. This is documented in an updated later edition to Dan Shaughnessy's best-selling book, Curse of the Bambino. Debra also was quoted in the book as stating that it was the poor attitude of Red Sox fans that prevented the team from ever winning the World Series (this was quoted prior to the Red Sox' 2004 World Series victory).
Clemens is a member of the Republican Party and donated money to Texas congressman Ted Poe during his 2006 campaign.
Debra posed in a bikini with her husband for a Sports Illustrated pictorial regarding athletes and their wives. This appeared in the annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition'' for 2003. Roger wore his Yankees uniform, with the jersey open.
On February 27, 2006, to train for the World Baseball Classic, Roger pitched in an exhibition game between the Astros and his son's minor league team. In his first at-bat, Koby hit a home run off his father. In his next at-bat, Roger threw an inside pitch that almost hit Koby. Koby laughed in an interview after the game about the incident.
See also
Houston Astros award winners and league leaders
List of Boston Red Sox award winners
List of Boston Red Sox team records
List of Major League Baseball annual shutout leaders
List of Major League Baseball career hit batsmen leaders
List of Major League Baseball career wins leaders
List of Major League Baseball players named in the Mitchell Report
List of Major League Baseball single-game strikeout leaders
List of people from Dayton, Ohio
List of Toronto Blue Jays team records
List of University of Texas at Austin alumni
Major League Baseball titles leaders
Toronto Blue Jays award winners and league leaders
References
External links
Roger Clemens Foundation
1962 births
Living people
American expatriate baseball players in Canada
American League All-Stars
American League ERA champions
American League Most Valuable Player Award winners
American League Pitching Triple Crown winners
American League strikeout champions
American League wins champions
American people of German descent
Baseball players from Dayton, Ohio
Boston Red Sox players
Bridgeport Bluefish guest managers
Corpus Christi Hooks players
Cy Young Award winners
Houston Astros players
Lexington Legends players
Major League Baseball All-Star Game MVPs
Major League Baseball controversies
Major League Baseball pitchers
National League All-Stars
National League ERA champions
New Britain Red Sox players
New York Yankees players
Norwich Navigators players
Pawtucket Red Sox players
People from Vandalia, Ohio
Round Rock Express players
San Jacinto Central Ravens baseball players
Sarasota Red Sox players
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees players
Sugar Land Skeeters players
Tampa Yankees players
Texas Longhorns baseball players
Texas Republicans
Trenton Thunder players
Toronto Blue Jays players
Winter Haven Red Sox players
World Baseball Classic players of the United States
2006 World Baseball Classic players | false | [
"Kody Clemens (born May 15, 1996) is an American professional baseball second baseman in the Detroit Tigers organization. Clemens was selected by the Detroit Tigers with the 79th overall pick of the 2018 Major League Baseball draft. He played college baseball for the Texas Longhorns. Clemens is the son of former MLB pitcher Roger Clemens.\n\nCareer\nClemens attended Memorial High School in Houston, Texas. Playing for the school's baseball team, he batted .553 during his senior season. He was named first team all-district selection in 2013 and was a Perfect Game Honorable Mention for high school in 2013 and 2014. He committed to the University of Texas at Austin to play college baseball for the Texas Longhorns\n\nAs a freshman in 2016, batted with a .242 batting average and five home runs. As a sophomore in 2017, Clemens underwent Tommy John surgery. However, Clemens did play as the team's designated hitter. Clemens had a breakout junior season batting .352 with 23 home runs. These stats even earned him Big 12 player of the week. On June 7, 2018, Clemens was named a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award and the Dick Howser Trophy.\n\nThe Detroit Tigers selected Clemens with the 79th overall pick in the 2018 Major League Baseball draft. He received a $600,000 signing bonus and made his professional debut with the West Michigan Whitecaps of the Class A Midwest League. He was promoted to the Lakeland Flying Tigers of the Class A-Advanced Florida State League in August. In 52 total games between the two clubs, Clemens slashed .288/.365/.450 with five home runs and 20 RBIs.\n\nClemens began 2019 with Lakeland before being promoted to the Erie SeaWolves at the end of the season. Over 128 games between both teams, he batted .231/.310/.397 with 12 home runs and 63 RBIs.\n\nIn July 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Clemens signed on to play for Team Texas of the Constellation Energy League, a makeshift four-team independent league, for the season. He was subsequently named MVP of his team.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nTexas Longhorns bio\n\n1996 births\nLiving people\nBaseball players from Houston\nBaseball second basemen\nTexas Longhorns baseball players\nWest Michigan Whitecaps players\nLakeland Flying Tigers players\nErie SeaWolves players\nAll-American college baseball players\nMemorial High School (Hedwig Village, Texas) alumni",
"Christian Clemens (; born 4 August 1991) is a German professional footballer who plays as a winger for Ekstraklasa side Lechia Gdańsk.\n\nClub career\n\n1. FC Köln\nClemens started his career with SC Weiler-Volkhoven, joined 1. FC Köln at the age of ten and progressed through the club's youth system. In July 2009, he was promoted to the 1.FC Köln II.\n\nAfter previously been called up the first team as an unused substitute in the last game of the season against Nürnberg in the 2009–10 season, Clemens made his first-team debut in a 1–0 win against FC St. Pauli. Following the match, Goal.com praised Clemens' debut, having \"switched off from the midfield several times on the offensive, unsettled the Pauli four-chain.\" Clemens quickly got involved in the first team in number of matches as the season goes by. On 11 December 2010, he scored his first goal for the club in a 1–0 win against Eintracht Frankfurt. Clemens then scored his second goal for the club on 5 February 2011, in a 3–2 win over Bayern Munich. Clemens' performance in his first season at the club earned him a contract extension on 30 March 2011. Despite suffering from an injury, relating to the stress response of the bone that kept him out for the rest of the season, Clemens finished the 2010–11 season, making thirty appearances and scoring two times in all competitions.\n\nIn the 2011–12 season, Clemens returned to the first team when he made his first appearance since returning from injury, in a 5–1 loss against Schalke 04 on 13 August 2011. Weeks later, Clemens scored his first goal of the season on 27 August 2011, in a 4–3 win over Hamburger SV. He started the season, coming on as a substitute, in number of matches, which he acknowledged. Clemens then scored, as well as, setting up one of the goals, in a 3–2 loss against Werder Bremen on 5 November 2011; then scoring twice on 10 December 2011, in a 4–0 win over Freiburg. It was not until 10 March 2012 when he scored his fifth goal of the season, in a 1–0 win over Hertha BSC. However, Clemens was unable to help the club avoid relegation to 2. Bundesliga next season. Despite this, Clemens finished the 2011–12 season, making thirty-three appearances and scoring two times in all competitions.\n\nFollowing the club's relegation to 2. Bundesliga, Clemens missed the 2012–13 season, due to a ruptured intramuscular ligament initiation in the ankle during a friendly match against Heerenveen. It was not until on 27 August 2012 when he made his first appearance of the season, in a 2–0 loss against Erzgebirge Aue. After missing out one match, Clemens scored on his return, in a 3–3 draw against Kaiserslautern on 26 October 2012. From 10 December 2012 to 3 March 2013, Clemens scored five goals in eight matches in all competitions, including goals against Eintracht Braunschweig, Stuttgart and St. Pauli. Clemens' performance later in the 2012–13 season earned him Player of the Month on three occasion. Clemens went on to make thirty-three appearances and scoring seven times in all competitions. For his performance the whole season, Clemens was awarded the club's Player of the Year Award.\n\nFollowing the end of the 2012–13 season, Clemens was linked with a move to Schalke 04 for the 2013–14 Bundesliga season. It was later revealed that he has an exit clause that allows him to leave the club. With his departure increasingly slim, Clemens played his last home again for the club, where he scored in a 2–1 loss against Hertha BC on 12 May 2013. Clemens' move to Schalke 04 was confirmed on 17 June 2013.\n\nSchalke 04\nOn 17 June 2013, Schalke 04 confirmed that Christian Clemens had signed a 4-year professional contract with them until 30 June 2017. The transfer fee is reported as €3,000,000 by the S04 Sport and Communications manager Horst Heldt. Upon joining the club, Clemens was assigned a number 11 shirt, previously worn by Ibrahim Afellay.\n\nClemens made his debut for the club, in the opening game of the season, where he played the whole game and set up one of the goals, in a 3–3 draw against Hamburger SV. In the second round of DFB-Pokal, Clemens set one of the goals, in a 3–1 win over Darmstadt 98 to progress to the next round. Clemens remained in the first team at the start of the season until he suffered a strain on his muscle thigh. Clemens returned to the first team from injury on 7 December 2013, in a 2–1 loss against Borussia Mönchengladbach. However, Clemens suffered a stubborn palsy problems that kept him out for the rest of the season.\n\nAhead of the 2014–15 season, Clemens continued to recover from his injury, but suffered a muscle fiber tears in the pre-season. Soon, he began to recover quickly the following month and made his first appearance on 18 August 2014, in the first round of DFB-Pokal, with a 2–1 loss against Dynamo Dresden. However, Clemens struggled to regain his first team place since returning from injury at Schalke 04.\n\nMainz 05\nOn 6 January 2015, Clemens left Schalke 04 to join Bundesliga's rival Mainz 05 on loan, until the end of the 2015–16 season. The move also includes an option to sign him on a permanent basis.\n\nClemens made his Mainz 05 debut on 31 January 2015, where he played the whole game, in a 5–0 win over Paderborn. Clemens then scored his first goal for the club on 21 February 2015, in a 3–1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt. However, Clemens suffered injuries that kept him out throughout March and April. It was not until on 9 May 2015 when he made his first team return as a late substitute, in a 2–0 loss against Stuttgart. Despite injuries, Clemens finished the season, making ten appearances and scoring once in all competitions.\n\nIn the 2015–16 season, Clemens started the season well when he scored in the first round of DFL Pokal, as well as, setting up one of the goals, in a 3–1 win over Energie Cottbus and did the same thing weeks later on 23 August 2015, in a 2–1 win over Borussia Mönchengladbach. After suffering a plantar fascia that kept him out throughout October, Clemens returned and then scored his second goal on 5 December 2015, in a 3–1 win over Hamburger SV. He later scored three more goals later in the season, including a brace against Augsburg on 2 April 2016, which saw them win 4–2. Clemens finished the 2015–16 season, making twenty-nine appearances and scoring six times in all competitions.\n\nFollowing this, Clemens joined the club on a permanent basis, keeping him until 2019 on 29 April 2016. Clemens hinted that he could leave the club in the summer. However, Clemens struggled to regained his first team since joining the club on a permanent basis, due to injuries and made six appearances in all competitions.\n\nReturn to 1. FC Köln\nOn 21 December 2016, Clemens joined 1. FC Köln for the second time, keeping him until 2021, where he will join up the club on 1 January 2017.\n\nIn a friendly match against Bochum on 7 January 2017, Clemens scored in a 1–0 win. After the match, Clemens' performance was praised by Manager Peter Stöger. He re-debut for the club in his second spell at 1. FC Köln, where he started the match, in a 0–0 draw against Mainz 05 on 22 January 2017. It was not until on 8 April 2017 when he scored in his second spell with the club, in a 3–2 loss against Borussia Mönchengladbach. Towards the end of the 2016–17 season, Clemens fought for his first team place since arriving in January and at occasions, he appeared on the substitute bench as a result. He went on to make fourteen appearances and scoring once for the side.\n\nIn the 2017–18 season, Clemens missed the first two matches, due to failing to make it in the starting eleven. He made his first appearance of the season, where he started the match, in a 3–1 loss against Hamburger SV on 25 August 2017. However, he spent two months on the sideline, due to failing to make it in the starting eleven and his own injury concerns. It was not until on 25 October 2017 when he scored his first goal of the season, in a 3–1 win over Hertha BSC in the second round of DFB–Pokal. By December, he soon began to have more playing time, mostly coming on as a substitute. This works out as he helped the side beat Wolfsburg 1–0 to give the side their first win of the season. Towards the end of the 2017–18 season, Clemens, once again, was plagued with injuries. Shortly after sustaining another injury in April, the club was ultimately relegated to 2.Bundesliga for next season. At the end of the 2017–18 season, Clemens went on to make twenty appearances and scoring two times in all competitions.\n\nIn the 2018–19 season, with the club playing in the 2.Bundesliga, Clemens started the season well when he set up two goals, in a 2–0 win over VfL Bochum in the opening game of the season. In a follow up match against Union Berlin on 13 August 2018, he scored his first goal of the season, in a 1–1 draw.\n\nDarmstadt 98\nOn 15 January 2021, Köln announced that the club had agreed to release Clemens from his contract and that he would join SV Darmstadt 98 with immediate effect.\n\nLechia Gdańsk\nAfter leaving Darmstadt at the end of July 2021, he remained a free agent for over six months. On 3 February 2022, he signed his first contract abroad when he joined Polish Ekstraklasa club Lechia Gdańsk on a year-and-a-half deal.\n\nInternational career\nClemens previously played for several Germany national youth football teams. He started out on 16 February 2007 when made his Germany U16 debut, coming on as a second half substitute, in a 2–2 draw against Czech Republic U16. Clemens went on to make seven appearances for the Germany U16 side.\n\nAfter represented the Germany U17 side, Clemens made his Germany U18 debut on 18 November 2008 against Austria U18, where Germany U18 won 4–0. He didn't score his first goal for the U18 side until on 26 March 2009, in a 3–2 win over France U18. He went on to make ten appearances and scoring three times for the U17 side.\n\nClemens made his Germany U19 debut on 7 October 2009, where he scored the national side third goal, in a 3–0 win over Luxembourg U19. He went on to make five appearances and scoring twice for the U19 side.\n\nOn 6 September 2010, Clemens was called up by Germany U20 for the first time and on 6 September 2010 Clemens made his debut for the Germany U-20 national football team in a 3–2 victory over Switzerland in which Clemens also scored his first goal for the Germany U-20 national football team. It was not until August 2011 when he returned to the U20 squad and scored his first goal in almost twelve months for the side, in a 4–2 win over Poland U20 on 31 August 2011.\n\nOn 6 February 2011, Clemens received his first call-up to the Germany U-21 national football team for a match against the Greece U-21 national football team. On 9 February 2011, Clemens debuted for the Germany U-21 national football team in a friendly match against the Greece U-21 national football team, which saw them draw 0–0. Two years later, on 24 March 2013, Clemens was called by the Germany U21 once again and played 29 minutes after coming on as a substitute in the second half, in a 2–1 win over Israel U21. In the summer of 2013, Clemens was called by the U21 side once again for 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship and went on to make three appearances for the side, although they were eliminated in the Group Stage.\n\nStyle of play\nClemens is mainly deployed as a winger and utilized on the left or right flanks on the football pitch; but Clemens can also be deployed as a second striker. Clemens himself sees his strengths on the flanks of the football pitch. Clemens possesses accurate heading and shooting of the ball, great agility and endurance, physical strength, rapid acceleration and speed. Clemens is a dummy specialist and a silky dribbler which Clemens utilizes to bamboozle opposition defenders in one-on-one situations with ease.\n\nPersonal life\nClemens has a younger brother, Michael Clemens, who plays for 1. FC Köln II. He was romantically involved with Lynn Mester from Bayer 04 Leverkusen.\n\nCareer statistics\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\n1991 births\nLiving people\nFootballers from Cologne\nAssociation football wingers\nAssociation football forwards\nGerman footballers\nGermany youth international footballers\nGermany under-21 international footballers\nBundesliga players\n2. Bundesliga players\n1. FC Köln players\n1. FC Köln II players\nFC Schalke 04 players\n1. FSV Mainz 05 players\nSV Darmstadt 98 players\nLechia Gdańsk players\nGerman expatriate footballers\nExpatriate footballers in Poland\nGerman expatriate sportspeople in Poland"
] |
[
"Roger Clemens",
"Boston Red Sox",
"What year did he play for Boston Red Sox?",
"1986",
"Did he win any awards while playing that year?",
"I don't know.",
"Did the team have many wins when Clemens was part of the team?",
"Clemens returned to the mound for Game 6, which would have clinched the World Series for the Boston Red Sox.",
"Do it list some players that Clemens played with in the league?",
"I don't know.",
"What was Clemens role on the team like what position did he play?",
"Clemens returned to the mound"
] | C_0d846a1614904fcf97343b0d8d340347_0 | What did play in the league? | 6 | What did Roger Clemens play in the league? | Roger Clemens | In the 1986 American League Championship Series, Clemens pitched poorly in the opening game, watched the Boston bullpen blow his 3-0 lead in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 4, and then pitched a strong Game 7 to wrap up the series for Boston. The 1986 ALCS clincher was Clemens' first postseason career victory. He did not win his second until 13 years later. After a bad start in Game 2 of the 1986 World Series, Clemens returned to the mound for Game 6, which would have clinched the World Series for the Boston Red Sox. Clemens left the game after 7 innings leading 3-2, but the Red Sox went on to lose the game in the 10th inning, and subsequently, the championship. Clemens' departure was highly debated and remains a bone of contention among the participants. Red Sox manager John McNamara claimed Clemens took himself out due to a blister, though Clemens strongly denies that. Clemens greatest postseason failure came in the second inning of the final game of the 1990 ALCS against the Oakland Athletics, when he was ejected for arguing balls and strikes with umpire Terry Cooney, accentuating the A's three-game sweep of the Red Sox. He was suspended for the first five games of the 1991 season and fined $10,000. Clemens had two other playoff no-decisions, in 1988 and 1995, both occurring while Boston was being swept. Clemens' overall postseason record with Boston was 1-2 with a 3.88 ERA, and 45 strikeouts and 19 walks in 56 innings. CANNOTANSWER | American League | William Roger Clemens (born August 4, 1962), nicknamed "Rocket", is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 24 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily with the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees. Clemens was one of the most dominant pitchers in major league history, tallying 354 wins, a 3.12 earned run average (ERA), and 4,672 strikeouts, the third-most all time. An 11-time All-Star and two-time World Series champion, he won seven Cy Young Awards during his career, more than any other pitcher in history. Clemens was known for his fierce competitive nature and hard-throwing pitching style, which he used to intimidate batters.
Clemens debuted in MLB in 1984 with the Red Sox, whose pitching staff he anchored for 12 years. In 1986, he won the American League (AL) Cy Young Award, the AL Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award, and the All-Star Game MVP Award, and he struck out an MLB-record 20 batters in a single game. After the 1996 season, in which he achieved his second 20-strikeout performance, Clemens left Boston via free agency and joined the Toronto Blue Jays. In each of his two seasons with Toronto, Clemens won a Cy Young Award, as well as the pitching triple crown by leading the league in wins, ERA, and strikeouts. Prior to the 1999 season, Clemens was traded to the Yankees where he won his two World Series titles. In 2001, Clemens became the first pitcher in major league history to start a season with a win-loss record of 20–1. In 2003, he reached his 300th win and 4,000th strikeout in the same game. Clemens left for the Houston Astros in 2004, where he spent three seasons and won his seventh Cy Young Award. He rejoined the Yankees in 2007 for one last season before retiring. He is the only pitcher in Major League history to record over 350 wins and strike out over 4,500 batters.
Clemens was alleged by the Mitchell Report to have used anabolic steroids during his late career, mainly based on testimony given by his former trainer, Brian McNamee. Clemens firmly denied these allegations under oath before the United States Congress, leading congressional leaders to refer his case to the Justice Department on suspicions of perjury. On August 19, 2010, a federal grand jury at the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., indicted Clemens on six felony counts involving perjury, false statements and Contempt of Congress. Clemens pleaded not guilty, but proceedings were complicated by prosecutorial misconduct, leading to a mistrial. The verdict from his second trial came in June 2012, when Clemens was found not guilty on all six counts of lying to Congress. These controversies hurt his chances for election to the Baseball Hall of Fame. He never received the 75% of the votes required in his ten years of eligibility, ending with 65.2% in 2022.
Early life
Clemens was born in Dayton, Ohio, the fifth child of Bill and Bess (Lee) Clemens. He is of German descent, his great-grandfather Joseph Clemens having immigrated in the 1880s. Clemens's parents separated when he was an infant. His mother soon married Woody Booher, whom Clemens considers his father. Booher died when Clemens was nine years old, and Clemens has said that the only time he ever felt envious of other players was when he saw them in the clubhouse with their fathers. Clemens lived in Vandalia, Ohio, until 1977, and then spent most of his high school years in Houston, Texas. At Spring Woods High School, Clemens played baseball for longtime head coach Charles Maiorana and also played football and basketball. He was scouted by the Philadelphia Phillies and Minnesota Twins during his senior year, but opted to go to college.
Collegiate career
He began his college career pitching for San Jacinto College North in 1981, where he was 9–2. The New York Mets selected Clemens in the 12th round of the 1981 Major League Baseball draft, but he did not sign. He then attended the University of Texas at Austin, compiling a 25–7 record in two All-American seasons, and was on the mound when the Longhorns won the 1983 College World Series. He became the first player to have his baseball uniform number retired at the University of Texas. In 2004, the Rotary Smith Award, given to America's best college baseball player, was changed to the Roger Clemens Award, honoring the best pitcher.
At Texas, Clemens pitched 35 consecutive scoreless innings, an NCAA record that stood until Justin Pope broke it in 2001.
Professional career
Boston Red Sox (1984–1996)
Clemens was selected in the first round (19th overall) of the 1983 MLB draft by the Boston Red Sox and quickly rose through the minor league system, making his MLB debut on May 15, 1984. An undiagnosed torn labrum threatened to end his career early; he underwent successful arthroscopic surgery by Dr. James Andrews.
In 1986, Clemens won the American League MVP award, finishing with a 24–4 record, 2.48 ERA, and 238 strikeouts. Clemens started the 1986 All-Star Game in the Astrodome and was named the Most Valuable Player of the contest by throwing three perfect innings and striking out two. He also won the first of his seven Cy Young Awards. When Hank Aaron said that pitchers should not be eligible for the MVP, Clemens responded: "I wish he were still playing. I'd probably crack his head open to show him how valuable I was." Clemens was the only starting pitcher since Vida Blue in 1971 to win a league MVP award until Justin Verlander won the award in 2011.
On April 29, 1986, Clemens became the first pitcher in MLB history to strike out 20 batters in a nine-inning game, against the Seattle Mariners at Boston's Fenway Park. Following his performance, Clemens made the cover of Sports Illustrated which carried the headline "Lord of the K's [strikeouts]." Other than Clemens, only Kerry Wood and Max Scherzer have matched the total. (Randy Johnson fanned 20 batters in nine innings on May 8, 2001. However, as the game went into extra innings, it is not categorized as occurring in a nine-inning game. Tom Cheney holds the record for any game: 21 strikeouts in 16 innings.) Clemens attributes his switch from what he calls a "thrower" to a "pitcher" to the partial season Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver spent with the Red Sox in 1986.
Facing the California Angels in the 1986 ALCS, Clemens pitched poorly in the opening game, watched the Boston bullpen blow his 3–1 lead in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 4, and then pitched a strong Game 7 to wrap up the series for Boston. The League Championship Series clincher was Clemens's first postseason career victory. He did not win his second until 13 years later. After a victory in game five, Boston led 3 games to 2 over the New York Mets in the 1986 World Series with Clemens set to start game six at Shea Stadium. Clemens who was pitching on five days rest started strong by striking out eight while throwing a no-hitter through four innings. In the top of eighth and with Boston ahead 3–2, manager John McNamara sent rookie Mike Greenwell to pinch hit for Roger Clemens. It was initially said that Clemens was removed from the game due to a blister forming on one of his fingers, but both he and McNamara dispute this. Clemens said to Bob Costas on an MLB Network program concerning the 1986 postseason that McNamara decided to pull him despite Clemens wanting to pitch. McNamara said to Costas that Clemens "begged out" of the game. The Mets rallied and took both game six and seven to win the World Series.
The Red Sox had a miserable 1987 season, finishing at 78–84, though Clemens won his second consecutive Cy Young Award with a 20–9 record, 2.97 ERA, 256 strikeouts, and seven shutouts. He was the first AL pitcher with back-to-back 20-win seasons since Tommy John won 20 with the Yankees in 1979 and '80. Boston rebounded with success in 1988 and 1990, clinching the AL East Division each year, but were swept by the Oakland Athletics in each ALCS matchup. His greatest postseason failure came in the second inning of the final game of the 1990 ALCS, when he was ejected for arguing balls and strikes with umpire Terry Cooney, accentuating the A's four-game sweep of the Red Sox. He was suspended for the first five games of the 1991 season and fined $10,000.
Clemens led the American League in 1988 with 291 strikeouts and a career-high 8 shutouts. On September 10, 1988, Clemens threw a one-hitter against the Cleveland Indians at Fenway Park. Dave Clark's one-out single in the eighth inning was the only hit Clemens allowed in the game. In a 9–1 victory over Cleveland on April 13, 1989, Clemens recorded his 1,000 career strikeout by fanning Brook Jacoby with the bases loaded in the second inning. Clemens finished second to Oakland's Bob Welch for the 1990 AL Cy Young Award, despite the fact that Clemens crushed Welch in ERA (1.93 to 2.95), strikeouts (209 to 127), walks (54 to 77), home runs allowed (7 to 26), and WAR (10.4 to 2.9). Clemens did, however, capture his third Cy Young Award in 1991 with an 18–10 record, 2.62 ERA, and 241 strikeouts. On June 21, 1989, Clemens surrendered the first of 609 home runs in the career of Sammy Sosa.
Clemens accomplished the 20-strikeout feat twice, the only player ever to do so. The second performance came more than 10 years later, on September 18, 1996, against the Detroit Tigers at Tiger Stadium. This second 20-K day occurred in his third-to-last game as a member of the Boston Red Sox. Later, the Tigers presented him with a baseball containing the autographs of each batter who had struck out (those with multiple strikeouts signed the appropriate number of times).
The Red Sox did not re-sign Clemens following the 1996 season, despite leading the A.L. with 257 strikeouts and offering him "by far the most money ever offered to a player in the history of the Red Sox franchise." General Manager Dan Duquette remarked that he "hoped to keep him in Boston during the twilight of his career", but Clemens left and signed with the Toronto Blue Jays.
The emphasis on the misquoted 1996 "twilight" comment took on a life of its own following Clemens's post-Boston successes, and Duquette was vilified for letting the star pitcher go. Ultimately, Clemens would go on to have a record of 162–73 for the rest of his career after leaving the Red Sox.
Clemens recorded 192 wins and 38 shutouts for the Red Sox, both tied with Cy Young for the franchise record and is their all-time strikeout leader with 2,590. Clemens's overall postseason record with Boston was 1–2 with a 3.88 ERA, and 45 strikeouts, and 19 walks in 56 innings. No Red Sox player has worn his uniform #21 since Clemens left the team in the 1996–97 offseason.
Toronto Blue Jays (1997–1998)
Clemens signed a four-year, $40 million deal with the Toronto Blue Jays after the 1996 season. In his first start in Fenway Park as a member of the Blue Jays, he pitched eight innings allowing only 4 hits and 1 earned run. 16 of his 24 outs were strikeouts, and every batter who faced him struck out at least once. As he left the field following his last inning of work, he stared up angrily towards the owner's box.
Clemens was dominant in his two seasons with the Blue Jays, winning the pitching Triple Crown and the Cy Young Award in both seasons (1997: 21–7 record, 2.05 ERA, and 292 strikeouts; 1998: 20–6 record, 2.65 ERA, and 271 strikeouts). After the 1998 season, Clemens asked to be traded, indicating that he did not believe the Blue Jays would be competitive enough the following year and that he was dedicated to winning a championship.
New York Yankees (1999–2003)
Clemens was traded to the New York Yankees before the 1999 season for David Wells, Homer Bush, and Graeme Lloyd. Since his longtime uniform number #21 was in use by teammate Paul O'Neill, Clemens initially wore #12, before switching mid-season to #22.
Clemens made an immediate impact on the Yankees' staff, anchoring the top of the rotation as the team went on to win a pair of World Series titles in 1999 and 2000. During the 1999 regular season, Clemens posted a 14–10 record with a 4.60 ERA. He logged a pair of wins in the postseason, though he lost Game 3 of the 1999 ALCS in a matchup against Red Sox ace Pedro Martínez, which was the Yankees' only loss in the 1999 playoffs. Clemens pitched 7.2 innings of 1-run baseball during the Yankees' game 4 clincher over the Atlanta Braves. Clemens followed up with a strong 2000 season, in which he finished with a 13–8 record with a 3.70 ERA for the regular season. During the 2000 postseason, he helped the Yankees win their third consecutive championship. Clemens set the ALCS record for strikeouts in a game when he fanned 15 batters in a one-hit shutout of the Seattle Mariners in Game 4 of the ALCS. A seventh-inning lead-off double by Seattle's Al Martin was all that prevented Clemens from throwing what was, at the time, only the second no-hitter in postseason history. In Game 2 of the 2000 World Series, Clemens pitched eight scoreless innings against the New York Mets.
In 2001, Clemens became the first pitcher in MLB history to start a season 20–1 (finishing 20–3) and winning his sixth Cy Young Award. As of the 2020 season, he is the last Yankee pitcher to win the Cy Young Award. Clemens started for the Yankees in Game 7 of the 2001 World Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, where he dueled Curt Schilling to a standstill after 6 innings, yielding only one run. The Diamondbacks went on to win the game in the 9th.
Early in 2003, Clemens announced his retirement, effective at the end of that season. On June 13, 2003, pitching against the St. Louis Cardinals in Yankee Stadium, Clemens recorded his 300th career win and 4,000th career strikeout, the only player in history to record both milestones in the same game. The 300th win came on his fourth try; the Yankee bullpen had blown his chance of a win in his previous two attempts. He became the 21st pitcher ever to record 300 wins and the third ever to record 4,000 strikeouts. His career record upon reaching the milestones was 300–155. Clemens finished the season with a 17–9 record and a 3.91 ERA.
The end of Clemens's 2003 season became a series of public farewells met with appreciative cheering. His last games in each AL park were given extra attention, particularly his final regular-season appearance in Fenway Park, when despite wearing the uniform of the hated arch-rival, he was afforded a standing ovation by Red Sox fans as he left the field. (This spectacle was repeated when the Yankees ended up playing the Red Sox in the 2003 ALCS and Clemens got a second "final start" in his original stadium.) As part of a tradition of manager Joe Torre, Clemens was chosen to manage the Yankees' last game of the regular season. Clemens made one start in the World Series against the Florida Marlins; when he left trailing 3–1 after seven innings, the Marlins left their dugout to give him a standing ovation.
Houston Astros (2004–2006)
Clemens came out of retirement, signing a one-year deal with his adopted hometown Houston Astros on January 12, 2004, joining close friend and former Yankees teammate Andy Pettitte. On May 5, 2004, Clemens recorded his 4,137th career strikeout to place him second on the all-time list behind Nolan Ryan. He was named the starter for the National League All-Star team but ultimately was the losing pitcher in that game after allowing six runs on five hits, including a three-run home run to Alfonso Soriano. Clemens finished the season with an 18–4 record, and was awarded his seventh Cy Young Award, becoming the oldest player ever to win the Cy Young at age 42. This made him one of six pitchers to win the award in both leagues, joining Gaylord Perry, Pedro Martínez, and Randy Johnson and later joined by Roy Halladay and Max Scherzer. Clemens was the losing pitcher for the Astros in Game Seven of the 2004 NLCS against the St. Louis Cardinals, allowing four runs in six innings. Although he pitched well, he tired in the sixth inning, surrendering all four runs.
Clemens again decided to put off retirement before the 2005 season after the Houston Astros offered salary arbitration. The Astros submitted an offer of $13.5 million, and Clemens countered with a record $22 million demand. On January 21, 2005, both sides agreed on a one-year, $18,000,022 contract, thus avoiding arbitration. The deal gave Clemens the highest yearly salary earned by a pitcher in MLB history.
Clemens's 2005 season ended as one of the finest he had ever posted. His 1.87 ERA was the lowest in the major leagues, the lowest of his 22-season career, and the lowest by any National Leaguer since Greg Maddux in 1995. He finished with a 13–8 record, with his lower win total primarily due to the fact that he ranked near the bottom of the major leagues in run support. The Astros scored an average of only 3.5 runs per game in games in which he was the pitcher of record. The Astros were shut out nine times in Clemens's 32 starts, and failed to score in a 10th until after Clemens was out of the game. The Astros lost five of Clemens's starts by scores of 1–0. In April, Clemens did not allow a run in three consecutive starts. However, the Astros lost all three of those starts by a 1–0 score in extra innings.
Clemens won an emotional start on September 15, following his mother's death that morning. In his final start of the 2005 season, Clemens got his 4,500th strikeout. On October 9, 2005, Clemens made his first relief appearance since 1984, entering as a pinch hitter in the 15th, then pitching three innings to get the win as the Astros defeated the Atlanta Braves in Game 4 of the NLDS. It is the longest postseason game in MLB history at 18 innings. Clemens lasted only two innings in Game 1 of the 2005 World Series, and the Astros went on to be swept by the Chicago White Sox. It was the Astros' first World Series appearance. Clemens had aggravated a hamstring pull that had limited his performance since at least September.
Clemens said that he would retire again after the World Series but he wanted to represent the United States in the inaugural World Baseball Classic, which would be played in March 2006. He went 1–1 in the tournament, with a 2.08 ERA, striking out 10 batters in innings. After pitching in a second-round loss to Mexico that eliminated the United States, Clemens began considering a return to the major leagues. On May 31, 2006, following another extended period of speculation, it was announced that Clemens was coming out of retirement for the third time to pitch for the Astros for the remainder of the 2006 season. Clemens signed a contract worth $22,000,022 (his uniform number #22). Since Clemens did not play a full season, he received a prorated percentage of that: approximately $12.25 million. Clemens made his return on June 22, 2006, against the Minnesota Twins, losing to their rookie phenom, Francisco Liriano, 4–2. For the second year in a row, his win total did not match his performance, as he finished the season with a 7–6 record, a 2.30 ERA, and a 1.04 WHIP. However, Clemens averaged just under 6 innings in his starts and never pitched into the eighth.
Return to the Yankees (2007)
Clemens unexpectedly appeared in the owner's box at Yankee Stadium on May 6, 2007, during the seventh-inning stretch of a game against the Seattle Mariners, and made a brief statement: "Thank y'all. Well they came and got me out of Texas, and uhh, I can tell you it's a privilege to be back. I'll be talkin' to y'all soon." It was simultaneously announced that Clemens had rejoined the Yankees roster, agreeing to a pro-rated one-year deal worth $28,000,022, or about $4.7 million per month. Over the contract life, he would make $18.7 million. This equated to just over $1 million per start that season.
Clemens made his 2007 return on June 9, defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates by pitching six innings with seven strikeouts and three runs allowed. On June 21, with a single in the 5th inning against the Colorado Rockies, Clemens became the oldest New York Yankee to record a hit (44 years, 321 days). On June 24, Clemens pitched an inning in relief against the San Francisco Giants. It had been 22 years and 341 days since his previous regular-season relief appearance, the longest such gap in major league history. On July 2, Clemens collected his 350th win against the Minnesota Twins at Yankee Stadium, giving up just two hits and one run over eight innings. Clemens is one of only three pitchers to pitch his entire career in the live-ball era and reach 350 wins. The other two are Warren Spahn (whose catcher for his 350th win was Joe Torre, Clemens's manager for his 350th), and Greg Maddux, who earned his 350th win in 2008. His final regular-season appearance was a start against the Red Sox at Fenway Park, in which he allowed two hits and one unearned run in six innings, and received a no-decision. Clemens finished the 2007 regular season with a record of 6–6 and a 4.18 ERA.
Clemens was forced to leave Game 3 of the 2007 ALDS in the third inning after aggravating a hamstring injury. He struck out Victor Martinez of the Cleveland Indians with his final pitch, and was replaced by right-hander Phil Hughes. Yankees manager Joe Torre removed Clemens from the roster due to his injury, and replaced him with left-hander Ron Villone. Clemens's overall postseason record with the Yankees was 7–4 with a 2.97 ERA, 98 strikeouts and 35 walks in 102 innings.
Pitching appearances after retirement
On August 20, 2012, Clemens signed with the Sugar Land Skeeters of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. He made his debut for the Skeeters against the Bridgeport Bluefish on August 25, 2012, in front of a crowd of 7,724. It was the first time the 50-year-old had taken the mound in almost five years. Clemens pitched scoreless innings and struck out two: former major leaguers Joey Gathright and Prentice Redman. He also retired Luis Figueroa, who played briefly with the Pirates, Blue Jays and the Giants. Clemens allowed only one hit and no walks on 37 pitches in the Skeeters' 1–0 victory. Clemens made his second start for the Skeeters on September 7 against the Long Island Ducks. He pitched scoreless innings, with his son, Koby, as his catcher. He retired former New York Met outfielder Timo Perez for the final out in the fourth inning, and was named the winning pitcher by the official scorer. Clemens's fastball was clocked as high as 88 mph, and the Astros sent scouts to both of his outings with the Skeeters in consideration of a possible return to the team that season.
Roger Clemens joined the Kansas Stars, a group of 24 retired major leaguers and his son Koby, to compete in the 2016 National Baseball Congress World Series. The team was put together by Kansas natives Adam LaRoche and Nate Robertson, and featured eleven former All-Stars, including Tim Hudson, Roy Oswalt, and J. D. Drew as well as Clemens. Pitching just six days after his 54th birthday, Clemens started for the Kansas Stars in a game against the NJCAA National Team on August 10, 2016. He pitched innings, allowing 3 runs with one strikeout in an 11–10 loss. On August 22, 2019, Clemens wore his Red Sox uniform and pitched in the Abbot Financial Management Oldtime Baseball Game, an annual charity event held at St. Peter's Field in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The 2019 game benefitted Compassionate Care ALS, in memory of longtime Fenway Park supervisor John Welch, who died from Lou Gehrig's Disease in December 2018. Facing mostly young college players, Clemens pitched two shutout innings in the game, then moved to first base.
Pitching style
Clemens was a prototypical power pitcher with an aggressive edge for his entire career. This was especially the case when he was a young man. Clemens was said to throw "two pitches: a 98-mph fastball and a hard breaking ball. At 23, Clemens simply reared back and threw the ball past batters." Later in his career, Clemens developed a devastating split-finger fastball to use as an off-speed pitch in concert with his fastball. Clemens has jocularly referred to this pitch as "Mr. Splitty".
By the time Clemens retired from Major League Baseball in 2007, his four-seam fastball had settled in the 91–94 mph range. He also threw a two-seam fastball, a slider in the mid 80s, his hard splitter, and an occasional curveball. Clemens was a highly durable pitcher, leading the American League in complete games three times and innings pitched twice. His 18 complete games in 1987 is more than any pitcher has thrown since. Clemens was also known as a strikeout pitcher, leading the AL in K's five times and strikeouts per nine innings three times.
Controversies
Clemens has been the focal point of several controversies. His reputation has always been that of a pitcher unafraid to throw close to batters. Clemens led his league in hit batsmen only once, in 1995, but he was among the leaders in several other seasons. This tendency was more pronounced during his earlier career and subsequently tapered off. After the 2000 ALCS game against the Mariners where he knocked down future teammate Alex Rodriguez and then argued with him, Seattle Mariners manager Lou Piniella called Clemens a "headhunter." His beaning earlier that year of Mike Piazza, followed by throwing a broken-bat in Piazza's direction in the 2000 World Series, cemented Clemens's surly, unapologetic image in the minds of many. In 2009, former manager Cito Gaston publicly denounced Clemens as a "double-talker" and "a complete asshole". Clemens was ranked 14th all-time in hit batsmen after the 2020 season. 14th all time may be misleading, as his rate of hit batsmen per batter faced is not out of line with other pitchers of his era at 1 hit batsmen per 125 batters faced. Numbers reflect similar rate of hit batsmen to pitchers such as Nolan Ryan, Justin Verlander, Greg Maddux.
Clemens has attracted controversy over the years for his outspoken comments, such as his complaints about having to carry his own luggage through an airport and his criticism of Fenway Park for being a subpar facility. On April 4, 2006, Clemens made an insulting remark when asked about the devotion of Japanese and South Korean fans during the World Baseball Classic: "None of the dry cleaners were open, they were all at the game, Japan and Korea". Toward the end of his career, his annual on-and-off "retirements" revived a reputation for diva-like behavior.
Clemens has received criticism for getting special treatment from the teams that sign him. While playing for Houston, Clemens was not obliged to travel with the team on road trips if he was not pitching. His 2007 contract with the New York Yankees had a "family plan" clause that stipulated that he not be required to go on road trips in which he was not scheduled to pitch and allowed him to leave the team between starts to be with his family. These perks were publicly criticized by Yankee reliever Kyle Farnsworth. Most of Clemens's teammates, however, did not complain of such perks because of Clemens's success on the mound and valuable presence in the clubhouse. Yankee teammate Jason Giambi spoke for such players when he said, "I'd carry his bags for him, just as long as he is on the mound."
Steroid use accusations
In José Canseco's book, Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got Big, Canseco suggested that Clemens had expert knowledge about steroids and suggested that he used them, based on the improvement in his performance after leaving the Red Sox. While not addressing the allegations directly, Clemens stated: "I could care less about the rules" and "I've talked to some friends of his and I've teased them that when you're under house arrest and have ankle bracelets on, you have a lot of time to write a book."
Jason Grimsley named Clemens, as well as Andy Pettitte, as a user of performance-enhancing drugs. According to a 20-page search warrant affidavit signed by IRS Special Agent Jeff Novitzky, Grimsley told investigators he obtained amphetamines, anabolic steroids and human growth hormone from someone recommended to him by former Yankees trainer Brian McNamee. McNamee was a personal strength coach for Clemens and Pettitte, hired by Clemens in 1998. At the time of the Grimsley revelations, McNamee denied knowledge of steroid use by Clemens and Pettitte. Despite initial media reports, the affidavit made no mention of Clemens or Pettitte.
However, Clemens's name was mentioned 82 times in the Mitchell Report on steroid use in baseball. In the report, McNamee stated that during the 1998, 2000, and 2001 baseball seasons, he injected Clemens with Winstrol. Clemens's attorney Rusty Hardin denied the claims, calling McNamee "a troubled and unreliable witness" who has changed his story five times in an attempt to avoid criminal prosecution. He noted that Clemens has never tested positive in a steroid test. Former U.S. Senator George Mitchell, who prepared the report, stated that he relayed the allegations to each athlete implicated in the report and gave them a chance to respond before his findings were published.
On January 6, 2008, Clemens went on 60 Minutes to address the allegations. He told Mike Wallace that his longevity in baseball was due to "hard work" rather than illegal substances and denied all of McNamee's assertions that he injected Clemens with steroids, saying it "never happened". On January 7, Clemens filed a defamation lawsuit against McNamee, claiming that the former trainer lied after being threatened with prosecution. McNamee's attorneys argued that he was compelled to cooperate by federal officials and so his statements were protected. A federal judge agreed, throwing out all claims related to McNamee's statements to investigators on February 13, 2009, but allowing the case to proceed on statements McNamee made about Clemens to Pettitte.
On February 13, 2008, Clemens appeared before a Congressional committee, along with Brian McNamee and swore under oath that he did not take steroids, that he did not discuss HGH with McNamee, that he did not attend a party at José Canseco's where steroids were the topic of conversation, that he was only injected with B-12 and lidocaine and that he never told Pettitte he had taken HGH. This last point was in contradiction to testimony Pettitte had given under oath on February 4, 2008, wherein Pettitte said he repeated to McNamee a conversation Pettitte had with Clemens. During this conversation, Pettitte said Clemens had told him that McNamee had injected Clemens with human growth hormone. Pettitte said McNamee reacted angrily, saying that Clemens "shouldn't have done that."<ref name=tj>Quinn, T.J. "In court of public opinion, a Clemens verdict: Game over." ESPN.com,
December 12, 2008. Retrieved November 6, 2017.</ref>
The bipartisan House committee in front of which Clemens appeared, citing seven apparent inconsistencies in Clemens's testimony, recommended that the Justice Department investigate whether Clemens lied under oath about using performance-enhancing drugs. In a letter sent February 27 to Attorney General Michael Mukasey, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman Henry Waxman and ranking Republican Tom Davis said Clemens's testimony that he "never used anabolic steroids or human growth hormone warrants further investigation".
As a result of the Mitchell Report, Clemens was asked to end his involvement with the Giff Nielsen Day of Golf for Kids charity tournament in Houston that he has hosted for four years. As well, his name has been removed from the Houston-based Roger Clemens Institute for Sports Medicine and will be renamed the Memorial Hermann Sports Medicine Institute.
After Washington prosecutors showed "a renewed interest in the case in the final months of 2008", a federal grand jury was convened in January 2009 to hear evidence of Clemens's possible perjury before Congress. The grand jury indicted Clemens on August 19, 2010, on charges of making false statements to Congress about his use of performance-enhancing drugs. The indictment charges Clemens with one count of obstruction of Congress, three counts of making false statements and two counts of perjury in connection with his February 2008 testimony.
His first trial began on July 13, 2011, but on the second day of testimony the judge in the case declared a mistrial over prosecutorial misconduct after prosecutors showed the jury prejudicial evidence they were not allowed to. Clemens was subsequently retried. The verdict from his second trial came in on June 18, 2012. Clemens was found not guilty on all six counts of lying to Congress in 2008, when he testified that he never took performance-enhancing drugs.
In January 2016, after Clemens once again fell short of the votes required for election into the Hall of Fame, former major-league star Roy Halladay tweeted "No Clemens no Bonds" as part of a message indicating no performance-enhancing substance users should be voted into the Hall. Clemens countered by accusing Halladay of using amphetamines during his playing career.
Adultery accusations
In April 2008, the New York Daily News reported on a possible long-term relationship between Clemens and country music singer Mindy McCready that began when she was 15 years old. Clemens's attorney Rusty Hardin denied the affair and also stated that Clemens would be bringing a defamation suit regarding this allegation. Clemens's attorney admitted that a relationship existed but described McCready as a "close family friend". He also stated that McCready had traveled on Clemens's personal jet and that Clemens's wife was aware of the relationship. However, when contacted by the Daily News, McCready said, "I cannot refute anything in the story."
On November 17, 2008, McCready spoke in more detail to Inside Edition about her affair with Clemens, saying their relationship lasted for more than a decade and that it ended when Clemens refused to leave his wife to marry her. However, she denied that she was 15 years old when it began, saying that they met when she was 16 and the affair only became sexual "several years later". In another soon-to-be-released sex tape by Vivid Entertainment she claimed that the first time she had sex with him was when she was 21. She also said that he often had erectile dysfunction. A few days after the Daily News broke the story about the McCready relationship, they reported on another Clemens extramarital relationship, this time with Paulette Dean Daly, the now ex-wife of pro golfer John Daly. Daly declined to elaborate on the nature of her relationship with the pitcher but did not deny that it was romantic and included financial support.
There have been reports of Clemens having at least three other affairs with women. On April 29, 2008, the New York Post reported that Clemens had relationships with two or more women. One, a former bartender in Manhattan, refused comment on the story, while another, a woman from Tampa, could not be located. On May 2 of the same year, the Daily News reported a stripper in Detroit called a local radio station and said she had an affair with Clemens. He also gave tickets to baseball games, jewelry, and trips to women he was wooing.
Other media
Clemens has appeared as himself in several movies and television episodes and has also occasionally acted in films. Perhaps best known was his appearance in the season three episode of The Simpsons ("Homer at the Bat"), in which he is recruited to the Springfield nuclear plant's softball team but is accidentally hypnotized into thinking he is a chicken; in addition to his lines, Clemens voiced his own clucking. Clemens has also made guest appearances as himself on the TV shows Hope & Faith, Spin City, Arli$$, and Saturday Night Live as well as the movie Anger Management, and makes a brief appearance in the movie Kingpin as the character Skidmark. He also is shown playing an actual game with the Houston Astros in the film Boyhood.
He appeared in the 1994 movie Cobb as an unidentified pitcher for the Philadelphia A's. In 2003, he was part of an advertising campaign for Armour hot dogs with MLB players Ken Griffey Jr., Derek Jeter, and Sammy Sosa. Since 2005, Clemens has also appeared in many commercials for Texas-based supermarket chain H-E-B. In 2007, he appeared on a baseball-themed episode of MythBusters ("Baseball Myths"). He has also starred in a commercial for Cingular parodying his return from retirement. He was calling his wife, Debra Godfrey, and a dropped call resulted in his return to the Yankees.
He released an early autobiography, Rocket Man: The Roger Clemens Story written with Peter Gammons, in 1987. Clemens is also the spokesperson for Champion car dealerships in South Texas. In April 2009, Clemens was the subject of an unauthorized biography by Jeff Pearlman, titled The Rocket that Fell to Earth-Roger Clemens and the Rage for Baseball Immortality, that focused on his childhood and early career and accused Mike Piazza of using steroids. On May 12, Clemens broke a long silence to denounce a heavily researched expose by four investigative reporters from the New York Daily News, called American Icon: The Fall of Roger Clemens and the Rise of Steroids in America's Pastime. Clemens went on ESPN's Mike and Mike show to call the book "garbage", but a review by Michiko Kakutani of The New York Times called the book "gripping" and compared it to the work of Bob Woodward.
Awards and recognition
In 1999, while many of his performances and milestones were yet to come he ranked number 53 on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was elected by the fans to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. In 2005, the updated Sporting News list moved Clemens up to #15.
By the end of the 2005 season, Clemens had won seven Cy Young Awards (he won the AL award in 1986, 1987, 1991, 1997, 1998, and 2001, and the National League award in 2004), an MVP and two pitching triple crowns. With his 2004 win, he joined Gaylord Perry, Randy Johnson, and Pedro Martínez as the only pitchers to win it in both leagues and became the oldest pitcher to ever win the Cy Young. He has also won the Sporting News Pitcher of the Year Award five times, was named an All-Star 11 times, and won the All-Star MVP in 1986.
In October 2006, Clemens was named to Sports Illustrateds "all-time" team.
On August 18, 2007, Clemens got his 1,000th strikeout as a Yankee. He is only the ninth player in major league history to record 1,000 or more strikeouts with two different teams. Clemens has recorded a total of 2,590 strikeouts as a member of the Red Sox and 1,014 strikeouts as a Yankee. He also had 563 strikeouts for Toronto, and 505 strikeouts for Houston.
Clemens was inducted into the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2014, and was inducted into the Pawtucket Red Sox Hall of Fame on June 21, 2019.
National Baseball Hall of Fame consideration
In 2013 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, his first year of eligibility, Clemens received 37.6% of the votes cast by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA), falling well short of the 75% required for induction into the Hall of Fame. He has garnered more votes in subsequent elections without reaching the 75% threshold: he received 59.5% in 2019, 61.0% in 2020, and 61.6% in 2021. With the inductions of Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine in 2014 and Randy Johnson in 2015, Clemens is currently the only eligible member of the 300 win club not to be inducted into the Hall. He received 65.2% of the votes in his final year of eligibility, 2022.
Despite falling off the ballot, Clemens is still eligible for induction through the Hall of Fame’s Today’s Game Committee. The committee is a 16-member electorate “comprised of members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, executives, and veteran media members" (hence the nickname of “veteran’s committee”) who consider retired players who lost ballot eligibility while still having made notable contributions to baseball from 1986-2016. Voting will be held in December 2022, and 12 votes are required for induction.
Personal life
Clemens married Debra Lynn Godfrey (born May 27, 1963) on November 24, 1984. The couple has four sons: Koby Aaron, Kory Allen, Kacy Austin, and Kody Alec—all given "K" names to honor Clemens's strikeouts ("K's"). Koby was at one time a minor league prospect for some MLB clubs. Kacy played college baseball for the Texas Longhorns and was drafted by the Blue Jays in the eighth round of the 2017 Major League Baseball draft. Kacy is an infielder who is currently a free agent. Kody also played college baseball for the Texas Longhorns and was drafted 79th overall by the Detroit Tigers in the third round of the 2018 Major League Baseball draft.
Debra once left a Red Sox game, when Clemens pitched for another team, in tears from the heckling she received. This is documented in an updated later edition to Dan Shaughnessy's best-selling book, Curse of the Bambino. Debra also was quoted in the book as stating that it was the poor attitude of Red Sox fans that prevented the team from ever winning the World Series (this was quoted prior to the Red Sox' 2004 World Series victory).
Clemens is a member of the Republican Party and donated money to Texas congressman Ted Poe during his 2006 campaign.
Debra posed in a bikini with her husband for a Sports Illustrated pictorial regarding athletes and their wives. This appeared in the annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition'' for 2003. Roger wore his Yankees uniform, with the jersey open.
On February 27, 2006, to train for the World Baseball Classic, Roger pitched in an exhibition game between the Astros and his son's minor league team. In his first at-bat, Koby hit a home run off his father. In his next at-bat, Roger threw an inside pitch that almost hit Koby. Koby laughed in an interview after the game about the incident.
See also
Houston Astros award winners and league leaders
List of Boston Red Sox award winners
List of Boston Red Sox team records
List of Major League Baseball annual shutout leaders
List of Major League Baseball career hit batsmen leaders
List of Major League Baseball career wins leaders
List of Major League Baseball players named in the Mitchell Report
List of Major League Baseball single-game strikeout leaders
List of people from Dayton, Ohio
List of Toronto Blue Jays team records
List of University of Texas at Austin alumni
Major League Baseball titles leaders
Toronto Blue Jays award winners and league leaders
References
External links
Roger Clemens Foundation
1962 births
Living people
American expatriate baseball players in Canada
American League All-Stars
American League ERA champions
American League Most Valuable Player Award winners
American League Pitching Triple Crown winners
American League strikeout champions
American League wins champions
American people of German descent
Baseball players from Dayton, Ohio
Boston Red Sox players
Bridgeport Bluefish guest managers
Corpus Christi Hooks players
Cy Young Award winners
Houston Astros players
Lexington Legends players
Major League Baseball All-Star Game MVPs
Major League Baseball controversies
Major League Baseball pitchers
National League All-Stars
National League ERA champions
New Britain Red Sox players
New York Yankees players
Norwich Navigators players
Pawtucket Red Sox players
People from Vandalia, Ohio
Round Rock Express players
San Jacinto Central Ravens baseball players
Sarasota Red Sox players
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees players
Sugar Land Skeeters players
Tampa Yankees players
Texas Longhorns baseball players
Texas Republicans
Trenton Thunder players
Toronto Blue Jays players
Winter Haven Red Sox players
World Baseball Classic players of the United States
2006 World Baseball Classic players | true | [
"is a former Japanese football player.\n\nPlaying career\nEndo was born in Chiba Prefecture on March 31, 1980. After graduating from high school, he joined the Japan Football League club Tokyo Gas (later FC Tokyo) in 1998. The club was promoted to the J2 League in 1999 and the J1 League in 2000. However, he did not play in many matches, and fewer than the goalkeeper Yoichi Doi until 2006. In 2007, he moved to the J2 club Montedio Yamagata. The club was promoted to J1 in 2009. However he did not play much. In 2010, he moved to the Japan Football League club Sony Sendai. Although he played several matches in 2010, he did not play at all in 2011 and retired at the end of the 2011 season.\n\nClub statistics\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n1980 births\nLiving people\nAssociation football people from Chiba Prefecture\nJapanese footballers\nJ1 League players\nJ2 League players\nJapan Football League (1992–1998) players\nJapan Football League players\nFC Tokyo players\nMontedio Yamagata players\nSony Sendai FC players\nAssociation football goalkeepers",
"Spilsby Town F.C. is an English football club based in Spilsby, Lincolnshire. They play in the Boston & District League Premier Division, outside the English football league system.\n\nHistory\nFormed as simply Spilsby, the club's foundation date is stated as 1881. However, it has been found that the club had been formed even earlier – entering the FA Cup in 1880 and losing 0–7 to Stafford Road.\n\nThe club continued to compete in the FA Cup until 1884, but failed to win a single game. The highest scoring game in Sheffield Wednesday's history came against Spilsby in 1882 when the Sheffielders won 12–2 in the First Round. They did however find success in the Lincolnshire Senior Cup, winning the first three competitions from 1882 to 1884.\n\nSince the 1880s, the club has changed name to Spilsby Town and featured in more local competitions, winning the Boston & District League on numerous occasions. The club did enter the Lincolnshire Football League during the 1990s, but left half way through the 1995–96 season, and rejoined the Boston league.\n\nIn 2011 the club played a match against a team from Staveley to commemorate what was thought to be their first ever game in the FA Cup. The 2018–19 season saw the club win the Boston Premier League title.\n\nGround\n\nThe club play their home games at the Ancaster Avenue Playing Fields.\n\nHonours\n\nBoston & District League \nPremier Division Champions (4) 1947–48, 1963–64, 2001–02, 2018–19\nDivision One Champions (1) 1962–63 \nSports Cup Winners (6) 1961–62, 1963–64, 1969–70, 1999–00, 2002–03, 2018–19 \nThe Willoughby Cup Winners (5) 1953–54, 1989–90, 2001–02, 2011–12, 2015–16\nLincolnshire Senior Cup\nWinners (3) 1881–82, 1882–83, 1883–84\n\nRecords\nBest FA Cup performance: 1st round\n\nReferences\n\nFootball clubs in England\nFootball clubs in Lincolnshire\n1881 establishments in England\nAssociation football clubs established in 1881\nSpilsby"
] |
[
"Roger Clemens",
"Boston Red Sox",
"What year did he play for Boston Red Sox?",
"1986",
"Did he win any awards while playing that year?",
"I don't know.",
"Did the team have many wins when Clemens was part of the team?",
"Clemens returned to the mound for Game 6, which would have clinched the World Series for the Boston Red Sox.",
"Do it list some players that Clemens played with in the league?",
"I don't know.",
"What was Clemens role on the team like what position did he play?",
"Clemens returned to the mound",
"What did play in the league?",
"American League"
] | C_0d846a1614904fcf97343b0d8d340347_0 | What was his final year playing with Boston? | 7 | What was Roger Clemens final year playing with Boston? | Roger Clemens | In the 1986 American League Championship Series, Clemens pitched poorly in the opening game, watched the Boston bullpen blow his 3-0 lead in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 4, and then pitched a strong Game 7 to wrap up the series for Boston. The 1986 ALCS clincher was Clemens' first postseason career victory. He did not win his second until 13 years later. After a bad start in Game 2 of the 1986 World Series, Clemens returned to the mound for Game 6, which would have clinched the World Series for the Boston Red Sox. Clemens left the game after 7 innings leading 3-2, but the Red Sox went on to lose the game in the 10th inning, and subsequently, the championship. Clemens' departure was highly debated and remains a bone of contention among the participants. Red Sox manager John McNamara claimed Clemens took himself out due to a blister, though Clemens strongly denies that. Clemens greatest postseason failure came in the second inning of the final game of the 1990 ALCS against the Oakland Athletics, when he was ejected for arguing balls and strikes with umpire Terry Cooney, accentuating the A's three-game sweep of the Red Sox. He was suspended for the first five games of the 1991 season and fined $10,000. Clemens had two other playoff no-decisions, in 1988 and 1995, both occurring while Boston was being swept. Clemens' overall postseason record with Boston was 1-2 with a 3.88 ERA, and 45 strikeouts and 19 walks in 56 innings. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | William Roger Clemens (born August 4, 1962), nicknamed "Rocket", is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 24 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily with the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees. Clemens was one of the most dominant pitchers in major league history, tallying 354 wins, a 3.12 earned run average (ERA), and 4,672 strikeouts, the third-most all time. An 11-time All-Star and two-time World Series champion, he won seven Cy Young Awards during his career, more than any other pitcher in history. Clemens was known for his fierce competitive nature and hard-throwing pitching style, which he used to intimidate batters.
Clemens debuted in MLB in 1984 with the Red Sox, whose pitching staff he anchored for 12 years. In 1986, he won the American League (AL) Cy Young Award, the AL Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award, and the All-Star Game MVP Award, and he struck out an MLB-record 20 batters in a single game. After the 1996 season, in which he achieved his second 20-strikeout performance, Clemens left Boston via free agency and joined the Toronto Blue Jays. In each of his two seasons with Toronto, Clemens won a Cy Young Award, as well as the pitching triple crown by leading the league in wins, ERA, and strikeouts. Prior to the 1999 season, Clemens was traded to the Yankees where he won his two World Series titles. In 2001, Clemens became the first pitcher in major league history to start a season with a win-loss record of 20–1. In 2003, he reached his 300th win and 4,000th strikeout in the same game. Clemens left for the Houston Astros in 2004, where he spent three seasons and won his seventh Cy Young Award. He rejoined the Yankees in 2007 for one last season before retiring. He is the only pitcher in Major League history to record over 350 wins and strike out over 4,500 batters.
Clemens was alleged by the Mitchell Report to have used anabolic steroids during his late career, mainly based on testimony given by his former trainer, Brian McNamee. Clemens firmly denied these allegations under oath before the United States Congress, leading congressional leaders to refer his case to the Justice Department on suspicions of perjury. On August 19, 2010, a federal grand jury at the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., indicted Clemens on six felony counts involving perjury, false statements and Contempt of Congress. Clemens pleaded not guilty, but proceedings were complicated by prosecutorial misconduct, leading to a mistrial. The verdict from his second trial came in June 2012, when Clemens was found not guilty on all six counts of lying to Congress. These controversies hurt his chances for election to the Baseball Hall of Fame. He never received the 75% of the votes required in his ten years of eligibility, ending with 65.2% in 2022.
Early life
Clemens was born in Dayton, Ohio, the fifth child of Bill and Bess (Lee) Clemens. He is of German descent, his great-grandfather Joseph Clemens having immigrated in the 1880s. Clemens's parents separated when he was an infant. His mother soon married Woody Booher, whom Clemens considers his father. Booher died when Clemens was nine years old, and Clemens has said that the only time he ever felt envious of other players was when he saw them in the clubhouse with their fathers. Clemens lived in Vandalia, Ohio, until 1977, and then spent most of his high school years in Houston, Texas. At Spring Woods High School, Clemens played baseball for longtime head coach Charles Maiorana and also played football and basketball. He was scouted by the Philadelphia Phillies and Minnesota Twins during his senior year, but opted to go to college.
Collegiate career
He began his college career pitching for San Jacinto College North in 1981, where he was 9–2. The New York Mets selected Clemens in the 12th round of the 1981 Major League Baseball draft, but he did not sign. He then attended the University of Texas at Austin, compiling a 25–7 record in two All-American seasons, and was on the mound when the Longhorns won the 1983 College World Series. He became the first player to have his baseball uniform number retired at the University of Texas. In 2004, the Rotary Smith Award, given to America's best college baseball player, was changed to the Roger Clemens Award, honoring the best pitcher.
At Texas, Clemens pitched 35 consecutive scoreless innings, an NCAA record that stood until Justin Pope broke it in 2001.
Professional career
Boston Red Sox (1984–1996)
Clemens was selected in the first round (19th overall) of the 1983 MLB draft by the Boston Red Sox and quickly rose through the minor league system, making his MLB debut on May 15, 1984. An undiagnosed torn labrum threatened to end his career early; he underwent successful arthroscopic surgery by Dr. James Andrews.
In 1986, Clemens won the American League MVP award, finishing with a 24–4 record, 2.48 ERA, and 238 strikeouts. Clemens started the 1986 All-Star Game in the Astrodome and was named the Most Valuable Player of the contest by throwing three perfect innings and striking out two. He also won the first of his seven Cy Young Awards. When Hank Aaron said that pitchers should not be eligible for the MVP, Clemens responded: "I wish he were still playing. I'd probably crack his head open to show him how valuable I was." Clemens was the only starting pitcher since Vida Blue in 1971 to win a league MVP award until Justin Verlander won the award in 2011.
On April 29, 1986, Clemens became the first pitcher in MLB history to strike out 20 batters in a nine-inning game, against the Seattle Mariners at Boston's Fenway Park. Following his performance, Clemens made the cover of Sports Illustrated which carried the headline "Lord of the K's [strikeouts]." Other than Clemens, only Kerry Wood and Max Scherzer have matched the total. (Randy Johnson fanned 20 batters in nine innings on May 8, 2001. However, as the game went into extra innings, it is not categorized as occurring in a nine-inning game. Tom Cheney holds the record for any game: 21 strikeouts in 16 innings.) Clemens attributes his switch from what he calls a "thrower" to a "pitcher" to the partial season Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver spent with the Red Sox in 1986.
Facing the California Angels in the 1986 ALCS, Clemens pitched poorly in the opening game, watched the Boston bullpen blow his 3–1 lead in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 4, and then pitched a strong Game 7 to wrap up the series for Boston. The League Championship Series clincher was Clemens's first postseason career victory. He did not win his second until 13 years later. After a victory in game five, Boston led 3 games to 2 over the New York Mets in the 1986 World Series with Clemens set to start game six at Shea Stadium. Clemens who was pitching on five days rest started strong by striking out eight while throwing a no-hitter through four innings. In the top of eighth and with Boston ahead 3–2, manager John McNamara sent rookie Mike Greenwell to pinch hit for Roger Clemens. It was initially said that Clemens was removed from the game due to a blister forming on one of his fingers, but both he and McNamara dispute this. Clemens said to Bob Costas on an MLB Network program concerning the 1986 postseason that McNamara decided to pull him despite Clemens wanting to pitch. McNamara said to Costas that Clemens "begged out" of the game. The Mets rallied and took both game six and seven to win the World Series.
The Red Sox had a miserable 1987 season, finishing at 78–84, though Clemens won his second consecutive Cy Young Award with a 20–9 record, 2.97 ERA, 256 strikeouts, and seven shutouts. He was the first AL pitcher with back-to-back 20-win seasons since Tommy John won 20 with the Yankees in 1979 and '80. Boston rebounded with success in 1988 and 1990, clinching the AL East Division each year, but were swept by the Oakland Athletics in each ALCS matchup. His greatest postseason failure came in the second inning of the final game of the 1990 ALCS, when he was ejected for arguing balls and strikes with umpire Terry Cooney, accentuating the A's four-game sweep of the Red Sox. He was suspended for the first five games of the 1991 season and fined $10,000.
Clemens led the American League in 1988 with 291 strikeouts and a career-high 8 shutouts. On September 10, 1988, Clemens threw a one-hitter against the Cleveland Indians at Fenway Park. Dave Clark's one-out single in the eighth inning was the only hit Clemens allowed in the game. In a 9–1 victory over Cleveland on April 13, 1989, Clemens recorded his 1,000 career strikeout by fanning Brook Jacoby with the bases loaded in the second inning. Clemens finished second to Oakland's Bob Welch for the 1990 AL Cy Young Award, despite the fact that Clemens crushed Welch in ERA (1.93 to 2.95), strikeouts (209 to 127), walks (54 to 77), home runs allowed (7 to 26), and WAR (10.4 to 2.9). Clemens did, however, capture his third Cy Young Award in 1991 with an 18–10 record, 2.62 ERA, and 241 strikeouts. On June 21, 1989, Clemens surrendered the first of 609 home runs in the career of Sammy Sosa.
Clemens accomplished the 20-strikeout feat twice, the only player ever to do so. The second performance came more than 10 years later, on September 18, 1996, against the Detroit Tigers at Tiger Stadium. This second 20-K day occurred in his third-to-last game as a member of the Boston Red Sox. Later, the Tigers presented him with a baseball containing the autographs of each batter who had struck out (those with multiple strikeouts signed the appropriate number of times).
The Red Sox did not re-sign Clemens following the 1996 season, despite leading the A.L. with 257 strikeouts and offering him "by far the most money ever offered to a player in the history of the Red Sox franchise." General Manager Dan Duquette remarked that he "hoped to keep him in Boston during the twilight of his career", but Clemens left and signed with the Toronto Blue Jays.
The emphasis on the misquoted 1996 "twilight" comment took on a life of its own following Clemens's post-Boston successes, and Duquette was vilified for letting the star pitcher go. Ultimately, Clemens would go on to have a record of 162–73 for the rest of his career after leaving the Red Sox.
Clemens recorded 192 wins and 38 shutouts for the Red Sox, both tied with Cy Young for the franchise record and is their all-time strikeout leader with 2,590. Clemens's overall postseason record with Boston was 1–2 with a 3.88 ERA, and 45 strikeouts, and 19 walks in 56 innings. No Red Sox player has worn his uniform #21 since Clemens left the team in the 1996–97 offseason.
Toronto Blue Jays (1997–1998)
Clemens signed a four-year, $40 million deal with the Toronto Blue Jays after the 1996 season. In his first start in Fenway Park as a member of the Blue Jays, he pitched eight innings allowing only 4 hits and 1 earned run. 16 of his 24 outs were strikeouts, and every batter who faced him struck out at least once. As he left the field following his last inning of work, he stared up angrily towards the owner's box.
Clemens was dominant in his two seasons with the Blue Jays, winning the pitching Triple Crown and the Cy Young Award in both seasons (1997: 21–7 record, 2.05 ERA, and 292 strikeouts; 1998: 20–6 record, 2.65 ERA, and 271 strikeouts). After the 1998 season, Clemens asked to be traded, indicating that he did not believe the Blue Jays would be competitive enough the following year and that he was dedicated to winning a championship.
New York Yankees (1999–2003)
Clemens was traded to the New York Yankees before the 1999 season for David Wells, Homer Bush, and Graeme Lloyd. Since his longtime uniform number #21 was in use by teammate Paul O'Neill, Clemens initially wore #12, before switching mid-season to #22.
Clemens made an immediate impact on the Yankees' staff, anchoring the top of the rotation as the team went on to win a pair of World Series titles in 1999 and 2000. During the 1999 regular season, Clemens posted a 14–10 record with a 4.60 ERA. He logged a pair of wins in the postseason, though he lost Game 3 of the 1999 ALCS in a matchup against Red Sox ace Pedro Martínez, which was the Yankees' only loss in the 1999 playoffs. Clemens pitched 7.2 innings of 1-run baseball during the Yankees' game 4 clincher over the Atlanta Braves. Clemens followed up with a strong 2000 season, in which he finished with a 13–8 record with a 3.70 ERA for the regular season. During the 2000 postseason, he helped the Yankees win their third consecutive championship. Clemens set the ALCS record for strikeouts in a game when he fanned 15 batters in a one-hit shutout of the Seattle Mariners in Game 4 of the ALCS. A seventh-inning lead-off double by Seattle's Al Martin was all that prevented Clemens from throwing what was, at the time, only the second no-hitter in postseason history. In Game 2 of the 2000 World Series, Clemens pitched eight scoreless innings against the New York Mets.
In 2001, Clemens became the first pitcher in MLB history to start a season 20–1 (finishing 20–3) and winning his sixth Cy Young Award. As of the 2020 season, he is the last Yankee pitcher to win the Cy Young Award. Clemens started for the Yankees in Game 7 of the 2001 World Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, where he dueled Curt Schilling to a standstill after 6 innings, yielding only one run. The Diamondbacks went on to win the game in the 9th.
Early in 2003, Clemens announced his retirement, effective at the end of that season. On June 13, 2003, pitching against the St. Louis Cardinals in Yankee Stadium, Clemens recorded his 300th career win and 4,000th career strikeout, the only player in history to record both milestones in the same game. The 300th win came on his fourth try; the Yankee bullpen had blown his chance of a win in his previous two attempts. He became the 21st pitcher ever to record 300 wins and the third ever to record 4,000 strikeouts. His career record upon reaching the milestones was 300–155. Clemens finished the season with a 17–9 record and a 3.91 ERA.
The end of Clemens's 2003 season became a series of public farewells met with appreciative cheering. His last games in each AL park were given extra attention, particularly his final regular-season appearance in Fenway Park, when despite wearing the uniform of the hated arch-rival, he was afforded a standing ovation by Red Sox fans as he left the field. (This spectacle was repeated when the Yankees ended up playing the Red Sox in the 2003 ALCS and Clemens got a second "final start" in his original stadium.) As part of a tradition of manager Joe Torre, Clemens was chosen to manage the Yankees' last game of the regular season. Clemens made one start in the World Series against the Florida Marlins; when he left trailing 3–1 after seven innings, the Marlins left their dugout to give him a standing ovation.
Houston Astros (2004–2006)
Clemens came out of retirement, signing a one-year deal with his adopted hometown Houston Astros on January 12, 2004, joining close friend and former Yankees teammate Andy Pettitte. On May 5, 2004, Clemens recorded his 4,137th career strikeout to place him second on the all-time list behind Nolan Ryan. He was named the starter for the National League All-Star team but ultimately was the losing pitcher in that game after allowing six runs on five hits, including a three-run home run to Alfonso Soriano. Clemens finished the season with an 18–4 record, and was awarded his seventh Cy Young Award, becoming the oldest player ever to win the Cy Young at age 42. This made him one of six pitchers to win the award in both leagues, joining Gaylord Perry, Pedro Martínez, and Randy Johnson and later joined by Roy Halladay and Max Scherzer. Clemens was the losing pitcher for the Astros in Game Seven of the 2004 NLCS against the St. Louis Cardinals, allowing four runs in six innings. Although he pitched well, he tired in the sixth inning, surrendering all four runs.
Clemens again decided to put off retirement before the 2005 season after the Houston Astros offered salary arbitration. The Astros submitted an offer of $13.5 million, and Clemens countered with a record $22 million demand. On January 21, 2005, both sides agreed on a one-year, $18,000,022 contract, thus avoiding arbitration. The deal gave Clemens the highest yearly salary earned by a pitcher in MLB history.
Clemens's 2005 season ended as one of the finest he had ever posted. His 1.87 ERA was the lowest in the major leagues, the lowest of his 22-season career, and the lowest by any National Leaguer since Greg Maddux in 1995. He finished with a 13–8 record, with his lower win total primarily due to the fact that he ranked near the bottom of the major leagues in run support. The Astros scored an average of only 3.5 runs per game in games in which he was the pitcher of record. The Astros were shut out nine times in Clemens's 32 starts, and failed to score in a 10th until after Clemens was out of the game. The Astros lost five of Clemens's starts by scores of 1–0. In April, Clemens did not allow a run in three consecutive starts. However, the Astros lost all three of those starts by a 1–0 score in extra innings.
Clemens won an emotional start on September 15, following his mother's death that morning. In his final start of the 2005 season, Clemens got his 4,500th strikeout. On October 9, 2005, Clemens made his first relief appearance since 1984, entering as a pinch hitter in the 15th, then pitching three innings to get the win as the Astros defeated the Atlanta Braves in Game 4 of the NLDS. It is the longest postseason game in MLB history at 18 innings. Clemens lasted only two innings in Game 1 of the 2005 World Series, and the Astros went on to be swept by the Chicago White Sox. It was the Astros' first World Series appearance. Clemens had aggravated a hamstring pull that had limited his performance since at least September.
Clemens said that he would retire again after the World Series but he wanted to represent the United States in the inaugural World Baseball Classic, which would be played in March 2006. He went 1–1 in the tournament, with a 2.08 ERA, striking out 10 batters in innings. After pitching in a second-round loss to Mexico that eliminated the United States, Clemens began considering a return to the major leagues. On May 31, 2006, following another extended period of speculation, it was announced that Clemens was coming out of retirement for the third time to pitch for the Astros for the remainder of the 2006 season. Clemens signed a contract worth $22,000,022 (his uniform number #22). Since Clemens did not play a full season, he received a prorated percentage of that: approximately $12.25 million. Clemens made his return on June 22, 2006, against the Minnesota Twins, losing to their rookie phenom, Francisco Liriano, 4–2. For the second year in a row, his win total did not match his performance, as he finished the season with a 7–6 record, a 2.30 ERA, and a 1.04 WHIP. However, Clemens averaged just under 6 innings in his starts and never pitched into the eighth.
Return to the Yankees (2007)
Clemens unexpectedly appeared in the owner's box at Yankee Stadium on May 6, 2007, during the seventh-inning stretch of a game against the Seattle Mariners, and made a brief statement: "Thank y'all. Well they came and got me out of Texas, and uhh, I can tell you it's a privilege to be back. I'll be talkin' to y'all soon." It was simultaneously announced that Clemens had rejoined the Yankees roster, agreeing to a pro-rated one-year deal worth $28,000,022, or about $4.7 million per month. Over the contract life, he would make $18.7 million. This equated to just over $1 million per start that season.
Clemens made his 2007 return on June 9, defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates by pitching six innings with seven strikeouts and three runs allowed. On June 21, with a single in the 5th inning against the Colorado Rockies, Clemens became the oldest New York Yankee to record a hit (44 years, 321 days). On June 24, Clemens pitched an inning in relief against the San Francisco Giants. It had been 22 years and 341 days since his previous regular-season relief appearance, the longest such gap in major league history. On July 2, Clemens collected his 350th win against the Minnesota Twins at Yankee Stadium, giving up just two hits and one run over eight innings. Clemens is one of only three pitchers to pitch his entire career in the live-ball era and reach 350 wins. The other two are Warren Spahn (whose catcher for his 350th win was Joe Torre, Clemens's manager for his 350th), and Greg Maddux, who earned his 350th win in 2008. His final regular-season appearance was a start against the Red Sox at Fenway Park, in which he allowed two hits and one unearned run in six innings, and received a no-decision. Clemens finished the 2007 regular season with a record of 6–6 and a 4.18 ERA.
Clemens was forced to leave Game 3 of the 2007 ALDS in the third inning after aggravating a hamstring injury. He struck out Victor Martinez of the Cleveland Indians with his final pitch, and was replaced by right-hander Phil Hughes. Yankees manager Joe Torre removed Clemens from the roster due to his injury, and replaced him with left-hander Ron Villone. Clemens's overall postseason record with the Yankees was 7–4 with a 2.97 ERA, 98 strikeouts and 35 walks in 102 innings.
Pitching appearances after retirement
On August 20, 2012, Clemens signed with the Sugar Land Skeeters of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. He made his debut for the Skeeters against the Bridgeport Bluefish on August 25, 2012, in front of a crowd of 7,724. It was the first time the 50-year-old had taken the mound in almost five years. Clemens pitched scoreless innings and struck out two: former major leaguers Joey Gathright and Prentice Redman. He also retired Luis Figueroa, who played briefly with the Pirates, Blue Jays and the Giants. Clemens allowed only one hit and no walks on 37 pitches in the Skeeters' 1–0 victory. Clemens made his second start for the Skeeters on September 7 against the Long Island Ducks. He pitched scoreless innings, with his son, Koby, as his catcher. He retired former New York Met outfielder Timo Perez for the final out in the fourth inning, and was named the winning pitcher by the official scorer. Clemens's fastball was clocked as high as 88 mph, and the Astros sent scouts to both of his outings with the Skeeters in consideration of a possible return to the team that season.
Roger Clemens joined the Kansas Stars, a group of 24 retired major leaguers and his son Koby, to compete in the 2016 National Baseball Congress World Series. The team was put together by Kansas natives Adam LaRoche and Nate Robertson, and featured eleven former All-Stars, including Tim Hudson, Roy Oswalt, and J. D. Drew as well as Clemens. Pitching just six days after his 54th birthday, Clemens started for the Kansas Stars in a game against the NJCAA National Team on August 10, 2016. He pitched innings, allowing 3 runs with one strikeout in an 11–10 loss. On August 22, 2019, Clemens wore his Red Sox uniform and pitched in the Abbot Financial Management Oldtime Baseball Game, an annual charity event held at St. Peter's Field in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The 2019 game benefitted Compassionate Care ALS, in memory of longtime Fenway Park supervisor John Welch, who died from Lou Gehrig's Disease in December 2018. Facing mostly young college players, Clemens pitched two shutout innings in the game, then moved to first base.
Pitching style
Clemens was a prototypical power pitcher with an aggressive edge for his entire career. This was especially the case when he was a young man. Clemens was said to throw "two pitches: a 98-mph fastball and a hard breaking ball. At 23, Clemens simply reared back and threw the ball past batters." Later in his career, Clemens developed a devastating split-finger fastball to use as an off-speed pitch in concert with his fastball. Clemens has jocularly referred to this pitch as "Mr. Splitty".
By the time Clemens retired from Major League Baseball in 2007, his four-seam fastball had settled in the 91–94 mph range. He also threw a two-seam fastball, a slider in the mid 80s, his hard splitter, and an occasional curveball. Clemens was a highly durable pitcher, leading the American League in complete games three times and innings pitched twice. His 18 complete games in 1987 is more than any pitcher has thrown since. Clemens was also known as a strikeout pitcher, leading the AL in K's five times and strikeouts per nine innings three times.
Controversies
Clemens has been the focal point of several controversies. His reputation has always been that of a pitcher unafraid to throw close to batters. Clemens led his league in hit batsmen only once, in 1995, but he was among the leaders in several other seasons. This tendency was more pronounced during his earlier career and subsequently tapered off. After the 2000 ALCS game against the Mariners where he knocked down future teammate Alex Rodriguez and then argued with him, Seattle Mariners manager Lou Piniella called Clemens a "headhunter." His beaning earlier that year of Mike Piazza, followed by throwing a broken-bat in Piazza's direction in the 2000 World Series, cemented Clemens's surly, unapologetic image in the minds of many. In 2009, former manager Cito Gaston publicly denounced Clemens as a "double-talker" and "a complete asshole". Clemens was ranked 14th all-time in hit batsmen after the 2020 season. 14th all time may be misleading, as his rate of hit batsmen per batter faced is not out of line with other pitchers of his era at 1 hit batsmen per 125 batters faced. Numbers reflect similar rate of hit batsmen to pitchers such as Nolan Ryan, Justin Verlander, Greg Maddux.
Clemens has attracted controversy over the years for his outspoken comments, such as his complaints about having to carry his own luggage through an airport and his criticism of Fenway Park for being a subpar facility. On April 4, 2006, Clemens made an insulting remark when asked about the devotion of Japanese and South Korean fans during the World Baseball Classic: "None of the dry cleaners were open, they were all at the game, Japan and Korea". Toward the end of his career, his annual on-and-off "retirements" revived a reputation for diva-like behavior.
Clemens has received criticism for getting special treatment from the teams that sign him. While playing for Houston, Clemens was not obliged to travel with the team on road trips if he was not pitching. His 2007 contract with the New York Yankees had a "family plan" clause that stipulated that he not be required to go on road trips in which he was not scheduled to pitch and allowed him to leave the team between starts to be with his family. These perks were publicly criticized by Yankee reliever Kyle Farnsworth. Most of Clemens's teammates, however, did not complain of such perks because of Clemens's success on the mound and valuable presence in the clubhouse. Yankee teammate Jason Giambi spoke for such players when he said, "I'd carry his bags for him, just as long as he is on the mound."
Steroid use accusations
In José Canseco's book, Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got Big, Canseco suggested that Clemens had expert knowledge about steroids and suggested that he used them, based on the improvement in his performance after leaving the Red Sox. While not addressing the allegations directly, Clemens stated: "I could care less about the rules" and "I've talked to some friends of his and I've teased them that when you're under house arrest and have ankle bracelets on, you have a lot of time to write a book."
Jason Grimsley named Clemens, as well as Andy Pettitte, as a user of performance-enhancing drugs. According to a 20-page search warrant affidavit signed by IRS Special Agent Jeff Novitzky, Grimsley told investigators he obtained amphetamines, anabolic steroids and human growth hormone from someone recommended to him by former Yankees trainer Brian McNamee. McNamee was a personal strength coach for Clemens and Pettitte, hired by Clemens in 1998. At the time of the Grimsley revelations, McNamee denied knowledge of steroid use by Clemens and Pettitte. Despite initial media reports, the affidavit made no mention of Clemens or Pettitte.
However, Clemens's name was mentioned 82 times in the Mitchell Report on steroid use in baseball. In the report, McNamee stated that during the 1998, 2000, and 2001 baseball seasons, he injected Clemens with Winstrol. Clemens's attorney Rusty Hardin denied the claims, calling McNamee "a troubled and unreliable witness" who has changed his story five times in an attempt to avoid criminal prosecution. He noted that Clemens has never tested positive in a steroid test. Former U.S. Senator George Mitchell, who prepared the report, stated that he relayed the allegations to each athlete implicated in the report and gave them a chance to respond before his findings were published.
On January 6, 2008, Clemens went on 60 Minutes to address the allegations. He told Mike Wallace that his longevity in baseball was due to "hard work" rather than illegal substances and denied all of McNamee's assertions that he injected Clemens with steroids, saying it "never happened". On January 7, Clemens filed a defamation lawsuit against McNamee, claiming that the former trainer lied after being threatened with prosecution. McNamee's attorneys argued that he was compelled to cooperate by federal officials and so his statements were protected. A federal judge agreed, throwing out all claims related to McNamee's statements to investigators on February 13, 2009, but allowing the case to proceed on statements McNamee made about Clemens to Pettitte.
On February 13, 2008, Clemens appeared before a Congressional committee, along with Brian McNamee and swore under oath that he did not take steroids, that he did not discuss HGH with McNamee, that he did not attend a party at José Canseco's where steroids were the topic of conversation, that he was only injected with B-12 and lidocaine and that he never told Pettitte he had taken HGH. This last point was in contradiction to testimony Pettitte had given under oath on February 4, 2008, wherein Pettitte said he repeated to McNamee a conversation Pettitte had with Clemens. During this conversation, Pettitte said Clemens had told him that McNamee had injected Clemens with human growth hormone. Pettitte said McNamee reacted angrily, saying that Clemens "shouldn't have done that."<ref name=tj>Quinn, T.J. "In court of public opinion, a Clemens verdict: Game over." ESPN.com,
December 12, 2008. Retrieved November 6, 2017.</ref>
The bipartisan House committee in front of which Clemens appeared, citing seven apparent inconsistencies in Clemens's testimony, recommended that the Justice Department investigate whether Clemens lied under oath about using performance-enhancing drugs. In a letter sent February 27 to Attorney General Michael Mukasey, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman Henry Waxman and ranking Republican Tom Davis said Clemens's testimony that he "never used anabolic steroids or human growth hormone warrants further investigation".
As a result of the Mitchell Report, Clemens was asked to end his involvement with the Giff Nielsen Day of Golf for Kids charity tournament in Houston that he has hosted for four years. As well, his name has been removed from the Houston-based Roger Clemens Institute for Sports Medicine and will be renamed the Memorial Hermann Sports Medicine Institute.
After Washington prosecutors showed "a renewed interest in the case in the final months of 2008", a federal grand jury was convened in January 2009 to hear evidence of Clemens's possible perjury before Congress. The grand jury indicted Clemens on August 19, 2010, on charges of making false statements to Congress about his use of performance-enhancing drugs. The indictment charges Clemens with one count of obstruction of Congress, three counts of making false statements and two counts of perjury in connection with his February 2008 testimony.
His first trial began on July 13, 2011, but on the second day of testimony the judge in the case declared a mistrial over prosecutorial misconduct after prosecutors showed the jury prejudicial evidence they were not allowed to. Clemens was subsequently retried. The verdict from his second trial came in on June 18, 2012. Clemens was found not guilty on all six counts of lying to Congress in 2008, when he testified that he never took performance-enhancing drugs.
In January 2016, after Clemens once again fell short of the votes required for election into the Hall of Fame, former major-league star Roy Halladay tweeted "No Clemens no Bonds" as part of a message indicating no performance-enhancing substance users should be voted into the Hall. Clemens countered by accusing Halladay of using amphetamines during his playing career.
Adultery accusations
In April 2008, the New York Daily News reported on a possible long-term relationship between Clemens and country music singer Mindy McCready that began when she was 15 years old. Clemens's attorney Rusty Hardin denied the affair and also stated that Clemens would be bringing a defamation suit regarding this allegation. Clemens's attorney admitted that a relationship existed but described McCready as a "close family friend". He also stated that McCready had traveled on Clemens's personal jet and that Clemens's wife was aware of the relationship. However, when contacted by the Daily News, McCready said, "I cannot refute anything in the story."
On November 17, 2008, McCready spoke in more detail to Inside Edition about her affair with Clemens, saying their relationship lasted for more than a decade and that it ended when Clemens refused to leave his wife to marry her. However, she denied that she was 15 years old when it began, saying that they met when she was 16 and the affair only became sexual "several years later". In another soon-to-be-released sex tape by Vivid Entertainment she claimed that the first time she had sex with him was when she was 21. She also said that he often had erectile dysfunction. A few days after the Daily News broke the story about the McCready relationship, they reported on another Clemens extramarital relationship, this time with Paulette Dean Daly, the now ex-wife of pro golfer John Daly. Daly declined to elaborate on the nature of her relationship with the pitcher but did not deny that it was romantic and included financial support.
There have been reports of Clemens having at least three other affairs with women. On April 29, 2008, the New York Post reported that Clemens had relationships with two or more women. One, a former bartender in Manhattan, refused comment on the story, while another, a woman from Tampa, could not be located. On May 2 of the same year, the Daily News reported a stripper in Detroit called a local radio station and said she had an affair with Clemens. He also gave tickets to baseball games, jewelry, and trips to women he was wooing.
Other media
Clemens has appeared as himself in several movies and television episodes and has also occasionally acted in films. Perhaps best known was his appearance in the season three episode of The Simpsons ("Homer at the Bat"), in which he is recruited to the Springfield nuclear plant's softball team but is accidentally hypnotized into thinking he is a chicken; in addition to his lines, Clemens voiced his own clucking. Clemens has also made guest appearances as himself on the TV shows Hope & Faith, Spin City, Arli$$, and Saturday Night Live as well as the movie Anger Management, and makes a brief appearance in the movie Kingpin as the character Skidmark. He also is shown playing an actual game with the Houston Astros in the film Boyhood.
He appeared in the 1994 movie Cobb as an unidentified pitcher for the Philadelphia A's. In 2003, he was part of an advertising campaign for Armour hot dogs with MLB players Ken Griffey Jr., Derek Jeter, and Sammy Sosa. Since 2005, Clemens has also appeared in many commercials for Texas-based supermarket chain H-E-B. In 2007, he appeared on a baseball-themed episode of MythBusters ("Baseball Myths"). He has also starred in a commercial for Cingular parodying his return from retirement. He was calling his wife, Debra Godfrey, and a dropped call resulted in his return to the Yankees.
He released an early autobiography, Rocket Man: The Roger Clemens Story written with Peter Gammons, in 1987. Clemens is also the spokesperson for Champion car dealerships in South Texas. In April 2009, Clemens was the subject of an unauthorized biography by Jeff Pearlman, titled The Rocket that Fell to Earth-Roger Clemens and the Rage for Baseball Immortality, that focused on his childhood and early career and accused Mike Piazza of using steroids. On May 12, Clemens broke a long silence to denounce a heavily researched expose by four investigative reporters from the New York Daily News, called American Icon: The Fall of Roger Clemens and the Rise of Steroids in America's Pastime. Clemens went on ESPN's Mike and Mike show to call the book "garbage", but a review by Michiko Kakutani of The New York Times called the book "gripping" and compared it to the work of Bob Woodward.
Awards and recognition
In 1999, while many of his performances and milestones were yet to come he ranked number 53 on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was elected by the fans to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. In 2005, the updated Sporting News list moved Clemens up to #15.
By the end of the 2005 season, Clemens had won seven Cy Young Awards (he won the AL award in 1986, 1987, 1991, 1997, 1998, and 2001, and the National League award in 2004), an MVP and two pitching triple crowns. With his 2004 win, he joined Gaylord Perry, Randy Johnson, and Pedro Martínez as the only pitchers to win it in both leagues and became the oldest pitcher to ever win the Cy Young. He has also won the Sporting News Pitcher of the Year Award five times, was named an All-Star 11 times, and won the All-Star MVP in 1986.
In October 2006, Clemens was named to Sports Illustrateds "all-time" team.
On August 18, 2007, Clemens got his 1,000th strikeout as a Yankee. He is only the ninth player in major league history to record 1,000 or more strikeouts with two different teams. Clemens has recorded a total of 2,590 strikeouts as a member of the Red Sox and 1,014 strikeouts as a Yankee. He also had 563 strikeouts for Toronto, and 505 strikeouts for Houston.
Clemens was inducted into the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2014, and was inducted into the Pawtucket Red Sox Hall of Fame on June 21, 2019.
National Baseball Hall of Fame consideration
In 2013 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, his first year of eligibility, Clemens received 37.6% of the votes cast by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA), falling well short of the 75% required for induction into the Hall of Fame. He has garnered more votes in subsequent elections without reaching the 75% threshold: he received 59.5% in 2019, 61.0% in 2020, and 61.6% in 2021. With the inductions of Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine in 2014 and Randy Johnson in 2015, Clemens is currently the only eligible member of the 300 win club not to be inducted into the Hall. He received 65.2% of the votes in his final year of eligibility, 2022.
Despite falling off the ballot, Clemens is still eligible for induction through the Hall of Fame’s Today’s Game Committee. The committee is a 16-member electorate “comprised of members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, executives, and veteran media members" (hence the nickname of “veteran’s committee”) who consider retired players who lost ballot eligibility while still having made notable contributions to baseball from 1986-2016. Voting will be held in December 2022, and 12 votes are required for induction.
Personal life
Clemens married Debra Lynn Godfrey (born May 27, 1963) on November 24, 1984. The couple has four sons: Koby Aaron, Kory Allen, Kacy Austin, and Kody Alec—all given "K" names to honor Clemens's strikeouts ("K's"). Koby was at one time a minor league prospect for some MLB clubs. Kacy played college baseball for the Texas Longhorns and was drafted by the Blue Jays in the eighth round of the 2017 Major League Baseball draft. Kacy is an infielder who is currently a free agent. Kody also played college baseball for the Texas Longhorns and was drafted 79th overall by the Detroit Tigers in the third round of the 2018 Major League Baseball draft.
Debra once left a Red Sox game, when Clemens pitched for another team, in tears from the heckling she received. This is documented in an updated later edition to Dan Shaughnessy's best-selling book, Curse of the Bambino. Debra also was quoted in the book as stating that it was the poor attitude of Red Sox fans that prevented the team from ever winning the World Series (this was quoted prior to the Red Sox' 2004 World Series victory).
Clemens is a member of the Republican Party and donated money to Texas congressman Ted Poe during his 2006 campaign.
Debra posed in a bikini with her husband for a Sports Illustrated pictorial regarding athletes and their wives. This appeared in the annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition'' for 2003. Roger wore his Yankees uniform, with the jersey open.
On February 27, 2006, to train for the World Baseball Classic, Roger pitched in an exhibition game between the Astros and his son's minor league team. In his first at-bat, Koby hit a home run off his father. In his next at-bat, Roger threw an inside pitch that almost hit Koby. Koby laughed in an interview after the game about the incident.
See also
Houston Astros award winners and league leaders
List of Boston Red Sox award winners
List of Boston Red Sox team records
List of Major League Baseball annual shutout leaders
List of Major League Baseball career hit batsmen leaders
List of Major League Baseball career wins leaders
List of Major League Baseball players named in the Mitchell Report
List of Major League Baseball single-game strikeout leaders
List of people from Dayton, Ohio
List of Toronto Blue Jays team records
List of University of Texas at Austin alumni
Major League Baseball titles leaders
Toronto Blue Jays award winners and league leaders
References
External links
Roger Clemens Foundation
1962 births
Living people
American expatriate baseball players in Canada
American League All-Stars
American League ERA champions
American League Most Valuable Player Award winners
American League Pitching Triple Crown winners
American League strikeout champions
American League wins champions
American people of German descent
Baseball players from Dayton, Ohio
Boston Red Sox players
Bridgeport Bluefish guest managers
Corpus Christi Hooks players
Cy Young Award winners
Houston Astros players
Lexington Legends players
Major League Baseball All-Star Game MVPs
Major League Baseball controversies
Major League Baseball pitchers
National League All-Stars
National League ERA champions
New Britain Red Sox players
New York Yankees players
Norwich Navigators players
Pawtucket Red Sox players
People from Vandalia, Ohio
Round Rock Express players
San Jacinto Central Ravens baseball players
Sarasota Red Sox players
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees players
Sugar Land Skeeters players
Tampa Yankees players
Texas Longhorns baseball players
Texas Republicans
Trenton Thunder players
Toronto Blue Jays players
Winter Haven Red Sox players
World Baseball Classic players of the United States
2006 World Baseball Classic players | false | [
"Alexander C. Fällström (born September 15, 1990) is a Swedish former professional ice hockey Forward. He last played under contract with Djurgårdens IF in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). Fällström was selected by the Minnesota Wild in the 4th round (116th overall) of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.\n\nPlaying career\nFällström played junior hockey in Djurgården before moving to the United States to play for Harvard University in the NCAA. During his freshman year, he lived in Canaday Hall. Fällström's tenure with the Wild was brief as his rights were traded along with Craig Weller, and a second round pick in 2011 to the Boston Bruins in exchange for Chuck Kobasew on October 18, 2009. He was later signed to a two-year entry-level contract with the Boston Bruins on March 17, 2013.\n\nFällström played parts of three seasons for Boston's affiliate, the Providence Bruins in the American Hockey League.\n\nIn the final year of his entry-level contract, Fällström returned to Sweden during the 2014–15 season in signing a multi-year contract with original club, Djurgårdens IF. Fällström's second tenure with the club was blighted due to a concussion, limiting him to play in just 26 games over two seasons. Fällström was cleared to resume playing and was signed to a one-year extension with DIF on April 14, 2016.\n\nIn the lead up to the 2016–17 season, Fällström having recovered from his concussion symptoms was initially ruled out for the opening weeks due to a back injury. It was later announced, after specialist appointments, that Fällström's back injury was career threatening and he was ruled out for entirety of the season on October 2, 2016.\n\nCareer statistics\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n1990 births\nLiving people\nDjurgårdens IF Hockey players\nHarvard Crimson men's ice hockey players\nMinnesota Wild draft picks\nProvidence Bruins players\nSwedish ice hockey right wingers",
"Trenton Grant Whitfield (born June 17, 1977) is a Canadian former ice hockey centre who currently serves as an associate coach for the Providence Bruins of the American Hockey League.\n\nPlaying career\nWhitfield was drafted in the fourth round, 100th overall, by the Boston Bruins in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft. He refused to sign with Boston, and returned to Spokane until signing a minor league contract with Washington.\n\nOn August 2, 2005, Whitfield signed with the St. Louis Blues for the 2005–06 season. After playing in 30 games with the Blues, Whitfield was assigned to their AHL affiliate, the Peoria Rivermen. Whitfield spent the next three seasons with the Rivermen, relied upon as captain and establishing himself as an elite player in the AHL.\n\nHe was recalled by the Blues, playing against the Colorado Avalanche, at St. Louis on January 15, 2009, in his first NHL game since 2006.\n\nOn July 13, 2009, Whitfield signed a two-year contract with the Boston Bruins, returning to the team by which he was drafted. Added as depth to the Bruins forwards, the veteran was assigned to captain Boston's AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins, to begin the 2009–10. On October 21, 2009, Whitfield was recalled and made his debut with Boston against the Nashville Predators. He totaled 16 games over the course of the season with the Bruins and scored 43 points in 52 games with the P-Bruins before making his playoff debut with Boston in four games against the Philadelphia Flyers. \n\nPrior to his second year with the Bruins on August 22, 2010, it was announced that Whitfield had torn his Achilles tendon and would likely miss the entirety of the 2010–11 season. Whitfield recovered from his injuries and played 45 games in the minors for Providence. He was called as a spare for Boston in March 2011. When Boston won the Stanley Cup in June 2011, Whitefield was included on the official team picture, and later awarded a Stanley Cup ring. However, since he only played in the minors, his name could not be included on the Stanley Cup. On July 1, 2011, Whitfield re-signed to a two-year contract with the Boston Bruins.\n\nOn August 22, 2013, after 15 seasons of professional hockey in North America, Whitfield signed his first European contract on a one-year deal with Italian club, HC Bolzano in their inaugural season in the Austrian Hockey League.\n\nCareer statistics\n\nRegular season and playoffs\n\nInternational\n\nAwards and honours\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n1977 births\nLiving people\nBolzano HC players\nBoston Bruins draft picks\nBoston Bruins players\nCanadian ice hockey centres\nHampton Roads Admirals players\nIce hockey people from Saskatchewan\nNew York Rangers players\nPeople from Estevan\nPeoria Rivermen (AHL) players\nPortland Pirates players\nProvidence Bruins players\nSt. Louis Blues players\nSpokane Chiefs players\nWashington Capitals players\nCanadian expatriate ice hockey players in Italy"
] |
[
"The Smashing Pumpkins",
"Mainstream breakout: 1992-1994"
] | C_b6b56b0135f34b2a82530ebab0efd600_0 | What did the group do in 1992 to make their big breakout? | 1 | What did the Smashing Pumpkins do in 1992 to make big Mainstream breakout? | The Smashing Pumpkins | With the breakthrough of alternative rock into the American mainstream due to the popularity of grunge bands such as Nirvana and Pearl Jam, the Smashing Pumpkins were poised for major commercial success. At this time, the Smashing Pumpkins were routinely lumped in with the grunge movement, with Corgan protesting, "We've graduated now from 'the next Jane's Addiction' to 'the next Nirvana', now we're 'the next Pearl Jam'." Amid this environment of intense internal pressure for the band to break through to widespread popularity, the band relocated to Marietta, Georgia in late 1992 to begin work on their second album, with Butch Vig returning as producer. The decision to record so far away from their hometown was motivated partly by the band's desire to avoid friends and distractions during the recording, but largely as a desperate attempt to cut Chamberlin off from his known drug connections. The recording environment for Siamese Dream was quickly marred by discord within the band. As was the case with Gish, Corgan and Vig decided that Corgan should play nearly all of the guitar and bass parts on the album, contributing to an air of resentment. The contemporary music press began to portray Corgan as a tyrant. Corgan's depression, meanwhile, had deepened to the point where he contemplated suicide, and he compensated by practically living in the studio. Meanwhile, Chamberlin quickly managed to find new connections and was often absent without any contact for days at a time. In all, it took over four months to complete the record, with the budget exceeding $250,000. Despite all the problems in its recording, Siamese Dream debuted at number ten on the Billboard 200 chart, and sold over four million copies in the U.S. alone. Alongside the band's mounting mainstream recognition, the band's reputation as careerists among their former peers in the independent music community was worsened. Indie rock band Pavement's 1994 song "Range Life" directly mocks the band in its lyrics, although Stephen Malkmus, lead singer of Pavement, has stated, "I never dissed their music. I just dissed their status." Former Husker Du frontman Bob Mould called them "the grunge Monkees", and fellow Chicago musician/producer Steve Albini wrote a scathing letter in response to an article praising the band, derisively comparing them to REO Speedwagon ("by, of and for the mainstream") and concluding their ultimate insignificance. The opening track and lead single of Siamese Dream, "Cherub Rock", directly addresses Corgan's feud with the "indie-world". In 1994 Virgin released the B-sides/rarities compilation Pisces Iscariot which charted higher than Siamese Dream by reaching number four on the Billboard 200. Also released was a VHS cassette titled Vieuphoria featuring a mix of live performances and behind-the-scenes footage. Following relentless touring to support the recordings, including headline slots on the 1994 Lollapalooza tour and at Reading Festival in 1995, the band took time off to write the follow-up album. CANNOTANSWER | Siamese Dream debuted | The Smashing Pumpkins (or Smashing Pumpkins) are an American alternative rock band from Chicago. Formed in 1988 by frontman Billy Corgan (lead vocals, guitar), D'arcy Wretzky (bass), James Iha (guitar), and Jimmy Chamberlin (drums), the band has undergone many line-up changes. The current lineup features Corgan, Chamberlin, Iha and guitarist Jeff Schroeder.
Disavowing the punk rock roots of many of their alt-rock contemporaries, they have a diverse, densely layered, and guitar-heavy sound, containing elements of gothic rock, heavy metal, dream pop, psychedelic rock, progressive rock, shoegazing, and, in later recordings, electronica. Corgan is the group's primary songwriter; his musical ambitions and cathartic lyrics have shaped the band's albums and songs, which have been described as "anguished, bruised reports from Billy Corgan's nightmare-land".
The Smashing Pumpkins broke into the musical mainstream with their second album, 1993's Siamese Dream. The group built its audience with extensive touring and their 1995 follow-up, the double album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 album chart. With 30 million albums sold worldwide, the Smashing Pumpkins were one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands of the 1990s. However, internal fighting, drug use, and diminishing record sales led to a 2000 break-up.
In 2006, Corgan and Chamberlin reconvened to record a new Smashing Pumpkins album, Zeitgeist. After touring throughout 2007 and 2008 with a lineup including new guitarist Jeff Schroeder, Chamberlin left the band in early 2009. Later that year, Corgan began a new recording series with a rotating lineup of musicians entitled Teargarden by Kaleidyscope, which encompassed the release of stand-alone singles, compilation EP releases, and two full albums that also fell under the project's scope—Oceania in 2012 and Monuments to an Elegy in 2014. Chamberlin and Iha officially rejoined the band in February 2018. The reunited lineup released the album Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun. in November 2018 and Cyr in November 2020.
History
Early years: 1988–1991
After the breakup of his gothic rock band The Marked, singer and guitarist Billy Corgan left St. Petersburg, Florida, to return to his native city of Chicago, where he took a job in a record store and formed the idea of a new band to be called the Smashing Pumpkins. While working there, he met guitarist James Iha. Adorning themselves with paisley and other psychedelic trappings, the two began writing songs together (with the aid of a drum machine) that were heavily influenced by the Cure and New Order. The duo performed live for the first time on July 9, 1988 at the Polish bar Chicago 21. This performance included only Corgan on bass and Iha on guitar with a drum machine. Shortly thereafter, Corgan met D'arcy Wretzky after a show by the Dan Reed Network where they argued the merits of the band. After finding out Wretzky played bass guitar, Corgan recruited her into the lineup, and the trio played a show at the Avalon Nightclub. After this show, Cabaret Metro owner Joe Shanahan agreed to book the band on the condition that they replace the drum
machine with a live drummer.
Jazz drummer Jimmy Chamberlin was recommended by a friend of Corgan's. Chamberlin knew little of alternative music and immediately changed the sound of the nascent band. As Corgan recalled of the period, "We were completely into the sad-rock, Cure kind of thing. It took about two or three practices before I realized that the power in his playing was something that enabled us to rock harder than we could ever have imagined." On October 5, 1988, the complete band took the stage for the first time at the Cabaret Metro.
In 1989, the Smashing Pumpkins made their first appearance on record with the compilation album Light Into Dark, which featured several Chicago alternative bands. The group released its first single, "I Am One", in 1990 on local Chicago label Limited Potential. The single sold out and they released a follow-up, "Tristessa", on Sub Pop, after which they signed to Caroline Records. The band recorded their 1991 debut studio album Gish with producer Butch Vig at his Smart Studios in Madison, Wisconsin for $20,000. In order to gain the consistency he desired, Corgan often played all instruments excluding drums, which created tension in the band. The music fused heavy metal guitars, psychedelia, and dream pop, garnering them comparisons to Jane's Addiction. Gish became a minor success, with the single "Rhinoceros" receiving some airplay on modern rock radio. After releasing the Lull EP in October 1991 on Caroline Records, the band formally signed with Virgin Records, which was affiliated with Caroline. The band supported the album with a tour that included opening for bands such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jane's Addiction, and Guns N' Roses. During the tour, Iha and Wretzky went through a messy breakup, Chamberlin became addicted to narcotics and alcohol, and Corgan entered a deep depression, writing some songs for the upcoming album in the parking garage where he lived at the time.
Mainstream breakout and Siamese Dream: 1992–1994
With the breakthrough of alternative rock into the American mainstream due to the popularity of grunge bands such as Nirvana and Pearl Jam, the Smashing Pumpkins were poised for major commercial success. At this time, the Smashing Pumpkins were routinely lumped in with the grunge movement, with Corgan protesting, "We've graduated now from 'the next Jane's Addiction' to 'the next Nirvana', now we're 'the next Pearl Jam'."
Amid this environment of intense internal pressure for the band to break through to widespread popularity, the band relocated to Marietta, Georgia in late 1992 to begin work on their second album, with Butch Vig returning as producer. The decision to record so far away from their hometown was motivated partly by the band's desire to avoid friends and distractions during the recording, but largely as a desperate attempt to cut Chamberlin off from his known drug connections. The recording environment for Siamese Dream was quickly marred by discord within the band. As was the case with Gish, Corgan and Vig decided that Corgan should play nearly all of the guitar and bass parts on the album, contributing to an air of resentment. The contemporary music press began to portray Corgan as a tyrant. Corgan's depression, meanwhile, had deepened to the point where he contemplated suicide, and he compensated by practically living in the studio. Meanwhile, Chamberlin quickly managed to find new connections and was often absent without any contact for days at a time. In all, it took over four months to complete the record, with the budget exceeding $250,000.
Despite all the problems in its recording, Siamese Dream debuted at number ten on the Billboard 200 chart, and sold over four million copies in the U.S. alone. Alongside the band's mounting mainstream recognition, the band's reputation as careerists among their former peers in the independent music community was worsened. Indie rock band Pavement's 1994 song "Range Life" directly mocks the band in its lyrics, although Stephen Malkmus, lead singer of Pavement, has stated, "I never dissed their music. I just dissed their status." Former Hüsker Dü frontman Bob Mould called them "the grunge Monkees", and fellow Chicago musician/producer Steve Albini wrote a scathing letter in response to an article praising the band, derisively comparing them to REO Speedwagon ("by, of and for the mainstream") and concluding their ultimate insignificance. The opening track and lead single of Siamese Dream, "Cherub Rock", directly addresses Corgan's feud with the "indie-world".
In 1994 Virgin released the B-sides/rarities compilation Pisces Iscariot which charted higher than Siamese Dream by reaching number four on the Billboard 200. Also released was a VHS cassette titled Vieuphoria featuring a mix of live performances and behind-the-scenes footage. Following relentless touring to support the recordings, including headline slots on the 1994 Lollapalooza tour and at Reading Festival in 1995, the band took time off to write the follow-up album.
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness: 1995–1997
During 1995, Corgan wrote about 56 songs, following which the band went into the studio with producers Flood and Alan Moulder to work on what Corgan described as "The Wall for Generation X", and which became Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, a double album of twenty-eight songs, lasting over two hours (the vinyl version of the album contained three records, two extra songs, and an alternate track listing). The songs were intended to hang together conceptually as a symbol of the cycle of life and death. Praised by Time as "the group's most ambitious and accomplished work yet", Mellon Collie debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 in October 1995. Even more successful than Siamese Dream, it was certified ten times platinum in the United States and became the best-selling double album of the decade. It also garnered seven 1997 Grammy Award nominations, including Album of the Year. The band won only the Best Hard Rock Performance award, for the album's lead single "Bullet with Butterfly Wings". The album spawned five singles—"Bullet with Butterfly Wings", "1979", "Zero", "Tonight, Tonight" which Corgan stated was inspired by the Cheap Trick song "I'll Be with You Tonight", and "Thirty-Three"—of which the first three were certified gold and all but "Zero" entered the Top 40. Many of the songs that did not make it onto Mellon Collie were released as B-sides to the singles, and were later compiled in The Aeroplane Flies High box set. The set was originally limited to 200,000 copies, but more were produced to meet demand.
In 1996 the Pumpkins undertook an extended world tour in support of Mellon Collie. Corgan's look during this period—a shaved head, a long sleeve black shirt with the word "Zero" printed on it, and silver pants—became iconic. That year, the band also made a guest appearance in an episode of The Simpsons, "Homerpalooza". With considerable video rotation on MTV, major industry awards, and "Zero" shirts selling in many malls, the Pumpkins were considered one of the most popular bands of the time.
In May, the Smashing Pumpkins played a gig at the Point Theatre in Dublin, Ireland. Despite the band's repeated requests for moshing to stop, a seventeen-year-old fan named Bernadette O'Brien was crushed to death. The concert ended early and the following night's performance in Belfast was cancelled out of respect for her. However, while Corgan maintained that moshing's "time [had] come and gone", the band would continue to request open-floor concerts throughout the rest of the tour.
The band suffered a personal tragedy on the night of July 11, 1996, when touring keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin and Chamberlin overdosed on heroin in a hotel room in New York City. Melvoin died, and Chamberlin was arrested for drug possession. A few days later, the band announced that Chamberlin had been fired as a result of the incident. The Pumpkins chose to finish the tour, and hired drummer Matt Walker and keyboardist Dennis Flemion. Corgan later said the decision to continue touring was the worst decision the band had ever made, damaging both their music and their reputation. Chamberlin admitted in a 1994 Rolling Stone cover story that in the past he'd "gotten high in every city in this country and probably half the cities in Europe." But in recent years, he had reportedly been clean. On July 17, the Pumpkins issued a statement in which they said, "For nine years we have battled with Jimmy's struggles with the insidious disease of drug and alcohol addiction. It has nearly destroyed everything we are and stand for. … We wish [him] the best we have to offer". Meanwhile, the band had given interviews since the release of Mellon Collie stating that it would be the last conventional Pumpkins record, and that rock was becoming stale. James Iha said at the end of 1996, "The future is in electronic music. It really seems boring just to play rock music."
Adore, Machina, and breakup: 1998–2000
After the release of Mellon Collie, the Pumpkins contributed many songs to various compilations. Released in early 1997, the song "Eye", which appeared on the soundtrack to David Lynch's Lost Highway, relied almost exclusively on electronic instruments and signaled a drastic shift from the Pumpkins' previous musical styles. At the time, Corgan stated his "idea [was] to reconfigure the focus and get away from the classic guitars-bass-drum rock format." Later that year, the group contributed "The End Is the Beginning Is the End" to the soundtrack for the film Batman & Robin. With Matt Walker on drums, the song featured a heavy sound similar to "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" while still having strong electronic influences. The song later won the 1998 Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance. Though Corgan announced that the song represented the sound people could expect from the band in the future, the band's next album would feature few guitar-driven songs.
Recorded following the death of Corgan's mother and his divorce, 1998's Adore represented a significant change of style from the Pumpkins' previous guitar-based rock, veering into electronica. The record, cut with assistance from drum machines and studio drummers including Matt Walker, was infused with a darker aesthetic than much of the band's earlier work. The group also modified its public image, shedding its alternative rock look for a more subdued appearance. Although Adore received favorable reviews and was nominated for Best Alternative Performance at the Grammy Awards, the album had only sold about 830,000 copies in the United States by the end of the year. The album nonetheless debuted at number 2 on the Billboard 200 and sold three times as many copies overseas. The band began a seventeen-date, fifteen-city charity North American tour in support of Adore. At each stop on the tour, the band donated 100 percent of tickets sales to a local charity organization. The tour's expenses were entirely funded out of the band's own pockets. All told, the band donated over $2.8 million to charity as a result of the tour. On October 31, 1998 during Halloween, the band opened for Kiss at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, dressed in costume as The Beatles.
In 1999 the band surprised fans by reuniting with a rehabilitated Jimmy Chamberlin for a brief tour dubbed "The Arising", which showcased both new and classic material. The lineup was short-lived, however, as the band announced the departure of Wretzky in September during work on the album Machina/The Machines of God. Former Hole bassist Melissa Auf der Maur was recruited for the "Sacred and Profane" tour in support of the album and appeared in the videos accompanying its release. Released in 2000, Machina was initially promoted as the Pumpkins' return to a more traditional rock sound, after the more gothic, electronic-sounding Adore. The album debuted at number three on the Billboard charts, but quickly disappeared and as of 2007 had only been certified gold. Music journalist Jim DeRogatis, who described the album as "one of the strongest of their career", noted that the stalled sales for Machina in comparison to teen pop ascendant at the time "seems like concrete proof that a new wave of young pop fans has turned a deaf ear toward alternative rock."
On May 23, 2000, in a live radio interview on KROQ-FM (Los Angeles), Billy Corgan announced the band's decision to break up at the end of that year following additional touring and recording. The group's final album before the break-up, Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music, was released in September 2000 in a limited pressing on vinyl with permission and instructions for free redistribution on the Internet by fans. Only twenty-five copies were cut, each of which was hand numbered and given to friends of the band along with band members themselves. The album, released under the Constantinople Records label created by Corgan, consisted of one double LP and three ten-inch EPs. Originally, the band asked Virgin to offer Machina II as a free download to anyone who bought Machina. When the record label declined, Corgan opted to release the material independently.
On December 2, 2000, Smashing Pumpkins played a farewell concert at The Metro, the same Chicago club where their career had effectively started twelve years earlier. The four-and-a-half-hour-long show featured 35 songs spanning the group's career, and attendees were given a recording of the band's first concert at The Metro, Live at Cabaret Metro 10-5-88. The single "Untitled" was released commercially to coincide with the farewell show.
Post-breakup: 2001–2004
In 2001 the compilation Rotten Apples was released. The double-disc version of the album, released as a limited edition, included a collection of B-sides and rarities called Judas O. The Greatest Hits Video Collection DVD was also released at the same time. This was a compilation of all of the Pumpkins promo videos from Gish to Machina along with unreleased material. Vieuphoria was released on DVD in 2002, as was the soundtrack album Earphoria, previously released solely to radio stations in 1994.
Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin reunited in 2001 as members of Corgan's next project, the short-lived supergroup Zwan. The group's only album, Mary Star of the Sea, was released in 2003. After cancelling a few festival appearances, Corgan announced the demise of the band in 2003. During 2001 Corgan also toured as part of New Order and provided vocals on their comeback album Get Ready. In October 2004 Corgan released his first book, Blinking with Fists, a collection of poetry. In June 2005, he released a solo album, TheFutureEmbrace, which he described as "(picking) up the thread of the as-yet-unfinished work of the Smashing Pumpkins". Despite this, it was greeted with generally mixed reviews and lackluster sales. Only one single, "Walking Shade", was released in support of the album.
In addition to drumming with Zwan, Jimmy Chamberlin also formed an alternative rock/jazz fusion project band called Jimmy Chamberlin Complex. The group released an album in 2005 titled Life Begins Again. Corgan provided guest vocals on the track "Lokicat". James Iha served as a guitarist in A Perfect Circle, appearing on their Thirteenth Step club tour and 2004 album, eMOTIVe. He has also been involved with other acts such as Chino Moreno's Team Sleep and Vanessa and the O's. He continues to work with Scratchie Records, his own record label, as well. D'arcy Wretzky has, aside from one radio interview in 2009, not made any public statements or appearances nor given any interviews since leaving the band in 1999. On January 25, 2000, she was arrested after she allegedly purchased three bags of cocaine, but after successfully completing a court-ordered drug education program, the charges were dropped.
Corgan insisted during this period that the band would not reform, although when Zwan broke up he announced, "I think my heart was in Smashing Pumpkins […] I think it was naive of me to think that I could find something that would mean as much to me." Corgan said in 2005, "I never wanted to leave the Smashing Pumpkins. That was never the plan." On February 17, 2004, Corgan posted a message on his personal blog calling Wretzky a "mean-spirited drug addict" and blaming Iha for the breakup of the Smashing Pumpkins. On June 3, 2004, he added that "the depth of my hurt [from Iha] is only matched with the depth of my gratitude". Iha responded to Corgan's claims in 2005, saying, "No, I didn't break up the band. The only person who could have done that is Billy."
Reformation and Zeitgeist: 2005–2008
On June 21, 2005, the day of the release of his first solo album TheFutureEmbrace, Corgan took out full-page advertisements in the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times to announce that he planned to reunite the band. "For a year now", Corgan wrote, "I have walked around with a secret, a secret I chose to keep. But now I want you to be among the first to know that I have made plans to renew and revive the Smashing Pumpkins. I want my band back, and my songs, and my dreams". Corgan and Chamberlin were verified as participants in the reunion, but there was question as to whether other former members of the band would participate.
In April 2007 Iha and Auf der Maur separately confirmed that they were not taking part in the reunion. Chamberlin would later state that Iha and Wretzky "didn't want to be a part of" the reunion. The Smashing Pumpkins performed live for the first time since 2000 on May 22, 2007, in Paris, France. There, the band unveiled new touring members: guitarist Jeff Schroeder, bassist Ginger Reyes, and keyboardist Lisa Harriton. That same month, "Tarantula" was released as the first single from the band's forthcoming album. On July 7, the band performed at the Live Earth concert in New Jersey.
The band's new album, Zeitgeist, was released that same month on Reprise Records, entering the Billboard charts at number two and selling 145,000 copies in its first week. Zeitgeist received mixed reviews, with much of the criticism targeted at the absence of half of the original lineup. The album divided the Pumpkins' fanbase. Corgan would later admit, "I know a lot of our fans are puzzled by Zeitgeist. I think they wanted this massive, grandiose work, but you don't just roll out of bed after seven years without a functioning band and go back to doing that".
Corgan and Chamberlin continued to record as a duo, releasing the four-song EP American Gothic in January 2008 and the singles "Superchrist" and "G.L.O.W." later that year. That November, the group released the DVD If All Goes Wrong, which chronicled the group's 2007 concert residences in Asheville, North Carolina and San Francisco, California. In late 2008, the band commenced on a controversy-riddled 20th Anniversary Tour. Around this time, Corgan said the group will make no more full-length records in order to focus exclusively on singles, explaining, "The listening patterns have changed, so why are we killing ourselves to do albums, to create balance, and do the arty track to set up the single? It's done."
Teargarden and Oceania: 2009–2013
In March 2009 Corgan announced on the band's website that Chamberlin had left the group and would be replaced. Chamberlin subsequently stated that his departure from the band is "a positive move forward for me. I can no longer commit all of my energy into something that I don't fully possess." Chamberlin stressed that the split was amicable, commenting, "I am glad [Corgan] has chosen to continue under the name. It is his right." Chamberlin soon formed the band Skysaw, which has released an album and toured in support of Minus the Bear. In July 2009 Billy Corgan formed a new group called Spirits in the Sky, initially as a tribute band to Sky Saxon of the Seeds, who had recently died. The following month Corgan confirmed on the band's website that 19-year-old Spirits in the Sky drummer Mike Byrne had replaced Chamberlin and that the pair was working on new Pumpkins recordings.
The group announced plans to release a 44-track concept album, Teargarden by Kaleidyscope, for free over the Internet one track at a time. The first track, "A Song for a Son", was released in December 2009 to moderate press acclaim. In March 2010 Ginger Reyes officially left the band, prompting an open call for auditions for a new bassist. In May, Nicole Fiorentino announced she had joined the band as bass player, and would be working on Teargarden by Kaleidyscope. The new lineup went on a world tour through to the end of 2010. One of the first shows with the new lineup was a concert to benefit Matthew Leone, bassist for the rock band Madina Lake, at the Metro on July 27, 2010. In late 2010 all four members contributed to the sessions for the third volume of Teargarden.
On April 26, 2011, Corgan announced that the Smashing Pumpkins would be releasing a new album titled Oceania, which he labeled as "an album within an album" in regards to the Teargarden by Kaleidyscope project, in the fall. As with the previous recording sessions, all four band members contributed to the project. Also, the entire album catalog was to be remastered and reissued with bonus tracks, starting with Gish and Siamese Dream in November 2011. The pre-Gish demos, Pisces Iscariot, and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness were released in 2012, with The Aeroplane Flies High released the following year. Adore was released in 2014, and Machina/The Machines of God and the yet commercially unreleased Machina II/Friends and Enemies of Modern Music are expected to be combined, remixed, and released in the same year. The band did a thirteen-city US tour in October 2011 followed by a European tour in November and December.
Oceania was released on June 19, 2012, and received generally positive reviews. The album debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 and at No. 1 on the Billboard Independent. The album spawned two singles, "The Celestials" and "Panopticon". The band proceeded to tour in support of the album, including a US tour involving playing the album in its entirety. By September 2012, Corgan stated that the band had already begun work on their next album. However, despite this, the band concentrated on touring, playing at Glastonbury Festival, Dour Festival and the Barclays Center, where they recorded Oceania: Live in NYC, which was released on September 24, 2013.
Monuments to an Elegy: 2014–2016
On March 25, 2014, Corgan announced he had signed a new record deal with BMG, for two new albums, titled Monuments to an Elegy and Day for Night, respectively. In June, it was revealed that Mike Byrne was no longer in the band, to be replaced by Tommy Lee of Mötley Crüe on the new album, and Fiorentino would not be recording on the album either. Monuments to an Elegy was released on December 5, 2014, to generally positive reviews. The band toured in support of the album starting on November 26, with Rage Against the Machine's Brad Wilk filling in on drums and the Killers' Mark Stoermer filling in on bass. The follow-up proposed album Day For Night was cited for delayed late 2015 or early 2016 release.
Later in 2015 Corgan announced that the band would embark on a co-headlining tour of North America with Marilyn Manson, "The End Times Tour", across July and August 2015. Prior to the co-headlining dates, the band performed a series of acoustic shows with drum machines and tapes for percussion. When the time came for the co-headlining tour, plans for a drummer fell through and Corgan recruited Chamberlin to reunite for the shows. On February 1, 2016, it was announced that the band would continue their In Plainsong acoustic tour with Jimmy Chamberlin on drums and were planning to head "straight to the studio after the dates to record a brand new album inspired by the sounds explored in the new acoustic setting". On February 25, 2016, Corgan posted a video from a Los Angeles studio on the band's Facebook account, giving an update on the writing process for the new songs for the upcoming album to be released after the In Plainsong tour.
The tour began in Portland, Oregon, on March 22, 2016.
Iha and Chamberlin's return; Shiny and Oh So Bright and Cyr: 2018–present
On his birthday on March 26, 2016, original guitarist James Iha joined Billy Corgan, Jimmy Chamberlin, and Jeff Schroeder on stage unannounced at the Ace Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. He performed a few songs, including "Mayonaise", "Soma" and "Whir" marking his first appearance with the Smashing Pumpkins in 16 years. Iha also played at the second of the two Smashing Pumpkins shows at the Ace Hotel the following day, which was Easter Sunday. Iha joined the Pumpkins for a third time at their concert of April 14 at the Civic Opera House in Chicago. In July, Corgan began hinting of the possibility of reuniting the band original lineup, of himself, Iha, Wretzky, and Chamberlin, and in August, he stated he had begun reaching out to the original lineup about the feasibility of a reunion, including speaking to Wretzky for the first time in sixteen years. Despite the comments, Corgan would spend much of 2017 working on solo material – recording and releasing the solo album Ogilala and beginning work on another solo album for 2018. In June 2017 Chamberlin also mentioned the possibility of a reunion tour in 2018. In January 2018 Corgan shared a photo of himself, Iha, and Chamberlin together in recording studio. In February 2018 Corgan announced that he was working with music producer Rick Rubin on a future Smashing Pumpkins album, that there were currently 26 songs he was actively working on, and that "the guitar feels once again like the preferred weapon of choice." Soon afterwards, Corgan shared a photo of sound equipment with Iha's name on a label, as well as announcing recording was finished on the album.
On February 15, 2018, the band officially announced that founding members Iha and Chamberlin were back in the band. They embarked on the Shiny And Oh So Bright Tour starting in July, with a focus on performing material from their first five studio albums. and sold over 350,000 tickets and sold out arenas including The Forum, United Center, and Madison Square Garden. Original bassist D'arcy Wretzky claimed she had been offered a contract to rejoin the band but Corgan rescinded the offer soon after. Corgan released a statement denying the claims, stating "Ms. Wretzky has repeatedly been invited out to play with the group, participate in demo sessions, or at the very least, meet face-to-face, and in each and every instance she always deferred". Jack Bates (son of Joy Division bassist Peter Hook) played bass on the tour. Bates previously toured with the Smashing Pumpkins in 2015. Multi-instrumentalist Katie Cole rejoined the band for the tour as well, singing backup vocals and playing keyboards and guitar.
In March 2018, Corgan mentioned the band planned to release two EPs in 2018, with the first tentatively planned for May. On June 8, 2018, the first single from the set of music, "Solara", was released. On August 2, 2018, the band celebrated their 30th anniversary by performing in Holmdel, New Jersey. with several notable special guests including Courtney Love, Chino Moreno, Davey Havok, Peter Hook, Mark McGrath, and Dave Keuning and Mark Stoermer of The Killers. In September 2018, they announced the album Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun., released via Napalm Records on November 16, 2018, which debuted at number 54 on the Billboard 200 chart.
After touring through much of 2019, Corgan noted in January 2020 that the band was currently working on 21 songs for a future album release. On August 28, 2020, the band released the single and video for "Cyr", along with a second track titled "The Colour of Love" from their album Cyr, which was released through their new record label Sumerian Records on November 27, 2020. It serves as the second part of the Shiny and Oh So Bright series. On September 25, 2020, the band released another single from Cyr that included the songs "Confessions of a Dopamine Addict" and "Wrath". On October 9, 2020, the band released a third single for Cyr that featured the tracks "Anno Satana" and "Birch Grove". On October 29, the band released "Ramona" and "Wyttch" as the fourth pair of singles. On November 20, 2020, the songs "Purple Blood" and "Dulcet in E" were released as the fifth and final single for Cyr. The following week, on November 27, 2020, the band released Cyr. Despite never getting to properly tour Cyr, the band did play four songs from the album at their headlining shows at Riot Fest and Sea.Hear.Now Festival in September 2021.
In late 2020, Corgan announced that the band would begin work on another double album for release in 2021, although the year passed without the album releasing. The double album is to serve as a sequel to the overarching story of Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness and Machina: The Machines of God. On February 22, the band announced on social media the Rock Invasion 2 Tour, which had previously been set to take place in spring 2020, but had been postponed to fall 2020 and subsequently canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The newly announced incarnation of the tour had entirely new locations spanning 11 US cities accompanying the band's spring festival appearances and four performances in Mexico, their first since 2013.
Musical style, influences, and legacy
The direction of the band is dominated by lead guitarist, lead vocalist, keyboardist, bassist and principal songwriter Billy Corgan. Journalist Greg Kot wrote, "The music [of the Smashing Pumpkins] would not be what it is without his ambition and vision, and his famously fractured relationships with his family, friends, and bandmembers." Melissa Auf der Maur commented upon news of the group's reunion, "Everyone knows Billy doesn't need too many people to make a Pumpkins record, other than Jimmy [Chamberlin]—who he has on board." In a 2015 interview Corgan himself referred to the current iteration of the band "as sort of an open source collective" noting that "It's whoever feels right at the time." Many of Corgan's lyrics for the Pumpkins are cathartic expressions of emotion, full of personal musings and strong indictments of himself and those close to him. Music critics were not often fans of Corgan's angst-filled lyrics. Jim DeRogatis wrote in a 1993 Chicago Sun-Times article that Corgan's lyrics "too often sound like sophomoric poetry", although he viewed the lyrics of later albums Adore and Machina as an improvement. The band's songs have been described as "anguished, bruised reports from Billy Corgan's nightmare-land" by journalist William Shaw.
Smashing Pumpkins, unlike many alternative rock bands at the time, disavowed the influence of punk rock on their sound. Overall, they have a diverse, densely layered, and guitar-heavy sound, containing elements of gothic rock, heavy metal, dream pop, psychedelic rock, progressive rock, shoegazing, and electronica in later recordings.
The Smashing Pumpkins' distinctive sound up until Adore involved layering numerous guitar tracks onto a song during the recording process, a tactic that Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness coproducer Flood called the "Pumpkin guitar overdub army." Although there were a lot of overdubbed parts on Gish, Corgan began to really explore the possibilities of overdubbing with Siamese Dream; Corgan has stated that "Soma" alone contains up to 40 overdubbed guitar parts. While Corgan knew many of the songs would be difficult or impossible to replicate from their recorded versions in concert (in fact, some songs were drastically altered for live performance), he has explained the use of overdubbing by posing the question "When you are faced with making a permanent recorded representation of a song, why not endow it with the grandest possible vision?" This use of multilayered sounds was inspired by Corgan's love of 1970s popular artists & bands such as: David Bowie, Cheap Trick, Queen, Boston, and the Electric Light Orchestra, as well as shoegaze, a British alternative rock style of the late 1980s and early 1990s that relied on swirling layers of guitar noise for effect. Mellon Collie coproducer Alan Moulder was originally hired to mix Siamese Dream because Corgan was a fan of his work producing shoegaze bands such as My Bloody Valentine, Ride, and Slowdive.
Like many contemporary alternative bands, the Smashing Pumpkins utilized shifts in song dynamics, going from quiet to loud and vice versa. Hüsker Dü's seminal album Zen Arcade demonstrated to the band how they could place gentler material against more aggressive fare, and Corgan made such shifts in dynamics central to the pursuit of his grand musical ambitions. Corgan said he liked the idea of creating his own alternative universe through sound that essentially tells the listener, "Welcome to Pumpkin Land, this is what it sounds like on Planet Pumpkin." This emphasis on atmosphere carried through to Adore (described as "arcane night music" in prerelease promotion) and the Machina albums (concept records that tell the story of a fictional rock band).
The Pumpkins drew inspiration from a variety of other genres, some unfashionable during the 1990s among music critics. Corgan in particular was open about his appreciation of heavy metal, citing Dimebag Darrell of Pantera as his favorite contemporary guitarist. When one interviewer commented to Corgan and Iha that "Smashing Pumpkins is one of the groups that relegitimized heavy metal" and that they "were among the first alternative rockers to mention people like Ozzy and Black Sabbath with anything other than contempt". Corgan went on to rave about Black Sabbath's Master of Reality and Judas Priest's Unleashed in the East. The song "Zero", which reminded Iha of Judas Priest, is an example of what the band dubbed "cybermetal." Post-punk and gothic rock bands like Joy Division/New Order, Bauhaus, the Cure, and Depeche Mode were formative influences on the band, which covered such artists in concert and on record. Corgan also cited Siouxsie and the Banshees saying it was important to point back to bands that influenced them. Psychedelic rock was also referenced often in the band's early recordings; according to Corgan, "In typical Pumpkins fashion, no one at that point really liked loud guitars or psychedelic music so, of course, that's exactly what we had to do." Corgan felt that the band's guitars "are a mixture of heavy metal and 80s alternative rock. I think of Cure and Siouxsie and the Banshees". Corgan acknowledged that a chord he jokingly claimed as "the Pumpkin chord" (a G# octave chord at the eleventh fret of a guitar with the low E string played over it), used as the basis for "Cherub Rock", "Drown", and other songs, was in fact previously used by Jimi Hendrix. Other early influences cited by Corgan include Cream, the Stooges, and Blue Cheer.
Regarding the band's influence upon other groups, Greg Kot wrote in 2001, "Whereas Nirvana spawned countless mini-Nirvanas, the Pumpkins remain an island unto themselves." Still, some artists and bands have been influenced by the Pumpkins, such as Nelly Furtado, Marilyn Manson, Third Eye Blind, Mark Hoppus of Blink-182, Tegan and Sara, Fall Out Boy, Rivers Cuomo, Panic! at the Disco, Silversun Pickups, and My Chemical Romance. My Chemical Romance vocalist Gerard Way has said that they pattern their career upon the Pumpkins', including music videos. The members of fellow Chicago band Kill Hannah are friends with Corgan, and lead singer Mat Devine has compared his group to the Pumpkins.
The group has sold over 30 million albums worldwide as of October 2012, and sales in the United States alone reaching 19.75 million.
Music videos
The Smashing Pumpkins have been praised as "responsible for some of the most striking and memorable video clips" and for having "approached videos from a completely artistic standpoint rather than mere commercials to sell albums". MTV's 2001 anniversary special Testimony: 20 Years of Rock on MTV credited the Pumpkins, along with Nine Inch Nails, with treating music videos as an art form during the 1990s. Corgan has said, "We generally resisted the idea of what I call the classic MTV rock video, which is like lots of people jumping around and stuff." The band worked with video directors including Kevin Kerslake ("Cherub Rock"), Samuel Bayer ("Bullet with Butterfly Wings"), and, most frequently, the team of Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris ("Rocket", "1979", "Tonight, Tonight", "The End Is the Beginning Is the End", and "Perfect"). Corgan, who was frequently heavily involved in the conception of the videos, said of Dayton and Faris, "I know my [initial] versions are always darker, and they're always talking me into something a little kinder and gentler." Videos like "Today", "Rocket", and "1979" dealt with images taken from middle American culture, albeit exaggerated. The group's videos so often avoid the literal interpretation of the song lyrics that the video for "Thirty-Three", with images closely related to the words of the song, was created as an intentional stylistic departure.
The band was nominated for several MTV Video Music Awards during the 1990s. In 1996, the group won eight VMAs total for the "1979" and "Tonight, Tonight" videos, including the top award, Video of the Year, for "Tonight, Tonight". The video was also nominated for a Grammy at the 1997 ceremony. Of the "Tonight, Tonight" video, Corgan remarked, "I don't think we've ever had people react [like this]... it just seemed to touch a nerve."
Shortly after the band's 2000 breakup, the Greatest Hits Video Collection was released, collecting the band's music videos from 1991 to 2000 and including commentary from Corgan, Iha, Chamberlin, Wretzky, and various music video directors with outtakes, live performances, and the extended "Try, Try, Try" short film.
Band members
Current members
Billy Corgan – lead vocals, guitars, keyboards, bass guitar (1988–2000, 2006–present)
James Iha – guitars, bass guitar, vocals (1988–2000, 2018–present)
Jimmy Chamberlin – drums (1988–1996, 1998–2000, 2006–2009, 2015–present)
Jeff Schroeder – guitars, keyboards (2007–present)
Live members
Jack Bates – bass guitar (2015–present)
Katie Cole – keyboards, backing vocals (2015–present)
Former members
D'arcy Wretzky – bass guitar, backing vocals (1988–1999)
Melissa Auf der Maur – bass guitar (1999–2000)
Mike Byrne – drums, backing vocals, keyboards (2009–2014)
Nicole Fiorentino – bass guitar, backing vocals, keyboards (2010–2014)
Awards
American Music Awards
1997 – Best Alternative Artist
Grammy Awards
1997 – "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" – Best Hard Rock Performance
1998 – "The End Is the Beginning Is the End" – Best Hard Rock Performance
MTV Europe Music Awards
1996 – Best Rock
MTV Video Music Awards
1996 – "Tonight, Tonight" – Video of the Year, Breakthrough Video, Best Direction, Best Visual Effects, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography
1996 – "1979" – Best Alternative Video
Discography
Studio albums
Gish (1991)
Siamese Dream (1993)
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1995)
Adore (1998)
Machina/The Machines of God (2000)
Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music (2000)
Zeitgeist (2007)
Oceania (2012)†
Monuments to an Elegy (2014)†
Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun. (2018)
Cyr (2020)
Notes
† Part of Teargarden by Kaleidyscope (2009–2014), an overarching project abandoned before completion.
See also
List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. alternative rock chart
Notes
References
Bibliography
Further reading
External links
1988 establishments in Illinois
Alternative rock groups from Chicago
Articles which contain graphical timelines
Caroline Records artists
Grammy Award winners
MTV Europe Music Award winners
Musical groups established in 1988
Musical groups disestablished in 2000
Musical groups reestablished in 2006
Musical quartets
American musical trios
Reprise Records artists
Sumerian Records artists
Virgin Records artists
Musical groups from Chicago | true | [
"Mister Maker Comes to Town is a spin-off of children's television series Mister Maker commissioned by Michael Carrington at the BBC for CBeebies. The TV series launched in 2010 and ended in 2011. Three spin-offs followed: Mister Maker Around the World, Mister Maker's Arty Party, and Mister Maker at Home, which began airing in 2013, 2015 and 2020, respectively.\n\nEpisode format\nEvery episode has the following sequence:\n\nHelps a child with something they can make - Helping As Children Your Arts & Crafts\nShape dance and guessing game - Awesome Shape Dance & Games\nMinute make it time - 1 Minute Your Arts & Crafts\nColoured Kids - All Art Big Color\nBig surprise - For Your Art & Crafts Bigger\nTime to go - Meet Tocky\nAt the start of every show, Mister Maker uses various objects to make a Makermobile. He shrinks himself, then the episode starts. Tocky, the cuckoo clock, gives Mister Maker a \"mini maker message\", a child who needs help from Mister Maker. The child tells Mister Maker what they would like to do or make something out of old things. This inspires him to do something related to them. He collects the essential items from the Doodle drawers and makes them.\n\nWhen Mister Maker can't find what he needs, he honks the horn, summoning Scraps (a blue puppet with a scarf, a hat with straws and pipe cleaners on it, and googly eyes), who gives him what he wants. After they make it, Mister Maker tells us, \"it's brilliant being out and about in the Makermobile; there's always so much to see and do.\" Then he hears a noise, then a quartet of shapes fly out and sing a silly song and dance, followed by a random shape (circle, triangle, square, or rectangle) to form a picture or find how many shapes there are.\n\nTocky then appears on the Makervideophone for Minute Make Time, and Mister Maker goes to a place where he can make something in a minute—usually completing it just before the timer stops. Then the coloured kids ask Mister Maker from the videophone to guess what they would make with their colourful costumes.\n\nIt is followed by A Big Surprise, where Mister Maker sees some kids who were not expecting him. The kids tell Mister Maker what they would like to do. Mister Maker tells the kids what they will do, which will give him an idea of what to do next. In the middle of making it, he wonders why not make a (insert thing related to what the Mini Makers are making here). The show ends with Tocky telling Mister Maker to go and then shows Mister Maker how to put the Makermobile back into the art box.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\n2010s British children's television series\n2010 British television series debuts\n2011 British television series endings\nBBC children's television shows\nBritish preschool education television series\nBritish television shows featuring puppetry\nTreehouse TV original programming\nTelevision series by RDF Media Group\nBritish television spin-offs",
"Mission-based learning (MBL) is a student-centered approach created by the Smithsonian EdLab at the National Postal Museum. It encourages students to make meaningful connections between themselves, their communities and the global community. Students build upon prior skills and use critical thinking, research skills, creativity, independent and collaborative work to solve authentic, relevant issues facing the modern era. Students employ diverse tools of the 21st-century classroom to broadcast their solutions and positively impact the global community.\n\nGoals of mission-based learning\n\n Students approach an authentic issue or concept relevant to their community.\n Students make a personal connection to the issue or concept proposed in the mission.\n Students develop a solution to the mission using multiple resources available in the 21st-century classroom (e.g. technology, social media, museums, podcasts, texts, etc.)\n Students impact their community by publicly broadcasting their solution to the mission.\n\nConnections to Common Core & State Standards\n\n Major Shifts\n Close Analytical Reading - in order to complete a mission, students will need to have a good understanding of the texts/objects involved in the mission, and that will require analysis and repeated readings/viewing of the text/object.\n Providing Evidence - as part of the mission process, students must demonstrate the connections between the texts/objects used in the mission and their solution.\n Academic Vocabulary - the mission must connect to the content area and standards which will facilitate student use of content-specific discourse and encourage additional academic vocabulary development.\n Short-focus Research - in order to complete a mission, students will need to research issues, conduct interviews, and survey the best methods to broadcast their stances.\n Speaking and Listening - an effective mission requires students to observe and gauge problems in their community (listening) present their stances to the class and to the public (speaking).\n\nMBL Guide\nThe mission must have students researching an issue or concept that they can relate to and make connections to with objects, texts, films, or other resources. A stance must be made on the issue and a product such as an ad campaign or a narrative\n\nStep 1 - Crafting the mission\n\n Consider the overarching or essential questions of the lesson or unit you are teaching. Use those questions to develop the mission. \n Consider these questions: What outcome do you want for your students? What is it that you want them to take away from the mission? Use the answers to the questions in writing your mission. \n Provide as few parameters as possible in order to promote critical thinking, research, and problem-solving skills. Provide encouragement and support to those students who will hesitate or resist such open-ended assignments. \n Incorporate a connection to their community, school, and/or culture in order to ensure student engagement and relevant application of skills. \n Develop guiding questions that will spark discussion, debate, and thoughts about the subject of your mission. \n Create a mission that requires students to participate in activism by finding a solution to the issue presented in the mission and broadcasting their opinions/feelings/solutions to the community affected by the issue.\n\nStep 2 - Deploying the mission\n\n Start the mission with the guiding questions. Encourage discussion and debate. Record answers in plain view for students.\n Practice and model group roles in order to reduce in-fighting and uneven work distribution in groups.\n Provide limited scaffolding for students struggling with the mission. Use the following generic guiding questions, but modify them if needed to meet the needs of your students and/or mission:\n What common things do you see?\n How are you affected by the issue?\n What is your message? Now, what is your method of relaying this message?\n Stick to your time limit and stress the content over aesthetics. Encourage students to polish missions after the presentation.\n\nStep 3 - Stepping back from the mission\n\nInquire students about their experience. These are some guiding questions for your class discussion:\n What tools did you use?\n What problems did you encounter?\n Did you have any surprises?\n If you had more time, what would you do differently?\nHave students reflect individually:\n What elements of the mission were meaningful to you?\n What parts of the mission do you see relevant to your future job experience?\n What tools do you want to test out in the future?\n What did you contribute to your group?\n\nReferences \n\nLearning methods"
] |
[
"The Smashing Pumpkins",
"Mainstream breakout: 1992-1994",
"What did the group do in 1992 to make their big breakout?",
"Siamese Dream debuted"
] | C_b6b56b0135f34b2a82530ebab0efd600_0 | What did they do that helped them become well known? | 2 | What did the Smashing Pumpkins do that helped them become well known? | The Smashing Pumpkins | With the breakthrough of alternative rock into the American mainstream due to the popularity of grunge bands such as Nirvana and Pearl Jam, the Smashing Pumpkins were poised for major commercial success. At this time, the Smashing Pumpkins were routinely lumped in with the grunge movement, with Corgan protesting, "We've graduated now from 'the next Jane's Addiction' to 'the next Nirvana', now we're 'the next Pearl Jam'." Amid this environment of intense internal pressure for the band to break through to widespread popularity, the band relocated to Marietta, Georgia in late 1992 to begin work on their second album, with Butch Vig returning as producer. The decision to record so far away from their hometown was motivated partly by the band's desire to avoid friends and distractions during the recording, but largely as a desperate attempt to cut Chamberlin off from his known drug connections. The recording environment for Siamese Dream was quickly marred by discord within the band. As was the case with Gish, Corgan and Vig decided that Corgan should play nearly all of the guitar and bass parts on the album, contributing to an air of resentment. The contemporary music press began to portray Corgan as a tyrant. Corgan's depression, meanwhile, had deepened to the point where he contemplated suicide, and he compensated by practically living in the studio. Meanwhile, Chamberlin quickly managed to find new connections and was often absent without any contact for days at a time. In all, it took over four months to complete the record, with the budget exceeding $250,000. Despite all the problems in its recording, Siamese Dream debuted at number ten on the Billboard 200 chart, and sold over four million copies in the U.S. alone. Alongside the band's mounting mainstream recognition, the band's reputation as careerists among their former peers in the independent music community was worsened. Indie rock band Pavement's 1994 song "Range Life" directly mocks the band in its lyrics, although Stephen Malkmus, lead singer of Pavement, has stated, "I never dissed their music. I just dissed their status." Former Husker Du frontman Bob Mould called them "the grunge Monkees", and fellow Chicago musician/producer Steve Albini wrote a scathing letter in response to an article praising the band, derisively comparing them to REO Speedwagon ("by, of and for the mainstream") and concluding their ultimate insignificance. The opening track and lead single of Siamese Dream, "Cherub Rock", directly addresses Corgan's feud with the "indie-world". In 1994 Virgin released the B-sides/rarities compilation Pisces Iscariot which charted higher than Siamese Dream by reaching number four on the Billboard 200. Also released was a VHS cassette titled Vieuphoria featuring a mix of live performances and behind-the-scenes footage. Following relentless touring to support the recordings, including headline slots on the 1994 Lollapalooza tour and at Reading Festival in 1995, the band took time off to write the follow-up album. CANNOTANSWER | due to the popularity of grunge bands such as Nirvana and Pearl Jam, the Smashing Pumpkins were poised for major commercial success. | The Smashing Pumpkins (or Smashing Pumpkins) are an American alternative rock band from Chicago. Formed in 1988 by frontman Billy Corgan (lead vocals, guitar), D'arcy Wretzky (bass), James Iha (guitar), and Jimmy Chamberlin (drums), the band has undergone many line-up changes. The current lineup features Corgan, Chamberlin, Iha and guitarist Jeff Schroeder.
Disavowing the punk rock roots of many of their alt-rock contemporaries, they have a diverse, densely layered, and guitar-heavy sound, containing elements of gothic rock, heavy metal, dream pop, psychedelic rock, progressive rock, shoegazing, and, in later recordings, electronica. Corgan is the group's primary songwriter; his musical ambitions and cathartic lyrics have shaped the band's albums and songs, which have been described as "anguished, bruised reports from Billy Corgan's nightmare-land".
The Smashing Pumpkins broke into the musical mainstream with their second album, 1993's Siamese Dream. The group built its audience with extensive touring and their 1995 follow-up, the double album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 album chart. With 30 million albums sold worldwide, the Smashing Pumpkins were one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands of the 1990s. However, internal fighting, drug use, and diminishing record sales led to a 2000 break-up.
In 2006, Corgan and Chamberlin reconvened to record a new Smashing Pumpkins album, Zeitgeist. After touring throughout 2007 and 2008 with a lineup including new guitarist Jeff Schroeder, Chamberlin left the band in early 2009. Later that year, Corgan began a new recording series with a rotating lineup of musicians entitled Teargarden by Kaleidyscope, which encompassed the release of stand-alone singles, compilation EP releases, and two full albums that also fell under the project's scope—Oceania in 2012 and Monuments to an Elegy in 2014. Chamberlin and Iha officially rejoined the band in February 2018. The reunited lineup released the album Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun. in November 2018 and Cyr in November 2020.
History
Early years: 1988–1991
After the breakup of his gothic rock band The Marked, singer and guitarist Billy Corgan left St. Petersburg, Florida, to return to his native city of Chicago, where he took a job in a record store and formed the idea of a new band to be called the Smashing Pumpkins. While working there, he met guitarist James Iha. Adorning themselves with paisley and other psychedelic trappings, the two began writing songs together (with the aid of a drum machine) that were heavily influenced by the Cure and New Order. The duo performed live for the first time on July 9, 1988 at the Polish bar Chicago 21. This performance included only Corgan on bass and Iha on guitar with a drum machine. Shortly thereafter, Corgan met D'arcy Wretzky after a show by the Dan Reed Network where they argued the merits of the band. After finding out Wretzky played bass guitar, Corgan recruited her into the lineup, and the trio played a show at the Avalon Nightclub. After this show, Cabaret Metro owner Joe Shanahan agreed to book the band on the condition that they replace the drum
machine with a live drummer.
Jazz drummer Jimmy Chamberlin was recommended by a friend of Corgan's. Chamberlin knew little of alternative music and immediately changed the sound of the nascent band. As Corgan recalled of the period, "We were completely into the sad-rock, Cure kind of thing. It took about two or three practices before I realized that the power in his playing was something that enabled us to rock harder than we could ever have imagined." On October 5, 1988, the complete band took the stage for the first time at the Cabaret Metro.
In 1989, the Smashing Pumpkins made their first appearance on record with the compilation album Light Into Dark, which featured several Chicago alternative bands. The group released its first single, "I Am One", in 1990 on local Chicago label Limited Potential. The single sold out and they released a follow-up, "Tristessa", on Sub Pop, after which they signed to Caroline Records. The band recorded their 1991 debut studio album Gish with producer Butch Vig at his Smart Studios in Madison, Wisconsin for $20,000. In order to gain the consistency he desired, Corgan often played all instruments excluding drums, which created tension in the band. The music fused heavy metal guitars, psychedelia, and dream pop, garnering them comparisons to Jane's Addiction. Gish became a minor success, with the single "Rhinoceros" receiving some airplay on modern rock radio. After releasing the Lull EP in October 1991 on Caroline Records, the band formally signed with Virgin Records, which was affiliated with Caroline. The band supported the album with a tour that included opening for bands such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jane's Addiction, and Guns N' Roses. During the tour, Iha and Wretzky went through a messy breakup, Chamberlin became addicted to narcotics and alcohol, and Corgan entered a deep depression, writing some songs for the upcoming album in the parking garage where he lived at the time.
Mainstream breakout and Siamese Dream: 1992–1994
With the breakthrough of alternative rock into the American mainstream due to the popularity of grunge bands such as Nirvana and Pearl Jam, the Smashing Pumpkins were poised for major commercial success. At this time, the Smashing Pumpkins were routinely lumped in with the grunge movement, with Corgan protesting, "We've graduated now from 'the next Jane's Addiction' to 'the next Nirvana', now we're 'the next Pearl Jam'."
Amid this environment of intense internal pressure for the band to break through to widespread popularity, the band relocated to Marietta, Georgia in late 1992 to begin work on their second album, with Butch Vig returning as producer. The decision to record so far away from their hometown was motivated partly by the band's desire to avoid friends and distractions during the recording, but largely as a desperate attempt to cut Chamberlin off from his known drug connections. The recording environment for Siamese Dream was quickly marred by discord within the band. As was the case with Gish, Corgan and Vig decided that Corgan should play nearly all of the guitar and bass parts on the album, contributing to an air of resentment. The contemporary music press began to portray Corgan as a tyrant. Corgan's depression, meanwhile, had deepened to the point where he contemplated suicide, and he compensated by practically living in the studio. Meanwhile, Chamberlin quickly managed to find new connections and was often absent without any contact for days at a time. In all, it took over four months to complete the record, with the budget exceeding $250,000.
Despite all the problems in its recording, Siamese Dream debuted at number ten on the Billboard 200 chart, and sold over four million copies in the U.S. alone. Alongside the band's mounting mainstream recognition, the band's reputation as careerists among their former peers in the independent music community was worsened. Indie rock band Pavement's 1994 song "Range Life" directly mocks the band in its lyrics, although Stephen Malkmus, lead singer of Pavement, has stated, "I never dissed their music. I just dissed their status." Former Hüsker Dü frontman Bob Mould called them "the grunge Monkees", and fellow Chicago musician/producer Steve Albini wrote a scathing letter in response to an article praising the band, derisively comparing them to REO Speedwagon ("by, of and for the mainstream") and concluding their ultimate insignificance. The opening track and lead single of Siamese Dream, "Cherub Rock", directly addresses Corgan's feud with the "indie-world".
In 1994 Virgin released the B-sides/rarities compilation Pisces Iscariot which charted higher than Siamese Dream by reaching number four on the Billboard 200. Also released was a VHS cassette titled Vieuphoria featuring a mix of live performances and behind-the-scenes footage. Following relentless touring to support the recordings, including headline slots on the 1994 Lollapalooza tour and at Reading Festival in 1995, the band took time off to write the follow-up album.
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness: 1995–1997
During 1995, Corgan wrote about 56 songs, following which the band went into the studio with producers Flood and Alan Moulder to work on what Corgan described as "The Wall for Generation X", and which became Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, a double album of twenty-eight songs, lasting over two hours (the vinyl version of the album contained three records, two extra songs, and an alternate track listing). The songs were intended to hang together conceptually as a symbol of the cycle of life and death. Praised by Time as "the group's most ambitious and accomplished work yet", Mellon Collie debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 in October 1995. Even more successful than Siamese Dream, it was certified ten times platinum in the United States and became the best-selling double album of the decade. It also garnered seven 1997 Grammy Award nominations, including Album of the Year. The band won only the Best Hard Rock Performance award, for the album's lead single "Bullet with Butterfly Wings". The album spawned five singles—"Bullet with Butterfly Wings", "1979", "Zero", "Tonight, Tonight" which Corgan stated was inspired by the Cheap Trick song "I'll Be with You Tonight", and "Thirty-Three"—of which the first three were certified gold and all but "Zero" entered the Top 40. Many of the songs that did not make it onto Mellon Collie were released as B-sides to the singles, and were later compiled in The Aeroplane Flies High box set. The set was originally limited to 200,000 copies, but more were produced to meet demand.
In 1996 the Pumpkins undertook an extended world tour in support of Mellon Collie. Corgan's look during this period—a shaved head, a long sleeve black shirt with the word "Zero" printed on it, and silver pants—became iconic. That year, the band also made a guest appearance in an episode of The Simpsons, "Homerpalooza". With considerable video rotation on MTV, major industry awards, and "Zero" shirts selling in many malls, the Pumpkins were considered one of the most popular bands of the time.
In May, the Smashing Pumpkins played a gig at the Point Theatre in Dublin, Ireland. Despite the band's repeated requests for moshing to stop, a seventeen-year-old fan named Bernadette O'Brien was crushed to death. The concert ended early and the following night's performance in Belfast was cancelled out of respect for her. However, while Corgan maintained that moshing's "time [had] come and gone", the band would continue to request open-floor concerts throughout the rest of the tour.
The band suffered a personal tragedy on the night of July 11, 1996, when touring keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin and Chamberlin overdosed on heroin in a hotel room in New York City. Melvoin died, and Chamberlin was arrested for drug possession. A few days later, the band announced that Chamberlin had been fired as a result of the incident. The Pumpkins chose to finish the tour, and hired drummer Matt Walker and keyboardist Dennis Flemion. Corgan later said the decision to continue touring was the worst decision the band had ever made, damaging both their music and their reputation. Chamberlin admitted in a 1994 Rolling Stone cover story that in the past he'd "gotten high in every city in this country and probably half the cities in Europe." But in recent years, he had reportedly been clean. On July 17, the Pumpkins issued a statement in which they said, "For nine years we have battled with Jimmy's struggles with the insidious disease of drug and alcohol addiction. It has nearly destroyed everything we are and stand for. … We wish [him] the best we have to offer". Meanwhile, the band had given interviews since the release of Mellon Collie stating that it would be the last conventional Pumpkins record, and that rock was becoming stale. James Iha said at the end of 1996, "The future is in electronic music. It really seems boring just to play rock music."
Adore, Machina, and breakup: 1998–2000
After the release of Mellon Collie, the Pumpkins contributed many songs to various compilations. Released in early 1997, the song "Eye", which appeared on the soundtrack to David Lynch's Lost Highway, relied almost exclusively on electronic instruments and signaled a drastic shift from the Pumpkins' previous musical styles. At the time, Corgan stated his "idea [was] to reconfigure the focus and get away from the classic guitars-bass-drum rock format." Later that year, the group contributed "The End Is the Beginning Is the End" to the soundtrack for the film Batman & Robin. With Matt Walker on drums, the song featured a heavy sound similar to "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" while still having strong electronic influences. The song later won the 1998 Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance. Though Corgan announced that the song represented the sound people could expect from the band in the future, the band's next album would feature few guitar-driven songs.
Recorded following the death of Corgan's mother and his divorce, 1998's Adore represented a significant change of style from the Pumpkins' previous guitar-based rock, veering into electronica. The record, cut with assistance from drum machines and studio drummers including Matt Walker, was infused with a darker aesthetic than much of the band's earlier work. The group also modified its public image, shedding its alternative rock look for a more subdued appearance. Although Adore received favorable reviews and was nominated for Best Alternative Performance at the Grammy Awards, the album had only sold about 830,000 copies in the United States by the end of the year. The album nonetheless debuted at number 2 on the Billboard 200 and sold three times as many copies overseas. The band began a seventeen-date, fifteen-city charity North American tour in support of Adore. At each stop on the tour, the band donated 100 percent of tickets sales to a local charity organization. The tour's expenses were entirely funded out of the band's own pockets. All told, the band donated over $2.8 million to charity as a result of the tour. On October 31, 1998 during Halloween, the band opened for Kiss at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, dressed in costume as The Beatles.
In 1999 the band surprised fans by reuniting with a rehabilitated Jimmy Chamberlin for a brief tour dubbed "The Arising", which showcased both new and classic material. The lineup was short-lived, however, as the band announced the departure of Wretzky in September during work on the album Machina/The Machines of God. Former Hole bassist Melissa Auf der Maur was recruited for the "Sacred and Profane" tour in support of the album and appeared in the videos accompanying its release. Released in 2000, Machina was initially promoted as the Pumpkins' return to a more traditional rock sound, after the more gothic, electronic-sounding Adore. The album debuted at number three on the Billboard charts, but quickly disappeared and as of 2007 had only been certified gold. Music journalist Jim DeRogatis, who described the album as "one of the strongest of their career", noted that the stalled sales for Machina in comparison to teen pop ascendant at the time "seems like concrete proof that a new wave of young pop fans has turned a deaf ear toward alternative rock."
On May 23, 2000, in a live radio interview on KROQ-FM (Los Angeles), Billy Corgan announced the band's decision to break up at the end of that year following additional touring and recording. The group's final album before the break-up, Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music, was released in September 2000 in a limited pressing on vinyl with permission and instructions for free redistribution on the Internet by fans. Only twenty-five copies were cut, each of which was hand numbered and given to friends of the band along with band members themselves. The album, released under the Constantinople Records label created by Corgan, consisted of one double LP and three ten-inch EPs. Originally, the band asked Virgin to offer Machina II as a free download to anyone who bought Machina. When the record label declined, Corgan opted to release the material independently.
On December 2, 2000, Smashing Pumpkins played a farewell concert at The Metro, the same Chicago club where their career had effectively started twelve years earlier. The four-and-a-half-hour-long show featured 35 songs spanning the group's career, and attendees were given a recording of the band's first concert at The Metro, Live at Cabaret Metro 10-5-88. The single "Untitled" was released commercially to coincide with the farewell show.
Post-breakup: 2001–2004
In 2001 the compilation Rotten Apples was released. The double-disc version of the album, released as a limited edition, included a collection of B-sides and rarities called Judas O. The Greatest Hits Video Collection DVD was also released at the same time. This was a compilation of all of the Pumpkins promo videos from Gish to Machina along with unreleased material. Vieuphoria was released on DVD in 2002, as was the soundtrack album Earphoria, previously released solely to radio stations in 1994.
Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin reunited in 2001 as members of Corgan's next project, the short-lived supergroup Zwan. The group's only album, Mary Star of the Sea, was released in 2003. After cancelling a few festival appearances, Corgan announced the demise of the band in 2003. During 2001 Corgan also toured as part of New Order and provided vocals on their comeback album Get Ready. In October 2004 Corgan released his first book, Blinking with Fists, a collection of poetry. In June 2005, he released a solo album, TheFutureEmbrace, which he described as "(picking) up the thread of the as-yet-unfinished work of the Smashing Pumpkins". Despite this, it was greeted with generally mixed reviews and lackluster sales. Only one single, "Walking Shade", was released in support of the album.
In addition to drumming with Zwan, Jimmy Chamberlin also formed an alternative rock/jazz fusion project band called Jimmy Chamberlin Complex. The group released an album in 2005 titled Life Begins Again. Corgan provided guest vocals on the track "Lokicat". James Iha served as a guitarist in A Perfect Circle, appearing on their Thirteenth Step club tour and 2004 album, eMOTIVe. He has also been involved with other acts such as Chino Moreno's Team Sleep and Vanessa and the O's. He continues to work with Scratchie Records, his own record label, as well. D'arcy Wretzky has, aside from one radio interview in 2009, not made any public statements or appearances nor given any interviews since leaving the band in 1999. On January 25, 2000, she was arrested after she allegedly purchased three bags of cocaine, but after successfully completing a court-ordered drug education program, the charges were dropped.
Corgan insisted during this period that the band would not reform, although when Zwan broke up he announced, "I think my heart was in Smashing Pumpkins […] I think it was naive of me to think that I could find something that would mean as much to me." Corgan said in 2005, "I never wanted to leave the Smashing Pumpkins. That was never the plan." On February 17, 2004, Corgan posted a message on his personal blog calling Wretzky a "mean-spirited drug addict" and blaming Iha for the breakup of the Smashing Pumpkins. On June 3, 2004, he added that "the depth of my hurt [from Iha] is only matched with the depth of my gratitude". Iha responded to Corgan's claims in 2005, saying, "No, I didn't break up the band. The only person who could have done that is Billy."
Reformation and Zeitgeist: 2005–2008
On June 21, 2005, the day of the release of his first solo album TheFutureEmbrace, Corgan took out full-page advertisements in the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times to announce that he planned to reunite the band. "For a year now", Corgan wrote, "I have walked around with a secret, a secret I chose to keep. But now I want you to be among the first to know that I have made plans to renew and revive the Smashing Pumpkins. I want my band back, and my songs, and my dreams". Corgan and Chamberlin were verified as participants in the reunion, but there was question as to whether other former members of the band would participate.
In April 2007 Iha and Auf der Maur separately confirmed that they were not taking part in the reunion. Chamberlin would later state that Iha and Wretzky "didn't want to be a part of" the reunion. The Smashing Pumpkins performed live for the first time since 2000 on May 22, 2007, in Paris, France. There, the band unveiled new touring members: guitarist Jeff Schroeder, bassist Ginger Reyes, and keyboardist Lisa Harriton. That same month, "Tarantula" was released as the first single from the band's forthcoming album. On July 7, the band performed at the Live Earth concert in New Jersey.
The band's new album, Zeitgeist, was released that same month on Reprise Records, entering the Billboard charts at number two and selling 145,000 copies in its first week. Zeitgeist received mixed reviews, with much of the criticism targeted at the absence of half of the original lineup. The album divided the Pumpkins' fanbase. Corgan would later admit, "I know a lot of our fans are puzzled by Zeitgeist. I think they wanted this massive, grandiose work, but you don't just roll out of bed after seven years without a functioning band and go back to doing that".
Corgan and Chamberlin continued to record as a duo, releasing the four-song EP American Gothic in January 2008 and the singles "Superchrist" and "G.L.O.W." later that year. That November, the group released the DVD If All Goes Wrong, which chronicled the group's 2007 concert residences in Asheville, North Carolina and San Francisco, California. In late 2008, the band commenced on a controversy-riddled 20th Anniversary Tour. Around this time, Corgan said the group will make no more full-length records in order to focus exclusively on singles, explaining, "The listening patterns have changed, so why are we killing ourselves to do albums, to create balance, and do the arty track to set up the single? It's done."
Teargarden and Oceania: 2009–2013
In March 2009 Corgan announced on the band's website that Chamberlin had left the group and would be replaced. Chamberlin subsequently stated that his departure from the band is "a positive move forward for me. I can no longer commit all of my energy into something that I don't fully possess." Chamberlin stressed that the split was amicable, commenting, "I am glad [Corgan] has chosen to continue under the name. It is his right." Chamberlin soon formed the band Skysaw, which has released an album and toured in support of Minus the Bear. In July 2009 Billy Corgan formed a new group called Spirits in the Sky, initially as a tribute band to Sky Saxon of the Seeds, who had recently died. The following month Corgan confirmed on the band's website that 19-year-old Spirits in the Sky drummer Mike Byrne had replaced Chamberlin and that the pair was working on new Pumpkins recordings.
The group announced plans to release a 44-track concept album, Teargarden by Kaleidyscope, for free over the Internet one track at a time. The first track, "A Song for a Son", was released in December 2009 to moderate press acclaim. In March 2010 Ginger Reyes officially left the band, prompting an open call for auditions for a new bassist. In May, Nicole Fiorentino announced she had joined the band as bass player, and would be working on Teargarden by Kaleidyscope. The new lineup went on a world tour through to the end of 2010. One of the first shows with the new lineup was a concert to benefit Matthew Leone, bassist for the rock band Madina Lake, at the Metro on July 27, 2010. In late 2010 all four members contributed to the sessions for the third volume of Teargarden.
On April 26, 2011, Corgan announced that the Smashing Pumpkins would be releasing a new album titled Oceania, which he labeled as "an album within an album" in regards to the Teargarden by Kaleidyscope project, in the fall. As with the previous recording sessions, all four band members contributed to the project. Also, the entire album catalog was to be remastered and reissued with bonus tracks, starting with Gish and Siamese Dream in November 2011. The pre-Gish demos, Pisces Iscariot, and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness were released in 2012, with The Aeroplane Flies High released the following year. Adore was released in 2014, and Machina/The Machines of God and the yet commercially unreleased Machina II/Friends and Enemies of Modern Music are expected to be combined, remixed, and released in the same year. The band did a thirteen-city US tour in October 2011 followed by a European tour in November and December.
Oceania was released on June 19, 2012, and received generally positive reviews. The album debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 and at No. 1 on the Billboard Independent. The album spawned two singles, "The Celestials" and "Panopticon". The band proceeded to tour in support of the album, including a US tour involving playing the album in its entirety. By September 2012, Corgan stated that the band had already begun work on their next album. However, despite this, the band concentrated on touring, playing at Glastonbury Festival, Dour Festival and the Barclays Center, where they recorded Oceania: Live in NYC, which was released on September 24, 2013.
Monuments to an Elegy: 2014–2016
On March 25, 2014, Corgan announced he had signed a new record deal with BMG, for two new albums, titled Monuments to an Elegy and Day for Night, respectively. In June, it was revealed that Mike Byrne was no longer in the band, to be replaced by Tommy Lee of Mötley Crüe on the new album, and Fiorentino would not be recording on the album either. Monuments to an Elegy was released on December 5, 2014, to generally positive reviews. The band toured in support of the album starting on November 26, with Rage Against the Machine's Brad Wilk filling in on drums and the Killers' Mark Stoermer filling in on bass. The follow-up proposed album Day For Night was cited for delayed late 2015 or early 2016 release.
Later in 2015 Corgan announced that the band would embark on a co-headlining tour of North America with Marilyn Manson, "The End Times Tour", across July and August 2015. Prior to the co-headlining dates, the band performed a series of acoustic shows with drum machines and tapes for percussion. When the time came for the co-headlining tour, plans for a drummer fell through and Corgan recruited Chamberlin to reunite for the shows. On February 1, 2016, it was announced that the band would continue their In Plainsong acoustic tour with Jimmy Chamberlin on drums and were planning to head "straight to the studio after the dates to record a brand new album inspired by the sounds explored in the new acoustic setting". On February 25, 2016, Corgan posted a video from a Los Angeles studio on the band's Facebook account, giving an update on the writing process for the new songs for the upcoming album to be released after the In Plainsong tour.
The tour began in Portland, Oregon, on March 22, 2016.
Iha and Chamberlin's return; Shiny and Oh So Bright and Cyr: 2018–present
On his birthday on March 26, 2016, original guitarist James Iha joined Billy Corgan, Jimmy Chamberlin, and Jeff Schroeder on stage unannounced at the Ace Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. He performed a few songs, including "Mayonaise", "Soma" and "Whir" marking his first appearance with the Smashing Pumpkins in 16 years. Iha also played at the second of the two Smashing Pumpkins shows at the Ace Hotel the following day, which was Easter Sunday. Iha joined the Pumpkins for a third time at their concert of April 14 at the Civic Opera House in Chicago. In July, Corgan began hinting of the possibility of reuniting the band original lineup, of himself, Iha, Wretzky, and Chamberlin, and in August, he stated he had begun reaching out to the original lineup about the feasibility of a reunion, including speaking to Wretzky for the first time in sixteen years. Despite the comments, Corgan would spend much of 2017 working on solo material – recording and releasing the solo album Ogilala and beginning work on another solo album for 2018. In June 2017 Chamberlin also mentioned the possibility of a reunion tour in 2018. In January 2018 Corgan shared a photo of himself, Iha, and Chamberlin together in recording studio. In February 2018 Corgan announced that he was working with music producer Rick Rubin on a future Smashing Pumpkins album, that there were currently 26 songs he was actively working on, and that "the guitar feels once again like the preferred weapon of choice." Soon afterwards, Corgan shared a photo of sound equipment with Iha's name on a label, as well as announcing recording was finished on the album.
On February 15, 2018, the band officially announced that founding members Iha and Chamberlin were back in the band. They embarked on the Shiny And Oh So Bright Tour starting in July, with a focus on performing material from their first five studio albums. and sold over 350,000 tickets and sold out arenas including The Forum, United Center, and Madison Square Garden. Original bassist D'arcy Wretzky claimed she had been offered a contract to rejoin the band but Corgan rescinded the offer soon after. Corgan released a statement denying the claims, stating "Ms. Wretzky has repeatedly been invited out to play with the group, participate in demo sessions, or at the very least, meet face-to-face, and in each and every instance she always deferred". Jack Bates (son of Joy Division bassist Peter Hook) played bass on the tour. Bates previously toured with the Smashing Pumpkins in 2015. Multi-instrumentalist Katie Cole rejoined the band for the tour as well, singing backup vocals and playing keyboards and guitar.
In March 2018, Corgan mentioned the band planned to release two EPs in 2018, with the first tentatively planned for May. On June 8, 2018, the first single from the set of music, "Solara", was released. On August 2, 2018, the band celebrated their 30th anniversary by performing in Holmdel, New Jersey. with several notable special guests including Courtney Love, Chino Moreno, Davey Havok, Peter Hook, Mark McGrath, and Dave Keuning and Mark Stoermer of The Killers. In September 2018, they announced the album Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun., released via Napalm Records on November 16, 2018, which debuted at number 54 on the Billboard 200 chart.
After touring through much of 2019, Corgan noted in January 2020 that the band was currently working on 21 songs for a future album release. On August 28, 2020, the band released the single and video for "Cyr", along with a second track titled "The Colour of Love" from their album Cyr, which was released through their new record label Sumerian Records on November 27, 2020. It serves as the second part of the Shiny and Oh So Bright series. On September 25, 2020, the band released another single from Cyr that included the songs "Confessions of a Dopamine Addict" and "Wrath". On October 9, 2020, the band released a third single for Cyr that featured the tracks "Anno Satana" and "Birch Grove". On October 29, the band released "Ramona" and "Wyttch" as the fourth pair of singles. On November 20, 2020, the songs "Purple Blood" and "Dulcet in E" were released as the fifth and final single for Cyr. The following week, on November 27, 2020, the band released Cyr. Despite never getting to properly tour Cyr, the band did play four songs from the album at their headlining shows at Riot Fest and Sea.Hear.Now Festival in September 2021.
In late 2020, Corgan announced that the band would begin work on another double album for release in 2021, although the year passed without the album releasing. The double album is to serve as a sequel to the overarching story of Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness and Machina: The Machines of God. On February 22, the band announced on social media the Rock Invasion 2 Tour, which had previously been set to take place in spring 2020, but had been postponed to fall 2020 and subsequently canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The newly announced incarnation of the tour had entirely new locations spanning 11 US cities accompanying the band's spring festival appearances and four performances in Mexico, their first since 2013.
Musical style, influences, and legacy
The direction of the band is dominated by lead guitarist, lead vocalist, keyboardist, bassist and principal songwriter Billy Corgan. Journalist Greg Kot wrote, "The music [of the Smashing Pumpkins] would not be what it is without his ambition and vision, and his famously fractured relationships with his family, friends, and bandmembers." Melissa Auf der Maur commented upon news of the group's reunion, "Everyone knows Billy doesn't need too many people to make a Pumpkins record, other than Jimmy [Chamberlin]—who he has on board." In a 2015 interview Corgan himself referred to the current iteration of the band "as sort of an open source collective" noting that "It's whoever feels right at the time." Many of Corgan's lyrics for the Pumpkins are cathartic expressions of emotion, full of personal musings and strong indictments of himself and those close to him. Music critics were not often fans of Corgan's angst-filled lyrics. Jim DeRogatis wrote in a 1993 Chicago Sun-Times article that Corgan's lyrics "too often sound like sophomoric poetry", although he viewed the lyrics of later albums Adore and Machina as an improvement. The band's songs have been described as "anguished, bruised reports from Billy Corgan's nightmare-land" by journalist William Shaw.
Smashing Pumpkins, unlike many alternative rock bands at the time, disavowed the influence of punk rock on their sound. Overall, they have a diverse, densely layered, and guitar-heavy sound, containing elements of gothic rock, heavy metal, dream pop, psychedelic rock, progressive rock, shoegazing, and electronica in later recordings.
The Smashing Pumpkins' distinctive sound up until Adore involved layering numerous guitar tracks onto a song during the recording process, a tactic that Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness coproducer Flood called the "Pumpkin guitar overdub army." Although there were a lot of overdubbed parts on Gish, Corgan began to really explore the possibilities of overdubbing with Siamese Dream; Corgan has stated that "Soma" alone contains up to 40 overdubbed guitar parts. While Corgan knew many of the songs would be difficult or impossible to replicate from their recorded versions in concert (in fact, some songs were drastically altered for live performance), he has explained the use of overdubbing by posing the question "When you are faced with making a permanent recorded representation of a song, why not endow it with the grandest possible vision?" This use of multilayered sounds was inspired by Corgan's love of 1970s popular artists & bands such as: David Bowie, Cheap Trick, Queen, Boston, and the Electric Light Orchestra, as well as shoegaze, a British alternative rock style of the late 1980s and early 1990s that relied on swirling layers of guitar noise for effect. Mellon Collie coproducer Alan Moulder was originally hired to mix Siamese Dream because Corgan was a fan of his work producing shoegaze bands such as My Bloody Valentine, Ride, and Slowdive.
Like many contemporary alternative bands, the Smashing Pumpkins utilized shifts in song dynamics, going from quiet to loud and vice versa. Hüsker Dü's seminal album Zen Arcade demonstrated to the band how they could place gentler material against more aggressive fare, and Corgan made such shifts in dynamics central to the pursuit of his grand musical ambitions. Corgan said he liked the idea of creating his own alternative universe through sound that essentially tells the listener, "Welcome to Pumpkin Land, this is what it sounds like on Planet Pumpkin." This emphasis on atmosphere carried through to Adore (described as "arcane night music" in prerelease promotion) and the Machina albums (concept records that tell the story of a fictional rock band).
The Pumpkins drew inspiration from a variety of other genres, some unfashionable during the 1990s among music critics. Corgan in particular was open about his appreciation of heavy metal, citing Dimebag Darrell of Pantera as his favorite contemporary guitarist. When one interviewer commented to Corgan and Iha that "Smashing Pumpkins is one of the groups that relegitimized heavy metal" and that they "were among the first alternative rockers to mention people like Ozzy and Black Sabbath with anything other than contempt". Corgan went on to rave about Black Sabbath's Master of Reality and Judas Priest's Unleashed in the East. The song "Zero", which reminded Iha of Judas Priest, is an example of what the band dubbed "cybermetal." Post-punk and gothic rock bands like Joy Division/New Order, Bauhaus, the Cure, and Depeche Mode were formative influences on the band, which covered such artists in concert and on record. Corgan also cited Siouxsie and the Banshees saying it was important to point back to bands that influenced them. Psychedelic rock was also referenced often in the band's early recordings; according to Corgan, "In typical Pumpkins fashion, no one at that point really liked loud guitars or psychedelic music so, of course, that's exactly what we had to do." Corgan felt that the band's guitars "are a mixture of heavy metal and 80s alternative rock. I think of Cure and Siouxsie and the Banshees". Corgan acknowledged that a chord he jokingly claimed as "the Pumpkin chord" (a G# octave chord at the eleventh fret of a guitar with the low E string played over it), used as the basis for "Cherub Rock", "Drown", and other songs, was in fact previously used by Jimi Hendrix. Other early influences cited by Corgan include Cream, the Stooges, and Blue Cheer.
Regarding the band's influence upon other groups, Greg Kot wrote in 2001, "Whereas Nirvana spawned countless mini-Nirvanas, the Pumpkins remain an island unto themselves." Still, some artists and bands have been influenced by the Pumpkins, such as Nelly Furtado, Marilyn Manson, Third Eye Blind, Mark Hoppus of Blink-182, Tegan and Sara, Fall Out Boy, Rivers Cuomo, Panic! at the Disco, Silversun Pickups, and My Chemical Romance. My Chemical Romance vocalist Gerard Way has said that they pattern their career upon the Pumpkins', including music videos. The members of fellow Chicago band Kill Hannah are friends with Corgan, and lead singer Mat Devine has compared his group to the Pumpkins.
The group has sold over 30 million albums worldwide as of October 2012, and sales in the United States alone reaching 19.75 million.
Music videos
The Smashing Pumpkins have been praised as "responsible for some of the most striking and memorable video clips" and for having "approached videos from a completely artistic standpoint rather than mere commercials to sell albums". MTV's 2001 anniversary special Testimony: 20 Years of Rock on MTV credited the Pumpkins, along with Nine Inch Nails, with treating music videos as an art form during the 1990s. Corgan has said, "We generally resisted the idea of what I call the classic MTV rock video, which is like lots of people jumping around and stuff." The band worked with video directors including Kevin Kerslake ("Cherub Rock"), Samuel Bayer ("Bullet with Butterfly Wings"), and, most frequently, the team of Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris ("Rocket", "1979", "Tonight, Tonight", "The End Is the Beginning Is the End", and "Perfect"). Corgan, who was frequently heavily involved in the conception of the videos, said of Dayton and Faris, "I know my [initial] versions are always darker, and they're always talking me into something a little kinder and gentler." Videos like "Today", "Rocket", and "1979" dealt with images taken from middle American culture, albeit exaggerated. The group's videos so often avoid the literal interpretation of the song lyrics that the video for "Thirty-Three", with images closely related to the words of the song, was created as an intentional stylistic departure.
The band was nominated for several MTV Video Music Awards during the 1990s. In 1996, the group won eight VMAs total for the "1979" and "Tonight, Tonight" videos, including the top award, Video of the Year, for "Tonight, Tonight". The video was also nominated for a Grammy at the 1997 ceremony. Of the "Tonight, Tonight" video, Corgan remarked, "I don't think we've ever had people react [like this]... it just seemed to touch a nerve."
Shortly after the band's 2000 breakup, the Greatest Hits Video Collection was released, collecting the band's music videos from 1991 to 2000 and including commentary from Corgan, Iha, Chamberlin, Wretzky, and various music video directors with outtakes, live performances, and the extended "Try, Try, Try" short film.
Band members
Current members
Billy Corgan – lead vocals, guitars, keyboards, bass guitar (1988–2000, 2006–present)
James Iha – guitars, bass guitar, vocals (1988–2000, 2018–present)
Jimmy Chamberlin – drums (1988–1996, 1998–2000, 2006–2009, 2015–present)
Jeff Schroeder – guitars, keyboards (2007–present)
Live members
Jack Bates – bass guitar (2015–present)
Katie Cole – keyboards, backing vocals (2015–present)
Former members
D'arcy Wretzky – bass guitar, backing vocals (1988–1999)
Melissa Auf der Maur – bass guitar (1999–2000)
Mike Byrne – drums, backing vocals, keyboards (2009–2014)
Nicole Fiorentino – bass guitar, backing vocals, keyboards (2010–2014)
Awards
American Music Awards
1997 – Best Alternative Artist
Grammy Awards
1997 – "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" – Best Hard Rock Performance
1998 – "The End Is the Beginning Is the End" – Best Hard Rock Performance
MTV Europe Music Awards
1996 – Best Rock
MTV Video Music Awards
1996 – "Tonight, Tonight" – Video of the Year, Breakthrough Video, Best Direction, Best Visual Effects, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography
1996 – "1979" – Best Alternative Video
Discography
Studio albums
Gish (1991)
Siamese Dream (1993)
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1995)
Adore (1998)
Machina/The Machines of God (2000)
Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music (2000)
Zeitgeist (2007)
Oceania (2012)†
Monuments to an Elegy (2014)†
Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun. (2018)
Cyr (2020)
Notes
† Part of Teargarden by Kaleidyscope (2009–2014), an overarching project abandoned before completion.
See also
List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. alternative rock chart
Notes
References
Bibliography
Further reading
External links
1988 establishments in Illinois
Alternative rock groups from Chicago
Articles which contain graphical timelines
Caroline Records artists
Grammy Award winners
MTV Europe Music Award winners
Musical groups established in 1988
Musical groups disestablished in 2000
Musical groups reestablished in 2006
Musical quartets
American musical trios
Reprise Records artists
Sumerian Records artists
Virgin Records artists
Musical groups from Chicago | true | [
"A dad joke is a short joke, typically a pun, presented as a one-liner or a question and answer, but not a narrative.\n\nMany dad jokes may be considered anti-jokes, deriving humor from an intentionally funny punchline.\n\nA common type of dad joke goes as follows: A child will say to the father, \"I'm hungry,\" to which the father will reply, \"Hi, Hungry, I'm Dad.\"\n\nWhile the exact origin of the term dad joke is unknown, a writer for the Gettysburg Times wrote an impassioned defence of the genre in June 1987 under the headline \"Don't ban the 'Dad' jokes; preserve and revere them\". The term \"dad jokes\" received mentions in the American sitcom How I Met Your Mother in 2008 and the Australian quiz show Spicks and Specks in 2009. In September 2019, Merriam-Webster added the phrase \"dad joke\" to the dictionary.\n\nExamples \n\n Q: What do you call a dad joke that falls on its head? A: A dud pun.\nQ: On Thanksgiving, why did the turkey cross the table? A: To get to the other sides.\nA ham sandwich walks into a bar and the bartender says...Sorry we don't serve food here.\nQ: What do you call a mermaid on a roof? A: Aerial.\nQ: What does a highlighter say when it answers the phone? A: Yello!!\nI am wrapping Christmas presents. Let’s put on some rap music.\nQ: What's Irish and comes out in the spring? A: Paddy O'Furniture.\nQ: What's orange and sounds like a parrot? A: A carrot.\nQ: What's the opposite of water? A: Yellow snow.\nQ: Where does a sick fish go? A: The doc.\nQ: What do a tick and the Eiffel Tower have in common? A: They're both Paris sites.\nQ What's the difference between a pun and a Dad joke? It will become apparent.\nQ What did the fish say when he swam into the wall? Dam!\nThey've tried to improve the efficiency of wind farms by playing country music around them, but it's not working because they're really just big heavy metal fans.\nI used to be addicted to the hokey pokey, but I turned myself around.\nPlateaus are the highest form of flattery.\nMy uncle just got fired from his job at the cheese factory. He kept getting in the whey.\nGranddad always told me that things could be worse -- I could fall into a deep hole full of water, but I knew he meant well.\nQ: Whose concert costs only 45 cents? 50 Cent featuring Nickelback\n\nSee also \n\n Mom joke\n\nReferences \n\nFatherhood\nHumour\nJokes\nPejorative terms",
"\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"
] |
[
"The Smashing Pumpkins",
"Mainstream breakout: 1992-1994",
"What did the group do in 1992 to make their big breakout?",
"Siamese Dream debuted",
"What did they do that helped them become well known?",
"due to the popularity of grunge bands such as Nirvana and Pearl Jam, the Smashing Pumpkins were poised for major commercial success."
] | C_b6b56b0135f34b2a82530ebab0efd600_0 | What was one of their best albums recorded? | 3 | What was one of the Smashing Pumpkins best albums recorded? | The Smashing Pumpkins | With the breakthrough of alternative rock into the American mainstream due to the popularity of grunge bands such as Nirvana and Pearl Jam, the Smashing Pumpkins were poised for major commercial success. At this time, the Smashing Pumpkins were routinely lumped in with the grunge movement, with Corgan protesting, "We've graduated now from 'the next Jane's Addiction' to 'the next Nirvana', now we're 'the next Pearl Jam'." Amid this environment of intense internal pressure for the band to break through to widespread popularity, the band relocated to Marietta, Georgia in late 1992 to begin work on their second album, with Butch Vig returning as producer. The decision to record so far away from their hometown was motivated partly by the band's desire to avoid friends and distractions during the recording, but largely as a desperate attempt to cut Chamberlin off from his known drug connections. The recording environment for Siamese Dream was quickly marred by discord within the band. As was the case with Gish, Corgan and Vig decided that Corgan should play nearly all of the guitar and bass parts on the album, contributing to an air of resentment. The contemporary music press began to portray Corgan as a tyrant. Corgan's depression, meanwhile, had deepened to the point where he contemplated suicide, and he compensated by practically living in the studio. Meanwhile, Chamberlin quickly managed to find new connections and was often absent without any contact for days at a time. In all, it took over four months to complete the record, with the budget exceeding $250,000. Despite all the problems in its recording, Siamese Dream debuted at number ten on the Billboard 200 chart, and sold over four million copies in the U.S. alone. Alongside the band's mounting mainstream recognition, the band's reputation as careerists among their former peers in the independent music community was worsened. Indie rock band Pavement's 1994 song "Range Life" directly mocks the band in its lyrics, although Stephen Malkmus, lead singer of Pavement, has stated, "I never dissed their music. I just dissed their status." Former Husker Du frontman Bob Mould called them "the grunge Monkees", and fellow Chicago musician/producer Steve Albini wrote a scathing letter in response to an article praising the band, derisively comparing them to REO Speedwagon ("by, of and for the mainstream") and concluding their ultimate insignificance. The opening track and lead single of Siamese Dream, "Cherub Rock", directly addresses Corgan's feud with the "indie-world". In 1994 Virgin released the B-sides/rarities compilation Pisces Iscariot which charted higher than Siamese Dream by reaching number four on the Billboard 200. Also released was a VHS cassette titled Vieuphoria featuring a mix of live performances and behind-the-scenes footage. Following relentless touring to support the recordings, including headline slots on the 1994 Lollapalooza tour and at Reading Festival in 1995, the band took time off to write the follow-up album. CANNOTANSWER | Siamese Dream debuted at number ten on the Billboard 200 chart, and sold over four million copies in the U.S. alone. | The Smashing Pumpkins (or Smashing Pumpkins) are an American alternative rock band from Chicago. Formed in 1988 by frontman Billy Corgan (lead vocals, guitar), D'arcy Wretzky (bass), James Iha (guitar), and Jimmy Chamberlin (drums), the band has undergone many line-up changes. The current lineup features Corgan, Chamberlin, Iha and guitarist Jeff Schroeder.
Disavowing the punk rock roots of many of their alt-rock contemporaries, they have a diverse, densely layered, and guitar-heavy sound, containing elements of gothic rock, heavy metal, dream pop, psychedelic rock, progressive rock, shoegazing, and, in later recordings, electronica. Corgan is the group's primary songwriter; his musical ambitions and cathartic lyrics have shaped the band's albums and songs, which have been described as "anguished, bruised reports from Billy Corgan's nightmare-land".
The Smashing Pumpkins broke into the musical mainstream with their second album, 1993's Siamese Dream. The group built its audience with extensive touring and their 1995 follow-up, the double album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 album chart. With 30 million albums sold worldwide, the Smashing Pumpkins were one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands of the 1990s. However, internal fighting, drug use, and diminishing record sales led to a 2000 break-up.
In 2006, Corgan and Chamberlin reconvened to record a new Smashing Pumpkins album, Zeitgeist. After touring throughout 2007 and 2008 with a lineup including new guitarist Jeff Schroeder, Chamberlin left the band in early 2009. Later that year, Corgan began a new recording series with a rotating lineup of musicians entitled Teargarden by Kaleidyscope, which encompassed the release of stand-alone singles, compilation EP releases, and two full albums that also fell under the project's scope—Oceania in 2012 and Monuments to an Elegy in 2014. Chamberlin and Iha officially rejoined the band in February 2018. The reunited lineup released the album Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun. in November 2018 and Cyr in November 2020.
History
Early years: 1988–1991
After the breakup of his gothic rock band The Marked, singer and guitarist Billy Corgan left St. Petersburg, Florida, to return to his native city of Chicago, where he took a job in a record store and formed the idea of a new band to be called the Smashing Pumpkins. While working there, he met guitarist James Iha. Adorning themselves with paisley and other psychedelic trappings, the two began writing songs together (with the aid of a drum machine) that were heavily influenced by the Cure and New Order. The duo performed live for the first time on July 9, 1988 at the Polish bar Chicago 21. This performance included only Corgan on bass and Iha on guitar with a drum machine. Shortly thereafter, Corgan met D'arcy Wretzky after a show by the Dan Reed Network where they argued the merits of the band. After finding out Wretzky played bass guitar, Corgan recruited her into the lineup, and the trio played a show at the Avalon Nightclub. After this show, Cabaret Metro owner Joe Shanahan agreed to book the band on the condition that they replace the drum
machine with a live drummer.
Jazz drummer Jimmy Chamberlin was recommended by a friend of Corgan's. Chamberlin knew little of alternative music and immediately changed the sound of the nascent band. As Corgan recalled of the period, "We were completely into the sad-rock, Cure kind of thing. It took about two or three practices before I realized that the power in his playing was something that enabled us to rock harder than we could ever have imagined." On October 5, 1988, the complete band took the stage for the first time at the Cabaret Metro.
In 1989, the Smashing Pumpkins made their first appearance on record with the compilation album Light Into Dark, which featured several Chicago alternative bands. The group released its first single, "I Am One", in 1990 on local Chicago label Limited Potential. The single sold out and they released a follow-up, "Tristessa", on Sub Pop, after which they signed to Caroline Records. The band recorded their 1991 debut studio album Gish with producer Butch Vig at his Smart Studios in Madison, Wisconsin for $20,000. In order to gain the consistency he desired, Corgan often played all instruments excluding drums, which created tension in the band. The music fused heavy metal guitars, psychedelia, and dream pop, garnering them comparisons to Jane's Addiction. Gish became a minor success, with the single "Rhinoceros" receiving some airplay on modern rock radio. After releasing the Lull EP in October 1991 on Caroline Records, the band formally signed with Virgin Records, which was affiliated with Caroline. The band supported the album with a tour that included opening for bands such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jane's Addiction, and Guns N' Roses. During the tour, Iha and Wretzky went through a messy breakup, Chamberlin became addicted to narcotics and alcohol, and Corgan entered a deep depression, writing some songs for the upcoming album in the parking garage where he lived at the time.
Mainstream breakout and Siamese Dream: 1992–1994
With the breakthrough of alternative rock into the American mainstream due to the popularity of grunge bands such as Nirvana and Pearl Jam, the Smashing Pumpkins were poised for major commercial success. At this time, the Smashing Pumpkins were routinely lumped in with the grunge movement, with Corgan protesting, "We've graduated now from 'the next Jane's Addiction' to 'the next Nirvana', now we're 'the next Pearl Jam'."
Amid this environment of intense internal pressure for the band to break through to widespread popularity, the band relocated to Marietta, Georgia in late 1992 to begin work on their second album, with Butch Vig returning as producer. The decision to record so far away from their hometown was motivated partly by the band's desire to avoid friends and distractions during the recording, but largely as a desperate attempt to cut Chamberlin off from his known drug connections. The recording environment for Siamese Dream was quickly marred by discord within the band. As was the case with Gish, Corgan and Vig decided that Corgan should play nearly all of the guitar and bass parts on the album, contributing to an air of resentment. The contemporary music press began to portray Corgan as a tyrant. Corgan's depression, meanwhile, had deepened to the point where he contemplated suicide, and he compensated by practically living in the studio. Meanwhile, Chamberlin quickly managed to find new connections and was often absent without any contact for days at a time. In all, it took over four months to complete the record, with the budget exceeding $250,000.
Despite all the problems in its recording, Siamese Dream debuted at number ten on the Billboard 200 chart, and sold over four million copies in the U.S. alone. Alongside the band's mounting mainstream recognition, the band's reputation as careerists among their former peers in the independent music community was worsened. Indie rock band Pavement's 1994 song "Range Life" directly mocks the band in its lyrics, although Stephen Malkmus, lead singer of Pavement, has stated, "I never dissed their music. I just dissed their status." Former Hüsker Dü frontman Bob Mould called them "the grunge Monkees", and fellow Chicago musician/producer Steve Albini wrote a scathing letter in response to an article praising the band, derisively comparing them to REO Speedwagon ("by, of and for the mainstream") and concluding their ultimate insignificance. The opening track and lead single of Siamese Dream, "Cherub Rock", directly addresses Corgan's feud with the "indie-world".
In 1994 Virgin released the B-sides/rarities compilation Pisces Iscariot which charted higher than Siamese Dream by reaching number four on the Billboard 200. Also released was a VHS cassette titled Vieuphoria featuring a mix of live performances and behind-the-scenes footage. Following relentless touring to support the recordings, including headline slots on the 1994 Lollapalooza tour and at Reading Festival in 1995, the band took time off to write the follow-up album.
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness: 1995–1997
During 1995, Corgan wrote about 56 songs, following which the band went into the studio with producers Flood and Alan Moulder to work on what Corgan described as "The Wall for Generation X", and which became Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, a double album of twenty-eight songs, lasting over two hours (the vinyl version of the album contained three records, two extra songs, and an alternate track listing). The songs were intended to hang together conceptually as a symbol of the cycle of life and death. Praised by Time as "the group's most ambitious and accomplished work yet", Mellon Collie debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 in October 1995. Even more successful than Siamese Dream, it was certified ten times platinum in the United States and became the best-selling double album of the decade. It also garnered seven 1997 Grammy Award nominations, including Album of the Year. The band won only the Best Hard Rock Performance award, for the album's lead single "Bullet with Butterfly Wings". The album spawned five singles—"Bullet with Butterfly Wings", "1979", "Zero", "Tonight, Tonight" which Corgan stated was inspired by the Cheap Trick song "I'll Be with You Tonight", and "Thirty-Three"—of which the first three were certified gold and all but "Zero" entered the Top 40. Many of the songs that did not make it onto Mellon Collie were released as B-sides to the singles, and were later compiled in The Aeroplane Flies High box set. The set was originally limited to 200,000 copies, but more were produced to meet demand.
In 1996 the Pumpkins undertook an extended world tour in support of Mellon Collie. Corgan's look during this period—a shaved head, a long sleeve black shirt with the word "Zero" printed on it, and silver pants—became iconic. That year, the band also made a guest appearance in an episode of The Simpsons, "Homerpalooza". With considerable video rotation on MTV, major industry awards, and "Zero" shirts selling in many malls, the Pumpkins were considered one of the most popular bands of the time.
In May, the Smashing Pumpkins played a gig at the Point Theatre in Dublin, Ireland. Despite the band's repeated requests for moshing to stop, a seventeen-year-old fan named Bernadette O'Brien was crushed to death. The concert ended early and the following night's performance in Belfast was cancelled out of respect for her. However, while Corgan maintained that moshing's "time [had] come and gone", the band would continue to request open-floor concerts throughout the rest of the tour.
The band suffered a personal tragedy on the night of July 11, 1996, when touring keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin and Chamberlin overdosed on heroin in a hotel room in New York City. Melvoin died, and Chamberlin was arrested for drug possession. A few days later, the band announced that Chamberlin had been fired as a result of the incident. The Pumpkins chose to finish the tour, and hired drummer Matt Walker and keyboardist Dennis Flemion. Corgan later said the decision to continue touring was the worst decision the band had ever made, damaging both their music and their reputation. Chamberlin admitted in a 1994 Rolling Stone cover story that in the past he'd "gotten high in every city in this country and probably half the cities in Europe." But in recent years, he had reportedly been clean. On July 17, the Pumpkins issued a statement in which they said, "For nine years we have battled with Jimmy's struggles with the insidious disease of drug and alcohol addiction. It has nearly destroyed everything we are and stand for. … We wish [him] the best we have to offer". Meanwhile, the band had given interviews since the release of Mellon Collie stating that it would be the last conventional Pumpkins record, and that rock was becoming stale. James Iha said at the end of 1996, "The future is in electronic music. It really seems boring just to play rock music."
Adore, Machina, and breakup: 1998–2000
After the release of Mellon Collie, the Pumpkins contributed many songs to various compilations. Released in early 1997, the song "Eye", which appeared on the soundtrack to David Lynch's Lost Highway, relied almost exclusively on electronic instruments and signaled a drastic shift from the Pumpkins' previous musical styles. At the time, Corgan stated his "idea [was] to reconfigure the focus and get away from the classic guitars-bass-drum rock format." Later that year, the group contributed "The End Is the Beginning Is the End" to the soundtrack for the film Batman & Robin. With Matt Walker on drums, the song featured a heavy sound similar to "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" while still having strong electronic influences. The song later won the 1998 Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance. Though Corgan announced that the song represented the sound people could expect from the band in the future, the band's next album would feature few guitar-driven songs.
Recorded following the death of Corgan's mother and his divorce, 1998's Adore represented a significant change of style from the Pumpkins' previous guitar-based rock, veering into electronica. The record, cut with assistance from drum machines and studio drummers including Matt Walker, was infused with a darker aesthetic than much of the band's earlier work. The group also modified its public image, shedding its alternative rock look for a more subdued appearance. Although Adore received favorable reviews and was nominated for Best Alternative Performance at the Grammy Awards, the album had only sold about 830,000 copies in the United States by the end of the year. The album nonetheless debuted at number 2 on the Billboard 200 and sold three times as many copies overseas. The band began a seventeen-date, fifteen-city charity North American tour in support of Adore. At each stop on the tour, the band donated 100 percent of tickets sales to a local charity organization. The tour's expenses were entirely funded out of the band's own pockets. All told, the band donated over $2.8 million to charity as a result of the tour. On October 31, 1998 during Halloween, the band opened for Kiss at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, dressed in costume as The Beatles.
In 1999 the band surprised fans by reuniting with a rehabilitated Jimmy Chamberlin for a brief tour dubbed "The Arising", which showcased both new and classic material. The lineup was short-lived, however, as the band announced the departure of Wretzky in September during work on the album Machina/The Machines of God. Former Hole bassist Melissa Auf der Maur was recruited for the "Sacred and Profane" tour in support of the album and appeared in the videos accompanying its release. Released in 2000, Machina was initially promoted as the Pumpkins' return to a more traditional rock sound, after the more gothic, electronic-sounding Adore. The album debuted at number three on the Billboard charts, but quickly disappeared and as of 2007 had only been certified gold. Music journalist Jim DeRogatis, who described the album as "one of the strongest of their career", noted that the stalled sales for Machina in comparison to teen pop ascendant at the time "seems like concrete proof that a new wave of young pop fans has turned a deaf ear toward alternative rock."
On May 23, 2000, in a live radio interview on KROQ-FM (Los Angeles), Billy Corgan announced the band's decision to break up at the end of that year following additional touring and recording. The group's final album before the break-up, Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music, was released in September 2000 in a limited pressing on vinyl with permission and instructions for free redistribution on the Internet by fans. Only twenty-five copies were cut, each of which was hand numbered and given to friends of the band along with band members themselves. The album, released under the Constantinople Records label created by Corgan, consisted of one double LP and three ten-inch EPs. Originally, the band asked Virgin to offer Machina II as a free download to anyone who bought Machina. When the record label declined, Corgan opted to release the material independently.
On December 2, 2000, Smashing Pumpkins played a farewell concert at The Metro, the same Chicago club where their career had effectively started twelve years earlier. The four-and-a-half-hour-long show featured 35 songs spanning the group's career, and attendees were given a recording of the band's first concert at The Metro, Live at Cabaret Metro 10-5-88. The single "Untitled" was released commercially to coincide with the farewell show.
Post-breakup: 2001–2004
In 2001 the compilation Rotten Apples was released. The double-disc version of the album, released as a limited edition, included a collection of B-sides and rarities called Judas O. The Greatest Hits Video Collection DVD was also released at the same time. This was a compilation of all of the Pumpkins promo videos from Gish to Machina along with unreleased material. Vieuphoria was released on DVD in 2002, as was the soundtrack album Earphoria, previously released solely to radio stations in 1994.
Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin reunited in 2001 as members of Corgan's next project, the short-lived supergroup Zwan. The group's only album, Mary Star of the Sea, was released in 2003. After cancelling a few festival appearances, Corgan announced the demise of the band in 2003. During 2001 Corgan also toured as part of New Order and provided vocals on their comeback album Get Ready. In October 2004 Corgan released his first book, Blinking with Fists, a collection of poetry. In June 2005, he released a solo album, TheFutureEmbrace, which he described as "(picking) up the thread of the as-yet-unfinished work of the Smashing Pumpkins". Despite this, it was greeted with generally mixed reviews and lackluster sales. Only one single, "Walking Shade", was released in support of the album.
In addition to drumming with Zwan, Jimmy Chamberlin also formed an alternative rock/jazz fusion project band called Jimmy Chamberlin Complex. The group released an album in 2005 titled Life Begins Again. Corgan provided guest vocals on the track "Lokicat". James Iha served as a guitarist in A Perfect Circle, appearing on their Thirteenth Step club tour and 2004 album, eMOTIVe. He has also been involved with other acts such as Chino Moreno's Team Sleep and Vanessa and the O's. He continues to work with Scratchie Records, his own record label, as well. D'arcy Wretzky has, aside from one radio interview in 2009, not made any public statements or appearances nor given any interviews since leaving the band in 1999. On January 25, 2000, she was arrested after she allegedly purchased three bags of cocaine, but after successfully completing a court-ordered drug education program, the charges were dropped.
Corgan insisted during this period that the band would not reform, although when Zwan broke up he announced, "I think my heart was in Smashing Pumpkins […] I think it was naive of me to think that I could find something that would mean as much to me." Corgan said in 2005, "I never wanted to leave the Smashing Pumpkins. That was never the plan." On February 17, 2004, Corgan posted a message on his personal blog calling Wretzky a "mean-spirited drug addict" and blaming Iha for the breakup of the Smashing Pumpkins. On June 3, 2004, he added that "the depth of my hurt [from Iha] is only matched with the depth of my gratitude". Iha responded to Corgan's claims in 2005, saying, "No, I didn't break up the band. The only person who could have done that is Billy."
Reformation and Zeitgeist: 2005–2008
On June 21, 2005, the day of the release of his first solo album TheFutureEmbrace, Corgan took out full-page advertisements in the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times to announce that he planned to reunite the band. "For a year now", Corgan wrote, "I have walked around with a secret, a secret I chose to keep. But now I want you to be among the first to know that I have made plans to renew and revive the Smashing Pumpkins. I want my band back, and my songs, and my dreams". Corgan and Chamberlin were verified as participants in the reunion, but there was question as to whether other former members of the band would participate.
In April 2007 Iha and Auf der Maur separately confirmed that they were not taking part in the reunion. Chamberlin would later state that Iha and Wretzky "didn't want to be a part of" the reunion. The Smashing Pumpkins performed live for the first time since 2000 on May 22, 2007, in Paris, France. There, the band unveiled new touring members: guitarist Jeff Schroeder, bassist Ginger Reyes, and keyboardist Lisa Harriton. That same month, "Tarantula" was released as the first single from the band's forthcoming album. On July 7, the band performed at the Live Earth concert in New Jersey.
The band's new album, Zeitgeist, was released that same month on Reprise Records, entering the Billboard charts at number two and selling 145,000 copies in its first week. Zeitgeist received mixed reviews, with much of the criticism targeted at the absence of half of the original lineup. The album divided the Pumpkins' fanbase. Corgan would later admit, "I know a lot of our fans are puzzled by Zeitgeist. I think they wanted this massive, grandiose work, but you don't just roll out of bed after seven years without a functioning band and go back to doing that".
Corgan and Chamberlin continued to record as a duo, releasing the four-song EP American Gothic in January 2008 and the singles "Superchrist" and "G.L.O.W." later that year. That November, the group released the DVD If All Goes Wrong, which chronicled the group's 2007 concert residences in Asheville, North Carolina and San Francisco, California. In late 2008, the band commenced on a controversy-riddled 20th Anniversary Tour. Around this time, Corgan said the group will make no more full-length records in order to focus exclusively on singles, explaining, "The listening patterns have changed, so why are we killing ourselves to do albums, to create balance, and do the arty track to set up the single? It's done."
Teargarden and Oceania: 2009–2013
In March 2009 Corgan announced on the band's website that Chamberlin had left the group and would be replaced. Chamberlin subsequently stated that his departure from the band is "a positive move forward for me. I can no longer commit all of my energy into something that I don't fully possess." Chamberlin stressed that the split was amicable, commenting, "I am glad [Corgan] has chosen to continue under the name. It is his right." Chamberlin soon formed the band Skysaw, which has released an album and toured in support of Minus the Bear. In July 2009 Billy Corgan formed a new group called Spirits in the Sky, initially as a tribute band to Sky Saxon of the Seeds, who had recently died. The following month Corgan confirmed on the band's website that 19-year-old Spirits in the Sky drummer Mike Byrne had replaced Chamberlin and that the pair was working on new Pumpkins recordings.
The group announced plans to release a 44-track concept album, Teargarden by Kaleidyscope, for free over the Internet one track at a time. The first track, "A Song for a Son", was released in December 2009 to moderate press acclaim. In March 2010 Ginger Reyes officially left the band, prompting an open call for auditions for a new bassist. In May, Nicole Fiorentino announced she had joined the band as bass player, and would be working on Teargarden by Kaleidyscope. The new lineup went on a world tour through to the end of 2010. One of the first shows with the new lineup was a concert to benefit Matthew Leone, bassist for the rock band Madina Lake, at the Metro on July 27, 2010. In late 2010 all four members contributed to the sessions for the third volume of Teargarden.
On April 26, 2011, Corgan announced that the Smashing Pumpkins would be releasing a new album titled Oceania, which he labeled as "an album within an album" in regards to the Teargarden by Kaleidyscope project, in the fall. As with the previous recording sessions, all four band members contributed to the project. Also, the entire album catalog was to be remastered and reissued with bonus tracks, starting with Gish and Siamese Dream in November 2011. The pre-Gish demos, Pisces Iscariot, and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness were released in 2012, with The Aeroplane Flies High released the following year. Adore was released in 2014, and Machina/The Machines of God and the yet commercially unreleased Machina II/Friends and Enemies of Modern Music are expected to be combined, remixed, and released in the same year. The band did a thirteen-city US tour in October 2011 followed by a European tour in November and December.
Oceania was released on June 19, 2012, and received generally positive reviews. The album debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 and at No. 1 on the Billboard Independent. The album spawned two singles, "The Celestials" and "Panopticon". The band proceeded to tour in support of the album, including a US tour involving playing the album in its entirety. By September 2012, Corgan stated that the band had already begun work on their next album. However, despite this, the band concentrated on touring, playing at Glastonbury Festival, Dour Festival and the Barclays Center, where they recorded Oceania: Live in NYC, which was released on September 24, 2013.
Monuments to an Elegy: 2014–2016
On March 25, 2014, Corgan announced he had signed a new record deal with BMG, for two new albums, titled Monuments to an Elegy and Day for Night, respectively. In June, it was revealed that Mike Byrne was no longer in the band, to be replaced by Tommy Lee of Mötley Crüe on the new album, and Fiorentino would not be recording on the album either. Monuments to an Elegy was released on December 5, 2014, to generally positive reviews. The band toured in support of the album starting on November 26, with Rage Against the Machine's Brad Wilk filling in on drums and the Killers' Mark Stoermer filling in on bass. The follow-up proposed album Day For Night was cited for delayed late 2015 or early 2016 release.
Later in 2015 Corgan announced that the band would embark on a co-headlining tour of North America with Marilyn Manson, "The End Times Tour", across July and August 2015. Prior to the co-headlining dates, the band performed a series of acoustic shows with drum machines and tapes for percussion. When the time came for the co-headlining tour, plans for a drummer fell through and Corgan recruited Chamberlin to reunite for the shows. On February 1, 2016, it was announced that the band would continue their In Plainsong acoustic tour with Jimmy Chamberlin on drums and were planning to head "straight to the studio after the dates to record a brand new album inspired by the sounds explored in the new acoustic setting". On February 25, 2016, Corgan posted a video from a Los Angeles studio on the band's Facebook account, giving an update on the writing process for the new songs for the upcoming album to be released after the In Plainsong tour.
The tour began in Portland, Oregon, on March 22, 2016.
Iha and Chamberlin's return; Shiny and Oh So Bright and Cyr: 2018–present
On his birthday on March 26, 2016, original guitarist James Iha joined Billy Corgan, Jimmy Chamberlin, and Jeff Schroeder on stage unannounced at the Ace Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. He performed a few songs, including "Mayonaise", "Soma" and "Whir" marking his first appearance with the Smashing Pumpkins in 16 years. Iha also played at the second of the two Smashing Pumpkins shows at the Ace Hotel the following day, which was Easter Sunday. Iha joined the Pumpkins for a third time at their concert of April 14 at the Civic Opera House in Chicago. In July, Corgan began hinting of the possibility of reuniting the band original lineup, of himself, Iha, Wretzky, and Chamberlin, and in August, he stated he had begun reaching out to the original lineup about the feasibility of a reunion, including speaking to Wretzky for the first time in sixteen years. Despite the comments, Corgan would spend much of 2017 working on solo material – recording and releasing the solo album Ogilala and beginning work on another solo album for 2018. In June 2017 Chamberlin also mentioned the possibility of a reunion tour in 2018. In January 2018 Corgan shared a photo of himself, Iha, and Chamberlin together in recording studio. In February 2018 Corgan announced that he was working with music producer Rick Rubin on a future Smashing Pumpkins album, that there were currently 26 songs he was actively working on, and that "the guitar feels once again like the preferred weapon of choice." Soon afterwards, Corgan shared a photo of sound equipment with Iha's name on a label, as well as announcing recording was finished on the album.
On February 15, 2018, the band officially announced that founding members Iha and Chamberlin were back in the band. They embarked on the Shiny And Oh So Bright Tour starting in July, with a focus on performing material from their first five studio albums. and sold over 350,000 tickets and sold out arenas including The Forum, United Center, and Madison Square Garden. Original bassist D'arcy Wretzky claimed she had been offered a contract to rejoin the band but Corgan rescinded the offer soon after. Corgan released a statement denying the claims, stating "Ms. Wretzky has repeatedly been invited out to play with the group, participate in demo sessions, or at the very least, meet face-to-face, and in each and every instance she always deferred". Jack Bates (son of Joy Division bassist Peter Hook) played bass on the tour. Bates previously toured with the Smashing Pumpkins in 2015. Multi-instrumentalist Katie Cole rejoined the band for the tour as well, singing backup vocals and playing keyboards and guitar.
In March 2018, Corgan mentioned the band planned to release two EPs in 2018, with the first tentatively planned for May. On June 8, 2018, the first single from the set of music, "Solara", was released. On August 2, 2018, the band celebrated their 30th anniversary by performing in Holmdel, New Jersey. with several notable special guests including Courtney Love, Chino Moreno, Davey Havok, Peter Hook, Mark McGrath, and Dave Keuning and Mark Stoermer of The Killers. In September 2018, they announced the album Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun., released via Napalm Records on November 16, 2018, which debuted at number 54 on the Billboard 200 chart.
After touring through much of 2019, Corgan noted in January 2020 that the band was currently working on 21 songs for a future album release. On August 28, 2020, the band released the single and video for "Cyr", along with a second track titled "The Colour of Love" from their album Cyr, which was released through their new record label Sumerian Records on November 27, 2020. It serves as the second part of the Shiny and Oh So Bright series. On September 25, 2020, the band released another single from Cyr that included the songs "Confessions of a Dopamine Addict" and "Wrath". On October 9, 2020, the band released a third single for Cyr that featured the tracks "Anno Satana" and "Birch Grove". On October 29, the band released "Ramona" and "Wyttch" as the fourth pair of singles. On November 20, 2020, the songs "Purple Blood" and "Dulcet in E" were released as the fifth and final single for Cyr. The following week, on November 27, 2020, the band released Cyr. Despite never getting to properly tour Cyr, the band did play four songs from the album at their headlining shows at Riot Fest and Sea.Hear.Now Festival in September 2021.
In late 2020, Corgan announced that the band would begin work on another double album for release in 2021, although the year passed without the album releasing. The double album is to serve as a sequel to the overarching story of Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness and Machina: The Machines of God. On February 22, the band announced on social media the Rock Invasion 2 Tour, which had previously been set to take place in spring 2020, but had been postponed to fall 2020 and subsequently canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The newly announced incarnation of the tour had entirely new locations spanning 11 US cities accompanying the band's spring festival appearances and four performances in Mexico, their first since 2013.
Musical style, influences, and legacy
The direction of the band is dominated by lead guitarist, lead vocalist, keyboardist, bassist and principal songwriter Billy Corgan. Journalist Greg Kot wrote, "The music [of the Smashing Pumpkins] would not be what it is without his ambition and vision, and his famously fractured relationships with his family, friends, and bandmembers." Melissa Auf der Maur commented upon news of the group's reunion, "Everyone knows Billy doesn't need too many people to make a Pumpkins record, other than Jimmy [Chamberlin]—who he has on board." In a 2015 interview Corgan himself referred to the current iteration of the band "as sort of an open source collective" noting that "It's whoever feels right at the time." Many of Corgan's lyrics for the Pumpkins are cathartic expressions of emotion, full of personal musings and strong indictments of himself and those close to him. Music critics were not often fans of Corgan's angst-filled lyrics. Jim DeRogatis wrote in a 1993 Chicago Sun-Times article that Corgan's lyrics "too often sound like sophomoric poetry", although he viewed the lyrics of later albums Adore and Machina as an improvement. The band's songs have been described as "anguished, bruised reports from Billy Corgan's nightmare-land" by journalist William Shaw.
Smashing Pumpkins, unlike many alternative rock bands at the time, disavowed the influence of punk rock on their sound. Overall, they have a diverse, densely layered, and guitar-heavy sound, containing elements of gothic rock, heavy metal, dream pop, psychedelic rock, progressive rock, shoegazing, and electronica in later recordings.
The Smashing Pumpkins' distinctive sound up until Adore involved layering numerous guitar tracks onto a song during the recording process, a tactic that Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness coproducer Flood called the "Pumpkin guitar overdub army." Although there were a lot of overdubbed parts on Gish, Corgan began to really explore the possibilities of overdubbing with Siamese Dream; Corgan has stated that "Soma" alone contains up to 40 overdubbed guitar parts. While Corgan knew many of the songs would be difficult or impossible to replicate from their recorded versions in concert (in fact, some songs were drastically altered for live performance), he has explained the use of overdubbing by posing the question "When you are faced with making a permanent recorded representation of a song, why not endow it with the grandest possible vision?" This use of multilayered sounds was inspired by Corgan's love of 1970s popular artists & bands such as: David Bowie, Cheap Trick, Queen, Boston, and the Electric Light Orchestra, as well as shoegaze, a British alternative rock style of the late 1980s and early 1990s that relied on swirling layers of guitar noise for effect. Mellon Collie coproducer Alan Moulder was originally hired to mix Siamese Dream because Corgan was a fan of his work producing shoegaze bands such as My Bloody Valentine, Ride, and Slowdive.
Like many contemporary alternative bands, the Smashing Pumpkins utilized shifts in song dynamics, going from quiet to loud and vice versa. Hüsker Dü's seminal album Zen Arcade demonstrated to the band how they could place gentler material against more aggressive fare, and Corgan made such shifts in dynamics central to the pursuit of his grand musical ambitions. Corgan said he liked the idea of creating his own alternative universe through sound that essentially tells the listener, "Welcome to Pumpkin Land, this is what it sounds like on Planet Pumpkin." This emphasis on atmosphere carried through to Adore (described as "arcane night music" in prerelease promotion) and the Machina albums (concept records that tell the story of a fictional rock band).
The Pumpkins drew inspiration from a variety of other genres, some unfashionable during the 1990s among music critics. Corgan in particular was open about his appreciation of heavy metal, citing Dimebag Darrell of Pantera as his favorite contemporary guitarist. When one interviewer commented to Corgan and Iha that "Smashing Pumpkins is one of the groups that relegitimized heavy metal" and that they "were among the first alternative rockers to mention people like Ozzy and Black Sabbath with anything other than contempt". Corgan went on to rave about Black Sabbath's Master of Reality and Judas Priest's Unleashed in the East. The song "Zero", which reminded Iha of Judas Priest, is an example of what the band dubbed "cybermetal." Post-punk and gothic rock bands like Joy Division/New Order, Bauhaus, the Cure, and Depeche Mode were formative influences on the band, which covered such artists in concert and on record. Corgan also cited Siouxsie and the Banshees saying it was important to point back to bands that influenced them. Psychedelic rock was also referenced often in the band's early recordings; according to Corgan, "In typical Pumpkins fashion, no one at that point really liked loud guitars or psychedelic music so, of course, that's exactly what we had to do." Corgan felt that the band's guitars "are a mixture of heavy metal and 80s alternative rock. I think of Cure and Siouxsie and the Banshees". Corgan acknowledged that a chord he jokingly claimed as "the Pumpkin chord" (a G# octave chord at the eleventh fret of a guitar with the low E string played over it), used as the basis for "Cherub Rock", "Drown", and other songs, was in fact previously used by Jimi Hendrix. Other early influences cited by Corgan include Cream, the Stooges, and Blue Cheer.
Regarding the band's influence upon other groups, Greg Kot wrote in 2001, "Whereas Nirvana spawned countless mini-Nirvanas, the Pumpkins remain an island unto themselves." Still, some artists and bands have been influenced by the Pumpkins, such as Nelly Furtado, Marilyn Manson, Third Eye Blind, Mark Hoppus of Blink-182, Tegan and Sara, Fall Out Boy, Rivers Cuomo, Panic! at the Disco, Silversun Pickups, and My Chemical Romance. My Chemical Romance vocalist Gerard Way has said that they pattern their career upon the Pumpkins', including music videos. The members of fellow Chicago band Kill Hannah are friends with Corgan, and lead singer Mat Devine has compared his group to the Pumpkins.
The group has sold over 30 million albums worldwide as of October 2012, and sales in the United States alone reaching 19.75 million.
Music videos
The Smashing Pumpkins have been praised as "responsible for some of the most striking and memorable video clips" and for having "approached videos from a completely artistic standpoint rather than mere commercials to sell albums". MTV's 2001 anniversary special Testimony: 20 Years of Rock on MTV credited the Pumpkins, along with Nine Inch Nails, with treating music videos as an art form during the 1990s. Corgan has said, "We generally resisted the idea of what I call the classic MTV rock video, which is like lots of people jumping around and stuff." The band worked with video directors including Kevin Kerslake ("Cherub Rock"), Samuel Bayer ("Bullet with Butterfly Wings"), and, most frequently, the team of Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris ("Rocket", "1979", "Tonight, Tonight", "The End Is the Beginning Is the End", and "Perfect"). Corgan, who was frequently heavily involved in the conception of the videos, said of Dayton and Faris, "I know my [initial] versions are always darker, and they're always talking me into something a little kinder and gentler." Videos like "Today", "Rocket", and "1979" dealt with images taken from middle American culture, albeit exaggerated. The group's videos so often avoid the literal interpretation of the song lyrics that the video for "Thirty-Three", with images closely related to the words of the song, was created as an intentional stylistic departure.
The band was nominated for several MTV Video Music Awards during the 1990s. In 1996, the group won eight VMAs total for the "1979" and "Tonight, Tonight" videos, including the top award, Video of the Year, for "Tonight, Tonight". The video was also nominated for a Grammy at the 1997 ceremony. Of the "Tonight, Tonight" video, Corgan remarked, "I don't think we've ever had people react [like this]... it just seemed to touch a nerve."
Shortly after the band's 2000 breakup, the Greatest Hits Video Collection was released, collecting the band's music videos from 1991 to 2000 and including commentary from Corgan, Iha, Chamberlin, Wretzky, and various music video directors with outtakes, live performances, and the extended "Try, Try, Try" short film.
Band members
Current members
Billy Corgan – lead vocals, guitars, keyboards, bass guitar (1988–2000, 2006–present)
James Iha – guitars, bass guitar, vocals (1988–2000, 2018–present)
Jimmy Chamberlin – drums (1988–1996, 1998–2000, 2006–2009, 2015–present)
Jeff Schroeder – guitars, keyboards (2007–present)
Live members
Jack Bates – bass guitar (2015–present)
Katie Cole – keyboards, backing vocals (2015–present)
Former members
D'arcy Wretzky – bass guitar, backing vocals (1988–1999)
Melissa Auf der Maur – bass guitar (1999–2000)
Mike Byrne – drums, backing vocals, keyboards (2009–2014)
Nicole Fiorentino – bass guitar, backing vocals, keyboards (2010–2014)
Awards
American Music Awards
1997 – Best Alternative Artist
Grammy Awards
1997 – "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" – Best Hard Rock Performance
1998 – "The End Is the Beginning Is the End" – Best Hard Rock Performance
MTV Europe Music Awards
1996 – Best Rock
MTV Video Music Awards
1996 – "Tonight, Tonight" – Video of the Year, Breakthrough Video, Best Direction, Best Visual Effects, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography
1996 – "1979" – Best Alternative Video
Discography
Studio albums
Gish (1991)
Siamese Dream (1993)
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1995)
Adore (1998)
Machina/The Machines of God (2000)
Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music (2000)
Zeitgeist (2007)
Oceania (2012)†
Monuments to an Elegy (2014)†
Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun. (2018)
Cyr (2020)
Notes
† Part of Teargarden by Kaleidyscope (2009–2014), an overarching project abandoned before completion.
See also
List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. alternative rock chart
Notes
References
Bibliography
Further reading
External links
1988 establishments in Illinois
Alternative rock groups from Chicago
Articles which contain graphical timelines
Caroline Records artists
Grammy Award winners
MTV Europe Music Award winners
Musical groups established in 1988
Musical groups disestablished in 2000
Musical groups reestablished in 2006
Musical quartets
American musical trios
Reprise Records artists
Sumerian Records artists
Virgin Records artists
Musical groups from Chicago | true | [
"Now and Again is an album by Canadian band The Grapes of Wrath, released in 1989. It was the band's first album to feature new member Vince Jones on keyboards. The album was produced by Anton Fier and was recorded in an old (and supposedly haunted) church in Woodstock, New York. Guest musicians included Chuck Leavell, Sneaky Pete Kleinow and Jane Scarpantoni.\n \nNow and Again was certified Platinum in Canada and is the band's most commercially successful album to date. The album contained one of the band's biggest hit singles, \"All the Things I Wasn't\". Now and Again was the 13th best-selling Cancon album in Canada of 1989.\n\nIn Chart magazine's 2000 reader poll of the Best Canadian Albums of All Time, Now and Again ranked in 27th place.\n\nFor the singles \"What Was Going Through My Head\" and \"Do You Want To Tell Me\", the b-sides were songs recorded on CBC Radio program Brave New Waves. One was an acoustic version of the song \"Backward Town\", and the other was a cover of Paul McCartney's \"Let Me Roll It\".\n\nTrack listing\nAll songs composed by Chris Hooper, Kevin Kane, Tom Hooper, and Vincent Jones except tracks 4, 5 & 10, composed by Chris Hooper, Kevin Kane, Tom Hooper.\n\n \"All the Things I Wasn't\" – 2:17\n \"What Was Going Through My Head\" – 2:47\n \"Do You Want to Tell Me?\" – 3:34\n \"The Most\" – 3:52\n \"I'm Gone\" – 4:08\n \"Blind\" – 4:21\n \"Stay\" – 3:49\n \"I Can Tell\" – 3:39\n \"Not the Way It Is\" – 2:52\n \"Hiding\" – 4:27\n \"The Time is Here\" – 3:03\n \"...But I Guess We'll Never Know\" – 3:30\n\nReferences\n\n1989 albums\nThe Grapes of Wrath (band) albums\nNettwerk Records albums",
"Triage is the third studio album by Australian band Methyl Ethel. It was released on 15 February 2019 through Dot Dash/4AD Records.\n\nIn February 2020, Triage was nominated for the Australian Music Prize of 2019.\n\nReception\n\nMarcy Donelson from AllMusic said \"Triage was produced, performed, and recorded by Jake Webb at his home studio, though its lush, lopsided textures hardly sound like what was a solo effort until the mixing stage. Parts melancholy, trippy, and dancy, he combined programmed and traditional instruments, including his own synth timbres, layering them in ways that sound more like atmospheric arena fare than what was essentially a one-man recording project.\"\n\nBrad Dountz from Consequence of Sound said \"Every song from Methyl Ethel's latest album seems like it is trying to outdo all the others and that is never a bad thing. Triage is probably their best album yet because they only seem to be competing with themselves, which makes for the best form of uncompromising music.\"\n\nTrack listing\n\nCharts\n\nRelease history\n\nReferences\n\n2019 albums\nMethyl Ethel albums\n4AD albums\nDot Dash Recordings albums"
] |
[
"The Smashing Pumpkins",
"Mainstream breakout: 1992-1994",
"What did the group do in 1992 to make their big breakout?",
"Siamese Dream debuted",
"What did they do that helped them become well known?",
"due to the popularity of grunge bands such as Nirvana and Pearl Jam, the Smashing Pumpkins were poised for major commercial success.",
"What was one of their best albums recorded?",
"Siamese Dream debuted at number ten on the Billboard 200 chart, and sold over four million copies in the U.S. alone."
] | C_b6b56b0135f34b2a82530ebab0efd600_0 | How many other albums did they release? | 4 | How many other albums did the Smashing Pumpkins release other than their debut Siamese ? | The Smashing Pumpkins | With the breakthrough of alternative rock into the American mainstream due to the popularity of grunge bands such as Nirvana and Pearl Jam, the Smashing Pumpkins were poised for major commercial success. At this time, the Smashing Pumpkins were routinely lumped in with the grunge movement, with Corgan protesting, "We've graduated now from 'the next Jane's Addiction' to 'the next Nirvana', now we're 'the next Pearl Jam'." Amid this environment of intense internal pressure for the band to break through to widespread popularity, the band relocated to Marietta, Georgia in late 1992 to begin work on their second album, with Butch Vig returning as producer. The decision to record so far away from their hometown was motivated partly by the band's desire to avoid friends and distractions during the recording, but largely as a desperate attempt to cut Chamberlin off from his known drug connections. The recording environment for Siamese Dream was quickly marred by discord within the band. As was the case with Gish, Corgan and Vig decided that Corgan should play nearly all of the guitar and bass parts on the album, contributing to an air of resentment. The contemporary music press began to portray Corgan as a tyrant. Corgan's depression, meanwhile, had deepened to the point where he contemplated suicide, and he compensated by practically living in the studio. Meanwhile, Chamberlin quickly managed to find new connections and was often absent without any contact for days at a time. In all, it took over four months to complete the record, with the budget exceeding $250,000. Despite all the problems in its recording, Siamese Dream debuted at number ten on the Billboard 200 chart, and sold over four million copies in the U.S. alone. Alongside the band's mounting mainstream recognition, the band's reputation as careerists among their former peers in the independent music community was worsened. Indie rock band Pavement's 1994 song "Range Life" directly mocks the band in its lyrics, although Stephen Malkmus, lead singer of Pavement, has stated, "I never dissed their music. I just dissed their status." Former Husker Du frontman Bob Mould called them "the grunge Monkees", and fellow Chicago musician/producer Steve Albini wrote a scathing letter in response to an article praising the band, derisively comparing them to REO Speedwagon ("by, of and for the mainstream") and concluding their ultimate insignificance. The opening track and lead single of Siamese Dream, "Cherub Rock", directly addresses Corgan's feud with the "indie-world". In 1994 Virgin released the B-sides/rarities compilation Pisces Iscariot which charted higher than Siamese Dream by reaching number four on the Billboard 200. Also released was a VHS cassette titled Vieuphoria featuring a mix of live performances and behind-the-scenes footage. Following relentless touring to support the recordings, including headline slots on the 1994 Lollapalooza tour and at Reading Festival in 1995, the band took time off to write the follow-up album. CANNOTANSWER | In 1994 Virgin released the B-sides/rarities compilation Pisces Iscariot | The Smashing Pumpkins (or Smashing Pumpkins) are an American alternative rock band from Chicago. Formed in 1988 by frontman Billy Corgan (lead vocals, guitar), D'arcy Wretzky (bass), James Iha (guitar), and Jimmy Chamberlin (drums), the band has undergone many line-up changes. The current lineup features Corgan, Chamberlin, Iha and guitarist Jeff Schroeder.
Disavowing the punk rock roots of many of their alt-rock contemporaries, they have a diverse, densely layered, and guitar-heavy sound, containing elements of gothic rock, heavy metal, dream pop, psychedelic rock, progressive rock, shoegazing, and, in later recordings, electronica. Corgan is the group's primary songwriter; his musical ambitions and cathartic lyrics have shaped the band's albums and songs, which have been described as "anguished, bruised reports from Billy Corgan's nightmare-land".
The Smashing Pumpkins broke into the musical mainstream with their second album, 1993's Siamese Dream. The group built its audience with extensive touring and their 1995 follow-up, the double album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 album chart. With 30 million albums sold worldwide, the Smashing Pumpkins were one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands of the 1990s. However, internal fighting, drug use, and diminishing record sales led to a 2000 break-up.
In 2006, Corgan and Chamberlin reconvened to record a new Smashing Pumpkins album, Zeitgeist. After touring throughout 2007 and 2008 with a lineup including new guitarist Jeff Schroeder, Chamberlin left the band in early 2009. Later that year, Corgan began a new recording series with a rotating lineup of musicians entitled Teargarden by Kaleidyscope, which encompassed the release of stand-alone singles, compilation EP releases, and two full albums that also fell under the project's scope—Oceania in 2012 and Monuments to an Elegy in 2014. Chamberlin and Iha officially rejoined the band in February 2018. The reunited lineup released the album Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun. in November 2018 and Cyr in November 2020.
History
Early years: 1988–1991
After the breakup of his gothic rock band The Marked, singer and guitarist Billy Corgan left St. Petersburg, Florida, to return to his native city of Chicago, where he took a job in a record store and formed the idea of a new band to be called the Smashing Pumpkins. While working there, he met guitarist James Iha. Adorning themselves with paisley and other psychedelic trappings, the two began writing songs together (with the aid of a drum machine) that were heavily influenced by the Cure and New Order. The duo performed live for the first time on July 9, 1988 at the Polish bar Chicago 21. This performance included only Corgan on bass and Iha on guitar with a drum machine. Shortly thereafter, Corgan met D'arcy Wretzky after a show by the Dan Reed Network where they argued the merits of the band. After finding out Wretzky played bass guitar, Corgan recruited her into the lineup, and the trio played a show at the Avalon Nightclub. After this show, Cabaret Metro owner Joe Shanahan agreed to book the band on the condition that they replace the drum
machine with a live drummer.
Jazz drummer Jimmy Chamberlin was recommended by a friend of Corgan's. Chamberlin knew little of alternative music and immediately changed the sound of the nascent band. As Corgan recalled of the period, "We were completely into the sad-rock, Cure kind of thing. It took about two or three practices before I realized that the power in his playing was something that enabled us to rock harder than we could ever have imagined." On October 5, 1988, the complete band took the stage for the first time at the Cabaret Metro.
In 1989, the Smashing Pumpkins made their first appearance on record with the compilation album Light Into Dark, which featured several Chicago alternative bands. The group released its first single, "I Am One", in 1990 on local Chicago label Limited Potential. The single sold out and they released a follow-up, "Tristessa", on Sub Pop, after which they signed to Caroline Records. The band recorded their 1991 debut studio album Gish with producer Butch Vig at his Smart Studios in Madison, Wisconsin for $20,000. In order to gain the consistency he desired, Corgan often played all instruments excluding drums, which created tension in the band. The music fused heavy metal guitars, psychedelia, and dream pop, garnering them comparisons to Jane's Addiction. Gish became a minor success, with the single "Rhinoceros" receiving some airplay on modern rock radio. After releasing the Lull EP in October 1991 on Caroline Records, the band formally signed with Virgin Records, which was affiliated with Caroline. The band supported the album with a tour that included opening for bands such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jane's Addiction, and Guns N' Roses. During the tour, Iha and Wretzky went through a messy breakup, Chamberlin became addicted to narcotics and alcohol, and Corgan entered a deep depression, writing some songs for the upcoming album in the parking garage where he lived at the time.
Mainstream breakout and Siamese Dream: 1992–1994
With the breakthrough of alternative rock into the American mainstream due to the popularity of grunge bands such as Nirvana and Pearl Jam, the Smashing Pumpkins were poised for major commercial success. At this time, the Smashing Pumpkins were routinely lumped in with the grunge movement, with Corgan protesting, "We've graduated now from 'the next Jane's Addiction' to 'the next Nirvana', now we're 'the next Pearl Jam'."
Amid this environment of intense internal pressure for the band to break through to widespread popularity, the band relocated to Marietta, Georgia in late 1992 to begin work on their second album, with Butch Vig returning as producer. The decision to record so far away from their hometown was motivated partly by the band's desire to avoid friends and distractions during the recording, but largely as a desperate attempt to cut Chamberlin off from his known drug connections. The recording environment for Siamese Dream was quickly marred by discord within the band. As was the case with Gish, Corgan and Vig decided that Corgan should play nearly all of the guitar and bass parts on the album, contributing to an air of resentment. The contemporary music press began to portray Corgan as a tyrant. Corgan's depression, meanwhile, had deepened to the point where he contemplated suicide, and he compensated by practically living in the studio. Meanwhile, Chamberlin quickly managed to find new connections and was often absent without any contact for days at a time. In all, it took over four months to complete the record, with the budget exceeding $250,000.
Despite all the problems in its recording, Siamese Dream debuted at number ten on the Billboard 200 chart, and sold over four million copies in the U.S. alone. Alongside the band's mounting mainstream recognition, the band's reputation as careerists among their former peers in the independent music community was worsened. Indie rock band Pavement's 1994 song "Range Life" directly mocks the band in its lyrics, although Stephen Malkmus, lead singer of Pavement, has stated, "I never dissed their music. I just dissed their status." Former Hüsker Dü frontman Bob Mould called them "the grunge Monkees", and fellow Chicago musician/producer Steve Albini wrote a scathing letter in response to an article praising the band, derisively comparing them to REO Speedwagon ("by, of and for the mainstream") and concluding their ultimate insignificance. The opening track and lead single of Siamese Dream, "Cherub Rock", directly addresses Corgan's feud with the "indie-world".
In 1994 Virgin released the B-sides/rarities compilation Pisces Iscariot which charted higher than Siamese Dream by reaching number four on the Billboard 200. Also released was a VHS cassette titled Vieuphoria featuring a mix of live performances and behind-the-scenes footage. Following relentless touring to support the recordings, including headline slots on the 1994 Lollapalooza tour and at Reading Festival in 1995, the band took time off to write the follow-up album.
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness: 1995–1997
During 1995, Corgan wrote about 56 songs, following which the band went into the studio with producers Flood and Alan Moulder to work on what Corgan described as "The Wall for Generation X", and which became Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, a double album of twenty-eight songs, lasting over two hours (the vinyl version of the album contained three records, two extra songs, and an alternate track listing). The songs were intended to hang together conceptually as a symbol of the cycle of life and death. Praised by Time as "the group's most ambitious and accomplished work yet", Mellon Collie debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 in October 1995. Even more successful than Siamese Dream, it was certified ten times platinum in the United States and became the best-selling double album of the decade. It also garnered seven 1997 Grammy Award nominations, including Album of the Year. The band won only the Best Hard Rock Performance award, for the album's lead single "Bullet with Butterfly Wings". The album spawned five singles—"Bullet with Butterfly Wings", "1979", "Zero", "Tonight, Tonight" which Corgan stated was inspired by the Cheap Trick song "I'll Be with You Tonight", and "Thirty-Three"—of which the first three were certified gold and all but "Zero" entered the Top 40. Many of the songs that did not make it onto Mellon Collie were released as B-sides to the singles, and were later compiled in The Aeroplane Flies High box set. The set was originally limited to 200,000 copies, but more were produced to meet demand.
In 1996 the Pumpkins undertook an extended world tour in support of Mellon Collie. Corgan's look during this period—a shaved head, a long sleeve black shirt with the word "Zero" printed on it, and silver pants—became iconic. That year, the band also made a guest appearance in an episode of The Simpsons, "Homerpalooza". With considerable video rotation on MTV, major industry awards, and "Zero" shirts selling in many malls, the Pumpkins were considered one of the most popular bands of the time.
In May, the Smashing Pumpkins played a gig at the Point Theatre in Dublin, Ireland. Despite the band's repeated requests for moshing to stop, a seventeen-year-old fan named Bernadette O'Brien was crushed to death. The concert ended early and the following night's performance in Belfast was cancelled out of respect for her. However, while Corgan maintained that moshing's "time [had] come and gone", the band would continue to request open-floor concerts throughout the rest of the tour.
The band suffered a personal tragedy on the night of July 11, 1996, when touring keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin and Chamberlin overdosed on heroin in a hotel room in New York City. Melvoin died, and Chamberlin was arrested for drug possession. A few days later, the band announced that Chamberlin had been fired as a result of the incident. The Pumpkins chose to finish the tour, and hired drummer Matt Walker and keyboardist Dennis Flemion. Corgan later said the decision to continue touring was the worst decision the band had ever made, damaging both their music and their reputation. Chamberlin admitted in a 1994 Rolling Stone cover story that in the past he'd "gotten high in every city in this country and probably half the cities in Europe." But in recent years, he had reportedly been clean. On July 17, the Pumpkins issued a statement in which they said, "For nine years we have battled with Jimmy's struggles with the insidious disease of drug and alcohol addiction. It has nearly destroyed everything we are and stand for. … We wish [him] the best we have to offer". Meanwhile, the band had given interviews since the release of Mellon Collie stating that it would be the last conventional Pumpkins record, and that rock was becoming stale. James Iha said at the end of 1996, "The future is in electronic music. It really seems boring just to play rock music."
Adore, Machina, and breakup: 1998–2000
After the release of Mellon Collie, the Pumpkins contributed many songs to various compilations. Released in early 1997, the song "Eye", which appeared on the soundtrack to David Lynch's Lost Highway, relied almost exclusively on electronic instruments and signaled a drastic shift from the Pumpkins' previous musical styles. At the time, Corgan stated his "idea [was] to reconfigure the focus and get away from the classic guitars-bass-drum rock format." Later that year, the group contributed "The End Is the Beginning Is the End" to the soundtrack for the film Batman & Robin. With Matt Walker on drums, the song featured a heavy sound similar to "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" while still having strong electronic influences. The song later won the 1998 Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance. Though Corgan announced that the song represented the sound people could expect from the band in the future, the band's next album would feature few guitar-driven songs.
Recorded following the death of Corgan's mother and his divorce, 1998's Adore represented a significant change of style from the Pumpkins' previous guitar-based rock, veering into electronica. The record, cut with assistance from drum machines and studio drummers including Matt Walker, was infused with a darker aesthetic than much of the band's earlier work. The group also modified its public image, shedding its alternative rock look for a more subdued appearance. Although Adore received favorable reviews and was nominated for Best Alternative Performance at the Grammy Awards, the album had only sold about 830,000 copies in the United States by the end of the year. The album nonetheless debuted at number 2 on the Billboard 200 and sold three times as many copies overseas. The band began a seventeen-date, fifteen-city charity North American tour in support of Adore. At each stop on the tour, the band donated 100 percent of tickets sales to a local charity organization. The tour's expenses were entirely funded out of the band's own pockets. All told, the band donated over $2.8 million to charity as a result of the tour. On October 31, 1998 during Halloween, the band opened for Kiss at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, dressed in costume as The Beatles.
In 1999 the band surprised fans by reuniting with a rehabilitated Jimmy Chamberlin for a brief tour dubbed "The Arising", which showcased both new and classic material. The lineup was short-lived, however, as the band announced the departure of Wretzky in September during work on the album Machina/The Machines of God. Former Hole bassist Melissa Auf der Maur was recruited for the "Sacred and Profane" tour in support of the album and appeared in the videos accompanying its release. Released in 2000, Machina was initially promoted as the Pumpkins' return to a more traditional rock sound, after the more gothic, electronic-sounding Adore. The album debuted at number three on the Billboard charts, but quickly disappeared and as of 2007 had only been certified gold. Music journalist Jim DeRogatis, who described the album as "one of the strongest of their career", noted that the stalled sales for Machina in comparison to teen pop ascendant at the time "seems like concrete proof that a new wave of young pop fans has turned a deaf ear toward alternative rock."
On May 23, 2000, in a live radio interview on KROQ-FM (Los Angeles), Billy Corgan announced the band's decision to break up at the end of that year following additional touring and recording. The group's final album before the break-up, Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music, was released in September 2000 in a limited pressing on vinyl with permission and instructions for free redistribution on the Internet by fans. Only twenty-five copies were cut, each of which was hand numbered and given to friends of the band along with band members themselves. The album, released under the Constantinople Records label created by Corgan, consisted of one double LP and three ten-inch EPs. Originally, the band asked Virgin to offer Machina II as a free download to anyone who bought Machina. When the record label declined, Corgan opted to release the material independently.
On December 2, 2000, Smashing Pumpkins played a farewell concert at The Metro, the same Chicago club where their career had effectively started twelve years earlier. The four-and-a-half-hour-long show featured 35 songs spanning the group's career, and attendees were given a recording of the band's first concert at The Metro, Live at Cabaret Metro 10-5-88. The single "Untitled" was released commercially to coincide with the farewell show.
Post-breakup: 2001–2004
In 2001 the compilation Rotten Apples was released. The double-disc version of the album, released as a limited edition, included a collection of B-sides and rarities called Judas O. The Greatest Hits Video Collection DVD was also released at the same time. This was a compilation of all of the Pumpkins promo videos from Gish to Machina along with unreleased material. Vieuphoria was released on DVD in 2002, as was the soundtrack album Earphoria, previously released solely to radio stations in 1994.
Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin reunited in 2001 as members of Corgan's next project, the short-lived supergroup Zwan. The group's only album, Mary Star of the Sea, was released in 2003. After cancelling a few festival appearances, Corgan announced the demise of the band in 2003. During 2001 Corgan also toured as part of New Order and provided vocals on their comeback album Get Ready. In October 2004 Corgan released his first book, Blinking with Fists, a collection of poetry. In June 2005, he released a solo album, TheFutureEmbrace, which he described as "(picking) up the thread of the as-yet-unfinished work of the Smashing Pumpkins". Despite this, it was greeted with generally mixed reviews and lackluster sales. Only one single, "Walking Shade", was released in support of the album.
In addition to drumming with Zwan, Jimmy Chamberlin also formed an alternative rock/jazz fusion project band called Jimmy Chamberlin Complex. The group released an album in 2005 titled Life Begins Again. Corgan provided guest vocals on the track "Lokicat". James Iha served as a guitarist in A Perfect Circle, appearing on their Thirteenth Step club tour and 2004 album, eMOTIVe. He has also been involved with other acts such as Chino Moreno's Team Sleep and Vanessa and the O's. He continues to work with Scratchie Records, his own record label, as well. D'arcy Wretzky has, aside from one radio interview in 2009, not made any public statements or appearances nor given any interviews since leaving the band in 1999. On January 25, 2000, she was arrested after she allegedly purchased three bags of cocaine, but after successfully completing a court-ordered drug education program, the charges were dropped.
Corgan insisted during this period that the band would not reform, although when Zwan broke up he announced, "I think my heart was in Smashing Pumpkins […] I think it was naive of me to think that I could find something that would mean as much to me." Corgan said in 2005, "I never wanted to leave the Smashing Pumpkins. That was never the plan." On February 17, 2004, Corgan posted a message on his personal blog calling Wretzky a "mean-spirited drug addict" and blaming Iha for the breakup of the Smashing Pumpkins. On June 3, 2004, he added that "the depth of my hurt [from Iha] is only matched with the depth of my gratitude". Iha responded to Corgan's claims in 2005, saying, "No, I didn't break up the band. The only person who could have done that is Billy."
Reformation and Zeitgeist: 2005–2008
On June 21, 2005, the day of the release of his first solo album TheFutureEmbrace, Corgan took out full-page advertisements in the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times to announce that he planned to reunite the band. "For a year now", Corgan wrote, "I have walked around with a secret, a secret I chose to keep. But now I want you to be among the first to know that I have made plans to renew and revive the Smashing Pumpkins. I want my band back, and my songs, and my dreams". Corgan and Chamberlin were verified as participants in the reunion, but there was question as to whether other former members of the band would participate.
In April 2007 Iha and Auf der Maur separately confirmed that they were not taking part in the reunion. Chamberlin would later state that Iha and Wretzky "didn't want to be a part of" the reunion. The Smashing Pumpkins performed live for the first time since 2000 on May 22, 2007, in Paris, France. There, the band unveiled new touring members: guitarist Jeff Schroeder, bassist Ginger Reyes, and keyboardist Lisa Harriton. That same month, "Tarantula" was released as the first single from the band's forthcoming album. On July 7, the band performed at the Live Earth concert in New Jersey.
The band's new album, Zeitgeist, was released that same month on Reprise Records, entering the Billboard charts at number two and selling 145,000 copies in its first week. Zeitgeist received mixed reviews, with much of the criticism targeted at the absence of half of the original lineup. The album divided the Pumpkins' fanbase. Corgan would later admit, "I know a lot of our fans are puzzled by Zeitgeist. I think they wanted this massive, grandiose work, but you don't just roll out of bed after seven years without a functioning band and go back to doing that".
Corgan and Chamberlin continued to record as a duo, releasing the four-song EP American Gothic in January 2008 and the singles "Superchrist" and "G.L.O.W." later that year. That November, the group released the DVD If All Goes Wrong, which chronicled the group's 2007 concert residences in Asheville, North Carolina and San Francisco, California. In late 2008, the band commenced on a controversy-riddled 20th Anniversary Tour. Around this time, Corgan said the group will make no more full-length records in order to focus exclusively on singles, explaining, "The listening patterns have changed, so why are we killing ourselves to do albums, to create balance, and do the arty track to set up the single? It's done."
Teargarden and Oceania: 2009–2013
In March 2009 Corgan announced on the band's website that Chamberlin had left the group and would be replaced. Chamberlin subsequently stated that his departure from the band is "a positive move forward for me. I can no longer commit all of my energy into something that I don't fully possess." Chamberlin stressed that the split was amicable, commenting, "I am glad [Corgan] has chosen to continue under the name. It is his right." Chamberlin soon formed the band Skysaw, which has released an album and toured in support of Minus the Bear. In July 2009 Billy Corgan formed a new group called Spirits in the Sky, initially as a tribute band to Sky Saxon of the Seeds, who had recently died. The following month Corgan confirmed on the band's website that 19-year-old Spirits in the Sky drummer Mike Byrne had replaced Chamberlin and that the pair was working on new Pumpkins recordings.
The group announced plans to release a 44-track concept album, Teargarden by Kaleidyscope, for free over the Internet one track at a time. The first track, "A Song for a Son", was released in December 2009 to moderate press acclaim. In March 2010 Ginger Reyes officially left the band, prompting an open call for auditions for a new bassist. In May, Nicole Fiorentino announced she had joined the band as bass player, and would be working on Teargarden by Kaleidyscope. The new lineup went on a world tour through to the end of 2010. One of the first shows with the new lineup was a concert to benefit Matthew Leone, bassist for the rock band Madina Lake, at the Metro on July 27, 2010. In late 2010 all four members contributed to the sessions for the third volume of Teargarden.
On April 26, 2011, Corgan announced that the Smashing Pumpkins would be releasing a new album titled Oceania, which he labeled as "an album within an album" in regards to the Teargarden by Kaleidyscope project, in the fall. As with the previous recording sessions, all four band members contributed to the project. Also, the entire album catalog was to be remastered and reissued with bonus tracks, starting with Gish and Siamese Dream in November 2011. The pre-Gish demos, Pisces Iscariot, and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness were released in 2012, with The Aeroplane Flies High released the following year. Adore was released in 2014, and Machina/The Machines of God and the yet commercially unreleased Machina II/Friends and Enemies of Modern Music are expected to be combined, remixed, and released in the same year. The band did a thirteen-city US tour in October 2011 followed by a European tour in November and December.
Oceania was released on June 19, 2012, and received generally positive reviews. The album debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 and at No. 1 on the Billboard Independent. The album spawned two singles, "The Celestials" and "Panopticon". The band proceeded to tour in support of the album, including a US tour involving playing the album in its entirety. By September 2012, Corgan stated that the band had already begun work on their next album. However, despite this, the band concentrated on touring, playing at Glastonbury Festival, Dour Festival and the Barclays Center, where they recorded Oceania: Live in NYC, which was released on September 24, 2013.
Monuments to an Elegy: 2014–2016
On March 25, 2014, Corgan announced he had signed a new record deal with BMG, for two new albums, titled Monuments to an Elegy and Day for Night, respectively. In June, it was revealed that Mike Byrne was no longer in the band, to be replaced by Tommy Lee of Mötley Crüe on the new album, and Fiorentino would not be recording on the album either. Monuments to an Elegy was released on December 5, 2014, to generally positive reviews. The band toured in support of the album starting on November 26, with Rage Against the Machine's Brad Wilk filling in on drums and the Killers' Mark Stoermer filling in on bass. The follow-up proposed album Day For Night was cited for delayed late 2015 or early 2016 release.
Later in 2015 Corgan announced that the band would embark on a co-headlining tour of North America with Marilyn Manson, "The End Times Tour", across July and August 2015. Prior to the co-headlining dates, the band performed a series of acoustic shows with drum machines and tapes for percussion. When the time came for the co-headlining tour, plans for a drummer fell through and Corgan recruited Chamberlin to reunite for the shows. On February 1, 2016, it was announced that the band would continue their In Plainsong acoustic tour with Jimmy Chamberlin on drums and were planning to head "straight to the studio after the dates to record a brand new album inspired by the sounds explored in the new acoustic setting". On February 25, 2016, Corgan posted a video from a Los Angeles studio on the band's Facebook account, giving an update on the writing process for the new songs for the upcoming album to be released after the In Plainsong tour.
The tour began in Portland, Oregon, on March 22, 2016.
Iha and Chamberlin's return; Shiny and Oh So Bright and Cyr: 2018–present
On his birthday on March 26, 2016, original guitarist James Iha joined Billy Corgan, Jimmy Chamberlin, and Jeff Schroeder on stage unannounced at the Ace Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. He performed a few songs, including "Mayonaise", "Soma" and "Whir" marking his first appearance with the Smashing Pumpkins in 16 years. Iha also played at the second of the two Smashing Pumpkins shows at the Ace Hotel the following day, which was Easter Sunday. Iha joined the Pumpkins for a third time at their concert of April 14 at the Civic Opera House in Chicago. In July, Corgan began hinting of the possibility of reuniting the band original lineup, of himself, Iha, Wretzky, and Chamberlin, and in August, he stated he had begun reaching out to the original lineup about the feasibility of a reunion, including speaking to Wretzky for the first time in sixteen years. Despite the comments, Corgan would spend much of 2017 working on solo material – recording and releasing the solo album Ogilala and beginning work on another solo album for 2018. In June 2017 Chamberlin also mentioned the possibility of a reunion tour in 2018. In January 2018 Corgan shared a photo of himself, Iha, and Chamberlin together in recording studio. In February 2018 Corgan announced that he was working with music producer Rick Rubin on a future Smashing Pumpkins album, that there were currently 26 songs he was actively working on, and that "the guitar feels once again like the preferred weapon of choice." Soon afterwards, Corgan shared a photo of sound equipment with Iha's name on a label, as well as announcing recording was finished on the album.
On February 15, 2018, the band officially announced that founding members Iha and Chamberlin were back in the band. They embarked on the Shiny And Oh So Bright Tour starting in July, with a focus on performing material from their first five studio albums. and sold over 350,000 tickets and sold out arenas including The Forum, United Center, and Madison Square Garden. Original bassist D'arcy Wretzky claimed she had been offered a contract to rejoin the band but Corgan rescinded the offer soon after. Corgan released a statement denying the claims, stating "Ms. Wretzky has repeatedly been invited out to play with the group, participate in demo sessions, or at the very least, meet face-to-face, and in each and every instance she always deferred". Jack Bates (son of Joy Division bassist Peter Hook) played bass on the tour. Bates previously toured with the Smashing Pumpkins in 2015. Multi-instrumentalist Katie Cole rejoined the band for the tour as well, singing backup vocals and playing keyboards and guitar.
In March 2018, Corgan mentioned the band planned to release two EPs in 2018, with the first tentatively planned for May. On June 8, 2018, the first single from the set of music, "Solara", was released. On August 2, 2018, the band celebrated their 30th anniversary by performing in Holmdel, New Jersey. with several notable special guests including Courtney Love, Chino Moreno, Davey Havok, Peter Hook, Mark McGrath, and Dave Keuning and Mark Stoermer of The Killers. In September 2018, they announced the album Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun., released via Napalm Records on November 16, 2018, which debuted at number 54 on the Billboard 200 chart.
After touring through much of 2019, Corgan noted in January 2020 that the band was currently working on 21 songs for a future album release. On August 28, 2020, the band released the single and video for "Cyr", along with a second track titled "The Colour of Love" from their album Cyr, which was released through their new record label Sumerian Records on November 27, 2020. It serves as the second part of the Shiny and Oh So Bright series. On September 25, 2020, the band released another single from Cyr that included the songs "Confessions of a Dopamine Addict" and "Wrath". On October 9, 2020, the band released a third single for Cyr that featured the tracks "Anno Satana" and "Birch Grove". On October 29, the band released "Ramona" and "Wyttch" as the fourth pair of singles. On November 20, 2020, the songs "Purple Blood" and "Dulcet in E" were released as the fifth and final single for Cyr. The following week, on November 27, 2020, the band released Cyr. Despite never getting to properly tour Cyr, the band did play four songs from the album at their headlining shows at Riot Fest and Sea.Hear.Now Festival in September 2021.
In late 2020, Corgan announced that the band would begin work on another double album for release in 2021, although the year passed without the album releasing. The double album is to serve as a sequel to the overarching story of Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness and Machina: The Machines of God. On February 22, the band announced on social media the Rock Invasion 2 Tour, which had previously been set to take place in spring 2020, but had been postponed to fall 2020 and subsequently canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The newly announced incarnation of the tour had entirely new locations spanning 11 US cities accompanying the band's spring festival appearances and four performances in Mexico, their first since 2013.
Musical style, influences, and legacy
The direction of the band is dominated by lead guitarist, lead vocalist, keyboardist, bassist and principal songwriter Billy Corgan. Journalist Greg Kot wrote, "The music [of the Smashing Pumpkins] would not be what it is without his ambition and vision, and his famously fractured relationships with his family, friends, and bandmembers." Melissa Auf der Maur commented upon news of the group's reunion, "Everyone knows Billy doesn't need too many people to make a Pumpkins record, other than Jimmy [Chamberlin]—who he has on board." In a 2015 interview Corgan himself referred to the current iteration of the band "as sort of an open source collective" noting that "It's whoever feels right at the time." Many of Corgan's lyrics for the Pumpkins are cathartic expressions of emotion, full of personal musings and strong indictments of himself and those close to him. Music critics were not often fans of Corgan's angst-filled lyrics. Jim DeRogatis wrote in a 1993 Chicago Sun-Times article that Corgan's lyrics "too often sound like sophomoric poetry", although he viewed the lyrics of later albums Adore and Machina as an improvement. The band's songs have been described as "anguished, bruised reports from Billy Corgan's nightmare-land" by journalist William Shaw.
Smashing Pumpkins, unlike many alternative rock bands at the time, disavowed the influence of punk rock on their sound. Overall, they have a diverse, densely layered, and guitar-heavy sound, containing elements of gothic rock, heavy metal, dream pop, psychedelic rock, progressive rock, shoegazing, and electronica in later recordings.
The Smashing Pumpkins' distinctive sound up until Adore involved layering numerous guitar tracks onto a song during the recording process, a tactic that Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness coproducer Flood called the "Pumpkin guitar overdub army." Although there were a lot of overdubbed parts on Gish, Corgan began to really explore the possibilities of overdubbing with Siamese Dream; Corgan has stated that "Soma" alone contains up to 40 overdubbed guitar parts. While Corgan knew many of the songs would be difficult or impossible to replicate from their recorded versions in concert (in fact, some songs were drastically altered for live performance), he has explained the use of overdubbing by posing the question "When you are faced with making a permanent recorded representation of a song, why not endow it with the grandest possible vision?" This use of multilayered sounds was inspired by Corgan's love of 1970s popular artists & bands such as: David Bowie, Cheap Trick, Queen, Boston, and the Electric Light Orchestra, as well as shoegaze, a British alternative rock style of the late 1980s and early 1990s that relied on swirling layers of guitar noise for effect. Mellon Collie coproducer Alan Moulder was originally hired to mix Siamese Dream because Corgan was a fan of his work producing shoegaze bands such as My Bloody Valentine, Ride, and Slowdive.
Like many contemporary alternative bands, the Smashing Pumpkins utilized shifts in song dynamics, going from quiet to loud and vice versa. Hüsker Dü's seminal album Zen Arcade demonstrated to the band how they could place gentler material against more aggressive fare, and Corgan made such shifts in dynamics central to the pursuit of his grand musical ambitions. Corgan said he liked the idea of creating his own alternative universe through sound that essentially tells the listener, "Welcome to Pumpkin Land, this is what it sounds like on Planet Pumpkin." This emphasis on atmosphere carried through to Adore (described as "arcane night music" in prerelease promotion) and the Machina albums (concept records that tell the story of a fictional rock band).
The Pumpkins drew inspiration from a variety of other genres, some unfashionable during the 1990s among music critics. Corgan in particular was open about his appreciation of heavy metal, citing Dimebag Darrell of Pantera as his favorite contemporary guitarist. When one interviewer commented to Corgan and Iha that "Smashing Pumpkins is one of the groups that relegitimized heavy metal" and that they "were among the first alternative rockers to mention people like Ozzy and Black Sabbath with anything other than contempt". Corgan went on to rave about Black Sabbath's Master of Reality and Judas Priest's Unleashed in the East. The song "Zero", which reminded Iha of Judas Priest, is an example of what the band dubbed "cybermetal." Post-punk and gothic rock bands like Joy Division/New Order, Bauhaus, the Cure, and Depeche Mode were formative influences on the band, which covered such artists in concert and on record. Corgan also cited Siouxsie and the Banshees saying it was important to point back to bands that influenced them. Psychedelic rock was also referenced often in the band's early recordings; according to Corgan, "In typical Pumpkins fashion, no one at that point really liked loud guitars or psychedelic music so, of course, that's exactly what we had to do." Corgan felt that the band's guitars "are a mixture of heavy metal and 80s alternative rock. I think of Cure and Siouxsie and the Banshees". Corgan acknowledged that a chord he jokingly claimed as "the Pumpkin chord" (a G# octave chord at the eleventh fret of a guitar with the low E string played over it), used as the basis for "Cherub Rock", "Drown", and other songs, was in fact previously used by Jimi Hendrix. Other early influences cited by Corgan include Cream, the Stooges, and Blue Cheer.
Regarding the band's influence upon other groups, Greg Kot wrote in 2001, "Whereas Nirvana spawned countless mini-Nirvanas, the Pumpkins remain an island unto themselves." Still, some artists and bands have been influenced by the Pumpkins, such as Nelly Furtado, Marilyn Manson, Third Eye Blind, Mark Hoppus of Blink-182, Tegan and Sara, Fall Out Boy, Rivers Cuomo, Panic! at the Disco, Silversun Pickups, and My Chemical Romance. My Chemical Romance vocalist Gerard Way has said that they pattern their career upon the Pumpkins', including music videos. The members of fellow Chicago band Kill Hannah are friends with Corgan, and lead singer Mat Devine has compared his group to the Pumpkins.
The group has sold over 30 million albums worldwide as of October 2012, and sales in the United States alone reaching 19.75 million.
Music videos
The Smashing Pumpkins have been praised as "responsible for some of the most striking and memorable video clips" and for having "approached videos from a completely artistic standpoint rather than mere commercials to sell albums". MTV's 2001 anniversary special Testimony: 20 Years of Rock on MTV credited the Pumpkins, along with Nine Inch Nails, with treating music videos as an art form during the 1990s. Corgan has said, "We generally resisted the idea of what I call the classic MTV rock video, which is like lots of people jumping around and stuff." The band worked with video directors including Kevin Kerslake ("Cherub Rock"), Samuel Bayer ("Bullet with Butterfly Wings"), and, most frequently, the team of Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris ("Rocket", "1979", "Tonight, Tonight", "The End Is the Beginning Is the End", and "Perfect"). Corgan, who was frequently heavily involved in the conception of the videos, said of Dayton and Faris, "I know my [initial] versions are always darker, and they're always talking me into something a little kinder and gentler." Videos like "Today", "Rocket", and "1979" dealt with images taken from middle American culture, albeit exaggerated. The group's videos so often avoid the literal interpretation of the song lyrics that the video for "Thirty-Three", with images closely related to the words of the song, was created as an intentional stylistic departure.
The band was nominated for several MTV Video Music Awards during the 1990s. In 1996, the group won eight VMAs total for the "1979" and "Tonight, Tonight" videos, including the top award, Video of the Year, for "Tonight, Tonight". The video was also nominated for a Grammy at the 1997 ceremony. Of the "Tonight, Tonight" video, Corgan remarked, "I don't think we've ever had people react [like this]... it just seemed to touch a nerve."
Shortly after the band's 2000 breakup, the Greatest Hits Video Collection was released, collecting the band's music videos from 1991 to 2000 and including commentary from Corgan, Iha, Chamberlin, Wretzky, and various music video directors with outtakes, live performances, and the extended "Try, Try, Try" short film.
Band members
Current members
Billy Corgan – lead vocals, guitars, keyboards, bass guitar (1988–2000, 2006–present)
James Iha – guitars, bass guitar, vocals (1988–2000, 2018–present)
Jimmy Chamberlin – drums (1988–1996, 1998–2000, 2006–2009, 2015–present)
Jeff Schroeder – guitars, keyboards (2007–present)
Live members
Jack Bates – bass guitar (2015–present)
Katie Cole – keyboards, backing vocals (2015–present)
Former members
D'arcy Wretzky – bass guitar, backing vocals (1988–1999)
Melissa Auf der Maur – bass guitar (1999–2000)
Mike Byrne – drums, backing vocals, keyboards (2009–2014)
Nicole Fiorentino – bass guitar, backing vocals, keyboards (2010–2014)
Awards
American Music Awards
1997 – Best Alternative Artist
Grammy Awards
1997 – "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" – Best Hard Rock Performance
1998 – "The End Is the Beginning Is the End" – Best Hard Rock Performance
MTV Europe Music Awards
1996 – Best Rock
MTV Video Music Awards
1996 – "Tonight, Tonight" – Video of the Year, Breakthrough Video, Best Direction, Best Visual Effects, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography
1996 – "1979" – Best Alternative Video
Discography
Studio albums
Gish (1991)
Siamese Dream (1993)
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1995)
Adore (1998)
Machina/The Machines of God (2000)
Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music (2000)
Zeitgeist (2007)
Oceania (2012)†
Monuments to an Elegy (2014)†
Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun. (2018)
Cyr (2020)
Notes
† Part of Teargarden by Kaleidyscope (2009–2014), an overarching project abandoned before completion.
See also
List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. alternative rock chart
Notes
References
Bibliography
Further reading
External links
1988 establishments in Illinois
Alternative rock groups from Chicago
Articles which contain graphical timelines
Caroline Records artists
Grammy Award winners
MTV Europe Music Award winners
Musical groups established in 1988
Musical groups disestablished in 2000
Musical groups reestablished in 2006
Musical quartets
American musical trios
Reprise Records artists
Sumerian Records artists
Virgin Records artists
Musical groups from Chicago | true | [
"How Many Kings: Songs for Christmas is the fifth official album release from Christian rock band downhere released on October 6, 2009.\n\nTrack listing\n\"How Many Kings\" – 4:19\n\"God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen\" – 3:05\n\"Angels from the Realms of Glory\" – 4:21\n\"Christmas In Our Hearts\" – 4:19\n\"Silent Night\" – 3:51\n\"Good King Wenceslas\" – 3:03\n\"What Child Is This\" – 3:05\n\"Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella\" – 3:35\n\"Five Golden Rings\" – 0:11\n\"Glory to God in the Highest\" – 3:25\n\"Gift Carol\" – 4:03\n\"We Wish You a Merry Christmas\" – 1:51\n\"How Many Kings [Re-Imagined]\" – 5:30\n\nReferences\n\nDownhere albums\n2009 Christmas albums\nChristmas albums by Canadian artists",
"How Did You Know is an extended play (EP) by Jamaican electronic dance musician Kurtis Mantronik. The EP was released in 2003 on the Southern Fried Records label, and features British singer Mim on vocals. \"How Did You Know (77 Strings)\" was released as a single from the EP, reaching number 16 on the UK Singles Chart and number three in Romania. The title track peaked atop the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart in May 2004.\n\nTrack listing\n \"How Did You Know (Radio Edit)\" (Kurtis Mantronik, Miriam Grey - vocals) – 3:33 \n \"How Did You Know (Original Vocal)\" (Mantronik, Grey - vocals) – 6:35 \n \"How Did You Know (Tony Senghore Vocal)\" (Mantronik, Grey - vocals, Tony Senghore - remix) – 6:31 \n \"77 Strings (Original Instrumental)\" (Mantronik) – 7:57\n\nCharts\nThe following chart entries are for \"How Did You Know (77 Strings)\".\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nRelease history\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\n2003 EPs\n2003 singles\nAlbums produced by Kurtis Mantronik\nSouthern Fried Records albums"
] |
[
"The Smashing Pumpkins",
"Mainstream breakout: 1992-1994",
"What did the group do in 1992 to make their big breakout?",
"Siamese Dream debuted",
"What did they do that helped them become well known?",
"due to the popularity of grunge bands such as Nirvana and Pearl Jam, the Smashing Pumpkins were poised for major commercial success.",
"What was one of their best albums recorded?",
"Siamese Dream debuted at number ten on the Billboard 200 chart, and sold over four million copies in the U.S. alone.",
"How many other albums did they release?",
"In 1994 Virgin released the B-sides/rarities compilation Pisces Iscariot"
] | C_b6b56b0135f34b2a82530ebab0efd600_0 | Did they go on tour during this time period? | 5 | Did the Smashing Pumpkins go on tour during 1994? | The Smashing Pumpkins | With the breakthrough of alternative rock into the American mainstream due to the popularity of grunge bands such as Nirvana and Pearl Jam, the Smashing Pumpkins were poised for major commercial success. At this time, the Smashing Pumpkins were routinely lumped in with the grunge movement, with Corgan protesting, "We've graduated now from 'the next Jane's Addiction' to 'the next Nirvana', now we're 'the next Pearl Jam'." Amid this environment of intense internal pressure for the band to break through to widespread popularity, the band relocated to Marietta, Georgia in late 1992 to begin work on their second album, with Butch Vig returning as producer. The decision to record so far away from their hometown was motivated partly by the band's desire to avoid friends and distractions during the recording, but largely as a desperate attempt to cut Chamberlin off from his known drug connections. The recording environment for Siamese Dream was quickly marred by discord within the band. As was the case with Gish, Corgan and Vig decided that Corgan should play nearly all of the guitar and bass parts on the album, contributing to an air of resentment. The contemporary music press began to portray Corgan as a tyrant. Corgan's depression, meanwhile, had deepened to the point where he contemplated suicide, and he compensated by practically living in the studio. Meanwhile, Chamberlin quickly managed to find new connections and was often absent without any contact for days at a time. In all, it took over four months to complete the record, with the budget exceeding $250,000. Despite all the problems in its recording, Siamese Dream debuted at number ten on the Billboard 200 chart, and sold over four million copies in the U.S. alone. Alongside the band's mounting mainstream recognition, the band's reputation as careerists among their former peers in the independent music community was worsened. Indie rock band Pavement's 1994 song "Range Life" directly mocks the band in its lyrics, although Stephen Malkmus, lead singer of Pavement, has stated, "I never dissed their music. I just dissed their status." Former Husker Du frontman Bob Mould called them "the grunge Monkees", and fellow Chicago musician/producer Steve Albini wrote a scathing letter in response to an article praising the band, derisively comparing them to REO Speedwagon ("by, of and for the mainstream") and concluding their ultimate insignificance. The opening track and lead single of Siamese Dream, "Cherub Rock", directly addresses Corgan's feud with the "indie-world". In 1994 Virgin released the B-sides/rarities compilation Pisces Iscariot which charted higher than Siamese Dream by reaching number four on the Billboard 200. Also released was a VHS cassette titled Vieuphoria featuring a mix of live performances and behind-the-scenes footage. Following relentless touring to support the recordings, including headline slots on the 1994 Lollapalooza tour and at Reading Festival in 1995, the band took time off to write the follow-up album. CANNOTANSWER | relentless touring to support the recordings, including headline slots on the 1994 Lollapalooza tour | The Smashing Pumpkins (or Smashing Pumpkins) are an American alternative rock band from Chicago. Formed in 1988 by frontman Billy Corgan (lead vocals, guitar), D'arcy Wretzky (bass), James Iha (guitar), and Jimmy Chamberlin (drums), the band has undergone many line-up changes. The current lineup features Corgan, Chamberlin, Iha and guitarist Jeff Schroeder.
Disavowing the punk rock roots of many of their alt-rock contemporaries, they have a diverse, densely layered, and guitar-heavy sound, containing elements of gothic rock, heavy metal, dream pop, psychedelic rock, progressive rock, shoegazing, and, in later recordings, electronica. Corgan is the group's primary songwriter; his musical ambitions and cathartic lyrics have shaped the band's albums and songs, which have been described as "anguished, bruised reports from Billy Corgan's nightmare-land".
The Smashing Pumpkins broke into the musical mainstream with their second album, 1993's Siamese Dream. The group built its audience with extensive touring and their 1995 follow-up, the double album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 album chart. With 30 million albums sold worldwide, the Smashing Pumpkins were one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands of the 1990s. However, internal fighting, drug use, and diminishing record sales led to a 2000 break-up.
In 2006, Corgan and Chamberlin reconvened to record a new Smashing Pumpkins album, Zeitgeist. After touring throughout 2007 and 2008 with a lineup including new guitarist Jeff Schroeder, Chamberlin left the band in early 2009. Later that year, Corgan began a new recording series with a rotating lineup of musicians entitled Teargarden by Kaleidyscope, which encompassed the release of stand-alone singles, compilation EP releases, and two full albums that also fell under the project's scope—Oceania in 2012 and Monuments to an Elegy in 2014. Chamberlin and Iha officially rejoined the band in February 2018. The reunited lineup released the album Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun. in November 2018 and Cyr in November 2020.
History
Early years: 1988–1991
After the breakup of his gothic rock band The Marked, singer and guitarist Billy Corgan left St. Petersburg, Florida, to return to his native city of Chicago, where he took a job in a record store and formed the idea of a new band to be called the Smashing Pumpkins. While working there, he met guitarist James Iha. Adorning themselves with paisley and other psychedelic trappings, the two began writing songs together (with the aid of a drum machine) that were heavily influenced by the Cure and New Order. The duo performed live for the first time on July 9, 1988 at the Polish bar Chicago 21. This performance included only Corgan on bass and Iha on guitar with a drum machine. Shortly thereafter, Corgan met D'arcy Wretzky after a show by the Dan Reed Network where they argued the merits of the band. After finding out Wretzky played bass guitar, Corgan recruited her into the lineup, and the trio played a show at the Avalon Nightclub. After this show, Cabaret Metro owner Joe Shanahan agreed to book the band on the condition that they replace the drum
machine with a live drummer.
Jazz drummer Jimmy Chamberlin was recommended by a friend of Corgan's. Chamberlin knew little of alternative music and immediately changed the sound of the nascent band. As Corgan recalled of the period, "We were completely into the sad-rock, Cure kind of thing. It took about two or three practices before I realized that the power in his playing was something that enabled us to rock harder than we could ever have imagined." On October 5, 1988, the complete band took the stage for the first time at the Cabaret Metro.
In 1989, the Smashing Pumpkins made their first appearance on record with the compilation album Light Into Dark, which featured several Chicago alternative bands. The group released its first single, "I Am One", in 1990 on local Chicago label Limited Potential. The single sold out and they released a follow-up, "Tristessa", on Sub Pop, after which they signed to Caroline Records. The band recorded their 1991 debut studio album Gish with producer Butch Vig at his Smart Studios in Madison, Wisconsin for $20,000. In order to gain the consistency he desired, Corgan often played all instruments excluding drums, which created tension in the band. The music fused heavy metal guitars, psychedelia, and dream pop, garnering them comparisons to Jane's Addiction. Gish became a minor success, with the single "Rhinoceros" receiving some airplay on modern rock radio. After releasing the Lull EP in October 1991 on Caroline Records, the band formally signed with Virgin Records, which was affiliated with Caroline. The band supported the album with a tour that included opening for bands such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jane's Addiction, and Guns N' Roses. During the tour, Iha and Wretzky went through a messy breakup, Chamberlin became addicted to narcotics and alcohol, and Corgan entered a deep depression, writing some songs for the upcoming album in the parking garage where he lived at the time.
Mainstream breakout and Siamese Dream: 1992–1994
With the breakthrough of alternative rock into the American mainstream due to the popularity of grunge bands such as Nirvana and Pearl Jam, the Smashing Pumpkins were poised for major commercial success. At this time, the Smashing Pumpkins were routinely lumped in with the grunge movement, with Corgan protesting, "We've graduated now from 'the next Jane's Addiction' to 'the next Nirvana', now we're 'the next Pearl Jam'."
Amid this environment of intense internal pressure for the band to break through to widespread popularity, the band relocated to Marietta, Georgia in late 1992 to begin work on their second album, with Butch Vig returning as producer. The decision to record so far away from their hometown was motivated partly by the band's desire to avoid friends and distractions during the recording, but largely as a desperate attempt to cut Chamberlin off from his known drug connections. The recording environment for Siamese Dream was quickly marred by discord within the band. As was the case with Gish, Corgan and Vig decided that Corgan should play nearly all of the guitar and bass parts on the album, contributing to an air of resentment. The contemporary music press began to portray Corgan as a tyrant. Corgan's depression, meanwhile, had deepened to the point where he contemplated suicide, and he compensated by practically living in the studio. Meanwhile, Chamberlin quickly managed to find new connections and was often absent without any contact for days at a time. In all, it took over four months to complete the record, with the budget exceeding $250,000.
Despite all the problems in its recording, Siamese Dream debuted at number ten on the Billboard 200 chart, and sold over four million copies in the U.S. alone. Alongside the band's mounting mainstream recognition, the band's reputation as careerists among their former peers in the independent music community was worsened. Indie rock band Pavement's 1994 song "Range Life" directly mocks the band in its lyrics, although Stephen Malkmus, lead singer of Pavement, has stated, "I never dissed their music. I just dissed their status." Former Hüsker Dü frontman Bob Mould called them "the grunge Monkees", and fellow Chicago musician/producer Steve Albini wrote a scathing letter in response to an article praising the band, derisively comparing them to REO Speedwagon ("by, of and for the mainstream") and concluding their ultimate insignificance. The opening track and lead single of Siamese Dream, "Cherub Rock", directly addresses Corgan's feud with the "indie-world".
In 1994 Virgin released the B-sides/rarities compilation Pisces Iscariot which charted higher than Siamese Dream by reaching number four on the Billboard 200. Also released was a VHS cassette titled Vieuphoria featuring a mix of live performances and behind-the-scenes footage. Following relentless touring to support the recordings, including headline slots on the 1994 Lollapalooza tour and at Reading Festival in 1995, the band took time off to write the follow-up album.
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness: 1995–1997
During 1995, Corgan wrote about 56 songs, following which the band went into the studio with producers Flood and Alan Moulder to work on what Corgan described as "The Wall for Generation X", and which became Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, a double album of twenty-eight songs, lasting over two hours (the vinyl version of the album contained three records, two extra songs, and an alternate track listing). The songs were intended to hang together conceptually as a symbol of the cycle of life and death. Praised by Time as "the group's most ambitious and accomplished work yet", Mellon Collie debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 in October 1995. Even more successful than Siamese Dream, it was certified ten times platinum in the United States and became the best-selling double album of the decade. It also garnered seven 1997 Grammy Award nominations, including Album of the Year. The band won only the Best Hard Rock Performance award, for the album's lead single "Bullet with Butterfly Wings". The album spawned five singles—"Bullet with Butterfly Wings", "1979", "Zero", "Tonight, Tonight" which Corgan stated was inspired by the Cheap Trick song "I'll Be with You Tonight", and "Thirty-Three"—of which the first three were certified gold and all but "Zero" entered the Top 40. Many of the songs that did not make it onto Mellon Collie were released as B-sides to the singles, and were later compiled in The Aeroplane Flies High box set. The set was originally limited to 200,000 copies, but more were produced to meet demand.
In 1996 the Pumpkins undertook an extended world tour in support of Mellon Collie. Corgan's look during this period—a shaved head, a long sleeve black shirt with the word "Zero" printed on it, and silver pants—became iconic. That year, the band also made a guest appearance in an episode of The Simpsons, "Homerpalooza". With considerable video rotation on MTV, major industry awards, and "Zero" shirts selling in many malls, the Pumpkins were considered one of the most popular bands of the time.
In May, the Smashing Pumpkins played a gig at the Point Theatre in Dublin, Ireland. Despite the band's repeated requests for moshing to stop, a seventeen-year-old fan named Bernadette O'Brien was crushed to death. The concert ended early and the following night's performance in Belfast was cancelled out of respect for her. However, while Corgan maintained that moshing's "time [had] come and gone", the band would continue to request open-floor concerts throughout the rest of the tour.
The band suffered a personal tragedy on the night of July 11, 1996, when touring keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin and Chamberlin overdosed on heroin in a hotel room in New York City. Melvoin died, and Chamberlin was arrested for drug possession. A few days later, the band announced that Chamberlin had been fired as a result of the incident. The Pumpkins chose to finish the tour, and hired drummer Matt Walker and keyboardist Dennis Flemion. Corgan later said the decision to continue touring was the worst decision the band had ever made, damaging both their music and their reputation. Chamberlin admitted in a 1994 Rolling Stone cover story that in the past he'd "gotten high in every city in this country and probably half the cities in Europe." But in recent years, he had reportedly been clean. On July 17, the Pumpkins issued a statement in which they said, "For nine years we have battled with Jimmy's struggles with the insidious disease of drug and alcohol addiction. It has nearly destroyed everything we are and stand for. … We wish [him] the best we have to offer". Meanwhile, the band had given interviews since the release of Mellon Collie stating that it would be the last conventional Pumpkins record, and that rock was becoming stale. James Iha said at the end of 1996, "The future is in electronic music. It really seems boring just to play rock music."
Adore, Machina, and breakup: 1998–2000
After the release of Mellon Collie, the Pumpkins contributed many songs to various compilations. Released in early 1997, the song "Eye", which appeared on the soundtrack to David Lynch's Lost Highway, relied almost exclusively on electronic instruments and signaled a drastic shift from the Pumpkins' previous musical styles. At the time, Corgan stated his "idea [was] to reconfigure the focus and get away from the classic guitars-bass-drum rock format." Later that year, the group contributed "The End Is the Beginning Is the End" to the soundtrack for the film Batman & Robin. With Matt Walker on drums, the song featured a heavy sound similar to "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" while still having strong electronic influences. The song later won the 1998 Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance. Though Corgan announced that the song represented the sound people could expect from the band in the future, the band's next album would feature few guitar-driven songs.
Recorded following the death of Corgan's mother and his divorce, 1998's Adore represented a significant change of style from the Pumpkins' previous guitar-based rock, veering into electronica. The record, cut with assistance from drum machines and studio drummers including Matt Walker, was infused with a darker aesthetic than much of the band's earlier work. The group also modified its public image, shedding its alternative rock look for a more subdued appearance. Although Adore received favorable reviews and was nominated for Best Alternative Performance at the Grammy Awards, the album had only sold about 830,000 copies in the United States by the end of the year. The album nonetheless debuted at number 2 on the Billboard 200 and sold three times as many copies overseas. The band began a seventeen-date, fifteen-city charity North American tour in support of Adore. At each stop on the tour, the band donated 100 percent of tickets sales to a local charity organization. The tour's expenses were entirely funded out of the band's own pockets. All told, the band donated over $2.8 million to charity as a result of the tour. On October 31, 1998 during Halloween, the band opened for Kiss at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, dressed in costume as The Beatles.
In 1999 the band surprised fans by reuniting with a rehabilitated Jimmy Chamberlin for a brief tour dubbed "The Arising", which showcased both new and classic material. The lineup was short-lived, however, as the band announced the departure of Wretzky in September during work on the album Machina/The Machines of God. Former Hole bassist Melissa Auf der Maur was recruited for the "Sacred and Profane" tour in support of the album and appeared in the videos accompanying its release. Released in 2000, Machina was initially promoted as the Pumpkins' return to a more traditional rock sound, after the more gothic, electronic-sounding Adore. The album debuted at number three on the Billboard charts, but quickly disappeared and as of 2007 had only been certified gold. Music journalist Jim DeRogatis, who described the album as "one of the strongest of their career", noted that the stalled sales for Machina in comparison to teen pop ascendant at the time "seems like concrete proof that a new wave of young pop fans has turned a deaf ear toward alternative rock."
On May 23, 2000, in a live radio interview on KROQ-FM (Los Angeles), Billy Corgan announced the band's decision to break up at the end of that year following additional touring and recording. The group's final album before the break-up, Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music, was released in September 2000 in a limited pressing on vinyl with permission and instructions for free redistribution on the Internet by fans. Only twenty-five copies were cut, each of which was hand numbered and given to friends of the band along with band members themselves. The album, released under the Constantinople Records label created by Corgan, consisted of one double LP and three ten-inch EPs. Originally, the band asked Virgin to offer Machina II as a free download to anyone who bought Machina. When the record label declined, Corgan opted to release the material independently.
On December 2, 2000, Smashing Pumpkins played a farewell concert at The Metro, the same Chicago club where their career had effectively started twelve years earlier. The four-and-a-half-hour-long show featured 35 songs spanning the group's career, and attendees were given a recording of the band's first concert at The Metro, Live at Cabaret Metro 10-5-88. The single "Untitled" was released commercially to coincide with the farewell show.
Post-breakup: 2001–2004
In 2001 the compilation Rotten Apples was released. The double-disc version of the album, released as a limited edition, included a collection of B-sides and rarities called Judas O. The Greatest Hits Video Collection DVD was also released at the same time. This was a compilation of all of the Pumpkins promo videos from Gish to Machina along with unreleased material. Vieuphoria was released on DVD in 2002, as was the soundtrack album Earphoria, previously released solely to radio stations in 1994.
Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin reunited in 2001 as members of Corgan's next project, the short-lived supergroup Zwan. The group's only album, Mary Star of the Sea, was released in 2003. After cancelling a few festival appearances, Corgan announced the demise of the band in 2003. During 2001 Corgan also toured as part of New Order and provided vocals on their comeback album Get Ready. In October 2004 Corgan released his first book, Blinking with Fists, a collection of poetry. In June 2005, he released a solo album, TheFutureEmbrace, which he described as "(picking) up the thread of the as-yet-unfinished work of the Smashing Pumpkins". Despite this, it was greeted with generally mixed reviews and lackluster sales. Only one single, "Walking Shade", was released in support of the album.
In addition to drumming with Zwan, Jimmy Chamberlin also formed an alternative rock/jazz fusion project band called Jimmy Chamberlin Complex. The group released an album in 2005 titled Life Begins Again. Corgan provided guest vocals on the track "Lokicat". James Iha served as a guitarist in A Perfect Circle, appearing on their Thirteenth Step club tour and 2004 album, eMOTIVe. He has also been involved with other acts such as Chino Moreno's Team Sleep and Vanessa and the O's. He continues to work with Scratchie Records, his own record label, as well. D'arcy Wretzky has, aside from one radio interview in 2009, not made any public statements or appearances nor given any interviews since leaving the band in 1999. On January 25, 2000, she was arrested after she allegedly purchased three bags of cocaine, but after successfully completing a court-ordered drug education program, the charges were dropped.
Corgan insisted during this period that the band would not reform, although when Zwan broke up he announced, "I think my heart was in Smashing Pumpkins […] I think it was naive of me to think that I could find something that would mean as much to me." Corgan said in 2005, "I never wanted to leave the Smashing Pumpkins. That was never the plan." On February 17, 2004, Corgan posted a message on his personal blog calling Wretzky a "mean-spirited drug addict" and blaming Iha for the breakup of the Smashing Pumpkins. On June 3, 2004, he added that "the depth of my hurt [from Iha] is only matched with the depth of my gratitude". Iha responded to Corgan's claims in 2005, saying, "No, I didn't break up the band. The only person who could have done that is Billy."
Reformation and Zeitgeist: 2005–2008
On June 21, 2005, the day of the release of his first solo album TheFutureEmbrace, Corgan took out full-page advertisements in the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times to announce that he planned to reunite the band. "For a year now", Corgan wrote, "I have walked around with a secret, a secret I chose to keep. But now I want you to be among the first to know that I have made plans to renew and revive the Smashing Pumpkins. I want my band back, and my songs, and my dreams". Corgan and Chamberlin were verified as participants in the reunion, but there was question as to whether other former members of the band would participate.
In April 2007 Iha and Auf der Maur separately confirmed that they were not taking part in the reunion. Chamberlin would later state that Iha and Wretzky "didn't want to be a part of" the reunion. The Smashing Pumpkins performed live for the first time since 2000 on May 22, 2007, in Paris, France. There, the band unveiled new touring members: guitarist Jeff Schroeder, bassist Ginger Reyes, and keyboardist Lisa Harriton. That same month, "Tarantula" was released as the first single from the band's forthcoming album. On July 7, the band performed at the Live Earth concert in New Jersey.
The band's new album, Zeitgeist, was released that same month on Reprise Records, entering the Billboard charts at number two and selling 145,000 copies in its first week. Zeitgeist received mixed reviews, with much of the criticism targeted at the absence of half of the original lineup. The album divided the Pumpkins' fanbase. Corgan would later admit, "I know a lot of our fans are puzzled by Zeitgeist. I think they wanted this massive, grandiose work, but you don't just roll out of bed after seven years without a functioning band and go back to doing that".
Corgan and Chamberlin continued to record as a duo, releasing the four-song EP American Gothic in January 2008 and the singles "Superchrist" and "G.L.O.W." later that year. That November, the group released the DVD If All Goes Wrong, which chronicled the group's 2007 concert residences in Asheville, North Carolina and San Francisco, California. In late 2008, the band commenced on a controversy-riddled 20th Anniversary Tour. Around this time, Corgan said the group will make no more full-length records in order to focus exclusively on singles, explaining, "The listening patterns have changed, so why are we killing ourselves to do albums, to create balance, and do the arty track to set up the single? It's done."
Teargarden and Oceania: 2009–2013
In March 2009 Corgan announced on the band's website that Chamberlin had left the group and would be replaced. Chamberlin subsequently stated that his departure from the band is "a positive move forward for me. I can no longer commit all of my energy into something that I don't fully possess." Chamberlin stressed that the split was amicable, commenting, "I am glad [Corgan] has chosen to continue under the name. It is his right." Chamberlin soon formed the band Skysaw, which has released an album and toured in support of Minus the Bear. In July 2009 Billy Corgan formed a new group called Spirits in the Sky, initially as a tribute band to Sky Saxon of the Seeds, who had recently died. The following month Corgan confirmed on the band's website that 19-year-old Spirits in the Sky drummer Mike Byrne had replaced Chamberlin and that the pair was working on new Pumpkins recordings.
The group announced plans to release a 44-track concept album, Teargarden by Kaleidyscope, for free over the Internet one track at a time. The first track, "A Song for a Son", was released in December 2009 to moderate press acclaim. In March 2010 Ginger Reyes officially left the band, prompting an open call for auditions for a new bassist. In May, Nicole Fiorentino announced she had joined the band as bass player, and would be working on Teargarden by Kaleidyscope. The new lineup went on a world tour through to the end of 2010. One of the first shows with the new lineup was a concert to benefit Matthew Leone, bassist for the rock band Madina Lake, at the Metro on July 27, 2010. In late 2010 all four members contributed to the sessions for the third volume of Teargarden.
On April 26, 2011, Corgan announced that the Smashing Pumpkins would be releasing a new album titled Oceania, which he labeled as "an album within an album" in regards to the Teargarden by Kaleidyscope project, in the fall. As with the previous recording sessions, all four band members contributed to the project. Also, the entire album catalog was to be remastered and reissued with bonus tracks, starting with Gish and Siamese Dream in November 2011. The pre-Gish demos, Pisces Iscariot, and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness were released in 2012, with The Aeroplane Flies High released the following year. Adore was released in 2014, and Machina/The Machines of God and the yet commercially unreleased Machina II/Friends and Enemies of Modern Music are expected to be combined, remixed, and released in the same year. The band did a thirteen-city US tour in October 2011 followed by a European tour in November and December.
Oceania was released on June 19, 2012, and received generally positive reviews. The album debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 and at No. 1 on the Billboard Independent. The album spawned two singles, "The Celestials" and "Panopticon". The band proceeded to tour in support of the album, including a US tour involving playing the album in its entirety. By September 2012, Corgan stated that the band had already begun work on their next album. However, despite this, the band concentrated on touring, playing at Glastonbury Festival, Dour Festival and the Barclays Center, where they recorded Oceania: Live in NYC, which was released on September 24, 2013.
Monuments to an Elegy: 2014–2016
On March 25, 2014, Corgan announced he had signed a new record deal with BMG, for two new albums, titled Monuments to an Elegy and Day for Night, respectively. In June, it was revealed that Mike Byrne was no longer in the band, to be replaced by Tommy Lee of Mötley Crüe on the new album, and Fiorentino would not be recording on the album either. Monuments to an Elegy was released on December 5, 2014, to generally positive reviews. The band toured in support of the album starting on November 26, with Rage Against the Machine's Brad Wilk filling in on drums and the Killers' Mark Stoermer filling in on bass. The follow-up proposed album Day For Night was cited for delayed late 2015 or early 2016 release.
Later in 2015 Corgan announced that the band would embark on a co-headlining tour of North America with Marilyn Manson, "The End Times Tour", across July and August 2015. Prior to the co-headlining dates, the band performed a series of acoustic shows with drum machines and tapes for percussion. When the time came for the co-headlining tour, plans for a drummer fell through and Corgan recruited Chamberlin to reunite for the shows. On February 1, 2016, it was announced that the band would continue their In Plainsong acoustic tour with Jimmy Chamberlin on drums and were planning to head "straight to the studio after the dates to record a brand new album inspired by the sounds explored in the new acoustic setting". On February 25, 2016, Corgan posted a video from a Los Angeles studio on the band's Facebook account, giving an update on the writing process for the new songs for the upcoming album to be released after the In Plainsong tour.
The tour began in Portland, Oregon, on March 22, 2016.
Iha and Chamberlin's return; Shiny and Oh So Bright and Cyr: 2018–present
On his birthday on March 26, 2016, original guitarist James Iha joined Billy Corgan, Jimmy Chamberlin, and Jeff Schroeder on stage unannounced at the Ace Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. He performed a few songs, including "Mayonaise", "Soma" and "Whir" marking his first appearance with the Smashing Pumpkins in 16 years. Iha also played at the second of the two Smashing Pumpkins shows at the Ace Hotel the following day, which was Easter Sunday. Iha joined the Pumpkins for a third time at their concert of April 14 at the Civic Opera House in Chicago. In July, Corgan began hinting of the possibility of reuniting the band original lineup, of himself, Iha, Wretzky, and Chamberlin, and in August, he stated he had begun reaching out to the original lineup about the feasibility of a reunion, including speaking to Wretzky for the first time in sixteen years. Despite the comments, Corgan would spend much of 2017 working on solo material – recording and releasing the solo album Ogilala and beginning work on another solo album for 2018. In June 2017 Chamberlin also mentioned the possibility of a reunion tour in 2018. In January 2018 Corgan shared a photo of himself, Iha, and Chamberlin together in recording studio. In February 2018 Corgan announced that he was working with music producer Rick Rubin on a future Smashing Pumpkins album, that there were currently 26 songs he was actively working on, and that "the guitar feels once again like the preferred weapon of choice." Soon afterwards, Corgan shared a photo of sound equipment with Iha's name on a label, as well as announcing recording was finished on the album.
On February 15, 2018, the band officially announced that founding members Iha and Chamberlin were back in the band. They embarked on the Shiny And Oh So Bright Tour starting in July, with a focus on performing material from their first five studio albums. and sold over 350,000 tickets and sold out arenas including The Forum, United Center, and Madison Square Garden. Original bassist D'arcy Wretzky claimed she had been offered a contract to rejoin the band but Corgan rescinded the offer soon after. Corgan released a statement denying the claims, stating "Ms. Wretzky has repeatedly been invited out to play with the group, participate in demo sessions, or at the very least, meet face-to-face, and in each and every instance she always deferred". Jack Bates (son of Joy Division bassist Peter Hook) played bass on the tour. Bates previously toured with the Smashing Pumpkins in 2015. Multi-instrumentalist Katie Cole rejoined the band for the tour as well, singing backup vocals and playing keyboards and guitar.
In March 2018, Corgan mentioned the band planned to release two EPs in 2018, with the first tentatively planned for May. On June 8, 2018, the first single from the set of music, "Solara", was released. On August 2, 2018, the band celebrated their 30th anniversary by performing in Holmdel, New Jersey. with several notable special guests including Courtney Love, Chino Moreno, Davey Havok, Peter Hook, Mark McGrath, and Dave Keuning and Mark Stoermer of The Killers. In September 2018, they announced the album Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun., released via Napalm Records on November 16, 2018, which debuted at number 54 on the Billboard 200 chart.
After touring through much of 2019, Corgan noted in January 2020 that the band was currently working on 21 songs for a future album release. On August 28, 2020, the band released the single and video for "Cyr", along with a second track titled "The Colour of Love" from their album Cyr, which was released through their new record label Sumerian Records on November 27, 2020. It serves as the second part of the Shiny and Oh So Bright series. On September 25, 2020, the band released another single from Cyr that included the songs "Confessions of a Dopamine Addict" and "Wrath". On October 9, 2020, the band released a third single for Cyr that featured the tracks "Anno Satana" and "Birch Grove". On October 29, the band released "Ramona" and "Wyttch" as the fourth pair of singles. On November 20, 2020, the songs "Purple Blood" and "Dulcet in E" were released as the fifth and final single for Cyr. The following week, on November 27, 2020, the band released Cyr. Despite never getting to properly tour Cyr, the band did play four songs from the album at their headlining shows at Riot Fest and Sea.Hear.Now Festival in September 2021.
In late 2020, Corgan announced that the band would begin work on another double album for release in 2021, although the year passed without the album releasing. The double album is to serve as a sequel to the overarching story of Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness and Machina: The Machines of God. On February 22, the band announced on social media the Rock Invasion 2 Tour, which had previously been set to take place in spring 2020, but had been postponed to fall 2020 and subsequently canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The newly announced incarnation of the tour had entirely new locations spanning 11 US cities accompanying the band's spring festival appearances and four performances in Mexico, their first since 2013.
Musical style, influences, and legacy
The direction of the band is dominated by lead guitarist, lead vocalist, keyboardist, bassist and principal songwriter Billy Corgan. Journalist Greg Kot wrote, "The music [of the Smashing Pumpkins] would not be what it is without his ambition and vision, and his famously fractured relationships with his family, friends, and bandmembers." Melissa Auf der Maur commented upon news of the group's reunion, "Everyone knows Billy doesn't need too many people to make a Pumpkins record, other than Jimmy [Chamberlin]—who he has on board." In a 2015 interview Corgan himself referred to the current iteration of the band "as sort of an open source collective" noting that "It's whoever feels right at the time." Many of Corgan's lyrics for the Pumpkins are cathartic expressions of emotion, full of personal musings and strong indictments of himself and those close to him. Music critics were not often fans of Corgan's angst-filled lyrics. Jim DeRogatis wrote in a 1993 Chicago Sun-Times article that Corgan's lyrics "too often sound like sophomoric poetry", although he viewed the lyrics of later albums Adore and Machina as an improvement. The band's songs have been described as "anguished, bruised reports from Billy Corgan's nightmare-land" by journalist William Shaw.
Smashing Pumpkins, unlike many alternative rock bands at the time, disavowed the influence of punk rock on their sound. Overall, they have a diverse, densely layered, and guitar-heavy sound, containing elements of gothic rock, heavy metal, dream pop, psychedelic rock, progressive rock, shoegazing, and electronica in later recordings.
The Smashing Pumpkins' distinctive sound up until Adore involved layering numerous guitar tracks onto a song during the recording process, a tactic that Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness coproducer Flood called the "Pumpkin guitar overdub army." Although there were a lot of overdubbed parts on Gish, Corgan began to really explore the possibilities of overdubbing with Siamese Dream; Corgan has stated that "Soma" alone contains up to 40 overdubbed guitar parts. While Corgan knew many of the songs would be difficult or impossible to replicate from their recorded versions in concert (in fact, some songs were drastically altered for live performance), he has explained the use of overdubbing by posing the question "When you are faced with making a permanent recorded representation of a song, why not endow it with the grandest possible vision?" This use of multilayered sounds was inspired by Corgan's love of 1970s popular artists & bands such as: David Bowie, Cheap Trick, Queen, Boston, and the Electric Light Orchestra, as well as shoegaze, a British alternative rock style of the late 1980s and early 1990s that relied on swirling layers of guitar noise for effect. Mellon Collie coproducer Alan Moulder was originally hired to mix Siamese Dream because Corgan was a fan of his work producing shoegaze bands such as My Bloody Valentine, Ride, and Slowdive.
Like many contemporary alternative bands, the Smashing Pumpkins utilized shifts in song dynamics, going from quiet to loud and vice versa. Hüsker Dü's seminal album Zen Arcade demonstrated to the band how they could place gentler material against more aggressive fare, and Corgan made such shifts in dynamics central to the pursuit of his grand musical ambitions. Corgan said he liked the idea of creating his own alternative universe through sound that essentially tells the listener, "Welcome to Pumpkin Land, this is what it sounds like on Planet Pumpkin." This emphasis on atmosphere carried through to Adore (described as "arcane night music" in prerelease promotion) and the Machina albums (concept records that tell the story of a fictional rock band).
The Pumpkins drew inspiration from a variety of other genres, some unfashionable during the 1990s among music critics. Corgan in particular was open about his appreciation of heavy metal, citing Dimebag Darrell of Pantera as his favorite contemporary guitarist. When one interviewer commented to Corgan and Iha that "Smashing Pumpkins is one of the groups that relegitimized heavy metal" and that they "were among the first alternative rockers to mention people like Ozzy and Black Sabbath with anything other than contempt". Corgan went on to rave about Black Sabbath's Master of Reality and Judas Priest's Unleashed in the East. The song "Zero", which reminded Iha of Judas Priest, is an example of what the band dubbed "cybermetal." Post-punk and gothic rock bands like Joy Division/New Order, Bauhaus, the Cure, and Depeche Mode were formative influences on the band, which covered such artists in concert and on record. Corgan also cited Siouxsie and the Banshees saying it was important to point back to bands that influenced them. Psychedelic rock was also referenced often in the band's early recordings; according to Corgan, "In typical Pumpkins fashion, no one at that point really liked loud guitars or psychedelic music so, of course, that's exactly what we had to do." Corgan felt that the band's guitars "are a mixture of heavy metal and 80s alternative rock. I think of Cure and Siouxsie and the Banshees". Corgan acknowledged that a chord he jokingly claimed as "the Pumpkin chord" (a G# octave chord at the eleventh fret of a guitar with the low E string played over it), used as the basis for "Cherub Rock", "Drown", and other songs, was in fact previously used by Jimi Hendrix. Other early influences cited by Corgan include Cream, the Stooges, and Blue Cheer.
Regarding the band's influence upon other groups, Greg Kot wrote in 2001, "Whereas Nirvana spawned countless mini-Nirvanas, the Pumpkins remain an island unto themselves." Still, some artists and bands have been influenced by the Pumpkins, such as Nelly Furtado, Marilyn Manson, Third Eye Blind, Mark Hoppus of Blink-182, Tegan and Sara, Fall Out Boy, Rivers Cuomo, Panic! at the Disco, Silversun Pickups, and My Chemical Romance. My Chemical Romance vocalist Gerard Way has said that they pattern their career upon the Pumpkins', including music videos. The members of fellow Chicago band Kill Hannah are friends with Corgan, and lead singer Mat Devine has compared his group to the Pumpkins.
The group has sold over 30 million albums worldwide as of October 2012, and sales in the United States alone reaching 19.75 million.
Music videos
The Smashing Pumpkins have been praised as "responsible for some of the most striking and memorable video clips" and for having "approached videos from a completely artistic standpoint rather than mere commercials to sell albums". MTV's 2001 anniversary special Testimony: 20 Years of Rock on MTV credited the Pumpkins, along with Nine Inch Nails, with treating music videos as an art form during the 1990s. Corgan has said, "We generally resisted the idea of what I call the classic MTV rock video, which is like lots of people jumping around and stuff." The band worked with video directors including Kevin Kerslake ("Cherub Rock"), Samuel Bayer ("Bullet with Butterfly Wings"), and, most frequently, the team of Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris ("Rocket", "1979", "Tonight, Tonight", "The End Is the Beginning Is the End", and "Perfect"). Corgan, who was frequently heavily involved in the conception of the videos, said of Dayton and Faris, "I know my [initial] versions are always darker, and they're always talking me into something a little kinder and gentler." Videos like "Today", "Rocket", and "1979" dealt with images taken from middle American culture, albeit exaggerated. The group's videos so often avoid the literal interpretation of the song lyrics that the video for "Thirty-Three", with images closely related to the words of the song, was created as an intentional stylistic departure.
The band was nominated for several MTV Video Music Awards during the 1990s. In 1996, the group won eight VMAs total for the "1979" and "Tonight, Tonight" videos, including the top award, Video of the Year, for "Tonight, Tonight". The video was also nominated for a Grammy at the 1997 ceremony. Of the "Tonight, Tonight" video, Corgan remarked, "I don't think we've ever had people react [like this]... it just seemed to touch a nerve."
Shortly after the band's 2000 breakup, the Greatest Hits Video Collection was released, collecting the band's music videos from 1991 to 2000 and including commentary from Corgan, Iha, Chamberlin, Wretzky, and various music video directors with outtakes, live performances, and the extended "Try, Try, Try" short film.
Band members
Current members
Billy Corgan – lead vocals, guitars, keyboards, bass guitar (1988–2000, 2006–present)
James Iha – guitars, bass guitar, vocals (1988–2000, 2018–present)
Jimmy Chamberlin – drums (1988–1996, 1998–2000, 2006–2009, 2015–present)
Jeff Schroeder – guitars, keyboards (2007–present)
Live members
Jack Bates – bass guitar (2015–present)
Katie Cole – keyboards, backing vocals (2015–present)
Former members
D'arcy Wretzky – bass guitar, backing vocals (1988–1999)
Melissa Auf der Maur – bass guitar (1999–2000)
Mike Byrne – drums, backing vocals, keyboards (2009–2014)
Nicole Fiorentino – bass guitar, backing vocals, keyboards (2010–2014)
Awards
American Music Awards
1997 – Best Alternative Artist
Grammy Awards
1997 – "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" – Best Hard Rock Performance
1998 – "The End Is the Beginning Is the End" – Best Hard Rock Performance
MTV Europe Music Awards
1996 – Best Rock
MTV Video Music Awards
1996 – "Tonight, Tonight" – Video of the Year, Breakthrough Video, Best Direction, Best Visual Effects, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography
1996 – "1979" – Best Alternative Video
Discography
Studio albums
Gish (1991)
Siamese Dream (1993)
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1995)
Adore (1998)
Machina/The Machines of God (2000)
Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music (2000)
Zeitgeist (2007)
Oceania (2012)†
Monuments to an Elegy (2014)†
Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun. (2018)
Cyr (2020)
Notes
† Part of Teargarden by Kaleidyscope (2009–2014), an overarching project abandoned before completion.
See also
List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. alternative rock chart
Notes
References
Bibliography
Further reading
External links
1988 establishments in Illinois
Alternative rock groups from Chicago
Articles which contain graphical timelines
Caroline Records artists
Grammy Award winners
MTV Europe Music Award winners
Musical groups established in 1988
Musical groups disestablished in 2000
Musical groups reestablished in 2006
Musical quartets
American musical trios
Reprise Records artists
Sumerian Records artists
Virgin Records artists
Musical groups from Chicago | true | [
"The Bob Dylan England Tour 1965 was a concert tour by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan during late April and early May 1965. The tour was widely documented by filmmaker D. A. Pennebaker, who used the footage of the tour in his documentary Dont Look Back.\n\nTour dates\n\nSet lists \nAs Dylan was still playing exclusively folk music live, much of the material performed during this tour was written pre-1965. Each show was divided into two halves, with seven songs performed during the first, and eight during the second. The set consisted of two songs from The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, three from The Times They Are a-Changin', three from Another Side of Bob Dylan, a comic-relief concert staple; \"If You Gotta Go, Go Now\", issued as a single in Europe, and six songs off his then-recent album, Bringing It All Back Home, including the second side in its entirety.\n\n First half\n\"The Times They Are a-Changin'\"\n\"To Ramona\"\n\"Gates of Eden\"\n\"If You Gotta Go, Go Now (or Else You Got to Stay All Night)\"\n\"It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)\"\n\"Love Minus Zero/No Limit\"\n\"Mr. Tambourine Man\"\n\nSecond Half\n\"Talkin' World War III Blues\"\n\"Don't Think Twice, It's All Right\"\n\"With God on Our Side\"\n\"She Belongs to Me\"\n\"It Ain't Me Babe\"\n\"The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll\"\n\"All I Really Want to Do\"\n\"It's All Over Now, Baby Blue\"\n\nSet list per Olof Bjorner.\n\nAftermath \nJoan Baez accompanied him on the tour, but she was never invited to play with him in concert. In fact, they did not tour together again until 1975. After this tour, Dylan was hailed as a hero of folk music, but two months later, at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, he would alienate his fans and go electric. Dylan was the only artist apart from the Beatles to sell out the De Montfort Hall in the 1960s. Even the Rolling Stones did not sell out this venue.\n\nReferences \n\nHoward Sounes: Down the Highway. The Life of Bob Dylan.. 2001.\n\nExternal links \n Bjorner's Still on the Road 1965: Tour dates & set lists\n\nBob Dylan concert tours\n1965 concert tours\nConcert tours of the United Kingdom\n1965 in England",
"Mi Delirio World Tour (better known as \"MDWT\") is the first worldwide concert tour by Mexican singer Anahí, in support of her fifth studio album, Mi Delirio (2009). The tour was officially announced in August 2009 during her promotional tour in Brazil. According to Billboard, MDWT is the seventh most profitable tour of 2010.\n\nConcert synopsis\n\nMi Delirio World Tour\nThe tour had its debut on November 3, 2009 in São Paulo, Brazil, with more than 3,000 people and end on March 25, 2010 at the Teatro Metropolitan in Mexico. \nIn addition to São Paulo, the Brazilian cities the tour visited were Rio de Janeiro on November 5 and November 7 Fortaleza. On December 5, the tour visited Argentina for the first time since the separation of RBD and on December 6 visited Chile.\n\nIn March 2010, Anahi gave three concerts in Europe, beginning in Serbia on March 10, Slovenia on March 12 and Romania on March 13. That same month, Anahi first sang in Mexico since the separation of RBD. There were three concerts, one in Monterrey on March 20, one in Guadalajara on March 21 and ending the tour in Mexico City on March 25 at the Metropolitan theater, the concerts counted with the presence of various guests, including Amanda Miguel, Mario Sandoval and his niece, Ana Paula. According to Billboard, the tour was the seventh most profitable in 2010 that only 10 concerts attended by over 35,000 people. Only at the concert on September 1, 2010 raised more than $851,000. The opening of the tour was in the hands of the Mexican group Matute.\n\nMi Delirio World Tour Reloaded\n \nIn June 2010, was officially announced by Guillermo Rosas, Anahí's manager, and RRPRO (Rafael Reisman Productions) that MDWT was planned to have a second stage called Mi Delirio World Tour Reloaded. It started on October 6, 2010 in Fortaleza, Brazil with an acoustic show. The entire show with its revamped setlist was performed for the first time on October 9, 2010 in Rio de Janeiro.\n\nIn December, the tour visited Europe with the first show was in Madrid on December 11, 2010, the writer Paulo Coelho was going to watch this show but for some inconvenience, not arrive in time, also had the participation of singer Jaime Terrón. Other European countries that were visited were Romania, Croatia and Serbia, which had the participation of Guatemalan singer Penya.\n\nThe official DVD of the tour was planned to be recorded in this phase. A big part of it was recorded on October 10, 2010 in São Paulo. Anahí confirmed that the DVD will contain footage from the show in São Paulo, Brazil and her shows in various European countries such as Spain, Romania, Croatia and Serbia. Besides the footage from the concerts, the DVD will also include images from backstage and her visits in countries like Brazil, Spain and Romania. In the acoustic show on February 9, 2011, in Mexico, Anahi singing with Noel Schajris the song \"Alérgico\" and with Mario Sandoval Aleph, they composed the song together for the book \"O Aleph\" by Paulo Coelho.\n\nGo Any Go\nMDWT had a third phase called Go Any Go. This phase started with two special shows on March 26 and March 27, 2011 in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. This shows were made in collaboration with Christian Chávez, who presented his Libertad World Tour mixed with Go Any Go. The tour also occurs in Mexico, offering their last 4 concerts in Mexico city, Querétaro and Monterrey. In Mexico, Anahi with Christian Chavez sings the song \"Libertad\" As in previous phases, the opening was by \"Matute\"\n\nSetlist\n\nTour dates\n\nAdditional Notes\n A During his presentation in Mexico City, Anahi was joined by Amanda Miguel during \"Él Me Mintio\" and Mario Sandoval during \"Hasta Que Me Conociste\". \n B During his presentation in Madrid, Anahí was joined by Jaime Terrón during \"No Te Quiero Olvidar\".\n D During his presentation in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Anahí was joined by Noel Schajris during \"Alérgico\", \"Entra En Mi Vida\" and \"Te Vi Venir\" and Christian Chávez during \"Feliz Cumpleaños\" and \"Libertad\".\n\nCancellations and rescheduled shows\n\nGallery\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n AnahíMagia.com – Anahí Official Site\n\n2009 concert tours\n2010 concert tours\n2011 concert tours\nAnahí concert tours\nConcert tours of Europe\nConcert tours of North America\nConcert tours of South America"
] |
[
"The Smashing Pumpkins",
"Mainstream breakout: 1992-1994",
"What did the group do in 1992 to make their big breakout?",
"Siamese Dream debuted",
"What did they do that helped them become well known?",
"due to the popularity of grunge bands such as Nirvana and Pearl Jam, the Smashing Pumpkins were poised for major commercial success.",
"What was one of their best albums recorded?",
"Siamese Dream debuted at number ten on the Billboard 200 chart, and sold over four million copies in the U.S. alone.",
"How many other albums did they release?",
"In 1994 Virgin released the B-sides/rarities compilation Pisces Iscariot",
"Did they go on tour during this time period?",
"relentless touring to support the recordings, including headline slots on the 1994 Lollapalooza tour"
] | C_b6b56b0135f34b2a82530ebab0efd600_0 | Did they perform with other bands? | 6 | Did the Smashing Pumpkins perform with other bands? | The Smashing Pumpkins | With the breakthrough of alternative rock into the American mainstream due to the popularity of grunge bands such as Nirvana and Pearl Jam, the Smashing Pumpkins were poised for major commercial success. At this time, the Smashing Pumpkins were routinely lumped in with the grunge movement, with Corgan protesting, "We've graduated now from 'the next Jane's Addiction' to 'the next Nirvana', now we're 'the next Pearl Jam'." Amid this environment of intense internal pressure for the band to break through to widespread popularity, the band relocated to Marietta, Georgia in late 1992 to begin work on their second album, with Butch Vig returning as producer. The decision to record so far away from their hometown was motivated partly by the band's desire to avoid friends and distractions during the recording, but largely as a desperate attempt to cut Chamberlin off from his known drug connections. The recording environment for Siamese Dream was quickly marred by discord within the band. As was the case with Gish, Corgan and Vig decided that Corgan should play nearly all of the guitar and bass parts on the album, contributing to an air of resentment. The contemporary music press began to portray Corgan as a tyrant. Corgan's depression, meanwhile, had deepened to the point where he contemplated suicide, and he compensated by practically living in the studio. Meanwhile, Chamberlin quickly managed to find new connections and was often absent without any contact for days at a time. In all, it took over four months to complete the record, with the budget exceeding $250,000. Despite all the problems in its recording, Siamese Dream debuted at number ten on the Billboard 200 chart, and sold over four million copies in the U.S. alone. Alongside the band's mounting mainstream recognition, the band's reputation as careerists among their former peers in the independent music community was worsened. Indie rock band Pavement's 1994 song "Range Life" directly mocks the band in its lyrics, although Stephen Malkmus, lead singer of Pavement, has stated, "I never dissed their music. I just dissed their status." Former Husker Du frontman Bob Mould called them "the grunge Monkees", and fellow Chicago musician/producer Steve Albini wrote a scathing letter in response to an article praising the band, derisively comparing them to REO Speedwagon ("by, of and for the mainstream") and concluding their ultimate insignificance. The opening track and lead single of Siamese Dream, "Cherub Rock", directly addresses Corgan's feud with the "indie-world". In 1994 Virgin released the B-sides/rarities compilation Pisces Iscariot which charted higher than Siamese Dream by reaching number four on the Billboard 200. Also released was a VHS cassette titled Vieuphoria featuring a mix of live performances and behind-the-scenes footage. Following relentless touring to support the recordings, including headline slots on the 1994 Lollapalooza tour and at Reading Festival in 1995, the band took time off to write the follow-up album. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | The Smashing Pumpkins (or Smashing Pumpkins) are an American alternative rock band from Chicago. Formed in 1988 by frontman Billy Corgan (lead vocals, guitar), D'arcy Wretzky (bass), James Iha (guitar), and Jimmy Chamberlin (drums), the band has undergone many line-up changes. The current lineup features Corgan, Chamberlin, Iha and guitarist Jeff Schroeder.
Disavowing the punk rock roots of many of their alt-rock contemporaries, they have a diverse, densely layered, and guitar-heavy sound, containing elements of gothic rock, heavy metal, dream pop, psychedelic rock, progressive rock, shoegazing, and, in later recordings, electronica. Corgan is the group's primary songwriter; his musical ambitions and cathartic lyrics have shaped the band's albums and songs, which have been described as "anguished, bruised reports from Billy Corgan's nightmare-land".
The Smashing Pumpkins broke into the musical mainstream with their second album, 1993's Siamese Dream. The group built its audience with extensive touring and their 1995 follow-up, the double album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 album chart. With 30 million albums sold worldwide, the Smashing Pumpkins were one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands of the 1990s. However, internal fighting, drug use, and diminishing record sales led to a 2000 break-up.
In 2006, Corgan and Chamberlin reconvened to record a new Smashing Pumpkins album, Zeitgeist. After touring throughout 2007 and 2008 with a lineup including new guitarist Jeff Schroeder, Chamberlin left the band in early 2009. Later that year, Corgan began a new recording series with a rotating lineup of musicians entitled Teargarden by Kaleidyscope, which encompassed the release of stand-alone singles, compilation EP releases, and two full albums that also fell under the project's scope—Oceania in 2012 and Monuments to an Elegy in 2014. Chamberlin and Iha officially rejoined the band in February 2018. The reunited lineup released the album Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun. in November 2018 and Cyr in November 2020.
History
Early years: 1988–1991
After the breakup of his gothic rock band The Marked, singer and guitarist Billy Corgan left St. Petersburg, Florida, to return to his native city of Chicago, where he took a job in a record store and formed the idea of a new band to be called the Smashing Pumpkins. While working there, he met guitarist James Iha. Adorning themselves with paisley and other psychedelic trappings, the two began writing songs together (with the aid of a drum machine) that were heavily influenced by the Cure and New Order. The duo performed live for the first time on July 9, 1988 at the Polish bar Chicago 21. This performance included only Corgan on bass and Iha on guitar with a drum machine. Shortly thereafter, Corgan met D'arcy Wretzky after a show by the Dan Reed Network where they argued the merits of the band. After finding out Wretzky played bass guitar, Corgan recruited her into the lineup, and the trio played a show at the Avalon Nightclub. After this show, Cabaret Metro owner Joe Shanahan agreed to book the band on the condition that they replace the drum
machine with a live drummer.
Jazz drummer Jimmy Chamberlin was recommended by a friend of Corgan's. Chamberlin knew little of alternative music and immediately changed the sound of the nascent band. As Corgan recalled of the period, "We were completely into the sad-rock, Cure kind of thing. It took about two or three practices before I realized that the power in his playing was something that enabled us to rock harder than we could ever have imagined." On October 5, 1988, the complete band took the stage for the first time at the Cabaret Metro.
In 1989, the Smashing Pumpkins made their first appearance on record with the compilation album Light Into Dark, which featured several Chicago alternative bands. The group released its first single, "I Am One", in 1990 on local Chicago label Limited Potential. The single sold out and they released a follow-up, "Tristessa", on Sub Pop, after which they signed to Caroline Records. The band recorded their 1991 debut studio album Gish with producer Butch Vig at his Smart Studios in Madison, Wisconsin for $20,000. In order to gain the consistency he desired, Corgan often played all instruments excluding drums, which created tension in the band. The music fused heavy metal guitars, psychedelia, and dream pop, garnering them comparisons to Jane's Addiction. Gish became a minor success, with the single "Rhinoceros" receiving some airplay on modern rock radio. After releasing the Lull EP in October 1991 on Caroline Records, the band formally signed with Virgin Records, which was affiliated with Caroline. The band supported the album with a tour that included opening for bands such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jane's Addiction, and Guns N' Roses. During the tour, Iha and Wretzky went through a messy breakup, Chamberlin became addicted to narcotics and alcohol, and Corgan entered a deep depression, writing some songs for the upcoming album in the parking garage where he lived at the time.
Mainstream breakout and Siamese Dream: 1992–1994
With the breakthrough of alternative rock into the American mainstream due to the popularity of grunge bands such as Nirvana and Pearl Jam, the Smashing Pumpkins were poised for major commercial success. At this time, the Smashing Pumpkins were routinely lumped in with the grunge movement, with Corgan protesting, "We've graduated now from 'the next Jane's Addiction' to 'the next Nirvana', now we're 'the next Pearl Jam'."
Amid this environment of intense internal pressure for the band to break through to widespread popularity, the band relocated to Marietta, Georgia in late 1992 to begin work on their second album, with Butch Vig returning as producer. The decision to record so far away from their hometown was motivated partly by the band's desire to avoid friends and distractions during the recording, but largely as a desperate attempt to cut Chamberlin off from his known drug connections. The recording environment for Siamese Dream was quickly marred by discord within the band. As was the case with Gish, Corgan and Vig decided that Corgan should play nearly all of the guitar and bass parts on the album, contributing to an air of resentment. The contemporary music press began to portray Corgan as a tyrant. Corgan's depression, meanwhile, had deepened to the point where he contemplated suicide, and he compensated by practically living in the studio. Meanwhile, Chamberlin quickly managed to find new connections and was often absent without any contact for days at a time. In all, it took over four months to complete the record, with the budget exceeding $250,000.
Despite all the problems in its recording, Siamese Dream debuted at number ten on the Billboard 200 chart, and sold over four million copies in the U.S. alone. Alongside the band's mounting mainstream recognition, the band's reputation as careerists among their former peers in the independent music community was worsened. Indie rock band Pavement's 1994 song "Range Life" directly mocks the band in its lyrics, although Stephen Malkmus, lead singer of Pavement, has stated, "I never dissed their music. I just dissed their status." Former Hüsker Dü frontman Bob Mould called them "the grunge Monkees", and fellow Chicago musician/producer Steve Albini wrote a scathing letter in response to an article praising the band, derisively comparing them to REO Speedwagon ("by, of and for the mainstream") and concluding their ultimate insignificance. The opening track and lead single of Siamese Dream, "Cherub Rock", directly addresses Corgan's feud with the "indie-world".
In 1994 Virgin released the B-sides/rarities compilation Pisces Iscariot which charted higher than Siamese Dream by reaching number four on the Billboard 200. Also released was a VHS cassette titled Vieuphoria featuring a mix of live performances and behind-the-scenes footage. Following relentless touring to support the recordings, including headline slots on the 1994 Lollapalooza tour and at Reading Festival in 1995, the band took time off to write the follow-up album.
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness: 1995–1997
During 1995, Corgan wrote about 56 songs, following which the band went into the studio with producers Flood and Alan Moulder to work on what Corgan described as "The Wall for Generation X", and which became Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, a double album of twenty-eight songs, lasting over two hours (the vinyl version of the album contained three records, two extra songs, and an alternate track listing). The songs were intended to hang together conceptually as a symbol of the cycle of life and death. Praised by Time as "the group's most ambitious and accomplished work yet", Mellon Collie debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 in October 1995. Even more successful than Siamese Dream, it was certified ten times platinum in the United States and became the best-selling double album of the decade. It also garnered seven 1997 Grammy Award nominations, including Album of the Year. The band won only the Best Hard Rock Performance award, for the album's lead single "Bullet with Butterfly Wings". The album spawned five singles—"Bullet with Butterfly Wings", "1979", "Zero", "Tonight, Tonight" which Corgan stated was inspired by the Cheap Trick song "I'll Be with You Tonight", and "Thirty-Three"—of which the first three were certified gold and all but "Zero" entered the Top 40. Many of the songs that did not make it onto Mellon Collie were released as B-sides to the singles, and were later compiled in The Aeroplane Flies High box set. The set was originally limited to 200,000 copies, but more were produced to meet demand.
In 1996 the Pumpkins undertook an extended world tour in support of Mellon Collie. Corgan's look during this period—a shaved head, a long sleeve black shirt with the word "Zero" printed on it, and silver pants—became iconic. That year, the band also made a guest appearance in an episode of The Simpsons, "Homerpalooza". With considerable video rotation on MTV, major industry awards, and "Zero" shirts selling in many malls, the Pumpkins were considered one of the most popular bands of the time.
In May, the Smashing Pumpkins played a gig at the Point Theatre in Dublin, Ireland. Despite the band's repeated requests for moshing to stop, a seventeen-year-old fan named Bernadette O'Brien was crushed to death. The concert ended early and the following night's performance in Belfast was cancelled out of respect for her. However, while Corgan maintained that moshing's "time [had] come and gone", the band would continue to request open-floor concerts throughout the rest of the tour.
The band suffered a personal tragedy on the night of July 11, 1996, when touring keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin and Chamberlin overdosed on heroin in a hotel room in New York City. Melvoin died, and Chamberlin was arrested for drug possession. A few days later, the band announced that Chamberlin had been fired as a result of the incident. The Pumpkins chose to finish the tour, and hired drummer Matt Walker and keyboardist Dennis Flemion. Corgan later said the decision to continue touring was the worst decision the band had ever made, damaging both their music and their reputation. Chamberlin admitted in a 1994 Rolling Stone cover story that in the past he'd "gotten high in every city in this country and probably half the cities in Europe." But in recent years, he had reportedly been clean. On July 17, the Pumpkins issued a statement in which they said, "For nine years we have battled with Jimmy's struggles with the insidious disease of drug and alcohol addiction. It has nearly destroyed everything we are and stand for. … We wish [him] the best we have to offer". Meanwhile, the band had given interviews since the release of Mellon Collie stating that it would be the last conventional Pumpkins record, and that rock was becoming stale. James Iha said at the end of 1996, "The future is in electronic music. It really seems boring just to play rock music."
Adore, Machina, and breakup: 1998–2000
After the release of Mellon Collie, the Pumpkins contributed many songs to various compilations. Released in early 1997, the song "Eye", which appeared on the soundtrack to David Lynch's Lost Highway, relied almost exclusively on electronic instruments and signaled a drastic shift from the Pumpkins' previous musical styles. At the time, Corgan stated his "idea [was] to reconfigure the focus and get away from the classic guitars-bass-drum rock format." Later that year, the group contributed "The End Is the Beginning Is the End" to the soundtrack for the film Batman & Robin. With Matt Walker on drums, the song featured a heavy sound similar to "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" while still having strong electronic influences. The song later won the 1998 Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance. Though Corgan announced that the song represented the sound people could expect from the band in the future, the band's next album would feature few guitar-driven songs.
Recorded following the death of Corgan's mother and his divorce, 1998's Adore represented a significant change of style from the Pumpkins' previous guitar-based rock, veering into electronica. The record, cut with assistance from drum machines and studio drummers including Matt Walker, was infused with a darker aesthetic than much of the band's earlier work. The group also modified its public image, shedding its alternative rock look for a more subdued appearance. Although Adore received favorable reviews and was nominated for Best Alternative Performance at the Grammy Awards, the album had only sold about 830,000 copies in the United States by the end of the year. The album nonetheless debuted at number 2 on the Billboard 200 and sold three times as many copies overseas. The band began a seventeen-date, fifteen-city charity North American tour in support of Adore. At each stop on the tour, the band donated 100 percent of tickets sales to a local charity organization. The tour's expenses were entirely funded out of the band's own pockets. All told, the band donated over $2.8 million to charity as a result of the tour. On October 31, 1998 during Halloween, the band opened for Kiss at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, dressed in costume as The Beatles.
In 1999 the band surprised fans by reuniting with a rehabilitated Jimmy Chamberlin for a brief tour dubbed "The Arising", which showcased both new and classic material. The lineup was short-lived, however, as the band announced the departure of Wretzky in September during work on the album Machina/The Machines of God. Former Hole bassist Melissa Auf der Maur was recruited for the "Sacred and Profane" tour in support of the album and appeared in the videos accompanying its release. Released in 2000, Machina was initially promoted as the Pumpkins' return to a more traditional rock sound, after the more gothic, electronic-sounding Adore. The album debuted at number three on the Billboard charts, but quickly disappeared and as of 2007 had only been certified gold. Music journalist Jim DeRogatis, who described the album as "one of the strongest of their career", noted that the stalled sales for Machina in comparison to teen pop ascendant at the time "seems like concrete proof that a new wave of young pop fans has turned a deaf ear toward alternative rock."
On May 23, 2000, in a live radio interview on KROQ-FM (Los Angeles), Billy Corgan announced the band's decision to break up at the end of that year following additional touring and recording. The group's final album before the break-up, Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music, was released in September 2000 in a limited pressing on vinyl with permission and instructions for free redistribution on the Internet by fans. Only twenty-five copies were cut, each of which was hand numbered and given to friends of the band along with band members themselves. The album, released under the Constantinople Records label created by Corgan, consisted of one double LP and three ten-inch EPs. Originally, the band asked Virgin to offer Machina II as a free download to anyone who bought Machina. When the record label declined, Corgan opted to release the material independently.
On December 2, 2000, Smashing Pumpkins played a farewell concert at The Metro, the same Chicago club where their career had effectively started twelve years earlier. The four-and-a-half-hour-long show featured 35 songs spanning the group's career, and attendees were given a recording of the band's first concert at The Metro, Live at Cabaret Metro 10-5-88. The single "Untitled" was released commercially to coincide with the farewell show.
Post-breakup: 2001–2004
In 2001 the compilation Rotten Apples was released. The double-disc version of the album, released as a limited edition, included a collection of B-sides and rarities called Judas O. The Greatest Hits Video Collection DVD was also released at the same time. This was a compilation of all of the Pumpkins promo videos from Gish to Machina along with unreleased material. Vieuphoria was released on DVD in 2002, as was the soundtrack album Earphoria, previously released solely to radio stations in 1994.
Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin reunited in 2001 as members of Corgan's next project, the short-lived supergroup Zwan. The group's only album, Mary Star of the Sea, was released in 2003. After cancelling a few festival appearances, Corgan announced the demise of the band in 2003. During 2001 Corgan also toured as part of New Order and provided vocals on their comeback album Get Ready. In October 2004 Corgan released his first book, Blinking with Fists, a collection of poetry. In June 2005, he released a solo album, TheFutureEmbrace, which he described as "(picking) up the thread of the as-yet-unfinished work of the Smashing Pumpkins". Despite this, it was greeted with generally mixed reviews and lackluster sales. Only one single, "Walking Shade", was released in support of the album.
In addition to drumming with Zwan, Jimmy Chamberlin also formed an alternative rock/jazz fusion project band called Jimmy Chamberlin Complex. The group released an album in 2005 titled Life Begins Again. Corgan provided guest vocals on the track "Lokicat". James Iha served as a guitarist in A Perfect Circle, appearing on their Thirteenth Step club tour and 2004 album, eMOTIVe. He has also been involved with other acts such as Chino Moreno's Team Sleep and Vanessa and the O's. He continues to work with Scratchie Records, his own record label, as well. D'arcy Wretzky has, aside from one radio interview in 2009, not made any public statements or appearances nor given any interviews since leaving the band in 1999. On January 25, 2000, she was arrested after she allegedly purchased three bags of cocaine, but after successfully completing a court-ordered drug education program, the charges were dropped.
Corgan insisted during this period that the band would not reform, although when Zwan broke up he announced, "I think my heart was in Smashing Pumpkins […] I think it was naive of me to think that I could find something that would mean as much to me." Corgan said in 2005, "I never wanted to leave the Smashing Pumpkins. That was never the plan." On February 17, 2004, Corgan posted a message on his personal blog calling Wretzky a "mean-spirited drug addict" and blaming Iha for the breakup of the Smashing Pumpkins. On June 3, 2004, he added that "the depth of my hurt [from Iha] is only matched with the depth of my gratitude". Iha responded to Corgan's claims in 2005, saying, "No, I didn't break up the band. The only person who could have done that is Billy."
Reformation and Zeitgeist: 2005–2008
On June 21, 2005, the day of the release of his first solo album TheFutureEmbrace, Corgan took out full-page advertisements in the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times to announce that he planned to reunite the band. "For a year now", Corgan wrote, "I have walked around with a secret, a secret I chose to keep. But now I want you to be among the first to know that I have made plans to renew and revive the Smashing Pumpkins. I want my band back, and my songs, and my dreams". Corgan and Chamberlin were verified as participants in the reunion, but there was question as to whether other former members of the band would participate.
In April 2007 Iha and Auf der Maur separately confirmed that they were not taking part in the reunion. Chamberlin would later state that Iha and Wretzky "didn't want to be a part of" the reunion. The Smashing Pumpkins performed live for the first time since 2000 on May 22, 2007, in Paris, France. There, the band unveiled new touring members: guitarist Jeff Schroeder, bassist Ginger Reyes, and keyboardist Lisa Harriton. That same month, "Tarantula" was released as the first single from the band's forthcoming album. On July 7, the band performed at the Live Earth concert in New Jersey.
The band's new album, Zeitgeist, was released that same month on Reprise Records, entering the Billboard charts at number two and selling 145,000 copies in its first week. Zeitgeist received mixed reviews, with much of the criticism targeted at the absence of half of the original lineup. The album divided the Pumpkins' fanbase. Corgan would later admit, "I know a lot of our fans are puzzled by Zeitgeist. I think they wanted this massive, grandiose work, but you don't just roll out of bed after seven years without a functioning band and go back to doing that".
Corgan and Chamberlin continued to record as a duo, releasing the four-song EP American Gothic in January 2008 and the singles "Superchrist" and "G.L.O.W." later that year. That November, the group released the DVD If All Goes Wrong, which chronicled the group's 2007 concert residences in Asheville, North Carolina and San Francisco, California. In late 2008, the band commenced on a controversy-riddled 20th Anniversary Tour. Around this time, Corgan said the group will make no more full-length records in order to focus exclusively on singles, explaining, "The listening patterns have changed, so why are we killing ourselves to do albums, to create balance, and do the arty track to set up the single? It's done."
Teargarden and Oceania: 2009–2013
In March 2009 Corgan announced on the band's website that Chamberlin had left the group and would be replaced. Chamberlin subsequently stated that his departure from the band is "a positive move forward for me. I can no longer commit all of my energy into something that I don't fully possess." Chamberlin stressed that the split was amicable, commenting, "I am glad [Corgan] has chosen to continue under the name. It is his right." Chamberlin soon formed the band Skysaw, which has released an album and toured in support of Minus the Bear. In July 2009 Billy Corgan formed a new group called Spirits in the Sky, initially as a tribute band to Sky Saxon of the Seeds, who had recently died. The following month Corgan confirmed on the band's website that 19-year-old Spirits in the Sky drummer Mike Byrne had replaced Chamberlin and that the pair was working on new Pumpkins recordings.
The group announced plans to release a 44-track concept album, Teargarden by Kaleidyscope, for free over the Internet one track at a time. The first track, "A Song for a Son", was released in December 2009 to moderate press acclaim. In March 2010 Ginger Reyes officially left the band, prompting an open call for auditions for a new bassist. In May, Nicole Fiorentino announced she had joined the band as bass player, and would be working on Teargarden by Kaleidyscope. The new lineup went on a world tour through to the end of 2010. One of the first shows with the new lineup was a concert to benefit Matthew Leone, bassist for the rock band Madina Lake, at the Metro on July 27, 2010. In late 2010 all four members contributed to the sessions for the third volume of Teargarden.
On April 26, 2011, Corgan announced that the Smashing Pumpkins would be releasing a new album titled Oceania, which he labeled as "an album within an album" in regards to the Teargarden by Kaleidyscope project, in the fall. As with the previous recording sessions, all four band members contributed to the project. Also, the entire album catalog was to be remastered and reissued with bonus tracks, starting with Gish and Siamese Dream in November 2011. The pre-Gish demos, Pisces Iscariot, and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness were released in 2012, with The Aeroplane Flies High released the following year. Adore was released in 2014, and Machina/The Machines of God and the yet commercially unreleased Machina II/Friends and Enemies of Modern Music are expected to be combined, remixed, and released in the same year. The band did a thirteen-city US tour in October 2011 followed by a European tour in November and December.
Oceania was released on June 19, 2012, and received generally positive reviews. The album debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 and at No. 1 on the Billboard Independent. The album spawned two singles, "The Celestials" and "Panopticon". The band proceeded to tour in support of the album, including a US tour involving playing the album in its entirety. By September 2012, Corgan stated that the band had already begun work on their next album. However, despite this, the band concentrated on touring, playing at Glastonbury Festival, Dour Festival and the Barclays Center, where they recorded Oceania: Live in NYC, which was released on September 24, 2013.
Monuments to an Elegy: 2014–2016
On March 25, 2014, Corgan announced he had signed a new record deal with BMG, for two new albums, titled Monuments to an Elegy and Day for Night, respectively. In June, it was revealed that Mike Byrne was no longer in the band, to be replaced by Tommy Lee of Mötley Crüe on the new album, and Fiorentino would not be recording on the album either. Monuments to an Elegy was released on December 5, 2014, to generally positive reviews. The band toured in support of the album starting on November 26, with Rage Against the Machine's Brad Wilk filling in on drums and the Killers' Mark Stoermer filling in on bass. The follow-up proposed album Day For Night was cited for delayed late 2015 or early 2016 release.
Later in 2015 Corgan announced that the band would embark on a co-headlining tour of North America with Marilyn Manson, "The End Times Tour", across July and August 2015. Prior to the co-headlining dates, the band performed a series of acoustic shows with drum machines and tapes for percussion. When the time came for the co-headlining tour, plans for a drummer fell through and Corgan recruited Chamberlin to reunite for the shows. On February 1, 2016, it was announced that the band would continue their In Plainsong acoustic tour with Jimmy Chamberlin on drums and were planning to head "straight to the studio after the dates to record a brand new album inspired by the sounds explored in the new acoustic setting". On February 25, 2016, Corgan posted a video from a Los Angeles studio on the band's Facebook account, giving an update on the writing process for the new songs for the upcoming album to be released after the In Plainsong tour.
The tour began in Portland, Oregon, on March 22, 2016.
Iha and Chamberlin's return; Shiny and Oh So Bright and Cyr: 2018–present
On his birthday on March 26, 2016, original guitarist James Iha joined Billy Corgan, Jimmy Chamberlin, and Jeff Schroeder on stage unannounced at the Ace Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. He performed a few songs, including "Mayonaise", "Soma" and "Whir" marking his first appearance with the Smashing Pumpkins in 16 years. Iha also played at the second of the two Smashing Pumpkins shows at the Ace Hotel the following day, which was Easter Sunday. Iha joined the Pumpkins for a third time at their concert of April 14 at the Civic Opera House in Chicago. In July, Corgan began hinting of the possibility of reuniting the band original lineup, of himself, Iha, Wretzky, and Chamberlin, and in August, he stated he had begun reaching out to the original lineup about the feasibility of a reunion, including speaking to Wretzky for the first time in sixteen years. Despite the comments, Corgan would spend much of 2017 working on solo material – recording and releasing the solo album Ogilala and beginning work on another solo album for 2018. In June 2017 Chamberlin also mentioned the possibility of a reunion tour in 2018. In January 2018 Corgan shared a photo of himself, Iha, and Chamberlin together in recording studio. In February 2018 Corgan announced that he was working with music producer Rick Rubin on a future Smashing Pumpkins album, that there were currently 26 songs he was actively working on, and that "the guitar feels once again like the preferred weapon of choice." Soon afterwards, Corgan shared a photo of sound equipment with Iha's name on a label, as well as announcing recording was finished on the album.
On February 15, 2018, the band officially announced that founding members Iha and Chamberlin were back in the band. They embarked on the Shiny And Oh So Bright Tour starting in July, with a focus on performing material from their first five studio albums. and sold over 350,000 tickets and sold out arenas including The Forum, United Center, and Madison Square Garden. Original bassist D'arcy Wretzky claimed she had been offered a contract to rejoin the band but Corgan rescinded the offer soon after. Corgan released a statement denying the claims, stating "Ms. Wretzky has repeatedly been invited out to play with the group, participate in demo sessions, or at the very least, meet face-to-face, and in each and every instance she always deferred". Jack Bates (son of Joy Division bassist Peter Hook) played bass on the tour. Bates previously toured with the Smashing Pumpkins in 2015. Multi-instrumentalist Katie Cole rejoined the band for the tour as well, singing backup vocals and playing keyboards and guitar.
In March 2018, Corgan mentioned the band planned to release two EPs in 2018, with the first tentatively planned for May. On June 8, 2018, the first single from the set of music, "Solara", was released. On August 2, 2018, the band celebrated their 30th anniversary by performing in Holmdel, New Jersey. with several notable special guests including Courtney Love, Chino Moreno, Davey Havok, Peter Hook, Mark McGrath, and Dave Keuning and Mark Stoermer of The Killers. In September 2018, they announced the album Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun., released via Napalm Records on November 16, 2018, which debuted at number 54 on the Billboard 200 chart.
After touring through much of 2019, Corgan noted in January 2020 that the band was currently working on 21 songs for a future album release. On August 28, 2020, the band released the single and video for "Cyr", along with a second track titled "The Colour of Love" from their album Cyr, which was released through their new record label Sumerian Records on November 27, 2020. It serves as the second part of the Shiny and Oh So Bright series. On September 25, 2020, the band released another single from Cyr that included the songs "Confessions of a Dopamine Addict" and "Wrath". On October 9, 2020, the band released a third single for Cyr that featured the tracks "Anno Satana" and "Birch Grove". On October 29, the band released "Ramona" and "Wyttch" as the fourth pair of singles. On November 20, 2020, the songs "Purple Blood" and "Dulcet in E" were released as the fifth and final single for Cyr. The following week, on November 27, 2020, the band released Cyr. Despite never getting to properly tour Cyr, the band did play four songs from the album at their headlining shows at Riot Fest and Sea.Hear.Now Festival in September 2021.
In late 2020, Corgan announced that the band would begin work on another double album for release in 2021, although the year passed without the album releasing. The double album is to serve as a sequel to the overarching story of Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness and Machina: The Machines of God. On February 22, the band announced on social media the Rock Invasion 2 Tour, which had previously been set to take place in spring 2020, but had been postponed to fall 2020 and subsequently canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The newly announced incarnation of the tour had entirely new locations spanning 11 US cities accompanying the band's spring festival appearances and four performances in Mexico, their first since 2013.
Musical style, influences, and legacy
The direction of the band is dominated by lead guitarist, lead vocalist, keyboardist, bassist and principal songwriter Billy Corgan. Journalist Greg Kot wrote, "The music [of the Smashing Pumpkins] would not be what it is without his ambition and vision, and his famously fractured relationships with his family, friends, and bandmembers." Melissa Auf der Maur commented upon news of the group's reunion, "Everyone knows Billy doesn't need too many people to make a Pumpkins record, other than Jimmy [Chamberlin]—who he has on board." In a 2015 interview Corgan himself referred to the current iteration of the band "as sort of an open source collective" noting that "It's whoever feels right at the time." Many of Corgan's lyrics for the Pumpkins are cathartic expressions of emotion, full of personal musings and strong indictments of himself and those close to him. Music critics were not often fans of Corgan's angst-filled lyrics. Jim DeRogatis wrote in a 1993 Chicago Sun-Times article that Corgan's lyrics "too often sound like sophomoric poetry", although he viewed the lyrics of later albums Adore and Machina as an improvement. The band's songs have been described as "anguished, bruised reports from Billy Corgan's nightmare-land" by journalist William Shaw.
Smashing Pumpkins, unlike many alternative rock bands at the time, disavowed the influence of punk rock on their sound. Overall, they have a diverse, densely layered, and guitar-heavy sound, containing elements of gothic rock, heavy metal, dream pop, psychedelic rock, progressive rock, shoegazing, and electronica in later recordings.
The Smashing Pumpkins' distinctive sound up until Adore involved layering numerous guitar tracks onto a song during the recording process, a tactic that Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness coproducer Flood called the "Pumpkin guitar overdub army." Although there were a lot of overdubbed parts on Gish, Corgan began to really explore the possibilities of overdubbing with Siamese Dream; Corgan has stated that "Soma" alone contains up to 40 overdubbed guitar parts. While Corgan knew many of the songs would be difficult or impossible to replicate from their recorded versions in concert (in fact, some songs were drastically altered for live performance), he has explained the use of overdubbing by posing the question "When you are faced with making a permanent recorded representation of a song, why not endow it with the grandest possible vision?" This use of multilayered sounds was inspired by Corgan's love of 1970s popular artists & bands such as: David Bowie, Cheap Trick, Queen, Boston, and the Electric Light Orchestra, as well as shoegaze, a British alternative rock style of the late 1980s and early 1990s that relied on swirling layers of guitar noise for effect. Mellon Collie coproducer Alan Moulder was originally hired to mix Siamese Dream because Corgan was a fan of his work producing shoegaze bands such as My Bloody Valentine, Ride, and Slowdive.
Like many contemporary alternative bands, the Smashing Pumpkins utilized shifts in song dynamics, going from quiet to loud and vice versa. Hüsker Dü's seminal album Zen Arcade demonstrated to the band how they could place gentler material against more aggressive fare, and Corgan made such shifts in dynamics central to the pursuit of his grand musical ambitions. Corgan said he liked the idea of creating his own alternative universe through sound that essentially tells the listener, "Welcome to Pumpkin Land, this is what it sounds like on Planet Pumpkin." This emphasis on atmosphere carried through to Adore (described as "arcane night music" in prerelease promotion) and the Machina albums (concept records that tell the story of a fictional rock band).
The Pumpkins drew inspiration from a variety of other genres, some unfashionable during the 1990s among music critics. Corgan in particular was open about his appreciation of heavy metal, citing Dimebag Darrell of Pantera as his favorite contemporary guitarist. When one interviewer commented to Corgan and Iha that "Smashing Pumpkins is one of the groups that relegitimized heavy metal" and that they "were among the first alternative rockers to mention people like Ozzy and Black Sabbath with anything other than contempt". Corgan went on to rave about Black Sabbath's Master of Reality and Judas Priest's Unleashed in the East. The song "Zero", which reminded Iha of Judas Priest, is an example of what the band dubbed "cybermetal." Post-punk and gothic rock bands like Joy Division/New Order, Bauhaus, the Cure, and Depeche Mode were formative influences on the band, which covered such artists in concert and on record. Corgan also cited Siouxsie and the Banshees saying it was important to point back to bands that influenced them. Psychedelic rock was also referenced often in the band's early recordings; according to Corgan, "In typical Pumpkins fashion, no one at that point really liked loud guitars or psychedelic music so, of course, that's exactly what we had to do." Corgan felt that the band's guitars "are a mixture of heavy metal and 80s alternative rock. I think of Cure and Siouxsie and the Banshees". Corgan acknowledged that a chord he jokingly claimed as "the Pumpkin chord" (a G# octave chord at the eleventh fret of a guitar with the low E string played over it), used as the basis for "Cherub Rock", "Drown", and other songs, was in fact previously used by Jimi Hendrix. Other early influences cited by Corgan include Cream, the Stooges, and Blue Cheer.
Regarding the band's influence upon other groups, Greg Kot wrote in 2001, "Whereas Nirvana spawned countless mini-Nirvanas, the Pumpkins remain an island unto themselves." Still, some artists and bands have been influenced by the Pumpkins, such as Nelly Furtado, Marilyn Manson, Third Eye Blind, Mark Hoppus of Blink-182, Tegan and Sara, Fall Out Boy, Rivers Cuomo, Panic! at the Disco, Silversun Pickups, and My Chemical Romance. My Chemical Romance vocalist Gerard Way has said that they pattern their career upon the Pumpkins', including music videos. The members of fellow Chicago band Kill Hannah are friends with Corgan, and lead singer Mat Devine has compared his group to the Pumpkins.
The group has sold over 30 million albums worldwide as of October 2012, and sales in the United States alone reaching 19.75 million.
Music videos
The Smashing Pumpkins have been praised as "responsible for some of the most striking and memorable video clips" and for having "approached videos from a completely artistic standpoint rather than mere commercials to sell albums". MTV's 2001 anniversary special Testimony: 20 Years of Rock on MTV credited the Pumpkins, along with Nine Inch Nails, with treating music videos as an art form during the 1990s. Corgan has said, "We generally resisted the idea of what I call the classic MTV rock video, which is like lots of people jumping around and stuff." The band worked with video directors including Kevin Kerslake ("Cherub Rock"), Samuel Bayer ("Bullet with Butterfly Wings"), and, most frequently, the team of Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris ("Rocket", "1979", "Tonight, Tonight", "The End Is the Beginning Is the End", and "Perfect"). Corgan, who was frequently heavily involved in the conception of the videos, said of Dayton and Faris, "I know my [initial] versions are always darker, and they're always talking me into something a little kinder and gentler." Videos like "Today", "Rocket", and "1979" dealt with images taken from middle American culture, albeit exaggerated. The group's videos so often avoid the literal interpretation of the song lyrics that the video for "Thirty-Three", with images closely related to the words of the song, was created as an intentional stylistic departure.
The band was nominated for several MTV Video Music Awards during the 1990s. In 1996, the group won eight VMAs total for the "1979" and "Tonight, Tonight" videos, including the top award, Video of the Year, for "Tonight, Tonight". The video was also nominated for a Grammy at the 1997 ceremony. Of the "Tonight, Tonight" video, Corgan remarked, "I don't think we've ever had people react [like this]... it just seemed to touch a nerve."
Shortly after the band's 2000 breakup, the Greatest Hits Video Collection was released, collecting the band's music videos from 1991 to 2000 and including commentary from Corgan, Iha, Chamberlin, Wretzky, and various music video directors with outtakes, live performances, and the extended "Try, Try, Try" short film.
Band members
Current members
Billy Corgan – lead vocals, guitars, keyboards, bass guitar (1988–2000, 2006–present)
James Iha – guitars, bass guitar, vocals (1988–2000, 2018–present)
Jimmy Chamberlin – drums (1988–1996, 1998–2000, 2006–2009, 2015–present)
Jeff Schroeder – guitars, keyboards (2007–present)
Live members
Jack Bates – bass guitar (2015–present)
Katie Cole – keyboards, backing vocals (2015–present)
Former members
D'arcy Wretzky – bass guitar, backing vocals (1988–1999)
Melissa Auf der Maur – bass guitar (1999–2000)
Mike Byrne – drums, backing vocals, keyboards (2009–2014)
Nicole Fiorentino – bass guitar, backing vocals, keyboards (2010–2014)
Awards
American Music Awards
1997 – Best Alternative Artist
Grammy Awards
1997 – "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" – Best Hard Rock Performance
1998 – "The End Is the Beginning Is the End" – Best Hard Rock Performance
MTV Europe Music Awards
1996 – Best Rock
MTV Video Music Awards
1996 – "Tonight, Tonight" – Video of the Year, Breakthrough Video, Best Direction, Best Visual Effects, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography
1996 – "1979" – Best Alternative Video
Discography
Studio albums
Gish (1991)
Siamese Dream (1993)
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1995)
Adore (1998)
Machina/The Machines of God (2000)
Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music (2000)
Zeitgeist (2007)
Oceania (2012)†
Monuments to an Elegy (2014)†
Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun. (2018)
Cyr (2020)
Notes
† Part of Teargarden by Kaleidyscope (2009–2014), an overarching project abandoned before completion.
See also
List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. alternative rock chart
Notes
References
Bibliography
Further reading
External links
1988 establishments in Illinois
Alternative rock groups from Chicago
Articles which contain graphical timelines
Caroline Records artists
Grammy Award winners
MTV Europe Music Award winners
Musical groups established in 1988
Musical groups disestablished in 2000
Musical groups reestablished in 2006
Musical quartets
American musical trios
Reprise Records artists
Sumerian Records artists
Virgin Records artists
Musical groups from Chicago | false | [
"Hungarian metal is the heavy metal music scene of Hungary. One of the most popular and well-known band is Attila Csihar's Tormentor. Other bands include Sear Bliss, Thy Catafalque, Ektomorf, FreshFabrik, Blind Myself, The Idoru and Subscribe.\n\nHistory\n\n1980s\nTormentor, formed in 1985, recorded their first album entitled \"Anno Domini\" in 1988, which was not released until the end of communism. The album reached Norway through the tape-trading community. Following the suicide of Per Ohlin, Mayhem invited Attila Csihar from Tormentor to join the band; he was to perform the vocals on \"De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas\". Tormentor split up in 1991 but later reformed, releasing their only studio album so far Recipe Ferrum! 777. The band were on hold for a long time before reuniting in 2018, releasing a number of live albums.\n\n1990s\n\nIn 1993 the band FreshFabrik was founded by András Szabó and Levente Kovács. In 1997 the band was signed by Warner Music Group to release its second full-length studio album, \"Nerve\".\n\nIn 1993 one of the most successful Hungarian metal bands, Ektomorf, was formed. The Zoltán Farkas-led band from Mezőkovácsháza managed to get signed by PIAS Recordings and later by major label Nuclear Blast. Initially their albums, such as \"Kalyi Jag\" and \"I Scream Up to the Sky\", were heavily influenced by Sepultura; however, they later pioneered a unique sound combining thrash metal with Hungarian folk music.\n\nIn 1994 the band Blind Myself was formed, which became one of the first metalcore bands. Later they became one of the leading metal bands in Hungary.\n\nIn 1998 a band from Sopron named Dalriada conquered Hungary with their folk metal. Their album entitled \"Kikelet\" helped the band perform in major European music festivals.\n\n2000s\nThe 2000s saw the emergence of bands which combined metal music with other genres such as post-hardcore, nu metal.\n\nIn 2003 a supergroup was formed named The Idoru by ex-members of Newborn, Blind Myself, and Dawncore. They managed to release several records including their second full-length studio album Monologue which brought them success outside Hungary. They toured with the American Misfits in Europe in 2007 and with Ignite in Japan in 2008.\n\n2010s\nIn 2012 the band Shell Beach released their second full-length Dávid Schram-produced studio album entitled This Is Desolation which helped them sign a contract with Redfield Digital Records.\n\nNotable Hungarian metal bands and artists\n\nSee also\nHungarian rock\n\nReferences\n\nMusic scenes\nHungarian music",
"The Appetite for Construction Tour was a three-month 2007 concert tour that was co-headlined by rock bands Switchfoot and Relient K, with special guests Ruth.\n\nThe tour was unique in that none of the bands involved were touring to push a new album or single. They embarked on the tour to benefit Habitat For Humanity, and donated one dollar per ticket sold to the organization. At end of the tour, the bands had raised over $100,000 for Habitat.\n\nSwitchfoot frontman Jon Foreman also co-wrote a song with Relient K singer Matt Thiessen called \"Rebuild\" for the tour. It was released as a \"donation single\" on Switchfoot's website, with options to donate time or money to Habitat For Humanity, in exchange for the song.\n\nThe tour was Tour Managed by Jennifer Manning and Production Managed by Scott Cannon. It played mostly in indoor arenas or stadiums, as opposed to small rock clubs, Switchfoot's favored stomping grounds. The tour's name is a reference to \"Appetite for Destruction\", the debut album of American hard rock band Guns N' Roses.\n\nShow and Set list\n\nRuth\nRuth was the first band to perform at the shows, playing 4-5 songs in a half-hour-long set.\n\nRelient K\nRelient K was the first of the headlining acts to perform, with their set usually lasting about an hour and a half. The set list featured hits like \"Be My Escape\" and \"Who I Am Hates Who I've Been\" from their 2004 breakthrough record, \"Mmhmm\", as well as some of their older classics and newer songs. The band did not perform an encore, playing all their songs in one set.\n\nThe band also routinely covered the theme from the hit TV show, The Office.\nFor the dance-floor favorite \"Sadie Hawkins Dance\", the band usually brought up people from the audience to play guitar and percussion instruments for the end of the song.\n\nSwitchfoot\nSwitchfoot was the second of the two headliners to play, and their set usually lasted about an hour and a half as well. Because they were co-headlining with Relient K, many of the songs on this tour were old favorites from the band's multi-platinum \"The Beautiful Letdown\", along with their singles.\n\nThe setlist generally consisted of the following, with minor variations in song order:\n\n \"Meant to Live intro''\n \"Oh! Gravity.\"\n \"Stars\"\n \"This Is Your Life\"\n \"Gone/Crazy In Love mash-up\"\n \"American Dream\"\n \"Dirty Second Hands\"\n \"We Are One Tonight\"\n \"Rebuild\"\n \"On Fire\"\n \"Awakening\"\n \"Meant to Live\"\n \"Rebuild\"\nEncore\n \"Only Hope\"\n \"Dare You to Move\"\n\nSongs like \"Ammunition\" and \"Head over Heels (In This Life)\" were also played in light rotation.\nRebuild was played with every band member from the other two bands on-stage.\n\nTour dates\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Tour Press Release\n Tour End\n Habitat For Humanity Press video\n A Special Habitat For Humanity Report by Drew Shirley\n\n2007 concert tours\nSwitchfoot concert tours\nHabitat for Humanity\nChristian concert tours"
] |
[
"The Smashing Pumpkins",
"Mainstream breakout: 1992-1994",
"What did the group do in 1992 to make their big breakout?",
"Siamese Dream debuted",
"What did they do that helped them become well known?",
"due to the popularity of grunge bands such as Nirvana and Pearl Jam, the Smashing Pumpkins were poised for major commercial success.",
"What was one of their best albums recorded?",
"Siamese Dream debuted at number ten on the Billboard 200 chart, and sold over four million copies in the U.S. alone.",
"How many other albums did they release?",
"In 1994 Virgin released the B-sides/rarities compilation Pisces Iscariot",
"Did they go on tour during this time period?",
"relentless touring to support the recordings, including headline slots on the 1994 Lollapalooza tour",
"Did they perform with other bands?",
"I don't know."
] | C_b6b56b0135f34b2a82530ebab0efd600_0 | Did they have any band member changes? | 7 | Did the Smashing Pumpkins have any band member changes? | The Smashing Pumpkins | With the breakthrough of alternative rock into the American mainstream due to the popularity of grunge bands such as Nirvana and Pearl Jam, the Smashing Pumpkins were poised for major commercial success. At this time, the Smashing Pumpkins were routinely lumped in with the grunge movement, with Corgan protesting, "We've graduated now from 'the next Jane's Addiction' to 'the next Nirvana', now we're 'the next Pearl Jam'." Amid this environment of intense internal pressure for the band to break through to widespread popularity, the band relocated to Marietta, Georgia in late 1992 to begin work on their second album, with Butch Vig returning as producer. The decision to record so far away from their hometown was motivated partly by the band's desire to avoid friends and distractions during the recording, but largely as a desperate attempt to cut Chamberlin off from his known drug connections. The recording environment for Siamese Dream was quickly marred by discord within the band. As was the case with Gish, Corgan and Vig decided that Corgan should play nearly all of the guitar and bass parts on the album, contributing to an air of resentment. The contemporary music press began to portray Corgan as a tyrant. Corgan's depression, meanwhile, had deepened to the point where he contemplated suicide, and he compensated by practically living in the studio. Meanwhile, Chamberlin quickly managed to find new connections and was often absent without any contact for days at a time. In all, it took over four months to complete the record, with the budget exceeding $250,000. Despite all the problems in its recording, Siamese Dream debuted at number ten on the Billboard 200 chart, and sold over four million copies in the U.S. alone. Alongside the band's mounting mainstream recognition, the band's reputation as careerists among their former peers in the independent music community was worsened. Indie rock band Pavement's 1994 song "Range Life" directly mocks the band in its lyrics, although Stephen Malkmus, lead singer of Pavement, has stated, "I never dissed their music. I just dissed their status." Former Husker Du frontman Bob Mould called them "the grunge Monkees", and fellow Chicago musician/producer Steve Albini wrote a scathing letter in response to an article praising the band, derisively comparing them to REO Speedwagon ("by, of and for the mainstream") and concluding their ultimate insignificance. The opening track and lead single of Siamese Dream, "Cherub Rock", directly addresses Corgan's feud with the "indie-world". In 1994 Virgin released the B-sides/rarities compilation Pisces Iscariot which charted higher than Siamese Dream by reaching number four on the Billboard 200. Also released was a VHS cassette titled Vieuphoria featuring a mix of live performances and behind-the-scenes footage. Following relentless touring to support the recordings, including headline slots on the 1994 Lollapalooza tour and at Reading Festival in 1995, the band took time off to write the follow-up album. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | The Smashing Pumpkins (or Smashing Pumpkins) are an American alternative rock band from Chicago. Formed in 1988 by frontman Billy Corgan (lead vocals, guitar), D'arcy Wretzky (bass), James Iha (guitar), and Jimmy Chamberlin (drums), the band has undergone many line-up changes. The current lineup features Corgan, Chamberlin, Iha and guitarist Jeff Schroeder.
Disavowing the punk rock roots of many of their alt-rock contemporaries, they have a diverse, densely layered, and guitar-heavy sound, containing elements of gothic rock, heavy metal, dream pop, psychedelic rock, progressive rock, shoegazing, and, in later recordings, electronica. Corgan is the group's primary songwriter; his musical ambitions and cathartic lyrics have shaped the band's albums and songs, which have been described as "anguished, bruised reports from Billy Corgan's nightmare-land".
The Smashing Pumpkins broke into the musical mainstream with their second album, 1993's Siamese Dream. The group built its audience with extensive touring and their 1995 follow-up, the double album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 album chart. With 30 million albums sold worldwide, the Smashing Pumpkins were one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands of the 1990s. However, internal fighting, drug use, and diminishing record sales led to a 2000 break-up.
In 2006, Corgan and Chamberlin reconvened to record a new Smashing Pumpkins album, Zeitgeist. After touring throughout 2007 and 2008 with a lineup including new guitarist Jeff Schroeder, Chamberlin left the band in early 2009. Later that year, Corgan began a new recording series with a rotating lineup of musicians entitled Teargarden by Kaleidyscope, which encompassed the release of stand-alone singles, compilation EP releases, and two full albums that also fell under the project's scope—Oceania in 2012 and Monuments to an Elegy in 2014. Chamberlin and Iha officially rejoined the band in February 2018. The reunited lineup released the album Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun. in November 2018 and Cyr in November 2020.
History
Early years: 1988–1991
After the breakup of his gothic rock band The Marked, singer and guitarist Billy Corgan left St. Petersburg, Florida, to return to his native city of Chicago, where he took a job in a record store and formed the idea of a new band to be called the Smashing Pumpkins. While working there, he met guitarist James Iha. Adorning themselves with paisley and other psychedelic trappings, the two began writing songs together (with the aid of a drum machine) that were heavily influenced by the Cure and New Order. The duo performed live for the first time on July 9, 1988 at the Polish bar Chicago 21. This performance included only Corgan on bass and Iha on guitar with a drum machine. Shortly thereafter, Corgan met D'arcy Wretzky after a show by the Dan Reed Network where they argued the merits of the band. After finding out Wretzky played bass guitar, Corgan recruited her into the lineup, and the trio played a show at the Avalon Nightclub. After this show, Cabaret Metro owner Joe Shanahan agreed to book the band on the condition that they replace the drum
machine with a live drummer.
Jazz drummer Jimmy Chamberlin was recommended by a friend of Corgan's. Chamberlin knew little of alternative music and immediately changed the sound of the nascent band. As Corgan recalled of the period, "We were completely into the sad-rock, Cure kind of thing. It took about two or three practices before I realized that the power in his playing was something that enabled us to rock harder than we could ever have imagined." On October 5, 1988, the complete band took the stage for the first time at the Cabaret Metro.
In 1989, the Smashing Pumpkins made their first appearance on record with the compilation album Light Into Dark, which featured several Chicago alternative bands. The group released its first single, "I Am One", in 1990 on local Chicago label Limited Potential. The single sold out and they released a follow-up, "Tristessa", on Sub Pop, after which they signed to Caroline Records. The band recorded their 1991 debut studio album Gish with producer Butch Vig at his Smart Studios in Madison, Wisconsin for $20,000. In order to gain the consistency he desired, Corgan often played all instruments excluding drums, which created tension in the band. The music fused heavy metal guitars, psychedelia, and dream pop, garnering them comparisons to Jane's Addiction. Gish became a minor success, with the single "Rhinoceros" receiving some airplay on modern rock radio. After releasing the Lull EP in October 1991 on Caroline Records, the band formally signed with Virgin Records, which was affiliated with Caroline. The band supported the album with a tour that included opening for bands such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jane's Addiction, and Guns N' Roses. During the tour, Iha and Wretzky went through a messy breakup, Chamberlin became addicted to narcotics and alcohol, and Corgan entered a deep depression, writing some songs for the upcoming album in the parking garage where he lived at the time.
Mainstream breakout and Siamese Dream: 1992–1994
With the breakthrough of alternative rock into the American mainstream due to the popularity of grunge bands such as Nirvana and Pearl Jam, the Smashing Pumpkins were poised for major commercial success. At this time, the Smashing Pumpkins were routinely lumped in with the grunge movement, with Corgan protesting, "We've graduated now from 'the next Jane's Addiction' to 'the next Nirvana', now we're 'the next Pearl Jam'."
Amid this environment of intense internal pressure for the band to break through to widespread popularity, the band relocated to Marietta, Georgia in late 1992 to begin work on their second album, with Butch Vig returning as producer. The decision to record so far away from their hometown was motivated partly by the band's desire to avoid friends and distractions during the recording, but largely as a desperate attempt to cut Chamberlin off from his known drug connections. The recording environment for Siamese Dream was quickly marred by discord within the band. As was the case with Gish, Corgan and Vig decided that Corgan should play nearly all of the guitar and bass parts on the album, contributing to an air of resentment. The contemporary music press began to portray Corgan as a tyrant. Corgan's depression, meanwhile, had deepened to the point where he contemplated suicide, and he compensated by practically living in the studio. Meanwhile, Chamberlin quickly managed to find new connections and was often absent without any contact for days at a time. In all, it took over four months to complete the record, with the budget exceeding $250,000.
Despite all the problems in its recording, Siamese Dream debuted at number ten on the Billboard 200 chart, and sold over four million copies in the U.S. alone. Alongside the band's mounting mainstream recognition, the band's reputation as careerists among their former peers in the independent music community was worsened. Indie rock band Pavement's 1994 song "Range Life" directly mocks the band in its lyrics, although Stephen Malkmus, lead singer of Pavement, has stated, "I never dissed their music. I just dissed their status." Former Hüsker Dü frontman Bob Mould called them "the grunge Monkees", and fellow Chicago musician/producer Steve Albini wrote a scathing letter in response to an article praising the band, derisively comparing them to REO Speedwagon ("by, of and for the mainstream") and concluding their ultimate insignificance. The opening track and lead single of Siamese Dream, "Cherub Rock", directly addresses Corgan's feud with the "indie-world".
In 1994 Virgin released the B-sides/rarities compilation Pisces Iscariot which charted higher than Siamese Dream by reaching number four on the Billboard 200. Also released was a VHS cassette titled Vieuphoria featuring a mix of live performances and behind-the-scenes footage. Following relentless touring to support the recordings, including headline slots on the 1994 Lollapalooza tour and at Reading Festival in 1995, the band took time off to write the follow-up album.
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness: 1995–1997
During 1995, Corgan wrote about 56 songs, following which the band went into the studio with producers Flood and Alan Moulder to work on what Corgan described as "The Wall for Generation X", and which became Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, a double album of twenty-eight songs, lasting over two hours (the vinyl version of the album contained three records, two extra songs, and an alternate track listing). The songs were intended to hang together conceptually as a symbol of the cycle of life and death. Praised by Time as "the group's most ambitious and accomplished work yet", Mellon Collie debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 in October 1995. Even more successful than Siamese Dream, it was certified ten times platinum in the United States and became the best-selling double album of the decade. It also garnered seven 1997 Grammy Award nominations, including Album of the Year. The band won only the Best Hard Rock Performance award, for the album's lead single "Bullet with Butterfly Wings". The album spawned five singles—"Bullet with Butterfly Wings", "1979", "Zero", "Tonight, Tonight" which Corgan stated was inspired by the Cheap Trick song "I'll Be with You Tonight", and "Thirty-Three"—of which the first three were certified gold and all but "Zero" entered the Top 40. Many of the songs that did not make it onto Mellon Collie were released as B-sides to the singles, and were later compiled in The Aeroplane Flies High box set. The set was originally limited to 200,000 copies, but more were produced to meet demand.
In 1996 the Pumpkins undertook an extended world tour in support of Mellon Collie. Corgan's look during this period—a shaved head, a long sleeve black shirt with the word "Zero" printed on it, and silver pants—became iconic. That year, the band also made a guest appearance in an episode of The Simpsons, "Homerpalooza". With considerable video rotation on MTV, major industry awards, and "Zero" shirts selling in many malls, the Pumpkins were considered one of the most popular bands of the time.
In May, the Smashing Pumpkins played a gig at the Point Theatre in Dublin, Ireland. Despite the band's repeated requests for moshing to stop, a seventeen-year-old fan named Bernadette O'Brien was crushed to death. The concert ended early and the following night's performance in Belfast was cancelled out of respect for her. However, while Corgan maintained that moshing's "time [had] come and gone", the band would continue to request open-floor concerts throughout the rest of the tour.
The band suffered a personal tragedy on the night of July 11, 1996, when touring keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin and Chamberlin overdosed on heroin in a hotel room in New York City. Melvoin died, and Chamberlin was arrested for drug possession. A few days later, the band announced that Chamberlin had been fired as a result of the incident. The Pumpkins chose to finish the tour, and hired drummer Matt Walker and keyboardist Dennis Flemion. Corgan later said the decision to continue touring was the worst decision the band had ever made, damaging both their music and their reputation. Chamberlin admitted in a 1994 Rolling Stone cover story that in the past he'd "gotten high in every city in this country and probably half the cities in Europe." But in recent years, he had reportedly been clean. On July 17, the Pumpkins issued a statement in which they said, "For nine years we have battled with Jimmy's struggles with the insidious disease of drug and alcohol addiction. It has nearly destroyed everything we are and stand for. … We wish [him] the best we have to offer". Meanwhile, the band had given interviews since the release of Mellon Collie stating that it would be the last conventional Pumpkins record, and that rock was becoming stale. James Iha said at the end of 1996, "The future is in electronic music. It really seems boring just to play rock music."
Adore, Machina, and breakup: 1998–2000
After the release of Mellon Collie, the Pumpkins contributed many songs to various compilations. Released in early 1997, the song "Eye", which appeared on the soundtrack to David Lynch's Lost Highway, relied almost exclusively on electronic instruments and signaled a drastic shift from the Pumpkins' previous musical styles. At the time, Corgan stated his "idea [was] to reconfigure the focus and get away from the classic guitars-bass-drum rock format." Later that year, the group contributed "The End Is the Beginning Is the End" to the soundtrack for the film Batman & Robin. With Matt Walker on drums, the song featured a heavy sound similar to "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" while still having strong electronic influences. The song later won the 1998 Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance. Though Corgan announced that the song represented the sound people could expect from the band in the future, the band's next album would feature few guitar-driven songs.
Recorded following the death of Corgan's mother and his divorce, 1998's Adore represented a significant change of style from the Pumpkins' previous guitar-based rock, veering into electronica. The record, cut with assistance from drum machines and studio drummers including Matt Walker, was infused with a darker aesthetic than much of the band's earlier work. The group also modified its public image, shedding its alternative rock look for a more subdued appearance. Although Adore received favorable reviews and was nominated for Best Alternative Performance at the Grammy Awards, the album had only sold about 830,000 copies in the United States by the end of the year. The album nonetheless debuted at number 2 on the Billboard 200 and sold three times as many copies overseas. The band began a seventeen-date, fifteen-city charity North American tour in support of Adore. At each stop on the tour, the band donated 100 percent of tickets sales to a local charity organization. The tour's expenses were entirely funded out of the band's own pockets. All told, the band donated over $2.8 million to charity as a result of the tour. On October 31, 1998 during Halloween, the band opened for Kiss at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, dressed in costume as The Beatles.
In 1999 the band surprised fans by reuniting with a rehabilitated Jimmy Chamberlin for a brief tour dubbed "The Arising", which showcased both new and classic material. The lineup was short-lived, however, as the band announced the departure of Wretzky in September during work on the album Machina/The Machines of God. Former Hole bassist Melissa Auf der Maur was recruited for the "Sacred and Profane" tour in support of the album and appeared in the videos accompanying its release. Released in 2000, Machina was initially promoted as the Pumpkins' return to a more traditional rock sound, after the more gothic, electronic-sounding Adore. The album debuted at number three on the Billboard charts, but quickly disappeared and as of 2007 had only been certified gold. Music journalist Jim DeRogatis, who described the album as "one of the strongest of their career", noted that the stalled sales for Machina in comparison to teen pop ascendant at the time "seems like concrete proof that a new wave of young pop fans has turned a deaf ear toward alternative rock."
On May 23, 2000, in a live radio interview on KROQ-FM (Los Angeles), Billy Corgan announced the band's decision to break up at the end of that year following additional touring and recording. The group's final album before the break-up, Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music, was released in September 2000 in a limited pressing on vinyl with permission and instructions for free redistribution on the Internet by fans. Only twenty-five copies were cut, each of which was hand numbered and given to friends of the band along with band members themselves. The album, released under the Constantinople Records label created by Corgan, consisted of one double LP and three ten-inch EPs. Originally, the band asked Virgin to offer Machina II as a free download to anyone who bought Machina. When the record label declined, Corgan opted to release the material independently.
On December 2, 2000, Smashing Pumpkins played a farewell concert at The Metro, the same Chicago club where their career had effectively started twelve years earlier. The four-and-a-half-hour-long show featured 35 songs spanning the group's career, and attendees were given a recording of the band's first concert at The Metro, Live at Cabaret Metro 10-5-88. The single "Untitled" was released commercially to coincide with the farewell show.
Post-breakup: 2001–2004
In 2001 the compilation Rotten Apples was released. The double-disc version of the album, released as a limited edition, included a collection of B-sides and rarities called Judas O. The Greatest Hits Video Collection DVD was also released at the same time. This was a compilation of all of the Pumpkins promo videos from Gish to Machina along with unreleased material. Vieuphoria was released on DVD in 2002, as was the soundtrack album Earphoria, previously released solely to radio stations in 1994.
Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin reunited in 2001 as members of Corgan's next project, the short-lived supergroup Zwan. The group's only album, Mary Star of the Sea, was released in 2003. After cancelling a few festival appearances, Corgan announced the demise of the band in 2003. During 2001 Corgan also toured as part of New Order and provided vocals on their comeback album Get Ready. In October 2004 Corgan released his first book, Blinking with Fists, a collection of poetry. In June 2005, he released a solo album, TheFutureEmbrace, which he described as "(picking) up the thread of the as-yet-unfinished work of the Smashing Pumpkins". Despite this, it was greeted with generally mixed reviews and lackluster sales. Only one single, "Walking Shade", was released in support of the album.
In addition to drumming with Zwan, Jimmy Chamberlin also formed an alternative rock/jazz fusion project band called Jimmy Chamberlin Complex. The group released an album in 2005 titled Life Begins Again. Corgan provided guest vocals on the track "Lokicat". James Iha served as a guitarist in A Perfect Circle, appearing on their Thirteenth Step club tour and 2004 album, eMOTIVe. He has also been involved with other acts such as Chino Moreno's Team Sleep and Vanessa and the O's. He continues to work with Scratchie Records, his own record label, as well. D'arcy Wretzky has, aside from one radio interview in 2009, not made any public statements or appearances nor given any interviews since leaving the band in 1999. On January 25, 2000, she was arrested after she allegedly purchased three bags of cocaine, but after successfully completing a court-ordered drug education program, the charges were dropped.
Corgan insisted during this period that the band would not reform, although when Zwan broke up he announced, "I think my heart was in Smashing Pumpkins […] I think it was naive of me to think that I could find something that would mean as much to me." Corgan said in 2005, "I never wanted to leave the Smashing Pumpkins. That was never the plan." On February 17, 2004, Corgan posted a message on his personal blog calling Wretzky a "mean-spirited drug addict" and blaming Iha for the breakup of the Smashing Pumpkins. On June 3, 2004, he added that "the depth of my hurt [from Iha] is only matched with the depth of my gratitude". Iha responded to Corgan's claims in 2005, saying, "No, I didn't break up the band. The only person who could have done that is Billy."
Reformation and Zeitgeist: 2005–2008
On June 21, 2005, the day of the release of his first solo album TheFutureEmbrace, Corgan took out full-page advertisements in the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times to announce that he planned to reunite the band. "For a year now", Corgan wrote, "I have walked around with a secret, a secret I chose to keep. But now I want you to be among the first to know that I have made plans to renew and revive the Smashing Pumpkins. I want my band back, and my songs, and my dreams". Corgan and Chamberlin were verified as participants in the reunion, but there was question as to whether other former members of the band would participate.
In April 2007 Iha and Auf der Maur separately confirmed that they were not taking part in the reunion. Chamberlin would later state that Iha and Wretzky "didn't want to be a part of" the reunion. The Smashing Pumpkins performed live for the first time since 2000 on May 22, 2007, in Paris, France. There, the band unveiled new touring members: guitarist Jeff Schroeder, bassist Ginger Reyes, and keyboardist Lisa Harriton. That same month, "Tarantula" was released as the first single from the band's forthcoming album. On July 7, the band performed at the Live Earth concert in New Jersey.
The band's new album, Zeitgeist, was released that same month on Reprise Records, entering the Billboard charts at number two and selling 145,000 copies in its first week. Zeitgeist received mixed reviews, with much of the criticism targeted at the absence of half of the original lineup. The album divided the Pumpkins' fanbase. Corgan would later admit, "I know a lot of our fans are puzzled by Zeitgeist. I think they wanted this massive, grandiose work, but you don't just roll out of bed after seven years without a functioning band and go back to doing that".
Corgan and Chamberlin continued to record as a duo, releasing the four-song EP American Gothic in January 2008 and the singles "Superchrist" and "G.L.O.W." later that year. That November, the group released the DVD If All Goes Wrong, which chronicled the group's 2007 concert residences in Asheville, North Carolina and San Francisco, California. In late 2008, the band commenced on a controversy-riddled 20th Anniversary Tour. Around this time, Corgan said the group will make no more full-length records in order to focus exclusively on singles, explaining, "The listening patterns have changed, so why are we killing ourselves to do albums, to create balance, and do the arty track to set up the single? It's done."
Teargarden and Oceania: 2009–2013
In March 2009 Corgan announced on the band's website that Chamberlin had left the group and would be replaced. Chamberlin subsequently stated that his departure from the band is "a positive move forward for me. I can no longer commit all of my energy into something that I don't fully possess." Chamberlin stressed that the split was amicable, commenting, "I am glad [Corgan] has chosen to continue under the name. It is his right." Chamberlin soon formed the band Skysaw, which has released an album and toured in support of Minus the Bear. In July 2009 Billy Corgan formed a new group called Spirits in the Sky, initially as a tribute band to Sky Saxon of the Seeds, who had recently died. The following month Corgan confirmed on the band's website that 19-year-old Spirits in the Sky drummer Mike Byrne had replaced Chamberlin and that the pair was working on new Pumpkins recordings.
The group announced plans to release a 44-track concept album, Teargarden by Kaleidyscope, for free over the Internet one track at a time. The first track, "A Song for a Son", was released in December 2009 to moderate press acclaim. In March 2010 Ginger Reyes officially left the band, prompting an open call for auditions for a new bassist. In May, Nicole Fiorentino announced she had joined the band as bass player, and would be working on Teargarden by Kaleidyscope. The new lineup went on a world tour through to the end of 2010. One of the first shows with the new lineup was a concert to benefit Matthew Leone, bassist for the rock band Madina Lake, at the Metro on July 27, 2010. In late 2010 all four members contributed to the sessions for the third volume of Teargarden.
On April 26, 2011, Corgan announced that the Smashing Pumpkins would be releasing a new album titled Oceania, which he labeled as "an album within an album" in regards to the Teargarden by Kaleidyscope project, in the fall. As with the previous recording sessions, all four band members contributed to the project. Also, the entire album catalog was to be remastered and reissued with bonus tracks, starting with Gish and Siamese Dream in November 2011. The pre-Gish demos, Pisces Iscariot, and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness were released in 2012, with The Aeroplane Flies High released the following year. Adore was released in 2014, and Machina/The Machines of God and the yet commercially unreleased Machina II/Friends and Enemies of Modern Music are expected to be combined, remixed, and released in the same year. The band did a thirteen-city US tour in October 2011 followed by a European tour in November and December.
Oceania was released on June 19, 2012, and received generally positive reviews. The album debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 and at No. 1 on the Billboard Independent. The album spawned two singles, "The Celestials" and "Panopticon". The band proceeded to tour in support of the album, including a US tour involving playing the album in its entirety. By September 2012, Corgan stated that the band had already begun work on their next album. However, despite this, the band concentrated on touring, playing at Glastonbury Festival, Dour Festival and the Barclays Center, where they recorded Oceania: Live in NYC, which was released on September 24, 2013.
Monuments to an Elegy: 2014–2016
On March 25, 2014, Corgan announced he had signed a new record deal with BMG, for two new albums, titled Monuments to an Elegy and Day for Night, respectively. In June, it was revealed that Mike Byrne was no longer in the band, to be replaced by Tommy Lee of Mötley Crüe on the new album, and Fiorentino would not be recording on the album either. Monuments to an Elegy was released on December 5, 2014, to generally positive reviews. The band toured in support of the album starting on November 26, with Rage Against the Machine's Brad Wilk filling in on drums and the Killers' Mark Stoermer filling in on bass. The follow-up proposed album Day For Night was cited for delayed late 2015 or early 2016 release.
Later in 2015 Corgan announced that the band would embark on a co-headlining tour of North America with Marilyn Manson, "The End Times Tour", across July and August 2015. Prior to the co-headlining dates, the band performed a series of acoustic shows with drum machines and tapes for percussion. When the time came for the co-headlining tour, plans for a drummer fell through and Corgan recruited Chamberlin to reunite for the shows. On February 1, 2016, it was announced that the band would continue their In Plainsong acoustic tour with Jimmy Chamberlin on drums and were planning to head "straight to the studio after the dates to record a brand new album inspired by the sounds explored in the new acoustic setting". On February 25, 2016, Corgan posted a video from a Los Angeles studio on the band's Facebook account, giving an update on the writing process for the new songs for the upcoming album to be released after the In Plainsong tour.
The tour began in Portland, Oregon, on March 22, 2016.
Iha and Chamberlin's return; Shiny and Oh So Bright and Cyr: 2018–present
On his birthday on March 26, 2016, original guitarist James Iha joined Billy Corgan, Jimmy Chamberlin, and Jeff Schroeder on stage unannounced at the Ace Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. He performed a few songs, including "Mayonaise", "Soma" and "Whir" marking his first appearance with the Smashing Pumpkins in 16 years. Iha also played at the second of the two Smashing Pumpkins shows at the Ace Hotel the following day, which was Easter Sunday. Iha joined the Pumpkins for a third time at their concert of April 14 at the Civic Opera House in Chicago. In July, Corgan began hinting of the possibility of reuniting the band original lineup, of himself, Iha, Wretzky, and Chamberlin, and in August, he stated he had begun reaching out to the original lineup about the feasibility of a reunion, including speaking to Wretzky for the first time in sixteen years. Despite the comments, Corgan would spend much of 2017 working on solo material – recording and releasing the solo album Ogilala and beginning work on another solo album for 2018. In June 2017 Chamberlin also mentioned the possibility of a reunion tour in 2018. In January 2018 Corgan shared a photo of himself, Iha, and Chamberlin together in recording studio. In February 2018 Corgan announced that he was working with music producer Rick Rubin on a future Smashing Pumpkins album, that there were currently 26 songs he was actively working on, and that "the guitar feels once again like the preferred weapon of choice." Soon afterwards, Corgan shared a photo of sound equipment with Iha's name on a label, as well as announcing recording was finished on the album.
On February 15, 2018, the band officially announced that founding members Iha and Chamberlin were back in the band. They embarked on the Shiny And Oh So Bright Tour starting in July, with a focus on performing material from their first five studio albums. and sold over 350,000 tickets and sold out arenas including The Forum, United Center, and Madison Square Garden. Original bassist D'arcy Wretzky claimed she had been offered a contract to rejoin the band but Corgan rescinded the offer soon after. Corgan released a statement denying the claims, stating "Ms. Wretzky has repeatedly been invited out to play with the group, participate in demo sessions, or at the very least, meet face-to-face, and in each and every instance she always deferred". Jack Bates (son of Joy Division bassist Peter Hook) played bass on the tour. Bates previously toured with the Smashing Pumpkins in 2015. Multi-instrumentalist Katie Cole rejoined the band for the tour as well, singing backup vocals and playing keyboards and guitar.
In March 2018, Corgan mentioned the band planned to release two EPs in 2018, with the first tentatively planned for May. On June 8, 2018, the first single from the set of music, "Solara", was released. On August 2, 2018, the band celebrated their 30th anniversary by performing in Holmdel, New Jersey. with several notable special guests including Courtney Love, Chino Moreno, Davey Havok, Peter Hook, Mark McGrath, and Dave Keuning and Mark Stoermer of The Killers. In September 2018, they announced the album Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun., released via Napalm Records on November 16, 2018, which debuted at number 54 on the Billboard 200 chart.
After touring through much of 2019, Corgan noted in January 2020 that the band was currently working on 21 songs for a future album release. On August 28, 2020, the band released the single and video for "Cyr", along with a second track titled "The Colour of Love" from their album Cyr, which was released through their new record label Sumerian Records on November 27, 2020. It serves as the second part of the Shiny and Oh So Bright series. On September 25, 2020, the band released another single from Cyr that included the songs "Confessions of a Dopamine Addict" and "Wrath". On October 9, 2020, the band released a third single for Cyr that featured the tracks "Anno Satana" and "Birch Grove". On October 29, the band released "Ramona" and "Wyttch" as the fourth pair of singles. On November 20, 2020, the songs "Purple Blood" and "Dulcet in E" were released as the fifth and final single for Cyr. The following week, on November 27, 2020, the band released Cyr. Despite never getting to properly tour Cyr, the band did play four songs from the album at their headlining shows at Riot Fest and Sea.Hear.Now Festival in September 2021.
In late 2020, Corgan announced that the band would begin work on another double album for release in 2021, although the year passed without the album releasing. The double album is to serve as a sequel to the overarching story of Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness and Machina: The Machines of God. On February 22, the band announced on social media the Rock Invasion 2 Tour, which had previously been set to take place in spring 2020, but had been postponed to fall 2020 and subsequently canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The newly announced incarnation of the tour had entirely new locations spanning 11 US cities accompanying the band's spring festival appearances and four performances in Mexico, their first since 2013.
Musical style, influences, and legacy
The direction of the band is dominated by lead guitarist, lead vocalist, keyboardist, bassist and principal songwriter Billy Corgan. Journalist Greg Kot wrote, "The music [of the Smashing Pumpkins] would not be what it is without his ambition and vision, and his famously fractured relationships with his family, friends, and bandmembers." Melissa Auf der Maur commented upon news of the group's reunion, "Everyone knows Billy doesn't need too many people to make a Pumpkins record, other than Jimmy [Chamberlin]—who he has on board." In a 2015 interview Corgan himself referred to the current iteration of the band "as sort of an open source collective" noting that "It's whoever feels right at the time." Many of Corgan's lyrics for the Pumpkins are cathartic expressions of emotion, full of personal musings and strong indictments of himself and those close to him. Music critics were not often fans of Corgan's angst-filled lyrics. Jim DeRogatis wrote in a 1993 Chicago Sun-Times article that Corgan's lyrics "too often sound like sophomoric poetry", although he viewed the lyrics of later albums Adore and Machina as an improvement. The band's songs have been described as "anguished, bruised reports from Billy Corgan's nightmare-land" by journalist William Shaw.
Smashing Pumpkins, unlike many alternative rock bands at the time, disavowed the influence of punk rock on their sound. Overall, they have a diverse, densely layered, and guitar-heavy sound, containing elements of gothic rock, heavy metal, dream pop, psychedelic rock, progressive rock, shoegazing, and electronica in later recordings.
The Smashing Pumpkins' distinctive sound up until Adore involved layering numerous guitar tracks onto a song during the recording process, a tactic that Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness coproducer Flood called the "Pumpkin guitar overdub army." Although there were a lot of overdubbed parts on Gish, Corgan began to really explore the possibilities of overdubbing with Siamese Dream; Corgan has stated that "Soma" alone contains up to 40 overdubbed guitar parts. While Corgan knew many of the songs would be difficult or impossible to replicate from their recorded versions in concert (in fact, some songs were drastically altered for live performance), he has explained the use of overdubbing by posing the question "When you are faced with making a permanent recorded representation of a song, why not endow it with the grandest possible vision?" This use of multilayered sounds was inspired by Corgan's love of 1970s popular artists & bands such as: David Bowie, Cheap Trick, Queen, Boston, and the Electric Light Orchestra, as well as shoegaze, a British alternative rock style of the late 1980s and early 1990s that relied on swirling layers of guitar noise for effect. Mellon Collie coproducer Alan Moulder was originally hired to mix Siamese Dream because Corgan was a fan of his work producing shoegaze bands such as My Bloody Valentine, Ride, and Slowdive.
Like many contemporary alternative bands, the Smashing Pumpkins utilized shifts in song dynamics, going from quiet to loud and vice versa. Hüsker Dü's seminal album Zen Arcade demonstrated to the band how they could place gentler material against more aggressive fare, and Corgan made such shifts in dynamics central to the pursuit of his grand musical ambitions. Corgan said he liked the idea of creating his own alternative universe through sound that essentially tells the listener, "Welcome to Pumpkin Land, this is what it sounds like on Planet Pumpkin." This emphasis on atmosphere carried through to Adore (described as "arcane night music" in prerelease promotion) and the Machina albums (concept records that tell the story of a fictional rock band).
The Pumpkins drew inspiration from a variety of other genres, some unfashionable during the 1990s among music critics. Corgan in particular was open about his appreciation of heavy metal, citing Dimebag Darrell of Pantera as his favorite contemporary guitarist. When one interviewer commented to Corgan and Iha that "Smashing Pumpkins is one of the groups that relegitimized heavy metal" and that they "were among the first alternative rockers to mention people like Ozzy and Black Sabbath with anything other than contempt". Corgan went on to rave about Black Sabbath's Master of Reality and Judas Priest's Unleashed in the East. The song "Zero", which reminded Iha of Judas Priest, is an example of what the band dubbed "cybermetal." Post-punk and gothic rock bands like Joy Division/New Order, Bauhaus, the Cure, and Depeche Mode were formative influences on the band, which covered such artists in concert and on record. Corgan also cited Siouxsie and the Banshees saying it was important to point back to bands that influenced them. Psychedelic rock was also referenced often in the band's early recordings; according to Corgan, "In typical Pumpkins fashion, no one at that point really liked loud guitars or psychedelic music so, of course, that's exactly what we had to do." Corgan felt that the band's guitars "are a mixture of heavy metal and 80s alternative rock. I think of Cure and Siouxsie and the Banshees". Corgan acknowledged that a chord he jokingly claimed as "the Pumpkin chord" (a G# octave chord at the eleventh fret of a guitar with the low E string played over it), used as the basis for "Cherub Rock", "Drown", and other songs, was in fact previously used by Jimi Hendrix. Other early influences cited by Corgan include Cream, the Stooges, and Blue Cheer.
Regarding the band's influence upon other groups, Greg Kot wrote in 2001, "Whereas Nirvana spawned countless mini-Nirvanas, the Pumpkins remain an island unto themselves." Still, some artists and bands have been influenced by the Pumpkins, such as Nelly Furtado, Marilyn Manson, Third Eye Blind, Mark Hoppus of Blink-182, Tegan and Sara, Fall Out Boy, Rivers Cuomo, Panic! at the Disco, Silversun Pickups, and My Chemical Romance. My Chemical Romance vocalist Gerard Way has said that they pattern their career upon the Pumpkins', including music videos. The members of fellow Chicago band Kill Hannah are friends with Corgan, and lead singer Mat Devine has compared his group to the Pumpkins.
The group has sold over 30 million albums worldwide as of October 2012, and sales in the United States alone reaching 19.75 million.
Music videos
The Smashing Pumpkins have been praised as "responsible for some of the most striking and memorable video clips" and for having "approached videos from a completely artistic standpoint rather than mere commercials to sell albums". MTV's 2001 anniversary special Testimony: 20 Years of Rock on MTV credited the Pumpkins, along with Nine Inch Nails, with treating music videos as an art form during the 1990s. Corgan has said, "We generally resisted the idea of what I call the classic MTV rock video, which is like lots of people jumping around and stuff." The band worked with video directors including Kevin Kerslake ("Cherub Rock"), Samuel Bayer ("Bullet with Butterfly Wings"), and, most frequently, the team of Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris ("Rocket", "1979", "Tonight, Tonight", "The End Is the Beginning Is the End", and "Perfect"). Corgan, who was frequently heavily involved in the conception of the videos, said of Dayton and Faris, "I know my [initial] versions are always darker, and they're always talking me into something a little kinder and gentler." Videos like "Today", "Rocket", and "1979" dealt with images taken from middle American culture, albeit exaggerated. The group's videos so often avoid the literal interpretation of the song lyrics that the video for "Thirty-Three", with images closely related to the words of the song, was created as an intentional stylistic departure.
The band was nominated for several MTV Video Music Awards during the 1990s. In 1996, the group won eight VMAs total for the "1979" and "Tonight, Tonight" videos, including the top award, Video of the Year, for "Tonight, Tonight". The video was also nominated for a Grammy at the 1997 ceremony. Of the "Tonight, Tonight" video, Corgan remarked, "I don't think we've ever had people react [like this]... it just seemed to touch a nerve."
Shortly after the band's 2000 breakup, the Greatest Hits Video Collection was released, collecting the band's music videos from 1991 to 2000 and including commentary from Corgan, Iha, Chamberlin, Wretzky, and various music video directors with outtakes, live performances, and the extended "Try, Try, Try" short film.
Band members
Current members
Billy Corgan – lead vocals, guitars, keyboards, bass guitar (1988–2000, 2006–present)
James Iha – guitars, bass guitar, vocals (1988–2000, 2018–present)
Jimmy Chamberlin – drums (1988–1996, 1998–2000, 2006–2009, 2015–present)
Jeff Schroeder – guitars, keyboards (2007–present)
Live members
Jack Bates – bass guitar (2015–present)
Katie Cole – keyboards, backing vocals (2015–present)
Former members
D'arcy Wretzky – bass guitar, backing vocals (1988–1999)
Melissa Auf der Maur – bass guitar (1999–2000)
Mike Byrne – drums, backing vocals, keyboards (2009–2014)
Nicole Fiorentino – bass guitar, backing vocals, keyboards (2010–2014)
Awards
American Music Awards
1997 – Best Alternative Artist
Grammy Awards
1997 – "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" – Best Hard Rock Performance
1998 – "The End Is the Beginning Is the End" – Best Hard Rock Performance
MTV Europe Music Awards
1996 – Best Rock
MTV Video Music Awards
1996 – "Tonight, Tonight" – Video of the Year, Breakthrough Video, Best Direction, Best Visual Effects, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography
1996 – "1979" – Best Alternative Video
Discography
Studio albums
Gish (1991)
Siamese Dream (1993)
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1995)
Adore (1998)
Machina/The Machines of God (2000)
Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music (2000)
Zeitgeist (2007)
Oceania (2012)†
Monuments to an Elegy (2014)†
Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun. (2018)
Cyr (2020)
Notes
† Part of Teargarden by Kaleidyscope (2009–2014), an overarching project abandoned before completion.
See also
List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. alternative rock chart
Notes
References
Bibliography
Further reading
External links
1988 establishments in Illinois
Alternative rock groups from Chicago
Articles which contain graphical timelines
Caroline Records artists
Grammy Award winners
MTV Europe Music Award winners
Musical groups established in 1988
Musical groups disestablished in 2000
Musical groups reestablished in 2006
Musical quartets
American musical trios
Reprise Records artists
Sumerian Records artists
Virgin Records artists
Musical groups from Chicago | false | [
"The Smashing Pumpkins are an American alternative rock band formed in 1988. The band has recorded many songs since their formation, with frontman Billy Corgan being the principle songwriter for most of their songs. The Smashing Pumpkins have also gone through many line-up changes, with Corgan being the most consistent member of the group. Below is a list of songs they have recorded as a band.\n\nList\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\nSmashing Pumpkins, The",
"Many notable bands originally went by different names before their mainstream breakthrough. This list of original names of bands list only former official band names that are significantly different from the eventual \"famous\" name. This list does not include former band names that have only minor differences, such as stylisation changes, with the band's final band name.\n\nThe bands listed here must be notable, can be from any genre of music, and includes vocal groups whose members do not play instruments.\n\nList\nThis is a sortable list, ordered alphabetically, starting with the name that the band is best known as, followed by the band's original name, and any other names they previously used (in chronological order).\n\nSee also \n List of band name etymologies\n\nReferences \n\nLists of bands"
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"What did the group do in 1992 to make their big breakout?",
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"How many other albums did they release?",
"In 1994 Virgin released the B-sides/rarities compilation Pisces Iscariot",
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] | C_b6b56b0135f34b2a82530ebab0efd600_0 | Were they well followed by the public? | 8 | Were the Smashing Pumpkins well followed by the public? | The Smashing Pumpkins | With the breakthrough of alternative rock into the American mainstream due to the popularity of grunge bands such as Nirvana and Pearl Jam, the Smashing Pumpkins were poised for major commercial success. At this time, the Smashing Pumpkins were routinely lumped in with the grunge movement, with Corgan protesting, "We've graduated now from 'the next Jane's Addiction' to 'the next Nirvana', now we're 'the next Pearl Jam'." Amid this environment of intense internal pressure for the band to break through to widespread popularity, the band relocated to Marietta, Georgia in late 1992 to begin work on their second album, with Butch Vig returning as producer. The decision to record so far away from their hometown was motivated partly by the band's desire to avoid friends and distractions during the recording, but largely as a desperate attempt to cut Chamberlin off from his known drug connections. The recording environment for Siamese Dream was quickly marred by discord within the band. As was the case with Gish, Corgan and Vig decided that Corgan should play nearly all of the guitar and bass parts on the album, contributing to an air of resentment. The contemporary music press began to portray Corgan as a tyrant. Corgan's depression, meanwhile, had deepened to the point where he contemplated suicide, and he compensated by practically living in the studio. Meanwhile, Chamberlin quickly managed to find new connections and was often absent without any contact for days at a time. In all, it took over four months to complete the record, with the budget exceeding $250,000. Despite all the problems in its recording, Siamese Dream debuted at number ten on the Billboard 200 chart, and sold over four million copies in the U.S. alone. Alongside the band's mounting mainstream recognition, the band's reputation as careerists among their former peers in the independent music community was worsened. Indie rock band Pavement's 1994 song "Range Life" directly mocks the band in its lyrics, although Stephen Malkmus, lead singer of Pavement, has stated, "I never dissed their music. I just dissed their status." Former Husker Du frontman Bob Mould called them "the grunge Monkees", and fellow Chicago musician/producer Steve Albini wrote a scathing letter in response to an article praising the band, derisively comparing them to REO Speedwagon ("by, of and for the mainstream") and concluding their ultimate insignificance. The opening track and lead single of Siamese Dream, "Cherub Rock", directly addresses Corgan's feud with the "indie-world". In 1994 Virgin released the B-sides/rarities compilation Pisces Iscariot which charted higher than Siamese Dream by reaching number four on the Billboard 200. Also released was a VHS cassette titled Vieuphoria featuring a mix of live performances and behind-the-scenes footage. Following relentless touring to support the recordings, including headline slots on the 1994 Lollapalooza tour and at Reading Festival in 1995, the band took time off to write the follow-up album. CANNOTANSWER | band's mounting mainstream recognition, | The Smashing Pumpkins (or Smashing Pumpkins) are an American alternative rock band from Chicago. Formed in 1988 by frontman Billy Corgan (lead vocals, guitar), D'arcy Wretzky (bass), James Iha (guitar), and Jimmy Chamberlin (drums), the band has undergone many line-up changes. The current lineup features Corgan, Chamberlin, Iha and guitarist Jeff Schroeder.
Disavowing the punk rock roots of many of their alt-rock contemporaries, they have a diverse, densely layered, and guitar-heavy sound, containing elements of gothic rock, heavy metal, dream pop, psychedelic rock, progressive rock, shoegazing, and, in later recordings, electronica. Corgan is the group's primary songwriter; his musical ambitions and cathartic lyrics have shaped the band's albums and songs, which have been described as "anguished, bruised reports from Billy Corgan's nightmare-land".
The Smashing Pumpkins broke into the musical mainstream with their second album, 1993's Siamese Dream. The group built its audience with extensive touring and their 1995 follow-up, the double album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 album chart. With 30 million albums sold worldwide, the Smashing Pumpkins were one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands of the 1990s. However, internal fighting, drug use, and diminishing record sales led to a 2000 break-up.
In 2006, Corgan and Chamberlin reconvened to record a new Smashing Pumpkins album, Zeitgeist. After touring throughout 2007 and 2008 with a lineup including new guitarist Jeff Schroeder, Chamberlin left the band in early 2009. Later that year, Corgan began a new recording series with a rotating lineup of musicians entitled Teargarden by Kaleidyscope, which encompassed the release of stand-alone singles, compilation EP releases, and two full albums that also fell under the project's scope—Oceania in 2012 and Monuments to an Elegy in 2014. Chamberlin and Iha officially rejoined the band in February 2018. The reunited lineup released the album Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun. in November 2018 and Cyr in November 2020.
History
Early years: 1988–1991
After the breakup of his gothic rock band The Marked, singer and guitarist Billy Corgan left St. Petersburg, Florida, to return to his native city of Chicago, where he took a job in a record store and formed the idea of a new band to be called the Smashing Pumpkins. While working there, he met guitarist James Iha. Adorning themselves with paisley and other psychedelic trappings, the two began writing songs together (with the aid of a drum machine) that were heavily influenced by the Cure and New Order. The duo performed live for the first time on July 9, 1988 at the Polish bar Chicago 21. This performance included only Corgan on bass and Iha on guitar with a drum machine. Shortly thereafter, Corgan met D'arcy Wretzky after a show by the Dan Reed Network where they argued the merits of the band. After finding out Wretzky played bass guitar, Corgan recruited her into the lineup, and the trio played a show at the Avalon Nightclub. After this show, Cabaret Metro owner Joe Shanahan agreed to book the band on the condition that they replace the drum
machine with a live drummer.
Jazz drummer Jimmy Chamberlin was recommended by a friend of Corgan's. Chamberlin knew little of alternative music and immediately changed the sound of the nascent band. As Corgan recalled of the period, "We were completely into the sad-rock, Cure kind of thing. It took about two or three practices before I realized that the power in his playing was something that enabled us to rock harder than we could ever have imagined." On October 5, 1988, the complete band took the stage for the first time at the Cabaret Metro.
In 1989, the Smashing Pumpkins made their first appearance on record with the compilation album Light Into Dark, which featured several Chicago alternative bands. The group released its first single, "I Am One", in 1990 on local Chicago label Limited Potential. The single sold out and they released a follow-up, "Tristessa", on Sub Pop, after which they signed to Caroline Records. The band recorded their 1991 debut studio album Gish with producer Butch Vig at his Smart Studios in Madison, Wisconsin for $20,000. In order to gain the consistency he desired, Corgan often played all instruments excluding drums, which created tension in the band. The music fused heavy metal guitars, psychedelia, and dream pop, garnering them comparisons to Jane's Addiction. Gish became a minor success, with the single "Rhinoceros" receiving some airplay on modern rock radio. After releasing the Lull EP in October 1991 on Caroline Records, the band formally signed with Virgin Records, which was affiliated with Caroline. The band supported the album with a tour that included opening for bands such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jane's Addiction, and Guns N' Roses. During the tour, Iha and Wretzky went through a messy breakup, Chamberlin became addicted to narcotics and alcohol, and Corgan entered a deep depression, writing some songs for the upcoming album in the parking garage where he lived at the time.
Mainstream breakout and Siamese Dream: 1992–1994
With the breakthrough of alternative rock into the American mainstream due to the popularity of grunge bands such as Nirvana and Pearl Jam, the Smashing Pumpkins were poised for major commercial success. At this time, the Smashing Pumpkins were routinely lumped in with the grunge movement, with Corgan protesting, "We've graduated now from 'the next Jane's Addiction' to 'the next Nirvana', now we're 'the next Pearl Jam'."
Amid this environment of intense internal pressure for the band to break through to widespread popularity, the band relocated to Marietta, Georgia in late 1992 to begin work on their second album, with Butch Vig returning as producer. The decision to record so far away from their hometown was motivated partly by the band's desire to avoid friends and distractions during the recording, but largely as a desperate attempt to cut Chamberlin off from his known drug connections. The recording environment for Siamese Dream was quickly marred by discord within the band. As was the case with Gish, Corgan and Vig decided that Corgan should play nearly all of the guitar and bass parts on the album, contributing to an air of resentment. The contemporary music press began to portray Corgan as a tyrant. Corgan's depression, meanwhile, had deepened to the point where he contemplated suicide, and he compensated by practically living in the studio. Meanwhile, Chamberlin quickly managed to find new connections and was often absent without any contact for days at a time. In all, it took over four months to complete the record, with the budget exceeding $250,000.
Despite all the problems in its recording, Siamese Dream debuted at number ten on the Billboard 200 chart, and sold over four million copies in the U.S. alone. Alongside the band's mounting mainstream recognition, the band's reputation as careerists among their former peers in the independent music community was worsened. Indie rock band Pavement's 1994 song "Range Life" directly mocks the band in its lyrics, although Stephen Malkmus, lead singer of Pavement, has stated, "I never dissed their music. I just dissed their status." Former Hüsker Dü frontman Bob Mould called them "the grunge Monkees", and fellow Chicago musician/producer Steve Albini wrote a scathing letter in response to an article praising the band, derisively comparing them to REO Speedwagon ("by, of and for the mainstream") and concluding their ultimate insignificance. The opening track and lead single of Siamese Dream, "Cherub Rock", directly addresses Corgan's feud with the "indie-world".
In 1994 Virgin released the B-sides/rarities compilation Pisces Iscariot which charted higher than Siamese Dream by reaching number four on the Billboard 200. Also released was a VHS cassette titled Vieuphoria featuring a mix of live performances and behind-the-scenes footage. Following relentless touring to support the recordings, including headline slots on the 1994 Lollapalooza tour and at Reading Festival in 1995, the band took time off to write the follow-up album.
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness: 1995–1997
During 1995, Corgan wrote about 56 songs, following which the band went into the studio with producers Flood and Alan Moulder to work on what Corgan described as "The Wall for Generation X", and which became Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, a double album of twenty-eight songs, lasting over two hours (the vinyl version of the album contained three records, two extra songs, and an alternate track listing). The songs were intended to hang together conceptually as a symbol of the cycle of life and death. Praised by Time as "the group's most ambitious and accomplished work yet", Mellon Collie debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 in October 1995. Even more successful than Siamese Dream, it was certified ten times platinum in the United States and became the best-selling double album of the decade. It also garnered seven 1997 Grammy Award nominations, including Album of the Year. The band won only the Best Hard Rock Performance award, for the album's lead single "Bullet with Butterfly Wings". The album spawned five singles—"Bullet with Butterfly Wings", "1979", "Zero", "Tonight, Tonight" which Corgan stated was inspired by the Cheap Trick song "I'll Be with You Tonight", and "Thirty-Three"—of which the first three were certified gold and all but "Zero" entered the Top 40. Many of the songs that did not make it onto Mellon Collie were released as B-sides to the singles, and were later compiled in The Aeroplane Flies High box set. The set was originally limited to 200,000 copies, but more were produced to meet demand.
In 1996 the Pumpkins undertook an extended world tour in support of Mellon Collie. Corgan's look during this period—a shaved head, a long sleeve black shirt with the word "Zero" printed on it, and silver pants—became iconic. That year, the band also made a guest appearance in an episode of The Simpsons, "Homerpalooza". With considerable video rotation on MTV, major industry awards, and "Zero" shirts selling in many malls, the Pumpkins were considered one of the most popular bands of the time.
In May, the Smashing Pumpkins played a gig at the Point Theatre in Dublin, Ireland. Despite the band's repeated requests for moshing to stop, a seventeen-year-old fan named Bernadette O'Brien was crushed to death. The concert ended early and the following night's performance in Belfast was cancelled out of respect for her. However, while Corgan maintained that moshing's "time [had] come and gone", the band would continue to request open-floor concerts throughout the rest of the tour.
The band suffered a personal tragedy on the night of July 11, 1996, when touring keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin and Chamberlin overdosed on heroin in a hotel room in New York City. Melvoin died, and Chamberlin was arrested for drug possession. A few days later, the band announced that Chamberlin had been fired as a result of the incident. The Pumpkins chose to finish the tour, and hired drummer Matt Walker and keyboardist Dennis Flemion. Corgan later said the decision to continue touring was the worst decision the band had ever made, damaging both their music and their reputation. Chamberlin admitted in a 1994 Rolling Stone cover story that in the past he'd "gotten high in every city in this country and probably half the cities in Europe." But in recent years, he had reportedly been clean. On July 17, the Pumpkins issued a statement in which they said, "For nine years we have battled with Jimmy's struggles with the insidious disease of drug and alcohol addiction. It has nearly destroyed everything we are and stand for. … We wish [him] the best we have to offer". Meanwhile, the band had given interviews since the release of Mellon Collie stating that it would be the last conventional Pumpkins record, and that rock was becoming stale. James Iha said at the end of 1996, "The future is in electronic music. It really seems boring just to play rock music."
Adore, Machina, and breakup: 1998–2000
After the release of Mellon Collie, the Pumpkins contributed many songs to various compilations. Released in early 1997, the song "Eye", which appeared on the soundtrack to David Lynch's Lost Highway, relied almost exclusively on electronic instruments and signaled a drastic shift from the Pumpkins' previous musical styles. At the time, Corgan stated his "idea [was] to reconfigure the focus and get away from the classic guitars-bass-drum rock format." Later that year, the group contributed "The End Is the Beginning Is the End" to the soundtrack for the film Batman & Robin. With Matt Walker on drums, the song featured a heavy sound similar to "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" while still having strong electronic influences. The song later won the 1998 Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance. Though Corgan announced that the song represented the sound people could expect from the band in the future, the band's next album would feature few guitar-driven songs.
Recorded following the death of Corgan's mother and his divorce, 1998's Adore represented a significant change of style from the Pumpkins' previous guitar-based rock, veering into electronica. The record, cut with assistance from drum machines and studio drummers including Matt Walker, was infused with a darker aesthetic than much of the band's earlier work. The group also modified its public image, shedding its alternative rock look for a more subdued appearance. Although Adore received favorable reviews and was nominated for Best Alternative Performance at the Grammy Awards, the album had only sold about 830,000 copies in the United States by the end of the year. The album nonetheless debuted at number 2 on the Billboard 200 and sold three times as many copies overseas. The band began a seventeen-date, fifteen-city charity North American tour in support of Adore. At each stop on the tour, the band donated 100 percent of tickets sales to a local charity organization. The tour's expenses were entirely funded out of the band's own pockets. All told, the band donated over $2.8 million to charity as a result of the tour. On October 31, 1998 during Halloween, the band opened for Kiss at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, dressed in costume as The Beatles.
In 1999 the band surprised fans by reuniting with a rehabilitated Jimmy Chamberlin for a brief tour dubbed "The Arising", which showcased both new and classic material. The lineup was short-lived, however, as the band announced the departure of Wretzky in September during work on the album Machina/The Machines of God. Former Hole bassist Melissa Auf der Maur was recruited for the "Sacred and Profane" tour in support of the album and appeared in the videos accompanying its release. Released in 2000, Machina was initially promoted as the Pumpkins' return to a more traditional rock sound, after the more gothic, electronic-sounding Adore. The album debuted at number three on the Billboard charts, but quickly disappeared and as of 2007 had only been certified gold. Music journalist Jim DeRogatis, who described the album as "one of the strongest of their career", noted that the stalled sales for Machina in comparison to teen pop ascendant at the time "seems like concrete proof that a new wave of young pop fans has turned a deaf ear toward alternative rock."
On May 23, 2000, in a live radio interview on KROQ-FM (Los Angeles), Billy Corgan announced the band's decision to break up at the end of that year following additional touring and recording. The group's final album before the break-up, Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music, was released in September 2000 in a limited pressing on vinyl with permission and instructions for free redistribution on the Internet by fans. Only twenty-five copies were cut, each of which was hand numbered and given to friends of the band along with band members themselves. The album, released under the Constantinople Records label created by Corgan, consisted of one double LP and three ten-inch EPs. Originally, the band asked Virgin to offer Machina II as a free download to anyone who bought Machina. When the record label declined, Corgan opted to release the material independently.
On December 2, 2000, Smashing Pumpkins played a farewell concert at The Metro, the same Chicago club where their career had effectively started twelve years earlier. The four-and-a-half-hour-long show featured 35 songs spanning the group's career, and attendees were given a recording of the band's first concert at The Metro, Live at Cabaret Metro 10-5-88. The single "Untitled" was released commercially to coincide with the farewell show.
Post-breakup: 2001–2004
In 2001 the compilation Rotten Apples was released. The double-disc version of the album, released as a limited edition, included a collection of B-sides and rarities called Judas O. The Greatest Hits Video Collection DVD was also released at the same time. This was a compilation of all of the Pumpkins promo videos from Gish to Machina along with unreleased material. Vieuphoria was released on DVD in 2002, as was the soundtrack album Earphoria, previously released solely to radio stations in 1994.
Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin reunited in 2001 as members of Corgan's next project, the short-lived supergroup Zwan. The group's only album, Mary Star of the Sea, was released in 2003. After cancelling a few festival appearances, Corgan announced the demise of the band in 2003. During 2001 Corgan also toured as part of New Order and provided vocals on their comeback album Get Ready. In October 2004 Corgan released his first book, Blinking with Fists, a collection of poetry. In June 2005, he released a solo album, TheFutureEmbrace, which he described as "(picking) up the thread of the as-yet-unfinished work of the Smashing Pumpkins". Despite this, it was greeted with generally mixed reviews and lackluster sales. Only one single, "Walking Shade", was released in support of the album.
In addition to drumming with Zwan, Jimmy Chamberlin also formed an alternative rock/jazz fusion project band called Jimmy Chamberlin Complex. The group released an album in 2005 titled Life Begins Again. Corgan provided guest vocals on the track "Lokicat". James Iha served as a guitarist in A Perfect Circle, appearing on their Thirteenth Step club tour and 2004 album, eMOTIVe. He has also been involved with other acts such as Chino Moreno's Team Sleep and Vanessa and the O's. He continues to work with Scratchie Records, his own record label, as well. D'arcy Wretzky has, aside from one radio interview in 2009, not made any public statements or appearances nor given any interviews since leaving the band in 1999. On January 25, 2000, she was arrested after she allegedly purchased three bags of cocaine, but after successfully completing a court-ordered drug education program, the charges were dropped.
Corgan insisted during this period that the band would not reform, although when Zwan broke up he announced, "I think my heart was in Smashing Pumpkins […] I think it was naive of me to think that I could find something that would mean as much to me." Corgan said in 2005, "I never wanted to leave the Smashing Pumpkins. That was never the plan." On February 17, 2004, Corgan posted a message on his personal blog calling Wretzky a "mean-spirited drug addict" and blaming Iha for the breakup of the Smashing Pumpkins. On June 3, 2004, he added that "the depth of my hurt [from Iha] is only matched with the depth of my gratitude". Iha responded to Corgan's claims in 2005, saying, "No, I didn't break up the band. The only person who could have done that is Billy."
Reformation and Zeitgeist: 2005–2008
On June 21, 2005, the day of the release of his first solo album TheFutureEmbrace, Corgan took out full-page advertisements in the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times to announce that he planned to reunite the band. "For a year now", Corgan wrote, "I have walked around with a secret, a secret I chose to keep. But now I want you to be among the first to know that I have made plans to renew and revive the Smashing Pumpkins. I want my band back, and my songs, and my dreams". Corgan and Chamberlin were verified as participants in the reunion, but there was question as to whether other former members of the band would participate.
In April 2007 Iha and Auf der Maur separately confirmed that they were not taking part in the reunion. Chamberlin would later state that Iha and Wretzky "didn't want to be a part of" the reunion. The Smashing Pumpkins performed live for the first time since 2000 on May 22, 2007, in Paris, France. There, the band unveiled new touring members: guitarist Jeff Schroeder, bassist Ginger Reyes, and keyboardist Lisa Harriton. That same month, "Tarantula" was released as the first single from the band's forthcoming album. On July 7, the band performed at the Live Earth concert in New Jersey.
The band's new album, Zeitgeist, was released that same month on Reprise Records, entering the Billboard charts at number two and selling 145,000 copies in its first week. Zeitgeist received mixed reviews, with much of the criticism targeted at the absence of half of the original lineup. The album divided the Pumpkins' fanbase. Corgan would later admit, "I know a lot of our fans are puzzled by Zeitgeist. I think they wanted this massive, grandiose work, but you don't just roll out of bed after seven years without a functioning band and go back to doing that".
Corgan and Chamberlin continued to record as a duo, releasing the four-song EP American Gothic in January 2008 and the singles "Superchrist" and "G.L.O.W." later that year. That November, the group released the DVD If All Goes Wrong, which chronicled the group's 2007 concert residences in Asheville, North Carolina and San Francisco, California. In late 2008, the band commenced on a controversy-riddled 20th Anniversary Tour. Around this time, Corgan said the group will make no more full-length records in order to focus exclusively on singles, explaining, "The listening patterns have changed, so why are we killing ourselves to do albums, to create balance, and do the arty track to set up the single? It's done."
Teargarden and Oceania: 2009–2013
In March 2009 Corgan announced on the band's website that Chamberlin had left the group and would be replaced. Chamberlin subsequently stated that his departure from the band is "a positive move forward for me. I can no longer commit all of my energy into something that I don't fully possess." Chamberlin stressed that the split was amicable, commenting, "I am glad [Corgan] has chosen to continue under the name. It is his right." Chamberlin soon formed the band Skysaw, which has released an album and toured in support of Minus the Bear. In July 2009 Billy Corgan formed a new group called Spirits in the Sky, initially as a tribute band to Sky Saxon of the Seeds, who had recently died. The following month Corgan confirmed on the band's website that 19-year-old Spirits in the Sky drummer Mike Byrne had replaced Chamberlin and that the pair was working on new Pumpkins recordings.
The group announced plans to release a 44-track concept album, Teargarden by Kaleidyscope, for free over the Internet one track at a time. The first track, "A Song for a Son", was released in December 2009 to moderate press acclaim. In March 2010 Ginger Reyes officially left the band, prompting an open call for auditions for a new bassist. In May, Nicole Fiorentino announced she had joined the band as bass player, and would be working on Teargarden by Kaleidyscope. The new lineup went on a world tour through to the end of 2010. One of the first shows with the new lineup was a concert to benefit Matthew Leone, bassist for the rock band Madina Lake, at the Metro on July 27, 2010. In late 2010 all four members contributed to the sessions for the third volume of Teargarden.
On April 26, 2011, Corgan announced that the Smashing Pumpkins would be releasing a new album titled Oceania, which he labeled as "an album within an album" in regards to the Teargarden by Kaleidyscope project, in the fall. As with the previous recording sessions, all four band members contributed to the project. Also, the entire album catalog was to be remastered and reissued with bonus tracks, starting with Gish and Siamese Dream in November 2011. The pre-Gish demos, Pisces Iscariot, and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness were released in 2012, with The Aeroplane Flies High released the following year. Adore was released in 2014, and Machina/The Machines of God and the yet commercially unreleased Machina II/Friends and Enemies of Modern Music are expected to be combined, remixed, and released in the same year. The band did a thirteen-city US tour in October 2011 followed by a European tour in November and December.
Oceania was released on June 19, 2012, and received generally positive reviews. The album debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 and at No. 1 on the Billboard Independent. The album spawned two singles, "The Celestials" and "Panopticon". The band proceeded to tour in support of the album, including a US tour involving playing the album in its entirety. By September 2012, Corgan stated that the band had already begun work on their next album. However, despite this, the band concentrated on touring, playing at Glastonbury Festival, Dour Festival and the Barclays Center, where they recorded Oceania: Live in NYC, which was released on September 24, 2013.
Monuments to an Elegy: 2014–2016
On March 25, 2014, Corgan announced he had signed a new record deal with BMG, for two new albums, titled Monuments to an Elegy and Day for Night, respectively. In June, it was revealed that Mike Byrne was no longer in the band, to be replaced by Tommy Lee of Mötley Crüe on the new album, and Fiorentino would not be recording on the album either. Monuments to an Elegy was released on December 5, 2014, to generally positive reviews. The band toured in support of the album starting on November 26, with Rage Against the Machine's Brad Wilk filling in on drums and the Killers' Mark Stoermer filling in on bass. The follow-up proposed album Day For Night was cited for delayed late 2015 or early 2016 release.
Later in 2015 Corgan announced that the band would embark on a co-headlining tour of North America with Marilyn Manson, "The End Times Tour", across July and August 2015. Prior to the co-headlining dates, the band performed a series of acoustic shows with drum machines and tapes for percussion. When the time came for the co-headlining tour, plans for a drummer fell through and Corgan recruited Chamberlin to reunite for the shows. On February 1, 2016, it was announced that the band would continue their In Plainsong acoustic tour with Jimmy Chamberlin on drums and were planning to head "straight to the studio after the dates to record a brand new album inspired by the sounds explored in the new acoustic setting". On February 25, 2016, Corgan posted a video from a Los Angeles studio on the band's Facebook account, giving an update on the writing process for the new songs for the upcoming album to be released after the In Plainsong tour.
The tour began in Portland, Oregon, on March 22, 2016.
Iha and Chamberlin's return; Shiny and Oh So Bright and Cyr: 2018–present
On his birthday on March 26, 2016, original guitarist James Iha joined Billy Corgan, Jimmy Chamberlin, and Jeff Schroeder on stage unannounced at the Ace Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. He performed a few songs, including "Mayonaise", "Soma" and "Whir" marking his first appearance with the Smashing Pumpkins in 16 years. Iha also played at the second of the two Smashing Pumpkins shows at the Ace Hotel the following day, which was Easter Sunday. Iha joined the Pumpkins for a third time at their concert of April 14 at the Civic Opera House in Chicago. In July, Corgan began hinting of the possibility of reuniting the band original lineup, of himself, Iha, Wretzky, and Chamberlin, and in August, he stated he had begun reaching out to the original lineup about the feasibility of a reunion, including speaking to Wretzky for the first time in sixteen years. Despite the comments, Corgan would spend much of 2017 working on solo material – recording and releasing the solo album Ogilala and beginning work on another solo album for 2018. In June 2017 Chamberlin also mentioned the possibility of a reunion tour in 2018. In January 2018 Corgan shared a photo of himself, Iha, and Chamberlin together in recording studio. In February 2018 Corgan announced that he was working with music producer Rick Rubin on a future Smashing Pumpkins album, that there were currently 26 songs he was actively working on, and that "the guitar feels once again like the preferred weapon of choice." Soon afterwards, Corgan shared a photo of sound equipment with Iha's name on a label, as well as announcing recording was finished on the album.
On February 15, 2018, the band officially announced that founding members Iha and Chamberlin were back in the band. They embarked on the Shiny And Oh So Bright Tour starting in July, with a focus on performing material from their first five studio albums. and sold over 350,000 tickets and sold out arenas including The Forum, United Center, and Madison Square Garden. Original bassist D'arcy Wretzky claimed she had been offered a contract to rejoin the band but Corgan rescinded the offer soon after. Corgan released a statement denying the claims, stating "Ms. Wretzky has repeatedly been invited out to play with the group, participate in demo sessions, or at the very least, meet face-to-face, and in each and every instance she always deferred". Jack Bates (son of Joy Division bassist Peter Hook) played bass on the tour. Bates previously toured with the Smashing Pumpkins in 2015. Multi-instrumentalist Katie Cole rejoined the band for the tour as well, singing backup vocals and playing keyboards and guitar.
In March 2018, Corgan mentioned the band planned to release two EPs in 2018, with the first tentatively planned for May. On June 8, 2018, the first single from the set of music, "Solara", was released. On August 2, 2018, the band celebrated their 30th anniversary by performing in Holmdel, New Jersey. with several notable special guests including Courtney Love, Chino Moreno, Davey Havok, Peter Hook, Mark McGrath, and Dave Keuning and Mark Stoermer of The Killers. In September 2018, they announced the album Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun., released via Napalm Records on November 16, 2018, which debuted at number 54 on the Billboard 200 chart.
After touring through much of 2019, Corgan noted in January 2020 that the band was currently working on 21 songs for a future album release. On August 28, 2020, the band released the single and video for "Cyr", along with a second track titled "The Colour of Love" from their album Cyr, which was released through their new record label Sumerian Records on November 27, 2020. It serves as the second part of the Shiny and Oh So Bright series. On September 25, 2020, the band released another single from Cyr that included the songs "Confessions of a Dopamine Addict" and "Wrath". On October 9, 2020, the band released a third single for Cyr that featured the tracks "Anno Satana" and "Birch Grove". On October 29, the band released "Ramona" and "Wyttch" as the fourth pair of singles. On November 20, 2020, the songs "Purple Blood" and "Dulcet in E" were released as the fifth and final single for Cyr. The following week, on November 27, 2020, the band released Cyr. Despite never getting to properly tour Cyr, the band did play four songs from the album at their headlining shows at Riot Fest and Sea.Hear.Now Festival in September 2021.
In late 2020, Corgan announced that the band would begin work on another double album for release in 2021, although the year passed without the album releasing. The double album is to serve as a sequel to the overarching story of Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness and Machina: The Machines of God. On February 22, the band announced on social media the Rock Invasion 2 Tour, which had previously been set to take place in spring 2020, but had been postponed to fall 2020 and subsequently canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The newly announced incarnation of the tour had entirely new locations spanning 11 US cities accompanying the band's spring festival appearances and four performances in Mexico, their first since 2013.
Musical style, influences, and legacy
The direction of the band is dominated by lead guitarist, lead vocalist, keyboardist, bassist and principal songwriter Billy Corgan. Journalist Greg Kot wrote, "The music [of the Smashing Pumpkins] would not be what it is without his ambition and vision, and his famously fractured relationships with his family, friends, and bandmembers." Melissa Auf der Maur commented upon news of the group's reunion, "Everyone knows Billy doesn't need too many people to make a Pumpkins record, other than Jimmy [Chamberlin]—who he has on board." In a 2015 interview Corgan himself referred to the current iteration of the band "as sort of an open source collective" noting that "It's whoever feels right at the time." Many of Corgan's lyrics for the Pumpkins are cathartic expressions of emotion, full of personal musings and strong indictments of himself and those close to him. Music critics were not often fans of Corgan's angst-filled lyrics. Jim DeRogatis wrote in a 1993 Chicago Sun-Times article that Corgan's lyrics "too often sound like sophomoric poetry", although he viewed the lyrics of later albums Adore and Machina as an improvement. The band's songs have been described as "anguished, bruised reports from Billy Corgan's nightmare-land" by journalist William Shaw.
Smashing Pumpkins, unlike many alternative rock bands at the time, disavowed the influence of punk rock on their sound. Overall, they have a diverse, densely layered, and guitar-heavy sound, containing elements of gothic rock, heavy metal, dream pop, psychedelic rock, progressive rock, shoegazing, and electronica in later recordings.
The Smashing Pumpkins' distinctive sound up until Adore involved layering numerous guitar tracks onto a song during the recording process, a tactic that Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness coproducer Flood called the "Pumpkin guitar overdub army." Although there were a lot of overdubbed parts on Gish, Corgan began to really explore the possibilities of overdubbing with Siamese Dream; Corgan has stated that "Soma" alone contains up to 40 overdubbed guitar parts. While Corgan knew many of the songs would be difficult or impossible to replicate from their recorded versions in concert (in fact, some songs were drastically altered for live performance), he has explained the use of overdubbing by posing the question "When you are faced with making a permanent recorded representation of a song, why not endow it with the grandest possible vision?" This use of multilayered sounds was inspired by Corgan's love of 1970s popular artists & bands such as: David Bowie, Cheap Trick, Queen, Boston, and the Electric Light Orchestra, as well as shoegaze, a British alternative rock style of the late 1980s and early 1990s that relied on swirling layers of guitar noise for effect. Mellon Collie coproducer Alan Moulder was originally hired to mix Siamese Dream because Corgan was a fan of his work producing shoegaze bands such as My Bloody Valentine, Ride, and Slowdive.
Like many contemporary alternative bands, the Smashing Pumpkins utilized shifts in song dynamics, going from quiet to loud and vice versa. Hüsker Dü's seminal album Zen Arcade demonstrated to the band how they could place gentler material against more aggressive fare, and Corgan made such shifts in dynamics central to the pursuit of his grand musical ambitions. Corgan said he liked the idea of creating his own alternative universe through sound that essentially tells the listener, "Welcome to Pumpkin Land, this is what it sounds like on Planet Pumpkin." This emphasis on atmosphere carried through to Adore (described as "arcane night music" in prerelease promotion) and the Machina albums (concept records that tell the story of a fictional rock band).
The Pumpkins drew inspiration from a variety of other genres, some unfashionable during the 1990s among music critics. Corgan in particular was open about his appreciation of heavy metal, citing Dimebag Darrell of Pantera as his favorite contemporary guitarist. When one interviewer commented to Corgan and Iha that "Smashing Pumpkins is one of the groups that relegitimized heavy metal" and that they "were among the first alternative rockers to mention people like Ozzy and Black Sabbath with anything other than contempt". Corgan went on to rave about Black Sabbath's Master of Reality and Judas Priest's Unleashed in the East. The song "Zero", which reminded Iha of Judas Priest, is an example of what the band dubbed "cybermetal." Post-punk and gothic rock bands like Joy Division/New Order, Bauhaus, the Cure, and Depeche Mode were formative influences on the band, which covered such artists in concert and on record. Corgan also cited Siouxsie and the Banshees saying it was important to point back to bands that influenced them. Psychedelic rock was also referenced often in the band's early recordings; according to Corgan, "In typical Pumpkins fashion, no one at that point really liked loud guitars or psychedelic music so, of course, that's exactly what we had to do." Corgan felt that the band's guitars "are a mixture of heavy metal and 80s alternative rock. I think of Cure and Siouxsie and the Banshees". Corgan acknowledged that a chord he jokingly claimed as "the Pumpkin chord" (a G# octave chord at the eleventh fret of a guitar with the low E string played over it), used as the basis for "Cherub Rock", "Drown", and other songs, was in fact previously used by Jimi Hendrix. Other early influences cited by Corgan include Cream, the Stooges, and Blue Cheer.
Regarding the band's influence upon other groups, Greg Kot wrote in 2001, "Whereas Nirvana spawned countless mini-Nirvanas, the Pumpkins remain an island unto themselves." Still, some artists and bands have been influenced by the Pumpkins, such as Nelly Furtado, Marilyn Manson, Third Eye Blind, Mark Hoppus of Blink-182, Tegan and Sara, Fall Out Boy, Rivers Cuomo, Panic! at the Disco, Silversun Pickups, and My Chemical Romance. My Chemical Romance vocalist Gerard Way has said that they pattern their career upon the Pumpkins', including music videos. The members of fellow Chicago band Kill Hannah are friends with Corgan, and lead singer Mat Devine has compared his group to the Pumpkins.
The group has sold over 30 million albums worldwide as of October 2012, and sales in the United States alone reaching 19.75 million.
Music videos
The Smashing Pumpkins have been praised as "responsible for some of the most striking and memorable video clips" and for having "approached videos from a completely artistic standpoint rather than mere commercials to sell albums". MTV's 2001 anniversary special Testimony: 20 Years of Rock on MTV credited the Pumpkins, along with Nine Inch Nails, with treating music videos as an art form during the 1990s. Corgan has said, "We generally resisted the idea of what I call the classic MTV rock video, which is like lots of people jumping around and stuff." The band worked with video directors including Kevin Kerslake ("Cherub Rock"), Samuel Bayer ("Bullet with Butterfly Wings"), and, most frequently, the team of Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris ("Rocket", "1979", "Tonight, Tonight", "The End Is the Beginning Is the End", and "Perfect"). Corgan, who was frequently heavily involved in the conception of the videos, said of Dayton and Faris, "I know my [initial] versions are always darker, and they're always talking me into something a little kinder and gentler." Videos like "Today", "Rocket", and "1979" dealt with images taken from middle American culture, albeit exaggerated. The group's videos so often avoid the literal interpretation of the song lyrics that the video for "Thirty-Three", with images closely related to the words of the song, was created as an intentional stylistic departure.
The band was nominated for several MTV Video Music Awards during the 1990s. In 1996, the group won eight VMAs total for the "1979" and "Tonight, Tonight" videos, including the top award, Video of the Year, for "Tonight, Tonight". The video was also nominated for a Grammy at the 1997 ceremony. Of the "Tonight, Tonight" video, Corgan remarked, "I don't think we've ever had people react [like this]... it just seemed to touch a nerve."
Shortly after the band's 2000 breakup, the Greatest Hits Video Collection was released, collecting the band's music videos from 1991 to 2000 and including commentary from Corgan, Iha, Chamberlin, Wretzky, and various music video directors with outtakes, live performances, and the extended "Try, Try, Try" short film.
Band members
Current members
Billy Corgan – lead vocals, guitars, keyboards, bass guitar (1988–2000, 2006–present)
James Iha – guitars, bass guitar, vocals (1988–2000, 2018–present)
Jimmy Chamberlin – drums (1988–1996, 1998–2000, 2006–2009, 2015–present)
Jeff Schroeder – guitars, keyboards (2007–present)
Live members
Jack Bates – bass guitar (2015–present)
Katie Cole – keyboards, backing vocals (2015–present)
Former members
D'arcy Wretzky – bass guitar, backing vocals (1988–1999)
Melissa Auf der Maur – bass guitar (1999–2000)
Mike Byrne – drums, backing vocals, keyboards (2009–2014)
Nicole Fiorentino – bass guitar, backing vocals, keyboards (2010–2014)
Awards
American Music Awards
1997 – Best Alternative Artist
Grammy Awards
1997 – "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" – Best Hard Rock Performance
1998 – "The End Is the Beginning Is the End" – Best Hard Rock Performance
MTV Europe Music Awards
1996 – Best Rock
MTV Video Music Awards
1996 – "Tonight, Tonight" – Video of the Year, Breakthrough Video, Best Direction, Best Visual Effects, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography
1996 – "1979" – Best Alternative Video
Discography
Studio albums
Gish (1991)
Siamese Dream (1993)
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1995)
Adore (1998)
Machina/The Machines of God (2000)
Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music (2000)
Zeitgeist (2007)
Oceania (2012)†
Monuments to an Elegy (2014)†
Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun. (2018)
Cyr (2020)
Notes
† Part of Teargarden by Kaleidyscope (2009–2014), an overarching project abandoned before completion.
See also
List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. alternative rock chart
Notes
References
Bibliography
Further reading
External links
1988 establishments in Illinois
Alternative rock groups from Chicago
Articles which contain graphical timelines
Caroline Records artists
Grammy Award winners
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Musical groups established in 1988
Musical groups disestablished in 2000
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Musical quartets
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Musical groups from Chicago | true | [
"The Arab Baths in Ceuta are medium size medieval public baths on the northern edges of the Medina quarter. This is thought to have been occupied since the 11th century. Archaeological investigations in 2000 and 2004 have shown that the baths had one room for clothes and toilets followed by a cold bath and then a hot bath in a style laid down by the Romans. Other rooms may have existed.\n\nHistory\nThe earliest occupation on this site in the northern suburbs of Ceuta's Medina quarter date from the 11th century when remains have been found of a street and domestic construction. It was not until the 12th and 13th century that the two baths were built. Archaeological investigations have shown that the baths had one room for clothes and toilets followed by a cold bath and then a hot bath in a style laid down by the Romans. Some of the barrel vault ceilings have survived by there is evidence that other rooms were constructed but they have since been lost. The building was extended in the 14th century but by the 15th the building was having its stones reused for other projects. It is thought that the arched roofs were once covered in marble. The building was not being used in the 17th century.\n\nThe baths were discovered during building work on the street and they have since been subject to excavations in 2000 and 2004. the remains are open to the public. They appear incongruous on the modern main road in Ceuta.\n\nThe baths were recognised as a nationally important monument in 2007.\n\nReferences\n\nBuildings and structures in Ceuta\nFormer public baths\nBien de Interés Cultural landmarks in Ceuta\nMarinid architecture\nPublic baths in the Arab world",
"This is a list of films produced by the Warner Animation Group, an American animation studio based in Burbank, California, United States. As of , Warner Animation Group has released 9 feature films, which were all released under the Warner Bros. Pictures banner. The company produced its first feature-length film, The Lego Movie, in 2014. Their second production, Storks, was released in 2016, followed by their first spin-off, The Lego Batman Movie, followed in 2017. Warner Animation Group had two releases in a single year twice: The Lego Batman Movie and The Lego Ninjago Movie followed in 2018, they released Smallfoot, followed in 2019, they released The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, followed in 2020, they released Scoob!, and followed in 2021, they released Tom & Jerry, and Space Jam: A New Legacy.\n\nWarner Animation Group's upcoming slate of films includes DC League of Super-Pets and Scoob! Holiday Haunt (both 2022), Coyote vs. Acme (2023) and Toto (2024).\n\nFilms\n\nReleased\n\nUpcoming\n\nFilms in development\n\nReception\n\nCritical and public reception\n\nBox office performance\n\nAccolades\n\nAcademy Awards\n\nGolden Raspberry Awards\n\nSee also\n List of computer-animated films\n List of Warner Bros. theatrical animated feature films\n\nReferences\n\n\n\nFilmographies\nWarnerMedia-related lists\nLists of films by studio\nAmerican films by studio"
] |
[
"Mike Bloomfield",
"Early years"
] | C_e7d89b070b5a43cb90fa72df99617783_1 | Where did he grow up? | 1 | Where did Mike Bloomfield grow up? | Mike Bloomfield | Bloomfield was born into a wealthy Chicago Jewish-American family. Bloomfield's father, Harold Bloomfield, was born in Chicago in 1914. After pursuing business ventures in California during the 1920s, he returned to the city in the early 1930s. Harold Bloomfield began manufacturing restaurant supplies, and by the latter part of the decade his company, Bloomfield Industries, was making pie cases, kitchen utensils, salt and pepper shakers, and sugar pourers. By the early 1940s Bloomfield Industries had acquired more manufacturing and warehouse space. The company expanded during World War II by manufacturing supplies needed for the war effort. Working with his brother, Daniel, and his father, Samuel, Harold Bloomfield built up Bloomfield Industries into a thriving business. Michael Bloomfield's mother was born Dorothy Klein in Chicago in 1918 and married Harold Bloomfield in 1940. She came from an artistic, musical family, and worked as an actor and a model before marrying Bloomfield. Michael Bloomfield's brother Allen Bloomfield was born in Chicago on Dec. 24, 1944. Bloomfield's family lived in various locations around Chicago before settling at 424 West Melrose Street on the North Side. When he was twelve his family moved to suburban Glencoe, Illinois, where he attended New Trier High School for two years. During this time, he began playing in local bands, and Bloomfield put together a group called the Hurricanes, named after Ohio rock band Johnny and the Hurricanes. New Trier High School expelled Bloomfield after his band performed a raucous rock and roll song at a 1959 school gathering. He attended Cornwall Academy in Massachusetts for one year and then returned to Chicago, where he spent his last year of education at a local YMCA school, Central YMCA High School. Bloomfield had attended a 1957 Chicago performance by blues singer Josh White, and began spending time in Chicago's South Side blues clubs and playing guitar with such black bluesmen as Sleepy John Estes, Yank Rachell, and Little Brother Montgomery. He first sat in with a black blues band in 1959, when he performed with Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson at a Chicago club called the Place. He performed with Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, and many other Chicago blues performers during the early 1960s. Writing in 2001, keyboardist, songwriter and record producer Al Kooper said Bloomfield's talent "was instantly obvious to his mentors. They knew this was not just another white boy; this was someone who truly understood what the blues were all about." Among his early supporters were B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Bob Dylan and Buddy Guy. "Michael used to say, 'It's a natural. Black people suffer externally in this country. Jewish people suffer internally. The suffering's the mutual fulcrum for the blues.'" CANNOTANSWER | was born in Chicago in 1914. | Michael Bernard Bloomfield (July 28, 1943 – February 15, 1981) was an American guitarist and composer, born in Chicago, Illinois, who became one of the first popular music superstars of the 1960s to earn his reputation almost entirely on his instrumental prowess, as he rarely sang before 1969. Respected for his guitar playing, Bloomfield knew and played with many of Chicago's blues musicians before achieving his own fame and was instrumental in popularizing blues music in the mid-1960s. In 1965, he played on Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited, including the single "Like a Rolling Stone", and performed with Dylan at that year's Newport Folk Festival.
Bloomfield was ranked No. 22 on Rolling Stone's list of "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" in 2003 and No. 42 by the same magazine in 2011. He was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2012 and, as a member of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015.
Early years
Bloomfield was born into a wealthy Chicago family. Bloomfield's father, Harold Bloomfield, was born in Chicago in 1914. Harold's father, Samuel Bloomfield, started Bloomfield Industries in the early 1930s. After Samuel passed away, Harold and his brother, Daniel, took over the company. Bloomfield's mother, Dorothy Klein, was born in Chicago in 1918 and married Harold in 1940. She came from an artistic, musical family, working as an actress and a model before marrying Harold.
Bloomfield's family lived in various locations around Chicago before settling at 424 West Melrose Street on the North Side. When he was twelve his family moved to suburban Glencoe, Illinois, where he attended New Trier High School for two years. During this time, he began playing in local bands, and Bloomfield put together a group called the Hurricanes, named after Ohio rock band Johnny and the Hurricanes. New Trier High School expelled Bloomfield after his band performed a raucous rock and roll song at a 1959 school gathering. He attended Cornwall Academy in Massachusetts for one year and then returned to Chicago, where he spent his last year of education at a local YMCA school, Central YMCA High School.
Bloomfield had attended a 1957 Chicago performance by blues singer Josh White, and began spending time in Chicago's South Side blues clubs and playing guitar with such black bluesmen as Sleepy John Estes, Yank Rachell, and Little Brother Montgomery. He first sat in with a black blues band in 1959, when he performed with Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson at a Chicago club called the Place. He performed with Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, and many other Chicago blues performers during the early 1960s. In 1962 he married Susan Smith.
Writing in 2001, keyboardist, songwriter and record producer Al Kooper said Bloomfield's talent "was instantly obvious to his mentors. They knew this was not just another white boy; this was someone who truly understood what the blues were all about." Among his early supporters were B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Bob Dylan and Buddy Guy. "Michael used to say, 'It's a natural. Black people suffer externally in this country. Jewish people suffer internally. The suffering's the mutual fulcrum for the blues.'"
The Butterfield Band (1965 - 1967)
In the early 1960s he met harmonica player and singer Paul Butterfield and guitarist Elvin Bishop, with whom he would later play in The Paul Butterfield Blues Band. He also began friendships and professional associations with fellow Chicagoan Nick Gravenites and Bronx-born record producer Norman Dayron, who was attending the University of Chicago. He developed a friendship with blues singer Big Joe Williams. In 1963 Bloomfield and his two friends George Mitchell and Pete Welding ran a weekly blues showcase at the Fickle Pickle. He subsequently built up his reputation in two Chicago clubs, Big John's and Magoo's. With help from his friend Joel Harlib, a Chicago photographer who became Bloomfield's de facto manager, he became a Columbia Records recording artist. In early 1964 Harlib took an audition tape by Bloomfield to Columbia producer and talent scout John Hammond, who signed him to Columbia's Epic Records label.
Bloomfield recorded a few sessions for Columbia in 1964 that remained unreleased until after his death. In early 1965 he joined the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, which included Elvin Bishop and keyboardist Mark Naftalin, along with drummer Sam Lay and bassist Jerome Arnold, who had previously worked in Howlin' Wolf's band. Elektra Records producer Paul Rothchild recorded the band in spring 1965, but the majority of the tracks were not released until the 1990s. However, one of the tracks Rothchild recorded during his first pass at producing the group, a Nick Gravenites song titled "Born in Chicago," was included on the Elektra album Folksong '65, which sold two hundred thousand copies when it was released in September 1965. "Born in Chicago" became an underground hit for the Butterfield Band. Their debut album, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, was recorded in September and released the following month.
In June 1965, Bloomfield had recorded with Bob Dylan, whom he had met in 1963 at a Chicago club called the Bear. The club was bankrolled by future Dylan and Butterfield manager Albert Grossman, who would play a major part in Bloomfield's career. Bloomfield's Telecaster guitar licks were featured on Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone", a single produced by Columbia Record's Tom Wilson. Bloomfield would play on most of the tracks on Dylan's 1965 Highway 61 Revisited album, and he appeared onstage with Dylan in July at the Newport Folk Festival, where Dylan used Bloomfield and the Butterfield Band—minus Paul Butterfield—along with keyboardists Al Kooper and Barry Goldberg. The show marked Dylan's first use of an electric band in a live performance, and Bloomfield's playing on the songwriter's "Maggie's Farm" is considered a landmark electric-guitar performance. After the Newport Folk Festival ended, Bloomfield helped Dylan complete the sessions for Highway 61 Revisited, and Dylan asked Bloomfield to join his touring band. Bloomfield demurred, preferring to continue playing with the Butterfield Band.
After Sam Lay fell ill after a series of dates in November 1965, the Butterfield Band brought Chicago-born drummer Billy Davenport into the group. During the first part of 1966, the band played in California, and they recorded their second album, East-West, that summer. The record's title track found the band exploring modal music, and it was based upon a song Gravenites and Bloomfield had been playing since 1965, "It's About Time."
Bloomfield played on recording sessions between 1965 and 1967. His guitar playing had a huge impact on San Francisco Bay Area musicians after playing with the Butterfield band at Bill Graham's Fillmore in March 1966, San Francisco's Avalon Ballroom and also in the Los Angeles area due to the storied two-week run at the Golden Bear in Long Beach. He became a mentor and inspiration for many guitarists, especially in the SF Bay Area. He did a 1965 date with Peter, Paul and Mary that resulted in a song called "The King of Names," and he recorded in 1966 with pop group Chicago Loop, whose "When She Wants Good Lovin' (My Baby Comes to Me)" made Billboard Magazine'''s chart that year. He also played guitar on recordings by Chuck Berry, Mitch Ryder and James Cotton.
The Electric Flag (1967 - 1968)
Bloomfield tired of the Butterfield Band's rigorous touring schedule and, relocating to San Francisco, sought to create his own group. He formed the short-lived Electric Flag in 1967, with two longtime Chicago collaborators, Barry Goldberg and vocalist Nick Gravenites. The band featured a horn section. The band's rhythm section was composed of bassist Harvey Brooks and drummer Buddy Miles. Miles had previously played in Wilson Pickett's touring band, while Brooks had performed with Al Kooper in bands in New York City, and had played with both Kooper and Bloomfield on Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited. The group's first effort was the soundtrack for director-producer Roger Corman's 1967 movie The Trip, which was recorded in the spring of that year.
The Electric Flag debuted at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival and issued an album, A Long Time Comin', in April 1968 on Columbia Records. Critics complimented the group's distinctive, intriguing sound but found the record itself somewhat uneven. By that time, however, the band was already disintegrating; rivalries between members, shortsighted management, and heroin abuse all took their toll. Shortly after the release of that album, Bloomfield left his own band, with Gravenites, Goldberg, and bassist Harvey Brooks following.
Work with Al Kooper
Bloomfield also made an impact through his work with Al Kooper, who had played with Bloomfield on Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone". Kooper had become an A&R man for Columbia Records, and Bloomfield and Kooper had played piano on Moby Grape's 1968 Grape Jam, an instrumental album that had been packaged with the group's Wow collection.
"Why not do an entire jam album together?" Kooper remembered in 1998, writing the booklet notes for the Bloomfield anthology Don't Say That I Ain't Your Man: Essential Blues, 1964–1969. "At the time, most jazz albums were made using this modus operandi: pick a leader or two co-leaders, hire appropriate sidemen, pick some tunes, make some up and record an entire album on the fly in one or two days. Why not try and legitimize rock by adhering to these standards? In addition, as a fan, I was dissatisfied with Bloomfield's recorded studio output up until then. It seemed that his studio work was inhibited and reined in, compared to his incendiary live performances. Could I put him in a studio setting where he could feel free to just burn like he did in live performances?"
The result was Super Session, a jam album that spotlighted Bloomfield's guitar skills on one side. Bloomfield, who suffered from insomnia, left the sessions after the first day. Guitarist Stephen Stills completed the album with Kooper. It received excellent reviews and became the best-selling album of Bloomfield's career. Its success led to a live sequel, The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper, recorded over three nights at Fillmore West in September 1968.
Solo work
Bloomfield continued with solo, session and back-up work from 1968 to 1980. He played guitar on Mother Earth's cover of Memphis Slim's "Mother Earth," a track from their 1968 Living with the Animals album, and on two albums by Texas-born soul singer Wayne Talbert. With Mark Naftalin, he produced the 1968 sessions for James Cotton's 1968 album Cotton in Your Ears. He released his first solo album, It's Not Killing Me, in 1969. Bloomfield also helped Janis Joplin assemble her Kozmic Blues Band (for the album I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues, Again Mama!) in 1969, co-wrote "Work Me, Lord" for the album, and played the guitar solo on Joplin's blues composition "One Good Man." Columbia released another 1969 album, a live concert jam, Live at Bill Graham's Fillmore West, including Mark Naftalin, former Electric Flag bandmates Marcus Doubleday and Snooky Flowers, and a guest appearance by Taj Mahal. In the same year he reunited with Paul Butterfield and Sam Lay for the Chess Records album Fathers and Sons, featuring Muddy Waters and pianist Otis Spann. Bloomfield composed and recorded the soundtrack for the film Medium Cool, directed by his second cousin, Haskell Wexler. The film includes footage shot in Chicago during the 1968 Democratic National Convention. With Nick Gravenites, he produced blues guitarist Otis Rush's 1969 album Mourning in the Morning, recorded at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama with a band that included keyboardists Mark Naftalin and Barry Beckett, along with guitarist Duane Allman.
During 1970 Bloomfield gave up playing because of his heroin addiction:
He recorded his second solo album, Try It Before You Buy It, in 1973. Columbia rejected it; the complete version of the record would not appear until 1990. Also in 1973, he cut Triumvirate with Dr. John and guitarist and singer John Hammond Jr. In 1974, he rejoined the Electric Flag for an album titled The Band Kept Playing. In 1975 he recorded an album with the group KGB. The group's name is an acronym of the initials of singer and songwriter Ray Kennedy, Barry Goldberg and Bloomfield. The band also included Ric Grech and drummer Carmine Appice. Grech and Bloomfield quit shortly after its release. As the record hit stores in 1976, Bloomfield told journalists that the group had been an ill-conceived moneymaking project. The album was not well received by critics, but it did contain the standout track "Sail On, Sailor". Its authorship was credited to "Wilson-Kennedy", and had a bluesy, darker feel, along with Ray Kennedy's original cocaine-related lyrics. In the same year, he performed with John Cale on Cale's soundtrack for the film Caged Heat. In 1976 he recorded an instructional album for guitarists, If You Love These Blues, Play 'Em as You Please, which was financed through Guitar Player magazine.
In the 1970s Bloomfield played in local San Francisco Bay area clubs, including the Keystone Korner, and sat in with other bands. In 1977, Bloomfield was selected by Andy Warhol to do the soundtrack for the pop artist's last film, Andy Warhol's Bad (also known as BAD). An unreleased single, "Andy's Bad", was also produced for the project. During 1979–1981 he performed often with the King Perkoff Band, sometimes introducing them as the "Michael Bloomfield and Friends" outfit. Bloomfield recorded "Hustlin' Queen", written by John Isabeau and Perkoff in 1979. He toured Italy and Sweden with guitarist Woody Harris and cellist Maggie Edmondson in the summer of 1980. He sat in with Bob Dylan at San Francisco's Warfield Theatre on November 15, 1980. Bloomfield played on Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" and "The Groom's Still Waiting at the Altar". He continued to play live dates, and his performance at San Francisco State College on February 7, 1981, would be his final appearance.
Although Bloomfield came from a wealthy family, he never inherited a large lump sum. He received annual income from a trust that had been set up by his paternal grandfather, which gave him $50,000 each year.
Death
Bloomfield died in San Francisco on February 15, 1981. He was found seated behind the wheel of his car, with all four doors locked. According to police, an empty Valium bottle was found on the car seat, but no suicide note was found. The medical examiner who performed the autopsy ruled the death accidental, though he was unable to determine a cause of death, because no drugs were found in Bloomfield's system, and there were no signs of foul play. Bloomfield's last album, Cruisin' for a Bruisin, was released the day his death was announced. His remains are interred in a crypt at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery, in Culver City, near Los Angeles.
Style
Bloomfield's musical influences include Scotty Moore, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, B.B. King, Big Joe Williams, Otis Rush, Albert King, Freddie King and Ray Charles.
Bloomfield originally used a Fender Telecaster, though he had also used a Fender Duo-Sonic while recording for Columbia following his 1964 signing to the label. During his tenure with the Butterfield Blues Band he used that Tele on the first Butterfield Album and on their earliest tours in fall of 1965. By November he had swapped that guitar with International Submarine Band guitarist John Nuese for Nuese's 1954 Gibson Les Paul Goldtop model, which he used for some of the East-West sessions and which he acquired in Boston.
In 1967, Bloomfield swapped the Goldtop with his friend repairman/musician Dan Erlewine for Dan's 1959 Les Paul Standard and $100. The Les Paul Standard had proven unpopular in the late 1950s because it was deemed too heavy and too expensive by rock and roll guitarists. Gibson discontinued manufacturing the model in 1960. Bloomfield used the Les Paul Standard in the Electric Flag and on the Super Session album and concerts. He later switched between the Les Paul and the Telecaster, but his use of the Les Paul inspired other guitarists to use the model and spurred Gibson to reintroduce the Les Paul Standard in 1968.
Bloomfield eventually lost the guitar in Canada; Wolkin and Keenom's biography revealed that a club owner kept the guitar as partial compensation after Bloomfield cut short a round of appearances. This turned out to be accurate and the gig in question was at the Cave in Vancouver, booked from Tue. Nov. 12th 1974, for five days, until Sat. the 16th. The band played the first night but the next day, Bloomfield boarded a plane and flew home to San Francisco with virtually no notice to the club, hotel, or band members; his friend Mark Naftalin found a note on a torn piece of paper in the hotel room that read, "bye bye, sorry". Bloomfield's two guitars had been left at the club and were retained by club owner Stan Grozina, who wanted compensation for lost revenues.
Unlike contemporaries such as Jimi Hendrix and Jeff Beck, Bloomfield rarely experimented with feedback and distortion, preferring a loud yet clean, almost chiming sound with a healthy amount of reverb and vibrato; this approach would strongly influence Jerry Garcia, who segued from a career in acoustic-based music to electric rock at the height of the Butterfield Band's influence in 1965. One of his amplifiers of choice was a 1965 Fender Twin Reverb. His solos, like those of most blues guitarists, were based in the minor pentatonic scale and the blues scale. However, his liberal use of chromatic notes within the pentatonic framework and his periodic lines based on Indian and Eastern modes allowed a considerable degree of fluidity in his solos.
Gibson has since released a Michael Bloomfield Les Paul—replicating his 1959 Standard—in recognition of his impact on the blues genre, his role in the revived production of the guitar, and his influence on many other guitarists. Because the actual guitar had been unaccounted for so many years, Gibson relied on hundreds of photographs provided by Bloomfield's family to reproduce the guitar. The model comes in two configurations—a clean Vintage Original Specifications (VOS) version, with only Bloomfield's mismatched volume and tone control knobs, missing toggle switch cover, and kidney-shaped tuners replacing the Gibson originals indicating its inspiration and a faithful, process-aged reproduction of the guitar as it was when Bloomfield played it last, complete with the finish smudge below the bridge and various nicks and smudges elsewhere around the body.
His influence among contemporary guitarists continues to be widely felt, primarily in the techniques of vibrato, natural sustain, and economy of notes. Guitarists such as Joe Bonamassa, Arlen Roth, Carlos Santana, Slash, Jimmy Vivino, Chuck Hammer, Eric Johnson, Elliot Easton, Robben Ford, John Scofield, Jimmy Herring, Phil Keaggy, and G.E. Smith remain essentially influenced by Bloomfield's early recorded work.
Selected discography
The Paul Butterfield Blues Band
The Paul Butterfield Blues Band (1965)
East-West (1966)
The Original Lost Elektra Sessions (unreleased recordings from 1965)
East-West Live (three live versions of the track 'East-West', recorded 1966–1967)
The Electric Flag
The Trip (1967)
A Long Time Comin' (1968)
The Band Kept Playing (1974)
Groovin' Is Easy (Released 2002)
Solo
It's Not Killing Me (1969)
Try It Before You Buy It (1973) (Unreleased until 1990. Additional recordings from these sessions were released on "Bloomfield: A Retrospective" in 1983)
If You Love These Blues, Play 'Em as You Please (1976; reissued on CD with Bloomfield-Harris)
Andy's Bad (1977; unreleased title soundtrack to Andy Warhol's Bad)
Analine (1977)
Michael Bloomfield (1978)
Count Talent and the Originals (1978)
Between a Hard Place and the Ground (1979)
Bloomfield-Harris (1979)
Cruisin' for a Bruisin (1981)
Collaborations
Blueskvarter (recorded 1964, released 2007), many Swedish CDs, recordings on Swedish radio. Bloomfield plays guitar with Little Brother Montgomery, Sunnyland Slim, Yank Rachell, Eddie Boyd and others.
Super Session, Bloomfield, Kooper and Stills (1968). This album has since been remastered, with new editions featuring several Bloomfield performances not included on the original album, including "Blues for Nothing" and "Fat Gray Cloud."
The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper (1968)
Fillmore East: Al Kooper and Mike Bloomfield - The Lost Concert Tapes 12/13/68 (recorded 1968, released 2003)
Two Jews Blues (1969), with Barry Goldberg (uncredited because of contractual constraints)
My Labors (1969), with Nick Gravenites
Live at Bill Graham's Fillmore West (1969), with Nick Gravenites, Taj Mahal, Mark Naftalin. Some of the performances at the same concerts that yielded this album were included on My Labors. Those performances, except for "Winter Country Blues," are now part Live at Bill Graham's Fillmore West 1969, released in 2009 and credited to Michael Bloomfield with Nick Gravenites and Friends.
Medium Cool (1969), original film soundtrack featuring Bloomfield and others
Steelyard Blues (1973), original film soundtrack, with Nick Gravenites and others
Mill Valley Bunch – Casting Pearls (1973), with Bill Vitt, Nick Gravenites and others
Triumvirate (1973), with John Hammond and Dr. John
KGB (1976), Ray Kennedy (vocals), Barry Goldberg (keyboards), Mike Bloomfield (guitar), Ric Grech (bass), Carmine Appice (drums)
Selected session work
Highway 61 Revisited – Bob Dylan (1965)
Album - Peter, Paul and Mary (1965)
Chicago Loop (1966)
Cherry Red - Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson (BluesWay, 1967)
"Carry On"/"Ronnie Siegel from Avenue L" 45 - Barry Goldberg, with Frank Zappa, guitar, produced by Tom Wilson
Grape Jam – Moby Grape (1968) – Played Piano
Living with the Animals – Mother Earth (1968); credited as "Makal Blumfeld" due to contractual constraints.
Dues to Pay - Wayne Talbert & the Melting Pot (1968)
Lord Have Mercy on My Funky Soul -Wayne Talbert (1969)
Fathers and Sons – Muddy Waters (1969)
I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama! – Janis Joplin (1969)
Weeds – Brewer & Shipley (1969)
Moogie Woogie - The Zeet Band (1970) (credited as "Fastfingers" Finkelstein)
Sam Lay in Bluesland – Sam Lay (1970)
Gandharva – Beaver & Krause (1971)
Brand New – Woody Herman and His Orchestra (1971)
Posthumous releases
Living in the Fast Lane (1981)
Bloomfield: A Retrospective (1983)
I'm with You Always (Live recordings from McCabe's Guitar Shop, Santa Monica, CA; 1977)
Between the Hard Place and the Ground (Different from the original 70s LP – containing further selections from McCabe's Guitar Shop)
Don't Say That I Ain't Your Man: Essential Blues, 1964–1969, an anthology that includes five songs from Bloomfield's original 1964 Columbia sessions.
Live at the Old Waldorf (Recorded live in 1976 and 1977 by producer Norman Dayron at the Old Waldorf nightclub)
Barry Goldberg & Friends – Live (Features Mike on guitar on most tracks)
Michael Bloomfield, Harvey Mandel, Barry Goldberg & Friends (with Eddie Hoh on drums) – Solid Blues, ed . 1995 (St.Clair Entertainment Group Inc.)
The Holy Kingdom: Music of the Gospel 1998 Mike Bloomfield Performed 2 songs; "Wings Of An Angel" and "You Must Have Seen Jesus". Other Artists on the Album included The Five Blind Boys Of Alabama, The Cavaliers and The Swan Silvertones.
If You Love These Blues by Wolkin & Keenom (Miller Freeman Books, 2000) contains a CD of 1964 recordings made by Norman Dayron
From His Head to His Heart to His Hands: An Audio-Visual Scrapbook (2013); a Columbia Legacy career retrospective, produced by Al Kooper, including tapes from Bloomfield's original audition for John Hammond at Columbia Records in 1964, previously unissued live performances, and a DVD that includes the documentary film Sweet Blues: A Film About Mike Bloomfield, directed by Bob Sarles and produced and edited by Bob Sarles and Christina Keating. The film premiered at the Mill Valley Film Festival in October 2013.
References
SourcesMichael Bloomfield – Me and Big Joe, Re/Search Publications, 1st edition 1980, . Last éd. V/Search, December 1999, Jan Mark Wolkin & Bill Keenom - Michael Bloomfield – If You Love These Blues: An Oral History Backbeat Books, 1st edition September 2000 – (with CD of unreleased music – early recordings made by Norman Dayron ) Ken Brooks – The Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper with Paul Butterfield and David Clayton Thomas Agenda Ltd, February 1999, Al Kooper – Backstage Passes: Rock 'N' Roll Life in the Sixties – Stein & Day Pub (1st edition February 1977) Al Kooper – Backstage Passes and Backstabbing Bastards: Memoirs of a Rock 'N' Roll Survivor Billboard Books (Updated Edition – September 1998) Al Kooper – Backstage Passes and Backstabbing Bastards – Hal Leonard Corporation, new edition February 2008, Ed Ward – Michael Bloomfield, The rise and fall of an American guitar hero, Cherry Lane Books (1983), Ed Ward – Michael Bloomfield, The rise and fall of an American guitar hero, Multiprises, LLC (updated edition - 2016), (print) (PDF edition) (epub) (Kindle)David Dann' – Guitar King: Michael Bloomfield's Life in the Blues'', University of Texas Press (2019), (print) (ebook)
External links
Official Mike Bloomfield Site
Me and Big Joe by Michael Bloomfield (1980)
[ "Michael Bloomfield"]. Allmusic.com (accessed September 30, 2006).
Mike Bloomfield, An American Guitarist
Bloomfield's Doomed Field by Al Kooper
Michael Bloomfield Chronology & Analysis
Gibson's Replica of Mike Bloomfield's 1959 Les Paul Standard Guitar
Bloomfield notes newsletter
1943 births
1981 deaths
Lead guitarists
American blues guitarists
American male guitarists
American blues pianists
American male pianists
Blues musicians from Illinois
Singers from Chicago
Jewish American musicians
American session musicians
Deaths by heroin overdose in California
Burials at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery
20th-century American singers
Jewish rock musicians
The Electric Flag members
Guitarists from Chicago
Paul Butterfield Blues Band members
20th-century American guitarists
20th-century American male singers
20th-century American pianists
20th-century American Jews | true | [
"Grow Up may refer to:\nAdvance in age\nProgress toward psychological maturity\nGrow Up (book), a 2007 book by Keith Allen\nGrow Up (video game), 2016 video game\n\nMusic\nGrow Up (Desperate Journalist album), 2017\nGrow Up (The Queers album), 1990\nGrow Up (Svoy album), 2011\nGrow Up, a 2015 EP by HALO\n\"Grow Up\" (Olly Murs song)\n\"Grow Up\" (Paramore song)\n\"Grow Up\" (Simple Plan song)\n\"Grow Up\", a song by Rockwell\n\"Grow Up\", a song from the Bratz album Rock Angelz\n\"Grow Up\", a song by Cher Lloyd from Sticks and Stones\n\nSee also\nGrowing Up (disambiguation)\nGrow Up, Tony Phillips, a 2013 film by Emily Hagins",
"\"When I Grow Up\" is the second single from Swedish recording artist Fever Ray's self-titled debut album, Fever Ray (2009).\n\nCritical reception\nPitchfork Media placed \"When I Grow Up\" at number 36 on the website's list of The Top 100 Tracks of 2009.\n\nMusic video\nThe music video for \"When I Grow Up\" was directed by Martin de Thurah. He said of the video's visual statement:\n\n\"That initial idea was something about something coming out of water—something which was about to take form – a state turning into something new. And a double headed creature not deciding which to turn. But the idea had to take a simpler form, to let the song grow by itself. I remembered a photo I took in Croatia two years ago, a swimming pool with its shining blue color in a grey foggy autumn landscape.\"\n\nThe video premiered on Fever Ray's YouTube channel on 19 February 2009. It has received over 12 million views as of March 2016.\n\n\"When I Grow Up\" was placed at number three on Spins list of The 20 Best Videos of 2009.\n\nTrack listings\niTunes single\n\"When I Grow Up\" – 4:31\n\"When I Grow Up\" (Håkan Lidbo's Encephalitis Remix) – 5:59\n\"When I Grow Up\" (D. Lissvik) – 4:28\n\"Memories from When I Grew Up (Remembered by The Subliminal Kid)\" – 16:41\n\"When I Grow Up\" (Van Rivers Dark Sails on the Horizon Mix) – 9:16\n\"When I Grow Up\" (We Grow Apart Vocal Version by Pär Grindvik) – 6:02\n\"When I Grow Up\" (We Grow Apart Inspiration - Take 2 - By Pär Grindvik) – 7:59\n\"When I Grow Up\" (Scuba's High Up Mix) – 6:17\n\"When I Grow Up\" (Scuba's Straight Down Mix) – 5:54\n\"When I Grow Up\" (Video) – 4:04\n\nSwedish 12\" single \nA1. \"When I Grow Up\" (Van Rivers Dark Sails on the Horizon Mix) – 9:10\nA2. \"When I Grow Up\" (D. Lissvik) – 4:28\nB1. \"Memories from When I Grew Up (Remembered by The Subliminal Kid)\" – 16:41\n\nUK promo CD single \n\"When I Grow Up\" (Edit) – 3:42\n\"When I Grow Up\" (D. Lissvik Radio Edit) – 3:19\n\nNominations\n\nAppearances in other media\nThe song was used as part of the soundtrack for the video game Pro Evolution Soccer 2011.\n\nReferences\n\n2009 singles\n2009 songs\nFever Ray songs\nSongs written by Karin Dreijer"
] |
[
"Mike Bloomfield",
"Early years",
"Where did he grow up?",
"was born in Chicago in 1914."
] | C_e7d89b070b5a43cb90fa72df99617783_1 | Who were his parents? | 2 | Who were Mike Bloomfield's parents? | Mike Bloomfield | Bloomfield was born into a wealthy Chicago Jewish-American family. Bloomfield's father, Harold Bloomfield, was born in Chicago in 1914. After pursuing business ventures in California during the 1920s, he returned to the city in the early 1930s. Harold Bloomfield began manufacturing restaurant supplies, and by the latter part of the decade his company, Bloomfield Industries, was making pie cases, kitchen utensils, salt and pepper shakers, and sugar pourers. By the early 1940s Bloomfield Industries had acquired more manufacturing and warehouse space. The company expanded during World War II by manufacturing supplies needed for the war effort. Working with his brother, Daniel, and his father, Samuel, Harold Bloomfield built up Bloomfield Industries into a thriving business. Michael Bloomfield's mother was born Dorothy Klein in Chicago in 1918 and married Harold Bloomfield in 1940. She came from an artistic, musical family, and worked as an actor and a model before marrying Bloomfield. Michael Bloomfield's brother Allen Bloomfield was born in Chicago on Dec. 24, 1944. Bloomfield's family lived in various locations around Chicago before settling at 424 West Melrose Street on the North Side. When he was twelve his family moved to suburban Glencoe, Illinois, where he attended New Trier High School for two years. During this time, he began playing in local bands, and Bloomfield put together a group called the Hurricanes, named after Ohio rock band Johnny and the Hurricanes. New Trier High School expelled Bloomfield after his band performed a raucous rock and roll song at a 1959 school gathering. He attended Cornwall Academy in Massachusetts for one year and then returned to Chicago, where he spent his last year of education at a local YMCA school, Central YMCA High School. Bloomfield had attended a 1957 Chicago performance by blues singer Josh White, and began spending time in Chicago's South Side blues clubs and playing guitar with such black bluesmen as Sleepy John Estes, Yank Rachell, and Little Brother Montgomery. He first sat in with a black blues band in 1959, when he performed with Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson at a Chicago club called the Place. He performed with Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, and many other Chicago blues performers during the early 1960s. Writing in 2001, keyboardist, songwriter and record producer Al Kooper said Bloomfield's talent "was instantly obvious to his mentors. They knew this was not just another white boy; this was someone who truly understood what the blues were all about." Among his early supporters were B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Bob Dylan and Buddy Guy. "Michael used to say, 'It's a natural. Black people suffer externally in this country. Jewish people suffer internally. The suffering's the mutual fulcrum for the blues.'" CANNOTANSWER | mother was born Dorothy Klein in Chicago in 1918 and married Harold Bloomfield in 1940. | Michael Bernard Bloomfield (July 28, 1943 – February 15, 1981) was an American guitarist and composer, born in Chicago, Illinois, who became one of the first popular music superstars of the 1960s to earn his reputation almost entirely on his instrumental prowess, as he rarely sang before 1969. Respected for his guitar playing, Bloomfield knew and played with many of Chicago's blues musicians before achieving his own fame and was instrumental in popularizing blues music in the mid-1960s. In 1965, he played on Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited, including the single "Like a Rolling Stone", and performed with Dylan at that year's Newport Folk Festival.
Bloomfield was ranked No. 22 on Rolling Stone's list of "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" in 2003 and No. 42 by the same magazine in 2011. He was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2012 and, as a member of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015.
Early years
Bloomfield was born into a wealthy Chicago family. Bloomfield's father, Harold Bloomfield, was born in Chicago in 1914. Harold's father, Samuel Bloomfield, started Bloomfield Industries in the early 1930s. After Samuel passed away, Harold and his brother, Daniel, took over the company. Bloomfield's mother, Dorothy Klein, was born in Chicago in 1918 and married Harold in 1940. She came from an artistic, musical family, working as an actress and a model before marrying Harold.
Bloomfield's family lived in various locations around Chicago before settling at 424 West Melrose Street on the North Side. When he was twelve his family moved to suburban Glencoe, Illinois, where he attended New Trier High School for two years. During this time, he began playing in local bands, and Bloomfield put together a group called the Hurricanes, named after Ohio rock band Johnny and the Hurricanes. New Trier High School expelled Bloomfield after his band performed a raucous rock and roll song at a 1959 school gathering. He attended Cornwall Academy in Massachusetts for one year and then returned to Chicago, where he spent his last year of education at a local YMCA school, Central YMCA High School.
Bloomfield had attended a 1957 Chicago performance by blues singer Josh White, and began spending time in Chicago's South Side blues clubs and playing guitar with such black bluesmen as Sleepy John Estes, Yank Rachell, and Little Brother Montgomery. He first sat in with a black blues band in 1959, when he performed with Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson at a Chicago club called the Place. He performed with Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, and many other Chicago blues performers during the early 1960s. In 1962 he married Susan Smith.
Writing in 2001, keyboardist, songwriter and record producer Al Kooper said Bloomfield's talent "was instantly obvious to his mentors. They knew this was not just another white boy; this was someone who truly understood what the blues were all about." Among his early supporters were B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Bob Dylan and Buddy Guy. "Michael used to say, 'It's a natural. Black people suffer externally in this country. Jewish people suffer internally. The suffering's the mutual fulcrum for the blues.'"
The Butterfield Band (1965 - 1967)
In the early 1960s he met harmonica player and singer Paul Butterfield and guitarist Elvin Bishop, with whom he would later play in The Paul Butterfield Blues Band. He also began friendships and professional associations with fellow Chicagoan Nick Gravenites and Bronx-born record producer Norman Dayron, who was attending the University of Chicago. He developed a friendship with blues singer Big Joe Williams. In 1963 Bloomfield and his two friends George Mitchell and Pete Welding ran a weekly blues showcase at the Fickle Pickle. He subsequently built up his reputation in two Chicago clubs, Big John's and Magoo's. With help from his friend Joel Harlib, a Chicago photographer who became Bloomfield's de facto manager, he became a Columbia Records recording artist. In early 1964 Harlib took an audition tape by Bloomfield to Columbia producer and talent scout John Hammond, who signed him to Columbia's Epic Records label.
Bloomfield recorded a few sessions for Columbia in 1964 that remained unreleased until after his death. In early 1965 he joined the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, which included Elvin Bishop and keyboardist Mark Naftalin, along with drummer Sam Lay and bassist Jerome Arnold, who had previously worked in Howlin' Wolf's band. Elektra Records producer Paul Rothchild recorded the band in spring 1965, but the majority of the tracks were not released until the 1990s. However, one of the tracks Rothchild recorded during his first pass at producing the group, a Nick Gravenites song titled "Born in Chicago," was included on the Elektra album Folksong '65, which sold two hundred thousand copies when it was released in September 1965. "Born in Chicago" became an underground hit for the Butterfield Band. Their debut album, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, was recorded in September and released the following month.
In June 1965, Bloomfield had recorded with Bob Dylan, whom he had met in 1963 at a Chicago club called the Bear. The club was bankrolled by future Dylan and Butterfield manager Albert Grossman, who would play a major part in Bloomfield's career. Bloomfield's Telecaster guitar licks were featured on Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone", a single produced by Columbia Record's Tom Wilson. Bloomfield would play on most of the tracks on Dylan's 1965 Highway 61 Revisited album, and he appeared onstage with Dylan in July at the Newport Folk Festival, where Dylan used Bloomfield and the Butterfield Band—minus Paul Butterfield—along with keyboardists Al Kooper and Barry Goldberg. The show marked Dylan's first use of an electric band in a live performance, and Bloomfield's playing on the songwriter's "Maggie's Farm" is considered a landmark electric-guitar performance. After the Newport Folk Festival ended, Bloomfield helped Dylan complete the sessions for Highway 61 Revisited, and Dylan asked Bloomfield to join his touring band. Bloomfield demurred, preferring to continue playing with the Butterfield Band.
After Sam Lay fell ill after a series of dates in November 1965, the Butterfield Band brought Chicago-born drummer Billy Davenport into the group. During the first part of 1966, the band played in California, and they recorded their second album, East-West, that summer. The record's title track found the band exploring modal music, and it was based upon a song Gravenites and Bloomfield had been playing since 1965, "It's About Time."
Bloomfield played on recording sessions between 1965 and 1967. His guitar playing had a huge impact on San Francisco Bay Area musicians after playing with the Butterfield band at Bill Graham's Fillmore in March 1966, San Francisco's Avalon Ballroom and also in the Los Angeles area due to the storied two-week run at the Golden Bear in Long Beach. He became a mentor and inspiration for many guitarists, especially in the SF Bay Area. He did a 1965 date with Peter, Paul and Mary that resulted in a song called "The King of Names," and he recorded in 1966 with pop group Chicago Loop, whose "When She Wants Good Lovin' (My Baby Comes to Me)" made Billboard Magazine'''s chart that year. He also played guitar on recordings by Chuck Berry, Mitch Ryder and James Cotton.
The Electric Flag (1967 - 1968)
Bloomfield tired of the Butterfield Band's rigorous touring schedule and, relocating to San Francisco, sought to create his own group. He formed the short-lived Electric Flag in 1967, with two longtime Chicago collaborators, Barry Goldberg and vocalist Nick Gravenites. The band featured a horn section. The band's rhythm section was composed of bassist Harvey Brooks and drummer Buddy Miles. Miles had previously played in Wilson Pickett's touring band, while Brooks had performed with Al Kooper in bands in New York City, and had played with both Kooper and Bloomfield on Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited. The group's first effort was the soundtrack for director-producer Roger Corman's 1967 movie The Trip, which was recorded in the spring of that year.
The Electric Flag debuted at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival and issued an album, A Long Time Comin', in April 1968 on Columbia Records. Critics complimented the group's distinctive, intriguing sound but found the record itself somewhat uneven. By that time, however, the band was already disintegrating; rivalries between members, shortsighted management, and heroin abuse all took their toll. Shortly after the release of that album, Bloomfield left his own band, with Gravenites, Goldberg, and bassist Harvey Brooks following.
Work with Al Kooper
Bloomfield also made an impact through his work with Al Kooper, who had played with Bloomfield on Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone". Kooper had become an A&R man for Columbia Records, and Bloomfield and Kooper had played piano on Moby Grape's 1968 Grape Jam, an instrumental album that had been packaged with the group's Wow collection.
"Why not do an entire jam album together?" Kooper remembered in 1998, writing the booklet notes for the Bloomfield anthology Don't Say That I Ain't Your Man: Essential Blues, 1964–1969. "At the time, most jazz albums were made using this modus operandi: pick a leader or two co-leaders, hire appropriate sidemen, pick some tunes, make some up and record an entire album on the fly in one or two days. Why not try and legitimize rock by adhering to these standards? In addition, as a fan, I was dissatisfied with Bloomfield's recorded studio output up until then. It seemed that his studio work was inhibited and reined in, compared to his incendiary live performances. Could I put him in a studio setting where he could feel free to just burn like he did in live performances?"
The result was Super Session, a jam album that spotlighted Bloomfield's guitar skills on one side. Bloomfield, who suffered from insomnia, left the sessions after the first day. Guitarist Stephen Stills completed the album with Kooper. It received excellent reviews and became the best-selling album of Bloomfield's career. Its success led to a live sequel, The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper, recorded over three nights at Fillmore West in September 1968.
Solo work
Bloomfield continued with solo, session and back-up work from 1968 to 1980. He played guitar on Mother Earth's cover of Memphis Slim's "Mother Earth," a track from their 1968 Living with the Animals album, and on two albums by Texas-born soul singer Wayne Talbert. With Mark Naftalin, he produced the 1968 sessions for James Cotton's 1968 album Cotton in Your Ears. He released his first solo album, It's Not Killing Me, in 1969. Bloomfield also helped Janis Joplin assemble her Kozmic Blues Band (for the album I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues, Again Mama!) in 1969, co-wrote "Work Me, Lord" for the album, and played the guitar solo on Joplin's blues composition "One Good Man." Columbia released another 1969 album, a live concert jam, Live at Bill Graham's Fillmore West, including Mark Naftalin, former Electric Flag bandmates Marcus Doubleday and Snooky Flowers, and a guest appearance by Taj Mahal. In the same year he reunited with Paul Butterfield and Sam Lay for the Chess Records album Fathers and Sons, featuring Muddy Waters and pianist Otis Spann. Bloomfield composed and recorded the soundtrack for the film Medium Cool, directed by his second cousin, Haskell Wexler. The film includes footage shot in Chicago during the 1968 Democratic National Convention. With Nick Gravenites, he produced blues guitarist Otis Rush's 1969 album Mourning in the Morning, recorded at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama with a band that included keyboardists Mark Naftalin and Barry Beckett, along with guitarist Duane Allman.
During 1970 Bloomfield gave up playing because of his heroin addiction:
He recorded his second solo album, Try It Before You Buy It, in 1973. Columbia rejected it; the complete version of the record would not appear until 1990. Also in 1973, he cut Triumvirate with Dr. John and guitarist and singer John Hammond Jr. In 1974, he rejoined the Electric Flag for an album titled The Band Kept Playing. In 1975 he recorded an album with the group KGB. The group's name is an acronym of the initials of singer and songwriter Ray Kennedy, Barry Goldberg and Bloomfield. The band also included Ric Grech and drummer Carmine Appice. Grech and Bloomfield quit shortly after its release. As the record hit stores in 1976, Bloomfield told journalists that the group had been an ill-conceived moneymaking project. The album was not well received by critics, but it did contain the standout track "Sail On, Sailor". Its authorship was credited to "Wilson-Kennedy", and had a bluesy, darker feel, along with Ray Kennedy's original cocaine-related lyrics. In the same year, he performed with John Cale on Cale's soundtrack for the film Caged Heat. In 1976 he recorded an instructional album for guitarists, If You Love These Blues, Play 'Em as You Please, which was financed through Guitar Player magazine.
In the 1970s Bloomfield played in local San Francisco Bay area clubs, including the Keystone Korner, and sat in with other bands. In 1977, Bloomfield was selected by Andy Warhol to do the soundtrack for the pop artist's last film, Andy Warhol's Bad (also known as BAD). An unreleased single, "Andy's Bad", was also produced for the project. During 1979–1981 he performed often with the King Perkoff Band, sometimes introducing them as the "Michael Bloomfield and Friends" outfit. Bloomfield recorded "Hustlin' Queen", written by John Isabeau and Perkoff in 1979. He toured Italy and Sweden with guitarist Woody Harris and cellist Maggie Edmondson in the summer of 1980. He sat in with Bob Dylan at San Francisco's Warfield Theatre on November 15, 1980. Bloomfield played on Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" and "The Groom's Still Waiting at the Altar". He continued to play live dates, and his performance at San Francisco State College on February 7, 1981, would be his final appearance.
Although Bloomfield came from a wealthy family, he never inherited a large lump sum. He received annual income from a trust that had been set up by his paternal grandfather, which gave him $50,000 each year.
Death
Bloomfield died in San Francisco on February 15, 1981. He was found seated behind the wheel of his car, with all four doors locked. According to police, an empty Valium bottle was found on the car seat, but no suicide note was found. The medical examiner who performed the autopsy ruled the death accidental, though he was unable to determine a cause of death, because no drugs were found in Bloomfield's system, and there were no signs of foul play. Bloomfield's last album, Cruisin' for a Bruisin, was released the day his death was announced. His remains are interred in a crypt at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery, in Culver City, near Los Angeles.
Style
Bloomfield's musical influences include Scotty Moore, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, B.B. King, Big Joe Williams, Otis Rush, Albert King, Freddie King and Ray Charles.
Bloomfield originally used a Fender Telecaster, though he had also used a Fender Duo-Sonic while recording for Columbia following his 1964 signing to the label. During his tenure with the Butterfield Blues Band he used that Tele on the first Butterfield Album and on their earliest tours in fall of 1965. By November he had swapped that guitar with International Submarine Band guitarist John Nuese for Nuese's 1954 Gibson Les Paul Goldtop model, which he used for some of the East-West sessions and which he acquired in Boston.
In 1967, Bloomfield swapped the Goldtop with his friend repairman/musician Dan Erlewine for Dan's 1959 Les Paul Standard and $100. The Les Paul Standard had proven unpopular in the late 1950s because it was deemed too heavy and too expensive by rock and roll guitarists. Gibson discontinued manufacturing the model in 1960. Bloomfield used the Les Paul Standard in the Electric Flag and on the Super Session album and concerts. He later switched between the Les Paul and the Telecaster, but his use of the Les Paul inspired other guitarists to use the model and spurred Gibson to reintroduce the Les Paul Standard in 1968.
Bloomfield eventually lost the guitar in Canada; Wolkin and Keenom's biography revealed that a club owner kept the guitar as partial compensation after Bloomfield cut short a round of appearances. This turned out to be accurate and the gig in question was at the Cave in Vancouver, booked from Tue. Nov. 12th 1974, for five days, until Sat. the 16th. The band played the first night but the next day, Bloomfield boarded a plane and flew home to San Francisco with virtually no notice to the club, hotel, or band members; his friend Mark Naftalin found a note on a torn piece of paper in the hotel room that read, "bye bye, sorry". Bloomfield's two guitars had been left at the club and were retained by club owner Stan Grozina, who wanted compensation for lost revenues.
Unlike contemporaries such as Jimi Hendrix and Jeff Beck, Bloomfield rarely experimented with feedback and distortion, preferring a loud yet clean, almost chiming sound with a healthy amount of reverb and vibrato; this approach would strongly influence Jerry Garcia, who segued from a career in acoustic-based music to electric rock at the height of the Butterfield Band's influence in 1965. One of his amplifiers of choice was a 1965 Fender Twin Reverb. His solos, like those of most blues guitarists, were based in the minor pentatonic scale and the blues scale. However, his liberal use of chromatic notes within the pentatonic framework and his periodic lines based on Indian and Eastern modes allowed a considerable degree of fluidity in his solos.
Gibson has since released a Michael Bloomfield Les Paul—replicating his 1959 Standard—in recognition of his impact on the blues genre, his role in the revived production of the guitar, and his influence on many other guitarists. Because the actual guitar had been unaccounted for so many years, Gibson relied on hundreds of photographs provided by Bloomfield's family to reproduce the guitar. The model comes in two configurations—a clean Vintage Original Specifications (VOS) version, with only Bloomfield's mismatched volume and tone control knobs, missing toggle switch cover, and kidney-shaped tuners replacing the Gibson originals indicating its inspiration and a faithful, process-aged reproduction of the guitar as it was when Bloomfield played it last, complete with the finish smudge below the bridge and various nicks and smudges elsewhere around the body.
His influence among contemporary guitarists continues to be widely felt, primarily in the techniques of vibrato, natural sustain, and economy of notes. Guitarists such as Joe Bonamassa, Arlen Roth, Carlos Santana, Slash, Jimmy Vivino, Chuck Hammer, Eric Johnson, Elliot Easton, Robben Ford, John Scofield, Jimmy Herring, Phil Keaggy, and G.E. Smith remain essentially influenced by Bloomfield's early recorded work.
Selected discography
The Paul Butterfield Blues Band
The Paul Butterfield Blues Band (1965)
East-West (1966)
The Original Lost Elektra Sessions (unreleased recordings from 1965)
East-West Live (three live versions of the track 'East-West', recorded 1966–1967)
The Electric Flag
The Trip (1967)
A Long Time Comin' (1968)
The Band Kept Playing (1974)
Groovin' Is Easy (Released 2002)
Solo
It's Not Killing Me (1969)
Try It Before You Buy It (1973) (Unreleased until 1990. Additional recordings from these sessions were released on "Bloomfield: A Retrospective" in 1983)
If You Love These Blues, Play 'Em as You Please (1976; reissued on CD with Bloomfield-Harris)
Andy's Bad (1977; unreleased title soundtrack to Andy Warhol's Bad)
Analine (1977)
Michael Bloomfield (1978)
Count Talent and the Originals (1978)
Between a Hard Place and the Ground (1979)
Bloomfield-Harris (1979)
Cruisin' for a Bruisin (1981)
Collaborations
Blueskvarter (recorded 1964, released 2007), many Swedish CDs, recordings on Swedish radio. Bloomfield plays guitar with Little Brother Montgomery, Sunnyland Slim, Yank Rachell, Eddie Boyd and others.
Super Session, Bloomfield, Kooper and Stills (1968). This album has since been remastered, with new editions featuring several Bloomfield performances not included on the original album, including "Blues for Nothing" and "Fat Gray Cloud."
The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper (1968)
Fillmore East: Al Kooper and Mike Bloomfield - The Lost Concert Tapes 12/13/68 (recorded 1968, released 2003)
Two Jews Blues (1969), with Barry Goldberg (uncredited because of contractual constraints)
My Labors (1969), with Nick Gravenites
Live at Bill Graham's Fillmore West (1969), with Nick Gravenites, Taj Mahal, Mark Naftalin. Some of the performances at the same concerts that yielded this album were included on My Labors. Those performances, except for "Winter Country Blues," are now part Live at Bill Graham's Fillmore West 1969, released in 2009 and credited to Michael Bloomfield with Nick Gravenites and Friends.
Medium Cool (1969), original film soundtrack featuring Bloomfield and others
Steelyard Blues (1973), original film soundtrack, with Nick Gravenites and others
Mill Valley Bunch – Casting Pearls (1973), with Bill Vitt, Nick Gravenites and others
Triumvirate (1973), with John Hammond and Dr. John
KGB (1976), Ray Kennedy (vocals), Barry Goldberg (keyboards), Mike Bloomfield (guitar), Ric Grech (bass), Carmine Appice (drums)
Selected session work
Highway 61 Revisited – Bob Dylan (1965)
Album - Peter, Paul and Mary (1965)
Chicago Loop (1966)
Cherry Red - Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson (BluesWay, 1967)
"Carry On"/"Ronnie Siegel from Avenue L" 45 - Barry Goldberg, with Frank Zappa, guitar, produced by Tom Wilson
Grape Jam – Moby Grape (1968) – Played Piano
Living with the Animals – Mother Earth (1968); credited as "Makal Blumfeld" due to contractual constraints.
Dues to Pay - Wayne Talbert & the Melting Pot (1968)
Lord Have Mercy on My Funky Soul -Wayne Talbert (1969)
Fathers and Sons – Muddy Waters (1969)
I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama! – Janis Joplin (1969)
Weeds – Brewer & Shipley (1969)
Moogie Woogie - The Zeet Band (1970) (credited as "Fastfingers" Finkelstein)
Sam Lay in Bluesland – Sam Lay (1970)
Gandharva – Beaver & Krause (1971)
Brand New – Woody Herman and His Orchestra (1971)
Posthumous releases
Living in the Fast Lane (1981)
Bloomfield: A Retrospective (1983)
I'm with You Always (Live recordings from McCabe's Guitar Shop, Santa Monica, CA; 1977)
Between the Hard Place and the Ground (Different from the original 70s LP – containing further selections from McCabe's Guitar Shop)
Don't Say That I Ain't Your Man: Essential Blues, 1964–1969, an anthology that includes five songs from Bloomfield's original 1964 Columbia sessions.
Live at the Old Waldorf (Recorded live in 1976 and 1977 by producer Norman Dayron at the Old Waldorf nightclub)
Barry Goldberg & Friends – Live (Features Mike on guitar on most tracks)
Michael Bloomfield, Harvey Mandel, Barry Goldberg & Friends (with Eddie Hoh on drums) – Solid Blues, ed . 1995 (St.Clair Entertainment Group Inc.)
The Holy Kingdom: Music of the Gospel 1998 Mike Bloomfield Performed 2 songs; "Wings Of An Angel" and "You Must Have Seen Jesus". Other Artists on the Album included The Five Blind Boys Of Alabama, The Cavaliers and The Swan Silvertones.
If You Love These Blues by Wolkin & Keenom (Miller Freeman Books, 2000) contains a CD of 1964 recordings made by Norman Dayron
From His Head to His Heart to His Hands: An Audio-Visual Scrapbook (2013); a Columbia Legacy career retrospective, produced by Al Kooper, including tapes from Bloomfield's original audition for John Hammond at Columbia Records in 1964, previously unissued live performances, and a DVD that includes the documentary film Sweet Blues: A Film About Mike Bloomfield, directed by Bob Sarles and produced and edited by Bob Sarles and Christina Keating. The film premiered at the Mill Valley Film Festival in October 2013.
References
SourcesMichael Bloomfield – Me and Big Joe, Re/Search Publications, 1st edition 1980, . Last éd. V/Search, December 1999, Jan Mark Wolkin & Bill Keenom - Michael Bloomfield – If You Love These Blues: An Oral History Backbeat Books, 1st edition September 2000 – (with CD of unreleased music – early recordings made by Norman Dayron ) Ken Brooks – The Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper with Paul Butterfield and David Clayton Thomas Agenda Ltd, February 1999, Al Kooper – Backstage Passes: Rock 'N' Roll Life in the Sixties – Stein & Day Pub (1st edition February 1977) Al Kooper – Backstage Passes and Backstabbing Bastards: Memoirs of a Rock 'N' Roll Survivor Billboard Books (Updated Edition – September 1998) Al Kooper – Backstage Passes and Backstabbing Bastards – Hal Leonard Corporation, new edition February 2008, Ed Ward – Michael Bloomfield, The rise and fall of an American guitar hero, Cherry Lane Books (1983), Ed Ward – Michael Bloomfield, The rise and fall of an American guitar hero, Multiprises, LLC (updated edition - 2016), (print) (PDF edition) (epub) (Kindle)David Dann' – Guitar King: Michael Bloomfield's Life in the Blues'', University of Texas Press (2019), (print) (ebook)
External links
Official Mike Bloomfield Site
Me and Big Joe by Michael Bloomfield (1980)
[ "Michael Bloomfield"]. Allmusic.com (accessed September 30, 2006).
Mike Bloomfield, An American Guitarist
Bloomfield's Doomed Field by Al Kooper
Michael Bloomfield Chronology & Analysis
Gibson's Replica of Mike Bloomfield's 1959 Les Paul Standard Guitar
Bloomfield notes newsletter
1943 births
1981 deaths
Lead guitarists
American blues guitarists
American male guitarists
American blues pianists
American male pianists
Blues musicians from Illinois
Singers from Chicago
Jewish American musicians
American session musicians
Deaths by heroin overdose in California
Burials at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery
20th-century American singers
Jewish rock musicians
The Electric Flag members
Guitarists from Chicago
Paul Butterfield Blues Band members
20th-century American guitarists
20th-century American male singers
20th-century American pianists
20th-century American Jews | false | [
"The Extraordinary Tale of Nicholas Pierce is a 2011 adventure novel written by Alexander DeLuca. It follows the journey of a university teacher Nicholas Pierce, who suffers from obsessive compulsive disorder as he searches for his biological parents, traveling across states in the United States of America. He travels with a friend, who is an eccentric barista in a cafe in upstate New York, named Sergei Tarasov.\n\nPlot\nNicholas Pierce suffers from OCD. He is also missing the memory of the first five years of his life. Raised by adoptive parents, one day he receives a mysterious box from an \"Uncle Nathan\". Curious, he sets off on a journey to find his biological parents with a Russian friend, Sergei Tarasov. On the trip, they meet several people, face money problems and different challenges. They also pick up a hitchhiker, Jessica, who later turns out to be a criminal.\n\nFinally, Nicholas finds his grandparents, who direct him to his biological parents. When he meets them, he finds out that his vaguely registered biological 'parents' were actually neighbors of his real parents who had died in an accident. The mysterious box that he had received is destroyed. He finds out that it contained photographs from his early life.\n\n2011 American novels\nNovels about obsessive–compulsive disorder",
"Bomba and the Jungle Girl is a 1952 adventure film directed by Ford Beebe and starring Johnny Sheffield. It is the eighth film (of 12) in the Bomba, the Jungle Boy film series.\n\nPlot\nBomba decides to find out who his parents were. He starts with Cody Casson's diary and follows the trail to a native village. An ancient blind woman tells him his parents, along the village's true ruler, were murdered by the current chieftain and his daughter. With the aid of an inspector and his daughter, Bomba battles the usurpers in the cave where his parents were buried.\n\nCast\nJohnny Sheffield\nKaren Sharpe\nWalter Sande\nSuzette Harbin\nMartin Wilkins\nMorris Buchanan\nLeonard Mudie\nDon Blackman.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n1952 films\nAmerican films\nAmerican adventure films\nFilms directed by Ford Beebe\nFilms produced by Walter Mirisch\nMonogram Pictures films\n1952 adventure films\nAmerican black-and-white films"
] |
[
"Mike Bloomfield",
"Early years",
"Where did he grow up?",
"was born in Chicago in 1914.",
"Who were his parents?",
"mother was born Dorothy Klein in Chicago in 1918 and married Harold Bloomfield in 1940."
] | C_e7d89b070b5a43cb90fa72df99617783_1 | Did he marry in his early years? | 3 | Did Mike Bloomfield marry in his early years? | Mike Bloomfield | Bloomfield was born into a wealthy Chicago Jewish-American family. Bloomfield's father, Harold Bloomfield, was born in Chicago in 1914. After pursuing business ventures in California during the 1920s, he returned to the city in the early 1930s. Harold Bloomfield began manufacturing restaurant supplies, and by the latter part of the decade his company, Bloomfield Industries, was making pie cases, kitchen utensils, salt and pepper shakers, and sugar pourers. By the early 1940s Bloomfield Industries had acquired more manufacturing and warehouse space. The company expanded during World War II by manufacturing supplies needed for the war effort. Working with his brother, Daniel, and his father, Samuel, Harold Bloomfield built up Bloomfield Industries into a thriving business. Michael Bloomfield's mother was born Dorothy Klein in Chicago in 1918 and married Harold Bloomfield in 1940. She came from an artistic, musical family, and worked as an actor and a model before marrying Bloomfield. Michael Bloomfield's brother Allen Bloomfield was born in Chicago on Dec. 24, 1944. Bloomfield's family lived in various locations around Chicago before settling at 424 West Melrose Street on the North Side. When he was twelve his family moved to suburban Glencoe, Illinois, where he attended New Trier High School for two years. During this time, he began playing in local bands, and Bloomfield put together a group called the Hurricanes, named after Ohio rock band Johnny and the Hurricanes. New Trier High School expelled Bloomfield after his band performed a raucous rock and roll song at a 1959 school gathering. He attended Cornwall Academy in Massachusetts for one year and then returned to Chicago, where he spent his last year of education at a local YMCA school, Central YMCA High School. Bloomfield had attended a 1957 Chicago performance by blues singer Josh White, and began spending time in Chicago's South Side blues clubs and playing guitar with such black bluesmen as Sleepy John Estes, Yank Rachell, and Little Brother Montgomery. He first sat in with a black blues band in 1959, when he performed with Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson at a Chicago club called the Place. He performed with Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, and many other Chicago blues performers during the early 1960s. Writing in 2001, keyboardist, songwriter and record producer Al Kooper said Bloomfield's talent "was instantly obvious to his mentors. They knew this was not just another white boy; this was someone who truly understood what the blues were all about." Among his early supporters were B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Bob Dylan and Buddy Guy. "Michael used to say, 'It's a natural. Black people suffer externally in this country. Jewish people suffer internally. The suffering's the mutual fulcrum for the blues.'" CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Michael Bernard Bloomfield (July 28, 1943 – February 15, 1981) was an American guitarist and composer, born in Chicago, Illinois, who became one of the first popular music superstars of the 1960s to earn his reputation almost entirely on his instrumental prowess, as he rarely sang before 1969. Respected for his guitar playing, Bloomfield knew and played with many of Chicago's blues musicians before achieving his own fame and was instrumental in popularizing blues music in the mid-1960s. In 1965, he played on Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited, including the single "Like a Rolling Stone", and performed with Dylan at that year's Newport Folk Festival.
Bloomfield was ranked No. 22 on Rolling Stone's list of "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" in 2003 and No. 42 by the same magazine in 2011. He was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2012 and, as a member of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015.
Early years
Bloomfield was born into a wealthy Chicago family. Bloomfield's father, Harold Bloomfield, was born in Chicago in 1914. Harold's father, Samuel Bloomfield, started Bloomfield Industries in the early 1930s. After Samuel passed away, Harold and his brother, Daniel, took over the company. Bloomfield's mother, Dorothy Klein, was born in Chicago in 1918 and married Harold in 1940. She came from an artistic, musical family, working as an actress and a model before marrying Harold.
Bloomfield's family lived in various locations around Chicago before settling at 424 West Melrose Street on the North Side. When he was twelve his family moved to suburban Glencoe, Illinois, where he attended New Trier High School for two years. During this time, he began playing in local bands, and Bloomfield put together a group called the Hurricanes, named after Ohio rock band Johnny and the Hurricanes. New Trier High School expelled Bloomfield after his band performed a raucous rock and roll song at a 1959 school gathering. He attended Cornwall Academy in Massachusetts for one year and then returned to Chicago, where he spent his last year of education at a local YMCA school, Central YMCA High School.
Bloomfield had attended a 1957 Chicago performance by blues singer Josh White, and began spending time in Chicago's South Side blues clubs and playing guitar with such black bluesmen as Sleepy John Estes, Yank Rachell, and Little Brother Montgomery. He first sat in with a black blues band in 1959, when he performed with Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson at a Chicago club called the Place. He performed with Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, and many other Chicago blues performers during the early 1960s. In 1962 he married Susan Smith.
Writing in 2001, keyboardist, songwriter and record producer Al Kooper said Bloomfield's talent "was instantly obvious to his mentors. They knew this was not just another white boy; this was someone who truly understood what the blues were all about." Among his early supporters were B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Bob Dylan and Buddy Guy. "Michael used to say, 'It's a natural. Black people suffer externally in this country. Jewish people suffer internally. The suffering's the mutual fulcrum for the blues.'"
The Butterfield Band (1965 - 1967)
In the early 1960s he met harmonica player and singer Paul Butterfield and guitarist Elvin Bishop, with whom he would later play in The Paul Butterfield Blues Band. He also began friendships and professional associations with fellow Chicagoan Nick Gravenites and Bronx-born record producer Norman Dayron, who was attending the University of Chicago. He developed a friendship with blues singer Big Joe Williams. In 1963 Bloomfield and his two friends George Mitchell and Pete Welding ran a weekly blues showcase at the Fickle Pickle. He subsequently built up his reputation in two Chicago clubs, Big John's and Magoo's. With help from his friend Joel Harlib, a Chicago photographer who became Bloomfield's de facto manager, he became a Columbia Records recording artist. In early 1964 Harlib took an audition tape by Bloomfield to Columbia producer and talent scout John Hammond, who signed him to Columbia's Epic Records label.
Bloomfield recorded a few sessions for Columbia in 1964 that remained unreleased until after his death. In early 1965 he joined the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, which included Elvin Bishop and keyboardist Mark Naftalin, along with drummer Sam Lay and bassist Jerome Arnold, who had previously worked in Howlin' Wolf's band. Elektra Records producer Paul Rothchild recorded the band in spring 1965, but the majority of the tracks were not released until the 1990s. However, one of the tracks Rothchild recorded during his first pass at producing the group, a Nick Gravenites song titled "Born in Chicago," was included on the Elektra album Folksong '65, which sold two hundred thousand copies when it was released in September 1965. "Born in Chicago" became an underground hit for the Butterfield Band. Their debut album, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, was recorded in September and released the following month.
In June 1965, Bloomfield had recorded with Bob Dylan, whom he had met in 1963 at a Chicago club called the Bear. The club was bankrolled by future Dylan and Butterfield manager Albert Grossman, who would play a major part in Bloomfield's career. Bloomfield's Telecaster guitar licks were featured on Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone", a single produced by Columbia Record's Tom Wilson. Bloomfield would play on most of the tracks on Dylan's 1965 Highway 61 Revisited album, and he appeared onstage with Dylan in July at the Newport Folk Festival, where Dylan used Bloomfield and the Butterfield Band—minus Paul Butterfield—along with keyboardists Al Kooper and Barry Goldberg. The show marked Dylan's first use of an electric band in a live performance, and Bloomfield's playing on the songwriter's "Maggie's Farm" is considered a landmark electric-guitar performance. After the Newport Folk Festival ended, Bloomfield helped Dylan complete the sessions for Highway 61 Revisited, and Dylan asked Bloomfield to join his touring band. Bloomfield demurred, preferring to continue playing with the Butterfield Band.
After Sam Lay fell ill after a series of dates in November 1965, the Butterfield Band brought Chicago-born drummer Billy Davenport into the group. During the first part of 1966, the band played in California, and they recorded their second album, East-West, that summer. The record's title track found the band exploring modal music, and it was based upon a song Gravenites and Bloomfield had been playing since 1965, "It's About Time."
Bloomfield played on recording sessions between 1965 and 1967. His guitar playing had a huge impact on San Francisco Bay Area musicians after playing with the Butterfield band at Bill Graham's Fillmore in March 1966, San Francisco's Avalon Ballroom and also in the Los Angeles area due to the storied two-week run at the Golden Bear in Long Beach. He became a mentor and inspiration for many guitarists, especially in the SF Bay Area. He did a 1965 date with Peter, Paul and Mary that resulted in a song called "The King of Names," and he recorded in 1966 with pop group Chicago Loop, whose "When She Wants Good Lovin' (My Baby Comes to Me)" made Billboard Magazine'''s chart that year. He also played guitar on recordings by Chuck Berry, Mitch Ryder and James Cotton.
The Electric Flag (1967 - 1968)
Bloomfield tired of the Butterfield Band's rigorous touring schedule and, relocating to San Francisco, sought to create his own group. He formed the short-lived Electric Flag in 1967, with two longtime Chicago collaborators, Barry Goldberg and vocalist Nick Gravenites. The band featured a horn section. The band's rhythm section was composed of bassist Harvey Brooks and drummer Buddy Miles. Miles had previously played in Wilson Pickett's touring band, while Brooks had performed with Al Kooper in bands in New York City, and had played with both Kooper and Bloomfield on Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited. The group's first effort was the soundtrack for director-producer Roger Corman's 1967 movie The Trip, which was recorded in the spring of that year.
The Electric Flag debuted at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival and issued an album, A Long Time Comin', in April 1968 on Columbia Records. Critics complimented the group's distinctive, intriguing sound but found the record itself somewhat uneven. By that time, however, the band was already disintegrating; rivalries between members, shortsighted management, and heroin abuse all took their toll. Shortly after the release of that album, Bloomfield left his own band, with Gravenites, Goldberg, and bassist Harvey Brooks following.
Work with Al Kooper
Bloomfield also made an impact through his work with Al Kooper, who had played with Bloomfield on Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone". Kooper had become an A&R man for Columbia Records, and Bloomfield and Kooper had played piano on Moby Grape's 1968 Grape Jam, an instrumental album that had been packaged with the group's Wow collection.
"Why not do an entire jam album together?" Kooper remembered in 1998, writing the booklet notes for the Bloomfield anthology Don't Say That I Ain't Your Man: Essential Blues, 1964–1969. "At the time, most jazz albums were made using this modus operandi: pick a leader or two co-leaders, hire appropriate sidemen, pick some tunes, make some up and record an entire album on the fly in one or two days. Why not try and legitimize rock by adhering to these standards? In addition, as a fan, I was dissatisfied with Bloomfield's recorded studio output up until then. It seemed that his studio work was inhibited and reined in, compared to his incendiary live performances. Could I put him in a studio setting where he could feel free to just burn like he did in live performances?"
The result was Super Session, a jam album that spotlighted Bloomfield's guitar skills on one side. Bloomfield, who suffered from insomnia, left the sessions after the first day. Guitarist Stephen Stills completed the album with Kooper. It received excellent reviews and became the best-selling album of Bloomfield's career. Its success led to a live sequel, The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper, recorded over three nights at Fillmore West in September 1968.
Solo work
Bloomfield continued with solo, session and back-up work from 1968 to 1980. He played guitar on Mother Earth's cover of Memphis Slim's "Mother Earth," a track from their 1968 Living with the Animals album, and on two albums by Texas-born soul singer Wayne Talbert. With Mark Naftalin, he produced the 1968 sessions for James Cotton's 1968 album Cotton in Your Ears. He released his first solo album, It's Not Killing Me, in 1969. Bloomfield also helped Janis Joplin assemble her Kozmic Blues Band (for the album I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues, Again Mama!) in 1969, co-wrote "Work Me, Lord" for the album, and played the guitar solo on Joplin's blues composition "One Good Man." Columbia released another 1969 album, a live concert jam, Live at Bill Graham's Fillmore West, including Mark Naftalin, former Electric Flag bandmates Marcus Doubleday and Snooky Flowers, and a guest appearance by Taj Mahal. In the same year he reunited with Paul Butterfield and Sam Lay for the Chess Records album Fathers and Sons, featuring Muddy Waters and pianist Otis Spann. Bloomfield composed and recorded the soundtrack for the film Medium Cool, directed by his second cousin, Haskell Wexler. The film includes footage shot in Chicago during the 1968 Democratic National Convention. With Nick Gravenites, he produced blues guitarist Otis Rush's 1969 album Mourning in the Morning, recorded at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama with a band that included keyboardists Mark Naftalin and Barry Beckett, along with guitarist Duane Allman.
During 1970 Bloomfield gave up playing because of his heroin addiction:
He recorded his second solo album, Try It Before You Buy It, in 1973. Columbia rejected it; the complete version of the record would not appear until 1990. Also in 1973, he cut Triumvirate with Dr. John and guitarist and singer John Hammond Jr. In 1974, he rejoined the Electric Flag for an album titled The Band Kept Playing. In 1975 he recorded an album with the group KGB. The group's name is an acronym of the initials of singer and songwriter Ray Kennedy, Barry Goldberg and Bloomfield. The band also included Ric Grech and drummer Carmine Appice. Grech and Bloomfield quit shortly after its release. As the record hit stores in 1976, Bloomfield told journalists that the group had been an ill-conceived moneymaking project. The album was not well received by critics, but it did contain the standout track "Sail On, Sailor". Its authorship was credited to "Wilson-Kennedy", and had a bluesy, darker feel, along with Ray Kennedy's original cocaine-related lyrics. In the same year, he performed with John Cale on Cale's soundtrack for the film Caged Heat. In 1976 he recorded an instructional album for guitarists, If You Love These Blues, Play 'Em as You Please, which was financed through Guitar Player magazine.
In the 1970s Bloomfield played in local San Francisco Bay area clubs, including the Keystone Korner, and sat in with other bands. In 1977, Bloomfield was selected by Andy Warhol to do the soundtrack for the pop artist's last film, Andy Warhol's Bad (also known as BAD). An unreleased single, "Andy's Bad", was also produced for the project. During 1979–1981 he performed often with the King Perkoff Band, sometimes introducing them as the "Michael Bloomfield and Friends" outfit. Bloomfield recorded "Hustlin' Queen", written by John Isabeau and Perkoff in 1979. He toured Italy and Sweden with guitarist Woody Harris and cellist Maggie Edmondson in the summer of 1980. He sat in with Bob Dylan at San Francisco's Warfield Theatre on November 15, 1980. Bloomfield played on Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" and "The Groom's Still Waiting at the Altar". He continued to play live dates, and his performance at San Francisco State College on February 7, 1981, would be his final appearance.
Although Bloomfield came from a wealthy family, he never inherited a large lump sum. He received annual income from a trust that had been set up by his paternal grandfather, which gave him $50,000 each year.
Death
Bloomfield died in San Francisco on February 15, 1981. He was found seated behind the wheel of his car, with all four doors locked. According to police, an empty Valium bottle was found on the car seat, but no suicide note was found. The medical examiner who performed the autopsy ruled the death accidental, though he was unable to determine a cause of death, because no drugs were found in Bloomfield's system, and there were no signs of foul play. Bloomfield's last album, Cruisin' for a Bruisin, was released the day his death was announced. His remains are interred in a crypt at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery, in Culver City, near Los Angeles.
Style
Bloomfield's musical influences include Scotty Moore, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, B.B. King, Big Joe Williams, Otis Rush, Albert King, Freddie King and Ray Charles.
Bloomfield originally used a Fender Telecaster, though he had also used a Fender Duo-Sonic while recording for Columbia following his 1964 signing to the label. During his tenure with the Butterfield Blues Band he used that Tele on the first Butterfield Album and on their earliest tours in fall of 1965. By November he had swapped that guitar with International Submarine Band guitarist John Nuese for Nuese's 1954 Gibson Les Paul Goldtop model, which he used for some of the East-West sessions and which he acquired in Boston.
In 1967, Bloomfield swapped the Goldtop with his friend repairman/musician Dan Erlewine for Dan's 1959 Les Paul Standard and $100. The Les Paul Standard had proven unpopular in the late 1950s because it was deemed too heavy and too expensive by rock and roll guitarists. Gibson discontinued manufacturing the model in 1960. Bloomfield used the Les Paul Standard in the Electric Flag and on the Super Session album and concerts. He later switched between the Les Paul and the Telecaster, but his use of the Les Paul inspired other guitarists to use the model and spurred Gibson to reintroduce the Les Paul Standard in 1968.
Bloomfield eventually lost the guitar in Canada; Wolkin and Keenom's biography revealed that a club owner kept the guitar as partial compensation after Bloomfield cut short a round of appearances. This turned out to be accurate and the gig in question was at the Cave in Vancouver, booked from Tue. Nov. 12th 1974, for five days, until Sat. the 16th. The band played the first night but the next day, Bloomfield boarded a plane and flew home to San Francisco with virtually no notice to the club, hotel, or band members; his friend Mark Naftalin found a note on a torn piece of paper in the hotel room that read, "bye bye, sorry". Bloomfield's two guitars had been left at the club and were retained by club owner Stan Grozina, who wanted compensation for lost revenues.
Unlike contemporaries such as Jimi Hendrix and Jeff Beck, Bloomfield rarely experimented with feedback and distortion, preferring a loud yet clean, almost chiming sound with a healthy amount of reverb and vibrato; this approach would strongly influence Jerry Garcia, who segued from a career in acoustic-based music to electric rock at the height of the Butterfield Band's influence in 1965. One of his amplifiers of choice was a 1965 Fender Twin Reverb. His solos, like those of most blues guitarists, were based in the minor pentatonic scale and the blues scale. However, his liberal use of chromatic notes within the pentatonic framework and his periodic lines based on Indian and Eastern modes allowed a considerable degree of fluidity in his solos.
Gibson has since released a Michael Bloomfield Les Paul—replicating his 1959 Standard—in recognition of his impact on the blues genre, his role in the revived production of the guitar, and his influence on many other guitarists. Because the actual guitar had been unaccounted for so many years, Gibson relied on hundreds of photographs provided by Bloomfield's family to reproduce the guitar. The model comes in two configurations—a clean Vintage Original Specifications (VOS) version, with only Bloomfield's mismatched volume and tone control knobs, missing toggle switch cover, and kidney-shaped tuners replacing the Gibson originals indicating its inspiration and a faithful, process-aged reproduction of the guitar as it was when Bloomfield played it last, complete with the finish smudge below the bridge and various nicks and smudges elsewhere around the body.
His influence among contemporary guitarists continues to be widely felt, primarily in the techniques of vibrato, natural sustain, and economy of notes. Guitarists such as Joe Bonamassa, Arlen Roth, Carlos Santana, Slash, Jimmy Vivino, Chuck Hammer, Eric Johnson, Elliot Easton, Robben Ford, John Scofield, Jimmy Herring, Phil Keaggy, and G.E. Smith remain essentially influenced by Bloomfield's early recorded work.
Selected discography
The Paul Butterfield Blues Band
The Paul Butterfield Blues Band (1965)
East-West (1966)
The Original Lost Elektra Sessions (unreleased recordings from 1965)
East-West Live (three live versions of the track 'East-West', recorded 1966–1967)
The Electric Flag
The Trip (1967)
A Long Time Comin' (1968)
The Band Kept Playing (1974)
Groovin' Is Easy (Released 2002)
Solo
It's Not Killing Me (1969)
Try It Before You Buy It (1973) (Unreleased until 1990. Additional recordings from these sessions were released on "Bloomfield: A Retrospective" in 1983)
If You Love These Blues, Play 'Em as You Please (1976; reissued on CD with Bloomfield-Harris)
Andy's Bad (1977; unreleased title soundtrack to Andy Warhol's Bad)
Analine (1977)
Michael Bloomfield (1978)
Count Talent and the Originals (1978)
Between a Hard Place and the Ground (1979)
Bloomfield-Harris (1979)
Cruisin' for a Bruisin (1981)
Collaborations
Blueskvarter (recorded 1964, released 2007), many Swedish CDs, recordings on Swedish radio. Bloomfield plays guitar with Little Brother Montgomery, Sunnyland Slim, Yank Rachell, Eddie Boyd and others.
Super Session, Bloomfield, Kooper and Stills (1968). This album has since been remastered, with new editions featuring several Bloomfield performances not included on the original album, including "Blues for Nothing" and "Fat Gray Cloud."
The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper (1968)
Fillmore East: Al Kooper and Mike Bloomfield - The Lost Concert Tapes 12/13/68 (recorded 1968, released 2003)
Two Jews Blues (1969), with Barry Goldberg (uncredited because of contractual constraints)
My Labors (1969), with Nick Gravenites
Live at Bill Graham's Fillmore West (1969), with Nick Gravenites, Taj Mahal, Mark Naftalin. Some of the performances at the same concerts that yielded this album were included on My Labors. Those performances, except for "Winter Country Blues," are now part Live at Bill Graham's Fillmore West 1969, released in 2009 and credited to Michael Bloomfield with Nick Gravenites and Friends.
Medium Cool (1969), original film soundtrack featuring Bloomfield and others
Steelyard Blues (1973), original film soundtrack, with Nick Gravenites and others
Mill Valley Bunch – Casting Pearls (1973), with Bill Vitt, Nick Gravenites and others
Triumvirate (1973), with John Hammond and Dr. John
KGB (1976), Ray Kennedy (vocals), Barry Goldberg (keyboards), Mike Bloomfield (guitar), Ric Grech (bass), Carmine Appice (drums)
Selected session work
Highway 61 Revisited – Bob Dylan (1965)
Album - Peter, Paul and Mary (1965)
Chicago Loop (1966)
Cherry Red - Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson (BluesWay, 1967)
"Carry On"/"Ronnie Siegel from Avenue L" 45 - Barry Goldberg, with Frank Zappa, guitar, produced by Tom Wilson
Grape Jam – Moby Grape (1968) – Played Piano
Living with the Animals – Mother Earth (1968); credited as "Makal Blumfeld" due to contractual constraints.
Dues to Pay - Wayne Talbert & the Melting Pot (1968)
Lord Have Mercy on My Funky Soul -Wayne Talbert (1969)
Fathers and Sons – Muddy Waters (1969)
I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama! – Janis Joplin (1969)
Weeds – Brewer & Shipley (1969)
Moogie Woogie - The Zeet Band (1970) (credited as "Fastfingers" Finkelstein)
Sam Lay in Bluesland – Sam Lay (1970)
Gandharva – Beaver & Krause (1971)
Brand New – Woody Herman and His Orchestra (1971)
Posthumous releases
Living in the Fast Lane (1981)
Bloomfield: A Retrospective (1983)
I'm with You Always (Live recordings from McCabe's Guitar Shop, Santa Monica, CA; 1977)
Between the Hard Place and the Ground (Different from the original 70s LP – containing further selections from McCabe's Guitar Shop)
Don't Say That I Ain't Your Man: Essential Blues, 1964–1969, an anthology that includes five songs from Bloomfield's original 1964 Columbia sessions.
Live at the Old Waldorf (Recorded live in 1976 and 1977 by producer Norman Dayron at the Old Waldorf nightclub)
Barry Goldberg & Friends – Live (Features Mike on guitar on most tracks)
Michael Bloomfield, Harvey Mandel, Barry Goldberg & Friends (with Eddie Hoh on drums) – Solid Blues, ed . 1995 (St.Clair Entertainment Group Inc.)
The Holy Kingdom: Music of the Gospel 1998 Mike Bloomfield Performed 2 songs; "Wings Of An Angel" and "You Must Have Seen Jesus". Other Artists on the Album included The Five Blind Boys Of Alabama, The Cavaliers and The Swan Silvertones.
If You Love These Blues by Wolkin & Keenom (Miller Freeman Books, 2000) contains a CD of 1964 recordings made by Norman Dayron
From His Head to His Heart to His Hands: An Audio-Visual Scrapbook (2013); a Columbia Legacy career retrospective, produced by Al Kooper, including tapes from Bloomfield's original audition for John Hammond at Columbia Records in 1964, previously unissued live performances, and a DVD that includes the documentary film Sweet Blues: A Film About Mike Bloomfield, directed by Bob Sarles and produced and edited by Bob Sarles and Christina Keating. The film premiered at the Mill Valley Film Festival in October 2013.
References
SourcesMichael Bloomfield – Me and Big Joe, Re/Search Publications, 1st edition 1980, . Last éd. V/Search, December 1999, Jan Mark Wolkin & Bill Keenom - Michael Bloomfield – If You Love These Blues: An Oral History Backbeat Books, 1st edition September 2000 – (with CD of unreleased music – early recordings made by Norman Dayron ) Ken Brooks – The Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper with Paul Butterfield and David Clayton Thomas Agenda Ltd, February 1999, Al Kooper – Backstage Passes: Rock 'N' Roll Life in the Sixties – Stein & Day Pub (1st edition February 1977) Al Kooper – Backstage Passes and Backstabbing Bastards: Memoirs of a Rock 'N' Roll Survivor Billboard Books (Updated Edition – September 1998) Al Kooper – Backstage Passes and Backstabbing Bastards – Hal Leonard Corporation, new edition February 2008, Ed Ward – Michael Bloomfield, The rise and fall of an American guitar hero, Cherry Lane Books (1983), Ed Ward – Michael Bloomfield, The rise and fall of an American guitar hero, Multiprises, LLC (updated edition - 2016), (print) (PDF edition) (epub) (Kindle)David Dann' – Guitar King: Michael Bloomfield's Life in the Blues'', University of Texas Press (2019), (print) (ebook)
External links
Official Mike Bloomfield Site
Me and Big Joe by Michael Bloomfield (1980)
[ "Michael Bloomfield"]. Allmusic.com (accessed September 30, 2006).
Mike Bloomfield, An American Guitarist
Bloomfield's Doomed Field by Al Kooper
Michael Bloomfield Chronology & Analysis
Gibson's Replica of Mike Bloomfield's 1959 Les Paul Standard Guitar
Bloomfield notes newsletter
1943 births
1981 deaths
Lead guitarists
American blues guitarists
American male guitarists
American blues pianists
American male pianists
Blues musicians from Illinois
Singers from Chicago
Jewish American musicians
American session musicians
Deaths by heroin overdose in California
Burials at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery
20th-century American singers
Jewish rock musicians
The Electric Flag members
Guitarists from Chicago
Paul Butterfield Blues Band members
20th-century American guitarists
20th-century American male singers
20th-century American pianists
20th-century American Jews | false | [
"Black Pete, or Peter Kerr, was an early member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and the second black man to be ordained to the priesthood in that faith.\n\nBiography\nPeter Kerr was born 1775, to an enslaved woman named Kino, who was of Mandinka heritage. He and his mother lived in western Pennsylvania, where they were enslaved to a man named John Kerr Jr. Following Kerr's death, Peter was willed to his son, who moved to Ohio, a free state, in 1813. Peter was freed from servitude, and came into contact with a group known as \"The Family,\" which practiced a combination of Christian principles and communism. Many members of that group converted to Mormonism in the early 1830s, including Peter. There is, however, no official record of his baptism, but his membership was recognized by George A. Smith, another member of the church, and in local newspapers. He was notably accustomed to seeing \"angels and letters [that] would come down from heaven...\" and once jumped off a bridge to catch a letter, which he said was delivered by a black angel. He acted as a Revelator in the community, was ordained to the priesthood, and baptized others into the faith, along with Levi W. Hancock, Edson Fuller, and Herman Bassett. A colleague, Reuben Harmon, mentioned that \"White women would chase him about...\" and Peter soon entered into a relationship with fourteen-year-old Lovina Williams, of whom he said he had received revelation to marry. Lovina replied that if she received a revelation as well, she would marry him. Peter consulted the prophet Joseph Smith, about whether he should marry Lovina, but Smith said he could not receive personal revelation for him. Peter and Lovina did not marry, and, after 1831, there is no record of him. Some scholars have suggested that he died, being around 60 years old in 1835, when the average lifespan of an African-American man at the time was around forty.\n\nExternal links \nBlack Members in Church History\n\nSee also \nWalker Lewis\nGreen Flake\nBlack people and early Mormonism\n\nReferences \n\n1775 births\nYear of death unknown\nAfrican-American Latter Day Saints\nConverts to Mormonism\nAmerican freedmen\nLatter Day Saints from Pennsylvania\nMormon mystics\nAmerican people of Mandinka descent",
"In Irish mythology, Daolghas was a man described in a late medieval tale who impregnated his daughter supernaturally.\n\nStory\nThe Irish hero Fionn mac Cumhail's story was told in the Feis Tighe Chonáin [English: The Feast at Conán's House]. In the story, Fionn and his warrior band were hunting but he and Diorraing were separated at nightfall. They were given hospitality for the night in the fairy fort of Conán. \nFionn asks to marry Conán's daughter but before his wish was granted, he was presented with the riddle: What man was the son of his own daughter?\nFionn responded, Daolghas and explained as Daolghas lay dying, his daughter stooped to kiss him. As she did, a spark of fire flew from his mouth to hers, impregnating her. When the child was born, she named him for her father.\nFionn was then permitted to marry Conán's daughter.\n\nIn his resting years he was taken by a heart attack over the guilt of what he had done. He was not mourned. \n\nCeltic mythology"
] |
[
"Mike Bloomfield",
"Early years",
"Where did he grow up?",
"was born in Chicago in 1914.",
"Who were his parents?",
"mother was born Dorothy Klein in Chicago in 1918 and married Harold Bloomfield in 1940.",
"Did he marry in his early years?",
"I don't know."
] | C_e7d89b070b5a43cb90fa72df99617783_1 | How did his career get started? | 4 | How did Mike Bloomfield's career get started? | Mike Bloomfield | Bloomfield was born into a wealthy Chicago Jewish-American family. Bloomfield's father, Harold Bloomfield, was born in Chicago in 1914. After pursuing business ventures in California during the 1920s, he returned to the city in the early 1930s. Harold Bloomfield began manufacturing restaurant supplies, and by the latter part of the decade his company, Bloomfield Industries, was making pie cases, kitchen utensils, salt and pepper shakers, and sugar pourers. By the early 1940s Bloomfield Industries had acquired more manufacturing and warehouse space. The company expanded during World War II by manufacturing supplies needed for the war effort. Working with his brother, Daniel, and his father, Samuel, Harold Bloomfield built up Bloomfield Industries into a thriving business. Michael Bloomfield's mother was born Dorothy Klein in Chicago in 1918 and married Harold Bloomfield in 1940. She came from an artistic, musical family, and worked as an actor and a model before marrying Bloomfield. Michael Bloomfield's brother Allen Bloomfield was born in Chicago on Dec. 24, 1944. Bloomfield's family lived in various locations around Chicago before settling at 424 West Melrose Street on the North Side. When he was twelve his family moved to suburban Glencoe, Illinois, where he attended New Trier High School for two years. During this time, he began playing in local bands, and Bloomfield put together a group called the Hurricanes, named after Ohio rock band Johnny and the Hurricanes. New Trier High School expelled Bloomfield after his band performed a raucous rock and roll song at a 1959 school gathering. He attended Cornwall Academy in Massachusetts for one year and then returned to Chicago, where he spent his last year of education at a local YMCA school, Central YMCA High School. Bloomfield had attended a 1957 Chicago performance by blues singer Josh White, and began spending time in Chicago's South Side blues clubs and playing guitar with such black bluesmen as Sleepy John Estes, Yank Rachell, and Little Brother Montgomery. He first sat in with a black blues band in 1959, when he performed with Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson at a Chicago club called the Place. He performed with Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, and many other Chicago blues performers during the early 1960s. Writing in 2001, keyboardist, songwriter and record producer Al Kooper said Bloomfield's talent "was instantly obvious to his mentors. They knew this was not just another white boy; this was someone who truly understood what the blues were all about." Among his early supporters were B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Bob Dylan and Buddy Guy. "Michael used to say, 'It's a natural. Black people suffer externally in this country. Jewish people suffer internally. The suffering's the mutual fulcrum for the blues.'" CANNOTANSWER | Harold Bloomfield began manufacturing restaurant supplies, | Michael Bernard Bloomfield (July 28, 1943 – February 15, 1981) was an American guitarist and composer, born in Chicago, Illinois, who became one of the first popular music superstars of the 1960s to earn his reputation almost entirely on his instrumental prowess, as he rarely sang before 1969. Respected for his guitar playing, Bloomfield knew and played with many of Chicago's blues musicians before achieving his own fame and was instrumental in popularizing blues music in the mid-1960s. In 1965, he played on Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited, including the single "Like a Rolling Stone", and performed with Dylan at that year's Newport Folk Festival.
Bloomfield was ranked No. 22 on Rolling Stone's list of "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" in 2003 and No. 42 by the same magazine in 2011. He was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2012 and, as a member of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015.
Early years
Bloomfield was born into a wealthy Chicago family. Bloomfield's father, Harold Bloomfield, was born in Chicago in 1914. Harold's father, Samuel Bloomfield, started Bloomfield Industries in the early 1930s. After Samuel passed away, Harold and his brother, Daniel, took over the company. Bloomfield's mother, Dorothy Klein, was born in Chicago in 1918 and married Harold in 1940. She came from an artistic, musical family, working as an actress and a model before marrying Harold.
Bloomfield's family lived in various locations around Chicago before settling at 424 West Melrose Street on the North Side. When he was twelve his family moved to suburban Glencoe, Illinois, where he attended New Trier High School for two years. During this time, he began playing in local bands, and Bloomfield put together a group called the Hurricanes, named after Ohio rock band Johnny and the Hurricanes. New Trier High School expelled Bloomfield after his band performed a raucous rock and roll song at a 1959 school gathering. He attended Cornwall Academy in Massachusetts for one year and then returned to Chicago, where he spent his last year of education at a local YMCA school, Central YMCA High School.
Bloomfield had attended a 1957 Chicago performance by blues singer Josh White, and began spending time in Chicago's South Side blues clubs and playing guitar with such black bluesmen as Sleepy John Estes, Yank Rachell, and Little Brother Montgomery. He first sat in with a black blues band in 1959, when he performed with Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson at a Chicago club called the Place. He performed with Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, and many other Chicago blues performers during the early 1960s. In 1962 he married Susan Smith.
Writing in 2001, keyboardist, songwriter and record producer Al Kooper said Bloomfield's talent "was instantly obvious to his mentors. They knew this was not just another white boy; this was someone who truly understood what the blues were all about." Among his early supporters were B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Bob Dylan and Buddy Guy. "Michael used to say, 'It's a natural. Black people suffer externally in this country. Jewish people suffer internally. The suffering's the mutual fulcrum for the blues.'"
The Butterfield Band (1965 - 1967)
In the early 1960s he met harmonica player and singer Paul Butterfield and guitarist Elvin Bishop, with whom he would later play in The Paul Butterfield Blues Band. He also began friendships and professional associations with fellow Chicagoan Nick Gravenites and Bronx-born record producer Norman Dayron, who was attending the University of Chicago. He developed a friendship with blues singer Big Joe Williams. In 1963 Bloomfield and his two friends George Mitchell and Pete Welding ran a weekly blues showcase at the Fickle Pickle. He subsequently built up his reputation in two Chicago clubs, Big John's and Magoo's. With help from his friend Joel Harlib, a Chicago photographer who became Bloomfield's de facto manager, he became a Columbia Records recording artist. In early 1964 Harlib took an audition tape by Bloomfield to Columbia producer and talent scout John Hammond, who signed him to Columbia's Epic Records label.
Bloomfield recorded a few sessions for Columbia in 1964 that remained unreleased until after his death. In early 1965 he joined the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, which included Elvin Bishop and keyboardist Mark Naftalin, along with drummer Sam Lay and bassist Jerome Arnold, who had previously worked in Howlin' Wolf's band. Elektra Records producer Paul Rothchild recorded the band in spring 1965, but the majority of the tracks were not released until the 1990s. However, one of the tracks Rothchild recorded during his first pass at producing the group, a Nick Gravenites song titled "Born in Chicago," was included on the Elektra album Folksong '65, which sold two hundred thousand copies when it was released in September 1965. "Born in Chicago" became an underground hit for the Butterfield Band. Their debut album, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, was recorded in September and released the following month.
In June 1965, Bloomfield had recorded with Bob Dylan, whom he had met in 1963 at a Chicago club called the Bear. The club was bankrolled by future Dylan and Butterfield manager Albert Grossman, who would play a major part in Bloomfield's career. Bloomfield's Telecaster guitar licks were featured on Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone", a single produced by Columbia Record's Tom Wilson. Bloomfield would play on most of the tracks on Dylan's 1965 Highway 61 Revisited album, and he appeared onstage with Dylan in July at the Newport Folk Festival, where Dylan used Bloomfield and the Butterfield Band—minus Paul Butterfield—along with keyboardists Al Kooper and Barry Goldberg. The show marked Dylan's first use of an electric band in a live performance, and Bloomfield's playing on the songwriter's "Maggie's Farm" is considered a landmark electric-guitar performance. After the Newport Folk Festival ended, Bloomfield helped Dylan complete the sessions for Highway 61 Revisited, and Dylan asked Bloomfield to join his touring band. Bloomfield demurred, preferring to continue playing with the Butterfield Band.
After Sam Lay fell ill after a series of dates in November 1965, the Butterfield Band brought Chicago-born drummer Billy Davenport into the group. During the first part of 1966, the band played in California, and they recorded their second album, East-West, that summer. The record's title track found the band exploring modal music, and it was based upon a song Gravenites and Bloomfield had been playing since 1965, "It's About Time."
Bloomfield played on recording sessions between 1965 and 1967. His guitar playing had a huge impact on San Francisco Bay Area musicians after playing with the Butterfield band at Bill Graham's Fillmore in March 1966, San Francisco's Avalon Ballroom and also in the Los Angeles area due to the storied two-week run at the Golden Bear in Long Beach. He became a mentor and inspiration for many guitarists, especially in the SF Bay Area. He did a 1965 date with Peter, Paul and Mary that resulted in a song called "The King of Names," and he recorded in 1966 with pop group Chicago Loop, whose "When She Wants Good Lovin' (My Baby Comes to Me)" made Billboard Magazine'''s chart that year. He also played guitar on recordings by Chuck Berry, Mitch Ryder and James Cotton.
The Electric Flag (1967 - 1968)
Bloomfield tired of the Butterfield Band's rigorous touring schedule and, relocating to San Francisco, sought to create his own group. He formed the short-lived Electric Flag in 1967, with two longtime Chicago collaborators, Barry Goldberg and vocalist Nick Gravenites. The band featured a horn section. The band's rhythm section was composed of bassist Harvey Brooks and drummer Buddy Miles. Miles had previously played in Wilson Pickett's touring band, while Brooks had performed with Al Kooper in bands in New York City, and had played with both Kooper and Bloomfield on Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited. The group's first effort was the soundtrack for director-producer Roger Corman's 1967 movie The Trip, which was recorded in the spring of that year.
The Electric Flag debuted at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival and issued an album, A Long Time Comin', in April 1968 on Columbia Records. Critics complimented the group's distinctive, intriguing sound but found the record itself somewhat uneven. By that time, however, the band was already disintegrating; rivalries between members, shortsighted management, and heroin abuse all took their toll. Shortly after the release of that album, Bloomfield left his own band, with Gravenites, Goldberg, and bassist Harvey Brooks following.
Work with Al Kooper
Bloomfield also made an impact through his work with Al Kooper, who had played with Bloomfield on Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone". Kooper had become an A&R man for Columbia Records, and Bloomfield and Kooper had played piano on Moby Grape's 1968 Grape Jam, an instrumental album that had been packaged with the group's Wow collection.
"Why not do an entire jam album together?" Kooper remembered in 1998, writing the booklet notes for the Bloomfield anthology Don't Say That I Ain't Your Man: Essential Blues, 1964–1969. "At the time, most jazz albums were made using this modus operandi: pick a leader or two co-leaders, hire appropriate sidemen, pick some tunes, make some up and record an entire album on the fly in one or two days. Why not try and legitimize rock by adhering to these standards? In addition, as a fan, I was dissatisfied with Bloomfield's recorded studio output up until then. It seemed that his studio work was inhibited and reined in, compared to his incendiary live performances. Could I put him in a studio setting where he could feel free to just burn like he did in live performances?"
The result was Super Session, a jam album that spotlighted Bloomfield's guitar skills on one side. Bloomfield, who suffered from insomnia, left the sessions after the first day. Guitarist Stephen Stills completed the album with Kooper. It received excellent reviews and became the best-selling album of Bloomfield's career. Its success led to a live sequel, The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper, recorded over three nights at Fillmore West in September 1968.
Solo work
Bloomfield continued with solo, session and back-up work from 1968 to 1980. He played guitar on Mother Earth's cover of Memphis Slim's "Mother Earth," a track from their 1968 Living with the Animals album, and on two albums by Texas-born soul singer Wayne Talbert. With Mark Naftalin, he produced the 1968 sessions for James Cotton's 1968 album Cotton in Your Ears. He released his first solo album, It's Not Killing Me, in 1969. Bloomfield also helped Janis Joplin assemble her Kozmic Blues Band (for the album I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues, Again Mama!) in 1969, co-wrote "Work Me, Lord" for the album, and played the guitar solo on Joplin's blues composition "One Good Man." Columbia released another 1969 album, a live concert jam, Live at Bill Graham's Fillmore West, including Mark Naftalin, former Electric Flag bandmates Marcus Doubleday and Snooky Flowers, and a guest appearance by Taj Mahal. In the same year he reunited with Paul Butterfield and Sam Lay for the Chess Records album Fathers and Sons, featuring Muddy Waters and pianist Otis Spann. Bloomfield composed and recorded the soundtrack for the film Medium Cool, directed by his second cousin, Haskell Wexler. The film includes footage shot in Chicago during the 1968 Democratic National Convention. With Nick Gravenites, he produced blues guitarist Otis Rush's 1969 album Mourning in the Morning, recorded at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama with a band that included keyboardists Mark Naftalin and Barry Beckett, along with guitarist Duane Allman.
During 1970 Bloomfield gave up playing because of his heroin addiction:
He recorded his second solo album, Try It Before You Buy It, in 1973. Columbia rejected it; the complete version of the record would not appear until 1990. Also in 1973, he cut Triumvirate with Dr. John and guitarist and singer John Hammond Jr. In 1974, he rejoined the Electric Flag for an album titled The Band Kept Playing. In 1975 he recorded an album with the group KGB. The group's name is an acronym of the initials of singer and songwriter Ray Kennedy, Barry Goldberg and Bloomfield. The band also included Ric Grech and drummer Carmine Appice. Grech and Bloomfield quit shortly after its release. As the record hit stores in 1976, Bloomfield told journalists that the group had been an ill-conceived moneymaking project. The album was not well received by critics, but it did contain the standout track "Sail On, Sailor". Its authorship was credited to "Wilson-Kennedy", and had a bluesy, darker feel, along with Ray Kennedy's original cocaine-related lyrics. In the same year, he performed with John Cale on Cale's soundtrack for the film Caged Heat. In 1976 he recorded an instructional album for guitarists, If You Love These Blues, Play 'Em as You Please, which was financed through Guitar Player magazine.
In the 1970s Bloomfield played in local San Francisco Bay area clubs, including the Keystone Korner, and sat in with other bands. In 1977, Bloomfield was selected by Andy Warhol to do the soundtrack for the pop artist's last film, Andy Warhol's Bad (also known as BAD). An unreleased single, "Andy's Bad", was also produced for the project. During 1979–1981 he performed often with the King Perkoff Band, sometimes introducing them as the "Michael Bloomfield and Friends" outfit. Bloomfield recorded "Hustlin' Queen", written by John Isabeau and Perkoff in 1979. He toured Italy and Sweden with guitarist Woody Harris and cellist Maggie Edmondson in the summer of 1980. He sat in with Bob Dylan at San Francisco's Warfield Theatre on November 15, 1980. Bloomfield played on Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" and "The Groom's Still Waiting at the Altar". He continued to play live dates, and his performance at San Francisco State College on February 7, 1981, would be his final appearance.
Although Bloomfield came from a wealthy family, he never inherited a large lump sum. He received annual income from a trust that had been set up by his paternal grandfather, which gave him $50,000 each year.
Death
Bloomfield died in San Francisco on February 15, 1981. He was found seated behind the wheel of his car, with all four doors locked. According to police, an empty Valium bottle was found on the car seat, but no suicide note was found. The medical examiner who performed the autopsy ruled the death accidental, though he was unable to determine a cause of death, because no drugs were found in Bloomfield's system, and there were no signs of foul play. Bloomfield's last album, Cruisin' for a Bruisin, was released the day his death was announced. His remains are interred in a crypt at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery, in Culver City, near Los Angeles.
Style
Bloomfield's musical influences include Scotty Moore, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, B.B. King, Big Joe Williams, Otis Rush, Albert King, Freddie King and Ray Charles.
Bloomfield originally used a Fender Telecaster, though he had also used a Fender Duo-Sonic while recording for Columbia following his 1964 signing to the label. During his tenure with the Butterfield Blues Band he used that Tele on the first Butterfield Album and on their earliest tours in fall of 1965. By November he had swapped that guitar with International Submarine Band guitarist John Nuese for Nuese's 1954 Gibson Les Paul Goldtop model, which he used for some of the East-West sessions and which he acquired in Boston.
In 1967, Bloomfield swapped the Goldtop with his friend repairman/musician Dan Erlewine for Dan's 1959 Les Paul Standard and $100. The Les Paul Standard had proven unpopular in the late 1950s because it was deemed too heavy and too expensive by rock and roll guitarists. Gibson discontinued manufacturing the model in 1960. Bloomfield used the Les Paul Standard in the Electric Flag and on the Super Session album and concerts. He later switched between the Les Paul and the Telecaster, but his use of the Les Paul inspired other guitarists to use the model and spurred Gibson to reintroduce the Les Paul Standard in 1968.
Bloomfield eventually lost the guitar in Canada; Wolkin and Keenom's biography revealed that a club owner kept the guitar as partial compensation after Bloomfield cut short a round of appearances. This turned out to be accurate and the gig in question was at the Cave in Vancouver, booked from Tue. Nov. 12th 1974, for five days, until Sat. the 16th. The band played the first night but the next day, Bloomfield boarded a plane and flew home to San Francisco with virtually no notice to the club, hotel, or band members; his friend Mark Naftalin found a note on a torn piece of paper in the hotel room that read, "bye bye, sorry". Bloomfield's two guitars had been left at the club and were retained by club owner Stan Grozina, who wanted compensation for lost revenues.
Unlike contemporaries such as Jimi Hendrix and Jeff Beck, Bloomfield rarely experimented with feedback and distortion, preferring a loud yet clean, almost chiming sound with a healthy amount of reverb and vibrato; this approach would strongly influence Jerry Garcia, who segued from a career in acoustic-based music to electric rock at the height of the Butterfield Band's influence in 1965. One of his amplifiers of choice was a 1965 Fender Twin Reverb. His solos, like those of most blues guitarists, were based in the minor pentatonic scale and the blues scale. However, his liberal use of chromatic notes within the pentatonic framework and his periodic lines based on Indian and Eastern modes allowed a considerable degree of fluidity in his solos.
Gibson has since released a Michael Bloomfield Les Paul—replicating his 1959 Standard—in recognition of his impact on the blues genre, his role in the revived production of the guitar, and his influence on many other guitarists. Because the actual guitar had been unaccounted for so many years, Gibson relied on hundreds of photographs provided by Bloomfield's family to reproduce the guitar. The model comes in two configurations—a clean Vintage Original Specifications (VOS) version, with only Bloomfield's mismatched volume and tone control knobs, missing toggle switch cover, and kidney-shaped tuners replacing the Gibson originals indicating its inspiration and a faithful, process-aged reproduction of the guitar as it was when Bloomfield played it last, complete with the finish smudge below the bridge and various nicks and smudges elsewhere around the body.
His influence among contemporary guitarists continues to be widely felt, primarily in the techniques of vibrato, natural sustain, and economy of notes. Guitarists such as Joe Bonamassa, Arlen Roth, Carlos Santana, Slash, Jimmy Vivino, Chuck Hammer, Eric Johnson, Elliot Easton, Robben Ford, John Scofield, Jimmy Herring, Phil Keaggy, and G.E. Smith remain essentially influenced by Bloomfield's early recorded work.
Selected discography
The Paul Butterfield Blues Band
The Paul Butterfield Blues Band (1965)
East-West (1966)
The Original Lost Elektra Sessions (unreleased recordings from 1965)
East-West Live (three live versions of the track 'East-West', recorded 1966–1967)
The Electric Flag
The Trip (1967)
A Long Time Comin' (1968)
The Band Kept Playing (1974)
Groovin' Is Easy (Released 2002)
Solo
It's Not Killing Me (1969)
Try It Before You Buy It (1973) (Unreleased until 1990. Additional recordings from these sessions were released on "Bloomfield: A Retrospective" in 1983)
If You Love These Blues, Play 'Em as You Please (1976; reissued on CD with Bloomfield-Harris)
Andy's Bad (1977; unreleased title soundtrack to Andy Warhol's Bad)
Analine (1977)
Michael Bloomfield (1978)
Count Talent and the Originals (1978)
Between a Hard Place and the Ground (1979)
Bloomfield-Harris (1979)
Cruisin' for a Bruisin (1981)
Collaborations
Blueskvarter (recorded 1964, released 2007), many Swedish CDs, recordings on Swedish radio. Bloomfield plays guitar with Little Brother Montgomery, Sunnyland Slim, Yank Rachell, Eddie Boyd and others.
Super Session, Bloomfield, Kooper and Stills (1968). This album has since been remastered, with new editions featuring several Bloomfield performances not included on the original album, including "Blues for Nothing" and "Fat Gray Cloud."
The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper (1968)
Fillmore East: Al Kooper and Mike Bloomfield - The Lost Concert Tapes 12/13/68 (recorded 1968, released 2003)
Two Jews Blues (1969), with Barry Goldberg (uncredited because of contractual constraints)
My Labors (1969), with Nick Gravenites
Live at Bill Graham's Fillmore West (1969), with Nick Gravenites, Taj Mahal, Mark Naftalin. Some of the performances at the same concerts that yielded this album were included on My Labors. Those performances, except for "Winter Country Blues," are now part Live at Bill Graham's Fillmore West 1969, released in 2009 and credited to Michael Bloomfield with Nick Gravenites and Friends.
Medium Cool (1969), original film soundtrack featuring Bloomfield and others
Steelyard Blues (1973), original film soundtrack, with Nick Gravenites and others
Mill Valley Bunch – Casting Pearls (1973), with Bill Vitt, Nick Gravenites and others
Triumvirate (1973), with John Hammond and Dr. John
KGB (1976), Ray Kennedy (vocals), Barry Goldberg (keyboards), Mike Bloomfield (guitar), Ric Grech (bass), Carmine Appice (drums)
Selected session work
Highway 61 Revisited – Bob Dylan (1965)
Album - Peter, Paul and Mary (1965)
Chicago Loop (1966)
Cherry Red - Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson (BluesWay, 1967)
"Carry On"/"Ronnie Siegel from Avenue L" 45 - Barry Goldberg, with Frank Zappa, guitar, produced by Tom Wilson
Grape Jam – Moby Grape (1968) – Played Piano
Living with the Animals – Mother Earth (1968); credited as "Makal Blumfeld" due to contractual constraints.
Dues to Pay - Wayne Talbert & the Melting Pot (1968)
Lord Have Mercy on My Funky Soul -Wayne Talbert (1969)
Fathers and Sons – Muddy Waters (1969)
I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama! – Janis Joplin (1969)
Weeds – Brewer & Shipley (1969)
Moogie Woogie - The Zeet Band (1970) (credited as "Fastfingers" Finkelstein)
Sam Lay in Bluesland – Sam Lay (1970)
Gandharva – Beaver & Krause (1971)
Brand New – Woody Herman and His Orchestra (1971)
Posthumous releases
Living in the Fast Lane (1981)
Bloomfield: A Retrospective (1983)
I'm with You Always (Live recordings from McCabe's Guitar Shop, Santa Monica, CA; 1977)
Between the Hard Place and the Ground (Different from the original 70s LP – containing further selections from McCabe's Guitar Shop)
Don't Say That I Ain't Your Man: Essential Blues, 1964–1969, an anthology that includes five songs from Bloomfield's original 1964 Columbia sessions.
Live at the Old Waldorf (Recorded live in 1976 and 1977 by producer Norman Dayron at the Old Waldorf nightclub)
Barry Goldberg & Friends – Live (Features Mike on guitar on most tracks)
Michael Bloomfield, Harvey Mandel, Barry Goldberg & Friends (with Eddie Hoh on drums) – Solid Blues, ed . 1995 (St.Clair Entertainment Group Inc.)
The Holy Kingdom: Music of the Gospel 1998 Mike Bloomfield Performed 2 songs; "Wings Of An Angel" and "You Must Have Seen Jesus". Other Artists on the Album included The Five Blind Boys Of Alabama, The Cavaliers and The Swan Silvertones.
If You Love These Blues by Wolkin & Keenom (Miller Freeman Books, 2000) contains a CD of 1964 recordings made by Norman Dayron
From His Head to His Heart to His Hands: An Audio-Visual Scrapbook (2013); a Columbia Legacy career retrospective, produced by Al Kooper, including tapes from Bloomfield's original audition for John Hammond at Columbia Records in 1964, previously unissued live performances, and a DVD that includes the documentary film Sweet Blues: A Film About Mike Bloomfield, directed by Bob Sarles and produced and edited by Bob Sarles and Christina Keating. The film premiered at the Mill Valley Film Festival in October 2013.
References
SourcesMichael Bloomfield – Me and Big Joe, Re/Search Publications, 1st edition 1980, . Last éd. V/Search, December 1999, Jan Mark Wolkin & Bill Keenom - Michael Bloomfield – If You Love These Blues: An Oral History Backbeat Books, 1st edition September 2000 – (with CD of unreleased music – early recordings made by Norman Dayron ) Ken Brooks – The Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper with Paul Butterfield and David Clayton Thomas Agenda Ltd, February 1999, Al Kooper – Backstage Passes: Rock 'N' Roll Life in the Sixties – Stein & Day Pub (1st edition February 1977) Al Kooper – Backstage Passes and Backstabbing Bastards: Memoirs of a Rock 'N' Roll Survivor Billboard Books (Updated Edition – September 1998) Al Kooper – Backstage Passes and Backstabbing Bastards – Hal Leonard Corporation, new edition February 2008, Ed Ward – Michael Bloomfield, The rise and fall of an American guitar hero, Cherry Lane Books (1983), Ed Ward – Michael Bloomfield, The rise and fall of an American guitar hero, Multiprises, LLC (updated edition - 2016), (print) (PDF edition) (epub) (Kindle)David Dann' – Guitar King: Michael Bloomfield's Life in the Blues'', University of Texas Press (2019), (print) (ebook)
External links
Official Mike Bloomfield Site
Me and Big Joe by Michael Bloomfield (1980)
[ "Michael Bloomfield"]. Allmusic.com (accessed September 30, 2006).
Mike Bloomfield, An American Guitarist
Bloomfield's Doomed Field by Al Kooper
Michael Bloomfield Chronology & Analysis
Gibson's Replica of Mike Bloomfield's 1959 Les Paul Standard Guitar
Bloomfield notes newsletter
1943 births
1981 deaths
Lead guitarists
American blues guitarists
American male guitarists
American blues pianists
American male pianists
Blues musicians from Illinois
Singers from Chicago
Jewish American musicians
American session musicians
Deaths by heroin overdose in California
Burials at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery
20th-century American singers
Jewish rock musicians
The Electric Flag members
Guitarists from Chicago
Paul Butterfield Blues Band members
20th-century American guitarists
20th-century American male singers
20th-century American pianists
20th-century American Jews | 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",
"How Did This Get Made? (HDTGM) is a podcast on the Earwolf network. It is hosted by Paul Scheer, June Diane Raphael and Jason Mantzoukas. Each episode, which typically has a different guest, features the deconstruction and mockery of outlandish and bad films.\n\nFormat\nThe hosts and guest make jokes about the films as well as attempt to unscramble plots. After discussing the film, Scheer reads \"second opinions\" in the form of five-star reviews posted online by Amazon.com users. The hosts also often make recommendations on if the film is worth watching. The show is released every two weeks.\n\nDuring the show's off week a \".5\" episode (also known as a \"minisode\") is uploaded. These episodes feature Scheer's \"explanation hopeline\" where he answers questions from fans who call in, the movie for the next week is announced, Scheer reads corrections and omissions from the message board regarding last week's episode, and he opens fan mail and provides his recommendations on books, movies, TV shows etc. that he is enjoying.\n\nSome full episodes are recorded in front of a live audience and include a question and answer session and original \"second opinion\" theme songs sung by fans. Not all content from the live shows is included in the final released episode - about 30 minutes of each live show is edited out.\n\nHistory\nHow Did This Get Made? began after Scheer and Raphael saw the movie Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. Later, the pair talked to Mantzoukas about the movie and joked about the idea for starting a bad movie podcast. , Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps has never been covered on the podcast.\n\nAwards\nIn 2019, How Did This Get Made? won a Webby Award in the category of Podcasts – Television & Film.\n\nIn 2020, How Did This Get Made? won an iHeartRadio award in the category of Best TV & Film Podcast.\n\nIn 2022, How Did This Get Made? won an iHeartRadio award in the category of Best TV & Film Podcast.\n\nSpinoffs\n\nHow Did This Get Made?: Origin Stories\nBetween February and September 2017, a 17-episode spin-off series of the podcast was released. Entitled How Did This Get Made?: Origin Stories, author Blake J. Harris would interview people involved with the movies discussed on the podcast. Guests on the show included director Mel Brooks, who served as executive producer on Solarbabies, and screenwriter Dan Gordon, who wrote Surf Ninjas.\n\nUnspooled\nIn May 2018, Scheer began a new podcast with Amy Nicholson titled Unspooled that is also devoted to movies. Unlike HDTGM?, however, Unspooled looks at films deemed good enough for the updated 2007 edition of the AFI Top 100. This is often referenced in How Did This Get Made? by Mantzoukas and Raphael, who are comically annoyed at how they were not invited to host the podcast, instead being subjected to the bad films that HDTGM covers.\n\nHow Did This Get Played?\nIn June 2019, the Earwolf network launched the podcast How Did This Get Played?, hosted by Doughboys host Nick Wiger and former Saturday Night Live writer Heather Anne Campbell. The podcast is positioned as the video game equivalent of HDTGM?, where Wiger and Campbell review widely panned video games.\n\nEpisodes\n\nAdaptation\nThe program was adapted in France in 2014 under the title 2 heures de perdues (http://www.2hdp.fr/ and available on Spotify and iTunes), a podcast in which several friends meet to analyze bad films in the same style (mainly American, French, and British films). The show then ends with a reading of comments found on AlloCiné (biggest French-speaking cinema website) or Amazon.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n \n How Did This Get Made on Earwolf\n\nAudio podcasts\nEarwolf\nFilm and television podcasts\nComedy and humor podcasts\n2010 podcast debuts"
] |
[
"Mike Bloomfield",
"Early years",
"Where did he grow up?",
"was born in Chicago in 1914.",
"Who were his parents?",
"mother was born Dorothy Klein in Chicago in 1918 and married Harold Bloomfield in 1940.",
"Did he marry in his early years?",
"I don't know.",
"How did his career get started?",
"Harold Bloomfield began manufacturing restaurant supplies,"
] | C_e7d89b070b5a43cb90fa72df99617783_1 | What was life like growing up? | 5 | What was Mike Bloomfield's life like growing up? | Mike Bloomfield | Bloomfield was born into a wealthy Chicago Jewish-American family. Bloomfield's father, Harold Bloomfield, was born in Chicago in 1914. After pursuing business ventures in California during the 1920s, he returned to the city in the early 1930s. Harold Bloomfield began manufacturing restaurant supplies, and by the latter part of the decade his company, Bloomfield Industries, was making pie cases, kitchen utensils, salt and pepper shakers, and sugar pourers. By the early 1940s Bloomfield Industries had acquired more manufacturing and warehouse space. The company expanded during World War II by manufacturing supplies needed for the war effort. Working with his brother, Daniel, and his father, Samuel, Harold Bloomfield built up Bloomfield Industries into a thriving business. Michael Bloomfield's mother was born Dorothy Klein in Chicago in 1918 and married Harold Bloomfield in 1940. She came from an artistic, musical family, and worked as an actor and a model before marrying Bloomfield. Michael Bloomfield's brother Allen Bloomfield was born in Chicago on Dec. 24, 1944. Bloomfield's family lived in various locations around Chicago before settling at 424 West Melrose Street on the North Side. When he was twelve his family moved to suburban Glencoe, Illinois, where he attended New Trier High School for two years. During this time, he began playing in local bands, and Bloomfield put together a group called the Hurricanes, named after Ohio rock band Johnny and the Hurricanes. New Trier High School expelled Bloomfield after his band performed a raucous rock and roll song at a 1959 school gathering. He attended Cornwall Academy in Massachusetts for one year and then returned to Chicago, where he spent his last year of education at a local YMCA school, Central YMCA High School. Bloomfield had attended a 1957 Chicago performance by blues singer Josh White, and began spending time in Chicago's South Side blues clubs and playing guitar with such black bluesmen as Sleepy John Estes, Yank Rachell, and Little Brother Montgomery. He first sat in with a black blues band in 1959, when he performed with Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson at a Chicago club called the Place. He performed with Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, and many other Chicago blues performers during the early 1960s. Writing in 2001, keyboardist, songwriter and record producer Al Kooper said Bloomfield's talent "was instantly obvious to his mentors. They knew this was not just another white boy; this was someone who truly understood what the blues were all about." Among his early supporters were B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Bob Dylan and Buddy Guy. "Michael used to say, 'It's a natural. Black people suffer externally in this country. Jewish people suffer internally. The suffering's the mutual fulcrum for the blues.'" CANNOTANSWER | Bloomfield's family lived in various locations around Chicago before settling at 424 West Melrose Street on the North Side. | Michael Bernard Bloomfield (July 28, 1943 – February 15, 1981) was an American guitarist and composer, born in Chicago, Illinois, who became one of the first popular music superstars of the 1960s to earn his reputation almost entirely on his instrumental prowess, as he rarely sang before 1969. Respected for his guitar playing, Bloomfield knew and played with many of Chicago's blues musicians before achieving his own fame and was instrumental in popularizing blues music in the mid-1960s. In 1965, he played on Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited, including the single "Like a Rolling Stone", and performed with Dylan at that year's Newport Folk Festival.
Bloomfield was ranked No. 22 on Rolling Stone's list of "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" in 2003 and No. 42 by the same magazine in 2011. He was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2012 and, as a member of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015.
Early years
Bloomfield was born into a wealthy Chicago family. Bloomfield's father, Harold Bloomfield, was born in Chicago in 1914. Harold's father, Samuel Bloomfield, started Bloomfield Industries in the early 1930s. After Samuel passed away, Harold and his brother, Daniel, took over the company. Bloomfield's mother, Dorothy Klein, was born in Chicago in 1918 and married Harold in 1940. She came from an artistic, musical family, working as an actress and a model before marrying Harold.
Bloomfield's family lived in various locations around Chicago before settling at 424 West Melrose Street on the North Side. When he was twelve his family moved to suburban Glencoe, Illinois, where he attended New Trier High School for two years. During this time, he began playing in local bands, and Bloomfield put together a group called the Hurricanes, named after Ohio rock band Johnny and the Hurricanes. New Trier High School expelled Bloomfield after his band performed a raucous rock and roll song at a 1959 school gathering. He attended Cornwall Academy in Massachusetts for one year and then returned to Chicago, where he spent his last year of education at a local YMCA school, Central YMCA High School.
Bloomfield had attended a 1957 Chicago performance by blues singer Josh White, and began spending time in Chicago's South Side blues clubs and playing guitar with such black bluesmen as Sleepy John Estes, Yank Rachell, and Little Brother Montgomery. He first sat in with a black blues band in 1959, when he performed with Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson at a Chicago club called the Place. He performed with Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, and many other Chicago blues performers during the early 1960s. In 1962 he married Susan Smith.
Writing in 2001, keyboardist, songwriter and record producer Al Kooper said Bloomfield's talent "was instantly obvious to his mentors. They knew this was not just another white boy; this was someone who truly understood what the blues were all about." Among his early supporters were B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Bob Dylan and Buddy Guy. "Michael used to say, 'It's a natural. Black people suffer externally in this country. Jewish people suffer internally. The suffering's the mutual fulcrum for the blues.'"
The Butterfield Band (1965 - 1967)
In the early 1960s he met harmonica player and singer Paul Butterfield and guitarist Elvin Bishop, with whom he would later play in The Paul Butterfield Blues Band. He also began friendships and professional associations with fellow Chicagoan Nick Gravenites and Bronx-born record producer Norman Dayron, who was attending the University of Chicago. He developed a friendship with blues singer Big Joe Williams. In 1963 Bloomfield and his two friends George Mitchell and Pete Welding ran a weekly blues showcase at the Fickle Pickle. He subsequently built up his reputation in two Chicago clubs, Big John's and Magoo's. With help from his friend Joel Harlib, a Chicago photographer who became Bloomfield's de facto manager, he became a Columbia Records recording artist. In early 1964 Harlib took an audition tape by Bloomfield to Columbia producer and talent scout John Hammond, who signed him to Columbia's Epic Records label.
Bloomfield recorded a few sessions for Columbia in 1964 that remained unreleased until after his death. In early 1965 he joined the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, which included Elvin Bishop and keyboardist Mark Naftalin, along with drummer Sam Lay and bassist Jerome Arnold, who had previously worked in Howlin' Wolf's band. Elektra Records producer Paul Rothchild recorded the band in spring 1965, but the majority of the tracks were not released until the 1990s. However, one of the tracks Rothchild recorded during his first pass at producing the group, a Nick Gravenites song titled "Born in Chicago," was included on the Elektra album Folksong '65, which sold two hundred thousand copies when it was released in September 1965. "Born in Chicago" became an underground hit for the Butterfield Band. Their debut album, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, was recorded in September and released the following month.
In June 1965, Bloomfield had recorded with Bob Dylan, whom he had met in 1963 at a Chicago club called the Bear. The club was bankrolled by future Dylan and Butterfield manager Albert Grossman, who would play a major part in Bloomfield's career. Bloomfield's Telecaster guitar licks were featured on Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone", a single produced by Columbia Record's Tom Wilson. Bloomfield would play on most of the tracks on Dylan's 1965 Highway 61 Revisited album, and he appeared onstage with Dylan in July at the Newport Folk Festival, where Dylan used Bloomfield and the Butterfield Band—minus Paul Butterfield—along with keyboardists Al Kooper and Barry Goldberg. The show marked Dylan's first use of an electric band in a live performance, and Bloomfield's playing on the songwriter's "Maggie's Farm" is considered a landmark electric-guitar performance. After the Newport Folk Festival ended, Bloomfield helped Dylan complete the sessions for Highway 61 Revisited, and Dylan asked Bloomfield to join his touring band. Bloomfield demurred, preferring to continue playing with the Butterfield Band.
After Sam Lay fell ill after a series of dates in November 1965, the Butterfield Band brought Chicago-born drummer Billy Davenport into the group. During the first part of 1966, the band played in California, and they recorded their second album, East-West, that summer. The record's title track found the band exploring modal music, and it was based upon a song Gravenites and Bloomfield had been playing since 1965, "It's About Time."
Bloomfield played on recording sessions between 1965 and 1967. His guitar playing had a huge impact on San Francisco Bay Area musicians after playing with the Butterfield band at Bill Graham's Fillmore in March 1966, San Francisco's Avalon Ballroom and also in the Los Angeles area due to the storied two-week run at the Golden Bear in Long Beach. He became a mentor and inspiration for many guitarists, especially in the SF Bay Area. He did a 1965 date with Peter, Paul and Mary that resulted in a song called "The King of Names," and he recorded in 1966 with pop group Chicago Loop, whose "When She Wants Good Lovin' (My Baby Comes to Me)" made Billboard Magazine'''s chart that year. He also played guitar on recordings by Chuck Berry, Mitch Ryder and James Cotton.
The Electric Flag (1967 - 1968)
Bloomfield tired of the Butterfield Band's rigorous touring schedule and, relocating to San Francisco, sought to create his own group. He formed the short-lived Electric Flag in 1967, with two longtime Chicago collaborators, Barry Goldberg and vocalist Nick Gravenites. The band featured a horn section. The band's rhythm section was composed of bassist Harvey Brooks and drummer Buddy Miles. Miles had previously played in Wilson Pickett's touring band, while Brooks had performed with Al Kooper in bands in New York City, and had played with both Kooper and Bloomfield on Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited. The group's first effort was the soundtrack for director-producer Roger Corman's 1967 movie The Trip, which was recorded in the spring of that year.
The Electric Flag debuted at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival and issued an album, A Long Time Comin', in April 1968 on Columbia Records. Critics complimented the group's distinctive, intriguing sound but found the record itself somewhat uneven. By that time, however, the band was already disintegrating; rivalries between members, shortsighted management, and heroin abuse all took their toll. Shortly after the release of that album, Bloomfield left his own band, with Gravenites, Goldberg, and bassist Harvey Brooks following.
Work with Al Kooper
Bloomfield also made an impact through his work with Al Kooper, who had played with Bloomfield on Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone". Kooper had become an A&R man for Columbia Records, and Bloomfield and Kooper had played piano on Moby Grape's 1968 Grape Jam, an instrumental album that had been packaged with the group's Wow collection.
"Why not do an entire jam album together?" Kooper remembered in 1998, writing the booklet notes for the Bloomfield anthology Don't Say That I Ain't Your Man: Essential Blues, 1964–1969. "At the time, most jazz albums were made using this modus operandi: pick a leader or two co-leaders, hire appropriate sidemen, pick some tunes, make some up and record an entire album on the fly in one or two days. Why not try and legitimize rock by adhering to these standards? In addition, as a fan, I was dissatisfied with Bloomfield's recorded studio output up until then. It seemed that his studio work was inhibited and reined in, compared to his incendiary live performances. Could I put him in a studio setting where he could feel free to just burn like he did in live performances?"
The result was Super Session, a jam album that spotlighted Bloomfield's guitar skills on one side. Bloomfield, who suffered from insomnia, left the sessions after the first day. Guitarist Stephen Stills completed the album with Kooper. It received excellent reviews and became the best-selling album of Bloomfield's career. Its success led to a live sequel, The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper, recorded over three nights at Fillmore West in September 1968.
Solo work
Bloomfield continued with solo, session and back-up work from 1968 to 1980. He played guitar on Mother Earth's cover of Memphis Slim's "Mother Earth," a track from their 1968 Living with the Animals album, and on two albums by Texas-born soul singer Wayne Talbert. With Mark Naftalin, he produced the 1968 sessions for James Cotton's 1968 album Cotton in Your Ears. He released his first solo album, It's Not Killing Me, in 1969. Bloomfield also helped Janis Joplin assemble her Kozmic Blues Band (for the album I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues, Again Mama!) in 1969, co-wrote "Work Me, Lord" for the album, and played the guitar solo on Joplin's blues composition "One Good Man." Columbia released another 1969 album, a live concert jam, Live at Bill Graham's Fillmore West, including Mark Naftalin, former Electric Flag bandmates Marcus Doubleday and Snooky Flowers, and a guest appearance by Taj Mahal. In the same year he reunited with Paul Butterfield and Sam Lay for the Chess Records album Fathers and Sons, featuring Muddy Waters and pianist Otis Spann. Bloomfield composed and recorded the soundtrack for the film Medium Cool, directed by his second cousin, Haskell Wexler. The film includes footage shot in Chicago during the 1968 Democratic National Convention. With Nick Gravenites, he produced blues guitarist Otis Rush's 1969 album Mourning in the Morning, recorded at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama with a band that included keyboardists Mark Naftalin and Barry Beckett, along with guitarist Duane Allman.
During 1970 Bloomfield gave up playing because of his heroin addiction:
He recorded his second solo album, Try It Before You Buy It, in 1973. Columbia rejected it; the complete version of the record would not appear until 1990. Also in 1973, he cut Triumvirate with Dr. John and guitarist and singer John Hammond Jr. In 1974, he rejoined the Electric Flag for an album titled The Band Kept Playing. In 1975 he recorded an album with the group KGB. The group's name is an acronym of the initials of singer and songwriter Ray Kennedy, Barry Goldberg and Bloomfield. The band also included Ric Grech and drummer Carmine Appice. Grech and Bloomfield quit shortly after its release. As the record hit stores in 1976, Bloomfield told journalists that the group had been an ill-conceived moneymaking project. The album was not well received by critics, but it did contain the standout track "Sail On, Sailor". Its authorship was credited to "Wilson-Kennedy", and had a bluesy, darker feel, along with Ray Kennedy's original cocaine-related lyrics. In the same year, he performed with John Cale on Cale's soundtrack for the film Caged Heat. In 1976 he recorded an instructional album for guitarists, If You Love These Blues, Play 'Em as You Please, which was financed through Guitar Player magazine.
In the 1970s Bloomfield played in local San Francisco Bay area clubs, including the Keystone Korner, and sat in with other bands. In 1977, Bloomfield was selected by Andy Warhol to do the soundtrack for the pop artist's last film, Andy Warhol's Bad (also known as BAD). An unreleased single, "Andy's Bad", was also produced for the project. During 1979–1981 he performed often with the King Perkoff Band, sometimes introducing them as the "Michael Bloomfield and Friends" outfit. Bloomfield recorded "Hustlin' Queen", written by John Isabeau and Perkoff in 1979. He toured Italy and Sweden with guitarist Woody Harris and cellist Maggie Edmondson in the summer of 1980. He sat in with Bob Dylan at San Francisco's Warfield Theatre on November 15, 1980. Bloomfield played on Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" and "The Groom's Still Waiting at the Altar". He continued to play live dates, and his performance at San Francisco State College on February 7, 1981, would be his final appearance.
Although Bloomfield came from a wealthy family, he never inherited a large lump sum. He received annual income from a trust that had been set up by his paternal grandfather, which gave him $50,000 each year.
Death
Bloomfield died in San Francisco on February 15, 1981. He was found seated behind the wheel of his car, with all four doors locked. According to police, an empty Valium bottle was found on the car seat, but no suicide note was found. The medical examiner who performed the autopsy ruled the death accidental, though he was unable to determine a cause of death, because no drugs were found in Bloomfield's system, and there were no signs of foul play. Bloomfield's last album, Cruisin' for a Bruisin, was released the day his death was announced. His remains are interred in a crypt at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery, in Culver City, near Los Angeles.
Style
Bloomfield's musical influences include Scotty Moore, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, B.B. King, Big Joe Williams, Otis Rush, Albert King, Freddie King and Ray Charles.
Bloomfield originally used a Fender Telecaster, though he had also used a Fender Duo-Sonic while recording for Columbia following his 1964 signing to the label. During his tenure with the Butterfield Blues Band he used that Tele on the first Butterfield Album and on their earliest tours in fall of 1965. By November he had swapped that guitar with International Submarine Band guitarist John Nuese for Nuese's 1954 Gibson Les Paul Goldtop model, which he used for some of the East-West sessions and which he acquired in Boston.
In 1967, Bloomfield swapped the Goldtop with his friend repairman/musician Dan Erlewine for Dan's 1959 Les Paul Standard and $100. The Les Paul Standard had proven unpopular in the late 1950s because it was deemed too heavy and too expensive by rock and roll guitarists. Gibson discontinued manufacturing the model in 1960. Bloomfield used the Les Paul Standard in the Electric Flag and on the Super Session album and concerts. He later switched between the Les Paul and the Telecaster, but his use of the Les Paul inspired other guitarists to use the model and spurred Gibson to reintroduce the Les Paul Standard in 1968.
Bloomfield eventually lost the guitar in Canada; Wolkin and Keenom's biography revealed that a club owner kept the guitar as partial compensation after Bloomfield cut short a round of appearances. This turned out to be accurate and the gig in question was at the Cave in Vancouver, booked from Tue. Nov. 12th 1974, for five days, until Sat. the 16th. The band played the first night but the next day, Bloomfield boarded a plane and flew home to San Francisco with virtually no notice to the club, hotel, or band members; his friend Mark Naftalin found a note on a torn piece of paper in the hotel room that read, "bye bye, sorry". Bloomfield's two guitars had been left at the club and were retained by club owner Stan Grozina, who wanted compensation for lost revenues.
Unlike contemporaries such as Jimi Hendrix and Jeff Beck, Bloomfield rarely experimented with feedback and distortion, preferring a loud yet clean, almost chiming sound with a healthy amount of reverb and vibrato; this approach would strongly influence Jerry Garcia, who segued from a career in acoustic-based music to electric rock at the height of the Butterfield Band's influence in 1965. One of his amplifiers of choice was a 1965 Fender Twin Reverb. His solos, like those of most blues guitarists, were based in the minor pentatonic scale and the blues scale. However, his liberal use of chromatic notes within the pentatonic framework and his periodic lines based on Indian and Eastern modes allowed a considerable degree of fluidity in his solos.
Gibson has since released a Michael Bloomfield Les Paul—replicating his 1959 Standard—in recognition of his impact on the blues genre, his role in the revived production of the guitar, and his influence on many other guitarists. Because the actual guitar had been unaccounted for so many years, Gibson relied on hundreds of photographs provided by Bloomfield's family to reproduce the guitar. The model comes in two configurations—a clean Vintage Original Specifications (VOS) version, with only Bloomfield's mismatched volume and tone control knobs, missing toggle switch cover, and kidney-shaped tuners replacing the Gibson originals indicating its inspiration and a faithful, process-aged reproduction of the guitar as it was when Bloomfield played it last, complete with the finish smudge below the bridge and various nicks and smudges elsewhere around the body.
His influence among contemporary guitarists continues to be widely felt, primarily in the techniques of vibrato, natural sustain, and economy of notes. Guitarists such as Joe Bonamassa, Arlen Roth, Carlos Santana, Slash, Jimmy Vivino, Chuck Hammer, Eric Johnson, Elliot Easton, Robben Ford, John Scofield, Jimmy Herring, Phil Keaggy, and G.E. Smith remain essentially influenced by Bloomfield's early recorded work.
Selected discography
The Paul Butterfield Blues Band
The Paul Butterfield Blues Band (1965)
East-West (1966)
The Original Lost Elektra Sessions (unreleased recordings from 1965)
East-West Live (three live versions of the track 'East-West', recorded 1966–1967)
The Electric Flag
The Trip (1967)
A Long Time Comin' (1968)
The Band Kept Playing (1974)
Groovin' Is Easy (Released 2002)
Solo
It's Not Killing Me (1969)
Try It Before You Buy It (1973) (Unreleased until 1990. Additional recordings from these sessions were released on "Bloomfield: A Retrospective" in 1983)
If You Love These Blues, Play 'Em as You Please (1976; reissued on CD with Bloomfield-Harris)
Andy's Bad (1977; unreleased title soundtrack to Andy Warhol's Bad)
Analine (1977)
Michael Bloomfield (1978)
Count Talent and the Originals (1978)
Between a Hard Place and the Ground (1979)
Bloomfield-Harris (1979)
Cruisin' for a Bruisin (1981)
Collaborations
Blueskvarter (recorded 1964, released 2007), many Swedish CDs, recordings on Swedish radio. Bloomfield plays guitar with Little Brother Montgomery, Sunnyland Slim, Yank Rachell, Eddie Boyd and others.
Super Session, Bloomfield, Kooper and Stills (1968). This album has since been remastered, with new editions featuring several Bloomfield performances not included on the original album, including "Blues for Nothing" and "Fat Gray Cloud."
The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper (1968)
Fillmore East: Al Kooper and Mike Bloomfield - The Lost Concert Tapes 12/13/68 (recorded 1968, released 2003)
Two Jews Blues (1969), with Barry Goldberg (uncredited because of contractual constraints)
My Labors (1969), with Nick Gravenites
Live at Bill Graham's Fillmore West (1969), with Nick Gravenites, Taj Mahal, Mark Naftalin. Some of the performances at the same concerts that yielded this album were included on My Labors. Those performances, except for "Winter Country Blues," are now part Live at Bill Graham's Fillmore West 1969, released in 2009 and credited to Michael Bloomfield with Nick Gravenites and Friends.
Medium Cool (1969), original film soundtrack featuring Bloomfield and others
Steelyard Blues (1973), original film soundtrack, with Nick Gravenites and others
Mill Valley Bunch – Casting Pearls (1973), with Bill Vitt, Nick Gravenites and others
Triumvirate (1973), with John Hammond and Dr. John
KGB (1976), Ray Kennedy (vocals), Barry Goldberg (keyboards), Mike Bloomfield (guitar), Ric Grech (bass), Carmine Appice (drums)
Selected session work
Highway 61 Revisited – Bob Dylan (1965)
Album - Peter, Paul and Mary (1965)
Chicago Loop (1966)
Cherry Red - Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson (BluesWay, 1967)
"Carry On"/"Ronnie Siegel from Avenue L" 45 - Barry Goldberg, with Frank Zappa, guitar, produced by Tom Wilson
Grape Jam – Moby Grape (1968) – Played Piano
Living with the Animals – Mother Earth (1968); credited as "Makal Blumfeld" due to contractual constraints.
Dues to Pay - Wayne Talbert & the Melting Pot (1968)
Lord Have Mercy on My Funky Soul -Wayne Talbert (1969)
Fathers and Sons – Muddy Waters (1969)
I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama! – Janis Joplin (1969)
Weeds – Brewer & Shipley (1969)
Moogie Woogie - The Zeet Band (1970) (credited as "Fastfingers" Finkelstein)
Sam Lay in Bluesland – Sam Lay (1970)
Gandharva – Beaver & Krause (1971)
Brand New – Woody Herman and His Orchestra (1971)
Posthumous releases
Living in the Fast Lane (1981)
Bloomfield: A Retrospective (1983)
I'm with You Always (Live recordings from McCabe's Guitar Shop, Santa Monica, CA; 1977)
Between the Hard Place and the Ground (Different from the original 70s LP – containing further selections from McCabe's Guitar Shop)
Don't Say That I Ain't Your Man: Essential Blues, 1964–1969, an anthology that includes five songs from Bloomfield's original 1964 Columbia sessions.
Live at the Old Waldorf (Recorded live in 1976 and 1977 by producer Norman Dayron at the Old Waldorf nightclub)
Barry Goldberg & Friends – Live (Features Mike on guitar on most tracks)
Michael Bloomfield, Harvey Mandel, Barry Goldberg & Friends (with Eddie Hoh on drums) – Solid Blues, ed . 1995 (St.Clair Entertainment Group Inc.)
The Holy Kingdom: Music of the Gospel 1998 Mike Bloomfield Performed 2 songs; "Wings Of An Angel" and "You Must Have Seen Jesus". Other Artists on the Album included The Five Blind Boys Of Alabama, The Cavaliers and The Swan Silvertones.
If You Love These Blues by Wolkin & Keenom (Miller Freeman Books, 2000) contains a CD of 1964 recordings made by Norman Dayron
From His Head to His Heart to His Hands: An Audio-Visual Scrapbook (2013); a Columbia Legacy career retrospective, produced by Al Kooper, including tapes from Bloomfield's original audition for John Hammond at Columbia Records in 1964, previously unissued live performances, and a DVD that includes the documentary film Sweet Blues: A Film About Mike Bloomfield, directed by Bob Sarles and produced and edited by Bob Sarles and Christina Keating. The film premiered at the Mill Valley Film Festival in October 2013.
References
SourcesMichael Bloomfield – Me and Big Joe, Re/Search Publications, 1st edition 1980, . Last éd. V/Search, December 1999, Jan Mark Wolkin & Bill Keenom - Michael Bloomfield – If You Love These Blues: An Oral History Backbeat Books, 1st edition September 2000 – (with CD of unreleased music – early recordings made by Norman Dayron ) Ken Brooks – The Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper with Paul Butterfield and David Clayton Thomas Agenda Ltd, February 1999, Al Kooper – Backstage Passes: Rock 'N' Roll Life in the Sixties – Stein & Day Pub (1st edition February 1977) Al Kooper – Backstage Passes and Backstabbing Bastards: Memoirs of a Rock 'N' Roll Survivor Billboard Books (Updated Edition – September 1998) Al Kooper – Backstage Passes and Backstabbing Bastards – Hal Leonard Corporation, new edition February 2008, Ed Ward – Michael Bloomfield, The rise and fall of an American guitar hero, Cherry Lane Books (1983), Ed Ward – Michael Bloomfield, The rise and fall of an American guitar hero, Multiprises, LLC (updated edition - 2016), (print) (PDF edition) (epub) (Kindle)David Dann' – Guitar King: Michael Bloomfield's Life in the Blues'', University of Texas Press (2019), (print) (ebook)
External links
Official Mike Bloomfield Site
Me and Big Joe by Michael Bloomfield (1980)
[ "Michael Bloomfield"]. Allmusic.com (accessed September 30, 2006).
Mike Bloomfield, An American Guitarist
Bloomfield's Doomed Field by Al Kooper
Michael Bloomfield Chronology & Analysis
Gibson's Replica of Mike Bloomfield's 1959 Les Paul Standard Guitar
Bloomfield notes newsletter
1943 births
1981 deaths
Lead guitarists
American blues guitarists
American male guitarists
American blues pianists
American male pianists
Blues musicians from Illinois
Singers from Chicago
Jewish American musicians
American session musicians
Deaths by heroin overdose in California
Burials at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery
20th-century American singers
Jewish rock musicians
The Electric Flag members
Guitarists from Chicago
Paul Butterfield Blues Band members
20th-century American guitarists
20th-century American male singers
20th-century American pianists
20th-century American Jews | true | [
"Growing Up X: A Memoir by the Daughter of Malcolm X is a 2002 book by Ilyasah Shabazz, the third daughter of Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz. Shabazz wrote the book with Kim McLarin.\n\nIn Growing Up X, Shabazz writes about what it was like to grow up in the shadow of her father, a human rights activist who was assassinated when she was two years old. She also writes about her mother and sisters, and her early life growing up, along with her personal memories and feelings about Malcolm X. Shabazz has commented that she was nervous about releasing the book, because she did not want to ruin people's expectations of her, but has received unexpectedly great praise for her writing.\n\nFurther reading\n\nExternal links\nDiscussion on Growing Up X with Ilyasah Shabazz at the Library of Congress, June 19, 2002\n\n2002 non-fiction books\nAfrican-American autobiographies\nCollaborative non-fiction books\nWorks about Malcolm X",
"The Woman I Was Born To Be: My Story is the autobiography of Scottish singer Susan Boyle, published in October 2010.\n\nBoyle describes her childhood growing up in a large Catholic family and the importance of her faith. She addresses the bullying she endured and the prominent place of music in her life. She deals with her despair and difficulties coping after her mother's death in 2007. She relates what it was like to experience sudden global fame as a result of her Britain's Got Talent appearance.\n\nReferences\n\nBritish autobiographies\nSusan Boyle\n2010 non-fiction books"
] |
[
"Mike Bloomfield",
"Early years",
"Where did he grow up?",
"was born in Chicago in 1914.",
"Who were his parents?",
"mother was born Dorothy Klein in Chicago in 1918 and married Harold Bloomfield in 1940.",
"Did he marry in his early years?",
"I don't know.",
"How did his career get started?",
"Harold Bloomfield began manufacturing restaurant supplies,",
"What was life like growing up?",
"Bloomfield's family lived in various locations around Chicago before settling at 424 West Melrose Street on the North Side."
] | C_e7d89b070b5a43cb90fa72df99617783_1 | Did he have any siblings? | 6 | Did Mike Bloomfield have any siblings? | Mike Bloomfield | Bloomfield was born into a wealthy Chicago Jewish-American family. Bloomfield's father, Harold Bloomfield, was born in Chicago in 1914. After pursuing business ventures in California during the 1920s, he returned to the city in the early 1930s. Harold Bloomfield began manufacturing restaurant supplies, and by the latter part of the decade his company, Bloomfield Industries, was making pie cases, kitchen utensils, salt and pepper shakers, and sugar pourers. By the early 1940s Bloomfield Industries had acquired more manufacturing and warehouse space. The company expanded during World War II by manufacturing supplies needed for the war effort. Working with his brother, Daniel, and his father, Samuel, Harold Bloomfield built up Bloomfield Industries into a thriving business. Michael Bloomfield's mother was born Dorothy Klein in Chicago in 1918 and married Harold Bloomfield in 1940. She came from an artistic, musical family, and worked as an actor and a model before marrying Bloomfield. Michael Bloomfield's brother Allen Bloomfield was born in Chicago on Dec. 24, 1944. Bloomfield's family lived in various locations around Chicago before settling at 424 West Melrose Street on the North Side. When he was twelve his family moved to suburban Glencoe, Illinois, where he attended New Trier High School for two years. During this time, he began playing in local bands, and Bloomfield put together a group called the Hurricanes, named after Ohio rock band Johnny and the Hurricanes. New Trier High School expelled Bloomfield after his band performed a raucous rock and roll song at a 1959 school gathering. He attended Cornwall Academy in Massachusetts for one year and then returned to Chicago, where he spent his last year of education at a local YMCA school, Central YMCA High School. Bloomfield had attended a 1957 Chicago performance by blues singer Josh White, and began spending time in Chicago's South Side blues clubs and playing guitar with such black bluesmen as Sleepy John Estes, Yank Rachell, and Little Brother Montgomery. He first sat in with a black blues band in 1959, when he performed with Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson at a Chicago club called the Place. He performed with Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, and many other Chicago blues performers during the early 1960s. Writing in 2001, keyboardist, songwriter and record producer Al Kooper said Bloomfield's talent "was instantly obvious to his mentors. They knew this was not just another white boy; this was someone who truly understood what the blues were all about." Among his early supporters were B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Bob Dylan and Buddy Guy. "Michael used to say, 'It's a natural. Black people suffer externally in this country. Jewish people suffer internally. The suffering's the mutual fulcrum for the blues.'" CANNOTANSWER | Working with his brother, Daniel, | Michael Bernard Bloomfield (July 28, 1943 – February 15, 1981) was an American guitarist and composer, born in Chicago, Illinois, who became one of the first popular music superstars of the 1960s to earn his reputation almost entirely on his instrumental prowess, as he rarely sang before 1969. Respected for his guitar playing, Bloomfield knew and played with many of Chicago's blues musicians before achieving his own fame and was instrumental in popularizing blues music in the mid-1960s. In 1965, he played on Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited, including the single "Like a Rolling Stone", and performed with Dylan at that year's Newport Folk Festival.
Bloomfield was ranked No. 22 on Rolling Stone's list of "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" in 2003 and No. 42 by the same magazine in 2011. He was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2012 and, as a member of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015.
Early years
Bloomfield was born into a wealthy Chicago family. Bloomfield's father, Harold Bloomfield, was born in Chicago in 1914. Harold's father, Samuel Bloomfield, started Bloomfield Industries in the early 1930s. After Samuel passed away, Harold and his brother, Daniel, took over the company. Bloomfield's mother, Dorothy Klein, was born in Chicago in 1918 and married Harold in 1940. She came from an artistic, musical family, working as an actress and a model before marrying Harold.
Bloomfield's family lived in various locations around Chicago before settling at 424 West Melrose Street on the North Side. When he was twelve his family moved to suburban Glencoe, Illinois, where he attended New Trier High School for two years. During this time, he began playing in local bands, and Bloomfield put together a group called the Hurricanes, named after Ohio rock band Johnny and the Hurricanes. New Trier High School expelled Bloomfield after his band performed a raucous rock and roll song at a 1959 school gathering. He attended Cornwall Academy in Massachusetts for one year and then returned to Chicago, where he spent his last year of education at a local YMCA school, Central YMCA High School.
Bloomfield had attended a 1957 Chicago performance by blues singer Josh White, and began spending time in Chicago's South Side blues clubs and playing guitar with such black bluesmen as Sleepy John Estes, Yank Rachell, and Little Brother Montgomery. He first sat in with a black blues band in 1959, when he performed with Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson at a Chicago club called the Place. He performed with Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, and many other Chicago blues performers during the early 1960s. In 1962 he married Susan Smith.
Writing in 2001, keyboardist, songwriter and record producer Al Kooper said Bloomfield's talent "was instantly obvious to his mentors. They knew this was not just another white boy; this was someone who truly understood what the blues were all about." Among his early supporters were B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Bob Dylan and Buddy Guy. "Michael used to say, 'It's a natural. Black people suffer externally in this country. Jewish people suffer internally. The suffering's the mutual fulcrum for the blues.'"
The Butterfield Band (1965 - 1967)
In the early 1960s he met harmonica player and singer Paul Butterfield and guitarist Elvin Bishop, with whom he would later play in The Paul Butterfield Blues Band. He also began friendships and professional associations with fellow Chicagoan Nick Gravenites and Bronx-born record producer Norman Dayron, who was attending the University of Chicago. He developed a friendship with blues singer Big Joe Williams. In 1963 Bloomfield and his two friends George Mitchell and Pete Welding ran a weekly blues showcase at the Fickle Pickle. He subsequently built up his reputation in two Chicago clubs, Big John's and Magoo's. With help from his friend Joel Harlib, a Chicago photographer who became Bloomfield's de facto manager, he became a Columbia Records recording artist. In early 1964 Harlib took an audition tape by Bloomfield to Columbia producer and talent scout John Hammond, who signed him to Columbia's Epic Records label.
Bloomfield recorded a few sessions for Columbia in 1964 that remained unreleased until after his death. In early 1965 he joined the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, which included Elvin Bishop and keyboardist Mark Naftalin, along with drummer Sam Lay and bassist Jerome Arnold, who had previously worked in Howlin' Wolf's band. Elektra Records producer Paul Rothchild recorded the band in spring 1965, but the majority of the tracks were not released until the 1990s. However, one of the tracks Rothchild recorded during his first pass at producing the group, a Nick Gravenites song titled "Born in Chicago," was included on the Elektra album Folksong '65, which sold two hundred thousand copies when it was released in September 1965. "Born in Chicago" became an underground hit for the Butterfield Band. Their debut album, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, was recorded in September and released the following month.
In June 1965, Bloomfield had recorded with Bob Dylan, whom he had met in 1963 at a Chicago club called the Bear. The club was bankrolled by future Dylan and Butterfield manager Albert Grossman, who would play a major part in Bloomfield's career. Bloomfield's Telecaster guitar licks were featured on Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone", a single produced by Columbia Record's Tom Wilson. Bloomfield would play on most of the tracks on Dylan's 1965 Highway 61 Revisited album, and he appeared onstage with Dylan in July at the Newport Folk Festival, where Dylan used Bloomfield and the Butterfield Band—minus Paul Butterfield—along with keyboardists Al Kooper and Barry Goldberg. The show marked Dylan's first use of an electric band in a live performance, and Bloomfield's playing on the songwriter's "Maggie's Farm" is considered a landmark electric-guitar performance. After the Newport Folk Festival ended, Bloomfield helped Dylan complete the sessions for Highway 61 Revisited, and Dylan asked Bloomfield to join his touring band. Bloomfield demurred, preferring to continue playing with the Butterfield Band.
After Sam Lay fell ill after a series of dates in November 1965, the Butterfield Band brought Chicago-born drummer Billy Davenport into the group. During the first part of 1966, the band played in California, and they recorded their second album, East-West, that summer. The record's title track found the band exploring modal music, and it was based upon a song Gravenites and Bloomfield had been playing since 1965, "It's About Time."
Bloomfield played on recording sessions between 1965 and 1967. His guitar playing had a huge impact on San Francisco Bay Area musicians after playing with the Butterfield band at Bill Graham's Fillmore in March 1966, San Francisco's Avalon Ballroom and also in the Los Angeles area due to the storied two-week run at the Golden Bear in Long Beach. He became a mentor and inspiration for many guitarists, especially in the SF Bay Area. He did a 1965 date with Peter, Paul and Mary that resulted in a song called "The King of Names," and he recorded in 1966 with pop group Chicago Loop, whose "When She Wants Good Lovin' (My Baby Comes to Me)" made Billboard Magazine'''s chart that year. He also played guitar on recordings by Chuck Berry, Mitch Ryder and James Cotton.
The Electric Flag (1967 - 1968)
Bloomfield tired of the Butterfield Band's rigorous touring schedule and, relocating to San Francisco, sought to create his own group. He formed the short-lived Electric Flag in 1967, with two longtime Chicago collaborators, Barry Goldberg and vocalist Nick Gravenites. The band featured a horn section. The band's rhythm section was composed of bassist Harvey Brooks and drummer Buddy Miles. Miles had previously played in Wilson Pickett's touring band, while Brooks had performed with Al Kooper in bands in New York City, and had played with both Kooper and Bloomfield on Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited. The group's first effort was the soundtrack for director-producer Roger Corman's 1967 movie The Trip, which was recorded in the spring of that year.
The Electric Flag debuted at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival and issued an album, A Long Time Comin', in April 1968 on Columbia Records. Critics complimented the group's distinctive, intriguing sound but found the record itself somewhat uneven. By that time, however, the band was already disintegrating; rivalries between members, shortsighted management, and heroin abuse all took their toll. Shortly after the release of that album, Bloomfield left his own band, with Gravenites, Goldberg, and bassist Harvey Brooks following.
Work with Al Kooper
Bloomfield also made an impact through his work with Al Kooper, who had played with Bloomfield on Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone". Kooper had become an A&R man for Columbia Records, and Bloomfield and Kooper had played piano on Moby Grape's 1968 Grape Jam, an instrumental album that had been packaged with the group's Wow collection.
"Why not do an entire jam album together?" Kooper remembered in 1998, writing the booklet notes for the Bloomfield anthology Don't Say That I Ain't Your Man: Essential Blues, 1964–1969. "At the time, most jazz albums were made using this modus operandi: pick a leader or two co-leaders, hire appropriate sidemen, pick some tunes, make some up and record an entire album on the fly in one or two days. Why not try and legitimize rock by adhering to these standards? In addition, as a fan, I was dissatisfied with Bloomfield's recorded studio output up until then. It seemed that his studio work was inhibited and reined in, compared to his incendiary live performances. Could I put him in a studio setting where he could feel free to just burn like he did in live performances?"
The result was Super Session, a jam album that spotlighted Bloomfield's guitar skills on one side. Bloomfield, who suffered from insomnia, left the sessions after the first day. Guitarist Stephen Stills completed the album with Kooper. It received excellent reviews and became the best-selling album of Bloomfield's career. Its success led to a live sequel, The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper, recorded over three nights at Fillmore West in September 1968.
Solo work
Bloomfield continued with solo, session and back-up work from 1968 to 1980. He played guitar on Mother Earth's cover of Memphis Slim's "Mother Earth," a track from their 1968 Living with the Animals album, and on two albums by Texas-born soul singer Wayne Talbert. With Mark Naftalin, he produced the 1968 sessions for James Cotton's 1968 album Cotton in Your Ears. He released his first solo album, It's Not Killing Me, in 1969. Bloomfield also helped Janis Joplin assemble her Kozmic Blues Band (for the album I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues, Again Mama!) in 1969, co-wrote "Work Me, Lord" for the album, and played the guitar solo on Joplin's blues composition "One Good Man." Columbia released another 1969 album, a live concert jam, Live at Bill Graham's Fillmore West, including Mark Naftalin, former Electric Flag bandmates Marcus Doubleday and Snooky Flowers, and a guest appearance by Taj Mahal. In the same year he reunited with Paul Butterfield and Sam Lay for the Chess Records album Fathers and Sons, featuring Muddy Waters and pianist Otis Spann. Bloomfield composed and recorded the soundtrack for the film Medium Cool, directed by his second cousin, Haskell Wexler. The film includes footage shot in Chicago during the 1968 Democratic National Convention. With Nick Gravenites, he produced blues guitarist Otis Rush's 1969 album Mourning in the Morning, recorded at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama with a band that included keyboardists Mark Naftalin and Barry Beckett, along with guitarist Duane Allman.
During 1970 Bloomfield gave up playing because of his heroin addiction:
He recorded his second solo album, Try It Before You Buy It, in 1973. Columbia rejected it; the complete version of the record would not appear until 1990. Also in 1973, he cut Triumvirate with Dr. John and guitarist and singer John Hammond Jr. In 1974, he rejoined the Electric Flag for an album titled The Band Kept Playing. In 1975 he recorded an album with the group KGB. The group's name is an acronym of the initials of singer and songwriter Ray Kennedy, Barry Goldberg and Bloomfield. The band also included Ric Grech and drummer Carmine Appice. Grech and Bloomfield quit shortly after its release. As the record hit stores in 1976, Bloomfield told journalists that the group had been an ill-conceived moneymaking project. The album was not well received by critics, but it did contain the standout track "Sail On, Sailor". Its authorship was credited to "Wilson-Kennedy", and had a bluesy, darker feel, along with Ray Kennedy's original cocaine-related lyrics. In the same year, he performed with John Cale on Cale's soundtrack for the film Caged Heat. In 1976 he recorded an instructional album for guitarists, If You Love These Blues, Play 'Em as You Please, which was financed through Guitar Player magazine.
In the 1970s Bloomfield played in local San Francisco Bay area clubs, including the Keystone Korner, and sat in with other bands. In 1977, Bloomfield was selected by Andy Warhol to do the soundtrack for the pop artist's last film, Andy Warhol's Bad (also known as BAD). An unreleased single, "Andy's Bad", was also produced for the project. During 1979–1981 he performed often with the King Perkoff Band, sometimes introducing them as the "Michael Bloomfield and Friends" outfit. Bloomfield recorded "Hustlin' Queen", written by John Isabeau and Perkoff in 1979. He toured Italy and Sweden with guitarist Woody Harris and cellist Maggie Edmondson in the summer of 1980. He sat in with Bob Dylan at San Francisco's Warfield Theatre on November 15, 1980. Bloomfield played on Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" and "The Groom's Still Waiting at the Altar". He continued to play live dates, and his performance at San Francisco State College on February 7, 1981, would be his final appearance.
Although Bloomfield came from a wealthy family, he never inherited a large lump sum. He received annual income from a trust that had been set up by his paternal grandfather, which gave him $50,000 each year.
Death
Bloomfield died in San Francisco on February 15, 1981. He was found seated behind the wheel of his car, with all four doors locked. According to police, an empty Valium bottle was found on the car seat, but no suicide note was found. The medical examiner who performed the autopsy ruled the death accidental, though he was unable to determine a cause of death, because no drugs were found in Bloomfield's system, and there were no signs of foul play. Bloomfield's last album, Cruisin' for a Bruisin, was released the day his death was announced. His remains are interred in a crypt at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery, in Culver City, near Los Angeles.
Style
Bloomfield's musical influences include Scotty Moore, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, B.B. King, Big Joe Williams, Otis Rush, Albert King, Freddie King and Ray Charles.
Bloomfield originally used a Fender Telecaster, though he had also used a Fender Duo-Sonic while recording for Columbia following his 1964 signing to the label. During his tenure with the Butterfield Blues Band he used that Tele on the first Butterfield Album and on their earliest tours in fall of 1965. By November he had swapped that guitar with International Submarine Band guitarist John Nuese for Nuese's 1954 Gibson Les Paul Goldtop model, which he used for some of the East-West sessions and which he acquired in Boston.
In 1967, Bloomfield swapped the Goldtop with his friend repairman/musician Dan Erlewine for Dan's 1959 Les Paul Standard and $100. The Les Paul Standard had proven unpopular in the late 1950s because it was deemed too heavy and too expensive by rock and roll guitarists. Gibson discontinued manufacturing the model in 1960. Bloomfield used the Les Paul Standard in the Electric Flag and on the Super Session album and concerts. He later switched between the Les Paul and the Telecaster, but his use of the Les Paul inspired other guitarists to use the model and spurred Gibson to reintroduce the Les Paul Standard in 1968.
Bloomfield eventually lost the guitar in Canada; Wolkin and Keenom's biography revealed that a club owner kept the guitar as partial compensation after Bloomfield cut short a round of appearances. This turned out to be accurate and the gig in question was at the Cave in Vancouver, booked from Tue. Nov. 12th 1974, for five days, until Sat. the 16th. The band played the first night but the next day, Bloomfield boarded a plane and flew home to San Francisco with virtually no notice to the club, hotel, or band members; his friend Mark Naftalin found a note on a torn piece of paper in the hotel room that read, "bye bye, sorry". Bloomfield's two guitars had been left at the club and were retained by club owner Stan Grozina, who wanted compensation for lost revenues.
Unlike contemporaries such as Jimi Hendrix and Jeff Beck, Bloomfield rarely experimented with feedback and distortion, preferring a loud yet clean, almost chiming sound with a healthy amount of reverb and vibrato; this approach would strongly influence Jerry Garcia, who segued from a career in acoustic-based music to electric rock at the height of the Butterfield Band's influence in 1965. One of his amplifiers of choice was a 1965 Fender Twin Reverb. His solos, like those of most blues guitarists, were based in the minor pentatonic scale and the blues scale. However, his liberal use of chromatic notes within the pentatonic framework and his periodic lines based on Indian and Eastern modes allowed a considerable degree of fluidity in his solos.
Gibson has since released a Michael Bloomfield Les Paul—replicating his 1959 Standard—in recognition of his impact on the blues genre, his role in the revived production of the guitar, and his influence on many other guitarists. Because the actual guitar had been unaccounted for so many years, Gibson relied on hundreds of photographs provided by Bloomfield's family to reproduce the guitar. The model comes in two configurations—a clean Vintage Original Specifications (VOS) version, with only Bloomfield's mismatched volume and tone control knobs, missing toggle switch cover, and kidney-shaped tuners replacing the Gibson originals indicating its inspiration and a faithful, process-aged reproduction of the guitar as it was when Bloomfield played it last, complete with the finish smudge below the bridge and various nicks and smudges elsewhere around the body.
His influence among contemporary guitarists continues to be widely felt, primarily in the techniques of vibrato, natural sustain, and economy of notes. Guitarists such as Joe Bonamassa, Arlen Roth, Carlos Santana, Slash, Jimmy Vivino, Chuck Hammer, Eric Johnson, Elliot Easton, Robben Ford, John Scofield, Jimmy Herring, Phil Keaggy, and G.E. Smith remain essentially influenced by Bloomfield's early recorded work.
Selected discography
The Paul Butterfield Blues Band
The Paul Butterfield Blues Band (1965)
East-West (1966)
The Original Lost Elektra Sessions (unreleased recordings from 1965)
East-West Live (three live versions of the track 'East-West', recorded 1966–1967)
The Electric Flag
The Trip (1967)
A Long Time Comin' (1968)
The Band Kept Playing (1974)
Groovin' Is Easy (Released 2002)
Solo
It's Not Killing Me (1969)
Try It Before You Buy It (1973) (Unreleased until 1990. Additional recordings from these sessions were released on "Bloomfield: A Retrospective" in 1983)
If You Love These Blues, Play 'Em as You Please (1976; reissued on CD with Bloomfield-Harris)
Andy's Bad (1977; unreleased title soundtrack to Andy Warhol's Bad)
Analine (1977)
Michael Bloomfield (1978)
Count Talent and the Originals (1978)
Between a Hard Place and the Ground (1979)
Bloomfield-Harris (1979)
Cruisin' for a Bruisin (1981)
Collaborations
Blueskvarter (recorded 1964, released 2007), many Swedish CDs, recordings on Swedish radio. Bloomfield plays guitar with Little Brother Montgomery, Sunnyland Slim, Yank Rachell, Eddie Boyd and others.
Super Session, Bloomfield, Kooper and Stills (1968). This album has since been remastered, with new editions featuring several Bloomfield performances not included on the original album, including "Blues for Nothing" and "Fat Gray Cloud."
The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper (1968)
Fillmore East: Al Kooper and Mike Bloomfield - The Lost Concert Tapes 12/13/68 (recorded 1968, released 2003)
Two Jews Blues (1969), with Barry Goldberg (uncredited because of contractual constraints)
My Labors (1969), with Nick Gravenites
Live at Bill Graham's Fillmore West (1969), with Nick Gravenites, Taj Mahal, Mark Naftalin. Some of the performances at the same concerts that yielded this album were included on My Labors. Those performances, except for "Winter Country Blues," are now part Live at Bill Graham's Fillmore West 1969, released in 2009 and credited to Michael Bloomfield with Nick Gravenites and Friends.
Medium Cool (1969), original film soundtrack featuring Bloomfield and others
Steelyard Blues (1973), original film soundtrack, with Nick Gravenites and others
Mill Valley Bunch – Casting Pearls (1973), with Bill Vitt, Nick Gravenites and others
Triumvirate (1973), with John Hammond and Dr. John
KGB (1976), Ray Kennedy (vocals), Barry Goldberg (keyboards), Mike Bloomfield (guitar), Ric Grech (bass), Carmine Appice (drums)
Selected session work
Highway 61 Revisited – Bob Dylan (1965)
Album - Peter, Paul and Mary (1965)
Chicago Loop (1966)
Cherry Red - Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson (BluesWay, 1967)
"Carry On"/"Ronnie Siegel from Avenue L" 45 - Barry Goldberg, with Frank Zappa, guitar, produced by Tom Wilson
Grape Jam – Moby Grape (1968) – Played Piano
Living with the Animals – Mother Earth (1968); credited as "Makal Blumfeld" due to contractual constraints.
Dues to Pay - Wayne Talbert & the Melting Pot (1968)
Lord Have Mercy on My Funky Soul -Wayne Talbert (1969)
Fathers and Sons – Muddy Waters (1969)
I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama! – Janis Joplin (1969)
Weeds – Brewer & Shipley (1969)
Moogie Woogie - The Zeet Band (1970) (credited as "Fastfingers" Finkelstein)
Sam Lay in Bluesland – Sam Lay (1970)
Gandharva – Beaver & Krause (1971)
Brand New – Woody Herman and His Orchestra (1971)
Posthumous releases
Living in the Fast Lane (1981)
Bloomfield: A Retrospective (1983)
I'm with You Always (Live recordings from McCabe's Guitar Shop, Santa Monica, CA; 1977)
Between the Hard Place and the Ground (Different from the original 70s LP – containing further selections from McCabe's Guitar Shop)
Don't Say That I Ain't Your Man: Essential Blues, 1964–1969, an anthology that includes five songs from Bloomfield's original 1964 Columbia sessions.
Live at the Old Waldorf (Recorded live in 1976 and 1977 by producer Norman Dayron at the Old Waldorf nightclub)
Barry Goldberg & Friends – Live (Features Mike on guitar on most tracks)
Michael Bloomfield, Harvey Mandel, Barry Goldberg & Friends (with Eddie Hoh on drums) – Solid Blues, ed . 1995 (St.Clair Entertainment Group Inc.)
The Holy Kingdom: Music of the Gospel 1998 Mike Bloomfield Performed 2 songs; "Wings Of An Angel" and "You Must Have Seen Jesus". Other Artists on the Album included The Five Blind Boys Of Alabama, The Cavaliers and The Swan Silvertones.
If You Love These Blues by Wolkin & Keenom (Miller Freeman Books, 2000) contains a CD of 1964 recordings made by Norman Dayron
From His Head to His Heart to His Hands: An Audio-Visual Scrapbook (2013); a Columbia Legacy career retrospective, produced by Al Kooper, including tapes from Bloomfield's original audition for John Hammond at Columbia Records in 1964, previously unissued live performances, and a DVD that includes the documentary film Sweet Blues: A Film About Mike Bloomfield, directed by Bob Sarles and produced and edited by Bob Sarles and Christina Keating. The film premiered at the Mill Valley Film Festival in October 2013.
References
SourcesMichael Bloomfield – Me and Big Joe, Re/Search Publications, 1st edition 1980, . Last éd. V/Search, December 1999, Jan Mark Wolkin & Bill Keenom - Michael Bloomfield – If You Love These Blues: An Oral History Backbeat Books, 1st edition September 2000 – (with CD of unreleased music – early recordings made by Norman Dayron ) Ken Brooks – The Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper with Paul Butterfield and David Clayton Thomas Agenda Ltd, February 1999, Al Kooper – Backstage Passes: Rock 'N' Roll Life in the Sixties – Stein & Day Pub (1st edition February 1977) Al Kooper – Backstage Passes and Backstabbing Bastards: Memoirs of a Rock 'N' Roll Survivor Billboard Books (Updated Edition – September 1998) Al Kooper – Backstage Passes and Backstabbing Bastards – Hal Leonard Corporation, new edition February 2008, Ed Ward – Michael Bloomfield, The rise and fall of an American guitar hero, Cherry Lane Books (1983), Ed Ward – Michael Bloomfield, The rise and fall of an American guitar hero, Multiprises, LLC (updated edition - 2016), (print) (PDF edition) (epub) (Kindle)David Dann' – Guitar King: Michael Bloomfield's Life in the Blues'', University of Texas Press (2019), (print) (ebook)
External links
Official Mike Bloomfield Site
Me and Big Joe by Michael Bloomfield (1980)
[ "Michael Bloomfield"]. Allmusic.com (accessed September 30, 2006).
Mike Bloomfield, An American Guitarist
Bloomfield's Doomed Field by Al Kooper
Michael Bloomfield Chronology & Analysis
Gibson's Replica of Mike Bloomfield's 1959 Les Paul Standard Guitar
Bloomfield notes newsletter
1943 births
1981 deaths
Lead guitarists
American blues guitarists
American male guitarists
American blues pianists
American male pianists
Blues musicians from Illinois
Singers from Chicago
Jewish American musicians
American session musicians
Deaths by heroin overdose in California
Burials at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery
20th-century American singers
Jewish rock musicians
The Electric Flag members
Guitarists from Chicago
Paul Butterfield Blues Band members
20th-century American guitarists
20th-century American male singers
20th-century American pianists
20th-century American Jews | false | [
"An only child is a person who does not have any siblings, neither biological nor adopted.\n\nOnly Child may also refer to:\n\n Only Child (novel), a novel by Jack Ketchum\n Only Child, a 2020 album by Sasha Sloan",
"John August Kusche (1869 – 1934) was a renowned botanist and entomologist, and he discovered many new species of moths and butterflies. The plant of the aster family, Erigeron kuschei is named in his honor.\n\nNotable discoveries \n\nIn 1928, Kusche donated to the Bishop Museum 164 species of Lepidoptera he collected on Kauai between 1919 and 1920. Of those, 55 species had not previously been recorded on Kauai and 6 were new to science, namely Agrotis stenospila, Euxoa charmocrita, Plusia violacea, Nesamiptis senicula, Nesamiptis proterortha and Scotorythra crocorrhoa.\n\nThe Essig Museum of Entomology lists 26 species collected by Kusche from California, Baja California, Arizona, Alaska and on the Solomon Islands.\n\nEarly life \nHis father's name was Johann Karl Wilhelm Kusche, he remarried in 1883 to Johanna Susanna Niesar. He had three siblings from his father (Herman, Ernst and Pauline) and four half siblings from her second marriage (Bertha, Wilhelm, Heinrich and Reinhold. There were two other children from this marriage, which died young and whom were not recorded). His family were farmers, while he lived with them, in Kreuzburg, Germany.\n\nHis siblings quickly accustomed themselves to their new mother, however August, the eldest, did not get on easily with her. He attended a gardening school there in Kreuzburg. He left at a relatively young age after unintentionally setting a forest fire. \"One day on a walk through Kreuzburg forest, he unintentionally caused a huge forest fire. Fearing jail, he fled from home and somehow made it to America.\"\n\nHe wrote letters back to his family, urging them to come to America. His father eventually did, sometime shortly after February 1893. His father started a homestead in Brownsville, Texas. Yellow fever broke out and his father caught it. He managed to survive, while many did not, leaving him a sick old man in his mid-fifties. He wrote to August, who was then living it Prescott, Arizona, asking for money. August wrote back, saying \"Dear father, if you are out of money, see to it that you go back to Germany as soon as possible. Without any money here, you are lost,\" \n\nAugust didn't have any money either, and had been hoping to borrow money from his father. If he had wanted to visit him, then he would have had to make the trip on foot.\n\nWhen August arrived in America, he got a job as a gardener on a Pennsylvania farm. He had an affair with a Swiss woman, which resulted in a child. August denied being the child's father, but married her anyway. He went west, on horseback, and had his horse stolen by Native Americans. He ended up in San Francisco. His family joined him there. By this time he had three sons and a daughter.\n\nAfter his children grew up, he began traveling and collecting moths and butterflies.\n\nLater life \nHe traveled to the South Seas where he collected moths and butterflies. There he caught a terrible fever that very nearly killed him. He was picked up by a government ship in New Guinea, and was unconscious until he awoke in a San Francisco hospital. After that time he had hearing loss and lost all of his teeth. His doctor told him not to take any more trips to Alaska, and this apparently helped his condition.\n\nIn 1924 he lived in San Diego. He had taken a trip to Alaska just before this date. He worked as a gardener in California for nine years (1915–1924) where he died of stomach cancer.\n\nReferences \n\n19th-century German botanists\n1869 births\n1934 deaths\n20th-century American botanists\nGerman emigrants to the United States"
] |
[
"Skip James",
"Rediscovery and legacy"
] | C_923c916a2fff44218bc884172fe469d5_0 | when was he redicovered? | 1 | When was Skip James rediscovered? | Skip James | For the next thirty years, James recorded nothing and performed sporadically. He was virtually unknown to listeners until about 1960. In 1964, blues enthusiasts John Fahey, Bill Barth, and Henry Vestine found him in a hospital in Tunica, Mississippi. According to Calt, the "rediscovery" of both James and Son House at virtually the same time was the start of the blues revival in the United States. In July 1964 James and other rediscovered musicians appeared at the Newport Folk Festival. Several photographs by the blues promoter Dick Waterman captured this performance, James's first in over 30 years. After that James recorded for Takoma Records, Melodeon Records, and Vanguard Records and performed at various engagements until his death in 1969. More of James's recordings have been available since his death than were available during his lifetime. His 1931 recordings and several of his recordings and concerts from the 1960s have been reissued on numerous compact discs, in and out of print. His songs were not initially recorded as frequently as those of other rediscovered blues musicians. However, the British rock band Cream recorded "I'm So Glad", providing James with the only windfall of his career. Subsequently, Cream's adaptation was recorded by other groups. James' "22-20" inspired for the name for the English group 22-20s and the British post-rock band Hope of the States released a song partially about the life of James, entitled "Nehemiah", which reached number 30 on the UK Singles Chart. In 2004, Wim Wenders directed the film The Soul of a Man (the second part of The Blues, a series produced by Martin Scorsese), focusing on the music of Blind Willie Johnson, J.B. Lenoir and James. Because James had not been not filmed before the 1960s, Keith B. Brown played the part of the young James in the documentary. CANNOTANSWER | He was virtually unknown to listeners until about 1960. | Nehemiah Curtis "Skip" James (June 9, 1902October 3, 1969) was an American Delta blues singer, guitarist, pianist and songwriter.
His guitar playing is noted for its dark, minor-key sound, played in an open D-minor tuning with an intricate fingerpicking technique. James first recorded for Paramount Records in 1931, but these recordings sold poorly, having been released during the Great Depression, and he drifted into obscurity.
After a long absence from the public eye, James was rediscovered in 1964 by blues enthusiasts including John Fahey, helping further the blues and folk music revival of the 1950s and early 1960s. During this period, James appeared at folk and blues festivals, gave concerts around the country, and recorded several albums for various record labels. His songs have influenced generations of musicians and have been adapted by numerous artists. He has been hailed as "one of the seminal figures of the blues."
Biography
Early years
James was born near Bentonia, Mississippi. His father was a bootlegger who reformed and became a preacher. As a youth, James heard local musicians, such as Henry Stuckey, from whom he learned to play the guitar, and the brothers Charlie and Jesse Sims. James began playing the organ in his teens. He worked on road construction and levee-building crews in Mississippi in the early 1920s and wrote what is perhaps his earliest song, "Illinois Blues", about his experiences as a laborer. He began playing the guitar in open D-minor tuning.
1920s and 1930s
In early 1931, James auditioned for the record shop owner and talent scout H. C. Speir in Jackson, Mississippi. Speir placed blues performers with various record labels, including Paramount Records. On the strength of this audition, James traveled to Grafton, Wisconsin, to record for Paramount. His 1931 records are considered idiosyncratic among prewar blues recordings and formed the basis of his reputation as a musician.
As was typical of his era, James recorded various styles of music – blues, spirituals, cover versions, and original compositions – frequently blurring the lines between genres and sources. For example, "I'm So Glad" was derived from a 1927 song, "So Tired", by Art Sizemore and George A. Little, recorded in 1928 by Gene Austin and by Lonnie Johnson (Johnson's version was entitled "I'm So Tired of Livin' All Alone"). James's biographer Stephen Calt, echoing the opinion of several music critics, considered the finished product totally original, "one of the most extraordinary examples of fingerpicking found in guitar music". Several other recordings from the Grafton session, such as "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues", "Devil Got My Woman", "Jesus Is a Mighty Good Leader", and "22-20 Blues" (the basis of Robert Johnson's better-known "32-20 Blues"), have been similarly influential. Very few original copies of James's Paramount 78 rpm records have survived.
The Great Depression struck just as James's recordings were hitting the market. Sales were poor as a result, and he gave up performing the blues to become the choir director in his father's church. James was later an ordained minister in Baptist and Methodist churches, but the extent of his involvement in religious activities is unknown.
Rediscovery and legacy
For the next thirty years, James made no known recordings and performed sporadically. He was virtually unknown to the general public until about 1960. In 1964, blues enthusiasts John Fahey, Bill Barth, and Henry Vestine found him in a hospital in Tunica, Mississippi. According to Calt, the "rediscovery" of both James and Son House at virtually the same time was the start of the blues revival in the United States. In July 1964, James and other rediscovered musicians appeared at the Newport Folk Festival. Several photographs by the blues promoter Dick Waterman captured this performance, James's first in over 30 years. James subsequently recorded for Takoma Records, Melodeon Records, and Vanguard Records and performed at various engagements until his death from cancer in 1969.
More of James's recordings have been available since his death than were available during his lifetime. His 1931 recordings and several of his recordings and concerts from the 1960s have been reissued on numerous compact discs, in and out of print. His songs were not initially recorded as frequently as those of other rediscovered blues musicians. However, the British rock band Cream recorded "I'm So Glad", providing James with $10,000 in royalties, the only windfall of his career. Subsequently, Cream's adaptation was recorded by other groups. James' "22-20" inspired the name of the English group 22-20s. The British post-rock band Hope of the States released a song partially about the life of James, entitled "Nehemiah", which reached number 30 on the UK Singles Chart. Only 15 copies of James' original shellac 78 recordings are still in existence, and have become extremely sought after by collectors such as John Tefteller.
In 2004, Wim Wenders directed the film The Soul of a Man (the second part of The Blues, a series produced by Martin Scorsese), focusing on the music of Blind Willie Johnson, J.B. Lenoir and James. Because James had not been filmed before the 1960s, Keith B. Brown played the part of the young James in the documentary. James' song "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues" was featured in the 2000 film O Brother, Where Art Thou? and included on the soundtrack album.
James was the inspiration for Dion's 2007 blues album, Son of Skip James, which peaked at No. 4.
James was honored with a marker on the Mississippi Blues Trail in Bentonia, his hometown.
In 2020, James' song "Devil Got My Woman" was added to the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Personality
James was described as aloof and moody. The musicologist Dick Spottswood commented, "Skip James, you never knew. Skip could be sunshine, or thunder and lightning depending on his whim of the moment".
Musical style
James as guitarist
James often played guitar with an open D-minor tuning (D–A–D–F–A–D), resulting in the "deep" sound of the 1931 recordings. He reportedly learned this tuning from his musical mentor, the unrecorded bluesman Henry Stuckey, who in turn was said to have acquired it from Bahamian soldiers during the First World War, despite the fact that his service card shows he did not serve overseas. Robert Johnson also recorded in this tuning, his "Hell Hound on My Trail" being based on James's "Devil Got My Woman." James's classically informed fingerpicking style was fast and clean, using the entire register of the guitar, with heavy, hypnotic bass lines. His style of playing had more in common with the Piedmont blues of the East Coast than with the Delta blues of his native Mississippi.
The "Bentonia School"
James is sometimes associated with the Bentonia School, which is either a subgenre of blues music or a style of playing it. In a 1994 biography of James, I'd Rather Be the Devil: Skip James and the Blues, Stephen Calt maintained that no style of blues originated in Bentonia and that the "Bentonia School" is simply a notion of later blues writers who overestimated the provinciality of Mississippi during the early 20th century, when railways linked small towns. Calt asserts these writers failed to see that in the case of Bentonia bluesman Jack Owens, "the 'tradition' he bore primarily consisted of musical scraps from James' table". Owens and other musicians who may have been contemporaries of James were not recorded until the revival of interest in blues music in the 1960s. Whether the work of these musicians constituted a "school", and whether James originated it or was a member of it himself, remain open questions. One of the last living links to the original Bentonia school is Jimmy "Duck" Holmes, the owner of the famous Blue Front Cafe in Bentonia, Mississippi. Holmes learned to play in this particular style directly from Henry Stuckey, who reportedly taught James and Owens himself. Accordingly, Duck is called the "last of the Bentonia Bluesmen."
Discography
Paramount 78-RPM records, 1931
Later recordings, 1964–1969
Despite poor health, James recorded several LPs from 1964 to 1969, mostly revisiting his 1931 sides, traditional music, and spirituals, but also including a handful of newly written blues meditating on his illness and convalescence. These five prolific years have not been thoroughly documented: recordings, outtakes, and interviews not released on James's LPs (which have been repeatedly cannibalized and reissued) are scattered among many compilations released by small labels. Previously unreleased performances continue to be found and released but have been left largely unexplained, sometimes hours' worth at a time. Original recordings and reissues are listed below.
Greatest of the Delta Blues Singers (Melodeon, Biograph, 1964)
She Lyin' (Adelphi, 1964; first released by Genes, 1996)
Today! (Vanguard, 1966)
Devil Got My Woman (Vanguard, 1968)
I'm So Glad (Vanguard, 1978)
Live: Boston, 1964 & Philadelphia, 1966 (Document, 1994)
Skip's Piano Blues, 1964 (Genes, 1998)
Blues from the Delta, with two previously unreleased recordings (Vanguard, 1998)
The Complete Early Recordings of Skip James – 1930 (Yazoo, 1994)
The Complete Bloomington, Indiana Concert, March 30, 1968 (Document, 1999)
Skip's Guitar Blues, 1964(?), (Genes, 1999)
Studio Sessions: Rare and Unreleased, 1967 (Vanguard, 2003)
Hard Time Killing Floor Blues (Biograph, 2003†)
Heroes of the Blues: The Very Best of Skip James (Shout!, 2003)
Hard Time (Universe, 2003†)
Cypress Grove Blues (2004)
Hard Time Killin' Floor (Yazoo 2075, 2005)
References
External links
Interview with Skip James' surviving cousin
1902 births
1969 deaths
People from Bentonia, Mississippi
American blues singers
American blues guitarists
American male guitarists
American blues pianists
American male pianists
Country blues singers
Songwriters from Mississippi
Blues musicians from Mississippi
Blues revival musicians
Country blues musicians
Delta blues musicians
Vanguard Records artists
Deaths from cancer in Mississippi
Paramount Records artists
20th-century American guitarists
20th-century American pianists
Guitarists from Mississippi
Mississippi Blues Trail
African-American male songwriters
African-American pianists
African-American guitarists
20th-century African-American male singers | false | [
"Yakubu Moro (died 15 October 2020) was the owner, founder and bankroller of Berekum Arsenal F.C. He was also the club's executive. He was also a football administrator.\n\nDeath \nHe was moved to Accra when he was sick for a while in Berekum when he was still receiving treatments. He died on Thursday evening of 15th October 2020 at the Ridge Regional Hospital in Accra after an illness. He was in his 60s when he passed. It was claimed he died after suffering stroke. He was buried on Friday, 16 October 2020 according to the Islamic practice.\n\nLegacy \nIt was under his tenure that Berekum Arsenal F.C. got promoted to the Ghana Premier League in 2000. The club moved on to stay in the top division for 13 years.\n\nAlso, it was under his tenure the club qualified for the CAF Confederation Cup in 2006.\n\nHe was claimed to be one of the football voices in the Ghanaian football circles whose opinions were taken into consideration. His club was said to have produced players such as John Paintsil, a former Ghanaian defender and also Agyeman Badu, a former Black Stars' player who played for some European clubs.\n\nReferences \n\n2020 deaths\nGhanaian businesspeople",
"This is a list of the 20 members of the European Parliament for Sweden in the 2014 to 2019 session.\n\nList\n\nMidterm replacements \nIsabella Lövin resigned on 3 October 2014 when she was appointed Minister for International Development Cooperation in the Swedish Government. She was replaced by Linnéa Engström.\nMarit Paulsen resigned on 29 September 2015 due health problems. She was replaced by Jasenko Selimovic.\nPeter Eriksson resigned on 25 May 2016 when he was appointed Minister for Housing and Digitalization in the Swedish Government. He was replaced by Jakop Dalunde.\nJens Nilsson died on 13 March 2018. He was replaced by Aleksander Gabelic.\nLars Adaktusson resigned on 23 September 2018 when he was elected Member of the Riksdag in the 2018 general election. He was replaced by Anders Sellström.\n\nReferences\n\nSweden\nList\n2014"
] |
[
"Skip James",
"Rediscovery and legacy",
"when was he redicovered?",
"He was virtually unknown to listeners until about 1960."
] | C_923c916a2fff44218bc884172fe469d5_0 | what happened in 1960? | 2 | what happened in 1960 with Skip James? | Skip James | For the next thirty years, James recorded nothing and performed sporadically. He was virtually unknown to listeners until about 1960. In 1964, blues enthusiasts John Fahey, Bill Barth, and Henry Vestine found him in a hospital in Tunica, Mississippi. According to Calt, the "rediscovery" of both James and Son House at virtually the same time was the start of the blues revival in the United States. In July 1964 James and other rediscovered musicians appeared at the Newport Folk Festival. Several photographs by the blues promoter Dick Waterman captured this performance, James's first in over 30 years. After that James recorded for Takoma Records, Melodeon Records, and Vanguard Records and performed at various engagements until his death in 1969. More of James's recordings have been available since his death than were available during his lifetime. His 1931 recordings and several of his recordings and concerts from the 1960s have been reissued on numerous compact discs, in and out of print. His songs were not initially recorded as frequently as those of other rediscovered blues musicians. However, the British rock band Cream recorded "I'm So Glad", providing James with the only windfall of his career. Subsequently, Cream's adaptation was recorded by other groups. James' "22-20" inspired for the name for the English group 22-20s and the British post-rock band Hope of the States released a song partially about the life of James, entitled "Nehemiah", which reached number 30 on the UK Singles Chart. In 2004, Wim Wenders directed the film The Soul of a Man (the second part of The Blues, a series produced by Martin Scorsese), focusing on the music of Blind Willie Johnson, J.B. Lenoir and James. Because James had not been not filmed before the 1960s, Keith B. Brown played the part of the young James in the documentary. CANNOTANSWER | In 1964, blues enthusiasts John Fahey, Bill Barth, and Henry Vestine found him in a hospital in Tunica, Mississippi. | Nehemiah Curtis "Skip" James (June 9, 1902October 3, 1969) was an American Delta blues singer, guitarist, pianist and songwriter.
His guitar playing is noted for its dark, minor-key sound, played in an open D-minor tuning with an intricate fingerpicking technique. James first recorded for Paramount Records in 1931, but these recordings sold poorly, having been released during the Great Depression, and he drifted into obscurity.
After a long absence from the public eye, James was rediscovered in 1964 by blues enthusiasts including John Fahey, helping further the blues and folk music revival of the 1950s and early 1960s. During this period, James appeared at folk and blues festivals, gave concerts around the country, and recorded several albums for various record labels. His songs have influenced generations of musicians and have been adapted by numerous artists. He has been hailed as "one of the seminal figures of the blues."
Biography
Early years
James was born near Bentonia, Mississippi. His father was a bootlegger who reformed and became a preacher. As a youth, James heard local musicians, such as Henry Stuckey, from whom he learned to play the guitar, and the brothers Charlie and Jesse Sims. James began playing the organ in his teens. He worked on road construction and levee-building crews in Mississippi in the early 1920s and wrote what is perhaps his earliest song, "Illinois Blues", about his experiences as a laborer. He began playing the guitar in open D-minor tuning.
1920s and 1930s
In early 1931, James auditioned for the record shop owner and talent scout H. C. Speir in Jackson, Mississippi. Speir placed blues performers with various record labels, including Paramount Records. On the strength of this audition, James traveled to Grafton, Wisconsin, to record for Paramount. His 1931 records are considered idiosyncratic among prewar blues recordings and formed the basis of his reputation as a musician.
As was typical of his era, James recorded various styles of music – blues, spirituals, cover versions, and original compositions – frequently blurring the lines between genres and sources. For example, "I'm So Glad" was derived from a 1927 song, "So Tired", by Art Sizemore and George A. Little, recorded in 1928 by Gene Austin and by Lonnie Johnson (Johnson's version was entitled "I'm So Tired of Livin' All Alone"). James's biographer Stephen Calt, echoing the opinion of several music critics, considered the finished product totally original, "one of the most extraordinary examples of fingerpicking found in guitar music". Several other recordings from the Grafton session, such as "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues", "Devil Got My Woman", "Jesus Is a Mighty Good Leader", and "22-20 Blues" (the basis of Robert Johnson's better-known "32-20 Blues"), have been similarly influential. Very few original copies of James's Paramount 78 rpm records have survived.
The Great Depression struck just as James's recordings were hitting the market. Sales were poor as a result, and he gave up performing the blues to become the choir director in his father's church. James was later an ordained minister in Baptist and Methodist churches, but the extent of his involvement in religious activities is unknown.
Rediscovery and legacy
For the next thirty years, James made no known recordings and performed sporadically. He was virtually unknown to the general public until about 1960. In 1964, blues enthusiasts John Fahey, Bill Barth, and Henry Vestine found him in a hospital in Tunica, Mississippi. According to Calt, the "rediscovery" of both James and Son House at virtually the same time was the start of the blues revival in the United States. In July 1964, James and other rediscovered musicians appeared at the Newport Folk Festival. Several photographs by the blues promoter Dick Waterman captured this performance, James's first in over 30 years. James subsequently recorded for Takoma Records, Melodeon Records, and Vanguard Records and performed at various engagements until his death from cancer in 1969.
More of James's recordings have been available since his death than were available during his lifetime. His 1931 recordings and several of his recordings and concerts from the 1960s have been reissued on numerous compact discs, in and out of print. His songs were not initially recorded as frequently as those of other rediscovered blues musicians. However, the British rock band Cream recorded "I'm So Glad", providing James with $10,000 in royalties, the only windfall of his career. Subsequently, Cream's adaptation was recorded by other groups. James' "22-20" inspired the name of the English group 22-20s. The British post-rock band Hope of the States released a song partially about the life of James, entitled "Nehemiah", which reached number 30 on the UK Singles Chart. Only 15 copies of James' original shellac 78 recordings are still in existence, and have become extremely sought after by collectors such as John Tefteller.
In 2004, Wim Wenders directed the film The Soul of a Man (the second part of The Blues, a series produced by Martin Scorsese), focusing on the music of Blind Willie Johnson, J.B. Lenoir and James. Because James had not been filmed before the 1960s, Keith B. Brown played the part of the young James in the documentary. James' song "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues" was featured in the 2000 film O Brother, Where Art Thou? and included on the soundtrack album.
James was the inspiration for Dion's 2007 blues album, Son of Skip James, which peaked at No. 4.
James was honored with a marker on the Mississippi Blues Trail in Bentonia, his hometown.
In 2020, James' song "Devil Got My Woman" was added to the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Personality
James was described as aloof and moody. The musicologist Dick Spottswood commented, "Skip James, you never knew. Skip could be sunshine, or thunder and lightning depending on his whim of the moment".
Musical style
James as guitarist
James often played guitar with an open D-minor tuning (D–A–D–F–A–D), resulting in the "deep" sound of the 1931 recordings. He reportedly learned this tuning from his musical mentor, the unrecorded bluesman Henry Stuckey, who in turn was said to have acquired it from Bahamian soldiers during the First World War, despite the fact that his service card shows he did not serve overseas. Robert Johnson also recorded in this tuning, his "Hell Hound on My Trail" being based on James's "Devil Got My Woman." James's classically informed fingerpicking style was fast and clean, using the entire register of the guitar, with heavy, hypnotic bass lines. His style of playing had more in common with the Piedmont blues of the East Coast than with the Delta blues of his native Mississippi.
The "Bentonia School"
James is sometimes associated with the Bentonia School, which is either a subgenre of blues music or a style of playing it. In a 1994 biography of James, I'd Rather Be the Devil: Skip James and the Blues, Stephen Calt maintained that no style of blues originated in Bentonia and that the "Bentonia School" is simply a notion of later blues writers who overestimated the provinciality of Mississippi during the early 20th century, when railways linked small towns. Calt asserts these writers failed to see that in the case of Bentonia bluesman Jack Owens, "the 'tradition' he bore primarily consisted of musical scraps from James' table". Owens and other musicians who may have been contemporaries of James were not recorded until the revival of interest in blues music in the 1960s. Whether the work of these musicians constituted a "school", and whether James originated it or was a member of it himself, remain open questions. One of the last living links to the original Bentonia school is Jimmy "Duck" Holmes, the owner of the famous Blue Front Cafe in Bentonia, Mississippi. Holmes learned to play in this particular style directly from Henry Stuckey, who reportedly taught James and Owens himself. Accordingly, Duck is called the "last of the Bentonia Bluesmen."
Discography
Paramount 78-RPM records, 1931
Later recordings, 1964–1969
Despite poor health, James recorded several LPs from 1964 to 1969, mostly revisiting his 1931 sides, traditional music, and spirituals, but also including a handful of newly written blues meditating on his illness and convalescence. These five prolific years have not been thoroughly documented: recordings, outtakes, and interviews not released on James's LPs (which have been repeatedly cannibalized and reissued) are scattered among many compilations released by small labels. Previously unreleased performances continue to be found and released but have been left largely unexplained, sometimes hours' worth at a time. Original recordings and reissues are listed below.
Greatest of the Delta Blues Singers (Melodeon, Biograph, 1964)
She Lyin' (Adelphi, 1964; first released by Genes, 1996)
Today! (Vanguard, 1966)
Devil Got My Woman (Vanguard, 1968)
I'm So Glad (Vanguard, 1978)
Live: Boston, 1964 & Philadelphia, 1966 (Document, 1994)
Skip's Piano Blues, 1964 (Genes, 1998)
Blues from the Delta, with two previously unreleased recordings (Vanguard, 1998)
The Complete Early Recordings of Skip James – 1930 (Yazoo, 1994)
The Complete Bloomington, Indiana Concert, March 30, 1968 (Document, 1999)
Skip's Guitar Blues, 1964(?), (Genes, 1999)
Studio Sessions: Rare and Unreleased, 1967 (Vanguard, 2003)
Hard Time Killing Floor Blues (Biograph, 2003†)
Heroes of the Blues: The Very Best of Skip James (Shout!, 2003)
Hard Time (Universe, 2003†)
Cypress Grove Blues (2004)
Hard Time Killin' Floor (Yazoo 2075, 2005)
References
External links
Interview with Skip James' surviving cousin
1902 births
1969 deaths
People from Bentonia, Mississippi
American blues singers
American blues guitarists
American male guitarists
American blues pianists
American male pianists
Country blues singers
Songwriters from Mississippi
Blues musicians from Mississippi
Blues revival musicians
Country blues musicians
Delta blues musicians
Vanguard Records artists
Deaths from cancer in Mississippi
Paramount Records artists
20th-century American guitarists
20th-century American pianists
Guitarists from Mississippi
Mississippi Blues Trail
African-American male songwriters
African-American pianists
African-American guitarists
20th-century African-American male singers | true | [
"Don Juan Manuel's Tales of Count Lucanor, in Spanish Libro de los ejemplos del conde Lucanor y de Patronio (Book of the Examples of Count Lucanor and of Patronio), also commonly known as El Conde Lucanor, Libro de Patronio, or Libro de los ejemplos (original Old Castilian: Libro de los enxiemplos del Conde Lucanor et de Patronio), is one of the earliest works of prose in Castilian Spanish. It was first written in 1335.\n\nThe book is divided into four parts. The first and most well-known part is a series of 51 short stories (some no more than a page or two) drawn from various sources, such as Aesop and other classical writers, and Arabic folktales.\n\nTales of Count Lucanor was first printed in 1575 when it was published at Seville under the auspices of Argote de Molina. It was again printed at Madrid in 1642, after which it lay forgotten for nearly two centuries.\n\nPurpose and structure\n\nA didactic, moralistic purpose, which would color so much of the Spanish literature to follow (see Novela picaresca), is the mark of this book. Count Lucanor engages in conversation with his advisor Patronio, putting to him a problem (\"Some man has made me a proposition...\" or \"I fear that such and such person intends to...\") and asking for advice. Patronio responds always with the greatest humility, claiming not to wish to offer advice to so illustrious a person as the Count, but offering to tell him a story of which the Count's problem reminds him. (Thus, the stories are \"examples\" [ejemplos] of wise action.) At the end he advises the Count to do as the protagonist of his story did.\n\nEach chapter ends in more or less the same way, with slight variations on: \"And this pleased the Count greatly and he did just so, and found it well. And Don Johán (Juan) saw that this example was very good, and had it written in this book, and composed the following verses.\" A rhymed couplet closes, giving the moral of the story.\n\nOrigin of stories and influence on later literature\nMany of the stories written in the book are the first examples written in a modern European language of various stories, which many other writers would use in the proceeding centuries. Many of the stories he included were themselves derived from other stories, coming from western and Arab sources.\n\nShakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew has the basic elements of Tale 35, \"What Happened to a Young Man Who Married a Strong and Ill-tempered Woman\".\n\nTale 32, \"What Happened to the King and the Tricksters Who Made Cloth\" tells the story that Hans Christian Andersen made popular as The Emperor's New Clothes.\n\nStory 7, \"What Happened to a Woman Named Truhana\", a version of Aesop's The Milkmaid and Her Pail, was claimed by Max Müller to originate in the Hindu cycle Panchatantra.\n\nTale 2, \"What happened to a good Man and his Son, leading a beast to market,\" is the familiar fable The miller, his son and the donkey.\n\nIn 2016, Baroque Decay released a game under the name \"The Count Lucanor\". As well as some protagonists' names, certain events from the books inspired past events in the game.\n\nThe stories\n\nThe book opens with a prologue which introduces the characters of the Count and Patronio. The titles in the following list are those given in Keller and Keating's 1977 translation into English. James York's 1868 translation into English gives a significantly different ordering of the stories and omits the fifty-first.\n\n What Happened to a King and His Favorite \n What Happened to a Good Man and His Son \n How King Richard of England Leapt into the Sea against the Moors\n What a Genoese Said to His Soul When He Was about to Die \n What Happened to a Fox and a Crow Who Had a Piece of Cheese in His Beak\n How the Swallow Warned the Other Birds When She Saw Flax Being Sown \n What Happened to a Woman Named Truhana \n What Happened to a Man Whose Liver Had to Be Washed \n What Happened to Two Horses Which Were Thrown to the Lion \n What Happened to a Man Who on Account of Poverty and Lack of Other Food Was Eating Bitter Lentils \n What Happened to a Dean of Santiago de Compostela and Don Yllán, the Grand Master of Toledo\n What Happened to the Fox and the Rooster \n What Happened to a Man Who Was Hunting Partridges \n The Miracle of Saint Dominick When He Preached against the Usurer \n What Happened to Lorenzo Suárez at the Siege of Seville \n The Reply that count Fernán González Gave to His Relative Núño Laynes \n What Happened to a Very Hungry Man Who Was Half-heartedly Invited to Dinner \n What Happened to Pero Meléndez de Valdés When He Broke His Leg \n What Happened to the Crows and the Owls \n What Happened to a King for Whom a Man Promised to Perform Alchemy \n What Happened to a Young King and a Philosopher to Whom his Father Commended Him \n What Happened to the Lion and the Bull \n How the Ants Provide for Themselves \n What Happened to the King Who Wanted to Test His Three Sons \n What Happened to the Count of Provence and How He Was Freed from Prison by the Advice of Saladin\n What Happened to the Tree of Lies \n What Happened to an Emperor and to Don Alvarfáñez Minaya and Their Wives \n What Happened in Granada to Don Lorenzo Suárez Gallinato When He Beheaded the Renegade Chaplain \n What Happened to a Fox Who Lay down in the Street to Play Dead \n What Happened to King Abenabet of Seville and Ramayquía His Wife \n How a Cardinal Judged between the Canons of Paris and the Friars Minor \n What Happened to the King and the Tricksters Who Made Cloth \n What Happened to Don Juan Manuel's Saker Falcon and an Eagle and a Heron \n What Happened to a Blind Man Who Was Leading Another \n What Happened to a Young Man Who Married a Strong and Ill-tempered Woman\n What Happened to a Merchant When He Found His Son and His Wife Sleeping Together \n What Happened to Count Fernán González with His Men after He Had Won the Battle of Hacinas \n What Happened to a Man Who Was Loaded down with Precious Stones and Drowned in the River \n What Happened to a Man and a Swallow and a Sparrow \n Why the Seneschal of Carcassonne Lost His Soul \n What Happened to a King of Córdova Named Al-Haquem \n What Happened to a Woman of Sham Piety \n What Happened to Good and Evil and the Wise Man and the Madman \n What Happened to Don Pero Núñez the Loyal, to Don Ruy González de Zavallos, and to Don Gutier Roiz de Blaguiello with Don Rodrigo the Generous \n What Happened to a Man Who Became the Devil's Friend and Vassal \n What Happened to a Philosopher who by Accident Went down a Street Where Prostitutes Lived \n What Befell a Moor and His Sister Who Pretended That She Was Timid \n What Happened to a Man Who Tested His Friends \n What Happened to the Man Whom They Cast out Naked on an Island When They Took away from Him the Kingdom He Ruled \n What Happened to Saladin and a Lady, the Wife of a Knight Who Was His Vassal \n What Happened to a Christian King Who Was Very Powerful and Haughty\n\nReferences\n\nNotes\n\nBibliography\n\n Sturm, Harlan\n\n Wacks, David\n\nExternal links\n\nThe Internet Archive provides free access to the 1868 translation by James York.\nJSTOR has the to the 1977 translation by Keller and Keating.\nSelections in English and Spanish (pedagogical edition) with introduction, notes, and bibliography in Open Iberia/América (open access teaching anthology)\n\n14th-century books\nSpanish literature\n1335 books",
"\"What Happened to Us\" is a song by Australian recording artist Jessica Mauboy, featuring English recording artist Jay Sean. It was written by Sean, Josh Alexander, Billy Steinberg, Jeremy Skaller, Rob Larow, Khaled Rohaim and Israel Cruz. \"What Happened to Us\" was leaked online in October 2010, and was released on 10 March 2011, as the third single from Mauboy's second studio album, Get 'Em Girls (2010). The song received positive reviews from critics.\n\nA remix of \"What Happened to Us\" made by production team OFM, was released on 11 April 2011. A different version of the song which features Stan Walker, was released on 29 May 2011. \"What Happened to Us\" charted on the ARIA Singles Chart at number 14 and was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). An accompanying music video was directed by Mark Alston, and reminisces on a former relationship between Mauboy and Sean.\n\nProduction and release\n\n\"What Happened to Us\" was written by Josh Alexander, Billy Steinberg, Jeremy Skaller, Rob Larow, Khaled Rohaim, Israel Cruz and Jay Sean. It was produced by Skaller, Cruz, Rohaim and Bobby Bass. The song uses C, D, and B minor chords in the chorus. \"What Happened to Us\" was sent to contemporary hit radio in Australia on 14 February 2011. The cover art for the song was revealed on 22 February on Mauboy's official Facebook page. A CD release was available for purchase via her official website on 10 March, for one week only. It was released digitally the following day.\n\nReception\nMajhid Heath from ABC Online Indigenous called the song a \"Jordin Sparks-esque duet\", and wrote that it \"has a nice innocence to it that rings true to the experience of losing a first love.\" Chris Urankar from Nine to Five wrote that it as a \"mid-tempo duet ballad\" which signifies Mauboy's strength as a global player. On 21 March 2011, \"What Happened to Us\" debuted at number 30 on the ARIA Singles Chart, and peaked at number 14 the following week. The song was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), for selling 70,000 copies. \"What Happened to Us\" spent a total of ten weeks in the ARIA top fifty.\n\nMusic video\n\nBackground\nThe music video for the song was shot in the Elizabeth Bay House in Sydney on 26 November 2010. The video was shot during Sean's visit to Australia for the Summerbeatz tour. During an interview with The Daily Telegraph while on the set of the video, Sean said \"the song is sick! ... Jessica's voice is amazing and we're shooting [the video] in this ridiculously beautiful mansion overlooking the harbour.\" The video was directed by Mark Alston, who had previously directed the video for Mauboy's single \"Let Me Be Me\" (2009). It premiered on YouTube on 10 February 2011.\n\nSynopsis and reception\nThe video begins showing Mauboy who appears to be sitting on a yellow antique couch in a mansion, wearing a purple dress. As the video progresses, scenes of memories are displayed of Mauboy and her love interest, played by Sean, spending time there previously. It then cuts to the scenes where Sean appears in the main entrance room of the mansion. The final scene shows Mauboy outdoors in a gold dress, surrounded by green grass and trees. She is later joined by Sean who appears in a black suit and a white shirt, and together they sing the chorus of the song to each other. David Lim of Feed Limmy wrote that the video is \"easily the best thing our R&B princess has committed to film – ever\" and praised the \"mansion and wondrous interior décor\". He also commended Mauboy for choosing Australian talent to direct the video instead of American directors, which she had used for her previous two music videos. Since its release, the video has received over two million views on Vevo.\n\nLive performances\nMauboy performed \"What Happened to Us\" live for the first time during her YouTube Live Sessions program on 4 December 2010. She also appeared on Adam Hills in Gordon Street Tonight on 23 February 2011 for an interview and later performed the song. On 15 March 2011, Mauboy performed \"What Happened to Us\" on Sunrise. She also performed the song with Stan Walker during the Australian leg of Chris Brown's F.A.M.E. Tour in April 2011. Mauboy and Walker later performed \"What Happened to Us\" on Dancing with the Stars Australia on 29 May 2011. From November 2013 to February 2014, \"What Happened to Us\" was part of the set list of the To the End of the Earth Tour, Mauboy's second headlining tour of Australia, with Nathaniel Willemse singing Sean's part.\n\nTrack listing\n\nDigital download\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Jay Sean – 3:19\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Jay Sean (Sgt Slick Remix) – 6:33\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Jay Sean (Just Witness Remix) – 3:45\n\nCD single\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Jay Sean (Album Version) – 3:19\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Jay Sean (Sgt Slick Remix) – 6:33\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Jay Sean (OFM Remix) – 3:39\n\nDigital download – Remix\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Jay Sean (OFM Remix) – 3:38\n\nDigital download\n \"What Happened to Us\" featuring Stan Walker – 3:20\n\nPersonnel\nSongwriting – Josh Alexander, Billy Steinberg, Jeremy Skaller, Rob Larow, Khaled Rohaim, Israel Cruz, Jay Sean\nProduction – Jeremy Skaller, Bobby Bass\nAdditional production – Israel Cruz, Khaled Rohaim\nLead vocals – Jessica Mauboy, Jay Sean\nMixing – Phil Tan\nAdditional mixing – Damien Lewis\nMastering – Tom Coyne \nSource:\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly chart\n\nYear-end chart\n\nCertification\n\nRadio dates and release history\n\nReferences\n\n2010 songs\n2011 singles\nJessica Mauboy songs\nJay Sean songs\nSongs written by Billy Steinberg\nSongs written by Jay Sean\nSongs written by Josh Alexander\nSongs written by Israel Cruz\nVocal duets\nSony Music Australia singles\nSongs written by Khaled Rohaim"
] |
[
"Skip James",
"Rediscovery and legacy",
"when was he redicovered?",
"He was virtually unknown to listeners until about 1960.",
"what happened in 1960?",
"In 1964, blues enthusiasts John Fahey, Bill Barth, and Henry Vestine found him in a hospital in Tunica, Mississippi."
] | C_923c916a2fff44218bc884172fe469d5_0 | how did he end up in the hospital? | 3 | How did Skip James end up in the hospital? | Skip James | For the next thirty years, James recorded nothing and performed sporadically. He was virtually unknown to listeners until about 1960. In 1964, blues enthusiasts John Fahey, Bill Barth, and Henry Vestine found him in a hospital in Tunica, Mississippi. According to Calt, the "rediscovery" of both James and Son House at virtually the same time was the start of the blues revival in the United States. In July 1964 James and other rediscovered musicians appeared at the Newport Folk Festival. Several photographs by the blues promoter Dick Waterman captured this performance, James's first in over 30 years. After that James recorded for Takoma Records, Melodeon Records, and Vanguard Records and performed at various engagements until his death in 1969. More of James's recordings have been available since his death than were available during his lifetime. His 1931 recordings and several of his recordings and concerts from the 1960s have been reissued on numerous compact discs, in and out of print. His songs were not initially recorded as frequently as those of other rediscovered blues musicians. However, the British rock band Cream recorded "I'm So Glad", providing James with the only windfall of his career. Subsequently, Cream's adaptation was recorded by other groups. James' "22-20" inspired for the name for the English group 22-20s and the British post-rock band Hope of the States released a song partially about the life of James, entitled "Nehemiah", which reached number 30 on the UK Singles Chart. In 2004, Wim Wenders directed the film The Soul of a Man (the second part of The Blues, a series produced by Martin Scorsese), focusing on the music of Blind Willie Johnson, J.B. Lenoir and James. Because James had not been not filmed before the 1960s, Keith B. Brown played the part of the young James in the documentary. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Nehemiah Curtis "Skip" James (June 9, 1902October 3, 1969) was an American Delta blues singer, guitarist, pianist and songwriter.
His guitar playing is noted for its dark, minor-key sound, played in an open D-minor tuning with an intricate fingerpicking technique. James first recorded for Paramount Records in 1931, but these recordings sold poorly, having been released during the Great Depression, and he drifted into obscurity.
After a long absence from the public eye, James was rediscovered in 1964 by blues enthusiasts including John Fahey, helping further the blues and folk music revival of the 1950s and early 1960s. During this period, James appeared at folk and blues festivals, gave concerts around the country, and recorded several albums for various record labels. His songs have influenced generations of musicians and have been adapted by numerous artists. He has been hailed as "one of the seminal figures of the blues."
Biography
Early years
James was born near Bentonia, Mississippi. His father was a bootlegger who reformed and became a preacher. As a youth, James heard local musicians, such as Henry Stuckey, from whom he learned to play the guitar, and the brothers Charlie and Jesse Sims. James began playing the organ in his teens. He worked on road construction and levee-building crews in Mississippi in the early 1920s and wrote what is perhaps his earliest song, "Illinois Blues", about his experiences as a laborer. He began playing the guitar in open D-minor tuning.
1920s and 1930s
In early 1931, James auditioned for the record shop owner and talent scout H. C. Speir in Jackson, Mississippi. Speir placed blues performers with various record labels, including Paramount Records. On the strength of this audition, James traveled to Grafton, Wisconsin, to record for Paramount. His 1931 records are considered idiosyncratic among prewar blues recordings and formed the basis of his reputation as a musician.
As was typical of his era, James recorded various styles of music – blues, spirituals, cover versions, and original compositions – frequently blurring the lines between genres and sources. For example, "I'm So Glad" was derived from a 1927 song, "So Tired", by Art Sizemore and George A. Little, recorded in 1928 by Gene Austin and by Lonnie Johnson (Johnson's version was entitled "I'm So Tired of Livin' All Alone"). James's biographer Stephen Calt, echoing the opinion of several music critics, considered the finished product totally original, "one of the most extraordinary examples of fingerpicking found in guitar music". Several other recordings from the Grafton session, such as "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues", "Devil Got My Woman", "Jesus Is a Mighty Good Leader", and "22-20 Blues" (the basis of Robert Johnson's better-known "32-20 Blues"), have been similarly influential. Very few original copies of James's Paramount 78 rpm records have survived.
The Great Depression struck just as James's recordings were hitting the market. Sales were poor as a result, and he gave up performing the blues to become the choir director in his father's church. James was later an ordained minister in Baptist and Methodist churches, but the extent of his involvement in religious activities is unknown.
Rediscovery and legacy
For the next thirty years, James made no known recordings and performed sporadically. He was virtually unknown to the general public until about 1960. In 1964, blues enthusiasts John Fahey, Bill Barth, and Henry Vestine found him in a hospital in Tunica, Mississippi. According to Calt, the "rediscovery" of both James and Son House at virtually the same time was the start of the blues revival in the United States. In July 1964, James and other rediscovered musicians appeared at the Newport Folk Festival. Several photographs by the blues promoter Dick Waterman captured this performance, James's first in over 30 years. James subsequently recorded for Takoma Records, Melodeon Records, and Vanguard Records and performed at various engagements until his death from cancer in 1969.
More of James's recordings have been available since his death than were available during his lifetime. His 1931 recordings and several of his recordings and concerts from the 1960s have been reissued on numerous compact discs, in and out of print. His songs were not initially recorded as frequently as those of other rediscovered blues musicians. However, the British rock band Cream recorded "I'm So Glad", providing James with $10,000 in royalties, the only windfall of his career. Subsequently, Cream's adaptation was recorded by other groups. James' "22-20" inspired the name of the English group 22-20s. The British post-rock band Hope of the States released a song partially about the life of James, entitled "Nehemiah", which reached number 30 on the UK Singles Chart. Only 15 copies of James' original shellac 78 recordings are still in existence, and have become extremely sought after by collectors such as John Tefteller.
In 2004, Wim Wenders directed the film The Soul of a Man (the second part of The Blues, a series produced by Martin Scorsese), focusing on the music of Blind Willie Johnson, J.B. Lenoir and James. Because James had not been filmed before the 1960s, Keith B. Brown played the part of the young James in the documentary. James' song "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues" was featured in the 2000 film O Brother, Where Art Thou? and included on the soundtrack album.
James was the inspiration for Dion's 2007 blues album, Son of Skip James, which peaked at No. 4.
James was honored with a marker on the Mississippi Blues Trail in Bentonia, his hometown.
In 2020, James' song "Devil Got My Woman" was added to the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Personality
James was described as aloof and moody. The musicologist Dick Spottswood commented, "Skip James, you never knew. Skip could be sunshine, or thunder and lightning depending on his whim of the moment".
Musical style
James as guitarist
James often played guitar with an open D-minor tuning (D–A–D–F–A–D), resulting in the "deep" sound of the 1931 recordings. He reportedly learned this tuning from his musical mentor, the unrecorded bluesman Henry Stuckey, who in turn was said to have acquired it from Bahamian soldiers during the First World War, despite the fact that his service card shows he did not serve overseas. Robert Johnson also recorded in this tuning, his "Hell Hound on My Trail" being based on James's "Devil Got My Woman." James's classically informed fingerpicking style was fast and clean, using the entire register of the guitar, with heavy, hypnotic bass lines. His style of playing had more in common with the Piedmont blues of the East Coast than with the Delta blues of his native Mississippi.
The "Bentonia School"
James is sometimes associated with the Bentonia School, which is either a subgenre of blues music or a style of playing it. In a 1994 biography of James, I'd Rather Be the Devil: Skip James and the Blues, Stephen Calt maintained that no style of blues originated in Bentonia and that the "Bentonia School" is simply a notion of later blues writers who overestimated the provinciality of Mississippi during the early 20th century, when railways linked small towns. Calt asserts these writers failed to see that in the case of Bentonia bluesman Jack Owens, "the 'tradition' he bore primarily consisted of musical scraps from James' table". Owens and other musicians who may have been contemporaries of James were not recorded until the revival of interest in blues music in the 1960s. Whether the work of these musicians constituted a "school", and whether James originated it or was a member of it himself, remain open questions. One of the last living links to the original Bentonia school is Jimmy "Duck" Holmes, the owner of the famous Blue Front Cafe in Bentonia, Mississippi. Holmes learned to play in this particular style directly from Henry Stuckey, who reportedly taught James and Owens himself. Accordingly, Duck is called the "last of the Bentonia Bluesmen."
Discography
Paramount 78-RPM records, 1931
Later recordings, 1964–1969
Despite poor health, James recorded several LPs from 1964 to 1969, mostly revisiting his 1931 sides, traditional music, and spirituals, but also including a handful of newly written blues meditating on his illness and convalescence. These five prolific years have not been thoroughly documented: recordings, outtakes, and interviews not released on James's LPs (which have been repeatedly cannibalized and reissued) are scattered among many compilations released by small labels. Previously unreleased performances continue to be found and released but have been left largely unexplained, sometimes hours' worth at a time. Original recordings and reissues are listed below.
Greatest of the Delta Blues Singers (Melodeon, Biograph, 1964)
She Lyin' (Adelphi, 1964; first released by Genes, 1996)
Today! (Vanguard, 1966)
Devil Got My Woman (Vanguard, 1968)
I'm So Glad (Vanguard, 1978)
Live: Boston, 1964 & Philadelphia, 1966 (Document, 1994)
Skip's Piano Blues, 1964 (Genes, 1998)
Blues from the Delta, with two previously unreleased recordings (Vanguard, 1998)
The Complete Early Recordings of Skip James – 1930 (Yazoo, 1994)
The Complete Bloomington, Indiana Concert, March 30, 1968 (Document, 1999)
Skip's Guitar Blues, 1964(?), (Genes, 1999)
Studio Sessions: Rare and Unreleased, 1967 (Vanguard, 2003)
Hard Time Killing Floor Blues (Biograph, 2003†)
Heroes of the Blues: The Very Best of Skip James (Shout!, 2003)
Hard Time (Universe, 2003†)
Cypress Grove Blues (2004)
Hard Time Killin' Floor (Yazoo 2075, 2005)
References
External links
Interview with Skip James' surviving cousin
1902 births
1969 deaths
People from Bentonia, Mississippi
American blues singers
American blues guitarists
American male guitarists
American blues pianists
American male pianists
Country blues singers
Songwriters from Mississippi
Blues musicians from Mississippi
Blues revival musicians
Country blues musicians
Delta blues musicians
Vanguard Records artists
Deaths from cancer in Mississippi
Paramount Records artists
20th-century American guitarists
20th-century American pianists
Guitarists from Mississippi
Mississippi Blues Trail
African-American male songwriters
African-American pianists
African-American guitarists
20th-century African-American male singers | false | [
"\"How the Poor Die\" is an essay first published in 1946 in Now by the English author George Orwell. Orwell gives an anecdotal account of his experiences in a French public hospital that triggers a contemplation of hospital literature in the context of 19th-century medicine.\n\nBackground\n\nIn 1928, Orwell went to Paris for 18 months. In March 1929 he was feeling unwell and spent two weeks in the Hôpital Cochin, rue Faubourg Saint-Jacques, in the 15th arrondissement of Paris. Ill with the flu, he was treated at the hospital from 7 to 22 March 1929. In the hospital, he continued writing, as he gave it as an address to a publisher. Orwell was subject to bronchial conditions throughout his life, but it is not certain whether he was suffering from influenza or pneumonia. In Paris, he was checked for tuberculosis but was found to be unaffected. \n\nIn December 1933, while Orwell was teaching in Uxbridge, he developed pneumonia. He was taken to a cottage hospital at Uxbridge, where his life for a time was believed to be in danger. He was kept in hospital over Christmas and the New Year. When he was discharged in January 1934, he returned to Southwold to convalesce and was supported by his parents for several months. He did not return to teaching.\n\nIn 1937, Orwell spent some months on the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War. He was twice hospitalised during the war; once with an infection of his hand and again after he was shot in the throat by a sniper.\n\nComposition\nIt is not known precisely when the article was written. Peter Davison, editor of Orwell's Collected Works, has suggested a possible history for its composition that places its writing between 1931 and 1936, while Orwell's work revolved around the unemployed, tramps and beggars, and that he reworked it between summer 1940 and spring 1941, submitted it to Horizon, which rejected it possibly because readers would have been unwilling to read about 'how the poor die' at such a time. Finally, a section was retyped and then published in Now, a magazine established by George Woodcock, in November 1946.\n\nSummary\n\nOrwell recounts a tale based on his experiences in a publicly-funded hospital in Paris. The various reception procedures and treatments he receives for pneumonia include bureaucracy, a bath, cupping therapy and a mustard poultice. In the ward, he notes the indifference of the staff to their patients, particularly when they are used as case studies for medical training. The death of numero 57 sets Orwell wondering how lucky it is to die a natural death or rather, as he thinks at the time of writing, and as he thought then, if it is better to die violently and not too old. Orwell sees his experiences in the French hospital and in a Spanish hospital, in stark contrast to the care of that he received in an English cottage hospital.\n\nOrwell gives a historical background of how hospital wards began as casual wards \"for lepers and the like to die in\" and became places for medical students to learn using the bodies of the poor. In the 19th century, surgery was viewed as a form of sadism, and dissection was possible only with the aid of body-snatchers. Orwell dwells on the literature of medicine in the 19th century, when doctors were given names such as Slasher and Fillgrave, and Orwell particularly recalls In the Children's Hospital: Emmie (1880), a work by Tennyson. All of that accounts for the surviving dread of hospitals among the poor and explains why a sound instinct warns people to keep out of them.\n\nExtracts\n\nTwo slatternly nurses had already got the poultice ready, and they lashed it round my chest as tight as a straitjacket while some men who were wandering about the ward in shirt and trousers began to collect round my bed with half-sympathetic grins. I learned later that watching a patient have a mustard poultice was a favourite pastime in the ward. These things are normally applied for a quarter of an hour and certainly they are funny enough if you don't happen to be the person inside. For the first five minutes the pain is severe, but you believe you can bear it. During the second five minutes this belief evaporates, but the poultice is buckled at the back and you can't get it off. This is the period the onlookers most enjoy. During the last five minutes, I noted a sort of numbness supervenes.\n\nAs a non-paying patient, in the uniform nightshirt, you were primarily a specimen, a thing I did not resent but could never quite get used to.\n\nIn the public wards of hospitals you see horrors that you don't seem to meet with among people who manage to die in their own homes, as though certain diseases only attacked people at the lower income levels. But it is a fact that you would not in any English hospitals see some of the things I saw in the Hôpital X. This business of dying like animals, for instance, with nobody interested, the death not even noticed till the morning—this happened more than once.\n\nPostscript\nIn summer 1946, Orwell decamped to Jura, an island in the west of Scotland. A boating accident did little for his health. In December 1947, he was in hospital in Glasgow. Tuberculosis was diagnosed, and the request for permission to import streptomycin to treat Orwell went as far as Aneurin Bevan. After treatment, Orwell was able to return to Jura by the end of July 1948.\n\nIn 1948, Bevan, formerly Orwell's colleague at Tribune and now Minister of Health in the Labour government, instigated the British National Health Service as publicly-funded medical provision for all.\n\nIn January 1949, in a very weak condition, Orwell was taken to a sanatorium in Gloucestershire, a series of small wooden chalets or huts near Stroud. Visitors were shocked by Orwell's appearance and concerned by the shortcomings and the ineffectiveness of the treatment. In late summer, Orwell was removed to University College Hospital in London. In October he married Sonia Brownell, who prepared plans to take him to the Swiss Alps. Orwell was getting weaker by the beginning of 1950. Sonia spent most of 20 January with Orwell in his private ward but left in the early evening to have dinner with Lucian Freud and another friend. A visitor came and left a parcel outside the room in which Orwell was lying alone. Sometime early on Saturday morning, an artery burst in his lungs, and a few moments later he was dead, aged 46. Controversy surrounds Sonia's activities. Some say that she was at a nightclub and inaccessible. Others claim that at the end of the evening having had dinner with her friends, she called the hospital and came back distraught with the news of Orwell's death.\n\nSee also\nBibliography of George Orwell\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nText of How the Poor Die\n\nEssays by George Orwell\n1946 essays\nWorks originally published in British magazines",
"Military Hospital 4/637 () was a large German military general hospital in Minsk operated by the Army Medical Service from 1941 to 1942 during World War II. The hospital was located in the former House of the Red Army building (now called the Officer's House or Army Palace), a monumental Stalinist building inaugurated in 1936 and designed by Iosif Langbard. The hospital reached a capacity of around 1,000 beds. The hospital mainly treated German soldiers, but also civilians and enemy soldiers to some extent.\n\nHistory\nThe hospital employed a number of Jews from the nearby Minsk ghetto as auxiliary workers in a variety of capacities, thereby shielding them from the SS, and on at least one occasion the hospital's physicians risked their lives by allowing Jews to hide from the SS in the hospital. The Holocaust survivor Heinz Rosenberg recounts in his memoirs how he and other Jews were treated with a humanity and kindness which \"seemed like a miracle\" by the hospital's staff and leadership. This protection of Jews in the Minsk area came to an end when the hospital was ordered to relocate to Crimea.\n\nReferences\n\nArmy Medical Service (Germany)\nHospitals in Belarus"
] |
[
"Skip James",
"Rediscovery and legacy",
"when was he redicovered?",
"He was virtually unknown to listeners until about 1960.",
"what happened in 1960?",
"In 1964, blues enthusiasts John Fahey, Bill Barth, and Henry Vestine found him in a hospital in Tunica, Mississippi.",
"how did he end up in the hospital?",
"I don't know."
] | C_923c916a2fff44218bc884172fe469d5_0 | what happened after the hospital? | 4 | what happened after Skip James ended up in the hospital? | Skip James | For the next thirty years, James recorded nothing and performed sporadically. He was virtually unknown to listeners until about 1960. In 1964, blues enthusiasts John Fahey, Bill Barth, and Henry Vestine found him in a hospital in Tunica, Mississippi. According to Calt, the "rediscovery" of both James and Son House at virtually the same time was the start of the blues revival in the United States. In July 1964 James and other rediscovered musicians appeared at the Newport Folk Festival. Several photographs by the blues promoter Dick Waterman captured this performance, James's first in over 30 years. After that James recorded for Takoma Records, Melodeon Records, and Vanguard Records and performed at various engagements until his death in 1969. More of James's recordings have been available since his death than were available during his lifetime. His 1931 recordings and several of his recordings and concerts from the 1960s have been reissued on numerous compact discs, in and out of print. His songs were not initially recorded as frequently as those of other rediscovered blues musicians. However, the British rock band Cream recorded "I'm So Glad", providing James with the only windfall of his career. Subsequently, Cream's adaptation was recorded by other groups. James' "22-20" inspired for the name for the English group 22-20s and the British post-rock band Hope of the States released a song partially about the life of James, entitled "Nehemiah", which reached number 30 on the UK Singles Chart. In 2004, Wim Wenders directed the film The Soul of a Man (the second part of The Blues, a series produced by Martin Scorsese), focusing on the music of Blind Willie Johnson, J.B. Lenoir and James. Because James had not been not filmed before the 1960s, Keith B. Brown played the part of the young James in the documentary. CANNOTANSWER | According to Calt, the "rediscovery" of both James and Son House at virtually the same time was the start of the blues revival in the United States. | Nehemiah Curtis "Skip" James (June 9, 1902October 3, 1969) was an American Delta blues singer, guitarist, pianist and songwriter.
His guitar playing is noted for its dark, minor-key sound, played in an open D-minor tuning with an intricate fingerpicking technique. James first recorded for Paramount Records in 1931, but these recordings sold poorly, having been released during the Great Depression, and he drifted into obscurity.
After a long absence from the public eye, James was rediscovered in 1964 by blues enthusiasts including John Fahey, helping further the blues and folk music revival of the 1950s and early 1960s. During this period, James appeared at folk and blues festivals, gave concerts around the country, and recorded several albums for various record labels. His songs have influenced generations of musicians and have been adapted by numerous artists. He has been hailed as "one of the seminal figures of the blues."
Biography
Early years
James was born near Bentonia, Mississippi. His father was a bootlegger who reformed and became a preacher. As a youth, James heard local musicians, such as Henry Stuckey, from whom he learned to play the guitar, and the brothers Charlie and Jesse Sims. James began playing the organ in his teens. He worked on road construction and levee-building crews in Mississippi in the early 1920s and wrote what is perhaps his earliest song, "Illinois Blues", about his experiences as a laborer. He began playing the guitar in open D-minor tuning.
1920s and 1930s
In early 1931, James auditioned for the record shop owner and talent scout H. C. Speir in Jackson, Mississippi. Speir placed blues performers with various record labels, including Paramount Records. On the strength of this audition, James traveled to Grafton, Wisconsin, to record for Paramount. His 1931 records are considered idiosyncratic among prewar blues recordings and formed the basis of his reputation as a musician.
As was typical of his era, James recorded various styles of music – blues, spirituals, cover versions, and original compositions – frequently blurring the lines between genres and sources. For example, "I'm So Glad" was derived from a 1927 song, "So Tired", by Art Sizemore and George A. Little, recorded in 1928 by Gene Austin and by Lonnie Johnson (Johnson's version was entitled "I'm So Tired of Livin' All Alone"). James's biographer Stephen Calt, echoing the opinion of several music critics, considered the finished product totally original, "one of the most extraordinary examples of fingerpicking found in guitar music". Several other recordings from the Grafton session, such as "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues", "Devil Got My Woman", "Jesus Is a Mighty Good Leader", and "22-20 Blues" (the basis of Robert Johnson's better-known "32-20 Blues"), have been similarly influential. Very few original copies of James's Paramount 78 rpm records have survived.
The Great Depression struck just as James's recordings were hitting the market. Sales were poor as a result, and he gave up performing the blues to become the choir director in his father's church. James was later an ordained minister in Baptist and Methodist churches, but the extent of his involvement in religious activities is unknown.
Rediscovery and legacy
For the next thirty years, James made no known recordings and performed sporadically. He was virtually unknown to the general public until about 1960. In 1964, blues enthusiasts John Fahey, Bill Barth, and Henry Vestine found him in a hospital in Tunica, Mississippi. According to Calt, the "rediscovery" of both James and Son House at virtually the same time was the start of the blues revival in the United States. In July 1964, James and other rediscovered musicians appeared at the Newport Folk Festival. Several photographs by the blues promoter Dick Waterman captured this performance, James's first in over 30 years. James subsequently recorded for Takoma Records, Melodeon Records, and Vanguard Records and performed at various engagements until his death from cancer in 1969.
More of James's recordings have been available since his death than were available during his lifetime. His 1931 recordings and several of his recordings and concerts from the 1960s have been reissued on numerous compact discs, in and out of print. His songs were not initially recorded as frequently as those of other rediscovered blues musicians. However, the British rock band Cream recorded "I'm So Glad", providing James with $10,000 in royalties, the only windfall of his career. Subsequently, Cream's adaptation was recorded by other groups. James' "22-20" inspired the name of the English group 22-20s. The British post-rock band Hope of the States released a song partially about the life of James, entitled "Nehemiah", which reached number 30 on the UK Singles Chart. Only 15 copies of James' original shellac 78 recordings are still in existence, and have become extremely sought after by collectors such as John Tefteller.
In 2004, Wim Wenders directed the film The Soul of a Man (the second part of The Blues, a series produced by Martin Scorsese), focusing on the music of Blind Willie Johnson, J.B. Lenoir and James. Because James had not been filmed before the 1960s, Keith B. Brown played the part of the young James in the documentary. James' song "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues" was featured in the 2000 film O Brother, Where Art Thou? and included on the soundtrack album.
James was the inspiration for Dion's 2007 blues album, Son of Skip James, which peaked at No. 4.
James was honored with a marker on the Mississippi Blues Trail in Bentonia, his hometown.
In 2020, James' song "Devil Got My Woman" was added to the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Personality
James was described as aloof and moody. The musicologist Dick Spottswood commented, "Skip James, you never knew. Skip could be sunshine, or thunder and lightning depending on his whim of the moment".
Musical style
James as guitarist
James often played guitar with an open D-minor tuning (D–A–D–F–A–D), resulting in the "deep" sound of the 1931 recordings. He reportedly learned this tuning from his musical mentor, the unrecorded bluesman Henry Stuckey, who in turn was said to have acquired it from Bahamian soldiers during the First World War, despite the fact that his service card shows he did not serve overseas. Robert Johnson also recorded in this tuning, his "Hell Hound on My Trail" being based on James's "Devil Got My Woman." James's classically informed fingerpicking style was fast and clean, using the entire register of the guitar, with heavy, hypnotic bass lines. His style of playing had more in common with the Piedmont blues of the East Coast than with the Delta blues of his native Mississippi.
The "Bentonia School"
James is sometimes associated with the Bentonia School, which is either a subgenre of blues music or a style of playing it. In a 1994 biography of James, I'd Rather Be the Devil: Skip James and the Blues, Stephen Calt maintained that no style of blues originated in Bentonia and that the "Bentonia School" is simply a notion of later blues writers who overestimated the provinciality of Mississippi during the early 20th century, when railways linked small towns. Calt asserts these writers failed to see that in the case of Bentonia bluesman Jack Owens, "the 'tradition' he bore primarily consisted of musical scraps from James' table". Owens and other musicians who may have been contemporaries of James were not recorded until the revival of interest in blues music in the 1960s. Whether the work of these musicians constituted a "school", and whether James originated it or was a member of it himself, remain open questions. One of the last living links to the original Bentonia school is Jimmy "Duck" Holmes, the owner of the famous Blue Front Cafe in Bentonia, Mississippi. Holmes learned to play in this particular style directly from Henry Stuckey, who reportedly taught James and Owens himself. Accordingly, Duck is called the "last of the Bentonia Bluesmen."
Discography
Paramount 78-RPM records, 1931
Later recordings, 1964–1969
Despite poor health, James recorded several LPs from 1964 to 1969, mostly revisiting his 1931 sides, traditional music, and spirituals, but also including a handful of newly written blues meditating on his illness and convalescence. These five prolific years have not been thoroughly documented: recordings, outtakes, and interviews not released on James's LPs (which have been repeatedly cannibalized and reissued) are scattered among many compilations released by small labels. Previously unreleased performances continue to be found and released but have been left largely unexplained, sometimes hours' worth at a time. Original recordings and reissues are listed below.
Greatest of the Delta Blues Singers (Melodeon, Biograph, 1964)
She Lyin' (Adelphi, 1964; first released by Genes, 1996)
Today! (Vanguard, 1966)
Devil Got My Woman (Vanguard, 1968)
I'm So Glad (Vanguard, 1978)
Live: Boston, 1964 & Philadelphia, 1966 (Document, 1994)
Skip's Piano Blues, 1964 (Genes, 1998)
Blues from the Delta, with two previously unreleased recordings (Vanguard, 1998)
The Complete Early Recordings of Skip James – 1930 (Yazoo, 1994)
The Complete Bloomington, Indiana Concert, March 30, 1968 (Document, 1999)
Skip's Guitar Blues, 1964(?), (Genes, 1999)
Studio Sessions: Rare and Unreleased, 1967 (Vanguard, 2003)
Hard Time Killing Floor Blues (Biograph, 2003†)
Heroes of the Blues: The Very Best of Skip James (Shout!, 2003)
Hard Time (Universe, 2003†)
Cypress Grove Blues (2004)
Hard Time Killin' Floor (Yazoo 2075, 2005)
References
External links
Interview with Skip James' surviving cousin
1902 births
1969 deaths
People from Bentonia, Mississippi
American blues singers
American blues guitarists
American male guitarists
American blues pianists
American male pianists
Country blues singers
Songwriters from Mississippi
Blues musicians from Mississippi
Blues revival musicians
Country blues musicians
Delta blues musicians
Vanguard Records artists
Deaths from cancer in Mississippi
Paramount Records artists
20th-century American guitarists
20th-century American pianists
Guitarists from Mississippi
Mississippi Blues Trail
African-American male songwriters
African-American pianists
African-American guitarists
20th-century African-American male singers | true | [
"Don Juan Manuel's Tales of Count Lucanor, in Spanish Libro de los ejemplos del conde Lucanor y de Patronio (Book of the Examples of Count Lucanor and of Patronio), also commonly known as El Conde Lucanor, Libro de Patronio, or Libro de los ejemplos (original Old Castilian: Libro de los enxiemplos del Conde Lucanor et de Patronio), is one of the earliest works of prose in Castilian Spanish. It was first written in 1335.\n\nThe book is divided into four parts. The first and most well-known part is a series of 51 short stories (some no more than a page or two) drawn from various sources, such as Aesop and other classical writers, and Arabic folktales.\n\nTales of Count Lucanor was first printed in 1575 when it was published at Seville under the auspices of Argote de Molina. It was again printed at Madrid in 1642, after which it lay forgotten for nearly two centuries.\n\nPurpose and structure\n\nA didactic, moralistic purpose, which would color so much of the Spanish literature to follow (see Novela picaresca), is the mark of this book. Count Lucanor engages in conversation with his advisor Patronio, putting to him a problem (\"Some man has made me a proposition...\" or \"I fear that such and such person intends to...\") and asking for advice. Patronio responds always with the greatest humility, claiming not to wish to offer advice to so illustrious a person as the Count, but offering to tell him a story of which the Count's problem reminds him. (Thus, the stories are \"examples\" [ejemplos] of wise action.) At the end he advises the Count to do as the protagonist of his story did.\n\nEach chapter ends in more or less the same way, with slight variations on: \"And this pleased the Count greatly and he did just so, and found it well. And Don Johán (Juan) saw that this example was very good, and had it written in this book, and composed the following verses.\" A rhymed couplet closes, giving the moral of the story.\n\nOrigin of stories and influence on later literature\nMany of the stories written in the book are the first examples written in a modern European language of various stories, which many other writers would use in the proceeding centuries. Many of the stories he included were themselves derived from other stories, coming from western and Arab sources.\n\nShakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew has the basic elements of Tale 35, \"What Happened to a Young Man Who Married a Strong and Ill-tempered Woman\".\n\nTale 32, \"What Happened to the King and the Tricksters Who Made Cloth\" tells the story that Hans Christian Andersen made popular as The Emperor's New Clothes.\n\nStory 7, \"What Happened to a Woman Named Truhana\", a version of Aesop's The Milkmaid and Her Pail, was claimed by Max Müller to originate in the Hindu cycle Panchatantra.\n\nTale 2, \"What happened to a good Man and his Son, leading a beast to market,\" is the familiar fable The miller, his son and the donkey.\n\nIn 2016, Baroque Decay released a game under the name \"The Count Lucanor\". As well as some protagonists' names, certain events from the books inspired past events in the game.\n\nThe stories\n\nThe book opens with a prologue which introduces the characters of the Count and Patronio. The titles in the following list are those given in Keller and Keating's 1977 translation into English. James York's 1868 translation into English gives a significantly different ordering of the stories and omits the fifty-first.\n\n What Happened to a King and His Favorite \n What Happened to a Good Man and His Son \n How King Richard of England Leapt into the Sea against the Moors\n What a Genoese Said to His Soul When He Was about to Die \n What Happened to a Fox and a Crow Who Had a Piece of Cheese in His Beak\n How the Swallow Warned the Other Birds When She Saw Flax Being Sown \n What Happened to a Woman Named Truhana \n What Happened to a Man Whose Liver Had to Be Washed \n What Happened to Two Horses Which Were Thrown to the Lion \n What Happened to a Man Who on Account of Poverty and Lack of Other Food Was Eating Bitter Lentils \n What Happened to a Dean of Santiago de Compostela and Don Yllán, the Grand Master of Toledo\n What Happened to the Fox and the Rooster \n What Happened to a Man Who Was Hunting Partridges \n The Miracle of Saint Dominick When He Preached against the Usurer \n What Happened to Lorenzo Suárez at the Siege of Seville \n The Reply that count Fernán González Gave to His Relative Núño Laynes \n What Happened to a Very Hungry Man Who Was Half-heartedly Invited to Dinner \n What Happened to Pero Meléndez de Valdés When He Broke His Leg \n What Happened to the Crows and the Owls \n What Happened to a King for Whom a Man Promised to Perform Alchemy \n What Happened to a Young King and a Philosopher to Whom his Father Commended Him \n What Happened to the Lion and the Bull \n How the Ants Provide for Themselves \n What Happened to the King Who Wanted to Test His Three Sons \n What Happened to the Count of Provence and How He Was Freed from Prison by the Advice of Saladin\n What Happened to the Tree of Lies \n What Happened to an Emperor and to Don Alvarfáñez Minaya and Their Wives \n What Happened in Granada to Don Lorenzo Suárez Gallinato When He Beheaded the Renegade Chaplain \n What Happened to a Fox Who Lay down in the Street to Play Dead \n What Happened to King Abenabet of Seville and Ramayquía His Wife \n How a Cardinal Judged between the Canons of Paris and the Friars Minor \n What Happened to the King and the Tricksters Who Made Cloth \n What Happened to Don Juan Manuel's Saker Falcon and an Eagle and a Heron \n What Happened to a Blind Man Who Was Leading Another \n What Happened to a Young Man Who Married a Strong and Ill-tempered Woman\n What Happened to a Merchant When He Found His Son and His Wife Sleeping Together \n What Happened to Count Fernán González with His Men after He Had Won the Battle of Hacinas \n What Happened to a Man Who Was Loaded down with Precious Stones and Drowned in the River \n What Happened to a Man and a Swallow and a Sparrow \n Why the Seneschal of Carcassonne Lost His Soul \n What Happened to a King of Córdova Named Al-Haquem \n What Happened to a Woman of Sham Piety \n What Happened to Good and Evil and the Wise Man and the Madman \n What Happened to Don Pero Núñez the Loyal, to Don Ruy González de Zavallos, and to Don Gutier Roiz de Blaguiello with Don Rodrigo the Generous \n What Happened to a Man Who Became the Devil's Friend and Vassal \n What Happened to a Philosopher who by Accident Went down a Street Where Prostitutes Lived \n What Befell a Moor and His Sister Who Pretended That She Was Timid \n What Happened to a Man Who Tested His Friends \n What Happened to the Man Whom They Cast out Naked on an Island When They Took away from Him the Kingdom He Ruled \n What Happened to Saladin and a Lady, the Wife of a Knight Who Was His Vassal \n What Happened to a Christian King Who Was Very Powerful and Haughty\n\nReferences\n\nNotes\n\nBibliography\n\n Sturm, Harlan\n\n Wacks, David\n\nExternal links\n\nThe Internet Archive provides free access to the 1868 translation by James York.\nJSTOR has the to the 1977 translation by Keller and Keating.\nSelections in English and Spanish (pedagogical edition) with introduction, notes, and bibliography in Open Iberia/América (open access teaching anthology)\n\n14th-century books\nSpanish literature\n1335 books",
"was a Japanese physician who survived the Hiroshima bombing in 1945 and kept a diary of his experience. He was Director of the Hiroshima Communications Hospital and lived near the hospital, about a mile from the explosion's center. A 1984 editorial in the Journal of American Medical Association, indicates \"At the urging of friends, Dr. Hachiya first published his diary in a small Japanese-language medical journal (Teishin Igaku) that circulated among medical members of the Japanese communications services. There it came to the attention of Warner Wells, MD, an American physician who was working in Japan in 1950 as a surgical consultant to the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission.\" It was Dr. Wells, who in consultation with Dr. Hachiya, made the diary to be published in 1955, under the name of Hiroshima Diary.\n\nDuring, and post bombing life\n\nHachiya's diary cover the period from Aug. 6, 1945 to Sept. 30, 1945. He described the effects of the atomic bomb blast from its first flash in the early morning as he rested from his night shift as an air warden at the hospital. The force of the blast stripped all the clothes from his body but he and his wife survived, however they both received serious burns to their bodies and had to journey to the hospital Michihiko worked at. When Michihiko returned to the hospital that he worked in, the Hiroshima Communications Hospital, he spent the night in the care of the hospital staff who were not seriously injured. After his injuries healed, Michihiko started making his daily rounds that he would have normally made as a doctor. The staff and patients at the hospital call the atomic bomb that hit their city \"pikadon\". Pika describes a flash of light and don describes an explosive sound. As time passes an understanding of what hit their city clears up, and historical events such as the surrender of Japan are brought up. The condition of the hospital also drastically improves as more medical supplies are brought into the city, allowing them to better treat patients. After the bombing he wrote the book The Hiroshima Diary. This book describes what happened to him and what he saw.\n\nReferences \n Michihiko Hachiya, Hiroshima Diary (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina, 1955), translated and edited by Warner Wells, MD, \n editorial: The Shadow of Hiroshima: Two diaries. Journal of American Medical Association, 1984 Aug. 3; 252(5): 667-668.\n\nHibakusha\nPeople from Okayama Prefecture\nJapanese diarists\n1903 births\n1980 deaths\n20th-century diarists"
] |
[
"Skip James",
"Rediscovery and legacy",
"when was he redicovered?",
"He was virtually unknown to listeners until about 1960.",
"what happened in 1960?",
"In 1964, blues enthusiasts John Fahey, Bill Barth, and Henry Vestine found him in a hospital in Tunica, Mississippi.",
"how did he end up in the hospital?",
"I don't know.",
"what happened after the hospital?",
"According to Calt, the \"rediscovery\" of both James and Son House at virtually the same time was the start of the blues revival in the United States."
] | C_923c916a2fff44218bc884172fe469d5_0 | did they make music after? | 5 | Did Skip James and Son House make music after the "rediscovery"? | Skip James | For the next thirty years, James recorded nothing and performed sporadically. He was virtually unknown to listeners until about 1960. In 1964, blues enthusiasts John Fahey, Bill Barth, and Henry Vestine found him in a hospital in Tunica, Mississippi. According to Calt, the "rediscovery" of both James and Son House at virtually the same time was the start of the blues revival in the United States. In July 1964 James and other rediscovered musicians appeared at the Newport Folk Festival. Several photographs by the blues promoter Dick Waterman captured this performance, James's first in over 30 years. After that James recorded for Takoma Records, Melodeon Records, and Vanguard Records and performed at various engagements until his death in 1969. More of James's recordings have been available since his death than were available during his lifetime. His 1931 recordings and several of his recordings and concerts from the 1960s have been reissued on numerous compact discs, in and out of print. His songs were not initially recorded as frequently as those of other rediscovered blues musicians. However, the British rock band Cream recorded "I'm So Glad", providing James with the only windfall of his career. Subsequently, Cream's adaptation was recorded by other groups. James' "22-20" inspired for the name for the English group 22-20s and the British post-rock band Hope of the States released a song partially about the life of James, entitled "Nehemiah", which reached number 30 on the UK Singles Chart. In 2004, Wim Wenders directed the film The Soul of a Man (the second part of The Blues, a series produced by Martin Scorsese), focusing on the music of Blind Willie Johnson, J.B. Lenoir and James. Because James had not been not filmed before the 1960s, Keith B. Brown played the part of the young James in the documentary. CANNOTANSWER | In July 1964 James and other rediscovered musicians appeared at the Newport Folk Festival. | Nehemiah Curtis "Skip" James (June 9, 1902October 3, 1969) was an American Delta blues singer, guitarist, pianist and songwriter.
His guitar playing is noted for its dark, minor-key sound, played in an open D-minor tuning with an intricate fingerpicking technique. James first recorded for Paramount Records in 1931, but these recordings sold poorly, having been released during the Great Depression, and he drifted into obscurity.
After a long absence from the public eye, James was rediscovered in 1964 by blues enthusiasts including John Fahey, helping further the blues and folk music revival of the 1950s and early 1960s. During this period, James appeared at folk and blues festivals, gave concerts around the country, and recorded several albums for various record labels. His songs have influenced generations of musicians and have been adapted by numerous artists. He has been hailed as "one of the seminal figures of the blues."
Biography
Early years
James was born near Bentonia, Mississippi. His father was a bootlegger who reformed and became a preacher. As a youth, James heard local musicians, such as Henry Stuckey, from whom he learned to play the guitar, and the brothers Charlie and Jesse Sims. James began playing the organ in his teens. He worked on road construction and levee-building crews in Mississippi in the early 1920s and wrote what is perhaps his earliest song, "Illinois Blues", about his experiences as a laborer. He began playing the guitar in open D-minor tuning.
1920s and 1930s
In early 1931, James auditioned for the record shop owner and talent scout H. C. Speir in Jackson, Mississippi. Speir placed blues performers with various record labels, including Paramount Records. On the strength of this audition, James traveled to Grafton, Wisconsin, to record for Paramount. His 1931 records are considered idiosyncratic among prewar blues recordings and formed the basis of his reputation as a musician.
As was typical of his era, James recorded various styles of music – blues, spirituals, cover versions, and original compositions – frequently blurring the lines between genres and sources. For example, "I'm So Glad" was derived from a 1927 song, "So Tired", by Art Sizemore and George A. Little, recorded in 1928 by Gene Austin and by Lonnie Johnson (Johnson's version was entitled "I'm So Tired of Livin' All Alone"). James's biographer Stephen Calt, echoing the opinion of several music critics, considered the finished product totally original, "one of the most extraordinary examples of fingerpicking found in guitar music". Several other recordings from the Grafton session, such as "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues", "Devil Got My Woman", "Jesus Is a Mighty Good Leader", and "22-20 Blues" (the basis of Robert Johnson's better-known "32-20 Blues"), have been similarly influential. Very few original copies of James's Paramount 78 rpm records have survived.
The Great Depression struck just as James's recordings were hitting the market. Sales were poor as a result, and he gave up performing the blues to become the choir director in his father's church. James was later an ordained minister in Baptist and Methodist churches, but the extent of his involvement in religious activities is unknown.
Rediscovery and legacy
For the next thirty years, James made no known recordings and performed sporadically. He was virtually unknown to the general public until about 1960. In 1964, blues enthusiasts John Fahey, Bill Barth, and Henry Vestine found him in a hospital in Tunica, Mississippi. According to Calt, the "rediscovery" of both James and Son House at virtually the same time was the start of the blues revival in the United States. In July 1964, James and other rediscovered musicians appeared at the Newport Folk Festival. Several photographs by the blues promoter Dick Waterman captured this performance, James's first in over 30 years. James subsequently recorded for Takoma Records, Melodeon Records, and Vanguard Records and performed at various engagements until his death from cancer in 1969.
More of James's recordings have been available since his death than were available during his lifetime. His 1931 recordings and several of his recordings and concerts from the 1960s have been reissued on numerous compact discs, in and out of print. His songs were not initially recorded as frequently as those of other rediscovered blues musicians. However, the British rock band Cream recorded "I'm So Glad", providing James with $10,000 in royalties, the only windfall of his career. Subsequently, Cream's adaptation was recorded by other groups. James' "22-20" inspired the name of the English group 22-20s. The British post-rock band Hope of the States released a song partially about the life of James, entitled "Nehemiah", which reached number 30 on the UK Singles Chart. Only 15 copies of James' original shellac 78 recordings are still in existence, and have become extremely sought after by collectors such as John Tefteller.
In 2004, Wim Wenders directed the film The Soul of a Man (the second part of The Blues, a series produced by Martin Scorsese), focusing on the music of Blind Willie Johnson, J.B. Lenoir and James. Because James had not been filmed before the 1960s, Keith B. Brown played the part of the young James in the documentary. James' song "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues" was featured in the 2000 film O Brother, Where Art Thou? and included on the soundtrack album.
James was the inspiration for Dion's 2007 blues album, Son of Skip James, which peaked at No. 4.
James was honored with a marker on the Mississippi Blues Trail in Bentonia, his hometown.
In 2020, James' song "Devil Got My Woman" was added to the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Personality
James was described as aloof and moody. The musicologist Dick Spottswood commented, "Skip James, you never knew. Skip could be sunshine, or thunder and lightning depending on his whim of the moment".
Musical style
James as guitarist
James often played guitar with an open D-minor tuning (D–A–D–F–A–D), resulting in the "deep" sound of the 1931 recordings. He reportedly learned this tuning from his musical mentor, the unrecorded bluesman Henry Stuckey, who in turn was said to have acquired it from Bahamian soldiers during the First World War, despite the fact that his service card shows he did not serve overseas. Robert Johnson also recorded in this tuning, his "Hell Hound on My Trail" being based on James's "Devil Got My Woman." James's classically informed fingerpicking style was fast and clean, using the entire register of the guitar, with heavy, hypnotic bass lines. His style of playing had more in common with the Piedmont blues of the East Coast than with the Delta blues of his native Mississippi.
The "Bentonia School"
James is sometimes associated with the Bentonia School, which is either a subgenre of blues music or a style of playing it. In a 1994 biography of James, I'd Rather Be the Devil: Skip James and the Blues, Stephen Calt maintained that no style of blues originated in Bentonia and that the "Bentonia School" is simply a notion of later blues writers who overestimated the provinciality of Mississippi during the early 20th century, when railways linked small towns. Calt asserts these writers failed to see that in the case of Bentonia bluesman Jack Owens, "the 'tradition' he bore primarily consisted of musical scraps from James' table". Owens and other musicians who may have been contemporaries of James were not recorded until the revival of interest in blues music in the 1960s. Whether the work of these musicians constituted a "school", and whether James originated it or was a member of it himself, remain open questions. One of the last living links to the original Bentonia school is Jimmy "Duck" Holmes, the owner of the famous Blue Front Cafe in Bentonia, Mississippi. Holmes learned to play in this particular style directly from Henry Stuckey, who reportedly taught James and Owens himself. Accordingly, Duck is called the "last of the Bentonia Bluesmen."
Discography
Paramount 78-RPM records, 1931
Later recordings, 1964–1969
Despite poor health, James recorded several LPs from 1964 to 1969, mostly revisiting his 1931 sides, traditional music, and spirituals, but also including a handful of newly written blues meditating on his illness and convalescence. These five prolific years have not been thoroughly documented: recordings, outtakes, and interviews not released on James's LPs (which have been repeatedly cannibalized and reissued) are scattered among many compilations released by small labels. Previously unreleased performances continue to be found and released but have been left largely unexplained, sometimes hours' worth at a time. Original recordings and reissues are listed below.
Greatest of the Delta Blues Singers (Melodeon, Biograph, 1964)
She Lyin' (Adelphi, 1964; first released by Genes, 1996)
Today! (Vanguard, 1966)
Devil Got My Woman (Vanguard, 1968)
I'm So Glad (Vanguard, 1978)
Live: Boston, 1964 & Philadelphia, 1966 (Document, 1994)
Skip's Piano Blues, 1964 (Genes, 1998)
Blues from the Delta, with two previously unreleased recordings (Vanguard, 1998)
The Complete Early Recordings of Skip James – 1930 (Yazoo, 1994)
The Complete Bloomington, Indiana Concert, March 30, 1968 (Document, 1999)
Skip's Guitar Blues, 1964(?), (Genes, 1999)
Studio Sessions: Rare and Unreleased, 1967 (Vanguard, 2003)
Hard Time Killing Floor Blues (Biograph, 2003†)
Heroes of the Blues: The Very Best of Skip James (Shout!, 2003)
Hard Time (Universe, 2003†)
Cypress Grove Blues (2004)
Hard Time Killin' Floor (Yazoo 2075, 2005)
References
External links
Interview with Skip James' surviving cousin
1902 births
1969 deaths
People from Bentonia, Mississippi
American blues singers
American blues guitarists
American male guitarists
American blues pianists
American male pianists
Country blues singers
Songwriters from Mississippi
Blues musicians from Mississippi
Blues revival musicians
Country blues musicians
Delta blues musicians
Vanguard Records artists
Deaths from cancer in Mississippi
Paramount Records artists
20th-century American guitarists
20th-century American pianists
Guitarists from Mississippi
Mississippi Blues Trail
African-American male songwriters
African-American pianists
African-American guitarists
20th-century African-American male singers | false | [
"The discography of pureNRG, a Christian pop group, consists of four studio albums, one remix album and a compilation album. They have also released three DVDs and four music videos.\n\nAlbums\n\nStudio albums\n\nCompilation albums\n\nChristmas albums\n\nRemix albums\n\nChart history\n\n Note: — means that the album did not make the chart.\n\nDVDs\n\nMusic videos\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Official website\n\nDiscographies of American artists\nPop music group discographies",
"\"Make Me Crazy\" is the second and final single by Scandal'us from their debut album Startin' Somethin'. It did not live up to the success of their debut single, \"Me, Myself & I\", only managing to debut and peak at No. 30 on the Australian ARIA Charts. This was the last release from the band before they broke up in 2002.\n\nTrack listing\n Maxi Single\n \"Make Me Crazy\" (3:15)\n \"Make Me Crazy\" (Crazy Nights Mix) (3:30)\n \"Make Me Crazy\" (Wired Meshmix)\t(3:26)\n \"Make Me Crazy\" (KCB Klubbmix) (3:34)\n \"Make Me Crazy\" (Karaoke Mix) (3:17)\n\nCharts\n\nReferences\n\n2001 singles\nWarner Music Group singles\n2001 songs"
] |
[
"Skip James",
"Rediscovery and legacy",
"when was he redicovered?",
"He was virtually unknown to listeners until about 1960.",
"what happened in 1960?",
"In 1964, blues enthusiasts John Fahey, Bill Barth, and Henry Vestine found him in a hospital in Tunica, Mississippi.",
"how did he end up in the hospital?",
"I don't know.",
"what happened after the hospital?",
"According to Calt, the \"rediscovery\" of both James and Son House at virtually the same time was the start of the blues revival in the United States.",
"did they make music after?",
"In July 1964 James and other rediscovered musicians appeared at the Newport Folk Festival."
] | C_923c916a2fff44218bc884172fe469d5_0 | what were peoples reactions? | 6 | What were peoples reactions when Skip James and other rediscovered musicians appeared at the Newport Folk Festival in 1964 ? | Skip James | For the next thirty years, James recorded nothing and performed sporadically. He was virtually unknown to listeners until about 1960. In 1964, blues enthusiasts John Fahey, Bill Barth, and Henry Vestine found him in a hospital in Tunica, Mississippi. According to Calt, the "rediscovery" of both James and Son House at virtually the same time was the start of the blues revival in the United States. In July 1964 James and other rediscovered musicians appeared at the Newport Folk Festival. Several photographs by the blues promoter Dick Waterman captured this performance, James's first in over 30 years. After that James recorded for Takoma Records, Melodeon Records, and Vanguard Records and performed at various engagements until his death in 1969. More of James's recordings have been available since his death than were available during his lifetime. His 1931 recordings and several of his recordings and concerts from the 1960s have been reissued on numerous compact discs, in and out of print. His songs were not initially recorded as frequently as those of other rediscovered blues musicians. However, the British rock band Cream recorded "I'm So Glad", providing James with the only windfall of his career. Subsequently, Cream's adaptation was recorded by other groups. James' "22-20" inspired for the name for the English group 22-20s and the British post-rock band Hope of the States released a song partially about the life of James, entitled "Nehemiah", which reached number 30 on the UK Singles Chart. In 2004, Wim Wenders directed the film The Soul of a Man (the second part of The Blues, a series produced by Martin Scorsese), focusing on the music of Blind Willie Johnson, J.B. Lenoir and James. Because James had not been not filmed before the 1960s, Keith B. Brown played the part of the young James in the documentary. CANNOTANSWER | released a song partially about the life of James, entitled "Nehemiah", which reached number 30 on the UK Singles Chart. | Nehemiah Curtis "Skip" James (June 9, 1902October 3, 1969) was an American Delta blues singer, guitarist, pianist and songwriter.
His guitar playing is noted for its dark, minor-key sound, played in an open D-minor tuning with an intricate fingerpicking technique. James first recorded for Paramount Records in 1931, but these recordings sold poorly, having been released during the Great Depression, and he drifted into obscurity.
After a long absence from the public eye, James was rediscovered in 1964 by blues enthusiasts including John Fahey, helping further the blues and folk music revival of the 1950s and early 1960s. During this period, James appeared at folk and blues festivals, gave concerts around the country, and recorded several albums for various record labels. His songs have influenced generations of musicians and have been adapted by numerous artists. He has been hailed as "one of the seminal figures of the blues."
Biography
Early years
James was born near Bentonia, Mississippi. His father was a bootlegger who reformed and became a preacher. As a youth, James heard local musicians, such as Henry Stuckey, from whom he learned to play the guitar, and the brothers Charlie and Jesse Sims. James began playing the organ in his teens. He worked on road construction and levee-building crews in Mississippi in the early 1920s and wrote what is perhaps his earliest song, "Illinois Blues", about his experiences as a laborer. He began playing the guitar in open D-minor tuning.
1920s and 1930s
In early 1931, James auditioned for the record shop owner and talent scout H. C. Speir in Jackson, Mississippi. Speir placed blues performers with various record labels, including Paramount Records. On the strength of this audition, James traveled to Grafton, Wisconsin, to record for Paramount. His 1931 records are considered idiosyncratic among prewar blues recordings and formed the basis of his reputation as a musician.
As was typical of his era, James recorded various styles of music – blues, spirituals, cover versions, and original compositions – frequently blurring the lines between genres and sources. For example, "I'm So Glad" was derived from a 1927 song, "So Tired", by Art Sizemore and George A. Little, recorded in 1928 by Gene Austin and by Lonnie Johnson (Johnson's version was entitled "I'm So Tired of Livin' All Alone"). James's biographer Stephen Calt, echoing the opinion of several music critics, considered the finished product totally original, "one of the most extraordinary examples of fingerpicking found in guitar music". Several other recordings from the Grafton session, such as "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues", "Devil Got My Woman", "Jesus Is a Mighty Good Leader", and "22-20 Blues" (the basis of Robert Johnson's better-known "32-20 Blues"), have been similarly influential. Very few original copies of James's Paramount 78 rpm records have survived.
The Great Depression struck just as James's recordings were hitting the market. Sales were poor as a result, and he gave up performing the blues to become the choir director in his father's church. James was later an ordained minister in Baptist and Methodist churches, but the extent of his involvement in religious activities is unknown.
Rediscovery and legacy
For the next thirty years, James made no known recordings and performed sporadically. He was virtually unknown to the general public until about 1960. In 1964, blues enthusiasts John Fahey, Bill Barth, and Henry Vestine found him in a hospital in Tunica, Mississippi. According to Calt, the "rediscovery" of both James and Son House at virtually the same time was the start of the blues revival in the United States. In July 1964, James and other rediscovered musicians appeared at the Newport Folk Festival. Several photographs by the blues promoter Dick Waterman captured this performance, James's first in over 30 years. James subsequently recorded for Takoma Records, Melodeon Records, and Vanguard Records and performed at various engagements until his death from cancer in 1969.
More of James's recordings have been available since his death than were available during his lifetime. His 1931 recordings and several of his recordings and concerts from the 1960s have been reissued on numerous compact discs, in and out of print. His songs were not initially recorded as frequently as those of other rediscovered blues musicians. However, the British rock band Cream recorded "I'm So Glad", providing James with $10,000 in royalties, the only windfall of his career. Subsequently, Cream's adaptation was recorded by other groups. James' "22-20" inspired the name of the English group 22-20s. The British post-rock band Hope of the States released a song partially about the life of James, entitled "Nehemiah", which reached number 30 on the UK Singles Chart. Only 15 copies of James' original shellac 78 recordings are still in existence, and have become extremely sought after by collectors such as John Tefteller.
In 2004, Wim Wenders directed the film The Soul of a Man (the second part of The Blues, a series produced by Martin Scorsese), focusing on the music of Blind Willie Johnson, J.B. Lenoir and James. Because James had not been filmed before the 1960s, Keith B. Brown played the part of the young James in the documentary. James' song "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues" was featured in the 2000 film O Brother, Where Art Thou? and included on the soundtrack album.
James was the inspiration for Dion's 2007 blues album, Son of Skip James, which peaked at No. 4.
James was honored with a marker on the Mississippi Blues Trail in Bentonia, his hometown.
In 2020, James' song "Devil Got My Woman" was added to the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Personality
James was described as aloof and moody. The musicologist Dick Spottswood commented, "Skip James, you never knew. Skip could be sunshine, or thunder and lightning depending on his whim of the moment".
Musical style
James as guitarist
James often played guitar with an open D-minor tuning (D–A–D–F–A–D), resulting in the "deep" sound of the 1931 recordings. He reportedly learned this tuning from his musical mentor, the unrecorded bluesman Henry Stuckey, who in turn was said to have acquired it from Bahamian soldiers during the First World War, despite the fact that his service card shows he did not serve overseas. Robert Johnson also recorded in this tuning, his "Hell Hound on My Trail" being based on James's "Devil Got My Woman." James's classically informed fingerpicking style was fast and clean, using the entire register of the guitar, with heavy, hypnotic bass lines. His style of playing had more in common with the Piedmont blues of the East Coast than with the Delta blues of his native Mississippi.
The "Bentonia School"
James is sometimes associated with the Bentonia School, which is either a subgenre of blues music or a style of playing it. In a 1994 biography of James, I'd Rather Be the Devil: Skip James and the Blues, Stephen Calt maintained that no style of blues originated in Bentonia and that the "Bentonia School" is simply a notion of later blues writers who overestimated the provinciality of Mississippi during the early 20th century, when railways linked small towns. Calt asserts these writers failed to see that in the case of Bentonia bluesman Jack Owens, "the 'tradition' he bore primarily consisted of musical scraps from James' table". Owens and other musicians who may have been contemporaries of James were not recorded until the revival of interest in blues music in the 1960s. Whether the work of these musicians constituted a "school", and whether James originated it or was a member of it himself, remain open questions. One of the last living links to the original Bentonia school is Jimmy "Duck" Holmes, the owner of the famous Blue Front Cafe in Bentonia, Mississippi. Holmes learned to play in this particular style directly from Henry Stuckey, who reportedly taught James and Owens himself. Accordingly, Duck is called the "last of the Bentonia Bluesmen."
Discography
Paramount 78-RPM records, 1931
Later recordings, 1964–1969
Despite poor health, James recorded several LPs from 1964 to 1969, mostly revisiting his 1931 sides, traditional music, and spirituals, but also including a handful of newly written blues meditating on his illness and convalescence. These five prolific years have not been thoroughly documented: recordings, outtakes, and interviews not released on James's LPs (which have been repeatedly cannibalized and reissued) are scattered among many compilations released by small labels. Previously unreleased performances continue to be found and released but have been left largely unexplained, sometimes hours' worth at a time. Original recordings and reissues are listed below.
Greatest of the Delta Blues Singers (Melodeon, Biograph, 1964)
She Lyin' (Adelphi, 1964; first released by Genes, 1996)
Today! (Vanguard, 1966)
Devil Got My Woman (Vanguard, 1968)
I'm So Glad (Vanguard, 1978)
Live: Boston, 1964 & Philadelphia, 1966 (Document, 1994)
Skip's Piano Blues, 1964 (Genes, 1998)
Blues from the Delta, with two previously unreleased recordings (Vanguard, 1998)
The Complete Early Recordings of Skip James – 1930 (Yazoo, 1994)
The Complete Bloomington, Indiana Concert, March 30, 1968 (Document, 1999)
Skip's Guitar Blues, 1964(?), (Genes, 1999)
Studio Sessions: Rare and Unreleased, 1967 (Vanguard, 2003)
Hard Time Killing Floor Blues (Biograph, 2003†)
Heroes of the Blues: The Very Best of Skip James (Shout!, 2003)
Hard Time (Universe, 2003†)
Cypress Grove Blues (2004)
Hard Time Killin' Floor (Yazoo 2075, 2005)
References
External links
Interview with Skip James' surviving cousin
1902 births
1969 deaths
People from Bentonia, Mississippi
American blues singers
American blues guitarists
American male guitarists
American blues pianists
American male pianists
Country blues singers
Songwriters from Mississippi
Blues musicians from Mississippi
Blues revival musicians
Country blues musicians
Delta blues musicians
Vanguard Records artists
Deaths from cancer in Mississippi
Paramount Records artists
20th-century American guitarists
20th-century American pianists
Guitarists from Mississippi
Mississippi Blues Trail
African-American male songwriters
African-American pianists
African-American guitarists
20th-century African-American male singers | true | [
"Peoples Temple is the third studio album of the Italy-based musician, Tying Tiffany. In 2011, the album was followed by the remix EP, Peoples Temple Remix Edition.\n\nPeoples Temple track listing\n \"3 Circle\" - 3:36\n \"Storycide\" - 2:53\n \"Lost Way\" - 3:21\n \"One Breath\" - 3:18\n \"Still In My Head\" - 2:32\n \"Miracle\" - 3:18\n \"Cecille\" - 3:02\n \"Borderline\" - 4:21\n \"Ghoul\" - 3:16\n \"Show Me What You Got\" - 4:06\n\nPeoples Temple Remix Edition track listing\n \"3 Circle\" (First Black Pope Remix) - 4:16 \t\n \"Storycide\" (Spiral69 Remix) - 3:29 \t\n \"Miracle\" (XP8 Remix) - 5:25 \t\n \"Show Me What You Got\" (RevCo World Remix) - 4:35 \t\n \"Lost Way\" (YLHCSD Remix) - 4:18 \t\n \"Ghoul\" (Golkonda Remix) - 3:14 \t\n \"Miracle\" (Iceone Feat Electro Disciples Remix) - 3:27 \t\n \"Borderline\" (Alt Remix) - 3:53\n\nReferences\n\nTying Tiffany albums\n2010 albums",
"The Sordones were an ancient (Pre-Roman) people of the Iberian Peninsula (the Roman Hispania). They are believed to have spoken the Iberian language. Their territory was located in the Roussillon, in what is now the French département of Pyrénées-Orientales and was limited in the west by the Pyrenees. They are classified as ancient Iberian or as ancient Gauls according to the sources.\n\nThe main towns of the Sordones were Ruscino, present-day Château-Roussillon near Perpignan, and Illiberis, present day Elne.\n\nSee also\nIberians\nPre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nDetailed map of the Pre-Roman Peoples of Iberia (around 200 BC)\nCité antique de Ruscino - Perpigna Town Hall Webpage\n\nPre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula\nAncient peoples of Spain\nHistory of Catalonia"
] |
[
"Skip James",
"Rediscovery and legacy",
"when was he redicovered?",
"He was virtually unknown to listeners until about 1960.",
"what happened in 1960?",
"In 1964, blues enthusiasts John Fahey, Bill Barth, and Henry Vestine found him in a hospital in Tunica, Mississippi.",
"how did he end up in the hospital?",
"I don't know.",
"what happened after the hospital?",
"According to Calt, the \"rediscovery\" of both James and Son House at virtually the same time was the start of the blues revival in the United States.",
"did they make music after?",
"In July 1964 James and other rediscovered musicians appeared at the Newport Folk Festival.",
"what were peoples reactions?",
"released a song partially about the life of James, entitled \"Nehemiah\", which reached number 30 on the UK Singles Chart."
] | C_923c916a2fff44218bc884172fe469d5_0 | Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | 7 | Other than the song "Nehemiah" reaching number 30 on the UK Singles Chart, are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | Skip James | For the next thirty years, James recorded nothing and performed sporadically. He was virtually unknown to listeners until about 1960. In 1964, blues enthusiasts John Fahey, Bill Barth, and Henry Vestine found him in a hospital in Tunica, Mississippi. According to Calt, the "rediscovery" of both James and Son House at virtually the same time was the start of the blues revival in the United States. In July 1964 James and other rediscovered musicians appeared at the Newport Folk Festival. Several photographs by the blues promoter Dick Waterman captured this performance, James's first in over 30 years. After that James recorded for Takoma Records, Melodeon Records, and Vanguard Records and performed at various engagements until his death in 1969. More of James's recordings have been available since his death than were available during his lifetime. His 1931 recordings and several of his recordings and concerts from the 1960s have been reissued on numerous compact discs, in and out of print. His songs were not initially recorded as frequently as those of other rediscovered blues musicians. However, the British rock band Cream recorded "I'm So Glad", providing James with the only windfall of his career. Subsequently, Cream's adaptation was recorded by other groups. James' "22-20" inspired for the name for the English group 22-20s and the British post-rock band Hope of the States released a song partially about the life of James, entitled "Nehemiah", which reached number 30 on the UK Singles Chart. In 2004, Wim Wenders directed the film The Soul of a Man (the second part of The Blues, a series produced by Martin Scorsese), focusing on the music of Blind Willie Johnson, J.B. Lenoir and James. Because James had not been not filmed before the 1960s, Keith B. Brown played the part of the young James in the documentary. CANNOTANSWER | After that James recorded for Takoma Records, Melodeon Records, and Vanguard Records and performed at various engagements until his death in 1969. | Nehemiah Curtis "Skip" James (June 9, 1902October 3, 1969) was an American Delta blues singer, guitarist, pianist and songwriter.
His guitar playing is noted for its dark, minor-key sound, played in an open D-minor tuning with an intricate fingerpicking technique. James first recorded for Paramount Records in 1931, but these recordings sold poorly, having been released during the Great Depression, and he drifted into obscurity.
After a long absence from the public eye, James was rediscovered in 1964 by blues enthusiasts including John Fahey, helping further the blues and folk music revival of the 1950s and early 1960s. During this period, James appeared at folk and blues festivals, gave concerts around the country, and recorded several albums for various record labels. His songs have influenced generations of musicians and have been adapted by numerous artists. He has been hailed as "one of the seminal figures of the blues."
Biography
Early years
James was born near Bentonia, Mississippi. His father was a bootlegger who reformed and became a preacher. As a youth, James heard local musicians, such as Henry Stuckey, from whom he learned to play the guitar, and the brothers Charlie and Jesse Sims. James began playing the organ in his teens. He worked on road construction and levee-building crews in Mississippi in the early 1920s and wrote what is perhaps his earliest song, "Illinois Blues", about his experiences as a laborer. He began playing the guitar in open D-minor tuning.
1920s and 1930s
In early 1931, James auditioned for the record shop owner and talent scout H. C. Speir in Jackson, Mississippi. Speir placed blues performers with various record labels, including Paramount Records. On the strength of this audition, James traveled to Grafton, Wisconsin, to record for Paramount. His 1931 records are considered idiosyncratic among prewar blues recordings and formed the basis of his reputation as a musician.
As was typical of his era, James recorded various styles of music – blues, spirituals, cover versions, and original compositions – frequently blurring the lines between genres and sources. For example, "I'm So Glad" was derived from a 1927 song, "So Tired", by Art Sizemore and George A. Little, recorded in 1928 by Gene Austin and by Lonnie Johnson (Johnson's version was entitled "I'm So Tired of Livin' All Alone"). James's biographer Stephen Calt, echoing the opinion of several music critics, considered the finished product totally original, "one of the most extraordinary examples of fingerpicking found in guitar music". Several other recordings from the Grafton session, such as "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues", "Devil Got My Woman", "Jesus Is a Mighty Good Leader", and "22-20 Blues" (the basis of Robert Johnson's better-known "32-20 Blues"), have been similarly influential. Very few original copies of James's Paramount 78 rpm records have survived.
The Great Depression struck just as James's recordings were hitting the market. Sales were poor as a result, and he gave up performing the blues to become the choir director in his father's church. James was later an ordained minister in Baptist and Methodist churches, but the extent of his involvement in religious activities is unknown.
Rediscovery and legacy
For the next thirty years, James made no known recordings and performed sporadically. He was virtually unknown to the general public until about 1960. In 1964, blues enthusiasts John Fahey, Bill Barth, and Henry Vestine found him in a hospital in Tunica, Mississippi. According to Calt, the "rediscovery" of both James and Son House at virtually the same time was the start of the blues revival in the United States. In July 1964, James and other rediscovered musicians appeared at the Newport Folk Festival. Several photographs by the blues promoter Dick Waterman captured this performance, James's first in over 30 years. James subsequently recorded for Takoma Records, Melodeon Records, and Vanguard Records and performed at various engagements until his death from cancer in 1969.
More of James's recordings have been available since his death than were available during his lifetime. His 1931 recordings and several of his recordings and concerts from the 1960s have been reissued on numerous compact discs, in and out of print. His songs were not initially recorded as frequently as those of other rediscovered blues musicians. However, the British rock band Cream recorded "I'm So Glad", providing James with $10,000 in royalties, the only windfall of his career. Subsequently, Cream's adaptation was recorded by other groups. James' "22-20" inspired the name of the English group 22-20s. The British post-rock band Hope of the States released a song partially about the life of James, entitled "Nehemiah", which reached number 30 on the UK Singles Chart. Only 15 copies of James' original shellac 78 recordings are still in existence, and have become extremely sought after by collectors such as John Tefteller.
In 2004, Wim Wenders directed the film The Soul of a Man (the second part of The Blues, a series produced by Martin Scorsese), focusing on the music of Blind Willie Johnson, J.B. Lenoir and James. Because James had not been filmed before the 1960s, Keith B. Brown played the part of the young James in the documentary. James' song "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues" was featured in the 2000 film O Brother, Where Art Thou? and included on the soundtrack album.
James was the inspiration for Dion's 2007 blues album, Son of Skip James, which peaked at No. 4.
James was honored with a marker on the Mississippi Blues Trail in Bentonia, his hometown.
In 2020, James' song "Devil Got My Woman" was added to the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Personality
James was described as aloof and moody. The musicologist Dick Spottswood commented, "Skip James, you never knew. Skip could be sunshine, or thunder and lightning depending on his whim of the moment".
Musical style
James as guitarist
James often played guitar with an open D-minor tuning (D–A–D–F–A–D), resulting in the "deep" sound of the 1931 recordings. He reportedly learned this tuning from his musical mentor, the unrecorded bluesman Henry Stuckey, who in turn was said to have acquired it from Bahamian soldiers during the First World War, despite the fact that his service card shows he did not serve overseas. Robert Johnson also recorded in this tuning, his "Hell Hound on My Trail" being based on James's "Devil Got My Woman." James's classically informed fingerpicking style was fast and clean, using the entire register of the guitar, with heavy, hypnotic bass lines. His style of playing had more in common with the Piedmont blues of the East Coast than with the Delta blues of his native Mississippi.
The "Bentonia School"
James is sometimes associated with the Bentonia School, which is either a subgenre of blues music or a style of playing it. In a 1994 biography of James, I'd Rather Be the Devil: Skip James and the Blues, Stephen Calt maintained that no style of blues originated in Bentonia and that the "Bentonia School" is simply a notion of later blues writers who overestimated the provinciality of Mississippi during the early 20th century, when railways linked small towns. Calt asserts these writers failed to see that in the case of Bentonia bluesman Jack Owens, "the 'tradition' he bore primarily consisted of musical scraps from James' table". Owens and other musicians who may have been contemporaries of James were not recorded until the revival of interest in blues music in the 1960s. Whether the work of these musicians constituted a "school", and whether James originated it or was a member of it himself, remain open questions. One of the last living links to the original Bentonia school is Jimmy "Duck" Holmes, the owner of the famous Blue Front Cafe in Bentonia, Mississippi. Holmes learned to play in this particular style directly from Henry Stuckey, who reportedly taught James and Owens himself. Accordingly, Duck is called the "last of the Bentonia Bluesmen."
Discography
Paramount 78-RPM records, 1931
Later recordings, 1964–1969
Despite poor health, James recorded several LPs from 1964 to 1969, mostly revisiting his 1931 sides, traditional music, and spirituals, but also including a handful of newly written blues meditating on his illness and convalescence. These five prolific years have not been thoroughly documented: recordings, outtakes, and interviews not released on James's LPs (which have been repeatedly cannibalized and reissued) are scattered among many compilations released by small labels. Previously unreleased performances continue to be found and released but have been left largely unexplained, sometimes hours' worth at a time. Original recordings and reissues are listed below.
Greatest of the Delta Blues Singers (Melodeon, Biograph, 1964)
She Lyin' (Adelphi, 1964; first released by Genes, 1996)
Today! (Vanguard, 1966)
Devil Got My Woman (Vanguard, 1968)
I'm So Glad (Vanguard, 1978)
Live: Boston, 1964 & Philadelphia, 1966 (Document, 1994)
Skip's Piano Blues, 1964 (Genes, 1998)
Blues from the Delta, with two previously unreleased recordings (Vanguard, 1998)
The Complete Early Recordings of Skip James – 1930 (Yazoo, 1994)
The Complete Bloomington, Indiana Concert, March 30, 1968 (Document, 1999)
Skip's Guitar Blues, 1964(?), (Genes, 1999)
Studio Sessions: Rare and Unreleased, 1967 (Vanguard, 2003)
Hard Time Killing Floor Blues (Biograph, 2003†)
Heroes of the Blues: The Very Best of Skip James (Shout!, 2003)
Hard Time (Universe, 2003†)
Cypress Grove Blues (2004)
Hard Time Killin' Floor (Yazoo 2075, 2005)
References
External links
Interview with Skip James' surviving cousin
1902 births
1969 deaths
People from Bentonia, Mississippi
American blues singers
American blues guitarists
American male guitarists
American blues pianists
American male pianists
Country blues singers
Songwriters from Mississippi
Blues musicians from Mississippi
Blues revival musicians
Country blues musicians
Delta blues musicians
Vanguard Records artists
Deaths from cancer in Mississippi
Paramount Records artists
20th-century American guitarists
20th-century American pianists
Guitarists from Mississippi
Mississippi Blues Trail
African-American male songwriters
African-American pianists
African-American guitarists
20th-century African-American male singers | 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"
] |
[
"Skip James",
"Rediscovery and legacy",
"when was he redicovered?",
"He was virtually unknown to listeners until about 1960.",
"what happened in 1960?",
"In 1964, blues enthusiasts John Fahey, Bill Barth, and Henry Vestine found him in a hospital in Tunica, Mississippi.",
"how did he end up in the hospital?",
"I don't know.",
"what happened after the hospital?",
"According to Calt, the \"rediscovery\" of both James and Son House at virtually the same time was the start of the blues revival in the United States.",
"did they make music after?",
"In July 1964 James and other rediscovered musicians appeared at the Newport Folk Festival.",
"what were peoples reactions?",
"released a song partially about the life of James, entitled \"Nehemiah\", which reached number 30 on the UK Singles Chart.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"After that James recorded for Takoma Records, Melodeon Records, and Vanguard Records and performed at various engagements until his death in 1969."
] | C_923c916a2fff44218bc884172fe469d5_0 | were they successful? | 8 | Were Skip James' recordings for Takoma Records, Melodeon Records, and Vanguard Records successful? | Skip James | For the next thirty years, James recorded nothing and performed sporadically. He was virtually unknown to listeners until about 1960. In 1964, blues enthusiasts John Fahey, Bill Barth, and Henry Vestine found him in a hospital in Tunica, Mississippi. According to Calt, the "rediscovery" of both James and Son House at virtually the same time was the start of the blues revival in the United States. In July 1964 James and other rediscovered musicians appeared at the Newport Folk Festival. Several photographs by the blues promoter Dick Waterman captured this performance, James's first in over 30 years. After that James recorded for Takoma Records, Melodeon Records, and Vanguard Records and performed at various engagements until his death in 1969. More of James's recordings have been available since his death than were available during his lifetime. His 1931 recordings and several of his recordings and concerts from the 1960s have been reissued on numerous compact discs, in and out of print. His songs were not initially recorded as frequently as those of other rediscovered blues musicians. However, the British rock band Cream recorded "I'm So Glad", providing James with the only windfall of his career. Subsequently, Cream's adaptation was recorded by other groups. James' "22-20" inspired for the name for the English group 22-20s and the British post-rock band Hope of the States released a song partially about the life of James, entitled "Nehemiah", which reached number 30 on the UK Singles Chart. In 2004, Wim Wenders directed the film The Soul of a Man (the second part of The Blues, a series produced by Martin Scorsese), focusing on the music of Blind Willie Johnson, J.B. Lenoir and James. Because James had not been not filmed before the 1960s, Keith B. Brown played the part of the young James in the documentary. CANNOTANSWER | from the 1960s have been reissued on numerous compact discs, in and out of print. | Nehemiah Curtis "Skip" James (June 9, 1902October 3, 1969) was an American Delta blues singer, guitarist, pianist and songwriter.
His guitar playing is noted for its dark, minor-key sound, played in an open D-minor tuning with an intricate fingerpicking technique. James first recorded for Paramount Records in 1931, but these recordings sold poorly, having been released during the Great Depression, and he drifted into obscurity.
After a long absence from the public eye, James was rediscovered in 1964 by blues enthusiasts including John Fahey, helping further the blues and folk music revival of the 1950s and early 1960s. During this period, James appeared at folk and blues festivals, gave concerts around the country, and recorded several albums for various record labels. His songs have influenced generations of musicians and have been adapted by numerous artists. He has been hailed as "one of the seminal figures of the blues."
Biography
Early years
James was born near Bentonia, Mississippi. His father was a bootlegger who reformed and became a preacher. As a youth, James heard local musicians, such as Henry Stuckey, from whom he learned to play the guitar, and the brothers Charlie and Jesse Sims. James began playing the organ in his teens. He worked on road construction and levee-building crews in Mississippi in the early 1920s and wrote what is perhaps his earliest song, "Illinois Blues", about his experiences as a laborer. He began playing the guitar in open D-minor tuning.
1920s and 1930s
In early 1931, James auditioned for the record shop owner and talent scout H. C. Speir in Jackson, Mississippi. Speir placed blues performers with various record labels, including Paramount Records. On the strength of this audition, James traveled to Grafton, Wisconsin, to record for Paramount. His 1931 records are considered idiosyncratic among prewar blues recordings and formed the basis of his reputation as a musician.
As was typical of his era, James recorded various styles of music – blues, spirituals, cover versions, and original compositions – frequently blurring the lines between genres and sources. For example, "I'm So Glad" was derived from a 1927 song, "So Tired", by Art Sizemore and George A. Little, recorded in 1928 by Gene Austin and by Lonnie Johnson (Johnson's version was entitled "I'm So Tired of Livin' All Alone"). James's biographer Stephen Calt, echoing the opinion of several music critics, considered the finished product totally original, "one of the most extraordinary examples of fingerpicking found in guitar music". Several other recordings from the Grafton session, such as "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues", "Devil Got My Woman", "Jesus Is a Mighty Good Leader", and "22-20 Blues" (the basis of Robert Johnson's better-known "32-20 Blues"), have been similarly influential. Very few original copies of James's Paramount 78 rpm records have survived.
The Great Depression struck just as James's recordings were hitting the market. Sales were poor as a result, and he gave up performing the blues to become the choir director in his father's church. James was later an ordained minister in Baptist and Methodist churches, but the extent of his involvement in religious activities is unknown.
Rediscovery and legacy
For the next thirty years, James made no known recordings and performed sporadically. He was virtually unknown to the general public until about 1960. In 1964, blues enthusiasts John Fahey, Bill Barth, and Henry Vestine found him in a hospital in Tunica, Mississippi. According to Calt, the "rediscovery" of both James and Son House at virtually the same time was the start of the blues revival in the United States. In July 1964, James and other rediscovered musicians appeared at the Newport Folk Festival. Several photographs by the blues promoter Dick Waterman captured this performance, James's first in over 30 years. James subsequently recorded for Takoma Records, Melodeon Records, and Vanguard Records and performed at various engagements until his death from cancer in 1969.
More of James's recordings have been available since his death than were available during his lifetime. His 1931 recordings and several of his recordings and concerts from the 1960s have been reissued on numerous compact discs, in and out of print. His songs were not initially recorded as frequently as those of other rediscovered blues musicians. However, the British rock band Cream recorded "I'm So Glad", providing James with $10,000 in royalties, the only windfall of his career. Subsequently, Cream's adaptation was recorded by other groups. James' "22-20" inspired the name of the English group 22-20s. The British post-rock band Hope of the States released a song partially about the life of James, entitled "Nehemiah", which reached number 30 on the UK Singles Chart. Only 15 copies of James' original shellac 78 recordings are still in existence, and have become extremely sought after by collectors such as John Tefteller.
In 2004, Wim Wenders directed the film The Soul of a Man (the second part of The Blues, a series produced by Martin Scorsese), focusing on the music of Blind Willie Johnson, J.B. Lenoir and James. Because James had not been filmed before the 1960s, Keith B. Brown played the part of the young James in the documentary. James' song "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues" was featured in the 2000 film O Brother, Where Art Thou? and included on the soundtrack album.
James was the inspiration for Dion's 2007 blues album, Son of Skip James, which peaked at No. 4.
James was honored with a marker on the Mississippi Blues Trail in Bentonia, his hometown.
In 2020, James' song "Devil Got My Woman" was added to the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Personality
James was described as aloof and moody. The musicologist Dick Spottswood commented, "Skip James, you never knew. Skip could be sunshine, or thunder and lightning depending on his whim of the moment".
Musical style
James as guitarist
James often played guitar with an open D-minor tuning (D–A–D–F–A–D), resulting in the "deep" sound of the 1931 recordings. He reportedly learned this tuning from his musical mentor, the unrecorded bluesman Henry Stuckey, who in turn was said to have acquired it from Bahamian soldiers during the First World War, despite the fact that his service card shows he did not serve overseas. Robert Johnson also recorded in this tuning, his "Hell Hound on My Trail" being based on James's "Devil Got My Woman." James's classically informed fingerpicking style was fast and clean, using the entire register of the guitar, with heavy, hypnotic bass lines. His style of playing had more in common with the Piedmont blues of the East Coast than with the Delta blues of his native Mississippi.
The "Bentonia School"
James is sometimes associated with the Bentonia School, which is either a subgenre of blues music or a style of playing it. In a 1994 biography of James, I'd Rather Be the Devil: Skip James and the Blues, Stephen Calt maintained that no style of blues originated in Bentonia and that the "Bentonia School" is simply a notion of later blues writers who overestimated the provinciality of Mississippi during the early 20th century, when railways linked small towns. Calt asserts these writers failed to see that in the case of Bentonia bluesman Jack Owens, "the 'tradition' he bore primarily consisted of musical scraps from James' table". Owens and other musicians who may have been contemporaries of James were not recorded until the revival of interest in blues music in the 1960s. Whether the work of these musicians constituted a "school", and whether James originated it or was a member of it himself, remain open questions. One of the last living links to the original Bentonia school is Jimmy "Duck" Holmes, the owner of the famous Blue Front Cafe in Bentonia, Mississippi. Holmes learned to play in this particular style directly from Henry Stuckey, who reportedly taught James and Owens himself. Accordingly, Duck is called the "last of the Bentonia Bluesmen."
Discography
Paramount 78-RPM records, 1931
Later recordings, 1964–1969
Despite poor health, James recorded several LPs from 1964 to 1969, mostly revisiting his 1931 sides, traditional music, and spirituals, but also including a handful of newly written blues meditating on his illness and convalescence. These five prolific years have not been thoroughly documented: recordings, outtakes, and interviews not released on James's LPs (which have been repeatedly cannibalized and reissued) are scattered among many compilations released by small labels. Previously unreleased performances continue to be found and released but have been left largely unexplained, sometimes hours' worth at a time. Original recordings and reissues are listed below.
Greatest of the Delta Blues Singers (Melodeon, Biograph, 1964)
She Lyin' (Adelphi, 1964; first released by Genes, 1996)
Today! (Vanguard, 1966)
Devil Got My Woman (Vanguard, 1968)
I'm So Glad (Vanguard, 1978)
Live: Boston, 1964 & Philadelphia, 1966 (Document, 1994)
Skip's Piano Blues, 1964 (Genes, 1998)
Blues from the Delta, with two previously unreleased recordings (Vanguard, 1998)
The Complete Early Recordings of Skip James – 1930 (Yazoo, 1994)
The Complete Bloomington, Indiana Concert, March 30, 1968 (Document, 1999)
Skip's Guitar Blues, 1964(?), (Genes, 1999)
Studio Sessions: Rare and Unreleased, 1967 (Vanguard, 2003)
Hard Time Killing Floor Blues (Biograph, 2003†)
Heroes of the Blues: The Very Best of Skip James (Shout!, 2003)
Hard Time (Universe, 2003†)
Cypress Grove Blues (2004)
Hard Time Killin' Floor (Yazoo 2075, 2005)
References
External links
Interview with Skip James' surviving cousin
1902 births
1969 deaths
People from Bentonia, Mississippi
American blues singers
American blues guitarists
American male guitarists
American blues pianists
American male pianists
Country blues singers
Songwriters from Mississippi
Blues musicians from Mississippi
Blues revival musicians
Country blues musicians
Delta blues musicians
Vanguard Records artists
Deaths from cancer in Mississippi
Paramount Records artists
20th-century American guitarists
20th-century American pianists
Guitarists from Mississippi
Mississippi Blues Trail
African-American male songwriters
African-American pianists
African-American guitarists
20th-century African-American male singers | true | [
"The Bengal Nagpur Railway class HSG was a class of two 2-8-0+0-8-2 Garratt locomotives.\n\nAfter NWR's GAS class, BNR conducted similar experiments for pulling heavier trains up the ghats with successful results. Its parts were similar to BESA heavy goods 2-8-0s. They worked on the Chakradharpur-Jharsuguda section coupled to each other. After electrification they became obsolete. In the end, they were stationed at Kharagpur workshops. They were the first successful class of Garratts.\n\nTechnical specifications\n\nSee also\nIndian Railways\nHistory of rail transport in India\nLocomotives of India\nRail transport in India\n\nReferences\n\n5 ft 6 in gauge locomotives\nBeyer, Peacock locomotives\nSteam locomotives of India\nGarratt locomotives\n2-8-0+0-8-2 locomotives\nScrapped locomotives",
"Between 1980 and 1989, there were 58 Thor missiles launched, of which 56 were successful, giving a 96.6% success rate.\n\nLaunch statistics\n\nRocket configurations\n\nLaunch sites\n\nLaunch outcomes\n\n1980\nThere were 5 Thor missiles launched in 1980. 4 of the 5 launches were successful, giving an 80% success rate.\n\n1981\nThere were 7 Thor missiles launched in 1981. All 7 launches were successful.\n\n1982\nThere were 8 Thor missiles launched in 1982. All 8 launches were successful.\n\n1983\nThere were 10 Thor missiles launched in 1983. All 10 launches were successful.\n\n1984\nThere were 6 Thor missiles launched in 1984. All 6 launches were successful.\n\n1986\nThere were 4 Thor missiles launched in 1986. 3 of the 4 launches were successful, giving a 75% success rate.\n\n1987\nThere were 4 Thor missiles launched in 1987. All 4 launches were successful.\n\n1988\nThere were 3 Thor missiles launched in 1988. All 3 launches were successful.\n\n1989\nThere were 9 Thor missiles launched in 1989. All 9 launches were successful.\n\nReferences \n\n \n \n\nLists of Thor and Delta launches\nLists of Thor launches\nLists of Delta launches"
] |
[
"Tammy Duckworth",
"Military service"
] | C_6c6eab3270324df39b00556c549930bb_1 | What branch of the Military was Duckworth in? | 1 | What branch of the Military was Tammy Duckworth in? | Tammy Duckworth | Following in the footsteps of her father, who served in World War II, and ancestors who served in the Revolutionary War, Duckworth joined the Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps as a graduate student at George Washington University in 1990. She became a commissioned officer in the United States Army Reserve in 1992 and chose to fly helicopters because it was one of the few combat jobs open to women. As a member of the Army Reserve, she went to flight school, later transferring to the Army National Guard and entering the Illinois Army National Guard in 1996. Duckworth also worked as a staff supervisor at Rotary International headquarters in Evanston, Illinois. Duckworth was working towards a Ph.D. in political science at Northern Illinois University, with research interests in the political economy and public health in southeast Asia, when she was deployed to Iraq in 2004. She lost her right leg near the hip and her left leg below the knee from injuries sustained on November 12, 2004, when the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter she was co-piloting was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade fired by Iraqi insurgents. She was the first American female double amputee from the Iraq war. The explosion "almost completely destroyed her right arm, breaking it in three places and tearing tissue from the back side of it". The doctors "reset the bones in her arm and stitched the cuts" to save her arm. Duckworth received a Purple Heart on December 3 and was promoted to Major on December 21 at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where she was presented with an Air Medal and Army Commendation Medal. She retired from the Illinois Army National Guard in October 2014 as a lieutenant colonel. She returned to school and completed a PhD in Human Services at Capella University in March 2015. The Daughters of the American Revolution erected a statue with Duckworth's likeness, and that of the Revolution's Molly Pitcher in Mount Vernon, Illinois, in 2011. The statue was erected in honor of female veterans. CANNOTANSWER | As a member of the Army Reserve, she went to flight school, later transferring to the Army National Guard and entering the Illinois Army National Guard in 1996. | Ladda Tammy Duckworth (born March 12, 1968) is an American politician and retired Army National Guard lieutenant colonel serving as the junior United States senator from Illinois since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, she represented Illinois's 8th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2013 to 2017.
Duckworth was educated at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and George Washington University. A combat veteran of the Iraq War, she served as a U.S. Army helicopter pilot. In 2004, when her helicopter was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade fired by Iraqi insurgents, she lost both legs and some mobility in her right arm. She was the first female double amputee from the war. Despite her injuries, she sought and obtained a medical waiver that allowed her to continue serving in the Illinois Army National Guard until she retired as a lieutenant colonel in 2014.
Duckworth ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the United States House of Representatives in 2006, then served as director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs from 2006 to 2009 and as assistant secretary for public and intergovernmental affairs at the United States Department of Veterans Affairs from 2009 to 2011. In 2012, Duckworth was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where she served two terms. Duckworth was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2016, defeating Republican incumbent Mark Kirk. She is the first Thai American woman elected to Congress, the first person born in Thailand elected to Congress, the first woman with a disability elected to Congress, the first female double amputee in the Senate, and the first senator to give birth while in office. Duckworth is the second of three Asian American women to serve in the U.S. Senate, after Mazie Hirono, and before Kamala Harris.
Early life and education
Duckworth was born in Bangkok, Thailand, the daughter of Franklin Duckworth and Lamai Sompornpairin. Under long-standing US law, she is a natural-born citizen because her father was American. Her father, who died in 2005, was a veteran of the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps who traced his family's American roots to the American Revolutionary War. Her mother is Thai Chinese and originally from Chiang Mai. Her father worked with the United Nations and international companies in refugee, housing, and development programs, and the family moved around Southeast Asia. Duckworth became fluent in Thai and Indonesian, in addition to English.
Duckworth attended Singapore American School, the International School Bangkok, and the Jakarta International School. The family moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, when Duckworth was 16, and she attended Honolulu's McKinley High School, where she participated in track and field and graduated in 1985. Because of a difference in the grade levels between the school systems she attended, Duckworth skipped half of her ninth grade year and half of her tenth. She was a Girl Scout, and earned her First Class, now called the Gold Award. Her father was unemployed for a time, and the family relied on public assistance. She graduated from the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 1989 with a Bachelor of Arts in political science. In 1992, she received a Master of Arts in international affairs from George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs. She began a PhD program at Northern Illinois University, which was interrupted by her war service. She completed a PhD in human services at Capella University in March 2015.
Military service
Following in the footsteps of her father, who served in World War II and the Vietnam War, and ancestors who served in every major conflict since the Revolutionary War, Duckworth joined the Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps in 1990 as a graduate student at George Washington University. She became a commissioned officer in the United States Army Reserve in 1992 and chose to fly helicopters because it was one of the few combat jobs open to women at that time. As a member of the Army Reserve, she went to flight school, later transferring to the Army National Guard and in 1996 entering the Illinois Army National Guard. Duckworth also worked as a staff supervisor at Rotary International headquarters in Evanston, Illinois, and was the coordinator of the Center for Nursing Research at Northern Illinois University.
Duckworth was working toward a Ph.D. in political science at Northern Illinois University, with research interests in the political economy and public health of southeast Asia, when she was deployed to Iraq in 2004. She lost her right leg near the hip and her left leg below the knee from injuries sustained on November 12, 2004, when the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter she was co-piloting was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade fired by Iraqi insurgents. She was the first American female double amputee from the Iraq War. The explosion severely broke her right arm and tore tissue from it, necessitating major surgery to repair it. Duckworth received a Purple Heart on December 3 and was promoted to Major on December 21 at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where she was presented with an Air Medal and Army Commendation Medal. She retired from the Illinois Army National Guard in October 2014 as a lieutenant colonel.
In 2011 the Daughters of the American Revolution erected a statue with Duckworth's likeness and that of Molly Pitcher in Mount Vernon, Illinois. The statue was dedicated to female veterans.
Government service
On November 21, 2006, several weeks after losing her first congressional campaign, Duckworth was appointed director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs by Governor Rod Blagojevich. She served in that position until February 8, 2009. While director, she was credited with starting a program to help veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and veterans with brain injuries.
On September 17, 2008, Duckworth attended a campaign event for Dan Seals, the Democratic candidate for Illinois's 10th congressional district. She used vacation time, but violated Illinois law by going to the event in a state-owned van that was equipped for a person with physical disabilities. She acknowledged the mistake and repaid the state for the use of the van.
In 2009, two Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs employees at the Anna Veterans' Home in Union County filed a lawsuit against Duckworth. The lawsuit alleged that she wrongfully terminated one employee and threatened and intimidated another for bringing reports of abuse and misconduct of veterans when she was head of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs. Duckworth was represented in the suit by the Illinois Attorney General's office. The case was dismissed twice but refilings were allowed. The case settled in June 2016 for $26,000 with no admission of wrongdoing. The plaintiffs later indicated they no longer wanted to settle, but the judge gave them 21 days to sign the settlement and canceled the trial.
On February 3, 2009, President Barack Obama nominated Duckworth to be the Assistant Secretary of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs for the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). and the United States Senate confirmed her for the position on April 22. As Assistant Secretary, she coordinated a joint initiative with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to help end Veteran homelessness, worked to address the unique challenges faced by female as well as Native American Veterans and created the Office of Online Communications to improve the VA's accessibility, especially among young Veterans. Duckworth resigned her position in June 2011 in order to launch her campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives in Illinois's 8th congressional district.
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
2006
After longtime incumbent Republican Henry Hyde announced his retirement from Congress, several candidates began campaigning for the open seat. Duckworth won the Democratic primary with a plurality of 44%, defeating 2004 nominee Christine Cegelis with 40%, and Wheaton College professor Lindy Scott with 16%. State Senator Peter Roskam was unopposed in the Republican primary. For the general election, Duckworth was endorsed by EMILY's List, a political action committee that supports female Democratic candidates who back abortion rights. Duckworth was also endorsed by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the Fraternal Order of Police. While she raised $4.5 million to Roskam's $3.44 million, Duckworth lost by 4,810 votes, receiving 49% to Roskam's 51%.
2012
In July 2011, Duckworth launched her campaign to run in 2012 for Illinois's 8th congressional district. She defeated former Deputy Treasurer of Illinois Raja Krishnamoorthi for the Democratic nomination on March 20, 2012, then faced incumbent Republican Joe Walsh in the general election. Duckworth received the endorsement of both the Chicago Tribune and the Daily Herald. Walsh generated controversy when in July 2012, at a campaign event, he accused Duckworth of politicizing her military service and injuries, saying "my God, that's all she talks about. Our true heroes, the men and women who served us, it's the last thing in the world they talk about." Walsh called the controversy over his comments "a political ploy to distort my words and distract voters" and said that "Of course Tammy Duckworth is a hero ... I have called her a hero hundreds of times."
On November 6, 2012, Duckworth defeated Walsh 55%–45%, making her the first Asian-American from Illinois in Congress, the first woman with a disability elected to Congress, and the first member of Congress born in Thailand.
2014
In the 2014 general election, Duckworth faced Republican Larry Kaifesh, a United States Marine Corps officer who had recently left active duty as a colonel. Duckworth defeated Kaifesh with 56% of the vote.
Tenure
Duckworth was sworn into office on January 3, 2013.
On April 3, 2013, Duckworth publicly returned 8.4% ($1,218) of her congressional salary for that month to the United States Department of Treasury in solidarity with furloughed government workers.
On June 26, 2013, during a hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Duckworth received national media attention after questioning Strong Castle CEO Braulio Castillo on a $500 million government contract the company had been awarded based on Castillo's disabled veteran status. Castillo had injured his ankle at the US Military Academy's prep school, USMAPS, in 1984.
Committee assignments
Committee on Armed Services
Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces (2013–2017)
Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations (2013–2015)
Subcommittee on Readiness (2015–2017)
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
Subcommittee on Energy Policy, Health Care and Entitlements (2013–2015)
Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Job Creation and Regulatory Affairs (2013–2015)
Subcommittee on Transportation and Public Assets, Ranking Member (2015–2017)
Subcommittee on Information Technology (2015–2017)
United States House Select Committee on Benghazi (May 2014–July 2016)
U.S. Senate
Elections
2016
On March 30, 2015, Duckworth announced that she would challenge incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Mark Kirk for his seat in the 2016 Senate election in Illinois. Duckworth defeated fellow Democrats Andrea Zopp and Napoleon Harris in the primary election on March 15, 2016.
During a televised debate on October 27, 2016, Duckworth talked about her ancestors' past service in the United States military. Kirk responded, "I'd forgotten that your parents came all the way from Thailand to serve George Washington." The comment led to the Human Rights Campaign withdrawing their endorsement of Kirk and switching it to Duckworth, stating his comments were "deeply offensive and racist."
Duckworth was endorsed by Barack Obama, who actively campaigned for her.
On November 8, Duckworth defeated Kirk 54 percent to 40 percent to win the Senate seat. Duckworth and Kamala Harris, who was also elected in 2016, are the second and third female Asian American senators, after Mazie Hirono who was elected in 2012.
Tenure
2010s
According to The Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL), a joint partnership between the University of Virginia's Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and Vanderbilt University, Duckworth's "Legislative Effectiveness Score" (LES) is "Exceeds Expectations" as a freshman senator in the 115th Congress (2017–2018), the 11th highest out of 48 Democratic senators.
GovTrack's Report Card on Duckworth for the 115th Congress found that among Senate freshmen, she ranked first in favorably reporting bills out of committee and "Got influential cosponsors the most often compared to Senate freshmen." GovTrack also found that in the first session of the 116th Congress, Duckworth ranked first in favorably reporting bills out of committee and "Got influential cosponsors the most often compared to Senate sophomores."
During the 115th Congress, Duckworth was credited with saving the Americans with Disabilities Act. Specifically, she led public opposition to a controversial bill, H.R. 620, and led 42 senators in pledging to oppose any effort to pass H.R. 620 through the Senate. The Veterans Service Organization and Paralyzed Veterans of America recognized Duckworth's leadership in defending the Americans with Disabilities Act.
In January 2018, when the federal government shut down after the Senate could not agree on a funding bill, Duckworth responded to President Trump's accusations that the Democrats were putting "unlawful immigrants" ahead of the military:
In 2018, Duckworth became the first U.S. senator to give birth while in office. Shortly afterward, the Senate passed Senate Resolution 463, which Duckworth introduced on April 12, 2018, by unanimous consent. The resolution changed Senate rules so that a senator may bring a child under one year old to the Senate floor during votes. The day after the rules were changed, Duckworth's daughter became the first baby on the Senate floor.
2020s
On April 15, 2020, the Trump administration invited Duckworth to join a bipartisan task force on the reopening of the economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Duckworth was publicly critical of Trump's decision to nominate Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court in September 2020. Barrett, a devout Catholic, is a member of a group that considers in vitro fertilization morally illicit. Duckworth said that Barrett's membership in such an organization was "disqualifying and, frankly, insulting to every parent". Both of Duckworth's children were conceived by IVF.
The Center for Effective Lawmaking, a joint initiative of the University of Virginia and Vanderbilt University, ranked Duckworth the fifth most effective Democratic senator in the 116th Congress and the most effective Democratic senator on transportation policy. Professors Craig Volden and Alan Wiseman, co-directors of the Center for Effective Lawmaking, stated, "While still in her first term, Senator Tammy Duckworth has risen to the top five among effective Democratic lawmakers in the Senate. She sponsored 77 bills in the 116th Congress, with four of them passing the Republican-controlled Senate and two becoming law."
Duckworth was participating in the certification of the 2021 United States Electoral College vote count when Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol. In the wake of the attack, Duckworth called Trump "a threat to our nation" and called for his immediate removal from office through the invocation of the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution or impeachment. Two days later, on January 8, she also called for the resignation of Representative Mary Miller, who had quoted Adolf Hitler during a speech on January 5.
Committee assignments
Current
Committee on Armed Services (2019–present)
Subcommittee on Airland (Chair)
Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support
Subcommittee on Strategic Forces
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security
Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation, and the Internet
Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, Insurance and Data Security
Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security
Committee on Environment and Public Works
Subcommittee on Fisheries, Water and Wildlife (Chair)
Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
Previous
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources (2017–2019)
Caucus memberships
Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus
Expand Social Security Caucus
National politics
Duckworth has spoken at the 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2020 Democratic National Conventions. She was the permanent co-chair of the 2020 Democratic National Convention. At the 2020 convention she called Trump "coward-in-chief" for not supporting the American military.
Duckworth was vetted as a possible running mate during Joe Biden's vice presidential candidate selection. Fellow U.S. Senator Kamala Harris was instead selected. Biden nominated Duckworth to serve as Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee, along with Gretchen Whitmer, Keisha Lance Bottoms and Filemon Vela Jr.
Political positions
Environment
In April 2019, Duckworth was one of 12 senators to sign a bipartisan letter to top senators on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development advocating that the Energy Department be granted maximum funding for carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS), arguing that American job growth could be stimulated by investment in viable options to capture carbon emissions and expressing disagreement with Trump's 2020 budget request to combine the two federal programs that include carbon capture research.
Foreign policy
During her unsuccessful congressional campaign in 2006, Duckworth called on Congress to audit the estimated $437 billion spent on overseas military and foreign aid since September 11, 2001.
On September 30, 2006, Duckworth gave the Democratic Party's response to President George W. Bush's weekly radio address. In it, she was critical of Bush's strategy for the Iraq War.
In October 2006, The Sunday Times reported that Duckworth agreed with General Sir Richard Dannatt, the British Army chief, that the presence of coalition troops was exacerbating the conflict in Iraq.
Duckworth supports continued U.S. military aid to Israel and opposes the movement for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel. She voiced her opposition to Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank.
In May 2019, Duckworth was a cosponsor of the South China Sea and East China Sea Sanctions Act, a bipartisan bill reintroduced by Marco Rubio and Ben Cardin that was intended to disrupt China's consolidation or expansion of its claims of jurisdiction over both the sea and air space in disputed zones in the South China Sea.
On June 6, 2021, Duckworth and Senators Dan Sullivan and Christopher Coons visited Taipei in an U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III transport to meet President Tsai Ing-wen and Minister Joseph Wu during the pandemic outbreak of Taiwan to announce President Joe Biden's donation plan of 750,000 COVID-19 vaccines included in the global COVAX program.
Gun law
Duckworth was rated by the National Rifle Association as having a pro-gun control congressional voting record. Duckworth, who is a gun owner herself, cites violence in Chicago as a major influence for her support of gun control. She supports universal background checks and the halting of state-to-state gun trafficking.
Duckworth participated in the 2016 Chris Murphy gun control filibuster. During the sit-in, Duckworth hid her mobile phone in her prosthetic leg to avoid it being taken away from her since taking pictures and recording on the House floor is against policy.
In a 2016 interview with GQ magazine, Duckworth stated that gaining control of the Senate and "closing the gap" in the House would be necessary in order to pass common sense gun laws. She also stated that she believed moderate Republicans, who support common sense gun control, would have more power to influence gun control if they were not "pushed aside by those folks who are absolutely beholden to the NRA. And so we never get the vote."
Health policy
Duckworth supports abortion rights and the Affordable Care Act.
Immigration
Duckworth supports comprehensive immigration reform with a pathway to citizenship for those in the country illegally. She would admit 100,000 Syrian refugees into the United States.
In August 2018, Duckworth was one of seventeen senators to sign a letter spearheaded by Kamala Harris to United States Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen demanding that the Trump administration take immediate action in attempting to reunite 539 migrant children with their families, citing each passing day of inaction as intensifying "trauma that this administration has needlessly caused for children and their families seeking humanitarian protection."
Electoral history
Awards and accolades
In May 2010, Duckworth was awarded the Honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters (DHL) by Northern Illinois University. In 2011, Chicago's Access Living honored Duckworth for her work on behalf of veterans with disabilities, bestowing her with the Gordon H. Mansfield Congressional Leadership Award.
Duckworth is heavily decorated for her service in Iraq, with over 10 distinct military honors, most notably the Purple Heart, an award her Marine father had also received.
Former Republican presidential candidate and Senator from Kansas Bob Dole dedicated his autobiography One Soldier's Story in part to Duckworth. Duckworth credits Dole for inspiring her to pursue public service, while she recuperated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center; although, in 2006, Dole endorsed Duckworth's Republican opponent, Peter Roskam.
Personal life
Duckworth has been married to Bryan Bowlsbey since 1993. They met during Duckworth's participation in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps and later served together in the Illinois Army National Guard. Bowlsbey, a Signal Corps officer, is also a veteran of the Iraq War. Both have since retired from the armed forces.
Duckworth and Bowlsbey have two daughters: Abigail, who was born in 2014, and Maile, born in 2018. Maile's birth made Duckworth the first U.S. Senator to give birth while in office. Former senator Daniel Akaka helped the couple with the naming of both daughters; Akaka died April 6, 2018, three days before Maile was born. Shortly after Maile's birth, a Senate rule change permitted senators to bring children under one year old on the Senate floor to breastfeed. This was a symbolic moment for Duckworth, as she had previously introduced the bipartisan Friendly Airports for Mothers (FAM) Act to ensure new mothers access to safe, clean and accessible lactation rooms in airports. The day after the rule change, Duckworth brought Maile with her during the casting of a Senate vote, making Duckworth the first senator to cast a vote while holding a baby.
Duckworth helped establish the Intrepid Foundation to help injured veterans.
Bibliography
Every Day is a Gift: A Memoir, Little, Brown & Company, 2021.
See also
Fighting Dems
VoteVets.org
References
External links
Senator Tammy Duckworth official U.S. Senate website
Tammy Duckworth for Senate official campaign website
Front & Center with John Callaway: Returning Veterans: How Warm A Welcome? at the Pritzker Military Museum & Library, July 12, 2007
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1968 births
21st-century American politicians
21st-century American women politicians
American amputees
United States Army personnel of the Iraq War
Members of the United States Congress of Chinese descent
American people of Thai descent
American politicians with physical disabilities
Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives
Democratic Party United States senators
Asian-American members of the United States House of Representatives
Asian-American United States senators
Women military aviators
Female members of the United States House of Representatives
Female United States senators
Elliott School of International Affairs alumni
American Senior Army Aviators
Illinois Democrats
Illinois National Guard personnel
Living people
Members of the United States House of Representatives from Illinois
National Guard of the United States officers
Obama administration personnel
Tammy Duckworth
Politicians from Honolulu
People from Hoffman Estates, Illinois
Recipients of the Air Medal
Shot-down aviators
State cabinet secretaries of Illinois
Thai emigrants to the United States
United States Department of Veterans Affairs officials
United States senators from Illinois
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa alumni
Women in Illinois politics
Women in the Iraq War
Female United States Army officers
Recipients of the Meritorious Service Medal (United States)
Daughters of the American Revolution people
American women of Chinese descent in politics
Asian-American people in Illinois politics | false | [
"Ladda Tammy Duckworth (born March 12, 1968) is an American politician and retired Army National Guard lieutenant colonel serving as the junior United States senator from Illinois since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, she represented Illinois's 8th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2013 to 2017.\n\nDuckworth was educated at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and George Washington University. A combat veteran of the Iraq War, she served as a U.S. Army helicopter pilot. In 2004, when her helicopter was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade fired by Iraqi insurgents, she lost both legs and some mobility in her right arm. She was the first female double amputee from the war. Despite her injuries, she sought and obtained a medical waiver that allowed her to continue serving in the Illinois Army National Guard until she retired as a lieutenant colonel in 2014.\n\nDuckworth ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the United States House of Representatives in 2006, then served as director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs from 2006 to 2009 and as assistant secretary for public and intergovernmental affairs at the United States Department of Veterans Affairs from 2009 to 2011. In 2012, Duckworth was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where she served two terms. Duckworth was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2016, defeating Republican incumbent Mark Kirk. She is the first Thai American woman elected to Congress, the first person born in Thailand elected to Congress, the first woman with a disability elected to Congress, the first female double amputee in the Senate, and the first senator to give birth while in office. Duckworth is the second of three Asian American women to serve in the U.S. Senate, after Mazie Hirono, and before Kamala Harris.\n\nEarly life and education\nDuckworth was born in Bangkok, Thailand, the daughter of Franklin Duckworth and Lamai Sompornpairin. Under long-standing US law, she is a natural-born citizen because her father was American. Her father, who died in 2005, was a veteran of the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps who traced his family's American roots to the American Revolutionary War. Her mother is Thai Chinese and originally from Chiang Mai. Her father worked with the United Nations and international companies in refugee, housing, and development programs, and the family moved around Southeast Asia. Duckworth became fluent in Thai and Indonesian, in addition to English.\n\nDuckworth attended Singapore American School, the International School Bangkok, and the Jakarta International School. The family moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, when Duckworth was 16, and she attended Honolulu's McKinley High School, where she participated in track and field and graduated in 1985. Because of a difference in the grade levels between the school systems she attended, Duckworth skipped half of her ninth grade year and half of her tenth. She was a Girl Scout, and earned her First Class, now called the Gold Award. Her father was unemployed for a time, and the family relied on public assistance. She graduated from the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 1989 with a Bachelor of Arts in political science. In 1992, she received a Master of Arts in international affairs from George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs. She began a PhD program at Northern Illinois University, which was interrupted by her war service. She completed a PhD in human services at Capella University in March 2015.\n\nMilitary service\n\nFollowing in the footsteps of her father, who served in World War II and the Vietnam War, and ancestors who served in every major conflict since the Revolutionary War, Duckworth joined the Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps in 1990 as a graduate student at George Washington University. She became a commissioned officer in the United States Army Reserve in 1992 and chose to fly helicopters because it was one of the few combat jobs open to women at that time. As a member of the Army Reserve, she went to flight school, later transferring to the Army National Guard and in 1996 entering the Illinois Army National Guard. Duckworth also worked as a staff supervisor at Rotary International headquarters in Evanston, Illinois, and was the coordinator of the Center for Nursing Research at Northern Illinois University.\n\nDuckworth was working toward a Ph.D. in political science at Northern Illinois University, with research interests in the political economy and public health of southeast Asia, when she was deployed to Iraq in 2004. She lost her right leg near the hip and her left leg below the knee from injuries sustained on November 12, 2004, when the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter she was co-piloting was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade fired by Iraqi insurgents. She was the first American female double amputee from the Iraq War. The explosion severely broke her right arm and tore tissue from it, necessitating major surgery to repair it. Duckworth received a Purple Heart on December 3 and was promoted to Major on December 21 at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where she was presented with an Air Medal and Army Commendation Medal. She retired from the Illinois Army National Guard in October 2014 as a lieutenant colonel.\n\nIn 2011 the Daughters of the American Revolution erected a statue with Duckworth's likeness and that of Molly Pitcher in Mount Vernon, Illinois. The statue was dedicated to female veterans.\n\nGovernment service\n\nOn November 21, 2006, several weeks after losing her first congressional campaign, Duckworth was appointed director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs by Governor Rod Blagojevich. She served in that position until February 8, 2009. While director, she was credited with starting a program to help veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and veterans with brain injuries.\n\nOn September 17, 2008, Duckworth attended a campaign event for Dan Seals, the Democratic candidate for Illinois's 10th congressional district. She used vacation time, but violated Illinois law by going to the event in a state-owned van that was equipped for a person with physical disabilities. She acknowledged the mistake and repaid the state for the use of the van.\n\nIn 2009, two Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs employees at the Anna Veterans' Home in Union County filed a lawsuit against Duckworth. The lawsuit alleged that she wrongfully terminated one employee and threatened and intimidated another for bringing reports of abuse and misconduct of veterans when she was head of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs. Duckworth was represented in the suit by the Illinois Attorney General's office. The case was dismissed twice but refilings were allowed. The case settled in June 2016 for $26,000 with no admission of wrongdoing. The plaintiffs later indicated they no longer wanted to settle, but the judge gave them 21 days to sign the settlement and canceled the trial.\n\nOn February 3, 2009, President Barack Obama nominated Duckworth to be the Assistant Secretary of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs for the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). and the United States Senate confirmed her for the position on April 22. As Assistant Secretary, she coordinated a joint initiative with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to help end Veteran homelessness, worked to address the unique challenges faced by female as well as Native American Veterans and created the Office of Online Communications to improve the VA's accessibility, especially among young Veterans. Duckworth resigned her position in June 2011 in order to launch her campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives in Illinois's 8th congressional district.\n\nU.S. House of Representatives\n\nElections\n\n2006 \n\nAfter longtime incumbent Republican Henry Hyde announced his retirement from Congress, several candidates began campaigning for the open seat. Duckworth won the Democratic primary with a plurality of 44%, defeating 2004 nominee Christine Cegelis with 40%, and Wheaton College professor Lindy Scott with 16%. State Senator Peter Roskam was unopposed in the Republican primary. For the general election, Duckworth was endorsed by EMILY's List, a political action committee that supports female Democratic candidates who back abortion rights. Duckworth was also endorsed by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the Fraternal Order of Police. While she raised $4.5 million to Roskam's $3.44 million, Duckworth lost by 4,810 votes, receiving 49% to Roskam's 51%.\n\n2012 \n\nIn July 2011, Duckworth launched her campaign to run in 2012 for Illinois's 8th congressional district. She defeated former Deputy Treasurer of Illinois Raja Krishnamoorthi for the Democratic nomination on March 20, 2012, then faced incumbent Republican Joe Walsh in the general election. Duckworth received the endorsement of both the Chicago Tribune and the Daily Herald. Walsh generated controversy when in July 2012, at a campaign event, he accused Duckworth of politicizing her military service and injuries, saying \"my God, that's all she talks about. Our true heroes, the men and women who served us, it's the last thing in the world they talk about.\" Walsh called the controversy over his comments \"a political ploy to distort my words and distract voters\" and said that \"Of course Tammy Duckworth is a hero ... I have called her a hero hundreds of times.\"\n\nOn November 6, 2012, Duckworth defeated Walsh 55%–45%, making her the first Asian-American from Illinois in Congress, the first woman with a disability elected to Congress, and the first member of Congress born in Thailand.\n\n2014 \n\nIn the 2014 general election, Duckworth faced Republican Larry Kaifesh, a United States Marine Corps officer who had recently left active duty as a colonel. Duckworth defeated Kaifesh with 56% of the vote.\n\nTenure \nDuckworth was sworn into office on January 3, 2013.\n\nOn April 3, 2013, Duckworth publicly returned 8.4% ($1,218) of her congressional salary for that month to the United States Department of Treasury in solidarity with furloughed government workers.\n\nOn June 26, 2013, during a hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Duckworth received national media attention after questioning Strong Castle CEO Braulio Castillo on a $500 million government contract the company had been awarded based on Castillo's disabled veteran status. Castillo had injured his ankle at the US Military Academy's prep school, USMAPS, in 1984.\n\nCommittee assignments\n Committee on Armed Services\n Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces (2013–2017)\n Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations (2013–2015)\n Subcommittee on Readiness (2015–2017)\n Committee on Oversight and Government Reform\n Subcommittee on Energy Policy, Health Care and Entitlements (2013–2015)\n Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Job Creation and Regulatory Affairs (2013–2015)\n Subcommittee on Transportation and Public Assets, Ranking Member (2015–2017)\n Subcommittee on Information Technology (2015–2017)\n United States House Select Committee on Benghazi (May 2014–July 2016)\n\nU.S. Senate\n\nElections\n2016\n\nOn March 30, 2015, Duckworth announced that she would challenge incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Mark Kirk for his seat in the 2016 Senate election in Illinois. Duckworth defeated fellow Democrats Andrea Zopp and Napoleon Harris in the primary election on March 15, 2016.\n\nDuring a televised debate on October 27, 2016, Duckworth talked about her ancestors' past service in the United States military. Kirk responded, \"I'd forgotten that your parents came all the way from Thailand to serve George Washington.\" The comment led to the Human Rights Campaign withdrawing their endorsement of Kirk and switching it to Duckworth, stating his comments were \"deeply offensive and racist.\"\n\nDuckworth was endorsed by Barack Obama, who actively campaigned for her.\n\nOn November 8, Duckworth defeated Kirk 54 percent to 40 percent to win the Senate seat. Duckworth and Kamala Harris, who was also elected in 2016, are the second and third female Asian American senators, after Mazie Hirono who was elected in 2012.\n\nTenure\n\n2010s\nAccording to The Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL), a joint partnership between the University of Virginia's Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and Vanderbilt University, Duckworth's \"Legislative Effectiveness Score\" (LES) is \"Exceeds Expectations\" as a freshman senator in the 115th Congress (2017–2018), the 11th highest out of 48 Democratic senators.\n\nGovTrack's Report Card on Duckworth for the 115th Congress found that among Senate freshmen, she ranked first in favorably reporting bills out of committee and \"Got influential cosponsors the most often compared to Senate freshmen.\" GovTrack also found that in the first session of the 116th Congress, Duckworth ranked first in favorably reporting bills out of committee and \"Got influential cosponsors the most often compared to Senate sophomores.\"\n\nDuring the 115th Congress, Duckworth was credited with saving the Americans with Disabilities Act. Specifically, she led public opposition to a controversial bill, H.R. 620, and led 42 senators in pledging to oppose any effort to pass H.R. 620 through the Senate. The Veterans Service Organization and Paralyzed Veterans of America recognized Duckworth's leadership in defending the Americans with Disabilities Act.\n\nIn January 2018, when the federal government shut down after the Senate could not agree on a funding bill, Duckworth responded to President Trump's accusations that the Democrats were putting \"unlawful immigrants\" ahead of the military: \n\nIn 2018, Duckworth became the first U.S. senator to give birth while in office. Shortly afterward, the Senate passed Senate Resolution 463, which Duckworth introduced on April 12, 2018, by unanimous consent. The resolution changed Senate rules so that a senator may bring a child under one year old to the Senate floor during votes. The day after the rules were changed, Duckworth's daughter became the first baby on the Senate floor.\n\n2020s\nOn April 15, 2020, the Trump administration invited Duckworth to join a bipartisan task force on the reopening of the economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic.\n\nDuckworth was publicly critical of Trump's decision to nominate Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court in September 2020. Barrett, a devout Catholic, is a member of a group that considers in vitro fertilization morally illicit. Duckworth said that Barrett's membership in such an organization was \"disqualifying and, frankly, insulting to every parent\". Both of Duckworth's children were conceived by IVF.\n\nThe Center for Effective Lawmaking, a joint initiative of the University of Virginia and Vanderbilt University, ranked Duckworth the fifth most effective Democratic senator in the 116th Congress and the most effective Democratic senator on transportation policy. Professors Craig Volden and Alan Wiseman, co-directors of the Center for Effective Lawmaking, stated, \"While still in her first term, Senator Tammy Duckworth has risen to the top five among effective Democratic lawmakers in the Senate. She sponsored 77 bills in the 116th Congress, with four of them passing the Republican-controlled Senate and two becoming law.\"\n\nDuckworth was participating in the certification of the 2021 United States Electoral College vote count when Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol. In the wake of the attack, Duckworth called Trump \"a threat to our nation\" and called for his immediate removal from office through the invocation of the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution or impeachment. Two days later, on January 8, she also called for the resignation of Representative Mary Miller, who had quoted Adolf Hitler during a speech on January 5.\n\nCommittee assignments\n\nCurrent\n Committee on Armed Services (2019–present)\n Subcommittee on Airland (Chair)\n Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support\n Subcommittee on Strategic Forces\n Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation\n Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security\n Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation, and the Internet\n Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, Insurance and Data Security\n Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security\n Committee on Environment and Public Works\n Subcommittee on Fisheries, Water and Wildlife (Chair)\n Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure\n Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship\n\nPrevious\n Committee on Energy and Natural Resources (2017–2019)\n\nCaucus memberships\n Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus\n Expand Social Security Caucus\n\nNational politics\nDuckworth has spoken at the 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2020 Democratic National Conventions. She was the permanent co-chair of the 2020 Democratic National Convention. At the 2020 convention she called Trump \"coward-in-chief\" for not supporting the American military.\n\nDuckworth was vetted as a possible running mate during Joe Biden's vice presidential candidate selection. Fellow U.S. Senator Kamala Harris was instead selected. Biden nominated Duckworth to serve as Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee, along with Gretchen Whitmer, Keisha Lance Bottoms and Filemon Vela Jr.\n\nPolitical positions\n\nEnvironment \nIn April 2019, Duckworth was one of 12 senators to sign a bipartisan letter to top senators on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development advocating that the Energy Department be granted maximum funding for carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS), arguing that American job growth could be stimulated by investment in viable options to capture carbon emissions and expressing disagreement with Trump's 2020 budget request to combine the two federal programs that include carbon capture research.\n\nForeign policy\n\nDuring her unsuccessful congressional campaign in 2006, Duckworth called on Congress to audit the estimated $437 billion spent on overseas military and foreign aid since September 11, 2001.\n\nOn September 30, 2006, Duckworth gave the Democratic Party's response to President George W. Bush's weekly radio address. In it, she was critical of Bush's strategy for the Iraq War.\n\nIn October 2006, The Sunday Times reported that Duckworth agreed with General Sir Richard Dannatt, the British Army chief, that the presence of coalition troops was exacerbating the conflict in Iraq.\n\nDuckworth supports continued U.S. military aid to Israel and opposes the movement for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel. She voiced her opposition to Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank.\n\nIn May 2019, Duckworth was a cosponsor of the South China Sea and East China Sea Sanctions Act, a bipartisan bill reintroduced by Marco Rubio and Ben Cardin that was intended to disrupt China's consolidation or expansion of its claims of jurisdiction over both the sea and air space in disputed zones in the South China Sea.\n\nOn June 6, 2021, Duckworth and Senators Dan Sullivan and Christopher Coons visited Taipei in an U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III transport to meet President Tsai Ing-wen and Minister Joseph Wu during the pandemic outbreak of Taiwan to announce President Joe Biden's donation plan of 750,000 COVID-19 vaccines included in the global COVAX program.\n\nGun law\nDuckworth was rated by the National Rifle Association as having a pro-gun control congressional voting record. Duckworth, who is a gun owner herself, cites violence in Chicago as a major influence for her support of gun control. She supports universal background checks and the halting of state-to-state gun trafficking.\n\nDuckworth participated in the 2016 Chris Murphy gun control filibuster. During the sit-in, Duckworth hid her mobile phone in her prosthetic leg to avoid it being taken away from her since taking pictures and recording on the House floor is against policy.\n\nIn a 2016 interview with GQ magazine, Duckworth stated that gaining control of the Senate and \"closing the gap\" in the House would be necessary in order to pass common sense gun laws. She also stated that she believed moderate Republicans, who support common sense gun control, would have more power to influence gun control if they were not \"pushed aside by those folks who are absolutely beholden to the NRA. And so we never get the vote.\"\n\nHealth policy\nDuckworth supports abortion rights and the Affordable Care Act.\n\nImmigration\nDuckworth supports comprehensive immigration reform with a pathway to citizenship for those in the country illegally. She would admit 100,000 Syrian refugees into the United States.\n\nIn August 2018, Duckworth was one of seventeen senators to sign a letter spearheaded by Kamala Harris to United States Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen demanding that the Trump administration take immediate action in attempting to reunite 539 migrant children with their families, citing each passing day of inaction as intensifying \"trauma that this administration has needlessly caused for children and their families seeking humanitarian protection.\"\n\nElectoral history\n\nAwards and accolades\nIn May 2010, Duckworth was awarded the Honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters (DHL) by Northern Illinois University. In 2011, Chicago's Access Living honored Duckworth for her work on behalf of veterans with disabilities, bestowing her with the Gordon H. Mansfield Congressional Leadership Award.\n\nDuckworth is heavily decorated for her service in Iraq, with over 10 distinct military honors, most notably the Purple Heart, an award her Marine father had also received.\n\nFormer Republican presidential candidate and Senator from Kansas Bob Dole dedicated his autobiography One Soldier's Story in part to Duckworth. Duckworth credits Dole for inspiring her to pursue public service, while she recuperated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center; although, in 2006, Dole endorsed Duckworth's Republican opponent, Peter Roskam.\n\nPersonal life\nDuckworth has been married to Bryan Bowlsbey since 1993. They met during Duckworth's participation in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps and later served together in the Illinois Army National Guard. Bowlsbey, a Signal Corps officer, is also a veteran of the Iraq War. Both have since retired from the armed forces.\n\nDuckworth and Bowlsbey have two daughters: Abigail, who was born in 2014, and Maile, born in 2018. Maile's birth made Duckworth the first U.S. Senator to give birth while in office. Former senator Daniel Akaka helped the couple with the naming of both daughters; Akaka died April 6, 2018, three days before Maile was born. Shortly after Maile's birth, a Senate rule change permitted senators to bring children under one year old on the Senate floor to breastfeed. This was a symbolic moment for Duckworth, as she had previously introduced the bipartisan Friendly Airports for Mothers (FAM) Act to ensure new mothers access to safe, clean and accessible lactation rooms in airports. The day after the rule change, Duckworth brought Maile with her during the casting of a Senate vote, making Duckworth the first senator to cast a vote while holding a baby.\n\nDuckworth helped establish the Intrepid Foundation to help injured veterans.\n\nBibliography\n \n Every Day is a Gift: A Memoir, Little, Brown & Company, 2021.\n\nSee also\n Fighting Dems\n VoteVets.org\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n Senator Tammy Duckworth official U.S. Senate website\n Tammy Duckworth for Senate official campaign website\n \n \n\n Front & Center with John Callaway: Returning Veterans: How Warm A Welcome? at the Pritzker Military Museum & Library, July 12, 2007\n\n|-\n\n|-\n\n|-\n\n|-\n\n|-\n\n|-\n\n1968 births\n21st-century American politicians\n21st-century American women politicians\nAmerican amputees\nUnited States Army personnel of the Iraq War\nMembers of the United States Congress of Chinese descent\nAmerican people of Thai descent\nAmerican politicians with physical disabilities\nDemocratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives\nDemocratic Party United States senators\nAsian-American members of the United States House of Representatives\nAsian-American United States senators\nWomen military aviators\nFemale members of the United States House of Representatives\nFemale United States senators\nElliott School of International Affairs alumni\nAmerican Senior Army Aviators\nIllinois Democrats\nIllinois National Guard personnel\nLiving people\nMembers of the United States House of Representatives from Illinois\nNational Guard of the United States officers\nObama administration personnel\nTammy Duckworth\nPoliticians from Honolulu\nPeople from Hoffman Estates, Illinois\nRecipients of the Air Medal\nShot-down aviators\nState cabinet secretaries of Illinois\nThai emigrants to the United States\nUnited States Department of Veterans Affairs officials\nUnited States senators from Illinois\nUniversity of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa alumni\nWomen in Illinois politics\nWomen in the Iraq War\nFemale United States Army officers\nRecipients of the Meritorious Service Medal (United States)\nDaughters of the American Revolution people\nAmerican women of Chinese descent in politics\nAsian-American people in Illinois politics",
"Gerald de l'Etang Duckworth (29 October 1870 – 28 September 1937) was an English publisher, who founded the London company that bears his name. Henry James and John Galsworthy were among the firm's early authors.\n\nBackground and early life\n\nDuckworth was a son of Herbert Duckworth, a London barrister, by his wife Julia Jackson. His middle name, de l'Etang, was the surname of one of his mother's ancestors, Antoine de l'Etang, a page to Queen Marie Antoinette. His mother was a niece of Julia Margaret Cameron, the photographer, after whom she was named.\n\nDuckworth's father died before his birth. When he was eight his mother married the author Leslie Stephen and had four more children: Virginia Stephen, later the author Virginia Woolf, the painter Vanessa Bell, and two sons, Thoby and Adrian Stephen. Gerald and his elder brother, George were later accused by Virginia and Vanessa of sexually abusing them when they were children and teenagers. Woolf published her first two novels with her brother's help before forming the Hogarth Press.\n\nGerald Duckworth was educated at Eton College and Clare College, Cambridge.\n\nCareer\nIn 1898, Duckworth founded the publishing company which bears his name, Gerald Duckworth and Company Ltd, in Henrietta Street, Covent Garden. In his first year, 1898–1899, he published Henry James's In the Cage; Leslie Stephen's English Literature and Society in the Eighteenth Century; Jocelyn by John Sinjohn, a pseudonym of John Galsworthy; a translation of August Strindberg's Der Vater; and Mother Goose in Prose, the first children's book by L. Frank Baum, and the first book illustrated by Maxfield Parrish. (Baum's most famous work, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, was published in Chicago a year later.)\n\nEdward Garnett (whose son David would marry Duckworth's niece Angelica Bell) was Duckworth's reader for nearly twenty years. The firm published W. H. Hudson, Charles M. Doughty, D. H. Lawrence, Evelyn Waugh, Virginia Woolf, and most of the work of Edith Sitwell, Osbert Sitwell, and Sacheverell Sitwell. It published all of John Galsworthy's plays between 1909 and 1929.\n\nIn 1929, Galsworthy was shocked that Duckworth required him to sign all 1,250 copies of a limited edition of his collected plays. But when told he would get a royalty of 15s. 9d. per copy, he set up his watch and said: \"Let's see how long it takes me to earn £984 7s. 6d.\"\n\nDuckworth died in Milan, Italy, in 1937, but the firm continued to thrive. It marked its centenary in 1998, but then ran into financial troubles in 2003. It was bought out by Peter Mayer, although it has continued to publish under the name of Duckworth.\n\nRepresentations\nThree portraits of Duckworth are held by the National Portrait Gallery. Anthony Powell became Duckworth's literary editor in 1926, and the publisher Judkins & Judkins in his novel What's become of Waring? (1939) is modelled on Duckworth's.\n\nFamily\nOn 2 March 1921, Duckworth married Cecil Alice Scott-Chad (born 1891), the daughter of Charles Scott-Chad, a barrister, and cousin of the footballing barrister George Scott-Chad. She and Duckworth had no children.\n\nDuckworth's older brother Sir George Herbert Duckworth (1868–1934) was private secretary to Austen Chamberlain. He became the grandfather of Anthony Duckworth-Chad. His sister Stella (1869–1897) married John Waller Hills, but died three months later.\n\nReferences\n\nGerald L'Étang Duckworth, (1870–1937), publisher by Geraldine Beare in Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press, 2004) \nGerald Duckworth at DNB online\n\nExternal links \n Gerald Duckworth and Company Ltd website\n \"D-day dawns for Duckworth\" - Guardian Unlimited article, by John Ezard, dated Friday, April 25, 2003\n Wiki-Genealogy\n\n1870 births\n1937 deaths\nPeople educated at Eton College\nAlumni of Clare College, Cambridge\nPublishers (people) from London\nVirginia Woolf"
] |
[
"Tammy Duckworth",
"Military service",
"What branch of the Military was Duckworth in?",
"As a member of the Army Reserve, she went to flight school, later transferring to the Army National Guard and entering the Illinois Army National Guard in 1996."
] | C_6c6eab3270324df39b00556c549930bb_1 | When was she first deployed? | 2 | When was Tammy Duckworth first deployed into the Army Reserve? | Tammy Duckworth | Following in the footsteps of her father, who served in World War II, and ancestors who served in the Revolutionary War, Duckworth joined the Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps as a graduate student at George Washington University in 1990. She became a commissioned officer in the United States Army Reserve in 1992 and chose to fly helicopters because it was one of the few combat jobs open to women. As a member of the Army Reserve, she went to flight school, later transferring to the Army National Guard and entering the Illinois Army National Guard in 1996. Duckworth also worked as a staff supervisor at Rotary International headquarters in Evanston, Illinois. Duckworth was working towards a Ph.D. in political science at Northern Illinois University, with research interests in the political economy and public health in southeast Asia, when she was deployed to Iraq in 2004. She lost her right leg near the hip and her left leg below the knee from injuries sustained on November 12, 2004, when the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter she was co-piloting was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade fired by Iraqi insurgents. She was the first American female double amputee from the Iraq war. The explosion "almost completely destroyed her right arm, breaking it in three places and tearing tissue from the back side of it". The doctors "reset the bones in her arm and stitched the cuts" to save her arm. Duckworth received a Purple Heart on December 3 and was promoted to Major on December 21 at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where she was presented with an Air Medal and Army Commendation Medal. She retired from the Illinois Army National Guard in October 2014 as a lieutenant colonel. She returned to school and completed a PhD in Human Services at Capella University in March 2015. The Daughters of the American Revolution erected a statue with Duckworth's likeness, and that of the Revolution's Molly Pitcher in Mount Vernon, Illinois, in 2011. The statue was erected in honor of female veterans. CANNOTANSWER | when she was deployed to Iraq in 2004. | Ladda Tammy Duckworth (born March 12, 1968) is an American politician and retired Army National Guard lieutenant colonel serving as the junior United States senator from Illinois since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, she represented Illinois's 8th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2013 to 2017.
Duckworth was educated at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and George Washington University. A combat veteran of the Iraq War, she served as a U.S. Army helicopter pilot. In 2004, when her helicopter was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade fired by Iraqi insurgents, she lost both legs and some mobility in her right arm. She was the first female double amputee from the war. Despite her injuries, she sought and obtained a medical waiver that allowed her to continue serving in the Illinois Army National Guard until she retired as a lieutenant colonel in 2014.
Duckworth ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the United States House of Representatives in 2006, then served as director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs from 2006 to 2009 and as assistant secretary for public and intergovernmental affairs at the United States Department of Veterans Affairs from 2009 to 2011. In 2012, Duckworth was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where she served two terms. Duckworth was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2016, defeating Republican incumbent Mark Kirk. She is the first Thai American woman elected to Congress, the first person born in Thailand elected to Congress, the first woman with a disability elected to Congress, the first female double amputee in the Senate, and the first senator to give birth while in office. Duckworth is the second of three Asian American women to serve in the U.S. Senate, after Mazie Hirono, and before Kamala Harris.
Early life and education
Duckworth was born in Bangkok, Thailand, the daughter of Franklin Duckworth and Lamai Sompornpairin. Under long-standing US law, she is a natural-born citizen because her father was American. Her father, who died in 2005, was a veteran of the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps who traced his family's American roots to the American Revolutionary War. Her mother is Thai Chinese and originally from Chiang Mai. Her father worked with the United Nations and international companies in refugee, housing, and development programs, and the family moved around Southeast Asia. Duckworth became fluent in Thai and Indonesian, in addition to English.
Duckworth attended Singapore American School, the International School Bangkok, and the Jakarta International School. The family moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, when Duckworth was 16, and she attended Honolulu's McKinley High School, where she participated in track and field and graduated in 1985. Because of a difference in the grade levels between the school systems she attended, Duckworth skipped half of her ninth grade year and half of her tenth. She was a Girl Scout, and earned her First Class, now called the Gold Award. Her father was unemployed for a time, and the family relied on public assistance. She graduated from the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 1989 with a Bachelor of Arts in political science. In 1992, she received a Master of Arts in international affairs from George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs. She began a PhD program at Northern Illinois University, which was interrupted by her war service. She completed a PhD in human services at Capella University in March 2015.
Military service
Following in the footsteps of her father, who served in World War II and the Vietnam War, and ancestors who served in every major conflict since the Revolutionary War, Duckworth joined the Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps in 1990 as a graduate student at George Washington University. She became a commissioned officer in the United States Army Reserve in 1992 and chose to fly helicopters because it was one of the few combat jobs open to women at that time. As a member of the Army Reserve, she went to flight school, later transferring to the Army National Guard and in 1996 entering the Illinois Army National Guard. Duckworth also worked as a staff supervisor at Rotary International headquarters in Evanston, Illinois, and was the coordinator of the Center for Nursing Research at Northern Illinois University.
Duckworth was working toward a Ph.D. in political science at Northern Illinois University, with research interests in the political economy and public health of southeast Asia, when she was deployed to Iraq in 2004. She lost her right leg near the hip and her left leg below the knee from injuries sustained on November 12, 2004, when the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter she was co-piloting was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade fired by Iraqi insurgents. She was the first American female double amputee from the Iraq War. The explosion severely broke her right arm and tore tissue from it, necessitating major surgery to repair it. Duckworth received a Purple Heart on December 3 and was promoted to Major on December 21 at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where she was presented with an Air Medal and Army Commendation Medal. She retired from the Illinois Army National Guard in October 2014 as a lieutenant colonel.
In 2011 the Daughters of the American Revolution erected a statue with Duckworth's likeness and that of Molly Pitcher in Mount Vernon, Illinois. The statue was dedicated to female veterans.
Government service
On November 21, 2006, several weeks after losing her first congressional campaign, Duckworth was appointed director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs by Governor Rod Blagojevich. She served in that position until February 8, 2009. While director, she was credited with starting a program to help veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and veterans with brain injuries.
On September 17, 2008, Duckworth attended a campaign event for Dan Seals, the Democratic candidate for Illinois's 10th congressional district. She used vacation time, but violated Illinois law by going to the event in a state-owned van that was equipped for a person with physical disabilities. She acknowledged the mistake and repaid the state for the use of the van.
In 2009, two Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs employees at the Anna Veterans' Home in Union County filed a lawsuit against Duckworth. The lawsuit alleged that she wrongfully terminated one employee and threatened and intimidated another for bringing reports of abuse and misconduct of veterans when she was head of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs. Duckworth was represented in the suit by the Illinois Attorney General's office. The case was dismissed twice but refilings were allowed. The case settled in June 2016 for $26,000 with no admission of wrongdoing. The plaintiffs later indicated they no longer wanted to settle, but the judge gave them 21 days to sign the settlement and canceled the trial.
On February 3, 2009, President Barack Obama nominated Duckworth to be the Assistant Secretary of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs for the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). and the United States Senate confirmed her for the position on April 22. As Assistant Secretary, she coordinated a joint initiative with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to help end Veteran homelessness, worked to address the unique challenges faced by female as well as Native American Veterans and created the Office of Online Communications to improve the VA's accessibility, especially among young Veterans. Duckworth resigned her position in June 2011 in order to launch her campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives in Illinois's 8th congressional district.
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
2006
After longtime incumbent Republican Henry Hyde announced his retirement from Congress, several candidates began campaigning for the open seat. Duckworth won the Democratic primary with a plurality of 44%, defeating 2004 nominee Christine Cegelis with 40%, and Wheaton College professor Lindy Scott with 16%. State Senator Peter Roskam was unopposed in the Republican primary. For the general election, Duckworth was endorsed by EMILY's List, a political action committee that supports female Democratic candidates who back abortion rights. Duckworth was also endorsed by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the Fraternal Order of Police. While she raised $4.5 million to Roskam's $3.44 million, Duckworth lost by 4,810 votes, receiving 49% to Roskam's 51%.
2012
In July 2011, Duckworth launched her campaign to run in 2012 for Illinois's 8th congressional district. She defeated former Deputy Treasurer of Illinois Raja Krishnamoorthi for the Democratic nomination on March 20, 2012, then faced incumbent Republican Joe Walsh in the general election. Duckworth received the endorsement of both the Chicago Tribune and the Daily Herald. Walsh generated controversy when in July 2012, at a campaign event, he accused Duckworth of politicizing her military service and injuries, saying "my God, that's all she talks about. Our true heroes, the men and women who served us, it's the last thing in the world they talk about." Walsh called the controversy over his comments "a political ploy to distort my words and distract voters" and said that "Of course Tammy Duckworth is a hero ... I have called her a hero hundreds of times."
On November 6, 2012, Duckworth defeated Walsh 55%–45%, making her the first Asian-American from Illinois in Congress, the first woman with a disability elected to Congress, and the first member of Congress born in Thailand.
2014
In the 2014 general election, Duckworth faced Republican Larry Kaifesh, a United States Marine Corps officer who had recently left active duty as a colonel. Duckworth defeated Kaifesh with 56% of the vote.
Tenure
Duckworth was sworn into office on January 3, 2013.
On April 3, 2013, Duckworth publicly returned 8.4% ($1,218) of her congressional salary for that month to the United States Department of Treasury in solidarity with furloughed government workers.
On June 26, 2013, during a hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Duckworth received national media attention after questioning Strong Castle CEO Braulio Castillo on a $500 million government contract the company had been awarded based on Castillo's disabled veteran status. Castillo had injured his ankle at the US Military Academy's prep school, USMAPS, in 1984.
Committee assignments
Committee on Armed Services
Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces (2013–2017)
Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations (2013–2015)
Subcommittee on Readiness (2015–2017)
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
Subcommittee on Energy Policy, Health Care and Entitlements (2013–2015)
Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Job Creation and Regulatory Affairs (2013–2015)
Subcommittee on Transportation and Public Assets, Ranking Member (2015–2017)
Subcommittee on Information Technology (2015–2017)
United States House Select Committee on Benghazi (May 2014–July 2016)
U.S. Senate
Elections
2016
On March 30, 2015, Duckworth announced that she would challenge incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Mark Kirk for his seat in the 2016 Senate election in Illinois. Duckworth defeated fellow Democrats Andrea Zopp and Napoleon Harris in the primary election on March 15, 2016.
During a televised debate on October 27, 2016, Duckworth talked about her ancestors' past service in the United States military. Kirk responded, "I'd forgotten that your parents came all the way from Thailand to serve George Washington." The comment led to the Human Rights Campaign withdrawing their endorsement of Kirk and switching it to Duckworth, stating his comments were "deeply offensive and racist."
Duckworth was endorsed by Barack Obama, who actively campaigned for her.
On November 8, Duckworth defeated Kirk 54 percent to 40 percent to win the Senate seat. Duckworth and Kamala Harris, who was also elected in 2016, are the second and third female Asian American senators, after Mazie Hirono who was elected in 2012.
Tenure
2010s
According to The Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL), a joint partnership between the University of Virginia's Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and Vanderbilt University, Duckworth's "Legislative Effectiveness Score" (LES) is "Exceeds Expectations" as a freshman senator in the 115th Congress (2017–2018), the 11th highest out of 48 Democratic senators.
GovTrack's Report Card on Duckworth for the 115th Congress found that among Senate freshmen, she ranked first in favorably reporting bills out of committee and "Got influential cosponsors the most often compared to Senate freshmen." GovTrack also found that in the first session of the 116th Congress, Duckworth ranked first in favorably reporting bills out of committee and "Got influential cosponsors the most often compared to Senate sophomores."
During the 115th Congress, Duckworth was credited with saving the Americans with Disabilities Act. Specifically, she led public opposition to a controversial bill, H.R. 620, and led 42 senators in pledging to oppose any effort to pass H.R. 620 through the Senate. The Veterans Service Organization and Paralyzed Veterans of America recognized Duckworth's leadership in defending the Americans with Disabilities Act.
In January 2018, when the federal government shut down after the Senate could not agree on a funding bill, Duckworth responded to President Trump's accusations that the Democrats were putting "unlawful immigrants" ahead of the military:
In 2018, Duckworth became the first U.S. senator to give birth while in office. Shortly afterward, the Senate passed Senate Resolution 463, which Duckworth introduced on April 12, 2018, by unanimous consent. The resolution changed Senate rules so that a senator may bring a child under one year old to the Senate floor during votes. The day after the rules were changed, Duckworth's daughter became the first baby on the Senate floor.
2020s
On April 15, 2020, the Trump administration invited Duckworth to join a bipartisan task force on the reopening of the economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Duckworth was publicly critical of Trump's decision to nominate Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court in September 2020. Barrett, a devout Catholic, is a member of a group that considers in vitro fertilization morally illicit. Duckworth said that Barrett's membership in such an organization was "disqualifying and, frankly, insulting to every parent". Both of Duckworth's children were conceived by IVF.
The Center for Effective Lawmaking, a joint initiative of the University of Virginia and Vanderbilt University, ranked Duckworth the fifth most effective Democratic senator in the 116th Congress and the most effective Democratic senator on transportation policy. Professors Craig Volden and Alan Wiseman, co-directors of the Center for Effective Lawmaking, stated, "While still in her first term, Senator Tammy Duckworth has risen to the top five among effective Democratic lawmakers in the Senate. She sponsored 77 bills in the 116th Congress, with four of them passing the Republican-controlled Senate and two becoming law."
Duckworth was participating in the certification of the 2021 United States Electoral College vote count when Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol. In the wake of the attack, Duckworth called Trump "a threat to our nation" and called for his immediate removal from office through the invocation of the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution or impeachment. Two days later, on January 8, she also called for the resignation of Representative Mary Miller, who had quoted Adolf Hitler during a speech on January 5.
Committee assignments
Current
Committee on Armed Services (2019–present)
Subcommittee on Airland (Chair)
Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support
Subcommittee on Strategic Forces
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security
Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation, and the Internet
Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, Insurance and Data Security
Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security
Committee on Environment and Public Works
Subcommittee on Fisheries, Water and Wildlife (Chair)
Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
Previous
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources (2017–2019)
Caucus memberships
Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus
Expand Social Security Caucus
National politics
Duckworth has spoken at the 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2020 Democratic National Conventions. She was the permanent co-chair of the 2020 Democratic National Convention. At the 2020 convention she called Trump "coward-in-chief" for not supporting the American military.
Duckworth was vetted as a possible running mate during Joe Biden's vice presidential candidate selection. Fellow U.S. Senator Kamala Harris was instead selected. Biden nominated Duckworth to serve as Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee, along with Gretchen Whitmer, Keisha Lance Bottoms and Filemon Vela Jr.
Political positions
Environment
In April 2019, Duckworth was one of 12 senators to sign a bipartisan letter to top senators on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development advocating that the Energy Department be granted maximum funding for carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS), arguing that American job growth could be stimulated by investment in viable options to capture carbon emissions and expressing disagreement with Trump's 2020 budget request to combine the two federal programs that include carbon capture research.
Foreign policy
During her unsuccessful congressional campaign in 2006, Duckworth called on Congress to audit the estimated $437 billion spent on overseas military and foreign aid since September 11, 2001.
On September 30, 2006, Duckworth gave the Democratic Party's response to President George W. Bush's weekly radio address. In it, she was critical of Bush's strategy for the Iraq War.
In October 2006, The Sunday Times reported that Duckworth agreed with General Sir Richard Dannatt, the British Army chief, that the presence of coalition troops was exacerbating the conflict in Iraq.
Duckworth supports continued U.S. military aid to Israel and opposes the movement for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel. She voiced her opposition to Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank.
In May 2019, Duckworth was a cosponsor of the South China Sea and East China Sea Sanctions Act, a bipartisan bill reintroduced by Marco Rubio and Ben Cardin that was intended to disrupt China's consolidation or expansion of its claims of jurisdiction over both the sea and air space in disputed zones in the South China Sea.
On June 6, 2021, Duckworth and Senators Dan Sullivan and Christopher Coons visited Taipei in an U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III transport to meet President Tsai Ing-wen and Minister Joseph Wu during the pandemic outbreak of Taiwan to announce President Joe Biden's donation plan of 750,000 COVID-19 vaccines included in the global COVAX program.
Gun law
Duckworth was rated by the National Rifle Association as having a pro-gun control congressional voting record. Duckworth, who is a gun owner herself, cites violence in Chicago as a major influence for her support of gun control. She supports universal background checks and the halting of state-to-state gun trafficking.
Duckworth participated in the 2016 Chris Murphy gun control filibuster. During the sit-in, Duckworth hid her mobile phone in her prosthetic leg to avoid it being taken away from her since taking pictures and recording on the House floor is against policy.
In a 2016 interview with GQ magazine, Duckworth stated that gaining control of the Senate and "closing the gap" in the House would be necessary in order to pass common sense gun laws. She also stated that she believed moderate Republicans, who support common sense gun control, would have more power to influence gun control if they were not "pushed aside by those folks who are absolutely beholden to the NRA. And so we never get the vote."
Health policy
Duckworth supports abortion rights and the Affordable Care Act.
Immigration
Duckworth supports comprehensive immigration reform with a pathway to citizenship for those in the country illegally. She would admit 100,000 Syrian refugees into the United States.
In August 2018, Duckworth was one of seventeen senators to sign a letter spearheaded by Kamala Harris to United States Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen demanding that the Trump administration take immediate action in attempting to reunite 539 migrant children with their families, citing each passing day of inaction as intensifying "trauma that this administration has needlessly caused for children and their families seeking humanitarian protection."
Electoral history
Awards and accolades
In May 2010, Duckworth was awarded the Honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters (DHL) by Northern Illinois University. In 2011, Chicago's Access Living honored Duckworth for her work on behalf of veterans with disabilities, bestowing her with the Gordon H. Mansfield Congressional Leadership Award.
Duckworth is heavily decorated for her service in Iraq, with over 10 distinct military honors, most notably the Purple Heart, an award her Marine father had also received.
Former Republican presidential candidate and Senator from Kansas Bob Dole dedicated his autobiography One Soldier's Story in part to Duckworth. Duckworth credits Dole for inspiring her to pursue public service, while she recuperated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center; although, in 2006, Dole endorsed Duckworth's Republican opponent, Peter Roskam.
Personal life
Duckworth has been married to Bryan Bowlsbey since 1993. They met during Duckworth's participation in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps and later served together in the Illinois Army National Guard. Bowlsbey, a Signal Corps officer, is also a veteran of the Iraq War. Both have since retired from the armed forces.
Duckworth and Bowlsbey have two daughters: Abigail, who was born in 2014, and Maile, born in 2018. Maile's birth made Duckworth the first U.S. Senator to give birth while in office. Former senator Daniel Akaka helped the couple with the naming of both daughters; Akaka died April 6, 2018, three days before Maile was born. Shortly after Maile's birth, a Senate rule change permitted senators to bring children under one year old on the Senate floor to breastfeed. This was a symbolic moment for Duckworth, as she had previously introduced the bipartisan Friendly Airports for Mothers (FAM) Act to ensure new mothers access to safe, clean and accessible lactation rooms in airports. The day after the rule change, Duckworth brought Maile with her during the casting of a Senate vote, making Duckworth the first senator to cast a vote while holding a baby.
Duckworth helped establish the Intrepid Foundation to help injured veterans.
Bibliography
Every Day is a Gift: A Memoir, Little, Brown & Company, 2021.
See also
Fighting Dems
VoteVets.org
References
External links
Senator Tammy Duckworth official U.S. Senate website
Tammy Duckworth for Senate official campaign website
Front & Center with John Callaway: Returning Veterans: How Warm A Welcome? at the Pritzker Military Museum & Library, July 12, 2007
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1968 births
21st-century American politicians
21st-century American women politicians
American amputees
United States Army personnel of the Iraq War
Members of the United States Congress of Chinese descent
American people of Thai descent
American politicians with physical disabilities
Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives
Democratic Party United States senators
Asian-American members of the United States House of Representatives
Asian-American United States senators
Women military aviators
Female members of the United States House of Representatives
Female United States senators
Elliott School of International Affairs alumni
American Senior Army Aviators
Illinois Democrats
Illinois National Guard personnel
Living people
Members of the United States House of Representatives from Illinois
National Guard of the United States officers
Obama administration personnel
Tammy Duckworth
Politicians from Honolulu
People from Hoffman Estates, Illinois
Recipients of the Air Medal
Shot-down aviators
State cabinet secretaries of Illinois
Thai emigrants to the United States
United States Department of Veterans Affairs officials
United States senators from Illinois
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa alumni
Women in Illinois politics
Women in the Iraq War
Female United States Army officers
Recipients of the Meritorious Service Medal (United States)
Daughters of the American Revolution people
American women of Chinese descent in politics
Asian-American people in Illinois politics | true | [
"HMIS Sutlej (U95) was a modified Bittern-class sloop, later known as the Black Swan class, which served in the Royal Indian Navy (RIN) during World War II.\n\nAfter India became a republic on 26 January 1950, the vessel was renamed as the Indian Navy's INS Sutlej.\n\nHistory\nHMIS Sutlej was ordered on 8 September 1939 under the 1939 Programme for the Royal Indian Navy. She was built by William Denny and Brothers and commissioned on 23 April 1941.\n\nWith World War II underway at the time, she was immediately deployed for convoy defence in the Irish Sea. In August, she was deployed as a part of the escort for convoy WS11 through the Northwest approaches, with , , , , and . When the convoy was split into fast and slow vessels, she and Totland escorted the slow section to Freetown. She then joined Repulse, Encounter, Derbyshire and as an escort to the Indian Ocean.\n\nMid-way, in September, she received orders to join the British Mediterranean Fleet and proceeded to the Suez, where she was deployed for anti-aircraft defence.\n\nAfter Japan entered the war, she was transferred to the East Indies in December 1941. She was then deployed to escort military convoys to Singapore, in the Bay of Bengal, on the West coast of India, as well as to the Persian Gulf and Aden all through 1942 and early 1943.\n\nIn May 1943, she joined the Mediterranean Fleet again in Alexandria, where she continued on escort duty. In July, she was part of the amphibious task force for Operation Husky, the Allied invasion of Sicily. In September, she supported military operations during the defence of the Aegean Islands.\n\nIn December 1943, she was transferred back to the Eastern Fleet and deployed for convoy escort in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. In June 1944, she was deployed for anti-submarine operations in the Indian Ocean.\n\nAfter a refit in Bombay, she was deployed back in the Bay of Bengal, and supported amphibious assaults in Burma and Malaya. She was part of the task force during Operation Dracula for the amphibious assault on Rangoon by the British Indian Army and the British Army. The other members of this task force were , , , , and .\n\nThe task force then continued on a mission to intercept Japanese troops withdrawing from the Andamans. At the end of the war, she was on refit in Bombay.\n\nAfter Indian Independence, she was commissioned into the Indian Navy as INS Sutlej and reclassified as a frigate. In 1955, she was converted into a survey ship. She was decommissioned in 1978, and sold for scrap in 1979. She was scrapped in 1980.\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n \n\nBlack Swan-class sloops of the Royal Indian Navy\nBlack Swan-class sloops of the Indian Navy\n1940 ships",
"HMS Lennox (J276) was a reciprocating engine-powered during the Second World War.\n\nDesign and description\n\nThe reciprocating group displaced at standard load and at deep load The ships measured long overall with a beam of . They had a draught of . The ships' complement consisted of 85 officers and ratings.\n\nThe reciprocating ships had two vertical triple-expansion steam engines, each driving one shaft, using steam provided by two Admiralty three-drum boilers. The engines produced a total of and gave a maximum speed of . They carried a maximum of of fuel oil that gave them a range of at .\n\nThe Algerine class was armed with a QF Mk V anti-aircraft gun and four twin-gun mounts for Oerlikon 20 mm cannon. The latter guns were in short supply when the first ships were being completed and they often got a proportion of single mounts. By 1944, single-barrel Bofors 40 mm mounts began replacing the twin 20 mm mounts on a one for one basis. All of the ships were fitted for four throwers and two rails for depth charges.\n\nConstruction and career\nThe ship was ordered on 3 May 1942 at the Lobnitz & Company at Renfrew, Scotland. She was laid down on 3 March 1943 and launched on 15 October 1943. The ship was commissioned on 18 January 1944.\n\nOn 6 June 1944, she swept the seas off Juno Beach during Operation Neptune. On 17 September, she was deployed with her flotilla for Air Sea Rescue duties during Operation Market Garden.\n\nIn July 1945, she was deployed to Malaya for Operation Collie.\n\nIn March 1946, the ship was sent back to the UK and deployed with the Fishery Protection Squadron from September that year until November 1947. The ship was put into the reserve fleet by February 1948.\n\nIn 1956, she was recommissioned into the Fishery Protection duties and was deployed mainly off Iceland and North Norway until February 1958 when she was relieved by the new Type 14 Frigate, HMS Russell. After paying off remained in reserve and was refitted including installation of a Squid Mortar to improve her anti-submarine capability necessary for use as a convoy escort.\n\nIn 1960, she was put on the disposal list and sold to BISCO for scrap in Milford Haven in which she arrived in June 1961.\n\nReferences\n\nBibliography\n \n \n Peter Elliott (1977) Allied Escort Ships of World War II. MacDonald & Janes,\n\nExternal links\n\n \n\nAlgerine-class minesweepers of the Royal Navy\nShips built on the River Clyde\n1943 ships\nWorld War II minesweepers of the United Kingdom"
] |
[
"Tammy Duckworth",
"Military service",
"What branch of the Military was Duckworth in?",
"As a member of the Army Reserve, she went to flight school, later transferring to the Army National Guard and entering the Illinois Army National Guard in 1996.",
"When was she first deployed?",
"when she was deployed to Iraq in 2004."
] | C_6c6eab3270324df39b00556c549930bb_1 | Where in Iraq was she based? | 3 | Where in Iraq was Tammy Duckworth based? | Tammy Duckworth | Following in the footsteps of her father, who served in World War II, and ancestors who served in the Revolutionary War, Duckworth joined the Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps as a graduate student at George Washington University in 1990. She became a commissioned officer in the United States Army Reserve in 1992 and chose to fly helicopters because it was one of the few combat jobs open to women. As a member of the Army Reserve, she went to flight school, later transferring to the Army National Guard and entering the Illinois Army National Guard in 1996. Duckworth also worked as a staff supervisor at Rotary International headquarters in Evanston, Illinois. Duckworth was working towards a Ph.D. in political science at Northern Illinois University, with research interests in the political economy and public health in southeast Asia, when she was deployed to Iraq in 2004. She lost her right leg near the hip and her left leg below the knee from injuries sustained on November 12, 2004, when the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter she was co-piloting was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade fired by Iraqi insurgents. She was the first American female double amputee from the Iraq war. The explosion "almost completely destroyed her right arm, breaking it in three places and tearing tissue from the back side of it". The doctors "reset the bones in her arm and stitched the cuts" to save her arm. Duckworth received a Purple Heart on December 3 and was promoted to Major on December 21 at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where she was presented with an Air Medal and Army Commendation Medal. She retired from the Illinois Army National Guard in October 2014 as a lieutenant colonel. She returned to school and completed a PhD in Human Services at Capella University in March 2015. The Daughters of the American Revolution erected a statue with Duckworth's likeness, and that of the Revolution's Molly Pitcher in Mount Vernon, Illinois, in 2011. The statue was erected in honor of female veterans. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Ladda Tammy Duckworth (born March 12, 1968) is an American politician and retired Army National Guard lieutenant colonel serving as the junior United States senator from Illinois since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, she represented Illinois's 8th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2013 to 2017.
Duckworth was educated at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and George Washington University. A combat veteran of the Iraq War, she served as a U.S. Army helicopter pilot. In 2004, when her helicopter was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade fired by Iraqi insurgents, she lost both legs and some mobility in her right arm. She was the first female double amputee from the war. Despite her injuries, she sought and obtained a medical waiver that allowed her to continue serving in the Illinois Army National Guard until she retired as a lieutenant colonel in 2014.
Duckworth ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the United States House of Representatives in 2006, then served as director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs from 2006 to 2009 and as assistant secretary for public and intergovernmental affairs at the United States Department of Veterans Affairs from 2009 to 2011. In 2012, Duckworth was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where she served two terms. Duckworth was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2016, defeating Republican incumbent Mark Kirk. She is the first Thai American woman elected to Congress, the first person born in Thailand elected to Congress, the first woman with a disability elected to Congress, the first female double amputee in the Senate, and the first senator to give birth while in office. Duckworth is the second of three Asian American women to serve in the U.S. Senate, after Mazie Hirono, and before Kamala Harris.
Early life and education
Duckworth was born in Bangkok, Thailand, the daughter of Franklin Duckworth and Lamai Sompornpairin. Under long-standing US law, she is a natural-born citizen because her father was American. Her father, who died in 2005, was a veteran of the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps who traced his family's American roots to the American Revolutionary War. Her mother is Thai Chinese and originally from Chiang Mai. Her father worked with the United Nations and international companies in refugee, housing, and development programs, and the family moved around Southeast Asia. Duckworth became fluent in Thai and Indonesian, in addition to English.
Duckworth attended Singapore American School, the International School Bangkok, and the Jakarta International School. The family moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, when Duckworth was 16, and she attended Honolulu's McKinley High School, where she participated in track and field and graduated in 1985. Because of a difference in the grade levels between the school systems she attended, Duckworth skipped half of her ninth grade year and half of her tenth. She was a Girl Scout, and earned her First Class, now called the Gold Award. Her father was unemployed for a time, and the family relied on public assistance. She graduated from the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 1989 with a Bachelor of Arts in political science. In 1992, she received a Master of Arts in international affairs from George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs. She began a PhD program at Northern Illinois University, which was interrupted by her war service. She completed a PhD in human services at Capella University in March 2015.
Military service
Following in the footsteps of her father, who served in World War II and the Vietnam War, and ancestors who served in every major conflict since the Revolutionary War, Duckworth joined the Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps in 1990 as a graduate student at George Washington University. She became a commissioned officer in the United States Army Reserve in 1992 and chose to fly helicopters because it was one of the few combat jobs open to women at that time. As a member of the Army Reserve, she went to flight school, later transferring to the Army National Guard and in 1996 entering the Illinois Army National Guard. Duckworth also worked as a staff supervisor at Rotary International headquarters in Evanston, Illinois, and was the coordinator of the Center for Nursing Research at Northern Illinois University.
Duckworth was working toward a Ph.D. in political science at Northern Illinois University, with research interests in the political economy and public health of southeast Asia, when she was deployed to Iraq in 2004. She lost her right leg near the hip and her left leg below the knee from injuries sustained on November 12, 2004, when the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter she was co-piloting was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade fired by Iraqi insurgents. She was the first American female double amputee from the Iraq War. The explosion severely broke her right arm and tore tissue from it, necessitating major surgery to repair it. Duckworth received a Purple Heart on December 3 and was promoted to Major on December 21 at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where she was presented with an Air Medal and Army Commendation Medal. She retired from the Illinois Army National Guard in October 2014 as a lieutenant colonel.
In 2011 the Daughters of the American Revolution erected a statue with Duckworth's likeness and that of Molly Pitcher in Mount Vernon, Illinois. The statue was dedicated to female veterans.
Government service
On November 21, 2006, several weeks after losing her first congressional campaign, Duckworth was appointed director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs by Governor Rod Blagojevich. She served in that position until February 8, 2009. While director, she was credited with starting a program to help veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and veterans with brain injuries.
On September 17, 2008, Duckworth attended a campaign event for Dan Seals, the Democratic candidate for Illinois's 10th congressional district. She used vacation time, but violated Illinois law by going to the event in a state-owned van that was equipped for a person with physical disabilities. She acknowledged the mistake and repaid the state for the use of the van.
In 2009, two Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs employees at the Anna Veterans' Home in Union County filed a lawsuit against Duckworth. The lawsuit alleged that she wrongfully terminated one employee and threatened and intimidated another for bringing reports of abuse and misconduct of veterans when she was head of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs. Duckworth was represented in the suit by the Illinois Attorney General's office. The case was dismissed twice but refilings were allowed. The case settled in June 2016 for $26,000 with no admission of wrongdoing. The plaintiffs later indicated they no longer wanted to settle, but the judge gave them 21 days to sign the settlement and canceled the trial.
On February 3, 2009, President Barack Obama nominated Duckworth to be the Assistant Secretary of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs for the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). and the United States Senate confirmed her for the position on April 22. As Assistant Secretary, she coordinated a joint initiative with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to help end Veteran homelessness, worked to address the unique challenges faced by female as well as Native American Veterans and created the Office of Online Communications to improve the VA's accessibility, especially among young Veterans. Duckworth resigned her position in June 2011 in order to launch her campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives in Illinois's 8th congressional district.
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
2006
After longtime incumbent Republican Henry Hyde announced his retirement from Congress, several candidates began campaigning for the open seat. Duckworth won the Democratic primary with a plurality of 44%, defeating 2004 nominee Christine Cegelis with 40%, and Wheaton College professor Lindy Scott with 16%. State Senator Peter Roskam was unopposed in the Republican primary. For the general election, Duckworth was endorsed by EMILY's List, a political action committee that supports female Democratic candidates who back abortion rights. Duckworth was also endorsed by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the Fraternal Order of Police. While she raised $4.5 million to Roskam's $3.44 million, Duckworth lost by 4,810 votes, receiving 49% to Roskam's 51%.
2012
In July 2011, Duckworth launched her campaign to run in 2012 for Illinois's 8th congressional district. She defeated former Deputy Treasurer of Illinois Raja Krishnamoorthi for the Democratic nomination on March 20, 2012, then faced incumbent Republican Joe Walsh in the general election. Duckworth received the endorsement of both the Chicago Tribune and the Daily Herald. Walsh generated controversy when in July 2012, at a campaign event, he accused Duckworth of politicizing her military service and injuries, saying "my God, that's all she talks about. Our true heroes, the men and women who served us, it's the last thing in the world they talk about." Walsh called the controversy over his comments "a political ploy to distort my words and distract voters" and said that "Of course Tammy Duckworth is a hero ... I have called her a hero hundreds of times."
On November 6, 2012, Duckworth defeated Walsh 55%–45%, making her the first Asian-American from Illinois in Congress, the first woman with a disability elected to Congress, and the first member of Congress born in Thailand.
2014
In the 2014 general election, Duckworth faced Republican Larry Kaifesh, a United States Marine Corps officer who had recently left active duty as a colonel. Duckworth defeated Kaifesh with 56% of the vote.
Tenure
Duckworth was sworn into office on January 3, 2013.
On April 3, 2013, Duckworth publicly returned 8.4% ($1,218) of her congressional salary for that month to the United States Department of Treasury in solidarity with furloughed government workers.
On June 26, 2013, during a hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Duckworth received national media attention after questioning Strong Castle CEO Braulio Castillo on a $500 million government contract the company had been awarded based on Castillo's disabled veteran status. Castillo had injured his ankle at the US Military Academy's prep school, USMAPS, in 1984.
Committee assignments
Committee on Armed Services
Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces (2013–2017)
Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations (2013–2015)
Subcommittee on Readiness (2015–2017)
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
Subcommittee on Energy Policy, Health Care and Entitlements (2013–2015)
Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Job Creation and Regulatory Affairs (2013–2015)
Subcommittee on Transportation and Public Assets, Ranking Member (2015–2017)
Subcommittee on Information Technology (2015–2017)
United States House Select Committee on Benghazi (May 2014–July 2016)
U.S. Senate
Elections
2016
On March 30, 2015, Duckworth announced that she would challenge incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Mark Kirk for his seat in the 2016 Senate election in Illinois. Duckworth defeated fellow Democrats Andrea Zopp and Napoleon Harris in the primary election on March 15, 2016.
During a televised debate on October 27, 2016, Duckworth talked about her ancestors' past service in the United States military. Kirk responded, "I'd forgotten that your parents came all the way from Thailand to serve George Washington." The comment led to the Human Rights Campaign withdrawing their endorsement of Kirk and switching it to Duckworth, stating his comments were "deeply offensive and racist."
Duckworth was endorsed by Barack Obama, who actively campaigned for her.
On November 8, Duckworth defeated Kirk 54 percent to 40 percent to win the Senate seat. Duckworth and Kamala Harris, who was also elected in 2016, are the second and third female Asian American senators, after Mazie Hirono who was elected in 2012.
Tenure
2010s
According to The Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL), a joint partnership between the University of Virginia's Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and Vanderbilt University, Duckworth's "Legislative Effectiveness Score" (LES) is "Exceeds Expectations" as a freshman senator in the 115th Congress (2017–2018), the 11th highest out of 48 Democratic senators.
GovTrack's Report Card on Duckworth for the 115th Congress found that among Senate freshmen, she ranked first in favorably reporting bills out of committee and "Got influential cosponsors the most often compared to Senate freshmen." GovTrack also found that in the first session of the 116th Congress, Duckworth ranked first in favorably reporting bills out of committee and "Got influential cosponsors the most often compared to Senate sophomores."
During the 115th Congress, Duckworth was credited with saving the Americans with Disabilities Act. Specifically, she led public opposition to a controversial bill, H.R. 620, and led 42 senators in pledging to oppose any effort to pass H.R. 620 through the Senate. The Veterans Service Organization and Paralyzed Veterans of America recognized Duckworth's leadership in defending the Americans with Disabilities Act.
In January 2018, when the federal government shut down after the Senate could not agree on a funding bill, Duckworth responded to President Trump's accusations that the Democrats were putting "unlawful immigrants" ahead of the military:
In 2018, Duckworth became the first U.S. senator to give birth while in office. Shortly afterward, the Senate passed Senate Resolution 463, which Duckworth introduced on April 12, 2018, by unanimous consent. The resolution changed Senate rules so that a senator may bring a child under one year old to the Senate floor during votes. The day after the rules were changed, Duckworth's daughter became the first baby on the Senate floor.
2020s
On April 15, 2020, the Trump administration invited Duckworth to join a bipartisan task force on the reopening of the economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Duckworth was publicly critical of Trump's decision to nominate Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court in September 2020. Barrett, a devout Catholic, is a member of a group that considers in vitro fertilization morally illicit. Duckworth said that Barrett's membership in such an organization was "disqualifying and, frankly, insulting to every parent". Both of Duckworth's children were conceived by IVF.
The Center for Effective Lawmaking, a joint initiative of the University of Virginia and Vanderbilt University, ranked Duckworth the fifth most effective Democratic senator in the 116th Congress and the most effective Democratic senator on transportation policy. Professors Craig Volden and Alan Wiseman, co-directors of the Center for Effective Lawmaking, stated, "While still in her first term, Senator Tammy Duckworth has risen to the top five among effective Democratic lawmakers in the Senate. She sponsored 77 bills in the 116th Congress, with four of them passing the Republican-controlled Senate and two becoming law."
Duckworth was participating in the certification of the 2021 United States Electoral College vote count when Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol. In the wake of the attack, Duckworth called Trump "a threat to our nation" and called for his immediate removal from office through the invocation of the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution or impeachment. Two days later, on January 8, she also called for the resignation of Representative Mary Miller, who had quoted Adolf Hitler during a speech on January 5.
Committee assignments
Current
Committee on Armed Services (2019–present)
Subcommittee on Airland (Chair)
Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support
Subcommittee on Strategic Forces
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security
Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation, and the Internet
Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, Insurance and Data Security
Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security
Committee on Environment and Public Works
Subcommittee on Fisheries, Water and Wildlife (Chair)
Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
Previous
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources (2017–2019)
Caucus memberships
Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus
Expand Social Security Caucus
National politics
Duckworth has spoken at the 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2020 Democratic National Conventions. She was the permanent co-chair of the 2020 Democratic National Convention. At the 2020 convention she called Trump "coward-in-chief" for not supporting the American military.
Duckworth was vetted as a possible running mate during Joe Biden's vice presidential candidate selection. Fellow U.S. Senator Kamala Harris was instead selected. Biden nominated Duckworth to serve as Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee, along with Gretchen Whitmer, Keisha Lance Bottoms and Filemon Vela Jr.
Political positions
Environment
In April 2019, Duckworth was one of 12 senators to sign a bipartisan letter to top senators on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development advocating that the Energy Department be granted maximum funding for carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS), arguing that American job growth could be stimulated by investment in viable options to capture carbon emissions and expressing disagreement with Trump's 2020 budget request to combine the two federal programs that include carbon capture research.
Foreign policy
During her unsuccessful congressional campaign in 2006, Duckworth called on Congress to audit the estimated $437 billion spent on overseas military and foreign aid since September 11, 2001.
On September 30, 2006, Duckworth gave the Democratic Party's response to President George W. Bush's weekly radio address. In it, she was critical of Bush's strategy for the Iraq War.
In October 2006, The Sunday Times reported that Duckworth agreed with General Sir Richard Dannatt, the British Army chief, that the presence of coalition troops was exacerbating the conflict in Iraq.
Duckworth supports continued U.S. military aid to Israel and opposes the movement for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel. She voiced her opposition to Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank.
In May 2019, Duckworth was a cosponsor of the South China Sea and East China Sea Sanctions Act, a bipartisan bill reintroduced by Marco Rubio and Ben Cardin that was intended to disrupt China's consolidation or expansion of its claims of jurisdiction over both the sea and air space in disputed zones in the South China Sea.
On June 6, 2021, Duckworth and Senators Dan Sullivan and Christopher Coons visited Taipei in an U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III transport to meet President Tsai Ing-wen and Minister Joseph Wu during the pandemic outbreak of Taiwan to announce President Joe Biden's donation plan of 750,000 COVID-19 vaccines included in the global COVAX program.
Gun law
Duckworth was rated by the National Rifle Association as having a pro-gun control congressional voting record. Duckworth, who is a gun owner herself, cites violence in Chicago as a major influence for her support of gun control. She supports universal background checks and the halting of state-to-state gun trafficking.
Duckworth participated in the 2016 Chris Murphy gun control filibuster. During the sit-in, Duckworth hid her mobile phone in her prosthetic leg to avoid it being taken away from her since taking pictures and recording on the House floor is against policy.
In a 2016 interview with GQ magazine, Duckworth stated that gaining control of the Senate and "closing the gap" in the House would be necessary in order to pass common sense gun laws. She also stated that she believed moderate Republicans, who support common sense gun control, would have more power to influence gun control if they were not "pushed aside by those folks who are absolutely beholden to the NRA. And so we never get the vote."
Health policy
Duckworth supports abortion rights and the Affordable Care Act.
Immigration
Duckworth supports comprehensive immigration reform with a pathway to citizenship for those in the country illegally. She would admit 100,000 Syrian refugees into the United States.
In August 2018, Duckworth was one of seventeen senators to sign a letter spearheaded by Kamala Harris to United States Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen demanding that the Trump administration take immediate action in attempting to reunite 539 migrant children with their families, citing each passing day of inaction as intensifying "trauma that this administration has needlessly caused for children and their families seeking humanitarian protection."
Electoral history
Awards and accolades
In May 2010, Duckworth was awarded the Honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters (DHL) by Northern Illinois University. In 2011, Chicago's Access Living honored Duckworth for her work on behalf of veterans with disabilities, bestowing her with the Gordon H. Mansfield Congressional Leadership Award.
Duckworth is heavily decorated for her service in Iraq, with over 10 distinct military honors, most notably the Purple Heart, an award her Marine father had also received.
Former Republican presidential candidate and Senator from Kansas Bob Dole dedicated his autobiography One Soldier's Story in part to Duckworth. Duckworth credits Dole for inspiring her to pursue public service, while she recuperated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center; although, in 2006, Dole endorsed Duckworth's Republican opponent, Peter Roskam.
Personal life
Duckworth has been married to Bryan Bowlsbey since 1993. They met during Duckworth's participation in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps and later served together in the Illinois Army National Guard. Bowlsbey, a Signal Corps officer, is also a veteran of the Iraq War. Both have since retired from the armed forces.
Duckworth and Bowlsbey have two daughters: Abigail, who was born in 2014, and Maile, born in 2018. Maile's birth made Duckworth the first U.S. Senator to give birth while in office. Former senator Daniel Akaka helped the couple with the naming of both daughters; Akaka died April 6, 2018, three days before Maile was born. Shortly after Maile's birth, a Senate rule change permitted senators to bring children under one year old on the Senate floor to breastfeed. This was a symbolic moment for Duckworth, as she had previously introduced the bipartisan Friendly Airports for Mothers (FAM) Act to ensure new mothers access to safe, clean and accessible lactation rooms in airports. The day after the rule change, Duckworth brought Maile with her during the casting of a Senate vote, making Duckworth the first senator to cast a vote while holding a baby.
Duckworth helped establish the Intrepid Foundation to help injured veterans.
Bibliography
Every Day is a Gift: A Memoir, Little, Brown & Company, 2021.
See also
Fighting Dems
VoteVets.org
References
External links
Senator Tammy Duckworth official U.S. Senate website
Tammy Duckworth for Senate official campaign website
Front & Center with John Callaway: Returning Veterans: How Warm A Welcome? at the Pritzker Military Museum & Library, July 12, 2007
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1968 births
21st-century American politicians
21st-century American women politicians
American amputees
United States Army personnel of the Iraq War
Members of the United States Congress of Chinese descent
American people of Thai descent
American politicians with physical disabilities
Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives
Democratic Party United States senators
Asian-American members of the United States House of Representatives
Asian-American United States senators
Women military aviators
Female members of the United States House of Representatives
Female United States senators
Elliott School of International Affairs alumni
American Senior Army Aviators
Illinois Democrats
Illinois National Guard personnel
Living people
Members of the United States House of Representatives from Illinois
National Guard of the United States officers
Obama administration personnel
Tammy Duckworth
Politicians from Honolulu
People from Hoffman Estates, Illinois
Recipients of the Air Medal
Shot-down aviators
State cabinet secretaries of Illinois
Thai emigrants to the United States
United States Department of Veterans Affairs officials
United States senators from Illinois
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa alumni
Women in Illinois politics
Women in the Iraq War
Female United States Army officers
Recipients of the Meritorious Service Medal (United States)
Daughters of the American Revolution people
American women of Chinese descent in politics
Asian-American people in Illinois politics | false | [
"Lamia Al-Gailani Werr (, 8 March 1938 – 18 January 2019) was an Iraqi archaeologist specialising in ancient Mesopotamian antiquities.\n\nAl-Gailani was born in Baghdad and completed her education in Iraq and the United Kingdom. Her doctoral study of Old Babylonian cylinder seals was considered a landmark in the field. Based in London, in her later career she was known for maintaining links between British and Iraqi archaeology under the Saddam Hussein regime, and her efforts to preserve cultural heritage in the aftermath of the Iraq War. She was closely involved in the reconstruction of the National Museum of Iraq, where she had worked as a curator in the 1960s, and the founding of the Basrah Museum.\n\nShe was awarded the fifth Gertrude Bell Memorial Gold Medal by the British Institute for the Study of Iraq in 2009.\n\nEducation and career \nAl-Gailani was born in Baghdad on 8 March 1938. She studied at the University of Baghdad for year, before completing her bachelor's degree at the University of Cambridge. In 1961, she began working as a curator of the National Museum of Iraq, the institution that would be the focus of much of her later career. She returned to Britain in the 1970s, to complete a master's degree at the University of Edinburgh, and then a PhD at the Institute of Archaeology in London. Her PhD thesis, supervised by Barbara Parker-Mallowan, was a study of Old Babylonian cylinder seals at the Iraq Museum. Published after much delay in 1988, Dominique Collon, curator of Western Asiatic Antiquities at the British Museum, described the work as a \"succinct and informative discussion\" that should \"serve as a model for all future studies.\"\n\nAfter obtaining her PhD in 1977, Al-Gailani remained in London as an honorary research associate at the UCL Institute of Archaeology and a research associate at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). She returned to Iraq frequently, working to maintain contact between Iraqi archaeologists and the wider academic world under the Saddam Hussein regime. In 1999, she and Salim al-Alusi co-authored The First Arabs, a popular account in Arabic of the archaeology of early Arab culture in Mesopotamia. From 2003, her work focused on the preservation of antiquities in Iraq. She helped rebuild the Iraq Museum after it was looted and damaged in the 2003 American-led invasion and was a frequent commentator on the difficulties faced by museums and heritage protection in postwar Iraq. She was a consultant to the Iraqi Ministry of Culture and was closely involved in the reopening of the Iraq Museum in 2015 and the founding of the Basrah Museum in 2016.\n\nAt the time of her death in 2019, Al-Gailani held a research fellowship at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, where she was writing a book on the history of the Iraq Museum.\n\nPersonal life \nA member of a prominent Iraqi family, Al-Gailani's lineage included Abdul Qadir Gilani, the founder of the Qadiri Sufi order, and Abd Al-Rahman Al-Gillani, the first prime minister of Iraq. Her parents were Ahmad Jamal Al-Din Al-Gailani and Madiha Asif Mahmud Arif-Agha.\n\nAl-Gailani married twice. Her first husband, Abd al-Rahman Al-Gailani, was an Iraqi historian of Islamic architecture. Her second husband was George Werr, a Jordanian businessman who died in 2003. She had three daughters: Noorah Al-Gailani, Azza Al-Gailani and Hesn Werr. , Noorah Al-Gailani was the Curator of Islamic Civilisations at the Glasgow Museums.\n\nDeath and legacy \nAl-Gailani died in Amman, Jordan of a stroke on 18 January 2019. She was interred in the Mausoleum of Abdul-Qadir Gilani (her ancestor) in Baghdad, following a funeral procession from the Iraq Museum.\n\nShe was the only lifetime honorary member of the British Institute for the Study of Iraq and was awarded its Gertrude Bell Memorial Gold Medal in 2009.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \"The First Arabs in the Fertile Crescent\" by Dr. Lamia al-Gailani Werr\n Lamia Al Gailani Werr: Four Wars and the Museums in Iraq\n When words fail: Iraq's lost heritage and efforts to save it\n Iraqi archaeologist discusses ISIL's destruction of antiquities\n\n1938 births\n2019 deaths\nPeople from Baghdad\nIraqi archaeologists\nIraqi women archaeologists\nArchaeologists of the Near East\nUniversity of Baghdad alumni\nAlumni of the University of Cambridge\nAlumni of the University of Edinburgh\nAlumni of the UCL Institute of Archaeology\nAcademics of the UCL Institute of Archaeology\nAcademics of SOAS University of London",
"Vian Sulaimani (; October 25, 1993) is an Iraqi beauty pageant titleholder who won the Miss Iraq 2017 but she was dethroned for being married.\n\nEarly life and education\nVian Amer Noori Sulaimani was born in Al Mansoor, a town in the Baghdad Governorate, Iraq to a family of Kurdish origins.\nShe received her bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering and Software from Mustansiriya University.\n\nWithdrawal of the Miss Iraq 2017 Award\nOn August 3, 2017, the Miss Iraq 2017 award was withdrawn from Vian for violating the rules of the competition, because she was married to a student named Aziz, a citizen of Irish nationality. During the registration she brought her passport where she was not mentioned as being married. Vian said during the recording that she was involved in a betrothal that had been annulled but was in fact married and now is separated or divorced. Therefore, Vian violated the rules of the international organizations that the Miss Iraq 2017 was licensed to.\n\nReferences\n\n1993 births\nLiving people\nPeople from Baghdad\nAl-Mustansiriya University alumni\nIraqi Kurdish people\nBeauty pageants in Iraq"
] |
[
"Tammy Duckworth",
"Military service",
"What branch of the Military was Duckworth in?",
"As a member of the Army Reserve, she went to flight school, later transferring to the Army National Guard and entering the Illinois Army National Guard in 1996.",
"When was she first deployed?",
"when she was deployed to Iraq in 2004.",
"Where in Iraq was she based?",
"I don't know."
] | C_6c6eab3270324df39b00556c549930bb_1 | Was she injured while in the military? | 4 | Was Tammy Duckworth injured while in the Army National Guard? | Tammy Duckworth | Following in the footsteps of her father, who served in World War II, and ancestors who served in the Revolutionary War, Duckworth joined the Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps as a graduate student at George Washington University in 1990. She became a commissioned officer in the United States Army Reserve in 1992 and chose to fly helicopters because it was one of the few combat jobs open to women. As a member of the Army Reserve, she went to flight school, later transferring to the Army National Guard and entering the Illinois Army National Guard in 1996. Duckworth also worked as a staff supervisor at Rotary International headquarters in Evanston, Illinois. Duckworth was working towards a Ph.D. in political science at Northern Illinois University, with research interests in the political economy and public health in southeast Asia, when she was deployed to Iraq in 2004. She lost her right leg near the hip and her left leg below the knee from injuries sustained on November 12, 2004, when the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter she was co-piloting was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade fired by Iraqi insurgents. She was the first American female double amputee from the Iraq war. The explosion "almost completely destroyed her right arm, breaking it in three places and tearing tissue from the back side of it". The doctors "reset the bones in her arm and stitched the cuts" to save her arm. Duckworth received a Purple Heart on December 3 and was promoted to Major on December 21 at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where she was presented with an Air Medal and Army Commendation Medal. She retired from the Illinois Army National Guard in October 2014 as a lieutenant colonel. She returned to school and completed a PhD in Human Services at Capella University in March 2015. The Daughters of the American Revolution erected a statue with Duckworth's likeness, and that of the Revolution's Molly Pitcher in Mount Vernon, Illinois, in 2011. The statue was erected in honor of female veterans. CANNOTANSWER | She lost her right leg near the hip and her left leg below the knee from injuries sustained on November 12, 2004, | Ladda Tammy Duckworth (born March 12, 1968) is an American politician and retired Army National Guard lieutenant colonel serving as the junior United States senator from Illinois since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, she represented Illinois's 8th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2013 to 2017.
Duckworth was educated at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and George Washington University. A combat veteran of the Iraq War, she served as a U.S. Army helicopter pilot. In 2004, when her helicopter was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade fired by Iraqi insurgents, she lost both legs and some mobility in her right arm. She was the first female double amputee from the war. Despite her injuries, she sought and obtained a medical waiver that allowed her to continue serving in the Illinois Army National Guard until she retired as a lieutenant colonel in 2014.
Duckworth ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the United States House of Representatives in 2006, then served as director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs from 2006 to 2009 and as assistant secretary for public and intergovernmental affairs at the United States Department of Veterans Affairs from 2009 to 2011. In 2012, Duckworth was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where she served two terms. Duckworth was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2016, defeating Republican incumbent Mark Kirk. She is the first Thai American woman elected to Congress, the first person born in Thailand elected to Congress, the first woman with a disability elected to Congress, the first female double amputee in the Senate, and the first senator to give birth while in office. Duckworth is the second of three Asian American women to serve in the U.S. Senate, after Mazie Hirono, and before Kamala Harris.
Early life and education
Duckworth was born in Bangkok, Thailand, the daughter of Franklin Duckworth and Lamai Sompornpairin. Under long-standing US law, she is a natural-born citizen because her father was American. Her father, who died in 2005, was a veteran of the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps who traced his family's American roots to the American Revolutionary War. Her mother is Thai Chinese and originally from Chiang Mai. Her father worked with the United Nations and international companies in refugee, housing, and development programs, and the family moved around Southeast Asia. Duckworth became fluent in Thai and Indonesian, in addition to English.
Duckworth attended Singapore American School, the International School Bangkok, and the Jakarta International School. The family moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, when Duckworth was 16, and she attended Honolulu's McKinley High School, where she participated in track and field and graduated in 1985. Because of a difference in the grade levels between the school systems she attended, Duckworth skipped half of her ninth grade year and half of her tenth. She was a Girl Scout, and earned her First Class, now called the Gold Award. Her father was unemployed for a time, and the family relied on public assistance. She graduated from the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 1989 with a Bachelor of Arts in political science. In 1992, she received a Master of Arts in international affairs from George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs. She began a PhD program at Northern Illinois University, which was interrupted by her war service. She completed a PhD in human services at Capella University in March 2015.
Military service
Following in the footsteps of her father, who served in World War II and the Vietnam War, and ancestors who served in every major conflict since the Revolutionary War, Duckworth joined the Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps in 1990 as a graduate student at George Washington University. She became a commissioned officer in the United States Army Reserve in 1992 and chose to fly helicopters because it was one of the few combat jobs open to women at that time. As a member of the Army Reserve, she went to flight school, later transferring to the Army National Guard and in 1996 entering the Illinois Army National Guard. Duckworth also worked as a staff supervisor at Rotary International headquarters in Evanston, Illinois, and was the coordinator of the Center for Nursing Research at Northern Illinois University.
Duckworth was working toward a Ph.D. in political science at Northern Illinois University, with research interests in the political economy and public health of southeast Asia, when she was deployed to Iraq in 2004. She lost her right leg near the hip and her left leg below the knee from injuries sustained on November 12, 2004, when the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter she was co-piloting was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade fired by Iraqi insurgents. She was the first American female double amputee from the Iraq War. The explosion severely broke her right arm and tore tissue from it, necessitating major surgery to repair it. Duckworth received a Purple Heart on December 3 and was promoted to Major on December 21 at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where she was presented with an Air Medal and Army Commendation Medal. She retired from the Illinois Army National Guard in October 2014 as a lieutenant colonel.
In 2011 the Daughters of the American Revolution erected a statue with Duckworth's likeness and that of Molly Pitcher in Mount Vernon, Illinois. The statue was dedicated to female veterans.
Government service
On November 21, 2006, several weeks after losing her first congressional campaign, Duckworth was appointed director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs by Governor Rod Blagojevich. She served in that position until February 8, 2009. While director, she was credited with starting a program to help veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and veterans with brain injuries.
On September 17, 2008, Duckworth attended a campaign event for Dan Seals, the Democratic candidate for Illinois's 10th congressional district. She used vacation time, but violated Illinois law by going to the event in a state-owned van that was equipped for a person with physical disabilities. She acknowledged the mistake and repaid the state for the use of the van.
In 2009, two Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs employees at the Anna Veterans' Home in Union County filed a lawsuit against Duckworth. The lawsuit alleged that she wrongfully terminated one employee and threatened and intimidated another for bringing reports of abuse and misconduct of veterans when she was head of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs. Duckworth was represented in the suit by the Illinois Attorney General's office. The case was dismissed twice but refilings were allowed. The case settled in June 2016 for $26,000 with no admission of wrongdoing. The plaintiffs later indicated they no longer wanted to settle, but the judge gave them 21 days to sign the settlement and canceled the trial.
On February 3, 2009, President Barack Obama nominated Duckworth to be the Assistant Secretary of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs for the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). and the United States Senate confirmed her for the position on April 22. As Assistant Secretary, she coordinated a joint initiative with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to help end Veteran homelessness, worked to address the unique challenges faced by female as well as Native American Veterans and created the Office of Online Communications to improve the VA's accessibility, especially among young Veterans. Duckworth resigned her position in June 2011 in order to launch her campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives in Illinois's 8th congressional district.
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
2006
After longtime incumbent Republican Henry Hyde announced his retirement from Congress, several candidates began campaigning for the open seat. Duckworth won the Democratic primary with a plurality of 44%, defeating 2004 nominee Christine Cegelis with 40%, and Wheaton College professor Lindy Scott with 16%. State Senator Peter Roskam was unopposed in the Republican primary. For the general election, Duckworth was endorsed by EMILY's List, a political action committee that supports female Democratic candidates who back abortion rights. Duckworth was also endorsed by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the Fraternal Order of Police. While she raised $4.5 million to Roskam's $3.44 million, Duckworth lost by 4,810 votes, receiving 49% to Roskam's 51%.
2012
In July 2011, Duckworth launched her campaign to run in 2012 for Illinois's 8th congressional district. She defeated former Deputy Treasurer of Illinois Raja Krishnamoorthi for the Democratic nomination on March 20, 2012, then faced incumbent Republican Joe Walsh in the general election. Duckworth received the endorsement of both the Chicago Tribune and the Daily Herald. Walsh generated controversy when in July 2012, at a campaign event, he accused Duckworth of politicizing her military service and injuries, saying "my God, that's all she talks about. Our true heroes, the men and women who served us, it's the last thing in the world they talk about." Walsh called the controversy over his comments "a political ploy to distort my words and distract voters" and said that "Of course Tammy Duckworth is a hero ... I have called her a hero hundreds of times."
On November 6, 2012, Duckworth defeated Walsh 55%–45%, making her the first Asian-American from Illinois in Congress, the first woman with a disability elected to Congress, and the first member of Congress born in Thailand.
2014
In the 2014 general election, Duckworth faced Republican Larry Kaifesh, a United States Marine Corps officer who had recently left active duty as a colonel. Duckworth defeated Kaifesh with 56% of the vote.
Tenure
Duckworth was sworn into office on January 3, 2013.
On April 3, 2013, Duckworth publicly returned 8.4% ($1,218) of her congressional salary for that month to the United States Department of Treasury in solidarity with furloughed government workers.
On June 26, 2013, during a hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Duckworth received national media attention after questioning Strong Castle CEO Braulio Castillo on a $500 million government contract the company had been awarded based on Castillo's disabled veteran status. Castillo had injured his ankle at the US Military Academy's prep school, USMAPS, in 1984.
Committee assignments
Committee on Armed Services
Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces (2013–2017)
Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations (2013–2015)
Subcommittee on Readiness (2015–2017)
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
Subcommittee on Energy Policy, Health Care and Entitlements (2013–2015)
Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Job Creation and Regulatory Affairs (2013–2015)
Subcommittee on Transportation and Public Assets, Ranking Member (2015–2017)
Subcommittee on Information Technology (2015–2017)
United States House Select Committee on Benghazi (May 2014–July 2016)
U.S. Senate
Elections
2016
On March 30, 2015, Duckworth announced that she would challenge incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Mark Kirk for his seat in the 2016 Senate election in Illinois. Duckworth defeated fellow Democrats Andrea Zopp and Napoleon Harris in the primary election on March 15, 2016.
During a televised debate on October 27, 2016, Duckworth talked about her ancestors' past service in the United States military. Kirk responded, "I'd forgotten that your parents came all the way from Thailand to serve George Washington." The comment led to the Human Rights Campaign withdrawing their endorsement of Kirk and switching it to Duckworth, stating his comments were "deeply offensive and racist."
Duckworth was endorsed by Barack Obama, who actively campaigned for her.
On November 8, Duckworth defeated Kirk 54 percent to 40 percent to win the Senate seat. Duckworth and Kamala Harris, who was also elected in 2016, are the second and third female Asian American senators, after Mazie Hirono who was elected in 2012.
Tenure
2010s
According to The Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL), a joint partnership between the University of Virginia's Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and Vanderbilt University, Duckworth's "Legislative Effectiveness Score" (LES) is "Exceeds Expectations" as a freshman senator in the 115th Congress (2017–2018), the 11th highest out of 48 Democratic senators.
GovTrack's Report Card on Duckworth for the 115th Congress found that among Senate freshmen, she ranked first in favorably reporting bills out of committee and "Got influential cosponsors the most often compared to Senate freshmen." GovTrack also found that in the first session of the 116th Congress, Duckworth ranked first in favorably reporting bills out of committee and "Got influential cosponsors the most often compared to Senate sophomores."
During the 115th Congress, Duckworth was credited with saving the Americans with Disabilities Act. Specifically, she led public opposition to a controversial bill, H.R. 620, and led 42 senators in pledging to oppose any effort to pass H.R. 620 through the Senate. The Veterans Service Organization and Paralyzed Veterans of America recognized Duckworth's leadership in defending the Americans with Disabilities Act.
In January 2018, when the federal government shut down after the Senate could not agree on a funding bill, Duckworth responded to President Trump's accusations that the Democrats were putting "unlawful immigrants" ahead of the military:
In 2018, Duckworth became the first U.S. senator to give birth while in office. Shortly afterward, the Senate passed Senate Resolution 463, which Duckworth introduced on April 12, 2018, by unanimous consent. The resolution changed Senate rules so that a senator may bring a child under one year old to the Senate floor during votes. The day after the rules were changed, Duckworth's daughter became the first baby on the Senate floor.
2020s
On April 15, 2020, the Trump administration invited Duckworth to join a bipartisan task force on the reopening of the economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Duckworth was publicly critical of Trump's decision to nominate Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court in September 2020. Barrett, a devout Catholic, is a member of a group that considers in vitro fertilization morally illicit. Duckworth said that Barrett's membership in such an organization was "disqualifying and, frankly, insulting to every parent". Both of Duckworth's children were conceived by IVF.
The Center for Effective Lawmaking, a joint initiative of the University of Virginia and Vanderbilt University, ranked Duckworth the fifth most effective Democratic senator in the 116th Congress and the most effective Democratic senator on transportation policy. Professors Craig Volden and Alan Wiseman, co-directors of the Center for Effective Lawmaking, stated, "While still in her first term, Senator Tammy Duckworth has risen to the top five among effective Democratic lawmakers in the Senate. She sponsored 77 bills in the 116th Congress, with four of them passing the Republican-controlled Senate and two becoming law."
Duckworth was participating in the certification of the 2021 United States Electoral College vote count when Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol. In the wake of the attack, Duckworth called Trump "a threat to our nation" and called for his immediate removal from office through the invocation of the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution or impeachment. Two days later, on January 8, she also called for the resignation of Representative Mary Miller, who had quoted Adolf Hitler during a speech on January 5.
Committee assignments
Current
Committee on Armed Services (2019–present)
Subcommittee on Airland (Chair)
Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support
Subcommittee on Strategic Forces
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security
Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation, and the Internet
Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, Insurance and Data Security
Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security
Committee on Environment and Public Works
Subcommittee on Fisheries, Water and Wildlife (Chair)
Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
Previous
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources (2017–2019)
Caucus memberships
Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus
Expand Social Security Caucus
National politics
Duckworth has spoken at the 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2020 Democratic National Conventions. She was the permanent co-chair of the 2020 Democratic National Convention. At the 2020 convention she called Trump "coward-in-chief" for not supporting the American military.
Duckworth was vetted as a possible running mate during Joe Biden's vice presidential candidate selection. Fellow U.S. Senator Kamala Harris was instead selected. Biden nominated Duckworth to serve as Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee, along with Gretchen Whitmer, Keisha Lance Bottoms and Filemon Vela Jr.
Political positions
Environment
In April 2019, Duckworth was one of 12 senators to sign a bipartisan letter to top senators on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development advocating that the Energy Department be granted maximum funding for carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS), arguing that American job growth could be stimulated by investment in viable options to capture carbon emissions and expressing disagreement with Trump's 2020 budget request to combine the two federal programs that include carbon capture research.
Foreign policy
During her unsuccessful congressional campaign in 2006, Duckworth called on Congress to audit the estimated $437 billion spent on overseas military and foreign aid since September 11, 2001.
On September 30, 2006, Duckworth gave the Democratic Party's response to President George W. Bush's weekly radio address. In it, she was critical of Bush's strategy for the Iraq War.
In October 2006, The Sunday Times reported that Duckworth agreed with General Sir Richard Dannatt, the British Army chief, that the presence of coalition troops was exacerbating the conflict in Iraq.
Duckworth supports continued U.S. military aid to Israel and opposes the movement for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel. She voiced her opposition to Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank.
In May 2019, Duckworth was a cosponsor of the South China Sea and East China Sea Sanctions Act, a bipartisan bill reintroduced by Marco Rubio and Ben Cardin that was intended to disrupt China's consolidation or expansion of its claims of jurisdiction over both the sea and air space in disputed zones in the South China Sea.
On June 6, 2021, Duckworth and Senators Dan Sullivan and Christopher Coons visited Taipei in an U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III transport to meet President Tsai Ing-wen and Minister Joseph Wu during the pandemic outbreak of Taiwan to announce President Joe Biden's donation plan of 750,000 COVID-19 vaccines included in the global COVAX program.
Gun law
Duckworth was rated by the National Rifle Association as having a pro-gun control congressional voting record. Duckworth, who is a gun owner herself, cites violence in Chicago as a major influence for her support of gun control. She supports universal background checks and the halting of state-to-state gun trafficking.
Duckworth participated in the 2016 Chris Murphy gun control filibuster. During the sit-in, Duckworth hid her mobile phone in her prosthetic leg to avoid it being taken away from her since taking pictures and recording on the House floor is against policy.
In a 2016 interview with GQ magazine, Duckworth stated that gaining control of the Senate and "closing the gap" in the House would be necessary in order to pass common sense gun laws. She also stated that she believed moderate Republicans, who support common sense gun control, would have more power to influence gun control if they were not "pushed aside by those folks who are absolutely beholden to the NRA. And so we never get the vote."
Health policy
Duckworth supports abortion rights and the Affordable Care Act.
Immigration
Duckworth supports comprehensive immigration reform with a pathway to citizenship for those in the country illegally. She would admit 100,000 Syrian refugees into the United States.
In August 2018, Duckworth was one of seventeen senators to sign a letter spearheaded by Kamala Harris to United States Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen demanding that the Trump administration take immediate action in attempting to reunite 539 migrant children with their families, citing each passing day of inaction as intensifying "trauma that this administration has needlessly caused for children and their families seeking humanitarian protection."
Electoral history
Awards and accolades
In May 2010, Duckworth was awarded the Honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters (DHL) by Northern Illinois University. In 2011, Chicago's Access Living honored Duckworth for her work on behalf of veterans with disabilities, bestowing her with the Gordon H. Mansfield Congressional Leadership Award.
Duckworth is heavily decorated for her service in Iraq, with over 10 distinct military honors, most notably the Purple Heart, an award her Marine father had also received.
Former Republican presidential candidate and Senator from Kansas Bob Dole dedicated his autobiography One Soldier's Story in part to Duckworth. Duckworth credits Dole for inspiring her to pursue public service, while she recuperated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center; although, in 2006, Dole endorsed Duckworth's Republican opponent, Peter Roskam.
Personal life
Duckworth has been married to Bryan Bowlsbey since 1993. They met during Duckworth's participation in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps and later served together in the Illinois Army National Guard. Bowlsbey, a Signal Corps officer, is also a veteran of the Iraq War. Both have since retired from the armed forces.
Duckworth and Bowlsbey have two daughters: Abigail, who was born in 2014, and Maile, born in 2018. Maile's birth made Duckworth the first U.S. Senator to give birth while in office. Former senator Daniel Akaka helped the couple with the naming of both daughters; Akaka died April 6, 2018, three days before Maile was born. Shortly after Maile's birth, a Senate rule change permitted senators to bring children under one year old on the Senate floor to breastfeed. This was a symbolic moment for Duckworth, as she had previously introduced the bipartisan Friendly Airports for Mothers (FAM) Act to ensure new mothers access to safe, clean and accessible lactation rooms in airports. The day after the rule change, Duckworth brought Maile with her during the casting of a Senate vote, making Duckworth the first senator to cast a vote while holding a baby.
Duckworth helped establish the Intrepid Foundation to help injured veterans.
Bibliography
Every Day is a Gift: A Memoir, Little, Brown & Company, 2021.
See also
Fighting Dems
VoteVets.org
References
External links
Senator Tammy Duckworth official U.S. Senate website
Tammy Duckworth for Senate official campaign website
Front & Center with John Callaway: Returning Veterans: How Warm A Welcome? at the Pritzker Military Museum & Library, July 12, 2007
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1968 births
21st-century American politicians
21st-century American women politicians
American amputees
United States Army personnel of the Iraq War
Members of the United States Congress of Chinese descent
American people of Thai descent
American politicians with physical disabilities
Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives
Democratic Party United States senators
Asian-American members of the United States House of Representatives
Asian-American United States senators
Women military aviators
Female members of the United States House of Representatives
Female United States senators
Elliott School of International Affairs alumni
American Senior Army Aviators
Illinois Democrats
Illinois National Guard personnel
Living people
Members of the United States House of Representatives from Illinois
National Guard of the United States officers
Obama administration personnel
Tammy Duckworth
Politicians from Honolulu
People from Hoffman Estates, Illinois
Recipients of the Air Medal
Shot-down aviators
State cabinet secretaries of Illinois
Thai emigrants to the United States
United States Department of Veterans Affairs officials
United States senators from Illinois
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa alumni
Women in Illinois politics
Women in the Iraq War
Female United States Army officers
Recipients of the Meritorious Service Medal (United States)
Daughters of the American Revolution people
American women of Chinese descent in politics
Asian-American people in Illinois politics | true | [
"Galina Petrova (; 9 September 1920 – 4 December 1943) was a medic and Chief Petty Officer in the 386th Independent Naval Infantry Battalion of the Black Sea Fleet during the Second World War. She died during a bombing attack on 4 December 1943 less than a month after she was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union and the Order of Lenin on 17 November 1943 for her bravery in the Kerch-Eltigen operation.\n\nEarly life \nPetrova was born on 9 September 1920 to a Russian family in Nikolaev, Ukraine in the Soviet Union. In 1940 after she graduated from secondary school with honors she entered the Forestry Department of the Novocherkassk Engineering Institute in Rostov. After the German invasion of the Soviet Union she entered nursing courses in Krasnodar.\n\nMilitary career \nAfter graduating nursing courses Petrova entered the Soviet Navy as a nurse in 1942. She was present in the Kerch-Eltigen operation in 1943 with the rest of the Black Sea Fleet. On the night of 1 November she carried over twenty wounded soldiers from the battlefield in the night under the cover of darkness, running through a field of barbed wire and mines to reach numerous injured marines. For her bravery in the offensive she was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union in November by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet. Less than a month after she received the award she was injured while holding back German soldiers in a series of following counterattacks in Eltigen on 3 December. She was taken to a hospital for her injuries but died the next day when the school building used as a hospital was bombed. Her remains were interred in the village of heroes in Crimea.\n\nRecognition \nThere are memorial plaques dedicated to her memory in Novocherkassk and South Russian State Polytechnic University as well as streets named in her honor in Sevastopol, Tuapse, Nikolaev, and the village of heroes in Kerch. Monuments in her likeness are present at the forestry institute where she studied and at the medical school in Kerch named after her.\n\nSee also \n\n List of female Heroes of the Soviet Union\n Yekaterina Mikhailova-Demina\n Fedora Pushina\n\nReferences \n\nHeroes of the Soviet Union\nRecipients of the Order of Lenin\n1920 births\n1943 deaths\nSoviet women in World War II\nWomen in the Russian and Soviet military\nSoviet military personnel killed in World War II\nPeople from Mykolaiv\nSoviet Navy personnel\nDeaths by airstrike during World War II",
"Rosa Vecht (18 July 1881 – 23 January 1915) was the only Dutch nurse to die in World War I.\n\nEarly life\nRoosje \"Rosa\" Vecht was born in Elburg, Gelderland, Netherlands, the eldest child of Mozes Vecht and Diena van Hamberg. Her parents were Jewish.\n\nCareer\nVecht trained as a nurse at the Israëlitisch Ziekenhuis (Jewish Hospital) in Rotterdam. She earned her license in 1907, and joined the Nederlandsche Bond voor Ziekenverpleging (Dutch Association for Sick Nursing) in 1908. In 1914 she joined the Belgian Red Cross, and worked at the British field hospital at Veurne. Marie Curie worked at the same hospital.\n\nPersonal life\nVecht died in 1915, aged 33 years, when she was fatally injured by shrapnel at Veurne in West Flanders, while saying goodbye before a planned evacuation. She died after an operation to amputate her leg at De Panne. She was the only known Dutch nurse to die during World War I. Her remains were buried with military honors at Adinkerke Military Cemetery, and reinterred in 1920, in the Jewish cemetery in Muiderberg. In 2015, to mark the 100th anniversary of her death, Vecht was remembered in a ceremony at the Menin Gate in Ypres.\n\nReferences\n\n1881 births\n1915 deaths\nDutch nurses\nDutch people of World War I\nCivilians killed in World War I\nNurses killed in World War I"
] |
[
"Tammy Duckworth",
"Military service",
"What branch of the Military was Duckworth in?",
"As a member of the Army Reserve, she went to flight school, later transferring to the Army National Guard and entering the Illinois Army National Guard in 1996.",
"When was she first deployed?",
"when she was deployed to Iraq in 2004.",
"Where in Iraq was she based?",
"I don't know.",
"Was she injured while in the military?",
"She lost her right leg near the hip and her left leg below the knee from injuries sustained on November 12, 2004,"
] | C_6c6eab3270324df39b00556c549930bb_1 | What happened to cause these injuries? | 5 | What happened to cause Tammy Duckworth to have injuries to her legs? | Tammy Duckworth | Following in the footsteps of her father, who served in World War II, and ancestors who served in the Revolutionary War, Duckworth joined the Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps as a graduate student at George Washington University in 1990. She became a commissioned officer in the United States Army Reserve in 1992 and chose to fly helicopters because it was one of the few combat jobs open to women. As a member of the Army Reserve, she went to flight school, later transferring to the Army National Guard and entering the Illinois Army National Guard in 1996. Duckworth also worked as a staff supervisor at Rotary International headquarters in Evanston, Illinois. Duckworth was working towards a Ph.D. in political science at Northern Illinois University, with research interests in the political economy and public health in southeast Asia, when she was deployed to Iraq in 2004. She lost her right leg near the hip and her left leg below the knee from injuries sustained on November 12, 2004, when the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter she was co-piloting was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade fired by Iraqi insurgents. She was the first American female double amputee from the Iraq war. The explosion "almost completely destroyed her right arm, breaking it in three places and tearing tissue from the back side of it". The doctors "reset the bones in her arm and stitched the cuts" to save her arm. Duckworth received a Purple Heart on December 3 and was promoted to Major on December 21 at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where she was presented with an Air Medal and Army Commendation Medal. She retired from the Illinois Army National Guard in October 2014 as a lieutenant colonel. She returned to school and completed a PhD in Human Services at Capella University in March 2015. The Daughters of the American Revolution erected a statue with Duckworth's likeness, and that of the Revolution's Molly Pitcher in Mount Vernon, Illinois, in 2011. The statue was erected in honor of female veterans. CANNOTANSWER | when the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter she was co-piloting was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade fired by Iraqi insurgents. | Ladda Tammy Duckworth (born March 12, 1968) is an American politician and retired Army National Guard lieutenant colonel serving as the junior United States senator from Illinois since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, she represented Illinois's 8th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2013 to 2017.
Duckworth was educated at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and George Washington University. A combat veteran of the Iraq War, she served as a U.S. Army helicopter pilot. In 2004, when her helicopter was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade fired by Iraqi insurgents, she lost both legs and some mobility in her right arm. She was the first female double amputee from the war. Despite her injuries, she sought and obtained a medical waiver that allowed her to continue serving in the Illinois Army National Guard until she retired as a lieutenant colonel in 2014.
Duckworth ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the United States House of Representatives in 2006, then served as director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs from 2006 to 2009 and as assistant secretary for public and intergovernmental affairs at the United States Department of Veterans Affairs from 2009 to 2011. In 2012, Duckworth was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where she served two terms. Duckworth was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2016, defeating Republican incumbent Mark Kirk. She is the first Thai American woman elected to Congress, the first person born in Thailand elected to Congress, the first woman with a disability elected to Congress, the first female double amputee in the Senate, and the first senator to give birth while in office. Duckworth is the second of three Asian American women to serve in the U.S. Senate, after Mazie Hirono, and before Kamala Harris.
Early life and education
Duckworth was born in Bangkok, Thailand, the daughter of Franklin Duckworth and Lamai Sompornpairin. Under long-standing US law, she is a natural-born citizen because her father was American. Her father, who died in 2005, was a veteran of the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps who traced his family's American roots to the American Revolutionary War. Her mother is Thai Chinese and originally from Chiang Mai. Her father worked with the United Nations and international companies in refugee, housing, and development programs, and the family moved around Southeast Asia. Duckworth became fluent in Thai and Indonesian, in addition to English.
Duckworth attended Singapore American School, the International School Bangkok, and the Jakarta International School. The family moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, when Duckworth was 16, and she attended Honolulu's McKinley High School, where she participated in track and field and graduated in 1985. Because of a difference in the grade levels between the school systems she attended, Duckworth skipped half of her ninth grade year and half of her tenth. She was a Girl Scout, and earned her First Class, now called the Gold Award. Her father was unemployed for a time, and the family relied on public assistance. She graduated from the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 1989 with a Bachelor of Arts in political science. In 1992, she received a Master of Arts in international affairs from George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs. She began a PhD program at Northern Illinois University, which was interrupted by her war service. She completed a PhD in human services at Capella University in March 2015.
Military service
Following in the footsteps of her father, who served in World War II and the Vietnam War, and ancestors who served in every major conflict since the Revolutionary War, Duckworth joined the Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps in 1990 as a graduate student at George Washington University. She became a commissioned officer in the United States Army Reserve in 1992 and chose to fly helicopters because it was one of the few combat jobs open to women at that time. As a member of the Army Reserve, she went to flight school, later transferring to the Army National Guard and in 1996 entering the Illinois Army National Guard. Duckworth also worked as a staff supervisor at Rotary International headquarters in Evanston, Illinois, and was the coordinator of the Center for Nursing Research at Northern Illinois University.
Duckworth was working toward a Ph.D. in political science at Northern Illinois University, with research interests in the political economy and public health of southeast Asia, when she was deployed to Iraq in 2004. She lost her right leg near the hip and her left leg below the knee from injuries sustained on November 12, 2004, when the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter she was co-piloting was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade fired by Iraqi insurgents. She was the first American female double amputee from the Iraq War. The explosion severely broke her right arm and tore tissue from it, necessitating major surgery to repair it. Duckworth received a Purple Heart on December 3 and was promoted to Major on December 21 at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where she was presented with an Air Medal and Army Commendation Medal. She retired from the Illinois Army National Guard in October 2014 as a lieutenant colonel.
In 2011 the Daughters of the American Revolution erected a statue with Duckworth's likeness and that of Molly Pitcher in Mount Vernon, Illinois. The statue was dedicated to female veterans.
Government service
On November 21, 2006, several weeks after losing her first congressional campaign, Duckworth was appointed director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs by Governor Rod Blagojevich. She served in that position until February 8, 2009. While director, she was credited with starting a program to help veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and veterans with brain injuries.
On September 17, 2008, Duckworth attended a campaign event for Dan Seals, the Democratic candidate for Illinois's 10th congressional district. She used vacation time, but violated Illinois law by going to the event in a state-owned van that was equipped for a person with physical disabilities. She acknowledged the mistake and repaid the state for the use of the van.
In 2009, two Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs employees at the Anna Veterans' Home in Union County filed a lawsuit against Duckworth. The lawsuit alleged that she wrongfully terminated one employee and threatened and intimidated another for bringing reports of abuse and misconduct of veterans when she was head of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs. Duckworth was represented in the suit by the Illinois Attorney General's office. The case was dismissed twice but refilings were allowed. The case settled in June 2016 for $26,000 with no admission of wrongdoing. The plaintiffs later indicated they no longer wanted to settle, but the judge gave them 21 days to sign the settlement and canceled the trial.
On February 3, 2009, President Barack Obama nominated Duckworth to be the Assistant Secretary of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs for the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). and the United States Senate confirmed her for the position on April 22. As Assistant Secretary, she coordinated a joint initiative with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to help end Veteran homelessness, worked to address the unique challenges faced by female as well as Native American Veterans and created the Office of Online Communications to improve the VA's accessibility, especially among young Veterans. Duckworth resigned her position in June 2011 in order to launch her campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives in Illinois's 8th congressional district.
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
2006
After longtime incumbent Republican Henry Hyde announced his retirement from Congress, several candidates began campaigning for the open seat. Duckworth won the Democratic primary with a plurality of 44%, defeating 2004 nominee Christine Cegelis with 40%, and Wheaton College professor Lindy Scott with 16%. State Senator Peter Roskam was unopposed in the Republican primary. For the general election, Duckworth was endorsed by EMILY's List, a political action committee that supports female Democratic candidates who back abortion rights. Duckworth was also endorsed by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the Fraternal Order of Police. While she raised $4.5 million to Roskam's $3.44 million, Duckworth lost by 4,810 votes, receiving 49% to Roskam's 51%.
2012
In July 2011, Duckworth launched her campaign to run in 2012 for Illinois's 8th congressional district. She defeated former Deputy Treasurer of Illinois Raja Krishnamoorthi for the Democratic nomination on March 20, 2012, then faced incumbent Republican Joe Walsh in the general election. Duckworth received the endorsement of both the Chicago Tribune and the Daily Herald. Walsh generated controversy when in July 2012, at a campaign event, he accused Duckworth of politicizing her military service and injuries, saying "my God, that's all she talks about. Our true heroes, the men and women who served us, it's the last thing in the world they talk about." Walsh called the controversy over his comments "a political ploy to distort my words and distract voters" and said that "Of course Tammy Duckworth is a hero ... I have called her a hero hundreds of times."
On November 6, 2012, Duckworth defeated Walsh 55%–45%, making her the first Asian-American from Illinois in Congress, the first woman with a disability elected to Congress, and the first member of Congress born in Thailand.
2014
In the 2014 general election, Duckworth faced Republican Larry Kaifesh, a United States Marine Corps officer who had recently left active duty as a colonel. Duckworth defeated Kaifesh with 56% of the vote.
Tenure
Duckworth was sworn into office on January 3, 2013.
On April 3, 2013, Duckworth publicly returned 8.4% ($1,218) of her congressional salary for that month to the United States Department of Treasury in solidarity with furloughed government workers.
On June 26, 2013, during a hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Duckworth received national media attention after questioning Strong Castle CEO Braulio Castillo on a $500 million government contract the company had been awarded based on Castillo's disabled veteran status. Castillo had injured his ankle at the US Military Academy's prep school, USMAPS, in 1984.
Committee assignments
Committee on Armed Services
Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces (2013–2017)
Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations (2013–2015)
Subcommittee on Readiness (2015–2017)
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
Subcommittee on Energy Policy, Health Care and Entitlements (2013–2015)
Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Job Creation and Regulatory Affairs (2013–2015)
Subcommittee on Transportation and Public Assets, Ranking Member (2015–2017)
Subcommittee on Information Technology (2015–2017)
United States House Select Committee on Benghazi (May 2014–July 2016)
U.S. Senate
Elections
2016
On March 30, 2015, Duckworth announced that she would challenge incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Mark Kirk for his seat in the 2016 Senate election in Illinois. Duckworth defeated fellow Democrats Andrea Zopp and Napoleon Harris in the primary election on March 15, 2016.
During a televised debate on October 27, 2016, Duckworth talked about her ancestors' past service in the United States military. Kirk responded, "I'd forgotten that your parents came all the way from Thailand to serve George Washington." The comment led to the Human Rights Campaign withdrawing their endorsement of Kirk and switching it to Duckworth, stating his comments were "deeply offensive and racist."
Duckworth was endorsed by Barack Obama, who actively campaigned for her.
On November 8, Duckworth defeated Kirk 54 percent to 40 percent to win the Senate seat. Duckworth and Kamala Harris, who was also elected in 2016, are the second and third female Asian American senators, after Mazie Hirono who was elected in 2012.
Tenure
2010s
According to The Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL), a joint partnership between the University of Virginia's Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and Vanderbilt University, Duckworth's "Legislative Effectiveness Score" (LES) is "Exceeds Expectations" as a freshman senator in the 115th Congress (2017–2018), the 11th highest out of 48 Democratic senators.
GovTrack's Report Card on Duckworth for the 115th Congress found that among Senate freshmen, she ranked first in favorably reporting bills out of committee and "Got influential cosponsors the most often compared to Senate freshmen." GovTrack also found that in the first session of the 116th Congress, Duckworth ranked first in favorably reporting bills out of committee and "Got influential cosponsors the most often compared to Senate sophomores."
During the 115th Congress, Duckworth was credited with saving the Americans with Disabilities Act. Specifically, she led public opposition to a controversial bill, H.R. 620, and led 42 senators in pledging to oppose any effort to pass H.R. 620 through the Senate. The Veterans Service Organization and Paralyzed Veterans of America recognized Duckworth's leadership in defending the Americans with Disabilities Act.
In January 2018, when the federal government shut down after the Senate could not agree on a funding bill, Duckworth responded to President Trump's accusations that the Democrats were putting "unlawful immigrants" ahead of the military:
In 2018, Duckworth became the first U.S. senator to give birth while in office. Shortly afterward, the Senate passed Senate Resolution 463, which Duckworth introduced on April 12, 2018, by unanimous consent. The resolution changed Senate rules so that a senator may bring a child under one year old to the Senate floor during votes. The day after the rules were changed, Duckworth's daughter became the first baby on the Senate floor.
2020s
On April 15, 2020, the Trump administration invited Duckworth to join a bipartisan task force on the reopening of the economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Duckworth was publicly critical of Trump's decision to nominate Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court in September 2020. Barrett, a devout Catholic, is a member of a group that considers in vitro fertilization morally illicit. Duckworth said that Barrett's membership in such an organization was "disqualifying and, frankly, insulting to every parent". Both of Duckworth's children were conceived by IVF.
The Center for Effective Lawmaking, a joint initiative of the University of Virginia and Vanderbilt University, ranked Duckworth the fifth most effective Democratic senator in the 116th Congress and the most effective Democratic senator on transportation policy. Professors Craig Volden and Alan Wiseman, co-directors of the Center for Effective Lawmaking, stated, "While still in her first term, Senator Tammy Duckworth has risen to the top five among effective Democratic lawmakers in the Senate. She sponsored 77 bills in the 116th Congress, with four of them passing the Republican-controlled Senate and two becoming law."
Duckworth was participating in the certification of the 2021 United States Electoral College vote count when Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol. In the wake of the attack, Duckworth called Trump "a threat to our nation" and called for his immediate removal from office through the invocation of the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution or impeachment. Two days later, on January 8, she also called for the resignation of Representative Mary Miller, who had quoted Adolf Hitler during a speech on January 5.
Committee assignments
Current
Committee on Armed Services (2019–present)
Subcommittee on Airland (Chair)
Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support
Subcommittee on Strategic Forces
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security
Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation, and the Internet
Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, Insurance and Data Security
Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security
Committee on Environment and Public Works
Subcommittee on Fisheries, Water and Wildlife (Chair)
Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
Previous
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources (2017–2019)
Caucus memberships
Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus
Expand Social Security Caucus
National politics
Duckworth has spoken at the 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2020 Democratic National Conventions. She was the permanent co-chair of the 2020 Democratic National Convention. At the 2020 convention she called Trump "coward-in-chief" for not supporting the American military.
Duckworth was vetted as a possible running mate during Joe Biden's vice presidential candidate selection. Fellow U.S. Senator Kamala Harris was instead selected. Biden nominated Duckworth to serve as Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee, along with Gretchen Whitmer, Keisha Lance Bottoms and Filemon Vela Jr.
Political positions
Environment
In April 2019, Duckworth was one of 12 senators to sign a bipartisan letter to top senators on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development advocating that the Energy Department be granted maximum funding for carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS), arguing that American job growth could be stimulated by investment in viable options to capture carbon emissions and expressing disagreement with Trump's 2020 budget request to combine the two federal programs that include carbon capture research.
Foreign policy
During her unsuccessful congressional campaign in 2006, Duckworth called on Congress to audit the estimated $437 billion spent on overseas military and foreign aid since September 11, 2001.
On September 30, 2006, Duckworth gave the Democratic Party's response to President George W. Bush's weekly radio address. In it, she was critical of Bush's strategy for the Iraq War.
In October 2006, The Sunday Times reported that Duckworth agreed with General Sir Richard Dannatt, the British Army chief, that the presence of coalition troops was exacerbating the conflict in Iraq.
Duckworth supports continued U.S. military aid to Israel and opposes the movement for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel. She voiced her opposition to Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank.
In May 2019, Duckworth was a cosponsor of the South China Sea and East China Sea Sanctions Act, a bipartisan bill reintroduced by Marco Rubio and Ben Cardin that was intended to disrupt China's consolidation or expansion of its claims of jurisdiction over both the sea and air space in disputed zones in the South China Sea.
On June 6, 2021, Duckworth and Senators Dan Sullivan and Christopher Coons visited Taipei in an U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III transport to meet President Tsai Ing-wen and Minister Joseph Wu during the pandemic outbreak of Taiwan to announce President Joe Biden's donation plan of 750,000 COVID-19 vaccines included in the global COVAX program.
Gun law
Duckworth was rated by the National Rifle Association as having a pro-gun control congressional voting record. Duckworth, who is a gun owner herself, cites violence in Chicago as a major influence for her support of gun control. She supports universal background checks and the halting of state-to-state gun trafficking.
Duckworth participated in the 2016 Chris Murphy gun control filibuster. During the sit-in, Duckworth hid her mobile phone in her prosthetic leg to avoid it being taken away from her since taking pictures and recording on the House floor is against policy.
In a 2016 interview with GQ magazine, Duckworth stated that gaining control of the Senate and "closing the gap" in the House would be necessary in order to pass common sense gun laws. She also stated that she believed moderate Republicans, who support common sense gun control, would have more power to influence gun control if they were not "pushed aside by those folks who are absolutely beholden to the NRA. And so we never get the vote."
Health policy
Duckworth supports abortion rights and the Affordable Care Act.
Immigration
Duckworth supports comprehensive immigration reform with a pathway to citizenship for those in the country illegally. She would admit 100,000 Syrian refugees into the United States.
In August 2018, Duckworth was one of seventeen senators to sign a letter spearheaded by Kamala Harris to United States Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen demanding that the Trump administration take immediate action in attempting to reunite 539 migrant children with their families, citing each passing day of inaction as intensifying "trauma that this administration has needlessly caused for children and their families seeking humanitarian protection."
Electoral history
Awards and accolades
In May 2010, Duckworth was awarded the Honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters (DHL) by Northern Illinois University. In 2011, Chicago's Access Living honored Duckworth for her work on behalf of veterans with disabilities, bestowing her with the Gordon H. Mansfield Congressional Leadership Award.
Duckworth is heavily decorated for her service in Iraq, with over 10 distinct military honors, most notably the Purple Heart, an award her Marine father had also received.
Former Republican presidential candidate and Senator from Kansas Bob Dole dedicated his autobiography One Soldier's Story in part to Duckworth. Duckworth credits Dole for inspiring her to pursue public service, while she recuperated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center; although, in 2006, Dole endorsed Duckworth's Republican opponent, Peter Roskam.
Personal life
Duckworth has been married to Bryan Bowlsbey since 1993. They met during Duckworth's participation in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps and later served together in the Illinois Army National Guard. Bowlsbey, a Signal Corps officer, is also a veteran of the Iraq War. Both have since retired from the armed forces.
Duckworth and Bowlsbey have two daughters: Abigail, who was born in 2014, and Maile, born in 2018. Maile's birth made Duckworth the first U.S. Senator to give birth while in office. Former senator Daniel Akaka helped the couple with the naming of both daughters; Akaka died April 6, 2018, three days before Maile was born. Shortly after Maile's birth, a Senate rule change permitted senators to bring children under one year old on the Senate floor to breastfeed. This was a symbolic moment for Duckworth, as she had previously introduced the bipartisan Friendly Airports for Mothers (FAM) Act to ensure new mothers access to safe, clean and accessible lactation rooms in airports. The day after the rule change, Duckworth brought Maile with her during the casting of a Senate vote, making Duckworth the first senator to cast a vote while holding a baby.
Duckworth helped establish the Intrepid Foundation to help injured veterans.
Bibliography
Every Day is a Gift: A Memoir, Little, Brown & Company, 2021.
See also
Fighting Dems
VoteVets.org
References
External links
Senator Tammy Duckworth official U.S. Senate website
Tammy Duckworth for Senate official campaign website
Front & Center with John Callaway: Returning Veterans: How Warm A Welcome? at the Pritzker Military Museum & Library, July 12, 2007
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1968 births
21st-century American politicians
21st-century American women politicians
American amputees
United States Army personnel of the Iraq War
Members of the United States Congress of Chinese descent
American people of Thai descent
American politicians with physical disabilities
Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives
Democratic Party United States senators
Asian-American members of the United States House of Representatives
Asian-American United States senators
Women military aviators
Female members of the United States House of Representatives
Female United States senators
Elliott School of International Affairs alumni
American Senior Army Aviators
Illinois Democrats
Illinois National Guard personnel
Living people
Members of the United States House of Representatives from Illinois
National Guard of the United States officers
Obama administration personnel
Tammy Duckworth
Politicians from Honolulu
People from Hoffman Estates, Illinois
Recipients of the Air Medal
Shot-down aviators
State cabinet secretaries of Illinois
Thai emigrants to the United States
United States Department of Veterans Affairs officials
United States senators from Illinois
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa alumni
Women in Illinois politics
Women in the Iraq War
Female United States Army officers
Recipients of the Meritorious Service Medal (United States)
Daughters of the American Revolution people
American women of Chinese descent in politics
Asian-American people in Illinois politics | true | [
"The Ellis Park Stadium disaster was a crowd crush that occurred on 11 April 2001, claiming the lives of 43 people. Surpassing the Oppenheimer Stadium disaster, it became the worst sporting accident in South African history. Spectators poured into the Ellis Park Stadium in the city of Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa, for the local Soweto derby association football match between Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates. There was a 60,000 capacity crowd in the stadium, but reports suggest a further 30,000 more fans were trying to gain entry to the stadium. Reports also suggest that 120,000 fans were admitted into the stadium. An Orlando Pirates equaliser sparked a further surge by the fans trying to gain entry as they scrambled to see what had happened. The match was stopped after approximately 34 minutes of play when authorities received an unusually high volume of reported injuries.\n\nIncident\nAs the crowd surged to gain seats and see the pitch, they overspilled into press boxes, and 43 people were crushed to death. Apparently untrained security guards firing tear gas at the stampeding fans exacerbated the situation, and may have been the cause of some of the deaths. The South African Police Services denied these claims. The final inquiry into the incident concluded that a major cause was bribed security personnel admitting fans without tickets into the stadium and poor crowd control.\n\nWhen it became apparent what had happened, the match was halted and the crowd was dispersed. The bodies were laid out on the pitch for identification and medical attention, but none were revived. This was the worst sporting accident in South African history, surpassing the Oppenheimer Stadium disaster in 1991. This mirrored the Ellis Park Stadium disaster as it involved the same two teams. Forty-two people died then in a stampede after too many fans were admitted to Oppenheimer Stadium in Orkney, a mining town some from Johannesburg.\n\nSee also \n\n List of human stampedes and crushes\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \nSouth African press\nBBC coverage\n\nSport in Johannesburg\nHuman stampedes in 2001\nStadium disasters\nMan-made disasters in South Africa\nSoccer in South Africa\nKaizer Chiefs F.C.\nOrlando Pirates F.C.\nSport\n2000–01 in South African soccer\nAssociation football controversies\n21st century in Johannesburg",
"The kidney is the most commonly injured urinary tract organ. Injuries occur commonly after automobile- or sports-related accidents. A blunt force is involved in 80-85% of injuries to the kidney. Major decelerations can result in major vascular injuries near the kidney's hilum. Gunshots and knife wounds commonly are the cause of penetrating injuries. Fractured ribs can result in penetrating injuries to the kidney.\n\nInjuries to the urethra occur most commonly in men after pelvic fractures or straddle-type falls.\n\nPresentation\n\nComorbidity\nIn 90% of bladder injuries there is a concurrent pelvic fractures. Pelvic bone fragments penetrate and perforate the bladder. Perforations can be either extraperitoneal or intraperitoneal. Intraperitoneal perforations allow for urine to enter the peritoneal cavity. Symptoms typically develop immediately if the urine is infected. Otherwise sterile urine may take days to cause symptoms.\n\nDiagnosis\n\nHematuria in Patients Presenting After Trauma \nBlood in the urine after abdominal trauma suggests a urinary tract injury. Renal injuries are suggested by lower rib fractures. Bladder and urethral injuries are suggested by pelvic fractures.\n\nFoley Catheter \nThe urethral meatus should be examined after trauma. Blood at the urethral meatus precludes insertion of a foley catheter into the bladder. Erroneously placing a foley in this situation can result in infections of periprostatic and perivesical hematomas or conversion of a partial transection to a complete urethral transections. Blood at the urethral meatus suggests an injury to the urethra. Otherwise a foley catheter can be placed into the bladder and hematuria can be assessed for.\n\nAbdominal Imaging \nHemodynamically stable individuals should undergo further radiographic assessment. Abdominal computed tomography (CT) with contrast can detect retroperitoneal hematomas, renal lacerations, urinary extravasation, and renal arterial and venous injuries. A repeat scan ten minutes after the first is recommended.\n\nRetrograde Urethrography (RUG) \nThe purpose of this study is to identify and characterize injuries to the urethra. The tip of a small (12F) foley catheter is placed in the urethral meatus. The catheter remains fixed after 3 mL of water are instilled into the foley catheter's balloon. Radiographic films are taken as 20 mL of water-soluble contrast material are injected This outlines the urethra from the urethral meatus to the bladder neck. If injuries exist, the location can be determined.\n\nRetrograde Cystography \nThe purpose of this study is to identify bladder perforations. The bladder needs to be adequately distended with contrast medium. 300 mL or more are generally recommended. The study has two films. One film is taken when the bladder is adequately distended and filled with contrast. The next film is taken after the bladder is emptied without the assistance of a foley catheter.\n\nAngiography \nHelpful in identifying injuries to the kidney's parenchyma and vasculature.\n\nManagement\n\nGenitourinary Trauma\n\nUrethral Injuries \nManagement depends on what part of the urethra was injured and to what extent. The two broad anatomical separations are the posterior and anterior urethra. The posterior urethra includes the prostatic and membranous urethra. The anterior urethra includes the bulbous and pendulous portion.\n\nPosterior Urethra Injuries \nThe membranous urethra can be separated from the prostate's apex after blunt trauma. The urethra should not be catheterized. Initial management should be the creation of a suprapubic cystostomy for urine drainage. The bladder should be opened in the midline so to facilitate inspection of bladder lacerations. Perforations can be closed with absorbable sutures. The suprapubic cystostomy remains in place for three months. Incomplete urethral disruptions heal spontaneously and the suprapubic cystostomy can be removed after three weeks for these injuries. Before removing a cystostomy, a voiding cystourethrography should demonstrate no urine extravasation. Delayed urethral reconstruction may be performed within 3 months. This typically entails a direct excision of the now strictured area and anastomosis of the bulbous urethra to the prostate's apex. A urethral catheter and suprapubic cystostomy should be left in place. These are removed within a month.\n\nReferences \n\nGenitourinary system\nInjuries"
] |
[
"Tammy Duckworth",
"Military service",
"What branch of the Military was Duckworth in?",
"As a member of the Army Reserve, she went to flight school, later transferring to the Army National Guard and entering the Illinois Army National Guard in 1996.",
"When was she first deployed?",
"when she was deployed to Iraq in 2004.",
"Where in Iraq was she based?",
"I don't know.",
"Was she injured while in the military?",
"She lost her right leg near the hip and her left leg below the knee from injuries sustained on November 12, 2004,",
"What happened to cause these injuries?",
"when the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter she was co-piloting was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade fired by Iraqi insurgents."
] | C_6c6eab3270324df39b00556c549930bb_1 | Did she receive any medals? | 6 | Did Tammy Duckworth receive any medals while serving in the Army National Guard? | Tammy Duckworth | Following in the footsteps of her father, who served in World War II, and ancestors who served in the Revolutionary War, Duckworth joined the Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps as a graduate student at George Washington University in 1990. She became a commissioned officer in the United States Army Reserve in 1992 and chose to fly helicopters because it was one of the few combat jobs open to women. As a member of the Army Reserve, she went to flight school, later transferring to the Army National Guard and entering the Illinois Army National Guard in 1996. Duckworth also worked as a staff supervisor at Rotary International headquarters in Evanston, Illinois. Duckworth was working towards a Ph.D. in political science at Northern Illinois University, with research interests in the political economy and public health in southeast Asia, when she was deployed to Iraq in 2004. She lost her right leg near the hip and her left leg below the knee from injuries sustained on November 12, 2004, when the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter she was co-piloting was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade fired by Iraqi insurgents. She was the first American female double amputee from the Iraq war. The explosion "almost completely destroyed her right arm, breaking it in three places and tearing tissue from the back side of it". The doctors "reset the bones in her arm and stitched the cuts" to save her arm. Duckworth received a Purple Heart on December 3 and was promoted to Major on December 21 at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where she was presented with an Air Medal and Army Commendation Medal. She retired from the Illinois Army National Guard in October 2014 as a lieutenant colonel. She returned to school and completed a PhD in Human Services at Capella University in March 2015. The Daughters of the American Revolution erected a statue with Duckworth's likeness, and that of the Revolution's Molly Pitcher in Mount Vernon, Illinois, in 2011. The statue was erected in honor of female veterans. CANNOTANSWER | a Purple Heart on December 3 and was promoted to Major on December 21 | Ladda Tammy Duckworth (born March 12, 1968) is an American politician and retired Army National Guard lieutenant colonel serving as the junior United States senator from Illinois since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, she represented Illinois's 8th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2013 to 2017.
Duckworth was educated at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and George Washington University. A combat veteran of the Iraq War, she served as a U.S. Army helicopter pilot. In 2004, when her helicopter was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade fired by Iraqi insurgents, she lost both legs and some mobility in her right arm. She was the first female double amputee from the war. Despite her injuries, she sought and obtained a medical waiver that allowed her to continue serving in the Illinois Army National Guard until she retired as a lieutenant colonel in 2014.
Duckworth ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the United States House of Representatives in 2006, then served as director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs from 2006 to 2009 and as assistant secretary for public and intergovernmental affairs at the United States Department of Veterans Affairs from 2009 to 2011. In 2012, Duckworth was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where she served two terms. Duckworth was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2016, defeating Republican incumbent Mark Kirk. She is the first Thai American woman elected to Congress, the first person born in Thailand elected to Congress, the first woman with a disability elected to Congress, the first female double amputee in the Senate, and the first senator to give birth while in office. Duckworth is the second of three Asian American women to serve in the U.S. Senate, after Mazie Hirono, and before Kamala Harris.
Early life and education
Duckworth was born in Bangkok, Thailand, the daughter of Franklin Duckworth and Lamai Sompornpairin. Under long-standing US law, she is a natural-born citizen because her father was American. Her father, who died in 2005, was a veteran of the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps who traced his family's American roots to the American Revolutionary War. Her mother is Thai Chinese and originally from Chiang Mai. Her father worked with the United Nations and international companies in refugee, housing, and development programs, and the family moved around Southeast Asia. Duckworth became fluent in Thai and Indonesian, in addition to English.
Duckworth attended Singapore American School, the International School Bangkok, and the Jakarta International School. The family moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, when Duckworth was 16, and she attended Honolulu's McKinley High School, where she participated in track and field and graduated in 1985. Because of a difference in the grade levels between the school systems she attended, Duckworth skipped half of her ninth grade year and half of her tenth. She was a Girl Scout, and earned her First Class, now called the Gold Award. Her father was unemployed for a time, and the family relied on public assistance. She graduated from the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 1989 with a Bachelor of Arts in political science. In 1992, she received a Master of Arts in international affairs from George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs. She began a PhD program at Northern Illinois University, which was interrupted by her war service. She completed a PhD in human services at Capella University in March 2015.
Military service
Following in the footsteps of her father, who served in World War II and the Vietnam War, and ancestors who served in every major conflict since the Revolutionary War, Duckworth joined the Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps in 1990 as a graduate student at George Washington University. She became a commissioned officer in the United States Army Reserve in 1992 and chose to fly helicopters because it was one of the few combat jobs open to women at that time. As a member of the Army Reserve, she went to flight school, later transferring to the Army National Guard and in 1996 entering the Illinois Army National Guard. Duckworth also worked as a staff supervisor at Rotary International headquarters in Evanston, Illinois, and was the coordinator of the Center for Nursing Research at Northern Illinois University.
Duckworth was working toward a Ph.D. in political science at Northern Illinois University, with research interests in the political economy and public health of southeast Asia, when she was deployed to Iraq in 2004. She lost her right leg near the hip and her left leg below the knee from injuries sustained on November 12, 2004, when the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter she was co-piloting was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade fired by Iraqi insurgents. She was the first American female double amputee from the Iraq War. The explosion severely broke her right arm and tore tissue from it, necessitating major surgery to repair it. Duckworth received a Purple Heart on December 3 and was promoted to Major on December 21 at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where she was presented with an Air Medal and Army Commendation Medal. She retired from the Illinois Army National Guard in October 2014 as a lieutenant colonel.
In 2011 the Daughters of the American Revolution erected a statue with Duckworth's likeness and that of Molly Pitcher in Mount Vernon, Illinois. The statue was dedicated to female veterans.
Government service
On November 21, 2006, several weeks after losing her first congressional campaign, Duckworth was appointed director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs by Governor Rod Blagojevich. She served in that position until February 8, 2009. While director, she was credited with starting a program to help veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and veterans with brain injuries.
On September 17, 2008, Duckworth attended a campaign event for Dan Seals, the Democratic candidate for Illinois's 10th congressional district. She used vacation time, but violated Illinois law by going to the event in a state-owned van that was equipped for a person with physical disabilities. She acknowledged the mistake and repaid the state for the use of the van.
In 2009, two Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs employees at the Anna Veterans' Home in Union County filed a lawsuit against Duckworth. The lawsuit alleged that she wrongfully terminated one employee and threatened and intimidated another for bringing reports of abuse and misconduct of veterans when she was head of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs. Duckworth was represented in the suit by the Illinois Attorney General's office. The case was dismissed twice but refilings were allowed. The case settled in June 2016 for $26,000 with no admission of wrongdoing. The plaintiffs later indicated they no longer wanted to settle, but the judge gave them 21 days to sign the settlement and canceled the trial.
On February 3, 2009, President Barack Obama nominated Duckworth to be the Assistant Secretary of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs for the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). and the United States Senate confirmed her for the position on April 22. As Assistant Secretary, she coordinated a joint initiative with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to help end Veteran homelessness, worked to address the unique challenges faced by female as well as Native American Veterans and created the Office of Online Communications to improve the VA's accessibility, especially among young Veterans. Duckworth resigned her position in June 2011 in order to launch her campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives in Illinois's 8th congressional district.
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
2006
After longtime incumbent Republican Henry Hyde announced his retirement from Congress, several candidates began campaigning for the open seat. Duckworth won the Democratic primary with a plurality of 44%, defeating 2004 nominee Christine Cegelis with 40%, and Wheaton College professor Lindy Scott with 16%. State Senator Peter Roskam was unopposed in the Republican primary. For the general election, Duckworth was endorsed by EMILY's List, a political action committee that supports female Democratic candidates who back abortion rights. Duckworth was also endorsed by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the Fraternal Order of Police. While she raised $4.5 million to Roskam's $3.44 million, Duckworth lost by 4,810 votes, receiving 49% to Roskam's 51%.
2012
In July 2011, Duckworth launched her campaign to run in 2012 for Illinois's 8th congressional district. She defeated former Deputy Treasurer of Illinois Raja Krishnamoorthi for the Democratic nomination on March 20, 2012, then faced incumbent Republican Joe Walsh in the general election. Duckworth received the endorsement of both the Chicago Tribune and the Daily Herald. Walsh generated controversy when in July 2012, at a campaign event, he accused Duckworth of politicizing her military service and injuries, saying "my God, that's all she talks about. Our true heroes, the men and women who served us, it's the last thing in the world they talk about." Walsh called the controversy over his comments "a political ploy to distort my words and distract voters" and said that "Of course Tammy Duckworth is a hero ... I have called her a hero hundreds of times."
On November 6, 2012, Duckworth defeated Walsh 55%–45%, making her the first Asian-American from Illinois in Congress, the first woman with a disability elected to Congress, and the first member of Congress born in Thailand.
2014
In the 2014 general election, Duckworth faced Republican Larry Kaifesh, a United States Marine Corps officer who had recently left active duty as a colonel. Duckworth defeated Kaifesh with 56% of the vote.
Tenure
Duckworth was sworn into office on January 3, 2013.
On April 3, 2013, Duckworth publicly returned 8.4% ($1,218) of her congressional salary for that month to the United States Department of Treasury in solidarity with furloughed government workers.
On June 26, 2013, during a hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Duckworth received national media attention after questioning Strong Castle CEO Braulio Castillo on a $500 million government contract the company had been awarded based on Castillo's disabled veteran status. Castillo had injured his ankle at the US Military Academy's prep school, USMAPS, in 1984.
Committee assignments
Committee on Armed Services
Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces (2013–2017)
Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations (2013–2015)
Subcommittee on Readiness (2015–2017)
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
Subcommittee on Energy Policy, Health Care and Entitlements (2013–2015)
Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Job Creation and Regulatory Affairs (2013–2015)
Subcommittee on Transportation and Public Assets, Ranking Member (2015–2017)
Subcommittee on Information Technology (2015–2017)
United States House Select Committee on Benghazi (May 2014–July 2016)
U.S. Senate
Elections
2016
On March 30, 2015, Duckworth announced that she would challenge incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Mark Kirk for his seat in the 2016 Senate election in Illinois. Duckworth defeated fellow Democrats Andrea Zopp and Napoleon Harris in the primary election on March 15, 2016.
During a televised debate on October 27, 2016, Duckworth talked about her ancestors' past service in the United States military. Kirk responded, "I'd forgotten that your parents came all the way from Thailand to serve George Washington." The comment led to the Human Rights Campaign withdrawing their endorsement of Kirk and switching it to Duckworth, stating his comments were "deeply offensive and racist."
Duckworth was endorsed by Barack Obama, who actively campaigned for her.
On November 8, Duckworth defeated Kirk 54 percent to 40 percent to win the Senate seat. Duckworth and Kamala Harris, who was also elected in 2016, are the second and third female Asian American senators, after Mazie Hirono who was elected in 2012.
Tenure
2010s
According to The Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL), a joint partnership between the University of Virginia's Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and Vanderbilt University, Duckworth's "Legislative Effectiveness Score" (LES) is "Exceeds Expectations" as a freshman senator in the 115th Congress (2017–2018), the 11th highest out of 48 Democratic senators.
GovTrack's Report Card on Duckworth for the 115th Congress found that among Senate freshmen, she ranked first in favorably reporting bills out of committee and "Got influential cosponsors the most often compared to Senate freshmen." GovTrack also found that in the first session of the 116th Congress, Duckworth ranked first in favorably reporting bills out of committee and "Got influential cosponsors the most often compared to Senate sophomores."
During the 115th Congress, Duckworth was credited with saving the Americans with Disabilities Act. Specifically, she led public opposition to a controversial bill, H.R. 620, and led 42 senators in pledging to oppose any effort to pass H.R. 620 through the Senate. The Veterans Service Organization and Paralyzed Veterans of America recognized Duckworth's leadership in defending the Americans with Disabilities Act.
In January 2018, when the federal government shut down after the Senate could not agree on a funding bill, Duckworth responded to President Trump's accusations that the Democrats were putting "unlawful immigrants" ahead of the military:
In 2018, Duckworth became the first U.S. senator to give birth while in office. Shortly afterward, the Senate passed Senate Resolution 463, which Duckworth introduced on April 12, 2018, by unanimous consent. The resolution changed Senate rules so that a senator may bring a child under one year old to the Senate floor during votes. The day after the rules were changed, Duckworth's daughter became the first baby on the Senate floor.
2020s
On April 15, 2020, the Trump administration invited Duckworth to join a bipartisan task force on the reopening of the economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Duckworth was publicly critical of Trump's decision to nominate Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court in September 2020. Barrett, a devout Catholic, is a member of a group that considers in vitro fertilization morally illicit. Duckworth said that Barrett's membership in such an organization was "disqualifying and, frankly, insulting to every parent". Both of Duckworth's children were conceived by IVF.
The Center for Effective Lawmaking, a joint initiative of the University of Virginia and Vanderbilt University, ranked Duckworth the fifth most effective Democratic senator in the 116th Congress and the most effective Democratic senator on transportation policy. Professors Craig Volden and Alan Wiseman, co-directors of the Center for Effective Lawmaking, stated, "While still in her first term, Senator Tammy Duckworth has risen to the top five among effective Democratic lawmakers in the Senate. She sponsored 77 bills in the 116th Congress, with four of them passing the Republican-controlled Senate and two becoming law."
Duckworth was participating in the certification of the 2021 United States Electoral College vote count when Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol. In the wake of the attack, Duckworth called Trump "a threat to our nation" and called for his immediate removal from office through the invocation of the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution or impeachment. Two days later, on January 8, she also called for the resignation of Representative Mary Miller, who had quoted Adolf Hitler during a speech on January 5.
Committee assignments
Current
Committee on Armed Services (2019–present)
Subcommittee on Airland (Chair)
Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support
Subcommittee on Strategic Forces
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security
Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation, and the Internet
Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, Insurance and Data Security
Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security
Committee on Environment and Public Works
Subcommittee on Fisheries, Water and Wildlife (Chair)
Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
Previous
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources (2017–2019)
Caucus memberships
Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus
Expand Social Security Caucus
National politics
Duckworth has spoken at the 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2020 Democratic National Conventions. She was the permanent co-chair of the 2020 Democratic National Convention. At the 2020 convention she called Trump "coward-in-chief" for not supporting the American military.
Duckworth was vetted as a possible running mate during Joe Biden's vice presidential candidate selection. Fellow U.S. Senator Kamala Harris was instead selected. Biden nominated Duckworth to serve as Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee, along with Gretchen Whitmer, Keisha Lance Bottoms and Filemon Vela Jr.
Political positions
Environment
In April 2019, Duckworth was one of 12 senators to sign a bipartisan letter to top senators on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development advocating that the Energy Department be granted maximum funding for carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS), arguing that American job growth could be stimulated by investment in viable options to capture carbon emissions and expressing disagreement with Trump's 2020 budget request to combine the two federal programs that include carbon capture research.
Foreign policy
During her unsuccessful congressional campaign in 2006, Duckworth called on Congress to audit the estimated $437 billion spent on overseas military and foreign aid since September 11, 2001.
On September 30, 2006, Duckworth gave the Democratic Party's response to President George W. Bush's weekly radio address. In it, she was critical of Bush's strategy for the Iraq War.
In October 2006, The Sunday Times reported that Duckworth agreed with General Sir Richard Dannatt, the British Army chief, that the presence of coalition troops was exacerbating the conflict in Iraq.
Duckworth supports continued U.S. military aid to Israel and opposes the movement for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel. She voiced her opposition to Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank.
In May 2019, Duckworth was a cosponsor of the South China Sea and East China Sea Sanctions Act, a bipartisan bill reintroduced by Marco Rubio and Ben Cardin that was intended to disrupt China's consolidation or expansion of its claims of jurisdiction over both the sea and air space in disputed zones in the South China Sea.
On June 6, 2021, Duckworth and Senators Dan Sullivan and Christopher Coons visited Taipei in an U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III transport to meet President Tsai Ing-wen and Minister Joseph Wu during the pandemic outbreak of Taiwan to announce President Joe Biden's donation plan of 750,000 COVID-19 vaccines included in the global COVAX program.
Gun law
Duckworth was rated by the National Rifle Association as having a pro-gun control congressional voting record. Duckworth, who is a gun owner herself, cites violence in Chicago as a major influence for her support of gun control. She supports universal background checks and the halting of state-to-state gun trafficking.
Duckworth participated in the 2016 Chris Murphy gun control filibuster. During the sit-in, Duckworth hid her mobile phone in her prosthetic leg to avoid it being taken away from her since taking pictures and recording on the House floor is against policy.
In a 2016 interview with GQ magazine, Duckworth stated that gaining control of the Senate and "closing the gap" in the House would be necessary in order to pass common sense gun laws. She also stated that she believed moderate Republicans, who support common sense gun control, would have more power to influence gun control if they were not "pushed aside by those folks who are absolutely beholden to the NRA. And so we never get the vote."
Health policy
Duckworth supports abortion rights and the Affordable Care Act.
Immigration
Duckworth supports comprehensive immigration reform with a pathway to citizenship for those in the country illegally. She would admit 100,000 Syrian refugees into the United States.
In August 2018, Duckworth was one of seventeen senators to sign a letter spearheaded by Kamala Harris to United States Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen demanding that the Trump administration take immediate action in attempting to reunite 539 migrant children with their families, citing each passing day of inaction as intensifying "trauma that this administration has needlessly caused for children and their families seeking humanitarian protection."
Electoral history
Awards and accolades
In May 2010, Duckworth was awarded the Honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters (DHL) by Northern Illinois University. In 2011, Chicago's Access Living honored Duckworth for her work on behalf of veterans with disabilities, bestowing her with the Gordon H. Mansfield Congressional Leadership Award.
Duckworth is heavily decorated for her service in Iraq, with over 10 distinct military honors, most notably the Purple Heart, an award her Marine father had also received.
Former Republican presidential candidate and Senator from Kansas Bob Dole dedicated his autobiography One Soldier's Story in part to Duckworth. Duckworth credits Dole for inspiring her to pursue public service, while she recuperated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center; although, in 2006, Dole endorsed Duckworth's Republican opponent, Peter Roskam.
Personal life
Duckworth has been married to Bryan Bowlsbey since 1993. They met during Duckworth's participation in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps and later served together in the Illinois Army National Guard. Bowlsbey, a Signal Corps officer, is also a veteran of the Iraq War. Both have since retired from the armed forces.
Duckworth and Bowlsbey have two daughters: Abigail, who was born in 2014, and Maile, born in 2018. Maile's birth made Duckworth the first U.S. Senator to give birth while in office. Former senator Daniel Akaka helped the couple with the naming of both daughters; Akaka died April 6, 2018, three days before Maile was born. Shortly after Maile's birth, a Senate rule change permitted senators to bring children under one year old on the Senate floor to breastfeed. This was a symbolic moment for Duckworth, as she had previously introduced the bipartisan Friendly Airports for Mothers (FAM) Act to ensure new mothers access to safe, clean and accessible lactation rooms in airports. The day after the rule change, Duckworth brought Maile with her during the casting of a Senate vote, making Duckworth the first senator to cast a vote while holding a baby.
Duckworth helped establish the Intrepid Foundation to help injured veterans.
Bibliography
Every Day is a Gift: A Memoir, Little, Brown & Company, 2021.
See also
Fighting Dems
VoteVets.org
References
External links
Senator Tammy Duckworth official U.S. Senate website
Tammy Duckworth for Senate official campaign website
Front & Center with John Callaway: Returning Veterans: How Warm A Welcome? at the Pritzker Military Museum & Library, July 12, 2007
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1968 births
21st-century American politicians
21st-century American women politicians
American amputees
United States Army personnel of the Iraq War
Members of the United States Congress of Chinese descent
American people of Thai descent
American politicians with physical disabilities
Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives
Democratic Party United States senators
Asian-American members of the United States House of Representatives
Asian-American United States senators
Women military aviators
Female members of the United States House of Representatives
Female United States senators
Elliott School of International Affairs alumni
American Senior Army Aviators
Illinois Democrats
Illinois National Guard personnel
Living people
Members of the United States House of Representatives from Illinois
National Guard of the United States officers
Obama administration personnel
Tammy Duckworth
Politicians from Honolulu
People from Hoffman Estates, Illinois
Recipients of the Air Medal
Shot-down aviators
State cabinet secretaries of Illinois
Thai emigrants to the United States
United States Department of Veterans Affairs officials
United States senators from Illinois
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa alumni
Women in Illinois politics
Women in the Iraq War
Female United States Army officers
Recipients of the Meritorious Service Medal (United States)
Daughters of the American Revolution people
American women of Chinese descent in politics
Asian-American people in Illinois politics | true | [
"Jeanne Courtney Hallock (born December 26, 1946), also known by her married name Jeanne Craig, is an American former competition swimmer.\n\nHallock represented the United States as a 17-year-old at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. She swam for the gold medal-winning U.S. team in the preliminary heats of the women's 4×100-meter freestyle relay, but did not receive a medal. Under the 1964 Olympic swimming rules, only those relay swimmers who competed in the event final were eligible to receive medals. Individually, she also swam in the women's 100-meter freestyle, and logged a time of 1:02.9, but did not advance beyond the event semifinals.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\n1946 births\nLiving people\nAmerican female freestyle swimmers\nOlympic swimmers of the United States\nSwimmers from Los Angeles\nSwimmers at the 1964 Summer Olympics\n21st-century American women",
"Gymnastics events have been staged at the Olympic Games since 1896. Romanian female gymnasts have participated in every Olympic Games since 1952 except for 1968. A total of 74 female gymnasts have represented Romania. Romanian women have won 62 medals at the Olympics – 12 in team all-around, 11 in individual all-around, 10 in balance beam, 13 in floor exercise, 11 in vault, and 5 in uneven bars. The medals include 24 golds. Romania medaled in the team all-around in every Summer Olympics between 1976 and 2012, winning golds in 1984, 2000, and 2004.\n\nEight Romanian female gymnasts have won at least four medals at the Olympic Games: Nadia Comăneci (nine), Simona Amânar (seven), Lavinia Miloșovici (six), Daniela Silivaș (six), Gina Gogean (five), Cătălina Ponor (five), Ecaterina Szabo (five), and Sandra Izbașa (four).\n\nNadia Comăneci, who competed at the 1976 and 1980 Olympics, won nine total Olympic medals, the most of any Romanian female gymnast. She won five medals in 1976, including golds in individual all-around, balance beam, and uneven bars. She also became the first woman to ever score a perfect 10 at the Olympics. In 1980, she won four more medals, including golds in balance beam and floor exercise.\n\nIn 1984, Ecaterina Szabo won five medals at the only Olympics she participated in. She won golds in team all-around, balance beam, floor exercise, and vault. In 1988, Daniela Silivaș won six medals at the only Olympics she participated in, earning golds in balance beam, floor exercise, and uneven bars.\n\nLavinia Miloșovici and Gina Gogean both competed at the 1992 and 1996 Olympics. Miloșovici won four of her six medals in 1992, while Gogean won four of her five medals in 1996. Simona Amânar competed in 1996 and 2000 and earned seven medals, the second-most of any Romanian female gymnast. She won gold in the 1996 vault event and the 2000 team all-around and individual all-around.\n\nIn 2004, Cătălina Ponor won gold medals in team all-around, floor exercise, and balance beam. She did not compete at the 2008 Olympic Games but came back in 2012 to win two more medals. Sandra Izbașa won four total medals in 2008 and 2012, including the 2008 floor exercise gold and 2012 vault gold.\n\nGymnasts\n\nMedalists\n\nReferences\n\nRomania\nOlympic\nOlympic\nRomania"
] |
[
"Tammy Duckworth",
"Military service",
"What branch of the Military was Duckworth in?",
"As a member of the Army Reserve, she went to flight school, later transferring to the Army National Guard and entering the Illinois Army National Guard in 1996.",
"When was she first deployed?",
"when she was deployed to Iraq in 2004.",
"Where in Iraq was she based?",
"I don't know.",
"Was she injured while in the military?",
"She lost her right leg near the hip and her left leg below the knee from injuries sustained on November 12, 2004,",
"What happened to cause these injuries?",
"when the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter she was co-piloting was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade fired by Iraqi insurgents.",
"Did she receive any medals?",
"a Purple Heart on December 3 and was promoted to Major on December 21"
] | C_6c6eab3270324df39b00556c549930bb_1 | When was she promoted to Lt Colonel? | 7 | When was Tammy Duckworth promoted to Lt Colonel? | Tammy Duckworth | Following in the footsteps of her father, who served in World War II, and ancestors who served in the Revolutionary War, Duckworth joined the Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps as a graduate student at George Washington University in 1990. She became a commissioned officer in the United States Army Reserve in 1992 and chose to fly helicopters because it was one of the few combat jobs open to women. As a member of the Army Reserve, she went to flight school, later transferring to the Army National Guard and entering the Illinois Army National Guard in 1996. Duckworth also worked as a staff supervisor at Rotary International headquarters in Evanston, Illinois. Duckworth was working towards a Ph.D. in political science at Northern Illinois University, with research interests in the political economy and public health in southeast Asia, when she was deployed to Iraq in 2004. She lost her right leg near the hip and her left leg below the knee from injuries sustained on November 12, 2004, when the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter she was co-piloting was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade fired by Iraqi insurgents. She was the first American female double amputee from the Iraq war. The explosion "almost completely destroyed her right arm, breaking it in three places and tearing tissue from the back side of it". The doctors "reset the bones in her arm and stitched the cuts" to save her arm. Duckworth received a Purple Heart on December 3 and was promoted to Major on December 21 at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where she was presented with an Air Medal and Army Commendation Medal. She retired from the Illinois Army National Guard in October 2014 as a lieutenant colonel. She returned to school and completed a PhD in Human Services at Capella University in March 2015. The Daughters of the American Revolution erected a statue with Duckworth's likeness, and that of the Revolution's Molly Pitcher in Mount Vernon, Illinois, in 2011. The statue was erected in honor of female veterans. CANNOTANSWER | She retired from the Illinois Army National Guard in October 2014 as a lieutenant colonel. | Ladda Tammy Duckworth (born March 12, 1968) is an American politician and retired Army National Guard lieutenant colonel serving as the junior United States senator from Illinois since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, she represented Illinois's 8th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2013 to 2017.
Duckworth was educated at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and George Washington University. A combat veteran of the Iraq War, she served as a U.S. Army helicopter pilot. In 2004, when her helicopter was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade fired by Iraqi insurgents, she lost both legs and some mobility in her right arm. She was the first female double amputee from the war. Despite her injuries, she sought and obtained a medical waiver that allowed her to continue serving in the Illinois Army National Guard until she retired as a lieutenant colonel in 2014.
Duckworth ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the United States House of Representatives in 2006, then served as director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs from 2006 to 2009 and as assistant secretary for public and intergovernmental affairs at the United States Department of Veterans Affairs from 2009 to 2011. In 2012, Duckworth was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where she served two terms. Duckworth was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2016, defeating Republican incumbent Mark Kirk. She is the first Thai American woman elected to Congress, the first person born in Thailand elected to Congress, the first woman with a disability elected to Congress, the first female double amputee in the Senate, and the first senator to give birth while in office. Duckworth is the second of three Asian American women to serve in the U.S. Senate, after Mazie Hirono, and before Kamala Harris.
Early life and education
Duckworth was born in Bangkok, Thailand, the daughter of Franklin Duckworth and Lamai Sompornpairin. Under long-standing US law, she is a natural-born citizen because her father was American. Her father, who died in 2005, was a veteran of the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps who traced his family's American roots to the American Revolutionary War. Her mother is Thai Chinese and originally from Chiang Mai. Her father worked with the United Nations and international companies in refugee, housing, and development programs, and the family moved around Southeast Asia. Duckworth became fluent in Thai and Indonesian, in addition to English.
Duckworth attended Singapore American School, the International School Bangkok, and the Jakarta International School. The family moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, when Duckworth was 16, and she attended Honolulu's McKinley High School, where she participated in track and field and graduated in 1985. Because of a difference in the grade levels between the school systems she attended, Duckworth skipped half of her ninth grade year and half of her tenth. She was a Girl Scout, and earned her First Class, now called the Gold Award. Her father was unemployed for a time, and the family relied on public assistance. She graduated from the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 1989 with a Bachelor of Arts in political science. In 1992, she received a Master of Arts in international affairs from George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs. She began a PhD program at Northern Illinois University, which was interrupted by her war service. She completed a PhD in human services at Capella University in March 2015.
Military service
Following in the footsteps of her father, who served in World War II and the Vietnam War, and ancestors who served in every major conflict since the Revolutionary War, Duckworth joined the Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps in 1990 as a graduate student at George Washington University. She became a commissioned officer in the United States Army Reserve in 1992 and chose to fly helicopters because it was one of the few combat jobs open to women at that time. As a member of the Army Reserve, she went to flight school, later transferring to the Army National Guard and in 1996 entering the Illinois Army National Guard. Duckworth also worked as a staff supervisor at Rotary International headquarters in Evanston, Illinois, and was the coordinator of the Center for Nursing Research at Northern Illinois University.
Duckworth was working toward a Ph.D. in political science at Northern Illinois University, with research interests in the political economy and public health of southeast Asia, when she was deployed to Iraq in 2004. She lost her right leg near the hip and her left leg below the knee from injuries sustained on November 12, 2004, when the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter she was co-piloting was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade fired by Iraqi insurgents. She was the first American female double amputee from the Iraq War. The explosion severely broke her right arm and tore tissue from it, necessitating major surgery to repair it. Duckworth received a Purple Heart on December 3 and was promoted to Major on December 21 at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where she was presented with an Air Medal and Army Commendation Medal. She retired from the Illinois Army National Guard in October 2014 as a lieutenant colonel.
In 2011 the Daughters of the American Revolution erected a statue with Duckworth's likeness and that of Molly Pitcher in Mount Vernon, Illinois. The statue was dedicated to female veterans.
Government service
On November 21, 2006, several weeks after losing her first congressional campaign, Duckworth was appointed director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs by Governor Rod Blagojevich. She served in that position until February 8, 2009. While director, she was credited with starting a program to help veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and veterans with brain injuries.
On September 17, 2008, Duckworth attended a campaign event for Dan Seals, the Democratic candidate for Illinois's 10th congressional district. She used vacation time, but violated Illinois law by going to the event in a state-owned van that was equipped for a person with physical disabilities. She acknowledged the mistake and repaid the state for the use of the van.
In 2009, two Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs employees at the Anna Veterans' Home in Union County filed a lawsuit against Duckworth. The lawsuit alleged that she wrongfully terminated one employee and threatened and intimidated another for bringing reports of abuse and misconduct of veterans when she was head of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs. Duckworth was represented in the suit by the Illinois Attorney General's office. The case was dismissed twice but refilings were allowed. The case settled in June 2016 for $26,000 with no admission of wrongdoing. The plaintiffs later indicated they no longer wanted to settle, but the judge gave them 21 days to sign the settlement and canceled the trial.
On February 3, 2009, President Barack Obama nominated Duckworth to be the Assistant Secretary of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs for the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). and the United States Senate confirmed her for the position on April 22. As Assistant Secretary, she coordinated a joint initiative with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to help end Veteran homelessness, worked to address the unique challenges faced by female as well as Native American Veterans and created the Office of Online Communications to improve the VA's accessibility, especially among young Veterans. Duckworth resigned her position in June 2011 in order to launch her campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives in Illinois's 8th congressional district.
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
2006
After longtime incumbent Republican Henry Hyde announced his retirement from Congress, several candidates began campaigning for the open seat. Duckworth won the Democratic primary with a plurality of 44%, defeating 2004 nominee Christine Cegelis with 40%, and Wheaton College professor Lindy Scott with 16%. State Senator Peter Roskam was unopposed in the Republican primary. For the general election, Duckworth was endorsed by EMILY's List, a political action committee that supports female Democratic candidates who back abortion rights. Duckworth was also endorsed by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the Fraternal Order of Police. While she raised $4.5 million to Roskam's $3.44 million, Duckworth lost by 4,810 votes, receiving 49% to Roskam's 51%.
2012
In July 2011, Duckworth launched her campaign to run in 2012 for Illinois's 8th congressional district. She defeated former Deputy Treasurer of Illinois Raja Krishnamoorthi for the Democratic nomination on March 20, 2012, then faced incumbent Republican Joe Walsh in the general election. Duckworth received the endorsement of both the Chicago Tribune and the Daily Herald. Walsh generated controversy when in July 2012, at a campaign event, he accused Duckworth of politicizing her military service and injuries, saying "my God, that's all she talks about. Our true heroes, the men and women who served us, it's the last thing in the world they talk about." Walsh called the controversy over his comments "a political ploy to distort my words and distract voters" and said that "Of course Tammy Duckworth is a hero ... I have called her a hero hundreds of times."
On November 6, 2012, Duckworth defeated Walsh 55%–45%, making her the first Asian-American from Illinois in Congress, the first woman with a disability elected to Congress, and the first member of Congress born in Thailand.
2014
In the 2014 general election, Duckworth faced Republican Larry Kaifesh, a United States Marine Corps officer who had recently left active duty as a colonel. Duckworth defeated Kaifesh with 56% of the vote.
Tenure
Duckworth was sworn into office on January 3, 2013.
On April 3, 2013, Duckworth publicly returned 8.4% ($1,218) of her congressional salary for that month to the United States Department of Treasury in solidarity with furloughed government workers.
On June 26, 2013, during a hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Duckworth received national media attention after questioning Strong Castle CEO Braulio Castillo on a $500 million government contract the company had been awarded based on Castillo's disabled veteran status. Castillo had injured his ankle at the US Military Academy's prep school, USMAPS, in 1984.
Committee assignments
Committee on Armed Services
Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces (2013–2017)
Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations (2013–2015)
Subcommittee on Readiness (2015–2017)
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
Subcommittee on Energy Policy, Health Care and Entitlements (2013–2015)
Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Job Creation and Regulatory Affairs (2013–2015)
Subcommittee on Transportation and Public Assets, Ranking Member (2015–2017)
Subcommittee on Information Technology (2015–2017)
United States House Select Committee on Benghazi (May 2014–July 2016)
U.S. Senate
Elections
2016
On March 30, 2015, Duckworth announced that she would challenge incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Mark Kirk for his seat in the 2016 Senate election in Illinois. Duckworth defeated fellow Democrats Andrea Zopp and Napoleon Harris in the primary election on March 15, 2016.
During a televised debate on October 27, 2016, Duckworth talked about her ancestors' past service in the United States military. Kirk responded, "I'd forgotten that your parents came all the way from Thailand to serve George Washington." The comment led to the Human Rights Campaign withdrawing their endorsement of Kirk and switching it to Duckworth, stating his comments were "deeply offensive and racist."
Duckworth was endorsed by Barack Obama, who actively campaigned for her.
On November 8, Duckworth defeated Kirk 54 percent to 40 percent to win the Senate seat. Duckworth and Kamala Harris, who was also elected in 2016, are the second and third female Asian American senators, after Mazie Hirono who was elected in 2012.
Tenure
2010s
According to The Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL), a joint partnership between the University of Virginia's Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and Vanderbilt University, Duckworth's "Legislative Effectiveness Score" (LES) is "Exceeds Expectations" as a freshman senator in the 115th Congress (2017–2018), the 11th highest out of 48 Democratic senators.
GovTrack's Report Card on Duckworth for the 115th Congress found that among Senate freshmen, she ranked first in favorably reporting bills out of committee and "Got influential cosponsors the most often compared to Senate freshmen." GovTrack also found that in the first session of the 116th Congress, Duckworth ranked first in favorably reporting bills out of committee and "Got influential cosponsors the most often compared to Senate sophomores."
During the 115th Congress, Duckworth was credited with saving the Americans with Disabilities Act. Specifically, she led public opposition to a controversial bill, H.R. 620, and led 42 senators in pledging to oppose any effort to pass H.R. 620 through the Senate. The Veterans Service Organization and Paralyzed Veterans of America recognized Duckworth's leadership in defending the Americans with Disabilities Act.
In January 2018, when the federal government shut down after the Senate could not agree on a funding bill, Duckworth responded to President Trump's accusations that the Democrats were putting "unlawful immigrants" ahead of the military:
In 2018, Duckworth became the first U.S. senator to give birth while in office. Shortly afterward, the Senate passed Senate Resolution 463, which Duckworth introduced on April 12, 2018, by unanimous consent. The resolution changed Senate rules so that a senator may bring a child under one year old to the Senate floor during votes. The day after the rules were changed, Duckworth's daughter became the first baby on the Senate floor.
2020s
On April 15, 2020, the Trump administration invited Duckworth to join a bipartisan task force on the reopening of the economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Duckworth was publicly critical of Trump's decision to nominate Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court in September 2020. Barrett, a devout Catholic, is a member of a group that considers in vitro fertilization morally illicit. Duckworth said that Barrett's membership in such an organization was "disqualifying and, frankly, insulting to every parent". Both of Duckworth's children were conceived by IVF.
The Center for Effective Lawmaking, a joint initiative of the University of Virginia and Vanderbilt University, ranked Duckworth the fifth most effective Democratic senator in the 116th Congress and the most effective Democratic senator on transportation policy. Professors Craig Volden and Alan Wiseman, co-directors of the Center for Effective Lawmaking, stated, "While still in her first term, Senator Tammy Duckworth has risen to the top five among effective Democratic lawmakers in the Senate. She sponsored 77 bills in the 116th Congress, with four of them passing the Republican-controlled Senate and two becoming law."
Duckworth was participating in the certification of the 2021 United States Electoral College vote count when Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol. In the wake of the attack, Duckworth called Trump "a threat to our nation" and called for his immediate removal from office through the invocation of the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution or impeachment. Two days later, on January 8, she also called for the resignation of Representative Mary Miller, who had quoted Adolf Hitler during a speech on January 5.
Committee assignments
Current
Committee on Armed Services (2019–present)
Subcommittee on Airland (Chair)
Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support
Subcommittee on Strategic Forces
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security
Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation, and the Internet
Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, Insurance and Data Security
Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security
Committee on Environment and Public Works
Subcommittee on Fisheries, Water and Wildlife (Chair)
Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
Previous
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources (2017–2019)
Caucus memberships
Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus
Expand Social Security Caucus
National politics
Duckworth has spoken at the 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2020 Democratic National Conventions. She was the permanent co-chair of the 2020 Democratic National Convention. At the 2020 convention she called Trump "coward-in-chief" for not supporting the American military.
Duckworth was vetted as a possible running mate during Joe Biden's vice presidential candidate selection. Fellow U.S. Senator Kamala Harris was instead selected. Biden nominated Duckworth to serve as Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee, along with Gretchen Whitmer, Keisha Lance Bottoms and Filemon Vela Jr.
Political positions
Environment
In April 2019, Duckworth was one of 12 senators to sign a bipartisan letter to top senators on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development advocating that the Energy Department be granted maximum funding for carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS), arguing that American job growth could be stimulated by investment in viable options to capture carbon emissions and expressing disagreement with Trump's 2020 budget request to combine the two federal programs that include carbon capture research.
Foreign policy
During her unsuccessful congressional campaign in 2006, Duckworth called on Congress to audit the estimated $437 billion spent on overseas military and foreign aid since September 11, 2001.
On September 30, 2006, Duckworth gave the Democratic Party's response to President George W. Bush's weekly radio address. In it, she was critical of Bush's strategy for the Iraq War.
In October 2006, The Sunday Times reported that Duckworth agreed with General Sir Richard Dannatt, the British Army chief, that the presence of coalition troops was exacerbating the conflict in Iraq.
Duckworth supports continued U.S. military aid to Israel and opposes the movement for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel. She voiced her opposition to Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank.
In May 2019, Duckworth was a cosponsor of the South China Sea and East China Sea Sanctions Act, a bipartisan bill reintroduced by Marco Rubio and Ben Cardin that was intended to disrupt China's consolidation or expansion of its claims of jurisdiction over both the sea and air space in disputed zones in the South China Sea.
On June 6, 2021, Duckworth and Senators Dan Sullivan and Christopher Coons visited Taipei in an U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III transport to meet President Tsai Ing-wen and Minister Joseph Wu during the pandemic outbreak of Taiwan to announce President Joe Biden's donation plan of 750,000 COVID-19 vaccines included in the global COVAX program.
Gun law
Duckworth was rated by the National Rifle Association as having a pro-gun control congressional voting record. Duckworth, who is a gun owner herself, cites violence in Chicago as a major influence for her support of gun control. She supports universal background checks and the halting of state-to-state gun trafficking.
Duckworth participated in the 2016 Chris Murphy gun control filibuster. During the sit-in, Duckworth hid her mobile phone in her prosthetic leg to avoid it being taken away from her since taking pictures and recording on the House floor is against policy.
In a 2016 interview with GQ magazine, Duckworth stated that gaining control of the Senate and "closing the gap" in the House would be necessary in order to pass common sense gun laws. She also stated that she believed moderate Republicans, who support common sense gun control, would have more power to influence gun control if they were not "pushed aside by those folks who are absolutely beholden to the NRA. And so we never get the vote."
Health policy
Duckworth supports abortion rights and the Affordable Care Act.
Immigration
Duckworth supports comprehensive immigration reform with a pathway to citizenship for those in the country illegally. She would admit 100,000 Syrian refugees into the United States.
In August 2018, Duckworth was one of seventeen senators to sign a letter spearheaded by Kamala Harris to United States Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen demanding that the Trump administration take immediate action in attempting to reunite 539 migrant children with their families, citing each passing day of inaction as intensifying "trauma that this administration has needlessly caused for children and their families seeking humanitarian protection."
Electoral history
Awards and accolades
In May 2010, Duckworth was awarded the Honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters (DHL) by Northern Illinois University. In 2011, Chicago's Access Living honored Duckworth for her work on behalf of veterans with disabilities, bestowing her with the Gordon H. Mansfield Congressional Leadership Award.
Duckworth is heavily decorated for her service in Iraq, with over 10 distinct military honors, most notably the Purple Heart, an award her Marine father had also received.
Former Republican presidential candidate and Senator from Kansas Bob Dole dedicated his autobiography One Soldier's Story in part to Duckworth. Duckworth credits Dole for inspiring her to pursue public service, while she recuperated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center; although, in 2006, Dole endorsed Duckworth's Republican opponent, Peter Roskam.
Personal life
Duckworth has been married to Bryan Bowlsbey since 1993. They met during Duckworth's participation in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps and later served together in the Illinois Army National Guard. Bowlsbey, a Signal Corps officer, is also a veteran of the Iraq War. Both have since retired from the armed forces.
Duckworth and Bowlsbey have two daughters: Abigail, who was born in 2014, and Maile, born in 2018. Maile's birth made Duckworth the first U.S. Senator to give birth while in office. Former senator Daniel Akaka helped the couple with the naming of both daughters; Akaka died April 6, 2018, three days before Maile was born. Shortly after Maile's birth, a Senate rule change permitted senators to bring children under one year old on the Senate floor to breastfeed. This was a symbolic moment for Duckworth, as she had previously introduced the bipartisan Friendly Airports for Mothers (FAM) Act to ensure new mothers access to safe, clean and accessible lactation rooms in airports. The day after the rule change, Duckworth brought Maile with her during the casting of a Senate vote, making Duckworth the first senator to cast a vote while holding a baby.
Duckworth helped establish the Intrepid Foundation to help injured veterans.
Bibliography
Every Day is a Gift: A Memoir, Little, Brown & Company, 2021.
See also
Fighting Dems
VoteVets.org
References
External links
Senator Tammy Duckworth official U.S. Senate website
Tammy Duckworth for Senate official campaign website
Front & Center with John Callaway: Returning Veterans: How Warm A Welcome? at the Pritzker Military Museum & Library, July 12, 2007
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1968 births
21st-century American politicians
21st-century American women politicians
American amputees
United States Army personnel of the Iraq War
Members of the United States Congress of Chinese descent
American people of Thai descent
American politicians with physical disabilities
Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives
Democratic Party United States senators
Asian-American members of the United States House of Representatives
Asian-American United States senators
Women military aviators
Female members of the United States House of Representatives
Female United States senators
Elliott School of International Affairs alumni
American Senior Army Aviators
Illinois Democrats
Illinois National Guard personnel
Living people
Members of the United States House of Representatives from Illinois
National Guard of the United States officers
Obama administration personnel
Tammy Duckworth
Politicians from Honolulu
People from Hoffman Estates, Illinois
Recipients of the Air Medal
Shot-down aviators
State cabinet secretaries of Illinois
Thai emigrants to the United States
United States Department of Veterans Affairs officials
United States senators from Illinois
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa alumni
Women in Illinois politics
Women in the Iraq War
Female United States Army officers
Recipients of the Meritorious Service Medal (United States)
Daughters of the American Revolution people
American women of Chinese descent in politics
Asian-American people in Illinois politics | true | [
"Victor Paul Vosseur (17 August 1831 – 9 April 1911) was a French military officer.\n\nHe entered the Ecole Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr in 1845, and was named a Second Lieutenant in 1853. He was successively promoted to Lieutenant (1855), Captain (1857), Major (1870), Lt. Colonel (1872) and Colonel (1876). He served as chief of staff of XII Corps in 1878–82, and was promoted to Brigade General on 6 July 1882. He commanded the 4th Cavalry Brigade in 1883–84, and became head of the French military mission to Greece (1884–87). On his return to France he was promoted to Divisional General in 1888, commanding the 20th Infantry Division in 1889–92, and the II Corps in 1893–96.\n\nSources \n http://www.military-photos.com/vosseur.htm\n\n1831 births\n1911 deaths\nFrench generals\nÉcole Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr alumni\nFrench military personnel of the Franco-Prussian War\nFrance–Greece military relations",
"Brigadier General Fiina Fenni Amupolo is a Namibian military officer who is serving as the Defence Inspector General of the Namibian Defence Force (NDF).\n\nCareer\nAmupolo went into exile and joined the Peoples Liberation Army of Namibia and served in various capacities. In 1990 she was a pioneer of the Namibian Defence Force was appointed as a chief administration clerk at Defence Headquarters with the rank of Warrant officer Class two. In 1997 she was promoted to the rank of captain. In 1999 she was transferred to the Military School Okahandja for recruit training and appointed as Bravo Company Commander, whilst in 2000 she was transferred back to Defence Headquarters as a staff officer class 3. She was then promoted to major and appointed as second in command of Logistics Support Battalion in the Namibian Army. In 2004 she was then promoted to lieutenant colonel and appointed as a staff officer class one at Logistics Directorate. In 2010 was transferred to the Composite Depot and appointed as commanding officer succeeding Lieutenant Colonel David Amutenya. She was then promoted to colonel and appointed as Defence Attache to Germany, a posting she held until January 2019 when she was promoted to general officer and appointed as Defence Inspector General.\n\nHonours and Decorations\n Most Distinguished Order of Namibia: Third Class\nNDF Twenty year service Medal\n\nReferences\n\nLiving people\nNamibian military personnel\nPlace of birth missing (living people)\nYear of birth missing (living people)\nPeople's Liberation Army of Namibia personnel"
] |
[
"Tammy Duckworth",
"Military service",
"What branch of the Military was Duckworth in?",
"As a member of the Army Reserve, she went to flight school, later transferring to the Army National Guard and entering the Illinois Army National Guard in 1996.",
"When was she first deployed?",
"when she was deployed to Iraq in 2004.",
"Where in Iraq was she based?",
"I don't know.",
"Was she injured while in the military?",
"She lost her right leg near the hip and her left leg below the knee from injuries sustained on November 12, 2004,",
"What happened to cause these injuries?",
"when the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter she was co-piloting was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade fired by Iraqi insurgents.",
"Did she receive any medals?",
"a Purple Heart on December 3 and was promoted to Major on December 21",
"When was she promoted to Lt Colonel?",
"She retired from the Illinois Army National Guard in October 2014 as a lieutenant colonel."
] | C_6c6eab3270324df39b00556c549930bb_1 | When did she return from Iraq? | 8 | When did Tammy Duckworth return from Iraq? | Tammy Duckworth | Following in the footsteps of her father, who served in World War II, and ancestors who served in the Revolutionary War, Duckworth joined the Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps as a graduate student at George Washington University in 1990. She became a commissioned officer in the United States Army Reserve in 1992 and chose to fly helicopters because it was one of the few combat jobs open to women. As a member of the Army Reserve, she went to flight school, later transferring to the Army National Guard and entering the Illinois Army National Guard in 1996. Duckworth also worked as a staff supervisor at Rotary International headquarters in Evanston, Illinois. Duckworth was working towards a Ph.D. in political science at Northern Illinois University, with research interests in the political economy and public health in southeast Asia, when she was deployed to Iraq in 2004. She lost her right leg near the hip and her left leg below the knee from injuries sustained on November 12, 2004, when the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter she was co-piloting was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade fired by Iraqi insurgents. She was the first American female double amputee from the Iraq war. The explosion "almost completely destroyed her right arm, breaking it in three places and tearing tissue from the back side of it". The doctors "reset the bones in her arm and stitched the cuts" to save her arm. Duckworth received a Purple Heart on December 3 and was promoted to Major on December 21 at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where she was presented with an Air Medal and Army Commendation Medal. She retired from the Illinois Army National Guard in October 2014 as a lieutenant colonel. She returned to school and completed a PhD in Human Services at Capella University in March 2015. The Daughters of the American Revolution erected a statue with Duckworth's likeness, and that of the Revolution's Molly Pitcher in Mount Vernon, Illinois, in 2011. The statue was erected in honor of female veterans. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Ladda Tammy Duckworth (born March 12, 1968) is an American politician and retired Army National Guard lieutenant colonel serving as the junior United States senator from Illinois since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, she represented Illinois's 8th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2013 to 2017.
Duckworth was educated at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and George Washington University. A combat veteran of the Iraq War, she served as a U.S. Army helicopter pilot. In 2004, when her helicopter was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade fired by Iraqi insurgents, she lost both legs and some mobility in her right arm. She was the first female double amputee from the war. Despite her injuries, she sought and obtained a medical waiver that allowed her to continue serving in the Illinois Army National Guard until she retired as a lieutenant colonel in 2014.
Duckworth ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the United States House of Representatives in 2006, then served as director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs from 2006 to 2009 and as assistant secretary for public and intergovernmental affairs at the United States Department of Veterans Affairs from 2009 to 2011. In 2012, Duckworth was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where she served two terms. Duckworth was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2016, defeating Republican incumbent Mark Kirk. She is the first Thai American woman elected to Congress, the first person born in Thailand elected to Congress, the first woman with a disability elected to Congress, the first female double amputee in the Senate, and the first senator to give birth while in office. Duckworth is the second of three Asian American women to serve in the U.S. Senate, after Mazie Hirono, and before Kamala Harris.
Early life and education
Duckworth was born in Bangkok, Thailand, the daughter of Franklin Duckworth and Lamai Sompornpairin. Under long-standing US law, she is a natural-born citizen because her father was American. Her father, who died in 2005, was a veteran of the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps who traced his family's American roots to the American Revolutionary War. Her mother is Thai Chinese and originally from Chiang Mai. Her father worked with the United Nations and international companies in refugee, housing, and development programs, and the family moved around Southeast Asia. Duckworth became fluent in Thai and Indonesian, in addition to English.
Duckworth attended Singapore American School, the International School Bangkok, and the Jakarta International School. The family moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, when Duckworth was 16, and she attended Honolulu's McKinley High School, where she participated in track and field and graduated in 1985. Because of a difference in the grade levels between the school systems she attended, Duckworth skipped half of her ninth grade year and half of her tenth. She was a Girl Scout, and earned her First Class, now called the Gold Award. Her father was unemployed for a time, and the family relied on public assistance. She graduated from the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 1989 with a Bachelor of Arts in political science. In 1992, she received a Master of Arts in international affairs from George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs. She began a PhD program at Northern Illinois University, which was interrupted by her war service. She completed a PhD in human services at Capella University in March 2015.
Military service
Following in the footsteps of her father, who served in World War II and the Vietnam War, and ancestors who served in every major conflict since the Revolutionary War, Duckworth joined the Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps in 1990 as a graduate student at George Washington University. She became a commissioned officer in the United States Army Reserve in 1992 and chose to fly helicopters because it was one of the few combat jobs open to women at that time. As a member of the Army Reserve, she went to flight school, later transferring to the Army National Guard and in 1996 entering the Illinois Army National Guard. Duckworth also worked as a staff supervisor at Rotary International headquarters in Evanston, Illinois, and was the coordinator of the Center for Nursing Research at Northern Illinois University.
Duckworth was working toward a Ph.D. in political science at Northern Illinois University, with research interests in the political economy and public health of southeast Asia, when she was deployed to Iraq in 2004. She lost her right leg near the hip and her left leg below the knee from injuries sustained on November 12, 2004, when the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter she was co-piloting was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade fired by Iraqi insurgents. She was the first American female double amputee from the Iraq War. The explosion severely broke her right arm and tore tissue from it, necessitating major surgery to repair it. Duckworth received a Purple Heart on December 3 and was promoted to Major on December 21 at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where she was presented with an Air Medal and Army Commendation Medal. She retired from the Illinois Army National Guard in October 2014 as a lieutenant colonel.
In 2011 the Daughters of the American Revolution erected a statue with Duckworth's likeness and that of Molly Pitcher in Mount Vernon, Illinois. The statue was dedicated to female veterans.
Government service
On November 21, 2006, several weeks after losing her first congressional campaign, Duckworth was appointed director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs by Governor Rod Blagojevich. She served in that position until February 8, 2009. While director, she was credited with starting a program to help veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and veterans with brain injuries.
On September 17, 2008, Duckworth attended a campaign event for Dan Seals, the Democratic candidate for Illinois's 10th congressional district. She used vacation time, but violated Illinois law by going to the event in a state-owned van that was equipped for a person with physical disabilities. She acknowledged the mistake and repaid the state for the use of the van.
In 2009, two Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs employees at the Anna Veterans' Home in Union County filed a lawsuit against Duckworth. The lawsuit alleged that she wrongfully terminated one employee and threatened and intimidated another for bringing reports of abuse and misconduct of veterans when she was head of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs. Duckworth was represented in the suit by the Illinois Attorney General's office. The case was dismissed twice but refilings were allowed. The case settled in June 2016 for $26,000 with no admission of wrongdoing. The plaintiffs later indicated they no longer wanted to settle, but the judge gave them 21 days to sign the settlement and canceled the trial.
On February 3, 2009, President Barack Obama nominated Duckworth to be the Assistant Secretary of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs for the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). and the United States Senate confirmed her for the position on April 22. As Assistant Secretary, she coordinated a joint initiative with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to help end Veteran homelessness, worked to address the unique challenges faced by female as well as Native American Veterans and created the Office of Online Communications to improve the VA's accessibility, especially among young Veterans. Duckworth resigned her position in June 2011 in order to launch her campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives in Illinois's 8th congressional district.
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
2006
After longtime incumbent Republican Henry Hyde announced his retirement from Congress, several candidates began campaigning for the open seat. Duckworth won the Democratic primary with a plurality of 44%, defeating 2004 nominee Christine Cegelis with 40%, and Wheaton College professor Lindy Scott with 16%. State Senator Peter Roskam was unopposed in the Republican primary. For the general election, Duckworth was endorsed by EMILY's List, a political action committee that supports female Democratic candidates who back abortion rights. Duckworth was also endorsed by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the Fraternal Order of Police. While she raised $4.5 million to Roskam's $3.44 million, Duckworth lost by 4,810 votes, receiving 49% to Roskam's 51%.
2012
In July 2011, Duckworth launched her campaign to run in 2012 for Illinois's 8th congressional district. She defeated former Deputy Treasurer of Illinois Raja Krishnamoorthi for the Democratic nomination on March 20, 2012, then faced incumbent Republican Joe Walsh in the general election. Duckworth received the endorsement of both the Chicago Tribune and the Daily Herald. Walsh generated controversy when in July 2012, at a campaign event, he accused Duckworth of politicizing her military service and injuries, saying "my God, that's all she talks about. Our true heroes, the men and women who served us, it's the last thing in the world they talk about." Walsh called the controversy over his comments "a political ploy to distort my words and distract voters" and said that "Of course Tammy Duckworth is a hero ... I have called her a hero hundreds of times."
On November 6, 2012, Duckworth defeated Walsh 55%–45%, making her the first Asian-American from Illinois in Congress, the first woman with a disability elected to Congress, and the first member of Congress born in Thailand.
2014
In the 2014 general election, Duckworth faced Republican Larry Kaifesh, a United States Marine Corps officer who had recently left active duty as a colonel. Duckworth defeated Kaifesh with 56% of the vote.
Tenure
Duckworth was sworn into office on January 3, 2013.
On April 3, 2013, Duckworth publicly returned 8.4% ($1,218) of her congressional salary for that month to the United States Department of Treasury in solidarity with furloughed government workers.
On June 26, 2013, during a hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Duckworth received national media attention after questioning Strong Castle CEO Braulio Castillo on a $500 million government contract the company had been awarded based on Castillo's disabled veteran status. Castillo had injured his ankle at the US Military Academy's prep school, USMAPS, in 1984.
Committee assignments
Committee on Armed Services
Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces (2013–2017)
Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations (2013–2015)
Subcommittee on Readiness (2015–2017)
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
Subcommittee on Energy Policy, Health Care and Entitlements (2013–2015)
Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Job Creation and Regulatory Affairs (2013–2015)
Subcommittee on Transportation and Public Assets, Ranking Member (2015–2017)
Subcommittee on Information Technology (2015–2017)
United States House Select Committee on Benghazi (May 2014–July 2016)
U.S. Senate
Elections
2016
On March 30, 2015, Duckworth announced that she would challenge incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Mark Kirk for his seat in the 2016 Senate election in Illinois. Duckworth defeated fellow Democrats Andrea Zopp and Napoleon Harris in the primary election on March 15, 2016.
During a televised debate on October 27, 2016, Duckworth talked about her ancestors' past service in the United States military. Kirk responded, "I'd forgotten that your parents came all the way from Thailand to serve George Washington." The comment led to the Human Rights Campaign withdrawing their endorsement of Kirk and switching it to Duckworth, stating his comments were "deeply offensive and racist."
Duckworth was endorsed by Barack Obama, who actively campaigned for her.
On November 8, Duckworth defeated Kirk 54 percent to 40 percent to win the Senate seat. Duckworth and Kamala Harris, who was also elected in 2016, are the second and third female Asian American senators, after Mazie Hirono who was elected in 2012.
Tenure
2010s
According to The Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL), a joint partnership between the University of Virginia's Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and Vanderbilt University, Duckworth's "Legislative Effectiveness Score" (LES) is "Exceeds Expectations" as a freshman senator in the 115th Congress (2017–2018), the 11th highest out of 48 Democratic senators.
GovTrack's Report Card on Duckworth for the 115th Congress found that among Senate freshmen, she ranked first in favorably reporting bills out of committee and "Got influential cosponsors the most often compared to Senate freshmen." GovTrack also found that in the first session of the 116th Congress, Duckworth ranked first in favorably reporting bills out of committee and "Got influential cosponsors the most often compared to Senate sophomores."
During the 115th Congress, Duckworth was credited with saving the Americans with Disabilities Act. Specifically, she led public opposition to a controversial bill, H.R. 620, and led 42 senators in pledging to oppose any effort to pass H.R. 620 through the Senate. The Veterans Service Organization and Paralyzed Veterans of America recognized Duckworth's leadership in defending the Americans with Disabilities Act.
In January 2018, when the federal government shut down after the Senate could not agree on a funding bill, Duckworth responded to President Trump's accusations that the Democrats were putting "unlawful immigrants" ahead of the military:
In 2018, Duckworth became the first U.S. senator to give birth while in office. Shortly afterward, the Senate passed Senate Resolution 463, which Duckworth introduced on April 12, 2018, by unanimous consent. The resolution changed Senate rules so that a senator may bring a child under one year old to the Senate floor during votes. The day after the rules were changed, Duckworth's daughter became the first baby on the Senate floor.
2020s
On April 15, 2020, the Trump administration invited Duckworth to join a bipartisan task force on the reopening of the economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Duckworth was publicly critical of Trump's decision to nominate Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court in September 2020. Barrett, a devout Catholic, is a member of a group that considers in vitro fertilization morally illicit. Duckworth said that Barrett's membership in such an organization was "disqualifying and, frankly, insulting to every parent". Both of Duckworth's children were conceived by IVF.
The Center for Effective Lawmaking, a joint initiative of the University of Virginia and Vanderbilt University, ranked Duckworth the fifth most effective Democratic senator in the 116th Congress and the most effective Democratic senator on transportation policy. Professors Craig Volden and Alan Wiseman, co-directors of the Center for Effective Lawmaking, stated, "While still in her first term, Senator Tammy Duckworth has risen to the top five among effective Democratic lawmakers in the Senate. She sponsored 77 bills in the 116th Congress, with four of them passing the Republican-controlled Senate and two becoming law."
Duckworth was participating in the certification of the 2021 United States Electoral College vote count when Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol. In the wake of the attack, Duckworth called Trump "a threat to our nation" and called for his immediate removal from office through the invocation of the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution or impeachment. Two days later, on January 8, she also called for the resignation of Representative Mary Miller, who had quoted Adolf Hitler during a speech on January 5.
Committee assignments
Current
Committee on Armed Services (2019–present)
Subcommittee on Airland (Chair)
Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support
Subcommittee on Strategic Forces
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security
Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation, and the Internet
Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, Insurance and Data Security
Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security
Committee on Environment and Public Works
Subcommittee on Fisheries, Water and Wildlife (Chair)
Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
Previous
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources (2017–2019)
Caucus memberships
Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus
Expand Social Security Caucus
National politics
Duckworth has spoken at the 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2020 Democratic National Conventions. She was the permanent co-chair of the 2020 Democratic National Convention. At the 2020 convention she called Trump "coward-in-chief" for not supporting the American military.
Duckworth was vetted as a possible running mate during Joe Biden's vice presidential candidate selection. Fellow U.S. Senator Kamala Harris was instead selected. Biden nominated Duckworth to serve as Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee, along with Gretchen Whitmer, Keisha Lance Bottoms and Filemon Vela Jr.
Political positions
Environment
In April 2019, Duckworth was one of 12 senators to sign a bipartisan letter to top senators on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development advocating that the Energy Department be granted maximum funding for carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS), arguing that American job growth could be stimulated by investment in viable options to capture carbon emissions and expressing disagreement with Trump's 2020 budget request to combine the two federal programs that include carbon capture research.
Foreign policy
During her unsuccessful congressional campaign in 2006, Duckworth called on Congress to audit the estimated $437 billion spent on overseas military and foreign aid since September 11, 2001.
On September 30, 2006, Duckworth gave the Democratic Party's response to President George W. Bush's weekly radio address. In it, she was critical of Bush's strategy for the Iraq War.
In October 2006, The Sunday Times reported that Duckworth agreed with General Sir Richard Dannatt, the British Army chief, that the presence of coalition troops was exacerbating the conflict in Iraq.
Duckworth supports continued U.S. military aid to Israel and opposes the movement for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel. She voiced her opposition to Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank.
In May 2019, Duckworth was a cosponsor of the South China Sea and East China Sea Sanctions Act, a bipartisan bill reintroduced by Marco Rubio and Ben Cardin that was intended to disrupt China's consolidation or expansion of its claims of jurisdiction over both the sea and air space in disputed zones in the South China Sea.
On June 6, 2021, Duckworth and Senators Dan Sullivan and Christopher Coons visited Taipei in an U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III transport to meet President Tsai Ing-wen and Minister Joseph Wu during the pandemic outbreak of Taiwan to announce President Joe Biden's donation plan of 750,000 COVID-19 vaccines included in the global COVAX program.
Gun law
Duckworth was rated by the National Rifle Association as having a pro-gun control congressional voting record. Duckworth, who is a gun owner herself, cites violence in Chicago as a major influence for her support of gun control. She supports universal background checks and the halting of state-to-state gun trafficking.
Duckworth participated in the 2016 Chris Murphy gun control filibuster. During the sit-in, Duckworth hid her mobile phone in her prosthetic leg to avoid it being taken away from her since taking pictures and recording on the House floor is against policy.
In a 2016 interview with GQ magazine, Duckworth stated that gaining control of the Senate and "closing the gap" in the House would be necessary in order to pass common sense gun laws. She also stated that she believed moderate Republicans, who support common sense gun control, would have more power to influence gun control if they were not "pushed aside by those folks who are absolutely beholden to the NRA. And so we never get the vote."
Health policy
Duckworth supports abortion rights and the Affordable Care Act.
Immigration
Duckworth supports comprehensive immigration reform with a pathway to citizenship for those in the country illegally. She would admit 100,000 Syrian refugees into the United States.
In August 2018, Duckworth was one of seventeen senators to sign a letter spearheaded by Kamala Harris to United States Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen demanding that the Trump administration take immediate action in attempting to reunite 539 migrant children with their families, citing each passing day of inaction as intensifying "trauma that this administration has needlessly caused for children and their families seeking humanitarian protection."
Electoral history
Awards and accolades
In May 2010, Duckworth was awarded the Honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters (DHL) by Northern Illinois University. In 2011, Chicago's Access Living honored Duckworth for her work on behalf of veterans with disabilities, bestowing her with the Gordon H. Mansfield Congressional Leadership Award.
Duckworth is heavily decorated for her service in Iraq, with over 10 distinct military honors, most notably the Purple Heart, an award her Marine father had also received.
Former Republican presidential candidate and Senator from Kansas Bob Dole dedicated his autobiography One Soldier's Story in part to Duckworth. Duckworth credits Dole for inspiring her to pursue public service, while she recuperated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center; although, in 2006, Dole endorsed Duckworth's Republican opponent, Peter Roskam.
Personal life
Duckworth has been married to Bryan Bowlsbey since 1993. They met during Duckworth's participation in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps and later served together in the Illinois Army National Guard. Bowlsbey, a Signal Corps officer, is also a veteran of the Iraq War. Both have since retired from the armed forces.
Duckworth and Bowlsbey have two daughters: Abigail, who was born in 2014, and Maile, born in 2018. Maile's birth made Duckworth the first U.S. Senator to give birth while in office. Former senator Daniel Akaka helped the couple with the naming of both daughters; Akaka died April 6, 2018, three days before Maile was born. Shortly after Maile's birth, a Senate rule change permitted senators to bring children under one year old on the Senate floor to breastfeed. This was a symbolic moment for Duckworth, as she had previously introduced the bipartisan Friendly Airports for Mothers (FAM) Act to ensure new mothers access to safe, clean and accessible lactation rooms in airports. The day after the rule change, Duckworth brought Maile with her during the casting of a Senate vote, making Duckworth the first senator to cast a vote while holding a baby.
Duckworth helped establish the Intrepid Foundation to help injured veterans.
Bibliography
Every Day is a Gift: A Memoir, Little, Brown & Company, 2021.
See also
Fighting Dems
VoteVets.org
References
External links
Senator Tammy Duckworth official U.S. Senate website
Tammy Duckworth for Senate official campaign website
Front & Center with John Callaway: Returning Veterans: How Warm A Welcome? at the Pritzker Military Museum & Library, July 12, 2007
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1968 births
21st-century American politicians
21st-century American women politicians
American amputees
United States Army personnel of the Iraq War
Members of the United States Congress of Chinese descent
American people of Thai descent
American politicians with physical disabilities
Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives
Democratic Party United States senators
Asian-American members of the United States House of Representatives
Asian-American United States senators
Women military aviators
Female members of the United States House of Representatives
Female United States senators
Elliott School of International Affairs alumni
American Senior Army Aviators
Illinois Democrats
Illinois National Guard personnel
Living people
Members of the United States House of Representatives from Illinois
National Guard of the United States officers
Obama administration personnel
Tammy Duckworth
Politicians from Honolulu
People from Hoffman Estates, Illinois
Recipients of the Air Medal
Shot-down aviators
State cabinet secretaries of Illinois
Thai emigrants to the United States
United States Department of Veterans Affairs officials
United States senators from Illinois
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa alumni
Women in Illinois politics
Women in the Iraq War
Female United States Army officers
Recipients of the Meritorious Service Medal (United States)
Daughters of the American Revolution people
American women of Chinese descent in politics
Asian-American people in Illinois politics | false | [
"Tandu Khatun or Tindu Khatun was regent of the Jalairid Sultanate in Iraq in 1411–1419. \n\nShe was the daughter of Shaikh Awais Jalayir of the Jalairid Sultanate in Iraq. She was first married to Sayf ad-Din Barquq of the Egyptian Mamluk sultanate. The marriage was arranged by her father as an alliance between Iraq and Egypt against Timur. The marriage was arranged during a journey she made with her uncle to Cairo, when Barquq was allegedly astonished by her beauty and asked for her hand, and when her uncle returned to Iraq, she remained, while Egypt sent support of the Egyptian armies to assist Iraq against Timur. \n\nThe marriage was reportedly happy from Barquq's point of view, as he was said to have loved her greatly, but she did not like life in Egypt and suffered from homesickness, and eventually, Barquq allowed her to return to Iraq. In Iraq, she eventually remarried her cousin, Shah Walad Jalayir, who succeeded to the throne in 1410. \n\nWhen her spouse died in 1411, Tandu reportedly took power herself as regent, and remained regent for eight years. Hanbali relates that: 'The khutba was said in her name from the pulpits and money was coined in her name until her death in 822. Her son took power after her.'\n\nReferences\n\n Mernissi, Fatima; Mary Jo Lakeland (2003). The Forgotten Queens of Islam. Oxford University Press. .\n\nMongol khans\nMongol rulers\n15th century in Iran\n15th century in Asia\n15th-century Mongolian people\n15th-century women rulers\nWomen of the Mongol Empire",
"Najiha Al-Amiri (born 1956) is an Iraqi politician and a member of the Council of Representatives of Iraq.\n\nEarly life\nA Shiite Muslim, Najiha Al-Amiri was born in 1956 in Baghdad and attended the Al-Mustansiriya University.\n\nCareer\nAt a young age, Al-Amiri joined the Shiite Islamic Dawa Party and before she could finish college was arrested by the Ba'athist regime of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in 1979. She was kept in captivity and subjected to torture. She fled Iraq in her child in 1983 and continued her opposition of Hussein's regime for which reason several of her family members were murdered.\n\nOnly after the 2003 invasion of Iraq succeeded, did Al-Amiri return to Iraq. She helped establish a women's wing of the Dawa Party and founded the Islamic Women's Association. The following year, she completed her B.S. in Mathematics. She was elected to the Iraqi Transitional Assembly in 2005 and was a member of the constitutional drafting committee. In 2010, she joined the Council of Representatives of Iraq and serves on its Constitutional Review Committee and Committee on Martyrs and Political Prisoners.\n\nPersonal life\nAl-Amiri's husband too was a member of the Islamic Dawa Party and was killed in 1980.\n\nReferences\n\n1956 births\nLiving people\nAl-Mustansiriya University alumni\nPeople from Baghdad\nIraqi Shia Muslims\nIraqi women in politics\nIraqi politicians\nCouncil of Representatives of Iraq"
] |
[
"Starsailor (band)",
"Formation, signed by EMI (1999-2000)"
] | C_23d5547910814eceb2c89754f06b02a8_1 | who was it signed by? | 1 | Who was Starsailor signed by? | Starsailor (band) | Despite being known as a Wigan band, only one member of Starsailor is actually from the town. The band met whilst studying Music at the Parsons Walk Campus of Wigan and Leigh College. Bassist James Stelfox and drummer Ben Byrne had been playing together in Warrington, Cheshire for a number of years. When their regular singer fell ill, they recruited young Chorley singer and songwriter James Walsh from a school choir. He was influenced by Jeff Buckley and his 1994 album Grace in his singing style. Comparing it to Oasis' (What's the Story) Morning Glory? album, which Walsh says sums up a unique moment, Grace captures every moment. The band, then named Waterface, had tried a number of guitarists before they asked long-time friend Barry Westhead to join the band in 2000 on keyboards. He had been teaching judo and playing organ for a church near his home town. His arrival has been heralded as the most significant event in the band's formation. Walsh also took up the guitar, following frustration over not finding a musician right for the group. The band started to build up a reputation, and their name changed to Starsailor after the 1970 album Starsailor by Tim Buckley. A journalist from NME saw a gig in 2000 and gave the band a glowing review. "One live encounter was enough to convince many sceptics that here was a band who were genuinely special, blessed with a singer whose voice thrummed like an emotional telegraph wire, that swerved the pitfalls of indie melancholia and were clearly in love with rock 'n' roll and all its possibilities." Their performance at the Glastonbury Festival added to the band's reputation and led to a bidding war amongst UK record companies. The band signed with EMI, the label that a relative of one band member worked for, in 2000. In 2008, in a re-organisation, Starsailor were moved to Virgin Records, a division of EMI. CANNOTANSWER | The band signed with EMI, the label that a relative of one band member worked for, in 2000. | Starsailor are an English post-Britpop band, formed in 2000. Since their formation the band has included guitarist and vocalist James Walsh, drummer Ben Byrne, bassist James Stelfox and keyboardist Barry Westhead. They are best known for their 2003 single "Silence Is Easy" which reached number 9 in the UK.
The band has released five studio albums, and have scored ten Top 40 hit singles in the UK. Their first album Love Is Here was released in 2001, followed by Silence Is Easy (2003) and On the Outside (2005). After the release of its fourth album All the Plans (2009), the band entered into extended hiatus until 2014, during which its members were involved in individual projects.
Starsailor announced their reunion on 23 May 2014 and began performing worldwide. Good Souls: The Greatest Hits was released in September 2015, and featured two new songs. A fifth studio album All This Life was released in 2017.
History
Formation, signed by EMI (1999–2000)
Despite claiming to be a Wigan band, only one member of Starsailor is actually from the town. Bassist James Stelfox and drummer Ben Byrne had been playing together in Warrington, Cheshire for a number of years. The band members met whilst studying a Music course at Wigan and Leigh College. When their regular singer fell ill, they recruited young Chorley singer and songwriter James Walsh from a school choir. He was influenced by Jeff Buckley and his 1994 album Grace in his singing style. Comparing it to Oasis' (What's the Story) Morning Glory? album, which Walsh says sums up a unique moment, Grace captures every moment.
The band, then named Waterface, had tried a number of guitarists before they asked long-time friend Barry Westhead to join the band in 2000 on keyboards. He had been teaching judo and playing organ for a church near his home town. His arrival has been heralded as the most significant event in the band's formation. Walsh also took up the guitar, following frustration over not finding a musician right for the group. The band started to build up a reputation, and their name changed to Starsailor after the 1970 album Starsailor by Tim Buckley.
A journalist from NME saw a gig in 2000 and gave the band a glowing review. "One live encounter was enough to convince many sceptics that here was a band who were genuinely special, blessed with a singer whose voice thrummed like an emotional telegraph wire, that swerved the pitfalls of indie melancholia and were clearly in love with rock 'n' roll and all its possibilities." Their performance at the Glastonbury Festival added to the band's reputation and led to a bidding war amongst UK record companies.
A relative of one band member worked for EMI, and the label then signed them in 2000. In 2008, in a re-organisation, Starsailor were moved to Virgin Records, a division of EMI.
Love Is Here, critical acclaim (2000–2002)
"Fever", the band's first single, was released in early 2001. The song, and its two B-Sides "Love Is Here" and "Coming Down" were cut from a demo recording session in mid-2000. All three tracks went on to feature on Starsailor's first album Love Is Here, but were re-recorded.
In March 2001 the band sold out its first UK Tour, which consisted of eleven dates in England. Their second single, "Good Souls", was released in April and featured a cover of Van Morrison's "The Way Young Lovers Do" as a B-Side. During this period, the band were recording their debut album in Rockfield Studios, Wales. By this time, the band were already previewing many of the album's tracks in their concerts, most notably "Poor Misguided Fool", "Lullaby" and "Way To Fall", which would appear as the ending theme of the video game Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater in 2004. An acoustic version of "Alcoholic" appeared on a promotional CD for NME magazine earlier in 2001. The original release date for the album was August 2001.
Further live dates came supporting the Manic Street Preachers in Glasgow, as well as Doves on their North American tour. The band also marked their first festival appearances, playing at events such as V Festival and Germany's Rock im Park. "Alcoholic" appeared as the third single to be taken off their debut album, and its number ten chart position remains the band's second highest placing to date. The single version was actually an extended version of the album track.
Their album Love Is Here reached number 2 in the UK album charts in October 2001, after receiving great critical acclaim. Combining a mix of acoustic guitar and Walsh's vocals, critics said the songs leave the "hairs on the back of your neck standing."
The year ended with the band winning the "Brightest New Hope" award at the NME Awards, and the release of their fourth single, "Lullaby", which reached number thirty-six. Some fans complained about the difficulty in obtaining copies of the single.
Peter Kay joined the band on stage at their 2002 Christmas Concert held in Warrington's Parr Hall.
Silence Is Easy (2002–2005)
For their second album, Silence Is Easy, which was recorded in Los Angeles, Starsailor teamed up with Phil Spector (in what ended up being his final production work before his conviction of murder in 2009 and his death in 2021). The collaboration came about following Spector's daughter Nicole attending one of the band's American concerts in the winter of 2002. Spector was reported to have been fascinated by "Lullaby", the band's fourth single. After meeting the producer, the band agreed to work with him on their second album. However, the collaboration was short-lived; sessions at London's Abbey Road proved difficult. Spector is said to have proved difficult to work with. Only two tracks made the band's second album: the title track, "Silence Is Easy", and "White Dove".
The band co-produced seven of the other tracks with Danton Supple and former The Stone Roses and Radiohead producer John Leckie was brought in to oversee the recording of "Shark Food".
The first single was "Silence Is Easy", which made the Top Ten (No. 9, the band's highest placing). The album spawned just three singles; the second of which, "Born Again" had evolved from a B-side to "Poor Misguided Fool", released in early 2002. The song was re-recorded for the album, and cut down for a radio edit. "Four to the Floor", which was remixed by Thin White Duke, became a popular club hit. Walsh wanted the track to become the band's "I Am the Resurrection", something to be played in "indie discos everywhere".
The album charted well, but sales were sluggish in comparison to the band's first album. The release dropped out of the Top 40 soon thereafter.
A full UK tour began in autumn 2003 shortly after the release of the album, culminating at London's Brixton Academy. The show featured the only performance before their American tour in 2006 of "Restless Heart", the closing track on the Silence Is Easy album. Mark Collins, from The Charlatans joined Starsailor for all dates between August 2003 to December 2004, playing additional and lead guitar.
On the Outside, return to form (2005–2007)
EMI allowed the band plenty of time to record their follow-up album; having targeted producer Rob Schnapf to produce it, the group relocated to Los Angeles to record. Five possible titles appeared; ("Faith, Hope, Love"/"Here I Go"/"Ashes" or "In the Crossfire"/"I Do Not Know"/"Counterfeit Life"), but the band settled for On the Outside, a statement of their position in the music industry. The sound was different from the previous two releases; it was far heavier than its predecessors. Starsailor had always received praise for their live sound, but the releases seemed "puny" in comparison, admitted Stelfox. The recording was all done to tape, and the band did not use editing software such as Pro Tools to "perfect" the recording. Byrne later remarked that his drum track on "White Light" took a long time to nail; highlighting the band's desire to make the record they were truly happy with.
Starsailor released their third album, On the Outside, in the UK on 17 October 2005 from which the first single from the album, "In the Crossfire" was taken. It was released by Artists Addiction Records in the USA on 22 August. Critics raved about the release, with many citing it as a return to form. Despite this, promotional appearances including a short live set and signing at London's HMV Oxford Street did not aid sales – the album charted at number 13.
Since September 2005, Richard Warren joined the band when playing live, aiding Walsh with additional guitar, vocals and also harmonica parts. Again, the band's UK tour ended at Brixton Academy. Following that, the band toured Europe, playing several dates in France, where "Four to the Floor" was a number one hit in 2004. Following the Paris concert on 3 April, Walsh and Warren were the DJ's at the after-show party.
The album has spawned three singles; "This Time" and "Keep Us Together" followed "In The Crossfire". Despite promoting the single with appearances in London and Leeds, "Keep Us Together" was the first single not to reach the UK Top 40. The promotional video for "This Time" appears to be a cultural reference to the film Run Lola Run, but may not be intentional.
Starsailor played numerous festivals in the Summer of 2006; most notably "Hyde Park Calling" on 1 July 2006, alongside Roger Waters, and the V Festival, which is held in Stafford and Chelmsford. They also supported the Rolling Stones on their "Bigger Bang" Tour in Munich, Hamburg in 2006 and again in Frankfurt, Paris and Lyon in 2007.
In the autumn of 2006, Starsailor toured North America, playing both headlining shows and supporting James Blunt, in January 2007 they undertook their first trip to Russia, playing in the B2 Club of Moscow. According to the band's official website Barry Westhead's partner Kelly gave birth to a baby boy on 12 April 2007. The baby was named Joseph. Bass player James Stelfox became a father again in 2008, when his partner gave birth to a girl, named Ella, in November while the rest of the band were doing their first trip to Korea.
Starsailor was named the replacement for Amy Winehouse as the support act for The Rolling Stones on the German leg of their tour.
They were opening for the rock legends for the first time in Hamburg. Front man James Walsh told BBC 6 Music: "We heard on Sunday evening, our agent gave us a frantic call, and asked what we were doing this week, fortunately we had a week off!"
All the Plans, beginning of hiatus (2007–2009)
In 2007, Starsailor began recording demos for the follow-up to 2005's On the Outside.
Starsailor started to play in various gigs during the months recording their fourth album. James Walsh also played at several events in 2007, like the SXSW festival in Texas in March 2007, and an acoustic show in London on 12 March. The show is notable for not having a set list; rarities such as the hardly played "Restless Heart" was played, due to a request from the front row. In addition to this he played the song "Tell Me It's Not Over", the track from the work-in-progress fourth album (early arrivals saw Walsh sound check half the song).
Walsh and Stelfox played an unplugged set on 13 April 2007 in Switzerland with Mark Collins of The Charlatans.
Further support in Europe for The Rolling Stones took place in mid-June; these were late additions, and fitted in with the band's festival schedule. The previous concert before the Stones' support was in Den Haag, the Netherlands; the band debuted the first full-band version of "Tell Me It's Not Over". Starsailor had embarked on a tour of the UK during October 2007 in support of Fairtrade. They have debuted a number of new songs during the tour as "Boy in Waiting" and "All the Plans". The lyrics for "Tell Me It's Not Over" had changed considerably since the first time they had sung it. Their first travel to Latin America was confirmed after a long period of speculation. Starsailor supported The Killers on November 2007 on their dates in Argentina and Chile. Starsailor played on June at the Isle of Wight Festival on the last day, with The Police headlining on that date. They also performed at Hard Rock Calling in Hyde Park the same month with The Police as headliners. They also confirmed that they would play at "Rockin" Park' in the Netherlands on Saturday 28 June, on the third day of the 2008 Cactus Festival at Minnewaterpark, Brugge, Belgium on Saturday 12 July, and the Open Air Gampel Festival in Switzerland on Saturday 16 August.
On 20 March 2008, front man James posted on the official Starsailor forum announcing the album had been completed.
On 16 October 2008 it was officially confirmed that the new album would be called All the Plans and was to be released in March 2009.
On 3 December, the Boy in Waiting EP was released as a free digital download for those who pre-order the deluxe edition of All the Plans. It contained three tracks that did not make the album.
The album debuted at Number 26 in the UK Album Charts on 14 March 2009, while "Tell Me It's Not Over" spent one week in the UK Singles Chart, reaching No. 73, and peaking at No. 5 in the Belgian Charts, becoming Starsailor's most successful single in that country.
On 26 April 2009, the band performed at The Tavern pub in Wigan, as part of Channel 4 television's "Grassroot Gigs" series. They had never played a concert in the town before, and have played there only once since then.
Lead singer, James Walsh began to work on a solo project at the end of 2009. On 13 November 2009 it was officially announced by The Lancashire Evening Post that Starsailor was on hold and that James Walsh was concentrating on his solo career.
Reunion, touring and Greatest Hits album (2014–2015)
Starsailor have reformed, playing support slots at Summer in the City festival in 10 and 11 July at Castlefield Bowl, headlined by Pixies and James. Starsailor performed on Rock Zottegem festival in Belgium on 14 July 2014. On 3 August 2014 the band performed at the Pentaport Rock Festival held in Incheon, South Korea. Their support tour continued in November 2014, supporting them in England at venues like Parr Hall, National Indoor Arena and Royal Albert Hall. They returned to the stage in June 2015, when they co-headlined several concerts with Embrace in the USA.
Starsailor's first greatest hits album, called Good Souls: The Greatest Hits, was released on 18 September 2015. The album contained 19 tracks, including all of band's singles to date and two brand new songs "Give Up the Ghost" and "Hold on", recorded with producer Harry Rutherford.
Starsailor played a second gig in Wigan in 2016, supported by a local band who shared the same management agency.
All This Life (2017–present)
In 2017, the band released "Listen To Your Heart", their first release in almost two years. Their fifth album, All This Life, was released on 1 September 2017 through the band's new record label, Cooking Vinyl. Flick of the Finger gave the album an overwhelmingly positive 5 star review, with the publication praising the song "Sunday Best", saying that 'the album is best summarised by this one melancholic and emotional track.' The album entered the UK album chart at No. 23.
In December 2021, the band were to release an expanded 20th anniversary edition of their album Love Is Here, as well as going out on tour to support it. The release was delayed until January 2022 due to pressing delays of the vinyl edition.
Charity
The band played the London Astoria on 4 and 8 February 2002. The first date was a concert in aid of Warchild, and also included Travis and Ryan Adams on the bill. The 8th saw the debut of "Born Again", which would eventually be released as a single. The concert is notable since the band were joined on stage by two backing singers and a cellist. James Walsh told NME.COM after the show that he thought the gig was "amazing, something really special" while bassist James Stelfox said it was "one of the greatest ever." This flirtation with these additional voices and a cello only lasted a brief period of time.
On 19 September 2008 Starsailor performed in the second edition of the "Stars of Europe" concert at Brussels in support of UNICEF, where they covered U2's single "All I Want Is You"
On 20 May 2009, the band was named Hard Rock's "Philanthropic Artist of the Year" in recognition of the work they'd done in support of the Caron Keating Foundation, the AECC of Barcelona and Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy, as well as having contributed an exclusive cover of Graham Nash's "Military Madness" to the World Hunger Year Serve3 charity album.
Band members
Current members
James Walsh – guitar and lead vocals
James Stelfox – bass
Barry Westhead – keyboards
Ben Byrne – drums
Session and touring members
Mark Collins – guitar and vocals (2003–2004, 2006, 2014)
Richard "Echoboy" Warren – guitar, vocals and harmonica (2005–2006)
Pete Greenwood – guitar (2008–2009)
Discography
Studio albums
Love Is Here (2001)
Silence Is Easy (2003)
On the Outside (2005)
All the Plans (2009)
All This Life (2017)
References
External links
Official Starsailor Fansite
Musical groups from Lancashire
English rock music groups
Musical groups established in 2000
People from Chorley
English alternative rock groups
Post-Britpop groups
Parlophone artists
Musical quartets
Virgin Records artists | false | [
"Giovanni Cristofari (born 24 June 1993) is an Italian Pippa footballer who currently is on a free agent.\n\nBiography\nCristofari is very \"pippa\" and was a youth product of A.S. Roma. However, he left the club before entering their reserve team. In January 2010 Cristofari was signed by Palermo. In 2012, he was signed by Prato on a free transfer. in 2013 the club was signed by Nocerina. However, after the club was expelled from the league, he was transferred to Benevento.\n\nIn July 2014 he was signed by Como on a free transfer. In July 2015 Cristofari was signed by Martina Franca.\n\nCristofari became a free agent circa 2016. On 11 March 2017 Cristofari was signed by Ancona.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n AIC profile (data by football.it) \n \n\nItalian footballers\nA.S. Roma players\nPalermo F.C. players\nA.C. Prato players\nA.S.G. Nocerina players\nBenevento Calcio players\nComo 1907 players\nA.S. Martina Franca 1947 players\nSerie C players\nItaly youth international footballers\nAssociation football midfielders\nFootballers from Rome\n1993 births\nLiving people",
"Jim Jones (born January 27, 1978) is a former American football offensive guard who played two seasons for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League. He played college football at University of Notre Dame.\n\nProfessional career\n\nBaltimore Ravens\nJones was signed by the Baltimore Ravens on April 28, 2001, after going undrafted in the 2001 NFL Draft. He was released by the Ravens on September 1, 2001.\n\nHouston Texans\nJones signed with the Houston Texans on January 8, 2002. He was released by the Texans on April 23, 2002.\n\nBaltimore Ravens/Rhein Fire\nJones was signed by the Baltimore Ravens on July 24, 2002. He released by the Ravens on August 30, 2002, and signed to the team's practice squad on October 17, 2002. He was released by the Ravens on November 19, 2002, and signed to the team's practice squad on November 27, 2002. Jones was allocated to NFL Europe on February 6, 2003, and played for the Rhein Fire during the 2003 season. He was released by the Ravens on August 31, 2003.\n\nPittsburgh Steelers\nJones signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers on January 14, 2004. He was released by the Steelers on September 3, 2005, and signed to the team's practice squad on September 5, 2005. He was released by the Steelers on October 19, 2005.\n\nSan Francisco 49ers\nJones was signed to the San Francisco 49ers' practice squad on November 22, 2005. He was released by the Ravens on December 14, 2005.\n\nWashington Redskins\nJones was signed to the Washington Redskins' practice squad on December 20, 2005. He was released by the Redskins on August 28, 2006.\n\nReferences\n\n1978 births\nLiving people\nAmerican football offensive guards\nNotre Dame Fighting Irish football players\nRhein Fire players\nPittsburgh Steelers players\nPlayers of American football from Chicago"
] |
[
"Starsailor (band)",
"Formation, signed by EMI (1999-2000)",
"who was it signed by?",
"The band signed with EMI, the label that a relative of one band member worked for, in 2000."
] | C_23d5547910814eceb2c89754f06b02a8_1 | who did he work with? | 2 | Who did Starsailor work with? | Starsailor (band) | Despite being known as a Wigan band, only one member of Starsailor is actually from the town. The band met whilst studying Music at the Parsons Walk Campus of Wigan and Leigh College. Bassist James Stelfox and drummer Ben Byrne had been playing together in Warrington, Cheshire for a number of years. When their regular singer fell ill, they recruited young Chorley singer and songwriter James Walsh from a school choir. He was influenced by Jeff Buckley and his 1994 album Grace in his singing style. Comparing it to Oasis' (What's the Story) Morning Glory? album, which Walsh says sums up a unique moment, Grace captures every moment. The band, then named Waterface, had tried a number of guitarists before they asked long-time friend Barry Westhead to join the band in 2000 on keyboards. He had been teaching judo and playing organ for a church near his home town. His arrival has been heralded as the most significant event in the band's formation. Walsh also took up the guitar, following frustration over not finding a musician right for the group. The band started to build up a reputation, and their name changed to Starsailor after the 1970 album Starsailor by Tim Buckley. A journalist from NME saw a gig in 2000 and gave the band a glowing review. "One live encounter was enough to convince many sceptics that here was a band who were genuinely special, blessed with a singer whose voice thrummed like an emotional telegraph wire, that swerved the pitfalls of indie melancholia and were clearly in love with rock 'n' roll and all its possibilities." Their performance at the Glastonbury Festival added to the band's reputation and led to a bidding war amongst UK record companies. The band signed with EMI, the label that a relative of one band member worked for, in 2000. In 2008, in a re-organisation, Starsailor were moved to Virgin Records, a division of EMI. CANNOTANSWER | EMI, | Starsailor are an English post-Britpop band, formed in 2000. Since their formation the band has included guitarist and vocalist James Walsh, drummer Ben Byrne, bassist James Stelfox and keyboardist Barry Westhead. They are best known for their 2003 single "Silence Is Easy" which reached number 9 in the UK.
The band has released five studio albums, and have scored ten Top 40 hit singles in the UK. Their first album Love Is Here was released in 2001, followed by Silence Is Easy (2003) and On the Outside (2005). After the release of its fourth album All the Plans (2009), the band entered into extended hiatus until 2014, during which its members were involved in individual projects.
Starsailor announced their reunion on 23 May 2014 and began performing worldwide. Good Souls: The Greatest Hits was released in September 2015, and featured two new songs. A fifth studio album All This Life was released in 2017.
History
Formation, signed by EMI (1999–2000)
Despite claiming to be a Wigan band, only one member of Starsailor is actually from the town. Bassist James Stelfox and drummer Ben Byrne had been playing together in Warrington, Cheshire for a number of years. The band members met whilst studying a Music course at Wigan and Leigh College. When their regular singer fell ill, they recruited young Chorley singer and songwriter James Walsh from a school choir. He was influenced by Jeff Buckley and his 1994 album Grace in his singing style. Comparing it to Oasis' (What's the Story) Morning Glory? album, which Walsh says sums up a unique moment, Grace captures every moment.
The band, then named Waterface, had tried a number of guitarists before they asked long-time friend Barry Westhead to join the band in 2000 on keyboards. He had been teaching judo and playing organ for a church near his home town. His arrival has been heralded as the most significant event in the band's formation. Walsh also took up the guitar, following frustration over not finding a musician right for the group. The band started to build up a reputation, and their name changed to Starsailor after the 1970 album Starsailor by Tim Buckley.
A journalist from NME saw a gig in 2000 and gave the band a glowing review. "One live encounter was enough to convince many sceptics that here was a band who were genuinely special, blessed with a singer whose voice thrummed like an emotional telegraph wire, that swerved the pitfalls of indie melancholia and were clearly in love with rock 'n' roll and all its possibilities." Their performance at the Glastonbury Festival added to the band's reputation and led to a bidding war amongst UK record companies.
A relative of one band member worked for EMI, and the label then signed them in 2000. In 2008, in a re-organisation, Starsailor were moved to Virgin Records, a division of EMI.
Love Is Here, critical acclaim (2000–2002)
"Fever", the band's first single, was released in early 2001. The song, and its two B-Sides "Love Is Here" and "Coming Down" were cut from a demo recording session in mid-2000. All three tracks went on to feature on Starsailor's first album Love Is Here, but were re-recorded.
In March 2001 the band sold out its first UK Tour, which consisted of eleven dates in England. Their second single, "Good Souls", was released in April and featured a cover of Van Morrison's "The Way Young Lovers Do" as a B-Side. During this period, the band were recording their debut album in Rockfield Studios, Wales. By this time, the band were already previewing many of the album's tracks in their concerts, most notably "Poor Misguided Fool", "Lullaby" and "Way To Fall", which would appear as the ending theme of the video game Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater in 2004. An acoustic version of "Alcoholic" appeared on a promotional CD for NME magazine earlier in 2001. The original release date for the album was August 2001.
Further live dates came supporting the Manic Street Preachers in Glasgow, as well as Doves on their North American tour. The band also marked their first festival appearances, playing at events such as V Festival and Germany's Rock im Park. "Alcoholic" appeared as the third single to be taken off their debut album, and its number ten chart position remains the band's second highest placing to date. The single version was actually an extended version of the album track.
Their album Love Is Here reached number 2 in the UK album charts in October 2001, after receiving great critical acclaim. Combining a mix of acoustic guitar and Walsh's vocals, critics said the songs leave the "hairs on the back of your neck standing."
The year ended with the band winning the "Brightest New Hope" award at the NME Awards, and the release of their fourth single, "Lullaby", which reached number thirty-six. Some fans complained about the difficulty in obtaining copies of the single.
Peter Kay joined the band on stage at their 2002 Christmas Concert held in Warrington's Parr Hall.
Silence Is Easy (2002–2005)
For their second album, Silence Is Easy, which was recorded in Los Angeles, Starsailor teamed up with Phil Spector (in what ended up being his final production work before his conviction of murder in 2009 and his death in 2021). The collaboration came about following Spector's daughter Nicole attending one of the band's American concerts in the winter of 2002. Spector was reported to have been fascinated by "Lullaby", the band's fourth single. After meeting the producer, the band agreed to work with him on their second album. However, the collaboration was short-lived; sessions at London's Abbey Road proved difficult. Spector is said to have proved difficult to work with. Only two tracks made the band's second album: the title track, "Silence Is Easy", and "White Dove".
The band co-produced seven of the other tracks with Danton Supple and former The Stone Roses and Radiohead producer John Leckie was brought in to oversee the recording of "Shark Food".
The first single was "Silence Is Easy", which made the Top Ten (No. 9, the band's highest placing). The album spawned just three singles; the second of which, "Born Again" had evolved from a B-side to "Poor Misguided Fool", released in early 2002. The song was re-recorded for the album, and cut down for a radio edit. "Four to the Floor", which was remixed by Thin White Duke, became a popular club hit. Walsh wanted the track to become the band's "I Am the Resurrection", something to be played in "indie discos everywhere".
The album charted well, but sales were sluggish in comparison to the band's first album. The release dropped out of the Top 40 soon thereafter.
A full UK tour began in autumn 2003 shortly after the release of the album, culminating at London's Brixton Academy. The show featured the only performance before their American tour in 2006 of "Restless Heart", the closing track on the Silence Is Easy album. Mark Collins, from The Charlatans joined Starsailor for all dates between August 2003 to December 2004, playing additional and lead guitar.
On the Outside, return to form (2005–2007)
EMI allowed the band plenty of time to record their follow-up album; having targeted producer Rob Schnapf to produce it, the group relocated to Los Angeles to record. Five possible titles appeared; ("Faith, Hope, Love"/"Here I Go"/"Ashes" or "In the Crossfire"/"I Do Not Know"/"Counterfeit Life"), but the band settled for On the Outside, a statement of their position in the music industry. The sound was different from the previous two releases; it was far heavier than its predecessors. Starsailor had always received praise for their live sound, but the releases seemed "puny" in comparison, admitted Stelfox. The recording was all done to tape, and the band did not use editing software such as Pro Tools to "perfect" the recording. Byrne later remarked that his drum track on "White Light" took a long time to nail; highlighting the band's desire to make the record they were truly happy with.
Starsailor released their third album, On the Outside, in the UK on 17 October 2005 from which the first single from the album, "In the Crossfire" was taken. It was released by Artists Addiction Records in the USA on 22 August. Critics raved about the release, with many citing it as a return to form. Despite this, promotional appearances including a short live set and signing at London's HMV Oxford Street did not aid sales – the album charted at number 13.
Since September 2005, Richard Warren joined the band when playing live, aiding Walsh with additional guitar, vocals and also harmonica parts. Again, the band's UK tour ended at Brixton Academy. Following that, the band toured Europe, playing several dates in France, where "Four to the Floor" was a number one hit in 2004. Following the Paris concert on 3 April, Walsh and Warren were the DJ's at the after-show party.
The album has spawned three singles; "This Time" and "Keep Us Together" followed "In The Crossfire". Despite promoting the single with appearances in London and Leeds, "Keep Us Together" was the first single not to reach the UK Top 40. The promotional video for "This Time" appears to be a cultural reference to the film Run Lola Run, but may not be intentional.
Starsailor played numerous festivals in the Summer of 2006; most notably "Hyde Park Calling" on 1 July 2006, alongside Roger Waters, and the V Festival, which is held in Stafford and Chelmsford. They also supported the Rolling Stones on their "Bigger Bang" Tour in Munich, Hamburg in 2006 and again in Frankfurt, Paris and Lyon in 2007.
In the autumn of 2006, Starsailor toured North America, playing both headlining shows and supporting James Blunt, in January 2007 they undertook their first trip to Russia, playing in the B2 Club of Moscow. According to the band's official website Barry Westhead's partner Kelly gave birth to a baby boy on 12 April 2007. The baby was named Joseph. Bass player James Stelfox became a father again in 2008, when his partner gave birth to a girl, named Ella, in November while the rest of the band were doing their first trip to Korea.
Starsailor was named the replacement for Amy Winehouse as the support act for The Rolling Stones on the German leg of their tour.
They were opening for the rock legends for the first time in Hamburg. Front man James Walsh told BBC 6 Music: "We heard on Sunday evening, our agent gave us a frantic call, and asked what we were doing this week, fortunately we had a week off!"
All the Plans, beginning of hiatus (2007–2009)
In 2007, Starsailor began recording demos for the follow-up to 2005's On the Outside.
Starsailor started to play in various gigs during the months recording their fourth album. James Walsh also played at several events in 2007, like the SXSW festival in Texas in March 2007, and an acoustic show in London on 12 March. The show is notable for not having a set list; rarities such as the hardly played "Restless Heart" was played, due to a request from the front row. In addition to this he played the song "Tell Me It's Not Over", the track from the work-in-progress fourth album (early arrivals saw Walsh sound check half the song).
Walsh and Stelfox played an unplugged set on 13 April 2007 in Switzerland with Mark Collins of The Charlatans.
Further support in Europe for The Rolling Stones took place in mid-June; these were late additions, and fitted in with the band's festival schedule. The previous concert before the Stones' support was in Den Haag, the Netherlands; the band debuted the first full-band version of "Tell Me It's Not Over". Starsailor had embarked on a tour of the UK during October 2007 in support of Fairtrade. They have debuted a number of new songs during the tour as "Boy in Waiting" and "All the Plans". The lyrics for "Tell Me It's Not Over" had changed considerably since the first time they had sung it. Their first travel to Latin America was confirmed after a long period of speculation. Starsailor supported The Killers on November 2007 on their dates in Argentina and Chile. Starsailor played on June at the Isle of Wight Festival on the last day, with The Police headlining on that date. They also performed at Hard Rock Calling in Hyde Park the same month with The Police as headliners. They also confirmed that they would play at "Rockin" Park' in the Netherlands on Saturday 28 June, on the third day of the 2008 Cactus Festival at Minnewaterpark, Brugge, Belgium on Saturday 12 July, and the Open Air Gampel Festival in Switzerland on Saturday 16 August.
On 20 March 2008, front man James posted on the official Starsailor forum announcing the album had been completed.
On 16 October 2008 it was officially confirmed that the new album would be called All the Plans and was to be released in March 2009.
On 3 December, the Boy in Waiting EP was released as a free digital download for those who pre-order the deluxe edition of All the Plans. It contained three tracks that did not make the album.
The album debuted at Number 26 in the UK Album Charts on 14 March 2009, while "Tell Me It's Not Over" spent one week in the UK Singles Chart, reaching No. 73, and peaking at No. 5 in the Belgian Charts, becoming Starsailor's most successful single in that country.
On 26 April 2009, the band performed at The Tavern pub in Wigan, as part of Channel 4 television's "Grassroot Gigs" series. They had never played a concert in the town before, and have played there only once since then.
Lead singer, James Walsh began to work on a solo project at the end of 2009. On 13 November 2009 it was officially announced by The Lancashire Evening Post that Starsailor was on hold and that James Walsh was concentrating on his solo career.
Reunion, touring and Greatest Hits album (2014–2015)
Starsailor have reformed, playing support slots at Summer in the City festival in 10 and 11 July at Castlefield Bowl, headlined by Pixies and James. Starsailor performed on Rock Zottegem festival in Belgium on 14 July 2014. On 3 August 2014 the band performed at the Pentaport Rock Festival held in Incheon, South Korea. Their support tour continued in November 2014, supporting them in England at venues like Parr Hall, National Indoor Arena and Royal Albert Hall. They returned to the stage in June 2015, when they co-headlined several concerts with Embrace in the USA.
Starsailor's first greatest hits album, called Good Souls: The Greatest Hits, was released on 18 September 2015. The album contained 19 tracks, including all of band's singles to date and two brand new songs "Give Up the Ghost" and "Hold on", recorded with producer Harry Rutherford.
Starsailor played a second gig in Wigan in 2016, supported by a local band who shared the same management agency.
All This Life (2017–present)
In 2017, the band released "Listen To Your Heart", their first release in almost two years. Their fifth album, All This Life, was released on 1 September 2017 through the band's new record label, Cooking Vinyl. Flick of the Finger gave the album an overwhelmingly positive 5 star review, with the publication praising the song "Sunday Best", saying that 'the album is best summarised by this one melancholic and emotional track.' The album entered the UK album chart at No. 23.
In December 2021, the band were to release an expanded 20th anniversary edition of their album Love Is Here, as well as going out on tour to support it. The release was delayed until January 2022 due to pressing delays of the vinyl edition.
Charity
The band played the London Astoria on 4 and 8 February 2002. The first date was a concert in aid of Warchild, and also included Travis and Ryan Adams on the bill. The 8th saw the debut of "Born Again", which would eventually be released as a single. The concert is notable since the band were joined on stage by two backing singers and a cellist. James Walsh told NME.COM after the show that he thought the gig was "amazing, something really special" while bassist James Stelfox said it was "one of the greatest ever." This flirtation with these additional voices and a cello only lasted a brief period of time.
On 19 September 2008 Starsailor performed in the second edition of the "Stars of Europe" concert at Brussels in support of UNICEF, where they covered U2's single "All I Want Is You"
On 20 May 2009, the band was named Hard Rock's "Philanthropic Artist of the Year" in recognition of the work they'd done in support of the Caron Keating Foundation, the AECC of Barcelona and Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy, as well as having contributed an exclusive cover of Graham Nash's "Military Madness" to the World Hunger Year Serve3 charity album.
Band members
Current members
James Walsh – guitar and lead vocals
James Stelfox – bass
Barry Westhead – keyboards
Ben Byrne – drums
Session and touring members
Mark Collins – guitar and vocals (2003–2004, 2006, 2014)
Richard "Echoboy" Warren – guitar, vocals and harmonica (2005–2006)
Pete Greenwood – guitar (2008–2009)
Discography
Studio albums
Love Is Here (2001)
Silence Is Easy (2003)
On the Outside (2005)
All the Plans (2009)
All This Life (2017)
References
External links
Official Starsailor Fansite
Musical groups from Lancashire
English rock music groups
Musical groups established in 2000
People from Chorley
English alternative rock groups
Post-Britpop groups
Parlophone artists
Musical quartets
Virgin Records artists | true | [
"Thomas McPherson Brown (1906–1989) was a rheumatologist who held unorthodox views about the basis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and believed it could be cured with antibiotics.\n\nBrown graduated from Swarthmore College then attended Johns Hopkins Medical School. He did his medical residency at the hospital associated with the Rockefeller Institute.At Rockefeller he did research on synovial fluid from people with RA and in 1937 found Mycoplasma in the fluid from some patients, leading him to believe that RA might be an infectious disease. His work was interrupted by service in World War II; after the war he obtained a position at George Washington University and began to experimentally treat some people with RA with antibiotics, which at the time were a new class of drugs. Some of the people he treated were members of Congress or ambassadors, and some of them responded positively. He presented his work at a conference in 1949; at the same conference, the new drug cortisone was presented, and it overshadowed his work and became the leading treatment for RA.\n\nThroughout his career, Brown fought to have his antibiotic treatments recognized by the medical establishment; they were not.\n\nFootnotes\n\n1906 births\n1989 deaths\nAmerican rheumatologists\n20th-century American physicians",
"Ben Thigpen (November 16, 1908 – October 5, 1971) was an American jazz drummer. He is the father of drummer Ed Thigpen.\n\nHe was born Benjamin F. Thigpen in Laurel, Mississippi. Ben Thigpen played piano as a child, having been trained by his sister Eva. He played in South Bend, Indiana with Bobby Boswell in the 1920s, and then moved to Chicago to study under Jimmy Bertrand. While there he played with many noted Chicago bandleaders and performers, including Doc Cheatham. He played with Charlie Elgar's Creole Band during 1927-1929 but did not record with them. Following this he spent time in Cleveland with J. Frank Terry, and then became the drummer for Andy Kirk's Clouds of Joy, where he stayed from 1930 to 1947. Much of his work is available on collections highlighting the piano work of Mary Lou Williams, who also played in this ensemble.\n\nAfter his time with Kirk, Thigpen's career is poorly documented. He led his own quintet in St. Louis and recorded with Singleton Palmer in the 1960s.\n\nReferences\n[ Ben Thigpen] at Allmusic\n\nExternal links\n Ben Thigpen recordings at the Discography of American Historical Recordings.\n\nAmerican jazz drummers\n1908 births\n1971 deaths"
] |
[
"Starsailor (band)",
"Formation, signed by EMI (1999-2000)",
"who was it signed by?",
"The band signed with EMI, the label that a relative of one band member worked for, in 2000.",
"who did he work with?",
"EMI,"
] | C_23d5547910814eceb2c89754f06b02a8_1 | Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | 3 | Aside from Starsailor being signed was there any other interesting aspects of this article? | Starsailor (band) | Despite being known as a Wigan band, only one member of Starsailor is actually from the town. The band met whilst studying Music at the Parsons Walk Campus of Wigan and Leigh College. Bassist James Stelfox and drummer Ben Byrne had been playing together in Warrington, Cheshire for a number of years. When their regular singer fell ill, they recruited young Chorley singer and songwriter James Walsh from a school choir. He was influenced by Jeff Buckley and his 1994 album Grace in his singing style. Comparing it to Oasis' (What's the Story) Morning Glory? album, which Walsh says sums up a unique moment, Grace captures every moment. The band, then named Waterface, had tried a number of guitarists before they asked long-time friend Barry Westhead to join the band in 2000 on keyboards. He had been teaching judo and playing organ for a church near his home town. His arrival has been heralded as the most significant event in the band's formation. Walsh also took up the guitar, following frustration over not finding a musician right for the group. The band started to build up a reputation, and their name changed to Starsailor after the 1970 album Starsailor by Tim Buckley. A journalist from NME saw a gig in 2000 and gave the band a glowing review. "One live encounter was enough to convince many sceptics that here was a band who were genuinely special, blessed with a singer whose voice thrummed like an emotional telegraph wire, that swerved the pitfalls of indie melancholia and were clearly in love with rock 'n' roll and all its possibilities." Their performance at the Glastonbury Festival added to the band's reputation and led to a bidding war amongst UK record companies. The band signed with EMI, the label that a relative of one band member worked for, in 2000. In 2008, in a re-organisation, Starsailor were moved to Virgin Records, a division of EMI. CANNOTANSWER | The band met whilst studying Music at the Parsons Walk Campus of Wigan and Leigh College. | Starsailor are an English post-Britpop band, formed in 2000. Since their formation the band has included guitarist and vocalist James Walsh, drummer Ben Byrne, bassist James Stelfox and keyboardist Barry Westhead. They are best known for their 2003 single "Silence Is Easy" which reached number 9 in the UK.
The band has released five studio albums, and have scored ten Top 40 hit singles in the UK. Their first album Love Is Here was released in 2001, followed by Silence Is Easy (2003) and On the Outside (2005). After the release of its fourth album All the Plans (2009), the band entered into extended hiatus until 2014, during which its members were involved in individual projects.
Starsailor announced their reunion on 23 May 2014 and began performing worldwide. Good Souls: The Greatest Hits was released in September 2015, and featured two new songs. A fifth studio album All This Life was released in 2017.
History
Formation, signed by EMI (1999–2000)
Despite claiming to be a Wigan band, only one member of Starsailor is actually from the town. Bassist James Stelfox and drummer Ben Byrne had been playing together in Warrington, Cheshire for a number of years. The band members met whilst studying a Music course at Wigan and Leigh College. When their regular singer fell ill, they recruited young Chorley singer and songwriter James Walsh from a school choir. He was influenced by Jeff Buckley and his 1994 album Grace in his singing style. Comparing it to Oasis' (What's the Story) Morning Glory? album, which Walsh says sums up a unique moment, Grace captures every moment.
The band, then named Waterface, had tried a number of guitarists before they asked long-time friend Barry Westhead to join the band in 2000 on keyboards. He had been teaching judo and playing organ for a church near his home town. His arrival has been heralded as the most significant event in the band's formation. Walsh also took up the guitar, following frustration over not finding a musician right for the group. The band started to build up a reputation, and their name changed to Starsailor after the 1970 album Starsailor by Tim Buckley.
A journalist from NME saw a gig in 2000 and gave the band a glowing review. "One live encounter was enough to convince many sceptics that here was a band who were genuinely special, blessed with a singer whose voice thrummed like an emotional telegraph wire, that swerved the pitfalls of indie melancholia and were clearly in love with rock 'n' roll and all its possibilities." Their performance at the Glastonbury Festival added to the band's reputation and led to a bidding war amongst UK record companies.
A relative of one band member worked for EMI, and the label then signed them in 2000. In 2008, in a re-organisation, Starsailor were moved to Virgin Records, a division of EMI.
Love Is Here, critical acclaim (2000–2002)
"Fever", the band's first single, was released in early 2001. The song, and its two B-Sides "Love Is Here" and "Coming Down" were cut from a demo recording session in mid-2000. All three tracks went on to feature on Starsailor's first album Love Is Here, but were re-recorded.
In March 2001 the band sold out its first UK Tour, which consisted of eleven dates in England. Their second single, "Good Souls", was released in April and featured a cover of Van Morrison's "The Way Young Lovers Do" as a B-Side. During this period, the band were recording their debut album in Rockfield Studios, Wales. By this time, the band were already previewing many of the album's tracks in their concerts, most notably "Poor Misguided Fool", "Lullaby" and "Way To Fall", which would appear as the ending theme of the video game Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater in 2004. An acoustic version of "Alcoholic" appeared on a promotional CD for NME magazine earlier in 2001. The original release date for the album was August 2001.
Further live dates came supporting the Manic Street Preachers in Glasgow, as well as Doves on their North American tour. The band also marked their first festival appearances, playing at events such as V Festival and Germany's Rock im Park. "Alcoholic" appeared as the third single to be taken off their debut album, and its number ten chart position remains the band's second highest placing to date. The single version was actually an extended version of the album track.
Their album Love Is Here reached number 2 in the UK album charts in October 2001, after receiving great critical acclaim. Combining a mix of acoustic guitar and Walsh's vocals, critics said the songs leave the "hairs on the back of your neck standing."
The year ended with the band winning the "Brightest New Hope" award at the NME Awards, and the release of their fourth single, "Lullaby", which reached number thirty-six. Some fans complained about the difficulty in obtaining copies of the single.
Peter Kay joined the band on stage at their 2002 Christmas Concert held in Warrington's Parr Hall.
Silence Is Easy (2002–2005)
For their second album, Silence Is Easy, which was recorded in Los Angeles, Starsailor teamed up with Phil Spector (in what ended up being his final production work before his conviction of murder in 2009 and his death in 2021). The collaboration came about following Spector's daughter Nicole attending one of the band's American concerts in the winter of 2002. Spector was reported to have been fascinated by "Lullaby", the band's fourth single. After meeting the producer, the band agreed to work with him on their second album. However, the collaboration was short-lived; sessions at London's Abbey Road proved difficult. Spector is said to have proved difficult to work with. Only two tracks made the band's second album: the title track, "Silence Is Easy", and "White Dove".
The band co-produced seven of the other tracks with Danton Supple and former The Stone Roses and Radiohead producer John Leckie was brought in to oversee the recording of "Shark Food".
The first single was "Silence Is Easy", which made the Top Ten (No. 9, the band's highest placing). The album spawned just three singles; the second of which, "Born Again" had evolved from a B-side to "Poor Misguided Fool", released in early 2002. The song was re-recorded for the album, and cut down for a radio edit. "Four to the Floor", which was remixed by Thin White Duke, became a popular club hit. Walsh wanted the track to become the band's "I Am the Resurrection", something to be played in "indie discos everywhere".
The album charted well, but sales were sluggish in comparison to the band's first album. The release dropped out of the Top 40 soon thereafter.
A full UK tour began in autumn 2003 shortly after the release of the album, culminating at London's Brixton Academy. The show featured the only performance before their American tour in 2006 of "Restless Heart", the closing track on the Silence Is Easy album. Mark Collins, from The Charlatans joined Starsailor for all dates between August 2003 to December 2004, playing additional and lead guitar.
On the Outside, return to form (2005–2007)
EMI allowed the band plenty of time to record their follow-up album; having targeted producer Rob Schnapf to produce it, the group relocated to Los Angeles to record. Five possible titles appeared; ("Faith, Hope, Love"/"Here I Go"/"Ashes" or "In the Crossfire"/"I Do Not Know"/"Counterfeit Life"), but the band settled for On the Outside, a statement of their position in the music industry. The sound was different from the previous two releases; it was far heavier than its predecessors. Starsailor had always received praise for their live sound, but the releases seemed "puny" in comparison, admitted Stelfox. The recording was all done to tape, and the band did not use editing software such as Pro Tools to "perfect" the recording. Byrne later remarked that his drum track on "White Light" took a long time to nail; highlighting the band's desire to make the record they were truly happy with.
Starsailor released their third album, On the Outside, in the UK on 17 October 2005 from which the first single from the album, "In the Crossfire" was taken. It was released by Artists Addiction Records in the USA on 22 August. Critics raved about the release, with many citing it as a return to form. Despite this, promotional appearances including a short live set and signing at London's HMV Oxford Street did not aid sales – the album charted at number 13.
Since September 2005, Richard Warren joined the band when playing live, aiding Walsh with additional guitar, vocals and also harmonica parts. Again, the band's UK tour ended at Brixton Academy. Following that, the band toured Europe, playing several dates in France, where "Four to the Floor" was a number one hit in 2004. Following the Paris concert on 3 April, Walsh and Warren were the DJ's at the after-show party.
The album has spawned three singles; "This Time" and "Keep Us Together" followed "In The Crossfire". Despite promoting the single with appearances in London and Leeds, "Keep Us Together" was the first single not to reach the UK Top 40. The promotional video for "This Time" appears to be a cultural reference to the film Run Lola Run, but may not be intentional.
Starsailor played numerous festivals in the Summer of 2006; most notably "Hyde Park Calling" on 1 July 2006, alongside Roger Waters, and the V Festival, which is held in Stafford and Chelmsford. They also supported the Rolling Stones on their "Bigger Bang" Tour in Munich, Hamburg in 2006 and again in Frankfurt, Paris and Lyon in 2007.
In the autumn of 2006, Starsailor toured North America, playing both headlining shows and supporting James Blunt, in January 2007 they undertook their first trip to Russia, playing in the B2 Club of Moscow. According to the band's official website Barry Westhead's partner Kelly gave birth to a baby boy on 12 April 2007. The baby was named Joseph. Bass player James Stelfox became a father again in 2008, when his partner gave birth to a girl, named Ella, in November while the rest of the band were doing their first trip to Korea.
Starsailor was named the replacement for Amy Winehouse as the support act for The Rolling Stones on the German leg of their tour.
They were opening for the rock legends for the first time in Hamburg. Front man James Walsh told BBC 6 Music: "We heard on Sunday evening, our agent gave us a frantic call, and asked what we were doing this week, fortunately we had a week off!"
All the Plans, beginning of hiatus (2007–2009)
In 2007, Starsailor began recording demos for the follow-up to 2005's On the Outside.
Starsailor started to play in various gigs during the months recording their fourth album. James Walsh also played at several events in 2007, like the SXSW festival in Texas in March 2007, and an acoustic show in London on 12 March. The show is notable for not having a set list; rarities such as the hardly played "Restless Heart" was played, due to a request from the front row. In addition to this he played the song "Tell Me It's Not Over", the track from the work-in-progress fourth album (early arrivals saw Walsh sound check half the song).
Walsh and Stelfox played an unplugged set on 13 April 2007 in Switzerland with Mark Collins of The Charlatans.
Further support in Europe for The Rolling Stones took place in mid-June; these were late additions, and fitted in with the band's festival schedule. The previous concert before the Stones' support was in Den Haag, the Netherlands; the band debuted the first full-band version of "Tell Me It's Not Over". Starsailor had embarked on a tour of the UK during October 2007 in support of Fairtrade. They have debuted a number of new songs during the tour as "Boy in Waiting" and "All the Plans". The lyrics for "Tell Me It's Not Over" had changed considerably since the first time they had sung it. Their first travel to Latin America was confirmed after a long period of speculation. Starsailor supported The Killers on November 2007 on their dates in Argentina and Chile. Starsailor played on June at the Isle of Wight Festival on the last day, with The Police headlining on that date. They also performed at Hard Rock Calling in Hyde Park the same month with The Police as headliners. They also confirmed that they would play at "Rockin" Park' in the Netherlands on Saturday 28 June, on the third day of the 2008 Cactus Festival at Minnewaterpark, Brugge, Belgium on Saturday 12 July, and the Open Air Gampel Festival in Switzerland on Saturday 16 August.
On 20 March 2008, front man James posted on the official Starsailor forum announcing the album had been completed.
On 16 October 2008 it was officially confirmed that the new album would be called All the Plans and was to be released in March 2009.
On 3 December, the Boy in Waiting EP was released as a free digital download for those who pre-order the deluxe edition of All the Plans. It contained three tracks that did not make the album.
The album debuted at Number 26 in the UK Album Charts on 14 March 2009, while "Tell Me It's Not Over" spent one week in the UK Singles Chart, reaching No. 73, and peaking at No. 5 in the Belgian Charts, becoming Starsailor's most successful single in that country.
On 26 April 2009, the band performed at The Tavern pub in Wigan, as part of Channel 4 television's "Grassroot Gigs" series. They had never played a concert in the town before, and have played there only once since then.
Lead singer, James Walsh began to work on a solo project at the end of 2009. On 13 November 2009 it was officially announced by The Lancashire Evening Post that Starsailor was on hold and that James Walsh was concentrating on his solo career.
Reunion, touring and Greatest Hits album (2014–2015)
Starsailor have reformed, playing support slots at Summer in the City festival in 10 and 11 July at Castlefield Bowl, headlined by Pixies and James. Starsailor performed on Rock Zottegem festival in Belgium on 14 July 2014. On 3 August 2014 the band performed at the Pentaport Rock Festival held in Incheon, South Korea. Their support tour continued in November 2014, supporting them in England at venues like Parr Hall, National Indoor Arena and Royal Albert Hall. They returned to the stage in June 2015, when they co-headlined several concerts with Embrace in the USA.
Starsailor's first greatest hits album, called Good Souls: The Greatest Hits, was released on 18 September 2015. The album contained 19 tracks, including all of band's singles to date and two brand new songs "Give Up the Ghost" and "Hold on", recorded with producer Harry Rutherford.
Starsailor played a second gig in Wigan in 2016, supported by a local band who shared the same management agency.
All This Life (2017–present)
In 2017, the band released "Listen To Your Heart", their first release in almost two years. Their fifth album, All This Life, was released on 1 September 2017 through the band's new record label, Cooking Vinyl. Flick of the Finger gave the album an overwhelmingly positive 5 star review, with the publication praising the song "Sunday Best", saying that 'the album is best summarised by this one melancholic and emotional track.' The album entered the UK album chart at No. 23.
In December 2021, the band were to release an expanded 20th anniversary edition of their album Love Is Here, as well as going out on tour to support it. The release was delayed until January 2022 due to pressing delays of the vinyl edition.
Charity
The band played the London Astoria on 4 and 8 February 2002. The first date was a concert in aid of Warchild, and also included Travis and Ryan Adams on the bill. The 8th saw the debut of "Born Again", which would eventually be released as a single. The concert is notable since the band were joined on stage by two backing singers and a cellist. James Walsh told NME.COM after the show that he thought the gig was "amazing, something really special" while bassist James Stelfox said it was "one of the greatest ever." This flirtation with these additional voices and a cello only lasted a brief period of time.
On 19 September 2008 Starsailor performed in the second edition of the "Stars of Europe" concert at Brussels in support of UNICEF, where they covered U2's single "All I Want Is You"
On 20 May 2009, the band was named Hard Rock's "Philanthropic Artist of the Year" in recognition of the work they'd done in support of the Caron Keating Foundation, the AECC of Barcelona and Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy, as well as having contributed an exclusive cover of Graham Nash's "Military Madness" to the World Hunger Year Serve3 charity album.
Band members
Current members
James Walsh – guitar and lead vocals
James Stelfox – bass
Barry Westhead – keyboards
Ben Byrne – drums
Session and touring members
Mark Collins – guitar and vocals (2003–2004, 2006, 2014)
Richard "Echoboy" Warren – guitar, vocals and harmonica (2005–2006)
Pete Greenwood – guitar (2008–2009)
Discography
Studio albums
Love Is Here (2001)
Silence Is Easy (2003)
On the Outside (2005)
All the Plans (2009)
All This Life (2017)
References
External links
Official Starsailor Fansite
Musical groups from Lancashire
English rock music groups
Musical groups established in 2000
People from Chorley
English alternative rock groups
Post-Britpop groups
Parlophone artists
Musical quartets
Virgin Records artists | 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"
] |
[
"Starsailor (band)",
"Formation, signed by EMI (1999-2000)",
"who was it signed by?",
"The band signed with EMI, the label that a relative of one band member worked for, in 2000.",
"who did he work with?",
"EMI,",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"The band met whilst studying Music at the Parsons Walk Campus of Wigan and Leigh College."
] | C_23d5547910814eceb2c89754f06b02a8_1 | where did they perform? | 4 | Where did Starsailor perform? | Starsailor (band) | Despite being known as a Wigan band, only one member of Starsailor is actually from the town. The band met whilst studying Music at the Parsons Walk Campus of Wigan and Leigh College. Bassist James Stelfox and drummer Ben Byrne had been playing together in Warrington, Cheshire for a number of years. When their regular singer fell ill, they recruited young Chorley singer and songwriter James Walsh from a school choir. He was influenced by Jeff Buckley and his 1994 album Grace in his singing style. Comparing it to Oasis' (What's the Story) Morning Glory? album, which Walsh says sums up a unique moment, Grace captures every moment. The band, then named Waterface, had tried a number of guitarists before they asked long-time friend Barry Westhead to join the band in 2000 on keyboards. He had been teaching judo and playing organ for a church near his home town. His arrival has been heralded as the most significant event in the band's formation. Walsh also took up the guitar, following frustration over not finding a musician right for the group. The band started to build up a reputation, and their name changed to Starsailor after the 1970 album Starsailor by Tim Buckley. A journalist from NME saw a gig in 2000 and gave the band a glowing review. "One live encounter was enough to convince many sceptics that here was a band who were genuinely special, blessed with a singer whose voice thrummed like an emotional telegraph wire, that swerved the pitfalls of indie melancholia and were clearly in love with rock 'n' roll and all its possibilities." Their performance at the Glastonbury Festival added to the band's reputation and led to a bidding war amongst UK record companies. The band signed with EMI, the label that a relative of one band member worked for, in 2000. In 2008, in a re-organisation, Starsailor were moved to Virgin Records, a division of EMI. CANNOTANSWER | Their performance at the Glastonbury Festival | Starsailor are an English post-Britpop band, formed in 2000. Since their formation the band has included guitarist and vocalist James Walsh, drummer Ben Byrne, bassist James Stelfox and keyboardist Barry Westhead. They are best known for their 2003 single "Silence Is Easy" which reached number 9 in the UK.
The band has released five studio albums, and have scored ten Top 40 hit singles in the UK. Their first album Love Is Here was released in 2001, followed by Silence Is Easy (2003) and On the Outside (2005). After the release of its fourth album All the Plans (2009), the band entered into extended hiatus until 2014, during which its members were involved in individual projects.
Starsailor announced their reunion on 23 May 2014 and began performing worldwide. Good Souls: The Greatest Hits was released in September 2015, and featured two new songs. A fifth studio album All This Life was released in 2017.
History
Formation, signed by EMI (1999–2000)
Despite claiming to be a Wigan band, only one member of Starsailor is actually from the town. Bassist James Stelfox and drummer Ben Byrne had been playing together in Warrington, Cheshire for a number of years. The band members met whilst studying a Music course at Wigan and Leigh College. When their regular singer fell ill, they recruited young Chorley singer and songwriter James Walsh from a school choir. He was influenced by Jeff Buckley and his 1994 album Grace in his singing style. Comparing it to Oasis' (What's the Story) Morning Glory? album, which Walsh says sums up a unique moment, Grace captures every moment.
The band, then named Waterface, had tried a number of guitarists before they asked long-time friend Barry Westhead to join the band in 2000 on keyboards. He had been teaching judo and playing organ for a church near his home town. His arrival has been heralded as the most significant event in the band's formation. Walsh also took up the guitar, following frustration over not finding a musician right for the group. The band started to build up a reputation, and their name changed to Starsailor after the 1970 album Starsailor by Tim Buckley.
A journalist from NME saw a gig in 2000 and gave the band a glowing review. "One live encounter was enough to convince many sceptics that here was a band who were genuinely special, blessed with a singer whose voice thrummed like an emotional telegraph wire, that swerved the pitfalls of indie melancholia and were clearly in love with rock 'n' roll and all its possibilities." Their performance at the Glastonbury Festival added to the band's reputation and led to a bidding war amongst UK record companies.
A relative of one band member worked for EMI, and the label then signed them in 2000. In 2008, in a re-organisation, Starsailor were moved to Virgin Records, a division of EMI.
Love Is Here, critical acclaim (2000–2002)
"Fever", the band's first single, was released in early 2001. The song, and its two B-Sides "Love Is Here" and "Coming Down" were cut from a demo recording session in mid-2000. All three tracks went on to feature on Starsailor's first album Love Is Here, but were re-recorded.
In March 2001 the band sold out its first UK Tour, which consisted of eleven dates in England. Their second single, "Good Souls", was released in April and featured a cover of Van Morrison's "The Way Young Lovers Do" as a B-Side. During this period, the band were recording their debut album in Rockfield Studios, Wales. By this time, the band were already previewing many of the album's tracks in their concerts, most notably "Poor Misguided Fool", "Lullaby" and "Way To Fall", which would appear as the ending theme of the video game Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater in 2004. An acoustic version of "Alcoholic" appeared on a promotional CD for NME magazine earlier in 2001. The original release date for the album was August 2001.
Further live dates came supporting the Manic Street Preachers in Glasgow, as well as Doves on their North American tour. The band also marked their first festival appearances, playing at events such as V Festival and Germany's Rock im Park. "Alcoholic" appeared as the third single to be taken off their debut album, and its number ten chart position remains the band's second highest placing to date. The single version was actually an extended version of the album track.
Their album Love Is Here reached number 2 in the UK album charts in October 2001, after receiving great critical acclaim. Combining a mix of acoustic guitar and Walsh's vocals, critics said the songs leave the "hairs on the back of your neck standing."
The year ended with the band winning the "Brightest New Hope" award at the NME Awards, and the release of their fourth single, "Lullaby", which reached number thirty-six. Some fans complained about the difficulty in obtaining copies of the single.
Peter Kay joined the band on stage at their 2002 Christmas Concert held in Warrington's Parr Hall.
Silence Is Easy (2002–2005)
For their second album, Silence Is Easy, which was recorded in Los Angeles, Starsailor teamed up with Phil Spector (in what ended up being his final production work before his conviction of murder in 2009 and his death in 2021). The collaboration came about following Spector's daughter Nicole attending one of the band's American concerts in the winter of 2002. Spector was reported to have been fascinated by "Lullaby", the band's fourth single. After meeting the producer, the band agreed to work with him on their second album. However, the collaboration was short-lived; sessions at London's Abbey Road proved difficult. Spector is said to have proved difficult to work with. Only two tracks made the band's second album: the title track, "Silence Is Easy", and "White Dove".
The band co-produced seven of the other tracks with Danton Supple and former The Stone Roses and Radiohead producer John Leckie was brought in to oversee the recording of "Shark Food".
The first single was "Silence Is Easy", which made the Top Ten (No. 9, the band's highest placing). The album spawned just three singles; the second of which, "Born Again" had evolved from a B-side to "Poor Misguided Fool", released in early 2002. The song was re-recorded for the album, and cut down for a radio edit. "Four to the Floor", which was remixed by Thin White Duke, became a popular club hit. Walsh wanted the track to become the band's "I Am the Resurrection", something to be played in "indie discos everywhere".
The album charted well, but sales were sluggish in comparison to the band's first album. The release dropped out of the Top 40 soon thereafter.
A full UK tour began in autumn 2003 shortly after the release of the album, culminating at London's Brixton Academy. The show featured the only performance before their American tour in 2006 of "Restless Heart", the closing track on the Silence Is Easy album. Mark Collins, from The Charlatans joined Starsailor for all dates between August 2003 to December 2004, playing additional and lead guitar.
On the Outside, return to form (2005–2007)
EMI allowed the band plenty of time to record their follow-up album; having targeted producer Rob Schnapf to produce it, the group relocated to Los Angeles to record. Five possible titles appeared; ("Faith, Hope, Love"/"Here I Go"/"Ashes" or "In the Crossfire"/"I Do Not Know"/"Counterfeit Life"), but the band settled for On the Outside, a statement of their position in the music industry. The sound was different from the previous two releases; it was far heavier than its predecessors. Starsailor had always received praise for their live sound, but the releases seemed "puny" in comparison, admitted Stelfox. The recording was all done to tape, and the band did not use editing software such as Pro Tools to "perfect" the recording. Byrne later remarked that his drum track on "White Light" took a long time to nail; highlighting the band's desire to make the record they were truly happy with.
Starsailor released their third album, On the Outside, in the UK on 17 October 2005 from which the first single from the album, "In the Crossfire" was taken. It was released by Artists Addiction Records in the USA on 22 August. Critics raved about the release, with many citing it as a return to form. Despite this, promotional appearances including a short live set and signing at London's HMV Oxford Street did not aid sales – the album charted at number 13.
Since September 2005, Richard Warren joined the band when playing live, aiding Walsh with additional guitar, vocals and also harmonica parts. Again, the band's UK tour ended at Brixton Academy. Following that, the band toured Europe, playing several dates in France, where "Four to the Floor" was a number one hit in 2004. Following the Paris concert on 3 April, Walsh and Warren were the DJ's at the after-show party.
The album has spawned three singles; "This Time" and "Keep Us Together" followed "In The Crossfire". Despite promoting the single with appearances in London and Leeds, "Keep Us Together" was the first single not to reach the UK Top 40. The promotional video for "This Time" appears to be a cultural reference to the film Run Lola Run, but may not be intentional.
Starsailor played numerous festivals in the Summer of 2006; most notably "Hyde Park Calling" on 1 July 2006, alongside Roger Waters, and the V Festival, which is held in Stafford and Chelmsford. They also supported the Rolling Stones on their "Bigger Bang" Tour in Munich, Hamburg in 2006 and again in Frankfurt, Paris and Lyon in 2007.
In the autumn of 2006, Starsailor toured North America, playing both headlining shows and supporting James Blunt, in January 2007 they undertook their first trip to Russia, playing in the B2 Club of Moscow. According to the band's official website Barry Westhead's partner Kelly gave birth to a baby boy on 12 April 2007. The baby was named Joseph. Bass player James Stelfox became a father again in 2008, when his partner gave birth to a girl, named Ella, in November while the rest of the band were doing their first trip to Korea.
Starsailor was named the replacement for Amy Winehouse as the support act for The Rolling Stones on the German leg of their tour.
They were opening for the rock legends for the first time in Hamburg. Front man James Walsh told BBC 6 Music: "We heard on Sunday evening, our agent gave us a frantic call, and asked what we were doing this week, fortunately we had a week off!"
All the Plans, beginning of hiatus (2007–2009)
In 2007, Starsailor began recording demos for the follow-up to 2005's On the Outside.
Starsailor started to play in various gigs during the months recording their fourth album. James Walsh also played at several events in 2007, like the SXSW festival in Texas in March 2007, and an acoustic show in London on 12 March. The show is notable for not having a set list; rarities such as the hardly played "Restless Heart" was played, due to a request from the front row. In addition to this he played the song "Tell Me It's Not Over", the track from the work-in-progress fourth album (early arrivals saw Walsh sound check half the song).
Walsh and Stelfox played an unplugged set on 13 April 2007 in Switzerland with Mark Collins of The Charlatans.
Further support in Europe for The Rolling Stones took place in mid-June; these were late additions, and fitted in with the band's festival schedule. The previous concert before the Stones' support was in Den Haag, the Netherlands; the band debuted the first full-band version of "Tell Me It's Not Over". Starsailor had embarked on a tour of the UK during October 2007 in support of Fairtrade. They have debuted a number of new songs during the tour as "Boy in Waiting" and "All the Plans". The lyrics for "Tell Me It's Not Over" had changed considerably since the first time they had sung it. Their first travel to Latin America was confirmed after a long period of speculation. Starsailor supported The Killers on November 2007 on their dates in Argentina and Chile. Starsailor played on June at the Isle of Wight Festival on the last day, with The Police headlining on that date. They also performed at Hard Rock Calling in Hyde Park the same month with The Police as headliners. They also confirmed that they would play at "Rockin" Park' in the Netherlands on Saturday 28 June, on the third day of the 2008 Cactus Festival at Minnewaterpark, Brugge, Belgium on Saturday 12 July, and the Open Air Gampel Festival in Switzerland on Saturday 16 August.
On 20 March 2008, front man James posted on the official Starsailor forum announcing the album had been completed.
On 16 October 2008 it was officially confirmed that the new album would be called All the Plans and was to be released in March 2009.
On 3 December, the Boy in Waiting EP was released as a free digital download for those who pre-order the deluxe edition of All the Plans. It contained three tracks that did not make the album.
The album debuted at Number 26 in the UK Album Charts on 14 March 2009, while "Tell Me It's Not Over" spent one week in the UK Singles Chart, reaching No. 73, and peaking at No. 5 in the Belgian Charts, becoming Starsailor's most successful single in that country.
On 26 April 2009, the band performed at The Tavern pub in Wigan, as part of Channel 4 television's "Grassroot Gigs" series. They had never played a concert in the town before, and have played there only once since then.
Lead singer, James Walsh began to work on a solo project at the end of 2009. On 13 November 2009 it was officially announced by The Lancashire Evening Post that Starsailor was on hold and that James Walsh was concentrating on his solo career.
Reunion, touring and Greatest Hits album (2014–2015)
Starsailor have reformed, playing support slots at Summer in the City festival in 10 and 11 July at Castlefield Bowl, headlined by Pixies and James. Starsailor performed on Rock Zottegem festival in Belgium on 14 July 2014. On 3 August 2014 the band performed at the Pentaport Rock Festival held in Incheon, South Korea. Their support tour continued in November 2014, supporting them in England at venues like Parr Hall, National Indoor Arena and Royal Albert Hall. They returned to the stage in June 2015, when they co-headlined several concerts with Embrace in the USA.
Starsailor's first greatest hits album, called Good Souls: The Greatest Hits, was released on 18 September 2015. The album contained 19 tracks, including all of band's singles to date and two brand new songs "Give Up the Ghost" and "Hold on", recorded with producer Harry Rutherford.
Starsailor played a second gig in Wigan in 2016, supported by a local band who shared the same management agency.
All This Life (2017–present)
In 2017, the band released "Listen To Your Heart", their first release in almost two years. Their fifth album, All This Life, was released on 1 September 2017 through the band's new record label, Cooking Vinyl. Flick of the Finger gave the album an overwhelmingly positive 5 star review, with the publication praising the song "Sunday Best", saying that 'the album is best summarised by this one melancholic and emotional track.' The album entered the UK album chart at No. 23.
In December 2021, the band were to release an expanded 20th anniversary edition of their album Love Is Here, as well as going out on tour to support it. The release was delayed until January 2022 due to pressing delays of the vinyl edition.
Charity
The band played the London Astoria on 4 and 8 February 2002. The first date was a concert in aid of Warchild, and also included Travis and Ryan Adams on the bill. The 8th saw the debut of "Born Again", which would eventually be released as a single. The concert is notable since the band were joined on stage by two backing singers and a cellist. James Walsh told NME.COM after the show that he thought the gig was "amazing, something really special" while bassist James Stelfox said it was "one of the greatest ever." This flirtation with these additional voices and a cello only lasted a brief period of time.
On 19 September 2008 Starsailor performed in the second edition of the "Stars of Europe" concert at Brussels in support of UNICEF, where they covered U2's single "All I Want Is You"
On 20 May 2009, the band was named Hard Rock's "Philanthropic Artist of the Year" in recognition of the work they'd done in support of the Caron Keating Foundation, the AECC of Barcelona and Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy, as well as having contributed an exclusive cover of Graham Nash's "Military Madness" to the World Hunger Year Serve3 charity album.
Band members
Current members
James Walsh – guitar and lead vocals
James Stelfox – bass
Barry Westhead – keyboards
Ben Byrne – drums
Session and touring members
Mark Collins – guitar and vocals (2003–2004, 2006, 2014)
Richard "Echoboy" Warren – guitar, vocals and harmonica (2005–2006)
Pete Greenwood – guitar (2008–2009)
Discography
Studio albums
Love Is Here (2001)
Silence Is Easy (2003)
On the Outside (2005)
All the Plans (2009)
All This Life (2017)
References
External links
Official Starsailor Fansite
Musical groups from Lancashire
English rock music groups
Musical groups established in 2000
People from Chorley
English alternative rock groups
Post-Britpop groups
Parlophone artists
Musical quartets
Virgin Records artists | true | [
"The No Sound Without Silence Tour is the third arena tour by Irish pop rock band The Script. Launched in support of their fourth studio album No Sound Without Silence (2014), the tour began in Tokyo on 16 January 2015 and visited Europe, North America, Asia, Africa and Oceania. The opening acts were American singer Phillip Phillips for the South African dates, and English singer Tinie Tempah for the European dates. Pharrell Williams served as a co-headliner for the Croke Park concert on 20 June 2015.\n\nOpening acts\nColton Avery (Europe, North America, Australia, Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia)\nMary Lambert (North America)\nPhillip Phillips (South Africa)\nSilent Sanctuary (Philippines)\nTinie Tempah (Europe)\nPharrell Williams (Dublin)\nThe Wailers (Dublin)\nThe Sam Willows (Singapore)\nKensington (Band) (Europe)\n\nSetlist\nThis setlist is based on previous performances of the tour.\n\n \"Paint the Town Green\"\n \"Hail Rain or Sunshine\"\n \"Breakeven\"\n \"Before the Worst\"\n \"Superheroes\"\n \"We Cry\"\n \"If You Could See Me Now\"\n \"Man on a Wire\"\n \"Nothing\"\n \"Good Ol' Days\"\n \"Never Seen Anything (Quite Like You)\"\n \"The Man Who Can't Be Moved\"\n \"You Won't Feel A Thing\"\n \"It's Not Right For You\"\n \"Six Degrees of Separation\"\n \"The Energy Never Dies\"\n \"For the First Time\"\n \"No Good in Goodbye\"\n \"Hall of Fame\"\n\nAdditional information\nDuring the performance in Sheffield, The Script didn't perform \"We Cry\" due to a fan collapsing. Danny called for Paramedic to check on her, she was fine and they carried on.\n\nDuring the performance in Barcelona, The Script didn't perform \"The End Where I Begin\" or \"Nothing\". They also did not perform \"Six Degrees Of Separation\" and \"It's Not Right For You\".\n\nDuring the performance in Oakland, The Script didn't perform \"The End Where I Begin\", \"We Cry\", or \"Six Degrees of Separation\".\n\nDuring the performance in Toronto, The Script did not perform \"The End Where I Begin\" and \"Six Degrees of Separation\".\n\nDuring the performance im Hamburg, The Script did not perform \"Nothing\" and \"Never Seen Anything (Quite Like You)\".\n\nTour dates\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\n2015 concert tours\nThe Script concert tours",
"Sonic Temple Art & Music Festival is a rock festival currently held in Columbus, Ohio, United States and is produced by Danny Wimmer Presents.\n\nHistory\n\nIn 2018 it was announced that Rock on the Range would be replaced by Danny Wimmer Presents as the Sonic Temple Art & Music Festival. The inaugural festival was held in May 2019 with sold-out crowds of 120,000.\n\nIn December 2019, the full lineup for Sonic Temple 2020 was revealed. Metallica were to headline both Friday and Saturday night, with Slipknot headlining on Saturday. Other performers were to include Deftones, Bring Me the Horizon, Evanescence, Sublime with Rome, Rancid, Dropkick Murphys, Cypress Hill, Pennywise, Royal Blood, The Pretty Reckless, Alter Bridge, Anthrax, Flatbush Zombies, Pop Evil, Hellyeah, Ghostemane, Suicidal Tendencies, Testament, Dance Gavin Dance, Ice Nine Kills, Sleeping with Sirens, The Darkness, Knocked Loose, Code Orange, Power Trip, Saint Asonia, Dirty Honey, Jinjer, City Morgue, Bones UK, Airbourne, Fire from the Gods, Dinosaur Pile-Up, Des Rocs, Counterfeit, Crobot, Cherry Bomb, DED, Goodbye June, Brutus, 3Teeth, BRKN Love, Killstation, Brass Against, Crown Lands, Ego Kill Talent, Dregg, Bloodywood, and Zero 9:36, with more to have been announced.\n\nIn February 2020, it was announced that Metallica would be replaced as headliners by the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Tool, following frontman James Hetfield's entrance into a rehabilitation program for substance abuse. The following month, the festival was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In February 2021, it was announced it would once again be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with plans to return in 2022.\n\nEvents\n\n2019 \n\nMonster Energy Stadium Stage:\n System of a Down\n Ghost\n Halestorm\n Parkway Drive\n Beartooth\n Avatar\n Badflower\n\nEcho Stage:\n Meshuggah\n Black Label Society\n Bad Wolves\n Zeal & Ardor\n Wage War\n SHVPES\n The Jacks\n\nWave Stage:\n Tom Morello\n Pussy Riot\n Ho99o99\n Cleopatrick\n Hands Like Houses\n Radattack\n\nSiriusXM Comedy & Spoken Word Tent:\n Henry Rollins\n Tom Morello\n Shapel Lacy\n Nadya\n\nMonster Energy Stadium Stage:\n Disturbed\n Papa Roach\n Lamb of God\n In This Moment\n Gojira\n Fever 333\n Black Coffee\n\nEcho Stage:\n The Cult\n Killswitch Engage\n Architects\n The Black Dahlia Murder\n While She Sleeps\n Evan Konrad\n The Plot in You\n\nWave Stage:\n Action Bronson (did not perform due to an \"unforeseen knee injury\")\n Mark Lanegan Band\n Don Broco\n Movements\n Boston Manor\n No1Cares\n\nSiriusXM Comedy & Spoken Word Tent:\n Andrew Dice Clay\n Eleanor Kerrigan\n Mark Normand\n Craig Grass\n\nMonster Energy Stadium Stage:\n Foo Fighters\n Bring Me the Horizon (did not perform due to high winds)\n Chevelle (did not perform due to high winds)\n The Distillers (did not perform due to high winds)\n The Struts\n The Glorious Sons\n Amigo the Devil\n\nEcho Stage:\n Joan Jett and the Blackhearts\n The Hives (performance ended early due to high winds)\n The Interrupters\n Yungblud\n Palaye Royale\n Dirty Honey\n Teenage Wrist\n\nWave Stage:\n Scars on Broadway (did not perform due to high winds)\n Refused (did not perform due to high winds)\n Black Pistol Fire (did not perform due to high winds)\n Basement (did not perform due to high winds)\n Scarlxrd (did not perform due to high winds)\n Demob Happy (did not perform due to high winds)\n\nSiriusXM Comedy & Spoken Word Tent:\n Pauly Shore (did not perform due to high winds)\n Carmen Lynch (did not perform due to high winds)\n Joe Deuce (did not perform due to high winds)\n Bill Squire (did not perform due to high winds)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\nHeavy metal festivals in the United States\nMusic festivals established in 2019\nMusic festivals in Ohio\nRock festivals in the United States"
] |
[
"Starsailor (band)",
"Formation, signed by EMI (1999-2000)",
"who was it signed by?",
"The band signed with EMI, the label that a relative of one band member worked for, in 2000.",
"who did he work with?",
"EMI,",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"The band met whilst studying Music at the Parsons Walk Campus of Wigan and Leigh College.",
"where did they perform?",
"Their performance at the Glastonbury Festival"
] | C_23d5547910814eceb2c89754f06b02a8_1 | what year? | 5 | In what year was Starsailor signed by EMI? | Starsailor (band) | Despite being known as a Wigan band, only one member of Starsailor is actually from the town. The band met whilst studying Music at the Parsons Walk Campus of Wigan and Leigh College. Bassist James Stelfox and drummer Ben Byrne had been playing together in Warrington, Cheshire for a number of years. When their regular singer fell ill, they recruited young Chorley singer and songwriter James Walsh from a school choir. He was influenced by Jeff Buckley and his 1994 album Grace in his singing style. Comparing it to Oasis' (What's the Story) Morning Glory? album, which Walsh says sums up a unique moment, Grace captures every moment. The band, then named Waterface, had tried a number of guitarists before they asked long-time friend Barry Westhead to join the band in 2000 on keyboards. He had been teaching judo and playing organ for a church near his home town. His arrival has been heralded as the most significant event in the band's formation. Walsh also took up the guitar, following frustration over not finding a musician right for the group. The band started to build up a reputation, and their name changed to Starsailor after the 1970 album Starsailor by Tim Buckley. A journalist from NME saw a gig in 2000 and gave the band a glowing review. "One live encounter was enough to convince many sceptics that here was a band who were genuinely special, blessed with a singer whose voice thrummed like an emotional telegraph wire, that swerved the pitfalls of indie melancholia and were clearly in love with rock 'n' roll and all its possibilities." Their performance at the Glastonbury Festival added to the band's reputation and led to a bidding war amongst UK record companies. The band signed with EMI, the label that a relative of one band member worked for, in 2000. In 2008, in a re-organisation, Starsailor were moved to Virgin Records, a division of EMI. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Starsailor are an English post-Britpop band, formed in 2000. Since their formation the band has included guitarist and vocalist James Walsh, drummer Ben Byrne, bassist James Stelfox and keyboardist Barry Westhead. They are best known for their 2003 single "Silence Is Easy" which reached number 9 in the UK.
The band has released five studio albums, and have scored ten Top 40 hit singles in the UK. Their first album Love Is Here was released in 2001, followed by Silence Is Easy (2003) and On the Outside (2005). After the release of its fourth album All the Plans (2009), the band entered into extended hiatus until 2014, during which its members were involved in individual projects.
Starsailor announced their reunion on 23 May 2014 and began performing worldwide. Good Souls: The Greatest Hits was released in September 2015, and featured two new songs. A fifth studio album All This Life was released in 2017.
History
Formation, signed by EMI (1999–2000)
Despite claiming to be a Wigan band, only one member of Starsailor is actually from the town. Bassist James Stelfox and drummer Ben Byrne had been playing together in Warrington, Cheshire for a number of years. The band members met whilst studying a Music course at Wigan and Leigh College. When their regular singer fell ill, they recruited young Chorley singer and songwriter James Walsh from a school choir. He was influenced by Jeff Buckley and his 1994 album Grace in his singing style. Comparing it to Oasis' (What's the Story) Morning Glory? album, which Walsh says sums up a unique moment, Grace captures every moment.
The band, then named Waterface, had tried a number of guitarists before they asked long-time friend Barry Westhead to join the band in 2000 on keyboards. He had been teaching judo and playing organ for a church near his home town. His arrival has been heralded as the most significant event in the band's formation. Walsh also took up the guitar, following frustration over not finding a musician right for the group. The band started to build up a reputation, and their name changed to Starsailor after the 1970 album Starsailor by Tim Buckley.
A journalist from NME saw a gig in 2000 and gave the band a glowing review. "One live encounter was enough to convince many sceptics that here was a band who were genuinely special, blessed with a singer whose voice thrummed like an emotional telegraph wire, that swerved the pitfalls of indie melancholia and were clearly in love with rock 'n' roll and all its possibilities." Their performance at the Glastonbury Festival added to the band's reputation and led to a bidding war amongst UK record companies.
A relative of one band member worked for EMI, and the label then signed them in 2000. In 2008, in a re-organisation, Starsailor were moved to Virgin Records, a division of EMI.
Love Is Here, critical acclaim (2000–2002)
"Fever", the band's first single, was released in early 2001. The song, and its two B-Sides "Love Is Here" and "Coming Down" were cut from a demo recording session in mid-2000. All three tracks went on to feature on Starsailor's first album Love Is Here, but were re-recorded.
In March 2001 the band sold out its first UK Tour, which consisted of eleven dates in England. Their second single, "Good Souls", was released in April and featured a cover of Van Morrison's "The Way Young Lovers Do" as a B-Side. During this period, the band were recording their debut album in Rockfield Studios, Wales. By this time, the band were already previewing many of the album's tracks in their concerts, most notably "Poor Misguided Fool", "Lullaby" and "Way To Fall", which would appear as the ending theme of the video game Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater in 2004. An acoustic version of "Alcoholic" appeared on a promotional CD for NME magazine earlier in 2001. The original release date for the album was August 2001.
Further live dates came supporting the Manic Street Preachers in Glasgow, as well as Doves on their North American tour. The band also marked their first festival appearances, playing at events such as V Festival and Germany's Rock im Park. "Alcoholic" appeared as the third single to be taken off their debut album, and its number ten chart position remains the band's second highest placing to date. The single version was actually an extended version of the album track.
Their album Love Is Here reached number 2 in the UK album charts in October 2001, after receiving great critical acclaim. Combining a mix of acoustic guitar and Walsh's vocals, critics said the songs leave the "hairs on the back of your neck standing."
The year ended with the band winning the "Brightest New Hope" award at the NME Awards, and the release of their fourth single, "Lullaby", which reached number thirty-six. Some fans complained about the difficulty in obtaining copies of the single.
Peter Kay joined the band on stage at their 2002 Christmas Concert held in Warrington's Parr Hall.
Silence Is Easy (2002–2005)
For their second album, Silence Is Easy, which was recorded in Los Angeles, Starsailor teamed up with Phil Spector (in what ended up being his final production work before his conviction of murder in 2009 and his death in 2021). The collaboration came about following Spector's daughter Nicole attending one of the band's American concerts in the winter of 2002. Spector was reported to have been fascinated by "Lullaby", the band's fourth single. After meeting the producer, the band agreed to work with him on their second album. However, the collaboration was short-lived; sessions at London's Abbey Road proved difficult. Spector is said to have proved difficult to work with. Only two tracks made the band's second album: the title track, "Silence Is Easy", and "White Dove".
The band co-produced seven of the other tracks with Danton Supple and former The Stone Roses and Radiohead producer John Leckie was brought in to oversee the recording of "Shark Food".
The first single was "Silence Is Easy", which made the Top Ten (No. 9, the band's highest placing). The album spawned just three singles; the second of which, "Born Again" had evolved from a B-side to "Poor Misguided Fool", released in early 2002. The song was re-recorded for the album, and cut down for a radio edit. "Four to the Floor", which was remixed by Thin White Duke, became a popular club hit. Walsh wanted the track to become the band's "I Am the Resurrection", something to be played in "indie discos everywhere".
The album charted well, but sales were sluggish in comparison to the band's first album. The release dropped out of the Top 40 soon thereafter.
A full UK tour began in autumn 2003 shortly after the release of the album, culminating at London's Brixton Academy. The show featured the only performance before their American tour in 2006 of "Restless Heart", the closing track on the Silence Is Easy album. Mark Collins, from The Charlatans joined Starsailor for all dates between August 2003 to December 2004, playing additional and lead guitar.
On the Outside, return to form (2005–2007)
EMI allowed the band plenty of time to record their follow-up album; having targeted producer Rob Schnapf to produce it, the group relocated to Los Angeles to record. Five possible titles appeared; ("Faith, Hope, Love"/"Here I Go"/"Ashes" or "In the Crossfire"/"I Do Not Know"/"Counterfeit Life"), but the band settled for On the Outside, a statement of their position in the music industry. The sound was different from the previous two releases; it was far heavier than its predecessors. Starsailor had always received praise for their live sound, but the releases seemed "puny" in comparison, admitted Stelfox. The recording was all done to tape, and the band did not use editing software such as Pro Tools to "perfect" the recording. Byrne later remarked that his drum track on "White Light" took a long time to nail; highlighting the band's desire to make the record they were truly happy with.
Starsailor released their third album, On the Outside, in the UK on 17 October 2005 from which the first single from the album, "In the Crossfire" was taken. It was released by Artists Addiction Records in the USA on 22 August. Critics raved about the release, with many citing it as a return to form. Despite this, promotional appearances including a short live set and signing at London's HMV Oxford Street did not aid sales – the album charted at number 13.
Since September 2005, Richard Warren joined the band when playing live, aiding Walsh with additional guitar, vocals and also harmonica parts. Again, the band's UK tour ended at Brixton Academy. Following that, the band toured Europe, playing several dates in France, where "Four to the Floor" was a number one hit in 2004. Following the Paris concert on 3 April, Walsh and Warren were the DJ's at the after-show party.
The album has spawned three singles; "This Time" and "Keep Us Together" followed "In The Crossfire". Despite promoting the single with appearances in London and Leeds, "Keep Us Together" was the first single not to reach the UK Top 40. The promotional video for "This Time" appears to be a cultural reference to the film Run Lola Run, but may not be intentional.
Starsailor played numerous festivals in the Summer of 2006; most notably "Hyde Park Calling" on 1 July 2006, alongside Roger Waters, and the V Festival, which is held in Stafford and Chelmsford. They also supported the Rolling Stones on their "Bigger Bang" Tour in Munich, Hamburg in 2006 and again in Frankfurt, Paris and Lyon in 2007.
In the autumn of 2006, Starsailor toured North America, playing both headlining shows and supporting James Blunt, in January 2007 they undertook their first trip to Russia, playing in the B2 Club of Moscow. According to the band's official website Barry Westhead's partner Kelly gave birth to a baby boy on 12 April 2007. The baby was named Joseph. Bass player James Stelfox became a father again in 2008, when his partner gave birth to a girl, named Ella, in November while the rest of the band were doing their first trip to Korea.
Starsailor was named the replacement for Amy Winehouse as the support act for The Rolling Stones on the German leg of their tour.
They were opening for the rock legends for the first time in Hamburg. Front man James Walsh told BBC 6 Music: "We heard on Sunday evening, our agent gave us a frantic call, and asked what we were doing this week, fortunately we had a week off!"
All the Plans, beginning of hiatus (2007–2009)
In 2007, Starsailor began recording demos for the follow-up to 2005's On the Outside.
Starsailor started to play in various gigs during the months recording their fourth album. James Walsh also played at several events in 2007, like the SXSW festival in Texas in March 2007, and an acoustic show in London on 12 March. The show is notable for not having a set list; rarities such as the hardly played "Restless Heart" was played, due to a request from the front row. In addition to this he played the song "Tell Me It's Not Over", the track from the work-in-progress fourth album (early arrivals saw Walsh sound check half the song).
Walsh and Stelfox played an unplugged set on 13 April 2007 in Switzerland with Mark Collins of The Charlatans.
Further support in Europe for The Rolling Stones took place in mid-June; these were late additions, and fitted in with the band's festival schedule. The previous concert before the Stones' support was in Den Haag, the Netherlands; the band debuted the first full-band version of "Tell Me It's Not Over". Starsailor had embarked on a tour of the UK during October 2007 in support of Fairtrade. They have debuted a number of new songs during the tour as "Boy in Waiting" and "All the Plans". The lyrics for "Tell Me It's Not Over" had changed considerably since the first time they had sung it. Their first travel to Latin America was confirmed after a long period of speculation. Starsailor supported The Killers on November 2007 on their dates in Argentina and Chile. Starsailor played on June at the Isle of Wight Festival on the last day, with The Police headlining on that date. They also performed at Hard Rock Calling in Hyde Park the same month with The Police as headliners. They also confirmed that they would play at "Rockin" Park' in the Netherlands on Saturday 28 June, on the third day of the 2008 Cactus Festival at Minnewaterpark, Brugge, Belgium on Saturday 12 July, and the Open Air Gampel Festival in Switzerland on Saturday 16 August.
On 20 March 2008, front man James posted on the official Starsailor forum announcing the album had been completed.
On 16 October 2008 it was officially confirmed that the new album would be called All the Plans and was to be released in March 2009.
On 3 December, the Boy in Waiting EP was released as a free digital download for those who pre-order the deluxe edition of All the Plans. It contained three tracks that did not make the album.
The album debuted at Number 26 in the UK Album Charts on 14 March 2009, while "Tell Me It's Not Over" spent one week in the UK Singles Chart, reaching No. 73, and peaking at No. 5 in the Belgian Charts, becoming Starsailor's most successful single in that country.
On 26 April 2009, the band performed at The Tavern pub in Wigan, as part of Channel 4 television's "Grassroot Gigs" series. They had never played a concert in the town before, and have played there only once since then.
Lead singer, James Walsh began to work on a solo project at the end of 2009. On 13 November 2009 it was officially announced by The Lancashire Evening Post that Starsailor was on hold and that James Walsh was concentrating on his solo career.
Reunion, touring and Greatest Hits album (2014–2015)
Starsailor have reformed, playing support slots at Summer in the City festival in 10 and 11 July at Castlefield Bowl, headlined by Pixies and James. Starsailor performed on Rock Zottegem festival in Belgium on 14 July 2014. On 3 August 2014 the band performed at the Pentaport Rock Festival held in Incheon, South Korea. Their support tour continued in November 2014, supporting them in England at venues like Parr Hall, National Indoor Arena and Royal Albert Hall. They returned to the stage in June 2015, when they co-headlined several concerts with Embrace in the USA.
Starsailor's first greatest hits album, called Good Souls: The Greatest Hits, was released on 18 September 2015. The album contained 19 tracks, including all of band's singles to date and two brand new songs "Give Up the Ghost" and "Hold on", recorded with producer Harry Rutherford.
Starsailor played a second gig in Wigan in 2016, supported by a local band who shared the same management agency.
All This Life (2017–present)
In 2017, the band released "Listen To Your Heart", their first release in almost two years. Their fifth album, All This Life, was released on 1 September 2017 through the band's new record label, Cooking Vinyl. Flick of the Finger gave the album an overwhelmingly positive 5 star review, with the publication praising the song "Sunday Best", saying that 'the album is best summarised by this one melancholic and emotional track.' The album entered the UK album chart at No. 23.
In December 2021, the band were to release an expanded 20th anniversary edition of their album Love Is Here, as well as going out on tour to support it. The release was delayed until January 2022 due to pressing delays of the vinyl edition.
Charity
The band played the London Astoria on 4 and 8 February 2002. The first date was a concert in aid of Warchild, and also included Travis and Ryan Adams on the bill. The 8th saw the debut of "Born Again", which would eventually be released as a single. The concert is notable since the band were joined on stage by two backing singers and a cellist. James Walsh told NME.COM after the show that he thought the gig was "amazing, something really special" while bassist James Stelfox said it was "one of the greatest ever." This flirtation with these additional voices and a cello only lasted a brief period of time.
On 19 September 2008 Starsailor performed in the second edition of the "Stars of Europe" concert at Brussels in support of UNICEF, where they covered U2's single "All I Want Is You"
On 20 May 2009, the band was named Hard Rock's "Philanthropic Artist of the Year" in recognition of the work they'd done in support of the Caron Keating Foundation, the AECC of Barcelona and Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy, as well as having contributed an exclusive cover of Graham Nash's "Military Madness" to the World Hunger Year Serve3 charity album.
Band members
Current members
James Walsh – guitar and lead vocals
James Stelfox – bass
Barry Westhead – keyboards
Ben Byrne – drums
Session and touring members
Mark Collins – guitar and vocals (2003–2004, 2006, 2014)
Richard "Echoboy" Warren – guitar, vocals and harmonica (2005–2006)
Pete Greenwood – guitar (2008–2009)
Discography
Studio albums
Love Is Here (2001)
Silence Is Easy (2003)
On the Outside (2005)
All the Plans (2009)
All This Life (2017)
References
External links
Official Starsailor Fansite
Musical groups from Lancashire
English rock music groups
Musical groups established in 2000
People from Chorley
English alternative rock groups
Post-Britpop groups
Parlophone artists
Musical quartets
Virgin Records artists | false | [
"What a Year was an Australian television documentary series, hosted by former ACA host Mike Munro and supermodel Megan Gale in 2006 and Bert Newton and Julia Zemiro in 2007. What a Year looked at the news, events, sporting achievements, entertainment and fads of a selected year in each episode. The hosts spoke to people who witnessed and experienced the particular events first-hand.\n\nHistory\nMike Munro and Megan Gale presented the 2006 series. They successfully hosted nine episodes and it attracted a lot of viewers. In 2007, Gale and Munro's show contracts expired, so Newton and Zemiro replaced them as presenters. However, it was cancelled by the Nine Network after coming last place in the nightly ratings on 6 August 2007 due to the big win for Channel Seven..\n\nIn a November issue of a TV Week magazine in 2007, Munro claimed he and Gale left the show because the programmers wanted to lighten up the show and make it more fun. Munro explained that he disliked wearing fashionable clothes for that era. But Newton loved wearing them, so he was hired instead of Munro.\n\nThe episodes that remained unaired after the show's axing were broadcast by Channel Nine over the summer non-ratings period, beginning the unaired episodes on 27 December 2007. The new episodes replaced plans to screen repeats of Australian travel series, Things To Try Before You Die.\n\nDuring March 2011, the Nine Network replayed the 1980 and 1999 themed episodes, on a Wednesday night at 7:30pm on their HD digital multi channel GEM after being abruptly cancelled and replaced with filler shows.\n\nAfter \"What A Year\"\n Gale continued her modelling career and has also done some acting.\n Munro hosted Missing Persons Unit from 2006 to 2008 and is now working on Sunday Night for Channel Seven.\n Newton hosted 20 to 1 from 2006 to 2011.\n Zemiro went to host RocKwiz on SBS.\n\nList of episodes\n\n2006\n What a Year – 1975 – 2 October 2006\n What a Year – 1983 – 9 October 2006\n What a Year – 1997 – 16 October 2006\n What a Year – 1969 – 23 October 2006\n What a Year – 1986 – 30 October 2006\n What a Year – 2001 – 6 November 2006\n What a Year – 1991 – 13 November 2006\n What a Year – 1977 – 20 November 2006\n What a Year – 1989 – 27 November 2006\n\n2007\n What a Year – 1980 – 30 July 2007\n What a Year – 1999 – 6 August 2007\n What a Year – 1976\n What a Year – 1994\n What a Year – 2002\n What a Year – 1988\n\nNine Network original programming\n2006 Australian television series debuts\n2007 Australian television series endings",
"What's Another Year is the second studio album by Australian-born Irish singer and composer Johnny Logan. The album includes his 1980 Eurovision Song Contest winning song \"What's Another Year\".\n\nThe album was released internationally under the titles What's Another Year and The Johnny Logan Album, which slightly different track listings.\n\nTrack listing\nLP/Cassette\n\nCharts\n\nReferences\n\nJohnny Logan (singer) albums\n1980 albums"
] |
[
"Starsailor (band)",
"Formation, signed by EMI (1999-2000)",
"who was it signed by?",
"The band signed with EMI, the label that a relative of one band member worked for, in 2000.",
"who did he work with?",
"EMI,",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"The band met whilst studying Music at the Parsons Walk Campus of Wigan and Leigh College.",
"where did they perform?",
"Their performance at the Glastonbury Festival",
"what year?",
"I don't know."
] | C_23d5547910814eceb2c89754f06b02a8_1 | anything big happen between 1999 and 2000? | 6 | Did anything big happen for Starsailor between 1999 and 2000 ? | Starsailor (band) | Despite being known as a Wigan band, only one member of Starsailor is actually from the town. The band met whilst studying Music at the Parsons Walk Campus of Wigan and Leigh College. Bassist James Stelfox and drummer Ben Byrne had been playing together in Warrington, Cheshire for a number of years. When their regular singer fell ill, they recruited young Chorley singer and songwriter James Walsh from a school choir. He was influenced by Jeff Buckley and his 1994 album Grace in his singing style. Comparing it to Oasis' (What's the Story) Morning Glory? album, which Walsh says sums up a unique moment, Grace captures every moment. The band, then named Waterface, had tried a number of guitarists before they asked long-time friend Barry Westhead to join the band in 2000 on keyboards. He had been teaching judo and playing organ for a church near his home town. His arrival has been heralded as the most significant event in the band's formation. Walsh also took up the guitar, following frustration over not finding a musician right for the group. The band started to build up a reputation, and their name changed to Starsailor after the 1970 album Starsailor by Tim Buckley. A journalist from NME saw a gig in 2000 and gave the band a glowing review. "One live encounter was enough to convince many sceptics that here was a band who were genuinely special, blessed with a singer whose voice thrummed like an emotional telegraph wire, that swerved the pitfalls of indie melancholia and were clearly in love with rock 'n' roll and all its possibilities." Their performance at the Glastonbury Festival added to the band's reputation and led to a bidding war amongst UK record companies. The band signed with EMI, the label that a relative of one band member worked for, in 2000. In 2008, in a re-organisation, Starsailor were moved to Virgin Records, a division of EMI. CANNOTANSWER | Their performance at the Glastonbury Festival added to the band's reputation and led to a bidding war amongst UK record companies. | Starsailor are an English post-Britpop band, formed in 2000. Since their formation the band has included guitarist and vocalist James Walsh, drummer Ben Byrne, bassist James Stelfox and keyboardist Barry Westhead. They are best known for their 2003 single "Silence Is Easy" which reached number 9 in the UK.
The band has released five studio albums, and have scored ten Top 40 hit singles in the UK. Their first album Love Is Here was released in 2001, followed by Silence Is Easy (2003) and On the Outside (2005). After the release of its fourth album All the Plans (2009), the band entered into extended hiatus until 2014, during which its members were involved in individual projects.
Starsailor announced their reunion on 23 May 2014 and began performing worldwide. Good Souls: The Greatest Hits was released in September 2015, and featured two new songs. A fifth studio album All This Life was released in 2017.
History
Formation, signed by EMI (1999–2000)
Despite claiming to be a Wigan band, only one member of Starsailor is actually from the town. Bassist James Stelfox and drummer Ben Byrne had been playing together in Warrington, Cheshire for a number of years. The band members met whilst studying a Music course at Wigan and Leigh College. When their regular singer fell ill, they recruited young Chorley singer and songwriter James Walsh from a school choir. He was influenced by Jeff Buckley and his 1994 album Grace in his singing style. Comparing it to Oasis' (What's the Story) Morning Glory? album, which Walsh says sums up a unique moment, Grace captures every moment.
The band, then named Waterface, had tried a number of guitarists before they asked long-time friend Barry Westhead to join the band in 2000 on keyboards. He had been teaching judo and playing organ for a church near his home town. His arrival has been heralded as the most significant event in the band's formation. Walsh also took up the guitar, following frustration over not finding a musician right for the group. The band started to build up a reputation, and their name changed to Starsailor after the 1970 album Starsailor by Tim Buckley.
A journalist from NME saw a gig in 2000 and gave the band a glowing review. "One live encounter was enough to convince many sceptics that here was a band who were genuinely special, blessed with a singer whose voice thrummed like an emotional telegraph wire, that swerved the pitfalls of indie melancholia and were clearly in love with rock 'n' roll and all its possibilities." Their performance at the Glastonbury Festival added to the band's reputation and led to a bidding war amongst UK record companies.
A relative of one band member worked for EMI, and the label then signed them in 2000. In 2008, in a re-organisation, Starsailor were moved to Virgin Records, a division of EMI.
Love Is Here, critical acclaim (2000–2002)
"Fever", the band's first single, was released in early 2001. The song, and its two B-Sides "Love Is Here" and "Coming Down" were cut from a demo recording session in mid-2000. All three tracks went on to feature on Starsailor's first album Love Is Here, but were re-recorded.
In March 2001 the band sold out its first UK Tour, which consisted of eleven dates in England. Their second single, "Good Souls", was released in April and featured a cover of Van Morrison's "The Way Young Lovers Do" as a B-Side. During this period, the band were recording their debut album in Rockfield Studios, Wales. By this time, the band were already previewing many of the album's tracks in their concerts, most notably "Poor Misguided Fool", "Lullaby" and "Way To Fall", which would appear as the ending theme of the video game Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater in 2004. An acoustic version of "Alcoholic" appeared on a promotional CD for NME magazine earlier in 2001. The original release date for the album was August 2001.
Further live dates came supporting the Manic Street Preachers in Glasgow, as well as Doves on their North American tour. The band also marked their first festival appearances, playing at events such as V Festival and Germany's Rock im Park. "Alcoholic" appeared as the third single to be taken off their debut album, and its number ten chart position remains the band's second highest placing to date. The single version was actually an extended version of the album track.
Their album Love Is Here reached number 2 in the UK album charts in October 2001, after receiving great critical acclaim. Combining a mix of acoustic guitar and Walsh's vocals, critics said the songs leave the "hairs on the back of your neck standing."
The year ended with the band winning the "Brightest New Hope" award at the NME Awards, and the release of their fourth single, "Lullaby", which reached number thirty-six. Some fans complained about the difficulty in obtaining copies of the single.
Peter Kay joined the band on stage at their 2002 Christmas Concert held in Warrington's Parr Hall.
Silence Is Easy (2002–2005)
For their second album, Silence Is Easy, which was recorded in Los Angeles, Starsailor teamed up with Phil Spector (in what ended up being his final production work before his conviction of murder in 2009 and his death in 2021). The collaboration came about following Spector's daughter Nicole attending one of the band's American concerts in the winter of 2002. Spector was reported to have been fascinated by "Lullaby", the band's fourth single. After meeting the producer, the band agreed to work with him on their second album. However, the collaboration was short-lived; sessions at London's Abbey Road proved difficult. Spector is said to have proved difficult to work with. Only two tracks made the band's second album: the title track, "Silence Is Easy", and "White Dove".
The band co-produced seven of the other tracks with Danton Supple and former The Stone Roses and Radiohead producer John Leckie was brought in to oversee the recording of "Shark Food".
The first single was "Silence Is Easy", which made the Top Ten (No. 9, the band's highest placing). The album spawned just three singles; the second of which, "Born Again" had evolved from a B-side to "Poor Misguided Fool", released in early 2002. The song was re-recorded for the album, and cut down for a radio edit. "Four to the Floor", which was remixed by Thin White Duke, became a popular club hit. Walsh wanted the track to become the band's "I Am the Resurrection", something to be played in "indie discos everywhere".
The album charted well, but sales were sluggish in comparison to the band's first album. The release dropped out of the Top 40 soon thereafter.
A full UK tour began in autumn 2003 shortly after the release of the album, culminating at London's Brixton Academy. The show featured the only performance before their American tour in 2006 of "Restless Heart", the closing track on the Silence Is Easy album. Mark Collins, from The Charlatans joined Starsailor for all dates between August 2003 to December 2004, playing additional and lead guitar.
On the Outside, return to form (2005–2007)
EMI allowed the band plenty of time to record their follow-up album; having targeted producer Rob Schnapf to produce it, the group relocated to Los Angeles to record. Five possible titles appeared; ("Faith, Hope, Love"/"Here I Go"/"Ashes" or "In the Crossfire"/"I Do Not Know"/"Counterfeit Life"), but the band settled for On the Outside, a statement of their position in the music industry. The sound was different from the previous two releases; it was far heavier than its predecessors. Starsailor had always received praise for their live sound, but the releases seemed "puny" in comparison, admitted Stelfox. The recording was all done to tape, and the band did not use editing software such as Pro Tools to "perfect" the recording. Byrne later remarked that his drum track on "White Light" took a long time to nail; highlighting the band's desire to make the record they were truly happy with.
Starsailor released their third album, On the Outside, in the UK on 17 October 2005 from which the first single from the album, "In the Crossfire" was taken. It was released by Artists Addiction Records in the USA on 22 August. Critics raved about the release, with many citing it as a return to form. Despite this, promotional appearances including a short live set and signing at London's HMV Oxford Street did not aid sales – the album charted at number 13.
Since September 2005, Richard Warren joined the band when playing live, aiding Walsh with additional guitar, vocals and also harmonica parts. Again, the band's UK tour ended at Brixton Academy. Following that, the band toured Europe, playing several dates in France, where "Four to the Floor" was a number one hit in 2004. Following the Paris concert on 3 April, Walsh and Warren were the DJ's at the after-show party.
The album has spawned three singles; "This Time" and "Keep Us Together" followed "In The Crossfire". Despite promoting the single with appearances in London and Leeds, "Keep Us Together" was the first single not to reach the UK Top 40. The promotional video for "This Time" appears to be a cultural reference to the film Run Lola Run, but may not be intentional.
Starsailor played numerous festivals in the Summer of 2006; most notably "Hyde Park Calling" on 1 July 2006, alongside Roger Waters, and the V Festival, which is held in Stafford and Chelmsford. They also supported the Rolling Stones on their "Bigger Bang" Tour in Munich, Hamburg in 2006 and again in Frankfurt, Paris and Lyon in 2007.
In the autumn of 2006, Starsailor toured North America, playing both headlining shows and supporting James Blunt, in January 2007 they undertook their first trip to Russia, playing in the B2 Club of Moscow. According to the band's official website Barry Westhead's partner Kelly gave birth to a baby boy on 12 April 2007. The baby was named Joseph. Bass player James Stelfox became a father again in 2008, when his partner gave birth to a girl, named Ella, in November while the rest of the band were doing their first trip to Korea.
Starsailor was named the replacement for Amy Winehouse as the support act for The Rolling Stones on the German leg of their tour.
They were opening for the rock legends for the first time in Hamburg. Front man James Walsh told BBC 6 Music: "We heard on Sunday evening, our agent gave us a frantic call, and asked what we were doing this week, fortunately we had a week off!"
All the Plans, beginning of hiatus (2007–2009)
In 2007, Starsailor began recording demos for the follow-up to 2005's On the Outside.
Starsailor started to play in various gigs during the months recording their fourth album. James Walsh also played at several events in 2007, like the SXSW festival in Texas in March 2007, and an acoustic show in London on 12 March. The show is notable for not having a set list; rarities such as the hardly played "Restless Heart" was played, due to a request from the front row. In addition to this he played the song "Tell Me It's Not Over", the track from the work-in-progress fourth album (early arrivals saw Walsh sound check half the song).
Walsh and Stelfox played an unplugged set on 13 April 2007 in Switzerland with Mark Collins of The Charlatans.
Further support in Europe for The Rolling Stones took place in mid-June; these were late additions, and fitted in with the band's festival schedule. The previous concert before the Stones' support was in Den Haag, the Netherlands; the band debuted the first full-band version of "Tell Me It's Not Over". Starsailor had embarked on a tour of the UK during October 2007 in support of Fairtrade. They have debuted a number of new songs during the tour as "Boy in Waiting" and "All the Plans". The lyrics for "Tell Me It's Not Over" had changed considerably since the first time they had sung it. Their first travel to Latin America was confirmed after a long period of speculation. Starsailor supported The Killers on November 2007 on their dates in Argentina and Chile. Starsailor played on June at the Isle of Wight Festival on the last day, with The Police headlining on that date. They also performed at Hard Rock Calling in Hyde Park the same month with The Police as headliners. They also confirmed that they would play at "Rockin" Park' in the Netherlands on Saturday 28 June, on the third day of the 2008 Cactus Festival at Minnewaterpark, Brugge, Belgium on Saturday 12 July, and the Open Air Gampel Festival in Switzerland on Saturday 16 August.
On 20 March 2008, front man James posted on the official Starsailor forum announcing the album had been completed.
On 16 October 2008 it was officially confirmed that the new album would be called All the Plans and was to be released in March 2009.
On 3 December, the Boy in Waiting EP was released as a free digital download for those who pre-order the deluxe edition of All the Plans. It contained three tracks that did not make the album.
The album debuted at Number 26 in the UK Album Charts on 14 March 2009, while "Tell Me It's Not Over" spent one week in the UK Singles Chart, reaching No. 73, and peaking at No. 5 in the Belgian Charts, becoming Starsailor's most successful single in that country.
On 26 April 2009, the band performed at The Tavern pub in Wigan, as part of Channel 4 television's "Grassroot Gigs" series. They had never played a concert in the town before, and have played there only once since then.
Lead singer, James Walsh began to work on a solo project at the end of 2009. On 13 November 2009 it was officially announced by The Lancashire Evening Post that Starsailor was on hold and that James Walsh was concentrating on his solo career.
Reunion, touring and Greatest Hits album (2014–2015)
Starsailor have reformed, playing support slots at Summer in the City festival in 10 and 11 July at Castlefield Bowl, headlined by Pixies and James. Starsailor performed on Rock Zottegem festival in Belgium on 14 July 2014. On 3 August 2014 the band performed at the Pentaport Rock Festival held in Incheon, South Korea. Their support tour continued in November 2014, supporting them in England at venues like Parr Hall, National Indoor Arena and Royal Albert Hall. They returned to the stage in June 2015, when they co-headlined several concerts with Embrace in the USA.
Starsailor's first greatest hits album, called Good Souls: The Greatest Hits, was released on 18 September 2015. The album contained 19 tracks, including all of band's singles to date and two brand new songs "Give Up the Ghost" and "Hold on", recorded with producer Harry Rutherford.
Starsailor played a second gig in Wigan in 2016, supported by a local band who shared the same management agency.
All This Life (2017–present)
In 2017, the band released "Listen To Your Heart", their first release in almost two years. Their fifth album, All This Life, was released on 1 September 2017 through the band's new record label, Cooking Vinyl. Flick of the Finger gave the album an overwhelmingly positive 5 star review, with the publication praising the song "Sunday Best", saying that 'the album is best summarised by this one melancholic and emotional track.' The album entered the UK album chart at No. 23.
In December 2021, the band were to release an expanded 20th anniversary edition of their album Love Is Here, as well as going out on tour to support it. The release was delayed until January 2022 due to pressing delays of the vinyl edition.
Charity
The band played the London Astoria on 4 and 8 February 2002. The first date was a concert in aid of Warchild, and also included Travis and Ryan Adams on the bill. The 8th saw the debut of "Born Again", which would eventually be released as a single. The concert is notable since the band were joined on stage by two backing singers and a cellist. James Walsh told NME.COM after the show that he thought the gig was "amazing, something really special" while bassist James Stelfox said it was "one of the greatest ever." This flirtation with these additional voices and a cello only lasted a brief period of time.
On 19 September 2008 Starsailor performed in the second edition of the "Stars of Europe" concert at Brussels in support of UNICEF, where they covered U2's single "All I Want Is You"
On 20 May 2009, the band was named Hard Rock's "Philanthropic Artist of the Year" in recognition of the work they'd done in support of the Caron Keating Foundation, the AECC of Barcelona and Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy, as well as having contributed an exclusive cover of Graham Nash's "Military Madness" to the World Hunger Year Serve3 charity album.
Band members
Current members
James Walsh – guitar and lead vocals
James Stelfox – bass
Barry Westhead – keyboards
Ben Byrne – drums
Session and touring members
Mark Collins – guitar and vocals (2003–2004, 2006, 2014)
Richard "Echoboy" Warren – guitar, vocals and harmonica (2005–2006)
Pete Greenwood – guitar (2008–2009)
Discography
Studio albums
Love Is Here (2001)
Silence Is Easy (2003)
On the Outside (2005)
All the Plans (2009)
All This Life (2017)
References
External links
Official Starsailor Fansite
Musical groups from Lancashire
English rock music groups
Musical groups established in 2000
People from Chorley
English alternative rock groups
Post-Britpop groups
Parlophone artists
Musical quartets
Virgin Records artists | true | [
"\"Anything Could Happen\" is a song by English singer and songwriter Ellie Goulding from her second studio album, Halcyon (2012). It was released on 17 August 2012 as the album's lead single. Written and produced by Goulding and Jim Eliot of English electropop duo Kish Mauve, the song received positive reviews from music critics. \"Anything Could Happen\" peaked at number five on the UK Singles Chart. Outside the United Kingdom, \"Anything Could Happen\" peaked within the top ten of the charts in Poland, the top 20 of the charts in Australia, the Czech Republic Ireland and New Zealand and the top 50 of the charts in the United States.\n\nThe accompanying music video was directed by Floria Sigismondi and filmed in Malibu, California. The video depicts Goulding and her on-screen boyfriend getting into a car accident. \"Anything Could Happen\" was used in the Beats by Dre's #ShowYourColor campaign commercial and in the trailer for the second season of the HBO series Girls. The song has been covered by The Script, Fun and Fifth Harmony.\n\nBackground and composition\nGoulding appeared on Fearne Cotton's BBC Radio 1 show on 9 August 2012 for the premiere of the song. She told Cotton, \"I've been with this song a long time and I've had to listen to it a lot to get it just how I wanted it.\"\n\nDuring a behind-the-scenes featurette for the \"Anything Could Happen\" music video, Goulding told MTV News, \"I suppose it's one of those songs where I sort of talk about bits of my childhood, but also about my friendship with this person, and, um, I suppose it's a song of realization [...] And it's called 'Anything Could Happen,' [so] I'm hoping it will make people go out and propose to their girlfriends or go on that holiday they never ended up doing. I hope it will provoke positivity, as opposed to make people really sad.\"\n\nAccording to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Sony/ATV Music Publishing, \"Anything Could Happen\" is written in the key of C major and has a moderate tempo of 103 beats per minute. Goulding's vocals span from G3 to E5 in the song.\n\nCritical reception\n\"Anything Could Happen\" received positive reviews from critics, with most praising the lyrical content and Goulding's vocals. Lewis Corner of Digital Spy gave \"Anything Could Happen\" four out of five stars, stating, \"'After the war we said we'd fight together/ I guess we thought that's what humans do,' the electro-folk starlet serenades over a booming bass synth and choppy piano, before bursting into a sky-soaring chorus that manages to keep up with her haunting, high-pitched \"ooohs\". The result is a gothic love anthem that, truth be told, we'd happily see replace 'Puppy Love' at wedding receptions for years to come.\" Entertainment Weekly commented that with \"Anything Could Happen\", Goulding \"strikes shimmery synth-pop gold again.\" Erin Thompson of the Seattle Weekly called the song \"lovely\" and \"impactful\", while commending Goulding for \"writing songs that unfold like stories\". \"Anything Could Happen\" was ranked number 84 by the Village Voices annual Pazz & Jop critics' poll.\n\nCommercial performance\n\"Anything Could Happen\" debuted at number five on the UK Singles Chart, selling 49,680 copies in its first week. The single stayed at number five the following week, selling 37,895 copies. As of August 2013, it had sold 326,836 copies in the UK.\n\nIn the United States, \"Anything Could Happen\" debuted at number 17 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart on the issue dated 8 September 2012, before rising to number three on 20 October upon its release to radio. The song entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number 75 for the week of 27 October 2012, peaking at number 47 in its tenth week on the chart. It also topped the Hot Dance Club Songs chart during the final week of 2012. The single was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on 17 January 2013, and platinum on 24 July 2013. As of January 2014, the song had sold 1,166,000 copies in the US.\n\nThe song performed moderately elsewhere, reaching number two in Poland, number 16 in the Czech Republic, Ireland and New Zealand, number 20 in Australia, number 37 in Canada and number 66 in Germany.\n\nMusic video\nThe music video for \"Anything Could Happen\" was directed by Floria Sigismondi. In an interview with Carson Daly on his 97.1 AMP Radio show on 6 August 2012, Goulding stated that the video would be filmed the following day in Malibu, California. The video revolves around a couple's car crash near a Malibu beach. \"I find myself on a rock, with no idea how I've been there\", she told Fuse. \"I've been in a car crash. I end up being a mermaid-type thing.\" She added, \"I wanted to do a big video with big effects by the ocean [...] I wanted to do something really epic.\" Goulding declined offers of a stuntwoman to help her shoot the video, and instead performed her own stunts, such as being dropped onto a roof.\n\nOn 5 September, the \"Anything Could Happen\" video debuted via Goulding's YouTube channel. The video shows Goulding in a car with her on-screen boyfriend as they observe waves crashing on a beach. Goulding is then seen waking up on the beach, singing to the song, and walking around the beach finding silver floating spheres and triangled shaped mirrors. Goulding is also seen close up crying while singing and then bleeding out of her nose. The video continues to show Goulding and the on-screen boyfriend in a car crash, meeting up again in their \"after life\" on the beach. Later, Goulding is shown looking on to the car crash from above, while observing her blood-covered boyfriend, with a big fluffy pink ball holding her up by ropes. The video ends as Goulding floats away from the crash scene.\n\nLyric video\nIn late July 2012, Goulding invited fans via Facebook to contribute to a lyric video for \"Anything Could Happen\" by submitting photos related to the song's lyrics using Instagram. The lyric video premiered on Goulding's YouTube channel on 9 August 2012.\n\nBen & Ellie Edit\nA second music video, titled the Ben & Ellie Edit, was released on Goulding's YouTube channel on 9 October 2012. This version all shot close up and cross fading into different scenes. The video begins with the text \"Ellie Goulding\", and flashes of a car driving and Goulding in multiple shots of her body. Once the song begins, Goulding starts singing, multiple shots of her being shown, close-up, side view, and bright lights, singing along.\n\nUse in media and cover versions\nGoulding is featured performing \"Anything Could Happen\" in the Beats by Dre commercial as part of their #ShowYourColor campaign, which debuted in September 2012, alongside the likes of Miami Heat player LeBron James and fellow Universal Music artists Lil Wayne and MGK.\n\nThe track was also used in the trailer for the second season of the HBO comedy-drama series Girls and in an episode of the Fox sitcom New Girl. It was also used in the trailer for the fourth season of the Network Ten comedy-drama series Offspring in Australia. The track was also used by TBS during the intro for game one of the 2012 ALDS between the Oakland Athletics and the Detroit Tigers. The song is also featured as the background music for the HTC Vive commercial, with Emily Blunt, Jennifer Garner, Michelle Yeoh and Juliette Lewis.\n\nThe song was covered in BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge by both Irish alternative rock band the Script and American indie pop band Fun on 27 November 2012 and 26 February 2013, respectively. In December 2012, the girl group Fifth Harmony performed \"Anything Could Happen\" in the semi-finals and finals on the second season of The X Factor (U.S.). Melissa Benoist, Jacob Artist and Kevin McHale covered the song in the fourteenth episode of the fourth season of the Fox series Glee, \"I Do\", aired 14 February 2013. Goulding joined Taylor Swift for a surprise performance of the song during Swift's Red Tour at Los Angeles' Staples Center on 23 August 2013. On 14 December 2013, Goulding performed \"Anything Could Happen\" on tenth series finale of The X Factor with finalist Luke Friend. The track has also been featured in the 2013 teen film, G.B.F. starring Michael J. Willett, Paul Iacono and Sasha Pieterse.\n\nNotable performances\nOn September 30, 2021 Goulding performed the song surrounded by floating cloud structures and white-clad dancers as part of the opening ceremony of Expo 2020 held under the fair's centerpiece, the Al Wasl Dome in Dubai, U.A.E.\n\nTrack listings\n\nCredits and personnel\nCredits adapted from the liner notes of Halcyon.\n\n Ellie Goulding – vocals, production\n Jim Eliot – production, drums, synths, piano, percussion, drum programming, sound effects\n London Community Gospel Choir – choir\n Sally Herbert – choir arrangement, choir conducting\n Graham Archer – choir recording engineering\n Joel M. Peters – choir recording engineering assistance\n Tom Elmhirst – mixing\n Ben Baptie – mixing assistance, additional engineering\n Naweed – mastering\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nCertifications\n\nRelease history\n\nSee also\n List of number-one dance singles of 2012 (U.S.)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n Lyrics at elliegoulding.com\n\n2012 singles\n2012 songs\nEllie Goulding songs\nInterscope Records singles\nMusic videos directed by Floria Sigismondi\nPolydor Records singles\nSongs written by Ellie Goulding\nSongs written by Jim Eliot",
"Anything Can Happen is a 1952 comedy-drama film.\n\nAnything Can Happen may also refer to:\n\n Anything Can Happen (album), by Leon Russell, 1994\n \"Anything Can Happen\", a 2019 song by Saint Jhn \n Edhuvum Nadakkum ('Anything Can Happen'), a season of the Tamil TV series Marmadesam\n \"Anything Can Happen in the Next Half Hour\", or \"Anything Can Happen\", a 2007 song by Enter Shikari\n Anything Can Happen in the Next Half Hour (EP), 2004\n\nSee also\n \"Anything Could Happen\", a 2012 song by Ellie Goulding \n Anything Might Happen, 1934 British crime film\n Special Effects: Anything Can Happen, a 1996 American documentary film\n \"Anything Can Happen on Halloween\", a song from the 1986 film The Worst Witch \n Anything Can Happen in the Theatre, a musical revue of works by Maury Yeston\n \"The Anything Can Happen Recurrence\", an episode of The Big Bang Theory (season 7)\n The Anupam Kher Show - Kucch Bhi Ho Sakta Hai ('The Anupam Kher Show — Anything Can Happen') an Indian TV show"
] |
[
"Starsailor (band)",
"Formation, signed by EMI (1999-2000)",
"who was it signed by?",
"The band signed with EMI, the label that a relative of one band member worked for, in 2000.",
"who did he work with?",
"EMI,",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"The band met whilst studying Music at the Parsons Walk Campus of Wigan and Leigh College.",
"where did they perform?",
"Their performance at the Glastonbury Festival",
"what year?",
"I don't know.",
"anything big happen between 1999 and 2000?",
"Their performance at the Glastonbury Festival added to the band's reputation and led to a bidding war amongst UK record companies."
] | C_23d5547910814eceb2c89754f06b02a8_1 | did they win the bidding war? | 7 | Did EMI win the bidding war? | Starsailor (band) | Despite being known as a Wigan band, only one member of Starsailor is actually from the town. The band met whilst studying Music at the Parsons Walk Campus of Wigan and Leigh College. Bassist James Stelfox and drummer Ben Byrne had been playing together in Warrington, Cheshire for a number of years. When their regular singer fell ill, they recruited young Chorley singer and songwriter James Walsh from a school choir. He was influenced by Jeff Buckley and his 1994 album Grace in his singing style. Comparing it to Oasis' (What's the Story) Morning Glory? album, which Walsh says sums up a unique moment, Grace captures every moment. The band, then named Waterface, had tried a number of guitarists before they asked long-time friend Barry Westhead to join the band in 2000 on keyboards. He had been teaching judo and playing organ for a church near his home town. His arrival has been heralded as the most significant event in the band's formation. Walsh also took up the guitar, following frustration over not finding a musician right for the group. The band started to build up a reputation, and their name changed to Starsailor after the 1970 album Starsailor by Tim Buckley. A journalist from NME saw a gig in 2000 and gave the band a glowing review. "One live encounter was enough to convince many sceptics that here was a band who were genuinely special, blessed with a singer whose voice thrummed like an emotional telegraph wire, that swerved the pitfalls of indie melancholia and were clearly in love with rock 'n' roll and all its possibilities." Their performance at the Glastonbury Festival added to the band's reputation and led to a bidding war amongst UK record companies. The band signed with EMI, the label that a relative of one band member worked for, in 2000. In 2008, in a re-organisation, Starsailor were moved to Virgin Records, a division of EMI. CANNOTANSWER | The band signed with EMI, | Starsailor are an English post-Britpop band, formed in 2000. Since their formation the band has included guitarist and vocalist James Walsh, drummer Ben Byrne, bassist James Stelfox and keyboardist Barry Westhead. They are best known for their 2003 single "Silence Is Easy" which reached number 9 in the UK.
The band has released five studio albums, and have scored ten Top 40 hit singles in the UK. Their first album Love Is Here was released in 2001, followed by Silence Is Easy (2003) and On the Outside (2005). After the release of its fourth album All the Plans (2009), the band entered into extended hiatus until 2014, during which its members were involved in individual projects.
Starsailor announced their reunion on 23 May 2014 and began performing worldwide. Good Souls: The Greatest Hits was released in September 2015, and featured two new songs. A fifth studio album All This Life was released in 2017.
History
Formation, signed by EMI (1999–2000)
Despite claiming to be a Wigan band, only one member of Starsailor is actually from the town. Bassist James Stelfox and drummer Ben Byrne had been playing together in Warrington, Cheshire for a number of years. The band members met whilst studying a Music course at Wigan and Leigh College. When their regular singer fell ill, they recruited young Chorley singer and songwriter James Walsh from a school choir. He was influenced by Jeff Buckley and his 1994 album Grace in his singing style. Comparing it to Oasis' (What's the Story) Morning Glory? album, which Walsh says sums up a unique moment, Grace captures every moment.
The band, then named Waterface, had tried a number of guitarists before they asked long-time friend Barry Westhead to join the band in 2000 on keyboards. He had been teaching judo and playing organ for a church near his home town. His arrival has been heralded as the most significant event in the band's formation. Walsh also took up the guitar, following frustration over not finding a musician right for the group. The band started to build up a reputation, and their name changed to Starsailor after the 1970 album Starsailor by Tim Buckley.
A journalist from NME saw a gig in 2000 and gave the band a glowing review. "One live encounter was enough to convince many sceptics that here was a band who were genuinely special, blessed with a singer whose voice thrummed like an emotional telegraph wire, that swerved the pitfalls of indie melancholia and were clearly in love with rock 'n' roll and all its possibilities." Their performance at the Glastonbury Festival added to the band's reputation and led to a bidding war amongst UK record companies.
A relative of one band member worked for EMI, and the label then signed them in 2000. In 2008, in a re-organisation, Starsailor were moved to Virgin Records, a division of EMI.
Love Is Here, critical acclaim (2000–2002)
"Fever", the band's first single, was released in early 2001. The song, and its two B-Sides "Love Is Here" and "Coming Down" were cut from a demo recording session in mid-2000. All three tracks went on to feature on Starsailor's first album Love Is Here, but were re-recorded.
In March 2001 the band sold out its first UK Tour, which consisted of eleven dates in England. Their second single, "Good Souls", was released in April and featured a cover of Van Morrison's "The Way Young Lovers Do" as a B-Side. During this period, the band were recording their debut album in Rockfield Studios, Wales. By this time, the band were already previewing many of the album's tracks in their concerts, most notably "Poor Misguided Fool", "Lullaby" and "Way To Fall", which would appear as the ending theme of the video game Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater in 2004. An acoustic version of "Alcoholic" appeared on a promotional CD for NME magazine earlier in 2001. The original release date for the album was August 2001.
Further live dates came supporting the Manic Street Preachers in Glasgow, as well as Doves on their North American tour. The band also marked their first festival appearances, playing at events such as V Festival and Germany's Rock im Park. "Alcoholic" appeared as the third single to be taken off their debut album, and its number ten chart position remains the band's second highest placing to date. The single version was actually an extended version of the album track.
Their album Love Is Here reached number 2 in the UK album charts in October 2001, after receiving great critical acclaim. Combining a mix of acoustic guitar and Walsh's vocals, critics said the songs leave the "hairs on the back of your neck standing."
The year ended with the band winning the "Brightest New Hope" award at the NME Awards, and the release of their fourth single, "Lullaby", which reached number thirty-six. Some fans complained about the difficulty in obtaining copies of the single.
Peter Kay joined the band on stage at their 2002 Christmas Concert held in Warrington's Parr Hall.
Silence Is Easy (2002–2005)
For their second album, Silence Is Easy, which was recorded in Los Angeles, Starsailor teamed up with Phil Spector (in what ended up being his final production work before his conviction of murder in 2009 and his death in 2021). The collaboration came about following Spector's daughter Nicole attending one of the band's American concerts in the winter of 2002. Spector was reported to have been fascinated by "Lullaby", the band's fourth single. After meeting the producer, the band agreed to work with him on their second album. However, the collaboration was short-lived; sessions at London's Abbey Road proved difficult. Spector is said to have proved difficult to work with. Only two tracks made the band's second album: the title track, "Silence Is Easy", and "White Dove".
The band co-produced seven of the other tracks with Danton Supple and former The Stone Roses and Radiohead producer John Leckie was brought in to oversee the recording of "Shark Food".
The first single was "Silence Is Easy", which made the Top Ten (No. 9, the band's highest placing). The album spawned just three singles; the second of which, "Born Again" had evolved from a B-side to "Poor Misguided Fool", released in early 2002. The song was re-recorded for the album, and cut down for a radio edit. "Four to the Floor", which was remixed by Thin White Duke, became a popular club hit. Walsh wanted the track to become the band's "I Am the Resurrection", something to be played in "indie discos everywhere".
The album charted well, but sales were sluggish in comparison to the band's first album. The release dropped out of the Top 40 soon thereafter.
A full UK tour began in autumn 2003 shortly after the release of the album, culminating at London's Brixton Academy. The show featured the only performance before their American tour in 2006 of "Restless Heart", the closing track on the Silence Is Easy album. Mark Collins, from The Charlatans joined Starsailor for all dates between August 2003 to December 2004, playing additional and lead guitar.
On the Outside, return to form (2005–2007)
EMI allowed the band plenty of time to record their follow-up album; having targeted producer Rob Schnapf to produce it, the group relocated to Los Angeles to record. Five possible titles appeared; ("Faith, Hope, Love"/"Here I Go"/"Ashes" or "In the Crossfire"/"I Do Not Know"/"Counterfeit Life"), but the band settled for On the Outside, a statement of their position in the music industry. The sound was different from the previous two releases; it was far heavier than its predecessors. Starsailor had always received praise for their live sound, but the releases seemed "puny" in comparison, admitted Stelfox. The recording was all done to tape, and the band did not use editing software such as Pro Tools to "perfect" the recording. Byrne later remarked that his drum track on "White Light" took a long time to nail; highlighting the band's desire to make the record they were truly happy with.
Starsailor released their third album, On the Outside, in the UK on 17 October 2005 from which the first single from the album, "In the Crossfire" was taken. It was released by Artists Addiction Records in the USA on 22 August. Critics raved about the release, with many citing it as a return to form. Despite this, promotional appearances including a short live set and signing at London's HMV Oxford Street did not aid sales – the album charted at number 13.
Since September 2005, Richard Warren joined the band when playing live, aiding Walsh with additional guitar, vocals and also harmonica parts. Again, the band's UK tour ended at Brixton Academy. Following that, the band toured Europe, playing several dates in France, where "Four to the Floor" was a number one hit in 2004. Following the Paris concert on 3 April, Walsh and Warren were the DJ's at the after-show party.
The album has spawned three singles; "This Time" and "Keep Us Together" followed "In The Crossfire". Despite promoting the single with appearances in London and Leeds, "Keep Us Together" was the first single not to reach the UK Top 40. The promotional video for "This Time" appears to be a cultural reference to the film Run Lola Run, but may not be intentional.
Starsailor played numerous festivals in the Summer of 2006; most notably "Hyde Park Calling" on 1 July 2006, alongside Roger Waters, and the V Festival, which is held in Stafford and Chelmsford. They also supported the Rolling Stones on their "Bigger Bang" Tour in Munich, Hamburg in 2006 and again in Frankfurt, Paris and Lyon in 2007.
In the autumn of 2006, Starsailor toured North America, playing both headlining shows and supporting James Blunt, in January 2007 they undertook their first trip to Russia, playing in the B2 Club of Moscow. According to the band's official website Barry Westhead's partner Kelly gave birth to a baby boy on 12 April 2007. The baby was named Joseph. Bass player James Stelfox became a father again in 2008, when his partner gave birth to a girl, named Ella, in November while the rest of the band were doing their first trip to Korea.
Starsailor was named the replacement for Amy Winehouse as the support act for The Rolling Stones on the German leg of their tour.
They were opening for the rock legends for the first time in Hamburg. Front man James Walsh told BBC 6 Music: "We heard on Sunday evening, our agent gave us a frantic call, and asked what we were doing this week, fortunately we had a week off!"
All the Plans, beginning of hiatus (2007–2009)
In 2007, Starsailor began recording demos for the follow-up to 2005's On the Outside.
Starsailor started to play in various gigs during the months recording their fourth album. James Walsh also played at several events in 2007, like the SXSW festival in Texas in March 2007, and an acoustic show in London on 12 March. The show is notable for not having a set list; rarities such as the hardly played "Restless Heart" was played, due to a request from the front row. In addition to this he played the song "Tell Me It's Not Over", the track from the work-in-progress fourth album (early arrivals saw Walsh sound check half the song).
Walsh and Stelfox played an unplugged set on 13 April 2007 in Switzerland with Mark Collins of The Charlatans.
Further support in Europe for The Rolling Stones took place in mid-June; these were late additions, and fitted in with the band's festival schedule. The previous concert before the Stones' support was in Den Haag, the Netherlands; the band debuted the first full-band version of "Tell Me It's Not Over". Starsailor had embarked on a tour of the UK during October 2007 in support of Fairtrade. They have debuted a number of new songs during the tour as "Boy in Waiting" and "All the Plans". The lyrics for "Tell Me It's Not Over" had changed considerably since the first time they had sung it. Their first travel to Latin America was confirmed after a long period of speculation. Starsailor supported The Killers on November 2007 on their dates in Argentina and Chile. Starsailor played on June at the Isle of Wight Festival on the last day, with The Police headlining on that date. They also performed at Hard Rock Calling in Hyde Park the same month with The Police as headliners. They also confirmed that they would play at "Rockin" Park' in the Netherlands on Saturday 28 June, on the third day of the 2008 Cactus Festival at Minnewaterpark, Brugge, Belgium on Saturday 12 July, and the Open Air Gampel Festival in Switzerland on Saturday 16 August.
On 20 March 2008, front man James posted on the official Starsailor forum announcing the album had been completed.
On 16 October 2008 it was officially confirmed that the new album would be called All the Plans and was to be released in March 2009.
On 3 December, the Boy in Waiting EP was released as a free digital download for those who pre-order the deluxe edition of All the Plans. It contained three tracks that did not make the album.
The album debuted at Number 26 in the UK Album Charts on 14 March 2009, while "Tell Me It's Not Over" spent one week in the UK Singles Chart, reaching No. 73, and peaking at No. 5 in the Belgian Charts, becoming Starsailor's most successful single in that country.
On 26 April 2009, the band performed at The Tavern pub in Wigan, as part of Channel 4 television's "Grassroot Gigs" series. They had never played a concert in the town before, and have played there only once since then.
Lead singer, James Walsh began to work on a solo project at the end of 2009. On 13 November 2009 it was officially announced by The Lancashire Evening Post that Starsailor was on hold and that James Walsh was concentrating on his solo career.
Reunion, touring and Greatest Hits album (2014–2015)
Starsailor have reformed, playing support slots at Summer in the City festival in 10 and 11 July at Castlefield Bowl, headlined by Pixies and James. Starsailor performed on Rock Zottegem festival in Belgium on 14 July 2014. On 3 August 2014 the band performed at the Pentaport Rock Festival held in Incheon, South Korea. Their support tour continued in November 2014, supporting them in England at venues like Parr Hall, National Indoor Arena and Royal Albert Hall. They returned to the stage in June 2015, when they co-headlined several concerts with Embrace in the USA.
Starsailor's first greatest hits album, called Good Souls: The Greatest Hits, was released on 18 September 2015. The album contained 19 tracks, including all of band's singles to date and two brand new songs "Give Up the Ghost" and "Hold on", recorded with producer Harry Rutherford.
Starsailor played a second gig in Wigan in 2016, supported by a local band who shared the same management agency.
All This Life (2017–present)
In 2017, the band released "Listen To Your Heart", their first release in almost two years. Their fifth album, All This Life, was released on 1 September 2017 through the band's new record label, Cooking Vinyl. Flick of the Finger gave the album an overwhelmingly positive 5 star review, with the publication praising the song "Sunday Best", saying that 'the album is best summarised by this one melancholic and emotional track.' The album entered the UK album chart at No. 23.
In December 2021, the band were to release an expanded 20th anniversary edition of their album Love Is Here, as well as going out on tour to support it. The release was delayed until January 2022 due to pressing delays of the vinyl edition.
Charity
The band played the London Astoria on 4 and 8 February 2002. The first date was a concert in aid of Warchild, and also included Travis and Ryan Adams on the bill. The 8th saw the debut of "Born Again", which would eventually be released as a single. The concert is notable since the band were joined on stage by two backing singers and a cellist. James Walsh told NME.COM after the show that he thought the gig was "amazing, something really special" while bassist James Stelfox said it was "one of the greatest ever." This flirtation with these additional voices and a cello only lasted a brief period of time.
On 19 September 2008 Starsailor performed in the second edition of the "Stars of Europe" concert at Brussels in support of UNICEF, where they covered U2's single "All I Want Is You"
On 20 May 2009, the band was named Hard Rock's "Philanthropic Artist of the Year" in recognition of the work they'd done in support of the Caron Keating Foundation, the AECC of Barcelona and Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy, as well as having contributed an exclusive cover of Graham Nash's "Military Madness" to the World Hunger Year Serve3 charity album.
Band members
Current members
James Walsh – guitar and lead vocals
James Stelfox – bass
Barry Westhead – keyboards
Ben Byrne – drums
Session and touring members
Mark Collins – guitar and vocals (2003–2004, 2006, 2014)
Richard "Echoboy" Warren – guitar, vocals and harmonica (2005–2006)
Pete Greenwood – guitar (2008–2009)
Discography
Studio albums
Love Is Here (2001)
Silence Is Easy (2003)
On the Outside (2005)
All the Plans (2009)
All This Life (2017)
References
External links
Official Starsailor Fansite
Musical groups from Lancashire
English rock music groups
Musical groups established in 2000
People from Chorley
English alternative rock groups
Post-Britpop groups
Parlophone artists
Musical quartets
Virgin Records artists | false | [
"A bid price is the highest price that a buyer (i.e., bidder) is willing to pay for a goods. It is usually referred to simply as the \"bid\". In bid and ask, the bid price stands in contrast to the ask price or \"offer\", and the difference between the two is called the bid–ask spread. An unsolicited bid or purchase offer is when a person or company receives a bid even though they are not looking to sell.\n\nBidding war\nA bidding war is said to occur when a large number of competing bids are placed in rapid succession by two or more entities, especially when the price paid is much greater than the ask price, or greater than the first bid in the case of unsolicited bidding.\n\nIn other words, a bidding war is a situation where two or more buyers are so interested in an item (such as a house or a business) that they make increasingly higher-priced offers in attempts to outbid others and win the ownership of the item.\n\nIn real estate, a potential buyer can increase their bid in a number of different ways. Some common ways a bidder can increase their bid include: offering a higher purchase price, reduce the number of contingencies, pay with cash or even write a letter to appeal to the seller. These are all strategies that are proven to increase the odds of the buyer winning the bidding war.\n\nIn the markets\nIn the context of stock trading on a stock exchange, the bid price is the highest price a buyer of a stock is willing to pay for a share of that given stock. The bid price displayed in most quote services is the highest bid price in the market.\nThe ask or offer price on the other hand is the lowest price a seller of a particular stock is willing to sell a share of that given stock. The ask or offer price displayed is the lowest ask/offer price in the market (Stock market).\n\nSee also\nAsk price\nBidding fee auction\nCall for bids\nUnique bid auction\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nSecurities and Exchange Commission definition of \"bid price\"\n\nFinancial economics\nFinancial markets",
"Russian Schnapsen, Thousand Schnapsen, 1000 or Tysiacha is a trick-taking game of the Ace-Ten family for three players, the aim of which is to score over 1000 points to win the game. It is a variant of the popular Austrian game of Schnapsen. Like its parent, Russian Schnapsen features \"marriages\" (pairs of a King and Ober/Queen of the same suit) which are worth extra points.\n\nCards \n\nRussian Schnapsen is usually played with a 24-card Schnapsen pack using the normal William Tell cards. In Russia it is played with French-suited cards, using a 24 card deck where all cards lower than a nine have been removed.\n\nThere are the usual four suits: Hearts (Herz or Rot), Bells (Schelle), Leaves (Grün, Laub or Blatt) and Acorns (Eichel). In each suit the cards rank and score as follows: Ace (Ass) - 11 points, Ten (Zehner) - 10 points, King (König) - 4 points, Ober (Ober) - 3 points, Unter (Unter) - 2 points and Nine (Neuner) - 0 points. If French-suited cards are used, the Queen replaces the Ober and the Jack, the Unter.\n\nDealing cards \nThe first dealer is chosen either by drawing lots or by mutual agreement. The dealer rotates clockwise with each hand.\nBefore dealing (after shuffling), the deck is cut by the player on the dealer's right. After cutting, the top part is placed on the table and bottom card is checked by the dealer. In case bottom card is Nine, serving player shows it to all player announcing that it is a Nine and asks same player sitting by his right hand to split / cut the deck again. In case the deck is split third time in a row by the same player in the same round and bottom card is Nine - player who cut / split the deck (the one who is sitting by right hand from serving player) gets minus 120 points and this round is skipped, serving turn goes to next player.\n\nDealing cards is made clockwise, with one card per iteration, starting from the player sitting by left hand from dealer. During dealing three cards out of deck are put to the stock: top (first) card, bottom card and any other card. Dealing cards is very delicate and typically dealer can be charged with -120 scores fine if not agreed beforehand otherwise. Dealing cards is counted as failed in next circumstances:\n If any card is flipped during dealing\n If lock or any number of players has wrong number of cards after dealing is done\n If deck was not split / cut before dealing started\n With four players dealer accidentally or not, but discloses any information related to stock\n\nUsually, if dealer is not charged with fine, then same dealer re-deals the deck, otherwise - dealing goes to a next player clockwise.\n\nWhen playing with four player dealer only serves the deck and holds the stock until bidding is over. Dealer in this case is allowed to see the stock before bidding is over but is strictly disallowed to share whatsoever he knows about its contents. When bidding is over and two out of three players taking part in bidding have passed / opted out / lost bidding - stock is flipped over so that every player can see it and afterwards given to player who won bidding.\n\nAll three players get seven cards during dealing. The player who won the bidding gets stock (+3 cards), and temporarily has 10 cards. In order to make number of cards even, winner of bidding has to give away by one card to both of the opponent players out of his full hand (10 cards), which cards to give away - is the decision up to the bidding winner. After this every player has eight cards in hand.\n\nRe-dealing cards \n\nIn particular cases players can demand re-dealing after the cards were dealt:\n all four nines in one player's hand (player who has this hand can demand re-dealing)\n two nines in the stock (player who won the bidding and got stock can demand re-dealing)\n in case bidding-winner player gives away nine and as a result another player has four nines in his hand, latter one can demand re-dealing\n\nBidding \n\nBid is number of scores player states he can achieve in this round. Every game round there has to be a player who has an obligation to get 100 or more scores, the player is determined by bidding round - the player who made the bigger bid wins the bidding round. In order to support / give this player advantage - stock will be given to the player who wins the bidding round.\nAfter cards are dealt, player next clock-wise after the dealer starts the bidding with 100 points, this player is often called \"first hand\". Players after observing their hand cards are taking part in bidding one-by-one strictly clock-wise in order. Only after previous player stated his bid or passed his turn, next player can bid. When both of opponent player will pass (will not make bigger bid), the player who make biggest bid wins the bidding round. It is possible that after first hand player said initial bid of 100 points - both of the opponent players can pass, in this case first hand player has no options and wins the bidding round.\nIf a player passes their bidding turn, he passes it permanently for this game round and cannot make bid even if the bidding turn comes back again to him, thus he is not taking part in bidding for this round anymore.\nMinimum bid increment is 5 points, all bids have to be divisible by 5. (100 / 105 / 155 / etc.)\n\nNotice: The final declaration of points the bidding-winner player is obliged to score during game round can be increased after the stock is observed and cards are given away.\n\nBidding limitation \n\nDuring bidding round players are not allowed to increase the bid over 120 points unless they have a marriage in their hand. If this rule is broken, the player who broke the rule gets a negative number of declared bid and the current game round is skipped.\n\nGameplay\n\nTaking tricks \n\nPlayer who won bidding starts the game by making move, usually with highest card that guarantees the trick, every other players in a clockwise order one-by-one responds to the move by placing a single card from own hand according to rules:\n top priority: card of the same suit: mandatory to use if available on hand\n second priority: trump: mandatory to use if available on hand and prohibited to use if card of the same suit available\n any card\n\nFor deliberately breaking the rules player is charged with 120 points fine, it is deducted from the current sum-up number of points available for that player. Every next move is made by a player who took last trick. All tricks are saved until the round is finished, then the scores are counted and summed-up to previous round results. If the player who won bidding did not achieve their declared number of scores, he gets a negative number of declared scores.\nNumber of scores achieved is calculated from the tricks-taken and marriages.\n\nTaking a trick is done by placing a highest card in the turn. E.g.:\n Diamonds suit has been declared as trump suit: Player #1 makes a move with Ten of Spades, Player #2 responds with Ace of Spades, Player #3 responds with Nine of Diamonds - this trick is taken by Player #3, because his Nine of Diamonds is a Trump card and it is higher than Ace of Spades. Next move is done by Player #3.\n No trump suit declared: Player #1 makes a move with Ten of Spades, Player #2 responds with Ace of Spades, Player #3 responds with Nine of Diamonds - this trick is taken by player #2, his Ace of Spades is higher than Ten of Spades. Next move is done by Player #2.\n\nGame scores — rank values \nNumber of cards in the deck — 24, 4 suits. Order of hierarchy (top to bottom):Ace, Ten, King, Ober/Queen, Unter/Jack, Nine.\n\nDifferent cards give different numbers of points:\n\nTotal number of points / scores in deck : 120\nTotal number of points / scores in one suit: 30\n\nTrumps \n\nIn the beginning of every round there is no trump suit, all suits are equal. The player who has at least one trick taken and still has a marriage in his hand can declare a suit of the Marriage to be a trump suit by making a move with either King or Ober/Queen card from available marriage and declaring it out loud by saying that suit X (X corresponds to the marriage suit) becomes a trump, or saying number of scores he gets by declaring a marriage suit a trump. The suit that just became a trump stays a trump until a new suit becomes appointed to be trump or until game round ends.\n\nMarriage \n\nMarriage is a feature of the game and consists of King and Ober/Queen of the same suit in one player's hand. When used in the game it allows the setting of the trump suit for the round and gives an instant number of score points depending on the suit it belongs to. The only two conditions to use it are:\n player has to have at least one trick taken before he / she can use marriage\n player has to have full marriage set - both King and Ober/Queen in the hand for the moment when marriage is used\n\nTo use a marriage, player has to make a move with either Ober/Queen or King of the marriage pair and declare out loud about assigning a suit of the marriage just used to be a trump. If player failed to declare in any way a marriage when he used either of the two marriage cards (King or Ober/Queen), then the card is treated as regular and no trump change, no score addition takes place.\n\nIf one of the players declares a trump suit, another players have a chance to declare a new trump suit (provided that they have a marriage of different suit) as soon as they will get a move chance (they will take trick). When new suit is appointed to be a trump instead of existing, previous trump becomes a regular suit immediately.\n\nThere is no limit on how many marriages can be used by any player during game round.\n\nDifferent marriages give different numbers of points (King and Ober/Queen):\n\nScore Points counting \n\nAfter game round ends - players count their scores.\nEvery player counts how many scores he achieved in the round by summing up all scores each card he got as tricks has and marriages scores if there were any. Scores for players who did not win bidding round are rounded up or down to closest divisible by 5, e.g. 63 points is counted as 65; 62 points are counted as 60\nScores for player who won the bidding round is compared with the number of scores he declared before first move:\n in case he got more or equal number of scores - this player managed to achieve his goal and gets as many points as he declared, not more, even if number of achieved scores is significantly bigger than declared;\n in case he got less (even by 1 point), then player failed to achieve the bid he declared and gets the negative number of points he declared, meaning that the number of points he declared will be deducted from his previous result.\n\nA sum of scores all players achieved from tricks (excluding additional scores from marriages) should correspond to a number of scores available in the deck : 120.\n\nDuring Golden round the number of scores is doubled, even if it's negative.\n\nWhen playing with four players, dealer gets number points that was in the Stock, including marriages, if there was one full marriage in the Stock, meaning that both Ober or Queen and King of the same suit are among the three Stock cards.\n\nIn case player who did not win bidding has got 0 tricks, he gets special remark for that round - \"bolt\".\n\nBolt \n\nIn case player who did not win bidding gets zero tricks by the end of the game round, in addition to zero points he gets special mark, called bolt or strike-through. There marks are stored in the game table until player gets third such mark, when third time player gets zero points in the round when he did not win bidding, previous two marks are removed (crossed-out) and player gets minus 120 points for this round.\n\nThe player who won bidding cannot be assigned a bolt for the round even if he had no tricks, hence he gets a negative number of declared scores.\n\nDuring Golden round all points are double, even bolts, player who did not win bidding and got zero points gets two bolts / strike-throughs.\n\nThe only exception is when a player gets one trick with a number of scores less than 3 (three Nines, or two Nines and a Jack/Unter) which is rounded down to zero, in this case bolt is not assigned to this player.\n\nThe Barrel / 880 points \n\nThe game goes in regular mode until any of the players gets to 880 or more points. At that moment the player is said to \"climb onto the barrel\" and his scores are fixed at 880.\n\nScores counting \n\nPlayer on the barrel has an advantage: no scores is counted for this player except three special cases:\n if player who is on the barrel did not win bidding and got zero tricks - he gets a bolt / strike-through: in case it's a third time, previous two are discarded / crossed-out and player gets minus 120 points, this forces player to climb down from barrel, throwing him back to 760 points;\n if player won bidding and declared to achieve more than 120 points: in this case player either wins the game or gets down to 880 minus X points, where X was declared by this player\n player who is on the barrel played three consecutive game rounds and did not win - gets minus 120 points and \"climbs down from barrel\"\n\nIf a player who is on the barrel claims to achieve 120 points (which is the maximum allowed to claim without having a marriage), and wins the bidding, then this player gets Stock and considers to increase the number of claimed scores in order to win the game. In case player who is on the barrel has won bidding, declared only 120 points, then regardless of how much scores he manages to achieve - they are not counted.\n\nWhen third time player climbs down from the barrel, his scores are reset to zero.\n\nWinning the game \n\nOnly a player sitting on a barrel can win the game. In order to do so, he has three attempts (three game rounds) to:\n win the bidding\n declare to achieve more than 120 points (this effectively means that he has to have a marriage)\n achieve declared number of scores\nWhen all three conditions are met, player gets more than 1000 points and becomes winner of the game.\n\nIf player failed to win in three attempts - he is charged with 125 points fine.\n\nSeveral players on Barrel \n\nWhen playing with three players - there can be only one player on barrel, When second player gets to 880 points, the player who on the barrel \"gets down from it\" and is charged with fine of 125 points (down to 755 points). If there are two players simultaneously achieving 880 scores - both of them are thrown back to 755 points.\nWhen playing with four players - two players are allowed to be on the barrel, the first one to get, first gets down from it.\n\nGolden tour \n\nDuring first circle of game rounds (number of game rounds equals to number of players, in other words until serving turn comes back first time to player who first served cards in the game) if agreed beforehand Golden Tour can take place. During golden tour there is no bidding for Stock, the first hand player has an obligation to achieve 120 points and is automatically a bidding winner. In this tour all points for all players are doubled, even negative, even bolts, even charges with fines.\n\nVariants for 2 and 4 players \nIn a two-player variant, the game is played with two stocks, and the player who wins bidding can choose either one, and discards a card to the other stock. The other stock is given to the player who takes the last trick.\n\nThe game can be played with four players by using a sit out dealer, who scores cards in the stock.\n\nReferences\n\nThree-player card games\nSchnapsen\nRussian card games\nKing-Queen games\nGerman deck card games\nPoint-trick games"
] |
[
"Andy Griffith",
"From rising comedian to film star"
] | C_24f75fe71bad4c53aee504decee009be_0 | How did Andy Griffith get his start as a comedian | 1 | How did Andy Griffith get his start as a comedian? | Andy Griffith | Griffith's early career was as a monologist, delivering long stories such as What It Was, Was Football, which is told from the point of view of a naive country preacher trying to figure out what was going on in a football game. The monologue was released as a single in 1953 on the Colonial Records label, and was a hit for Griffith, reaching number nine on the charts in 1954. Griffith starred in Ira Levin's one-hour teleplay version of No Time for Sergeants (March 1955) -- a story about a country boy in the United States Air Force -- on The United States Steel Hour, a television anthology series. He expanded that role in Ira Levin's full-length theatrical version of the same name (October 1955) on Broadway in New York City. The role earned him a "Distinguished Supporting or Featured Dramatic Actor" nomination at the 1956 Tony Awards, losing to Ed Begley. He did win the 1956 Theatre World Award, however, a prize given for debut roles on Broadway. "Mr. Griffith does not have to condescend to Will Stockdale" (his role in the play), wrote Brooks Atkinson in The New York Times. "All he has to do is walk on the stage and look the audience straight in the face. If the armed forces cannot cope with Will Stockdale, neither can the audience resist Andy Griffith." Griffith later reprised his role for the film version (1958) of No Time for Sergeants; the film also featured Don Knotts, as a corporal in charge of manual-dexterity tests, marking the beginning of a lifelong association between Griffith and Knotts. No Time for Sergeants is considered the direct inspiration for the later television situation comedy Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. His only other New York stage appearance was the titular role in the 1959 musical Destry Rides Again, co-starring Dolores Gray. The show, with a score by Harold Rome, ran for 472 performances and more than a year. Griffith was nominated for "Distinguished Musical Actor" at the 1960 Tony Awards, losing to Jackie Gleason. He also portrayed a US Coast Guard sailor in the feature film Onionhead (1958); it was neither a critical nor a commercial success. CANNOTANSWER | Griffith's early career was as a monologist, delivering long stories such as What It Was, Was Football, which is told from the point of view of a naive country preacher | Andy Samuel Griffith (June 1, 1926 – July 3, 2012) was an American actor, comedian, television producer, southern gospel singer, and writer whose career spanned seven decades in music and television. Known for his Southern drawl, his characters with a folksy-friendly personality, and his gruff but friendly voice, Griffith was a Tony Award nominee for two roles, and gained prominence in the starring role in director Elia Kazan's film A Face in the Crowd (1957) and No Time for Sergeants (1958) before he became better known for his television roles, playing the lead roles of Andy Taylor in the sitcom The Andy Griffith Show (1960–1968) and Ben Matlock in the legal drama Matlock (1986–1995).
Early life and education
Griffith was born on June 1, 1926, in Mount Airy, North Carolina, the only child of Carl Lee Griffith and his wife, Geneva (née Nunn). As a baby, Griffith lived with relatives until his parents could afford to buy a home. With neither a crib nor a bed, he slept in dresser drawers for several months. In 1929, when Griffith was three, his father began working as a helper or carpenter and purchased a home in Mount Airy's "blue-collar" south side. Griffith grew up listening to music. By the time he entered school, he was well aware that he was from what many considered the "wrong side of the tracks". He was a shy student, but once he found a way to make his peers laugh, he began to come out of his shell and come into his own.
As a student at Mount Airy High School, Griffith cultivated an interest in the arts, and he participated in the school's drama program. A growing love of music, particularly swing, would change his life. Griffith was raised Baptist and looked up to Ed Mickey, a minister at Grace Moravian Church, who led the brass band and taught him to sing and play the trombone. Mickey nurtured Griffith's talent throughout high school until graduation in 1944. Griffith was delighted when he was offered a role in The Lost Colony by Paul Green, a play about Roanoke Island still performed today. He performed as a cast member of the play for several years, playing a variety of roles until he finally landed the role of Sir Walter Raleigh, for whom North Carolina's capital is named.
He attended the University of North Carolina (UNC) in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree in 1949. He began college studying to be a Moravian preacher, but he changed his major to music and became a part of the school's Carolina Playmakers. At UNC, he was president of the UNC chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, America's oldest fraternity for men in music. He also played roles in several student operettas, including The Chimes of Normandy (1946), and Gilbert and Sullivan's The Gondoliers (1945), The Mikado (1948) and H.M.S. Pinafore (1949). After graduation, he taught music and drama for a few years at Goldsboro High School in Goldsboro, North Carolina, where he taught, among others, Carl Kasell. He also began to write.
Career
From rising comedian to film star
Griffith's early career was as a monologist, delivering long stories such as What It Was, Was Football, which is told from the point of view of a naïve country preacher trying to figure out what was going on in a football game. The monologue was released as a single in 1953 on the Colonial Records label, and was a hit for Griffith, reaching number nine on the charts in 1954.
Griffith starred in Ira Levin's one-hour teleplay, No Time for Sergeants (March 1955) — a story about a country boy in the United States Air Force — on The United States Steel Hour, a television anthology series. He expanded that role in Ira Levin's full-length theatrical version of the same name (October 1955) on Broadway in New York City. The role earned him a "Distinguished Supporting or Featured Dramatic Actor" nomination at the 1956 Tony Awards, losing to Ed Begley. He did win the 1956 Theatre World Award, however, a prize given for debut roles on Broadway. "Mr. Griffith does not have to condescend to Will Stockdale" (his role in the play), wrote Brooks Atkinson in The New York Times. "All he has to do is walk on the stage and look the audience straight in the face. If the armed forces cannot cope with Will Stockdale, neither can the audience resist Andy Griffith."
Griffith later reprised his role for the film version (1958) of No Time for Sergeants; the film also featured Don Knotts, as a corporal in charge of manual-dexterity tests, marking the beginning of a lifelong association between Griffith and Knotts. No Time for Sergeants is considered the direct inspiration for the later television situation comedy Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. – a spin-off of The Andy Griffith Show.
His only other New York stage appearance was the title role in the 1959 musical Destry Rides Again, co-starring Dolores Gray. The show, with a score by Harold Rome, ran for 472 performances and more than a year. Griffith was nominated for "Distinguished Musical Actor" at the 1960 Tony Awards, losing to Jackie Gleason. He also portrayed a US Coast Guard sailor in the feature film Onionhead (1958). It was neither a critical nor a commercial success.
Dramatic role in A Face in the Crowd (1957)
In 1957, Griffith made his film debut starring in the film A Face in the Crowd. He plays a "country boy" who is manipulative and power-hungry: a drifter who becomes a television host and uses his show as a gateway to political power. The film was directed by Elia Kazan and written by Budd Schulberg and co-stars Patricia Neal, Walter Matthau, Tony Franciosa, and Lee Remick (in her film debut).
A 2005 DVD reissue of A Face in the Crowd includes a mini-documentary on the film, with comments from Schulberg and cast members Griffith, Franciosa, and Neal. In his interview, Griffith recalls Kazan prepping him to shoot his first scene with Remick's teenaged baton twirler, who captivates Griffith's character on a trip to Arkansas. Griffith also expresses his belief that the film was more popular in more recent decades than it was when originally released.
Television roles
Early television roles
Griffith's first appearance on television was in 1955 in the one-hour teleplay of No Time for Sergeants on The United States Steel Hour. That was the first of two appearances on that series. In 1960, Griffith appeared as a county sheriff, who was also a justice of the peace and the editor of the local newspaper, in an episode of Make Room for Daddy starring Danny Thomas. This episode, in which Thomas's character is stopped for running a stop sign in a little town, served as a backdoor pilot for The Andy Griffith Show. Both shows were produced by Sheldon Leonard.
The Andy Griffith Show (1960–1968)
Beginning in September 1960, Griffith starred as Sheriff Andy Taylor in The Andy Griffith Show for the CBS television network. The show took place in the fictional town of Mayberry, North Carolina, where Taylor, a widower, was the sheriff and town sage. The show was filmed at Desilu Studios, with exteriors filmed at Forty Acres in Culver City, California.
From 1960 to 1965, the show co-starred character actor and comedian — and Griffith's longtime friend — Don Knotts in the role of Deputy Barney Fife, Taylor's best friend and comedy partner. He was also Taylor's cousin in the show at first, though later they dropped that cousin relationship and talked simply of knowing one another since boyhood. In the series premiere episode, in a conversation between the two, Fife calls Taylor "Cousin Andy", and Taylor calls Fife "Cousin Barney". The show also starred child actor Ron Howard (then known as Ronny Howard), who played Taylor's only child, Opie Taylor. It was an immediate hit. Griffith never received a writing credit for the show, but he worked on the development of every script. Knotts was frequently lauded and won multiple Emmy Awards for his comedic performances, as did Frances Bavier in 1967, while Griffith was never nominated for an Emmy Award during the show's run.
In 1967, Griffith was under contract with CBS to do one more season of the show. However, he decided to quit the show to pursue a movie career and other projects. The series continued as Mayberry R.F.D., with Ken Berry starring as a widower farmer and many of the regular characters recurring, some regularly and some as guest appearances. Griffith served as executive producer (according to Griffith, he came in once a week to review the week's scripts and give input) and guest starred in five episodes (the pilot episode involved his marriage to Helen Crump). He made final appearances as Taylor in the 1986 reunion television film, Return to Mayberry, with fellow co-star, Don Knotts. Two reunion specials followed in 1993 and 2003, with strong ratings.
Matlock (1986–1995)
After leaving his still-popular show in 1968, and starting his own production company Andy Griffith Enterprises in 1972, Griffith starred in less-successful television series such as Headmaster (1970), The New Andy Griffith Show (1971), Adams of Eagle Lake (1975), Salvage 1 (1979) and The Yeagers (1980). After spending seven months in rehabilitation for leg paralysis from Guillain–Barré syndrome in 1983, Griffith returned to television as the title character, Ben Matlock, in the legal drama Matlock (1986–1995) on NBC and ABC. Matlock was a country lawyer in Atlanta, Georgia, who was known for his Southern drawl and for always winning his cases. Matlock also starred unfamiliar, struggling actors (both of whom were childhood fans of Andy Griffith) Nancy Stafford as Michelle Thomas (1987–1992) and Clarence Gilyard, Jr. as Conrad McMasters (1989–1993). By the end of its first season it was a ratings powerhouse on Tuesday nights. Although the show was nominated for four Emmy Awards, Griffith once again was never nominated. He did, however, win a People's Choice Award in 1987 for his work as Matlock.
Other television appearances
Griffith also made other character appearances through the years on Playhouse 90, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., The Mod Squad, Hawaii Five-O, The Doris Day Show, Here's Lucy, The Bionic Woman and Fantasy Island, among many others. He also reprised his role as Ben Matlock on Diagnosis: Murder in 1997, and his final guest-starring role was in 2001 in an episode of Dawson's Creek.
Films (including television films)
For most of the 1970s, Griffith starred or appeared in many television films, including The Strangers In 7A (1972), Go Ask Alice (1973), Winter Kill (1974) and Pray for the Wildcats (1974), which marked his first villainous role since A Face in the Crowd. Griffith appeared again as a villain in Savages (1974), a television film based on the novel Deathwatch (1972) by Robb White. Griffith received his only Primetime Emmy Award nomination as Outstanding Supporting Actor – Miniseries or a Movie for his role as the father of a murder victim in the television film Murder in Texas (1981) and won further acclaim for his role as a homicidal villain in the television film Murder in Coweta County (1983), co-starring music legend Johnny Cash as the sheriff. He also appeared in several television miniseries, including the television version of From Here to Eternity (1979), Roots: The Next Generations (1979), Centennial (1978), and the Watergate scandal-inspired Washington: Behind Closed Doors (1977), playing a former president loosely based on Lyndon B. Johnson.
Most of the television movies in which Griffith starred were also attempts to launch a new series. Winter Kill (1974) launched the short-lived Adams of Eagle Lake, which was canceled in 1975 after only two episodes. A year later, he starred as a New York City attorney for the DA's office in Street Killing, which also failed to launch a new show. Two television films for NBC in 1977, The Girl in the Empty Grave and Deadly Game, were attempts for Griffith to launch a new series featuring him as Police Chief Abel Marsh, a more hard-edged version of Andy Taylor; despite strong ratings, both were unsuccessful in leading to a new TV show.
During this period, Griffith also appeared in two feature films, both of which flopped at the box office. He co-starred with Jeff Bridges as a crusty old 1930s western actor in the comedy Hearts of the West (1975), and he appeared alongside Tom Berenger as a gay villainous colonel and cattle baron in the Western comedy spoof Rustlers' Rhapsody (1985).
Following another short-lived return to series television, playing a family patriarch in the Dynasty-inspired The Yeagers in 1980, Griffith continued to make guest appearances in several hit series, including Hotel, Fantasy Island, where he played a fictional version of western figure Judge Roy Bean featured in an aspiring singer's fantasy, and an episode of The Love Boat, which featured a memorable appearance by pop icon Andy Warhol. He also appeared as an attorney in the NBC miniseries Fatal Vision (1984), which is considered a precursor to his role in Matlock.
Griffith stunned many unfamiliar with his A Face in the Crowd work in the television film Crime of Innocence (1985)...wherein he portrayed a hateful and vindictive judge who routinely sentenced juveniles to hard prison time, followed by lengthy and equally-torturous probation. Also noteworthy in Griffith's darker roles was his character in Under the Influence (1986), a TV movie in which Griffith played an alcoholic, abusive patriarch. He further surprised audiences with his role as a dangerous and mysterious grandfather in the television film Gramps (1995) co-starring John Ritter. He also appeared as a comical villain in the spy movie spoof Spy Hard (1996) starring Leslie Nielsen. In the television film A Holiday Romance (1999), Griffith played the role of Jake Peterson. In the film Daddy and Them (2001), Griffith portrayed the patriarch of a dysfunctional southern family.
In the feature film Waitress (2007), Griffith played a crusty diner owner who takes a shine to Keri Russell's character. His last appearance was the leading role in the romantic comedy, independent film Play the Game (2009) as a lonely, widowed grandfather re-entering the dating world after a 60-year hiatus. The cast of Play the Game also included Rance Howard, Ron Howard's real-life father, who had made appearances in various supporting roles on The Andy Griffith Show, and Clint Howard, Ron's younger brother, who had the recurring role of Leon (the kid offering the ice cream cone or peanut butter sandwich) on The Andy Griffith Show.
Singing and recording career
Griffith sang as part of some of his acting roles, most notably in A Face in the Crowd and in many episodes of both The Andy Griffith Show and Matlock. In addition to his recordings of comic monologues in the 1950s, he made an album of upbeat country and gospel tunes during the run of The Andy Griffith Show, which included a version of the show's theme sung by Griffith under the title "The Fishin' Hole". In recent years, he recorded successful albums of classic Christian hymns for Sparrow Records. His most successful was the release I Love to Tell the Story: 25 Timeless Hymns (1996), which was certified platinum by the RIAA. The album won Grammy Award for Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album at the 1997 Grammy Awards.
Griffith appeared in country singer Brad Paisley's music video "Waitin' on a Woman" (2008).
Name dispute
William Harold Fenrick of Platteville, Wisconsin, legally changed his name to Andrew Jackson Griffith and ran unsuccessfully for sheriff of Grant County in November 2006. Subsequently, actor Griffith filed a lawsuit against Griffith/Fenrick, asserting that he violated trademark, copyright, and privacy laws by changing his name for the "sole purpose of taking advantage of Griffith's fame in an attempt to gain votes". On May 4, 2007, US District Court Judge John C. Shabaz ruled that Griffith/Fenrick did not violate federal trademark law because he did not use the Griffith name in a commercial transaction but instead in order "to seek elective office, fundamental First Amendment protected speech".
Association with Don Knotts and Ron Howard
Don Knotts
Griffith's friendship with Don Knotts began in 1955 when they co-starred in the Broadway play No Time for Sergeants. Several years later, Knotts had a regular role on The Andy Griffith Show for five seasons. Knotts left the series in 1965, but periodically returned for guest appearances. He appeared in the pilot for Griffith's subsequent short-lived series, The New Andy Griffith Show, and he had a recurring role on Matlock, from 1988 to 1992. In a January 2000 interview, Griffith said of Knotts, "The five years we worked together were the best five years of my life."
They kept in touch until Knotts' death in early 2006. Griffith traveled from his Manteo, North Carolina home to Los Angeles to visit the terminally ill Knotts at Cedars-Sinai just before Knotts died of lung cancer.
Ron Howard
Griffith's friendship with the then-unknown Ron Howard began in 1960 when they guest-starred in the episode of Make Room For Daddy that led to the formation of The Andy Griffith Show the same year. For eight seasons, they starred together in most of the show's episodes, portraying father and son.
They guest-starred together in the show's spin-off series Mayberry R.F.D. They appeared in an episode during which Griffith's character married his long-time girlfriend, Helen Crump, and in the Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C. episode "Opie Joins the Marines", in which Howard's character, Opie, runs away from home and attempts to enlist in the US Marines. They co-starred in the TV special Return to Mayberry (1986), in which the now-adult Opie is about to become a father. They later appeared together in CBS reunion specials in 1993 and 2003. Griffith also made a comedy cameo on the Saturday Night Live program of October 9, 1982, hosted by Howard.
In October 2008, Griffith and Howard briefly reprised their Mayberry roles in an online video Ron Howard's Call to Action. It was posted to comedy video website Funny or Die. The video encouraged people to vote and endorsed Democratic candidates Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
After Griffith's death, Howard stated: "His love of creating, the joy he took in it whether it was drama or comedy or his music, was inspiring to grow up around. The spirit he created on the set of The Andy Griffith Show was joyful and professional all at once. It was an amazing environment. And I think it was a reflection of the way he felt about having the opportunity to create something that people could enjoy. It was always with respect and passion for the opportunity and really what it could offer people in a very unpretentious and earthy way. He felt he was always working in service of an audience he really respected and cared about. He was a great influence on me. His passing is sad. But he lived a great rich life." In a 2016 interview with US Magazine, Howard recalled Griffith encouraging the then 7-year-old boy in his scriptwriting, saying "I felt elated." Howard recalled: "Andy Griffith said, 'What are you grinnin' at, young'un?' I said, 'That's the first idea of mine they've taken.' He said, 'It's the first that was any damn good. Now let's rehearse!'"
Political activities
In 2000, Griffith appeared in a last-minute campaign commercial where he endorsed then-Attorney General Mike Easley for governor of the state of North Carolina. Easley had been locked in a tight race with former Mayor of Charlotte Richard Vinroot and had been losing his lead in the polls. Easley went on to win that November, taking 52% of the vote to Vinroot's 46%. Many observers dubbed Easley's victory as the "Mayberry Miracle", and credit Griffith's endorsement for stopping his falling poll numbers.
In October 2008, Griffith appeared with Ron Howard in a Funny or Die video endorsement for Barack Obama's presidential campaign.
In addition to his online video with Howard in 2008, in politics Griffith favored Democrats and recorded television commercials endorsing North Carolina Governors Mike Easley and Bev Perdue. He spoke at the inauguration ceremonies of both. In 1989, he declined an offer by Democratic party officials to run against Jesse Helms, a Republican U.S. Senator from North Carolina.
In July 2010, he also starred in advertisements about Medicare.
Personal life and death
In 1945, while a student at the University of North Carolina, Griffith was initiated as a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, a national social music fraternity for men.
Griffith and Barbara Bray Edwards were married on August 22, 1949, and they adopted two children: a son named Andy Samuel Griffith Jr. (born in 1957 and better known as Sam Griffith) and a daughter named Dixie Nann Griffith. They divorced in 1972. Sam, a real-estate developer, died in 1996 after years of alcoholism. His second wife was Solica Cassuto, a Greek actress. They were married from 1973 to 1981. Griffith and Cindi Knight married on April 12, 1983, after they met when he was filming Murder in Coweta County.
Griffith's first serious health problem was in April 1983 when he was diagnosed with Guillain–Barré syndrome and could not walk for seven months because of paralysis from the knees down.
On May 9, 2000, he underwent quadruple heart-bypass surgery at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk, Virginia.
After a fall, Griffith underwent hip surgery on September 5, 2007, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California.
Griffith died on July 3, 2012, from a heart attack at the age of 86 at his coastal home in Manteo, Roanoke Island, in Dare County, North Carolina. He was buried in the Griffith family cemetery on the island within five hours of his death.
Awards and honors
Television Hall of Fame inductee (class of 1991)
Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Andy Griffith Museum—a 2,500-square-foot facility which houses the world's largest collection of Griffith memorabilia—opened on September 26, 2009, in Mount Airy, North Carolina
Grammy Award for Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album for I Love to Tell the Story – 25 Timeless Hymns in 1997
Country Gospel Music Hall of Fame inductee (class of 1999)
A stretch of US Highway 52 that passes through Mount Airy rededicated as the Andy Griffith Parkway
Statue of Griffith and Ron Howard (as Andy and Opie) constructed in Pullen Park in Raleigh, North Carolina
A second statue was later erected in Andy Griffith's hometown of Mount Airy of Andy and Opie outside the Andy Griffith museum.
Andy Griffith signature model guitar commissioned by C.F. Martin & Company
Presidential Medal of Freedom (2005)
Christian Music Hall of Fame inductee (class of 2007)
North Carolina Music Hall of Fame inductee (class of 2010)
Albums
Filmography
Features
Short subjects
Television work
References
External links
Inventory of the Andy Griffith Papers, 1949–1997, in the Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Andy Griffith Discography, at MTV
1926 births
2012 deaths
20th-century American comedians
20th-century American male actors
20th-century American male singers
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American singers
21st-century American comedians
21st-century American male actors
American gospel singers
American male comedians
American male film actors
American male singer-songwriters
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American performers of Christian music
American television producers
Burials in North Carolina
Colonial Records
Comedians from North Carolina
Grammy Award winners
Male actors from North Carolina
North Carolina Democrats
People from Manteo, North Carolina
People from Mount Airy, North Carolina
People with Guillain–Barré syndrome
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
Schoolteachers from North Carolina
Singer-songwriters from North Carolina
Southern gospel performers
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni
Writers from North Carolina | false | [
"\"The Christmas Story\" is an episode from the American television program The Andy Griffith Show broadcast Monday December 19, 1960 on CBS. A family spends Christmas Eve in jail. \"Christmas Story\" is the eleventh episode in season one, and the eleventh episode in the complete series. The show is noted for being the only Christmas episode in The Andy Griffith Show complete series, and for featuring actress Margaret Kerry, the model for Tinkerbell in Walt Disney's 1953 animated feature film, Peter Pan. On December 25, 2015, CBS aired this episode in color, as part of \"The Andy Griffith Show Christmas Special\", which also included \"The Pickle Story\".\n\nPlot summary\n\nOn Christmas Eve, department store owner Ben Weaver insists Andy jail moonshiner Sam Muggins. Weaver has brought along a jug of moonshine as evidence of Sam's wrongdoing. Andy complies with Weaver's request but feels it's only fair that Sam's wife Bess and his two young children be incarcerated as well, since they all had knowledge of Sam's moonshining. With the Muggins family in jail, Andy, Barney, Aunt Bee, Ellie, and Opie have their planned Christmas party relocated to the Sheriff's office, bringing a holiday feast with all the trimmings for the family and a Christmas tree to decorate. Peeping at the window, Ben Weaver is touched with the Christmas spirit and tries to get himself arrested in order to join the fun. However, Weaver's initial efforts are unsuccessful due to the others' well-meaning efforts to keep him out of jail on Christmas. Andy only arrests Weaver, finally, after he dumps a garbage can in the alley and the sheriff realizes just what Ben is trying to do. Together, the men appear at the jail with a suitcase full of gifts from Ben's store for everyone; with Ben, of course, acting as if he has no idea how he ended up packing these items. Ben is welcomed and regaled with food and drink. Andy soon releases Sam and his family since there is now no evidence; Weaver has fallen asleep in one of the jail cells after finishing off the jug of Sam's moonshine.\n\nCast\n\nAndy Griffith as Andy Taylor\nDon Knotts as Barney Fife\nElinor Donahue as Ellie Walker \nFrances Bavier as Aunt Bee \nJoy Ellison as Ethie Muggins \n \nMargaret Kerry as Bess Muggins\nRon Howard as Opie Taylor\nSam Edwards as Sam Muggins \nWill Wright as Ben Weaver \nKelly Flynn as Billy Muggins\n\nCrew\n\nA Mayberry Enterprises Production\nAaron Ruben, producer and story consultant\nAnn Helfgott, wardrobe\nBob Priestley, set decorator\nBob Sweeney, director\nBruce Bilson, assistant director\nDavid Adler, writer\nDavid Forrest, sound engineer\nEarle Hagen, music\nFilmed by Desilu\nFrank E. Myers, production manager\nHazel Hall, script continuity\nKenneth A. Reid, art director\nLee Greenway, makeup\n\nMiss Donahue's fashions Mr. Burt of Encino\nRalph Berger, art director\nRecorded by Glen Glenn Sound Co.\nReggie Smith, propmaster\nRichard O. Linke, associate producer\nRobert Fritch, film editor\nRobert Reeve, re-recording editor\nRonald Jacobs, assistant to producer\nRuth Burch, casting\nSheldon Leonard, executive producer, in association with Danny Thomas \nSid Hickox, director of photography\nW. Argyle Nelson, production supervisor\n\nSee also\nChristmas Eve\nThe Andy Griffith Show\n\nNotes\nThe role of Ben Weaver would be played by three actors during the course of the series' run.\nActor Sam Edwards (Sam Muggins) appeared in four roles during the course of the series' run.\n\nDVD releases\n\"The Christmas Story\" was released on DVD Paramount Pictures The Andy Griffith Show: Complete Series Collection, 2007. ().\n\nReception \nThe Herald-Dispatch ranked it number five on its list of all-time best TV Christmas episodes.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nMayberry.com home of The Andy Griffith Show Rerun Watchers Club w/ Interviews, Episode Guides, newsletters, and forums.\nBehind The Scenes of The Andy Griffith Show A behind the scenes look at The Andy Griffith Show and the real Mayberry, includes filming locations, the stars made on the show, and Mayberry trivia.\n Remembering Mayberry\n Mayberry Articles & Events\n Searchable Andy Griffith Show Episode Guide\n The Andy Griffith Show on TVLand.com\n Interview with Michael Rosen on Archive of American Television in 1998.\n\nThe Andy Griffith Show episodes\nAmerican Christmas television episodes\n1960 American television episodes",
"Andy Samuel Griffith (June 1, 1926 – July 3, 2012) was an American actor, comedian, television producer, southern gospel singer, and writer whose career spanned seven decades in music and television. Known for his Southern drawl, his characters with a folksy-friendly personality, and his gruff but friendly voice, Griffith was a Tony Award nominee for two roles, and gained prominence in the starring role in director Elia Kazan's film A Face in the Crowd (1957) and No Time for Sergeants (1958) before he became better known for his television roles, playing the lead roles of Andy Taylor in the sitcom The Andy Griffith Show (1960–1968) and Ben Matlock in the legal drama Matlock (1986–1995).\n\nEarly life and education\nGriffith was born on June 1, 1926, in Mount Airy, North Carolina, the only child of Carl Lee Griffith and his wife, Geneva (née Nunn). As a baby, Griffith lived with relatives until his parents could afford to buy a home. With neither a crib nor a bed, he slept in dresser drawers for several months. In 1929, when Griffith was three, his father began working as a helper or carpenter and purchased a home in Mount Airy's \"blue-collar\" south side. Griffith grew up listening to music. By the time he entered school, he was well aware that he was from what many considered the \"wrong side of the tracks\". He was a shy student, but once he found a way to make his peers laugh, he began to come out of his shell and come into his own.\n\nAs a student at Mount Airy High School, Griffith cultivated an interest in the arts, and he participated in the school's drama program. A growing love of music, particularly swing, would change his life. Griffith was raised Baptist and looked up to Ed Mickey, a minister at Grace Moravian Church, who led the brass band and taught him to sing and play the trombone. Mickey nurtured Griffith's talent throughout high school until graduation in 1944. Griffith was delighted when he was offered a role in The Lost Colony by Paul Green, a play about Roanoke Island still performed today. He performed as a cast member of the play for several years, playing a variety of roles until he finally landed the role of Sir Walter Raleigh, for whom North Carolina's capital is named.\n\nHe attended the University of North Carolina (UNC) in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree in 1949. He began college studying to be a Moravian preacher, but he changed his major to music and became a part of the school's Carolina Playmakers. At UNC, he was president of the UNC chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, America's oldest fraternity for men in music. He also played roles in several student operettas, including The Chimes of Normandy (1946), and Gilbert and Sullivan's The Gondoliers (1945), The Mikado (1948) and H.M.S. Pinafore (1949). After graduation, he taught music and drama for a few years at Goldsboro High School in Goldsboro, North Carolina, where he taught, among others, Carl Kasell. He also began to write.\n\nCareer\n\nFrom rising comedian to film star\nGriffith's early career was as a monologist, delivering long stories such as What It Was, Was Football, which is told from the point of view of a naïve country preacher trying to figure out what was going on in a football game. The monologue was released as a single in 1953 on the Colonial Records label, and was a hit for Griffith, reaching number nine on the charts in 1954.\n\nGriffith starred in Ira Levin's one-hour teleplay, No Time for Sergeants (March 1955) — a story about a country boy in the United States Air Force — on The United States Steel Hour, a television anthology series. He expanded that role in Ira Levin's full-length theatrical version of the same name (October 1955) on Broadway in New York City. The role earned him a \"Distinguished Supporting or Featured Dramatic Actor\" nomination at the 1956 Tony Awards, losing to Ed Begley. He did win the 1956 Theatre World Award, however, a prize given for debut roles on Broadway. \"Mr. Griffith does not have to condescend to Will Stockdale\" (his role in the play), wrote Brooks Atkinson in The New York Times. \"All he has to do is walk on the stage and look the audience straight in the face. If the armed forces cannot cope with Will Stockdale, neither can the audience resist Andy Griffith.\"\n\nGriffith later reprised his role for the film version (1958) of No Time for Sergeants; the film also featured Don Knotts, as a corporal in charge of manual-dexterity tests, marking the beginning of a lifelong association between Griffith and Knotts. No Time for Sergeants is considered the direct inspiration for the later television situation comedy Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. – a spin-off of The Andy Griffith Show.\n\nHis only other New York stage appearance was the title role in the 1959 musical Destry Rides Again, co-starring Dolores Gray. The show, with a score by Harold Rome, ran for 472 performances and more than a year. Griffith was nominated for \"Distinguished Musical Actor\" at the 1960 Tony Awards, losing to Jackie Gleason. He also portrayed a US Coast Guard sailor in the feature film Onionhead (1958). It was neither a critical nor a commercial success.\n\nDramatic role in A Face in the Crowd (1957)\n\nIn 1957, Griffith made his film debut starring in the film A Face in the Crowd. He plays a \"country boy\" who is manipulative and power-hungry: a drifter who becomes a television host and uses his show as a gateway to political power. The film was directed by Elia Kazan and written by Budd Schulberg and co-stars Patricia Neal, Walter Matthau, Tony Franciosa, and Lee Remick (in her film debut).\n\nA 2005 DVD reissue of A Face in the Crowd includes a mini-documentary on the film, with comments from Schulberg and cast members Griffith, Franciosa, and Neal. In his interview, Griffith recalls Kazan prepping him to shoot his first scene with Remick's teenaged baton twirler, who captivates Griffith's character on a trip to Arkansas. Griffith also expresses his belief that the film was more popular in more recent decades than it was when originally released.\n\nTelevision roles\n\nEarly television roles\nGriffith's first appearance on television was in 1955 in the one-hour teleplay of No Time for Sergeants on The United States Steel Hour. That was the first of two appearances on that series. In 1960, Griffith appeared as a county sheriff, who was also a justice of the peace and the editor of the local newspaper, in an episode of Make Room for Daddy starring Danny Thomas. This episode, in which Thomas's character is stopped for running a stop sign in a little town, served as a backdoor pilot for The Andy Griffith Show. Both shows were produced by Sheldon Leonard.\n\nThe Andy Griffith Show (1960–1968)\n\nBeginning in September 1960, Griffith starred as Sheriff Andy Taylor in The Andy Griffith Show for the CBS television network. The show took place in the fictional town of Mayberry, North Carolina, where Taylor, a widower, was the sheriff and town sage. The show was filmed at Desilu Studios, with exteriors filmed at Forty Acres in Culver City, California.\n\nFrom 1960 to 1965, the show co-starred character actor and comedian — and Griffith's longtime friend — Don Knotts in the role of Deputy Barney Fife, Taylor's best friend and comedy partner. He was also Taylor's cousin in the show at first, though later they dropped that cousin relationship and talked simply of knowing one another since boyhood. In the series premiere episode, in a conversation between the two, Fife calls Taylor \"Cousin Andy\", and Taylor calls Fife \"Cousin Barney\". The show also starred child actor Ron Howard (then known as Ronny Howard), who played Taylor's only child, Opie Taylor. It was an immediate hit. Griffith never received a writing credit for the show, but he worked on the development of every script. Knotts was frequently lauded and won multiple Emmy Awards for his comedic performances, as did Frances Bavier in 1967, while Griffith was never nominated for an Emmy Award during the show's run.\n\nIn 1967, Griffith was under contract with CBS to do one more season of the show. However, he decided to quit the show to pursue a movie career and other projects. The series continued as Mayberry R.F.D., with Ken Berry starring as a widower farmer and many of the regular characters recurring, some regularly and some as guest appearances. Griffith served as executive producer (according to Griffith, he came in once a week to review the week's scripts and give input) and guest starred in five episodes (the pilot episode involved his marriage to Helen Crump). He made final appearances as Taylor in the 1986 reunion television film, Return to Mayberry, with fellow co-star, Don Knotts. Two reunion specials followed in 1993 and 2003, with strong ratings.\n\nMatlock (1986–1995)\nAfter leaving his still-popular show in 1968, and starting his own production company Andy Griffith Enterprises in 1972, Griffith starred in less-successful television series such as Headmaster (1970), The New Andy Griffith Show (1971), Adams of Eagle Lake (1975), Salvage 1 (1979) and The Yeagers (1980). After spending seven months in rehabilitation for leg paralysis from Guillain–Barré syndrome in 1983, Griffith returned to television as the title character, Ben Matlock, in the legal drama Matlock (1986–1995) on NBC and ABC. Matlock was a country lawyer in Atlanta, Georgia, who was known for his Southern drawl and for always winning his cases. Matlock also starred unfamiliar, struggling actors (both of whom were childhood fans of Andy Griffith) Nancy Stafford as Michelle Thomas (1987–1992) and Clarence Gilyard, Jr. as Conrad McMasters (1989–1993). By the end of its first season it was a ratings powerhouse on Tuesday nights. Although the show was nominated for four Emmy Awards, Griffith once again was never nominated. He did, however, win a People's Choice Award in 1987 for his work as Matlock.\n\nOther television appearances\nGriffith also made other character appearances through the years on Playhouse 90, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., The Mod Squad, Hawaii Five-O, The Doris Day Show, Here's Lucy, The Bionic Woman and Fantasy Island, among many others. He also reprised his role as Ben Matlock on Diagnosis: Murder in 1997, and his final guest-starring role was in 2001 in an episode of Dawson's Creek.\n\nFilms (including television films)\nFor most of the 1970s, Griffith starred or appeared in many television films, including The Strangers In 7A (1972), Go Ask Alice (1973), Winter Kill (1974) and Pray for the Wildcats (1974), which marked his first villainous role since A Face in the Crowd. Griffith appeared again as a villain in Savages (1974), a television film based on the novel Deathwatch (1972) by Robb White. Griffith received his only Primetime Emmy Award nomination as Outstanding Supporting Actor – Miniseries or a Movie for his role as the father of a murder victim in the television film Murder in Texas (1981) and won further acclaim for his role as a homicidal villain in the television film Murder in Coweta County (1983), co-starring music legend Johnny Cash as the sheriff. He also appeared in several television miniseries, including the television version of From Here to Eternity (1979), Roots: The Next Generations (1979), Centennial (1978), and the Watergate scandal-inspired Washington: Behind Closed Doors (1977), playing a former president loosely based on Lyndon B. Johnson.\n\nMost of the television movies in which Griffith starred were also attempts to launch a new series. Winter Kill (1974) launched the short-lived Adams of Eagle Lake, which was canceled in 1975 after only two episodes. A year later, he starred as a New York City attorney for the DA's office in Street Killing, which also failed to launch a new show. Two television films for NBC in 1977, The Girl in the Empty Grave and Deadly Game, were attempts for Griffith to launch a new series featuring him as Police Chief Abel Marsh, a more hard-edged version of Andy Taylor; despite strong ratings, both were unsuccessful in leading to a new TV show.\n\nDuring this period, Griffith also appeared in two feature films, both of which flopped at the box office. He co-starred with Jeff Bridges as a crusty old 1930s western actor in the comedy Hearts of the West (1975), and he appeared alongside Tom Berenger as a gay villainous colonel and cattle baron in the Western comedy spoof Rustlers' Rhapsody (1985). \n\nFollowing another short-lived return to series television, playing a family patriarch in the Dynasty-inspired The Yeagers in 1980, Griffith continued to make guest appearances in several hit series, including Hotel, Fantasy Island, where he played a fictional version of western figure Judge Roy Bean featured in an aspiring singer's fantasy, and an episode of The Love Boat, which featured a memorable appearance by pop icon Andy Warhol. He also appeared as an attorney in the NBC miniseries Fatal Vision (1984), which is considered a precursor to his role in Matlock.\n\nGriffith stunned many unfamiliar with his A Face in the Crowd work in the television film Crime of Innocence (1985)...wherein he portrayed a hateful and vindictive judge who routinely sentenced juveniles to hard prison time, followed by lengthy and equally-torturous probation. Also noteworthy in Griffith's darker roles was his character in Under the Influence (1986), a TV movie in which Griffith played an alcoholic, abusive patriarch. He further surprised audiences with his role as a dangerous and mysterious grandfather in the television film Gramps (1995) co-starring John Ritter. He also appeared as a comical villain in the spy movie spoof Spy Hard (1996) starring Leslie Nielsen. In the television film A Holiday Romance (1999), Griffith played the role of Jake Peterson. In the film Daddy and Them (2001), Griffith portrayed the patriarch of a dysfunctional southern family.\n\nIn the feature film Waitress (2007), Griffith played a crusty diner owner who takes a shine to Keri Russell's character. His last appearance was the leading role in the romantic comedy, independent film Play the Game (2009) as a lonely, widowed grandfather re-entering the dating world after a 60-year hiatus. The cast of Play the Game also included Rance Howard, Ron Howard's real-life father, who had made appearances in various supporting roles on The Andy Griffith Show, and Clint Howard, Ron's younger brother, who had the recurring role of Leon (the kid offering the ice cream cone or peanut butter sandwich) on The Andy Griffith Show.\n\nSinging and recording career\nGriffith sang as part of some of his acting roles, most notably in A Face in the Crowd and in many episodes of both The Andy Griffith Show and Matlock. In addition to his recordings of comic monologues in the 1950s, he made an album of upbeat country and gospel tunes during the run of The Andy Griffith Show, which included a version of the show's theme sung by Griffith under the title \"The Fishin' Hole\". In recent years, he recorded successful albums of classic Christian hymns for Sparrow Records. His most successful was the release I Love to Tell the Story: 25 Timeless Hymns (1996), which was certified platinum by the RIAA. The album won Grammy Award for Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album at the 1997 Grammy Awards.\n\nGriffith appeared in country singer Brad Paisley's music video \"Waitin' on a Woman\" (2008).\n\nName dispute\nWilliam Harold Fenrick of Platteville, Wisconsin, legally changed his name to Andrew Jackson Griffith and ran unsuccessfully for sheriff of Grant County in November 2006. Subsequently, actor Griffith filed a lawsuit against Griffith/Fenrick, asserting that he violated trademark, copyright, and privacy laws by changing his name for the \"sole purpose of taking advantage of Griffith's fame in an attempt to gain votes\". On May 4, 2007, US District Court Judge John C. Shabaz ruled that Griffith/Fenrick did not violate federal trademark law because he did not use the Griffith name in a commercial transaction but instead in order \"to seek elective office, fundamental First Amendment protected speech\".\n\nAssociation with Don Knotts and Ron Howard\n\nDon Knotts\n\nGriffith's friendship with Don Knotts began in 1955 when they co-starred in the Broadway play No Time for Sergeants. Several years later, Knotts had a regular role on The Andy Griffith Show for five seasons. Knotts left the series in 1965, but periodically returned for guest appearances. He appeared in the pilot for Griffith's subsequent short-lived series, The New Andy Griffith Show, and he had a recurring role on Matlock, from 1988 to 1992. In a January 2000 interview, Griffith said of Knotts, \"The five years we worked together were the best five years of my life.\"\n\nThey kept in touch until Knotts' death in early 2006. Griffith traveled from his Manteo, North Carolina home to Los Angeles to visit the terminally ill Knotts at Cedars-Sinai just before Knotts died of lung cancer.\n\nRon Howard\n\nGriffith's friendship with the then-unknown Ron Howard began in 1960 when they guest-starred in the episode of Make Room For Daddy that led to the formation of The Andy Griffith Show the same year. For eight seasons, they starred together in most of the show's episodes, portraying father and son.\n\nThey guest-starred together in the show's spin-off series Mayberry R.F.D. They appeared in an episode during which Griffith's character married his long-time girlfriend, Helen Crump, and in the Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C. episode \"Opie Joins the Marines\", in which Howard's character, Opie, runs away from home and attempts to enlist in the US Marines. They co-starred in the TV special Return to Mayberry (1986), in which the now-adult Opie is about to become a father. They later appeared together in CBS reunion specials in 1993 and 2003. Griffith also made a comedy cameo on the Saturday Night Live program of October 9, 1982, hosted by Howard.\n\nIn October 2008, Griffith and Howard briefly reprised their Mayberry roles in an online video Ron Howard's Call to Action. It was posted to comedy video website Funny or Die. The video encouraged people to vote and endorsed Democratic candidates Barack Obama and Joe Biden.\n\nAfter Griffith's death, Howard stated: \"His love of creating, the joy he took in it whether it was drama or comedy or his music, was inspiring to grow up around. The spirit he created on the set of The Andy Griffith Show was joyful and professional all at once. It was an amazing environment. And I think it was a reflection of the way he felt about having the opportunity to create something that people could enjoy. It was always with respect and passion for the opportunity and really what it could offer people in a very unpretentious and earthy way. He felt he was always working in service of an audience he really respected and cared about. He was a great influence on me. His passing is sad. But he lived a great rich life.\" In a 2016 interview with US Magazine, Howard recalled Griffith encouraging the then 7-year-old boy in his scriptwriting, saying \"I felt elated.\" Howard recalled: \"Andy Griffith said, 'What are you grinnin' at, young'un?' I said, 'That's the first idea of mine they've taken.' He said, 'It's the first that was any damn good. Now let's rehearse!'\"\n\nPolitical activities\nIn 2000, Griffith appeared in a last-minute campaign commercial where he endorsed then-Attorney General Mike Easley for governor of the state of North Carolina. Easley had been locked in a tight race with former Mayor of Charlotte Richard Vinroot and had been losing his lead in the polls. Easley went on to win that November, taking 52% of the vote to Vinroot's 46%. Many observers dubbed Easley's victory as the \"Mayberry Miracle\", and credit Griffith's endorsement for stopping his falling poll numbers.\n\nIn October 2008, Griffith appeared with Ron Howard in a Funny or Die video endorsement for Barack Obama's presidential campaign.\n\nIn addition to his online video with Howard in 2008, in politics Griffith favored Democrats and recorded television commercials endorsing North Carolina Governors Mike Easley and Bev Perdue. He spoke at the inauguration ceremonies of both. In 1989, he declined an offer by Democratic party officials to run against Jesse Helms, a Republican U.S. Senator from North Carolina.\n\nIn July 2010, he also starred in advertisements about Medicare.\n\nPersonal life and death\nIn 1945, while a student at the University of North Carolina, Griffith was initiated as a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, a national social music fraternity for men.\n\nGriffith and Barbara Bray Edwards were married on August 22, 1949, and they adopted two children: a son named Andy Samuel Griffith Jr. (born in 1957 and better known as Sam Griffith) and a daughter named Dixie Nann Griffith. They divorced in 1972. Sam, a real-estate developer, died in 1996 after years of alcoholism. His second wife was Solica Cassuto, a Greek actress. They were married from 1973 to 1981. Griffith and Cindi Knight married on April 12, 1983, after they met when he was filming Murder in Coweta County.\n\nGriffith's first serious health problem was in April 1983 when he was diagnosed with Guillain–Barré syndrome and could not walk for seven months because of paralysis from the knees down.\n\nOn May 9, 2000, he underwent quadruple heart-bypass surgery at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk, Virginia.\n\nAfter a fall, Griffith underwent hip surgery on September 5, 2007, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California.\n\nGriffith died on July 3, 2012, from a heart attack at the age of 86 at his coastal home in Manteo, Roanoke Island, in Dare County, North Carolina. He was buried in the Griffith family cemetery on the island within five hours of his death.\n\nAwards and honors\n\n Television Hall of Fame inductee (class of 1991)\n Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame\n Andy Griffith Museum—a 2,500-square-foot facility which houses the world's largest collection of Griffith memorabilia—opened on September 26, 2009, in Mount Airy, North Carolina\n Grammy Award for Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album for I Love to Tell the Story – 25 Timeless Hymns in 1997\n Country Gospel Music Hall of Fame inductee (class of 1999)\n A stretch of US Highway 52 that passes through Mount Airy rededicated as the Andy Griffith Parkway\n Statue of Griffith and Ron Howard (as Andy and Opie) constructed in Pullen Park in Raleigh, North Carolina\n A second statue was later erected in Andy Griffith's hometown of Mount Airy of Andy and Opie outside the Andy Griffith museum.\n Andy Griffith signature model guitar commissioned by C.F. Martin & Company\n Presidential Medal of Freedom (2005)\n Christian Music Hall of Fame inductee (class of 2007)\n North Carolina Music Hall of Fame inductee (class of 2010)\n\nAlbums\n\nFilmography\n\nFeatures\n\nShort subjects\n\nTelevision work\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n Inventory of the Andy Griffith Papers, 1949–1997, in the Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill\n \n \n \n \n \n Andy Griffith Discography, at MTV\n \n\n1926 births\n2012 deaths\n20th-century American comedians\n20th-century American male actors\n20th-century American male singers\n20th-century American male writers\n20th-century American singers\n21st-century American comedians\n21st-century American male actors\nAmerican gospel singers\nAmerican male comedians\nAmerican male film actors\nAmerican male singer-songwriters\nAmerican male television actors\nAmerican male voice actors\nAmerican performers of Christian music\nAmerican television producers\n\nBurials in North Carolina\nColonial Records\nComedians from North Carolina\nGrammy Award winners\nMale actors from North Carolina\nNorth Carolina Democrats\nPeople from Manteo, North Carolina\nPeople from Mount Airy, North Carolina\nPeople with Guillain–Barré syndrome\nPresidential Medal of Freedom recipients\nSchoolteachers from North Carolina\nSinger-songwriters from North Carolina\nSouthern gospel performers\nUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni\nWriters from North Carolina"
] |
[
"Andy Griffith",
"From rising comedian to film star",
"How did Andy Griffith get his start as a comedian",
"Griffith's early career was as a monologist, delivering long stories such as What It Was, Was Football, which is told from the point of view of a naive country preacher"
] | C_24f75fe71bad4c53aee504decee009be_0 | When did he start acting? | 2 | When did Andy Griffith start acting? | Andy Griffith | Griffith's early career was as a monologist, delivering long stories such as What It Was, Was Football, which is told from the point of view of a naive country preacher trying to figure out what was going on in a football game. The monologue was released as a single in 1953 on the Colonial Records label, and was a hit for Griffith, reaching number nine on the charts in 1954. Griffith starred in Ira Levin's one-hour teleplay version of No Time for Sergeants (March 1955) -- a story about a country boy in the United States Air Force -- on The United States Steel Hour, a television anthology series. He expanded that role in Ira Levin's full-length theatrical version of the same name (October 1955) on Broadway in New York City. The role earned him a "Distinguished Supporting or Featured Dramatic Actor" nomination at the 1956 Tony Awards, losing to Ed Begley. He did win the 1956 Theatre World Award, however, a prize given for debut roles on Broadway. "Mr. Griffith does not have to condescend to Will Stockdale" (his role in the play), wrote Brooks Atkinson in The New York Times. "All he has to do is walk on the stage and look the audience straight in the face. If the armed forces cannot cope with Will Stockdale, neither can the audience resist Andy Griffith." Griffith later reprised his role for the film version (1958) of No Time for Sergeants; the film also featured Don Knotts, as a corporal in charge of manual-dexterity tests, marking the beginning of a lifelong association between Griffith and Knotts. No Time for Sergeants is considered the direct inspiration for the later television situation comedy Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. His only other New York stage appearance was the titular role in the 1959 musical Destry Rides Again, co-starring Dolores Gray. The show, with a score by Harold Rome, ran for 472 performances and more than a year. Griffith was nominated for "Distinguished Musical Actor" at the 1960 Tony Awards, losing to Jackie Gleason. He also portrayed a US Coast Guard sailor in the feature film Onionhead (1958); it was neither a critical nor a commercial success. CANNOTANSWER | Griffith starred in Ira Levin's one-hour teleplay version of No Time for Sergeants (March 1955) -- | Andy Samuel Griffith (June 1, 1926 – July 3, 2012) was an American actor, comedian, television producer, southern gospel singer, and writer whose career spanned seven decades in music and television. Known for his Southern drawl, his characters with a folksy-friendly personality, and his gruff but friendly voice, Griffith was a Tony Award nominee for two roles, and gained prominence in the starring role in director Elia Kazan's film A Face in the Crowd (1957) and No Time for Sergeants (1958) before he became better known for his television roles, playing the lead roles of Andy Taylor in the sitcom The Andy Griffith Show (1960–1968) and Ben Matlock in the legal drama Matlock (1986–1995).
Early life and education
Griffith was born on June 1, 1926, in Mount Airy, North Carolina, the only child of Carl Lee Griffith and his wife, Geneva (née Nunn). As a baby, Griffith lived with relatives until his parents could afford to buy a home. With neither a crib nor a bed, he slept in dresser drawers for several months. In 1929, when Griffith was three, his father began working as a helper or carpenter and purchased a home in Mount Airy's "blue-collar" south side. Griffith grew up listening to music. By the time he entered school, he was well aware that he was from what many considered the "wrong side of the tracks". He was a shy student, but once he found a way to make his peers laugh, he began to come out of his shell and come into his own.
As a student at Mount Airy High School, Griffith cultivated an interest in the arts, and he participated in the school's drama program. A growing love of music, particularly swing, would change his life. Griffith was raised Baptist and looked up to Ed Mickey, a minister at Grace Moravian Church, who led the brass band and taught him to sing and play the trombone. Mickey nurtured Griffith's talent throughout high school until graduation in 1944. Griffith was delighted when he was offered a role in The Lost Colony by Paul Green, a play about Roanoke Island still performed today. He performed as a cast member of the play for several years, playing a variety of roles until he finally landed the role of Sir Walter Raleigh, for whom North Carolina's capital is named.
He attended the University of North Carolina (UNC) in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree in 1949. He began college studying to be a Moravian preacher, but he changed his major to music and became a part of the school's Carolina Playmakers. At UNC, he was president of the UNC chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, America's oldest fraternity for men in music. He also played roles in several student operettas, including The Chimes of Normandy (1946), and Gilbert and Sullivan's The Gondoliers (1945), The Mikado (1948) and H.M.S. Pinafore (1949). After graduation, he taught music and drama for a few years at Goldsboro High School in Goldsboro, North Carolina, where he taught, among others, Carl Kasell. He also began to write.
Career
From rising comedian to film star
Griffith's early career was as a monologist, delivering long stories such as What It Was, Was Football, which is told from the point of view of a naïve country preacher trying to figure out what was going on in a football game. The monologue was released as a single in 1953 on the Colonial Records label, and was a hit for Griffith, reaching number nine on the charts in 1954.
Griffith starred in Ira Levin's one-hour teleplay, No Time for Sergeants (March 1955) — a story about a country boy in the United States Air Force — on The United States Steel Hour, a television anthology series. He expanded that role in Ira Levin's full-length theatrical version of the same name (October 1955) on Broadway in New York City. The role earned him a "Distinguished Supporting or Featured Dramatic Actor" nomination at the 1956 Tony Awards, losing to Ed Begley. He did win the 1956 Theatre World Award, however, a prize given for debut roles on Broadway. "Mr. Griffith does not have to condescend to Will Stockdale" (his role in the play), wrote Brooks Atkinson in The New York Times. "All he has to do is walk on the stage and look the audience straight in the face. If the armed forces cannot cope with Will Stockdale, neither can the audience resist Andy Griffith."
Griffith later reprised his role for the film version (1958) of No Time for Sergeants; the film also featured Don Knotts, as a corporal in charge of manual-dexterity tests, marking the beginning of a lifelong association between Griffith and Knotts. No Time for Sergeants is considered the direct inspiration for the later television situation comedy Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. – a spin-off of The Andy Griffith Show.
His only other New York stage appearance was the title role in the 1959 musical Destry Rides Again, co-starring Dolores Gray. The show, with a score by Harold Rome, ran for 472 performances and more than a year. Griffith was nominated for "Distinguished Musical Actor" at the 1960 Tony Awards, losing to Jackie Gleason. He also portrayed a US Coast Guard sailor in the feature film Onionhead (1958). It was neither a critical nor a commercial success.
Dramatic role in A Face in the Crowd (1957)
In 1957, Griffith made his film debut starring in the film A Face in the Crowd. He plays a "country boy" who is manipulative and power-hungry: a drifter who becomes a television host and uses his show as a gateway to political power. The film was directed by Elia Kazan and written by Budd Schulberg and co-stars Patricia Neal, Walter Matthau, Tony Franciosa, and Lee Remick (in her film debut).
A 2005 DVD reissue of A Face in the Crowd includes a mini-documentary on the film, with comments from Schulberg and cast members Griffith, Franciosa, and Neal. In his interview, Griffith recalls Kazan prepping him to shoot his first scene with Remick's teenaged baton twirler, who captivates Griffith's character on a trip to Arkansas. Griffith also expresses his belief that the film was more popular in more recent decades than it was when originally released.
Television roles
Early television roles
Griffith's first appearance on television was in 1955 in the one-hour teleplay of No Time for Sergeants on The United States Steel Hour. That was the first of two appearances on that series. In 1960, Griffith appeared as a county sheriff, who was also a justice of the peace and the editor of the local newspaper, in an episode of Make Room for Daddy starring Danny Thomas. This episode, in which Thomas's character is stopped for running a stop sign in a little town, served as a backdoor pilot for The Andy Griffith Show. Both shows were produced by Sheldon Leonard.
The Andy Griffith Show (1960–1968)
Beginning in September 1960, Griffith starred as Sheriff Andy Taylor in The Andy Griffith Show for the CBS television network. The show took place in the fictional town of Mayberry, North Carolina, where Taylor, a widower, was the sheriff and town sage. The show was filmed at Desilu Studios, with exteriors filmed at Forty Acres in Culver City, California.
From 1960 to 1965, the show co-starred character actor and comedian — and Griffith's longtime friend — Don Knotts in the role of Deputy Barney Fife, Taylor's best friend and comedy partner. He was also Taylor's cousin in the show at first, though later they dropped that cousin relationship and talked simply of knowing one another since boyhood. In the series premiere episode, in a conversation between the two, Fife calls Taylor "Cousin Andy", and Taylor calls Fife "Cousin Barney". The show also starred child actor Ron Howard (then known as Ronny Howard), who played Taylor's only child, Opie Taylor. It was an immediate hit. Griffith never received a writing credit for the show, but he worked on the development of every script. Knotts was frequently lauded and won multiple Emmy Awards for his comedic performances, as did Frances Bavier in 1967, while Griffith was never nominated for an Emmy Award during the show's run.
In 1967, Griffith was under contract with CBS to do one more season of the show. However, he decided to quit the show to pursue a movie career and other projects. The series continued as Mayberry R.F.D., with Ken Berry starring as a widower farmer and many of the regular characters recurring, some regularly and some as guest appearances. Griffith served as executive producer (according to Griffith, he came in once a week to review the week's scripts and give input) and guest starred in five episodes (the pilot episode involved his marriage to Helen Crump). He made final appearances as Taylor in the 1986 reunion television film, Return to Mayberry, with fellow co-star, Don Knotts. Two reunion specials followed in 1993 and 2003, with strong ratings.
Matlock (1986–1995)
After leaving his still-popular show in 1968, and starting his own production company Andy Griffith Enterprises in 1972, Griffith starred in less-successful television series such as Headmaster (1970), The New Andy Griffith Show (1971), Adams of Eagle Lake (1975), Salvage 1 (1979) and The Yeagers (1980). After spending seven months in rehabilitation for leg paralysis from Guillain–Barré syndrome in 1983, Griffith returned to television as the title character, Ben Matlock, in the legal drama Matlock (1986–1995) on NBC and ABC. Matlock was a country lawyer in Atlanta, Georgia, who was known for his Southern drawl and for always winning his cases. Matlock also starred unfamiliar, struggling actors (both of whom were childhood fans of Andy Griffith) Nancy Stafford as Michelle Thomas (1987–1992) and Clarence Gilyard, Jr. as Conrad McMasters (1989–1993). By the end of its first season it was a ratings powerhouse on Tuesday nights. Although the show was nominated for four Emmy Awards, Griffith once again was never nominated. He did, however, win a People's Choice Award in 1987 for his work as Matlock.
Other television appearances
Griffith also made other character appearances through the years on Playhouse 90, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., The Mod Squad, Hawaii Five-O, The Doris Day Show, Here's Lucy, The Bionic Woman and Fantasy Island, among many others. He also reprised his role as Ben Matlock on Diagnosis: Murder in 1997, and his final guest-starring role was in 2001 in an episode of Dawson's Creek.
Films (including television films)
For most of the 1970s, Griffith starred or appeared in many television films, including The Strangers In 7A (1972), Go Ask Alice (1973), Winter Kill (1974) and Pray for the Wildcats (1974), which marked his first villainous role since A Face in the Crowd. Griffith appeared again as a villain in Savages (1974), a television film based on the novel Deathwatch (1972) by Robb White. Griffith received his only Primetime Emmy Award nomination as Outstanding Supporting Actor – Miniseries or a Movie for his role as the father of a murder victim in the television film Murder in Texas (1981) and won further acclaim for his role as a homicidal villain in the television film Murder in Coweta County (1983), co-starring music legend Johnny Cash as the sheriff. He also appeared in several television miniseries, including the television version of From Here to Eternity (1979), Roots: The Next Generations (1979), Centennial (1978), and the Watergate scandal-inspired Washington: Behind Closed Doors (1977), playing a former president loosely based on Lyndon B. Johnson.
Most of the television movies in which Griffith starred were also attempts to launch a new series. Winter Kill (1974) launched the short-lived Adams of Eagle Lake, which was canceled in 1975 after only two episodes. A year later, he starred as a New York City attorney for the DA's office in Street Killing, which also failed to launch a new show. Two television films for NBC in 1977, The Girl in the Empty Grave and Deadly Game, were attempts for Griffith to launch a new series featuring him as Police Chief Abel Marsh, a more hard-edged version of Andy Taylor; despite strong ratings, both were unsuccessful in leading to a new TV show.
During this period, Griffith also appeared in two feature films, both of which flopped at the box office. He co-starred with Jeff Bridges as a crusty old 1930s western actor in the comedy Hearts of the West (1975), and he appeared alongside Tom Berenger as a gay villainous colonel and cattle baron in the Western comedy spoof Rustlers' Rhapsody (1985).
Following another short-lived return to series television, playing a family patriarch in the Dynasty-inspired The Yeagers in 1980, Griffith continued to make guest appearances in several hit series, including Hotel, Fantasy Island, where he played a fictional version of western figure Judge Roy Bean featured in an aspiring singer's fantasy, and an episode of The Love Boat, which featured a memorable appearance by pop icon Andy Warhol. He also appeared as an attorney in the NBC miniseries Fatal Vision (1984), which is considered a precursor to his role in Matlock.
Griffith stunned many unfamiliar with his A Face in the Crowd work in the television film Crime of Innocence (1985)...wherein he portrayed a hateful and vindictive judge who routinely sentenced juveniles to hard prison time, followed by lengthy and equally-torturous probation. Also noteworthy in Griffith's darker roles was his character in Under the Influence (1986), a TV movie in which Griffith played an alcoholic, abusive patriarch. He further surprised audiences with his role as a dangerous and mysterious grandfather in the television film Gramps (1995) co-starring John Ritter. He also appeared as a comical villain in the spy movie spoof Spy Hard (1996) starring Leslie Nielsen. In the television film A Holiday Romance (1999), Griffith played the role of Jake Peterson. In the film Daddy and Them (2001), Griffith portrayed the patriarch of a dysfunctional southern family.
In the feature film Waitress (2007), Griffith played a crusty diner owner who takes a shine to Keri Russell's character. His last appearance was the leading role in the romantic comedy, independent film Play the Game (2009) as a lonely, widowed grandfather re-entering the dating world after a 60-year hiatus. The cast of Play the Game also included Rance Howard, Ron Howard's real-life father, who had made appearances in various supporting roles on The Andy Griffith Show, and Clint Howard, Ron's younger brother, who had the recurring role of Leon (the kid offering the ice cream cone or peanut butter sandwich) on The Andy Griffith Show.
Singing and recording career
Griffith sang as part of some of his acting roles, most notably in A Face in the Crowd and in many episodes of both The Andy Griffith Show and Matlock. In addition to his recordings of comic monologues in the 1950s, he made an album of upbeat country and gospel tunes during the run of The Andy Griffith Show, which included a version of the show's theme sung by Griffith under the title "The Fishin' Hole". In recent years, he recorded successful albums of classic Christian hymns for Sparrow Records. His most successful was the release I Love to Tell the Story: 25 Timeless Hymns (1996), which was certified platinum by the RIAA. The album won Grammy Award for Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album at the 1997 Grammy Awards.
Griffith appeared in country singer Brad Paisley's music video "Waitin' on a Woman" (2008).
Name dispute
William Harold Fenrick of Platteville, Wisconsin, legally changed his name to Andrew Jackson Griffith and ran unsuccessfully for sheriff of Grant County in November 2006. Subsequently, actor Griffith filed a lawsuit against Griffith/Fenrick, asserting that he violated trademark, copyright, and privacy laws by changing his name for the "sole purpose of taking advantage of Griffith's fame in an attempt to gain votes". On May 4, 2007, US District Court Judge John C. Shabaz ruled that Griffith/Fenrick did not violate federal trademark law because he did not use the Griffith name in a commercial transaction but instead in order "to seek elective office, fundamental First Amendment protected speech".
Association with Don Knotts and Ron Howard
Don Knotts
Griffith's friendship with Don Knotts began in 1955 when they co-starred in the Broadway play No Time for Sergeants. Several years later, Knotts had a regular role on The Andy Griffith Show for five seasons. Knotts left the series in 1965, but periodically returned for guest appearances. He appeared in the pilot for Griffith's subsequent short-lived series, The New Andy Griffith Show, and he had a recurring role on Matlock, from 1988 to 1992. In a January 2000 interview, Griffith said of Knotts, "The five years we worked together were the best five years of my life."
They kept in touch until Knotts' death in early 2006. Griffith traveled from his Manteo, North Carolina home to Los Angeles to visit the terminally ill Knotts at Cedars-Sinai just before Knotts died of lung cancer.
Ron Howard
Griffith's friendship with the then-unknown Ron Howard began in 1960 when they guest-starred in the episode of Make Room For Daddy that led to the formation of The Andy Griffith Show the same year. For eight seasons, they starred together in most of the show's episodes, portraying father and son.
They guest-starred together in the show's spin-off series Mayberry R.F.D. They appeared in an episode during which Griffith's character married his long-time girlfriend, Helen Crump, and in the Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C. episode "Opie Joins the Marines", in which Howard's character, Opie, runs away from home and attempts to enlist in the US Marines. They co-starred in the TV special Return to Mayberry (1986), in which the now-adult Opie is about to become a father. They later appeared together in CBS reunion specials in 1993 and 2003. Griffith also made a comedy cameo on the Saturday Night Live program of October 9, 1982, hosted by Howard.
In October 2008, Griffith and Howard briefly reprised their Mayberry roles in an online video Ron Howard's Call to Action. It was posted to comedy video website Funny or Die. The video encouraged people to vote and endorsed Democratic candidates Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
After Griffith's death, Howard stated: "His love of creating, the joy he took in it whether it was drama or comedy or his music, was inspiring to grow up around. The spirit he created on the set of The Andy Griffith Show was joyful and professional all at once. It was an amazing environment. And I think it was a reflection of the way he felt about having the opportunity to create something that people could enjoy. It was always with respect and passion for the opportunity and really what it could offer people in a very unpretentious and earthy way. He felt he was always working in service of an audience he really respected and cared about. He was a great influence on me. His passing is sad. But he lived a great rich life." In a 2016 interview with US Magazine, Howard recalled Griffith encouraging the then 7-year-old boy in his scriptwriting, saying "I felt elated." Howard recalled: "Andy Griffith said, 'What are you grinnin' at, young'un?' I said, 'That's the first idea of mine they've taken.' He said, 'It's the first that was any damn good. Now let's rehearse!'"
Political activities
In 2000, Griffith appeared in a last-minute campaign commercial where he endorsed then-Attorney General Mike Easley for governor of the state of North Carolina. Easley had been locked in a tight race with former Mayor of Charlotte Richard Vinroot and had been losing his lead in the polls. Easley went on to win that November, taking 52% of the vote to Vinroot's 46%. Many observers dubbed Easley's victory as the "Mayberry Miracle", and credit Griffith's endorsement for stopping his falling poll numbers.
In October 2008, Griffith appeared with Ron Howard in a Funny or Die video endorsement for Barack Obama's presidential campaign.
In addition to his online video with Howard in 2008, in politics Griffith favored Democrats and recorded television commercials endorsing North Carolina Governors Mike Easley and Bev Perdue. He spoke at the inauguration ceremonies of both. In 1989, he declined an offer by Democratic party officials to run against Jesse Helms, a Republican U.S. Senator from North Carolina.
In July 2010, he also starred in advertisements about Medicare.
Personal life and death
In 1945, while a student at the University of North Carolina, Griffith was initiated as a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, a national social music fraternity for men.
Griffith and Barbara Bray Edwards were married on August 22, 1949, and they adopted two children: a son named Andy Samuel Griffith Jr. (born in 1957 and better known as Sam Griffith) and a daughter named Dixie Nann Griffith. They divorced in 1972. Sam, a real-estate developer, died in 1996 after years of alcoholism. His second wife was Solica Cassuto, a Greek actress. They were married from 1973 to 1981. Griffith and Cindi Knight married on April 12, 1983, after they met when he was filming Murder in Coweta County.
Griffith's first serious health problem was in April 1983 when he was diagnosed with Guillain–Barré syndrome and could not walk for seven months because of paralysis from the knees down.
On May 9, 2000, he underwent quadruple heart-bypass surgery at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk, Virginia.
After a fall, Griffith underwent hip surgery on September 5, 2007, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California.
Griffith died on July 3, 2012, from a heart attack at the age of 86 at his coastal home in Manteo, Roanoke Island, in Dare County, North Carolina. He was buried in the Griffith family cemetery on the island within five hours of his death.
Awards and honors
Television Hall of Fame inductee (class of 1991)
Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Andy Griffith Museum—a 2,500-square-foot facility which houses the world's largest collection of Griffith memorabilia—opened on September 26, 2009, in Mount Airy, North Carolina
Grammy Award for Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album for I Love to Tell the Story – 25 Timeless Hymns in 1997
Country Gospel Music Hall of Fame inductee (class of 1999)
A stretch of US Highway 52 that passes through Mount Airy rededicated as the Andy Griffith Parkway
Statue of Griffith and Ron Howard (as Andy and Opie) constructed in Pullen Park in Raleigh, North Carolina
A second statue was later erected in Andy Griffith's hometown of Mount Airy of Andy and Opie outside the Andy Griffith museum.
Andy Griffith signature model guitar commissioned by C.F. Martin & Company
Presidential Medal of Freedom (2005)
Christian Music Hall of Fame inductee (class of 2007)
North Carolina Music Hall of Fame inductee (class of 2010)
Albums
Filmography
Features
Short subjects
Television work
References
External links
Inventory of the Andy Griffith Papers, 1949–1997, in the Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Andy Griffith Discography, at MTV
1926 births
2012 deaths
20th-century American comedians
20th-century American male actors
20th-century American male singers
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American singers
21st-century American comedians
21st-century American male actors
American gospel singers
American male comedians
American male film actors
American male singer-songwriters
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American performers of Christian music
American television producers
Burials in North Carolina
Colonial Records
Comedians from North Carolina
Grammy Award winners
Male actors from North Carolina
North Carolina Democrats
People from Manteo, North Carolina
People from Mount Airy, North Carolina
People with Guillain–Barré syndrome
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
Schoolteachers from North Carolina
Singer-songwriters from North Carolina
Southern gospel performers
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni
Writers from North Carolina | false | [
"Brendha Prata Haddad (April 12, 1986 in Rio Branco, Acre) is a Brazilian actress.\n\nAt 3 years, she was paraded in the capital of Acre. At 12, she won the Miss Brazil Child, Paraná. Although now want to pursue an acting career at an early age, his father, a doctor Eduardo Haddad, caused her to postpone the start of his career. In 2006, now studying at the Faculty of Law, Brendha did the tests in his hometown for the miniseries Amazônia, de Galvez a Chico Mendes, shown in 2007. And that's when she got her first role, Ritinha.\n\nCareer\n\nTelevision\n\nFilms\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n\n1986 births\nLiving people\nPeople from Rio Branco\nBrazilian telenovela actresses\nBrazilian stage actresses",
"Bouras Djamel is an Algerian politician and the Third Vice President of the Pan-African Parliament representing the Northern African Region. He was designated Acting President starting in August 2020, with his term set to end when the full Bureau of the PAP is reconstituted at the start of the next plenary session.\n\nReferences\n\nLiving people\nAlgerian politicians\n1971 births"
] |
[
"Andy Griffith",
"From rising comedian to film star",
"How did Andy Griffith get his start as a comedian",
"Griffith's early career was as a monologist, delivering long stories such as What It Was, Was Football, which is told from the point of view of a naive country preacher",
"When did he start acting?",
"Griffith starred in Ira Levin's one-hour teleplay version of No Time for Sergeants (March 1955) --"
] | C_24f75fe71bad4c53aee504decee009be_0 | What was his role in that teleplay | 3 | What was Andy Griffith's role in Ira Levin's one-hour teleplay of No Time for Sergeants? | Andy Griffith | Griffith's early career was as a monologist, delivering long stories such as What It Was, Was Football, which is told from the point of view of a naive country preacher trying to figure out what was going on in a football game. The monologue was released as a single in 1953 on the Colonial Records label, and was a hit for Griffith, reaching number nine on the charts in 1954. Griffith starred in Ira Levin's one-hour teleplay version of No Time for Sergeants (March 1955) -- a story about a country boy in the United States Air Force -- on The United States Steel Hour, a television anthology series. He expanded that role in Ira Levin's full-length theatrical version of the same name (October 1955) on Broadway in New York City. The role earned him a "Distinguished Supporting or Featured Dramatic Actor" nomination at the 1956 Tony Awards, losing to Ed Begley. He did win the 1956 Theatre World Award, however, a prize given for debut roles on Broadway. "Mr. Griffith does not have to condescend to Will Stockdale" (his role in the play), wrote Brooks Atkinson in The New York Times. "All he has to do is walk on the stage and look the audience straight in the face. If the armed forces cannot cope with Will Stockdale, neither can the audience resist Andy Griffith." Griffith later reprised his role for the film version (1958) of No Time for Sergeants; the film also featured Don Knotts, as a corporal in charge of manual-dexterity tests, marking the beginning of a lifelong association between Griffith and Knotts. No Time for Sergeants is considered the direct inspiration for the later television situation comedy Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. His only other New York stage appearance was the titular role in the 1959 musical Destry Rides Again, co-starring Dolores Gray. The show, with a score by Harold Rome, ran for 472 performances and more than a year. Griffith was nominated for "Distinguished Musical Actor" at the 1960 Tony Awards, losing to Jackie Gleason. He also portrayed a US Coast Guard sailor in the feature film Onionhead (1958); it was neither a critical nor a commercial success. CANNOTANSWER | -- a story about a country boy in the United States Air Force -- on The United States Steel Hour, a television anthology series. | Andy Samuel Griffith (June 1, 1926 – July 3, 2012) was an American actor, comedian, television producer, southern gospel singer, and writer whose career spanned seven decades in music and television. Known for his Southern drawl, his characters with a folksy-friendly personality, and his gruff but friendly voice, Griffith was a Tony Award nominee for two roles, and gained prominence in the starring role in director Elia Kazan's film A Face in the Crowd (1957) and No Time for Sergeants (1958) before he became better known for his television roles, playing the lead roles of Andy Taylor in the sitcom The Andy Griffith Show (1960–1968) and Ben Matlock in the legal drama Matlock (1986–1995).
Early life and education
Griffith was born on June 1, 1926, in Mount Airy, North Carolina, the only child of Carl Lee Griffith and his wife, Geneva (née Nunn). As a baby, Griffith lived with relatives until his parents could afford to buy a home. With neither a crib nor a bed, he slept in dresser drawers for several months. In 1929, when Griffith was three, his father began working as a helper or carpenter and purchased a home in Mount Airy's "blue-collar" south side. Griffith grew up listening to music. By the time he entered school, he was well aware that he was from what many considered the "wrong side of the tracks". He was a shy student, but once he found a way to make his peers laugh, he began to come out of his shell and come into his own.
As a student at Mount Airy High School, Griffith cultivated an interest in the arts, and he participated in the school's drama program. A growing love of music, particularly swing, would change his life. Griffith was raised Baptist and looked up to Ed Mickey, a minister at Grace Moravian Church, who led the brass band and taught him to sing and play the trombone. Mickey nurtured Griffith's talent throughout high school until graduation in 1944. Griffith was delighted when he was offered a role in The Lost Colony by Paul Green, a play about Roanoke Island still performed today. He performed as a cast member of the play for several years, playing a variety of roles until he finally landed the role of Sir Walter Raleigh, for whom North Carolina's capital is named.
He attended the University of North Carolina (UNC) in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree in 1949. He began college studying to be a Moravian preacher, but he changed his major to music and became a part of the school's Carolina Playmakers. At UNC, he was president of the UNC chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, America's oldest fraternity for men in music. He also played roles in several student operettas, including The Chimes of Normandy (1946), and Gilbert and Sullivan's The Gondoliers (1945), The Mikado (1948) and H.M.S. Pinafore (1949). After graduation, he taught music and drama for a few years at Goldsboro High School in Goldsboro, North Carolina, where he taught, among others, Carl Kasell. He also began to write.
Career
From rising comedian to film star
Griffith's early career was as a monologist, delivering long stories such as What It Was, Was Football, which is told from the point of view of a naïve country preacher trying to figure out what was going on in a football game. The monologue was released as a single in 1953 on the Colonial Records label, and was a hit for Griffith, reaching number nine on the charts in 1954.
Griffith starred in Ira Levin's one-hour teleplay, No Time for Sergeants (March 1955) — a story about a country boy in the United States Air Force — on The United States Steel Hour, a television anthology series. He expanded that role in Ira Levin's full-length theatrical version of the same name (October 1955) on Broadway in New York City. The role earned him a "Distinguished Supporting or Featured Dramatic Actor" nomination at the 1956 Tony Awards, losing to Ed Begley. He did win the 1956 Theatre World Award, however, a prize given for debut roles on Broadway. "Mr. Griffith does not have to condescend to Will Stockdale" (his role in the play), wrote Brooks Atkinson in The New York Times. "All he has to do is walk on the stage and look the audience straight in the face. If the armed forces cannot cope with Will Stockdale, neither can the audience resist Andy Griffith."
Griffith later reprised his role for the film version (1958) of No Time for Sergeants; the film also featured Don Knotts, as a corporal in charge of manual-dexterity tests, marking the beginning of a lifelong association between Griffith and Knotts. No Time for Sergeants is considered the direct inspiration for the later television situation comedy Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. – a spin-off of The Andy Griffith Show.
His only other New York stage appearance was the title role in the 1959 musical Destry Rides Again, co-starring Dolores Gray. The show, with a score by Harold Rome, ran for 472 performances and more than a year. Griffith was nominated for "Distinguished Musical Actor" at the 1960 Tony Awards, losing to Jackie Gleason. He also portrayed a US Coast Guard sailor in the feature film Onionhead (1958). It was neither a critical nor a commercial success.
Dramatic role in A Face in the Crowd (1957)
In 1957, Griffith made his film debut starring in the film A Face in the Crowd. He plays a "country boy" who is manipulative and power-hungry: a drifter who becomes a television host and uses his show as a gateway to political power. The film was directed by Elia Kazan and written by Budd Schulberg and co-stars Patricia Neal, Walter Matthau, Tony Franciosa, and Lee Remick (in her film debut).
A 2005 DVD reissue of A Face in the Crowd includes a mini-documentary on the film, with comments from Schulberg and cast members Griffith, Franciosa, and Neal. In his interview, Griffith recalls Kazan prepping him to shoot his first scene with Remick's teenaged baton twirler, who captivates Griffith's character on a trip to Arkansas. Griffith also expresses his belief that the film was more popular in more recent decades than it was when originally released.
Television roles
Early television roles
Griffith's first appearance on television was in 1955 in the one-hour teleplay of No Time for Sergeants on The United States Steel Hour. That was the first of two appearances on that series. In 1960, Griffith appeared as a county sheriff, who was also a justice of the peace and the editor of the local newspaper, in an episode of Make Room for Daddy starring Danny Thomas. This episode, in which Thomas's character is stopped for running a stop sign in a little town, served as a backdoor pilot for The Andy Griffith Show. Both shows were produced by Sheldon Leonard.
The Andy Griffith Show (1960–1968)
Beginning in September 1960, Griffith starred as Sheriff Andy Taylor in The Andy Griffith Show for the CBS television network. The show took place in the fictional town of Mayberry, North Carolina, where Taylor, a widower, was the sheriff and town sage. The show was filmed at Desilu Studios, with exteriors filmed at Forty Acres in Culver City, California.
From 1960 to 1965, the show co-starred character actor and comedian — and Griffith's longtime friend — Don Knotts in the role of Deputy Barney Fife, Taylor's best friend and comedy partner. He was also Taylor's cousin in the show at first, though later they dropped that cousin relationship and talked simply of knowing one another since boyhood. In the series premiere episode, in a conversation between the two, Fife calls Taylor "Cousin Andy", and Taylor calls Fife "Cousin Barney". The show also starred child actor Ron Howard (then known as Ronny Howard), who played Taylor's only child, Opie Taylor. It was an immediate hit. Griffith never received a writing credit for the show, but he worked on the development of every script. Knotts was frequently lauded and won multiple Emmy Awards for his comedic performances, as did Frances Bavier in 1967, while Griffith was never nominated for an Emmy Award during the show's run.
In 1967, Griffith was under contract with CBS to do one more season of the show. However, he decided to quit the show to pursue a movie career and other projects. The series continued as Mayberry R.F.D., with Ken Berry starring as a widower farmer and many of the regular characters recurring, some regularly and some as guest appearances. Griffith served as executive producer (according to Griffith, he came in once a week to review the week's scripts and give input) and guest starred in five episodes (the pilot episode involved his marriage to Helen Crump). He made final appearances as Taylor in the 1986 reunion television film, Return to Mayberry, with fellow co-star, Don Knotts. Two reunion specials followed in 1993 and 2003, with strong ratings.
Matlock (1986–1995)
After leaving his still-popular show in 1968, and starting his own production company Andy Griffith Enterprises in 1972, Griffith starred in less-successful television series such as Headmaster (1970), The New Andy Griffith Show (1971), Adams of Eagle Lake (1975), Salvage 1 (1979) and The Yeagers (1980). After spending seven months in rehabilitation for leg paralysis from Guillain–Barré syndrome in 1983, Griffith returned to television as the title character, Ben Matlock, in the legal drama Matlock (1986–1995) on NBC and ABC. Matlock was a country lawyer in Atlanta, Georgia, who was known for his Southern drawl and for always winning his cases. Matlock also starred unfamiliar, struggling actors (both of whom were childhood fans of Andy Griffith) Nancy Stafford as Michelle Thomas (1987–1992) and Clarence Gilyard, Jr. as Conrad McMasters (1989–1993). By the end of its first season it was a ratings powerhouse on Tuesday nights. Although the show was nominated for four Emmy Awards, Griffith once again was never nominated. He did, however, win a People's Choice Award in 1987 for his work as Matlock.
Other television appearances
Griffith also made other character appearances through the years on Playhouse 90, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., The Mod Squad, Hawaii Five-O, The Doris Day Show, Here's Lucy, The Bionic Woman and Fantasy Island, among many others. He also reprised his role as Ben Matlock on Diagnosis: Murder in 1997, and his final guest-starring role was in 2001 in an episode of Dawson's Creek.
Films (including television films)
For most of the 1970s, Griffith starred or appeared in many television films, including The Strangers In 7A (1972), Go Ask Alice (1973), Winter Kill (1974) and Pray for the Wildcats (1974), which marked his first villainous role since A Face in the Crowd. Griffith appeared again as a villain in Savages (1974), a television film based on the novel Deathwatch (1972) by Robb White. Griffith received his only Primetime Emmy Award nomination as Outstanding Supporting Actor – Miniseries or a Movie for his role as the father of a murder victim in the television film Murder in Texas (1981) and won further acclaim for his role as a homicidal villain in the television film Murder in Coweta County (1983), co-starring music legend Johnny Cash as the sheriff. He also appeared in several television miniseries, including the television version of From Here to Eternity (1979), Roots: The Next Generations (1979), Centennial (1978), and the Watergate scandal-inspired Washington: Behind Closed Doors (1977), playing a former president loosely based on Lyndon B. Johnson.
Most of the television movies in which Griffith starred were also attempts to launch a new series. Winter Kill (1974) launched the short-lived Adams of Eagle Lake, which was canceled in 1975 after only two episodes. A year later, he starred as a New York City attorney for the DA's office in Street Killing, which also failed to launch a new show. Two television films for NBC in 1977, The Girl in the Empty Grave and Deadly Game, were attempts for Griffith to launch a new series featuring him as Police Chief Abel Marsh, a more hard-edged version of Andy Taylor; despite strong ratings, both were unsuccessful in leading to a new TV show.
During this period, Griffith also appeared in two feature films, both of which flopped at the box office. He co-starred with Jeff Bridges as a crusty old 1930s western actor in the comedy Hearts of the West (1975), and he appeared alongside Tom Berenger as a gay villainous colonel and cattle baron in the Western comedy spoof Rustlers' Rhapsody (1985).
Following another short-lived return to series television, playing a family patriarch in the Dynasty-inspired The Yeagers in 1980, Griffith continued to make guest appearances in several hit series, including Hotel, Fantasy Island, where he played a fictional version of western figure Judge Roy Bean featured in an aspiring singer's fantasy, and an episode of The Love Boat, which featured a memorable appearance by pop icon Andy Warhol. He also appeared as an attorney in the NBC miniseries Fatal Vision (1984), which is considered a precursor to his role in Matlock.
Griffith stunned many unfamiliar with his A Face in the Crowd work in the television film Crime of Innocence (1985)...wherein he portrayed a hateful and vindictive judge who routinely sentenced juveniles to hard prison time, followed by lengthy and equally-torturous probation. Also noteworthy in Griffith's darker roles was his character in Under the Influence (1986), a TV movie in which Griffith played an alcoholic, abusive patriarch. He further surprised audiences with his role as a dangerous and mysterious grandfather in the television film Gramps (1995) co-starring John Ritter. He also appeared as a comical villain in the spy movie spoof Spy Hard (1996) starring Leslie Nielsen. In the television film A Holiday Romance (1999), Griffith played the role of Jake Peterson. In the film Daddy and Them (2001), Griffith portrayed the patriarch of a dysfunctional southern family.
In the feature film Waitress (2007), Griffith played a crusty diner owner who takes a shine to Keri Russell's character. His last appearance was the leading role in the romantic comedy, independent film Play the Game (2009) as a lonely, widowed grandfather re-entering the dating world after a 60-year hiatus. The cast of Play the Game also included Rance Howard, Ron Howard's real-life father, who had made appearances in various supporting roles on The Andy Griffith Show, and Clint Howard, Ron's younger brother, who had the recurring role of Leon (the kid offering the ice cream cone or peanut butter sandwich) on The Andy Griffith Show.
Singing and recording career
Griffith sang as part of some of his acting roles, most notably in A Face in the Crowd and in many episodes of both The Andy Griffith Show and Matlock. In addition to his recordings of comic monologues in the 1950s, he made an album of upbeat country and gospel tunes during the run of The Andy Griffith Show, which included a version of the show's theme sung by Griffith under the title "The Fishin' Hole". In recent years, he recorded successful albums of classic Christian hymns for Sparrow Records. His most successful was the release I Love to Tell the Story: 25 Timeless Hymns (1996), which was certified platinum by the RIAA. The album won Grammy Award for Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album at the 1997 Grammy Awards.
Griffith appeared in country singer Brad Paisley's music video "Waitin' on a Woman" (2008).
Name dispute
William Harold Fenrick of Platteville, Wisconsin, legally changed his name to Andrew Jackson Griffith and ran unsuccessfully for sheriff of Grant County in November 2006. Subsequently, actor Griffith filed a lawsuit against Griffith/Fenrick, asserting that he violated trademark, copyright, and privacy laws by changing his name for the "sole purpose of taking advantage of Griffith's fame in an attempt to gain votes". On May 4, 2007, US District Court Judge John C. Shabaz ruled that Griffith/Fenrick did not violate federal trademark law because he did not use the Griffith name in a commercial transaction but instead in order "to seek elective office, fundamental First Amendment protected speech".
Association with Don Knotts and Ron Howard
Don Knotts
Griffith's friendship with Don Knotts began in 1955 when they co-starred in the Broadway play No Time for Sergeants. Several years later, Knotts had a regular role on The Andy Griffith Show for five seasons. Knotts left the series in 1965, but periodically returned for guest appearances. He appeared in the pilot for Griffith's subsequent short-lived series, The New Andy Griffith Show, and he had a recurring role on Matlock, from 1988 to 1992. In a January 2000 interview, Griffith said of Knotts, "The five years we worked together were the best five years of my life."
They kept in touch until Knotts' death in early 2006. Griffith traveled from his Manteo, North Carolina home to Los Angeles to visit the terminally ill Knotts at Cedars-Sinai just before Knotts died of lung cancer.
Ron Howard
Griffith's friendship with the then-unknown Ron Howard began in 1960 when they guest-starred in the episode of Make Room For Daddy that led to the formation of The Andy Griffith Show the same year. For eight seasons, they starred together in most of the show's episodes, portraying father and son.
They guest-starred together in the show's spin-off series Mayberry R.F.D. They appeared in an episode during which Griffith's character married his long-time girlfriend, Helen Crump, and in the Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C. episode "Opie Joins the Marines", in which Howard's character, Opie, runs away from home and attempts to enlist in the US Marines. They co-starred in the TV special Return to Mayberry (1986), in which the now-adult Opie is about to become a father. They later appeared together in CBS reunion specials in 1993 and 2003. Griffith also made a comedy cameo on the Saturday Night Live program of October 9, 1982, hosted by Howard.
In October 2008, Griffith and Howard briefly reprised their Mayberry roles in an online video Ron Howard's Call to Action. It was posted to comedy video website Funny or Die. The video encouraged people to vote and endorsed Democratic candidates Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
After Griffith's death, Howard stated: "His love of creating, the joy he took in it whether it was drama or comedy or his music, was inspiring to grow up around. The spirit he created on the set of The Andy Griffith Show was joyful and professional all at once. It was an amazing environment. And I think it was a reflection of the way he felt about having the opportunity to create something that people could enjoy. It was always with respect and passion for the opportunity and really what it could offer people in a very unpretentious and earthy way. He felt he was always working in service of an audience he really respected and cared about. He was a great influence on me. His passing is sad. But he lived a great rich life." In a 2016 interview with US Magazine, Howard recalled Griffith encouraging the then 7-year-old boy in his scriptwriting, saying "I felt elated." Howard recalled: "Andy Griffith said, 'What are you grinnin' at, young'un?' I said, 'That's the first idea of mine they've taken.' He said, 'It's the first that was any damn good. Now let's rehearse!'"
Political activities
In 2000, Griffith appeared in a last-minute campaign commercial where he endorsed then-Attorney General Mike Easley for governor of the state of North Carolina. Easley had been locked in a tight race with former Mayor of Charlotte Richard Vinroot and had been losing his lead in the polls. Easley went on to win that November, taking 52% of the vote to Vinroot's 46%. Many observers dubbed Easley's victory as the "Mayberry Miracle", and credit Griffith's endorsement for stopping his falling poll numbers.
In October 2008, Griffith appeared with Ron Howard in a Funny or Die video endorsement for Barack Obama's presidential campaign.
In addition to his online video with Howard in 2008, in politics Griffith favored Democrats and recorded television commercials endorsing North Carolina Governors Mike Easley and Bev Perdue. He spoke at the inauguration ceremonies of both. In 1989, he declined an offer by Democratic party officials to run against Jesse Helms, a Republican U.S. Senator from North Carolina.
In July 2010, he also starred in advertisements about Medicare.
Personal life and death
In 1945, while a student at the University of North Carolina, Griffith was initiated as a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, a national social music fraternity for men.
Griffith and Barbara Bray Edwards were married on August 22, 1949, and they adopted two children: a son named Andy Samuel Griffith Jr. (born in 1957 and better known as Sam Griffith) and a daughter named Dixie Nann Griffith. They divorced in 1972. Sam, a real-estate developer, died in 1996 after years of alcoholism. His second wife was Solica Cassuto, a Greek actress. They were married from 1973 to 1981. Griffith and Cindi Knight married on April 12, 1983, after they met when he was filming Murder in Coweta County.
Griffith's first serious health problem was in April 1983 when he was diagnosed with Guillain–Barré syndrome and could not walk for seven months because of paralysis from the knees down.
On May 9, 2000, he underwent quadruple heart-bypass surgery at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk, Virginia.
After a fall, Griffith underwent hip surgery on September 5, 2007, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California.
Griffith died on July 3, 2012, from a heart attack at the age of 86 at his coastal home in Manteo, Roanoke Island, in Dare County, North Carolina. He was buried in the Griffith family cemetery on the island within five hours of his death.
Awards and honors
Television Hall of Fame inductee (class of 1991)
Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Andy Griffith Museum—a 2,500-square-foot facility which houses the world's largest collection of Griffith memorabilia—opened on September 26, 2009, in Mount Airy, North Carolina
Grammy Award for Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album for I Love to Tell the Story – 25 Timeless Hymns in 1997
Country Gospel Music Hall of Fame inductee (class of 1999)
A stretch of US Highway 52 that passes through Mount Airy rededicated as the Andy Griffith Parkway
Statue of Griffith and Ron Howard (as Andy and Opie) constructed in Pullen Park in Raleigh, North Carolina
A second statue was later erected in Andy Griffith's hometown of Mount Airy of Andy and Opie outside the Andy Griffith museum.
Andy Griffith signature model guitar commissioned by C.F. Martin & Company
Presidential Medal of Freedom (2005)
Christian Music Hall of Fame inductee (class of 2007)
North Carolina Music Hall of Fame inductee (class of 2010)
Albums
Filmography
Features
Short subjects
Television work
References
External links
Inventory of the Andy Griffith Papers, 1949–1997, in the Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Andy Griffith Discography, at MTV
1926 births
2012 deaths
20th-century American comedians
20th-century American male actors
20th-century American male singers
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American singers
21st-century American comedians
21st-century American male actors
American gospel singers
American male comedians
American male film actors
American male singer-songwriters
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American performers of Christian music
American television producers
Burials in North Carolina
Colonial Records
Comedians from North Carolina
Grammy Award winners
Male actors from North Carolina
North Carolina Democrats
People from Manteo, North Carolina
People from Mount Airy, North Carolina
People with Guillain–Barré syndrome
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
Schoolteachers from North Carolina
Singer-songwriters from North Carolina
Southern gospel performers
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni
Writers from North Carolina | false | [
"She Je Boshe Ache is a Bangladeshi song, which was first released in 2004 as the title track of the teleplay Off Beat, which started at 36:55 of the teleplay. The original acoustic version, the one released in the teleplay, was written, composed, and sung by Arnob. Later, it was performed by Black in their compilation album Shopnochura which was released in the same year. In 2005, Arnob released the original version in his debut album Chaina Bhabish. However, because the Black version was released in 2004 (but after the release of the original version by Arnob in Off Beat earlier in 2004) and Arnob's original version was also included in his debut album Chaina Bhabish much later in 2005, many confused the version performed by Black to be the original one.\n\nThe song was a turning point in Arnob's career as it helped him to emerge into the Bangladeshi music scene. The song is still popular among the listeners, making it one of the most demanded songs in the concerts of Arnob as well as in the FM radio programs. The song was also used in the Kolkata film Aamra.\n\nReferences \n\nBangladeshi songs\n2004 singles\n2004 songs",
"Vera San Payo de Lemos (born 1951) is a Portuguese professor. She has translated many notable works from German into Portuguese and her awards include the Goethe Medal in 2006. Her works have appeared on the stage and on television.\n\nLife \nShe was born in 1951. Her first degree was in German studies which she obtained from the Faculty of Arts of the University of Lisbon. For her master's degree she again studied in Lisbon but this time in the Faculty of Social and Human Sciences of the Universidade Nova de Lisboa.\n\nIn 1980 she began her collaboration with João Lourenço which resulted in the staging of many plays which they worked on together. Their work has included the plays of Bertolt Brecht, German Tankred Dorst, American Sam Shepard the Irish playwright Conor McPherson, Austrian Werner Schwab, Botho Strauss, American Eugene O'Neill, British playwright Shelagh Delaney, Canadian Carole Fréchette and William Shakespeare. For her work in translating the difficult works of Werner Schwab she was awarded the Austrian Prize for Literary Translation in 1998 and 2002.\n\nHer plays with Lourenco have been staged at Teatro Aberto, Teatro Nacional de São Carlos and Teatro Nacional D. Maria II. Her work was staged on television in 1980s and 1990s and she has made personal TV appearances and interviews.\n\nIn 2003 she was awarded the Critics Prize from the Portuguese Association of Theater Critics and in 2006 she received the Goethe Medal. The German award was made on 22 March which is Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's date of Death.\n\nWorks include \n 1996 O Ensaio (TV Movie) (teleplay)\n 1995 Alguém Olhará Por Mim (TV Movie) (teleplay)\n 1994 O Tempo e o Quarto (TV Movie) (teleplay)\n 1994 Um Sabor a Mel (TV Movie) (adaptation)\n 1993 A Ópera dos Três Vinténs (TV Movie) (translation)\n 1991 Desejo Sob os Ulmeiros (TV Movie) (teleplay)\n 1991 O Suicidário (TV Movie) (teleplay)\n 1991 Loucos Por Amor (TV Movie) (adaptation)\n 1990 Happy End (TV Movie) (translation)\n 1990 Romeu e Julieta (TV Movie) (teleplay)\n 1989 A Rua (TV Movie) (teleplay)\n 1987 Jardim das Cerejas (TV Movie) (teleplay - as herself)\n 1986 and 2002 Odisseia no Terreiro do Paço (TV Movie) (play)\n 1985 A Boa Pessoa de Setzuan (TV Movie) (teleplay)\n\nReferences \n\n1951 births\nLiving people\nDramaturges\nPortuguese dramatists and playwrights"
] |
[
"Andy Griffith",
"From rising comedian to film star",
"How did Andy Griffith get his start as a comedian",
"Griffith's early career was as a monologist, delivering long stories such as What It Was, Was Football, which is told from the point of view of a naive country preacher",
"When did he start acting?",
"Griffith starred in Ira Levin's one-hour teleplay version of No Time for Sergeants (March 1955) --",
"What was his role in that teleplay",
"-- a story about a country boy in the United States Air Force -- on The United States Steel Hour, a television anthology series."
] | C_24f75fe71bad4c53aee504decee009be_0 | How did he transition into comedy from his monoloques | 4 | How did Andy Griffith transition into comedy from his monoloques? | Andy Griffith | Griffith's early career was as a monologist, delivering long stories such as What It Was, Was Football, which is told from the point of view of a naive country preacher trying to figure out what was going on in a football game. The monologue was released as a single in 1953 on the Colonial Records label, and was a hit for Griffith, reaching number nine on the charts in 1954. Griffith starred in Ira Levin's one-hour teleplay version of No Time for Sergeants (March 1955) -- a story about a country boy in the United States Air Force -- on The United States Steel Hour, a television anthology series. He expanded that role in Ira Levin's full-length theatrical version of the same name (October 1955) on Broadway in New York City. The role earned him a "Distinguished Supporting or Featured Dramatic Actor" nomination at the 1956 Tony Awards, losing to Ed Begley. He did win the 1956 Theatre World Award, however, a prize given for debut roles on Broadway. "Mr. Griffith does not have to condescend to Will Stockdale" (his role in the play), wrote Brooks Atkinson in The New York Times. "All he has to do is walk on the stage and look the audience straight in the face. If the armed forces cannot cope with Will Stockdale, neither can the audience resist Andy Griffith." Griffith later reprised his role for the film version (1958) of No Time for Sergeants; the film also featured Don Knotts, as a corporal in charge of manual-dexterity tests, marking the beginning of a lifelong association between Griffith and Knotts. No Time for Sergeants is considered the direct inspiration for the later television situation comedy Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. His only other New York stage appearance was the titular role in the 1959 musical Destry Rides Again, co-starring Dolores Gray. The show, with a score by Harold Rome, ran for 472 performances and more than a year. Griffith was nominated for "Distinguished Musical Actor" at the 1960 Tony Awards, losing to Jackie Gleason. He also portrayed a US Coast Guard sailor in the feature film Onionhead (1958); it was neither a critical nor a commercial success. CANNOTANSWER | a story about a country boy in the United States Air Force -- on The United States Steel Hour, a television anthology series. | Andy Samuel Griffith (June 1, 1926 – July 3, 2012) was an American actor, comedian, television producer, southern gospel singer, and writer whose career spanned seven decades in music and television. Known for his Southern drawl, his characters with a folksy-friendly personality, and his gruff but friendly voice, Griffith was a Tony Award nominee for two roles, and gained prominence in the starring role in director Elia Kazan's film A Face in the Crowd (1957) and No Time for Sergeants (1958) before he became better known for his television roles, playing the lead roles of Andy Taylor in the sitcom The Andy Griffith Show (1960–1968) and Ben Matlock in the legal drama Matlock (1986–1995).
Early life and education
Griffith was born on June 1, 1926, in Mount Airy, North Carolina, the only child of Carl Lee Griffith and his wife, Geneva (née Nunn). As a baby, Griffith lived with relatives until his parents could afford to buy a home. With neither a crib nor a bed, he slept in dresser drawers for several months. In 1929, when Griffith was three, his father began working as a helper or carpenter and purchased a home in Mount Airy's "blue-collar" south side. Griffith grew up listening to music. By the time he entered school, he was well aware that he was from what many considered the "wrong side of the tracks". He was a shy student, but once he found a way to make his peers laugh, he began to come out of his shell and come into his own.
As a student at Mount Airy High School, Griffith cultivated an interest in the arts, and he participated in the school's drama program. A growing love of music, particularly swing, would change his life. Griffith was raised Baptist and looked up to Ed Mickey, a minister at Grace Moravian Church, who led the brass band and taught him to sing and play the trombone. Mickey nurtured Griffith's talent throughout high school until graduation in 1944. Griffith was delighted when he was offered a role in The Lost Colony by Paul Green, a play about Roanoke Island still performed today. He performed as a cast member of the play for several years, playing a variety of roles until he finally landed the role of Sir Walter Raleigh, for whom North Carolina's capital is named.
He attended the University of North Carolina (UNC) in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree in 1949. He began college studying to be a Moravian preacher, but he changed his major to music and became a part of the school's Carolina Playmakers. At UNC, he was president of the UNC chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, America's oldest fraternity for men in music. He also played roles in several student operettas, including The Chimes of Normandy (1946), and Gilbert and Sullivan's The Gondoliers (1945), The Mikado (1948) and H.M.S. Pinafore (1949). After graduation, he taught music and drama for a few years at Goldsboro High School in Goldsboro, North Carolina, where he taught, among others, Carl Kasell. He also began to write.
Career
From rising comedian to film star
Griffith's early career was as a monologist, delivering long stories such as What It Was, Was Football, which is told from the point of view of a naïve country preacher trying to figure out what was going on in a football game. The monologue was released as a single in 1953 on the Colonial Records label, and was a hit for Griffith, reaching number nine on the charts in 1954.
Griffith starred in Ira Levin's one-hour teleplay, No Time for Sergeants (March 1955) — a story about a country boy in the United States Air Force — on The United States Steel Hour, a television anthology series. He expanded that role in Ira Levin's full-length theatrical version of the same name (October 1955) on Broadway in New York City. The role earned him a "Distinguished Supporting or Featured Dramatic Actor" nomination at the 1956 Tony Awards, losing to Ed Begley. He did win the 1956 Theatre World Award, however, a prize given for debut roles on Broadway. "Mr. Griffith does not have to condescend to Will Stockdale" (his role in the play), wrote Brooks Atkinson in The New York Times. "All he has to do is walk on the stage and look the audience straight in the face. If the armed forces cannot cope with Will Stockdale, neither can the audience resist Andy Griffith."
Griffith later reprised his role for the film version (1958) of No Time for Sergeants; the film also featured Don Knotts, as a corporal in charge of manual-dexterity tests, marking the beginning of a lifelong association between Griffith and Knotts. No Time for Sergeants is considered the direct inspiration for the later television situation comedy Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. – a spin-off of The Andy Griffith Show.
His only other New York stage appearance was the title role in the 1959 musical Destry Rides Again, co-starring Dolores Gray. The show, with a score by Harold Rome, ran for 472 performances and more than a year. Griffith was nominated for "Distinguished Musical Actor" at the 1960 Tony Awards, losing to Jackie Gleason. He also portrayed a US Coast Guard sailor in the feature film Onionhead (1958). It was neither a critical nor a commercial success.
Dramatic role in A Face in the Crowd (1957)
In 1957, Griffith made his film debut starring in the film A Face in the Crowd. He plays a "country boy" who is manipulative and power-hungry: a drifter who becomes a television host and uses his show as a gateway to political power. The film was directed by Elia Kazan and written by Budd Schulberg and co-stars Patricia Neal, Walter Matthau, Tony Franciosa, and Lee Remick (in her film debut).
A 2005 DVD reissue of A Face in the Crowd includes a mini-documentary on the film, with comments from Schulberg and cast members Griffith, Franciosa, and Neal. In his interview, Griffith recalls Kazan prepping him to shoot his first scene with Remick's teenaged baton twirler, who captivates Griffith's character on a trip to Arkansas. Griffith also expresses his belief that the film was more popular in more recent decades than it was when originally released.
Television roles
Early television roles
Griffith's first appearance on television was in 1955 in the one-hour teleplay of No Time for Sergeants on The United States Steel Hour. That was the first of two appearances on that series. In 1960, Griffith appeared as a county sheriff, who was also a justice of the peace and the editor of the local newspaper, in an episode of Make Room for Daddy starring Danny Thomas. This episode, in which Thomas's character is stopped for running a stop sign in a little town, served as a backdoor pilot for The Andy Griffith Show. Both shows were produced by Sheldon Leonard.
The Andy Griffith Show (1960–1968)
Beginning in September 1960, Griffith starred as Sheriff Andy Taylor in The Andy Griffith Show for the CBS television network. The show took place in the fictional town of Mayberry, North Carolina, where Taylor, a widower, was the sheriff and town sage. The show was filmed at Desilu Studios, with exteriors filmed at Forty Acres in Culver City, California.
From 1960 to 1965, the show co-starred character actor and comedian — and Griffith's longtime friend — Don Knotts in the role of Deputy Barney Fife, Taylor's best friend and comedy partner. He was also Taylor's cousin in the show at first, though later they dropped that cousin relationship and talked simply of knowing one another since boyhood. In the series premiere episode, in a conversation between the two, Fife calls Taylor "Cousin Andy", and Taylor calls Fife "Cousin Barney". The show also starred child actor Ron Howard (then known as Ronny Howard), who played Taylor's only child, Opie Taylor. It was an immediate hit. Griffith never received a writing credit for the show, but he worked on the development of every script. Knotts was frequently lauded and won multiple Emmy Awards for his comedic performances, as did Frances Bavier in 1967, while Griffith was never nominated for an Emmy Award during the show's run.
In 1967, Griffith was under contract with CBS to do one more season of the show. However, he decided to quit the show to pursue a movie career and other projects. The series continued as Mayberry R.F.D., with Ken Berry starring as a widower farmer and many of the regular characters recurring, some regularly and some as guest appearances. Griffith served as executive producer (according to Griffith, he came in once a week to review the week's scripts and give input) and guest starred in five episodes (the pilot episode involved his marriage to Helen Crump). He made final appearances as Taylor in the 1986 reunion television film, Return to Mayberry, with fellow co-star, Don Knotts. Two reunion specials followed in 1993 and 2003, with strong ratings.
Matlock (1986–1995)
After leaving his still-popular show in 1968, and starting his own production company Andy Griffith Enterprises in 1972, Griffith starred in less-successful television series such as Headmaster (1970), The New Andy Griffith Show (1971), Adams of Eagle Lake (1975), Salvage 1 (1979) and The Yeagers (1980). After spending seven months in rehabilitation for leg paralysis from Guillain–Barré syndrome in 1983, Griffith returned to television as the title character, Ben Matlock, in the legal drama Matlock (1986–1995) on NBC and ABC. Matlock was a country lawyer in Atlanta, Georgia, who was known for his Southern drawl and for always winning his cases. Matlock also starred unfamiliar, struggling actors (both of whom were childhood fans of Andy Griffith) Nancy Stafford as Michelle Thomas (1987–1992) and Clarence Gilyard, Jr. as Conrad McMasters (1989–1993). By the end of its first season it was a ratings powerhouse on Tuesday nights. Although the show was nominated for four Emmy Awards, Griffith once again was never nominated. He did, however, win a People's Choice Award in 1987 for his work as Matlock.
Other television appearances
Griffith also made other character appearances through the years on Playhouse 90, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., The Mod Squad, Hawaii Five-O, The Doris Day Show, Here's Lucy, The Bionic Woman and Fantasy Island, among many others. He also reprised his role as Ben Matlock on Diagnosis: Murder in 1997, and his final guest-starring role was in 2001 in an episode of Dawson's Creek.
Films (including television films)
For most of the 1970s, Griffith starred or appeared in many television films, including The Strangers In 7A (1972), Go Ask Alice (1973), Winter Kill (1974) and Pray for the Wildcats (1974), which marked his first villainous role since A Face in the Crowd. Griffith appeared again as a villain in Savages (1974), a television film based on the novel Deathwatch (1972) by Robb White. Griffith received his only Primetime Emmy Award nomination as Outstanding Supporting Actor – Miniseries or a Movie for his role as the father of a murder victim in the television film Murder in Texas (1981) and won further acclaim for his role as a homicidal villain in the television film Murder in Coweta County (1983), co-starring music legend Johnny Cash as the sheriff. He also appeared in several television miniseries, including the television version of From Here to Eternity (1979), Roots: The Next Generations (1979), Centennial (1978), and the Watergate scandal-inspired Washington: Behind Closed Doors (1977), playing a former president loosely based on Lyndon B. Johnson.
Most of the television movies in which Griffith starred were also attempts to launch a new series. Winter Kill (1974) launched the short-lived Adams of Eagle Lake, which was canceled in 1975 after only two episodes. A year later, he starred as a New York City attorney for the DA's office in Street Killing, which also failed to launch a new show. Two television films for NBC in 1977, The Girl in the Empty Grave and Deadly Game, were attempts for Griffith to launch a new series featuring him as Police Chief Abel Marsh, a more hard-edged version of Andy Taylor; despite strong ratings, both were unsuccessful in leading to a new TV show.
During this period, Griffith also appeared in two feature films, both of which flopped at the box office. He co-starred with Jeff Bridges as a crusty old 1930s western actor in the comedy Hearts of the West (1975), and he appeared alongside Tom Berenger as a gay villainous colonel and cattle baron in the Western comedy spoof Rustlers' Rhapsody (1985).
Following another short-lived return to series television, playing a family patriarch in the Dynasty-inspired The Yeagers in 1980, Griffith continued to make guest appearances in several hit series, including Hotel, Fantasy Island, where he played a fictional version of western figure Judge Roy Bean featured in an aspiring singer's fantasy, and an episode of The Love Boat, which featured a memorable appearance by pop icon Andy Warhol. He also appeared as an attorney in the NBC miniseries Fatal Vision (1984), which is considered a precursor to his role in Matlock.
Griffith stunned many unfamiliar with his A Face in the Crowd work in the television film Crime of Innocence (1985)...wherein he portrayed a hateful and vindictive judge who routinely sentenced juveniles to hard prison time, followed by lengthy and equally-torturous probation. Also noteworthy in Griffith's darker roles was his character in Under the Influence (1986), a TV movie in which Griffith played an alcoholic, abusive patriarch. He further surprised audiences with his role as a dangerous and mysterious grandfather in the television film Gramps (1995) co-starring John Ritter. He also appeared as a comical villain in the spy movie spoof Spy Hard (1996) starring Leslie Nielsen. In the television film A Holiday Romance (1999), Griffith played the role of Jake Peterson. In the film Daddy and Them (2001), Griffith portrayed the patriarch of a dysfunctional southern family.
In the feature film Waitress (2007), Griffith played a crusty diner owner who takes a shine to Keri Russell's character. His last appearance was the leading role in the romantic comedy, independent film Play the Game (2009) as a lonely, widowed grandfather re-entering the dating world after a 60-year hiatus. The cast of Play the Game also included Rance Howard, Ron Howard's real-life father, who had made appearances in various supporting roles on The Andy Griffith Show, and Clint Howard, Ron's younger brother, who had the recurring role of Leon (the kid offering the ice cream cone or peanut butter sandwich) on The Andy Griffith Show.
Singing and recording career
Griffith sang as part of some of his acting roles, most notably in A Face in the Crowd and in many episodes of both The Andy Griffith Show and Matlock. In addition to his recordings of comic monologues in the 1950s, he made an album of upbeat country and gospel tunes during the run of The Andy Griffith Show, which included a version of the show's theme sung by Griffith under the title "The Fishin' Hole". In recent years, he recorded successful albums of classic Christian hymns for Sparrow Records. His most successful was the release I Love to Tell the Story: 25 Timeless Hymns (1996), which was certified platinum by the RIAA. The album won Grammy Award for Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album at the 1997 Grammy Awards.
Griffith appeared in country singer Brad Paisley's music video "Waitin' on a Woman" (2008).
Name dispute
William Harold Fenrick of Platteville, Wisconsin, legally changed his name to Andrew Jackson Griffith and ran unsuccessfully for sheriff of Grant County in November 2006. Subsequently, actor Griffith filed a lawsuit against Griffith/Fenrick, asserting that he violated trademark, copyright, and privacy laws by changing his name for the "sole purpose of taking advantage of Griffith's fame in an attempt to gain votes". On May 4, 2007, US District Court Judge John C. Shabaz ruled that Griffith/Fenrick did not violate federal trademark law because he did not use the Griffith name in a commercial transaction but instead in order "to seek elective office, fundamental First Amendment protected speech".
Association with Don Knotts and Ron Howard
Don Knotts
Griffith's friendship with Don Knotts began in 1955 when they co-starred in the Broadway play No Time for Sergeants. Several years later, Knotts had a regular role on The Andy Griffith Show for five seasons. Knotts left the series in 1965, but periodically returned for guest appearances. He appeared in the pilot for Griffith's subsequent short-lived series, The New Andy Griffith Show, and he had a recurring role on Matlock, from 1988 to 1992. In a January 2000 interview, Griffith said of Knotts, "The five years we worked together were the best five years of my life."
They kept in touch until Knotts' death in early 2006. Griffith traveled from his Manteo, North Carolina home to Los Angeles to visit the terminally ill Knotts at Cedars-Sinai just before Knotts died of lung cancer.
Ron Howard
Griffith's friendship with the then-unknown Ron Howard began in 1960 when they guest-starred in the episode of Make Room For Daddy that led to the formation of The Andy Griffith Show the same year. For eight seasons, they starred together in most of the show's episodes, portraying father and son.
They guest-starred together in the show's spin-off series Mayberry R.F.D. They appeared in an episode during which Griffith's character married his long-time girlfriend, Helen Crump, and in the Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C. episode "Opie Joins the Marines", in which Howard's character, Opie, runs away from home and attempts to enlist in the US Marines. They co-starred in the TV special Return to Mayberry (1986), in which the now-adult Opie is about to become a father. They later appeared together in CBS reunion specials in 1993 and 2003. Griffith also made a comedy cameo on the Saturday Night Live program of October 9, 1982, hosted by Howard.
In October 2008, Griffith and Howard briefly reprised their Mayberry roles in an online video Ron Howard's Call to Action. It was posted to comedy video website Funny or Die. The video encouraged people to vote and endorsed Democratic candidates Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
After Griffith's death, Howard stated: "His love of creating, the joy he took in it whether it was drama or comedy or his music, was inspiring to grow up around. The spirit he created on the set of The Andy Griffith Show was joyful and professional all at once. It was an amazing environment. And I think it was a reflection of the way he felt about having the opportunity to create something that people could enjoy. It was always with respect and passion for the opportunity and really what it could offer people in a very unpretentious and earthy way. He felt he was always working in service of an audience he really respected and cared about. He was a great influence on me. His passing is sad. But he lived a great rich life." In a 2016 interview with US Magazine, Howard recalled Griffith encouraging the then 7-year-old boy in his scriptwriting, saying "I felt elated." Howard recalled: "Andy Griffith said, 'What are you grinnin' at, young'un?' I said, 'That's the first idea of mine they've taken.' He said, 'It's the first that was any damn good. Now let's rehearse!'"
Political activities
In 2000, Griffith appeared in a last-minute campaign commercial where he endorsed then-Attorney General Mike Easley for governor of the state of North Carolina. Easley had been locked in a tight race with former Mayor of Charlotte Richard Vinroot and had been losing his lead in the polls. Easley went on to win that November, taking 52% of the vote to Vinroot's 46%. Many observers dubbed Easley's victory as the "Mayberry Miracle", and credit Griffith's endorsement for stopping his falling poll numbers.
In October 2008, Griffith appeared with Ron Howard in a Funny or Die video endorsement for Barack Obama's presidential campaign.
In addition to his online video with Howard in 2008, in politics Griffith favored Democrats and recorded television commercials endorsing North Carolina Governors Mike Easley and Bev Perdue. He spoke at the inauguration ceremonies of both. In 1989, he declined an offer by Democratic party officials to run against Jesse Helms, a Republican U.S. Senator from North Carolina.
In July 2010, he also starred in advertisements about Medicare.
Personal life and death
In 1945, while a student at the University of North Carolina, Griffith was initiated as a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, a national social music fraternity for men.
Griffith and Barbara Bray Edwards were married on August 22, 1949, and they adopted two children: a son named Andy Samuel Griffith Jr. (born in 1957 and better known as Sam Griffith) and a daughter named Dixie Nann Griffith. They divorced in 1972. Sam, a real-estate developer, died in 1996 after years of alcoholism. His second wife was Solica Cassuto, a Greek actress. They were married from 1973 to 1981. Griffith and Cindi Knight married on April 12, 1983, after they met when he was filming Murder in Coweta County.
Griffith's first serious health problem was in April 1983 when he was diagnosed with Guillain–Barré syndrome and could not walk for seven months because of paralysis from the knees down.
On May 9, 2000, he underwent quadruple heart-bypass surgery at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk, Virginia.
After a fall, Griffith underwent hip surgery on September 5, 2007, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California.
Griffith died on July 3, 2012, from a heart attack at the age of 86 at his coastal home in Manteo, Roanoke Island, in Dare County, North Carolina. He was buried in the Griffith family cemetery on the island within five hours of his death.
Awards and honors
Television Hall of Fame inductee (class of 1991)
Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Andy Griffith Museum—a 2,500-square-foot facility which houses the world's largest collection of Griffith memorabilia—opened on September 26, 2009, in Mount Airy, North Carolina
Grammy Award for Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album for I Love to Tell the Story – 25 Timeless Hymns in 1997
Country Gospel Music Hall of Fame inductee (class of 1999)
A stretch of US Highway 52 that passes through Mount Airy rededicated as the Andy Griffith Parkway
Statue of Griffith and Ron Howard (as Andy and Opie) constructed in Pullen Park in Raleigh, North Carolina
A second statue was later erected in Andy Griffith's hometown of Mount Airy of Andy and Opie outside the Andy Griffith museum.
Andy Griffith signature model guitar commissioned by C.F. Martin & Company
Presidential Medal of Freedom (2005)
Christian Music Hall of Fame inductee (class of 2007)
North Carolina Music Hall of Fame inductee (class of 2010)
Albums
Filmography
Features
Short subjects
Television work
References
External links
Inventory of the Andy Griffith Papers, 1949–1997, in the Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Andy Griffith Discography, at MTV
1926 births
2012 deaths
20th-century American comedians
20th-century American male actors
20th-century American male singers
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American singers
21st-century American comedians
21st-century American male actors
American gospel singers
American male comedians
American male film actors
American male singer-songwriters
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American performers of Christian music
American television producers
Burials in North Carolina
Colonial Records
Comedians from North Carolina
Grammy Award winners
Male actors from North Carolina
North Carolina Democrats
People from Manteo, North Carolina
People from Mount Airy, North Carolina
People with Guillain–Barré syndrome
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
Schoolteachers from North Carolina
Singer-songwriters from North Carolina
Southern gospel performers
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni
Writers from North Carolina | false | [
"Supervoksen () is a Danish comedy-drama from 2006. It is the first feature film from director Christina Rosendahl.\n\nPlot\nRebekka Claudia and Sofie are 15 years old and in high school. In class, they learn how different cultures mark the transition from childhood to adulthood. Deciding that confirmation is meaningless, they decide to create their own rite of passage, which involves choosing at random a dare from a cootie catcher. Attempting to perform their dares leads each girl towards maturity. Claudia learns she deserves respect in her romantic relationships, Sofie begins to accept her attraction to women, and Rebekka realises she is not the adult she assumed herself to be.\n\nCast\nEmma Leth .... Rebekka\nCathrine Bjørn .... Sofie\nAmalie Lindegård .... Claudia\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n \n\n2006 films\nDanish films\n2006 comedy-drama films\nDanish LGBT-related films\nLesbian-related films\nDanish-language films\n2006 LGBT-related films\nLGBT-related comedy-drama films",
"Nathan Junior Caton (born 2 November, 1984) is an English comedian.\n\nEarly life\nCaton was born in Hammersmith, London and raised in the West London town of Greenford. He has a younger brother who is accredited to some of Caton's early jokes. He became interested in comedy while doing A Level drama at Richmond upon Thames College and continued the interest whilst an architecture student at Anglia Ruskin University. In 2005 he won the Chortle Student Comedian of the Year award. He was the first in his family to graduate from university but chose to pursue comedy full-time, much to his parents' initial disappointment. Caton is a Brentford fan.\n\nCareer\nCaton appeared on ITV's Comedy Cuts in 2007 after appearing at the Edinburgh Festival. In 2012, he did a tour called \"Get Rich or Die Cryin'\". He has also written for the children's series Rastamouse. Also in 2012, he wrote and appeared in the Radio Four series Can't Tell Nathan Caton Nothing, looking at his own life involving how he went into a career in comedy against his parents' wishes after his background in architecture. In July 2012, he appeared on the Radio Four programme The Now Show, on which he did a sketch referring to a news story about John Terry. He subsequently appeared again in March 2013 (mocking Justin Bieber's recent UK tour) and in October 2013. He has also appeared on Russell Howard's Good News and Mock the Week. In 2014, Nathan hosted Videogame Nation for Ginx TV on Challenge. Caton also wrote the CBeebies series JoJo and Gran Gran.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nPersonal Website\n\nLiving people\n1984 births\nAlumni of Anglia Ruskin University\nBlack British male comedians\nComedians from London\nEnglish people of Nigerian descent\nPeople from Hammersmith\n21st-century English comedians"
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"Griffith's early career was as a monologist, delivering long stories such as What It Was, Was Football, which is told from the point of view of a naive country preacher",
"When did he start acting?",
"Griffith starred in Ira Levin's one-hour teleplay version of No Time for Sergeants (March 1955) --",
"What was his role in that teleplay",
"-- a story about a country boy in the United States Air Force -- on The United States Steel Hour, a television anthology series.",
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"a story about a country boy in the United States Air Force -- on The United States Steel Hour, a television anthology series."
] | C_24f75fe71bad4c53aee504decee009be_0 | What did he do after he was on the television anthology series | 5 | What did Andy Griffith do after he was on the television anthology series? | Andy Griffith | Griffith's early career was as a monologist, delivering long stories such as What It Was, Was Football, which is told from the point of view of a naive country preacher trying to figure out what was going on in a football game. The monologue was released as a single in 1953 on the Colonial Records label, and was a hit for Griffith, reaching number nine on the charts in 1954. Griffith starred in Ira Levin's one-hour teleplay version of No Time for Sergeants (March 1955) -- a story about a country boy in the United States Air Force -- on The United States Steel Hour, a television anthology series. He expanded that role in Ira Levin's full-length theatrical version of the same name (October 1955) on Broadway in New York City. The role earned him a "Distinguished Supporting or Featured Dramatic Actor" nomination at the 1956 Tony Awards, losing to Ed Begley. He did win the 1956 Theatre World Award, however, a prize given for debut roles on Broadway. "Mr. Griffith does not have to condescend to Will Stockdale" (his role in the play), wrote Brooks Atkinson in The New York Times. "All he has to do is walk on the stage and look the audience straight in the face. If the armed forces cannot cope with Will Stockdale, neither can the audience resist Andy Griffith." Griffith later reprised his role for the film version (1958) of No Time for Sergeants; the film also featured Don Knotts, as a corporal in charge of manual-dexterity tests, marking the beginning of a lifelong association between Griffith and Knotts. No Time for Sergeants is considered the direct inspiration for the later television situation comedy Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. His only other New York stage appearance was the titular role in the 1959 musical Destry Rides Again, co-starring Dolores Gray. The show, with a score by Harold Rome, ran for 472 performances and more than a year. Griffith was nominated for "Distinguished Musical Actor" at the 1960 Tony Awards, losing to Jackie Gleason. He also portrayed a US Coast Guard sailor in the feature film Onionhead (1958); it was neither a critical nor a commercial success. CANNOTANSWER | He expanded that role in Ira Levin's full-length theatrical version of the same name (October 1955) on Broadway in New York City. | Andy Samuel Griffith (June 1, 1926 – July 3, 2012) was an American actor, comedian, television producer, southern gospel singer, and writer whose career spanned seven decades in music and television. Known for his Southern drawl, his characters with a folksy-friendly personality, and his gruff but friendly voice, Griffith was a Tony Award nominee for two roles, and gained prominence in the starring role in director Elia Kazan's film A Face in the Crowd (1957) and No Time for Sergeants (1958) before he became better known for his television roles, playing the lead roles of Andy Taylor in the sitcom The Andy Griffith Show (1960–1968) and Ben Matlock in the legal drama Matlock (1986–1995).
Early life and education
Griffith was born on June 1, 1926, in Mount Airy, North Carolina, the only child of Carl Lee Griffith and his wife, Geneva (née Nunn). As a baby, Griffith lived with relatives until his parents could afford to buy a home. With neither a crib nor a bed, he slept in dresser drawers for several months. In 1929, when Griffith was three, his father began working as a helper or carpenter and purchased a home in Mount Airy's "blue-collar" south side. Griffith grew up listening to music. By the time he entered school, he was well aware that he was from what many considered the "wrong side of the tracks". He was a shy student, but once he found a way to make his peers laugh, he began to come out of his shell and come into his own.
As a student at Mount Airy High School, Griffith cultivated an interest in the arts, and he participated in the school's drama program. A growing love of music, particularly swing, would change his life. Griffith was raised Baptist and looked up to Ed Mickey, a minister at Grace Moravian Church, who led the brass band and taught him to sing and play the trombone. Mickey nurtured Griffith's talent throughout high school until graduation in 1944. Griffith was delighted when he was offered a role in The Lost Colony by Paul Green, a play about Roanoke Island still performed today. He performed as a cast member of the play for several years, playing a variety of roles until he finally landed the role of Sir Walter Raleigh, for whom North Carolina's capital is named.
He attended the University of North Carolina (UNC) in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree in 1949. He began college studying to be a Moravian preacher, but he changed his major to music and became a part of the school's Carolina Playmakers. At UNC, he was president of the UNC chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, America's oldest fraternity for men in music. He also played roles in several student operettas, including The Chimes of Normandy (1946), and Gilbert and Sullivan's The Gondoliers (1945), The Mikado (1948) and H.M.S. Pinafore (1949). After graduation, he taught music and drama for a few years at Goldsboro High School in Goldsboro, North Carolina, where he taught, among others, Carl Kasell. He also began to write.
Career
From rising comedian to film star
Griffith's early career was as a monologist, delivering long stories such as What It Was, Was Football, which is told from the point of view of a naïve country preacher trying to figure out what was going on in a football game. The monologue was released as a single in 1953 on the Colonial Records label, and was a hit for Griffith, reaching number nine on the charts in 1954.
Griffith starred in Ira Levin's one-hour teleplay, No Time for Sergeants (March 1955) — a story about a country boy in the United States Air Force — on The United States Steel Hour, a television anthology series. He expanded that role in Ira Levin's full-length theatrical version of the same name (October 1955) on Broadway in New York City. The role earned him a "Distinguished Supporting or Featured Dramatic Actor" nomination at the 1956 Tony Awards, losing to Ed Begley. He did win the 1956 Theatre World Award, however, a prize given for debut roles on Broadway. "Mr. Griffith does not have to condescend to Will Stockdale" (his role in the play), wrote Brooks Atkinson in The New York Times. "All he has to do is walk on the stage and look the audience straight in the face. If the armed forces cannot cope with Will Stockdale, neither can the audience resist Andy Griffith."
Griffith later reprised his role for the film version (1958) of No Time for Sergeants; the film also featured Don Knotts, as a corporal in charge of manual-dexterity tests, marking the beginning of a lifelong association between Griffith and Knotts. No Time for Sergeants is considered the direct inspiration for the later television situation comedy Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. – a spin-off of The Andy Griffith Show.
His only other New York stage appearance was the title role in the 1959 musical Destry Rides Again, co-starring Dolores Gray. The show, with a score by Harold Rome, ran for 472 performances and more than a year. Griffith was nominated for "Distinguished Musical Actor" at the 1960 Tony Awards, losing to Jackie Gleason. He also portrayed a US Coast Guard sailor in the feature film Onionhead (1958). It was neither a critical nor a commercial success.
Dramatic role in A Face in the Crowd (1957)
In 1957, Griffith made his film debut starring in the film A Face in the Crowd. He plays a "country boy" who is manipulative and power-hungry: a drifter who becomes a television host and uses his show as a gateway to political power. The film was directed by Elia Kazan and written by Budd Schulberg and co-stars Patricia Neal, Walter Matthau, Tony Franciosa, and Lee Remick (in her film debut).
A 2005 DVD reissue of A Face in the Crowd includes a mini-documentary on the film, with comments from Schulberg and cast members Griffith, Franciosa, and Neal. In his interview, Griffith recalls Kazan prepping him to shoot his first scene with Remick's teenaged baton twirler, who captivates Griffith's character on a trip to Arkansas. Griffith also expresses his belief that the film was more popular in more recent decades than it was when originally released.
Television roles
Early television roles
Griffith's first appearance on television was in 1955 in the one-hour teleplay of No Time for Sergeants on The United States Steel Hour. That was the first of two appearances on that series. In 1960, Griffith appeared as a county sheriff, who was also a justice of the peace and the editor of the local newspaper, in an episode of Make Room for Daddy starring Danny Thomas. This episode, in which Thomas's character is stopped for running a stop sign in a little town, served as a backdoor pilot for The Andy Griffith Show. Both shows were produced by Sheldon Leonard.
The Andy Griffith Show (1960–1968)
Beginning in September 1960, Griffith starred as Sheriff Andy Taylor in The Andy Griffith Show for the CBS television network. The show took place in the fictional town of Mayberry, North Carolina, where Taylor, a widower, was the sheriff and town sage. The show was filmed at Desilu Studios, with exteriors filmed at Forty Acres in Culver City, California.
From 1960 to 1965, the show co-starred character actor and comedian — and Griffith's longtime friend — Don Knotts in the role of Deputy Barney Fife, Taylor's best friend and comedy partner. He was also Taylor's cousin in the show at first, though later they dropped that cousin relationship and talked simply of knowing one another since boyhood. In the series premiere episode, in a conversation between the two, Fife calls Taylor "Cousin Andy", and Taylor calls Fife "Cousin Barney". The show also starred child actor Ron Howard (then known as Ronny Howard), who played Taylor's only child, Opie Taylor. It was an immediate hit. Griffith never received a writing credit for the show, but he worked on the development of every script. Knotts was frequently lauded and won multiple Emmy Awards for his comedic performances, as did Frances Bavier in 1967, while Griffith was never nominated for an Emmy Award during the show's run.
In 1967, Griffith was under contract with CBS to do one more season of the show. However, he decided to quit the show to pursue a movie career and other projects. The series continued as Mayberry R.F.D., with Ken Berry starring as a widower farmer and many of the regular characters recurring, some regularly and some as guest appearances. Griffith served as executive producer (according to Griffith, he came in once a week to review the week's scripts and give input) and guest starred in five episodes (the pilot episode involved his marriage to Helen Crump). He made final appearances as Taylor in the 1986 reunion television film, Return to Mayberry, with fellow co-star, Don Knotts. Two reunion specials followed in 1993 and 2003, with strong ratings.
Matlock (1986–1995)
After leaving his still-popular show in 1968, and starting his own production company Andy Griffith Enterprises in 1972, Griffith starred in less-successful television series such as Headmaster (1970), The New Andy Griffith Show (1971), Adams of Eagle Lake (1975), Salvage 1 (1979) and The Yeagers (1980). After spending seven months in rehabilitation for leg paralysis from Guillain–Barré syndrome in 1983, Griffith returned to television as the title character, Ben Matlock, in the legal drama Matlock (1986–1995) on NBC and ABC. Matlock was a country lawyer in Atlanta, Georgia, who was known for his Southern drawl and for always winning his cases. Matlock also starred unfamiliar, struggling actors (both of whom were childhood fans of Andy Griffith) Nancy Stafford as Michelle Thomas (1987–1992) and Clarence Gilyard, Jr. as Conrad McMasters (1989–1993). By the end of its first season it was a ratings powerhouse on Tuesday nights. Although the show was nominated for four Emmy Awards, Griffith once again was never nominated. He did, however, win a People's Choice Award in 1987 for his work as Matlock.
Other television appearances
Griffith also made other character appearances through the years on Playhouse 90, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., The Mod Squad, Hawaii Five-O, The Doris Day Show, Here's Lucy, The Bionic Woman and Fantasy Island, among many others. He also reprised his role as Ben Matlock on Diagnosis: Murder in 1997, and his final guest-starring role was in 2001 in an episode of Dawson's Creek.
Films (including television films)
For most of the 1970s, Griffith starred or appeared in many television films, including The Strangers In 7A (1972), Go Ask Alice (1973), Winter Kill (1974) and Pray for the Wildcats (1974), which marked his first villainous role since A Face in the Crowd. Griffith appeared again as a villain in Savages (1974), a television film based on the novel Deathwatch (1972) by Robb White. Griffith received his only Primetime Emmy Award nomination as Outstanding Supporting Actor – Miniseries or a Movie for his role as the father of a murder victim in the television film Murder in Texas (1981) and won further acclaim for his role as a homicidal villain in the television film Murder in Coweta County (1983), co-starring music legend Johnny Cash as the sheriff. He also appeared in several television miniseries, including the television version of From Here to Eternity (1979), Roots: The Next Generations (1979), Centennial (1978), and the Watergate scandal-inspired Washington: Behind Closed Doors (1977), playing a former president loosely based on Lyndon B. Johnson.
Most of the television movies in which Griffith starred were also attempts to launch a new series. Winter Kill (1974) launched the short-lived Adams of Eagle Lake, which was canceled in 1975 after only two episodes. A year later, he starred as a New York City attorney for the DA's office in Street Killing, which also failed to launch a new show. Two television films for NBC in 1977, The Girl in the Empty Grave and Deadly Game, were attempts for Griffith to launch a new series featuring him as Police Chief Abel Marsh, a more hard-edged version of Andy Taylor; despite strong ratings, both were unsuccessful in leading to a new TV show.
During this period, Griffith also appeared in two feature films, both of which flopped at the box office. He co-starred with Jeff Bridges as a crusty old 1930s western actor in the comedy Hearts of the West (1975), and he appeared alongside Tom Berenger as a gay villainous colonel and cattle baron in the Western comedy spoof Rustlers' Rhapsody (1985).
Following another short-lived return to series television, playing a family patriarch in the Dynasty-inspired The Yeagers in 1980, Griffith continued to make guest appearances in several hit series, including Hotel, Fantasy Island, where he played a fictional version of western figure Judge Roy Bean featured in an aspiring singer's fantasy, and an episode of The Love Boat, which featured a memorable appearance by pop icon Andy Warhol. He also appeared as an attorney in the NBC miniseries Fatal Vision (1984), which is considered a precursor to his role in Matlock.
Griffith stunned many unfamiliar with his A Face in the Crowd work in the television film Crime of Innocence (1985)...wherein he portrayed a hateful and vindictive judge who routinely sentenced juveniles to hard prison time, followed by lengthy and equally-torturous probation. Also noteworthy in Griffith's darker roles was his character in Under the Influence (1986), a TV movie in which Griffith played an alcoholic, abusive patriarch. He further surprised audiences with his role as a dangerous and mysterious grandfather in the television film Gramps (1995) co-starring John Ritter. He also appeared as a comical villain in the spy movie spoof Spy Hard (1996) starring Leslie Nielsen. In the television film A Holiday Romance (1999), Griffith played the role of Jake Peterson. In the film Daddy and Them (2001), Griffith portrayed the patriarch of a dysfunctional southern family.
In the feature film Waitress (2007), Griffith played a crusty diner owner who takes a shine to Keri Russell's character. His last appearance was the leading role in the romantic comedy, independent film Play the Game (2009) as a lonely, widowed grandfather re-entering the dating world after a 60-year hiatus. The cast of Play the Game also included Rance Howard, Ron Howard's real-life father, who had made appearances in various supporting roles on The Andy Griffith Show, and Clint Howard, Ron's younger brother, who had the recurring role of Leon (the kid offering the ice cream cone or peanut butter sandwich) on The Andy Griffith Show.
Singing and recording career
Griffith sang as part of some of his acting roles, most notably in A Face in the Crowd and in many episodes of both The Andy Griffith Show and Matlock. In addition to his recordings of comic monologues in the 1950s, he made an album of upbeat country and gospel tunes during the run of The Andy Griffith Show, which included a version of the show's theme sung by Griffith under the title "The Fishin' Hole". In recent years, he recorded successful albums of classic Christian hymns for Sparrow Records. His most successful was the release I Love to Tell the Story: 25 Timeless Hymns (1996), which was certified platinum by the RIAA. The album won Grammy Award for Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album at the 1997 Grammy Awards.
Griffith appeared in country singer Brad Paisley's music video "Waitin' on a Woman" (2008).
Name dispute
William Harold Fenrick of Platteville, Wisconsin, legally changed his name to Andrew Jackson Griffith and ran unsuccessfully for sheriff of Grant County in November 2006. Subsequently, actor Griffith filed a lawsuit against Griffith/Fenrick, asserting that he violated trademark, copyright, and privacy laws by changing his name for the "sole purpose of taking advantage of Griffith's fame in an attempt to gain votes". On May 4, 2007, US District Court Judge John C. Shabaz ruled that Griffith/Fenrick did not violate federal trademark law because he did not use the Griffith name in a commercial transaction but instead in order "to seek elective office, fundamental First Amendment protected speech".
Association with Don Knotts and Ron Howard
Don Knotts
Griffith's friendship with Don Knotts began in 1955 when they co-starred in the Broadway play No Time for Sergeants. Several years later, Knotts had a regular role on The Andy Griffith Show for five seasons. Knotts left the series in 1965, but periodically returned for guest appearances. He appeared in the pilot for Griffith's subsequent short-lived series, The New Andy Griffith Show, and he had a recurring role on Matlock, from 1988 to 1992. In a January 2000 interview, Griffith said of Knotts, "The five years we worked together were the best five years of my life."
They kept in touch until Knotts' death in early 2006. Griffith traveled from his Manteo, North Carolina home to Los Angeles to visit the terminally ill Knotts at Cedars-Sinai just before Knotts died of lung cancer.
Ron Howard
Griffith's friendship with the then-unknown Ron Howard began in 1960 when they guest-starred in the episode of Make Room For Daddy that led to the formation of The Andy Griffith Show the same year. For eight seasons, they starred together in most of the show's episodes, portraying father and son.
They guest-starred together in the show's spin-off series Mayberry R.F.D. They appeared in an episode during which Griffith's character married his long-time girlfriend, Helen Crump, and in the Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C. episode "Opie Joins the Marines", in which Howard's character, Opie, runs away from home and attempts to enlist in the US Marines. They co-starred in the TV special Return to Mayberry (1986), in which the now-adult Opie is about to become a father. They later appeared together in CBS reunion specials in 1993 and 2003. Griffith also made a comedy cameo on the Saturday Night Live program of October 9, 1982, hosted by Howard.
In October 2008, Griffith and Howard briefly reprised their Mayberry roles in an online video Ron Howard's Call to Action. It was posted to comedy video website Funny or Die. The video encouraged people to vote and endorsed Democratic candidates Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
After Griffith's death, Howard stated: "His love of creating, the joy he took in it whether it was drama or comedy or his music, was inspiring to grow up around. The spirit he created on the set of The Andy Griffith Show was joyful and professional all at once. It was an amazing environment. And I think it was a reflection of the way he felt about having the opportunity to create something that people could enjoy. It was always with respect and passion for the opportunity and really what it could offer people in a very unpretentious and earthy way. He felt he was always working in service of an audience he really respected and cared about. He was a great influence on me. His passing is sad. But he lived a great rich life." In a 2016 interview with US Magazine, Howard recalled Griffith encouraging the then 7-year-old boy in his scriptwriting, saying "I felt elated." Howard recalled: "Andy Griffith said, 'What are you grinnin' at, young'un?' I said, 'That's the first idea of mine they've taken.' He said, 'It's the first that was any damn good. Now let's rehearse!'"
Political activities
In 2000, Griffith appeared in a last-minute campaign commercial where he endorsed then-Attorney General Mike Easley for governor of the state of North Carolina. Easley had been locked in a tight race with former Mayor of Charlotte Richard Vinroot and had been losing his lead in the polls. Easley went on to win that November, taking 52% of the vote to Vinroot's 46%. Many observers dubbed Easley's victory as the "Mayberry Miracle", and credit Griffith's endorsement for stopping his falling poll numbers.
In October 2008, Griffith appeared with Ron Howard in a Funny or Die video endorsement for Barack Obama's presidential campaign.
In addition to his online video with Howard in 2008, in politics Griffith favored Democrats and recorded television commercials endorsing North Carolina Governors Mike Easley and Bev Perdue. He spoke at the inauguration ceremonies of both. In 1989, he declined an offer by Democratic party officials to run against Jesse Helms, a Republican U.S. Senator from North Carolina.
In July 2010, he also starred in advertisements about Medicare.
Personal life and death
In 1945, while a student at the University of North Carolina, Griffith was initiated as a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, a national social music fraternity for men.
Griffith and Barbara Bray Edwards were married on August 22, 1949, and they adopted two children: a son named Andy Samuel Griffith Jr. (born in 1957 and better known as Sam Griffith) and a daughter named Dixie Nann Griffith. They divorced in 1972. Sam, a real-estate developer, died in 1996 after years of alcoholism. His second wife was Solica Cassuto, a Greek actress. They were married from 1973 to 1981. Griffith and Cindi Knight married on April 12, 1983, after they met when he was filming Murder in Coweta County.
Griffith's first serious health problem was in April 1983 when he was diagnosed with Guillain–Barré syndrome and could not walk for seven months because of paralysis from the knees down.
On May 9, 2000, he underwent quadruple heart-bypass surgery at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk, Virginia.
After a fall, Griffith underwent hip surgery on September 5, 2007, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California.
Griffith died on July 3, 2012, from a heart attack at the age of 86 at his coastal home in Manteo, Roanoke Island, in Dare County, North Carolina. He was buried in the Griffith family cemetery on the island within five hours of his death.
Awards and honors
Television Hall of Fame inductee (class of 1991)
Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Andy Griffith Museum—a 2,500-square-foot facility which houses the world's largest collection of Griffith memorabilia—opened on September 26, 2009, in Mount Airy, North Carolina
Grammy Award for Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album for I Love to Tell the Story – 25 Timeless Hymns in 1997
Country Gospel Music Hall of Fame inductee (class of 1999)
A stretch of US Highway 52 that passes through Mount Airy rededicated as the Andy Griffith Parkway
Statue of Griffith and Ron Howard (as Andy and Opie) constructed in Pullen Park in Raleigh, North Carolina
A second statue was later erected in Andy Griffith's hometown of Mount Airy of Andy and Opie outside the Andy Griffith museum.
Andy Griffith signature model guitar commissioned by C.F. Martin & Company
Presidential Medal of Freedom (2005)
Christian Music Hall of Fame inductee (class of 2007)
North Carolina Music Hall of Fame inductee (class of 2010)
Albums
Filmography
Features
Short subjects
Television work
References
External links
Inventory of the Andy Griffith Papers, 1949–1997, in the Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Andy Griffith Discography, at MTV
1926 births
2012 deaths
20th-century American comedians
20th-century American male actors
20th-century American male singers
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American singers
21st-century American comedians
21st-century American male actors
American gospel singers
American male comedians
American male film actors
American male singer-songwriters
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American performers of Christian music
American television producers
Burials in North Carolina
Colonial Records
Comedians from North Carolina
Grammy Award winners
Male actors from North Carolina
North Carolina Democrats
People from Manteo, North Carolina
People from Mount Airy, North Carolina
People with Guillain–Barré syndrome
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
Schoolteachers from North Carolina
Singer-songwriters from North Carolina
Southern gospel performers
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni
Writers from North Carolina | true | [
"Escape is an American anthology series that aired on the NBC network from February 11 to September 9, 1973. The show was a production of Jack Webb's Mark VII Limited for Universal Television. It aired on Sunday evenings at 10 p.m. Eastern, following the NBC Mystery Movie.\n\nSynopsis\nWebb, best known for portraying Joe Friday on the long-running Dragnet, narrated this half-hour anthology series about people who found themselves in dangerous situations and who had to muster enough ingenuity and rely upon luck to save themselves from otherwise certain death. Like several of the other shows Webb packaged through the years, the format was that of a semi-documentary, with the narration punctuating the scenes.\n\nIntended as a trial run for a permanent slot during the 1973–74 season, the show did not do well in the ratings and ended after only four episodes. Reruns were broadcast that summer.\n\nEpisodes\n\nReferences\n\nSources\n\nExternal links\n \nEscape at CVTA with episode list\n\n1973 American television series debuts\n1973 American television series endings\n1970s American drama television series\n1970s American anthology television series\nEnglish-language television shows\nNBC original programming\nTelevision series by Mark VII Limited\nTelevision series by Universal Television",
"Love Story is an American dramatic anthology television series focused on stories of romance. It aired from October 3, 1973, to January 2, 1974, on NBC.\n\nLove Story was the second American television series of the name, the first having been the DuMont Television Networks anthology series Love Story, which aired in 1954.\n\nSynopsis\n\nEach episode of Love Story told a story of romance and was an independent drama, unrelated to any other episode. The episodes were set in various locations around the United States, and told a wide variety of stories, each about problems faced by a heterosexual couple in love.\n\nCast\n\nAs an anthology series, Love Story had no regular cast. Each episode had a different cast as noted in the episodes list below.\n\nProduction\n\nIn 1970, the novel Love Story; the movie based on the novel, also called Love Story; and the movie's theme song, \"Where Do I Begin,\" all were major hits. Hoping to capitalize on this success, NBC aired the television series Love Story three years later. Although the show shared its name with the novel and movie and used \"Where Do I Begin\" as its theme song, it otherwise was completely unrelated to the novel and movie, each of its episodes being an entirely original story with an entirely different cast. Generally, less well-known actors and actresses appeared in the show.\n\nEpisode directors included Michael Landon and Donald Wrye. Writers included Landon and Elinor Karpf.\n\nBroadcast history\n\nLove Story premiered on NBC on October 3, 1973. It faced tough competition in its time slot from CBSs Kojak, and sharing its title and theme song with the movie Love Story did not help it to garner much of an audience, given that it had no characters or storylines in common with either the novel or the movie. With low ratings, it was cancelled after the broadcast of its 12th episode on January 2, 1974. The show aired at 10:00 p.m. on Wednesday throughout its run. It ranked 63rd out of 80 shows that season, with a 14.2 rating.\n\nEpisodes\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\"(Where Do I Begin?) Love Story\" – Theme from the television series Love Story (audio)\n\nLove Story at CVTA with episode list\n\nNBC original programming\n1973 American television series debuts\n1974 American television series endings\n1970s American anthology television series\n1970s American drama television series\nEnglish-language television shows\nTelevision series by CBS Studios\n\nTelevision shows set in Philadelphia"
] |
[
"Andy Griffith",
"From rising comedian to film star",
"How did Andy Griffith get his start as a comedian",
"Griffith's early career was as a monologist, delivering long stories such as What It Was, Was Football, which is told from the point of view of a naive country preacher",
"When did he start acting?",
"Griffith starred in Ira Levin's one-hour teleplay version of No Time for Sergeants (March 1955) --",
"What was his role in that teleplay",
"-- a story about a country boy in the United States Air Force -- on The United States Steel Hour, a television anthology series.",
"How did he transition into comedy from his monoloques",
"a story about a country boy in the United States Air Force -- on The United States Steel Hour, a television anthology series.",
"What did he do after he was on the television anthology series",
"He expanded that role in Ira Levin's full-length theatrical version of the same name (October 1955) on Broadway in New York City."
] | C_24f75fe71bad4c53aee504decee009be_0 | How long did the show run on broadway | 6 | How long did the Ira Levin's version of Andy Griffith show run on broadway? | Andy Griffith | Griffith's early career was as a monologist, delivering long stories such as What It Was, Was Football, which is told from the point of view of a naive country preacher trying to figure out what was going on in a football game. The monologue was released as a single in 1953 on the Colonial Records label, and was a hit for Griffith, reaching number nine on the charts in 1954. Griffith starred in Ira Levin's one-hour teleplay version of No Time for Sergeants (March 1955) -- a story about a country boy in the United States Air Force -- on The United States Steel Hour, a television anthology series. He expanded that role in Ira Levin's full-length theatrical version of the same name (October 1955) on Broadway in New York City. The role earned him a "Distinguished Supporting or Featured Dramatic Actor" nomination at the 1956 Tony Awards, losing to Ed Begley. He did win the 1956 Theatre World Award, however, a prize given for debut roles on Broadway. "Mr. Griffith does not have to condescend to Will Stockdale" (his role in the play), wrote Brooks Atkinson in The New York Times. "All he has to do is walk on the stage and look the audience straight in the face. If the armed forces cannot cope with Will Stockdale, neither can the audience resist Andy Griffith." Griffith later reprised his role for the film version (1958) of No Time for Sergeants; the film also featured Don Knotts, as a corporal in charge of manual-dexterity tests, marking the beginning of a lifelong association between Griffith and Knotts. No Time for Sergeants is considered the direct inspiration for the later television situation comedy Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. His only other New York stage appearance was the titular role in the 1959 musical Destry Rides Again, co-starring Dolores Gray. The show, with a score by Harold Rome, ran for 472 performances and more than a year. Griffith was nominated for "Distinguished Musical Actor" at the 1960 Tony Awards, losing to Jackie Gleason. He also portrayed a US Coast Guard sailor in the feature film Onionhead (1958); it was neither a critical nor a commercial success. CANNOTANSWER | October 1955 | Andy Samuel Griffith (June 1, 1926 – July 3, 2012) was an American actor, comedian, television producer, southern gospel singer, and writer whose career spanned seven decades in music and television. Known for his Southern drawl, his characters with a folksy-friendly personality, and his gruff but friendly voice, Griffith was a Tony Award nominee for two roles, and gained prominence in the starring role in director Elia Kazan's film A Face in the Crowd (1957) and No Time for Sergeants (1958) before he became better known for his television roles, playing the lead roles of Andy Taylor in the sitcom The Andy Griffith Show (1960–1968) and Ben Matlock in the legal drama Matlock (1986–1995).
Early life and education
Griffith was born on June 1, 1926, in Mount Airy, North Carolina, the only child of Carl Lee Griffith and his wife, Geneva (née Nunn). As a baby, Griffith lived with relatives until his parents could afford to buy a home. With neither a crib nor a bed, he slept in dresser drawers for several months. In 1929, when Griffith was three, his father began working as a helper or carpenter and purchased a home in Mount Airy's "blue-collar" south side. Griffith grew up listening to music. By the time he entered school, he was well aware that he was from what many considered the "wrong side of the tracks". He was a shy student, but once he found a way to make his peers laugh, he began to come out of his shell and come into his own.
As a student at Mount Airy High School, Griffith cultivated an interest in the arts, and he participated in the school's drama program. A growing love of music, particularly swing, would change his life. Griffith was raised Baptist and looked up to Ed Mickey, a minister at Grace Moravian Church, who led the brass band and taught him to sing and play the trombone. Mickey nurtured Griffith's talent throughout high school until graduation in 1944. Griffith was delighted when he was offered a role in The Lost Colony by Paul Green, a play about Roanoke Island still performed today. He performed as a cast member of the play for several years, playing a variety of roles until he finally landed the role of Sir Walter Raleigh, for whom North Carolina's capital is named.
He attended the University of North Carolina (UNC) in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree in 1949. He began college studying to be a Moravian preacher, but he changed his major to music and became a part of the school's Carolina Playmakers. At UNC, he was president of the UNC chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, America's oldest fraternity for men in music. He also played roles in several student operettas, including The Chimes of Normandy (1946), and Gilbert and Sullivan's The Gondoliers (1945), The Mikado (1948) and H.M.S. Pinafore (1949). After graduation, he taught music and drama for a few years at Goldsboro High School in Goldsboro, North Carolina, where he taught, among others, Carl Kasell. He also began to write.
Career
From rising comedian to film star
Griffith's early career was as a monologist, delivering long stories such as What It Was, Was Football, which is told from the point of view of a naïve country preacher trying to figure out what was going on in a football game. The monologue was released as a single in 1953 on the Colonial Records label, and was a hit for Griffith, reaching number nine on the charts in 1954.
Griffith starred in Ira Levin's one-hour teleplay, No Time for Sergeants (March 1955) — a story about a country boy in the United States Air Force — on The United States Steel Hour, a television anthology series. He expanded that role in Ira Levin's full-length theatrical version of the same name (October 1955) on Broadway in New York City. The role earned him a "Distinguished Supporting or Featured Dramatic Actor" nomination at the 1956 Tony Awards, losing to Ed Begley. He did win the 1956 Theatre World Award, however, a prize given for debut roles on Broadway. "Mr. Griffith does not have to condescend to Will Stockdale" (his role in the play), wrote Brooks Atkinson in The New York Times. "All he has to do is walk on the stage and look the audience straight in the face. If the armed forces cannot cope with Will Stockdale, neither can the audience resist Andy Griffith."
Griffith later reprised his role for the film version (1958) of No Time for Sergeants; the film also featured Don Knotts, as a corporal in charge of manual-dexterity tests, marking the beginning of a lifelong association between Griffith and Knotts. No Time for Sergeants is considered the direct inspiration for the later television situation comedy Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. – a spin-off of The Andy Griffith Show.
His only other New York stage appearance was the title role in the 1959 musical Destry Rides Again, co-starring Dolores Gray. The show, with a score by Harold Rome, ran for 472 performances and more than a year. Griffith was nominated for "Distinguished Musical Actor" at the 1960 Tony Awards, losing to Jackie Gleason. He also portrayed a US Coast Guard sailor in the feature film Onionhead (1958). It was neither a critical nor a commercial success.
Dramatic role in A Face in the Crowd (1957)
In 1957, Griffith made his film debut starring in the film A Face in the Crowd. He plays a "country boy" who is manipulative and power-hungry: a drifter who becomes a television host and uses his show as a gateway to political power. The film was directed by Elia Kazan and written by Budd Schulberg and co-stars Patricia Neal, Walter Matthau, Tony Franciosa, and Lee Remick (in her film debut).
A 2005 DVD reissue of A Face in the Crowd includes a mini-documentary on the film, with comments from Schulberg and cast members Griffith, Franciosa, and Neal. In his interview, Griffith recalls Kazan prepping him to shoot his first scene with Remick's teenaged baton twirler, who captivates Griffith's character on a trip to Arkansas. Griffith also expresses his belief that the film was more popular in more recent decades than it was when originally released.
Television roles
Early television roles
Griffith's first appearance on television was in 1955 in the one-hour teleplay of No Time for Sergeants on The United States Steel Hour. That was the first of two appearances on that series. In 1960, Griffith appeared as a county sheriff, who was also a justice of the peace and the editor of the local newspaper, in an episode of Make Room for Daddy starring Danny Thomas. This episode, in which Thomas's character is stopped for running a stop sign in a little town, served as a backdoor pilot for The Andy Griffith Show. Both shows were produced by Sheldon Leonard.
The Andy Griffith Show (1960–1968)
Beginning in September 1960, Griffith starred as Sheriff Andy Taylor in The Andy Griffith Show for the CBS television network. The show took place in the fictional town of Mayberry, North Carolina, where Taylor, a widower, was the sheriff and town sage. The show was filmed at Desilu Studios, with exteriors filmed at Forty Acres in Culver City, California.
From 1960 to 1965, the show co-starred character actor and comedian — and Griffith's longtime friend — Don Knotts in the role of Deputy Barney Fife, Taylor's best friend and comedy partner. He was also Taylor's cousin in the show at first, though later they dropped that cousin relationship and talked simply of knowing one another since boyhood. In the series premiere episode, in a conversation between the two, Fife calls Taylor "Cousin Andy", and Taylor calls Fife "Cousin Barney". The show also starred child actor Ron Howard (then known as Ronny Howard), who played Taylor's only child, Opie Taylor. It was an immediate hit. Griffith never received a writing credit for the show, but he worked on the development of every script. Knotts was frequently lauded and won multiple Emmy Awards for his comedic performances, as did Frances Bavier in 1967, while Griffith was never nominated for an Emmy Award during the show's run.
In 1967, Griffith was under contract with CBS to do one more season of the show. However, he decided to quit the show to pursue a movie career and other projects. The series continued as Mayberry R.F.D., with Ken Berry starring as a widower farmer and many of the regular characters recurring, some regularly and some as guest appearances. Griffith served as executive producer (according to Griffith, he came in once a week to review the week's scripts and give input) and guest starred in five episodes (the pilot episode involved his marriage to Helen Crump). He made final appearances as Taylor in the 1986 reunion television film, Return to Mayberry, with fellow co-star, Don Knotts. Two reunion specials followed in 1993 and 2003, with strong ratings.
Matlock (1986–1995)
After leaving his still-popular show in 1968, and starting his own production company Andy Griffith Enterprises in 1972, Griffith starred in less-successful television series such as Headmaster (1970), The New Andy Griffith Show (1971), Adams of Eagle Lake (1975), Salvage 1 (1979) and The Yeagers (1980). After spending seven months in rehabilitation for leg paralysis from Guillain–Barré syndrome in 1983, Griffith returned to television as the title character, Ben Matlock, in the legal drama Matlock (1986–1995) on NBC and ABC. Matlock was a country lawyer in Atlanta, Georgia, who was known for his Southern drawl and for always winning his cases. Matlock also starred unfamiliar, struggling actors (both of whom were childhood fans of Andy Griffith) Nancy Stafford as Michelle Thomas (1987–1992) and Clarence Gilyard, Jr. as Conrad McMasters (1989–1993). By the end of its first season it was a ratings powerhouse on Tuesday nights. Although the show was nominated for four Emmy Awards, Griffith once again was never nominated. He did, however, win a People's Choice Award in 1987 for his work as Matlock.
Other television appearances
Griffith also made other character appearances through the years on Playhouse 90, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., The Mod Squad, Hawaii Five-O, The Doris Day Show, Here's Lucy, The Bionic Woman and Fantasy Island, among many others. He also reprised his role as Ben Matlock on Diagnosis: Murder in 1997, and his final guest-starring role was in 2001 in an episode of Dawson's Creek.
Films (including television films)
For most of the 1970s, Griffith starred or appeared in many television films, including The Strangers In 7A (1972), Go Ask Alice (1973), Winter Kill (1974) and Pray for the Wildcats (1974), which marked his first villainous role since A Face in the Crowd. Griffith appeared again as a villain in Savages (1974), a television film based on the novel Deathwatch (1972) by Robb White. Griffith received his only Primetime Emmy Award nomination as Outstanding Supporting Actor – Miniseries or a Movie for his role as the father of a murder victim in the television film Murder in Texas (1981) and won further acclaim for his role as a homicidal villain in the television film Murder in Coweta County (1983), co-starring music legend Johnny Cash as the sheriff. He also appeared in several television miniseries, including the television version of From Here to Eternity (1979), Roots: The Next Generations (1979), Centennial (1978), and the Watergate scandal-inspired Washington: Behind Closed Doors (1977), playing a former president loosely based on Lyndon B. Johnson.
Most of the television movies in which Griffith starred were also attempts to launch a new series. Winter Kill (1974) launched the short-lived Adams of Eagle Lake, which was canceled in 1975 after only two episodes. A year later, he starred as a New York City attorney for the DA's office in Street Killing, which also failed to launch a new show. Two television films for NBC in 1977, The Girl in the Empty Grave and Deadly Game, were attempts for Griffith to launch a new series featuring him as Police Chief Abel Marsh, a more hard-edged version of Andy Taylor; despite strong ratings, both were unsuccessful in leading to a new TV show.
During this period, Griffith also appeared in two feature films, both of which flopped at the box office. He co-starred with Jeff Bridges as a crusty old 1930s western actor in the comedy Hearts of the West (1975), and he appeared alongside Tom Berenger as a gay villainous colonel and cattle baron in the Western comedy spoof Rustlers' Rhapsody (1985).
Following another short-lived return to series television, playing a family patriarch in the Dynasty-inspired The Yeagers in 1980, Griffith continued to make guest appearances in several hit series, including Hotel, Fantasy Island, where he played a fictional version of western figure Judge Roy Bean featured in an aspiring singer's fantasy, and an episode of The Love Boat, which featured a memorable appearance by pop icon Andy Warhol. He also appeared as an attorney in the NBC miniseries Fatal Vision (1984), which is considered a precursor to his role in Matlock.
Griffith stunned many unfamiliar with his A Face in the Crowd work in the television film Crime of Innocence (1985)...wherein he portrayed a hateful and vindictive judge who routinely sentenced juveniles to hard prison time, followed by lengthy and equally-torturous probation. Also noteworthy in Griffith's darker roles was his character in Under the Influence (1986), a TV movie in which Griffith played an alcoholic, abusive patriarch. He further surprised audiences with his role as a dangerous and mysterious grandfather in the television film Gramps (1995) co-starring John Ritter. He also appeared as a comical villain in the spy movie spoof Spy Hard (1996) starring Leslie Nielsen. In the television film A Holiday Romance (1999), Griffith played the role of Jake Peterson. In the film Daddy and Them (2001), Griffith portrayed the patriarch of a dysfunctional southern family.
In the feature film Waitress (2007), Griffith played a crusty diner owner who takes a shine to Keri Russell's character. His last appearance was the leading role in the romantic comedy, independent film Play the Game (2009) as a lonely, widowed grandfather re-entering the dating world after a 60-year hiatus. The cast of Play the Game also included Rance Howard, Ron Howard's real-life father, who had made appearances in various supporting roles on The Andy Griffith Show, and Clint Howard, Ron's younger brother, who had the recurring role of Leon (the kid offering the ice cream cone or peanut butter sandwich) on The Andy Griffith Show.
Singing and recording career
Griffith sang as part of some of his acting roles, most notably in A Face in the Crowd and in many episodes of both The Andy Griffith Show and Matlock. In addition to his recordings of comic monologues in the 1950s, he made an album of upbeat country and gospel tunes during the run of The Andy Griffith Show, which included a version of the show's theme sung by Griffith under the title "The Fishin' Hole". In recent years, he recorded successful albums of classic Christian hymns for Sparrow Records. His most successful was the release I Love to Tell the Story: 25 Timeless Hymns (1996), which was certified platinum by the RIAA. The album won Grammy Award for Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album at the 1997 Grammy Awards.
Griffith appeared in country singer Brad Paisley's music video "Waitin' on a Woman" (2008).
Name dispute
William Harold Fenrick of Platteville, Wisconsin, legally changed his name to Andrew Jackson Griffith and ran unsuccessfully for sheriff of Grant County in November 2006. Subsequently, actor Griffith filed a lawsuit against Griffith/Fenrick, asserting that he violated trademark, copyright, and privacy laws by changing his name for the "sole purpose of taking advantage of Griffith's fame in an attempt to gain votes". On May 4, 2007, US District Court Judge John C. Shabaz ruled that Griffith/Fenrick did not violate federal trademark law because he did not use the Griffith name in a commercial transaction but instead in order "to seek elective office, fundamental First Amendment protected speech".
Association with Don Knotts and Ron Howard
Don Knotts
Griffith's friendship with Don Knotts began in 1955 when they co-starred in the Broadway play No Time for Sergeants. Several years later, Knotts had a regular role on The Andy Griffith Show for five seasons. Knotts left the series in 1965, but periodically returned for guest appearances. He appeared in the pilot for Griffith's subsequent short-lived series, The New Andy Griffith Show, and he had a recurring role on Matlock, from 1988 to 1992. In a January 2000 interview, Griffith said of Knotts, "The five years we worked together were the best five years of my life."
They kept in touch until Knotts' death in early 2006. Griffith traveled from his Manteo, North Carolina home to Los Angeles to visit the terminally ill Knotts at Cedars-Sinai just before Knotts died of lung cancer.
Ron Howard
Griffith's friendship with the then-unknown Ron Howard began in 1960 when they guest-starred in the episode of Make Room For Daddy that led to the formation of The Andy Griffith Show the same year. For eight seasons, they starred together in most of the show's episodes, portraying father and son.
They guest-starred together in the show's spin-off series Mayberry R.F.D. They appeared in an episode during which Griffith's character married his long-time girlfriend, Helen Crump, and in the Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C. episode "Opie Joins the Marines", in which Howard's character, Opie, runs away from home and attempts to enlist in the US Marines. They co-starred in the TV special Return to Mayberry (1986), in which the now-adult Opie is about to become a father. They later appeared together in CBS reunion specials in 1993 and 2003. Griffith also made a comedy cameo on the Saturday Night Live program of October 9, 1982, hosted by Howard.
In October 2008, Griffith and Howard briefly reprised their Mayberry roles in an online video Ron Howard's Call to Action. It was posted to comedy video website Funny or Die. The video encouraged people to vote and endorsed Democratic candidates Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
After Griffith's death, Howard stated: "His love of creating, the joy he took in it whether it was drama or comedy or his music, was inspiring to grow up around. The spirit he created on the set of The Andy Griffith Show was joyful and professional all at once. It was an amazing environment. And I think it was a reflection of the way he felt about having the opportunity to create something that people could enjoy. It was always with respect and passion for the opportunity and really what it could offer people in a very unpretentious and earthy way. He felt he was always working in service of an audience he really respected and cared about. He was a great influence on me. His passing is sad. But he lived a great rich life." In a 2016 interview with US Magazine, Howard recalled Griffith encouraging the then 7-year-old boy in his scriptwriting, saying "I felt elated." Howard recalled: "Andy Griffith said, 'What are you grinnin' at, young'un?' I said, 'That's the first idea of mine they've taken.' He said, 'It's the first that was any damn good. Now let's rehearse!'"
Political activities
In 2000, Griffith appeared in a last-minute campaign commercial where he endorsed then-Attorney General Mike Easley for governor of the state of North Carolina. Easley had been locked in a tight race with former Mayor of Charlotte Richard Vinroot and had been losing his lead in the polls. Easley went on to win that November, taking 52% of the vote to Vinroot's 46%. Many observers dubbed Easley's victory as the "Mayberry Miracle", and credit Griffith's endorsement for stopping his falling poll numbers.
In October 2008, Griffith appeared with Ron Howard in a Funny or Die video endorsement for Barack Obama's presidential campaign.
In addition to his online video with Howard in 2008, in politics Griffith favored Democrats and recorded television commercials endorsing North Carolina Governors Mike Easley and Bev Perdue. He spoke at the inauguration ceremonies of both. In 1989, he declined an offer by Democratic party officials to run against Jesse Helms, a Republican U.S. Senator from North Carolina.
In July 2010, he also starred in advertisements about Medicare.
Personal life and death
In 1945, while a student at the University of North Carolina, Griffith was initiated as a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, a national social music fraternity for men.
Griffith and Barbara Bray Edwards were married on August 22, 1949, and they adopted two children: a son named Andy Samuel Griffith Jr. (born in 1957 and better known as Sam Griffith) and a daughter named Dixie Nann Griffith. They divorced in 1972. Sam, a real-estate developer, died in 1996 after years of alcoholism. His second wife was Solica Cassuto, a Greek actress. They were married from 1973 to 1981. Griffith and Cindi Knight married on April 12, 1983, after they met when he was filming Murder in Coweta County.
Griffith's first serious health problem was in April 1983 when he was diagnosed with Guillain–Barré syndrome and could not walk for seven months because of paralysis from the knees down.
On May 9, 2000, he underwent quadruple heart-bypass surgery at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk, Virginia.
After a fall, Griffith underwent hip surgery on September 5, 2007, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California.
Griffith died on July 3, 2012, from a heart attack at the age of 86 at his coastal home in Manteo, Roanoke Island, in Dare County, North Carolina. He was buried in the Griffith family cemetery on the island within five hours of his death.
Awards and honors
Television Hall of Fame inductee (class of 1991)
Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Andy Griffith Museum—a 2,500-square-foot facility which houses the world's largest collection of Griffith memorabilia—opened on September 26, 2009, in Mount Airy, North Carolina
Grammy Award for Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album for I Love to Tell the Story – 25 Timeless Hymns in 1997
Country Gospel Music Hall of Fame inductee (class of 1999)
A stretch of US Highway 52 that passes through Mount Airy rededicated as the Andy Griffith Parkway
Statue of Griffith and Ron Howard (as Andy and Opie) constructed in Pullen Park in Raleigh, North Carolina
A second statue was later erected in Andy Griffith's hometown of Mount Airy of Andy and Opie outside the Andy Griffith museum.
Andy Griffith signature model guitar commissioned by C.F. Martin & Company
Presidential Medal of Freedom (2005)
Christian Music Hall of Fame inductee (class of 2007)
North Carolina Music Hall of Fame inductee (class of 2010)
Albums
Filmography
Features
Short subjects
Television work
References
External links
Inventory of the Andy Griffith Papers, 1949–1997, in the Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Andy Griffith Discography, at MTV
1926 births
2012 deaths
20th-century American comedians
20th-century American male actors
20th-century American male singers
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American singers
21st-century American comedians
21st-century American male actors
American gospel singers
American male comedians
American male film actors
American male singer-songwriters
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American performers of Christian music
American television producers
Burials in North Carolina
Colonial Records
Comedians from North Carolina
Grammy Award winners
Male actors from North Carolina
North Carolina Democrats
People from Manteo, North Carolina
People from Mount Airy, North Carolina
People with Guillain–Barré syndrome
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
Schoolteachers from North Carolina
Singer-songwriters from North Carolina
Southern gospel performers
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni
Writers from North Carolina | true | [
"Run, Little Chillun or Run Little Chillun is a folk opera written by Hall Johnson. According to James Vernon Hatch and Leo Hamalian, it is one of the most successful musical dramas of the Harlem Renaissance. It was the first Broadway show directed by an African-American.\n\nDevelopment \nRun, Little Chillun or Run Little Chillun (the original score did not include the comma) is a folk opera play, or musical drama, written by Hall Johnson. The script was first published in 1996.\n\nPlot \nThe play contrasts pagan and Christian religious traditions among Blacks in the American South.\n\nProductions \nThe show premiered in 1933 on Broadway and ran for four months and 126 performances. It was revived in 1935–1937 by the Federal Theater Project and ran for two years in Los Angeles. It was directed by Clarence Edouard Muse. It was produced in 1939 in San Francisco at the Golden Gate International Exposition. In 1943 it was revived on Broadway at the Hudson Theatre. It was the first Broadway show with an African-American director, the first with an African-American composer, and the first African-American folk opera on Broadway.\n\nReception \nHatch and Hamalian called it \"buoyant in spirit\" and said it is considered one of the most successful musical dramas of the Harlem Renaissance. Kenneth Burke said the play allowed audiences to see how American Blacks had survived in a culture of oppression. According to Eileen Southern, \"the outstanding quality of the play was its music, particularly in two spectacular scenes—a revival meeting and a pagan religious orgy.\"\n\nReferences \n\n1930s musicals\n1933 musicals\nAfrican-American plays\nAmerican musicals\nAmerican plays\nBroadway musicals\nAll-Black cast Broadway shows\nFolk operas",
"Ulysses in Nighttown is a play based on the fifteenth episode of the 1922 novel Ulysses by James Joyce (unique among the book's episodes in that it is written as a play script) that was adapted by Marjorie Barkentin and contains incidental music by Peter Link. The show opened Off-Broadway in 1958 with Zero Mostel to a long and successful run, earning Mostel an Obie Award. It debuted on Broadway on February 15, 1974 at the Winter Garden Theatre and ran for 69 performances. The show had previously done a preview run of 26 performances in Philadelphia. The cast included Zero Mostel, Margery Beddow, Fionnula Flanagan, Gale Garnett, Tommy Lee Jones, and David Ogden Stiers.\n\nAwards and honors\n\nOriginal Broadway production\n\nSee also\nUlysses, Episode 15 \"Circe\"\n\nSources\n \n\n1958 plays\nBroadway plays\nCultural depictions of James Joyce\nOff-Broadway plays\nPlays based on novels\nUlysses (novel)"
] |
[
"Andy Griffith",
"From rising comedian to film star",
"How did Andy Griffith get his start as a comedian",
"Griffith's early career was as a monologist, delivering long stories such as What It Was, Was Football, which is told from the point of view of a naive country preacher",
"When did he start acting?",
"Griffith starred in Ira Levin's one-hour teleplay version of No Time for Sergeants (March 1955) --",
"What was his role in that teleplay",
"-- a story about a country boy in the United States Air Force -- on The United States Steel Hour, a television anthology series.",
"How did he transition into comedy from his monoloques",
"a story about a country boy in the United States Air Force -- on The United States Steel Hour, a television anthology series.",
"What did he do after he was on the television anthology series",
"He expanded that role in Ira Levin's full-length theatrical version of the same name (October 1955) on Broadway in New York City.",
"How long did the show run on broadway",
"October 1955"
] | C_24f75fe71bad4c53aee504decee009be_0 | What was the most interesting thing that happened to him in this time period | 7 | What was the most interesting thing that happened to Andy Griffith in October 1955? | Andy Griffith | Griffith's early career was as a monologist, delivering long stories such as What It Was, Was Football, which is told from the point of view of a naive country preacher trying to figure out what was going on in a football game. The monologue was released as a single in 1953 on the Colonial Records label, and was a hit for Griffith, reaching number nine on the charts in 1954. Griffith starred in Ira Levin's one-hour teleplay version of No Time for Sergeants (March 1955) -- a story about a country boy in the United States Air Force -- on The United States Steel Hour, a television anthology series. He expanded that role in Ira Levin's full-length theatrical version of the same name (October 1955) on Broadway in New York City. The role earned him a "Distinguished Supporting or Featured Dramatic Actor" nomination at the 1956 Tony Awards, losing to Ed Begley. He did win the 1956 Theatre World Award, however, a prize given for debut roles on Broadway. "Mr. Griffith does not have to condescend to Will Stockdale" (his role in the play), wrote Brooks Atkinson in The New York Times. "All he has to do is walk on the stage and look the audience straight in the face. If the armed forces cannot cope with Will Stockdale, neither can the audience resist Andy Griffith." Griffith later reprised his role for the film version (1958) of No Time for Sergeants; the film also featured Don Knotts, as a corporal in charge of manual-dexterity tests, marking the beginning of a lifelong association between Griffith and Knotts. No Time for Sergeants is considered the direct inspiration for the later television situation comedy Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. His only other New York stage appearance was the titular role in the 1959 musical Destry Rides Again, co-starring Dolores Gray. The show, with a score by Harold Rome, ran for 472 performances and more than a year. Griffith was nominated for "Distinguished Musical Actor" at the 1960 Tony Awards, losing to Jackie Gleason. He also portrayed a US Coast Guard sailor in the feature film Onionhead (1958); it was neither a critical nor a commercial success. CANNOTANSWER | The role earned him a "Distinguished Supporting or Featured Dramatic Actor" nomination at the 1956 Tony Awards, losing to Ed Begley. | Andy Samuel Griffith (June 1, 1926 – July 3, 2012) was an American actor, comedian, television producer, southern gospel singer, and writer whose career spanned seven decades in music and television. Known for his Southern drawl, his characters with a folksy-friendly personality, and his gruff but friendly voice, Griffith was a Tony Award nominee for two roles, and gained prominence in the starring role in director Elia Kazan's film A Face in the Crowd (1957) and No Time for Sergeants (1958) before he became better known for his television roles, playing the lead roles of Andy Taylor in the sitcom The Andy Griffith Show (1960–1968) and Ben Matlock in the legal drama Matlock (1986–1995).
Early life and education
Griffith was born on June 1, 1926, in Mount Airy, North Carolina, the only child of Carl Lee Griffith and his wife, Geneva (née Nunn). As a baby, Griffith lived with relatives until his parents could afford to buy a home. With neither a crib nor a bed, he slept in dresser drawers for several months. In 1929, when Griffith was three, his father began working as a helper or carpenter and purchased a home in Mount Airy's "blue-collar" south side. Griffith grew up listening to music. By the time he entered school, he was well aware that he was from what many considered the "wrong side of the tracks". He was a shy student, but once he found a way to make his peers laugh, he began to come out of his shell and come into his own.
As a student at Mount Airy High School, Griffith cultivated an interest in the arts, and he participated in the school's drama program. A growing love of music, particularly swing, would change his life. Griffith was raised Baptist and looked up to Ed Mickey, a minister at Grace Moravian Church, who led the brass band and taught him to sing and play the trombone. Mickey nurtured Griffith's talent throughout high school until graduation in 1944. Griffith was delighted when he was offered a role in The Lost Colony by Paul Green, a play about Roanoke Island still performed today. He performed as a cast member of the play for several years, playing a variety of roles until he finally landed the role of Sir Walter Raleigh, for whom North Carolina's capital is named.
He attended the University of North Carolina (UNC) in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree in 1949. He began college studying to be a Moravian preacher, but he changed his major to music and became a part of the school's Carolina Playmakers. At UNC, he was president of the UNC chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, America's oldest fraternity for men in music. He also played roles in several student operettas, including The Chimes of Normandy (1946), and Gilbert and Sullivan's The Gondoliers (1945), The Mikado (1948) and H.M.S. Pinafore (1949). After graduation, he taught music and drama for a few years at Goldsboro High School in Goldsboro, North Carolina, where he taught, among others, Carl Kasell. He also began to write.
Career
From rising comedian to film star
Griffith's early career was as a monologist, delivering long stories such as What It Was, Was Football, which is told from the point of view of a naïve country preacher trying to figure out what was going on in a football game. The monologue was released as a single in 1953 on the Colonial Records label, and was a hit for Griffith, reaching number nine on the charts in 1954.
Griffith starred in Ira Levin's one-hour teleplay, No Time for Sergeants (March 1955) — a story about a country boy in the United States Air Force — on The United States Steel Hour, a television anthology series. He expanded that role in Ira Levin's full-length theatrical version of the same name (October 1955) on Broadway in New York City. The role earned him a "Distinguished Supporting or Featured Dramatic Actor" nomination at the 1956 Tony Awards, losing to Ed Begley. He did win the 1956 Theatre World Award, however, a prize given for debut roles on Broadway. "Mr. Griffith does not have to condescend to Will Stockdale" (his role in the play), wrote Brooks Atkinson in The New York Times. "All he has to do is walk on the stage and look the audience straight in the face. If the armed forces cannot cope with Will Stockdale, neither can the audience resist Andy Griffith."
Griffith later reprised his role for the film version (1958) of No Time for Sergeants; the film also featured Don Knotts, as a corporal in charge of manual-dexterity tests, marking the beginning of a lifelong association between Griffith and Knotts. No Time for Sergeants is considered the direct inspiration for the later television situation comedy Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. – a spin-off of The Andy Griffith Show.
His only other New York stage appearance was the title role in the 1959 musical Destry Rides Again, co-starring Dolores Gray. The show, with a score by Harold Rome, ran for 472 performances and more than a year. Griffith was nominated for "Distinguished Musical Actor" at the 1960 Tony Awards, losing to Jackie Gleason. He also portrayed a US Coast Guard sailor in the feature film Onionhead (1958). It was neither a critical nor a commercial success.
Dramatic role in A Face in the Crowd (1957)
In 1957, Griffith made his film debut starring in the film A Face in the Crowd. He plays a "country boy" who is manipulative and power-hungry: a drifter who becomes a television host and uses his show as a gateway to political power. The film was directed by Elia Kazan and written by Budd Schulberg and co-stars Patricia Neal, Walter Matthau, Tony Franciosa, and Lee Remick (in her film debut).
A 2005 DVD reissue of A Face in the Crowd includes a mini-documentary on the film, with comments from Schulberg and cast members Griffith, Franciosa, and Neal. In his interview, Griffith recalls Kazan prepping him to shoot his first scene with Remick's teenaged baton twirler, who captivates Griffith's character on a trip to Arkansas. Griffith also expresses his belief that the film was more popular in more recent decades than it was when originally released.
Television roles
Early television roles
Griffith's first appearance on television was in 1955 in the one-hour teleplay of No Time for Sergeants on The United States Steel Hour. That was the first of two appearances on that series. In 1960, Griffith appeared as a county sheriff, who was also a justice of the peace and the editor of the local newspaper, in an episode of Make Room for Daddy starring Danny Thomas. This episode, in which Thomas's character is stopped for running a stop sign in a little town, served as a backdoor pilot for The Andy Griffith Show. Both shows were produced by Sheldon Leonard.
The Andy Griffith Show (1960–1968)
Beginning in September 1960, Griffith starred as Sheriff Andy Taylor in The Andy Griffith Show for the CBS television network. The show took place in the fictional town of Mayberry, North Carolina, where Taylor, a widower, was the sheriff and town sage. The show was filmed at Desilu Studios, with exteriors filmed at Forty Acres in Culver City, California.
From 1960 to 1965, the show co-starred character actor and comedian — and Griffith's longtime friend — Don Knotts in the role of Deputy Barney Fife, Taylor's best friend and comedy partner. He was also Taylor's cousin in the show at first, though later they dropped that cousin relationship and talked simply of knowing one another since boyhood. In the series premiere episode, in a conversation between the two, Fife calls Taylor "Cousin Andy", and Taylor calls Fife "Cousin Barney". The show also starred child actor Ron Howard (then known as Ronny Howard), who played Taylor's only child, Opie Taylor. It was an immediate hit. Griffith never received a writing credit for the show, but he worked on the development of every script. Knotts was frequently lauded and won multiple Emmy Awards for his comedic performances, as did Frances Bavier in 1967, while Griffith was never nominated for an Emmy Award during the show's run.
In 1967, Griffith was under contract with CBS to do one more season of the show. However, he decided to quit the show to pursue a movie career and other projects. The series continued as Mayberry R.F.D., with Ken Berry starring as a widower farmer and many of the regular characters recurring, some regularly and some as guest appearances. Griffith served as executive producer (according to Griffith, he came in once a week to review the week's scripts and give input) and guest starred in five episodes (the pilot episode involved his marriage to Helen Crump). He made final appearances as Taylor in the 1986 reunion television film, Return to Mayberry, with fellow co-star, Don Knotts. Two reunion specials followed in 1993 and 2003, with strong ratings.
Matlock (1986–1995)
After leaving his still-popular show in 1968, and starting his own production company Andy Griffith Enterprises in 1972, Griffith starred in less-successful television series such as Headmaster (1970), The New Andy Griffith Show (1971), Adams of Eagle Lake (1975), Salvage 1 (1979) and The Yeagers (1980). After spending seven months in rehabilitation for leg paralysis from Guillain–Barré syndrome in 1983, Griffith returned to television as the title character, Ben Matlock, in the legal drama Matlock (1986–1995) on NBC and ABC. Matlock was a country lawyer in Atlanta, Georgia, who was known for his Southern drawl and for always winning his cases. Matlock also starred unfamiliar, struggling actors (both of whom were childhood fans of Andy Griffith) Nancy Stafford as Michelle Thomas (1987–1992) and Clarence Gilyard, Jr. as Conrad McMasters (1989–1993). By the end of its first season it was a ratings powerhouse on Tuesday nights. Although the show was nominated for four Emmy Awards, Griffith once again was never nominated. He did, however, win a People's Choice Award in 1987 for his work as Matlock.
Other television appearances
Griffith also made other character appearances through the years on Playhouse 90, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., The Mod Squad, Hawaii Five-O, The Doris Day Show, Here's Lucy, The Bionic Woman and Fantasy Island, among many others. He also reprised his role as Ben Matlock on Diagnosis: Murder in 1997, and his final guest-starring role was in 2001 in an episode of Dawson's Creek.
Films (including television films)
For most of the 1970s, Griffith starred or appeared in many television films, including The Strangers In 7A (1972), Go Ask Alice (1973), Winter Kill (1974) and Pray for the Wildcats (1974), which marked his first villainous role since A Face in the Crowd. Griffith appeared again as a villain in Savages (1974), a television film based on the novel Deathwatch (1972) by Robb White. Griffith received his only Primetime Emmy Award nomination as Outstanding Supporting Actor – Miniseries or a Movie for his role as the father of a murder victim in the television film Murder in Texas (1981) and won further acclaim for his role as a homicidal villain in the television film Murder in Coweta County (1983), co-starring music legend Johnny Cash as the sheriff. He also appeared in several television miniseries, including the television version of From Here to Eternity (1979), Roots: The Next Generations (1979), Centennial (1978), and the Watergate scandal-inspired Washington: Behind Closed Doors (1977), playing a former president loosely based on Lyndon B. Johnson.
Most of the television movies in which Griffith starred were also attempts to launch a new series. Winter Kill (1974) launched the short-lived Adams of Eagle Lake, which was canceled in 1975 after only two episodes. A year later, he starred as a New York City attorney for the DA's office in Street Killing, which also failed to launch a new show. Two television films for NBC in 1977, The Girl in the Empty Grave and Deadly Game, were attempts for Griffith to launch a new series featuring him as Police Chief Abel Marsh, a more hard-edged version of Andy Taylor; despite strong ratings, both were unsuccessful in leading to a new TV show.
During this period, Griffith also appeared in two feature films, both of which flopped at the box office. He co-starred with Jeff Bridges as a crusty old 1930s western actor in the comedy Hearts of the West (1975), and he appeared alongside Tom Berenger as a gay villainous colonel and cattle baron in the Western comedy spoof Rustlers' Rhapsody (1985).
Following another short-lived return to series television, playing a family patriarch in the Dynasty-inspired The Yeagers in 1980, Griffith continued to make guest appearances in several hit series, including Hotel, Fantasy Island, where he played a fictional version of western figure Judge Roy Bean featured in an aspiring singer's fantasy, and an episode of The Love Boat, which featured a memorable appearance by pop icon Andy Warhol. He also appeared as an attorney in the NBC miniseries Fatal Vision (1984), which is considered a precursor to his role in Matlock.
Griffith stunned many unfamiliar with his A Face in the Crowd work in the television film Crime of Innocence (1985)...wherein he portrayed a hateful and vindictive judge who routinely sentenced juveniles to hard prison time, followed by lengthy and equally-torturous probation. Also noteworthy in Griffith's darker roles was his character in Under the Influence (1986), a TV movie in which Griffith played an alcoholic, abusive patriarch. He further surprised audiences with his role as a dangerous and mysterious grandfather in the television film Gramps (1995) co-starring John Ritter. He also appeared as a comical villain in the spy movie spoof Spy Hard (1996) starring Leslie Nielsen. In the television film A Holiday Romance (1999), Griffith played the role of Jake Peterson. In the film Daddy and Them (2001), Griffith portrayed the patriarch of a dysfunctional southern family.
In the feature film Waitress (2007), Griffith played a crusty diner owner who takes a shine to Keri Russell's character. His last appearance was the leading role in the romantic comedy, independent film Play the Game (2009) as a lonely, widowed grandfather re-entering the dating world after a 60-year hiatus. The cast of Play the Game also included Rance Howard, Ron Howard's real-life father, who had made appearances in various supporting roles on The Andy Griffith Show, and Clint Howard, Ron's younger brother, who had the recurring role of Leon (the kid offering the ice cream cone or peanut butter sandwich) on The Andy Griffith Show.
Singing and recording career
Griffith sang as part of some of his acting roles, most notably in A Face in the Crowd and in many episodes of both The Andy Griffith Show and Matlock. In addition to his recordings of comic monologues in the 1950s, he made an album of upbeat country and gospel tunes during the run of The Andy Griffith Show, which included a version of the show's theme sung by Griffith under the title "The Fishin' Hole". In recent years, he recorded successful albums of classic Christian hymns for Sparrow Records. His most successful was the release I Love to Tell the Story: 25 Timeless Hymns (1996), which was certified platinum by the RIAA. The album won Grammy Award for Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album at the 1997 Grammy Awards.
Griffith appeared in country singer Brad Paisley's music video "Waitin' on a Woman" (2008).
Name dispute
William Harold Fenrick of Platteville, Wisconsin, legally changed his name to Andrew Jackson Griffith and ran unsuccessfully for sheriff of Grant County in November 2006. Subsequently, actor Griffith filed a lawsuit against Griffith/Fenrick, asserting that he violated trademark, copyright, and privacy laws by changing his name for the "sole purpose of taking advantage of Griffith's fame in an attempt to gain votes". On May 4, 2007, US District Court Judge John C. Shabaz ruled that Griffith/Fenrick did not violate federal trademark law because he did not use the Griffith name in a commercial transaction but instead in order "to seek elective office, fundamental First Amendment protected speech".
Association with Don Knotts and Ron Howard
Don Knotts
Griffith's friendship with Don Knotts began in 1955 when they co-starred in the Broadway play No Time for Sergeants. Several years later, Knotts had a regular role on The Andy Griffith Show for five seasons. Knotts left the series in 1965, but periodically returned for guest appearances. He appeared in the pilot for Griffith's subsequent short-lived series, The New Andy Griffith Show, and he had a recurring role on Matlock, from 1988 to 1992. In a January 2000 interview, Griffith said of Knotts, "The five years we worked together were the best five years of my life."
They kept in touch until Knotts' death in early 2006. Griffith traveled from his Manteo, North Carolina home to Los Angeles to visit the terminally ill Knotts at Cedars-Sinai just before Knotts died of lung cancer.
Ron Howard
Griffith's friendship with the then-unknown Ron Howard began in 1960 when they guest-starred in the episode of Make Room For Daddy that led to the formation of The Andy Griffith Show the same year. For eight seasons, they starred together in most of the show's episodes, portraying father and son.
They guest-starred together in the show's spin-off series Mayberry R.F.D. They appeared in an episode during which Griffith's character married his long-time girlfriend, Helen Crump, and in the Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C. episode "Opie Joins the Marines", in which Howard's character, Opie, runs away from home and attempts to enlist in the US Marines. They co-starred in the TV special Return to Mayberry (1986), in which the now-adult Opie is about to become a father. They later appeared together in CBS reunion specials in 1993 and 2003. Griffith also made a comedy cameo on the Saturday Night Live program of October 9, 1982, hosted by Howard.
In October 2008, Griffith and Howard briefly reprised their Mayberry roles in an online video Ron Howard's Call to Action. It was posted to comedy video website Funny or Die. The video encouraged people to vote and endorsed Democratic candidates Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
After Griffith's death, Howard stated: "His love of creating, the joy he took in it whether it was drama or comedy or his music, was inspiring to grow up around. The spirit he created on the set of The Andy Griffith Show was joyful and professional all at once. It was an amazing environment. And I think it was a reflection of the way he felt about having the opportunity to create something that people could enjoy. It was always with respect and passion for the opportunity and really what it could offer people in a very unpretentious and earthy way. He felt he was always working in service of an audience he really respected and cared about. He was a great influence on me. His passing is sad. But he lived a great rich life." In a 2016 interview with US Magazine, Howard recalled Griffith encouraging the then 7-year-old boy in his scriptwriting, saying "I felt elated." Howard recalled: "Andy Griffith said, 'What are you grinnin' at, young'un?' I said, 'That's the first idea of mine they've taken.' He said, 'It's the first that was any damn good. Now let's rehearse!'"
Political activities
In 2000, Griffith appeared in a last-minute campaign commercial where he endorsed then-Attorney General Mike Easley for governor of the state of North Carolina. Easley had been locked in a tight race with former Mayor of Charlotte Richard Vinroot and had been losing his lead in the polls. Easley went on to win that November, taking 52% of the vote to Vinroot's 46%. Many observers dubbed Easley's victory as the "Mayberry Miracle", and credit Griffith's endorsement for stopping his falling poll numbers.
In October 2008, Griffith appeared with Ron Howard in a Funny or Die video endorsement for Barack Obama's presidential campaign.
In addition to his online video with Howard in 2008, in politics Griffith favored Democrats and recorded television commercials endorsing North Carolina Governors Mike Easley and Bev Perdue. He spoke at the inauguration ceremonies of both. In 1989, he declined an offer by Democratic party officials to run against Jesse Helms, a Republican U.S. Senator from North Carolina.
In July 2010, he also starred in advertisements about Medicare.
Personal life and death
In 1945, while a student at the University of North Carolina, Griffith was initiated as a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, a national social music fraternity for men.
Griffith and Barbara Bray Edwards were married on August 22, 1949, and they adopted two children: a son named Andy Samuel Griffith Jr. (born in 1957 and better known as Sam Griffith) and a daughter named Dixie Nann Griffith. They divorced in 1972. Sam, a real-estate developer, died in 1996 after years of alcoholism. His second wife was Solica Cassuto, a Greek actress. They were married from 1973 to 1981. Griffith and Cindi Knight married on April 12, 1983, after they met when he was filming Murder in Coweta County.
Griffith's first serious health problem was in April 1983 when he was diagnosed with Guillain–Barré syndrome and could not walk for seven months because of paralysis from the knees down.
On May 9, 2000, he underwent quadruple heart-bypass surgery at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk, Virginia.
After a fall, Griffith underwent hip surgery on September 5, 2007, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California.
Griffith died on July 3, 2012, from a heart attack at the age of 86 at his coastal home in Manteo, Roanoke Island, in Dare County, North Carolina. He was buried in the Griffith family cemetery on the island within five hours of his death.
Awards and honors
Television Hall of Fame inductee (class of 1991)
Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Andy Griffith Museum—a 2,500-square-foot facility which houses the world's largest collection of Griffith memorabilia—opened on September 26, 2009, in Mount Airy, North Carolina
Grammy Award for Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album for I Love to Tell the Story – 25 Timeless Hymns in 1997
Country Gospel Music Hall of Fame inductee (class of 1999)
A stretch of US Highway 52 that passes through Mount Airy rededicated as the Andy Griffith Parkway
Statue of Griffith and Ron Howard (as Andy and Opie) constructed in Pullen Park in Raleigh, North Carolina
A second statue was later erected in Andy Griffith's hometown of Mount Airy of Andy and Opie outside the Andy Griffith museum.
Andy Griffith signature model guitar commissioned by C.F. Martin & Company
Presidential Medal of Freedom (2005)
Christian Music Hall of Fame inductee (class of 2007)
North Carolina Music Hall of Fame inductee (class of 2010)
Albums
Filmography
Features
Short subjects
Television work
References
External links
Inventory of the Andy Griffith Papers, 1949–1997, in the Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Andy Griffith Discography, at MTV
1926 births
2012 deaths
20th-century American comedians
20th-century American male actors
20th-century American male singers
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American singers
21st-century American comedians
21st-century American male actors
American gospel singers
American male comedians
American male film actors
American male singer-songwriters
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American performers of Christian music
American television producers
Burials in North Carolina
Colonial Records
Comedians from North Carolina
Grammy Award winners
Male actors from North Carolina
North Carolina Democrats
People from Manteo, North Carolina
People from Mount Airy, North Carolina
People with Guillain–Barré syndrome
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
Schoolteachers from North Carolina
Singer-songwriters from North Carolina
Southern gospel performers
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni
Writers from North Carolina | true | [
"Don Juan Manuel's Tales of Count Lucanor, in Spanish Libro de los ejemplos del conde Lucanor y de Patronio (Book of the Examples of Count Lucanor and of Patronio), also commonly known as El Conde Lucanor, Libro de Patronio, or Libro de los ejemplos (original Old Castilian: Libro de los enxiemplos del Conde Lucanor et de Patronio), is one of the earliest works of prose in Castilian Spanish. It was first written in 1335.\n\nThe book is divided into four parts. The first and most well-known part is a series of 51 short stories (some no more than a page or two) drawn from various sources, such as Aesop and other classical writers, and Arabic folktales.\n\nTales of Count Lucanor was first printed in 1575 when it was published at Seville under the auspices of Argote de Molina. It was again printed at Madrid in 1642, after which it lay forgotten for nearly two centuries.\n\nPurpose and structure\n\nA didactic, moralistic purpose, which would color so much of the Spanish literature to follow (see Novela picaresca), is the mark of this book. Count Lucanor engages in conversation with his advisor Patronio, putting to him a problem (\"Some man has made me a proposition...\" or \"I fear that such and such person intends to...\") and asking for advice. Patronio responds always with the greatest humility, claiming not to wish to offer advice to so illustrious a person as the Count, but offering to tell him a story of which the Count's problem reminds him. (Thus, the stories are \"examples\" [ejemplos] of wise action.) At the end he advises the Count to do as the protagonist of his story did.\n\nEach chapter ends in more or less the same way, with slight variations on: \"And this pleased the Count greatly and he did just so, and found it well. And Don Johán (Juan) saw that this example was very good, and had it written in this book, and composed the following verses.\" A rhymed couplet closes, giving the moral of the story.\n\nOrigin of stories and influence on later literature\nMany of the stories written in the book are the first examples written in a modern European language of various stories, which many other writers would use in the proceeding centuries. Many of the stories he included were themselves derived from other stories, coming from western and Arab sources.\n\nShakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew has the basic elements of Tale 35, \"What Happened to a Young Man Who Married a Strong and Ill-tempered Woman\".\n\nTale 32, \"What Happened to the King and the Tricksters Who Made Cloth\" tells the story that Hans Christian Andersen made popular as The Emperor's New Clothes.\n\nStory 7, \"What Happened to a Woman Named Truhana\", a version of Aesop's The Milkmaid and Her Pail, was claimed by Max Müller to originate in the Hindu cycle Panchatantra.\n\nTale 2, \"What happened to a good Man and his Son, leading a beast to market,\" is the familiar fable The miller, his son and the donkey.\n\nIn 2016, Baroque Decay released a game under the name \"The Count Lucanor\". As well as some protagonists' names, certain events from the books inspired past events in the game.\n\nThe stories\n\nThe book opens with a prologue which introduces the characters of the Count and Patronio. The titles in the following list are those given in Keller and Keating's 1977 translation into English. James York's 1868 translation into English gives a significantly different ordering of the stories and omits the fifty-first.\n\n What Happened to a King and His Favorite \n What Happened to a Good Man and His Son \n How King Richard of England Leapt into the Sea against the Moors\n What a Genoese Said to His Soul When He Was about to Die \n What Happened to a Fox and a Crow Who Had a Piece of Cheese in His Beak\n How the Swallow Warned the Other Birds When She Saw Flax Being Sown \n What Happened to a Woman Named Truhana \n What Happened to a Man Whose Liver Had to Be Washed \n What Happened to Two Horses Which Were Thrown to the Lion \n What Happened to a Man Who on Account of Poverty and Lack of Other Food Was Eating Bitter Lentils \n What Happened to a Dean of Santiago de Compostela and Don Yllán, the Grand Master of Toledo\n What Happened to the Fox and the Rooster \n What Happened to a Man Who Was Hunting Partridges \n The Miracle of Saint Dominick When He Preached against the Usurer \n What Happened to Lorenzo Suárez at the Siege of Seville \n The Reply that count Fernán González Gave to His Relative Núño Laynes \n What Happened to a Very Hungry Man Who Was Half-heartedly Invited to Dinner \n What Happened to Pero Meléndez de Valdés When He Broke His Leg \n What Happened to the Crows and the Owls \n What Happened to a King for Whom a Man Promised to Perform Alchemy \n What Happened to a Young King and a Philosopher to Whom his Father Commended Him \n What Happened to the Lion and the Bull \n How the Ants Provide for Themselves \n What Happened to the King Who Wanted to Test His Three Sons \n What Happened to the Count of Provence and How He Was Freed from Prison by the Advice of Saladin\n What Happened to the Tree of Lies \n What Happened to an Emperor and to Don Alvarfáñez Minaya and Their Wives \n What Happened in Granada to Don Lorenzo Suárez Gallinato When He Beheaded the Renegade Chaplain \n What Happened to a Fox Who Lay down in the Street to Play Dead \n What Happened to King Abenabet of Seville and Ramayquía His Wife \n How a Cardinal Judged between the Canons of Paris and the Friars Minor \n What Happened to the King and the Tricksters Who Made Cloth \n What Happened to Don Juan Manuel's Saker Falcon and an Eagle and a Heron \n What Happened to a Blind Man Who Was Leading Another \n What Happened to a Young Man Who Married a Strong and Ill-tempered Woman\n What Happened to a Merchant When He Found His Son and His Wife Sleeping Together \n What Happened to Count Fernán González with His Men after He Had Won the Battle of Hacinas \n What Happened to a Man Who Was Loaded down with Precious Stones and Drowned in the River \n What Happened to a Man and a Swallow and a Sparrow \n Why the Seneschal of Carcassonne Lost His Soul \n What Happened to a King of Córdova Named Al-Haquem \n What Happened to a Woman of Sham Piety \n What Happened to Good and Evil and the Wise Man and the Madman \n What Happened to Don Pero Núñez the Loyal, to Don Ruy González de Zavallos, and to Don Gutier Roiz de Blaguiello with Don Rodrigo the Generous \n What Happened to a Man Who Became the Devil's Friend and Vassal \n What Happened to a Philosopher who by Accident Went down a Street Where Prostitutes Lived \n What Befell a Moor and His Sister Who Pretended That She Was Timid \n What Happened to a Man Who Tested His Friends \n What Happened to the Man Whom They Cast out Naked on an Island When They Took away from Him the Kingdom He Ruled \n What Happened to Saladin and a Lady, the Wife of a Knight Who Was His Vassal \n What Happened to a Christian King Who Was Very Powerful and Haughty\n\nReferences\n\nNotes\n\nBibliography\n\n Sturm, Harlan\n\n Wacks, David\n\nExternal links\n\nThe Internet Archive provides free access to the 1868 translation by James York.\nJSTOR has the to the 1977 translation by Keller and Keating.\nSelections in English and Spanish (pedagogical edition) with introduction, notes, and bibliography in Open Iberia/América (open access teaching anthology)\n\n14th-century books\nSpanish literature\n1335 books",
"What Is the Fastest Thing in the World? is a Greek fairy tale collected by Georgios A. Megas in Folktales of Greece.\n\nIt is Aarne-Thompson type 875 and has many Greek and Slavic variants, generally revolving about the exchange of clever answers. This type of tale is the commonest European tale dealing with witty exchanges. In ballad form, the clever answers to the riddles, and the winning of a husband by them, are found in Child ballad 1, Riddles Wisely Expounded.\n\nSynopsis\nTwo brothers argued over how they should split their land, some of which was good and some bad. The king sent riddles to them: whoever guessed the riddles would get good land. The first riddle was what was the fastest thing in the world. The stupid brother's daughter told him what to say; his brother guessed a bird or a horse, and the stupid brother said the mind. The second riddle was what was the heaviest thing in the world; the clever brother guessed stone or iron, and the stupid brother repeated his daughter's answer: fire because no one could lift it. The third was what was the most important thing in the world; the clever brother guessed bread or money, and the stupid brother repeated his daughter's answer: ground, because they needed it to stand on.\n\nThe king gave the stupid brother the land and asked how he got the answers. He confessed it was his daughter. The king married the daughter, on the condition that she never meddled in his affairs; if she did, she would have to return home, although he would give her one thing, whatever she valued most in the castle.\n\nOne day, the queen saw a man steal a packsaddle and quarrel with the rightful owner. She called out which was the rightful owner, and the king said she had meddled and must go home. She asked him to eat one last meal with her, and then she drugged it. When he was asleep, she put him in the carriage and went home. When the king woke, she told him she was entitled to him, because she valued him most of everything in the castle. The king took her back to the castle and gave her the right to judge all his affairs.\n\nSee also\nThe Peasant's Wise Daughter\nThe Wise Little Girl\n\nReferences\n\nGreek fairy tales\nFictional queens\nFictional kings"
] |
[
"Andy Griffith",
"From rising comedian to film star",
"How did Andy Griffith get his start as a comedian",
"Griffith's early career was as a monologist, delivering long stories such as What It Was, Was Football, which is told from the point of view of a naive country preacher",
"When did he start acting?",
"Griffith starred in Ira Levin's one-hour teleplay version of No Time for Sergeants (March 1955) --",
"What was his role in that teleplay",
"-- a story about a country boy in the United States Air Force -- on The United States Steel Hour, a television anthology series.",
"How did he transition into comedy from his monoloques",
"a story about a country boy in the United States Air Force -- on The United States Steel Hour, a television anthology series.",
"What did he do after he was on the television anthology series",
"He expanded that role in Ira Levin's full-length theatrical version of the same name (October 1955) on Broadway in New York City.",
"How long did the show run on broadway",
"October 1955",
"What was the most interesting thing that happened to him in this time period",
"The role earned him a \"Distinguished Supporting or Featured Dramatic Actor\" nomination at the 1956 Tony Awards, losing to Ed Begley."
] | C_24f75fe71bad4c53aee504decee009be_0 | Did he win any other awards | 8 | Did Andy Griffith win any other awards other than 1956 Tony Awards nomination? | Andy Griffith | Griffith's early career was as a monologist, delivering long stories such as What It Was, Was Football, which is told from the point of view of a naive country preacher trying to figure out what was going on in a football game. The monologue was released as a single in 1953 on the Colonial Records label, and was a hit for Griffith, reaching number nine on the charts in 1954. Griffith starred in Ira Levin's one-hour teleplay version of No Time for Sergeants (March 1955) -- a story about a country boy in the United States Air Force -- on The United States Steel Hour, a television anthology series. He expanded that role in Ira Levin's full-length theatrical version of the same name (October 1955) on Broadway in New York City. The role earned him a "Distinguished Supporting or Featured Dramatic Actor" nomination at the 1956 Tony Awards, losing to Ed Begley. He did win the 1956 Theatre World Award, however, a prize given for debut roles on Broadway. "Mr. Griffith does not have to condescend to Will Stockdale" (his role in the play), wrote Brooks Atkinson in The New York Times. "All he has to do is walk on the stage and look the audience straight in the face. If the armed forces cannot cope with Will Stockdale, neither can the audience resist Andy Griffith." Griffith later reprised his role for the film version (1958) of No Time for Sergeants; the film also featured Don Knotts, as a corporal in charge of manual-dexterity tests, marking the beginning of a lifelong association between Griffith and Knotts. No Time for Sergeants is considered the direct inspiration for the later television situation comedy Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. His only other New York stage appearance was the titular role in the 1959 musical Destry Rides Again, co-starring Dolores Gray. The show, with a score by Harold Rome, ran for 472 performances and more than a year. Griffith was nominated for "Distinguished Musical Actor" at the 1960 Tony Awards, losing to Jackie Gleason. He also portrayed a US Coast Guard sailor in the feature film Onionhead (1958); it was neither a critical nor a commercial success. CANNOTANSWER | He did win the 1956 Theatre World Award, however, a prize given for debut roles on Broadway. | Andy Samuel Griffith (June 1, 1926 – July 3, 2012) was an American actor, comedian, television producer, southern gospel singer, and writer whose career spanned seven decades in music and television. Known for his Southern drawl, his characters with a folksy-friendly personality, and his gruff but friendly voice, Griffith was a Tony Award nominee for two roles, and gained prominence in the starring role in director Elia Kazan's film A Face in the Crowd (1957) and No Time for Sergeants (1958) before he became better known for his television roles, playing the lead roles of Andy Taylor in the sitcom The Andy Griffith Show (1960–1968) and Ben Matlock in the legal drama Matlock (1986–1995).
Early life and education
Griffith was born on June 1, 1926, in Mount Airy, North Carolina, the only child of Carl Lee Griffith and his wife, Geneva (née Nunn). As a baby, Griffith lived with relatives until his parents could afford to buy a home. With neither a crib nor a bed, he slept in dresser drawers for several months. In 1929, when Griffith was three, his father began working as a helper or carpenter and purchased a home in Mount Airy's "blue-collar" south side. Griffith grew up listening to music. By the time he entered school, he was well aware that he was from what many considered the "wrong side of the tracks". He was a shy student, but once he found a way to make his peers laugh, he began to come out of his shell and come into his own.
As a student at Mount Airy High School, Griffith cultivated an interest in the arts, and he participated in the school's drama program. A growing love of music, particularly swing, would change his life. Griffith was raised Baptist and looked up to Ed Mickey, a minister at Grace Moravian Church, who led the brass band and taught him to sing and play the trombone. Mickey nurtured Griffith's talent throughout high school until graduation in 1944. Griffith was delighted when he was offered a role in The Lost Colony by Paul Green, a play about Roanoke Island still performed today. He performed as a cast member of the play for several years, playing a variety of roles until he finally landed the role of Sir Walter Raleigh, for whom North Carolina's capital is named.
He attended the University of North Carolina (UNC) in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree in 1949. He began college studying to be a Moravian preacher, but he changed his major to music and became a part of the school's Carolina Playmakers. At UNC, he was president of the UNC chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, America's oldest fraternity for men in music. He also played roles in several student operettas, including The Chimes of Normandy (1946), and Gilbert and Sullivan's The Gondoliers (1945), The Mikado (1948) and H.M.S. Pinafore (1949). After graduation, he taught music and drama for a few years at Goldsboro High School in Goldsboro, North Carolina, where he taught, among others, Carl Kasell. He also began to write.
Career
From rising comedian to film star
Griffith's early career was as a monologist, delivering long stories such as What It Was, Was Football, which is told from the point of view of a naïve country preacher trying to figure out what was going on in a football game. The monologue was released as a single in 1953 on the Colonial Records label, and was a hit for Griffith, reaching number nine on the charts in 1954.
Griffith starred in Ira Levin's one-hour teleplay, No Time for Sergeants (March 1955) — a story about a country boy in the United States Air Force — on The United States Steel Hour, a television anthology series. He expanded that role in Ira Levin's full-length theatrical version of the same name (October 1955) on Broadway in New York City. The role earned him a "Distinguished Supporting or Featured Dramatic Actor" nomination at the 1956 Tony Awards, losing to Ed Begley. He did win the 1956 Theatre World Award, however, a prize given for debut roles on Broadway. "Mr. Griffith does not have to condescend to Will Stockdale" (his role in the play), wrote Brooks Atkinson in The New York Times. "All he has to do is walk on the stage and look the audience straight in the face. If the armed forces cannot cope with Will Stockdale, neither can the audience resist Andy Griffith."
Griffith later reprised his role for the film version (1958) of No Time for Sergeants; the film also featured Don Knotts, as a corporal in charge of manual-dexterity tests, marking the beginning of a lifelong association between Griffith and Knotts. No Time for Sergeants is considered the direct inspiration for the later television situation comedy Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. – a spin-off of The Andy Griffith Show.
His only other New York stage appearance was the title role in the 1959 musical Destry Rides Again, co-starring Dolores Gray. The show, with a score by Harold Rome, ran for 472 performances and more than a year. Griffith was nominated for "Distinguished Musical Actor" at the 1960 Tony Awards, losing to Jackie Gleason. He also portrayed a US Coast Guard sailor in the feature film Onionhead (1958). It was neither a critical nor a commercial success.
Dramatic role in A Face in the Crowd (1957)
In 1957, Griffith made his film debut starring in the film A Face in the Crowd. He plays a "country boy" who is manipulative and power-hungry: a drifter who becomes a television host and uses his show as a gateway to political power. The film was directed by Elia Kazan and written by Budd Schulberg and co-stars Patricia Neal, Walter Matthau, Tony Franciosa, and Lee Remick (in her film debut).
A 2005 DVD reissue of A Face in the Crowd includes a mini-documentary on the film, with comments from Schulberg and cast members Griffith, Franciosa, and Neal. In his interview, Griffith recalls Kazan prepping him to shoot his first scene with Remick's teenaged baton twirler, who captivates Griffith's character on a trip to Arkansas. Griffith also expresses his belief that the film was more popular in more recent decades than it was when originally released.
Television roles
Early television roles
Griffith's first appearance on television was in 1955 in the one-hour teleplay of No Time for Sergeants on The United States Steel Hour. That was the first of two appearances on that series. In 1960, Griffith appeared as a county sheriff, who was also a justice of the peace and the editor of the local newspaper, in an episode of Make Room for Daddy starring Danny Thomas. This episode, in which Thomas's character is stopped for running a stop sign in a little town, served as a backdoor pilot for The Andy Griffith Show. Both shows were produced by Sheldon Leonard.
The Andy Griffith Show (1960–1968)
Beginning in September 1960, Griffith starred as Sheriff Andy Taylor in The Andy Griffith Show for the CBS television network. The show took place in the fictional town of Mayberry, North Carolina, where Taylor, a widower, was the sheriff and town sage. The show was filmed at Desilu Studios, with exteriors filmed at Forty Acres in Culver City, California.
From 1960 to 1965, the show co-starred character actor and comedian — and Griffith's longtime friend — Don Knotts in the role of Deputy Barney Fife, Taylor's best friend and comedy partner. He was also Taylor's cousin in the show at first, though later they dropped that cousin relationship and talked simply of knowing one another since boyhood. In the series premiere episode, in a conversation between the two, Fife calls Taylor "Cousin Andy", and Taylor calls Fife "Cousin Barney". The show also starred child actor Ron Howard (then known as Ronny Howard), who played Taylor's only child, Opie Taylor. It was an immediate hit. Griffith never received a writing credit for the show, but he worked on the development of every script. Knotts was frequently lauded and won multiple Emmy Awards for his comedic performances, as did Frances Bavier in 1967, while Griffith was never nominated for an Emmy Award during the show's run.
In 1967, Griffith was under contract with CBS to do one more season of the show. However, he decided to quit the show to pursue a movie career and other projects. The series continued as Mayberry R.F.D., with Ken Berry starring as a widower farmer and many of the regular characters recurring, some regularly and some as guest appearances. Griffith served as executive producer (according to Griffith, he came in once a week to review the week's scripts and give input) and guest starred in five episodes (the pilot episode involved his marriage to Helen Crump). He made final appearances as Taylor in the 1986 reunion television film, Return to Mayberry, with fellow co-star, Don Knotts. Two reunion specials followed in 1993 and 2003, with strong ratings.
Matlock (1986–1995)
After leaving his still-popular show in 1968, and starting his own production company Andy Griffith Enterprises in 1972, Griffith starred in less-successful television series such as Headmaster (1970), The New Andy Griffith Show (1971), Adams of Eagle Lake (1975), Salvage 1 (1979) and The Yeagers (1980). After spending seven months in rehabilitation for leg paralysis from Guillain–Barré syndrome in 1983, Griffith returned to television as the title character, Ben Matlock, in the legal drama Matlock (1986–1995) on NBC and ABC. Matlock was a country lawyer in Atlanta, Georgia, who was known for his Southern drawl and for always winning his cases. Matlock also starred unfamiliar, struggling actors (both of whom were childhood fans of Andy Griffith) Nancy Stafford as Michelle Thomas (1987–1992) and Clarence Gilyard, Jr. as Conrad McMasters (1989–1993). By the end of its first season it was a ratings powerhouse on Tuesday nights. Although the show was nominated for four Emmy Awards, Griffith once again was never nominated. He did, however, win a People's Choice Award in 1987 for his work as Matlock.
Other television appearances
Griffith also made other character appearances through the years on Playhouse 90, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., The Mod Squad, Hawaii Five-O, The Doris Day Show, Here's Lucy, The Bionic Woman and Fantasy Island, among many others. He also reprised his role as Ben Matlock on Diagnosis: Murder in 1997, and his final guest-starring role was in 2001 in an episode of Dawson's Creek.
Films (including television films)
For most of the 1970s, Griffith starred or appeared in many television films, including The Strangers In 7A (1972), Go Ask Alice (1973), Winter Kill (1974) and Pray for the Wildcats (1974), which marked his first villainous role since A Face in the Crowd. Griffith appeared again as a villain in Savages (1974), a television film based on the novel Deathwatch (1972) by Robb White. Griffith received his only Primetime Emmy Award nomination as Outstanding Supporting Actor – Miniseries or a Movie for his role as the father of a murder victim in the television film Murder in Texas (1981) and won further acclaim for his role as a homicidal villain in the television film Murder in Coweta County (1983), co-starring music legend Johnny Cash as the sheriff. He also appeared in several television miniseries, including the television version of From Here to Eternity (1979), Roots: The Next Generations (1979), Centennial (1978), and the Watergate scandal-inspired Washington: Behind Closed Doors (1977), playing a former president loosely based on Lyndon B. Johnson.
Most of the television movies in which Griffith starred were also attempts to launch a new series. Winter Kill (1974) launched the short-lived Adams of Eagle Lake, which was canceled in 1975 after only two episodes. A year later, he starred as a New York City attorney for the DA's office in Street Killing, which also failed to launch a new show. Two television films for NBC in 1977, The Girl in the Empty Grave and Deadly Game, were attempts for Griffith to launch a new series featuring him as Police Chief Abel Marsh, a more hard-edged version of Andy Taylor; despite strong ratings, both were unsuccessful in leading to a new TV show.
During this period, Griffith also appeared in two feature films, both of which flopped at the box office. He co-starred with Jeff Bridges as a crusty old 1930s western actor in the comedy Hearts of the West (1975), and he appeared alongside Tom Berenger as a gay villainous colonel and cattle baron in the Western comedy spoof Rustlers' Rhapsody (1985).
Following another short-lived return to series television, playing a family patriarch in the Dynasty-inspired The Yeagers in 1980, Griffith continued to make guest appearances in several hit series, including Hotel, Fantasy Island, where he played a fictional version of western figure Judge Roy Bean featured in an aspiring singer's fantasy, and an episode of The Love Boat, which featured a memorable appearance by pop icon Andy Warhol. He also appeared as an attorney in the NBC miniseries Fatal Vision (1984), which is considered a precursor to his role in Matlock.
Griffith stunned many unfamiliar with his A Face in the Crowd work in the television film Crime of Innocence (1985)...wherein he portrayed a hateful and vindictive judge who routinely sentenced juveniles to hard prison time, followed by lengthy and equally-torturous probation. Also noteworthy in Griffith's darker roles was his character in Under the Influence (1986), a TV movie in which Griffith played an alcoholic, abusive patriarch. He further surprised audiences with his role as a dangerous and mysterious grandfather in the television film Gramps (1995) co-starring John Ritter. He also appeared as a comical villain in the spy movie spoof Spy Hard (1996) starring Leslie Nielsen. In the television film A Holiday Romance (1999), Griffith played the role of Jake Peterson. In the film Daddy and Them (2001), Griffith portrayed the patriarch of a dysfunctional southern family.
In the feature film Waitress (2007), Griffith played a crusty diner owner who takes a shine to Keri Russell's character. His last appearance was the leading role in the romantic comedy, independent film Play the Game (2009) as a lonely, widowed grandfather re-entering the dating world after a 60-year hiatus. The cast of Play the Game also included Rance Howard, Ron Howard's real-life father, who had made appearances in various supporting roles on The Andy Griffith Show, and Clint Howard, Ron's younger brother, who had the recurring role of Leon (the kid offering the ice cream cone or peanut butter sandwich) on The Andy Griffith Show.
Singing and recording career
Griffith sang as part of some of his acting roles, most notably in A Face in the Crowd and in many episodes of both The Andy Griffith Show and Matlock. In addition to his recordings of comic monologues in the 1950s, he made an album of upbeat country and gospel tunes during the run of The Andy Griffith Show, which included a version of the show's theme sung by Griffith under the title "The Fishin' Hole". In recent years, he recorded successful albums of classic Christian hymns for Sparrow Records. His most successful was the release I Love to Tell the Story: 25 Timeless Hymns (1996), which was certified platinum by the RIAA. The album won Grammy Award for Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album at the 1997 Grammy Awards.
Griffith appeared in country singer Brad Paisley's music video "Waitin' on a Woman" (2008).
Name dispute
William Harold Fenrick of Platteville, Wisconsin, legally changed his name to Andrew Jackson Griffith and ran unsuccessfully for sheriff of Grant County in November 2006. Subsequently, actor Griffith filed a lawsuit against Griffith/Fenrick, asserting that he violated trademark, copyright, and privacy laws by changing his name for the "sole purpose of taking advantage of Griffith's fame in an attempt to gain votes". On May 4, 2007, US District Court Judge John C. Shabaz ruled that Griffith/Fenrick did not violate federal trademark law because he did not use the Griffith name in a commercial transaction but instead in order "to seek elective office, fundamental First Amendment protected speech".
Association with Don Knotts and Ron Howard
Don Knotts
Griffith's friendship with Don Knotts began in 1955 when they co-starred in the Broadway play No Time for Sergeants. Several years later, Knotts had a regular role on The Andy Griffith Show for five seasons. Knotts left the series in 1965, but periodically returned for guest appearances. He appeared in the pilot for Griffith's subsequent short-lived series, The New Andy Griffith Show, and he had a recurring role on Matlock, from 1988 to 1992. In a January 2000 interview, Griffith said of Knotts, "The five years we worked together were the best five years of my life."
They kept in touch until Knotts' death in early 2006. Griffith traveled from his Manteo, North Carolina home to Los Angeles to visit the terminally ill Knotts at Cedars-Sinai just before Knotts died of lung cancer.
Ron Howard
Griffith's friendship with the then-unknown Ron Howard began in 1960 when they guest-starred in the episode of Make Room For Daddy that led to the formation of The Andy Griffith Show the same year. For eight seasons, they starred together in most of the show's episodes, portraying father and son.
They guest-starred together in the show's spin-off series Mayberry R.F.D. They appeared in an episode during which Griffith's character married his long-time girlfriend, Helen Crump, and in the Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C. episode "Opie Joins the Marines", in which Howard's character, Opie, runs away from home and attempts to enlist in the US Marines. They co-starred in the TV special Return to Mayberry (1986), in which the now-adult Opie is about to become a father. They later appeared together in CBS reunion specials in 1993 and 2003. Griffith also made a comedy cameo on the Saturday Night Live program of October 9, 1982, hosted by Howard.
In October 2008, Griffith and Howard briefly reprised their Mayberry roles in an online video Ron Howard's Call to Action. It was posted to comedy video website Funny or Die. The video encouraged people to vote and endorsed Democratic candidates Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
After Griffith's death, Howard stated: "His love of creating, the joy he took in it whether it was drama or comedy or his music, was inspiring to grow up around. The spirit he created on the set of The Andy Griffith Show was joyful and professional all at once. It was an amazing environment. And I think it was a reflection of the way he felt about having the opportunity to create something that people could enjoy. It was always with respect and passion for the opportunity and really what it could offer people in a very unpretentious and earthy way. He felt he was always working in service of an audience he really respected and cared about. He was a great influence on me. His passing is sad. But he lived a great rich life." In a 2016 interview with US Magazine, Howard recalled Griffith encouraging the then 7-year-old boy in his scriptwriting, saying "I felt elated." Howard recalled: "Andy Griffith said, 'What are you grinnin' at, young'un?' I said, 'That's the first idea of mine they've taken.' He said, 'It's the first that was any damn good. Now let's rehearse!'"
Political activities
In 2000, Griffith appeared in a last-minute campaign commercial where he endorsed then-Attorney General Mike Easley for governor of the state of North Carolina. Easley had been locked in a tight race with former Mayor of Charlotte Richard Vinroot and had been losing his lead in the polls. Easley went on to win that November, taking 52% of the vote to Vinroot's 46%. Many observers dubbed Easley's victory as the "Mayberry Miracle", and credit Griffith's endorsement for stopping his falling poll numbers.
In October 2008, Griffith appeared with Ron Howard in a Funny or Die video endorsement for Barack Obama's presidential campaign.
In addition to his online video with Howard in 2008, in politics Griffith favored Democrats and recorded television commercials endorsing North Carolina Governors Mike Easley and Bev Perdue. He spoke at the inauguration ceremonies of both. In 1989, he declined an offer by Democratic party officials to run against Jesse Helms, a Republican U.S. Senator from North Carolina.
In July 2010, he also starred in advertisements about Medicare.
Personal life and death
In 1945, while a student at the University of North Carolina, Griffith was initiated as a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, a national social music fraternity for men.
Griffith and Barbara Bray Edwards were married on August 22, 1949, and they adopted two children: a son named Andy Samuel Griffith Jr. (born in 1957 and better known as Sam Griffith) and a daughter named Dixie Nann Griffith. They divorced in 1972. Sam, a real-estate developer, died in 1996 after years of alcoholism. His second wife was Solica Cassuto, a Greek actress. They were married from 1973 to 1981. Griffith and Cindi Knight married on April 12, 1983, after they met when he was filming Murder in Coweta County.
Griffith's first serious health problem was in April 1983 when he was diagnosed with Guillain–Barré syndrome and could not walk for seven months because of paralysis from the knees down.
On May 9, 2000, he underwent quadruple heart-bypass surgery at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk, Virginia.
After a fall, Griffith underwent hip surgery on September 5, 2007, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California.
Griffith died on July 3, 2012, from a heart attack at the age of 86 at his coastal home in Manteo, Roanoke Island, in Dare County, North Carolina. He was buried in the Griffith family cemetery on the island within five hours of his death.
Awards and honors
Television Hall of Fame inductee (class of 1991)
Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Andy Griffith Museum—a 2,500-square-foot facility which houses the world's largest collection of Griffith memorabilia—opened on September 26, 2009, in Mount Airy, North Carolina
Grammy Award for Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album for I Love to Tell the Story – 25 Timeless Hymns in 1997
Country Gospel Music Hall of Fame inductee (class of 1999)
A stretch of US Highway 52 that passes through Mount Airy rededicated as the Andy Griffith Parkway
Statue of Griffith and Ron Howard (as Andy and Opie) constructed in Pullen Park in Raleigh, North Carolina
A second statue was later erected in Andy Griffith's hometown of Mount Airy of Andy and Opie outside the Andy Griffith museum.
Andy Griffith signature model guitar commissioned by C.F. Martin & Company
Presidential Medal of Freedom (2005)
Christian Music Hall of Fame inductee (class of 2007)
North Carolina Music Hall of Fame inductee (class of 2010)
Albums
Filmography
Features
Short subjects
Television work
References
External links
Inventory of the Andy Griffith Papers, 1949–1997, in the Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Andy Griffith Discography, at MTV
1926 births
2012 deaths
20th-century American comedians
20th-century American male actors
20th-century American male singers
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American singers
21st-century American comedians
21st-century American male actors
American gospel singers
American male comedians
American male film actors
American male singer-songwriters
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American performers of Christian music
American television producers
Burials in North Carolina
Colonial Records
Comedians from North Carolina
Grammy Award winners
Male actors from North Carolina
North Carolina Democrats
People from Manteo, North Carolina
People from Mount Airy, North Carolina
People with Guillain–Barré syndrome
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
Schoolteachers from North Carolina
Singer-songwriters from North Carolina
Southern gospel performers
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni
Writers from North Carolina | true | [
"The 9th annual Genie Awards were held March 22, 1988, and honoured Canadian films released in 1987. The ceremony was held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre and was co-hosted by Megan Follows and Gordon Pinsent.\n\nThe awards were dominated by Night Zoo (Un zoo la nuit), which won a still unmatched thirteen awards. The film garnered 14 nominations overall; the film's only nomination that failed to translate into a win was Gilles Maheu's nod for Best Actor, as he lost to the film's other Best Actor nominee, Roger Lebel. The female acting awards were won by Sheila McCarthy and Paule Baillargeon for the film I've Heard the Mermaids Singing, the only other narrative feature film to win any Genie awards that year; only the Documentary and Short Film awards, in which neither Night Zoo nor I've Heard the Mermaids Singing were even eligible for consideration, were won by any other film.\n\nWinners and nominees\n\nReferences\n\n09\nGenie\nGenie\nGenie",
"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"
] |
[
"Andy Griffith",
"From rising comedian to film star",
"How did Andy Griffith get his start as a comedian",
"Griffith's early career was as a monologist, delivering long stories such as What It Was, Was Football, which is told from the point of view of a naive country preacher",
"When did he start acting?",
"Griffith starred in Ira Levin's one-hour teleplay version of No Time for Sergeants (March 1955) --",
"What was his role in that teleplay",
"-- a story about a country boy in the United States Air Force -- on The United States Steel Hour, a television anthology series.",
"How did he transition into comedy from his monoloques",
"a story about a country boy in the United States Air Force -- on The United States Steel Hour, a television anthology series.",
"What did he do after he was on the television anthology series",
"He expanded that role in Ira Levin's full-length theatrical version of the same name (October 1955) on Broadway in New York City.",
"How long did the show run on broadway",
"October 1955",
"What was the most interesting thing that happened to him in this time period",
"The role earned him a \"Distinguished Supporting or Featured Dramatic Actor\" nomination at the 1956 Tony Awards, losing to Ed Begley.",
"Did he win any other awards",
"He did win the 1956 Theatre World Award, however, a prize given for debut roles on Broadway."
] | C_24f75fe71bad4c53aee504decee009be_0 | how old was he when he started on broadway | 9 | how old was Andy Griffith when he started on broadway? | Andy Griffith | Griffith's early career was as a monologist, delivering long stories such as What It Was, Was Football, which is told from the point of view of a naive country preacher trying to figure out what was going on in a football game. The monologue was released as a single in 1953 on the Colonial Records label, and was a hit for Griffith, reaching number nine on the charts in 1954. Griffith starred in Ira Levin's one-hour teleplay version of No Time for Sergeants (March 1955) -- a story about a country boy in the United States Air Force -- on The United States Steel Hour, a television anthology series. He expanded that role in Ira Levin's full-length theatrical version of the same name (October 1955) on Broadway in New York City. The role earned him a "Distinguished Supporting or Featured Dramatic Actor" nomination at the 1956 Tony Awards, losing to Ed Begley. He did win the 1956 Theatre World Award, however, a prize given for debut roles on Broadway. "Mr. Griffith does not have to condescend to Will Stockdale" (his role in the play), wrote Brooks Atkinson in The New York Times. "All he has to do is walk on the stage and look the audience straight in the face. If the armed forces cannot cope with Will Stockdale, neither can the audience resist Andy Griffith." Griffith later reprised his role for the film version (1958) of No Time for Sergeants; the film also featured Don Knotts, as a corporal in charge of manual-dexterity tests, marking the beginning of a lifelong association between Griffith and Knotts. No Time for Sergeants is considered the direct inspiration for the later television situation comedy Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. His only other New York stage appearance was the titular role in the 1959 musical Destry Rides Again, co-starring Dolores Gray. The show, with a score by Harold Rome, ran for 472 performances and more than a year. Griffith was nominated for "Distinguished Musical Actor" at the 1960 Tony Awards, losing to Jackie Gleason. He also portrayed a US Coast Guard sailor in the feature film Onionhead (1958); it was neither a critical nor a commercial success. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Andy Samuel Griffith (June 1, 1926 – July 3, 2012) was an American actor, comedian, television producer, southern gospel singer, and writer whose career spanned seven decades in music and television. Known for his Southern drawl, his characters with a folksy-friendly personality, and his gruff but friendly voice, Griffith was a Tony Award nominee for two roles, and gained prominence in the starring role in director Elia Kazan's film A Face in the Crowd (1957) and No Time for Sergeants (1958) before he became better known for his television roles, playing the lead roles of Andy Taylor in the sitcom The Andy Griffith Show (1960–1968) and Ben Matlock in the legal drama Matlock (1986–1995).
Early life and education
Griffith was born on June 1, 1926, in Mount Airy, North Carolina, the only child of Carl Lee Griffith and his wife, Geneva (née Nunn). As a baby, Griffith lived with relatives until his parents could afford to buy a home. With neither a crib nor a bed, he slept in dresser drawers for several months. In 1929, when Griffith was three, his father began working as a helper or carpenter and purchased a home in Mount Airy's "blue-collar" south side. Griffith grew up listening to music. By the time he entered school, he was well aware that he was from what many considered the "wrong side of the tracks". He was a shy student, but once he found a way to make his peers laugh, he began to come out of his shell and come into his own.
As a student at Mount Airy High School, Griffith cultivated an interest in the arts, and he participated in the school's drama program. A growing love of music, particularly swing, would change his life. Griffith was raised Baptist and looked up to Ed Mickey, a minister at Grace Moravian Church, who led the brass band and taught him to sing and play the trombone. Mickey nurtured Griffith's talent throughout high school until graduation in 1944. Griffith was delighted when he was offered a role in The Lost Colony by Paul Green, a play about Roanoke Island still performed today. He performed as a cast member of the play for several years, playing a variety of roles until he finally landed the role of Sir Walter Raleigh, for whom North Carolina's capital is named.
He attended the University of North Carolina (UNC) in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree in 1949. He began college studying to be a Moravian preacher, but he changed his major to music and became a part of the school's Carolina Playmakers. At UNC, he was president of the UNC chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, America's oldest fraternity for men in music. He also played roles in several student operettas, including The Chimes of Normandy (1946), and Gilbert and Sullivan's The Gondoliers (1945), The Mikado (1948) and H.M.S. Pinafore (1949). After graduation, he taught music and drama for a few years at Goldsboro High School in Goldsboro, North Carolina, where he taught, among others, Carl Kasell. He also began to write.
Career
From rising comedian to film star
Griffith's early career was as a monologist, delivering long stories such as What It Was, Was Football, which is told from the point of view of a naïve country preacher trying to figure out what was going on in a football game. The monologue was released as a single in 1953 on the Colonial Records label, and was a hit for Griffith, reaching number nine on the charts in 1954.
Griffith starred in Ira Levin's one-hour teleplay, No Time for Sergeants (March 1955) — a story about a country boy in the United States Air Force — on The United States Steel Hour, a television anthology series. He expanded that role in Ira Levin's full-length theatrical version of the same name (October 1955) on Broadway in New York City. The role earned him a "Distinguished Supporting or Featured Dramatic Actor" nomination at the 1956 Tony Awards, losing to Ed Begley. He did win the 1956 Theatre World Award, however, a prize given for debut roles on Broadway. "Mr. Griffith does not have to condescend to Will Stockdale" (his role in the play), wrote Brooks Atkinson in The New York Times. "All he has to do is walk on the stage and look the audience straight in the face. If the armed forces cannot cope with Will Stockdale, neither can the audience resist Andy Griffith."
Griffith later reprised his role for the film version (1958) of No Time for Sergeants; the film also featured Don Knotts, as a corporal in charge of manual-dexterity tests, marking the beginning of a lifelong association between Griffith and Knotts. No Time for Sergeants is considered the direct inspiration for the later television situation comedy Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. – a spin-off of The Andy Griffith Show.
His only other New York stage appearance was the title role in the 1959 musical Destry Rides Again, co-starring Dolores Gray. The show, with a score by Harold Rome, ran for 472 performances and more than a year. Griffith was nominated for "Distinguished Musical Actor" at the 1960 Tony Awards, losing to Jackie Gleason. He also portrayed a US Coast Guard sailor in the feature film Onionhead (1958). It was neither a critical nor a commercial success.
Dramatic role in A Face in the Crowd (1957)
In 1957, Griffith made his film debut starring in the film A Face in the Crowd. He plays a "country boy" who is manipulative and power-hungry: a drifter who becomes a television host and uses his show as a gateway to political power. The film was directed by Elia Kazan and written by Budd Schulberg and co-stars Patricia Neal, Walter Matthau, Tony Franciosa, and Lee Remick (in her film debut).
A 2005 DVD reissue of A Face in the Crowd includes a mini-documentary on the film, with comments from Schulberg and cast members Griffith, Franciosa, and Neal. In his interview, Griffith recalls Kazan prepping him to shoot his first scene with Remick's teenaged baton twirler, who captivates Griffith's character on a trip to Arkansas. Griffith also expresses his belief that the film was more popular in more recent decades than it was when originally released.
Television roles
Early television roles
Griffith's first appearance on television was in 1955 in the one-hour teleplay of No Time for Sergeants on The United States Steel Hour. That was the first of two appearances on that series. In 1960, Griffith appeared as a county sheriff, who was also a justice of the peace and the editor of the local newspaper, in an episode of Make Room for Daddy starring Danny Thomas. This episode, in which Thomas's character is stopped for running a stop sign in a little town, served as a backdoor pilot for The Andy Griffith Show. Both shows were produced by Sheldon Leonard.
The Andy Griffith Show (1960–1968)
Beginning in September 1960, Griffith starred as Sheriff Andy Taylor in The Andy Griffith Show for the CBS television network. The show took place in the fictional town of Mayberry, North Carolina, where Taylor, a widower, was the sheriff and town sage. The show was filmed at Desilu Studios, with exteriors filmed at Forty Acres in Culver City, California.
From 1960 to 1965, the show co-starred character actor and comedian — and Griffith's longtime friend — Don Knotts in the role of Deputy Barney Fife, Taylor's best friend and comedy partner. He was also Taylor's cousin in the show at first, though later they dropped that cousin relationship and talked simply of knowing one another since boyhood. In the series premiere episode, in a conversation between the two, Fife calls Taylor "Cousin Andy", and Taylor calls Fife "Cousin Barney". The show also starred child actor Ron Howard (then known as Ronny Howard), who played Taylor's only child, Opie Taylor. It was an immediate hit. Griffith never received a writing credit for the show, but he worked on the development of every script. Knotts was frequently lauded and won multiple Emmy Awards for his comedic performances, as did Frances Bavier in 1967, while Griffith was never nominated for an Emmy Award during the show's run.
In 1967, Griffith was under contract with CBS to do one more season of the show. However, he decided to quit the show to pursue a movie career and other projects. The series continued as Mayberry R.F.D., with Ken Berry starring as a widower farmer and many of the regular characters recurring, some regularly and some as guest appearances. Griffith served as executive producer (according to Griffith, he came in once a week to review the week's scripts and give input) and guest starred in five episodes (the pilot episode involved his marriage to Helen Crump). He made final appearances as Taylor in the 1986 reunion television film, Return to Mayberry, with fellow co-star, Don Knotts. Two reunion specials followed in 1993 and 2003, with strong ratings.
Matlock (1986–1995)
After leaving his still-popular show in 1968, and starting his own production company Andy Griffith Enterprises in 1972, Griffith starred in less-successful television series such as Headmaster (1970), The New Andy Griffith Show (1971), Adams of Eagle Lake (1975), Salvage 1 (1979) and The Yeagers (1980). After spending seven months in rehabilitation for leg paralysis from Guillain–Barré syndrome in 1983, Griffith returned to television as the title character, Ben Matlock, in the legal drama Matlock (1986–1995) on NBC and ABC. Matlock was a country lawyer in Atlanta, Georgia, who was known for his Southern drawl and for always winning his cases. Matlock also starred unfamiliar, struggling actors (both of whom were childhood fans of Andy Griffith) Nancy Stafford as Michelle Thomas (1987–1992) and Clarence Gilyard, Jr. as Conrad McMasters (1989–1993). By the end of its first season it was a ratings powerhouse on Tuesday nights. Although the show was nominated for four Emmy Awards, Griffith once again was never nominated. He did, however, win a People's Choice Award in 1987 for his work as Matlock.
Other television appearances
Griffith also made other character appearances through the years on Playhouse 90, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., The Mod Squad, Hawaii Five-O, The Doris Day Show, Here's Lucy, The Bionic Woman and Fantasy Island, among many others. He also reprised his role as Ben Matlock on Diagnosis: Murder in 1997, and his final guest-starring role was in 2001 in an episode of Dawson's Creek.
Films (including television films)
For most of the 1970s, Griffith starred or appeared in many television films, including The Strangers In 7A (1972), Go Ask Alice (1973), Winter Kill (1974) and Pray for the Wildcats (1974), which marked his first villainous role since A Face in the Crowd. Griffith appeared again as a villain in Savages (1974), a television film based on the novel Deathwatch (1972) by Robb White. Griffith received his only Primetime Emmy Award nomination as Outstanding Supporting Actor – Miniseries or a Movie for his role as the father of a murder victim in the television film Murder in Texas (1981) and won further acclaim for his role as a homicidal villain in the television film Murder in Coweta County (1983), co-starring music legend Johnny Cash as the sheriff. He also appeared in several television miniseries, including the television version of From Here to Eternity (1979), Roots: The Next Generations (1979), Centennial (1978), and the Watergate scandal-inspired Washington: Behind Closed Doors (1977), playing a former president loosely based on Lyndon B. Johnson.
Most of the television movies in which Griffith starred were also attempts to launch a new series. Winter Kill (1974) launched the short-lived Adams of Eagle Lake, which was canceled in 1975 after only two episodes. A year later, he starred as a New York City attorney for the DA's office in Street Killing, which also failed to launch a new show. Two television films for NBC in 1977, The Girl in the Empty Grave and Deadly Game, were attempts for Griffith to launch a new series featuring him as Police Chief Abel Marsh, a more hard-edged version of Andy Taylor; despite strong ratings, both were unsuccessful in leading to a new TV show.
During this period, Griffith also appeared in two feature films, both of which flopped at the box office. He co-starred with Jeff Bridges as a crusty old 1930s western actor in the comedy Hearts of the West (1975), and he appeared alongside Tom Berenger as a gay villainous colonel and cattle baron in the Western comedy spoof Rustlers' Rhapsody (1985).
Following another short-lived return to series television, playing a family patriarch in the Dynasty-inspired The Yeagers in 1980, Griffith continued to make guest appearances in several hit series, including Hotel, Fantasy Island, where he played a fictional version of western figure Judge Roy Bean featured in an aspiring singer's fantasy, and an episode of The Love Boat, which featured a memorable appearance by pop icon Andy Warhol. He also appeared as an attorney in the NBC miniseries Fatal Vision (1984), which is considered a precursor to his role in Matlock.
Griffith stunned many unfamiliar with his A Face in the Crowd work in the television film Crime of Innocence (1985)...wherein he portrayed a hateful and vindictive judge who routinely sentenced juveniles to hard prison time, followed by lengthy and equally-torturous probation. Also noteworthy in Griffith's darker roles was his character in Under the Influence (1986), a TV movie in which Griffith played an alcoholic, abusive patriarch. He further surprised audiences with his role as a dangerous and mysterious grandfather in the television film Gramps (1995) co-starring John Ritter. He also appeared as a comical villain in the spy movie spoof Spy Hard (1996) starring Leslie Nielsen. In the television film A Holiday Romance (1999), Griffith played the role of Jake Peterson. In the film Daddy and Them (2001), Griffith portrayed the patriarch of a dysfunctional southern family.
In the feature film Waitress (2007), Griffith played a crusty diner owner who takes a shine to Keri Russell's character. His last appearance was the leading role in the romantic comedy, independent film Play the Game (2009) as a lonely, widowed grandfather re-entering the dating world after a 60-year hiatus. The cast of Play the Game also included Rance Howard, Ron Howard's real-life father, who had made appearances in various supporting roles on The Andy Griffith Show, and Clint Howard, Ron's younger brother, who had the recurring role of Leon (the kid offering the ice cream cone or peanut butter sandwich) on The Andy Griffith Show.
Singing and recording career
Griffith sang as part of some of his acting roles, most notably in A Face in the Crowd and in many episodes of both The Andy Griffith Show and Matlock. In addition to his recordings of comic monologues in the 1950s, he made an album of upbeat country and gospel tunes during the run of The Andy Griffith Show, which included a version of the show's theme sung by Griffith under the title "The Fishin' Hole". In recent years, he recorded successful albums of classic Christian hymns for Sparrow Records. His most successful was the release I Love to Tell the Story: 25 Timeless Hymns (1996), which was certified platinum by the RIAA. The album won Grammy Award for Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album at the 1997 Grammy Awards.
Griffith appeared in country singer Brad Paisley's music video "Waitin' on a Woman" (2008).
Name dispute
William Harold Fenrick of Platteville, Wisconsin, legally changed his name to Andrew Jackson Griffith and ran unsuccessfully for sheriff of Grant County in November 2006. Subsequently, actor Griffith filed a lawsuit against Griffith/Fenrick, asserting that he violated trademark, copyright, and privacy laws by changing his name for the "sole purpose of taking advantage of Griffith's fame in an attempt to gain votes". On May 4, 2007, US District Court Judge John C. Shabaz ruled that Griffith/Fenrick did not violate federal trademark law because he did not use the Griffith name in a commercial transaction but instead in order "to seek elective office, fundamental First Amendment protected speech".
Association with Don Knotts and Ron Howard
Don Knotts
Griffith's friendship with Don Knotts began in 1955 when they co-starred in the Broadway play No Time for Sergeants. Several years later, Knotts had a regular role on The Andy Griffith Show for five seasons. Knotts left the series in 1965, but periodically returned for guest appearances. He appeared in the pilot for Griffith's subsequent short-lived series, The New Andy Griffith Show, and he had a recurring role on Matlock, from 1988 to 1992. In a January 2000 interview, Griffith said of Knotts, "The five years we worked together were the best five years of my life."
They kept in touch until Knotts' death in early 2006. Griffith traveled from his Manteo, North Carolina home to Los Angeles to visit the terminally ill Knotts at Cedars-Sinai just before Knotts died of lung cancer.
Ron Howard
Griffith's friendship with the then-unknown Ron Howard began in 1960 when they guest-starred in the episode of Make Room For Daddy that led to the formation of The Andy Griffith Show the same year. For eight seasons, they starred together in most of the show's episodes, portraying father and son.
They guest-starred together in the show's spin-off series Mayberry R.F.D. They appeared in an episode during which Griffith's character married his long-time girlfriend, Helen Crump, and in the Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C. episode "Opie Joins the Marines", in which Howard's character, Opie, runs away from home and attempts to enlist in the US Marines. They co-starred in the TV special Return to Mayberry (1986), in which the now-adult Opie is about to become a father. They later appeared together in CBS reunion specials in 1993 and 2003. Griffith also made a comedy cameo on the Saturday Night Live program of October 9, 1982, hosted by Howard.
In October 2008, Griffith and Howard briefly reprised their Mayberry roles in an online video Ron Howard's Call to Action. It was posted to comedy video website Funny or Die. The video encouraged people to vote and endorsed Democratic candidates Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
After Griffith's death, Howard stated: "His love of creating, the joy he took in it whether it was drama or comedy or his music, was inspiring to grow up around. The spirit he created on the set of The Andy Griffith Show was joyful and professional all at once. It was an amazing environment. And I think it was a reflection of the way he felt about having the opportunity to create something that people could enjoy. It was always with respect and passion for the opportunity and really what it could offer people in a very unpretentious and earthy way. He felt he was always working in service of an audience he really respected and cared about. He was a great influence on me. His passing is sad. But he lived a great rich life." In a 2016 interview with US Magazine, Howard recalled Griffith encouraging the then 7-year-old boy in his scriptwriting, saying "I felt elated." Howard recalled: "Andy Griffith said, 'What are you grinnin' at, young'un?' I said, 'That's the first idea of mine they've taken.' He said, 'It's the first that was any damn good. Now let's rehearse!'"
Political activities
In 2000, Griffith appeared in a last-minute campaign commercial where he endorsed then-Attorney General Mike Easley for governor of the state of North Carolina. Easley had been locked in a tight race with former Mayor of Charlotte Richard Vinroot and had been losing his lead in the polls. Easley went on to win that November, taking 52% of the vote to Vinroot's 46%. Many observers dubbed Easley's victory as the "Mayberry Miracle", and credit Griffith's endorsement for stopping his falling poll numbers.
In October 2008, Griffith appeared with Ron Howard in a Funny or Die video endorsement for Barack Obama's presidential campaign.
In addition to his online video with Howard in 2008, in politics Griffith favored Democrats and recorded television commercials endorsing North Carolina Governors Mike Easley and Bev Perdue. He spoke at the inauguration ceremonies of both. In 1989, he declined an offer by Democratic party officials to run against Jesse Helms, a Republican U.S. Senator from North Carolina.
In July 2010, he also starred in advertisements about Medicare.
Personal life and death
In 1945, while a student at the University of North Carolina, Griffith was initiated as a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, a national social music fraternity for men.
Griffith and Barbara Bray Edwards were married on August 22, 1949, and they adopted two children: a son named Andy Samuel Griffith Jr. (born in 1957 and better known as Sam Griffith) and a daughter named Dixie Nann Griffith. They divorced in 1972. Sam, a real-estate developer, died in 1996 after years of alcoholism. His second wife was Solica Cassuto, a Greek actress. They were married from 1973 to 1981. Griffith and Cindi Knight married on April 12, 1983, after they met when he was filming Murder in Coweta County.
Griffith's first serious health problem was in April 1983 when he was diagnosed with Guillain–Barré syndrome and could not walk for seven months because of paralysis from the knees down.
On May 9, 2000, he underwent quadruple heart-bypass surgery at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk, Virginia.
After a fall, Griffith underwent hip surgery on September 5, 2007, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California.
Griffith died on July 3, 2012, from a heart attack at the age of 86 at his coastal home in Manteo, Roanoke Island, in Dare County, North Carolina. He was buried in the Griffith family cemetery on the island within five hours of his death.
Awards and honors
Television Hall of Fame inductee (class of 1991)
Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Andy Griffith Museum—a 2,500-square-foot facility which houses the world's largest collection of Griffith memorabilia—opened on September 26, 2009, in Mount Airy, North Carolina
Grammy Award for Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album for I Love to Tell the Story – 25 Timeless Hymns in 1997
Country Gospel Music Hall of Fame inductee (class of 1999)
A stretch of US Highway 52 that passes through Mount Airy rededicated as the Andy Griffith Parkway
Statue of Griffith and Ron Howard (as Andy and Opie) constructed in Pullen Park in Raleigh, North Carolina
A second statue was later erected in Andy Griffith's hometown of Mount Airy of Andy and Opie outside the Andy Griffith museum.
Andy Griffith signature model guitar commissioned by C.F. Martin & Company
Presidential Medal of Freedom (2005)
Christian Music Hall of Fame inductee (class of 2007)
North Carolina Music Hall of Fame inductee (class of 2010)
Albums
Filmography
Features
Short subjects
Television work
References
External links
Inventory of the Andy Griffith Papers, 1949–1997, in the Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Andy Griffith Discography, at MTV
1926 births
2012 deaths
20th-century American comedians
20th-century American male actors
20th-century American male singers
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American singers
21st-century American comedians
21st-century American male actors
American gospel singers
American male comedians
American male film actors
American male singer-songwriters
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American performers of Christian music
American television producers
Burials in North Carolina
Colonial Records
Comedians from North Carolina
Grammy Award winners
Male actors from North Carolina
North Carolina Democrats
People from Manteo, North Carolina
People from Mount Airy, North Carolina
People with Guillain–Barré syndrome
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients
Schoolteachers from North Carolina
Singer-songwriters from North Carolina
Southern gospel performers
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni
Writers from North Carolina | false | [
"Broadway Dancer (foaled 16 February 1972) was an American-bred, French-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare. Between June 1974 and August 1975 she raced six times, winning twice. As a two-year-old she won on her debut before being narrowly beaten in the Prix Robert Papin before recording an emphatic six-length success in the Prix Morny. Although she did not race again in 1974 she was the highest-rated juvenile filly of the season in both the official French Handicap and the independent Timeform ratings. After running third when favourite for the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches on her three-year-old debut she ran poorly in two subsequent races and was retired from racing. She was not a success a broodmare.\n\nBackground\nBroadway Dancer was a small bay mare with a white star and a white sock on her left hind leg bred in Kentucky by the Nickols Brothers. She was one of many important winners sired by the Canadian-bred Northern Dancer, who won the Kentucky Derby in 1964 before becoming one of the most successful breeding stallions in Thoroughbred history. Broadway Dancer's dam Broadway Melody, was a high-class racemare who finished second in the Queen Mary Stakes in 1966 and the Jersey Stakes in the following year. Broadway Melody was a half-sister to the dam of the King's Stand Stakes winner African Song and a distant relative of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Marienbard. The filly was acquired by Daniel Wildenstein and was sent to France to be trained by the Argentinian Angel Penna Sr.\n\nRacing career\n\n1974: two-year-old season\nBroadway Dancer made a successful racecourse debut at Chantilly Racecourse in June when she was an impressive winner of maiden race over 1100 metres. She was then moved up sharply in class and matched against colts in the Group One Prix Robert Papin over the same distance at Maisons-Laffitte Racecourse on 28 July. Ridden by Yves Saint-Martin she started at odds of 7/2 and finished second, beaten a neck by the colt Sky Commander. On 18 August, at Deauville Racecourse, faced Sky Commander again in the Prix Morny. Partnered again by Saint-Martin she started the 4.7/1 second favourite behind the Prix Yacowlef winner Free Round, Broadway Dancer was restrained in the early stages before drawing alongside the leaders 200 metres from the finish, before accelerating away from her rival and winning by six lengths from Princesse Lee. Broadway Dancer did not race again in 1974.\n\n1975: three-year-old season\nOn her first appearance as a three-year-old, Broadway Dancer started the 4/5 favourite for the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches over 1600 metres at Longchamp Racecourse on 4 May. Racing for the first time in eight months, she finished third of the ten runners behind Ivanjica and Nobiliary. Three weeks later, the filly was moved up in distance for the Prix Saint-Alary over 2000 metres at the same course. She again started favourite but finished eighth of the twelve runners behind Nobiliary. Broadway Dancer was brought back in distance for the Prix Maurice de Gheest over 1300 metres at Deauville on 3 August. Ridden by the Italian Gianfranco Dettori she finished unplaced behind Sky Commander.\n\nAssessment\nThere was no International Classification of European two-year-olds in 1974: the official handicappers of Britain, Ireland and France compiled separate rankings for horses which competed in those countries. In the official French Handicap, Broadway Dancer was rated the best two-year-old filly of 1974, two pounds behind the leading colt Mariacci and five pounds ahead of the next-best filly Delmora. The independent Timeform organisation awarded Broadway Dancer a rating of 131, the highest given to any juvenile filly in 1974, but named Cry of Truth (rated 129) as their best two-year-old filly. In their annual Racehorses of 1974, Timeform stated that Broadway Dancer was \"likely to prove exceptional\". In the official French Handicap for 1975, Broadway Dancer was rated fifteen pounds behind the leading three-year-old filly Ivanjica.\n\nBreeding record\nBroadway Dancer became a broodmare for Wildenstein's breeding operations. She produced several foals between 1977 and 1990 but only one minor winner.\n\nBehave (filly, foaled 1977, sired by Brigadier Gerard) failed to win in two races\nBombshell (bay filly, 1979, by Ashmore), failed to win in five races\nBal Royal (bay colt, 1980 by Arctic Tern), won two races\nBonnys Niece (filly, 1982, by Great Nephew)\nBelle Bleue (filly, 1988, by Blazing Saddles), failed to win in seven races\n\nPedigree\n\nReferences\n\n1972 racehorse births\nRacehorses bred in Kentucky\nRacehorses trained in France\nThoroughbred family 12-g",
"James Herbert Stovall, Jr. (May 16, 1958 – September 25, 2010) was an American actor best known for his work in Broadway and regional theater, appearing in productions of Once on This Island, The Life and Ragtime, and The Rocky Horror Show, having made his Broadway debut in the short-lived production of Bob Fosse's musical Big Deal. He also created and directed Nativity: A Life Story, an African American-themed musical intended to become an annual Christmas season performance.\n\nLife and career\nStovall was born on May 16, 1958, in Baltimore, Maryland. His sister Donna Stovall Jefferss recalled that Stovall was \"singing and singing loudly, for the purpose of making my mother laugh and smile\" as a four-year-old and by the next year \"was playing the keys on the piano\", calling his future success \"prophetic\". He attended the Gilman School and continued his formal education in piano and voice at the Peabody Conservatory. When he was 13 years old he started training at the Urban Musical Theater at Morgan State University, where Debbie Allen, then a student at Howard University, was one of his dance instructors. He earned his undergraduate degree at Morehouse College, where Spike Lee and Samuel L. Jackson were some of the members of his class. He joined the Actors' Equity Association when he performed with Atlanta's Alliance Theatre while he was still a sophomore at Morehouse.\n\nHe first appeared on Broadway in Big Deal, a brief 1986 production by Bob Fosse in which Stovall was an understudy performer for three different roles in the play. He also appeared on Broadway in Once on This Island, The Life, The Rocky Horror Show and the revival of Finian's Rainbow, as well as appearing in Fosse's Sweet Charity, ultimately performing in the role of Big Daddy, and in Ragtime, where he performed in the lead role of Coalhouse Walker, Jr., after appearing in the role in productions of the musical in Chicago and Los Angeles. He appeared in Off Broadway plays such as Dessa Rose, Romance in Hard Times, Stars in Your Eyes and appeared in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in a touring production that featured Donny Osmond. Warren Carlyle, who directed and choreographed him in Finian's Rainbow, told Playbill how Stovall \"sang the preacher's solo at the climax of Act One and blew the roof off every night, not only inspiring audiences to cheer and applaud but also his fellow cast members to sing and dance that little bit harder.\"\n\nStovall was one of the creators of Nativity: A Life Story, an African American oriented musical work that was intended to become a holiday tradition, based on the Black Nativity written by Langston Hughes and first performed in 1961.<ref>Weber, Bruce. \"CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK; The Nativity, Now Chasing The Rockettes\", 'The New York Times, December 9, 2002. Accessed September 29, 2010.</ref> He was executive director of the Ministry of the Arts & Culture at Reverend Ike's United Palace Theater in Washington Heights, Manhattan, which had become the home for Nativity''.\n\nDeath\n\nStovall died at age 52 on September 25, 2010, in New York City at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital due to heart failure. He had been undergoing treatment for a heart condition. Stovall was survived by his father, Rev. James Stovall, Sr.\n\nReferences\n\n1958 births\n2010 deaths\nAmerican male stage actors\nGilman School alumni\nMorehouse College alumni\nPeabody Institute alumni\nMale actors from Baltimore"
] |
[
"Diamond Dallas Page",
"The Alliance (2001)"
] | C_d01286bc895c4f97bf9fd1d33af12004_1 | what was the Alliance> | 1 | What was The Alliance? | Diamond Dallas Page | When WCW was purchased by WWF owner Vince McMahon in 2001, Page was one of the few major WCW stars (along with Booker T and Buff Bagwell) who accepted buyouts of their AOL Time Warner contracts in order to immediately sign with McMahon. He debuted in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) on the edition of June 18, 2001 of Raw when he unveiled himself as the stalker of The Undertaker's wife, Sara. Page revealed he didn't care about Sara; he only did it to make an impact and wanted to take on the biggest dog in the yard. Page soon joined the Alliance during the WCW Invasion. At King of the Ring, he fought The Undertaker in an unsanctioned brawl that was never announced as an official match. Page and Chris Kanyon reunited on the edition of August 6, 2001 of Raw when Kanyon helped Page attack The Undertaker backstage. Three days later on edition of August 9, 2001 of SmackDown!, Page and Kanyon defeated the APA to win the WWF Tag Team Championship. The feud with the Undertaker went on for the best part of three months and ended when Undertaker and Kane defeated Page and Kanyon at SummerSlam on August 19, 2001 in a Steel cage match for the WWF Tag Team Championship, where Page got injured which kept him out of action until late October 2001. He became known for his catchphrase "Yo! It's me, it's me, it's DDP!" While Page was injured he developed a new gimmick in September 2001 to become a motivational speaker, something he did in real life, in what came to be known as his Positively Page character. The name came from the title of his autobiography that was published during his WCW days. The character, who Page developed after attending the Tony Robbins Results 2000 seminar in October 2000, involved Page constantly smiling and acting optimistic, with his trademark phrase "That's not a bad thing... that's... a good thing". His return televised match was on November 3, 2001 at Rebellion losing to Big Show. After the Alliance lost at Survivor Series DDP along with the rest of the alliance members bar Test kayfabe lost their jobs. CANNOTANSWER | Page soon joined the Alliance during the WCW Invasion. | Dallas Page (born Page Joseph Falkinburg, April 5, 1956), better known by his ring name Diamond Dallas Page (often stylized as DDP), is an American actor, fitness instructor and former professional wrestler. In the course of his wrestling career, which spanned two decades, Page has wrestled for mainstream wrestling promotions World Championship Wrestling (WCW), the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE), Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), and All Elite Wrestling (AEW).
Falkinburg first broke into the wrestling business in 1988, as a manager in the American Wrestling Association, where he worked for nine months before signing with WCW in 1991. There, he continued as a manager until late 1991, when he became a wrestler. Over a decade in WCW, Falkinburg became a three-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, two-time WCW United States Heavyweight Champion, four-time WCW World Tag Team Champion and one-time WCW World Television Champion. He is the fourth WCW Triple Crown Champion, and the only United States Heavyweight Champion to defend the title in a pay-per-view main event, defeating Bret Hart at the 1998 World War 3.
After WCW was sold in 2001, Page signed with the WWF where he made his pay-per-view debut in the main event of July's Invasion show, and went on to become a one-time WWF European Champion and one-time WWF World Tag Team Champion. Due to a series of injuries, he allowed his contract with the company to expire in 2002. He worked for TNA from 2004 to 2005, challenging for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in the main event of Destination X 2005. On March 31, 2017, he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by Eric Bischoff.
Since 2012, Page has run a mail order and online fitness video business called DDP Yoga, based on yoga and dynamic self-resistance.
Early life
Page Joseph Falkinburg, the eldest of three children, was born in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, the son of Sylvia (née Seigel) and Page Falkinburg Sr. He was raised by his father during his early years after his parents divorced. He stated that he is of German, Irish, and Dutch origin. Falkinburg/Falkenburg is also the name of multiple German villages and at least three German castles. The name "Dallas" came from his love of the Dallas Cowboys.
His brother Rory and sister Sally were raised by their maternal grandmother. Falkinburg lived with his father from age three to eight. His father took him, at eight years old, to live with his grandmother, who raised him. Falkinburg admitted in his autobiography he is dyslexic. He had many challenges hit him throughout his childhood and educational years.
He attended St. Joseph's High School (now Donovan Catholic High School) in Toms River, New Jersey, for his freshman and second years, spending his first season on the JV basketball team and making the varsity squad as a sophomore. He transferred to Point Pleasant Borough High School in Point Pleasant, where he was a star basketball player with the Point Pleasant Boro High School Panthers. He attended Coastal Carolina University in South Carolina briefly before leaving school to work full-time.
Professional wrestling career
American Wrestling Association (1988)
Page ran a nightclub in Fort Myers, Florida called "Norma Jeans" (known for its Pink Cadillac) while he was working as a wrestling manager in the American Wrestling Association (AWA). He started managing in 1988, where he handled Badd Company (Paul Diamond and Pat Tanaka), a team he led to the AWA World Tag Team Championship on March 19. Badd Company, was often accompanied by female valets known as the "Diamond Dolls" (Tonya, Jennifer and Torri). During his time in the AWA, Page also managed Colonel DeBeers, Curt Hennig and Madusa Miceli as the leader of the Diamond Exchange stable. He worked for the AWA at 12 dates over a period of nine months, where they filmed all the television shows in one day.
Professional Wrestling Federation (19891991)
Page also worked as a color commentator in Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), soon renamed Professional Wrestling Federation (PWF), where he worked alongside Gordon Solie, before finally debuting as a professional wrestler. Page's first pro match occurred in May 1989 against Dick Slater.
In 1990, Dallas received a tryout with the WWF as an announcer, but wasn't offered a job. At WrestleMania VI, he drove Rhythm and Blues (The Honky Tonk Man and Greg Valentine) to the ring in his pink Cadillac. At this time, he was virtually unknown in the World Wrestling Federation. When FCW went out of business, Page was still involved in the club business until Dusty Rhodes returned to World Championship Wrestling. Rhodes started booking and brought him in on a small contract in early 1991.
World Championship Wrestling/WCW (1991–2001)
Various alliances (1991–1993)
Page came to World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1991 as manager of The Fabulous Freebirds (Jimmy Garvin and Michael P.S. Hayes). Page managed the Freebirds to a shot at the NWA World Tag Team Championship where they defeated Doom (Butch Reed and Ron Simmons) on February 24. Before that match took place, Page unveiled the stable's new road manager, Big Daddy Dink, formerly known as Oliver Humperdink, who interfered in the match. During this match, Page introduced the Diamond Dolls. Page added Scott Hall to the stable under the name of Diamond Studd. Page also worked as a color commentator for WCW with Eric Bischoff. With rumors that the WCW wanted to take the Diamond Studd away from Page, he decided to take the advice of Magnum T.A. and begin to wrestle himself. He headed to the WCW Power Plant where Buddy Lee Parker, The Assassin, and Dusty Rhodes trained the 35-year-old rookie. He debuted as a wrestler in a tag team match later that year. With the Diamond Studd, he faced Kevin Sullivan and his partner. He was relegated to the "jobber" list. He made his wrestling pay-per-view debut at Starrcade in 1991, teaming with Mike Graham in a losing effort to Jushin Thunder Liger and Bill Kazmaier. In regards to this period, he stated:
"Bischoff gave me the job as I was a good example of work ethic, passion and someone that cares about the business. Since they wouldn't really book me, I went down to the WCW Power Plant every day I wasn't working. That's how you adapt to adversity. Even when I started to make it, I still kept going back. Until I was on the road 260 days a year-plus, I was still going to that Power Plant. For five years I went there, because that's how long it took me to get to the top."
Page continued wrestling and brought other wrestlers into his stable, The Diamond Mine, such as Scotty Flamingo (Raven) and Vinnie Vegas (Kevin Nash). The relationships between DDP, Flamingo, and Vegas were used in many angles over the following months. Page went in the corner of Scotty Flamingo, at Clash of the Champions XXI on November 18, 1992, when Flamingo fought Johnny B. Badd in a worked boxing match. Flamingo won this bout with a little help from Page who filled Flamingo's glove with water. The following year, after Studd and Flamingo left the stable, Page teamed with Vinnie Vegas as the Vegas Connection. The team was disbanded shortly after its debut when Page tore a rotator cuff in a match against Tex Slazenger and Shanghai Pierce toward the end of 1992 and was later fired, while Nash left WCW for the World Wrestling Federation.
World Television Champion and feud with Randy Savage (1994–1997)
Page, determined to continue improving his character, sought the help of Jake Roberts who advised him on the psychological aspects of the business. After his injury had healed, Page returned to WCW television in 1994, with his wife Kimberly as the Diamond Doll, and an on-screen bodyguard, Max Muscle. He held open arm wrestling challenges to win Kimberly, but Max always helped him win or arm wrestled for him. He was also involved in an angle where he was said to have amassed $13 million through victories in arm wrestling competitions, then lost it. He also had a long feud with Dave Sullivan because Sullivan gave Kimberly gifts (and largely because Page was defeated by Sullivan in one of the arm wrestling contests, which earned him a date with Kimberly). At Fall Brawl, Page won his first championship when he defeated Renegade for the WCW World Television Championship. In the build-up to his first title defence at Halloween Havoc, there was growing dissension between Page and Kimberly. Johnny B. Badd defeated Page for the TV title and again at World War 3 on November 26, winning Kimberly's freedom from DDP. At Uncensored on March 24, 1996 The Booty Man with Kimberly as The Booty Babe defeated Diamond Dallas Page in a Loser Leaves Town match.
Page returned on the May 18, 1996, episode of WCW Saturday Night as a tweener defeating Billy Kidman. On May 19, Page participated in the Lord of the Ring Tournament (Battle Bowl) at Slamboree. Falkinburg was victorious when he defeated The Barbarian with two Diamond Cutters. The winner was to be the number one contender for the World Title which at that time was held by The Giant. He never received the title shot that he earned that night. Page was feuding with Eddie Guerrero when the New World Order (nWo) was formed. Since Nash and Hall were both former partners of Page, they assisted him in his matches in the tournament being held for the vacant United States Heavyweight Championship. Believing their assistance was not appreciated, Hall and Nash attacked him during the tournament final, allowing Guerrero to win. After demonstrating the benefits of the nWo, they asked him to join. He responded by giving them Diamond Cutters on January 25, 1997, at Souled Out, starting a face turn and a feud with the nWo. Soon after, Page began a feud with recent nWo recruit "Macho Man" Randy Savage. On an episode of Nitro, Savage, aided by Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, attacked Page and spray-painted "nWo" on his back. A few weeks later at Uncensored, Savage and Miss Elizabeth "broke" (a worked shoot) by revealing to the world that Page and Kimberly were, in fact, married. Savage then proceeded to beat up Page, ensuring a future match between the two. At Spring Stampede, in Page's first pay-per-view main event, he and Savage battled in a match where Page emerged victorious, but it was not the end of conflict between the two. A few months later at The Great American Bash, they squared off again in an anything goes, lights out match. The match ended with Savage defeating Page with help from (then) Tag Team Champion Scott Hall. At Bash at the Beach, Scott Hall and Randy Savage defeated Diamond Dallas Page and Curt Hennig. Curt Hennig, who Diamond Dallas Page had recruited personally to join WCW and team with him, turned on DDP during the match. Hennig defeated Diamond Dallas Page in a grudge match at Road Wild. At Fall Brawl, Page teamed with Lex Luger to defeat Scott Hall and Randy Savage in a No Disqualification match. Page even dressed up as masked wrestler La Parka and beat Savage on the July 7 edition of Monday Nitro. Around this time, Page also started fighting nWo leader, Hollywood Hogan. Page and Savage battled for the last time at Halloween Havoc. The match was billed as a Las Vegas sudden-death match, where Savage pinned Page after Hogan, dressed as Sting, came out and hit Page with a baseball bat in his already "injured" midsection, resulting in Savage picking up the win. On an episode of Nitro shortly after Halloween Havoc, Page fought Hogan, but was again beaten down by the nWo.
United States Heavyweight Champion (1997–1998)
At Starrcade, Page won the United States Heavyweight Championship from Curt Hennig. The following year at Uncensored, Page defended the title in a Triple Threat, Falls Count Anywhere contest against Chris Benoit and Raven, putting Raven through a table with a Diamond Cutter to retain the belt. Page later lost the title to Raven at Spring Stampede. Later in the year, Page tagged with Karl Malone against Hulk Hogan and Dennis Rodman at Bash at the Beach, losing due to interference. Page tagged with late night talk show host Jay Leno at Road Wild, where they defeated Hogan and Eric Bischoff.
At Fall Brawl, Page won the WarGames main event, and got a World title shot against the undefeated Goldberg at Halloween Havoc. Page did not win the match, but the match was voted WCW Magazines "Match of the Year" 1998. Halloween Havoc ran slightly longer than expected resulting in a number of cable companies blacking out the end of the Hogan versus Warrior match and all of the DDP versus Goldberg contest. WCW decided to air the Goldberg versus DDP title bout in its entirety on the October 26 episode of Nitro, which proved immensely popular in the ratings and resulted in a ratings win for Nitro over Raw – the last win Nitro ever had. Despite this setback in the World title picture, Page rebounded this same following night of Halloween Havoc, on the October 26 episode of Nitro, with a win over Bret Hart to capture the United States Heavyweight Title. The two headlined the following month's World War 3, in a title match which Page won. Page lost the title to Hart on the November 30 episode of Nitro in a No Disqualification match, when he was assaulted by The Giant.
WCW World Heavyweight Champion (1999–2001)
Page became WCW World Heavyweight Champion in April 1999, at Spring Stampede when he defeated Sting, Hogan, and Ric Flair for the title in a Four Way Dance with "Macho Man" Randy Savage as Special Guest Referee. Page pinned Flair after giving Flair the Diamond Cutter. Around this time some fans were starting to boo Page at various WCW events, so shortly after Spring Stampede a decision was made to turn Page heel for the first time in three years. The turn played out slowly at first, with Page undergoing a change in attitude. Then, on April 19, Page defended his title against Goldberg, where he cemented the turn by first knocking Goldberg out with brass knuckles and then propping his leg up against the ring stairs and repeatedly smashing it with a steel chair, all while taunting the fans with repeated utterances of "boo me now". Page only stopped when Kevin Nash, an ally of Hogan's who was angry at Page for (kayfabe) injuring Hogan's knee during the match at Spring Stampede, came back from injury and chased him away.
On April 26, 1999, Page lost and regained his title in the span of two hours. Sting challenged him to defend his title in the first hour of that night's Nitro and defeated him to regain the title he had lost a year earlier. This ended Page's reign at 15 days, but he gained an opportunity to get the title back ninety minutes later. Nash came to the ring and made a challenge for a four-way match for the title, and the just-dethroned Page joined defending champion Sting and Goldberg in the match. Page regained the WCW World Heavyweight Championship by using a foreign object to hit Nash and take the win and regain the title without actually defeating the reigning champion. Nash became the number one contender shortly after and vowed to get revenge on Page for his friend Hogan, culminating in a match at Slamboree in May. Page originally retained the WCW World Heavyweight Championship after Savage interfered and hit Nash, but the match was ordered to continue by Eric Bischoff and Nash pinned Page to win the title after a powerbomb. Page dropped out of the title picture shortly thereafter.
Shortly after Slamboree, Page entered into an alliance with fellow New Jerseyan Bam Bam Bigelow and won the WCW World Tag Team Championship from then champions Perry Saturn and Raven on May 31, thanks to Chris Kanyon turning heel on former ally Raven and costing the team the championships. Page, Bigelow, and Kanyon became known as the Jersey Triad and through their alliance with WCW "President for Life" Ric Flair took advantage of the Freebird Rule in their subsequent matches (meaning any combination of the three could defend the championship). The Triad held the titles until June 10, when Saturn and Chris Benoit (now stablemates in The Revolution) took the title from them. They regained the belts at The Great American Bash three days later, and lost them to Harlem Heat at Road Wild in August. Later that night, Chris Benoit defeated Diamond Dallas Page to retain the United States title. The group broke up shortly thereafter and Page began feuding with Hogan again, joining Sid Vicious and Rick Steiner in a team effort to take on Hogan, Sting, and Goldberg. Soon after that feud ended Page turned into a hero again and feuded with both Kanyon and Bigelow before the year ended.
In 2000, with WCW under new management, Page earned a shot at the vacant WCW World Heavyweight Championship at Spring Stampede against Jeff Jarrett. In a surprise twist, Page's wife, Kimberly, turned on Page and helped Jarrett become the new WCW World Heavyweight Champion. Page got the better of Jarrett on the April 24 episode of Nitro, where he defeated Jarrett in a steel cage match to become WCW World Heavyweight Champion for the third time, then lost the title to his tag partner, actor David Arquette, three days later on Thunder; the rules stated that whoever got the pin would win the title, and Arquette pinned Jarrett's partner, Eric Bischoff. Page attempted to win the title back at Slamboree later that month in a triple cage match against Arquette and Jarrett, but lost after Arquette hit him with a guitar. Page then entered a feud with Mike Awesome, who defeated him in an Ambulance Match at The Great American Bash after Kanyon turned on Page.
Page took some time off shortly after this, but returned in late 2000 as a full-time wrestler. After Page came back he formed a tag team with Kevin Nash called The Insiders, and the team won the WCW World Tag Team Championship on November 26 at Mayhem by defeating Perfect Event (Shawn Stasiak and Chuck Palumbo). The team was temporarily stripped of the titles but won them back at Starrcade defeating Stasiak and Palumbo again. Page and Nash lost the titles to Palumbo and Sean O'Haire at Sin in January and broke up shortly thereafter. After his tag team run Page briefly feuded with the returning Kanyon, which saw Kanyon defeat Page at SuperBrawl Revenge, and Page defeating Kanyon the following night on Nitro, ending their feud. Page then moved into the World Championship picture again by facing Scott Steiner. Their feud hit a climax at WCW's final PPV Greed, saw Page's final match in WCW and a semi-burial type defeat as he passed out in Steiner's finisher, The Steiner Recliner.
World Wrestling Federation (2001–2002)
When WCW was purchased by WWF owner Vince McMahon in 2001, Page was one of the few major WCW stars (along with Booker T and Buff Bagwell) who accepted buyouts of their AOL Time Warner contracts in order to immediately sign with McMahon. He debuted in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) on the June 18, 2001, episode of Raw when he unveiled himself as the stalker of The Undertaker's wife, Sara. Page revealed he didn't care about Sara; he only did it to make an impact and wanted to take on the "biggest dog in the yard". At King of the Ring, he fought The Undertaker in an unsanctioned brawl that was never announced as an official match. On the July 5 episode of SmackDown!, Page competed against WCW Champion Booker T, but failed to win the title after a distraction from the Undertaker. On the July 9 episode of Raw, WCW owner Shane McMahon and ECW owner Paul Heyman joined together to create The Alliance, with former WCW and ECW alumni joining forces in an attempt to take control of the WWF. At the Invasion pay-per-view, Page formed part of Team Alliance alongside Booker T, Rhyno and The Dudley Boyz, defeating Team WWF, after Team WWF member Stone Cold Steve Austin turned on his team members mid-match.
Page and Chris Kanyon reunited on the August 6 episode of Raw when Kanyon helped Page attack The Undertaker backstage. Three days later on the August 9 taping of SmackDown!, Page and Kanyon defeated the APA to win the WWF Tag Team Championship.
His feud with the Undertaker culminated when Undertaker and Kane defeated Page and Kanyon at SummerSlam on August 19, 2001, in a Steel cage match for the WWF Tag Team Championship. During the match, Page was injured, keeping him out of action until late October 2001. While Page was injured, he developed a new gimmick in which he became a motivational speaker. The character involved Page constantly smiling and acting optimistic, with his trademark phrase "That's not a bad thing... that's... a good thing".
His return televised match was on November 3 at Rebellion losing to Big Show. After the Alliance lost at Survivor Series, Page, along with the rest of the Alliance members, kayfabe lost their jobs.
Page eventually returned as a face and won his job back by defeating Big Boss Man on the January 17, 2002, episode of SmackDown!. Page competed in the Royal Rumble match at the titular event on January 20 but did not win.
Page became the WWF European Champion on the January 31, 2002, episode of SmackDown!, when he defeated Christian, a former follower of his positive "philosophy." At WrestleMania X8, Page successfully retained in a rematch against Christian. He lost the title to William Regal on an episode of SmackDown! that aired March 21. On March 25, Page was drafted to the SmackDown! brand as part of the 2002 WWF draft lottery.
On the April 18 episode of SmackDown!, he sustained a serious neck injury during a match with Hardcore Holly, after botching a superplex. After receiving opinions from multiple doctors, Page announced his retirement in June 2002. He left the promotion soon after.
Return to wrestling (2004)
In 2004, Page made his in-ring return by wrestling for several independent promotions. His first match was on April 21, 2004, teaming with Satoshi Kojima as they lost to former WCW star Sting and The Great Muta for HCW Battle Hawaii.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2004–2005)
He signed with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). He debuted for the company on the November 12 taping of Impact!, where he attacked Raven, beginning a feud between the two. At Turning Point on December 5, DDP defeated Raven.
and at Final Resolution in January 2005, Page competed in a three-way elimination match to determine the number one contender for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship also involving Monty Brown and Kevin Nash, which was won by Brown. Page and Brown subsequently formed a tag team. The following month at Against All Odds, Page and Brown defeated Team Canada (Bobby Roode and Eric Young). Page received an NWA World Heavyweight Championship title shot on March 13 at Destination X, but was defeated by reigning champion Jeff Jarrett when Brown turned heel and hit Page with the Pounce. At Lockdown, Page teamed with B.G. James and Waltman to defeat Jeff Jarrett, Monty Brown and The Outlaw in a Lethal Lockdown match. At Hard Justice on May 15, Page and Ron Killings faced Monty Brown and The Outlaw where they were defeated in what was Page's final match in TNA. Page left TNA shortly thereafter in order to pursue an acting career.
Independent circuit (2005–2011)
After TNA, Page returned to the independent circuit. He lost to Larry Zbyszko at WrestleReunion. DDP had Bruno Sammartino in his corner during the match. Then Page defeated Buff Bagwell on December 9, 2005, at GLCW Blizzard Brawl. In 2006, Page defeated his former Jersey Triad partner Chris Kanyon twice before retiring once again.
On August 9, 2009, Diamond Dallas Page made a special appearance for Juggalo Championship Wrestling (JCW) at their Bloodymania III event, aligning himself with the jWo. He hit his trademark Diamond Cutter finisher on Trent Acid.
DDP returned to wrestling on January 2, 2010, teaming with Air Paris to defeat Bobby Hayes and Alexander the Great at PICW event. On October 15, 2011, DDP teamed with Kevin Nash as they defeated The Rock 'n' Roll Express at AWE Night Of The Legends.
Return to WWE (2011–2017)
In late 2010, Page agreed to work on a DVD for WWE, titled The Very Best of WCW Monday Nitro, after being approached on the project due to his ties to WCW. Page hosted the DVD, which was released on June 7, 2011. On the June 27 episode of Raw, Page made an appearance promoting this DVD with Booker T.
In 2012, Page appeared on WWE Classics on Demand in Legends of Wrestling Roundtable: Renegades along with Jim Ross, Michael P.S. Hayes, Roddy Piper, and Gene Okerlund. Page also appeared alongside Kevin Nash and X-Pac at the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony on March 31, 2012. On July 2, 2012, Page made an appearance on Raw, where he hit a Diamond Cutter on Heath Slater. He also appeared at Raw 1000, accompanied by other WWE Legends, during Slater's match with Lita.
On the January 6, 2014, episode of Raw, Page, along with a number of other legends, appeared on the show as part of its "Old School" theme. On April 5, Page inducted his wrestling mentor and noted DDP Yoga practitioner Jake Roberts into the WWE Hall of Fame.
On January 25, 2015, at Royal Rumble, Page was a surprise entrant in the Rumble match, entering at number 14 and hitting his finishing move, the Diamond Cutter, on Stardust, Bray Wyatt and Fandango from the top rope, before being eliminated by Rusev. At WrestleMania 32, Page competed in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, but was eliminated by Konnor.
On March 31, 2017, Page was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in Orlando, Florida.
All In (2018)
At All In on September 1, 2018, Page accompanied Cody Rhodes in his match against NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis.
All Elite Wrestling (2019–2020)
On May 25, 2019, during their inaugural pay-per-view Double or Nothing, Page escorted Brandi Rhodes away from the ring after she refused to leave the match between Cody Rhodes and Dustin Rhodes after match referee Earl Hebner ejected her from the match. On the October 23, 2019, episode of AEW Dynamite, Page returned to TNT program for the first time in over 18 years, and helped Cody attack Chris Jericho and his stable The Inner Circle. On November 27, 2019, Page returned to Dynamite to present MJF with the first ever Dynamite Diamond Ring as a prize for defeating Adam Page. On January 15, 2020, at Bash at the Beach, he had his first match since the 2016 Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal teaming with Dustin Rhodes and QT Marshall to take on MJF and The Butcher and The Blade in a losing effort.
Yoga
Page developed a yoga fitness program initially called Yoga for Regular Guys Workout (YRG), after discovering the health benefits of yoga through his then-wife Kimberly while he recovered from ruptures to his L4/L5 discs in 1998. His favorite kind of yoga (according to his "Yoga for Regular Guys" book published in 2005) is "Power Yoga", an American-style version of "Ashtanga Style" yoga. Page worked with chiropractor Dr. Craig Aaron, and developed the Yoga for Regular Guys Workout.
Page developed the book into a series of workout videos titled DDP Yoga (formerly YRG). DDP Yoga was featured in a video about Arthur Boorman in May 2012. The story was picked up by the mainstream media, including Good Morning America. The video describes the journey of Arthur Boorman, a disabled veteran who was told by doctors he would never walk again. After spending fifteen years on crutches, Boorman followed Page's yoga plan for ten months and documented his progress on home video. He lost 140 pounds and regained the strength and flexibility to walk and run without his crutches, back braces or leg braces.
On February 21, 2014, Page appeared on the ABC series Shark Tank, where he was seeking $200,200 for a 5% share in the DDP Yoga company. He declined to sell a 50% share for that same amount to Kevin O'Leary. Page had hoped to use the money to develop a mobile app. The other investors were impressed by Boorman's improvement but believed the home exercise market was too competitive and also predicted net profits ($800,000 in the previous year) would fall. Page later said he sold more than $1 million worth of products in the first six days after his appearance.
Documentaries and podcast
In 2015, he was a main subject in the documentary The Resurrection of Jake the Snake, which chronicled Page helping Jake Roberts through rehabilitation.
In 2016, Page was featured on the Nine Legends Expansion Pack to talk about his friend Bill Goldberg.
Page currently hosts a radio show titled DDP Radio. Beginning on January 4, 2022, Page will take part in a podcast with Jake Roberts and Conrad Thompson titled DDP Snakepit.
Video games
Page has been depicted in several licensed wrestling video games.
Filmography
First Daughter (1999) as Dirk Lindman
Ready to Rumble (2000) as Himself
Rat Race (2001) in a deleted scene
Nice Guys (2005) as Sleezy Guy
The Devil's Rejects (2005) as Billy Ray Snapper
The 40-Year-Old Virgin (deleted scene)
Jack's Law (2006) as Spider Benson
Hood of Horror (2006) as Jersey
Splinter (2006) as Detective Stiles
Driftwood (2006) as Captain Kennedy
Knight Fever (2008)
Gallowwalkers (2009) as Skullbucket
Sensory Perception (2010) as Mr. Harrington
Pizza Man (2011) as Kryder
Vengeance (2014)
The Murders of Brandywine Theater (2014) as Officer Carwin
The Resurrection of Jake the Snake (2015) as Himself
The Bet (2016) as Mr. Baker
Lawsuits
Page is commonly associated with the "Self High Five" as well as the "Diamond Cutter" symbol, a hand gesture made by joining the thumbs and index fingers on each hand to form a diamond shape, then parting the two hands in one swift motion. He created the symbol in 1996 and later trademarked it. In December 2005, Page filed a lawsuit against rapper Jay-Z, who, he claimed, had "illegally adopted his trademark hand gesture". Page accused Jay-Z of trademark infringement and sought a prohibitive injunction and monetary damages. It resulted in Page dropping the lawsuit for an undisclosed amount of money. On August 31, 2010, Page filed a lawsuit against American electronica musical duo 3OH!3 for infringement of his trademarked "Diamond Cutter" hand gesture.
Page's WCW entrance music, "Self High-Five", intentionally contained similarities to the 1991 Nirvana song "Smells Like Teen Spirit", as composer Jimmy Hart and Page felt it exemplified the "sound of the '90s". According to Page, Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl in turn claimed that "WCW owes us [the band] money", but before any further actions or lawsuits took place, the track was altered to "sound like it was it, but wasn't".
Personal life
Page released his autobiography, Positively Page: The Diamond Dallas Page Journey, on February 1, 2000.
In 2003, he had his name legally changed to Dallas Page.
On December 1, 1991, Page married Kimberly Page. On July 3, 2004, they announced their amicable separation, before divorcing in 2005.
In 2015, Page married Brenda Nair. They separated in 2019. The divorce was finalized in 2020.
In 2021, Page married Payge McMahon.
Page has two daughters, Brittany Page (born 1987) and Kimberly Page (born 1994), and two stepdaughters, Alexandra "Lexy" Nair (born 1996) and Rachel Nair (born 2001). Lexy currently works with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a backstage interviewer.
On January 15, 2019, Page released another book, Positively Unstoppable: The Art of Owning It, through Rodale Books. The book includes a foreword by Mick Foley.
Championships and accomplishments
Cauliflower Alley Club
Jason Sanderson Humanitarian Award (2015)
Men's Wrestling Award (2015)
George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
Frank Gotch Award (2014)
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
Feud of the Year (1997)
Most Hated Wrestler of the Year (1999)
Most Improved Wrestler of the Year (1995)
Ranked No. 4 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the year in the PWI 500 in 1997 and 1998
Ranked No. 65 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the PWI Years in 2003
Swiss Wrestling Federation
SWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
World Championship Wrestling
WCW World Heavyweight Championship (3 times)
WCW World Television Championship (1 time)
WCW United States Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
WCW World Tag Team Championship (4 times) – with Bam Bam Bigelow and Chris Kanyon (2) and Kevin Nash (2)
Fourth WCW Triple Crown Champion
Lord of The Ring Tournament (1996)
World Wrestling Federation/WWE
WWF European Championship (1 time)
WWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Chris Kanyon
WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2017)
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Best Wrestling Maneuver (1997)
Most Improved (1996)
Worst Gimmick (2001)
Notes
Bibliography
Genta, Larry and Page, Diamond Dallas (2000) Positively Page,
Aaron, Craig and Page, Diamond Dallas (2005) Yoga for Regular Guys: The Best Damn Workout on the Planet,
Page, Diamond Dallas (2019) Positively Unstoppable: The Art of Owning It,
See also
The Alliance
The Diamond Exchange
The Fabulous Freebirds
The Insiders/The Vegas Connection
The Jersey Triad
The Millionaire's Club
References
External links
Diamond Dallas Page Article
1956 births
All Elite Wrestling personnel
American male film actors
American male professional wrestlers
American male television actors
American men podcasters
American people of German descent
Living people
NWA/WCW World Television Champions
NWA/WCW/WWE United States Heavyweight Champions
People with dyslexia
Point Pleasant Borough High School alumni
Professional wrestlers from New Jersey
Professional wrestling announcers
Professional wrestling managers and valets
Professional wrestling podcasters
Sportspeople from Point Pleasant, New Jersey
WCW World Heavyweight Champions
WWE Hall of Fame inductees
WWF European Champions | false | [
"The Singapore Alliance Party, or simply the Singapore Alliance, was a political coalition formed on 2 June 1961 that contested several elections in Singapore, notably the 1955 Elections of Singapore and the 1963 Elections of Singapore. It consisted of the local branch of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the Malay Union, the local chapters of the Malayan Chinese Association and the Malayan Indian Congress, and former Chief Minister Lim Yew Hock's Singapore People's Alliance (SPA).\n\nThis alliance was formalised on 24 June 1963 as the Singaporean component of the ruling Alliance Party in Malaya. Its campaign policy during the 1963 elections was similar to what the UMNO used in federal elections in Malaysia, and alleged the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) mistreated the Malays, one of the major races in Singapore. While the Singapore Alliance also supported merger within the Federation of Malaysia and was anti-Communist, it sought to extend the same model of communal politics on the mainland to Singapore. Unlike the then-left-leaning and socialist PAP, it was identified with the political right.\n\nThroughout its history, the Singapore Alliance has only held seven seats with the SPA holding four seats and the Singapore United Malay National Organization occupying three seats in Malay-dominated areas like Geylang Serai, Kampong Kembangan, and the Southern Islands. During the 1963 general election, the Alliance performed poorly and lost all its seats. Its participation in the 1963 election further heightened tensions between UMNO and the PAP as they had earlier agreed neither side would participate in each other's elections until Malaysia, which Singapore was then an autonomous state of, was more mature.\n\nAfter the 1963 elections, the Singapore Alliance was left in the political wilderness. While the coalition was briefly reformed and re-registered as the \"Alliance Party Singapura\" in 1966, it did contest any future elections in Singapore and gradually faded from the political scene. Most of its component parties eventually ceased to operate with the exception of Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapura, which subsequently joined the Singapore Democratic Alliance.\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading\n\nBackground of Singapore Alliance\n\n1963 establishments in Singapore\nAnti-communist parties\nDefunct political parties in Singapore\nPolitical parties established in 1963",
"The United Kingdom Alliance (UKA) was a temperance movement in the United Kingdom founded in 1853 in Manchester to work for the prohibition of the trade in alcohol in the United Kingdom. This occurred in a context of support for the type of law passed by General Neal Dow in Maine, United States, in 1851, prohibiting the sale of intoxicants.\n\nEarly history\n\nThe idea was initiated by Nathaniel Card (1805–1856), an Irish cotton manufacturer and member of the Society of Friends. He had earlier been a member of the Manchester and Salford Temperance Society, and had taken his inspiration from the success of what later became known as the Maine law. At a private meeting at Card's house on 20 July 1852, the National League for the Total and Legal Suppression of Intemperance was formed. Those present included Joseph Brotherton Member of Parliament for and his cousin Alderman William Hervey, also of Salford. At a subsequent meeting of the League they formed a Provisional Committee based in Manchester. It was not, as some people thought, simply another temperance movement or teetotal organisation; the organisers believed that temperance societies fail until legal temptations for drink and drunkenness was taken away. They aimed for legislative suppression of traffic in intoxicating beverages. \n\nOn 14 February 1853, the name of the organisation changed to the United Kingdom Alliance for the Suppression of the Traffic in all Intoxicating Liquors. In June that same year Sir Walter C. Trevelyan became their first president. The General Council held their first meeting in October. Their early devotees were a mixed group of Temperance reformers, and Anti-Corn Law League agitators. The membership included Father Matthew, James Silk Buckingham, the London publisher William Tweedie, Samuel Bowly, Sir Joseph Cowen, Frederic Richard Lees (1815–1897), Joseph Livesey of Preston and Samuel Pope. William Hoyle was vice-president and Thomas Holliday Barker was secretary. In 1874, Sir Wilfrid Lawson commented: \n\nThe object of the Alliance shall be to call forth and direct an enlightened public opinion to procure the total and immediate suppression of the traffic in all intoxicating liquors or beverages. \n\nSince they considered themselves a legitimate political party they pledged to badger Parliament to outlaw liquor in Great Britain. They were not a total abstinence society, and membership was open to teetotallers and drinkers alike. In 1854 they published a weekly newspaper, The Alliance News, a journal of moral and social reform that sold for one penny.\n\nThe first year’s income of the Alliance was only £900, which was used to hold public awareness meetings. By 1858 the membership had risen to 4,500, and £3000 was raised by subscription for their work. In 1862, the London Union of Alliance members changed to the London Auxiliary of the Alliance, and appointed their first London agent, Rev. John Hanson.\n\nTheir chief public spokesman was Sir Wilfrid Lawson, MP (1829-1906) who was president of the organisation from 1879 until his death in 1906.\n\nLater history\nIn 1942, the Alliance became a limited company, the UK Temperance Alliance Ltd. By the 1970s the main role of the Alliance was educational work and its interest had broadened to other areas of addiction besides alcohol (much of which is undertaken by the Institute of Alcohol Studies (IAS), a trading arm of the Alliance. In 2003, the UK Temperance Alliance was renamed the Alliance House Foundation. \n\nNational Temperance Federation (NTF) was reconstituted at its annual meeting in 1936, and declared its policy as the representation of every section of the temperance movement of approximately three million members of temperance organisations throughout the country. \n\nIn 1942 it was renamed to United Kingdom Temperance Alliance Ltd and in 2003 was again renamed to the Alliance House Foundation.\n\nThe Alliance's theory of social rights came under attack from John Stuart Mill in his On Liberty.\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading\n M. H. C. Haylor, The Vision of a Century, 1853-1953: The United Kingdom Alliance (1953)\n\n1852 establishments in the United Kingdom\nPolitical history of the United Kingdom\nProhibition parties"
] |
[
"Diamond Dallas Page",
"The Alliance (2001)",
"what was the Alliance>",
"Page soon joined the Alliance during the WCW Invasion."
] | C_d01286bc895c4f97bf9fd1d33af12004_1 | where was the invaision | 2 | Where was the WCW Invasion? | Diamond Dallas Page | When WCW was purchased by WWF owner Vince McMahon in 2001, Page was one of the few major WCW stars (along with Booker T and Buff Bagwell) who accepted buyouts of their AOL Time Warner contracts in order to immediately sign with McMahon. He debuted in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) on the edition of June 18, 2001 of Raw when he unveiled himself as the stalker of The Undertaker's wife, Sara. Page revealed he didn't care about Sara; he only did it to make an impact and wanted to take on the biggest dog in the yard. Page soon joined the Alliance during the WCW Invasion. At King of the Ring, he fought The Undertaker in an unsanctioned brawl that was never announced as an official match. Page and Chris Kanyon reunited on the edition of August 6, 2001 of Raw when Kanyon helped Page attack The Undertaker backstage. Three days later on edition of August 9, 2001 of SmackDown!, Page and Kanyon defeated the APA to win the WWF Tag Team Championship. The feud with the Undertaker went on for the best part of three months and ended when Undertaker and Kane defeated Page and Kanyon at SummerSlam on August 19, 2001 in a Steel cage match for the WWF Tag Team Championship, where Page got injured which kept him out of action until late October 2001. He became known for his catchphrase "Yo! It's me, it's me, it's DDP!" While Page was injured he developed a new gimmick in September 2001 to become a motivational speaker, something he did in real life, in what came to be known as his Positively Page character. The name came from the title of his autobiography that was published during his WCW days. The character, who Page developed after attending the Tony Robbins Results 2000 seminar in October 2000, involved Page constantly smiling and acting optimistic, with his trademark phrase "That's not a bad thing... that's... a good thing". His return televised match was on November 3, 2001 at Rebellion losing to Big Show. After the Alliance lost at Survivor Series DDP along with the rest of the alliance members bar Test kayfabe lost their jobs. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Dallas Page (born Page Joseph Falkinburg, April 5, 1956), better known by his ring name Diamond Dallas Page (often stylized as DDP), is an American actor, fitness instructor and former professional wrestler. In the course of his wrestling career, which spanned two decades, Page has wrestled for mainstream wrestling promotions World Championship Wrestling (WCW), the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE), Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), and All Elite Wrestling (AEW).
Falkinburg first broke into the wrestling business in 1988, as a manager in the American Wrestling Association, where he worked for nine months before signing with WCW in 1991. There, he continued as a manager until late 1991, when he became a wrestler. Over a decade in WCW, Falkinburg became a three-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, two-time WCW United States Heavyweight Champion, four-time WCW World Tag Team Champion and one-time WCW World Television Champion. He is the fourth WCW Triple Crown Champion, and the only United States Heavyweight Champion to defend the title in a pay-per-view main event, defeating Bret Hart at the 1998 World War 3.
After WCW was sold in 2001, Page signed with the WWF where he made his pay-per-view debut in the main event of July's Invasion show, and went on to become a one-time WWF European Champion and one-time WWF World Tag Team Champion. Due to a series of injuries, he allowed his contract with the company to expire in 2002. He worked for TNA from 2004 to 2005, challenging for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in the main event of Destination X 2005. On March 31, 2017, he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by Eric Bischoff.
Since 2012, Page has run a mail order and online fitness video business called DDP Yoga, based on yoga and dynamic self-resistance.
Early life
Page Joseph Falkinburg, the eldest of three children, was born in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, the son of Sylvia (née Seigel) and Page Falkinburg Sr. He was raised by his father during his early years after his parents divorced. He stated that he is of German, Irish, and Dutch origin. Falkinburg/Falkenburg is also the name of multiple German villages and at least three German castles. The name "Dallas" came from his love of the Dallas Cowboys.
His brother Rory and sister Sally were raised by their maternal grandmother. Falkinburg lived with his father from age three to eight. His father took him, at eight years old, to live with his grandmother, who raised him. Falkinburg admitted in his autobiography he is dyslexic. He had many challenges hit him throughout his childhood and educational years.
He attended St. Joseph's High School (now Donovan Catholic High School) in Toms River, New Jersey, for his freshman and second years, spending his first season on the JV basketball team and making the varsity squad as a sophomore. He transferred to Point Pleasant Borough High School in Point Pleasant, where he was a star basketball player with the Point Pleasant Boro High School Panthers. He attended Coastal Carolina University in South Carolina briefly before leaving school to work full-time.
Professional wrestling career
American Wrestling Association (1988)
Page ran a nightclub in Fort Myers, Florida called "Norma Jeans" (known for its Pink Cadillac) while he was working as a wrestling manager in the American Wrestling Association (AWA). He started managing in 1988, where he handled Badd Company (Paul Diamond and Pat Tanaka), a team he led to the AWA World Tag Team Championship on March 19. Badd Company, was often accompanied by female valets known as the "Diamond Dolls" (Tonya, Jennifer and Torri). During his time in the AWA, Page also managed Colonel DeBeers, Curt Hennig and Madusa Miceli as the leader of the Diamond Exchange stable. He worked for the AWA at 12 dates over a period of nine months, where they filmed all the television shows in one day.
Professional Wrestling Federation (19891991)
Page also worked as a color commentator in Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), soon renamed Professional Wrestling Federation (PWF), where he worked alongside Gordon Solie, before finally debuting as a professional wrestler. Page's first pro match occurred in May 1989 against Dick Slater.
In 1990, Dallas received a tryout with the WWF as an announcer, but wasn't offered a job. At WrestleMania VI, he drove Rhythm and Blues (The Honky Tonk Man and Greg Valentine) to the ring in his pink Cadillac. At this time, he was virtually unknown in the World Wrestling Federation. When FCW went out of business, Page was still involved in the club business until Dusty Rhodes returned to World Championship Wrestling. Rhodes started booking and brought him in on a small contract in early 1991.
World Championship Wrestling/WCW (1991–2001)
Various alliances (1991–1993)
Page came to World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1991 as manager of The Fabulous Freebirds (Jimmy Garvin and Michael P.S. Hayes). Page managed the Freebirds to a shot at the NWA World Tag Team Championship where they defeated Doom (Butch Reed and Ron Simmons) on February 24. Before that match took place, Page unveiled the stable's new road manager, Big Daddy Dink, formerly known as Oliver Humperdink, who interfered in the match. During this match, Page introduced the Diamond Dolls. Page added Scott Hall to the stable under the name of Diamond Studd. Page also worked as a color commentator for WCW with Eric Bischoff. With rumors that the WCW wanted to take the Diamond Studd away from Page, he decided to take the advice of Magnum T.A. and begin to wrestle himself. He headed to the WCW Power Plant where Buddy Lee Parker, The Assassin, and Dusty Rhodes trained the 35-year-old rookie. He debuted as a wrestler in a tag team match later that year. With the Diamond Studd, he faced Kevin Sullivan and his partner. He was relegated to the "jobber" list. He made his wrestling pay-per-view debut at Starrcade in 1991, teaming with Mike Graham in a losing effort to Jushin Thunder Liger and Bill Kazmaier. In regards to this period, he stated:
"Bischoff gave me the job as I was a good example of work ethic, passion and someone that cares about the business. Since they wouldn't really book me, I went down to the WCW Power Plant every day I wasn't working. That's how you adapt to adversity. Even when I started to make it, I still kept going back. Until I was on the road 260 days a year-plus, I was still going to that Power Plant. For five years I went there, because that's how long it took me to get to the top."
Page continued wrestling and brought other wrestlers into his stable, The Diamond Mine, such as Scotty Flamingo (Raven) and Vinnie Vegas (Kevin Nash). The relationships between DDP, Flamingo, and Vegas were used in many angles over the following months. Page went in the corner of Scotty Flamingo, at Clash of the Champions XXI on November 18, 1992, when Flamingo fought Johnny B. Badd in a worked boxing match. Flamingo won this bout with a little help from Page who filled Flamingo's glove with water. The following year, after Studd and Flamingo left the stable, Page teamed with Vinnie Vegas as the Vegas Connection. The team was disbanded shortly after its debut when Page tore a rotator cuff in a match against Tex Slazenger and Shanghai Pierce toward the end of 1992 and was later fired, while Nash left WCW for the World Wrestling Federation.
World Television Champion and feud with Randy Savage (1994–1997)
Page, determined to continue improving his character, sought the help of Jake Roberts who advised him on the psychological aspects of the business. After his injury had healed, Page returned to WCW television in 1994, with his wife Kimberly as the Diamond Doll, and an on-screen bodyguard, Max Muscle. He held open arm wrestling challenges to win Kimberly, but Max always helped him win or arm wrestled for him. He was also involved in an angle where he was said to have amassed $13 million through victories in arm wrestling competitions, then lost it. He also had a long feud with Dave Sullivan because Sullivan gave Kimberly gifts (and largely because Page was defeated by Sullivan in one of the arm wrestling contests, which earned him a date with Kimberly). At Fall Brawl, Page won his first championship when he defeated Renegade for the WCW World Television Championship. In the build-up to his first title defence at Halloween Havoc, there was growing dissension between Page and Kimberly. Johnny B. Badd defeated Page for the TV title and again at World War 3 on November 26, winning Kimberly's freedom from DDP. At Uncensored on March 24, 1996 The Booty Man with Kimberly as The Booty Babe defeated Diamond Dallas Page in a Loser Leaves Town match.
Page returned on the May 18, 1996, episode of WCW Saturday Night as a tweener defeating Billy Kidman. On May 19, Page participated in the Lord of the Ring Tournament (Battle Bowl) at Slamboree. Falkinburg was victorious when he defeated The Barbarian with two Diamond Cutters. The winner was to be the number one contender for the World Title which at that time was held by The Giant. He never received the title shot that he earned that night. Page was feuding with Eddie Guerrero when the New World Order (nWo) was formed. Since Nash and Hall were both former partners of Page, they assisted him in his matches in the tournament being held for the vacant United States Heavyweight Championship. Believing their assistance was not appreciated, Hall and Nash attacked him during the tournament final, allowing Guerrero to win. After demonstrating the benefits of the nWo, they asked him to join. He responded by giving them Diamond Cutters on January 25, 1997, at Souled Out, starting a face turn and a feud with the nWo. Soon after, Page began a feud with recent nWo recruit "Macho Man" Randy Savage. On an episode of Nitro, Savage, aided by Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, attacked Page and spray-painted "nWo" on his back. A few weeks later at Uncensored, Savage and Miss Elizabeth "broke" (a worked shoot) by revealing to the world that Page and Kimberly were, in fact, married. Savage then proceeded to beat up Page, ensuring a future match between the two. At Spring Stampede, in Page's first pay-per-view main event, he and Savage battled in a match where Page emerged victorious, but it was not the end of conflict between the two. A few months later at The Great American Bash, they squared off again in an anything goes, lights out match. The match ended with Savage defeating Page with help from (then) Tag Team Champion Scott Hall. At Bash at the Beach, Scott Hall and Randy Savage defeated Diamond Dallas Page and Curt Hennig. Curt Hennig, who Diamond Dallas Page had recruited personally to join WCW and team with him, turned on DDP during the match. Hennig defeated Diamond Dallas Page in a grudge match at Road Wild. At Fall Brawl, Page teamed with Lex Luger to defeat Scott Hall and Randy Savage in a No Disqualification match. Page even dressed up as masked wrestler La Parka and beat Savage on the July 7 edition of Monday Nitro. Around this time, Page also started fighting nWo leader, Hollywood Hogan. Page and Savage battled for the last time at Halloween Havoc. The match was billed as a Las Vegas sudden-death match, where Savage pinned Page after Hogan, dressed as Sting, came out and hit Page with a baseball bat in his already "injured" midsection, resulting in Savage picking up the win. On an episode of Nitro shortly after Halloween Havoc, Page fought Hogan, but was again beaten down by the nWo.
United States Heavyweight Champion (1997–1998)
At Starrcade, Page won the United States Heavyweight Championship from Curt Hennig. The following year at Uncensored, Page defended the title in a Triple Threat, Falls Count Anywhere contest against Chris Benoit and Raven, putting Raven through a table with a Diamond Cutter to retain the belt. Page later lost the title to Raven at Spring Stampede. Later in the year, Page tagged with Karl Malone against Hulk Hogan and Dennis Rodman at Bash at the Beach, losing due to interference. Page tagged with late night talk show host Jay Leno at Road Wild, where they defeated Hogan and Eric Bischoff.
At Fall Brawl, Page won the WarGames main event, and got a World title shot against the undefeated Goldberg at Halloween Havoc. Page did not win the match, but the match was voted WCW Magazines "Match of the Year" 1998. Halloween Havoc ran slightly longer than expected resulting in a number of cable companies blacking out the end of the Hogan versus Warrior match and all of the DDP versus Goldberg contest. WCW decided to air the Goldberg versus DDP title bout in its entirety on the October 26 episode of Nitro, which proved immensely popular in the ratings and resulted in a ratings win for Nitro over Raw – the last win Nitro ever had. Despite this setback in the World title picture, Page rebounded this same following night of Halloween Havoc, on the October 26 episode of Nitro, with a win over Bret Hart to capture the United States Heavyweight Title. The two headlined the following month's World War 3, in a title match which Page won. Page lost the title to Hart on the November 30 episode of Nitro in a No Disqualification match, when he was assaulted by The Giant.
WCW World Heavyweight Champion (1999–2001)
Page became WCW World Heavyweight Champion in April 1999, at Spring Stampede when he defeated Sting, Hogan, and Ric Flair for the title in a Four Way Dance with "Macho Man" Randy Savage as Special Guest Referee. Page pinned Flair after giving Flair the Diamond Cutter. Around this time some fans were starting to boo Page at various WCW events, so shortly after Spring Stampede a decision was made to turn Page heel for the first time in three years. The turn played out slowly at first, with Page undergoing a change in attitude. Then, on April 19, Page defended his title against Goldberg, where he cemented the turn by first knocking Goldberg out with brass knuckles and then propping his leg up against the ring stairs and repeatedly smashing it with a steel chair, all while taunting the fans with repeated utterances of "boo me now". Page only stopped when Kevin Nash, an ally of Hogan's who was angry at Page for (kayfabe) injuring Hogan's knee during the match at Spring Stampede, came back from injury and chased him away.
On April 26, 1999, Page lost and regained his title in the span of two hours. Sting challenged him to defend his title in the first hour of that night's Nitro and defeated him to regain the title he had lost a year earlier. This ended Page's reign at 15 days, but he gained an opportunity to get the title back ninety minutes later. Nash came to the ring and made a challenge for a four-way match for the title, and the just-dethroned Page joined defending champion Sting and Goldberg in the match. Page regained the WCW World Heavyweight Championship by using a foreign object to hit Nash and take the win and regain the title without actually defeating the reigning champion. Nash became the number one contender shortly after and vowed to get revenge on Page for his friend Hogan, culminating in a match at Slamboree in May. Page originally retained the WCW World Heavyweight Championship after Savage interfered and hit Nash, but the match was ordered to continue by Eric Bischoff and Nash pinned Page to win the title after a powerbomb. Page dropped out of the title picture shortly thereafter.
Shortly after Slamboree, Page entered into an alliance with fellow New Jerseyan Bam Bam Bigelow and won the WCW World Tag Team Championship from then champions Perry Saturn and Raven on May 31, thanks to Chris Kanyon turning heel on former ally Raven and costing the team the championships. Page, Bigelow, and Kanyon became known as the Jersey Triad and through their alliance with WCW "President for Life" Ric Flair took advantage of the Freebird Rule in their subsequent matches (meaning any combination of the three could defend the championship). The Triad held the titles until June 10, when Saturn and Chris Benoit (now stablemates in The Revolution) took the title from them. They regained the belts at The Great American Bash three days later, and lost them to Harlem Heat at Road Wild in August. Later that night, Chris Benoit defeated Diamond Dallas Page to retain the United States title. The group broke up shortly thereafter and Page began feuding with Hogan again, joining Sid Vicious and Rick Steiner in a team effort to take on Hogan, Sting, and Goldberg. Soon after that feud ended Page turned into a hero again and feuded with both Kanyon and Bigelow before the year ended.
In 2000, with WCW under new management, Page earned a shot at the vacant WCW World Heavyweight Championship at Spring Stampede against Jeff Jarrett. In a surprise twist, Page's wife, Kimberly, turned on Page and helped Jarrett become the new WCW World Heavyweight Champion. Page got the better of Jarrett on the April 24 episode of Nitro, where he defeated Jarrett in a steel cage match to become WCW World Heavyweight Champion for the third time, then lost the title to his tag partner, actor David Arquette, three days later on Thunder; the rules stated that whoever got the pin would win the title, and Arquette pinned Jarrett's partner, Eric Bischoff. Page attempted to win the title back at Slamboree later that month in a triple cage match against Arquette and Jarrett, but lost after Arquette hit him with a guitar. Page then entered a feud with Mike Awesome, who defeated him in an Ambulance Match at The Great American Bash after Kanyon turned on Page.
Page took some time off shortly after this, but returned in late 2000 as a full-time wrestler. After Page came back he formed a tag team with Kevin Nash called The Insiders, and the team won the WCW World Tag Team Championship on November 26 at Mayhem by defeating Perfect Event (Shawn Stasiak and Chuck Palumbo). The team was temporarily stripped of the titles but won them back at Starrcade defeating Stasiak and Palumbo again. Page and Nash lost the titles to Palumbo and Sean O'Haire at Sin in January and broke up shortly thereafter. After his tag team run Page briefly feuded with the returning Kanyon, which saw Kanyon defeat Page at SuperBrawl Revenge, and Page defeating Kanyon the following night on Nitro, ending their feud. Page then moved into the World Championship picture again by facing Scott Steiner. Their feud hit a climax at WCW's final PPV Greed, saw Page's final match in WCW and a semi-burial type defeat as he passed out in Steiner's finisher, The Steiner Recliner.
World Wrestling Federation (2001–2002)
When WCW was purchased by WWF owner Vince McMahon in 2001, Page was one of the few major WCW stars (along with Booker T and Buff Bagwell) who accepted buyouts of their AOL Time Warner contracts in order to immediately sign with McMahon. He debuted in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) on the June 18, 2001, episode of Raw when he unveiled himself as the stalker of The Undertaker's wife, Sara. Page revealed he didn't care about Sara; he only did it to make an impact and wanted to take on the "biggest dog in the yard". At King of the Ring, he fought The Undertaker in an unsanctioned brawl that was never announced as an official match. On the July 5 episode of SmackDown!, Page competed against WCW Champion Booker T, but failed to win the title after a distraction from the Undertaker. On the July 9 episode of Raw, WCW owner Shane McMahon and ECW owner Paul Heyman joined together to create The Alliance, with former WCW and ECW alumni joining forces in an attempt to take control of the WWF. At the Invasion pay-per-view, Page formed part of Team Alliance alongside Booker T, Rhyno and The Dudley Boyz, defeating Team WWF, after Team WWF member Stone Cold Steve Austin turned on his team members mid-match.
Page and Chris Kanyon reunited on the August 6 episode of Raw when Kanyon helped Page attack The Undertaker backstage. Three days later on the August 9 taping of SmackDown!, Page and Kanyon defeated the APA to win the WWF Tag Team Championship.
His feud with the Undertaker culminated when Undertaker and Kane defeated Page and Kanyon at SummerSlam on August 19, 2001, in a Steel cage match for the WWF Tag Team Championship. During the match, Page was injured, keeping him out of action until late October 2001. While Page was injured, he developed a new gimmick in which he became a motivational speaker. The character involved Page constantly smiling and acting optimistic, with his trademark phrase "That's not a bad thing... that's... a good thing".
His return televised match was on November 3 at Rebellion losing to Big Show. After the Alliance lost at Survivor Series, Page, along with the rest of the Alliance members, kayfabe lost their jobs.
Page eventually returned as a face and won his job back by defeating Big Boss Man on the January 17, 2002, episode of SmackDown!. Page competed in the Royal Rumble match at the titular event on January 20 but did not win.
Page became the WWF European Champion on the January 31, 2002, episode of SmackDown!, when he defeated Christian, a former follower of his positive "philosophy." At WrestleMania X8, Page successfully retained in a rematch against Christian. He lost the title to William Regal on an episode of SmackDown! that aired March 21. On March 25, Page was drafted to the SmackDown! brand as part of the 2002 WWF draft lottery.
On the April 18 episode of SmackDown!, he sustained a serious neck injury during a match with Hardcore Holly, after botching a superplex. After receiving opinions from multiple doctors, Page announced his retirement in June 2002. He left the promotion soon after.
Return to wrestling (2004)
In 2004, Page made his in-ring return by wrestling for several independent promotions. His first match was on April 21, 2004, teaming with Satoshi Kojima as they lost to former WCW star Sting and The Great Muta for HCW Battle Hawaii.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2004–2005)
He signed with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). He debuted for the company on the November 12 taping of Impact!, where he attacked Raven, beginning a feud between the two. At Turning Point on December 5, DDP defeated Raven.
and at Final Resolution in January 2005, Page competed in a three-way elimination match to determine the number one contender for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship also involving Monty Brown and Kevin Nash, which was won by Brown. Page and Brown subsequently formed a tag team. The following month at Against All Odds, Page and Brown defeated Team Canada (Bobby Roode and Eric Young). Page received an NWA World Heavyweight Championship title shot on March 13 at Destination X, but was defeated by reigning champion Jeff Jarrett when Brown turned heel and hit Page with the Pounce. At Lockdown, Page teamed with B.G. James and Waltman to defeat Jeff Jarrett, Monty Brown and The Outlaw in a Lethal Lockdown match. At Hard Justice on May 15, Page and Ron Killings faced Monty Brown and The Outlaw where they were defeated in what was Page's final match in TNA. Page left TNA shortly thereafter in order to pursue an acting career.
Independent circuit (2005–2011)
After TNA, Page returned to the independent circuit. He lost to Larry Zbyszko at WrestleReunion. DDP had Bruno Sammartino in his corner during the match. Then Page defeated Buff Bagwell on December 9, 2005, at GLCW Blizzard Brawl. In 2006, Page defeated his former Jersey Triad partner Chris Kanyon twice before retiring once again.
On August 9, 2009, Diamond Dallas Page made a special appearance for Juggalo Championship Wrestling (JCW) at their Bloodymania III event, aligning himself with the jWo. He hit his trademark Diamond Cutter finisher on Trent Acid.
DDP returned to wrestling on January 2, 2010, teaming with Air Paris to defeat Bobby Hayes and Alexander the Great at PICW event. On October 15, 2011, DDP teamed with Kevin Nash as they defeated The Rock 'n' Roll Express at AWE Night Of The Legends.
Return to WWE (2011–2017)
In late 2010, Page agreed to work on a DVD for WWE, titled The Very Best of WCW Monday Nitro, after being approached on the project due to his ties to WCW. Page hosted the DVD, which was released on June 7, 2011. On the June 27 episode of Raw, Page made an appearance promoting this DVD with Booker T.
In 2012, Page appeared on WWE Classics on Demand in Legends of Wrestling Roundtable: Renegades along with Jim Ross, Michael P.S. Hayes, Roddy Piper, and Gene Okerlund. Page also appeared alongside Kevin Nash and X-Pac at the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony on March 31, 2012. On July 2, 2012, Page made an appearance on Raw, where he hit a Diamond Cutter on Heath Slater. He also appeared at Raw 1000, accompanied by other WWE Legends, during Slater's match with Lita.
On the January 6, 2014, episode of Raw, Page, along with a number of other legends, appeared on the show as part of its "Old School" theme. On April 5, Page inducted his wrestling mentor and noted DDP Yoga practitioner Jake Roberts into the WWE Hall of Fame.
On January 25, 2015, at Royal Rumble, Page was a surprise entrant in the Rumble match, entering at number 14 and hitting his finishing move, the Diamond Cutter, on Stardust, Bray Wyatt and Fandango from the top rope, before being eliminated by Rusev. At WrestleMania 32, Page competed in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, but was eliminated by Konnor.
On March 31, 2017, Page was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in Orlando, Florida.
All In (2018)
At All In on September 1, 2018, Page accompanied Cody Rhodes in his match against NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis.
All Elite Wrestling (2019–2020)
On May 25, 2019, during their inaugural pay-per-view Double or Nothing, Page escorted Brandi Rhodes away from the ring after she refused to leave the match between Cody Rhodes and Dustin Rhodes after match referee Earl Hebner ejected her from the match. On the October 23, 2019, episode of AEW Dynamite, Page returned to TNT program for the first time in over 18 years, and helped Cody attack Chris Jericho and his stable The Inner Circle. On November 27, 2019, Page returned to Dynamite to present MJF with the first ever Dynamite Diamond Ring as a prize for defeating Adam Page. On January 15, 2020, at Bash at the Beach, he had his first match since the 2016 Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal teaming with Dustin Rhodes and QT Marshall to take on MJF and The Butcher and The Blade in a losing effort.
Yoga
Page developed a yoga fitness program initially called Yoga for Regular Guys Workout (YRG), after discovering the health benefits of yoga through his then-wife Kimberly while he recovered from ruptures to his L4/L5 discs in 1998. His favorite kind of yoga (according to his "Yoga for Regular Guys" book published in 2005) is "Power Yoga", an American-style version of "Ashtanga Style" yoga. Page worked with chiropractor Dr. Craig Aaron, and developed the Yoga for Regular Guys Workout.
Page developed the book into a series of workout videos titled DDP Yoga (formerly YRG). DDP Yoga was featured in a video about Arthur Boorman in May 2012. The story was picked up by the mainstream media, including Good Morning America. The video describes the journey of Arthur Boorman, a disabled veteran who was told by doctors he would never walk again. After spending fifteen years on crutches, Boorman followed Page's yoga plan for ten months and documented his progress on home video. He lost 140 pounds and regained the strength and flexibility to walk and run without his crutches, back braces or leg braces.
On February 21, 2014, Page appeared on the ABC series Shark Tank, where he was seeking $200,200 for a 5% share in the DDP Yoga company. He declined to sell a 50% share for that same amount to Kevin O'Leary. Page had hoped to use the money to develop a mobile app. The other investors were impressed by Boorman's improvement but believed the home exercise market was too competitive and also predicted net profits ($800,000 in the previous year) would fall. Page later said he sold more than $1 million worth of products in the first six days after his appearance.
Documentaries and podcast
In 2015, he was a main subject in the documentary The Resurrection of Jake the Snake, which chronicled Page helping Jake Roberts through rehabilitation.
In 2016, Page was featured on the Nine Legends Expansion Pack to talk about his friend Bill Goldberg.
Page currently hosts a radio show titled DDP Radio. Beginning on January 4, 2022, Page will take part in a podcast with Jake Roberts and Conrad Thompson titled DDP Snakepit.
Video games
Page has been depicted in several licensed wrestling video games.
Filmography
First Daughter (1999) as Dirk Lindman
Ready to Rumble (2000) as Himself
Rat Race (2001) in a deleted scene
Nice Guys (2005) as Sleezy Guy
The Devil's Rejects (2005) as Billy Ray Snapper
The 40-Year-Old Virgin (deleted scene)
Jack's Law (2006) as Spider Benson
Hood of Horror (2006) as Jersey
Splinter (2006) as Detective Stiles
Driftwood (2006) as Captain Kennedy
Knight Fever (2008)
Gallowwalkers (2009) as Skullbucket
Sensory Perception (2010) as Mr. Harrington
Pizza Man (2011) as Kryder
Vengeance (2014)
The Murders of Brandywine Theater (2014) as Officer Carwin
The Resurrection of Jake the Snake (2015) as Himself
The Bet (2016) as Mr. Baker
Lawsuits
Page is commonly associated with the "Self High Five" as well as the "Diamond Cutter" symbol, a hand gesture made by joining the thumbs and index fingers on each hand to form a diamond shape, then parting the two hands in one swift motion. He created the symbol in 1996 and later trademarked it. In December 2005, Page filed a lawsuit against rapper Jay-Z, who, he claimed, had "illegally adopted his trademark hand gesture". Page accused Jay-Z of trademark infringement and sought a prohibitive injunction and monetary damages. It resulted in Page dropping the lawsuit for an undisclosed amount of money. On August 31, 2010, Page filed a lawsuit against American electronica musical duo 3OH!3 for infringement of his trademarked "Diamond Cutter" hand gesture.
Page's WCW entrance music, "Self High-Five", intentionally contained similarities to the 1991 Nirvana song "Smells Like Teen Spirit", as composer Jimmy Hart and Page felt it exemplified the "sound of the '90s". According to Page, Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl in turn claimed that "WCW owes us [the band] money", but before any further actions or lawsuits took place, the track was altered to "sound like it was it, but wasn't".
Personal life
Page released his autobiography, Positively Page: The Diamond Dallas Page Journey, on February 1, 2000.
In 2003, he had his name legally changed to Dallas Page.
On December 1, 1991, Page married Kimberly Page. On July 3, 2004, they announced their amicable separation, before divorcing in 2005.
In 2015, Page married Brenda Nair. They separated in 2019. The divorce was finalized in 2020.
In 2021, Page married Payge McMahon.
Page has two daughters, Brittany Page (born 1987) and Kimberly Page (born 1994), and two stepdaughters, Alexandra "Lexy" Nair (born 1996) and Rachel Nair (born 2001). Lexy currently works with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a backstage interviewer.
On January 15, 2019, Page released another book, Positively Unstoppable: The Art of Owning It, through Rodale Books. The book includes a foreword by Mick Foley.
Championships and accomplishments
Cauliflower Alley Club
Jason Sanderson Humanitarian Award (2015)
Men's Wrestling Award (2015)
George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
Frank Gotch Award (2014)
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
Feud of the Year (1997)
Most Hated Wrestler of the Year (1999)
Most Improved Wrestler of the Year (1995)
Ranked No. 4 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the year in the PWI 500 in 1997 and 1998
Ranked No. 65 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the PWI Years in 2003
Swiss Wrestling Federation
SWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
World Championship Wrestling
WCW World Heavyweight Championship (3 times)
WCW World Television Championship (1 time)
WCW United States Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
WCW World Tag Team Championship (4 times) – with Bam Bam Bigelow and Chris Kanyon (2) and Kevin Nash (2)
Fourth WCW Triple Crown Champion
Lord of The Ring Tournament (1996)
World Wrestling Federation/WWE
WWF European Championship (1 time)
WWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Chris Kanyon
WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2017)
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Best Wrestling Maneuver (1997)
Most Improved (1996)
Worst Gimmick (2001)
Notes
Bibliography
Genta, Larry and Page, Diamond Dallas (2000) Positively Page,
Aaron, Craig and Page, Diamond Dallas (2005) Yoga for Regular Guys: The Best Damn Workout on the Planet,
Page, Diamond Dallas (2019) Positively Unstoppable: The Art of Owning It,
See also
The Alliance
The Diamond Exchange
The Fabulous Freebirds
The Insiders/The Vegas Connection
The Jersey Triad
The Millionaire's Club
References
External links
Diamond Dallas Page Article
1956 births
All Elite Wrestling personnel
American male film actors
American male professional wrestlers
American male television actors
American men podcasters
American people of German descent
Living people
NWA/WCW World Television Champions
NWA/WCW/WWE United States Heavyweight Champions
People with dyslexia
Point Pleasant Borough High School alumni
Professional wrestlers from New Jersey
Professional wrestling announcers
Professional wrestling managers and valets
Professional wrestling podcasters
Sportspeople from Point Pleasant, New Jersey
WCW World Heavyweight Champions
WWE Hall of Fame inductees
WWF European Champions | false | [
"The Combination classification was a competition in the annual Giro d'Italia bicycle race. It was first introduced in the 1985 Giro d'Italia, where it was first won by the Swiss rider Urs Freuler. The classification was run annually until the 1988 Giro d'Italia, where the American Andrew Hampsten won the classification. The combination classification was replaced in the 1989 Giro d'Italia by the intergiro classification. The classification reappeared after an 11-year hiatus in 2001. It was the absent from the succeeding Giro d'Italia editions until it returned in 2006, where Paolo Savoldelli won the classification. The classification did not return in 2007, as it was replaced by the return of the Young rider classification.\n\nFor the 1988 and the 2006 editions of the Giro, the leader of the classification was awarded a blue jersey.\n\nCombination classification standings\n\nReferences\n\nGiro d'Italia\nCombination classification in road cycling\nItalian sports trophies and awards",
"\"Where Did Your Heart Go?\" is a song written by American musicians David Was and Don Was. The song was first recorded and released by the writers' disco-dance-rock band Was (Not Was) as a single in the UK as a double A-side with \"Wheel Me Out\" in September 1981. The single did not chart. It was featured as the second track on the band's début album Was (Not Was) in August 1981. French editions of the single included the track \"It's an Attack!\" as the B-side.\n\nA live recording of \"Where Did Your Heart Go?\" was included as a B-side to the 1992 single \"Somewhere in America (There's a Street Named After My Dad)\".\n\nTrack listing\n\nWham! version\n\n\"Where Did Your Heart Go?\" was covered by the British pop duo Wham! on 14 October 1986 as one of the three B-sides to \"The Edge of Heaven\" in the UK, where it reached number 1. The song was also released separately as Wham!'s final single in several territories most notably in the US where it peaked at number 50 on the Billboard Hot 100 in November 1986. It was produced and re-arranged by George Michael with engineering by Chris Porter. \"Where Did Your Heart Go?\" was also included on The Final and Music from the Edge of Heaven albums.\n\nArrangement\nGeorge Michael's arrangement of \"Where Did Your Heart Go?\" is relatively faithful to the original Was (Not Was) version making only subtle changes to the song's instrumentation and structure. Michael alters the song by dropping the opening chorus in favour of an instrumental introduction of the chorus melody. The subdued ending is protracted in the Wham! recording, where the original quickly fades out after the completion of the final chorus; Michael's arrangement continues for an additional half a minute.\n\nWham!'s recording of \"Where Did Your Heart Go?\", while structurally similar to the Was (Not Was) original, leans toward to a soft rock ballad due to changes to the tempo and vocal inflection. Michael's arrangement is more spare and reliant on synthesizers and saxophone to convey the melody. Michael's vocals are less immersed in the backing arrangement in which the bass guitar and drums are markedly quieter in the mix. His vocal is more low-key than Sweet Pea Atkinson's, except for the final line of the third verse, \"and drifted out of sight\", which is accentuated.\n\nMusic video\nThe official music video for the Wham! version of the song was directed by George Michael and Andy Morahan.\n\nTrack listing\n\nPersonnel\n George Michael – keyboards, programming, producer, arrangements\n Deon Estus – bass\n Danny Schogger – keyboards\n Andy Hamilton – saxophone\n Chris Porter – engineer, mixing\n\nChart performance\n\nReferences\n\n1981 songs\n1981 singles\n1986 singles\nWas (Not Was) songs\nIsland Records singles\nSong recordings produced by Don Was\nSongs written by David Was\nSongs written by Don Was\nZE Records singles\nWham! songs\nCBS Records singles\nEpic Records singles\nMusic videos directed by Andy Morahan\nMusic videos directed by George Michael\nSong recordings produced by George Michael\nPop ballads"
] |
[
"Diamond Dallas Page",
"The Alliance (2001)",
"what was the Alliance>",
"Page soon joined the Alliance during the WCW Invasion.",
"where was the invaision",
"I don't know."
] | C_d01286bc895c4f97bf9fd1d33af12004_1 | who else was involved in the alliance | 3 | Who else was involved in the alliance besides Diamond Dallas Page? | Diamond Dallas Page | When WCW was purchased by WWF owner Vince McMahon in 2001, Page was one of the few major WCW stars (along with Booker T and Buff Bagwell) who accepted buyouts of their AOL Time Warner contracts in order to immediately sign with McMahon. He debuted in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) on the edition of June 18, 2001 of Raw when he unveiled himself as the stalker of The Undertaker's wife, Sara. Page revealed he didn't care about Sara; he only did it to make an impact and wanted to take on the biggest dog in the yard. Page soon joined the Alliance during the WCW Invasion. At King of the Ring, he fought The Undertaker in an unsanctioned brawl that was never announced as an official match. Page and Chris Kanyon reunited on the edition of August 6, 2001 of Raw when Kanyon helped Page attack The Undertaker backstage. Three days later on edition of August 9, 2001 of SmackDown!, Page and Kanyon defeated the APA to win the WWF Tag Team Championship. The feud with the Undertaker went on for the best part of three months and ended when Undertaker and Kane defeated Page and Kanyon at SummerSlam on August 19, 2001 in a Steel cage match for the WWF Tag Team Championship, where Page got injured which kept him out of action until late October 2001. He became known for his catchphrase "Yo! It's me, it's me, it's DDP!" While Page was injured he developed a new gimmick in September 2001 to become a motivational speaker, something he did in real life, in what came to be known as his Positively Page character. The name came from the title of his autobiography that was published during his WCW days. The character, who Page developed after attending the Tony Robbins Results 2000 seminar in October 2000, involved Page constantly smiling and acting optimistic, with his trademark phrase "That's not a bad thing... that's... a good thing". His return televised match was on November 3, 2001 at Rebellion losing to Big Show. After the Alliance lost at Survivor Series DDP along with the rest of the alliance members bar Test kayfabe lost their jobs. CANNOTANSWER | Booker T and Buff Bagwell | Dallas Page (born Page Joseph Falkinburg, April 5, 1956), better known by his ring name Diamond Dallas Page (often stylized as DDP), is an American actor, fitness instructor and former professional wrestler. In the course of his wrestling career, which spanned two decades, Page has wrestled for mainstream wrestling promotions World Championship Wrestling (WCW), the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE), Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), and All Elite Wrestling (AEW).
Falkinburg first broke into the wrestling business in 1988, as a manager in the American Wrestling Association, where he worked for nine months before signing with WCW in 1991. There, he continued as a manager until late 1991, when he became a wrestler. Over a decade in WCW, Falkinburg became a three-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, two-time WCW United States Heavyweight Champion, four-time WCW World Tag Team Champion and one-time WCW World Television Champion. He is the fourth WCW Triple Crown Champion, and the only United States Heavyweight Champion to defend the title in a pay-per-view main event, defeating Bret Hart at the 1998 World War 3.
After WCW was sold in 2001, Page signed with the WWF where he made his pay-per-view debut in the main event of July's Invasion show, and went on to become a one-time WWF European Champion and one-time WWF World Tag Team Champion. Due to a series of injuries, he allowed his contract with the company to expire in 2002. He worked for TNA from 2004 to 2005, challenging for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in the main event of Destination X 2005. On March 31, 2017, he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by Eric Bischoff.
Since 2012, Page has run a mail order and online fitness video business called DDP Yoga, based on yoga and dynamic self-resistance.
Early life
Page Joseph Falkinburg, the eldest of three children, was born in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, the son of Sylvia (née Seigel) and Page Falkinburg Sr. He was raised by his father during his early years after his parents divorced. He stated that he is of German, Irish, and Dutch origin. Falkinburg/Falkenburg is also the name of multiple German villages and at least three German castles. The name "Dallas" came from his love of the Dallas Cowboys.
His brother Rory and sister Sally were raised by their maternal grandmother. Falkinburg lived with his father from age three to eight. His father took him, at eight years old, to live with his grandmother, who raised him. Falkinburg admitted in his autobiography he is dyslexic. He had many challenges hit him throughout his childhood and educational years.
He attended St. Joseph's High School (now Donovan Catholic High School) in Toms River, New Jersey, for his freshman and second years, spending his first season on the JV basketball team and making the varsity squad as a sophomore. He transferred to Point Pleasant Borough High School in Point Pleasant, where he was a star basketball player with the Point Pleasant Boro High School Panthers. He attended Coastal Carolina University in South Carolina briefly before leaving school to work full-time.
Professional wrestling career
American Wrestling Association (1988)
Page ran a nightclub in Fort Myers, Florida called "Norma Jeans" (known for its Pink Cadillac) while he was working as a wrestling manager in the American Wrestling Association (AWA). He started managing in 1988, where he handled Badd Company (Paul Diamond and Pat Tanaka), a team he led to the AWA World Tag Team Championship on March 19. Badd Company, was often accompanied by female valets known as the "Diamond Dolls" (Tonya, Jennifer and Torri). During his time in the AWA, Page also managed Colonel DeBeers, Curt Hennig and Madusa Miceli as the leader of the Diamond Exchange stable. He worked for the AWA at 12 dates over a period of nine months, where they filmed all the television shows in one day.
Professional Wrestling Federation (19891991)
Page also worked as a color commentator in Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), soon renamed Professional Wrestling Federation (PWF), where he worked alongside Gordon Solie, before finally debuting as a professional wrestler. Page's first pro match occurred in May 1989 against Dick Slater.
In 1990, Dallas received a tryout with the WWF as an announcer, but wasn't offered a job. At WrestleMania VI, he drove Rhythm and Blues (The Honky Tonk Man and Greg Valentine) to the ring in his pink Cadillac. At this time, he was virtually unknown in the World Wrestling Federation. When FCW went out of business, Page was still involved in the club business until Dusty Rhodes returned to World Championship Wrestling. Rhodes started booking and brought him in on a small contract in early 1991.
World Championship Wrestling/WCW (1991–2001)
Various alliances (1991–1993)
Page came to World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1991 as manager of The Fabulous Freebirds (Jimmy Garvin and Michael P.S. Hayes). Page managed the Freebirds to a shot at the NWA World Tag Team Championship where they defeated Doom (Butch Reed and Ron Simmons) on February 24. Before that match took place, Page unveiled the stable's new road manager, Big Daddy Dink, formerly known as Oliver Humperdink, who interfered in the match. During this match, Page introduced the Diamond Dolls. Page added Scott Hall to the stable under the name of Diamond Studd. Page also worked as a color commentator for WCW with Eric Bischoff. With rumors that the WCW wanted to take the Diamond Studd away from Page, he decided to take the advice of Magnum T.A. and begin to wrestle himself. He headed to the WCW Power Plant where Buddy Lee Parker, The Assassin, and Dusty Rhodes trained the 35-year-old rookie. He debuted as a wrestler in a tag team match later that year. With the Diamond Studd, he faced Kevin Sullivan and his partner. He was relegated to the "jobber" list. He made his wrestling pay-per-view debut at Starrcade in 1991, teaming with Mike Graham in a losing effort to Jushin Thunder Liger and Bill Kazmaier. In regards to this period, he stated:
"Bischoff gave me the job as I was a good example of work ethic, passion and someone that cares about the business. Since they wouldn't really book me, I went down to the WCW Power Plant every day I wasn't working. That's how you adapt to adversity. Even when I started to make it, I still kept going back. Until I was on the road 260 days a year-plus, I was still going to that Power Plant. For five years I went there, because that's how long it took me to get to the top."
Page continued wrestling and brought other wrestlers into his stable, The Diamond Mine, such as Scotty Flamingo (Raven) and Vinnie Vegas (Kevin Nash). The relationships between DDP, Flamingo, and Vegas were used in many angles over the following months. Page went in the corner of Scotty Flamingo, at Clash of the Champions XXI on November 18, 1992, when Flamingo fought Johnny B. Badd in a worked boxing match. Flamingo won this bout with a little help from Page who filled Flamingo's glove with water. The following year, after Studd and Flamingo left the stable, Page teamed with Vinnie Vegas as the Vegas Connection. The team was disbanded shortly after its debut when Page tore a rotator cuff in a match against Tex Slazenger and Shanghai Pierce toward the end of 1992 and was later fired, while Nash left WCW for the World Wrestling Federation.
World Television Champion and feud with Randy Savage (1994–1997)
Page, determined to continue improving his character, sought the help of Jake Roberts who advised him on the psychological aspects of the business. After his injury had healed, Page returned to WCW television in 1994, with his wife Kimberly as the Diamond Doll, and an on-screen bodyguard, Max Muscle. He held open arm wrestling challenges to win Kimberly, but Max always helped him win or arm wrestled for him. He was also involved in an angle where he was said to have amassed $13 million through victories in arm wrestling competitions, then lost it. He also had a long feud with Dave Sullivan because Sullivan gave Kimberly gifts (and largely because Page was defeated by Sullivan in one of the arm wrestling contests, which earned him a date with Kimberly). At Fall Brawl, Page won his first championship when he defeated Renegade for the WCW World Television Championship. In the build-up to his first title defence at Halloween Havoc, there was growing dissension between Page and Kimberly. Johnny B. Badd defeated Page for the TV title and again at World War 3 on November 26, winning Kimberly's freedom from DDP. At Uncensored on March 24, 1996 The Booty Man with Kimberly as The Booty Babe defeated Diamond Dallas Page in a Loser Leaves Town match.
Page returned on the May 18, 1996, episode of WCW Saturday Night as a tweener defeating Billy Kidman. On May 19, Page participated in the Lord of the Ring Tournament (Battle Bowl) at Slamboree. Falkinburg was victorious when he defeated The Barbarian with two Diamond Cutters. The winner was to be the number one contender for the World Title which at that time was held by The Giant. He never received the title shot that he earned that night. Page was feuding with Eddie Guerrero when the New World Order (nWo) was formed. Since Nash and Hall were both former partners of Page, they assisted him in his matches in the tournament being held for the vacant United States Heavyweight Championship. Believing their assistance was not appreciated, Hall and Nash attacked him during the tournament final, allowing Guerrero to win. After demonstrating the benefits of the nWo, they asked him to join. He responded by giving them Diamond Cutters on January 25, 1997, at Souled Out, starting a face turn and a feud with the nWo. Soon after, Page began a feud with recent nWo recruit "Macho Man" Randy Savage. On an episode of Nitro, Savage, aided by Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, attacked Page and spray-painted "nWo" on his back. A few weeks later at Uncensored, Savage and Miss Elizabeth "broke" (a worked shoot) by revealing to the world that Page and Kimberly were, in fact, married. Savage then proceeded to beat up Page, ensuring a future match between the two. At Spring Stampede, in Page's first pay-per-view main event, he and Savage battled in a match where Page emerged victorious, but it was not the end of conflict between the two. A few months later at The Great American Bash, they squared off again in an anything goes, lights out match. The match ended with Savage defeating Page with help from (then) Tag Team Champion Scott Hall. At Bash at the Beach, Scott Hall and Randy Savage defeated Diamond Dallas Page and Curt Hennig. Curt Hennig, who Diamond Dallas Page had recruited personally to join WCW and team with him, turned on DDP during the match. Hennig defeated Diamond Dallas Page in a grudge match at Road Wild. At Fall Brawl, Page teamed with Lex Luger to defeat Scott Hall and Randy Savage in a No Disqualification match. Page even dressed up as masked wrestler La Parka and beat Savage on the July 7 edition of Monday Nitro. Around this time, Page also started fighting nWo leader, Hollywood Hogan. Page and Savage battled for the last time at Halloween Havoc. The match was billed as a Las Vegas sudden-death match, where Savage pinned Page after Hogan, dressed as Sting, came out and hit Page with a baseball bat in his already "injured" midsection, resulting in Savage picking up the win. On an episode of Nitro shortly after Halloween Havoc, Page fought Hogan, but was again beaten down by the nWo.
United States Heavyweight Champion (1997–1998)
At Starrcade, Page won the United States Heavyweight Championship from Curt Hennig. The following year at Uncensored, Page defended the title in a Triple Threat, Falls Count Anywhere contest against Chris Benoit and Raven, putting Raven through a table with a Diamond Cutter to retain the belt. Page later lost the title to Raven at Spring Stampede. Later in the year, Page tagged with Karl Malone against Hulk Hogan and Dennis Rodman at Bash at the Beach, losing due to interference. Page tagged with late night talk show host Jay Leno at Road Wild, where they defeated Hogan and Eric Bischoff.
At Fall Brawl, Page won the WarGames main event, and got a World title shot against the undefeated Goldberg at Halloween Havoc. Page did not win the match, but the match was voted WCW Magazines "Match of the Year" 1998. Halloween Havoc ran slightly longer than expected resulting in a number of cable companies blacking out the end of the Hogan versus Warrior match and all of the DDP versus Goldberg contest. WCW decided to air the Goldberg versus DDP title bout in its entirety on the October 26 episode of Nitro, which proved immensely popular in the ratings and resulted in a ratings win for Nitro over Raw – the last win Nitro ever had. Despite this setback in the World title picture, Page rebounded this same following night of Halloween Havoc, on the October 26 episode of Nitro, with a win over Bret Hart to capture the United States Heavyweight Title. The two headlined the following month's World War 3, in a title match which Page won. Page lost the title to Hart on the November 30 episode of Nitro in a No Disqualification match, when he was assaulted by The Giant.
WCW World Heavyweight Champion (1999–2001)
Page became WCW World Heavyweight Champion in April 1999, at Spring Stampede when he defeated Sting, Hogan, and Ric Flair for the title in a Four Way Dance with "Macho Man" Randy Savage as Special Guest Referee. Page pinned Flair after giving Flair the Diamond Cutter. Around this time some fans were starting to boo Page at various WCW events, so shortly after Spring Stampede a decision was made to turn Page heel for the first time in three years. The turn played out slowly at first, with Page undergoing a change in attitude. Then, on April 19, Page defended his title against Goldberg, where he cemented the turn by first knocking Goldberg out with brass knuckles and then propping his leg up against the ring stairs and repeatedly smashing it with a steel chair, all while taunting the fans with repeated utterances of "boo me now". Page only stopped when Kevin Nash, an ally of Hogan's who was angry at Page for (kayfabe) injuring Hogan's knee during the match at Spring Stampede, came back from injury and chased him away.
On April 26, 1999, Page lost and regained his title in the span of two hours. Sting challenged him to defend his title in the first hour of that night's Nitro and defeated him to regain the title he had lost a year earlier. This ended Page's reign at 15 days, but he gained an opportunity to get the title back ninety minutes later. Nash came to the ring and made a challenge for a four-way match for the title, and the just-dethroned Page joined defending champion Sting and Goldberg in the match. Page regained the WCW World Heavyweight Championship by using a foreign object to hit Nash and take the win and regain the title without actually defeating the reigning champion. Nash became the number one contender shortly after and vowed to get revenge on Page for his friend Hogan, culminating in a match at Slamboree in May. Page originally retained the WCW World Heavyweight Championship after Savage interfered and hit Nash, but the match was ordered to continue by Eric Bischoff and Nash pinned Page to win the title after a powerbomb. Page dropped out of the title picture shortly thereafter.
Shortly after Slamboree, Page entered into an alliance with fellow New Jerseyan Bam Bam Bigelow and won the WCW World Tag Team Championship from then champions Perry Saturn and Raven on May 31, thanks to Chris Kanyon turning heel on former ally Raven and costing the team the championships. Page, Bigelow, and Kanyon became known as the Jersey Triad and through their alliance with WCW "President for Life" Ric Flair took advantage of the Freebird Rule in their subsequent matches (meaning any combination of the three could defend the championship). The Triad held the titles until June 10, when Saturn and Chris Benoit (now stablemates in The Revolution) took the title from them. They regained the belts at The Great American Bash three days later, and lost them to Harlem Heat at Road Wild in August. Later that night, Chris Benoit defeated Diamond Dallas Page to retain the United States title. The group broke up shortly thereafter and Page began feuding with Hogan again, joining Sid Vicious and Rick Steiner in a team effort to take on Hogan, Sting, and Goldberg. Soon after that feud ended Page turned into a hero again and feuded with both Kanyon and Bigelow before the year ended.
In 2000, with WCW under new management, Page earned a shot at the vacant WCW World Heavyweight Championship at Spring Stampede against Jeff Jarrett. In a surprise twist, Page's wife, Kimberly, turned on Page and helped Jarrett become the new WCW World Heavyweight Champion. Page got the better of Jarrett on the April 24 episode of Nitro, where he defeated Jarrett in a steel cage match to become WCW World Heavyweight Champion for the third time, then lost the title to his tag partner, actor David Arquette, three days later on Thunder; the rules stated that whoever got the pin would win the title, and Arquette pinned Jarrett's partner, Eric Bischoff. Page attempted to win the title back at Slamboree later that month in a triple cage match against Arquette and Jarrett, but lost after Arquette hit him with a guitar. Page then entered a feud with Mike Awesome, who defeated him in an Ambulance Match at The Great American Bash after Kanyon turned on Page.
Page took some time off shortly after this, but returned in late 2000 as a full-time wrestler. After Page came back he formed a tag team with Kevin Nash called The Insiders, and the team won the WCW World Tag Team Championship on November 26 at Mayhem by defeating Perfect Event (Shawn Stasiak and Chuck Palumbo). The team was temporarily stripped of the titles but won them back at Starrcade defeating Stasiak and Palumbo again. Page and Nash lost the titles to Palumbo and Sean O'Haire at Sin in January and broke up shortly thereafter. After his tag team run Page briefly feuded with the returning Kanyon, which saw Kanyon defeat Page at SuperBrawl Revenge, and Page defeating Kanyon the following night on Nitro, ending their feud. Page then moved into the World Championship picture again by facing Scott Steiner. Their feud hit a climax at WCW's final PPV Greed, saw Page's final match in WCW and a semi-burial type defeat as he passed out in Steiner's finisher, The Steiner Recliner.
World Wrestling Federation (2001–2002)
When WCW was purchased by WWF owner Vince McMahon in 2001, Page was one of the few major WCW stars (along with Booker T and Buff Bagwell) who accepted buyouts of their AOL Time Warner contracts in order to immediately sign with McMahon. He debuted in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) on the June 18, 2001, episode of Raw when he unveiled himself as the stalker of The Undertaker's wife, Sara. Page revealed he didn't care about Sara; he only did it to make an impact and wanted to take on the "biggest dog in the yard". At King of the Ring, he fought The Undertaker in an unsanctioned brawl that was never announced as an official match. On the July 5 episode of SmackDown!, Page competed against WCW Champion Booker T, but failed to win the title after a distraction from the Undertaker. On the July 9 episode of Raw, WCW owner Shane McMahon and ECW owner Paul Heyman joined together to create The Alliance, with former WCW and ECW alumni joining forces in an attempt to take control of the WWF. At the Invasion pay-per-view, Page formed part of Team Alliance alongside Booker T, Rhyno and The Dudley Boyz, defeating Team WWF, after Team WWF member Stone Cold Steve Austin turned on his team members mid-match.
Page and Chris Kanyon reunited on the August 6 episode of Raw when Kanyon helped Page attack The Undertaker backstage. Three days later on the August 9 taping of SmackDown!, Page and Kanyon defeated the APA to win the WWF Tag Team Championship.
His feud with the Undertaker culminated when Undertaker and Kane defeated Page and Kanyon at SummerSlam on August 19, 2001, in a Steel cage match for the WWF Tag Team Championship. During the match, Page was injured, keeping him out of action until late October 2001. While Page was injured, he developed a new gimmick in which he became a motivational speaker. The character involved Page constantly smiling and acting optimistic, with his trademark phrase "That's not a bad thing... that's... a good thing".
His return televised match was on November 3 at Rebellion losing to Big Show. After the Alliance lost at Survivor Series, Page, along with the rest of the Alliance members, kayfabe lost their jobs.
Page eventually returned as a face and won his job back by defeating Big Boss Man on the January 17, 2002, episode of SmackDown!. Page competed in the Royal Rumble match at the titular event on January 20 but did not win.
Page became the WWF European Champion on the January 31, 2002, episode of SmackDown!, when he defeated Christian, a former follower of his positive "philosophy." At WrestleMania X8, Page successfully retained in a rematch against Christian. He lost the title to William Regal on an episode of SmackDown! that aired March 21. On March 25, Page was drafted to the SmackDown! brand as part of the 2002 WWF draft lottery.
On the April 18 episode of SmackDown!, he sustained a serious neck injury during a match with Hardcore Holly, after botching a superplex. After receiving opinions from multiple doctors, Page announced his retirement in June 2002. He left the promotion soon after.
Return to wrestling (2004)
In 2004, Page made his in-ring return by wrestling for several independent promotions. His first match was on April 21, 2004, teaming with Satoshi Kojima as they lost to former WCW star Sting and The Great Muta for HCW Battle Hawaii.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2004–2005)
He signed with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). He debuted for the company on the November 12 taping of Impact!, where he attacked Raven, beginning a feud between the two. At Turning Point on December 5, DDP defeated Raven.
and at Final Resolution in January 2005, Page competed in a three-way elimination match to determine the number one contender for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship also involving Monty Brown and Kevin Nash, which was won by Brown. Page and Brown subsequently formed a tag team. The following month at Against All Odds, Page and Brown defeated Team Canada (Bobby Roode and Eric Young). Page received an NWA World Heavyweight Championship title shot on March 13 at Destination X, but was defeated by reigning champion Jeff Jarrett when Brown turned heel and hit Page with the Pounce. At Lockdown, Page teamed with B.G. James and Waltman to defeat Jeff Jarrett, Monty Brown and The Outlaw in a Lethal Lockdown match. At Hard Justice on May 15, Page and Ron Killings faced Monty Brown and The Outlaw where they were defeated in what was Page's final match in TNA. Page left TNA shortly thereafter in order to pursue an acting career.
Independent circuit (2005–2011)
After TNA, Page returned to the independent circuit. He lost to Larry Zbyszko at WrestleReunion. DDP had Bruno Sammartino in his corner during the match. Then Page defeated Buff Bagwell on December 9, 2005, at GLCW Blizzard Brawl. In 2006, Page defeated his former Jersey Triad partner Chris Kanyon twice before retiring once again.
On August 9, 2009, Diamond Dallas Page made a special appearance for Juggalo Championship Wrestling (JCW) at their Bloodymania III event, aligning himself with the jWo. He hit his trademark Diamond Cutter finisher on Trent Acid.
DDP returned to wrestling on January 2, 2010, teaming with Air Paris to defeat Bobby Hayes and Alexander the Great at PICW event. On October 15, 2011, DDP teamed with Kevin Nash as they defeated The Rock 'n' Roll Express at AWE Night Of The Legends.
Return to WWE (2011–2017)
In late 2010, Page agreed to work on a DVD for WWE, titled The Very Best of WCW Monday Nitro, after being approached on the project due to his ties to WCW. Page hosted the DVD, which was released on June 7, 2011. On the June 27 episode of Raw, Page made an appearance promoting this DVD with Booker T.
In 2012, Page appeared on WWE Classics on Demand in Legends of Wrestling Roundtable: Renegades along with Jim Ross, Michael P.S. Hayes, Roddy Piper, and Gene Okerlund. Page also appeared alongside Kevin Nash and X-Pac at the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony on March 31, 2012. On July 2, 2012, Page made an appearance on Raw, where he hit a Diamond Cutter on Heath Slater. He also appeared at Raw 1000, accompanied by other WWE Legends, during Slater's match with Lita.
On the January 6, 2014, episode of Raw, Page, along with a number of other legends, appeared on the show as part of its "Old School" theme. On April 5, Page inducted his wrestling mentor and noted DDP Yoga practitioner Jake Roberts into the WWE Hall of Fame.
On January 25, 2015, at Royal Rumble, Page was a surprise entrant in the Rumble match, entering at number 14 and hitting his finishing move, the Diamond Cutter, on Stardust, Bray Wyatt and Fandango from the top rope, before being eliminated by Rusev. At WrestleMania 32, Page competed in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, but was eliminated by Konnor.
On March 31, 2017, Page was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in Orlando, Florida.
All In (2018)
At All In on September 1, 2018, Page accompanied Cody Rhodes in his match against NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis.
All Elite Wrestling (2019–2020)
On May 25, 2019, during their inaugural pay-per-view Double or Nothing, Page escorted Brandi Rhodes away from the ring after she refused to leave the match between Cody Rhodes and Dustin Rhodes after match referee Earl Hebner ejected her from the match. On the October 23, 2019, episode of AEW Dynamite, Page returned to TNT program for the first time in over 18 years, and helped Cody attack Chris Jericho and his stable The Inner Circle. On November 27, 2019, Page returned to Dynamite to present MJF with the first ever Dynamite Diamond Ring as a prize for defeating Adam Page. On January 15, 2020, at Bash at the Beach, he had his first match since the 2016 Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal teaming with Dustin Rhodes and QT Marshall to take on MJF and The Butcher and The Blade in a losing effort.
Yoga
Page developed a yoga fitness program initially called Yoga for Regular Guys Workout (YRG), after discovering the health benefits of yoga through his then-wife Kimberly while he recovered from ruptures to his L4/L5 discs in 1998. His favorite kind of yoga (according to his "Yoga for Regular Guys" book published in 2005) is "Power Yoga", an American-style version of "Ashtanga Style" yoga. Page worked with chiropractor Dr. Craig Aaron, and developed the Yoga for Regular Guys Workout.
Page developed the book into a series of workout videos titled DDP Yoga (formerly YRG). DDP Yoga was featured in a video about Arthur Boorman in May 2012. The story was picked up by the mainstream media, including Good Morning America. The video describes the journey of Arthur Boorman, a disabled veteran who was told by doctors he would never walk again. After spending fifteen years on crutches, Boorman followed Page's yoga plan for ten months and documented his progress on home video. He lost 140 pounds and regained the strength and flexibility to walk and run without his crutches, back braces or leg braces.
On February 21, 2014, Page appeared on the ABC series Shark Tank, where he was seeking $200,200 for a 5% share in the DDP Yoga company. He declined to sell a 50% share for that same amount to Kevin O'Leary. Page had hoped to use the money to develop a mobile app. The other investors were impressed by Boorman's improvement but believed the home exercise market was too competitive and also predicted net profits ($800,000 in the previous year) would fall. Page later said he sold more than $1 million worth of products in the first six days after his appearance.
Documentaries and podcast
In 2015, he was a main subject in the documentary The Resurrection of Jake the Snake, which chronicled Page helping Jake Roberts through rehabilitation.
In 2016, Page was featured on the Nine Legends Expansion Pack to talk about his friend Bill Goldberg.
Page currently hosts a radio show titled DDP Radio. Beginning on January 4, 2022, Page will take part in a podcast with Jake Roberts and Conrad Thompson titled DDP Snakepit.
Video games
Page has been depicted in several licensed wrestling video games.
Filmography
First Daughter (1999) as Dirk Lindman
Ready to Rumble (2000) as Himself
Rat Race (2001) in a deleted scene
Nice Guys (2005) as Sleezy Guy
The Devil's Rejects (2005) as Billy Ray Snapper
The 40-Year-Old Virgin (deleted scene)
Jack's Law (2006) as Spider Benson
Hood of Horror (2006) as Jersey
Splinter (2006) as Detective Stiles
Driftwood (2006) as Captain Kennedy
Knight Fever (2008)
Gallowwalkers (2009) as Skullbucket
Sensory Perception (2010) as Mr. Harrington
Pizza Man (2011) as Kryder
Vengeance (2014)
The Murders of Brandywine Theater (2014) as Officer Carwin
The Resurrection of Jake the Snake (2015) as Himself
The Bet (2016) as Mr. Baker
Lawsuits
Page is commonly associated with the "Self High Five" as well as the "Diamond Cutter" symbol, a hand gesture made by joining the thumbs and index fingers on each hand to form a diamond shape, then parting the two hands in one swift motion. He created the symbol in 1996 and later trademarked it. In December 2005, Page filed a lawsuit against rapper Jay-Z, who, he claimed, had "illegally adopted his trademark hand gesture". Page accused Jay-Z of trademark infringement and sought a prohibitive injunction and monetary damages. It resulted in Page dropping the lawsuit for an undisclosed amount of money. On August 31, 2010, Page filed a lawsuit against American electronica musical duo 3OH!3 for infringement of his trademarked "Diamond Cutter" hand gesture.
Page's WCW entrance music, "Self High-Five", intentionally contained similarities to the 1991 Nirvana song "Smells Like Teen Spirit", as composer Jimmy Hart and Page felt it exemplified the "sound of the '90s". According to Page, Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl in turn claimed that "WCW owes us [the band] money", but before any further actions or lawsuits took place, the track was altered to "sound like it was it, but wasn't".
Personal life
Page released his autobiography, Positively Page: The Diamond Dallas Page Journey, on February 1, 2000.
In 2003, he had his name legally changed to Dallas Page.
On December 1, 1991, Page married Kimberly Page. On July 3, 2004, they announced their amicable separation, before divorcing in 2005.
In 2015, Page married Brenda Nair. They separated in 2019. The divorce was finalized in 2020.
In 2021, Page married Payge McMahon.
Page has two daughters, Brittany Page (born 1987) and Kimberly Page (born 1994), and two stepdaughters, Alexandra "Lexy" Nair (born 1996) and Rachel Nair (born 2001). Lexy currently works with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a backstage interviewer.
On January 15, 2019, Page released another book, Positively Unstoppable: The Art of Owning It, through Rodale Books. The book includes a foreword by Mick Foley.
Championships and accomplishments
Cauliflower Alley Club
Jason Sanderson Humanitarian Award (2015)
Men's Wrestling Award (2015)
George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
Frank Gotch Award (2014)
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
Feud of the Year (1997)
Most Hated Wrestler of the Year (1999)
Most Improved Wrestler of the Year (1995)
Ranked No. 4 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the year in the PWI 500 in 1997 and 1998
Ranked No. 65 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the PWI Years in 2003
Swiss Wrestling Federation
SWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
World Championship Wrestling
WCW World Heavyweight Championship (3 times)
WCW World Television Championship (1 time)
WCW United States Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
WCW World Tag Team Championship (4 times) – with Bam Bam Bigelow and Chris Kanyon (2) and Kevin Nash (2)
Fourth WCW Triple Crown Champion
Lord of The Ring Tournament (1996)
World Wrestling Federation/WWE
WWF European Championship (1 time)
WWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Chris Kanyon
WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2017)
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Best Wrestling Maneuver (1997)
Most Improved (1996)
Worst Gimmick (2001)
Notes
Bibliography
Genta, Larry and Page, Diamond Dallas (2000) Positively Page,
Aaron, Craig and Page, Diamond Dallas (2005) Yoga for Regular Guys: The Best Damn Workout on the Planet,
Page, Diamond Dallas (2019) Positively Unstoppable: The Art of Owning It,
See also
The Alliance
The Diamond Exchange
The Fabulous Freebirds
The Insiders/The Vegas Connection
The Jersey Triad
The Millionaire's Club
References
External links
Diamond Dallas Page Article
1956 births
All Elite Wrestling personnel
American male film actors
American male professional wrestlers
American male television actors
American men podcasters
American people of German descent
Living people
NWA/WCW World Television Champions
NWA/WCW/WWE United States Heavyweight Champions
People with dyslexia
Point Pleasant Borough High School alumni
Professional wrestlers from New Jersey
Professional wrestling announcers
Professional wrestling managers and valets
Professional wrestling podcasters
Sportspeople from Point Pleasant, New Jersey
WCW World Heavyweight Champions
WWE Hall of Fame inductees
WWF European Champions | true | [
"The Victory Alliance () is a Muslim democratic Iraqi political alliance established by former Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.\n\nHistory\nThe alliance was founded on 14 December 2017 by former Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. Although a coalition was initially created between the Conquest Alliance and the Victory Alliance, (named Victory for Iraq), on 15 January the Conquest Alliance withdrew because they would not have gained as many seats and some groups involved in the Victory Alliance were alleged to be involved in corruption.\n\nSee also\n Alliance towards Reforms\n Fatah Alliance\n National Wisdom Movement\n State of Law Coalition\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Official Website\n\n2017 establishments in Iraq\nIran–Iraq relations\nIslamic political parties in Iraq\nPolitical parties established in 2017\nPolitical parties in Iraq\nShia Islam in Iraq\nShia Islamic political parties",
"Wycliffe Bible Translators is a Christian mission agency with a primary focus on Bible translation for people worldwide. It is the UK's largest Bible translation organisation. It is part of the Wycliffe Global Alliance.\n\nHistory \n\nWycliffe Bible Translators was founded by other British mission agencies, who were initially seeking improved linguistic training for their own missionaries. They formed a sponsoring committee and invited the Summer Institute of Linguistics to hold an 11-week training course in the UK in 1953. Fourteen people attended the first Wycliffe Language Course that summer, held at London Bible College.\n\nFollowing the course, it was agreed that Wycliffe Bible Translators should be created as a specialist mission agency, following the model set by Wycliffe Bible Translators USA which had been founded 11 years earlier. Pam Moxham (later Bendor-Samuel) was the first to join, in 1953. The first secretary was John Bendor-Samuel, whose \"attic bedroom became the central office of Wycliffe in England, complete with a ream of headed notepaper, a box of envelopes, a cash book, an old filing cabinet donated by a friend, and not much else.\" Initially those joining Wycliffe became members of Wycliffe USA, but in 1957 it was agreed that Wycliffe should be responsible for the work in the UK and Ireland.\n\nThe focus of the early members was in Latin America. Working with unwritten languages at a time when descriptive linguistics was still relatively new, they made substantial contributions to the developing field of linguistics.\n\nCurrent activities \n\nApproximately 90% of Wycliffe's members are assigned to work with international partners. Some of these are working in Bible translation, others in literacy, training, Scripture use, language development or in providing services that support translation and Scripture access. Others are involved in leadership, advocacy and supporting the activities of Wycliffe, both globally and at a local level.\n\nWycliffe is a member of Evangelical Alliance, Global Connections, Wycliffe Global Alliance, and the Forum of Bible Agencies International.\n\nSee also \n Bible translations\n Bible translations by language\n Wycliffe Global Alliance\n\nReferences\n\nSources\n\nExternal links \n \n\nBible societies\nChristian missionary societies\nChristian organisations based in the United Kingdom\nChristian organizations established in 1953"
] |
[
"Diamond Dallas Page",
"The Alliance (2001)",
"what was the Alliance>",
"Page soon joined the Alliance during the WCW Invasion.",
"where was the invaision",
"I don't know.",
"who else was involved in the alliance",
"Booker T and Buff Bagwell"
] | C_d01286bc895c4f97bf9fd1d33af12004_1 | what happened to he alliance | 4 | What happened to The Alliance with Page, T, and Bagwell? | Diamond Dallas Page | When WCW was purchased by WWF owner Vince McMahon in 2001, Page was one of the few major WCW stars (along with Booker T and Buff Bagwell) who accepted buyouts of their AOL Time Warner contracts in order to immediately sign with McMahon. He debuted in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) on the edition of June 18, 2001 of Raw when he unveiled himself as the stalker of The Undertaker's wife, Sara. Page revealed he didn't care about Sara; he only did it to make an impact and wanted to take on the biggest dog in the yard. Page soon joined the Alliance during the WCW Invasion. At King of the Ring, he fought The Undertaker in an unsanctioned brawl that was never announced as an official match. Page and Chris Kanyon reunited on the edition of August 6, 2001 of Raw when Kanyon helped Page attack The Undertaker backstage. Three days later on edition of August 9, 2001 of SmackDown!, Page and Kanyon defeated the APA to win the WWF Tag Team Championship. The feud with the Undertaker went on for the best part of three months and ended when Undertaker and Kane defeated Page and Kanyon at SummerSlam on August 19, 2001 in a Steel cage match for the WWF Tag Team Championship, where Page got injured which kept him out of action until late October 2001. He became known for his catchphrase "Yo! It's me, it's me, it's DDP!" While Page was injured he developed a new gimmick in September 2001 to become a motivational speaker, something he did in real life, in what came to be known as his Positively Page character. The name came from the title of his autobiography that was published during his WCW days. The character, who Page developed after attending the Tony Robbins Results 2000 seminar in October 2000, involved Page constantly smiling and acting optimistic, with his trademark phrase "That's not a bad thing... that's... a good thing". His return televised match was on November 3, 2001 at Rebellion losing to Big Show. After the Alliance lost at Survivor Series DDP along with the rest of the alliance members bar Test kayfabe lost their jobs. CANNOTANSWER | he fought The Undertaker in an unsanctioned brawl that was never announced as an official match. | Dallas Page (born Page Joseph Falkinburg, April 5, 1956), better known by his ring name Diamond Dallas Page (often stylized as DDP), is an American actor, fitness instructor and former professional wrestler. In the course of his wrestling career, which spanned two decades, Page has wrestled for mainstream wrestling promotions World Championship Wrestling (WCW), the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE), Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), and All Elite Wrestling (AEW).
Falkinburg first broke into the wrestling business in 1988, as a manager in the American Wrestling Association, where he worked for nine months before signing with WCW in 1991. There, he continued as a manager until late 1991, when he became a wrestler. Over a decade in WCW, Falkinburg became a three-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, two-time WCW United States Heavyweight Champion, four-time WCW World Tag Team Champion and one-time WCW World Television Champion. He is the fourth WCW Triple Crown Champion, and the only United States Heavyweight Champion to defend the title in a pay-per-view main event, defeating Bret Hart at the 1998 World War 3.
After WCW was sold in 2001, Page signed with the WWF where he made his pay-per-view debut in the main event of July's Invasion show, and went on to become a one-time WWF European Champion and one-time WWF World Tag Team Champion. Due to a series of injuries, he allowed his contract with the company to expire in 2002. He worked for TNA from 2004 to 2005, challenging for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in the main event of Destination X 2005. On March 31, 2017, he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by Eric Bischoff.
Since 2012, Page has run a mail order and online fitness video business called DDP Yoga, based on yoga and dynamic self-resistance.
Early life
Page Joseph Falkinburg, the eldest of three children, was born in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, the son of Sylvia (née Seigel) and Page Falkinburg Sr. He was raised by his father during his early years after his parents divorced. He stated that he is of German, Irish, and Dutch origin. Falkinburg/Falkenburg is also the name of multiple German villages and at least three German castles. The name "Dallas" came from his love of the Dallas Cowboys.
His brother Rory and sister Sally were raised by their maternal grandmother. Falkinburg lived with his father from age three to eight. His father took him, at eight years old, to live with his grandmother, who raised him. Falkinburg admitted in his autobiography he is dyslexic. He had many challenges hit him throughout his childhood and educational years.
He attended St. Joseph's High School (now Donovan Catholic High School) in Toms River, New Jersey, for his freshman and second years, spending his first season on the JV basketball team and making the varsity squad as a sophomore. He transferred to Point Pleasant Borough High School in Point Pleasant, where he was a star basketball player with the Point Pleasant Boro High School Panthers. He attended Coastal Carolina University in South Carolina briefly before leaving school to work full-time.
Professional wrestling career
American Wrestling Association (1988)
Page ran a nightclub in Fort Myers, Florida called "Norma Jeans" (known for its Pink Cadillac) while he was working as a wrestling manager in the American Wrestling Association (AWA). He started managing in 1988, where he handled Badd Company (Paul Diamond and Pat Tanaka), a team he led to the AWA World Tag Team Championship on March 19. Badd Company, was often accompanied by female valets known as the "Diamond Dolls" (Tonya, Jennifer and Torri). During his time in the AWA, Page also managed Colonel DeBeers, Curt Hennig and Madusa Miceli as the leader of the Diamond Exchange stable. He worked for the AWA at 12 dates over a period of nine months, where they filmed all the television shows in one day.
Professional Wrestling Federation (19891991)
Page also worked as a color commentator in Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), soon renamed Professional Wrestling Federation (PWF), where he worked alongside Gordon Solie, before finally debuting as a professional wrestler. Page's first pro match occurred in May 1989 against Dick Slater.
In 1990, Dallas received a tryout with the WWF as an announcer, but wasn't offered a job. At WrestleMania VI, he drove Rhythm and Blues (The Honky Tonk Man and Greg Valentine) to the ring in his pink Cadillac. At this time, he was virtually unknown in the World Wrestling Federation. When FCW went out of business, Page was still involved in the club business until Dusty Rhodes returned to World Championship Wrestling. Rhodes started booking and brought him in on a small contract in early 1991.
World Championship Wrestling/WCW (1991–2001)
Various alliances (1991–1993)
Page came to World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1991 as manager of The Fabulous Freebirds (Jimmy Garvin and Michael P.S. Hayes). Page managed the Freebirds to a shot at the NWA World Tag Team Championship where they defeated Doom (Butch Reed and Ron Simmons) on February 24. Before that match took place, Page unveiled the stable's new road manager, Big Daddy Dink, formerly known as Oliver Humperdink, who interfered in the match. During this match, Page introduced the Diamond Dolls. Page added Scott Hall to the stable under the name of Diamond Studd. Page also worked as a color commentator for WCW with Eric Bischoff. With rumors that the WCW wanted to take the Diamond Studd away from Page, he decided to take the advice of Magnum T.A. and begin to wrestle himself. He headed to the WCW Power Plant where Buddy Lee Parker, The Assassin, and Dusty Rhodes trained the 35-year-old rookie. He debuted as a wrestler in a tag team match later that year. With the Diamond Studd, he faced Kevin Sullivan and his partner. He was relegated to the "jobber" list. He made his wrestling pay-per-view debut at Starrcade in 1991, teaming with Mike Graham in a losing effort to Jushin Thunder Liger and Bill Kazmaier. In regards to this period, he stated:
"Bischoff gave me the job as I was a good example of work ethic, passion and someone that cares about the business. Since they wouldn't really book me, I went down to the WCW Power Plant every day I wasn't working. That's how you adapt to adversity. Even when I started to make it, I still kept going back. Until I was on the road 260 days a year-plus, I was still going to that Power Plant. For five years I went there, because that's how long it took me to get to the top."
Page continued wrestling and brought other wrestlers into his stable, The Diamond Mine, such as Scotty Flamingo (Raven) and Vinnie Vegas (Kevin Nash). The relationships between DDP, Flamingo, and Vegas were used in many angles over the following months. Page went in the corner of Scotty Flamingo, at Clash of the Champions XXI on November 18, 1992, when Flamingo fought Johnny B. Badd in a worked boxing match. Flamingo won this bout with a little help from Page who filled Flamingo's glove with water. The following year, after Studd and Flamingo left the stable, Page teamed with Vinnie Vegas as the Vegas Connection. The team was disbanded shortly after its debut when Page tore a rotator cuff in a match against Tex Slazenger and Shanghai Pierce toward the end of 1992 and was later fired, while Nash left WCW for the World Wrestling Federation.
World Television Champion and feud with Randy Savage (1994–1997)
Page, determined to continue improving his character, sought the help of Jake Roberts who advised him on the psychological aspects of the business. After his injury had healed, Page returned to WCW television in 1994, with his wife Kimberly as the Diamond Doll, and an on-screen bodyguard, Max Muscle. He held open arm wrestling challenges to win Kimberly, but Max always helped him win or arm wrestled for him. He was also involved in an angle where he was said to have amassed $13 million through victories in arm wrestling competitions, then lost it. He also had a long feud with Dave Sullivan because Sullivan gave Kimberly gifts (and largely because Page was defeated by Sullivan in one of the arm wrestling contests, which earned him a date with Kimberly). At Fall Brawl, Page won his first championship when he defeated Renegade for the WCW World Television Championship. In the build-up to his first title defence at Halloween Havoc, there was growing dissension between Page and Kimberly. Johnny B. Badd defeated Page for the TV title and again at World War 3 on November 26, winning Kimberly's freedom from DDP. At Uncensored on March 24, 1996 The Booty Man with Kimberly as The Booty Babe defeated Diamond Dallas Page in a Loser Leaves Town match.
Page returned on the May 18, 1996, episode of WCW Saturday Night as a tweener defeating Billy Kidman. On May 19, Page participated in the Lord of the Ring Tournament (Battle Bowl) at Slamboree. Falkinburg was victorious when he defeated The Barbarian with two Diamond Cutters. The winner was to be the number one contender for the World Title which at that time was held by The Giant. He never received the title shot that he earned that night. Page was feuding with Eddie Guerrero when the New World Order (nWo) was formed. Since Nash and Hall were both former partners of Page, they assisted him in his matches in the tournament being held for the vacant United States Heavyweight Championship. Believing their assistance was not appreciated, Hall and Nash attacked him during the tournament final, allowing Guerrero to win. After demonstrating the benefits of the nWo, they asked him to join. He responded by giving them Diamond Cutters on January 25, 1997, at Souled Out, starting a face turn and a feud with the nWo. Soon after, Page began a feud with recent nWo recruit "Macho Man" Randy Savage. On an episode of Nitro, Savage, aided by Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, attacked Page and spray-painted "nWo" on his back. A few weeks later at Uncensored, Savage and Miss Elizabeth "broke" (a worked shoot) by revealing to the world that Page and Kimberly were, in fact, married. Savage then proceeded to beat up Page, ensuring a future match between the two. At Spring Stampede, in Page's first pay-per-view main event, he and Savage battled in a match where Page emerged victorious, but it was not the end of conflict between the two. A few months later at The Great American Bash, they squared off again in an anything goes, lights out match. The match ended with Savage defeating Page with help from (then) Tag Team Champion Scott Hall. At Bash at the Beach, Scott Hall and Randy Savage defeated Diamond Dallas Page and Curt Hennig. Curt Hennig, who Diamond Dallas Page had recruited personally to join WCW and team with him, turned on DDP during the match. Hennig defeated Diamond Dallas Page in a grudge match at Road Wild. At Fall Brawl, Page teamed with Lex Luger to defeat Scott Hall and Randy Savage in a No Disqualification match. Page even dressed up as masked wrestler La Parka and beat Savage on the July 7 edition of Monday Nitro. Around this time, Page also started fighting nWo leader, Hollywood Hogan. Page and Savage battled for the last time at Halloween Havoc. The match was billed as a Las Vegas sudden-death match, where Savage pinned Page after Hogan, dressed as Sting, came out and hit Page with a baseball bat in his already "injured" midsection, resulting in Savage picking up the win. On an episode of Nitro shortly after Halloween Havoc, Page fought Hogan, but was again beaten down by the nWo.
United States Heavyweight Champion (1997–1998)
At Starrcade, Page won the United States Heavyweight Championship from Curt Hennig. The following year at Uncensored, Page defended the title in a Triple Threat, Falls Count Anywhere contest against Chris Benoit and Raven, putting Raven through a table with a Diamond Cutter to retain the belt. Page later lost the title to Raven at Spring Stampede. Later in the year, Page tagged with Karl Malone against Hulk Hogan and Dennis Rodman at Bash at the Beach, losing due to interference. Page tagged with late night talk show host Jay Leno at Road Wild, where they defeated Hogan and Eric Bischoff.
At Fall Brawl, Page won the WarGames main event, and got a World title shot against the undefeated Goldberg at Halloween Havoc. Page did not win the match, but the match was voted WCW Magazines "Match of the Year" 1998. Halloween Havoc ran slightly longer than expected resulting in a number of cable companies blacking out the end of the Hogan versus Warrior match and all of the DDP versus Goldberg contest. WCW decided to air the Goldberg versus DDP title bout in its entirety on the October 26 episode of Nitro, which proved immensely popular in the ratings and resulted in a ratings win for Nitro over Raw – the last win Nitro ever had. Despite this setback in the World title picture, Page rebounded this same following night of Halloween Havoc, on the October 26 episode of Nitro, with a win over Bret Hart to capture the United States Heavyweight Title. The two headlined the following month's World War 3, in a title match which Page won. Page lost the title to Hart on the November 30 episode of Nitro in a No Disqualification match, when he was assaulted by The Giant.
WCW World Heavyweight Champion (1999–2001)
Page became WCW World Heavyweight Champion in April 1999, at Spring Stampede when he defeated Sting, Hogan, and Ric Flair for the title in a Four Way Dance with "Macho Man" Randy Savage as Special Guest Referee. Page pinned Flair after giving Flair the Diamond Cutter. Around this time some fans were starting to boo Page at various WCW events, so shortly after Spring Stampede a decision was made to turn Page heel for the first time in three years. The turn played out slowly at first, with Page undergoing a change in attitude. Then, on April 19, Page defended his title against Goldberg, where he cemented the turn by first knocking Goldberg out with brass knuckles and then propping his leg up against the ring stairs and repeatedly smashing it with a steel chair, all while taunting the fans with repeated utterances of "boo me now". Page only stopped when Kevin Nash, an ally of Hogan's who was angry at Page for (kayfabe) injuring Hogan's knee during the match at Spring Stampede, came back from injury and chased him away.
On April 26, 1999, Page lost and regained his title in the span of two hours. Sting challenged him to defend his title in the first hour of that night's Nitro and defeated him to regain the title he had lost a year earlier. This ended Page's reign at 15 days, but he gained an opportunity to get the title back ninety minutes later. Nash came to the ring and made a challenge for a four-way match for the title, and the just-dethroned Page joined defending champion Sting and Goldberg in the match. Page regained the WCW World Heavyweight Championship by using a foreign object to hit Nash and take the win and regain the title without actually defeating the reigning champion. Nash became the number one contender shortly after and vowed to get revenge on Page for his friend Hogan, culminating in a match at Slamboree in May. Page originally retained the WCW World Heavyweight Championship after Savage interfered and hit Nash, but the match was ordered to continue by Eric Bischoff and Nash pinned Page to win the title after a powerbomb. Page dropped out of the title picture shortly thereafter.
Shortly after Slamboree, Page entered into an alliance with fellow New Jerseyan Bam Bam Bigelow and won the WCW World Tag Team Championship from then champions Perry Saturn and Raven on May 31, thanks to Chris Kanyon turning heel on former ally Raven and costing the team the championships. Page, Bigelow, and Kanyon became known as the Jersey Triad and through their alliance with WCW "President for Life" Ric Flair took advantage of the Freebird Rule in their subsequent matches (meaning any combination of the three could defend the championship). The Triad held the titles until June 10, when Saturn and Chris Benoit (now stablemates in The Revolution) took the title from them. They regained the belts at The Great American Bash three days later, and lost them to Harlem Heat at Road Wild in August. Later that night, Chris Benoit defeated Diamond Dallas Page to retain the United States title. The group broke up shortly thereafter and Page began feuding with Hogan again, joining Sid Vicious and Rick Steiner in a team effort to take on Hogan, Sting, and Goldberg. Soon after that feud ended Page turned into a hero again and feuded with both Kanyon and Bigelow before the year ended.
In 2000, with WCW under new management, Page earned a shot at the vacant WCW World Heavyweight Championship at Spring Stampede against Jeff Jarrett. In a surprise twist, Page's wife, Kimberly, turned on Page and helped Jarrett become the new WCW World Heavyweight Champion. Page got the better of Jarrett on the April 24 episode of Nitro, where he defeated Jarrett in a steel cage match to become WCW World Heavyweight Champion for the third time, then lost the title to his tag partner, actor David Arquette, three days later on Thunder; the rules stated that whoever got the pin would win the title, and Arquette pinned Jarrett's partner, Eric Bischoff. Page attempted to win the title back at Slamboree later that month in a triple cage match against Arquette and Jarrett, but lost after Arquette hit him with a guitar. Page then entered a feud with Mike Awesome, who defeated him in an Ambulance Match at The Great American Bash after Kanyon turned on Page.
Page took some time off shortly after this, but returned in late 2000 as a full-time wrestler. After Page came back he formed a tag team with Kevin Nash called The Insiders, and the team won the WCW World Tag Team Championship on November 26 at Mayhem by defeating Perfect Event (Shawn Stasiak and Chuck Palumbo). The team was temporarily stripped of the titles but won them back at Starrcade defeating Stasiak and Palumbo again. Page and Nash lost the titles to Palumbo and Sean O'Haire at Sin in January and broke up shortly thereafter. After his tag team run Page briefly feuded with the returning Kanyon, which saw Kanyon defeat Page at SuperBrawl Revenge, and Page defeating Kanyon the following night on Nitro, ending their feud. Page then moved into the World Championship picture again by facing Scott Steiner. Their feud hit a climax at WCW's final PPV Greed, saw Page's final match in WCW and a semi-burial type defeat as he passed out in Steiner's finisher, The Steiner Recliner.
World Wrestling Federation (2001–2002)
When WCW was purchased by WWF owner Vince McMahon in 2001, Page was one of the few major WCW stars (along with Booker T and Buff Bagwell) who accepted buyouts of their AOL Time Warner contracts in order to immediately sign with McMahon. He debuted in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) on the June 18, 2001, episode of Raw when he unveiled himself as the stalker of The Undertaker's wife, Sara. Page revealed he didn't care about Sara; he only did it to make an impact and wanted to take on the "biggest dog in the yard". At King of the Ring, he fought The Undertaker in an unsanctioned brawl that was never announced as an official match. On the July 5 episode of SmackDown!, Page competed against WCW Champion Booker T, but failed to win the title after a distraction from the Undertaker. On the July 9 episode of Raw, WCW owner Shane McMahon and ECW owner Paul Heyman joined together to create The Alliance, with former WCW and ECW alumni joining forces in an attempt to take control of the WWF. At the Invasion pay-per-view, Page formed part of Team Alliance alongside Booker T, Rhyno and The Dudley Boyz, defeating Team WWF, after Team WWF member Stone Cold Steve Austin turned on his team members mid-match.
Page and Chris Kanyon reunited on the August 6 episode of Raw when Kanyon helped Page attack The Undertaker backstage. Three days later on the August 9 taping of SmackDown!, Page and Kanyon defeated the APA to win the WWF Tag Team Championship.
His feud with the Undertaker culminated when Undertaker and Kane defeated Page and Kanyon at SummerSlam on August 19, 2001, in a Steel cage match for the WWF Tag Team Championship. During the match, Page was injured, keeping him out of action until late October 2001. While Page was injured, he developed a new gimmick in which he became a motivational speaker. The character involved Page constantly smiling and acting optimistic, with his trademark phrase "That's not a bad thing... that's... a good thing".
His return televised match was on November 3 at Rebellion losing to Big Show. After the Alliance lost at Survivor Series, Page, along with the rest of the Alliance members, kayfabe lost their jobs.
Page eventually returned as a face and won his job back by defeating Big Boss Man on the January 17, 2002, episode of SmackDown!. Page competed in the Royal Rumble match at the titular event on January 20 but did not win.
Page became the WWF European Champion on the January 31, 2002, episode of SmackDown!, when he defeated Christian, a former follower of his positive "philosophy." At WrestleMania X8, Page successfully retained in a rematch against Christian. He lost the title to William Regal on an episode of SmackDown! that aired March 21. On March 25, Page was drafted to the SmackDown! brand as part of the 2002 WWF draft lottery.
On the April 18 episode of SmackDown!, he sustained a serious neck injury during a match with Hardcore Holly, after botching a superplex. After receiving opinions from multiple doctors, Page announced his retirement in June 2002. He left the promotion soon after.
Return to wrestling (2004)
In 2004, Page made his in-ring return by wrestling for several independent promotions. His first match was on April 21, 2004, teaming with Satoshi Kojima as they lost to former WCW star Sting and The Great Muta for HCW Battle Hawaii.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2004–2005)
He signed with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). He debuted for the company on the November 12 taping of Impact!, where he attacked Raven, beginning a feud between the two. At Turning Point on December 5, DDP defeated Raven.
and at Final Resolution in January 2005, Page competed in a three-way elimination match to determine the number one contender for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship also involving Monty Brown and Kevin Nash, which was won by Brown. Page and Brown subsequently formed a tag team. The following month at Against All Odds, Page and Brown defeated Team Canada (Bobby Roode and Eric Young). Page received an NWA World Heavyweight Championship title shot on March 13 at Destination X, but was defeated by reigning champion Jeff Jarrett when Brown turned heel and hit Page with the Pounce. At Lockdown, Page teamed with B.G. James and Waltman to defeat Jeff Jarrett, Monty Brown and The Outlaw in a Lethal Lockdown match. At Hard Justice on May 15, Page and Ron Killings faced Monty Brown and The Outlaw where they were defeated in what was Page's final match in TNA. Page left TNA shortly thereafter in order to pursue an acting career.
Independent circuit (2005–2011)
After TNA, Page returned to the independent circuit. He lost to Larry Zbyszko at WrestleReunion. DDP had Bruno Sammartino in his corner during the match. Then Page defeated Buff Bagwell on December 9, 2005, at GLCW Blizzard Brawl. In 2006, Page defeated his former Jersey Triad partner Chris Kanyon twice before retiring once again.
On August 9, 2009, Diamond Dallas Page made a special appearance for Juggalo Championship Wrestling (JCW) at their Bloodymania III event, aligning himself with the jWo. He hit his trademark Diamond Cutter finisher on Trent Acid.
DDP returned to wrestling on January 2, 2010, teaming with Air Paris to defeat Bobby Hayes and Alexander the Great at PICW event. On October 15, 2011, DDP teamed with Kevin Nash as they defeated The Rock 'n' Roll Express at AWE Night Of The Legends.
Return to WWE (2011–2017)
In late 2010, Page agreed to work on a DVD for WWE, titled The Very Best of WCW Monday Nitro, after being approached on the project due to his ties to WCW. Page hosted the DVD, which was released on June 7, 2011. On the June 27 episode of Raw, Page made an appearance promoting this DVD with Booker T.
In 2012, Page appeared on WWE Classics on Demand in Legends of Wrestling Roundtable: Renegades along with Jim Ross, Michael P.S. Hayes, Roddy Piper, and Gene Okerlund. Page also appeared alongside Kevin Nash and X-Pac at the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony on March 31, 2012. On July 2, 2012, Page made an appearance on Raw, where he hit a Diamond Cutter on Heath Slater. He also appeared at Raw 1000, accompanied by other WWE Legends, during Slater's match with Lita.
On the January 6, 2014, episode of Raw, Page, along with a number of other legends, appeared on the show as part of its "Old School" theme. On April 5, Page inducted his wrestling mentor and noted DDP Yoga practitioner Jake Roberts into the WWE Hall of Fame.
On January 25, 2015, at Royal Rumble, Page was a surprise entrant in the Rumble match, entering at number 14 and hitting his finishing move, the Diamond Cutter, on Stardust, Bray Wyatt and Fandango from the top rope, before being eliminated by Rusev. At WrestleMania 32, Page competed in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, but was eliminated by Konnor.
On March 31, 2017, Page was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in Orlando, Florida.
All In (2018)
At All In on September 1, 2018, Page accompanied Cody Rhodes in his match against NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis.
All Elite Wrestling (2019–2020)
On May 25, 2019, during their inaugural pay-per-view Double or Nothing, Page escorted Brandi Rhodes away from the ring after she refused to leave the match between Cody Rhodes and Dustin Rhodes after match referee Earl Hebner ejected her from the match. On the October 23, 2019, episode of AEW Dynamite, Page returned to TNT program for the first time in over 18 years, and helped Cody attack Chris Jericho and his stable The Inner Circle. On November 27, 2019, Page returned to Dynamite to present MJF with the first ever Dynamite Diamond Ring as a prize for defeating Adam Page. On January 15, 2020, at Bash at the Beach, he had his first match since the 2016 Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal teaming with Dustin Rhodes and QT Marshall to take on MJF and The Butcher and The Blade in a losing effort.
Yoga
Page developed a yoga fitness program initially called Yoga for Regular Guys Workout (YRG), after discovering the health benefits of yoga through his then-wife Kimberly while he recovered from ruptures to his L4/L5 discs in 1998. His favorite kind of yoga (according to his "Yoga for Regular Guys" book published in 2005) is "Power Yoga", an American-style version of "Ashtanga Style" yoga. Page worked with chiropractor Dr. Craig Aaron, and developed the Yoga for Regular Guys Workout.
Page developed the book into a series of workout videos titled DDP Yoga (formerly YRG). DDP Yoga was featured in a video about Arthur Boorman in May 2012. The story was picked up by the mainstream media, including Good Morning America. The video describes the journey of Arthur Boorman, a disabled veteran who was told by doctors he would never walk again. After spending fifteen years on crutches, Boorman followed Page's yoga plan for ten months and documented his progress on home video. He lost 140 pounds and regained the strength and flexibility to walk and run without his crutches, back braces or leg braces.
On February 21, 2014, Page appeared on the ABC series Shark Tank, where he was seeking $200,200 for a 5% share in the DDP Yoga company. He declined to sell a 50% share for that same amount to Kevin O'Leary. Page had hoped to use the money to develop a mobile app. The other investors were impressed by Boorman's improvement but believed the home exercise market was too competitive and also predicted net profits ($800,000 in the previous year) would fall. Page later said he sold more than $1 million worth of products in the first six days after his appearance.
Documentaries and podcast
In 2015, he was a main subject in the documentary The Resurrection of Jake the Snake, which chronicled Page helping Jake Roberts through rehabilitation.
In 2016, Page was featured on the Nine Legends Expansion Pack to talk about his friend Bill Goldberg.
Page currently hosts a radio show titled DDP Radio. Beginning on January 4, 2022, Page will take part in a podcast with Jake Roberts and Conrad Thompson titled DDP Snakepit.
Video games
Page has been depicted in several licensed wrestling video games.
Filmography
First Daughter (1999) as Dirk Lindman
Ready to Rumble (2000) as Himself
Rat Race (2001) in a deleted scene
Nice Guys (2005) as Sleezy Guy
The Devil's Rejects (2005) as Billy Ray Snapper
The 40-Year-Old Virgin (deleted scene)
Jack's Law (2006) as Spider Benson
Hood of Horror (2006) as Jersey
Splinter (2006) as Detective Stiles
Driftwood (2006) as Captain Kennedy
Knight Fever (2008)
Gallowwalkers (2009) as Skullbucket
Sensory Perception (2010) as Mr. Harrington
Pizza Man (2011) as Kryder
Vengeance (2014)
The Murders of Brandywine Theater (2014) as Officer Carwin
The Resurrection of Jake the Snake (2015) as Himself
The Bet (2016) as Mr. Baker
Lawsuits
Page is commonly associated with the "Self High Five" as well as the "Diamond Cutter" symbol, a hand gesture made by joining the thumbs and index fingers on each hand to form a diamond shape, then parting the two hands in one swift motion. He created the symbol in 1996 and later trademarked it. In December 2005, Page filed a lawsuit against rapper Jay-Z, who, he claimed, had "illegally adopted his trademark hand gesture". Page accused Jay-Z of trademark infringement and sought a prohibitive injunction and monetary damages. It resulted in Page dropping the lawsuit for an undisclosed amount of money. On August 31, 2010, Page filed a lawsuit against American electronica musical duo 3OH!3 for infringement of his trademarked "Diamond Cutter" hand gesture.
Page's WCW entrance music, "Self High-Five", intentionally contained similarities to the 1991 Nirvana song "Smells Like Teen Spirit", as composer Jimmy Hart and Page felt it exemplified the "sound of the '90s". According to Page, Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl in turn claimed that "WCW owes us [the band] money", but before any further actions or lawsuits took place, the track was altered to "sound like it was it, but wasn't".
Personal life
Page released his autobiography, Positively Page: The Diamond Dallas Page Journey, on February 1, 2000.
In 2003, he had his name legally changed to Dallas Page.
On December 1, 1991, Page married Kimberly Page. On July 3, 2004, they announced their amicable separation, before divorcing in 2005.
In 2015, Page married Brenda Nair. They separated in 2019. The divorce was finalized in 2020.
In 2021, Page married Payge McMahon.
Page has two daughters, Brittany Page (born 1987) and Kimberly Page (born 1994), and two stepdaughters, Alexandra "Lexy" Nair (born 1996) and Rachel Nair (born 2001). Lexy currently works with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a backstage interviewer.
On January 15, 2019, Page released another book, Positively Unstoppable: The Art of Owning It, through Rodale Books. The book includes a foreword by Mick Foley.
Championships and accomplishments
Cauliflower Alley Club
Jason Sanderson Humanitarian Award (2015)
Men's Wrestling Award (2015)
George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
Frank Gotch Award (2014)
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
Feud of the Year (1997)
Most Hated Wrestler of the Year (1999)
Most Improved Wrestler of the Year (1995)
Ranked No. 4 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the year in the PWI 500 in 1997 and 1998
Ranked No. 65 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the PWI Years in 2003
Swiss Wrestling Federation
SWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
World Championship Wrestling
WCW World Heavyweight Championship (3 times)
WCW World Television Championship (1 time)
WCW United States Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
WCW World Tag Team Championship (4 times) – with Bam Bam Bigelow and Chris Kanyon (2) and Kevin Nash (2)
Fourth WCW Triple Crown Champion
Lord of The Ring Tournament (1996)
World Wrestling Federation/WWE
WWF European Championship (1 time)
WWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Chris Kanyon
WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2017)
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Best Wrestling Maneuver (1997)
Most Improved (1996)
Worst Gimmick (2001)
Notes
Bibliography
Genta, Larry and Page, Diamond Dallas (2000) Positively Page,
Aaron, Craig and Page, Diamond Dallas (2005) Yoga for Regular Guys: The Best Damn Workout on the Planet,
Page, Diamond Dallas (2019) Positively Unstoppable: The Art of Owning It,
See also
The Alliance
The Diamond Exchange
The Fabulous Freebirds
The Insiders/The Vegas Connection
The Jersey Triad
The Millionaire's Club
References
External links
Diamond Dallas Page Article
1956 births
All Elite Wrestling personnel
American male film actors
American male professional wrestlers
American male television actors
American men podcasters
American people of German descent
Living people
NWA/WCW World Television Champions
NWA/WCW/WWE United States Heavyweight Champions
People with dyslexia
Point Pleasant Borough High School alumni
Professional wrestlers from New Jersey
Professional wrestling announcers
Professional wrestling managers and valets
Professional wrestling podcasters
Sportspeople from Point Pleasant, New Jersey
WCW World Heavyweight Champions
WWE Hall of Fame inductees
WWF European Champions | true | [
"Don Juan Manuel's Tales of Count Lucanor, in Spanish Libro de los ejemplos del conde Lucanor y de Patronio (Book of the Examples of Count Lucanor and of Patronio), also commonly known as El Conde Lucanor, Libro de Patronio, or Libro de los ejemplos (original Old Castilian: Libro de los enxiemplos del Conde Lucanor et de Patronio), is one of the earliest works of prose in Castilian Spanish. It was first written in 1335.\n\nThe book is divided into four parts. The first and most well-known part is a series of 51 short stories (some no more than a page or two) drawn from various sources, such as Aesop and other classical writers, and Arabic folktales.\n\nTales of Count Lucanor was first printed in 1575 when it was published at Seville under the auspices of Argote de Molina. It was again printed at Madrid in 1642, after which it lay forgotten for nearly two centuries.\n\nPurpose and structure\n\nA didactic, moralistic purpose, which would color so much of the Spanish literature to follow (see Novela picaresca), is the mark of this book. Count Lucanor engages in conversation with his advisor Patronio, putting to him a problem (\"Some man has made me a proposition...\" or \"I fear that such and such person intends to...\") and asking for advice. Patronio responds always with the greatest humility, claiming not to wish to offer advice to so illustrious a person as the Count, but offering to tell him a story of which the Count's problem reminds him. (Thus, the stories are \"examples\" [ejemplos] of wise action.) At the end he advises the Count to do as the protagonist of his story did.\n\nEach chapter ends in more or less the same way, with slight variations on: \"And this pleased the Count greatly and he did just so, and found it well. And Don Johán (Juan) saw that this example was very good, and had it written in this book, and composed the following verses.\" A rhymed couplet closes, giving the moral of the story.\n\nOrigin of stories and influence on later literature\nMany of the stories written in the book are the first examples written in a modern European language of various stories, which many other writers would use in the proceeding centuries. Many of the stories he included were themselves derived from other stories, coming from western and Arab sources.\n\nShakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew has the basic elements of Tale 35, \"What Happened to a Young Man Who Married a Strong and Ill-tempered Woman\".\n\nTale 32, \"What Happened to the King and the Tricksters Who Made Cloth\" tells the story that Hans Christian Andersen made popular as The Emperor's New Clothes.\n\nStory 7, \"What Happened to a Woman Named Truhana\", a version of Aesop's The Milkmaid and Her Pail, was claimed by Max Müller to originate in the Hindu cycle Panchatantra.\n\nTale 2, \"What happened to a good Man and his Son, leading a beast to market,\" is the familiar fable The miller, his son and the donkey.\n\nIn 2016, Baroque Decay released a game under the name \"The Count Lucanor\". As well as some protagonists' names, certain events from the books inspired past events in the game.\n\nThe stories\n\nThe book opens with a prologue which introduces the characters of the Count and Patronio. The titles in the following list are those given in Keller and Keating's 1977 translation into English. James York's 1868 translation into English gives a significantly different ordering of the stories and omits the fifty-first.\n\n What Happened to a King and His Favorite \n What Happened to a Good Man and His Son \n How King Richard of England Leapt into the Sea against the Moors\n What a Genoese Said to His Soul When He Was about to Die \n What Happened to a Fox and a Crow Who Had a Piece of Cheese in His Beak\n How the Swallow Warned the Other Birds When She Saw Flax Being Sown \n What Happened to a Woman Named Truhana \n What Happened to a Man Whose Liver Had to Be Washed \n What Happened to Two Horses Which Were Thrown to the Lion \n What Happened to a Man Who on Account of Poverty and Lack of Other Food Was Eating Bitter Lentils \n What Happened to a Dean of Santiago de Compostela and Don Yllán, the Grand Master of Toledo\n What Happened to the Fox and the Rooster \n What Happened to a Man Who Was Hunting Partridges \n The Miracle of Saint Dominick When He Preached against the Usurer \n What Happened to Lorenzo Suárez at the Siege of Seville \n The Reply that count Fernán González Gave to His Relative Núño Laynes \n What Happened to a Very Hungry Man Who Was Half-heartedly Invited to Dinner \n What Happened to Pero Meléndez de Valdés When He Broke His Leg \n What Happened to the Crows and the Owls \n What Happened to a King for Whom a Man Promised to Perform Alchemy \n What Happened to a Young King and a Philosopher to Whom his Father Commended Him \n What Happened to the Lion and the Bull \n How the Ants Provide for Themselves \n What Happened to the King Who Wanted to Test His Three Sons \n What Happened to the Count of Provence and How He Was Freed from Prison by the Advice of Saladin\n What Happened to the Tree of Lies \n What Happened to an Emperor and to Don Alvarfáñez Minaya and Their Wives \n What Happened in Granada to Don Lorenzo Suárez Gallinato When He Beheaded the Renegade Chaplain \n What Happened to a Fox Who Lay down in the Street to Play Dead \n What Happened to King Abenabet of Seville and Ramayquía His Wife \n How a Cardinal Judged between the Canons of Paris and the Friars Minor \n What Happened to the King and the Tricksters Who Made Cloth \n What Happened to Don Juan Manuel's Saker Falcon and an Eagle and a Heron \n What Happened to a Blind Man Who Was Leading Another \n What Happened to a Young Man Who Married a Strong and Ill-tempered Woman\n What Happened to a Merchant When He Found His Son and His Wife Sleeping Together \n What Happened to Count Fernán González with His Men after He Had Won the Battle of Hacinas \n What Happened to a Man Who Was Loaded down with Precious Stones and Drowned in the River \n What Happened to a Man and a Swallow and a Sparrow \n Why the Seneschal of Carcassonne Lost His Soul \n What Happened to a King of Córdova Named Al-Haquem \n What Happened to a Woman of Sham Piety \n What Happened to Good and Evil and the Wise Man and the Madman \n What Happened to Don Pero Núñez the Loyal, to Don Ruy González de Zavallos, and to Don Gutier Roiz de Blaguiello with Don Rodrigo the Generous \n What Happened to a Man Who Became the Devil's Friend and Vassal \n What Happened to a Philosopher who by Accident Went down a Street Where Prostitutes Lived \n What Befell a Moor and His Sister Who Pretended That She Was Timid \n What Happened to a Man Who Tested His Friends \n What Happened to the Man Whom They Cast out Naked on an Island When They Took away from Him the Kingdom He Ruled \n What Happened to Saladin and a Lady, the Wife of a Knight Who Was His Vassal \n What Happened to a Christian King Who Was Very Powerful and Haughty\n\nReferences\n\nNotes\n\nBibliography\n\n Sturm, Harlan\n\n Wacks, David\n\nExternal links\n\nThe Internet Archive provides free access to the 1868 translation by James York.\nJSTOR has the to the 1977 translation by Keller and Keating.\nSelections in English and Spanish (pedagogical edition) with introduction, notes, and bibliography in Open Iberia/América (open access teaching anthology)\n\n14th-century books\nSpanish literature\n1335 books",
"What Happened to Jones may refer to:\n What Happened to Jones (1897 play), a play by George Broadhurst\n What Happened to Jones (1915 film), a lost silent film\n What Happened to Jones (1920 film), a lost silent film\n What Happened to Jones (1926 film), a silent film comedy"
] |
[
"Diamond Dallas Page",
"The Alliance (2001)",
"what was the Alliance>",
"Page soon joined the Alliance during the WCW Invasion.",
"where was the invaision",
"I don't know.",
"who else was involved in the alliance",
"Booker T and Buff Bagwell",
"what happened to he alliance",
"he fought The Undertaker in an unsanctioned brawl that was never announced as an official match."
] | C_d01286bc895c4f97bf9fd1d33af12004_1 | how long were they a group | 5 | How long were The Alliance a group? | Diamond Dallas Page | When WCW was purchased by WWF owner Vince McMahon in 2001, Page was one of the few major WCW stars (along with Booker T and Buff Bagwell) who accepted buyouts of their AOL Time Warner contracts in order to immediately sign with McMahon. He debuted in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) on the edition of June 18, 2001 of Raw when he unveiled himself as the stalker of The Undertaker's wife, Sara. Page revealed he didn't care about Sara; he only did it to make an impact and wanted to take on the biggest dog in the yard. Page soon joined the Alliance during the WCW Invasion. At King of the Ring, he fought The Undertaker in an unsanctioned brawl that was never announced as an official match. Page and Chris Kanyon reunited on the edition of August 6, 2001 of Raw when Kanyon helped Page attack The Undertaker backstage. Three days later on edition of August 9, 2001 of SmackDown!, Page and Kanyon defeated the APA to win the WWF Tag Team Championship. The feud with the Undertaker went on for the best part of three months and ended when Undertaker and Kane defeated Page and Kanyon at SummerSlam on August 19, 2001 in a Steel cage match for the WWF Tag Team Championship, where Page got injured which kept him out of action until late October 2001. He became known for his catchphrase "Yo! It's me, it's me, it's DDP!" While Page was injured he developed a new gimmick in September 2001 to become a motivational speaker, something he did in real life, in what came to be known as his Positively Page character. The name came from the title of his autobiography that was published during his WCW days. The character, who Page developed after attending the Tony Robbins Results 2000 seminar in October 2000, involved Page constantly smiling and acting optimistic, with his trademark phrase "That's not a bad thing... that's... a good thing". His return televised match was on November 3, 2001 at Rebellion losing to Big Show. After the Alliance lost at Survivor Series DDP along with the rest of the alliance members bar Test kayfabe lost their jobs. CANNOTANSWER | After the Alliance lost at Survivor Series DDP along with the rest of the alliance members bar Test kayfabe lost their jobs. | Dallas Page (born Page Joseph Falkinburg, April 5, 1956), better known by his ring name Diamond Dallas Page (often stylized as DDP), is an American actor, fitness instructor and former professional wrestler. In the course of his wrestling career, which spanned two decades, Page has wrestled for mainstream wrestling promotions World Championship Wrestling (WCW), the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE), Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), and All Elite Wrestling (AEW).
Falkinburg first broke into the wrestling business in 1988, as a manager in the American Wrestling Association, where he worked for nine months before signing with WCW in 1991. There, he continued as a manager until late 1991, when he became a wrestler. Over a decade in WCW, Falkinburg became a three-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, two-time WCW United States Heavyweight Champion, four-time WCW World Tag Team Champion and one-time WCW World Television Champion. He is the fourth WCW Triple Crown Champion, and the only United States Heavyweight Champion to defend the title in a pay-per-view main event, defeating Bret Hart at the 1998 World War 3.
After WCW was sold in 2001, Page signed with the WWF where he made his pay-per-view debut in the main event of July's Invasion show, and went on to become a one-time WWF European Champion and one-time WWF World Tag Team Champion. Due to a series of injuries, he allowed his contract with the company to expire in 2002. He worked for TNA from 2004 to 2005, challenging for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in the main event of Destination X 2005. On March 31, 2017, he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by Eric Bischoff.
Since 2012, Page has run a mail order and online fitness video business called DDP Yoga, based on yoga and dynamic self-resistance.
Early life
Page Joseph Falkinburg, the eldest of three children, was born in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, the son of Sylvia (née Seigel) and Page Falkinburg Sr. He was raised by his father during his early years after his parents divorced. He stated that he is of German, Irish, and Dutch origin. Falkinburg/Falkenburg is also the name of multiple German villages and at least three German castles. The name "Dallas" came from his love of the Dallas Cowboys.
His brother Rory and sister Sally were raised by their maternal grandmother. Falkinburg lived with his father from age three to eight. His father took him, at eight years old, to live with his grandmother, who raised him. Falkinburg admitted in his autobiography he is dyslexic. He had many challenges hit him throughout his childhood and educational years.
He attended St. Joseph's High School (now Donovan Catholic High School) in Toms River, New Jersey, for his freshman and second years, spending his first season on the JV basketball team and making the varsity squad as a sophomore. He transferred to Point Pleasant Borough High School in Point Pleasant, where he was a star basketball player with the Point Pleasant Boro High School Panthers. He attended Coastal Carolina University in South Carolina briefly before leaving school to work full-time.
Professional wrestling career
American Wrestling Association (1988)
Page ran a nightclub in Fort Myers, Florida called "Norma Jeans" (known for its Pink Cadillac) while he was working as a wrestling manager in the American Wrestling Association (AWA). He started managing in 1988, where he handled Badd Company (Paul Diamond and Pat Tanaka), a team he led to the AWA World Tag Team Championship on March 19. Badd Company, was often accompanied by female valets known as the "Diamond Dolls" (Tonya, Jennifer and Torri). During his time in the AWA, Page also managed Colonel DeBeers, Curt Hennig and Madusa Miceli as the leader of the Diamond Exchange stable. He worked for the AWA at 12 dates over a period of nine months, where they filmed all the television shows in one day.
Professional Wrestling Federation (19891991)
Page also worked as a color commentator in Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), soon renamed Professional Wrestling Federation (PWF), where he worked alongside Gordon Solie, before finally debuting as a professional wrestler. Page's first pro match occurred in May 1989 against Dick Slater.
In 1990, Dallas received a tryout with the WWF as an announcer, but wasn't offered a job. At WrestleMania VI, he drove Rhythm and Blues (The Honky Tonk Man and Greg Valentine) to the ring in his pink Cadillac. At this time, he was virtually unknown in the World Wrestling Federation. When FCW went out of business, Page was still involved in the club business until Dusty Rhodes returned to World Championship Wrestling. Rhodes started booking and brought him in on a small contract in early 1991.
World Championship Wrestling/WCW (1991–2001)
Various alliances (1991–1993)
Page came to World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1991 as manager of The Fabulous Freebirds (Jimmy Garvin and Michael P.S. Hayes). Page managed the Freebirds to a shot at the NWA World Tag Team Championship where they defeated Doom (Butch Reed and Ron Simmons) on February 24. Before that match took place, Page unveiled the stable's new road manager, Big Daddy Dink, formerly known as Oliver Humperdink, who interfered in the match. During this match, Page introduced the Diamond Dolls. Page added Scott Hall to the stable under the name of Diamond Studd. Page also worked as a color commentator for WCW with Eric Bischoff. With rumors that the WCW wanted to take the Diamond Studd away from Page, he decided to take the advice of Magnum T.A. and begin to wrestle himself. He headed to the WCW Power Plant where Buddy Lee Parker, The Assassin, and Dusty Rhodes trained the 35-year-old rookie. He debuted as a wrestler in a tag team match later that year. With the Diamond Studd, he faced Kevin Sullivan and his partner. He was relegated to the "jobber" list. He made his wrestling pay-per-view debut at Starrcade in 1991, teaming with Mike Graham in a losing effort to Jushin Thunder Liger and Bill Kazmaier. In regards to this period, he stated:
"Bischoff gave me the job as I was a good example of work ethic, passion and someone that cares about the business. Since they wouldn't really book me, I went down to the WCW Power Plant every day I wasn't working. That's how you adapt to adversity. Even when I started to make it, I still kept going back. Until I was on the road 260 days a year-plus, I was still going to that Power Plant. For five years I went there, because that's how long it took me to get to the top."
Page continued wrestling and brought other wrestlers into his stable, The Diamond Mine, such as Scotty Flamingo (Raven) and Vinnie Vegas (Kevin Nash). The relationships between DDP, Flamingo, and Vegas were used in many angles over the following months. Page went in the corner of Scotty Flamingo, at Clash of the Champions XXI on November 18, 1992, when Flamingo fought Johnny B. Badd in a worked boxing match. Flamingo won this bout with a little help from Page who filled Flamingo's glove with water. The following year, after Studd and Flamingo left the stable, Page teamed with Vinnie Vegas as the Vegas Connection. The team was disbanded shortly after its debut when Page tore a rotator cuff in a match against Tex Slazenger and Shanghai Pierce toward the end of 1992 and was later fired, while Nash left WCW for the World Wrestling Federation.
World Television Champion and feud with Randy Savage (1994–1997)
Page, determined to continue improving his character, sought the help of Jake Roberts who advised him on the psychological aspects of the business. After his injury had healed, Page returned to WCW television in 1994, with his wife Kimberly as the Diamond Doll, and an on-screen bodyguard, Max Muscle. He held open arm wrestling challenges to win Kimberly, but Max always helped him win or arm wrestled for him. He was also involved in an angle where he was said to have amassed $13 million through victories in arm wrestling competitions, then lost it. He also had a long feud with Dave Sullivan because Sullivan gave Kimberly gifts (and largely because Page was defeated by Sullivan in one of the arm wrestling contests, which earned him a date with Kimberly). At Fall Brawl, Page won his first championship when he defeated Renegade for the WCW World Television Championship. In the build-up to his first title defence at Halloween Havoc, there was growing dissension between Page and Kimberly. Johnny B. Badd defeated Page for the TV title and again at World War 3 on November 26, winning Kimberly's freedom from DDP. At Uncensored on March 24, 1996 The Booty Man with Kimberly as The Booty Babe defeated Diamond Dallas Page in a Loser Leaves Town match.
Page returned on the May 18, 1996, episode of WCW Saturday Night as a tweener defeating Billy Kidman. On May 19, Page participated in the Lord of the Ring Tournament (Battle Bowl) at Slamboree. Falkinburg was victorious when he defeated The Barbarian with two Diamond Cutters. The winner was to be the number one contender for the World Title which at that time was held by The Giant. He never received the title shot that he earned that night. Page was feuding with Eddie Guerrero when the New World Order (nWo) was formed. Since Nash and Hall were both former partners of Page, they assisted him in his matches in the tournament being held for the vacant United States Heavyweight Championship. Believing their assistance was not appreciated, Hall and Nash attacked him during the tournament final, allowing Guerrero to win. After demonstrating the benefits of the nWo, they asked him to join. He responded by giving them Diamond Cutters on January 25, 1997, at Souled Out, starting a face turn and a feud with the nWo. Soon after, Page began a feud with recent nWo recruit "Macho Man" Randy Savage. On an episode of Nitro, Savage, aided by Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, attacked Page and spray-painted "nWo" on his back. A few weeks later at Uncensored, Savage and Miss Elizabeth "broke" (a worked shoot) by revealing to the world that Page and Kimberly were, in fact, married. Savage then proceeded to beat up Page, ensuring a future match between the two. At Spring Stampede, in Page's first pay-per-view main event, he and Savage battled in a match where Page emerged victorious, but it was not the end of conflict between the two. A few months later at The Great American Bash, they squared off again in an anything goes, lights out match. The match ended with Savage defeating Page with help from (then) Tag Team Champion Scott Hall. At Bash at the Beach, Scott Hall and Randy Savage defeated Diamond Dallas Page and Curt Hennig. Curt Hennig, who Diamond Dallas Page had recruited personally to join WCW and team with him, turned on DDP during the match. Hennig defeated Diamond Dallas Page in a grudge match at Road Wild. At Fall Brawl, Page teamed with Lex Luger to defeat Scott Hall and Randy Savage in a No Disqualification match. Page even dressed up as masked wrestler La Parka and beat Savage on the July 7 edition of Monday Nitro. Around this time, Page also started fighting nWo leader, Hollywood Hogan. Page and Savage battled for the last time at Halloween Havoc. The match was billed as a Las Vegas sudden-death match, where Savage pinned Page after Hogan, dressed as Sting, came out and hit Page with a baseball bat in his already "injured" midsection, resulting in Savage picking up the win. On an episode of Nitro shortly after Halloween Havoc, Page fought Hogan, but was again beaten down by the nWo.
United States Heavyweight Champion (1997–1998)
At Starrcade, Page won the United States Heavyweight Championship from Curt Hennig. The following year at Uncensored, Page defended the title in a Triple Threat, Falls Count Anywhere contest against Chris Benoit and Raven, putting Raven through a table with a Diamond Cutter to retain the belt. Page later lost the title to Raven at Spring Stampede. Later in the year, Page tagged with Karl Malone against Hulk Hogan and Dennis Rodman at Bash at the Beach, losing due to interference. Page tagged with late night talk show host Jay Leno at Road Wild, where they defeated Hogan and Eric Bischoff.
At Fall Brawl, Page won the WarGames main event, and got a World title shot against the undefeated Goldberg at Halloween Havoc. Page did not win the match, but the match was voted WCW Magazines "Match of the Year" 1998. Halloween Havoc ran slightly longer than expected resulting in a number of cable companies blacking out the end of the Hogan versus Warrior match and all of the DDP versus Goldberg contest. WCW decided to air the Goldberg versus DDP title bout in its entirety on the October 26 episode of Nitro, which proved immensely popular in the ratings and resulted in a ratings win for Nitro over Raw – the last win Nitro ever had. Despite this setback in the World title picture, Page rebounded this same following night of Halloween Havoc, on the October 26 episode of Nitro, with a win over Bret Hart to capture the United States Heavyweight Title. The two headlined the following month's World War 3, in a title match which Page won. Page lost the title to Hart on the November 30 episode of Nitro in a No Disqualification match, when he was assaulted by The Giant.
WCW World Heavyweight Champion (1999–2001)
Page became WCW World Heavyweight Champion in April 1999, at Spring Stampede when he defeated Sting, Hogan, and Ric Flair for the title in a Four Way Dance with "Macho Man" Randy Savage as Special Guest Referee. Page pinned Flair after giving Flair the Diamond Cutter. Around this time some fans were starting to boo Page at various WCW events, so shortly after Spring Stampede a decision was made to turn Page heel for the first time in three years. The turn played out slowly at first, with Page undergoing a change in attitude. Then, on April 19, Page defended his title against Goldberg, where he cemented the turn by first knocking Goldberg out with brass knuckles and then propping his leg up against the ring stairs and repeatedly smashing it with a steel chair, all while taunting the fans with repeated utterances of "boo me now". Page only stopped when Kevin Nash, an ally of Hogan's who was angry at Page for (kayfabe) injuring Hogan's knee during the match at Spring Stampede, came back from injury and chased him away.
On April 26, 1999, Page lost and regained his title in the span of two hours. Sting challenged him to defend his title in the first hour of that night's Nitro and defeated him to regain the title he had lost a year earlier. This ended Page's reign at 15 days, but he gained an opportunity to get the title back ninety minutes later. Nash came to the ring and made a challenge for a four-way match for the title, and the just-dethroned Page joined defending champion Sting and Goldberg in the match. Page regained the WCW World Heavyweight Championship by using a foreign object to hit Nash and take the win and regain the title without actually defeating the reigning champion. Nash became the number one contender shortly after and vowed to get revenge on Page for his friend Hogan, culminating in a match at Slamboree in May. Page originally retained the WCW World Heavyweight Championship after Savage interfered and hit Nash, but the match was ordered to continue by Eric Bischoff and Nash pinned Page to win the title after a powerbomb. Page dropped out of the title picture shortly thereafter.
Shortly after Slamboree, Page entered into an alliance with fellow New Jerseyan Bam Bam Bigelow and won the WCW World Tag Team Championship from then champions Perry Saturn and Raven on May 31, thanks to Chris Kanyon turning heel on former ally Raven and costing the team the championships. Page, Bigelow, and Kanyon became known as the Jersey Triad and through their alliance with WCW "President for Life" Ric Flair took advantage of the Freebird Rule in their subsequent matches (meaning any combination of the three could defend the championship). The Triad held the titles until June 10, when Saturn and Chris Benoit (now stablemates in The Revolution) took the title from them. They regained the belts at The Great American Bash three days later, and lost them to Harlem Heat at Road Wild in August. Later that night, Chris Benoit defeated Diamond Dallas Page to retain the United States title. The group broke up shortly thereafter and Page began feuding with Hogan again, joining Sid Vicious and Rick Steiner in a team effort to take on Hogan, Sting, and Goldberg. Soon after that feud ended Page turned into a hero again and feuded with both Kanyon and Bigelow before the year ended.
In 2000, with WCW under new management, Page earned a shot at the vacant WCW World Heavyweight Championship at Spring Stampede against Jeff Jarrett. In a surprise twist, Page's wife, Kimberly, turned on Page and helped Jarrett become the new WCW World Heavyweight Champion. Page got the better of Jarrett on the April 24 episode of Nitro, where he defeated Jarrett in a steel cage match to become WCW World Heavyweight Champion for the third time, then lost the title to his tag partner, actor David Arquette, three days later on Thunder; the rules stated that whoever got the pin would win the title, and Arquette pinned Jarrett's partner, Eric Bischoff. Page attempted to win the title back at Slamboree later that month in a triple cage match against Arquette and Jarrett, but lost after Arquette hit him with a guitar. Page then entered a feud with Mike Awesome, who defeated him in an Ambulance Match at The Great American Bash after Kanyon turned on Page.
Page took some time off shortly after this, but returned in late 2000 as a full-time wrestler. After Page came back he formed a tag team with Kevin Nash called The Insiders, and the team won the WCW World Tag Team Championship on November 26 at Mayhem by defeating Perfect Event (Shawn Stasiak and Chuck Palumbo). The team was temporarily stripped of the titles but won them back at Starrcade defeating Stasiak and Palumbo again. Page and Nash lost the titles to Palumbo and Sean O'Haire at Sin in January and broke up shortly thereafter. After his tag team run Page briefly feuded with the returning Kanyon, which saw Kanyon defeat Page at SuperBrawl Revenge, and Page defeating Kanyon the following night on Nitro, ending their feud. Page then moved into the World Championship picture again by facing Scott Steiner. Their feud hit a climax at WCW's final PPV Greed, saw Page's final match in WCW and a semi-burial type defeat as he passed out in Steiner's finisher, The Steiner Recliner.
World Wrestling Federation (2001–2002)
When WCW was purchased by WWF owner Vince McMahon in 2001, Page was one of the few major WCW stars (along with Booker T and Buff Bagwell) who accepted buyouts of their AOL Time Warner contracts in order to immediately sign with McMahon. He debuted in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) on the June 18, 2001, episode of Raw when he unveiled himself as the stalker of The Undertaker's wife, Sara. Page revealed he didn't care about Sara; he only did it to make an impact and wanted to take on the "biggest dog in the yard". At King of the Ring, he fought The Undertaker in an unsanctioned brawl that was never announced as an official match. On the July 5 episode of SmackDown!, Page competed against WCW Champion Booker T, but failed to win the title after a distraction from the Undertaker. On the July 9 episode of Raw, WCW owner Shane McMahon and ECW owner Paul Heyman joined together to create The Alliance, with former WCW and ECW alumni joining forces in an attempt to take control of the WWF. At the Invasion pay-per-view, Page formed part of Team Alliance alongside Booker T, Rhyno and The Dudley Boyz, defeating Team WWF, after Team WWF member Stone Cold Steve Austin turned on his team members mid-match.
Page and Chris Kanyon reunited on the August 6 episode of Raw when Kanyon helped Page attack The Undertaker backstage. Three days later on the August 9 taping of SmackDown!, Page and Kanyon defeated the APA to win the WWF Tag Team Championship.
His feud with the Undertaker culminated when Undertaker and Kane defeated Page and Kanyon at SummerSlam on August 19, 2001, in a Steel cage match for the WWF Tag Team Championship. During the match, Page was injured, keeping him out of action until late October 2001. While Page was injured, he developed a new gimmick in which he became a motivational speaker. The character involved Page constantly smiling and acting optimistic, with his trademark phrase "That's not a bad thing... that's... a good thing".
His return televised match was on November 3 at Rebellion losing to Big Show. After the Alliance lost at Survivor Series, Page, along with the rest of the Alliance members, kayfabe lost their jobs.
Page eventually returned as a face and won his job back by defeating Big Boss Man on the January 17, 2002, episode of SmackDown!. Page competed in the Royal Rumble match at the titular event on January 20 but did not win.
Page became the WWF European Champion on the January 31, 2002, episode of SmackDown!, when he defeated Christian, a former follower of his positive "philosophy." At WrestleMania X8, Page successfully retained in a rematch against Christian. He lost the title to William Regal on an episode of SmackDown! that aired March 21. On March 25, Page was drafted to the SmackDown! brand as part of the 2002 WWF draft lottery.
On the April 18 episode of SmackDown!, he sustained a serious neck injury during a match with Hardcore Holly, after botching a superplex. After receiving opinions from multiple doctors, Page announced his retirement in June 2002. He left the promotion soon after.
Return to wrestling (2004)
In 2004, Page made his in-ring return by wrestling for several independent promotions. His first match was on April 21, 2004, teaming with Satoshi Kojima as they lost to former WCW star Sting and The Great Muta for HCW Battle Hawaii.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2004–2005)
He signed with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). He debuted for the company on the November 12 taping of Impact!, where he attacked Raven, beginning a feud between the two. At Turning Point on December 5, DDP defeated Raven.
and at Final Resolution in January 2005, Page competed in a three-way elimination match to determine the number one contender for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship also involving Monty Brown and Kevin Nash, which was won by Brown. Page and Brown subsequently formed a tag team. The following month at Against All Odds, Page and Brown defeated Team Canada (Bobby Roode and Eric Young). Page received an NWA World Heavyweight Championship title shot on March 13 at Destination X, but was defeated by reigning champion Jeff Jarrett when Brown turned heel and hit Page with the Pounce. At Lockdown, Page teamed with B.G. James and Waltman to defeat Jeff Jarrett, Monty Brown and The Outlaw in a Lethal Lockdown match. At Hard Justice on May 15, Page and Ron Killings faced Monty Brown and The Outlaw where they were defeated in what was Page's final match in TNA. Page left TNA shortly thereafter in order to pursue an acting career.
Independent circuit (2005–2011)
After TNA, Page returned to the independent circuit. He lost to Larry Zbyszko at WrestleReunion. DDP had Bruno Sammartino in his corner during the match. Then Page defeated Buff Bagwell on December 9, 2005, at GLCW Blizzard Brawl. In 2006, Page defeated his former Jersey Triad partner Chris Kanyon twice before retiring once again.
On August 9, 2009, Diamond Dallas Page made a special appearance for Juggalo Championship Wrestling (JCW) at their Bloodymania III event, aligning himself with the jWo. He hit his trademark Diamond Cutter finisher on Trent Acid.
DDP returned to wrestling on January 2, 2010, teaming with Air Paris to defeat Bobby Hayes and Alexander the Great at PICW event. On October 15, 2011, DDP teamed with Kevin Nash as they defeated The Rock 'n' Roll Express at AWE Night Of The Legends.
Return to WWE (2011–2017)
In late 2010, Page agreed to work on a DVD for WWE, titled The Very Best of WCW Monday Nitro, after being approached on the project due to his ties to WCW. Page hosted the DVD, which was released on June 7, 2011. On the June 27 episode of Raw, Page made an appearance promoting this DVD with Booker T.
In 2012, Page appeared on WWE Classics on Demand in Legends of Wrestling Roundtable: Renegades along with Jim Ross, Michael P.S. Hayes, Roddy Piper, and Gene Okerlund. Page also appeared alongside Kevin Nash and X-Pac at the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony on March 31, 2012. On July 2, 2012, Page made an appearance on Raw, where he hit a Diamond Cutter on Heath Slater. He also appeared at Raw 1000, accompanied by other WWE Legends, during Slater's match with Lita.
On the January 6, 2014, episode of Raw, Page, along with a number of other legends, appeared on the show as part of its "Old School" theme. On April 5, Page inducted his wrestling mentor and noted DDP Yoga practitioner Jake Roberts into the WWE Hall of Fame.
On January 25, 2015, at Royal Rumble, Page was a surprise entrant in the Rumble match, entering at number 14 and hitting his finishing move, the Diamond Cutter, on Stardust, Bray Wyatt and Fandango from the top rope, before being eliminated by Rusev. At WrestleMania 32, Page competed in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, but was eliminated by Konnor.
On March 31, 2017, Page was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in Orlando, Florida.
All In (2018)
At All In on September 1, 2018, Page accompanied Cody Rhodes in his match against NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis.
All Elite Wrestling (2019–2020)
On May 25, 2019, during their inaugural pay-per-view Double or Nothing, Page escorted Brandi Rhodes away from the ring after she refused to leave the match between Cody Rhodes and Dustin Rhodes after match referee Earl Hebner ejected her from the match. On the October 23, 2019, episode of AEW Dynamite, Page returned to TNT program for the first time in over 18 years, and helped Cody attack Chris Jericho and his stable The Inner Circle. On November 27, 2019, Page returned to Dynamite to present MJF with the first ever Dynamite Diamond Ring as a prize for defeating Adam Page. On January 15, 2020, at Bash at the Beach, he had his first match since the 2016 Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal teaming with Dustin Rhodes and QT Marshall to take on MJF and The Butcher and The Blade in a losing effort.
Yoga
Page developed a yoga fitness program initially called Yoga for Regular Guys Workout (YRG), after discovering the health benefits of yoga through his then-wife Kimberly while he recovered from ruptures to his L4/L5 discs in 1998. His favorite kind of yoga (according to his "Yoga for Regular Guys" book published in 2005) is "Power Yoga", an American-style version of "Ashtanga Style" yoga. Page worked with chiropractor Dr. Craig Aaron, and developed the Yoga for Regular Guys Workout.
Page developed the book into a series of workout videos titled DDP Yoga (formerly YRG). DDP Yoga was featured in a video about Arthur Boorman in May 2012. The story was picked up by the mainstream media, including Good Morning America. The video describes the journey of Arthur Boorman, a disabled veteran who was told by doctors he would never walk again. After spending fifteen years on crutches, Boorman followed Page's yoga plan for ten months and documented his progress on home video. He lost 140 pounds and regained the strength and flexibility to walk and run without his crutches, back braces or leg braces.
On February 21, 2014, Page appeared on the ABC series Shark Tank, where he was seeking $200,200 for a 5% share in the DDP Yoga company. He declined to sell a 50% share for that same amount to Kevin O'Leary. Page had hoped to use the money to develop a mobile app. The other investors were impressed by Boorman's improvement but believed the home exercise market was too competitive and also predicted net profits ($800,000 in the previous year) would fall. Page later said he sold more than $1 million worth of products in the first six days after his appearance.
Documentaries and podcast
In 2015, he was a main subject in the documentary The Resurrection of Jake the Snake, which chronicled Page helping Jake Roberts through rehabilitation.
In 2016, Page was featured on the Nine Legends Expansion Pack to talk about his friend Bill Goldberg.
Page currently hosts a radio show titled DDP Radio. Beginning on January 4, 2022, Page will take part in a podcast with Jake Roberts and Conrad Thompson titled DDP Snakepit.
Video games
Page has been depicted in several licensed wrestling video games.
Filmography
First Daughter (1999) as Dirk Lindman
Ready to Rumble (2000) as Himself
Rat Race (2001) in a deleted scene
Nice Guys (2005) as Sleezy Guy
The Devil's Rejects (2005) as Billy Ray Snapper
The 40-Year-Old Virgin (deleted scene)
Jack's Law (2006) as Spider Benson
Hood of Horror (2006) as Jersey
Splinter (2006) as Detective Stiles
Driftwood (2006) as Captain Kennedy
Knight Fever (2008)
Gallowwalkers (2009) as Skullbucket
Sensory Perception (2010) as Mr. Harrington
Pizza Man (2011) as Kryder
Vengeance (2014)
The Murders of Brandywine Theater (2014) as Officer Carwin
The Resurrection of Jake the Snake (2015) as Himself
The Bet (2016) as Mr. Baker
Lawsuits
Page is commonly associated with the "Self High Five" as well as the "Diamond Cutter" symbol, a hand gesture made by joining the thumbs and index fingers on each hand to form a diamond shape, then parting the two hands in one swift motion. He created the symbol in 1996 and later trademarked it. In December 2005, Page filed a lawsuit against rapper Jay-Z, who, he claimed, had "illegally adopted his trademark hand gesture". Page accused Jay-Z of trademark infringement and sought a prohibitive injunction and monetary damages. It resulted in Page dropping the lawsuit for an undisclosed amount of money. On August 31, 2010, Page filed a lawsuit against American electronica musical duo 3OH!3 for infringement of his trademarked "Diamond Cutter" hand gesture.
Page's WCW entrance music, "Self High-Five", intentionally contained similarities to the 1991 Nirvana song "Smells Like Teen Spirit", as composer Jimmy Hart and Page felt it exemplified the "sound of the '90s". According to Page, Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl in turn claimed that "WCW owes us [the band] money", but before any further actions or lawsuits took place, the track was altered to "sound like it was it, but wasn't".
Personal life
Page released his autobiography, Positively Page: The Diamond Dallas Page Journey, on February 1, 2000.
In 2003, he had his name legally changed to Dallas Page.
On December 1, 1991, Page married Kimberly Page. On July 3, 2004, they announced their amicable separation, before divorcing in 2005.
In 2015, Page married Brenda Nair. They separated in 2019. The divorce was finalized in 2020.
In 2021, Page married Payge McMahon.
Page has two daughters, Brittany Page (born 1987) and Kimberly Page (born 1994), and two stepdaughters, Alexandra "Lexy" Nair (born 1996) and Rachel Nair (born 2001). Lexy currently works with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a backstage interviewer.
On January 15, 2019, Page released another book, Positively Unstoppable: The Art of Owning It, through Rodale Books. The book includes a foreword by Mick Foley.
Championships and accomplishments
Cauliflower Alley Club
Jason Sanderson Humanitarian Award (2015)
Men's Wrestling Award (2015)
George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
Frank Gotch Award (2014)
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
Feud of the Year (1997)
Most Hated Wrestler of the Year (1999)
Most Improved Wrestler of the Year (1995)
Ranked No. 4 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the year in the PWI 500 in 1997 and 1998
Ranked No. 65 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the PWI Years in 2003
Swiss Wrestling Federation
SWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
World Championship Wrestling
WCW World Heavyweight Championship (3 times)
WCW World Television Championship (1 time)
WCW United States Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
WCW World Tag Team Championship (4 times) – with Bam Bam Bigelow and Chris Kanyon (2) and Kevin Nash (2)
Fourth WCW Triple Crown Champion
Lord of The Ring Tournament (1996)
World Wrestling Federation/WWE
WWF European Championship (1 time)
WWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Chris Kanyon
WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2017)
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Best Wrestling Maneuver (1997)
Most Improved (1996)
Worst Gimmick (2001)
Notes
Bibliography
Genta, Larry and Page, Diamond Dallas (2000) Positively Page,
Aaron, Craig and Page, Diamond Dallas (2005) Yoga for Regular Guys: The Best Damn Workout on the Planet,
Page, Diamond Dallas (2019) Positively Unstoppable: The Art of Owning It,
See also
The Alliance
The Diamond Exchange
The Fabulous Freebirds
The Insiders/The Vegas Connection
The Jersey Triad
The Millionaire's Club
References
External links
Diamond Dallas Page Article
1956 births
All Elite Wrestling personnel
American male film actors
American male professional wrestlers
American male television actors
American men podcasters
American people of German descent
Living people
NWA/WCW World Television Champions
NWA/WCW/WWE United States Heavyweight Champions
People with dyslexia
Point Pleasant Borough High School alumni
Professional wrestlers from New Jersey
Professional wrestling announcers
Professional wrestling managers and valets
Professional wrestling podcasters
Sportspeople from Point Pleasant, New Jersey
WCW World Heavyweight Champions
WWE Hall of Fame inductees
WWF European Champions | false | [
"\"How Long, How Long Blues\" (also known as \"How Long Blues\" or \"How Long How Long\") is a blues song recorded by the American blues duo Leroy Carr and Scrapper Blackwell in 1928. It became an early blues standard and its melody inspired many later songs.\n\nOriginal song\n\"How Long, How Long Blues\" is based on \"How Long Daddy\", recorded in 1925 by Ida Cox with Papa Charlie Jackson. On June 19, 1928, Leroy Carr, who sang and played piano, and guitarist Scrapper Blackwell recorded the song in Indianapolis, Indiana, for Vocalion Records, shortly after they began performing together. It is a moderately slow-tempo blues with an eight-bar structure. Carr is credited with the lyrics and music for the song, which uses a departed train as a metaphor for a lover who has left:\n\nCarr's and Blackwell's songs reflected a more urban and sophisticated blues, in contrast to the music of rural bluesmen of the time. Carr's blues were \"expressive and evocative\", although his vocals have also been described as emotionally detached, high-pitched and smooth, with clear diction.\n\n\"How Long, How Long Blues\" was Carr and Scrapwell's biggest hit. They subsequently recorded six more versions of the song (two of them, unissued at the time), as \"How Long, How Long Blues, Part 2\", \"Part 3\", \"How Long Has That Evening Train Been Gone\", \"The New How Long, How Long Blues\", etc. There are considerable variations in the lyrics, but most versions begin with the lyric \"How long, how long, has that evening train been gone?\"\n\nLegacy\n\"How Long, How Long Blues\" became an early blues standard and \"its lilting melody inspired hundreds of later compositions\", including the Mississippi Sheiks' \"Sitting on Top of the World\" and Robert Johnson's \"Come On in My Kitchen\". Although his later style would not suggest it, Muddy Waters recalled that it was the first song he learned to play \"off the Leroy Carr record\".\n\nIn 1988, Carr's \"How Long, How Long Blues\" was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in the category \"Classics of Blues Recordings – Singles or Album Tracks\". Blues historian Jim O'Neal commented in the induction statement, \"'How Long, How Long Blues' was a massive hit in the prewar blues era, a song that every blues singer and piano player had to know, and one that has continued to inspire dozens of cover versions.\" In 2012, the song received a Grammy Hall of Fame Award, which \"honor[s] recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance\".\n\nSee also\nList of train songs\n\nReferences\n\nBlues songs\n1928 songs\nGrammy Hall of Fame Award recipients\nVocalion Records singles\nSongs about trains",
"Mitrates are an extinct group of stem group echinoderms, which may be closely related to the hemichordates. Along with the cornutes, they form one half of the Stylophora.\n\nMorphology\nThe organisms were a few millimetres long. Like the echinoderms, they are covered in armour plates, each of which comprises a single crystal of calcite. However, this is arguably the only feature they share with the latter group; they don't have, for example, fivefold symmetry or a water vascular system.\n\nTheir heads had two sides; one, flat, was covered with large \"pavement-like\" plates, the other, convex, bore smaller plates. \nTheir tails were long and segmented, resembling the stalk of a crinoid or the arm of a brittlestar. At the opposite end was a hole which may have been mouth or anus - or both.\n\nThey also bear features reminiscent of pharyngeal slits, a character lost in other echinoderms but present in hemichordates, causing R.P.S. Jefferies to hold them as the ancestor of all chordates.\n\nBehaviour\n\nMitrates have been found with associated trace fossils. Their interpretation requires an understanding of how the animal was oriented in life; it's not agreed whether the convex side of the head was up or down, or indeed whether the \"tail\" was at the front or back of the organism! The trace fossils suggest that they pulled themselves through the mud with their \"tail\", and were flat-side up.\n\nNotes\nRhenocystis latipedunculata\n\nReferences\n\nHomalozoa"
] |
[
"Diamond Dallas Page",
"The Alliance (2001)",
"what was the Alliance>",
"Page soon joined the Alliance during the WCW Invasion.",
"where was the invaision",
"I don't know.",
"who else was involved in the alliance",
"Booker T and Buff Bagwell",
"what happened to he alliance",
"he fought The Undertaker in an unsanctioned brawl that was never announced as an official match.",
"how long were they a group",
"After the Alliance lost at Survivor Series DDP along with the rest of the alliance members bar Test kayfabe lost their jobs."
] | C_d01286bc895c4f97bf9fd1d33af12004_1 | did they ever get their jobs back | 6 | Did The Alliance ever get their jobs back? | Diamond Dallas Page | When WCW was purchased by WWF owner Vince McMahon in 2001, Page was one of the few major WCW stars (along with Booker T and Buff Bagwell) who accepted buyouts of their AOL Time Warner contracts in order to immediately sign with McMahon. He debuted in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) on the edition of June 18, 2001 of Raw when he unveiled himself as the stalker of The Undertaker's wife, Sara. Page revealed he didn't care about Sara; he only did it to make an impact and wanted to take on the biggest dog in the yard. Page soon joined the Alliance during the WCW Invasion. At King of the Ring, he fought The Undertaker in an unsanctioned brawl that was never announced as an official match. Page and Chris Kanyon reunited on the edition of August 6, 2001 of Raw when Kanyon helped Page attack The Undertaker backstage. Three days later on edition of August 9, 2001 of SmackDown!, Page and Kanyon defeated the APA to win the WWF Tag Team Championship. The feud with the Undertaker went on for the best part of three months and ended when Undertaker and Kane defeated Page and Kanyon at SummerSlam on August 19, 2001 in a Steel cage match for the WWF Tag Team Championship, where Page got injured which kept him out of action until late October 2001. He became known for his catchphrase "Yo! It's me, it's me, it's DDP!" While Page was injured he developed a new gimmick in September 2001 to become a motivational speaker, something he did in real life, in what came to be known as his Positively Page character. The name came from the title of his autobiography that was published during his WCW days. The character, who Page developed after attending the Tony Robbins Results 2000 seminar in October 2000, involved Page constantly smiling and acting optimistic, with his trademark phrase "That's not a bad thing... that's... a good thing". His return televised match was on November 3, 2001 at Rebellion losing to Big Show. After the Alliance lost at Survivor Series DDP along with the rest of the alliance members bar Test kayfabe lost their jobs. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Dallas Page (born Page Joseph Falkinburg, April 5, 1956), better known by his ring name Diamond Dallas Page (often stylized as DDP), is an American actor, fitness instructor and former professional wrestler. In the course of his wrestling career, which spanned two decades, Page has wrestled for mainstream wrestling promotions World Championship Wrestling (WCW), the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE), Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), and All Elite Wrestling (AEW).
Falkinburg first broke into the wrestling business in 1988, as a manager in the American Wrestling Association, where he worked for nine months before signing with WCW in 1991. There, he continued as a manager until late 1991, when he became a wrestler. Over a decade in WCW, Falkinburg became a three-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, two-time WCW United States Heavyweight Champion, four-time WCW World Tag Team Champion and one-time WCW World Television Champion. He is the fourth WCW Triple Crown Champion, and the only United States Heavyweight Champion to defend the title in a pay-per-view main event, defeating Bret Hart at the 1998 World War 3.
After WCW was sold in 2001, Page signed with the WWF where he made his pay-per-view debut in the main event of July's Invasion show, and went on to become a one-time WWF European Champion and one-time WWF World Tag Team Champion. Due to a series of injuries, he allowed his contract with the company to expire in 2002. He worked for TNA from 2004 to 2005, challenging for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in the main event of Destination X 2005. On March 31, 2017, he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by Eric Bischoff.
Since 2012, Page has run a mail order and online fitness video business called DDP Yoga, based on yoga and dynamic self-resistance.
Early life
Page Joseph Falkinburg, the eldest of three children, was born in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, the son of Sylvia (née Seigel) and Page Falkinburg Sr. He was raised by his father during his early years after his parents divorced. He stated that he is of German, Irish, and Dutch origin. Falkinburg/Falkenburg is also the name of multiple German villages and at least three German castles. The name "Dallas" came from his love of the Dallas Cowboys.
His brother Rory and sister Sally were raised by their maternal grandmother. Falkinburg lived with his father from age three to eight. His father took him, at eight years old, to live with his grandmother, who raised him. Falkinburg admitted in his autobiography he is dyslexic. He had many challenges hit him throughout his childhood and educational years.
He attended St. Joseph's High School (now Donovan Catholic High School) in Toms River, New Jersey, for his freshman and second years, spending his first season on the JV basketball team and making the varsity squad as a sophomore. He transferred to Point Pleasant Borough High School in Point Pleasant, where he was a star basketball player with the Point Pleasant Boro High School Panthers. He attended Coastal Carolina University in South Carolina briefly before leaving school to work full-time.
Professional wrestling career
American Wrestling Association (1988)
Page ran a nightclub in Fort Myers, Florida called "Norma Jeans" (known for its Pink Cadillac) while he was working as a wrestling manager in the American Wrestling Association (AWA). He started managing in 1988, where he handled Badd Company (Paul Diamond and Pat Tanaka), a team he led to the AWA World Tag Team Championship on March 19. Badd Company, was often accompanied by female valets known as the "Diamond Dolls" (Tonya, Jennifer and Torri). During his time in the AWA, Page also managed Colonel DeBeers, Curt Hennig and Madusa Miceli as the leader of the Diamond Exchange stable. He worked for the AWA at 12 dates over a period of nine months, where they filmed all the television shows in one day.
Professional Wrestling Federation (19891991)
Page also worked as a color commentator in Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), soon renamed Professional Wrestling Federation (PWF), where he worked alongside Gordon Solie, before finally debuting as a professional wrestler. Page's first pro match occurred in May 1989 against Dick Slater.
In 1990, Dallas received a tryout with the WWF as an announcer, but wasn't offered a job. At WrestleMania VI, he drove Rhythm and Blues (The Honky Tonk Man and Greg Valentine) to the ring in his pink Cadillac. At this time, he was virtually unknown in the World Wrestling Federation. When FCW went out of business, Page was still involved in the club business until Dusty Rhodes returned to World Championship Wrestling. Rhodes started booking and brought him in on a small contract in early 1991.
World Championship Wrestling/WCW (1991–2001)
Various alliances (1991–1993)
Page came to World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1991 as manager of The Fabulous Freebirds (Jimmy Garvin and Michael P.S. Hayes). Page managed the Freebirds to a shot at the NWA World Tag Team Championship where they defeated Doom (Butch Reed and Ron Simmons) on February 24. Before that match took place, Page unveiled the stable's new road manager, Big Daddy Dink, formerly known as Oliver Humperdink, who interfered in the match. During this match, Page introduced the Diamond Dolls. Page added Scott Hall to the stable under the name of Diamond Studd. Page also worked as a color commentator for WCW with Eric Bischoff. With rumors that the WCW wanted to take the Diamond Studd away from Page, he decided to take the advice of Magnum T.A. and begin to wrestle himself. He headed to the WCW Power Plant where Buddy Lee Parker, The Assassin, and Dusty Rhodes trained the 35-year-old rookie. He debuted as a wrestler in a tag team match later that year. With the Diamond Studd, he faced Kevin Sullivan and his partner. He was relegated to the "jobber" list. He made his wrestling pay-per-view debut at Starrcade in 1991, teaming with Mike Graham in a losing effort to Jushin Thunder Liger and Bill Kazmaier. In regards to this period, he stated:
"Bischoff gave me the job as I was a good example of work ethic, passion and someone that cares about the business. Since they wouldn't really book me, I went down to the WCW Power Plant every day I wasn't working. That's how you adapt to adversity. Even when I started to make it, I still kept going back. Until I was on the road 260 days a year-plus, I was still going to that Power Plant. For five years I went there, because that's how long it took me to get to the top."
Page continued wrestling and brought other wrestlers into his stable, The Diamond Mine, such as Scotty Flamingo (Raven) and Vinnie Vegas (Kevin Nash). The relationships between DDP, Flamingo, and Vegas were used in many angles over the following months. Page went in the corner of Scotty Flamingo, at Clash of the Champions XXI on November 18, 1992, when Flamingo fought Johnny B. Badd in a worked boxing match. Flamingo won this bout with a little help from Page who filled Flamingo's glove with water. The following year, after Studd and Flamingo left the stable, Page teamed with Vinnie Vegas as the Vegas Connection. The team was disbanded shortly after its debut when Page tore a rotator cuff in a match against Tex Slazenger and Shanghai Pierce toward the end of 1992 and was later fired, while Nash left WCW for the World Wrestling Federation.
World Television Champion and feud with Randy Savage (1994–1997)
Page, determined to continue improving his character, sought the help of Jake Roberts who advised him on the psychological aspects of the business. After his injury had healed, Page returned to WCW television in 1994, with his wife Kimberly as the Diamond Doll, and an on-screen bodyguard, Max Muscle. He held open arm wrestling challenges to win Kimberly, but Max always helped him win or arm wrestled for him. He was also involved in an angle where he was said to have amassed $13 million through victories in arm wrestling competitions, then lost it. He also had a long feud with Dave Sullivan because Sullivan gave Kimberly gifts (and largely because Page was defeated by Sullivan in one of the arm wrestling contests, which earned him a date with Kimberly). At Fall Brawl, Page won his first championship when he defeated Renegade for the WCW World Television Championship. In the build-up to his first title defence at Halloween Havoc, there was growing dissension between Page and Kimberly. Johnny B. Badd defeated Page for the TV title and again at World War 3 on November 26, winning Kimberly's freedom from DDP. At Uncensored on March 24, 1996 The Booty Man with Kimberly as The Booty Babe defeated Diamond Dallas Page in a Loser Leaves Town match.
Page returned on the May 18, 1996, episode of WCW Saturday Night as a tweener defeating Billy Kidman. On May 19, Page participated in the Lord of the Ring Tournament (Battle Bowl) at Slamboree. Falkinburg was victorious when he defeated The Barbarian with two Diamond Cutters. The winner was to be the number one contender for the World Title which at that time was held by The Giant. He never received the title shot that he earned that night. Page was feuding with Eddie Guerrero when the New World Order (nWo) was formed. Since Nash and Hall were both former partners of Page, they assisted him in his matches in the tournament being held for the vacant United States Heavyweight Championship. Believing their assistance was not appreciated, Hall and Nash attacked him during the tournament final, allowing Guerrero to win. After demonstrating the benefits of the nWo, they asked him to join. He responded by giving them Diamond Cutters on January 25, 1997, at Souled Out, starting a face turn and a feud with the nWo. Soon after, Page began a feud with recent nWo recruit "Macho Man" Randy Savage. On an episode of Nitro, Savage, aided by Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, attacked Page and spray-painted "nWo" on his back. A few weeks later at Uncensored, Savage and Miss Elizabeth "broke" (a worked shoot) by revealing to the world that Page and Kimberly were, in fact, married. Savage then proceeded to beat up Page, ensuring a future match between the two. At Spring Stampede, in Page's first pay-per-view main event, he and Savage battled in a match where Page emerged victorious, but it was not the end of conflict between the two. A few months later at The Great American Bash, they squared off again in an anything goes, lights out match. The match ended with Savage defeating Page with help from (then) Tag Team Champion Scott Hall. At Bash at the Beach, Scott Hall and Randy Savage defeated Diamond Dallas Page and Curt Hennig. Curt Hennig, who Diamond Dallas Page had recruited personally to join WCW and team with him, turned on DDP during the match. Hennig defeated Diamond Dallas Page in a grudge match at Road Wild. At Fall Brawl, Page teamed with Lex Luger to defeat Scott Hall and Randy Savage in a No Disqualification match. Page even dressed up as masked wrestler La Parka and beat Savage on the July 7 edition of Monday Nitro. Around this time, Page also started fighting nWo leader, Hollywood Hogan. Page and Savage battled for the last time at Halloween Havoc. The match was billed as a Las Vegas sudden-death match, where Savage pinned Page after Hogan, dressed as Sting, came out and hit Page with a baseball bat in his already "injured" midsection, resulting in Savage picking up the win. On an episode of Nitro shortly after Halloween Havoc, Page fought Hogan, but was again beaten down by the nWo.
United States Heavyweight Champion (1997–1998)
At Starrcade, Page won the United States Heavyweight Championship from Curt Hennig. The following year at Uncensored, Page defended the title in a Triple Threat, Falls Count Anywhere contest against Chris Benoit and Raven, putting Raven through a table with a Diamond Cutter to retain the belt. Page later lost the title to Raven at Spring Stampede. Later in the year, Page tagged with Karl Malone against Hulk Hogan and Dennis Rodman at Bash at the Beach, losing due to interference. Page tagged with late night talk show host Jay Leno at Road Wild, where they defeated Hogan and Eric Bischoff.
At Fall Brawl, Page won the WarGames main event, and got a World title shot against the undefeated Goldberg at Halloween Havoc. Page did not win the match, but the match was voted WCW Magazines "Match of the Year" 1998. Halloween Havoc ran slightly longer than expected resulting in a number of cable companies blacking out the end of the Hogan versus Warrior match and all of the DDP versus Goldberg contest. WCW decided to air the Goldberg versus DDP title bout in its entirety on the October 26 episode of Nitro, which proved immensely popular in the ratings and resulted in a ratings win for Nitro over Raw – the last win Nitro ever had. Despite this setback in the World title picture, Page rebounded this same following night of Halloween Havoc, on the October 26 episode of Nitro, with a win over Bret Hart to capture the United States Heavyweight Title. The two headlined the following month's World War 3, in a title match which Page won. Page lost the title to Hart on the November 30 episode of Nitro in a No Disqualification match, when he was assaulted by The Giant.
WCW World Heavyweight Champion (1999–2001)
Page became WCW World Heavyweight Champion in April 1999, at Spring Stampede when he defeated Sting, Hogan, and Ric Flair for the title in a Four Way Dance with "Macho Man" Randy Savage as Special Guest Referee. Page pinned Flair after giving Flair the Diamond Cutter. Around this time some fans were starting to boo Page at various WCW events, so shortly after Spring Stampede a decision was made to turn Page heel for the first time in three years. The turn played out slowly at first, with Page undergoing a change in attitude. Then, on April 19, Page defended his title against Goldberg, where he cemented the turn by first knocking Goldberg out with brass knuckles and then propping his leg up against the ring stairs and repeatedly smashing it with a steel chair, all while taunting the fans with repeated utterances of "boo me now". Page only stopped when Kevin Nash, an ally of Hogan's who was angry at Page for (kayfabe) injuring Hogan's knee during the match at Spring Stampede, came back from injury and chased him away.
On April 26, 1999, Page lost and regained his title in the span of two hours. Sting challenged him to defend his title in the first hour of that night's Nitro and defeated him to regain the title he had lost a year earlier. This ended Page's reign at 15 days, but he gained an opportunity to get the title back ninety minutes later. Nash came to the ring and made a challenge for a four-way match for the title, and the just-dethroned Page joined defending champion Sting and Goldberg in the match. Page regained the WCW World Heavyweight Championship by using a foreign object to hit Nash and take the win and regain the title without actually defeating the reigning champion. Nash became the number one contender shortly after and vowed to get revenge on Page for his friend Hogan, culminating in a match at Slamboree in May. Page originally retained the WCW World Heavyweight Championship after Savage interfered and hit Nash, but the match was ordered to continue by Eric Bischoff and Nash pinned Page to win the title after a powerbomb. Page dropped out of the title picture shortly thereafter.
Shortly after Slamboree, Page entered into an alliance with fellow New Jerseyan Bam Bam Bigelow and won the WCW World Tag Team Championship from then champions Perry Saturn and Raven on May 31, thanks to Chris Kanyon turning heel on former ally Raven and costing the team the championships. Page, Bigelow, and Kanyon became known as the Jersey Triad and through their alliance with WCW "President for Life" Ric Flair took advantage of the Freebird Rule in their subsequent matches (meaning any combination of the three could defend the championship). The Triad held the titles until June 10, when Saturn and Chris Benoit (now stablemates in The Revolution) took the title from them. They regained the belts at The Great American Bash three days later, and lost them to Harlem Heat at Road Wild in August. Later that night, Chris Benoit defeated Diamond Dallas Page to retain the United States title. The group broke up shortly thereafter and Page began feuding with Hogan again, joining Sid Vicious and Rick Steiner in a team effort to take on Hogan, Sting, and Goldberg. Soon after that feud ended Page turned into a hero again and feuded with both Kanyon and Bigelow before the year ended.
In 2000, with WCW under new management, Page earned a shot at the vacant WCW World Heavyweight Championship at Spring Stampede against Jeff Jarrett. In a surprise twist, Page's wife, Kimberly, turned on Page and helped Jarrett become the new WCW World Heavyweight Champion. Page got the better of Jarrett on the April 24 episode of Nitro, where he defeated Jarrett in a steel cage match to become WCW World Heavyweight Champion for the third time, then lost the title to his tag partner, actor David Arquette, three days later on Thunder; the rules stated that whoever got the pin would win the title, and Arquette pinned Jarrett's partner, Eric Bischoff. Page attempted to win the title back at Slamboree later that month in a triple cage match against Arquette and Jarrett, but lost after Arquette hit him with a guitar. Page then entered a feud with Mike Awesome, who defeated him in an Ambulance Match at The Great American Bash after Kanyon turned on Page.
Page took some time off shortly after this, but returned in late 2000 as a full-time wrestler. After Page came back he formed a tag team with Kevin Nash called The Insiders, and the team won the WCW World Tag Team Championship on November 26 at Mayhem by defeating Perfect Event (Shawn Stasiak and Chuck Palumbo). The team was temporarily stripped of the titles but won them back at Starrcade defeating Stasiak and Palumbo again. Page and Nash lost the titles to Palumbo and Sean O'Haire at Sin in January and broke up shortly thereafter. After his tag team run Page briefly feuded with the returning Kanyon, which saw Kanyon defeat Page at SuperBrawl Revenge, and Page defeating Kanyon the following night on Nitro, ending their feud. Page then moved into the World Championship picture again by facing Scott Steiner. Their feud hit a climax at WCW's final PPV Greed, saw Page's final match in WCW and a semi-burial type defeat as he passed out in Steiner's finisher, The Steiner Recliner.
World Wrestling Federation (2001–2002)
When WCW was purchased by WWF owner Vince McMahon in 2001, Page was one of the few major WCW stars (along with Booker T and Buff Bagwell) who accepted buyouts of their AOL Time Warner contracts in order to immediately sign with McMahon. He debuted in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) on the June 18, 2001, episode of Raw when he unveiled himself as the stalker of The Undertaker's wife, Sara. Page revealed he didn't care about Sara; he only did it to make an impact and wanted to take on the "biggest dog in the yard". At King of the Ring, he fought The Undertaker in an unsanctioned brawl that was never announced as an official match. On the July 5 episode of SmackDown!, Page competed against WCW Champion Booker T, but failed to win the title after a distraction from the Undertaker. On the July 9 episode of Raw, WCW owner Shane McMahon and ECW owner Paul Heyman joined together to create The Alliance, with former WCW and ECW alumni joining forces in an attempt to take control of the WWF. At the Invasion pay-per-view, Page formed part of Team Alliance alongside Booker T, Rhyno and The Dudley Boyz, defeating Team WWF, after Team WWF member Stone Cold Steve Austin turned on his team members mid-match.
Page and Chris Kanyon reunited on the August 6 episode of Raw when Kanyon helped Page attack The Undertaker backstage. Three days later on the August 9 taping of SmackDown!, Page and Kanyon defeated the APA to win the WWF Tag Team Championship.
His feud with the Undertaker culminated when Undertaker and Kane defeated Page and Kanyon at SummerSlam on August 19, 2001, in a Steel cage match for the WWF Tag Team Championship. During the match, Page was injured, keeping him out of action until late October 2001. While Page was injured, he developed a new gimmick in which he became a motivational speaker. The character involved Page constantly smiling and acting optimistic, with his trademark phrase "That's not a bad thing... that's... a good thing".
His return televised match was on November 3 at Rebellion losing to Big Show. After the Alliance lost at Survivor Series, Page, along with the rest of the Alliance members, kayfabe lost their jobs.
Page eventually returned as a face and won his job back by defeating Big Boss Man on the January 17, 2002, episode of SmackDown!. Page competed in the Royal Rumble match at the titular event on January 20 but did not win.
Page became the WWF European Champion on the January 31, 2002, episode of SmackDown!, when he defeated Christian, a former follower of his positive "philosophy." At WrestleMania X8, Page successfully retained in a rematch against Christian. He lost the title to William Regal on an episode of SmackDown! that aired March 21. On March 25, Page was drafted to the SmackDown! brand as part of the 2002 WWF draft lottery.
On the April 18 episode of SmackDown!, he sustained a serious neck injury during a match with Hardcore Holly, after botching a superplex. After receiving opinions from multiple doctors, Page announced his retirement in June 2002. He left the promotion soon after.
Return to wrestling (2004)
In 2004, Page made his in-ring return by wrestling for several independent promotions. His first match was on April 21, 2004, teaming with Satoshi Kojima as they lost to former WCW star Sting and The Great Muta for HCW Battle Hawaii.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2004–2005)
He signed with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). He debuted for the company on the November 12 taping of Impact!, where he attacked Raven, beginning a feud between the two. At Turning Point on December 5, DDP defeated Raven.
and at Final Resolution in January 2005, Page competed in a three-way elimination match to determine the number one contender for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship also involving Monty Brown and Kevin Nash, which was won by Brown. Page and Brown subsequently formed a tag team. The following month at Against All Odds, Page and Brown defeated Team Canada (Bobby Roode and Eric Young). Page received an NWA World Heavyweight Championship title shot on March 13 at Destination X, but was defeated by reigning champion Jeff Jarrett when Brown turned heel and hit Page with the Pounce. At Lockdown, Page teamed with B.G. James and Waltman to defeat Jeff Jarrett, Monty Brown and The Outlaw in a Lethal Lockdown match. At Hard Justice on May 15, Page and Ron Killings faced Monty Brown and The Outlaw where they were defeated in what was Page's final match in TNA. Page left TNA shortly thereafter in order to pursue an acting career.
Independent circuit (2005–2011)
After TNA, Page returned to the independent circuit. He lost to Larry Zbyszko at WrestleReunion. DDP had Bruno Sammartino in his corner during the match. Then Page defeated Buff Bagwell on December 9, 2005, at GLCW Blizzard Brawl. In 2006, Page defeated his former Jersey Triad partner Chris Kanyon twice before retiring once again.
On August 9, 2009, Diamond Dallas Page made a special appearance for Juggalo Championship Wrestling (JCW) at their Bloodymania III event, aligning himself with the jWo. He hit his trademark Diamond Cutter finisher on Trent Acid.
DDP returned to wrestling on January 2, 2010, teaming with Air Paris to defeat Bobby Hayes and Alexander the Great at PICW event. On October 15, 2011, DDP teamed with Kevin Nash as they defeated The Rock 'n' Roll Express at AWE Night Of The Legends.
Return to WWE (2011–2017)
In late 2010, Page agreed to work on a DVD for WWE, titled The Very Best of WCW Monday Nitro, after being approached on the project due to his ties to WCW. Page hosted the DVD, which was released on June 7, 2011. On the June 27 episode of Raw, Page made an appearance promoting this DVD with Booker T.
In 2012, Page appeared on WWE Classics on Demand in Legends of Wrestling Roundtable: Renegades along with Jim Ross, Michael P.S. Hayes, Roddy Piper, and Gene Okerlund. Page also appeared alongside Kevin Nash and X-Pac at the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony on March 31, 2012. On July 2, 2012, Page made an appearance on Raw, where he hit a Diamond Cutter on Heath Slater. He also appeared at Raw 1000, accompanied by other WWE Legends, during Slater's match with Lita.
On the January 6, 2014, episode of Raw, Page, along with a number of other legends, appeared on the show as part of its "Old School" theme. On April 5, Page inducted his wrestling mentor and noted DDP Yoga practitioner Jake Roberts into the WWE Hall of Fame.
On January 25, 2015, at Royal Rumble, Page was a surprise entrant in the Rumble match, entering at number 14 and hitting his finishing move, the Diamond Cutter, on Stardust, Bray Wyatt and Fandango from the top rope, before being eliminated by Rusev. At WrestleMania 32, Page competed in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, but was eliminated by Konnor.
On March 31, 2017, Page was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in Orlando, Florida.
All In (2018)
At All In on September 1, 2018, Page accompanied Cody Rhodes in his match against NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis.
All Elite Wrestling (2019–2020)
On May 25, 2019, during their inaugural pay-per-view Double or Nothing, Page escorted Brandi Rhodes away from the ring after she refused to leave the match between Cody Rhodes and Dustin Rhodes after match referee Earl Hebner ejected her from the match. On the October 23, 2019, episode of AEW Dynamite, Page returned to TNT program for the first time in over 18 years, and helped Cody attack Chris Jericho and his stable The Inner Circle. On November 27, 2019, Page returned to Dynamite to present MJF with the first ever Dynamite Diamond Ring as a prize for defeating Adam Page. On January 15, 2020, at Bash at the Beach, he had his first match since the 2016 Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal teaming with Dustin Rhodes and QT Marshall to take on MJF and The Butcher and The Blade in a losing effort.
Yoga
Page developed a yoga fitness program initially called Yoga for Regular Guys Workout (YRG), after discovering the health benefits of yoga through his then-wife Kimberly while he recovered from ruptures to his L4/L5 discs in 1998. His favorite kind of yoga (according to his "Yoga for Regular Guys" book published in 2005) is "Power Yoga", an American-style version of "Ashtanga Style" yoga. Page worked with chiropractor Dr. Craig Aaron, and developed the Yoga for Regular Guys Workout.
Page developed the book into a series of workout videos titled DDP Yoga (formerly YRG). DDP Yoga was featured in a video about Arthur Boorman in May 2012. The story was picked up by the mainstream media, including Good Morning America. The video describes the journey of Arthur Boorman, a disabled veteran who was told by doctors he would never walk again. After spending fifteen years on crutches, Boorman followed Page's yoga plan for ten months and documented his progress on home video. He lost 140 pounds and regained the strength and flexibility to walk and run without his crutches, back braces or leg braces.
On February 21, 2014, Page appeared on the ABC series Shark Tank, where he was seeking $200,200 for a 5% share in the DDP Yoga company. He declined to sell a 50% share for that same amount to Kevin O'Leary. Page had hoped to use the money to develop a mobile app. The other investors were impressed by Boorman's improvement but believed the home exercise market was too competitive and also predicted net profits ($800,000 in the previous year) would fall. Page later said he sold more than $1 million worth of products in the first six days after his appearance.
Documentaries and podcast
In 2015, he was a main subject in the documentary The Resurrection of Jake the Snake, which chronicled Page helping Jake Roberts through rehabilitation.
In 2016, Page was featured on the Nine Legends Expansion Pack to talk about his friend Bill Goldberg.
Page currently hosts a radio show titled DDP Radio. Beginning on January 4, 2022, Page will take part in a podcast with Jake Roberts and Conrad Thompson titled DDP Snakepit.
Video games
Page has been depicted in several licensed wrestling video games.
Filmography
First Daughter (1999) as Dirk Lindman
Ready to Rumble (2000) as Himself
Rat Race (2001) in a deleted scene
Nice Guys (2005) as Sleezy Guy
The Devil's Rejects (2005) as Billy Ray Snapper
The 40-Year-Old Virgin (deleted scene)
Jack's Law (2006) as Spider Benson
Hood of Horror (2006) as Jersey
Splinter (2006) as Detective Stiles
Driftwood (2006) as Captain Kennedy
Knight Fever (2008)
Gallowwalkers (2009) as Skullbucket
Sensory Perception (2010) as Mr. Harrington
Pizza Man (2011) as Kryder
Vengeance (2014)
The Murders of Brandywine Theater (2014) as Officer Carwin
The Resurrection of Jake the Snake (2015) as Himself
The Bet (2016) as Mr. Baker
Lawsuits
Page is commonly associated with the "Self High Five" as well as the "Diamond Cutter" symbol, a hand gesture made by joining the thumbs and index fingers on each hand to form a diamond shape, then parting the two hands in one swift motion. He created the symbol in 1996 and later trademarked it. In December 2005, Page filed a lawsuit against rapper Jay-Z, who, he claimed, had "illegally adopted his trademark hand gesture". Page accused Jay-Z of trademark infringement and sought a prohibitive injunction and monetary damages. It resulted in Page dropping the lawsuit for an undisclosed amount of money. On August 31, 2010, Page filed a lawsuit against American electronica musical duo 3OH!3 for infringement of his trademarked "Diamond Cutter" hand gesture.
Page's WCW entrance music, "Self High-Five", intentionally contained similarities to the 1991 Nirvana song "Smells Like Teen Spirit", as composer Jimmy Hart and Page felt it exemplified the "sound of the '90s". According to Page, Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl in turn claimed that "WCW owes us [the band] money", but before any further actions or lawsuits took place, the track was altered to "sound like it was it, but wasn't".
Personal life
Page released his autobiography, Positively Page: The Diamond Dallas Page Journey, on February 1, 2000.
In 2003, he had his name legally changed to Dallas Page.
On December 1, 1991, Page married Kimberly Page. On July 3, 2004, they announced their amicable separation, before divorcing in 2005.
In 2015, Page married Brenda Nair. They separated in 2019. The divorce was finalized in 2020.
In 2021, Page married Payge McMahon.
Page has two daughters, Brittany Page (born 1987) and Kimberly Page (born 1994), and two stepdaughters, Alexandra "Lexy" Nair (born 1996) and Rachel Nair (born 2001). Lexy currently works with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a backstage interviewer.
On January 15, 2019, Page released another book, Positively Unstoppable: The Art of Owning It, through Rodale Books. The book includes a foreword by Mick Foley.
Championships and accomplishments
Cauliflower Alley Club
Jason Sanderson Humanitarian Award (2015)
Men's Wrestling Award (2015)
George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
Frank Gotch Award (2014)
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
Feud of the Year (1997)
Most Hated Wrestler of the Year (1999)
Most Improved Wrestler of the Year (1995)
Ranked No. 4 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the year in the PWI 500 in 1997 and 1998
Ranked No. 65 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the PWI Years in 2003
Swiss Wrestling Federation
SWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
World Championship Wrestling
WCW World Heavyweight Championship (3 times)
WCW World Television Championship (1 time)
WCW United States Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
WCW World Tag Team Championship (4 times) – with Bam Bam Bigelow and Chris Kanyon (2) and Kevin Nash (2)
Fourth WCW Triple Crown Champion
Lord of The Ring Tournament (1996)
World Wrestling Federation/WWE
WWF European Championship (1 time)
WWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Chris Kanyon
WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2017)
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Best Wrestling Maneuver (1997)
Most Improved (1996)
Worst Gimmick (2001)
Notes
Bibliography
Genta, Larry and Page, Diamond Dallas (2000) Positively Page,
Aaron, Craig and Page, Diamond Dallas (2005) Yoga for Regular Guys: The Best Damn Workout on the Planet,
Page, Diamond Dallas (2019) Positively Unstoppable: The Art of Owning It,
See also
The Alliance
The Diamond Exchange
The Fabulous Freebirds
The Insiders/The Vegas Connection
The Jersey Triad
The Millionaire's Club
References
External links
Diamond Dallas Page Article
1956 births
All Elite Wrestling personnel
American male film actors
American male professional wrestlers
American male television actors
American men podcasters
American people of German descent
Living people
NWA/WCW World Television Champions
NWA/WCW/WWE United States Heavyweight Champions
People with dyslexia
Point Pleasant Borough High School alumni
Professional wrestlers from New Jersey
Professional wrestling announcers
Professional wrestling managers and valets
Professional wrestling podcasters
Sportspeople from Point Pleasant, New Jersey
WCW World Heavyweight Champions
WWE Hall of Fame inductees
WWF European Champions | false | [
"\"Don't Look Back into the Sun\" is a song released by the Libertines as their fourth single. NME magazine awarded it single of the week upon its release. \"Don't Look Back into the Sun\" was released as a single only, therefore not appearing on any albums.\n\nRelease\nThe single was released in three versions in the United Kingdom featuring a re-recording of \"Death on the Stairs\" produced by Bernard Butler. With \"Death on the Stairs\" present the single was sometimes labeled as \"Don't Look Back into the Sun\"/\"Death on the Stairs\".\n\nIn various territories \"Don't Look Back into the Sun\" was released as an EP combining various UK b-sides on a single CD. It was also released as a seven track EP in Japan, featuring the music video for the song \"I Get Along\" as the eighth track.\n\n\"Don't Look Back into the Sun\" was featured in the 2005 film The Long Weekend. and on the intro for episodes of the BBC sitcom Gavin & Stacey. The song was also used at the end of the first episode of The Inbetweeners, as well as being used for Kill Your Darlings ending credits, and the 2015 film Steve Jobs, during a sequence of news montages detailing the history of Steve Jobs and Apple Inc in the decade between Jobs’ launch of the NeXTcube and his eventual return to Apple in 1998.\n\nIn 2007 it was covered by The View on the BBC Radio 1 Established 1967 album, with the song representing the year 2003.\n\nReception\nIn May 2007, NME magazine placed \"Don't Look Back into the Sun\" at number five in its list of the 50 Greatest Indie Anthems Ever, one place ahead of the Libertines' \"Time for Heroes\". In October 2011, NME placed it at number 71 on its list \"150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years\".\n\nTrack listings\n7-inch\n \"Don't Look Back into the Sun\" – 2:59\n \"Death on the Stairs\" – 3:43\n Re-recorded version\n\nCD 1\n \"Don't Look Back into the Sun\" – 2:59\n \"Death on the Stairs\" – 3:43\n Re-recorded version\n \"Tell the King\" (Original Demo Version) – 3:44\n\nCD 2\n \"Don't Look Back into the Sun\" – 2:59\n \"Skint and Minted\" (Demo) – 3:35\n \"Mockingbird\" – 3:14\n\nSpanish EP\n \"Don't Look Back into the Sun\" – 2:59\n \"Death on the Stairs\" – 3:43\n Re-recorded version\n \"Tell the King\" (Original Demo Version) – 3:44\n \"Skint and Minted\" (Demo) – 3:35\n\nAustralian EP\n \"Don't Look Back into the Sun\" – 2:59\n \"Death on the Stairs\" – 3:43\n Re-recorded version\n \"Tell the King\" (Original Demo Version) – 3:44\n \"Skint and Minted\" (Demo) – 3:35\n \"Mockingbird\" – 3:14\n\nJapanese EP\n \"Don't Look Back into the Sun\" – 2:59\n \"Death on the Stairs\" – 3:43\n Re-recorded version\n \"Skint and Minted\" (Demo) – 3:35\n \"General Smuts\" (Demo) – 3:31\n \"Mr. Finnegan\" (Demo) – 1:51\n \"7 Deadly Sins\" (Demo) – 2:50\n \"Plan A\" – 3:22\n I Get Along (Music Video)\n\nCharts\n\nCertifications\n\nReferences\n\n2003 singles\n2003 songs\nThe Libertines songs\nUK Independent Singles Chart number-one singles",
"Whenever We Wanted is American singer-songwriter and musician John Mellencamp's 11th album, and the first to be credited simply to Mellencamp's given name (i.e., without the \"Cougar\" name).\n\nThe album reached the top 20 and went platinum. It includes the hits \"Get A Leg Up\" (#1 for three weeks on the Album Rock Tracks chart), \"Now More Than Ever\" (#3 on the Album Rock Tracks chart), \"Last Chance\" (#12 on the Album Rock Tracks chart), and \"Again Tonight\" (#1 for two weeks on the Album Rock Tracks chart). \"Get A Leg Up\" (#14) and \"Again Tonight\" (#36) also cracked the Billboard Hot 100.\n\nEntertainment Weekly gave the album a positive review, stating: \"To Mellencamp's credit, even though 'Whenever We Wanted' delivers his signature rock & roll punch, he doesn't try to. That Mellencamp still has the courage to make depressing assessments in a pop context is a victory that outweighs the record's other shortcomings.\"\n\nMellencamp later said the album was an attempt to \"write American Fool with better lyrics\" after a fan mentioned the previous two albums \"had nothing about sex on them.\" This inspired him to write less about problems in the heartland and \"get back to the basics.\"\n\nAlbum notes\nThe woman featured on the cover with Mellencamp is Elaine Irwin. The cover photo was taken during the shoot for the video for the hit single \"Get a Leg Up.\" The video was shot in July 1991; Mellencamp and Irwin did not see each other again until January 1992 when the Whenever We Wanted Tour pulled into New York City. They become a couple a short time later and were married in September 1992. They separated in September 2010 and were divorced in 2011.\n\nAfter his previous two albums, The Lonesome Jubilee and Big Daddy, featured such non-traditional rock instruments as the accordion and violin, Mellencamp said that on Whenever We Wanted he wanted to put those instruments \"back in their cases\" and return to a harder-edged sound. Mellencamp further elaborated on the album, saying: \"It's very rock 'n' roll. I just wanted to get back to the basics.\"\n\nTrack listing\nAll songs written by John Mellencamp, except where noted.\n \"Love and Happiness\" – 3:53\n \"Now More Than Ever\" – 3:43\n \"I Ain't Ever Satisfied\" – 3:36\n \"Get a Leg Up\" – 3:47\n \"Crazy Ones\" (Mellencamp, Randy Handley) – 4:01\n \"Last Chance\" – 3:39\n \"They're So Tough\" – 4:17\n \"Melting Pot\" – 4:47\n \"Whenever We Wanted\" – 3:42\n \"Again Tonight\" – 3:17\n \"Love and Happiness (London Club Mix)\" (2005 re-issue bonus track) – 6:33\n\nPersonnel\n John Mellencamp – vocals, guitar, hand percussion\n Kenny Aronoff – drums, percussion, vibes\n Mike Wanchic – guitar, background vocals\n Toby Myers – bass guitar, background vocals\n David Grissom – guitars\n John Cascella – Hammond B-3, accordion, penny whistle, Farfisa Organ\n Pharez Whitted – trumpet on \"Love And Happiness\" and \"Whenever We Wanted\"\nJay Healy – engineer, mixing\n\nCharts\n\nCertifications\n\nReferences\n\nJohn Mellencamp albums\n1991 albums\nMercury Records albums"
] |
[
"Diamond Dallas Page",
"The Alliance (2001)",
"what was the Alliance>",
"Page soon joined the Alliance during the WCW Invasion.",
"where was the invaision",
"I don't know.",
"who else was involved in the alliance",
"Booker T and Buff Bagwell",
"what happened to he alliance",
"he fought The Undertaker in an unsanctioned brawl that was never announced as an official match.",
"how long were they a group",
"After the Alliance lost at Survivor Series DDP along with the rest of the alliance members bar Test kayfabe lost their jobs.",
"did they ever get their jobs back",
"I don't know."
] | C_d01286bc895c4f97bf9fd1d33af12004_1 | what is the most interesting part of the article | 7 | What is the most interesting part of the article about The Alliance? | Diamond Dallas Page | When WCW was purchased by WWF owner Vince McMahon in 2001, Page was one of the few major WCW stars (along with Booker T and Buff Bagwell) who accepted buyouts of their AOL Time Warner contracts in order to immediately sign with McMahon. He debuted in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) on the edition of June 18, 2001 of Raw when he unveiled himself as the stalker of The Undertaker's wife, Sara. Page revealed he didn't care about Sara; he only did it to make an impact and wanted to take on the biggest dog in the yard. Page soon joined the Alliance during the WCW Invasion. At King of the Ring, he fought The Undertaker in an unsanctioned brawl that was never announced as an official match. Page and Chris Kanyon reunited on the edition of August 6, 2001 of Raw when Kanyon helped Page attack The Undertaker backstage. Three days later on edition of August 9, 2001 of SmackDown!, Page and Kanyon defeated the APA to win the WWF Tag Team Championship. The feud with the Undertaker went on for the best part of three months and ended when Undertaker and Kane defeated Page and Kanyon at SummerSlam on August 19, 2001 in a Steel cage match for the WWF Tag Team Championship, where Page got injured which kept him out of action until late October 2001. He became known for his catchphrase "Yo! It's me, it's me, it's DDP!" While Page was injured he developed a new gimmick in September 2001 to become a motivational speaker, something he did in real life, in what came to be known as his Positively Page character. The name came from the title of his autobiography that was published during his WCW days. The character, who Page developed after attending the Tony Robbins Results 2000 seminar in October 2000, involved Page constantly smiling and acting optimistic, with his trademark phrase "That's not a bad thing... that's... a good thing". His return televised match was on November 3, 2001 at Rebellion losing to Big Show. After the Alliance lost at Survivor Series DDP along with the rest of the alliance members bar Test kayfabe lost their jobs. CANNOTANSWER | new gimmick in September 2001 to become a motivational speaker, something he did in real life, in what came to be known as his Positively Page character. | Dallas Page (born Page Joseph Falkinburg, April 5, 1956), better known by his ring name Diamond Dallas Page (often stylized as DDP), is an American actor, fitness instructor and former professional wrestler. In the course of his wrestling career, which spanned two decades, Page has wrestled for mainstream wrestling promotions World Championship Wrestling (WCW), the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE), Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), and All Elite Wrestling (AEW).
Falkinburg first broke into the wrestling business in 1988, as a manager in the American Wrestling Association, where he worked for nine months before signing with WCW in 1991. There, he continued as a manager until late 1991, when he became a wrestler. Over a decade in WCW, Falkinburg became a three-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, two-time WCW United States Heavyweight Champion, four-time WCW World Tag Team Champion and one-time WCW World Television Champion. He is the fourth WCW Triple Crown Champion, and the only United States Heavyweight Champion to defend the title in a pay-per-view main event, defeating Bret Hart at the 1998 World War 3.
After WCW was sold in 2001, Page signed with the WWF where he made his pay-per-view debut in the main event of July's Invasion show, and went on to become a one-time WWF European Champion and one-time WWF World Tag Team Champion. Due to a series of injuries, he allowed his contract with the company to expire in 2002. He worked for TNA from 2004 to 2005, challenging for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in the main event of Destination X 2005. On March 31, 2017, he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by Eric Bischoff.
Since 2012, Page has run a mail order and online fitness video business called DDP Yoga, based on yoga and dynamic self-resistance.
Early life
Page Joseph Falkinburg, the eldest of three children, was born in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, the son of Sylvia (née Seigel) and Page Falkinburg Sr. He was raised by his father during his early years after his parents divorced. He stated that he is of German, Irish, and Dutch origin. Falkinburg/Falkenburg is also the name of multiple German villages and at least three German castles. The name "Dallas" came from his love of the Dallas Cowboys.
His brother Rory and sister Sally were raised by their maternal grandmother. Falkinburg lived with his father from age three to eight. His father took him, at eight years old, to live with his grandmother, who raised him. Falkinburg admitted in his autobiography he is dyslexic. He had many challenges hit him throughout his childhood and educational years.
He attended St. Joseph's High School (now Donovan Catholic High School) in Toms River, New Jersey, for his freshman and second years, spending his first season on the JV basketball team and making the varsity squad as a sophomore. He transferred to Point Pleasant Borough High School in Point Pleasant, where he was a star basketball player with the Point Pleasant Boro High School Panthers. He attended Coastal Carolina University in South Carolina briefly before leaving school to work full-time.
Professional wrestling career
American Wrestling Association (1988)
Page ran a nightclub in Fort Myers, Florida called "Norma Jeans" (known for its Pink Cadillac) while he was working as a wrestling manager in the American Wrestling Association (AWA). He started managing in 1988, where he handled Badd Company (Paul Diamond and Pat Tanaka), a team he led to the AWA World Tag Team Championship on March 19. Badd Company, was often accompanied by female valets known as the "Diamond Dolls" (Tonya, Jennifer and Torri). During his time in the AWA, Page also managed Colonel DeBeers, Curt Hennig and Madusa Miceli as the leader of the Diamond Exchange stable. He worked for the AWA at 12 dates over a period of nine months, where they filmed all the television shows in one day.
Professional Wrestling Federation (19891991)
Page also worked as a color commentator in Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), soon renamed Professional Wrestling Federation (PWF), where he worked alongside Gordon Solie, before finally debuting as a professional wrestler. Page's first pro match occurred in May 1989 against Dick Slater.
In 1990, Dallas received a tryout with the WWF as an announcer, but wasn't offered a job. At WrestleMania VI, he drove Rhythm and Blues (The Honky Tonk Man and Greg Valentine) to the ring in his pink Cadillac. At this time, he was virtually unknown in the World Wrestling Federation. When FCW went out of business, Page was still involved in the club business until Dusty Rhodes returned to World Championship Wrestling. Rhodes started booking and brought him in on a small contract in early 1991.
World Championship Wrestling/WCW (1991–2001)
Various alliances (1991–1993)
Page came to World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1991 as manager of The Fabulous Freebirds (Jimmy Garvin and Michael P.S. Hayes). Page managed the Freebirds to a shot at the NWA World Tag Team Championship where they defeated Doom (Butch Reed and Ron Simmons) on February 24. Before that match took place, Page unveiled the stable's new road manager, Big Daddy Dink, formerly known as Oliver Humperdink, who interfered in the match. During this match, Page introduced the Diamond Dolls. Page added Scott Hall to the stable under the name of Diamond Studd. Page also worked as a color commentator for WCW with Eric Bischoff. With rumors that the WCW wanted to take the Diamond Studd away from Page, he decided to take the advice of Magnum T.A. and begin to wrestle himself. He headed to the WCW Power Plant where Buddy Lee Parker, The Assassin, and Dusty Rhodes trained the 35-year-old rookie. He debuted as a wrestler in a tag team match later that year. With the Diamond Studd, he faced Kevin Sullivan and his partner. He was relegated to the "jobber" list. He made his wrestling pay-per-view debut at Starrcade in 1991, teaming with Mike Graham in a losing effort to Jushin Thunder Liger and Bill Kazmaier. In regards to this period, he stated:
"Bischoff gave me the job as I was a good example of work ethic, passion and someone that cares about the business. Since they wouldn't really book me, I went down to the WCW Power Plant every day I wasn't working. That's how you adapt to adversity. Even when I started to make it, I still kept going back. Until I was on the road 260 days a year-plus, I was still going to that Power Plant. For five years I went there, because that's how long it took me to get to the top."
Page continued wrestling and brought other wrestlers into his stable, The Diamond Mine, such as Scotty Flamingo (Raven) and Vinnie Vegas (Kevin Nash). The relationships between DDP, Flamingo, and Vegas were used in many angles over the following months. Page went in the corner of Scotty Flamingo, at Clash of the Champions XXI on November 18, 1992, when Flamingo fought Johnny B. Badd in a worked boxing match. Flamingo won this bout with a little help from Page who filled Flamingo's glove with water. The following year, after Studd and Flamingo left the stable, Page teamed with Vinnie Vegas as the Vegas Connection. The team was disbanded shortly after its debut when Page tore a rotator cuff in a match against Tex Slazenger and Shanghai Pierce toward the end of 1992 and was later fired, while Nash left WCW for the World Wrestling Federation.
World Television Champion and feud with Randy Savage (1994–1997)
Page, determined to continue improving his character, sought the help of Jake Roberts who advised him on the psychological aspects of the business. After his injury had healed, Page returned to WCW television in 1994, with his wife Kimberly as the Diamond Doll, and an on-screen bodyguard, Max Muscle. He held open arm wrestling challenges to win Kimberly, but Max always helped him win or arm wrestled for him. He was also involved in an angle where he was said to have amassed $13 million through victories in arm wrestling competitions, then lost it. He also had a long feud with Dave Sullivan because Sullivan gave Kimberly gifts (and largely because Page was defeated by Sullivan in one of the arm wrestling contests, which earned him a date with Kimberly). At Fall Brawl, Page won his first championship when he defeated Renegade for the WCW World Television Championship. In the build-up to his first title defence at Halloween Havoc, there was growing dissension between Page and Kimberly. Johnny B. Badd defeated Page for the TV title and again at World War 3 on November 26, winning Kimberly's freedom from DDP. At Uncensored on March 24, 1996 The Booty Man with Kimberly as The Booty Babe defeated Diamond Dallas Page in a Loser Leaves Town match.
Page returned on the May 18, 1996, episode of WCW Saturday Night as a tweener defeating Billy Kidman. On May 19, Page participated in the Lord of the Ring Tournament (Battle Bowl) at Slamboree. Falkinburg was victorious when he defeated The Barbarian with two Diamond Cutters. The winner was to be the number one contender for the World Title which at that time was held by The Giant. He never received the title shot that he earned that night. Page was feuding with Eddie Guerrero when the New World Order (nWo) was formed. Since Nash and Hall were both former partners of Page, they assisted him in his matches in the tournament being held for the vacant United States Heavyweight Championship. Believing their assistance was not appreciated, Hall and Nash attacked him during the tournament final, allowing Guerrero to win. After demonstrating the benefits of the nWo, they asked him to join. He responded by giving them Diamond Cutters on January 25, 1997, at Souled Out, starting a face turn and a feud with the nWo. Soon after, Page began a feud with recent nWo recruit "Macho Man" Randy Savage. On an episode of Nitro, Savage, aided by Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, attacked Page and spray-painted "nWo" on his back. A few weeks later at Uncensored, Savage and Miss Elizabeth "broke" (a worked shoot) by revealing to the world that Page and Kimberly were, in fact, married. Savage then proceeded to beat up Page, ensuring a future match between the two. At Spring Stampede, in Page's first pay-per-view main event, he and Savage battled in a match where Page emerged victorious, but it was not the end of conflict between the two. A few months later at The Great American Bash, they squared off again in an anything goes, lights out match. The match ended with Savage defeating Page with help from (then) Tag Team Champion Scott Hall. At Bash at the Beach, Scott Hall and Randy Savage defeated Diamond Dallas Page and Curt Hennig. Curt Hennig, who Diamond Dallas Page had recruited personally to join WCW and team with him, turned on DDP during the match. Hennig defeated Diamond Dallas Page in a grudge match at Road Wild. At Fall Brawl, Page teamed with Lex Luger to defeat Scott Hall and Randy Savage in a No Disqualification match. Page even dressed up as masked wrestler La Parka and beat Savage on the July 7 edition of Monday Nitro. Around this time, Page also started fighting nWo leader, Hollywood Hogan. Page and Savage battled for the last time at Halloween Havoc. The match was billed as a Las Vegas sudden-death match, where Savage pinned Page after Hogan, dressed as Sting, came out and hit Page with a baseball bat in his already "injured" midsection, resulting in Savage picking up the win. On an episode of Nitro shortly after Halloween Havoc, Page fought Hogan, but was again beaten down by the nWo.
United States Heavyweight Champion (1997–1998)
At Starrcade, Page won the United States Heavyweight Championship from Curt Hennig. The following year at Uncensored, Page defended the title in a Triple Threat, Falls Count Anywhere contest against Chris Benoit and Raven, putting Raven through a table with a Diamond Cutter to retain the belt. Page later lost the title to Raven at Spring Stampede. Later in the year, Page tagged with Karl Malone against Hulk Hogan and Dennis Rodman at Bash at the Beach, losing due to interference. Page tagged with late night talk show host Jay Leno at Road Wild, where they defeated Hogan and Eric Bischoff.
At Fall Brawl, Page won the WarGames main event, and got a World title shot against the undefeated Goldberg at Halloween Havoc. Page did not win the match, but the match was voted WCW Magazines "Match of the Year" 1998. Halloween Havoc ran slightly longer than expected resulting in a number of cable companies blacking out the end of the Hogan versus Warrior match and all of the DDP versus Goldberg contest. WCW decided to air the Goldberg versus DDP title bout in its entirety on the October 26 episode of Nitro, which proved immensely popular in the ratings and resulted in a ratings win for Nitro over Raw – the last win Nitro ever had. Despite this setback in the World title picture, Page rebounded this same following night of Halloween Havoc, on the October 26 episode of Nitro, with a win over Bret Hart to capture the United States Heavyweight Title. The two headlined the following month's World War 3, in a title match which Page won. Page lost the title to Hart on the November 30 episode of Nitro in a No Disqualification match, when he was assaulted by The Giant.
WCW World Heavyweight Champion (1999–2001)
Page became WCW World Heavyweight Champion in April 1999, at Spring Stampede when he defeated Sting, Hogan, and Ric Flair for the title in a Four Way Dance with "Macho Man" Randy Savage as Special Guest Referee. Page pinned Flair after giving Flair the Diamond Cutter. Around this time some fans were starting to boo Page at various WCW events, so shortly after Spring Stampede a decision was made to turn Page heel for the first time in three years. The turn played out slowly at first, with Page undergoing a change in attitude. Then, on April 19, Page defended his title against Goldberg, where he cemented the turn by first knocking Goldberg out with brass knuckles and then propping his leg up against the ring stairs and repeatedly smashing it with a steel chair, all while taunting the fans with repeated utterances of "boo me now". Page only stopped when Kevin Nash, an ally of Hogan's who was angry at Page for (kayfabe) injuring Hogan's knee during the match at Spring Stampede, came back from injury and chased him away.
On April 26, 1999, Page lost and regained his title in the span of two hours. Sting challenged him to defend his title in the first hour of that night's Nitro and defeated him to regain the title he had lost a year earlier. This ended Page's reign at 15 days, but he gained an opportunity to get the title back ninety minutes later. Nash came to the ring and made a challenge for a four-way match for the title, and the just-dethroned Page joined defending champion Sting and Goldberg in the match. Page regained the WCW World Heavyweight Championship by using a foreign object to hit Nash and take the win and regain the title without actually defeating the reigning champion. Nash became the number one contender shortly after and vowed to get revenge on Page for his friend Hogan, culminating in a match at Slamboree in May. Page originally retained the WCW World Heavyweight Championship after Savage interfered and hit Nash, but the match was ordered to continue by Eric Bischoff and Nash pinned Page to win the title after a powerbomb. Page dropped out of the title picture shortly thereafter.
Shortly after Slamboree, Page entered into an alliance with fellow New Jerseyan Bam Bam Bigelow and won the WCW World Tag Team Championship from then champions Perry Saturn and Raven on May 31, thanks to Chris Kanyon turning heel on former ally Raven and costing the team the championships. Page, Bigelow, and Kanyon became known as the Jersey Triad and through their alliance with WCW "President for Life" Ric Flair took advantage of the Freebird Rule in their subsequent matches (meaning any combination of the three could defend the championship). The Triad held the titles until June 10, when Saturn and Chris Benoit (now stablemates in The Revolution) took the title from them. They regained the belts at The Great American Bash three days later, and lost them to Harlem Heat at Road Wild in August. Later that night, Chris Benoit defeated Diamond Dallas Page to retain the United States title. The group broke up shortly thereafter and Page began feuding with Hogan again, joining Sid Vicious and Rick Steiner in a team effort to take on Hogan, Sting, and Goldberg. Soon after that feud ended Page turned into a hero again and feuded with both Kanyon and Bigelow before the year ended.
In 2000, with WCW under new management, Page earned a shot at the vacant WCW World Heavyweight Championship at Spring Stampede against Jeff Jarrett. In a surprise twist, Page's wife, Kimberly, turned on Page and helped Jarrett become the new WCW World Heavyweight Champion. Page got the better of Jarrett on the April 24 episode of Nitro, where he defeated Jarrett in a steel cage match to become WCW World Heavyweight Champion for the third time, then lost the title to his tag partner, actor David Arquette, three days later on Thunder; the rules stated that whoever got the pin would win the title, and Arquette pinned Jarrett's partner, Eric Bischoff. Page attempted to win the title back at Slamboree later that month in a triple cage match against Arquette and Jarrett, but lost after Arquette hit him with a guitar. Page then entered a feud with Mike Awesome, who defeated him in an Ambulance Match at The Great American Bash after Kanyon turned on Page.
Page took some time off shortly after this, but returned in late 2000 as a full-time wrestler. After Page came back he formed a tag team with Kevin Nash called The Insiders, and the team won the WCW World Tag Team Championship on November 26 at Mayhem by defeating Perfect Event (Shawn Stasiak and Chuck Palumbo). The team was temporarily stripped of the titles but won them back at Starrcade defeating Stasiak and Palumbo again. Page and Nash lost the titles to Palumbo and Sean O'Haire at Sin in January and broke up shortly thereafter. After his tag team run Page briefly feuded with the returning Kanyon, which saw Kanyon defeat Page at SuperBrawl Revenge, and Page defeating Kanyon the following night on Nitro, ending their feud. Page then moved into the World Championship picture again by facing Scott Steiner. Their feud hit a climax at WCW's final PPV Greed, saw Page's final match in WCW and a semi-burial type defeat as he passed out in Steiner's finisher, The Steiner Recliner.
World Wrestling Federation (2001–2002)
When WCW was purchased by WWF owner Vince McMahon in 2001, Page was one of the few major WCW stars (along with Booker T and Buff Bagwell) who accepted buyouts of their AOL Time Warner contracts in order to immediately sign with McMahon. He debuted in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) on the June 18, 2001, episode of Raw when he unveiled himself as the stalker of The Undertaker's wife, Sara. Page revealed he didn't care about Sara; he only did it to make an impact and wanted to take on the "biggest dog in the yard". At King of the Ring, he fought The Undertaker in an unsanctioned brawl that was never announced as an official match. On the July 5 episode of SmackDown!, Page competed against WCW Champion Booker T, but failed to win the title after a distraction from the Undertaker. On the July 9 episode of Raw, WCW owner Shane McMahon and ECW owner Paul Heyman joined together to create The Alliance, with former WCW and ECW alumni joining forces in an attempt to take control of the WWF. At the Invasion pay-per-view, Page formed part of Team Alliance alongside Booker T, Rhyno and The Dudley Boyz, defeating Team WWF, after Team WWF member Stone Cold Steve Austin turned on his team members mid-match.
Page and Chris Kanyon reunited on the August 6 episode of Raw when Kanyon helped Page attack The Undertaker backstage. Three days later on the August 9 taping of SmackDown!, Page and Kanyon defeated the APA to win the WWF Tag Team Championship.
His feud with the Undertaker culminated when Undertaker and Kane defeated Page and Kanyon at SummerSlam on August 19, 2001, in a Steel cage match for the WWF Tag Team Championship. During the match, Page was injured, keeping him out of action until late October 2001. While Page was injured, he developed a new gimmick in which he became a motivational speaker. The character involved Page constantly smiling and acting optimistic, with his trademark phrase "That's not a bad thing... that's... a good thing".
His return televised match was on November 3 at Rebellion losing to Big Show. After the Alliance lost at Survivor Series, Page, along with the rest of the Alliance members, kayfabe lost their jobs.
Page eventually returned as a face and won his job back by defeating Big Boss Man on the January 17, 2002, episode of SmackDown!. Page competed in the Royal Rumble match at the titular event on January 20 but did not win.
Page became the WWF European Champion on the January 31, 2002, episode of SmackDown!, when he defeated Christian, a former follower of his positive "philosophy." At WrestleMania X8, Page successfully retained in a rematch against Christian. He lost the title to William Regal on an episode of SmackDown! that aired March 21. On March 25, Page was drafted to the SmackDown! brand as part of the 2002 WWF draft lottery.
On the April 18 episode of SmackDown!, he sustained a serious neck injury during a match with Hardcore Holly, after botching a superplex. After receiving opinions from multiple doctors, Page announced his retirement in June 2002. He left the promotion soon after.
Return to wrestling (2004)
In 2004, Page made his in-ring return by wrestling for several independent promotions. His first match was on April 21, 2004, teaming with Satoshi Kojima as they lost to former WCW star Sting and The Great Muta for HCW Battle Hawaii.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2004–2005)
He signed with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). He debuted for the company on the November 12 taping of Impact!, where he attacked Raven, beginning a feud between the two. At Turning Point on December 5, DDP defeated Raven.
and at Final Resolution in January 2005, Page competed in a three-way elimination match to determine the number one contender for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship also involving Monty Brown and Kevin Nash, which was won by Brown. Page and Brown subsequently formed a tag team. The following month at Against All Odds, Page and Brown defeated Team Canada (Bobby Roode and Eric Young). Page received an NWA World Heavyweight Championship title shot on March 13 at Destination X, but was defeated by reigning champion Jeff Jarrett when Brown turned heel and hit Page with the Pounce. At Lockdown, Page teamed with B.G. James and Waltman to defeat Jeff Jarrett, Monty Brown and The Outlaw in a Lethal Lockdown match. At Hard Justice on May 15, Page and Ron Killings faced Monty Brown and The Outlaw where they were defeated in what was Page's final match in TNA. Page left TNA shortly thereafter in order to pursue an acting career.
Independent circuit (2005–2011)
After TNA, Page returned to the independent circuit. He lost to Larry Zbyszko at WrestleReunion. DDP had Bruno Sammartino in his corner during the match. Then Page defeated Buff Bagwell on December 9, 2005, at GLCW Blizzard Brawl. In 2006, Page defeated his former Jersey Triad partner Chris Kanyon twice before retiring once again.
On August 9, 2009, Diamond Dallas Page made a special appearance for Juggalo Championship Wrestling (JCW) at their Bloodymania III event, aligning himself with the jWo. He hit his trademark Diamond Cutter finisher on Trent Acid.
DDP returned to wrestling on January 2, 2010, teaming with Air Paris to defeat Bobby Hayes and Alexander the Great at PICW event. On October 15, 2011, DDP teamed with Kevin Nash as they defeated The Rock 'n' Roll Express at AWE Night Of The Legends.
Return to WWE (2011–2017)
In late 2010, Page agreed to work on a DVD for WWE, titled The Very Best of WCW Monday Nitro, after being approached on the project due to his ties to WCW. Page hosted the DVD, which was released on June 7, 2011. On the June 27 episode of Raw, Page made an appearance promoting this DVD with Booker T.
In 2012, Page appeared on WWE Classics on Demand in Legends of Wrestling Roundtable: Renegades along with Jim Ross, Michael P.S. Hayes, Roddy Piper, and Gene Okerlund. Page also appeared alongside Kevin Nash and X-Pac at the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony on March 31, 2012. On July 2, 2012, Page made an appearance on Raw, where he hit a Diamond Cutter on Heath Slater. He also appeared at Raw 1000, accompanied by other WWE Legends, during Slater's match with Lita.
On the January 6, 2014, episode of Raw, Page, along with a number of other legends, appeared on the show as part of its "Old School" theme. On April 5, Page inducted his wrestling mentor and noted DDP Yoga practitioner Jake Roberts into the WWE Hall of Fame.
On January 25, 2015, at Royal Rumble, Page was a surprise entrant in the Rumble match, entering at number 14 and hitting his finishing move, the Diamond Cutter, on Stardust, Bray Wyatt and Fandango from the top rope, before being eliminated by Rusev. At WrestleMania 32, Page competed in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, but was eliminated by Konnor.
On March 31, 2017, Page was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in Orlando, Florida.
All In (2018)
At All In on September 1, 2018, Page accompanied Cody Rhodes in his match against NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis.
All Elite Wrestling (2019–2020)
On May 25, 2019, during their inaugural pay-per-view Double or Nothing, Page escorted Brandi Rhodes away from the ring after she refused to leave the match between Cody Rhodes and Dustin Rhodes after match referee Earl Hebner ejected her from the match. On the October 23, 2019, episode of AEW Dynamite, Page returned to TNT program for the first time in over 18 years, and helped Cody attack Chris Jericho and his stable The Inner Circle. On November 27, 2019, Page returned to Dynamite to present MJF with the first ever Dynamite Diamond Ring as a prize for defeating Adam Page. On January 15, 2020, at Bash at the Beach, he had his first match since the 2016 Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal teaming with Dustin Rhodes and QT Marshall to take on MJF and The Butcher and The Blade in a losing effort.
Yoga
Page developed a yoga fitness program initially called Yoga for Regular Guys Workout (YRG), after discovering the health benefits of yoga through his then-wife Kimberly while he recovered from ruptures to his L4/L5 discs in 1998. His favorite kind of yoga (according to his "Yoga for Regular Guys" book published in 2005) is "Power Yoga", an American-style version of "Ashtanga Style" yoga. Page worked with chiropractor Dr. Craig Aaron, and developed the Yoga for Regular Guys Workout.
Page developed the book into a series of workout videos titled DDP Yoga (formerly YRG). DDP Yoga was featured in a video about Arthur Boorman in May 2012. The story was picked up by the mainstream media, including Good Morning America. The video describes the journey of Arthur Boorman, a disabled veteran who was told by doctors he would never walk again. After spending fifteen years on crutches, Boorman followed Page's yoga plan for ten months and documented his progress on home video. He lost 140 pounds and regained the strength and flexibility to walk and run without his crutches, back braces or leg braces.
On February 21, 2014, Page appeared on the ABC series Shark Tank, where he was seeking $200,200 for a 5% share in the DDP Yoga company. He declined to sell a 50% share for that same amount to Kevin O'Leary. Page had hoped to use the money to develop a mobile app. The other investors were impressed by Boorman's improvement but believed the home exercise market was too competitive and also predicted net profits ($800,000 in the previous year) would fall. Page later said he sold more than $1 million worth of products in the first six days after his appearance.
Documentaries and podcast
In 2015, he was a main subject in the documentary The Resurrection of Jake the Snake, which chronicled Page helping Jake Roberts through rehabilitation.
In 2016, Page was featured on the Nine Legends Expansion Pack to talk about his friend Bill Goldberg.
Page currently hosts a radio show titled DDP Radio. Beginning on January 4, 2022, Page will take part in a podcast with Jake Roberts and Conrad Thompson titled DDP Snakepit.
Video games
Page has been depicted in several licensed wrestling video games.
Filmography
First Daughter (1999) as Dirk Lindman
Ready to Rumble (2000) as Himself
Rat Race (2001) in a deleted scene
Nice Guys (2005) as Sleezy Guy
The Devil's Rejects (2005) as Billy Ray Snapper
The 40-Year-Old Virgin (deleted scene)
Jack's Law (2006) as Spider Benson
Hood of Horror (2006) as Jersey
Splinter (2006) as Detective Stiles
Driftwood (2006) as Captain Kennedy
Knight Fever (2008)
Gallowwalkers (2009) as Skullbucket
Sensory Perception (2010) as Mr. Harrington
Pizza Man (2011) as Kryder
Vengeance (2014)
The Murders of Brandywine Theater (2014) as Officer Carwin
The Resurrection of Jake the Snake (2015) as Himself
The Bet (2016) as Mr. Baker
Lawsuits
Page is commonly associated with the "Self High Five" as well as the "Diamond Cutter" symbol, a hand gesture made by joining the thumbs and index fingers on each hand to form a diamond shape, then parting the two hands in one swift motion. He created the symbol in 1996 and later trademarked it. In December 2005, Page filed a lawsuit against rapper Jay-Z, who, he claimed, had "illegally adopted his trademark hand gesture". Page accused Jay-Z of trademark infringement and sought a prohibitive injunction and monetary damages. It resulted in Page dropping the lawsuit for an undisclosed amount of money. On August 31, 2010, Page filed a lawsuit against American electronica musical duo 3OH!3 for infringement of his trademarked "Diamond Cutter" hand gesture.
Page's WCW entrance music, "Self High-Five", intentionally contained similarities to the 1991 Nirvana song "Smells Like Teen Spirit", as composer Jimmy Hart and Page felt it exemplified the "sound of the '90s". According to Page, Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl in turn claimed that "WCW owes us [the band] money", but before any further actions or lawsuits took place, the track was altered to "sound like it was it, but wasn't".
Personal life
Page released his autobiography, Positively Page: The Diamond Dallas Page Journey, on February 1, 2000.
In 2003, he had his name legally changed to Dallas Page.
On December 1, 1991, Page married Kimberly Page. On July 3, 2004, they announced their amicable separation, before divorcing in 2005.
In 2015, Page married Brenda Nair. They separated in 2019. The divorce was finalized in 2020.
In 2021, Page married Payge McMahon.
Page has two daughters, Brittany Page (born 1987) and Kimberly Page (born 1994), and two stepdaughters, Alexandra "Lexy" Nair (born 1996) and Rachel Nair (born 2001). Lexy currently works with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a backstage interviewer.
On January 15, 2019, Page released another book, Positively Unstoppable: The Art of Owning It, through Rodale Books. The book includes a foreword by Mick Foley.
Championships and accomplishments
Cauliflower Alley Club
Jason Sanderson Humanitarian Award (2015)
Men's Wrestling Award (2015)
George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
Frank Gotch Award (2014)
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
Feud of the Year (1997)
Most Hated Wrestler of the Year (1999)
Most Improved Wrestler of the Year (1995)
Ranked No. 4 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the year in the PWI 500 in 1997 and 1998
Ranked No. 65 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the PWI Years in 2003
Swiss Wrestling Federation
SWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
World Championship Wrestling
WCW World Heavyweight Championship (3 times)
WCW World Television Championship (1 time)
WCW United States Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
WCW World Tag Team Championship (4 times) – with Bam Bam Bigelow and Chris Kanyon (2) and Kevin Nash (2)
Fourth WCW Triple Crown Champion
Lord of The Ring Tournament (1996)
World Wrestling Federation/WWE
WWF European Championship (1 time)
WWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Chris Kanyon
WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2017)
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
Best Wrestling Maneuver (1997)
Most Improved (1996)
Worst Gimmick (2001)
Notes
Bibliography
Genta, Larry and Page, Diamond Dallas (2000) Positively Page,
Aaron, Craig and Page, Diamond Dallas (2005) Yoga for Regular Guys: The Best Damn Workout on the Planet,
Page, Diamond Dallas (2019) Positively Unstoppable: The Art of Owning It,
See also
The Alliance
The Diamond Exchange
The Fabulous Freebirds
The Insiders/The Vegas Connection
The Jersey Triad
The Millionaire's Club
References
External links
Diamond Dallas Page Article
1956 births
All Elite Wrestling personnel
American male film actors
American male professional wrestlers
American male television actors
American men podcasters
American people of German descent
Living people
NWA/WCW World Television Champions
NWA/WCW/WWE United States Heavyweight Champions
People with dyslexia
Point Pleasant Borough High School alumni
Professional wrestlers from New Jersey
Professional wrestling announcers
Professional wrestling managers and valets
Professional wrestling podcasters
Sportspeople from Point Pleasant, New Jersey
WCW World Heavyweight Champions
WWE Hall of Fame inductees
WWF European Champions | 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",
"The Iraq War: A Historiography of Wikipedia Changelogs is a 2010 book artwork compiled by British artist and technology writer James Bridle. It consists of a 12-volume, 7000-page set of printed books that show all 12,000 changes made to the English Wikipedia article on the Iraq War from December 2004 to November 2009. The books are an artistic visualization of the changes made to a particular article at Wikipedia. Only one copy was made, in 2010, so the set has not been published and was not intended for sale. The books have been exhibited in galleries in the United States and in Europe.\n\nAbout\nThe work is a historiography compiled by technology writer James Bridle. It contains changelogs of the page for the Wikipedia article on the Iraq War, including arguments, opinions and vandalism. The work shows the editing process for an article and the process of creation, which includes the opinions and biases of many contributors.\n\nThe author created their book as a demonstration of the process of making history. They say:\n\nThe project encourages viewers to think of editing contributions and the collections of commentary and disagreement as part of the historical record. It is also an exploration of how recent contributions to various media supplant older contributions and what content may be lost when scholars have access only to the latest publications. Bridle has stated that, despite the history button being on every page of every article, few people use it and to them this phenomenon is the most interesting and enlightening part of Wikipedia.\n\nReviews\nA reviewer for Time described the project as a fascinating visual aid. The review in ReadWriteWeb was that the work was \"pretty awesome\".\n\nSee also\n Bibliography of Wikipedia\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nAudio of creator giving talk about this work\nInterview with the artist\nVideo of James Bridle discussing Wikipedia\n\n2010 non-fiction books\nBook arts\nBooks about the 2003 invasion of Iraq\nBooks about Wikipedia\nHistoriography"
] |
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"Laurie Baker",
"Architectural style"
] | C_e16ffac90dff45e097da14feec77f8c4_0 | what was her architectural style? | 1 | what was Laurie Baker architectural style? | Laurie Baker | Throughout his practice, Baker became well known for designing and building low cost, high quality, beautiful homes, with a great portion of his work suited to or built for lower-middle to lower class clients. His buildings tend to emphasise prolific - at times virtuosic - masonry construction, instilling privacy and evoking history with brick jali walls, a perforated brick screen which invites a natural air flow to cool the buildings' interior, in addition to creating intricate patterns of light and shadow. Another significant Baker feature is irregular, pyramid-like structures on roofs, with one side left open and tilting into the wind. Baker's designs invariably have traditional Indian sloping roofs and terracotta Mangalore tile shingling with gables and vents allowing rising hot air to escape. Curved walls enter Baker's architectural vocabulary as a means to enclose more volume at lower material cost than straight walls, and for Laurie, "building [became] more fun with the circle." A testament to his frugality, Baker was often seen rummaging through salvage heaps looking for suitable building materials, door and window frames, sometimes hitting a stroke of luck as evidenced by the intricately carved entry to the Chitralekha Film Studio (Aakulam, Trivandrum, 1974-76): a capricious architectural element found in a junk heap. Baker made many simple suggestions for cost reduction including the use of Rat trap bond for brick walls, having bends in walls that increased the strength and provided readymade shelves, thin concrete roofs and even simple precautions like shifting dug up soil into the built area rather that out of it. He advocated the use of low energy consuming mud walls, using holes in the wall to get light, using overlaid brick over doorways, incorporating places to sit into the structure, simpler windows and a variety of roof construction approaches. He liked bare brick surfaces and considered plastering and other embellishments as superfluous. Baker's architectural method is one of improvisation, in which initial drawings have only an idealistic link to the final construction, with most of the accommodations and design choices being made on-site by the architect himself. Compartments for milk bottles near the doorstep, windowsills that double as bench surfaces, and a heavy emphasis on taking cues from the natural condition of the site are just some examples. His Quaker-instilled respect for nature lead him to let the idiosyncrasies of a site inform his architectural improvisations, rarely is a topography line marred or a tree uprooted. This saves construction cost as well, since working around difficult site conditions is much more cost-effective than clear-cutting. ("I think it's a waste of money to level a well-moulded site") Resistant to "high-technology" that addresses building environment issues by ignoring natural environment, at the Centre for Development Studies (Trivandrum, 1971) Baker created a cooling system by placing a high, latticed, brick wall near a pond that uses air pressure differences to draw cool air through the building. Various features of his work such as using recycled material, natural environment control and frugality of design may be seen as sustainable architecture or green building with its emphasis on sustainability. His responsiveness to never-identical site conditions quite obviously allowed for the variegation that permeates his work. CANNOTANSWER | Baker's designs invariably have traditional Indian sloping roofs and terracotta Mangalore tile shingling with gables and vents allowing rising hot air to escape. | Lawrence Wilfred "Laurie" Baker (2 March 1917 – 1 April 2007) was a British-born Indian architect, renowned for his initiatives in cost-effective energy-efficient architecture and designs that maximized space, ventilation and light and maintained an uncluttered yet striking aesthetic sensibility. Influenced by Mahatma Gandhi and his own experiences in the remote Himalayas, he promoted the revival of regional building practices and use of local materials; and combined this with a design philosophy that emphasized a responsible and prudent use of resources and energy. He was a pioneer of sustainable architecture as well as organic architecture, incorporating in his designs even in the late 1960s, concepts such as rain-water harvesting, minimizing usage of energy-inefficient building materials, minimizing damage to the building site and seamlessly merging with the surroundings. Due to his social and humanitarian efforts to bring architecture and design to the common man, his honest use of materials, his belief in simplicity in design and in life, and his staunch Quaker belief in non-violence, he has been called the "Gandhi of architecture".
He moved to India in 1945 in part as an architect associated with a leprosy mission and continued to live and work in India for over 50 years. He became an Indian citizen in 1989 and resided in Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum), Kerala from 1969 and served as the Director of COSTFORD (Centre of Science and Technology for Rural Development), an organisation to promote low-cost housing.
In 1981, the Royal University of the Netherlands conferred an honour (the previous recipient of this honour, in 1980, was Hassan Fathy of Egypt) upon him for outstanding work in a Third World country. In 1983 he was conferred with an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) at Buckingham Palace. In 1990, the Government of India awarded him the Padma Shri for his meritorious service in the field of architecture. In 1992, he was awarded the Roll of Honour by the United Nations. In 1988, he was granted Indian citizenship, the only honour he actively pursued in his life.
Early life
Baker was born into a staunch Methodist family, the youngest son of Birmingham Gas Department's chief accountant, Charles Frederick Baker and Millie Baker. His early schooling was at King Edwards Grammar School. His elder brothers, Leonard and Norman studied law, and he had a sister, Edna who was the oldest of them all. In his teens Baker began to question what religion meant to him and decided to become a Quaker, since it was closer to what he believed in. Baker studied architecture at Birmingham Institute of Art and Design, Birmingham, and graduated in 1937, aged 20, in a period of political unrest in Europe.
During the Second World War, as a conscientious objector, he served in the Friends Ambulance Unit. After a short spell on the south coast of England and mostly looking after naval casualties he was sent to China as a trained anesthetist with a surgical team, mainly to cope with civilian casualties in the war between China and Japan. However, after a year or two of this war area activity, he found himself having to deal with derelict civilians suffering from Hansen's disease — the medical term for leprosy. He was seconded to a hospital formerly run by an order of German sisters who were all interned by the Chinese as enemy aliens.
The War took its toll on Baker, and he was ordered back in 1943 to England to recuperate. But fate took a hand in delaying his departure by about three months as he waited for a boat in Bombay. During this time he stayed with a Quaker friend, who also happened to be a good friend of the Mahatma. Baker attended many of Gandhiji's talks and prayer-meetings — which eventually led to a more-than-casual friendship between them. This was also the time of the Gandhi-Jinnah talks and the height of the 'Quit India' movement. So though he felt the need to return to India, to settle and work here, Baker was initially discouraged by the nationwide animosity to the Raj and to all Westerners. But the Mahatma reassured him that though the Raj must quit, concerned individuals would always find a welcome place to work with Indians. In fact, Gandhiji showed great interest in the leprosy work in China, and the lives of the ordinary people there. "It was also from the influence of Mahatma Gandhi I learnt that the real people you should be building for, and who are in need, are the 'ordinary' people — those living in villages and in the congested areas of our cities." Gandhi's idea was that it should be possible to build a home with materials found within a five-mile radius of a site. This was to have a great influence in his later life.
His initial commitment to India in 1945 had him working as an architect for the World Leprosy Mission, an international and inter-denominational organisation dedicated to the care of those suffering from leprosy. The organisation wanted a builder-architect-engineer. As new medicines for the treatment of the disease were becoming more prevalent, Baker's responsibilities were focused on converting or replacing asylums once used to house the ostracised sufferers of the disease (called lepers) into treatment hospitals.
India
Moving to India in 1945, Baker began to work on leprosy centre buildings across the country, basing himself out of Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh. Baker quickly found the missionary lifestyle - ostentatious bungalows, socialite gatherings, and the plethora of servants waiting hand and foot - too luxurious and not in line with his values and instead decided to stay with the Indian doctor P.J. Chandy and his family. The sister of his host, Elizabeth Jacob (Baker called her "Kuni"), worked as a doctor in Hyderabad with the same leprosy organisation. The two met when Elizabeth came to Faizabad to perform an operation on her brother and to take care of the hospital duties whilst he recuperated. Baker and Jacob found themselves sharing common beliefs and decided to marry. However, as there was considerable resistance from both their families, they decided to wait. Work and travel allowed them only brief periods together, and they finally got married in 1948. For their honeymoon, they traveled to the district of Pithoragarh. Once the local tribals there found out that Elizabeth was a doctor, people came to visit the couple in droves. So immediate was the need for medical help in that remote region that the Bakers decided to build a home and hospital on the slopes of one of the hills on a piece of land no one wanted and stayed there to help the people. The Bakers lived in Pithoragarh for sixteen years before moving to Vagamon in Kerala in 1963 and some years later to Trivandrum. Initially, their time in Pithoragarh was lonely but they quickly became friends with the locals, including the "maldar" Dan Singh Bist who "owned most of Pithoragarh" and helped them in their charitable work. Elizabeth Baker, in her memoir of her time together with Laurie Baker, The Other Side of Laurie Baker, discussed the Berinag tea that they shared that was "very special" to them, as Laurie was a man of exquisite and simple taste, who always loved the simple pleasures of life. In 1988, Laurie Baker became an Indian citizen.
Architecture
While at Pithoragarh, Baker found his English construction education to be inadequate for the types of issues and materials he was faced with: termites and the yearly monsoon, as well as laterite, cow dung, and mud walls, respectively, Baker had no choice but to observe and learn from the methods and practices of vernacular architecture. He soon learned that the indigenous architecture and methods of these places were in fact the only viable means to deal with local problems.
Inspired by his discoveries (which he modestly admitted were 'discoveries' only for him, and mere common knowledge to those who developed the practices he observed), he realized that unlike the Modernist architectural movement that was gaining popularity at the time denouncing all that was old just because it was old didn't make sense. Baker adopted local craftsmanship, traditional techniques and materials but then combined it with modern design principles and technology wherever it made sense to do so. This prudent adoption of modern technology helped local architecture retain its cultural identity and kept costs low due to the use of local materials. It also revived the local economy due to the use of local labour for both construction of the buildings and for manufacture of construction materials such as brick and lime surkhi.
Baker built several schools, chapels and hospitals in the hills. Eventually, as word spread of his cost-effective buildings more clients from the plains started to contact Baker. One of the early clients was Welthy Fisher, who sought to set up a 'Literacy Village' in which she intended to use puppetry, music and art as teaching methods to help illiterate and newly-literate adults add to their skills. An ageing woman who risked her health to visit Laurie, she refused to leave until she received plans for the village. More and more hospital commissions were received as medical professionals realised that the surroundings for their patients were as much a part of the healing process as any other form of treatment, and that Baker seemed the only architect who cared enough to become familiarised with how to build what made Indian patients comfortable with those surroundings. His presence would also soon be required on-site at Ms. Fisher's "Village," and he became well known for his constant presence on the construction sites of all his projects, often finalising designs through hand-drawn instructions to masons and labourers on how to achieve certain design solutions.
Architectural style
Throughout his practice, Baker developed a signature style in designing and building low cost, high quality, beautiful homes, with a great portion of his work suited to or built for lower-middle to lower class clients. He derived creatively from pre-existing local culture and building traditions while keeping his designs minimal with judicious and frugal use of resources. His buildings tend to emphasise prolific – at times virtuosic – masonry construction, instilling privacy and evoking history with brick jali walls, a perforated brick screen which invites a natural air flow to cool the buildings' interior, in addition to creating intricate patterns of light and shadow. Another significant Baker feature is irregular, pyramid-like structures on roofs, with one side left open and tilting into the wind. Baker's designs invariably have traditional Indian sloping roofs and terracotta Mangalore tile shingling with gables and vents allowing rising hot air to escape. Curved walls enter Baker's architectural vocabulary as a means to enclose more volume at lower material cost than straight walls, and for Laurie, "building [became] more fun with the circle." A testament to his frugality, Baker was often seen rummaging through salvage heaps looking for suitable building materials, door and window frames, sometimes hitting a stroke of luck as evidenced by the intricately carved entry to the Chitralekha Film Studio (Aakulam, Trivandrum, 1974–76): a capricious architectural element found in a junk heap.
Baker made many simple suggestions for cost reduction including the use of Rat trap bond for brick walls, having bends in walls that increased the strength and provided readymade shelves, thin concrete roofs and even simple precautions like shifting dug up soil into the built area rather that out of it. He advocated the use of low energy consuming mud walls, using holes in the wall to get light, using overlaid brick over doorways, incorporating places to sit into the structure, simpler windows and a variety of roof construction approaches. He liked bare brick surfaces and considered plastering and other embellishments as superfluous.
Baker's architectural method is one of improvisation, in which initial drawings have only an idealistic link to the final construction, with most of the accommodations and design choices being made on-site by the architect himself. Compartments for milk bottles near the doorstep, windowsills that double as bench surfaces, and a heavy emphasis on taking cues from the natural condition of the site are just some examples. His Quaker-instilled respect for nature lead him to let the idiosyncrasies of a site inform his architectural improvisations, rarely is a topography line marred or a tree uprooted. This saves construction cost as well, since working around difficult site conditions is much more cost-effective than clear-cutting. ("I think it's a waste of money to level a well-moulded site") Resistant to "high-technology" that addresses building environment issues by ignoring natural environment, at the Centre for Development Studies (Trivandrum, 1971) Baker created a cooling system by placing a high, latticed, brick wall near a pond that uses air pressure differences to draw cool air through the building. Various features of his work such as using recycled material, natural environment control and frugality of design may be seen as sustainable architecture or green building with its emphasis on sustainability. His responsiveness to never-identical site conditions quite obviously allowed for the variegation that permeates his work.
Death and legacy
Laurie Baker died at 7:30 am on 1 April 2007, aged 90, survived by wife Elizabeth, son Tilak, daughters Vidya and Heidi and his grandchildren Vineet, Lisa and Tejal. Until the end he continued to work in and around his home in Trivandrum, though health concerns had kept his famous on-site physical presence to a minimum. His designing and writing were done mostly at his home. His approach to architecture steadily gained appreciation as architectural sentiment creaks towards place-making over modernising or stylising. As a result of this more widespread acceptance, however, the "Baker Style" home is gaining popularity, much to Baker's own chagrin, since he felt that the 'style' being commoditised is merely the inevitable manifestation of the cultural and economic imperatives of the region in which he worked, not a solution that could be applied whole-cloth to any outside situation. Laurie Baker's architecture focused on retaining a site's natural character, and economically minded indigenous construction, and the seamless integration of local culture that has been very inspirational.
Many architects studied and were inspired by the work of Laurie Baker. The workers and students called him "daddy". Laurie Baker's writings were published and are available through COSTFORD (the Center Of Science and Technology For Rural Development), the voluntary organisation where he was Master Architect and carried out many of his later projects.
Awards
1981: D.Litt. conferred by the Royal University of Netherlands for outstanding work in the developing countries.
1983: Order of the British Empire, MBE
1987: Received the first Indian National Habitat Award
1988: Received Indian Citizenship
1989: Indian Institute of Architects Outstanding Architect of the Year
1990: Received the Padma Sri
1990: Great Master Architect of the Year
1992: UNO Habitat Award & UN Roll of Honour
1993: International Union of Architects (IUA) Award
1993: Sir Robert Matthew Prize for Improvement of Human Settlements
1994: People of the Year Award
1995: Awarded Doctorate from the University of Central England
1998: Awarded Doctorate from Sri Venkateshwara University
2001: Coinpar MR Kurup Endowment Award
2003: Basheer Puraskaram
2003: D.Litt. from the Kerala University
2005: Kerala Government Certificate of Appreciation
2006: L-Ramp Award of Excellence
2006: Nominated for the Pritzker Prize (considered the Nobel Prize in Architecture)
See also
Hassan Fathy
Geoffrey Bawa
Muzharul Islam
Charles Correa
References
Further reading
Elizabeth Baker (2007). The Other Side of Laurie Baker: Memoirs.
Venugopal Maddipati (2020). Gandhi and Architecture: A Time for Low-Cost Housing: The Philosophy of Finitude
External links
Official Website of Architect Laurie Baker
COSTFORD
Video interview another interview transcript
Laurie Baker: The man we will never forget Rediff.com
Master mason by G. SHANKAR.
Of Architectural Truths and Lies
ARCHIPLANET article: Includes fuller list of buildings designed by Laurie Baker
"Here was a Baker"- a tribute
Laurie Baker Building Center, New Delhi
"Significance of Laurie Baker" by B Shashi Bhooshan
1917 births
2007 deaths
20th-century Indian architects
English conscientious objectors
Converts to Quakerism
British emigrants to India
English Quakers
Members of the Order of the British Empire
Organic architecture
People from Pithoragarh
Architects from Birmingham, West Midlands
Artists from Thiruvananthapuram
People with acquired Indian citizenship
Recipients of the Padma Shri in science & engineering
People associated with the Friends' Ambulance Unit
Indian Christian pacifists
English Christian pacifists
Indian Quakers
20th-century English architects
Artists from Uttarakhand
Alumni of the Birmingham School of Art | true | [
"High Victorian Gothic was an eclectic architectural style and movement during the mid-late 19th century. It is seen by architectural historians as either a sub-style of the broader Gothic Revival style, or a separate style in its own right.\n\nPromoted and derived from the works of the architect and theorist John Ruskin, though it eventually diverged, it is sometimes referred to as Ruskinian Gothic. It is characterised by the use of polychrome (multi-colour) decoration, \"use of varying texture\" and Gothic details. The architectural scholar James Stevens Curl describes it thus: \"Style of the somewhat harsh polychrome structures of the Gothic Revival in the 1850s and 1860s when Ruskin held sway as the arbiter of taste. Like High Gothic, it is an unsatisfactory term, as it poses the question as to what is 'Low Victorian'. 'Mid-Victorian' would, perhaps, be more useful, but precise dates and description of styles would be more so.\"\n\nAmong the best-known practitioners of the style were William Butterfield, Sir Gilbert Scott, G. E. Street, and Alfred Waterhouse. Waterhouse's Victoria Building at Liverpool University, described by Sir Charles Reilly (an opponent of Victorian Gothic) as \"the colour of mud and blood,\" was the inspiration for the term \"red brick university\" (as opposed to Oxbridge and the other ancient universities).\n\nThe style began appearing in the United States, particularly New York, in the early 1860s with the work of English-born architects Frederick Clarke Withers, Jacob Wrey Mould, and Americans Edward Tuckerman Potter and Peter Bonnett Wight. By 1870, the style became popular nationwide for civic, commercial, and religious architecture, though was uncommon for residential structures. It was frequently used for what became the \"Old Main\" of various schools and universities in the late 19th century United States. The Stick Style is sometimes considered the wooden manifestation of the High Victorian Gothic style.\n\nExamples\n\nUnited Kingdom\nAll Saints, Margaret Street, London. Butterfield, 1849–59\nChurch of St James, Baldersby, Yorkshire. Butterfield, 1856–58\nManchester Town Hall. Waterhouse, 1863–77\nAlbert Memorial, London. Scott, 1872\nRoyal Courts of Justice, London. Street, 1873–82\nNo.s 2-7 Arden Street, Stratford upon Avon.\nThe Kirna, Walkerburn, Scottish Borders, 1867\n\nUnited States\n\nHudson River State Hospital, Poughkeepsie, New York\nJefferson Market Courthouse, New York, New York \nMemorial Hall (Harvard University), Cambridge, Massachusetts\nNew Haven City Hall and County Courthouse, New Haven, Connecticut\nThe Miller School of Albemarle, Albemarle County, Virginia (1878-1884)\nAnderson Hall (Manhattan, Kansas), Kansas State University\n\nSee also\nVictorian architecture\nVenetian Gothic architecture\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\n \n\nAmerican architectural styles\nBritish architecture by period or style\nVictorian architectural styles\n19th-century architectural styles",
"The Henry IV style was the predominant architectural idiom in France under the patronage of Henry IV (1589–1610). The modernisation of Paris was a major concern of Henry's, and the Place des Vosges is the greatest monument to his architectural style and urban planning. Among Henry's other works are the Pont Neuf, the Place Dauphine, and some renovations at the Château de Fontainebleau. \n\nThough the second School of Fontainebleau was active in painting at the time, it is not generally considered part of the Henry IV style. The style may be characterised by the Encyclopædia Britannica's statement that Henry was a man of \"the grand concept who did not lose himself in detail\".\n\nReferences\n Henry IV style (2008). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 1 May 2008.\n\nArchitectural styles\nFrench architecture by period"
] |
[
"Laurie Baker",
"Architectural style",
"what was her architectural style?",
"Baker's designs invariably have traditional Indian sloping roofs and terracotta Mangalore tile shingling with gables and vents allowing rising hot air to escape."
] | C_e16ffac90dff45e097da14feec77f8c4_0 | did she have any other designs? | 2 | did Laurie Baker have more designs other than the architectural style? | Laurie Baker | Throughout his practice, Baker became well known for designing and building low cost, high quality, beautiful homes, with a great portion of his work suited to or built for lower-middle to lower class clients. His buildings tend to emphasise prolific - at times virtuosic - masonry construction, instilling privacy and evoking history with brick jali walls, a perforated brick screen which invites a natural air flow to cool the buildings' interior, in addition to creating intricate patterns of light and shadow. Another significant Baker feature is irregular, pyramid-like structures on roofs, with one side left open and tilting into the wind. Baker's designs invariably have traditional Indian sloping roofs and terracotta Mangalore tile shingling with gables and vents allowing rising hot air to escape. Curved walls enter Baker's architectural vocabulary as a means to enclose more volume at lower material cost than straight walls, and for Laurie, "building [became] more fun with the circle." A testament to his frugality, Baker was often seen rummaging through salvage heaps looking for suitable building materials, door and window frames, sometimes hitting a stroke of luck as evidenced by the intricately carved entry to the Chitralekha Film Studio (Aakulam, Trivandrum, 1974-76): a capricious architectural element found in a junk heap. Baker made many simple suggestions for cost reduction including the use of Rat trap bond for brick walls, having bends in walls that increased the strength and provided readymade shelves, thin concrete roofs and even simple precautions like shifting dug up soil into the built area rather that out of it. He advocated the use of low energy consuming mud walls, using holes in the wall to get light, using overlaid brick over doorways, incorporating places to sit into the structure, simpler windows and a variety of roof construction approaches. He liked bare brick surfaces and considered plastering and other embellishments as superfluous. Baker's architectural method is one of improvisation, in which initial drawings have only an idealistic link to the final construction, with most of the accommodations and design choices being made on-site by the architect himself. Compartments for milk bottles near the doorstep, windowsills that double as bench surfaces, and a heavy emphasis on taking cues from the natural condition of the site are just some examples. His Quaker-instilled respect for nature lead him to let the idiosyncrasies of a site inform his architectural improvisations, rarely is a topography line marred or a tree uprooted. This saves construction cost as well, since working around difficult site conditions is much more cost-effective than clear-cutting. ("I think it's a waste of money to level a well-moulded site") Resistant to "high-technology" that addresses building environment issues by ignoring natural environment, at the Centre for Development Studies (Trivandrum, 1971) Baker created a cooling system by placing a high, latticed, brick wall near a pond that uses air pressure differences to draw cool air through the building. Various features of his work such as using recycled material, natural environment control and frugality of design may be seen as sustainable architecture or green building with its emphasis on sustainability. His responsiveness to never-identical site conditions quite obviously allowed for the variegation that permeates his work. CANNOTANSWER | Curved walls | Lawrence Wilfred "Laurie" Baker (2 March 1917 – 1 April 2007) was a British-born Indian architect, renowned for his initiatives in cost-effective energy-efficient architecture and designs that maximized space, ventilation and light and maintained an uncluttered yet striking aesthetic sensibility. Influenced by Mahatma Gandhi and his own experiences in the remote Himalayas, he promoted the revival of regional building practices and use of local materials; and combined this with a design philosophy that emphasized a responsible and prudent use of resources and energy. He was a pioneer of sustainable architecture as well as organic architecture, incorporating in his designs even in the late 1960s, concepts such as rain-water harvesting, minimizing usage of energy-inefficient building materials, minimizing damage to the building site and seamlessly merging with the surroundings. Due to his social and humanitarian efforts to bring architecture and design to the common man, his honest use of materials, his belief in simplicity in design and in life, and his staunch Quaker belief in non-violence, he has been called the "Gandhi of architecture".
He moved to India in 1945 in part as an architect associated with a leprosy mission and continued to live and work in India for over 50 years. He became an Indian citizen in 1989 and resided in Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum), Kerala from 1969 and served as the Director of COSTFORD (Centre of Science and Technology for Rural Development), an organisation to promote low-cost housing.
In 1981, the Royal University of the Netherlands conferred an honour (the previous recipient of this honour, in 1980, was Hassan Fathy of Egypt) upon him for outstanding work in a Third World country. In 1983 he was conferred with an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) at Buckingham Palace. In 1990, the Government of India awarded him the Padma Shri for his meritorious service in the field of architecture. In 1992, he was awarded the Roll of Honour by the United Nations. In 1988, he was granted Indian citizenship, the only honour he actively pursued in his life.
Early life
Baker was born into a staunch Methodist family, the youngest son of Birmingham Gas Department's chief accountant, Charles Frederick Baker and Millie Baker. His early schooling was at King Edwards Grammar School. His elder brothers, Leonard and Norman studied law, and he had a sister, Edna who was the oldest of them all. In his teens Baker began to question what religion meant to him and decided to become a Quaker, since it was closer to what he believed in. Baker studied architecture at Birmingham Institute of Art and Design, Birmingham, and graduated in 1937, aged 20, in a period of political unrest in Europe.
During the Second World War, as a conscientious objector, he served in the Friends Ambulance Unit. After a short spell on the south coast of England and mostly looking after naval casualties he was sent to China as a trained anesthetist with a surgical team, mainly to cope with civilian casualties in the war between China and Japan. However, after a year or two of this war area activity, he found himself having to deal with derelict civilians suffering from Hansen's disease — the medical term for leprosy. He was seconded to a hospital formerly run by an order of German sisters who were all interned by the Chinese as enemy aliens.
The War took its toll on Baker, and he was ordered back in 1943 to England to recuperate. But fate took a hand in delaying his departure by about three months as he waited for a boat in Bombay. During this time he stayed with a Quaker friend, who also happened to be a good friend of the Mahatma. Baker attended many of Gandhiji's talks and prayer-meetings — which eventually led to a more-than-casual friendship between them. This was also the time of the Gandhi-Jinnah talks and the height of the 'Quit India' movement. So though he felt the need to return to India, to settle and work here, Baker was initially discouraged by the nationwide animosity to the Raj and to all Westerners. But the Mahatma reassured him that though the Raj must quit, concerned individuals would always find a welcome place to work with Indians. In fact, Gandhiji showed great interest in the leprosy work in China, and the lives of the ordinary people there. "It was also from the influence of Mahatma Gandhi I learnt that the real people you should be building for, and who are in need, are the 'ordinary' people — those living in villages and in the congested areas of our cities." Gandhi's idea was that it should be possible to build a home with materials found within a five-mile radius of a site. This was to have a great influence in his later life.
His initial commitment to India in 1945 had him working as an architect for the World Leprosy Mission, an international and inter-denominational organisation dedicated to the care of those suffering from leprosy. The organisation wanted a builder-architect-engineer. As new medicines for the treatment of the disease were becoming more prevalent, Baker's responsibilities were focused on converting or replacing asylums once used to house the ostracised sufferers of the disease (called lepers) into treatment hospitals.
India
Moving to India in 1945, Baker began to work on leprosy centre buildings across the country, basing himself out of Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh. Baker quickly found the missionary lifestyle - ostentatious bungalows, socialite gatherings, and the plethora of servants waiting hand and foot - too luxurious and not in line with his values and instead decided to stay with the Indian doctor P.J. Chandy and his family. The sister of his host, Elizabeth Jacob (Baker called her "Kuni"), worked as a doctor in Hyderabad with the same leprosy organisation. The two met when Elizabeth came to Faizabad to perform an operation on her brother and to take care of the hospital duties whilst he recuperated. Baker and Jacob found themselves sharing common beliefs and decided to marry. However, as there was considerable resistance from both their families, they decided to wait. Work and travel allowed them only brief periods together, and they finally got married in 1948. For their honeymoon, they traveled to the district of Pithoragarh. Once the local tribals there found out that Elizabeth was a doctor, people came to visit the couple in droves. So immediate was the need for medical help in that remote region that the Bakers decided to build a home and hospital on the slopes of one of the hills on a piece of land no one wanted and stayed there to help the people. The Bakers lived in Pithoragarh for sixteen years before moving to Vagamon in Kerala in 1963 and some years later to Trivandrum. Initially, their time in Pithoragarh was lonely but they quickly became friends with the locals, including the "maldar" Dan Singh Bist who "owned most of Pithoragarh" and helped them in their charitable work. Elizabeth Baker, in her memoir of her time together with Laurie Baker, The Other Side of Laurie Baker, discussed the Berinag tea that they shared that was "very special" to them, as Laurie was a man of exquisite and simple taste, who always loved the simple pleasures of life. In 1988, Laurie Baker became an Indian citizen.
Architecture
While at Pithoragarh, Baker found his English construction education to be inadequate for the types of issues and materials he was faced with: termites and the yearly monsoon, as well as laterite, cow dung, and mud walls, respectively, Baker had no choice but to observe and learn from the methods and practices of vernacular architecture. He soon learned that the indigenous architecture and methods of these places were in fact the only viable means to deal with local problems.
Inspired by his discoveries (which he modestly admitted were 'discoveries' only for him, and mere common knowledge to those who developed the practices he observed), he realized that unlike the Modernist architectural movement that was gaining popularity at the time denouncing all that was old just because it was old didn't make sense. Baker adopted local craftsmanship, traditional techniques and materials but then combined it with modern design principles and technology wherever it made sense to do so. This prudent adoption of modern technology helped local architecture retain its cultural identity and kept costs low due to the use of local materials. It also revived the local economy due to the use of local labour for both construction of the buildings and for manufacture of construction materials such as brick and lime surkhi.
Baker built several schools, chapels and hospitals in the hills. Eventually, as word spread of his cost-effective buildings more clients from the plains started to contact Baker. One of the early clients was Welthy Fisher, who sought to set up a 'Literacy Village' in which she intended to use puppetry, music and art as teaching methods to help illiterate and newly-literate adults add to their skills. An ageing woman who risked her health to visit Laurie, she refused to leave until she received plans for the village. More and more hospital commissions were received as medical professionals realised that the surroundings for their patients were as much a part of the healing process as any other form of treatment, and that Baker seemed the only architect who cared enough to become familiarised with how to build what made Indian patients comfortable with those surroundings. His presence would also soon be required on-site at Ms. Fisher's "Village," and he became well known for his constant presence on the construction sites of all his projects, often finalising designs through hand-drawn instructions to masons and labourers on how to achieve certain design solutions.
Architectural style
Throughout his practice, Baker developed a signature style in designing and building low cost, high quality, beautiful homes, with a great portion of his work suited to or built for lower-middle to lower class clients. He derived creatively from pre-existing local culture and building traditions while keeping his designs minimal with judicious and frugal use of resources. His buildings tend to emphasise prolific – at times virtuosic – masonry construction, instilling privacy and evoking history with brick jali walls, a perforated brick screen which invites a natural air flow to cool the buildings' interior, in addition to creating intricate patterns of light and shadow. Another significant Baker feature is irregular, pyramid-like structures on roofs, with one side left open and tilting into the wind. Baker's designs invariably have traditional Indian sloping roofs and terracotta Mangalore tile shingling with gables and vents allowing rising hot air to escape. Curved walls enter Baker's architectural vocabulary as a means to enclose more volume at lower material cost than straight walls, and for Laurie, "building [became] more fun with the circle." A testament to his frugality, Baker was often seen rummaging through salvage heaps looking for suitable building materials, door and window frames, sometimes hitting a stroke of luck as evidenced by the intricately carved entry to the Chitralekha Film Studio (Aakulam, Trivandrum, 1974–76): a capricious architectural element found in a junk heap.
Baker made many simple suggestions for cost reduction including the use of Rat trap bond for brick walls, having bends in walls that increased the strength and provided readymade shelves, thin concrete roofs and even simple precautions like shifting dug up soil into the built area rather that out of it. He advocated the use of low energy consuming mud walls, using holes in the wall to get light, using overlaid brick over doorways, incorporating places to sit into the structure, simpler windows and a variety of roof construction approaches. He liked bare brick surfaces and considered plastering and other embellishments as superfluous.
Baker's architectural method is one of improvisation, in which initial drawings have only an idealistic link to the final construction, with most of the accommodations and design choices being made on-site by the architect himself. Compartments for milk bottles near the doorstep, windowsills that double as bench surfaces, and a heavy emphasis on taking cues from the natural condition of the site are just some examples. His Quaker-instilled respect for nature lead him to let the idiosyncrasies of a site inform his architectural improvisations, rarely is a topography line marred or a tree uprooted. This saves construction cost as well, since working around difficult site conditions is much more cost-effective than clear-cutting. ("I think it's a waste of money to level a well-moulded site") Resistant to "high-technology" that addresses building environment issues by ignoring natural environment, at the Centre for Development Studies (Trivandrum, 1971) Baker created a cooling system by placing a high, latticed, brick wall near a pond that uses air pressure differences to draw cool air through the building. Various features of his work such as using recycled material, natural environment control and frugality of design may be seen as sustainable architecture or green building with its emphasis on sustainability. His responsiveness to never-identical site conditions quite obviously allowed for the variegation that permeates his work.
Death and legacy
Laurie Baker died at 7:30 am on 1 April 2007, aged 90, survived by wife Elizabeth, son Tilak, daughters Vidya and Heidi and his grandchildren Vineet, Lisa and Tejal. Until the end he continued to work in and around his home in Trivandrum, though health concerns had kept his famous on-site physical presence to a minimum. His designing and writing were done mostly at his home. His approach to architecture steadily gained appreciation as architectural sentiment creaks towards place-making over modernising or stylising. As a result of this more widespread acceptance, however, the "Baker Style" home is gaining popularity, much to Baker's own chagrin, since he felt that the 'style' being commoditised is merely the inevitable manifestation of the cultural and economic imperatives of the region in which he worked, not a solution that could be applied whole-cloth to any outside situation. Laurie Baker's architecture focused on retaining a site's natural character, and economically minded indigenous construction, and the seamless integration of local culture that has been very inspirational.
Many architects studied and were inspired by the work of Laurie Baker. The workers and students called him "daddy". Laurie Baker's writings were published and are available through COSTFORD (the Center Of Science and Technology For Rural Development), the voluntary organisation where he was Master Architect and carried out many of his later projects.
Awards
1981: D.Litt. conferred by the Royal University of Netherlands for outstanding work in the developing countries.
1983: Order of the British Empire, MBE
1987: Received the first Indian National Habitat Award
1988: Received Indian Citizenship
1989: Indian Institute of Architects Outstanding Architect of the Year
1990: Received the Padma Sri
1990: Great Master Architect of the Year
1992: UNO Habitat Award & UN Roll of Honour
1993: International Union of Architects (IUA) Award
1993: Sir Robert Matthew Prize for Improvement of Human Settlements
1994: People of the Year Award
1995: Awarded Doctorate from the University of Central England
1998: Awarded Doctorate from Sri Venkateshwara University
2001: Coinpar MR Kurup Endowment Award
2003: Basheer Puraskaram
2003: D.Litt. from the Kerala University
2005: Kerala Government Certificate of Appreciation
2006: L-Ramp Award of Excellence
2006: Nominated for the Pritzker Prize (considered the Nobel Prize in Architecture)
See also
Hassan Fathy
Geoffrey Bawa
Muzharul Islam
Charles Correa
References
Further reading
Elizabeth Baker (2007). The Other Side of Laurie Baker: Memoirs.
Venugopal Maddipati (2020). Gandhi and Architecture: A Time for Low-Cost Housing: The Philosophy of Finitude
External links
Official Website of Architect Laurie Baker
COSTFORD
Video interview another interview transcript
Laurie Baker: The man we will never forget Rediff.com
Master mason by G. SHANKAR.
Of Architectural Truths and Lies
ARCHIPLANET article: Includes fuller list of buildings designed by Laurie Baker
"Here was a Baker"- a tribute
Laurie Baker Building Center, New Delhi
"Significance of Laurie Baker" by B Shashi Bhooshan
1917 births
2007 deaths
20th-century Indian architects
English conscientious objectors
Converts to Quakerism
British emigrants to India
English Quakers
Members of the Order of the British Empire
Organic architecture
People from Pithoragarh
Architects from Birmingham, West Midlands
Artists from Thiruvananthapuram
People with acquired Indian citizenship
Recipients of the Padma Shri in science & engineering
People associated with the Friends' Ambulance Unit
Indian Christian pacifists
English Christian pacifists
Indian Quakers
20th-century English architects
Artists from Uttarakhand
Alumni of the Birmingham School of Art | true | [
"Ruth Heller Gross (1923–2004), professionally known as Ruth Heller, was a children's author and graphic artist known for her use of bright color and detail in both geometric design and the representation of creatures, plants, patterns, and puzzles. She worked primarily with a combination of colored pencil and marker for her book illustrations. Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, she grew up in San Francisco, California, USA, where she lived until she died of cancer in 2004.\n\nHeller began her career designing wrapping paper, cocktail napkins, greeting cards, and coloring books. She then went on to start writing and illustrating children's books in 1981. After a 6-year struggle she found a publisher for her first book, Chickens Aren't the Only Ones. Her books are written in a rhyming verse reminiscent of Gilbert and Sullivan, Hilaire Belloc, or Dr. Seuss.\n\nBiography\nHeller received a degree in Fine Arts from the University of California, Berkeley in 1946. She paid for her own education through secretarial work and proceeded to work as a secretary following graduation.\n\nIn the early 1950s she married Henry Heller and had two sons, Paul and Philip. Ms. Heller completed two years of graduate work in design at the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, and got her first art job in the early 1960s, designing napkins, matchboxes, and gift wrap for Cost Plus. Henry died in 1965 and Ms. Heller poured herself into her career from then on, eventually expanding into illustrating puzzle books and coloring books for kids and adults.\n\nIn 1980, Ms. Heller visited an artists' colony in upstate New York, called Yaddo. She left that determined to start a new writing career. In 1985 she married Richard Gross who supported her work with enthusiasm until his death in 2002.\n\nMost of Heller's books were published by Grosset & Dunlap. She wrote a brief autobiography called Fine Lines which was published in 1996.\n\nColoring books\nThese coloring books have designs in them on a wide range of subjects and are appropriate for children or adults.\n\n Color and Puzzle (1968)\n The Oriental Rug Coloring Book (1973)\n Designs for Coloring\n Designs for Coloring (1976?)\n Designs for Coloring: More Designs (1976)\n Designs for Coloring: 3 (1977)\n Designs for Coloring: 4 (1977)\n Designs for Coloring: Jumbo (1980)\n Creative Coloring Activity: Designs by Ruth Heller (1981)\n Designs for Coloring: Stitch (1984)\n Designs for Coloring: Owls (1985)\n Designs for Coloring: Geometrics (1990)\n Designs for Coloring: Butterflies (1990)\n Designs for Coloring: Cats (1990)\n Designs for Coloring: Birds (1990)\n Designs for Coloring: Flowers (1990)\n Designs for Coloring: Snowflakes (1990)\n Designs for Coloring: The Hebrew Alphabet (1991)\n Designs for Coloring: Optical Art (1992)\n Designs for Coloring: Seashells (1992)\n Designs for Coloring: Tropical Fish (1997)\n Designs for Coloring: The Far East (1997)\n Designs for Coloring: Ancient Egypt (1999)\n Designs for Coloring: More Flowers (1999)\n Designs for Coloring: Prisms (2000)\n Designs for Coloring: Insects and Spiders (2000)\n Stained Glass Designs for Coloring\n Stained Glass Designs for Coloring: Geometrics (1998)\n Stained Glass Designs for Coloring: Snowflakes (1998)\n Stained Glass Designs for Coloring: More Geometrics (2000)\n\nChildren's books\nNon-fiction picture books used in schools and especially popular in ESL programs.\n\nWorld of Nature series\n Chickens Aren't the Only Ones (about egg-laying animals, 1981).\n Animals Born Alive And Well (about mammals, 1982)\n The Reason For A Flower (about plants that have seeds and flowers, 1983)\n Plants That Never Ever Bloom (about plants that do not, 1984)\n How to Hide - a series on camouflage\n How to Hide a Whip-poor-will and Other Birds (1986)\n How to Hide a Butterfly and Other Insects (1992)\n How to Hide an Octopus and Other Sea Creatures (1992)\n How to Hide a Polar Bear and Other Mammals ( 1994)\n How to Hide a Crocodile and Other Reptiles (1994)\n How to Hide a Meadow Frog and Other Amphibians (1995)\n How to Hide a Parakeet and Other Birds (1995)\n World of Language - a series on parts of speech\n A Cache of Jewels and Other Collective Nouns (1987)\n Kites Sail High: A Book About Verbs (1988)\n Many Luscious Lollipops: A Book About Adjectives (1989)\n Merry-Go- Round: A Book About Nouns (1990)\n Up, Up and Away: A Book About Adverbs (1991)\n Behind the Mask: A Book About Prepositions (1995)\n Mine, All Mine: A Book about Pronouns (1997)\n Fantastic! Wow! And Unreal! A Book about Interjections and Conjunctions (1998)\n Color (a guide to how art goes through the four-color printing process, 1999)\n A Sea within a Sea: Secrets of the Sargasso (2000)\n Galapagos Means Tortoises (2003)\n\nIllustration\nHeller also illustrated five books by other authors and a Merriam-Webster dictionary for very young children.\n\n The Egyptian Cinderella by Shirley Climo (1991)\n King of the Birds by Shirley Climo (1991)\n King Solomon and the Bee by Dalia Hardof Renberg (1994)\n The Korean Cinderella by Shirley Climo (1996)\n Blue Potatoes, Orange Tomatoes by Rosalind Creasy (2000)\n Merriam-Webster's Primary Dictionary (2005)\n Merriam-Webster's Alphabet Book (2005)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \"Talking with Ruth Heller\", by Beth W. Leistensnider, Book Links'', May 2003\n\n1923 births\n2004 deaths\nUniversity of California, Berkeley alumni\nArtists from Winnipeg\nAmerican women illustrators\nAmerican children's writers\nCanadian children's book illustrators\nCanadian children's writers\nCanadian emigrants to the United States\nAmerican children's book illustrators\nWriters from Winnipeg\n20th-century American women artists\n21st-century American women",
"Millicent (Millie) Jane Taplin (1902–1980) was a British designer and painter of ceramics who spent most of her career at Josiah Wedgwood and Sons (1917–1962). She was trained in painting by Alfred and Louise Powell, and supervised Wedgwood's ceramics painters. She became a designer of decorative patterns in 1929 and by the mid-to-late 1930s was one of the company's main designers, although she did not design pottery shapes. She was one of only two working-class women to become a successful ceramics designer before the Second World War. Her tableware designs were exhibited by Wedgwood at Grafton Galleries in London in 1936, and several of her designs are now on display at the V&A Museum. Her design \"Strawberry Hill\", with Victor Skellern, was awarded the Council of Industrial Design's Design of the Year Award in 1957.\n\nEarly life and education\nMillicent Jane Taplin was born in 1902. Her father, John William Taplin, worked at casting sanitary ware. She attended school only until the age of 13, leaving to find employment in a milliner's shop. She took evening classes in art at Stoke School of Art, after being awarded a three-year scholarship, studying not only pottery decoration but also still lifes and botanical drawing, but did not study art full time.\n\nCareer\nTaplin began her career in the Staffordshire pottery industry at Green and Co. in Fenton, where she was employed in gilding. She then started to learn the craft of ceramic painting at Mintons. In 1917 she moved to Josiah Wedgwood and Sons at their Etruria Works, where she continued her training as a painter, learning freehand painting under the supervision of Alfred and Louise Powell. When her training was completed, she worked as one of around twenty hand-paintresses for the company. In around 1926 she is recorded as a student at the Burslem School of Art. In 1928 she was promoted to supervise the paintresses at the newly established hand-decorating studio at the Etruria Works – from 1929, also including the hand-painting department – and continued in this role at the new Wedgwood factory in Barlaston. She was a member of the Society of Industrial Artists from 1932.\n\nTaplin began to adapt designs by the Powells from the mid-1920s; her own first designs date from 1928. In 1929 she was recognised as a designer, and by the mid-to-late 1930s was numbered among Wedgwood's main designers. With Clarice Cliff, she was one of two working-class women to achieve success as a designer in the interwar period. Many of the other women designers at this time were middle class in origin, and they often had close relatives who were designers or artists; lower-class women in the industry were usually restricted to non-creative roles such as dipping. Taplin originated patterns for bone china, Queen's ware, earthenware and other types of pottery. Her designs in the 1920s were for ornamental ware; those of the 1930s were for tableware. Her earlier designs were for hand-painting, but after the Second World War, she also worked on lithographic printed designs. Like most women designers, Taplin only originated decorative patterns and did not create complete pottery designs, although some women such as Cliff and Susie Cooper did design both. Like other Wedgwood designers of the 1920s and 1930s, the designs were sold under her name, but only some of her work was individually identified, which was done via a painted monogram rather than a signature. She worked under the direct supervision of Victor Skellern, Wedgwood's art director from 1934, with whom she collaborated.\n\nFrom 1956 Taplin headed the company's hand-painting section, covering both china and earthenware. She retired in 1962, having worked for Wedgwood for 45 years.\n\nDesigns and style\nAmong Taplin's early designs were \"Kingcup\" and \"Sun-lit\". In the mid-1930s she designed the \"highly modern\" \"Moonlight\"; \"Winter Morn\", with simple grey petals and leaves on a lavender background with silver highlights; and \"Falling Leaves\", a stylised leaf pattern in green and silver. \"Moonlight\", \"Winter Morn\" and \"Falling Leaves\" were among eleven Taplin designs chosen by Wedgwood for an exhibition of predominantly tableware at Grafton Galleries in London in 1936, along with a smaller number of works by Skellern, Star Wedgwood, Keith Murray, John Skeaping and others. According to Cheryl Buckley, these and other hand-painted designs of the 1930s were \"simple, but bold\" in their patterns, using \"subtle\" shades of green, grey, blue and lavender. Diane Taylor considers Taplin, Wedgwood and Skellern to present a \"coherent stylistic approach... based upon simplicity and restraint\", while Buckley characterises the work of male designers such as Skellern as more Modernist than that of Taplin and other contemporary Wedgwood women designers, such as Star Wedgwood and Daisy Makeig-Jones. Buckley considers that Taplin's tableware designs, as well as those of other women ceramics designers in the 1930s, represent \"a clever application of modernism\", working within the constraints on the British pottery industry of the time, finding a balance between modernist design and saleability to English consumers in a diminished market after the financial crash of 1929. They were reasonably inexpensive and targeted at relatively young purchasers with \"some taste but no money\". Amy Gale characterises Taplin as \"conservative\", stating that she \"updat[ed] the tradition of floral decoration.\"\n\nWith Skellern, Taplin designed \"Strawberry Hill\" in around 1957, a particularly popular design for printed and gilded bone china, which received one of the earliest Council of Industrial Design's Design of the Year Award in 1957. Several of Taplin's designs are preserved in the permanent ceramics collection of the V&A Museum, including \"Falling Leaves\", \"Strawberry Hill\" and an unidentified earthenware design of around 1937. Examples of her designs and painted work are also in the permanent collections of the Wedgwood Museum, Barlaston and the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery in Stoke-on-Trent.\n\nPersonal life\nTaplin married in 1932, carrying on working for Wedgwood. In 1935 she taught painting and design at Stoke School of Art. Taplin died in 1980.\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\nSources\nCheryl Buckley, \"The decorated object: Gender, modernism and the design of industrial ceramics in Britain in the 1930s\", in Women Artists and the Decorative Arts 1880–1935: The Gender of Ornament (Bridget Elliott, Janice Helland, eds), pp 53–72 (Routledge; 2019 [2002]) ()\nLynn Knight, Clarice Cliff (A&C Black; 2009) ()\n\nFurther reading\n\nExternal link\nFree Hand Painting, Wedgwood Factory, Barlaston Photograph of the Barlaston factory's painting studio in 1950–60, showing Taplin\n\n1902 births\n1980 deaths\nAlumni of Burslem School of Art\nEnglish potters\nEnglish ceramists\nWomen potters\n20th-century ceramists\nBritish women ceramists\nWedgwood pottery"
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