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[
"David Simon",
"Journalism",
"Did he go to school for journalism?",
"I don't know.",
"What was his first experience with journalism?",
"Upon leaving college, Simon worked as a police reporter at The Baltimore Sun from 1982 to 1995.",
"What was his next job?",
"Simon was a union captain when the writing staff went on strike",
"What was his next journalism experience?",
"Simon said that since leaving the newspaper business he has become more cynical about the power of journalism."
]
| C_8b553ee814864c8887a6c2c7a22544b2_1 | Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | 5 | Besides David Simon, Journalism, are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | David Simon | Upon leaving college, Simon worked as a police reporter at The Baltimore Sun from 1982 to 1995. He spent most of his career covering the crime beat. A colleague has said that Simon loved journalism and felt it was "God's work". Simon says that he was initially altruistic and was inspired to enter journalism by the Washington Post's coverage of Watergate but became increasingly pragmatic as he gained experience. Later in his career he aimed to tell the best possible story without "cheating it". Simon was a union captain when the writing staff went on strike in 1987 over benefit cuts. He remained angry after the strike ended and began to feel uncomfortable in the writing room. He searched for a reason to justify a leave of absence and settled on the idea of writing a novel. "I got out of journalism because some sons of bitches bought my newspaper and it stopped being fun," says Simon. In an interview in Reason in 2004, Simon said that since leaving the newspaper business he has become more cynical about the power of journalism. "One of the sad things about contemporary journalism is that it actually matters very little. The world now is almost inured to the power of journalism. The best journalism would manage to outrage people. And people are less and less inclined to outrage," said Simon. "I've become increasingly cynical about the ability of daily journalism to effect any kind of meaningful change. I was pretty dubious about it when I was a journalist, but now I think it's remarkably ineffectual." In 1988, disillusioned, Simon took a year's leave to go into the Baltimore Police Department Homicide Unit to write a book. CANNOTANSWER | He spent most of his career covering the crime beat. | David Judah Simon (born February 9, 1960) is an American author, journalist, and television writer and producer best known for his work on The Wire (2002–08).
He worked for The Baltimore Sun City Desk for twelve years (1982–95), wrote Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets (1991), and co-wrote The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood (1997) with Ed Burns. The former book was the basis for the NBC series Homicide: Life on the Street (1993–99), on which Simon served as a writer and producer. Simon adapted the latter book into the HBO mini-series The Corner (2000).
He was the creator, executive producer, head writer, and show runner for all five seasons of the HBO television series The Wire (2002–2008). He adapted the non-fiction book Generation Kill into a television mini-series, and served as the show runner for the project. He was selected as one of the 2010 MacArthur Fellows and named an Utne Reader visionary in 2011. Simon also created the HBO series Treme with Eric Overmyer, which aired for four seasons. Following Treme, Simon wrote the HBO mini-series Show Me a Hero with journalist William F. Zorzi, a colleague first at The Baltimore Sun and again later on The Wire. Simon and frequent collaborator George Pelecanos reunited to create original series The Deuce. The drama about the New York porn industry in the 1970s and 1980s stars Maggie Gyllenhaal and co-producer James Franco, and aired from 2017 to 2019. Simon's next series, The Plot Against America, debuted in 2020.
Early life and education
Simon was born in Washington, D.C., the son of Dorothy Simon (née Ligeti), a homemaker, and Bernard Simon, a former journalist and then public relations director for B'nai B'rith for 20 years. Simon was raised in a Jewish family, and had a bar mitzvah ceremony. His family roots are in Russia, Belarus, Hungary, and Slovakia (his maternal grandfather had changed his surname from "Leibowitz" to "Ligeti"). He has a brother, Gary Simon, and a sister, Linda Evans, who died in 1990.
In March 1977, when Simon was still in high school, Simon's father was one of a group of over 140 people held hostage (and later released) in Washington, D.C. by former national secretary of the Nation of Islam Hamaas Abdul Khaalis in the Hanafi Siege.
Simon graduated from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in Bethesda, Maryland, and wrote for the school newspaper, The Tattler. In 1983, he graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park. While at college he wrote and was Editor for The Diamondback, and became friends with contemporary David Mills.
Career
Journalism
Upon leaving college, Simon worked as a police reporter at The Baltimore Sun from 1982 to 1995. Simon was hired by the Baltimore Sun for a piece he wrote about Lefty Driesell, who was then the men's basketball coach at the University of Maryland. Driesell had been extremely frustrated that one of his players was suspended from playing for sexual impropriety and called the victim, threatening to destroy her reputation if she did not withdraw her complaint. This was all done while the university administration was listening to the call, but they did nothing. Lefty Driesell was later given a 5-year contract and, in 2018, he was inducted into the ACC Hall of Fame.
Simon spent most of his career covering the crime beat. A colleague has said that Simon loved journalism and felt it was "God's work". Simon says that he was initially altruistic and was inspired to enter journalism by The Washington Posts coverage of Watergate but became increasingly pragmatic as he gained experience.
Simon was a union captain when the writing staff went on strike in 1987 over benefit cuts. He remained angry after the strike ended and began to feel uncomfortable in the writing room. He searched for a reason to justify a leave of absence and settled on the idea of writing a novel. "I got out of journalism because some sons of bitches bought my newspaper and it stopped being fun," says Simon.
In 1988, disillusioned, Simon took a year's leave to go into the Baltimore Police Department Homicide Unit to write a book.
Book
Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets
Simon's leave of absence from The Sun resulted in his first book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets (1991). The book was based on his experiences shadowing the Baltimore Police Department homicide unit during 1988. The idea came from a conversation on Christmas Eve 1985 in the unit office, where Det. Bill Lansey told him, "If someone just wrote down what happens in this place for one year, they'd have a goddamn book." Simon approached the police department and the editors of the paper to receive approval. The detectives were initially slow to accept him, but he persevered in an attempt to "seem … like part of the furniture". However, he soon ingratiated himself with the detectives, saying in the closing notes of the book, "I shared with the detectives a year's worth of fast-food runs, bar arguments and station house humor: Even for a trained observer, it was hard to remain aloof." During one instance, Simon even assisted with an arrest. Two detectives Simon was riding with pulled their car to a curb to apprehend two suspects, but Detective Dave Brown got his trenchcoat caught in a seat belt when he tried to exit the car. Brown told Simon to assist Detective Terry McLarney himself, and Simon helped apprehend and search one of the suspects.
The book won the 1992 Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime book. The Associated Press called it "a true-crime classic". The Library Journal also highly recommended it, and Newsday described it as "one of the most engrossing police procedural mystery books ever written". Simon credits his time researching the book as altering his writing style and informing later work. He learned to be more patient in research and writing, and said a key lesson was not promoting himself but concentrating on his subjects. Simon told Baltimore's City Paper in 2003 that Homicide was not traditional journalism. "I felt Homicide the book and The Corner were not traditional journalism in the sense of coming from some artificially omniscient, objective point of view," said Simon. "They're immersed in the respective cultures that they cover in a way that traditional journalism often isn't."
Television
Homicide: Life on the Street
The publishers of Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets were eager for a screen adaptation and submitted it to numerous directors but there was little interest. Simon suggested that they send the book to Baltimore native and film director Barry Levinson. Levinson's assistant Gail Mutrux enjoyed the book and both she and Levinson became attached as producers. The project became the award-winning TV series Homicide: Life on the Street (1993–1999), on which Simon worked as a writer and producer.
Simon was asked by Mutrux to write the show's pilot episode but declined, feeling he did not have the necessary expertise. He collaborated with his old college friend David Mills to write the season two premiere "Bop Gun". The episode was based on a story by executive producer Tom Fontana and featured Robin Williams in a guest starring role that garnered the actor an Emmy nomination. Simon and Mills won the WGA Award for Best Writing in a Drama for the episode. Simon also received Austin Film Festival's Outstanding Television Writer Award in 2010.
Simon left his job with the Baltimore Sun in 1995 to work full-time on Homicide: Life on the Street during the production of the show's fourth season. Simon wrote the teleplay for the season four episodes "Justice: Part 2" and "Scene of the Crime" (with Anya Epstein). For season five he was the show's story editor and continued to contribute teleplays writing the episodes "Bad Medicine" and "Wu's on First?" (again with Epstein). He was credited as a producer on the show's sixth and seventh seasons. He wrote the teleplays for parts two and three of the sixth-season premiere "Blood Ties" (the latter marking his third collaboration with Epstein) and provided the story for the later sixth-season episodes "Full Court Press" and "Finnegan's Wake" (with James Yoshimura). He provided the story for the seventh season episodes "Shades of Gray" (with Julie Martin), "The Same Coin" (again with Yoshimura) and "Self Defense" (with Eric Overmyer). Simon wrote the story and teleplay for the seventh season episodes "The Twenty Percent Solution" and "Sideshow: Part 2". Simon, Martin and teleplay writer T. J. English won the Humanitas Prize in the 60 minutes category for the episode "Shades of Gray". Simon was nominated for a second WGA Award for Best Writing in a Drama for his work on "Finnegan's Wake" with Yoshimura and Mills (who wrote the teleplay).
Simon has said that he thought the show was a "remarkable drama" but that it did not reflect the book. He has also said that when writing for the show he had to put his experiences of the real detectives aside as the characters became quite different, particularly in their more philosophical approach to the job. Simon said that TV must find shorthand ways of referencing anything real.
The Corner
In 1997 he co-authored, with Ed Burns, The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood, the true account of a West Baltimore community dominated by a heavy drug market. Simon credits his editor John Sterling with the suggestion that he observe a single drug corner. He took a second leave of absence from the Baltimore Sun in 1993 to research the project. Simon became close to one of his subjects, drug addict Gary McCullough, and was devastated by his death while he was writing the project. Simon says that he approached the research with the abstract idea that his subjects may die because of their addictions but it was not possible to fully prepare for the reality. He remains grateful to his subjects saying "This involved people's whole lives, there's no privacy in it. That was an enormous gift which many, many people gave us. Even the most functional were at war with themselves. But they were not foolish people. And they made that choice."
The Corner was named a Notable Book of the Year by The New York Times. Simon again returned to his journalism career after finishing the book but felt further changed by his experiences. He said he "was less enamored of the braggadocio, all that big, we're-really-having-an-impact talk" and no longer believed that they were making a difference; he left his job at The Sun within a year for work on NBC's Homicide.
Soon after Homicide concluded Simon co-wrote (with David Mills) and produced The Corner as a six-hour TV miniseries for HBO. The show received three Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries or a Movie, for Simon and Mills.
The Wire
Simon was the creator, show runner, executive producer and head writer of the HBO drama series The Wire. Many of The Wires characters and incidents also came from Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets. After the fourth season, Simon signed on to produce the fifth and final season of The Wire, which focused on the role of mass media in society.
Again he worked with Ed Burns on creating the show. Originally they set out to create a police drama loosely based on Burns' experiences when working on protracted investigations of violent drug dealers using surveillance technology. During this time Burns had often faced frustration with the bureaucracy of the police department, which Simon equated with his own ordeals as a police reporter for The Baltimore Sun. Writing against the background of current events, including institutionalized corporate crime at Enron and institutional dysfunction in the Catholic Church, the show became "more of a treatise about institutions and individuals than a straight cop show."
They chose to take The Wire to HBO because of their existing working relationship from The Corner. Owing to its reputation for exploring new areas, HBO was initially dubious about including a cop drama in their lineup, but eventually agreed to produce the pilot after ordering a further two scripts to see how the series would progress. Carolyn Strauss, the president of HBO entertainment, has said that Simon's argument that the most subversive thing HBO could do was invade the networks' "backyard" of police procedurals helped to persuade them.
The theme of institutional dysfunction was expanded across different areas of the city as the show progressed. The second season focused on the death of working-class America through examination of the city ports. The third season "reflects on the nature of reform and reformers, and whether there is any possibility that political processes, long calcified, can mitigate against the forces currently arrayed against individuals." For the fourth season Simon again turned to Burns' experience, this time his second career as a Baltimore public school teacher in examining the theme of education. The fifth season looked at the media, as well as continuing themes such as politics from earlier seasons.
Simon was reunited with his The Corner producers Robert F. Colesberry and Nina K. Noble on The Wire. Simon credits Colesberry for achieving the show's realistic visual feel because of his experience as a director. They recruited Homicide star and director Clark Johnson to helm the pilot episode. The completed pilot was given to HBO in November 2001. Johnson returned to direct the second episode when the show was picked up, and would direct the series finale as well, in addition to starring in the fifth season.
Simon approached acclaimed crime fiction authors to write for The Wire. He was recommended the work of George Pelecanos by a colleague while working at the Baltimore Sun because of similarities between their writing. The two writers have much in common including a childhood in Silver Spring, attendance at the University of Maryland and their interest in the "fate of the American city and the black urban poor." Simon did not read Pelecanos initially because of territorial prejudice; Pelecanos is from Washington. Once Simon received further recommendations including one from his wife Laura Lippman he tried Pelecanos' novel The Sweet Forever and changed his mind. He sought out Pelecanos when recruiting writers for The Wire. The two met at the funeral of a mutual friend shortly after Simon delivered the pilot episode. Simon pitched Pelecanos the idea of The Wire as a novel for television about the American city as Pelecanos drove him home. Pelecanos became a regular writer and later a producer for the show's second and third seasons. Simon and Pelecanos collaborated to write the episode "Middle Ground" which received the show's first Emmy nomination, in the category Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series.
Pelecanos left the production staff following the third season to focus on his next novel; Simon has commented that he missed having him working on the show full-time but was pleased that he continued to write for them and was a fan of the resultant book The Night Gardener. Similar to Simon's own experience in researching Homicide Pelecanos spent time embedded with the Washington DC homicide unit to research the book.
Crime novelist Dennis Lehane has also written for the series starting with the third season. Lehane has commented that he was impressed by Simon and Burns' ear for authentic street slang.
Eric Overmyer was brought in to fill the role of Pelecanos as a full-time writer producer. He had previously worked with Simon on Homicide where the two became friends. Simon has said that he was impressed with Overmyer's writing particularly in synthesizing the story for "Margin of Error" as the episode is the height of the show's political storyline but must also progress other plot threads.
Simon and his writing staff were nominated for the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Dramatic Series at the February 2009 ceremony for their work on the fifth season. Simon and Burns collaborated to write the series finale "-30-" which received the show's second Emmy nomination, again in the category Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series.
Simon has stated that he finds working with HBO more comfortable than his experiences with NBC on Homicide and that HBO is able to allow greater creative control because it is dependent on subscribers rather than on viewing figures. He has said that he feels unable to return to network television because he felt pressure to compromise storytelling for audience satisfaction.
Generation Kill
Simon produced and wrote Generation Kill for HBO with Ed Burns. They again worked with Nina Noble as a producer. The miniseries is an adaption of the non-fiction book of the same name. It relates the first 40 days of the 2003 invasion of Iraq as experienced by 1st Reconnaissance Battalion and their embedded reporter, Evan Wright. Simon and Burns worked with Wright in adapting his book into the series.
Treme
Simon collaborated with Eric Overmyer again on Treme, a project about musicians in post-Katrina New Orleans. Overmyer lives part-time in New Orleans, and Simon believed his experience would be valuable in navigating the "ornate oral tradition" of the city's stories. Simon also consulted with New Orleans natives Donald Harrison Jr., Kermit Ruffins, and Davis Rogan while developing the series. The show focuses on a working-class neighborhood, and is smaller in scope than The Wire. The series premiered on April 11, 2010, on HBO and ran for four seasons.
Treme is named after the Faubourg Treme neighborhood in New Orleans that is home to many of the city's musicians. Simon stated that the series would explore beyond the music scene to encompass political corruption, the public housing controversy, the criminal-justice system, clashes between police and Mardi Gras Indians, and the struggle to regain the tourism industry after the storm. One of the principal characters in the pilot script runs a restaurant. The series was filmed on location and was expected to provide a boost to the New Orleans economy. Simon's casting of the show mirrored that of The Wire in using local actors wherever possible. Wendell Pierce, who had previously played Bunk Moreland on The Wire, stars in the series. Clarke Peters, also of The Wire, is another series regular. Many other stars of The Wire have appeared in Treme, these include Steve Earle, Jim True-Frost, James Ransone, and Anwan Glover.
Show Me a Hero
In 2014, HBO greenlit production for Simon's next project Show Me a Hero, a six-hour miniseries co-written with William F. Zorzi and the episodes directed by Academy Award-winner Paul Haggis. The miniseries is an adaptation of the nonfiction book of the same name by Lisa Belkin and tells the story of Nick Wasicsko, the youngest big-city mayor in the country who is thrust into racial controversy when a federal court orders to build a small number of low-income housing units in the white neighborhoods of Yonkers, New York. Oscar Isaac stars as Wasicsko and leads a cast, which includes Catherine Keener, Jim Belushi, Bob Balaban and Winona Ryder. The miniseries premiered on August 16, 2015.
The Deuce
The Deuce is a 2017 drama television series set in Times Square, New York focusing on the rise of the porn industry in the 1970s-80s. Created and written by Simon along with frequent collaborator George Pelecanos, the series pilot began shooting in October 2015. It was picked up to series in January 2016. It premiered on September 10, 2017, and is broadcast by HBO in the United States.
The Deuce tells the story of the legalization and ensuing rise of the porn industry in New York beginning in the 1970s and its ongoing rise through the mid-1980s. Themes explored include the rise of HIV, the violence of the drug epidemic and the resulting real estate booms and busts that coincided with the change.
The Plot Against America
An adaptation of Philip Roth's novel, The Plot Against America is an alternate history told through the eyes of a working-class Jewish family in Newark, New Jersey; as they watch the political rise of Charles Lindbergh, an aviator-hero and xenophobic populist, who becomes president and turns the nation toward fascism. The six-part miniseries premiered on March 16, 2020, on HBO.
Projects in developmentParting the Waters: With Taylor Branch, James McBride, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Eric Overmyer. About Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement, based on one of the volumes of the books America in the King Years written by Taylor Branch, specifically At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years, 1965–1968. The project was to be produced by Oprah Winfrey, but was shelved.The Avenue: A book with William F. Zorzi Jr., on the Baltimore drug epidemic from 1951 to late 1980sThe Good Friday Plot: Miniseries about Abraham Lincoln based upon Manhunt: The Twelve-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson and American Brutus: John Wilkes Booth and the Lincoln Conspiracies by Michael W. Kauffman.Capitol Hill: A collaboration with Carl Bernstein set in Capitol Hill, it examines partisanship and the role money plays in influencing national governance. The series was ordered to pilot by HBO in 2015 but has not received a subsequent season order.Legacy of Ashes: On the Central Intelligence Agency, based on the 2007 book Legacy of Ashes by Tim Weiner. The show was taken to the BBC and would have had Anthony Bourdain on the writing staff.The Pogues: Musical project with the help of the late Philip Chevron in development at The Public Theater in New York City, with Laura Lippman and George PelecanosA Dry Run: The Lincolns in Spain: A historical miniseries set during the Spanish Civil War about the Abraham Lincoln and George Washington Battalions, which were composed of volunteers from the United States who wanted to help the Spanish Republic overcome fascism. Mark Johnson will be the series producer and Mediapro will be the series' production company.
Writing process
Simon is known for his realistic dialogue and journalistic approach to writing. He says that authenticity is paramount and that he writes not with a general audience in mind but with the opinions of his subjects as his priority. He has described his extensive use of real anecdotes and characters in his writing as "stealing life".
In a talk that Simon gave to a live audience in April 2007 at the Creative Alliance's storytelling series, Simon disclosed that he had started writing for revenge against John Carroll and Bill Marimow, the two most senior editors at The Baltimore Sun when Simon was a reporter at the paper. Simon said he had watched Carroll and Marimow "single-handedly destroy" the newspaper and that he spent over ten years trying to get back at them.
Anything I've ever accomplished as a writer, as somebody doing TV, anything I've ever done in life, down to, like, cleaning up my room, has been accomplished because I was going to show people that they were fucked up, wrong, and that I was the fucking center of the universe and the sooner they got hip to that, the happier they would all be.
One of the actions Simon took was to name a character in The Wire after Marimow and make the character "a repellent police-department toady." Carroll left The Baltimore Sun to become editor at the Los Angeles Times and resigned in 2005 after budget cuts were announced. "He stands up like a [bleeping] hero, takes a bullet," said Simon. In 2006 Marimow was diagnosed with prostate cancer, something that Simon said "took the edge off" his grudge. Carroll and Marimow "were fuel for 10 years of my life. ... And now, I got nothing," Simon said.
When asked about these comments, Simon said that he had spoken with "some hyperbole and, I hope, comic effect", adding that his basic viewpoint was: "that simple revenge is both empty and beside the point and that a good story carefully told has to speak to larger themes. You do not tell an ornate, careful story over ten hours of HBO airtime merely to bust on any given soul."
Views on journalism
In an interview in Reason in 2004, Simon said that since leaving the newspaper business he has become more cynical about the power of journalism. "One of the sad things about contemporary journalism is that it actually matters very little. The world now is almost inured to the power of journalism. The best journalism would manage to outrage people. And people are less and less inclined to outrage," said Simon. "I've become increasingly cynical about the ability of daily journalism to effect any kind of meaningful change. I was pretty dubious about it when I was a journalist, but now I think it's remarkably ineffectual."
While testifying at a 2009 Senate hearing regarding the future of journalism in America, Simon indicted what he saw as poor online journalism, calling the phrase citizen journalist "Orwellian to [his] ears." Simon ended his testimony by declaring, "I don't think anything can be done to save high-end journalism."
Political views
Simon has described himself as a social democrat, broadly supporting the existence of capitalism while opposing "raw, unencumbered capitalism, absent any social framework, absent any sense of community, without regard to the weakest and most vulnerable classes in society", which he described as "a recipe for needless pain, needless human waste, (and) needless tragedy". He has criticized the idea of trickle-down economics.
In 2013, Simon compared the global surveillance disclosures uncovered by Edward Snowden to a 1980s effort by the City of Baltimore to record the numbers dialed from all pay phones. The city believed that drug traffickers were using pay phones and pagers, and a municipal judge allowed the city to record the dialed numbers. The placement of the payphone number recorders formed the basis of The Wires first season. Simon argued that the media attention regarding the surveillance disclosures is a "faux scandal."
During a November 2013 speech at the Festival of Dangerous Ideas in Sydney, he said that America has become "a horror show" of savage inequality as a result of capitalism run amok, and that "unless we reverse course, the average human being is worthless on planet Earth. Unless we take stock of the fact that maybe socialism and the socialist impulse has to be addressed again; it has to be married as it was married in the 1930s, the 1940s and even into the 1950s, to the engine that is capitalism."
Simon has also spoken out publicly against crime journalist Kevin Deutsch, disputing the portrayal of Baltimore's illegal drug trade in Deutsch's book, Pill City: How Two Honor Roll Students Foiled the Feds and Built a Drug Empire. Simon has described the book as "a wholesale fabrication."
During the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries, Simon praised Bernie Sanders for "rehabilitating and normalizing the term socialist back into American public life", but opposed some attacks against Hillary Clinton which he felt focused on her presumed motives rather than the substance of policies.
Personal life
In 1991, Simon was married to graphic artist Kayle Tucker. They had a son. The marriage ended in divorce.
In 2006, Simon married best-selling Baltimore novelist and former Sun reporter Laura Lippman in a ceremony officiated by John Waters. They have a daughter, who was born in 2010.
Simon's nephew, Jason Simon, is a guitarist and vocalist for the psychedelic rock band Dead Meadow. The band was mentioned in an episode of The Wire.
Simon was the 2012 commencement speaker for the Georgetown University College of Arts and Sciences, as well as the speaker for the Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School graduation.
In 2019, Simon joined a host of other writers in firing their agents as part of the WGA's stand against the ATA after failing to come to an agreement on their "Code of Conduct". Simon's statement to the writers union was widely circulated. He had previously led the rallying cry about the unfair practices of packaging by the major talent agencies.
Works and publications
Commentary
Non-fiction books
Filmography
Producer
Writer
References
Further reading
External links
David Simon's blog.
1960 births
American crime fiction writers
Jewish American journalists
American non-fiction crime writers
American newspaper reporters and correspondents
American male novelists
American male screenwriters
American television producers
American television writers
Anthony Award winners
Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School alumni
Drug policy reform activists
Edgar Award winners
Living people
MacArthur Fellows
American male television writers
Maryland Democrats
Primetime Emmy Award winners
Showrunners
The Baltimore Sun people
University of Maryland, College Park alumni
Writers Guild of America Award winners
Writers from Baltimore
Novelists from Maryland
American male non-fiction writers
Screenwriters from Washington, D.C.
People from Bethesda, Maryland
21st-century American Jews | 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"
]
|
[
"David Simon",
"Journalism",
"Did he go to school for journalism?",
"I don't know.",
"What was his first experience with journalism?",
"Upon leaving college, Simon worked as a police reporter at The Baltimore Sun from 1982 to 1995.",
"What was his next job?",
"Simon was a union captain when the writing staff went on strike",
"What was his next journalism experience?",
"Simon said that since leaving the newspaper business he has become more cynical about the power of journalism.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"He spent most of his career covering the crime beat."
]
| C_8b553ee814864c8887a6c2c7a22544b2_1 | Who did he write the articles for? | 6 | Who did David Simon write articles for? | David Simon | Upon leaving college, Simon worked as a police reporter at The Baltimore Sun from 1982 to 1995. He spent most of his career covering the crime beat. A colleague has said that Simon loved journalism and felt it was "God's work". Simon says that he was initially altruistic and was inspired to enter journalism by the Washington Post's coverage of Watergate but became increasingly pragmatic as he gained experience. Later in his career he aimed to tell the best possible story without "cheating it". Simon was a union captain when the writing staff went on strike in 1987 over benefit cuts. He remained angry after the strike ended and began to feel uncomfortable in the writing room. He searched for a reason to justify a leave of absence and settled on the idea of writing a novel. "I got out of journalism because some sons of bitches bought my newspaper and it stopped being fun," says Simon. In an interview in Reason in 2004, Simon said that since leaving the newspaper business he has become more cynical about the power of journalism. "One of the sad things about contemporary journalism is that it actually matters very little. The world now is almost inured to the power of journalism. The best journalism would manage to outrage people. And people are less and less inclined to outrage," said Simon. "I've become increasingly cynical about the ability of daily journalism to effect any kind of meaningful change. I was pretty dubious about it when I was a journalist, but now I think it's remarkably ineffectual." In 1988, disillusioned, Simon took a year's leave to go into the Baltimore Police Department Homicide Unit to write a book. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | David Judah Simon (born February 9, 1960) is an American author, journalist, and television writer and producer best known for his work on The Wire (2002–08).
He worked for The Baltimore Sun City Desk for twelve years (1982–95), wrote Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets (1991), and co-wrote The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood (1997) with Ed Burns. The former book was the basis for the NBC series Homicide: Life on the Street (1993–99), on which Simon served as a writer and producer. Simon adapted the latter book into the HBO mini-series The Corner (2000).
He was the creator, executive producer, head writer, and show runner for all five seasons of the HBO television series The Wire (2002–2008). He adapted the non-fiction book Generation Kill into a television mini-series, and served as the show runner for the project. He was selected as one of the 2010 MacArthur Fellows and named an Utne Reader visionary in 2011. Simon also created the HBO series Treme with Eric Overmyer, which aired for four seasons. Following Treme, Simon wrote the HBO mini-series Show Me a Hero with journalist William F. Zorzi, a colleague first at The Baltimore Sun and again later on The Wire. Simon and frequent collaborator George Pelecanos reunited to create original series The Deuce. The drama about the New York porn industry in the 1970s and 1980s stars Maggie Gyllenhaal and co-producer James Franco, and aired from 2017 to 2019. Simon's next series, The Plot Against America, debuted in 2020.
Early life and education
Simon was born in Washington, D.C., the son of Dorothy Simon (née Ligeti), a homemaker, and Bernard Simon, a former journalist and then public relations director for B'nai B'rith for 20 years. Simon was raised in a Jewish family, and had a bar mitzvah ceremony. His family roots are in Russia, Belarus, Hungary, and Slovakia (his maternal grandfather had changed his surname from "Leibowitz" to "Ligeti"). He has a brother, Gary Simon, and a sister, Linda Evans, who died in 1990.
In March 1977, when Simon was still in high school, Simon's father was one of a group of over 140 people held hostage (and later released) in Washington, D.C. by former national secretary of the Nation of Islam Hamaas Abdul Khaalis in the Hanafi Siege.
Simon graduated from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in Bethesda, Maryland, and wrote for the school newspaper, The Tattler. In 1983, he graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park. While at college he wrote and was Editor for The Diamondback, and became friends with contemporary David Mills.
Career
Journalism
Upon leaving college, Simon worked as a police reporter at The Baltimore Sun from 1982 to 1995. Simon was hired by the Baltimore Sun for a piece he wrote about Lefty Driesell, who was then the men's basketball coach at the University of Maryland. Driesell had been extremely frustrated that one of his players was suspended from playing for sexual impropriety and called the victim, threatening to destroy her reputation if she did not withdraw her complaint. This was all done while the university administration was listening to the call, but they did nothing. Lefty Driesell was later given a 5-year contract and, in 2018, he was inducted into the ACC Hall of Fame.
Simon spent most of his career covering the crime beat. A colleague has said that Simon loved journalism and felt it was "God's work". Simon says that he was initially altruistic and was inspired to enter journalism by The Washington Posts coverage of Watergate but became increasingly pragmatic as he gained experience.
Simon was a union captain when the writing staff went on strike in 1987 over benefit cuts. He remained angry after the strike ended and began to feel uncomfortable in the writing room. He searched for a reason to justify a leave of absence and settled on the idea of writing a novel. "I got out of journalism because some sons of bitches bought my newspaper and it stopped being fun," says Simon.
In 1988, disillusioned, Simon took a year's leave to go into the Baltimore Police Department Homicide Unit to write a book.
Book
Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets
Simon's leave of absence from The Sun resulted in his first book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets (1991). The book was based on his experiences shadowing the Baltimore Police Department homicide unit during 1988. The idea came from a conversation on Christmas Eve 1985 in the unit office, where Det. Bill Lansey told him, "If someone just wrote down what happens in this place for one year, they'd have a goddamn book." Simon approached the police department and the editors of the paper to receive approval. The detectives were initially slow to accept him, but he persevered in an attempt to "seem … like part of the furniture". However, he soon ingratiated himself with the detectives, saying in the closing notes of the book, "I shared with the detectives a year's worth of fast-food runs, bar arguments and station house humor: Even for a trained observer, it was hard to remain aloof." During one instance, Simon even assisted with an arrest. Two detectives Simon was riding with pulled their car to a curb to apprehend two suspects, but Detective Dave Brown got his trenchcoat caught in a seat belt when he tried to exit the car. Brown told Simon to assist Detective Terry McLarney himself, and Simon helped apprehend and search one of the suspects.
The book won the 1992 Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime book. The Associated Press called it "a true-crime classic". The Library Journal also highly recommended it, and Newsday described it as "one of the most engrossing police procedural mystery books ever written". Simon credits his time researching the book as altering his writing style and informing later work. He learned to be more patient in research and writing, and said a key lesson was not promoting himself but concentrating on his subjects. Simon told Baltimore's City Paper in 2003 that Homicide was not traditional journalism. "I felt Homicide the book and The Corner were not traditional journalism in the sense of coming from some artificially omniscient, objective point of view," said Simon. "They're immersed in the respective cultures that they cover in a way that traditional journalism often isn't."
Television
Homicide: Life on the Street
The publishers of Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets were eager for a screen adaptation and submitted it to numerous directors but there was little interest. Simon suggested that they send the book to Baltimore native and film director Barry Levinson. Levinson's assistant Gail Mutrux enjoyed the book and both she and Levinson became attached as producers. The project became the award-winning TV series Homicide: Life on the Street (1993–1999), on which Simon worked as a writer and producer.
Simon was asked by Mutrux to write the show's pilot episode but declined, feeling he did not have the necessary expertise. He collaborated with his old college friend David Mills to write the season two premiere "Bop Gun". The episode was based on a story by executive producer Tom Fontana and featured Robin Williams in a guest starring role that garnered the actor an Emmy nomination. Simon and Mills won the WGA Award for Best Writing in a Drama for the episode. Simon also received Austin Film Festival's Outstanding Television Writer Award in 2010.
Simon left his job with the Baltimore Sun in 1995 to work full-time on Homicide: Life on the Street during the production of the show's fourth season. Simon wrote the teleplay for the season four episodes "Justice: Part 2" and "Scene of the Crime" (with Anya Epstein). For season five he was the show's story editor and continued to contribute teleplays writing the episodes "Bad Medicine" and "Wu's on First?" (again with Epstein). He was credited as a producer on the show's sixth and seventh seasons. He wrote the teleplays for parts two and three of the sixth-season premiere "Blood Ties" (the latter marking his third collaboration with Epstein) and provided the story for the later sixth-season episodes "Full Court Press" and "Finnegan's Wake" (with James Yoshimura). He provided the story for the seventh season episodes "Shades of Gray" (with Julie Martin), "The Same Coin" (again with Yoshimura) and "Self Defense" (with Eric Overmyer). Simon wrote the story and teleplay for the seventh season episodes "The Twenty Percent Solution" and "Sideshow: Part 2". Simon, Martin and teleplay writer T. J. English won the Humanitas Prize in the 60 minutes category for the episode "Shades of Gray". Simon was nominated for a second WGA Award for Best Writing in a Drama for his work on "Finnegan's Wake" with Yoshimura and Mills (who wrote the teleplay).
Simon has said that he thought the show was a "remarkable drama" but that it did not reflect the book. He has also said that when writing for the show he had to put his experiences of the real detectives aside as the characters became quite different, particularly in their more philosophical approach to the job. Simon said that TV must find shorthand ways of referencing anything real.
The Corner
In 1997 he co-authored, with Ed Burns, The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood, the true account of a West Baltimore community dominated by a heavy drug market. Simon credits his editor John Sterling with the suggestion that he observe a single drug corner. He took a second leave of absence from the Baltimore Sun in 1993 to research the project. Simon became close to one of his subjects, drug addict Gary McCullough, and was devastated by his death while he was writing the project. Simon says that he approached the research with the abstract idea that his subjects may die because of their addictions but it was not possible to fully prepare for the reality. He remains grateful to his subjects saying "This involved people's whole lives, there's no privacy in it. That was an enormous gift which many, many people gave us. Even the most functional were at war with themselves. But they were not foolish people. And they made that choice."
The Corner was named a Notable Book of the Year by The New York Times. Simon again returned to his journalism career after finishing the book but felt further changed by his experiences. He said he "was less enamored of the braggadocio, all that big, we're-really-having-an-impact talk" and no longer believed that they were making a difference; he left his job at The Sun within a year for work on NBC's Homicide.
Soon after Homicide concluded Simon co-wrote (with David Mills) and produced The Corner as a six-hour TV miniseries for HBO. The show received three Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries or a Movie, for Simon and Mills.
The Wire
Simon was the creator, show runner, executive producer and head writer of the HBO drama series The Wire. Many of The Wires characters and incidents also came from Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets. After the fourth season, Simon signed on to produce the fifth and final season of The Wire, which focused on the role of mass media in society.
Again he worked with Ed Burns on creating the show. Originally they set out to create a police drama loosely based on Burns' experiences when working on protracted investigations of violent drug dealers using surveillance technology. During this time Burns had often faced frustration with the bureaucracy of the police department, which Simon equated with his own ordeals as a police reporter for The Baltimore Sun. Writing against the background of current events, including institutionalized corporate crime at Enron and institutional dysfunction in the Catholic Church, the show became "more of a treatise about institutions and individuals than a straight cop show."
They chose to take The Wire to HBO because of their existing working relationship from The Corner. Owing to its reputation for exploring new areas, HBO was initially dubious about including a cop drama in their lineup, but eventually agreed to produce the pilot after ordering a further two scripts to see how the series would progress. Carolyn Strauss, the president of HBO entertainment, has said that Simon's argument that the most subversive thing HBO could do was invade the networks' "backyard" of police procedurals helped to persuade them.
The theme of institutional dysfunction was expanded across different areas of the city as the show progressed. The second season focused on the death of working-class America through examination of the city ports. The third season "reflects on the nature of reform and reformers, and whether there is any possibility that political processes, long calcified, can mitigate against the forces currently arrayed against individuals." For the fourth season Simon again turned to Burns' experience, this time his second career as a Baltimore public school teacher in examining the theme of education. The fifth season looked at the media, as well as continuing themes such as politics from earlier seasons.
Simon was reunited with his The Corner producers Robert F. Colesberry and Nina K. Noble on The Wire. Simon credits Colesberry for achieving the show's realistic visual feel because of his experience as a director. They recruited Homicide star and director Clark Johnson to helm the pilot episode. The completed pilot was given to HBO in November 2001. Johnson returned to direct the second episode when the show was picked up, and would direct the series finale as well, in addition to starring in the fifth season.
Simon approached acclaimed crime fiction authors to write for The Wire. He was recommended the work of George Pelecanos by a colleague while working at the Baltimore Sun because of similarities between their writing. The two writers have much in common including a childhood in Silver Spring, attendance at the University of Maryland and their interest in the "fate of the American city and the black urban poor." Simon did not read Pelecanos initially because of territorial prejudice; Pelecanos is from Washington. Once Simon received further recommendations including one from his wife Laura Lippman he tried Pelecanos' novel The Sweet Forever and changed his mind. He sought out Pelecanos when recruiting writers for The Wire. The two met at the funeral of a mutual friend shortly after Simon delivered the pilot episode. Simon pitched Pelecanos the idea of The Wire as a novel for television about the American city as Pelecanos drove him home. Pelecanos became a regular writer and later a producer for the show's second and third seasons. Simon and Pelecanos collaborated to write the episode "Middle Ground" which received the show's first Emmy nomination, in the category Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series.
Pelecanos left the production staff following the third season to focus on his next novel; Simon has commented that he missed having him working on the show full-time but was pleased that he continued to write for them and was a fan of the resultant book The Night Gardener. Similar to Simon's own experience in researching Homicide Pelecanos spent time embedded with the Washington DC homicide unit to research the book.
Crime novelist Dennis Lehane has also written for the series starting with the third season. Lehane has commented that he was impressed by Simon and Burns' ear for authentic street slang.
Eric Overmyer was brought in to fill the role of Pelecanos as a full-time writer producer. He had previously worked with Simon on Homicide where the two became friends. Simon has said that he was impressed with Overmyer's writing particularly in synthesizing the story for "Margin of Error" as the episode is the height of the show's political storyline but must also progress other plot threads.
Simon and his writing staff were nominated for the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Dramatic Series at the February 2009 ceremony for their work on the fifth season. Simon and Burns collaborated to write the series finale "-30-" which received the show's second Emmy nomination, again in the category Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series.
Simon has stated that he finds working with HBO more comfortable than his experiences with NBC on Homicide and that HBO is able to allow greater creative control because it is dependent on subscribers rather than on viewing figures. He has said that he feels unable to return to network television because he felt pressure to compromise storytelling for audience satisfaction.
Generation Kill
Simon produced and wrote Generation Kill for HBO with Ed Burns. They again worked with Nina Noble as a producer. The miniseries is an adaption of the non-fiction book of the same name. It relates the first 40 days of the 2003 invasion of Iraq as experienced by 1st Reconnaissance Battalion and their embedded reporter, Evan Wright. Simon and Burns worked with Wright in adapting his book into the series.
Treme
Simon collaborated with Eric Overmyer again on Treme, a project about musicians in post-Katrina New Orleans. Overmyer lives part-time in New Orleans, and Simon believed his experience would be valuable in navigating the "ornate oral tradition" of the city's stories. Simon also consulted with New Orleans natives Donald Harrison Jr., Kermit Ruffins, and Davis Rogan while developing the series. The show focuses on a working-class neighborhood, and is smaller in scope than The Wire. The series premiered on April 11, 2010, on HBO and ran for four seasons.
Treme is named after the Faubourg Treme neighborhood in New Orleans that is home to many of the city's musicians. Simon stated that the series would explore beyond the music scene to encompass political corruption, the public housing controversy, the criminal-justice system, clashes between police and Mardi Gras Indians, and the struggle to regain the tourism industry after the storm. One of the principal characters in the pilot script runs a restaurant. The series was filmed on location and was expected to provide a boost to the New Orleans economy. Simon's casting of the show mirrored that of The Wire in using local actors wherever possible. Wendell Pierce, who had previously played Bunk Moreland on The Wire, stars in the series. Clarke Peters, also of The Wire, is another series regular. Many other stars of The Wire have appeared in Treme, these include Steve Earle, Jim True-Frost, James Ransone, and Anwan Glover.
Show Me a Hero
In 2014, HBO greenlit production for Simon's next project Show Me a Hero, a six-hour miniseries co-written with William F. Zorzi and the episodes directed by Academy Award-winner Paul Haggis. The miniseries is an adaptation of the nonfiction book of the same name by Lisa Belkin and tells the story of Nick Wasicsko, the youngest big-city mayor in the country who is thrust into racial controversy when a federal court orders to build a small number of low-income housing units in the white neighborhoods of Yonkers, New York. Oscar Isaac stars as Wasicsko and leads a cast, which includes Catherine Keener, Jim Belushi, Bob Balaban and Winona Ryder. The miniseries premiered on August 16, 2015.
The Deuce
The Deuce is a 2017 drama television series set in Times Square, New York focusing on the rise of the porn industry in the 1970s-80s. Created and written by Simon along with frequent collaborator George Pelecanos, the series pilot began shooting in October 2015. It was picked up to series in January 2016. It premiered on September 10, 2017, and is broadcast by HBO in the United States.
The Deuce tells the story of the legalization and ensuing rise of the porn industry in New York beginning in the 1970s and its ongoing rise through the mid-1980s. Themes explored include the rise of HIV, the violence of the drug epidemic and the resulting real estate booms and busts that coincided with the change.
The Plot Against America
An adaptation of Philip Roth's novel, The Plot Against America is an alternate history told through the eyes of a working-class Jewish family in Newark, New Jersey; as they watch the political rise of Charles Lindbergh, an aviator-hero and xenophobic populist, who becomes president and turns the nation toward fascism. The six-part miniseries premiered on March 16, 2020, on HBO.
Projects in developmentParting the Waters: With Taylor Branch, James McBride, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Eric Overmyer. About Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement, based on one of the volumes of the books America in the King Years written by Taylor Branch, specifically At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years, 1965–1968. The project was to be produced by Oprah Winfrey, but was shelved.The Avenue: A book with William F. Zorzi Jr., on the Baltimore drug epidemic from 1951 to late 1980sThe Good Friday Plot: Miniseries about Abraham Lincoln based upon Manhunt: The Twelve-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson and American Brutus: John Wilkes Booth and the Lincoln Conspiracies by Michael W. Kauffman.Capitol Hill: A collaboration with Carl Bernstein set in Capitol Hill, it examines partisanship and the role money plays in influencing national governance. The series was ordered to pilot by HBO in 2015 but has not received a subsequent season order.Legacy of Ashes: On the Central Intelligence Agency, based on the 2007 book Legacy of Ashes by Tim Weiner. The show was taken to the BBC and would have had Anthony Bourdain on the writing staff.The Pogues: Musical project with the help of the late Philip Chevron in development at The Public Theater in New York City, with Laura Lippman and George PelecanosA Dry Run: The Lincolns in Spain: A historical miniseries set during the Spanish Civil War about the Abraham Lincoln and George Washington Battalions, which were composed of volunteers from the United States who wanted to help the Spanish Republic overcome fascism. Mark Johnson will be the series producer and Mediapro will be the series' production company.
Writing process
Simon is known for his realistic dialogue and journalistic approach to writing. He says that authenticity is paramount and that he writes not with a general audience in mind but with the opinions of his subjects as his priority. He has described his extensive use of real anecdotes and characters in his writing as "stealing life".
In a talk that Simon gave to a live audience in April 2007 at the Creative Alliance's storytelling series, Simon disclosed that he had started writing for revenge against John Carroll and Bill Marimow, the two most senior editors at The Baltimore Sun when Simon was a reporter at the paper. Simon said he had watched Carroll and Marimow "single-handedly destroy" the newspaper and that he spent over ten years trying to get back at them.
Anything I've ever accomplished as a writer, as somebody doing TV, anything I've ever done in life, down to, like, cleaning up my room, has been accomplished because I was going to show people that they were fucked up, wrong, and that I was the fucking center of the universe and the sooner they got hip to that, the happier they would all be.
One of the actions Simon took was to name a character in The Wire after Marimow and make the character "a repellent police-department toady." Carroll left The Baltimore Sun to become editor at the Los Angeles Times and resigned in 2005 after budget cuts were announced. "He stands up like a [bleeping] hero, takes a bullet," said Simon. In 2006 Marimow was diagnosed with prostate cancer, something that Simon said "took the edge off" his grudge. Carroll and Marimow "were fuel for 10 years of my life. ... And now, I got nothing," Simon said.
When asked about these comments, Simon said that he had spoken with "some hyperbole and, I hope, comic effect", adding that his basic viewpoint was: "that simple revenge is both empty and beside the point and that a good story carefully told has to speak to larger themes. You do not tell an ornate, careful story over ten hours of HBO airtime merely to bust on any given soul."
Views on journalism
In an interview in Reason in 2004, Simon said that since leaving the newspaper business he has become more cynical about the power of journalism. "One of the sad things about contemporary journalism is that it actually matters very little. The world now is almost inured to the power of journalism. The best journalism would manage to outrage people. And people are less and less inclined to outrage," said Simon. "I've become increasingly cynical about the ability of daily journalism to effect any kind of meaningful change. I was pretty dubious about it when I was a journalist, but now I think it's remarkably ineffectual."
While testifying at a 2009 Senate hearing regarding the future of journalism in America, Simon indicted what he saw as poor online journalism, calling the phrase citizen journalist "Orwellian to [his] ears." Simon ended his testimony by declaring, "I don't think anything can be done to save high-end journalism."
Political views
Simon has described himself as a social democrat, broadly supporting the existence of capitalism while opposing "raw, unencumbered capitalism, absent any social framework, absent any sense of community, without regard to the weakest and most vulnerable classes in society", which he described as "a recipe for needless pain, needless human waste, (and) needless tragedy". He has criticized the idea of trickle-down economics.
In 2013, Simon compared the global surveillance disclosures uncovered by Edward Snowden to a 1980s effort by the City of Baltimore to record the numbers dialed from all pay phones. The city believed that drug traffickers were using pay phones and pagers, and a municipal judge allowed the city to record the dialed numbers. The placement of the payphone number recorders formed the basis of The Wires first season. Simon argued that the media attention regarding the surveillance disclosures is a "faux scandal."
During a November 2013 speech at the Festival of Dangerous Ideas in Sydney, he said that America has become "a horror show" of savage inequality as a result of capitalism run amok, and that "unless we reverse course, the average human being is worthless on planet Earth. Unless we take stock of the fact that maybe socialism and the socialist impulse has to be addressed again; it has to be married as it was married in the 1930s, the 1940s and even into the 1950s, to the engine that is capitalism."
Simon has also spoken out publicly against crime journalist Kevin Deutsch, disputing the portrayal of Baltimore's illegal drug trade in Deutsch's book, Pill City: How Two Honor Roll Students Foiled the Feds and Built a Drug Empire. Simon has described the book as "a wholesale fabrication."
During the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries, Simon praised Bernie Sanders for "rehabilitating and normalizing the term socialist back into American public life", but opposed some attacks against Hillary Clinton which he felt focused on her presumed motives rather than the substance of policies.
Personal life
In 1991, Simon was married to graphic artist Kayle Tucker. They had a son. The marriage ended in divorce.
In 2006, Simon married best-selling Baltimore novelist and former Sun reporter Laura Lippman in a ceremony officiated by John Waters. They have a daughter, who was born in 2010.
Simon's nephew, Jason Simon, is a guitarist and vocalist for the psychedelic rock band Dead Meadow. The band was mentioned in an episode of The Wire.
Simon was the 2012 commencement speaker for the Georgetown University College of Arts and Sciences, as well as the speaker for the Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School graduation.
In 2019, Simon joined a host of other writers in firing their agents as part of the WGA's stand against the ATA after failing to come to an agreement on their "Code of Conduct". Simon's statement to the writers union was widely circulated. He had previously led the rallying cry about the unfair practices of packaging by the major talent agencies.
Works and publications
Commentary
Non-fiction books
Filmography
Producer
Writer
References
Further reading
External links
David Simon's blog.
1960 births
American crime fiction writers
Jewish American journalists
American non-fiction crime writers
American newspaper reporters and correspondents
American male novelists
American male screenwriters
American television producers
American television writers
Anthony Award winners
Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School alumni
Drug policy reform activists
Edgar Award winners
Living people
MacArthur Fellows
American male television writers
Maryland Democrats
Primetime Emmy Award winners
Showrunners
The Baltimore Sun people
University of Maryland, College Park alumni
Writers Guild of America Award winners
Writers from Baltimore
Novelists from Maryland
American male non-fiction writers
Screenwriters from Washington, D.C.
People from Bethesda, Maryland
21st-century American Jews | false | [
"Ben Hibbs (July 23, 1901 – March 30, 1975) was born in Fontana, Kansas and earned an A.B. from the University of Kansas in 1923.\n\nIn 1942, Hibbs began a twenty-year association with the editorial staff of The Saturday Evening Post. During the Eisenhower administration, Hibbs persuaded the President to sign a contract calling for him to write four articles a year for publication in The Post beginning after Eisenhower left the White House. During Hibbs’ final year with The Post, 1962, he served as senior editor and began working directly with General Eisenhower on articles he prepared for the magazine.\n\nHibbs left The Post in January 1963 and joined the editorial staff of Reader’s Digest, owned by DeWitt Wallace. When Eisenhower’s contract with The Post expired in 1964, Hibbs was responsible for the General’s signing a new contract agreeing to write three articles a year for Reader’s Digest at a fee of $30,000 per article. Hibbs was the editor assigned to collaborate with Eisenhower in producing these articles.\n\nThe general procedure followed in producing an Eisenhower article was begun when a topic, originated by the General, Hibbs, or The Reader’s Digest editors, was decided upon. Eisenhower and Hibbs then agreed to a meeting time several weeks in advance and proceeded to accumulate ideas and facts for the article. They would then meet several times at either Gettysburg or Palm Springs to discuss the article, working from an outline prepared by Hibbs. From these conversations, and the notes Hibbs compiled from them, a draft of the article was created. It was then sent to Eisenhower for his comments and editing before being submitted to the executive editor of The Reader’s Digest, Hobart Lewis, for final editing.\n\nHibbs first met Eisenhower during the last year of World War II, when the General requested that reporters from the United States be flown to Europe to document the horrors of the Nazi concentration camps then being liberated by the U.S. Army. Hibbs and the other correspondents were shown the Dachau concentration camp and the Buchenwald concentration camp before being introduced to Eisenhower at his SHAEF (Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force) headquarters. Following the war, Hibbs attempted to purchase for The Post the magazine rights to General Eisenhower’s memoirs, Crusade in Europe, but was unsuccessful when Eisenhower sold those rights to Life.\n\nHibbs actively promoted the candidacy of Eisenhower for the Presidency of the United States in 1952. He wrote an editorial entitled \"Will the Republicans Commit Suicide in Chicago\" concerning the Taft-Eisenhower battle over the seating of Republican delegates from Texas.\n\nHibbs was never a part of the inner White House Group during the Eisenhower administrations. However, he did remain an acquaintance of the President and was invited to attend stag dinners and other social functions. His close association with Eisenhower developed after the President left office and began writing articles for The Post and Reader’s Digest.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Papers of Ben Hibbs, Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library\n\nEisenhower administration personnel\n1975 deaths\n1901 births\nKansas Republicans",
"A write-in candidate is a candidate whose name does not appear on the ballot but seeks election by asking voters to cast a vote for the candidate by physically writing in the person's name on the ballot. Depending on electoral law it may be possible to win an election by winning a sufficient number of such write-in votes, which count equally as if the person was formally listed on the ballot.\n\nWriting in a name that is not already on the election ballot is considered a practice of the United States. However, some other jurisdictions have allowed this practice. In the United States, there are variations in laws governing write-in candidates, depending on the office (federal or local) and whether the election is a primary election or the general election; general practice is an empty field close by annotated to explain its purpose on the ballot if it applies. In five U.S. states there are no elections to which it can apply, under their present laws. Election laws are enacted by each state and in the District of Columbia, to apply to their voters.\n\nHow to write in the name\nSome U.S. states and local jurisdictions allow a voter to affix a sticker, with the write-in candidate's name, to the ballot in lieu of actually writing in the candidate's name.\n\nWrite-in candidacies are sometimes a result of a candidate being legally or procedurally ineligible to run under their own name or party; write-in candidacies may be permitted where term limits bar an incumbent candidate from being officially nominated for, or being listed on the ballot for, re-election. They are also typically used when a candidate, often an incumbent has lost a primary election but still wishes to contest the general election.\n\nIn some cases, write-in campaigns have been organized to support a candidate who is not personally involved in running; this may be a form of draft campaign.\n\nWrite-in candidates may have to register as candidates\nWrite-in candidates have won elections on rare occasions. Also, write-in votes are sometimes cast for ineligible people or fictional characters.\n\nSome jurisdictions require write-in candidates be registered as official candidates before the election. This is standard in elections with a large pool of potential candidates, as there may be multiple candidates with the same name that could be written in.\n\nThe spoiler effect\nIn some cases, the number of write-in votes cast in an election is greater than the entire margin of victory, suggesting that the write-ins may have been sufficient to tip the balance and change the outcome of the election by creating a spoiler effect.\n\nPrimary elections in the United States\nMany U.S. states and municipalities allow for write-in votes in a partisan primary election where no candidate is listed on the ballot to have the same functional effect as nominating petitions: for example, if there are no Reform Party members on the ballot for state general assembly and a candidate receives more than 200 write-in votes when the primary election is held (or the other number of signatures that were required for ballot access), the candidate will be placed on the ballot on that ballot line for the general election. In most places, this provision is in place for non-partisan elections as well.\n\nWrite-in option in a referendum\nA write-in option may occasionally be available in a multiple-choice referendum; for example in the January 1982 Guamanian status referendum.\n\nContrast from a blank ballot election system\nThe term \"write-in candidate\" is used in elections in which names of candidates or parties are preprinted on a paper ballot or displayed on an electronic voting machine. The term is not generally used in elections in which all ballots are blank and thus all voters must write in the names of their preferred candidates. Blank ballot election systems reduce the cost of printing the ballots, but increase the complexity of casting and counting votes. Such systems are used in Japan, and used in the past in the French Second Republic, and in elections in the Philippines from World War 2 until the 2010 general election. Some systems use a semi-blank ballot, such as Finland, where the voter must fill in a candidate's given number or letter from a separate ballot, but where there is a clear-cut arrangement with a circle or box with a description of how to vote for a given candidate. Blank-ballot systems typically require candidates to be nominated in advance.\n\nUnited States\n\nThe requirements to appear on the general election ballot as an independent candidate or to have write-in votes counted vary by state and by political office sought.\n\nForty-one states and the District of Columbia allow write-in votes on their ballots, including for president; Arkansas, New Mexico and South Carolina allow write-in candidates for some offices but not for president; Mississippi allows write-in votes only to substitute a candidate listed on the ballot who was removed, withdrew or died; Hawaii, Louisiana, Nevada, Oklahoma and South Dakota do not allow any write-in votes. Most of the jurisdictions allowing write-in votes require that the write-in candidates register by a certain date for their votes to be counted. Typically this registration consists only of a declaration of candidacy, but some states also require signatures of a certain number of voters, additional paperwork or fees. The deadline to register as a write-in candidate is usually later than to petition to be listed on the ballot.\n\n2020 presidential general election \n\nNotes\n\nU.S. Senate\n\nRepublican William Knowland was elected in 1946 to the U.S. Senate from California, for a two-month term. The special election for the two-month term featured a November ballot with no names printed on it, and all candidates in that special election were write-in candidates.\nDemocrat Strom Thurmond was elected in 1954 to the United States Senate in South Carolina as a write-in candidate, after state Democratic leaders had blocked him from receiving the party's nomination.\nIn 2010 incumbent Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski lost the Republican primary to Joe Miller. Following her defeat she ran in the general election as a write-in candidate. Murkowski had filed, and won, a lawsuit requiring election officials to have the list of names of write-in candidates distributed at the polls, and subsequently won the election with a wide enough margin over both Miller, and Democratic Party candidate Scott T. McAdams, to make moot the write-in ballots that had been challenged by Miller.\nIn 2020, Chris Janicek won the Democratic Senatorial nomination, but during the campaign he sent out sexually inappropriate text messages to staffers causing the Nebraska Democratic Party to withdraw its support from him. The Nebraska Democratic Party attempted to replace Janicek with Alisha Shelton, but Janicek refused to drop out preventing the replacement. Preston Love Jr. later announced his intention to run a write-in senatorial campaign and received the support of the Nebraska Democratic Party, making him the first black person to receive the support of a major party for United States Senate in Nebraska.\n\nU.S. House of Representatives\nIn 1918, Peter F. Tague was elected to the U.S. House as a write-in independent Democrat, defeating the Democratic nominee, John F. Fitzgerald.\nIn 1930 Republican Charles F. Curry, Jr. was elected to the House as a write-in from Sacramento, California. His father, Congressman Charles F. Curry Sr., would have been listed on the ballot unopposed but, due to his untimely death, his name was removed and no candidate's name was listed on the ballot.\nIn 1958, Democrat Dale Alford was elected as a write-in candidate to the United States House of Representatives in Arkansas. As member of the Little Rock school board, Alford launched his write-in campaign a week before the election because the incumbent, Brooks Hays, was involved in the incident in which president Eisenhower sent federal troops to enforce racial integration at Little Rock Central High School. Racial integration was unpopular at the time, and Alford won by approximately 1,200 votes, a 2% margin.\nIn 1964 Democrat Gale Schisler was nominated for Congress in Illinois as a write-in candidate when no Democrat filed to run in the primary election. He defeated incumbent Robert McLoskey in the November General Election.\nIn November 1980, Republican Joe Skeen was elected to Congress in New Mexico as a write-in candidate, because of a spoiler candidate who also happened to be a write-in. No Republican had filed to run against the incumbent Democrat, Harold L. Runnels, before the close of filing. Runnels died on August 5, 1980, and the Democrats requested a special primary to pick a replacement candidate. The New Mexico Secretary of State allowed the Democrats to have a special primary, but did not allow the Republicans to have a special primary, because they had already gone with no candidate. So Skeen ran as a write-in candidate. After Runnels' widow lost the Democratic special primary, she launched her own write-in candidacy, which split the Democratic vote, taking enough votes from the Democratic nominee to give the election to the Republican, Skeen, who won with a 38% plurality.\nRon Packard of California finished in second place in the 18-candidate Republican primary to replace the retiring Clair Burgener. Packard lost the primary by 92 votes in 1982, and then mounted a write-in campaign as an independent. He won the election with a 37% plurality against both a Republican and a Democratic candidate. Following the elections, he re-aligned himself as a Republican.\nDemocrat Charlie Wilson was the endorsed candidate of the Democratic Party for Ohio's 6th congressional district in Ohio to replace Ted Strickland in 2006. Strickland was running for Governor, and had to give up his congressional seat. Wilson, though, did not qualify for the ballot because only 46 of the 96 signatures on his candidacy petition were deemed valid, while 50 valid signatures were required for ballot placement. The Democratic Party continued to support Wilson, and an expensive primary campaign ensued – over $1 million was spent by both parties. Wilson overwhelmingly won the Democratic primary as a write-in candidate on May 2, 2006 against two Democratic candidates whose names were on the ballot, with Wilson collecting 44,367 votes, 67% of the Democratic votes cast. Wilson faced Republican Chuck Blasdel in the general election on November 7, 2006, and won, receiving 61% of the votes.\nDemocrat Dave Loebsack entered the 2006 Democratic primary in Iowa's second congressional district as a write-in candidate after failing to get the required number of signatures. He won the primary and in the general election he defeated 15-term incumbent Jim Leach by a 51% to 49% margin.\nJerry McNerney ran as a write-in candidate in the March 2004 Democratic Primary in California's 11th congressional district. He received 1,667 votes (3% of the votes cast), and, having no opposition (no candidates were listed on the Democratic primary ballot), won the primary. Although he lost the November 2004 general election to Republican Richard Pombo, McNerney ran again in 2006 (as a candidate listed on the ballot) and won the Democratic Primary in June, and then the rematch against Pombo in November.\nShelley Sekula-Gibbs failed as a write-in candidate in the November 7, 2006 election to represent the 22nd Texas congressional district in the 110th Congress (for the full term commencing January 3, 2007). The seat had been vacant since June 9, 2006, due to the resignation of the then representative Tom DeLay. Therefore, on the same ballot, there were two races: one for the 110th Congress, as well as a race for the unexpired portion of the term during the 109th Congress (until January 3, 2007). Sekula-Gibbs won the race for the unexpired portion of the term during the 109th Congress as a candidate listed on the ballot. She could not be listed on the ballot for the full term because Texas law did not allow a replacement candidate to be listed on the ballot after the winner of the primary (Tom DeLay) has resigned.\nPeter Welch, a Democrat representing Vermont's sole congressional district, became both the Democratic and Republican nominee for the House when he ran for re-election in 2008 and 2016. Because the Republicans did not field any candidate on the primary ballot in those elections, Welch won enough write-in votes to win the Republican nomination.\n\nState legislatures\nSeveral members of the Alaska House of Representatives were elected as write-in candidates during the 1960s and 1970s, particularly from rural districts in the northern and western portions of the state. Factors in play at the time include the newness of Alaska as a state and the previous absence of electoral politics in many of the rural communities, creating an environment which made it hard to attract candidates to file for office during the official filing period. Most of the areas in question were largely populated by Alaska natives, who held little political power in Alaska at the time. This only began to change following the formation of the Alaska Federation of Natives and the passage of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. Known examples of successful write-in candidates include Kenneth A. Garrison and Father Segundo Llorente (1960), Frank R. Ferguson (1972), James H. \"Jimmy\" Huntington (1974), and Nels A. Anderson, Jr. (1976). The incumbent in Llorente's election, Axel C. Johnson, ran for re-election as a write-in candidate after failing to formally file his candidacy paperwork. Johnson and Llorente, as write-in candidates, both outpolled the one candidate who did appear on the ballot. Ferguson and Anderson were both incumbents who launched their write-in campaigns after being defeated in the primary election. Anderson's main opponent, Joseph McGill, had himself won election to the House in 1970 against a write-in candidate by only 5 votes.\nCarl Hawkinson of Galesburg, Illinois won the Republican primary for the Illinois Senate from Illinois's 47th District in 1986 as a write-in candidate. He went on to be elected in the general election and served until 2003. Hawkinson defeated another write-in, David Leitch, in the primary. Incumbent State Senator Prescott Bloom died in a home fire after the filing date for the primary had passed.\n Arizona state senator Don Shooter won the 2010 primary as a write-in and went on to win the general election.\nAfter failing to receive the Republican Party's 1990 Wilson Pakula nomination, incumbent and registered Conservative New York State Senator Serphin Maltese won the party's nomination as a write-in candidate.\nCharlotte Burks won as a Democratic write-in candidate for the Tennessee Senate seat left vacant when the incumbent, her husband Tommy, was assassinated by his opponent, Byron Looper, two weeks before the elections of November 2, 1998. The assassin was the only name on the ballot, so Charlotte ran as a write-in candidate.\nWinnie Brinks was elected to the Michigan House of Representatives in 2012 after a series of unusual events. In May of that year, State Representative Roy Schmidt – who had previously filed to run for re-election as a Democrat – withdrew from the Democratic primary and re-filed as a Republican. A friend of Schmidt's nephew filed to run as a Democrat, but withdrew two days later amid anger among local Democrats. This left Democrats without a candidate. Brinks ran as a write-in to be the Democratic nominee. She won the primary and was listed on the ballot in the general election, which she also won. Coincidentally, the general election also saw a write-in candidate, Bing Goei, receive significant support.\nScott Wagner was elected as an anti-establishment Republican write-in candidate to the Pennsylvania Senate in a March 2014 special election over endorsed Republican nominee Ron Miller and Democrat Linda Small.\nNick Freitas was re-elected as a write-in candidate after missing a filing deadline to appear on the ballot in the Virginia House of Delegates.\n\nLocal government\n Angela Allen was elected Mayor of Tar Heel, North Carolina (population 115) as a write-in candidate in 2003.\n Julia Allen of Readington, New Jersey won a write-in campaign in the November 2005 elections for the Township Committee, after a candidate accused of corruption had won the primary.\n Tom Ammiano, President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, entered the race for Mayor of San Francisco as a write-in candidate two weeks before the 1999 general election. He received 25% of the vote, coming in second place and forcing incumbent Mayor Willie Brown into a runoff election, which Brown won by margin of 59% to 40%. In 2001, the campaign was immortalized in the award-winning documentary film See How They Run.\n John R. Brinkley ran as a write-in candidate for governor of Kansas in 1930. He was motivated at least in part by the state's revocation of his medical license and attempts to shut down his clinic, where he performed alternative medical procedures including transplantation of goat glands into humans. He won 29.5% of the vote in a three-way race. Brinkley's medical and political career are documented in Pope Brock's book Charlatan.\n Mike Duggan filed petition to run for mayor of Detroit in 2013; however, following a court challenge, Duggan's name was removed from the ballot. Duggan then campaigned as a write-in in the August 2013 primary, with the intent of being one of the top two vote-getters and thus advancing to the general election in November. Duggan received the highest number of votes in the primary, and advanced to the runoff in November. He eventually defeated challenger Sheriff Benny Napoleon and became the Mayor of Detroit.\n Donna Frye ran as a write-in candidate for Mayor of San Diego in 2004. A controversy erupted when several thousand votes for her were not counted because the voters had failed to fill in the bubble next to the write-in line. Had those votes been counted, she would have won the election.\n Michael Jarjura was re-elected Mayor of Waterbury, Connecticut in 2005 as a write-in candidate after losing the Democratic party primary to Karen Mulcahy, who used to serve as Waterbury's tax collector before Jarjura fired her in 2004 \"for what he claimed was her rude and abusive conduct toward citizens\". After spending $100,000 on a general elections write-in campaign, Jarjura received 7,907 votes, enough for a plurality of 39%.\n James Maher won the mayorship of Baxter Estates, New York on March 15, 2005 as a write-in candidate with 29 votes. Being the only one on the ballot, the incumbent mayor, James Neville, did not campaign, as he did not realize that there was a write-in campaign going on. Neville received only 13 votes.\n Beverly O'Neil won a third term as Mayor of Long Beach, California as a write-in candidate in 2002. The Long Beach City City Charter has a term limit amendment that says a candidate cannot be on the ballot after two full terms, but does not prevent the person from running as a write-in candidate. She finished first in a seven-candidate primary, but did not receive more than 50% of the vote, forcing a runoff contest. In the runoff, still restricted from the ballot, she got roughly 47% of the vote in a three-way election that included a second write-in candidate.\n Michael Sessions, an 18-year-old high school senior, won as a write-in candidate for Mayor of Hillsdale, Michigan in 2005. He was too young to qualify for the ballot.\n In 2021, Byron Brown, the incumbent mayor of Buffalo, New York, defeated Democratic challenger India Walton, by running a successful write-in campaign after losing the Democratic primary to Walton.\n In Galesburg, Illinois, an error by the Galesburg Election Commission in late 2010 gave city council candidate Chuck Reynolds the wrong number of signatures he required to be on the ballot for the April 2011 city council election, resulting in his removal from the ballot when challenged by incumbent Russell Fleming. Reynolds ran as a write-in vote in the April 2011 election, and lost by 9 votes.\n Anthony A. Williams, then incumbent Mayor of Washington, D.C., was forced to run as a write-in candidate in the 2002 Democratic primary, because he had too many invalid signatures for his petition. He won the Democratic primary, and went on to win re-election.\n In the November 8, 2011, election for Commonwealth's Attorney of Richmond County, Virginia, 16-year incumbent Wayne Emery was certified the winner as a write-in candidate over challenger James Monroe by a margin of 53 votes (2.4%) out of 2,230 votes cast, after his petitions were challenged and his name was removed from the ballot.\n In the August 4, 2020, primary election of Ypsilanti Township, Michigan, Monica Ross-Williams, a then Ypsilanti Township Trustee, received 3,478 write-in votes for Ypsilanti Township Clerk, for the highest number of write-in votes in any election in Washtenaw County, Michigan history.\n In the 1997 election for Mayor of Talkeetna, Alaska, Stubbs the Cat won over the two human candidates. He was re-elected every mayoral election thereafter, and served until his death on July 2, 2017.\n In 2011, in Pacific, Washington, Marine veteran Cy Sun ousted incumbent mayor Rich Hildreth as a write-in candidate, using a comprehensive ground game in the small town to convince locals to support him over Hildreth, whom he accused of corruption. After the election, the county elections office reported that a sufficient number of write-ins votes had made it possible that a write-in could win, and after a count of the write-ins, Sun beat Hildreth by 464 to 401. Sun's mayorship was plagued by political and physical challenges, and Sun would be recalled in 2013.\n Eau Claire County, Wisconsin sheriff Ron Cramer, formerly a sheriff's deputy, won election as Eau Claire County's 47th sheriff, defeating disgraced 10-year incumbent sheriff Richard M. Hewitt in a write-in campaign hastily organized just weeks before the election in 1996. He has handily won reelection every 4 years since, usually running unopposed.\n Lynda Neuwirth defeated the lone candidate on the ballot, Joseph DiPasquale, for the Ellicottville, New York village justice position on March 19, 2019; Neuwirth received three votes to DiPasquale's two. Neuwirth was ousted after only two months in the position, as voters had approved a referendum abolishing the court the previous November; when the abolition was delayed two months, Neuwirth was not allowed to retain her seat and was replaced by a justice from the surrounding town, which will absorb the village court's jurisdiction.\n\nOther elections\nAaron Schock was elected to the District 150 School Board in Peoria, Illinois in 2001 by a write-in vote, after his petitions were challenged and his name was removed from the ballot. He defeated the incumbent by over 2,000 votes, approximately 6,400 to 4,300 votes. He went on to serve in the Illinois House of Representatives, and was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 2008. He was later forced to resign in an expenses scandal.\nJohn Adams became an Orange County, California judge in November 2002 after running along with 10 other write-in candidates in the primaries on March 5, 2002 against incumbent Judge Ronald Kline. After the filing deadline in which no candidate filed to run against Kline, a computer hacker discovered that Judge Kline had child pornography on his home computer. Kline got less than 50% of the vote in the primaries, requiring a runoff between him and write-in candidate John Adams (who actually received more votes than Kline). After some legal maneuvers, Kline's name was removed from the general elections, leaving the general election a runoff between Adams and Gay Sandoval, who was the second highest write-in vote getter. Charges against Kline were eventually thrown out.\nOn September 15, 2009, four write-in candidates in the Independence Party primaries for various offices in Putnam County, New York defeated their on-ballot opponents.\nIn a May 2011 school board election for the Bentley School Board in Michigan, Lisa Osborn ran as a write-in candidate and needed just one vote to win a seat. However, she did not receive any votes, even from herself. She explained herself by saying that she was at her son's baseball game and did not have time to go to the polls.\n\nCalifornia's Proposition 14 impact on write-in candidates\nIn 2010, California voters passed Proposition 14 which set up a new election system for the United States Senate, United States House of Representatives, all statewide offices (governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, state treasurer, state controller, attorney general, insurance commissioner, and superintendent of public instruction), California Board of Equalization, and for the California State Legislature. In the system set up by Proposition 14, there are two rounds of voting, and the top two vote-getters for each race in the first round (the primary, held in June 2004 – 2018 and March 2020-present) advance to a second round (the general election, held in November). Proposition 14 specifically prohibits write-in candidates in the second round, and this prohibition was upheld in a court challenge. Another court challenge to the prohibition on write-in candidates in the second round was filed in July 2014.\n\nAlthough Proposition 14 prohibits write-in candidates in the second round of voting, it has made it easier for write-in candidates in the first round to advance to the second round. This generally happens in elections where only one candidate is listed on the ballot. Since in each race the top two vote-getters from the first round are guaranteed to advance to the second round, if only one candidate is listed on the ballot, a write-in candidate can easily advance to the second round, as the write-in candidate would only have to compete with other write-in candidates for the 2nd spot, not with any listed candidates. In some jungle primary systems, if the winner in the first round wins by more than 50% of the vote, then the second (runoff) round gets cancelled, but in the system set up by Proposition 14, a second (runoff) round is required regardless of the percent of the vote that the winner of the first round received. Proposition 14 therefore guarantees that if only one candidate is listed on the ballot in the first round, a write-in candidate running against the one listed candidate can earn a spot for the second round with as little as one vote.\n\nThe first election in which Proposition 14 went into effect was the 2012 elections.\n\nAnother impact of Proposition 14 on write-in candidates is that since the passage of Proposition 14, candidates who are not affiliated with any party can be listed on the ballot for election to offices affected by Proposition 14. Prior to passage of Proposition 14, candidates who were not affiliated with any party, could not run in any party primaries, and were required to run in the general election as write-in candidates.\n\nOther countries\n\nWith a few exceptions, the practice of recognizing write-in candidates is typically viewed internationally as an American tradition.\n\nA bizarre incident involving a fictitious write-in candidacy occurred in the small town of Picoazá, Ecuador in 1967. A company ran a series of campaign-themed advertisements for a foot powder called Pulvapies. Some of the slogans used included \"Vote for any candidate, but if you want well-being and hygiene, vote for Pulvapies\", and \"For Mayor: Honorable Pulvapies\". The foot powder Pulvapies ended up receiving the most votes in the election.\nIn Brazil, until the introduction of electronic voting in 1994, the ballot had no names written for legislative candidates, so many voters would protest by voting on fictional characters or religious figures. In a famous case, the São Paulo city zoo rhinoceros Cacareco got around 100,000 votes in the 1959 elections for the municipal council, more than any candidate. However, those votes were not considered because Brazilian law stipulates that a candidate must be affiliated to a political party to take office.\n Until 2013, write-in candidates were permitted at municipal elections in France for councils of communes with a population of less than 2500.\n Elections in Sweden are open list, with voters placing into the ballot box an envelope containing their choice of either a ballot preprinted with the name of a registered party or else a blank ballot on which they write the name of a party (registered or unregistered) and optionally that of a candidate. A person must consent to being a candidate listed on a preprinted ballot, but there was no such obligation for write-in names until the 2018 general election. In the 2006 municipal elections, the Sweden Democrats (SD) won seats on several councils where they had no nominee or preprinted ballots; most SD voters wrote the party name but no candidate name. The seats were filled by the name most often written, if any, and left empty if no voter wrote in a name. One example was Vårgårda Municipality, where only three of 143 SD voters wrote in names, of which two were for an ineligible non-resident; the winner resigned his seat as he opposed the SD and his sole vote was cast by his father as a joke. In 2010 one Jimmy Åkesson was elected to Staffanstorp Municipality council after a single SD voter wrote his name. The voter apparently intended SD leader Jimmie Åkesson, not resident in Staffanstorp.\n In elections in Austria, writing on a ballot paper does not invalidate a vote provided the voter's preference is clear. In the 1990 legislative election the unpopular SPÖ, worried that voters would not select it on the party-list ballot, advised them to write in the name of Franz Vranitzky, its popular leader. Such ballots would be interpreted as SPÖ votes.\n\nProtest\nMad magazine satirically called to vote for Alfred E. Neuman as a write-in candidate for every U.S. presidential election from 1960 to 1980 with slogans like \"You could do worse–and you already have\" and \"There are Bigger Idiots running for office!\".\nIn the 1980 U.S. presidential election, guitarist Joe Walsh ran a mock write-in campaign, promising to make his song \"Life's Been Good\" the new national anthem if he won, and running on a platform of \"Free Gas for Everyone.\" Though Walsh (then aged 33) was not old enough to actually assume the office, he wanted to raise public awareness of the election. (In 1992, Walsh purportedly ran for vice-president, in his song \"Vote For Me\", a track on his album Songs for a Dying Planet, which was released that year.)\nDuring the 2000 United States Congress Elections, film-maker Michael Moore led a campaign for voters to submit a ficus tree as a write-in candidate. This campaign was replicated across the country and was recounted in an episode of The Awful Truth.\nIn 2012, a campaign was waged to write in Charles Darwin against Georgia congressman Paul Broun (who was running unopposed) after Broun \"called evolution and other areas of science 'lies straight from the pit of hell.' \" Darwin received approximately 4,000 votes. However, because Darwin was not registered as an official candidate (some states require even write-ins to be pre-registered), the Georgia Secretary of State did not tabulate those votes.\nIn 2016, several grassroots campaigns to elect Bernie Sanders President as a write-in candidate were established on social media in the run-up to the United States presidential election. Though Sanders continued to campaign for Democrat nominee Hillary Clinton, supporters pointed to alleged DNC bias in the Democratic Party's presidential primaries against Sanders, and Clinton's email scandal, and continued to support him. Both Clinton and Donald Trump would have had to win less than the required 270 electoral college votes for Sanders to have denied either candidate the presidency, and for the election to be passed to the House of Representatives – thus the initial write-in campaign around Vermont, offering only three college votes, was not successful, but Sanders did receive almost six percent of the vote there. The campaign expanded to include all 12 eligible states (one of which listed Sanders as an official write-in candidate), and relied on states such as California, with a high electoral college vote count and large support for Sanders, to be successful in denying both Trump and Clinton.\n In Sweden, all handwritten votes are scanned by computer and the results published online, although only votes for valid parties count towards determining successful candidates. In the 2010 general election, ineffective votes included 120 for Donald Duck and 2 for \"myself\", as well as several computer code snippets apparently intended as code injection attacks aimed at either the program which tallied the votes or the browsers of users who accessed the results website.\n In the 2018 Egyptian presidential election, owing to a large number of candidates being arrested or barred from running, Egyptian football star Mohamed Salah received over a million votes, as many Egyptians cancelled out the names of both candidates and wrote his instead. This was higher than the number of votes received by the second place candidate, Moussa Mostafa Moussa. Write-in votes are not deemed valid in Egypt.\n\nSee also\n\nNone of the above\nNone of these candidates - Nevada's implementation of the \"None of the above\" voting option\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\nElections in the United States\nPolitics of the United States"
]
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[
"David Simon",
"Journalism",
"Did he go to school for journalism?",
"I don't know.",
"What was his first experience with journalism?",
"Upon leaving college, Simon worked as a police reporter at The Baltimore Sun from 1982 to 1995.",
"What was his next job?",
"Simon was a union captain when the writing staff went on strike",
"What was his next journalism experience?",
"Simon said that since leaving the newspaper business he has become more cynical about the power of journalism.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"He spent most of his career covering the crime beat.",
"Who did he write the articles for?",
"I don't know."
]
| C_8b553ee814864c8887a6c2c7a22544b2_1 | Did he win any awards? | 7 | Did David Simon win any awards? | David Simon | Upon leaving college, Simon worked as a police reporter at The Baltimore Sun from 1982 to 1995. He spent most of his career covering the crime beat. A colleague has said that Simon loved journalism and felt it was "God's work". Simon says that he was initially altruistic and was inspired to enter journalism by the Washington Post's coverage of Watergate but became increasingly pragmatic as he gained experience. Later in his career he aimed to tell the best possible story without "cheating it". Simon was a union captain when the writing staff went on strike in 1987 over benefit cuts. He remained angry after the strike ended and began to feel uncomfortable in the writing room. He searched for a reason to justify a leave of absence and settled on the idea of writing a novel. "I got out of journalism because some sons of bitches bought my newspaper and it stopped being fun," says Simon. In an interview in Reason in 2004, Simon said that since leaving the newspaper business he has become more cynical about the power of journalism. "One of the sad things about contemporary journalism is that it actually matters very little. The world now is almost inured to the power of journalism. The best journalism would manage to outrage people. And people are less and less inclined to outrage," said Simon. "I've become increasingly cynical about the ability of daily journalism to effect any kind of meaningful change. I was pretty dubious about it when I was a journalist, but now I think it's remarkably ineffectual." In 1988, disillusioned, Simon took a year's leave to go into the Baltimore Police Department Homicide Unit to write a book. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | David Judah Simon (born February 9, 1960) is an American author, journalist, and television writer and producer best known for his work on The Wire (2002–08).
He worked for The Baltimore Sun City Desk for twelve years (1982–95), wrote Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets (1991), and co-wrote The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood (1997) with Ed Burns. The former book was the basis for the NBC series Homicide: Life on the Street (1993–99), on which Simon served as a writer and producer. Simon adapted the latter book into the HBO mini-series The Corner (2000).
He was the creator, executive producer, head writer, and show runner for all five seasons of the HBO television series The Wire (2002–2008). He adapted the non-fiction book Generation Kill into a television mini-series, and served as the show runner for the project. He was selected as one of the 2010 MacArthur Fellows and named an Utne Reader visionary in 2011. Simon also created the HBO series Treme with Eric Overmyer, which aired for four seasons. Following Treme, Simon wrote the HBO mini-series Show Me a Hero with journalist William F. Zorzi, a colleague first at The Baltimore Sun and again later on The Wire. Simon and frequent collaborator George Pelecanos reunited to create original series The Deuce. The drama about the New York porn industry in the 1970s and 1980s stars Maggie Gyllenhaal and co-producer James Franco, and aired from 2017 to 2019. Simon's next series, The Plot Against America, debuted in 2020.
Early life and education
Simon was born in Washington, D.C., the son of Dorothy Simon (née Ligeti), a homemaker, and Bernard Simon, a former journalist and then public relations director for B'nai B'rith for 20 years. Simon was raised in a Jewish family, and had a bar mitzvah ceremony. His family roots are in Russia, Belarus, Hungary, and Slovakia (his maternal grandfather had changed his surname from "Leibowitz" to "Ligeti"). He has a brother, Gary Simon, and a sister, Linda Evans, who died in 1990.
In March 1977, when Simon was still in high school, Simon's father was one of a group of over 140 people held hostage (and later released) in Washington, D.C. by former national secretary of the Nation of Islam Hamaas Abdul Khaalis in the Hanafi Siege.
Simon graduated from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in Bethesda, Maryland, and wrote for the school newspaper, The Tattler. In 1983, he graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park. While at college he wrote and was Editor for The Diamondback, and became friends with contemporary David Mills.
Career
Journalism
Upon leaving college, Simon worked as a police reporter at The Baltimore Sun from 1982 to 1995. Simon was hired by the Baltimore Sun for a piece he wrote about Lefty Driesell, who was then the men's basketball coach at the University of Maryland. Driesell had been extremely frustrated that one of his players was suspended from playing for sexual impropriety and called the victim, threatening to destroy her reputation if she did not withdraw her complaint. This was all done while the university administration was listening to the call, but they did nothing. Lefty Driesell was later given a 5-year contract and, in 2018, he was inducted into the ACC Hall of Fame.
Simon spent most of his career covering the crime beat. A colleague has said that Simon loved journalism and felt it was "God's work". Simon says that he was initially altruistic and was inspired to enter journalism by The Washington Posts coverage of Watergate but became increasingly pragmatic as he gained experience.
Simon was a union captain when the writing staff went on strike in 1987 over benefit cuts. He remained angry after the strike ended and began to feel uncomfortable in the writing room. He searched for a reason to justify a leave of absence and settled on the idea of writing a novel. "I got out of journalism because some sons of bitches bought my newspaper and it stopped being fun," says Simon.
In 1988, disillusioned, Simon took a year's leave to go into the Baltimore Police Department Homicide Unit to write a book.
Book
Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets
Simon's leave of absence from The Sun resulted in his first book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets (1991). The book was based on his experiences shadowing the Baltimore Police Department homicide unit during 1988. The idea came from a conversation on Christmas Eve 1985 in the unit office, where Det. Bill Lansey told him, "If someone just wrote down what happens in this place for one year, they'd have a goddamn book." Simon approached the police department and the editors of the paper to receive approval. The detectives were initially slow to accept him, but he persevered in an attempt to "seem … like part of the furniture". However, he soon ingratiated himself with the detectives, saying in the closing notes of the book, "I shared with the detectives a year's worth of fast-food runs, bar arguments and station house humor: Even for a trained observer, it was hard to remain aloof." During one instance, Simon even assisted with an arrest. Two detectives Simon was riding with pulled their car to a curb to apprehend two suspects, but Detective Dave Brown got his trenchcoat caught in a seat belt when he tried to exit the car. Brown told Simon to assist Detective Terry McLarney himself, and Simon helped apprehend and search one of the suspects.
The book won the 1992 Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime book. The Associated Press called it "a true-crime classic". The Library Journal also highly recommended it, and Newsday described it as "one of the most engrossing police procedural mystery books ever written". Simon credits his time researching the book as altering his writing style and informing later work. He learned to be more patient in research and writing, and said a key lesson was not promoting himself but concentrating on his subjects. Simon told Baltimore's City Paper in 2003 that Homicide was not traditional journalism. "I felt Homicide the book and The Corner were not traditional journalism in the sense of coming from some artificially omniscient, objective point of view," said Simon. "They're immersed in the respective cultures that they cover in a way that traditional journalism often isn't."
Television
Homicide: Life on the Street
The publishers of Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets were eager for a screen adaptation and submitted it to numerous directors but there was little interest. Simon suggested that they send the book to Baltimore native and film director Barry Levinson. Levinson's assistant Gail Mutrux enjoyed the book and both she and Levinson became attached as producers. The project became the award-winning TV series Homicide: Life on the Street (1993–1999), on which Simon worked as a writer and producer.
Simon was asked by Mutrux to write the show's pilot episode but declined, feeling he did not have the necessary expertise. He collaborated with his old college friend David Mills to write the season two premiere "Bop Gun". The episode was based on a story by executive producer Tom Fontana and featured Robin Williams in a guest starring role that garnered the actor an Emmy nomination. Simon and Mills won the WGA Award for Best Writing in a Drama for the episode. Simon also received Austin Film Festival's Outstanding Television Writer Award in 2010.
Simon left his job with the Baltimore Sun in 1995 to work full-time on Homicide: Life on the Street during the production of the show's fourth season. Simon wrote the teleplay for the season four episodes "Justice: Part 2" and "Scene of the Crime" (with Anya Epstein). For season five he was the show's story editor and continued to contribute teleplays writing the episodes "Bad Medicine" and "Wu's on First?" (again with Epstein). He was credited as a producer on the show's sixth and seventh seasons. He wrote the teleplays for parts two and three of the sixth-season premiere "Blood Ties" (the latter marking his third collaboration with Epstein) and provided the story for the later sixth-season episodes "Full Court Press" and "Finnegan's Wake" (with James Yoshimura). He provided the story for the seventh season episodes "Shades of Gray" (with Julie Martin), "The Same Coin" (again with Yoshimura) and "Self Defense" (with Eric Overmyer). Simon wrote the story and teleplay for the seventh season episodes "The Twenty Percent Solution" and "Sideshow: Part 2". Simon, Martin and teleplay writer T. J. English won the Humanitas Prize in the 60 minutes category for the episode "Shades of Gray". Simon was nominated for a second WGA Award for Best Writing in a Drama for his work on "Finnegan's Wake" with Yoshimura and Mills (who wrote the teleplay).
Simon has said that he thought the show was a "remarkable drama" but that it did not reflect the book. He has also said that when writing for the show he had to put his experiences of the real detectives aside as the characters became quite different, particularly in their more philosophical approach to the job. Simon said that TV must find shorthand ways of referencing anything real.
The Corner
In 1997 he co-authored, with Ed Burns, The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood, the true account of a West Baltimore community dominated by a heavy drug market. Simon credits his editor John Sterling with the suggestion that he observe a single drug corner. He took a second leave of absence from the Baltimore Sun in 1993 to research the project. Simon became close to one of his subjects, drug addict Gary McCullough, and was devastated by his death while he was writing the project. Simon says that he approached the research with the abstract idea that his subjects may die because of their addictions but it was not possible to fully prepare for the reality. He remains grateful to his subjects saying "This involved people's whole lives, there's no privacy in it. That was an enormous gift which many, many people gave us. Even the most functional were at war with themselves. But they were not foolish people. And they made that choice."
The Corner was named a Notable Book of the Year by The New York Times. Simon again returned to his journalism career after finishing the book but felt further changed by his experiences. He said he "was less enamored of the braggadocio, all that big, we're-really-having-an-impact talk" and no longer believed that they were making a difference; he left his job at The Sun within a year for work on NBC's Homicide.
Soon after Homicide concluded Simon co-wrote (with David Mills) and produced The Corner as a six-hour TV miniseries for HBO. The show received three Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries or a Movie, for Simon and Mills.
The Wire
Simon was the creator, show runner, executive producer and head writer of the HBO drama series The Wire. Many of The Wires characters and incidents also came from Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets. After the fourth season, Simon signed on to produce the fifth and final season of The Wire, which focused on the role of mass media in society.
Again he worked with Ed Burns on creating the show. Originally they set out to create a police drama loosely based on Burns' experiences when working on protracted investigations of violent drug dealers using surveillance technology. During this time Burns had often faced frustration with the bureaucracy of the police department, which Simon equated with his own ordeals as a police reporter for The Baltimore Sun. Writing against the background of current events, including institutionalized corporate crime at Enron and institutional dysfunction in the Catholic Church, the show became "more of a treatise about institutions and individuals than a straight cop show."
They chose to take The Wire to HBO because of their existing working relationship from The Corner. Owing to its reputation for exploring new areas, HBO was initially dubious about including a cop drama in their lineup, but eventually agreed to produce the pilot after ordering a further two scripts to see how the series would progress. Carolyn Strauss, the president of HBO entertainment, has said that Simon's argument that the most subversive thing HBO could do was invade the networks' "backyard" of police procedurals helped to persuade them.
The theme of institutional dysfunction was expanded across different areas of the city as the show progressed. The second season focused on the death of working-class America through examination of the city ports. The third season "reflects on the nature of reform and reformers, and whether there is any possibility that political processes, long calcified, can mitigate against the forces currently arrayed against individuals." For the fourth season Simon again turned to Burns' experience, this time his second career as a Baltimore public school teacher in examining the theme of education. The fifth season looked at the media, as well as continuing themes such as politics from earlier seasons.
Simon was reunited with his The Corner producers Robert F. Colesberry and Nina K. Noble on The Wire. Simon credits Colesberry for achieving the show's realistic visual feel because of his experience as a director. They recruited Homicide star and director Clark Johnson to helm the pilot episode. The completed pilot was given to HBO in November 2001. Johnson returned to direct the second episode when the show was picked up, and would direct the series finale as well, in addition to starring in the fifth season.
Simon approached acclaimed crime fiction authors to write for The Wire. He was recommended the work of George Pelecanos by a colleague while working at the Baltimore Sun because of similarities between their writing. The two writers have much in common including a childhood in Silver Spring, attendance at the University of Maryland and their interest in the "fate of the American city and the black urban poor." Simon did not read Pelecanos initially because of territorial prejudice; Pelecanos is from Washington. Once Simon received further recommendations including one from his wife Laura Lippman he tried Pelecanos' novel The Sweet Forever and changed his mind. He sought out Pelecanos when recruiting writers for The Wire. The two met at the funeral of a mutual friend shortly after Simon delivered the pilot episode. Simon pitched Pelecanos the idea of The Wire as a novel for television about the American city as Pelecanos drove him home. Pelecanos became a regular writer and later a producer for the show's second and third seasons. Simon and Pelecanos collaborated to write the episode "Middle Ground" which received the show's first Emmy nomination, in the category Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series.
Pelecanos left the production staff following the third season to focus on his next novel; Simon has commented that he missed having him working on the show full-time but was pleased that he continued to write for them and was a fan of the resultant book The Night Gardener. Similar to Simon's own experience in researching Homicide Pelecanos spent time embedded with the Washington DC homicide unit to research the book.
Crime novelist Dennis Lehane has also written for the series starting with the third season. Lehane has commented that he was impressed by Simon and Burns' ear for authentic street slang.
Eric Overmyer was brought in to fill the role of Pelecanos as a full-time writer producer. He had previously worked with Simon on Homicide where the two became friends. Simon has said that he was impressed with Overmyer's writing particularly in synthesizing the story for "Margin of Error" as the episode is the height of the show's political storyline but must also progress other plot threads.
Simon and his writing staff were nominated for the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Dramatic Series at the February 2009 ceremony for their work on the fifth season. Simon and Burns collaborated to write the series finale "-30-" which received the show's second Emmy nomination, again in the category Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series.
Simon has stated that he finds working with HBO more comfortable than his experiences with NBC on Homicide and that HBO is able to allow greater creative control because it is dependent on subscribers rather than on viewing figures. He has said that he feels unable to return to network television because he felt pressure to compromise storytelling for audience satisfaction.
Generation Kill
Simon produced and wrote Generation Kill for HBO with Ed Burns. They again worked with Nina Noble as a producer. The miniseries is an adaption of the non-fiction book of the same name. It relates the first 40 days of the 2003 invasion of Iraq as experienced by 1st Reconnaissance Battalion and their embedded reporter, Evan Wright. Simon and Burns worked with Wright in adapting his book into the series.
Treme
Simon collaborated with Eric Overmyer again on Treme, a project about musicians in post-Katrina New Orleans. Overmyer lives part-time in New Orleans, and Simon believed his experience would be valuable in navigating the "ornate oral tradition" of the city's stories. Simon also consulted with New Orleans natives Donald Harrison Jr., Kermit Ruffins, and Davis Rogan while developing the series. The show focuses on a working-class neighborhood, and is smaller in scope than The Wire. The series premiered on April 11, 2010, on HBO and ran for four seasons.
Treme is named after the Faubourg Treme neighborhood in New Orleans that is home to many of the city's musicians. Simon stated that the series would explore beyond the music scene to encompass political corruption, the public housing controversy, the criminal-justice system, clashes between police and Mardi Gras Indians, and the struggle to regain the tourism industry after the storm. One of the principal characters in the pilot script runs a restaurant. The series was filmed on location and was expected to provide a boost to the New Orleans economy. Simon's casting of the show mirrored that of The Wire in using local actors wherever possible. Wendell Pierce, who had previously played Bunk Moreland on The Wire, stars in the series. Clarke Peters, also of The Wire, is another series regular. Many other stars of The Wire have appeared in Treme, these include Steve Earle, Jim True-Frost, James Ransone, and Anwan Glover.
Show Me a Hero
In 2014, HBO greenlit production for Simon's next project Show Me a Hero, a six-hour miniseries co-written with William F. Zorzi and the episodes directed by Academy Award-winner Paul Haggis. The miniseries is an adaptation of the nonfiction book of the same name by Lisa Belkin and tells the story of Nick Wasicsko, the youngest big-city mayor in the country who is thrust into racial controversy when a federal court orders to build a small number of low-income housing units in the white neighborhoods of Yonkers, New York. Oscar Isaac stars as Wasicsko and leads a cast, which includes Catherine Keener, Jim Belushi, Bob Balaban and Winona Ryder. The miniseries premiered on August 16, 2015.
The Deuce
The Deuce is a 2017 drama television series set in Times Square, New York focusing on the rise of the porn industry in the 1970s-80s. Created and written by Simon along with frequent collaborator George Pelecanos, the series pilot began shooting in October 2015. It was picked up to series in January 2016. It premiered on September 10, 2017, and is broadcast by HBO in the United States.
The Deuce tells the story of the legalization and ensuing rise of the porn industry in New York beginning in the 1970s and its ongoing rise through the mid-1980s. Themes explored include the rise of HIV, the violence of the drug epidemic and the resulting real estate booms and busts that coincided with the change.
The Plot Against America
An adaptation of Philip Roth's novel, The Plot Against America is an alternate history told through the eyes of a working-class Jewish family in Newark, New Jersey; as they watch the political rise of Charles Lindbergh, an aviator-hero and xenophobic populist, who becomes president and turns the nation toward fascism. The six-part miniseries premiered on March 16, 2020, on HBO.
Projects in developmentParting the Waters: With Taylor Branch, James McBride, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Eric Overmyer. About Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement, based on one of the volumes of the books America in the King Years written by Taylor Branch, specifically At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years, 1965–1968. The project was to be produced by Oprah Winfrey, but was shelved.The Avenue: A book with William F. Zorzi Jr., on the Baltimore drug epidemic from 1951 to late 1980sThe Good Friday Plot: Miniseries about Abraham Lincoln based upon Manhunt: The Twelve-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson and American Brutus: John Wilkes Booth and the Lincoln Conspiracies by Michael W. Kauffman.Capitol Hill: A collaboration with Carl Bernstein set in Capitol Hill, it examines partisanship and the role money plays in influencing national governance. The series was ordered to pilot by HBO in 2015 but has not received a subsequent season order.Legacy of Ashes: On the Central Intelligence Agency, based on the 2007 book Legacy of Ashes by Tim Weiner. The show was taken to the BBC and would have had Anthony Bourdain on the writing staff.The Pogues: Musical project with the help of the late Philip Chevron in development at The Public Theater in New York City, with Laura Lippman and George PelecanosA Dry Run: The Lincolns in Spain: A historical miniseries set during the Spanish Civil War about the Abraham Lincoln and George Washington Battalions, which were composed of volunteers from the United States who wanted to help the Spanish Republic overcome fascism. Mark Johnson will be the series producer and Mediapro will be the series' production company.
Writing process
Simon is known for his realistic dialogue and journalistic approach to writing. He says that authenticity is paramount and that he writes not with a general audience in mind but with the opinions of his subjects as his priority. He has described his extensive use of real anecdotes and characters in his writing as "stealing life".
In a talk that Simon gave to a live audience in April 2007 at the Creative Alliance's storytelling series, Simon disclosed that he had started writing for revenge against John Carroll and Bill Marimow, the two most senior editors at The Baltimore Sun when Simon was a reporter at the paper. Simon said he had watched Carroll and Marimow "single-handedly destroy" the newspaper and that he spent over ten years trying to get back at them.
Anything I've ever accomplished as a writer, as somebody doing TV, anything I've ever done in life, down to, like, cleaning up my room, has been accomplished because I was going to show people that they were fucked up, wrong, and that I was the fucking center of the universe and the sooner they got hip to that, the happier they would all be.
One of the actions Simon took was to name a character in The Wire after Marimow and make the character "a repellent police-department toady." Carroll left The Baltimore Sun to become editor at the Los Angeles Times and resigned in 2005 after budget cuts were announced. "He stands up like a [bleeping] hero, takes a bullet," said Simon. In 2006 Marimow was diagnosed with prostate cancer, something that Simon said "took the edge off" his grudge. Carroll and Marimow "were fuel for 10 years of my life. ... And now, I got nothing," Simon said.
When asked about these comments, Simon said that he had spoken with "some hyperbole and, I hope, comic effect", adding that his basic viewpoint was: "that simple revenge is both empty and beside the point and that a good story carefully told has to speak to larger themes. You do not tell an ornate, careful story over ten hours of HBO airtime merely to bust on any given soul."
Views on journalism
In an interview in Reason in 2004, Simon said that since leaving the newspaper business he has become more cynical about the power of journalism. "One of the sad things about contemporary journalism is that it actually matters very little. The world now is almost inured to the power of journalism. The best journalism would manage to outrage people. And people are less and less inclined to outrage," said Simon. "I've become increasingly cynical about the ability of daily journalism to effect any kind of meaningful change. I was pretty dubious about it when I was a journalist, but now I think it's remarkably ineffectual."
While testifying at a 2009 Senate hearing regarding the future of journalism in America, Simon indicted what he saw as poor online journalism, calling the phrase citizen journalist "Orwellian to [his] ears." Simon ended his testimony by declaring, "I don't think anything can be done to save high-end journalism."
Political views
Simon has described himself as a social democrat, broadly supporting the existence of capitalism while opposing "raw, unencumbered capitalism, absent any social framework, absent any sense of community, without regard to the weakest and most vulnerable classes in society", which he described as "a recipe for needless pain, needless human waste, (and) needless tragedy". He has criticized the idea of trickle-down economics.
In 2013, Simon compared the global surveillance disclosures uncovered by Edward Snowden to a 1980s effort by the City of Baltimore to record the numbers dialed from all pay phones. The city believed that drug traffickers were using pay phones and pagers, and a municipal judge allowed the city to record the dialed numbers. The placement of the payphone number recorders formed the basis of The Wires first season. Simon argued that the media attention regarding the surveillance disclosures is a "faux scandal."
During a November 2013 speech at the Festival of Dangerous Ideas in Sydney, he said that America has become "a horror show" of savage inequality as a result of capitalism run amok, and that "unless we reverse course, the average human being is worthless on planet Earth. Unless we take stock of the fact that maybe socialism and the socialist impulse has to be addressed again; it has to be married as it was married in the 1930s, the 1940s and even into the 1950s, to the engine that is capitalism."
Simon has also spoken out publicly against crime journalist Kevin Deutsch, disputing the portrayal of Baltimore's illegal drug trade in Deutsch's book, Pill City: How Two Honor Roll Students Foiled the Feds and Built a Drug Empire. Simon has described the book as "a wholesale fabrication."
During the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries, Simon praised Bernie Sanders for "rehabilitating and normalizing the term socialist back into American public life", but opposed some attacks against Hillary Clinton which he felt focused on her presumed motives rather than the substance of policies.
Personal life
In 1991, Simon was married to graphic artist Kayle Tucker. They had a son. The marriage ended in divorce.
In 2006, Simon married best-selling Baltimore novelist and former Sun reporter Laura Lippman in a ceremony officiated by John Waters. They have a daughter, who was born in 2010.
Simon's nephew, Jason Simon, is a guitarist and vocalist for the psychedelic rock band Dead Meadow. The band was mentioned in an episode of The Wire.
Simon was the 2012 commencement speaker for the Georgetown University College of Arts and Sciences, as well as the speaker for the Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School graduation.
In 2019, Simon joined a host of other writers in firing their agents as part of the WGA's stand against the ATA after failing to come to an agreement on their "Code of Conduct". Simon's statement to the writers union was widely circulated. He had previously led the rallying cry about the unfair practices of packaging by the major talent agencies.
Works and publications
Commentary
Non-fiction books
Filmography
Producer
Writer
References
Further reading
External links
David Simon's blog.
1960 births
American crime fiction writers
Jewish American journalists
American non-fiction crime writers
American newspaper reporters and correspondents
American male novelists
American male screenwriters
American television producers
American television writers
Anthony Award winners
Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School alumni
Drug policy reform activists
Edgar Award winners
Living people
MacArthur Fellows
American male television writers
Maryland Democrats
Primetime Emmy Award winners
Showrunners
The Baltimore Sun people
University of Maryland, College Park alumni
Writers Guild of America Award winners
Writers from Baltimore
Novelists from Maryland
American male non-fiction writers
Screenwriters from Washington, D.C.
People from Bethesda, Maryland
21st-century American Jews | false | [
"Le Cousin is a 1997 French film directed by Alain Corneau.\n\nPlot \nThe film deals with the relationship of the police and an informant in the drug scene.\n\nAwards and nominations\nLe Cousin was nominated for 5 César Awards but did not win in any category.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n1997 films\n1997 crime films\nFilms about drugs\nFilms directed by Alain Corneau\nFrench crime films\nFrench films\nFrench-language films",
"The 23rd Fangoria Chainsaw Awards is an award ceremony presented for horror films that were released in 2020. The nominees were announced on January 20, 2021. The film The Invisible Man won five of its five nominations, including Best Wide Release, as well as the write-in poll of Best Kill. Color Out Of Space and Possessor each took two awards. His House did not win any of its seven nominations. The ceremony was exclusively livestreamed for the first time on the SHUDDER horror streaming service.\n\nWinners and nominees\n\nReferences\n\nFangoria Chainsaw Awards"
]
|
[
"Mohammad Hafeez",
"Bowling action"
]
| C_586d5b152b8d4d08bd05d5ecaff6e1f8_0 | How good was mohammed in bowling | 1 | How good was mohammed in bowling | Mohammad Hafeez | Hafeez had been reported for a suspect action after the Abu Dhabi Test against New Zealand in November 2014, and in December his action was found to be illegal following tests at an ICC accredited centre in Loughborough, England. He was found to have an elbow extension up to 31 degrees, far above the permitted limit of 15 degrees. He underwent remedial work at a biomechanics lab in Chennai, but failed an unofficial test on his action on January 3. Later that month the PCB requested the ICC to retest Hafeez's action in February in Brisbane, so that he could bowl at the World Cup if cleared, but he was ruled out of the tournament with a calf injury. Hafeez was finally cleared to bowl again in international cricket on April 21, after more tests on his action in Chennai. Mohammad Hafeez has once again been reported for a suspect action, following the conclusion of the Galle Test on 21 June 2015., and he was dropped from third test. However, he was again selected for the ODI series against Sri Lanka. He proved the value of his comeback by taking 4 for 41 runs and scored a magnificent century earned him the man of the match award. Hafeez has been banned from bowling in international cricket for 12 months following an independent assessment of his action, which took place at the Sri Ramachandra University in Chennai on 6 July. The 34-year-old was assessed after the legality of his bowling action came under question by the match officials during Pakistan's first Test victory over Sri Lanka in Galle (17-21 June). Following the match, Hafeez was reported by the match officials pursuant to the ICC Regulations for the Review of Bowlers Reported with Suspected Illegal Bowling Actions (the "Regulations") and subsequently underwent the independent assessment in Chennai in accordance with the regulations. The assessment revealed that Hafeez's elbow extension exceeded 15 degrees while bowling and, thus, he employed an illegal bowling action. Hafeez was originally suspended from bowling in November 2014. Following remedial work on his bowling action, he was reassessed and permitted to resume bowling in April 2015. As this report has constituted the player's second report within a two-year period, the first of which led to a suspension, he is now automatically suspended from bowling in international cricket for a 12-month period. Hafeez is entitled to appeal any procedural aspect of an independent assessment that has led to this automatic suspension. However, only after the expiry of this one-year period will he be entitled to approach the ICC for a re-assessment of his bowling action. CANNOTANSWER | Hafeez has been banned from bowling in international cricket for 12 months following an independent assessment of his action, | Mohammad Hafeez (Punjabi and ; born 17 October 1980) is a former Pakistani international cricketer. Hafeez was a versatile batsman who could bat anywhere in the top 6 and formed part of the bowling attack. He was an all-rounder and was known for his intelligent batting but also for aggressive shot plays when needed. He retired from Test Cricket after the third and final match against New Zealand in Abu Dhabi in December 2018, departing the ground for the final time in white clothing to a guard of honour from his teammates.
He was the fourth international player to play in the Caribbean Premier League and the first Pakistani player to be named to be chosen for Twenty20 tournament. He is nicknamed "The Professor". The major teams for which he played are Pakistan, Lahore, Lahore Lions, Guyana Amazon Warriors, Kolkata Knight Riders, Sargodha, Sui Gas Corporation of Pakistan. Hafeez scored his test career best of 224 runs against Bangladesh in 2015 at Khulna during the Dan Cake Series.
In August 2018, he was one of the thirty-three players to be awarded a central contract for the 2018–19 season by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). In December 2018, during Pakistan's series against New Zealand, Hafeez announced that he would retire from Test cricket following the conclusion of the tour, to focus on limited-overs cricket. Hafeez said that the time was right to retire from Test cricket and that he was honoured to represent Pakistan in 55 Test matches, including captaining the side.
After a lackluster personal ICC 2019 World Cup campaign albeit a match-winning 84 batting at number 4 against England in the round-robin stage in 2019, he found new life as a T20 specialist for Pakistan and various leagues across the world. This culminated in him being the leading run scorer in T20I cricket in the world in 2020.
On 3 January 2022, he announced his retirement from international cricket, ending a career of 18 years.
International career
Early years: 2003–2006
Hafeez has played in Bhera and was one of several young all-rounders whom the Pakistani cricket team turned to in order to revitalize their side after their poor display in 2003 World Cup where Pakistan was out from first round. His form with both bat and ball was inconsistent and in late 2003 he was dropped from the Test squad and subsequently from the ODI side. Following strong domestic performances, as well as some consistent showings for the Pakistan A side, he remained on the fringes of a recall in 2004.
Hafeez returned to the ODI side in 2005 and despite poor form with the bat, his bowling performances were impressive. In the 2006 series held in Australia, Hafeez smashed his first century for Pakistan. With Pakistan struggling to find a solid opening pair for the Test side, he was recalled for the tour of England. His return to Test cricket was made at The Oval where he scored a fluent 95. Subsequently, Hafeez retained his place in the Test squad for Pakistan's home series against the West Indies in November of that year. After getting out early despite good starts in the first two Tests, he went on to score his second Test century in the third Test in Karachi.
Recall in 2010
In 2010 he was recalled for the third ICC World Twenty20 squad. His form was poor scoring only 39 runs and taking only 2 wickets in 6 matches. However he was subsequently selected for the T20Is and the ODIs on Pakistan's 2010 tour of England. He was the second highest Pakistani run scorer in the ODI series producing some solid opening partnerships with Kamran Akmal. Following this good form he was included in the squad that was selected to play South Africa in the UAE and he replaced disgraced skipper Salman Butt as an opening batsman in both Tests, achieving a batting average 32.50. He played in all 5 ODI matches ending up as the top run scorer and he also topped the bowling averages for the series. At the end of 2010 he was also selected for the party that would tour New Zealand and the West Indies and this resulted in him establishing himself as a regular in the Test, ODI and T20 teams.
Rising through ranks
Against India on 18 March 2012 in Bangladesh at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur at the 2012 Asia Cup, he scored 105 off 113 balls and was involved in a 224 run partnership with Nasir Jamshed, which is the best opening partnership for Pakistan against India in one day internationals. They eclipsed Aamer Sohail and Saeed Anwar's record of 144 runs which was made in 1996. During this innings, Hafeez was forced to run a lot which towards the end was hampering him due to a leg injury. Subsequently, he earned the nickname, the Snake of Sargodha, for his zigzag running pattern between the wickets. He made his 4th ODI century in March 2012 against Bangladesh at Dhaka. He also made his highest test score of 196 against Sri Lanka in the second Test at Colombo in June 2012.
In December 2012, during the tour of Pakistani cricket team in India in 2012–13, he came across as a very different and aggressive batsman and scored so brilliantly and briskly and helped Pakistan to win the first T20I and 2nd ODI with his heroics of brilliant batting and nearly chasing a mountain high target of 191 in the second T20I. His scores were 61 and 55 in first and second T20I respectively and scored 76 runs in the 2nd ODI and sharing an opening stand of 141 with Nasir Jamshed and also bowled economically to help Pakistan win their first ODI series in India since 7 years. In this period, he was considered to be the main all-rounder of Pakistan Cricket team along with Shahid Afridi. He had a great series against Sri Lanka in Dec 2013, where he scored 122 in the first match, 140* in the third and 113* in the fourth match. Thus he became, the second batsman after Zaheer Abbas to score 3 centuries in an ODI series. Hafeez was initially selected in the Pakistan squad for the 2015 World Cup but was ruled out 6 days before the World Cup due to a calf injury. He was replaced by Nasir Jamshed.
For his performances in 2014, he was named in the World ODI XI by ICC.
He was also named in the T20I XI by Cricinfo for his performances in 2013.
On 20 December 2020, he hit his career best T20I score of 99* off 57 balls against New Zealand in their second T20I at Hamilton. On 31 July 2021, he bowled his most economic spell in the T20I against West Indies, giving away 6 runs off his 4 overs.
T20 captaincy record
Captaincy
He was appointed captain of the Pakistan T20 team in May 2012 and vice captain, under Misbah-ul-Haq, of the ODI and Test teams. During the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka in September 2012, Pakistan reached the semi-finals where they lost to the home side. After the tournament, there was some controversy with veteran all-rounder Abdul Razzaq who was critical of his non-selection for a number of matches. Hafeez also came into some conflict with the PCB over their view that he adopted a rather unilateral and non-consultative approach while making selection decisions. However, he was supported by the coach Dav Whatmore and both of them emphasised the poor fitness levels of many players. The PCB committee decided that they would subsequently closely monitor Hafeez's performance in this context during the coming tours to India and South Africa.
As a captain, he led Pakistan to victories over South Africa, West Indies and Zimbabwe. He equalled the records of most wins as a Pakistani captain in T20 and most number of away series wins as a Pakistani captain. Under his leadership, Pakistan managed to move up to the second position in the rankings.
He also became the first Pakistani captain to hit three fifties in a row and became Pakistan's leading run scorer in T20s. After Pakistan's exit from the T20 World Championship Hafeez apologized on behalf of his team and stepped down as captain. Imran Khan, Pakistan's former captain criticised this decision and advised Hafeez to stay as captain. His resignation was a rare incident in Pakistan cricket.
Post-captaincy (2016 - present)
In March 2016, Pakistan's exit from the 2016 ICC World Twenty20 after losing 3 matches caused great controversy in Pakistan, with blame shifting between Waqar Younis as well as many of the players on the team. Hafeez was accused, by Younis, of lying about his knee injury before the T20. He said it could have affected the teams poor performance. Despite bad performance during the T20I world cup 2016 Hafeez was picked for the England tour of 2016 Hafeez was out on 0 several times throughout the test series and during the ODI series in the first match he was out on 11 which then he was dropped for rest of the tour because of bad performance and not fit enough to play. After missing out of international cricket for months in which he missed the West Indies series in the UAE, Hafeez was then picked for the Australia tour 2017 to play the ODI series. As of the first ODI match Hafeez was out on 4. For the second ODI Azhar Ali was ruled out because of injury which promoted Hafeez to captain Pakistan, Hafeez did a very good job as Pakistan won the match and won for the first time in 12 years on Australian soil. Not only that Hafeez's captaincy was appreciated but he also made 72 runs which earned him player of the match. Hafeez was a regular member in Pakistan's triumph in the Champions Trophy 2017 in England
In April 2019, he was named in Pakistan's squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup. Though, he was named man of the match in Pakistan's second match of the tournament against England for his 62-ball 84 and important wicket of English captain Eoin Morgan, he remained inconsistent for the rest of the tournament with low-strike rate scores of 16, 9, 20, 32, 19 and 27. He didn't do wonders with the ball either with an expensive economy rate of almost 6 per over which was worse than any other Pakistani spinner in the tournament.
In June 2020, he was named in a 29-man squad for Pakistan's tour to England during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, on 23 June 2020, Hafeez was one of seven players from Pakistan's squad to test positive for COVID-19. Hafeez then tested negative the following day, after taking a private test to get a second opinion. On 30 August 2020, in the second T20I against England, Hafeez became the second batsman for Pakistan to score 2,000 runs in T20I cricket. On 10 April 2021, in the first match against South Africa, Hafeez played in his 100th T20I match.
In September 2021, he was named in Pakistan's squad for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.
T20 franchise career
IPL career
Mohammad Hafeez was signed by Kolkata Knight Riders, and played in the inaugural season of the IPL. He scored 64 runs in 8 matches and picked up 1 wicket in the tournament. He did not play in the 2nd edition of IPL due to the tense atmosphere after the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
PSL career
Hafeez was placed in the Diamond category in the inaugural edition of PSL and was picked ("bought") for US$70,000 by the Peshawar Zalmi side. He left Peshawar Zalmi in 2018 after playing for the franchise for 3 years. He was picked by Lahore Qalanders for the fourth edition of PSL and was also given the captaincy.
Bangladesh Premier League career
In December 2015, he was signed by Dhaka Dynamites for the remainder of the 2015 Bangladesh Premier League (BPL). In December 2018, Hafeez joined Rajshahi Kings for the sixth edition of Bangladesh Premier League.
Other leagues
Mohammad Hafeez played for Wayamba United in 2012 Sri Lanka Premier League.
In January 2014, he was signed by Melbourne Stars as a replacement Lasith Malinga for the reminder of the 2013–14 BBL.
On 3 June 2018, he was selected to play for the Montreal Tigers in the players' draft for the inaugural edition of the Global T20 Canada tournament. In September 2018, he was named in Nangarhar's squad for the first edition of the Afghanistan Premier League tournament.
He was signed by Edmonton Royals as marquee player in 2nd season of GT20 Canada in July 2019. He replaced Rassie Van Dussen in ST KITTS & NEVIS PATRIOTS team for CPL 2019. He then, signed for Middlesex for 5 matches in August 2019. He joined Middlesex County Cricket Club for the 2019 Vitality Blast, as a replacement for Mujeeb Ur Rahman.
In November 2021, he was selected to play for the Galle Gladiators following the players' draft for the 2021 Lanka Premier League.
In November 2021, he joined Delhi Bulls for the upcoming fifth season of the Abu Dhabi T10 league.
Bowling action
In June 2015, Hafeez was suspended for an illegal arm action. However, he was again selected for the ODI series against Sri Lanka. He proved the value of his comeback by taking 4 for 41 runs and scored a century, which earned him the man of the match award.
In November 2017, ICC suspended Hafeez again for illegal bowling action.
In December 2019, ECB banned Hafeez from bowling in the T20 Blast because of his action.
Records and achievements
International centuries
Hafeez has scored 21 centuries (100 or more runs) in Test matches, One Day International (ODI) matches, organized by the International Cricket Council. Hafeez has scored 10 centuries in Test matches and 11 centuries in ODIs.
Test centuries
Hafeez scored his maiden Test century in his second match on 27 August 2003 against Bangladesh. His highest Test score is 224 which was also scored against Bangladesh on 28 April 2015 at Khulna.
ODI centuries
In ODIs, his maiden century came against New Zealand on 29 January 2011 at Christchurch. He scored 115 runs in that match and guided Pakistan to the victory. Up to now, his highest ODI score is 140* which was scored against Sri Lanka on 22 December 2013 at Sharjah. Sri Lanka is being his favorite opponent in ODIs, against them he had scored 4 centuries.
References
External links
Mohammad Hafeez's profile page on Wisden
Mohammad Hafeez on Twitter
Mohammad Hafeez on Facebook
1980 births
Living people
People from Sargodha District
Punjabi people
Cricketers at the 2007 Cricket World Cup
Cricketers at the 2011 Cricket World Cup
Cricketers at the 2019 Cricket World Cup
Pakistani cricket captains
Pakistan Test cricket captains
Baluchistan Bears cricketers
Dhaka Dynamites cricketers
Faisalabad cricketers
Faisalabad Wolves cricketers
Federal Areas cricketers
Guyana Amazon Warriors cricketers
Khulna Royal Bengals cricketers
Kolkata Knight Riders cricketers
Lahore Lions cricketers
Lahore Qalandars cricketers
Melbourne Stars cricketers
Middlesex cricketers
Pakistan One Day International cricketers
Pakistan Test cricketers
Pakistan Twenty20 International cricketers
Pakistani cricketers
Peshawar Zalmi cricketers
Punjab (Pakistan) cricketers
Rajshahi Kings cricketers
Sargodha cricketers
St Kitts and Nevis Patriots cricketers
Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited cricketers
Wayamba United cricketers
Southern Punjab (Pakistan) cricketers
Galle Gladiators cricketers | false | [
"Kamroze Mohammed (born 6 January 1951) is a former Guyanese cricketer who played a single first-class match for Essequibo in the final of the 1980–81 inter-county Jones Cup.\n\nBorn in Vergenoegen in what was then British Guiana (now part of Guyana's Essequibo Islands-West Demerara region), Mohammed opened the batting with Fitz Garraway in both innings of the match, played against Berbice at the Kayman Sankar Cricket Ground in Hampton Court (on the Atlantic coast). He scored seven runs in the first innings, before being dismissed by Reginald Etwaroo leg before wicket. In the second innings, he was out for a duck, caught by Amarnauth Ramcharitar off the bowling of Kamal Singh. Mohammed was one of only two Essequibo players to record ducks in the match, with the other being fast bowler and number-eleven batsman Courtney Gonsalves, who recorded a pair. He was one of two players from Vergenoegen in the match, the other being Malcolm Williams.\n\nBerbice won the match by nine wickets in what was Essequibo's only first-class match – only the final of the three-team Jones Cup (later the Guystac Trophy) was accorded first-class status, and Essequibo made the final only once, having defeated Demerara in an earlier match. The scorecards of the non-first-class matches played by Essequibo are not available before the late 1990s, and it is therefore uncertain how Mohammed played for Essequibo (if at all) in earlier matches.\n\nReferences\n\n1951 births\nLiving people\nEssequibo cricketers\nGuyanese cricketers\nPeople from Essequibo Islands-West Demerara",
"Azurdeen \"Andy\" Mohammed (born 10 September 1990) is an American cricketer of West Indian origin. A left-handed all-rounder, he made his debut for the U.S. national side in May 2010, having earlier played for the national under-19 team at the 2010 Under-19 World Cup.\n\nEarly life \nMohammed was born in Couva, Trinidad, but moved to Guyana with his mother and two older siblings when he was an infant. Playing cricket from an early age, he was given the nickname \"Andy\" by his aunt due to a perceived resemblance to English fast bowler Andy Caddick. His family moved emigrated to the United States during his teenage years, living first in Orlando, Florida, and then to New York City. He soon began playing underage representative tournaments, and also played basketball for his school, Forest Hills High School in Queens.\n\nCareer \nAged 18, Mohammed made his debut for the U.S. under-19 side in July 2009, at the 2009 Americas Under-19 Championship in Canada. Against Bermuda, he was named man of the match after scoring 60 runs and taking 3/15 while bowling. Mohammed retained his place in the side for the 2009 Under-19 World Cup Qualifier, where the U.S. placed fifth to qualify for the 2010 World Cup in New Zealand. His 180 at the World Cup Qualifier placed him behind only Ryan Corns (230) and Shiva Vashishat (203) for his team, and against Afghanistan he scored 90, which at the time was the second-highest score by an American in an under-19 competition.\n\nAt the World Cup itself, Mohammed played in all six matches, which each had under-19 One Day International (ODI) status. He again finished third for runs scored at the tournament, behind Greg Sewdial and Steven Taylor, with his innings of 70 in the opening match against Australia the highest by an American at the tournament. Mohammed made his debut for the U.S. senior team later in the year, playing two 20-over games against Jamaica in May. The matches were serving as a warm-up for the 2010 Americas Twenty20 Championship in Bermuda, which Mohammed had already been named in the squad for, but in the final game against Jamaica he split the webbing in his bowling hand, and was forced to miss the Bermuda tour. He did not return to international cricket until the 2011 season, when he played in the annual Auty Cup fixtures against Canada.\n\nIn early 2012, Mohammed was selected in the U.S. squad for the 2012 World Twenty20 Qualifier in the United Arab Emirates, where matches had full Twenty20 status. He went on to play two games in the tournament, scoring 18 not out on debut against Namibia and then three against Kenya, in a match where his team was bowled out for 90. His 2012 season also included two games in the 2012 WCL Division Four tournament in Malaysia, against Tanzania and Singapore. Mohammed's most recent international matches for the U.S. came in the 2012 Auty Cup series, which was played in Florida in November of that year.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nPlayer profile and statistics at Cricket Archive\nPlayer profile and statistics at ESPNcricinfo\n\n1990 births\nLiving people\nAmerican cricketers\nGuyanese cricketers\nGuyanese emigrants to the United States\nTrinidad and Tobago cricketers\nTrinidad and Tobago emigrants to Guyana\nTrinidad and Tobago emigrants to the United States"
]
|
[
"Mohammad Hafeez",
"Bowling action",
"How good was mohammed in bowling",
"Hafeez has been banned from bowling in international cricket for 12 months following an independent assessment of his action,"
]
| C_586d5b152b8d4d08bd05d5ecaff6e1f8_0 | Why was he banned | 2 | Why was Mohammad Hafeez banned from bowling in international cricket | Mohammad Hafeez | Hafeez had been reported for a suspect action after the Abu Dhabi Test against New Zealand in November 2014, and in December his action was found to be illegal following tests at an ICC accredited centre in Loughborough, England. He was found to have an elbow extension up to 31 degrees, far above the permitted limit of 15 degrees. He underwent remedial work at a biomechanics lab in Chennai, but failed an unofficial test on his action on January 3. Later that month the PCB requested the ICC to retest Hafeez's action in February in Brisbane, so that he could bowl at the World Cup if cleared, but he was ruled out of the tournament with a calf injury. Hafeez was finally cleared to bowl again in international cricket on April 21, after more tests on his action in Chennai. Mohammad Hafeez has once again been reported for a suspect action, following the conclusion of the Galle Test on 21 June 2015., and he was dropped from third test. However, he was again selected for the ODI series against Sri Lanka. He proved the value of his comeback by taking 4 for 41 runs and scored a magnificent century earned him the man of the match award. Hafeez has been banned from bowling in international cricket for 12 months following an independent assessment of his action, which took place at the Sri Ramachandra University in Chennai on 6 July. The 34-year-old was assessed after the legality of his bowling action came under question by the match officials during Pakistan's first Test victory over Sri Lanka in Galle (17-21 June). Following the match, Hafeez was reported by the match officials pursuant to the ICC Regulations for the Review of Bowlers Reported with Suspected Illegal Bowling Actions (the "Regulations") and subsequently underwent the independent assessment in Chennai in accordance with the regulations. The assessment revealed that Hafeez's elbow extension exceeded 15 degrees while bowling and, thus, he employed an illegal bowling action. Hafeez was originally suspended from bowling in November 2014. Following remedial work on his bowling action, he was reassessed and permitted to resume bowling in April 2015. As this report has constituted the player's second report within a two-year period, the first of which led to a suspension, he is now automatically suspended from bowling in international cricket for a 12-month period. Hafeez is entitled to appeal any procedural aspect of an independent assessment that has led to this automatic suspension. However, only after the expiry of this one-year period will he be entitled to approach the ICC for a re-assessment of his bowling action. CANNOTANSWER | He was found to have an elbow extension up to 31 degrees, far above the permitted limit of 15 degrees. | Mohammad Hafeez (Punjabi and ; born 17 October 1980) is a former Pakistani international cricketer. Hafeez was a versatile batsman who could bat anywhere in the top 6 and formed part of the bowling attack. He was an all-rounder and was known for his intelligent batting but also for aggressive shot plays when needed. He retired from Test Cricket after the third and final match against New Zealand in Abu Dhabi in December 2018, departing the ground for the final time in white clothing to a guard of honour from his teammates.
He was the fourth international player to play in the Caribbean Premier League and the first Pakistani player to be named to be chosen for Twenty20 tournament. He is nicknamed "The Professor". The major teams for which he played are Pakistan, Lahore, Lahore Lions, Guyana Amazon Warriors, Kolkata Knight Riders, Sargodha, Sui Gas Corporation of Pakistan. Hafeez scored his test career best of 224 runs against Bangladesh in 2015 at Khulna during the Dan Cake Series.
In August 2018, he was one of the thirty-three players to be awarded a central contract for the 2018–19 season by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). In December 2018, during Pakistan's series against New Zealand, Hafeez announced that he would retire from Test cricket following the conclusion of the tour, to focus on limited-overs cricket. Hafeez said that the time was right to retire from Test cricket and that he was honoured to represent Pakistan in 55 Test matches, including captaining the side.
After a lackluster personal ICC 2019 World Cup campaign albeit a match-winning 84 batting at number 4 against England in the round-robin stage in 2019, he found new life as a T20 specialist for Pakistan and various leagues across the world. This culminated in him being the leading run scorer in T20I cricket in the world in 2020.
On 3 January 2022, he announced his retirement from international cricket, ending a career of 18 years.
International career
Early years: 2003–2006
Hafeez has played in Bhera and was one of several young all-rounders whom the Pakistani cricket team turned to in order to revitalize their side after their poor display in 2003 World Cup where Pakistan was out from first round. His form with both bat and ball was inconsistent and in late 2003 he was dropped from the Test squad and subsequently from the ODI side. Following strong domestic performances, as well as some consistent showings for the Pakistan A side, he remained on the fringes of a recall in 2004.
Hafeez returned to the ODI side in 2005 and despite poor form with the bat, his bowling performances were impressive. In the 2006 series held in Australia, Hafeez smashed his first century for Pakistan. With Pakistan struggling to find a solid opening pair for the Test side, he was recalled for the tour of England. His return to Test cricket was made at The Oval where he scored a fluent 95. Subsequently, Hafeez retained his place in the Test squad for Pakistan's home series against the West Indies in November of that year. After getting out early despite good starts in the first two Tests, he went on to score his second Test century in the third Test in Karachi.
Recall in 2010
In 2010 he was recalled for the third ICC World Twenty20 squad. His form was poor scoring only 39 runs and taking only 2 wickets in 6 matches. However he was subsequently selected for the T20Is and the ODIs on Pakistan's 2010 tour of England. He was the second highest Pakistani run scorer in the ODI series producing some solid opening partnerships with Kamran Akmal. Following this good form he was included in the squad that was selected to play South Africa in the UAE and he replaced disgraced skipper Salman Butt as an opening batsman in both Tests, achieving a batting average 32.50. He played in all 5 ODI matches ending up as the top run scorer and he also topped the bowling averages for the series. At the end of 2010 he was also selected for the party that would tour New Zealand and the West Indies and this resulted in him establishing himself as a regular in the Test, ODI and T20 teams.
Rising through ranks
Against India on 18 March 2012 in Bangladesh at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur at the 2012 Asia Cup, he scored 105 off 113 balls and was involved in a 224 run partnership with Nasir Jamshed, which is the best opening partnership for Pakistan against India in one day internationals. They eclipsed Aamer Sohail and Saeed Anwar's record of 144 runs which was made in 1996. During this innings, Hafeez was forced to run a lot which towards the end was hampering him due to a leg injury. Subsequently, he earned the nickname, the Snake of Sargodha, for his zigzag running pattern between the wickets. He made his 4th ODI century in March 2012 against Bangladesh at Dhaka. He also made his highest test score of 196 against Sri Lanka in the second Test at Colombo in June 2012.
In December 2012, during the tour of Pakistani cricket team in India in 2012–13, he came across as a very different and aggressive batsman and scored so brilliantly and briskly and helped Pakistan to win the first T20I and 2nd ODI with his heroics of brilliant batting and nearly chasing a mountain high target of 191 in the second T20I. His scores were 61 and 55 in first and second T20I respectively and scored 76 runs in the 2nd ODI and sharing an opening stand of 141 with Nasir Jamshed and also bowled economically to help Pakistan win their first ODI series in India since 7 years. In this period, he was considered to be the main all-rounder of Pakistan Cricket team along with Shahid Afridi. He had a great series against Sri Lanka in Dec 2013, where he scored 122 in the first match, 140* in the third and 113* in the fourth match. Thus he became, the second batsman after Zaheer Abbas to score 3 centuries in an ODI series. Hafeez was initially selected in the Pakistan squad for the 2015 World Cup but was ruled out 6 days before the World Cup due to a calf injury. He was replaced by Nasir Jamshed.
For his performances in 2014, he was named in the World ODI XI by ICC.
He was also named in the T20I XI by Cricinfo for his performances in 2013.
On 20 December 2020, he hit his career best T20I score of 99* off 57 balls against New Zealand in their second T20I at Hamilton. On 31 July 2021, he bowled his most economic spell in the T20I against West Indies, giving away 6 runs off his 4 overs.
T20 captaincy record
Captaincy
He was appointed captain of the Pakistan T20 team in May 2012 and vice captain, under Misbah-ul-Haq, of the ODI and Test teams. During the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka in September 2012, Pakistan reached the semi-finals where they lost to the home side. After the tournament, there was some controversy with veteran all-rounder Abdul Razzaq who was critical of his non-selection for a number of matches. Hafeez also came into some conflict with the PCB over their view that he adopted a rather unilateral and non-consultative approach while making selection decisions. However, he was supported by the coach Dav Whatmore and both of them emphasised the poor fitness levels of many players. The PCB committee decided that they would subsequently closely monitor Hafeez's performance in this context during the coming tours to India and South Africa.
As a captain, he led Pakistan to victories over South Africa, West Indies and Zimbabwe. He equalled the records of most wins as a Pakistani captain in T20 and most number of away series wins as a Pakistani captain. Under his leadership, Pakistan managed to move up to the second position in the rankings.
He also became the first Pakistani captain to hit three fifties in a row and became Pakistan's leading run scorer in T20s. After Pakistan's exit from the T20 World Championship Hafeez apologized on behalf of his team and stepped down as captain. Imran Khan, Pakistan's former captain criticised this decision and advised Hafeez to stay as captain. His resignation was a rare incident in Pakistan cricket.
Post-captaincy (2016 - present)
In March 2016, Pakistan's exit from the 2016 ICC World Twenty20 after losing 3 matches caused great controversy in Pakistan, with blame shifting between Waqar Younis as well as many of the players on the team. Hafeez was accused, by Younis, of lying about his knee injury before the T20. He said it could have affected the teams poor performance. Despite bad performance during the T20I world cup 2016 Hafeez was picked for the England tour of 2016 Hafeez was out on 0 several times throughout the test series and during the ODI series in the first match he was out on 11 which then he was dropped for rest of the tour because of bad performance and not fit enough to play. After missing out of international cricket for months in which he missed the West Indies series in the UAE, Hafeez was then picked for the Australia tour 2017 to play the ODI series. As of the first ODI match Hafeez was out on 4. For the second ODI Azhar Ali was ruled out because of injury which promoted Hafeez to captain Pakistan, Hafeez did a very good job as Pakistan won the match and won for the first time in 12 years on Australian soil. Not only that Hafeez's captaincy was appreciated but he also made 72 runs which earned him player of the match. Hafeez was a regular member in Pakistan's triumph in the Champions Trophy 2017 in England
In April 2019, he was named in Pakistan's squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup. Though, he was named man of the match in Pakistan's second match of the tournament against England for his 62-ball 84 and important wicket of English captain Eoin Morgan, he remained inconsistent for the rest of the tournament with low-strike rate scores of 16, 9, 20, 32, 19 and 27. He didn't do wonders with the ball either with an expensive economy rate of almost 6 per over which was worse than any other Pakistani spinner in the tournament.
In June 2020, he was named in a 29-man squad for Pakistan's tour to England during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, on 23 June 2020, Hafeez was one of seven players from Pakistan's squad to test positive for COVID-19. Hafeez then tested negative the following day, after taking a private test to get a second opinion. On 30 August 2020, in the second T20I against England, Hafeez became the second batsman for Pakistan to score 2,000 runs in T20I cricket. On 10 April 2021, in the first match against South Africa, Hafeez played in his 100th T20I match.
In September 2021, he was named in Pakistan's squad for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.
T20 franchise career
IPL career
Mohammad Hafeez was signed by Kolkata Knight Riders, and played in the inaugural season of the IPL. He scored 64 runs in 8 matches and picked up 1 wicket in the tournament. He did not play in the 2nd edition of IPL due to the tense atmosphere after the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
PSL career
Hafeez was placed in the Diamond category in the inaugural edition of PSL and was picked ("bought") for US$70,000 by the Peshawar Zalmi side. He left Peshawar Zalmi in 2018 after playing for the franchise for 3 years. He was picked by Lahore Qalanders for the fourth edition of PSL and was also given the captaincy.
Bangladesh Premier League career
In December 2015, he was signed by Dhaka Dynamites for the remainder of the 2015 Bangladesh Premier League (BPL). In December 2018, Hafeez joined Rajshahi Kings for the sixth edition of Bangladesh Premier League.
Other leagues
Mohammad Hafeez played for Wayamba United in 2012 Sri Lanka Premier League.
In January 2014, he was signed by Melbourne Stars as a replacement Lasith Malinga for the reminder of the 2013–14 BBL.
On 3 June 2018, he was selected to play for the Montreal Tigers in the players' draft for the inaugural edition of the Global T20 Canada tournament. In September 2018, he was named in Nangarhar's squad for the first edition of the Afghanistan Premier League tournament.
He was signed by Edmonton Royals as marquee player in 2nd season of GT20 Canada in July 2019. He replaced Rassie Van Dussen in ST KITTS & NEVIS PATRIOTS team for CPL 2019. He then, signed for Middlesex for 5 matches in August 2019. He joined Middlesex County Cricket Club for the 2019 Vitality Blast, as a replacement for Mujeeb Ur Rahman.
In November 2021, he was selected to play for the Galle Gladiators following the players' draft for the 2021 Lanka Premier League.
In November 2021, he joined Delhi Bulls for the upcoming fifth season of the Abu Dhabi T10 league.
Bowling action
In June 2015, Hafeez was suspended for an illegal arm action. However, he was again selected for the ODI series against Sri Lanka. He proved the value of his comeback by taking 4 for 41 runs and scored a century, which earned him the man of the match award.
In November 2017, ICC suspended Hafeez again for illegal bowling action.
In December 2019, ECB banned Hafeez from bowling in the T20 Blast because of his action.
Records and achievements
International centuries
Hafeez has scored 21 centuries (100 or more runs) in Test matches, One Day International (ODI) matches, organized by the International Cricket Council. Hafeez has scored 10 centuries in Test matches and 11 centuries in ODIs.
Test centuries
Hafeez scored his maiden Test century in his second match on 27 August 2003 against Bangladesh. His highest Test score is 224 which was also scored against Bangladesh on 28 April 2015 at Khulna.
ODI centuries
In ODIs, his maiden century came against New Zealand on 29 January 2011 at Christchurch. He scored 115 runs in that match and guided Pakistan to the victory. Up to now, his highest ODI score is 140* which was scored against Sri Lanka on 22 December 2013 at Sharjah. Sri Lanka is being his favorite opponent in ODIs, against them he had scored 4 centuries.
References
External links
Mohammad Hafeez's profile page on Wisden
Mohammad Hafeez on Twitter
Mohammad Hafeez on Facebook
1980 births
Living people
People from Sargodha District
Punjabi people
Cricketers at the 2007 Cricket World Cup
Cricketers at the 2011 Cricket World Cup
Cricketers at the 2019 Cricket World Cup
Pakistani cricket captains
Pakistan Test cricket captains
Baluchistan Bears cricketers
Dhaka Dynamites cricketers
Faisalabad cricketers
Faisalabad Wolves cricketers
Federal Areas cricketers
Guyana Amazon Warriors cricketers
Khulna Royal Bengals cricketers
Kolkata Knight Riders cricketers
Lahore Lions cricketers
Lahore Qalandars cricketers
Melbourne Stars cricketers
Middlesex cricketers
Pakistan One Day International cricketers
Pakistan Test cricketers
Pakistan Twenty20 International cricketers
Pakistani cricketers
Peshawar Zalmi cricketers
Punjab (Pakistan) cricketers
Rajshahi Kings cricketers
Sargodha cricketers
St Kitts and Nevis Patriots cricketers
Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited cricketers
Wayamba United cricketers
Southern Punjab (Pakistan) cricketers
Galle Gladiators cricketers | false | [
"Adnan Adel Tawfiq Ghaith (Arabic: عدنان غيث) (46) is a member of Fatah's Revolutionary Council and is the Palestinian Authority's (PA) governor for the Quds Governorate since August 2018. He has been a life-long Fatah activist and lives in Jerusalem's Silwan neighbourhood in the West Bank.\n\nGhaith was the Fatah movement secretary in Silwan and one of the leaders of the People's Committee in the Al-Bustan neighbourhood of Jerusalem which has led local opposition to the \"City of David\" archaeological-tourist park. Because of his position and activities he has been arrested several times by Israel.\n\nIn 2011, Ghaith, at the time Fatah Secretary-General, was banned from entering Jerusalem for eight months.\n\nOn November 25, 2018, Ghaith was arrested along with 40 other members of the Fatah movement but released only a week later. His lawyer claimed that the Israeli authorities tried to harass him. His previous arrest was in October. He was subsequently banned from entering the Israeli-occupied West Bank for six months.\n\nIn February 2020, Ghaith was again banned from the West Bank for six months.\n\nIn July 2020, Ghaith was again arrested and was, according to his lawyers, investigated, over \"planning an act of terrorism\" but then released on August 4, 2020. It was his third arrest in 2020 and his 17th since he was appointed governor in 2018. In September, Israel issued him an order preventing him from meeting with many PA officials, including President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh.\n\nSee also \n Quds Governorate\n\nExternal links \n Israeli security forces arrest Ghaith (video), April 5, 2020. PLO-NAD. Twitter.\n Why is Israel after Adnan Ghaith?, November 11, 2019. Ahmad Melhem. Al-Monitor.\n\nReferences\n\nFatah members\nPalestinian politicians\nPeople from Jerusalem\nGovernors of Jerusalem Governorate\n20th-century Palestinian people\nLiving people\nYear of birth missing (living people)\nPalestinian people imprisoned by Israel",
"\"Burn My Candle\" was Shirley Bassey's first single. It was recorded in February 1956, when Bassey was nineteen years old, and released later that month on a 78 rpm shellac disc (Philips PB 558), with Stormy Weather on the B side. The record was produced by Johnny Franz, with Angela Morley and her Orchestra backing Bassey. The song was written for Bassey by Ross Parker (most notable for We'll Meet Again) at the behest of Bassey's then-manager, Michael Sullivan, who was seeking a song to make Bassey stand out. The BBC banned the playing of the record, presumably due to its suggestive lyrics. In his 2010 biography of Bassey, John L. Williams writes that:The song taken in isolation, is blatantly sexual but hardly convincing, as the double entendres of the title give way to single entendres in the bridge – There's \"S\" for Scotch, that's so direct / And for straight and simple sex / \"I\" for invitation to / A close relationship with you / \"N\" for nothing bad nor less / \"S-I-N\", that's sin, I guess....And that, right there, is the key to Shirley Bassey's early success: she was blatantly sexy and yet somehow, if not innocent, at least not too knowing.\n\nDespite being popular with audiences, the record failed to chart. In a 2009 interview on the BBC series Imagine, Bassey stated:It was banned by the BBC, and I didn't know why. And I said, 'Why are they banning it?' And my manager said, well—the lyrics may have something to do with it—and I said, 'Yah? But what?' I didn't even know what it was about. I'd never sung a risqué song and I think they purposefully didn't tell me so that I could give it that innocence. \n\nIts first appearance on an album was The Bewitching Miss Bassey in 1959. On subsequent appearances the song is sometimes listed as \"Burn My Candle (At Both Ends)\". Most recently, it appears on the CD compilation Burn My Candle - The Complete Early Years. Shirley Bassey re-recorded this song in 1966, but it remained unreleased until 1975 when it appeared on the 2-LP set The Shirley Bassey Collection II.\n\nReferences \n\nShirley Bassey songs\n1956 debut singles\nSongs written by Ross Parker (songwriter)\n1956 songs\nPhilips Records singles\nSong recordings produced by Johnny Franz\nSongs banned by the BBC"
]
|
[
"Mohammad Hafeez",
"Bowling action",
"How good was mohammed in bowling",
"Hafeez has been banned from bowling in international cricket for 12 months following an independent assessment of his action,",
"Why was he banned",
"He was found to have an elbow extension up to 31 degrees, far above the permitted limit of 15 degrees."
]
| C_586d5b152b8d4d08bd05d5ecaff6e1f8_0 | Did he bowl anywhere else? | 3 | Did Mohammad Hafeez bowl anywhere else other than international cricket? | Mohammad Hafeez | Hafeez had been reported for a suspect action after the Abu Dhabi Test against New Zealand in November 2014, and in December his action was found to be illegal following tests at an ICC accredited centre in Loughborough, England. He was found to have an elbow extension up to 31 degrees, far above the permitted limit of 15 degrees. He underwent remedial work at a biomechanics lab in Chennai, but failed an unofficial test on his action on January 3. Later that month the PCB requested the ICC to retest Hafeez's action in February in Brisbane, so that he could bowl at the World Cup if cleared, but he was ruled out of the tournament with a calf injury. Hafeez was finally cleared to bowl again in international cricket on April 21, after more tests on his action in Chennai. Mohammad Hafeez has once again been reported for a suspect action, following the conclusion of the Galle Test on 21 June 2015., and he was dropped from third test. However, he was again selected for the ODI series against Sri Lanka. He proved the value of his comeback by taking 4 for 41 runs and scored a magnificent century earned him the man of the match award. Hafeez has been banned from bowling in international cricket for 12 months following an independent assessment of his action, which took place at the Sri Ramachandra University in Chennai on 6 July. The 34-year-old was assessed after the legality of his bowling action came under question by the match officials during Pakistan's first Test victory over Sri Lanka in Galle (17-21 June). Following the match, Hafeez was reported by the match officials pursuant to the ICC Regulations for the Review of Bowlers Reported with Suspected Illegal Bowling Actions (the "Regulations") and subsequently underwent the independent assessment in Chennai in accordance with the regulations. The assessment revealed that Hafeez's elbow extension exceeded 15 degrees while bowling and, thus, he employed an illegal bowling action. Hafeez was originally suspended from bowling in November 2014. Following remedial work on his bowling action, he was reassessed and permitted to resume bowling in April 2015. As this report has constituted the player's second report within a two-year period, the first of which led to a suspension, he is now automatically suspended from bowling in international cricket for a 12-month period. Hafeez is entitled to appeal any procedural aspect of an independent assessment that has led to this automatic suspension. However, only after the expiry of this one-year period will he be entitled to approach the ICC for a re-assessment of his bowling action. CANNOTANSWER | he was again selected for the ODI series against Sri Lanka. | Mohammad Hafeez (Punjabi and ; born 17 October 1980) is a former Pakistani international cricketer. Hafeez was a versatile batsman who could bat anywhere in the top 6 and formed part of the bowling attack. He was an all-rounder and was known for his intelligent batting but also for aggressive shot plays when needed. He retired from Test Cricket after the third and final match against New Zealand in Abu Dhabi in December 2018, departing the ground for the final time in white clothing to a guard of honour from his teammates.
He was the fourth international player to play in the Caribbean Premier League and the first Pakistani player to be named to be chosen for Twenty20 tournament. He is nicknamed "The Professor". The major teams for which he played are Pakistan, Lahore, Lahore Lions, Guyana Amazon Warriors, Kolkata Knight Riders, Sargodha, Sui Gas Corporation of Pakistan. Hafeez scored his test career best of 224 runs against Bangladesh in 2015 at Khulna during the Dan Cake Series.
In August 2018, he was one of the thirty-three players to be awarded a central contract for the 2018–19 season by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). In December 2018, during Pakistan's series against New Zealand, Hafeez announced that he would retire from Test cricket following the conclusion of the tour, to focus on limited-overs cricket. Hafeez said that the time was right to retire from Test cricket and that he was honoured to represent Pakistan in 55 Test matches, including captaining the side.
After a lackluster personal ICC 2019 World Cup campaign albeit a match-winning 84 batting at number 4 against England in the round-robin stage in 2019, he found new life as a T20 specialist for Pakistan and various leagues across the world. This culminated in him being the leading run scorer in T20I cricket in the world in 2020.
On 3 January 2022, he announced his retirement from international cricket, ending a career of 18 years.
International career
Early years: 2003–2006
Hafeez has played in Bhera and was one of several young all-rounders whom the Pakistani cricket team turned to in order to revitalize their side after their poor display in 2003 World Cup where Pakistan was out from first round. His form with both bat and ball was inconsistent and in late 2003 he was dropped from the Test squad and subsequently from the ODI side. Following strong domestic performances, as well as some consistent showings for the Pakistan A side, he remained on the fringes of a recall in 2004.
Hafeez returned to the ODI side in 2005 and despite poor form with the bat, his bowling performances were impressive. In the 2006 series held in Australia, Hafeez smashed his first century for Pakistan. With Pakistan struggling to find a solid opening pair for the Test side, he was recalled for the tour of England. His return to Test cricket was made at The Oval where he scored a fluent 95. Subsequently, Hafeez retained his place in the Test squad for Pakistan's home series against the West Indies in November of that year. After getting out early despite good starts in the first two Tests, he went on to score his second Test century in the third Test in Karachi.
Recall in 2010
In 2010 he was recalled for the third ICC World Twenty20 squad. His form was poor scoring only 39 runs and taking only 2 wickets in 6 matches. However he was subsequently selected for the T20Is and the ODIs on Pakistan's 2010 tour of England. He was the second highest Pakistani run scorer in the ODI series producing some solid opening partnerships with Kamran Akmal. Following this good form he was included in the squad that was selected to play South Africa in the UAE and he replaced disgraced skipper Salman Butt as an opening batsman in both Tests, achieving a batting average 32.50. He played in all 5 ODI matches ending up as the top run scorer and he also topped the bowling averages for the series. At the end of 2010 he was also selected for the party that would tour New Zealand and the West Indies and this resulted in him establishing himself as a regular in the Test, ODI and T20 teams.
Rising through ranks
Against India on 18 March 2012 in Bangladesh at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur at the 2012 Asia Cup, he scored 105 off 113 balls and was involved in a 224 run partnership with Nasir Jamshed, which is the best opening partnership for Pakistan against India in one day internationals. They eclipsed Aamer Sohail and Saeed Anwar's record of 144 runs which was made in 1996. During this innings, Hafeez was forced to run a lot which towards the end was hampering him due to a leg injury. Subsequently, he earned the nickname, the Snake of Sargodha, for his zigzag running pattern between the wickets. He made his 4th ODI century in March 2012 against Bangladesh at Dhaka. He also made his highest test score of 196 against Sri Lanka in the second Test at Colombo in June 2012.
In December 2012, during the tour of Pakistani cricket team in India in 2012–13, he came across as a very different and aggressive batsman and scored so brilliantly and briskly and helped Pakistan to win the first T20I and 2nd ODI with his heroics of brilliant batting and nearly chasing a mountain high target of 191 in the second T20I. His scores were 61 and 55 in first and second T20I respectively and scored 76 runs in the 2nd ODI and sharing an opening stand of 141 with Nasir Jamshed and also bowled economically to help Pakistan win their first ODI series in India since 7 years. In this period, he was considered to be the main all-rounder of Pakistan Cricket team along with Shahid Afridi. He had a great series against Sri Lanka in Dec 2013, where he scored 122 in the first match, 140* in the third and 113* in the fourth match. Thus he became, the second batsman after Zaheer Abbas to score 3 centuries in an ODI series. Hafeez was initially selected in the Pakistan squad for the 2015 World Cup but was ruled out 6 days before the World Cup due to a calf injury. He was replaced by Nasir Jamshed.
For his performances in 2014, he was named in the World ODI XI by ICC.
He was also named in the T20I XI by Cricinfo for his performances in 2013.
On 20 December 2020, he hit his career best T20I score of 99* off 57 balls against New Zealand in their second T20I at Hamilton. On 31 July 2021, he bowled his most economic spell in the T20I against West Indies, giving away 6 runs off his 4 overs.
T20 captaincy record
Captaincy
He was appointed captain of the Pakistan T20 team in May 2012 and vice captain, under Misbah-ul-Haq, of the ODI and Test teams. During the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka in September 2012, Pakistan reached the semi-finals where they lost to the home side. After the tournament, there was some controversy with veteran all-rounder Abdul Razzaq who was critical of his non-selection for a number of matches. Hafeez also came into some conflict with the PCB over their view that he adopted a rather unilateral and non-consultative approach while making selection decisions. However, he was supported by the coach Dav Whatmore and both of them emphasised the poor fitness levels of many players. The PCB committee decided that they would subsequently closely monitor Hafeez's performance in this context during the coming tours to India and South Africa.
As a captain, he led Pakistan to victories over South Africa, West Indies and Zimbabwe. He equalled the records of most wins as a Pakistani captain in T20 and most number of away series wins as a Pakistani captain. Under his leadership, Pakistan managed to move up to the second position in the rankings.
He also became the first Pakistani captain to hit three fifties in a row and became Pakistan's leading run scorer in T20s. After Pakistan's exit from the T20 World Championship Hafeez apologized on behalf of his team and stepped down as captain. Imran Khan, Pakistan's former captain criticised this decision and advised Hafeez to stay as captain. His resignation was a rare incident in Pakistan cricket.
Post-captaincy (2016 - present)
In March 2016, Pakistan's exit from the 2016 ICC World Twenty20 after losing 3 matches caused great controversy in Pakistan, with blame shifting between Waqar Younis as well as many of the players on the team. Hafeez was accused, by Younis, of lying about his knee injury before the T20. He said it could have affected the teams poor performance. Despite bad performance during the T20I world cup 2016 Hafeez was picked for the England tour of 2016 Hafeez was out on 0 several times throughout the test series and during the ODI series in the first match he was out on 11 which then he was dropped for rest of the tour because of bad performance and not fit enough to play. After missing out of international cricket for months in which he missed the West Indies series in the UAE, Hafeez was then picked for the Australia tour 2017 to play the ODI series. As of the first ODI match Hafeez was out on 4. For the second ODI Azhar Ali was ruled out because of injury which promoted Hafeez to captain Pakistan, Hafeez did a very good job as Pakistan won the match and won for the first time in 12 years on Australian soil. Not only that Hafeez's captaincy was appreciated but he also made 72 runs which earned him player of the match. Hafeez was a regular member in Pakistan's triumph in the Champions Trophy 2017 in England
In April 2019, he was named in Pakistan's squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup. Though, he was named man of the match in Pakistan's second match of the tournament against England for his 62-ball 84 and important wicket of English captain Eoin Morgan, he remained inconsistent for the rest of the tournament with low-strike rate scores of 16, 9, 20, 32, 19 and 27. He didn't do wonders with the ball either with an expensive economy rate of almost 6 per over which was worse than any other Pakistani spinner in the tournament.
In June 2020, he was named in a 29-man squad for Pakistan's tour to England during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, on 23 June 2020, Hafeez was one of seven players from Pakistan's squad to test positive for COVID-19. Hafeez then tested negative the following day, after taking a private test to get a second opinion. On 30 August 2020, in the second T20I against England, Hafeez became the second batsman for Pakistan to score 2,000 runs in T20I cricket. On 10 April 2021, in the first match against South Africa, Hafeez played in his 100th T20I match.
In September 2021, he was named in Pakistan's squad for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.
T20 franchise career
IPL career
Mohammad Hafeez was signed by Kolkata Knight Riders, and played in the inaugural season of the IPL. He scored 64 runs in 8 matches and picked up 1 wicket in the tournament. He did not play in the 2nd edition of IPL due to the tense atmosphere after the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
PSL career
Hafeez was placed in the Diamond category in the inaugural edition of PSL and was picked ("bought") for US$70,000 by the Peshawar Zalmi side. He left Peshawar Zalmi in 2018 after playing for the franchise for 3 years. He was picked by Lahore Qalanders for the fourth edition of PSL and was also given the captaincy.
Bangladesh Premier League career
In December 2015, he was signed by Dhaka Dynamites for the remainder of the 2015 Bangladesh Premier League (BPL). In December 2018, Hafeez joined Rajshahi Kings for the sixth edition of Bangladesh Premier League.
Other leagues
Mohammad Hafeez played for Wayamba United in 2012 Sri Lanka Premier League.
In January 2014, he was signed by Melbourne Stars as a replacement Lasith Malinga for the reminder of the 2013–14 BBL.
On 3 June 2018, he was selected to play for the Montreal Tigers in the players' draft for the inaugural edition of the Global T20 Canada tournament. In September 2018, he was named in Nangarhar's squad for the first edition of the Afghanistan Premier League tournament.
He was signed by Edmonton Royals as marquee player in 2nd season of GT20 Canada in July 2019. He replaced Rassie Van Dussen in ST KITTS & NEVIS PATRIOTS team for CPL 2019. He then, signed for Middlesex for 5 matches in August 2019. He joined Middlesex County Cricket Club for the 2019 Vitality Blast, as a replacement for Mujeeb Ur Rahman.
In November 2021, he was selected to play for the Galle Gladiators following the players' draft for the 2021 Lanka Premier League.
In November 2021, he joined Delhi Bulls for the upcoming fifth season of the Abu Dhabi T10 league.
Bowling action
In June 2015, Hafeez was suspended for an illegal arm action. However, he was again selected for the ODI series against Sri Lanka. He proved the value of his comeback by taking 4 for 41 runs and scored a century, which earned him the man of the match award.
In November 2017, ICC suspended Hafeez again for illegal bowling action.
In December 2019, ECB banned Hafeez from bowling in the T20 Blast because of his action.
Records and achievements
International centuries
Hafeez has scored 21 centuries (100 or more runs) in Test matches, One Day International (ODI) matches, organized by the International Cricket Council. Hafeez has scored 10 centuries in Test matches and 11 centuries in ODIs.
Test centuries
Hafeez scored his maiden Test century in his second match on 27 August 2003 against Bangladesh. His highest Test score is 224 which was also scored against Bangladesh on 28 April 2015 at Khulna.
ODI centuries
In ODIs, his maiden century came against New Zealand on 29 January 2011 at Christchurch. He scored 115 runs in that match and guided Pakistan to the victory. Up to now, his highest ODI score is 140* which was scored against Sri Lanka on 22 December 2013 at Sharjah. Sri Lanka is being his favorite opponent in ODIs, against them he had scored 4 centuries.
References
External links
Mohammad Hafeez's profile page on Wisden
Mohammad Hafeez on Twitter
Mohammad Hafeez on Facebook
1980 births
Living people
People from Sargodha District
Punjabi people
Cricketers at the 2007 Cricket World Cup
Cricketers at the 2011 Cricket World Cup
Cricketers at the 2019 Cricket World Cup
Pakistani cricket captains
Pakistan Test cricket captains
Baluchistan Bears cricketers
Dhaka Dynamites cricketers
Faisalabad cricketers
Faisalabad Wolves cricketers
Federal Areas cricketers
Guyana Amazon Warriors cricketers
Khulna Royal Bengals cricketers
Kolkata Knight Riders cricketers
Lahore Lions cricketers
Lahore Qalandars cricketers
Melbourne Stars cricketers
Middlesex cricketers
Pakistan One Day International cricketers
Pakistan Test cricketers
Pakistan Twenty20 International cricketers
Pakistani cricketers
Peshawar Zalmi cricketers
Punjab (Pakistan) cricketers
Rajshahi Kings cricketers
Sargodha cricketers
St Kitts and Nevis Patriots cricketers
Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited cricketers
Wayamba United cricketers
Southern Punjab (Pakistan) cricketers
Galle Gladiators cricketers | true | [
"\"Be Someone Else\" is a song by Slimmy, released in 2010 as the lead single from his second studio album Be Someone Else. The single wasn't particularly successful, charting anywhere.\nA music video was also made for \"Be Someone Else\", produced by Riot Films. It premiered on 27 June 2010 on YouTube.\n\nBackground\n\"Be Someone Else\" was unveiled as the album's lead single. The song was written by Fernandes and produced by Quico Serrano and Mark J Turner. It was released to MySpace on 1 January 2010.\n\nMusic video\nA music video was also made for \"Be Someone Else\", produced by Riot Films. It premiered on 27 June 2010 on YouTube. The music video features two different scenes which alternate with each other many times during the video. The first scene features Slimmy performing the song with an electric guitar and the second scene features Slimmy performing with the band in the background.\n\nChart performance\nThe single wasn't particularly successful, charting anywhere.\n\nLive performances\n A Very Slimmy Tour\n Be Someone Else Tour\n\nTrack listing\n\nDigital single\n\"Be Someone Else\" (album version) - 3:22\n\nPersonnel\nTaken from the album's booklet.\n\nPaulo Fernandes – main vocals, guitar\nPaulo Garim – bass\nTó-Zé – drums\n\nRelease history\n\nCharts\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nOfficial music video at YouTube.\n\n2010 singles\nEnglish-language Portuguese songs\n2009 songs",
"Grouvellina radama is a species of ground beetle in the subfamily Rhysodinae. It was described by R.T. & J.R. Bell in 1979.\nIt is native to Madagascar and it is unknown whether it lives anywhere else.\n\nReferences\n\nGrouvellina\nBeetles described in 1979"
]
|
[
"Mohammad Hafeez",
"Bowling action",
"How good was mohammed in bowling",
"Hafeez has been banned from bowling in international cricket for 12 months following an independent assessment of his action,",
"Why was he banned",
"He was found to have an elbow extension up to 31 degrees, far above the permitted limit of 15 degrees.",
"Did he bowl anywhere else?",
"he was again selected for the ODI series against Sri Lanka."
]
| C_586d5b152b8d4d08bd05d5ecaff6e1f8_0 | How did he perform in the ODI series? | 4 | How did Mohammad Hafeez perform in the ODI series? | Mohammad Hafeez | Hafeez had been reported for a suspect action after the Abu Dhabi Test against New Zealand in November 2014, and in December his action was found to be illegal following tests at an ICC accredited centre in Loughborough, England. He was found to have an elbow extension up to 31 degrees, far above the permitted limit of 15 degrees. He underwent remedial work at a biomechanics lab in Chennai, but failed an unofficial test on his action on January 3. Later that month the PCB requested the ICC to retest Hafeez's action in February in Brisbane, so that he could bowl at the World Cup if cleared, but he was ruled out of the tournament with a calf injury. Hafeez was finally cleared to bowl again in international cricket on April 21, after more tests on his action in Chennai. Mohammad Hafeez has once again been reported for a suspect action, following the conclusion of the Galle Test on 21 June 2015., and he was dropped from third test. However, he was again selected for the ODI series against Sri Lanka. He proved the value of his comeback by taking 4 for 41 runs and scored a magnificent century earned him the man of the match award. Hafeez has been banned from bowling in international cricket for 12 months following an independent assessment of his action, which took place at the Sri Ramachandra University in Chennai on 6 July. The 34-year-old was assessed after the legality of his bowling action came under question by the match officials during Pakistan's first Test victory over Sri Lanka in Galle (17-21 June). Following the match, Hafeez was reported by the match officials pursuant to the ICC Regulations for the Review of Bowlers Reported with Suspected Illegal Bowling Actions (the "Regulations") and subsequently underwent the independent assessment in Chennai in accordance with the regulations. The assessment revealed that Hafeez's elbow extension exceeded 15 degrees while bowling and, thus, he employed an illegal bowling action. Hafeez was originally suspended from bowling in November 2014. Following remedial work on his bowling action, he was reassessed and permitted to resume bowling in April 2015. As this report has constituted the player's second report within a two-year period, the first of which led to a suspension, he is now automatically suspended from bowling in international cricket for a 12-month period. Hafeez is entitled to appeal any procedural aspect of an independent assessment that has led to this automatic suspension. However, only after the expiry of this one-year period will he be entitled to approach the ICC for a re-assessment of his bowling action. CANNOTANSWER | He proved the value of his comeback by taking 4 for 41 runs and scored a magnificent century earned him the man of the match award. | Mohammad Hafeez (Punjabi and ; born 17 October 1980) is a former Pakistani international cricketer. Hafeez was a versatile batsman who could bat anywhere in the top 6 and formed part of the bowling attack. He was an all-rounder and was known for his intelligent batting but also for aggressive shot plays when needed. He retired from Test Cricket after the third and final match against New Zealand in Abu Dhabi in December 2018, departing the ground for the final time in white clothing to a guard of honour from his teammates.
He was the fourth international player to play in the Caribbean Premier League and the first Pakistani player to be named to be chosen for Twenty20 tournament. He is nicknamed "The Professor". The major teams for which he played are Pakistan, Lahore, Lahore Lions, Guyana Amazon Warriors, Kolkata Knight Riders, Sargodha, Sui Gas Corporation of Pakistan. Hafeez scored his test career best of 224 runs against Bangladesh in 2015 at Khulna during the Dan Cake Series.
In August 2018, he was one of the thirty-three players to be awarded a central contract for the 2018–19 season by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). In December 2018, during Pakistan's series against New Zealand, Hafeez announced that he would retire from Test cricket following the conclusion of the tour, to focus on limited-overs cricket. Hafeez said that the time was right to retire from Test cricket and that he was honoured to represent Pakistan in 55 Test matches, including captaining the side.
After a lackluster personal ICC 2019 World Cup campaign albeit a match-winning 84 batting at number 4 against England in the round-robin stage in 2019, he found new life as a T20 specialist for Pakistan and various leagues across the world. This culminated in him being the leading run scorer in T20I cricket in the world in 2020.
On 3 January 2022, he announced his retirement from international cricket, ending a career of 18 years.
International career
Early years: 2003–2006
Hafeez has played in Bhera and was one of several young all-rounders whom the Pakistani cricket team turned to in order to revitalize their side after their poor display in 2003 World Cup where Pakistan was out from first round. His form with both bat and ball was inconsistent and in late 2003 he was dropped from the Test squad and subsequently from the ODI side. Following strong domestic performances, as well as some consistent showings for the Pakistan A side, he remained on the fringes of a recall in 2004.
Hafeez returned to the ODI side in 2005 and despite poor form with the bat, his bowling performances were impressive. In the 2006 series held in Australia, Hafeez smashed his first century for Pakistan. With Pakistan struggling to find a solid opening pair for the Test side, he was recalled for the tour of England. His return to Test cricket was made at The Oval where he scored a fluent 95. Subsequently, Hafeez retained his place in the Test squad for Pakistan's home series against the West Indies in November of that year. After getting out early despite good starts in the first two Tests, he went on to score his second Test century in the third Test in Karachi.
Recall in 2010
In 2010 he was recalled for the third ICC World Twenty20 squad. His form was poor scoring only 39 runs and taking only 2 wickets in 6 matches. However he was subsequently selected for the T20Is and the ODIs on Pakistan's 2010 tour of England. He was the second highest Pakistani run scorer in the ODI series producing some solid opening partnerships with Kamran Akmal. Following this good form he was included in the squad that was selected to play South Africa in the UAE and he replaced disgraced skipper Salman Butt as an opening batsman in both Tests, achieving a batting average 32.50. He played in all 5 ODI matches ending up as the top run scorer and he also topped the bowling averages for the series. At the end of 2010 he was also selected for the party that would tour New Zealand and the West Indies and this resulted in him establishing himself as a regular in the Test, ODI and T20 teams.
Rising through ranks
Against India on 18 March 2012 in Bangladesh at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur at the 2012 Asia Cup, he scored 105 off 113 balls and was involved in a 224 run partnership with Nasir Jamshed, which is the best opening partnership for Pakistan against India in one day internationals. They eclipsed Aamer Sohail and Saeed Anwar's record of 144 runs which was made in 1996. During this innings, Hafeez was forced to run a lot which towards the end was hampering him due to a leg injury. Subsequently, he earned the nickname, the Snake of Sargodha, for his zigzag running pattern between the wickets. He made his 4th ODI century in March 2012 against Bangladesh at Dhaka. He also made his highest test score of 196 against Sri Lanka in the second Test at Colombo in June 2012.
In December 2012, during the tour of Pakistani cricket team in India in 2012–13, he came across as a very different and aggressive batsman and scored so brilliantly and briskly and helped Pakistan to win the first T20I and 2nd ODI with his heroics of brilliant batting and nearly chasing a mountain high target of 191 in the second T20I. His scores were 61 and 55 in first and second T20I respectively and scored 76 runs in the 2nd ODI and sharing an opening stand of 141 with Nasir Jamshed and also bowled economically to help Pakistan win their first ODI series in India since 7 years. In this period, he was considered to be the main all-rounder of Pakistan Cricket team along with Shahid Afridi. He had a great series against Sri Lanka in Dec 2013, where he scored 122 in the first match, 140* in the third and 113* in the fourth match. Thus he became, the second batsman after Zaheer Abbas to score 3 centuries in an ODI series. Hafeez was initially selected in the Pakistan squad for the 2015 World Cup but was ruled out 6 days before the World Cup due to a calf injury. He was replaced by Nasir Jamshed.
For his performances in 2014, he was named in the World ODI XI by ICC.
He was also named in the T20I XI by Cricinfo for his performances in 2013.
On 20 December 2020, he hit his career best T20I score of 99* off 57 balls against New Zealand in their second T20I at Hamilton. On 31 July 2021, he bowled his most economic spell in the T20I against West Indies, giving away 6 runs off his 4 overs.
T20 captaincy record
Captaincy
He was appointed captain of the Pakistan T20 team in May 2012 and vice captain, under Misbah-ul-Haq, of the ODI and Test teams. During the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka in September 2012, Pakistan reached the semi-finals where they lost to the home side. After the tournament, there was some controversy with veteran all-rounder Abdul Razzaq who was critical of his non-selection for a number of matches. Hafeez also came into some conflict with the PCB over their view that he adopted a rather unilateral and non-consultative approach while making selection decisions. However, he was supported by the coach Dav Whatmore and both of them emphasised the poor fitness levels of many players. The PCB committee decided that they would subsequently closely monitor Hafeez's performance in this context during the coming tours to India and South Africa.
As a captain, he led Pakistan to victories over South Africa, West Indies and Zimbabwe. He equalled the records of most wins as a Pakistani captain in T20 and most number of away series wins as a Pakistani captain. Under his leadership, Pakistan managed to move up to the second position in the rankings.
He also became the first Pakistani captain to hit three fifties in a row and became Pakistan's leading run scorer in T20s. After Pakistan's exit from the T20 World Championship Hafeez apologized on behalf of his team and stepped down as captain. Imran Khan, Pakistan's former captain criticised this decision and advised Hafeez to stay as captain. His resignation was a rare incident in Pakistan cricket.
Post-captaincy (2016 - present)
In March 2016, Pakistan's exit from the 2016 ICC World Twenty20 after losing 3 matches caused great controversy in Pakistan, with blame shifting between Waqar Younis as well as many of the players on the team. Hafeez was accused, by Younis, of lying about his knee injury before the T20. He said it could have affected the teams poor performance. Despite bad performance during the T20I world cup 2016 Hafeez was picked for the England tour of 2016 Hafeez was out on 0 several times throughout the test series and during the ODI series in the first match he was out on 11 which then he was dropped for rest of the tour because of bad performance and not fit enough to play. After missing out of international cricket for months in which he missed the West Indies series in the UAE, Hafeez was then picked for the Australia tour 2017 to play the ODI series. As of the first ODI match Hafeez was out on 4. For the second ODI Azhar Ali was ruled out because of injury which promoted Hafeez to captain Pakistan, Hafeez did a very good job as Pakistan won the match and won for the first time in 12 years on Australian soil. Not only that Hafeez's captaincy was appreciated but he also made 72 runs which earned him player of the match. Hafeez was a regular member in Pakistan's triumph in the Champions Trophy 2017 in England
In April 2019, he was named in Pakistan's squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup. Though, he was named man of the match in Pakistan's second match of the tournament against England for his 62-ball 84 and important wicket of English captain Eoin Morgan, he remained inconsistent for the rest of the tournament with low-strike rate scores of 16, 9, 20, 32, 19 and 27. He didn't do wonders with the ball either with an expensive economy rate of almost 6 per over which was worse than any other Pakistani spinner in the tournament.
In June 2020, he was named in a 29-man squad for Pakistan's tour to England during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, on 23 June 2020, Hafeez was one of seven players from Pakistan's squad to test positive for COVID-19. Hafeez then tested negative the following day, after taking a private test to get a second opinion. On 30 August 2020, in the second T20I against England, Hafeez became the second batsman for Pakistan to score 2,000 runs in T20I cricket. On 10 April 2021, in the first match against South Africa, Hafeez played in his 100th T20I match.
In September 2021, he was named in Pakistan's squad for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.
T20 franchise career
IPL career
Mohammad Hafeez was signed by Kolkata Knight Riders, and played in the inaugural season of the IPL. He scored 64 runs in 8 matches and picked up 1 wicket in the tournament. He did not play in the 2nd edition of IPL due to the tense atmosphere after the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
PSL career
Hafeez was placed in the Diamond category in the inaugural edition of PSL and was picked ("bought") for US$70,000 by the Peshawar Zalmi side. He left Peshawar Zalmi in 2018 after playing for the franchise for 3 years. He was picked by Lahore Qalanders for the fourth edition of PSL and was also given the captaincy.
Bangladesh Premier League career
In December 2015, he was signed by Dhaka Dynamites for the remainder of the 2015 Bangladesh Premier League (BPL). In December 2018, Hafeez joined Rajshahi Kings for the sixth edition of Bangladesh Premier League.
Other leagues
Mohammad Hafeez played for Wayamba United in 2012 Sri Lanka Premier League.
In January 2014, he was signed by Melbourne Stars as a replacement Lasith Malinga for the reminder of the 2013–14 BBL.
On 3 June 2018, he was selected to play for the Montreal Tigers in the players' draft for the inaugural edition of the Global T20 Canada tournament. In September 2018, he was named in Nangarhar's squad for the first edition of the Afghanistan Premier League tournament.
He was signed by Edmonton Royals as marquee player in 2nd season of GT20 Canada in July 2019. He replaced Rassie Van Dussen in ST KITTS & NEVIS PATRIOTS team for CPL 2019. He then, signed for Middlesex for 5 matches in August 2019. He joined Middlesex County Cricket Club for the 2019 Vitality Blast, as a replacement for Mujeeb Ur Rahman.
In November 2021, he was selected to play for the Galle Gladiators following the players' draft for the 2021 Lanka Premier League.
In November 2021, he joined Delhi Bulls for the upcoming fifth season of the Abu Dhabi T10 league.
Bowling action
In June 2015, Hafeez was suspended for an illegal arm action. However, he was again selected for the ODI series against Sri Lanka. He proved the value of his comeback by taking 4 for 41 runs and scored a century, which earned him the man of the match award.
In November 2017, ICC suspended Hafeez again for illegal bowling action.
In December 2019, ECB banned Hafeez from bowling in the T20 Blast because of his action.
Records and achievements
International centuries
Hafeez has scored 21 centuries (100 or more runs) in Test matches, One Day International (ODI) matches, organized by the International Cricket Council. Hafeez has scored 10 centuries in Test matches and 11 centuries in ODIs.
Test centuries
Hafeez scored his maiden Test century in his second match on 27 August 2003 against Bangladesh. His highest Test score is 224 which was also scored against Bangladesh on 28 April 2015 at Khulna.
ODI centuries
In ODIs, his maiden century came against New Zealand on 29 January 2011 at Christchurch. He scored 115 runs in that match and guided Pakistan to the victory. Up to now, his highest ODI score is 140* which was scored against Sri Lanka on 22 December 2013 at Sharjah. Sri Lanka is being his favorite opponent in ODIs, against them he had scored 4 centuries.
References
External links
Mohammad Hafeez's profile page on Wisden
Mohammad Hafeez on Twitter
Mohammad Hafeez on Facebook
1980 births
Living people
People from Sargodha District
Punjabi people
Cricketers at the 2007 Cricket World Cup
Cricketers at the 2011 Cricket World Cup
Cricketers at the 2019 Cricket World Cup
Pakistani cricket captains
Pakistan Test cricket captains
Baluchistan Bears cricketers
Dhaka Dynamites cricketers
Faisalabad cricketers
Faisalabad Wolves cricketers
Federal Areas cricketers
Guyana Amazon Warriors cricketers
Khulna Royal Bengals cricketers
Kolkata Knight Riders cricketers
Lahore Lions cricketers
Lahore Qalandars cricketers
Melbourne Stars cricketers
Middlesex cricketers
Pakistan One Day International cricketers
Pakistan Test cricketers
Pakistan Twenty20 International cricketers
Pakistani cricketers
Peshawar Zalmi cricketers
Punjab (Pakistan) cricketers
Rajshahi Kings cricketers
Sargodha cricketers
St Kitts and Nevis Patriots cricketers
Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited cricketers
Wayamba United cricketers
Southern Punjab (Pakistan) cricketers
Galle Gladiators cricketers | false | [
"The Sri Lankan national cricket team toured New Zealand from 26 December 2014 to 29 January 2015 for a tour consisting of two Test matches and seven One Day Internationals. New Zealand won the Test series 2–0 and the ODI series 4–2.\n\nFollowing the tour the Sri Lankan team stayed in the region to participate in the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup. The Test match played at Hagley Oval, Christchurch was the first major event to take place in the city since the 2011 Christchurch earthquake.\n\nAfter the fourth ODI, Sri Lanka skipper Angelo Mathews was injured and captaincy shifted to vice captain Lahiru Thirimanne for other three ODIs. New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum also did not play the last ODI, where Kane Williamson was the skipper.\n\nSquads\n\nTour match\n\nNew Zealand XI v Sri Lankans\n\nTest series\n\n1st Test\n\n2nd Test\n\nODI series\n\n1st ODI\n\n2nd ODI\n\n3rd ODI\n\n4th ODI\n\n5th ODI\n\n6th ODI\n\n7th ODI\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Series Page on Wisden\n Series home at ESPN Cricinfo\n\n2015 in New Zealand cricket\nSri Lankan cricket tours of New Zealand\nInternational cricket competitions in 2014–15\n2014–15 New Zealand cricket season",
"Magina Thilan Thushara Mirando; (born 1 March 1981), or Thilan Thushara, is a former Sri Lankan cricketer, who played all formats of the game. He is a left-handed batsman and a left-arm medium-fast bowler. Though he did not represent the country in international level after 2010, Thushara is an active member in Sri Lanka domestic competitions for Moors Sports Club.\n\nDomestic career \nThushara made his first-class debut in 1998–99. After a spell in Sri Lanka's premier fast-bowling academy, he impressed the selectors, and was included in the Test squad for the tour against South Africa. He made his Twenty20 debut on 17 August 2004, for Nondescripts Cricket Club in the 2004 SLC Twenty20 Tournament.\n\nHe had a grand playing style in 2006/2007 First Class series in Kandurata Maroons which was held in Sri Lanka between its provinces.\n\nHe also be played few games for the Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League after being bought for $140000 at the IPL Auction on 6 February 2009.\n\nHe also played for 2016 Super Twenty20 Provincial Tournament for Hambantota Troopers.\n\nInternational career\nHe did not play in that series but then made his Test debut in 2003 in the touring party to West Indies. But he did not succeed much in that series as he did not score much and did not pick up any wicket and was dumped by the wayside.\n\nHe was finally chosen to play against West Indies on their 2008 tour. This time, he snapped up five wickets on his return to international cricket, and then managed three in the next match, to end the series with eight. He also took a wicket with his very first ball in his ODI career becoming the 18th bowler to achieve that mark and was also the third Sri Lankan bowler to achieve this feat.\n\nOn the same tour, he finally managed to make his ODI debut as well, in an inconsequential third ODI, and was pretty impressive in his near six over spell, with analysis of 5.2–1–12–1, before it rained and the match was abandoned.\n\nHis best ODI performance came against India in Sri Lanka during an ODI series. He took 10 wickets with the bowl including career best 5/47 at RPSC and scored 168 runs at 56 including his career best score of 54* at the same venue during the series.\n\nHe and Nuwan Kulasekara have been able to fill the void created by retirement of Chaminda Vaas and injured Lasith Malinga during 2008–2010 period.\n\nFor his performances in 2009, he was named as 12th man in the World ODI XI by the ICC.\n\nThushara was selected to play tri nation ODI series in Zimbabwe in 2010 and he got his 50th ODI wicket during his last ODI match. His 50th ODI wicket was Hamilton Masakadza.\n\nSee also\n List of bowlers who have taken a wicket with their first ball in a format of international cricket\n\nReferences \nCitations\n\nGeneral references\n\nCricinfo – Players and Officials – Thilan Thushara, http://content-www.cricinfo.com/srilanka/content/player/49677.html\n\n1981 births\nLiving people\nSri Lanka Test cricketers\nSri Lankan cricketers\nSri Lanka One Day International cricketers\nSri Lanka Twenty20 International cricketers\nNondescripts Cricket Club cricketers\nChennai Super Kings cricketers\nWayamba cricketers\nBasnahira cricketers\nKandurata cricketers\nHambantota Troopers cricketers"
]
|
[
"Mohammad Hafeez",
"Bowling action",
"How good was mohammed in bowling",
"Hafeez has been banned from bowling in international cricket for 12 months following an independent assessment of his action,",
"Why was he banned",
"He was found to have an elbow extension up to 31 degrees, far above the permitted limit of 15 degrees.",
"Did he bowl anywhere else?",
"he was again selected for the ODI series against Sri Lanka.",
"How did he perform in the ODI series?",
"He proved the value of his comeback by taking 4 for 41 runs and scored a magnificent century earned him the man of the match award."
]
| C_586d5b152b8d4d08bd05d5ecaff6e1f8_0 | Did he earn any other awards | 5 | Did Mohammad Hafeez earn any other awards other than the man of the match award | Mohammad Hafeez | Hafeez had been reported for a suspect action after the Abu Dhabi Test against New Zealand in November 2014, and in December his action was found to be illegal following tests at an ICC accredited centre in Loughborough, England. He was found to have an elbow extension up to 31 degrees, far above the permitted limit of 15 degrees. He underwent remedial work at a biomechanics lab in Chennai, but failed an unofficial test on his action on January 3. Later that month the PCB requested the ICC to retest Hafeez's action in February in Brisbane, so that he could bowl at the World Cup if cleared, but he was ruled out of the tournament with a calf injury. Hafeez was finally cleared to bowl again in international cricket on April 21, after more tests on his action in Chennai. Mohammad Hafeez has once again been reported for a suspect action, following the conclusion of the Galle Test on 21 June 2015., and he was dropped from third test. However, he was again selected for the ODI series against Sri Lanka. He proved the value of his comeback by taking 4 for 41 runs and scored a magnificent century earned him the man of the match award. Hafeez has been banned from bowling in international cricket for 12 months following an independent assessment of his action, which took place at the Sri Ramachandra University in Chennai on 6 July. The 34-year-old was assessed after the legality of his bowling action came under question by the match officials during Pakistan's first Test victory over Sri Lanka in Galle (17-21 June). Following the match, Hafeez was reported by the match officials pursuant to the ICC Regulations for the Review of Bowlers Reported with Suspected Illegal Bowling Actions (the "Regulations") and subsequently underwent the independent assessment in Chennai in accordance with the regulations. The assessment revealed that Hafeez's elbow extension exceeded 15 degrees while bowling and, thus, he employed an illegal bowling action. Hafeez was originally suspended from bowling in November 2014. Following remedial work on his bowling action, he was reassessed and permitted to resume bowling in April 2015. As this report has constituted the player's second report within a two-year period, the first of which led to a suspension, he is now automatically suspended from bowling in international cricket for a 12-month period. Hafeez is entitled to appeal any procedural aspect of an independent assessment that has led to this automatic suspension. However, only after the expiry of this one-year period will he be entitled to approach the ICC for a re-assessment of his bowling action. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Mohammad Hafeez (Punjabi and ; born 17 October 1980) is a former Pakistani international cricketer. Hafeez was a versatile batsman who could bat anywhere in the top 6 and formed part of the bowling attack. He was an all-rounder and was known for his intelligent batting but also for aggressive shot plays when needed. He retired from Test Cricket after the third and final match against New Zealand in Abu Dhabi in December 2018, departing the ground for the final time in white clothing to a guard of honour from his teammates.
He was the fourth international player to play in the Caribbean Premier League and the first Pakistani player to be named to be chosen for Twenty20 tournament. He is nicknamed "The Professor". The major teams for which he played are Pakistan, Lahore, Lahore Lions, Guyana Amazon Warriors, Kolkata Knight Riders, Sargodha, Sui Gas Corporation of Pakistan. Hafeez scored his test career best of 224 runs against Bangladesh in 2015 at Khulna during the Dan Cake Series.
In August 2018, he was one of the thirty-three players to be awarded a central contract for the 2018–19 season by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). In December 2018, during Pakistan's series against New Zealand, Hafeez announced that he would retire from Test cricket following the conclusion of the tour, to focus on limited-overs cricket. Hafeez said that the time was right to retire from Test cricket and that he was honoured to represent Pakistan in 55 Test matches, including captaining the side.
After a lackluster personal ICC 2019 World Cup campaign albeit a match-winning 84 batting at number 4 against England in the round-robin stage in 2019, he found new life as a T20 specialist for Pakistan and various leagues across the world. This culminated in him being the leading run scorer in T20I cricket in the world in 2020.
On 3 January 2022, he announced his retirement from international cricket, ending a career of 18 years.
International career
Early years: 2003–2006
Hafeez has played in Bhera and was one of several young all-rounders whom the Pakistani cricket team turned to in order to revitalize their side after their poor display in 2003 World Cup where Pakistan was out from first round. His form with both bat and ball was inconsistent and in late 2003 he was dropped from the Test squad and subsequently from the ODI side. Following strong domestic performances, as well as some consistent showings for the Pakistan A side, he remained on the fringes of a recall in 2004.
Hafeez returned to the ODI side in 2005 and despite poor form with the bat, his bowling performances were impressive. In the 2006 series held in Australia, Hafeez smashed his first century for Pakistan. With Pakistan struggling to find a solid opening pair for the Test side, he was recalled for the tour of England. His return to Test cricket was made at The Oval where he scored a fluent 95. Subsequently, Hafeez retained his place in the Test squad for Pakistan's home series against the West Indies in November of that year. After getting out early despite good starts in the first two Tests, he went on to score his second Test century in the third Test in Karachi.
Recall in 2010
In 2010 he was recalled for the third ICC World Twenty20 squad. His form was poor scoring only 39 runs and taking only 2 wickets in 6 matches. However he was subsequently selected for the T20Is and the ODIs on Pakistan's 2010 tour of England. He was the second highest Pakistani run scorer in the ODI series producing some solid opening partnerships with Kamran Akmal. Following this good form he was included in the squad that was selected to play South Africa in the UAE and he replaced disgraced skipper Salman Butt as an opening batsman in both Tests, achieving a batting average 32.50. He played in all 5 ODI matches ending up as the top run scorer and he also topped the bowling averages for the series. At the end of 2010 he was also selected for the party that would tour New Zealand and the West Indies and this resulted in him establishing himself as a regular in the Test, ODI and T20 teams.
Rising through ranks
Against India on 18 March 2012 in Bangladesh at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur at the 2012 Asia Cup, he scored 105 off 113 balls and was involved in a 224 run partnership with Nasir Jamshed, which is the best opening partnership for Pakistan against India in one day internationals. They eclipsed Aamer Sohail and Saeed Anwar's record of 144 runs which was made in 1996. During this innings, Hafeez was forced to run a lot which towards the end was hampering him due to a leg injury. Subsequently, he earned the nickname, the Snake of Sargodha, for his zigzag running pattern between the wickets. He made his 4th ODI century in March 2012 against Bangladesh at Dhaka. He also made his highest test score of 196 against Sri Lanka in the second Test at Colombo in June 2012.
In December 2012, during the tour of Pakistani cricket team in India in 2012–13, he came across as a very different and aggressive batsman and scored so brilliantly and briskly and helped Pakistan to win the first T20I and 2nd ODI with his heroics of brilliant batting and nearly chasing a mountain high target of 191 in the second T20I. His scores were 61 and 55 in first and second T20I respectively and scored 76 runs in the 2nd ODI and sharing an opening stand of 141 with Nasir Jamshed and also bowled economically to help Pakistan win their first ODI series in India since 7 years. In this period, he was considered to be the main all-rounder of Pakistan Cricket team along with Shahid Afridi. He had a great series against Sri Lanka in Dec 2013, where he scored 122 in the first match, 140* in the third and 113* in the fourth match. Thus he became, the second batsman after Zaheer Abbas to score 3 centuries in an ODI series. Hafeez was initially selected in the Pakistan squad for the 2015 World Cup but was ruled out 6 days before the World Cup due to a calf injury. He was replaced by Nasir Jamshed.
For his performances in 2014, he was named in the World ODI XI by ICC.
He was also named in the T20I XI by Cricinfo for his performances in 2013.
On 20 December 2020, he hit his career best T20I score of 99* off 57 balls against New Zealand in their second T20I at Hamilton. On 31 July 2021, he bowled his most economic spell in the T20I against West Indies, giving away 6 runs off his 4 overs.
T20 captaincy record
Captaincy
He was appointed captain of the Pakistan T20 team in May 2012 and vice captain, under Misbah-ul-Haq, of the ODI and Test teams. During the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka in September 2012, Pakistan reached the semi-finals where they lost to the home side. After the tournament, there was some controversy with veteran all-rounder Abdul Razzaq who was critical of his non-selection for a number of matches. Hafeez also came into some conflict with the PCB over their view that he adopted a rather unilateral and non-consultative approach while making selection decisions. However, he was supported by the coach Dav Whatmore and both of them emphasised the poor fitness levels of many players. The PCB committee decided that they would subsequently closely monitor Hafeez's performance in this context during the coming tours to India and South Africa.
As a captain, he led Pakistan to victories over South Africa, West Indies and Zimbabwe. He equalled the records of most wins as a Pakistani captain in T20 and most number of away series wins as a Pakistani captain. Under his leadership, Pakistan managed to move up to the second position in the rankings.
He also became the first Pakistani captain to hit three fifties in a row and became Pakistan's leading run scorer in T20s. After Pakistan's exit from the T20 World Championship Hafeez apologized on behalf of his team and stepped down as captain. Imran Khan, Pakistan's former captain criticised this decision and advised Hafeez to stay as captain. His resignation was a rare incident in Pakistan cricket.
Post-captaincy (2016 - present)
In March 2016, Pakistan's exit from the 2016 ICC World Twenty20 after losing 3 matches caused great controversy in Pakistan, with blame shifting between Waqar Younis as well as many of the players on the team. Hafeez was accused, by Younis, of lying about his knee injury before the T20. He said it could have affected the teams poor performance. Despite bad performance during the T20I world cup 2016 Hafeez was picked for the England tour of 2016 Hafeez was out on 0 several times throughout the test series and during the ODI series in the first match he was out on 11 which then he was dropped for rest of the tour because of bad performance and not fit enough to play. After missing out of international cricket for months in which he missed the West Indies series in the UAE, Hafeez was then picked for the Australia tour 2017 to play the ODI series. As of the first ODI match Hafeez was out on 4. For the second ODI Azhar Ali was ruled out because of injury which promoted Hafeez to captain Pakistan, Hafeez did a very good job as Pakistan won the match and won for the first time in 12 years on Australian soil. Not only that Hafeez's captaincy was appreciated but he also made 72 runs which earned him player of the match. Hafeez was a regular member in Pakistan's triumph in the Champions Trophy 2017 in England
In April 2019, he was named in Pakistan's squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup. Though, he was named man of the match in Pakistan's second match of the tournament against England for his 62-ball 84 and important wicket of English captain Eoin Morgan, he remained inconsistent for the rest of the tournament with low-strike rate scores of 16, 9, 20, 32, 19 and 27. He didn't do wonders with the ball either with an expensive economy rate of almost 6 per over which was worse than any other Pakistani spinner in the tournament.
In June 2020, he was named in a 29-man squad for Pakistan's tour to England during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, on 23 June 2020, Hafeez was one of seven players from Pakistan's squad to test positive for COVID-19. Hafeez then tested negative the following day, after taking a private test to get a second opinion. On 30 August 2020, in the second T20I against England, Hafeez became the second batsman for Pakistan to score 2,000 runs in T20I cricket. On 10 April 2021, in the first match against South Africa, Hafeez played in his 100th T20I match.
In September 2021, he was named in Pakistan's squad for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.
T20 franchise career
IPL career
Mohammad Hafeez was signed by Kolkata Knight Riders, and played in the inaugural season of the IPL. He scored 64 runs in 8 matches and picked up 1 wicket in the tournament. He did not play in the 2nd edition of IPL due to the tense atmosphere after the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
PSL career
Hafeez was placed in the Diamond category in the inaugural edition of PSL and was picked ("bought") for US$70,000 by the Peshawar Zalmi side. He left Peshawar Zalmi in 2018 after playing for the franchise for 3 years. He was picked by Lahore Qalanders for the fourth edition of PSL and was also given the captaincy.
Bangladesh Premier League career
In December 2015, he was signed by Dhaka Dynamites for the remainder of the 2015 Bangladesh Premier League (BPL). In December 2018, Hafeez joined Rajshahi Kings for the sixth edition of Bangladesh Premier League.
Other leagues
Mohammad Hafeez played for Wayamba United in 2012 Sri Lanka Premier League.
In January 2014, he was signed by Melbourne Stars as a replacement Lasith Malinga for the reminder of the 2013–14 BBL.
On 3 June 2018, he was selected to play for the Montreal Tigers in the players' draft for the inaugural edition of the Global T20 Canada tournament. In September 2018, he was named in Nangarhar's squad for the first edition of the Afghanistan Premier League tournament.
He was signed by Edmonton Royals as marquee player in 2nd season of GT20 Canada in July 2019. He replaced Rassie Van Dussen in ST KITTS & NEVIS PATRIOTS team for CPL 2019. He then, signed for Middlesex for 5 matches in August 2019. He joined Middlesex County Cricket Club for the 2019 Vitality Blast, as a replacement for Mujeeb Ur Rahman.
In November 2021, he was selected to play for the Galle Gladiators following the players' draft for the 2021 Lanka Premier League.
In November 2021, he joined Delhi Bulls for the upcoming fifth season of the Abu Dhabi T10 league.
Bowling action
In June 2015, Hafeez was suspended for an illegal arm action. However, he was again selected for the ODI series against Sri Lanka. He proved the value of his comeback by taking 4 for 41 runs and scored a century, which earned him the man of the match award.
In November 2017, ICC suspended Hafeez again for illegal bowling action.
In December 2019, ECB banned Hafeez from bowling in the T20 Blast because of his action.
Records and achievements
International centuries
Hafeez has scored 21 centuries (100 or more runs) in Test matches, One Day International (ODI) matches, organized by the International Cricket Council. Hafeez has scored 10 centuries in Test matches and 11 centuries in ODIs.
Test centuries
Hafeez scored his maiden Test century in his second match on 27 August 2003 against Bangladesh. His highest Test score is 224 which was also scored against Bangladesh on 28 April 2015 at Khulna.
ODI centuries
In ODIs, his maiden century came against New Zealand on 29 January 2011 at Christchurch. He scored 115 runs in that match and guided Pakistan to the victory. Up to now, his highest ODI score is 140* which was scored against Sri Lanka on 22 December 2013 at Sharjah. Sri Lanka is being his favorite opponent in ODIs, against them he had scored 4 centuries.
References
External links
Mohammad Hafeez's profile page on Wisden
Mohammad Hafeez on Twitter
Mohammad Hafeez on Facebook
1980 births
Living people
People from Sargodha District
Punjabi people
Cricketers at the 2007 Cricket World Cup
Cricketers at the 2011 Cricket World Cup
Cricketers at the 2019 Cricket World Cup
Pakistani cricket captains
Pakistan Test cricket captains
Baluchistan Bears cricketers
Dhaka Dynamites cricketers
Faisalabad cricketers
Faisalabad Wolves cricketers
Federal Areas cricketers
Guyana Amazon Warriors cricketers
Khulna Royal Bengals cricketers
Kolkata Knight Riders cricketers
Lahore Lions cricketers
Lahore Qalandars cricketers
Melbourne Stars cricketers
Middlesex cricketers
Pakistan One Day International cricketers
Pakistan Test cricketers
Pakistan Twenty20 International cricketers
Pakistani cricketers
Peshawar Zalmi cricketers
Punjab (Pakistan) cricketers
Rajshahi Kings cricketers
Sargodha cricketers
St Kitts and Nevis Patriots cricketers
Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited cricketers
Wayamba United cricketers
Southern Punjab (Pakistan) cricketers
Galle Gladiators cricketers | false | [
"Michael Plooy (born 16 June 1984) is a professional Dutch darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation events.\n\nHe tried to earn a PDC Tour Card in 2017, but didn't earn enough points to qualify. He did qualify for three PDC European Tour events, although he didn't win a game in any of them.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nProfile and stats on Darts Database\n\n1984 births\nLiving people\nDutch darts players",
"Velocity is the frequent-flyer program of Virgin Australia Holdings.\n\nHistory\nVelocity was launched by Virgin Blue (later renamed Virgin Australia) in 2005 as Velocity Rewards, with partner National Australia Bank offering a companion credit card. Initially, Velocity differed from most other frequent flyer programs with points earned being based on the cost of a flight, rather than distance. Velocity members originally earned 6 points per dollar spent on Virgin Blue flights.\n\nBy 2007, points earned in loyalty programs operated by Westpac, American Express and Diners Club could be transferred to Velocity Rewards, as well as from the ANZ loyalty program from September 2008.\n\nAs part of Virgin's effort to attract business travelers, status levels were introduced to the program in late 2007. Alongside the entry-level \"Red\" status, members could attain \"Silver\" and \"Gold\" status, each with its own set of benefits. With the introduction of status levels, the earning rate was changed: Red members earned 5 points per dollar, Silver members remained at 6 points, and Gold members earned 7.\n\nVelocity was the first frequent flyer program in Australia to offer \"any seat, any time\" reward flight availability. The number of points required to redeem an award seat directly corresponds to the current fare of that seat, allowing any seat currently available to be redeemed. Qantas introduced a similar feature to their frequent flyer program in May 2008.\n\nBy February 2008, Velocity Rewards had 1.3 million members and Virgin Blue stated it was considering selling it or entering into a joint venture once its operation was profitable, and considered a membership of 1.6 to 1.7 million members would put the operation in a break-even position. The program reached 4 million members by the end of 2014.\n\nIn August 2011, the program was renamed \"Velocity\" and a \"Platinum\" status level was introduced, among other changes. The changes included changes to the bonus system: Red status members now earn 5 points per dollar spent, and Silver members earn a bonus of 50%, Gold members earn a bonus of 75% and Platinum members earn a bonus of 100%.\n\nIn July 2013, Velocity introduced the Global Wallet, the first travel money card in Australia, which can be used as a Visa prepaid card.\n\nOther ways of earning points\n\nVelocity credit cards\nVelocity co-branded (direct-earn) credit cards earn points on purchases and these points are automatically allocated to the holder's Velocity account each month. Co-branded cards are offered by American Express, Virgin Money and Westpac.\n\nMost banks and credit companies have cards which earn points into their rewards program, which can then be transferred to another program such as Velocity.\n\nGlobal Wallet card\nThe Velocity Global Wallet prepaid Visa product is owned by Cuscal and managed by Rev Australia Pty Ltd. The card is meant to be used as a travel wallet card, where holders are able to earn points on purchases and avoid overseas transaction fees. The Global Wallet card allows the holder to load money onto the card in Australian dollars (AUD), up to a total value of A$25,000. Multiple currencies are able to be stored on the card, with 10 supported currencies, such as Japanese Yen (JPY) and New Zealand Dollars (NZD).\n\nThe card can be used as a Visa prepaid card, with the money able to be accessed around the world anywhere where Visa is accepted and at ATMs. However, fees apply, most significantly for use of the card to make purchases in other than Australian dollars, and for withdrawal of cash at ATMs. Also, the exchange rate for the foreign currencies are locked in at the time the currencies are bought, and not at the time of a transaction, as would be the case with a credit card transaction; and the funds held on the account do not earn interest.\nThe cards were discontinued in 2021\n\nRecognition\nThe Velocity Frequent Flyer program, then called Velocity Rewards, won the 2009 Freddie Awards for best frequent flyer program, best award redemption, best affinity credit card, best member communications, best website. This was the fourth consecutive Freddie Awards that Velocity has won.\n\nThe Velocity Frequent Flyer program won the \"program of the year\" award third year in a row at the 2015 Freddie Awards.\n\nSee also\n\nList of frequent flyer programs\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nVelocity Frequent Flyer Guide\n\nVirgin Group\nFrequent flyer programs\nCustomer loyalty programs in Australia"
]
|
[
"Day26",
"2013-present: Reunion and The Return Tour"
]
| C_190fef0586f3462b99cc9d0559e4242e_0 | when did day26 reunited? | 1 | when did the band day26 reunite? | Day26 | On Thursday November 21, 2013, fans received word through Twitter from several group members that the group would reunite and be planning a tour for the next year. Several videos have hit the web showing the group recording material for an upcoming new album. The group planned to release the album before the tour kicked off and in doing so, signed with BMG Rights Management. On May 26, 2014, Day26 releases their first single called "Bullshit" off their upcoming EP entitled "The Return", that was set to release on June 26, 2014. In Spring 2017, all members of Day26 announced over social media they would hold a "10 Year Anniversary Experience" concert that would take place at the Highline Ballroom in New York City on August 26, to commemorate the day they were formed in 2007. Due to the venue being sold out and overwhelming fans demanding more tickets, the band decided add an encore concert for August 27. Joining the concerts' roster of performances is the bands' fellow reality show Making The Band 4/label mate Donnie Klang, who will also celebrate his 10-year solo reunion of the day he was chosen by P. Diddy, which kick-started their careers. In a recent interview with radio personality Sway on his radio show, Sways Universe, Willie announced that the group was recording their third studio album, while also discussing what fame has done for the group in their 10-year run as well as opening up about the controversy with Diddy not allowing the band to appear in the Bad Boy Family Reunion Tour. CANNOTANSWER | November 21, 2013, fans received word through Twitter from several group members that the group would reunite | Day26 is an American male R&B music group formed in August 2007 by Sean "Diddy" Combs in a handpicked selection at the end of MTV's Making the Band 4. The group consists of Robert Curry, Brian Angel, Willie Taylor, Qwanell Mosley and Michael McCluney. The moniker is a tribute to the day when Angel, McCluney, Mosely, Curry, and Taylor went from unknowns to stars. The group released their first album, Day26, on March 25, 2008, one week after their then labelmates and Making the Band 3 winners Danity Kane released Welcome to the Dollhouse. The album's first single, "Got Me Going", was released on the finale of Making the Band 4. The album went on to debut at number one on the billboard charts. Subsequent seasons of Making the Band 4 featured the group on tour and making their second album Forever in a Day which also topped the Billboard charts.
Career
Making the Band 4 returned to MTV for another season and followed Day26, Danity Kane and Donnie Klang on the Making The Band tour. Season 3, Part 2 of Making The Band 4 debuted on February 12, 2009. The season followed Day26 as they recorded their second album, Forever in a Day, which was released April 14, 2009.
2007–2008: Formation of group and Day26
Day26 was founded on the Making the Band 4 Season 1 finale on August 26, 2007. Brian Andrews, Michael McCluney, Qwanell Mosley, Robert Curry, and Willie Taylor were chosen to be a part of Diddy's brand new all-male R&B music group, while fellow cast member Donnie Klang was chosen as a solo artist for Bad Boy Records. The name Day 26 was selected from the day that they were picked which was August 26, 2007.
After being signed as a group to Bad Boy, Day 26 began another season of Making the Band with label mates Danity Kane and Donnie Klang. Upon this season, Day 26's debut single "Got Me Going" was released to download in January 2008. "Got Me Going" eventually peaked at #79 on the Billboard Hot 100. Day 26 later released their self-titled album Day26 on March 25, 2008. The next week, the album debuted at #1 on Billboard 200 selling 190,000 copies. This is the third feat. at #1 for Bad Boy winners. Album production includes Mario Winans, Danja, Bryan-Michael Cox, The Runners, and upon many others. The second single "Since You've Been Gone" was released on June 9, 2008. The song failed to reach Billboard Hot 100, but peaked at #52 on Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. A third single was planned, but was scrapped due to low album sales, and production on their next album. Overall, the album sold 387,000 copies.
On August 19, 2008, Day26 returned with another season of Making the Band. This season involved in Making the Band 4 - The Tour, which resolved to the break-up of Danity Kane.
2009–2011: Forever In A Day and new lineup
Making the Band 4 returned to MTV for another season and followed Day26, Danity Kane and Donnie Klang on the Making The Band tour. Season 3, Part 2 of Making The Band 4 debuted on February 12, 2009.
MTV aired part II of the final season of Making The Band 4. The season followed Day26 as they recorded their second album, Forever in a Day, which was released April 14, 2009. It also featured past Danity Kane members Dawn Richard and Aundrea Fimbres trying to move forward with their group.
During the season, Que had multiple disagreements with Screwface, the group's new manager, and multiple members of the group.
In December 2009, after differences with their new management team, especially their manager Screwface, Que parted ways with the group.
Que has made several videos talking about the split. On his UStream, he read an excerpt of the letter he received announcing him that he was dropped from the group.
Dear Qwanell,
I have been instructed by the members of Day26 copied here to formally advise you that the group members no longer desire to work with you. The members request that no longer you nor any of our representatives contact on behalf or concerning Day26. You may have your attorneys, also copied here, direct any inquiries to my attention.
Brian, Willie, Robert and Michael wish you the best in your future endeavors
Que appeared in the Imma Put It on Her music video and subsequent music videos for the album.
2011–2012: A New Day and break-up
In November 2011, the group released the single Made Love Lately. The music video was released in January 2012. They also announced that they were working on a new album to be titled A New Day.
On July 16, 2012, news hit the media that Day26 had officially announced their breakup and plans to continue on with their solo careers.
It is with great sadness and deep pain that we regret to inform you that effective immediately, Atlantic Records Platinum recording group, DAY26 have decided to take a break from the group and focus on their own individual projects. On behalf of all the members; Willie, Mike, Rob, Brian and even Que, we would like to thank all of the “fams” aka fans, dj’s across the world, promoters, radio programmers, Bad Boy Entertainment, Starstruck Management, BET, VH1 and FUSE and all DAY26 supporters in general, for your unending support throughout these years.
We would also like to acknowledge that this journey would have not been made possible without the vision and mastermind of Sean “Diddy” Combs and of course MTV Networks for making a group of unknown men, the stars that they are today.
We simply thank you from the bottom of our hearts and really want you to know that the journey does not end here. We continue to wish each other the very best and continued success in all of our individual endeavors, and all we ask of you is to please give each member a chance and the opportunity to shine in whatever they do.
... And as the saying goes, this is not a goodbye, but a simply see you later.
God bless you all,
Much Love, Day26.
2013–present: Reunion and The Return Tour
On Thursday November 21, 2013, fans received word through Twitter from several group members that the group would reunite and be planning a tour for the next year. Several videos have hit the web showing the group recording material for an upcoming new album. The group planned to release the album before the tour kicked off and in doing so, signed with BMG Rights Management. On May 26, 2014, Day26 releases their first single called "Bullshit" off their upcoming EP entitled "The Return", that was set to release on June 26, 2014.
In Spring 2017, all members of Day26 announced over social media they would hold a "10 Year Anniversary Experience" concert that would take place at the Highline Ballroom in New York City on August 26, to commemorate the day they were formed in 2007. Due to the venue being sold out and overwhelming fans demanding more tickets, the band decided add an encore concert for August 27. Joining the concerts' roster of performances is the bands' fellow reality show Making The Band 4/label mate Donnie Klang, who will also celebrate his 10-year solo reunion of the day he was chosen by P. Diddy, which kick-started their careers.
In a recent interview with radio personality Sway on his radio show, Sways Universe, Willie announced that the group was recording their third studio album, while also discussing what fame has done for the group in their 10-year run as well as opening up about the controversy with Diddy not allowing the band to appear in the Bad Boy Family Reunion Tour.
On June 29, 2018 Brian Angel leaves Day 26. The singer announced his departure via an Instagram post. "To all the Day26 fans. It saddens me to announce that i am no longer part of Day 26 no there's no problems amongst us, no anger or anything to that nature. this was a decision that i made solely myself. as you guys know we just recently celebrated our 10th year anniversary. they are currently on tour. and yes I've been absent from the tour dealing with a lot of personal issues. i wish the guys of Day 26 nothing but the best(of course im forever Day 26 its tattooed in my skin) but this a chapter in my life i must close. i'am focused on Brian Angel and all my solo endeavors. I look forward to all your future support... God Bless You All"
Pre-Day26 Careers
Respectively, two of the band members were seasoned artists prior to auditioning for the series "Making the Band". Their developing careers would eventually lead them to their path of success.
Robert Curry
Robert was part of a vocal/hip hop teen duo from Detroit in the late 1990s called "Antuan & Ray Ray" which had 3 song collaborations and features on New Edition/BBD member Mike Bivins record label BIV 10 "The Adventures of the BIV 10 Pee Wee All Stars" Album. Robert performed under the stage name 'Antuan', and his other half of the group 'Ray Ray' is Rashad Morgan who went on to become an R&B artist on Rapper T.I. Grand Hustle Records. Their best known song and video from the album was "Feelin It", which was also part of the animated film "Our Friend, Martin" soundtrack. Another well received track on the album the duo recorded was "The Rain", a remake cover version of the 1974 classic song "Remember The Rain" by The 21st Century. After his contribution with BIV 10, Curry became a songwriter, contributing lyrics for many artist of the industry.
Willie Taylor
Willie was formerly part of an R&B vocal group from his hometown of Chicago called "Kwiet Storm" in the late 1990s. Their band released a music video "Leave Me Alone", which circulated on BET music video playlists and shows including 106 & Park. Taylor left the band after a few years later to begin a solo career and become a songwriter for many artists such as Jagged Edge and Ginuwine.The group Kwiet Storm would eventually sign with Island Def Jam a few years after Willie became part of Day 26.
Post-Day26 Solo Careers
Music
During the hiatus split of Day26 and after reuniting, each member embarked on their independent solo projects along with other endeavors they pursued:
Each member released various singles that is not associated with the Mixtapes/EPs, and they also appeared as features on many artists projects.
Television/Film & Theater
Willie Taylor is most known for displaying his relationship with his wife for the 2nd and 3rd season of the VH1's popular reality show Love & Hip Hop Hollywood. He also co-starred in the Chocolate City films: Chocolate City:Vegas Strip and an upcoming 3rd part Chocolate City: Live Tour. Will joined the off-off Broadway circuit appearing in David E. Talbert's stage play "A Fool and His Money" in 2012. He is currently starring alongside R&B Diva Monifah in the urban stage play "Man of the House" in October 2017. He also appears in a few independent films that was previously released and is starring in some upcoming projects as well.
Robert Curry made a guest appearance in an Atlanta urban stage play "Let It Burn" in 2016, and starred in the 2017 stage play "I Cheated, So What!" alongside American Idol Winner Fantasia Barrino brother Ricco Barrino. Christopher Williams & Jessica Reedy.
Mike McCluney is appearing in the upcoming film "Conumdrum: Secrets Among Friends" which stars Cameron Bright, Kristina DeBarge & Jo Marie Payton.
Discography
Studio albums
Day26 (2008)
Forever In A Day (2009)
The Return (2014)
A New Day (2018)
Awards and nominations
American Music Awards
2009, Favorite R&B/Hip-Hop Band Duo or Group (Nominated)
BET Awards
2009, Best Group (Won)
2008, Best Group (Nominated)
Image Awards
2010, Outstanding Duo or Group (Nominated)
Teen Choice Awards
2008, Choice Breakout Group (Nominated)
Online Hip Hop Awards
2008, Digital Download of the Year (R&B) for "Got Me Going" (Won)
Urban Music Awards
2009, Best Music Video: Imma Put It On Her (Nominated)
2009, Best Male Act (Nominated)
References
External links
Official site
Day26 Interview
Day26 sex talk Interview
African-American musical groups
American contemporary R&B musical groups
Atlantic Records artists
Bad Boy Records artists
American boy bands
Living people
Musical quartets
Warner Music Group artists
Musical groups established in 2007
Musical groups disestablished in 2012
Musical groups reestablished in 2013
Year of birth missing (living people) | true | [
"Reunited may refer to:\n\nMusic\nReunited Tour, a 2004 concert tour by Judas Priest\n\nAlbums\nReunited (Gaither Vocal Band album), 2009\nReunited (Gloria Jones album), 1982\nReunited (Highway 101 album), 1996\nReunited (The Jets album), 2014\nReunited (Mafikizolo album), 2013\nReunited – Cliff Richard and The Shadows, 2014\n\nSongs\n\"Reunited\" (song), by Peaches & Herb, 1979\n\"Reunited\", by Wu-Tang Clan from Wu-Tang Forever, 1997\n\"Reunited\", a track from the soundtrack of the 2015 video game Undertale by Toby Fox\n\nTelevision\nReunited (New Zealand TV series), a 2022 New Zealand documentary series\nReunited (TV pilot), a 2010 British television pilot\nReunited (American TV series), a 1998 American sitcom\nReunited: The Real World Las Vegas, a 2007 American reality series\n\"Reunited\" (Steven Universe), an episode\n\nSee also\nReunited National Party (Herenigde Nasionale Party), a 1940s South African political party\nReunited with Jimmy Webb 1974–1988, a 1999 album by Glen Campbell",
"Stephen Barry Singleton (born 17 April 1959) is an English musician, currently residing in Sheffield, England. He was the saxophonist in the pop band ABC (which he left in 1984), starred in the 1983 short film Mantrap.\n\nAccording to an interview Singleton did for the documentary Made in Sheffield, he was friends with Def Leppard lead singer Joe Elliott when the two were young children. Along with Mark White and David Sydenham, he founded the band Vice Versa in 1977. He also produced several issues of Steve's Papers, a Sheffield punk fanzine.\n\nIn the early 1990s, Singleton was a member of the band Bleep & Booster, who released an album on London Records and produced some remixes for East 17. Singleton also produced records by the Treebound Story (featuring a young Richard Hawley) and Libitina.\n\nSingleton declined to participate in VH1's Bands Reunited in 2004, when attempts were made to reform ABC for a one-off performance. Only two members, Martin Fry and David Palmer, reunited and performed.\n\nIn 2015, Stephen Singleton and Mark White reformed Vice Versa.\n\nDiscography\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n1959 births\nEnglish pop musicians\nEnglish rock saxophonists\nBritish male saxophonists\nBritish synth-pop new wave musicians\nLiving people\nABC (band) members\nEnglish new wave musicians\nEnglish record producers\nMusicians from Sheffield\n21st-century saxophonists"
]
|
[
"Day26",
"2013-present: Reunion and The Return Tour",
"when did day26 reunited?",
"November 21, 2013, fans received word through Twitter from several group members that the group would reunite"
]
| C_190fef0586f3462b99cc9d0559e4242e_0 | did all the members reunite or some of them? | 2 | did all the members of Day26 reunite? | Day26 | On Thursday November 21, 2013, fans received word through Twitter from several group members that the group would reunite and be planning a tour for the next year. Several videos have hit the web showing the group recording material for an upcoming new album. The group planned to release the album before the tour kicked off and in doing so, signed with BMG Rights Management. On May 26, 2014, Day26 releases their first single called "Bullshit" off their upcoming EP entitled "The Return", that was set to release on June 26, 2014. In Spring 2017, all members of Day26 announced over social media they would hold a "10 Year Anniversary Experience" concert that would take place at the Highline Ballroom in New York City on August 26, to commemorate the day they were formed in 2007. Due to the venue being sold out and overwhelming fans demanding more tickets, the band decided add an encore concert for August 27. Joining the concerts' roster of performances is the bands' fellow reality show Making The Band 4/label mate Donnie Klang, who will also celebrate his 10-year solo reunion of the day he was chosen by P. Diddy, which kick-started their careers. In a recent interview with radio personality Sway on his radio show, Sways Universe, Willie announced that the group was recording their third studio album, while also discussing what fame has done for the group in their 10-year run as well as opening up about the controversy with Diddy not allowing the band to appear in the Bad Boy Family Reunion Tour. CANNOTANSWER | Spring 2017, all members of Day26 announced over social media they would hold a "10 Year Anniversary Experience" concert | Day26 is an American male R&B music group formed in August 2007 by Sean "Diddy" Combs in a handpicked selection at the end of MTV's Making the Band 4. The group consists of Robert Curry, Brian Angel, Willie Taylor, Qwanell Mosley and Michael McCluney. The moniker is a tribute to the day when Angel, McCluney, Mosely, Curry, and Taylor went from unknowns to stars. The group released their first album, Day26, on March 25, 2008, one week after their then labelmates and Making the Band 3 winners Danity Kane released Welcome to the Dollhouse. The album's first single, "Got Me Going", was released on the finale of Making the Band 4. The album went on to debut at number one on the billboard charts. Subsequent seasons of Making the Band 4 featured the group on tour and making their second album Forever in a Day which also topped the Billboard charts.
Career
Making the Band 4 returned to MTV for another season and followed Day26, Danity Kane and Donnie Klang on the Making The Band tour. Season 3, Part 2 of Making The Band 4 debuted on February 12, 2009. The season followed Day26 as they recorded their second album, Forever in a Day, which was released April 14, 2009.
2007–2008: Formation of group and Day26
Day26 was founded on the Making the Band 4 Season 1 finale on August 26, 2007. Brian Andrews, Michael McCluney, Qwanell Mosley, Robert Curry, and Willie Taylor were chosen to be a part of Diddy's brand new all-male R&B music group, while fellow cast member Donnie Klang was chosen as a solo artist for Bad Boy Records. The name Day 26 was selected from the day that they were picked which was August 26, 2007.
After being signed as a group to Bad Boy, Day 26 began another season of Making the Band with label mates Danity Kane and Donnie Klang. Upon this season, Day 26's debut single "Got Me Going" was released to download in January 2008. "Got Me Going" eventually peaked at #79 on the Billboard Hot 100. Day 26 later released their self-titled album Day26 on March 25, 2008. The next week, the album debuted at #1 on Billboard 200 selling 190,000 copies. This is the third feat. at #1 for Bad Boy winners. Album production includes Mario Winans, Danja, Bryan-Michael Cox, The Runners, and upon many others. The second single "Since You've Been Gone" was released on June 9, 2008. The song failed to reach Billboard Hot 100, but peaked at #52 on Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. A third single was planned, but was scrapped due to low album sales, and production on their next album. Overall, the album sold 387,000 copies.
On August 19, 2008, Day26 returned with another season of Making the Band. This season involved in Making the Band 4 - The Tour, which resolved to the break-up of Danity Kane.
2009–2011: Forever In A Day and new lineup
Making the Band 4 returned to MTV for another season and followed Day26, Danity Kane and Donnie Klang on the Making The Band tour. Season 3, Part 2 of Making The Band 4 debuted on February 12, 2009.
MTV aired part II of the final season of Making The Band 4. The season followed Day26 as they recorded their second album, Forever in a Day, which was released April 14, 2009. It also featured past Danity Kane members Dawn Richard and Aundrea Fimbres trying to move forward with their group.
During the season, Que had multiple disagreements with Screwface, the group's new manager, and multiple members of the group.
In December 2009, after differences with their new management team, especially their manager Screwface, Que parted ways with the group.
Que has made several videos talking about the split. On his UStream, he read an excerpt of the letter he received announcing him that he was dropped from the group.
Dear Qwanell,
I have been instructed by the members of Day26 copied here to formally advise you that the group members no longer desire to work with you. The members request that no longer you nor any of our representatives contact on behalf or concerning Day26. You may have your attorneys, also copied here, direct any inquiries to my attention.
Brian, Willie, Robert and Michael wish you the best in your future endeavors
Que appeared in the Imma Put It on Her music video and subsequent music videos for the album.
2011–2012: A New Day and break-up
In November 2011, the group released the single Made Love Lately. The music video was released in January 2012. They also announced that they were working on a new album to be titled A New Day.
On July 16, 2012, news hit the media that Day26 had officially announced their breakup and plans to continue on with their solo careers.
It is with great sadness and deep pain that we regret to inform you that effective immediately, Atlantic Records Platinum recording group, DAY26 have decided to take a break from the group and focus on their own individual projects. On behalf of all the members; Willie, Mike, Rob, Brian and even Que, we would like to thank all of the “fams” aka fans, dj’s across the world, promoters, radio programmers, Bad Boy Entertainment, Starstruck Management, BET, VH1 and FUSE and all DAY26 supporters in general, for your unending support throughout these years.
We would also like to acknowledge that this journey would have not been made possible without the vision and mastermind of Sean “Diddy” Combs and of course MTV Networks for making a group of unknown men, the stars that they are today.
We simply thank you from the bottom of our hearts and really want you to know that the journey does not end here. We continue to wish each other the very best and continued success in all of our individual endeavors, and all we ask of you is to please give each member a chance and the opportunity to shine in whatever they do.
... And as the saying goes, this is not a goodbye, but a simply see you later.
God bless you all,
Much Love, Day26.
2013–present: Reunion and The Return Tour
On Thursday November 21, 2013, fans received word through Twitter from several group members that the group would reunite and be planning a tour for the next year. Several videos have hit the web showing the group recording material for an upcoming new album. The group planned to release the album before the tour kicked off and in doing so, signed with BMG Rights Management. On May 26, 2014, Day26 releases their first single called "Bullshit" off their upcoming EP entitled "The Return", that was set to release on June 26, 2014.
In Spring 2017, all members of Day26 announced over social media they would hold a "10 Year Anniversary Experience" concert that would take place at the Highline Ballroom in New York City on August 26, to commemorate the day they were formed in 2007. Due to the venue being sold out and overwhelming fans demanding more tickets, the band decided add an encore concert for August 27. Joining the concerts' roster of performances is the bands' fellow reality show Making The Band 4/label mate Donnie Klang, who will also celebrate his 10-year solo reunion of the day he was chosen by P. Diddy, which kick-started their careers.
In a recent interview with radio personality Sway on his radio show, Sways Universe, Willie announced that the group was recording their third studio album, while also discussing what fame has done for the group in their 10-year run as well as opening up about the controversy with Diddy not allowing the band to appear in the Bad Boy Family Reunion Tour.
On June 29, 2018 Brian Angel leaves Day 26. The singer announced his departure via an Instagram post. "To all the Day26 fans. It saddens me to announce that i am no longer part of Day 26 no there's no problems amongst us, no anger or anything to that nature. this was a decision that i made solely myself. as you guys know we just recently celebrated our 10th year anniversary. they are currently on tour. and yes I've been absent from the tour dealing with a lot of personal issues. i wish the guys of Day 26 nothing but the best(of course im forever Day 26 its tattooed in my skin) but this a chapter in my life i must close. i'am focused on Brian Angel and all my solo endeavors. I look forward to all your future support... God Bless You All"
Pre-Day26 Careers
Respectively, two of the band members were seasoned artists prior to auditioning for the series "Making the Band". Their developing careers would eventually lead them to their path of success.
Robert Curry
Robert was part of a vocal/hip hop teen duo from Detroit in the late 1990s called "Antuan & Ray Ray" which had 3 song collaborations and features on New Edition/BBD member Mike Bivins record label BIV 10 "The Adventures of the BIV 10 Pee Wee All Stars" Album. Robert performed under the stage name 'Antuan', and his other half of the group 'Ray Ray' is Rashad Morgan who went on to become an R&B artist on Rapper T.I. Grand Hustle Records. Their best known song and video from the album was "Feelin It", which was also part of the animated film "Our Friend, Martin" soundtrack. Another well received track on the album the duo recorded was "The Rain", a remake cover version of the 1974 classic song "Remember The Rain" by The 21st Century. After his contribution with BIV 10, Curry became a songwriter, contributing lyrics for many artist of the industry.
Willie Taylor
Willie was formerly part of an R&B vocal group from his hometown of Chicago called "Kwiet Storm" in the late 1990s. Their band released a music video "Leave Me Alone", which circulated on BET music video playlists and shows including 106 & Park. Taylor left the band after a few years later to begin a solo career and become a songwriter for many artists such as Jagged Edge and Ginuwine.The group Kwiet Storm would eventually sign with Island Def Jam a few years after Willie became part of Day 26.
Post-Day26 Solo Careers
Music
During the hiatus split of Day26 and after reuniting, each member embarked on their independent solo projects along with other endeavors they pursued:
Each member released various singles that is not associated with the Mixtapes/EPs, and they also appeared as features on many artists projects.
Television/Film & Theater
Willie Taylor is most known for displaying his relationship with his wife for the 2nd and 3rd season of the VH1's popular reality show Love & Hip Hop Hollywood. He also co-starred in the Chocolate City films: Chocolate City:Vegas Strip and an upcoming 3rd part Chocolate City: Live Tour. Will joined the off-off Broadway circuit appearing in David E. Talbert's stage play "A Fool and His Money" in 2012. He is currently starring alongside R&B Diva Monifah in the urban stage play "Man of the House" in October 2017. He also appears in a few independent films that was previously released and is starring in some upcoming projects as well.
Robert Curry made a guest appearance in an Atlanta urban stage play "Let It Burn" in 2016, and starred in the 2017 stage play "I Cheated, So What!" alongside American Idol Winner Fantasia Barrino brother Ricco Barrino. Christopher Williams & Jessica Reedy.
Mike McCluney is appearing in the upcoming film "Conumdrum: Secrets Among Friends" which stars Cameron Bright, Kristina DeBarge & Jo Marie Payton.
Discography
Studio albums
Day26 (2008)
Forever In A Day (2009)
The Return (2014)
A New Day (2018)
Awards and nominations
American Music Awards
2009, Favorite R&B/Hip-Hop Band Duo or Group (Nominated)
BET Awards
2009, Best Group (Won)
2008, Best Group (Nominated)
Image Awards
2010, Outstanding Duo or Group (Nominated)
Teen Choice Awards
2008, Choice Breakout Group (Nominated)
Online Hip Hop Awards
2008, Digital Download of the Year (R&B) for "Got Me Going" (Won)
Urban Music Awards
2009, Best Music Video: Imma Put It On Her (Nominated)
2009, Best Male Act (Nominated)
References
External links
Official site
Day26 Interview
Day26 sex talk Interview
African-American musical groups
American contemporary R&B musical groups
Atlantic Records artists
Bad Boy Records artists
American boy bands
Living people
Musical quartets
Warner Music Group artists
Musical groups established in 2007
Musical groups disestablished in 2012
Musical groups reestablished in 2013
Year of birth missing (living people) | true | [
"The Forêt de Mormal (Forest of Mormal) is a forest in France, near the Franco-Belgian border. It is best known to the British for its role in the retreat from Mons in August 1914. Its perceived lack of passable roads forced I and II Corps of the British army to divide and the two corps did not reunite for some days. However, some units of the British army did pass through the forest. The German army also passed through the forest, taking Haig's II Corps by surprise.\n\nExternal links \n La forêt de Mormal\n\nMormal\nGeography of Nord (French department)\nTourist attractions in Nord (French department)",
"Sofia Lisboa (born 1977) is a Portuguese singer.\n\nShe was born in France to Portuguese emigrants, but she come back with her family to Leiria, Portugal, in 1988, where she did secondary school. She also studied at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon. She was the backing and supporting vocalist for Silence 4 during their active years, from 1996 to 2001. She provided a sensitive counterpart to David Fonseca's vocals. After the band's demise, she's been involved in other musical projects. After surviving a cancer, the band decided to reunite once again for a series of concerts, in 2013 and 2014, where she performed once again with them.\n\nShe published her memoir, Nunca Desistas de Viver (2014).\n\nReferences\n\n1977 births\nLiving people\n21st-century Portuguese women singers\nSilence 4 members"
]
|
[
"Day26",
"2013-present: Reunion and The Return Tour",
"when did day26 reunited?",
"November 21, 2013, fans received word through Twitter from several group members that the group would reunite",
"did all the members reunite or some of them?",
"Spring 2017, all members of Day26 announced over social media they would hold a \"10 Year Anniversary Experience\" concert"
]
| C_190fef0586f3462b99cc9d0559e4242e_0 | how did that concert go? | 3 | how did the Day26 10 Year Anniversary Experience concert go in 2017? | Day26 | On Thursday November 21, 2013, fans received word through Twitter from several group members that the group would reunite and be planning a tour for the next year. Several videos have hit the web showing the group recording material for an upcoming new album. The group planned to release the album before the tour kicked off and in doing so, signed with BMG Rights Management. On May 26, 2014, Day26 releases their first single called "Bullshit" off their upcoming EP entitled "The Return", that was set to release on June 26, 2014. In Spring 2017, all members of Day26 announced over social media they would hold a "10 Year Anniversary Experience" concert that would take place at the Highline Ballroom in New York City on August 26, to commemorate the day they were formed in 2007. Due to the venue being sold out and overwhelming fans demanding more tickets, the band decided add an encore concert for August 27. Joining the concerts' roster of performances is the bands' fellow reality show Making The Band 4/label mate Donnie Klang, who will also celebrate his 10-year solo reunion of the day he was chosen by P. Diddy, which kick-started their careers. In a recent interview with radio personality Sway on his radio show, Sways Universe, Willie announced that the group was recording their third studio album, while also discussing what fame has done for the group in their 10-year run as well as opening up about the controversy with Diddy not allowing the band to appear in the Bad Boy Family Reunion Tour. CANNOTANSWER | the venue being sold out and overwhelming fans demanding more tickets, | Day26 is an American male R&B music group formed in August 2007 by Sean "Diddy" Combs in a handpicked selection at the end of MTV's Making the Band 4. The group consists of Robert Curry, Brian Angel, Willie Taylor, Qwanell Mosley and Michael McCluney. The moniker is a tribute to the day when Angel, McCluney, Mosely, Curry, and Taylor went from unknowns to stars. The group released their first album, Day26, on March 25, 2008, one week after their then labelmates and Making the Band 3 winners Danity Kane released Welcome to the Dollhouse. The album's first single, "Got Me Going", was released on the finale of Making the Band 4. The album went on to debut at number one on the billboard charts. Subsequent seasons of Making the Band 4 featured the group on tour and making their second album Forever in a Day which also topped the Billboard charts.
Career
Making the Band 4 returned to MTV for another season and followed Day26, Danity Kane and Donnie Klang on the Making The Band tour. Season 3, Part 2 of Making The Band 4 debuted on February 12, 2009. The season followed Day26 as they recorded their second album, Forever in a Day, which was released April 14, 2009.
2007–2008: Formation of group and Day26
Day26 was founded on the Making the Band 4 Season 1 finale on August 26, 2007. Brian Andrews, Michael McCluney, Qwanell Mosley, Robert Curry, and Willie Taylor were chosen to be a part of Diddy's brand new all-male R&B music group, while fellow cast member Donnie Klang was chosen as a solo artist for Bad Boy Records. The name Day 26 was selected from the day that they were picked which was August 26, 2007.
After being signed as a group to Bad Boy, Day 26 began another season of Making the Band with label mates Danity Kane and Donnie Klang. Upon this season, Day 26's debut single "Got Me Going" was released to download in January 2008. "Got Me Going" eventually peaked at #79 on the Billboard Hot 100. Day 26 later released their self-titled album Day26 on March 25, 2008. The next week, the album debuted at #1 on Billboard 200 selling 190,000 copies. This is the third feat. at #1 for Bad Boy winners. Album production includes Mario Winans, Danja, Bryan-Michael Cox, The Runners, and upon many others. The second single "Since You've Been Gone" was released on June 9, 2008. The song failed to reach Billboard Hot 100, but peaked at #52 on Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. A third single was planned, but was scrapped due to low album sales, and production on their next album. Overall, the album sold 387,000 copies.
On August 19, 2008, Day26 returned with another season of Making the Band. This season involved in Making the Band 4 - The Tour, which resolved to the break-up of Danity Kane.
2009–2011: Forever In A Day and new lineup
Making the Band 4 returned to MTV for another season and followed Day26, Danity Kane and Donnie Klang on the Making The Band tour. Season 3, Part 2 of Making The Band 4 debuted on February 12, 2009.
MTV aired part II of the final season of Making The Band 4. The season followed Day26 as they recorded their second album, Forever in a Day, which was released April 14, 2009. It also featured past Danity Kane members Dawn Richard and Aundrea Fimbres trying to move forward with their group.
During the season, Que had multiple disagreements with Screwface, the group's new manager, and multiple members of the group.
In December 2009, after differences with their new management team, especially their manager Screwface, Que parted ways with the group.
Que has made several videos talking about the split. On his UStream, he read an excerpt of the letter he received announcing him that he was dropped from the group.
Dear Qwanell,
I have been instructed by the members of Day26 copied here to formally advise you that the group members no longer desire to work with you. The members request that no longer you nor any of our representatives contact on behalf or concerning Day26. You may have your attorneys, also copied here, direct any inquiries to my attention.
Brian, Willie, Robert and Michael wish you the best in your future endeavors
Que appeared in the Imma Put It on Her music video and subsequent music videos for the album.
2011–2012: A New Day and break-up
In November 2011, the group released the single Made Love Lately. The music video was released in January 2012. They also announced that they were working on a new album to be titled A New Day.
On July 16, 2012, news hit the media that Day26 had officially announced their breakup and plans to continue on with their solo careers.
It is with great sadness and deep pain that we regret to inform you that effective immediately, Atlantic Records Platinum recording group, DAY26 have decided to take a break from the group and focus on their own individual projects. On behalf of all the members; Willie, Mike, Rob, Brian and even Que, we would like to thank all of the “fams” aka fans, dj’s across the world, promoters, radio programmers, Bad Boy Entertainment, Starstruck Management, BET, VH1 and FUSE and all DAY26 supporters in general, for your unending support throughout these years.
We would also like to acknowledge that this journey would have not been made possible without the vision and mastermind of Sean “Diddy” Combs and of course MTV Networks for making a group of unknown men, the stars that they are today.
We simply thank you from the bottom of our hearts and really want you to know that the journey does not end here. We continue to wish each other the very best and continued success in all of our individual endeavors, and all we ask of you is to please give each member a chance and the opportunity to shine in whatever they do.
... And as the saying goes, this is not a goodbye, but a simply see you later.
God bless you all,
Much Love, Day26.
2013–present: Reunion and The Return Tour
On Thursday November 21, 2013, fans received word through Twitter from several group members that the group would reunite and be planning a tour for the next year. Several videos have hit the web showing the group recording material for an upcoming new album. The group planned to release the album before the tour kicked off and in doing so, signed with BMG Rights Management. On May 26, 2014, Day26 releases their first single called "Bullshit" off their upcoming EP entitled "The Return", that was set to release on June 26, 2014.
In Spring 2017, all members of Day26 announced over social media they would hold a "10 Year Anniversary Experience" concert that would take place at the Highline Ballroom in New York City on August 26, to commemorate the day they were formed in 2007. Due to the venue being sold out and overwhelming fans demanding more tickets, the band decided add an encore concert for August 27. Joining the concerts' roster of performances is the bands' fellow reality show Making The Band 4/label mate Donnie Klang, who will also celebrate his 10-year solo reunion of the day he was chosen by P. Diddy, which kick-started their careers.
In a recent interview with radio personality Sway on his radio show, Sways Universe, Willie announced that the group was recording their third studio album, while also discussing what fame has done for the group in their 10-year run as well as opening up about the controversy with Diddy not allowing the band to appear in the Bad Boy Family Reunion Tour.
On June 29, 2018 Brian Angel leaves Day 26. The singer announced his departure via an Instagram post. "To all the Day26 fans. It saddens me to announce that i am no longer part of Day 26 no there's no problems amongst us, no anger or anything to that nature. this was a decision that i made solely myself. as you guys know we just recently celebrated our 10th year anniversary. they are currently on tour. and yes I've been absent from the tour dealing with a lot of personal issues. i wish the guys of Day 26 nothing but the best(of course im forever Day 26 its tattooed in my skin) but this a chapter in my life i must close. i'am focused on Brian Angel and all my solo endeavors. I look forward to all your future support... God Bless You All"
Pre-Day26 Careers
Respectively, two of the band members were seasoned artists prior to auditioning for the series "Making the Band". Their developing careers would eventually lead them to their path of success.
Robert Curry
Robert was part of a vocal/hip hop teen duo from Detroit in the late 1990s called "Antuan & Ray Ray" which had 3 song collaborations and features on New Edition/BBD member Mike Bivins record label BIV 10 "The Adventures of the BIV 10 Pee Wee All Stars" Album. Robert performed under the stage name 'Antuan', and his other half of the group 'Ray Ray' is Rashad Morgan who went on to become an R&B artist on Rapper T.I. Grand Hustle Records. Their best known song and video from the album was "Feelin It", which was also part of the animated film "Our Friend, Martin" soundtrack. Another well received track on the album the duo recorded was "The Rain", a remake cover version of the 1974 classic song "Remember The Rain" by The 21st Century. After his contribution with BIV 10, Curry became a songwriter, contributing lyrics for many artist of the industry.
Willie Taylor
Willie was formerly part of an R&B vocal group from his hometown of Chicago called "Kwiet Storm" in the late 1990s. Their band released a music video "Leave Me Alone", which circulated on BET music video playlists and shows including 106 & Park. Taylor left the band after a few years later to begin a solo career and become a songwriter for many artists such as Jagged Edge and Ginuwine.The group Kwiet Storm would eventually sign with Island Def Jam a few years after Willie became part of Day 26.
Post-Day26 Solo Careers
Music
During the hiatus split of Day26 and after reuniting, each member embarked on their independent solo projects along with other endeavors they pursued:
Each member released various singles that is not associated with the Mixtapes/EPs, and they also appeared as features on many artists projects.
Television/Film & Theater
Willie Taylor is most known for displaying his relationship with his wife for the 2nd and 3rd season of the VH1's popular reality show Love & Hip Hop Hollywood. He also co-starred in the Chocolate City films: Chocolate City:Vegas Strip and an upcoming 3rd part Chocolate City: Live Tour. Will joined the off-off Broadway circuit appearing in David E. Talbert's stage play "A Fool and His Money" in 2012. He is currently starring alongside R&B Diva Monifah in the urban stage play "Man of the House" in October 2017. He also appears in a few independent films that was previously released and is starring in some upcoming projects as well.
Robert Curry made a guest appearance in an Atlanta urban stage play "Let It Burn" in 2016, and starred in the 2017 stage play "I Cheated, So What!" alongside American Idol Winner Fantasia Barrino brother Ricco Barrino. Christopher Williams & Jessica Reedy.
Mike McCluney is appearing in the upcoming film "Conumdrum: Secrets Among Friends" which stars Cameron Bright, Kristina DeBarge & Jo Marie Payton.
Discography
Studio albums
Day26 (2008)
Forever In A Day (2009)
The Return (2014)
A New Day (2018)
Awards and nominations
American Music Awards
2009, Favorite R&B/Hip-Hop Band Duo or Group (Nominated)
BET Awards
2009, Best Group (Won)
2008, Best Group (Nominated)
Image Awards
2010, Outstanding Duo or Group (Nominated)
Teen Choice Awards
2008, Choice Breakout Group (Nominated)
Online Hip Hop Awards
2008, Digital Download of the Year (R&B) for "Got Me Going" (Won)
Urban Music Awards
2009, Best Music Video: Imma Put It On Her (Nominated)
2009, Best Male Act (Nominated)
References
External links
Official site
Day26 Interview
Day26 sex talk Interview
African-American musical groups
American contemporary R&B musical groups
Atlantic Records artists
Bad Boy Records artists
American boy bands
Living people
Musical quartets
Warner Music Group artists
Musical groups established in 2007
Musical groups disestablished in 2012
Musical groups reestablished in 2013
Year of birth missing (living people) | true | [
"The No Shoes Nation Tour is the thirteenth headlining concert tour by American country music singer Kenny Chesney, in support of his fifteenth studio album Life on a Rock (2013). It began on March 16, 2013 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida and ended on August 24 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.\n\nSetlist\n \n\n\"Feel Like a Rock Star\"\t\t\n\"Reality\" \t\t\n\"Beer in Mexico\"\n\"Keg In The Closet\"\n\"Pirate Flag\"\t\n\"Summertime\" \t\t\n\"No Shoes No Shirt, No Problems\" \t\t\n\"Welcome To The Fishbowl\"\t\n\"Somewhere with You\"\n\"I Go Back\" \t\t\n\"On The Coast of Somewhere Beautiful\" \t\t\n\"You and Tequila\" \t\t\n\"Living in Fast Forward\" \t\t\n\"Young\"\t\n\"How Forever Feels\" \t\t\n\"Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven\"\t\n\"Big Star\"\n\"Come Over\" \t\t\n\"Don't Happen Twice\" \t\t\n\"Never Wanted Nothing More\" \t\t\n\"Anything but Mine\"\t\n\"Old Blue Chair\" \t\t\n\"When the Sun Goes Down\" \t\t\n\"Out Last Night\" \t\t\n\"The Boys of Fall\" \t\t\nEncore \t\t\n\"She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy\"\n\nTour Dates\n\nReferences\n\n2013 concert tours\nCo-headlining concert tours\nKenny Chesney concert tours\nZac Brown Band concert tours",
"The 2013 Summer Tour was the third concert tour by American pop/R&B singer Toni Braxton. The tour kicked off in Las Vegas on August 9, 2013 and ended in Atlanta on August 31, 2013. Toni's sisters, Trina and Towanda Braxton, were featured on the tour as background singers.\n\nSetlist\n\"I Heart You\"\n\"How Many Ways\"\n\"Seven Whole Days\"\n\"You Mean the World to Me\"\n\"Another Sad Love Song\"\n\"Love Shoulda Brought You Home\"\n\"How Could an Angel Break My Heart\"\n\"Yesterday\"\n\"Just Be a Man About It\"\n\"I Love Me Some Him\"\n\"There's No Me Without You\" / \"Trippin' (That's the Way Love Works)\" / \"I Don't Want To\"\n\"Spanish Guitar\"\n\"Let It Flow\"\n\"Breathe Again\"\n\"Party or Go Home\" (performed by Trina Braxton)\n\"Please\" / \"Take This Ring\" / \"Hit the Freeway\"\n\"He Wasn't Man Enough\"\nEncore\n\nBand\nMusical Director/Piano: Davy Nathan\nKeyboards: Kevin Randolph\nGuitar: Roy Kariok \nBass: Dammo Farmer \nDrums: Donald Barrett\nBackground vocalists: Trina Braxton, Towanda Braxton\n\nShows \n\nFestivals and other miscellaneous performances\n31st annual Martin Luther King Jr. Concert Series\n\nCancellations and rescheduled shows\n\nBox office score data\n\nReferences \n\nToni Braxton concert tours\n2013 concert tours"
]
|
[
"Day26",
"2013-present: Reunion and The Return Tour",
"when did day26 reunited?",
"November 21, 2013, fans received word through Twitter from several group members that the group would reunite",
"did all the members reunite or some of them?",
"Spring 2017, all members of Day26 announced over social media they would hold a \"10 Year Anniversary Experience\" concert",
"how did that concert go?",
"the venue being sold out and overwhelming fans demanding more tickets,"
]
| C_190fef0586f3462b99cc9d0559e4242e_0 | where else did they go for their reunion tour? | 4 | where else did Day26 go for their reunion tour, besides a venue? | Day26 | On Thursday November 21, 2013, fans received word through Twitter from several group members that the group would reunite and be planning a tour for the next year. Several videos have hit the web showing the group recording material for an upcoming new album. The group planned to release the album before the tour kicked off and in doing so, signed with BMG Rights Management. On May 26, 2014, Day26 releases their first single called "Bullshit" off their upcoming EP entitled "The Return", that was set to release on June 26, 2014. In Spring 2017, all members of Day26 announced over social media they would hold a "10 Year Anniversary Experience" concert that would take place at the Highline Ballroom in New York City on August 26, to commemorate the day they were formed in 2007. Due to the venue being sold out and overwhelming fans demanding more tickets, the band decided add an encore concert for August 27. Joining the concerts' roster of performances is the bands' fellow reality show Making The Band 4/label mate Donnie Klang, who will also celebrate his 10-year solo reunion of the day he was chosen by P. Diddy, which kick-started their careers. In a recent interview with radio personality Sway on his radio show, Sways Universe, Willie announced that the group was recording their third studio album, while also discussing what fame has done for the group in their 10-year run as well as opening up about the controversy with Diddy not allowing the band to appear in the Bad Boy Family Reunion Tour. CANNOTANSWER | the band decided add an encore concert for August 27. | Day26 is an American male R&B music group formed in August 2007 by Sean "Diddy" Combs in a handpicked selection at the end of MTV's Making the Band 4. The group consists of Robert Curry, Brian Angel, Willie Taylor, Qwanell Mosley and Michael McCluney. The moniker is a tribute to the day when Angel, McCluney, Mosely, Curry, and Taylor went from unknowns to stars. The group released their first album, Day26, on March 25, 2008, one week after their then labelmates and Making the Band 3 winners Danity Kane released Welcome to the Dollhouse. The album's first single, "Got Me Going", was released on the finale of Making the Band 4. The album went on to debut at number one on the billboard charts. Subsequent seasons of Making the Band 4 featured the group on tour and making their second album Forever in a Day which also topped the Billboard charts.
Career
Making the Band 4 returned to MTV for another season and followed Day26, Danity Kane and Donnie Klang on the Making The Band tour. Season 3, Part 2 of Making The Band 4 debuted on February 12, 2009. The season followed Day26 as they recorded their second album, Forever in a Day, which was released April 14, 2009.
2007–2008: Formation of group and Day26
Day26 was founded on the Making the Band 4 Season 1 finale on August 26, 2007. Brian Andrews, Michael McCluney, Qwanell Mosley, Robert Curry, and Willie Taylor were chosen to be a part of Diddy's brand new all-male R&B music group, while fellow cast member Donnie Klang was chosen as a solo artist for Bad Boy Records. The name Day 26 was selected from the day that they were picked which was August 26, 2007.
After being signed as a group to Bad Boy, Day 26 began another season of Making the Band with label mates Danity Kane and Donnie Klang. Upon this season, Day 26's debut single "Got Me Going" was released to download in January 2008. "Got Me Going" eventually peaked at #79 on the Billboard Hot 100. Day 26 later released their self-titled album Day26 on March 25, 2008. The next week, the album debuted at #1 on Billboard 200 selling 190,000 copies. This is the third feat. at #1 for Bad Boy winners. Album production includes Mario Winans, Danja, Bryan-Michael Cox, The Runners, and upon many others. The second single "Since You've Been Gone" was released on June 9, 2008. The song failed to reach Billboard Hot 100, but peaked at #52 on Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. A third single was planned, but was scrapped due to low album sales, and production on their next album. Overall, the album sold 387,000 copies.
On August 19, 2008, Day26 returned with another season of Making the Band. This season involved in Making the Band 4 - The Tour, which resolved to the break-up of Danity Kane.
2009–2011: Forever In A Day and new lineup
Making the Band 4 returned to MTV for another season and followed Day26, Danity Kane and Donnie Klang on the Making The Band tour. Season 3, Part 2 of Making The Band 4 debuted on February 12, 2009.
MTV aired part II of the final season of Making The Band 4. The season followed Day26 as they recorded their second album, Forever in a Day, which was released April 14, 2009. It also featured past Danity Kane members Dawn Richard and Aundrea Fimbres trying to move forward with their group.
During the season, Que had multiple disagreements with Screwface, the group's new manager, and multiple members of the group.
In December 2009, after differences with their new management team, especially their manager Screwface, Que parted ways with the group.
Que has made several videos talking about the split. On his UStream, he read an excerpt of the letter he received announcing him that he was dropped from the group.
Dear Qwanell,
I have been instructed by the members of Day26 copied here to formally advise you that the group members no longer desire to work with you. The members request that no longer you nor any of our representatives contact on behalf or concerning Day26. You may have your attorneys, also copied here, direct any inquiries to my attention.
Brian, Willie, Robert and Michael wish you the best in your future endeavors
Que appeared in the Imma Put It on Her music video and subsequent music videos for the album.
2011–2012: A New Day and break-up
In November 2011, the group released the single Made Love Lately. The music video was released in January 2012. They also announced that they were working on a new album to be titled A New Day.
On July 16, 2012, news hit the media that Day26 had officially announced their breakup and plans to continue on with their solo careers.
It is with great sadness and deep pain that we regret to inform you that effective immediately, Atlantic Records Platinum recording group, DAY26 have decided to take a break from the group and focus on their own individual projects. On behalf of all the members; Willie, Mike, Rob, Brian and even Que, we would like to thank all of the “fams” aka fans, dj’s across the world, promoters, radio programmers, Bad Boy Entertainment, Starstruck Management, BET, VH1 and FUSE and all DAY26 supporters in general, for your unending support throughout these years.
We would also like to acknowledge that this journey would have not been made possible without the vision and mastermind of Sean “Diddy” Combs and of course MTV Networks for making a group of unknown men, the stars that they are today.
We simply thank you from the bottom of our hearts and really want you to know that the journey does not end here. We continue to wish each other the very best and continued success in all of our individual endeavors, and all we ask of you is to please give each member a chance and the opportunity to shine in whatever they do.
... And as the saying goes, this is not a goodbye, but a simply see you later.
God bless you all,
Much Love, Day26.
2013–present: Reunion and The Return Tour
On Thursday November 21, 2013, fans received word through Twitter from several group members that the group would reunite and be planning a tour for the next year. Several videos have hit the web showing the group recording material for an upcoming new album. The group planned to release the album before the tour kicked off and in doing so, signed with BMG Rights Management. On May 26, 2014, Day26 releases their first single called "Bullshit" off their upcoming EP entitled "The Return", that was set to release on June 26, 2014.
In Spring 2017, all members of Day26 announced over social media they would hold a "10 Year Anniversary Experience" concert that would take place at the Highline Ballroom in New York City on August 26, to commemorate the day they were formed in 2007. Due to the venue being sold out and overwhelming fans demanding more tickets, the band decided add an encore concert for August 27. Joining the concerts' roster of performances is the bands' fellow reality show Making The Band 4/label mate Donnie Klang, who will also celebrate his 10-year solo reunion of the day he was chosen by P. Diddy, which kick-started their careers.
In a recent interview with radio personality Sway on his radio show, Sways Universe, Willie announced that the group was recording their third studio album, while also discussing what fame has done for the group in their 10-year run as well as opening up about the controversy with Diddy not allowing the band to appear in the Bad Boy Family Reunion Tour.
On June 29, 2018 Brian Angel leaves Day 26. The singer announced his departure via an Instagram post. "To all the Day26 fans. It saddens me to announce that i am no longer part of Day 26 no there's no problems amongst us, no anger or anything to that nature. this was a decision that i made solely myself. as you guys know we just recently celebrated our 10th year anniversary. they are currently on tour. and yes I've been absent from the tour dealing with a lot of personal issues. i wish the guys of Day 26 nothing but the best(of course im forever Day 26 its tattooed in my skin) but this a chapter in my life i must close. i'am focused on Brian Angel and all my solo endeavors. I look forward to all your future support... God Bless You All"
Pre-Day26 Careers
Respectively, two of the band members were seasoned artists prior to auditioning for the series "Making the Band". Their developing careers would eventually lead them to their path of success.
Robert Curry
Robert was part of a vocal/hip hop teen duo from Detroit in the late 1990s called "Antuan & Ray Ray" which had 3 song collaborations and features on New Edition/BBD member Mike Bivins record label BIV 10 "The Adventures of the BIV 10 Pee Wee All Stars" Album. Robert performed under the stage name 'Antuan', and his other half of the group 'Ray Ray' is Rashad Morgan who went on to become an R&B artist on Rapper T.I. Grand Hustle Records. Their best known song and video from the album was "Feelin It", which was also part of the animated film "Our Friend, Martin" soundtrack. Another well received track on the album the duo recorded was "The Rain", a remake cover version of the 1974 classic song "Remember The Rain" by The 21st Century. After his contribution with BIV 10, Curry became a songwriter, contributing lyrics for many artist of the industry.
Willie Taylor
Willie was formerly part of an R&B vocal group from his hometown of Chicago called "Kwiet Storm" in the late 1990s. Their band released a music video "Leave Me Alone", which circulated on BET music video playlists and shows including 106 & Park. Taylor left the band after a few years later to begin a solo career and become a songwriter for many artists such as Jagged Edge and Ginuwine.The group Kwiet Storm would eventually sign with Island Def Jam a few years after Willie became part of Day 26.
Post-Day26 Solo Careers
Music
During the hiatus split of Day26 and after reuniting, each member embarked on their independent solo projects along with other endeavors they pursued:
Each member released various singles that is not associated with the Mixtapes/EPs, and they also appeared as features on many artists projects.
Television/Film & Theater
Willie Taylor is most known for displaying his relationship with his wife for the 2nd and 3rd season of the VH1's popular reality show Love & Hip Hop Hollywood. He also co-starred in the Chocolate City films: Chocolate City:Vegas Strip and an upcoming 3rd part Chocolate City: Live Tour. Will joined the off-off Broadway circuit appearing in David E. Talbert's stage play "A Fool and His Money" in 2012. He is currently starring alongside R&B Diva Monifah in the urban stage play "Man of the House" in October 2017. He also appears in a few independent films that was previously released and is starring in some upcoming projects as well.
Robert Curry made a guest appearance in an Atlanta urban stage play "Let It Burn" in 2016, and starred in the 2017 stage play "I Cheated, So What!" alongside American Idol Winner Fantasia Barrino brother Ricco Barrino. Christopher Williams & Jessica Reedy.
Mike McCluney is appearing in the upcoming film "Conumdrum: Secrets Among Friends" which stars Cameron Bright, Kristina DeBarge & Jo Marie Payton.
Discography
Studio albums
Day26 (2008)
Forever In A Day (2009)
The Return (2014)
A New Day (2018)
Awards and nominations
American Music Awards
2009, Favorite R&B/Hip-Hop Band Duo or Group (Nominated)
BET Awards
2009, Best Group (Won)
2008, Best Group (Nominated)
Image Awards
2010, Outstanding Duo or Group (Nominated)
Teen Choice Awards
2008, Choice Breakout Group (Nominated)
Online Hip Hop Awards
2008, Digital Download of the Year (R&B) for "Got Me Going" (Won)
Urban Music Awards
2009, Best Music Video: Imma Put It On Her (Nominated)
2009, Best Male Act (Nominated)
References
External links
Official site
Day26 Interview
Day26 sex talk Interview
African-American musical groups
American contemporary R&B musical groups
Atlantic Records artists
Bad Boy Records artists
American boy bands
Living people
Musical quartets
Warner Music Group artists
Musical groups established in 2007
Musical groups disestablished in 2012
Musical groups reestablished in 2013
Year of birth missing (living people) | true | [
"The Reunion Tour was a rock concert tour by The Stone Roses. Three homecoming shows in Heaton Park, Manchester and a show in Phoenix Park, Dublin were the first shows to be announced by the band. Fifty shows eventually took place in Europe, Asia, North America and Oceania. The Heaton Park shows currently hold the record for the fastest selling rock gigs in UK history. The Irish Independent described the Dublin leg of the tour as \"one of the most anticipated gigs of the year.\" The Stone Roses also re-entered the music charts on the back of the tour.\n\nHistory\nReports of a reunion initially surfaced during April 2011, with several media outlets claiming that singer Ian Brown and guitarist John Squire had reconciled for the first time since Squire left the band in 1996. At the time, these were swiftly denied by bassist Mani.\n\nHowever, on 18 October of the same year, the band called a press conference to confirm their reunion and two homecoming shows at Heaton Park, Manchester on 29 and 30 June 2012. In addition to this, they also stated their intention to complete a reunion world tour and an album of new material.\n\nAll 150,000 tickets for the initial two Heaton Park shows sold out in a record 14 minutes. A third show scheduled for 1 July 2012 was promptly put on sale. In total, all 220,000 tickets for the shows sold out in 68 minutes - a record for a UK rock gig. Reviews for the Manchester shows were reported to be \"bordering on the ecstatic.\" However, tragedy struck when a young fan went missing following the Friday show.\n\nWhilst no specific dates were announced, during the reunion press conference Ian Brown stated that the band would visit Ireland, with Ian Brown saying \"After Manchester, Ireland is always next on our list\". Their Dublin date was announced as being for Phoenix Park on 5 July 2012, on the weekend normally reserved for the Oxegen music festival, which did not take place in 2012.\n\nOn 7 November 2011, three further dates were announced for festival headlining slots in Scotland, Spain and Japan.\n\nSchedule\nOn 15 December 2011, the band announced on their Facebook page, that they would play Germany's Hurricane and Southside Festivals in June, and the Sziget Festival in August 2012.\n\nOn 10 October 2012, it was confirmed that the band would tour Australia in 2013, headlining the Future Music Festival along with The Prodigy.\n\nTour dates\n\nFestivals and other miscellaneous performances\n\nThese concerts are a part of the \"Future Music Festival\"\n\nCancellations\n\nBox office score data\n\nSetlists\n\nThe setlist number below coordinates with the numbers from each show above.\n\n{{hidden\n| headercss = background: #ddd; font-size: 100%; width: 100%;\n| header = 2\n| content = \n\"I Wanna Be Adored\"\n\"Sally Cinnamon\"\n\"Mersey Paradise\"\n\"Ten Storey Love Song\"\n\"Where Angels Play\"\n\"Shoot You Down\"\n\"Waterfall\"\n\"Fools Gold\"\n\"Standing Here\"\n\"She Bangs The Drums\"\n\"Made Of Stone\"\n\"This Is The One\"\n\"Love Spreads\"\n\nEncore:\n\"I Am The Resurrection\"\n\nPerformed in Barcelona (8 June 2012).\n}}\n{{hidden\n| headercss = background: #ddd; font-size: 100%; width: 100%;\n| header = 3\n| content = \n\"I Wanna Be Adored\"\n\"Sally Cinnamon\"\n\"(Song For My) Sugar Spun Sister\"\n\"Where Angels Play\"\n\"Shoot You Down\"\n\"Waterfall\"\n\"Don't Stop\"\n\"Tightrope\"\n\"Fools Gold\"\n\"Something's Burning\"\n\"She Bangs The Drums\"\n\"Made Of Stone\"\n\"Love Spreads\"\n\nEncore:\n\"I Am The Resurrection\"\n\nPerformed in Barcelona (9 June 2012).\n}}\n\nReferences\n\nThe Stone Roses\n2012 concert tours\n2013 concert tours\nReunion concert tours",
"The Alive/Worldwide Tour (also known as the Reunion Tour) was a reunion concert tour by American heavy metal band Kiss which began on June 28, 1996 in Detroit, United States and concluded on July 5, 1997 in London, England. It was the first tour with original members Peter Criss and Ace Frehley since the Dynasty Tour in 1979.\n\nBackground\n\nWhile Kiss continued to exist publicly as Simmons, Stanley, Kulick and Singer, arrangements for a reunion of the original lineup were in the works. These efforts culminated with a public event as dramatic as any the band had staged since its 1983 unmasking on MTV. With the following statements, Tupac Shakur introduced the original Kiss lineup, in full makeup and Love Gun-era stage outfits, to a rousing ovation at the 38th Annual Grammy Awards on February 28, 1996:\n\nOn April 16, 1996, the band members held a press conference aboard the in New York City, where they announced their plans for a full-fledged reunion tour, with the help of new manager Doc McGhee. The conference, MC'd by Conan O'Brien, was simulcast to 58 countries. On April 20, nearly 40,000 tickets for the tour's first show sold out in 47 minutes. The band would bring back their vintage stunts, including Simmons' blood-spitting and fire-breathing, Frehley's smoking and shooting guitar, pyrotechnics and platform risers.\n\nThe members worked out to physical shape for the tour, with Frehley going for plastic surgery, as Stanley stated that they 'did not want people to be disappointed when they saw a bunch of fat guys in tights'.\n\nFollowing rehearsals, Kiss began their reunion tour on June 15, 1996 with a warmup gig in Irvine, California for the KROQ Weenie Roast. It was considered by the band to be a live rehearsal for many aspects of the stage show before the tour was set to begin at a sold out Tiger Stadium in Detroit on June 28, 1996, playing to approximately 40,000 people. The tour lasted for 192 shows over the course of one year and earned $43.6 million, making Kiss the top-drawing concert act of 1996.\n\nIn the tour program for the band's final tour, Stanley reflected on the tour:\n\nReception\nFor the warmup performance at the KROQ \"Weenie Roast\", a reporter from the Los Angeles Times noted on the weak, stringy voice of Stanley, claiming that he was ill equipped for his operatic style that 'it's almost heroic for him to even try'. He noted that Kiss still looked and sounded like Kiss, noting on the teamwork that the band were sharing during the performance, concluding that both Criss and Frehley were now 'reconciled for fun and lots of profit'.\n\nA reporter from Rolling Stone who attended the first show of the tour at Tiger Stadium in Detroit, stated: \"Sure, Kiss suck, but give them a little credit - they've sucked for more than 20 years. Surviving has meant the band has lived long enough to see its influence on the next generation, which perhaps explains the shocking spectacle of Billy Corgan and Sebastian Bach bonding backstage. So, OK, maybe Kiss don't suck. And in their defense, it should be shouted out loud that they were one of the first bands to embrace fully the notion of rock as a show, thus putting them ahead of the curve that would soon bring us Cats and the re-emergence of Las Vegas as the new American capital.\"\n\nFrom the final show in London at Finsbury Park, a reporter from The Independent stated: \"As you'd expect with Kiss, it was one of the best stage entrances ever but, apart from a few moments, the gig soon sagged. They retained some interest through theatrics... the fact that all this was going on in daylight didn't help but when dusk fell, Kiss moved up several gears. Since it was the last night of a world tour that started over a year ago, sentimentality was a recurring theme. Singer and band spokesman Paul Stanley babbled on how important the Kiss Army were and how he'd like to get among them... If this was theatre, it was the theatre of the absurd, where the joke seemed to be on Kiss, until, finally, you realized that you'd had been laughing with them, not at them, all along.\"\n\nSetlist\nThe following setlist was performed at the warmup show of the tour in Irvine, California and is not intended to represent all of the shows on tour.\n\"Deuce\"\n\"Love Gun\"\n\"Cold Gin\"\n\"Calling Dr. Love\"\n\"Firehouse\"\n\"Shock Me\"\n\"100,000 Years\"\n\"Detroit Rock City\"\n\"Black Diamond\"\nEncore\n\"Rock and Roll All Nite\"\n\nTour dates\n\nPostponed and cancelled dates\n\nBox office score data\n\nPersonnel\nPaul Stanley – vocals, rhythm guitar\nGene Simmons – vocals, bass\nPeter Criss – drums, vocals\nAce Frehley – lead guitar, vocals\n\nReferences\n\nSources\n\nKiss (band) concert tours\n1996 concert tours\n1997 concert tours\nReunion concert tours"
]
|
[
"Day26",
"2013-present: Reunion and The Return Tour",
"when did day26 reunited?",
"November 21, 2013, fans received word through Twitter from several group members that the group would reunite",
"did all the members reunite or some of them?",
"Spring 2017, all members of Day26 announced over social media they would hold a \"10 Year Anniversary Experience\" concert",
"how did that concert go?",
"the venue being sold out and overwhelming fans demanding more tickets,",
"where else did they go for their reunion tour?",
"the band decided add an encore concert for August 27."
]
| C_190fef0586f3462b99cc9d0559e4242e_0 | what songs did they play on their reunion tour? | 5 | what songs did Day26 play on their reunion tour? | Day26 | On Thursday November 21, 2013, fans received word through Twitter from several group members that the group would reunite and be planning a tour for the next year. Several videos have hit the web showing the group recording material for an upcoming new album. The group planned to release the album before the tour kicked off and in doing so, signed with BMG Rights Management. On May 26, 2014, Day26 releases their first single called "Bullshit" off their upcoming EP entitled "The Return", that was set to release on June 26, 2014. In Spring 2017, all members of Day26 announced over social media they would hold a "10 Year Anniversary Experience" concert that would take place at the Highline Ballroom in New York City on August 26, to commemorate the day they were formed in 2007. Due to the venue being sold out and overwhelming fans demanding more tickets, the band decided add an encore concert for August 27. Joining the concerts' roster of performances is the bands' fellow reality show Making The Band 4/label mate Donnie Klang, who will also celebrate his 10-year solo reunion of the day he was chosen by P. Diddy, which kick-started their careers. In a recent interview with radio personality Sway on his radio show, Sways Universe, Willie announced that the group was recording their third studio album, while also discussing what fame has done for the group in their 10-year run as well as opening up about the controversy with Diddy not allowing the band to appear in the Bad Boy Family Reunion Tour. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Day26 is an American male R&B music group formed in August 2007 by Sean "Diddy" Combs in a handpicked selection at the end of MTV's Making the Band 4. The group consists of Robert Curry, Brian Angel, Willie Taylor, Qwanell Mosley and Michael McCluney. The moniker is a tribute to the day when Angel, McCluney, Mosely, Curry, and Taylor went from unknowns to stars. The group released their first album, Day26, on March 25, 2008, one week after their then labelmates and Making the Band 3 winners Danity Kane released Welcome to the Dollhouse. The album's first single, "Got Me Going", was released on the finale of Making the Band 4. The album went on to debut at number one on the billboard charts. Subsequent seasons of Making the Band 4 featured the group on tour and making their second album Forever in a Day which also topped the Billboard charts.
Career
Making the Band 4 returned to MTV for another season and followed Day26, Danity Kane and Donnie Klang on the Making The Band tour. Season 3, Part 2 of Making The Band 4 debuted on February 12, 2009. The season followed Day26 as they recorded their second album, Forever in a Day, which was released April 14, 2009.
2007–2008: Formation of group and Day26
Day26 was founded on the Making the Band 4 Season 1 finale on August 26, 2007. Brian Andrews, Michael McCluney, Qwanell Mosley, Robert Curry, and Willie Taylor were chosen to be a part of Diddy's brand new all-male R&B music group, while fellow cast member Donnie Klang was chosen as a solo artist for Bad Boy Records. The name Day 26 was selected from the day that they were picked which was August 26, 2007.
After being signed as a group to Bad Boy, Day 26 began another season of Making the Band with label mates Danity Kane and Donnie Klang. Upon this season, Day 26's debut single "Got Me Going" was released to download in January 2008. "Got Me Going" eventually peaked at #79 on the Billboard Hot 100. Day 26 later released their self-titled album Day26 on March 25, 2008. The next week, the album debuted at #1 on Billboard 200 selling 190,000 copies. This is the third feat. at #1 for Bad Boy winners. Album production includes Mario Winans, Danja, Bryan-Michael Cox, The Runners, and upon many others. The second single "Since You've Been Gone" was released on June 9, 2008. The song failed to reach Billboard Hot 100, but peaked at #52 on Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. A third single was planned, but was scrapped due to low album sales, and production on their next album. Overall, the album sold 387,000 copies.
On August 19, 2008, Day26 returned with another season of Making the Band. This season involved in Making the Band 4 - The Tour, which resolved to the break-up of Danity Kane.
2009–2011: Forever In A Day and new lineup
Making the Band 4 returned to MTV for another season and followed Day26, Danity Kane and Donnie Klang on the Making The Band tour. Season 3, Part 2 of Making The Band 4 debuted on February 12, 2009.
MTV aired part II of the final season of Making The Band 4. The season followed Day26 as they recorded their second album, Forever in a Day, which was released April 14, 2009. It also featured past Danity Kane members Dawn Richard and Aundrea Fimbres trying to move forward with their group.
During the season, Que had multiple disagreements with Screwface, the group's new manager, and multiple members of the group.
In December 2009, after differences with their new management team, especially their manager Screwface, Que parted ways with the group.
Que has made several videos talking about the split. On his UStream, he read an excerpt of the letter he received announcing him that he was dropped from the group.
Dear Qwanell,
I have been instructed by the members of Day26 copied here to formally advise you that the group members no longer desire to work with you. The members request that no longer you nor any of our representatives contact on behalf or concerning Day26. You may have your attorneys, also copied here, direct any inquiries to my attention.
Brian, Willie, Robert and Michael wish you the best in your future endeavors
Que appeared in the Imma Put It on Her music video and subsequent music videos for the album.
2011–2012: A New Day and break-up
In November 2011, the group released the single Made Love Lately. The music video was released in January 2012. They also announced that they were working on a new album to be titled A New Day.
On July 16, 2012, news hit the media that Day26 had officially announced their breakup and plans to continue on with their solo careers.
It is with great sadness and deep pain that we regret to inform you that effective immediately, Atlantic Records Platinum recording group, DAY26 have decided to take a break from the group and focus on their own individual projects. On behalf of all the members; Willie, Mike, Rob, Brian and even Que, we would like to thank all of the “fams” aka fans, dj’s across the world, promoters, radio programmers, Bad Boy Entertainment, Starstruck Management, BET, VH1 and FUSE and all DAY26 supporters in general, for your unending support throughout these years.
We would also like to acknowledge that this journey would have not been made possible without the vision and mastermind of Sean “Diddy” Combs and of course MTV Networks for making a group of unknown men, the stars that they are today.
We simply thank you from the bottom of our hearts and really want you to know that the journey does not end here. We continue to wish each other the very best and continued success in all of our individual endeavors, and all we ask of you is to please give each member a chance and the opportunity to shine in whatever they do.
... And as the saying goes, this is not a goodbye, but a simply see you later.
God bless you all,
Much Love, Day26.
2013–present: Reunion and The Return Tour
On Thursday November 21, 2013, fans received word through Twitter from several group members that the group would reunite and be planning a tour for the next year. Several videos have hit the web showing the group recording material for an upcoming new album. The group planned to release the album before the tour kicked off and in doing so, signed with BMG Rights Management. On May 26, 2014, Day26 releases their first single called "Bullshit" off their upcoming EP entitled "The Return", that was set to release on June 26, 2014.
In Spring 2017, all members of Day26 announced over social media they would hold a "10 Year Anniversary Experience" concert that would take place at the Highline Ballroom in New York City on August 26, to commemorate the day they were formed in 2007. Due to the venue being sold out and overwhelming fans demanding more tickets, the band decided add an encore concert for August 27. Joining the concerts' roster of performances is the bands' fellow reality show Making The Band 4/label mate Donnie Klang, who will also celebrate his 10-year solo reunion of the day he was chosen by P. Diddy, which kick-started their careers.
In a recent interview with radio personality Sway on his radio show, Sways Universe, Willie announced that the group was recording their third studio album, while also discussing what fame has done for the group in their 10-year run as well as opening up about the controversy with Diddy not allowing the band to appear in the Bad Boy Family Reunion Tour.
On June 29, 2018 Brian Angel leaves Day 26. The singer announced his departure via an Instagram post. "To all the Day26 fans. It saddens me to announce that i am no longer part of Day 26 no there's no problems amongst us, no anger or anything to that nature. this was a decision that i made solely myself. as you guys know we just recently celebrated our 10th year anniversary. they are currently on tour. and yes I've been absent from the tour dealing with a lot of personal issues. i wish the guys of Day 26 nothing but the best(of course im forever Day 26 its tattooed in my skin) but this a chapter in my life i must close. i'am focused on Brian Angel and all my solo endeavors. I look forward to all your future support... God Bless You All"
Pre-Day26 Careers
Respectively, two of the band members were seasoned artists prior to auditioning for the series "Making the Band". Their developing careers would eventually lead them to their path of success.
Robert Curry
Robert was part of a vocal/hip hop teen duo from Detroit in the late 1990s called "Antuan & Ray Ray" which had 3 song collaborations and features on New Edition/BBD member Mike Bivins record label BIV 10 "The Adventures of the BIV 10 Pee Wee All Stars" Album. Robert performed under the stage name 'Antuan', and his other half of the group 'Ray Ray' is Rashad Morgan who went on to become an R&B artist on Rapper T.I. Grand Hustle Records. Their best known song and video from the album was "Feelin It", which was also part of the animated film "Our Friend, Martin" soundtrack. Another well received track on the album the duo recorded was "The Rain", a remake cover version of the 1974 classic song "Remember The Rain" by The 21st Century. After his contribution with BIV 10, Curry became a songwriter, contributing lyrics for many artist of the industry.
Willie Taylor
Willie was formerly part of an R&B vocal group from his hometown of Chicago called "Kwiet Storm" in the late 1990s. Their band released a music video "Leave Me Alone", which circulated on BET music video playlists and shows including 106 & Park. Taylor left the band after a few years later to begin a solo career and become a songwriter for many artists such as Jagged Edge and Ginuwine.The group Kwiet Storm would eventually sign with Island Def Jam a few years after Willie became part of Day 26.
Post-Day26 Solo Careers
Music
During the hiatus split of Day26 and after reuniting, each member embarked on their independent solo projects along with other endeavors they pursued:
Each member released various singles that is not associated with the Mixtapes/EPs, and they also appeared as features on many artists projects.
Television/Film & Theater
Willie Taylor is most known for displaying his relationship with his wife for the 2nd and 3rd season of the VH1's popular reality show Love & Hip Hop Hollywood. He also co-starred in the Chocolate City films: Chocolate City:Vegas Strip and an upcoming 3rd part Chocolate City: Live Tour. Will joined the off-off Broadway circuit appearing in David E. Talbert's stage play "A Fool and His Money" in 2012. He is currently starring alongside R&B Diva Monifah in the urban stage play "Man of the House" in October 2017. He also appears in a few independent films that was previously released and is starring in some upcoming projects as well.
Robert Curry made a guest appearance in an Atlanta urban stage play "Let It Burn" in 2016, and starred in the 2017 stage play "I Cheated, So What!" alongside American Idol Winner Fantasia Barrino brother Ricco Barrino. Christopher Williams & Jessica Reedy.
Mike McCluney is appearing in the upcoming film "Conumdrum: Secrets Among Friends" which stars Cameron Bright, Kristina DeBarge & Jo Marie Payton.
Discography
Studio albums
Day26 (2008)
Forever In A Day (2009)
The Return (2014)
A New Day (2018)
Awards and nominations
American Music Awards
2009, Favorite R&B/Hip-Hop Band Duo or Group (Nominated)
BET Awards
2009, Best Group (Won)
2008, Best Group (Nominated)
Image Awards
2010, Outstanding Duo or Group (Nominated)
Teen Choice Awards
2008, Choice Breakout Group (Nominated)
Online Hip Hop Awards
2008, Digital Download of the Year (R&B) for "Got Me Going" (Won)
Urban Music Awards
2009, Best Music Video: Imma Put It On Her (Nominated)
2009, Best Male Act (Nominated)
References
External links
Official site
Day26 Interview
Day26 sex talk Interview
African-American musical groups
American contemporary R&B musical groups
Atlantic Records artists
Bad Boy Records artists
American boy bands
Living people
Musical quartets
Warner Music Group artists
Musical groups established in 2007
Musical groups disestablished in 2012
Musical groups reestablished in 2013
Year of birth missing (living people) | false | [
"What Did You Expect? is a live concert documentary capturing the Archers of Loaf reunion tour. Directed by Gorman Bechard, it made its film festival debut in June, 2012.\n\nPlot\nIndie rock icons the Archers of Loaf reunited in 2011, and during the course of their reunion tour played two legendary concerts at Cat's Cradle in Chapel Hill, NC. Combining in-your-face concert footage along with rare interviews of the band, this film by director Gorman Bechard documents those concerts, and captures the excitement and explosive energy of what its like to see this extraordinary band perform live.\n\nRelease\nThe film is being distributed by MVD Entertainment, and was released on DVD in November 2012. It is also available on iTunes, Hulu, and Video-on-Demand.\n\nCritical response\n \nWriting in Punk News, John Gentile said, \"The wilder songs, like 'Audiowhore' where bassist Matt Gentling just gets completely down, stomping around like a T-rex, are nearly berserk, with the band approaching a Stooges-type thrash. 'What Did You Expect?' could pass for Fugazi's wilder side. Gentling just goes nuts on the bass, which is wild. Likewise, the mid-tempo songs like \"Freezing Point\" have an inherent urgency.\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\nConcert films\nRockumentaries\nFilms directed by Gorman Bechard",
"\"Love You Anyway\", or \"I Love You Anyway\", is a song by Irish boy band Boyzone, released as the lead single from their second compilation album, Back Again... No Matter What. It was their first single in over eight years, and their last hit single to be co-written by any members of the group.\n\nBackground\nThe song features an elaborate, Phil Spector-sounding production, with a 'busy' instrumentation including choir-like backing vocals, jangly guitars, trombones, tambourines and tubular bells.\n\nMusic video\nThe video for \"Love You Anyway\" starts with Ronan Keating strolling past a taxi while wearing sunglasses and a suit. Stephen Gately then walks down the same road following two ladies dressed in black. Three more ladies come into view and start dancing behind Ronan and others dance further down the street. Shane Lynch looks out of his car to see two ladies wearing coats leaning against the bonnet - he gets out to admire them before walking past. More girls dance on some steps next to Mikey Graham after he wore sunglasses while strolling. Keith Duffy gets out of a taxi to look at girls in front of it. The band members then perform a dance routine in the middle of the road, accompanied by the ladies, before embracing each other. The band continue this routine for the rest of the video, before changing into slightly more casual clothes. The band finish the video with arms around each other's shoulders.\n\nPromotion and sales performance\nThe band did not preview the song on their reunion tour, and instead promoted the album track \"Can't Stop Thinking About You\", which was originally intended for release as a single. The band, however, made numerous public, television and radio appearances to promote the single. The band performed as a part of the annual Blackpool Illuminations in August 2008. On 7 September 2008 they appeared as guest hosts on The Sunday Night Project with Justin Lee Collins and Alan Carr. They performed the song on the ITV entertainment show For One Night Only on 14 September 2008, live from the Fountain Studios in Wembley. On 25 September they appeared on This Morning on GMTV and performed the song in front of Phillip Schofield and Fern Britton. The music video was first aired on The Box music channel on 3 September. The song received its first radio play on Terry Wogan's Radio 2 show on 20 August.\n\nThe song reached No. 5 on the UK Charts and No. 3 on the Irish Charts as well as medium success in Europe. In the UK, the song sold 88,000 copies during its nine weeks in the charts and worldwide the figure is at 120,000.\n\nTrack listing\n UK CD single / Digital single\n \"Love You Anyway\" - 3:20\n \"Isn't It a Wonder\" (Live on The Reunion Tour) - 3:37\n\n German CD single / Digital EP\n \"Love You Anyway\" - 3:20\n \"Isn't It a Wonder\" (Live on The Reunion Tour) - 3:37\n \"When The Going Gets Tough\" - 3:36\n \"No Matter What\" (Live on The Reunion Tour) - 4:43\n \"Love You Anyway\" (Music Video)\n\nChart positions\nOn 5 October 2008, the song peaked at No. 5 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the group's 17th consecutive top 5 hit in the UK. It also charted at No. 6 in the Irish Singles Chart in its first week and rose to No. 3 the next week.\n\nExternal links\nMusic video\n\nReferences\n\n2008 singles\nBoyzone songs\nSongs written by Ronan Keating\nSongs written by Nick Atkinson\nSongs written by Jarrad Rogers\n2008 songs\nPolydor Records singles"
]
|
[
"Day26",
"2013-present: Reunion and The Return Tour",
"when did day26 reunited?",
"November 21, 2013, fans received word through Twitter from several group members that the group would reunite",
"did all the members reunite or some of them?",
"Spring 2017, all members of Day26 announced over social media they would hold a \"10 Year Anniversary Experience\" concert",
"how did that concert go?",
"the venue being sold out and overwhelming fans demanding more tickets,",
"where else did they go for their reunion tour?",
"the band decided add an encore concert for August 27.",
"what songs did they play on their reunion tour?",
"I don't know."
]
| C_190fef0586f3462b99cc9d0559e4242e_0 | is there anything else that was interesting about their reunion? | 6 | Along with Day26 reuniting, is there anything else that was interesting? | Day26 | On Thursday November 21, 2013, fans received word through Twitter from several group members that the group would reunite and be planning a tour for the next year. Several videos have hit the web showing the group recording material for an upcoming new album. The group planned to release the album before the tour kicked off and in doing so, signed with BMG Rights Management. On May 26, 2014, Day26 releases their first single called "Bullshit" off their upcoming EP entitled "The Return", that was set to release on June 26, 2014. In Spring 2017, all members of Day26 announced over social media they would hold a "10 Year Anniversary Experience" concert that would take place at the Highline Ballroom in New York City on August 26, to commemorate the day they were formed in 2007. Due to the venue being sold out and overwhelming fans demanding more tickets, the band decided add an encore concert for August 27. Joining the concerts' roster of performances is the bands' fellow reality show Making The Band 4/label mate Donnie Klang, who will also celebrate his 10-year solo reunion of the day he was chosen by P. Diddy, which kick-started their careers. In a recent interview with radio personality Sway on his radio show, Sways Universe, Willie announced that the group was recording their third studio album, while also discussing what fame has done for the group in their 10-year run as well as opening up about the controversy with Diddy not allowing the band to appear in the Bad Boy Family Reunion Tour. CANNOTANSWER | The group planned to release the album before the tour kicked off and in doing so, signed with BMG Rights Management. | Day26 is an American male R&B music group formed in August 2007 by Sean "Diddy" Combs in a handpicked selection at the end of MTV's Making the Band 4. The group consists of Robert Curry, Brian Angel, Willie Taylor, Qwanell Mosley and Michael McCluney. The moniker is a tribute to the day when Angel, McCluney, Mosely, Curry, and Taylor went from unknowns to stars. The group released their first album, Day26, on March 25, 2008, one week after their then labelmates and Making the Band 3 winners Danity Kane released Welcome to the Dollhouse. The album's first single, "Got Me Going", was released on the finale of Making the Band 4. The album went on to debut at number one on the billboard charts. Subsequent seasons of Making the Band 4 featured the group on tour and making their second album Forever in a Day which also topped the Billboard charts.
Career
Making the Band 4 returned to MTV for another season and followed Day26, Danity Kane and Donnie Klang on the Making The Band tour. Season 3, Part 2 of Making The Band 4 debuted on February 12, 2009. The season followed Day26 as they recorded their second album, Forever in a Day, which was released April 14, 2009.
2007–2008: Formation of group and Day26
Day26 was founded on the Making the Band 4 Season 1 finale on August 26, 2007. Brian Andrews, Michael McCluney, Qwanell Mosley, Robert Curry, and Willie Taylor were chosen to be a part of Diddy's brand new all-male R&B music group, while fellow cast member Donnie Klang was chosen as a solo artist for Bad Boy Records. The name Day 26 was selected from the day that they were picked which was August 26, 2007.
After being signed as a group to Bad Boy, Day 26 began another season of Making the Band with label mates Danity Kane and Donnie Klang. Upon this season, Day 26's debut single "Got Me Going" was released to download in January 2008. "Got Me Going" eventually peaked at #79 on the Billboard Hot 100. Day 26 later released their self-titled album Day26 on March 25, 2008. The next week, the album debuted at #1 on Billboard 200 selling 190,000 copies. This is the third feat. at #1 for Bad Boy winners. Album production includes Mario Winans, Danja, Bryan-Michael Cox, The Runners, and upon many others. The second single "Since You've Been Gone" was released on June 9, 2008. The song failed to reach Billboard Hot 100, but peaked at #52 on Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. A third single was planned, but was scrapped due to low album sales, and production on their next album. Overall, the album sold 387,000 copies.
On August 19, 2008, Day26 returned with another season of Making the Band. This season involved in Making the Band 4 - The Tour, which resolved to the break-up of Danity Kane.
2009–2011: Forever In A Day and new lineup
Making the Band 4 returned to MTV for another season and followed Day26, Danity Kane and Donnie Klang on the Making The Band tour. Season 3, Part 2 of Making The Band 4 debuted on February 12, 2009.
MTV aired part II of the final season of Making The Band 4. The season followed Day26 as they recorded their second album, Forever in a Day, which was released April 14, 2009. It also featured past Danity Kane members Dawn Richard and Aundrea Fimbres trying to move forward with their group.
During the season, Que had multiple disagreements with Screwface, the group's new manager, and multiple members of the group.
In December 2009, after differences with their new management team, especially their manager Screwface, Que parted ways with the group.
Que has made several videos talking about the split. On his UStream, he read an excerpt of the letter he received announcing him that he was dropped from the group.
Dear Qwanell,
I have been instructed by the members of Day26 copied here to formally advise you that the group members no longer desire to work with you. The members request that no longer you nor any of our representatives contact on behalf or concerning Day26. You may have your attorneys, also copied here, direct any inquiries to my attention.
Brian, Willie, Robert and Michael wish you the best in your future endeavors
Que appeared in the Imma Put It on Her music video and subsequent music videos for the album.
2011–2012: A New Day and break-up
In November 2011, the group released the single Made Love Lately. The music video was released in January 2012. They also announced that they were working on a new album to be titled A New Day.
On July 16, 2012, news hit the media that Day26 had officially announced their breakup and plans to continue on with their solo careers.
It is with great sadness and deep pain that we regret to inform you that effective immediately, Atlantic Records Platinum recording group, DAY26 have decided to take a break from the group and focus on their own individual projects. On behalf of all the members; Willie, Mike, Rob, Brian and even Que, we would like to thank all of the “fams” aka fans, dj’s across the world, promoters, radio programmers, Bad Boy Entertainment, Starstruck Management, BET, VH1 and FUSE and all DAY26 supporters in general, for your unending support throughout these years.
We would also like to acknowledge that this journey would have not been made possible without the vision and mastermind of Sean “Diddy” Combs and of course MTV Networks for making a group of unknown men, the stars that they are today.
We simply thank you from the bottom of our hearts and really want you to know that the journey does not end here. We continue to wish each other the very best and continued success in all of our individual endeavors, and all we ask of you is to please give each member a chance and the opportunity to shine in whatever they do.
... And as the saying goes, this is not a goodbye, but a simply see you later.
God bless you all,
Much Love, Day26.
2013–present: Reunion and The Return Tour
On Thursday November 21, 2013, fans received word through Twitter from several group members that the group would reunite and be planning a tour for the next year. Several videos have hit the web showing the group recording material for an upcoming new album. The group planned to release the album before the tour kicked off and in doing so, signed with BMG Rights Management. On May 26, 2014, Day26 releases their first single called "Bullshit" off their upcoming EP entitled "The Return", that was set to release on June 26, 2014.
In Spring 2017, all members of Day26 announced over social media they would hold a "10 Year Anniversary Experience" concert that would take place at the Highline Ballroom in New York City on August 26, to commemorate the day they were formed in 2007. Due to the venue being sold out and overwhelming fans demanding more tickets, the band decided add an encore concert for August 27. Joining the concerts' roster of performances is the bands' fellow reality show Making The Band 4/label mate Donnie Klang, who will also celebrate his 10-year solo reunion of the day he was chosen by P. Diddy, which kick-started their careers.
In a recent interview with radio personality Sway on his radio show, Sways Universe, Willie announced that the group was recording their third studio album, while also discussing what fame has done for the group in their 10-year run as well as opening up about the controversy with Diddy not allowing the band to appear in the Bad Boy Family Reunion Tour.
On June 29, 2018 Brian Angel leaves Day 26. The singer announced his departure via an Instagram post. "To all the Day26 fans. It saddens me to announce that i am no longer part of Day 26 no there's no problems amongst us, no anger or anything to that nature. this was a decision that i made solely myself. as you guys know we just recently celebrated our 10th year anniversary. they are currently on tour. and yes I've been absent from the tour dealing with a lot of personal issues. i wish the guys of Day 26 nothing but the best(of course im forever Day 26 its tattooed in my skin) but this a chapter in my life i must close. i'am focused on Brian Angel and all my solo endeavors. I look forward to all your future support... God Bless You All"
Pre-Day26 Careers
Respectively, two of the band members were seasoned artists prior to auditioning for the series "Making the Band". Their developing careers would eventually lead them to their path of success.
Robert Curry
Robert was part of a vocal/hip hop teen duo from Detroit in the late 1990s called "Antuan & Ray Ray" which had 3 song collaborations and features on New Edition/BBD member Mike Bivins record label BIV 10 "The Adventures of the BIV 10 Pee Wee All Stars" Album. Robert performed under the stage name 'Antuan', and his other half of the group 'Ray Ray' is Rashad Morgan who went on to become an R&B artist on Rapper T.I. Grand Hustle Records. Their best known song and video from the album was "Feelin It", which was also part of the animated film "Our Friend, Martin" soundtrack. Another well received track on the album the duo recorded was "The Rain", a remake cover version of the 1974 classic song "Remember The Rain" by The 21st Century. After his contribution with BIV 10, Curry became a songwriter, contributing lyrics for many artist of the industry.
Willie Taylor
Willie was formerly part of an R&B vocal group from his hometown of Chicago called "Kwiet Storm" in the late 1990s. Their band released a music video "Leave Me Alone", which circulated on BET music video playlists and shows including 106 & Park. Taylor left the band after a few years later to begin a solo career and become a songwriter for many artists such as Jagged Edge and Ginuwine.The group Kwiet Storm would eventually sign with Island Def Jam a few years after Willie became part of Day 26.
Post-Day26 Solo Careers
Music
During the hiatus split of Day26 and after reuniting, each member embarked on their independent solo projects along with other endeavors they pursued:
Each member released various singles that is not associated with the Mixtapes/EPs, and they also appeared as features on many artists projects.
Television/Film & Theater
Willie Taylor is most known for displaying his relationship with his wife for the 2nd and 3rd season of the VH1's popular reality show Love & Hip Hop Hollywood. He also co-starred in the Chocolate City films: Chocolate City:Vegas Strip and an upcoming 3rd part Chocolate City: Live Tour. Will joined the off-off Broadway circuit appearing in David E. Talbert's stage play "A Fool and His Money" in 2012. He is currently starring alongside R&B Diva Monifah in the urban stage play "Man of the House" in October 2017. He also appears in a few independent films that was previously released and is starring in some upcoming projects as well.
Robert Curry made a guest appearance in an Atlanta urban stage play "Let It Burn" in 2016, and starred in the 2017 stage play "I Cheated, So What!" alongside American Idol Winner Fantasia Barrino brother Ricco Barrino. Christopher Williams & Jessica Reedy.
Mike McCluney is appearing in the upcoming film "Conumdrum: Secrets Among Friends" which stars Cameron Bright, Kristina DeBarge & Jo Marie Payton.
Discography
Studio albums
Day26 (2008)
Forever In A Day (2009)
The Return (2014)
A New Day (2018)
Awards and nominations
American Music Awards
2009, Favorite R&B/Hip-Hop Band Duo or Group (Nominated)
BET Awards
2009, Best Group (Won)
2008, Best Group (Nominated)
Image Awards
2010, Outstanding Duo or Group (Nominated)
Teen Choice Awards
2008, Choice Breakout Group (Nominated)
Online Hip Hop Awards
2008, Digital Download of the Year (R&B) for "Got Me Going" (Won)
Urban Music Awards
2009, Best Music Video: Imma Put It On Her (Nominated)
2009, Best Male Act (Nominated)
References
External links
Official site
Day26 Interview
Day26 sex talk Interview
African-American musical groups
American contemporary R&B musical groups
Atlantic Records artists
Bad Boy Records artists
American boy bands
Living people
Musical quartets
Warner Music Group artists
Musical groups established in 2007
Musical groups disestablished in 2012
Musical groups reestablished in 2013
Year of birth missing (living people) | true | [
"\"How Interesting: A Tiny Man\" is a 2010 science fiction/magical realism short story by American writer Harlan Ellison. It was first published in Realms of Fantasy.\n\nPlot summary\nA scientist creates a tiny man. The tiny man is initially very popular, but then draws the hatred of the world, and so the tiny man must flee, together with the scientist (who is now likewise hated, for having created the tiny man).\n\nReception\n\"How Interesting: A Tiny Man\" won the 2010 Nebula Award for Best Short Story, tied with Kij Johnson's \"Ponies\". It was Ellison's final Nebula nomination and win, of his record-setting eight nominations and three wins.\n\nTor.com calls the story \"deceptively simple\", with \"execution (that) is flawless\" and a \"Geppetto-like\" narrator, while Publishers Weekly describes it as \"memorably depict(ing) humanity's smallness of spirit\". The SF Site, however, felt it was \"contrived and less than profound\".\n\nNick Mamatas compared \"How Interesting: A Tiny Man\" negatively to Ellison's other Nebula-winning short stories, and stated that the story's two mutually exclusive endings (in one, the tiny man is killed; in the other, he becomes God) are evocative of the process of writing short stories. Ben Peek considered it to be \"more allegory than (...) anything else\", and interpreted it as being about how the media \"give(s) everyone a voice\", and also about how Ellison was treated by science fiction fandom.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nAudio version of ''How Interesting: A Tiny Man, at StarShipSofa\nHow Interesting: A Tiny Man, at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database\n\nNebula Award for Best Short Story-winning works\nShort stories by Harlan Ellison",
"Dig-It is an album by saxophonists Lee Konitz and Ted Brown recorded in 1999 and released on the Danish SteepleChase label.\n\nCritical reception\n\nIn JazzTimes, Duck Baker wrote: \"A less known figure, Brown is nevertheless a wonderful player; his style basically as it was in the ’50s, occupying sort of a middle ground between Warne Marsh and Lester Young. It’s interesting to note the subtle difference in Konitz’s approach here, compared to his work with the like-minded Marsh. ... I’ve always felt that returning to this material brings out the best in Konitz, and it’s great to hear Brown again\". On All About Jazz, Marc Corotto noted \"This reunion in a pianoless quartet is all about their mentor, Lennie Tristano. His music (their music) of the 1940/50’s paralleled bebop, but in a complex multi-layered way. Tristano was said to have instructed the two to play “...deliberately uninflected, in a neutral tone, concentrating instead on the solo.” This style, reflected on this release, is anything but unemotional. Konitz and Brown’s cool tones create a delicate internal tension that is and was a bridge between Charlie Parker and Ornette Coleman\".\n\nTrack listing \nAll compositions by Lee Konitz except where noted\n \"Smog Eyes\" (Ted Brown) – 8:28\n \"Dig-It\" (Brown) – 8:03\n \"317 E. 32nd Street\" (Lennie Tristano) – 7:08\n \"Dream Stepper\" – 7:12\n \"Down the Drain\" – 4:34\n \"Hi Beck\" – 9:38\n \"Featherbed\" (Brown) – 9:04\n \"Kary's Trance\" – 6:43\n \"Subconscious Lee\" – 11:29\n\nPersonnel \nLee Konitz – alto saxophone\nTed Brown – tenor saxophone\nRon McClure – bass\nJeff Williams – drums\n\nReferences \n\nLee Konitz albums\nTed Brown (saxophonist) albums\n1999 albums\nSteepleChase Records albums"
]
|
[
"Day26",
"2013-present: Reunion and The Return Tour",
"when did day26 reunited?",
"November 21, 2013, fans received word through Twitter from several group members that the group would reunite",
"did all the members reunite or some of them?",
"Spring 2017, all members of Day26 announced over social media they would hold a \"10 Year Anniversary Experience\" concert",
"how did that concert go?",
"the venue being sold out and overwhelming fans demanding more tickets,",
"where else did they go for their reunion tour?",
"the band decided add an encore concert for August 27.",
"what songs did they play on their reunion tour?",
"I don't know.",
"is there anything else that was interesting about their reunion?",
"The group planned to release the album before the tour kicked off and in doing so, signed with BMG Rights Management."
]
| C_190fef0586f3462b99cc9d0559e4242e_0 | when did they sign with BMG? | 7 | when did Day26 sign with BMG? | Day26 | On Thursday November 21, 2013, fans received word through Twitter from several group members that the group would reunite and be planning a tour for the next year. Several videos have hit the web showing the group recording material for an upcoming new album. The group planned to release the album before the tour kicked off and in doing so, signed with BMG Rights Management. On May 26, 2014, Day26 releases their first single called "Bullshit" off their upcoming EP entitled "The Return", that was set to release on June 26, 2014. In Spring 2017, all members of Day26 announced over social media they would hold a "10 Year Anniversary Experience" concert that would take place at the Highline Ballroom in New York City on August 26, to commemorate the day they were formed in 2007. Due to the venue being sold out and overwhelming fans demanding more tickets, the band decided add an encore concert for August 27. Joining the concerts' roster of performances is the bands' fellow reality show Making The Band 4/label mate Donnie Klang, who will also celebrate his 10-year solo reunion of the day he was chosen by P. Diddy, which kick-started their careers. In a recent interview with radio personality Sway on his radio show, Sways Universe, Willie announced that the group was recording their third studio album, while also discussing what fame has done for the group in their 10-year run as well as opening up about the controversy with Diddy not allowing the band to appear in the Bad Boy Family Reunion Tour. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Day26 is an American male R&B music group formed in August 2007 by Sean "Diddy" Combs in a handpicked selection at the end of MTV's Making the Band 4. The group consists of Robert Curry, Brian Angel, Willie Taylor, Qwanell Mosley and Michael McCluney. The moniker is a tribute to the day when Angel, McCluney, Mosely, Curry, and Taylor went from unknowns to stars. The group released their first album, Day26, on March 25, 2008, one week after their then labelmates and Making the Band 3 winners Danity Kane released Welcome to the Dollhouse. The album's first single, "Got Me Going", was released on the finale of Making the Band 4. The album went on to debut at number one on the billboard charts. Subsequent seasons of Making the Band 4 featured the group on tour and making their second album Forever in a Day which also topped the Billboard charts.
Career
Making the Band 4 returned to MTV for another season and followed Day26, Danity Kane and Donnie Klang on the Making The Band tour. Season 3, Part 2 of Making The Band 4 debuted on February 12, 2009. The season followed Day26 as they recorded their second album, Forever in a Day, which was released April 14, 2009.
2007–2008: Formation of group and Day26
Day26 was founded on the Making the Band 4 Season 1 finale on August 26, 2007. Brian Andrews, Michael McCluney, Qwanell Mosley, Robert Curry, and Willie Taylor were chosen to be a part of Diddy's brand new all-male R&B music group, while fellow cast member Donnie Klang was chosen as a solo artist for Bad Boy Records. The name Day 26 was selected from the day that they were picked which was August 26, 2007.
After being signed as a group to Bad Boy, Day 26 began another season of Making the Band with label mates Danity Kane and Donnie Klang. Upon this season, Day 26's debut single "Got Me Going" was released to download in January 2008. "Got Me Going" eventually peaked at #79 on the Billboard Hot 100. Day 26 later released their self-titled album Day26 on March 25, 2008. The next week, the album debuted at #1 on Billboard 200 selling 190,000 copies. This is the third feat. at #1 for Bad Boy winners. Album production includes Mario Winans, Danja, Bryan-Michael Cox, The Runners, and upon many others. The second single "Since You've Been Gone" was released on June 9, 2008. The song failed to reach Billboard Hot 100, but peaked at #52 on Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. A third single was planned, but was scrapped due to low album sales, and production on their next album. Overall, the album sold 387,000 copies.
On August 19, 2008, Day26 returned with another season of Making the Band. This season involved in Making the Band 4 - The Tour, which resolved to the break-up of Danity Kane.
2009–2011: Forever In A Day and new lineup
Making the Band 4 returned to MTV for another season and followed Day26, Danity Kane and Donnie Klang on the Making The Band tour. Season 3, Part 2 of Making The Band 4 debuted on February 12, 2009.
MTV aired part II of the final season of Making The Band 4. The season followed Day26 as they recorded their second album, Forever in a Day, which was released April 14, 2009. It also featured past Danity Kane members Dawn Richard and Aundrea Fimbres trying to move forward with their group.
During the season, Que had multiple disagreements with Screwface, the group's new manager, and multiple members of the group.
In December 2009, after differences with their new management team, especially their manager Screwface, Que parted ways with the group.
Que has made several videos talking about the split. On his UStream, he read an excerpt of the letter he received announcing him that he was dropped from the group.
Dear Qwanell,
I have been instructed by the members of Day26 copied here to formally advise you that the group members no longer desire to work with you. The members request that no longer you nor any of our representatives contact on behalf or concerning Day26. You may have your attorneys, also copied here, direct any inquiries to my attention.
Brian, Willie, Robert and Michael wish you the best in your future endeavors
Que appeared in the Imma Put It on Her music video and subsequent music videos for the album.
2011–2012: A New Day and break-up
In November 2011, the group released the single Made Love Lately. The music video was released in January 2012. They also announced that they were working on a new album to be titled A New Day.
On July 16, 2012, news hit the media that Day26 had officially announced their breakup and plans to continue on with their solo careers.
It is with great sadness and deep pain that we regret to inform you that effective immediately, Atlantic Records Platinum recording group, DAY26 have decided to take a break from the group and focus on their own individual projects. On behalf of all the members; Willie, Mike, Rob, Brian and even Que, we would like to thank all of the “fams” aka fans, dj’s across the world, promoters, radio programmers, Bad Boy Entertainment, Starstruck Management, BET, VH1 and FUSE and all DAY26 supporters in general, for your unending support throughout these years.
We would also like to acknowledge that this journey would have not been made possible without the vision and mastermind of Sean “Diddy” Combs and of course MTV Networks for making a group of unknown men, the stars that they are today.
We simply thank you from the bottom of our hearts and really want you to know that the journey does not end here. We continue to wish each other the very best and continued success in all of our individual endeavors, and all we ask of you is to please give each member a chance and the opportunity to shine in whatever they do.
... And as the saying goes, this is not a goodbye, but a simply see you later.
God bless you all,
Much Love, Day26.
2013–present: Reunion and The Return Tour
On Thursday November 21, 2013, fans received word through Twitter from several group members that the group would reunite and be planning a tour for the next year. Several videos have hit the web showing the group recording material for an upcoming new album. The group planned to release the album before the tour kicked off and in doing so, signed with BMG Rights Management. On May 26, 2014, Day26 releases their first single called "Bullshit" off their upcoming EP entitled "The Return", that was set to release on June 26, 2014.
In Spring 2017, all members of Day26 announced over social media they would hold a "10 Year Anniversary Experience" concert that would take place at the Highline Ballroom in New York City on August 26, to commemorate the day they were formed in 2007. Due to the venue being sold out and overwhelming fans demanding more tickets, the band decided add an encore concert for August 27. Joining the concerts' roster of performances is the bands' fellow reality show Making The Band 4/label mate Donnie Klang, who will also celebrate his 10-year solo reunion of the day he was chosen by P. Diddy, which kick-started their careers.
In a recent interview with radio personality Sway on his radio show, Sways Universe, Willie announced that the group was recording their third studio album, while also discussing what fame has done for the group in their 10-year run as well as opening up about the controversy with Diddy not allowing the band to appear in the Bad Boy Family Reunion Tour.
On June 29, 2018 Brian Angel leaves Day 26. The singer announced his departure via an Instagram post. "To all the Day26 fans. It saddens me to announce that i am no longer part of Day 26 no there's no problems amongst us, no anger or anything to that nature. this was a decision that i made solely myself. as you guys know we just recently celebrated our 10th year anniversary. they are currently on tour. and yes I've been absent from the tour dealing with a lot of personal issues. i wish the guys of Day 26 nothing but the best(of course im forever Day 26 its tattooed in my skin) but this a chapter in my life i must close. i'am focused on Brian Angel and all my solo endeavors. I look forward to all your future support... God Bless You All"
Pre-Day26 Careers
Respectively, two of the band members were seasoned artists prior to auditioning for the series "Making the Band". Their developing careers would eventually lead them to their path of success.
Robert Curry
Robert was part of a vocal/hip hop teen duo from Detroit in the late 1990s called "Antuan & Ray Ray" which had 3 song collaborations and features on New Edition/BBD member Mike Bivins record label BIV 10 "The Adventures of the BIV 10 Pee Wee All Stars" Album. Robert performed under the stage name 'Antuan', and his other half of the group 'Ray Ray' is Rashad Morgan who went on to become an R&B artist on Rapper T.I. Grand Hustle Records. Their best known song and video from the album was "Feelin It", which was also part of the animated film "Our Friend, Martin" soundtrack. Another well received track on the album the duo recorded was "The Rain", a remake cover version of the 1974 classic song "Remember The Rain" by The 21st Century. After his contribution with BIV 10, Curry became a songwriter, contributing lyrics for many artist of the industry.
Willie Taylor
Willie was formerly part of an R&B vocal group from his hometown of Chicago called "Kwiet Storm" in the late 1990s. Their band released a music video "Leave Me Alone", which circulated on BET music video playlists and shows including 106 & Park. Taylor left the band after a few years later to begin a solo career and become a songwriter for many artists such as Jagged Edge and Ginuwine.The group Kwiet Storm would eventually sign with Island Def Jam a few years after Willie became part of Day 26.
Post-Day26 Solo Careers
Music
During the hiatus split of Day26 and after reuniting, each member embarked on their independent solo projects along with other endeavors they pursued:
Each member released various singles that is not associated with the Mixtapes/EPs, and they also appeared as features on many artists projects.
Television/Film & Theater
Willie Taylor is most known for displaying his relationship with his wife for the 2nd and 3rd season of the VH1's popular reality show Love & Hip Hop Hollywood. He also co-starred in the Chocolate City films: Chocolate City:Vegas Strip and an upcoming 3rd part Chocolate City: Live Tour. Will joined the off-off Broadway circuit appearing in David E. Talbert's stage play "A Fool and His Money" in 2012. He is currently starring alongside R&B Diva Monifah in the urban stage play "Man of the House" in October 2017. He also appears in a few independent films that was previously released and is starring in some upcoming projects as well.
Robert Curry made a guest appearance in an Atlanta urban stage play "Let It Burn" in 2016, and starred in the 2017 stage play "I Cheated, So What!" alongside American Idol Winner Fantasia Barrino brother Ricco Barrino. Christopher Williams & Jessica Reedy.
Mike McCluney is appearing in the upcoming film "Conumdrum: Secrets Among Friends" which stars Cameron Bright, Kristina DeBarge & Jo Marie Payton.
Discography
Studio albums
Day26 (2008)
Forever In A Day (2009)
The Return (2014)
A New Day (2018)
Awards and nominations
American Music Awards
2009, Favorite R&B/Hip-Hop Band Duo or Group (Nominated)
BET Awards
2009, Best Group (Won)
2008, Best Group (Nominated)
Image Awards
2010, Outstanding Duo or Group (Nominated)
Teen Choice Awards
2008, Choice Breakout Group (Nominated)
Online Hip Hop Awards
2008, Digital Download of the Year (R&B) for "Got Me Going" (Won)
Urban Music Awards
2009, Best Music Video: Imma Put It On Her (Nominated)
2009, Best Male Act (Nominated)
References
External links
Official site
Day26 Interview
Day26 sex talk Interview
African-American musical groups
American contemporary R&B musical groups
Atlantic Records artists
Bad Boy Records artists
American boy bands
Living people
Musical quartets
Warner Music Group artists
Musical groups established in 2007
Musical groups disestablished in 2012
Musical groups reestablished in 2013
Year of birth missing (living people) | false | [
"Joy Destiny Tiurma Tobing (born 20 March 1980) is an Indonesian gospel singer and the winner of the first season of Indonesian Idol.\n\nBiography\nTobing was a gospel singer when she signed up for the first season of Indonesian Idol, leading to some criticism since she was not considered an amateur.\n\nShe was expected to represent Indonesia in the Asian Idol and World Idol competitions, but disagreement arose with the idol show management, Indomugi Pratama, and her recording company, BMG Indonesia, insisting that as an artist she should not only have obligations but also have rights. During a press conference in November 2004, the team of Indomugi Pratama, BMG Indonesia, RCTI, and FremantleMedia, who hold the license of the Indonesian Idol program, claimed they were not sending Tobing to any Asian or World Idol because of this. They considered her disobedience as her failure to behave as a good idol.\n\nIn March 2005, Tobing terminated her contract with BMG Indonesia which, in September 2004, released her Idol album Terima Kasih. At her press conference, Tobing and her lawyer stated that the reason she had long been treated unfairly, BMG Indonesia had never informed her about the selling of the album and did not give her any royalties.\n\nContests\n 1994: Cipta Pesona Bintang, RCTI\n 1995: 1 Final Aksi, RCTI\n 1997: Pioneer Asia 5th Laser Karaoke Competition\n 2004: Indonesian Idol, RCTI\n2013: \"Fake ID\"\n\nIndonesian Idol performances\n Top 30: Nothing Compares 2 U by Sinéad O'Connor\n Top 11: Seindah Biasa by Siti Nurhaliza\n Top 9: Khayal by Purnama Sultan\n Top 8: To Love You More by Céline Dion\n Top 7: Pelangi by Chrisye\n Top 6: Kamu Harus Cepat Pulang by Slank\n Top 5: Pesta by Elfa's Singer\n Top 4: Mengertilah Kasih by Ruth Sahanaya\n Top 4: Kuakui by Dewi Sandra\n Top 3: Yang Terbaik by Ruth Sahanaya\n Top 3: Surat Cinta by Vina Panduwinata\n Grand Final: Karena Cinta by Glenn Fredly\n Grand Final: Kuakui by Dewi Sandra\n Grand Final: The Trouble With Love Is by Kelly Clarkson\n\nGolden Memories Asia performances\n Top 24: Jangan Biarkan by Diana Nasution\n Top 20: Cinta Jangan Kau Pergi by Sheila Majid\n Top 16: Tanda-tanda by Mus Mujiono\n Top 12: Logika by Vina Panduwinata\n Top 9 Show Seandainya Aku Punya Sayap by Rita Butar-butar\n Top 9 Result: Mata Lelaki by Nicky Astria\n Top 6 Show: Ekspresi by Titi DJ\n Top 6 Result: Nuansa Bening by Keenan Nasution\n Top 4 Show: Cinta by Titiek Puspa\n Top 4 Result: TBA\n Grand Final Show: TBA\n Grand Final Result: TBA\n\nControversy\nBefore joining the Indonesian Idol competition, Tobing had released several records, mostly Christian songs and songs in her family's ethnic language, Batak. According to Tobing's father, BMG Indonesia had been informed about this during the parents' interview with BMG when she advanced to the finals. It became big news when Octopus Record published her old record, The Song Of Joy, around the same time as the release of Terima Kasih, her Idol album, and during her dispute with Indomugi Pratama and BMG Indonesia. The Song of Joy was recorded from 1998 to 1999, but had not been released until September 2004. According to Octopus Record, they had asked permission from BMG to release Tobing's old records. They also offered to buy the recording master from BMG so there would be no competition, but BMG refused.\n\nThe incidents between some finalists and the show management, Indomugi Pratama, had actually occurred previously. One of the Top 4, Helena Andrian, canceled her contract and had to withdraw from the competition shortly before the grand final, causing her to be hastily expelled in the middle of the night from the apartment provided for the finalists. According to Adrian, around 2–3 weeks before the grand final, the finalists were suddenly asked to sign a new contract with a new show management, Indomugi Pratama, with little time to consult or think about the contents, and little information was provided regarding their future management program. Among the clauses with which she disagreed were that all finalists were bound to Indomugi Pratama until three months after the grand final, when Indomugi Pratama would then decide who would stay with them for the following three years. Afterwards, Indomugi Pratama would still continue to receive royalties for a total of 15 years.\n\nDiscography\n Didia (\"Where\")\n Pada Kaki Salib-Mu (\"At The Foot of Your Cross\") with her sister, Jelita Tobing\n Praise & Worship (compilation)\n Wave Of Worship (compilation)\n Katakan Salahku\n Joy\n The Song Of Joy\n Indonesian Idol: Indonesian All-Time Hits (compilation)\n Terima Kasih (\"Thank You\", 2004)\n Rise (2005)\n Mujizat Itu Nyata (\"The Miracle is True\", 2006)\n Faithful (2008)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nOfficial site of Joy Tobing\n\n1980 births\nEnglish-language singers from Indonesia\nIndonesian Christians\n21st-century Indonesian women singers\nIndonesian gospel singers\nIndonesian Idol winners\nIndonesian performers of Christian music\nIndonesian pop singers\nLiving people\nPeople of Batak descent\nSingers from Jakarta",
"Betty Goes Green is a Belgian rock band founded in 1990.\n\nBiography \n\nThe group convinced Mike Rathke (producer and guitar player of Lou Reed) to produce their album \"Hunuluria\", of which two good singles are taken: \"Cold by the sea\" and \"Life Long Devotion\".\n\nRathke also produces their album \"Hand Some\", on which Lou Reed also sings on one song. On the album, the guitars are being played by Tjenne Berghmans (Clouseau), due to a fatal illness of their original guitarist Pieter De Cort. He dies of cancer in 1994.\n \nIn 1996, the group decides to take a step down: they sign up for a smaller record label (B-Track) and record a new album. Their devoted friend Lou Reed is still enthusiastic and takes the group with him on his European Tour.\n\nThe single \"The Well\" becomes a huge radio hit. In 1998, singer Luc Crabbe en Tony Gezels also take part in a new project of Kloot Per W called \"Zen-On\".\n\nThe album \"Dreamers & Lovers\" was recorded in the band's own homestudio, with only a brass-section with Bart Maris coming to the aid of the band. \"Dreamers & Lovers\" got an international release in the Fall of 2000.\n\nDiscography\n\nStudioalbums \n\n Hell Of A Show (1991, Boom!)\n Hunaluria (1993, BMG/Ariola)\n Hand Some (1994, BMG)\n Hedonic Tone (1996, B-track)\n The Well (1998, Sony Columbia)\n Dreamers and Lovers (2000, B-track)\n\nSingles \n\n Betty Goes Green (1991, Boom!)\n Cold By The sea (1993, BMG/Ariola) \n Life Long devotion (1993, BMG/Ariola) \n I Love It (1994, BMG)\n Go To Hook Her (1994, BMG)\n Ring Ring (1996, B-Track)\n Heimet (1997, Sony Columbia)\n The Well (1998, Sony Columbia\n\nExternal links \n Official site\n\nBelgian alternative rock groups\nMusical groups established in 1990"
]
|
[
"Dave Holland",
"With Miles Davis"
]
| C_65ba8b8c64cf4df6bd631370a68ee1d0_1 | When did Holland Meet Miles davis? | 1 | When did Dave Holland Meet Miles davis? | Dave Holland | In 1968, Miles Davis and Philly Joe Jones heard him at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, playing in a combo that opened for the Bill Evans Trio. Jones told Holland that Davis wanted him to join his band (replacing Ron Carter). Davis left the UK before Holland could contact him directly, and two weeks later Holland was given three days' notice to fly to New York for an engagement at Count Basie's nightclub. He arrived the night before, staying with Jack DeJohnette, a previous acquaintance. The following day Herbie Hancock took him to the club, and his two years with Davis began. This was also Hancock's last gig as Davis's pianist, as he left afterwards for a honeymoon in Brazil and was replaced by Chick Corea when he could not return for an engagement due to illness. Holland's first recordings with Davis were in September 1968, and he appears on half of the album Filles de Kilimanjaro (with Davis, Corea, Wayne Shorter and Tony Williams). Holland was a member of Davis's rhythm section through the summer of 1970; he appears on the albums In a Silent Way and Bitches' Brew. All three of his studio recordings with Davis were important in the evolution of jazz fusion. In the first year of his tenure with Davis, Holland played primarily upright bass. By the end of 1969, he played electric bass guitar (often treated with wah-wah pedal and other electronic effects) with greater frequency as Davis moved away from acoustic jazz. Holland was also a member of Davis's working group during this time, unlike many of the musicians who appeared only on the trumpeter's studio recordings. The so-called "lost quintet" of Davis, Shorter, Corea, Holland and DeJohnette was active in 1969 but never made any studio recordings as a quintet. A 1970 live recording of this group plus percussionist Airto Moreira, Live at the Fillmore East, March 7, 1970: It's About That Time, was issued in 2001. Steve Grossman replaced Shorter in early 1970; Keith Jarrett joined the group as a second keyboardist thereafter, and Gary Bartz replaced Grossman during the summer of 1970. By the end of the summer, rhythm and blues bass guitarist Michael Henderson had replaced Holland. CANNOTANSWER | In 1968, Miles Davis and Philly Joe Jones heard him at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, | Dave Holland (born 1 October 1946) is an English jazz double bassist, composer and bandleader who has been performing and recording for five decades. He has lived in the United States for over 40 years.
His work ranges from pieces for solo performance to big band. Holland runs his own independent record label, Dare2, which he launched in 2005.
Biography
Born in Wolverhampton, England, Holland taught himself how to play stringed instruments, beginning at four on the ukulele, then graduating to guitar and later bass guitar. He quit school at the age of 15 to pursue his profession in a pop band, but soon gravitated to jazz. After seeing an issue of Down Beat where Ray Brown had won the critics' poll for best bass player, Holland went to a record store, and bought a couple of LPs featuring Brown backing pianist Oscar Peterson. He also bought two Leroy Vinnegar albums (Leroy Walks! and Leroy Walks Again) because the bassist was posed with his instrument on the cover. Within a week, Holland traded in his bass guitar for a double bass and began practicing with the records. In addition to Brown and Vinnegar, Holland was drawn to the bassists Charles Mingus and Jimmy Garrison.
After moving to London in 1964, Holland played double bass in small venues and studied with James Edward Merrett, principal bassist of the Philharmonia Orchestra and, later, the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Merrett trained him to sight read and then recommended he apply to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Holland received a full-time scholarship for the three-year programme. At 20, Holland was keeping a busy schedule in school, studios and Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, London's premier jazz club, where he often played in bands that supported such touring American jazz saxophonists as Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster and Joe Henderson. He also linked up with other British jazz musicians, including guitarist John McLaughlin, saxophonists Evan Parker and John Surman, South Africa-born London-based pianist Chris McGregor, and drummer John Stevens, and performed on the Spontaneous Music Ensemble's 1968 album Karyobin. He also began a working relationship with Canada-born, England-based trumpeter Kenny Wheeler that continued until Wheeler's death in 2014.
With Miles Davis
In 1968, Miles Davis and Philly Joe Jones heard him at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, playing in a combo that opened for the Bill Evans Trio. Jones told Holland that Davis wanted him to join his band (replacing Ron Carter). Davis left the UK before Holland could contact him directly, and two weeks later Holland was given three days' notice to fly to New York for an engagement at Count Basie's nightclub. He arrived the night before, staying with Jack DeJohnette, a previous acquaintance. The following day Herbie Hancock took him to the club, and his two years with Davis began. This was also Hancock's last gig as Davis's pianist, as he left afterwards for a honeymoon in Brazil and was replaced by Chick Corea when he could not return for an engagement due to illness. Holland's first recordings with Davis were in September 1968, and he appears on half of the album Filles de Kilimanjaro (with Davis, Corea, Wayne Shorter and Tony Williams).
Holland was a member of Davis's rhythm section through the summer of 1970; he appears on the albums In a Silent Way and Bitches' Brew. In the first year of his tenure with Davis, Holland played primarily upright bass. By the end of 1969, he played electric bass guitar (often treated with wah-wah pedal and other electronic effects) with greater frequency as Davis moved away from acoustic jazz.
Holland was also a member of Davis's working group during this time, unlike many of the musicians who appeared only on the trumpeter's studio recordings. The so-called "lost quintet" of Davis, Shorter, Corea, Holland and DeJohnette was active in 1969 but never made any studio recordings as a quintet. A 1970 live recording of this group plus percussionist Airto Moreira, Live at the Fillmore East, March 7, 1970: It's About That Time, was issued in 2001. Steve Grossman replaced Shorter in early 1970; Keith Jarrett joined the group as a second keyboardist thereafter, and Gary Bartz replaced Grossman during the summer of 1970. By the end of the summer, rhythm and blues bass guitarist Michael Henderson had replaced Holland.
ECM and the 1970s
After leaving Davis's group, Holland briefly joined the avant-garde jazz group Circle, with Corea, Barry Altschul and reed player Anthony Braxton. This started a decades-long association with the ECM record label. After recording a few albums, Circle disbanded when Corea departed. 1972 saw the recording of Conference of the Birds, with Sam Rivers, Altschul and Braxton – Holland's first recording as a leader, and the beginning of a long musical relationship with Rivers. The title of the album is taken from that of a 4,500-line epic poem by Persian Sufist writer, Farid al-Din Attar.
Holland worked as a leader and as a sideman with many other jazz artists in the 1970s. On June 15, 1972 he played with Thelonious Monk at the Village Vanguard which was one of Monk's last concerts. Holland recorded several important albums with Anthony Braxton between 1972 and 1976 – including New York, Fall 1974 (1974) and Five Pieces (1975) – that were released on Arista Records.
Holland also recorded duo sessions with saxophonist Sam Rivers and fellow bassist Barre Phillips, and the solo bass album Emerald Tears. Also in the 1970s he appeared with performers including Stan Getz and the Gateway Trio with John Abercrombie and DeJohnette. The Gateway trio released two influential modern jazz albums in 1975 and 1977, and reformed in 1994 for a recording session which yielded another two albums. As a sideman, Holland appeared on rock and pop recordings as well, working with singer Bonnie Raitt on her 1972 album Give It Up.
The 1980s
Holland formed his first working quintet in 1983, and over the next four years released Jumpin' In, Seeds of Time, and The Razor's Edge, featuring alto saxophonist Steve Coleman, trumpeter Wheeler and trombonist Julian Priester (or Robin Eubanks). Subsequently, he formed the Dave Holland Trio (with Coleman and DeJohnette) for the 1988 album Triplicate, and teamed with Coleman, electric guitarist Kevin Eubanks and drummer Marvin "Smitty" Smith for Extensions. He also recorded Life Cycle, an album of compositions played on solo cello.
The bassist also continued to collaborate with his peers, often connecting with figures from the previous generation of jazz icons. In 1989, Holland teamed with drummer Billy Higgins and pianist Hank Jones to record The Oracle, and joined drummer Roy Haynes and guitarist Pat Metheny in 1989 to record Question and Answer.
The 1990s and 2000s
During the 1990s, Holland renewed an affiliation, begun in the 1970s, with Joe Henderson, joining the tenor saxophonist on So Near (So Far), a tribute to Miles Davis, and Porgy & Bess. Holland also reunited with vocalist Betty Carter, touring and recording the live album Feed the Fire (1993). Fellow Davis alumnus Herbie Hancock invited Holland to tour with him in 1992, subsequently recording The New Standard. Holland joined Hancock's band again in 1996. He was also part of the sessions for River: The Joni Letters, winner of the 2008 Grammy Award for Album of the Year.
As a leader, Holland formed his third quartet and released Dream of the Elders (1995), which introduced the vibraphonist Steve Nelson to his ensembles. Holland formed a quintet that includes tenor saxophonist Chris Potter, trombonist Robin Eubanks and, a more recent addition, drummer Nate Smith. Their recordings include Points of View, Prime Directive, Not for Nothin, Extended Play: Live at Birdland and Critical Mass. In addition to releasing four quintet albums on ECM, Holland debuted his Big Band, which released What Goes Around in 2002. The album won Holland his first Grammy as a leader, in the Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album category. The second Big Band recording, Overtime (2005), again won the Grammy in the Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album category; it was released on Holland's Dare2 label, which he formed that year.
In 2009, Holland was a co-founder of an all-star group called the Overtone Quartet. The group consisted of Holland on bass, Chris Potter on tenor saxophone, Jason Moran on piano, and Eric Harland on drums. The group toured extensively throughout the United States and Europe.
Awards and honors
He won the Critics Poll in Down Beat magazine for Musician of the Year, Big Band of the Year, and Acoustic Bassist of the Year (he also garnered top bassist in the 2006 poll). The Jazz Journalists' Association honored him as Musician and Acoustic Bassist of the Year. He was the recipient of the Miles Davis Award at the Montreal Jazz Festival.
The National Endowment for the Arts named Holland as one of its five Jazz Masters Fellows in 2017; the award recognizes artists for their lifetime achievements and exceptional contributions toward the advancement of jazz.
Holland has received honorary doctorates from the New England Conservatory, Boston, where he held a full-time teaching position in 1987–88 and where he has been visiting artist in residence since 2005; Berklee College of Music, Boston; and the Birmingham Conservatoire, in England. He was also named Fellow of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (London). From 1982 to 1989, Holland served as the artistic director of the Banff Summer Jazz Workshop through the Banff School of Fine Arts in Alberta, Canada. In addition, he has taught workshops and master classes around the world at universities and music schools and is President of the UK-based National Youth Jazz Collective.
Discography
As leader
Conference of the Birds (ECM, 1972)
Emerald Tears (ECM, 1977) – solo bass
Life Cycle (ECM, 1982) – solo cello
Jumpin' In (ECM, 1983)
Seeds of Time (ECM, 1984)
The Razor's Edge (ECM, 1987)
Triplicate (ECM, 1988)
Extensions (ECM, 1990)
Ones All (VeraBra, 1993) – solo bass
Dream of the Elders (ECM, 1995) – quartet
Points of View (ECM, 1998) – quintet
Prime Directive (ECM, 1999) – quintet
Not for Nothin' (ECM, 2001) – quintet
What Goes Around (ECM, 2002) – with big band
Extended Play: Live at Birdland (ECM, 2003) – quintet [2CD]
Overtime (Dare2/Sunnyside, 2005) – with big band
Critical Mass (Dare2/Sunnyside, 2006) – quintet
Pass It On (Dare2/EmArcy/UMe, 2008) – sextet
Pathways (Dare2, 2010) – octet
Prism (Dare2, 2013) – quartet
Aziza (Dare2, 2016) – quartet
Uncharted Territories (Dare2, 2018) – quartet with Evan Parker
Without Deception (Dare2, 2020)
Another Land (Edition Records, 2021)
Compilation
Rarum, Vol. 10: Selected Recordings (ECM, 2004)
As co-leader
with John McLaughlin, John Surman, Stu Martin and Karl Berger – Where Fortune Smiles (Dawn, 1971)
with Chick Corea and Barry Altschul – ARC (ECM, 1971)
with Derek Bailey – Improvisations for Cello and Guitar (ECM, 1971)
with Barre Phillips – Music from Two Basses (ECM, 1971)
Dave Holland / Sam Rivers (Improvising Artists, 1976)
Sam Rivers / Dave Holland Vol. 2 (Improvising Artists, 1976)
Norman Blake/Tut Taylor/Sam Bush/Butch Robins/Vassar Clements/David Holland/Jethro Burns (HDS, 1975)
with Karl Berger – All Kinds of Time (Sackville, 1976)
with Evan Parker, Paul Rutherford and Paul Lovens – The Ericle of Dolphi [recorded 1976 and 1986] (Po Torch, 1989)
Vassar Clements, John Hartford, Dave Holland (Rounder, 1985)
with Hank Jones and Billy Higgins – The Oracle (EmArcy, 1990)
with Steve Coleman – Phase Space (Rebel-X/DIW, 1991)
with Gordon Beck, Jack DeJohnette and Didier Lockwood – For Evans Sake (JMS, 1992)
with Mino Cinelu and Kevin Eubanks – World Trio (Intuition, 1995)
ScoLoHoFo (John Scofield, Joe Lovano, Dave Holland and Al Foster) – Oh! (Blue Note, 2003)
with Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Chris Potter and Eric Harland – The Monterey Quartet: Live at the 2007 Monterey Festival (Monterey Jazz Festival, 2009)
with Pepe Habichuela – Hands (Dare2, 2010)
with Sam Rivers and Barry Altschul – Reunion: Live in New York (Pi, 2012)
with Kenny Barron – The Art of Conversation (Impulse!, 2014)
with Zakir Hussain and Chris Potter - Good Hope (Edition Records, 2019)
As Gateway
With John Abercrombie and Jack DeJohnette
Gateway (ECM, 1975)
Gateway 2 (ECM, 1977)
Homecoming (ECM, 1994)
In the Moment (ECM, 1996)
As Circle
With Chick Corea and Barry Altschul
Circling In (Blue Note, 1970)
Circulus (Blue Note, 1970)
Circle 1: Live in Germany Concert] (CBS/Sony Japan, 1970)
Paris Concert (ECM, 1971)
Circle 2: Gathering (CBS/Sony Japan, 1971)
As sideman
With Karl Berger
Tune In (Milestone, 1969)
Transit (Black Saint, 1986)
Crystal Fire (Enja, 1992)
Conversations (In+Out, 1994)
With Anouar Brahem
Thimar (ECM, 1998) – recorded in 1997
Blue Maqams (ECM, 2017)
With Anthony Braxton
The Complete Braxton (Freedom, 1973) – recorded in 1971
Town Hall 1972 (Trio, 1972)
Trio and Duet (Sackville, 1974)
New York, Fall 1974 (Arista, 1974)
Five Pieces 1975 (Arista, 1975)
Quartet: Live at Moers Festival (Ring, 1976) – recorded in 1974
Creative Orchestra Music 1976 (Arista, 1976)
The Montreux/Berlin Concerts (Arista, 1977) – recorded in 1975–76
Dortmund (Quartet) 1976 (hatART, 1991)
With Steve Coleman
Rhythm People (Novus/RCA, 1990)
Black Science (Novus/RCA, 1991)
Rhythm in Mind (Novus/RCA, 1991)
With Chick Corea
Is (Groove Merchant, 1969)
Sundance (Groove Merchant, 1969)
The Song of Singing (Blue Note, 1970)
With Miles Davis
Filles de Kilimanjaro (Columbia, 1968)
In a Silent Way (Columbia, 1969)
Bitches Brew (Columbia, 1969)
Live at the Fillmore East, March 7, 1970: It's About That Time (Columbia, 1970)
Miles Davis at Fillmore: Live at the Fillmore East (Columbia, 1970)
Black Beauty: Live at the Fillmore West (Columbia, 1970)
Live-Evil (Columbia, 1970)
Big Fun (Columbia, 1969–1972)
1969 Miles – Festival de Juan Pins (Columbia, 1993)
Live in Europe 1969: The Bootleg Series Vol. 2 (Columbia/Legacy, 2013)
Miles at the Fillmore - Miles Davis 1970: The Bootleg Series Vol. 3 (Columbia/Legacy, 2014)
Miles Davis at Newport 1955-1975: The Bootleg Series Vol. 4 (Columbia/Legacy, 2015)
With Robin Eubanks
Karma (JMT, 1991)
Mental Images (JMT, 1994)
With Billy Hart
Enchance (Horizon, 1977)
Oshumare (Gramavision, 1985)
With Joe Henderson
Black Is the Color (Milestone, 1972)
Multiple (Milestone, 1973)
So Near, So Far (Verve, 1993)
Porgy & Bess (Verve, 1997)
With Eric Kloss
To Hear Is to See! (Prestige, 1969)
Consciousness! (Prestige, 1970)
One, Two, Free (Muse, 1972)
With Dave Liebman
First Visit (Philips, 1973)
Fire (Jazzline, 2018) – recorded in 2016
With Joe Lovano
From the Soul (Blue Note, 1992)
Trio Fascination: Edition One (Blue Note, 1997)
With Sam Rivers
Sizzle (Impulse!, 1975)
Waves (Tomato, 1978)
Contrasts (ECM, 1981)
With Kenny Wheeler
Gnu High (ECM, 1975)
Deer Wan (ECM, 1977)
Double, Double You (ECM, 1984)
Flutter By, Butterfly (Soul Note, 1988)
Music for Large & Small Ensembles (ECM, 1990)
The Widow in the Window (ECM, 1990)
Angel Song (ECM, 1997)
What Now? (CAM Jazz, 2005)
With others
Claudia Acuña, Rhythm of Life (Verve, 2002)
George Adams, Sound Suggestions (ECM, 1979)
Geri Allen, The Life of a Song (Telarc, 2004) (with Jack DeJohnette)
Franco Ambrosetti, Tentets (Enja, 1985)
Kenny Barron, Scratch (Enja, 1985)
Terence Blanchard, Wandering Moon (Sony Classical, 2000)
Paul Bley, Paul Bley & Scorpio (Milestone, 1973)
Michael Brecker, Tales from the Hudson (Impulse!, 1996)
Nick Brignola, Baritone Madness (Bee Hive, 1977) with Pepper Adams
Gary Burton, Like Minds (Concord, 1998)
Uri Caine, Toys (JMT, 1996)
Betty Carter, Feed the Fire (Verve, 1993)
James Carter, The Real Quiet Storm (Atlantic, 1995)
Vassar Clements, Once In A While (Flying Fish, 1992)
Joe Farrell, Joe Farrell Quartet (CTI, 1970)
Bill Frisell, With Dave Holland and Elvin Jones (Nonesuch, 2001)
Hal Galper, Inner Journey (Mainstream, 1973)
Laszlo Gardony, The Legend of Tsumi (Antilles, 1989)
Jim Hall, Jim Hall & Basses (Telarc, 2001)
Herbie Hancock, The New Standard (Verve, 1996)
River: The Joni Letters (Verve, 2006)
Roy Haynes, Birds of a Feather: A Tribute to Charlie Parker (Dreyfus Jazz, 2001) – Grammy nominated
Roland Hanna, Child of Gemini (MPS, 1971)
Charles Lloyd, Voice in the Night (ECM, 1998)
John Hartford, Morning Bugle (Warner Bros. 1972)
Lee Konitz, Satori (Milestone, 1974)
Pat Metheny, Question and Answer (Geffen, 1990) (with Roy Haynes)
Chris Potter, Unspoken (Concord, 1997)
Wayne Shorter, Moto Grosso Feio (Blue Note, 1970)
Tomasz Stańko, Balladyna (ECM, 1976)
Gary Thomas, While the Gate Is Open (JMT, 1990)
Collin Walcott, Cloud Dance (ECM, 1975)
Richard Teitelbaum, Muun Music Universe, Vol. 1: The Peace Church Concerts (CMC/India Navigation, 1974)
Filmography
Concert films
1992 Renaud Le Van Kim: Miles Davis and Friends (Bravo)
2000 DeJohnette, Hancock, Holland and Metheny Live in Concert
2005 Dave Holland Quintet Live in Freiburg
2008 Herbie Hancock & The New Standard Allstars in Japan (Jazz Door)
2009 Dave Holland Quintet: Vortex
2009 Dave Holland Quintet Live from the Zelt-Musik-Festival, Freiburg 1986
Featured in documentaries
2001 Mike Dibb: The Miles Davis Story (Channel 4)
2004 Murray Lerner: Miles Electric A Different Kind of Blue (Eagle Rock) about the Isle of Wight Festival 1970
References
External links
Official website
Dave Holland on ECM's official website, with reviews
Dave Hollands ECM recordings on trovar.com
Audio Interview with Dave Holland
Review of the album Critical Mass from JazzChicago.net
Dave Holland: Jazz at the Bass Level, Oregon Music News
Dave Holland at All About Jazz
Discography on Discogs
1946 births
Living people
Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Avant-garde jazz musicians
British jazz double-bassists
Male double-bassists
English jazz composers
Male jazz composers
English male composers
Grammy Award winners
Miles Davis
People from Wolverhampton
New England Conservatory alumni
New England Conservatory faculty
Big bands
ECM Records artists
Circle (jazz band) members
21st-century double-bassists
Spontaneous Music Ensemble members
Gateway (band) members
Sackville Records artists
Improvising Artists Records artists | true | [
"So Near, So Far (Musings for Miles) is a 1993 album by jazz saxophonist Joe Henderson and is the second of five albums he recorded with Verve Records near the end of his career. The album is a tribute to Miles Davis, who Henderson greatly admired (and with whom he performed for a few weekends in 1967). The songs were written by (or associated with) Davis, and the featured musicians (guitarist John Scofield, bassist Dave Holland and drummer Al Foster) played with Davis earlier in their careers.\n\nTrack listing\nAll compositions by Miles Davis except where noted.\n\"Miles Ahead\" (Davis, Gil Evans) – 4:31\n\"Joshua\" (Davis, Victor Feldman) – 6:18\n\"Pfrancing (No Blues)\" – 8:18\n\"Flamenco Sketches\" (Davis, Bill Evans) – 9:37\n\"Milestones\" – 5:57\n\"Teo\" – 8:56\n\"Swing Spring\" – 8:10\n\"Circle\" – 6:07\n\"Side Car\" – 10:26\n\"So Near, So Far\" (Tony Crombie, Bennie Green) – 4:30\nDigitally recorded at Power Station, NYC, October 12–14, 1992.\n\nPersonnel\nJoe Henderson – tenor saxophone\nJohn Scofield – guitar\nDave Holland – bass\nAl Foster – drums\nDon Sickler, Richard Seidel – producers\nJoe Henderson – co-producer\n\nChart performance\n\nReferences\n\n1993 albums\nJoe Henderson albums\nVerve Records albums\nMiles Davis tribute albums\nGrammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album",
"Directions is a compilation album by American jazz musician Miles Davis, released in 1981 by Columbia Records. It collects previously unreleased outtakes that Davis recorded between 1960 and 1970. Directions was the last of a series of compilation albums - mostly consisting of, at that time, previously unreleased music - that Columbia released to bridge Davis' recording hiatus that ended with The Man with the Horn in July 1981.\n\nMusic \nDirections is a double album that features previously unreleased outtakes recorded over a 10-year period by Davis. Apart from \"Song of Our Country\" from the recording sessions for Sketches of Spain (1960), a 1961 recording of \"'Round Midnight\", and \"So Near, So Far\" from 1963, the album's songs are from Davis' transitional period during 1967 to 1970, when he was experimenting with a fusion of jazz and rock. They feature sidemen such as saxophonist Wayne Shorter, guitarist John McLaughlin, and keyboardists Herbie Hancock, Joe Zawinul, and Chick Corea.\n\nCritical reception \n\nReviewing in Allmusic, critic Scott Yanow believed some of the tracks \"rambled on a bit too long\" but the music was nonetheless \"mostly quite fascinating\" and \"highly recommendable to collectors with an open ear toward fusion.\"\n\nTrack listing\nAll tracks by Miles Davis except where noted.\n\nPersonnel\n\n\"Song of Our Country\", recorded in New York, March 11, 1960. (Reissued on 1997 CD release of Sketches of Spain.)\n Miles Davis – trumpet, flugelhorn\n Gil Evans – arranger, conductor\n Johnny Coles, Bernie Glow, Ernie Royal – trumpet\n James Buffington, Tony Miranda, Joe Singer – French horn\n Frank Rehak, Dick Hixon – trombone\n Bill Barber – tuba\n Albert Block, Harold Feldman – flute\n Danny Bank – clarinet\n Jack Knitzer – bassoon\n Romeo Penque – oboe\n Janet Putnam – harp\n Paul Chambers – bass\n Jimmy Cobb – drums\n Elvin Jones – percussion\n\n\"'Round Midnight\", recorded live at \"The Blackhawk\" in San Francisco, April 22, 1961. (Reissued on 2003 CD release of In Person Friday and Saturday Nights at the Blackhawk, Complete)\n Miles Davis – trumpet\n Hank Mobley – tenor saxophone\n Wynton Kelly – piano\n Paul Chambers – bass\n Jimmy Cobb – drums\n\n\"So Near, So Far\", recorded in Hollywood, Ca., April 16, 1963. (Reissued on the first CD of the 2004 box set Seven Steps: The Complete Columbia Recordings of Miles Davis 1963–1964, as well as on the 2005 CD re-release of Seven Steps to Heaven.) \n Miles Davis – trumpet\n George Coleman – tenor saxophone\n Victor Feldman – piano\n Ron Carter – bass\n Frank Butler – drums\n\n\"Limbo\", recorded in Hollywood, Ca., May 9, 1967. (Reissued on the 1998 CD re-release of Sorcerer, as well as on the second CD of 1998 box set release The Complete Studio Recordings of The Miles Davis Quintet 1965–1968)\n Miles Davis – trumpet\n Wayne Shorter – tenor saxophone\n Herbie Hancock – piano\n Buster Williams; bass\n Tony Williams – drums\n\n\"Water on the Pond\", recorded in New York, December 28, 1967. (Reissued on the fourth CD of the 1998 box set release Miles Davis Quintet 1965–'68)\n Miles Davis – trumpet\n Wayne Shorter – tenor saxophone\n Herbie Hancock – Wurlitzer electric piano\n Joe Beck – guitar\n Ron Carter – bass\n Tony Williams – drums\n\n\"Fun\", recorded in New York, January 11, 1968. (Reissued on the fourth CD of the 1998 box set release Miles Davis Quintet 1965–'68)\n Miles Davis – trumpet\n Wayne Shorter – tenor saxophone\n Herbie Hancock – Wurlitzer electric piano\n Bucky Pizzarelli – electric guitar \n Ron Carter – bass\n Tony Williams – drums\n\n\"Directions I & II\" and \"Ascent\", recorded in New York, November 27, 1968. (All three tracks were reissued on the second CD of the 2001 box set release of The Complete In a Silent Way Sessions)\n Miles Davis – trumpet\n Wayne Shorter – soprano saxophone\n Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea – electric piano\n Joe Zawinul – organ\n Dave Holland – double bass\n Jack DeJohnette – drums\n\n\"Duran\", recorded in New York, March 17, 1970. (Reissued as \"Duran (Take 6)\" on the second CD of 2003 box set release The Complete Jack Johnson Sessions)\n Miles Davis – trumpet\n Wayne Shorter – soprano saxophone\n Bennie Maupin – bass clarinet\n John McLaughlin – electric guitar\n Dave Holland – electric bass\n Billy Cobham – drums\n\n\"Konda\", recorded in New York, May 21, 1970. (The unedited version of the track was issued on disc 4 of the 2003 box set release The Complete Jack Johnson Sessions.)\n Miles Davis – trumpet\n Keith Jarrett – electric piano\n John McLaughlin – electric guitar\n Airto Moreira – percussion\n\n\"Willie Nelson\", recorded in New York, February 27, 1970. (Reissued on the first CD of the 2003 box set release The Complete Jack Johnson Sessions)\n Miles Davis – trumpet\n Steve Grossman – soprano saxophone\n John McLaughlin – electric guitar\n Dave Holland – electric bass\n Jack DeJohnette – drums\n\nReferences\n\nBibliography\n\nExternal links \n \n Directions on Jazzdisco.org\n\n1981 compilation albums\nMiles Davis compilation albums\nAlbums produced by Teo Macero\nColumbia Records compilation albums\nLegacy Recordings compilation albums\nAlbums recorded at CBS 30th Street Studio"
]
|
[
"Dave Holland",
"With Miles Davis",
"When did Holland Meet Miles davis?",
"In 1968, Miles Davis and Philly Joe Jones heard him at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club,"
]
| C_65ba8b8c64cf4df6bd631370a68ee1d0_1 | Did Miles Davis influence Hollands music? | 2 | Did Miles Davis influence Dave Holland's music? | Dave Holland | In 1968, Miles Davis and Philly Joe Jones heard him at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, playing in a combo that opened for the Bill Evans Trio. Jones told Holland that Davis wanted him to join his band (replacing Ron Carter). Davis left the UK before Holland could contact him directly, and two weeks later Holland was given three days' notice to fly to New York for an engagement at Count Basie's nightclub. He arrived the night before, staying with Jack DeJohnette, a previous acquaintance. The following day Herbie Hancock took him to the club, and his two years with Davis began. This was also Hancock's last gig as Davis's pianist, as he left afterwards for a honeymoon in Brazil and was replaced by Chick Corea when he could not return for an engagement due to illness. Holland's first recordings with Davis were in September 1968, and he appears on half of the album Filles de Kilimanjaro (with Davis, Corea, Wayne Shorter and Tony Williams). Holland was a member of Davis's rhythm section through the summer of 1970; he appears on the albums In a Silent Way and Bitches' Brew. All three of his studio recordings with Davis were important in the evolution of jazz fusion. In the first year of his tenure with Davis, Holland played primarily upright bass. By the end of 1969, he played electric bass guitar (often treated with wah-wah pedal and other electronic effects) with greater frequency as Davis moved away from acoustic jazz. Holland was also a member of Davis's working group during this time, unlike many of the musicians who appeared only on the trumpeter's studio recordings. The so-called "lost quintet" of Davis, Shorter, Corea, Holland and DeJohnette was active in 1969 but never made any studio recordings as a quintet. A 1970 live recording of this group plus percussionist Airto Moreira, Live at the Fillmore East, March 7, 1970: It's About That Time, was issued in 2001. Steve Grossman replaced Shorter in early 1970; Keith Jarrett joined the group as a second keyboardist thereafter, and Gary Bartz replaced Grossman during the summer of 1970. By the end of the summer, rhythm and blues bass guitarist Michael Henderson had replaced Holland. CANNOTANSWER | Holland's first recordings with Davis were in September 1968, and he appears on half of the album Filles de Kilimanjaro | Dave Holland (born 1 October 1946) is an English jazz double bassist, composer and bandleader who has been performing and recording for five decades. He has lived in the United States for over 40 years.
His work ranges from pieces for solo performance to big band. Holland runs his own independent record label, Dare2, which he launched in 2005.
Biography
Born in Wolverhampton, England, Holland taught himself how to play stringed instruments, beginning at four on the ukulele, then graduating to guitar and later bass guitar. He quit school at the age of 15 to pursue his profession in a pop band, but soon gravitated to jazz. After seeing an issue of Down Beat where Ray Brown had won the critics' poll for best bass player, Holland went to a record store, and bought a couple of LPs featuring Brown backing pianist Oscar Peterson. He also bought two Leroy Vinnegar albums (Leroy Walks! and Leroy Walks Again) because the bassist was posed with his instrument on the cover. Within a week, Holland traded in his bass guitar for a double bass and began practicing with the records. In addition to Brown and Vinnegar, Holland was drawn to the bassists Charles Mingus and Jimmy Garrison.
After moving to London in 1964, Holland played double bass in small venues and studied with James Edward Merrett, principal bassist of the Philharmonia Orchestra and, later, the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Merrett trained him to sight read and then recommended he apply to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Holland received a full-time scholarship for the three-year programme. At 20, Holland was keeping a busy schedule in school, studios and Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, London's premier jazz club, where he often played in bands that supported such touring American jazz saxophonists as Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster and Joe Henderson. He also linked up with other British jazz musicians, including guitarist John McLaughlin, saxophonists Evan Parker and John Surman, South Africa-born London-based pianist Chris McGregor, and drummer John Stevens, and performed on the Spontaneous Music Ensemble's 1968 album Karyobin. He also began a working relationship with Canada-born, England-based trumpeter Kenny Wheeler that continued until Wheeler's death in 2014.
With Miles Davis
In 1968, Miles Davis and Philly Joe Jones heard him at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, playing in a combo that opened for the Bill Evans Trio. Jones told Holland that Davis wanted him to join his band (replacing Ron Carter). Davis left the UK before Holland could contact him directly, and two weeks later Holland was given three days' notice to fly to New York for an engagement at Count Basie's nightclub. He arrived the night before, staying with Jack DeJohnette, a previous acquaintance. The following day Herbie Hancock took him to the club, and his two years with Davis began. This was also Hancock's last gig as Davis's pianist, as he left afterwards for a honeymoon in Brazil and was replaced by Chick Corea when he could not return for an engagement due to illness. Holland's first recordings with Davis were in September 1968, and he appears on half of the album Filles de Kilimanjaro (with Davis, Corea, Wayne Shorter and Tony Williams).
Holland was a member of Davis's rhythm section through the summer of 1970; he appears on the albums In a Silent Way and Bitches' Brew. In the first year of his tenure with Davis, Holland played primarily upright bass. By the end of 1969, he played electric bass guitar (often treated with wah-wah pedal and other electronic effects) with greater frequency as Davis moved away from acoustic jazz.
Holland was also a member of Davis's working group during this time, unlike many of the musicians who appeared only on the trumpeter's studio recordings. The so-called "lost quintet" of Davis, Shorter, Corea, Holland and DeJohnette was active in 1969 but never made any studio recordings as a quintet. A 1970 live recording of this group plus percussionist Airto Moreira, Live at the Fillmore East, March 7, 1970: It's About That Time, was issued in 2001. Steve Grossman replaced Shorter in early 1970; Keith Jarrett joined the group as a second keyboardist thereafter, and Gary Bartz replaced Grossman during the summer of 1970. By the end of the summer, rhythm and blues bass guitarist Michael Henderson had replaced Holland.
ECM and the 1970s
After leaving Davis's group, Holland briefly joined the avant-garde jazz group Circle, with Corea, Barry Altschul and reed player Anthony Braxton. This started a decades-long association with the ECM record label. After recording a few albums, Circle disbanded when Corea departed. 1972 saw the recording of Conference of the Birds, with Sam Rivers, Altschul and Braxton – Holland's first recording as a leader, and the beginning of a long musical relationship with Rivers. The title of the album is taken from that of a 4,500-line epic poem by Persian Sufist writer, Farid al-Din Attar.
Holland worked as a leader and as a sideman with many other jazz artists in the 1970s. On June 15, 1972 he played with Thelonious Monk at the Village Vanguard which was one of Monk's last concerts. Holland recorded several important albums with Anthony Braxton between 1972 and 1976 – including New York, Fall 1974 (1974) and Five Pieces (1975) – that were released on Arista Records.
Holland also recorded duo sessions with saxophonist Sam Rivers and fellow bassist Barre Phillips, and the solo bass album Emerald Tears. Also in the 1970s he appeared with performers including Stan Getz and the Gateway Trio with John Abercrombie and DeJohnette. The Gateway trio released two influential modern jazz albums in 1975 and 1977, and reformed in 1994 for a recording session which yielded another two albums. As a sideman, Holland appeared on rock and pop recordings as well, working with singer Bonnie Raitt on her 1972 album Give It Up.
The 1980s
Holland formed his first working quintet in 1983, and over the next four years released Jumpin' In, Seeds of Time, and The Razor's Edge, featuring alto saxophonist Steve Coleman, trumpeter Wheeler and trombonist Julian Priester (or Robin Eubanks). Subsequently, he formed the Dave Holland Trio (with Coleman and DeJohnette) for the 1988 album Triplicate, and teamed with Coleman, electric guitarist Kevin Eubanks and drummer Marvin "Smitty" Smith for Extensions. He also recorded Life Cycle, an album of compositions played on solo cello.
The bassist also continued to collaborate with his peers, often connecting with figures from the previous generation of jazz icons. In 1989, Holland teamed with drummer Billy Higgins and pianist Hank Jones to record The Oracle, and joined drummer Roy Haynes and guitarist Pat Metheny in 1989 to record Question and Answer.
The 1990s and 2000s
During the 1990s, Holland renewed an affiliation, begun in the 1970s, with Joe Henderson, joining the tenor saxophonist on So Near (So Far), a tribute to Miles Davis, and Porgy & Bess. Holland also reunited with vocalist Betty Carter, touring and recording the live album Feed the Fire (1993). Fellow Davis alumnus Herbie Hancock invited Holland to tour with him in 1992, subsequently recording The New Standard. Holland joined Hancock's band again in 1996. He was also part of the sessions for River: The Joni Letters, winner of the 2008 Grammy Award for Album of the Year.
As a leader, Holland formed his third quartet and released Dream of the Elders (1995), which introduced the vibraphonist Steve Nelson to his ensembles. Holland formed a quintet that includes tenor saxophonist Chris Potter, trombonist Robin Eubanks and, a more recent addition, drummer Nate Smith. Their recordings include Points of View, Prime Directive, Not for Nothin, Extended Play: Live at Birdland and Critical Mass. In addition to releasing four quintet albums on ECM, Holland debuted his Big Band, which released What Goes Around in 2002. The album won Holland his first Grammy as a leader, in the Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album category. The second Big Band recording, Overtime (2005), again won the Grammy in the Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album category; it was released on Holland's Dare2 label, which he formed that year.
In 2009, Holland was a co-founder of an all-star group called the Overtone Quartet. The group consisted of Holland on bass, Chris Potter on tenor saxophone, Jason Moran on piano, and Eric Harland on drums. The group toured extensively throughout the United States and Europe.
Awards and honors
He won the Critics Poll in Down Beat magazine for Musician of the Year, Big Band of the Year, and Acoustic Bassist of the Year (he also garnered top bassist in the 2006 poll). The Jazz Journalists' Association honored him as Musician and Acoustic Bassist of the Year. He was the recipient of the Miles Davis Award at the Montreal Jazz Festival.
The National Endowment for the Arts named Holland as one of its five Jazz Masters Fellows in 2017; the award recognizes artists for their lifetime achievements and exceptional contributions toward the advancement of jazz.
Holland has received honorary doctorates from the New England Conservatory, Boston, where he held a full-time teaching position in 1987–88 and where he has been visiting artist in residence since 2005; Berklee College of Music, Boston; and the Birmingham Conservatoire, in England. He was also named Fellow of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (London). From 1982 to 1989, Holland served as the artistic director of the Banff Summer Jazz Workshop through the Banff School of Fine Arts in Alberta, Canada. In addition, he has taught workshops and master classes around the world at universities and music schools and is President of the UK-based National Youth Jazz Collective.
Discography
As leader
Conference of the Birds (ECM, 1972)
Emerald Tears (ECM, 1977) – solo bass
Life Cycle (ECM, 1982) – solo cello
Jumpin' In (ECM, 1983)
Seeds of Time (ECM, 1984)
The Razor's Edge (ECM, 1987)
Triplicate (ECM, 1988)
Extensions (ECM, 1990)
Ones All (VeraBra, 1993) – solo bass
Dream of the Elders (ECM, 1995) – quartet
Points of View (ECM, 1998) – quintet
Prime Directive (ECM, 1999) – quintet
Not for Nothin' (ECM, 2001) – quintet
What Goes Around (ECM, 2002) – with big band
Extended Play: Live at Birdland (ECM, 2003) – quintet [2CD]
Overtime (Dare2/Sunnyside, 2005) – with big band
Critical Mass (Dare2/Sunnyside, 2006) – quintet
Pass It On (Dare2/EmArcy/UMe, 2008) – sextet
Pathways (Dare2, 2010) – octet
Prism (Dare2, 2013) – quartet
Aziza (Dare2, 2016) – quartet
Uncharted Territories (Dare2, 2018) – quartet with Evan Parker
Without Deception (Dare2, 2020)
Another Land (Edition Records, 2021)
Compilation
Rarum, Vol. 10: Selected Recordings (ECM, 2004)
As co-leader
with John McLaughlin, John Surman, Stu Martin and Karl Berger – Where Fortune Smiles (Dawn, 1971)
with Chick Corea and Barry Altschul – ARC (ECM, 1971)
with Derek Bailey – Improvisations for Cello and Guitar (ECM, 1971)
with Barre Phillips – Music from Two Basses (ECM, 1971)
Dave Holland / Sam Rivers (Improvising Artists, 1976)
Sam Rivers / Dave Holland Vol. 2 (Improvising Artists, 1976)
Norman Blake/Tut Taylor/Sam Bush/Butch Robins/Vassar Clements/David Holland/Jethro Burns (HDS, 1975)
with Karl Berger – All Kinds of Time (Sackville, 1976)
with Evan Parker, Paul Rutherford and Paul Lovens – The Ericle of Dolphi [recorded 1976 and 1986] (Po Torch, 1989)
Vassar Clements, John Hartford, Dave Holland (Rounder, 1985)
with Hank Jones and Billy Higgins – The Oracle (EmArcy, 1990)
with Steve Coleman – Phase Space (Rebel-X/DIW, 1991)
with Gordon Beck, Jack DeJohnette and Didier Lockwood – For Evans Sake (JMS, 1992)
with Mino Cinelu and Kevin Eubanks – World Trio (Intuition, 1995)
ScoLoHoFo (John Scofield, Joe Lovano, Dave Holland and Al Foster) – Oh! (Blue Note, 2003)
with Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Chris Potter and Eric Harland – The Monterey Quartet: Live at the 2007 Monterey Festival (Monterey Jazz Festival, 2009)
with Pepe Habichuela – Hands (Dare2, 2010)
with Sam Rivers and Barry Altschul – Reunion: Live in New York (Pi, 2012)
with Kenny Barron – The Art of Conversation (Impulse!, 2014)
with Zakir Hussain and Chris Potter - Good Hope (Edition Records, 2019)
As Gateway
With John Abercrombie and Jack DeJohnette
Gateway (ECM, 1975)
Gateway 2 (ECM, 1977)
Homecoming (ECM, 1994)
In the Moment (ECM, 1996)
As Circle
With Chick Corea and Barry Altschul
Circling In (Blue Note, 1970)
Circulus (Blue Note, 1970)
Circle 1: Live in Germany Concert] (CBS/Sony Japan, 1970)
Paris Concert (ECM, 1971)
Circle 2: Gathering (CBS/Sony Japan, 1971)
As sideman
With Karl Berger
Tune In (Milestone, 1969)
Transit (Black Saint, 1986)
Crystal Fire (Enja, 1992)
Conversations (In+Out, 1994)
With Anouar Brahem
Thimar (ECM, 1998) – recorded in 1997
Blue Maqams (ECM, 2017)
With Anthony Braxton
The Complete Braxton (Freedom, 1973) – recorded in 1971
Town Hall 1972 (Trio, 1972)
Trio and Duet (Sackville, 1974)
New York, Fall 1974 (Arista, 1974)
Five Pieces 1975 (Arista, 1975)
Quartet: Live at Moers Festival (Ring, 1976) – recorded in 1974
Creative Orchestra Music 1976 (Arista, 1976)
The Montreux/Berlin Concerts (Arista, 1977) – recorded in 1975–76
Dortmund (Quartet) 1976 (hatART, 1991)
With Steve Coleman
Rhythm People (Novus/RCA, 1990)
Black Science (Novus/RCA, 1991)
Rhythm in Mind (Novus/RCA, 1991)
With Chick Corea
Is (Groove Merchant, 1969)
Sundance (Groove Merchant, 1969)
The Song of Singing (Blue Note, 1970)
With Miles Davis
Filles de Kilimanjaro (Columbia, 1968)
In a Silent Way (Columbia, 1969)
Bitches Brew (Columbia, 1969)
Live at the Fillmore East, March 7, 1970: It's About That Time (Columbia, 1970)
Miles Davis at Fillmore: Live at the Fillmore East (Columbia, 1970)
Black Beauty: Live at the Fillmore West (Columbia, 1970)
Live-Evil (Columbia, 1970)
Big Fun (Columbia, 1969–1972)
1969 Miles – Festival de Juan Pins (Columbia, 1993)
Live in Europe 1969: The Bootleg Series Vol. 2 (Columbia/Legacy, 2013)
Miles at the Fillmore - Miles Davis 1970: The Bootleg Series Vol. 3 (Columbia/Legacy, 2014)
Miles Davis at Newport 1955-1975: The Bootleg Series Vol. 4 (Columbia/Legacy, 2015)
With Robin Eubanks
Karma (JMT, 1991)
Mental Images (JMT, 1994)
With Billy Hart
Enchance (Horizon, 1977)
Oshumare (Gramavision, 1985)
With Joe Henderson
Black Is the Color (Milestone, 1972)
Multiple (Milestone, 1973)
So Near, So Far (Verve, 1993)
Porgy & Bess (Verve, 1997)
With Eric Kloss
To Hear Is to See! (Prestige, 1969)
Consciousness! (Prestige, 1970)
One, Two, Free (Muse, 1972)
With Dave Liebman
First Visit (Philips, 1973)
Fire (Jazzline, 2018) – recorded in 2016
With Joe Lovano
From the Soul (Blue Note, 1992)
Trio Fascination: Edition One (Blue Note, 1997)
With Sam Rivers
Sizzle (Impulse!, 1975)
Waves (Tomato, 1978)
Contrasts (ECM, 1981)
With Kenny Wheeler
Gnu High (ECM, 1975)
Deer Wan (ECM, 1977)
Double, Double You (ECM, 1984)
Flutter By, Butterfly (Soul Note, 1988)
Music for Large & Small Ensembles (ECM, 1990)
The Widow in the Window (ECM, 1990)
Angel Song (ECM, 1997)
What Now? (CAM Jazz, 2005)
With others
Claudia Acuña, Rhythm of Life (Verve, 2002)
George Adams, Sound Suggestions (ECM, 1979)
Geri Allen, The Life of a Song (Telarc, 2004) (with Jack DeJohnette)
Franco Ambrosetti, Tentets (Enja, 1985)
Kenny Barron, Scratch (Enja, 1985)
Terence Blanchard, Wandering Moon (Sony Classical, 2000)
Paul Bley, Paul Bley & Scorpio (Milestone, 1973)
Michael Brecker, Tales from the Hudson (Impulse!, 1996)
Nick Brignola, Baritone Madness (Bee Hive, 1977) with Pepper Adams
Gary Burton, Like Minds (Concord, 1998)
Uri Caine, Toys (JMT, 1996)
Betty Carter, Feed the Fire (Verve, 1993)
James Carter, The Real Quiet Storm (Atlantic, 1995)
Vassar Clements, Once In A While (Flying Fish, 1992)
Joe Farrell, Joe Farrell Quartet (CTI, 1970)
Bill Frisell, With Dave Holland and Elvin Jones (Nonesuch, 2001)
Hal Galper, Inner Journey (Mainstream, 1973)
Laszlo Gardony, The Legend of Tsumi (Antilles, 1989)
Jim Hall, Jim Hall & Basses (Telarc, 2001)
Herbie Hancock, The New Standard (Verve, 1996)
River: The Joni Letters (Verve, 2006)
Roy Haynes, Birds of a Feather: A Tribute to Charlie Parker (Dreyfus Jazz, 2001) – Grammy nominated
Roland Hanna, Child of Gemini (MPS, 1971)
Charles Lloyd, Voice in the Night (ECM, 1998)
John Hartford, Morning Bugle (Warner Bros. 1972)
Lee Konitz, Satori (Milestone, 1974)
Pat Metheny, Question and Answer (Geffen, 1990) (with Roy Haynes)
Chris Potter, Unspoken (Concord, 1997)
Wayne Shorter, Moto Grosso Feio (Blue Note, 1970)
Tomasz Stańko, Balladyna (ECM, 1976)
Gary Thomas, While the Gate Is Open (JMT, 1990)
Collin Walcott, Cloud Dance (ECM, 1975)
Richard Teitelbaum, Muun Music Universe, Vol. 1: The Peace Church Concerts (CMC/India Navigation, 1974)
Filmography
Concert films
1992 Renaud Le Van Kim: Miles Davis and Friends (Bravo)
2000 DeJohnette, Hancock, Holland and Metheny Live in Concert
2005 Dave Holland Quintet Live in Freiburg
2008 Herbie Hancock & The New Standard Allstars in Japan (Jazz Door)
2009 Dave Holland Quintet: Vortex
2009 Dave Holland Quintet Live from the Zelt-Musik-Festival, Freiburg 1986
Featured in documentaries
2001 Mike Dibb: The Miles Davis Story (Channel 4)
2004 Murray Lerner: Miles Electric A Different Kind of Blue (Eagle Rock) about the Isle of Wight Festival 1970
References
External links
Official website
Dave Holland on ECM's official website, with reviews
Dave Hollands ECM recordings on trovar.com
Audio Interview with Dave Holland
Review of the album Critical Mass from JazzChicago.net
Dave Holland: Jazz at the Bass Level, Oregon Music News
Dave Holland at All About Jazz
Discography on Discogs
1946 births
Living people
Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Avant-garde jazz musicians
British jazz double-bassists
Male double-bassists
English jazz composers
Male jazz composers
English male composers
Grammy Award winners
Miles Davis
People from Wolverhampton
New England Conservatory alumni
New England Conservatory faculty
Big bands
ECM Records artists
Circle (jazz band) members
21st-century double-bassists
Spontaneous Music Ensemble members
Gateway (band) members
Sackville Records artists
Improvising Artists Records artists | true | [
"William Michael Hollands (born 10 March 1946) is the creative director and founder of Melbourne-based animation house Act3animation. His best known directorial work, the tragicomedy Piñata, was a nominee at the 2005 Annecy International Animated Film Festival in Annecy, France, the 2005 AFI Awards, for Best Short Animation, and won Vancouver's Vidfest 2005.\n\nHe was also connected to Deakin University through their motion capture studio, Motion.Lab, with which Act3animation was previously partnered, managing its commercial captures.\n\nHollands was also an exhibiting painter in his earlier years, and did cover illustrations for various books, including the 1980 Miles Franklin Award winner, The Impersonators, by Jessica Anderson, and 1981's Fly Away Peter, by David Malouf.\n\nAs of 2014, Hollands is currently producing a new Act3animation web series entitled Bup & Endo. Created, written and directed by Hollands, episodes are released weekly on the YouTube channel Bup & Endo. The series is described as \"an animated series starring two whimsical cartoon characters, Bup and Endo and the other odd characters inhabiting their strange world\".\n\nSee also\nAct3animation\nPiñata\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nAct3animation Homepage\n\nFilm directors from Melbourne\nAustralian animators\nAustralian animated film directors\n1946 births\nLiving people",
"{{Album ratings\n|rev1 = AllMusic\n|rev1score = \n| rev2 = The Encyclopedia of Popular Music| rev2Score = \n|rev3 = Music Box|rev3score = \n|rev5 = The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide| rev5Score = \n|rev4 = The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings|rev4score = \n|rev6 = Tom Hull\n|rev6Score = A–\n}}Cookin' with the Miles Davis Quintet is an album recorded in 1956 by the Miles Davis Quintet in Rudy Van Gelder's studio in Hackensack, New Jersey, and released in July 1957. As the musicians had to pay for the studio time (a result of a rather modest contract with Prestige), their recordings are practically live. Two sessions 11 May 1956 and 26 October in the same year resulted in four albums—this one, Relaxin' with the Miles Davis Quintet, Steamin' with the Miles Davis Quintet and Workin' with the Miles Davis Quintet''.\n\nIt was the first of the four LPs to be released. In response to the album title, Davis said, \"After all, that's what we did—came in and cooked\".\n\nThe album was originally released on CD in the U.S. in 1987, and it was remastered for CD most recently by Rudy Van Gelder again in 2006 for Prestige Records.\n\nReid Miles designed the album's cover and Phil Hays provided the illustration.\n\nTrack listing\nPrestige – LP 7094:\n\nPersonnel\n Miles Davis – trumpet, bandleader\n Paul Chambers – double bass\n John Coltrane – tenor saxophone (except 1)\n Red Garland – piano\n Philly Joe Jones – drums\n\nReferences\n\n1957 albums\nMiles Davis albums\nPrestige Records albums\nAlbums produced by Bob Weinstock\nAlbums recorded at Van Gelder Studio\nAlbums with cover art by Reid Miles"
]
|
[
"Dave Holland",
"With Miles Davis",
"When did Holland Meet Miles davis?",
"In 1968, Miles Davis and Philly Joe Jones heard him at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club,",
"Did Miles Davis influence Hollands music?",
"Holland's first recordings with Davis were in September 1968, and he appears on half of the album Filles de Kilimanjaro"
]
| C_65ba8b8c64cf4df6bd631370a68ee1d0_1 | Did Davis tour with Holland? | 3 | Did Miles Davis tour with Dave Holland? | Dave Holland | In 1968, Miles Davis and Philly Joe Jones heard him at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, playing in a combo that opened for the Bill Evans Trio. Jones told Holland that Davis wanted him to join his band (replacing Ron Carter). Davis left the UK before Holland could contact him directly, and two weeks later Holland was given three days' notice to fly to New York for an engagement at Count Basie's nightclub. He arrived the night before, staying with Jack DeJohnette, a previous acquaintance. The following day Herbie Hancock took him to the club, and his two years with Davis began. This was also Hancock's last gig as Davis's pianist, as he left afterwards for a honeymoon in Brazil and was replaced by Chick Corea when he could not return for an engagement due to illness. Holland's first recordings with Davis were in September 1968, and he appears on half of the album Filles de Kilimanjaro (with Davis, Corea, Wayne Shorter and Tony Williams). Holland was a member of Davis's rhythm section through the summer of 1970; he appears on the albums In a Silent Way and Bitches' Brew. All three of his studio recordings with Davis were important in the evolution of jazz fusion. In the first year of his tenure with Davis, Holland played primarily upright bass. By the end of 1969, he played electric bass guitar (often treated with wah-wah pedal and other electronic effects) with greater frequency as Davis moved away from acoustic jazz. Holland was also a member of Davis's working group during this time, unlike many of the musicians who appeared only on the trumpeter's studio recordings. The so-called "lost quintet" of Davis, Shorter, Corea, Holland and DeJohnette was active in 1969 but never made any studio recordings as a quintet. A 1970 live recording of this group plus percussionist Airto Moreira, Live at the Fillmore East, March 7, 1970: It's About That Time, was issued in 2001. Steve Grossman replaced Shorter in early 1970; Keith Jarrett joined the group as a second keyboardist thereafter, and Gary Bartz replaced Grossman during the summer of 1970. By the end of the summer, rhythm and blues bass guitarist Michael Henderson had replaced Holland. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Dave Holland (born 1 October 1946) is an English jazz double bassist, composer and bandleader who has been performing and recording for five decades. He has lived in the United States for over 40 years.
His work ranges from pieces for solo performance to big band. Holland runs his own independent record label, Dare2, which he launched in 2005.
Biography
Born in Wolverhampton, England, Holland taught himself how to play stringed instruments, beginning at four on the ukulele, then graduating to guitar and later bass guitar. He quit school at the age of 15 to pursue his profession in a pop band, but soon gravitated to jazz. After seeing an issue of Down Beat where Ray Brown had won the critics' poll for best bass player, Holland went to a record store, and bought a couple of LPs featuring Brown backing pianist Oscar Peterson. He also bought two Leroy Vinnegar albums (Leroy Walks! and Leroy Walks Again) because the bassist was posed with his instrument on the cover. Within a week, Holland traded in his bass guitar for a double bass and began practicing with the records. In addition to Brown and Vinnegar, Holland was drawn to the bassists Charles Mingus and Jimmy Garrison.
After moving to London in 1964, Holland played double bass in small venues and studied with James Edward Merrett, principal bassist of the Philharmonia Orchestra and, later, the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Merrett trained him to sight read and then recommended he apply to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Holland received a full-time scholarship for the three-year programme. At 20, Holland was keeping a busy schedule in school, studios and Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, London's premier jazz club, where he often played in bands that supported such touring American jazz saxophonists as Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster and Joe Henderson. He also linked up with other British jazz musicians, including guitarist John McLaughlin, saxophonists Evan Parker and John Surman, South Africa-born London-based pianist Chris McGregor, and drummer John Stevens, and performed on the Spontaneous Music Ensemble's 1968 album Karyobin. He also began a working relationship with Canada-born, England-based trumpeter Kenny Wheeler that continued until Wheeler's death in 2014.
With Miles Davis
In 1968, Miles Davis and Philly Joe Jones heard him at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, playing in a combo that opened for the Bill Evans Trio. Jones told Holland that Davis wanted him to join his band (replacing Ron Carter). Davis left the UK before Holland could contact him directly, and two weeks later Holland was given three days' notice to fly to New York for an engagement at Count Basie's nightclub. He arrived the night before, staying with Jack DeJohnette, a previous acquaintance. The following day Herbie Hancock took him to the club, and his two years with Davis began. This was also Hancock's last gig as Davis's pianist, as he left afterwards for a honeymoon in Brazil and was replaced by Chick Corea when he could not return for an engagement due to illness. Holland's first recordings with Davis were in September 1968, and he appears on half of the album Filles de Kilimanjaro (with Davis, Corea, Wayne Shorter and Tony Williams).
Holland was a member of Davis's rhythm section through the summer of 1970; he appears on the albums In a Silent Way and Bitches' Brew. In the first year of his tenure with Davis, Holland played primarily upright bass. By the end of 1969, he played electric bass guitar (often treated with wah-wah pedal and other electronic effects) with greater frequency as Davis moved away from acoustic jazz.
Holland was also a member of Davis's working group during this time, unlike many of the musicians who appeared only on the trumpeter's studio recordings. The so-called "lost quintet" of Davis, Shorter, Corea, Holland and DeJohnette was active in 1969 but never made any studio recordings as a quintet. A 1970 live recording of this group plus percussionist Airto Moreira, Live at the Fillmore East, March 7, 1970: It's About That Time, was issued in 2001. Steve Grossman replaced Shorter in early 1970; Keith Jarrett joined the group as a second keyboardist thereafter, and Gary Bartz replaced Grossman during the summer of 1970. By the end of the summer, rhythm and blues bass guitarist Michael Henderson had replaced Holland.
ECM and the 1970s
After leaving Davis's group, Holland briefly joined the avant-garde jazz group Circle, with Corea, Barry Altschul and reed player Anthony Braxton. This started a decades-long association with the ECM record label. After recording a few albums, Circle disbanded when Corea departed. 1972 saw the recording of Conference of the Birds, with Sam Rivers, Altschul and Braxton – Holland's first recording as a leader, and the beginning of a long musical relationship with Rivers. The title of the album is taken from that of a 4,500-line epic poem by Persian Sufist writer, Farid al-Din Attar.
Holland worked as a leader and as a sideman with many other jazz artists in the 1970s. On June 15, 1972 he played with Thelonious Monk at the Village Vanguard which was one of Monk's last concerts. Holland recorded several important albums with Anthony Braxton between 1972 and 1976 – including New York, Fall 1974 (1974) and Five Pieces (1975) – that were released on Arista Records.
Holland also recorded duo sessions with saxophonist Sam Rivers and fellow bassist Barre Phillips, and the solo bass album Emerald Tears. Also in the 1970s he appeared with performers including Stan Getz and the Gateway Trio with John Abercrombie and DeJohnette. The Gateway trio released two influential modern jazz albums in 1975 and 1977, and reformed in 1994 for a recording session which yielded another two albums. As a sideman, Holland appeared on rock and pop recordings as well, working with singer Bonnie Raitt on her 1972 album Give It Up.
The 1980s
Holland formed his first working quintet in 1983, and over the next four years released Jumpin' In, Seeds of Time, and The Razor's Edge, featuring alto saxophonist Steve Coleman, trumpeter Wheeler and trombonist Julian Priester (or Robin Eubanks). Subsequently, he formed the Dave Holland Trio (with Coleman and DeJohnette) for the 1988 album Triplicate, and teamed with Coleman, electric guitarist Kevin Eubanks and drummer Marvin "Smitty" Smith for Extensions. He also recorded Life Cycle, an album of compositions played on solo cello.
The bassist also continued to collaborate with his peers, often connecting with figures from the previous generation of jazz icons. In 1989, Holland teamed with drummer Billy Higgins and pianist Hank Jones to record The Oracle, and joined drummer Roy Haynes and guitarist Pat Metheny in 1989 to record Question and Answer.
The 1990s and 2000s
During the 1990s, Holland renewed an affiliation, begun in the 1970s, with Joe Henderson, joining the tenor saxophonist on So Near (So Far), a tribute to Miles Davis, and Porgy & Bess. Holland also reunited with vocalist Betty Carter, touring and recording the live album Feed the Fire (1993). Fellow Davis alumnus Herbie Hancock invited Holland to tour with him in 1992, subsequently recording The New Standard. Holland joined Hancock's band again in 1996. He was also part of the sessions for River: The Joni Letters, winner of the 2008 Grammy Award for Album of the Year.
As a leader, Holland formed his third quartet and released Dream of the Elders (1995), which introduced the vibraphonist Steve Nelson to his ensembles. Holland formed a quintet that includes tenor saxophonist Chris Potter, trombonist Robin Eubanks and, a more recent addition, drummer Nate Smith. Their recordings include Points of View, Prime Directive, Not for Nothin, Extended Play: Live at Birdland and Critical Mass. In addition to releasing four quintet albums on ECM, Holland debuted his Big Band, which released What Goes Around in 2002. The album won Holland his first Grammy as a leader, in the Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album category. The second Big Band recording, Overtime (2005), again won the Grammy in the Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album category; it was released on Holland's Dare2 label, which he formed that year.
In 2009, Holland was a co-founder of an all-star group called the Overtone Quartet. The group consisted of Holland on bass, Chris Potter on tenor saxophone, Jason Moran on piano, and Eric Harland on drums. The group toured extensively throughout the United States and Europe.
Awards and honors
He won the Critics Poll in Down Beat magazine for Musician of the Year, Big Band of the Year, and Acoustic Bassist of the Year (he also garnered top bassist in the 2006 poll). The Jazz Journalists' Association honored him as Musician and Acoustic Bassist of the Year. He was the recipient of the Miles Davis Award at the Montreal Jazz Festival.
The National Endowment for the Arts named Holland as one of its five Jazz Masters Fellows in 2017; the award recognizes artists for their lifetime achievements and exceptional contributions toward the advancement of jazz.
Holland has received honorary doctorates from the New England Conservatory, Boston, where he held a full-time teaching position in 1987–88 and where he has been visiting artist in residence since 2005; Berklee College of Music, Boston; and the Birmingham Conservatoire, in England. He was also named Fellow of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (London). From 1982 to 1989, Holland served as the artistic director of the Banff Summer Jazz Workshop through the Banff School of Fine Arts in Alberta, Canada. In addition, he has taught workshops and master classes around the world at universities and music schools and is President of the UK-based National Youth Jazz Collective.
Discography
As leader
Conference of the Birds (ECM, 1972)
Emerald Tears (ECM, 1977) – solo bass
Life Cycle (ECM, 1982) – solo cello
Jumpin' In (ECM, 1983)
Seeds of Time (ECM, 1984)
The Razor's Edge (ECM, 1987)
Triplicate (ECM, 1988)
Extensions (ECM, 1990)
Ones All (VeraBra, 1993) – solo bass
Dream of the Elders (ECM, 1995) – quartet
Points of View (ECM, 1998) – quintet
Prime Directive (ECM, 1999) – quintet
Not for Nothin' (ECM, 2001) – quintet
What Goes Around (ECM, 2002) – with big band
Extended Play: Live at Birdland (ECM, 2003) – quintet [2CD]
Overtime (Dare2/Sunnyside, 2005) – with big band
Critical Mass (Dare2/Sunnyside, 2006) – quintet
Pass It On (Dare2/EmArcy/UMe, 2008) – sextet
Pathways (Dare2, 2010) – octet
Prism (Dare2, 2013) – quartet
Aziza (Dare2, 2016) – quartet
Uncharted Territories (Dare2, 2018) – quartet with Evan Parker
Without Deception (Dare2, 2020)
Another Land (Edition Records, 2021)
Compilation
Rarum, Vol. 10: Selected Recordings (ECM, 2004)
As co-leader
with John McLaughlin, John Surman, Stu Martin and Karl Berger – Where Fortune Smiles (Dawn, 1971)
with Chick Corea and Barry Altschul – ARC (ECM, 1971)
with Derek Bailey – Improvisations for Cello and Guitar (ECM, 1971)
with Barre Phillips – Music from Two Basses (ECM, 1971)
Dave Holland / Sam Rivers (Improvising Artists, 1976)
Sam Rivers / Dave Holland Vol. 2 (Improvising Artists, 1976)
Norman Blake/Tut Taylor/Sam Bush/Butch Robins/Vassar Clements/David Holland/Jethro Burns (HDS, 1975)
with Karl Berger – All Kinds of Time (Sackville, 1976)
with Evan Parker, Paul Rutherford and Paul Lovens – The Ericle of Dolphi [recorded 1976 and 1986] (Po Torch, 1989)
Vassar Clements, John Hartford, Dave Holland (Rounder, 1985)
with Hank Jones and Billy Higgins – The Oracle (EmArcy, 1990)
with Steve Coleman – Phase Space (Rebel-X/DIW, 1991)
with Gordon Beck, Jack DeJohnette and Didier Lockwood – For Evans Sake (JMS, 1992)
with Mino Cinelu and Kevin Eubanks – World Trio (Intuition, 1995)
ScoLoHoFo (John Scofield, Joe Lovano, Dave Holland and Al Foster) – Oh! (Blue Note, 2003)
with Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Chris Potter and Eric Harland – The Monterey Quartet: Live at the 2007 Monterey Festival (Monterey Jazz Festival, 2009)
with Pepe Habichuela – Hands (Dare2, 2010)
with Sam Rivers and Barry Altschul – Reunion: Live in New York (Pi, 2012)
with Kenny Barron – The Art of Conversation (Impulse!, 2014)
with Zakir Hussain and Chris Potter - Good Hope (Edition Records, 2019)
As Gateway
With John Abercrombie and Jack DeJohnette
Gateway (ECM, 1975)
Gateway 2 (ECM, 1977)
Homecoming (ECM, 1994)
In the Moment (ECM, 1996)
As Circle
With Chick Corea and Barry Altschul
Circling In (Blue Note, 1970)
Circulus (Blue Note, 1970)
Circle 1: Live in Germany Concert] (CBS/Sony Japan, 1970)
Paris Concert (ECM, 1971)
Circle 2: Gathering (CBS/Sony Japan, 1971)
As sideman
With Karl Berger
Tune In (Milestone, 1969)
Transit (Black Saint, 1986)
Crystal Fire (Enja, 1992)
Conversations (In+Out, 1994)
With Anouar Brahem
Thimar (ECM, 1998) – recorded in 1997
Blue Maqams (ECM, 2017)
With Anthony Braxton
The Complete Braxton (Freedom, 1973) – recorded in 1971
Town Hall 1972 (Trio, 1972)
Trio and Duet (Sackville, 1974)
New York, Fall 1974 (Arista, 1974)
Five Pieces 1975 (Arista, 1975)
Quartet: Live at Moers Festival (Ring, 1976) – recorded in 1974
Creative Orchestra Music 1976 (Arista, 1976)
The Montreux/Berlin Concerts (Arista, 1977) – recorded in 1975–76
Dortmund (Quartet) 1976 (hatART, 1991)
With Steve Coleman
Rhythm People (Novus/RCA, 1990)
Black Science (Novus/RCA, 1991)
Rhythm in Mind (Novus/RCA, 1991)
With Chick Corea
Is (Groove Merchant, 1969)
Sundance (Groove Merchant, 1969)
The Song of Singing (Blue Note, 1970)
With Miles Davis
Filles de Kilimanjaro (Columbia, 1968)
In a Silent Way (Columbia, 1969)
Bitches Brew (Columbia, 1969)
Live at the Fillmore East, March 7, 1970: It's About That Time (Columbia, 1970)
Miles Davis at Fillmore: Live at the Fillmore East (Columbia, 1970)
Black Beauty: Live at the Fillmore West (Columbia, 1970)
Live-Evil (Columbia, 1970)
Big Fun (Columbia, 1969–1972)
1969 Miles – Festival de Juan Pins (Columbia, 1993)
Live in Europe 1969: The Bootleg Series Vol. 2 (Columbia/Legacy, 2013)
Miles at the Fillmore - Miles Davis 1970: The Bootleg Series Vol. 3 (Columbia/Legacy, 2014)
Miles Davis at Newport 1955-1975: The Bootleg Series Vol. 4 (Columbia/Legacy, 2015)
With Robin Eubanks
Karma (JMT, 1991)
Mental Images (JMT, 1994)
With Billy Hart
Enchance (Horizon, 1977)
Oshumare (Gramavision, 1985)
With Joe Henderson
Black Is the Color (Milestone, 1972)
Multiple (Milestone, 1973)
So Near, So Far (Verve, 1993)
Porgy & Bess (Verve, 1997)
With Eric Kloss
To Hear Is to See! (Prestige, 1969)
Consciousness! (Prestige, 1970)
One, Two, Free (Muse, 1972)
With Dave Liebman
First Visit (Philips, 1973)
Fire (Jazzline, 2018) – recorded in 2016
With Joe Lovano
From the Soul (Blue Note, 1992)
Trio Fascination: Edition One (Blue Note, 1997)
With Sam Rivers
Sizzle (Impulse!, 1975)
Waves (Tomato, 1978)
Contrasts (ECM, 1981)
With Kenny Wheeler
Gnu High (ECM, 1975)
Deer Wan (ECM, 1977)
Double, Double You (ECM, 1984)
Flutter By, Butterfly (Soul Note, 1988)
Music for Large & Small Ensembles (ECM, 1990)
The Widow in the Window (ECM, 1990)
Angel Song (ECM, 1997)
What Now? (CAM Jazz, 2005)
With others
Claudia Acuña, Rhythm of Life (Verve, 2002)
George Adams, Sound Suggestions (ECM, 1979)
Geri Allen, The Life of a Song (Telarc, 2004) (with Jack DeJohnette)
Franco Ambrosetti, Tentets (Enja, 1985)
Kenny Barron, Scratch (Enja, 1985)
Terence Blanchard, Wandering Moon (Sony Classical, 2000)
Paul Bley, Paul Bley & Scorpio (Milestone, 1973)
Michael Brecker, Tales from the Hudson (Impulse!, 1996)
Nick Brignola, Baritone Madness (Bee Hive, 1977) with Pepper Adams
Gary Burton, Like Minds (Concord, 1998)
Uri Caine, Toys (JMT, 1996)
Betty Carter, Feed the Fire (Verve, 1993)
James Carter, The Real Quiet Storm (Atlantic, 1995)
Vassar Clements, Once In A While (Flying Fish, 1992)
Joe Farrell, Joe Farrell Quartet (CTI, 1970)
Bill Frisell, With Dave Holland and Elvin Jones (Nonesuch, 2001)
Hal Galper, Inner Journey (Mainstream, 1973)
Laszlo Gardony, The Legend of Tsumi (Antilles, 1989)
Jim Hall, Jim Hall & Basses (Telarc, 2001)
Herbie Hancock, The New Standard (Verve, 1996)
River: The Joni Letters (Verve, 2006)
Roy Haynes, Birds of a Feather: A Tribute to Charlie Parker (Dreyfus Jazz, 2001) – Grammy nominated
Roland Hanna, Child of Gemini (MPS, 1971)
Charles Lloyd, Voice in the Night (ECM, 1998)
John Hartford, Morning Bugle (Warner Bros. 1972)
Lee Konitz, Satori (Milestone, 1974)
Pat Metheny, Question and Answer (Geffen, 1990) (with Roy Haynes)
Chris Potter, Unspoken (Concord, 1997)
Wayne Shorter, Moto Grosso Feio (Blue Note, 1970)
Tomasz Stańko, Balladyna (ECM, 1976)
Gary Thomas, While the Gate Is Open (JMT, 1990)
Collin Walcott, Cloud Dance (ECM, 1975)
Richard Teitelbaum, Muun Music Universe, Vol. 1: The Peace Church Concerts (CMC/India Navigation, 1974)
Filmography
Concert films
1992 Renaud Le Van Kim: Miles Davis and Friends (Bravo)
2000 DeJohnette, Hancock, Holland and Metheny Live in Concert
2005 Dave Holland Quintet Live in Freiburg
2008 Herbie Hancock & The New Standard Allstars in Japan (Jazz Door)
2009 Dave Holland Quintet: Vortex
2009 Dave Holland Quintet Live from the Zelt-Musik-Festival, Freiburg 1986
Featured in documentaries
2001 Mike Dibb: The Miles Davis Story (Channel 4)
2004 Murray Lerner: Miles Electric A Different Kind of Blue (Eagle Rock) about the Isle of Wight Festival 1970
References
External links
Official website
Dave Holland on ECM's official website, with reviews
Dave Hollands ECM recordings on trovar.com
Audio Interview with Dave Holland
Review of the album Critical Mass from JazzChicago.net
Dave Holland: Jazz at the Bass Level, Oregon Music News
Dave Holland at All About Jazz
Discography on Discogs
1946 births
Living people
Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Avant-garde jazz musicians
British jazz double-bassists
Male double-bassists
English jazz composers
Male jazz composers
English male composers
Grammy Award winners
Miles Davis
People from Wolverhampton
New England Conservatory alumni
New England Conservatory faculty
Big bands
ECM Records artists
Circle (jazz band) members
21st-century double-bassists
Spontaneous Music Ensemble members
Gateway (band) members
Sackville Records artists
Improvising Artists Records artists | false | [
"Dave Holland (born 1 October 1946) is an English jazz double bassist, composer and bandleader who has been performing and recording for five decades. He has lived in the United States for over 40 years.\n\nHis work ranges from pieces for solo performance to big band. Holland runs his own independent record label, Dare2, which he launched in 2005.\n\nBiography\nBorn in Wolverhampton, England, Holland taught himself how to play stringed instruments, beginning at four on the ukulele, then graduating to guitar and later bass guitar. He quit school at the age of 15 to pursue his profession in a pop band, but soon gravitated to jazz. After seeing an issue of Down Beat where Ray Brown had won the critics' poll for best bass player, Holland went to a record store, and bought a couple of LPs featuring Brown backing pianist Oscar Peterson. He also bought two Leroy Vinnegar albums (Leroy Walks! and Leroy Walks Again) because the bassist was posed with his instrument on the cover. Within a week, Holland traded in his bass guitar for a double bass and began practicing with the records. In addition to Brown and Vinnegar, Holland was drawn to the bassists Charles Mingus and Jimmy Garrison.\n\nAfter moving to London in 1964, Holland played double bass in small venues and studied with James Edward Merrett, principal bassist of the Philharmonia Orchestra and, later, the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Merrett trained him to sight read and then recommended he apply to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Holland received a full-time scholarship for the three-year programme. At 20, Holland was keeping a busy schedule in school, studios and Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, London's premier jazz club, where he often played in bands that supported such touring American jazz saxophonists as Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster and Joe Henderson. He also linked up with other British jazz musicians, including guitarist John McLaughlin, saxophonists Evan Parker and John Surman, South Africa-born London-based pianist Chris McGregor, and drummer John Stevens, and performed on the Spontaneous Music Ensemble's 1968 album Karyobin. He also began a working relationship with Canada-born, England-based trumpeter Kenny Wheeler that continued until Wheeler's death in 2014.\n\nWith Miles Davis\nIn 1968, Miles Davis and Philly Joe Jones heard him at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, playing in a combo that opened for the Bill Evans Trio. Jones told Holland that Davis wanted him to join his band (replacing Ron Carter). Davis left the UK before Holland could contact him directly, and two weeks later Holland was given three days' notice to fly to New York for an engagement at Count Basie's nightclub. He arrived the night before, staying with Jack DeJohnette, a previous acquaintance. The following day Herbie Hancock took him to the club, and his two years with Davis began. This was also Hancock's last gig as Davis's pianist, as he left afterwards for a honeymoon in Brazil and was replaced by Chick Corea when he could not return for an engagement due to illness. Holland's first recordings with Davis were in September 1968, and he appears on half of the album Filles de Kilimanjaro (with Davis, Corea, Wayne Shorter and Tony Williams).\n\nHolland was a member of Davis's rhythm section through the summer of 1970; he appears on the albums In a Silent Way and Bitches' Brew. In the first year of his tenure with Davis, Holland played primarily upright bass. By the end of 1969, he played electric bass guitar (often treated with wah-wah pedal and other electronic effects) with greater frequency as Davis moved away from acoustic jazz.\n\nHolland was also a member of Davis's working group during this time, unlike many of the musicians who appeared only on the trumpeter's studio recordings. The so-called \"lost quintet\" of Davis, Shorter, Corea, Holland and DeJohnette was active in 1969 but never made any studio recordings as a quintet. A 1970 live recording of this group plus percussionist Airto Moreira, Live at the Fillmore East, March 7, 1970: It's About That Time, was issued in 2001. Steve Grossman replaced Shorter in early 1970; Keith Jarrett joined the group as a second keyboardist thereafter, and Gary Bartz replaced Grossman during the summer of 1970. By the end of the summer, rhythm and blues bass guitarist Michael Henderson had replaced Holland.\n\nECM and the 1970s\nAfter leaving Davis's group, Holland briefly joined the avant-garde jazz group Circle, with Corea, Barry Altschul and reed player Anthony Braxton. This started a decades-long association with the ECM record label. After recording a few albums, Circle disbanded when Corea departed. 1972 saw the recording of Conference of the Birds, with Sam Rivers, Altschul and Braxton – Holland's first recording as a leader, and the beginning of a long musical relationship with Rivers. The title of the album is taken from that of a 4,500-line epic poem by Persian Sufist writer, Farid al-Din Attar.\n\nHolland worked as a leader and as a sideman with many other jazz artists in the 1970s. On June 15, 1972 he played with Thelonious Monk at the Village Vanguard which was one of Monk's last concerts. Holland recorded several important albums with Anthony Braxton between 1972 and 1976 – including New York, Fall 1974 (1974) and Five Pieces (1975) – that were released on Arista Records.\nHolland also recorded duo sessions with saxophonist Sam Rivers and fellow bassist Barre Phillips, and the solo bass album Emerald Tears. Also in the 1970s he appeared with performers including Stan Getz and the Gateway Trio with John Abercrombie and DeJohnette. The Gateway trio released two influential modern jazz albums in 1975 and 1977, and reformed in 1994 for a recording session which yielded another two albums. As a sideman, Holland appeared on rock and pop recordings as well, working with singer Bonnie Raitt on her 1972 album Give It Up.\n\nThe 1980s \nHolland formed his first working quintet in 1983, and over the next four years released Jumpin' In, Seeds of Time, and The Razor's Edge, featuring alto saxophonist Steve Coleman, trumpeter Wheeler and trombonist Julian Priester (or Robin Eubanks). Subsequently, he formed the Dave Holland Trio (with Coleman and DeJohnette) for the 1988 album Triplicate, and teamed with Coleman, electric guitarist Kevin Eubanks and drummer Marvin \"Smitty\" Smith for Extensions. He also recorded Life Cycle, an album of compositions played on solo cello.\n\nThe bassist also continued to collaborate with his peers, often connecting with figures from the previous generation of jazz icons. In 1989, Holland teamed with drummer Billy Higgins and pianist Hank Jones to record The Oracle, and joined drummer Roy Haynes and guitarist Pat Metheny in 1989 to record Question and Answer.\n\nThe 1990s and 2000s \nDuring the 1990s, Holland renewed an affiliation, begun in the 1970s, with Joe Henderson, joining the tenor saxophonist on So Near (So Far), a tribute to Miles Davis, and Porgy & Bess. Holland also reunited with vocalist Betty Carter, touring and recording the live album Feed the Fire (1993). Fellow Davis alumnus Herbie Hancock invited Holland to tour with him in 1992, subsequently recording The New Standard. Holland joined Hancock's band again in 1996. He was also part of the sessions for River: The Joni Letters, winner of the 2008 Grammy Award for Album of the Year.\n\nAs a leader, Holland formed his third quartet and released Dream of the Elders (1995), which introduced the vibraphonist Steve Nelson to his ensembles. Holland formed a quintet that includes tenor saxophonist Chris Potter, trombonist Robin Eubanks and, a more recent addition, drummer Nate Smith. Their recordings include Points of View, Prime Directive, Not for Nothin, Extended Play: Live at Birdland and Critical Mass. In addition to releasing four quintet albums on ECM, Holland debuted his Big Band, which released What Goes Around in 2002. The album won Holland his first Grammy as a leader, in the Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album category. The second Big Band recording, Overtime (2005), again won the Grammy in the Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album category; it was released on Holland's Dare2 label, which he formed that year.\n\nIn 2009, Holland was a co-founder of an all-star group called the Overtone Quartet. The group consisted of Holland on bass, Chris Potter on tenor saxophone, Jason Moran on piano, and Eric Harland on drums. The group toured extensively throughout the United States and Europe.\n\nAwards and honors\nHe won the Critics Poll in Down Beat magazine for Musician of the Year, Big Band of the Year, and Acoustic Bassist of the Year (he also garnered top bassist in the 2006 poll). The Jazz Journalists' Association honored him as Musician and Acoustic Bassist of the Year. He was the recipient of the Miles Davis Award at the Montreal Jazz Festival.\n\nThe National Endowment for the Arts named Holland as one of its five Jazz Masters Fellows in 2017; the award recognizes artists for their lifetime achievements and exceptional contributions toward the advancement of jazz.\n\nHolland has received honorary doctorates from the New England Conservatory, Boston, where he held a full-time teaching position in 1987–88 and where he has been visiting artist in residence since 2005; Berklee College of Music, Boston; and the Birmingham Conservatoire, in England. He was also named Fellow of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (London). From 1982 to 1989, Holland served as the artistic director of the Banff Summer Jazz Workshop through the Banff School of Fine Arts in Alberta, Canada. In addition, he has taught workshops and master classes around the world at universities and music schools and is President of the UK-based National Youth Jazz Collective.\n\nDiscography\n\nAs leader \n Conference of the Birds (ECM, 1972)\n Emerald Tears (ECM, 1977) – solo bass\n Life Cycle (ECM, 1982) – solo cello\n Jumpin' In (ECM, 1983)\n Seeds of Time (ECM, 1984)\n The Razor's Edge (ECM, 1987)\n Triplicate (ECM, 1988)\n Extensions (ECM, 1990)\n Ones All (VeraBra, 1993) – solo bass\n Dream of the Elders (ECM, 1995) – quartet\n Points of View (ECM, 1998) – quintet\n Prime Directive (ECM, 1999) – quintet\n Not for Nothin' (ECM, 2001) – quintet\n What Goes Around (ECM, 2002) – with big band\n Extended Play: Live at Birdland (ECM, 2003) – quintet [2CD]\n Overtime (Dare2/Sunnyside, 2005) – with big band\n Critical Mass (Dare2/Sunnyside, 2006) – quintet\n Pass It On (Dare2/EmArcy/UMe, 2008) – sextet\n Pathways (Dare2, 2010) – octet\n Prism (Dare2, 2013) – quartet\n Aziza (Dare2, 2016) – quartet\n Uncharted Territories (Dare2, 2018) – quartet with Evan Parker\n Without Deception (Dare2, 2020)\n Another Land (Edition Records, 2021)\n\nCompilation\nRarum, Vol. 10: Selected Recordings (ECM, 2004)\n\nAs co-leader \n with John McLaughlin, John Surman, Stu Martin and Karl Berger – Where Fortune Smiles (Dawn, 1971)\n with Chick Corea and Barry Altschul – ARC (ECM, 1971)\n with Derek Bailey – Improvisations for Cello and Guitar (ECM, 1971)\n with Barre Phillips – Music from Two Basses (ECM, 1971)\n Dave Holland / Sam Rivers (Improvising Artists, 1976)\n Sam Rivers / Dave Holland Vol. 2 (Improvising Artists, 1976)\n Norman Blake/Tut Taylor/Sam Bush/Butch Robins/Vassar Clements/David Holland/Jethro Burns (HDS, 1975)\n with Karl Berger – All Kinds of Time (Sackville, 1976)\n with Evan Parker, Paul Rutherford and Paul Lovens – The Ericle of Dolphi [recorded 1976 and 1986] (Po Torch, 1989)\n Vassar Clements, John Hartford, Dave Holland (Rounder, 1985)\n with Hank Jones and Billy Higgins – The Oracle (EmArcy, 1990)\n with Steve Coleman – Phase Space (Rebel-X/DIW, 1991)\n with Gordon Beck, Jack DeJohnette and Didier Lockwood – For Evans Sake (JMS, 1992)\n with Mino Cinelu and Kevin Eubanks – World Trio (Intuition, 1995)\n ScoLoHoFo (John Scofield, Joe Lovano, Dave Holland and Al Foster) – Oh! (Blue Note, 2003)\n with Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Chris Potter and Eric Harland – The Monterey Quartet: Live at the 2007 Monterey Festival (Monterey Jazz Festival, 2009)\n with Pepe Habichuela – Hands (Dare2, 2010)\n with Sam Rivers and Barry Altschul – Reunion: Live in New York (Pi, 2012)\n with Kenny Barron – The Art of Conversation (Impulse!, 2014)\n with Zakir Hussain and Chris Potter - Good Hope (Edition Records, 2019)\n\nAs Gateway\nWith John Abercrombie and Jack DeJohnette\n Gateway (ECM, 1975)\n Gateway 2 (ECM, 1977)\n Homecoming (ECM, 1994)\n In the Moment (ECM, 1996)\n\nAs Circle \nWith Chick Corea and Barry Altschul\n Circling In (Blue Note, 1970)\n Circulus (Blue Note, 1970)\n Circle 1: Live in Germany Concert] (CBS/Sony Japan, 1970)\n Paris Concert (ECM, 1971)\n Circle 2: Gathering (CBS/Sony Japan, 1971)\n\nAs sideman \n\nWith Karl Berger\n Tune In (Milestone, 1969)\n Transit (Black Saint, 1986)\n Crystal Fire (Enja, 1992)\n Conversations (In+Out, 1994)\n\nWith Anouar Brahem\n Thimar (ECM, 1998) – recorded in 1997\nBlue Maqams (ECM, 2017)\n\nWith Anthony Braxton\nThe Complete Braxton (Freedom, 1973) – recorded in 1971\n Town Hall 1972 (Trio, 1972)\n Trio and Duet (Sackville, 1974)\n New York, Fall 1974 (Arista, 1974)\n Five Pieces 1975 (Arista, 1975)\nQuartet: Live at Moers Festival (Ring, 1976) – recorded in 1974\n Creative Orchestra Music 1976 (Arista, 1976)\n The Montreux/Berlin Concerts (Arista, 1977) – recorded in 1975–76\n Dortmund (Quartet) 1976 (hatART, 1991)\n\nWith Steve Coleman\n Rhythm People (Novus/RCA, 1990)\n Black Science (Novus/RCA, 1991)\n Rhythm in Mind (Novus/RCA, 1991)\n\nWith Chick Corea\n Is (Groove Merchant, 1969)\n Sundance (Groove Merchant, 1969)\n The Song of Singing (Blue Note, 1970)\n\nWith Miles Davis\n Filles de Kilimanjaro (Columbia, 1968)\n In a Silent Way (Columbia, 1969)\n Bitches Brew (Columbia, 1969)\n Live at the Fillmore East, March 7, 1970: It's About That Time (Columbia, 1970)\n Miles Davis at Fillmore: Live at the Fillmore East (Columbia, 1970)\n Black Beauty: Live at the Fillmore West (Columbia, 1970)\n Live-Evil (Columbia, 1970)\n Big Fun (Columbia, 1969–1972)\n 1969 Miles – Festival de Juan Pins (Columbia, 1993)\n Live in Europe 1969: The Bootleg Series Vol. 2 (Columbia/Legacy, 2013)\n Miles at the Fillmore - Miles Davis 1970: The Bootleg Series Vol. 3 (Columbia/Legacy, 2014)\n Miles Davis at Newport 1955-1975: The Bootleg Series Vol. 4 (Columbia/Legacy, 2015)\n\nWith Robin Eubanks\n Karma (JMT, 1991)\n Mental Images (JMT, 1994)\n\nWith Billy Hart\n Enchance (Horizon, 1977)\n Oshumare (Gramavision, 1985)\n\nWith Joe Henderson\n Black Is the Color (Milestone, 1972)\n Multiple (Milestone, 1973)\n So Near, So Far (Verve, 1993)\n Porgy & Bess (Verve, 1997)\n\nWith Eric Kloss\n To Hear Is to See! (Prestige, 1969)\n Consciousness! (Prestige, 1970)\n One, Two, Free (Muse, 1972)\n\nWith Dave Liebman\nFirst Visit (Philips, 1973)\n Fire (Jazzline, 2018) – recorded in 2016\n\nWith Joe Lovano\n From the Soul (Blue Note, 1992)\n Trio Fascination: Edition One (Blue Note, 1997)\n\nWith Sam Rivers\n Sizzle (Impulse!, 1975)\n Waves (Tomato, 1978)\n Contrasts (ECM, 1981)\n\nWith Kenny Wheeler\n Gnu High (ECM, 1975)\n Deer Wan (ECM, 1977)\n Double, Double You (ECM, 1984)\n Flutter By, Butterfly (Soul Note, 1988)\n Music for Large & Small Ensembles (ECM, 1990)\n The Widow in the Window (ECM, 1990)\n Angel Song (ECM, 1997)\n What Now? (CAM Jazz, 2005)\n\nWith others\n Claudia Acuña, Rhythm of Life (Verve, 2002)\n George Adams, Sound Suggestions (ECM, 1979)\n Geri Allen, The Life of a Song (Telarc, 2004) (with Jack DeJohnette)\n Franco Ambrosetti, Tentets (Enja, 1985)\n Kenny Barron, Scratch (Enja, 1985)\n Terence Blanchard, Wandering Moon (Sony Classical, 2000)\n Paul Bley, Paul Bley & Scorpio (Milestone, 1973)\n Michael Brecker, Tales from the Hudson (Impulse!, 1996)\n Nick Brignola, Baritone Madness (Bee Hive, 1977) with Pepper Adams\n Gary Burton, Like Minds (Concord, 1998)\n Uri Caine, Toys (JMT, 1996)\n Betty Carter, Feed the Fire (Verve, 1993)\n James Carter, The Real Quiet Storm (Atlantic, 1995)\n Vassar Clements, Once In A While (Flying Fish, 1992)\n Joe Farrell, Joe Farrell Quartet (CTI, 1970)\n Bill Frisell, With Dave Holland and Elvin Jones (Nonesuch, 2001)\n Hal Galper, Inner Journey (Mainstream, 1973)\n Laszlo Gardony, The Legend of Tsumi (Antilles, 1989)\n Jim Hall, Jim Hall & Basses (Telarc, 2001)\n Herbie Hancock, The New Standard (Verve, 1996)\n River: The Joni Letters (Verve, 2006)\n Roy Haynes, Birds of a Feather: A Tribute to Charlie Parker (Dreyfus Jazz, 2001) – Grammy nominated\n Roland Hanna, Child of Gemini (MPS, 1971)\n Charles Lloyd, Voice in the Night (ECM, 1998)\n John Hartford, Morning Bugle (Warner Bros. 1972)\n Lee Konitz, Satori (Milestone, 1974)\n Pat Metheny, Question and Answer (Geffen, 1990) (with Roy Haynes)\n Chris Potter, Unspoken (Concord, 1997)\n Wayne Shorter, Moto Grosso Feio (Blue Note, 1970)\n Tomasz Stańko, Balladyna (ECM, 1976)\n Gary Thomas, While the Gate Is Open (JMT, 1990)\n Collin Walcott, Cloud Dance (ECM, 1975)\n Richard Teitelbaum, Muun Music Universe, Vol. 1: The Peace Church Concerts (CMC/India Navigation, 1974)\n\nFilmography\n\nConcert films\n 1992 Renaud Le Van Kim: Miles Davis and Friends (Bravo)\n 2000 DeJohnette, Hancock, Holland and Metheny Live in Concert\n 2005 Dave Holland Quintet Live in Freiburg\n 2008 Herbie Hancock & The New Standard Allstars in Japan (Jazz Door)\n 2009 Dave Holland Quintet: Vortex\n 2009 Dave Holland Quintet Live from the Zelt-Musik-Festival, Freiburg 1986\n\nFeatured in documentaries\n 2001 Mike Dibb: The Miles Davis Story (Channel 4)\n 2004 Murray Lerner: Miles Electric A Different Kind of Blue (Eagle Rock) about the Isle of Wight Festival 1970\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n Official website\n Dave Holland on ECM's official website, with reviews\n Dave Hollands ECM recordings on trovar.com\n Audio Interview with Dave Holland\n Review of the album Critical Mass from JazzChicago.net\n Dave Holland: Jazz at the Bass Level, Oregon Music News\n Dave Holland at All About Jazz\n Discography on Discogs\n\n1946 births\nLiving people\nAlumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama\nAvant-garde jazz musicians\nBritish jazz double-bassists\nMale double-bassists\nEnglish jazz composers\nMale jazz composers\nEnglish male composers\nGrammy Award winners\nMiles Davis\nPeople from Wolverhampton\nNew England Conservatory alumni\nNew England Conservatory faculty\nBig bands\nECM Records artists\nCircle (jazz band) members\n21st-century double-bassists\nSpontaneous Music Ensemble members\nGateway (band) members\nSackville Records artists\nImprovising Artists Records artists",
"Bare Back is an album by The Temptations released in 1978. This was the second of two albums they recorded for Atlantic Records, and the last with vocalist Louis Price. Dennis Edwards would return to the group when they re-signed with Motown in 1980. This album was kind of a Motown reunion, as Brian Holland, of Holland-Dozier-Holland, would serve as producer this time around, with brother Eddie helping with co-writing.\n\nSong List\n\nSide One\n. Mystic Woman (Love Me Over) (B. Holland-Eddie Holland-Richard Davis) (Lead Vocals: Glenn Leonard and Richard Street)\n. I Just Don't Know How to Let You Go (B. Holland-E. Holland-Marcia Woods) (Lead Vocals: Richard Street and Louis Price)\n. That's When You Leave Love (B. Holland-E. Holland-Davis) (Lead Vocals: Louis Price)\n. Bare Back (B. Holland-E. Holland-Harold Beatty) (Lead Vocals: Glenn Leonard and Richard Street)\n. Ever Ready Love (B. Holland-E. Holland-Beatty) (Lead Vocals: Glenn Leonard)\n\nSide Two\n. Wake Up to Me (E. Holland-Beatty-Woods) (Lead Vocals: Glenn Leonard)\n. You're So Easy to Love (B. Holland-E. Holland-Beatty) (Lead Vocals: Melvin Franklin)\n. I See My Child (Ben Wright-Leonard-Franklin-Otis Williams-Street) (Lead Vocals: Otis Williams, Louis Price)\n. Touch Me Again (B. Holland-E. Holland-Beatty) (Lead Vocals: Richard Street)\n\nPersonnel\nOtis Williams \nMelvin Franklin \nRichard Street \nGlenn Leonard \nLouis Price\n\nReferences\n\n1978 albums\nThe Temptations albums"
]
|
[
"Dave Holland",
"With Miles Davis",
"When did Holland Meet Miles davis?",
"In 1968, Miles Davis and Philly Joe Jones heard him at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club,",
"Did Miles Davis influence Hollands music?",
"Holland's first recordings with Davis were in September 1968, and he appears on half of the album Filles de Kilimanjaro",
"Did Davis tour with Holland?",
"I don't know."
]
| C_65ba8b8c64cf4df6bd631370a68ee1d0_1 | What were the recorded Davis and Holland recorded together? | 4 | What were the songs that Miles Davis and Dave Holland recorded together? | Dave Holland | In 1968, Miles Davis and Philly Joe Jones heard him at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, playing in a combo that opened for the Bill Evans Trio. Jones told Holland that Davis wanted him to join his band (replacing Ron Carter). Davis left the UK before Holland could contact him directly, and two weeks later Holland was given three days' notice to fly to New York for an engagement at Count Basie's nightclub. He arrived the night before, staying with Jack DeJohnette, a previous acquaintance. The following day Herbie Hancock took him to the club, and his two years with Davis began. This was also Hancock's last gig as Davis's pianist, as he left afterwards for a honeymoon in Brazil and was replaced by Chick Corea when he could not return for an engagement due to illness. Holland's first recordings with Davis were in September 1968, and he appears on half of the album Filles de Kilimanjaro (with Davis, Corea, Wayne Shorter and Tony Williams). Holland was a member of Davis's rhythm section through the summer of 1970; he appears on the albums In a Silent Way and Bitches' Brew. All three of his studio recordings with Davis were important in the evolution of jazz fusion. In the first year of his tenure with Davis, Holland played primarily upright bass. By the end of 1969, he played electric bass guitar (often treated with wah-wah pedal and other electronic effects) with greater frequency as Davis moved away from acoustic jazz. Holland was also a member of Davis's working group during this time, unlike many of the musicians who appeared only on the trumpeter's studio recordings. The so-called "lost quintet" of Davis, Shorter, Corea, Holland and DeJohnette was active in 1969 but never made any studio recordings as a quintet. A 1970 live recording of this group plus percussionist Airto Moreira, Live at the Fillmore East, March 7, 1970: It's About That Time, was issued in 2001. Steve Grossman replaced Shorter in early 1970; Keith Jarrett joined the group as a second keyboardist thereafter, and Gary Bartz replaced Grossman during the summer of 1970. By the end of the summer, rhythm and blues bass guitarist Michael Henderson had replaced Holland. CANNOTANSWER | he appears on the albums In a Silent Way and Bitches' Brew. All three of his studio recordings with Davis were important in the evolution of jazz fusion. | Dave Holland (born 1 October 1946) is an English jazz double bassist, composer and bandleader who has been performing and recording for five decades. He has lived in the United States for over 40 years.
His work ranges from pieces for solo performance to big band. Holland runs his own independent record label, Dare2, which he launched in 2005.
Biography
Born in Wolverhampton, England, Holland taught himself how to play stringed instruments, beginning at four on the ukulele, then graduating to guitar and later bass guitar. He quit school at the age of 15 to pursue his profession in a pop band, but soon gravitated to jazz. After seeing an issue of Down Beat where Ray Brown had won the critics' poll for best bass player, Holland went to a record store, and bought a couple of LPs featuring Brown backing pianist Oscar Peterson. He also bought two Leroy Vinnegar albums (Leroy Walks! and Leroy Walks Again) because the bassist was posed with his instrument on the cover. Within a week, Holland traded in his bass guitar for a double bass and began practicing with the records. In addition to Brown and Vinnegar, Holland was drawn to the bassists Charles Mingus and Jimmy Garrison.
After moving to London in 1964, Holland played double bass in small venues and studied with James Edward Merrett, principal bassist of the Philharmonia Orchestra and, later, the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Merrett trained him to sight read and then recommended he apply to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Holland received a full-time scholarship for the three-year programme. At 20, Holland was keeping a busy schedule in school, studios and Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, London's premier jazz club, where he often played in bands that supported such touring American jazz saxophonists as Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster and Joe Henderson. He also linked up with other British jazz musicians, including guitarist John McLaughlin, saxophonists Evan Parker and John Surman, South Africa-born London-based pianist Chris McGregor, and drummer John Stevens, and performed on the Spontaneous Music Ensemble's 1968 album Karyobin. He also began a working relationship with Canada-born, England-based trumpeter Kenny Wheeler that continued until Wheeler's death in 2014.
With Miles Davis
In 1968, Miles Davis and Philly Joe Jones heard him at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, playing in a combo that opened for the Bill Evans Trio. Jones told Holland that Davis wanted him to join his band (replacing Ron Carter). Davis left the UK before Holland could contact him directly, and two weeks later Holland was given three days' notice to fly to New York for an engagement at Count Basie's nightclub. He arrived the night before, staying with Jack DeJohnette, a previous acquaintance. The following day Herbie Hancock took him to the club, and his two years with Davis began. This was also Hancock's last gig as Davis's pianist, as he left afterwards for a honeymoon in Brazil and was replaced by Chick Corea when he could not return for an engagement due to illness. Holland's first recordings with Davis were in September 1968, and he appears on half of the album Filles de Kilimanjaro (with Davis, Corea, Wayne Shorter and Tony Williams).
Holland was a member of Davis's rhythm section through the summer of 1970; he appears on the albums In a Silent Way and Bitches' Brew. In the first year of his tenure with Davis, Holland played primarily upright bass. By the end of 1969, he played electric bass guitar (often treated with wah-wah pedal and other electronic effects) with greater frequency as Davis moved away from acoustic jazz.
Holland was also a member of Davis's working group during this time, unlike many of the musicians who appeared only on the trumpeter's studio recordings. The so-called "lost quintet" of Davis, Shorter, Corea, Holland and DeJohnette was active in 1969 but never made any studio recordings as a quintet. A 1970 live recording of this group plus percussionist Airto Moreira, Live at the Fillmore East, March 7, 1970: It's About That Time, was issued in 2001. Steve Grossman replaced Shorter in early 1970; Keith Jarrett joined the group as a second keyboardist thereafter, and Gary Bartz replaced Grossman during the summer of 1970. By the end of the summer, rhythm and blues bass guitarist Michael Henderson had replaced Holland.
ECM and the 1970s
After leaving Davis's group, Holland briefly joined the avant-garde jazz group Circle, with Corea, Barry Altschul and reed player Anthony Braxton. This started a decades-long association with the ECM record label. After recording a few albums, Circle disbanded when Corea departed. 1972 saw the recording of Conference of the Birds, with Sam Rivers, Altschul and Braxton – Holland's first recording as a leader, and the beginning of a long musical relationship with Rivers. The title of the album is taken from that of a 4,500-line epic poem by Persian Sufist writer, Farid al-Din Attar.
Holland worked as a leader and as a sideman with many other jazz artists in the 1970s. On June 15, 1972 he played with Thelonious Monk at the Village Vanguard which was one of Monk's last concerts. Holland recorded several important albums with Anthony Braxton between 1972 and 1976 – including New York, Fall 1974 (1974) and Five Pieces (1975) – that were released on Arista Records.
Holland also recorded duo sessions with saxophonist Sam Rivers and fellow bassist Barre Phillips, and the solo bass album Emerald Tears. Also in the 1970s he appeared with performers including Stan Getz and the Gateway Trio with John Abercrombie and DeJohnette. The Gateway trio released two influential modern jazz albums in 1975 and 1977, and reformed in 1994 for a recording session which yielded another two albums. As a sideman, Holland appeared on rock and pop recordings as well, working with singer Bonnie Raitt on her 1972 album Give It Up.
The 1980s
Holland formed his first working quintet in 1983, and over the next four years released Jumpin' In, Seeds of Time, and The Razor's Edge, featuring alto saxophonist Steve Coleman, trumpeter Wheeler and trombonist Julian Priester (or Robin Eubanks). Subsequently, he formed the Dave Holland Trio (with Coleman and DeJohnette) for the 1988 album Triplicate, and teamed with Coleman, electric guitarist Kevin Eubanks and drummer Marvin "Smitty" Smith for Extensions. He also recorded Life Cycle, an album of compositions played on solo cello.
The bassist also continued to collaborate with his peers, often connecting with figures from the previous generation of jazz icons. In 1989, Holland teamed with drummer Billy Higgins and pianist Hank Jones to record The Oracle, and joined drummer Roy Haynes and guitarist Pat Metheny in 1989 to record Question and Answer.
The 1990s and 2000s
During the 1990s, Holland renewed an affiliation, begun in the 1970s, with Joe Henderson, joining the tenor saxophonist on So Near (So Far), a tribute to Miles Davis, and Porgy & Bess. Holland also reunited with vocalist Betty Carter, touring and recording the live album Feed the Fire (1993). Fellow Davis alumnus Herbie Hancock invited Holland to tour with him in 1992, subsequently recording The New Standard. Holland joined Hancock's band again in 1996. He was also part of the sessions for River: The Joni Letters, winner of the 2008 Grammy Award for Album of the Year.
As a leader, Holland formed his third quartet and released Dream of the Elders (1995), which introduced the vibraphonist Steve Nelson to his ensembles. Holland formed a quintet that includes tenor saxophonist Chris Potter, trombonist Robin Eubanks and, a more recent addition, drummer Nate Smith. Their recordings include Points of View, Prime Directive, Not for Nothin, Extended Play: Live at Birdland and Critical Mass. In addition to releasing four quintet albums on ECM, Holland debuted his Big Band, which released What Goes Around in 2002. The album won Holland his first Grammy as a leader, in the Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album category. The second Big Band recording, Overtime (2005), again won the Grammy in the Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album category; it was released on Holland's Dare2 label, which he formed that year.
In 2009, Holland was a co-founder of an all-star group called the Overtone Quartet. The group consisted of Holland on bass, Chris Potter on tenor saxophone, Jason Moran on piano, and Eric Harland on drums. The group toured extensively throughout the United States and Europe.
Awards and honors
He won the Critics Poll in Down Beat magazine for Musician of the Year, Big Band of the Year, and Acoustic Bassist of the Year (he also garnered top bassist in the 2006 poll). The Jazz Journalists' Association honored him as Musician and Acoustic Bassist of the Year. He was the recipient of the Miles Davis Award at the Montreal Jazz Festival.
The National Endowment for the Arts named Holland as one of its five Jazz Masters Fellows in 2017; the award recognizes artists for their lifetime achievements and exceptional contributions toward the advancement of jazz.
Holland has received honorary doctorates from the New England Conservatory, Boston, where he held a full-time teaching position in 1987–88 and where he has been visiting artist in residence since 2005; Berklee College of Music, Boston; and the Birmingham Conservatoire, in England. He was also named Fellow of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (London). From 1982 to 1989, Holland served as the artistic director of the Banff Summer Jazz Workshop through the Banff School of Fine Arts in Alberta, Canada. In addition, he has taught workshops and master classes around the world at universities and music schools and is President of the UK-based National Youth Jazz Collective.
Discography
As leader
Conference of the Birds (ECM, 1972)
Emerald Tears (ECM, 1977) – solo bass
Life Cycle (ECM, 1982) – solo cello
Jumpin' In (ECM, 1983)
Seeds of Time (ECM, 1984)
The Razor's Edge (ECM, 1987)
Triplicate (ECM, 1988)
Extensions (ECM, 1990)
Ones All (VeraBra, 1993) – solo bass
Dream of the Elders (ECM, 1995) – quartet
Points of View (ECM, 1998) – quintet
Prime Directive (ECM, 1999) – quintet
Not for Nothin' (ECM, 2001) – quintet
What Goes Around (ECM, 2002) – with big band
Extended Play: Live at Birdland (ECM, 2003) – quintet [2CD]
Overtime (Dare2/Sunnyside, 2005) – with big band
Critical Mass (Dare2/Sunnyside, 2006) – quintet
Pass It On (Dare2/EmArcy/UMe, 2008) – sextet
Pathways (Dare2, 2010) – octet
Prism (Dare2, 2013) – quartet
Aziza (Dare2, 2016) – quartet
Uncharted Territories (Dare2, 2018) – quartet with Evan Parker
Without Deception (Dare2, 2020)
Another Land (Edition Records, 2021)
Compilation
Rarum, Vol. 10: Selected Recordings (ECM, 2004)
As co-leader
with John McLaughlin, John Surman, Stu Martin and Karl Berger – Where Fortune Smiles (Dawn, 1971)
with Chick Corea and Barry Altschul – ARC (ECM, 1971)
with Derek Bailey – Improvisations for Cello and Guitar (ECM, 1971)
with Barre Phillips – Music from Two Basses (ECM, 1971)
Dave Holland / Sam Rivers (Improvising Artists, 1976)
Sam Rivers / Dave Holland Vol. 2 (Improvising Artists, 1976)
Norman Blake/Tut Taylor/Sam Bush/Butch Robins/Vassar Clements/David Holland/Jethro Burns (HDS, 1975)
with Karl Berger – All Kinds of Time (Sackville, 1976)
with Evan Parker, Paul Rutherford and Paul Lovens – The Ericle of Dolphi [recorded 1976 and 1986] (Po Torch, 1989)
Vassar Clements, John Hartford, Dave Holland (Rounder, 1985)
with Hank Jones and Billy Higgins – The Oracle (EmArcy, 1990)
with Steve Coleman – Phase Space (Rebel-X/DIW, 1991)
with Gordon Beck, Jack DeJohnette and Didier Lockwood – For Evans Sake (JMS, 1992)
with Mino Cinelu and Kevin Eubanks – World Trio (Intuition, 1995)
ScoLoHoFo (John Scofield, Joe Lovano, Dave Holland and Al Foster) – Oh! (Blue Note, 2003)
with Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Chris Potter and Eric Harland – The Monterey Quartet: Live at the 2007 Monterey Festival (Monterey Jazz Festival, 2009)
with Pepe Habichuela – Hands (Dare2, 2010)
with Sam Rivers and Barry Altschul – Reunion: Live in New York (Pi, 2012)
with Kenny Barron – The Art of Conversation (Impulse!, 2014)
with Zakir Hussain and Chris Potter - Good Hope (Edition Records, 2019)
As Gateway
With John Abercrombie and Jack DeJohnette
Gateway (ECM, 1975)
Gateway 2 (ECM, 1977)
Homecoming (ECM, 1994)
In the Moment (ECM, 1996)
As Circle
With Chick Corea and Barry Altschul
Circling In (Blue Note, 1970)
Circulus (Blue Note, 1970)
Circle 1: Live in Germany Concert] (CBS/Sony Japan, 1970)
Paris Concert (ECM, 1971)
Circle 2: Gathering (CBS/Sony Japan, 1971)
As sideman
With Karl Berger
Tune In (Milestone, 1969)
Transit (Black Saint, 1986)
Crystal Fire (Enja, 1992)
Conversations (In+Out, 1994)
With Anouar Brahem
Thimar (ECM, 1998) – recorded in 1997
Blue Maqams (ECM, 2017)
With Anthony Braxton
The Complete Braxton (Freedom, 1973) – recorded in 1971
Town Hall 1972 (Trio, 1972)
Trio and Duet (Sackville, 1974)
New York, Fall 1974 (Arista, 1974)
Five Pieces 1975 (Arista, 1975)
Quartet: Live at Moers Festival (Ring, 1976) – recorded in 1974
Creative Orchestra Music 1976 (Arista, 1976)
The Montreux/Berlin Concerts (Arista, 1977) – recorded in 1975–76
Dortmund (Quartet) 1976 (hatART, 1991)
With Steve Coleman
Rhythm People (Novus/RCA, 1990)
Black Science (Novus/RCA, 1991)
Rhythm in Mind (Novus/RCA, 1991)
With Chick Corea
Is (Groove Merchant, 1969)
Sundance (Groove Merchant, 1969)
The Song of Singing (Blue Note, 1970)
With Miles Davis
Filles de Kilimanjaro (Columbia, 1968)
In a Silent Way (Columbia, 1969)
Bitches Brew (Columbia, 1969)
Live at the Fillmore East, March 7, 1970: It's About That Time (Columbia, 1970)
Miles Davis at Fillmore: Live at the Fillmore East (Columbia, 1970)
Black Beauty: Live at the Fillmore West (Columbia, 1970)
Live-Evil (Columbia, 1970)
Big Fun (Columbia, 1969–1972)
1969 Miles – Festival de Juan Pins (Columbia, 1993)
Live in Europe 1969: The Bootleg Series Vol. 2 (Columbia/Legacy, 2013)
Miles at the Fillmore - Miles Davis 1970: The Bootleg Series Vol. 3 (Columbia/Legacy, 2014)
Miles Davis at Newport 1955-1975: The Bootleg Series Vol. 4 (Columbia/Legacy, 2015)
With Robin Eubanks
Karma (JMT, 1991)
Mental Images (JMT, 1994)
With Billy Hart
Enchance (Horizon, 1977)
Oshumare (Gramavision, 1985)
With Joe Henderson
Black Is the Color (Milestone, 1972)
Multiple (Milestone, 1973)
So Near, So Far (Verve, 1993)
Porgy & Bess (Verve, 1997)
With Eric Kloss
To Hear Is to See! (Prestige, 1969)
Consciousness! (Prestige, 1970)
One, Two, Free (Muse, 1972)
With Dave Liebman
First Visit (Philips, 1973)
Fire (Jazzline, 2018) – recorded in 2016
With Joe Lovano
From the Soul (Blue Note, 1992)
Trio Fascination: Edition One (Blue Note, 1997)
With Sam Rivers
Sizzle (Impulse!, 1975)
Waves (Tomato, 1978)
Contrasts (ECM, 1981)
With Kenny Wheeler
Gnu High (ECM, 1975)
Deer Wan (ECM, 1977)
Double, Double You (ECM, 1984)
Flutter By, Butterfly (Soul Note, 1988)
Music for Large & Small Ensembles (ECM, 1990)
The Widow in the Window (ECM, 1990)
Angel Song (ECM, 1997)
What Now? (CAM Jazz, 2005)
With others
Claudia Acuña, Rhythm of Life (Verve, 2002)
George Adams, Sound Suggestions (ECM, 1979)
Geri Allen, The Life of a Song (Telarc, 2004) (with Jack DeJohnette)
Franco Ambrosetti, Tentets (Enja, 1985)
Kenny Barron, Scratch (Enja, 1985)
Terence Blanchard, Wandering Moon (Sony Classical, 2000)
Paul Bley, Paul Bley & Scorpio (Milestone, 1973)
Michael Brecker, Tales from the Hudson (Impulse!, 1996)
Nick Brignola, Baritone Madness (Bee Hive, 1977) with Pepper Adams
Gary Burton, Like Minds (Concord, 1998)
Uri Caine, Toys (JMT, 1996)
Betty Carter, Feed the Fire (Verve, 1993)
James Carter, The Real Quiet Storm (Atlantic, 1995)
Vassar Clements, Once In A While (Flying Fish, 1992)
Joe Farrell, Joe Farrell Quartet (CTI, 1970)
Bill Frisell, With Dave Holland and Elvin Jones (Nonesuch, 2001)
Hal Galper, Inner Journey (Mainstream, 1973)
Laszlo Gardony, The Legend of Tsumi (Antilles, 1989)
Jim Hall, Jim Hall & Basses (Telarc, 2001)
Herbie Hancock, The New Standard (Verve, 1996)
River: The Joni Letters (Verve, 2006)
Roy Haynes, Birds of a Feather: A Tribute to Charlie Parker (Dreyfus Jazz, 2001) – Grammy nominated
Roland Hanna, Child of Gemini (MPS, 1971)
Charles Lloyd, Voice in the Night (ECM, 1998)
John Hartford, Morning Bugle (Warner Bros. 1972)
Lee Konitz, Satori (Milestone, 1974)
Pat Metheny, Question and Answer (Geffen, 1990) (with Roy Haynes)
Chris Potter, Unspoken (Concord, 1997)
Wayne Shorter, Moto Grosso Feio (Blue Note, 1970)
Tomasz Stańko, Balladyna (ECM, 1976)
Gary Thomas, While the Gate Is Open (JMT, 1990)
Collin Walcott, Cloud Dance (ECM, 1975)
Richard Teitelbaum, Muun Music Universe, Vol. 1: The Peace Church Concerts (CMC/India Navigation, 1974)
Filmography
Concert films
1992 Renaud Le Van Kim: Miles Davis and Friends (Bravo)
2000 DeJohnette, Hancock, Holland and Metheny Live in Concert
2005 Dave Holland Quintet Live in Freiburg
2008 Herbie Hancock & The New Standard Allstars in Japan (Jazz Door)
2009 Dave Holland Quintet: Vortex
2009 Dave Holland Quintet Live from the Zelt-Musik-Festival, Freiburg 1986
Featured in documentaries
2001 Mike Dibb: The Miles Davis Story (Channel 4)
2004 Murray Lerner: Miles Electric A Different Kind of Blue (Eagle Rock) about the Isle of Wight Festival 1970
References
External links
Official website
Dave Holland on ECM's official website, with reviews
Dave Hollands ECM recordings on trovar.com
Audio Interview with Dave Holland
Review of the album Critical Mass from JazzChicago.net
Dave Holland: Jazz at the Bass Level, Oregon Music News
Dave Holland at All About Jazz
Discography on Discogs
1946 births
Living people
Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Avant-garde jazz musicians
British jazz double-bassists
Male double-bassists
English jazz composers
Male jazz composers
English male composers
Grammy Award winners
Miles Davis
People from Wolverhampton
New England Conservatory alumni
New England Conservatory faculty
Big bands
ECM Records artists
Circle (jazz band) members
21st-century double-bassists
Spontaneous Music Ensemble members
Gateway (band) members
Sackville Records artists
Improvising Artists Records artists | false | [
"Dave Holland (born 1 October 1946) is an English jazz double bassist, composer and bandleader who has been performing and recording for five decades. He has lived in the United States for over 40 years.\n\nHis work ranges from pieces for solo performance to big band. Holland runs his own independent record label, Dare2, which he launched in 2005.\n\nBiography\nBorn in Wolverhampton, England, Holland taught himself how to play stringed instruments, beginning at four on the ukulele, then graduating to guitar and later bass guitar. He quit school at the age of 15 to pursue his profession in a pop band, but soon gravitated to jazz. After seeing an issue of Down Beat where Ray Brown had won the critics' poll for best bass player, Holland went to a record store, and bought a couple of LPs featuring Brown backing pianist Oscar Peterson. He also bought two Leroy Vinnegar albums (Leroy Walks! and Leroy Walks Again) because the bassist was posed with his instrument on the cover. Within a week, Holland traded in his bass guitar for a double bass and began practicing with the records. In addition to Brown and Vinnegar, Holland was drawn to the bassists Charles Mingus and Jimmy Garrison.\n\nAfter moving to London in 1964, Holland played double bass in small venues and studied with James Edward Merrett, principal bassist of the Philharmonia Orchestra and, later, the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Merrett trained him to sight read and then recommended he apply to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Holland received a full-time scholarship for the three-year programme. At 20, Holland was keeping a busy schedule in school, studios and Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, London's premier jazz club, where he often played in bands that supported such touring American jazz saxophonists as Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster and Joe Henderson. He also linked up with other British jazz musicians, including guitarist John McLaughlin, saxophonists Evan Parker and John Surman, South Africa-born London-based pianist Chris McGregor, and drummer John Stevens, and performed on the Spontaneous Music Ensemble's 1968 album Karyobin. He also began a working relationship with Canada-born, England-based trumpeter Kenny Wheeler that continued until Wheeler's death in 2014.\n\nWith Miles Davis\nIn 1968, Miles Davis and Philly Joe Jones heard him at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, playing in a combo that opened for the Bill Evans Trio. Jones told Holland that Davis wanted him to join his band (replacing Ron Carter). Davis left the UK before Holland could contact him directly, and two weeks later Holland was given three days' notice to fly to New York for an engagement at Count Basie's nightclub. He arrived the night before, staying with Jack DeJohnette, a previous acquaintance. The following day Herbie Hancock took him to the club, and his two years with Davis began. This was also Hancock's last gig as Davis's pianist, as he left afterwards for a honeymoon in Brazil and was replaced by Chick Corea when he could not return for an engagement due to illness. Holland's first recordings with Davis were in September 1968, and he appears on half of the album Filles de Kilimanjaro (with Davis, Corea, Wayne Shorter and Tony Williams).\n\nHolland was a member of Davis's rhythm section through the summer of 1970; he appears on the albums In a Silent Way and Bitches' Brew. In the first year of his tenure with Davis, Holland played primarily upright bass. By the end of 1969, he played electric bass guitar (often treated with wah-wah pedal and other electronic effects) with greater frequency as Davis moved away from acoustic jazz.\n\nHolland was also a member of Davis's working group during this time, unlike many of the musicians who appeared only on the trumpeter's studio recordings. The so-called \"lost quintet\" of Davis, Shorter, Corea, Holland and DeJohnette was active in 1969 but never made any studio recordings as a quintet. A 1970 live recording of this group plus percussionist Airto Moreira, Live at the Fillmore East, March 7, 1970: It's About That Time, was issued in 2001. Steve Grossman replaced Shorter in early 1970; Keith Jarrett joined the group as a second keyboardist thereafter, and Gary Bartz replaced Grossman during the summer of 1970. By the end of the summer, rhythm and blues bass guitarist Michael Henderson had replaced Holland.\n\nECM and the 1970s\nAfter leaving Davis's group, Holland briefly joined the avant-garde jazz group Circle, with Corea, Barry Altschul and reed player Anthony Braxton. This started a decades-long association with the ECM record label. After recording a few albums, Circle disbanded when Corea departed. 1972 saw the recording of Conference of the Birds, with Sam Rivers, Altschul and Braxton – Holland's first recording as a leader, and the beginning of a long musical relationship with Rivers. The title of the album is taken from that of a 4,500-line epic poem by Persian Sufist writer, Farid al-Din Attar.\n\nHolland worked as a leader and as a sideman with many other jazz artists in the 1970s. On June 15, 1972 he played with Thelonious Monk at the Village Vanguard which was one of Monk's last concerts. Holland recorded several important albums with Anthony Braxton between 1972 and 1976 – including New York, Fall 1974 (1974) and Five Pieces (1975) – that were released on Arista Records.\nHolland also recorded duo sessions with saxophonist Sam Rivers and fellow bassist Barre Phillips, and the solo bass album Emerald Tears. Also in the 1970s he appeared with performers including Stan Getz and the Gateway Trio with John Abercrombie and DeJohnette. The Gateway trio released two influential modern jazz albums in 1975 and 1977, and reformed in 1994 for a recording session which yielded another two albums. As a sideman, Holland appeared on rock and pop recordings as well, working with singer Bonnie Raitt on her 1972 album Give It Up.\n\nThe 1980s \nHolland formed his first working quintet in 1983, and over the next four years released Jumpin' In, Seeds of Time, and The Razor's Edge, featuring alto saxophonist Steve Coleman, trumpeter Wheeler and trombonist Julian Priester (or Robin Eubanks). Subsequently, he formed the Dave Holland Trio (with Coleman and DeJohnette) for the 1988 album Triplicate, and teamed with Coleman, electric guitarist Kevin Eubanks and drummer Marvin \"Smitty\" Smith for Extensions. He also recorded Life Cycle, an album of compositions played on solo cello.\n\nThe bassist also continued to collaborate with his peers, often connecting with figures from the previous generation of jazz icons. In 1989, Holland teamed with drummer Billy Higgins and pianist Hank Jones to record The Oracle, and joined drummer Roy Haynes and guitarist Pat Metheny in 1989 to record Question and Answer.\n\nThe 1990s and 2000s \nDuring the 1990s, Holland renewed an affiliation, begun in the 1970s, with Joe Henderson, joining the tenor saxophonist on So Near (So Far), a tribute to Miles Davis, and Porgy & Bess. Holland also reunited with vocalist Betty Carter, touring and recording the live album Feed the Fire (1993). Fellow Davis alumnus Herbie Hancock invited Holland to tour with him in 1992, subsequently recording The New Standard. Holland joined Hancock's band again in 1996. He was also part of the sessions for River: The Joni Letters, winner of the 2008 Grammy Award for Album of the Year.\n\nAs a leader, Holland formed his third quartet and released Dream of the Elders (1995), which introduced the vibraphonist Steve Nelson to his ensembles. Holland formed a quintet that includes tenor saxophonist Chris Potter, trombonist Robin Eubanks and, a more recent addition, drummer Nate Smith. Their recordings include Points of View, Prime Directive, Not for Nothin, Extended Play: Live at Birdland and Critical Mass. In addition to releasing four quintet albums on ECM, Holland debuted his Big Band, which released What Goes Around in 2002. The album won Holland his first Grammy as a leader, in the Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album category. The second Big Band recording, Overtime (2005), again won the Grammy in the Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album category; it was released on Holland's Dare2 label, which he formed that year.\n\nIn 2009, Holland was a co-founder of an all-star group called the Overtone Quartet. The group consisted of Holland on bass, Chris Potter on tenor saxophone, Jason Moran on piano, and Eric Harland on drums. The group toured extensively throughout the United States and Europe.\n\nAwards and honors\nHe won the Critics Poll in Down Beat magazine for Musician of the Year, Big Band of the Year, and Acoustic Bassist of the Year (he also garnered top bassist in the 2006 poll). The Jazz Journalists' Association honored him as Musician and Acoustic Bassist of the Year. He was the recipient of the Miles Davis Award at the Montreal Jazz Festival.\n\nThe National Endowment for the Arts named Holland as one of its five Jazz Masters Fellows in 2017; the award recognizes artists for their lifetime achievements and exceptional contributions toward the advancement of jazz.\n\nHolland has received honorary doctorates from the New England Conservatory, Boston, where he held a full-time teaching position in 1987–88 and where he has been visiting artist in residence since 2005; Berklee College of Music, Boston; and the Birmingham Conservatoire, in England. He was also named Fellow of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (London). From 1982 to 1989, Holland served as the artistic director of the Banff Summer Jazz Workshop through the Banff School of Fine Arts in Alberta, Canada. In addition, he has taught workshops and master classes around the world at universities and music schools and is President of the UK-based National Youth Jazz Collective.\n\nDiscography\n\nAs leader \n Conference of the Birds (ECM, 1972)\n Emerald Tears (ECM, 1977) – solo bass\n Life Cycle (ECM, 1982) – solo cello\n Jumpin' In (ECM, 1983)\n Seeds of Time (ECM, 1984)\n The Razor's Edge (ECM, 1987)\n Triplicate (ECM, 1988)\n Extensions (ECM, 1990)\n Ones All (VeraBra, 1993) – solo bass\n Dream of the Elders (ECM, 1995) – quartet\n Points of View (ECM, 1998) – quintet\n Prime Directive (ECM, 1999) – quintet\n Not for Nothin' (ECM, 2001) – quintet\n What Goes Around (ECM, 2002) – with big band\n Extended Play: Live at Birdland (ECM, 2003) – quintet [2CD]\n Overtime (Dare2/Sunnyside, 2005) – with big band\n Critical Mass (Dare2/Sunnyside, 2006) – quintet\n Pass It On (Dare2/EmArcy/UMe, 2008) – sextet\n Pathways (Dare2, 2010) – octet\n Prism (Dare2, 2013) – quartet\n Aziza (Dare2, 2016) – quartet\n Uncharted Territories (Dare2, 2018) – quartet with Evan Parker\n Without Deception (Dare2, 2020)\n Another Land (Edition Records, 2021)\n\nCompilation\nRarum, Vol. 10: Selected Recordings (ECM, 2004)\n\nAs co-leader \n with John McLaughlin, John Surman, Stu Martin and Karl Berger – Where Fortune Smiles (Dawn, 1971)\n with Chick Corea and Barry Altschul – ARC (ECM, 1971)\n with Derek Bailey – Improvisations for Cello and Guitar (ECM, 1971)\n with Barre Phillips – Music from Two Basses (ECM, 1971)\n Dave Holland / Sam Rivers (Improvising Artists, 1976)\n Sam Rivers / Dave Holland Vol. 2 (Improvising Artists, 1976)\n Norman Blake/Tut Taylor/Sam Bush/Butch Robins/Vassar Clements/David Holland/Jethro Burns (HDS, 1975)\n with Karl Berger – All Kinds of Time (Sackville, 1976)\n with Evan Parker, Paul Rutherford and Paul Lovens – The Ericle of Dolphi [recorded 1976 and 1986] (Po Torch, 1989)\n Vassar Clements, John Hartford, Dave Holland (Rounder, 1985)\n with Hank Jones and Billy Higgins – The Oracle (EmArcy, 1990)\n with Steve Coleman – Phase Space (Rebel-X/DIW, 1991)\n with Gordon Beck, Jack DeJohnette and Didier Lockwood – For Evans Sake (JMS, 1992)\n with Mino Cinelu and Kevin Eubanks – World Trio (Intuition, 1995)\n ScoLoHoFo (John Scofield, Joe Lovano, Dave Holland and Al Foster) – Oh! (Blue Note, 2003)\n with Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Chris Potter and Eric Harland – The Monterey Quartet: Live at the 2007 Monterey Festival (Monterey Jazz Festival, 2009)\n with Pepe Habichuela – Hands (Dare2, 2010)\n with Sam Rivers and Barry Altschul – Reunion: Live in New York (Pi, 2012)\n with Kenny Barron – The Art of Conversation (Impulse!, 2014)\n with Zakir Hussain and Chris Potter - Good Hope (Edition Records, 2019)\n\nAs Gateway\nWith John Abercrombie and Jack DeJohnette\n Gateway (ECM, 1975)\n Gateway 2 (ECM, 1977)\n Homecoming (ECM, 1994)\n In the Moment (ECM, 1996)\n\nAs Circle \nWith Chick Corea and Barry Altschul\n Circling In (Blue Note, 1970)\n Circulus (Blue Note, 1970)\n Circle 1: Live in Germany Concert] (CBS/Sony Japan, 1970)\n Paris Concert (ECM, 1971)\n Circle 2: Gathering (CBS/Sony Japan, 1971)\n\nAs sideman \n\nWith Karl Berger\n Tune In (Milestone, 1969)\n Transit (Black Saint, 1986)\n Crystal Fire (Enja, 1992)\n Conversations (In+Out, 1994)\n\nWith Anouar Brahem\n Thimar (ECM, 1998) – recorded in 1997\nBlue Maqams (ECM, 2017)\n\nWith Anthony Braxton\nThe Complete Braxton (Freedom, 1973) – recorded in 1971\n Town Hall 1972 (Trio, 1972)\n Trio and Duet (Sackville, 1974)\n New York, Fall 1974 (Arista, 1974)\n Five Pieces 1975 (Arista, 1975)\nQuartet: Live at Moers Festival (Ring, 1976) – recorded in 1974\n Creative Orchestra Music 1976 (Arista, 1976)\n The Montreux/Berlin Concerts (Arista, 1977) – recorded in 1975–76\n Dortmund (Quartet) 1976 (hatART, 1991)\n\nWith Steve Coleman\n Rhythm People (Novus/RCA, 1990)\n Black Science (Novus/RCA, 1991)\n Rhythm in Mind (Novus/RCA, 1991)\n\nWith Chick Corea\n Is (Groove Merchant, 1969)\n Sundance (Groove Merchant, 1969)\n The Song of Singing (Blue Note, 1970)\n\nWith Miles Davis\n Filles de Kilimanjaro (Columbia, 1968)\n In a Silent Way (Columbia, 1969)\n Bitches Brew (Columbia, 1969)\n Live at the Fillmore East, March 7, 1970: It's About That Time (Columbia, 1970)\n Miles Davis at Fillmore: Live at the Fillmore East (Columbia, 1970)\n Black Beauty: Live at the Fillmore West (Columbia, 1970)\n Live-Evil (Columbia, 1970)\n Big Fun (Columbia, 1969–1972)\n 1969 Miles – Festival de Juan Pins (Columbia, 1993)\n Live in Europe 1969: The Bootleg Series Vol. 2 (Columbia/Legacy, 2013)\n Miles at the Fillmore - Miles Davis 1970: The Bootleg Series Vol. 3 (Columbia/Legacy, 2014)\n Miles Davis at Newport 1955-1975: The Bootleg Series Vol. 4 (Columbia/Legacy, 2015)\n\nWith Robin Eubanks\n Karma (JMT, 1991)\n Mental Images (JMT, 1994)\n\nWith Billy Hart\n Enchance (Horizon, 1977)\n Oshumare (Gramavision, 1985)\n\nWith Joe Henderson\n Black Is the Color (Milestone, 1972)\n Multiple (Milestone, 1973)\n So Near, So Far (Verve, 1993)\n Porgy & Bess (Verve, 1997)\n\nWith Eric Kloss\n To Hear Is to See! (Prestige, 1969)\n Consciousness! (Prestige, 1970)\n One, Two, Free (Muse, 1972)\n\nWith Dave Liebman\nFirst Visit (Philips, 1973)\n Fire (Jazzline, 2018) – recorded in 2016\n\nWith Joe Lovano\n From the Soul (Blue Note, 1992)\n Trio Fascination: Edition One (Blue Note, 1997)\n\nWith Sam Rivers\n Sizzle (Impulse!, 1975)\n Waves (Tomato, 1978)\n Contrasts (ECM, 1981)\n\nWith Kenny Wheeler\n Gnu High (ECM, 1975)\n Deer Wan (ECM, 1977)\n Double, Double You (ECM, 1984)\n Flutter By, Butterfly (Soul Note, 1988)\n Music for Large & Small Ensembles (ECM, 1990)\n The Widow in the Window (ECM, 1990)\n Angel Song (ECM, 1997)\n What Now? (CAM Jazz, 2005)\n\nWith others\n Claudia Acuña, Rhythm of Life (Verve, 2002)\n George Adams, Sound Suggestions (ECM, 1979)\n Geri Allen, The Life of a Song (Telarc, 2004) (with Jack DeJohnette)\n Franco Ambrosetti, Tentets (Enja, 1985)\n Kenny Barron, Scratch (Enja, 1985)\n Terence Blanchard, Wandering Moon (Sony Classical, 2000)\n Paul Bley, Paul Bley & Scorpio (Milestone, 1973)\n Michael Brecker, Tales from the Hudson (Impulse!, 1996)\n Nick Brignola, Baritone Madness (Bee Hive, 1977) with Pepper Adams\n Gary Burton, Like Minds (Concord, 1998)\n Uri Caine, Toys (JMT, 1996)\n Betty Carter, Feed the Fire (Verve, 1993)\n James Carter, The Real Quiet Storm (Atlantic, 1995)\n Vassar Clements, Once In A While (Flying Fish, 1992)\n Joe Farrell, Joe Farrell Quartet (CTI, 1970)\n Bill Frisell, With Dave Holland and Elvin Jones (Nonesuch, 2001)\n Hal Galper, Inner Journey (Mainstream, 1973)\n Laszlo Gardony, The Legend of Tsumi (Antilles, 1989)\n Jim Hall, Jim Hall & Basses (Telarc, 2001)\n Herbie Hancock, The New Standard (Verve, 1996)\n River: The Joni Letters (Verve, 2006)\n Roy Haynes, Birds of a Feather: A Tribute to Charlie Parker (Dreyfus Jazz, 2001) – Grammy nominated\n Roland Hanna, Child of Gemini (MPS, 1971)\n Charles Lloyd, Voice in the Night (ECM, 1998)\n John Hartford, Morning Bugle (Warner Bros. 1972)\n Lee Konitz, Satori (Milestone, 1974)\n Pat Metheny, Question and Answer (Geffen, 1990) (with Roy Haynes)\n Chris Potter, Unspoken (Concord, 1997)\n Wayne Shorter, Moto Grosso Feio (Blue Note, 1970)\n Tomasz Stańko, Balladyna (ECM, 1976)\n Gary Thomas, While the Gate Is Open (JMT, 1990)\n Collin Walcott, Cloud Dance (ECM, 1975)\n Richard Teitelbaum, Muun Music Universe, Vol. 1: The Peace Church Concerts (CMC/India Navigation, 1974)\n\nFilmography\n\nConcert films\n 1992 Renaud Le Van Kim: Miles Davis and Friends (Bravo)\n 2000 DeJohnette, Hancock, Holland and Metheny Live in Concert\n 2005 Dave Holland Quintet Live in Freiburg\n 2008 Herbie Hancock & The New Standard Allstars in Japan (Jazz Door)\n 2009 Dave Holland Quintet: Vortex\n 2009 Dave Holland Quintet Live from the Zelt-Musik-Festival, Freiburg 1986\n\nFeatured in documentaries\n 2001 Mike Dibb: The Miles Davis Story (Channel 4)\n 2004 Murray Lerner: Miles Electric A Different Kind of Blue (Eagle Rock) about the Isle of Wight Festival 1970\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n Official website\n Dave Holland on ECM's official website, with reviews\n Dave Hollands ECM recordings on trovar.com\n Audio Interview with Dave Holland\n Review of the album Critical Mass from JazzChicago.net\n Dave Holland: Jazz at the Bass Level, Oregon Music News\n Dave Holland at All About Jazz\n Discography on Discogs\n\n1946 births\nLiving people\nAlumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama\nAvant-garde jazz musicians\nBritish jazz double-bassists\nMale double-bassists\nEnglish jazz composers\nMale jazz composers\nEnglish male composers\nGrammy Award winners\nMiles Davis\nPeople from Wolverhampton\nNew England Conservatory alumni\nNew England Conservatory faculty\nBig bands\nECM Records artists\nCircle (jazz band) members\n21st-century double-bassists\nSpontaneous Music Ensemble members\nGateway (band) members\nSackville Records artists\nImprovising Artists Records artists",
"Give And Take is the fourth album from The Dynamic Superiors, and their last on Motown Records. Released in 1977, it includes covers of Martha and the Vandellas' \"Nowhere to Run\" and Stevie Wonder's \"All In Love Is Fair\". It is also noted that singer Mariah Carey sampled the song \"Here Comes That Feeling Again\" for a song she recorded called \"I Feel It\" (co-produced by Mahogany) which was intended to be released on her album The Emancipation of Mimi, but was denied clearance for the use of the song by the songwriters (It was leaked out to the internet later, but still remains officially unreleased).\n\nOn May 22, 2012, The Dynamic Superiors' Give And Take album was released on CD, not by Motown, but by Universal Records' \"Soulmusic Records\" imprint.\n\nTrack listing\n \"Happy Song\" (Reginald Brown, Richard Davis, Stafford Floyd)\t6:07\n \"Give It All Up\" (Brian Holland, Edward Holland, Jr., Janie Bradford)\t3:51\n \"Nowhere to Run\" (Holland-Dozier-Holland)\t9:07\n \"You're What I Need\" (Reginald Brown, Richard Davis, Stafford Floyd)\t4:47\n \"All In Love Is Fair\" (Stevie Wonder) 4:31\n \"All You Can Do With Love\" (Brian Holland, Edward Holland, Jr., Harold Beatty)\t3:33\n \"Here Comes That Feeling Again\" (Brian Holland, Edward Holland, Jr., Harold Beatty, Marlon Woods)\t4:22\n \"Once Is Just Not Enough\" (Edward Holland, Jr., Marlon Woods, Reginald Brown, Stafford Floyd)\t5:03\n\nPersonnel\nBen Benay, Jay Graydon, Ray Parker, Jr. - guitar\nHenry Davis, Scott Edwards, Tony Newton - bass\nJohn Barnes, Sylvester Rivers - keyboards\nJames Gadson - drums\nBob Zimmitti, Gary Coleman, Jules Wechter - percussion\nBobbye Hall Porter - congas\nGene Page, McKinley Jackson - arrangements\nHoward Deshong - photography\n\nReferences\n\n1977 albums\nDynamic Superiors albums\nMotown albums\nAlbums arranged by Gene Page\nAlbums produced by Edward Holland Jr.\nAlbums produced by Brian Holland"
]
|
[
"Dave Holland",
"With Miles Davis",
"When did Holland Meet Miles davis?",
"In 1968, Miles Davis and Philly Joe Jones heard him at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club,",
"Did Miles Davis influence Hollands music?",
"Holland's first recordings with Davis were in September 1968, and he appears on half of the album Filles de Kilimanjaro",
"Did Davis tour with Holland?",
"I don't know.",
"What were the recorded Davis and Holland recorded together?",
"he appears on the albums In a Silent Way and Bitches' Brew. All three of his studio recordings with Davis were important in the evolution of jazz fusion."
]
| C_65ba8b8c64cf4df6bd631370a68ee1d0_1 | Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | 5 | Are there any other interesting aspects about Dave Holland other than appearing on Miles Davis' album? | Dave Holland | In 1968, Miles Davis and Philly Joe Jones heard him at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, playing in a combo that opened for the Bill Evans Trio. Jones told Holland that Davis wanted him to join his band (replacing Ron Carter). Davis left the UK before Holland could contact him directly, and two weeks later Holland was given three days' notice to fly to New York for an engagement at Count Basie's nightclub. He arrived the night before, staying with Jack DeJohnette, a previous acquaintance. The following day Herbie Hancock took him to the club, and his two years with Davis began. This was also Hancock's last gig as Davis's pianist, as he left afterwards for a honeymoon in Brazil and was replaced by Chick Corea when he could not return for an engagement due to illness. Holland's first recordings with Davis were in September 1968, and he appears on half of the album Filles de Kilimanjaro (with Davis, Corea, Wayne Shorter and Tony Williams). Holland was a member of Davis's rhythm section through the summer of 1970; he appears on the albums In a Silent Way and Bitches' Brew. All three of his studio recordings with Davis were important in the evolution of jazz fusion. In the first year of his tenure with Davis, Holland played primarily upright bass. By the end of 1969, he played electric bass guitar (often treated with wah-wah pedal and other electronic effects) with greater frequency as Davis moved away from acoustic jazz. Holland was also a member of Davis's working group during this time, unlike many of the musicians who appeared only on the trumpeter's studio recordings. The so-called "lost quintet" of Davis, Shorter, Corea, Holland and DeJohnette was active in 1969 but never made any studio recordings as a quintet. A 1970 live recording of this group plus percussionist Airto Moreira, Live at the Fillmore East, March 7, 1970: It's About That Time, was issued in 2001. Steve Grossman replaced Shorter in early 1970; Keith Jarrett joined the group as a second keyboardist thereafter, and Gary Bartz replaced Grossman during the summer of 1970. By the end of the summer, rhythm and blues bass guitarist Michael Henderson had replaced Holland. CANNOTANSWER | In the first year of his tenure with Davis, Holland played primarily upright bass. By the end of 1969, he played electric bass guitar ( | Dave Holland (born 1 October 1946) is an English jazz double bassist, composer and bandleader who has been performing and recording for five decades. He has lived in the United States for over 40 years.
His work ranges from pieces for solo performance to big band. Holland runs his own independent record label, Dare2, which he launched in 2005.
Biography
Born in Wolverhampton, England, Holland taught himself how to play stringed instruments, beginning at four on the ukulele, then graduating to guitar and later bass guitar. He quit school at the age of 15 to pursue his profession in a pop band, but soon gravitated to jazz. After seeing an issue of Down Beat where Ray Brown had won the critics' poll for best bass player, Holland went to a record store, and bought a couple of LPs featuring Brown backing pianist Oscar Peterson. He also bought two Leroy Vinnegar albums (Leroy Walks! and Leroy Walks Again) because the bassist was posed with his instrument on the cover. Within a week, Holland traded in his bass guitar for a double bass and began practicing with the records. In addition to Brown and Vinnegar, Holland was drawn to the bassists Charles Mingus and Jimmy Garrison.
After moving to London in 1964, Holland played double bass in small venues and studied with James Edward Merrett, principal bassist of the Philharmonia Orchestra and, later, the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Merrett trained him to sight read and then recommended he apply to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Holland received a full-time scholarship for the three-year programme. At 20, Holland was keeping a busy schedule in school, studios and Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, London's premier jazz club, where he often played in bands that supported such touring American jazz saxophonists as Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster and Joe Henderson. He also linked up with other British jazz musicians, including guitarist John McLaughlin, saxophonists Evan Parker and John Surman, South Africa-born London-based pianist Chris McGregor, and drummer John Stevens, and performed on the Spontaneous Music Ensemble's 1968 album Karyobin. He also began a working relationship with Canada-born, England-based trumpeter Kenny Wheeler that continued until Wheeler's death in 2014.
With Miles Davis
In 1968, Miles Davis and Philly Joe Jones heard him at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, playing in a combo that opened for the Bill Evans Trio. Jones told Holland that Davis wanted him to join his band (replacing Ron Carter). Davis left the UK before Holland could contact him directly, and two weeks later Holland was given three days' notice to fly to New York for an engagement at Count Basie's nightclub. He arrived the night before, staying with Jack DeJohnette, a previous acquaintance. The following day Herbie Hancock took him to the club, and his two years with Davis began. This was also Hancock's last gig as Davis's pianist, as he left afterwards for a honeymoon in Brazil and was replaced by Chick Corea when he could not return for an engagement due to illness. Holland's first recordings with Davis were in September 1968, and he appears on half of the album Filles de Kilimanjaro (with Davis, Corea, Wayne Shorter and Tony Williams).
Holland was a member of Davis's rhythm section through the summer of 1970; he appears on the albums In a Silent Way and Bitches' Brew. In the first year of his tenure with Davis, Holland played primarily upright bass. By the end of 1969, he played electric bass guitar (often treated with wah-wah pedal and other electronic effects) with greater frequency as Davis moved away from acoustic jazz.
Holland was also a member of Davis's working group during this time, unlike many of the musicians who appeared only on the trumpeter's studio recordings. The so-called "lost quintet" of Davis, Shorter, Corea, Holland and DeJohnette was active in 1969 but never made any studio recordings as a quintet. A 1970 live recording of this group plus percussionist Airto Moreira, Live at the Fillmore East, March 7, 1970: It's About That Time, was issued in 2001. Steve Grossman replaced Shorter in early 1970; Keith Jarrett joined the group as a second keyboardist thereafter, and Gary Bartz replaced Grossman during the summer of 1970. By the end of the summer, rhythm and blues bass guitarist Michael Henderson had replaced Holland.
ECM and the 1970s
After leaving Davis's group, Holland briefly joined the avant-garde jazz group Circle, with Corea, Barry Altschul and reed player Anthony Braxton. This started a decades-long association with the ECM record label. After recording a few albums, Circle disbanded when Corea departed. 1972 saw the recording of Conference of the Birds, with Sam Rivers, Altschul and Braxton – Holland's first recording as a leader, and the beginning of a long musical relationship with Rivers. The title of the album is taken from that of a 4,500-line epic poem by Persian Sufist writer, Farid al-Din Attar.
Holland worked as a leader and as a sideman with many other jazz artists in the 1970s. On June 15, 1972 he played with Thelonious Monk at the Village Vanguard which was one of Monk's last concerts. Holland recorded several important albums with Anthony Braxton between 1972 and 1976 – including New York, Fall 1974 (1974) and Five Pieces (1975) – that were released on Arista Records.
Holland also recorded duo sessions with saxophonist Sam Rivers and fellow bassist Barre Phillips, and the solo bass album Emerald Tears. Also in the 1970s he appeared with performers including Stan Getz and the Gateway Trio with John Abercrombie and DeJohnette. The Gateway trio released two influential modern jazz albums in 1975 and 1977, and reformed in 1994 for a recording session which yielded another two albums. As a sideman, Holland appeared on rock and pop recordings as well, working with singer Bonnie Raitt on her 1972 album Give It Up.
The 1980s
Holland formed his first working quintet in 1983, and over the next four years released Jumpin' In, Seeds of Time, and The Razor's Edge, featuring alto saxophonist Steve Coleman, trumpeter Wheeler and trombonist Julian Priester (or Robin Eubanks). Subsequently, he formed the Dave Holland Trio (with Coleman and DeJohnette) for the 1988 album Triplicate, and teamed with Coleman, electric guitarist Kevin Eubanks and drummer Marvin "Smitty" Smith for Extensions. He also recorded Life Cycle, an album of compositions played on solo cello.
The bassist also continued to collaborate with his peers, often connecting with figures from the previous generation of jazz icons. In 1989, Holland teamed with drummer Billy Higgins and pianist Hank Jones to record The Oracle, and joined drummer Roy Haynes and guitarist Pat Metheny in 1989 to record Question and Answer.
The 1990s and 2000s
During the 1990s, Holland renewed an affiliation, begun in the 1970s, with Joe Henderson, joining the tenor saxophonist on So Near (So Far), a tribute to Miles Davis, and Porgy & Bess. Holland also reunited with vocalist Betty Carter, touring and recording the live album Feed the Fire (1993). Fellow Davis alumnus Herbie Hancock invited Holland to tour with him in 1992, subsequently recording The New Standard. Holland joined Hancock's band again in 1996. He was also part of the sessions for River: The Joni Letters, winner of the 2008 Grammy Award for Album of the Year.
As a leader, Holland formed his third quartet and released Dream of the Elders (1995), which introduced the vibraphonist Steve Nelson to his ensembles. Holland formed a quintet that includes tenor saxophonist Chris Potter, trombonist Robin Eubanks and, a more recent addition, drummer Nate Smith. Their recordings include Points of View, Prime Directive, Not for Nothin, Extended Play: Live at Birdland and Critical Mass. In addition to releasing four quintet albums on ECM, Holland debuted his Big Band, which released What Goes Around in 2002. The album won Holland his first Grammy as a leader, in the Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album category. The second Big Band recording, Overtime (2005), again won the Grammy in the Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album category; it was released on Holland's Dare2 label, which he formed that year.
In 2009, Holland was a co-founder of an all-star group called the Overtone Quartet. The group consisted of Holland on bass, Chris Potter on tenor saxophone, Jason Moran on piano, and Eric Harland on drums. The group toured extensively throughout the United States and Europe.
Awards and honors
He won the Critics Poll in Down Beat magazine for Musician of the Year, Big Band of the Year, and Acoustic Bassist of the Year (he also garnered top bassist in the 2006 poll). The Jazz Journalists' Association honored him as Musician and Acoustic Bassist of the Year. He was the recipient of the Miles Davis Award at the Montreal Jazz Festival.
The National Endowment for the Arts named Holland as one of its five Jazz Masters Fellows in 2017; the award recognizes artists for their lifetime achievements and exceptional contributions toward the advancement of jazz.
Holland has received honorary doctorates from the New England Conservatory, Boston, where he held a full-time teaching position in 1987–88 and where he has been visiting artist in residence since 2005; Berklee College of Music, Boston; and the Birmingham Conservatoire, in England. He was also named Fellow of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (London). From 1982 to 1989, Holland served as the artistic director of the Banff Summer Jazz Workshop through the Banff School of Fine Arts in Alberta, Canada. In addition, he has taught workshops and master classes around the world at universities and music schools and is President of the UK-based National Youth Jazz Collective.
Discography
As leader
Conference of the Birds (ECM, 1972)
Emerald Tears (ECM, 1977) – solo bass
Life Cycle (ECM, 1982) – solo cello
Jumpin' In (ECM, 1983)
Seeds of Time (ECM, 1984)
The Razor's Edge (ECM, 1987)
Triplicate (ECM, 1988)
Extensions (ECM, 1990)
Ones All (VeraBra, 1993) – solo bass
Dream of the Elders (ECM, 1995) – quartet
Points of View (ECM, 1998) – quintet
Prime Directive (ECM, 1999) – quintet
Not for Nothin' (ECM, 2001) – quintet
What Goes Around (ECM, 2002) – with big band
Extended Play: Live at Birdland (ECM, 2003) – quintet [2CD]
Overtime (Dare2/Sunnyside, 2005) – with big band
Critical Mass (Dare2/Sunnyside, 2006) – quintet
Pass It On (Dare2/EmArcy/UMe, 2008) – sextet
Pathways (Dare2, 2010) – octet
Prism (Dare2, 2013) – quartet
Aziza (Dare2, 2016) – quartet
Uncharted Territories (Dare2, 2018) – quartet with Evan Parker
Without Deception (Dare2, 2020)
Another Land (Edition Records, 2021)
Compilation
Rarum, Vol. 10: Selected Recordings (ECM, 2004)
As co-leader
with John McLaughlin, John Surman, Stu Martin and Karl Berger – Where Fortune Smiles (Dawn, 1971)
with Chick Corea and Barry Altschul – ARC (ECM, 1971)
with Derek Bailey – Improvisations for Cello and Guitar (ECM, 1971)
with Barre Phillips – Music from Two Basses (ECM, 1971)
Dave Holland / Sam Rivers (Improvising Artists, 1976)
Sam Rivers / Dave Holland Vol. 2 (Improvising Artists, 1976)
Norman Blake/Tut Taylor/Sam Bush/Butch Robins/Vassar Clements/David Holland/Jethro Burns (HDS, 1975)
with Karl Berger – All Kinds of Time (Sackville, 1976)
with Evan Parker, Paul Rutherford and Paul Lovens – The Ericle of Dolphi [recorded 1976 and 1986] (Po Torch, 1989)
Vassar Clements, John Hartford, Dave Holland (Rounder, 1985)
with Hank Jones and Billy Higgins – The Oracle (EmArcy, 1990)
with Steve Coleman – Phase Space (Rebel-X/DIW, 1991)
with Gordon Beck, Jack DeJohnette and Didier Lockwood – For Evans Sake (JMS, 1992)
with Mino Cinelu and Kevin Eubanks – World Trio (Intuition, 1995)
ScoLoHoFo (John Scofield, Joe Lovano, Dave Holland and Al Foster) – Oh! (Blue Note, 2003)
with Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Chris Potter and Eric Harland – The Monterey Quartet: Live at the 2007 Monterey Festival (Monterey Jazz Festival, 2009)
with Pepe Habichuela – Hands (Dare2, 2010)
with Sam Rivers and Barry Altschul – Reunion: Live in New York (Pi, 2012)
with Kenny Barron – The Art of Conversation (Impulse!, 2014)
with Zakir Hussain and Chris Potter - Good Hope (Edition Records, 2019)
As Gateway
With John Abercrombie and Jack DeJohnette
Gateway (ECM, 1975)
Gateway 2 (ECM, 1977)
Homecoming (ECM, 1994)
In the Moment (ECM, 1996)
As Circle
With Chick Corea and Barry Altschul
Circling In (Blue Note, 1970)
Circulus (Blue Note, 1970)
Circle 1: Live in Germany Concert] (CBS/Sony Japan, 1970)
Paris Concert (ECM, 1971)
Circle 2: Gathering (CBS/Sony Japan, 1971)
As sideman
With Karl Berger
Tune In (Milestone, 1969)
Transit (Black Saint, 1986)
Crystal Fire (Enja, 1992)
Conversations (In+Out, 1994)
With Anouar Brahem
Thimar (ECM, 1998) – recorded in 1997
Blue Maqams (ECM, 2017)
With Anthony Braxton
The Complete Braxton (Freedom, 1973) – recorded in 1971
Town Hall 1972 (Trio, 1972)
Trio and Duet (Sackville, 1974)
New York, Fall 1974 (Arista, 1974)
Five Pieces 1975 (Arista, 1975)
Quartet: Live at Moers Festival (Ring, 1976) – recorded in 1974
Creative Orchestra Music 1976 (Arista, 1976)
The Montreux/Berlin Concerts (Arista, 1977) – recorded in 1975–76
Dortmund (Quartet) 1976 (hatART, 1991)
With Steve Coleman
Rhythm People (Novus/RCA, 1990)
Black Science (Novus/RCA, 1991)
Rhythm in Mind (Novus/RCA, 1991)
With Chick Corea
Is (Groove Merchant, 1969)
Sundance (Groove Merchant, 1969)
The Song of Singing (Blue Note, 1970)
With Miles Davis
Filles de Kilimanjaro (Columbia, 1968)
In a Silent Way (Columbia, 1969)
Bitches Brew (Columbia, 1969)
Live at the Fillmore East, March 7, 1970: It's About That Time (Columbia, 1970)
Miles Davis at Fillmore: Live at the Fillmore East (Columbia, 1970)
Black Beauty: Live at the Fillmore West (Columbia, 1970)
Live-Evil (Columbia, 1970)
Big Fun (Columbia, 1969–1972)
1969 Miles – Festival de Juan Pins (Columbia, 1993)
Live in Europe 1969: The Bootleg Series Vol. 2 (Columbia/Legacy, 2013)
Miles at the Fillmore - Miles Davis 1970: The Bootleg Series Vol. 3 (Columbia/Legacy, 2014)
Miles Davis at Newport 1955-1975: The Bootleg Series Vol. 4 (Columbia/Legacy, 2015)
With Robin Eubanks
Karma (JMT, 1991)
Mental Images (JMT, 1994)
With Billy Hart
Enchance (Horizon, 1977)
Oshumare (Gramavision, 1985)
With Joe Henderson
Black Is the Color (Milestone, 1972)
Multiple (Milestone, 1973)
So Near, So Far (Verve, 1993)
Porgy & Bess (Verve, 1997)
With Eric Kloss
To Hear Is to See! (Prestige, 1969)
Consciousness! (Prestige, 1970)
One, Two, Free (Muse, 1972)
With Dave Liebman
First Visit (Philips, 1973)
Fire (Jazzline, 2018) – recorded in 2016
With Joe Lovano
From the Soul (Blue Note, 1992)
Trio Fascination: Edition One (Blue Note, 1997)
With Sam Rivers
Sizzle (Impulse!, 1975)
Waves (Tomato, 1978)
Contrasts (ECM, 1981)
With Kenny Wheeler
Gnu High (ECM, 1975)
Deer Wan (ECM, 1977)
Double, Double You (ECM, 1984)
Flutter By, Butterfly (Soul Note, 1988)
Music for Large & Small Ensembles (ECM, 1990)
The Widow in the Window (ECM, 1990)
Angel Song (ECM, 1997)
What Now? (CAM Jazz, 2005)
With others
Claudia Acuña, Rhythm of Life (Verve, 2002)
George Adams, Sound Suggestions (ECM, 1979)
Geri Allen, The Life of a Song (Telarc, 2004) (with Jack DeJohnette)
Franco Ambrosetti, Tentets (Enja, 1985)
Kenny Barron, Scratch (Enja, 1985)
Terence Blanchard, Wandering Moon (Sony Classical, 2000)
Paul Bley, Paul Bley & Scorpio (Milestone, 1973)
Michael Brecker, Tales from the Hudson (Impulse!, 1996)
Nick Brignola, Baritone Madness (Bee Hive, 1977) with Pepper Adams
Gary Burton, Like Minds (Concord, 1998)
Uri Caine, Toys (JMT, 1996)
Betty Carter, Feed the Fire (Verve, 1993)
James Carter, The Real Quiet Storm (Atlantic, 1995)
Vassar Clements, Once In A While (Flying Fish, 1992)
Joe Farrell, Joe Farrell Quartet (CTI, 1970)
Bill Frisell, With Dave Holland and Elvin Jones (Nonesuch, 2001)
Hal Galper, Inner Journey (Mainstream, 1973)
Laszlo Gardony, The Legend of Tsumi (Antilles, 1989)
Jim Hall, Jim Hall & Basses (Telarc, 2001)
Herbie Hancock, The New Standard (Verve, 1996)
River: The Joni Letters (Verve, 2006)
Roy Haynes, Birds of a Feather: A Tribute to Charlie Parker (Dreyfus Jazz, 2001) – Grammy nominated
Roland Hanna, Child of Gemini (MPS, 1971)
Charles Lloyd, Voice in the Night (ECM, 1998)
John Hartford, Morning Bugle (Warner Bros. 1972)
Lee Konitz, Satori (Milestone, 1974)
Pat Metheny, Question and Answer (Geffen, 1990) (with Roy Haynes)
Chris Potter, Unspoken (Concord, 1997)
Wayne Shorter, Moto Grosso Feio (Blue Note, 1970)
Tomasz Stańko, Balladyna (ECM, 1976)
Gary Thomas, While the Gate Is Open (JMT, 1990)
Collin Walcott, Cloud Dance (ECM, 1975)
Richard Teitelbaum, Muun Music Universe, Vol. 1: The Peace Church Concerts (CMC/India Navigation, 1974)
Filmography
Concert films
1992 Renaud Le Van Kim: Miles Davis and Friends (Bravo)
2000 DeJohnette, Hancock, Holland and Metheny Live in Concert
2005 Dave Holland Quintet Live in Freiburg
2008 Herbie Hancock & The New Standard Allstars in Japan (Jazz Door)
2009 Dave Holland Quintet: Vortex
2009 Dave Holland Quintet Live from the Zelt-Musik-Festival, Freiburg 1986
Featured in documentaries
2001 Mike Dibb: The Miles Davis Story (Channel 4)
2004 Murray Lerner: Miles Electric A Different Kind of Blue (Eagle Rock) about the Isle of Wight Festival 1970
References
External links
Official website
Dave Holland on ECM's official website, with reviews
Dave Hollands ECM recordings on trovar.com
Audio Interview with Dave Holland
Review of the album Critical Mass from JazzChicago.net
Dave Holland: Jazz at the Bass Level, Oregon Music News
Dave Holland at All About Jazz
Discography on Discogs
1946 births
Living people
Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Avant-garde jazz musicians
British jazz double-bassists
Male double-bassists
English jazz composers
Male jazz composers
English male composers
Grammy Award winners
Miles Davis
People from Wolverhampton
New England Conservatory alumni
New England Conservatory faculty
Big bands
ECM Records artists
Circle (jazz band) members
21st-century double-bassists
Spontaneous Music Ensemble members
Gateway (band) members
Sackville Records artists
Improvising Artists Records artists | true | [
"Přírodní park Třebíčsko (before Oblast klidu Třebíčsko) is a natural park near Třebíč in the Czech Republic. There are many interesting plants. The park was founded in 1983.\n\nKobylinec and Ptáčovský kopeček\n\nKobylinec is a natural monument situated ca 0,5 km from the village of Trnava.\nThe area of this monument is 0,44 ha. Pulsatilla grandis can be found here and in the Ptáčovský kopeček park near Ptáčov near Třebíč. Both monuments are very popular for tourists.\n\nPonds\n\nIn the natural park there are some interesting ponds such as Velký Bor, Malý Bor, Buršík near Přeckov and a brook Březinka. Dams on the brook are examples of European beaver activity.\n\nSyenitové skály near Pocoucov\n\nSyenitové skály (rocks of syenit) near Pocoucov is one of famed locations. There are interesting granite boulders. The area of the reservation is 0,77 ha.\n\nExternal links\nParts of this article or all article was translated from Czech. The original article is :cs:Přírodní park Třebíčsko.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nNature near the village Trnava which is there\n\nTřebíč\nParks in the Czech Republic\nTourist attractions in the Vysočina Region",
"Damn Interesting is an independent website founded by Alan Bellows in 2005. The website presents true stories from science, history, and psychology, primarily as long-form articles, often illustrated with original artwork. Works are written by various authors, and published at irregular intervals. The website openly rejects advertising, relying on reader and listener donations to cover operating costs.\n\nAs of October 2012, each article is also published as a podcast under the same name. In November 2019, a second podcast was launched under the title Damn Interesting Week, featuring unscripted commentary on an assortment of news articles featured on the website's \"Curated Links\" section that week. In mid-2020, a third podcast called Damn Interesting Curio Cabinet began highlighting the website's periodic short-form articles in the same radioplay format as the original podcast.\n\nIn July 2009, Damn Interesting published the print book Alien Hand Syndrome through Workman Publishing. It contains some favorites from the site and some exclusive content.\n\nAwards and recognition \nIn August 2007, PC Magazine named Damn Interesting one of the \"Top 100 Undiscovered Web Sites\".\nThe article \"The Zero-Armed Bandit\" by Alan Bellows won a 2015 Sidney Award from David Brooks in The New York Times.\nThe article \"Ghoulish Acts and Dastardly Deeds\" by Alan Bellows was cited as \"nonfiction journalism from 2017 that will stand the test of time\" by Conor Friedersdorf in The Atlantic.\nThe article \"Dupes and Duplicity\" by Jennifer Lee Noonan won a 2020 Sidney Award from David Brooks in the New York Times.\n\nAccusing The Dollop of plagiarism \n\nOn July 9, 2015, Bellows posted an open letter accusing The Dollop, a comedy podcast about history, of plagiarism due to their repeated use of verbatim text from Damn Interesting articles without permission or attribution. Dave Anthony, the writer of The Dollop, responded on reddit, admitting to using Damn Interesting content, but claiming that the use was protected by fair use, and that \"historical facts are not copyrightable.\" In an article about the controversy on Plagiarism Today, Jonathan Bailey concluded, \"Any way one looks at it, The Dollop failed its ethical obligations to all of the people, not just those writing for Damn Interesting, who put in the time, energy and expertise into writing the original content upon which their show is based.\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Official website\n\n2005 podcast debuts"
]
|
[
"Dave Holland",
"With Miles Davis",
"When did Holland Meet Miles davis?",
"In 1968, Miles Davis and Philly Joe Jones heard him at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club,",
"Did Miles Davis influence Hollands music?",
"Holland's first recordings with Davis were in September 1968, and he appears on half of the album Filles de Kilimanjaro",
"Did Davis tour with Holland?",
"I don't know.",
"What were the recorded Davis and Holland recorded together?",
"he appears on the albums In a Silent Way and Bitches' Brew. All three of his studio recordings with Davis were important in the evolution of jazz fusion.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"In the first year of his tenure with Davis, Holland played primarily upright bass. By the end of 1969, he played electric bass guitar ("
]
| C_65ba8b8c64cf4df6bd631370a68ee1d0_1 | Did Holland play wood instruments? | 6 | Did Dave Holland play wood instruments? | Dave Holland | In 1968, Miles Davis and Philly Joe Jones heard him at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, playing in a combo that opened for the Bill Evans Trio. Jones told Holland that Davis wanted him to join his band (replacing Ron Carter). Davis left the UK before Holland could contact him directly, and two weeks later Holland was given three days' notice to fly to New York for an engagement at Count Basie's nightclub. He arrived the night before, staying with Jack DeJohnette, a previous acquaintance. The following day Herbie Hancock took him to the club, and his two years with Davis began. This was also Hancock's last gig as Davis's pianist, as he left afterwards for a honeymoon in Brazil and was replaced by Chick Corea when he could not return for an engagement due to illness. Holland's first recordings with Davis were in September 1968, and he appears on half of the album Filles de Kilimanjaro (with Davis, Corea, Wayne Shorter and Tony Williams). Holland was a member of Davis's rhythm section through the summer of 1970; he appears on the albums In a Silent Way and Bitches' Brew. All three of his studio recordings with Davis were important in the evolution of jazz fusion. In the first year of his tenure with Davis, Holland played primarily upright bass. By the end of 1969, he played electric bass guitar (often treated with wah-wah pedal and other electronic effects) with greater frequency as Davis moved away from acoustic jazz. Holland was also a member of Davis's working group during this time, unlike many of the musicians who appeared only on the trumpeter's studio recordings. The so-called "lost quintet" of Davis, Shorter, Corea, Holland and DeJohnette was active in 1969 but never made any studio recordings as a quintet. A 1970 live recording of this group plus percussionist Airto Moreira, Live at the Fillmore East, March 7, 1970: It's About That Time, was issued in 2001. Steve Grossman replaced Shorter in early 1970; Keith Jarrett joined the group as a second keyboardist thereafter, and Gary Bartz replaced Grossman during the summer of 1970. By the end of the summer, rhythm and blues bass guitarist Michael Henderson had replaced Holland. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Dave Holland (born 1 October 1946) is an English jazz double bassist, composer and bandleader who has been performing and recording for five decades. He has lived in the United States for over 40 years.
His work ranges from pieces for solo performance to big band. Holland runs his own independent record label, Dare2, which he launched in 2005.
Biography
Born in Wolverhampton, England, Holland taught himself how to play stringed instruments, beginning at four on the ukulele, then graduating to guitar and later bass guitar. He quit school at the age of 15 to pursue his profession in a pop band, but soon gravitated to jazz. After seeing an issue of Down Beat where Ray Brown had won the critics' poll for best bass player, Holland went to a record store, and bought a couple of LPs featuring Brown backing pianist Oscar Peterson. He also bought two Leroy Vinnegar albums (Leroy Walks! and Leroy Walks Again) because the bassist was posed with his instrument on the cover. Within a week, Holland traded in his bass guitar for a double bass and began practicing with the records. In addition to Brown and Vinnegar, Holland was drawn to the bassists Charles Mingus and Jimmy Garrison.
After moving to London in 1964, Holland played double bass in small venues and studied with James Edward Merrett, principal bassist of the Philharmonia Orchestra and, later, the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Merrett trained him to sight read and then recommended he apply to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Holland received a full-time scholarship for the three-year programme. At 20, Holland was keeping a busy schedule in school, studios and Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, London's premier jazz club, where he often played in bands that supported such touring American jazz saxophonists as Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster and Joe Henderson. He also linked up with other British jazz musicians, including guitarist John McLaughlin, saxophonists Evan Parker and John Surman, South Africa-born London-based pianist Chris McGregor, and drummer John Stevens, and performed on the Spontaneous Music Ensemble's 1968 album Karyobin. He also began a working relationship with Canada-born, England-based trumpeter Kenny Wheeler that continued until Wheeler's death in 2014.
With Miles Davis
In 1968, Miles Davis and Philly Joe Jones heard him at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, playing in a combo that opened for the Bill Evans Trio. Jones told Holland that Davis wanted him to join his band (replacing Ron Carter). Davis left the UK before Holland could contact him directly, and two weeks later Holland was given three days' notice to fly to New York for an engagement at Count Basie's nightclub. He arrived the night before, staying with Jack DeJohnette, a previous acquaintance. The following day Herbie Hancock took him to the club, and his two years with Davis began. This was also Hancock's last gig as Davis's pianist, as he left afterwards for a honeymoon in Brazil and was replaced by Chick Corea when he could not return for an engagement due to illness. Holland's first recordings with Davis were in September 1968, and he appears on half of the album Filles de Kilimanjaro (with Davis, Corea, Wayne Shorter and Tony Williams).
Holland was a member of Davis's rhythm section through the summer of 1970; he appears on the albums In a Silent Way and Bitches' Brew. In the first year of his tenure with Davis, Holland played primarily upright bass. By the end of 1969, he played electric bass guitar (often treated with wah-wah pedal and other electronic effects) with greater frequency as Davis moved away from acoustic jazz.
Holland was also a member of Davis's working group during this time, unlike many of the musicians who appeared only on the trumpeter's studio recordings. The so-called "lost quintet" of Davis, Shorter, Corea, Holland and DeJohnette was active in 1969 but never made any studio recordings as a quintet. A 1970 live recording of this group plus percussionist Airto Moreira, Live at the Fillmore East, March 7, 1970: It's About That Time, was issued in 2001. Steve Grossman replaced Shorter in early 1970; Keith Jarrett joined the group as a second keyboardist thereafter, and Gary Bartz replaced Grossman during the summer of 1970. By the end of the summer, rhythm and blues bass guitarist Michael Henderson had replaced Holland.
ECM and the 1970s
After leaving Davis's group, Holland briefly joined the avant-garde jazz group Circle, with Corea, Barry Altschul and reed player Anthony Braxton. This started a decades-long association with the ECM record label. After recording a few albums, Circle disbanded when Corea departed. 1972 saw the recording of Conference of the Birds, with Sam Rivers, Altschul and Braxton – Holland's first recording as a leader, and the beginning of a long musical relationship with Rivers. The title of the album is taken from that of a 4,500-line epic poem by Persian Sufist writer, Farid al-Din Attar.
Holland worked as a leader and as a sideman with many other jazz artists in the 1970s. On June 15, 1972 he played with Thelonious Monk at the Village Vanguard which was one of Monk's last concerts. Holland recorded several important albums with Anthony Braxton between 1972 and 1976 – including New York, Fall 1974 (1974) and Five Pieces (1975) – that were released on Arista Records.
Holland also recorded duo sessions with saxophonist Sam Rivers and fellow bassist Barre Phillips, and the solo bass album Emerald Tears. Also in the 1970s he appeared with performers including Stan Getz and the Gateway Trio with John Abercrombie and DeJohnette. The Gateway trio released two influential modern jazz albums in 1975 and 1977, and reformed in 1994 for a recording session which yielded another two albums. As a sideman, Holland appeared on rock and pop recordings as well, working with singer Bonnie Raitt on her 1972 album Give It Up.
The 1980s
Holland formed his first working quintet in 1983, and over the next four years released Jumpin' In, Seeds of Time, and The Razor's Edge, featuring alto saxophonist Steve Coleman, trumpeter Wheeler and trombonist Julian Priester (or Robin Eubanks). Subsequently, he formed the Dave Holland Trio (with Coleman and DeJohnette) for the 1988 album Triplicate, and teamed with Coleman, electric guitarist Kevin Eubanks and drummer Marvin "Smitty" Smith for Extensions. He also recorded Life Cycle, an album of compositions played on solo cello.
The bassist also continued to collaborate with his peers, often connecting with figures from the previous generation of jazz icons. In 1989, Holland teamed with drummer Billy Higgins and pianist Hank Jones to record The Oracle, and joined drummer Roy Haynes and guitarist Pat Metheny in 1989 to record Question and Answer.
The 1990s and 2000s
During the 1990s, Holland renewed an affiliation, begun in the 1970s, with Joe Henderson, joining the tenor saxophonist on So Near (So Far), a tribute to Miles Davis, and Porgy & Bess. Holland also reunited with vocalist Betty Carter, touring and recording the live album Feed the Fire (1993). Fellow Davis alumnus Herbie Hancock invited Holland to tour with him in 1992, subsequently recording The New Standard. Holland joined Hancock's band again in 1996. He was also part of the sessions for River: The Joni Letters, winner of the 2008 Grammy Award for Album of the Year.
As a leader, Holland formed his third quartet and released Dream of the Elders (1995), which introduced the vibraphonist Steve Nelson to his ensembles. Holland formed a quintet that includes tenor saxophonist Chris Potter, trombonist Robin Eubanks and, a more recent addition, drummer Nate Smith. Their recordings include Points of View, Prime Directive, Not for Nothin, Extended Play: Live at Birdland and Critical Mass. In addition to releasing four quintet albums on ECM, Holland debuted his Big Band, which released What Goes Around in 2002. The album won Holland his first Grammy as a leader, in the Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album category. The second Big Band recording, Overtime (2005), again won the Grammy in the Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album category; it was released on Holland's Dare2 label, which he formed that year.
In 2009, Holland was a co-founder of an all-star group called the Overtone Quartet. The group consisted of Holland on bass, Chris Potter on tenor saxophone, Jason Moran on piano, and Eric Harland on drums. The group toured extensively throughout the United States and Europe.
Awards and honors
He won the Critics Poll in Down Beat magazine for Musician of the Year, Big Band of the Year, and Acoustic Bassist of the Year (he also garnered top bassist in the 2006 poll). The Jazz Journalists' Association honored him as Musician and Acoustic Bassist of the Year. He was the recipient of the Miles Davis Award at the Montreal Jazz Festival.
The National Endowment for the Arts named Holland as one of its five Jazz Masters Fellows in 2017; the award recognizes artists for their lifetime achievements and exceptional contributions toward the advancement of jazz.
Holland has received honorary doctorates from the New England Conservatory, Boston, where he held a full-time teaching position in 1987–88 and where he has been visiting artist in residence since 2005; Berklee College of Music, Boston; and the Birmingham Conservatoire, in England. He was also named Fellow of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (London). From 1982 to 1989, Holland served as the artistic director of the Banff Summer Jazz Workshop through the Banff School of Fine Arts in Alberta, Canada. In addition, he has taught workshops and master classes around the world at universities and music schools and is President of the UK-based National Youth Jazz Collective.
Discography
As leader
Conference of the Birds (ECM, 1972)
Emerald Tears (ECM, 1977) – solo bass
Life Cycle (ECM, 1982) – solo cello
Jumpin' In (ECM, 1983)
Seeds of Time (ECM, 1984)
The Razor's Edge (ECM, 1987)
Triplicate (ECM, 1988)
Extensions (ECM, 1990)
Ones All (VeraBra, 1993) – solo bass
Dream of the Elders (ECM, 1995) – quartet
Points of View (ECM, 1998) – quintet
Prime Directive (ECM, 1999) – quintet
Not for Nothin' (ECM, 2001) – quintet
What Goes Around (ECM, 2002) – with big band
Extended Play: Live at Birdland (ECM, 2003) – quintet [2CD]
Overtime (Dare2/Sunnyside, 2005) – with big band
Critical Mass (Dare2/Sunnyside, 2006) – quintet
Pass It On (Dare2/EmArcy/UMe, 2008) – sextet
Pathways (Dare2, 2010) – octet
Prism (Dare2, 2013) – quartet
Aziza (Dare2, 2016) – quartet
Uncharted Territories (Dare2, 2018) – quartet with Evan Parker
Without Deception (Dare2, 2020)
Another Land (Edition Records, 2021)
Compilation
Rarum, Vol. 10: Selected Recordings (ECM, 2004)
As co-leader
with John McLaughlin, John Surman, Stu Martin and Karl Berger – Where Fortune Smiles (Dawn, 1971)
with Chick Corea and Barry Altschul – ARC (ECM, 1971)
with Derek Bailey – Improvisations for Cello and Guitar (ECM, 1971)
with Barre Phillips – Music from Two Basses (ECM, 1971)
Dave Holland / Sam Rivers (Improvising Artists, 1976)
Sam Rivers / Dave Holland Vol. 2 (Improvising Artists, 1976)
Norman Blake/Tut Taylor/Sam Bush/Butch Robins/Vassar Clements/David Holland/Jethro Burns (HDS, 1975)
with Karl Berger – All Kinds of Time (Sackville, 1976)
with Evan Parker, Paul Rutherford and Paul Lovens – The Ericle of Dolphi [recorded 1976 and 1986] (Po Torch, 1989)
Vassar Clements, John Hartford, Dave Holland (Rounder, 1985)
with Hank Jones and Billy Higgins – The Oracle (EmArcy, 1990)
with Steve Coleman – Phase Space (Rebel-X/DIW, 1991)
with Gordon Beck, Jack DeJohnette and Didier Lockwood – For Evans Sake (JMS, 1992)
with Mino Cinelu and Kevin Eubanks – World Trio (Intuition, 1995)
ScoLoHoFo (John Scofield, Joe Lovano, Dave Holland and Al Foster) – Oh! (Blue Note, 2003)
with Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Chris Potter and Eric Harland – The Monterey Quartet: Live at the 2007 Monterey Festival (Monterey Jazz Festival, 2009)
with Pepe Habichuela – Hands (Dare2, 2010)
with Sam Rivers and Barry Altschul – Reunion: Live in New York (Pi, 2012)
with Kenny Barron – The Art of Conversation (Impulse!, 2014)
with Zakir Hussain and Chris Potter - Good Hope (Edition Records, 2019)
As Gateway
With John Abercrombie and Jack DeJohnette
Gateway (ECM, 1975)
Gateway 2 (ECM, 1977)
Homecoming (ECM, 1994)
In the Moment (ECM, 1996)
As Circle
With Chick Corea and Barry Altschul
Circling In (Blue Note, 1970)
Circulus (Blue Note, 1970)
Circle 1: Live in Germany Concert] (CBS/Sony Japan, 1970)
Paris Concert (ECM, 1971)
Circle 2: Gathering (CBS/Sony Japan, 1971)
As sideman
With Karl Berger
Tune In (Milestone, 1969)
Transit (Black Saint, 1986)
Crystal Fire (Enja, 1992)
Conversations (In+Out, 1994)
With Anouar Brahem
Thimar (ECM, 1998) – recorded in 1997
Blue Maqams (ECM, 2017)
With Anthony Braxton
The Complete Braxton (Freedom, 1973) – recorded in 1971
Town Hall 1972 (Trio, 1972)
Trio and Duet (Sackville, 1974)
New York, Fall 1974 (Arista, 1974)
Five Pieces 1975 (Arista, 1975)
Quartet: Live at Moers Festival (Ring, 1976) – recorded in 1974
Creative Orchestra Music 1976 (Arista, 1976)
The Montreux/Berlin Concerts (Arista, 1977) – recorded in 1975–76
Dortmund (Quartet) 1976 (hatART, 1991)
With Steve Coleman
Rhythm People (Novus/RCA, 1990)
Black Science (Novus/RCA, 1991)
Rhythm in Mind (Novus/RCA, 1991)
With Chick Corea
Is (Groove Merchant, 1969)
Sundance (Groove Merchant, 1969)
The Song of Singing (Blue Note, 1970)
With Miles Davis
Filles de Kilimanjaro (Columbia, 1968)
In a Silent Way (Columbia, 1969)
Bitches Brew (Columbia, 1969)
Live at the Fillmore East, March 7, 1970: It's About That Time (Columbia, 1970)
Miles Davis at Fillmore: Live at the Fillmore East (Columbia, 1970)
Black Beauty: Live at the Fillmore West (Columbia, 1970)
Live-Evil (Columbia, 1970)
Big Fun (Columbia, 1969–1972)
1969 Miles – Festival de Juan Pins (Columbia, 1993)
Live in Europe 1969: The Bootleg Series Vol. 2 (Columbia/Legacy, 2013)
Miles at the Fillmore - Miles Davis 1970: The Bootleg Series Vol. 3 (Columbia/Legacy, 2014)
Miles Davis at Newport 1955-1975: The Bootleg Series Vol. 4 (Columbia/Legacy, 2015)
With Robin Eubanks
Karma (JMT, 1991)
Mental Images (JMT, 1994)
With Billy Hart
Enchance (Horizon, 1977)
Oshumare (Gramavision, 1985)
With Joe Henderson
Black Is the Color (Milestone, 1972)
Multiple (Milestone, 1973)
So Near, So Far (Verve, 1993)
Porgy & Bess (Verve, 1997)
With Eric Kloss
To Hear Is to See! (Prestige, 1969)
Consciousness! (Prestige, 1970)
One, Two, Free (Muse, 1972)
With Dave Liebman
First Visit (Philips, 1973)
Fire (Jazzline, 2018) – recorded in 2016
With Joe Lovano
From the Soul (Blue Note, 1992)
Trio Fascination: Edition One (Blue Note, 1997)
With Sam Rivers
Sizzle (Impulse!, 1975)
Waves (Tomato, 1978)
Contrasts (ECM, 1981)
With Kenny Wheeler
Gnu High (ECM, 1975)
Deer Wan (ECM, 1977)
Double, Double You (ECM, 1984)
Flutter By, Butterfly (Soul Note, 1988)
Music for Large & Small Ensembles (ECM, 1990)
The Widow in the Window (ECM, 1990)
Angel Song (ECM, 1997)
What Now? (CAM Jazz, 2005)
With others
Claudia Acuña, Rhythm of Life (Verve, 2002)
George Adams, Sound Suggestions (ECM, 1979)
Geri Allen, The Life of a Song (Telarc, 2004) (with Jack DeJohnette)
Franco Ambrosetti, Tentets (Enja, 1985)
Kenny Barron, Scratch (Enja, 1985)
Terence Blanchard, Wandering Moon (Sony Classical, 2000)
Paul Bley, Paul Bley & Scorpio (Milestone, 1973)
Michael Brecker, Tales from the Hudson (Impulse!, 1996)
Nick Brignola, Baritone Madness (Bee Hive, 1977) with Pepper Adams
Gary Burton, Like Minds (Concord, 1998)
Uri Caine, Toys (JMT, 1996)
Betty Carter, Feed the Fire (Verve, 1993)
James Carter, The Real Quiet Storm (Atlantic, 1995)
Vassar Clements, Once In A While (Flying Fish, 1992)
Joe Farrell, Joe Farrell Quartet (CTI, 1970)
Bill Frisell, With Dave Holland and Elvin Jones (Nonesuch, 2001)
Hal Galper, Inner Journey (Mainstream, 1973)
Laszlo Gardony, The Legend of Tsumi (Antilles, 1989)
Jim Hall, Jim Hall & Basses (Telarc, 2001)
Herbie Hancock, The New Standard (Verve, 1996)
River: The Joni Letters (Verve, 2006)
Roy Haynes, Birds of a Feather: A Tribute to Charlie Parker (Dreyfus Jazz, 2001) – Grammy nominated
Roland Hanna, Child of Gemini (MPS, 1971)
Charles Lloyd, Voice in the Night (ECM, 1998)
John Hartford, Morning Bugle (Warner Bros. 1972)
Lee Konitz, Satori (Milestone, 1974)
Pat Metheny, Question and Answer (Geffen, 1990) (with Roy Haynes)
Chris Potter, Unspoken (Concord, 1997)
Wayne Shorter, Moto Grosso Feio (Blue Note, 1970)
Tomasz Stańko, Balladyna (ECM, 1976)
Gary Thomas, While the Gate Is Open (JMT, 1990)
Collin Walcott, Cloud Dance (ECM, 1975)
Richard Teitelbaum, Muun Music Universe, Vol. 1: The Peace Church Concerts (CMC/India Navigation, 1974)
Filmography
Concert films
1992 Renaud Le Van Kim: Miles Davis and Friends (Bravo)
2000 DeJohnette, Hancock, Holland and Metheny Live in Concert
2005 Dave Holland Quintet Live in Freiburg
2008 Herbie Hancock & The New Standard Allstars in Japan (Jazz Door)
2009 Dave Holland Quintet: Vortex
2009 Dave Holland Quintet Live from the Zelt-Musik-Festival, Freiburg 1986
Featured in documentaries
2001 Mike Dibb: The Miles Davis Story (Channel 4)
2004 Murray Lerner: Miles Electric A Different Kind of Blue (Eagle Rock) about the Isle of Wight Festival 1970
References
External links
Official website
Dave Holland on ECM's official website, with reviews
Dave Hollands ECM recordings on trovar.com
Audio Interview with Dave Holland
Review of the album Critical Mass from JazzChicago.net
Dave Holland: Jazz at the Bass Level, Oregon Music News
Dave Holland at All About Jazz
Discography on Discogs
1946 births
Living people
Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Avant-garde jazz musicians
British jazz double-bassists
Male double-bassists
English jazz composers
Male jazz composers
English male composers
Grammy Award winners
Miles Davis
People from Wolverhampton
New England Conservatory alumni
New England Conservatory faculty
Big bands
ECM Records artists
Circle (jazz band) members
21st-century double-bassists
Spontaneous Music Ensemble members
Gateway (band) members
Sackville Records artists
Improvising Artists Records artists | false | [
"The Cuk is a stringed musical instrument from Indonesia. It has 3 strings in 3 courses. It is tuned G4 B3 E4. The strings are made of thick nylon.\n\nThe instrument evolved from the Portuguese cavaquinho. The body is usually hollowed out of a solid piece of wood. It is mainly used to play Keroncong music along with the Cak.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n ATLAS of Plucked Instruments\n\nString instruments\nIndonesian musical instruments",
"Dennis Waring is a historian and ethnomusicologist who was the Connecticut State Troubadour from 2003 through 2004. He has authored a book on the history of the Estey Organ Company titled Manufacturing the Muse: Estey Organs & Consumer Culture in Victorian America which was his doctoral dissertation at Weslyan University. He is a local expert on the organs and the role of musical instruments as \"primary cultural indicators\".\n\nWaring believes in bringing music to a wide audience. He makes improvised instruments out of cardboard and household scraps and teaches other people to do the same.\n\nPublications\n\n Folk Instruments Make Them & Play Them, It's Easy & It's Fun (1979)\n Making Wood Folk Instruments (1990)\n Great Folk Instruments To Make & Play (1999)\n Cardboard Folk Instruments to Make Play (2000)\n Make Your Own Electric Guitar Bass (2001)\n Manufacturing the Muse: Estey Organs & Consumer Culture in Victorian America (2002)\n Making Drums (2003)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Waring Music - personal site\n\nEthnomusicologists\nWesleyan University alumni\nYear of birth missing (living people)\nLiving people"
]
|
[
"Dave Holland",
"With Miles Davis",
"When did Holland Meet Miles davis?",
"In 1968, Miles Davis and Philly Joe Jones heard him at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club,",
"Did Miles Davis influence Hollands music?",
"Holland's first recordings with Davis were in September 1968, and he appears on half of the album Filles de Kilimanjaro",
"Did Davis tour with Holland?",
"I don't know.",
"What were the recorded Davis and Holland recorded together?",
"he appears on the albums In a Silent Way and Bitches' Brew. All three of his studio recordings with Davis were important in the evolution of jazz fusion.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"In the first year of his tenure with Davis, Holland played primarily upright bass. By the end of 1969, he played electric bass guitar (",
"Did Holland play wood instruments?",
"I don't know."
]
| C_65ba8b8c64cf4df6bd631370a68ee1d0_1 | Did Miles Davis make a statement about Hollands music? | 7 | Did Miles Davis make a statement about Dave Holland's music? | Dave Holland | In 1968, Miles Davis and Philly Joe Jones heard him at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, playing in a combo that opened for the Bill Evans Trio. Jones told Holland that Davis wanted him to join his band (replacing Ron Carter). Davis left the UK before Holland could contact him directly, and two weeks later Holland was given three days' notice to fly to New York for an engagement at Count Basie's nightclub. He arrived the night before, staying with Jack DeJohnette, a previous acquaintance. The following day Herbie Hancock took him to the club, and his two years with Davis began. This was also Hancock's last gig as Davis's pianist, as he left afterwards for a honeymoon in Brazil and was replaced by Chick Corea when he could not return for an engagement due to illness. Holland's first recordings with Davis were in September 1968, and he appears on half of the album Filles de Kilimanjaro (with Davis, Corea, Wayne Shorter and Tony Williams). Holland was a member of Davis's rhythm section through the summer of 1970; he appears on the albums In a Silent Way and Bitches' Brew. All three of his studio recordings with Davis were important in the evolution of jazz fusion. In the first year of his tenure with Davis, Holland played primarily upright bass. By the end of 1969, he played electric bass guitar (often treated with wah-wah pedal and other electronic effects) with greater frequency as Davis moved away from acoustic jazz. Holland was also a member of Davis's working group during this time, unlike many of the musicians who appeared only on the trumpeter's studio recordings. The so-called "lost quintet" of Davis, Shorter, Corea, Holland and DeJohnette was active in 1969 but never made any studio recordings as a quintet. A 1970 live recording of this group plus percussionist Airto Moreira, Live at the Fillmore East, March 7, 1970: It's About That Time, was issued in 2001. Steve Grossman replaced Shorter in early 1970; Keith Jarrett joined the group as a second keyboardist thereafter, and Gary Bartz replaced Grossman during the summer of 1970. By the end of the summer, rhythm and blues bass guitarist Michael Henderson had replaced Holland. CANNOTANSWER | Jones told Holland that Davis wanted him to join his band (replacing Ron Carter). | Dave Holland (born 1 October 1946) is an English jazz double bassist, composer and bandleader who has been performing and recording for five decades. He has lived in the United States for over 40 years.
His work ranges from pieces for solo performance to big band. Holland runs his own independent record label, Dare2, which he launched in 2005.
Biography
Born in Wolverhampton, England, Holland taught himself how to play stringed instruments, beginning at four on the ukulele, then graduating to guitar and later bass guitar. He quit school at the age of 15 to pursue his profession in a pop band, but soon gravitated to jazz. After seeing an issue of Down Beat where Ray Brown had won the critics' poll for best bass player, Holland went to a record store, and bought a couple of LPs featuring Brown backing pianist Oscar Peterson. He also bought two Leroy Vinnegar albums (Leroy Walks! and Leroy Walks Again) because the bassist was posed with his instrument on the cover. Within a week, Holland traded in his bass guitar for a double bass and began practicing with the records. In addition to Brown and Vinnegar, Holland was drawn to the bassists Charles Mingus and Jimmy Garrison.
After moving to London in 1964, Holland played double bass in small venues and studied with James Edward Merrett, principal bassist of the Philharmonia Orchestra and, later, the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Merrett trained him to sight read and then recommended he apply to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Holland received a full-time scholarship for the three-year programme. At 20, Holland was keeping a busy schedule in school, studios and Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, London's premier jazz club, where he often played in bands that supported such touring American jazz saxophonists as Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster and Joe Henderson. He also linked up with other British jazz musicians, including guitarist John McLaughlin, saxophonists Evan Parker and John Surman, South Africa-born London-based pianist Chris McGregor, and drummer John Stevens, and performed on the Spontaneous Music Ensemble's 1968 album Karyobin. He also began a working relationship with Canada-born, England-based trumpeter Kenny Wheeler that continued until Wheeler's death in 2014.
With Miles Davis
In 1968, Miles Davis and Philly Joe Jones heard him at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, playing in a combo that opened for the Bill Evans Trio. Jones told Holland that Davis wanted him to join his band (replacing Ron Carter). Davis left the UK before Holland could contact him directly, and two weeks later Holland was given three days' notice to fly to New York for an engagement at Count Basie's nightclub. He arrived the night before, staying with Jack DeJohnette, a previous acquaintance. The following day Herbie Hancock took him to the club, and his two years with Davis began. This was also Hancock's last gig as Davis's pianist, as he left afterwards for a honeymoon in Brazil and was replaced by Chick Corea when he could not return for an engagement due to illness. Holland's first recordings with Davis were in September 1968, and he appears on half of the album Filles de Kilimanjaro (with Davis, Corea, Wayne Shorter and Tony Williams).
Holland was a member of Davis's rhythm section through the summer of 1970; he appears on the albums In a Silent Way and Bitches' Brew. In the first year of his tenure with Davis, Holland played primarily upright bass. By the end of 1969, he played electric bass guitar (often treated with wah-wah pedal and other electronic effects) with greater frequency as Davis moved away from acoustic jazz.
Holland was also a member of Davis's working group during this time, unlike many of the musicians who appeared only on the trumpeter's studio recordings. The so-called "lost quintet" of Davis, Shorter, Corea, Holland and DeJohnette was active in 1969 but never made any studio recordings as a quintet. A 1970 live recording of this group plus percussionist Airto Moreira, Live at the Fillmore East, March 7, 1970: It's About That Time, was issued in 2001. Steve Grossman replaced Shorter in early 1970; Keith Jarrett joined the group as a second keyboardist thereafter, and Gary Bartz replaced Grossman during the summer of 1970. By the end of the summer, rhythm and blues bass guitarist Michael Henderson had replaced Holland.
ECM and the 1970s
After leaving Davis's group, Holland briefly joined the avant-garde jazz group Circle, with Corea, Barry Altschul and reed player Anthony Braxton. This started a decades-long association with the ECM record label. After recording a few albums, Circle disbanded when Corea departed. 1972 saw the recording of Conference of the Birds, with Sam Rivers, Altschul and Braxton – Holland's first recording as a leader, and the beginning of a long musical relationship with Rivers. The title of the album is taken from that of a 4,500-line epic poem by Persian Sufist writer, Farid al-Din Attar.
Holland worked as a leader and as a sideman with many other jazz artists in the 1970s. On June 15, 1972 he played with Thelonious Monk at the Village Vanguard which was one of Monk's last concerts. Holland recorded several important albums with Anthony Braxton between 1972 and 1976 – including New York, Fall 1974 (1974) and Five Pieces (1975) – that were released on Arista Records.
Holland also recorded duo sessions with saxophonist Sam Rivers and fellow bassist Barre Phillips, and the solo bass album Emerald Tears. Also in the 1970s he appeared with performers including Stan Getz and the Gateway Trio with John Abercrombie and DeJohnette. The Gateway trio released two influential modern jazz albums in 1975 and 1977, and reformed in 1994 for a recording session which yielded another two albums. As a sideman, Holland appeared on rock and pop recordings as well, working with singer Bonnie Raitt on her 1972 album Give It Up.
The 1980s
Holland formed his first working quintet in 1983, and over the next four years released Jumpin' In, Seeds of Time, and The Razor's Edge, featuring alto saxophonist Steve Coleman, trumpeter Wheeler and trombonist Julian Priester (or Robin Eubanks). Subsequently, he formed the Dave Holland Trio (with Coleman and DeJohnette) for the 1988 album Triplicate, and teamed with Coleman, electric guitarist Kevin Eubanks and drummer Marvin "Smitty" Smith for Extensions. He also recorded Life Cycle, an album of compositions played on solo cello.
The bassist also continued to collaborate with his peers, often connecting with figures from the previous generation of jazz icons. In 1989, Holland teamed with drummer Billy Higgins and pianist Hank Jones to record The Oracle, and joined drummer Roy Haynes and guitarist Pat Metheny in 1989 to record Question and Answer.
The 1990s and 2000s
During the 1990s, Holland renewed an affiliation, begun in the 1970s, with Joe Henderson, joining the tenor saxophonist on So Near (So Far), a tribute to Miles Davis, and Porgy & Bess. Holland also reunited with vocalist Betty Carter, touring and recording the live album Feed the Fire (1993). Fellow Davis alumnus Herbie Hancock invited Holland to tour with him in 1992, subsequently recording The New Standard. Holland joined Hancock's band again in 1996. He was also part of the sessions for River: The Joni Letters, winner of the 2008 Grammy Award for Album of the Year.
As a leader, Holland formed his third quartet and released Dream of the Elders (1995), which introduced the vibraphonist Steve Nelson to his ensembles. Holland formed a quintet that includes tenor saxophonist Chris Potter, trombonist Robin Eubanks and, a more recent addition, drummer Nate Smith. Their recordings include Points of View, Prime Directive, Not for Nothin, Extended Play: Live at Birdland and Critical Mass. In addition to releasing four quintet albums on ECM, Holland debuted his Big Band, which released What Goes Around in 2002. The album won Holland his first Grammy as a leader, in the Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album category. The second Big Band recording, Overtime (2005), again won the Grammy in the Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album category; it was released on Holland's Dare2 label, which he formed that year.
In 2009, Holland was a co-founder of an all-star group called the Overtone Quartet. The group consisted of Holland on bass, Chris Potter on tenor saxophone, Jason Moran on piano, and Eric Harland on drums. The group toured extensively throughout the United States and Europe.
Awards and honors
He won the Critics Poll in Down Beat magazine for Musician of the Year, Big Band of the Year, and Acoustic Bassist of the Year (he also garnered top bassist in the 2006 poll). The Jazz Journalists' Association honored him as Musician and Acoustic Bassist of the Year. He was the recipient of the Miles Davis Award at the Montreal Jazz Festival.
The National Endowment for the Arts named Holland as one of its five Jazz Masters Fellows in 2017; the award recognizes artists for their lifetime achievements and exceptional contributions toward the advancement of jazz.
Holland has received honorary doctorates from the New England Conservatory, Boston, where he held a full-time teaching position in 1987–88 and where he has been visiting artist in residence since 2005; Berklee College of Music, Boston; and the Birmingham Conservatoire, in England. He was also named Fellow of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (London). From 1982 to 1989, Holland served as the artistic director of the Banff Summer Jazz Workshop through the Banff School of Fine Arts in Alberta, Canada. In addition, he has taught workshops and master classes around the world at universities and music schools and is President of the UK-based National Youth Jazz Collective.
Discography
As leader
Conference of the Birds (ECM, 1972)
Emerald Tears (ECM, 1977) – solo bass
Life Cycle (ECM, 1982) – solo cello
Jumpin' In (ECM, 1983)
Seeds of Time (ECM, 1984)
The Razor's Edge (ECM, 1987)
Triplicate (ECM, 1988)
Extensions (ECM, 1990)
Ones All (VeraBra, 1993) – solo bass
Dream of the Elders (ECM, 1995) – quartet
Points of View (ECM, 1998) – quintet
Prime Directive (ECM, 1999) – quintet
Not for Nothin' (ECM, 2001) – quintet
What Goes Around (ECM, 2002) – with big band
Extended Play: Live at Birdland (ECM, 2003) – quintet [2CD]
Overtime (Dare2/Sunnyside, 2005) – with big band
Critical Mass (Dare2/Sunnyside, 2006) – quintet
Pass It On (Dare2/EmArcy/UMe, 2008) – sextet
Pathways (Dare2, 2010) – octet
Prism (Dare2, 2013) – quartet
Aziza (Dare2, 2016) – quartet
Uncharted Territories (Dare2, 2018) – quartet with Evan Parker
Without Deception (Dare2, 2020)
Another Land (Edition Records, 2021)
Compilation
Rarum, Vol. 10: Selected Recordings (ECM, 2004)
As co-leader
with John McLaughlin, John Surman, Stu Martin and Karl Berger – Where Fortune Smiles (Dawn, 1971)
with Chick Corea and Barry Altschul – ARC (ECM, 1971)
with Derek Bailey – Improvisations for Cello and Guitar (ECM, 1971)
with Barre Phillips – Music from Two Basses (ECM, 1971)
Dave Holland / Sam Rivers (Improvising Artists, 1976)
Sam Rivers / Dave Holland Vol. 2 (Improvising Artists, 1976)
Norman Blake/Tut Taylor/Sam Bush/Butch Robins/Vassar Clements/David Holland/Jethro Burns (HDS, 1975)
with Karl Berger – All Kinds of Time (Sackville, 1976)
with Evan Parker, Paul Rutherford and Paul Lovens – The Ericle of Dolphi [recorded 1976 and 1986] (Po Torch, 1989)
Vassar Clements, John Hartford, Dave Holland (Rounder, 1985)
with Hank Jones and Billy Higgins – The Oracle (EmArcy, 1990)
with Steve Coleman – Phase Space (Rebel-X/DIW, 1991)
with Gordon Beck, Jack DeJohnette and Didier Lockwood – For Evans Sake (JMS, 1992)
with Mino Cinelu and Kevin Eubanks – World Trio (Intuition, 1995)
ScoLoHoFo (John Scofield, Joe Lovano, Dave Holland and Al Foster) – Oh! (Blue Note, 2003)
with Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Chris Potter and Eric Harland – The Monterey Quartet: Live at the 2007 Monterey Festival (Monterey Jazz Festival, 2009)
with Pepe Habichuela – Hands (Dare2, 2010)
with Sam Rivers and Barry Altschul – Reunion: Live in New York (Pi, 2012)
with Kenny Barron – The Art of Conversation (Impulse!, 2014)
with Zakir Hussain and Chris Potter - Good Hope (Edition Records, 2019)
As Gateway
With John Abercrombie and Jack DeJohnette
Gateway (ECM, 1975)
Gateway 2 (ECM, 1977)
Homecoming (ECM, 1994)
In the Moment (ECM, 1996)
As Circle
With Chick Corea and Barry Altschul
Circling In (Blue Note, 1970)
Circulus (Blue Note, 1970)
Circle 1: Live in Germany Concert] (CBS/Sony Japan, 1970)
Paris Concert (ECM, 1971)
Circle 2: Gathering (CBS/Sony Japan, 1971)
As sideman
With Karl Berger
Tune In (Milestone, 1969)
Transit (Black Saint, 1986)
Crystal Fire (Enja, 1992)
Conversations (In+Out, 1994)
With Anouar Brahem
Thimar (ECM, 1998) – recorded in 1997
Blue Maqams (ECM, 2017)
With Anthony Braxton
The Complete Braxton (Freedom, 1973) – recorded in 1971
Town Hall 1972 (Trio, 1972)
Trio and Duet (Sackville, 1974)
New York, Fall 1974 (Arista, 1974)
Five Pieces 1975 (Arista, 1975)
Quartet: Live at Moers Festival (Ring, 1976) – recorded in 1974
Creative Orchestra Music 1976 (Arista, 1976)
The Montreux/Berlin Concerts (Arista, 1977) – recorded in 1975–76
Dortmund (Quartet) 1976 (hatART, 1991)
With Steve Coleman
Rhythm People (Novus/RCA, 1990)
Black Science (Novus/RCA, 1991)
Rhythm in Mind (Novus/RCA, 1991)
With Chick Corea
Is (Groove Merchant, 1969)
Sundance (Groove Merchant, 1969)
The Song of Singing (Blue Note, 1970)
With Miles Davis
Filles de Kilimanjaro (Columbia, 1968)
In a Silent Way (Columbia, 1969)
Bitches Brew (Columbia, 1969)
Live at the Fillmore East, March 7, 1970: It's About That Time (Columbia, 1970)
Miles Davis at Fillmore: Live at the Fillmore East (Columbia, 1970)
Black Beauty: Live at the Fillmore West (Columbia, 1970)
Live-Evil (Columbia, 1970)
Big Fun (Columbia, 1969–1972)
1969 Miles – Festival de Juan Pins (Columbia, 1993)
Live in Europe 1969: The Bootleg Series Vol. 2 (Columbia/Legacy, 2013)
Miles at the Fillmore - Miles Davis 1970: The Bootleg Series Vol. 3 (Columbia/Legacy, 2014)
Miles Davis at Newport 1955-1975: The Bootleg Series Vol. 4 (Columbia/Legacy, 2015)
With Robin Eubanks
Karma (JMT, 1991)
Mental Images (JMT, 1994)
With Billy Hart
Enchance (Horizon, 1977)
Oshumare (Gramavision, 1985)
With Joe Henderson
Black Is the Color (Milestone, 1972)
Multiple (Milestone, 1973)
So Near, So Far (Verve, 1993)
Porgy & Bess (Verve, 1997)
With Eric Kloss
To Hear Is to See! (Prestige, 1969)
Consciousness! (Prestige, 1970)
One, Two, Free (Muse, 1972)
With Dave Liebman
First Visit (Philips, 1973)
Fire (Jazzline, 2018) – recorded in 2016
With Joe Lovano
From the Soul (Blue Note, 1992)
Trio Fascination: Edition One (Blue Note, 1997)
With Sam Rivers
Sizzle (Impulse!, 1975)
Waves (Tomato, 1978)
Contrasts (ECM, 1981)
With Kenny Wheeler
Gnu High (ECM, 1975)
Deer Wan (ECM, 1977)
Double, Double You (ECM, 1984)
Flutter By, Butterfly (Soul Note, 1988)
Music for Large & Small Ensembles (ECM, 1990)
The Widow in the Window (ECM, 1990)
Angel Song (ECM, 1997)
What Now? (CAM Jazz, 2005)
With others
Claudia Acuña, Rhythm of Life (Verve, 2002)
George Adams, Sound Suggestions (ECM, 1979)
Geri Allen, The Life of a Song (Telarc, 2004) (with Jack DeJohnette)
Franco Ambrosetti, Tentets (Enja, 1985)
Kenny Barron, Scratch (Enja, 1985)
Terence Blanchard, Wandering Moon (Sony Classical, 2000)
Paul Bley, Paul Bley & Scorpio (Milestone, 1973)
Michael Brecker, Tales from the Hudson (Impulse!, 1996)
Nick Brignola, Baritone Madness (Bee Hive, 1977) with Pepper Adams
Gary Burton, Like Minds (Concord, 1998)
Uri Caine, Toys (JMT, 1996)
Betty Carter, Feed the Fire (Verve, 1993)
James Carter, The Real Quiet Storm (Atlantic, 1995)
Vassar Clements, Once In A While (Flying Fish, 1992)
Joe Farrell, Joe Farrell Quartet (CTI, 1970)
Bill Frisell, With Dave Holland and Elvin Jones (Nonesuch, 2001)
Hal Galper, Inner Journey (Mainstream, 1973)
Laszlo Gardony, The Legend of Tsumi (Antilles, 1989)
Jim Hall, Jim Hall & Basses (Telarc, 2001)
Herbie Hancock, The New Standard (Verve, 1996)
River: The Joni Letters (Verve, 2006)
Roy Haynes, Birds of a Feather: A Tribute to Charlie Parker (Dreyfus Jazz, 2001) – Grammy nominated
Roland Hanna, Child of Gemini (MPS, 1971)
Charles Lloyd, Voice in the Night (ECM, 1998)
John Hartford, Morning Bugle (Warner Bros. 1972)
Lee Konitz, Satori (Milestone, 1974)
Pat Metheny, Question and Answer (Geffen, 1990) (with Roy Haynes)
Chris Potter, Unspoken (Concord, 1997)
Wayne Shorter, Moto Grosso Feio (Blue Note, 1970)
Tomasz Stańko, Balladyna (ECM, 1976)
Gary Thomas, While the Gate Is Open (JMT, 1990)
Collin Walcott, Cloud Dance (ECM, 1975)
Richard Teitelbaum, Muun Music Universe, Vol. 1: The Peace Church Concerts (CMC/India Navigation, 1974)
Filmography
Concert films
1992 Renaud Le Van Kim: Miles Davis and Friends (Bravo)
2000 DeJohnette, Hancock, Holland and Metheny Live in Concert
2005 Dave Holland Quintet Live in Freiburg
2008 Herbie Hancock & The New Standard Allstars in Japan (Jazz Door)
2009 Dave Holland Quintet: Vortex
2009 Dave Holland Quintet Live from the Zelt-Musik-Festival, Freiburg 1986
Featured in documentaries
2001 Mike Dibb: The Miles Davis Story (Channel 4)
2004 Murray Lerner: Miles Electric A Different Kind of Blue (Eagle Rock) about the Isle of Wight Festival 1970
References
External links
Official website
Dave Holland on ECM's official website, with reviews
Dave Hollands ECM recordings on trovar.com
Audio Interview with Dave Holland
Review of the album Critical Mass from JazzChicago.net
Dave Holland: Jazz at the Bass Level, Oregon Music News
Dave Holland at All About Jazz
Discography on Discogs
1946 births
Living people
Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Avant-garde jazz musicians
British jazz double-bassists
Male double-bassists
English jazz composers
Male jazz composers
English male composers
Grammy Award winners
Miles Davis
People from Wolverhampton
New England Conservatory alumni
New England Conservatory faculty
Big bands
ECM Records artists
Circle (jazz band) members
21st-century double-bassists
Spontaneous Music Ensemble members
Gateway (band) members
Sackville Records artists
Improvising Artists Records artists | true | [
"William Michael Hollands (born 10 March 1946) is the creative director and founder of Melbourne-based animation house Act3animation. His best known directorial work, the tragicomedy Piñata, was a nominee at the 2005 Annecy International Animated Film Festival in Annecy, France, the 2005 AFI Awards, for Best Short Animation, and won Vancouver's Vidfest 2005.\n\nHe was also connected to Deakin University through their motion capture studio, Motion.Lab, with which Act3animation was previously partnered, managing its commercial captures.\n\nHollands was also an exhibiting painter in his earlier years, and did cover illustrations for various books, including the 1980 Miles Franklin Award winner, The Impersonators, by Jessica Anderson, and 1981's Fly Away Peter, by David Malouf.\n\nAs of 2014, Hollands is currently producing a new Act3animation web series entitled Bup & Endo. Created, written and directed by Hollands, episodes are released weekly on the YouTube channel Bup & Endo. The series is described as \"an animated series starring two whimsical cartoon characters, Bup and Endo and the other odd characters inhabiting their strange world\".\n\nSee also\nAct3animation\nPiñata\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nAct3animation Homepage\n\nFilm directors from Melbourne\nAustralian animators\nAustralian animated film directors\n1946 births\nLiving people",
"{{Album ratings\n| rev1 = All About Jazz\n| rev1Score = favorable\n| rev2 = AllMusic\n| rev2Score = \n| rev3 = DownBeat\n| rev3Score = \n| rev4 = The Encyclopedia of Popular Music| rev4Score = \n| rev7 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide| rev7Score = \n|rev8 = The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide| rev8Score = \n|rev6 = The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings|rev6score = \n|rev5 = Tom Hull\n|rev5Score = A–\n}}Workin' with the Miles Davis Quintet is a studio album by the Miles Davis quintet recorded in 1956 and released circa January 1960. Two sessions on May 11, 1956 and October 26 in the same year resulted in four albums—this one, Relaxin' with the Miles Davis Quintet, Steamin' with the Miles Davis Quintet and Cookin' with the Miles Davis Quintet.\n\nTrack 2 is a composition written for Davis by Eddie Vinson (see Blue Haze for more details). \"Trane's Blues\" (also known as \"Vierd Blues\", a tongue-in-cheek reference to Blue Note founder Francis Wolff's heavily accented verdict on it), also credited to Davis, is in fact a John Coltrane composition (originally titled \"John Paul Jones\", and from an earlier session led by bassist Paul Chambers; before the closing statement of theme, Coltrane and Davis play a bit of Charlie Parker's \"The Hymn\").\n\n Background \nAs his star rose in 1955, Davis formed a new quintet, featuring saxophonist John Coltrane, pianist Red Garland, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Philly Joe Jones. In order to fulfill contractual obligations, he recorded lengthy, spontaneous songs with the quintet, which were released over four albums—Workin, Cookin', Relaxin', and Steamin' with the Miles Davis Quintet''.\n\nTrack listing\nPrestige – LP 7166:\n\nAll tracks recorded on May 11, 1956, except \"Half Nelson\", recorded on October 26.\n\nPersonnel\nMiles Davis – trumpet\nJohn Coltrane – tenor saxophone (except 1)\nRed Garland – piano\nPaul Chambers – bass, cello\nPhilly Joe Jones – drums\n\nReferences\n\n1960 albums\nMiles Davis albums\nPrestige Records albums\nAlbums produced by Bob Weinstock\nAlbums recorded at Van Gelder Studio"
]
|
[
"Dave Holland",
"With Miles Davis",
"When did Holland Meet Miles davis?",
"In 1968, Miles Davis and Philly Joe Jones heard him at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club,",
"Did Miles Davis influence Hollands music?",
"Holland's first recordings with Davis were in September 1968, and he appears on half of the album Filles de Kilimanjaro",
"Did Davis tour with Holland?",
"I don't know.",
"What were the recorded Davis and Holland recorded together?",
"he appears on the albums In a Silent Way and Bitches' Brew. All three of his studio recordings with Davis were important in the evolution of jazz fusion.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"In the first year of his tenure with Davis, Holland played primarily upright bass. By the end of 1969, he played electric bass guitar (",
"Did Holland play wood instruments?",
"I don't know.",
"Did Miles Davis make a statement about Hollands music?",
"Jones told Holland that Davis wanted him to join his band (replacing Ron Carter)."
]
| C_65ba8b8c64cf4df6bd631370a68ee1d0_1 | What band did Miles Davis want Holland to join? | 8 | What band did Miles Davis want Dave Holland to join? | Dave Holland | In 1968, Miles Davis and Philly Joe Jones heard him at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, playing in a combo that opened for the Bill Evans Trio. Jones told Holland that Davis wanted him to join his band (replacing Ron Carter). Davis left the UK before Holland could contact him directly, and two weeks later Holland was given three days' notice to fly to New York for an engagement at Count Basie's nightclub. He arrived the night before, staying with Jack DeJohnette, a previous acquaintance. The following day Herbie Hancock took him to the club, and his two years with Davis began. This was also Hancock's last gig as Davis's pianist, as he left afterwards for a honeymoon in Brazil and was replaced by Chick Corea when he could not return for an engagement due to illness. Holland's first recordings with Davis were in September 1968, and he appears on half of the album Filles de Kilimanjaro (with Davis, Corea, Wayne Shorter and Tony Williams). Holland was a member of Davis's rhythm section through the summer of 1970; he appears on the albums In a Silent Way and Bitches' Brew. All three of his studio recordings with Davis were important in the evolution of jazz fusion. In the first year of his tenure with Davis, Holland played primarily upright bass. By the end of 1969, he played electric bass guitar (often treated with wah-wah pedal and other electronic effects) with greater frequency as Davis moved away from acoustic jazz. Holland was also a member of Davis's working group during this time, unlike many of the musicians who appeared only on the trumpeter's studio recordings. The so-called "lost quintet" of Davis, Shorter, Corea, Holland and DeJohnette was active in 1969 but never made any studio recordings as a quintet. A 1970 live recording of this group plus percussionist Airto Moreira, Live at the Fillmore East, March 7, 1970: It's About That Time, was issued in 2001. Steve Grossman replaced Shorter in early 1970; Keith Jarrett joined the group as a second keyboardist thereafter, and Gary Bartz replaced Grossman during the summer of 1970. By the end of the summer, rhythm and blues bass guitarist Michael Henderson had replaced Holland. CANNOTANSWER | Holland was a member of Davis's rhythm section through the summer of 1970; | Dave Holland (born 1 October 1946) is an English jazz double bassist, composer and bandleader who has been performing and recording for five decades. He has lived in the United States for over 40 years.
His work ranges from pieces for solo performance to big band. Holland runs his own independent record label, Dare2, which he launched in 2005.
Biography
Born in Wolverhampton, England, Holland taught himself how to play stringed instruments, beginning at four on the ukulele, then graduating to guitar and later bass guitar. He quit school at the age of 15 to pursue his profession in a pop band, but soon gravitated to jazz. After seeing an issue of Down Beat where Ray Brown had won the critics' poll for best bass player, Holland went to a record store, and bought a couple of LPs featuring Brown backing pianist Oscar Peterson. He also bought two Leroy Vinnegar albums (Leroy Walks! and Leroy Walks Again) because the bassist was posed with his instrument on the cover. Within a week, Holland traded in his bass guitar for a double bass and began practicing with the records. In addition to Brown and Vinnegar, Holland was drawn to the bassists Charles Mingus and Jimmy Garrison.
After moving to London in 1964, Holland played double bass in small venues and studied with James Edward Merrett, principal bassist of the Philharmonia Orchestra and, later, the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Merrett trained him to sight read and then recommended he apply to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Holland received a full-time scholarship for the three-year programme. At 20, Holland was keeping a busy schedule in school, studios and Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, London's premier jazz club, where he often played in bands that supported such touring American jazz saxophonists as Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster and Joe Henderson. He also linked up with other British jazz musicians, including guitarist John McLaughlin, saxophonists Evan Parker and John Surman, South Africa-born London-based pianist Chris McGregor, and drummer John Stevens, and performed on the Spontaneous Music Ensemble's 1968 album Karyobin. He also began a working relationship with Canada-born, England-based trumpeter Kenny Wheeler that continued until Wheeler's death in 2014.
With Miles Davis
In 1968, Miles Davis and Philly Joe Jones heard him at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, playing in a combo that opened for the Bill Evans Trio. Jones told Holland that Davis wanted him to join his band (replacing Ron Carter). Davis left the UK before Holland could contact him directly, and two weeks later Holland was given three days' notice to fly to New York for an engagement at Count Basie's nightclub. He arrived the night before, staying with Jack DeJohnette, a previous acquaintance. The following day Herbie Hancock took him to the club, and his two years with Davis began. This was also Hancock's last gig as Davis's pianist, as he left afterwards for a honeymoon in Brazil and was replaced by Chick Corea when he could not return for an engagement due to illness. Holland's first recordings with Davis were in September 1968, and he appears on half of the album Filles de Kilimanjaro (with Davis, Corea, Wayne Shorter and Tony Williams).
Holland was a member of Davis's rhythm section through the summer of 1970; he appears on the albums In a Silent Way and Bitches' Brew. In the first year of his tenure with Davis, Holland played primarily upright bass. By the end of 1969, he played electric bass guitar (often treated with wah-wah pedal and other electronic effects) with greater frequency as Davis moved away from acoustic jazz.
Holland was also a member of Davis's working group during this time, unlike many of the musicians who appeared only on the trumpeter's studio recordings. The so-called "lost quintet" of Davis, Shorter, Corea, Holland and DeJohnette was active in 1969 but never made any studio recordings as a quintet. A 1970 live recording of this group plus percussionist Airto Moreira, Live at the Fillmore East, March 7, 1970: It's About That Time, was issued in 2001. Steve Grossman replaced Shorter in early 1970; Keith Jarrett joined the group as a second keyboardist thereafter, and Gary Bartz replaced Grossman during the summer of 1970. By the end of the summer, rhythm and blues bass guitarist Michael Henderson had replaced Holland.
ECM and the 1970s
After leaving Davis's group, Holland briefly joined the avant-garde jazz group Circle, with Corea, Barry Altschul and reed player Anthony Braxton. This started a decades-long association with the ECM record label. After recording a few albums, Circle disbanded when Corea departed. 1972 saw the recording of Conference of the Birds, with Sam Rivers, Altschul and Braxton – Holland's first recording as a leader, and the beginning of a long musical relationship with Rivers. The title of the album is taken from that of a 4,500-line epic poem by Persian Sufist writer, Farid al-Din Attar.
Holland worked as a leader and as a sideman with many other jazz artists in the 1970s. On June 15, 1972 he played with Thelonious Monk at the Village Vanguard which was one of Monk's last concerts. Holland recorded several important albums with Anthony Braxton between 1972 and 1976 – including New York, Fall 1974 (1974) and Five Pieces (1975) – that were released on Arista Records.
Holland also recorded duo sessions with saxophonist Sam Rivers and fellow bassist Barre Phillips, and the solo bass album Emerald Tears. Also in the 1970s he appeared with performers including Stan Getz and the Gateway Trio with John Abercrombie and DeJohnette. The Gateway trio released two influential modern jazz albums in 1975 and 1977, and reformed in 1994 for a recording session which yielded another two albums. As a sideman, Holland appeared on rock and pop recordings as well, working with singer Bonnie Raitt on her 1972 album Give It Up.
The 1980s
Holland formed his first working quintet in 1983, and over the next four years released Jumpin' In, Seeds of Time, and The Razor's Edge, featuring alto saxophonist Steve Coleman, trumpeter Wheeler and trombonist Julian Priester (or Robin Eubanks). Subsequently, he formed the Dave Holland Trio (with Coleman and DeJohnette) for the 1988 album Triplicate, and teamed with Coleman, electric guitarist Kevin Eubanks and drummer Marvin "Smitty" Smith for Extensions. He also recorded Life Cycle, an album of compositions played on solo cello.
The bassist also continued to collaborate with his peers, often connecting with figures from the previous generation of jazz icons. In 1989, Holland teamed with drummer Billy Higgins and pianist Hank Jones to record The Oracle, and joined drummer Roy Haynes and guitarist Pat Metheny in 1989 to record Question and Answer.
The 1990s and 2000s
During the 1990s, Holland renewed an affiliation, begun in the 1970s, with Joe Henderson, joining the tenor saxophonist on So Near (So Far), a tribute to Miles Davis, and Porgy & Bess. Holland also reunited with vocalist Betty Carter, touring and recording the live album Feed the Fire (1993). Fellow Davis alumnus Herbie Hancock invited Holland to tour with him in 1992, subsequently recording The New Standard. Holland joined Hancock's band again in 1996. He was also part of the sessions for River: The Joni Letters, winner of the 2008 Grammy Award for Album of the Year.
As a leader, Holland formed his third quartet and released Dream of the Elders (1995), which introduced the vibraphonist Steve Nelson to his ensembles. Holland formed a quintet that includes tenor saxophonist Chris Potter, trombonist Robin Eubanks and, a more recent addition, drummer Nate Smith. Their recordings include Points of View, Prime Directive, Not for Nothin, Extended Play: Live at Birdland and Critical Mass. In addition to releasing four quintet albums on ECM, Holland debuted his Big Band, which released What Goes Around in 2002. The album won Holland his first Grammy as a leader, in the Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album category. The second Big Band recording, Overtime (2005), again won the Grammy in the Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album category; it was released on Holland's Dare2 label, which he formed that year.
In 2009, Holland was a co-founder of an all-star group called the Overtone Quartet. The group consisted of Holland on bass, Chris Potter on tenor saxophone, Jason Moran on piano, and Eric Harland on drums. The group toured extensively throughout the United States and Europe.
Awards and honors
He won the Critics Poll in Down Beat magazine for Musician of the Year, Big Band of the Year, and Acoustic Bassist of the Year (he also garnered top bassist in the 2006 poll). The Jazz Journalists' Association honored him as Musician and Acoustic Bassist of the Year. He was the recipient of the Miles Davis Award at the Montreal Jazz Festival.
The National Endowment for the Arts named Holland as one of its five Jazz Masters Fellows in 2017; the award recognizes artists for their lifetime achievements and exceptional contributions toward the advancement of jazz.
Holland has received honorary doctorates from the New England Conservatory, Boston, where he held a full-time teaching position in 1987–88 and where he has been visiting artist in residence since 2005; Berklee College of Music, Boston; and the Birmingham Conservatoire, in England. He was also named Fellow of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (London). From 1982 to 1989, Holland served as the artistic director of the Banff Summer Jazz Workshop through the Banff School of Fine Arts in Alberta, Canada. In addition, he has taught workshops and master classes around the world at universities and music schools and is President of the UK-based National Youth Jazz Collective.
Discography
As leader
Conference of the Birds (ECM, 1972)
Emerald Tears (ECM, 1977) – solo bass
Life Cycle (ECM, 1982) – solo cello
Jumpin' In (ECM, 1983)
Seeds of Time (ECM, 1984)
The Razor's Edge (ECM, 1987)
Triplicate (ECM, 1988)
Extensions (ECM, 1990)
Ones All (VeraBra, 1993) – solo bass
Dream of the Elders (ECM, 1995) – quartet
Points of View (ECM, 1998) – quintet
Prime Directive (ECM, 1999) – quintet
Not for Nothin' (ECM, 2001) – quintet
What Goes Around (ECM, 2002) – with big band
Extended Play: Live at Birdland (ECM, 2003) – quintet [2CD]
Overtime (Dare2/Sunnyside, 2005) – with big band
Critical Mass (Dare2/Sunnyside, 2006) – quintet
Pass It On (Dare2/EmArcy/UMe, 2008) – sextet
Pathways (Dare2, 2010) – octet
Prism (Dare2, 2013) – quartet
Aziza (Dare2, 2016) – quartet
Uncharted Territories (Dare2, 2018) – quartet with Evan Parker
Without Deception (Dare2, 2020)
Another Land (Edition Records, 2021)
Compilation
Rarum, Vol. 10: Selected Recordings (ECM, 2004)
As co-leader
with John McLaughlin, John Surman, Stu Martin and Karl Berger – Where Fortune Smiles (Dawn, 1971)
with Chick Corea and Barry Altschul – ARC (ECM, 1971)
with Derek Bailey – Improvisations for Cello and Guitar (ECM, 1971)
with Barre Phillips – Music from Two Basses (ECM, 1971)
Dave Holland / Sam Rivers (Improvising Artists, 1976)
Sam Rivers / Dave Holland Vol. 2 (Improvising Artists, 1976)
Norman Blake/Tut Taylor/Sam Bush/Butch Robins/Vassar Clements/David Holland/Jethro Burns (HDS, 1975)
with Karl Berger – All Kinds of Time (Sackville, 1976)
with Evan Parker, Paul Rutherford and Paul Lovens – The Ericle of Dolphi [recorded 1976 and 1986] (Po Torch, 1989)
Vassar Clements, John Hartford, Dave Holland (Rounder, 1985)
with Hank Jones and Billy Higgins – The Oracle (EmArcy, 1990)
with Steve Coleman – Phase Space (Rebel-X/DIW, 1991)
with Gordon Beck, Jack DeJohnette and Didier Lockwood – For Evans Sake (JMS, 1992)
with Mino Cinelu and Kevin Eubanks – World Trio (Intuition, 1995)
ScoLoHoFo (John Scofield, Joe Lovano, Dave Holland and Al Foster) – Oh! (Blue Note, 2003)
with Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Chris Potter and Eric Harland – The Monterey Quartet: Live at the 2007 Monterey Festival (Monterey Jazz Festival, 2009)
with Pepe Habichuela – Hands (Dare2, 2010)
with Sam Rivers and Barry Altschul – Reunion: Live in New York (Pi, 2012)
with Kenny Barron – The Art of Conversation (Impulse!, 2014)
with Zakir Hussain and Chris Potter - Good Hope (Edition Records, 2019)
As Gateway
With John Abercrombie and Jack DeJohnette
Gateway (ECM, 1975)
Gateway 2 (ECM, 1977)
Homecoming (ECM, 1994)
In the Moment (ECM, 1996)
As Circle
With Chick Corea and Barry Altschul
Circling In (Blue Note, 1970)
Circulus (Blue Note, 1970)
Circle 1: Live in Germany Concert] (CBS/Sony Japan, 1970)
Paris Concert (ECM, 1971)
Circle 2: Gathering (CBS/Sony Japan, 1971)
As sideman
With Karl Berger
Tune In (Milestone, 1969)
Transit (Black Saint, 1986)
Crystal Fire (Enja, 1992)
Conversations (In+Out, 1994)
With Anouar Brahem
Thimar (ECM, 1998) – recorded in 1997
Blue Maqams (ECM, 2017)
With Anthony Braxton
The Complete Braxton (Freedom, 1973) – recorded in 1971
Town Hall 1972 (Trio, 1972)
Trio and Duet (Sackville, 1974)
New York, Fall 1974 (Arista, 1974)
Five Pieces 1975 (Arista, 1975)
Quartet: Live at Moers Festival (Ring, 1976) – recorded in 1974
Creative Orchestra Music 1976 (Arista, 1976)
The Montreux/Berlin Concerts (Arista, 1977) – recorded in 1975–76
Dortmund (Quartet) 1976 (hatART, 1991)
With Steve Coleman
Rhythm People (Novus/RCA, 1990)
Black Science (Novus/RCA, 1991)
Rhythm in Mind (Novus/RCA, 1991)
With Chick Corea
Is (Groove Merchant, 1969)
Sundance (Groove Merchant, 1969)
The Song of Singing (Blue Note, 1970)
With Miles Davis
Filles de Kilimanjaro (Columbia, 1968)
In a Silent Way (Columbia, 1969)
Bitches Brew (Columbia, 1969)
Live at the Fillmore East, March 7, 1970: It's About That Time (Columbia, 1970)
Miles Davis at Fillmore: Live at the Fillmore East (Columbia, 1970)
Black Beauty: Live at the Fillmore West (Columbia, 1970)
Live-Evil (Columbia, 1970)
Big Fun (Columbia, 1969–1972)
1969 Miles – Festival de Juan Pins (Columbia, 1993)
Live in Europe 1969: The Bootleg Series Vol. 2 (Columbia/Legacy, 2013)
Miles at the Fillmore - Miles Davis 1970: The Bootleg Series Vol. 3 (Columbia/Legacy, 2014)
Miles Davis at Newport 1955-1975: The Bootleg Series Vol. 4 (Columbia/Legacy, 2015)
With Robin Eubanks
Karma (JMT, 1991)
Mental Images (JMT, 1994)
With Billy Hart
Enchance (Horizon, 1977)
Oshumare (Gramavision, 1985)
With Joe Henderson
Black Is the Color (Milestone, 1972)
Multiple (Milestone, 1973)
So Near, So Far (Verve, 1993)
Porgy & Bess (Verve, 1997)
With Eric Kloss
To Hear Is to See! (Prestige, 1969)
Consciousness! (Prestige, 1970)
One, Two, Free (Muse, 1972)
With Dave Liebman
First Visit (Philips, 1973)
Fire (Jazzline, 2018) – recorded in 2016
With Joe Lovano
From the Soul (Blue Note, 1992)
Trio Fascination: Edition One (Blue Note, 1997)
With Sam Rivers
Sizzle (Impulse!, 1975)
Waves (Tomato, 1978)
Contrasts (ECM, 1981)
With Kenny Wheeler
Gnu High (ECM, 1975)
Deer Wan (ECM, 1977)
Double, Double You (ECM, 1984)
Flutter By, Butterfly (Soul Note, 1988)
Music for Large & Small Ensembles (ECM, 1990)
The Widow in the Window (ECM, 1990)
Angel Song (ECM, 1997)
What Now? (CAM Jazz, 2005)
With others
Claudia Acuña, Rhythm of Life (Verve, 2002)
George Adams, Sound Suggestions (ECM, 1979)
Geri Allen, The Life of a Song (Telarc, 2004) (with Jack DeJohnette)
Franco Ambrosetti, Tentets (Enja, 1985)
Kenny Barron, Scratch (Enja, 1985)
Terence Blanchard, Wandering Moon (Sony Classical, 2000)
Paul Bley, Paul Bley & Scorpio (Milestone, 1973)
Michael Brecker, Tales from the Hudson (Impulse!, 1996)
Nick Brignola, Baritone Madness (Bee Hive, 1977) with Pepper Adams
Gary Burton, Like Minds (Concord, 1998)
Uri Caine, Toys (JMT, 1996)
Betty Carter, Feed the Fire (Verve, 1993)
James Carter, The Real Quiet Storm (Atlantic, 1995)
Vassar Clements, Once In A While (Flying Fish, 1992)
Joe Farrell, Joe Farrell Quartet (CTI, 1970)
Bill Frisell, With Dave Holland and Elvin Jones (Nonesuch, 2001)
Hal Galper, Inner Journey (Mainstream, 1973)
Laszlo Gardony, The Legend of Tsumi (Antilles, 1989)
Jim Hall, Jim Hall & Basses (Telarc, 2001)
Herbie Hancock, The New Standard (Verve, 1996)
River: The Joni Letters (Verve, 2006)
Roy Haynes, Birds of a Feather: A Tribute to Charlie Parker (Dreyfus Jazz, 2001) – Grammy nominated
Roland Hanna, Child of Gemini (MPS, 1971)
Charles Lloyd, Voice in the Night (ECM, 1998)
John Hartford, Morning Bugle (Warner Bros. 1972)
Lee Konitz, Satori (Milestone, 1974)
Pat Metheny, Question and Answer (Geffen, 1990) (with Roy Haynes)
Chris Potter, Unspoken (Concord, 1997)
Wayne Shorter, Moto Grosso Feio (Blue Note, 1970)
Tomasz Stańko, Balladyna (ECM, 1976)
Gary Thomas, While the Gate Is Open (JMT, 1990)
Collin Walcott, Cloud Dance (ECM, 1975)
Richard Teitelbaum, Muun Music Universe, Vol. 1: The Peace Church Concerts (CMC/India Navigation, 1974)
Filmography
Concert films
1992 Renaud Le Van Kim: Miles Davis and Friends (Bravo)
2000 DeJohnette, Hancock, Holland and Metheny Live in Concert
2005 Dave Holland Quintet Live in Freiburg
2008 Herbie Hancock & The New Standard Allstars in Japan (Jazz Door)
2009 Dave Holland Quintet: Vortex
2009 Dave Holland Quintet Live from the Zelt-Musik-Festival, Freiburg 1986
Featured in documentaries
2001 Mike Dibb: The Miles Davis Story (Channel 4)
2004 Murray Lerner: Miles Electric A Different Kind of Blue (Eagle Rock) about the Isle of Wight Festival 1970
References
External links
Official website
Dave Holland on ECM's official website, with reviews
Dave Hollands ECM recordings on trovar.com
Audio Interview with Dave Holland
Review of the album Critical Mass from JazzChicago.net
Dave Holland: Jazz at the Bass Level, Oregon Music News
Dave Holland at All About Jazz
Discography on Discogs
1946 births
Living people
Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Avant-garde jazz musicians
British jazz double-bassists
Male double-bassists
English jazz composers
Male jazz composers
English male composers
Grammy Award winners
Miles Davis
People from Wolverhampton
New England Conservatory alumni
New England Conservatory faculty
Big bands
ECM Records artists
Circle (jazz band) members
21st-century double-bassists
Spontaneous Music Ensemble members
Gateway (band) members
Sackville Records artists
Improvising Artists Records artists | true | [
"Black Beauty: Miles Davis at Fillmore West is a live double album by American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader Miles Davis. It was recorded on April 10, 1970, at the Fillmore West in San Francisco, shortly after the release of the trumpeter's Bitches Brew album and the recording of Jack Johnson (1971). Black Beauty was produced by Teo Macero, Davis' longtime record producer.\n\nA jazz-rock album, Black Beauty captured one of Davis' first performances at a rock venue during the early stages of his electric period. At the concert, he led his band—saxophonist Steve Grossman, bassist Dave Holland, keyboardist Chick Corea, drummer Jack DeJohnette, and percussionist Airto Moreira—through one continuously performed set list which functioned as a musical suite for soloists to improvise throughout. He signaled changes from one piece to the next with phrases played on his trumpet.\n\nBlack Beauty was first released only in Japan by CBS/Sony in 1973 without individual songs specified in the track listing. Columbia Records, Davis' American record label, had difficulty identifying the compositions for royalty purposes, and the album was not released in the United States until 1997. Critics were generally positive toward Black Beauty, although some were critical of its sound quality and Grossman's solos; Corea said the recording was an accurate document how that particular band of Davis' played live.\n\nBackground \nBlack Beauty was recorded in concert at the Fillmore West in San Francisco on April 10, 1970, when Davis performed as the opening act for the Grateful Dead. The performance took place soon after his studio album Bitches Brew had been released to stores, and he played some songs from the album. Davis led an ensemble that featured soprano saxophonist Steve Grossman, bassist Dave Holland, keyboardist Chick Corea, drummer Jack DeJohnette, and percussionist Airto Moreira. After the departure of saxophonist Wayne Shorter from the group earlier that year, Grossman was enlisted by Davis to participate in an April 7 recording session for his next album Jack Johnson (1971) before joining the live band.\n\nThe April 10 show was the second of four concerts Davis played at the Fillmore West that month and one of his first concerts in a rock venue, having performed at New York City's Fillmore East a month earlier. His change to rock venues, suggested by Columbia Records president Clive Davis, helped the label market Bitches Brew to the counterculture audience. According to Holland, the trumpeter's music around this time became well received by the rock audiences they encountered. \"I heard quite recently from one of the [Grateful Dead's] ex-members that they were very nervous that they had to play up next to Miles\", Holland said. \"It was a time when people were not that worried about musical categories. And this was some pretty strong in-your-face music. People loved it.\" Davis said the Fillmore West shows were an \"eye-opening experience\" for him. While he became friendly with Grateful Dead frontman Jerry Garcia, who was a fan of Davis' music, there were several thousands of mostly young, white hippies who were generally unfamiliar with him, Davis recalled.\n\nComposition and performance \n\nThe songs in the band's set list were: \"Directions\", \"Miles Runs the Voodoo Down\", \"Willie Nelson\", \"I Fall in Love Too Easily\", \"Sanctuary\", \"It's About That Time\", \"Bitches Brew\", \"Masqualero\", \"Spanish Key\", and \"The Theme\". They were performed as one continuous and uninterrupted piece of music, a practice Davis had begun in 1967. He later explained in his autobiography that performing these kinds of long musical suites without breaks allowed more space for improvisations in concert.\n\nMost of the band's improvisations on Black Beauty centered around vamps or themes Davis introduced and restated during the performance. According to Davis scholar Paul Tingen, the record is filled with \"coded phrases\" he played on his trumpet to signify a change from one composition to the next. \"The music would be continuous so Miles wouldn't have to speak and announce things to the audience\", DeJohnette recalled. \"He'd just speak with his horn and just cue the numbers by stating the front part of the melody, and then we automatically knew, which was great, because he wanted it to be a seamless kind of thing.\" Holland, who played both acoustic and electric bass at the show, elaborated on the tradition of using such musical signals in jazz and their use in Davis' group:\n\nAccording to Los Angeles Times critic Don Heckman, the resulting textures heard in Black Beautys music exhibited \"an almost pointillistic quality, with bits and pieces of sounds darting in and out of the overall texture, and Davis' trumpet skimming through the mix\". In Spin, Erik Davis highlighted Grossman's \"squonking sax\", Corea's \"nastily distorted\" keyboards, and Davis' \"milky, yearning, sometimes angry\" trumpet playing. Because they were playing around a preceding vamp or theme when Davis signaled the next, Tingen said the musical shifts heard on the record had the effect of post-production crossfades, similar to those used by producer Teo Macero on the studio recordings In a Silent Way (1969), Bitches Brew, and Jack Johnson. Macero claimed Davis conceived his onstage approach from him: \"It was because of me, because we always overlapped sections in our edits.\"\n\nSome of the songs, including \"I Fall in Love Too Easily\", \"Masqualero\", and \"The Theme\", were from Davis' 1950s and 1960s repertoire. \"The Theme\" was originally recorded in 1955 by his first great quintet and was used to close most of his concerts from the late 1950s to 1970, after which he began to favor \"Sanctuary\" as a closing number. \"Masqualero\" was performed in a similar rock-influenced fashion as the newer material, with DeJohnette and Holland carrying aggressive vamps and Corea playing distorted riffs on his electric piano. John Szwed believed the music paid homage to Davis' past, \"respecting space, solos, form, and fixed rhythms, though there are also hints throughout that [the band] will soon find some other way to organize this music to play it live.\" In Corea's opinion, the record was an accurate document of how this particular band of Davis' played in concert.\n\nRelease and reception \nBlack Beauty was originally released only in Japan in 1973. It contained four side-long tracks spread across a double album, grouping the songs as medleys titled \"Black Beauty Part I\", \"Black Beauty Part II\", and so on, all of which credited Davis as the composer. He did not want the actual segments specified on the track listing out of a distaste for critics and listeners who arduously analyzed his music; according to DeJohnette's wife Lydia, \"Miles really felt that critics and people spent too much time in their mental mind, analyzing and talking for hours about something that really just is.\" Columbia spent several years identifying some of the individual compositions to ensure royalty payment for the actual composers. The Japanese release also mistakenly credited Michael Henderson—Davis' other bassist during this period—rather than Holland in the liner notes.\n\nThe record was only available in the United States as an import until 1997, when it was remastered on CD in 20-bit resolution and released by Legacy Recordings as a limited edition digipak. Robert Christgau reviewed the reissue that year in The Village Voice:\n\nDavis biographer Jack Chambers was more critical, finding the sound quality and Grossman's performance poor, especially on the first disc, where he indulged in a \"nervous downpour of notes that is narrow in range and unimaginative\". In general, Chambers complained that the concert's largely improvised format was risky and inauspicious: \"It can inspire creative bridges and emotive playing melded into a spontaneous suite or degenerate into a babble of voices bogged down in search of the musical means to get from one theme to the next.\" In Tingen's opinion, the quality of the mix was \"substandard\" and Grossman's solos sounded \"nervous and shrill\", but he still recommended Black Beauty as \"a powerful document of an exciting phase in Miles's electric explorations, when the direction of his live performances was catching up with his studio explorations\". Writing for Down Beat, John Corbett found the recording \"gritty\" but the grooves free and pure-sounding. Sputnikmusic's Hernan M. Campbell was more enthusiastic, deeming it \"the perfect live album for not just any fan of Miles Davis, but jazz fans in general\".\n\nTrack listing \nAll compositions were credited to Miles Davis, except where noted.\n\n1973 double LP\n\nPersonnel\nCredits are adapted from the album's liner notes.\n\nMusicians \nChick Corea – electric piano\nMiles Davis – trumpet\nJack DeJohnette – drums\nSteve Grossman – saxophone\nDave Holland – bass\nAirto Moreira – percussion\n\nProduction \n Bob Belden – reissue production\n Steve Berkowitz – reissue coordination\n Hope Chasin – art direction\n Chick Corea – reissue liner notes\n Kevin Gore – reissue coordination\n Teo Macero – production\n Randall Martin – reissue design\n Tadayuki Naitoh – front cover photo\n Seth Rothstein – reissue executive production\n Tom Ruff – reissue mastering\n Cozbi Sanchez-Cabera – reissue art direction\n Sandy Speiser – liner photos\n Teruhisa Tajima – cover design\n Shuichi Yoshida – cover design\n\nSee also \n\n 1970s in jazz\n Agharta (album)\n\nReferences\n\nBibliography\n\nFurther reading\n\nExternal links \n \n \n \n\n1973 live albums\nAlbums produced by Teo Macero\nColumbia Records albums\nAlbums recorded at the Fillmore\nLive jazz fusion albums\nGrateful Dead\nMiles Davis live albums\nSony Music Entertainment Japan albums",
"Randy Hall is an American singer, guitarist, and record producer who collaborated with Miles Davis during the 1980s. Hall helped Davis arrange The Man with the Horn, and its title track featured lead vocals by Hall, who also played guitar, synthesizer and celesta on the track.\n\nCareer\n\nEarly career\nRandy Hall grew up in Chicago. His first instrument was the piano, but at the age of 13 he switched to guitar, taking lessons from British jazz guitarist Peter Budd. Despite Budd's best efforts, Hall adopted a playing technique similar to Wes Montgomery, whereby the thumb is used as a pick. Hall can play fast and explosively, as in the opening number \"One Phone Call/Street Scenes\" on the ESP 2 DVD A Tribute to Miles.\n\nHall met Miles's nephew (and future drummer) Vince Wilburn Jr in kindergarten and the two became lifelong friends. Wilburn's mother Dorothy, was Miles's sister. The two friends started playing together and at the age of 16 joined a local band called Time, Space and Distance.\n\nThat soon gained them a reputation around Chicago and they did session work for local groups, including the Dells. When Hall and Wilburn were around 17 years old, Pete Cosey, who had played in Miles's band from 1973 to 1975, began giving them lessons. They did gigs with him, festivals, and other events. Pete played bass and Randy played guitar. In 1975, Hall went to study music at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. When Hall returned to Chicago, he joined a new band called Data, which included Wilburn, bassist Richard Patterson, keyboardist Robert Irving III, and saxophonist Glenn Burris. All of these musicians later worked with Miles Davis, with Patterson becoming the last bassist in a Miles Davis band and the others working on Davis' comeback album The Man with the Horn. Irving and Wilburn also joined Davis' band in the 1980s.\n\nHall, Irving and Wilburn performed with other local musicians, including bassist Darryl Jones (who joined Miles's band in 1983) and guitarist Jean-Paul Bourelly, who played on the Amandla album. In 1979, Data disbanded and a new band was formed, AL7, which included Hall, Wilburn, Irving, Burris, bassist Felton Crews (who also joined Miles's band) and Hall's sister Saundra, a vocalist.\n\nAL7 performed part-time, their main preoccupation being rehearsing and writing material. They also worked with arranger Tom Washington (known as Tom Tom 84), who was connected with another local band, Earth, Wind & Fire. Tom Tom 84 recorded several demos with AL7, including a track called \"Space,\" which had been written by Robert Irving III.\n\nCollaboration with Miles Davis\nMiles Davis's record label, Columbia Records, flew four of the AL7 band members - Hall, Wilburn, Crews, and Irving - from Chicago to New York City, booked them iton a top-flight hotel and arranged recording sessions. Glenn Burris later joined the four and although he was at many of the sessions, he did not play. Instead, the four Chicago musicians were joined by a young saxophonist Bill Evans, who had been recommended to Miles by ex-band member Dave Liebman.\n\nThe musicians worked on the music at Miles's house most days and in the studio and recorded more than a dozen tracks, although Davis did not play on any of them at that stage. One of them was \"Shout,\" a disco-funk track written by Hall, Irving, and Burris. Another was \"The Man with the Horn,\" a tribute ballad to Miles written by Hall and Irving, which became the title track for Davis's comeback album. Randy Hall also played guitar, synthesiser and celeste on the track.\n\nThe release of The Man with the Horn gave Hall a lot of exposure and as a result of his singing on the title track, he was invited to join the soul/funk band Pleasure. Occasionally, Hall was asked by Miles Davis to compose some songs.\n\nPost-Miles Davis\nAfter leaving Pleasure, Hall carved out a successful career as an artist/producer and in 1984, he released a solo album, I Belong to You, produced by Ray Parker, Jr. (of Raydio and \"Ghostbusters\" fame). The album included contributions from Irving, Wilburn, Crews and Burris. In 1985, Hall was in Ray Parker Jr's studio (Ameraycan) in Los Angeles, recording a follow-up solo album, Love You Like A Stranger. Once again, Crews and Irving were involved in the sessions. Meanwhile, Miles had left Columbia Records after almost thirty years and signed with Warner Bros. Records, with Warner's head of jazz Tommy LiPuma given the responsibility of handling Miles's musical development. During the initial stages, LiPuma was happy for Miles to choose his own musical direction. Miles decided that he wanted Hall to produce his first album for Warner Bros.\n\nHall decided to work with a number of people from the Love You Like A Stranger sessions on the new Miles Davis album. One of these people was Atalla Zane Giles, who had played guitar, keyboards, bass and sang on the album. Giles was asked to compose, arrange and produce the new album with Hall. Engineer Reggie Dozier was asked to join the project, as were keyboardist Adam Holzman (who later joined Davis's band), bassist Cornelius Mims, percussionist Steve Reid, Burris and Wilburn. More than a dozen tunes were recorded during the sessions, which took place between October 1985 and January 1986, and the plan was to release an album called Rubberband. One of the tracks was called \"Give It Up,\" the same name as a hit tune for Pleasure. The Rubberband material was not released until 2019.\n\nDavis later worked work with Marcus Miller to record Tutu. Davis's performances from a couple of the Rubberband sessions were used to create new tracks on the Doo-Bop album. Two tunes from the Rubberband sessions were due to appear on a retrospective set called The Last Word, but were ultimately not included.\n\nIn more recent years Hall has been working with Elliott Small. Hall produced, wrote the music, and played piano and guitar on Small's album This Season's Collection. Hall also wrote the lyrics for two songs on the album: \"Share Your Love\" and \"Delightful\".\n\nHall currently lives in Las Vegas, where he has a production studio, and he performs locally, nationally, and internationally.\n\nDiscography\n\nAlbums\n\nSingles\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Album and Singles Discography at Discogs.\n Facebook Profile\n\nLiving people\nAfrican-American songwriters\nAmerican jazz composers\nAmerican male jazz composers\nSongwriters from Illinois\nColumbia Records artists\nJazz musicians from Illinois\nBerklee College of Music alumni\nAmerican music arrangers\nYear of birth missing (living people)\n21st-century African-American people\nAmerican male songwriters"
]
|
[
"Harrison Ford",
"Early career"
]
| C_0102898e6f744dd7808e75bc246b81fe_1 | How did his career get started? | 1 | How did Harrison Ford's career get started? | Harrison Ford | In 1964, after a season of summer stock with the Belfry Players in Wisconsin, Ford traveled to Los Angeles to apply for a job in radio voice-overs. He did not get it, but stayed in California and eventually signed a $150-a-week contract with Columbia Pictures' New Talent program, playing bit roles in films. His first known role was an uncredited one as a bellhop in Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round (1966). There is little record of his non-speaking roles (or "extra" work) in film. Ford was at the bottom of the hiring list, having offended producer Jerry Tokovsky after he played a bellboy in the feature. He was told by Tokovsky that when actor Tony Curtis delivered a bag of groceries, he did it like a movie star; Ford felt his job was to act like a bellboy. Ford managed to secure other roles in movies, such as A Time for Killing (The Long Ride Home), starring Glenn Ford; George Hamilton; and Inger Stevens. His speaking roles continued next with Luv (1967), though he was still uncredited. He was finally credited as "Harrison J. Ford" in the 1967 Western film A Time for Killing, but the "J" did not stand for anything, since he has no middle name. It was added to avoid confusion with a silent film actor named Harrison Ford, who appeared in more than 80 films between 1915 and 1932 and died in 1957. Ford later said that he was unaware of the existence of the earlier actor until he came upon a star with his own name on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Ford soon dropped the "J" and worked for Universal Studios, playing minor roles in many television series throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, including Gunsmoke, Ironside, The Virginian, The F.B.I., Love, American Style, and Kung Fu. He appeared in the western Journey to Shiloh (1968) and had an uncredited, non-speaking role in Michelangelo Antonioni's 1970 film Zabriskie Point as an arrested student protester. Not happy with the roles being offered to him, Ford became a self-taught professional carpenter to support his then-wife and two young sons. Casting director and fledgling producer Fred Roos championed the young Ford and secured him an audition with George Lucas for the role of Bob Falfa, which Ford went on to play in American Graffiti (1973). Ford's relationship with Lucas would profoundly affect his career later on. After director Francis Ford Coppola's film The Godfather was a success, he hired Ford to expand his office and gave him small roles in his next two films, The Conversation (1974) and Apocalypse Now (1979); in the latter film he played an army officer named "G. Lucas". CANNOTANSWER | signed a $150-a-week contract with Columbia Pictures' New Talent program, playing bit roles in films. | Harrison Ford (born July 13, 1942) is an American actor. His films have grossed more than $5.4billion in North America and more than $9.3billion worldwide, making him the seventh-highest-grossing actor in North America. He is the recipient of various accolades, including three Saturn Awards, the AFI Life Achievement Award and the Cecil B. DeMille Award, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award and four Golden Globe Awards.
Following the initial phase of his career in bit parts and supporting roles, Ford gained worldwide fame for his starring role as Han Solo in the epic space opera film Star Wars (1977), reprising the role in four sequels over the course of the next 42 years. He is also widely known for his portrayal of Indiana Jones in the titular film franchise, beginning with the action-adventure film Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), and for playing other characters in different franchises, most notably Rick Deckard in the dystopian science fiction films Blade Runner (1982) and Blade Runner 2049 (2017) and the Tom Clancy character Jack Ryan in the spy thriller films Patriot Games (1992) and Clear and Present Danger (1994). His career spans six decades and includes collaborations with some of the most acclaimed and influential filmmakers of his time, such as George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg, Ridley Scott, Peter Weir, Roman Polanski and Mike Nichols.
Ford has portrayed heroic characters in other films such as the thrillers Witness (1985), for which he received his only Academy Award nomination, The Fugitive (1993), and Air Force One (1997), as well as the historical sports drama 42 (2013). In addition to heroic roles, he played morally ambiguous and darker characters in films such as the coming-of-age comedy drama American Graffiti (1973), the conspiracy thriller The Conversation (1974), the survival drama The Mosquito Coast (1986), the legal drama Presumed Innocent (1990), and the supernatural suspense thriller What Lies Beneath (2000). Ford has also appeared in several romantic comedies and dramas throughout his career, including Heroes (1977), Working Girl (1988), Sabrina (1995), Six Days, Seven Nights (1998), Random Hearts (1999), Morning Glory (2010), and The Age of Adaline (2015).
Outside acting, Ford is a licensed pilot who has often assisted the emergency services in rescue missions near his home in Wyoming. He is also a dedicated environmental activist, having served as the inaugural Vice Chair of Conservation International since 1991.
Early life
Harrison Ford was born at the Swedish Covenant Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, on July 13, 1942, to former radio actress Dorothy (née Nidelman) and advertising executive and former actor John William "Christopher" Ford. His younger brother, Terence, was born in 1945. Their father was a Catholic of German and Irish descent, while their mother was an Ashkenazi Jew whose parents were emigrants from Minsk, Belarus, then in the Russian Empire. When asked in which religion he and his brother were raised, Ford jokingly responded "Democrat" and more seriously stated that they were raised to be "liberals of every stripe". When asked about what influence his Jewish and Irish Catholic ancestry may have had on him, he quipped, "As a man I've always felt Irish, as an actor I've always felt Jewish."
Ford was a Boy Scout, achieving the second-highest rank of Life Scout. He worked at Napowan Adventure Base Scout Camp as a counselor for the Reptile Study merit badge. Because of this, he and director Steven Spielberg later decided to depict the young Indiana Jones as a Life Scout in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989). Ford graduated in 1960 from Maine East High School in Park Ridge, Illinois. His voice was the first student voice broadcast on his high school's new radio station, WMTH, and he was its first sportscaster during his senior year. He attended Ripon College in Ripon, Wisconsin, where he was a philosophy major and a member of the Sigma Nu fraternity. A self-described "late bloomer", Ford took a drama class in the final quarter of his senior year to get over his shyness and became fascinated with acting.
Career
1964–1976
In 1964, after a season of summer stock with the Belfry Players in Wisconsin, Ford traveled to Los Angeles to apply for a job in radio voice-overs. He did not get it, but stayed in California and eventually signed a $150-per-week contract with Columbia Pictures' new talent program, playing bit roles in films. His first known role was an uncredited one as a bellhop in Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round (1966). There is little record of his non-speaking (or "extra") roles in film. Ford was at the bottom of the hiring list, having offended producer Jerry Tokovsky after he played a bellboy in the feature. He was told by Tokovsky that when actor Tony Curtis delivered a bag of groceries, he did it like a movie star; Ford felt his job was to act like a bellboy.
His speaking roles continued next with Luv (1967), though he was still uncredited. He was finally credited as "Harrison J. Ford" in the 1967 Western film A Time for Killing, starring Glenn Ford, George Hamilton and Inger Stevens, but the "J" did not stand for anything since he has no middle name. It was added to avoid confusion with a silent film actor named Harrison Ford, who appeared in more than 80 films between 1915 and 1932 and died in 1957. Ford later said that he was unaware of the existence of the earlier actor until he came upon a star with his own name on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Ford soon dropped the "J" and worked for Universal Studios, playing minor roles in many television series throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, including Gunsmoke, Ironside, The Virginian, The F.B.I., Love, American Style and Kung Fu. He appeared in the western Journey to Shiloh (1968) and had an uncredited, non-speaking role in Michelangelo Antonioni's 1970 film Zabriskie Point as an arrested student protester. French filmmaker Jacques Demy chose Ford for the lead role of his first American film, Model Shop (1969), but the head of Columbia Pictures thought Ford had "no future" in the film business and told Demy to hire a more experienced actor. The part eventually went to Gary Lockwood. Ford later commented that the experience had been nevertheless a positive one because Demy was the first to show such faith in him.
Not happy with the roles offered to him, Ford became a self-taught professional carpenter to support his then-wife and two young sons. Clients at this time included the writers Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne, who lived on the beach at Malibu. Ford appears in the documentary Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold. He and his wife became friends of the writers. Casting director and fledgling producer Fred Roos championed the young Ford and secured him an audition with George Lucas for the role of Bob Falfa, which Ford went on to play in American Graffiti (1973). Ford's relationship with Lucas would profoundly affect his career later on. After director Francis Ford Coppola's film The Godfather was a success, he hired Ford to expand his office and gave him small roles in his next two films, The Conversation (1974) and Apocalypse Now (1979); in the latter film, Ford played an army officer named "G. Lucas".
1977–1997
Ford began to receive bigger roles in films throughout the late 1970s, including Heroes (1977), Force 10 from Navarone (1978) and Hanover Street (1979). Ford also co-starred alongside Gene Wilder in the buddy-comedy western The Frisco Kid (1979), playing a bank robber with a heart of gold. His previous work in American Graffiti eventually landed him his first starring film role when he was hired by Lucas to read lines for actors auditioning for roles in Lucas' upcoming epic space-opera film Star Wars (1977). Lucas was eventually won over by Ford's performance during these line reads and cast him as Han Solo. Star Wars became one of the most successful and groundbreaking films of all time, and brought Ford, and his co-stars Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher, widespread recognition. He returned to star in the similarly successful Star Wars sequels The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983), as well as the Star Wars Holiday Special (1978). Ford wanted Lucas to kill off Han Solo at the end of Return of the Jedi, saying, "That would have given the whole film a bottom," but Lucas refused.
Ford's status as a leading actor was solidified with Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), an action-adventure collaboration between George Lucas and Steven Spielberg that gave Ford his second franchise role as the heroic, globe-trotting archaeologist Indiana Jones. Like Star Wars, the film was massively successful and became the highest-grossing film of the year. Spielberg was interested in casting Ford from the beginning, but Lucas was not, having already worked with the actor in American Graffiti and Star Wars. Lucas eventually relented after Tom Selleck was unable to accept. Ford went on to reprise the role throughout the rest of the decade in the prequel Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), which co-starred Spielberg's future-wife Kate Capshaw, and the sequel Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), which co-starred Sean Connery as Indy's father, Henry Jones Sr. During the June 1983 filming of Temple of Doom in London, Ford herniated a disc in his back. The 40-year-old actor was forced to fly back to Los Angeles for surgery and returned six weeks later.
Following his leading-man success as Indiana Jones, he played Rick Deckard in Ridley Scott's dystopian science-fiction film Blade Runner (1982). Compared to his experiences on the Star Wars and Indiana Jones films, Ford had a difficult time with the production. He recalled to Vanity Fair, “It was a long slog. I didn’t really find it that physically difficult—I thought it was mentally difficult.” Ford and Scott also had differing views on the nature of his character, Deckard, that persist decades later. While not initially a success, Blade Runner went on to become a cult classic and one of Ford's most highly regarded films. Ford also proved his versatility throughout the 1980s with dramatic parts in films such as Witness (1985), The Mosquito Coast (1986), and Frantic (1988) as well as the romantic male lead opposite Melanie Griffith and Sigourney Weaver in the comedy-drama Working Girl (1988). Witness and The Mosquito Coast in particular allowed Ford to explore his potential as a dramatic actor and both performances were widely acclaimed. Ford would later recall that working with director Peter Weir on both Witness and The Mosquito Coast were two of the best experiences of his career.
In the 1990s, Ford became the second of five actors to portray Jack Ryan in two films of the film series based on the literary character created by Tom Clancy: Patriot Games (1992) and Clear and Present Danger (1994), both co-starring Anne Archer and James Earl Jones. Ford took over the role from Alec Baldwin who had previously played the character in The Hunt for Red October (1990). This led to a long-lasting resentment from Baldwin who claimed to have wanted to reprise the role but Ford had negotiated with Paramount behind his back. Ford also played leading roles in other action-based thrillers throughout the decade such as the critically acclaimed The Fugitive (1993), The Devil's Own (1997), and Air Force One (1997). For his performance in The Fugitive, which also co-starred Tommy Lee Jones, Ford received some of the best reviews of his career, including from Roger Ebert who concluded that, "Ford is once again the great modern movie everyman. As an actor, nothing he does seems merely for show, and in the face of this melodramatic material he deliberately plays down, lays low, gets on with business instead of trying to exploit the drama in meaningless acting flourishes." He also played more straight dramatic roles in Presumed Innocent (1990) and Regarding Henry (1991) as well as another romantic lead in Sabrina (1995), a remake of a classic 1954 film with the same name.
Ford established working relationships with many well-regarded directors during this time, including Peter Weir, Alan J. Pakula, Mike Nichols, Phillip Noyce, and Sydney Pollack, collaborating twice with each of them. This was the most lucrative period of Ford's career. From 1977 to 1997, he appeared in fourteen films that reached the top fifteen in the yearly domestic box office rankings, twelve of which reached the top ten. Six of the films he appeared in during this time were also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture amongst numerous other awards: Star Wars, Apocalypse Now, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Witness, Working Girl, and The Fugitive.
1998–2014
In the late 1990s, Ford started appearing in several critically derided and/or commercially disappointing films that failed to match his earlier successes, including Six Days, Seven Nights (1998), Random Hearts (1999), K-19: The Widowmaker (2002), Hollywood Homicide (2003), Firewall (2006) and Extraordinary Measures (2010). One exception was What Lies Beneath (2000) which grossed over $155million in the United States and $291million worldwide. Ford served as an executive producer on K-19: The Widowmaker and Extraordinary Measures, both of which were based on true events. In the 2001 Guinness Book of World Records, Ford was listed as the richest male actor in the world.
In 2004, Ford declined a chance to star in the thriller Syriana, later commenting that "I didn't feel strongly enough about the truth of the material and I think I made a mistake." The role eventually went to George Clooney, who won an Oscar and a Golden Globe for his work. Prior to that, Ford had passed on a role in another Stephen Gaghan-written film, that of Robert Wakefield in Traffic, which eventually went to Michael Douglas.
In 2008, Ford enjoyed success with the release of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the first Indiana Jones film in nineteen years and another collaboration with Lucas and Spielberg. The film received generally positive reviews and was the second highest-grossing film worldwide in 2008. Ford later said he would like to star in another sequel, "...if it didn't take another 20 years to digest."
Other 2008 work included Crossing Over, directed by Wayne Kramer. In the film, Ford plays an ICE/Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent, working alongside Ashley Judd and Ray Liotta. He also narrated a feature documentary film about the Dalai Lama entitled Dalai Lama Renaissance. Ford filmed the medical drama Extraordinary Measures in 2009 in Portland, Oregon. Released January 22, 2010, the film also starred Brendan Fraser and Alan Ruck. Also in 2010, he co-starred in the film Morning Glory, along with Rachel McAdams, Diane Keaton and Patrick Wilson. Although a disappointment at the box office, Ford's performance was well received by critics, some of which thought it was his best role in years. In July 2011, Ford starred alongside Daniel Craig and Olivia Wilde in the science-fiction/western hybrid film Cowboys & Aliens. To promote the film, Ford appeared at the San Diego Comic-Con International and, apparently surprised by the warm welcome, told the audience, "I just wanted to make a living as an actor. I didn't know about this." Also in 2011, Ford starred in Japanese commercials advertising the video game Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception for the PlayStation 3.
2013 began a trend that saw Ford accepting more diverse supporting roles. That year, Ford co-starred in the corporate espionage thriller Paranoia with Liam Hemsworth and Gary Oldman, who he had previously worked with in Air Force One, and he also appeared in Ender's Game, 42 and Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues. His performance as Branch Rickey in 42 was praised by many critics and garnered Ford a nomination as best supporting actor for the Satellite Awards. In 2014, he appeared in The Expendables 3 and the documentary Flying the Feathered Edge: The Bob Hoover Project. The next year, Ford co-starred with Blake Lively in the romantic drama The Age of Adaline to positive notices.
2015–present
Ford reprised the role of Han Solo in the long-awaited Star Wars sequel Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), which became massively successful like its predecessors. During filming on June 11, 2014, Ford suffered what was said to be a fractured ankle when a hydraulic door fell on him. He was airlifted to John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, England, for treatment. Ford's son Ben released details on his father's injury, saying that his ankle would likely need a plate and screws, and that filming could be altered slightly with the crew needing to shoot Ford from the waist up for a short time until he recovered. Ford made his return to filming in mid-August, after a two-month layoff as he recovered from his injury. Ford's character was killed off in The Force Awakens, but it was subsequently announced, via a casting call, that Ford would return in some capacity as Solo in Episode VIII. In February 2016, when the cast for Episode VIII was confirmed, it was indicated that Ford would not reprise his role in the film after all. When Ford was asked if his character could come back in "some form", he replied, "Anything is possible in space." The character eventually reappeared as a vision in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019).
On February 26, 2015, Alcon Entertainment announced Ford would reprise his role as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner 2049. The film, and Ford's performance, was very well received by critics upon its release in October 2017. Scott Collura of IGN called it a, "deep, rich, smart film that's visually awesome and full of great sci-fi concepts" and Ford's role, "a quiet, sort of gut-wrenching interpretation to Deckard and what he must've gone through in the past three decades." Despite the acclaim, the film only grossed $259.3million worldwide, far short of the estimated $400million that the film needed in order to break even. In 2019, Ford had his first voice role in an animated film, as a dog named Rooster in The Secret Life of Pets 2. With filming for a fifth Indiana Jones film having been delayed by a year, Ford headlined a big-budget adaptation of Jack London's The Call of the Wild, playing prospector John Thornton. The film was released in February 2020 to a mixed critical reception but its theatrical release was shortened due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the film industry.
Personal life
Ford has been married three times, and has four biological children and one adopted child. He was first married to Mary Marquardt from 1964 until their divorce in 1979. They had two sons, chef and restaurateur Benjamin (born 1966) and clothier Willard (born 1969). Benjamin co-owns Ford's Filling Station, a gastropub with locations at L.A. Live in Los Angeles and Terminal 5 in Los Angeles International Airport. Willard is the owner of Strong Sports Gym, and was co-owner of the Kim Sing Theater and owner of the Ludwig Clothing company.
Ford's second marriage was to screenwriter Melissa Mathison from March 1983 until their separation in 2000 and finalized divorce in 2004. They had a son, actor and musician Malcolm (born 1987), and a daughter, actress Georgia (born 1990). Mathison died in 2015.
Ford began dating actress Calista Flockhart after they met at the 2002 Golden Globe Awards. They are the parents of Liam (born 2001), the son she adopted before meeting Ford. He proposed to Flockhart over Valentine's Day weekend in 2009. They married on June 15, 2010, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where Ford was filming Cowboys & Aliens.
Ford and Flockhart live on an ranch in Jackson, Wyoming, on which he has lived since the 1980s and approximately half of which he has donated as a nature reserve. They retain a base in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles. He is known as one of Hollywood's most private actors, guarding much of his personal life. In her 2016 autobiography The Princess Diarist, his co-star Carrie Fisher claimed that she and Ford had a three-month affair in 1976 during the filming of Star Wars.
Aviation
Ford is a licensed pilot of both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. On several occasions, he has personally provided emergency helicopter services at the request of local authorities in Wyoming, in one instance rescuing a hiker overcome by dehydration.
Ford began flight training in the 1960s at Wild Rose Idlewild Airport in Wild Rose, Wisconsin, flying in a Piper PA-22 Tri-Pacer, but at $15 an hour (), he could not afford to continue the training. In the mid-1990s, he bought a used Gulfstream II and asked one of his pilots, Terry Bender, to give him flying lessons. They started flying a Cessna 182 out of Jackson, Wyoming, later switching to Teterboro, New Jersey, flying a Cessna 206, the aircraft in which he made his first solo flight.
Ford's aircraft is kept at Santa Monica Airport. The Bell 407 is often kept and flown in Jackson and has been used by the actor in two mountain rescues during his assigned duty time with Teton County Search and Rescue. On one of the rescues, Ford recovered a hiker who had become lost and disoriented. She boarded Ford's helicopter and promptly vomited into one of the rescuers' caps, unaware of who the pilot was until much later; "I can't believe I barfed in Harrison Ford's helicopter!" she said later.
Ford flies his de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver (N28S) more than any of his other aircraft, and has repeatedly said that he likes this aircraft and the sound of its Pratt & Whitney R-985 radial engine. According to Ford, it had been flown in the CIA's Air America operations and was riddled with bullet holes that had to be patched up.
In March 2004, Ford officially became chairman of the Young Eagles program of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA). Ford was asked to take the position by Greg Anderson, Senior Vice President of the EAA at the time, to replace General Chuck Yeager, who was vacating the post that he had held for many years. Ford at first was hesitant, but later accepted the offer and has made appearances with the Young Eagles at the EAA AirVenture Oshkosh gathering at Oshkosh, Wisconsin, for two years. In July 2005, at the gathering in Oshkosh, Ford agreed to accept the position for another two years. He has flown over 280 children as part of the Young Eagles program, usually in his DHC-2 Beaver, which can seat the actor and five children. Ford stepped down as program chairman in 2009 and was replaced by Captain Chesley Sullenberger and First Officer Jeff Skiles. He is involved with the EAA chapter in Driggs, Idaho, just over the Teton Range from Jackson, Wyoming. On July 28, 2016, Ford flew the two millionth Young Eagle at the EAA AirVenture convention.
As of 2009, Ford appears in Internet advertisements for General Aviation Serves America, a campaign by the advocacy group Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA). He has also appeared in several independent aviation documentaries, including Wings Over the Rockies (2009), Flying The Feathered Edge: The Bob Hoover Project (2014) and Living in the Age of Airplanes (2015).
Ford is an honorary board member of the humanitarian aviation organization Wings of Hope, and is known for having made several trips to Washington, D.C., to fight for pilots' rights. He has also donated substantial funds to aerobatic champion Sean Tucker's charitable program, The Bob Hoover Academy (named after legendary aviator Bob Hoover) which educates at-risk teens in central California and teaches them how to fly.
Incidents
On October 23, 1999, Ford was involved in the crash of a Bell 206L4 LongRanger helicopter. The NTSB accident report states that Ford was piloting the aircraft over the Lake Piru riverbed near Santa Clarita, California, on a routine training flight. While making his second attempt at an autorotation with powered recovery, the aircraft was unable to recover power after the sudden drop in altitude. It landed hard and began skidding forward in the loose gravel before flipping onto its side. Neither Ford nor the instructor pilot suffered any injuries, though the helicopter was seriously damaged.
On March 5, 2015, Ford's plane, believed to be a Ryan PT-22 Recruit, made an emergency landing on the Penmar Golf Course in Venice, California. Ford had radioed in to report that the plane had experienced engine failure. He was taken to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, where he was reported to be in fair to moderate condition. Ford suffered a broken pelvis and broken ankle during the accident, as well as other injuries.
On February 13, 2017, Ford landed an Aviat Husky at John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California, on the taxiway left of runway 20L. A Boeing 737 was holding short of the runway on the taxiway when Ford overflew them.
On April 24, 2020, at the Los Angeles Hawthorne Airport, Ford was piloting a plane when he crossed a runway where another aircraft was landing.
Activism
Environmental work
Ford is vice-chair of Conservation International, an American nonprofit environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. The organization's intent is to protect nature.
In September 2013, Ford, while filming an environmental documentary in Indonesia, interviewed the Indonesian Forestry Minister, Zulkifli Hasan. After the interview, Ford and his crew were accused of "harassing state institutions" and publicly threatened with deportation. Questions within the interview concerned the Tesso Nilo National Park, Sumatra. It was alleged the Minister of Forestry was given no prior warning of questions nor the chance to explain the challenges of catching people with illegal logging. Ford was provided an audience with the Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, during which he expressed concerns regarding Indonesia's environmental degradation and the government efforts to address climate change. In response, the President explained Indonesia's commitment to preserving its oceans and forests.
In 1993, the arachnologist Norman Platnick named a new species of spider Calponia harrisonfordi, and in 2002, the entomologist Edward O. Wilson named a new ant species Pheidole harrisonfordi (in recognition of Harrison's work as Vice Chairman of Conservation International).
Since 1992, Ford has lent his voice to a series of public service messages promoting environmental involvement for EarthShare, an American federation of environmental and conservation charities. He has acted as a spokesperson for Restore Hetch Hetchy, a non-profit organization dedicated to restoring Yosemite National Park's Hetch Hetchy Valley to its original condition. Ford also appears in the documentary series Years of Living Dangerously, which reports on people affected by and seeking solutions to climate change.
In 2019, on behalf of Conservation International, Ford gave an impassioned speech during the United Nations' Climate Action Summit in New York on the destruction of the Amazon rainforest and its effect on climate change for the rest of the world. Ford urged his audience to listen to 'angry young people' trying to make a difference in the situation, emphasizing, "The most important thing we can do for them is to get the hell out of their way."
Political views
Like his parents, Ford is a lifelong Democrat.
On September 7, 1995, Ford testified before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee in support of the Dalai Lama and an independent Tibet. In 2007, he narrated the documentary Dalai Lama Renaissance.
In 2003, he publicly condemned the Iraq War and called for "regime change" in the United States. He also criticized Hollywood for making movies which were "more akin to video games than stories about human life and relationships", and he called for more gun control in the United States.
After Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said his favorite role of Ford's was Air Force One because he "stood up for America", Ford reasoned that it was just a film and made critical statements against Trump's presidential bid.
For the first time ever endorsing a political candidate for office, Ford endorsed Joe Biden's 2020 presidential campaign against Donald Trump. He said that he wanted to "encourage people to support candidates that will support the environment" and felt that under Trump, the United States has "lost some of our credibility in the world". Along with Mark Hamill, Ford worked with the anti-Trump Republican group The Lincoln Project to produce and narrate a 2020 election ad attacking Trump's disparaging of Anthony Fauci.
In 2009, Ford signed a petition calling for the release of film director Roman Polanski, who had been arrested in Switzerland in relation to his 1977 charge for drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl.
Archaeology
Following on his success portraying the archaeologist Indiana Jones, Ford also plays a part in supporting the work of professional archaeologists. He serves as a General Trustee on the Governing Board of the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA), North America's oldest and largest organization devoted to the world of archaeology. Ford assists them in their mission of increasing public awareness of archaeology and preventing looting and the illegal antiquities trade.
Star Wars: Force for Change
Ford participated in a Star Wars promotion geared toward fans who donated to Star Wars: Force for Change on video call which offered them the opportunity to purchase tickets to the premiere of The Force Awakens.
Acting credits and awards
Throughout his career, Ford has received significant recognition for his work in the entertainment industry. In 1986, he was nominated for Best Actor at the 58th Academy Awards for his performance in Witness, a role for which he also received BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations in the same category. Three additional Golden Globe nominations went to Ford in 1987, 1994 and 1996 for his performances in The Mosquito Coast, The Fugitive and Sabrina. In 2000, he was the recipient of the AFI Life Achievement Award from the American Film Institute for his body of work, presented to him by two of his closest collaborators and fellow industry giants, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. In 2002, he was given the Cecil B. DeMille Award, another career achievement honor, from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association at the 59th Golden Globe Awards ceremony. On May 30, 2003, Ford received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
In 2006, he received the Jules Verne Award, given to an actor who has "encouraged the spirit of adventure and imagination" throughout their career. He was presented with the first-ever Hero Award at the 2007 Scream Awards for his many iconic roles, including Indiana Jones and Han Solo (both of which earned him two Saturn Awards for Best Actor in 1982 and 2016, respectively), and in 2008 he received the Spike TV's Guy's Choice Award for "Brass Balls". In 2015, Ford received the Albert R. Broccoli Britannia Award for Worldwide Contribution to Entertainment from BAFTA Los Angeles. In 2018, Ford was honored by the SAG-AFTRA Foundation with the Artists Inspiration Award for both his acting and philanthropic work alongside fellow honoree Lady Gaga. SAG-AFTRA Foundation Board President JoBeth Williams in the press release said, “Harrison Ford is an acting legend in every known galaxy, but what many do not know are the decades of philanthropic service and leadership he has given to Conservation International to help protect our planet."
Other prestigious film honors for Ford include the Honorary Cesar, the Career Achievement Award from the Hollywood Film Awards, the Kirk Douglas Award for Excellence in Film from the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, the Box Office Star of the Century Award from the National Association of Theatre Owners and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Locarno Film Festival.
Ford has also been honored multiple times for his involvement in general aviation, receiving the Living Legends of Aviation Award and the Experimental Aircraft Association's Freedom of Flight Award in 2009, the Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy in 2010 and the Al Ueltschi Humanitarian Award in 2013. In 2013, Flying magazine ranked him number 48 on their list of the 51 Heroes of Aviation.
References
External links
Harrison Ford at Hollywood Walk of Fame
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
1942 births
Activists from California
Actors from Park Ridge, Illinois
Actors Fund of America
AFI Life Achievement Award recipients
American carpenters
American conservationists
American environmentalists
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male video game actors
American male voice actors
American people of Belarusian-Jewish descent
American people of Irish descent
Aviators from Illinois
California Democrats
Cecil B. DeMille Award Golden Globe winners
César Honorary Award recipients
Film producers from Illinois
Living people
Male actors from Chicago
Ripon College (Wisconsin) alumni
Survivors of aviation accidents or incidents
American gun control activists
Jewish American male actors
American Ashkenazi Jews
Experimental Aircraft Association
21st-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"
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| C_0102898e6f744dd7808e75bc246b81fe_1 | When was he signed? | 2 | When was Harrison Ford signed? | Harrison Ford | In 1964, after a season of summer stock with the Belfry Players in Wisconsin, Ford traveled to Los Angeles to apply for a job in radio voice-overs. He did not get it, but stayed in California and eventually signed a $150-a-week contract with Columbia Pictures' New Talent program, playing bit roles in films. His first known role was an uncredited one as a bellhop in Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round (1966). There is little record of his non-speaking roles (or "extra" work) in film. Ford was at the bottom of the hiring list, having offended producer Jerry Tokovsky after he played a bellboy in the feature. He was told by Tokovsky that when actor Tony Curtis delivered a bag of groceries, he did it like a movie star; Ford felt his job was to act like a bellboy. Ford managed to secure other roles in movies, such as A Time for Killing (The Long Ride Home), starring Glenn Ford; George Hamilton; and Inger Stevens. His speaking roles continued next with Luv (1967), though he was still uncredited. He was finally credited as "Harrison J. Ford" in the 1967 Western film A Time for Killing, but the "J" did not stand for anything, since he has no middle name. It was added to avoid confusion with a silent film actor named Harrison Ford, who appeared in more than 80 films between 1915 and 1932 and died in 1957. Ford later said that he was unaware of the existence of the earlier actor until he came upon a star with his own name on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Ford soon dropped the "J" and worked for Universal Studios, playing minor roles in many television series throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, including Gunsmoke, Ironside, The Virginian, The F.B.I., Love, American Style, and Kung Fu. He appeared in the western Journey to Shiloh (1968) and had an uncredited, non-speaking role in Michelangelo Antonioni's 1970 film Zabriskie Point as an arrested student protester. Not happy with the roles being offered to him, Ford became a self-taught professional carpenter to support his then-wife and two young sons. Casting director and fledgling producer Fred Roos championed the young Ford and secured him an audition with George Lucas for the role of Bob Falfa, which Ford went on to play in American Graffiti (1973). Ford's relationship with Lucas would profoundly affect his career later on. After director Francis Ford Coppola's film The Godfather was a success, he hired Ford to expand his office and gave him small roles in his next two films, The Conversation (1974) and Apocalypse Now (1979); in the latter film he played an army officer named "G. Lucas". CANNOTANSWER | In 1964, | Harrison Ford (born July 13, 1942) is an American actor. His films have grossed more than $5.4billion in North America and more than $9.3billion worldwide, making him the seventh-highest-grossing actor in North America. He is the recipient of various accolades, including three Saturn Awards, the AFI Life Achievement Award and the Cecil B. DeMille Award, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award and four Golden Globe Awards.
Following the initial phase of his career in bit parts and supporting roles, Ford gained worldwide fame for his starring role as Han Solo in the epic space opera film Star Wars (1977), reprising the role in four sequels over the course of the next 42 years. He is also widely known for his portrayal of Indiana Jones in the titular film franchise, beginning with the action-adventure film Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), and for playing other characters in different franchises, most notably Rick Deckard in the dystopian science fiction films Blade Runner (1982) and Blade Runner 2049 (2017) and the Tom Clancy character Jack Ryan in the spy thriller films Patriot Games (1992) and Clear and Present Danger (1994). His career spans six decades and includes collaborations with some of the most acclaimed and influential filmmakers of his time, such as George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg, Ridley Scott, Peter Weir, Roman Polanski and Mike Nichols.
Ford has portrayed heroic characters in other films such as the thrillers Witness (1985), for which he received his only Academy Award nomination, The Fugitive (1993), and Air Force One (1997), as well as the historical sports drama 42 (2013). In addition to heroic roles, he played morally ambiguous and darker characters in films such as the coming-of-age comedy drama American Graffiti (1973), the conspiracy thriller The Conversation (1974), the survival drama The Mosquito Coast (1986), the legal drama Presumed Innocent (1990), and the supernatural suspense thriller What Lies Beneath (2000). Ford has also appeared in several romantic comedies and dramas throughout his career, including Heroes (1977), Working Girl (1988), Sabrina (1995), Six Days, Seven Nights (1998), Random Hearts (1999), Morning Glory (2010), and The Age of Adaline (2015).
Outside acting, Ford is a licensed pilot who has often assisted the emergency services in rescue missions near his home in Wyoming. He is also a dedicated environmental activist, having served as the inaugural Vice Chair of Conservation International since 1991.
Early life
Harrison Ford was born at the Swedish Covenant Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, on July 13, 1942, to former radio actress Dorothy (née Nidelman) and advertising executive and former actor John William "Christopher" Ford. His younger brother, Terence, was born in 1945. Their father was a Catholic of German and Irish descent, while their mother was an Ashkenazi Jew whose parents were emigrants from Minsk, Belarus, then in the Russian Empire. When asked in which religion he and his brother were raised, Ford jokingly responded "Democrat" and more seriously stated that they were raised to be "liberals of every stripe". When asked about what influence his Jewish and Irish Catholic ancestry may have had on him, he quipped, "As a man I've always felt Irish, as an actor I've always felt Jewish."
Ford was a Boy Scout, achieving the second-highest rank of Life Scout. He worked at Napowan Adventure Base Scout Camp as a counselor for the Reptile Study merit badge. Because of this, he and director Steven Spielberg later decided to depict the young Indiana Jones as a Life Scout in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989). Ford graduated in 1960 from Maine East High School in Park Ridge, Illinois. His voice was the first student voice broadcast on his high school's new radio station, WMTH, and he was its first sportscaster during his senior year. He attended Ripon College in Ripon, Wisconsin, where he was a philosophy major and a member of the Sigma Nu fraternity. A self-described "late bloomer", Ford took a drama class in the final quarter of his senior year to get over his shyness and became fascinated with acting.
Career
1964–1976
In 1964, after a season of summer stock with the Belfry Players in Wisconsin, Ford traveled to Los Angeles to apply for a job in radio voice-overs. He did not get it, but stayed in California and eventually signed a $150-per-week contract with Columbia Pictures' new talent program, playing bit roles in films. His first known role was an uncredited one as a bellhop in Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round (1966). There is little record of his non-speaking (or "extra") roles in film. Ford was at the bottom of the hiring list, having offended producer Jerry Tokovsky after he played a bellboy in the feature. He was told by Tokovsky that when actor Tony Curtis delivered a bag of groceries, he did it like a movie star; Ford felt his job was to act like a bellboy.
His speaking roles continued next with Luv (1967), though he was still uncredited. He was finally credited as "Harrison J. Ford" in the 1967 Western film A Time for Killing, starring Glenn Ford, George Hamilton and Inger Stevens, but the "J" did not stand for anything since he has no middle name. It was added to avoid confusion with a silent film actor named Harrison Ford, who appeared in more than 80 films between 1915 and 1932 and died in 1957. Ford later said that he was unaware of the existence of the earlier actor until he came upon a star with his own name on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Ford soon dropped the "J" and worked for Universal Studios, playing minor roles in many television series throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, including Gunsmoke, Ironside, The Virginian, The F.B.I., Love, American Style and Kung Fu. He appeared in the western Journey to Shiloh (1968) and had an uncredited, non-speaking role in Michelangelo Antonioni's 1970 film Zabriskie Point as an arrested student protester. French filmmaker Jacques Demy chose Ford for the lead role of his first American film, Model Shop (1969), but the head of Columbia Pictures thought Ford had "no future" in the film business and told Demy to hire a more experienced actor. The part eventually went to Gary Lockwood. Ford later commented that the experience had been nevertheless a positive one because Demy was the first to show such faith in him.
Not happy with the roles offered to him, Ford became a self-taught professional carpenter to support his then-wife and two young sons. Clients at this time included the writers Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne, who lived on the beach at Malibu. Ford appears in the documentary Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold. He and his wife became friends of the writers. Casting director and fledgling producer Fred Roos championed the young Ford and secured him an audition with George Lucas for the role of Bob Falfa, which Ford went on to play in American Graffiti (1973). Ford's relationship with Lucas would profoundly affect his career later on. After director Francis Ford Coppola's film The Godfather was a success, he hired Ford to expand his office and gave him small roles in his next two films, The Conversation (1974) and Apocalypse Now (1979); in the latter film, Ford played an army officer named "G. Lucas".
1977–1997
Ford began to receive bigger roles in films throughout the late 1970s, including Heroes (1977), Force 10 from Navarone (1978) and Hanover Street (1979). Ford also co-starred alongside Gene Wilder in the buddy-comedy western The Frisco Kid (1979), playing a bank robber with a heart of gold. His previous work in American Graffiti eventually landed him his first starring film role when he was hired by Lucas to read lines for actors auditioning for roles in Lucas' upcoming epic space-opera film Star Wars (1977). Lucas was eventually won over by Ford's performance during these line reads and cast him as Han Solo. Star Wars became one of the most successful and groundbreaking films of all time, and brought Ford, and his co-stars Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher, widespread recognition. He returned to star in the similarly successful Star Wars sequels The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983), as well as the Star Wars Holiday Special (1978). Ford wanted Lucas to kill off Han Solo at the end of Return of the Jedi, saying, "That would have given the whole film a bottom," but Lucas refused.
Ford's status as a leading actor was solidified with Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), an action-adventure collaboration between George Lucas and Steven Spielberg that gave Ford his second franchise role as the heroic, globe-trotting archaeologist Indiana Jones. Like Star Wars, the film was massively successful and became the highest-grossing film of the year. Spielberg was interested in casting Ford from the beginning, but Lucas was not, having already worked with the actor in American Graffiti and Star Wars. Lucas eventually relented after Tom Selleck was unable to accept. Ford went on to reprise the role throughout the rest of the decade in the prequel Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), which co-starred Spielberg's future-wife Kate Capshaw, and the sequel Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), which co-starred Sean Connery as Indy's father, Henry Jones Sr. During the June 1983 filming of Temple of Doom in London, Ford herniated a disc in his back. The 40-year-old actor was forced to fly back to Los Angeles for surgery and returned six weeks later.
Following his leading-man success as Indiana Jones, he played Rick Deckard in Ridley Scott's dystopian science-fiction film Blade Runner (1982). Compared to his experiences on the Star Wars and Indiana Jones films, Ford had a difficult time with the production. He recalled to Vanity Fair, “It was a long slog. I didn’t really find it that physically difficult—I thought it was mentally difficult.” Ford and Scott also had differing views on the nature of his character, Deckard, that persist decades later. While not initially a success, Blade Runner went on to become a cult classic and one of Ford's most highly regarded films. Ford also proved his versatility throughout the 1980s with dramatic parts in films such as Witness (1985), The Mosquito Coast (1986), and Frantic (1988) as well as the romantic male lead opposite Melanie Griffith and Sigourney Weaver in the comedy-drama Working Girl (1988). Witness and The Mosquito Coast in particular allowed Ford to explore his potential as a dramatic actor and both performances were widely acclaimed. Ford would later recall that working with director Peter Weir on both Witness and The Mosquito Coast were two of the best experiences of his career.
In the 1990s, Ford became the second of five actors to portray Jack Ryan in two films of the film series based on the literary character created by Tom Clancy: Patriot Games (1992) and Clear and Present Danger (1994), both co-starring Anne Archer and James Earl Jones. Ford took over the role from Alec Baldwin who had previously played the character in The Hunt for Red October (1990). This led to a long-lasting resentment from Baldwin who claimed to have wanted to reprise the role but Ford had negotiated with Paramount behind his back. Ford also played leading roles in other action-based thrillers throughout the decade such as the critically acclaimed The Fugitive (1993), The Devil's Own (1997), and Air Force One (1997). For his performance in The Fugitive, which also co-starred Tommy Lee Jones, Ford received some of the best reviews of his career, including from Roger Ebert who concluded that, "Ford is once again the great modern movie everyman. As an actor, nothing he does seems merely for show, and in the face of this melodramatic material he deliberately plays down, lays low, gets on with business instead of trying to exploit the drama in meaningless acting flourishes." He also played more straight dramatic roles in Presumed Innocent (1990) and Regarding Henry (1991) as well as another romantic lead in Sabrina (1995), a remake of a classic 1954 film with the same name.
Ford established working relationships with many well-regarded directors during this time, including Peter Weir, Alan J. Pakula, Mike Nichols, Phillip Noyce, and Sydney Pollack, collaborating twice with each of them. This was the most lucrative period of Ford's career. From 1977 to 1997, he appeared in fourteen films that reached the top fifteen in the yearly domestic box office rankings, twelve of which reached the top ten. Six of the films he appeared in during this time were also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture amongst numerous other awards: Star Wars, Apocalypse Now, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Witness, Working Girl, and The Fugitive.
1998–2014
In the late 1990s, Ford started appearing in several critically derided and/or commercially disappointing films that failed to match his earlier successes, including Six Days, Seven Nights (1998), Random Hearts (1999), K-19: The Widowmaker (2002), Hollywood Homicide (2003), Firewall (2006) and Extraordinary Measures (2010). One exception was What Lies Beneath (2000) which grossed over $155million in the United States and $291million worldwide. Ford served as an executive producer on K-19: The Widowmaker and Extraordinary Measures, both of which were based on true events. In the 2001 Guinness Book of World Records, Ford was listed as the richest male actor in the world.
In 2004, Ford declined a chance to star in the thriller Syriana, later commenting that "I didn't feel strongly enough about the truth of the material and I think I made a mistake." The role eventually went to George Clooney, who won an Oscar and a Golden Globe for his work. Prior to that, Ford had passed on a role in another Stephen Gaghan-written film, that of Robert Wakefield in Traffic, which eventually went to Michael Douglas.
In 2008, Ford enjoyed success with the release of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the first Indiana Jones film in nineteen years and another collaboration with Lucas and Spielberg. The film received generally positive reviews and was the second highest-grossing film worldwide in 2008. Ford later said he would like to star in another sequel, "...if it didn't take another 20 years to digest."
Other 2008 work included Crossing Over, directed by Wayne Kramer. In the film, Ford plays an ICE/Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent, working alongside Ashley Judd and Ray Liotta. He also narrated a feature documentary film about the Dalai Lama entitled Dalai Lama Renaissance. Ford filmed the medical drama Extraordinary Measures in 2009 in Portland, Oregon. Released January 22, 2010, the film also starred Brendan Fraser and Alan Ruck. Also in 2010, he co-starred in the film Morning Glory, along with Rachel McAdams, Diane Keaton and Patrick Wilson. Although a disappointment at the box office, Ford's performance was well received by critics, some of which thought it was his best role in years. In July 2011, Ford starred alongside Daniel Craig and Olivia Wilde in the science-fiction/western hybrid film Cowboys & Aliens. To promote the film, Ford appeared at the San Diego Comic-Con International and, apparently surprised by the warm welcome, told the audience, "I just wanted to make a living as an actor. I didn't know about this." Also in 2011, Ford starred in Japanese commercials advertising the video game Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception for the PlayStation 3.
2013 began a trend that saw Ford accepting more diverse supporting roles. That year, Ford co-starred in the corporate espionage thriller Paranoia with Liam Hemsworth and Gary Oldman, who he had previously worked with in Air Force One, and he also appeared in Ender's Game, 42 and Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues. His performance as Branch Rickey in 42 was praised by many critics and garnered Ford a nomination as best supporting actor for the Satellite Awards. In 2014, he appeared in The Expendables 3 and the documentary Flying the Feathered Edge: The Bob Hoover Project. The next year, Ford co-starred with Blake Lively in the romantic drama The Age of Adaline to positive notices.
2015–present
Ford reprised the role of Han Solo in the long-awaited Star Wars sequel Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), which became massively successful like its predecessors. During filming on June 11, 2014, Ford suffered what was said to be a fractured ankle when a hydraulic door fell on him. He was airlifted to John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, England, for treatment. Ford's son Ben released details on his father's injury, saying that his ankle would likely need a plate and screws, and that filming could be altered slightly with the crew needing to shoot Ford from the waist up for a short time until he recovered. Ford made his return to filming in mid-August, after a two-month layoff as he recovered from his injury. Ford's character was killed off in The Force Awakens, but it was subsequently announced, via a casting call, that Ford would return in some capacity as Solo in Episode VIII. In February 2016, when the cast for Episode VIII was confirmed, it was indicated that Ford would not reprise his role in the film after all. When Ford was asked if his character could come back in "some form", he replied, "Anything is possible in space." The character eventually reappeared as a vision in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019).
On February 26, 2015, Alcon Entertainment announced Ford would reprise his role as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner 2049. The film, and Ford's performance, was very well received by critics upon its release in October 2017. Scott Collura of IGN called it a, "deep, rich, smart film that's visually awesome and full of great sci-fi concepts" and Ford's role, "a quiet, sort of gut-wrenching interpretation to Deckard and what he must've gone through in the past three decades." Despite the acclaim, the film only grossed $259.3million worldwide, far short of the estimated $400million that the film needed in order to break even. In 2019, Ford had his first voice role in an animated film, as a dog named Rooster in The Secret Life of Pets 2. With filming for a fifth Indiana Jones film having been delayed by a year, Ford headlined a big-budget adaptation of Jack London's The Call of the Wild, playing prospector John Thornton. The film was released in February 2020 to a mixed critical reception but its theatrical release was shortened due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the film industry.
Personal life
Ford has been married three times, and has four biological children and one adopted child. He was first married to Mary Marquardt from 1964 until their divorce in 1979. They had two sons, chef and restaurateur Benjamin (born 1966) and clothier Willard (born 1969). Benjamin co-owns Ford's Filling Station, a gastropub with locations at L.A. Live in Los Angeles and Terminal 5 in Los Angeles International Airport. Willard is the owner of Strong Sports Gym, and was co-owner of the Kim Sing Theater and owner of the Ludwig Clothing company.
Ford's second marriage was to screenwriter Melissa Mathison from March 1983 until their separation in 2000 and finalized divorce in 2004. They had a son, actor and musician Malcolm (born 1987), and a daughter, actress Georgia (born 1990). Mathison died in 2015.
Ford began dating actress Calista Flockhart after they met at the 2002 Golden Globe Awards. They are the parents of Liam (born 2001), the son she adopted before meeting Ford. He proposed to Flockhart over Valentine's Day weekend in 2009. They married on June 15, 2010, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where Ford was filming Cowboys & Aliens.
Ford and Flockhart live on an ranch in Jackson, Wyoming, on which he has lived since the 1980s and approximately half of which he has donated as a nature reserve. They retain a base in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles. He is known as one of Hollywood's most private actors, guarding much of his personal life. In her 2016 autobiography The Princess Diarist, his co-star Carrie Fisher claimed that she and Ford had a three-month affair in 1976 during the filming of Star Wars.
Aviation
Ford is a licensed pilot of both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. On several occasions, he has personally provided emergency helicopter services at the request of local authorities in Wyoming, in one instance rescuing a hiker overcome by dehydration.
Ford began flight training in the 1960s at Wild Rose Idlewild Airport in Wild Rose, Wisconsin, flying in a Piper PA-22 Tri-Pacer, but at $15 an hour (), he could not afford to continue the training. In the mid-1990s, he bought a used Gulfstream II and asked one of his pilots, Terry Bender, to give him flying lessons. They started flying a Cessna 182 out of Jackson, Wyoming, later switching to Teterboro, New Jersey, flying a Cessna 206, the aircraft in which he made his first solo flight.
Ford's aircraft is kept at Santa Monica Airport. The Bell 407 is often kept and flown in Jackson and has been used by the actor in two mountain rescues during his assigned duty time with Teton County Search and Rescue. On one of the rescues, Ford recovered a hiker who had become lost and disoriented. She boarded Ford's helicopter and promptly vomited into one of the rescuers' caps, unaware of who the pilot was until much later; "I can't believe I barfed in Harrison Ford's helicopter!" she said later.
Ford flies his de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver (N28S) more than any of his other aircraft, and has repeatedly said that he likes this aircraft and the sound of its Pratt & Whitney R-985 radial engine. According to Ford, it had been flown in the CIA's Air America operations and was riddled with bullet holes that had to be patched up.
In March 2004, Ford officially became chairman of the Young Eagles program of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA). Ford was asked to take the position by Greg Anderson, Senior Vice President of the EAA at the time, to replace General Chuck Yeager, who was vacating the post that he had held for many years. Ford at first was hesitant, but later accepted the offer and has made appearances with the Young Eagles at the EAA AirVenture Oshkosh gathering at Oshkosh, Wisconsin, for two years. In July 2005, at the gathering in Oshkosh, Ford agreed to accept the position for another two years. He has flown over 280 children as part of the Young Eagles program, usually in his DHC-2 Beaver, which can seat the actor and five children. Ford stepped down as program chairman in 2009 and was replaced by Captain Chesley Sullenberger and First Officer Jeff Skiles. He is involved with the EAA chapter in Driggs, Idaho, just over the Teton Range from Jackson, Wyoming. On July 28, 2016, Ford flew the two millionth Young Eagle at the EAA AirVenture convention.
As of 2009, Ford appears in Internet advertisements for General Aviation Serves America, a campaign by the advocacy group Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA). He has also appeared in several independent aviation documentaries, including Wings Over the Rockies (2009), Flying The Feathered Edge: The Bob Hoover Project (2014) and Living in the Age of Airplanes (2015).
Ford is an honorary board member of the humanitarian aviation organization Wings of Hope, and is known for having made several trips to Washington, D.C., to fight for pilots' rights. He has also donated substantial funds to aerobatic champion Sean Tucker's charitable program, The Bob Hoover Academy (named after legendary aviator Bob Hoover) which educates at-risk teens in central California and teaches them how to fly.
Incidents
On October 23, 1999, Ford was involved in the crash of a Bell 206L4 LongRanger helicopter. The NTSB accident report states that Ford was piloting the aircraft over the Lake Piru riverbed near Santa Clarita, California, on a routine training flight. While making his second attempt at an autorotation with powered recovery, the aircraft was unable to recover power after the sudden drop in altitude. It landed hard and began skidding forward in the loose gravel before flipping onto its side. Neither Ford nor the instructor pilot suffered any injuries, though the helicopter was seriously damaged.
On March 5, 2015, Ford's plane, believed to be a Ryan PT-22 Recruit, made an emergency landing on the Penmar Golf Course in Venice, California. Ford had radioed in to report that the plane had experienced engine failure. He was taken to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, where he was reported to be in fair to moderate condition. Ford suffered a broken pelvis and broken ankle during the accident, as well as other injuries.
On February 13, 2017, Ford landed an Aviat Husky at John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California, on the taxiway left of runway 20L. A Boeing 737 was holding short of the runway on the taxiway when Ford overflew them.
On April 24, 2020, at the Los Angeles Hawthorne Airport, Ford was piloting a plane when he crossed a runway where another aircraft was landing.
Activism
Environmental work
Ford is vice-chair of Conservation International, an American nonprofit environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. The organization's intent is to protect nature.
In September 2013, Ford, while filming an environmental documentary in Indonesia, interviewed the Indonesian Forestry Minister, Zulkifli Hasan. After the interview, Ford and his crew were accused of "harassing state institutions" and publicly threatened with deportation. Questions within the interview concerned the Tesso Nilo National Park, Sumatra. It was alleged the Minister of Forestry was given no prior warning of questions nor the chance to explain the challenges of catching people with illegal logging. Ford was provided an audience with the Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, during which he expressed concerns regarding Indonesia's environmental degradation and the government efforts to address climate change. In response, the President explained Indonesia's commitment to preserving its oceans and forests.
In 1993, the arachnologist Norman Platnick named a new species of spider Calponia harrisonfordi, and in 2002, the entomologist Edward O. Wilson named a new ant species Pheidole harrisonfordi (in recognition of Harrison's work as Vice Chairman of Conservation International).
Since 1992, Ford has lent his voice to a series of public service messages promoting environmental involvement for EarthShare, an American federation of environmental and conservation charities. He has acted as a spokesperson for Restore Hetch Hetchy, a non-profit organization dedicated to restoring Yosemite National Park's Hetch Hetchy Valley to its original condition. Ford also appears in the documentary series Years of Living Dangerously, which reports on people affected by and seeking solutions to climate change.
In 2019, on behalf of Conservation International, Ford gave an impassioned speech during the United Nations' Climate Action Summit in New York on the destruction of the Amazon rainforest and its effect on climate change for the rest of the world. Ford urged his audience to listen to 'angry young people' trying to make a difference in the situation, emphasizing, "The most important thing we can do for them is to get the hell out of their way."
Political views
Like his parents, Ford is a lifelong Democrat.
On September 7, 1995, Ford testified before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee in support of the Dalai Lama and an independent Tibet. In 2007, he narrated the documentary Dalai Lama Renaissance.
In 2003, he publicly condemned the Iraq War and called for "regime change" in the United States. He also criticized Hollywood for making movies which were "more akin to video games than stories about human life and relationships", and he called for more gun control in the United States.
After Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said his favorite role of Ford's was Air Force One because he "stood up for America", Ford reasoned that it was just a film and made critical statements against Trump's presidential bid.
For the first time ever endorsing a political candidate for office, Ford endorsed Joe Biden's 2020 presidential campaign against Donald Trump. He said that he wanted to "encourage people to support candidates that will support the environment" and felt that under Trump, the United States has "lost some of our credibility in the world". Along with Mark Hamill, Ford worked with the anti-Trump Republican group The Lincoln Project to produce and narrate a 2020 election ad attacking Trump's disparaging of Anthony Fauci.
In 2009, Ford signed a petition calling for the release of film director Roman Polanski, who had been arrested in Switzerland in relation to his 1977 charge for drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl.
Archaeology
Following on his success portraying the archaeologist Indiana Jones, Ford also plays a part in supporting the work of professional archaeologists. He serves as a General Trustee on the Governing Board of the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA), North America's oldest and largest organization devoted to the world of archaeology. Ford assists them in their mission of increasing public awareness of archaeology and preventing looting and the illegal antiquities trade.
Star Wars: Force for Change
Ford participated in a Star Wars promotion geared toward fans who donated to Star Wars: Force for Change on video call which offered them the opportunity to purchase tickets to the premiere of The Force Awakens.
Acting credits and awards
Throughout his career, Ford has received significant recognition for his work in the entertainment industry. In 1986, he was nominated for Best Actor at the 58th Academy Awards for his performance in Witness, a role for which he also received BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations in the same category. Three additional Golden Globe nominations went to Ford in 1987, 1994 and 1996 for his performances in The Mosquito Coast, The Fugitive and Sabrina. In 2000, he was the recipient of the AFI Life Achievement Award from the American Film Institute for his body of work, presented to him by two of his closest collaborators and fellow industry giants, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. In 2002, he was given the Cecil B. DeMille Award, another career achievement honor, from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association at the 59th Golden Globe Awards ceremony. On May 30, 2003, Ford received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
In 2006, he received the Jules Verne Award, given to an actor who has "encouraged the spirit of adventure and imagination" throughout their career. He was presented with the first-ever Hero Award at the 2007 Scream Awards for his many iconic roles, including Indiana Jones and Han Solo (both of which earned him two Saturn Awards for Best Actor in 1982 and 2016, respectively), and in 2008 he received the Spike TV's Guy's Choice Award for "Brass Balls". In 2015, Ford received the Albert R. Broccoli Britannia Award for Worldwide Contribution to Entertainment from BAFTA Los Angeles. In 2018, Ford was honored by the SAG-AFTRA Foundation with the Artists Inspiration Award for both his acting and philanthropic work alongside fellow honoree Lady Gaga. SAG-AFTRA Foundation Board President JoBeth Williams in the press release said, “Harrison Ford is an acting legend in every known galaxy, but what many do not know are the decades of philanthropic service and leadership he has given to Conservation International to help protect our planet."
Other prestigious film honors for Ford include the Honorary Cesar, the Career Achievement Award from the Hollywood Film Awards, the Kirk Douglas Award for Excellence in Film from the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, the Box Office Star of the Century Award from the National Association of Theatre Owners and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Locarno Film Festival.
Ford has also been honored multiple times for his involvement in general aviation, receiving the Living Legends of Aviation Award and the Experimental Aircraft Association's Freedom of Flight Award in 2009, the Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy in 2010 and the Al Ueltschi Humanitarian Award in 2013. In 2013, Flying magazine ranked him number 48 on their list of the 51 Heroes of Aviation.
References
External links
Harrison Ford at Hollywood Walk of Fame
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
1942 births
Activists from California
Actors from Park Ridge, Illinois
Actors Fund of America
AFI Life Achievement Award recipients
American carpenters
American conservationists
American environmentalists
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male video game actors
American male voice actors
American people of Belarusian-Jewish descent
American people of Irish descent
Aviators from Illinois
California Democrats
Cecil B. DeMille Award Golden Globe winners
César Honorary Award recipients
Film producers from Illinois
Living people
Male actors from Chicago
Ripon College (Wisconsin) alumni
Survivors of aviation accidents or incidents
American gun control activists
Jewish American male actors
American Ashkenazi Jews
Experimental Aircraft Association
21st-century American Jews | true | [
"Antwain Joquan Spann (born February 22, 1983) is a former American football safety. He was signed by the New York Giants as an undrafted free agent in 2005. He played college football at Louisiana–Lafayette.\n\nSpann has also been a member of the New England Patriots, Buffalo Bills and Denver Broncos.\n\nEarly years\nSpann played football at El Camino High School in Oceanside, California.\n\nCollege career\nSpann began his college football career in 2001 at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, where he was a Mississippi Junior College All-State and All-Region player. In 2003, he transferred to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, where he started 11 games at cornerback in his senior season in 2004, recording a team-high four interceptions.\n\nProfessional career\n\nNew York Giants\nSpann was signed by the Giants as an undrafted free agent on May 17, 2005, following the 2005 NFL Draft. He was waived by the Giants on August 31.\n\nNew England Patriots\nSpann was signed to the Patriots' practice squad on January 2, 2006, where he spent the remainder of the team's postseason before being signed to a future contract by the team on January 17.\n\nSpann was waived by the team on September 2, 2006, and signed to the Patriots' practice squad the following day. He was signed to the Patriots' 53-man roster on September 30 before being waived from it on November 7. He was re-signed to the Patriots' practice squad on November 8, and again elevated to the 53-man roster on November 18. He was waived by the Patriots on November 22 and re-signed to their practice squad again on November 24. He was signed to the team's 53-man roster for a third time on December 9, where he spent the remainder of the season.\n\nSpann was waived by the team on July 19, 2007, and signed to the Patriots' practice squad on September 25. He then was signed to the Patriots' 53-man roster on December 28.\n\nSpann was waived by the Patriots again on August 30, 2008, and signed to the team's practice squad on September 1. He was elevated to the 53-man roster on October 22 when safety Rodney Harrison was placed on injured reserve.\n\nSpann was waived by the Patriots on July 27, 2009, after signing 2009 draft pick Patrick Chung.\n\nBuffalo Bills\nSpann signed with the Buffalo Bills on July 31, 2009. He was briefly waived on August 7 before being re-signed on August 11. He was waived again on August 21 when 2009 first-round pick Aaron Maybin was signed.\n\nDenver Broncos\nSpann was claimed off waivers by the Denver Broncos on August 24, 2009. He was waived on September 5.\n\nExternal links\n Buffalo Bills bio\n New England Patriots bio\n\n1983 births\nLiving people\nSportspeople from Oceanside, California\nPlayers of American football from California\nAmerican football cornerbacks\nAmerican football safeties\nLouisiana Ragin' Cajuns football players\nNew York Giants players\nNew England Patriots players\nRhein Fire players\nBuffalo Bills players\nDenver Broncos players",
"Marcus Paschal (born August 31, 1984) is a former American football safety. He was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles as an undrafted free agent in 2007. He played college football at Iowa.\n\nPaschal was also a member of the Atlanta Falcons, Indianapolis Colts and Baltimore Ravens.\n\nProfessional career\n\nPhiladelphia Eagles\nPaschal was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles as an undrafted free agent in May 2007. He was released by the team at the end of training camp and subsequently re-signed to the practice squad, where he spent the first nine weeks of the season. On November 7, he was signed to the active roster after former Iowa Hawkeyes teammate and fellow safety Sean Considine was placed on Injured Reserve.\n\nPaschal was released by the Eagles during final cuts on August 30, 2008.\n\nAtlanta Falcons\nAfter spending the 2008 season out of football, Paschal was signed to a future contract by the Atlanta Falcons on January 7, 2009. He was released on May 15, 2009.\n\nIndianapolis Colts\nPaschal was signed by the Indianapolis Colts on August 22, 2009 after the team released linebacker Adam Seward. He was waived on September 1 during initial roster cuts.\n\nBaltimore Ravens\nPaschal was signed to the practice squad of the Baltimore Ravens on November 18, 2009. The move reunited him with Ravens head coach John Harbaugh, who was the defensive backs coach for the Eagles when Paschal played there in 2007. Paschal was promoted to the active roster on December 19 when defensive tackle Brandon McKinney was placed on injured reserve. He was waived on December 22 and re-signed to the practice squad when the team signed safety Keith Fitzhugh. On December 26, Paschal was promoted to the active roster again. He was placed on injured reserve on August 23, 2011, due to a quadriceps injury. He was waived from injured reserve on August 25.\n\nPersonal life\nPaschal currently is the head coach for the Largo High School (Florida) football team, and has done so since 2014. In his three years, as of 2016, Paschal has achieved a 15-17 record, and helped the Packers become the FHSAA Class 6A-District 7 runner-up in 2014.\n\nExternal links\nBaltimore Ravens bio\nIowa Hawkeyes bio\n\n1984 births\nLiving people\nSportspeople from Clearwater, Florida\nPlayers of American football from Florida\nAmerican football safeties\nIowa Hawkeyes football players\nPhiladelphia Eagles players\nAtlanta Falcons players\nIndianapolis Colts players\nBaltimore Ravens players\nHigh school football coaches in Florida"
]
|
[
"Harrison Ford",
"Early career",
"How did his career get started?",
"signed a $150-a-week contract with Columbia Pictures' New Talent program, playing bit roles in films.",
"When was he signed?",
"In 1964,"
]
| C_0102898e6f744dd7808e75bc246b81fe_1 | Did his career take off right away? | 3 | After the contract with Columbia Pictures' New Talent program, did Harrison Ford's career take off right away? | Harrison Ford | In 1964, after a season of summer stock with the Belfry Players in Wisconsin, Ford traveled to Los Angeles to apply for a job in radio voice-overs. He did not get it, but stayed in California and eventually signed a $150-a-week contract with Columbia Pictures' New Talent program, playing bit roles in films. His first known role was an uncredited one as a bellhop in Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round (1966). There is little record of his non-speaking roles (or "extra" work) in film. Ford was at the bottom of the hiring list, having offended producer Jerry Tokovsky after he played a bellboy in the feature. He was told by Tokovsky that when actor Tony Curtis delivered a bag of groceries, he did it like a movie star; Ford felt his job was to act like a bellboy. Ford managed to secure other roles in movies, such as A Time for Killing (The Long Ride Home), starring Glenn Ford; George Hamilton; and Inger Stevens. His speaking roles continued next with Luv (1967), though he was still uncredited. He was finally credited as "Harrison J. Ford" in the 1967 Western film A Time for Killing, but the "J" did not stand for anything, since he has no middle name. It was added to avoid confusion with a silent film actor named Harrison Ford, who appeared in more than 80 films between 1915 and 1932 and died in 1957. Ford later said that he was unaware of the existence of the earlier actor until he came upon a star with his own name on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Ford soon dropped the "J" and worked for Universal Studios, playing minor roles in many television series throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, including Gunsmoke, Ironside, The Virginian, The F.B.I., Love, American Style, and Kung Fu. He appeared in the western Journey to Shiloh (1968) and had an uncredited, non-speaking role in Michelangelo Antonioni's 1970 film Zabriskie Point as an arrested student protester. Not happy with the roles being offered to him, Ford became a self-taught professional carpenter to support his then-wife and two young sons. Casting director and fledgling producer Fred Roos championed the young Ford and secured him an audition with George Lucas for the role of Bob Falfa, which Ford went on to play in American Graffiti (1973). Ford's relationship with Lucas would profoundly affect his career later on. After director Francis Ford Coppola's film The Godfather was a success, he hired Ford to expand his office and gave him small roles in his next two films, The Conversation (1974) and Apocalypse Now (1979); in the latter film he played an army officer named "G. Lucas". CANNOTANSWER | Ford traveled to Los Angeles to apply for a job in radio voice-overs. He did not get it, | Harrison Ford (born July 13, 1942) is an American actor. His films have grossed more than $5.4billion in North America and more than $9.3billion worldwide, making him the seventh-highest-grossing actor in North America. He is the recipient of various accolades, including three Saturn Awards, the AFI Life Achievement Award and the Cecil B. DeMille Award, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award and four Golden Globe Awards.
Following the initial phase of his career in bit parts and supporting roles, Ford gained worldwide fame for his starring role as Han Solo in the epic space opera film Star Wars (1977), reprising the role in four sequels over the course of the next 42 years. He is also widely known for his portrayal of Indiana Jones in the titular film franchise, beginning with the action-adventure film Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), and for playing other characters in different franchises, most notably Rick Deckard in the dystopian science fiction films Blade Runner (1982) and Blade Runner 2049 (2017) and the Tom Clancy character Jack Ryan in the spy thriller films Patriot Games (1992) and Clear and Present Danger (1994). His career spans six decades and includes collaborations with some of the most acclaimed and influential filmmakers of his time, such as George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg, Ridley Scott, Peter Weir, Roman Polanski and Mike Nichols.
Ford has portrayed heroic characters in other films such as the thrillers Witness (1985), for which he received his only Academy Award nomination, The Fugitive (1993), and Air Force One (1997), as well as the historical sports drama 42 (2013). In addition to heroic roles, he played morally ambiguous and darker characters in films such as the coming-of-age comedy drama American Graffiti (1973), the conspiracy thriller The Conversation (1974), the survival drama The Mosquito Coast (1986), the legal drama Presumed Innocent (1990), and the supernatural suspense thriller What Lies Beneath (2000). Ford has also appeared in several romantic comedies and dramas throughout his career, including Heroes (1977), Working Girl (1988), Sabrina (1995), Six Days, Seven Nights (1998), Random Hearts (1999), Morning Glory (2010), and The Age of Adaline (2015).
Outside acting, Ford is a licensed pilot who has often assisted the emergency services in rescue missions near his home in Wyoming. He is also a dedicated environmental activist, having served as the inaugural Vice Chair of Conservation International since 1991.
Early life
Harrison Ford was born at the Swedish Covenant Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, on July 13, 1942, to former radio actress Dorothy (née Nidelman) and advertising executive and former actor John William "Christopher" Ford. His younger brother, Terence, was born in 1945. Their father was a Catholic of German and Irish descent, while their mother was an Ashkenazi Jew whose parents were emigrants from Minsk, Belarus, then in the Russian Empire. When asked in which religion he and his brother were raised, Ford jokingly responded "Democrat" and more seriously stated that they were raised to be "liberals of every stripe". When asked about what influence his Jewish and Irish Catholic ancestry may have had on him, he quipped, "As a man I've always felt Irish, as an actor I've always felt Jewish."
Ford was a Boy Scout, achieving the second-highest rank of Life Scout. He worked at Napowan Adventure Base Scout Camp as a counselor for the Reptile Study merit badge. Because of this, he and director Steven Spielberg later decided to depict the young Indiana Jones as a Life Scout in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989). Ford graduated in 1960 from Maine East High School in Park Ridge, Illinois. His voice was the first student voice broadcast on his high school's new radio station, WMTH, and he was its first sportscaster during his senior year. He attended Ripon College in Ripon, Wisconsin, where he was a philosophy major and a member of the Sigma Nu fraternity. A self-described "late bloomer", Ford took a drama class in the final quarter of his senior year to get over his shyness and became fascinated with acting.
Career
1964–1976
In 1964, after a season of summer stock with the Belfry Players in Wisconsin, Ford traveled to Los Angeles to apply for a job in radio voice-overs. He did not get it, but stayed in California and eventually signed a $150-per-week contract with Columbia Pictures' new talent program, playing bit roles in films. His first known role was an uncredited one as a bellhop in Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round (1966). There is little record of his non-speaking (or "extra") roles in film. Ford was at the bottom of the hiring list, having offended producer Jerry Tokovsky after he played a bellboy in the feature. He was told by Tokovsky that when actor Tony Curtis delivered a bag of groceries, he did it like a movie star; Ford felt his job was to act like a bellboy.
His speaking roles continued next with Luv (1967), though he was still uncredited. He was finally credited as "Harrison J. Ford" in the 1967 Western film A Time for Killing, starring Glenn Ford, George Hamilton and Inger Stevens, but the "J" did not stand for anything since he has no middle name. It was added to avoid confusion with a silent film actor named Harrison Ford, who appeared in more than 80 films between 1915 and 1932 and died in 1957. Ford later said that he was unaware of the existence of the earlier actor until he came upon a star with his own name on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Ford soon dropped the "J" and worked for Universal Studios, playing minor roles in many television series throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, including Gunsmoke, Ironside, The Virginian, The F.B.I., Love, American Style and Kung Fu. He appeared in the western Journey to Shiloh (1968) and had an uncredited, non-speaking role in Michelangelo Antonioni's 1970 film Zabriskie Point as an arrested student protester. French filmmaker Jacques Demy chose Ford for the lead role of his first American film, Model Shop (1969), but the head of Columbia Pictures thought Ford had "no future" in the film business and told Demy to hire a more experienced actor. The part eventually went to Gary Lockwood. Ford later commented that the experience had been nevertheless a positive one because Demy was the first to show such faith in him.
Not happy with the roles offered to him, Ford became a self-taught professional carpenter to support his then-wife and two young sons. Clients at this time included the writers Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne, who lived on the beach at Malibu. Ford appears in the documentary Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold. He and his wife became friends of the writers. Casting director and fledgling producer Fred Roos championed the young Ford and secured him an audition with George Lucas for the role of Bob Falfa, which Ford went on to play in American Graffiti (1973). Ford's relationship with Lucas would profoundly affect his career later on. After director Francis Ford Coppola's film The Godfather was a success, he hired Ford to expand his office and gave him small roles in his next two films, The Conversation (1974) and Apocalypse Now (1979); in the latter film, Ford played an army officer named "G. Lucas".
1977–1997
Ford began to receive bigger roles in films throughout the late 1970s, including Heroes (1977), Force 10 from Navarone (1978) and Hanover Street (1979). Ford also co-starred alongside Gene Wilder in the buddy-comedy western The Frisco Kid (1979), playing a bank robber with a heart of gold. His previous work in American Graffiti eventually landed him his first starring film role when he was hired by Lucas to read lines for actors auditioning for roles in Lucas' upcoming epic space-opera film Star Wars (1977). Lucas was eventually won over by Ford's performance during these line reads and cast him as Han Solo. Star Wars became one of the most successful and groundbreaking films of all time, and brought Ford, and his co-stars Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher, widespread recognition. He returned to star in the similarly successful Star Wars sequels The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983), as well as the Star Wars Holiday Special (1978). Ford wanted Lucas to kill off Han Solo at the end of Return of the Jedi, saying, "That would have given the whole film a bottom," but Lucas refused.
Ford's status as a leading actor was solidified with Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), an action-adventure collaboration between George Lucas and Steven Spielberg that gave Ford his second franchise role as the heroic, globe-trotting archaeologist Indiana Jones. Like Star Wars, the film was massively successful and became the highest-grossing film of the year. Spielberg was interested in casting Ford from the beginning, but Lucas was not, having already worked with the actor in American Graffiti and Star Wars. Lucas eventually relented after Tom Selleck was unable to accept. Ford went on to reprise the role throughout the rest of the decade in the prequel Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), which co-starred Spielberg's future-wife Kate Capshaw, and the sequel Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), which co-starred Sean Connery as Indy's father, Henry Jones Sr. During the June 1983 filming of Temple of Doom in London, Ford herniated a disc in his back. The 40-year-old actor was forced to fly back to Los Angeles for surgery and returned six weeks later.
Following his leading-man success as Indiana Jones, he played Rick Deckard in Ridley Scott's dystopian science-fiction film Blade Runner (1982). Compared to his experiences on the Star Wars and Indiana Jones films, Ford had a difficult time with the production. He recalled to Vanity Fair, “It was a long slog. I didn’t really find it that physically difficult—I thought it was mentally difficult.” Ford and Scott also had differing views on the nature of his character, Deckard, that persist decades later. While not initially a success, Blade Runner went on to become a cult classic and one of Ford's most highly regarded films. Ford also proved his versatility throughout the 1980s with dramatic parts in films such as Witness (1985), The Mosquito Coast (1986), and Frantic (1988) as well as the romantic male lead opposite Melanie Griffith and Sigourney Weaver in the comedy-drama Working Girl (1988). Witness and The Mosquito Coast in particular allowed Ford to explore his potential as a dramatic actor and both performances were widely acclaimed. Ford would later recall that working with director Peter Weir on both Witness and The Mosquito Coast were two of the best experiences of his career.
In the 1990s, Ford became the second of five actors to portray Jack Ryan in two films of the film series based on the literary character created by Tom Clancy: Patriot Games (1992) and Clear and Present Danger (1994), both co-starring Anne Archer and James Earl Jones. Ford took over the role from Alec Baldwin who had previously played the character in The Hunt for Red October (1990). This led to a long-lasting resentment from Baldwin who claimed to have wanted to reprise the role but Ford had negotiated with Paramount behind his back. Ford also played leading roles in other action-based thrillers throughout the decade such as the critically acclaimed The Fugitive (1993), The Devil's Own (1997), and Air Force One (1997). For his performance in The Fugitive, which also co-starred Tommy Lee Jones, Ford received some of the best reviews of his career, including from Roger Ebert who concluded that, "Ford is once again the great modern movie everyman. As an actor, nothing he does seems merely for show, and in the face of this melodramatic material he deliberately plays down, lays low, gets on with business instead of trying to exploit the drama in meaningless acting flourishes." He also played more straight dramatic roles in Presumed Innocent (1990) and Regarding Henry (1991) as well as another romantic lead in Sabrina (1995), a remake of a classic 1954 film with the same name.
Ford established working relationships with many well-regarded directors during this time, including Peter Weir, Alan J. Pakula, Mike Nichols, Phillip Noyce, and Sydney Pollack, collaborating twice with each of them. This was the most lucrative period of Ford's career. From 1977 to 1997, he appeared in fourteen films that reached the top fifteen in the yearly domestic box office rankings, twelve of which reached the top ten. Six of the films he appeared in during this time were also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture amongst numerous other awards: Star Wars, Apocalypse Now, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Witness, Working Girl, and The Fugitive.
1998–2014
In the late 1990s, Ford started appearing in several critically derided and/or commercially disappointing films that failed to match his earlier successes, including Six Days, Seven Nights (1998), Random Hearts (1999), K-19: The Widowmaker (2002), Hollywood Homicide (2003), Firewall (2006) and Extraordinary Measures (2010). One exception was What Lies Beneath (2000) which grossed over $155million in the United States and $291million worldwide. Ford served as an executive producer on K-19: The Widowmaker and Extraordinary Measures, both of which were based on true events. In the 2001 Guinness Book of World Records, Ford was listed as the richest male actor in the world.
In 2004, Ford declined a chance to star in the thriller Syriana, later commenting that "I didn't feel strongly enough about the truth of the material and I think I made a mistake." The role eventually went to George Clooney, who won an Oscar and a Golden Globe for his work. Prior to that, Ford had passed on a role in another Stephen Gaghan-written film, that of Robert Wakefield in Traffic, which eventually went to Michael Douglas.
In 2008, Ford enjoyed success with the release of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the first Indiana Jones film in nineteen years and another collaboration with Lucas and Spielberg. The film received generally positive reviews and was the second highest-grossing film worldwide in 2008. Ford later said he would like to star in another sequel, "...if it didn't take another 20 years to digest."
Other 2008 work included Crossing Over, directed by Wayne Kramer. In the film, Ford plays an ICE/Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent, working alongside Ashley Judd and Ray Liotta. He also narrated a feature documentary film about the Dalai Lama entitled Dalai Lama Renaissance. Ford filmed the medical drama Extraordinary Measures in 2009 in Portland, Oregon. Released January 22, 2010, the film also starred Brendan Fraser and Alan Ruck. Also in 2010, he co-starred in the film Morning Glory, along with Rachel McAdams, Diane Keaton and Patrick Wilson. Although a disappointment at the box office, Ford's performance was well received by critics, some of which thought it was his best role in years. In July 2011, Ford starred alongside Daniel Craig and Olivia Wilde in the science-fiction/western hybrid film Cowboys & Aliens. To promote the film, Ford appeared at the San Diego Comic-Con International and, apparently surprised by the warm welcome, told the audience, "I just wanted to make a living as an actor. I didn't know about this." Also in 2011, Ford starred in Japanese commercials advertising the video game Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception for the PlayStation 3.
2013 began a trend that saw Ford accepting more diverse supporting roles. That year, Ford co-starred in the corporate espionage thriller Paranoia with Liam Hemsworth and Gary Oldman, who he had previously worked with in Air Force One, and he also appeared in Ender's Game, 42 and Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues. His performance as Branch Rickey in 42 was praised by many critics and garnered Ford a nomination as best supporting actor for the Satellite Awards. In 2014, he appeared in The Expendables 3 and the documentary Flying the Feathered Edge: The Bob Hoover Project. The next year, Ford co-starred with Blake Lively in the romantic drama The Age of Adaline to positive notices.
2015–present
Ford reprised the role of Han Solo in the long-awaited Star Wars sequel Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), which became massively successful like its predecessors. During filming on June 11, 2014, Ford suffered what was said to be a fractured ankle when a hydraulic door fell on him. He was airlifted to John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, England, for treatment. Ford's son Ben released details on his father's injury, saying that his ankle would likely need a plate and screws, and that filming could be altered slightly with the crew needing to shoot Ford from the waist up for a short time until he recovered. Ford made his return to filming in mid-August, after a two-month layoff as he recovered from his injury. Ford's character was killed off in The Force Awakens, but it was subsequently announced, via a casting call, that Ford would return in some capacity as Solo in Episode VIII. In February 2016, when the cast for Episode VIII was confirmed, it was indicated that Ford would not reprise his role in the film after all. When Ford was asked if his character could come back in "some form", he replied, "Anything is possible in space." The character eventually reappeared as a vision in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019).
On February 26, 2015, Alcon Entertainment announced Ford would reprise his role as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner 2049. The film, and Ford's performance, was very well received by critics upon its release in October 2017. Scott Collura of IGN called it a, "deep, rich, smart film that's visually awesome and full of great sci-fi concepts" and Ford's role, "a quiet, sort of gut-wrenching interpretation to Deckard and what he must've gone through in the past three decades." Despite the acclaim, the film only grossed $259.3million worldwide, far short of the estimated $400million that the film needed in order to break even. In 2019, Ford had his first voice role in an animated film, as a dog named Rooster in The Secret Life of Pets 2. With filming for a fifth Indiana Jones film having been delayed by a year, Ford headlined a big-budget adaptation of Jack London's The Call of the Wild, playing prospector John Thornton. The film was released in February 2020 to a mixed critical reception but its theatrical release was shortened due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the film industry.
Personal life
Ford has been married three times, and has four biological children and one adopted child. He was first married to Mary Marquardt from 1964 until their divorce in 1979. They had two sons, chef and restaurateur Benjamin (born 1966) and clothier Willard (born 1969). Benjamin co-owns Ford's Filling Station, a gastropub with locations at L.A. Live in Los Angeles and Terminal 5 in Los Angeles International Airport. Willard is the owner of Strong Sports Gym, and was co-owner of the Kim Sing Theater and owner of the Ludwig Clothing company.
Ford's second marriage was to screenwriter Melissa Mathison from March 1983 until their separation in 2000 and finalized divorce in 2004. They had a son, actor and musician Malcolm (born 1987), and a daughter, actress Georgia (born 1990). Mathison died in 2015.
Ford began dating actress Calista Flockhart after they met at the 2002 Golden Globe Awards. They are the parents of Liam (born 2001), the son she adopted before meeting Ford. He proposed to Flockhart over Valentine's Day weekend in 2009. They married on June 15, 2010, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where Ford was filming Cowboys & Aliens.
Ford and Flockhart live on an ranch in Jackson, Wyoming, on which he has lived since the 1980s and approximately half of which he has donated as a nature reserve. They retain a base in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles. He is known as one of Hollywood's most private actors, guarding much of his personal life. In her 2016 autobiography The Princess Diarist, his co-star Carrie Fisher claimed that she and Ford had a three-month affair in 1976 during the filming of Star Wars.
Aviation
Ford is a licensed pilot of both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. On several occasions, he has personally provided emergency helicopter services at the request of local authorities in Wyoming, in one instance rescuing a hiker overcome by dehydration.
Ford began flight training in the 1960s at Wild Rose Idlewild Airport in Wild Rose, Wisconsin, flying in a Piper PA-22 Tri-Pacer, but at $15 an hour (), he could not afford to continue the training. In the mid-1990s, he bought a used Gulfstream II and asked one of his pilots, Terry Bender, to give him flying lessons. They started flying a Cessna 182 out of Jackson, Wyoming, later switching to Teterboro, New Jersey, flying a Cessna 206, the aircraft in which he made his first solo flight.
Ford's aircraft is kept at Santa Monica Airport. The Bell 407 is often kept and flown in Jackson and has been used by the actor in two mountain rescues during his assigned duty time with Teton County Search and Rescue. On one of the rescues, Ford recovered a hiker who had become lost and disoriented. She boarded Ford's helicopter and promptly vomited into one of the rescuers' caps, unaware of who the pilot was until much later; "I can't believe I barfed in Harrison Ford's helicopter!" she said later.
Ford flies his de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver (N28S) more than any of his other aircraft, and has repeatedly said that he likes this aircraft and the sound of its Pratt & Whitney R-985 radial engine. According to Ford, it had been flown in the CIA's Air America operations and was riddled with bullet holes that had to be patched up.
In March 2004, Ford officially became chairman of the Young Eagles program of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA). Ford was asked to take the position by Greg Anderson, Senior Vice President of the EAA at the time, to replace General Chuck Yeager, who was vacating the post that he had held for many years. Ford at first was hesitant, but later accepted the offer and has made appearances with the Young Eagles at the EAA AirVenture Oshkosh gathering at Oshkosh, Wisconsin, for two years. In July 2005, at the gathering in Oshkosh, Ford agreed to accept the position for another two years. He has flown over 280 children as part of the Young Eagles program, usually in his DHC-2 Beaver, which can seat the actor and five children. Ford stepped down as program chairman in 2009 and was replaced by Captain Chesley Sullenberger and First Officer Jeff Skiles. He is involved with the EAA chapter in Driggs, Idaho, just over the Teton Range from Jackson, Wyoming. On July 28, 2016, Ford flew the two millionth Young Eagle at the EAA AirVenture convention.
As of 2009, Ford appears in Internet advertisements for General Aviation Serves America, a campaign by the advocacy group Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA). He has also appeared in several independent aviation documentaries, including Wings Over the Rockies (2009), Flying The Feathered Edge: The Bob Hoover Project (2014) and Living in the Age of Airplanes (2015).
Ford is an honorary board member of the humanitarian aviation organization Wings of Hope, and is known for having made several trips to Washington, D.C., to fight for pilots' rights. He has also donated substantial funds to aerobatic champion Sean Tucker's charitable program, The Bob Hoover Academy (named after legendary aviator Bob Hoover) which educates at-risk teens in central California and teaches them how to fly.
Incidents
On October 23, 1999, Ford was involved in the crash of a Bell 206L4 LongRanger helicopter. The NTSB accident report states that Ford was piloting the aircraft over the Lake Piru riverbed near Santa Clarita, California, on a routine training flight. While making his second attempt at an autorotation with powered recovery, the aircraft was unable to recover power after the sudden drop in altitude. It landed hard and began skidding forward in the loose gravel before flipping onto its side. Neither Ford nor the instructor pilot suffered any injuries, though the helicopter was seriously damaged.
On March 5, 2015, Ford's plane, believed to be a Ryan PT-22 Recruit, made an emergency landing on the Penmar Golf Course in Venice, California. Ford had radioed in to report that the plane had experienced engine failure. He was taken to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, where he was reported to be in fair to moderate condition. Ford suffered a broken pelvis and broken ankle during the accident, as well as other injuries.
On February 13, 2017, Ford landed an Aviat Husky at John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California, on the taxiway left of runway 20L. A Boeing 737 was holding short of the runway on the taxiway when Ford overflew them.
On April 24, 2020, at the Los Angeles Hawthorne Airport, Ford was piloting a plane when he crossed a runway where another aircraft was landing.
Activism
Environmental work
Ford is vice-chair of Conservation International, an American nonprofit environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. The organization's intent is to protect nature.
In September 2013, Ford, while filming an environmental documentary in Indonesia, interviewed the Indonesian Forestry Minister, Zulkifli Hasan. After the interview, Ford and his crew were accused of "harassing state institutions" and publicly threatened with deportation. Questions within the interview concerned the Tesso Nilo National Park, Sumatra. It was alleged the Minister of Forestry was given no prior warning of questions nor the chance to explain the challenges of catching people with illegal logging. Ford was provided an audience with the Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, during which he expressed concerns regarding Indonesia's environmental degradation and the government efforts to address climate change. In response, the President explained Indonesia's commitment to preserving its oceans and forests.
In 1993, the arachnologist Norman Platnick named a new species of spider Calponia harrisonfordi, and in 2002, the entomologist Edward O. Wilson named a new ant species Pheidole harrisonfordi (in recognition of Harrison's work as Vice Chairman of Conservation International).
Since 1992, Ford has lent his voice to a series of public service messages promoting environmental involvement for EarthShare, an American federation of environmental and conservation charities. He has acted as a spokesperson for Restore Hetch Hetchy, a non-profit organization dedicated to restoring Yosemite National Park's Hetch Hetchy Valley to its original condition. Ford also appears in the documentary series Years of Living Dangerously, which reports on people affected by and seeking solutions to climate change.
In 2019, on behalf of Conservation International, Ford gave an impassioned speech during the United Nations' Climate Action Summit in New York on the destruction of the Amazon rainforest and its effect on climate change for the rest of the world. Ford urged his audience to listen to 'angry young people' trying to make a difference in the situation, emphasizing, "The most important thing we can do for them is to get the hell out of their way."
Political views
Like his parents, Ford is a lifelong Democrat.
On September 7, 1995, Ford testified before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee in support of the Dalai Lama and an independent Tibet. In 2007, he narrated the documentary Dalai Lama Renaissance.
In 2003, he publicly condemned the Iraq War and called for "regime change" in the United States. He also criticized Hollywood for making movies which were "more akin to video games than stories about human life and relationships", and he called for more gun control in the United States.
After Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said his favorite role of Ford's was Air Force One because he "stood up for America", Ford reasoned that it was just a film and made critical statements against Trump's presidential bid.
For the first time ever endorsing a political candidate for office, Ford endorsed Joe Biden's 2020 presidential campaign against Donald Trump. He said that he wanted to "encourage people to support candidates that will support the environment" and felt that under Trump, the United States has "lost some of our credibility in the world". Along with Mark Hamill, Ford worked with the anti-Trump Republican group The Lincoln Project to produce and narrate a 2020 election ad attacking Trump's disparaging of Anthony Fauci.
In 2009, Ford signed a petition calling for the release of film director Roman Polanski, who had been arrested in Switzerland in relation to his 1977 charge for drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl.
Archaeology
Following on his success portraying the archaeologist Indiana Jones, Ford also plays a part in supporting the work of professional archaeologists. He serves as a General Trustee on the Governing Board of the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA), North America's oldest and largest organization devoted to the world of archaeology. Ford assists them in their mission of increasing public awareness of archaeology and preventing looting and the illegal antiquities trade.
Star Wars: Force for Change
Ford participated in a Star Wars promotion geared toward fans who donated to Star Wars: Force for Change on video call which offered them the opportunity to purchase tickets to the premiere of The Force Awakens.
Acting credits and awards
Throughout his career, Ford has received significant recognition for his work in the entertainment industry. In 1986, he was nominated for Best Actor at the 58th Academy Awards for his performance in Witness, a role for which he also received BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations in the same category. Three additional Golden Globe nominations went to Ford in 1987, 1994 and 1996 for his performances in The Mosquito Coast, The Fugitive and Sabrina. In 2000, he was the recipient of the AFI Life Achievement Award from the American Film Institute for his body of work, presented to him by two of his closest collaborators and fellow industry giants, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. In 2002, he was given the Cecil B. DeMille Award, another career achievement honor, from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association at the 59th Golden Globe Awards ceremony. On May 30, 2003, Ford received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
In 2006, he received the Jules Verne Award, given to an actor who has "encouraged the spirit of adventure and imagination" throughout their career. He was presented with the first-ever Hero Award at the 2007 Scream Awards for his many iconic roles, including Indiana Jones and Han Solo (both of which earned him two Saturn Awards for Best Actor in 1982 and 2016, respectively), and in 2008 he received the Spike TV's Guy's Choice Award for "Brass Balls". In 2015, Ford received the Albert R. Broccoli Britannia Award for Worldwide Contribution to Entertainment from BAFTA Los Angeles. In 2018, Ford was honored by the SAG-AFTRA Foundation with the Artists Inspiration Award for both his acting and philanthropic work alongside fellow honoree Lady Gaga. SAG-AFTRA Foundation Board President JoBeth Williams in the press release said, “Harrison Ford is an acting legend in every known galaxy, but what many do not know are the decades of philanthropic service and leadership he has given to Conservation International to help protect our planet."
Other prestigious film honors for Ford include the Honorary Cesar, the Career Achievement Award from the Hollywood Film Awards, the Kirk Douglas Award for Excellence in Film from the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, the Box Office Star of the Century Award from the National Association of Theatre Owners and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Locarno Film Festival.
Ford has also been honored multiple times for his involvement in general aviation, receiving the Living Legends of Aviation Award and the Experimental Aircraft Association's Freedom of Flight Award in 2009, the Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy in 2010 and the Al Ueltschi Humanitarian Award in 2013. In 2013, Flying magazine ranked him number 48 on their list of the 51 Heroes of Aviation.
References
External links
Harrison Ford at Hollywood Walk of Fame
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
1942 births
Activists from California
Actors from Park Ridge, Illinois
Actors Fund of America
AFI Life Achievement Award recipients
American carpenters
American conservationists
American environmentalists
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male video game actors
American male voice actors
American people of Belarusian-Jewish descent
American people of Irish descent
Aviators from Illinois
California Democrats
Cecil B. DeMille Award Golden Globe winners
César Honorary Award recipients
Film producers from Illinois
Living people
Male actors from Chicago
Ripon College (Wisconsin) alumni
Survivors of aviation accidents or incidents
American gun control activists
Jewish American male actors
American Ashkenazi Jews
Experimental Aircraft Association
21st-century American Jews | true | [
"Robert Cooke (25 May 1900 – 14 January 1957) was an English first-class cricketer who played in 15 matches for Warwickshire in 1925 and 1926. He was born in Selly Oak, Birmingham and died at Bournbrook, also in Birmingham.\n\nCooke was a tail-end right-handed batsman and a right-arm fast-medium bowler. In his second first-class match, the game against Kent at The Nevill Ground, Tunbridge Wells in July 1925, he finished off the Kent first innings with a hat-trick of three wickets in three balls, in fact taking four wickets in five balls; later in the same match, he was himself part of a hat-trick taken by the Kent bowler Charlie Wright which finished off the Warwickshire second innings. Cooke's figures of five wickets for 22 runs in Kent's first innings were by some distance the best of his career, and in no other innings in a brief first-class career did he take more than two wickets.\n\nReferences\n\n1900 births\n1957 deaths\nEnglish cricketers\nWarwickshire cricketers",
"Kilburn Wilmot (3 April 1911 – 24 April 1996) was an English cricketer who played first-class cricket between 1931 and 1939 for Warwickshire. He also played football for Coventry City and Walsall. He was born in Chilvers Coton, Warwickshire, and died in Nuneaton, also in Warwickshire.\n\nWilmot was a right-handed lower-order batsman and a right-arm fast swing bowler. He played in occasional first eleven matches for Warwickshire from 1931, but made little impact until 1935 when he improved his personal best bowling figures twice in the game against Leicestershire, taking five wickets for 91 runs in the second innings. In 1936, he played in more than half of Warwickshire's matches, and in the game against Surrey he achieved the best bowling figures of his career, with seven wickets for 34 runs in the first innings and four for 56 in the second, giving match figures of 11 for 90.\n\nWilmot's career did not, however, take off after this success: in 1937, he played in only a few matches and although he was a fairly regular member of the side in both 1938 and 1939, he did not take five wickets in an innings again and his seasonal total of wickets never exceeded the 38 he achieved in both 1936 and 1938. For most of his career, his batting was negligible, and only the presence in the Warwickshire side of Eric Hollies kept him from occupying the No 11 batting position. In 1939, however, he made a great improvement and averaged 26 with the bat for the season; his two scores of more than 50 both came in this season and with the higher of them, a score of 54, he shared an eighth-wicket partnership with Tom Dollery which remains a Warwickshire record in first-class games against Derbyshire. Wilmot's cricket career ended with the outbreak of the Second World War.\n\nReferences\n\n1911 births\n1996 deaths\nEnglish cricketers\nWarwickshire cricketers\nCoventry City F.C. players\nWalsall F.C. players\nAssociation footballers not categorized by position\nEnglish footballers"
]
|
[
"Harrison Ford",
"Early career",
"How did his career get started?",
"signed a $150-a-week contract with Columbia Pictures' New Talent program, playing bit roles in films.",
"When was he signed?",
"In 1964,",
"Did his career take off right away?",
"Ford traveled to Los Angeles to apply for a job in radio voice-overs. He did not get it,"
]
| C_0102898e6f744dd7808e75bc246b81fe_1 | How long did it take him to rise to fame? | 4 | How long did it take Harrison Ford to rise to fame? | Harrison Ford | In 1964, after a season of summer stock with the Belfry Players in Wisconsin, Ford traveled to Los Angeles to apply for a job in radio voice-overs. He did not get it, but stayed in California and eventually signed a $150-a-week contract with Columbia Pictures' New Talent program, playing bit roles in films. His first known role was an uncredited one as a bellhop in Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round (1966). There is little record of his non-speaking roles (or "extra" work) in film. Ford was at the bottom of the hiring list, having offended producer Jerry Tokovsky after he played a bellboy in the feature. He was told by Tokovsky that when actor Tony Curtis delivered a bag of groceries, he did it like a movie star; Ford felt his job was to act like a bellboy. Ford managed to secure other roles in movies, such as A Time for Killing (The Long Ride Home), starring Glenn Ford; George Hamilton; and Inger Stevens. His speaking roles continued next with Luv (1967), though he was still uncredited. He was finally credited as "Harrison J. Ford" in the 1967 Western film A Time for Killing, but the "J" did not stand for anything, since he has no middle name. It was added to avoid confusion with a silent film actor named Harrison Ford, who appeared in more than 80 films between 1915 and 1932 and died in 1957. Ford later said that he was unaware of the existence of the earlier actor until he came upon a star with his own name on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Ford soon dropped the "J" and worked for Universal Studios, playing minor roles in many television series throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, including Gunsmoke, Ironside, The Virginian, The F.B.I., Love, American Style, and Kung Fu. He appeared in the western Journey to Shiloh (1968) and had an uncredited, non-speaking role in Michelangelo Antonioni's 1970 film Zabriskie Point as an arrested student protester. Not happy with the roles being offered to him, Ford became a self-taught professional carpenter to support his then-wife and two young sons. Casting director and fledgling producer Fred Roos championed the young Ford and secured him an audition with George Lucas for the role of Bob Falfa, which Ford went on to play in American Graffiti (1973). Ford's relationship with Lucas would profoundly affect his career later on. After director Francis Ford Coppola's film The Godfather was a success, he hired Ford to expand his office and gave him small roles in his next two films, The Conversation (1974) and Apocalypse Now (1979); in the latter film he played an army officer named "G. Lucas". CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Harrison Ford (born July 13, 1942) is an American actor. His films have grossed more than $5.4billion in North America and more than $9.3billion worldwide, making him the seventh-highest-grossing actor in North America. He is the recipient of various accolades, including three Saturn Awards, the AFI Life Achievement Award and the Cecil B. DeMille Award, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award and four Golden Globe Awards.
Following the initial phase of his career in bit parts and supporting roles, Ford gained worldwide fame for his starring role as Han Solo in the epic space opera film Star Wars (1977), reprising the role in four sequels over the course of the next 42 years. He is also widely known for his portrayal of Indiana Jones in the titular film franchise, beginning with the action-adventure film Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), and for playing other characters in different franchises, most notably Rick Deckard in the dystopian science fiction films Blade Runner (1982) and Blade Runner 2049 (2017) and the Tom Clancy character Jack Ryan in the spy thriller films Patriot Games (1992) and Clear and Present Danger (1994). His career spans six decades and includes collaborations with some of the most acclaimed and influential filmmakers of his time, such as George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg, Ridley Scott, Peter Weir, Roman Polanski and Mike Nichols.
Ford has portrayed heroic characters in other films such as the thrillers Witness (1985), for which he received his only Academy Award nomination, The Fugitive (1993), and Air Force One (1997), as well as the historical sports drama 42 (2013). In addition to heroic roles, he played morally ambiguous and darker characters in films such as the coming-of-age comedy drama American Graffiti (1973), the conspiracy thriller The Conversation (1974), the survival drama The Mosquito Coast (1986), the legal drama Presumed Innocent (1990), and the supernatural suspense thriller What Lies Beneath (2000). Ford has also appeared in several romantic comedies and dramas throughout his career, including Heroes (1977), Working Girl (1988), Sabrina (1995), Six Days, Seven Nights (1998), Random Hearts (1999), Morning Glory (2010), and The Age of Adaline (2015).
Outside acting, Ford is a licensed pilot who has often assisted the emergency services in rescue missions near his home in Wyoming. He is also a dedicated environmental activist, having served as the inaugural Vice Chair of Conservation International since 1991.
Early life
Harrison Ford was born at the Swedish Covenant Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, on July 13, 1942, to former radio actress Dorothy (née Nidelman) and advertising executive and former actor John William "Christopher" Ford. His younger brother, Terence, was born in 1945. Their father was a Catholic of German and Irish descent, while their mother was an Ashkenazi Jew whose parents were emigrants from Minsk, Belarus, then in the Russian Empire. When asked in which religion he and his brother were raised, Ford jokingly responded "Democrat" and more seriously stated that they were raised to be "liberals of every stripe". When asked about what influence his Jewish and Irish Catholic ancestry may have had on him, he quipped, "As a man I've always felt Irish, as an actor I've always felt Jewish."
Ford was a Boy Scout, achieving the second-highest rank of Life Scout. He worked at Napowan Adventure Base Scout Camp as a counselor for the Reptile Study merit badge. Because of this, he and director Steven Spielberg later decided to depict the young Indiana Jones as a Life Scout in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989). Ford graduated in 1960 from Maine East High School in Park Ridge, Illinois. His voice was the first student voice broadcast on his high school's new radio station, WMTH, and he was its first sportscaster during his senior year. He attended Ripon College in Ripon, Wisconsin, where he was a philosophy major and a member of the Sigma Nu fraternity. A self-described "late bloomer", Ford took a drama class in the final quarter of his senior year to get over his shyness and became fascinated with acting.
Career
1964–1976
In 1964, after a season of summer stock with the Belfry Players in Wisconsin, Ford traveled to Los Angeles to apply for a job in radio voice-overs. He did not get it, but stayed in California and eventually signed a $150-per-week contract with Columbia Pictures' new talent program, playing bit roles in films. His first known role was an uncredited one as a bellhop in Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round (1966). There is little record of his non-speaking (or "extra") roles in film. Ford was at the bottom of the hiring list, having offended producer Jerry Tokovsky after he played a bellboy in the feature. He was told by Tokovsky that when actor Tony Curtis delivered a bag of groceries, he did it like a movie star; Ford felt his job was to act like a bellboy.
His speaking roles continued next with Luv (1967), though he was still uncredited. He was finally credited as "Harrison J. Ford" in the 1967 Western film A Time for Killing, starring Glenn Ford, George Hamilton and Inger Stevens, but the "J" did not stand for anything since he has no middle name. It was added to avoid confusion with a silent film actor named Harrison Ford, who appeared in more than 80 films between 1915 and 1932 and died in 1957. Ford later said that he was unaware of the existence of the earlier actor until he came upon a star with his own name on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Ford soon dropped the "J" and worked for Universal Studios, playing minor roles in many television series throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, including Gunsmoke, Ironside, The Virginian, The F.B.I., Love, American Style and Kung Fu. He appeared in the western Journey to Shiloh (1968) and had an uncredited, non-speaking role in Michelangelo Antonioni's 1970 film Zabriskie Point as an arrested student protester. French filmmaker Jacques Demy chose Ford for the lead role of his first American film, Model Shop (1969), but the head of Columbia Pictures thought Ford had "no future" in the film business and told Demy to hire a more experienced actor. The part eventually went to Gary Lockwood. Ford later commented that the experience had been nevertheless a positive one because Demy was the first to show such faith in him.
Not happy with the roles offered to him, Ford became a self-taught professional carpenter to support his then-wife and two young sons. Clients at this time included the writers Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne, who lived on the beach at Malibu. Ford appears in the documentary Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold. He and his wife became friends of the writers. Casting director and fledgling producer Fred Roos championed the young Ford and secured him an audition with George Lucas for the role of Bob Falfa, which Ford went on to play in American Graffiti (1973). Ford's relationship with Lucas would profoundly affect his career later on. After director Francis Ford Coppola's film The Godfather was a success, he hired Ford to expand his office and gave him small roles in his next two films, The Conversation (1974) and Apocalypse Now (1979); in the latter film, Ford played an army officer named "G. Lucas".
1977–1997
Ford began to receive bigger roles in films throughout the late 1970s, including Heroes (1977), Force 10 from Navarone (1978) and Hanover Street (1979). Ford also co-starred alongside Gene Wilder in the buddy-comedy western The Frisco Kid (1979), playing a bank robber with a heart of gold. His previous work in American Graffiti eventually landed him his first starring film role when he was hired by Lucas to read lines for actors auditioning for roles in Lucas' upcoming epic space-opera film Star Wars (1977). Lucas was eventually won over by Ford's performance during these line reads and cast him as Han Solo. Star Wars became one of the most successful and groundbreaking films of all time, and brought Ford, and his co-stars Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher, widespread recognition. He returned to star in the similarly successful Star Wars sequels The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983), as well as the Star Wars Holiday Special (1978). Ford wanted Lucas to kill off Han Solo at the end of Return of the Jedi, saying, "That would have given the whole film a bottom," but Lucas refused.
Ford's status as a leading actor was solidified with Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), an action-adventure collaboration between George Lucas and Steven Spielberg that gave Ford his second franchise role as the heroic, globe-trotting archaeologist Indiana Jones. Like Star Wars, the film was massively successful and became the highest-grossing film of the year. Spielberg was interested in casting Ford from the beginning, but Lucas was not, having already worked with the actor in American Graffiti and Star Wars. Lucas eventually relented after Tom Selleck was unable to accept. Ford went on to reprise the role throughout the rest of the decade in the prequel Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), which co-starred Spielberg's future-wife Kate Capshaw, and the sequel Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), which co-starred Sean Connery as Indy's father, Henry Jones Sr. During the June 1983 filming of Temple of Doom in London, Ford herniated a disc in his back. The 40-year-old actor was forced to fly back to Los Angeles for surgery and returned six weeks later.
Following his leading-man success as Indiana Jones, he played Rick Deckard in Ridley Scott's dystopian science-fiction film Blade Runner (1982). Compared to his experiences on the Star Wars and Indiana Jones films, Ford had a difficult time with the production. He recalled to Vanity Fair, “It was a long slog. I didn’t really find it that physically difficult—I thought it was mentally difficult.” Ford and Scott also had differing views on the nature of his character, Deckard, that persist decades later. While not initially a success, Blade Runner went on to become a cult classic and one of Ford's most highly regarded films. Ford also proved his versatility throughout the 1980s with dramatic parts in films such as Witness (1985), The Mosquito Coast (1986), and Frantic (1988) as well as the romantic male lead opposite Melanie Griffith and Sigourney Weaver in the comedy-drama Working Girl (1988). Witness and The Mosquito Coast in particular allowed Ford to explore his potential as a dramatic actor and both performances were widely acclaimed. Ford would later recall that working with director Peter Weir on both Witness and The Mosquito Coast were two of the best experiences of his career.
In the 1990s, Ford became the second of five actors to portray Jack Ryan in two films of the film series based on the literary character created by Tom Clancy: Patriot Games (1992) and Clear and Present Danger (1994), both co-starring Anne Archer and James Earl Jones. Ford took over the role from Alec Baldwin who had previously played the character in The Hunt for Red October (1990). This led to a long-lasting resentment from Baldwin who claimed to have wanted to reprise the role but Ford had negotiated with Paramount behind his back. Ford also played leading roles in other action-based thrillers throughout the decade such as the critically acclaimed The Fugitive (1993), The Devil's Own (1997), and Air Force One (1997). For his performance in The Fugitive, which also co-starred Tommy Lee Jones, Ford received some of the best reviews of his career, including from Roger Ebert who concluded that, "Ford is once again the great modern movie everyman. As an actor, nothing he does seems merely for show, and in the face of this melodramatic material he deliberately plays down, lays low, gets on with business instead of trying to exploit the drama in meaningless acting flourishes." He also played more straight dramatic roles in Presumed Innocent (1990) and Regarding Henry (1991) as well as another romantic lead in Sabrina (1995), a remake of a classic 1954 film with the same name.
Ford established working relationships with many well-regarded directors during this time, including Peter Weir, Alan J. Pakula, Mike Nichols, Phillip Noyce, and Sydney Pollack, collaborating twice with each of them. This was the most lucrative period of Ford's career. From 1977 to 1997, he appeared in fourteen films that reached the top fifteen in the yearly domestic box office rankings, twelve of which reached the top ten. Six of the films he appeared in during this time were also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture amongst numerous other awards: Star Wars, Apocalypse Now, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Witness, Working Girl, and The Fugitive.
1998–2014
In the late 1990s, Ford started appearing in several critically derided and/or commercially disappointing films that failed to match his earlier successes, including Six Days, Seven Nights (1998), Random Hearts (1999), K-19: The Widowmaker (2002), Hollywood Homicide (2003), Firewall (2006) and Extraordinary Measures (2010). One exception was What Lies Beneath (2000) which grossed over $155million in the United States and $291million worldwide. Ford served as an executive producer on K-19: The Widowmaker and Extraordinary Measures, both of which were based on true events. In the 2001 Guinness Book of World Records, Ford was listed as the richest male actor in the world.
In 2004, Ford declined a chance to star in the thriller Syriana, later commenting that "I didn't feel strongly enough about the truth of the material and I think I made a mistake." The role eventually went to George Clooney, who won an Oscar and a Golden Globe for his work. Prior to that, Ford had passed on a role in another Stephen Gaghan-written film, that of Robert Wakefield in Traffic, which eventually went to Michael Douglas.
In 2008, Ford enjoyed success with the release of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the first Indiana Jones film in nineteen years and another collaboration with Lucas and Spielberg. The film received generally positive reviews and was the second highest-grossing film worldwide in 2008. Ford later said he would like to star in another sequel, "...if it didn't take another 20 years to digest."
Other 2008 work included Crossing Over, directed by Wayne Kramer. In the film, Ford plays an ICE/Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent, working alongside Ashley Judd and Ray Liotta. He also narrated a feature documentary film about the Dalai Lama entitled Dalai Lama Renaissance. Ford filmed the medical drama Extraordinary Measures in 2009 in Portland, Oregon. Released January 22, 2010, the film also starred Brendan Fraser and Alan Ruck. Also in 2010, he co-starred in the film Morning Glory, along with Rachel McAdams, Diane Keaton and Patrick Wilson. Although a disappointment at the box office, Ford's performance was well received by critics, some of which thought it was his best role in years. In July 2011, Ford starred alongside Daniel Craig and Olivia Wilde in the science-fiction/western hybrid film Cowboys & Aliens. To promote the film, Ford appeared at the San Diego Comic-Con International and, apparently surprised by the warm welcome, told the audience, "I just wanted to make a living as an actor. I didn't know about this." Also in 2011, Ford starred in Japanese commercials advertising the video game Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception for the PlayStation 3.
2013 began a trend that saw Ford accepting more diverse supporting roles. That year, Ford co-starred in the corporate espionage thriller Paranoia with Liam Hemsworth and Gary Oldman, who he had previously worked with in Air Force One, and he also appeared in Ender's Game, 42 and Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues. His performance as Branch Rickey in 42 was praised by many critics and garnered Ford a nomination as best supporting actor for the Satellite Awards. In 2014, he appeared in The Expendables 3 and the documentary Flying the Feathered Edge: The Bob Hoover Project. The next year, Ford co-starred with Blake Lively in the romantic drama The Age of Adaline to positive notices.
2015–present
Ford reprised the role of Han Solo in the long-awaited Star Wars sequel Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), which became massively successful like its predecessors. During filming on June 11, 2014, Ford suffered what was said to be a fractured ankle when a hydraulic door fell on him. He was airlifted to John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, England, for treatment. Ford's son Ben released details on his father's injury, saying that his ankle would likely need a plate and screws, and that filming could be altered slightly with the crew needing to shoot Ford from the waist up for a short time until he recovered. Ford made his return to filming in mid-August, after a two-month layoff as he recovered from his injury. Ford's character was killed off in The Force Awakens, but it was subsequently announced, via a casting call, that Ford would return in some capacity as Solo in Episode VIII. In February 2016, when the cast for Episode VIII was confirmed, it was indicated that Ford would not reprise his role in the film after all. When Ford was asked if his character could come back in "some form", he replied, "Anything is possible in space." The character eventually reappeared as a vision in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019).
On February 26, 2015, Alcon Entertainment announced Ford would reprise his role as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner 2049. The film, and Ford's performance, was very well received by critics upon its release in October 2017. Scott Collura of IGN called it a, "deep, rich, smart film that's visually awesome and full of great sci-fi concepts" and Ford's role, "a quiet, sort of gut-wrenching interpretation to Deckard and what he must've gone through in the past three decades." Despite the acclaim, the film only grossed $259.3million worldwide, far short of the estimated $400million that the film needed in order to break even. In 2019, Ford had his first voice role in an animated film, as a dog named Rooster in The Secret Life of Pets 2. With filming for a fifth Indiana Jones film having been delayed by a year, Ford headlined a big-budget adaptation of Jack London's The Call of the Wild, playing prospector John Thornton. The film was released in February 2020 to a mixed critical reception but its theatrical release was shortened due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the film industry.
Personal life
Ford has been married three times, and has four biological children and one adopted child. He was first married to Mary Marquardt from 1964 until their divorce in 1979. They had two sons, chef and restaurateur Benjamin (born 1966) and clothier Willard (born 1969). Benjamin co-owns Ford's Filling Station, a gastropub with locations at L.A. Live in Los Angeles and Terminal 5 in Los Angeles International Airport. Willard is the owner of Strong Sports Gym, and was co-owner of the Kim Sing Theater and owner of the Ludwig Clothing company.
Ford's second marriage was to screenwriter Melissa Mathison from March 1983 until their separation in 2000 and finalized divorce in 2004. They had a son, actor and musician Malcolm (born 1987), and a daughter, actress Georgia (born 1990). Mathison died in 2015.
Ford began dating actress Calista Flockhart after they met at the 2002 Golden Globe Awards. They are the parents of Liam (born 2001), the son she adopted before meeting Ford. He proposed to Flockhart over Valentine's Day weekend in 2009. They married on June 15, 2010, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where Ford was filming Cowboys & Aliens.
Ford and Flockhart live on an ranch in Jackson, Wyoming, on which he has lived since the 1980s and approximately half of which he has donated as a nature reserve. They retain a base in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles. He is known as one of Hollywood's most private actors, guarding much of his personal life. In her 2016 autobiography The Princess Diarist, his co-star Carrie Fisher claimed that she and Ford had a three-month affair in 1976 during the filming of Star Wars.
Aviation
Ford is a licensed pilot of both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. On several occasions, he has personally provided emergency helicopter services at the request of local authorities in Wyoming, in one instance rescuing a hiker overcome by dehydration.
Ford began flight training in the 1960s at Wild Rose Idlewild Airport in Wild Rose, Wisconsin, flying in a Piper PA-22 Tri-Pacer, but at $15 an hour (), he could not afford to continue the training. In the mid-1990s, he bought a used Gulfstream II and asked one of his pilots, Terry Bender, to give him flying lessons. They started flying a Cessna 182 out of Jackson, Wyoming, later switching to Teterboro, New Jersey, flying a Cessna 206, the aircraft in which he made his first solo flight.
Ford's aircraft is kept at Santa Monica Airport. The Bell 407 is often kept and flown in Jackson and has been used by the actor in two mountain rescues during his assigned duty time with Teton County Search and Rescue. On one of the rescues, Ford recovered a hiker who had become lost and disoriented. She boarded Ford's helicopter and promptly vomited into one of the rescuers' caps, unaware of who the pilot was until much later; "I can't believe I barfed in Harrison Ford's helicopter!" she said later.
Ford flies his de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver (N28S) more than any of his other aircraft, and has repeatedly said that he likes this aircraft and the sound of its Pratt & Whitney R-985 radial engine. According to Ford, it had been flown in the CIA's Air America operations and was riddled with bullet holes that had to be patched up.
In March 2004, Ford officially became chairman of the Young Eagles program of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA). Ford was asked to take the position by Greg Anderson, Senior Vice President of the EAA at the time, to replace General Chuck Yeager, who was vacating the post that he had held for many years. Ford at first was hesitant, but later accepted the offer and has made appearances with the Young Eagles at the EAA AirVenture Oshkosh gathering at Oshkosh, Wisconsin, for two years. In July 2005, at the gathering in Oshkosh, Ford agreed to accept the position for another two years. He has flown over 280 children as part of the Young Eagles program, usually in his DHC-2 Beaver, which can seat the actor and five children. Ford stepped down as program chairman in 2009 and was replaced by Captain Chesley Sullenberger and First Officer Jeff Skiles. He is involved with the EAA chapter in Driggs, Idaho, just over the Teton Range from Jackson, Wyoming. On July 28, 2016, Ford flew the two millionth Young Eagle at the EAA AirVenture convention.
As of 2009, Ford appears in Internet advertisements for General Aviation Serves America, a campaign by the advocacy group Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA). He has also appeared in several independent aviation documentaries, including Wings Over the Rockies (2009), Flying The Feathered Edge: The Bob Hoover Project (2014) and Living in the Age of Airplanes (2015).
Ford is an honorary board member of the humanitarian aviation organization Wings of Hope, and is known for having made several trips to Washington, D.C., to fight for pilots' rights. He has also donated substantial funds to aerobatic champion Sean Tucker's charitable program, The Bob Hoover Academy (named after legendary aviator Bob Hoover) which educates at-risk teens in central California and teaches them how to fly.
Incidents
On October 23, 1999, Ford was involved in the crash of a Bell 206L4 LongRanger helicopter. The NTSB accident report states that Ford was piloting the aircraft over the Lake Piru riverbed near Santa Clarita, California, on a routine training flight. While making his second attempt at an autorotation with powered recovery, the aircraft was unable to recover power after the sudden drop in altitude. It landed hard and began skidding forward in the loose gravel before flipping onto its side. Neither Ford nor the instructor pilot suffered any injuries, though the helicopter was seriously damaged.
On March 5, 2015, Ford's plane, believed to be a Ryan PT-22 Recruit, made an emergency landing on the Penmar Golf Course in Venice, California. Ford had radioed in to report that the plane had experienced engine failure. He was taken to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, where he was reported to be in fair to moderate condition. Ford suffered a broken pelvis and broken ankle during the accident, as well as other injuries.
On February 13, 2017, Ford landed an Aviat Husky at John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California, on the taxiway left of runway 20L. A Boeing 737 was holding short of the runway on the taxiway when Ford overflew them.
On April 24, 2020, at the Los Angeles Hawthorne Airport, Ford was piloting a plane when he crossed a runway where another aircraft was landing.
Activism
Environmental work
Ford is vice-chair of Conservation International, an American nonprofit environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. The organization's intent is to protect nature.
In September 2013, Ford, while filming an environmental documentary in Indonesia, interviewed the Indonesian Forestry Minister, Zulkifli Hasan. After the interview, Ford and his crew were accused of "harassing state institutions" and publicly threatened with deportation. Questions within the interview concerned the Tesso Nilo National Park, Sumatra. It was alleged the Minister of Forestry was given no prior warning of questions nor the chance to explain the challenges of catching people with illegal logging. Ford was provided an audience with the Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, during which he expressed concerns regarding Indonesia's environmental degradation and the government efforts to address climate change. In response, the President explained Indonesia's commitment to preserving its oceans and forests.
In 1993, the arachnologist Norman Platnick named a new species of spider Calponia harrisonfordi, and in 2002, the entomologist Edward O. Wilson named a new ant species Pheidole harrisonfordi (in recognition of Harrison's work as Vice Chairman of Conservation International).
Since 1992, Ford has lent his voice to a series of public service messages promoting environmental involvement for EarthShare, an American federation of environmental and conservation charities. He has acted as a spokesperson for Restore Hetch Hetchy, a non-profit organization dedicated to restoring Yosemite National Park's Hetch Hetchy Valley to its original condition. Ford also appears in the documentary series Years of Living Dangerously, which reports on people affected by and seeking solutions to climate change.
In 2019, on behalf of Conservation International, Ford gave an impassioned speech during the United Nations' Climate Action Summit in New York on the destruction of the Amazon rainforest and its effect on climate change for the rest of the world. Ford urged his audience to listen to 'angry young people' trying to make a difference in the situation, emphasizing, "The most important thing we can do for them is to get the hell out of their way."
Political views
Like his parents, Ford is a lifelong Democrat.
On September 7, 1995, Ford testified before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee in support of the Dalai Lama and an independent Tibet. In 2007, he narrated the documentary Dalai Lama Renaissance.
In 2003, he publicly condemned the Iraq War and called for "regime change" in the United States. He also criticized Hollywood for making movies which were "more akin to video games than stories about human life and relationships", and he called for more gun control in the United States.
After Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said his favorite role of Ford's was Air Force One because he "stood up for America", Ford reasoned that it was just a film and made critical statements against Trump's presidential bid.
For the first time ever endorsing a political candidate for office, Ford endorsed Joe Biden's 2020 presidential campaign against Donald Trump. He said that he wanted to "encourage people to support candidates that will support the environment" and felt that under Trump, the United States has "lost some of our credibility in the world". Along with Mark Hamill, Ford worked with the anti-Trump Republican group The Lincoln Project to produce and narrate a 2020 election ad attacking Trump's disparaging of Anthony Fauci.
In 2009, Ford signed a petition calling for the release of film director Roman Polanski, who had been arrested in Switzerland in relation to his 1977 charge for drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl.
Archaeology
Following on his success portraying the archaeologist Indiana Jones, Ford also plays a part in supporting the work of professional archaeologists. He serves as a General Trustee on the Governing Board of the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA), North America's oldest and largest organization devoted to the world of archaeology. Ford assists them in their mission of increasing public awareness of archaeology and preventing looting and the illegal antiquities trade.
Star Wars: Force for Change
Ford participated in a Star Wars promotion geared toward fans who donated to Star Wars: Force for Change on video call which offered them the opportunity to purchase tickets to the premiere of The Force Awakens.
Acting credits and awards
Throughout his career, Ford has received significant recognition for his work in the entertainment industry. In 1986, he was nominated for Best Actor at the 58th Academy Awards for his performance in Witness, a role for which he also received BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations in the same category. Three additional Golden Globe nominations went to Ford in 1987, 1994 and 1996 for his performances in The Mosquito Coast, The Fugitive and Sabrina. In 2000, he was the recipient of the AFI Life Achievement Award from the American Film Institute for his body of work, presented to him by two of his closest collaborators and fellow industry giants, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. In 2002, he was given the Cecil B. DeMille Award, another career achievement honor, from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association at the 59th Golden Globe Awards ceremony. On May 30, 2003, Ford received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
In 2006, he received the Jules Verne Award, given to an actor who has "encouraged the spirit of adventure and imagination" throughout their career. He was presented with the first-ever Hero Award at the 2007 Scream Awards for his many iconic roles, including Indiana Jones and Han Solo (both of which earned him two Saturn Awards for Best Actor in 1982 and 2016, respectively), and in 2008 he received the Spike TV's Guy's Choice Award for "Brass Balls". In 2015, Ford received the Albert R. Broccoli Britannia Award for Worldwide Contribution to Entertainment from BAFTA Los Angeles. In 2018, Ford was honored by the SAG-AFTRA Foundation with the Artists Inspiration Award for both his acting and philanthropic work alongside fellow honoree Lady Gaga. SAG-AFTRA Foundation Board President JoBeth Williams in the press release said, “Harrison Ford is an acting legend in every known galaxy, but what many do not know are the decades of philanthropic service and leadership he has given to Conservation International to help protect our planet."
Other prestigious film honors for Ford include the Honorary Cesar, the Career Achievement Award from the Hollywood Film Awards, the Kirk Douglas Award for Excellence in Film from the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, the Box Office Star of the Century Award from the National Association of Theatre Owners and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Locarno Film Festival.
Ford has also been honored multiple times for his involvement in general aviation, receiving the Living Legends of Aviation Award and the Experimental Aircraft Association's Freedom of Flight Award in 2009, the Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy in 2010 and the Al Ueltschi Humanitarian Award in 2013. In 2013, Flying magazine ranked him number 48 on their list of the 51 Heroes of Aviation.
References
External links
Harrison Ford at Hollywood Walk of Fame
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
1942 births
Activists from California
Actors from Park Ridge, Illinois
Actors Fund of America
AFI Life Achievement Award recipients
American carpenters
American conservationists
American environmentalists
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male video game actors
American male voice actors
American people of Belarusian-Jewish descent
American people of Irish descent
Aviators from Illinois
California Democrats
Cecil B. DeMille Award Golden Globe winners
César Honorary Award recipients
Film producers from Illinois
Living people
Male actors from Chicago
Ripon College (Wisconsin) alumni
Survivors of aviation accidents or incidents
American gun control activists
Jewish American male actors
American Ashkenazi Jews
Experimental Aircraft Association
21st-century American Jews | false | [
"Songs From The Heart is an album by gospel singer Yolanda Adams. Songs included the single \"Still I Rise,\" dedicated to Rosa Parks, and interpolated from a poem by Maya Angelou. This was Adams' final album for the Verity Records label before signing with Elektra Records and gaining mainstream fame with her follow-up album Mountain High... Valley Low.\n\nTrack listing \n Only Believe 4:29\n Is Your All On The Altar 5:43\n Still I Rise 5:42\n Never Alone 3:25\n Jesus Medley: Jesus Is All, Oh How Jesus Loves You And Me, Oh How I Love Jesus 8:39\n God Will Take Care Of You 4:12\n Lord, I Want To Be A Christian 5:11\n Know Him 5:17\n Come To Me 4:53\n His Presence Is Here 4:50\n\nChart positions\n\nExternal links\n \n\n1998 albums\nYolanda Adams albums",
"\"How Long's a Tear Take to Dry?\" is a single by British pop rock group the Beautiful South from their sixth album, Quench (1998). It was written by Paul Heaton and Dave Rotheray. The lyrics, which take the form of a conversation between two reconciling lovers, are noted for a reference to the TARDIS from Doctor Who. According to the book Last Orders at the Liars Bar: the Official Story of the Beautiful South, \"How Long's a Tear Take To Dry?\" was originally to be called \"She Bangs the Buns\" due to its chord structure reminiscent of Manchester's the Stone Roses. The song reached number 12 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the band's twelfth and final top-twenty hit.\n\nSingle release\n\"How Long's a Tear Take to Dry?\" reached number 12 in the UK Singles Chart in March 1999. Although not released on vinyl, it was given a dual-CD release in the UK. B-sides included a remix of \"How Long's a Tear Take to Dry?\" as well as acoustic versions of three other songs: \"Perfect 10\", \"Big Coin\", and \"Rotterdam\". On 18 March 1999, the band performed \"How Long's a Tear Take to Dry?\" live on the BBC music programme Top of the Pops.\n\nMusic video\nThe music video, available on The Beautiful South's compilation DVD Munch, is a humorous account of The Beautiful South on a world tour in order to pay for drinks at the local bar. The band is portrayed by cartoon versions of themselves, in a style reminiscent of 1960s-era Hanna-Barbera cartoons, and Scooby-Doo in particular. In the commentary track on the Munch DVD, Paul Heaton explains that the video was actually produced by Hanna-Barbera.\n\nTrack listings\n\nUK CD1\n \"How Long's a Tear Take to Dry?\"\n \"How Long's a Tear Take to Dry?\" (remix)\n \"Perfect 10\" (acoustic)\n\nUK CD2\n \"How Long's a Tear Take to Dry?\"\n \"Big Coin\" (acoustic)\n \"Rotterdam\" (acoustic)\n\nUK cassette single\n \"How Long's a Tear Take to Dry?\"\n \"How Long's a Tear Take to Dry?\" (remix)\n\nEuropean CD single\n \"How Long's a Tear Take to Dry?\" (radio edit)\n \"How Long's a Tear Take to Dry?\" (remix)\n \"Perfect 10\" (acoustic)\n \"Rotterdam\" (acoustic)\n\nGerman CD single\n \"How Long's a Tear Take to Dry?\"\n \"Dumb\"\n \"I Sold My Heart to the Junkman\"\n \"Suck Harder\"\n\nCharts\n\nReferences\n\n Pattenden, Mike - Last Orders at the Liars Bar: the Official Story of the Beautiful South ()\n\n1999 singles\n1998 songs\nThe Beautiful South songs\nGo! Discs singles\nHanna-Barbera\nMercury Records singles\nSongs written by David Rotheray\nSongs written by Paul Heaton"
]
|
[
"Harrison Ford",
"Early career",
"How did his career get started?",
"signed a $150-a-week contract with Columbia Pictures' New Talent program, playing bit roles in films.",
"When was he signed?",
"In 1964,",
"Did his career take off right away?",
"Ford traveled to Los Angeles to apply for a job in radio voice-overs. He did not get it,",
"How long did it take him to rise to fame?",
"I don't know."
]
| C_0102898e6f744dd7808e75bc246b81fe_1 | What was his first part? | 5 | What was Harrison Ford's first part? | Harrison Ford | In 1964, after a season of summer stock with the Belfry Players in Wisconsin, Ford traveled to Los Angeles to apply for a job in radio voice-overs. He did not get it, but stayed in California and eventually signed a $150-a-week contract with Columbia Pictures' New Talent program, playing bit roles in films. His first known role was an uncredited one as a bellhop in Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round (1966). There is little record of his non-speaking roles (or "extra" work) in film. Ford was at the bottom of the hiring list, having offended producer Jerry Tokovsky after he played a bellboy in the feature. He was told by Tokovsky that when actor Tony Curtis delivered a bag of groceries, he did it like a movie star; Ford felt his job was to act like a bellboy. Ford managed to secure other roles in movies, such as A Time for Killing (The Long Ride Home), starring Glenn Ford; George Hamilton; and Inger Stevens. His speaking roles continued next with Luv (1967), though he was still uncredited. He was finally credited as "Harrison J. Ford" in the 1967 Western film A Time for Killing, but the "J" did not stand for anything, since he has no middle name. It was added to avoid confusion with a silent film actor named Harrison Ford, who appeared in more than 80 films between 1915 and 1932 and died in 1957. Ford later said that he was unaware of the existence of the earlier actor until he came upon a star with his own name on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Ford soon dropped the "J" and worked for Universal Studios, playing minor roles in many television series throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, including Gunsmoke, Ironside, The Virginian, The F.B.I., Love, American Style, and Kung Fu. He appeared in the western Journey to Shiloh (1968) and had an uncredited, non-speaking role in Michelangelo Antonioni's 1970 film Zabriskie Point as an arrested student protester. Not happy with the roles being offered to him, Ford became a self-taught professional carpenter to support his then-wife and two young sons. Casting director and fledgling producer Fred Roos championed the young Ford and secured him an audition with George Lucas for the role of Bob Falfa, which Ford went on to play in American Graffiti (1973). Ford's relationship with Lucas would profoundly affect his career later on. After director Francis Ford Coppola's film The Godfather was a success, he hired Ford to expand his office and gave him small roles in his next two films, The Conversation (1974) and Apocalypse Now (1979); in the latter film he played an army officer named "G. Lucas". CANNOTANSWER | In 1964, after a season of summer stock with the Belfry Players in Wisconsin, Ford traveled to Los Angeles | Harrison Ford (born July 13, 1942) is an American actor. His films have grossed more than $5.4billion in North America and more than $9.3billion worldwide, making him the seventh-highest-grossing actor in North America. He is the recipient of various accolades, including three Saturn Awards, the AFI Life Achievement Award and the Cecil B. DeMille Award, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award and four Golden Globe Awards.
Following the initial phase of his career in bit parts and supporting roles, Ford gained worldwide fame for his starring role as Han Solo in the epic space opera film Star Wars (1977), reprising the role in four sequels over the course of the next 42 years. He is also widely known for his portrayal of Indiana Jones in the titular film franchise, beginning with the action-adventure film Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), and for playing other characters in different franchises, most notably Rick Deckard in the dystopian science fiction films Blade Runner (1982) and Blade Runner 2049 (2017) and the Tom Clancy character Jack Ryan in the spy thriller films Patriot Games (1992) and Clear and Present Danger (1994). His career spans six decades and includes collaborations with some of the most acclaimed and influential filmmakers of his time, such as George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg, Ridley Scott, Peter Weir, Roman Polanski and Mike Nichols.
Ford has portrayed heroic characters in other films such as the thrillers Witness (1985), for which he received his only Academy Award nomination, The Fugitive (1993), and Air Force One (1997), as well as the historical sports drama 42 (2013). In addition to heroic roles, he played morally ambiguous and darker characters in films such as the coming-of-age comedy drama American Graffiti (1973), the conspiracy thriller The Conversation (1974), the survival drama The Mosquito Coast (1986), the legal drama Presumed Innocent (1990), and the supernatural suspense thriller What Lies Beneath (2000). Ford has also appeared in several romantic comedies and dramas throughout his career, including Heroes (1977), Working Girl (1988), Sabrina (1995), Six Days, Seven Nights (1998), Random Hearts (1999), Morning Glory (2010), and The Age of Adaline (2015).
Outside acting, Ford is a licensed pilot who has often assisted the emergency services in rescue missions near his home in Wyoming. He is also a dedicated environmental activist, having served as the inaugural Vice Chair of Conservation International since 1991.
Early life
Harrison Ford was born at the Swedish Covenant Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, on July 13, 1942, to former radio actress Dorothy (née Nidelman) and advertising executive and former actor John William "Christopher" Ford. His younger brother, Terence, was born in 1945. Their father was a Catholic of German and Irish descent, while their mother was an Ashkenazi Jew whose parents were emigrants from Minsk, Belarus, then in the Russian Empire. When asked in which religion he and his brother were raised, Ford jokingly responded "Democrat" and more seriously stated that they were raised to be "liberals of every stripe". When asked about what influence his Jewish and Irish Catholic ancestry may have had on him, he quipped, "As a man I've always felt Irish, as an actor I've always felt Jewish."
Ford was a Boy Scout, achieving the second-highest rank of Life Scout. He worked at Napowan Adventure Base Scout Camp as a counselor for the Reptile Study merit badge. Because of this, he and director Steven Spielberg later decided to depict the young Indiana Jones as a Life Scout in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989). Ford graduated in 1960 from Maine East High School in Park Ridge, Illinois. His voice was the first student voice broadcast on his high school's new radio station, WMTH, and he was its first sportscaster during his senior year. He attended Ripon College in Ripon, Wisconsin, where he was a philosophy major and a member of the Sigma Nu fraternity. A self-described "late bloomer", Ford took a drama class in the final quarter of his senior year to get over his shyness and became fascinated with acting.
Career
1964–1976
In 1964, after a season of summer stock with the Belfry Players in Wisconsin, Ford traveled to Los Angeles to apply for a job in radio voice-overs. He did not get it, but stayed in California and eventually signed a $150-per-week contract with Columbia Pictures' new talent program, playing bit roles in films. His first known role was an uncredited one as a bellhop in Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round (1966). There is little record of his non-speaking (or "extra") roles in film. Ford was at the bottom of the hiring list, having offended producer Jerry Tokovsky after he played a bellboy in the feature. He was told by Tokovsky that when actor Tony Curtis delivered a bag of groceries, he did it like a movie star; Ford felt his job was to act like a bellboy.
His speaking roles continued next with Luv (1967), though he was still uncredited. He was finally credited as "Harrison J. Ford" in the 1967 Western film A Time for Killing, starring Glenn Ford, George Hamilton and Inger Stevens, but the "J" did not stand for anything since he has no middle name. It was added to avoid confusion with a silent film actor named Harrison Ford, who appeared in more than 80 films between 1915 and 1932 and died in 1957. Ford later said that he was unaware of the existence of the earlier actor until he came upon a star with his own name on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Ford soon dropped the "J" and worked for Universal Studios, playing minor roles in many television series throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, including Gunsmoke, Ironside, The Virginian, The F.B.I., Love, American Style and Kung Fu. He appeared in the western Journey to Shiloh (1968) and had an uncredited, non-speaking role in Michelangelo Antonioni's 1970 film Zabriskie Point as an arrested student protester. French filmmaker Jacques Demy chose Ford for the lead role of his first American film, Model Shop (1969), but the head of Columbia Pictures thought Ford had "no future" in the film business and told Demy to hire a more experienced actor. The part eventually went to Gary Lockwood. Ford later commented that the experience had been nevertheless a positive one because Demy was the first to show such faith in him.
Not happy with the roles offered to him, Ford became a self-taught professional carpenter to support his then-wife and two young sons. Clients at this time included the writers Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne, who lived on the beach at Malibu. Ford appears in the documentary Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold. He and his wife became friends of the writers. Casting director and fledgling producer Fred Roos championed the young Ford and secured him an audition with George Lucas for the role of Bob Falfa, which Ford went on to play in American Graffiti (1973). Ford's relationship with Lucas would profoundly affect his career later on. After director Francis Ford Coppola's film The Godfather was a success, he hired Ford to expand his office and gave him small roles in his next two films, The Conversation (1974) and Apocalypse Now (1979); in the latter film, Ford played an army officer named "G. Lucas".
1977–1997
Ford began to receive bigger roles in films throughout the late 1970s, including Heroes (1977), Force 10 from Navarone (1978) and Hanover Street (1979). Ford also co-starred alongside Gene Wilder in the buddy-comedy western The Frisco Kid (1979), playing a bank robber with a heart of gold. His previous work in American Graffiti eventually landed him his first starring film role when he was hired by Lucas to read lines for actors auditioning for roles in Lucas' upcoming epic space-opera film Star Wars (1977). Lucas was eventually won over by Ford's performance during these line reads and cast him as Han Solo. Star Wars became one of the most successful and groundbreaking films of all time, and brought Ford, and his co-stars Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher, widespread recognition. He returned to star in the similarly successful Star Wars sequels The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983), as well as the Star Wars Holiday Special (1978). Ford wanted Lucas to kill off Han Solo at the end of Return of the Jedi, saying, "That would have given the whole film a bottom," but Lucas refused.
Ford's status as a leading actor was solidified with Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), an action-adventure collaboration between George Lucas and Steven Spielberg that gave Ford his second franchise role as the heroic, globe-trotting archaeologist Indiana Jones. Like Star Wars, the film was massively successful and became the highest-grossing film of the year. Spielberg was interested in casting Ford from the beginning, but Lucas was not, having already worked with the actor in American Graffiti and Star Wars. Lucas eventually relented after Tom Selleck was unable to accept. Ford went on to reprise the role throughout the rest of the decade in the prequel Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), which co-starred Spielberg's future-wife Kate Capshaw, and the sequel Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), which co-starred Sean Connery as Indy's father, Henry Jones Sr. During the June 1983 filming of Temple of Doom in London, Ford herniated a disc in his back. The 40-year-old actor was forced to fly back to Los Angeles for surgery and returned six weeks later.
Following his leading-man success as Indiana Jones, he played Rick Deckard in Ridley Scott's dystopian science-fiction film Blade Runner (1982). Compared to his experiences on the Star Wars and Indiana Jones films, Ford had a difficult time with the production. He recalled to Vanity Fair, “It was a long slog. I didn’t really find it that physically difficult—I thought it was mentally difficult.” Ford and Scott also had differing views on the nature of his character, Deckard, that persist decades later. While not initially a success, Blade Runner went on to become a cult classic and one of Ford's most highly regarded films. Ford also proved his versatility throughout the 1980s with dramatic parts in films such as Witness (1985), The Mosquito Coast (1986), and Frantic (1988) as well as the romantic male lead opposite Melanie Griffith and Sigourney Weaver in the comedy-drama Working Girl (1988). Witness and The Mosquito Coast in particular allowed Ford to explore his potential as a dramatic actor and both performances were widely acclaimed. Ford would later recall that working with director Peter Weir on both Witness and The Mosquito Coast were two of the best experiences of his career.
In the 1990s, Ford became the second of five actors to portray Jack Ryan in two films of the film series based on the literary character created by Tom Clancy: Patriot Games (1992) and Clear and Present Danger (1994), both co-starring Anne Archer and James Earl Jones. Ford took over the role from Alec Baldwin who had previously played the character in The Hunt for Red October (1990). This led to a long-lasting resentment from Baldwin who claimed to have wanted to reprise the role but Ford had negotiated with Paramount behind his back. Ford also played leading roles in other action-based thrillers throughout the decade such as the critically acclaimed The Fugitive (1993), The Devil's Own (1997), and Air Force One (1997). For his performance in The Fugitive, which also co-starred Tommy Lee Jones, Ford received some of the best reviews of his career, including from Roger Ebert who concluded that, "Ford is once again the great modern movie everyman. As an actor, nothing he does seems merely for show, and in the face of this melodramatic material he deliberately plays down, lays low, gets on with business instead of trying to exploit the drama in meaningless acting flourishes." He also played more straight dramatic roles in Presumed Innocent (1990) and Regarding Henry (1991) as well as another romantic lead in Sabrina (1995), a remake of a classic 1954 film with the same name.
Ford established working relationships with many well-regarded directors during this time, including Peter Weir, Alan J. Pakula, Mike Nichols, Phillip Noyce, and Sydney Pollack, collaborating twice with each of them. This was the most lucrative period of Ford's career. From 1977 to 1997, he appeared in fourteen films that reached the top fifteen in the yearly domestic box office rankings, twelve of which reached the top ten. Six of the films he appeared in during this time were also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture amongst numerous other awards: Star Wars, Apocalypse Now, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Witness, Working Girl, and The Fugitive.
1998–2014
In the late 1990s, Ford started appearing in several critically derided and/or commercially disappointing films that failed to match his earlier successes, including Six Days, Seven Nights (1998), Random Hearts (1999), K-19: The Widowmaker (2002), Hollywood Homicide (2003), Firewall (2006) and Extraordinary Measures (2010). One exception was What Lies Beneath (2000) which grossed over $155million in the United States and $291million worldwide. Ford served as an executive producer on K-19: The Widowmaker and Extraordinary Measures, both of which were based on true events. In the 2001 Guinness Book of World Records, Ford was listed as the richest male actor in the world.
In 2004, Ford declined a chance to star in the thriller Syriana, later commenting that "I didn't feel strongly enough about the truth of the material and I think I made a mistake." The role eventually went to George Clooney, who won an Oscar and a Golden Globe for his work. Prior to that, Ford had passed on a role in another Stephen Gaghan-written film, that of Robert Wakefield in Traffic, which eventually went to Michael Douglas.
In 2008, Ford enjoyed success with the release of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the first Indiana Jones film in nineteen years and another collaboration with Lucas and Spielberg. The film received generally positive reviews and was the second highest-grossing film worldwide in 2008. Ford later said he would like to star in another sequel, "...if it didn't take another 20 years to digest."
Other 2008 work included Crossing Over, directed by Wayne Kramer. In the film, Ford plays an ICE/Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent, working alongside Ashley Judd and Ray Liotta. He also narrated a feature documentary film about the Dalai Lama entitled Dalai Lama Renaissance. Ford filmed the medical drama Extraordinary Measures in 2009 in Portland, Oregon. Released January 22, 2010, the film also starred Brendan Fraser and Alan Ruck. Also in 2010, he co-starred in the film Morning Glory, along with Rachel McAdams, Diane Keaton and Patrick Wilson. Although a disappointment at the box office, Ford's performance was well received by critics, some of which thought it was his best role in years. In July 2011, Ford starred alongside Daniel Craig and Olivia Wilde in the science-fiction/western hybrid film Cowboys & Aliens. To promote the film, Ford appeared at the San Diego Comic-Con International and, apparently surprised by the warm welcome, told the audience, "I just wanted to make a living as an actor. I didn't know about this." Also in 2011, Ford starred in Japanese commercials advertising the video game Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception for the PlayStation 3.
2013 began a trend that saw Ford accepting more diverse supporting roles. That year, Ford co-starred in the corporate espionage thriller Paranoia with Liam Hemsworth and Gary Oldman, who he had previously worked with in Air Force One, and he also appeared in Ender's Game, 42 and Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues. His performance as Branch Rickey in 42 was praised by many critics and garnered Ford a nomination as best supporting actor for the Satellite Awards. In 2014, he appeared in The Expendables 3 and the documentary Flying the Feathered Edge: The Bob Hoover Project. The next year, Ford co-starred with Blake Lively in the romantic drama The Age of Adaline to positive notices.
2015–present
Ford reprised the role of Han Solo in the long-awaited Star Wars sequel Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), which became massively successful like its predecessors. During filming on June 11, 2014, Ford suffered what was said to be a fractured ankle when a hydraulic door fell on him. He was airlifted to John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, England, for treatment. Ford's son Ben released details on his father's injury, saying that his ankle would likely need a plate and screws, and that filming could be altered slightly with the crew needing to shoot Ford from the waist up for a short time until he recovered. Ford made his return to filming in mid-August, after a two-month layoff as he recovered from his injury. Ford's character was killed off in The Force Awakens, but it was subsequently announced, via a casting call, that Ford would return in some capacity as Solo in Episode VIII. In February 2016, when the cast for Episode VIII was confirmed, it was indicated that Ford would not reprise his role in the film after all. When Ford was asked if his character could come back in "some form", he replied, "Anything is possible in space." The character eventually reappeared as a vision in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019).
On February 26, 2015, Alcon Entertainment announced Ford would reprise his role as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner 2049. The film, and Ford's performance, was very well received by critics upon its release in October 2017. Scott Collura of IGN called it a, "deep, rich, smart film that's visually awesome and full of great sci-fi concepts" and Ford's role, "a quiet, sort of gut-wrenching interpretation to Deckard and what he must've gone through in the past three decades." Despite the acclaim, the film only grossed $259.3million worldwide, far short of the estimated $400million that the film needed in order to break even. In 2019, Ford had his first voice role in an animated film, as a dog named Rooster in The Secret Life of Pets 2. With filming for a fifth Indiana Jones film having been delayed by a year, Ford headlined a big-budget adaptation of Jack London's The Call of the Wild, playing prospector John Thornton. The film was released in February 2020 to a mixed critical reception but its theatrical release was shortened due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the film industry.
Personal life
Ford has been married three times, and has four biological children and one adopted child. He was first married to Mary Marquardt from 1964 until their divorce in 1979. They had two sons, chef and restaurateur Benjamin (born 1966) and clothier Willard (born 1969). Benjamin co-owns Ford's Filling Station, a gastropub with locations at L.A. Live in Los Angeles and Terminal 5 in Los Angeles International Airport. Willard is the owner of Strong Sports Gym, and was co-owner of the Kim Sing Theater and owner of the Ludwig Clothing company.
Ford's second marriage was to screenwriter Melissa Mathison from March 1983 until their separation in 2000 and finalized divorce in 2004. They had a son, actor and musician Malcolm (born 1987), and a daughter, actress Georgia (born 1990). Mathison died in 2015.
Ford began dating actress Calista Flockhart after they met at the 2002 Golden Globe Awards. They are the parents of Liam (born 2001), the son she adopted before meeting Ford. He proposed to Flockhart over Valentine's Day weekend in 2009. They married on June 15, 2010, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where Ford was filming Cowboys & Aliens.
Ford and Flockhart live on an ranch in Jackson, Wyoming, on which he has lived since the 1980s and approximately half of which he has donated as a nature reserve. They retain a base in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles. He is known as one of Hollywood's most private actors, guarding much of his personal life. In her 2016 autobiography The Princess Diarist, his co-star Carrie Fisher claimed that she and Ford had a three-month affair in 1976 during the filming of Star Wars.
Aviation
Ford is a licensed pilot of both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. On several occasions, he has personally provided emergency helicopter services at the request of local authorities in Wyoming, in one instance rescuing a hiker overcome by dehydration.
Ford began flight training in the 1960s at Wild Rose Idlewild Airport in Wild Rose, Wisconsin, flying in a Piper PA-22 Tri-Pacer, but at $15 an hour (), he could not afford to continue the training. In the mid-1990s, he bought a used Gulfstream II and asked one of his pilots, Terry Bender, to give him flying lessons. They started flying a Cessna 182 out of Jackson, Wyoming, later switching to Teterboro, New Jersey, flying a Cessna 206, the aircraft in which he made his first solo flight.
Ford's aircraft is kept at Santa Monica Airport. The Bell 407 is often kept and flown in Jackson and has been used by the actor in two mountain rescues during his assigned duty time with Teton County Search and Rescue. On one of the rescues, Ford recovered a hiker who had become lost and disoriented. She boarded Ford's helicopter and promptly vomited into one of the rescuers' caps, unaware of who the pilot was until much later; "I can't believe I barfed in Harrison Ford's helicopter!" she said later.
Ford flies his de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver (N28S) more than any of his other aircraft, and has repeatedly said that he likes this aircraft and the sound of its Pratt & Whitney R-985 radial engine. According to Ford, it had been flown in the CIA's Air America operations and was riddled with bullet holes that had to be patched up.
In March 2004, Ford officially became chairman of the Young Eagles program of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA). Ford was asked to take the position by Greg Anderson, Senior Vice President of the EAA at the time, to replace General Chuck Yeager, who was vacating the post that he had held for many years. Ford at first was hesitant, but later accepted the offer and has made appearances with the Young Eagles at the EAA AirVenture Oshkosh gathering at Oshkosh, Wisconsin, for two years. In July 2005, at the gathering in Oshkosh, Ford agreed to accept the position for another two years. He has flown over 280 children as part of the Young Eagles program, usually in his DHC-2 Beaver, which can seat the actor and five children. Ford stepped down as program chairman in 2009 and was replaced by Captain Chesley Sullenberger and First Officer Jeff Skiles. He is involved with the EAA chapter in Driggs, Idaho, just over the Teton Range from Jackson, Wyoming. On July 28, 2016, Ford flew the two millionth Young Eagle at the EAA AirVenture convention.
As of 2009, Ford appears in Internet advertisements for General Aviation Serves America, a campaign by the advocacy group Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA). He has also appeared in several independent aviation documentaries, including Wings Over the Rockies (2009), Flying The Feathered Edge: The Bob Hoover Project (2014) and Living in the Age of Airplanes (2015).
Ford is an honorary board member of the humanitarian aviation organization Wings of Hope, and is known for having made several trips to Washington, D.C., to fight for pilots' rights. He has also donated substantial funds to aerobatic champion Sean Tucker's charitable program, The Bob Hoover Academy (named after legendary aviator Bob Hoover) which educates at-risk teens in central California and teaches them how to fly.
Incidents
On October 23, 1999, Ford was involved in the crash of a Bell 206L4 LongRanger helicopter. The NTSB accident report states that Ford was piloting the aircraft over the Lake Piru riverbed near Santa Clarita, California, on a routine training flight. While making his second attempt at an autorotation with powered recovery, the aircraft was unable to recover power after the sudden drop in altitude. It landed hard and began skidding forward in the loose gravel before flipping onto its side. Neither Ford nor the instructor pilot suffered any injuries, though the helicopter was seriously damaged.
On March 5, 2015, Ford's plane, believed to be a Ryan PT-22 Recruit, made an emergency landing on the Penmar Golf Course in Venice, California. Ford had radioed in to report that the plane had experienced engine failure. He was taken to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, where he was reported to be in fair to moderate condition. Ford suffered a broken pelvis and broken ankle during the accident, as well as other injuries.
On February 13, 2017, Ford landed an Aviat Husky at John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California, on the taxiway left of runway 20L. A Boeing 737 was holding short of the runway on the taxiway when Ford overflew them.
On April 24, 2020, at the Los Angeles Hawthorne Airport, Ford was piloting a plane when he crossed a runway where another aircraft was landing.
Activism
Environmental work
Ford is vice-chair of Conservation International, an American nonprofit environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. The organization's intent is to protect nature.
In September 2013, Ford, while filming an environmental documentary in Indonesia, interviewed the Indonesian Forestry Minister, Zulkifli Hasan. After the interview, Ford and his crew were accused of "harassing state institutions" and publicly threatened with deportation. Questions within the interview concerned the Tesso Nilo National Park, Sumatra. It was alleged the Minister of Forestry was given no prior warning of questions nor the chance to explain the challenges of catching people with illegal logging. Ford was provided an audience with the Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, during which he expressed concerns regarding Indonesia's environmental degradation and the government efforts to address climate change. In response, the President explained Indonesia's commitment to preserving its oceans and forests.
In 1993, the arachnologist Norman Platnick named a new species of spider Calponia harrisonfordi, and in 2002, the entomologist Edward O. Wilson named a new ant species Pheidole harrisonfordi (in recognition of Harrison's work as Vice Chairman of Conservation International).
Since 1992, Ford has lent his voice to a series of public service messages promoting environmental involvement for EarthShare, an American federation of environmental and conservation charities. He has acted as a spokesperson for Restore Hetch Hetchy, a non-profit organization dedicated to restoring Yosemite National Park's Hetch Hetchy Valley to its original condition. Ford also appears in the documentary series Years of Living Dangerously, which reports on people affected by and seeking solutions to climate change.
In 2019, on behalf of Conservation International, Ford gave an impassioned speech during the United Nations' Climate Action Summit in New York on the destruction of the Amazon rainforest and its effect on climate change for the rest of the world. Ford urged his audience to listen to 'angry young people' trying to make a difference in the situation, emphasizing, "The most important thing we can do for them is to get the hell out of their way."
Political views
Like his parents, Ford is a lifelong Democrat.
On September 7, 1995, Ford testified before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee in support of the Dalai Lama and an independent Tibet. In 2007, he narrated the documentary Dalai Lama Renaissance.
In 2003, he publicly condemned the Iraq War and called for "regime change" in the United States. He also criticized Hollywood for making movies which were "more akin to video games than stories about human life and relationships", and he called for more gun control in the United States.
After Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said his favorite role of Ford's was Air Force One because he "stood up for America", Ford reasoned that it was just a film and made critical statements against Trump's presidential bid.
For the first time ever endorsing a political candidate for office, Ford endorsed Joe Biden's 2020 presidential campaign against Donald Trump. He said that he wanted to "encourage people to support candidates that will support the environment" and felt that under Trump, the United States has "lost some of our credibility in the world". Along with Mark Hamill, Ford worked with the anti-Trump Republican group The Lincoln Project to produce and narrate a 2020 election ad attacking Trump's disparaging of Anthony Fauci.
In 2009, Ford signed a petition calling for the release of film director Roman Polanski, who had been arrested in Switzerland in relation to his 1977 charge for drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl.
Archaeology
Following on his success portraying the archaeologist Indiana Jones, Ford also plays a part in supporting the work of professional archaeologists. He serves as a General Trustee on the Governing Board of the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA), North America's oldest and largest organization devoted to the world of archaeology. Ford assists them in their mission of increasing public awareness of archaeology and preventing looting and the illegal antiquities trade.
Star Wars: Force for Change
Ford participated in a Star Wars promotion geared toward fans who donated to Star Wars: Force for Change on video call which offered them the opportunity to purchase tickets to the premiere of The Force Awakens.
Acting credits and awards
Throughout his career, Ford has received significant recognition for his work in the entertainment industry. In 1986, he was nominated for Best Actor at the 58th Academy Awards for his performance in Witness, a role for which he also received BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations in the same category. Three additional Golden Globe nominations went to Ford in 1987, 1994 and 1996 for his performances in The Mosquito Coast, The Fugitive and Sabrina. In 2000, he was the recipient of the AFI Life Achievement Award from the American Film Institute for his body of work, presented to him by two of his closest collaborators and fellow industry giants, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. In 2002, he was given the Cecil B. DeMille Award, another career achievement honor, from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association at the 59th Golden Globe Awards ceremony. On May 30, 2003, Ford received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
In 2006, he received the Jules Verne Award, given to an actor who has "encouraged the spirit of adventure and imagination" throughout their career. He was presented with the first-ever Hero Award at the 2007 Scream Awards for his many iconic roles, including Indiana Jones and Han Solo (both of which earned him two Saturn Awards for Best Actor in 1982 and 2016, respectively), and in 2008 he received the Spike TV's Guy's Choice Award for "Brass Balls". In 2015, Ford received the Albert R. Broccoli Britannia Award for Worldwide Contribution to Entertainment from BAFTA Los Angeles. In 2018, Ford was honored by the SAG-AFTRA Foundation with the Artists Inspiration Award for both his acting and philanthropic work alongside fellow honoree Lady Gaga. SAG-AFTRA Foundation Board President JoBeth Williams in the press release said, “Harrison Ford is an acting legend in every known galaxy, but what many do not know are the decades of philanthropic service and leadership he has given to Conservation International to help protect our planet."
Other prestigious film honors for Ford include the Honorary Cesar, the Career Achievement Award from the Hollywood Film Awards, the Kirk Douglas Award for Excellence in Film from the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, the Box Office Star of the Century Award from the National Association of Theatre Owners and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Locarno Film Festival.
Ford has also been honored multiple times for his involvement in general aviation, receiving the Living Legends of Aviation Award and the Experimental Aircraft Association's Freedom of Flight Award in 2009, the Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy in 2010 and the Al Ueltschi Humanitarian Award in 2013. In 2013, Flying magazine ranked him number 48 on their list of the 51 Heroes of Aviation.
References
External links
Harrison Ford at Hollywood Walk of Fame
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
1942 births
Activists from California
Actors from Park Ridge, Illinois
Actors Fund of America
AFI Life Achievement Award recipients
American carpenters
American conservationists
American environmentalists
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male video game actors
American male voice actors
American people of Belarusian-Jewish descent
American people of Irish descent
Aviators from Illinois
California Democrats
Cecil B. DeMille Award Golden Globe winners
César Honorary Award recipients
Film producers from Illinois
Living people
Male actors from Chicago
Ripon College (Wisconsin) alumni
Survivors of aviation accidents or incidents
American gun control activists
Jewish American male actors
American Ashkenazi Jews
Experimental Aircraft Association
21st-century American Jews | true | [
"Ponnabeth Mambally Raghavan (18 December 1920, date of death unknown) was an Indian cricketer who played at first-class level for Travancore-Cochin (now Kerala) from 1951 to 1956. A right-handed batsman and right-arm medium-pace bowler, he captained the side in its inaugural Ranji Trophy match during the 1951–52 season.\n\nRaghavan was born in Tellicherry (now Thalassery), in what was then part of the Madras Presidency but is now in Kerala State. In December 1951, aged 30, he was chosen to captain the new State of Travancore-Cochin in its Ranji Trophy debut against Mysore (now Karnataka). Although Raghavan topscored with 27 in the second innings, his team lost by an innings and 87 runs, and was consequently eliminated from the competition, which was played on a knockout basis at the time. He was re-appointed captain for the following season's Ranji fixture, where his team once again lost by an innings margin within two days. During the 1953–54 season, Travancore-Cochin was drawn to play Hyderabad in the opening round. Raghavan was selected to play, but was replaced as captain by his younger brother, P. M. Anandan. The match was drawn, but Travancore-Cochin was declared the winner based on its higher first innings total, and consequently proceeded to the next round of matches. Despite this, Raghavan was restored to the captaincy for the second-round fixture against Madras (now Tamil Nadu). He took career-best bowling figures of 2/43 in Madras's second innings, but Travancore-Cochin lost by 316 runs.\n\nAnandan once again replaced Raghavan as captain for the 1954–55 season's first-round fixture, a loss to Madras on first innings. Raghavan's fourth and final match as captain of Travancore-Cochin came the following season, in what was to be his final first-class appearance. Aged 35, he recorded a duck in the first innings against Andhra and was absent hurt in the second, as his team succumbed to an innings defeat. Besides his young brother, Anandan, several others members of Raghavan's family represented what is now Kerala at first-class level, including his son, A. P. M. Gopalakrishnan, and two nephews, brothers P. M. K. Raghunath and P. M. K. Mohandas. Outside of playing cricket, the family have been prominent in the baking trade in Kerala.\n\nReferences\n\n1920 births\nYear of death missing\nCricketers from Kerala\nIndian cricketers\nKerala cricketers\nPeople from Thalassery\nTravancore-Cochin cricketers",
"Antoine Daniel is a French video game streamer and former video creator, editor and actor born on 23 April 1989. He is known for his famous humoristic program What The Cut !?, published between 2012 and 2017 on YouTube. He has become extremely successful reaching more than 2.8 million subscribers in August 2018. He is on Twitch since 2018 and has more than 700 000 followers in December 2021.\n\nBiography \nHe studied for two years at the ESRA in Paris before beginning his training in sound engineering while devoting himself to musical composition. Once he acquired his BTS, he was temporarily employed in a musical publishing house as an operator input, an experience which he didn't enjoy. It was during that time, on 1 March 2012, that he created the show What The Cut !?.\n\nInspiration\nAntoine Daniel qualifies the British filmmaker TomSka as one of his favourite videomakers. He later played a role in his video Le Alien.\n\nYouTube\n\nWhat The Cut !?\nWhat The Cut !? was a humoristic show created by Antoine Daniel, the first episode of \"What The Cut !?\" was uploaded on 1 March 2012 on his YouTube channel. The concept of the show comes from Ray William Johnson's Equals Three. When it comes to his humour and staging inspirations, his most obvious references are videographer TomSka and British director Edgar Wright.\n\nIn each episode of What The Cut !?, Antoine Daniel analyses three funny, strange or freaky videos, and jokingly comments on them. However, What The Cut !? isn't a French \"Equals Three\" as Antoine Daniel completely changed the concept. In What The Cut !? he plays a character who speaks very quickly, wildly and sometimes screams. The video editing is very quick and the jokes are completely absurd which explains the show's name: \"What the ...\" for the absurd, wacky and crazy jokes and humour, and \"Cut\", for the video editing, which Antoine Daniel considers the most important part of his videos.\n\nAfter the first couple of videos, episodes were released monthly. However, that schedule couldn't be kept starting with episode #35 since later episode would featured a 5 to 15 minute sketch at the beginning of the video. The 37th and last episode was released on 30 December 2015.\n\nClyde Vanilla\n\nClyde Vanilla is a science fiction audio story. The first episode was released on 17 September 2017. The last and tenth episode was released on 19 November 2017.\n\nHowever, this series wasn't as well received as What The Cut !?.' later What The Cut !?'' episodes would get.\n\nTwitch \n\nSince 2018, Antoine is streaming on Twitch. As of December 2021, he has followers.\n\nHe participated to 2019, 2020 and 2021 editions of Z Event, a French charity reuniting several francophone streamers.\n\nReferences \n\nTwitch (service) streamers\nFrench YouTubers\n1989 births\nLiving people"
]
|
[
"Harrison Ford",
"Early career",
"How did his career get started?",
"signed a $150-a-week contract with Columbia Pictures' New Talent program, playing bit roles in films.",
"When was he signed?",
"In 1964,",
"Did his career take off right away?",
"Ford traveled to Los Angeles to apply for a job in radio voice-overs. He did not get it,",
"How long did it take him to rise to fame?",
"I don't know.",
"What was his first part?",
"In 1964, after a season of summer stock with the Belfry Players in Wisconsin, Ford traveled to Los Angeles"
]
| C_0102898e6f744dd7808e75bc246b81fe_1 | How was his performance with the belfry players? | 6 | How was Harrison Ford's performance with the Belfry Players in Wisconsin? | Harrison Ford | In 1964, after a season of summer stock with the Belfry Players in Wisconsin, Ford traveled to Los Angeles to apply for a job in radio voice-overs. He did not get it, but stayed in California and eventually signed a $150-a-week contract with Columbia Pictures' New Talent program, playing bit roles in films. His first known role was an uncredited one as a bellhop in Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round (1966). There is little record of his non-speaking roles (or "extra" work) in film. Ford was at the bottom of the hiring list, having offended producer Jerry Tokovsky after he played a bellboy in the feature. He was told by Tokovsky that when actor Tony Curtis delivered a bag of groceries, he did it like a movie star; Ford felt his job was to act like a bellboy. Ford managed to secure other roles in movies, such as A Time for Killing (The Long Ride Home), starring Glenn Ford; George Hamilton; and Inger Stevens. His speaking roles continued next with Luv (1967), though he was still uncredited. He was finally credited as "Harrison J. Ford" in the 1967 Western film A Time for Killing, but the "J" did not stand for anything, since he has no middle name. It was added to avoid confusion with a silent film actor named Harrison Ford, who appeared in more than 80 films between 1915 and 1932 and died in 1957. Ford later said that he was unaware of the existence of the earlier actor until he came upon a star with his own name on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Ford soon dropped the "J" and worked for Universal Studios, playing minor roles in many television series throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, including Gunsmoke, Ironside, The Virginian, The F.B.I., Love, American Style, and Kung Fu. He appeared in the western Journey to Shiloh (1968) and had an uncredited, non-speaking role in Michelangelo Antonioni's 1970 film Zabriskie Point as an arrested student protester. Not happy with the roles being offered to him, Ford became a self-taught professional carpenter to support his then-wife and two young sons. Casting director and fledgling producer Fred Roos championed the young Ford and secured him an audition with George Lucas for the role of Bob Falfa, which Ford went on to play in American Graffiti (1973). Ford's relationship with Lucas would profoundly affect his career later on. After director Francis Ford Coppola's film The Godfather was a success, he hired Ford to expand his office and gave him small roles in his next two films, The Conversation (1974) and Apocalypse Now (1979); in the latter film he played an army officer named "G. Lucas". CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Harrison Ford (born July 13, 1942) is an American actor. His films have grossed more than $5.4billion in North America and more than $9.3billion worldwide, making him the seventh-highest-grossing actor in North America. He is the recipient of various accolades, including three Saturn Awards, the AFI Life Achievement Award and the Cecil B. DeMille Award, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award and four Golden Globe Awards.
Following the initial phase of his career in bit parts and supporting roles, Ford gained worldwide fame for his starring role as Han Solo in the epic space opera film Star Wars (1977), reprising the role in four sequels over the course of the next 42 years. He is also widely known for his portrayal of Indiana Jones in the titular film franchise, beginning with the action-adventure film Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), and for playing other characters in different franchises, most notably Rick Deckard in the dystopian science fiction films Blade Runner (1982) and Blade Runner 2049 (2017) and the Tom Clancy character Jack Ryan in the spy thriller films Patriot Games (1992) and Clear and Present Danger (1994). His career spans six decades and includes collaborations with some of the most acclaimed and influential filmmakers of his time, such as George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg, Ridley Scott, Peter Weir, Roman Polanski and Mike Nichols.
Ford has portrayed heroic characters in other films such as the thrillers Witness (1985), for which he received his only Academy Award nomination, The Fugitive (1993), and Air Force One (1997), as well as the historical sports drama 42 (2013). In addition to heroic roles, he played morally ambiguous and darker characters in films such as the coming-of-age comedy drama American Graffiti (1973), the conspiracy thriller The Conversation (1974), the survival drama The Mosquito Coast (1986), the legal drama Presumed Innocent (1990), and the supernatural suspense thriller What Lies Beneath (2000). Ford has also appeared in several romantic comedies and dramas throughout his career, including Heroes (1977), Working Girl (1988), Sabrina (1995), Six Days, Seven Nights (1998), Random Hearts (1999), Morning Glory (2010), and The Age of Adaline (2015).
Outside acting, Ford is a licensed pilot who has often assisted the emergency services in rescue missions near his home in Wyoming. He is also a dedicated environmental activist, having served as the inaugural Vice Chair of Conservation International since 1991.
Early life
Harrison Ford was born at the Swedish Covenant Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, on July 13, 1942, to former radio actress Dorothy (née Nidelman) and advertising executive and former actor John William "Christopher" Ford. His younger brother, Terence, was born in 1945. Their father was a Catholic of German and Irish descent, while their mother was an Ashkenazi Jew whose parents were emigrants from Minsk, Belarus, then in the Russian Empire. When asked in which religion he and his brother were raised, Ford jokingly responded "Democrat" and more seriously stated that they were raised to be "liberals of every stripe". When asked about what influence his Jewish and Irish Catholic ancestry may have had on him, he quipped, "As a man I've always felt Irish, as an actor I've always felt Jewish."
Ford was a Boy Scout, achieving the second-highest rank of Life Scout. He worked at Napowan Adventure Base Scout Camp as a counselor for the Reptile Study merit badge. Because of this, he and director Steven Spielberg later decided to depict the young Indiana Jones as a Life Scout in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989). Ford graduated in 1960 from Maine East High School in Park Ridge, Illinois. His voice was the first student voice broadcast on his high school's new radio station, WMTH, and he was its first sportscaster during his senior year. He attended Ripon College in Ripon, Wisconsin, where he was a philosophy major and a member of the Sigma Nu fraternity. A self-described "late bloomer", Ford took a drama class in the final quarter of his senior year to get over his shyness and became fascinated with acting.
Career
1964–1976
In 1964, after a season of summer stock with the Belfry Players in Wisconsin, Ford traveled to Los Angeles to apply for a job in radio voice-overs. He did not get it, but stayed in California and eventually signed a $150-per-week contract with Columbia Pictures' new talent program, playing bit roles in films. His first known role was an uncredited one as a bellhop in Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round (1966). There is little record of his non-speaking (or "extra") roles in film. Ford was at the bottom of the hiring list, having offended producer Jerry Tokovsky after he played a bellboy in the feature. He was told by Tokovsky that when actor Tony Curtis delivered a bag of groceries, he did it like a movie star; Ford felt his job was to act like a bellboy.
His speaking roles continued next with Luv (1967), though he was still uncredited. He was finally credited as "Harrison J. Ford" in the 1967 Western film A Time for Killing, starring Glenn Ford, George Hamilton and Inger Stevens, but the "J" did not stand for anything since he has no middle name. It was added to avoid confusion with a silent film actor named Harrison Ford, who appeared in more than 80 films between 1915 and 1932 and died in 1957. Ford later said that he was unaware of the existence of the earlier actor until he came upon a star with his own name on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Ford soon dropped the "J" and worked for Universal Studios, playing minor roles in many television series throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, including Gunsmoke, Ironside, The Virginian, The F.B.I., Love, American Style and Kung Fu. He appeared in the western Journey to Shiloh (1968) and had an uncredited, non-speaking role in Michelangelo Antonioni's 1970 film Zabriskie Point as an arrested student protester. French filmmaker Jacques Demy chose Ford for the lead role of his first American film, Model Shop (1969), but the head of Columbia Pictures thought Ford had "no future" in the film business and told Demy to hire a more experienced actor. The part eventually went to Gary Lockwood. Ford later commented that the experience had been nevertheless a positive one because Demy was the first to show such faith in him.
Not happy with the roles offered to him, Ford became a self-taught professional carpenter to support his then-wife and two young sons. Clients at this time included the writers Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne, who lived on the beach at Malibu. Ford appears in the documentary Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold. He and his wife became friends of the writers. Casting director and fledgling producer Fred Roos championed the young Ford and secured him an audition with George Lucas for the role of Bob Falfa, which Ford went on to play in American Graffiti (1973). Ford's relationship with Lucas would profoundly affect his career later on. After director Francis Ford Coppola's film The Godfather was a success, he hired Ford to expand his office and gave him small roles in his next two films, The Conversation (1974) and Apocalypse Now (1979); in the latter film, Ford played an army officer named "G. Lucas".
1977–1997
Ford began to receive bigger roles in films throughout the late 1970s, including Heroes (1977), Force 10 from Navarone (1978) and Hanover Street (1979). Ford also co-starred alongside Gene Wilder in the buddy-comedy western The Frisco Kid (1979), playing a bank robber with a heart of gold. His previous work in American Graffiti eventually landed him his first starring film role when he was hired by Lucas to read lines for actors auditioning for roles in Lucas' upcoming epic space-opera film Star Wars (1977). Lucas was eventually won over by Ford's performance during these line reads and cast him as Han Solo. Star Wars became one of the most successful and groundbreaking films of all time, and brought Ford, and his co-stars Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher, widespread recognition. He returned to star in the similarly successful Star Wars sequels The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983), as well as the Star Wars Holiday Special (1978). Ford wanted Lucas to kill off Han Solo at the end of Return of the Jedi, saying, "That would have given the whole film a bottom," but Lucas refused.
Ford's status as a leading actor was solidified with Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), an action-adventure collaboration between George Lucas and Steven Spielberg that gave Ford his second franchise role as the heroic, globe-trotting archaeologist Indiana Jones. Like Star Wars, the film was massively successful and became the highest-grossing film of the year. Spielberg was interested in casting Ford from the beginning, but Lucas was not, having already worked with the actor in American Graffiti and Star Wars. Lucas eventually relented after Tom Selleck was unable to accept. Ford went on to reprise the role throughout the rest of the decade in the prequel Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), which co-starred Spielberg's future-wife Kate Capshaw, and the sequel Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), which co-starred Sean Connery as Indy's father, Henry Jones Sr. During the June 1983 filming of Temple of Doom in London, Ford herniated a disc in his back. The 40-year-old actor was forced to fly back to Los Angeles for surgery and returned six weeks later.
Following his leading-man success as Indiana Jones, he played Rick Deckard in Ridley Scott's dystopian science-fiction film Blade Runner (1982). Compared to his experiences on the Star Wars and Indiana Jones films, Ford had a difficult time with the production. He recalled to Vanity Fair, “It was a long slog. I didn’t really find it that physically difficult—I thought it was mentally difficult.” Ford and Scott also had differing views on the nature of his character, Deckard, that persist decades later. While not initially a success, Blade Runner went on to become a cult classic and one of Ford's most highly regarded films. Ford also proved his versatility throughout the 1980s with dramatic parts in films such as Witness (1985), The Mosquito Coast (1986), and Frantic (1988) as well as the romantic male lead opposite Melanie Griffith and Sigourney Weaver in the comedy-drama Working Girl (1988). Witness and The Mosquito Coast in particular allowed Ford to explore his potential as a dramatic actor and both performances were widely acclaimed. Ford would later recall that working with director Peter Weir on both Witness and The Mosquito Coast were two of the best experiences of his career.
In the 1990s, Ford became the second of five actors to portray Jack Ryan in two films of the film series based on the literary character created by Tom Clancy: Patriot Games (1992) and Clear and Present Danger (1994), both co-starring Anne Archer and James Earl Jones. Ford took over the role from Alec Baldwin who had previously played the character in The Hunt for Red October (1990). This led to a long-lasting resentment from Baldwin who claimed to have wanted to reprise the role but Ford had negotiated with Paramount behind his back. Ford also played leading roles in other action-based thrillers throughout the decade such as the critically acclaimed The Fugitive (1993), The Devil's Own (1997), and Air Force One (1997). For his performance in The Fugitive, which also co-starred Tommy Lee Jones, Ford received some of the best reviews of his career, including from Roger Ebert who concluded that, "Ford is once again the great modern movie everyman. As an actor, nothing he does seems merely for show, and in the face of this melodramatic material he deliberately plays down, lays low, gets on with business instead of trying to exploit the drama in meaningless acting flourishes." He also played more straight dramatic roles in Presumed Innocent (1990) and Regarding Henry (1991) as well as another romantic lead in Sabrina (1995), a remake of a classic 1954 film with the same name.
Ford established working relationships with many well-regarded directors during this time, including Peter Weir, Alan J. Pakula, Mike Nichols, Phillip Noyce, and Sydney Pollack, collaborating twice with each of them. This was the most lucrative period of Ford's career. From 1977 to 1997, he appeared in fourteen films that reached the top fifteen in the yearly domestic box office rankings, twelve of which reached the top ten. Six of the films he appeared in during this time were also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture amongst numerous other awards: Star Wars, Apocalypse Now, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Witness, Working Girl, and The Fugitive.
1998–2014
In the late 1990s, Ford started appearing in several critically derided and/or commercially disappointing films that failed to match his earlier successes, including Six Days, Seven Nights (1998), Random Hearts (1999), K-19: The Widowmaker (2002), Hollywood Homicide (2003), Firewall (2006) and Extraordinary Measures (2010). One exception was What Lies Beneath (2000) which grossed over $155million in the United States and $291million worldwide. Ford served as an executive producer on K-19: The Widowmaker and Extraordinary Measures, both of which were based on true events. In the 2001 Guinness Book of World Records, Ford was listed as the richest male actor in the world.
In 2004, Ford declined a chance to star in the thriller Syriana, later commenting that "I didn't feel strongly enough about the truth of the material and I think I made a mistake." The role eventually went to George Clooney, who won an Oscar and a Golden Globe for his work. Prior to that, Ford had passed on a role in another Stephen Gaghan-written film, that of Robert Wakefield in Traffic, which eventually went to Michael Douglas.
In 2008, Ford enjoyed success with the release of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the first Indiana Jones film in nineteen years and another collaboration with Lucas and Spielberg. The film received generally positive reviews and was the second highest-grossing film worldwide in 2008. Ford later said he would like to star in another sequel, "...if it didn't take another 20 years to digest."
Other 2008 work included Crossing Over, directed by Wayne Kramer. In the film, Ford plays an ICE/Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent, working alongside Ashley Judd and Ray Liotta. He also narrated a feature documentary film about the Dalai Lama entitled Dalai Lama Renaissance. Ford filmed the medical drama Extraordinary Measures in 2009 in Portland, Oregon. Released January 22, 2010, the film also starred Brendan Fraser and Alan Ruck. Also in 2010, he co-starred in the film Morning Glory, along with Rachel McAdams, Diane Keaton and Patrick Wilson. Although a disappointment at the box office, Ford's performance was well received by critics, some of which thought it was his best role in years. In July 2011, Ford starred alongside Daniel Craig and Olivia Wilde in the science-fiction/western hybrid film Cowboys & Aliens. To promote the film, Ford appeared at the San Diego Comic-Con International and, apparently surprised by the warm welcome, told the audience, "I just wanted to make a living as an actor. I didn't know about this." Also in 2011, Ford starred in Japanese commercials advertising the video game Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception for the PlayStation 3.
2013 began a trend that saw Ford accepting more diverse supporting roles. That year, Ford co-starred in the corporate espionage thriller Paranoia with Liam Hemsworth and Gary Oldman, who he had previously worked with in Air Force One, and he also appeared in Ender's Game, 42 and Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues. His performance as Branch Rickey in 42 was praised by many critics and garnered Ford a nomination as best supporting actor for the Satellite Awards. In 2014, he appeared in The Expendables 3 and the documentary Flying the Feathered Edge: The Bob Hoover Project. The next year, Ford co-starred with Blake Lively in the romantic drama The Age of Adaline to positive notices.
2015–present
Ford reprised the role of Han Solo in the long-awaited Star Wars sequel Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), which became massively successful like its predecessors. During filming on June 11, 2014, Ford suffered what was said to be a fractured ankle when a hydraulic door fell on him. He was airlifted to John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, England, for treatment. Ford's son Ben released details on his father's injury, saying that his ankle would likely need a plate and screws, and that filming could be altered slightly with the crew needing to shoot Ford from the waist up for a short time until he recovered. Ford made his return to filming in mid-August, after a two-month layoff as he recovered from his injury. Ford's character was killed off in The Force Awakens, but it was subsequently announced, via a casting call, that Ford would return in some capacity as Solo in Episode VIII. In February 2016, when the cast for Episode VIII was confirmed, it was indicated that Ford would not reprise his role in the film after all. When Ford was asked if his character could come back in "some form", he replied, "Anything is possible in space." The character eventually reappeared as a vision in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019).
On February 26, 2015, Alcon Entertainment announced Ford would reprise his role as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner 2049. The film, and Ford's performance, was very well received by critics upon its release in October 2017. Scott Collura of IGN called it a, "deep, rich, smart film that's visually awesome and full of great sci-fi concepts" and Ford's role, "a quiet, sort of gut-wrenching interpretation to Deckard and what he must've gone through in the past three decades." Despite the acclaim, the film only grossed $259.3million worldwide, far short of the estimated $400million that the film needed in order to break even. In 2019, Ford had his first voice role in an animated film, as a dog named Rooster in The Secret Life of Pets 2. With filming for a fifth Indiana Jones film having been delayed by a year, Ford headlined a big-budget adaptation of Jack London's The Call of the Wild, playing prospector John Thornton. The film was released in February 2020 to a mixed critical reception but its theatrical release was shortened due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the film industry.
Personal life
Ford has been married three times, and has four biological children and one adopted child. He was first married to Mary Marquardt from 1964 until their divorce in 1979. They had two sons, chef and restaurateur Benjamin (born 1966) and clothier Willard (born 1969). Benjamin co-owns Ford's Filling Station, a gastropub with locations at L.A. Live in Los Angeles and Terminal 5 in Los Angeles International Airport. Willard is the owner of Strong Sports Gym, and was co-owner of the Kim Sing Theater and owner of the Ludwig Clothing company.
Ford's second marriage was to screenwriter Melissa Mathison from March 1983 until their separation in 2000 and finalized divorce in 2004. They had a son, actor and musician Malcolm (born 1987), and a daughter, actress Georgia (born 1990). Mathison died in 2015.
Ford began dating actress Calista Flockhart after they met at the 2002 Golden Globe Awards. They are the parents of Liam (born 2001), the son she adopted before meeting Ford. He proposed to Flockhart over Valentine's Day weekend in 2009. They married on June 15, 2010, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where Ford was filming Cowboys & Aliens.
Ford and Flockhart live on an ranch in Jackson, Wyoming, on which he has lived since the 1980s and approximately half of which he has donated as a nature reserve. They retain a base in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles. He is known as one of Hollywood's most private actors, guarding much of his personal life. In her 2016 autobiography The Princess Diarist, his co-star Carrie Fisher claimed that she and Ford had a three-month affair in 1976 during the filming of Star Wars.
Aviation
Ford is a licensed pilot of both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. On several occasions, he has personally provided emergency helicopter services at the request of local authorities in Wyoming, in one instance rescuing a hiker overcome by dehydration.
Ford began flight training in the 1960s at Wild Rose Idlewild Airport in Wild Rose, Wisconsin, flying in a Piper PA-22 Tri-Pacer, but at $15 an hour (), he could not afford to continue the training. In the mid-1990s, he bought a used Gulfstream II and asked one of his pilots, Terry Bender, to give him flying lessons. They started flying a Cessna 182 out of Jackson, Wyoming, later switching to Teterboro, New Jersey, flying a Cessna 206, the aircraft in which he made his first solo flight.
Ford's aircraft is kept at Santa Monica Airport. The Bell 407 is often kept and flown in Jackson and has been used by the actor in two mountain rescues during his assigned duty time with Teton County Search and Rescue. On one of the rescues, Ford recovered a hiker who had become lost and disoriented. She boarded Ford's helicopter and promptly vomited into one of the rescuers' caps, unaware of who the pilot was until much later; "I can't believe I barfed in Harrison Ford's helicopter!" she said later.
Ford flies his de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver (N28S) more than any of his other aircraft, and has repeatedly said that he likes this aircraft and the sound of its Pratt & Whitney R-985 radial engine. According to Ford, it had been flown in the CIA's Air America operations and was riddled with bullet holes that had to be patched up.
In March 2004, Ford officially became chairman of the Young Eagles program of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA). Ford was asked to take the position by Greg Anderson, Senior Vice President of the EAA at the time, to replace General Chuck Yeager, who was vacating the post that he had held for many years. Ford at first was hesitant, but later accepted the offer and has made appearances with the Young Eagles at the EAA AirVenture Oshkosh gathering at Oshkosh, Wisconsin, for two years. In July 2005, at the gathering in Oshkosh, Ford agreed to accept the position for another two years. He has flown over 280 children as part of the Young Eagles program, usually in his DHC-2 Beaver, which can seat the actor and five children. Ford stepped down as program chairman in 2009 and was replaced by Captain Chesley Sullenberger and First Officer Jeff Skiles. He is involved with the EAA chapter in Driggs, Idaho, just over the Teton Range from Jackson, Wyoming. On July 28, 2016, Ford flew the two millionth Young Eagle at the EAA AirVenture convention.
As of 2009, Ford appears in Internet advertisements for General Aviation Serves America, a campaign by the advocacy group Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA). He has also appeared in several independent aviation documentaries, including Wings Over the Rockies (2009), Flying The Feathered Edge: The Bob Hoover Project (2014) and Living in the Age of Airplanes (2015).
Ford is an honorary board member of the humanitarian aviation organization Wings of Hope, and is known for having made several trips to Washington, D.C., to fight for pilots' rights. He has also donated substantial funds to aerobatic champion Sean Tucker's charitable program, The Bob Hoover Academy (named after legendary aviator Bob Hoover) which educates at-risk teens in central California and teaches them how to fly.
Incidents
On October 23, 1999, Ford was involved in the crash of a Bell 206L4 LongRanger helicopter. The NTSB accident report states that Ford was piloting the aircraft over the Lake Piru riverbed near Santa Clarita, California, on a routine training flight. While making his second attempt at an autorotation with powered recovery, the aircraft was unable to recover power after the sudden drop in altitude. It landed hard and began skidding forward in the loose gravel before flipping onto its side. Neither Ford nor the instructor pilot suffered any injuries, though the helicopter was seriously damaged.
On March 5, 2015, Ford's plane, believed to be a Ryan PT-22 Recruit, made an emergency landing on the Penmar Golf Course in Venice, California. Ford had radioed in to report that the plane had experienced engine failure. He was taken to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, where he was reported to be in fair to moderate condition. Ford suffered a broken pelvis and broken ankle during the accident, as well as other injuries.
On February 13, 2017, Ford landed an Aviat Husky at John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California, on the taxiway left of runway 20L. A Boeing 737 was holding short of the runway on the taxiway when Ford overflew them.
On April 24, 2020, at the Los Angeles Hawthorne Airport, Ford was piloting a plane when he crossed a runway where another aircraft was landing.
Activism
Environmental work
Ford is vice-chair of Conservation International, an American nonprofit environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. The organization's intent is to protect nature.
In September 2013, Ford, while filming an environmental documentary in Indonesia, interviewed the Indonesian Forestry Minister, Zulkifli Hasan. After the interview, Ford and his crew were accused of "harassing state institutions" and publicly threatened with deportation. Questions within the interview concerned the Tesso Nilo National Park, Sumatra. It was alleged the Minister of Forestry was given no prior warning of questions nor the chance to explain the challenges of catching people with illegal logging. Ford was provided an audience with the Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, during which he expressed concerns regarding Indonesia's environmental degradation and the government efforts to address climate change. In response, the President explained Indonesia's commitment to preserving its oceans and forests.
In 1993, the arachnologist Norman Platnick named a new species of spider Calponia harrisonfordi, and in 2002, the entomologist Edward O. Wilson named a new ant species Pheidole harrisonfordi (in recognition of Harrison's work as Vice Chairman of Conservation International).
Since 1992, Ford has lent his voice to a series of public service messages promoting environmental involvement for EarthShare, an American federation of environmental and conservation charities. He has acted as a spokesperson for Restore Hetch Hetchy, a non-profit organization dedicated to restoring Yosemite National Park's Hetch Hetchy Valley to its original condition. Ford also appears in the documentary series Years of Living Dangerously, which reports on people affected by and seeking solutions to climate change.
In 2019, on behalf of Conservation International, Ford gave an impassioned speech during the United Nations' Climate Action Summit in New York on the destruction of the Amazon rainforest and its effect on climate change for the rest of the world. Ford urged his audience to listen to 'angry young people' trying to make a difference in the situation, emphasizing, "The most important thing we can do for them is to get the hell out of their way."
Political views
Like his parents, Ford is a lifelong Democrat.
On September 7, 1995, Ford testified before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee in support of the Dalai Lama and an independent Tibet. In 2007, he narrated the documentary Dalai Lama Renaissance.
In 2003, he publicly condemned the Iraq War and called for "regime change" in the United States. He also criticized Hollywood for making movies which were "more akin to video games than stories about human life and relationships", and he called for more gun control in the United States.
After Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said his favorite role of Ford's was Air Force One because he "stood up for America", Ford reasoned that it was just a film and made critical statements against Trump's presidential bid.
For the first time ever endorsing a political candidate for office, Ford endorsed Joe Biden's 2020 presidential campaign against Donald Trump. He said that he wanted to "encourage people to support candidates that will support the environment" and felt that under Trump, the United States has "lost some of our credibility in the world". Along with Mark Hamill, Ford worked with the anti-Trump Republican group The Lincoln Project to produce and narrate a 2020 election ad attacking Trump's disparaging of Anthony Fauci.
In 2009, Ford signed a petition calling for the release of film director Roman Polanski, who had been arrested in Switzerland in relation to his 1977 charge for drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl.
Archaeology
Following on his success portraying the archaeologist Indiana Jones, Ford also plays a part in supporting the work of professional archaeologists. He serves as a General Trustee on the Governing Board of the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA), North America's oldest and largest organization devoted to the world of archaeology. Ford assists them in their mission of increasing public awareness of archaeology and preventing looting and the illegal antiquities trade.
Star Wars: Force for Change
Ford participated in a Star Wars promotion geared toward fans who donated to Star Wars: Force for Change on video call which offered them the opportunity to purchase tickets to the premiere of The Force Awakens.
Acting credits and awards
Throughout his career, Ford has received significant recognition for his work in the entertainment industry. In 1986, he was nominated for Best Actor at the 58th Academy Awards for his performance in Witness, a role for which he also received BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations in the same category. Three additional Golden Globe nominations went to Ford in 1987, 1994 and 1996 for his performances in The Mosquito Coast, The Fugitive and Sabrina. In 2000, he was the recipient of the AFI Life Achievement Award from the American Film Institute for his body of work, presented to him by two of his closest collaborators and fellow industry giants, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. In 2002, he was given the Cecil B. DeMille Award, another career achievement honor, from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association at the 59th Golden Globe Awards ceremony. On May 30, 2003, Ford received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
In 2006, he received the Jules Verne Award, given to an actor who has "encouraged the spirit of adventure and imagination" throughout their career. He was presented with the first-ever Hero Award at the 2007 Scream Awards for his many iconic roles, including Indiana Jones and Han Solo (both of which earned him two Saturn Awards for Best Actor in 1982 and 2016, respectively), and in 2008 he received the Spike TV's Guy's Choice Award for "Brass Balls". In 2015, Ford received the Albert R. Broccoli Britannia Award for Worldwide Contribution to Entertainment from BAFTA Los Angeles. In 2018, Ford was honored by the SAG-AFTRA Foundation with the Artists Inspiration Award for both his acting and philanthropic work alongside fellow honoree Lady Gaga. SAG-AFTRA Foundation Board President JoBeth Williams in the press release said, “Harrison Ford is an acting legend in every known galaxy, but what many do not know are the decades of philanthropic service and leadership he has given to Conservation International to help protect our planet."
Other prestigious film honors for Ford include the Honorary Cesar, the Career Achievement Award from the Hollywood Film Awards, the Kirk Douglas Award for Excellence in Film from the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, the Box Office Star of the Century Award from the National Association of Theatre Owners and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Locarno Film Festival.
Ford has also been honored multiple times for his involvement in general aviation, receiving the Living Legends of Aviation Award and the Experimental Aircraft Association's Freedom of Flight Award in 2009, the Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy in 2010 and the Al Ueltschi Humanitarian Award in 2013. In 2013, Flying magazine ranked him number 48 on their list of the 51 Heroes of Aviation.
References
External links
Harrison Ford at Hollywood Walk of Fame
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
1942 births
Activists from California
Actors from Park Ridge, Illinois
Actors Fund of America
AFI Life Achievement Award recipients
American carpenters
American conservationists
American environmentalists
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male video game actors
American male voice actors
American people of Belarusian-Jewish descent
American people of Irish descent
Aviators from Illinois
California Democrats
Cecil B. DeMille Award Golden Globe winners
César Honorary Award recipients
Film producers from Illinois
Living people
Male actors from Chicago
Ripon College (Wisconsin) alumni
Survivors of aviation accidents or incidents
American gun control activists
Jewish American male actors
American Ashkenazi Jews
Experimental Aircraft Association
21st-century American Jews | false | [
"The Belfry Music Theatre, formerly known as the Belfry Theater and The Belfry Players, is a theater facility and acting company in the town of Delavan, adjacent to the village of Williams Bay, Wisconsin. Established in a former church building, the Belfry was the first summer stock theater in Wisconsin. The theater operated as a stock company from 1935 until 1969, providing early professional experience to thespians like Paul Newman, Del Close, Gary Burghoff and Harrison Ford. The venue continued operating for local productions for many years, for a short time as an adjunct to Cleveland's Dobama Theater. In 2016, The Belfry Music Theatre was renovated, and opened to the public as a music concert and event venue.\n\nLocated on Bailey Road south of the intersection of highways 50 and 67, on what was once called Delap Corners, the Belfry produced seasonal productions from the early 1930s through the 1970s and sporadically thereafter. The non-profit company was a rural \"straw hat\" repertory troupe. The land was owned by the Delap family. They came from Chicago and settled in the Delavan area. It was housed in a converted church of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The church was erected in 1888 and adapted for theatrical purposes in the 1930s. The producing group called the Belfry Players first leased the building in 1934, then purchased it in 1938. A large shed was later added to the theater to provide space for scenic construction and storage. Nearby Crane Hall, more recently named Belfry House, served as a dormitory for resident company members.\n\nIn the late 1960s, the Belfry Theater was imperiled by a highway widening project. Although the theater building was moved and its existence saved, the company's debts forced it to suspend production between 1969 and 1976. Barry E. Silverman, a director of the Dobama Theater of Cleveland, assumed proprietorship of the Belfry in 1976, dubbed his operating company \"Dobama West,\" and revived producing for three years, closing after the 1979 season.\n\nAfter regular annual productions ceased, \"occasional revivals and performances were booked at the Belfry into the 1990s,\" as, for example, when showman Eddie Cash presented musical tributes to popular singers. The Belfry was still producing as late as 1990. The theater buildings were purchased in November 2013 by Transformative Arts, Inc., a Christian theatrical production company.\n\nPlayers\n\nFor most of its history, the Belfry acting company, a combination of local amateurs and a stipended resident corps of non-Equity actors, presented a summer series of six plays back to back, with a new production opening every two weeks. In the early days, actors who received pay were often required to spend hours constructing and painting settings and props in the scene shop. The company received financial support from its box office, from advertisers, and from dues-paying life members. Under Dobama West in the 1970s, the pay was scaled somewhat higher for actors to concentrate on just acting. Several well-known actors received their early career opportunities at the Belfry, including Paul Newman (1949), Del Close (1953), Gary Burghoff (1962), and Harrison Ford (1964). Among the company's resident directors were Leo M. Jones (1949), Lance Goss (1959, 1960), Frank C. Davidson (1951, 1961) and Keith Fowler (1962).\n\nUnder the original Belfry management, actors often found the pace of the Belfry's repertory system—in which they rehearsed and worked in the scene shop all day and performed nearly every night—to be exhausting, but an effective form of training. Some took exception to the kind of learning the schedule imposed on them. Paul Newman remembered his Belfry rehearsals, saying \"[T]he only thing you do ...in such a short time to prepare, is to develop your bad mannerisms, or discover possibly successful mannerisms--but mannerisms nevertheless. Sure, what can you do in four days of rehearsal? You can hope to Christ that you can remember your lines, and that’s about as far as it goes.” Others felt the experience was valuable for teaching young actors what was necessary to make their characters' traits clear and to sell plots in many different styles to an audience.\n\nProductions\n\nAs long as the Belfry's bell functioned, it was rung to announce the curtain time.\n\nTwo plays were presented in the first season, 1934: The Youngest, followed by Laff That Off.\n\nOver the first few summers, the number of shows was gradually increased until a peak of eight productions was reached in 1938. By 1940, the count was stabilized at six titles per season through the early '60s, with only an occasional anomalous number.\n\nMost plays were typical summer escapist fare, such as comedies by Noël Coward (Hay Fever) and George S. Kaufman (George Washington Slept Here) and light mysteries by Agatha Christie (Ten Little Indians). In the 1950s and '60s, Belfry occasionally attempted more serious fare by Arthur Miller (All My Sons), Tennessee Williams (The Glass Menagerie), and Peter Shaffer (Five Finger Exercise). Musicals (Babes in Arms, The Boy Friend) were added in the early 1960s. Under the Dobama West aegis, the number of musicals was increased, including as many as three in a season (1978): The Roar of the Greasepaint, the Smell of the Crowd; Side by Side by Sondheim; and Oklahoma!.\n\nThe present theater marquee proclaims it as the \"Belfry Music Theater.\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nBelfry Music Theater official site\n\nBuildings and structures in Walworth County, Wisconsin\nFormer churches in Wisconsin\nTheatres in Wisconsin\nTourist attractions in Walworth County, Wisconsin\nDelavan, Wisconsin",
"Australian rules football in Catalonia is run by the Catalan League of Australian Football (LFAC), member of Aussie Rules Europe. Aussie rules was first played in 2002 in the city of Valls. During this time the first club, Belfry Valls, was formed.\n\nThere have been several teams playing the Catalan League: Belfry Valls, Cornellà Bocs, Barcelona Stars, Valls Fire, Wendells Salou, Coyotes Alt Camp, Gabas Tarragona, Lleida Coiots and Picamoixons Birds.\nIn 2009 the Catalan league was played by Belfry Valls, Cornellà Bocs, Andorra Crows and Perpignan Tigers.\n\nLFAC champions and Grand Finals\n\nInternational Matches \nThe Catalonia national team has played three EU Cups in 2005, 2007, and 2008.\n\n2005 EU Cup \nCatalonia was in the first EU Cup in 2005 in London, playing with teams representing Scotland, England, Germany, Sweden, Israel, Netherlands, France, Austria and Belgium. Although other teams had expatriate Australians, all the Catalan players were from Catalonia, finishing in the seventh place.\n\n2007 EU Cup \nThe second EU Cup was held in Hamburg, with twelve teams representing Austria, Belgium, Catalonia, Czech Republic, England, Finland, France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and a team called EU Crusaders. Again, Catalonia played with no expatriates, and this time got the eighth place.\n\n2008 EU Cup \nThe 2008 EU Cup was played in Prague, and Catalonia competed with England, Finland, Czech Republic, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Scotland, Croatia, Sweden, Austria and the EU Crusaders. At the end, Catalans reached the seventh place.\n\nReferences \n\nCat\nCat\nSport in Catalonia by sport"
]
|
[
"Harrison Ford",
"Early career",
"How did his career get started?",
"signed a $150-a-week contract with Columbia Pictures' New Talent program, playing bit roles in films.",
"When was he signed?",
"In 1964,",
"Did his career take off right away?",
"Ford traveled to Los Angeles to apply for a job in radio voice-overs. He did not get it,",
"How long did it take him to rise to fame?",
"I don't know.",
"What was his first part?",
"In 1964, after a season of summer stock with the Belfry Players in Wisconsin, Ford traveled to Los Angeles",
"How was his performance with the belfry players?",
"I don't know."
]
| C_0102898e6f744dd7808e75bc246b81fe_1 | What happened after he returned to Los Angeles? | 7 | What happened after Harrison Ford returned to Los Angeles from Wisconsin? | Harrison Ford | In 1964, after a season of summer stock with the Belfry Players in Wisconsin, Ford traveled to Los Angeles to apply for a job in radio voice-overs. He did not get it, but stayed in California and eventually signed a $150-a-week contract with Columbia Pictures' New Talent program, playing bit roles in films. His first known role was an uncredited one as a bellhop in Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round (1966). There is little record of his non-speaking roles (or "extra" work) in film. Ford was at the bottom of the hiring list, having offended producer Jerry Tokovsky after he played a bellboy in the feature. He was told by Tokovsky that when actor Tony Curtis delivered a bag of groceries, he did it like a movie star; Ford felt his job was to act like a bellboy. Ford managed to secure other roles in movies, such as A Time for Killing (The Long Ride Home), starring Glenn Ford; George Hamilton; and Inger Stevens. His speaking roles continued next with Luv (1967), though he was still uncredited. He was finally credited as "Harrison J. Ford" in the 1967 Western film A Time for Killing, but the "J" did not stand for anything, since he has no middle name. It was added to avoid confusion with a silent film actor named Harrison Ford, who appeared in more than 80 films between 1915 and 1932 and died in 1957. Ford later said that he was unaware of the existence of the earlier actor until he came upon a star with his own name on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Ford soon dropped the "J" and worked for Universal Studios, playing minor roles in many television series throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, including Gunsmoke, Ironside, The Virginian, The F.B.I., Love, American Style, and Kung Fu. He appeared in the western Journey to Shiloh (1968) and had an uncredited, non-speaking role in Michelangelo Antonioni's 1970 film Zabriskie Point as an arrested student protester. Not happy with the roles being offered to him, Ford became a self-taught professional carpenter to support his then-wife and two young sons. Casting director and fledgling producer Fred Roos championed the young Ford and secured him an audition with George Lucas for the role of Bob Falfa, which Ford went on to play in American Graffiti (1973). Ford's relationship with Lucas would profoundly affect his career later on. After director Francis Ford Coppola's film The Godfather was a success, he hired Ford to expand his office and gave him small roles in his next two films, The Conversation (1974) and Apocalypse Now (1979); in the latter film he played an army officer named "G. Lucas". CANNOTANSWER | signed a $150-a-week contract with Columbia Pictures' New Talent program, playing bit roles in films. | Harrison Ford (born July 13, 1942) is an American actor. His films have grossed more than $5.4billion in North America and more than $9.3billion worldwide, making him the seventh-highest-grossing actor in North America. He is the recipient of various accolades, including three Saturn Awards, the AFI Life Achievement Award and the Cecil B. DeMille Award, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award and four Golden Globe Awards.
Following the initial phase of his career in bit parts and supporting roles, Ford gained worldwide fame for his starring role as Han Solo in the epic space opera film Star Wars (1977), reprising the role in four sequels over the course of the next 42 years. He is also widely known for his portrayal of Indiana Jones in the titular film franchise, beginning with the action-adventure film Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), and for playing other characters in different franchises, most notably Rick Deckard in the dystopian science fiction films Blade Runner (1982) and Blade Runner 2049 (2017) and the Tom Clancy character Jack Ryan in the spy thriller films Patriot Games (1992) and Clear and Present Danger (1994). His career spans six decades and includes collaborations with some of the most acclaimed and influential filmmakers of his time, such as George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg, Ridley Scott, Peter Weir, Roman Polanski and Mike Nichols.
Ford has portrayed heroic characters in other films such as the thrillers Witness (1985), for which he received his only Academy Award nomination, The Fugitive (1993), and Air Force One (1997), as well as the historical sports drama 42 (2013). In addition to heroic roles, he played morally ambiguous and darker characters in films such as the coming-of-age comedy drama American Graffiti (1973), the conspiracy thriller The Conversation (1974), the survival drama The Mosquito Coast (1986), the legal drama Presumed Innocent (1990), and the supernatural suspense thriller What Lies Beneath (2000). Ford has also appeared in several romantic comedies and dramas throughout his career, including Heroes (1977), Working Girl (1988), Sabrina (1995), Six Days, Seven Nights (1998), Random Hearts (1999), Morning Glory (2010), and The Age of Adaline (2015).
Outside acting, Ford is a licensed pilot who has often assisted the emergency services in rescue missions near his home in Wyoming. He is also a dedicated environmental activist, having served as the inaugural Vice Chair of Conservation International since 1991.
Early life
Harrison Ford was born at the Swedish Covenant Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, on July 13, 1942, to former radio actress Dorothy (née Nidelman) and advertising executive and former actor John William "Christopher" Ford. His younger brother, Terence, was born in 1945. Their father was a Catholic of German and Irish descent, while their mother was an Ashkenazi Jew whose parents were emigrants from Minsk, Belarus, then in the Russian Empire. When asked in which religion he and his brother were raised, Ford jokingly responded "Democrat" and more seriously stated that they were raised to be "liberals of every stripe". When asked about what influence his Jewish and Irish Catholic ancestry may have had on him, he quipped, "As a man I've always felt Irish, as an actor I've always felt Jewish."
Ford was a Boy Scout, achieving the second-highest rank of Life Scout. He worked at Napowan Adventure Base Scout Camp as a counselor for the Reptile Study merit badge. Because of this, he and director Steven Spielberg later decided to depict the young Indiana Jones as a Life Scout in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989). Ford graduated in 1960 from Maine East High School in Park Ridge, Illinois. His voice was the first student voice broadcast on his high school's new radio station, WMTH, and he was its first sportscaster during his senior year. He attended Ripon College in Ripon, Wisconsin, where he was a philosophy major and a member of the Sigma Nu fraternity. A self-described "late bloomer", Ford took a drama class in the final quarter of his senior year to get over his shyness and became fascinated with acting.
Career
1964–1976
In 1964, after a season of summer stock with the Belfry Players in Wisconsin, Ford traveled to Los Angeles to apply for a job in radio voice-overs. He did not get it, but stayed in California and eventually signed a $150-per-week contract with Columbia Pictures' new talent program, playing bit roles in films. His first known role was an uncredited one as a bellhop in Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round (1966). There is little record of his non-speaking (or "extra") roles in film. Ford was at the bottom of the hiring list, having offended producer Jerry Tokovsky after he played a bellboy in the feature. He was told by Tokovsky that when actor Tony Curtis delivered a bag of groceries, he did it like a movie star; Ford felt his job was to act like a bellboy.
His speaking roles continued next with Luv (1967), though he was still uncredited. He was finally credited as "Harrison J. Ford" in the 1967 Western film A Time for Killing, starring Glenn Ford, George Hamilton and Inger Stevens, but the "J" did not stand for anything since he has no middle name. It was added to avoid confusion with a silent film actor named Harrison Ford, who appeared in more than 80 films between 1915 and 1932 and died in 1957. Ford later said that he was unaware of the existence of the earlier actor until he came upon a star with his own name on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Ford soon dropped the "J" and worked for Universal Studios, playing minor roles in many television series throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, including Gunsmoke, Ironside, The Virginian, The F.B.I., Love, American Style and Kung Fu. He appeared in the western Journey to Shiloh (1968) and had an uncredited, non-speaking role in Michelangelo Antonioni's 1970 film Zabriskie Point as an arrested student protester. French filmmaker Jacques Demy chose Ford for the lead role of his first American film, Model Shop (1969), but the head of Columbia Pictures thought Ford had "no future" in the film business and told Demy to hire a more experienced actor. The part eventually went to Gary Lockwood. Ford later commented that the experience had been nevertheless a positive one because Demy was the first to show such faith in him.
Not happy with the roles offered to him, Ford became a self-taught professional carpenter to support his then-wife and two young sons. Clients at this time included the writers Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne, who lived on the beach at Malibu. Ford appears in the documentary Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold. He and his wife became friends of the writers. Casting director and fledgling producer Fred Roos championed the young Ford and secured him an audition with George Lucas for the role of Bob Falfa, which Ford went on to play in American Graffiti (1973). Ford's relationship with Lucas would profoundly affect his career later on. After director Francis Ford Coppola's film The Godfather was a success, he hired Ford to expand his office and gave him small roles in his next two films, The Conversation (1974) and Apocalypse Now (1979); in the latter film, Ford played an army officer named "G. Lucas".
1977–1997
Ford began to receive bigger roles in films throughout the late 1970s, including Heroes (1977), Force 10 from Navarone (1978) and Hanover Street (1979). Ford also co-starred alongside Gene Wilder in the buddy-comedy western The Frisco Kid (1979), playing a bank robber with a heart of gold. His previous work in American Graffiti eventually landed him his first starring film role when he was hired by Lucas to read lines for actors auditioning for roles in Lucas' upcoming epic space-opera film Star Wars (1977). Lucas was eventually won over by Ford's performance during these line reads and cast him as Han Solo. Star Wars became one of the most successful and groundbreaking films of all time, and brought Ford, and his co-stars Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher, widespread recognition. He returned to star in the similarly successful Star Wars sequels The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983), as well as the Star Wars Holiday Special (1978). Ford wanted Lucas to kill off Han Solo at the end of Return of the Jedi, saying, "That would have given the whole film a bottom," but Lucas refused.
Ford's status as a leading actor was solidified with Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), an action-adventure collaboration between George Lucas and Steven Spielberg that gave Ford his second franchise role as the heroic, globe-trotting archaeologist Indiana Jones. Like Star Wars, the film was massively successful and became the highest-grossing film of the year. Spielberg was interested in casting Ford from the beginning, but Lucas was not, having already worked with the actor in American Graffiti and Star Wars. Lucas eventually relented after Tom Selleck was unable to accept. Ford went on to reprise the role throughout the rest of the decade in the prequel Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), which co-starred Spielberg's future-wife Kate Capshaw, and the sequel Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), which co-starred Sean Connery as Indy's father, Henry Jones Sr. During the June 1983 filming of Temple of Doom in London, Ford herniated a disc in his back. The 40-year-old actor was forced to fly back to Los Angeles for surgery and returned six weeks later.
Following his leading-man success as Indiana Jones, he played Rick Deckard in Ridley Scott's dystopian science-fiction film Blade Runner (1982). Compared to his experiences on the Star Wars and Indiana Jones films, Ford had a difficult time with the production. He recalled to Vanity Fair, “It was a long slog. I didn’t really find it that physically difficult—I thought it was mentally difficult.” Ford and Scott also had differing views on the nature of his character, Deckard, that persist decades later. While not initially a success, Blade Runner went on to become a cult classic and one of Ford's most highly regarded films. Ford also proved his versatility throughout the 1980s with dramatic parts in films such as Witness (1985), The Mosquito Coast (1986), and Frantic (1988) as well as the romantic male lead opposite Melanie Griffith and Sigourney Weaver in the comedy-drama Working Girl (1988). Witness and The Mosquito Coast in particular allowed Ford to explore his potential as a dramatic actor and both performances were widely acclaimed. Ford would later recall that working with director Peter Weir on both Witness and The Mosquito Coast were two of the best experiences of his career.
In the 1990s, Ford became the second of five actors to portray Jack Ryan in two films of the film series based on the literary character created by Tom Clancy: Patriot Games (1992) and Clear and Present Danger (1994), both co-starring Anne Archer and James Earl Jones. Ford took over the role from Alec Baldwin who had previously played the character in The Hunt for Red October (1990). This led to a long-lasting resentment from Baldwin who claimed to have wanted to reprise the role but Ford had negotiated with Paramount behind his back. Ford also played leading roles in other action-based thrillers throughout the decade such as the critically acclaimed The Fugitive (1993), The Devil's Own (1997), and Air Force One (1997). For his performance in The Fugitive, which also co-starred Tommy Lee Jones, Ford received some of the best reviews of his career, including from Roger Ebert who concluded that, "Ford is once again the great modern movie everyman. As an actor, nothing he does seems merely for show, and in the face of this melodramatic material he deliberately plays down, lays low, gets on with business instead of trying to exploit the drama in meaningless acting flourishes." He also played more straight dramatic roles in Presumed Innocent (1990) and Regarding Henry (1991) as well as another romantic lead in Sabrina (1995), a remake of a classic 1954 film with the same name.
Ford established working relationships with many well-regarded directors during this time, including Peter Weir, Alan J. Pakula, Mike Nichols, Phillip Noyce, and Sydney Pollack, collaborating twice with each of them. This was the most lucrative period of Ford's career. From 1977 to 1997, he appeared in fourteen films that reached the top fifteen in the yearly domestic box office rankings, twelve of which reached the top ten. Six of the films he appeared in during this time were also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture amongst numerous other awards: Star Wars, Apocalypse Now, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Witness, Working Girl, and The Fugitive.
1998–2014
In the late 1990s, Ford started appearing in several critically derided and/or commercially disappointing films that failed to match his earlier successes, including Six Days, Seven Nights (1998), Random Hearts (1999), K-19: The Widowmaker (2002), Hollywood Homicide (2003), Firewall (2006) and Extraordinary Measures (2010). One exception was What Lies Beneath (2000) which grossed over $155million in the United States and $291million worldwide. Ford served as an executive producer on K-19: The Widowmaker and Extraordinary Measures, both of which were based on true events. In the 2001 Guinness Book of World Records, Ford was listed as the richest male actor in the world.
In 2004, Ford declined a chance to star in the thriller Syriana, later commenting that "I didn't feel strongly enough about the truth of the material and I think I made a mistake." The role eventually went to George Clooney, who won an Oscar and a Golden Globe for his work. Prior to that, Ford had passed on a role in another Stephen Gaghan-written film, that of Robert Wakefield in Traffic, which eventually went to Michael Douglas.
In 2008, Ford enjoyed success with the release of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the first Indiana Jones film in nineteen years and another collaboration with Lucas and Spielberg. The film received generally positive reviews and was the second highest-grossing film worldwide in 2008. Ford later said he would like to star in another sequel, "...if it didn't take another 20 years to digest."
Other 2008 work included Crossing Over, directed by Wayne Kramer. In the film, Ford plays an ICE/Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent, working alongside Ashley Judd and Ray Liotta. He also narrated a feature documentary film about the Dalai Lama entitled Dalai Lama Renaissance. Ford filmed the medical drama Extraordinary Measures in 2009 in Portland, Oregon. Released January 22, 2010, the film also starred Brendan Fraser and Alan Ruck. Also in 2010, he co-starred in the film Morning Glory, along with Rachel McAdams, Diane Keaton and Patrick Wilson. Although a disappointment at the box office, Ford's performance was well received by critics, some of which thought it was his best role in years. In July 2011, Ford starred alongside Daniel Craig and Olivia Wilde in the science-fiction/western hybrid film Cowboys & Aliens. To promote the film, Ford appeared at the San Diego Comic-Con International and, apparently surprised by the warm welcome, told the audience, "I just wanted to make a living as an actor. I didn't know about this." Also in 2011, Ford starred in Japanese commercials advertising the video game Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception for the PlayStation 3.
2013 began a trend that saw Ford accepting more diverse supporting roles. That year, Ford co-starred in the corporate espionage thriller Paranoia with Liam Hemsworth and Gary Oldman, who he had previously worked with in Air Force One, and he also appeared in Ender's Game, 42 and Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues. His performance as Branch Rickey in 42 was praised by many critics and garnered Ford a nomination as best supporting actor for the Satellite Awards. In 2014, he appeared in The Expendables 3 and the documentary Flying the Feathered Edge: The Bob Hoover Project. The next year, Ford co-starred with Blake Lively in the romantic drama The Age of Adaline to positive notices.
2015–present
Ford reprised the role of Han Solo in the long-awaited Star Wars sequel Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), which became massively successful like its predecessors. During filming on June 11, 2014, Ford suffered what was said to be a fractured ankle when a hydraulic door fell on him. He was airlifted to John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, England, for treatment. Ford's son Ben released details on his father's injury, saying that his ankle would likely need a plate and screws, and that filming could be altered slightly with the crew needing to shoot Ford from the waist up for a short time until he recovered. Ford made his return to filming in mid-August, after a two-month layoff as he recovered from his injury. Ford's character was killed off in The Force Awakens, but it was subsequently announced, via a casting call, that Ford would return in some capacity as Solo in Episode VIII. In February 2016, when the cast for Episode VIII was confirmed, it was indicated that Ford would not reprise his role in the film after all. When Ford was asked if his character could come back in "some form", he replied, "Anything is possible in space." The character eventually reappeared as a vision in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019).
On February 26, 2015, Alcon Entertainment announced Ford would reprise his role as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner 2049. The film, and Ford's performance, was very well received by critics upon its release in October 2017. Scott Collura of IGN called it a, "deep, rich, smart film that's visually awesome and full of great sci-fi concepts" and Ford's role, "a quiet, sort of gut-wrenching interpretation to Deckard and what he must've gone through in the past three decades." Despite the acclaim, the film only grossed $259.3million worldwide, far short of the estimated $400million that the film needed in order to break even. In 2019, Ford had his first voice role in an animated film, as a dog named Rooster in The Secret Life of Pets 2. With filming for a fifth Indiana Jones film having been delayed by a year, Ford headlined a big-budget adaptation of Jack London's The Call of the Wild, playing prospector John Thornton. The film was released in February 2020 to a mixed critical reception but its theatrical release was shortened due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the film industry.
Personal life
Ford has been married three times, and has four biological children and one adopted child. He was first married to Mary Marquardt from 1964 until their divorce in 1979. They had two sons, chef and restaurateur Benjamin (born 1966) and clothier Willard (born 1969). Benjamin co-owns Ford's Filling Station, a gastropub with locations at L.A. Live in Los Angeles and Terminal 5 in Los Angeles International Airport. Willard is the owner of Strong Sports Gym, and was co-owner of the Kim Sing Theater and owner of the Ludwig Clothing company.
Ford's second marriage was to screenwriter Melissa Mathison from March 1983 until their separation in 2000 and finalized divorce in 2004. They had a son, actor and musician Malcolm (born 1987), and a daughter, actress Georgia (born 1990). Mathison died in 2015.
Ford began dating actress Calista Flockhart after they met at the 2002 Golden Globe Awards. They are the parents of Liam (born 2001), the son she adopted before meeting Ford. He proposed to Flockhart over Valentine's Day weekend in 2009. They married on June 15, 2010, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where Ford was filming Cowboys & Aliens.
Ford and Flockhart live on an ranch in Jackson, Wyoming, on which he has lived since the 1980s and approximately half of which he has donated as a nature reserve. They retain a base in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles. He is known as one of Hollywood's most private actors, guarding much of his personal life. In her 2016 autobiography The Princess Diarist, his co-star Carrie Fisher claimed that she and Ford had a three-month affair in 1976 during the filming of Star Wars.
Aviation
Ford is a licensed pilot of both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. On several occasions, he has personally provided emergency helicopter services at the request of local authorities in Wyoming, in one instance rescuing a hiker overcome by dehydration.
Ford began flight training in the 1960s at Wild Rose Idlewild Airport in Wild Rose, Wisconsin, flying in a Piper PA-22 Tri-Pacer, but at $15 an hour (), he could not afford to continue the training. In the mid-1990s, he bought a used Gulfstream II and asked one of his pilots, Terry Bender, to give him flying lessons. They started flying a Cessna 182 out of Jackson, Wyoming, later switching to Teterboro, New Jersey, flying a Cessna 206, the aircraft in which he made his first solo flight.
Ford's aircraft is kept at Santa Monica Airport. The Bell 407 is often kept and flown in Jackson and has been used by the actor in two mountain rescues during his assigned duty time with Teton County Search and Rescue. On one of the rescues, Ford recovered a hiker who had become lost and disoriented. She boarded Ford's helicopter and promptly vomited into one of the rescuers' caps, unaware of who the pilot was until much later; "I can't believe I barfed in Harrison Ford's helicopter!" she said later.
Ford flies his de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver (N28S) more than any of his other aircraft, and has repeatedly said that he likes this aircraft and the sound of its Pratt & Whitney R-985 radial engine. According to Ford, it had been flown in the CIA's Air America operations and was riddled with bullet holes that had to be patched up.
In March 2004, Ford officially became chairman of the Young Eagles program of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA). Ford was asked to take the position by Greg Anderson, Senior Vice President of the EAA at the time, to replace General Chuck Yeager, who was vacating the post that he had held for many years. Ford at first was hesitant, but later accepted the offer and has made appearances with the Young Eagles at the EAA AirVenture Oshkosh gathering at Oshkosh, Wisconsin, for two years. In July 2005, at the gathering in Oshkosh, Ford agreed to accept the position for another two years. He has flown over 280 children as part of the Young Eagles program, usually in his DHC-2 Beaver, which can seat the actor and five children. Ford stepped down as program chairman in 2009 and was replaced by Captain Chesley Sullenberger and First Officer Jeff Skiles. He is involved with the EAA chapter in Driggs, Idaho, just over the Teton Range from Jackson, Wyoming. On July 28, 2016, Ford flew the two millionth Young Eagle at the EAA AirVenture convention.
As of 2009, Ford appears in Internet advertisements for General Aviation Serves America, a campaign by the advocacy group Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA). He has also appeared in several independent aviation documentaries, including Wings Over the Rockies (2009), Flying The Feathered Edge: The Bob Hoover Project (2014) and Living in the Age of Airplanes (2015).
Ford is an honorary board member of the humanitarian aviation organization Wings of Hope, and is known for having made several trips to Washington, D.C., to fight for pilots' rights. He has also donated substantial funds to aerobatic champion Sean Tucker's charitable program, The Bob Hoover Academy (named after legendary aviator Bob Hoover) which educates at-risk teens in central California and teaches them how to fly.
Incidents
On October 23, 1999, Ford was involved in the crash of a Bell 206L4 LongRanger helicopter. The NTSB accident report states that Ford was piloting the aircraft over the Lake Piru riverbed near Santa Clarita, California, on a routine training flight. While making his second attempt at an autorotation with powered recovery, the aircraft was unable to recover power after the sudden drop in altitude. It landed hard and began skidding forward in the loose gravel before flipping onto its side. Neither Ford nor the instructor pilot suffered any injuries, though the helicopter was seriously damaged.
On March 5, 2015, Ford's plane, believed to be a Ryan PT-22 Recruit, made an emergency landing on the Penmar Golf Course in Venice, California. Ford had radioed in to report that the plane had experienced engine failure. He was taken to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, where he was reported to be in fair to moderate condition. Ford suffered a broken pelvis and broken ankle during the accident, as well as other injuries.
On February 13, 2017, Ford landed an Aviat Husky at John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California, on the taxiway left of runway 20L. A Boeing 737 was holding short of the runway on the taxiway when Ford overflew them.
On April 24, 2020, at the Los Angeles Hawthorne Airport, Ford was piloting a plane when he crossed a runway where another aircraft was landing.
Activism
Environmental work
Ford is vice-chair of Conservation International, an American nonprofit environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. The organization's intent is to protect nature.
In September 2013, Ford, while filming an environmental documentary in Indonesia, interviewed the Indonesian Forestry Minister, Zulkifli Hasan. After the interview, Ford and his crew were accused of "harassing state institutions" and publicly threatened with deportation. Questions within the interview concerned the Tesso Nilo National Park, Sumatra. It was alleged the Minister of Forestry was given no prior warning of questions nor the chance to explain the challenges of catching people with illegal logging. Ford was provided an audience with the Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, during which he expressed concerns regarding Indonesia's environmental degradation and the government efforts to address climate change. In response, the President explained Indonesia's commitment to preserving its oceans and forests.
In 1993, the arachnologist Norman Platnick named a new species of spider Calponia harrisonfordi, and in 2002, the entomologist Edward O. Wilson named a new ant species Pheidole harrisonfordi (in recognition of Harrison's work as Vice Chairman of Conservation International).
Since 1992, Ford has lent his voice to a series of public service messages promoting environmental involvement for EarthShare, an American federation of environmental and conservation charities. He has acted as a spokesperson for Restore Hetch Hetchy, a non-profit organization dedicated to restoring Yosemite National Park's Hetch Hetchy Valley to its original condition. Ford also appears in the documentary series Years of Living Dangerously, which reports on people affected by and seeking solutions to climate change.
In 2019, on behalf of Conservation International, Ford gave an impassioned speech during the United Nations' Climate Action Summit in New York on the destruction of the Amazon rainforest and its effect on climate change for the rest of the world. Ford urged his audience to listen to 'angry young people' trying to make a difference in the situation, emphasizing, "The most important thing we can do for them is to get the hell out of their way."
Political views
Like his parents, Ford is a lifelong Democrat.
On September 7, 1995, Ford testified before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee in support of the Dalai Lama and an independent Tibet. In 2007, he narrated the documentary Dalai Lama Renaissance.
In 2003, he publicly condemned the Iraq War and called for "regime change" in the United States. He also criticized Hollywood for making movies which were "more akin to video games than stories about human life and relationships", and he called for more gun control in the United States.
After Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said his favorite role of Ford's was Air Force One because he "stood up for America", Ford reasoned that it was just a film and made critical statements against Trump's presidential bid.
For the first time ever endorsing a political candidate for office, Ford endorsed Joe Biden's 2020 presidential campaign against Donald Trump. He said that he wanted to "encourage people to support candidates that will support the environment" and felt that under Trump, the United States has "lost some of our credibility in the world". Along with Mark Hamill, Ford worked with the anti-Trump Republican group The Lincoln Project to produce and narrate a 2020 election ad attacking Trump's disparaging of Anthony Fauci.
In 2009, Ford signed a petition calling for the release of film director Roman Polanski, who had been arrested in Switzerland in relation to his 1977 charge for drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl.
Archaeology
Following on his success portraying the archaeologist Indiana Jones, Ford also plays a part in supporting the work of professional archaeologists. He serves as a General Trustee on the Governing Board of the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA), North America's oldest and largest organization devoted to the world of archaeology. Ford assists them in their mission of increasing public awareness of archaeology and preventing looting and the illegal antiquities trade.
Star Wars: Force for Change
Ford participated in a Star Wars promotion geared toward fans who donated to Star Wars: Force for Change on video call which offered them the opportunity to purchase tickets to the premiere of The Force Awakens.
Acting credits and awards
Throughout his career, Ford has received significant recognition for his work in the entertainment industry. In 1986, he was nominated for Best Actor at the 58th Academy Awards for his performance in Witness, a role for which he also received BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations in the same category. Three additional Golden Globe nominations went to Ford in 1987, 1994 and 1996 for his performances in The Mosquito Coast, The Fugitive and Sabrina. In 2000, he was the recipient of the AFI Life Achievement Award from the American Film Institute for his body of work, presented to him by two of his closest collaborators and fellow industry giants, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. In 2002, he was given the Cecil B. DeMille Award, another career achievement honor, from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association at the 59th Golden Globe Awards ceremony. On May 30, 2003, Ford received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
In 2006, he received the Jules Verne Award, given to an actor who has "encouraged the spirit of adventure and imagination" throughout their career. He was presented with the first-ever Hero Award at the 2007 Scream Awards for his many iconic roles, including Indiana Jones and Han Solo (both of which earned him two Saturn Awards for Best Actor in 1982 and 2016, respectively), and in 2008 he received the Spike TV's Guy's Choice Award for "Brass Balls". In 2015, Ford received the Albert R. Broccoli Britannia Award for Worldwide Contribution to Entertainment from BAFTA Los Angeles. In 2018, Ford was honored by the SAG-AFTRA Foundation with the Artists Inspiration Award for both his acting and philanthropic work alongside fellow honoree Lady Gaga. SAG-AFTRA Foundation Board President JoBeth Williams in the press release said, “Harrison Ford is an acting legend in every known galaxy, but what many do not know are the decades of philanthropic service and leadership he has given to Conservation International to help protect our planet."
Other prestigious film honors for Ford include the Honorary Cesar, the Career Achievement Award from the Hollywood Film Awards, the Kirk Douglas Award for Excellence in Film from the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, the Box Office Star of the Century Award from the National Association of Theatre Owners and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Locarno Film Festival.
Ford has also been honored multiple times for his involvement in general aviation, receiving the Living Legends of Aviation Award and the Experimental Aircraft Association's Freedom of Flight Award in 2009, the Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy in 2010 and the Al Ueltschi Humanitarian Award in 2013. In 2013, Flying magazine ranked him number 48 on their list of the 51 Heroes of Aviation.
References
External links
Harrison Ford at Hollywood Walk of Fame
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
1942 births
Activists from California
Actors from Park Ridge, Illinois
Actors Fund of America
AFI Life Achievement Award recipients
American carpenters
American conservationists
American environmentalists
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male video game actors
American male voice actors
American people of Belarusian-Jewish descent
American people of Irish descent
Aviators from Illinois
California Democrats
Cecil B. DeMille Award Golden Globe winners
César Honorary Award recipients
Film producers from Illinois
Living people
Male actors from Chicago
Ripon College (Wisconsin) alumni
Survivors of aviation accidents or incidents
American gun control activists
Jewish American male actors
American Ashkenazi Jews
Experimental Aircraft Association
21st-century American Jews | false | [
"Shōson Nagahara was the pen name of Hideaki Nagahara (born 1901), a Japanese-American writer who immigrated to Los Angeles, California in the 1920s. He is known for writing about Los Angeles neighborhood of Little Tokyo in the Japanese language for Japanese readers. His novels are unusual in having contemporary descriptions of life in Los Angeles in the 1920s.\n\nPersonal life \nHe was born in Hiroshima Prefecture. His birth name was Hideaki Nagahara. Shōson Nagahara was his pen name. He was age 17 when he arrived in Seattle, Washington in the summer of 1918. In 1920, he was living in a boarding house in Los Angeles. It is uncertain what happened to him after 1928.\n\nCareer\nHis first novel, Lament in the Night, appeared in 1925. Its protagonist was a day laborer, Ishikawa Sakuzō, seeking work in Los Angeles. The work has been called a \"naturalist noir masterpiece\", and was reviewed in \"the regional Japanese-language press.\"\n\nShōson went on to produce a serial novel, under the sponsorship of Rafu Shimpo, The Tale of Osato. It appeared from November 1925 to May 1926.\n\nWorks \n Lament in the Night. Sōdosha : Los Angeles, 1925\n The Tale of Osato\n\nSee also\nHistory of the Japanese in Los Angeles\n\nReferences \n\n1901 births\nYear of death unknown\nWriters from Los Angeles\nAmerican writers of Japanese descent\nPeople from Hiroshima Prefecture\nJapanese emigrants to the United States\nAmerican novelists of Asian descent\nAmerican male novelists",
"Wilbur Woo (December 12, 1915 - 12 November, 2012) was a Chinese-born American businessman, previous CACA national president, former vice-chairman of Cathay Bank and seen as a leader in the Los Angeles' Chinese community. Woo first stepped into America when he was just 5 years old with his family to escape China but later returned to his home country. In 1940, Woo returned to Los Angeles and graduated from UCLA. He was a Republican while his son, Michael Woo, is a Democrat who, in 1985, became the first Asian American elected to the Los Angeles City Council. Woo also deposited $200,000 for his son's Democrat campaign. He was close to President Richard Nixon when he was appointed in 1972 to raise profit's for Washington out of the Los Angeles Chinese community. He died after complications from a heart attack and pneumonia.\n\nReferences\n\n1915 births\n2012 deaths\nBusinesspeople from California\nBusinesspeople from Los Angeles\nCalifornia Republicans\nChinese emigrants to the United States"
]
|
[
"Harrison Ford",
"Early career",
"How did his career get started?",
"signed a $150-a-week contract with Columbia Pictures' New Talent program, playing bit roles in films.",
"When was he signed?",
"In 1964,",
"Did his career take off right away?",
"Ford traveled to Los Angeles to apply for a job in radio voice-overs. He did not get it,",
"How long did it take him to rise to fame?",
"I don't know.",
"What was his first part?",
"In 1964, after a season of summer stock with the Belfry Players in Wisconsin, Ford traveled to Los Angeles",
"How was his performance with the belfry players?",
"I don't know.",
"What happened after he returned to Los Angeles?",
"signed a $150-a-week contract with Columbia Pictures' New Talent program, playing bit roles in films."
]
| C_0102898e6f744dd7808e75bc246b81fe_1 | what was his first bit role? | 8 | what was Harrison Ford's first bit role? | Harrison Ford | In 1964, after a season of summer stock with the Belfry Players in Wisconsin, Ford traveled to Los Angeles to apply for a job in radio voice-overs. He did not get it, but stayed in California and eventually signed a $150-a-week contract with Columbia Pictures' New Talent program, playing bit roles in films. His first known role was an uncredited one as a bellhop in Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round (1966). There is little record of his non-speaking roles (or "extra" work) in film. Ford was at the bottom of the hiring list, having offended producer Jerry Tokovsky after he played a bellboy in the feature. He was told by Tokovsky that when actor Tony Curtis delivered a bag of groceries, he did it like a movie star; Ford felt his job was to act like a bellboy. Ford managed to secure other roles in movies, such as A Time for Killing (The Long Ride Home), starring Glenn Ford; George Hamilton; and Inger Stevens. His speaking roles continued next with Luv (1967), though he was still uncredited. He was finally credited as "Harrison J. Ford" in the 1967 Western film A Time for Killing, but the "J" did not stand for anything, since he has no middle name. It was added to avoid confusion with a silent film actor named Harrison Ford, who appeared in more than 80 films between 1915 and 1932 and died in 1957. Ford later said that he was unaware of the existence of the earlier actor until he came upon a star with his own name on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Ford soon dropped the "J" and worked for Universal Studios, playing minor roles in many television series throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, including Gunsmoke, Ironside, The Virginian, The F.B.I., Love, American Style, and Kung Fu. He appeared in the western Journey to Shiloh (1968) and had an uncredited, non-speaking role in Michelangelo Antonioni's 1970 film Zabriskie Point as an arrested student protester. Not happy with the roles being offered to him, Ford became a self-taught professional carpenter to support his then-wife and two young sons. Casting director and fledgling producer Fred Roos championed the young Ford and secured him an audition with George Lucas for the role of Bob Falfa, which Ford went on to play in American Graffiti (1973). Ford's relationship with Lucas would profoundly affect his career later on. After director Francis Ford Coppola's film The Godfather was a success, he hired Ford to expand his office and gave him small roles in his next two films, The Conversation (1974) and Apocalypse Now (1979); in the latter film he played an army officer named "G. Lucas". CANNOTANSWER | His first known role was an uncredited one as a bellhop in Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round (1966 | Harrison Ford (born July 13, 1942) is an American actor. His films have grossed more than $5.4billion in North America and more than $9.3billion worldwide, making him the seventh-highest-grossing actor in North America. He is the recipient of various accolades, including three Saturn Awards, the AFI Life Achievement Award and the Cecil B. DeMille Award, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award and four Golden Globe Awards.
Following the initial phase of his career in bit parts and supporting roles, Ford gained worldwide fame for his starring role as Han Solo in the epic space opera film Star Wars (1977), reprising the role in four sequels over the course of the next 42 years. He is also widely known for his portrayal of Indiana Jones in the titular film franchise, beginning with the action-adventure film Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), and for playing other characters in different franchises, most notably Rick Deckard in the dystopian science fiction films Blade Runner (1982) and Blade Runner 2049 (2017) and the Tom Clancy character Jack Ryan in the spy thriller films Patriot Games (1992) and Clear and Present Danger (1994). His career spans six decades and includes collaborations with some of the most acclaimed and influential filmmakers of his time, such as George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg, Ridley Scott, Peter Weir, Roman Polanski and Mike Nichols.
Ford has portrayed heroic characters in other films such as the thrillers Witness (1985), for which he received his only Academy Award nomination, The Fugitive (1993), and Air Force One (1997), as well as the historical sports drama 42 (2013). In addition to heroic roles, he played morally ambiguous and darker characters in films such as the coming-of-age comedy drama American Graffiti (1973), the conspiracy thriller The Conversation (1974), the survival drama The Mosquito Coast (1986), the legal drama Presumed Innocent (1990), and the supernatural suspense thriller What Lies Beneath (2000). Ford has also appeared in several romantic comedies and dramas throughout his career, including Heroes (1977), Working Girl (1988), Sabrina (1995), Six Days, Seven Nights (1998), Random Hearts (1999), Morning Glory (2010), and The Age of Adaline (2015).
Outside acting, Ford is a licensed pilot who has often assisted the emergency services in rescue missions near his home in Wyoming. He is also a dedicated environmental activist, having served as the inaugural Vice Chair of Conservation International since 1991.
Early life
Harrison Ford was born at the Swedish Covenant Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, on July 13, 1942, to former radio actress Dorothy (née Nidelman) and advertising executive and former actor John William "Christopher" Ford. His younger brother, Terence, was born in 1945. Their father was a Catholic of German and Irish descent, while their mother was an Ashkenazi Jew whose parents were emigrants from Minsk, Belarus, then in the Russian Empire. When asked in which religion he and his brother were raised, Ford jokingly responded "Democrat" and more seriously stated that they were raised to be "liberals of every stripe". When asked about what influence his Jewish and Irish Catholic ancestry may have had on him, he quipped, "As a man I've always felt Irish, as an actor I've always felt Jewish."
Ford was a Boy Scout, achieving the second-highest rank of Life Scout. He worked at Napowan Adventure Base Scout Camp as a counselor for the Reptile Study merit badge. Because of this, he and director Steven Spielberg later decided to depict the young Indiana Jones as a Life Scout in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989). Ford graduated in 1960 from Maine East High School in Park Ridge, Illinois. His voice was the first student voice broadcast on his high school's new radio station, WMTH, and he was its first sportscaster during his senior year. He attended Ripon College in Ripon, Wisconsin, where he was a philosophy major and a member of the Sigma Nu fraternity. A self-described "late bloomer", Ford took a drama class in the final quarter of his senior year to get over his shyness and became fascinated with acting.
Career
1964–1976
In 1964, after a season of summer stock with the Belfry Players in Wisconsin, Ford traveled to Los Angeles to apply for a job in radio voice-overs. He did not get it, but stayed in California and eventually signed a $150-per-week contract with Columbia Pictures' new talent program, playing bit roles in films. His first known role was an uncredited one as a bellhop in Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round (1966). There is little record of his non-speaking (or "extra") roles in film. Ford was at the bottom of the hiring list, having offended producer Jerry Tokovsky after he played a bellboy in the feature. He was told by Tokovsky that when actor Tony Curtis delivered a bag of groceries, he did it like a movie star; Ford felt his job was to act like a bellboy.
His speaking roles continued next with Luv (1967), though he was still uncredited. He was finally credited as "Harrison J. Ford" in the 1967 Western film A Time for Killing, starring Glenn Ford, George Hamilton and Inger Stevens, but the "J" did not stand for anything since he has no middle name. It was added to avoid confusion with a silent film actor named Harrison Ford, who appeared in more than 80 films between 1915 and 1932 and died in 1957. Ford later said that he was unaware of the existence of the earlier actor until he came upon a star with his own name on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Ford soon dropped the "J" and worked for Universal Studios, playing minor roles in many television series throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, including Gunsmoke, Ironside, The Virginian, The F.B.I., Love, American Style and Kung Fu. He appeared in the western Journey to Shiloh (1968) and had an uncredited, non-speaking role in Michelangelo Antonioni's 1970 film Zabriskie Point as an arrested student protester. French filmmaker Jacques Demy chose Ford for the lead role of his first American film, Model Shop (1969), but the head of Columbia Pictures thought Ford had "no future" in the film business and told Demy to hire a more experienced actor. The part eventually went to Gary Lockwood. Ford later commented that the experience had been nevertheless a positive one because Demy was the first to show such faith in him.
Not happy with the roles offered to him, Ford became a self-taught professional carpenter to support his then-wife and two young sons. Clients at this time included the writers Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne, who lived on the beach at Malibu. Ford appears in the documentary Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold. He and his wife became friends of the writers. Casting director and fledgling producer Fred Roos championed the young Ford and secured him an audition with George Lucas for the role of Bob Falfa, which Ford went on to play in American Graffiti (1973). Ford's relationship with Lucas would profoundly affect his career later on. After director Francis Ford Coppola's film The Godfather was a success, he hired Ford to expand his office and gave him small roles in his next two films, The Conversation (1974) and Apocalypse Now (1979); in the latter film, Ford played an army officer named "G. Lucas".
1977–1997
Ford began to receive bigger roles in films throughout the late 1970s, including Heroes (1977), Force 10 from Navarone (1978) and Hanover Street (1979). Ford also co-starred alongside Gene Wilder in the buddy-comedy western The Frisco Kid (1979), playing a bank robber with a heart of gold. His previous work in American Graffiti eventually landed him his first starring film role when he was hired by Lucas to read lines for actors auditioning for roles in Lucas' upcoming epic space-opera film Star Wars (1977). Lucas was eventually won over by Ford's performance during these line reads and cast him as Han Solo. Star Wars became one of the most successful and groundbreaking films of all time, and brought Ford, and his co-stars Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher, widespread recognition. He returned to star in the similarly successful Star Wars sequels The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983), as well as the Star Wars Holiday Special (1978). Ford wanted Lucas to kill off Han Solo at the end of Return of the Jedi, saying, "That would have given the whole film a bottom," but Lucas refused.
Ford's status as a leading actor was solidified with Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), an action-adventure collaboration between George Lucas and Steven Spielberg that gave Ford his second franchise role as the heroic, globe-trotting archaeologist Indiana Jones. Like Star Wars, the film was massively successful and became the highest-grossing film of the year. Spielberg was interested in casting Ford from the beginning, but Lucas was not, having already worked with the actor in American Graffiti and Star Wars. Lucas eventually relented after Tom Selleck was unable to accept. Ford went on to reprise the role throughout the rest of the decade in the prequel Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), which co-starred Spielberg's future-wife Kate Capshaw, and the sequel Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), which co-starred Sean Connery as Indy's father, Henry Jones Sr. During the June 1983 filming of Temple of Doom in London, Ford herniated a disc in his back. The 40-year-old actor was forced to fly back to Los Angeles for surgery and returned six weeks later.
Following his leading-man success as Indiana Jones, he played Rick Deckard in Ridley Scott's dystopian science-fiction film Blade Runner (1982). Compared to his experiences on the Star Wars and Indiana Jones films, Ford had a difficult time with the production. He recalled to Vanity Fair, “It was a long slog. I didn’t really find it that physically difficult—I thought it was mentally difficult.” Ford and Scott also had differing views on the nature of his character, Deckard, that persist decades later. While not initially a success, Blade Runner went on to become a cult classic and one of Ford's most highly regarded films. Ford also proved his versatility throughout the 1980s with dramatic parts in films such as Witness (1985), The Mosquito Coast (1986), and Frantic (1988) as well as the romantic male lead opposite Melanie Griffith and Sigourney Weaver in the comedy-drama Working Girl (1988). Witness and The Mosquito Coast in particular allowed Ford to explore his potential as a dramatic actor and both performances were widely acclaimed. Ford would later recall that working with director Peter Weir on both Witness and The Mosquito Coast were two of the best experiences of his career.
In the 1990s, Ford became the second of five actors to portray Jack Ryan in two films of the film series based on the literary character created by Tom Clancy: Patriot Games (1992) and Clear and Present Danger (1994), both co-starring Anne Archer and James Earl Jones. Ford took over the role from Alec Baldwin who had previously played the character in The Hunt for Red October (1990). This led to a long-lasting resentment from Baldwin who claimed to have wanted to reprise the role but Ford had negotiated with Paramount behind his back. Ford also played leading roles in other action-based thrillers throughout the decade such as the critically acclaimed The Fugitive (1993), The Devil's Own (1997), and Air Force One (1997). For his performance in The Fugitive, which also co-starred Tommy Lee Jones, Ford received some of the best reviews of his career, including from Roger Ebert who concluded that, "Ford is once again the great modern movie everyman. As an actor, nothing he does seems merely for show, and in the face of this melodramatic material he deliberately plays down, lays low, gets on with business instead of trying to exploit the drama in meaningless acting flourishes." He also played more straight dramatic roles in Presumed Innocent (1990) and Regarding Henry (1991) as well as another romantic lead in Sabrina (1995), a remake of a classic 1954 film with the same name.
Ford established working relationships with many well-regarded directors during this time, including Peter Weir, Alan J. Pakula, Mike Nichols, Phillip Noyce, and Sydney Pollack, collaborating twice with each of them. This was the most lucrative period of Ford's career. From 1977 to 1997, he appeared in fourteen films that reached the top fifteen in the yearly domestic box office rankings, twelve of which reached the top ten. Six of the films he appeared in during this time were also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture amongst numerous other awards: Star Wars, Apocalypse Now, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Witness, Working Girl, and The Fugitive.
1998–2014
In the late 1990s, Ford started appearing in several critically derided and/or commercially disappointing films that failed to match his earlier successes, including Six Days, Seven Nights (1998), Random Hearts (1999), K-19: The Widowmaker (2002), Hollywood Homicide (2003), Firewall (2006) and Extraordinary Measures (2010). One exception was What Lies Beneath (2000) which grossed over $155million in the United States and $291million worldwide. Ford served as an executive producer on K-19: The Widowmaker and Extraordinary Measures, both of which were based on true events. In the 2001 Guinness Book of World Records, Ford was listed as the richest male actor in the world.
In 2004, Ford declined a chance to star in the thriller Syriana, later commenting that "I didn't feel strongly enough about the truth of the material and I think I made a mistake." The role eventually went to George Clooney, who won an Oscar and a Golden Globe for his work. Prior to that, Ford had passed on a role in another Stephen Gaghan-written film, that of Robert Wakefield in Traffic, which eventually went to Michael Douglas.
In 2008, Ford enjoyed success with the release of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the first Indiana Jones film in nineteen years and another collaboration with Lucas and Spielberg. The film received generally positive reviews and was the second highest-grossing film worldwide in 2008. Ford later said he would like to star in another sequel, "...if it didn't take another 20 years to digest."
Other 2008 work included Crossing Over, directed by Wayne Kramer. In the film, Ford plays an ICE/Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent, working alongside Ashley Judd and Ray Liotta. He also narrated a feature documentary film about the Dalai Lama entitled Dalai Lama Renaissance. Ford filmed the medical drama Extraordinary Measures in 2009 in Portland, Oregon. Released January 22, 2010, the film also starred Brendan Fraser and Alan Ruck. Also in 2010, he co-starred in the film Morning Glory, along with Rachel McAdams, Diane Keaton and Patrick Wilson. Although a disappointment at the box office, Ford's performance was well received by critics, some of which thought it was his best role in years. In July 2011, Ford starred alongside Daniel Craig and Olivia Wilde in the science-fiction/western hybrid film Cowboys & Aliens. To promote the film, Ford appeared at the San Diego Comic-Con International and, apparently surprised by the warm welcome, told the audience, "I just wanted to make a living as an actor. I didn't know about this." Also in 2011, Ford starred in Japanese commercials advertising the video game Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception for the PlayStation 3.
2013 began a trend that saw Ford accepting more diverse supporting roles. That year, Ford co-starred in the corporate espionage thriller Paranoia with Liam Hemsworth and Gary Oldman, who he had previously worked with in Air Force One, and he also appeared in Ender's Game, 42 and Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues. His performance as Branch Rickey in 42 was praised by many critics and garnered Ford a nomination as best supporting actor for the Satellite Awards. In 2014, he appeared in The Expendables 3 and the documentary Flying the Feathered Edge: The Bob Hoover Project. The next year, Ford co-starred with Blake Lively in the romantic drama The Age of Adaline to positive notices.
2015–present
Ford reprised the role of Han Solo in the long-awaited Star Wars sequel Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), which became massively successful like its predecessors. During filming on June 11, 2014, Ford suffered what was said to be a fractured ankle when a hydraulic door fell on him. He was airlifted to John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, England, for treatment. Ford's son Ben released details on his father's injury, saying that his ankle would likely need a plate and screws, and that filming could be altered slightly with the crew needing to shoot Ford from the waist up for a short time until he recovered. Ford made his return to filming in mid-August, after a two-month layoff as he recovered from his injury. Ford's character was killed off in The Force Awakens, but it was subsequently announced, via a casting call, that Ford would return in some capacity as Solo in Episode VIII. In February 2016, when the cast for Episode VIII was confirmed, it was indicated that Ford would not reprise his role in the film after all. When Ford was asked if his character could come back in "some form", he replied, "Anything is possible in space." The character eventually reappeared as a vision in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019).
On February 26, 2015, Alcon Entertainment announced Ford would reprise his role as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner 2049. The film, and Ford's performance, was very well received by critics upon its release in October 2017. Scott Collura of IGN called it a, "deep, rich, smart film that's visually awesome and full of great sci-fi concepts" and Ford's role, "a quiet, sort of gut-wrenching interpretation to Deckard and what he must've gone through in the past three decades." Despite the acclaim, the film only grossed $259.3million worldwide, far short of the estimated $400million that the film needed in order to break even. In 2019, Ford had his first voice role in an animated film, as a dog named Rooster in The Secret Life of Pets 2. With filming for a fifth Indiana Jones film having been delayed by a year, Ford headlined a big-budget adaptation of Jack London's The Call of the Wild, playing prospector John Thornton. The film was released in February 2020 to a mixed critical reception but its theatrical release was shortened due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the film industry.
Personal life
Ford has been married three times, and has four biological children and one adopted child. He was first married to Mary Marquardt from 1964 until their divorce in 1979. They had two sons, chef and restaurateur Benjamin (born 1966) and clothier Willard (born 1969). Benjamin co-owns Ford's Filling Station, a gastropub with locations at L.A. Live in Los Angeles and Terminal 5 in Los Angeles International Airport. Willard is the owner of Strong Sports Gym, and was co-owner of the Kim Sing Theater and owner of the Ludwig Clothing company.
Ford's second marriage was to screenwriter Melissa Mathison from March 1983 until their separation in 2000 and finalized divorce in 2004. They had a son, actor and musician Malcolm (born 1987), and a daughter, actress Georgia (born 1990). Mathison died in 2015.
Ford began dating actress Calista Flockhart after they met at the 2002 Golden Globe Awards. They are the parents of Liam (born 2001), the son she adopted before meeting Ford. He proposed to Flockhart over Valentine's Day weekend in 2009. They married on June 15, 2010, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where Ford was filming Cowboys & Aliens.
Ford and Flockhart live on an ranch in Jackson, Wyoming, on which he has lived since the 1980s and approximately half of which he has donated as a nature reserve. They retain a base in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles. He is known as one of Hollywood's most private actors, guarding much of his personal life. In her 2016 autobiography The Princess Diarist, his co-star Carrie Fisher claimed that she and Ford had a three-month affair in 1976 during the filming of Star Wars.
Aviation
Ford is a licensed pilot of both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. On several occasions, he has personally provided emergency helicopter services at the request of local authorities in Wyoming, in one instance rescuing a hiker overcome by dehydration.
Ford began flight training in the 1960s at Wild Rose Idlewild Airport in Wild Rose, Wisconsin, flying in a Piper PA-22 Tri-Pacer, but at $15 an hour (), he could not afford to continue the training. In the mid-1990s, he bought a used Gulfstream II and asked one of his pilots, Terry Bender, to give him flying lessons. They started flying a Cessna 182 out of Jackson, Wyoming, later switching to Teterboro, New Jersey, flying a Cessna 206, the aircraft in which he made his first solo flight.
Ford's aircraft is kept at Santa Monica Airport. The Bell 407 is often kept and flown in Jackson and has been used by the actor in two mountain rescues during his assigned duty time with Teton County Search and Rescue. On one of the rescues, Ford recovered a hiker who had become lost and disoriented. She boarded Ford's helicopter and promptly vomited into one of the rescuers' caps, unaware of who the pilot was until much later; "I can't believe I barfed in Harrison Ford's helicopter!" she said later.
Ford flies his de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver (N28S) more than any of his other aircraft, and has repeatedly said that he likes this aircraft and the sound of its Pratt & Whitney R-985 radial engine. According to Ford, it had been flown in the CIA's Air America operations and was riddled with bullet holes that had to be patched up.
In March 2004, Ford officially became chairman of the Young Eagles program of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA). Ford was asked to take the position by Greg Anderson, Senior Vice President of the EAA at the time, to replace General Chuck Yeager, who was vacating the post that he had held for many years. Ford at first was hesitant, but later accepted the offer and has made appearances with the Young Eagles at the EAA AirVenture Oshkosh gathering at Oshkosh, Wisconsin, for two years. In July 2005, at the gathering in Oshkosh, Ford agreed to accept the position for another two years. He has flown over 280 children as part of the Young Eagles program, usually in his DHC-2 Beaver, which can seat the actor and five children. Ford stepped down as program chairman in 2009 and was replaced by Captain Chesley Sullenberger and First Officer Jeff Skiles. He is involved with the EAA chapter in Driggs, Idaho, just over the Teton Range from Jackson, Wyoming. On July 28, 2016, Ford flew the two millionth Young Eagle at the EAA AirVenture convention.
As of 2009, Ford appears in Internet advertisements for General Aviation Serves America, a campaign by the advocacy group Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA). He has also appeared in several independent aviation documentaries, including Wings Over the Rockies (2009), Flying The Feathered Edge: The Bob Hoover Project (2014) and Living in the Age of Airplanes (2015).
Ford is an honorary board member of the humanitarian aviation organization Wings of Hope, and is known for having made several trips to Washington, D.C., to fight for pilots' rights. He has also donated substantial funds to aerobatic champion Sean Tucker's charitable program, The Bob Hoover Academy (named after legendary aviator Bob Hoover) which educates at-risk teens in central California and teaches them how to fly.
Incidents
On October 23, 1999, Ford was involved in the crash of a Bell 206L4 LongRanger helicopter. The NTSB accident report states that Ford was piloting the aircraft over the Lake Piru riverbed near Santa Clarita, California, on a routine training flight. While making his second attempt at an autorotation with powered recovery, the aircraft was unable to recover power after the sudden drop in altitude. It landed hard and began skidding forward in the loose gravel before flipping onto its side. Neither Ford nor the instructor pilot suffered any injuries, though the helicopter was seriously damaged.
On March 5, 2015, Ford's plane, believed to be a Ryan PT-22 Recruit, made an emergency landing on the Penmar Golf Course in Venice, California. Ford had radioed in to report that the plane had experienced engine failure. He was taken to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, where he was reported to be in fair to moderate condition. Ford suffered a broken pelvis and broken ankle during the accident, as well as other injuries.
On February 13, 2017, Ford landed an Aviat Husky at John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California, on the taxiway left of runway 20L. A Boeing 737 was holding short of the runway on the taxiway when Ford overflew them.
On April 24, 2020, at the Los Angeles Hawthorne Airport, Ford was piloting a plane when he crossed a runway where another aircraft was landing.
Activism
Environmental work
Ford is vice-chair of Conservation International, an American nonprofit environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. The organization's intent is to protect nature.
In September 2013, Ford, while filming an environmental documentary in Indonesia, interviewed the Indonesian Forestry Minister, Zulkifli Hasan. After the interview, Ford and his crew were accused of "harassing state institutions" and publicly threatened with deportation. Questions within the interview concerned the Tesso Nilo National Park, Sumatra. It was alleged the Minister of Forestry was given no prior warning of questions nor the chance to explain the challenges of catching people with illegal logging. Ford was provided an audience with the Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, during which he expressed concerns regarding Indonesia's environmental degradation and the government efforts to address climate change. In response, the President explained Indonesia's commitment to preserving its oceans and forests.
In 1993, the arachnologist Norman Platnick named a new species of spider Calponia harrisonfordi, and in 2002, the entomologist Edward O. Wilson named a new ant species Pheidole harrisonfordi (in recognition of Harrison's work as Vice Chairman of Conservation International).
Since 1992, Ford has lent his voice to a series of public service messages promoting environmental involvement for EarthShare, an American federation of environmental and conservation charities. He has acted as a spokesperson for Restore Hetch Hetchy, a non-profit organization dedicated to restoring Yosemite National Park's Hetch Hetchy Valley to its original condition. Ford also appears in the documentary series Years of Living Dangerously, which reports on people affected by and seeking solutions to climate change.
In 2019, on behalf of Conservation International, Ford gave an impassioned speech during the United Nations' Climate Action Summit in New York on the destruction of the Amazon rainforest and its effect on climate change for the rest of the world. Ford urged his audience to listen to 'angry young people' trying to make a difference in the situation, emphasizing, "The most important thing we can do for them is to get the hell out of their way."
Political views
Like his parents, Ford is a lifelong Democrat.
On September 7, 1995, Ford testified before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee in support of the Dalai Lama and an independent Tibet. In 2007, he narrated the documentary Dalai Lama Renaissance.
In 2003, he publicly condemned the Iraq War and called for "regime change" in the United States. He also criticized Hollywood for making movies which were "more akin to video games than stories about human life and relationships", and he called for more gun control in the United States.
After Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said his favorite role of Ford's was Air Force One because he "stood up for America", Ford reasoned that it was just a film and made critical statements against Trump's presidential bid.
For the first time ever endorsing a political candidate for office, Ford endorsed Joe Biden's 2020 presidential campaign against Donald Trump. He said that he wanted to "encourage people to support candidates that will support the environment" and felt that under Trump, the United States has "lost some of our credibility in the world". Along with Mark Hamill, Ford worked with the anti-Trump Republican group The Lincoln Project to produce and narrate a 2020 election ad attacking Trump's disparaging of Anthony Fauci.
In 2009, Ford signed a petition calling for the release of film director Roman Polanski, who had been arrested in Switzerland in relation to his 1977 charge for drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl.
Archaeology
Following on his success portraying the archaeologist Indiana Jones, Ford also plays a part in supporting the work of professional archaeologists. He serves as a General Trustee on the Governing Board of the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA), North America's oldest and largest organization devoted to the world of archaeology. Ford assists them in their mission of increasing public awareness of archaeology and preventing looting and the illegal antiquities trade.
Star Wars: Force for Change
Ford participated in a Star Wars promotion geared toward fans who donated to Star Wars: Force for Change on video call which offered them the opportunity to purchase tickets to the premiere of The Force Awakens.
Acting credits and awards
Throughout his career, Ford has received significant recognition for his work in the entertainment industry. In 1986, he was nominated for Best Actor at the 58th Academy Awards for his performance in Witness, a role for which he also received BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations in the same category. Three additional Golden Globe nominations went to Ford in 1987, 1994 and 1996 for his performances in The Mosquito Coast, The Fugitive and Sabrina. In 2000, he was the recipient of the AFI Life Achievement Award from the American Film Institute for his body of work, presented to him by two of his closest collaborators and fellow industry giants, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. In 2002, he was given the Cecil B. DeMille Award, another career achievement honor, from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association at the 59th Golden Globe Awards ceremony. On May 30, 2003, Ford received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
In 2006, he received the Jules Verne Award, given to an actor who has "encouraged the spirit of adventure and imagination" throughout their career. He was presented with the first-ever Hero Award at the 2007 Scream Awards for his many iconic roles, including Indiana Jones and Han Solo (both of which earned him two Saturn Awards for Best Actor in 1982 and 2016, respectively), and in 2008 he received the Spike TV's Guy's Choice Award for "Brass Balls". In 2015, Ford received the Albert R. Broccoli Britannia Award for Worldwide Contribution to Entertainment from BAFTA Los Angeles. In 2018, Ford was honored by the SAG-AFTRA Foundation with the Artists Inspiration Award for both his acting and philanthropic work alongside fellow honoree Lady Gaga. SAG-AFTRA Foundation Board President JoBeth Williams in the press release said, “Harrison Ford is an acting legend in every known galaxy, but what many do not know are the decades of philanthropic service and leadership he has given to Conservation International to help protect our planet."
Other prestigious film honors for Ford include the Honorary Cesar, the Career Achievement Award from the Hollywood Film Awards, the Kirk Douglas Award for Excellence in Film from the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, the Box Office Star of the Century Award from the National Association of Theatre Owners and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Locarno Film Festival.
Ford has also been honored multiple times for his involvement in general aviation, receiving the Living Legends of Aviation Award and the Experimental Aircraft Association's Freedom of Flight Award in 2009, the Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy in 2010 and the Al Ueltschi Humanitarian Award in 2013. In 2013, Flying magazine ranked him number 48 on their list of the 51 Heroes of Aviation.
References
External links
Harrison Ford at Hollywood Walk of Fame
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
1942 births
Activists from California
Actors from Park Ridge, Illinois
Actors Fund of America
AFI Life Achievement Award recipients
American carpenters
American conservationists
American environmentalists
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male video game actors
American male voice actors
American people of Belarusian-Jewish descent
American people of Irish descent
Aviators from Illinois
California Democrats
Cecil B. DeMille Award Golden Globe winners
César Honorary Award recipients
Film producers from Illinois
Living people
Male actors from Chicago
Ripon College (Wisconsin) alumni
Survivors of aviation accidents or incidents
American gun control activists
Jewish American male actors
American Ashkenazi Jews
Experimental Aircraft Association
21st-century American Jews | true | [
"Donald Foley (1963-2011) was an American actor.\n\nLife and career \nShortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Donald Foley made a decision. “It kind of woke me up a little bit,” he said. Life was too short and too uncertain to waste it doing something he didn’t really want to do, he said. A self-employed computer programmer, Foley was admittedly wasting hours and hours every day playing computer games.\n\nAfter 9/11, Foley decided that what he really wanted to do was act. So he started acting. “I was feeling like life was not giving me what I needed,” he said. “I felt like something was missing, so I decided to make a change and try my hand at acting. I never looked back.”\n\nFoley was from Boston and is best known for his role of Bluey Batchelder in the movie The Golden Boys.\n\nFilmography\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nOfficial Website\nOfficial Blog\nOfficial Facebook Fan Page\nOfficial Twitter Page\n\n1963 births\n2011 deaths\nAmerican male film actors\nAmerican male television actors",
"In acting, a bit part is a role in which there is direct interaction with the principal actors and no more than five lines of dialogue, often referred to as a five-or-less or under-five in the United States, or under sixes in British television, or a walk-on part with no dialogue.\n\nA bit part is higher than that of an extra and lower than that of a supporting actor. An actor who regularly performs in bit roles, either as a hobby or to earn a living, is referred to as a bit player, a term also used to describe an aspiring actor who has not yet broken into supporting or leading roles.\n\nUnlike extras, who do not typically interact with principals, actors in bit parts are sometimes listed in the credits. An exception to this practice is the cameo appearance, wherein a well-known actor or other celebrity appears in a bit part; it is common for such appearances to be uncredited.\n\nIn MGM's 1951 screen version of the musical Show Boat, the role of the cook Queenie (Frances E. Williams) was reduced from a significant supporting role in the stage version to a bit part in the film. Williams, whose appearance was not intended as a cameo, was not listed at all in the credits. On the other hand, William Warfield, whose role as Joe, Queenie's husband, was also drastically shortened in the film from the stage original, did receive screen credit because he sang Ol' Man River.\n\nBit parts are often significant in the story line and sometimes pivotal, as in Jack Albertson's role as a postal worker in the 1947 feature film Miracle on 34th Street. Some characters with bit parts attract significant attention. Konstantin Stanislavski remarked that \"there are no small parts, only small actors.\"\n\nDabbs Greer, a bit actor, once said, \"Every character actor, in their own little sphere, is the lead.\"\n\nSee also\n Extra (acting)\n Ready When You Are, Mr. McGill\n\nReferences\n\nActing"
]
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[
"Porcupine Tree",
"Origins (1987-1990)"
]
| C_db5a3dc3ab324c859d9629bd8f11ce28_1 | What year did Porcupine Tree form? | 1 | What year did Porcupine Tree form? | Porcupine Tree | Porcupine Tree originated in 1987 as a collaborative hoax project by Steven Wilson and Malcolm Stocks. Partially inspired by the psychedelic/progressive bands of the 1970s, such as Pink Floyd, that had dominated the music scene during their youth, the two decided to form a fictional legendary rock band named The Porcupine Tree. The two fabricated a detailed back-story including information on alleged band members and album titles, as well as a "colourful" history which purportedly included events such as a meeting at a 1970s rock festival and several trips in and out of prison. As soon as he had put aside enough money to buy his own studio equipment, Wilson obliged this creation with several hours of music to provide "evidence" of its existence. Although Stocks provided a few passages of treated vocals and experimental guitar playing, his role in the project was mostly offering occasional ideas, with the bulk of the material being written, recorded, played, and sung by Wilson. At this point, Porcupine Tree was little more than a joke and a private amusement, as Wilson was concentrating on his other project, No-Man, an endeavour with UK based singer and songwriter Tim Bowness. However, by 1989, he began to consider some of the Porcupine Tree music as potentially marketable. Wilson created an 80-minute-long cassette titled Tarquin's Seaweed Farm under the name of Porcupine Tree. Still showing the spirit of his joke, Wilson included an eight-page inlay which further revealed the hoaxed Porcupine Tree backstory, including references to fictitious band members such as Sir Tarquin Underspoon and Timothy Tadpole-Jones. Wilson sent out copies of Tarquin's Seaweed Farm to several people he felt would be interested in the recordings. Nick Saloman, the cult UK guitarist better known as The Bevis Frond, had suggested that he send one to Richard Allen, a writer for the UK counter-cultural magazine Encyclopaedia Psychedelica and co-editor of the UK psychedelic garage rock magazine Freakbeat. Allen reviewed the tape in both magazines. Whilst he disliked some of the material, he gave much of it a positive review. Several months later, Allen invited Wilson to contribute a track to the double LP A Psychedelic Psauna that was being put together to launch the new Delerium label. Allen would also become the band's manager, press agent, and promoter until 2004, his role in marketing the band's image decreasing after The Sky Moves Sideways album. In the meantime, Wilson had continued to work on new material. In 1990, he released the Love, Death & Mussolini EP, issued in a very limited run of 10 copies. The EP remains an extremely rare, collectible piece. It was composed of nine at-the-time-unreleased tracks, as a preview for the upcoming second album. Later in 1990, Wilson released a second full-length Porcupine Tree cassette called The Nostalgia Factory, which further expanded Porcupine Tree's underground fanbase, although at this point, the band was still carrying on the charade of being 1970s rock legends. By this point, Porcupine Tree was entirely a solo project, with Stocks having amicably moved on to other activities. CANNOTANSWER | Porcupine Tree originated in 1987 | Porcupine Tree are an English rock band formed by musician Steven Wilson in 1987. During an initial career spanning more than twenty years, they earned critical acclaim from critics and fellow musicians, developed a cult following, and became an influence for new artists. The group carved out a career at a certain distance away from mainstream music, being described by publications such as Classic Rock and PopMatters as "the most important band you’d never heard of".
The band began as a solo project for Wilson, who initially created all of the band's music himself. By late 1993, however, he wanted to work in a band environment, bringing on frequent collaborators Richard Barbieri as keyboardist, Colin Edwin as bassist, and Chris Maitland as drummer to form the first permanent lineup. With Wilson as lead vocalist and guitarist, this remained the lineup until February 2002, when Maitland left the band and Gavin Harrison was recruited to replace him. Porcupine Tree's early sound evoked various styles of psychedelic rock, space rock and experimental rock, later moving towards a more progressive/space rock direction comparable to that of Pink Floyd. Upon signing with Kscope record label in the late 1990s, the band began to approach a more mainstream alternative rock sound. By the early 2000s, the band had signed to a major record label and shifted their sound again, this time in a more progressive metal direction.
In 2010, after the tour in support of their 2009 studio album The Incident (their biggest commercial success to date), the band became inactive as Wilson committed himself to his solo work and other members began working on their own separate projects. In 2018, after years of indetermination, Wilson ruled out a possible reformation.
Despite this, the band made a surprise reformation in 2021 with minimal advance publicity, this time with a trio line-up of Wilson, Barbieri and Harrison. The reformation was formally revealed on 1 November 2021, with the simultaneous release of the "Harridan" single and the announcement of a new studio album, Closure/Continuation, to be released on 24 June 2022.
History
Origins (1987–1990)
Porcupine Tree originated in 1987 as a collaborative hoax project by Steven Wilson and Malcolm Stocks. Partially inspired by the psychedelic/progressive bands of the 1970s, such as Pink Floyd, that had dominated the music scene during their youth, the two decided to form a fictional legendary rock band named The Porcupine Tree. The two fabricated a detailed back-story including information on alleged band members and album titles, as well as a "colourful" history which purportedly included events such as a meeting at a 1970s rock festival and several trips in and out of prison. As soon as he had put aside enough money to buy his own studio equipment, Wilson obliged this creation with several hours of music to provide "evidence" of its existence. Although Stocks provided a few passages of treated vocals and experimental guitar playing, his role in the project was mostly offering occasional ideas, with the bulk of the material being written, recorded, played, and sung by Wilson.
At this point, Porcupine Tree was little more than a joke and a private amusement, as Wilson was concentrating on his other project, No-Man, an endeavour with UK based singer and songwriter Tim Bowness. However, by 1989, he began to consider some of the Porcupine Tree music as potentially marketable. Wilson created an 80-minute-long cassette titled Tarquin's Seaweed Farm under the name of Porcupine Tree. Still showing the spirit of his joke, Wilson included an eight-page inlay which further revealed the hoaxed Porcupine Tree backstory, including references to fictitious band members such as Sir Tarquin Underspoon and Timothy Tadpole-Jones.
Wilson sent out copies of Tarquin's Seaweed Farm to several people he felt would be interested in the recordings. Nick Saloman, the cult UK guitarist better known as The Bevis Frond, had suggested that he send one to Richard Allen, a writer for the UK counter-cultural magazine Encyclopaedia Psychedelica and co-editor of the UK psychedelic garage rock magazine Freakbeat. Allen reviewed the tape in both magazines. Whilst he disliked some of the material, he gave much of it a positive review. Several months later, Allen invited Wilson to contribute a track to the double LP A Psychedelic Psauna that was being put together to launch the new Delerium label. Allen would also become the band's manager, press agent, and promoter until 2004, his role in marketing the band's image decreasing after The Sky Moves Sideways album. In the meantime, Wilson had continued to work on new material. In 1990, he released the Love, Death & Mussolini EP, issued in a very limited run of 10 copies. The EP remains an extremely rare, collectible piece. It was composed of nine at-the-time-unreleased tracks, as a preview for the upcoming second album. In 1991, Wilson released a second full-length Porcupine Tree cassette called The Nostalgia Factory, which further expanded Porcupine Tree's underground fanbase, although at this point, the band was still carrying on the charade of being 1970s rock legends. By this point, Porcupine Tree was entirely a solo project, with Stocks having amicably moved on to other activities.
The Delerium years (1991–1997)
On the Sunday of Life...
Along with the A Psychedelic Psauna compilation, which featured the Porcupine Tree track "Linton Samuel Dawson", the newly formed Delerium label, formed by Freakbeat editors Richard Allen and Ivor Trueman, offered to reissue the cassettes Tarquin's Seaweed Farm and The Nostalgia Factory. Two hundred copies of each cassette were sold through Freakbeat's mail order, The Freak Emporium, and soon Porcupine Tree became known as a mysterious new act amongst the then UK underground psychedelic music scene.
Shortly thereafter, Delerium invited Wilson to sign as one of the label's founder artists. The first release after this, a double vinyl album and single CD compiling the best material from his two cassettes, was released in mid-1992 as On the Sunday of Life, a title chosen from a long list of possible nonsense titles compiled by Richard Allen. The rest of the music from the initial tapes was released on the limited edition compilation album Yellow Hedgerow Dreamscape.
In 1992, Delerium released On the Sunday of Life as an edition of 1,000 copies, complete with a deluxe gatefold sleeve. The album sold very well, particularly in Italy, and it was briefly repressed on vinyl and has remained in print on CD ever since its release. The album featured future concert favourite and frequent encore song "Radioactive Toy". By 2000, On the Sunday of Life... had accumulated sales of more than 20,000 copies. On the Sunday of Life was originally meant to be a quadruple (LP)/double (CD) album compiling both cassettes in full, but changed to the best (according to Wilson) songs from the tapes. In 2004, Wilson remixed and remastered all three tapes, releasing them as a three-CD box set called Footprints: Cassette Music 1988-1992. This box was only distributed to family and friends.
Up the Downstair
In the midst of Porcupine Tree's rising success, Wilson's other band, No-Man, had been getting excellent UK press, which led to the band being signed to leading UK independent music publisher, Hit & Run Music Publishing, in 1991, which resulted in recording agreements with One Little Indian Records, and Epic 440/Sony in the US. No-Man's success gave Wilson the opportunity to leave his regular job and devote his time solely to music. All of the Delirium releases were published by Hit & Run, whose executive Dave Massey had signed No-Man and continued to be closely involved in Wilson's Porcupine Tree project.
In May 1993, the second Porcupine Tree album, Up the Downstair, was released, another prospective double album that was finally slimmed down to a single record. "Voyage 34" was actually going to take up the second disc, but it was last decided to be released alone as a single. The album was highly praised, Melody Maker describing it as "a psychedelic masterpiece... one of the albums of the year." The album continued the fusion of electronic music and rock and also featured guest appearances from two future Porcupine Tree members, Richard Barbieri, of 1970s-80s art rock band Japan, and Colin Edwin.
In November 1993, Voyage 34 was reissued alongside an additional 12-inch remix by Astralasia. The album managed to enter the NME indie chart for six weeks and became an underground chill-out classic, even without radio play.
The Sky Moves Sideways
The profile of Porcupine Tree had now grown to the extent that Wilson wanted to expand into live performances. Thus, in December 1993, Porcupine Tree became a live unit featuring Steven Wilson on lead vocals/guitar, Colin Edwin on bass, Chris Maitland on drums, and Richard Barbieri on keyboards.
All three new members of the group had worked with Wilson on various projects over the preceding years, especially Barbieri and Maitland, who had been part of No-Man's touring band. The new line-up's first live album, Spiral Circus, contained recordings from their first three performances, including a BBC Radio One session for Mark Radcliffe, an early champion of the group.
Porcupine Tree's next album did not emerge until early 1995, but was preceded by the Moonloop EP, the last two tracks of which were recorded during the album sessions and were the first to feature the new band. Released in 1995, the band's third studio album, The Sky Moves Sideways became a success among progressive rock fans and Porcupine Tree were hailed as the Pink Floyd of the 1990s. Wilson later lamented this, stating, "I can't help that. It's true that during the period of The Sky Moves Sideways, I had done a little too much of it in the sense of satisfying, in a way, the fans of Pink Floyd who were listening to us because that group doesn't make albums any more. Moreover, I regret it".
The Sky Moves Sideways was an expansive soundscape of melody and ambient rock experimentation, but proved to be a transitional work with half recorded before the formation of the band and half recorded after. Most of the album was taken up with the 35-minute title track, which at one point Steven had intended to be long enough to occupy the whole album. An alternate version of the track, containing some of the excised music, was included on the 2004 remastered version of the album. It also entered the NME, Melody Maker, and Music Week charts. Together with the Moonloop EP, this album was the first Porcupine Tree music issued in America in the autumn of 1995, and attracted favourable press on both sides of the Atlantic. The band supported the album with numerous concerts throughout the year at major music venues in the UK, the Netherlands, Italy, and Greece.
Signify
Partly unsatisfied with the half band/half solo nature of The Sky Moves Sideways, Porcupine Tree promptly got down to the task of recording the first proper band record. Wilson admitted he was always "in love with the idea of the rock band" because "bands have a kind of glamour, and appeal, and a romance about them the solo projects just don't have." The band worked sporadically over the next year on developing a tighter and more ambitious rock sound.
After the release of the first real Porcupine Tree single, "Waiting", which entered all UK indie charts and the UK National chart and attracting airplay all over Europe, Signify was released in September 1996. The album was a mixture of instrumental tracks and more song-oriented tunes, blending numerous rock and avant-garde styles, such as krautrock. Wilson expressed satisfaction in the direction of the album, stating "...tracks like 'Every Home Is Wired' and 'Dark Matter' totally transcend both genre and comparison. Finally, I think we are making a completely original and 1990s form of music, but which still has its root in progressive music." The musicians received writing credits for some tracks, most notably for "Intermediate Jesus", which evolved from a jam session later released as Metanoia at the end of 1998. A large amount of major European media interest accompanied the album's release.
In March 1997, they played three nights in Rome to an audience that surpassed 5,000 people. All three dates were recorded for use in the 1997 live album Coma Divine – Recorded Live in Rome that was released as a goodbye to Delerium Records, which felt it could no longer offer the kind of resources the band needed to continue to build its profile worldwide. In late 1997 Porcupine Tree's first three albums were remastered and reissued. Signify also was released in the US on Miles Copeland's Ark 21 label.
The Snapper years (1998–2001)
Stupid Dream
Wilson, Barbieri, Edwin, and Maitland spent all of 1998 recording their fifth studio album, a release that reflected the band's move towards a more song-oriented writing. Wilson acknowledged this time he was "much more interested in songwriting as an art form, as opposed to soundscape development" and commented he took influence from The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds, Todd Rundgren, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and "anything with really good ensemble singing". He also indicated that he was "interested in the idea of the pop song as a kind of experimental symphony".
The band recorded the album without a label, but signed with Snapper/Kscope before releasing Stupid Dream, in March 1999. The album was supported by a tour of the United Kingdom, Italy, Greece, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, France, Poland, and the United States. The three singles taken from the album: "Piano Lessons", "Stranger by the Minute", and "Pure Narcotic", all achieved mainstream exposure in the US and in Europe, and placed well in the UK independent charts and on radio-station playlists. Although the album was a departure from their earlier sound, it brought the band new-found popularity and went on to become the band's best-selling and most acclaimed release up to that time.
Lightbulb Sun
Completed for February 2000, with string arrangements provided by Dave Gregory of XTC, Porcupine Tree's sixth studio album, Lightbulb Sun, built on the mix of songwriting, soundscaping, and rock dynamics of Stupid Dream. The album was released in May 2000, preceded by the single "Four Chords That Made a Million". A sold-out show at the Scala in London began a short run of UK shows, that were followed later in the year by European festival dates and a major tour supporting Dream Theater. The band continued touring through the end of 2000 and start of 2001, including their first major tour of Germany. A special double CD edition of the Lightbulb Sun album was issued in Israel and Germany.
In May, the band released a compilation B-side album called Recordings, which featured nine tracks from the Stupid Dream and Lightbulb Sun sessions that had been left off both albums. In May 2001, Porcupine Tree did three consecutive dates as a support band to Marillion, in France, Germany, and the Netherlands. In June, the band played a short US tour, starting with an appearance in NEARfest of Pennsylvania, and culminating in a sold-out show at The Bottom Line in New York City. Shortly afterwards, the band announced that they had signed a new international record deal with Lava/Atlantic Records.
The Lava years (2002–2005)
In Absentia
In February 2002, Porcupine Tree's first line-up change occurred when drummer Chris Maitland was dismissed after eight years with the band. The band welcomed drummer and longtime acquaintance Gavin Harrison as his replacement. In March 2002, a box set of the band's early work was released, Stars Die: The Delerium Years 1991–1997, and the band commenced recording their first major label album, drawing from a pool of 30 new songs written by Wilson in the previous two years. Recording sessions took place at Avatar Studios in New York and London, with veteran audio engineer Paul Northfield and string arranger Dave Gregory also playing major roles in the making of the record. The album was mixed in Los Angeles in May with Tim Palmer.
The resulting album, In Absentia, was released by Lava Records in September 2002. The band also released a 5.1 surround-sound version of the album, mixed by Grammy Award-winning producer Elliot Scheiner. The surround-sound version of the album won the award for best 5.1 mix at the 2004 Surround Sound Music awards in Los Angeles.
To promote the album, the band undertook four tours of Europe and North America, including one with acclaimed Swedish metal band Opeth. On tour, the new line-up of the band was further augmented by additional touring vocalist/guitarist John Wesley. During these tours, the visual element of the band's performance was taken to new heights with the involvement of filmmaker and photographer Lasse Hoile, who had created the cover art for In Absentia and now went on to create a dark and surreal visual to Porcupine Tree's music. The long promotional campaign for In Absentia ended on 30 November 2003, as the band played a homecoming show to a sold-out London Astoria.
During 2003, Porcupine Tree set up their own label, Transmission, with an online store hosted by Burning Shed record label. The first release on the Transmission label was a studio session recorded for XM Radio, Washington, DC, followed in 2004 by a recording from Polish radio in 2001. The band used the label to issue supplemental content, such as EPs, demos, and live recordings. Additionally, a reissue/remaster campaign also began in 2003, with many of the early albums expanded to double CDs. These reissues included re-recorded/remixed double-CD versions of the Up the Downstair, The Sky Moves Sideways, and Signify albums, and the reissue of Stupid Dream and Lightbulb Sun, both comprising a CD with a new stereo mix of the album plus a DVD-Audio with a 5.1 surround mix.
Deadwing
In early 2004, the band embarked on the recording sessions for their next record, Deadwing, their second for Lava/Atlantic. The album takes its inspiration from a film script written by Wilson with his filmmaker friend Mike Bennion. The album sessions completed in November 2004, and Deadwing was released in Europe and the US during the spring of 2005 as both a stereo and 5.1 surround-sound album, preceded by the release of two singles, "Shallow" in the US and "Lazarus" in Europe. The album benefited from guest appearances by Adrian Belew from King Crimson and Opeth's Mikael Åkerfeldt, and was a commercial success, due in part to "Shallow" receiving airplay, peaking at number 26 on Billboard's Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks. Additionally, "Lazarus" entered the German singles Top 100 at number 91. The song "Shallow" was also featured in the soundtrack for the film Four Brothers.
The album won the Surround Music Awards for "Best Made-For-Surround Title" the same year of its release and was voted number-two album of 2005 in Sound & Vision, the most widely distributed US magazine in the field of home electronics and entertainment. Porcupine Tree released Deadwing in Japan on 22 March 2006, the first album by the band to be released in that country.
The tour to promote the album commenced in the UK at the end of March, and continued throughout the year. Mike Bennion created a Myspace page dedicated to the prospective Deadwing film, in which he posted the first 15 pages of the script and included a trailer. However, whilst the scripts are finished, the project is still on hiatus due to lack of budget.
The Roadrunner years (2006–2010)
Fear of a Blank Planet
In August 2006, Porcupine Tree announced that the band had signed with Roadrunner Records UK. Prior to their first release on Roadrunner, the band released their first live concert DVD, Arriving Somewhere..., on 10 October 2006. It was accompanied by a brief tour in which the group performed 50 minutes of new material from the forthcoming studio album for the first half of the shows. Supporting acts included Swedish band Paatos in Europe and ProjeKct Six in the United States.
The band announced the next album's title would be Fear of a Blank Planet in January 2007 and the album was released on 16 April 2007. The album charted in almost all European countries, and peaked at number 59 on the Billboard 200. A 92-date tour for 2007 took the band to countries where they had never performed, such as Finland and Mexico. The tour included appearances in multiple music festivals such as the Voodoo Experience in New Orleans, the German twin-festivals, Hurricane and Southside, and the Download Festival of Donington Park. The band performed their first ever shows in Australia in 2008.
The lyrics of the album deal with some common behaviour tendencies concerning society, especially youth, in the beginning of the 21st century, such as bipolar disorder, attention deficit disorder, drug abuse, alienation, and deprivation caused by mass media. The concept of the album was inspired by Bret Easton Ellis novel Lunar Park and the title alludes to Public Enemy's album, Fear of a Black Planet, both sharing the particularity of reflecting notorious conflicts affecting society in the world at some time. Wilson notes that whilst race relationship was the main issue among young people when Public Enemy's album was released, it was replaced in the 21st century by a general superficiality, boredom, and introversion. The album features contributions from Rush's Alex Lifeson and King Crimson's Robert Fripp.
Wilson: "My fear is that the current generation of kids who're being born into this information revolution, growing up with the Internet, cell phones, iPods, this download culture, 'American Idol,' reality TV, prescription drugs, PlayStations—all of these things kind of distract people from what's important about life, which is to develop a sense of curiosity about what's out there."
On 5 November 2007, Fear of a Blank Planet won the Album of the Year award for the 2007 Classic Rock magazine awards. In December 2007, it was nominated for a Grammy Award for "Best Surround Sound Album" though Love by The Beatles won the award.
A new EP called Nil Recurring was released on 17 September 2007, featuring four unreleased tracks from the Fear of a Blank Planet sessions and including another contribution from Robert Fripp. The second leg of the tour started on 3 October 2007, now promoting new music from the EP. Nil Recurring entered the UK Top 30 Independent Label Albums at number eight. The EP was reissued on 18 February 2008 through Peaceville Records.
A recording from a 4 October 2007 in-store, mostly acoustic, performance at Park Avenue CDs in Orlando, Florida, was released on 18 February 2008 on CD under the name of We Lost The Skyline. The title is a reference to the lyrics of "The Sky Moves Sideways (Phase One)", which was the opening song on the live set. The album was released on vinyl of 21 March 2008. While intended to be a full-band show, the lack of space in the store only allowed the two guitarists, Wilson and John Wesley, to play.
The Incident
The band played a short European tour in October 2008 to shoot their second live-concert film, Anesthetize, preceded by three concerts in Australia in April. The filming took place on 15 and 16 October in the Netherlands at the 013 Tilburg venue. During one of these shows, Wilson mentioned that Porcupine Tree had started work on material for their next album, with an eye toward a release in 2009. The live-concert film on DVD and Blu-ray was released on 20 May 2010.
The band started recording their tenth studio album, The Incident, in February 2009. This was confirmed by the band, stating, "Writing for the next PT studio record is well underway, with the band recently spending two weeks scheduled in the English countryside working on new tracks. Recording of these pieces and a new 35-minute SW song cycle were due to start in February..." Months later, Wilson commented the 35-minute song kept evolving and now it has become a 55-minute song, occupying the entire disc.
On 12 June 2009, details were revealed on the Porcupine Tree website, "the record is set to be released via Roadrunner Records worldwide on 21 September, as a double CD. The centrepiece is the title track, which takes up the whole of the first disc. The 55-minute work is described as a slightly surreal song cycle about beginnings and endings and the sense that ‘after this, things will never be the same again.’ The self-produced album is completed by four standalone compositions that developed out of band writing sessions last December – Flicker, Bonnie The Cat, Black Dahlia, and Remember Me Lover feature on a separate EP-length disc to stress their independence from the song cycle." The album was the band's biggest commercial success to date, reaching number 23 in the UK album charts and also reaching the US Billboard Top 25.
The band also released another live album, Atlanta, in June 2010. The performance was actually recorded during the tour of Fear of a Blank Planet at the Roxy theatre, Atlanta, on 29 October 2007. It was released via online distribution only, with all the sale proceeds donated to Mick Karn for his treatment against cancer.
Inactivity and hiatus (2011–2020)
After finishing the touring cycle for The Incident in 2010, Wilson spent the rest of the year, and 2011, recording and releasing his second solo album, Grace for Drowning, and Blackfield's third album, Welcome to my DNA. Initially, the band had mentioned the possibility of working on new music in 2012, with Wilson mentioning "early 2012", and Harrison guessing they would start work in 2012 and release music in 2013. However, this soon changed, with Wilson announcing that he would continue to focus his future on his solo career. This new focus included a second leg of touring in support of Grace for Drowning in the first half of 2012, recording a third solo album in the second half of the year with his touring band, releasing it in early 2013, and then touring in support of the third solo album for "much of the year" – throughout 2013. Wilson still maintained that the band "haven’t split up" and that there are "no intentions of splitting up", but he also said there were no specific plans for a new album either. While he said that he still "want(s) to get Porcupine Tree back together at some point", he said that he was not sure what direction he wants to take the band, only that he is "tired of metal music", and that one member of the band does not like jazz, so it won't go into the direction of his solo project either.
In June 2012, Wilson re-emphasised his continued focus on his solo career, with his answer to the question "...is (there) a danger that Porcupine Tree might fall by the wayside?" being, "The honest answer is I don’t know. The solo career for me now is probably the most important. I think about it more than anything else, I’m more focused on it than anything else, I enjoy it more than anything else..." A two-disc live album titled Octane Twisted was released that following November by their record label, Kscope, containing a live recording of The Incident in its entirety, from material recorded at 2010 concerts at the Riviera Theater, Chicago, and the Royal Albert Hall. In May 2013, Wilson reiterated his stance on the band's status, stating that it's "...not to say the band has broken up or anything like that. It’s always conceivable that we could get back together in a year or five years, or 10 years. I really can’t say – there are no plans at the moment." Edwin's stance mirrored this.
After Wilson released his third solo album, The Raven That Refused to Sing (And Other Stories) in February 2013, and toured in support of it for the remainder of the year, its success led Wilson to commit to writing and recording a fourth solo album Hand. Cannot. Erase. over the course of 2014 and releasing it in 2015, pushing hypothetical work with Porcupine Tree into at least 2016. In March 2015, Wilson commented, “if Porcupine Tree [were] to get back together—and, by the way, I have never ruled that out—it will be a side project. There should be no question in anyone's mind that this is now my main musical path, my solo work.”
Moving into 2016, Wilson's views on a reformation were conflicting. In February 2016, in an interview with Prog Magazine, he stated that there was a "strong possibility" of Porcupine Tree reforming for another studio album at an undisclosed time in the future. However, in response to a question in August 2016 regarding a hypothetical Porcupine Tree performance, Wilson claimed, "you'd be waiting for a long time, that band doesn't exist anymore." In August 2017, Wilson explained: "It's no coincidence that since my solo project has taken off, other collaborations have receded to the background. Porcupine Tree hasn't made a record since 2009 and No-Man hasn't made a record since 2008. I feel less need now to be creatively involved in something other than my solo work. My solo work fulfills the musical needs I have now."
In a March 2018 interview when asked about the chances of further activity from Porcupine Tree he responded; "Honestly, I would say zero, because I’m just not that kind of person. I don’t go backwards. I’m not interested in going backwards; I want to move forwards, I want to do different things, I want to work with different people, I want to explore different kinds of music. That would seem like a terribly backward step to me. I’m proud of the catalogue; it’s there, it exists, but it’s kind of closed, it’s finished." However, in February 2021, Wilson suggested that a reformation was still possible someday, when it was least expected.
Reunion and Closure/Continuation (2021–present)
On 27 October 2021, Porcupine Tree, Wilson, and Harrison all shared a teaser video and mailing list link across their social media accounts, along with a stylised "P/T C/C" image. On 1 November the band announced their eleventh album, Closure/Continuation, to be released in June 2022 on Music For Nations, along with their first single in over 12 years, "Harridan". The lineup of the band now features just Wilson, Harrison, and Barbieri.
Musical style
Influences
Some of the inherent musical background of Porcupine Tree goes back to Wilson's childhood, when his parents gave Christmas presents to each other. His father received Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon whilst his mother got Donna Summer's Love to Love You Baby, both of which Wilson listened to heavily. These albums influenced his further songwriting. Other influences include Camel and Karlheinz Stockhausen.
Later in his teens, Wilson briefly became a fan of the new wave of British heavy metal, but as soon as he discovered 1970s music and progressive rock, his interest in metal diminished in favour of experimental music. He later (in the 2000s) discovered bands in the likes of Gojira, Sunn O))), Neurosis, and Meshuggah, which restored his faith in metal music. "For a long time, I couldn't find where all these creative musicians were going...", said Wilson, "and I found them, they were working in extreme metal." Shortly thereafter, he went on to produce three consecutive albums by Swedish progressive death metal band Opeth, which had a considerable influence in his further songwriting.
The influence of electronic music and krautrock is present, with Wilson namechecking bands such as Can, Neu!, Tangerine Dream, Squarepusher, and Aphex Twin and artists such as Klaus Schulze and Conrad Schnitzler, among others. He has mentioned on multiple occasions that he admires the work of American musician Trent Reznor, the sole official member of Nine Inch Nails. Wilson has also cited English electronic band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), along with other potentially "surprising" influences such as ABBA, The Carpenters, Electric Light Orchestra, and the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack album (1977), largely written and performed by the Bee Gees.
Characteristics
The music of Porcupine Tree is often described as melancholic. Wilson has stated music is a way for him to channel all his negative feelings, and "an exorcism of those elements within", finding it "easier to write songs about the negative side of the world than it is about the happy side of the world." In the Warszawa live radio broadcast album, before performing "Stop Swimming", Wilson can be heard saying "the saddest music is often the most beautiful."
Porcupine Tree is an album-oriented band, making records where many songs are related to each other. Wilson has said: "The important thing with Porcupine Tree is that all our songs have a unique sound world that they inhabit. I don't like the idea of any song sounding like any other song. So most of the time it's a case of finding the sound world first whether it be a texture or a drum rhythm that sets you off on a certain musical path, or particular musical atmosphere, or flavour." For their recordings, the band has included mellotron, banjo, hammered dulcimer, and guimbri, among other instruments unusual for rock bands.
Above all, Porcupine Tree's music has maintained a strong textural and experimental quality, often fusing many genres in a single track. The band's work is noted for its atmospheric nature, largely due to Barbieri's keyboard style and sound-processing abilities, and Wilson's cinematic scope, as a declared fan of American filmmaker David Lynch, whose films are renowned for their sonic content. "Very layered, very produced, very arranged and [with] complex arrangements" is the way Wilson describes the sound of the band. Apart from their regular edition, the albums Stupid Dream, Lightbulb Sun, In Absentia, Deadwing, Fear of a Blank Planet, and The Incident are available in DTS (5.1 Surround Sound) mix; this mixing technique has become a tradition for the band in recent years.
The band's live performances have also been praised, with Music Radar placing them fourth in their list of "The 30 greatest live acts in the world today" in 2010.
Porcupine Tree are often categorised as a progressive rock band. Although many listeners familiar with the group label them as such, Steven Wilson has been noted in the past to express a certain dislike for the use of the term "progressive" to refer to them. However, more recently, he made note that he has since become more relaxed toward the word considering it is becoming "a much broader term" as time passes. He has frequently stated that he dislikes the press comparing Porcupine Tree with neo prog bands or citing them as 'the New Pink Floyd'.
Legacy
Porcupine Tree have influenced a new generation of artists and bands.
Anders Nyström of the Swedish group Katatonia has cited the work of Porcupine Tree as a large influence for the band in their post-death metal eras. Luc Lemay, leader of the technical death metal band Gorguts, said that The Incident was "a big revelation" for him, inspiring his more recent songwriting. He singled out the concert of its tour as one of the two most important he has attended. Electronic producer Seven Lions also cited them as an inspiration for his dubstep and drum and bass compositions.
In addition to those artists who state that Porcupine Tree has been a direct influence on their own careers, other artists have been quoted expressing admiration for their work including Neil Peart, Alex Lifeson, Adrian Belew, Jordan Rudess, Mike Portnoy, Arjen Lucassen, Rob Swire, Haken and many others.
Band members
Members
Steven Wilson – vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards, piano, synthesisers, hammer dulcimer, banjo, sampler, various instruments (1987–2010; 2021–present)
Richard Barbieri – keyboards, synthesizers, piano and sound processing (1993–2010; 2021–present)
Gavin Harrison – drums and percussion (2002–2010; 2021–present)
Former members
Chris Maitland – drums, backing vocals (1993–2002)
Colin Edwin – bass, double bass (1993–2010)
Touring members
John Wesley – guitar, backing vocals (2002–2010)
Timeline
Discography
Studio albums
On the Sunday of Life... (1992)
Up the Downstair (1993)
The Sky Moves Sideways (1995)
Signify (1996)
Stupid Dream (1999)
Lightbulb Sun (2000)
In Absentia (2002)
Deadwing (2005)
Fear of a Blank Planet (2007)
The Incident (2009)
Closure/Continuation (2022)
References
External links
Porcupine Tree official website
English progressive rock groups
English progressive metal musical groups
English psychedelic rock music groups
Musical groups established in 1987
Musical groups disestablished in 2010
Musical groups reestablished in 2021
Musical quartets
Atlantic Records artists
1987 establishments in England
Musical groups from Hertfordshire
2010 disestablishments in England
Post-progressive musicians | true | [
"Paul Northfield is a prolific British record producer and sound engineer, who has worked on albums by bands such as Dream Theater, Queensrÿche, Rush, Porcupine Tree and Suicidal Tendencies.\n\nNorthfield worked at Advision Studio, London from 1974 to 1978, then at Le Studio, Morin Heights, Quebec from 1978 to 1987, and has been an independent engineer since then.\n\nSelected discography\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Interview With Paul Northfield\n Recording Porcupine Tree - Progressive Rockers Porcupine Tree In the Studio\n Rush's Vapor Trails album - recording the new Vapor Trails CD\n\nBritish record producers\nYear of birth missing (living people)\nLiving people\nBritish audio engineers\nJuno Award for Recording Engineer of the Year winners",
"Transmission IV is the fourth and final Transmission information service release (only available to subscribers) by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree. It contains a complete improvisation of what would become the song \"Moonloop\", included on the 1995 release The Sky Moves Sideways.\n\nThe 2006 reissue is an exact reproduction of the originally issued fan club edition, which was released 2001 and was limited to 500 copies. The reissue has also been remastered by Steven Wilson.\n\nTrack listing\n\nBand\n Colin Edwin – bass guitar\n Chris Maitland – drums\n Steven Wilson – guitar, keyboards, samples\n\nGuest musicians\n Markus Butler – harmonica\n Rick Edwards – percussion\n\nReferences\n\nPorcupine Tree albums\n2001 albums"
]
|
[
"Porcupine Tree",
"Origins (1987-1990)",
"What year did Porcupine Tree form?",
"Porcupine Tree originated in 1987"
]
| C_db5a3dc3ab324c859d9629bd8f11ce28_1 | Who was their inspiration? | 2 | Who was Porcupine Tree, Origins' inspiration? | Porcupine Tree | Porcupine Tree originated in 1987 as a collaborative hoax project by Steven Wilson and Malcolm Stocks. Partially inspired by the psychedelic/progressive bands of the 1970s, such as Pink Floyd, that had dominated the music scene during their youth, the two decided to form a fictional legendary rock band named The Porcupine Tree. The two fabricated a detailed back-story including information on alleged band members and album titles, as well as a "colourful" history which purportedly included events such as a meeting at a 1970s rock festival and several trips in and out of prison. As soon as he had put aside enough money to buy his own studio equipment, Wilson obliged this creation with several hours of music to provide "evidence" of its existence. Although Stocks provided a few passages of treated vocals and experimental guitar playing, his role in the project was mostly offering occasional ideas, with the bulk of the material being written, recorded, played, and sung by Wilson. At this point, Porcupine Tree was little more than a joke and a private amusement, as Wilson was concentrating on his other project, No-Man, an endeavour with UK based singer and songwriter Tim Bowness. However, by 1989, he began to consider some of the Porcupine Tree music as potentially marketable. Wilson created an 80-minute-long cassette titled Tarquin's Seaweed Farm under the name of Porcupine Tree. Still showing the spirit of his joke, Wilson included an eight-page inlay which further revealed the hoaxed Porcupine Tree backstory, including references to fictitious band members such as Sir Tarquin Underspoon and Timothy Tadpole-Jones. Wilson sent out copies of Tarquin's Seaweed Farm to several people he felt would be interested in the recordings. Nick Saloman, the cult UK guitarist better known as The Bevis Frond, had suggested that he send one to Richard Allen, a writer for the UK counter-cultural magazine Encyclopaedia Psychedelica and co-editor of the UK psychedelic garage rock magazine Freakbeat. Allen reviewed the tape in both magazines. Whilst he disliked some of the material, he gave much of it a positive review. Several months later, Allen invited Wilson to contribute a track to the double LP A Psychedelic Psauna that was being put together to launch the new Delerium label. Allen would also become the band's manager, press agent, and promoter until 2004, his role in marketing the band's image decreasing after The Sky Moves Sideways album. In the meantime, Wilson had continued to work on new material. In 1990, he released the Love, Death & Mussolini EP, issued in a very limited run of 10 copies. The EP remains an extremely rare, collectible piece. It was composed of nine at-the-time-unreleased tracks, as a preview for the upcoming second album. Later in 1990, Wilson released a second full-length Porcupine Tree cassette called The Nostalgia Factory, which further expanded Porcupine Tree's underground fanbase, although at this point, the band was still carrying on the charade of being 1970s rock legends. By this point, Porcupine Tree was entirely a solo project, with Stocks having amicably moved on to other activities. CANNOTANSWER | Partially inspired by the psychedelic/progressive bands of the 1970s, such as Pink Floyd, | Porcupine Tree are an English rock band formed by musician Steven Wilson in 1987. During an initial career spanning more than twenty years, they earned critical acclaim from critics and fellow musicians, developed a cult following, and became an influence for new artists. The group carved out a career at a certain distance away from mainstream music, being described by publications such as Classic Rock and PopMatters as "the most important band you’d never heard of".
The band began as a solo project for Wilson, who initially created all of the band's music himself. By late 1993, however, he wanted to work in a band environment, bringing on frequent collaborators Richard Barbieri as keyboardist, Colin Edwin as bassist, and Chris Maitland as drummer to form the first permanent lineup. With Wilson as lead vocalist and guitarist, this remained the lineup until February 2002, when Maitland left the band and Gavin Harrison was recruited to replace him. Porcupine Tree's early sound evoked various styles of psychedelic rock, space rock and experimental rock, later moving towards a more progressive/space rock direction comparable to that of Pink Floyd. Upon signing with Kscope record label in the late 1990s, the band began to approach a more mainstream alternative rock sound. By the early 2000s, the band had signed to a major record label and shifted their sound again, this time in a more progressive metal direction.
In 2010, after the tour in support of their 2009 studio album The Incident (their biggest commercial success to date), the band became inactive as Wilson committed himself to his solo work and other members began working on their own separate projects. In 2018, after years of indetermination, Wilson ruled out a possible reformation.
Despite this, the band made a surprise reformation in 2021 with minimal advance publicity, this time with a trio line-up of Wilson, Barbieri and Harrison. The reformation was formally revealed on 1 November 2021, with the simultaneous release of the "Harridan" single and the announcement of a new studio album, Closure/Continuation, to be released on 24 June 2022.
History
Origins (1987–1990)
Porcupine Tree originated in 1987 as a collaborative hoax project by Steven Wilson and Malcolm Stocks. Partially inspired by the psychedelic/progressive bands of the 1970s, such as Pink Floyd, that had dominated the music scene during their youth, the two decided to form a fictional legendary rock band named The Porcupine Tree. The two fabricated a detailed back-story including information on alleged band members and album titles, as well as a "colourful" history which purportedly included events such as a meeting at a 1970s rock festival and several trips in and out of prison. As soon as he had put aside enough money to buy his own studio equipment, Wilson obliged this creation with several hours of music to provide "evidence" of its existence. Although Stocks provided a few passages of treated vocals and experimental guitar playing, his role in the project was mostly offering occasional ideas, with the bulk of the material being written, recorded, played, and sung by Wilson.
At this point, Porcupine Tree was little more than a joke and a private amusement, as Wilson was concentrating on his other project, No-Man, an endeavour with UK based singer and songwriter Tim Bowness. However, by 1989, he began to consider some of the Porcupine Tree music as potentially marketable. Wilson created an 80-minute-long cassette titled Tarquin's Seaweed Farm under the name of Porcupine Tree. Still showing the spirit of his joke, Wilson included an eight-page inlay which further revealed the hoaxed Porcupine Tree backstory, including references to fictitious band members such as Sir Tarquin Underspoon and Timothy Tadpole-Jones.
Wilson sent out copies of Tarquin's Seaweed Farm to several people he felt would be interested in the recordings. Nick Saloman, the cult UK guitarist better known as The Bevis Frond, had suggested that he send one to Richard Allen, a writer for the UK counter-cultural magazine Encyclopaedia Psychedelica and co-editor of the UK psychedelic garage rock magazine Freakbeat. Allen reviewed the tape in both magazines. Whilst he disliked some of the material, he gave much of it a positive review. Several months later, Allen invited Wilson to contribute a track to the double LP A Psychedelic Psauna that was being put together to launch the new Delerium label. Allen would also become the band's manager, press agent, and promoter until 2004, his role in marketing the band's image decreasing after The Sky Moves Sideways album. In the meantime, Wilson had continued to work on new material. In 1990, he released the Love, Death & Mussolini EP, issued in a very limited run of 10 copies. The EP remains an extremely rare, collectible piece. It was composed of nine at-the-time-unreleased tracks, as a preview for the upcoming second album. In 1991, Wilson released a second full-length Porcupine Tree cassette called The Nostalgia Factory, which further expanded Porcupine Tree's underground fanbase, although at this point, the band was still carrying on the charade of being 1970s rock legends. By this point, Porcupine Tree was entirely a solo project, with Stocks having amicably moved on to other activities.
The Delerium years (1991–1997)
On the Sunday of Life...
Along with the A Psychedelic Psauna compilation, which featured the Porcupine Tree track "Linton Samuel Dawson", the newly formed Delerium label, formed by Freakbeat editors Richard Allen and Ivor Trueman, offered to reissue the cassettes Tarquin's Seaweed Farm and The Nostalgia Factory. Two hundred copies of each cassette were sold through Freakbeat's mail order, The Freak Emporium, and soon Porcupine Tree became known as a mysterious new act amongst the then UK underground psychedelic music scene.
Shortly thereafter, Delerium invited Wilson to sign as one of the label's founder artists. The first release after this, a double vinyl album and single CD compiling the best material from his two cassettes, was released in mid-1992 as On the Sunday of Life, a title chosen from a long list of possible nonsense titles compiled by Richard Allen. The rest of the music from the initial tapes was released on the limited edition compilation album Yellow Hedgerow Dreamscape.
In 1992, Delerium released On the Sunday of Life as an edition of 1,000 copies, complete with a deluxe gatefold sleeve. The album sold very well, particularly in Italy, and it was briefly repressed on vinyl and has remained in print on CD ever since its release. The album featured future concert favourite and frequent encore song "Radioactive Toy". By 2000, On the Sunday of Life... had accumulated sales of more than 20,000 copies. On the Sunday of Life was originally meant to be a quadruple (LP)/double (CD) album compiling both cassettes in full, but changed to the best (according to Wilson) songs from the tapes. In 2004, Wilson remixed and remastered all three tapes, releasing them as a three-CD box set called Footprints: Cassette Music 1988-1992. This box was only distributed to family and friends.
Up the Downstair
In the midst of Porcupine Tree's rising success, Wilson's other band, No-Man, had been getting excellent UK press, which led to the band being signed to leading UK independent music publisher, Hit & Run Music Publishing, in 1991, which resulted in recording agreements with One Little Indian Records, and Epic 440/Sony in the US. No-Man's success gave Wilson the opportunity to leave his regular job and devote his time solely to music. All of the Delirium releases were published by Hit & Run, whose executive Dave Massey had signed No-Man and continued to be closely involved in Wilson's Porcupine Tree project.
In May 1993, the second Porcupine Tree album, Up the Downstair, was released, another prospective double album that was finally slimmed down to a single record. "Voyage 34" was actually going to take up the second disc, but it was last decided to be released alone as a single. The album was highly praised, Melody Maker describing it as "a psychedelic masterpiece... one of the albums of the year." The album continued the fusion of electronic music and rock and also featured guest appearances from two future Porcupine Tree members, Richard Barbieri, of 1970s-80s art rock band Japan, and Colin Edwin.
In November 1993, Voyage 34 was reissued alongside an additional 12-inch remix by Astralasia. The album managed to enter the NME indie chart for six weeks and became an underground chill-out classic, even without radio play.
The Sky Moves Sideways
The profile of Porcupine Tree had now grown to the extent that Wilson wanted to expand into live performances. Thus, in December 1993, Porcupine Tree became a live unit featuring Steven Wilson on lead vocals/guitar, Colin Edwin on bass, Chris Maitland on drums, and Richard Barbieri on keyboards.
All three new members of the group had worked with Wilson on various projects over the preceding years, especially Barbieri and Maitland, who had been part of No-Man's touring band. The new line-up's first live album, Spiral Circus, contained recordings from their first three performances, including a BBC Radio One session for Mark Radcliffe, an early champion of the group.
Porcupine Tree's next album did not emerge until early 1995, but was preceded by the Moonloop EP, the last two tracks of which were recorded during the album sessions and were the first to feature the new band. Released in 1995, the band's third studio album, The Sky Moves Sideways became a success among progressive rock fans and Porcupine Tree were hailed as the Pink Floyd of the 1990s. Wilson later lamented this, stating, "I can't help that. It's true that during the period of The Sky Moves Sideways, I had done a little too much of it in the sense of satisfying, in a way, the fans of Pink Floyd who were listening to us because that group doesn't make albums any more. Moreover, I regret it".
The Sky Moves Sideways was an expansive soundscape of melody and ambient rock experimentation, but proved to be a transitional work with half recorded before the formation of the band and half recorded after. Most of the album was taken up with the 35-minute title track, which at one point Steven had intended to be long enough to occupy the whole album. An alternate version of the track, containing some of the excised music, was included on the 2004 remastered version of the album. It also entered the NME, Melody Maker, and Music Week charts. Together with the Moonloop EP, this album was the first Porcupine Tree music issued in America in the autumn of 1995, and attracted favourable press on both sides of the Atlantic. The band supported the album with numerous concerts throughout the year at major music venues in the UK, the Netherlands, Italy, and Greece.
Signify
Partly unsatisfied with the half band/half solo nature of The Sky Moves Sideways, Porcupine Tree promptly got down to the task of recording the first proper band record. Wilson admitted he was always "in love with the idea of the rock band" because "bands have a kind of glamour, and appeal, and a romance about them the solo projects just don't have." The band worked sporadically over the next year on developing a tighter and more ambitious rock sound.
After the release of the first real Porcupine Tree single, "Waiting", which entered all UK indie charts and the UK National chart and attracting airplay all over Europe, Signify was released in September 1996. The album was a mixture of instrumental tracks and more song-oriented tunes, blending numerous rock and avant-garde styles, such as krautrock. Wilson expressed satisfaction in the direction of the album, stating "...tracks like 'Every Home Is Wired' and 'Dark Matter' totally transcend both genre and comparison. Finally, I think we are making a completely original and 1990s form of music, but which still has its root in progressive music." The musicians received writing credits for some tracks, most notably for "Intermediate Jesus", which evolved from a jam session later released as Metanoia at the end of 1998. A large amount of major European media interest accompanied the album's release.
In March 1997, they played three nights in Rome to an audience that surpassed 5,000 people. All three dates were recorded for use in the 1997 live album Coma Divine – Recorded Live in Rome that was released as a goodbye to Delerium Records, which felt it could no longer offer the kind of resources the band needed to continue to build its profile worldwide. In late 1997 Porcupine Tree's first three albums were remastered and reissued. Signify also was released in the US on Miles Copeland's Ark 21 label.
The Snapper years (1998–2001)
Stupid Dream
Wilson, Barbieri, Edwin, and Maitland spent all of 1998 recording their fifth studio album, a release that reflected the band's move towards a more song-oriented writing. Wilson acknowledged this time he was "much more interested in songwriting as an art form, as opposed to soundscape development" and commented he took influence from The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds, Todd Rundgren, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and "anything with really good ensemble singing". He also indicated that he was "interested in the idea of the pop song as a kind of experimental symphony".
The band recorded the album without a label, but signed with Snapper/Kscope before releasing Stupid Dream, in March 1999. The album was supported by a tour of the United Kingdom, Italy, Greece, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, France, Poland, and the United States. The three singles taken from the album: "Piano Lessons", "Stranger by the Minute", and "Pure Narcotic", all achieved mainstream exposure in the US and in Europe, and placed well in the UK independent charts and on radio-station playlists. Although the album was a departure from their earlier sound, it brought the band new-found popularity and went on to become the band's best-selling and most acclaimed release up to that time.
Lightbulb Sun
Completed for February 2000, with string arrangements provided by Dave Gregory of XTC, Porcupine Tree's sixth studio album, Lightbulb Sun, built on the mix of songwriting, soundscaping, and rock dynamics of Stupid Dream. The album was released in May 2000, preceded by the single "Four Chords That Made a Million". A sold-out show at the Scala in London began a short run of UK shows, that were followed later in the year by European festival dates and a major tour supporting Dream Theater. The band continued touring through the end of 2000 and start of 2001, including their first major tour of Germany. A special double CD edition of the Lightbulb Sun album was issued in Israel and Germany.
In May, the band released a compilation B-side album called Recordings, which featured nine tracks from the Stupid Dream and Lightbulb Sun sessions that had been left off both albums. In May 2001, Porcupine Tree did three consecutive dates as a support band to Marillion, in France, Germany, and the Netherlands. In June, the band played a short US tour, starting with an appearance in NEARfest of Pennsylvania, and culminating in a sold-out show at The Bottom Line in New York City. Shortly afterwards, the band announced that they had signed a new international record deal with Lava/Atlantic Records.
The Lava years (2002–2005)
In Absentia
In February 2002, Porcupine Tree's first line-up change occurred when drummer Chris Maitland was dismissed after eight years with the band. The band welcomed drummer and longtime acquaintance Gavin Harrison as his replacement. In March 2002, a box set of the band's early work was released, Stars Die: The Delerium Years 1991–1997, and the band commenced recording their first major label album, drawing from a pool of 30 new songs written by Wilson in the previous two years. Recording sessions took place at Avatar Studios in New York and London, with veteran audio engineer Paul Northfield and string arranger Dave Gregory also playing major roles in the making of the record. The album was mixed in Los Angeles in May with Tim Palmer.
The resulting album, In Absentia, was released by Lava Records in September 2002. The band also released a 5.1 surround-sound version of the album, mixed by Grammy Award-winning producer Elliot Scheiner. The surround-sound version of the album won the award for best 5.1 mix at the 2004 Surround Sound Music awards in Los Angeles.
To promote the album, the band undertook four tours of Europe and North America, including one with acclaimed Swedish metal band Opeth. On tour, the new line-up of the band was further augmented by additional touring vocalist/guitarist John Wesley. During these tours, the visual element of the band's performance was taken to new heights with the involvement of filmmaker and photographer Lasse Hoile, who had created the cover art for In Absentia and now went on to create a dark and surreal visual to Porcupine Tree's music. The long promotional campaign for In Absentia ended on 30 November 2003, as the band played a homecoming show to a sold-out London Astoria.
During 2003, Porcupine Tree set up their own label, Transmission, with an online store hosted by Burning Shed record label. The first release on the Transmission label was a studio session recorded for XM Radio, Washington, DC, followed in 2004 by a recording from Polish radio in 2001. The band used the label to issue supplemental content, such as EPs, demos, and live recordings. Additionally, a reissue/remaster campaign also began in 2003, with many of the early albums expanded to double CDs. These reissues included re-recorded/remixed double-CD versions of the Up the Downstair, The Sky Moves Sideways, and Signify albums, and the reissue of Stupid Dream and Lightbulb Sun, both comprising a CD with a new stereo mix of the album plus a DVD-Audio with a 5.1 surround mix.
Deadwing
In early 2004, the band embarked on the recording sessions for their next record, Deadwing, their second for Lava/Atlantic. The album takes its inspiration from a film script written by Wilson with his filmmaker friend Mike Bennion. The album sessions completed in November 2004, and Deadwing was released in Europe and the US during the spring of 2005 as both a stereo and 5.1 surround-sound album, preceded by the release of two singles, "Shallow" in the US and "Lazarus" in Europe. The album benefited from guest appearances by Adrian Belew from King Crimson and Opeth's Mikael Åkerfeldt, and was a commercial success, due in part to "Shallow" receiving airplay, peaking at number 26 on Billboard's Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks. Additionally, "Lazarus" entered the German singles Top 100 at number 91. The song "Shallow" was also featured in the soundtrack for the film Four Brothers.
The album won the Surround Music Awards for "Best Made-For-Surround Title" the same year of its release and was voted number-two album of 2005 in Sound & Vision, the most widely distributed US magazine in the field of home electronics and entertainment. Porcupine Tree released Deadwing in Japan on 22 March 2006, the first album by the band to be released in that country.
The tour to promote the album commenced in the UK at the end of March, and continued throughout the year. Mike Bennion created a Myspace page dedicated to the prospective Deadwing film, in which he posted the first 15 pages of the script and included a trailer. However, whilst the scripts are finished, the project is still on hiatus due to lack of budget.
The Roadrunner years (2006–2010)
Fear of a Blank Planet
In August 2006, Porcupine Tree announced that the band had signed with Roadrunner Records UK. Prior to their first release on Roadrunner, the band released their first live concert DVD, Arriving Somewhere..., on 10 October 2006. It was accompanied by a brief tour in which the group performed 50 minutes of new material from the forthcoming studio album for the first half of the shows. Supporting acts included Swedish band Paatos in Europe and ProjeKct Six in the United States.
The band announced the next album's title would be Fear of a Blank Planet in January 2007 and the album was released on 16 April 2007. The album charted in almost all European countries, and peaked at number 59 on the Billboard 200. A 92-date tour for 2007 took the band to countries where they had never performed, such as Finland and Mexico. The tour included appearances in multiple music festivals such as the Voodoo Experience in New Orleans, the German twin-festivals, Hurricane and Southside, and the Download Festival of Donington Park. The band performed their first ever shows in Australia in 2008.
The lyrics of the album deal with some common behaviour tendencies concerning society, especially youth, in the beginning of the 21st century, such as bipolar disorder, attention deficit disorder, drug abuse, alienation, and deprivation caused by mass media. The concept of the album was inspired by Bret Easton Ellis novel Lunar Park and the title alludes to Public Enemy's album, Fear of a Black Planet, both sharing the particularity of reflecting notorious conflicts affecting society in the world at some time. Wilson notes that whilst race relationship was the main issue among young people when Public Enemy's album was released, it was replaced in the 21st century by a general superficiality, boredom, and introversion. The album features contributions from Rush's Alex Lifeson and King Crimson's Robert Fripp.
Wilson: "My fear is that the current generation of kids who're being born into this information revolution, growing up with the Internet, cell phones, iPods, this download culture, 'American Idol,' reality TV, prescription drugs, PlayStations—all of these things kind of distract people from what's important about life, which is to develop a sense of curiosity about what's out there."
On 5 November 2007, Fear of a Blank Planet won the Album of the Year award for the 2007 Classic Rock magazine awards. In December 2007, it was nominated for a Grammy Award for "Best Surround Sound Album" though Love by The Beatles won the award.
A new EP called Nil Recurring was released on 17 September 2007, featuring four unreleased tracks from the Fear of a Blank Planet sessions and including another contribution from Robert Fripp. The second leg of the tour started on 3 October 2007, now promoting new music from the EP. Nil Recurring entered the UK Top 30 Independent Label Albums at number eight. The EP was reissued on 18 February 2008 through Peaceville Records.
A recording from a 4 October 2007 in-store, mostly acoustic, performance at Park Avenue CDs in Orlando, Florida, was released on 18 February 2008 on CD under the name of We Lost The Skyline. The title is a reference to the lyrics of "The Sky Moves Sideways (Phase One)", which was the opening song on the live set. The album was released on vinyl of 21 March 2008. While intended to be a full-band show, the lack of space in the store only allowed the two guitarists, Wilson and John Wesley, to play.
The Incident
The band played a short European tour in October 2008 to shoot their second live-concert film, Anesthetize, preceded by three concerts in Australia in April. The filming took place on 15 and 16 October in the Netherlands at the 013 Tilburg venue. During one of these shows, Wilson mentioned that Porcupine Tree had started work on material for their next album, with an eye toward a release in 2009. The live-concert film on DVD and Blu-ray was released on 20 May 2010.
The band started recording their tenth studio album, The Incident, in February 2009. This was confirmed by the band, stating, "Writing for the next PT studio record is well underway, with the band recently spending two weeks scheduled in the English countryside working on new tracks. Recording of these pieces and a new 35-minute SW song cycle were due to start in February..." Months later, Wilson commented the 35-minute song kept evolving and now it has become a 55-minute song, occupying the entire disc.
On 12 June 2009, details were revealed on the Porcupine Tree website, "the record is set to be released via Roadrunner Records worldwide on 21 September, as a double CD. The centrepiece is the title track, which takes up the whole of the first disc. The 55-minute work is described as a slightly surreal song cycle about beginnings and endings and the sense that ‘after this, things will never be the same again.’ The self-produced album is completed by four standalone compositions that developed out of band writing sessions last December – Flicker, Bonnie The Cat, Black Dahlia, and Remember Me Lover feature on a separate EP-length disc to stress their independence from the song cycle." The album was the band's biggest commercial success to date, reaching number 23 in the UK album charts and also reaching the US Billboard Top 25.
The band also released another live album, Atlanta, in June 2010. The performance was actually recorded during the tour of Fear of a Blank Planet at the Roxy theatre, Atlanta, on 29 October 2007. It was released via online distribution only, with all the sale proceeds donated to Mick Karn for his treatment against cancer.
Inactivity and hiatus (2011–2020)
After finishing the touring cycle for The Incident in 2010, Wilson spent the rest of the year, and 2011, recording and releasing his second solo album, Grace for Drowning, and Blackfield's third album, Welcome to my DNA. Initially, the band had mentioned the possibility of working on new music in 2012, with Wilson mentioning "early 2012", and Harrison guessing they would start work in 2012 and release music in 2013. However, this soon changed, with Wilson announcing that he would continue to focus his future on his solo career. This new focus included a second leg of touring in support of Grace for Drowning in the first half of 2012, recording a third solo album in the second half of the year with his touring band, releasing it in early 2013, and then touring in support of the third solo album for "much of the year" – throughout 2013. Wilson still maintained that the band "haven’t split up" and that there are "no intentions of splitting up", but he also said there were no specific plans for a new album either. While he said that he still "want(s) to get Porcupine Tree back together at some point", he said that he was not sure what direction he wants to take the band, only that he is "tired of metal music", and that one member of the band does not like jazz, so it won't go into the direction of his solo project either.
In June 2012, Wilson re-emphasised his continued focus on his solo career, with his answer to the question "...is (there) a danger that Porcupine Tree might fall by the wayside?" being, "The honest answer is I don’t know. The solo career for me now is probably the most important. I think about it more than anything else, I’m more focused on it than anything else, I enjoy it more than anything else..." A two-disc live album titled Octane Twisted was released that following November by their record label, Kscope, containing a live recording of The Incident in its entirety, from material recorded at 2010 concerts at the Riviera Theater, Chicago, and the Royal Albert Hall. In May 2013, Wilson reiterated his stance on the band's status, stating that it's "...not to say the band has broken up or anything like that. It’s always conceivable that we could get back together in a year or five years, or 10 years. I really can’t say – there are no plans at the moment." Edwin's stance mirrored this.
After Wilson released his third solo album, The Raven That Refused to Sing (And Other Stories) in February 2013, and toured in support of it for the remainder of the year, its success led Wilson to commit to writing and recording a fourth solo album Hand. Cannot. Erase. over the course of 2014 and releasing it in 2015, pushing hypothetical work with Porcupine Tree into at least 2016. In March 2015, Wilson commented, “if Porcupine Tree [were] to get back together—and, by the way, I have never ruled that out—it will be a side project. There should be no question in anyone's mind that this is now my main musical path, my solo work.”
Moving into 2016, Wilson's views on a reformation were conflicting. In February 2016, in an interview with Prog Magazine, he stated that there was a "strong possibility" of Porcupine Tree reforming for another studio album at an undisclosed time in the future. However, in response to a question in August 2016 regarding a hypothetical Porcupine Tree performance, Wilson claimed, "you'd be waiting for a long time, that band doesn't exist anymore." In August 2017, Wilson explained: "It's no coincidence that since my solo project has taken off, other collaborations have receded to the background. Porcupine Tree hasn't made a record since 2009 and No-Man hasn't made a record since 2008. I feel less need now to be creatively involved in something other than my solo work. My solo work fulfills the musical needs I have now."
In a March 2018 interview when asked about the chances of further activity from Porcupine Tree he responded; "Honestly, I would say zero, because I’m just not that kind of person. I don’t go backwards. I’m not interested in going backwards; I want to move forwards, I want to do different things, I want to work with different people, I want to explore different kinds of music. That would seem like a terribly backward step to me. I’m proud of the catalogue; it’s there, it exists, but it’s kind of closed, it’s finished." However, in February 2021, Wilson suggested that a reformation was still possible someday, when it was least expected.
Reunion and Closure/Continuation (2021–present)
On 27 October 2021, Porcupine Tree, Wilson, and Harrison all shared a teaser video and mailing list link across their social media accounts, along with a stylised "P/T C/C" image. On 1 November the band announced their eleventh album, Closure/Continuation, to be released in June 2022 on Music For Nations, along with their first single in over 12 years, "Harridan". The lineup of the band now features just Wilson, Harrison, and Barbieri.
Musical style
Influences
Some of the inherent musical background of Porcupine Tree goes back to Wilson's childhood, when his parents gave Christmas presents to each other. His father received Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon whilst his mother got Donna Summer's Love to Love You Baby, both of which Wilson listened to heavily. These albums influenced his further songwriting. Other influences include Camel and Karlheinz Stockhausen.
Later in his teens, Wilson briefly became a fan of the new wave of British heavy metal, but as soon as he discovered 1970s music and progressive rock, his interest in metal diminished in favour of experimental music. He later (in the 2000s) discovered bands in the likes of Gojira, Sunn O))), Neurosis, and Meshuggah, which restored his faith in metal music. "For a long time, I couldn't find where all these creative musicians were going...", said Wilson, "and I found them, they were working in extreme metal." Shortly thereafter, he went on to produce three consecutive albums by Swedish progressive death metal band Opeth, which had a considerable influence in his further songwriting.
The influence of electronic music and krautrock is present, with Wilson namechecking bands such as Can, Neu!, Tangerine Dream, Squarepusher, and Aphex Twin and artists such as Klaus Schulze and Conrad Schnitzler, among others. He has mentioned on multiple occasions that he admires the work of American musician Trent Reznor, the sole official member of Nine Inch Nails. Wilson has also cited English electronic band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), along with other potentially "surprising" influences such as ABBA, The Carpenters, Electric Light Orchestra, and the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack album (1977), largely written and performed by the Bee Gees.
Characteristics
The music of Porcupine Tree is often described as melancholic. Wilson has stated music is a way for him to channel all his negative feelings, and "an exorcism of those elements within", finding it "easier to write songs about the negative side of the world than it is about the happy side of the world." In the Warszawa live radio broadcast album, before performing "Stop Swimming", Wilson can be heard saying "the saddest music is often the most beautiful."
Porcupine Tree is an album-oriented band, making records where many songs are related to each other. Wilson has said: "The important thing with Porcupine Tree is that all our songs have a unique sound world that they inhabit. I don't like the idea of any song sounding like any other song. So most of the time it's a case of finding the sound world first whether it be a texture or a drum rhythm that sets you off on a certain musical path, or particular musical atmosphere, or flavour." For their recordings, the band has included mellotron, banjo, hammered dulcimer, and guimbri, among other instruments unusual for rock bands.
Above all, Porcupine Tree's music has maintained a strong textural and experimental quality, often fusing many genres in a single track. The band's work is noted for its atmospheric nature, largely due to Barbieri's keyboard style and sound-processing abilities, and Wilson's cinematic scope, as a declared fan of American filmmaker David Lynch, whose films are renowned for their sonic content. "Very layered, very produced, very arranged and [with] complex arrangements" is the way Wilson describes the sound of the band. Apart from their regular edition, the albums Stupid Dream, Lightbulb Sun, In Absentia, Deadwing, Fear of a Blank Planet, and The Incident are available in DTS (5.1 Surround Sound) mix; this mixing technique has become a tradition for the band in recent years.
The band's live performances have also been praised, with Music Radar placing them fourth in their list of "The 30 greatest live acts in the world today" in 2010.
Porcupine Tree are often categorised as a progressive rock band. Although many listeners familiar with the group label them as such, Steven Wilson has been noted in the past to express a certain dislike for the use of the term "progressive" to refer to them. However, more recently, he made note that he has since become more relaxed toward the word considering it is becoming "a much broader term" as time passes. He has frequently stated that he dislikes the press comparing Porcupine Tree with neo prog bands or citing them as 'the New Pink Floyd'.
Legacy
Porcupine Tree have influenced a new generation of artists and bands.
Anders Nyström of the Swedish group Katatonia has cited the work of Porcupine Tree as a large influence for the band in their post-death metal eras. Luc Lemay, leader of the technical death metal band Gorguts, said that The Incident was "a big revelation" for him, inspiring his more recent songwriting. He singled out the concert of its tour as one of the two most important he has attended. Electronic producer Seven Lions also cited them as an inspiration for his dubstep and drum and bass compositions.
In addition to those artists who state that Porcupine Tree has been a direct influence on their own careers, other artists have been quoted expressing admiration for their work including Neil Peart, Alex Lifeson, Adrian Belew, Jordan Rudess, Mike Portnoy, Arjen Lucassen, Rob Swire, Haken and many others.
Band members
Members
Steven Wilson – vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards, piano, synthesisers, hammer dulcimer, banjo, sampler, various instruments (1987–2010; 2021–present)
Richard Barbieri – keyboards, synthesizers, piano and sound processing (1993–2010; 2021–present)
Gavin Harrison – drums and percussion (2002–2010; 2021–present)
Former members
Chris Maitland – drums, backing vocals (1993–2002)
Colin Edwin – bass, double bass (1993–2010)
Touring members
John Wesley – guitar, backing vocals (2002–2010)
Timeline
Discography
Studio albums
On the Sunday of Life... (1992)
Up the Downstair (1993)
The Sky Moves Sideways (1995)
Signify (1996)
Stupid Dream (1999)
Lightbulb Sun (2000)
In Absentia (2002)
Deadwing (2005)
Fear of a Blank Planet (2007)
The Incident (2009)
Closure/Continuation (2022)
References
External links
Porcupine Tree official website
English progressive rock groups
English progressive metal musical groups
English psychedelic rock music groups
Musical groups established in 1987
Musical groups disestablished in 2010
Musical groups reestablished in 2021
Musical quartets
Atlantic Records artists
1987 establishments in England
Musical groups from Hertfordshire
2010 disestablishments in England
Post-progressive musicians | true | [
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"Verbal dictation describes a theory about how the Holy Spirit was involved with the people who first physically inscribed the Bible. According to this theory, the human role was a purely mechanical one: their individuality was by-passed whilst they wrote, and neither did their cultural background have any influence on what they wrote, because these writers were under the control of God. This may have been the original understanding of inspiration for the people of the Bible.\n\nAccording to James Barr this theory of inspiration was popular among Protestant theologians during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. According to Frederic Farrar, Martin Luther did not understand inspiration to mean that scripture was dictated in a purely mechanical manner. Instead, Luther \"held that they were not dictated by the Holy Spirit, but that His illumination produced in the minds of their writers the knowledge of salvation, so that divine truth had been expressed in human form, and the knowledge of God had become a personal possession of man. The actual writing was a human not a supernatural act.\" Farrar says that John Calvin also rejected the verbal dictation theory. Today, according to T.D. Lea and H.P. Griffen, \"[n]o respected Evangelicals maintain that God dictated the words of Scripture.\"\n\nSee also\n Biblical inspiration\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading\n\nChristian theology of the Bible"
]
|
[
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]
| C_db5a3dc3ab324c859d9629bd8f11ce28_1 | Did they cover any of their songs? | 3 | Did Porcupine Tree cover any of their songs? | Porcupine Tree | Porcupine Tree originated in 1987 as a collaborative hoax project by Steven Wilson and Malcolm Stocks. Partially inspired by the psychedelic/progressive bands of the 1970s, such as Pink Floyd, that had dominated the music scene during their youth, the two decided to form a fictional legendary rock band named The Porcupine Tree. The two fabricated a detailed back-story including information on alleged band members and album titles, as well as a "colourful" history which purportedly included events such as a meeting at a 1970s rock festival and several trips in and out of prison. As soon as he had put aside enough money to buy his own studio equipment, Wilson obliged this creation with several hours of music to provide "evidence" of its existence. Although Stocks provided a few passages of treated vocals and experimental guitar playing, his role in the project was mostly offering occasional ideas, with the bulk of the material being written, recorded, played, and sung by Wilson. At this point, Porcupine Tree was little more than a joke and a private amusement, as Wilson was concentrating on his other project, No-Man, an endeavour with UK based singer and songwriter Tim Bowness. However, by 1989, he began to consider some of the Porcupine Tree music as potentially marketable. Wilson created an 80-minute-long cassette titled Tarquin's Seaweed Farm under the name of Porcupine Tree. Still showing the spirit of his joke, Wilson included an eight-page inlay which further revealed the hoaxed Porcupine Tree backstory, including references to fictitious band members such as Sir Tarquin Underspoon and Timothy Tadpole-Jones. Wilson sent out copies of Tarquin's Seaweed Farm to several people he felt would be interested in the recordings. Nick Saloman, the cult UK guitarist better known as The Bevis Frond, had suggested that he send one to Richard Allen, a writer for the UK counter-cultural magazine Encyclopaedia Psychedelica and co-editor of the UK psychedelic garage rock magazine Freakbeat. Allen reviewed the tape in both magazines. Whilst he disliked some of the material, he gave much of it a positive review. Several months later, Allen invited Wilson to contribute a track to the double LP A Psychedelic Psauna that was being put together to launch the new Delerium label. Allen would also become the band's manager, press agent, and promoter until 2004, his role in marketing the band's image decreasing after The Sky Moves Sideways album. In the meantime, Wilson had continued to work on new material. In 1990, he released the Love, Death & Mussolini EP, issued in a very limited run of 10 copies. The EP remains an extremely rare, collectible piece. It was composed of nine at-the-time-unreleased tracks, as a preview for the upcoming second album. Later in 1990, Wilson released a second full-length Porcupine Tree cassette called The Nostalgia Factory, which further expanded Porcupine Tree's underground fanbase, although at this point, the band was still carrying on the charade of being 1970s rock legends. By this point, Porcupine Tree was entirely a solo project, with Stocks having amicably moved on to other activities. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Porcupine Tree are an English rock band formed by musician Steven Wilson in 1987. During an initial career spanning more than twenty years, they earned critical acclaim from critics and fellow musicians, developed a cult following, and became an influence for new artists. The group carved out a career at a certain distance away from mainstream music, being described by publications such as Classic Rock and PopMatters as "the most important band you’d never heard of".
The band began as a solo project for Wilson, who initially created all of the band's music himself. By late 1993, however, he wanted to work in a band environment, bringing on frequent collaborators Richard Barbieri as keyboardist, Colin Edwin as bassist, and Chris Maitland as drummer to form the first permanent lineup. With Wilson as lead vocalist and guitarist, this remained the lineup until February 2002, when Maitland left the band and Gavin Harrison was recruited to replace him. Porcupine Tree's early sound evoked various styles of psychedelic rock, space rock and experimental rock, later moving towards a more progressive/space rock direction comparable to that of Pink Floyd. Upon signing with Kscope record label in the late 1990s, the band began to approach a more mainstream alternative rock sound. By the early 2000s, the band had signed to a major record label and shifted their sound again, this time in a more progressive metal direction.
In 2010, after the tour in support of their 2009 studio album The Incident (their biggest commercial success to date), the band became inactive as Wilson committed himself to his solo work and other members began working on their own separate projects. In 2018, after years of indetermination, Wilson ruled out a possible reformation.
Despite this, the band made a surprise reformation in 2021 with minimal advance publicity, this time with a trio line-up of Wilson, Barbieri and Harrison. The reformation was formally revealed on 1 November 2021, with the simultaneous release of the "Harridan" single and the announcement of a new studio album, Closure/Continuation, to be released on 24 June 2022.
History
Origins (1987–1990)
Porcupine Tree originated in 1987 as a collaborative hoax project by Steven Wilson and Malcolm Stocks. Partially inspired by the psychedelic/progressive bands of the 1970s, such as Pink Floyd, that had dominated the music scene during their youth, the two decided to form a fictional legendary rock band named The Porcupine Tree. The two fabricated a detailed back-story including information on alleged band members and album titles, as well as a "colourful" history which purportedly included events such as a meeting at a 1970s rock festival and several trips in and out of prison. As soon as he had put aside enough money to buy his own studio equipment, Wilson obliged this creation with several hours of music to provide "evidence" of its existence. Although Stocks provided a few passages of treated vocals and experimental guitar playing, his role in the project was mostly offering occasional ideas, with the bulk of the material being written, recorded, played, and sung by Wilson.
At this point, Porcupine Tree was little more than a joke and a private amusement, as Wilson was concentrating on his other project, No-Man, an endeavour with UK based singer and songwriter Tim Bowness. However, by 1989, he began to consider some of the Porcupine Tree music as potentially marketable. Wilson created an 80-minute-long cassette titled Tarquin's Seaweed Farm under the name of Porcupine Tree. Still showing the spirit of his joke, Wilson included an eight-page inlay which further revealed the hoaxed Porcupine Tree backstory, including references to fictitious band members such as Sir Tarquin Underspoon and Timothy Tadpole-Jones.
Wilson sent out copies of Tarquin's Seaweed Farm to several people he felt would be interested in the recordings. Nick Saloman, the cult UK guitarist better known as The Bevis Frond, had suggested that he send one to Richard Allen, a writer for the UK counter-cultural magazine Encyclopaedia Psychedelica and co-editor of the UK psychedelic garage rock magazine Freakbeat. Allen reviewed the tape in both magazines. Whilst he disliked some of the material, he gave much of it a positive review. Several months later, Allen invited Wilson to contribute a track to the double LP A Psychedelic Psauna that was being put together to launch the new Delerium label. Allen would also become the band's manager, press agent, and promoter until 2004, his role in marketing the band's image decreasing after The Sky Moves Sideways album. In the meantime, Wilson had continued to work on new material. In 1990, he released the Love, Death & Mussolini EP, issued in a very limited run of 10 copies. The EP remains an extremely rare, collectible piece. It was composed of nine at-the-time-unreleased tracks, as a preview for the upcoming second album. In 1991, Wilson released a second full-length Porcupine Tree cassette called The Nostalgia Factory, which further expanded Porcupine Tree's underground fanbase, although at this point, the band was still carrying on the charade of being 1970s rock legends. By this point, Porcupine Tree was entirely a solo project, with Stocks having amicably moved on to other activities.
The Delerium years (1991–1997)
On the Sunday of Life...
Along with the A Psychedelic Psauna compilation, which featured the Porcupine Tree track "Linton Samuel Dawson", the newly formed Delerium label, formed by Freakbeat editors Richard Allen and Ivor Trueman, offered to reissue the cassettes Tarquin's Seaweed Farm and The Nostalgia Factory. Two hundred copies of each cassette were sold through Freakbeat's mail order, The Freak Emporium, and soon Porcupine Tree became known as a mysterious new act amongst the then UK underground psychedelic music scene.
Shortly thereafter, Delerium invited Wilson to sign as one of the label's founder artists. The first release after this, a double vinyl album and single CD compiling the best material from his two cassettes, was released in mid-1992 as On the Sunday of Life, a title chosen from a long list of possible nonsense titles compiled by Richard Allen. The rest of the music from the initial tapes was released on the limited edition compilation album Yellow Hedgerow Dreamscape.
In 1992, Delerium released On the Sunday of Life as an edition of 1,000 copies, complete with a deluxe gatefold sleeve. The album sold very well, particularly in Italy, and it was briefly repressed on vinyl and has remained in print on CD ever since its release. The album featured future concert favourite and frequent encore song "Radioactive Toy". By 2000, On the Sunday of Life... had accumulated sales of more than 20,000 copies. On the Sunday of Life was originally meant to be a quadruple (LP)/double (CD) album compiling both cassettes in full, but changed to the best (according to Wilson) songs from the tapes. In 2004, Wilson remixed and remastered all three tapes, releasing them as a three-CD box set called Footprints: Cassette Music 1988-1992. This box was only distributed to family and friends.
Up the Downstair
In the midst of Porcupine Tree's rising success, Wilson's other band, No-Man, had been getting excellent UK press, which led to the band being signed to leading UK independent music publisher, Hit & Run Music Publishing, in 1991, which resulted in recording agreements with One Little Indian Records, and Epic 440/Sony in the US. No-Man's success gave Wilson the opportunity to leave his regular job and devote his time solely to music. All of the Delirium releases were published by Hit & Run, whose executive Dave Massey had signed No-Man and continued to be closely involved in Wilson's Porcupine Tree project.
In May 1993, the second Porcupine Tree album, Up the Downstair, was released, another prospective double album that was finally slimmed down to a single record. "Voyage 34" was actually going to take up the second disc, but it was last decided to be released alone as a single. The album was highly praised, Melody Maker describing it as "a psychedelic masterpiece... one of the albums of the year." The album continued the fusion of electronic music and rock and also featured guest appearances from two future Porcupine Tree members, Richard Barbieri, of 1970s-80s art rock band Japan, and Colin Edwin.
In November 1993, Voyage 34 was reissued alongside an additional 12-inch remix by Astralasia. The album managed to enter the NME indie chart for six weeks and became an underground chill-out classic, even without radio play.
The Sky Moves Sideways
The profile of Porcupine Tree had now grown to the extent that Wilson wanted to expand into live performances. Thus, in December 1993, Porcupine Tree became a live unit featuring Steven Wilson on lead vocals/guitar, Colin Edwin on bass, Chris Maitland on drums, and Richard Barbieri on keyboards.
All three new members of the group had worked with Wilson on various projects over the preceding years, especially Barbieri and Maitland, who had been part of No-Man's touring band. The new line-up's first live album, Spiral Circus, contained recordings from their first three performances, including a BBC Radio One session for Mark Radcliffe, an early champion of the group.
Porcupine Tree's next album did not emerge until early 1995, but was preceded by the Moonloop EP, the last two tracks of which were recorded during the album sessions and were the first to feature the new band. Released in 1995, the band's third studio album, The Sky Moves Sideways became a success among progressive rock fans and Porcupine Tree were hailed as the Pink Floyd of the 1990s. Wilson later lamented this, stating, "I can't help that. It's true that during the period of The Sky Moves Sideways, I had done a little too much of it in the sense of satisfying, in a way, the fans of Pink Floyd who were listening to us because that group doesn't make albums any more. Moreover, I regret it".
The Sky Moves Sideways was an expansive soundscape of melody and ambient rock experimentation, but proved to be a transitional work with half recorded before the formation of the band and half recorded after. Most of the album was taken up with the 35-minute title track, which at one point Steven had intended to be long enough to occupy the whole album. An alternate version of the track, containing some of the excised music, was included on the 2004 remastered version of the album. It also entered the NME, Melody Maker, and Music Week charts. Together with the Moonloop EP, this album was the first Porcupine Tree music issued in America in the autumn of 1995, and attracted favourable press on both sides of the Atlantic. The band supported the album with numerous concerts throughout the year at major music venues in the UK, the Netherlands, Italy, and Greece.
Signify
Partly unsatisfied with the half band/half solo nature of The Sky Moves Sideways, Porcupine Tree promptly got down to the task of recording the first proper band record. Wilson admitted he was always "in love with the idea of the rock band" because "bands have a kind of glamour, and appeal, and a romance about them the solo projects just don't have." The band worked sporadically over the next year on developing a tighter and more ambitious rock sound.
After the release of the first real Porcupine Tree single, "Waiting", which entered all UK indie charts and the UK National chart and attracting airplay all over Europe, Signify was released in September 1996. The album was a mixture of instrumental tracks and more song-oriented tunes, blending numerous rock and avant-garde styles, such as krautrock. Wilson expressed satisfaction in the direction of the album, stating "...tracks like 'Every Home Is Wired' and 'Dark Matter' totally transcend both genre and comparison. Finally, I think we are making a completely original and 1990s form of music, but which still has its root in progressive music." The musicians received writing credits for some tracks, most notably for "Intermediate Jesus", which evolved from a jam session later released as Metanoia at the end of 1998. A large amount of major European media interest accompanied the album's release.
In March 1997, they played three nights in Rome to an audience that surpassed 5,000 people. All three dates were recorded for use in the 1997 live album Coma Divine – Recorded Live in Rome that was released as a goodbye to Delerium Records, which felt it could no longer offer the kind of resources the band needed to continue to build its profile worldwide. In late 1997 Porcupine Tree's first three albums were remastered and reissued. Signify also was released in the US on Miles Copeland's Ark 21 label.
The Snapper years (1998–2001)
Stupid Dream
Wilson, Barbieri, Edwin, and Maitland spent all of 1998 recording their fifth studio album, a release that reflected the band's move towards a more song-oriented writing. Wilson acknowledged this time he was "much more interested in songwriting as an art form, as opposed to soundscape development" and commented he took influence from The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds, Todd Rundgren, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and "anything with really good ensemble singing". He also indicated that he was "interested in the idea of the pop song as a kind of experimental symphony".
The band recorded the album without a label, but signed with Snapper/Kscope before releasing Stupid Dream, in March 1999. The album was supported by a tour of the United Kingdom, Italy, Greece, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, France, Poland, and the United States. The three singles taken from the album: "Piano Lessons", "Stranger by the Minute", and "Pure Narcotic", all achieved mainstream exposure in the US and in Europe, and placed well in the UK independent charts and on radio-station playlists. Although the album was a departure from their earlier sound, it brought the band new-found popularity and went on to become the band's best-selling and most acclaimed release up to that time.
Lightbulb Sun
Completed for February 2000, with string arrangements provided by Dave Gregory of XTC, Porcupine Tree's sixth studio album, Lightbulb Sun, built on the mix of songwriting, soundscaping, and rock dynamics of Stupid Dream. The album was released in May 2000, preceded by the single "Four Chords That Made a Million". A sold-out show at the Scala in London began a short run of UK shows, that were followed later in the year by European festival dates and a major tour supporting Dream Theater. The band continued touring through the end of 2000 and start of 2001, including their first major tour of Germany. A special double CD edition of the Lightbulb Sun album was issued in Israel and Germany.
In May, the band released a compilation B-side album called Recordings, which featured nine tracks from the Stupid Dream and Lightbulb Sun sessions that had been left off both albums. In May 2001, Porcupine Tree did three consecutive dates as a support band to Marillion, in France, Germany, and the Netherlands. In June, the band played a short US tour, starting with an appearance in NEARfest of Pennsylvania, and culminating in a sold-out show at The Bottom Line in New York City. Shortly afterwards, the band announced that they had signed a new international record deal with Lava/Atlantic Records.
The Lava years (2002–2005)
In Absentia
In February 2002, Porcupine Tree's first line-up change occurred when drummer Chris Maitland was dismissed after eight years with the band. The band welcomed drummer and longtime acquaintance Gavin Harrison as his replacement. In March 2002, a box set of the band's early work was released, Stars Die: The Delerium Years 1991–1997, and the band commenced recording their first major label album, drawing from a pool of 30 new songs written by Wilson in the previous two years. Recording sessions took place at Avatar Studios in New York and London, with veteran audio engineer Paul Northfield and string arranger Dave Gregory also playing major roles in the making of the record. The album was mixed in Los Angeles in May with Tim Palmer.
The resulting album, In Absentia, was released by Lava Records in September 2002. The band also released a 5.1 surround-sound version of the album, mixed by Grammy Award-winning producer Elliot Scheiner. The surround-sound version of the album won the award for best 5.1 mix at the 2004 Surround Sound Music awards in Los Angeles.
To promote the album, the band undertook four tours of Europe and North America, including one with acclaimed Swedish metal band Opeth. On tour, the new line-up of the band was further augmented by additional touring vocalist/guitarist John Wesley. During these tours, the visual element of the band's performance was taken to new heights with the involvement of filmmaker and photographer Lasse Hoile, who had created the cover art for In Absentia and now went on to create a dark and surreal visual to Porcupine Tree's music. The long promotional campaign for In Absentia ended on 30 November 2003, as the band played a homecoming show to a sold-out London Astoria.
During 2003, Porcupine Tree set up their own label, Transmission, with an online store hosted by Burning Shed record label. The first release on the Transmission label was a studio session recorded for XM Radio, Washington, DC, followed in 2004 by a recording from Polish radio in 2001. The band used the label to issue supplemental content, such as EPs, demos, and live recordings. Additionally, a reissue/remaster campaign also began in 2003, with many of the early albums expanded to double CDs. These reissues included re-recorded/remixed double-CD versions of the Up the Downstair, The Sky Moves Sideways, and Signify albums, and the reissue of Stupid Dream and Lightbulb Sun, both comprising a CD with a new stereo mix of the album plus a DVD-Audio with a 5.1 surround mix.
Deadwing
In early 2004, the band embarked on the recording sessions for their next record, Deadwing, their second for Lava/Atlantic. The album takes its inspiration from a film script written by Wilson with his filmmaker friend Mike Bennion. The album sessions completed in November 2004, and Deadwing was released in Europe and the US during the spring of 2005 as both a stereo and 5.1 surround-sound album, preceded by the release of two singles, "Shallow" in the US and "Lazarus" in Europe. The album benefited from guest appearances by Adrian Belew from King Crimson and Opeth's Mikael Åkerfeldt, and was a commercial success, due in part to "Shallow" receiving airplay, peaking at number 26 on Billboard's Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks. Additionally, "Lazarus" entered the German singles Top 100 at number 91. The song "Shallow" was also featured in the soundtrack for the film Four Brothers.
The album won the Surround Music Awards for "Best Made-For-Surround Title" the same year of its release and was voted number-two album of 2005 in Sound & Vision, the most widely distributed US magazine in the field of home electronics and entertainment. Porcupine Tree released Deadwing in Japan on 22 March 2006, the first album by the band to be released in that country.
The tour to promote the album commenced in the UK at the end of March, and continued throughout the year. Mike Bennion created a Myspace page dedicated to the prospective Deadwing film, in which he posted the first 15 pages of the script and included a trailer. However, whilst the scripts are finished, the project is still on hiatus due to lack of budget.
The Roadrunner years (2006–2010)
Fear of a Blank Planet
In August 2006, Porcupine Tree announced that the band had signed with Roadrunner Records UK. Prior to their first release on Roadrunner, the band released their first live concert DVD, Arriving Somewhere..., on 10 October 2006. It was accompanied by a brief tour in which the group performed 50 minutes of new material from the forthcoming studio album for the first half of the shows. Supporting acts included Swedish band Paatos in Europe and ProjeKct Six in the United States.
The band announced the next album's title would be Fear of a Blank Planet in January 2007 and the album was released on 16 April 2007. The album charted in almost all European countries, and peaked at number 59 on the Billboard 200. A 92-date tour for 2007 took the band to countries where they had never performed, such as Finland and Mexico. The tour included appearances in multiple music festivals such as the Voodoo Experience in New Orleans, the German twin-festivals, Hurricane and Southside, and the Download Festival of Donington Park. The band performed their first ever shows in Australia in 2008.
The lyrics of the album deal with some common behaviour tendencies concerning society, especially youth, in the beginning of the 21st century, such as bipolar disorder, attention deficit disorder, drug abuse, alienation, and deprivation caused by mass media. The concept of the album was inspired by Bret Easton Ellis novel Lunar Park and the title alludes to Public Enemy's album, Fear of a Black Planet, both sharing the particularity of reflecting notorious conflicts affecting society in the world at some time. Wilson notes that whilst race relationship was the main issue among young people when Public Enemy's album was released, it was replaced in the 21st century by a general superficiality, boredom, and introversion. The album features contributions from Rush's Alex Lifeson and King Crimson's Robert Fripp.
Wilson: "My fear is that the current generation of kids who're being born into this information revolution, growing up with the Internet, cell phones, iPods, this download culture, 'American Idol,' reality TV, prescription drugs, PlayStations—all of these things kind of distract people from what's important about life, which is to develop a sense of curiosity about what's out there."
On 5 November 2007, Fear of a Blank Planet won the Album of the Year award for the 2007 Classic Rock magazine awards. In December 2007, it was nominated for a Grammy Award for "Best Surround Sound Album" though Love by The Beatles won the award.
A new EP called Nil Recurring was released on 17 September 2007, featuring four unreleased tracks from the Fear of a Blank Planet sessions and including another contribution from Robert Fripp. The second leg of the tour started on 3 October 2007, now promoting new music from the EP. Nil Recurring entered the UK Top 30 Independent Label Albums at number eight. The EP was reissued on 18 February 2008 through Peaceville Records.
A recording from a 4 October 2007 in-store, mostly acoustic, performance at Park Avenue CDs in Orlando, Florida, was released on 18 February 2008 on CD under the name of We Lost The Skyline. The title is a reference to the lyrics of "The Sky Moves Sideways (Phase One)", which was the opening song on the live set. The album was released on vinyl of 21 March 2008. While intended to be a full-band show, the lack of space in the store only allowed the two guitarists, Wilson and John Wesley, to play.
The Incident
The band played a short European tour in October 2008 to shoot their second live-concert film, Anesthetize, preceded by three concerts in Australia in April. The filming took place on 15 and 16 October in the Netherlands at the 013 Tilburg venue. During one of these shows, Wilson mentioned that Porcupine Tree had started work on material for their next album, with an eye toward a release in 2009. The live-concert film on DVD and Blu-ray was released on 20 May 2010.
The band started recording their tenth studio album, The Incident, in February 2009. This was confirmed by the band, stating, "Writing for the next PT studio record is well underway, with the band recently spending two weeks scheduled in the English countryside working on new tracks. Recording of these pieces and a new 35-minute SW song cycle were due to start in February..." Months later, Wilson commented the 35-minute song kept evolving and now it has become a 55-minute song, occupying the entire disc.
On 12 June 2009, details were revealed on the Porcupine Tree website, "the record is set to be released via Roadrunner Records worldwide on 21 September, as a double CD. The centrepiece is the title track, which takes up the whole of the first disc. The 55-minute work is described as a slightly surreal song cycle about beginnings and endings and the sense that ‘after this, things will never be the same again.’ The self-produced album is completed by four standalone compositions that developed out of band writing sessions last December – Flicker, Bonnie The Cat, Black Dahlia, and Remember Me Lover feature on a separate EP-length disc to stress their independence from the song cycle." The album was the band's biggest commercial success to date, reaching number 23 in the UK album charts and also reaching the US Billboard Top 25.
The band also released another live album, Atlanta, in June 2010. The performance was actually recorded during the tour of Fear of a Blank Planet at the Roxy theatre, Atlanta, on 29 October 2007. It was released via online distribution only, with all the sale proceeds donated to Mick Karn for his treatment against cancer.
Inactivity and hiatus (2011–2020)
After finishing the touring cycle for The Incident in 2010, Wilson spent the rest of the year, and 2011, recording and releasing his second solo album, Grace for Drowning, and Blackfield's third album, Welcome to my DNA. Initially, the band had mentioned the possibility of working on new music in 2012, with Wilson mentioning "early 2012", and Harrison guessing they would start work in 2012 and release music in 2013. However, this soon changed, with Wilson announcing that he would continue to focus his future on his solo career. This new focus included a second leg of touring in support of Grace for Drowning in the first half of 2012, recording a third solo album in the second half of the year with his touring band, releasing it in early 2013, and then touring in support of the third solo album for "much of the year" – throughout 2013. Wilson still maintained that the band "haven’t split up" and that there are "no intentions of splitting up", but he also said there were no specific plans for a new album either. While he said that he still "want(s) to get Porcupine Tree back together at some point", he said that he was not sure what direction he wants to take the band, only that he is "tired of metal music", and that one member of the band does not like jazz, so it won't go into the direction of his solo project either.
In June 2012, Wilson re-emphasised his continued focus on his solo career, with his answer to the question "...is (there) a danger that Porcupine Tree might fall by the wayside?" being, "The honest answer is I don’t know. The solo career for me now is probably the most important. I think about it more than anything else, I’m more focused on it than anything else, I enjoy it more than anything else..." A two-disc live album titled Octane Twisted was released that following November by their record label, Kscope, containing a live recording of The Incident in its entirety, from material recorded at 2010 concerts at the Riviera Theater, Chicago, and the Royal Albert Hall. In May 2013, Wilson reiterated his stance on the band's status, stating that it's "...not to say the band has broken up or anything like that. It’s always conceivable that we could get back together in a year or five years, or 10 years. I really can’t say – there are no plans at the moment." Edwin's stance mirrored this.
After Wilson released his third solo album, The Raven That Refused to Sing (And Other Stories) in February 2013, and toured in support of it for the remainder of the year, its success led Wilson to commit to writing and recording a fourth solo album Hand. Cannot. Erase. over the course of 2014 and releasing it in 2015, pushing hypothetical work with Porcupine Tree into at least 2016. In March 2015, Wilson commented, “if Porcupine Tree [were] to get back together—and, by the way, I have never ruled that out—it will be a side project. There should be no question in anyone's mind that this is now my main musical path, my solo work.”
Moving into 2016, Wilson's views on a reformation were conflicting. In February 2016, in an interview with Prog Magazine, he stated that there was a "strong possibility" of Porcupine Tree reforming for another studio album at an undisclosed time in the future. However, in response to a question in August 2016 regarding a hypothetical Porcupine Tree performance, Wilson claimed, "you'd be waiting for a long time, that band doesn't exist anymore." In August 2017, Wilson explained: "It's no coincidence that since my solo project has taken off, other collaborations have receded to the background. Porcupine Tree hasn't made a record since 2009 and No-Man hasn't made a record since 2008. I feel less need now to be creatively involved in something other than my solo work. My solo work fulfills the musical needs I have now."
In a March 2018 interview when asked about the chances of further activity from Porcupine Tree he responded; "Honestly, I would say zero, because I’m just not that kind of person. I don’t go backwards. I’m not interested in going backwards; I want to move forwards, I want to do different things, I want to work with different people, I want to explore different kinds of music. That would seem like a terribly backward step to me. I’m proud of the catalogue; it’s there, it exists, but it’s kind of closed, it’s finished." However, in February 2021, Wilson suggested that a reformation was still possible someday, when it was least expected.
Reunion and Closure/Continuation (2021–present)
On 27 October 2021, Porcupine Tree, Wilson, and Harrison all shared a teaser video and mailing list link across their social media accounts, along with a stylised "P/T C/C" image. On 1 November the band announced their eleventh album, Closure/Continuation, to be released in June 2022 on Music For Nations, along with their first single in over 12 years, "Harridan". The lineup of the band now features just Wilson, Harrison, and Barbieri.
Musical style
Influences
Some of the inherent musical background of Porcupine Tree goes back to Wilson's childhood, when his parents gave Christmas presents to each other. His father received Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon whilst his mother got Donna Summer's Love to Love You Baby, both of which Wilson listened to heavily. These albums influenced his further songwriting. Other influences include Camel and Karlheinz Stockhausen.
Later in his teens, Wilson briefly became a fan of the new wave of British heavy metal, but as soon as he discovered 1970s music and progressive rock, his interest in metal diminished in favour of experimental music. He later (in the 2000s) discovered bands in the likes of Gojira, Sunn O))), Neurosis, and Meshuggah, which restored his faith in metal music. "For a long time, I couldn't find where all these creative musicians were going...", said Wilson, "and I found them, they were working in extreme metal." Shortly thereafter, he went on to produce three consecutive albums by Swedish progressive death metal band Opeth, which had a considerable influence in his further songwriting.
The influence of electronic music and krautrock is present, with Wilson namechecking bands such as Can, Neu!, Tangerine Dream, Squarepusher, and Aphex Twin and artists such as Klaus Schulze and Conrad Schnitzler, among others. He has mentioned on multiple occasions that he admires the work of American musician Trent Reznor, the sole official member of Nine Inch Nails. Wilson has also cited English electronic band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), along with other potentially "surprising" influences such as ABBA, The Carpenters, Electric Light Orchestra, and the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack album (1977), largely written and performed by the Bee Gees.
Characteristics
The music of Porcupine Tree is often described as melancholic. Wilson has stated music is a way for him to channel all his negative feelings, and "an exorcism of those elements within", finding it "easier to write songs about the negative side of the world than it is about the happy side of the world." In the Warszawa live radio broadcast album, before performing "Stop Swimming", Wilson can be heard saying "the saddest music is often the most beautiful."
Porcupine Tree is an album-oriented band, making records where many songs are related to each other. Wilson has said: "The important thing with Porcupine Tree is that all our songs have a unique sound world that they inhabit. I don't like the idea of any song sounding like any other song. So most of the time it's a case of finding the sound world first whether it be a texture or a drum rhythm that sets you off on a certain musical path, or particular musical atmosphere, or flavour." For their recordings, the band has included mellotron, banjo, hammered dulcimer, and guimbri, among other instruments unusual for rock bands.
Above all, Porcupine Tree's music has maintained a strong textural and experimental quality, often fusing many genres in a single track. The band's work is noted for its atmospheric nature, largely due to Barbieri's keyboard style and sound-processing abilities, and Wilson's cinematic scope, as a declared fan of American filmmaker David Lynch, whose films are renowned for their sonic content. "Very layered, very produced, very arranged and [with] complex arrangements" is the way Wilson describes the sound of the band. Apart from their regular edition, the albums Stupid Dream, Lightbulb Sun, In Absentia, Deadwing, Fear of a Blank Planet, and The Incident are available in DTS (5.1 Surround Sound) mix; this mixing technique has become a tradition for the band in recent years.
The band's live performances have also been praised, with Music Radar placing them fourth in their list of "The 30 greatest live acts in the world today" in 2010.
Porcupine Tree are often categorised as a progressive rock band. Although many listeners familiar with the group label them as such, Steven Wilson has been noted in the past to express a certain dislike for the use of the term "progressive" to refer to them. However, more recently, he made note that he has since become more relaxed toward the word considering it is becoming "a much broader term" as time passes. He has frequently stated that he dislikes the press comparing Porcupine Tree with neo prog bands or citing them as 'the New Pink Floyd'.
Legacy
Porcupine Tree have influenced a new generation of artists and bands.
Anders Nyström of the Swedish group Katatonia has cited the work of Porcupine Tree as a large influence for the band in their post-death metal eras. Luc Lemay, leader of the technical death metal band Gorguts, said that The Incident was "a big revelation" for him, inspiring his more recent songwriting. He singled out the concert of its tour as one of the two most important he has attended. Electronic producer Seven Lions also cited them as an inspiration for his dubstep and drum and bass compositions.
In addition to those artists who state that Porcupine Tree has been a direct influence on their own careers, other artists have been quoted expressing admiration for their work including Neil Peart, Alex Lifeson, Adrian Belew, Jordan Rudess, Mike Portnoy, Arjen Lucassen, Rob Swire, Haken and many others.
Band members
Members
Steven Wilson – vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards, piano, synthesisers, hammer dulcimer, banjo, sampler, various instruments (1987–2010; 2021–present)
Richard Barbieri – keyboards, synthesizers, piano and sound processing (1993–2010; 2021–present)
Gavin Harrison – drums and percussion (2002–2010; 2021–present)
Former members
Chris Maitland – drums, backing vocals (1993–2002)
Colin Edwin – bass, double bass (1993–2010)
Touring members
John Wesley – guitar, backing vocals (2002–2010)
Timeline
Discography
Studio albums
On the Sunday of Life... (1992)
Up the Downstair (1993)
The Sky Moves Sideways (1995)
Signify (1996)
Stupid Dream (1999)
Lightbulb Sun (2000)
In Absentia (2002)
Deadwing (2005)
Fear of a Blank Planet (2007)
The Incident (2009)
Closure/Continuation (2022)
References
External links
Porcupine Tree official website
English progressive rock groups
English progressive metal musical groups
English psychedelic rock music groups
Musical groups established in 1987
Musical groups disestablished in 2010
Musical groups reestablished in 2021
Musical quartets
Atlantic Records artists
1987 establishments in England
Musical groups from Hertfordshire
2010 disestablishments in England
Post-progressive musicians | false | [
"What'cha Gonna Do About It is a 1963 song by Doris Troy. It made #37 on the UK Singles Chart in 1964 and #38 in 1965.\n\nMusical composition\nFeaturing a stuttering single-note piano line throughout - giving the song a Caribbean feel to the record - the song is a cocky warning to her man to change his ways for the good of their relationship.\n\nCover versions\n\nPeter Doyle cover version\nNew Seekers vocalist Peter Doyle, before joining the New Seekers, did a cover of What'cha Gonna Do About It which made #27 on the ARIA Charts.\n\nOther cover versions\nThe Hollies did a British Invasion cover version of this for their debut album Stay with The Hollies.\nCilla Black did a cover of this for her debut album Cilla.\n\nReferences\n\nDoris Troy songs\n1964 songs\nSongs written by Gregory Carroll (R&B singer)\nSongs written by Doris Troy\nSongs written by Rex Garvin",
"Los Colorados (from the Spanish: The colorado potato beetles, also known as The Colorados) is a Ukrainian band formed in 2006 in Ternopil. The band plays their own songs, but have also covered several popular and folk songs. Los Colorados increased in prominence after their cover of Katy Perry's song \"Hot n Cold\" grew popular via online video websites. The band plays guitar, bayan, bass guitar and drums.\n\nHistory \nThe band was formed in the city of Ternopil in 2006 and originally performed their own songs. However, their popularity came when they were invited to a local TV station to perform live, where they played several songs, among them Katy Perry's song \"Hot n Cold\". The lead singer didn't speak any English and learned the song from a text transliterated into Ukrainian letters.\n\nThe peak of popularity occurred when their version of Hot n Cold was aired on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. The video posted on YouTube in February 2009 was viewed more than 3 and a half million times and received generally positive reviews because of its comic value and unusual interpretation. Katy Perry herself described this version of her song as \"inspiring\" in March 2009.\n\nDuring their performances members of the group present themselves as the \"boys from the village of Tetylkivtsi\", a real village (population — 636); however, in reality, most of the performers come from the city of Ternopil.\n\nIn 2012 they came to fame in Germany. The major TV broadcaster ZDF had selected them to create an official song for the UEFA Euro 2012 football games. It was a cover of the song \"I Like to Move It\" and quickly gained popularity after it was presented in May 2012. They recorded more cover songs in Berlin, with an album published in June 2012. One of those cover songs had been Rammstein's \"Du hast\", which became a major success in social networks, eventually surpassing the \"Hot and Cold\" cover (5 million views on YouTube by 2019).\n\nSongs by Los Colorados \nHaryachyi i kholodnyi (Гарячий і холодний; cover of \"Hot n Cold\" by Katy Perry)\nDu Hast (cover of \"Du Hast\" by Rammstein)\nBayan, bayan (Баян, баян; cover of Gitar by Peter Nalitch)\nPamidory (Помідори) (Tomatoes)\nKokhana (Кохана) (Darling)\nKorova zdokhla (Корова здохла) (A cow died)\nPaskuda (Паскуда) (Scum)\nNenavyzhu pianino (Ненавижу піаніно) (I hate piano)\nTyotya Lyuba (Тьотя Люба) (Aunt Lyuba)\nRillya v ilyuminatori (Рілля в ілюмінаторі) (Arable land in the porthole)\nRover Ukrayina (Ровер Україна) (Bike \"Ukrayina\")\nChorna lyubov (Чорна любов) (Black love)\nFihurka (Фігурка) (Figure)\nRanetki (Ранетки)\nChempioni lyubvi (Чемпионы любви) (Champions of love)\n\nMove It\n\nTrack listing\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n\nLos Colorados on myspace\nLos Colorados interview\nLos Colorados on facebook\nHot & Cold music video\nLos Colorados Twitter\n\nUkrainian rock music groups\nMusical groups from Ternopil"
]
|
[
"Porcupine Tree",
"Origins (1987-1990)",
"What year did Porcupine Tree form?",
"Porcupine Tree originated in 1987",
"Who was their inspiration?",
"Partially inspired by the psychedelic/progressive bands of the 1970s, such as Pink Floyd,",
"Did they cover any of their songs?",
"I don't know."
]
| C_db5a3dc3ab324c859d9629bd8f11ce28_1 | Did they win any awards? | 4 | Did Porcupine Tree win any awards? | Porcupine Tree | Porcupine Tree originated in 1987 as a collaborative hoax project by Steven Wilson and Malcolm Stocks. Partially inspired by the psychedelic/progressive bands of the 1970s, such as Pink Floyd, that had dominated the music scene during their youth, the two decided to form a fictional legendary rock band named The Porcupine Tree. The two fabricated a detailed back-story including information on alleged band members and album titles, as well as a "colourful" history which purportedly included events such as a meeting at a 1970s rock festival and several trips in and out of prison. As soon as he had put aside enough money to buy his own studio equipment, Wilson obliged this creation with several hours of music to provide "evidence" of its existence. Although Stocks provided a few passages of treated vocals and experimental guitar playing, his role in the project was mostly offering occasional ideas, with the bulk of the material being written, recorded, played, and sung by Wilson. At this point, Porcupine Tree was little more than a joke and a private amusement, as Wilson was concentrating on his other project, No-Man, an endeavour with UK based singer and songwriter Tim Bowness. However, by 1989, he began to consider some of the Porcupine Tree music as potentially marketable. Wilson created an 80-minute-long cassette titled Tarquin's Seaweed Farm under the name of Porcupine Tree. Still showing the spirit of his joke, Wilson included an eight-page inlay which further revealed the hoaxed Porcupine Tree backstory, including references to fictitious band members such as Sir Tarquin Underspoon and Timothy Tadpole-Jones. Wilson sent out copies of Tarquin's Seaweed Farm to several people he felt would be interested in the recordings. Nick Saloman, the cult UK guitarist better known as The Bevis Frond, had suggested that he send one to Richard Allen, a writer for the UK counter-cultural magazine Encyclopaedia Psychedelica and co-editor of the UK psychedelic garage rock magazine Freakbeat. Allen reviewed the tape in both magazines. Whilst he disliked some of the material, he gave much of it a positive review. Several months later, Allen invited Wilson to contribute a track to the double LP A Psychedelic Psauna that was being put together to launch the new Delerium label. Allen would also become the band's manager, press agent, and promoter until 2004, his role in marketing the band's image decreasing after The Sky Moves Sideways album. In the meantime, Wilson had continued to work on new material. In 1990, he released the Love, Death & Mussolini EP, issued in a very limited run of 10 copies. The EP remains an extremely rare, collectible piece. It was composed of nine at-the-time-unreleased tracks, as a preview for the upcoming second album. Later in 1990, Wilson released a second full-length Porcupine Tree cassette called The Nostalgia Factory, which further expanded Porcupine Tree's underground fanbase, although at this point, the band was still carrying on the charade of being 1970s rock legends. By this point, Porcupine Tree was entirely a solo project, with Stocks having amicably moved on to other activities. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Porcupine Tree are an English rock band formed by musician Steven Wilson in 1987. During an initial career spanning more than twenty years, they earned critical acclaim from critics and fellow musicians, developed a cult following, and became an influence for new artists. The group carved out a career at a certain distance away from mainstream music, being described by publications such as Classic Rock and PopMatters as "the most important band you’d never heard of".
The band began as a solo project for Wilson, who initially created all of the band's music himself. By late 1993, however, he wanted to work in a band environment, bringing on frequent collaborators Richard Barbieri as keyboardist, Colin Edwin as bassist, and Chris Maitland as drummer to form the first permanent lineup. With Wilson as lead vocalist and guitarist, this remained the lineup until February 2002, when Maitland left the band and Gavin Harrison was recruited to replace him. Porcupine Tree's early sound evoked various styles of psychedelic rock, space rock and experimental rock, later moving towards a more progressive/space rock direction comparable to that of Pink Floyd. Upon signing with Kscope record label in the late 1990s, the band began to approach a more mainstream alternative rock sound. By the early 2000s, the band had signed to a major record label and shifted their sound again, this time in a more progressive metal direction.
In 2010, after the tour in support of their 2009 studio album The Incident (their biggest commercial success to date), the band became inactive as Wilson committed himself to his solo work and other members began working on their own separate projects. In 2018, after years of indetermination, Wilson ruled out a possible reformation.
Despite this, the band made a surprise reformation in 2021 with minimal advance publicity, this time with a trio line-up of Wilson, Barbieri and Harrison. The reformation was formally revealed on 1 November 2021, with the simultaneous release of the "Harridan" single and the announcement of a new studio album, Closure/Continuation, to be released on 24 June 2022.
History
Origins (1987–1990)
Porcupine Tree originated in 1987 as a collaborative hoax project by Steven Wilson and Malcolm Stocks. Partially inspired by the psychedelic/progressive bands of the 1970s, such as Pink Floyd, that had dominated the music scene during their youth, the two decided to form a fictional legendary rock band named The Porcupine Tree. The two fabricated a detailed back-story including information on alleged band members and album titles, as well as a "colourful" history which purportedly included events such as a meeting at a 1970s rock festival and several trips in and out of prison. As soon as he had put aside enough money to buy his own studio equipment, Wilson obliged this creation with several hours of music to provide "evidence" of its existence. Although Stocks provided a few passages of treated vocals and experimental guitar playing, his role in the project was mostly offering occasional ideas, with the bulk of the material being written, recorded, played, and sung by Wilson.
At this point, Porcupine Tree was little more than a joke and a private amusement, as Wilson was concentrating on his other project, No-Man, an endeavour with UK based singer and songwriter Tim Bowness. However, by 1989, he began to consider some of the Porcupine Tree music as potentially marketable. Wilson created an 80-minute-long cassette titled Tarquin's Seaweed Farm under the name of Porcupine Tree. Still showing the spirit of his joke, Wilson included an eight-page inlay which further revealed the hoaxed Porcupine Tree backstory, including references to fictitious band members such as Sir Tarquin Underspoon and Timothy Tadpole-Jones.
Wilson sent out copies of Tarquin's Seaweed Farm to several people he felt would be interested in the recordings. Nick Saloman, the cult UK guitarist better known as The Bevis Frond, had suggested that he send one to Richard Allen, a writer for the UK counter-cultural magazine Encyclopaedia Psychedelica and co-editor of the UK psychedelic garage rock magazine Freakbeat. Allen reviewed the tape in both magazines. Whilst he disliked some of the material, he gave much of it a positive review. Several months later, Allen invited Wilson to contribute a track to the double LP A Psychedelic Psauna that was being put together to launch the new Delerium label. Allen would also become the band's manager, press agent, and promoter until 2004, his role in marketing the band's image decreasing after The Sky Moves Sideways album. In the meantime, Wilson had continued to work on new material. In 1990, he released the Love, Death & Mussolini EP, issued in a very limited run of 10 copies. The EP remains an extremely rare, collectible piece. It was composed of nine at-the-time-unreleased tracks, as a preview for the upcoming second album. In 1991, Wilson released a second full-length Porcupine Tree cassette called The Nostalgia Factory, which further expanded Porcupine Tree's underground fanbase, although at this point, the band was still carrying on the charade of being 1970s rock legends. By this point, Porcupine Tree was entirely a solo project, with Stocks having amicably moved on to other activities.
The Delerium years (1991–1997)
On the Sunday of Life...
Along with the A Psychedelic Psauna compilation, which featured the Porcupine Tree track "Linton Samuel Dawson", the newly formed Delerium label, formed by Freakbeat editors Richard Allen and Ivor Trueman, offered to reissue the cassettes Tarquin's Seaweed Farm and The Nostalgia Factory. Two hundred copies of each cassette were sold through Freakbeat's mail order, The Freak Emporium, and soon Porcupine Tree became known as a mysterious new act amongst the then UK underground psychedelic music scene.
Shortly thereafter, Delerium invited Wilson to sign as one of the label's founder artists. The first release after this, a double vinyl album and single CD compiling the best material from his two cassettes, was released in mid-1992 as On the Sunday of Life, a title chosen from a long list of possible nonsense titles compiled by Richard Allen. The rest of the music from the initial tapes was released on the limited edition compilation album Yellow Hedgerow Dreamscape.
In 1992, Delerium released On the Sunday of Life as an edition of 1,000 copies, complete with a deluxe gatefold sleeve. The album sold very well, particularly in Italy, and it was briefly repressed on vinyl and has remained in print on CD ever since its release. The album featured future concert favourite and frequent encore song "Radioactive Toy". By 2000, On the Sunday of Life... had accumulated sales of more than 20,000 copies. On the Sunday of Life was originally meant to be a quadruple (LP)/double (CD) album compiling both cassettes in full, but changed to the best (according to Wilson) songs from the tapes. In 2004, Wilson remixed and remastered all three tapes, releasing them as a three-CD box set called Footprints: Cassette Music 1988-1992. This box was only distributed to family and friends.
Up the Downstair
In the midst of Porcupine Tree's rising success, Wilson's other band, No-Man, had been getting excellent UK press, which led to the band being signed to leading UK independent music publisher, Hit & Run Music Publishing, in 1991, which resulted in recording agreements with One Little Indian Records, and Epic 440/Sony in the US. No-Man's success gave Wilson the opportunity to leave his regular job and devote his time solely to music. All of the Delirium releases were published by Hit & Run, whose executive Dave Massey had signed No-Man and continued to be closely involved in Wilson's Porcupine Tree project.
In May 1993, the second Porcupine Tree album, Up the Downstair, was released, another prospective double album that was finally slimmed down to a single record. "Voyage 34" was actually going to take up the second disc, but it was last decided to be released alone as a single. The album was highly praised, Melody Maker describing it as "a psychedelic masterpiece... one of the albums of the year." The album continued the fusion of electronic music and rock and also featured guest appearances from two future Porcupine Tree members, Richard Barbieri, of 1970s-80s art rock band Japan, and Colin Edwin.
In November 1993, Voyage 34 was reissued alongside an additional 12-inch remix by Astralasia. The album managed to enter the NME indie chart for six weeks and became an underground chill-out classic, even without radio play.
The Sky Moves Sideways
The profile of Porcupine Tree had now grown to the extent that Wilson wanted to expand into live performances. Thus, in December 1993, Porcupine Tree became a live unit featuring Steven Wilson on lead vocals/guitar, Colin Edwin on bass, Chris Maitland on drums, and Richard Barbieri on keyboards.
All three new members of the group had worked with Wilson on various projects over the preceding years, especially Barbieri and Maitland, who had been part of No-Man's touring band. The new line-up's first live album, Spiral Circus, contained recordings from their first three performances, including a BBC Radio One session for Mark Radcliffe, an early champion of the group.
Porcupine Tree's next album did not emerge until early 1995, but was preceded by the Moonloop EP, the last two tracks of which were recorded during the album sessions and were the first to feature the new band. Released in 1995, the band's third studio album, The Sky Moves Sideways became a success among progressive rock fans and Porcupine Tree were hailed as the Pink Floyd of the 1990s. Wilson later lamented this, stating, "I can't help that. It's true that during the period of The Sky Moves Sideways, I had done a little too much of it in the sense of satisfying, in a way, the fans of Pink Floyd who were listening to us because that group doesn't make albums any more. Moreover, I regret it".
The Sky Moves Sideways was an expansive soundscape of melody and ambient rock experimentation, but proved to be a transitional work with half recorded before the formation of the band and half recorded after. Most of the album was taken up with the 35-minute title track, which at one point Steven had intended to be long enough to occupy the whole album. An alternate version of the track, containing some of the excised music, was included on the 2004 remastered version of the album. It also entered the NME, Melody Maker, and Music Week charts. Together with the Moonloop EP, this album was the first Porcupine Tree music issued in America in the autumn of 1995, and attracted favourable press on both sides of the Atlantic. The band supported the album with numerous concerts throughout the year at major music venues in the UK, the Netherlands, Italy, and Greece.
Signify
Partly unsatisfied with the half band/half solo nature of The Sky Moves Sideways, Porcupine Tree promptly got down to the task of recording the first proper band record. Wilson admitted he was always "in love with the idea of the rock band" because "bands have a kind of glamour, and appeal, and a romance about them the solo projects just don't have." The band worked sporadically over the next year on developing a tighter and more ambitious rock sound.
After the release of the first real Porcupine Tree single, "Waiting", which entered all UK indie charts and the UK National chart and attracting airplay all over Europe, Signify was released in September 1996. The album was a mixture of instrumental tracks and more song-oriented tunes, blending numerous rock and avant-garde styles, such as krautrock. Wilson expressed satisfaction in the direction of the album, stating "...tracks like 'Every Home Is Wired' and 'Dark Matter' totally transcend both genre and comparison. Finally, I think we are making a completely original and 1990s form of music, but which still has its root in progressive music." The musicians received writing credits for some tracks, most notably for "Intermediate Jesus", which evolved from a jam session later released as Metanoia at the end of 1998. A large amount of major European media interest accompanied the album's release.
In March 1997, they played three nights in Rome to an audience that surpassed 5,000 people. All three dates were recorded for use in the 1997 live album Coma Divine – Recorded Live in Rome that was released as a goodbye to Delerium Records, which felt it could no longer offer the kind of resources the band needed to continue to build its profile worldwide. In late 1997 Porcupine Tree's first three albums were remastered and reissued. Signify also was released in the US on Miles Copeland's Ark 21 label.
The Snapper years (1998–2001)
Stupid Dream
Wilson, Barbieri, Edwin, and Maitland spent all of 1998 recording their fifth studio album, a release that reflected the band's move towards a more song-oriented writing. Wilson acknowledged this time he was "much more interested in songwriting as an art form, as opposed to soundscape development" and commented he took influence from The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds, Todd Rundgren, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and "anything with really good ensemble singing". He also indicated that he was "interested in the idea of the pop song as a kind of experimental symphony".
The band recorded the album without a label, but signed with Snapper/Kscope before releasing Stupid Dream, in March 1999. The album was supported by a tour of the United Kingdom, Italy, Greece, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, France, Poland, and the United States. The three singles taken from the album: "Piano Lessons", "Stranger by the Minute", and "Pure Narcotic", all achieved mainstream exposure in the US and in Europe, and placed well in the UK independent charts and on radio-station playlists. Although the album was a departure from their earlier sound, it brought the band new-found popularity and went on to become the band's best-selling and most acclaimed release up to that time.
Lightbulb Sun
Completed for February 2000, with string arrangements provided by Dave Gregory of XTC, Porcupine Tree's sixth studio album, Lightbulb Sun, built on the mix of songwriting, soundscaping, and rock dynamics of Stupid Dream. The album was released in May 2000, preceded by the single "Four Chords That Made a Million". A sold-out show at the Scala in London began a short run of UK shows, that were followed later in the year by European festival dates and a major tour supporting Dream Theater. The band continued touring through the end of 2000 and start of 2001, including their first major tour of Germany. A special double CD edition of the Lightbulb Sun album was issued in Israel and Germany.
In May, the band released a compilation B-side album called Recordings, which featured nine tracks from the Stupid Dream and Lightbulb Sun sessions that had been left off both albums. In May 2001, Porcupine Tree did three consecutive dates as a support band to Marillion, in France, Germany, and the Netherlands. In June, the band played a short US tour, starting with an appearance in NEARfest of Pennsylvania, and culminating in a sold-out show at The Bottom Line in New York City. Shortly afterwards, the band announced that they had signed a new international record deal with Lava/Atlantic Records.
The Lava years (2002–2005)
In Absentia
In February 2002, Porcupine Tree's first line-up change occurred when drummer Chris Maitland was dismissed after eight years with the band. The band welcomed drummer and longtime acquaintance Gavin Harrison as his replacement. In March 2002, a box set of the band's early work was released, Stars Die: The Delerium Years 1991–1997, and the band commenced recording their first major label album, drawing from a pool of 30 new songs written by Wilson in the previous two years. Recording sessions took place at Avatar Studios in New York and London, with veteran audio engineer Paul Northfield and string arranger Dave Gregory also playing major roles in the making of the record. The album was mixed in Los Angeles in May with Tim Palmer.
The resulting album, In Absentia, was released by Lava Records in September 2002. The band also released a 5.1 surround-sound version of the album, mixed by Grammy Award-winning producer Elliot Scheiner. The surround-sound version of the album won the award for best 5.1 mix at the 2004 Surround Sound Music awards in Los Angeles.
To promote the album, the band undertook four tours of Europe and North America, including one with acclaimed Swedish metal band Opeth. On tour, the new line-up of the band was further augmented by additional touring vocalist/guitarist John Wesley. During these tours, the visual element of the band's performance was taken to new heights with the involvement of filmmaker and photographer Lasse Hoile, who had created the cover art for In Absentia and now went on to create a dark and surreal visual to Porcupine Tree's music. The long promotional campaign for In Absentia ended on 30 November 2003, as the band played a homecoming show to a sold-out London Astoria.
During 2003, Porcupine Tree set up their own label, Transmission, with an online store hosted by Burning Shed record label. The first release on the Transmission label was a studio session recorded for XM Radio, Washington, DC, followed in 2004 by a recording from Polish radio in 2001. The band used the label to issue supplemental content, such as EPs, demos, and live recordings. Additionally, a reissue/remaster campaign also began in 2003, with many of the early albums expanded to double CDs. These reissues included re-recorded/remixed double-CD versions of the Up the Downstair, The Sky Moves Sideways, and Signify albums, and the reissue of Stupid Dream and Lightbulb Sun, both comprising a CD with a new stereo mix of the album plus a DVD-Audio with a 5.1 surround mix.
Deadwing
In early 2004, the band embarked on the recording sessions for their next record, Deadwing, their second for Lava/Atlantic. The album takes its inspiration from a film script written by Wilson with his filmmaker friend Mike Bennion. The album sessions completed in November 2004, and Deadwing was released in Europe and the US during the spring of 2005 as both a stereo and 5.1 surround-sound album, preceded by the release of two singles, "Shallow" in the US and "Lazarus" in Europe. The album benefited from guest appearances by Adrian Belew from King Crimson and Opeth's Mikael Åkerfeldt, and was a commercial success, due in part to "Shallow" receiving airplay, peaking at number 26 on Billboard's Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks. Additionally, "Lazarus" entered the German singles Top 100 at number 91. The song "Shallow" was also featured in the soundtrack for the film Four Brothers.
The album won the Surround Music Awards for "Best Made-For-Surround Title" the same year of its release and was voted number-two album of 2005 in Sound & Vision, the most widely distributed US magazine in the field of home electronics and entertainment. Porcupine Tree released Deadwing in Japan on 22 March 2006, the first album by the band to be released in that country.
The tour to promote the album commenced in the UK at the end of March, and continued throughout the year. Mike Bennion created a Myspace page dedicated to the prospective Deadwing film, in which he posted the first 15 pages of the script and included a trailer. However, whilst the scripts are finished, the project is still on hiatus due to lack of budget.
The Roadrunner years (2006–2010)
Fear of a Blank Planet
In August 2006, Porcupine Tree announced that the band had signed with Roadrunner Records UK. Prior to their first release on Roadrunner, the band released their first live concert DVD, Arriving Somewhere..., on 10 October 2006. It was accompanied by a brief tour in which the group performed 50 minutes of new material from the forthcoming studio album for the first half of the shows. Supporting acts included Swedish band Paatos in Europe and ProjeKct Six in the United States.
The band announced the next album's title would be Fear of a Blank Planet in January 2007 and the album was released on 16 April 2007. The album charted in almost all European countries, and peaked at number 59 on the Billboard 200. A 92-date tour for 2007 took the band to countries where they had never performed, such as Finland and Mexico. The tour included appearances in multiple music festivals such as the Voodoo Experience in New Orleans, the German twin-festivals, Hurricane and Southside, and the Download Festival of Donington Park. The band performed their first ever shows in Australia in 2008.
The lyrics of the album deal with some common behaviour tendencies concerning society, especially youth, in the beginning of the 21st century, such as bipolar disorder, attention deficit disorder, drug abuse, alienation, and deprivation caused by mass media. The concept of the album was inspired by Bret Easton Ellis novel Lunar Park and the title alludes to Public Enemy's album, Fear of a Black Planet, both sharing the particularity of reflecting notorious conflicts affecting society in the world at some time. Wilson notes that whilst race relationship was the main issue among young people when Public Enemy's album was released, it was replaced in the 21st century by a general superficiality, boredom, and introversion. The album features contributions from Rush's Alex Lifeson and King Crimson's Robert Fripp.
Wilson: "My fear is that the current generation of kids who're being born into this information revolution, growing up with the Internet, cell phones, iPods, this download culture, 'American Idol,' reality TV, prescription drugs, PlayStations—all of these things kind of distract people from what's important about life, which is to develop a sense of curiosity about what's out there."
On 5 November 2007, Fear of a Blank Planet won the Album of the Year award for the 2007 Classic Rock magazine awards. In December 2007, it was nominated for a Grammy Award for "Best Surround Sound Album" though Love by The Beatles won the award.
A new EP called Nil Recurring was released on 17 September 2007, featuring four unreleased tracks from the Fear of a Blank Planet sessions and including another contribution from Robert Fripp. The second leg of the tour started on 3 October 2007, now promoting new music from the EP. Nil Recurring entered the UK Top 30 Independent Label Albums at number eight. The EP was reissued on 18 February 2008 through Peaceville Records.
A recording from a 4 October 2007 in-store, mostly acoustic, performance at Park Avenue CDs in Orlando, Florida, was released on 18 February 2008 on CD under the name of We Lost The Skyline. The title is a reference to the lyrics of "The Sky Moves Sideways (Phase One)", which was the opening song on the live set. The album was released on vinyl of 21 March 2008. While intended to be a full-band show, the lack of space in the store only allowed the two guitarists, Wilson and John Wesley, to play.
The Incident
The band played a short European tour in October 2008 to shoot their second live-concert film, Anesthetize, preceded by three concerts in Australia in April. The filming took place on 15 and 16 October in the Netherlands at the 013 Tilburg venue. During one of these shows, Wilson mentioned that Porcupine Tree had started work on material for their next album, with an eye toward a release in 2009. The live-concert film on DVD and Blu-ray was released on 20 May 2010.
The band started recording their tenth studio album, The Incident, in February 2009. This was confirmed by the band, stating, "Writing for the next PT studio record is well underway, with the band recently spending two weeks scheduled in the English countryside working on new tracks. Recording of these pieces and a new 35-minute SW song cycle were due to start in February..." Months later, Wilson commented the 35-minute song kept evolving and now it has become a 55-minute song, occupying the entire disc.
On 12 June 2009, details were revealed on the Porcupine Tree website, "the record is set to be released via Roadrunner Records worldwide on 21 September, as a double CD. The centrepiece is the title track, which takes up the whole of the first disc. The 55-minute work is described as a slightly surreal song cycle about beginnings and endings and the sense that ‘after this, things will never be the same again.’ The self-produced album is completed by four standalone compositions that developed out of band writing sessions last December – Flicker, Bonnie The Cat, Black Dahlia, and Remember Me Lover feature on a separate EP-length disc to stress their independence from the song cycle." The album was the band's biggest commercial success to date, reaching number 23 in the UK album charts and also reaching the US Billboard Top 25.
The band also released another live album, Atlanta, in June 2010. The performance was actually recorded during the tour of Fear of a Blank Planet at the Roxy theatre, Atlanta, on 29 October 2007. It was released via online distribution only, with all the sale proceeds donated to Mick Karn for his treatment against cancer.
Inactivity and hiatus (2011–2020)
After finishing the touring cycle for The Incident in 2010, Wilson spent the rest of the year, and 2011, recording and releasing his second solo album, Grace for Drowning, and Blackfield's third album, Welcome to my DNA. Initially, the band had mentioned the possibility of working on new music in 2012, with Wilson mentioning "early 2012", and Harrison guessing they would start work in 2012 and release music in 2013. However, this soon changed, with Wilson announcing that he would continue to focus his future on his solo career. This new focus included a second leg of touring in support of Grace for Drowning in the first half of 2012, recording a third solo album in the second half of the year with his touring band, releasing it in early 2013, and then touring in support of the third solo album for "much of the year" – throughout 2013. Wilson still maintained that the band "haven’t split up" and that there are "no intentions of splitting up", but he also said there were no specific plans for a new album either. While he said that he still "want(s) to get Porcupine Tree back together at some point", he said that he was not sure what direction he wants to take the band, only that he is "tired of metal music", and that one member of the band does not like jazz, so it won't go into the direction of his solo project either.
In June 2012, Wilson re-emphasised his continued focus on his solo career, with his answer to the question "...is (there) a danger that Porcupine Tree might fall by the wayside?" being, "The honest answer is I don’t know. The solo career for me now is probably the most important. I think about it more than anything else, I’m more focused on it than anything else, I enjoy it more than anything else..." A two-disc live album titled Octane Twisted was released that following November by their record label, Kscope, containing a live recording of The Incident in its entirety, from material recorded at 2010 concerts at the Riviera Theater, Chicago, and the Royal Albert Hall. In May 2013, Wilson reiterated his stance on the band's status, stating that it's "...not to say the band has broken up or anything like that. It’s always conceivable that we could get back together in a year or five years, or 10 years. I really can’t say – there are no plans at the moment." Edwin's stance mirrored this.
After Wilson released his third solo album, The Raven That Refused to Sing (And Other Stories) in February 2013, and toured in support of it for the remainder of the year, its success led Wilson to commit to writing and recording a fourth solo album Hand. Cannot. Erase. over the course of 2014 and releasing it in 2015, pushing hypothetical work with Porcupine Tree into at least 2016. In March 2015, Wilson commented, “if Porcupine Tree [were] to get back together—and, by the way, I have never ruled that out—it will be a side project. There should be no question in anyone's mind that this is now my main musical path, my solo work.”
Moving into 2016, Wilson's views on a reformation were conflicting. In February 2016, in an interview with Prog Magazine, he stated that there was a "strong possibility" of Porcupine Tree reforming for another studio album at an undisclosed time in the future. However, in response to a question in August 2016 regarding a hypothetical Porcupine Tree performance, Wilson claimed, "you'd be waiting for a long time, that band doesn't exist anymore." In August 2017, Wilson explained: "It's no coincidence that since my solo project has taken off, other collaborations have receded to the background. Porcupine Tree hasn't made a record since 2009 and No-Man hasn't made a record since 2008. I feel less need now to be creatively involved in something other than my solo work. My solo work fulfills the musical needs I have now."
In a March 2018 interview when asked about the chances of further activity from Porcupine Tree he responded; "Honestly, I would say zero, because I’m just not that kind of person. I don’t go backwards. I’m not interested in going backwards; I want to move forwards, I want to do different things, I want to work with different people, I want to explore different kinds of music. That would seem like a terribly backward step to me. I’m proud of the catalogue; it’s there, it exists, but it’s kind of closed, it’s finished." However, in February 2021, Wilson suggested that a reformation was still possible someday, when it was least expected.
Reunion and Closure/Continuation (2021–present)
On 27 October 2021, Porcupine Tree, Wilson, and Harrison all shared a teaser video and mailing list link across their social media accounts, along with a stylised "P/T C/C" image. On 1 November the band announced their eleventh album, Closure/Continuation, to be released in June 2022 on Music For Nations, along with their first single in over 12 years, "Harridan". The lineup of the band now features just Wilson, Harrison, and Barbieri.
Musical style
Influences
Some of the inherent musical background of Porcupine Tree goes back to Wilson's childhood, when his parents gave Christmas presents to each other. His father received Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon whilst his mother got Donna Summer's Love to Love You Baby, both of which Wilson listened to heavily. These albums influenced his further songwriting. Other influences include Camel and Karlheinz Stockhausen.
Later in his teens, Wilson briefly became a fan of the new wave of British heavy metal, but as soon as he discovered 1970s music and progressive rock, his interest in metal diminished in favour of experimental music. He later (in the 2000s) discovered bands in the likes of Gojira, Sunn O))), Neurosis, and Meshuggah, which restored his faith in metal music. "For a long time, I couldn't find where all these creative musicians were going...", said Wilson, "and I found them, they were working in extreme metal." Shortly thereafter, he went on to produce three consecutive albums by Swedish progressive death metal band Opeth, which had a considerable influence in his further songwriting.
The influence of electronic music and krautrock is present, with Wilson namechecking bands such as Can, Neu!, Tangerine Dream, Squarepusher, and Aphex Twin and artists such as Klaus Schulze and Conrad Schnitzler, among others. He has mentioned on multiple occasions that he admires the work of American musician Trent Reznor, the sole official member of Nine Inch Nails. Wilson has also cited English electronic band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), along with other potentially "surprising" influences such as ABBA, The Carpenters, Electric Light Orchestra, and the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack album (1977), largely written and performed by the Bee Gees.
Characteristics
The music of Porcupine Tree is often described as melancholic. Wilson has stated music is a way for him to channel all his negative feelings, and "an exorcism of those elements within", finding it "easier to write songs about the negative side of the world than it is about the happy side of the world." In the Warszawa live radio broadcast album, before performing "Stop Swimming", Wilson can be heard saying "the saddest music is often the most beautiful."
Porcupine Tree is an album-oriented band, making records where many songs are related to each other. Wilson has said: "The important thing with Porcupine Tree is that all our songs have a unique sound world that they inhabit. I don't like the idea of any song sounding like any other song. So most of the time it's a case of finding the sound world first whether it be a texture or a drum rhythm that sets you off on a certain musical path, or particular musical atmosphere, or flavour." For their recordings, the band has included mellotron, banjo, hammered dulcimer, and guimbri, among other instruments unusual for rock bands.
Above all, Porcupine Tree's music has maintained a strong textural and experimental quality, often fusing many genres in a single track. The band's work is noted for its atmospheric nature, largely due to Barbieri's keyboard style and sound-processing abilities, and Wilson's cinematic scope, as a declared fan of American filmmaker David Lynch, whose films are renowned for their sonic content. "Very layered, very produced, very arranged and [with] complex arrangements" is the way Wilson describes the sound of the band. Apart from their regular edition, the albums Stupid Dream, Lightbulb Sun, In Absentia, Deadwing, Fear of a Blank Planet, and The Incident are available in DTS (5.1 Surround Sound) mix; this mixing technique has become a tradition for the band in recent years.
The band's live performances have also been praised, with Music Radar placing them fourth in their list of "The 30 greatest live acts in the world today" in 2010.
Porcupine Tree are often categorised as a progressive rock band. Although many listeners familiar with the group label them as such, Steven Wilson has been noted in the past to express a certain dislike for the use of the term "progressive" to refer to them. However, more recently, he made note that he has since become more relaxed toward the word considering it is becoming "a much broader term" as time passes. He has frequently stated that he dislikes the press comparing Porcupine Tree with neo prog bands or citing them as 'the New Pink Floyd'.
Legacy
Porcupine Tree have influenced a new generation of artists and bands.
Anders Nyström of the Swedish group Katatonia has cited the work of Porcupine Tree as a large influence for the band in their post-death metal eras. Luc Lemay, leader of the technical death metal band Gorguts, said that The Incident was "a big revelation" for him, inspiring his more recent songwriting. He singled out the concert of its tour as one of the two most important he has attended. Electronic producer Seven Lions also cited them as an inspiration for his dubstep and drum and bass compositions.
In addition to those artists who state that Porcupine Tree has been a direct influence on their own careers, other artists have been quoted expressing admiration for their work including Neil Peart, Alex Lifeson, Adrian Belew, Jordan Rudess, Mike Portnoy, Arjen Lucassen, Rob Swire, Haken and many others.
Band members
Members
Steven Wilson – vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards, piano, synthesisers, hammer dulcimer, banjo, sampler, various instruments (1987–2010; 2021–present)
Richard Barbieri – keyboards, synthesizers, piano and sound processing (1993–2010; 2021–present)
Gavin Harrison – drums and percussion (2002–2010; 2021–present)
Former members
Chris Maitland – drums, backing vocals (1993–2002)
Colin Edwin – bass, double bass (1993–2010)
Touring members
John Wesley – guitar, backing vocals (2002–2010)
Timeline
Discography
Studio albums
On the Sunday of Life... (1992)
Up the Downstair (1993)
The Sky Moves Sideways (1995)
Signify (1996)
Stupid Dream (1999)
Lightbulb Sun (2000)
In Absentia (2002)
Deadwing (2005)
Fear of a Blank Planet (2007)
The Incident (2009)
Closure/Continuation (2022)
References
External links
Porcupine Tree official website
English progressive rock groups
English progressive metal musical groups
English psychedelic rock music groups
Musical groups established in 1987
Musical groups disestablished in 2010
Musical groups reestablished in 2021
Musical quartets
Atlantic Records artists
1987 establishments in England
Musical groups from Hertfordshire
2010 disestablishments in England
Post-progressive musicians | false | [
"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",
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| C_db5a3dc3ab324c859d9629bd8f11ce28_1 | What is something crazy they did? | 5 | What is something crazy Porcupine Tree did? | Porcupine Tree | Porcupine Tree originated in 1987 as a collaborative hoax project by Steven Wilson and Malcolm Stocks. Partially inspired by the psychedelic/progressive bands of the 1970s, such as Pink Floyd, that had dominated the music scene during their youth, the two decided to form a fictional legendary rock band named The Porcupine Tree. The two fabricated a detailed back-story including information on alleged band members and album titles, as well as a "colourful" history which purportedly included events such as a meeting at a 1970s rock festival and several trips in and out of prison. As soon as he had put aside enough money to buy his own studio equipment, Wilson obliged this creation with several hours of music to provide "evidence" of its existence. Although Stocks provided a few passages of treated vocals and experimental guitar playing, his role in the project was mostly offering occasional ideas, with the bulk of the material being written, recorded, played, and sung by Wilson. At this point, Porcupine Tree was little more than a joke and a private amusement, as Wilson was concentrating on his other project, No-Man, an endeavour with UK based singer and songwriter Tim Bowness. However, by 1989, he began to consider some of the Porcupine Tree music as potentially marketable. Wilson created an 80-minute-long cassette titled Tarquin's Seaweed Farm under the name of Porcupine Tree. Still showing the spirit of his joke, Wilson included an eight-page inlay which further revealed the hoaxed Porcupine Tree backstory, including references to fictitious band members such as Sir Tarquin Underspoon and Timothy Tadpole-Jones. Wilson sent out copies of Tarquin's Seaweed Farm to several people he felt would be interested in the recordings. Nick Saloman, the cult UK guitarist better known as The Bevis Frond, had suggested that he send one to Richard Allen, a writer for the UK counter-cultural magazine Encyclopaedia Psychedelica and co-editor of the UK psychedelic garage rock magazine Freakbeat. Allen reviewed the tape in both magazines. Whilst he disliked some of the material, he gave much of it a positive review. Several months later, Allen invited Wilson to contribute a track to the double LP A Psychedelic Psauna that was being put together to launch the new Delerium label. Allen would also become the band's manager, press agent, and promoter until 2004, his role in marketing the band's image decreasing after The Sky Moves Sideways album. In the meantime, Wilson had continued to work on new material. In 1990, he released the Love, Death & Mussolini EP, issued in a very limited run of 10 copies. The EP remains an extremely rare, collectible piece. It was composed of nine at-the-time-unreleased tracks, as a preview for the upcoming second album. Later in 1990, Wilson released a second full-length Porcupine Tree cassette called The Nostalgia Factory, which further expanded Porcupine Tree's underground fanbase, although at this point, the band was still carrying on the charade of being 1970s rock legends. By this point, Porcupine Tree was entirely a solo project, with Stocks having amicably moved on to other activities. CANNOTANSWER | The two fabricated a detailed back-story including information on alleged band members and album titles, as well as a "colourful" history | Porcupine Tree are an English rock band formed by musician Steven Wilson in 1987. During an initial career spanning more than twenty years, they earned critical acclaim from critics and fellow musicians, developed a cult following, and became an influence for new artists. The group carved out a career at a certain distance away from mainstream music, being described by publications such as Classic Rock and PopMatters as "the most important band you’d never heard of".
The band began as a solo project for Wilson, who initially created all of the band's music himself. By late 1993, however, he wanted to work in a band environment, bringing on frequent collaborators Richard Barbieri as keyboardist, Colin Edwin as bassist, and Chris Maitland as drummer to form the first permanent lineup. With Wilson as lead vocalist and guitarist, this remained the lineup until February 2002, when Maitland left the band and Gavin Harrison was recruited to replace him. Porcupine Tree's early sound evoked various styles of psychedelic rock, space rock and experimental rock, later moving towards a more progressive/space rock direction comparable to that of Pink Floyd. Upon signing with Kscope record label in the late 1990s, the band began to approach a more mainstream alternative rock sound. By the early 2000s, the band had signed to a major record label and shifted their sound again, this time in a more progressive metal direction.
In 2010, after the tour in support of their 2009 studio album The Incident (their biggest commercial success to date), the band became inactive as Wilson committed himself to his solo work and other members began working on their own separate projects. In 2018, after years of indetermination, Wilson ruled out a possible reformation.
Despite this, the band made a surprise reformation in 2021 with minimal advance publicity, this time with a trio line-up of Wilson, Barbieri and Harrison. The reformation was formally revealed on 1 November 2021, with the simultaneous release of the "Harridan" single and the announcement of a new studio album, Closure/Continuation, to be released on 24 June 2022.
History
Origins (1987–1990)
Porcupine Tree originated in 1987 as a collaborative hoax project by Steven Wilson and Malcolm Stocks. Partially inspired by the psychedelic/progressive bands of the 1970s, such as Pink Floyd, that had dominated the music scene during their youth, the two decided to form a fictional legendary rock band named The Porcupine Tree. The two fabricated a detailed back-story including information on alleged band members and album titles, as well as a "colourful" history which purportedly included events such as a meeting at a 1970s rock festival and several trips in and out of prison. As soon as he had put aside enough money to buy his own studio equipment, Wilson obliged this creation with several hours of music to provide "evidence" of its existence. Although Stocks provided a few passages of treated vocals and experimental guitar playing, his role in the project was mostly offering occasional ideas, with the bulk of the material being written, recorded, played, and sung by Wilson.
At this point, Porcupine Tree was little more than a joke and a private amusement, as Wilson was concentrating on his other project, No-Man, an endeavour with UK based singer and songwriter Tim Bowness. However, by 1989, he began to consider some of the Porcupine Tree music as potentially marketable. Wilson created an 80-minute-long cassette titled Tarquin's Seaweed Farm under the name of Porcupine Tree. Still showing the spirit of his joke, Wilson included an eight-page inlay which further revealed the hoaxed Porcupine Tree backstory, including references to fictitious band members such as Sir Tarquin Underspoon and Timothy Tadpole-Jones.
Wilson sent out copies of Tarquin's Seaweed Farm to several people he felt would be interested in the recordings. Nick Saloman, the cult UK guitarist better known as The Bevis Frond, had suggested that he send one to Richard Allen, a writer for the UK counter-cultural magazine Encyclopaedia Psychedelica and co-editor of the UK psychedelic garage rock magazine Freakbeat. Allen reviewed the tape in both magazines. Whilst he disliked some of the material, he gave much of it a positive review. Several months later, Allen invited Wilson to contribute a track to the double LP A Psychedelic Psauna that was being put together to launch the new Delerium label. Allen would also become the band's manager, press agent, and promoter until 2004, his role in marketing the band's image decreasing after The Sky Moves Sideways album. In the meantime, Wilson had continued to work on new material. In 1990, he released the Love, Death & Mussolini EP, issued in a very limited run of 10 copies. The EP remains an extremely rare, collectible piece. It was composed of nine at-the-time-unreleased tracks, as a preview for the upcoming second album. In 1991, Wilson released a second full-length Porcupine Tree cassette called The Nostalgia Factory, which further expanded Porcupine Tree's underground fanbase, although at this point, the band was still carrying on the charade of being 1970s rock legends. By this point, Porcupine Tree was entirely a solo project, with Stocks having amicably moved on to other activities.
The Delerium years (1991–1997)
On the Sunday of Life...
Along with the A Psychedelic Psauna compilation, which featured the Porcupine Tree track "Linton Samuel Dawson", the newly formed Delerium label, formed by Freakbeat editors Richard Allen and Ivor Trueman, offered to reissue the cassettes Tarquin's Seaweed Farm and The Nostalgia Factory. Two hundred copies of each cassette were sold through Freakbeat's mail order, The Freak Emporium, and soon Porcupine Tree became known as a mysterious new act amongst the then UK underground psychedelic music scene.
Shortly thereafter, Delerium invited Wilson to sign as one of the label's founder artists. The first release after this, a double vinyl album and single CD compiling the best material from his two cassettes, was released in mid-1992 as On the Sunday of Life, a title chosen from a long list of possible nonsense titles compiled by Richard Allen. The rest of the music from the initial tapes was released on the limited edition compilation album Yellow Hedgerow Dreamscape.
In 1992, Delerium released On the Sunday of Life as an edition of 1,000 copies, complete with a deluxe gatefold sleeve. The album sold very well, particularly in Italy, and it was briefly repressed on vinyl and has remained in print on CD ever since its release. The album featured future concert favourite and frequent encore song "Radioactive Toy". By 2000, On the Sunday of Life... had accumulated sales of more than 20,000 copies. On the Sunday of Life was originally meant to be a quadruple (LP)/double (CD) album compiling both cassettes in full, but changed to the best (according to Wilson) songs from the tapes. In 2004, Wilson remixed and remastered all three tapes, releasing them as a three-CD box set called Footprints: Cassette Music 1988-1992. This box was only distributed to family and friends.
Up the Downstair
In the midst of Porcupine Tree's rising success, Wilson's other band, No-Man, had been getting excellent UK press, which led to the band being signed to leading UK independent music publisher, Hit & Run Music Publishing, in 1991, which resulted in recording agreements with One Little Indian Records, and Epic 440/Sony in the US. No-Man's success gave Wilson the opportunity to leave his regular job and devote his time solely to music. All of the Delirium releases were published by Hit & Run, whose executive Dave Massey had signed No-Man and continued to be closely involved in Wilson's Porcupine Tree project.
In May 1993, the second Porcupine Tree album, Up the Downstair, was released, another prospective double album that was finally slimmed down to a single record. "Voyage 34" was actually going to take up the second disc, but it was last decided to be released alone as a single. The album was highly praised, Melody Maker describing it as "a psychedelic masterpiece... one of the albums of the year." The album continued the fusion of electronic music and rock and also featured guest appearances from two future Porcupine Tree members, Richard Barbieri, of 1970s-80s art rock band Japan, and Colin Edwin.
In November 1993, Voyage 34 was reissued alongside an additional 12-inch remix by Astralasia. The album managed to enter the NME indie chart for six weeks and became an underground chill-out classic, even without radio play.
The Sky Moves Sideways
The profile of Porcupine Tree had now grown to the extent that Wilson wanted to expand into live performances. Thus, in December 1993, Porcupine Tree became a live unit featuring Steven Wilson on lead vocals/guitar, Colin Edwin on bass, Chris Maitland on drums, and Richard Barbieri on keyboards.
All three new members of the group had worked with Wilson on various projects over the preceding years, especially Barbieri and Maitland, who had been part of No-Man's touring band. The new line-up's first live album, Spiral Circus, contained recordings from their first three performances, including a BBC Radio One session for Mark Radcliffe, an early champion of the group.
Porcupine Tree's next album did not emerge until early 1995, but was preceded by the Moonloop EP, the last two tracks of which were recorded during the album sessions and were the first to feature the new band. Released in 1995, the band's third studio album, The Sky Moves Sideways became a success among progressive rock fans and Porcupine Tree were hailed as the Pink Floyd of the 1990s. Wilson later lamented this, stating, "I can't help that. It's true that during the period of The Sky Moves Sideways, I had done a little too much of it in the sense of satisfying, in a way, the fans of Pink Floyd who were listening to us because that group doesn't make albums any more. Moreover, I regret it".
The Sky Moves Sideways was an expansive soundscape of melody and ambient rock experimentation, but proved to be a transitional work with half recorded before the formation of the band and half recorded after. Most of the album was taken up with the 35-minute title track, which at one point Steven had intended to be long enough to occupy the whole album. An alternate version of the track, containing some of the excised music, was included on the 2004 remastered version of the album. It also entered the NME, Melody Maker, and Music Week charts. Together with the Moonloop EP, this album was the first Porcupine Tree music issued in America in the autumn of 1995, and attracted favourable press on both sides of the Atlantic. The band supported the album with numerous concerts throughout the year at major music venues in the UK, the Netherlands, Italy, and Greece.
Signify
Partly unsatisfied with the half band/half solo nature of The Sky Moves Sideways, Porcupine Tree promptly got down to the task of recording the first proper band record. Wilson admitted he was always "in love with the idea of the rock band" because "bands have a kind of glamour, and appeal, and a romance about them the solo projects just don't have." The band worked sporadically over the next year on developing a tighter and more ambitious rock sound.
After the release of the first real Porcupine Tree single, "Waiting", which entered all UK indie charts and the UK National chart and attracting airplay all over Europe, Signify was released in September 1996. The album was a mixture of instrumental tracks and more song-oriented tunes, blending numerous rock and avant-garde styles, such as krautrock. Wilson expressed satisfaction in the direction of the album, stating "...tracks like 'Every Home Is Wired' and 'Dark Matter' totally transcend both genre and comparison. Finally, I think we are making a completely original and 1990s form of music, but which still has its root in progressive music." The musicians received writing credits for some tracks, most notably for "Intermediate Jesus", which evolved from a jam session later released as Metanoia at the end of 1998. A large amount of major European media interest accompanied the album's release.
In March 1997, they played three nights in Rome to an audience that surpassed 5,000 people. All three dates were recorded for use in the 1997 live album Coma Divine – Recorded Live in Rome that was released as a goodbye to Delerium Records, which felt it could no longer offer the kind of resources the band needed to continue to build its profile worldwide. In late 1997 Porcupine Tree's first three albums were remastered and reissued. Signify also was released in the US on Miles Copeland's Ark 21 label.
The Snapper years (1998–2001)
Stupid Dream
Wilson, Barbieri, Edwin, and Maitland spent all of 1998 recording their fifth studio album, a release that reflected the band's move towards a more song-oriented writing. Wilson acknowledged this time he was "much more interested in songwriting as an art form, as opposed to soundscape development" and commented he took influence from The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds, Todd Rundgren, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and "anything with really good ensemble singing". He also indicated that he was "interested in the idea of the pop song as a kind of experimental symphony".
The band recorded the album without a label, but signed with Snapper/Kscope before releasing Stupid Dream, in March 1999. The album was supported by a tour of the United Kingdom, Italy, Greece, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, France, Poland, and the United States. The three singles taken from the album: "Piano Lessons", "Stranger by the Minute", and "Pure Narcotic", all achieved mainstream exposure in the US and in Europe, and placed well in the UK independent charts and on radio-station playlists. Although the album was a departure from their earlier sound, it brought the band new-found popularity and went on to become the band's best-selling and most acclaimed release up to that time.
Lightbulb Sun
Completed for February 2000, with string arrangements provided by Dave Gregory of XTC, Porcupine Tree's sixth studio album, Lightbulb Sun, built on the mix of songwriting, soundscaping, and rock dynamics of Stupid Dream. The album was released in May 2000, preceded by the single "Four Chords That Made a Million". A sold-out show at the Scala in London began a short run of UK shows, that were followed later in the year by European festival dates and a major tour supporting Dream Theater. The band continued touring through the end of 2000 and start of 2001, including their first major tour of Germany. A special double CD edition of the Lightbulb Sun album was issued in Israel and Germany.
In May, the band released a compilation B-side album called Recordings, which featured nine tracks from the Stupid Dream and Lightbulb Sun sessions that had been left off both albums. In May 2001, Porcupine Tree did three consecutive dates as a support band to Marillion, in France, Germany, and the Netherlands. In June, the band played a short US tour, starting with an appearance in NEARfest of Pennsylvania, and culminating in a sold-out show at The Bottom Line in New York City. Shortly afterwards, the band announced that they had signed a new international record deal with Lava/Atlantic Records.
The Lava years (2002–2005)
In Absentia
In February 2002, Porcupine Tree's first line-up change occurred when drummer Chris Maitland was dismissed after eight years with the band. The band welcomed drummer and longtime acquaintance Gavin Harrison as his replacement. In March 2002, a box set of the band's early work was released, Stars Die: The Delerium Years 1991–1997, and the band commenced recording their first major label album, drawing from a pool of 30 new songs written by Wilson in the previous two years. Recording sessions took place at Avatar Studios in New York and London, with veteran audio engineer Paul Northfield and string arranger Dave Gregory also playing major roles in the making of the record. The album was mixed in Los Angeles in May with Tim Palmer.
The resulting album, In Absentia, was released by Lava Records in September 2002. The band also released a 5.1 surround-sound version of the album, mixed by Grammy Award-winning producer Elliot Scheiner. The surround-sound version of the album won the award for best 5.1 mix at the 2004 Surround Sound Music awards in Los Angeles.
To promote the album, the band undertook four tours of Europe and North America, including one with acclaimed Swedish metal band Opeth. On tour, the new line-up of the band was further augmented by additional touring vocalist/guitarist John Wesley. During these tours, the visual element of the band's performance was taken to new heights with the involvement of filmmaker and photographer Lasse Hoile, who had created the cover art for In Absentia and now went on to create a dark and surreal visual to Porcupine Tree's music. The long promotional campaign for In Absentia ended on 30 November 2003, as the band played a homecoming show to a sold-out London Astoria.
During 2003, Porcupine Tree set up their own label, Transmission, with an online store hosted by Burning Shed record label. The first release on the Transmission label was a studio session recorded for XM Radio, Washington, DC, followed in 2004 by a recording from Polish radio in 2001. The band used the label to issue supplemental content, such as EPs, demos, and live recordings. Additionally, a reissue/remaster campaign also began in 2003, with many of the early albums expanded to double CDs. These reissues included re-recorded/remixed double-CD versions of the Up the Downstair, The Sky Moves Sideways, and Signify albums, and the reissue of Stupid Dream and Lightbulb Sun, both comprising a CD with a new stereo mix of the album plus a DVD-Audio with a 5.1 surround mix.
Deadwing
In early 2004, the band embarked on the recording sessions for their next record, Deadwing, their second for Lava/Atlantic. The album takes its inspiration from a film script written by Wilson with his filmmaker friend Mike Bennion. The album sessions completed in November 2004, and Deadwing was released in Europe and the US during the spring of 2005 as both a stereo and 5.1 surround-sound album, preceded by the release of two singles, "Shallow" in the US and "Lazarus" in Europe. The album benefited from guest appearances by Adrian Belew from King Crimson and Opeth's Mikael Åkerfeldt, and was a commercial success, due in part to "Shallow" receiving airplay, peaking at number 26 on Billboard's Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks. Additionally, "Lazarus" entered the German singles Top 100 at number 91. The song "Shallow" was also featured in the soundtrack for the film Four Brothers.
The album won the Surround Music Awards for "Best Made-For-Surround Title" the same year of its release and was voted number-two album of 2005 in Sound & Vision, the most widely distributed US magazine in the field of home electronics and entertainment. Porcupine Tree released Deadwing in Japan on 22 March 2006, the first album by the band to be released in that country.
The tour to promote the album commenced in the UK at the end of March, and continued throughout the year. Mike Bennion created a Myspace page dedicated to the prospective Deadwing film, in which he posted the first 15 pages of the script and included a trailer. However, whilst the scripts are finished, the project is still on hiatus due to lack of budget.
The Roadrunner years (2006–2010)
Fear of a Blank Planet
In August 2006, Porcupine Tree announced that the band had signed with Roadrunner Records UK. Prior to their first release on Roadrunner, the band released their first live concert DVD, Arriving Somewhere..., on 10 October 2006. It was accompanied by a brief tour in which the group performed 50 minutes of new material from the forthcoming studio album for the first half of the shows. Supporting acts included Swedish band Paatos in Europe and ProjeKct Six in the United States.
The band announced the next album's title would be Fear of a Blank Planet in January 2007 and the album was released on 16 April 2007. The album charted in almost all European countries, and peaked at number 59 on the Billboard 200. A 92-date tour for 2007 took the band to countries where they had never performed, such as Finland and Mexico. The tour included appearances in multiple music festivals such as the Voodoo Experience in New Orleans, the German twin-festivals, Hurricane and Southside, and the Download Festival of Donington Park. The band performed their first ever shows in Australia in 2008.
The lyrics of the album deal with some common behaviour tendencies concerning society, especially youth, in the beginning of the 21st century, such as bipolar disorder, attention deficit disorder, drug abuse, alienation, and deprivation caused by mass media. The concept of the album was inspired by Bret Easton Ellis novel Lunar Park and the title alludes to Public Enemy's album, Fear of a Black Planet, both sharing the particularity of reflecting notorious conflicts affecting society in the world at some time. Wilson notes that whilst race relationship was the main issue among young people when Public Enemy's album was released, it was replaced in the 21st century by a general superficiality, boredom, and introversion. The album features contributions from Rush's Alex Lifeson and King Crimson's Robert Fripp.
Wilson: "My fear is that the current generation of kids who're being born into this information revolution, growing up with the Internet, cell phones, iPods, this download culture, 'American Idol,' reality TV, prescription drugs, PlayStations—all of these things kind of distract people from what's important about life, which is to develop a sense of curiosity about what's out there."
On 5 November 2007, Fear of a Blank Planet won the Album of the Year award for the 2007 Classic Rock magazine awards. In December 2007, it was nominated for a Grammy Award for "Best Surround Sound Album" though Love by The Beatles won the award.
A new EP called Nil Recurring was released on 17 September 2007, featuring four unreleased tracks from the Fear of a Blank Planet sessions and including another contribution from Robert Fripp. The second leg of the tour started on 3 October 2007, now promoting new music from the EP. Nil Recurring entered the UK Top 30 Independent Label Albums at number eight. The EP was reissued on 18 February 2008 through Peaceville Records.
A recording from a 4 October 2007 in-store, mostly acoustic, performance at Park Avenue CDs in Orlando, Florida, was released on 18 February 2008 on CD under the name of We Lost The Skyline. The title is a reference to the lyrics of "The Sky Moves Sideways (Phase One)", which was the opening song on the live set. The album was released on vinyl of 21 March 2008. While intended to be a full-band show, the lack of space in the store only allowed the two guitarists, Wilson and John Wesley, to play.
The Incident
The band played a short European tour in October 2008 to shoot their second live-concert film, Anesthetize, preceded by three concerts in Australia in April. The filming took place on 15 and 16 October in the Netherlands at the 013 Tilburg venue. During one of these shows, Wilson mentioned that Porcupine Tree had started work on material for their next album, with an eye toward a release in 2009. The live-concert film on DVD and Blu-ray was released on 20 May 2010.
The band started recording their tenth studio album, The Incident, in February 2009. This was confirmed by the band, stating, "Writing for the next PT studio record is well underway, with the band recently spending two weeks scheduled in the English countryside working on new tracks. Recording of these pieces and a new 35-minute SW song cycle were due to start in February..." Months later, Wilson commented the 35-minute song kept evolving and now it has become a 55-minute song, occupying the entire disc.
On 12 June 2009, details were revealed on the Porcupine Tree website, "the record is set to be released via Roadrunner Records worldwide on 21 September, as a double CD. The centrepiece is the title track, which takes up the whole of the first disc. The 55-minute work is described as a slightly surreal song cycle about beginnings and endings and the sense that ‘after this, things will never be the same again.’ The self-produced album is completed by four standalone compositions that developed out of band writing sessions last December – Flicker, Bonnie The Cat, Black Dahlia, and Remember Me Lover feature on a separate EP-length disc to stress their independence from the song cycle." The album was the band's biggest commercial success to date, reaching number 23 in the UK album charts and also reaching the US Billboard Top 25.
The band also released another live album, Atlanta, in June 2010. The performance was actually recorded during the tour of Fear of a Blank Planet at the Roxy theatre, Atlanta, on 29 October 2007. It was released via online distribution only, with all the sale proceeds donated to Mick Karn for his treatment against cancer.
Inactivity and hiatus (2011–2020)
After finishing the touring cycle for The Incident in 2010, Wilson spent the rest of the year, and 2011, recording and releasing his second solo album, Grace for Drowning, and Blackfield's third album, Welcome to my DNA. Initially, the band had mentioned the possibility of working on new music in 2012, with Wilson mentioning "early 2012", and Harrison guessing they would start work in 2012 and release music in 2013. However, this soon changed, with Wilson announcing that he would continue to focus his future on his solo career. This new focus included a second leg of touring in support of Grace for Drowning in the first half of 2012, recording a third solo album in the second half of the year with his touring band, releasing it in early 2013, and then touring in support of the third solo album for "much of the year" – throughout 2013. Wilson still maintained that the band "haven’t split up" and that there are "no intentions of splitting up", but he also said there were no specific plans for a new album either. While he said that he still "want(s) to get Porcupine Tree back together at some point", he said that he was not sure what direction he wants to take the band, only that he is "tired of metal music", and that one member of the band does not like jazz, so it won't go into the direction of his solo project either.
In June 2012, Wilson re-emphasised his continued focus on his solo career, with his answer to the question "...is (there) a danger that Porcupine Tree might fall by the wayside?" being, "The honest answer is I don’t know. The solo career for me now is probably the most important. I think about it more than anything else, I’m more focused on it than anything else, I enjoy it more than anything else..." A two-disc live album titled Octane Twisted was released that following November by their record label, Kscope, containing a live recording of The Incident in its entirety, from material recorded at 2010 concerts at the Riviera Theater, Chicago, and the Royal Albert Hall. In May 2013, Wilson reiterated his stance on the band's status, stating that it's "...not to say the band has broken up or anything like that. It’s always conceivable that we could get back together in a year or five years, or 10 years. I really can’t say – there are no plans at the moment." Edwin's stance mirrored this.
After Wilson released his third solo album, The Raven That Refused to Sing (And Other Stories) in February 2013, and toured in support of it for the remainder of the year, its success led Wilson to commit to writing and recording a fourth solo album Hand. Cannot. Erase. over the course of 2014 and releasing it in 2015, pushing hypothetical work with Porcupine Tree into at least 2016. In March 2015, Wilson commented, “if Porcupine Tree [were] to get back together—and, by the way, I have never ruled that out—it will be a side project. There should be no question in anyone's mind that this is now my main musical path, my solo work.”
Moving into 2016, Wilson's views on a reformation were conflicting. In February 2016, in an interview with Prog Magazine, he stated that there was a "strong possibility" of Porcupine Tree reforming for another studio album at an undisclosed time in the future. However, in response to a question in August 2016 regarding a hypothetical Porcupine Tree performance, Wilson claimed, "you'd be waiting for a long time, that band doesn't exist anymore." In August 2017, Wilson explained: "It's no coincidence that since my solo project has taken off, other collaborations have receded to the background. Porcupine Tree hasn't made a record since 2009 and No-Man hasn't made a record since 2008. I feel less need now to be creatively involved in something other than my solo work. My solo work fulfills the musical needs I have now."
In a March 2018 interview when asked about the chances of further activity from Porcupine Tree he responded; "Honestly, I would say zero, because I’m just not that kind of person. I don’t go backwards. I’m not interested in going backwards; I want to move forwards, I want to do different things, I want to work with different people, I want to explore different kinds of music. That would seem like a terribly backward step to me. I’m proud of the catalogue; it’s there, it exists, but it’s kind of closed, it’s finished." However, in February 2021, Wilson suggested that a reformation was still possible someday, when it was least expected.
Reunion and Closure/Continuation (2021–present)
On 27 October 2021, Porcupine Tree, Wilson, and Harrison all shared a teaser video and mailing list link across their social media accounts, along with a stylised "P/T C/C" image. On 1 November the band announced their eleventh album, Closure/Continuation, to be released in June 2022 on Music For Nations, along with their first single in over 12 years, "Harridan". The lineup of the band now features just Wilson, Harrison, and Barbieri.
Musical style
Influences
Some of the inherent musical background of Porcupine Tree goes back to Wilson's childhood, when his parents gave Christmas presents to each other. His father received Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon whilst his mother got Donna Summer's Love to Love You Baby, both of which Wilson listened to heavily. These albums influenced his further songwriting. Other influences include Camel and Karlheinz Stockhausen.
Later in his teens, Wilson briefly became a fan of the new wave of British heavy metal, but as soon as he discovered 1970s music and progressive rock, his interest in metal diminished in favour of experimental music. He later (in the 2000s) discovered bands in the likes of Gojira, Sunn O))), Neurosis, and Meshuggah, which restored his faith in metal music. "For a long time, I couldn't find where all these creative musicians were going...", said Wilson, "and I found them, they were working in extreme metal." Shortly thereafter, he went on to produce three consecutive albums by Swedish progressive death metal band Opeth, which had a considerable influence in his further songwriting.
The influence of electronic music and krautrock is present, with Wilson namechecking bands such as Can, Neu!, Tangerine Dream, Squarepusher, and Aphex Twin and artists such as Klaus Schulze and Conrad Schnitzler, among others. He has mentioned on multiple occasions that he admires the work of American musician Trent Reznor, the sole official member of Nine Inch Nails. Wilson has also cited English electronic band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), along with other potentially "surprising" influences such as ABBA, The Carpenters, Electric Light Orchestra, and the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack album (1977), largely written and performed by the Bee Gees.
Characteristics
The music of Porcupine Tree is often described as melancholic. Wilson has stated music is a way for him to channel all his negative feelings, and "an exorcism of those elements within", finding it "easier to write songs about the negative side of the world than it is about the happy side of the world." In the Warszawa live radio broadcast album, before performing "Stop Swimming", Wilson can be heard saying "the saddest music is often the most beautiful."
Porcupine Tree is an album-oriented band, making records where many songs are related to each other. Wilson has said: "The important thing with Porcupine Tree is that all our songs have a unique sound world that they inhabit. I don't like the idea of any song sounding like any other song. So most of the time it's a case of finding the sound world first whether it be a texture or a drum rhythm that sets you off on a certain musical path, or particular musical atmosphere, or flavour." For their recordings, the band has included mellotron, banjo, hammered dulcimer, and guimbri, among other instruments unusual for rock bands.
Above all, Porcupine Tree's music has maintained a strong textural and experimental quality, often fusing many genres in a single track. The band's work is noted for its atmospheric nature, largely due to Barbieri's keyboard style and sound-processing abilities, and Wilson's cinematic scope, as a declared fan of American filmmaker David Lynch, whose films are renowned for their sonic content. "Very layered, very produced, very arranged and [with] complex arrangements" is the way Wilson describes the sound of the band. Apart from their regular edition, the albums Stupid Dream, Lightbulb Sun, In Absentia, Deadwing, Fear of a Blank Planet, and The Incident are available in DTS (5.1 Surround Sound) mix; this mixing technique has become a tradition for the band in recent years.
The band's live performances have also been praised, with Music Radar placing them fourth in their list of "The 30 greatest live acts in the world today" in 2010.
Porcupine Tree are often categorised as a progressive rock band. Although many listeners familiar with the group label them as such, Steven Wilson has been noted in the past to express a certain dislike for the use of the term "progressive" to refer to them. However, more recently, he made note that he has since become more relaxed toward the word considering it is becoming "a much broader term" as time passes. He has frequently stated that he dislikes the press comparing Porcupine Tree with neo prog bands or citing them as 'the New Pink Floyd'.
Legacy
Porcupine Tree have influenced a new generation of artists and bands.
Anders Nyström of the Swedish group Katatonia has cited the work of Porcupine Tree as a large influence for the band in their post-death metal eras. Luc Lemay, leader of the technical death metal band Gorguts, said that The Incident was "a big revelation" for him, inspiring his more recent songwriting. He singled out the concert of its tour as one of the two most important he has attended. Electronic producer Seven Lions also cited them as an inspiration for his dubstep and drum and bass compositions.
In addition to those artists who state that Porcupine Tree has been a direct influence on their own careers, other artists have been quoted expressing admiration for their work including Neil Peart, Alex Lifeson, Adrian Belew, Jordan Rudess, Mike Portnoy, Arjen Lucassen, Rob Swire, Haken and many others.
Band members
Members
Steven Wilson – vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards, piano, synthesisers, hammer dulcimer, banjo, sampler, various instruments (1987–2010; 2021–present)
Richard Barbieri – keyboards, synthesizers, piano and sound processing (1993–2010; 2021–present)
Gavin Harrison – drums and percussion (2002–2010; 2021–present)
Former members
Chris Maitland – drums, backing vocals (1993–2002)
Colin Edwin – bass, double bass (1993–2010)
Touring members
John Wesley – guitar, backing vocals (2002–2010)
Timeline
Discography
Studio albums
On the Sunday of Life... (1992)
Up the Downstair (1993)
The Sky Moves Sideways (1995)
Signify (1996)
Stupid Dream (1999)
Lightbulb Sun (2000)
In Absentia (2002)
Deadwing (2005)
Fear of a Blank Planet (2007)
The Incident (2009)
Closure/Continuation (2022)
References
External links
Porcupine Tree official website
English progressive rock groups
English progressive metal musical groups
English psychedelic rock music groups
Musical groups established in 1987
Musical groups disestablished in 2010
Musical groups reestablished in 2021
Musical quartets
Atlantic Records artists
1987 establishments in England
Musical groups from Hertfordshire
2010 disestablishments in England
Post-progressive musicians | true | [
"Crazy Sue Goes On, also known as Crazy Sue 2 and Crazy Sue II, is a 2D platform game for the Amiga which is the sequel to Crazy Sue, in which the player again takes the role of the little girl named Crazy Sue, and must defeat the wife of the evil Wizard of Doom whom she defeated in the first game.\n\nGameplay \n\nThe gameplay is almost unmodified from Crazy Sue, but levels got bigger and more complicated, however there still is only horizontal scrolling. Some differences are in level design. The player often has to go back to locations, and climb around in large levels. There also are some timed power-ups which can be activated at special locations (something which did not exist in the first game).\n\nThe game's story connects directly to Crazy Sue. The Wizard of Doom has been destroyed, but now his wife, the Mistress of Death, put a horrible curse on the kingdom of Ereanor and kidnapped Sue's teddy bear. Therefore, Crazy Sue sets out once again to fight the forces of evil.\n\nThe game has only four levels, as compared to 10 in the first game. They are considerably larger and less linear though, so the game has about the same length overall. In the first level, Crazy Sue arrives at the castle of the Mistress of Death, and has to use speed scrolls in order to not run out of time. In levels two and three she has to fight through the castle and library. In level four she enters the sewers to reach the place of the final battle.\n\nAfter defeating the Mistress of Death, a message mentions \"her uncle Ice Death, but that's another story\" - suggesting that a third Crazy Sue was planned, with a third relative of the bad guys' family as villain, but such a game never was released.\n\nRelease and reception\nCrazy Sue Goes On was first released in 1992 as cover disk of the Amiga Mania magazine by MC Publications in the UK and in the Amiga Fun magazine by CompuTec Verla in Germany. Amiga Joker gave the game a review score of 60%.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Crazy Sue Goes at Hall Of Light Amiga database\n\nAmiga games\nAmiga-only games\n1992 video games\nPlatform games\nSingle-player video games\nVideo game sequels\nVideo games developed in Germany\nVideo games about witchcraft",
"Everyone Deserves Music is the fourth studio release by Michael Franti & Spearhead.\n\nTrack listing\nAll songs written by Michael Franti, Dave Shul and Carl Young except where indicated.\n\n \"What I Be\" (4:45)\n \"We Don't Stop\" (Franti, Shul, Young, Wood Farguheson, Jr., Tim Parker) (4:36)\n \"Everyone Deserves Music\" (4:36)\n \"Never Too Late\" (4:50)\n \"Bomb the World\" (4:28)\n \"Pray for Grace\" (4:52)\n \"Love, Why Did You Go Away\" (4:29)\n \"Yes I Will\" (4:01)\n \"Feelin' Free\" (3:54)\n \"Love Invincible\" (3:50)\n \"Bomb the World (Armageddon Version)\" (Franti, Shul, Young, Farguheson) (4:44)\n \"Crazy, Crazy, Crazy\" (3:30)\n\nCharts\n\nCertifications\n\nReferences\n\nMichael Franti albums\n2001 albums"
]
|
[
"Porcupine Tree",
"Origins (1987-1990)",
"What year did Porcupine Tree form?",
"Porcupine Tree originated in 1987",
"Who was their inspiration?",
"Partially inspired by the psychedelic/progressive bands of the 1970s, such as Pink Floyd,",
"Did they cover any of their songs?",
"I don't know.",
"Did they win any awards?",
"I don't know.",
"What is something crazy they did?",
"The two fabricated a detailed back-story including information on alleged band members and album titles, as well as a \"colourful\" history"
]
| C_db5a3dc3ab324c859d9629bd8f11ce28_1 | What was their "colourful" history story? | 6 | What was Porcupine Tree "colorful" history story? | Porcupine Tree | Porcupine Tree originated in 1987 as a collaborative hoax project by Steven Wilson and Malcolm Stocks. Partially inspired by the psychedelic/progressive bands of the 1970s, such as Pink Floyd, that had dominated the music scene during their youth, the two decided to form a fictional legendary rock band named The Porcupine Tree. The two fabricated a detailed back-story including information on alleged band members and album titles, as well as a "colourful" history which purportedly included events such as a meeting at a 1970s rock festival and several trips in and out of prison. As soon as he had put aside enough money to buy his own studio equipment, Wilson obliged this creation with several hours of music to provide "evidence" of its existence. Although Stocks provided a few passages of treated vocals and experimental guitar playing, his role in the project was mostly offering occasional ideas, with the bulk of the material being written, recorded, played, and sung by Wilson. At this point, Porcupine Tree was little more than a joke and a private amusement, as Wilson was concentrating on his other project, No-Man, an endeavour with UK based singer and songwriter Tim Bowness. However, by 1989, he began to consider some of the Porcupine Tree music as potentially marketable. Wilson created an 80-minute-long cassette titled Tarquin's Seaweed Farm under the name of Porcupine Tree. Still showing the spirit of his joke, Wilson included an eight-page inlay which further revealed the hoaxed Porcupine Tree backstory, including references to fictitious band members such as Sir Tarquin Underspoon and Timothy Tadpole-Jones. Wilson sent out copies of Tarquin's Seaweed Farm to several people he felt would be interested in the recordings. Nick Saloman, the cult UK guitarist better known as The Bevis Frond, had suggested that he send one to Richard Allen, a writer for the UK counter-cultural magazine Encyclopaedia Psychedelica and co-editor of the UK psychedelic garage rock magazine Freakbeat. Allen reviewed the tape in both magazines. Whilst he disliked some of the material, he gave much of it a positive review. Several months later, Allen invited Wilson to contribute a track to the double LP A Psychedelic Psauna that was being put together to launch the new Delerium label. Allen would also become the band's manager, press agent, and promoter until 2004, his role in marketing the band's image decreasing after The Sky Moves Sideways album. In the meantime, Wilson had continued to work on new material. In 1990, he released the Love, Death & Mussolini EP, issued in a very limited run of 10 copies. The EP remains an extremely rare, collectible piece. It was composed of nine at-the-time-unreleased tracks, as a preview for the upcoming second album. Later in 1990, Wilson released a second full-length Porcupine Tree cassette called The Nostalgia Factory, which further expanded Porcupine Tree's underground fanbase, although at this point, the band was still carrying on the charade of being 1970s rock legends. By this point, Porcupine Tree was entirely a solo project, with Stocks having amicably moved on to other activities. CANNOTANSWER | purportedly included events such as a meeting at a 1970s rock festival and several trips in and out of prison. | Porcupine Tree are an English rock band formed by musician Steven Wilson in 1987. During an initial career spanning more than twenty years, they earned critical acclaim from critics and fellow musicians, developed a cult following, and became an influence for new artists. The group carved out a career at a certain distance away from mainstream music, being described by publications such as Classic Rock and PopMatters as "the most important band you’d never heard of".
The band began as a solo project for Wilson, who initially created all of the band's music himself. By late 1993, however, he wanted to work in a band environment, bringing on frequent collaborators Richard Barbieri as keyboardist, Colin Edwin as bassist, and Chris Maitland as drummer to form the first permanent lineup. With Wilson as lead vocalist and guitarist, this remained the lineup until February 2002, when Maitland left the band and Gavin Harrison was recruited to replace him. Porcupine Tree's early sound evoked various styles of psychedelic rock, space rock and experimental rock, later moving towards a more progressive/space rock direction comparable to that of Pink Floyd. Upon signing with Kscope record label in the late 1990s, the band began to approach a more mainstream alternative rock sound. By the early 2000s, the band had signed to a major record label and shifted their sound again, this time in a more progressive metal direction.
In 2010, after the tour in support of their 2009 studio album The Incident (their biggest commercial success to date), the band became inactive as Wilson committed himself to his solo work and other members began working on their own separate projects. In 2018, after years of indetermination, Wilson ruled out a possible reformation.
Despite this, the band made a surprise reformation in 2021 with minimal advance publicity, this time with a trio line-up of Wilson, Barbieri and Harrison. The reformation was formally revealed on 1 November 2021, with the simultaneous release of the "Harridan" single and the announcement of a new studio album, Closure/Continuation, to be released on 24 June 2022.
History
Origins (1987–1990)
Porcupine Tree originated in 1987 as a collaborative hoax project by Steven Wilson and Malcolm Stocks. Partially inspired by the psychedelic/progressive bands of the 1970s, such as Pink Floyd, that had dominated the music scene during their youth, the two decided to form a fictional legendary rock band named The Porcupine Tree. The two fabricated a detailed back-story including information on alleged band members and album titles, as well as a "colourful" history which purportedly included events such as a meeting at a 1970s rock festival and several trips in and out of prison. As soon as he had put aside enough money to buy his own studio equipment, Wilson obliged this creation with several hours of music to provide "evidence" of its existence. Although Stocks provided a few passages of treated vocals and experimental guitar playing, his role in the project was mostly offering occasional ideas, with the bulk of the material being written, recorded, played, and sung by Wilson.
At this point, Porcupine Tree was little more than a joke and a private amusement, as Wilson was concentrating on his other project, No-Man, an endeavour with UK based singer and songwriter Tim Bowness. However, by 1989, he began to consider some of the Porcupine Tree music as potentially marketable. Wilson created an 80-minute-long cassette titled Tarquin's Seaweed Farm under the name of Porcupine Tree. Still showing the spirit of his joke, Wilson included an eight-page inlay which further revealed the hoaxed Porcupine Tree backstory, including references to fictitious band members such as Sir Tarquin Underspoon and Timothy Tadpole-Jones.
Wilson sent out copies of Tarquin's Seaweed Farm to several people he felt would be interested in the recordings. Nick Saloman, the cult UK guitarist better known as The Bevis Frond, had suggested that he send one to Richard Allen, a writer for the UK counter-cultural magazine Encyclopaedia Psychedelica and co-editor of the UK psychedelic garage rock magazine Freakbeat. Allen reviewed the tape in both magazines. Whilst he disliked some of the material, he gave much of it a positive review. Several months later, Allen invited Wilson to contribute a track to the double LP A Psychedelic Psauna that was being put together to launch the new Delerium label. Allen would also become the band's manager, press agent, and promoter until 2004, his role in marketing the band's image decreasing after The Sky Moves Sideways album. In the meantime, Wilson had continued to work on new material. In 1990, he released the Love, Death & Mussolini EP, issued in a very limited run of 10 copies. The EP remains an extremely rare, collectible piece. It was composed of nine at-the-time-unreleased tracks, as a preview for the upcoming second album. In 1991, Wilson released a second full-length Porcupine Tree cassette called The Nostalgia Factory, which further expanded Porcupine Tree's underground fanbase, although at this point, the band was still carrying on the charade of being 1970s rock legends. By this point, Porcupine Tree was entirely a solo project, with Stocks having amicably moved on to other activities.
The Delerium years (1991–1997)
On the Sunday of Life...
Along with the A Psychedelic Psauna compilation, which featured the Porcupine Tree track "Linton Samuel Dawson", the newly formed Delerium label, formed by Freakbeat editors Richard Allen and Ivor Trueman, offered to reissue the cassettes Tarquin's Seaweed Farm and The Nostalgia Factory. Two hundred copies of each cassette were sold through Freakbeat's mail order, The Freak Emporium, and soon Porcupine Tree became known as a mysterious new act amongst the then UK underground psychedelic music scene.
Shortly thereafter, Delerium invited Wilson to sign as one of the label's founder artists. The first release after this, a double vinyl album and single CD compiling the best material from his two cassettes, was released in mid-1992 as On the Sunday of Life, a title chosen from a long list of possible nonsense titles compiled by Richard Allen. The rest of the music from the initial tapes was released on the limited edition compilation album Yellow Hedgerow Dreamscape.
In 1992, Delerium released On the Sunday of Life as an edition of 1,000 copies, complete with a deluxe gatefold sleeve. The album sold very well, particularly in Italy, and it was briefly repressed on vinyl and has remained in print on CD ever since its release. The album featured future concert favourite and frequent encore song "Radioactive Toy". By 2000, On the Sunday of Life... had accumulated sales of more than 20,000 copies. On the Sunday of Life was originally meant to be a quadruple (LP)/double (CD) album compiling both cassettes in full, but changed to the best (according to Wilson) songs from the tapes. In 2004, Wilson remixed and remastered all three tapes, releasing them as a three-CD box set called Footprints: Cassette Music 1988-1992. This box was only distributed to family and friends.
Up the Downstair
In the midst of Porcupine Tree's rising success, Wilson's other band, No-Man, had been getting excellent UK press, which led to the band being signed to leading UK independent music publisher, Hit & Run Music Publishing, in 1991, which resulted in recording agreements with One Little Indian Records, and Epic 440/Sony in the US. No-Man's success gave Wilson the opportunity to leave his regular job and devote his time solely to music. All of the Delirium releases were published by Hit & Run, whose executive Dave Massey had signed No-Man and continued to be closely involved in Wilson's Porcupine Tree project.
In May 1993, the second Porcupine Tree album, Up the Downstair, was released, another prospective double album that was finally slimmed down to a single record. "Voyage 34" was actually going to take up the second disc, but it was last decided to be released alone as a single. The album was highly praised, Melody Maker describing it as "a psychedelic masterpiece... one of the albums of the year." The album continued the fusion of electronic music and rock and also featured guest appearances from two future Porcupine Tree members, Richard Barbieri, of 1970s-80s art rock band Japan, and Colin Edwin.
In November 1993, Voyage 34 was reissued alongside an additional 12-inch remix by Astralasia. The album managed to enter the NME indie chart for six weeks and became an underground chill-out classic, even without radio play.
The Sky Moves Sideways
The profile of Porcupine Tree had now grown to the extent that Wilson wanted to expand into live performances. Thus, in December 1993, Porcupine Tree became a live unit featuring Steven Wilson on lead vocals/guitar, Colin Edwin on bass, Chris Maitland on drums, and Richard Barbieri on keyboards.
All three new members of the group had worked with Wilson on various projects over the preceding years, especially Barbieri and Maitland, who had been part of No-Man's touring band. The new line-up's first live album, Spiral Circus, contained recordings from their first three performances, including a BBC Radio One session for Mark Radcliffe, an early champion of the group.
Porcupine Tree's next album did not emerge until early 1995, but was preceded by the Moonloop EP, the last two tracks of which were recorded during the album sessions and were the first to feature the new band. Released in 1995, the band's third studio album, The Sky Moves Sideways became a success among progressive rock fans and Porcupine Tree were hailed as the Pink Floyd of the 1990s. Wilson later lamented this, stating, "I can't help that. It's true that during the period of The Sky Moves Sideways, I had done a little too much of it in the sense of satisfying, in a way, the fans of Pink Floyd who were listening to us because that group doesn't make albums any more. Moreover, I regret it".
The Sky Moves Sideways was an expansive soundscape of melody and ambient rock experimentation, but proved to be a transitional work with half recorded before the formation of the band and half recorded after. Most of the album was taken up with the 35-minute title track, which at one point Steven had intended to be long enough to occupy the whole album. An alternate version of the track, containing some of the excised music, was included on the 2004 remastered version of the album. It also entered the NME, Melody Maker, and Music Week charts. Together with the Moonloop EP, this album was the first Porcupine Tree music issued in America in the autumn of 1995, and attracted favourable press on both sides of the Atlantic. The band supported the album with numerous concerts throughout the year at major music venues in the UK, the Netherlands, Italy, and Greece.
Signify
Partly unsatisfied with the half band/half solo nature of The Sky Moves Sideways, Porcupine Tree promptly got down to the task of recording the first proper band record. Wilson admitted he was always "in love with the idea of the rock band" because "bands have a kind of glamour, and appeal, and a romance about them the solo projects just don't have." The band worked sporadically over the next year on developing a tighter and more ambitious rock sound.
After the release of the first real Porcupine Tree single, "Waiting", which entered all UK indie charts and the UK National chart and attracting airplay all over Europe, Signify was released in September 1996. The album was a mixture of instrumental tracks and more song-oriented tunes, blending numerous rock and avant-garde styles, such as krautrock. Wilson expressed satisfaction in the direction of the album, stating "...tracks like 'Every Home Is Wired' and 'Dark Matter' totally transcend both genre and comparison. Finally, I think we are making a completely original and 1990s form of music, but which still has its root in progressive music." The musicians received writing credits for some tracks, most notably for "Intermediate Jesus", which evolved from a jam session later released as Metanoia at the end of 1998. A large amount of major European media interest accompanied the album's release.
In March 1997, they played three nights in Rome to an audience that surpassed 5,000 people. All three dates were recorded for use in the 1997 live album Coma Divine – Recorded Live in Rome that was released as a goodbye to Delerium Records, which felt it could no longer offer the kind of resources the band needed to continue to build its profile worldwide. In late 1997 Porcupine Tree's first three albums were remastered and reissued. Signify also was released in the US on Miles Copeland's Ark 21 label.
The Snapper years (1998–2001)
Stupid Dream
Wilson, Barbieri, Edwin, and Maitland spent all of 1998 recording their fifth studio album, a release that reflected the band's move towards a more song-oriented writing. Wilson acknowledged this time he was "much more interested in songwriting as an art form, as opposed to soundscape development" and commented he took influence from The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds, Todd Rundgren, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and "anything with really good ensemble singing". He also indicated that he was "interested in the idea of the pop song as a kind of experimental symphony".
The band recorded the album without a label, but signed with Snapper/Kscope before releasing Stupid Dream, in March 1999. The album was supported by a tour of the United Kingdom, Italy, Greece, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, France, Poland, and the United States. The three singles taken from the album: "Piano Lessons", "Stranger by the Minute", and "Pure Narcotic", all achieved mainstream exposure in the US and in Europe, and placed well in the UK independent charts and on radio-station playlists. Although the album was a departure from their earlier sound, it brought the band new-found popularity and went on to become the band's best-selling and most acclaimed release up to that time.
Lightbulb Sun
Completed for February 2000, with string arrangements provided by Dave Gregory of XTC, Porcupine Tree's sixth studio album, Lightbulb Sun, built on the mix of songwriting, soundscaping, and rock dynamics of Stupid Dream. The album was released in May 2000, preceded by the single "Four Chords That Made a Million". A sold-out show at the Scala in London began a short run of UK shows, that were followed later in the year by European festival dates and a major tour supporting Dream Theater. The band continued touring through the end of 2000 and start of 2001, including their first major tour of Germany. A special double CD edition of the Lightbulb Sun album was issued in Israel and Germany.
In May, the band released a compilation B-side album called Recordings, which featured nine tracks from the Stupid Dream and Lightbulb Sun sessions that had been left off both albums. In May 2001, Porcupine Tree did three consecutive dates as a support band to Marillion, in France, Germany, and the Netherlands. In June, the band played a short US tour, starting with an appearance in NEARfest of Pennsylvania, and culminating in a sold-out show at The Bottom Line in New York City. Shortly afterwards, the band announced that they had signed a new international record deal with Lava/Atlantic Records.
The Lava years (2002–2005)
In Absentia
In February 2002, Porcupine Tree's first line-up change occurred when drummer Chris Maitland was dismissed after eight years with the band. The band welcomed drummer and longtime acquaintance Gavin Harrison as his replacement. In March 2002, a box set of the band's early work was released, Stars Die: The Delerium Years 1991–1997, and the band commenced recording their first major label album, drawing from a pool of 30 new songs written by Wilson in the previous two years. Recording sessions took place at Avatar Studios in New York and London, with veteran audio engineer Paul Northfield and string arranger Dave Gregory also playing major roles in the making of the record. The album was mixed in Los Angeles in May with Tim Palmer.
The resulting album, In Absentia, was released by Lava Records in September 2002. The band also released a 5.1 surround-sound version of the album, mixed by Grammy Award-winning producer Elliot Scheiner. The surround-sound version of the album won the award for best 5.1 mix at the 2004 Surround Sound Music awards in Los Angeles.
To promote the album, the band undertook four tours of Europe and North America, including one with acclaimed Swedish metal band Opeth. On tour, the new line-up of the band was further augmented by additional touring vocalist/guitarist John Wesley. During these tours, the visual element of the band's performance was taken to new heights with the involvement of filmmaker and photographer Lasse Hoile, who had created the cover art for In Absentia and now went on to create a dark and surreal visual to Porcupine Tree's music. The long promotional campaign for In Absentia ended on 30 November 2003, as the band played a homecoming show to a sold-out London Astoria.
During 2003, Porcupine Tree set up their own label, Transmission, with an online store hosted by Burning Shed record label. The first release on the Transmission label was a studio session recorded for XM Radio, Washington, DC, followed in 2004 by a recording from Polish radio in 2001. The band used the label to issue supplemental content, such as EPs, demos, and live recordings. Additionally, a reissue/remaster campaign also began in 2003, with many of the early albums expanded to double CDs. These reissues included re-recorded/remixed double-CD versions of the Up the Downstair, The Sky Moves Sideways, and Signify albums, and the reissue of Stupid Dream and Lightbulb Sun, both comprising a CD with a new stereo mix of the album plus a DVD-Audio with a 5.1 surround mix.
Deadwing
In early 2004, the band embarked on the recording sessions for their next record, Deadwing, their second for Lava/Atlantic. The album takes its inspiration from a film script written by Wilson with his filmmaker friend Mike Bennion. The album sessions completed in November 2004, and Deadwing was released in Europe and the US during the spring of 2005 as both a stereo and 5.1 surround-sound album, preceded by the release of two singles, "Shallow" in the US and "Lazarus" in Europe. The album benefited from guest appearances by Adrian Belew from King Crimson and Opeth's Mikael Åkerfeldt, and was a commercial success, due in part to "Shallow" receiving airplay, peaking at number 26 on Billboard's Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks. Additionally, "Lazarus" entered the German singles Top 100 at number 91. The song "Shallow" was also featured in the soundtrack for the film Four Brothers.
The album won the Surround Music Awards for "Best Made-For-Surround Title" the same year of its release and was voted number-two album of 2005 in Sound & Vision, the most widely distributed US magazine in the field of home electronics and entertainment. Porcupine Tree released Deadwing in Japan on 22 March 2006, the first album by the band to be released in that country.
The tour to promote the album commenced in the UK at the end of March, and continued throughout the year. Mike Bennion created a Myspace page dedicated to the prospective Deadwing film, in which he posted the first 15 pages of the script and included a trailer. However, whilst the scripts are finished, the project is still on hiatus due to lack of budget.
The Roadrunner years (2006–2010)
Fear of a Blank Planet
In August 2006, Porcupine Tree announced that the band had signed with Roadrunner Records UK. Prior to their first release on Roadrunner, the band released their first live concert DVD, Arriving Somewhere..., on 10 October 2006. It was accompanied by a brief tour in which the group performed 50 minutes of new material from the forthcoming studio album for the first half of the shows. Supporting acts included Swedish band Paatos in Europe and ProjeKct Six in the United States.
The band announced the next album's title would be Fear of a Blank Planet in January 2007 and the album was released on 16 April 2007. The album charted in almost all European countries, and peaked at number 59 on the Billboard 200. A 92-date tour for 2007 took the band to countries where they had never performed, such as Finland and Mexico. The tour included appearances in multiple music festivals such as the Voodoo Experience in New Orleans, the German twin-festivals, Hurricane and Southside, and the Download Festival of Donington Park. The band performed their first ever shows in Australia in 2008.
The lyrics of the album deal with some common behaviour tendencies concerning society, especially youth, in the beginning of the 21st century, such as bipolar disorder, attention deficit disorder, drug abuse, alienation, and deprivation caused by mass media. The concept of the album was inspired by Bret Easton Ellis novel Lunar Park and the title alludes to Public Enemy's album, Fear of a Black Planet, both sharing the particularity of reflecting notorious conflicts affecting society in the world at some time. Wilson notes that whilst race relationship was the main issue among young people when Public Enemy's album was released, it was replaced in the 21st century by a general superficiality, boredom, and introversion. The album features contributions from Rush's Alex Lifeson and King Crimson's Robert Fripp.
Wilson: "My fear is that the current generation of kids who're being born into this information revolution, growing up with the Internet, cell phones, iPods, this download culture, 'American Idol,' reality TV, prescription drugs, PlayStations—all of these things kind of distract people from what's important about life, which is to develop a sense of curiosity about what's out there."
On 5 November 2007, Fear of a Blank Planet won the Album of the Year award for the 2007 Classic Rock magazine awards. In December 2007, it was nominated for a Grammy Award for "Best Surround Sound Album" though Love by The Beatles won the award.
A new EP called Nil Recurring was released on 17 September 2007, featuring four unreleased tracks from the Fear of a Blank Planet sessions and including another contribution from Robert Fripp. The second leg of the tour started on 3 October 2007, now promoting new music from the EP. Nil Recurring entered the UK Top 30 Independent Label Albums at number eight. The EP was reissued on 18 February 2008 through Peaceville Records.
A recording from a 4 October 2007 in-store, mostly acoustic, performance at Park Avenue CDs in Orlando, Florida, was released on 18 February 2008 on CD under the name of We Lost The Skyline. The title is a reference to the lyrics of "The Sky Moves Sideways (Phase One)", which was the opening song on the live set. The album was released on vinyl of 21 March 2008. While intended to be a full-band show, the lack of space in the store only allowed the two guitarists, Wilson and John Wesley, to play.
The Incident
The band played a short European tour in October 2008 to shoot their second live-concert film, Anesthetize, preceded by three concerts in Australia in April. The filming took place on 15 and 16 October in the Netherlands at the 013 Tilburg venue. During one of these shows, Wilson mentioned that Porcupine Tree had started work on material for their next album, with an eye toward a release in 2009. The live-concert film on DVD and Blu-ray was released on 20 May 2010.
The band started recording their tenth studio album, The Incident, in February 2009. This was confirmed by the band, stating, "Writing for the next PT studio record is well underway, with the band recently spending two weeks scheduled in the English countryside working on new tracks. Recording of these pieces and a new 35-minute SW song cycle were due to start in February..." Months later, Wilson commented the 35-minute song kept evolving and now it has become a 55-minute song, occupying the entire disc.
On 12 June 2009, details were revealed on the Porcupine Tree website, "the record is set to be released via Roadrunner Records worldwide on 21 September, as a double CD. The centrepiece is the title track, which takes up the whole of the first disc. The 55-minute work is described as a slightly surreal song cycle about beginnings and endings and the sense that ‘after this, things will never be the same again.’ The self-produced album is completed by four standalone compositions that developed out of band writing sessions last December – Flicker, Bonnie The Cat, Black Dahlia, and Remember Me Lover feature on a separate EP-length disc to stress their independence from the song cycle." The album was the band's biggest commercial success to date, reaching number 23 in the UK album charts and also reaching the US Billboard Top 25.
The band also released another live album, Atlanta, in June 2010. The performance was actually recorded during the tour of Fear of a Blank Planet at the Roxy theatre, Atlanta, on 29 October 2007. It was released via online distribution only, with all the sale proceeds donated to Mick Karn for his treatment against cancer.
Inactivity and hiatus (2011–2020)
After finishing the touring cycle for The Incident in 2010, Wilson spent the rest of the year, and 2011, recording and releasing his second solo album, Grace for Drowning, and Blackfield's third album, Welcome to my DNA. Initially, the band had mentioned the possibility of working on new music in 2012, with Wilson mentioning "early 2012", and Harrison guessing they would start work in 2012 and release music in 2013. However, this soon changed, with Wilson announcing that he would continue to focus his future on his solo career. This new focus included a second leg of touring in support of Grace for Drowning in the first half of 2012, recording a third solo album in the second half of the year with his touring band, releasing it in early 2013, and then touring in support of the third solo album for "much of the year" – throughout 2013. Wilson still maintained that the band "haven’t split up" and that there are "no intentions of splitting up", but he also said there were no specific plans for a new album either. While he said that he still "want(s) to get Porcupine Tree back together at some point", he said that he was not sure what direction he wants to take the band, only that he is "tired of metal music", and that one member of the band does not like jazz, so it won't go into the direction of his solo project either.
In June 2012, Wilson re-emphasised his continued focus on his solo career, with his answer to the question "...is (there) a danger that Porcupine Tree might fall by the wayside?" being, "The honest answer is I don’t know. The solo career for me now is probably the most important. I think about it more than anything else, I’m more focused on it than anything else, I enjoy it more than anything else..." A two-disc live album titled Octane Twisted was released that following November by their record label, Kscope, containing a live recording of The Incident in its entirety, from material recorded at 2010 concerts at the Riviera Theater, Chicago, and the Royal Albert Hall. In May 2013, Wilson reiterated his stance on the band's status, stating that it's "...not to say the band has broken up or anything like that. It’s always conceivable that we could get back together in a year or five years, or 10 years. I really can’t say – there are no plans at the moment." Edwin's stance mirrored this.
After Wilson released his third solo album, The Raven That Refused to Sing (And Other Stories) in February 2013, and toured in support of it for the remainder of the year, its success led Wilson to commit to writing and recording a fourth solo album Hand. Cannot. Erase. over the course of 2014 and releasing it in 2015, pushing hypothetical work with Porcupine Tree into at least 2016. In March 2015, Wilson commented, “if Porcupine Tree [were] to get back together—and, by the way, I have never ruled that out—it will be a side project. There should be no question in anyone's mind that this is now my main musical path, my solo work.”
Moving into 2016, Wilson's views on a reformation were conflicting. In February 2016, in an interview with Prog Magazine, he stated that there was a "strong possibility" of Porcupine Tree reforming for another studio album at an undisclosed time in the future. However, in response to a question in August 2016 regarding a hypothetical Porcupine Tree performance, Wilson claimed, "you'd be waiting for a long time, that band doesn't exist anymore." In August 2017, Wilson explained: "It's no coincidence that since my solo project has taken off, other collaborations have receded to the background. Porcupine Tree hasn't made a record since 2009 and No-Man hasn't made a record since 2008. I feel less need now to be creatively involved in something other than my solo work. My solo work fulfills the musical needs I have now."
In a March 2018 interview when asked about the chances of further activity from Porcupine Tree he responded; "Honestly, I would say zero, because I’m just not that kind of person. I don’t go backwards. I’m not interested in going backwards; I want to move forwards, I want to do different things, I want to work with different people, I want to explore different kinds of music. That would seem like a terribly backward step to me. I’m proud of the catalogue; it’s there, it exists, but it’s kind of closed, it’s finished." However, in February 2021, Wilson suggested that a reformation was still possible someday, when it was least expected.
Reunion and Closure/Continuation (2021–present)
On 27 October 2021, Porcupine Tree, Wilson, and Harrison all shared a teaser video and mailing list link across their social media accounts, along with a stylised "P/T C/C" image. On 1 November the band announced their eleventh album, Closure/Continuation, to be released in June 2022 on Music For Nations, along with their first single in over 12 years, "Harridan". The lineup of the band now features just Wilson, Harrison, and Barbieri.
Musical style
Influences
Some of the inherent musical background of Porcupine Tree goes back to Wilson's childhood, when his parents gave Christmas presents to each other. His father received Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon whilst his mother got Donna Summer's Love to Love You Baby, both of which Wilson listened to heavily. These albums influenced his further songwriting. Other influences include Camel and Karlheinz Stockhausen.
Later in his teens, Wilson briefly became a fan of the new wave of British heavy metal, but as soon as he discovered 1970s music and progressive rock, his interest in metal diminished in favour of experimental music. He later (in the 2000s) discovered bands in the likes of Gojira, Sunn O))), Neurosis, and Meshuggah, which restored his faith in metal music. "For a long time, I couldn't find where all these creative musicians were going...", said Wilson, "and I found them, they were working in extreme metal." Shortly thereafter, he went on to produce three consecutive albums by Swedish progressive death metal band Opeth, which had a considerable influence in his further songwriting.
The influence of electronic music and krautrock is present, with Wilson namechecking bands such as Can, Neu!, Tangerine Dream, Squarepusher, and Aphex Twin and artists such as Klaus Schulze and Conrad Schnitzler, among others. He has mentioned on multiple occasions that he admires the work of American musician Trent Reznor, the sole official member of Nine Inch Nails. Wilson has also cited English electronic band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), along with other potentially "surprising" influences such as ABBA, The Carpenters, Electric Light Orchestra, and the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack album (1977), largely written and performed by the Bee Gees.
Characteristics
The music of Porcupine Tree is often described as melancholic. Wilson has stated music is a way for him to channel all his negative feelings, and "an exorcism of those elements within", finding it "easier to write songs about the negative side of the world than it is about the happy side of the world." In the Warszawa live radio broadcast album, before performing "Stop Swimming", Wilson can be heard saying "the saddest music is often the most beautiful."
Porcupine Tree is an album-oriented band, making records where many songs are related to each other. Wilson has said: "The important thing with Porcupine Tree is that all our songs have a unique sound world that they inhabit. I don't like the idea of any song sounding like any other song. So most of the time it's a case of finding the sound world first whether it be a texture or a drum rhythm that sets you off on a certain musical path, or particular musical atmosphere, or flavour." For their recordings, the band has included mellotron, banjo, hammered dulcimer, and guimbri, among other instruments unusual for rock bands.
Above all, Porcupine Tree's music has maintained a strong textural and experimental quality, often fusing many genres in a single track. The band's work is noted for its atmospheric nature, largely due to Barbieri's keyboard style and sound-processing abilities, and Wilson's cinematic scope, as a declared fan of American filmmaker David Lynch, whose films are renowned for their sonic content. "Very layered, very produced, very arranged and [with] complex arrangements" is the way Wilson describes the sound of the band. Apart from their regular edition, the albums Stupid Dream, Lightbulb Sun, In Absentia, Deadwing, Fear of a Blank Planet, and The Incident are available in DTS (5.1 Surround Sound) mix; this mixing technique has become a tradition for the band in recent years.
The band's live performances have also been praised, with Music Radar placing them fourth in their list of "The 30 greatest live acts in the world today" in 2010.
Porcupine Tree are often categorised as a progressive rock band. Although many listeners familiar with the group label them as such, Steven Wilson has been noted in the past to express a certain dislike for the use of the term "progressive" to refer to them. However, more recently, he made note that he has since become more relaxed toward the word considering it is becoming "a much broader term" as time passes. He has frequently stated that he dislikes the press comparing Porcupine Tree with neo prog bands or citing them as 'the New Pink Floyd'.
Legacy
Porcupine Tree have influenced a new generation of artists and bands.
Anders Nyström of the Swedish group Katatonia has cited the work of Porcupine Tree as a large influence for the band in their post-death metal eras. Luc Lemay, leader of the technical death metal band Gorguts, said that The Incident was "a big revelation" for him, inspiring his more recent songwriting. He singled out the concert of its tour as one of the two most important he has attended. Electronic producer Seven Lions also cited them as an inspiration for his dubstep and drum and bass compositions.
In addition to those artists who state that Porcupine Tree has been a direct influence on their own careers, other artists have been quoted expressing admiration for their work including Neil Peart, Alex Lifeson, Adrian Belew, Jordan Rudess, Mike Portnoy, Arjen Lucassen, Rob Swire, Haken and many others.
Band members
Members
Steven Wilson – vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards, piano, synthesisers, hammer dulcimer, banjo, sampler, various instruments (1987–2010; 2021–present)
Richard Barbieri – keyboards, synthesizers, piano and sound processing (1993–2010; 2021–present)
Gavin Harrison – drums and percussion (2002–2010; 2021–present)
Former members
Chris Maitland – drums, backing vocals (1993–2002)
Colin Edwin – bass, double bass (1993–2010)
Touring members
John Wesley – guitar, backing vocals (2002–2010)
Timeline
Discography
Studio albums
On the Sunday of Life... (1992)
Up the Downstair (1993)
The Sky Moves Sideways (1995)
Signify (1996)
Stupid Dream (1999)
Lightbulb Sun (2000)
In Absentia (2002)
Deadwing (2005)
Fear of a Blank Planet (2007)
The Incident (2009)
Closure/Continuation (2022)
References
External links
Porcupine Tree official website
English progressive rock groups
English progressive metal musical groups
English psychedelic rock music groups
Musical groups established in 1987
Musical groups disestablished in 2010
Musical groups reestablished in 2021
Musical quartets
Atlantic Records artists
1987 establishments in England
Musical groups from Hertfordshire
2010 disestablishments in England
Post-progressive musicians | true | [
"Colourful Radio is a commercial radio station broadcasting on DAB across London, Birmingham, Manchester as well as online. Colourful Radio's output is split between news, current affairs and urban music hit-list.\n\nHistory\nFounded in 2002 by Kofi Kusitor MBE, Colourful Radio was officially revealed in January 2004 as one of the UK's first internet audio streams. Legal commercial broadcast licences for London-wide and UK DAB were also gained in the same year.\n\nIn September 2005, Henry Bonsu (former presenter on BBC London 94.9) joined the station as presenter of its Drivetime show.\n\nFollowing a live presenter-led pilot in October 2005, Colourful Radio officially launched as a fully-fledged legal commercial radio station on 30 May 2006 with a mostly speech-heavy schedule online and on BSKYB satellite.\n\nWith commercial radio changing rapidly, Colourful Radio obtained its DAB capacity in May 2008.\n\nIn August 2008, Gordon Mac (formerly director of Kiss FM) was invited by Colourful Radio to refresh its line up and help improve its music output.\n\nColourful Radio officially launched on London DAB on 2 March 2009, with Gordon Mac as Head of Station, and Henry Bonsu as Director and Head of Programmes.\n\nIn June 2011, Gordon Mac decided to leave Colourful in order to start a new venture Mi-Soul.\n\nColourful Radio has received great reviews from, among others, The Guardian.\n\nThe demise of Choice FM in October 2013, left Colourful Radio as the only legal commercial radio station in the black music market.\n\nIn 2014, the station moved to new studios in Southwark and began a rebuilding process. In February 2017, the station joined DAB in Manchester, and in March DAB in Birmingham.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Colourful Radio website\n\nRadio stations in London\nInternet radio stations in the United Kingdom",
"Cajun Dance Party were a five-piece band based in London, England. They originally consisted of Robbie Stern, Max Bloom, Daniel Blumberg, Will Vignoles, and Vicky Freund. Blumberg and Bloom left the band in 2009 to form the band Yuck, while other members of the band went to university. Freund now performs with the band TML. No split was ever officially announced.\n\nBiography \nThe band came into being when guitarist Robbie Stern invited Daniel Blumberg (vocals), Max Bloom (bass guitar), William Vignoles (drums) and Vicky Freund (keys) to start playing together, originally to participate in their school 'battle of the bands' in 2005 at University College School, in the same year as Bombay Bicycle Club. In their first few band practices, the 15-year-olds began working on their first four songs, \"The Next Untouchable\", \"Colourful Life\", \"Amylase\" and \"Buttercups\", which were recorded as demos and submitted to their Myspace site shortly after.\n\nThe band played their first few shows at the West London all ages club night 'Way Out West', performing in the bar beneath Brentford FC football stadium. Way Out West was well known for putting on many up and coming bands such as Jamie T, Late of the Pier, Video Nasties, The More Assured and Laura Marling. The organiser of the event, Keith Anderson, began to manage the band shortly after. Their first single, \"The Next Untouchable\", was released on Anderson's record label as a limited edition 7\" single, with 500 copies being put into production.\n\nCajun Dance Party's debut album was entitled The Colourful Life, and released in April 2008. The band recorded the album sessions with Bernard Butler at the recording studio, West Heath Yard, owned by Edwyn Collins. West Heath Yard was also a music industry spoof which aired for a short while on Channel 4 in 1999, The album consisted of nine tracks, with singles from the album including \"Colourful Life\", \"The Race\", and \"Amylase\". The album was given 4/5 in The Guardian.\n\nThe band made many festival appearances in the UK and abroad, performing at such festivals as Reading and Leeds, Glastonbury, Oxegen, T in the Park, Underage Festival, Camden Crawl, the Summer Sonic Festival in Japan and the Les Inrocks tour in France.\n\nDiscography\n\nAlbums \n The Colourful Life (2008)\n\nSingles \n \"The Next Untouchable\"\n \"Amylase\"\n \"The Race\"\n \"Colourful Life\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Daily Music Guide Colourful Life review\n Live review The Point, Cardiff\n\nBritish indie rock groups\nMusical groups established in 2005\nXL Recordings artists"
]
|
[
"Porcupine Tree",
"Origins (1987-1990)",
"What year did Porcupine Tree form?",
"Porcupine Tree originated in 1987",
"Who was their inspiration?",
"Partially inspired by the psychedelic/progressive bands of the 1970s, such as Pink Floyd,",
"Did they cover any of their songs?",
"I don't know.",
"Did they win any awards?",
"I don't know.",
"What is something crazy they did?",
"The two fabricated a detailed back-story including information on alleged band members and album titles, as well as a \"colourful\" history",
"What was their \"colourful\" history story?",
"purportedly included events such as a meeting at a 1970s rock festival and several trips in and out of prison."
]
| C_db5a3dc3ab324c859d9629bd8f11ce28_1 | How many people originally were in the band? | 7 | How many people originally were in the Porcupine Tree band? | Porcupine Tree | Porcupine Tree originated in 1987 as a collaborative hoax project by Steven Wilson and Malcolm Stocks. Partially inspired by the psychedelic/progressive bands of the 1970s, such as Pink Floyd, that had dominated the music scene during their youth, the two decided to form a fictional legendary rock band named The Porcupine Tree. The two fabricated a detailed back-story including information on alleged band members and album titles, as well as a "colourful" history which purportedly included events such as a meeting at a 1970s rock festival and several trips in and out of prison. As soon as he had put aside enough money to buy his own studio equipment, Wilson obliged this creation with several hours of music to provide "evidence" of its existence. Although Stocks provided a few passages of treated vocals and experimental guitar playing, his role in the project was mostly offering occasional ideas, with the bulk of the material being written, recorded, played, and sung by Wilson. At this point, Porcupine Tree was little more than a joke and a private amusement, as Wilson was concentrating on his other project, No-Man, an endeavour with UK based singer and songwriter Tim Bowness. However, by 1989, he began to consider some of the Porcupine Tree music as potentially marketable. Wilson created an 80-minute-long cassette titled Tarquin's Seaweed Farm under the name of Porcupine Tree. Still showing the spirit of his joke, Wilson included an eight-page inlay which further revealed the hoaxed Porcupine Tree backstory, including references to fictitious band members such as Sir Tarquin Underspoon and Timothy Tadpole-Jones. Wilson sent out copies of Tarquin's Seaweed Farm to several people he felt would be interested in the recordings. Nick Saloman, the cult UK guitarist better known as The Bevis Frond, had suggested that he send one to Richard Allen, a writer for the UK counter-cultural magazine Encyclopaedia Psychedelica and co-editor of the UK psychedelic garage rock magazine Freakbeat. Allen reviewed the tape in both magazines. Whilst he disliked some of the material, he gave much of it a positive review. Several months later, Allen invited Wilson to contribute a track to the double LP A Psychedelic Psauna that was being put together to launch the new Delerium label. Allen would also become the band's manager, press agent, and promoter until 2004, his role in marketing the band's image decreasing after The Sky Moves Sideways album. In the meantime, Wilson had continued to work on new material. In 1990, he released the Love, Death & Mussolini EP, issued in a very limited run of 10 copies. The EP remains an extremely rare, collectible piece. It was composed of nine at-the-time-unreleased tracks, as a preview for the upcoming second album. Later in 1990, Wilson released a second full-length Porcupine Tree cassette called The Nostalgia Factory, which further expanded Porcupine Tree's underground fanbase, although at this point, the band was still carrying on the charade of being 1970s rock legends. By this point, Porcupine Tree was entirely a solo project, with Stocks having amicably moved on to other activities. CANNOTANSWER | Steven Wilson and Malcolm Stocks. | Porcupine Tree are an English rock band formed by musician Steven Wilson in 1987. During an initial career spanning more than twenty years, they earned critical acclaim from critics and fellow musicians, developed a cult following, and became an influence for new artists. The group carved out a career at a certain distance away from mainstream music, being described by publications such as Classic Rock and PopMatters as "the most important band you’d never heard of".
The band began as a solo project for Wilson, who initially created all of the band's music himself. By late 1993, however, he wanted to work in a band environment, bringing on frequent collaborators Richard Barbieri as keyboardist, Colin Edwin as bassist, and Chris Maitland as drummer to form the first permanent lineup. With Wilson as lead vocalist and guitarist, this remained the lineup until February 2002, when Maitland left the band and Gavin Harrison was recruited to replace him. Porcupine Tree's early sound evoked various styles of psychedelic rock, space rock and experimental rock, later moving towards a more progressive/space rock direction comparable to that of Pink Floyd. Upon signing with Kscope record label in the late 1990s, the band began to approach a more mainstream alternative rock sound. By the early 2000s, the band had signed to a major record label and shifted their sound again, this time in a more progressive metal direction.
In 2010, after the tour in support of their 2009 studio album The Incident (their biggest commercial success to date), the band became inactive as Wilson committed himself to his solo work and other members began working on their own separate projects. In 2018, after years of indetermination, Wilson ruled out a possible reformation.
Despite this, the band made a surprise reformation in 2021 with minimal advance publicity, this time with a trio line-up of Wilson, Barbieri and Harrison. The reformation was formally revealed on 1 November 2021, with the simultaneous release of the "Harridan" single and the announcement of a new studio album, Closure/Continuation, to be released on 24 June 2022.
History
Origins (1987–1990)
Porcupine Tree originated in 1987 as a collaborative hoax project by Steven Wilson and Malcolm Stocks. Partially inspired by the psychedelic/progressive bands of the 1970s, such as Pink Floyd, that had dominated the music scene during their youth, the two decided to form a fictional legendary rock band named The Porcupine Tree. The two fabricated a detailed back-story including information on alleged band members and album titles, as well as a "colourful" history which purportedly included events such as a meeting at a 1970s rock festival and several trips in and out of prison. As soon as he had put aside enough money to buy his own studio equipment, Wilson obliged this creation with several hours of music to provide "evidence" of its existence. Although Stocks provided a few passages of treated vocals and experimental guitar playing, his role in the project was mostly offering occasional ideas, with the bulk of the material being written, recorded, played, and sung by Wilson.
At this point, Porcupine Tree was little more than a joke and a private amusement, as Wilson was concentrating on his other project, No-Man, an endeavour with UK based singer and songwriter Tim Bowness. However, by 1989, he began to consider some of the Porcupine Tree music as potentially marketable. Wilson created an 80-minute-long cassette titled Tarquin's Seaweed Farm under the name of Porcupine Tree. Still showing the spirit of his joke, Wilson included an eight-page inlay which further revealed the hoaxed Porcupine Tree backstory, including references to fictitious band members such as Sir Tarquin Underspoon and Timothy Tadpole-Jones.
Wilson sent out copies of Tarquin's Seaweed Farm to several people he felt would be interested in the recordings. Nick Saloman, the cult UK guitarist better known as The Bevis Frond, had suggested that he send one to Richard Allen, a writer for the UK counter-cultural magazine Encyclopaedia Psychedelica and co-editor of the UK psychedelic garage rock magazine Freakbeat. Allen reviewed the tape in both magazines. Whilst he disliked some of the material, he gave much of it a positive review. Several months later, Allen invited Wilson to contribute a track to the double LP A Psychedelic Psauna that was being put together to launch the new Delerium label. Allen would also become the band's manager, press agent, and promoter until 2004, his role in marketing the band's image decreasing after The Sky Moves Sideways album. In the meantime, Wilson had continued to work on new material. In 1990, he released the Love, Death & Mussolini EP, issued in a very limited run of 10 copies. The EP remains an extremely rare, collectible piece. It was composed of nine at-the-time-unreleased tracks, as a preview for the upcoming second album. In 1991, Wilson released a second full-length Porcupine Tree cassette called The Nostalgia Factory, which further expanded Porcupine Tree's underground fanbase, although at this point, the band was still carrying on the charade of being 1970s rock legends. By this point, Porcupine Tree was entirely a solo project, with Stocks having amicably moved on to other activities.
The Delerium years (1991–1997)
On the Sunday of Life...
Along with the A Psychedelic Psauna compilation, which featured the Porcupine Tree track "Linton Samuel Dawson", the newly formed Delerium label, formed by Freakbeat editors Richard Allen and Ivor Trueman, offered to reissue the cassettes Tarquin's Seaweed Farm and The Nostalgia Factory. Two hundred copies of each cassette were sold through Freakbeat's mail order, The Freak Emporium, and soon Porcupine Tree became known as a mysterious new act amongst the then UK underground psychedelic music scene.
Shortly thereafter, Delerium invited Wilson to sign as one of the label's founder artists. The first release after this, a double vinyl album and single CD compiling the best material from his two cassettes, was released in mid-1992 as On the Sunday of Life, a title chosen from a long list of possible nonsense titles compiled by Richard Allen. The rest of the music from the initial tapes was released on the limited edition compilation album Yellow Hedgerow Dreamscape.
In 1992, Delerium released On the Sunday of Life as an edition of 1,000 copies, complete with a deluxe gatefold sleeve. The album sold very well, particularly in Italy, and it was briefly repressed on vinyl and has remained in print on CD ever since its release. The album featured future concert favourite and frequent encore song "Radioactive Toy". By 2000, On the Sunday of Life... had accumulated sales of more than 20,000 copies. On the Sunday of Life was originally meant to be a quadruple (LP)/double (CD) album compiling both cassettes in full, but changed to the best (according to Wilson) songs from the tapes. In 2004, Wilson remixed and remastered all three tapes, releasing them as a three-CD box set called Footprints: Cassette Music 1988-1992. This box was only distributed to family and friends.
Up the Downstair
In the midst of Porcupine Tree's rising success, Wilson's other band, No-Man, had been getting excellent UK press, which led to the band being signed to leading UK independent music publisher, Hit & Run Music Publishing, in 1991, which resulted in recording agreements with One Little Indian Records, and Epic 440/Sony in the US. No-Man's success gave Wilson the opportunity to leave his regular job and devote his time solely to music. All of the Delirium releases were published by Hit & Run, whose executive Dave Massey had signed No-Man and continued to be closely involved in Wilson's Porcupine Tree project.
In May 1993, the second Porcupine Tree album, Up the Downstair, was released, another prospective double album that was finally slimmed down to a single record. "Voyage 34" was actually going to take up the second disc, but it was last decided to be released alone as a single. The album was highly praised, Melody Maker describing it as "a psychedelic masterpiece... one of the albums of the year." The album continued the fusion of electronic music and rock and also featured guest appearances from two future Porcupine Tree members, Richard Barbieri, of 1970s-80s art rock band Japan, and Colin Edwin.
In November 1993, Voyage 34 was reissued alongside an additional 12-inch remix by Astralasia. The album managed to enter the NME indie chart for six weeks and became an underground chill-out classic, even without radio play.
The Sky Moves Sideways
The profile of Porcupine Tree had now grown to the extent that Wilson wanted to expand into live performances. Thus, in December 1993, Porcupine Tree became a live unit featuring Steven Wilson on lead vocals/guitar, Colin Edwin on bass, Chris Maitland on drums, and Richard Barbieri on keyboards.
All three new members of the group had worked with Wilson on various projects over the preceding years, especially Barbieri and Maitland, who had been part of No-Man's touring band. The new line-up's first live album, Spiral Circus, contained recordings from their first three performances, including a BBC Radio One session for Mark Radcliffe, an early champion of the group.
Porcupine Tree's next album did not emerge until early 1995, but was preceded by the Moonloop EP, the last two tracks of which were recorded during the album sessions and were the first to feature the new band. Released in 1995, the band's third studio album, The Sky Moves Sideways became a success among progressive rock fans and Porcupine Tree were hailed as the Pink Floyd of the 1990s. Wilson later lamented this, stating, "I can't help that. It's true that during the period of The Sky Moves Sideways, I had done a little too much of it in the sense of satisfying, in a way, the fans of Pink Floyd who were listening to us because that group doesn't make albums any more. Moreover, I regret it".
The Sky Moves Sideways was an expansive soundscape of melody and ambient rock experimentation, but proved to be a transitional work with half recorded before the formation of the band and half recorded after. Most of the album was taken up with the 35-minute title track, which at one point Steven had intended to be long enough to occupy the whole album. An alternate version of the track, containing some of the excised music, was included on the 2004 remastered version of the album. It also entered the NME, Melody Maker, and Music Week charts. Together with the Moonloop EP, this album was the first Porcupine Tree music issued in America in the autumn of 1995, and attracted favourable press on both sides of the Atlantic. The band supported the album with numerous concerts throughout the year at major music venues in the UK, the Netherlands, Italy, and Greece.
Signify
Partly unsatisfied with the half band/half solo nature of The Sky Moves Sideways, Porcupine Tree promptly got down to the task of recording the first proper band record. Wilson admitted he was always "in love with the idea of the rock band" because "bands have a kind of glamour, and appeal, and a romance about them the solo projects just don't have." The band worked sporadically over the next year on developing a tighter and more ambitious rock sound.
After the release of the first real Porcupine Tree single, "Waiting", which entered all UK indie charts and the UK National chart and attracting airplay all over Europe, Signify was released in September 1996. The album was a mixture of instrumental tracks and more song-oriented tunes, blending numerous rock and avant-garde styles, such as krautrock. Wilson expressed satisfaction in the direction of the album, stating "...tracks like 'Every Home Is Wired' and 'Dark Matter' totally transcend both genre and comparison. Finally, I think we are making a completely original and 1990s form of music, but which still has its root in progressive music." The musicians received writing credits for some tracks, most notably for "Intermediate Jesus", which evolved from a jam session later released as Metanoia at the end of 1998. A large amount of major European media interest accompanied the album's release.
In March 1997, they played three nights in Rome to an audience that surpassed 5,000 people. All three dates were recorded for use in the 1997 live album Coma Divine – Recorded Live in Rome that was released as a goodbye to Delerium Records, which felt it could no longer offer the kind of resources the band needed to continue to build its profile worldwide. In late 1997 Porcupine Tree's first three albums were remastered and reissued. Signify also was released in the US on Miles Copeland's Ark 21 label.
The Snapper years (1998–2001)
Stupid Dream
Wilson, Barbieri, Edwin, and Maitland spent all of 1998 recording their fifth studio album, a release that reflected the band's move towards a more song-oriented writing. Wilson acknowledged this time he was "much more interested in songwriting as an art form, as opposed to soundscape development" and commented he took influence from The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds, Todd Rundgren, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and "anything with really good ensemble singing". He also indicated that he was "interested in the idea of the pop song as a kind of experimental symphony".
The band recorded the album without a label, but signed with Snapper/Kscope before releasing Stupid Dream, in March 1999. The album was supported by a tour of the United Kingdom, Italy, Greece, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, France, Poland, and the United States. The three singles taken from the album: "Piano Lessons", "Stranger by the Minute", and "Pure Narcotic", all achieved mainstream exposure in the US and in Europe, and placed well in the UK independent charts and on radio-station playlists. Although the album was a departure from their earlier sound, it brought the band new-found popularity and went on to become the band's best-selling and most acclaimed release up to that time.
Lightbulb Sun
Completed for February 2000, with string arrangements provided by Dave Gregory of XTC, Porcupine Tree's sixth studio album, Lightbulb Sun, built on the mix of songwriting, soundscaping, and rock dynamics of Stupid Dream. The album was released in May 2000, preceded by the single "Four Chords That Made a Million". A sold-out show at the Scala in London began a short run of UK shows, that were followed later in the year by European festival dates and a major tour supporting Dream Theater. The band continued touring through the end of 2000 and start of 2001, including their first major tour of Germany. A special double CD edition of the Lightbulb Sun album was issued in Israel and Germany.
In May, the band released a compilation B-side album called Recordings, which featured nine tracks from the Stupid Dream and Lightbulb Sun sessions that had been left off both albums. In May 2001, Porcupine Tree did three consecutive dates as a support band to Marillion, in France, Germany, and the Netherlands. In June, the band played a short US tour, starting with an appearance in NEARfest of Pennsylvania, and culminating in a sold-out show at The Bottom Line in New York City. Shortly afterwards, the band announced that they had signed a new international record deal with Lava/Atlantic Records.
The Lava years (2002–2005)
In Absentia
In February 2002, Porcupine Tree's first line-up change occurred when drummer Chris Maitland was dismissed after eight years with the band. The band welcomed drummer and longtime acquaintance Gavin Harrison as his replacement. In March 2002, a box set of the band's early work was released, Stars Die: The Delerium Years 1991–1997, and the band commenced recording their first major label album, drawing from a pool of 30 new songs written by Wilson in the previous two years. Recording sessions took place at Avatar Studios in New York and London, with veteran audio engineer Paul Northfield and string arranger Dave Gregory also playing major roles in the making of the record. The album was mixed in Los Angeles in May with Tim Palmer.
The resulting album, In Absentia, was released by Lava Records in September 2002. The band also released a 5.1 surround-sound version of the album, mixed by Grammy Award-winning producer Elliot Scheiner. The surround-sound version of the album won the award for best 5.1 mix at the 2004 Surround Sound Music awards in Los Angeles.
To promote the album, the band undertook four tours of Europe and North America, including one with acclaimed Swedish metal band Opeth. On tour, the new line-up of the band was further augmented by additional touring vocalist/guitarist John Wesley. During these tours, the visual element of the band's performance was taken to new heights with the involvement of filmmaker and photographer Lasse Hoile, who had created the cover art for In Absentia and now went on to create a dark and surreal visual to Porcupine Tree's music. The long promotional campaign for In Absentia ended on 30 November 2003, as the band played a homecoming show to a sold-out London Astoria.
During 2003, Porcupine Tree set up their own label, Transmission, with an online store hosted by Burning Shed record label. The first release on the Transmission label was a studio session recorded for XM Radio, Washington, DC, followed in 2004 by a recording from Polish radio in 2001. The band used the label to issue supplemental content, such as EPs, demos, and live recordings. Additionally, a reissue/remaster campaign also began in 2003, with many of the early albums expanded to double CDs. These reissues included re-recorded/remixed double-CD versions of the Up the Downstair, The Sky Moves Sideways, and Signify albums, and the reissue of Stupid Dream and Lightbulb Sun, both comprising a CD with a new stereo mix of the album plus a DVD-Audio with a 5.1 surround mix.
Deadwing
In early 2004, the band embarked on the recording sessions for their next record, Deadwing, their second for Lava/Atlantic. The album takes its inspiration from a film script written by Wilson with his filmmaker friend Mike Bennion. The album sessions completed in November 2004, and Deadwing was released in Europe and the US during the spring of 2005 as both a stereo and 5.1 surround-sound album, preceded by the release of two singles, "Shallow" in the US and "Lazarus" in Europe. The album benefited from guest appearances by Adrian Belew from King Crimson and Opeth's Mikael Åkerfeldt, and was a commercial success, due in part to "Shallow" receiving airplay, peaking at number 26 on Billboard's Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks. Additionally, "Lazarus" entered the German singles Top 100 at number 91. The song "Shallow" was also featured in the soundtrack for the film Four Brothers.
The album won the Surround Music Awards for "Best Made-For-Surround Title" the same year of its release and was voted number-two album of 2005 in Sound & Vision, the most widely distributed US magazine in the field of home electronics and entertainment. Porcupine Tree released Deadwing in Japan on 22 March 2006, the first album by the band to be released in that country.
The tour to promote the album commenced in the UK at the end of March, and continued throughout the year. Mike Bennion created a Myspace page dedicated to the prospective Deadwing film, in which he posted the first 15 pages of the script and included a trailer. However, whilst the scripts are finished, the project is still on hiatus due to lack of budget.
The Roadrunner years (2006–2010)
Fear of a Blank Planet
In August 2006, Porcupine Tree announced that the band had signed with Roadrunner Records UK. Prior to their first release on Roadrunner, the band released their first live concert DVD, Arriving Somewhere..., on 10 October 2006. It was accompanied by a brief tour in which the group performed 50 minutes of new material from the forthcoming studio album for the first half of the shows. Supporting acts included Swedish band Paatos in Europe and ProjeKct Six in the United States.
The band announced the next album's title would be Fear of a Blank Planet in January 2007 and the album was released on 16 April 2007. The album charted in almost all European countries, and peaked at number 59 on the Billboard 200. A 92-date tour for 2007 took the band to countries where they had never performed, such as Finland and Mexico. The tour included appearances in multiple music festivals such as the Voodoo Experience in New Orleans, the German twin-festivals, Hurricane and Southside, and the Download Festival of Donington Park. The band performed their first ever shows in Australia in 2008.
The lyrics of the album deal with some common behaviour tendencies concerning society, especially youth, in the beginning of the 21st century, such as bipolar disorder, attention deficit disorder, drug abuse, alienation, and deprivation caused by mass media. The concept of the album was inspired by Bret Easton Ellis novel Lunar Park and the title alludes to Public Enemy's album, Fear of a Black Planet, both sharing the particularity of reflecting notorious conflicts affecting society in the world at some time. Wilson notes that whilst race relationship was the main issue among young people when Public Enemy's album was released, it was replaced in the 21st century by a general superficiality, boredom, and introversion. The album features contributions from Rush's Alex Lifeson and King Crimson's Robert Fripp.
Wilson: "My fear is that the current generation of kids who're being born into this information revolution, growing up with the Internet, cell phones, iPods, this download culture, 'American Idol,' reality TV, prescription drugs, PlayStations—all of these things kind of distract people from what's important about life, which is to develop a sense of curiosity about what's out there."
On 5 November 2007, Fear of a Blank Planet won the Album of the Year award for the 2007 Classic Rock magazine awards. In December 2007, it was nominated for a Grammy Award for "Best Surround Sound Album" though Love by The Beatles won the award.
A new EP called Nil Recurring was released on 17 September 2007, featuring four unreleased tracks from the Fear of a Blank Planet sessions and including another contribution from Robert Fripp. The second leg of the tour started on 3 October 2007, now promoting new music from the EP. Nil Recurring entered the UK Top 30 Independent Label Albums at number eight. The EP was reissued on 18 February 2008 through Peaceville Records.
A recording from a 4 October 2007 in-store, mostly acoustic, performance at Park Avenue CDs in Orlando, Florida, was released on 18 February 2008 on CD under the name of We Lost The Skyline. The title is a reference to the lyrics of "The Sky Moves Sideways (Phase One)", which was the opening song on the live set. The album was released on vinyl of 21 March 2008. While intended to be a full-band show, the lack of space in the store only allowed the two guitarists, Wilson and John Wesley, to play.
The Incident
The band played a short European tour in October 2008 to shoot their second live-concert film, Anesthetize, preceded by three concerts in Australia in April. The filming took place on 15 and 16 October in the Netherlands at the 013 Tilburg venue. During one of these shows, Wilson mentioned that Porcupine Tree had started work on material for their next album, with an eye toward a release in 2009. The live-concert film on DVD and Blu-ray was released on 20 May 2010.
The band started recording their tenth studio album, The Incident, in February 2009. This was confirmed by the band, stating, "Writing for the next PT studio record is well underway, with the band recently spending two weeks scheduled in the English countryside working on new tracks. Recording of these pieces and a new 35-minute SW song cycle were due to start in February..." Months later, Wilson commented the 35-minute song kept evolving and now it has become a 55-minute song, occupying the entire disc.
On 12 June 2009, details were revealed on the Porcupine Tree website, "the record is set to be released via Roadrunner Records worldwide on 21 September, as a double CD. The centrepiece is the title track, which takes up the whole of the first disc. The 55-minute work is described as a slightly surreal song cycle about beginnings and endings and the sense that ‘after this, things will never be the same again.’ The self-produced album is completed by four standalone compositions that developed out of band writing sessions last December – Flicker, Bonnie The Cat, Black Dahlia, and Remember Me Lover feature on a separate EP-length disc to stress their independence from the song cycle." The album was the band's biggest commercial success to date, reaching number 23 in the UK album charts and also reaching the US Billboard Top 25.
The band also released another live album, Atlanta, in June 2010. The performance was actually recorded during the tour of Fear of a Blank Planet at the Roxy theatre, Atlanta, on 29 October 2007. It was released via online distribution only, with all the sale proceeds donated to Mick Karn for his treatment against cancer.
Inactivity and hiatus (2011–2020)
After finishing the touring cycle for The Incident in 2010, Wilson spent the rest of the year, and 2011, recording and releasing his second solo album, Grace for Drowning, and Blackfield's third album, Welcome to my DNA. Initially, the band had mentioned the possibility of working on new music in 2012, with Wilson mentioning "early 2012", and Harrison guessing they would start work in 2012 and release music in 2013. However, this soon changed, with Wilson announcing that he would continue to focus his future on his solo career. This new focus included a second leg of touring in support of Grace for Drowning in the first half of 2012, recording a third solo album in the second half of the year with his touring band, releasing it in early 2013, and then touring in support of the third solo album for "much of the year" – throughout 2013. Wilson still maintained that the band "haven’t split up" and that there are "no intentions of splitting up", but he also said there were no specific plans for a new album either. While he said that he still "want(s) to get Porcupine Tree back together at some point", he said that he was not sure what direction he wants to take the band, only that he is "tired of metal music", and that one member of the band does not like jazz, so it won't go into the direction of his solo project either.
In June 2012, Wilson re-emphasised his continued focus on his solo career, with his answer to the question "...is (there) a danger that Porcupine Tree might fall by the wayside?" being, "The honest answer is I don’t know. The solo career for me now is probably the most important. I think about it more than anything else, I’m more focused on it than anything else, I enjoy it more than anything else..." A two-disc live album titled Octane Twisted was released that following November by their record label, Kscope, containing a live recording of The Incident in its entirety, from material recorded at 2010 concerts at the Riviera Theater, Chicago, and the Royal Albert Hall. In May 2013, Wilson reiterated his stance on the band's status, stating that it's "...not to say the band has broken up or anything like that. It’s always conceivable that we could get back together in a year or five years, or 10 years. I really can’t say – there are no plans at the moment." Edwin's stance mirrored this.
After Wilson released his third solo album, The Raven That Refused to Sing (And Other Stories) in February 2013, and toured in support of it for the remainder of the year, its success led Wilson to commit to writing and recording a fourth solo album Hand. Cannot. Erase. over the course of 2014 and releasing it in 2015, pushing hypothetical work with Porcupine Tree into at least 2016. In March 2015, Wilson commented, “if Porcupine Tree [were] to get back together—and, by the way, I have never ruled that out—it will be a side project. There should be no question in anyone's mind that this is now my main musical path, my solo work.”
Moving into 2016, Wilson's views on a reformation were conflicting. In February 2016, in an interview with Prog Magazine, he stated that there was a "strong possibility" of Porcupine Tree reforming for another studio album at an undisclosed time in the future. However, in response to a question in August 2016 regarding a hypothetical Porcupine Tree performance, Wilson claimed, "you'd be waiting for a long time, that band doesn't exist anymore." In August 2017, Wilson explained: "It's no coincidence that since my solo project has taken off, other collaborations have receded to the background. Porcupine Tree hasn't made a record since 2009 and No-Man hasn't made a record since 2008. I feel less need now to be creatively involved in something other than my solo work. My solo work fulfills the musical needs I have now."
In a March 2018 interview when asked about the chances of further activity from Porcupine Tree he responded; "Honestly, I would say zero, because I’m just not that kind of person. I don’t go backwards. I’m not interested in going backwards; I want to move forwards, I want to do different things, I want to work with different people, I want to explore different kinds of music. That would seem like a terribly backward step to me. I’m proud of the catalogue; it’s there, it exists, but it’s kind of closed, it’s finished." However, in February 2021, Wilson suggested that a reformation was still possible someday, when it was least expected.
Reunion and Closure/Continuation (2021–present)
On 27 October 2021, Porcupine Tree, Wilson, and Harrison all shared a teaser video and mailing list link across their social media accounts, along with a stylised "P/T C/C" image. On 1 November the band announced their eleventh album, Closure/Continuation, to be released in June 2022 on Music For Nations, along with their first single in over 12 years, "Harridan". The lineup of the band now features just Wilson, Harrison, and Barbieri.
Musical style
Influences
Some of the inherent musical background of Porcupine Tree goes back to Wilson's childhood, when his parents gave Christmas presents to each other. His father received Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon whilst his mother got Donna Summer's Love to Love You Baby, both of which Wilson listened to heavily. These albums influenced his further songwriting. Other influences include Camel and Karlheinz Stockhausen.
Later in his teens, Wilson briefly became a fan of the new wave of British heavy metal, but as soon as he discovered 1970s music and progressive rock, his interest in metal diminished in favour of experimental music. He later (in the 2000s) discovered bands in the likes of Gojira, Sunn O))), Neurosis, and Meshuggah, which restored his faith in metal music. "For a long time, I couldn't find where all these creative musicians were going...", said Wilson, "and I found them, they were working in extreme metal." Shortly thereafter, he went on to produce three consecutive albums by Swedish progressive death metal band Opeth, which had a considerable influence in his further songwriting.
The influence of electronic music and krautrock is present, with Wilson namechecking bands such as Can, Neu!, Tangerine Dream, Squarepusher, and Aphex Twin and artists such as Klaus Schulze and Conrad Schnitzler, among others. He has mentioned on multiple occasions that he admires the work of American musician Trent Reznor, the sole official member of Nine Inch Nails. Wilson has also cited English electronic band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), along with other potentially "surprising" influences such as ABBA, The Carpenters, Electric Light Orchestra, and the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack album (1977), largely written and performed by the Bee Gees.
Characteristics
The music of Porcupine Tree is often described as melancholic. Wilson has stated music is a way for him to channel all his negative feelings, and "an exorcism of those elements within", finding it "easier to write songs about the negative side of the world than it is about the happy side of the world." In the Warszawa live radio broadcast album, before performing "Stop Swimming", Wilson can be heard saying "the saddest music is often the most beautiful."
Porcupine Tree is an album-oriented band, making records where many songs are related to each other. Wilson has said: "The important thing with Porcupine Tree is that all our songs have a unique sound world that they inhabit. I don't like the idea of any song sounding like any other song. So most of the time it's a case of finding the sound world first whether it be a texture or a drum rhythm that sets you off on a certain musical path, or particular musical atmosphere, or flavour." For their recordings, the band has included mellotron, banjo, hammered dulcimer, and guimbri, among other instruments unusual for rock bands.
Above all, Porcupine Tree's music has maintained a strong textural and experimental quality, often fusing many genres in a single track. The band's work is noted for its atmospheric nature, largely due to Barbieri's keyboard style and sound-processing abilities, and Wilson's cinematic scope, as a declared fan of American filmmaker David Lynch, whose films are renowned for their sonic content. "Very layered, very produced, very arranged and [with] complex arrangements" is the way Wilson describes the sound of the band. Apart from their regular edition, the albums Stupid Dream, Lightbulb Sun, In Absentia, Deadwing, Fear of a Blank Planet, and The Incident are available in DTS (5.1 Surround Sound) mix; this mixing technique has become a tradition for the band in recent years.
The band's live performances have also been praised, with Music Radar placing them fourth in their list of "The 30 greatest live acts in the world today" in 2010.
Porcupine Tree are often categorised as a progressive rock band. Although many listeners familiar with the group label them as such, Steven Wilson has been noted in the past to express a certain dislike for the use of the term "progressive" to refer to them. However, more recently, he made note that he has since become more relaxed toward the word considering it is becoming "a much broader term" as time passes. He has frequently stated that he dislikes the press comparing Porcupine Tree with neo prog bands or citing them as 'the New Pink Floyd'.
Legacy
Porcupine Tree have influenced a new generation of artists and bands.
Anders Nyström of the Swedish group Katatonia has cited the work of Porcupine Tree as a large influence for the band in their post-death metal eras. Luc Lemay, leader of the technical death metal band Gorguts, said that The Incident was "a big revelation" for him, inspiring his more recent songwriting. He singled out the concert of its tour as one of the two most important he has attended. Electronic producer Seven Lions also cited them as an inspiration for his dubstep and drum and bass compositions.
In addition to those artists who state that Porcupine Tree has been a direct influence on their own careers, other artists have been quoted expressing admiration for their work including Neil Peart, Alex Lifeson, Adrian Belew, Jordan Rudess, Mike Portnoy, Arjen Lucassen, Rob Swire, Haken and many others.
Band members
Members
Steven Wilson – vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards, piano, synthesisers, hammer dulcimer, banjo, sampler, various instruments (1987–2010; 2021–present)
Richard Barbieri – keyboards, synthesizers, piano and sound processing (1993–2010; 2021–present)
Gavin Harrison – drums and percussion (2002–2010; 2021–present)
Former members
Chris Maitland – drums, backing vocals (1993–2002)
Colin Edwin – bass, double bass (1993–2010)
Touring members
John Wesley – guitar, backing vocals (2002–2010)
Timeline
Discography
Studio albums
On the Sunday of Life... (1992)
Up the Downstair (1993)
The Sky Moves Sideways (1995)
Signify (1996)
Stupid Dream (1999)
Lightbulb Sun (2000)
In Absentia (2002)
Deadwing (2005)
Fear of a Blank Planet (2007)
The Incident (2009)
Closure/Continuation (2022)
References
External links
Porcupine Tree official website
English progressive rock groups
English progressive metal musical groups
English psychedelic rock music groups
Musical groups established in 1987
Musical groups disestablished in 2010
Musical groups reestablished in 2021
Musical quartets
Atlantic Records artists
1987 establishments in England
Musical groups from Hertfordshire
2010 disestablishments in England
Post-progressive musicians | true | [
"Vitamin Enhanced is a 6-disc box set by English psychedelic rock band Ozric Tentacles. It compiles the band's six first recordings, originally released in the 1980s.\n\nThe first six albums were originally released on cassette, handmade by the band, and only sold at festivals and concerts. In 1993, the albums were transferred to CD, and the compiling box set was first released in November 1993 through the band's independent record label, Dovetail Records. The original pressing was limited to 5,000 copies. Not much later, the box set was withdrawn due to complaints from food company Kellogg’s, since they alleged the design of the box was too similar to their Corn Flakes one. It remains unknown how many box sets were sold before the withdrawal, but since then, the original 1994 box set has become a rare collectors' object.\n\nAll six albums were re-released as independent CD copies in 2000 by Snapper Music, going quickly out of print. In 2013, to celebrate the band's 30th anniversary, the original six albums were remastered for the reissue of the Vitamin Enhanced box set, released through Snapper Music in January 2014. In 2021, the six albums were once again remastered and released as a deluxe box set with a 48-page book.\n\nTrack listing\n\nCD 1: Erpsongs (1985)\n\nCD 2: Tantric Obstacles (1985)\n\nCD 3: Ethereal Cereal (1986)\n\nCD 4: There Is Nothing (1987)\n\nCD 5: Sliding Gliding Worlds (1988)\n\nCD 6: Bits Between the Bits (1989)\n\nReferences\n\n1994 compilation albums\nOzric Tentacles albums",
"\"How Many More Years\" is a blues song written and originally recorded by Howlin' Wolf in 1951. Recorded at the Memphis Recording Service – which later became the Sun Studio – it was released by Chess Records and reached No. 4 on the Billboard R&B chart. Musician and record producer T-Bone Burnett has described \"How Many More Years\" as \"in some ways... the first rock’n’roll song\". It was a double-sided hit with \"Moanin' at Midnight\", which reached No. 10 on the R&B chart.\n\nRecording and release \nAfter military service, Chester Burnett performed as a blues singer and formed his own band in West Memphis, Arkansas, in 1948, billing himself as \"The Howlin' Wolf\". He began broadcasting on radio station KWEM in West Memphis, and was brought by Ike Turner to record for Sam Phillips in Memphis, Tennessee.\n\nHe recorded \"How Many More Years\" at the Memphis Recording Service at 706 Union Avenue, Memphis, Tennessee, in or about July 1951, singing and playing harmonica with a band consisting of Ike Turner (piano), Willie Johnson (guitar), and Willie Steele (drums). The repetitious bass-string boogie line resembles the one played in the traditional blues standard \"Forty-Four\".\n\nPhillips had not yet set up Sun Records and regularly leased his recordings to the Chess label in Chicago. The record was issued as Chess 1479 on 15 August 1951, with \"Moanin' at Midnight\" as the A-side and \"How Many More Years\" as the B-side. \"Moanin' at Midnight\" entered the Billboard R&B chart at No. 10 in November 1951, and was followed four weeks later by \"How Many More Years\", which became the more popular side. It rose to No. 8 on the Best Selling R&B Records chart in December 1951, and No. 4 on the Most Played Juke Box R&B Records chart on March 1, 1952.\n\nThe songwriting for both sides of the record was originally credited to Carl Germany, who was a disc jockey and dance promoter in Chicago. The Chess label occasionally used composer credits on their records to repay favors to local businessmen who had helped their record sales. Later reissues of the recordings have given the songwriting credits to Chester Burnett.\n\nFollowing the record's success, Burnett moved to Chicago in late 1952, and developed his career further in clubs and through recordings there, with a new band.\n\nInfluence \nWriter Robert Palmer has cited Willie Johnson's electric guitar work on the track as the first use of the power chord. T-Bone Burnett said of the recording:\n\nReferences \n\n1951 songs\n1951 singles\nChess Records singles\nHowlin' Wolf songs"
]
|
[
"Porcupine Tree",
"Origins (1987-1990)",
"What year did Porcupine Tree form?",
"Porcupine Tree originated in 1987",
"Who was their inspiration?",
"Partially inspired by the psychedelic/progressive bands of the 1970s, such as Pink Floyd,",
"Did they cover any of their songs?",
"I don't know.",
"Did they win any awards?",
"I don't know.",
"What is something crazy they did?",
"The two fabricated a detailed back-story including information on alleged band members and album titles, as well as a \"colourful\" history",
"What was their \"colourful\" history story?",
"purportedly included events such as a meeting at a 1970s rock festival and several trips in and out of prison.",
"How many people originally were in the band?",
"Steven Wilson and Malcolm Stocks."
]
| C_db5a3dc3ab324c859d9629bd8f11ce28_1 | Did either one have formal training? | 8 | Did either one of the Porcupine Tree members have formal training? | Porcupine Tree | Porcupine Tree originated in 1987 as a collaborative hoax project by Steven Wilson and Malcolm Stocks. Partially inspired by the psychedelic/progressive bands of the 1970s, such as Pink Floyd, that had dominated the music scene during their youth, the two decided to form a fictional legendary rock band named The Porcupine Tree. The two fabricated a detailed back-story including information on alleged band members and album titles, as well as a "colourful" history which purportedly included events such as a meeting at a 1970s rock festival and several trips in and out of prison. As soon as he had put aside enough money to buy his own studio equipment, Wilson obliged this creation with several hours of music to provide "evidence" of its existence. Although Stocks provided a few passages of treated vocals and experimental guitar playing, his role in the project was mostly offering occasional ideas, with the bulk of the material being written, recorded, played, and sung by Wilson. At this point, Porcupine Tree was little more than a joke and a private amusement, as Wilson was concentrating on his other project, No-Man, an endeavour with UK based singer and songwriter Tim Bowness. However, by 1989, he began to consider some of the Porcupine Tree music as potentially marketable. Wilson created an 80-minute-long cassette titled Tarquin's Seaweed Farm under the name of Porcupine Tree. Still showing the spirit of his joke, Wilson included an eight-page inlay which further revealed the hoaxed Porcupine Tree backstory, including references to fictitious band members such as Sir Tarquin Underspoon and Timothy Tadpole-Jones. Wilson sent out copies of Tarquin's Seaweed Farm to several people he felt would be interested in the recordings. Nick Saloman, the cult UK guitarist better known as The Bevis Frond, had suggested that he send one to Richard Allen, a writer for the UK counter-cultural magazine Encyclopaedia Psychedelica and co-editor of the UK psychedelic garage rock magazine Freakbeat. Allen reviewed the tape in both magazines. Whilst he disliked some of the material, he gave much of it a positive review. Several months later, Allen invited Wilson to contribute a track to the double LP A Psychedelic Psauna that was being put together to launch the new Delerium label. Allen would also become the band's manager, press agent, and promoter until 2004, his role in marketing the band's image decreasing after The Sky Moves Sideways album. In the meantime, Wilson had continued to work on new material. In 1990, he released the Love, Death & Mussolini EP, issued in a very limited run of 10 copies. The EP remains an extremely rare, collectible piece. It was composed of nine at-the-time-unreleased tracks, as a preview for the upcoming second album. Later in 1990, Wilson released a second full-length Porcupine Tree cassette called The Nostalgia Factory, which further expanded Porcupine Tree's underground fanbase, although at this point, the band was still carrying on the charade of being 1970s rock legends. By this point, Porcupine Tree was entirely a solo project, with Stocks having amicably moved on to other activities. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Porcupine Tree are an English rock band formed by musician Steven Wilson in 1987. During an initial career spanning more than twenty years, they earned critical acclaim from critics and fellow musicians, developed a cult following, and became an influence for new artists. The group carved out a career at a certain distance away from mainstream music, being described by publications such as Classic Rock and PopMatters as "the most important band you’d never heard of".
The band began as a solo project for Wilson, who initially created all of the band's music himself. By late 1993, however, he wanted to work in a band environment, bringing on frequent collaborators Richard Barbieri as keyboardist, Colin Edwin as bassist, and Chris Maitland as drummer to form the first permanent lineup. With Wilson as lead vocalist and guitarist, this remained the lineup until February 2002, when Maitland left the band and Gavin Harrison was recruited to replace him. Porcupine Tree's early sound evoked various styles of psychedelic rock, space rock and experimental rock, later moving towards a more progressive/space rock direction comparable to that of Pink Floyd. Upon signing with Kscope record label in the late 1990s, the band began to approach a more mainstream alternative rock sound. By the early 2000s, the band had signed to a major record label and shifted their sound again, this time in a more progressive metal direction.
In 2010, after the tour in support of their 2009 studio album The Incident (their biggest commercial success to date), the band became inactive as Wilson committed himself to his solo work and other members began working on their own separate projects. In 2018, after years of indetermination, Wilson ruled out a possible reformation.
Despite this, the band made a surprise reformation in 2021 with minimal advance publicity, this time with a trio line-up of Wilson, Barbieri and Harrison. The reformation was formally revealed on 1 November 2021, with the simultaneous release of the "Harridan" single and the announcement of a new studio album, Closure/Continuation, to be released on 24 June 2022.
History
Origins (1987–1990)
Porcupine Tree originated in 1987 as a collaborative hoax project by Steven Wilson and Malcolm Stocks. Partially inspired by the psychedelic/progressive bands of the 1970s, such as Pink Floyd, that had dominated the music scene during their youth, the two decided to form a fictional legendary rock band named The Porcupine Tree. The two fabricated a detailed back-story including information on alleged band members and album titles, as well as a "colourful" history which purportedly included events such as a meeting at a 1970s rock festival and several trips in and out of prison. As soon as he had put aside enough money to buy his own studio equipment, Wilson obliged this creation with several hours of music to provide "evidence" of its existence. Although Stocks provided a few passages of treated vocals and experimental guitar playing, his role in the project was mostly offering occasional ideas, with the bulk of the material being written, recorded, played, and sung by Wilson.
At this point, Porcupine Tree was little more than a joke and a private amusement, as Wilson was concentrating on his other project, No-Man, an endeavour with UK based singer and songwriter Tim Bowness. However, by 1989, he began to consider some of the Porcupine Tree music as potentially marketable. Wilson created an 80-minute-long cassette titled Tarquin's Seaweed Farm under the name of Porcupine Tree. Still showing the spirit of his joke, Wilson included an eight-page inlay which further revealed the hoaxed Porcupine Tree backstory, including references to fictitious band members such as Sir Tarquin Underspoon and Timothy Tadpole-Jones.
Wilson sent out copies of Tarquin's Seaweed Farm to several people he felt would be interested in the recordings. Nick Saloman, the cult UK guitarist better known as The Bevis Frond, had suggested that he send one to Richard Allen, a writer for the UK counter-cultural magazine Encyclopaedia Psychedelica and co-editor of the UK psychedelic garage rock magazine Freakbeat. Allen reviewed the tape in both magazines. Whilst he disliked some of the material, he gave much of it a positive review. Several months later, Allen invited Wilson to contribute a track to the double LP A Psychedelic Psauna that was being put together to launch the new Delerium label. Allen would also become the band's manager, press agent, and promoter until 2004, his role in marketing the band's image decreasing after The Sky Moves Sideways album. In the meantime, Wilson had continued to work on new material. In 1990, he released the Love, Death & Mussolini EP, issued in a very limited run of 10 copies. The EP remains an extremely rare, collectible piece. It was composed of nine at-the-time-unreleased tracks, as a preview for the upcoming second album. In 1991, Wilson released a second full-length Porcupine Tree cassette called The Nostalgia Factory, which further expanded Porcupine Tree's underground fanbase, although at this point, the band was still carrying on the charade of being 1970s rock legends. By this point, Porcupine Tree was entirely a solo project, with Stocks having amicably moved on to other activities.
The Delerium years (1991–1997)
On the Sunday of Life...
Along with the A Psychedelic Psauna compilation, which featured the Porcupine Tree track "Linton Samuel Dawson", the newly formed Delerium label, formed by Freakbeat editors Richard Allen and Ivor Trueman, offered to reissue the cassettes Tarquin's Seaweed Farm and The Nostalgia Factory. Two hundred copies of each cassette were sold through Freakbeat's mail order, The Freak Emporium, and soon Porcupine Tree became known as a mysterious new act amongst the then UK underground psychedelic music scene.
Shortly thereafter, Delerium invited Wilson to sign as one of the label's founder artists. The first release after this, a double vinyl album and single CD compiling the best material from his two cassettes, was released in mid-1992 as On the Sunday of Life, a title chosen from a long list of possible nonsense titles compiled by Richard Allen. The rest of the music from the initial tapes was released on the limited edition compilation album Yellow Hedgerow Dreamscape.
In 1992, Delerium released On the Sunday of Life as an edition of 1,000 copies, complete with a deluxe gatefold sleeve. The album sold very well, particularly in Italy, and it was briefly repressed on vinyl and has remained in print on CD ever since its release. The album featured future concert favourite and frequent encore song "Radioactive Toy". By 2000, On the Sunday of Life... had accumulated sales of more than 20,000 copies. On the Sunday of Life was originally meant to be a quadruple (LP)/double (CD) album compiling both cassettes in full, but changed to the best (according to Wilson) songs from the tapes. In 2004, Wilson remixed and remastered all three tapes, releasing them as a three-CD box set called Footprints: Cassette Music 1988-1992. This box was only distributed to family and friends.
Up the Downstair
In the midst of Porcupine Tree's rising success, Wilson's other band, No-Man, had been getting excellent UK press, which led to the band being signed to leading UK independent music publisher, Hit & Run Music Publishing, in 1991, which resulted in recording agreements with One Little Indian Records, and Epic 440/Sony in the US. No-Man's success gave Wilson the opportunity to leave his regular job and devote his time solely to music. All of the Delirium releases were published by Hit & Run, whose executive Dave Massey had signed No-Man and continued to be closely involved in Wilson's Porcupine Tree project.
In May 1993, the second Porcupine Tree album, Up the Downstair, was released, another prospective double album that was finally slimmed down to a single record. "Voyage 34" was actually going to take up the second disc, but it was last decided to be released alone as a single. The album was highly praised, Melody Maker describing it as "a psychedelic masterpiece... one of the albums of the year." The album continued the fusion of electronic music and rock and also featured guest appearances from two future Porcupine Tree members, Richard Barbieri, of 1970s-80s art rock band Japan, and Colin Edwin.
In November 1993, Voyage 34 was reissued alongside an additional 12-inch remix by Astralasia. The album managed to enter the NME indie chart for six weeks and became an underground chill-out classic, even without radio play.
The Sky Moves Sideways
The profile of Porcupine Tree had now grown to the extent that Wilson wanted to expand into live performances. Thus, in December 1993, Porcupine Tree became a live unit featuring Steven Wilson on lead vocals/guitar, Colin Edwin on bass, Chris Maitland on drums, and Richard Barbieri on keyboards.
All three new members of the group had worked with Wilson on various projects over the preceding years, especially Barbieri and Maitland, who had been part of No-Man's touring band. The new line-up's first live album, Spiral Circus, contained recordings from their first three performances, including a BBC Radio One session for Mark Radcliffe, an early champion of the group.
Porcupine Tree's next album did not emerge until early 1995, but was preceded by the Moonloop EP, the last two tracks of which were recorded during the album sessions and were the first to feature the new band. Released in 1995, the band's third studio album, The Sky Moves Sideways became a success among progressive rock fans and Porcupine Tree were hailed as the Pink Floyd of the 1990s. Wilson later lamented this, stating, "I can't help that. It's true that during the period of The Sky Moves Sideways, I had done a little too much of it in the sense of satisfying, in a way, the fans of Pink Floyd who were listening to us because that group doesn't make albums any more. Moreover, I regret it".
The Sky Moves Sideways was an expansive soundscape of melody and ambient rock experimentation, but proved to be a transitional work with half recorded before the formation of the band and half recorded after. Most of the album was taken up with the 35-minute title track, which at one point Steven had intended to be long enough to occupy the whole album. An alternate version of the track, containing some of the excised music, was included on the 2004 remastered version of the album. It also entered the NME, Melody Maker, and Music Week charts. Together with the Moonloop EP, this album was the first Porcupine Tree music issued in America in the autumn of 1995, and attracted favourable press on both sides of the Atlantic. The band supported the album with numerous concerts throughout the year at major music venues in the UK, the Netherlands, Italy, and Greece.
Signify
Partly unsatisfied with the half band/half solo nature of The Sky Moves Sideways, Porcupine Tree promptly got down to the task of recording the first proper band record. Wilson admitted he was always "in love with the idea of the rock band" because "bands have a kind of glamour, and appeal, and a romance about them the solo projects just don't have." The band worked sporadically over the next year on developing a tighter and more ambitious rock sound.
After the release of the first real Porcupine Tree single, "Waiting", which entered all UK indie charts and the UK National chart and attracting airplay all over Europe, Signify was released in September 1996. The album was a mixture of instrumental tracks and more song-oriented tunes, blending numerous rock and avant-garde styles, such as krautrock. Wilson expressed satisfaction in the direction of the album, stating "...tracks like 'Every Home Is Wired' and 'Dark Matter' totally transcend both genre and comparison. Finally, I think we are making a completely original and 1990s form of music, but which still has its root in progressive music." The musicians received writing credits for some tracks, most notably for "Intermediate Jesus", which evolved from a jam session later released as Metanoia at the end of 1998. A large amount of major European media interest accompanied the album's release.
In March 1997, they played three nights in Rome to an audience that surpassed 5,000 people. All three dates were recorded for use in the 1997 live album Coma Divine – Recorded Live in Rome that was released as a goodbye to Delerium Records, which felt it could no longer offer the kind of resources the band needed to continue to build its profile worldwide. In late 1997 Porcupine Tree's first three albums were remastered and reissued. Signify also was released in the US on Miles Copeland's Ark 21 label.
The Snapper years (1998–2001)
Stupid Dream
Wilson, Barbieri, Edwin, and Maitland spent all of 1998 recording their fifth studio album, a release that reflected the band's move towards a more song-oriented writing. Wilson acknowledged this time he was "much more interested in songwriting as an art form, as opposed to soundscape development" and commented he took influence from The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds, Todd Rundgren, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and "anything with really good ensemble singing". He also indicated that he was "interested in the idea of the pop song as a kind of experimental symphony".
The band recorded the album without a label, but signed with Snapper/Kscope before releasing Stupid Dream, in March 1999. The album was supported by a tour of the United Kingdom, Italy, Greece, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, France, Poland, and the United States. The three singles taken from the album: "Piano Lessons", "Stranger by the Minute", and "Pure Narcotic", all achieved mainstream exposure in the US and in Europe, and placed well in the UK independent charts and on radio-station playlists. Although the album was a departure from their earlier sound, it brought the band new-found popularity and went on to become the band's best-selling and most acclaimed release up to that time.
Lightbulb Sun
Completed for February 2000, with string arrangements provided by Dave Gregory of XTC, Porcupine Tree's sixth studio album, Lightbulb Sun, built on the mix of songwriting, soundscaping, and rock dynamics of Stupid Dream. The album was released in May 2000, preceded by the single "Four Chords That Made a Million". A sold-out show at the Scala in London began a short run of UK shows, that were followed later in the year by European festival dates and a major tour supporting Dream Theater. The band continued touring through the end of 2000 and start of 2001, including their first major tour of Germany. A special double CD edition of the Lightbulb Sun album was issued in Israel and Germany.
In May, the band released a compilation B-side album called Recordings, which featured nine tracks from the Stupid Dream and Lightbulb Sun sessions that had been left off both albums. In May 2001, Porcupine Tree did three consecutive dates as a support band to Marillion, in France, Germany, and the Netherlands. In June, the band played a short US tour, starting with an appearance in NEARfest of Pennsylvania, and culminating in a sold-out show at The Bottom Line in New York City. Shortly afterwards, the band announced that they had signed a new international record deal with Lava/Atlantic Records.
The Lava years (2002–2005)
In Absentia
In February 2002, Porcupine Tree's first line-up change occurred when drummer Chris Maitland was dismissed after eight years with the band. The band welcomed drummer and longtime acquaintance Gavin Harrison as his replacement. In March 2002, a box set of the band's early work was released, Stars Die: The Delerium Years 1991–1997, and the band commenced recording their first major label album, drawing from a pool of 30 new songs written by Wilson in the previous two years. Recording sessions took place at Avatar Studios in New York and London, with veteran audio engineer Paul Northfield and string arranger Dave Gregory also playing major roles in the making of the record. The album was mixed in Los Angeles in May with Tim Palmer.
The resulting album, In Absentia, was released by Lava Records in September 2002. The band also released a 5.1 surround-sound version of the album, mixed by Grammy Award-winning producer Elliot Scheiner. The surround-sound version of the album won the award for best 5.1 mix at the 2004 Surround Sound Music awards in Los Angeles.
To promote the album, the band undertook four tours of Europe and North America, including one with acclaimed Swedish metal band Opeth. On tour, the new line-up of the band was further augmented by additional touring vocalist/guitarist John Wesley. During these tours, the visual element of the band's performance was taken to new heights with the involvement of filmmaker and photographer Lasse Hoile, who had created the cover art for In Absentia and now went on to create a dark and surreal visual to Porcupine Tree's music. The long promotional campaign for In Absentia ended on 30 November 2003, as the band played a homecoming show to a sold-out London Astoria.
During 2003, Porcupine Tree set up their own label, Transmission, with an online store hosted by Burning Shed record label. The first release on the Transmission label was a studio session recorded for XM Radio, Washington, DC, followed in 2004 by a recording from Polish radio in 2001. The band used the label to issue supplemental content, such as EPs, demos, and live recordings. Additionally, a reissue/remaster campaign also began in 2003, with many of the early albums expanded to double CDs. These reissues included re-recorded/remixed double-CD versions of the Up the Downstair, The Sky Moves Sideways, and Signify albums, and the reissue of Stupid Dream and Lightbulb Sun, both comprising a CD with a new stereo mix of the album plus a DVD-Audio with a 5.1 surround mix.
Deadwing
In early 2004, the band embarked on the recording sessions for their next record, Deadwing, their second for Lava/Atlantic. The album takes its inspiration from a film script written by Wilson with his filmmaker friend Mike Bennion. The album sessions completed in November 2004, and Deadwing was released in Europe and the US during the spring of 2005 as both a stereo and 5.1 surround-sound album, preceded by the release of two singles, "Shallow" in the US and "Lazarus" in Europe. The album benefited from guest appearances by Adrian Belew from King Crimson and Opeth's Mikael Åkerfeldt, and was a commercial success, due in part to "Shallow" receiving airplay, peaking at number 26 on Billboard's Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks. Additionally, "Lazarus" entered the German singles Top 100 at number 91. The song "Shallow" was also featured in the soundtrack for the film Four Brothers.
The album won the Surround Music Awards for "Best Made-For-Surround Title" the same year of its release and was voted number-two album of 2005 in Sound & Vision, the most widely distributed US magazine in the field of home electronics and entertainment. Porcupine Tree released Deadwing in Japan on 22 March 2006, the first album by the band to be released in that country.
The tour to promote the album commenced in the UK at the end of March, and continued throughout the year. Mike Bennion created a Myspace page dedicated to the prospective Deadwing film, in which he posted the first 15 pages of the script and included a trailer. However, whilst the scripts are finished, the project is still on hiatus due to lack of budget.
The Roadrunner years (2006–2010)
Fear of a Blank Planet
In August 2006, Porcupine Tree announced that the band had signed with Roadrunner Records UK. Prior to their first release on Roadrunner, the band released their first live concert DVD, Arriving Somewhere..., on 10 October 2006. It was accompanied by a brief tour in which the group performed 50 minutes of new material from the forthcoming studio album for the first half of the shows. Supporting acts included Swedish band Paatos in Europe and ProjeKct Six in the United States.
The band announced the next album's title would be Fear of a Blank Planet in January 2007 and the album was released on 16 April 2007. The album charted in almost all European countries, and peaked at number 59 on the Billboard 200. A 92-date tour for 2007 took the band to countries where they had never performed, such as Finland and Mexico. The tour included appearances in multiple music festivals such as the Voodoo Experience in New Orleans, the German twin-festivals, Hurricane and Southside, and the Download Festival of Donington Park. The band performed their first ever shows in Australia in 2008.
The lyrics of the album deal with some common behaviour tendencies concerning society, especially youth, in the beginning of the 21st century, such as bipolar disorder, attention deficit disorder, drug abuse, alienation, and deprivation caused by mass media. The concept of the album was inspired by Bret Easton Ellis novel Lunar Park and the title alludes to Public Enemy's album, Fear of a Black Planet, both sharing the particularity of reflecting notorious conflicts affecting society in the world at some time. Wilson notes that whilst race relationship was the main issue among young people when Public Enemy's album was released, it was replaced in the 21st century by a general superficiality, boredom, and introversion. The album features contributions from Rush's Alex Lifeson and King Crimson's Robert Fripp.
Wilson: "My fear is that the current generation of kids who're being born into this information revolution, growing up with the Internet, cell phones, iPods, this download culture, 'American Idol,' reality TV, prescription drugs, PlayStations—all of these things kind of distract people from what's important about life, which is to develop a sense of curiosity about what's out there."
On 5 November 2007, Fear of a Blank Planet won the Album of the Year award for the 2007 Classic Rock magazine awards. In December 2007, it was nominated for a Grammy Award for "Best Surround Sound Album" though Love by The Beatles won the award.
A new EP called Nil Recurring was released on 17 September 2007, featuring four unreleased tracks from the Fear of a Blank Planet sessions and including another contribution from Robert Fripp. The second leg of the tour started on 3 October 2007, now promoting new music from the EP. Nil Recurring entered the UK Top 30 Independent Label Albums at number eight. The EP was reissued on 18 February 2008 through Peaceville Records.
A recording from a 4 October 2007 in-store, mostly acoustic, performance at Park Avenue CDs in Orlando, Florida, was released on 18 February 2008 on CD under the name of We Lost The Skyline. The title is a reference to the lyrics of "The Sky Moves Sideways (Phase One)", which was the opening song on the live set. The album was released on vinyl of 21 March 2008. While intended to be a full-band show, the lack of space in the store only allowed the two guitarists, Wilson and John Wesley, to play.
The Incident
The band played a short European tour in October 2008 to shoot their second live-concert film, Anesthetize, preceded by three concerts in Australia in April. The filming took place on 15 and 16 October in the Netherlands at the 013 Tilburg venue. During one of these shows, Wilson mentioned that Porcupine Tree had started work on material for their next album, with an eye toward a release in 2009. The live-concert film on DVD and Blu-ray was released on 20 May 2010.
The band started recording their tenth studio album, The Incident, in February 2009. This was confirmed by the band, stating, "Writing for the next PT studio record is well underway, with the band recently spending two weeks scheduled in the English countryside working on new tracks. Recording of these pieces and a new 35-minute SW song cycle were due to start in February..." Months later, Wilson commented the 35-minute song kept evolving and now it has become a 55-minute song, occupying the entire disc.
On 12 June 2009, details were revealed on the Porcupine Tree website, "the record is set to be released via Roadrunner Records worldwide on 21 September, as a double CD. The centrepiece is the title track, which takes up the whole of the first disc. The 55-minute work is described as a slightly surreal song cycle about beginnings and endings and the sense that ‘after this, things will never be the same again.’ The self-produced album is completed by four standalone compositions that developed out of band writing sessions last December – Flicker, Bonnie The Cat, Black Dahlia, and Remember Me Lover feature on a separate EP-length disc to stress their independence from the song cycle." The album was the band's biggest commercial success to date, reaching number 23 in the UK album charts and also reaching the US Billboard Top 25.
The band also released another live album, Atlanta, in June 2010. The performance was actually recorded during the tour of Fear of a Blank Planet at the Roxy theatre, Atlanta, on 29 October 2007. It was released via online distribution only, with all the sale proceeds donated to Mick Karn for his treatment against cancer.
Inactivity and hiatus (2011–2020)
After finishing the touring cycle for The Incident in 2010, Wilson spent the rest of the year, and 2011, recording and releasing his second solo album, Grace for Drowning, and Blackfield's third album, Welcome to my DNA. Initially, the band had mentioned the possibility of working on new music in 2012, with Wilson mentioning "early 2012", and Harrison guessing they would start work in 2012 and release music in 2013. However, this soon changed, with Wilson announcing that he would continue to focus his future on his solo career. This new focus included a second leg of touring in support of Grace for Drowning in the first half of 2012, recording a third solo album in the second half of the year with his touring band, releasing it in early 2013, and then touring in support of the third solo album for "much of the year" – throughout 2013. Wilson still maintained that the band "haven’t split up" and that there are "no intentions of splitting up", but he also said there were no specific plans for a new album either. While he said that he still "want(s) to get Porcupine Tree back together at some point", he said that he was not sure what direction he wants to take the band, only that he is "tired of metal music", and that one member of the band does not like jazz, so it won't go into the direction of his solo project either.
In June 2012, Wilson re-emphasised his continued focus on his solo career, with his answer to the question "...is (there) a danger that Porcupine Tree might fall by the wayside?" being, "The honest answer is I don’t know. The solo career for me now is probably the most important. I think about it more than anything else, I’m more focused on it than anything else, I enjoy it more than anything else..." A two-disc live album titled Octane Twisted was released that following November by their record label, Kscope, containing a live recording of The Incident in its entirety, from material recorded at 2010 concerts at the Riviera Theater, Chicago, and the Royal Albert Hall. In May 2013, Wilson reiterated his stance on the band's status, stating that it's "...not to say the band has broken up or anything like that. It’s always conceivable that we could get back together in a year or five years, or 10 years. I really can’t say – there are no plans at the moment." Edwin's stance mirrored this.
After Wilson released his third solo album, The Raven That Refused to Sing (And Other Stories) in February 2013, and toured in support of it for the remainder of the year, its success led Wilson to commit to writing and recording a fourth solo album Hand. Cannot. Erase. over the course of 2014 and releasing it in 2015, pushing hypothetical work with Porcupine Tree into at least 2016. In March 2015, Wilson commented, “if Porcupine Tree [were] to get back together—and, by the way, I have never ruled that out—it will be a side project. There should be no question in anyone's mind that this is now my main musical path, my solo work.”
Moving into 2016, Wilson's views on a reformation were conflicting. In February 2016, in an interview with Prog Magazine, he stated that there was a "strong possibility" of Porcupine Tree reforming for another studio album at an undisclosed time in the future. However, in response to a question in August 2016 regarding a hypothetical Porcupine Tree performance, Wilson claimed, "you'd be waiting for a long time, that band doesn't exist anymore." In August 2017, Wilson explained: "It's no coincidence that since my solo project has taken off, other collaborations have receded to the background. Porcupine Tree hasn't made a record since 2009 and No-Man hasn't made a record since 2008. I feel less need now to be creatively involved in something other than my solo work. My solo work fulfills the musical needs I have now."
In a March 2018 interview when asked about the chances of further activity from Porcupine Tree he responded; "Honestly, I would say zero, because I’m just not that kind of person. I don’t go backwards. I’m not interested in going backwards; I want to move forwards, I want to do different things, I want to work with different people, I want to explore different kinds of music. That would seem like a terribly backward step to me. I’m proud of the catalogue; it’s there, it exists, but it’s kind of closed, it’s finished." However, in February 2021, Wilson suggested that a reformation was still possible someday, when it was least expected.
Reunion and Closure/Continuation (2021–present)
On 27 October 2021, Porcupine Tree, Wilson, and Harrison all shared a teaser video and mailing list link across their social media accounts, along with a stylised "P/T C/C" image. On 1 November the band announced their eleventh album, Closure/Continuation, to be released in June 2022 on Music For Nations, along with their first single in over 12 years, "Harridan". The lineup of the band now features just Wilson, Harrison, and Barbieri.
Musical style
Influences
Some of the inherent musical background of Porcupine Tree goes back to Wilson's childhood, when his parents gave Christmas presents to each other. His father received Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon whilst his mother got Donna Summer's Love to Love You Baby, both of which Wilson listened to heavily. These albums influenced his further songwriting. Other influences include Camel and Karlheinz Stockhausen.
Later in his teens, Wilson briefly became a fan of the new wave of British heavy metal, but as soon as he discovered 1970s music and progressive rock, his interest in metal diminished in favour of experimental music. He later (in the 2000s) discovered bands in the likes of Gojira, Sunn O))), Neurosis, and Meshuggah, which restored his faith in metal music. "For a long time, I couldn't find where all these creative musicians were going...", said Wilson, "and I found them, they were working in extreme metal." Shortly thereafter, he went on to produce three consecutive albums by Swedish progressive death metal band Opeth, which had a considerable influence in his further songwriting.
The influence of electronic music and krautrock is present, with Wilson namechecking bands such as Can, Neu!, Tangerine Dream, Squarepusher, and Aphex Twin and artists such as Klaus Schulze and Conrad Schnitzler, among others. He has mentioned on multiple occasions that he admires the work of American musician Trent Reznor, the sole official member of Nine Inch Nails. Wilson has also cited English electronic band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), along with other potentially "surprising" influences such as ABBA, The Carpenters, Electric Light Orchestra, and the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack album (1977), largely written and performed by the Bee Gees.
Characteristics
The music of Porcupine Tree is often described as melancholic. Wilson has stated music is a way for him to channel all his negative feelings, and "an exorcism of those elements within", finding it "easier to write songs about the negative side of the world than it is about the happy side of the world." In the Warszawa live radio broadcast album, before performing "Stop Swimming", Wilson can be heard saying "the saddest music is often the most beautiful."
Porcupine Tree is an album-oriented band, making records where many songs are related to each other. Wilson has said: "The important thing with Porcupine Tree is that all our songs have a unique sound world that they inhabit. I don't like the idea of any song sounding like any other song. So most of the time it's a case of finding the sound world first whether it be a texture or a drum rhythm that sets you off on a certain musical path, or particular musical atmosphere, or flavour." For their recordings, the band has included mellotron, banjo, hammered dulcimer, and guimbri, among other instruments unusual for rock bands.
Above all, Porcupine Tree's music has maintained a strong textural and experimental quality, often fusing many genres in a single track. The band's work is noted for its atmospheric nature, largely due to Barbieri's keyboard style and sound-processing abilities, and Wilson's cinematic scope, as a declared fan of American filmmaker David Lynch, whose films are renowned for their sonic content. "Very layered, very produced, very arranged and [with] complex arrangements" is the way Wilson describes the sound of the band. Apart from their regular edition, the albums Stupid Dream, Lightbulb Sun, In Absentia, Deadwing, Fear of a Blank Planet, and The Incident are available in DTS (5.1 Surround Sound) mix; this mixing technique has become a tradition for the band in recent years.
The band's live performances have also been praised, with Music Radar placing them fourth in their list of "The 30 greatest live acts in the world today" in 2010.
Porcupine Tree are often categorised as a progressive rock band. Although many listeners familiar with the group label them as such, Steven Wilson has been noted in the past to express a certain dislike for the use of the term "progressive" to refer to them. However, more recently, he made note that he has since become more relaxed toward the word considering it is becoming "a much broader term" as time passes. He has frequently stated that he dislikes the press comparing Porcupine Tree with neo prog bands or citing them as 'the New Pink Floyd'.
Legacy
Porcupine Tree have influenced a new generation of artists and bands.
Anders Nyström of the Swedish group Katatonia has cited the work of Porcupine Tree as a large influence for the band in their post-death metal eras. Luc Lemay, leader of the technical death metal band Gorguts, said that The Incident was "a big revelation" for him, inspiring his more recent songwriting. He singled out the concert of its tour as one of the two most important he has attended. Electronic producer Seven Lions also cited them as an inspiration for his dubstep and drum and bass compositions.
In addition to those artists who state that Porcupine Tree has been a direct influence on their own careers, other artists have been quoted expressing admiration for their work including Neil Peart, Alex Lifeson, Adrian Belew, Jordan Rudess, Mike Portnoy, Arjen Lucassen, Rob Swire, Haken and many others.
Band members
Members
Steven Wilson – vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards, piano, synthesisers, hammer dulcimer, banjo, sampler, various instruments (1987–2010; 2021–present)
Richard Barbieri – keyboards, synthesizers, piano and sound processing (1993–2010; 2021–present)
Gavin Harrison – drums and percussion (2002–2010; 2021–present)
Former members
Chris Maitland – drums, backing vocals (1993–2002)
Colin Edwin – bass, double bass (1993–2010)
Touring members
John Wesley – guitar, backing vocals (2002–2010)
Timeline
Discography
Studio albums
On the Sunday of Life... (1992)
Up the Downstair (1993)
The Sky Moves Sideways (1995)
Signify (1996)
Stupid Dream (1999)
Lightbulb Sun (2000)
In Absentia (2002)
Deadwing (2005)
Fear of a Blank Planet (2007)
The Incident (2009)
Closure/Continuation (2022)
References
External links
Porcupine Tree official website
English progressive rock groups
English progressive metal musical groups
English psychedelic rock music groups
Musical groups established in 1987
Musical groups disestablished in 2010
Musical groups reestablished in 2021
Musical quartets
Atlantic Records artists
1987 establishments in England
Musical groups from Hertfordshire
2010 disestablishments in England
Post-progressive musicians | false | [
"Non-formal learning includes various structured learning situations which do not either have the level of curriculum, syllabus, accreditation and certification associated with 'formal learning', but have more structure than that associated with 'informal learning', which typically take place naturally and spontaneously as part of other activities. These form the three styles of learning recognised and supported by the OECD.\n\nExamples of non-formal learning include swimming sessions for toddlers, community-based sports programs, and programs developed by organisations such as the Boy Scouts, the Girl Guides, community or non-credit adult education courses, sports or fitness programs, professional conference style seminars, and continuing professional development. The learner's objectives may be to increase skills and knowledge, as well as to experience the emotional rewards associated with increased love for a subject or increased passion for learning.\n\nHistory\nThe debate over the relative value of formal and informal learning has existed for a number of years. Traditionally formal learning takes place in a school or university and has a greater value placed upon it than informal learning, such as learning within the workplace. This concept of formal learning being the socio-cultural accepted norm for learning was first challenged by Scribner and Cole in 1973, who claimed most things in life are better learnt through informal processes, citing language learning as an example. Moreover, anthropologists noted that complex learning still takes place within indigenous communities that had no formal educational institutions.\n\nIt is the acquisition of this knowledge or learning which occurs in everyday life that has not been fully valued or understood. This led to the declaration by the OECD educational ministers of the \"life-long learning for all\" strategy in 1996. This includes 23 countries from five continents, who have sought to clarify and validate all forms of learning including formal, non-formal and informal. This has been in conjunction with the European Union which has also developed policies for life-long learning which focus strongly on the need to identify, assess and certify non-formal and informal learning, particularly in the workplace.\n\nCharacteristics \n Learning may take place in a variety of locations.\n Relevance to the needs of disadvantaged groups\n Concern with specific categories of person.\n A Focus on clearly defined purpose\n Flexibility in organisation and methods\n\nGoals/objectives \n\n Provides functional literacy and continuing education for adults and youths who have not had a formal education or did not complete their primary education.\n Provide functional and remedial education for the young people who did not complete their secondary education.\n Provide education to different categories of graduates to improve the basic knowledge and skills.\n Provide in-service, on-the-job, vocational and professional training to different categories of workers and professionals to improve their skills.\n Give adult citizens of different parts of the country necessary aesthetic, cultural and civic education for public enlightenment.\n \nCountries involved in recognition of non-formal learning (OECD 2010)\n\nFormal and informal learning\n\nAlthough all definitions can be contested (see below) this article shall refer to the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop) 2001 communication on 'lifelong learning: formal, non-formal and informal learning' as the guideline for the differing definitions.\n\nFormal learning: learning typically provided by an education or training institution, structured (in terms of learning objectives, learning time or learning support) and leading to certification. Formal learning is intentional from the learner's perspective. (Cedefop 2001)\n\nInformal learning: learning resulting from daily life activities related to work, family or leisure. It is not structured (in terms of learning objectives, learning time or learning support) and typically does not lead to certification. Informal learning may be intentional but in most cases it is not-intentional (or \"incidental\"/random). (Cedefop 2001)\n\nNon-formal learning: see definition above.\n\nContested definitions\nIf there is no clear distinction between formal and in-formal learning where is the room for non-formal learning. It is a contested issue with numerous definitions given. The following are some the competing theories.\n\n\"It is difficult to make a clear distinction between formal and informal learning as there is often a crossover between the two.\" (McGivney, 1999, p1).\n\nSimilarly, Hodkinson et al. (2003), conclude after a significant literature analysis on the topics of formal, informal, and non-formal learning, that \"the terms informal and non-formal appeared interchangeable, each being primarily defined in opposition to the dominant formal education system, and the largely individualist and acquisitional conceptualisations of learning developed in relation to such educational contexts.\" (Hodkinson et al., 2003, p. 314) Moreover, he states that \"It is important not to see informal and formal attributes as somehow separate, waiting to be integrated. This is the dominant view in the literature, and it is mistaken. Thus, the challenge is not to, somehow, combine informal and formal learning, for informal and formal attributes are present and inter-related, whether we will it so or not. The challenge is to recognise and identify them, and understand the implications. For this reason, the concept of non-formal learning, at least when seen as a middle state between formal and informal, is redundant.\" (p. 314)\n\nEraut's classification of learning into formal and non-formal:\n\nThis removes informal learning from the equation and states all learning outside of formal learning is non-formal. Eraut equates informal with connotations of dress, language or behaviour that have no relation to learning. Eraut defines formal learning as taking place within a learning framework; within a classroom or learning institution, with a designated teacher or trainer; the award of a qualification or credit; the external specification of outcomes. Any learning that occurs outside of these parameters is non-formal. (Ined 2002)\n\nThe EC (2001) Communication on Lifelong Learning: formal, non-formal and informal learning:\n\nThe EU places non-formal learning in between formal and informal learning (see above). This has learning both in a formal setting with a learning framework and as an organised event but within a qualification. \"Non-formal learning: learning that is not provided by an education or training institution and typically does not lead to certification. It is, however, structured (in terms of learning objectives, learning time or learning support). Non-formal learning is intentional from the learner's perspective.\" (Cedefop 2001)\n\nLivingstone's adults formal and informal education, non-formal and informal learning:\n\nThis focuses on the idea of adult non-formal education. This new mode, 'informal education' is when teachers or mentors guide learners without reference to structured learning outcomes. This informal education learning is gaining knowledge without an imposed framework, such as learning new job skills. (Infed, 2002)\n\nBillett (2001): there is no such thing as informal learning:\n\nBillett's definition states there is no such thing as non-formal and informal learning. He states all human activity is learning, and that everything people do involves a process of learning. \"all learning takes place within social organisations or communities that have formalised structures.\" Moreover, he states most learning in life takes place outside of formal education.(Ined 2002)\n\nThe council of Europe puts the distinction in terms of willingness and the systems on which its taking place. Non formal learning takes place outside learning institutions while informal is a part of the formal systems.\n\nValidation\n\nRecently, many international organizations and UNESCO Member States have emphasized the importance of learning that takes place outside of formal learning settings. This emphasis has led UNESCO, through its Institute of Lifelong Learning (UIL), to adopt international guidelines for the Recognition, Validation and Accreditation of the Outcomes of Non-formal and Informal Learning in 2012. The emphasis has also led to an increasing number of policies and programmes in many Member States, and a gradual shift from pilots to large-scale systems such as those in Portugal, France, Australia, Mauritius and South Africa.\n\nCedefop has created European guidelines to provide validation to a broad range of learning experiences, thereby aiding transparency and comparability across its national borders. The broad framework for achieving this certification across both non-formal and informal learning is outlined in the Cedefop European guidelines for validating non-formal and informal learning; Routes from learning to certification.\n\nDifferent countries' approaches\n\nThere are different approaches to validation between OCED and EU countries, with countries adopting different measures. The EU, as noted above, through the Cedefop-released European guidelines for validating non-formal and informal learning in 2009 to standardise validation throughout the EU. Within the OCED countries, the picture is more mixed.\n\nCountries with the existence of recognition for non-formal and informal learning (Feutrie, 2007)\n\nFlexible schooling or participatory schooling \n\nNon-formal education (NFE) is popular on a worldwide scale in both 'western' and 'developing countries'. Non-formal education can form a matrix with formal and non-formal education, as non-formal education can mean any form of systematic learning conducted outside the formal setting. Many courses in relation to non-formal education have been introduced in several universities in western and developing countries.\n\nThe UNESCO institute of education conducted a seminar on non-formal education in Morocco. The association for development of education in Africa (ADEA) launched many programmes in non-formal education in at least 15 countries of Sub-Saharan Africa. In 2001 World Bank conducted an international seminar on basic education in non-formal programmes. In addition to this the World Bank was advised to extend its services to adult and non-formal education.\n\nA report on vocational education, Making Learning Visible: the identification, assessment and recognition of non-formal learning in Europe, defines non-formal learning as semi structured, consisting of planned and explicit approaches to learning introduced into work organisations and elsewhere, not recognised within the formal education and training system.\n\nTypes \n\nCommunity work, which is particularly widespread in Scotland, fosters people's commitment to their neighbours and encourages participation in and development of local democratic forms of organisation.\n\nYouth work which focuses on making people more active in the society.\n\nSocial work which helps young people in homes to develop ways to deal with complex situations like fostering fruitful relationships between parents and children, bringing different groups of career together, etc...\n\nIn France and Italy animation in a particular form is a kind of non-formal education. It uses theatre and acting as means of self-expression with different community groups for children and people with special needs. This type of non-formal education helps in ensuring active participation and teaches people to manage the community in which they live.\n\nYouth and community organisations young people have the opportunity to discover, analyse and understand values and their implications and build a set of values to guide their lives. They run work camps and meetings, recruit volunteers, administer bank accounts, give counselling etc. to work toward social change.\n\nImportance \n\nEducation plays an important role in development. Out of school programmes are important to provide adaptable learning opportunities and new skills and knowledge to a large percentage of people who are beyond the reach of formal education. Non-formal education began to gain popularity in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Today, non-formal education is seen as a concept of recurrent and lifelong learning.\n\nNon-formal education is popular among the adults specially the women as it increases women's participation in both private and public activities, i.e. in house hold decision making and as active citizens in the community affairs and national development. These literacy programmes have a dramatic impact on women's self-esteem because they unleash their potential in economic, social, cultural and political spheres.\n\nAccording to UNESCO (2010), non-formal education helps to ensures equal access to education, eradicate illiteracy among women and improve women's access to vocational training, science, technology and continuing education. It also encourages the development of non-discriminatory education and training. The effectiveness of such literacy and non-formal education programmes are bolstered by family, community and parental involvement. This is why the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4 advocates for a diversification of learning opportunities and the usage of a wide range of education and training modalities in recognition of the importance of non-formal education.\n\nAdvantages \n\nNon-formal education is beneficial in a number of ways. There are activities that encourage young people to choose their own programme and projects that are important because they offer the youth the flexibility and freedom to explore their emerging interests. When the youth can choose the activities in which they can participate, they have opportunities to develop several skills like decision making skills.\n\nNon-formal learning has experiential learning activities that foster the development of skills and knowledge. This helps in building the confidence and abilities among the youth of today. It also helps in development of personal relationships not only among the youth but also among the adults. It helps in developing interpersonal skills among the young people as they learn to interact with peers outside the class and with adults in the community.\n\nNecessity \n\nFormal education system are inadequate to effectively meet the needs of the individual and the society. The need to offer more and better education at all levels, to a growing number of people, particularly in developing countries, the scant success of current formal education systems to meet all such demands, has shown the need to develop alternatives to learning.\n\nThe rigid structure of formal schools, mainly because of rules and regulations than concentrating on the real need of the students, offering curriculum that leans away from the individual and from society, far more concerned with performing programmes than reaching useful objectives. This called for non-formal education which starting from the basic need of the students, is concerned with the establishment of strategies that are compatible with reality.\n\nReferences\n\nSources\n\nExternal links\nOECD Recognition for Non-Formal and Informal Learning home\nEuropean Cultural Center for Non-formal education in Egypt\nDirectorate General for Education and Culture on Valuing learning outside formal education and training\nCedefop European guidelines for validating non-formal and informal learning - 2nd edition, 2015\nConclusions of The Council of the European Union May 2004\nDepartment of Education, Education and Workplace Relations, Australia Government. Country Report\n\nApplied learning",
"Question books are books used by American teachers of Sunday school. Since Sunday school teachers did not usually possess formal pedagogical training, the books assisted the teachers by providing questions to pose to their students regarding Bible verses.\n\nReferences\n \n\nSunday schools"
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"Thomas Mitchell (explorer)",
"First expedition"
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| C_21ced70edb4348dc931b813b1a4fa981_1 | Where was Mitchell's first expedition? | 1 | Where was Mitchell's first expedition? | Thomas Mitchell (explorer) | In 1831 a runaway convict named George Clarke, who had lived with Aborigines in the area for several years, claimed that a large river called Kindur flowed north-west from the Liverpool ranges in New South Wales to the sea. Charles Sturt believed that the Murray-Darling system formed the main river system of New South Wales and Mitchell wanted to prove Sturt wrong. Mitchell formed an expedition consisting of himself, assistant surveyor George Boyle White and 15 convicts who were promised remission for good conduct. Mitchell took 20 bullocks, three heavy drays, three light carts and nine horses to carry supplies, and set out on 24 November 1831 to investigate the claim. On reaching Wollombi in the Hunter Valley, the local assistant surveyor, Heneage Finch, expressed a desire to join the expedition. He had established his credentials by surveying a route from Sydney to Wollombi, so Mitchell approved his request, provided he obtained extra supplies and men, and he followed along later. The expedition continued northward, climbed the Liverpool Range on 5 December, and made Quirindi on 8 December. Shortly afterwards Finch arrived but inexplicably had not brought provisions, so Mitchell immediately sent him back to get them. By 11 December the expedition had reached Wallamoul Station near Tamworth, the northern extent of white settlement at the time. Mitchell continued his northward push into new territory, taking local Kamilaroi people to assist in finding water and to express his peaceful intentions. By early January 1832 he was in the vicinity of the present town of Narrabri, reached the Gwydir River in mid-January, and found the Barwon by the end of the month, where he set up camp. Mitchell left the main party and made a reconnaissance down the Barwon until he found its junction with the Gwydir. After Mitchell returned to the main camp, Finch arrived with tragic news. He had been travelling with three convicts and provisions but, because of a shortage of water, the group had separated. He left two men behind while he attempted to locate the main expedition. Having failed to do that, on the second day he returned to the campsite to discover that it had been ransacked. Supplies were scattered and beneath the wreckage were two dead men. The immediate effect was that Mitchell decided to abandon the expedition and return south. The party reached the Gwydir on 8 February and was near the site of the attack on 17 February. Mitchell buried the two bodies and salvaged some equipment. Once back at Wallamoul, Mitchell placed White in charge of the main party, while he returned hastily to Sydney. He was satisfied that there was no truth about the river Kindur claimed by Clarke. Fourteen years after the attack, Mitchell revealed that the convicts had indulged in sexual relations with Aboriginal women. CANNOTANSWER | Mitchell formed an expedition consisting of himself, assistant surveyor George Boyle White and 15 convicts who were promised remission for good conduct. | Sir Thomas Livingstone Mitchell (15 June 1792 – 5 October 1855), surveyor and explorer of Southeastern Australia, was born at Grangemouth in Stirlingshire, Scotland. In 1827 he took up an appointment as Assistant Surveyor General of New South Wales. The following year he became Surveyor General and remained in this position until his death. Mitchell was knighted in 1839 for his contribution to the surveying of Australia.
Early life
Born in Scotland on 15 June 1792, he was son of John Mitchell of Carron Works and was brought up from childhood by his uncle, Thomas Livingstone of Parkhall, Stirlingshire.
Peninsular War
On the death of his uncle, he joined the British army in Portugal as a volunteer in the Peninsular War, at the age of sixteen. On 24 June 1811, at the age of nineteen, he received his first commission as 2nd Lieutenant in the 1st Battalion 95th Rifles (later the Rifle Brigade / Royal Green Jackets). Utilising his skills as a draughtsman of outstanding ability, he was occasionally employed in the Quartermaster-General's department under Sir George Murray. He was present at the storming of the fortresses of Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajos and San Sebastian as well as the battles of Salamanca and the Pyrenees. Subsequently, he would receive the Military General Service Medal with bars for each of these engagements.
When the war was over, Mitchell was selected to reside in Spain and Portugal for four years to complete sketches of the battlefields for the Military Depot. His duties also included conducting several other important surveys which had been impossible to finish whilst operations were in progress in the field. On 10 June 1818, during this posting, Mitchell married Mary Blunt (daughter of General Richard Blunt) in Lisbon and gained promotion to a company in the 54th Regiment.
In the summer of 1819, he returned to Britain where he devoted himself to finishing the drawings, but with the cessation of the government allowances he had to stop this work. The reductions in the military establishment which followed the withdrawing of the Army of Occupation from France forced Mitchell on to half-pay. It was not until much later, while Mitchell was in London between 1838 and 1840, that the work was completed. The finished drawings were published by the London geographer James Wyld in 1841 under the title Atlas containing the principle battles, sieges and affairs of the Peninsular War. Of high quality, the drawings are the prime source for the topography of the war.
New South Wales
In 1827, with the support of Sir George Murray, Mitchell became Assistant Surveyor General of New South Wales with the right to succeed John Oxley. Oxley died the following year, and on 27 May 1828, Mitchell became Surveyor General. In this post he did much to improve the quality and accuracy of surveying – a vital task in a colony where huge tracts of land were being opened up and sold to new settlers. One of the first roads surveyed under his leadership was the Great North Road, built by convict labour between 1826 and 1836 linking Sydney to the Hunter Region. The Great South Road (now replaced by the Hume Highway), also convict-built, linked Sydney and Goulburn. He kept a record of his 'Progress in roads and Public Works in New South Wales to 1855', including sketches and plans of Sydney, Emu Plains, the Blue Mountains, Victoria Pass, roads to Bathurst, Wiseman's Ferry, and indigenous Australians.
As Surveyor General, Mitchell also completed maps and plans of Sydney, including Darling Point, Point Piper, the city, and Port Jackson. In 1834 he was commissioned to survey a map of the Nineteen Counties. The map he produced was done with such skill and accuracy that he was awarded a knighthood. Around this time, a portrait of Mitchell was painted showing him in the uniform of Major of the 1st Rifle Brigade of the 95th Regiment, complete with whistle used to direct the movement of troops.
During his tenure in New South Wales, Mitchell led four extensive and historically significant surveying expeditions into the interior of eastern Australia.
First expedition
In 1831, a runaway convict named George "The Barber" Clarke (monument around Barbers Lagoon, Boggabri NSW), who had lived with the Kamilaroi people in the area for several years, claimed that a large river called Kindur flowed north-west from the Liverpool Ranges in New South Wales to the sea. Charles Sturt believed that the Murray-Darling system formed the main river system of New South Wales and Mitchell wanted to prove Sturt wrong. Mitchell formed an expedition consisting of himself, assistant surveyor George Boyle White and 15 convicts who were promised remission for good conduct. Mitchell took 20 bullocks, three heavy drays, three light carts and nine horses to carry supplies, and set out on 24 November 1831 to investigate the claim. On reaching Wollombi in the Hunter Valley, the local assistant surveyor, Heneage Finch, expressed a desire to join the expedition which Mitchell approved, provided he first obtain extra provisions and rendezvous later.
The expedition continued northward, and having climbed the Liverpool Range on 5 December, they found an Aboriginal tribe who had fled from their home in the Hunter Valley and were suffering from what appeared to be smallpox. On 8 December they arrived at Quirindi and by 11 December the expedition had reached Wallamoul Station near Tamworth, the northern extent of white settlement at the time.
Mitchell continued his northward push into uncolonised territory, guided by a local Gamilaraay man named "Mr. Brown". In mid-December, near to where Boggabri now stands, they located the remains of a stockyard and huts built by George Clarke and his Aboriginal colleagues. By early January 1832 Mitchell's group was travelling along the Namoi River, by which stage Mr Brown had left them. Mitchell's party then headed north unguided but managed to reach the Gwydir River in mid-January where they found a small Aboriginal village of conical-roofed huts. They followed the Gwydir west and made it to the Barwon River by the end of the month. Mitchell came to the correct conclusion that the Barwon flowed into the Darling River and decided not to proceed any further.
At this stage, Finch had finally caught up with the main group. Finch conveyed the news that the provisions he had obtained had been ransacked by Aboriginal people at Gorolei. Two men he had left to guard the supplies had also been killed. The immediate effect was that Mitchell decided to abandon the expedition and return south. The party retraced their path having tense but peaceful interactions with large groups of Gamilaraay people along the way. They reached Gorolei on 18 February where Mitchell buried the bodies of the two killed men and salvaged some equipment. Aboriginal people approached the group laying down their spears and offering females to Mitchell's men in an apparent attempt at appeasement for the killings. Mitchell refused the offer but accepted their guidance on an easy way back to the Namoi River. Once back at Wallamoul, Mitchell placed White in charge of the main party, while he returned hastily to Sydney. He was satisfied that there was no truth about the river Kindur claimed by Clarke. Fourteen years later, Mitchell revealed that the convicts had indulged in sexual relations with Aboriginal women.
Second expedition
Mitchell's next expedition was in 1835. The purpose was to explore the course of the Darling River from where Sturt had turned back in 1829, to where it joined the Murray River. There were 24 men in the party including Mitchell, James Larmer (assistant surveyor) as second in command, Richard Cunningham (colonial botanist) and 21 other men. The main party under Larmer left Parramatta on 9 March and rendezvoused with Mitchell at Boree near the township of Orange. From there, the expedition was guided through the Goobang Ranges by local Wiradjuri people toward the Bogan River. On 17 April 1835, Richard Cunningham wandered away from the party while looking for botanical specimens and went missing. The party, with the assistance of various local Aboriginal people, searched for him until 5 May, following Cunningham's tracks around the headwaters of the Bogan until they disappeared. Cunningham's dead horse, saddle, glove and fragments of his coat and map were all they found. Months later, a search party of military mounted police commanded by Lieutenant Henry Zouch of the first division, discovered that Cunningham had been killed by four Wiradjuri men and his bones were found and buried at Currindine.
After the fruitless search for Cunningham, Mitchell decided to continue the expedition. He was assisted by a local unnamed elder who provided a guide called Tackijally. This man led Mitchell downstream along the waterholes adjacent to the Bogan River as far as Nyngan. Tackijally left them at this point and the group was soon involved in a brief confrontation after they startled an Aboriginal man at a waterhole. The man, who was shot in the hand, had his wounds dressed by the group and later departed. They proceeded down the Bogan, encountering several gatherings of people to which Mitchell gave tomahawks and pieces of an old sword. On 25 May the junction with the Darling River was reached. Here, on a high point of land which bore many Aboriginal grave sites, Mitchell decided to build a fort as he realised that they "had not asked permission to come there" and he needed a stockade for "stout resistance against any number of natives." He named it Fort Bourke in honour of the Governor, Richard Bourke.
Two whale boats had been transported the whole distance on bullock drays and on 1 June Mitchell launched the boats on the Darling to transport the party downriver. However, the Darling became shallower and unnavigable resulting in the expedition resorting once again to overland progress. They encountered many tribes as they headed south, with Mitchell documenting the agricultural practices of some, such as the harvesting of Panicum decompositum, and the large permanent dwellings of others. One clan appeared more hostile than others, kicking up dust and spitting at party members. Mitchell acknowledged that his group were "rather unceremonious invaders of their country" but inflamed tensions by firing a pistol at a tree. Mitchell wrote that "the more they saw of our superior weapons...the more they shewed their hatred and tokens of defiance." The party continued downriver, meeting with friendlier locals, passing through villages and noting the construction of their tomb-sites.
Just north of the Menindee Lakes, the expedition came across a large congregation of several tribes and Mitchell decided that continuing the exploration would be too dangerous. On 11 July, just as Mitchell had resolved to return to Sydney, shots were heard from a forage party up the river. Mitchell sent a further three armed men to the scene of the shooting and the firing continued. After more than an hour, some members of the group returned reporting that a skirmish had occurred over the possession of a kettle and at least three Aboriginal people had been shot dead, including a woman and her child. One of Mitchell's men had been knocked unconscious. The party then commenced their return via the outbound route with Mitchell deciding to avoid contact with the various tribes as much as possible. The "spitting tribe" attempted to burn down their camp on this return journey which resulted in Mitchell ordering shots to be fired over their heads. They arrived at Fort Bourke on 10 August and continued back along the Bogan River. Near Nyngan they met again with members of Tackijally's tribe who allowed Mitchell to walk through their cemetery at Milmeridien. Mitchell soon tired of the clan asking for food and ordered some of his men to march at them with bayonets. On 9 September they came to the upper reaches of the Bogan where they found a cattle-station had already been formed along their route by William Lee. The expedition arrived back at their starting point of Boree on 14 September.
While Mitchell did not trace the Darling River to its junction with the Murray River, the course and terrain of the Bogan River and much of the Darling River had been charted. The places where this and other Mitchell expeditions were most assailed by Aboriginal Australians, including the location of Cunningham's killing, are marked on an 1836 map produced by Mitchell.
Third expedition
The goal of Mitchell's third expedition was to explore and survey the lower part of the Darling River, with instructions to head up the Murray River and then return to the settled areas around Yass. Second in command was assistant surveyor Granville Stapylton. A Wiradjuri man named John Piper was also recruited and 23 convicts and ticket of leave men made up the rest of the party. The group set out from a valley near Mount Canobolas on 17 March 1836, and made their way to Boree and the Bogan River as on previous journeys, then veered south to the Kalare or Lachlan River to approach the Darling from its southern end where it joined the Murray.
The party was guided by various Aboriginal people such as "Barney" along the Lachlan, passing Lake Cargelligo, as John Oxley did in 1817. At this place they met with a large clan from which a number of people joined the expedition and gave vital information about waterholes, as the Lachlan was drying out. Piper also obtained a "good, strong woman" from this tribe.
On 2 May they arrived at Combedyega where an Aboriginal widow named Turandurey with her four-year-old daughter Ballandella also joined the expedition as a guide. She remembered Oxley from nineteen years earlier and Sturt as well, and knew the lower Lachlan. The Murrumbidgee River was reached on 12 May, but at a point downstream from the junction with the Lachlan.
Mount Dispersion massacre
They continued down the Murrumbidgee until 21 May when they were close to the junction with the Murray River. A depot was established at this point, and Mitchell left Staplyton with eight men to guard the stock, while he ventured downstream with the rest of the group. According to the account given to a later enquiry by William Muirhead (bullock-driver and sergeant), Alexander Burnett (overseer) and Jemmy Piper (Aboriginal man accompanying the party): on 24 May Mitchell noticed that Barkindji tribesmen from the Darling River were gathering in large numbers, and by 27 May the hostile intentions of these men became known, when local Murray River people told Piper that the Barkindji were planning to kill Mitchell and his men. Mitchell had to decide whether to wait for an attack, or plan a pre-emptive manoeuvre. His numbers were reduced, as Staplyton and eight men were still at the depot. He split his party again, leaving half the men to hide in the scrub in ambush, while he continued ahead with the carts. When the armed Barkindji warriors approached, the convict Charles King, who was involved in the earlier killings, fired first without waiting for orders. The tribesmen fled into the river and Mitchell's two groups reunited on the shore and continued to shoot at the people for up to 15 minutes. Around 75 shots were fired with Piper later being told that seven Barkindji were killed and four wounded.
Mitchell wrote about the loss of life in his journal, describing the Barkindji as "treacherous savages", and detailing how his men had chased them away, "pursuing and shooting as many as they could". This section was withheld from Mitchell's report when it was released to the public in Sydney. Mitchell named the hill near to where the mass-shooting occurred Mount Dispersion and in May 2020 it was heritage-listed as the Mount Dispersion Massacre Site Aboriginal Place.
Onwards
The expedition continued down the Murray River, encountering a major Aboriginal grave-site at Red Cliffs. On 31 May they arrived close to the junction of the Murray with a "green and stagnant" waterway. Local people advised Piper that this was the Darling River. Mitchell did not believe it, and only when he travelled upstream for some distance, coming across the same type of burial mounds that he had seen in 1835, did he acknowledge that "this hopeless river" was the Darling. He turned back and headed upstream on the Murray to rejoin Stapylton at the depot. The reunited expedition now travelled south-east following the Murray. They passed Swan Hill on 21 June and encountered a group of native inhabitants at Lake Boga. These people were angry at Piper for "bringing whitefellows" to their country and threw spears at him. Piper shot one of them dead. Mitchell noted the local people's practice of making large nets that spanned above the river to catch waterfowl and also came across unusual animals such as the now extinct Southern pig-footed bandicoot.
At the end of June, Mitchell chose to leave the Murray to investigate better looking lands to the south-west. Mitchell was so impressed with the country he saw, he named it Australia Felix. In early July the party crossed the Loddon River, and made their way in a south-westerly direction which brought them to the Grampians and the Wimmera River. Confrontation with people in this region resulted in an Indigenous man being shot in the arm. They were guided by a local Aboriginal woman along part of the Nangeela (Glenelg River) with Mitchell constructing a fortified base on its banks which he named Fort O'Hare. From here Mitchell led part of the group in boats down the Glenelg to where it discharged into the ocean at a bay which Mitchell named Discovery Bay. Mitchell then returned to Fort O'Hare and altered direction towards Portland Bay to the east. When this was reached on 29 August, Mitchell was surprised to find an established farm and whaling station operated by the Henty brothers.
The expedition continued north-east with Mitchell spending a night in a "snug old hut of the natives" at Narrawong. On 17 September, in order to speed his return, Mitchell split the party in two, taking 14 men with him and leaving the remainder with Stapylton to follow with the bullocks and drays. The young girl Ballandella went with Mitchell, while her mother Turandurey remained behind. On the plains around the Hopkins River, Mitchell came across a community of Aboriginal people who cultivated and harvested murnong tubers with specialised tools. Mitchell was wary and when forty of them approached his camp, he ordered his men to charge at them. On 30 September, Mitchell climbed and named Mount Macedon, from the summit of which he had a view of Port Phillip. Progress was slowed due a member of the group, James "Tally-ho" Taylor, drowning while crossing the Broken River. Their return to the frontier of British colonisation on the Murrumbidgee was not completed until 24 October.
Enquiry
When Mitchell arrived in Sydney in early November he was received with great joy. However, when the remainder of his party arrived two weeks later, rumours circulated about the mass killing on the Murray. He subsequently faced a Legislative Council Inquiry in December 1836, receiving an official rebuke. Ballandella joined Mitchell's family of eight other children and learnt to read and write, but was left by Mitchell when he returned to England. Ballandella later married and raised a family at Sackville where she died around the age of thirty.
Fourth expedition
Mitchell's fourth expedition was into northern interior of the colony (a region now part of Queensland) in 1845–46. He was convinced that a significant river must flow north-west into the Gulf of Carpentaria, and finding this river was the main focus of the endeavour.
On 15 December 1845 Mitchell started from Boree near Orange with a large party of 32 people including Edmund Kennedy as second in command (later speared to death at Escape River near Cape York). The Wiradjuri man named Piper from his previous expedition was also a member. Yuranigh (also Wiradjuri) and a ten year old boy from the lower Bogan River named "Dicky" were also assigned as guides. The party travelled north along the Bogan where a war between the British and the Indigenous inhabitants was at that time occurring. Mitchell noted areas where the British had been pushed back, abandoning their farmhouses which were subsequently burnt down by the local people. Mitchell stated "All I could learn about the rest of the tribe was, that the men were almost all dead, and that their wives were chiefly servants at stock stations along the Macquarie."
In January 1846, they left the Bogan and started following the Macquarie River where Mitchell was informed of Pipers' intention to leave the expedition. Mitchell ordered him back to Bathurst, accompanied by Corporal Graham. Near the Macquarie Marshes the harvesting of native millet by Aboriginal people to make bread was recorded and a local man named Yulliyally guided the group to the Barwon River. From here two brothers from a nearby clan led Mitchell to vital waterholes near the Narran River. Mitchell "blushed inwardly for our pallid race" knowing that "white man's cattle would soon trample these holes into a quagmire of mud." More bundles of harvested millet lay for miles along their journey up the Narran. Mitchell then received a message from his son, Roderick Mitchell, a Crown Lands Commissioner who had previously been to the area, which recommended following the Balonne and the Culgoa rivers north. They encountered many Indigenous people who guided the group along the way. On 12 April 1846 Mitchell came to a natural bridge of rocks on the main branch of the Balonne which he called St. George Bridge, now the site of the town of St George. Kennedy was left in charge of the main body here, and was instructed to follow on slowly while Mitchell pushed ahead with a few men. Mitchell followed the Balonne to the Maranoa, and the Cogoon (now called Muckadilla Creek, near Roma). This rivulet led him to an area with an "abundance of good pasturage" in which stood a solitary double topped hill that he named Mount Abundance, on which grew a species of bottle tree. He then crossed to the Maranoa and awaited Kennedy's arrival. Kennedy, who had trouble with local inhabitants trying to burn down his camp, rejoined Mitchell on 1 June 1846.
Leaving Kennedy for a second time, he set out on an extensive excursion of more than four months. Mitchell traversed the country at the head of the Maranoa, on one occasion discharging his rifle over the heads of the Indigenous people to gain "peaceful occupation of the ground." He sighted the headwaters of the Warrego and Nogoa Rivers, then came across the upper reaches of the Belyando River which they followed for a considerable distance. This river's name was given to Mitchell by Indigenous residents before the expedition's dogs chased them away, biting at their legs. Being a tributary of the Burdekin River, a waterway already visited by Ludwig Leichhardt on his expedition to Port Essington in 1845, Mitchell was dismayed to find that he was approaching ground already explored by Europeans. He returned to the head of the Nogoa and struck west, meeting with a tribe who caught emus with nets. He encountered a river which he was certain was the fabled waterway that would flow north-west to the Gulf of Carpentaria. He followed it until he came across a large clan of Aboriginal people living in permanent huts on the banks of a lagoon. He called this place Yuranigh Pond after his Wiradjuri guide and decided to return home. In honour of the British sovereign of the time, he named the waterway, Victoria River. On the homeward journey Mitchell noticed the well known grass that bears his name. They trekked back along the Maranoa River to St.George Bridge, arriving in Sydney 20 January 1847.
Later in 1847, Kennedy proved beyond doubt that the Victoria in fact did not continue north-west, but turned south-west and joined Cooper Creek. He renamed the watercourse the Barcoo River from a name mentioned by local Aboriginal people.
Later career
In 1837, Mitchell sought 18 months leave from his position and in May he left Sydney for London. During his leave, he published an account of his explorations called Three Expeditions into the Interior of Eastern Australia: with descriptions of the recently explored region of Australia Felix, and of the present colony of New South Wales. Mitchell sought additional periods of leave and finally arrived back in Australia in 1841. Mitchell left Sydney again in March 1847 on another period of leave. By the time he arrived back in mid-1848, he had published his Journal of an Expedition into the Interior of Tropical Australia, in search of a route from Sydney to the Gulf of Carpentaria.
Mitchell's journals proved a rich source for historians and anthropologists, with their close and sympathetic observations of the Aboriginal peoples he had encountered. These publications made him the most celebrated Australian explorer of his day. But he was a difficult man to get on with, made evident by this passage made by Governor Charles Augustus FitzRoy:
"It is notorious that Sir Thomas Mitchell's unfortunate impracticability of temper and spirit of opposition of those in authority over him misled him into frequent collision with my predecessors."
In a by-election for the Electoral district of Port Phillip in April 1844, Mitchell was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Council. He found it difficult to separate his roles of government employee and elected member of the legislature, and after only five months he resigned from the Legislative Council.
Duel
Mitchell is also remembered as the last person in Australia to challenge anyone to a duel. In September 1851, Mitchell issued a challenge to Sir Stuart Alexander Donaldson (later Premier of New South Wales) because Donaldson had publicly criticised excessive spending by the Surveyor General's Department. The duel took place in Sydney on 27 September, with both duellists missing their marks; only Donaldson's hat was damaged. The French 50 calibre pistols used in the duel are in the collection of the National Museum of Australia.
Ophir gold fields
In 1851, Mitchell was instructed by Governor FitzRoy to make a report on, and survey of, 'the extent and productiveness of the goldfield reported to have been discovered in the County of Bathurst.' He travelled west during winter to visit the Ophir gold diggings, accompanied by his son, Roderick, and Samuel Stutchbury the government geologist.
In June 1851 Mitchell selected the site for the township of Ophir. W.R. Davidson plotted a survey of the ground and Mitchell planned the streets and allotments for the town.
Mitchell returned with a collection of specimens from the diggings, mostly quartz, with 48 of these stored in a wooden chest. His report of the goldfields was presented to the Legislative Council in February 1852.
Story of the "bomerang" propeller
The search for a method of screw propulsion of ships intrigued many inventors during the latter half of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th. An Englishman, K. P. Smith, patented a screw propeller in 1836, and shortly afterwards Captain John Ericsson, formerly an officer of the Swedish army, patented another.
On his travels, Mitchell must have been evolving the idea of his boomerang propeller—he spelled it "bomerang", while newspapers used "bomarang" and "boomerang." The first test was made in the Sydney Harbour in May 1852, an iron propeller being fitted to the "screw-steamer" Keera. The results of this trial were considered satisfactory, the ship's progress being calculated on two runs at 10 and a little over 12 knots, and Sir Thomas Mitchell took his Invention to England. In 1853 the propeller was fitted to the Genova, and a trial was conducted on the Mersey. Then the Admiralty gave it a test on . The Genova ran at 9.5 knots as against 8.5 with a screw propeller, and the Conflict 9.25 knots as against the screw propeller 8.75, and at a lower engine speed. The "boomerang" propeller can be simply described as a "screw" propeller with much of the blades close to the shaft, which contribute little to propulsion but much to drag, cut away, a principle which is well understood today.
Family life
Thomas Mitchell and Mary had twelve children: Livingstone, Roderick, Murray, Campbell, Thomas, Richard, Georgina, Maria, Emily, Camilla, Alicia, Blanche. Georgina and Maria died young, and Murray before 1847. Roderick became a Commissioner of Crown Lands and head of the Border Police in the Liverpool Plains district. Roderick was drowned and Campbell died during the last years of Mitchell's life.
His family enjoyed a privileged upbringing, and Blanche Mitchell, his youngest daughter, recorded her daily activities and social life in childhood diaries and notebooks. Her sister Emily married George Edward Thicknesse-Touchet, 21st Baron Audley.
In 1841, Mitchell completed his new Gothic home, Carthona, on the water's edge in Darling Point, Sydney. Following Mitchell's death, his family moved to Craigend Terrace in Woolloomooloo.
Death
In July 1855 a Royal Commission was appointed to inquire into the New South Wales Survey Department, but Mitchell did not live to see the report. While surveying the line of road between Nelligen and Braidwood, he developed a chill which led to a severe attack of bronchitis. He died a few days later at Carthona at Darling Point at 5:15 pm 5 October 1855. Newspapers of the day commented:"For a period of twenty-eight years Sir Thomas Mitchell had served the Colony, much of that service having been exceedingly arduous and difficult. Among the early explorers of Australia his name will occupy an honoured place in the estimation of posterity."
He is buried at Camperdown Cemetery, Newtown, with his grave being maintained by the Seniors Group of Surveyors.
Naming
Some of the places Mitchell named on his expeditions were: the Avoca River, Balonne River, Belyando River, Campaspe River, Cogoon River, Discovery Bay, Glenelg River, Grampians, Maranoa River, Mount Arapiles, Mount King, Mount Macedon, Mount Napier, Mount William, Nyngan, Pyramid Hill, St George, Swan Hill and Wimmera River.
Commemoration
Because of his contributions in the surveying and exploration of Australia, Mitchell is commemorated by having numerous localities or objects across Australia being named after him. These include:
The town of Mitchell in Queensland
The Mitchell River in Queensland
The Canberra suburb of Mitchell
The electorate of Mitchell
The Mitchell Highway
The Major Mitchell's cockatoo, a species of cockatoo
Mitchellstown in Victoria.
A local government area in Victoria, Shire of Mitchell
Steam locomotive number S 301 Sir Thomas Mitchell, a member of the Victorian Railways S class locomotives. In turn, Mitchell House at Seymour Technical High School, the town with the loco depot which serviced the famous four locos. Later, the name was carried by the diesel S301.
Mitchell grass, common name of the small genus of grass species dominant across much of the arid areas of the continent
Mitchell's hopping mouse, an Australian native rodent-like animal
Countless roadside locations in Victoria have a memorial erected 'Major Mitchell passed here'.
Sir Thomas Mitchell Road Villawood NSW
Sir Thomas Mitchell road in Bondi NSW
Sir Thomas Mitchell Drive Bowenfels (Lithgow) linking the Great Western Highway with the Cox River at a fitting memorial to colonial road builders.
Mitchell is also the namesake in the highest honor of the New South Wales Surveyors Awards, the Sir Thomas Mitchell Excellence in Surveying Award.
A map of the expedition of Major Sir Thomas Mitchell into the country between the Maranoa and Mount Mudge and the River Victoria, 1848 was ranked #38 in the ‘Top 150: Documenting Queensland’ exhibition when it toured to venues around Queensland from February 2009 to April 2010. The exhibition was part of Queensland State Archives’ events and exhibition program which contributed to the state’s Q150 celebrations, marking the 150th anniversary of the separation of Queensland from New South Wales.
Manuscript Collections
See also
:Category:Taxa named by Thomas Mitchell (explorer)
Charles Sturt
Great North Road (Australia)
History of New South Wales
New South Wales gold rush
Nineteen Counties
Surveyor General of New South Wales
References
External links
Journal of an Expedition into the Interior of Tropical Australia
Three Expeditions into the Interior of Eastern Australia, Volume 1, Volume 2
The Great North Road – Convict Trail Project
1792 births
1855 deaths
Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
Explorers of Australia
Scottish emigrants to colonial Australia
Scottish explorers
British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars
Scottish surveyors
Royal Engineers officers
People from Grangemouth
Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council
Rifle Brigade officers
Surveyors General of New South Wales
19th-century Australian politicians
Pre-Separation Queensland
Australian duellists | true | [
"Yuranigh (approx. 1820 – April 1850) was an Australian Indigenous guide and stockman. Yuranigh was born in New South Wales and died in New South Wales.\n\nYuranigh accompanied Thomas Mitchell as an Aboriginal guide on his 1845–46 expedition to central Queensland. Mitchell wrote of him: \n\nAfter the expedition, Yuranigh returned to Sydney with Mitchell before relocating to Boree, where he died and was buried by his people. There are four carved trees around the grave site, indicating that Yuranigh was a man of special honour. The trees are believed to be the highest remaining number of carved trees around a single grave.\n\nSee also \n\n Grave of Yuranigh\n\nReferences\n\nAustralian Aboriginal guides\nAustralian stockmen\n1850 deaths\nYear of birth uncertain",
"Australia Felix (Latin for \"fortunate Australia\" or \"happy Australia\") was an early name given by Thomas Mitchell to lush pasture in parts of western Victoria he explored in 1836 on his third expedition.\n\nOn this expedition Mitchell was instructed to travel to Menindee, then down the Darling River to the sea, if it flowed there; or, if it flowed into the Murray River to go up the Murray to the inhabited parts of the colony.\n\nHowever lack of water forced Mitchell to follow the Lachlan River to the south-west as the only practicable route. He reached the Murrumbidgee on 12 May and followed it to the Murray.\n\nAt the end of May, Mitchell reached the Darling and turned north upstream. He soon decided, while still about in a direct line from Menindee, to abandon the survey of the deserts around the Darling and to use his resources to explore the more promising country along the Murray.\n\nRetracing his steps Mitchell went up the Murray until 20 June when he reached the junction of the Loddon where the country seemed so promising that he turned south-west into what is now Victoria and was so enchanted by the area he called it “Australia Felix”.\n\nThe reports of excellent farming land from Mitchell's return to Sydney with the news, started a land rush.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n \n \n Mitchell, Sir Thomas Livingstone \n\nHistory of Australia (1788–1850)"
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"Thomas Mitchell (explorer)",
"First expedition",
"Where was Mitchell's first expedition?",
"Mitchell formed an expedition consisting of himself, assistant surveyor George Boyle White and 15 convicts who were promised remission for good conduct."
]
| C_21ced70edb4348dc931b813b1a4fa981_1 | Where did they go on their first expedition? | 2 | Where did Mitchell, George Boyle White, and 15 convicts go on their first expedition? | Thomas Mitchell (explorer) | In 1831 a runaway convict named George Clarke, who had lived with Aborigines in the area for several years, claimed that a large river called Kindur flowed north-west from the Liverpool ranges in New South Wales to the sea. Charles Sturt believed that the Murray-Darling system formed the main river system of New South Wales and Mitchell wanted to prove Sturt wrong. Mitchell formed an expedition consisting of himself, assistant surveyor George Boyle White and 15 convicts who were promised remission for good conduct. Mitchell took 20 bullocks, three heavy drays, three light carts and nine horses to carry supplies, and set out on 24 November 1831 to investigate the claim. On reaching Wollombi in the Hunter Valley, the local assistant surveyor, Heneage Finch, expressed a desire to join the expedition. He had established his credentials by surveying a route from Sydney to Wollombi, so Mitchell approved his request, provided he obtained extra supplies and men, and he followed along later. The expedition continued northward, climbed the Liverpool Range on 5 December, and made Quirindi on 8 December. Shortly afterwards Finch arrived but inexplicably had not brought provisions, so Mitchell immediately sent him back to get them. By 11 December the expedition had reached Wallamoul Station near Tamworth, the northern extent of white settlement at the time. Mitchell continued his northward push into new territory, taking local Kamilaroi people to assist in finding water and to express his peaceful intentions. By early January 1832 he was in the vicinity of the present town of Narrabri, reached the Gwydir River in mid-January, and found the Barwon by the end of the month, where he set up camp. Mitchell left the main party and made a reconnaissance down the Barwon until he found its junction with the Gwydir. After Mitchell returned to the main camp, Finch arrived with tragic news. He had been travelling with three convicts and provisions but, because of a shortage of water, the group had separated. He left two men behind while he attempted to locate the main expedition. Having failed to do that, on the second day he returned to the campsite to discover that it had been ransacked. Supplies were scattered and beneath the wreckage were two dead men. The immediate effect was that Mitchell decided to abandon the expedition and return south. The party reached the Gwydir on 8 February and was near the site of the attack on 17 February. Mitchell buried the two bodies and salvaged some equipment. Once back at Wallamoul, Mitchell placed White in charge of the main party, while he returned hastily to Sydney. He was satisfied that there was no truth about the river Kindur claimed by Clarke. Fourteen years after the attack, Mitchell revealed that the convicts had indulged in sexual relations with Aboriginal women. CANNOTANSWER | On reaching Wollombi in the Hunter Valley, the local assistant surveyor, Heneage Finch, expressed a desire to join the expedition. | Sir Thomas Livingstone Mitchell (15 June 1792 – 5 October 1855), surveyor and explorer of Southeastern Australia, was born at Grangemouth in Stirlingshire, Scotland. In 1827 he took up an appointment as Assistant Surveyor General of New South Wales. The following year he became Surveyor General and remained in this position until his death. Mitchell was knighted in 1839 for his contribution to the surveying of Australia.
Early life
Born in Scotland on 15 June 1792, he was son of John Mitchell of Carron Works and was brought up from childhood by his uncle, Thomas Livingstone of Parkhall, Stirlingshire.
Peninsular War
On the death of his uncle, he joined the British army in Portugal as a volunteer in the Peninsular War, at the age of sixteen. On 24 June 1811, at the age of nineteen, he received his first commission as 2nd Lieutenant in the 1st Battalion 95th Rifles (later the Rifle Brigade / Royal Green Jackets). Utilising his skills as a draughtsman of outstanding ability, he was occasionally employed in the Quartermaster-General's department under Sir George Murray. He was present at the storming of the fortresses of Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajos and San Sebastian as well as the battles of Salamanca and the Pyrenees. Subsequently, he would receive the Military General Service Medal with bars for each of these engagements.
When the war was over, Mitchell was selected to reside in Spain and Portugal for four years to complete sketches of the battlefields for the Military Depot. His duties also included conducting several other important surveys which had been impossible to finish whilst operations were in progress in the field. On 10 June 1818, during this posting, Mitchell married Mary Blunt (daughter of General Richard Blunt) in Lisbon and gained promotion to a company in the 54th Regiment.
In the summer of 1819, he returned to Britain where he devoted himself to finishing the drawings, but with the cessation of the government allowances he had to stop this work. The reductions in the military establishment which followed the withdrawing of the Army of Occupation from France forced Mitchell on to half-pay. It was not until much later, while Mitchell was in London between 1838 and 1840, that the work was completed. The finished drawings were published by the London geographer James Wyld in 1841 under the title Atlas containing the principle battles, sieges and affairs of the Peninsular War. Of high quality, the drawings are the prime source for the topography of the war.
New South Wales
In 1827, with the support of Sir George Murray, Mitchell became Assistant Surveyor General of New South Wales with the right to succeed John Oxley. Oxley died the following year, and on 27 May 1828, Mitchell became Surveyor General. In this post he did much to improve the quality and accuracy of surveying – a vital task in a colony where huge tracts of land were being opened up and sold to new settlers. One of the first roads surveyed under his leadership was the Great North Road, built by convict labour between 1826 and 1836 linking Sydney to the Hunter Region. The Great South Road (now replaced by the Hume Highway), also convict-built, linked Sydney and Goulburn. He kept a record of his 'Progress in roads and Public Works in New South Wales to 1855', including sketches and plans of Sydney, Emu Plains, the Blue Mountains, Victoria Pass, roads to Bathurst, Wiseman's Ferry, and indigenous Australians.
As Surveyor General, Mitchell also completed maps and plans of Sydney, including Darling Point, Point Piper, the city, and Port Jackson. In 1834 he was commissioned to survey a map of the Nineteen Counties. The map he produced was done with such skill and accuracy that he was awarded a knighthood. Around this time, a portrait of Mitchell was painted showing him in the uniform of Major of the 1st Rifle Brigade of the 95th Regiment, complete with whistle used to direct the movement of troops.
During his tenure in New South Wales, Mitchell led four extensive and historically significant surveying expeditions into the interior of eastern Australia.
First expedition
In 1831, a runaway convict named George "The Barber" Clarke (monument around Barbers Lagoon, Boggabri NSW), who had lived with the Kamilaroi people in the area for several years, claimed that a large river called Kindur flowed north-west from the Liverpool Ranges in New South Wales to the sea. Charles Sturt believed that the Murray-Darling system formed the main river system of New South Wales and Mitchell wanted to prove Sturt wrong. Mitchell formed an expedition consisting of himself, assistant surveyor George Boyle White and 15 convicts who were promised remission for good conduct. Mitchell took 20 bullocks, three heavy drays, three light carts and nine horses to carry supplies, and set out on 24 November 1831 to investigate the claim. On reaching Wollombi in the Hunter Valley, the local assistant surveyor, Heneage Finch, expressed a desire to join the expedition which Mitchell approved, provided he first obtain extra provisions and rendezvous later.
The expedition continued northward, and having climbed the Liverpool Range on 5 December, they found an Aboriginal tribe who had fled from their home in the Hunter Valley and were suffering from what appeared to be smallpox. On 8 December they arrived at Quirindi and by 11 December the expedition had reached Wallamoul Station near Tamworth, the northern extent of white settlement at the time.
Mitchell continued his northward push into uncolonised territory, guided by a local Gamilaraay man named "Mr. Brown". In mid-December, near to where Boggabri now stands, they located the remains of a stockyard and huts built by George Clarke and his Aboriginal colleagues. By early January 1832 Mitchell's group was travelling along the Namoi River, by which stage Mr Brown had left them. Mitchell's party then headed north unguided but managed to reach the Gwydir River in mid-January where they found a small Aboriginal village of conical-roofed huts. They followed the Gwydir west and made it to the Barwon River by the end of the month. Mitchell came to the correct conclusion that the Barwon flowed into the Darling River and decided not to proceed any further.
At this stage, Finch had finally caught up with the main group. Finch conveyed the news that the provisions he had obtained had been ransacked by Aboriginal people at Gorolei. Two men he had left to guard the supplies had also been killed. The immediate effect was that Mitchell decided to abandon the expedition and return south. The party retraced their path having tense but peaceful interactions with large groups of Gamilaraay people along the way. They reached Gorolei on 18 February where Mitchell buried the bodies of the two killed men and salvaged some equipment. Aboriginal people approached the group laying down their spears and offering females to Mitchell's men in an apparent attempt at appeasement for the killings. Mitchell refused the offer but accepted their guidance on an easy way back to the Namoi River. Once back at Wallamoul, Mitchell placed White in charge of the main party, while he returned hastily to Sydney. He was satisfied that there was no truth about the river Kindur claimed by Clarke. Fourteen years later, Mitchell revealed that the convicts had indulged in sexual relations with Aboriginal women.
Second expedition
Mitchell's next expedition was in 1835. The purpose was to explore the course of the Darling River from where Sturt had turned back in 1829, to where it joined the Murray River. There were 24 men in the party including Mitchell, James Larmer (assistant surveyor) as second in command, Richard Cunningham (colonial botanist) and 21 other men. The main party under Larmer left Parramatta on 9 March and rendezvoused with Mitchell at Boree near the township of Orange. From there, the expedition was guided through the Goobang Ranges by local Wiradjuri people toward the Bogan River. On 17 April 1835, Richard Cunningham wandered away from the party while looking for botanical specimens and went missing. The party, with the assistance of various local Aboriginal people, searched for him until 5 May, following Cunningham's tracks around the headwaters of the Bogan until they disappeared. Cunningham's dead horse, saddle, glove and fragments of his coat and map were all they found. Months later, a search party of military mounted police commanded by Lieutenant Henry Zouch of the first division, discovered that Cunningham had been killed by four Wiradjuri men and his bones were found and buried at Currindine.
After the fruitless search for Cunningham, Mitchell decided to continue the expedition. He was assisted by a local unnamed elder who provided a guide called Tackijally. This man led Mitchell downstream along the waterholes adjacent to the Bogan River as far as Nyngan. Tackijally left them at this point and the group was soon involved in a brief confrontation after they startled an Aboriginal man at a waterhole. The man, who was shot in the hand, had his wounds dressed by the group and later departed. They proceeded down the Bogan, encountering several gatherings of people to which Mitchell gave tomahawks and pieces of an old sword. On 25 May the junction with the Darling River was reached. Here, on a high point of land which bore many Aboriginal grave sites, Mitchell decided to build a fort as he realised that they "had not asked permission to come there" and he needed a stockade for "stout resistance against any number of natives." He named it Fort Bourke in honour of the Governor, Richard Bourke.
Two whale boats had been transported the whole distance on bullock drays and on 1 June Mitchell launched the boats on the Darling to transport the party downriver. However, the Darling became shallower and unnavigable resulting in the expedition resorting once again to overland progress. They encountered many tribes as they headed south, with Mitchell documenting the agricultural practices of some, such as the harvesting of Panicum decompositum, and the large permanent dwellings of others. One clan appeared more hostile than others, kicking up dust and spitting at party members. Mitchell acknowledged that his group were "rather unceremonious invaders of their country" but inflamed tensions by firing a pistol at a tree. Mitchell wrote that "the more they saw of our superior weapons...the more they shewed their hatred and tokens of defiance." The party continued downriver, meeting with friendlier locals, passing through villages and noting the construction of their tomb-sites.
Just north of the Menindee Lakes, the expedition came across a large congregation of several tribes and Mitchell decided that continuing the exploration would be too dangerous. On 11 July, just as Mitchell had resolved to return to Sydney, shots were heard from a forage party up the river. Mitchell sent a further three armed men to the scene of the shooting and the firing continued. After more than an hour, some members of the group returned reporting that a skirmish had occurred over the possession of a kettle and at least three Aboriginal people had been shot dead, including a woman and her child. One of Mitchell's men had been knocked unconscious. The party then commenced their return via the outbound route with Mitchell deciding to avoid contact with the various tribes as much as possible. The "spitting tribe" attempted to burn down their camp on this return journey which resulted in Mitchell ordering shots to be fired over their heads. They arrived at Fort Bourke on 10 August and continued back along the Bogan River. Near Nyngan they met again with members of Tackijally's tribe who allowed Mitchell to walk through their cemetery at Milmeridien. Mitchell soon tired of the clan asking for food and ordered some of his men to march at them with bayonets. On 9 September they came to the upper reaches of the Bogan where they found a cattle-station had already been formed along their route by William Lee. The expedition arrived back at their starting point of Boree on 14 September.
While Mitchell did not trace the Darling River to its junction with the Murray River, the course and terrain of the Bogan River and much of the Darling River had been charted. The places where this and other Mitchell expeditions were most assailed by Aboriginal Australians, including the location of Cunningham's killing, are marked on an 1836 map produced by Mitchell.
Third expedition
The goal of Mitchell's third expedition was to explore and survey the lower part of the Darling River, with instructions to head up the Murray River and then return to the settled areas around Yass. Second in command was assistant surveyor Granville Stapylton. A Wiradjuri man named John Piper was also recruited and 23 convicts and ticket of leave men made up the rest of the party. The group set out from a valley near Mount Canobolas on 17 March 1836, and made their way to Boree and the Bogan River as on previous journeys, then veered south to the Kalare or Lachlan River to approach the Darling from its southern end where it joined the Murray.
The party was guided by various Aboriginal people such as "Barney" along the Lachlan, passing Lake Cargelligo, as John Oxley did in 1817. At this place they met with a large clan from which a number of people joined the expedition and gave vital information about waterholes, as the Lachlan was drying out. Piper also obtained a "good, strong woman" from this tribe.
On 2 May they arrived at Combedyega where an Aboriginal widow named Turandurey with her four-year-old daughter Ballandella also joined the expedition as a guide. She remembered Oxley from nineteen years earlier and Sturt as well, and knew the lower Lachlan. The Murrumbidgee River was reached on 12 May, but at a point downstream from the junction with the Lachlan.
Mount Dispersion massacre
They continued down the Murrumbidgee until 21 May when they were close to the junction with the Murray River. A depot was established at this point, and Mitchell left Staplyton with eight men to guard the stock, while he ventured downstream with the rest of the group. According to the account given to a later enquiry by William Muirhead (bullock-driver and sergeant), Alexander Burnett (overseer) and Jemmy Piper (Aboriginal man accompanying the party): on 24 May Mitchell noticed that Barkindji tribesmen from the Darling River were gathering in large numbers, and by 27 May the hostile intentions of these men became known, when local Murray River people told Piper that the Barkindji were planning to kill Mitchell and his men. Mitchell had to decide whether to wait for an attack, or plan a pre-emptive manoeuvre. His numbers were reduced, as Staplyton and eight men were still at the depot. He split his party again, leaving half the men to hide in the scrub in ambush, while he continued ahead with the carts. When the armed Barkindji warriors approached, the convict Charles King, who was involved in the earlier killings, fired first without waiting for orders. The tribesmen fled into the river and Mitchell's two groups reunited on the shore and continued to shoot at the people for up to 15 minutes. Around 75 shots were fired with Piper later being told that seven Barkindji were killed and four wounded.
Mitchell wrote about the loss of life in his journal, describing the Barkindji as "treacherous savages", and detailing how his men had chased them away, "pursuing and shooting as many as they could". This section was withheld from Mitchell's report when it was released to the public in Sydney. Mitchell named the hill near to where the mass-shooting occurred Mount Dispersion and in May 2020 it was heritage-listed as the Mount Dispersion Massacre Site Aboriginal Place.
Onwards
The expedition continued down the Murray River, encountering a major Aboriginal grave-site at Red Cliffs. On 31 May they arrived close to the junction of the Murray with a "green and stagnant" waterway. Local people advised Piper that this was the Darling River. Mitchell did not believe it, and only when he travelled upstream for some distance, coming across the same type of burial mounds that he had seen in 1835, did he acknowledge that "this hopeless river" was the Darling. He turned back and headed upstream on the Murray to rejoin Stapylton at the depot. The reunited expedition now travelled south-east following the Murray. They passed Swan Hill on 21 June and encountered a group of native inhabitants at Lake Boga. These people were angry at Piper for "bringing whitefellows" to their country and threw spears at him. Piper shot one of them dead. Mitchell noted the local people's practice of making large nets that spanned above the river to catch waterfowl and also came across unusual animals such as the now extinct Southern pig-footed bandicoot.
At the end of June, Mitchell chose to leave the Murray to investigate better looking lands to the south-west. Mitchell was so impressed with the country he saw, he named it Australia Felix. In early July the party crossed the Loddon River, and made their way in a south-westerly direction which brought them to the Grampians and the Wimmera River. Confrontation with people in this region resulted in an Indigenous man being shot in the arm. They were guided by a local Aboriginal woman along part of the Nangeela (Glenelg River) with Mitchell constructing a fortified base on its banks which he named Fort O'Hare. From here Mitchell led part of the group in boats down the Glenelg to where it discharged into the ocean at a bay which Mitchell named Discovery Bay. Mitchell then returned to Fort O'Hare and altered direction towards Portland Bay to the east. When this was reached on 29 August, Mitchell was surprised to find an established farm and whaling station operated by the Henty brothers.
The expedition continued north-east with Mitchell spending a night in a "snug old hut of the natives" at Narrawong. On 17 September, in order to speed his return, Mitchell split the party in two, taking 14 men with him and leaving the remainder with Stapylton to follow with the bullocks and drays. The young girl Ballandella went with Mitchell, while her mother Turandurey remained behind. On the plains around the Hopkins River, Mitchell came across a community of Aboriginal people who cultivated and harvested murnong tubers with specialised tools. Mitchell was wary and when forty of them approached his camp, he ordered his men to charge at them. On 30 September, Mitchell climbed and named Mount Macedon, from the summit of which he had a view of Port Phillip. Progress was slowed due a member of the group, James "Tally-ho" Taylor, drowning while crossing the Broken River. Their return to the frontier of British colonisation on the Murrumbidgee was not completed until 24 October.
Enquiry
When Mitchell arrived in Sydney in early November he was received with great joy. However, when the remainder of his party arrived two weeks later, rumours circulated about the mass killing on the Murray. He subsequently faced a Legislative Council Inquiry in December 1836, receiving an official rebuke. Ballandella joined Mitchell's family of eight other children and learnt to read and write, but was left by Mitchell when he returned to England. Ballandella later married and raised a family at Sackville where she died around the age of thirty.
Fourth expedition
Mitchell's fourth expedition was into northern interior of the colony (a region now part of Queensland) in 1845–46. He was convinced that a significant river must flow north-west into the Gulf of Carpentaria, and finding this river was the main focus of the endeavour.
On 15 December 1845 Mitchell started from Boree near Orange with a large party of 32 people including Edmund Kennedy as second in command (later speared to death at Escape River near Cape York). The Wiradjuri man named Piper from his previous expedition was also a member. Yuranigh (also Wiradjuri) and a ten year old boy from the lower Bogan River named "Dicky" were also assigned as guides. The party travelled north along the Bogan where a war between the British and the Indigenous inhabitants was at that time occurring. Mitchell noted areas where the British had been pushed back, abandoning their farmhouses which were subsequently burnt down by the local people. Mitchell stated "All I could learn about the rest of the tribe was, that the men were almost all dead, and that their wives were chiefly servants at stock stations along the Macquarie."
In January 1846, they left the Bogan and started following the Macquarie River where Mitchell was informed of Pipers' intention to leave the expedition. Mitchell ordered him back to Bathurst, accompanied by Corporal Graham. Near the Macquarie Marshes the harvesting of native millet by Aboriginal people to make bread was recorded and a local man named Yulliyally guided the group to the Barwon River. From here two brothers from a nearby clan led Mitchell to vital waterholes near the Narran River. Mitchell "blushed inwardly for our pallid race" knowing that "white man's cattle would soon trample these holes into a quagmire of mud." More bundles of harvested millet lay for miles along their journey up the Narran. Mitchell then received a message from his son, Roderick Mitchell, a Crown Lands Commissioner who had previously been to the area, which recommended following the Balonne and the Culgoa rivers north. They encountered many Indigenous people who guided the group along the way. On 12 April 1846 Mitchell came to a natural bridge of rocks on the main branch of the Balonne which he called St. George Bridge, now the site of the town of St George. Kennedy was left in charge of the main body here, and was instructed to follow on slowly while Mitchell pushed ahead with a few men. Mitchell followed the Balonne to the Maranoa, and the Cogoon (now called Muckadilla Creek, near Roma). This rivulet led him to an area with an "abundance of good pasturage" in which stood a solitary double topped hill that he named Mount Abundance, on which grew a species of bottle tree. He then crossed to the Maranoa and awaited Kennedy's arrival. Kennedy, who had trouble with local inhabitants trying to burn down his camp, rejoined Mitchell on 1 June 1846.
Leaving Kennedy for a second time, he set out on an extensive excursion of more than four months. Mitchell traversed the country at the head of the Maranoa, on one occasion discharging his rifle over the heads of the Indigenous people to gain "peaceful occupation of the ground." He sighted the headwaters of the Warrego and Nogoa Rivers, then came across the upper reaches of the Belyando River which they followed for a considerable distance. This river's name was given to Mitchell by Indigenous residents before the expedition's dogs chased them away, biting at their legs. Being a tributary of the Burdekin River, a waterway already visited by Ludwig Leichhardt on his expedition to Port Essington in 1845, Mitchell was dismayed to find that he was approaching ground already explored by Europeans. He returned to the head of the Nogoa and struck west, meeting with a tribe who caught emus with nets. He encountered a river which he was certain was the fabled waterway that would flow north-west to the Gulf of Carpentaria. He followed it until he came across a large clan of Aboriginal people living in permanent huts on the banks of a lagoon. He called this place Yuranigh Pond after his Wiradjuri guide and decided to return home. In honour of the British sovereign of the time, he named the waterway, Victoria River. On the homeward journey Mitchell noticed the well known grass that bears his name. They trekked back along the Maranoa River to St.George Bridge, arriving in Sydney 20 January 1847.
Later in 1847, Kennedy proved beyond doubt that the Victoria in fact did not continue north-west, but turned south-west and joined Cooper Creek. He renamed the watercourse the Barcoo River from a name mentioned by local Aboriginal people.
Later career
In 1837, Mitchell sought 18 months leave from his position and in May he left Sydney for London. During his leave, he published an account of his explorations called Three Expeditions into the Interior of Eastern Australia: with descriptions of the recently explored region of Australia Felix, and of the present colony of New South Wales. Mitchell sought additional periods of leave and finally arrived back in Australia in 1841. Mitchell left Sydney again in March 1847 on another period of leave. By the time he arrived back in mid-1848, he had published his Journal of an Expedition into the Interior of Tropical Australia, in search of a route from Sydney to the Gulf of Carpentaria.
Mitchell's journals proved a rich source for historians and anthropologists, with their close and sympathetic observations of the Aboriginal peoples he had encountered. These publications made him the most celebrated Australian explorer of his day. But he was a difficult man to get on with, made evident by this passage made by Governor Charles Augustus FitzRoy:
"It is notorious that Sir Thomas Mitchell's unfortunate impracticability of temper and spirit of opposition of those in authority over him misled him into frequent collision with my predecessors."
In a by-election for the Electoral district of Port Phillip in April 1844, Mitchell was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Council. He found it difficult to separate his roles of government employee and elected member of the legislature, and after only five months he resigned from the Legislative Council.
Duel
Mitchell is also remembered as the last person in Australia to challenge anyone to a duel. In September 1851, Mitchell issued a challenge to Sir Stuart Alexander Donaldson (later Premier of New South Wales) because Donaldson had publicly criticised excessive spending by the Surveyor General's Department. The duel took place in Sydney on 27 September, with both duellists missing their marks; only Donaldson's hat was damaged. The French 50 calibre pistols used in the duel are in the collection of the National Museum of Australia.
Ophir gold fields
In 1851, Mitchell was instructed by Governor FitzRoy to make a report on, and survey of, 'the extent and productiveness of the goldfield reported to have been discovered in the County of Bathurst.' He travelled west during winter to visit the Ophir gold diggings, accompanied by his son, Roderick, and Samuel Stutchbury the government geologist.
In June 1851 Mitchell selected the site for the township of Ophir. W.R. Davidson plotted a survey of the ground and Mitchell planned the streets and allotments for the town.
Mitchell returned with a collection of specimens from the diggings, mostly quartz, with 48 of these stored in a wooden chest. His report of the goldfields was presented to the Legislative Council in February 1852.
Story of the "bomerang" propeller
The search for a method of screw propulsion of ships intrigued many inventors during the latter half of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th. An Englishman, K. P. Smith, patented a screw propeller in 1836, and shortly afterwards Captain John Ericsson, formerly an officer of the Swedish army, patented another.
On his travels, Mitchell must have been evolving the idea of his boomerang propeller—he spelled it "bomerang", while newspapers used "bomarang" and "boomerang." The first test was made in the Sydney Harbour in May 1852, an iron propeller being fitted to the "screw-steamer" Keera. The results of this trial were considered satisfactory, the ship's progress being calculated on two runs at 10 and a little over 12 knots, and Sir Thomas Mitchell took his Invention to England. In 1853 the propeller was fitted to the Genova, and a trial was conducted on the Mersey. Then the Admiralty gave it a test on . The Genova ran at 9.5 knots as against 8.5 with a screw propeller, and the Conflict 9.25 knots as against the screw propeller 8.75, and at a lower engine speed. The "boomerang" propeller can be simply described as a "screw" propeller with much of the blades close to the shaft, which contribute little to propulsion but much to drag, cut away, a principle which is well understood today.
Family life
Thomas Mitchell and Mary had twelve children: Livingstone, Roderick, Murray, Campbell, Thomas, Richard, Georgina, Maria, Emily, Camilla, Alicia, Blanche. Georgina and Maria died young, and Murray before 1847. Roderick became a Commissioner of Crown Lands and head of the Border Police in the Liverpool Plains district. Roderick was drowned and Campbell died during the last years of Mitchell's life.
His family enjoyed a privileged upbringing, and Blanche Mitchell, his youngest daughter, recorded her daily activities and social life in childhood diaries and notebooks. Her sister Emily married George Edward Thicknesse-Touchet, 21st Baron Audley.
In 1841, Mitchell completed his new Gothic home, Carthona, on the water's edge in Darling Point, Sydney. Following Mitchell's death, his family moved to Craigend Terrace in Woolloomooloo.
Death
In July 1855 a Royal Commission was appointed to inquire into the New South Wales Survey Department, but Mitchell did not live to see the report. While surveying the line of road between Nelligen and Braidwood, he developed a chill which led to a severe attack of bronchitis. He died a few days later at Carthona at Darling Point at 5:15 pm 5 October 1855. Newspapers of the day commented:"For a period of twenty-eight years Sir Thomas Mitchell had served the Colony, much of that service having been exceedingly arduous and difficult. Among the early explorers of Australia his name will occupy an honoured place in the estimation of posterity."
He is buried at Camperdown Cemetery, Newtown, with his grave being maintained by the Seniors Group of Surveyors.
Naming
Some of the places Mitchell named on his expeditions were: the Avoca River, Balonne River, Belyando River, Campaspe River, Cogoon River, Discovery Bay, Glenelg River, Grampians, Maranoa River, Mount Arapiles, Mount King, Mount Macedon, Mount Napier, Mount William, Nyngan, Pyramid Hill, St George, Swan Hill and Wimmera River.
Commemoration
Because of his contributions in the surveying and exploration of Australia, Mitchell is commemorated by having numerous localities or objects across Australia being named after him. These include:
The town of Mitchell in Queensland
The Mitchell River in Queensland
The Canberra suburb of Mitchell
The electorate of Mitchell
The Mitchell Highway
The Major Mitchell's cockatoo, a species of cockatoo
Mitchellstown in Victoria.
A local government area in Victoria, Shire of Mitchell
Steam locomotive number S 301 Sir Thomas Mitchell, a member of the Victorian Railways S class locomotives. In turn, Mitchell House at Seymour Technical High School, the town with the loco depot which serviced the famous four locos. Later, the name was carried by the diesel S301.
Mitchell grass, common name of the small genus of grass species dominant across much of the arid areas of the continent
Mitchell's hopping mouse, an Australian native rodent-like animal
Countless roadside locations in Victoria have a memorial erected 'Major Mitchell passed here'.
Sir Thomas Mitchell Road Villawood NSW
Sir Thomas Mitchell road in Bondi NSW
Sir Thomas Mitchell Drive Bowenfels (Lithgow) linking the Great Western Highway with the Cox River at a fitting memorial to colonial road builders.
Mitchell is also the namesake in the highest honor of the New South Wales Surveyors Awards, the Sir Thomas Mitchell Excellence in Surveying Award.
A map of the expedition of Major Sir Thomas Mitchell into the country between the Maranoa and Mount Mudge and the River Victoria, 1848 was ranked #38 in the ‘Top 150: Documenting Queensland’ exhibition when it toured to venues around Queensland from February 2009 to April 2010. The exhibition was part of Queensland State Archives’ events and exhibition program which contributed to the state’s Q150 celebrations, marking the 150th anniversary of the separation of Queensland from New South Wales.
Manuscript Collections
See also
:Category:Taxa named by Thomas Mitchell (explorer)
Charles Sturt
Great North Road (Australia)
History of New South Wales
New South Wales gold rush
Nineteen Counties
Surveyor General of New South Wales
References
External links
Journal of an Expedition into the Interior of Tropical Australia
Three Expeditions into the Interior of Eastern Australia, Volume 1, Volume 2
The Great North Road – Convict Trail Project
1792 births
1855 deaths
Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
Explorers of Australia
Scottish emigrants to colonial Australia
Scottish explorers
British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars
Scottish surveyors
Royal Engineers officers
People from Grangemouth
Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council
Rifle Brigade officers
Surveyors General of New South Wales
19th-century Australian politicians
Pre-Separation Queensland
Australian duellists | false | [
"L is a novel written by the Norwegian writer Erlend Loe. It is about a group of young men who go on an expedition to the small island Manuae in the Pacific Ocean. It was published in 1999, and was a big success.\n\nPlot\nThe main theme in the story is an expedition to prove main character Erlend's theory about Pacific islands. He believes that their inhabitants came from South America on skates. This is, of course, an impossible theory, but the story is kept alive with Loe's personal, at times naïve, style. \n\nThe book is divided into two parts. The first part is about how Erlend, inspired by Thor Heyerdahl's Kon-Tiki, came up with the theory, and the planning of the expedition. The second part is about the expedition itself, which takes place on Manuae in the Cook Islands. The seven boys in the expedition, including fictionalized versions of Loe and artist Kim Hiorthøy, all feel that they have not contributed to \"build Norway\", so this trip is like their way of saying \"sorry\", and placing Norway on the map once and for all. Erlend strongly believes that his theory is correct and that they will be praised as heroes when they return. In the end of the book the boys feel like this wasn't enough to place Norway on the map, so they start another experiment, where they try out the different ways of governing a country. For example, they try out apartheid and communism. They spend the last days on the island sitting around and waiting for the boat to pick them up. When they come home there is no marching band waiting at the airport, and realise that it will take more to get Norway \"out there\".\n\nReferences\n\n1999 novels\n20th-century Norwegian novels\nBooks by Erlend Loe\nNovels set in Oceania",
"Expedition 5 was the fifth long-duration stay on the International Space Station (ISS). The crew, consisting of three people, remained in space for 184 days, 178 of which were spent aboard the ISS. Expedition 5 was a continuation of an uninterrupted human presence in space, as of April 2021, which was begun by Expedition 1 in 2000-2001.\n\nThe crew of Expedition 5 launched to space aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour aboard the STS-111 mission on 5 June 2002. Their tenure aboard the station, however, did not begin until they docked with the ISS two days later on 7 June.\n\nCrew\n\nMission parameters \nPerigee: 384 km\nApogee: 396 km\nInclination: 51.6°\nPeriod: 92 min\n\nMission objectives \nThe Expedition Five crew took charge of ISS operations on 7 June 2002. An official ceremony between Expedition crews took place 10 June, with the ceremonial ringing of the station's brass bell, symbolizing the transfer of command. The Expedition Five crew carried out approximately 25 new investigations on board the ISS, as well as continued with various science investigations begun before their stay. The crew wrapped up a 184-day stay in space when they returned home on STS-113 7 December 2002.\n\nSpace Shuttle Endeavour delivered the Expedition 5 crew during mission STS-111 which launched 5 June 2002. The fifth crew to live aboard the International Space Station was led by Russian Valery Korzun and joined by fellow Cosmonaut Sergei Treshchev and U.S. Astronaut Peggy A. Whitson, both flight engineers. While on board, Dr. Whitson was named NASA's first ISS Science Officer by NASA Administrator O'Keefe.\n\nSpacewalks \nThe Expedition Five crewmembers conducted two spacewalks during their stay at the International Space Station. Both were based out of the Pirs Docking Compartment and used Russian Orlan space suits.\n\nReferences\n\nNASA\n\nExternal links\n\n Expedition 5 Photography\n ISS Expedition Five Crew (with mission overview)\n\nExpedition 05\n2002 in spaceflight"
]
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[
"Thomas Mitchell (explorer)",
"First expedition",
"Where was Mitchell's first expedition?",
"Mitchell formed an expedition consisting of himself, assistant surveyor George Boyle White and 15 convicts who were promised remission for good conduct.",
"Where did they go on their first expedition?",
"On reaching Wollombi in the Hunter Valley, the local assistant surveyor, Heneage Finch, expressed a desire to join the expedition."
]
| C_21ced70edb4348dc931b813b1a4fa981_1 | What was Thomas Mitchell's goal for the first expedition? | 3 | What was Thomas Mitchell's goal for the first expedition? | Thomas Mitchell (explorer) | In 1831 a runaway convict named George Clarke, who had lived with Aborigines in the area for several years, claimed that a large river called Kindur flowed north-west from the Liverpool ranges in New South Wales to the sea. Charles Sturt believed that the Murray-Darling system formed the main river system of New South Wales and Mitchell wanted to prove Sturt wrong. Mitchell formed an expedition consisting of himself, assistant surveyor George Boyle White and 15 convicts who were promised remission for good conduct. Mitchell took 20 bullocks, three heavy drays, three light carts and nine horses to carry supplies, and set out on 24 November 1831 to investigate the claim. On reaching Wollombi in the Hunter Valley, the local assistant surveyor, Heneage Finch, expressed a desire to join the expedition. He had established his credentials by surveying a route from Sydney to Wollombi, so Mitchell approved his request, provided he obtained extra supplies and men, and he followed along later. The expedition continued northward, climbed the Liverpool Range on 5 December, and made Quirindi on 8 December. Shortly afterwards Finch arrived but inexplicably had not brought provisions, so Mitchell immediately sent him back to get them. By 11 December the expedition had reached Wallamoul Station near Tamworth, the northern extent of white settlement at the time. Mitchell continued his northward push into new territory, taking local Kamilaroi people to assist in finding water and to express his peaceful intentions. By early January 1832 he was in the vicinity of the present town of Narrabri, reached the Gwydir River in mid-January, and found the Barwon by the end of the month, where he set up camp. Mitchell left the main party and made a reconnaissance down the Barwon until he found its junction with the Gwydir. After Mitchell returned to the main camp, Finch arrived with tragic news. He had been travelling with three convicts and provisions but, because of a shortage of water, the group had separated. He left two men behind while he attempted to locate the main expedition. Having failed to do that, on the second day he returned to the campsite to discover that it had been ransacked. Supplies were scattered and beneath the wreckage were two dead men. The immediate effect was that Mitchell decided to abandon the expedition and return south. The party reached the Gwydir on 8 February and was near the site of the attack on 17 February. Mitchell buried the two bodies and salvaged some equipment. Once back at Wallamoul, Mitchell placed White in charge of the main party, while he returned hastily to Sydney. He was satisfied that there was no truth about the river Kindur claimed by Clarke. Fourteen years after the attack, Mitchell revealed that the convicts had indulged in sexual relations with Aboriginal women. CANNOTANSWER | promised remission for good conduct. | Sir Thomas Livingstone Mitchell (15 June 1792 – 5 October 1855), surveyor and explorer of Southeastern Australia, was born at Grangemouth in Stirlingshire, Scotland. In 1827 he took up an appointment as Assistant Surveyor General of New South Wales. The following year he became Surveyor General and remained in this position until his death. Mitchell was knighted in 1839 for his contribution to the surveying of Australia.
Early life
Born in Scotland on 15 June 1792, he was son of John Mitchell of Carron Works and was brought up from childhood by his uncle, Thomas Livingstone of Parkhall, Stirlingshire.
Peninsular War
On the death of his uncle, he joined the British army in Portugal as a volunteer in the Peninsular War, at the age of sixteen. On 24 June 1811, at the age of nineteen, he received his first commission as 2nd Lieutenant in the 1st Battalion 95th Rifles (later the Rifle Brigade / Royal Green Jackets). Utilising his skills as a draughtsman of outstanding ability, he was occasionally employed in the Quartermaster-General's department under Sir George Murray. He was present at the storming of the fortresses of Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajos and San Sebastian as well as the battles of Salamanca and the Pyrenees. Subsequently, he would receive the Military General Service Medal with bars for each of these engagements.
When the war was over, Mitchell was selected to reside in Spain and Portugal for four years to complete sketches of the battlefields for the Military Depot. His duties also included conducting several other important surveys which had been impossible to finish whilst operations were in progress in the field. On 10 June 1818, during this posting, Mitchell married Mary Blunt (daughter of General Richard Blunt) in Lisbon and gained promotion to a company in the 54th Regiment.
In the summer of 1819, he returned to Britain where he devoted himself to finishing the drawings, but with the cessation of the government allowances he had to stop this work. The reductions in the military establishment which followed the withdrawing of the Army of Occupation from France forced Mitchell on to half-pay. It was not until much later, while Mitchell was in London between 1838 and 1840, that the work was completed. The finished drawings were published by the London geographer James Wyld in 1841 under the title Atlas containing the principle battles, sieges and affairs of the Peninsular War. Of high quality, the drawings are the prime source for the topography of the war.
New South Wales
In 1827, with the support of Sir George Murray, Mitchell became Assistant Surveyor General of New South Wales with the right to succeed John Oxley. Oxley died the following year, and on 27 May 1828, Mitchell became Surveyor General. In this post he did much to improve the quality and accuracy of surveying – a vital task in a colony where huge tracts of land were being opened up and sold to new settlers. One of the first roads surveyed under his leadership was the Great North Road, built by convict labour between 1826 and 1836 linking Sydney to the Hunter Region. The Great South Road (now replaced by the Hume Highway), also convict-built, linked Sydney and Goulburn. He kept a record of his 'Progress in roads and Public Works in New South Wales to 1855', including sketches and plans of Sydney, Emu Plains, the Blue Mountains, Victoria Pass, roads to Bathurst, Wiseman's Ferry, and indigenous Australians.
As Surveyor General, Mitchell also completed maps and plans of Sydney, including Darling Point, Point Piper, the city, and Port Jackson. In 1834 he was commissioned to survey a map of the Nineteen Counties. The map he produced was done with such skill and accuracy that he was awarded a knighthood. Around this time, a portrait of Mitchell was painted showing him in the uniform of Major of the 1st Rifle Brigade of the 95th Regiment, complete with whistle used to direct the movement of troops.
During his tenure in New South Wales, Mitchell led four extensive and historically significant surveying expeditions into the interior of eastern Australia.
First expedition
In 1831, a runaway convict named George "The Barber" Clarke (monument around Barbers Lagoon, Boggabri NSW), who had lived with the Kamilaroi people in the area for several years, claimed that a large river called Kindur flowed north-west from the Liverpool Ranges in New South Wales to the sea. Charles Sturt believed that the Murray-Darling system formed the main river system of New South Wales and Mitchell wanted to prove Sturt wrong. Mitchell formed an expedition consisting of himself, assistant surveyor George Boyle White and 15 convicts who were promised remission for good conduct. Mitchell took 20 bullocks, three heavy drays, three light carts and nine horses to carry supplies, and set out on 24 November 1831 to investigate the claim. On reaching Wollombi in the Hunter Valley, the local assistant surveyor, Heneage Finch, expressed a desire to join the expedition which Mitchell approved, provided he first obtain extra provisions and rendezvous later.
The expedition continued northward, and having climbed the Liverpool Range on 5 December, they found an Aboriginal tribe who had fled from their home in the Hunter Valley and were suffering from what appeared to be smallpox. On 8 December they arrived at Quirindi and by 11 December the expedition had reached Wallamoul Station near Tamworth, the northern extent of white settlement at the time.
Mitchell continued his northward push into uncolonised territory, guided by a local Gamilaraay man named "Mr. Brown". In mid-December, near to where Boggabri now stands, they located the remains of a stockyard and huts built by George Clarke and his Aboriginal colleagues. By early January 1832 Mitchell's group was travelling along the Namoi River, by which stage Mr Brown had left them. Mitchell's party then headed north unguided but managed to reach the Gwydir River in mid-January where they found a small Aboriginal village of conical-roofed huts. They followed the Gwydir west and made it to the Barwon River by the end of the month. Mitchell came to the correct conclusion that the Barwon flowed into the Darling River and decided not to proceed any further.
At this stage, Finch had finally caught up with the main group. Finch conveyed the news that the provisions he had obtained had been ransacked by Aboriginal people at Gorolei. Two men he had left to guard the supplies had also been killed. The immediate effect was that Mitchell decided to abandon the expedition and return south. The party retraced their path having tense but peaceful interactions with large groups of Gamilaraay people along the way. They reached Gorolei on 18 February where Mitchell buried the bodies of the two killed men and salvaged some equipment. Aboriginal people approached the group laying down their spears and offering females to Mitchell's men in an apparent attempt at appeasement for the killings. Mitchell refused the offer but accepted their guidance on an easy way back to the Namoi River. Once back at Wallamoul, Mitchell placed White in charge of the main party, while he returned hastily to Sydney. He was satisfied that there was no truth about the river Kindur claimed by Clarke. Fourteen years later, Mitchell revealed that the convicts had indulged in sexual relations with Aboriginal women.
Second expedition
Mitchell's next expedition was in 1835. The purpose was to explore the course of the Darling River from where Sturt had turned back in 1829, to where it joined the Murray River. There were 24 men in the party including Mitchell, James Larmer (assistant surveyor) as second in command, Richard Cunningham (colonial botanist) and 21 other men. The main party under Larmer left Parramatta on 9 March and rendezvoused with Mitchell at Boree near the township of Orange. From there, the expedition was guided through the Goobang Ranges by local Wiradjuri people toward the Bogan River. On 17 April 1835, Richard Cunningham wandered away from the party while looking for botanical specimens and went missing. The party, with the assistance of various local Aboriginal people, searched for him until 5 May, following Cunningham's tracks around the headwaters of the Bogan until they disappeared. Cunningham's dead horse, saddle, glove and fragments of his coat and map were all they found. Months later, a search party of military mounted police commanded by Lieutenant Henry Zouch of the first division, discovered that Cunningham had been killed by four Wiradjuri men and his bones were found and buried at Currindine.
After the fruitless search for Cunningham, Mitchell decided to continue the expedition. He was assisted by a local unnamed elder who provided a guide called Tackijally. This man led Mitchell downstream along the waterholes adjacent to the Bogan River as far as Nyngan. Tackijally left them at this point and the group was soon involved in a brief confrontation after they startled an Aboriginal man at a waterhole. The man, who was shot in the hand, had his wounds dressed by the group and later departed. They proceeded down the Bogan, encountering several gatherings of people to which Mitchell gave tomahawks and pieces of an old sword. On 25 May the junction with the Darling River was reached. Here, on a high point of land which bore many Aboriginal grave sites, Mitchell decided to build a fort as he realised that they "had not asked permission to come there" and he needed a stockade for "stout resistance against any number of natives." He named it Fort Bourke in honour of the Governor, Richard Bourke.
Two whale boats had been transported the whole distance on bullock drays and on 1 June Mitchell launched the boats on the Darling to transport the party downriver. However, the Darling became shallower and unnavigable resulting in the expedition resorting once again to overland progress. They encountered many tribes as they headed south, with Mitchell documenting the agricultural practices of some, such as the harvesting of Panicum decompositum, and the large permanent dwellings of others. One clan appeared more hostile than others, kicking up dust and spitting at party members. Mitchell acknowledged that his group were "rather unceremonious invaders of their country" but inflamed tensions by firing a pistol at a tree. Mitchell wrote that "the more they saw of our superior weapons...the more they shewed their hatred and tokens of defiance." The party continued downriver, meeting with friendlier locals, passing through villages and noting the construction of their tomb-sites.
Just north of the Menindee Lakes, the expedition came across a large congregation of several tribes and Mitchell decided that continuing the exploration would be too dangerous. On 11 July, just as Mitchell had resolved to return to Sydney, shots were heard from a forage party up the river. Mitchell sent a further three armed men to the scene of the shooting and the firing continued. After more than an hour, some members of the group returned reporting that a skirmish had occurred over the possession of a kettle and at least three Aboriginal people had been shot dead, including a woman and her child. One of Mitchell's men had been knocked unconscious. The party then commenced their return via the outbound route with Mitchell deciding to avoid contact with the various tribes as much as possible. The "spitting tribe" attempted to burn down their camp on this return journey which resulted in Mitchell ordering shots to be fired over their heads. They arrived at Fort Bourke on 10 August and continued back along the Bogan River. Near Nyngan they met again with members of Tackijally's tribe who allowed Mitchell to walk through their cemetery at Milmeridien. Mitchell soon tired of the clan asking for food and ordered some of his men to march at them with bayonets. On 9 September they came to the upper reaches of the Bogan where they found a cattle-station had already been formed along their route by William Lee. The expedition arrived back at their starting point of Boree on 14 September.
While Mitchell did not trace the Darling River to its junction with the Murray River, the course and terrain of the Bogan River and much of the Darling River had been charted. The places where this and other Mitchell expeditions were most assailed by Aboriginal Australians, including the location of Cunningham's killing, are marked on an 1836 map produced by Mitchell.
Third expedition
The goal of Mitchell's third expedition was to explore and survey the lower part of the Darling River, with instructions to head up the Murray River and then return to the settled areas around Yass. Second in command was assistant surveyor Granville Stapylton. A Wiradjuri man named John Piper was also recruited and 23 convicts and ticket of leave men made up the rest of the party. The group set out from a valley near Mount Canobolas on 17 March 1836, and made their way to Boree and the Bogan River as on previous journeys, then veered south to the Kalare or Lachlan River to approach the Darling from its southern end where it joined the Murray.
The party was guided by various Aboriginal people such as "Barney" along the Lachlan, passing Lake Cargelligo, as John Oxley did in 1817. At this place they met with a large clan from which a number of people joined the expedition and gave vital information about waterholes, as the Lachlan was drying out. Piper also obtained a "good, strong woman" from this tribe.
On 2 May they arrived at Combedyega where an Aboriginal widow named Turandurey with her four-year-old daughter Ballandella also joined the expedition as a guide. She remembered Oxley from nineteen years earlier and Sturt as well, and knew the lower Lachlan. The Murrumbidgee River was reached on 12 May, but at a point downstream from the junction with the Lachlan.
Mount Dispersion massacre
They continued down the Murrumbidgee until 21 May when they were close to the junction with the Murray River. A depot was established at this point, and Mitchell left Staplyton with eight men to guard the stock, while he ventured downstream with the rest of the group. According to the account given to a later enquiry by William Muirhead (bullock-driver and sergeant), Alexander Burnett (overseer) and Jemmy Piper (Aboriginal man accompanying the party): on 24 May Mitchell noticed that Barkindji tribesmen from the Darling River were gathering in large numbers, and by 27 May the hostile intentions of these men became known, when local Murray River people told Piper that the Barkindji were planning to kill Mitchell and his men. Mitchell had to decide whether to wait for an attack, or plan a pre-emptive manoeuvre. His numbers were reduced, as Staplyton and eight men were still at the depot. He split his party again, leaving half the men to hide in the scrub in ambush, while he continued ahead with the carts. When the armed Barkindji warriors approached, the convict Charles King, who was involved in the earlier killings, fired first without waiting for orders. The tribesmen fled into the river and Mitchell's two groups reunited on the shore and continued to shoot at the people for up to 15 minutes. Around 75 shots were fired with Piper later being told that seven Barkindji were killed and four wounded.
Mitchell wrote about the loss of life in his journal, describing the Barkindji as "treacherous savages", and detailing how his men had chased them away, "pursuing and shooting as many as they could". This section was withheld from Mitchell's report when it was released to the public in Sydney. Mitchell named the hill near to where the mass-shooting occurred Mount Dispersion and in May 2020 it was heritage-listed as the Mount Dispersion Massacre Site Aboriginal Place.
Onwards
The expedition continued down the Murray River, encountering a major Aboriginal grave-site at Red Cliffs. On 31 May they arrived close to the junction of the Murray with a "green and stagnant" waterway. Local people advised Piper that this was the Darling River. Mitchell did not believe it, and only when he travelled upstream for some distance, coming across the same type of burial mounds that he had seen in 1835, did he acknowledge that "this hopeless river" was the Darling. He turned back and headed upstream on the Murray to rejoin Stapylton at the depot. The reunited expedition now travelled south-east following the Murray. They passed Swan Hill on 21 June and encountered a group of native inhabitants at Lake Boga. These people were angry at Piper for "bringing whitefellows" to their country and threw spears at him. Piper shot one of them dead. Mitchell noted the local people's practice of making large nets that spanned above the river to catch waterfowl and also came across unusual animals such as the now extinct Southern pig-footed bandicoot.
At the end of June, Mitchell chose to leave the Murray to investigate better looking lands to the south-west. Mitchell was so impressed with the country he saw, he named it Australia Felix. In early July the party crossed the Loddon River, and made their way in a south-westerly direction which brought them to the Grampians and the Wimmera River. Confrontation with people in this region resulted in an Indigenous man being shot in the arm. They were guided by a local Aboriginal woman along part of the Nangeela (Glenelg River) with Mitchell constructing a fortified base on its banks which he named Fort O'Hare. From here Mitchell led part of the group in boats down the Glenelg to where it discharged into the ocean at a bay which Mitchell named Discovery Bay. Mitchell then returned to Fort O'Hare and altered direction towards Portland Bay to the east. When this was reached on 29 August, Mitchell was surprised to find an established farm and whaling station operated by the Henty brothers.
The expedition continued north-east with Mitchell spending a night in a "snug old hut of the natives" at Narrawong. On 17 September, in order to speed his return, Mitchell split the party in two, taking 14 men with him and leaving the remainder with Stapylton to follow with the bullocks and drays. The young girl Ballandella went with Mitchell, while her mother Turandurey remained behind. On the plains around the Hopkins River, Mitchell came across a community of Aboriginal people who cultivated and harvested murnong tubers with specialised tools. Mitchell was wary and when forty of them approached his camp, he ordered his men to charge at them. On 30 September, Mitchell climbed and named Mount Macedon, from the summit of which he had a view of Port Phillip. Progress was slowed due a member of the group, James "Tally-ho" Taylor, drowning while crossing the Broken River. Their return to the frontier of British colonisation on the Murrumbidgee was not completed until 24 October.
Enquiry
When Mitchell arrived in Sydney in early November he was received with great joy. However, when the remainder of his party arrived two weeks later, rumours circulated about the mass killing on the Murray. He subsequently faced a Legislative Council Inquiry in December 1836, receiving an official rebuke. Ballandella joined Mitchell's family of eight other children and learnt to read and write, but was left by Mitchell when he returned to England. Ballandella later married and raised a family at Sackville where she died around the age of thirty.
Fourth expedition
Mitchell's fourth expedition was into northern interior of the colony (a region now part of Queensland) in 1845–46. He was convinced that a significant river must flow north-west into the Gulf of Carpentaria, and finding this river was the main focus of the endeavour.
On 15 December 1845 Mitchell started from Boree near Orange with a large party of 32 people including Edmund Kennedy as second in command (later speared to death at Escape River near Cape York). The Wiradjuri man named Piper from his previous expedition was also a member. Yuranigh (also Wiradjuri) and a ten year old boy from the lower Bogan River named "Dicky" were also assigned as guides. The party travelled north along the Bogan where a war between the British and the Indigenous inhabitants was at that time occurring. Mitchell noted areas where the British had been pushed back, abandoning their farmhouses which were subsequently burnt down by the local people. Mitchell stated "All I could learn about the rest of the tribe was, that the men were almost all dead, and that their wives were chiefly servants at stock stations along the Macquarie."
In January 1846, they left the Bogan and started following the Macquarie River where Mitchell was informed of Pipers' intention to leave the expedition. Mitchell ordered him back to Bathurst, accompanied by Corporal Graham. Near the Macquarie Marshes the harvesting of native millet by Aboriginal people to make bread was recorded and a local man named Yulliyally guided the group to the Barwon River. From here two brothers from a nearby clan led Mitchell to vital waterholes near the Narran River. Mitchell "blushed inwardly for our pallid race" knowing that "white man's cattle would soon trample these holes into a quagmire of mud." More bundles of harvested millet lay for miles along their journey up the Narran. Mitchell then received a message from his son, Roderick Mitchell, a Crown Lands Commissioner who had previously been to the area, which recommended following the Balonne and the Culgoa rivers north. They encountered many Indigenous people who guided the group along the way. On 12 April 1846 Mitchell came to a natural bridge of rocks on the main branch of the Balonne which he called St. George Bridge, now the site of the town of St George. Kennedy was left in charge of the main body here, and was instructed to follow on slowly while Mitchell pushed ahead with a few men. Mitchell followed the Balonne to the Maranoa, and the Cogoon (now called Muckadilla Creek, near Roma). This rivulet led him to an area with an "abundance of good pasturage" in which stood a solitary double topped hill that he named Mount Abundance, on which grew a species of bottle tree. He then crossed to the Maranoa and awaited Kennedy's arrival. Kennedy, who had trouble with local inhabitants trying to burn down his camp, rejoined Mitchell on 1 June 1846.
Leaving Kennedy for a second time, he set out on an extensive excursion of more than four months. Mitchell traversed the country at the head of the Maranoa, on one occasion discharging his rifle over the heads of the Indigenous people to gain "peaceful occupation of the ground." He sighted the headwaters of the Warrego and Nogoa Rivers, then came across the upper reaches of the Belyando River which they followed for a considerable distance. This river's name was given to Mitchell by Indigenous residents before the expedition's dogs chased them away, biting at their legs. Being a tributary of the Burdekin River, a waterway already visited by Ludwig Leichhardt on his expedition to Port Essington in 1845, Mitchell was dismayed to find that he was approaching ground already explored by Europeans. He returned to the head of the Nogoa and struck west, meeting with a tribe who caught emus with nets. He encountered a river which he was certain was the fabled waterway that would flow north-west to the Gulf of Carpentaria. He followed it until he came across a large clan of Aboriginal people living in permanent huts on the banks of a lagoon. He called this place Yuranigh Pond after his Wiradjuri guide and decided to return home. In honour of the British sovereign of the time, he named the waterway, Victoria River. On the homeward journey Mitchell noticed the well known grass that bears his name. They trekked back along the Maranoa River to St.George Bridge, arriving in Sydney 20 January 1847.
Later in 1847, Kennedy proved beyond doubt that the Victoria in fact did not continue north-west, but turned south-west and joined Cooper Creek. He renamed the watercourse the Barcoo River from a name mentioned by local Aboriginal people.
Later career
In 1837, Mitchell sought 18 months leave from his position and in May he left Sydney for London. During his leave, he published an account of his explorations called Three Expeditions into the Interior of Eastern Australia: with descriptions of the recently explored region of Australia Felix, and of the present colony of New South Wales. Mitchell sought additional periods of leave and finally arrived back in Australia in 1841. Mitchell left Sydney again in March 1847 on another period of leave. By the time he arrived back in mid-1848, he had published his Journal of an Expedition into the Interior of Tropical Australia, in search of a route from Sydney to the Gulf of Carpentaria.
Mitchell's journals proved a rich source for historians and anthropologists, with their close and sympathetic observations of the Aboriginal peoples he had encountered. These publications made him the most celebrated Australian explorer of his day. But he was a difficult man to get on with, made evident by this passage made by Governor Charles Augustus FitzRoy:
"It is notorious that Sir Thomas Mitchell's unfortunate impracticability of temper and spirit of opposition of those in authority over him misled him into frequent collision with my predecessors."
In a by-election for the Electoral district of Port Phillip in April 1844, Mitchell was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Council. He found it difficult to separate his roles of government employee and elected member of the legislature, and after only five months he resigned from the Legislative Council.
Duel
Mitchell is also remembered as the last person in Australia to challenge anyone to a duel. In September 1851, Mitchell issued a challenge to Sir Stuart Alexander Donaldson (later Premier of New South Wales) because Donaldson had publicly criticised excessive spending by the Surveyor General's Department. The duel took place in Sydney on 27 September, with both duellists missing their marks; only Donaldson's hat was damaged. The French 50 calibre pistols used in the duel are in the collection of the National Museum of Australia.
Ophir gold fields
In 1851, Mitchell was instructed by Governor FitzRoy to make a report on, and survey of, 'the extent and productiveness of the goldfield reported to have been discovered in the County of Bathurst.' He travelled west during winter to visit the Ophir gold diggings, accompanied by his son, Roderick, and Samuel Stutchbury the government geologist.
In June 1851 Mitchell selected the site for the township of Ophir. W.R. Davidson plotted a survey of the ground and Mitchell planned the streets and allotments for the town.
Mitchell returned with a collection of specimens from the diggings, mostly quartz, with 48 of these stored in a wooden chest. His report of the goldfields was presented to the Legislative Council in February 1852.
Story of the "bomerang" propeller
The search for a method of screw propulsion of ships intrigued many inventors during the latter half of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th. An Englishman, K. P. Smith, patented a screw propeller in 1836, and shortly afterwards Captain John Ericsson, formerly an officer of the Swedish army, patented another.
On his travels, Mitchell must have been evolving the idea of his boomerang propeller—he spelled it "bomerang", while newspapers used "bomarang" and "boomerang." The first test was made in the Sydney Harbour in May 1852, an iron propeller being fitted to the "screw-steamer" Keera. The results of this trial were considered satisfactory, the ship's progress being calculated on two runs at 10 and a little over 12 knots, and Sir Thomas Mitchell took his Invention to England. In 1853 the propeller was fitted to the Genova, and a trial was conducted on the Mersey. Then the Admiralty gave it a test on . The Genova ran at 9.5 knots as against 8.5 with a screw propeller, and the Conflict 9.25 knots as against the screw propeller 8.75, and at a lower engine speed. The "boomerang" propeller can be simply described as a "screw" propeller with much of the blades close to the shaft, which contribute little to propulsion but much to drag, cut away, a principle which is well understood today.
Family life
Thomas Mitchell and Mary had twelve children: Livingstone, Roderick, Murray, Campbell, Thomas, Richard, Georgina, Maria, Emily, Camilla, Alicia, Blanche. Georgina and Maria died young, and Murray before 1847. Roderick became a Commissioner of Crown Lands and head of the Border Police in the Liverpool Plains district. Roderick was drowned and Campbell died during the last years of Mitchell's life.
His family enjoyed a privileged upbringing, and Blanche Mitchell, his youngest daughter, recorded her daily activities and social life in childhood diaries and notebooks. Her sister Emily married George Edward Thicknesse-Touchet, 21st Baron Audley.
In 1841, Mitchell completed his new Gothic home, Carthona, on the water's edge in Darling Point, Sydney. Following Mitchell's death, his family moved to Craigend Terrace in Woolloomooloo.
Death
In July 1855 a Royal Commission was appointed to inquire into the New South Wales Survey Department, but Mitchell did not live to see the report. While surveying the line of road between Nelligen and Braidwood, he developed a chill which led to a severe attack of bronchitis. He died a few days later at Carthona at Darling Point at 5:15 pm 5 October 1855. Newspapers of the day commented:"For a period of twenty-eight years Sir Thomas Mitchell had served the Colony, much of that service having been exceedingly arduous and difficult. Among the early explorers of Australia his name will occupy an honoured place in the estimation of posterity."
He is buried at Camperdown Cemetery, Newtown, with his grave being maintained by the Seniors Group of Surveyors.
Naming
Some of the places Mitchell named on his expeditions were: the Avoca River, Balonne River, Belyando River, Campaspe River, Cogoon River, Discovery Bay, Glenelg River, Grampians, Maranoa River, Mount Arapiles, Mount King, Mount Macedon, Mount Napier, Mount William, Nyngan, Pyramid Hill, St George, Swan Hill and Wimmera River.
Commemoration
Because of his contributions in the surveying and exploration of Australia, Mitchell is commemorated by having numerous localities or objects across Australia being named after him. These include:
The town of Mitchell in Queensland
The Mitchell River in Queensland
The Canberra suburb of Mitchell
The electorate of Mitchell
The Mitchell Highway
The Major Mitchell's cockatoo, a species of cockatoo
Mitchellstown in Victoria.
A local government area in Victoria, Shire of Mitchell
Steam locomotive number S 301 Sir Thomas Mitchell, a member of the Victorian Railways S class locomotives. In turn, Mitchell House at Seymour Technical High School, the town with the loco depot which serviced the famous four locos. Later, the name was carried by the diesel S301.
Mitchell grass, common name of the small genus of grass species dominant across much of the arid areas of the continent
Mitchell's hopping mouse, an Australian native rodent-like animal
Countless roadside locations in Victoria have a memorial erected 'Major Mitchell passed here'.
Sir Thomas Mitchell Road Villawood NSW
Sir Thomas Mitchell road in Bondi NSW
Sir Thomas Mitchell Drive Bowenfels (Lithgow) linking the Great Western Highway with the Cox River at a fitting memorial to colonial road builders.
Mitchell is also the namesake in the highest honor of the New South Wales Surveyors Awards, the Sir Thomas Mitchell Excellence in Surveying Award.
A map of the expedition of Major Sir Thomas Mitchell into the country between the Maranoa and Mount Mudge and the River Victoria, 1848 was ranked #38 in the ‘Top 150: Documenting Queensland’ exhibition when it toured to venues around Queensland from February 2009 to April 2010. The exhibition was part of Queensland State Archives’ events and exhibition program which contributed to the state’s Q150 celebrations, marking the 150th anniversary of the separation of Queensland from New South Wales.
Manuscript Collections
See also
:Category:Taxa named by Thomas Mitchell (explorer)
Charles Sturt
Great North Road (Australia)
History of New South Wales
New South Wales gold rush
Nineteen Counties
Surveyor General of New South Wales
References
External links
Journal of an Expedition into the Interior of Tropical Australia
Three Expeditions into the Interior of Eastern Australia, Volume 1, Volume 2
The Great North Road – Convict Trail Project
1792 births
1855 deaths
Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
Explorers of Australia
Scottish emigrants to colonial Australia
Scottish explorers
British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars
Scottish surveyors
Royal Engineers officers
People from Grangemouth
Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council
Rifle Brigade officers
Surveyors General of New South Wales
19th-century Australian politicians
Pre-Separation Queensland
Australian duellists | true | [
"Australia Felix (Latin for \"fortunate Australia\" or \"happy Australia\") was an early name given by Thomas Mitchell to lush pasture in parts of western Victoria he explored in 1836 on his third expedition.\n\nOn this expedition Mitchell was instructed to travel to Menindee, then down the Darling River to the sea, if it flowed there; or, if it flowed into the Murray River to go up the Murray to the inhabited parts of the colony.\n\nHowever lack of water forced Mitchell to follow the Lachlan River to the south-west as the only practicable route. He reached the Murrumbidgee on 12 May and followed it to the Murray.\n\nAt the end of May, Mitchell reached the Darling and turned north upstream. He soon decided, while still about in a direct line from Menindee, to abandon the survey of the deserts around the Darling and to use his resources to explore the more promising country along the Murray.\n\nRetracing his steps Mitchell went up the Murray until 20 June when he reached the junction of the Loddon where the country seemed so promising that he turned south-west into what is now Victoria and was so enchanted by the area he called it “Australia Felix”.\n\nThe reports of excellent farming land from Mitchell's return to Sydney with the news, started a land rush.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n \n \n Mitchell, Sir Thomas Livingstone \n\nHistory of Australia (1788–1850)",
"Richard Cunningham (12 February 1793 – April 1835) was an English botanist who became Colonial Botanist of New South Wales and superintendent of the Sydney Botanic Gardens.\n\nEarly life\n\nHe was born in Wimbledon, Surrey, England, the second son of gardener Allan Cunningham, who came from Renfrewshire, Scotland, and his English wife Sarah. Cunningham was educated at a Rev. John Adams Academy at Putney and then went to work for William Townsend Aiton on Hortus Kewensis for six years. For the next 18 years, he worked at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, England, cataloguing specimens sent from Australia by his brother Allan.\n\nAustralia\n\nAfter being recommended for the position by both his brother Allan and botanist Robert Brown, Cunningham sailed to Australia to take up the position of Colonial Botanist of New South Wales and superintendent of Sydney Botanic Gardens, arriving in January 1833. Later that year he made an expedition to New Zealand, on . He was dropped off in the Bay of Islands and remained in Northland until March 1834 and was collected in May 1834 by . While he was there he made a large collection of plants, amongst them a new orchid, Dendrobium cunninghamii, and the discovery of a new Hebe species. In 1834 he assisted John Lhotsky in the writing up for the botanical results of Lhotsky's expedition to the Australian Alps.\n\nMitchell expedition and death\n\nIn 1835, Cunningham joined Thomas Mitchell's expedition to find the course of the Darling River. He caused Mitchell some concern by repeatedly straying away from the rest of the party in search of plants. One day near the Bogan River he failed to return, and a search organised by Mitchell—led by Mitchell's second-in-command, James Larmer—only found some of his belongings and his dead horse. A search party in November headed by Henry Zouch ascertained that Cunningham was camping with a group of aborigines, and was later killed by them when they became alarmed by his behaviour, thought to be the result of his delirious state. He was aged 42. His brother Allan paid for a memorial plaque to be placed in St. Andrew's Scots Church in Rose Bay.\n\nReferences \n\nBotanists active in Australia\nEnglish botanists\nPeople from Wimbledon, London\n1793 births\n1835 deaths\nExplorers of Australia"
]
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[
"Thomas Mitchell (explorer)",
"First expedition",
"Where was Mitchell's first expedition?",
"Mitchell formed an expedition consisting of himself, assistant surveyor George Boyle White and 15 convicts who were promised remission for good conduct.",
"Where did they go on their first expedition?",
"On reaching Wollombi in the Hunter Valley, the local assistant surveyor, Heneage Finch, expressed a desire to join the expedition.",
"What was Thomas Mitchell's goal for the first expedition?",
"promised remission for good conduct."
]
| C_21ced70edb4348dc931b813b1a4fa981_1 | Is there anything important about Thomas Mitchell before he goes on his first expedition? | 4 | Is there anything important to know about Thomas Mitchell before he goes on his first expedition to Wollombi in the Hunter Valley? | Thomas Mitchell (explorer) | In 1831 a runaway convict named George Clarke, who had lived with Aborigines in the area for several years, claimed that a large river called Kindur flowed north-west from the Liverpool ranges in New South Wales to the sea. Charles Sturt believed that the Murray-Darling system formed the main river system of New South Wales and Mitchell wanted to prove Sturt wrong. Mitchell formed an expedition consisting of himself, assistant surveyor George Boyle White and 15 convicts who were promised remission for good conduct. Mitchell took 20 bullocks, three heavy drays, three light carts and nine horses to carry supplies, and set out on 24 November 1831 to investigate the claim. On reaching Wollombi in the Hunter Valley, the local assistant surveyor, Heneage Finch, expressed a desire to join the expedition. He had established his credentials by surveying a route from Sydney to Wollombi, so Mitchell approved his request, provided he obtained extra supplies and men, and he followed along later. The expedition continued northward, climbed the Liverpool Range on 5 December, and made Quirindi on 8 December. Shortly afterwards Finch arrived but inexplicably had not brought provisions, so Mitchell immediately sent him back to get them. By 11 December the expedition had reached Wallamoul Station near Tamworth, the northern extent of white settlement at the time. Mitchell continued his northward push into new territory, taking local Kamilaroi people to assist in finding water and to express his peaceful intentions. By early January 1832 he was in the vicinity of the present town of Narrabri, reached the Gwydir River in mid-January, and found the Barwon by the end of the month, where he set up camp. Mitchell left the main party and made a reconnaissance down the Barwon until he found its junction with the Gwydir. After Mitchell returned to the main camp, Finch arrived with tragic news. He had been travelling with three convicts and provisions but, because of a shortage of water, the group had separated. He left two men behind while he attempted to locate the main expedition. Having failed to do that, on the second day he returned to the campsite to discover that it had been ransacked. Supplies were scattered and beneath the wreckage were two dead men. The immediate effect was that Mitchell decided to abandon the expedition and return south. The party reached the Gwydir on 8 February and was near the site of the attack on 17 February. Mitchell buried the two bodies and salvaged some equipment. Once back at Wallamoul, Mitchell placed White in charge of the main party, while he returned hastily to Sydney. He was satisfied that there was no truth about the river Kindur claimed by Clarke. Fourteen years after the attack, Mitchell revealed that the convicts had indulged in sexual relations with Aboriginal women. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Sir Thomas Livingstone Mitchell (15 June 1792 – 5 October 1855), surveyor and explorer of Southeastern Australia, was born at Grangemouth in Stirlingshire, Scotland. In 1827 he took up an appointment as Assistant Surveyor General of New South Wales. The following year he became Surveyor General and remained in this position until his death. Mitchell was knighted in 1839 for his contribution to the surveying of Australia.
Early life
Born in Scotland on 15 June 1792, he was son of John Mitchell of Carron Works and was brought up from childhood by his uncle, Thomas Livingstone of Parkhall, Stirlingshire.
Peninsular War
On the death of his uncle, he joined the British army in Portugal as a volunteer in the Peninsular War, at the age of sixteen. On 24 June 1811, at the age of nineteen, he received his first commission as 2nd Lieutenant in the 1st Battalion 95th Rifles (later the Rifle Brigade / Royal Green Jackets). Utilising his skills as a draughtsman of outstanding ability, he was occasionally employed in the Quartermaster-General's department under Sir George Murray. He was present at the storming of the fortresses of Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajos and San Sebastian as well as the battles of Salamanca and the Pyrenees. Subsequently, he would receive the Military General Service Medal with bars for each of these engagements.
When the war was over, Mitchell was selected to reside in Spain and Portugal for four years to complete sketches of the battlefields for the Military Depot. His duties also included conducting several other important surveys which had been impossible to finish whilst operations were in progress in the field. On 10 June 1818, during this posting, Mitchell married Mary Blunt (daughter of General Richard Blunt) in Lisbon and gained promotion to a company in the 54th Regiment.
In the summer of 1819, he returned to Britain where he devoted himself to finishing the drawings, but with the cessation of the government allowances he had to stop this work. The reductions in the military establishment which followed the withdrawing of the Army of Occupation from France forced Mitchell on to half-pay. It was not until much later, while Mitchell was in London between 1838 and 1840, that the work was completed. The finished drawings were published by the London geographer James Wyld in 1841 under the title Atlas containing the principle battles, sieges and affairs of the Peninsular War. Of high quality, the drawings are the prime source for the topography of the war.
New South Wales
In 1827, with the support of Sir George Murray, Mitchell became Assistant Surveyor General of New South Wales with the right to succeed John Oxley. Oxley died the following year, and on 27 May 1828, Mitchell became Surveyor General. In this post he did much to improve the quality and accuracy of surveying – a vital task in a colony where huge tracts of land were being opened up and sold to new settlers. One of the first roads surveyed under his leadership was the Great North Road, built by convict labour between 1826 and 1836 linking Sydney to the Hunter Region. The Great South Road (now replaced by the Hume Highway), also convict-built, linked Sydney and Goulburn. He kept a record of his 'Progress in roads and Public Works in New South Wales to 1855', including sketches and plans of Sydney, Emu Plains, the Blue Mountains, Victoria Pass, roads to Bathurst, Wiseman's Ferry, and indigenous Australians.
As Surveyor General, Mitchell also completed maps and plans of Sydney, including Darling Point, Point Piper, the city, and Port Jackson. In 1834 he was commissioned to survey a map of the Nineteen Counties. The map he produced was done with such skill and accuracy that he was awarded a knighthood. Around this time, a portrait of Mitchell was painted showing him in the uniform of Major of the 1st Rifle Brigade of the 95th Regiment, complete with whistle used to direct the movement of troops.
During his tenure in New South Wales, Mitchell led four extensive and historically significant surveying expeditions into the interior of eastern Australia.
First expedition
In 1831, a runaway convict named George "The Barber" Clarke (monument around Barbers Lagoon, Boggabri NSW), who had lived with the Kamilaroi people in the area for several years, claimed that a large river called Kindur flowed north-west from the Liverpool Ranges in New South Wales to the sea. Charles Sturt believed that the Murray-Darling system formed the main river system of New South Wales and Mitchell wanted to prove Sturt wrong. Mitchell formed an expedition consisting of himself, assistant surveyor George Boyle White and 15 convicts who were promised remission for good conduct. Mitchell took 20 bullocks, three heavy drays, three light carts and nine horses to carry supplies, and set out on 24 November 1831 to investigate the claim. On reaching Wollombi in the Hunter Valley, the local assistant surveyor, Heneage Finch, expressed a desire to join the expedition which Mitchell approved, provided he first obtain extra provisions and rendezvous later.
The expedition continued northward, and having climbed the Liverpool Range on 5 December, they found an Aboriginal tribe who had fled from their home in the Hunter Valley and were suffering from what appeared to be smallpox. On 8 December they arrived at Quirindi and by 11 December the expedition had reached Wallamoul Station near Tamworth, the northern extent of white settlement at the time.
Mitchell continued his northward push into uncolonised territory, guided by a local Gamilaraay man named "Mr. Brown". In mid-December, near to where Boggabri now stands, they located the remains of a stockyard and huts built by George Clarke and his Aboriginal colleagues. By early January 1832 Mitchell's group was travelling along the Namoi River, by which stage Mr Brown had left them. Mitchell's party then headed north unguided but managed to reach the Gwydir River in mid-January where they found a small Aboriginal village of conical-roofed huts. They followed the Gwydir west and made it to the Barwon River by the end of the month. Mitchell came to the correct conclusion that the Barwon flowed into the Darling River and decided not to proceed any further.
At this stage, Finch had finally caught up with the main group. Finch conveyed the news that the provisions he had obtained had been ransacked by Aboriginal people at Gorolei. Two men he had left to guard the supplies had also been killed. The immediate effect was that Mitchell decided to abandon the expedition and return south. The party retraced their path having tense but peaceful interactions with large groups of Gamilaraay people along the way. They reached Gorolei on 18 February where Mitchell buried the bodies of the two killed men and salvaged some equipment. Aboriginal people approached the group laying down their spears and offering females to Mitchell's men in an apparent attempt at appeasement for the killings. Mitchell refused the offer but accepted their guidance on an easy way back to the Namoi River. Once back at Wallamoul, Mitchell placed White in charge of the main party, while he returned hastily to Sydney. He was satisfied that there was no truth about the river Kindur claimed by Clarke. Fourteen years later, Mitchell revealed that the convicts had indulged in sexual relations with Aboriginal women.
Second expedition
Mitchell's next expedition was in 1835. The purpose was to explore the course of the Darling River from where Sturt had turned back in 1829, to where it joined the Murray River. There were 24 men in the party including Mitchell, James Larmer (assistant surveyor) as second in command, Richard Cunningham (colonial botanist) and 21 other men. The main party under Larmer left Parramatta on 9 March and rendezvoused with Mitchell at Boree near the township of Orange. From there, the expedition was guided through the Goobang Ranges by local Wiradjuri people toward the Bogan River. On 17 April 1835, Richard Cunningham wandered away from the party while looking for botanical specimens and went missing. The party, with the assistance of various local Aboriginal people, searched for him until 5 May, following Cunningham's tracks around the headwaters of the Bogan until they disappeared. Cunningham's dead horse, saddle, glove and fragments of his coat and map were all they found. Months later, a search party of military mounted police commanded by Lieutenant Henry Zouch of the first division, discovered that Cunningham had been killed by four Wiradjuri men and his bones were found and buried at Currindine.
After the fruitless search for Cunningham, Mitchell decided to continue the expedition. He was assisted by a local unnamed elder who provided a guide called Tackijally. This man led Mitchell downstream along the waterholes adjacent to the Bogan River as far as Nyngan. Tackijally left them at this point and the group was soon involved in a brief confrontation after they startled an Aboriginal man at a waterhole. The man, who was shot in the hand, had his wounds dressed by the group and later departed. They proceeded down the Bogan, encountering several gatherings of people to which Mitchell gave tomahawks and pieces of an old sword. On 25 May the junction with the Darling River was reached. Here, on a high point of land which bore many Aboriginal grave sites, Mitchell decided to build a fort as he realised that they "had not asked permission to come there" and he needed a stockade for "stout resistance against any number of natives." He named it Fort Bourke in honour of the Governor, Richard Bourke.
Two whale boats had been transported the whole distance on bullock drays and on 1 June Mitchell launched the boats on the Darling to transport the party downriver. However, the Darling became shallower and unnavigable resulting in the expedition resorting once again to overland progress. They encountered many tribes as they headed south, with Mitchell documenting the agricultural practices of some, such as the harvesting of Panicum decompositum, and the large permanent dwellings of others. One clan appeared more hostile than others, kicking up dust and spitting at party members. Mitchell acknowledged that his group were "rather unceremonious invaders of their country" but inflamed tensions by firing a pistol at a tree. Mitchell wrote that "the more they saw of our superior weapons...the more they shewed their hatred and tokens of defiance." The party continued downriver, meeting with friendlier locals, passing through villages and noting the construction of their tomb-sites.
Just north of the Menindee Lakes, the expedition came across a large congregation of several tribes and Mitchell decided that continuing the exploration would be too dangerous. On 11 July, just as Mitchell had resolved to return to Sydney, shots were heard from a forage party up the river. Mitchell sent a further three armed men to the scene of the shooting and the firing continued. After more than an hour, some members of the group returned reporting that a skirmish had occurred over the possession of a kettle and at least three Aboriginal people had been shot dead, including a woman and her child. One of Mitchell's men had been knocked unconscious. The party then commenced their return via the outbound route with Mitchell deciding to avoid contact with the various tribes as much as possible. The "spitting tribe" attempted to burn down their camp on this return journey which resulted in Mitchell ordering shots to be fired over their heads. They arrived at Fort Bourke on 10 August and continued back along the Bogan River. Near Nyngan they met again with members of Tackijally's tribe who allowed Mitchell to walk through their cemetery at Milmeridien. Mitchell soon tired of the clan asking for food and ordered some of his men to march at them with bayonets. On 9 September they came to the upper reaches of the Bogan where they found a cattle-station had already been formed along their route by William Lee. The expedition arrived back at their starting point of Boree on 14 September.
While Mitchell did not trace the Darling River to its junction with the Murray River, the course and terrain of the Bogan River and much of the Darling River had been charted. The places where this and other Mitchell expeditions were most assailed by Aboriginal Australians, including the location of Cunningham's killing, are marked on an 1836 map produced by Mitchell.
Third expedition
The goal of Mitchell's third expedition was to explore and survey the lower part of the Darling River, with instructions to head up the Murray River and then return to the settled areas around Yass. Second in command was assistant surveyor Granville Stapylton. A Wiradjuri man named John Piper was also recruited and 23 convicts and ticket of leave men made up the rest of the party. The group set out from a valley near Mount Canobolas on 17 March 1836, and made their way to Boree and the Bogan River as on previous journeys, then veered south to the Kalare or Lachlan River to approach the Darling from its southern end where it joined the Murray.
The party was guided by various Aboriginal people such as "Barney" along the Lachlan, passing Lake Cargelligo, as John Oxley did in 1817. At this place they met with a large clan from which a number of people joined the expedition and gave vital information about waterholes, as the Lachlan was drying out. Piper also obtained a "good, strong woman" from this tribe.
On 2 May they arrived at Combedyega where an Aboriginal widow named Turandurey with her four-year-old daughter Ballandella also joined the expedition as a guide. She remembered Oxley from nineteen years earlier and Sturt as well, and knew the lower Lachlan. The Murrumbidgee River was reached on 12 May, but at a point downstream from the junction with the Lachlan.
Mount Dispersion massacre
They continued down the Murrumbidgee until 21 May when they were close to the junction with the Murray River. A depot was established at this point, and Mitchell left Staplyton with eight men to guard the stock, while he ventured downstream with the rest of the group. According to the account given to a later enquiry by William Muirhead (bullock-driver and sergeant), Alexander Burnett (overseer) and Jemmy Piper (Aboriginal man accompanying the party): on 24 May Mitchell noticed that Barkindji tribesmen from the Darling River were gathering in large numbers, and by 27 May the hostile intentions of these men became known, when local Murray River people told Piper that the Barkindji were planning to kill Mitchell and his men. Mitchell had to decide whether to wait for an attack, or plan a pre-emptive manoeuvre. His numbers were reduced, as Staplyton and eight men were still at the depot. He split his party again, leaving half the men to hide in the scrub in ambush, while he continued ahead with the carts. When the armed Barkindji warriors approached, the convict Charles King, who was involved in the earlier killings, fired first without waiting for orders. The tribesmen fled into the river and Mitchell's two groups reunited on the shore and continued to shoot at the people for up to 15 minutes. Around 75 shots were fired with Piper later being told that seven Barkindji were killed and four wounded.
Mitchell wrote about the loss of life in his journal, describing the Barkindji as "treacherous savages", and detailing how his men had chased them away, "pursuing and shooting as many as they could". This section was withheld from Mitchell's report when it was released to the public in Sydney. Mitchell named the hill near to where the mass-shooting occurred Mount Dispersion and in May 2020 it was heritage-listed as the Mount Dispersion Massacre Site Aboriginal Place.
Onwards
The expedition continued down the Murray River, encountering a major Aboriginal grave-site at Red Cliffs. On 31 May they arrived close to the junction of the Murray with a "green and stagnant" waterway. Local people advised Piper that this was the Darling River. Mitchell did not believe it, and only when he travelled upstream for some distance, coming across the same type of burial mounds that he had seen in 1835, did he acknowledge that "this hopeless river" was the Darling. He turned back and headed upstream on the Murray to rejoin Stapylton at the depot. The reunited expedition now travelled south-east following the Murray. They passed Swan Hill on 21 June and encountered a group of native inhabitants at Lake Boga. These people were angry at Piper for "bringing whitefellows" to their country and threw spears at him. Piper shot one of them dead. Mitchell noted the local people's practice of making large nets that spanned above the river to catch waterfowl and also came across unusual animals such as the now extinct Southern pig-footed bandicoot.
At the end of June, Mitchell chose to leave the Murray to investigate better looking lands to the south-west. Mitchell was so impressed with the country he saw, he named it Australia Felix. In early July the party crossed the Loddon River, and made their way in a south-westerly direction which brought them to the Grampians and the Wimmera River. Confrontation with people in this region resulted in an Indigenous man being shot in the arm. They were guided by a local Aboriginal woman along part of the Nangeela (Glenelg River) with Mitchell constructing a fortified base on its banks which he named Fort O'Hare. From here Mitchell led part of the group in boats down the Glenelg to where it discharged into the ocean at a bay which Mitchell named Discovery Bay. Mitchell then returned to Fort O'Hare and altered direction towards Portland Bay to the east. When this was reached on 29 August, Mitchell was surprised to find an established farm and whaling station operated by the Henty brothers.
The expedition continued north-east with Mitchell spending a night in a "snug old hut of the natives" at Narrawong. On 17 September, in order to speed his return, Mitchell split the party in two, taking 14 men with him and leaving the remainder with Stapylton to follow with the bullocks and drays. The young girl Ballandella went with Mitchell, while her mother Turandurey remained behind. On the plains around the Hopkins River, Mitchell came across a community of Aboriginal people who cultivated and harvested murnong tubers with specialised tools. Mitchell was wary and when forty of them approached his camp, he ordered his men to charge at them. On 30 September, Mitchell climbed and named Mount Macedon, from the summit of which he had a view of Port Phillip. Progress was slowed due a member of the group, James "Tally-ho" Taylor, drowning while crossing the Broken River. Their return to the frontier of British colonisation on the Murrumbidgee was not completed until 24 October.
Enquiry
When Mitchell arrived in Sydney in early November he was received with great joy. However, when the remainder of his party arrived two weeks later, rumours circulated about the mass killing on the Murray. He subsequently faced a Legislative Council Inquiry in December 1836, receiving an official rebuke. Ballandella joined Mitchell's family of eight other children and learnt to read and write, but was left by Mitchell when he returned to England. Ballandella later married and raised a family at Sackville where she died around the age of thirty.
Fourth expedition
Mitchell's fourth expedition was into northern interior of the colony (a region now part of Queensland) in 1845–46. He was convinced that a significant river must flow north-west into the Gulf of Carpentaria, and finding this river was the main focus of the endeavour.
On 15 December 1845 Mitchell started from Boree near Orange with a large party of 32 people including Edmund Kennedy as second in command (later speared to death at Escape River near Cape York). The Wiradjuri man named Piper from his previous expedition was also a member. Yuranigh (also Wiradjuri) and a ten year old boy from the lower Bogan River named "Dicky" were also assigned as guides. The party travelled north along the Bogan where a war between the British and the Indigenous inhabitants was at that time occurring. Mitchell noted areas where the British had been pushed back, abandoning their farmhouses which were subsequently burnt down by the local people. Mitchell stated "All I could learn about the rest of the tribe was, that the men were almost all dead, and that their wives were chiefly servants at stock stations along the Macquarie."
In January 1846, they left the Bogan and started following the Macquarie River where Mitchell was informed of Pipers' intention to leave the expedition. Mitchell ordered him back to Bathurst, accompanied by Corporal Graham. Near the Macquarie Marshes the harvesting of native millet by Aboriginal people to make bread was recorded and a local man named Yulliyally guided the group to the Barwon River. From here two brothers from a nearby clan led Mitchell to vital waterholes near the Narran River. Mitchell "blushed inwardly for our pallid race" knowing that "white man's cattle would soon trample these holes into a quagmire of mud." More bundles of harvested millet lay for miles along their journey up the Narran. Mitchell then received a message from his son, Roderick Mitchell, a Crown Lands Commissioner who had previously been to the area, which recommended following the Balonne and the Culgoa rivers north. They encountered many Indigenous people who guided the group along the way. On 12 April 1846 Mitchell came to a natural bridge of rocks on the main branch of the Balonne which he called St. George Bridge, now the site of the town of St George. Kennedy was left in charge of the main body here, and was instructed to follow on slowly while Mitchell pushed ahead with a few men. Mitchell followed the Balonne to the Maranoa, and the Cogoon (now called Muckadilla Creek, near Roma). This rivulet led him to an area with an "abundance of good pasturage" in which stood a solitary double topped hill that he named Mount Abundance, on which grew a species of bottle tree. He then crossed to the Maranoa and awaited Kennedy's arrival. Kennedy, who had trouble with local inhabitants trying to burn down his camp, rejoined Mitchell on 1 June 1846.
Leaving Kennedy for a second time, he set out on an extensive excursion of more than four months. Mitchell traversed the country at the head of the Maranoa, on one occasion discharging his rifle over the heads of the Indigenous people to gain "peaceful occupation of the ground." He sighted the headwaters of the Warrego and Nogoa Rivers, then came across the upper reaches of the Belyando River which they followed for a considerable distance. This river's name was given to Mitchell by Indigenous residents before the expedition's dogs chased them away, biting at their legs. Being a tributary of the Burdekin River, a waterway already visited by Ludwig Leichhardt on his expedition to Port Essington in 1845, Mitchell was dismayed to find that he was approaching ground already explored by Europeans. He returned to the head of the Nogoa and struck west, meeting with a tribe who caught emus with nets. He encountered a river which he was certain was the fabled waterway that would flow north-west to the Gulf of Carpentaria. He followed it until he came across a large clan of Aboriginal people living in permanent huts on the banks of a lagoon. He called this place Yuranigh Pond after his Wiradjuri guide and decided to return home. In honour of the British sovereign of the time, he named the waterway, Victoria River. On the homeward journey Mitchell noticed the well known grass that bears his name. They trekked back along the Maranoa River to St.George Bridge, arriving in Sydney 20 January 1847.
Later in 1847, Kennedy proved beyond doubt that the Victoria in fact did not continue north-west, but turned south-west and joined Cooper Creek. He renamed the watercourse the Barcoo River from a name mentioned by local Aboriginal people.
Later career
In 1837, Mitchell sought 18 months leave from his position and in May he left Sydney for London. During his leave, he published an account of his explorations called Three Expeditions into the Interior of Eastern Australia: with descriptions of the recently explored region of Australia Felix, and of the present colony of New South Wales. Mitchell sought additional periods of leave and finally arrived back in Australia in 1841. Mitchell left Sydney again in March 1847 on another period of leave. By the time he arrived back in mid-1848, he had published his Journal of an Expedition into the Interior of Tropical Australia, in search of a route from Sydney to the Gulf of Carpentaria.
Mitchell's journals proved a rich source for historians and anthropologists, with their close and sympathetic observations of the Aboriginal peoples he had encountered. These publications made him the most celebrated Australian explorer of his day. But he was a difficult man to get on with, made evident by this passage made by Governor Charles Augustus FitzRoy:
"It is notorious that Sir Thomas Mitchell's unfortunate impracticability of temper and spirit of opposition of those in authority over him misled him into frequent collision with my predecessors."
In a by-election for the Electoral district of Port Phillip in April 1844, Mitchell was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Council. He found it difficult to separate his roles of government employee and elected member of the legislature, and after only five months he resigned from the Legislative Council.
Duel
Mitchell is also remembered as the last person in Australia to challenge anyone to a duel. In September 1851, Mitchell issued a challenge to Sir Stuart Alexander Donaldson (later Premier of New South Wales) because Donaldson had publicly criticised excessive spending by the Surveyor General's Department. The duel took place in Sydney on 27 September, with both duellists missing their marks; only Donaldson's hat was damaged. The French 50 calibre pistols used in the duel are in the collection of the National Museum of Australia.
Ophir gold fields
In 1851, Mitchell was instructed by Governor FitzRoy to make a report on, and survey of, 'the extent and productiveness of the goldfield reported to have been discovered in the County of Bathurst.' He travelled west during winter to visit the Ophir gold diggings, accompanied by his son, Roderick, and Samuel Stutchbury the government geologist.
In June 1851 Mitchell selected the site for the township of Ophir. W.R. Davidson plotted a survey of the ground and Mitchell planned the streets and allotments for the town.
Mitchell returned with a collection of specimens from the diggings, mostly quartz, with 48 of these stored in a wooden chest. His report of the goldfields was presented to the Legislative Council in February 1852.
Story of the "bomerang" propeller
The search for a method of screw propulsion of ships intrigued many inventors during the latter half of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th. An Englishman, K. P. Smith, patented a screw propeller in 1836, and shortly afterwards Captain John Ericsson, formerly an officer of the Swedish army, patented another.
On his travels, Mitchell must have been evolving the idea of his boomerang propeller—he spelled it "bomerang", while newspapers used "bomarang" and "boomerang." The first test was made in the Sydney Harbour in May 1852, an iron propeller being fitted to the "screw-steamer" Keera. The results of this trial were considered satisfactory, the ship's progress being calculated on two runs at 10 and a little over 12 knots, and Sir Thomas Mitchell took his Invention to England. In 1853 the propeller was fitted to the Genova, and a trial was conducted on the Mersey. Then the Admiralty gave it a test on . The Genova ran at 9.5 knots as against 8.5 with a screw propeller, and the Conflict 9.25 knots as against the screw propeller 8.75, and at a lower engine speed. The "boomerang" propeller can be simply described as a "screw" propeller with much of the blades close to the shaft, which contribute little to propulsion but much to drag, cut away, a principle which is well understood today.
Family life
Thomas Mitchell and Mary had twelve children: Livingstone, Roderick, Murray, Campbell, Thomas, Richard, Georgina, Maria, Emily, Camilla, Alicia, Blanche. Georgina and Maria died young, and Murray before 1847. Roderick became a Commissioner of Crown Lands and head of the Border Police in the Liverpool Plains district. Roderick was drowned and Campbell died during the last years of Mitchell's life.
His family enjoyed a privileged upbringing, and Blanche Mitchell, his youngest daughter, recorded her daily activities and social life in childhood diaries and notebooks. Her sister Emily married George Edward Thicknesse-Touchet, 21st Baron Audley.
In 1841, Mitchell completed his new Gothic home, Carthona, on the water's edge in Darling Point, Sydney. Following Mitchell's death, his family moved to Craigend Terrace in Woolloomooloo.
Death
In July 1855 a Royal Commission was appointed to inquire into the New South Wales Survey Department, but Mitchell did not live to see the report. While surveying the line of road between Nelligen and Braidwood, he developed a chill which led to a severe attack of bronchitis. He died a few days later at Carthona at Darling Point at 5:15 pm 5 October 1855. Newspapers of the day commented:"For a period of twenty-eight years Sir Thomas Mitchell had served the Colony, much of that service having been exceedingly arduous and difficult. Among the early explorers of Australia his name will occupy an honoured place in the estimation of posterity."
He is buried at Camperdown Cemetery, Newtown, with his grave being maintained by the Seniors Group of Surveyors.
Naming
Some of the places Mitchell named on his expeditions were: the Avoca River, Balonne River, Belyando River, Campaspe River, Cogoon River, Discovery Bay, Glenelg River, Grampians, Maranoa River, Mount Arapiles, Mount King, Mount Macedon, Mount Napier, Mount William, Nyngan, Pyramid Hill, St George, Swan Hill and Wimmera River.
Commemoration
Because of his contributions in the surveying and exploration of Australia, Mitchell is commemorated by having numerous localities or objects across Australia being named after him. These include:
The town of Mitchell in Queensland
The Mitchell River in Queensland
The Canberra suburb of Mitchell
The electorate of Mitchell
The Mitchell Highway
The Major Mitchell's cockatoo, a species of cockatoo
Mitchellstown in Victoria.
A local government area in Victoria, Shire of Mitchell
Steam locomotive number S 301 Sir Thomas Mitchell, a member of the Victorian Railways S class locomotives. In turn, Mitchell House at Seymour Technical High School, the town with the loco depot which serviced the famous four locos. Later, the name was carried by the diesel S301.
Mitchell grass, common name of the small genus of grass species dominant across much of the arid areas of the continent
Mitchell's hopping mouse, an Australian native rodent-like animal
Countless roadside locations in Victoria have a memorial erected 'Major Mitchell passed here'.
Sir Thomas Mitchell Road Villawood NSW
Sir Thomas Mitchell road in Bondi NSW
Sir Thomas Mitchell Drive Bowenfels (Lithgow) linking the Great Western Highway with the Cox River at a fitting memorial to colonial road builders.
Mitchell is also the namesake in the highest honor of the New South Wales Surveyors Awards, the Sir Thomas Mitchell Excellence in Surveying Award.
A map of the expedition of Major Sir Thomas Mitchell into the country between the Maranoa and Mount Mudge and the River Victoria, 1848 was ranked #38 in the ‘Top 150: Documenting Queensland’ exhibition when it toured to venues around Queensland from February 2009 to April 2010. The exhibition was part of Queensland State Archives’ events and exhibition program which contributed to the state’s Q150 celebrations, marking the 150th anniversary of the separation of Queensland from New South Wales.
Manuscript Collections
See also
:Category:Taxa named by Thomas Mitchell (explorer)
Charles Sturt
Great North Road (Australia)
History of New South Wales
New South Wales gold rush
Nineteen Counties
Surveyor General of New South Wales
References
External links
Journal of an Expedition into the Interior of Tropical Australia
Three Expeditions into the Interior of Eastern Australia, Volume 1, Volume 2
The Great North Road – Convict Trail Project
1792 births
1855 deaths
Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
Explorers of Australia
Scottish emigrants to colonial Australia
Scottish explorers
British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars
Scottish surveyors
Royal Engineers officers
People from Grangemouth
Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council
Rifle Brigade officers
Surveyors General of New South Wales
19th-century Australian politicians
Pre-Separation Queensland
Australian duellists | false | [
"Australia Felix (Latin for \"fortunate Australia\" or \"happy Australia\") was an early name given by Thomas Mitchell to lush pasture in parts of western Victoria he explored in 1836 on his third expedition.\n\nOn this expedition Mitchell was instructed to travel to Menindee, then down the Darling River to the sea, if it flowed there; or, if it flowed into the Murray River to go up the Murray to the inhabited parts of the colony.\n\nHowever lack of water forced Mitchell to follow the Lachlan River to the south-west as the only practicable route. He reached the Murrumbidgee on 12 May and followed it to the Murray.\n\nAt the end of May, Mitchell reached the Darling and turned north upstream. He soon decided, while still about in a direct line from Menindee, to abandon the survey of the deserts around the Darling and to use his resources to explore the more promising country along the Murray.\n\nRetracing his steps Mitchell went up the Murray until 20 June when he reached the junction of the Loddon where the country seemed so promising that he turned south-west into what is now Victoria and was so enchanted by the area he called it “Australia Felix”.\n\nThe reports of excellent farming land from Mitchell's return to Sydney with the news, started a land rush.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n \n \n Mitchell, Sir Thomas Livingstone \n\nHistory of Australia (1788–1850)",
"\"Anything Goes\" is the first single released from Ras Kass' debut album, Soul on Ice. Produced and written by Ras Kass himself, \"Anything Goes\" peaked at 85 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, 20 on the Hot Rap Singles and #1 on the Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.\n\nSingle track listing\n\"Anything Goes\" (Radio) \n\"Anything Goes\" (LP Version) \n\"Anything Goes\" (Instrumental) \n\"On Earth As It Is...\" (Radio) \n\"On Earth As It Is...\" (LP Version) \n\"On Earth As It Is...\" (Xplicit A Capella) \n\"Anything Goes\" (Radio A Capella)\n\nCharts\n\nReferences\n\n1996 singles\nRas Kass songs\n1996 songs"
]
|
[
"Brotherhood of Man",
"Current line-up"
]
| C_7ee04046e5b9434dab259434d20ff699_0 | What is the current line up with the Brotherhood of Man? | 1 | What is the current line up with the Brotherhood of Man? | Brotherhood of Man | Keen to keep the established name alive, Hiller set about putting a new line up together. In 1972 he got together a trio of session singers, Martin Lee, Nicky Stevens and Lee Sheriden. Sheriden was already known to Hiller as a songwriter and had a solo career. Lee had a solo single to his name and was a budding songwriter. Stevens had been classically trained, but had since adapted her vocals and was performing as a cabaret singer. The trio began recording together, but their first single, "Rock Me Baby", to be released at the end of 1972, was cancelled due to the release of the song by David Cassidy. Finally their first two singles "Happy Ever After" and "Our World of Love" were released in 1973. Neither single charted and soon after, another female vocalist was added to the line up, Sandra Stevens. Stevens (no relation to Nicky) had been performing as a big-band singer since a teenager in the late 1960s. She had sung with the Joe Loss big band and alongside Eve Graham (of The New Seekers) in club group, The Nocturnes. Now signed to the Pye spin off label, Dawn, the quartet released their first single, "When Love Catches Up on You" in January 1974. It failed to chart, but the follow-up single, "Lady" became a hit in Europe. Encouraged by this, the group set about recording their debut album. The album Good Things Happening was released later in the year along with two more singles, but none of these found success. Before the record label folded, Brotherhood of Man released one more single in the Summer of 1975. This was the upbeat "Kiss Me Kiss Your Baby" and although failed to make an impression in the UK, became a big hit in Europe, reaching Number one in Belgium and Number two in the Netherlands as well as top 10 placings in other countries. Brotherhood of Man toured extensively in Europe, honing their stage act and harmonies, while Hiller, Sheriden and Lee worked on composing songs for their second album. Among them was a song Sheriden had largely written called "Save Your Kisses for Me". CANNOTANSWER | In 1972 he got together a trio of session singers, Martin Lee, Nicky Stevens and Lee Sheriden. | Brotherhood of Man are a British pop group who achieved success in the 1970s. They won the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest with "Save Your Kisses for Me".
Created in 1969 by songwriter and record producer Tony Hiller, Brotherhood of Man was initially an umbrella title for a frequently-changing line-up of session singers. Early on, they scored a worldwide hit with the song "United We Stand". By 1973 the concept had run its course and Hiller formed a definite four-member line-up consisting of Martin Lee, Lee Sheriden, Nicky Stevens and Sandra Stevens. This version of the group went on to score many hits around the world in the mid to late 1970s including "Kiss Me Kiss Your Baby", "Angelo", "Oh Boy (The Mood I'm In)" and "Figaro". They achieved perhaps their biggest success in their native UK with three number one singles and four top twenty albums. The group under this line-up still continues, performing shows throughout Europe. Altogether, they have released 16 studio albums, with worldwide sales topping 15 million records.
History
Original line-up
Brotherhood of Man was formed by record producer/composer Tony Hiller in 1969, and originally featured his co-writer John Goodison with Tony Burrows, Roger Greenaway, Sue Glover and Sunny Leslie. Greenaway was also a songwriter and had co-written hits such as "Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart" and "Melting Pot". Burrows was a well-known session singer, performing in various line-ups on hit singles such as the No.1 hit "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" by Edison Lighthouse. The two female members, Glover and Leslie were an act in their own right, releasing singles as Sue and Sunny.
The group came together in 1969 and began recording some songs with Hiller. Their first single "Love One Another" failed to chart, but the follow-up "United We Stand" (released in January 1970) was a worldwide hit. "United We Stand" was heavily played on British radio, and broke into the American market. The single became a Top 20 hit in the UK, Canada, Australia and US. The song has since been used as the closing theme for television's Brady Bunch Hour and as an anthem for various causes. Burrows left the group soon after and as a four-piece, The Brotherhood of Man followed "United We Stand" with another hit, "Where Are You Going to My Love". The song charted in the UK, Canada, and US and has since been covered by Olivia Newton-John and The Osmonds among others. A début album United We Stand followed soon after.
Over the next two years, the group continued in varied line-ups. Goodison left the group at the beginning of 1971 and was replaced by American singer Hal Atkinson, Greenaway left soon after and was replaced by Russell Stone. They had one more minor hit in the US (1971's "Reach Out Your Hand"), but experienced no further success in the UK and split after being dropped by their record company.
Current line-up
Keen to keep the established name alive, Hiller set about putting a new line up together. In 1972 he got together a trio of session singers, Martin Lee, Nicky Stevens and Lee Sheriden.
Sheriden was already known to Hiller as a songwriter and had a solo career. Lee had a solo single to his name and was a budding songwriter. Stevens had been classically trained, but had since adapted her vocals and was performing as a cabaret singer. The trio began recording together, but their first single, "Rock Me Baby", to be released at the end of 1972, was cancelled due to the release of the song by David Cassidy. Finally their first two singles "Happy Ever After" and "Our World of Love" were released in 1973. Neither single charted and soon after, another female vocalist was added to the line up, Sandra Stevens. Stevens (no relation to Nicky) had been performing as a big-band singer since a teenager in the late 1960s. She had sung with the Joe Loss big band and alongside Eve Graham (of The New Seekers) in club group, The Nocturnes.
Now signed to the Pye spin off label, Dawn, the quartet released their first single, "When Love Catches Up on You" in January 1974. It failed to chart, but the follow-up single, "Lady" became a hit in Europe. Encouraged by this, the group set about recording their debut album. The album Good Things Happening was released later in the year along with two more singles, but none of these found success. Before the record label folded, Brotherhood of Man released one more single in the Summer of 1975. This was the upbeat "Kiss Me Kiss Your Baby" and although failed to make an impression in the UK, became a big hit in Europe, reaching Number one in Belgium and Number two in the Netherlands as well as top 10 placings in other countries. Brotherhood of Man toured extensively in Europe, honing their stage act and harmonies, while Hiller, Sheriden and Lee worked on composing songs for their second album. Among them was a song Sheriden had largely written called "Save Your Kisses for Me".
Eurovision victory
In early 1976, Hiller was keen for Brotherhood of Man to make an impact in the UK and decided to put "Save Your Kisses for Me" forward to the A Song for Europe competition. This year saw a change to the contest in that, since 1964, one specific artist had performed all the songs (e.g. Cliff Richard, Olivia Newton-John, Lulu, etc.), but 1976 saw the return to the format in which any artist was eligible to enter. "Save Your Kisses for Me" made it to the final twelve songs and on 25 February, Brotherhood of Man took the title, beating the second placed act, Co-Co by two points. Now signed to Pye Records, "Save Your Kisses for Me" was released as a single in March and hit the No.1 spot two weeks before the Contest final. On 3 April, the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest was staged in the Netherlands and Brotherhood of Man performed the song, dressed in red, white and black with simple choreography devised by Guy Lutman. "Save Your Kisses for Me" took the title with an overwhelming victory. As manager Hiller stated; "..."Kiss Me Kiss Your Baby" was a hit all over Europe in '75. I firmly believe it opened the door for us a year later and helped us do well because they knew us – every weekend we'd travel to do TV spots in France, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland".The song became a major hit around the world and made No.1 in many countries and returned the group to the US Charts. The song eventually sold six million copies worldwide and is still the highest selling Eurovision winner ever. In the UK, it stayed at No.1 for six weeks and earned them a platinum disc. It ended up the top selling single of the year and is still one of the few UK singles to sell a million.
Post Eurovision success
The group had already recorded a second album and had been released in several countries a year previously. Following their victory, Pye released the album with "Save Your Kisses for Me" added. Entitled Love and Kisses, the album was a success in the UK, reaching the top twenty, as well as other countries, gaining a Number six position in Norway for instance. Soon after this, a follow-up single was released. Eager to cash in on their success, Pye decided against releasing anything from the album, as the earlier material had been more soul-based than the pop they were now successful with. The group instead released "My Sweet Rosalie" – almost a carbon copy of the previous hit, although the lyrical twist was that it was about a dog, rather than a child. The song failed to chart highly, only reaching Number thirty in the UK, but fared better in other countries, particularly Belgium where it made Number two. Concerned by the lack of success for the single, the record company did not release anything else in the UK for the rest of 1976, despite the fact that in Europe a new album of material was released along with singles in various countries: "I Give You My Love" in Germany, Spain and others and "New York City" in France.
Early in 1977, the group released their next single, "Oh Boy (The Mood I'm In)". The song was a change to their previous hits in that it was female-led and much more in a contemporary pop style. The song was a hit in the UK, reaching the top 10 and fared well in Europe also. The album which had been released in Europe the previous year was now released in the UK with the new single added. The album, now titled Oh Boy!, did not follow their last album into the charts however.
By now the public were picking up on their similarity to ABBA who were currently dominating the charts around the world, this perception was cemented with the release of their next single, "Angelo". Criticized by many for its similarity to ABBA's "Fernando", the song was released in the Summer of 1977 and was an instant success. The song rose to Number one in the UK Charts and became one of the biggest hits of the year as well as ending up among the 50 best selling singles of the decade. The group were invited to appear at the 1977 Royal Variety Performance, where they elected to sing "Angelo", rather than their then current single "Highwayman". Deprived of this vital promotion, the single failed to enter the chart (although was 'bubbling under' the top 50 at the time). It did however become a top 20 hit in both the Netherlands and Belgium. An accompanying album Images, similarly failed in the UK charts.
The group battled on into 1978 with the release of "Figaro", which brought them back into vogue and became their third UK Number one single. Many critics argued however that this song was simply cashing in on the success of "Angelo", but although their titles are similar, there is little evidence to support this, as the two songs are very different. In May "Beautiful Lover" was released and another hit, reaching the UK top twenty, and spending three months in the charts. An album was released soon after, B for Brotherhood. The record company took no chances with this album, given the failure of their previous two, and so with a TV advertising campaign, the album entered the UK Charts, eventually peaking at Number eighteen – their most successful album so far.
As the year drew to a close another single, "Middle of the Night" was released along with a greatest hits compilation, Twenty Greatest. Apart from featuring all their own hits and a smattering of album tracks and new songs, the group re-recorded both "United We Stand" and "Where are You Going to My Love" for the album. Twenty Greatest became Brotherhood of Man's most successful album, reaching Number six in the UK Charts and spending fifteen weeks in the top 75.
Chart decline
1979 saw the group going into decline as the hits dried up. Three singles released in the first six months of the year all failed to make the charts as did their next album, Higher Than High. This was despite regular TV appearances and radio play, although the group remained popular on the live circuit.". As Pye Records were due to fold at the end of the year, one more album was released in December to fulfill their contract. The album Singing a Song was made up of unreleased songs mixed with new material, but no singles were released from the collection.
Manager Tony Hiller set up his own record company in 1980, Dazzle Records. Brotherhood of Man released the first single on the label, "Honey Don't Throw Our Love Away" which also did not chart, nor did the follow-up, a cover of the 1960s hit "Will You Love Me Tomorrow". An album was recorded but went unreleased, except for in Australia. Towards the end of the year, the group were offered a deal with Warwick Records to make an album of cover versions. Released in November, Sing 20 Number One Hits was the group's take on 20 number one UK hits from recent years. The album was a hit, peaking at No.14 – their biggest chart success for two years. The album remained in the top 50 for two months and was awarded a gold disc for sales of over 100,000. Keen to release a follow-up, Warwick offered them a double album deal the following year. Released as a buy one get one free package, 20 Disco Greats / 20 Love Songs – again, a collection of recent chart hits, came out in late 1981. This album did not match the success of the first and missed the UK Charts. Tracks from these albums appear frequently on CD releases of the group, interspersed with their own hit singles.
In early 1982, Sheriden opted to leave the group to study for a degree in music. Hiller took on 28-year-old Barry Upton, an up-and-coming songwriter. Upton was later to write hits for many artists including Sonia and Steps.
The previous year, the UK had won the Eurovision Song Contest (the first time since Brotherhood of Man) with the two-boy/two-girl pop act Bucks Fizz. Within twelve months they had chalked up three number one singles and, encouraged by their popularity, Hiller set about reviving Brotherhood of Man's fortunes. In 1982, Brotherhood of Man signed a deal with EMI in the hope that the new pop revival would encompass them. Armed with a new single, "Lightning Flash", written by Hiller, Lee, and Upton, the group were relaunched with a new contemporary image and sound. The song only reached No. 67 in the summer of 1982, but it was their first single to chart in nearly four years. A follow-up, "Cry Baby Cry", failed to capitalise on this, but nevertheless, the group began working on a new album.
In 1983, the songwriting team of Hiller, Lee, and Upton entered a song for the A Song for Europe competition. Their composition, "When the Kissing Stops", made it to the final eight, but although initially tempted, the group decided not to perform the number themselves ("We all agreed it would be better to be remembered as winners, and we couldn't bear to lose!" remembers Sandra Stevens). Hiller formed a male/female trio under the name Rubic to represent the song on 24 March 1983. The group lost out to another male/female trio, Sweet Dreams, and ended up in fifth place. Despite its failure, Brotherhood of Man recorded the song and chose it as their next single. Released in the summer of 1983, alongside their new album, Lightning Flash, neither record made the UK Chart and this brought to an end their contract with EMI. "When the Kissing Stops" remains Brotherhood of Man's final single release.
Brotherhood of Man continued to perform in concert throughout the UK and Europe, but less than a year later, Upton elected to leave to work on other projects and the group decided to split. This ended their twelve-year working relationship with Hiller.
Reformation
In 1985, Brotherhood of Man reunited for a one-off TV appearance and they discussed getting back together. Over the next year, and now back with Sheriden in place of Upton, the group decided to manage themselves and begin performing again. In late 1986, the group were back on the live circuit, but decided against attempting a chart comeback.
In 1990, Martin Lee got together with songwriters Paul Curtis and David Kane to compose a musical based on The Butterfly Children books by Angela and Pat Mills. The musical had its world premiere at the Mitchell Theatre in Glasgow, to open the 1990 Glasgow City of Culture and ran for a month and was performed by the Mitchell Theatre for Youth. Just three months later, the show transferred to the larger Kings Theatre in Glasgow and ran for two weeks. The show transferred in late 1992 to London's West End. Brotherhood of Man recorded the songs themselves and the nineteen track collection, available on cassette only, was available to buy at the theatre. The album was never commercially released, although some tracks did make it onto tie-in cassettes to go with the books a few years later. The Butterfly Children, essentially a children's show, featured many differing styles of music from rap to rock and country and western to the more familiar pop the group were known for. The show's run ended after a short season, and has not been performed since.
In 1991, the group went back into the recording studio and made an album of re recorded hits and some new material with Dutch producer Eddy Ouwens. Not only was this their first recording for eight years, but it was their first without Hiller. The album remains unreleased in the UK, but was released in Spain under the title Grandes Exitos and in some other countries as The Golden Hits of Brotherhood of Man.Starling Records(CD 367)
The group continued to perform live throughout the nineties mainly on the cabaret circuit and holiday camps such as Butlins. In 1997, they recorded another album, based on their live show. Again, the album contained re-recordings of their hits as well as cover versions that they perform in concert, such as "1999" by Prince and "Juke Box Hero" by Foreigner. The album contained one new song, the title track "Greenhouse", rescued from the 1991 sessions. Like the previous album, this was never commercially released and was only available to buy at their shows.
As the 2000s dawned, the group went into semi-retirement and cut back on touring. However, in 2002, they devised a new live show based on their roots in the 1970s. Entitled The Seventies Story, the show comprised a trip through the decade, with the group performing well known songs from each year along with a narration of contemporary events. The group returned to the studio and recorded an album of the show's songs. Again, this album was not released in shops, but was available on CD at the show's venues. The tracks did get a general release later on however on various compilation albums. In 2004, the first Brotherhood of Man DVD was released, featuring TV performances of many of their singles.
To date, the group still do occasional shows with both The Seventies Story and with their own material. Most recently they have teamed up with the current incarnation of Bucks Fizz and together they perform as a two-part show. They frequently play to sold-out houses, The Seventies Story being particularly successful in receiving good reviews.
Brotherhood of Man still find themselves in demand on both the Nostalgia and gay circuit. They have appeared a number of times at London's G-A-Y theatre and regularly appear on TV both in the UK and abroad, mostly around Eurovision time each year. In 2006, they appeared at the 50th anniversary of the Eurovision Song Contest gala held in Denmark, where they were voted in the top 5 Eurovision songs of all time – the highest of any UK entry.
In 2009, Cherry Red Records released the first four albums by the Eurovision line up as two double CDs. This was the first time these albums were available on CD.
Members
Brotherhood of Man I (1969–1972)
John Goodison (1969–71, deceased 1995) Tony Burrows (1969–70) Roger Greenaway (1969–71) Sue Glover (1969–72) Sunny Leslie (1969–72) Hal Atkinson (1971–72) Russell Stone (1971–72)Brotherhood of Man II (1972–present)
Martin Lee (1972–present) Lee Sheriden (1972–81, 1986–present) Nicky Stevens (1972–present) Sandra Stevens (1973–present) Barry Upton (1982–84)Timeline
Discography
AlbumsUnited We Stand (Deram, 1970)We're the Brotherhood of Man (Deram, 1972)The World of the Brotherhood of Man (Decca, 1973)Good Things Happening (Dawn, 1974)Love and Kisses (Pye, 1976)Oh Boy! (Pye, 1977)Images (Pye, 1977)B for Brotherhood (Pye, 1978)Twenty Greatest (K-tel/Pye, 1978)Higher Than High (Pye, 1979)Singing a Song (Pye, 1979)Good Fortune (Dazzle, 1980)Sing 20 Number One Hits (Warwick, 1980)20 Disco Greats / 20 Love Songs (Warwick, 1981)Lightning Flash (EMI, 1983)The Butterfly Children (1992)
Greenhouse (1997)The Seventies Story'' (2002)
References
External links
Tony Hiller Official Website
British pop music groups
Eurovision Song Contest winners
Eurovision Song Contest entrants for the United Kingdom
Ivor Novello Award winners
Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1976
Musical groups established in 1969
Pye Records artists
Dawn Records artists
Decca Records artists
Deram Records artists
EMI Records artists | true | [
"Sandra Stevens (born 23 November 1949, Leeds, Yorkshire) is an English singer and member of pop group Brotherhood of Man.\n\nEarly career \n\nSandra Stevens first entered into a singing career at the age of sixteen when she joined the club band, The Track (who then changed their name to The Nocturnes). The group was formed by drummer Ross Mitchell and among the six members Stevens sang vocals alongside Eve Graham (later of The New Seekers). Based in Manchester, the band played local clubs, performing pop hits of the day such as \"The Loco-Motion\" and \"Da Doo Ron Ron\".\nIn early 1967 Stevens decided to leave the group and was replaced by Lyn Paul (also later of The New Seekers). Over the next few years she sang with the big bands of Joe Loss and Ken MacKintosh and also joined another group, Jason Flocks. Also at this time Stevens was working during the day as a shorthand typist.\n\nBrotherhood of Man \n\nIn 1973, Stevens was performing as the resident singer at the Wakefield Theatre when she came to the attention of Tony Hiller who was looking to recruit a new singer for Brotherhood of Man – a group he was managing. The group were currently performing as a trio (Martin Lee, Lee Sheriden and Nicky Stevens (no relation)) and had released two singles. Stevens took the two singles and listened to them, immediately she was taken by the sound and was keen to join them. In late 1973 Brotherhood of Man became a four-piece with Sandra sharing lead vocals.\n\nIt wasn't long before the group released their first single featuring the new line up. In January 1974 \"When Love Catches Up on You\" was released on Dawn Records and by the end of the year they had scored a European hit with \"Lady\" and had released an album.\n\nOver the next few years, Stevens enjoyed great success with Brotherhood of Man throughout the world. In 1975 they scored their first number one single and a year later they won the Eurovision Song Contest with the song \"Save Your Kisses for Me\". The song made No.1 in the UK as well as many other countries and this was followed by two more UK chart toppers, \"Angelo\" and \"Figaro\". Although Hiller, Sheriden and Lee wrote the bulk of their material, Stevens is credited as a co-writer on one of their songs: \"Let's Love Together\", the B-Side to \"Save Your Kisses for Me\". In over 100 songs recorded, this is the only time that one of the female members of the group received a writing credit.\n\nStevens continued with Brotherhood of Man, recording lead vocals for many of their biggest hits and performing live with them through the decades. The group is still together and active today, still with the same line-up. They continue to appear in concert and on television.\n\nPersonal life \nDuring the peak of the group's success, Stevens was in a relationship with fellow band member Martin Lee and moved in with him. Due to the young age of many of the group's fans, this was kept largely a secret. In August 1979 they married and are still together today. They have no children and live in Surrey.\n\nReferences \n\n1949 births\nLiving people\nMusicians from Leeds\nEurovision Song Contest winners\nEurovision Song Contest entrants of 1976\nStevens, Sandra\nBrotherhood of Man members",
"This is a discography of the singles and albums of British pop group Brotherhood of Man.\n\nAll singles and albums from 1974 are from a completely different line-up to the earlier releases. The earlier releases (on the Deram label) were credited to The Brotherhood of Man.\n\nThe group's first appearance on the chart was on 14 February 1970 in the UK with the single \"United We Stand\". This went on to become a hit in many other countries, including the US.\n\nThe first chart appearance of the later line-up is with the 1974 single \"Lady\" in Belgium and Holland. The first appearance by this line-up in the UK is with the single \"Save Your Kisses For Me\" on 13 March 1976. The song's entry at No.14 was the second highest Top 50 chart entry of that year (second to Queen's \"Somebody to Love\", which rose from 51 to 4 in a single week), due to its selection as the UK entry for the Eurovision Song Contect \n\nThe first appearance on the UK album charts is with Love and Kisses on 24 April 1976.\n\nTheir final chart appearance anywhere in the world was in the UK with the single \"Lightning Flash\" on 10 July 1982.\n\nAltogether they spent 98 weeks in the UK singles chart (including eight weeks at No.1) and 40 weeks in the album chart.\n\nAlbums\n\nStudio albums\n\nCompilation albums\n\nSingles\n\nNotes \n\n The final three albums as listed above were not officially released, but independently produced by the group themselves, therefore ineligible for chart entry.\n A single, \"Rock Me Baby\" was intended for release in late 1972 by the new Brotherhood of Man line-up, but was cancelled, due to its release as a single by David Cassidy.\n In addition to the singles, track \"Tell Me Tell Me Tell Me\" charted at No.42 in France, and No.27 in Belgium.\n Other singles not released in the UK are: \"Be My Loving Baby (Belgium, 1975), \"Sweet Lady from Georgia\" (US, 1976), \"I Give You My Love\" (Europe-various, 1976), \"Singing a Song\" (Spain, 1980), \"Sugar Mouse\" (Holland, 1980), \"One Day at a Time\" (South Africa, 1981), \"Tus Besos Son Para Mi\"/\"Tu Eres Bonita\" (Spain, 1991).\nThe first album, United We Stand was re-released on CD in 2008. The first four albums of the later line up (Good Things Happening to Images) were released on CD in May 2009.\n A DVD of the group, Greatest Hits was released by BR Music in June 2004. This featured TV appearances of the group performing many of their hit singles as well as Eurovision footage.\n\nB-sides \nThe following is a list of songs featured on B-sides, which were not included on any album\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nBrotherhood of Man Official Website\nTony Hiller Official Website\n\nDiscographies of British artists\nPop music group discographies"
]
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[
"Brotherhood of Man",
"Current line-up",
"What is the current line up with the Brotherhood of Man?",
"In 1972 he got together a trio of session singers, Martin Lee, Nicky Stevens and Lee Sheriden."
]
| C_7ee04046e5b9434dab259434d20ff699_0 | How long did this current line up last? | 2 | How long did the current line up of the Brotherhood of Man last? | Brotherhood of Man | Keen to keep the established name alive, Hiller set about putting a new line up together. In 1972 he got together a trio of session singers, Martin Lee, Nicky Stevens and Lee Sheriden. Sheriden was already known to Hiller as a songwriter and had a solo career. Lee had a solo single to his name and was a budding songwriter. Stevens had been classically trained, but had since adapted her vocals and was performing as a cabaret singer. The trio began recording together, but their first single, "Rock Me Baby", to be released at the end of 1972, was cancelled due to the release of the song by David Cassidy. Finally their first two singles "Happy Ever After" and "Our World of Love" were released in 1973. Neither single charted and soon after, another female vocalist was added to the line up, Sandra Stevens. Stevens (no relation to Nicky) had been performing as a big-band singer since a teenager in the late 1960s. She had sung with the Joe Loss big band and alongside Eve Graham (of The New Seekers) in club group, The Nocturnes. Now signed to the Pye spin off label, Dawn, the quartet released their first single, "When Love Catches Up on You" in January 1974. It failed to chart, but the follow-up single, "Lady" became a hit in Europe. Encouraged by this, the group set about recording their debut album. The album Good Things Happening was released later in the year along with two more singles, but none of these found success. Before the record label folded, Brotherhood of Man released one more single in the Summer of 1975. This was the upbeat "Kiss Me Kiss Your Baby" and although failed to make an impression in the UK, became a big hit in Europe, reaching Number one in Belgium and Number two in the Netherlands as well as top 10 placings in other countries. Brotherhood of Man toured extensively in Europe, honing their stage act and harmonies, while Hiller, Sheriden and Lee worked on composing songs for their second album. Among them was a song Sheriden had largely written called "Save Your Kisses for Me". CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Brotherhood of Man are a British pop group who achieved success in the 1970s. They won the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest with "Save Your Kisses for Me".
Created in 1969 by songwriter and record producer Tony Hiller, Brotherhood of Man was initially an umbrella title for a frequently-changing line-up of session singers. Early on, they scored a worldwide hit with the song "United We Stand". By 1973 the concept had run its course and Hiller formed a definite four-member line-up consisting of Martin Lee, Lee Sheriden, Nicky Stevens and Sandra Stevens. This version of the group went on to score many hits around the world in the mid to late 1970s including "Kiss Me Kiss Your Baby", "Angelo", "Oh Boy (The Mood I'm In)" and "Figaro". They achieved perhaps their biggest success in their native UK with three number one singles and four top twenty albums. The group under this line-up still continues, performing shows throughout Europe. Altogether, they have released 16 studio albums, with worldwide sales topping 15 million records.
History
Original line-up
Brotherhood of Man was formed by record producer/composer Tony Hiller in 1969, and originally featured his co-writer John Goodison with Tony Burrows, Roger Greenaway, Sue Glover and Sunny Leslie. Greenaway was also a songwriter and had co-written hits such as "Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart" and "Melting Pot". Burrows was a well-known session singer, performing in various line-ups on hit singles such as the No.1 hit "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" by Edison Lighthouse. The two female members, Glover and Leslie were an act in their own right, releasing singles as Sue and Sunny.
The group came together in 1969 and began recording some songs with Hiller. Their first single "Love One Another" failed to chart, but the follow-up "United We Stand" (released in January 1970) was a worldwide hit. "United We Stand" was heavily played on British radio, and broke into the American market. The single became a Top 20 hit in the UK, Canada, Australia and US. The song has since been used as the closing theme for television's Brady Bunch Hour and as an anthem for various causes. Burrows left the group soon after and as a four-piece, The Brotherhood of Man followed "United We Stand" with another hit, "Where Are You Going to My Love". The song charted in the UK, Canada, and US and has since been covered by Olivia Newton-John and The Osmonds among others. A début album United We Stand followed soon after.
Over the next two years, the group continued in varied line-ups. Goodison left the group at the beginning of 1971 and was replaced by American singer Hal Atkinson, Greenaway left soon after and was replaced by Russell Stone. They had one more minor hit in the US (1971's "Reach Out Your Hand"), but experienced no further success in the UK and split after being dropped by their record company.
Current line-up
Keen to keep the established name alive, Hiller set about putting a new line up together. In 1972 he got together a trio of session singers, Martin Lee, Nicky Stevens and Lee Sheriden.
Sheriden was already known to Hiller as a songwriter and had a solo career. Lee had a solo single to his name and was a budding songwriter. Stevens had been classically trained, but had since adapted her vocals and was performing as a cabaret singer. The trio began recording together, but their first single, "Rock Me Baby", to be released at the end of 1972, was cancelled due to the release of the song by David Cassidy. Finally their first two singles "Happy Ever After" and "Our World of Love" were released in 1973. Neither single charted and soon after, another female vocalist was added to the line up, Sandra Stevens. Stevens (no relation to Nicky) had been performing as a big-band singer since a teenager in the late 1960s. She had sung with the Joe Loss big band and alongside Eve Graham (of The New Seekers) in club group, The Nocturnes.
Now signed to the Pye spin off label, Dawn, the quartet released their first single, "When Love Catches Up on You" in January 1974. It failed to chart, but the follow-up single, "Lady" became a hit in Europe. Encouraged by this, the group set about recording their debut album. The album Good Things Happening was released later in the year along with two more singles, but none of these found success. Before the record label folded, Brotherhood of Man released one more single in the Summer of 1975. This was the upbeat "Kiss Me Kiss Your Baby" and although failed to make an impression in the UK, became a big hit in Europe, reaching Number one in Belgium and Number two in the Netherlands as well as top 10 placings in other countries. Brotherhood of Man toured extensively in Europe, honing their stage act and harmonies, while Hiller, Sheriden and Lee worked on composing songs for their second album. Among them was a song Sheriden had largely written called "Save Your Kisses for Me".
Eurovision victory
In early 1976, Hiller was keen for Brotherhood of Man to make an impact in the UK and decided to put "Save Your Kisses for Me" forward to the A Song for Europe competition. This year saw a change to the contest in that, since 1964, one specific artist had performed all the songs (e.g. Cliff Richard, Olivia Newton-John, Lulu, etc.), but 1976 saw the return to the format in which any artist was eligible to enter. "Save Your Kisses for Me" made it to the final twelve songs and on 25 February, Brotherhood of Man took the title, beating the second placed act, Co-Co by two points. Now signed to Pye Records, "Save Your Kisses for Me" was released as a single in March and hit the No.1 spot two weeks before the Contest final. On 3 April, the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest was staged in the Netherlands and Brotherhood of Man performed the song, dressed in red, white and black with simple choreography devised by Guy Lutman. "Save Your Kisses for Me" took the title with an overwhelming victory. As manager Hiller stated; "..."Kiss Me Kiss Your Baby" was a hit all over Europe in '75. I firmly believe it opened the door for us a year later and helped us do well because they knew us – every weekend we'd travel to do TV spots in France, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland".The song became a major hit around the world and made No.1 in many countries and returned the group to the US Charts. The song eventually sold six million copies worldwide and is still the highest selling Eurovision winner ever. In the UK, it stayed at No.1 for six weeks and earned them a platinum disc. It ended up the top selling single of the year and is still one of the few UK singles to sell a million.
Post Eurovision success
The group had already recorded a second album and had been released in several countries a year previously. Following their victory, Pye released the album with "Save Your Kisses for Me" added. Entitled Love and Kisses, the album was a success in the UK, reaching the top twenty, as well as other countries, gaining a Number six position in Norway for instance. Soon after this, a follow-up single was released. Eager to cash in on their success, Pye decided against releasing anything from the album, as the earlier material had been more soul-based than the pop they were now successful with. The group instead released "My Sweet Rosalie" – almost a carbon copy of the previous hit, although the lyrical twist was that it was about a dog, rather than a child. The song failed to chart highly, only reaching Number thirty in the UK, but fared better in other countries, particularly Belgium where it made Number two. Concerned by the lack of success for the single, the record company did not release anything else in the UK for the rest of 1976, despite the fact that in Europe a new album of material was released along with singles in various countries: "I Give You My Love" in Germany, Spain and others and "New York City" in France.
Early in 1977, the group released their next single, "Oh Boy (The Mood I'm In)". The song was a change to their previous hits in that it was female-led and much more in a contemporary pop style. The song was a hit in the UK, reaching the top 10 and fared well in Europe also. The album which had been released in Europe the previous year was now released in the UK with the new single added. The album, now titled Oh Boy!, did not follow their last album into the charts however.
By now the public were picking up on their similarity to ABBA who were currently dominating the charts around the world, this perception was cemented with the release of their next single, "Angelo". Criticized by many for its similarity to ABBA's "Fernando", the song was released in the Summer of 1977 and was an instant success. The song rose to Number one in the UK Charts and became one of the biggest hits of the year as well as ending up among the 50 best selling singles of the decade. The group were invited to appear at the 1977 Royal Variety Performance, where they elected to sing "Angelo", rather than their then current single "Highwayman". Deprived of this vital promotion, the single failed to enter the chart (although was 'bubbling under' the top 50 at the time). It did however become a top 20 hit in both the Netherlands and Belgium. An accompanying album Images, similarly failed in the UK charts.
The group battled on into 1978 with the release of "Figaro", which brought them back into vogue and became their third UK Number one single. Many critics argued however that this song was simply cashing in on the success of "Angelo", but although their titles are similar, there is little evidence to support this, as the two songs are very different. In May "Beautiful Lover" was released and another hit, reaching the UK top twenty, and spending three months in the charts. An album was released soon after, B for Brotherhood. The record company took no chances with this album, given the failure of their previous two, and so with a TV advertising campaign, the album entered the UK Charts, eventually peaking at Number eighteen – their most successful album so far.
As the year drew to a close another single, "Middle of the Night" was released along with a greatest hits compilation, Twenty Greatest. Apart from featuring all their own hits and a smattering of album tracks and new songs, the group re-recorded both "United We Stand" and "Where are You Going to My Love" for the album. Twenty Greatest became Brotherhood of Man's most successful album, reaching Number six in the UK Charts and spending fifteen weeks in the top 75.
Chart decline
1979 saw the group going into decline as the hits dried up. Three singles released in the first six months of the year all failed to make the charts as did their next album, Higher Than High. This was despite regular TV appearances and radio play, although the group remained popular on the live circuit.". As Pye Records were due to fold at the end of the year, one more album was released in December to fulfill their contract. The album Singing a Song was made up of unreleased songs mixed with new material, but no singles were released from the collection.
Manager Tony Hiller set up his own record company in 1980, Dazzle Records. Brotherhood of Man released the first single on the label, "Honey Don't Throw Our Love Away" which also did not chart, nor did the follow-up, a cover of the 1960s hit "Will You Love Me Tomorrow". An album was recorded but went unreleased, except for in Australia. Towards the end of the year, the group were offered a deal with Warwick Records to make an album of cover versions. Released in November, Sing 20 Number One Hits was the group's take on 20 number one UK hits from recent years. The album was a hit, peaking at No.14 – their biggest chart success for two years. The album remained in the top 50 for two months and was awarded a gold disc for sales of over 100,000. Keen to release a follow-up, Warwick offered them a double album deal the following year. Released as a buy one get one free package, 20 Disco Greats / 20 Love Songs – again, a collection of recent chart hits, came out in late 1981. This album did not match the success of the first and missed the UK Charts. Tracks from these albums appear frequently on CD releases of the group, interspersed with their own hit singles.
In early 1982, Sheriden opted to leave the group to study for a degree in music. Hiller took on 28-year-old Barry Upton, an up-and-coming songwriter. Upton was later to write hits for many artists including Sonia and Steps.
The previous year, the UK had won the Eurovision Song Contest (the first time since Brotherhood of Man) with the two-boy/two-girl pop act Bucks Fizz. Within twelve months they had chalked up three number one singles and, encouraged by their popularity, Hiller set about reviving Brotherhood of Man's fortunes. In 1982, Brotherhood of Man signed a deal with EMI in the hope that the new pop revival would encompass them. Armed with a new single, "Lightning Flash", written by Hiller, Lee, and Upton, the group were relaunched with a new contemporary image and sound. The song only reached No. 67 in the summer of 1982, but it was their first single to chart in nearly four years. A follow-up, "Cry Baby Cry", failed to capitalise on this, but nevertheless, the group began working on a new album.
In 1983, the songwriting team of Hiller, Lee, and Upton entered a song for the A Song for Europe competition. Their composition, "When the Kissing Stops", made it to the final eight, but although initially tempted, the group decided not to perform the number themselves ("We all agreed it would be better to be remembered as winners, and we couldn't bear to lose!" remembers Sandra Stevens). Hiller formed a male/female trio under the name Rubic to represent the song on 24 March 1983. The group lost out to another male/female trio, Sweet Dreams, and ended up in fifth place. Despite its failure, Brotherhood of Man recorded the song and chose it as their next single. Released in the summer of 1983, alongside their new album, Lightning Flash, neither record made the UK Chart and this brought to an end their contract with EMI. "When the Kissing Stops" remains Brotherhood of Man's final single release.
Brotherhood of Man continued to perform in concert throughout the UK and Europe, but less than a year later, Upton elected to leave to work on other projects and the group decided to split. This ended their twelve-year working relationship with Hiller.
Reformation
In 1985, Brotherhood of Man reunited for a one-off TV appearance and they discussed getting back together. Over the next year, and now back with Sheriden in place of Upton, the group decided to manage themselves and begin performing again. In late 1986, the group were back on the live circuit, but decided against attempting a chart comeback.
In 1990, Martin Lee got together with songwriters Paul Curtis and David Kane to compose a musical based on The Butterfly Children books by Angela and Pat Mills. The musical had its world premiere at the Mitchell Theatre in Glasgow, to open the 1990 Glasgow City of Culture and ran for a month and was performed by the Mitchell Theatre for Youth. Just three months later, the show transferred to the larger Kings Theatre in Glasgow and ran for two weeks. The show transferred in late 1992 to London's West End. Brotherhood of Man recorded the songs themselves and the nineteen track collection, available on cassette only, was available to buy at the theatre. The album was never commercially released, although some tracks did make it onto tie-in cassettes to go with the books a few years later. The Butterfly Children, essentially a children's show, featured many differing styles of music from rap to rock and country and western to the more familiar pop the group were known for. The show's run ended after a short season, and has not been performed since.
In 1991, the group went back into the recording studio and made an album of re recorded hits and some new material with Dutch producer Eddy Ouwens. Not only was this their first recording for eight years, but it was their first without Hiller. The album remains unreleased in the UK, but was released in Spain under the title Grandes Exitos and in some other countries as The Golden Hits of Brotherhood of Man.Starling Records(CD 367)
The group continued to perform live throughout the nineties mainly on the cabaret circuit and holiday camps such as Butlins. In 1997, they recorded another album, based on their live show. Again, the album contained re-recordings of their hits as well as cover versions that they perform in concert, such as "1999" by Prince and "Juke Box Hero" by Foreigner. The album contained one new song, the title track "Greenhouse", rescued from the 1991 sessions. Like the previous album, this was never commercially released and was only available to buy at their shows.
As the 2000s dawned, the group went into semi-retirement and cut back on touring. However, in 2002, they devised a new live show based on their roots in the 1970s. Entitled The Seventies Story, the show comprised a trip through the decade, with the group performing well known songs from each year along with a narration of contemporary events. The group returned to the studio and recorded an album of the show's songs. Again, this album was not released in shops, but was available on CD at the show's venues. The tracks did get a general release later on however on various compilation albums. In 2004, the first Brotherhood of Man DVD was released, featuring TV performances of many of their singles.
To date, the group still do occasional shows with both The Seventies Story and with their own material. Most recently they have teamed up with the current incarnation of Bucks Fizz and together they perform as a two-part show. They frequently play to sold-out houses, The Seventies Story being particularly successful in receiving good reviews.
Brotherhood of Man still find themselves in demand on both the Nostalgia and gay circuit. They have appeared a number of times at London's G-A-Y theatre and regularly appear on TV both in the UK and abroad, mostly around Eurovision time each year. In 2006, they appeared at the 50th anniversary of the Eurovision Song Contest gala held in Denmark, where they were voted in the top 5 Eurovision songs of all time – the highest of any UK entry.
In 2009, Cherry Red Records released the first four albums by the Eurovision line up as two double CDs. This was the first time these albums were available on CD.
Members
Brotherhood of Man I (1969–1972)
John Goodison (1969–71, deceased 1995) Tony Burrows (1969–70) Roger Greenaway (1969–71) Sue Glover (1969–72) Sunny Leslie (1969–72) Hal Atkinson (1971–72) Russell Stone (1971–72)Brotherhood of Man II (1972–present)
Martin Lee (1972–present) Lee Sheriden (1972–81, 1986–present) Nicky Stevens (1972–present) Sandra Stevens (1973–present) Barry Upton (1982–84)Timeline
Discography
AlbumsUnited We Stand (Deram, 1970)We're the Brotherhood of Man (Deram, 1972)The World of the Brotherhood of Man (Decca, 1973)Good Things Happening (Dawn, 1974)Love and Kisses (Pye, 1976)Oh Boy! (Pye, 1977)Images (Pye, 1977)B for Brotherhood (Pye, 1978)Twenty Greatest (K-tel/Pye, 1978)Higher Than High (Pye, 1979)Singing a Song (Pye, 1979)Good Fortune (Dazzle, 1980)Sing 20 Number One Hits (Warwick, 1980)20 Disco Greats / 20 Love Songs (Warwick, 1981)Lightning Flash (EMI, 1983)The Butterfly Children (1992)
Greenhouse (1997)The Seventies Story'' (2002)
References
External links
Tony Hiller Official Website
British pop music groups
Eurovision Song Contest winners
Eurovision Song Contest entrants for the United Kingdom
Ivor Novello Award winners
Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1976
Musical groups established in 1969
Pye Records artists
Dawn Records artists
Decca Records artists
Deram Records artists
EMI Records artists | false | [
"Adolphus Hailstork’s “I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes” is a cantata for a tenor soloist in three sections.\n\nBackground \nAccording to the 1997 music score, Hailstork composed this piece in memory of Undine Smith Moore. The instrumentation includes a flute, oboe, B flat clarinet, bassoon, F horn, C trumpet, trombone, timpani, strings, and percussionist. “I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes” is S.A.T.B. for a chorus, and features a tenor soloist in all three sections of the composition. The title of this composition originates from Psalm 121, which discusses trust in the Lord, for He will keep you from all harm.\n\nSections\n\nSection 1: \"I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes\" \nThe lyrics of this piece is taken directly from Psalm 121 (KJV).\n\nSection 2: \"How Long?\" \nThe lyrics of this section is inspired by the text of Psalm 13 (NEB). The last verse, in which the Soprano and Alto voices sing “I will lift up mine eyes” aids with the transition into Section 3 of the composition.How long, O Lord? How long?How long, O Lord, will Thou forget me? How long will Thou hide Thy face from me?How long? How long must I suffer anguish in my soul and grief in my heart?How long, O Lord? Look now and answer me, O Lord.Give light, O Lord, give light to my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death. I will lift up mine eyes to the hills from whence cometh my help.\n\nSection 3: \"The Lord is My Shepherd, Alleluia\" \nSimilar to the first section of the cantata, the lyrics of “The Lord is My Shepherd, Alleluia” originate from Psalm 23 (KJV). This piece features rhythmic and legato singing. A beautiful blend of Soprano and Tenor voices begin the piece, setting the tone and creating an aura of peace and contentment.\n\nReferences \n\nVocal musical compositions",
"The IAS 11 standard of International Accounting Standards set out requirements for the accounting treatment of the revenue and costs associated with long-term construction contracts. By their nature, construction activities and contracts are long-term projects, often beginning and ending in different accounting periods. Until its replacement with IFRS 15 in January 2018, IAS 11 helped accountants with measuring to what extent costs, revenue and possible profit or loss on the project are incurred in each period.\n\nHistory \nThis is a timeline of IAS 11:\n\nContent \nHow accounting revenue and costs are to be recognized depends first on whether the stage of completion of a project can be reliably measured. If this is the case, cost and revenue (including profit if any) can be recognized up to the percentage of completion during the current accounting period. If the stage of completion of a project cannot be reliably measured, the revenue can only be recognized up to the costs that have been incurred and any profit is only recognized at the end of the last accounting period. In the case a company is expecting to make a loss on the contract, this loss will be immediately recognized in the current accounting period.\n\nReferences\n\nInternational Accounting Standards\nInternational Financial Reporting Standards\nCivil engineering"
]
|
[
"Brotherhood of Man",
"Current line-up",
"What is the current line up with the Brotherhood of Man?",
"In 1972 he got together a trio of session singers, Martin Lee, Nicky Stevens and Lee Sheriden.",
"How long did this current line up last?",
"I don't know."
]
| C_7ee04046e5b9434dab259434d20ff699_0 | What did the trio of session singers do? | 3 | What did the trio of session singers, Martin Lee, Nicky Stevens and Lee Sheriden do? | Brotherhood of Man | Keen to keep the established name alive, Hiller set about putting a new line up together. In 1972 he got together a trio of session singers, Martin Lee, Nicky Stevens and Lee Sheriden. Sheriden was already known to Hiller as a songwriter and had a solo career. Lee had a solo single to his name and was a budding songwriter. Stevens had been classically trained, but had since adapted her vocals and was performing as a cabaret singer. The trio began recording together, but their first single, "Rock Me Baby", to be released at the end of 1972, was cancelled due to the release of the song by David Cassidy. Finally their first two singles "Happy Ever After" and "Our World of Love" were released in 1973. Neither single charted and soon after, another female vocalist was added to the line up, Sandra Stevens. Stevens (no relation to Nicky) had been performing as a big-band singer since a teenager in the late 1960s. She had sung with the Joe Loss big band and alongside Eve Graham (of The New Seekers) in club group, The Nocturnes. Now signed to the Pye spin off label, Dawn, the quartet released their first single, "When Love Catches Up on You" in January 1974. It failed to chart, but the follow-up single, "Lady" became a hit in Europe. Encouraged by this, the group set about recording their debut album. The album Good Things Happening was released later in the year along with two more singles, but none of these found success. Before the record label folded, Brotherhood of Man released one more single in the Summer of 1975. This was the upbeat "Kiss Me Kiss Your Baby" and although failed to make an impression in the UK, became a big hit in Europe, reaching Number one in Belgium and Number two in the Netherlands as well as top 10 placings in other countries. Brotherhood of Man toured extensively in Europe, honing their stage act and harmonies, while Hiller, Sheriden and Lee worked on composing songs for their second album. Among them was a song Sheriden had largely written called "Save Your Kisses for Me". CANNOTANSWER | The trio began recording together, but their first single, "Rock Me Baby", to be released at the end of 1972, | Brotherhood of Man are a British pop group who achieved success in the 1970s. They won the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest with "Save Your Kisses for Me".
Created in 1969 by songwriter and record producer Tony Hiller, Brotherhood of Man was initially an umbrella title for a frequently-changing line-up of session singers. Early on, they scored a worldwide hit with the song "United We Stand". By 1973 the concept had run its course and Hiller formed a definite four-member line-up consisting of Martin Lee, Lee Sheriden, Nicky Stevens and Sandra Stevens. This version of the group went on to score many hits around the world in the mid to late 1970s including "Kiss Me Kiss Your Baby", "Angelo", "Oh Boy (The Mood I'm In)" and "Figaro". They achieved perhaps their biggest success in their native UK with three number one singles and four top twenty albums. The group under this line-up still continues, performing shows throughout Europe. Altogether, they have released 16 studio albums, with worldwide sales topping 15 million records.
History
Original line-up
Brotherhood of Man was formed by record producer/composer Tony Hiller in 1969, and originally featured his co-writer John Goodison with Tony Burrows, Roger Greenaway, Sue Glover and Sunny Leslie. Greenaway was also a songwriter and had co-written hits such as "Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart" and "Melting Pot". Burrows was a well-known session singer, performing in various line-ups on hit singles such as the No.1 hit "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" by Edison Lighthouse. The two female members, Glover and Leslie were an act in their own right, releasing singles as Sue and Sunny.
The group came together in 1969 and began recording some songs with Hiller. Their first single "Love One Another" failed to chart, but the follow-up "United We Stand" (released in January 1970) was a worldwide hit. "United We Stand" was heavily played on British radio, and broke into the American market. The single became a Top 20 hit in the UK, Canada, Australia and US. The song has since been used as the closing theme for television's Brady Bunch Hour and as an anthem for various causes. Burrows left the group soon after and as a four-piece, The Brotherhood of Man followed "United We Stand" with another hit, "Where Are You Going to My Love". The song charted in the UK, Canada, and US and has since been covered by Olivia Newton-John and The Osmonds among others. A début album United We Stand followed soon after.
Over the next two years, the group continued in varied line-ups. Goodison left the group at the beginning of 1971 and was replaced by American singer Hal Atkinson, Greenaway left soon after and was replaced by Russell Stone. They had one more minor hit in the US (1971's "Reach Out Your Hand"), but experienced no further success in the UK and split after being dropped by their record company.
Current line-up
Keen to keep the established name alive, Hiller set about putting a new line up together. In 1972 he got together a trio of session singers, Martin Lee, Nicky Stevens and Lee Sheriden.
Sheriden was already known to Hiller as a songwriter and had a solo career. Lee had a solo single to his name and was a budding songwriter. Stevens had been classically trained, but had since adapted her vocals and was performing as a cabaret singer. The trio began recording together, but their first single, "Rock Me Baby", to be released at the end of 1972, was cancelled due to the release of the song by David Cassidy. Finally their first two singles "Happy Ever After" and "Our World of Love" were released in 1973. Neither single charted and soon after, another female vocalist was added to the line up, Sandra Stevens. Stevens (no relation to Nicky) had been performing as a big-band singer since a teenager in the late 1960s. She had sung with the Joe Loss big band and alongside Eve Graham (of The New Seekers) in club group, The Nocturnes.
Now signed to the Pye spin off label, Dawn, the quartet released their first single, "When Love Catches Up on You" in January 1974. It failed to chart, but the follow-up single, "Lady" became a hit in Europe. Encouraged by this, the group set about recording their debut album. The album Good Things Happening was released later in the year along with two more singles, but none of these found success. Before the record label folded, Brotherhood of Man released one more single in the Summer of 1975. This was the upbeat "Kiss Me Kiss Your Baby" and although failed to make an impression in the UK, became a big hit in Europe, reaching Number one in Belgium and Number two in the Netherlands as well as top 10 placings in other countries. Brotherhood of Man toured extensively in Europe, honing their stage act and harmonies, while Hiller, Sheriden and Lee worked on composing songs for their second album. Among them was a song Sheriden had largely written called "Save Your Kisses for Me".
Eurovision victory
In early 1976, Hiller was keen for Brotherhood of Man to make an impact in the UK and decided to put "Save Your Kisses for Me" forward to the A Song for Europe competition. This year saw a change to the contest in that, since 1964, one specific artist had performed all the songs (e.g. Cliff Richard, Olivia Newton-John, Lulu, etc.), but 1976 saw the return to the format in which any artist was eligible to enter. "Save Your Kisses for Me" made it to the final twelve songs and on 25 February, Brotherhood of Man took the title, beating the second placed act, Co-Co by two points. Now signed to Pye Records, "Save Your Kisses for Me" was released as a single in March and hit the No.1 spot two weeks before the Contest final. On 3 April, the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest was staged in the Netherlands and Brotherhood of Man performed the song, dressed in red, white and black with simple choreography devised by Guy Lutman. "Save Your Kisses for Me" took the title with an overwhelming victory. As manager Hiller stated; "..."Kiss Me Kiss Your Baby" was a hit all over Europe in '75. I firmly believe it opened the door for us a year later and helped us do well because they knew us – every weekend we'd travel to do TV spots in France, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland".The song became a major hit around the world and made No.1 in many countries and returned the group to the US Charts. The song eventually sold six million copies worldwide and is still the highest selling Eurovision winner ever. In the UK, it stayed at No.1 for six weeks and earned them a platinum disc. It ended up the top selling single of the year and is still one of the few UK singles to sell a million.
Post Eurovision success
The group had already recorded a second album and had been released in several countries a year previously. Following their victory, Pye released the album with "Save Your Kisses for Me" added. Entitled Love and Kisses, the album was a success in the UK, reaching the top twenty, as well as other countries, gaining a Number six position in Norway for instance. Soon after this, a follow-up single was released. Eager to cash in on their success, Pye decided against releasing anything from the album, as the earlier material had been more soul-based than the pop they were now successful with. The group instead released "My Sweet Rosalie" – almost a carbon copy of the previous hit, although the lyrical twist was that it was about a dog, rather than a child. The song failed to chart highly, only reaching Number thirty in the UK, but fared better in other countries, particularly Belgium where it made Number two. Concerned by the lack of success for the single, the record company did not release anything else in the UK for the rest of 1976, despite the fact that in Europe a new album of material was released along with singles in various countries: "I Give You My Love" in Germany, Spain and others and "New York City" in France.
Early in 1977, the group released their next single, "Oh Boy (The Mood I'm In)". The song was a change to their previous hits in that it was female-led and much more in a contemporary pop style. The song was a hit in the UK, reaching the top 10 and fared well in Europe also. The album which had been released in Europe the previous year was now released in the UK with the new single added. The album, now titled Oh Boy!, did not follow their last album into the charts however.
By now the public were picking up on their similarity to ABBA who were currently dominating the charts around the world, this perception was cemented with the release of their next single, "Angelo". Criticized by many for its similarity to ABBA's "Fernando", the song was released in the Summer of 1977 and was an instant success. The song rose to Number one in the UK Charts and became one of the biggest hits of the year as well as ending up among the 50 best selling singles of the decade. The group were invited to appear at the 1977 Royal Variety Performance, where they elected to sing "Angelo", rather than their then current single "Highwayman". Deprived of this vital promotion, the single failed to enter the chart (although was 'bubbling under' the top 50 at the time). It did however become a top 20 hit in both the Netherlands and Belgium. An accompanying album Images, similarly failed in the UK charts.
The group battled on into 1978 with the release of "Figaro", which brought them back into vogue and became their third UK Number one single. Many critics argued however that this song was simply cashing in on the success of "Angelo", but although their titles are similar, there is little evidence to support this, as the two songs are very different. In May "Beautiful Lover" was released and another hit, reaching the UK top twenty, and spending three months in the charts. An album was released soon after, B for Brotherhood. The record company took no chances with this album, given the failure of their previous two, and so with a TV advertising campaign, the album entered the UK Charts, eventually peaking at Number eighteen – their most successful album so far.
As the year drew to a close another single, "Middle of the Night" was released along with a greatest hits compilation, Twenty Greatest. Apart from featuring all their own hits and a smattering of album tracks and new songs, the group re-recorded both "United We Stand" and "Where are You Going to My Love" for the album. Twenty Greatest became Brotherhood of Man's most successful album, reaching Number six in the UK Charts and spending fifteen weeks in the top 75.
Chart decline
1979 saw the group going into decline as the hits dried up. Three singles released in the first six months of the year all failed to make the charts as did their next album, Higher Than High. This was despite regular TV appearances and radio play, although the group remained popular on the live circuit.". As Pye Records were due to fold at the end of the year, one more album was released in December to fulfill their contract. The album Singing a Song was made up of unreleased songs mixed with new material, but no singles were released from the collection.
Manager Tony Hiller set up his own record company in 1980, Dazzle Records. Brotherhood of Man released the first single on the label, "Honey Don't Throw Our Love Away" which also did not chart, nor did the follow-up, a cover of the 1960s hit "Will You Love Me Tomorrow". An album was recorded but went unreleased, except for in Australia. Towards the end of the year, the group were offered a deal with Warwick Records to make an album of cover versions. Released in November, Sing 20 Number One Hits was the group's take on 20 number one UK hits from recent years. The album was a hit, peaking at No.14 – their biggest chart success for two years. The album remained in the top 50 for two months and was awarded a gold disc for sales of over 100,000. Keen to release a follow-up, Warwick offered them a double album deal the following year. Released as a buy one get one free package, 20 Disco Greats / 20 Love Songs – again, a collection of recent chart hits, came out in late 1981. This album did not match the success of the first and missed the UK Charts. Tracks from these albums appear frequently on CD releases of the group, interspersed with their own hit singles.
In early 1982, Sheriden opted to leave the group to study for a degree in music. Hiller took on 28-year-old Barry Upton, an up-and-coming songwriter. Upton was later to write hits for many artists including Sonia and Steps.
The previous year, the UK had won the Eurovision Song Contest (the first time since Brotherhood of Man) with the two-boy/two-girl pop act Bucks Fizz. Within twelve months they had chalked up three number one singles and, encouraged by their popularity, Hiller set about reviving Brotherhood of Man's fortunes. In 1982, Brotherhood of Man signed a deal with EMI in the hope that the new pop revival would encompass them. Armed with a new single, "Lightning Flash", written by Hiller, Lee, and Upton, the group were relaunched with a new contemporary image and sound. The song only reached No. 67 in the summer of 1982, but it was their first single to chart in nearly four years. A follow-up, "Cry Baby Cry", failed to capitalise on this, but nevertheless, the group began working on a new album.
In 1983, the songwriting team of Hiller, Lee, and Upton entered a song for the A Song for Europe competition. Their composition, "When the Kissing Stops", made it to the final eight, but although initially tempted, the group decided not to perform the number themselves ("We all agreed it would be better to be remembered as winners, and we couldn't bear to lose!" remembers Sandra Stevens). Hiller formed a male/female trio under the name Rubic to represent the song on 24 March 1983. The group lost out to another male/female trio, Sweet Dreams, and ended up in fifth place. Despite its failure, Brotherhood of Man recorded the song and chose it as their next single. Released in the summer of 1983, alongside their new album, Lightning Flash, neither record made the UK Chart and this brought to an end their contract with EMI. "When the Kissing Stops" remains Brotherhood of Man's final single release.
Brotherhood of Man continued to perform in concert throughout the UK and Europe, but less than a year later, Upton elected to leave to work on other projects and the group decided to split. This ended their twelve-year working relationship with Hiller.
Reformation
In 1985, Brotherhood of Man reunited for a one-off TV appearance and they discussed getting back together. Over the next year, and now back with Sheriden in place of Upton, the group decided to manage themselves and begin performing again. In late 1986, the group were back on the live circuit, but decided against attempting a chart comeback.
In 1990, Martin Lee got together with songwriters Paul Curtis and David Kane to compose a musical based on The Butterfly Children books by Angela and Pat Mills. The musical had its world premiere at the Mitchell Theatre in Glasgow, to open the 1990 Glasgow City of Culture and ran for a month and was performed by the Mitchell Theatre for Youth. Just three months later, the show transferred to the larger Kings Theatre in Glasgow and ran for two weeks. The show transferred in late 1992 to London's West End. Brotherhood of Man recorded the songs themselves and the nineteen track collection, available on cassette only, was available to buy at the theatre. The album was never commercially released, although some tracks did make it onto tie-in cassettes to go with the books a few years later. The Butterfly Children, essentially a children's show, featured many differing styles of music from rap to rock and country and western to the more familiar pop the group were known for. The show's run ended after a short season, and has not been performed since.
In 1991, the group went back into the recording studio and made an album of re recorded hits and some new material with Dutch producer Eddy Ouwens. Not only was this their first recording for eight years, but it was their first without Hiller. The album remains unreleased in the UK, but was released in Spain under the title Grandes Exitos and in some other countries as The Golden Hits of Brotherhood of Man.Starling Records(CD 367)
The group continued to perform live throughout the nineties mainly on the cabaret circuit and holiday camps such as Butlins. In 1997, they recorded another album, based on their live show. Again, the album contained re-recordings of their hits as well as cover versions that they perform in concert, such as "1999" by Prince and "Juke Box Hero" by Foreigner. The album contained one new song, the title track "Greenhouse", rescued from the 1991 sessions. Like the previous album, this was never commercially released and was only available to buy at their shows.
As the 2000s dawned, the group went into semi-retirement and cut back on touring. However, in 2002, they devised a new live show based on their roots in the 1970s. Entitled The Seventies Story, the show comprised a trip through the decade, with the group performing well known songs from each year along with a narration of contemporary events. The group returned to the studio and recorded an album of the show's songs. Again, this album was not released in shops, but was available on CD at the show's venues. The tracks did get a general release later on however on various compilation albums. In 2004, the first Brotherhood of Man DVD was released, featuring TV performances of many of their singles.
To date, the group still do occasional shows with both The Seventies Story and with their own material. Most recently they have teamed up with the current incarnation of Bucks Fizz and together they perform as a two-part show. They frequently play to sold-out houses, The Seventies Story being particularly successful in receiving good reviews.
Brotherhood of Man still find themselves in demand on both the Nostalgia and gay circuit. They have appeared a number of times at London's G-A-Y theatre and regularly appear on TV both in the UK and abroad, mostly around Eurovision time each year. In 2006, they appeared at the 50th anniversary of the Eurovision Song Contest gala held in Denmark, where they were voted in the top 5 Eurovision songs of all time – the highest of any UK entry.
In 2009, Cherry Red Records released the first four albums by the Eurovision line up as two double CDs. This was the first time these albums were available on CD.
Members
Brotherhood of Man I (1969–1972)
John Goodison (1969–71, deceased 1995) Tony Burrows (1969–70) Roger Greenaway (1969–71) Sue Glover (1969–72) Sunny Leslie (1969–72) Hal Atkinson (1971–72) Russell Stone (1971–72)Brotherhood of Man II (1972–present)
Martin Lee (1972–present) Lee Sheriden (1972–81, 1986–present) Nicky Stevens (1972–present) Sandra Stevens (1973–present) Barry Upton (1982–84)Timeline
Discography
AlbumsUnited We Stand (Deram, 1970)We're the Brotherhood of Man (Deram, 1972)The World of the Brotherhood of Man (Decca, 1973)Good Things Happening (Dawn, 1974)Love and Kisses (Pye, 1976)Oh Boy! (Pye, 1977)Images (Pye, 1977)B for Brotherhood (Pye, 1978)Twenty Greatest (K-tel/Pye, 1978)Higher Than High (Pye, 1979)Singing a Song (Pye, 1979)Good Fortune (Dazzle, 1980)Sing 20 Number One Hits (Warwick, 1980)20 Disco Greats / 20 Love Songs (Warwick, 1981)Lightning Flash (EMI, 1983)The Butterfly Children (1992)
Greenhouse (1997)The Seventies Story'' (2002)
References
External links
Tony Hiller Official Website
British pop music groups
Eurovision Song Contest winners
Eurovision Song Contest entrants for the United Kingdom
Ivor Novello Award winners
Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1976
Musical groups established in 1969
Pye Records artists
Dawn Records artists
Decca Records artists
Deram Records artists
EMI Records artists | true | [
"Eduardo Neves Borges, better known as Parrerito (São Fidélis, 20 June 1953 – Belo Horizonte, 13 September 2020), was a Brazilian singer of sertanejo music, who gained national prominence for being a member of . He was the brother of the singer Barrerito.\n\nBiography \nA singer, guitarist and composer, Eduardo Neves Borges was born in São Fidélis, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, in 1953.\n\nOn 6 September 1982, his brother Barrerito and the other members of Trio Parada Dura suffered a plane crash in the city of Espírito Santo do Pinhal, in the interior of the state of São Paulo. The accident left Barrerito paraplegic, and Parrerito provisionally took his brother's place in the trio, while his brother was undergoing treatment. A few months later, Barrerito returned to Trio Parada Dura and Parrerito left.\n\nIn 1986, alongside Catalão and Marcel he formed the Trio Para Bilhões and changed his stage name to Roserito. O Trio Para Bilhões tevehumb vida curta e durou de 1986 até 1988. With Trio Para Bilhões Parrerito, at the time Roserito, recorded 2 LP's entitled: Trio Para Bilhões (1986) and Espelho Velho (1988).\n\nIn 1988, Barrerito decided to leave the Trio Parada Dura and pursue a solo career; after this, Parrerito abandoned the stage name \"Roserito\" and returned permanently to the Trio Parada Dura; he debuted in the Trio Parada Dura with the recording of LP \"Nos Braços do Povo\" (1988).\n\nParrerito was part of the Trio Parada Dura from 1988 until 2006, when he and left the trio and formed a country duo called Os Parada Dura; years later, the duo became a trio again with arrival of accordion player Xonadão.\n\nIn 2013, Parrerito, Creone and Xonadão went to court and tried to acquire the right to exploit the stage name \"Trio Parada Dura\", but they did not succeed. Therefore, the stage name \"Trio Parada Dura\" was registered as owned by accordion player and founder of Trio Parada Dura, .\n\nIn 2015, Mangabinha died after suffering a stroke and his family ceded the right to use the stage name \"Trio Parada Dura\" to Parrerito, Creone and Xonadão.\n\nWith the Trio Parada Dura, Parrerito recorded 5 LPs, 4 CDs and 3 DVDs.\n\nDeath \nOn 29 August 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil, Parrerito was admitted to a private hospital in Belo Horizonte. He tested positive for COVID-19 and was hospitalized.\n\nOn 31 August 2020, Parrerito's condition suddenly deteriorated. He was then moved to ICU, but after being hospitalized for sixteen days, he died on 13 September 2020 due to complications from COVID-19.\n\nReferences\n\n21st-century Brazilian male singers\nSertanejo musicians\n1953 births\n2020 deaths\nDeaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Minas Gerais\nPeople from São Fidélis\n20th-century Brazilian male singers",
"\"What About Me?\" is a song first recorded in 1984 as a trio by singers Kenny Rogers, Kim Carnes, and James Ingram. The song was written by Rogers, noted producer David Foster, and singer-songwriter Richard Marx, who would later achieve superstar status as a musician (\"Right Here Waiting\", \"Now and Forever\"). It was the lead single from Rogers's Platinum-plus 1984 album of the same name.\n\nBackground and writing\nRogers has described \"What About Me?\" as \"like a three-way love song...Everybody involved said 'Hey, what about me?' I think it's a beautiful record.\" Originally the male and female parts not sung by Rogers were to be performed by Lionel Richie and Barbra Streisand, but after Richie backed out of the project, Streisand did as well. The second proposed trio of singers was Rogers, Olivia Newton-John, and Jeffrey Osborne, but Newton-John began working on a duet with Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees and decided not to do both projects simultaneously. Osborne had a conflicting schedule as well, so the line-up of Rogers, Carnes, and Ingram was ultimately the one that recorded the song. Rogers, Olivia Newton John and Ingram was recorded at Sunset Sound in the Summer of 1984 – Carnes came on later for unknown reasons\n\nCharts\n\nSee also\nList of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1984 (U.S.)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nSingle release info at discogs.com\n\n1980s ballads\n1984 singles\nKenny Rogers songs\nKim Carnes songs\nJames Ingram songs\nSongs written by Richard Marx\nSongs written by David Foster\n1984 songs\nRCA Records singles\nSongs written by Kenny Rogers"
]
|
[
"Brotherhood of Man",
"Current line-up",
"What is the current line up with the Brotherhood of Man?",
"In 1972 he got together a trio of session singers, Martin Lee, Nicky Stevens and Lee Sheriden.",
"How long did this current line up last?",
"I don't know.",
"What did the trio of session singers do?",
"The trio began recording together, but their first single, \"Rock Me Baby\", to be released at the end of 1972,"
]
| C_7ee04046e5b9434dab259434d20ff699_0 | Did their first single hit the charts? | 4 | Did the first single of the trio of singers Martin Lee, Nicky Stevens and Lee Sheriden hit the charts? | Brotherhood of Man | Keen to keep the established name alive, Hiller set about putting a new line up together. In 1972 he got together a trio of session singers, Martin Lee, Nicky Stevens and Lee Sheriden. Sheriden was already known to Hiller as a songwriter and had a solo career. Lee had a solo single to his name and was a budding songwriter. Stevens had been classically trained, but had since adapted her vocals and was performing as a cabaret singer. The trio began recording together, but their first single, "Rock Me Baby", to be released at the end of 1972, was cancelled due to the release of the song by David Cassidy. Finally their first two singles "Happy Ever After" and "Our World of Love" were released in 1973. Neither single charted and soon after, another female vocalist was added to the line up, Sandra Stevens. Stevens (no relation to Nicky) had been performing as a big-band singer since a teenager in the late 1960s. She had sung with the Joe Loss big band and alongside Eve Graham (of The New Seekers) in club group, The Nocturnes. Now signed to the Pye spin off label, Dawn, the quartet released their first single, "When Love Catches Up on You" in January 1974. It failed to chart, but the follow-up single, "Lady" became a hit in Europe. Encouraged by this, the group set about recording their debut album. The album Good Things Happening was released later in the year along with two more singles, but none of these found success. Before the record label folded, Brotherhood of Man released one more single in the Summer of 1975. This was the upbeat "Kiss Me Kiss Your Baby" and although failed to make an impression in the UK, became a big hit in Europe, reaching Number one in Belgium and Number two in the Netherlands as well as top 10 placings in other countries. Brotherhood of Man toured extensively in Europe, honing their stage act and harmonies, while Hiller, Sheriden and Lee worked on composing songs for their second album. Among them was a song Sheriden had largely written called "Save Your Kisses for Me". CANNOTANSWER | was cancelled due to the release of the song by David Cassidy. | Brotherhood of Man are a British pop group who achieved success in the 1970s. They won the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest with "Save Your Kisses for Me".
Created in 1969 by songwriter and record producer Tony Hiller, Brotherhood of Man was initially an umbrella title for a frequently-changing line-up of session singers. Early on, they scored a worldwide hit with the song "United We Stand". By 1973 the concept had run its course and Hiller formed a definite four-member line-up consisting of Martin Lee, Lee Sheriden, Nicky Stevens and Sandra Stevens. This version of the group went on to score many hits around the world in the mid to late 1970s including "Kiss Me Kiss Your Baby", "Angelo", "Oh Boy (The Mood I'm In)" and "Figaro". They achieved perhaps their biggest success in their native UK with three number one singles and four top twenty albums. The group under this line-up still continues, performing shows throughout Europe. Altogether, they have released 16 studio albums, with worldwide sales topping 15 million records.
History
Original line-up
Brotherhood of Man was formed by record producer/composer Tony Hiller in 1969, and originally featured his co-writer John Goodison with Tony Burrows, Roger Greenaway, Sue Glover and Sunny Leslie. Greenaway was also a songwriter and had co-written hits such as "Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart" and "Melting Pot". Burrows was a well-known session singer, performing in various line-ups on hit singles such as the No.1 hit "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" by Edison Lighthouse. The two female members, Glover and Leslie were an act in their own right, releasing singles as Sue and Sunny.
The group came together in 1969 and began recording some songs with Hiller. Their first single "Love One Another" failed to chart, but the follow-up "United We Stand" (released in January 1970) was a worldwide hit. "United We Stand" was heavily played on British radio, and broke into the American market. The single became a Top 20 hit in the UK, Canada, Australia and US. The song has since been used as the closing theme for television's Brady Bunch Hour and as an anthem for various causes. Burrows left the group soon after and as a four-piece, The Brotherhood of Man followed "United We Stand" with another hit, "Where Are You Going to My Love". The song charted in the UK, Canada, and US and has since been covered by Olivia Newton-John and The Osmonds among others. A début album United We Stand followed soon after.
Over the next two years, the group continued in varied line-ups. Goodison left the group at the beginning of 1971 and was replaced by American singer Hal Atkinson, Greenaway left soon after and was replaced by Russell Stone. They had one more minor hit in the US (1971's "Reach Out Your Hand"), but experienced no further success in the UK and split after being dropped by their record company.
Current line-up
Keen to keep the established name alive, Hiller set about putting a new line up together. In 1972 he got together a trio of session singers, Martin Lee, Nicky Stevens and Lee Sheriden.
Sheriden was already known to Hiller as a songwriter and had a solo career. Lee had a solo single to his name and was a budding songwriter. Stevens had been classically trained, but had since adapted her vocals and was performing as a cabaret singer. The trio began recording together, but their first single, "Rock Me Baby", to be released at the end of 1972, was cancelled due to the release of the song by David Cassidy. Finally their first two singles "Happy Ever After" and "Our World of Love" were released in 1973. Neither single charted and soon after, another female vocalist was added to the line up, Sandra Stevens. Stevens (no relation to Nicky) had been performing as a big-band singer since a teenager in the late 1960s. She had sung with the Joe Loss big band and alongside Eve Graham (of The New Seekers) in club group, The Nocturnes.
Now signed to the Pye spin off label, Dawn, the quartet released their first single, "When Love Catches Up on You" in January 1974. It failed to chart, but the follow-up single, "Lady" became a hit in Europe. Encouraged by this, the group set about recording their debut album. The album Good Things Happening was released later in the year along with two more singles, but none of these found success. Before the record label folded, Brotherhood of Man released one more single in the Summer of 1975. This was the upbeat "Kiss Me Kiss Your Baby" and although failed to make an impression in the UK, became a big hit in Europe, reaching Number one in Belgium and Number two in the Netherlands as well as top 10 placings in other countries. Brotherhood of Man toured extensively in Europe, honing their stage act and harmonies, while Hiller, Sheriden and Lee worked on composing songs for their second album. Among them was a song Sheriden had largely written called "Save Your Kisses for Me".
Eurovision victory
In early 1976, Hiller was keen for Brotherhood of Man to make an impact in the UK and decided to put "Save Your Kisses for Me" forward to the A Song for Europe competition. This year saw a change to the contest in that, since 1964, one specific artist had performed all the songs (e.g. Cliff Richard, Olivia Newton-John, Lulu, etc.), but 1976 saw the return to the format in which any artist was eligible to enter. "Save Your Kisses for Me" made it to the final twelve songs and on 25 February, Brotherhood of Man took the title, beating the second placed act, Co-Co by two points. Now signed to Pye Records, "Save Your Kisses for Me" was released as a single in March and hit the No.1 spot two weeks before the Contest final. On 3 April, the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest was staged in the Netherlands and Brotherhood of Man performed the song, dressed in red, white and black with simple choreography devised by Guy Lutman. "Save Your Kisses for Me" took the title with an overwhelming victory. As manager Hiller stated; "..."Kiss Me Kiss Your Baby" was a hit all over Europe in '75. I firmly believe it opened the door for us a year later and helped us do well because they knew us – every weekend we'd travel to do TV spots in France, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland".The song became a major hit around the world and made No.1 in many countries and returned the group to the US Charts. The song eventually sold six million copies worldwide and is still the highest selling Eurovision winner ever. In the UK, it stayed at No.1 for six weeks and earned them a platinum disc. It ended up the top selling single of the year and is still one of the few UK singles to sell a million.
Post Eurovision success
The group had already recorded a second album and had been released in several countries a year previously. Following their victory, Pye released the album with "Save Your Kisses for Me" added. Entitled Love and Kisses, the album was a success in the UK, reaching the top twenty, as well as other countries, gaining a Number six position in Norway for instance. Soon after this, a follow-up single was released. Eager to cash in on their success, Pye decided against releasing anything from the album, as the earlier material had been more soul-based than the pop they were now successful with. The group instead released "My Sweet Rosalie" – almost a carbon copy of the previous hit, although the lyrical twist was that it was about a dog, rather than a child. The song failed to chart highly, only reaching Number thirty in the UK, but fared better in other countries, particularly Belgium where it made Number two. Concerned by the lack of success for the single, the record company did not release anything else in the UK for the rest of 1976, despite the fact that in Europe a new album of material was released along with singles in various countries: "I Give You My Love" in Germany, Spain and others and "New York City" in France.
Early in 1977, the group released their next single, "Oh Boy (The Mood I'm In)". The song was a change to their previous hits in that it was female-led and much more in a contemporary pop style. The song was a hit in the UK, reaching the top 10 and fared well in Europe also. The album which had been released in Europe the previous year was now released in the UK with the new single added. The album, now titled Oh Boy!, did not follow their last album into the charts however.
By now the public were picking up on their similarity to ABBA who were currently dominating the charts around the world, this perception was cemented with the release of their next single, "Angelo". Criticized by many for its similarity to ABBA's "Fernando", the song was released in the Summer of 1977 and was an instant success. The song rose to Number one in the UK Charts and became one of the biggest hits of the year as well as ending up among the 50 best selling singles of the decade. The group were invited to appear at the 1977 Royal Variety Performance, where they elected to sing "Angelo", rather than their then current single "Highwayman". Deprived of this vital promotion, the single failed to enter the chart (although was 'bubbling under' the top 50 at the time). It did however become a top 20 hit in both the Netherlands and Belgium. An accompanying album Images, similarly failed in the UK charts.
The group battled on into 1978 with the release of "Figaro", which brought them back into vogue and became their third UK Number one single. Many critics argued however that this song was simply cashing in on the success of "Angelo", but although their titles are similar, there is little evidence to support this, as the two songs are very different. In May "Beautiful Lover" was released and another hit, reaching the UK top twenty, and spending three months in the charts. An album was released soon after, B for Brotherhood. The record company took no chances with this album, given the failure of their previous two, and so with a TV advertising campaign, the album entered the UK Charts, eventually peaking at Number eighteen – their most successful album so far.
As the year drew to a close another single, "Middle of the Night" was released along with a greatest hits compilation, Twenty Greatest. Apart from featuring all their own hits and a smattering of album tracks and new songs, the group re-recorded both "United We Stand" and "Where are You Going to My Love" for the album. Twenty Greatest became Brotherhood of Man's most successful album, reaching Number six in the UK Charts and spending fifteen weeks in the top 75.
Chart decline
1979 saw the group going into decline as the hits dried up. Three singles released in the first six months of the year all failed to make the charts as did their next album, Higher Than High. This was despite regular TV appearances and radio play, although the group remained popular on the live circuit.". As Pye Records were due to fold at the end of the year, one more album was released in December to fulfill their contract. The album Singing a Song was made up of unreleased songs mixed with new material, but no singles were released from the collection.
Manager Tony Hiller set up his own record company in 1980, Dazzle Records. Brotherhood of Man released the first single on the label, "Honey Don't Throw Our Love Away" which also did not chart, nor did the follow-up, a cover of the 1960s hit "Will You Love Me Tomorrow". An album was recorded but went unreleased, except for in Australia. Towards the end of the year, the group were offered a deal with Warwick Records to make an album of cover versions. Released in November, Sing 20 Number One Hits was the group's take on 20 number one UK hits from recent years. The album was a hit, peaking at No.14 – their biggest chart success for two years. The album remained in the top 50 for two months and was awarded a gold disc for sales of over 100,000. Keen to release a follow-up, Warwick offered them a double album deal the following year. Released as a buy one get one free package, 20 Disco Greats / 20 Love Songs – again, a collection of recent chart hits, came out in late 1981. This album did not match the success of the first and missed the UK Charts. Tracks from these albums appear frequently on CD releases of the group, interspersed with their own hit singles.
In early 1982, Sheriden opted to leave the group to study for a degree in music. Hiller took on 28-year-old Barry Upton, an up-and-coming songwriter. Upton was later to write hits for many artists including Sonia and Steps.
The previous year, the UK had won the Eurovision Song Contest (the first time since Brotherhood of Man) with the two-boy/two-girl pop act Bucks Fizz. Within twelve months they had chalked up three number one singles and, encouraged by their popularity, Hiller set about reviving Brotherhood of Man's fortunes. In 1982, Brotherhood of Man signed a deal with EMI in the hope that the new pop revival would encompass them. Armed with a new single, "Lightning Flash", written by Hiller, Lee, and Upton, the group were relaunched with a new contemporary image and sound. The song only reached No. 67 in the summer of 1982, but it was their first single to chart in nearly four years. A follow-up, "Cry Baby Cry", failed to capitalise on this, but nevertheless, the group began working on a new album.
In 1983, the songwriting team of Hiller, Lee, and Upton entered a song for the A Song for Europe competition. Their composition, "When the Kissing Stops", made it to the final eight, but although initially tempted, the group decided not to perform the number themselves ("We all agreed it would be better to be remembered as winners, and we couldn't bear to lose!" remembers Sandra Stevens). Hiller formed a male/female trio under the name Rubic to represent the song on 24 March 1983. The group lost out to another male/female trio, Sweet Dreams, and ended up in fifth place. Despite its failure, Brotherhood of Man recorded the song and chose it as their next single. Released in the summer of 1983, alongside their new album, Lightning Flash, neither record made the UK Chart and this brought to an end their contract with EMI. "When the Kissing Stops" remains Brotherhood of Man's final single release.
Brotherhood of Man continued to perform in concert throughout the UK and Europe, but less than a year later, Upton elected to leave to work on other projects and the group decided to split. This ended their twelve-year working relationship with Hiller.
Reformation
In 1985, Brotherhood of Man reunited for a one-off TV appearance and they discussed getting back together. Over the next year, and now back with Sheriden in place of Upton, the group decided to manage themselves and begin performing again. In late 1986, the group were back on the live circuit, but decided against attempting a chart comeback.
In 1990, Martin Lee got together with songwriters Paul Curtis and David Kane to compose a musical based on The Butterfly Children books by Angela and Pat Mills. The musical had its world premiere at the Mitchell Theatre in Glasgow, to open the 1990 Glasgow City of Culture and ran for a month and was performed by the Mitchell Theatre for Youth. Just three months later, the show transferred to the larger Kings Theatre in Glasgow and ran for two weeks. The show transferred in late 1992 to London's West End. Brotherhood of Man recorded the songs themselves and the nineteen track collection, available on cassette only, was available to buy at the theatre. The album was never commercially released, although some tracks did make it onto tie-in cassettes to go with the books a few years later. The Butterfly Children, essentially a children's show, featured many differing styles of music from rap to rock and country and western to the more familiar pop the group were known for. The show's run ended after a short season, and has not been performed since.
In 1991, the group went back into the recording studio and made an album of re recorded hits and some new material with Dutch producer Eddy Ouwens. Not only was this their first recording for eight years, but it was their first without Hiller. The album remains unreleased in the UK, but was released in Spain under the title Grandes Exitos and in some other countries as The Golden Hits of Brotherhood of Man.Starling Records(CD 367)
The group continued to perform live throughout the nineties mainly on the cabaret circuit and holiday camps such as Butlins. In 1997, they recorded another album, based on their live show. Again, the album contained re-recordings of their hits as well as cover versions that they perform in concert, such as "1999" by Prince and "Juke Box Hero" by Foreigner. The album contained one new song, the title track "Greenhouse", rescued from the 1991 sessions. Like the previous album, this was never commercially released and was only available to buy at their shows.
As the 2000s dawned, the group went into semi-retirement and cut back on touring. However, in 2002, they devised a new live show based on their roots in the 1970s. Entitled The Seventies Story, the show comprised a trip through the decade, with the group performing well known songs from each year along with a narration of contemporary events. The group returned to the studio and recorded an album of the show's songs. Again, this album was not released in shops, but was available on CD at the show's venues. The tracks did get a general release later on however on various compilation albums. In 2004, the first Brotherhood of Man DVD was released, featuring TV performances of many of their singles.
To date, the group still do occasional shows with both The Seventies Story and with their own material. Most recently they have teamed up with the current incarnation of Bucks Fizz and together they perform as a two-part show. They frequently play to sold-out houses, The Seventies Story being particularly successful in receiving good reviews.
Brotherhood of Man still find themselves in demand on both the Nostalgia and gay circuit. They have appeared a number of times at London's G-A-Y theatre and regularly appear on TV both in the UK and abroad, mostly around Eurovision time each year. In 2006, they appeared at the 50th anniversary of the Eurovision Song Contest gala held in Denmark, where they were voted in the top 5 Eurovision songs of all time – the highest of any UK entry.
In 2009, Cherry Red Records released the first four albums by the Eurovision line up as two double CDs. This was the first time these albums were available on CD.
Members
Brotherhood of Man I (1969–1972)
John Goodison (1969–71, deceased 1995) Tony Burrows (1969–70) Roger Greenaway (1969–71) Sue Glover (1969–72) Sunny Leslie (1969–72) Hal Atkinson (1971–72) Russell Stone (1971–72)Brotherhood of Man II (1972–present)
Martin Lee (1972–present) Lee Sheriden (1972–81, 1986–present) Nicky Stevens (1972–present) Sandra Stevens (1973–present) Barry Upton (1982–84)Timeline
Discography
AlbumsUnited We Stand (Deram, 1970)We're the Brotherhood of Man (Deram, 1972)The World of the Brotherhood of Man (Decca, 1973)Good Things Happening (Dawn, 1974)Love and Kisses (Pye, 1976)Oh Boy! (Pye, 1977)Images (Pye, 1977)B for Brotherhood (Pye, 1978)Twenty Greatest (K-tel/Pye, 1978)Higher Than High (Pye, 1979)Singing a Song (Pye, 1979)Good Fortune (Dazzle, 1980)Sing 20 Number One Hits (Warwick, 1980)20 Disco Greats / 20 Love Songs (Warwick, 1981)Lightning Flash (EMI, 1983)The Butterfly Children (1992)
Greenhouse (1997)The Seventies Story'' (2002)
References
External links
Tony Hiller Official Website
British pop music groups
Eurovision Song Contest winners
Eurovision Song Contest entrants for the United Kingdom
Ivor Novello Award winners
Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1976
Musical groups established in 1969
Pye Records artists
Dawn Records artists
Decca Records artists
Deram Records artists
EMI Records artists | true | [
"\"Happy Song\" is a 1983 hit single by Italian disco music act Baby's Gang. The single became a European hit single when covered by German band Boney M. the following year.\n\nBoney M. version\nAfter Boney M.'s return to the charts with a cover of the Italian hit \"Kalimba de Luna\", producer Frank Farian rushed back into the studio to cover another Italian hit single. He invited Boney M.'s original dancer Bobby Farrell to join the group along with a group of children from Rhein-Main Air Base Elementary and Jr. High, credited as The School Rebels, who did the lead vocals together with Reggie Tsiboe. While Bobby Farrell did a rap, original singers Liz Mitchell and Marcia Barrett did not participate in the recording. Session vocalists La Mama (Patricia Shockley, Madeleine Davis and Judy Cheeks) did the additional female vocals. The single gave the group their final German Top 10 hit single (#7), their first in nearly four years.\n\nReleases\n7\" Single\n\"Happy Song\" - 4:18 / \"School's Out\" (Vocal version) (Farian, Kawohl, Reuter) - 3:15 (Hansa 106 909-100, Germany)\n\n12\" Single\n\"Happy Song\" (Club Mix) 8:30 / \"School's Out\" (Instr.) - 3:04 (Hansa 601 555-213, Germany)\n\nReferences \n\n1983 singles\nBoney M. songs\nItalo disco songs\nSong recordings produced by Frank Farian\nHansa Records singles\nSongs about happiness\n1983 songs",
"\"Real Real Real\" is a song from the UK band Jesus Jones' 1991 album Doubt. It was released in 1990 as the first single from Doubt, just prior to the release of the album. It was succeeded by the Billboard Top 10 hit \"Right Here, Right Now\" (which, in the UK peaked at No. 31). \"Real Real Real\" did better, reaching a peak of No. 19 on the UK Singles Chart. It was also their second Top 10 US hit, peaking at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song is featured on the Happy Daze compilation.\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nReferences\n\n1990 songs\n1990 singles\n1991 singles\nJesus Jones songs"
]
|
[
"Brotherhood of Man",
"Current line-up",
"What is the current line up with the Brotherhood of Man?",
"In 1972 he got together a trio of session singers, Martin Lee, Nicky Stevens and Lee Sheriden.",
"How long did this current line up last?",
"I don't know.",
"What did the trio of session singers do?",
"The trio began recording together, but their first single, \"Rock Me Baby\", to be released at the end of 1972,",
"Did their first single hit the charts?",
"was cancelled due to the release of the song by David Cassidy."
]
| C_7ee04046e5b9434dab259434d20ff699_0 | What happened after the release of the song by David Cassidy? | 5 | What happened ot Brotherhood of Man after the release of the song by David Cassidy? | Brotherhood of Man | Keen to keep the established name alive, Hiller set about putting a new line up together. In 1972 he got together a trio of session singers, Martin Lee, Nicky Stevens and Lee Sheriden. Sheriden was already known to Hiller as a songwriter and had a solo career. Lee had a solo single to his name and was a budding songwriter. Stevens had been classically trained, but had since adapted her vocals and was performing as a cabaret singer. The trio began recording together, but their first single, "Rock Me Baby", to be released at the end of 1972, was cancelled due to the release of the song by David Cassidy. Finally their first two singles "Happy Ever After" and "Our World of Love" were released in 1973. Neither single charted and soon after, another female vocalist was added to the line up, Sandra Stevens. Stevens (no relation to Nicky) had been performing as a big-band singer since a teenager in the late 1960s. She had sung with the Joe Loss big band and alongside Eve Graham (of The New Seekers) in club group, The Nocturnes. Now signed to the Pye spin off label, Dawn, the quartet released their first single, "When Love Catches Up on You" in January 1974. It failed to chart, but the follow-up single, "Lady" became a hit in Europe. Encouraged by this, the group set about recording their debut album. The album Good Things Happening was released later in the year along with two more singles, but none of these found success. Before the record label folded, Brotherhood of Man released one more single in the Summer of 1975. This was the upbeat "Kiss Me Kiss Your Baby" and although failed to make an impression in the UK, became a big hit in Europe, reaching Number one in Belgium and Number two in the Netherlands as well as top 10 placings in other countries. Brotherhood of Man toured extensively in Europe, honing their stage act and harmonies, while Hiller, Sheriden and Lee worked on composing songs for their second album. Among them was a song Sheriden had largely written called "Save Your Kisses for Me". CANNOTANSWER | Finally their first two singles "Happy Ever After" and "Our World of Love" were released in 1973. | Brotherhood of Man are a British pop group who achieved success in the 1970s. They won the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest with "Save Your Kisses for Me".
Created in 1969 by songwriter and record producer Tony Hiller, Brotherhood of Man was initially an umbrella title for a frequently-changing line-up of session singers. Early on, they scored a worldwide hit with the song "United We Stand". By 1973 the concept had run its course and Hiller formed a definite four-member line-up consisting of Martin Lee, Lee Sheriden, Nicky Stevens and Sandra Stevens. This version of the group went on to score many hits around the world in the mid to late 1970s including "Kiss Me Kiss Your Baby", "Angelo", "Oh Boy (The Mood I'm In)" and "Figaro". They achieved perhaps their biggest success in their native UK with three number one singles and four top twenty albums. The group under this line-up still continues, performing shows throughout Europe. Altogether, they have released 16 studio albums, with worldwide sales topping 15 million records.
History
Original line-up
Brotherhood of Man was formed by record producer/composer Tony Hiller in 1969, and originally featured his co-writer John Goodison with Tony Burrows, Roger Greenaway, Sue Glover and Sunny Leslie. Greenaway was also a songwriter and had co-written hits such as "Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart" and "Melting Pot". Burrows was a well-known session singer, performing in various line-ups on hit singles such as the No.1 hit "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" by Edison Lighthouse. The two female members, Glover and Leslie were an act in their own right, releasing singles as Sue and Sunny.
The group came together in 1969 and began recording some songs with Hiller. Their first single "Love One Another" failed to chart, but the follow-up "United We Stand" (released in January 1970) was a worldwide hit. "United We Stand" was heavily played on British radio, and broke into the American market. The single became a Top 20 hit in the UK, Canada, Australia and US. The song has since been used as the closing theme for television's Brady Bunch Hour and as an anthem for various causes. Burrows left the group soon after and as a four-piece, The Brotherhood of Man followed "United We Stand" with another hit, "Where Are You Going to My Love". The song charted in the UK, Canada, and US and has since been covered by Olivia Newton-John and The Osmonds among others. A début album United We Stand followed soon after.
Over the next two years, the group continued in varied line-ups. Goodison left the group at the beginning of 1971 and was replaced by American singer Hal Atkinson, Greenaway left soon after and was replaced by Russell Stone. They had one more minor hit in the US (1971's "Reach Out Your Hand"), but experienced no further success in the UK and split after being dropped by their record company.
Current line-up
Keen to keep the established name alive, Hiller set about putting a new line up together. In 1972 he got together a trio of session singers, Martin Lee, Nicky Stevens and Lee Sheriden.
Sheriden was already known to Hiller as a songwriter and had a solo career. Lee had a solo single to his name and was a budding songwriter. Stevens had been classically trained, but had since adapted her vocals and was performing as a cabaret singer. The trio began recording together, but their first single, "Rock Me Baby", to be released at the end of 1972, was cancelled due to the release of the song by David Cassidy. Finally their first two singles "Happy Ever After" and "Our World of Love" were released in 1973. Neither single charted and soon after, another female vocalist was added to the line up, Sandra Stevens. Stevens (no relation to Nicky) had been performing as a big-band singer since a teenager in the late 1960s. She had sung with the Joe Loss big band and alongside Eve Graham (of The New Seekers) in club group, The Nocturnes.
Now signed to the Pye spin off label, Dawn, the quartet released their first single, "When Love Catches Up on You" in January 1974. It failed to chart, but the follow-up single, "Lady" became a hit in Europe. Encouraged by this, the group set about recording their debut album. The album Good Things Happening was released later in the year along with two more singles, but none of these found success. Before the record label folded, Brotherhood of Man released one more single in the Summer of 1975. This was the upbeat "Kiss Me Kiss Your Baby" and although failed to make an impression in the UK, became a big hit in Europe, reaching Number one in Belgium and Number two in the Netherlands as well as top 10 placings in other countries. Brotherhood of Man toured extensively in Europe, honing their stage act and harmonies, while Hiller, Sheriden and Lee worked on composing songs for their second album. Among them was a song Sheriden had largely written called "Save Your Kisses for Me".
Eurovision victory
In early 1976, Hiller was keen for Brotherhood of Man to make an impact in the UK and decided to put "Save Your Kisses for Me" forward to the A Song for Europe competition. This year saw a change to the contest in that, since 1964, one specific artist had performed all the songs (e.g. Cliff Richard, Olivia Newton-John, Lulu, etc.), but 1976 saw the return to the format in which any artist was eligible to enter. "Save Your Kisses for Me" made it to the final twelve songs and on 25 February, Brotherhood of Man took the title, beating the second placed act, Co-Co by two points. Now signed to Pye Records, "Save Your Kisses for Me" was released as a single in March and hit the No.1 spot two weeks before the Contest final. On 3 April, the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest was staged in the Netherlands and Brotherhood of Man performed the song, dressed in red, white and black with simple choreography devised by Guy Lutman. "Save Your Kisses for Me" took the title with an overwhelming victory. As manager Hiller stated; "..."Kiss Me Kiss Your Baby" was a hit all over Europe in '75. I firmly believe it opened the door for us a year later and helped us do well because they knew us – every weekend we'd travel to do TV spots in France, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland".The song became a major hit around the world and made No.1 in many countries and returned the group to the US Charts. The song eventually sold six million copies worldwide and is still the highest selling Eurovision winner ever. In the UK, it stayed at No.1 for six weeks and earned them a platinum disc. It ended up the top selling single of the year and is still one of the few UK singles to sell a million.
Post Eurovision success
The group had already recorded a second album and had been released in several countries a year previously. Following their victory, Pye released the album with "Save Your Kisses for Me" added. Entitled Love and Kisses, the album was a success in the UK, reaching the top twenty, as well as other countries, gaining a Number six position in Norway for instance. Soon after this, a follow-up single was released. Eager to cash in on their success, Pye decided against releasing anything from the album, as the earlier material had been more soul-based than the pop they were now successful with. The group instead released "My Sweet Rosalie" – almost a carbon copy of the previous hit, although the lyrical twist was that it was about a dog, rather than a child. The song failed to chart highly, only reaching Number thirty in the UK, but fared better in other countries, particularly Belgium where it made Number two. Concerned by the lack of success for the single, the record company did not release anything else in the UK for the rest of 1976, despite the fact that in Europe a new album of material was released along with singles in various countries: "I Give You My Love" in Germany, Spain and others and "New York City" in France.
Early in 1977, the group released their next single, "Oh Boy (The Mood I'm In)". The song was a change to their previous hits in that it was female-led and much more in a contemporary pop style. The song was a hit in the UK, reaching the top 10 and fared well in Europe also. The album which had been released in Europe the previous year was now released in the UK with the new single added. The album, now titled Oh Boy!, did not follow their last album into the charts however.
By now the public were picking up on their similarity to ABBA who were currently dominating the charts around the world, this perception was cemented with the release of their next single, "Angelo". Criticized by many for its similarity to ABBA's "Fernando", the song was released in the Summer of 1977 and was an instant success. The song rose to Number one in the UK Charts and became one of the biggest hits of the year as well as ending up among the 50 best selling singles of the decade. The group were invited to appear at the 1977 Royal Variety Performance, where they elected to sing "Angelo", rather than their then current single "Highwayman". Deprived of this vital promotion, the single failed to enter the chart (although was 'bubbling under' the top 50 at the time). It did however become a top 20 hit in both the Netherlands and Belgium. An accompanying album Images, similarly failed in the UK charts.
The group battled on into 1978 with the release of "Figaro", which brought them back into vogue and became their third UK Number one single. Many critics argued however that this song was simply cashing in on the success of "Angelo", but although their titles are similar, there is little evidence to support this, as the two songs are very different. In May "Beautiful Lover" was released and another hit, reaching the UK top twenty, and spending three months in the charts. An album was released soon after, B for Brotherhood. The record company took no chances with this album, given the failure of their previous two, and so with a TV advertising campaign, the album entered the UK Charts, eventually peaking at Number eighteen – their most successful album so far.
As the year drew to a close another single, "Middle of the Night" was released along with a greatest hits compilation, Twenty Greatest. Apart from featuring all their own hits and a smattering of album tracks and new songs, the group re-recorded both "United We Stand" and "Where are You Going to My Love" for the album. Twenty Greatest became Brotherhood of Man's most successful album, reaching Number six in the UK Charts and spending fifteen weeks in the top 75.
Chart decline
1979 saw the group going into decline as the hits dried up. Three singles released in the first six months of the year all failed to make the charts as did their next album, Higher Than High. This was despite regular TV appearances and radio play, although the group remained popular on the live circuit.". As Pye Records were due to fold at the end of the year, one more album was released in December to fulfill their contract. The album Singing a Song was made up of unreleased songs mixed with new material, but no singles were released from the collection.
Manager Tony Hiller set up his own record company in 1980, Dazzle Records. Brotherhood of Man released the first single on the label, "Honey Don't Throw Our Love Away" which also did not chart, nor did the follow-up, a cover of the 1960s hit "Will You Love Me Tomorrow". An album was recorded but went unreleased, except for in Australia. Towards the end of the year, the group were offered a deal with Warwick Records to make an album of cover versions. Released in November, Sing 20 Number One Hits was the group's take on 20 number one UK hits from recent years. The album was a hit, peaking at No.14 – their biggest chart success for two years. The album remained in the top 50 for two months and was awarded a gold disc for sales of over 100,000. Keen to release a follow-up, Warwick offered them a double album deal the following year. Released as a buy one get one free package, 20 Disco Greats / 20 Love Songs – again, a collection of recent chart hits, came out in late 1981. This album did not match the success of the first and missed the UK Charts. Tracks from these albums appear frequently on CD releases of the group, interspersed with their own hit singles.
In early 1982, Sheriden opted to leave the group to study for a degree in music. Hiller took on 28-year-old Barry Upton, an up-and-coming songwriter. Upton was later to write hits for many artists including Sonia and Steps.
The previous year, the UK had won the Eurovision Song Contest (the first time since Brotherhood of Man) with the two-boy/two-girl pop act Bucks Fizz. Within twelve months they had chalked up three number one singles and, encouraged by their popularity, Hiller set about reviving Brotherhood of Man's fortunes. In 1982, Brotherhood of Man signed a deal with EMI in the hope that the new pop revival would encompass them. Armed with a new single, "Lightning Flash", written by Hiller, Lee, and Upton, the group were relaunched with a new contemporary image and sound. The song only reached No. 67 in the summer of 1982, but it was their first single to chart in nearly four years. A follow-up, "Cry Baby Cry", failed to capitalise on this, but nevertheless, the group began working on a new album.
In 1983, the songwriting team of Hiller, Lee, and Upton entered a song for the A Song for Europe competition. Their composition, "When the Kissing Stops", made it to the final eight, but although initially tempted, the group decided not to perform the number themselves ("We all agreed it would be better to be remembered as winners, and we couldn't bear to lose!" remembers Sandra Stevens). Hiller formed a male/female trio under the name Rubic to represent the song on 24 March 1983. The group lost out to another male/female trio, Sweet Dreams, and ended up in fifth place. Despite its failure, Brotherhood of Man recorded the song and chose it as their next single. Released in the summer of 1983, alongside their new album, Lightning Flash, neither record made the UK Chart and this brought to an end their contract with EMI. "When the Kissing Stops" remains Brotherhood of Man's final single release.
Brotherhood of Man continued to perform in concert throughout the UK and Europe, but less than a year later, Upton elected to leave to work on other projects and the group decided to split. This ended their twelve-year working relationship with Hiller.
Reformation
In 1985, Brotherhood of Man reunited for a one-off TV appearance and they discussed getting back together. Over the next year, and now back with Sheriden in place of Upton, the group decided to manage themselves and begin performing again. In late 1986, the group were back on the live circuit, but decided against attempting a chart comeback.
In 1990, Martin Lee got together with songwriters Paul Curtis and David Kane to compose a musical based on The Butterfly Children books by Angela and Pat Mills. The musical had its world premiere at the Mitchell Theatre in Glasgow, to open the 1990 Glasgow City of Culture and ran for a month and was performed by the Mitchell Theatre for Youth. Just three months later, the show transferred to the larger Kings Theatre in Glasgow and ran for two weeks. The show transferred in late 1992 to London's West End. Brotherhood of Man recorded the songs themselves and the nineteen track collection, available on cassette only, was available to buy at the theatre. The album was never commercially released, although some tracks did make it onto tie-in cassettes to go with the books a few years later. The Butterfly Children, essentially a children's show, featured many differing styles of music from rap to rock and country and western to the more familiar pop the group were known for. The show's run ended after a short season, and has not been performed since.
In 1991, the group went back into the recording studio and made an album of re recorded hits and some new material with Dutch producer Eddy Ouwens. Not only was this their first recording for eight years, but it was their first without Hiller. The album remains unreleased in the UK, but was released in Spain under the title Grandes Exitos and in some other countries as The Golden Hits of Brotherhood of Man.Starling Records(CD 367)
The group continued to perform live throughout the nineties mainly on the cabaret circuit and holiday camps such as Butlins. In 1997, they recorded another album, based on their live show. Again, the album contained re-recordings of their hits as well as cover versions that they perform in concert, such as "1999" by Prince and "Juke Box Hero" by Foreigner. The album contained one new song, the title track "Greenhouse", rescued from the 1991 sessions. Like the previous album, this was never commercially released and was only available to buy at their shows.
As the 2000s dawned, the group went into semi-retirement and cut back on touring. However, in 2002, they devised a new live show based on their roots in the 1970s. Entitled The Seventies Story, the show comprised a trip through the decade, with the group performing well known songs from each year along with a narration of contemporary events. The group returned to the studio and recorded an album of the show's songs. Again, this album was not released in shops, but was available on CD at the show's venues. The tracks did get a general release later on however on various compilation albums. In 2004, the first Brotherhood of Man DVD was released, featuring TV performances of many of their singles.
To date, the group still do occasional shows with both The Seventies Story and with their own material. Most recently they have teamed up with the current incarnation of Bucks Fizz and together they perform as a two-part show. They frequently play to sold-out houses, The Seventies Story being particularly successful in receiving good reviews.
Brotherhood of Man still find themselves in demand on both the Nostalgia and gay circuit. They have appeared a number of times at London's G-A-Y theatre and regularly appear on TV both in the UK and abroad, mostly around Eurovision time each year. In 2006, they appeared at the 50th anniversary of the Eurovision Song Contest gala held in Denmark, where they were voted in the top 5 Eurovision songs of all time – the highest of any UK entry.
In 2009, Cherry Red Records released the first four albums by the Eurovision line up as two double CDs. This was the first time these albums were available on CD.
Members
Brotherhood of Man I (1969–1972)
John Goodison (1969–71, deceased 1995) Tony Burrows (1969–70) Roger Greenaway (1969–71) Sue Glover (1969–72) Sunny Leslie (1969–72) Hal Atkinson (1971–72) Russell Stone (1971–72)Brotherhood of Man II (1972–present)
Martin Lee (1972–present) Lee Sheriden (1972–81, 1986–present) Nicky Stevens (1972–present) Sandra Stevens (1973–present) Barry Upton (1982–84)Timeline
Discography
AlbumsUnited We Stand (Deram, 1970)We're the Brotherhood of Man (Deram, 1972)The World of the Brotherhood of Man (Decca, 1973)Good Things Happening (Dawn, 1974)Love and Kisses (Pye, 1976)Oh Boy! (Pye, 1977)Images (Pye, 1977)B for Brotherhood (Pye, 1978)Twenty Greatest (K-tel/Pye, 1978)Higher Than High (Pye, 1979)Singing a Song (Pye, 1979)Good Fortune (Dazzle, 1980)Sing 20 Number One Hits (Warwick, 1980)20 Disco Greats / 20 Love Songs (Warwick, 1981)Lightning Flash (EMI, 1983)The Butterfly Children (1992)
Greenhouse (1997)The Seventies Story'' (2002)
References
External links
Tony Hiller Official Website
British pop music groups
Eurovision Song Contest winners
Eurovision Song Contest entrants for the United Kingdom
Ivor Novello Award winners
Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1976
Musical groups established in 1969
Pye Records artists
Dawn Records artists
Decca Records artists
Deram Records artists
EMI Records artists | true | [
"The Higher They Climb or The Higher They Climb, the Harder They Fall is an album by David Cassidy. It was his fifth solo release and the first of three albums on RCA Records. It was released in 1975 and was produced by Cassidy and Bruce Johnston.\n\nThe title of the album alludes to David Cassidy's one-time dominance of the pop charts as a teen-idol (see The Partridge Family) and the eventual drop of his superstar status. The album only reached the charts in the UK, where it peaked at number 22.\n\nThe album features the track \"Darlin'\", a song from Bruce Johnston's band, The Beach Boys. Cassidy's version reached #16 on the UK charts. It was a #1 hit in South Africa and was the 6th best selling single of the year in that country. Johnston also recruited Beach Boys singer, Carl Wilson; however, Wilson's vocals appeared on the Johnston-penned song, \"I Write the Songs\". \"I Write the Songs\" was a #11 hit in the UK for Cassidy and was later recorded by Barry Manilow, who made it a hit in the U.S.\n\nSome tracks from this collection are compiled onto the 1996 release When I'm a Rock 'n' Roll Star.\n\nThe album also includes some of David Cassidy's own songwriting, including \"When I'm a Rock 'N' Roll Star\".\n\nTrack listing\n\"When I'm a Rock 'N' Roll Star\" (Cassidy)\n\"Be-Bop-A-Lula\" (Bill Davis, Gene Vincent)\n\"I Write the Songs\" (Bruce Johnston)\n\"This Could Be the Night\" (Phil Spector, Harry Nilsson)\n\"Darlin'\" (Brian Wilson, Mike Love)\n\"Get It Up for Love\" (Ned Doheny)\n\"Fix of Your Love\" (Cassidy, Dave Ellingson)\n\"Massacre at Park Bench\" [Dialogue]\n\"Common Thief\" (Bill House)\n\"Love in Bloom\" (Cassidy, Richie Furay)\n\"When I'm a Rock 'N' Roll Star (Reprise)\" (Cassidy)\n\nDavid Cassidy albums\n1975 albums\nRCA Records albums",
"Dreams are Nuthin' More than Wishes was David Cassidy's third solo album release. It was released in 1973 and produced by Rick Jarrard on Bell Records. It contains some cover versions, including John Sebastian's \"Daydream\", Peggy Lee's \"Fever\" and Nilsson's \"Puppy Song\"—whose lyrics make up the album title. David Cassidy also did his version of the Partridge Family song, \"Summer Days\".\n\nUnique to this album is the fold out cover and the hand-written cover notes by Cassidy commenting on why he chose each song. The album made #1 on the UK album charts in 1973 and the top 20 in Australia in 1974 during Cassidy's hectic concert tour of the continent.\n\nTrack listing\nSide One\n \"Intro\" (Michael H. McDonald)\n \"Daydream\" (John Sebastian)\n \"Sing Me\" (Tony Romeo)\n \"Bali Ha'i\" (Oscar Hammerstein II, Richard Rodgers)\n \"Mae\" (Gary Montgomery)\n \"Fever\" (Eddie Cooley, John Davenport)\n \"Summer Days\" (Tony Romeo)\nSide Two\n \"The Puppy Song\" (Harry Nilsson)\n \"Daydreamer\" (Terry Dempsey)\n \"Some Old Woman\" (Shel Silverstein, Bob Gibson)\n \"Can't Go Home Again\" (Dave Ellingson, David Cassidy, Kim Carnes)\n \"Preyin' on My Mind\" (Dave Ellingson, David Cassidy, Kim Carnes)\n \"Hold on Me\" (Michael H. McDonald)\n\nDavid Cassidy albums\n1973 albums\nAlbums produced by Rick Jarrard\nBell Records albums"
]
|
[
"Monty Python",
"Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)"
]
| C_29c65da14d78435e8e89a0869d5380cb_0 | Who was in Life of Brian? | 1 | Who was in Monty Python's Life of Brian? | Monty Python | Following the success of Holy Grail, reporters asked for the title of the next Python film, despite the fact that the team had not even begun to consider a third one. Eventually, Idle flippantly replied "Jesus Christ - Lust for Glory", which became the group's stock answer once they realised that it shut reporters up. However, they soon began to seriously consider a film lampooning the New Testament era in the same way Holy Grail had lampooned Arthurian legend. Despite them all sharing a distrust of organised religion, they agreed not to mock Jesus or his teachings directly. They also mentioned that they could not think of anything legitimate to make fun of about him. Instead, they decided to write a satire on credulity and hypocrisy among the followers of someone who had been mistaken for the "Messiah", but who had no desire to be followed as such. Chapman was cast in the lead role of Brian. The focus therefore shifted to a separate individual born at the same time, in a neighbouring stable. When Jesus appears in the film (first, as a baby in the stable, and then later on the Mount, speaking the Beatitudes), he is played straight (by actor Kenneth Colley) and portrayed with respect. The comedy begins when members of the crowd mishear his statements of peace, love, and tolerance ("I think he said, 'Blessed are the cheesemakers'"). Directing duties were handled solely by Jones, having amicably agreed with Gilliam that Jones' approach to film-making was better suited for Python's general performing style. Holy Grail's production had often been stilted by their differences behind the camera. Gilliam again contributed two animated sequences (one being the opening credits) and took charge of set design. The film was shot on location in Tunisia, the finances being provided this time by former Beatle George Harrison, who together with Denis O'Brien formed the production company Hand-Made Films for the movie. Harrison had a cameo role as the "owner of the Mount". Despite its subject matter attracting controversy, particularly upon its initial release, it has (together with its predecessor) been ranked among the greatest comedy films. A Channel 4 poll in 2005 ranked Holy Grail in sixth place, with Life of Brian at the top. CANNOTANSWER | Chapman was cast in the lead role of Brian. | Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British surreal comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show Monty Python's Flying Circus, which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series. The Python phenomenon developed from the television series into something larger in scope and influence, including touring stage shows, films, albums, books and musicals. The Pythons' influence on comedy has been compared to the Beatles' influence on music. Regarded as an enduring icon of 1970s pop culture, their sketch show has been referred to as being "an important moment in the evolution of television comedy".
Broadcast by the BBC between 1969 and 1974, Monty Python's Flying Circus was conceived, written and performed by its members Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin. Loosely structured as a sketch show, but with an innovative stream-of-consciousness approach aided by Gilliam's animation, it pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable in style and content. A self-contained comedy team responsible for both writing and performing their work, the Pythons had creative control which allowed them to experiment with form and content, discarding rules of television comedy. Following their television work, they began making films, including Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), Life of Brian (1979) and The Meaning of Life (1983). Their influence on British comedy has been apparent for years, while in North America, it has coloured the work of cult performers from the early editions of Saturday Night Live through to more recent absurdist trends in television comedy. "Pythonesque" has entered the English lexicon as a result.
At the 41st British Academy Film Awards in 1988, Monty Python received the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema. In 1998, they were awarded the AFI Star Award by the American Film Institute. Many sketches from their TV show and films are well-known and widely quoted. Both Holy Grail and Life of Brian are frequently ranked in lists of greatest comedy films. In a 2005 poll of over 300 comics, comedy writers, producers and directors throughout the English-speaking world to find "The Comedian's Comedian", three of the six Pythons members were voted to be among the top 50 greatest comedians ever: Cleese at No. 2, Idle at No. 21, and Palin at No. 30.
Before Flying Circus
Jones and Palin met at Oxford University, where they performed together with the Oxford Revue. Chapman and Cleese met at Cambridge University. Idle was also at Cambridge, but started a year after Chapman and Cleese. Cleese met Gilliam in New York City while on tour with the Cambridge University Footlights revue Cambridge Circus (originally entitled A Clump of Plinths). Chapman, Cleese, and Idle were members of the Footlights, which at that time also included the future Goodies (Tim Brooke-Taylor, Bill Oddie, and Graeme Garden), and Jonathan Lynn (co-writer of Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister). During Idle's presidency of the club, feminist writer Germaine Greer and broadcaster Clive James were members. Recordings of Footlights' revues (called "Smokers") at Pembroke College include sketches and performances by Cleese and Idle, which, along with tapes of Idle's performances in some of the drama society's theatrical productions, are kept in the archives of the Pembroke Players.
The six Python members appeared in or wrote these shows before Flying Circus:
I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (radio) (1964–1973): Cleese (cast member and writer), Idle and Chapman (writers)
The Frost Report (1966–1967): Cleese (cast member and writer), Idle (writer of Frost's monologues), Chapman, Palin and Jones (writers)
At Last the 1948 Show (1967): Chapman and Cleese (writers and cast members), Idle (guest star and writer)
Twice a Fortnight (1967): Palin and Jones (cast members and writers)
Do Not Adjust Your Set (1967–1969): Idle, Jones, and Palin (cast members and writers), Gilliam (animation) + Bonzo Dog Band (musical interludes)
We Have Ways of Making You Laugh (1968): Idle (cast member and writer), Gilliam (animation)
How to Irritate People (1968): Cleese and Chapman (cast members and writers), Palin (cast member)
The Complete and Utter History of Britain (1969): Palin and Jones (cast members and writers)
Doctor in the House (1969), Cleese and Chapman (writers)
The BBC's satirical television show The Frost Report, broadcast from March 1966 to December 1967, is credited as first uniting the British Pythons and providing an environment in which they could develop their particular styles.
Following the success of Do Not Adjust Your Set, broadcast on ITV from December 1967 to May 1969, Thames Television offered Gilliam, Idle, Jones, and Palin their own late-night adult comedy series together. At the same time, Chapman and Cleese were offered a show by the BBC, which had been impressed by their work on The Frost Report and At Last the 1948 Show. Cleese was reluctant to do a two-man show for various reasons, including Chapman's supposedly difficult and erratic personality. Cleese had fond memories of working with Palin on How to Irritate People and invited him to join the team. With no studio available at Thames until summer 1970 for the late-night show, Palin agreed to join Cleese and Chapman, and suggested the involvement of his writing partner Jones and colleague Idle—who in turn wanted Gilliam to provide animations for the projected series. Much has been made of the fact that the Monty Python troupe is the result of Cleese's desire to work with Palin and the chance circumstances that brought the other four members into the fold.
By contrast, according to John Cleese's autobiography, the origins of Monty Python lay in the admiration that writing partners Cleese and Chapman had for the new type of comedy being done on Do Not Adjust Your Set; as a result, a meeting was initiated by Cleese between Chapman, Idle, Jones, Palin, and himself at which it was agreed to pool their writing and performing efforts and jointly seek production sponsorship. According to their official website, the group was born from a Kashmir tandoori restaurant in Hampstead on 11 May 1969, following a taping of Do Not Adjust Your Set which Cleese and Chapman attended. It was the first time all six got together, reportedly going back to Cleese's apartment on nearby Basil Street afterwards to continue discussions.
Monty Python's Flying Circus
Development of the series
The Pythons had a definite idea about what they wanted to do with the series. They were admirers of the work of Peter Cook, Alan Bennett, Jonathan Miller, and Dudley Moore on Beyond the Fringe—seminal to the British "satire boom"—and had worked on Frost, which was similar in style. They enjoyed Cook and Moore's sketch show Not Only... But Also. One problem the Pythons perceived with these programmes was that though the body of the sketch would be strong, the writers would often struggle to then find a punchline funny enough to end on, and this would detract from the overall sketch quality. They decided that they would simply not bother to "cap" their sketches in the traditional manner, and early episodes of the Flying Circus series make great play of this abandonment of the punchline (one scene has Cleese turn to Idle, as the sketch descends into chaos, and remark that "This is the silliest sketch I've ever been in"—they all resolve not to carry on and simply walk off the set). However, as they began assembling material for the show, the Pythons watched one of their collective heroes, Spike Milligan, whom they had admired on The Goon Show (a show the Pythons regard as their biggest influence, which also featured Peter Sellers, whom Cleese called "the greatest voice man of all time") recording his groundbreaking BBC series Q... (1969). Not only was Q... more irreverent and anarchic than any previous television comedy, but Milligan also would often "give up" on sketches halfway through and wander off set (often muttering "Did I write this?"). It was clear that their new series would now seem less original, and Jones in particular became determined the Pythons should innovate. Michael Palin recalls "Terry Jones and I adored the Q... shows...[Milligan] was the first writer to play with the conventions of television."
After much debate, Jones remembered an animation Gilliam had created for Do Not Adjust Your Set called "Beware of the Elephants", which had intrigued him with its stream-of-consciousness style. Jones felt it would be a good concept to apply to the series: allowing sketches to blend into one another. Palin had been equally fascinated by another of Gilliam's efforts, entitled "Christmas Cards", and agreed that it represented "a way of doing things differently". Since Cleese, Chapman, and Idle were less concerned with the overall flow of the programme, Jones, Palin, and Gilliam became largely responsible for the presentation style of the Flying Circus series, in which disparate sketches are linked to give each episode the appearance of a single stream-of-consciousness (often using a Gilliam animation to move from the closing image of one sketch to the opening scene of another). The BBC states, "Gilliam's unique animation style became crucial, segueing seamlessly between any two completely unrelated ideas and making the stream-of-consciousness work."
Writing started at 9 am and finished at 5 pm. Typically, Cleese and Chapman worked as one pair isolated from the others, as did Jones and Palin, while Idle wrote alone. After a few days, they would join with Gilliam, critique their scripts, and exchange ideas. Their approach to writing was democratic. If the majority found an idea humorous, it was included in the show. The casting of roles for the sketches was a similarly unselfish process, since each member viewed himself primarily as a "writer", rather than an actor eager for screen time. When the themes for sketches were chosen, Gilliam had a free hand in bridging them with animations, using a camera, scissors, and airbrush.
While the show was a collaborative process, different factions within Python were responsible for elements of the team's humour. In general, the work of the Oxford-educated members (Jones and Palin) was more visual, and more fanciful conceptually (e.g., the arrival of the Spanish Inquisition in a suburban front room), while the Cambridge graduates' sketches tended to be more verbal and more aggressive (for example, Cleese and Chapman's many "confrontation" sketches, where one character intimidates or hurls abuse, or Idle's characters with bizarre verbal quirks, such as "The Man Who Speaks In Anagrams"). Cleese confirmed that "most of the sketches with heavy abuse were Graham's and mine, anything that started with a slow pan across countryside and impressive music was Mike and Terry's, and anything that got utterly involved with words and disappeared up any personal orifice was Eric's". Gilliam's animations ranged from the whimsical to the savage (the cartoon format allowing him to create some astonishingly violent scenes without fear of censorship).
Several names for the show were considered before Monty Python's Flying Circus was settled upon. Some were Owl Stretching Time, The Toad Elevating Moment, A Horse, a Spoon and a Bucket, Vaseline Review, and Bun, Wackett, Buzzard, Stubble and Boot. Flying Circus stuck when the BBC explained it had printed that name in its schedules and was not prepared to amend it. Many variations on the name in front of this title then came and went (popular legend holds that the BBC considered Monty Python's Flying Circus to be a ridiculous name, at which point the group threatened to change their name every week until the BBC relented). Gwen Dibley's Flying Circus was named after a woman Palin had read about in the newspaper, thinking it would be amusing if she were to discover she had her own TV show. Baron Von Took's Flying Circus was considered as an affectionate tribute to Barry Took, the man who had brought them together. Arthur Megapode's Flying Circus was suggested, then discarded. The name Baron Von Took's Flying Circus had the form of Baron Manfred von Richthofen's Flying Circus of WWI fame, and the new group was forming in a time when the Royal Guardsmen's 1966 song "Snoopy vs. the Red Baron" had peaked. The term 'flying circus' was also another name for the popular entertainment of the 1920s known as barnstorming, where multiple performers collaborated with their stunts to perform a combined set of acts.
Differing, somewhat confusing accounts are given of the origins of the Python name, although the members agree that its only "significance" was that they thought it sounded funny. In the 1998 documentary Live at Aspen during the US Comedy Arts Festival, where the troupe was awarded the AFI Star Award by the American Film Institute, the group implied that "Monty" was selected (Eric Idle's idea) as a gently mocking tribute to Field Marshal Lord Montgomery, a British general of World War II; requiring a "slippery-sounding" surname, they settled on "Python". On other occasions, Idle has claimed that the name "Monty" was that of a popular and rotund fellow who drank in his local pub; people would often walk in and ask the barman, "Has Monty been in yet?", forcing the name to become stuck in his mind. The name Monty Python was later described by the BBC as being "envisaged by the team as the perfect name for a sleazy entertainment agent".
Style of the show
Flying Circus popularised innovative formal techniques, such as the cold open, in which an episode began without the traditional opening titles or announcements. An example of this is the "It's" man: Palin, outfitted in Robinson Crusoe garb, making a tortuous journey across various terrains, before finally approaching the camera to state, "It's ...", only to be then cut off by the title sequence and theme music. On several occasions, the cold open lasted until mid-show, after which the regular opening titles ran. Occasionally, the Pythons tricked viewers by rolling the closing credits halfway through the show, usually continuing the joke by fading to the familiar globe logo used for BBC continuity, over which Cleese would parody the clipped tones of a BBC announcer. On one occasion, the credits ran directly after the opening titles. On the subversive nature of the show (and their subsequent films), Cleese states "anti-authoritarianism was deeply ingrained in Python".
Because of their dislike of finishing with punchlines, they experimented with ending the sketches by cutting abruptly to another scene or animation, walking offstage, addressing the camera (breaking the fourth wall), or introducing a totally unrelated event or character. A classic example of this approach was the use of Chapman's "anti-silliness" character of "the Colonel", who walked into several sketches and ordered them to be stopped because things were becoming "far too silly".
Another favourite way of ending sketches was to drop a cartoonish "16-ton weight" prop on one of the characters when the sketch seemed to be losing momentum, or a knight in full armour (played by Terry Gilliam) would wander on-set and hit characters over the head with a rubber chicken, before cutting to the next scene. Yet another way of changing scenes was when John Cleese, usually outfitted in a dinner suit, would come in as a radio commentator and, in a rather pompous manner, make the formal and determined announcement "And now for something completely different.", which later became the title of the first Monty Python film.
The Python theme music is the Band of the Grenadier Guards' rendition of John Philip Sousa's "The Liberty Bell" which was first published in 1893. Under the Berne Convention's "country of origin" concept, the composition was subject to United States copyright law which states that any work first published prior to 1924 was in the public domain, owing to copyright expiration. This enabled Gilliam to co-opt the march for the series without having to make any royalty payments.
The use of Gilliam's surreal, collage stop motion animations was another innovative intertextual element of the Python style. Many of the images Gilliam used were lifted from famous works of art, and from Victorian illustrations and engravings. The giant foot which crushes the show's title at the end of the opening credits is in fact the foot of Cupid, cut from a reproduction of the Renaissance masterpiece Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time by Bronzino. This foot, and Gilliam's style in general, are visual trademarks of the programme.
The Pythons used the British tradition of cross-dressing comedy by donning frocks and makeup and playing female roles themselves while speaking in falsetto. Jones specialised in playing the working-class housewife, or "ratbag old women" as termed by the BBC. Palin and Idle generally played the role more posh, with Idle playing more feminine women. Cleese played female roles more sparsely, while Chapman was frequently paired with Jones as a ratbag woman or with Idle portraying middle-class women commenting upon TV. Generally speaking, female roles were played by women only when the scene specifically required that the character be sexually attractive (although sometimes they used Idle for this). The troupe later turned to Carol Cleveland, who co-starred in numerous episodes after 1970. In some episodes, and later in the stoning scene in Monty Python's Life of Brian, they took the idea one step further by playing women who impersonated men.
Many sketches are well-known and widely quoted. "Dead Parrot sketch", "The Lumberjack Song", "Spam" (which led to the coining of the term email spam), "Nudge Nudge", "The Spanish Inquisition", "Upper Class Twit of the Year", "Cheese Shop", "The Ministry of Silly Walks", "Argument Clinic", "The Funniest Joke in the World" (a sketch referenced in Google Translate), and Four Yorkshiremen sketch" are just a few examples. Most of the show’s sketches satirise areas of public life, such as: Dead Parrot (poor customer service), Silly Walks (bureaucratic inefficiency), Spam (ubiquity of Spam post World War II), and Four Yorkshiremen (nostalgic conversations). Featuring regularly in skits, Gumbys (characters of limited intelligence and vocabulary) were part of the Pythons' satirical view of television of the 1970s which condescendingly encouraged more involvement from the "man on the street".
Introduction to North America and the world
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) added Monty Python's Flying Circus to its national September 1970 fall line-up. They aired the 13 episodes of series 1, which had first run on the BBC the previous autumn (October 1969 to January 1970), as well as the first six episodes of series 2 only a few weeks after they first appeared on the BBC (September to November 1970). The CBC dropped the show when it returned to regular programming after the Christmas 1970 break, choosing to not place the remaining seven episodes of series 2 on the January 1971 CBC schedule. Within a week, the CBC received hundreds of calls complaining of the cancellation, and more than 100 people staged a demonstration at the CBC's Montreal studios. The show eventually returned, becoming a fixture on the network during the first half of the 1970s.
Sketches from Monty Python's Flying Circus were introduced to American audiences in August 1972, with the release of the Python film And Now for Something Completely Different, featuring sketches from series 1 and 2 of the television show. This 1972 release met with limited box office success.
The ability to show Monty Python's Flying Circus under the American NTSC standard had been made possible by the commercial actions of American television producer Greg Garrison. Garrison produced the NBC series The Dean Martin Comedy World, which ran during the summer of 1974. The concept was to show clips from comedy shows produced in other countries, including tape of the Python sketches "Bicycle Repairman" and "The Dull Life of a Stockbroker". Payment for use of these two sketches was enough to allow Time-Life Films to convert the entire Python library to NTSC standard, allowing for the sale to the PBS network stations which then brought the entire show to US audiences.
Through the efforts of Python's American manager Nancy Lewis, during the summer of 1974, Ron Devillier, the programming director for nonprofit PBS television station KERA in Dallas, Texas, started airing episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus. Ratings shot through the roof, providing an encouraging sign to the other 100 PBS stations that had signed up to begin airing the show in October 1974—exactly five years after their BBC debut. There was also cross-promotion from FM radio stations across the US, whose airing of tracks from the Python LPs had already introduced American audiences to this bizarre brand of comedy. The popularity on PBS resulted in the 1974 re-release of the 1972 ...Completely Different film, with much greater box office success. The success of the show was captured by a March 1975 article headline in The New York Times, "Monty Python's Flying Circus Is Barnstorming Here". Asked what challenges were left, now that they had made TV shows, films, written books, and produced records, Chapman responded, "Well, actually world supremacy would be very nice", before Idle cautioned, "Yes, but that sort of thing has got to be done properly".
In 1975 ABC broadcast two 90-minute Monty Python specials, each with three shows, but cut out a total of 24 minutes from each, in part to make time for commercials, and in part to avoid upsetting their audience. As the judge observed in Gilliam v. American Broadcasting Companies, Inc., where Monty Python sued for damages caused by broadcast of the mutilated version, "According to the network, appellants should have anticipated that most of the excised material contained scatological references inappropriate for American television and that these scenes would be replaced with commercials, which presumably are more palatable to the American public." Monty Python won the case.
With the popularity of Python throughout the rest of the 1970s and through most of the 1980s, PBS stations looked at other British comedies, leading to UK shows such as Are You Being Served? gaining a US audience, and leading, over time, to many PBS stations having a "British Comedy Night" which airs many popular UK comedies.
In 1976, Monty Python became the top rated show in Japan. The literal translation of the Japanese title was The Gay Dragon Boys Show. The popularity of the show in the Netherlands saw the town of Spijkenisse near Rotterdam open a 'silly walks' road crossing in 2018. Believed to be a world first, the official sign asks pedestrians to cross the road in a comical manner.
Departure of Cleese
Having considered the possibility at the end of the second season, Cleese left the Flying Circus at the end of the third. He later explained that he felt he no longer had anything fresh to offer the show, and claimed that only two Cleese- and Chapman-penned sketches in the third series ("Dennis Moore" and the "Cheese Shop") were truly original, and that the others were bits and pieces from previous work cobbled together in slightly different contexts. He was also finding Chapman, who was at that point in the full throes of alcoholism, difficult to work with. According to an interview with Idle, "It was on an Air Canada flight on the way to Toronto, when John (Cleese) turned to all of us and said 'I want out.' Why? I don't know. He gets bored more easily than the rest of us. He's a difficult man, not easy to be friendly with. He's so funny because he never wanted to be liked. That gives him a certain fascinating, arrogant freedom." Jones noted his reticence in 2012, "He was good at it, when he did it he was professional, but he’d rather not have done it. The others all loved it, but he got more and more pissed off about having to come out and do filming, and the one that really swung it, in my view, was when we had to do the day on the Newhaven lifeboat."
The rest of the group carried on for one more "half" season before calling a halt to the programme in 1974. While the first three seasons contained 13 episodes each, the fourth ended after just six. The name Monty Python's Flying Circus appears in the opening animation for season four, but in the end credits, the show is listed as simply Monty Python. Although Cleese left the show, he was credited as a writer for three of the six episodes, largely concentrated in the "Michael Ellis" episode, which had begun life as one of the many drafts of the "Holy Grail" motion picture. When a new direction for "Grail" was decided upon, the subplot of Arthur and his knights wandering around a strange department store in modern times was lifted out and recycled as the aforementioned TV episode. Songwriter Neil Innes contributed to some sketches, including "Appeal on Behalf of Very Rich People".
Life beyond the Flying Circus
Filmography
And Now for Something Completely Different (1971)
The Pythons' first feature film was directed by Ian MacNaughton, reprising his role from the television series. It consisted of sketches from the first two seasons of the Flying Circus, reshot on a low budget (and often slightly edited) for cinema release. Material selected for the film includes: "Dead Parrot", "The Lumberjack Song", "Upper Class Twit of the Year", "Hell's Grannies", "Self-Defence Class", "How Not to Be Seen", and "Nudge Nudge". Financed by Playboys UK executive Victor Lownes, it was intended as a way of breaking Monty Python into America, and although it was ultimately unsuccessful in this, the film did good business in the UK, and later in the US on the "Midnight movie" circuit after their breakthrough television and film success, this being in the era before home video would make the original material much more accessible. The group did not consider the film a success.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
In 1974, between production on the third and fourth seasons, the group decided to embark on their first "proper" feature film, containing entirely new material. Monty Python and the Holy Grail was based on Arthurian legend and was directed by Jones and Gilliam. Again, the latter also contributed linking animations (and put together the opening credits). Along with the rest of the Pythons, Jones and Gilliam performed several roles in the film, but Chapman took the lead as King Arthur. Cleese returned to the group for the film, feeling that they were once again breaking new ground. Holy Grail was filmed on location, in picturesque rural areas of Scotland, with a budget of only £229,000; the money was raised in part with investments from rock groups such as Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, and Led Zeppelin, as well as UK music industry entrepreneur Tony Stratton-Smith (founder and owner of the Charisma Records label, for which the Pythons recorded their comedy albums).
The backers of the film wanted to cut the famous Black Knight scene (a Sam Peckinpah send-up in which the Black Knight loses his limbs in a duel), but it was eventually kept in the movie. "Tis but a scratch" and "It's just a flesh wound…" are often quoted. Holy Grail was selected as the second-best comedy of all time in the ABC special Best in Film: The Greatest Movies of Our Time. and viewers in a Channel 4 poll placed it sixth.
Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)
Following the success of Holy Grail, reporters asked for the title of the next Python film, though the team had not even begun to consider a third one. Eventually, Idle flippantly replied "Jesus Christ – Lust for Glory", which became the group's stock answer to such questions. However, they soon began to seriously consider a film lampooning the New Testament era in the same way Holy Grail had lampooned Arthurian legend. Despite sharing a distrust of organised religion, they agreed not to mock Jesus or his teachings directly. They also mentioned that they could not think of anything legitimate to make fun of about him. Instead, they decided to write a satire on credulity and hypocrisy among the followers of someone [Brian] who had been mistaken for the "Messiah", but who had no desire to be followed as such. Terry Jones adds it was a satire on those who for the next 2,000 years "couldn't agree on what Jesus was saying about peace and love".
The focus therefore shifted to a separate individual, Brian Cohen, born at the same time, and in a neighbouring stable. When Jesus appears in the film (first, as a baby in the stable, and then later on the Mount, speaking the Beatitudes), he is played straight (by actor Kenneth Colley) and portrayed with respect. The comedy begins when members of the crowd mishear his statements of peace, love, and tolerance ("I think he said, 'Blessed are the cheesemakers).
Directing duties were handled solely by Jones, having amicably agreed with Gilliam that Jones' approach to film-making was better suited for Python's general performing style. Holy Grail's production had often been stilted by their differences behind the camera. Gilliam again contributed two animated sequences (one being the opening credits) and took charge of set design. The film was shot on location in Tunisia, the finances being provided this time by The Beatles' George Harrison, who together with Denis O'Brien formed the production company Hand-Made Films for the movie. Harrison had a cameo role as the "owner of the Mount".
Despite its subject matter attracting controversy, particularly upon its initial release, it has (together with its predecessor) been ranked among the greatest comedy films. In 2006 it was ranked first on a Channel 4 list of the 50 Greatest Comedy Films. In 2013, Richard Burridge, a theologian decorated by Pope Francis, called Life of Brian an "extraordinary tribute to the life and work and teaching of Jesus—that they couldn't actually blaspheme or make a joke out of it. They did a great satire on closed minds and people who follow blindly. Then you have them splitting into factions...it is a wonderful satire on the way that Jesus's own teaching has been used to persecute others. They were satirising fundamentalism and persecution of others and at the same time saying the one person who rises above all this was Jesus".
Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1982)
Filmed at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles during preparations for The Meaning of Life in September 1980, this was a concert film (directed by Terry Hughes) in which the Pythons performed sketches from the television series in front of an audience. The released film also incorporated footage from the German television specials (the inclusion of which gives Ian MacNaughton his first on-screen credit for Python since the end of Flying Circus) and live performances of several songs from the troupe's then-current Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album.
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983)
The Pythons' final film returned to something structurally closer to the style of Flying Circus. A series of sketches loosely follows the ages of man from birth to death. Directed again by Jones solo, The Meaning of Life is embellished with some of the group's most bizarre and disturbing moments, as well as various elaborate musical numbers, which include "Galaxy Song" (performed by Idle) and "Every Sperm Is Sacred" (performed by Palin and Jones). The film is by far their darkest work, containing a great deal of black humour, garnished by some spectacular violence (including an operation to remove a liver from a living patient without anaesthetic and the morbidly obese Mr. Creosote exploding over several restaurant patrons after finally giving in to the smooth maître d' telling him to eat a mint – "It's only a wafer-thin mint..."). At the time of its release, the Pythons confessed their aim was to offend "absolutely everyone", adding "It is guaranteed to offend".
The Liver Donor scene (which sees someone come to a man's door to take his liver, to which he says: "No, no, I'm not dead", before being told: "Oooh, it doesn't say that on the form"), is a satire on bureaucracy, a common Python trope. Besides the opening credits and the fish sequence, Gilliam, by now an established live-action director, no longer wanted to produce any linking cartoons, offering instead to direct one sketch, "The Crimson Permanent Assurance". Under his helm, though, the segment grew so ambitious and tangential that it was cut from the movie and used as a supporting feature in its own right. (Television screenings also use it as a prologue.) This was the last project on which all six Pythons collaborated, except for the 1989 compilation Parrot Sketch Not Included, where they are all seen sitting in a closet for four seconds. This was the last time Chapman appeared on screen with the Pythons.
Secret Policeman's Ball benefit shows
Members of Python contributed their services to charitable endeavours and causes—sometimes as an ensemble, at other times as individuals. The cause that has been the most frequent and consistent beneficiary has been the human rights work of Amnesty International. Between 1976 and 1981, the troupe or its members appeared in four major fund-raisers for Amnesty—known collectively as the Secret Policeman's Ball shows—which were turned into multiple films, TV shows, videos, record albums, and books. The brainchild of John Cleese, these benefit shows in London and their many spin-offs raised considerable sums of money for Amnesty, raised public and media awareness of the human rights cause, and influenced many other members of the entertainment community (especially rock musicians) to become involved in political and social issues. Among the many musicians who have publicly attributed their activism—and the organisation of their own benefit events—to the inspiration of the work in this field of Monty Python are Bob Geldof (organiser of Live Aid), U2, Pete Townshend, and Sting. Bono told Rolling Stone in 1986, "I saw The Secret Policeman’s Ball and it became a part of me. It sowed a seed..." Sting states, "before [the Ball] I did not know about Amnesty, I did not know about its work, I did not know about torture in the world." On the impact of the Ball on Geldof, Sting states, "he took the ‘Ball’ and ran with it."
Ball co-founder Cleese and Jones had an involvement (as performer, writer or director) in all four Amnesty benefit shows, Palin in three, Chapman in two, and Gilliam in one. Idle did not participate in the Amnesty shows. Notwithstanding Idle's lack of participation, the other five members (together with "Associate Pythons" Carol Cleveland and Neil Innes) all appeared together in the first Secret Policeman's Ball benefit—the 1976 A Poke in the Eye held at Her Majesty's Theatre in London's West End—where they performed several Python sketches. In this first show, they were collectively billed as Monty Python. Peter Cook deputised for the absent Idle in a courtroom sketch. In the next three shows, the participating Python members performed many Python sketches, but were billed under their individual names rather than under the collective Python banner. The second show featured newcomer Rowan Atkinson and Scottish comedian Billy Connolly. The Secret Policeman's Ball were the first stage shows in the UK to present comedic performers (such as Monty Python and Rowan Atkinson) in the same setting and shows as their contemporaries in rock music (which included Eric Clapton, Sting and Phil Collins). After a six-year break, Amnesty resumed producing Secret Policeman's Ball benefit shows which were held at the London Palladium in 1987 (sometimes with, and sometimes without, variants of the title) and by 2006 had presented a total of twelve shows. Since 1987 the Balls featured newer generations of British comedic performers, such as Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, and puppets from the satirical TV show Spitting Image, with many attributing their participation in the show to their desire to emulate the Python's pioneering work for Amnesty. Cleese and Palin made a brief cameo appearance in the 1989 Amnesty show; apart from that, the Pythons have not appeared in shows after the first four.
Going solo
Each member has pursued various film, television, and stage projects since the break-up of the group, but often continued to work with one another. Many of these collaborations were very successful, most notably A Fish Called Wanda (1988), written by Cleese, in which he starred along with Palin. The pair also appeared in Time Bandits (1981), a film directed by Gilliam, who wrote it together with Palin. Gilliam directed Jabberwocky (1977), and also directed and co-wrote Brazil (1985), which featured Palin, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), which featured Idle; he followed these with writing and directing an additional six (as of 2021) films.
Yellowbeard (1983) was co-written by Chapman and featured Chapman, Idle, and Cleese, as well as many other English comedians including Peter Cook, Spike Milligan, and Marty Feldman.
Palin and Jones wrote the comedic TV series Ripping Yarns (1976–79), starring Palin. Jones also appeared in the pilot episode and Cleese appeared in a nonspeaking part in the episode "Golden Gordon". Jones' film Erik the Viking also has Cleese playing a small part. In 1996 Terry Jones wrote and directed an adaptation of Kenneth Grahame's novel The Wind in the Willows. It featured four members of Monty Python: Jones as Mr. Toad, Idle as Ratty, Cleese as Mr. Toad's lawyer, and Palin as the Sun. Gilliam was considered for the voice of the river. The film included Steve Coogan who played Mole.
Cleese has the most prolific solo career, appearing in dozens of films, several TV shows or series (including Cheers, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Q's assistant in the James Bond movies, and Will & Grace), many direct-to-video productions, some video games and a number of commercials. His BBC sitcom Fawlty Towers (written by and starring Cleese together with his wife Connie Booth) is the only comedy series to rank higher than the Flying Circus on the BFI TV 100's list, topping the whole poll. Cleese's character, Basil Fawlty, was ranked second (to Homer Simpson) on Channel 4's 2001 list of the 100 Greatest TV Characters.
Idle enjoyed critical success with Rutland Weekend Television in the mid-1970s, out of which came the Beatles parody the Rutles (responsible for the cult mockumentary All You Need Is Cash), and as an actor in Nuns on the Run (1990) with Robbie Coltrane. In 1976 Idle directed music videos for George Harrison songs "This Song" and "Crackerbox Palace", the latter of which also featured cameo appearances from Neil Innes and John Cleese. Idle has had success with Python songs: "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" went to no. 3 in the UK singles chart in 1991. The song had been revived by Simon Mayo on BBC Radio 1, and was consequently released as a single that year. The theatrical phenomenon of the Python musical Spamalot has made Idle the most financially successful of the troupe after Python. Written by Idle (and featuring a pre-recorded cameo of Cleese as the voice of God), it has proved to be an enormous hit on Broadway, London's West End and Las Vegas. This was followed by Not the Messiah, which revises The Life of Brian as an oratorio. For the work's 2007 premiere at the Luminato festival in Toronto (which commissioned the work), Idle himself sang the "baritone-ish" part.
After Python reunions
Since The Meaning of Life, their last project as a team, the Pythons have often been the subject of reunion rumours. In 1988 Monty Python won the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema, with four of the six Pythons (Jones, Palin, Gilliam and Chapman) collecting the award. The final appearance of all six together occurred during the 1989 Parrot Sketch Not Included – 20 Years of Monty Python TV special. The death of Chapman in October 1989 put an end to the speculation of any further reunions. Several occasions since 1989 have occurred when the surviving five members have gathered together for appearances—albeit not formal reunions. In 1996 Jones, Idle, Cleese, and Palin were featured in a film adaptation of The Wind in the Willows, which was later renamed Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. In 1997 Palin and Cleese rolled out a new version of the "Dead Parrot sketch" for Saturday Night Live.
Monty Python were the inaugural recipients of the Empire Inspiration Award in 1997. Palin, Jones and Gilliam received the award on stage in London from Elton John while Cleese and Idle appeared via satellite from Los Angeles. In 1998 during the US Comedy Arts Festival, where the troupe were awarded the AFI Star Award by the American Film Institute, the five remaining members, along with what was purported to be Chapman's ashes, were reunited on stage for the first time in 18 years. The occasion was in the form of an interview called Monty Python Live at Aspen, (hosted by Robert Klein, with an appearance by Eddie Izzard) in which the team looked back at some of their work and performed a few new sketches. On 9 October 1999, to commemorate 30 years since the first Flying Circus television broadcast, BBC2 devoted an evening to Python programmes, including a documentary charting the history of the team, interspersed with new sketches by the Monty Python team filmed especially for the event.
The surviving Pythons had agreed in principle to perform a live tour of America in 1999. Several shows were to be linked with Q&A meetings in various cities. Although all had said yes, Palin later changed his mind, much to the annoyance of Idle, who had begun work organising the tour. This led to Idle refusing to take part in the new material shot for the BBC anniversary evening. In 2002, four of the surviving members, bar Cleese, performed "The Lumberjack Song" and "Sit on My Face" for George Harrison's memorial concert. The reunion also included regular supporting contributors Neil Innes and Carol Cleveland, with a special appearance from Tom Hanks.
In an interview to publicise the DVD release of The Meaning of Life, Cleese said a further reunion was unlikely. "It is absolutely impossible to get even a majority of us together in a room, and I'm not joking," Cleese said. He said that the problem was one of busyness rather than one of bad feelings. A sketch appears on the same DVD spoofing the impossibility of a full reunion, bringing the members "together" in a deliberately unconvincing fashion with modern bluescreen/greenscreen techniques.
Idle responded to queries about a Python reunion by adapting a line used by George Harrison in response to queries about a possible Beatles reunion. When asked in November 1989 about such a possibility, Harrison responded: "As far as I'm concerned, there won't be a Beatles reunion as long as John Lennon remains dead." Idle's version of this was that he expected to see a proper Python reunion, "just as soon as Graham Chapman comes back from the dead", but added, "we're talking to his agent about terms."
The Pythons Autobiography by The Pythons (2003), compiled from interviews with the surviving members, reveals that a series of disputes in 1998, over a possible sequel to Holy Grail that had been conceived by Idle, may have resulted in the group's split. Cleese's feeling was that The Meaning of Life had been personally difficult and ultimately mediocre, and did not wish to be involved in another Python project for a variety of reasons (not least amongst them was the absence of Chapman, whose straight man-like central roles in the Grail and Brian films had been considered to be an essential anchoring performance). The book also reveals that Cleese saw Chapman as his "greatest sounding board. If Graham thought something was funny, then it almost certainly was funny. You cannot believe how invaluable that is.' Ultimately it was Cleese who ended the possibility of another Python movie.
A full, if nonperforming, reunion of the surviving Python members appeared at the March 2005 premiere of Idle's musical Spamalot, based on Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It opened in Chicago and has since played in New York on Broadway, London, and numerous other major cities across the world. In 2004 it was nominated for 14 Tony Awards and won three: Best Musical, Best Direction of a Musical for Mike Nichols, and Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical for Sara Ramirez, who played the Lady of the Lake, a character specially added for the musical. The original Broadway cast included Tim Curry as King Arthur, Michael McGrath as Patsy, David Hyde Pierce as Sir Robin, Hank Azaria as Sir Lancelot and other roles (e.g., the French Taunter, Knight of Ni, and Tim the Enchanter), Christopher Sieber as Sir Galahad and other roles (e.g., the Black Knight and Prince Herbert's Father). Cleese played the voice of God, a role played in the film by Chapman.
Owing in part to the success of Spamalot, PBS announced on 13 July 2005 that it would begin to re-air the entire run of Monty Python's Flying Circus and new one-hour specials focusing on each member of the group, called Monty Python's Personal Best. Each episode was written and produced by the individual being honoured, with the five remaining Pythons collaborating on Chapman's programme, the only one of the editions to take on a serious tone with its new material.
In 2009, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the first episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus, a six-part documentary entitled Monty Python: Almost the Truth (Lawyers Cut) was released, featuring interviews with the surviving members of the team, as well as archive interviews with Graham Chapman and numerous excerpts from the television series and films. Each episode opens with a different re-recording of the theme song from Life of Brian, with Iron Maiden vocalist and Python fan Bruce Dickinson performing the sixth.
Also in commemoration of the 40th anniversary, Idle, Palin, Jones, and Gilliam appeared in a production of Not the Messiah at the Royal Albert Hall. The European premiere was held on 23 October 2009. An official 40th anniversary Monty Python reunion event took place in New York City on 15 October 2009, where the team received a Special Award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
In June 2011, it was announced that A Liar's Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman, an animated 3D movie based on the memoir of Graham Chapman, was in the making. The memoir A Liar's Autobiography was published in 1980 and details Chapman's journey through medical school, alcoholism, acknowledgement of his gay identity, and the tolls of surreal comedy. Asked what was true in a deliberately fanciful account by Chapman of his life, Terry Jones joked: "Nothing ... it's all a downright, absolute, blackguardly lie." The film uses Chapman's own voice—from a reading of his autobiography shortly before he died of cancer—and entertainment channel Epix announced the film's release in early 2012 in both 2D and 3D formats. Produced and directed by London-based Bill Jones, Ben Timlett, and Jeff Simpson, the new film has 15 animation companies working on chapters that will range from three to 12 minutes in length, each in a different style. John Cleese recorded dialogue which was matched with Chapman's voice. Michael Palin voiced Chapman's father and Terry Jones voiced his mother. Terry Gilliam voiced Graham's psychiatrist. They all play various other roles. Among the original Python group, only Eric Idle was not involved.
On 26 January 2012, Terry Jones announced that the five surviving Pythons would reunite in a sci-fi comedy film called Absolutely Anything. The film would combine computer-generated imagery and live action. It would be directed by Jones based on a script by Jones and Gavin Scott, and in addition to the Python members it would also star Simon Pegg, Kate Beckinsale and Robin Williams (in his final film role). The plot revolves around a teacher who discovers aliens (voiced by the Pythons) have given him magical powers to do "absolutely anything". Eric Idle responded via Twitter that he would not, in fact, be participating, although he was later added to the cast.
Monty Python Live (Mostly): One Down, Five to Go
In 2013, the Pythons lost a legal case to Mark Forstater, the film producer of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, over royalties for the derivative work Spamalot. They owed a combined £800,000 in legal fees and back royalties to Forstater. They proposed a reunion show to pay their legal bill.
On 19 November 2013, a new reunion was reported, following months of "secret talks". The original plan was for a live, one-off stage show at the O2 Arena in London on 1 July 2014, with "some of Monty Python's greatest hits, with modern, topical, Pythonesque twists" according to a press release. The tickets for this show went on sale in November 2013 and sold out in just 43 seconds. Nine additional shows were added, all of them at the O2, the last on 20 July. They have said that their reunion was inspired by South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who are massive Monty Python fans.
Mick Jagger featured in a promotional video for the shows: "Who wants to see that again, really? It's a bunch of wrinkly old men trying to relive their youth and make a load of money—the best one died years ago!" Michael Palin stated that the final reunion show on 20 July 2014 would be the last time that the troupe would perform together. It was screened to 2,000 cinemas around the world. Prior to the final night, Idle stated, "It is a world event and that’s really quite exciting. It means we’re actually going to say goodbye publicly on one show. Nobody ever has the chance to do that. The Beatles didn’t get a last good night." The last show was broadcast in the UK on Gold TV and internationally in cinemas by Fathom Events through a Dish Network satellite link.
Python members
Graham Chapman was originally a medical student, joining the Footlights at Cambridge. He completed his medical training and was legally entitled to practise as a doctor. Chapman is best remembered for the lead roles in Holy Grail, as King Arthur, and Life of Brian, as Brian Cohen. He died of metastatic throat cancer on 4 October 1989. At Chapman's memorial service, Cleese delivered an irreverent eulogy that included all the euphemisms for being dead from the "Dead Parrot" sketch, which they had written. Chapman's comedic fictional memoir, A Liar's Autobiography, was adapted into an animated 3D movie in 2012.
John Cleese is the oldest Python. He met his future Python writing partner, Chapman, in Cambridge. Outside of Python, he is best known for setting up the Video Arts group and for the sitcom Fawlty Towers (co-written with Connie Booth, whom Cleese met during work on Python and to whom he was married for a decade). Cleese has also co-authored several books on psychology and wrote the screenplay for the award-winning A Fish Called Wanda, in which he starred with Michael Palin.
Terry Gilliam, an American by birth, is the only member of the troupe of non-British origin. He started off as an animator and strip cartoonist for Harvey Kurtzman's Help! magazine, one issue of which featured Cleese. Moving from the US to England, he animated features for Do Not Adjust Your Set and was then asked by its makers to join them on their next project: Monty Python's Flying Circus. He co-directed Monty Python and the Holy Grail and directed short segments of other Python films (for instance "The Crimson Permanent Assurance", the short film that appears before The Meaning of Life).
When Monty Python was first formed, two writing partnerships were already in place: Cleese and Chapman, Jones and Palin. That left two in their own corners: Gilliam, operating solo due to the nature of his work, and Eric Idle. Regular themes in Idle's contributions were elaborate wordplay and musical numbers. After Flying Circus, he hosted Saturday Night Live four times in the first five seasons. Idle's initially successful solo career faltered in the 1990s with the failures of his 1993 film Splitting Heirs (written, produced by, and starring him) and 1998's An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (in which he starred). He revived his career by returning to the source of his worldwide fame, adapting Monty Python material for other media. Idle wrote the Tony Award-winning musical Spamalot, based on Holy Grail. Following the success of the musical he wrote Not the Messiah, an oratorio derived from the Life of Brian. Representing Monty Python, Idle featured in a one-hour symphony of British Music when he performed at the London 2012 Olympic Games closing ceremony.
Terry Jones has been described by other members of the team as the "heart" of the operation. Jones had a lead role in maintaining the group's unity and creative independence. Python biographer George Perry has commented that should "[you] speak to him on subjects as diverse as fossil fuels, or Rupert Bear, or mercenaries in the Middle Ages or Modern China ... in a moment you will find yourself hopelessly out of your depth, floored by his knowledge." Many others agree that Jones is characterised by his irrepressible, good-natured enthusiasm. However, Jones' passion often led to prolonged arguments with other group members—in particular Cleese—with Jones often unwilling to back down. Since his major contributions were largely behind the scenes (direction, writing), and he often deferred to the other members of the group as an actor, Jones' importance to Python was often under-rated. However, he does have the legacy of delivering possibly the most famous line in all of Python, as Brian's mother Mandy in Life of Brian, "He's not the Messiah, he's a very naughty boy!", a line voted the funniest in film history on two occasions. Jones died on 21 January 2020 from complications of dementia.
Sir Michael Palin attended Oxford, where he met his Python writing partner Jones. The two also wrote the series Ripping Yarns together. Palin and Jones originally wrote face-to-face, but soon found it was more productive to write apart and then come together to review what the other had written. Therefore, Jones and Palin's sketches tended to be more focused than that of the others, taking one bizarre situation, sticking to it, and building on it. After Flying Circus, Palin hosted Saturday Night Live four times in the first 10 seasons. His comedy output began to decrease in amount following the increasing success of his travel documentaries for the BBC. Palin released a book of diaries from the Python years entitled Michael Palin Diaries 1969–1979, published in 2007. Palin was awarded a knighthood in the 2019 New Year Honours, which was announced by Buckingham Palace in December 2018.
Associate Pythons
Several people have been accorded unofficial "associate Python" status over the years. Occasionally such people have been referred to as the 'seventh Python', in a style reminiscent of George Martin (or other associates of the Beatles) being dubbed "the Fifth Beatle". The two collaborators with the most meaningful and plentiful contributions have been Neil Innes and Carol Cleveland. Both were present and presented as Associate Pythons at the official Monty Python 25th-anniversary celebrations held in Los Angeles in July 1994.
Neil Innes is the only non-Python besides Douglas Adams to be credited with writing material for Flying Circus. He appeared in sketches and the Python films, as well as performing some of his songs in Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl. He was also a regular stand-in for absent team members on the rare occasions when they recreated sketches. For example, he took the place of Cleese at the Concert for George. Gilliam once noted that if anyone qualified for the title of the seventh Python, it would be Innes. He was one of the creative talents in the off-beat Bonzo Dog Band. He would later portray Ron Nasty of the Rutles and write all of the Rutles' compositions for All You Need Is Cash (1978), a mockumentary film co-directed by Idle. By 2005, a falling out had occurred between Idle and Innes over additional Rutles projects, the results being Innes' critically acclaimed Rutles "reunion" album The Rutles: Archaeology and Idle's straight-to-DVD The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch, each undertaken without the other's participation. According to an interview with Idle in the Chicago Tribune in May 2005, his attitude is that Innes and he go back "too far. And no further." Innes died of a heart attack on 29 December 2019 near Toulouse, where he had lived for several years.
Carol Cleveland was the most important female performer in the Monty Python ensemble, commonly referred to as "the female Python". She was originally hired by producer/director John Howard Davies for just the first five episodes of the Flying Circus. The Pythons then pushed to make Cleveland a permanent recurring performer after producer/director Ian MacNaughton brought in several other actresses who were not as good as she was. Cleveland went on to appear in about two-thirds of the episodes, as well as in all of the Python films, and in most of their stage shows, as well. According to Time, her most recognisable film roles are playing Zoot and Dingo, two maidens in the Castle Anthrax in Holy Grail.
Other contributors
Cleese's first wife, Connie Booth, appeared as various characters in all four series of Flying Circus. Her most significant role was the "best girl" of the eponymous Lumberjack in "The Lumberjack Song", though this role was sometimes played by Carol Cleveland. Booth appeared in a total of six sketches and also played one-off characters in Python feature films And Now for Something Completely Different and Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Douglas Adams was "discovered" by Chapman when a version of Footlights Revue (a 1974 BBC2 television show featuring some of Adams' early work) was performed live in London's West End. In Cleese's absence from the final TV series, the two formed a brief writing partnership, with Adams earning a writing credit in one episode for a sketch called "Patient Abuse". In the sketch—a satire on mind-boggling bureaucracy—a man who had been stabbed by a nurse arrives at his doctor's office bleeding profusely from the stomach, when the doctor makes him fill in numerous senseless forms before he can administer treatment. He also had two cameo appearances in this season. Firstly, in the episode "The Light Entertainment War", Adams shows up in a surgeon's mask (as Dr. Emile Koning, according to the on-screen captions), pulling on gloves, while Palin narrates a sketch that introduces one person after another, and never actually gets started. Secondly, at the beginning of "Mr. Neutron", Adams is dressed in a "pepperpot" outfit and loads a missile onto a cart being driven by Terry Jones, who is calling out for scrap metal ("Any old iron ..."). Adams and Chapman also subsequently attempted a few non-Python projects, including Out of the Trees. He also contributed to a sketch on the soundtrack album for Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Other than Carol Cleveland, the only other non-Python to make a significant number of appearances in the Flying Circus was Ian Davidson. He appeared in the first two series of the show, and played over 10 roles. While Davidson is primarily known as a scriptwriter, it is not known if he had any contribution toward the writing of the sketches, as he is only credited as a performer. In total, Davidson is credited as appearing in eight episodes of the show, which is more than any other male actor who was not a Python. Despite this, Davidson did not appear in any Python-related media subsequent to series 2, though footage of him was shown on the documentary Python Night – 30 Years of Monty Python.
Stand-up comedian Eddie Izzard, a devoted fan of the group, has occasionally stood in for absent members. When the BBC held a "Python Night" in 1999 to celebrate 30 years of the first broadcast of Flying Circus, the Pythons recorded some new material with Izzard standing in for Idle, who had declined to partake in person (she taped a solo contribution from the US). Izzard hosted The Life of Python (1999), a history of the group that was part of Python Night and appeared with them at a festival/tribute in Aspen, Colorado, in 1998 (released on DVD as Live at Aspen). Izzard has said that Monty Python was a significant influence on her style of comedy and Cleese has referred to her as "the lost Python".
Series director of Flying Circus, Ian MacNaughton, is also regularly associated with the group and made a few on-screen appearances in the show and in the film And Now for Something Completely Different. Apart from Neil Innes, others to contribute musically included Fred Tomlinson and the Fred Tomlinson Singers. They made appearances in songs such as "The Lumberjack Song" as a backup choir. Other contributors and performers for the Pythons included John Howard Davies, John Hughman, Lyn Ashley, Bob Raymond, John Young, Rita Davies, Stanley Mason, Maureen Flanagan, and David Ballantyne.
Cultural influence and legacy
By the time of Monty Python's 25th anniversary, in 1994, the point was already being made that "the five surviving members had with the passing years begun to occupy an institutional position in the edifice of British social culture that they had once had so much fun trying to demolish". A similar point is made in a 2006 book on the relationship between Python and philosophy: "It is remarkable, after all, not only that the utterly bizarre Monty Python's Flying Circus was sponsored by the BBC in the first place, but that Monty Python itself grew into an institution of enormous cultural influence."
A self-contained comedy unit responsible for both writing and performing their work, Monty Python's influence on comedy has been compared to the Beatles' influence on music. Author Neil Gaiman writes, "A strange combination of individuals gave us Python. And you needed those people, just in the same way that with the Beatles you had four talented people, but together you had the Beatles. And I think that's so incredibly true when it comes to Python."
Comedy stylists
Monty Python have been named as being influential to the comedy stylings of a great many people including: Sacha Baron Cohen, David Cross, Rowan Atkinson, Seth MacFarlane, Seth Meyers, Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Vic and Bob, Mike Myers, and "Weird Al" Yankovic. Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons, was influenced by Python's "high velocity sense of the absurd and not stopping to explain yourself", and pays tribute through a couch gag used in seasons five and six. Appearing on Monty Python's Best Bits (Mostly), Jim Carrey—who refers to Monty Python as the "Super Justice League of comedy"—recalled the effect on him of Ernest Scribbler (played by Palin) laughing himself to death in "The Funniest Joke in the World" sketch. Monty Python's Flying Circus served as an inspiration for voice actor Rob Paulsen in voicing Pinky from the animated television series Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain, giving the character "a goofy whack job" of a British accent.
Comedian John Oliver states, "Writing about the importance of Monty Python is basically pointless. Citing them as an influence is almost redundant. It's assumed. This strange group of wildly talented, appropriately disrespectful, hugely imaginative and massively inspirational idiots changed what comedy could be for their generation and for those that followed." On how Python's freeform style influenced sketch comedy, Tina Fey of the US television show Saturday Night Live states, "Sketch endings are overrated. Their key was to do something as long as it was funny and then just stop and do something else."
Places
In space
Seven asteroids are named after Monty Python or its members: 9617 Grahamchapman, 9618 Johncleese, 9619 Terrygilliam, 9620 Ericidle, 9621 Michaelpalin, 9622 Terryjones, and 13681 Monty Python.
In 2010, the commercial space company SpaceX launched a wheel of cheese into low earth orbit and returned it safely to Earth on COTS Demo Flight 1. Elon Musk, CEO and CTO of SpaceX, said this was done as a tribute to Monty Python.
Terrestrial
After John Cleese spoke negatively about the town of Palmerston North in New Zealand, recommending it as a good place to commit suicide, the town renamed a compost heap "Mt. Cleese".
"Pythonesque"
Among the more visible cultural influences of Monty Python is the inclusion of terms either directly from, or derived from, Monty Python, into the lexicon of the English language.
The most obvious of these is the term "Pythonesque", which has become a byword in surreal humour, and is included in standard dictionaries. Terry Jones commented on his disappointment at the existence of such a term, claiming the initial aim of Monty Python was to create something new and impossible to categorise, and "the fact that Pythonesque is now a word in the Oxford English Dictionary shows the extent to which we failed".
The term has been applied to animations similar to those constructed by Gilliam (e.g., the cut-out style of South Park, whose creators have often acknowledged a debt to Python, including contributing material to the aforementioned 30th-anniversary theme night).
Good Eats creator Alton Brown cited Python as one of the influences that shaped how he created the series, as well as how he authors the script for each episode. Later episodes included Gilliam-style animations to illustrate key points.
Film critic Robbie Collin writes, "You can find the Pythonesque everywhere in cinema. Most successful Hollywood comedies bear some kind of Python-print. The Austin Powers series chugs along on Pythonisms. Then there are Christopher Guest's mockumentaries, such as Waiting for Guffman and Best in Show, which revel in the quiet absurdity of the everyday—well-staked-out Python territory. And there's a tensile weirdness in the films of Will Ferrell that's also deeply Pythonesque."
TV
The Japanese anime series, Girls und Panzer, featured the special episode, "Survival War!", which referenced the 'Spam' sketch, but the word "spam" was censored to avoid legal issue with the Pythons.
Things named after Monty Python
Beyond a dictionary definition, Python terms have entered the lexicon in other ways.
The term "spam" in reference to bulk, unsolicited email is derived from the show's 1970 "Spam" sketch. As the waitress recites the Spam-filled menu, a chorus of Viking patrons drown out all conversations with a song, repeating "Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam… Spammity Spam! Wonderful Spam!".
The Python programming language by Guido van Rossum is named after the troupe, and Monty Python references are often found in sample code created for that language. The default integrated development environment of the programming language is named IDLE, an alternative one is named eric, both in honour of Eric Idle. Additionally, a 2001 April Fool's Day joke by van Rossum and Larry Wall involving the merger of Python with Perl was dubbed "Parrot" after the Dead Parrot sketch. The name "Parrot" was later used for a project to develop a virtual machine for running bytecode for interpreted languages such as Perl and Python. Its package index is also known as the "Cheese Shop" after the sketch of the same name. There is also a python refactoring tool called bicyclerepair named after Bicycle Repair Man sketch.
In 1985, a fossil of a previously unknown species of gigantic prehistoric snake from the Miocene was discovered in Riversleigh, Queensland, Australia. The Australian palaeontologist who discovered the fossil snake was a Monty Python fan, and he gave the snake the taxonomic name of Montypythonoides riversleighensis in honour of the Monty Python team.
In 2006, Ben & Jerry's, known for their "celebrity flavours", introduced to the line-up "Vermonty Python", a coffee liqueur ice cream with a chocolate cookie crumb swirl and fudge cows. The name "Minty Python" had been suggested before in 1996 in a contest to select the quintessential British ice cream flavour.
In 1999, in connection with the group's 30th anniversary, a beer named "Holy Grail Ale" was released by the Black Sheep Brewery in North Yorkshire.
The endangered Bemaraha woolly lemur (Avahi cleesei) is named after John Cleese.
Geneticists discovered a mutant gene which caused mutant flies to live twice as long as normal ones. They dubbed the gene "Indy," which is an acronym for the line of dialogue: "I'm not dead yet!", from the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
The band Toad the Wet Sprocket took its name from the Rock Notes sketch on the comedy album, Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album.
World records
On St George's Day, 23 April 2007, the cast and creators of Spamalot gathered in Trafalgar Square under the tutelage of the two Terrys (Jones and Gilliam) to set a new record for the world's largest coconut orchestra. They led 5,567 people "clip-clopping" in time to the Python classic, "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life", for the Guinness World Records attempt.
On 5 October 2019, to mark the 50th anniversary of Monty Python's first show, the "first official Monty Python Guinness world record attempt" tried to break the record for "the largest gathering of people dressed as Gumbys." A recurring character on the show, a Gumby wears a handkerchief on their head, has spectacles, braces, a knitted tank top, and wellington boots. The shirt sleeves and trouser legs are always rolled up, exposing their socks and knees. Dimwitted, their most famous catchphrases are "My brain hurts!" and repeated shouts of "Hello!" and "Sorry!".
Timeline
Media
Television
Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969–74) The show that started the Python phenomenon, see also List of Monty Python's Flying Circus episodes.
Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus (1972) Two 45-minute specials were made by WDR for West German television. The first was recorded in German, while the second was in English with German dubbing.
Monty Python's Personal Best (2006) Six one-hour specials, each episode presenting the best of one member's work.
Films
Five Monty Python productions were released as theatrical films:
And Now for Something Completely Different (1971) A collection of sketches from the first and second TV series of Monty Python's Flying Circus re-enacted and shot for film.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) King Arthur and his knights embark on a low-budget search for the Holy Grail, encountering humorous obstacles along the way. Some of these turned into stand-alone sketches.
Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) Brian is born on the first Christmas, in the stable next to Jesus'. He spends his life being mistaken for a messiah.
Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1982) A videotape recording directed by Terry Hughes of a live performance of sketches, it was originally intended for a TV/video special. It was transferred to 35 mm and given a limited theatrical release in the US.
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983) An examination of the meaning of life in a series of sketches from conception to death and beyond.
Albums
Monty Python's Flying Circus (1970)
Another Monty Python Record (1971)
Monty Python's Previous Record (1972)
The Monty Python Matching Tie and Handkerchief (1973)
Monty Python Live at Drury Lane (1974)
The Album of the Soundtrack of the Trailer of the Film of Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
Monty Python Live at City Center (1976)
The Monty Python Instant Record Collection (1977)
Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)
Monty Python Examines The Life of Brian (promo) (1979)
Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album (1980)
The Monty Python Instant Record Collection (US version) (1981)
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983)
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life: Audio Press Kit (promo) (1983)
The Final Rip Off (1987)
Monty Python Sings (1989)
The Ultimate Monty Python Rip Off (1994)
Monty Python Sings Again (2014)
The Hastily Cobbled Together for a Fast Buck Album (unreleased)
Theatre
Monty Python's Flying Circus Between 1974 and 1980 (Live at the Hollywood Bowl was released in 1982, but was performed in 1980), the Pythons made three sketch-based stage shows, comprising mainly material from the original television series.
Monty Python's Spamalot Written by Idle and directed by Mike Nichols, with music and lyrics by John Du Prez and Idle, it starred Hank Azaria, Tim Curry, and David Hyde Pierce; Spamalot is a musical adaptation of the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It ran in Chicago from 21 December 2004 to 23 January 2005, and began performances on Broadway on 17 March 2005. It won three Tony Awards. It was one of eight UK musicals commemorated on Royal Mail stamps, issued in February 2011.
Not the Messiah the Toronto Symphony Orchestra commissioned Idle and John Du Prez to write the music and lyrics of an oratorio based on Monty Python's Life of Brian. Entitled Not the Messiah, it had its world premiere as part of Luminato, a "festival of arts and creativity" taking place 1–10 June 2007 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Not the Messiah was conducted by Peter Oundjian, music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, who is Idle's cousin. It was performed by a narrator, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, with guest soloists and choir. According to Idle, "I promise it will be funnier than Handel, though probably not as good".
Monty Python Live One Down, Five to Go : (1–5, 15–16, 18–20 July 2014). The Pythons have stated this is the last live reunion of the remaining members of Monty Python. Held at London's O2 Arena, tickets for the first night's show sold out in 43 seconds. The set list included a mix of live performances of their most popular sketches, clips from their shows, and elaborate dance numbers. Each night featured a different celebrity "victim" of the "Blackmail" sketch. The final show was screened to 2,000 cinemas around the world.
Books
Monty Python's Big Red Book (1971) .
The Brand New Monty Python Bok (1973) .
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1977) .
Monty Python's The Life of Brian/MONTYPYTHONSCRAPBOOK (1979, plus script-only reprint) .
The Complete Works of Shakespeare and Monty Python. Volume One – Monty Python (1981) .
Monty Python: The Case Against (by Robert Hewison) (1981)
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983) .
The Monty Python Gift Boks (1986)
Monty Python's Flying Circus – Just The Words Volume 1 (1989) .
Monty Python's Flying Circus – Just The Words Volume 2 (1989) .
The Fairly Incomplete & Rather Badly Illustrated Monty Python Song Book (1994)
Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus (edited by Alfred Biolek) (1998)
Monty Python Speaks! (edited by David Morgan) (1999)
A Pocketful of Python Volume 1 (edited by Terry Jones) (1999)
A Pocketful of Python Volume 2 (edited by John Cleese) (1999)
A Pocketful of Python Volume 3 (edited by Terry Gilliam) (2000)
A Pocketful of Python Volume 4 (edited by Michael Palin) (2000)
A Pocketful of Python Volume 5 (edited by Eric Idle) (2002)
The Pythons Autobiography by The Pythons (edited by Bob McCabe) (2003, plus various reformatted editions)
Monty Python Live! (2009)
Monty Python at Work (by Michael Palin, compilation of republished diary entries) (2014)
So, Anyway ... (by John Cleese, Autobiography to age 30) (2014)
Always Look on the Bright Side of Life (by Eric Idle, Autobiography) (2018) .
Games
Monty Python's Flying Circus (1990) a computer game released by Virgin Games for 8-bit systems such as the Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, and for the 32-bit Amiga
Monty Python's Complete Waste of Time (1994) released by 7th Level for PC / Mac / DOS
Monty Python & the Quest for the Holy Grail (1996), official game released by 7th Level
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1997), also released by 7th Level.
Python-opoly (2007), a Monty Python-themed property game released by Toy Vault Inc.
Monty Python Fluxx (2008), a card game released by Looney Labs
Monty Python's Cow Tossing (2011), a smartphone game.
The Ministry of Silly Walks (2014), a smartphone game
See also
List of recurring characters in Monty Python's Flying Circus
Python (Monty) Pictures
The Firesign Theatre
References
Further reading
The Secret Policeman's Balls, 3-DVD set (2009)
Monty Python: 40 Years of Insanity
The Life of Python – 20 Greatest Monty Python Sketches (40th Anniversary)
External links
Monty Python – Official YouTube page
40 Years of Monty Python – photo essay by TIME magazine
2014 interview on return to live shows
Monty Python on youtube
British comedy troupes
British television comedy
British surrealist artists
British surrealist writers
Surreal comedy
Surrealist groups
Virgin Records artists
Arista Records artists
BAFTA Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award
European Film Awards winners (people)
Charisma Records artists
1969 establishments in England
1983 disestablishments in England
British comedy musicians
British novelty song performers
Black comedy
Religious comedy and humour | false | [
"Air Vice-Marshal Michael John O'Brian, (Urdu: مايكل او براءين; born: 5 January 1928 – 10 March 2002), was an air officer in the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) who served as the Commandant of National Defence University, Islamabad. O'Brian was the first Pakistan Air Force officer to serve as the Commandant of the university. He also served as the Deputy Chief of Air Staff, and was one of the distinguished Christian pilots who participated in Indo-Pakistan wars of 1947, 1965, and the 1971.\n\nEarly life\nBorn into an Indian Christian family in Lahore, O'Brian enlisted in the Indian Air Force in 1946. O'Brian studied in Forman Christian College He opted for Pakistani citizenship in 1947, and actively participated in Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. After the war, O'Brian pursued his BSc in mathematics in Forman Christian College in 1948. O'Brian is a graduate of Pakistan Air Force Academy's College of Flying Training where he gained a BS in Aviation Sciences, also receiving a Certified Diploma in Flying from the Flying Instructors School. O'Brian holds a MSc in Military Science and an honorary PhD in War studies from National Defence University, Islamabad.\n\nMilitary career\n\nO'Brian was one of the distinguished and pioneering PAF fighter pilots who participated in the Indo-Pakistani wars of 1947, 1965, and 1971. A fighter pilot, O'Brian played an important role in setting up the training institutes within the Pakistan Air Force. He was promoted to Air Vice Marshal in 1969, and led military missions in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. After the war O'Brian achieved the penultimate position in PAF and served as the Deputy Chief of Air Staff. Air Vice Marshal O'Brian also achieved a rare distinction as having been the only PAF Officer to serve as the Commandant of National Defence College. \n\nIn 1974, O'Brian was given command of Sargodha Air Force base. O'Brian played an important and significant role in the up-grading of the facility. He also supervised the nuclear test sites near Kirana Hills, and personally oversaw the construction of the test site. O'Brian was a senior member of the military unit Special Development Works (SDW) headed by Brigadier Mohammed Sarfaraz. As a military intellectual, he played an important role in the nuclear policy of Pakistan. In March 1983, the first experiment of a cold-test of a nuclear device was headed by Ishfaq Ahmad and Munir Ahmad Khan. All they needed next was some fissile material and they would have had an atomic bomb, as pointed out by Houston Wood, Professor of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, USA in his article on gas centrifuges. O'Brian was one of the senior military officials who eye-witnessed the first cold test of a nuclear device. For his services, he was conferred with civil awards, and O'Brian took honorary retirement from the Pakistan Air Force in 1984, and joined the National Defence University, Islamabad, as a professor of War and Strategic studies. \n\nO'Brian retired in 1994 and lived a quiet life in Islamabad, Pakistan, where he died in 2002.\n\nSee also\nRahul Dev\n\nReferences\n\n1928 births\n1998 deaths\nPakistan Air Force personnel\nPakistan Air Force officers\nPakistan Air Force air marshals\nPakistani aviators\nRecipients of Sitara-e-Jurat\nPakistani Christians\nMilitary personnel from Lahore\nProject-706\nChiefs of Air Staff, Pakistan\nForman Christian College alumni\nNational Defence University, Pakistan faculty",
"Brian Fairfax (1633–1711) was an English politician.\n\nEarly life\nBrian Fairfax, the second son of the Rev. Henry Fairfax, was born at the rectory at Newton Kyme, Yorkshire, on 6 October 1633. He gives some account of his early life in a manuscript narrative written for his sons. He was educated for four years at a school at Coxwold in Yorkshire, after which he was sent to Trinity College, Cambridge, graduating B.A. in 1651 and M.A. in 1655.\n\nPolitical career\nIn 1658 he went to France with the Earl of Kildare, and on his return was present at the marriage of his second cousin Mary Fairfax to the Duke of Buckingham at Nun Appleton, Yorkshire. When Buckingham was sent to the Tower of London by the Protector, Brian accompanied his cousin Lord Fairfax to Whitehall when he went to demand his son-in-law's release. Brian was constantly with Lord Fairfax during the latter years of his life, and was present at his death. At the end of 1659 Lord Fairfax sent Brian Fairfax on a delicate and dangerous mission to General Monck, who was then in Scotland. In a tract named Iter Boreale, published in the \"Fairfax Correspondence\", Fairfax describes his journey and his interview with the general. On his return he found Lord Fairfax, 1 January 1660, calling to his standard the gentlemen of Yorkshire, and took an active part in their organisation. On 6 January he was despatched upon a mission from Lord Fairfax to Lenthall, the speaker of the House of Commons, in London, with an explanation of the intention of the movements in the north. Before his return Monck had reached Yorkshire, and Fairfax was present at the interview between Monck and Lord Fairfax at Nun Appleton.\n\nShortly afterwards, when the parliament sent a commission with Lord Fairfax at its head to the Hague to invite the return of Charles II, Brian Fairfaxaccompanied his cousin in the capacity of private secretary. He was afterwards associated with the Duke of Buckingham in two diplomatic visits to the continent, and also acted as Buckingham's agent until prudence led him to resign. He was appointed equerry to Charles II on 21 January 1670, and held the office until the king's death, when he resigned. He took no part in politics under James II. In 1688 he went over to Holland with his young son Brian to pay his respects to the Princess Mary, who was godchild to his cousin the Duchess of Buckingham. He was received very cordially, and when William III came to the throne Brian was made one of his equerries. At the age of fifty-six he found the duties onerous, and after three years he accepted the post of secretary to a fellow-Yorkshireman, Archbishop Tillotson.\n\nLater life\nOn the death of the archbishop in 1694 Fairfax retired into private life at York, where he devoted himself to literary work, and to acting as the friend and mentor of the younger generations of his family. He carried on a correspondence with most of the literary men of his day. Some communications of his are among the correspondence of Bishop Richard Atterbury. He wrote a life of the Duke of Buckingham, translated the life of the Huguenot Philip Mornay, seigneur du Plessis, and several poems from his pen are extant, the principal of which is The Vocal Oak, a Lament upon Cutting down the Woods at Nun Appleton. He also edited and published The [Autobiographical] Short Memorials of his cousin, Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron, in 1699.\n\nFamily\nBrian Fairfax died on 20 September 1711. He had married, on 22 April 1675, in Westminster Abbey, Charlotte, daughter of Sir Edmund Cary. She died 14 November 1709. Three sons, Brian, Ferdinando, and Charles, were educated at Westminster School. Brian Fairfax, the younger, born 11 April 1676, entered as a queen's scholar in 1690; was elected to Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1693; proceeded B.A. 1697, and M.A. 1700; became fellow of Trinity in 1698; and was commissioner of customs from 1723 till his death, 9 January 1749. He collected a valuable library and a gallery of pictures at his house in Panton Square. A catalogue of the library preparatory to a sale by auction was printed in April 1756. But, by a subsequent arrangement, the whole was sold to Mr. Child of Osterley Park, Middlesex. It remained at Osterley till May 1885, when it was sold by Sotheby for the Earl of Jersey. A catalogue of Brian Fairfax's pictures and curiosities was issued in 1759. They were then in the possession of Robert Fairfax, who resided at Leeds Castle, Kent, and became seventh Lord Fairfax on the death of his brother Thomas in 1782. Ferdinando was elected from Westminster to Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1694, and proceeded B.A. in 1697. Charles, elected to Christ Church, Oxford, in 1702, was dean of Down and Connor from 1722 till his death on 27 July 1723. He is described as \"a good scholar in the old Irish character\".\n\nReferences\n\nAttribution\n\n1633 births\n1711 deaths\nPeople from Selby District\nAlumni of Trinity College, Cambridge\nPoliticians from Yorkshire\n17th-century English writers\n17th-century English male writers\n18th-century English writers\n18th-century English male writers"
]
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[
"Monty Python",
"Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)",
"Who was in Life of Brian?",
"Chapman was cast in the lead role of Brian."
]
| C_29c65da14d78435e8e89a0869d5380cb_0 | What other actors were in it? | 2 | In addition to Chaapman, what other actors were in Monty Python's Life of Brian? | Monty Python | Following the success of Holy Grail, reporters asked for the title of the next Python film, despite the fact that the team had not even begun to consider a third one. Eventually, Idle flippantly replied "Jesus Christ - Lust for Glory", which became the group's stock answer once they realised that it shut reporters up. However, they soon began to seriously consider a film lampooning the New Testament era in the same way Holy Grail had lampooned Arthurian legend. Despite them all sharing a distrust of organised religion, they agreed not to mock Jesus or his teachings directly. They also mentioned that they could not think of anything legitimate to make fun of about him. Instead, they decided to write a satire on credulity and hypocrisy among the followers of someone who had been mistaken for the "Messiah", but who had no desire to be followed as such. Chapman was cast in the lead role of Brian. The focus therefore shifted to a separate individual born at the same time, in a neighbouring stable. When Jesus appears in the film (first, as a baby in the stable, and then later on the Mount, speaking the Beatitudes), he is played straight (by actor Kenneth Colley) and portrayed with respect. The comedy begins when members of the crowd mishear his statements of peace, love, and tolerance ("I think he said, 'Blessed are the cheesemakers'"). Directing duties were handled solely by Jones, having amicably agreed with Gilliam that Jones' approach to film-making was better suited for Python's general performing style. Holy Grail's production had often been stilted by their differences behind the camera. Gilliam again contributed two animated sequences (one being the opening credits) and took charge of set design. The film was shot on location in Tunisia, the finances being provided this time by former Beatle George Harrison, who together with Denis O'Brien formed the production company Hand-Made Films for the movie. Harrison had a cameo role as the "owner of the Mount". Despite its subject matter attracting controversy, particularly upon its initial release, it has (together with its predecessor) been ranked among the greatest comedy films. A Channel 4 poll in 2005 ranked Holy Grail in sixth place, with Life of Brian at the top. CANNOTANSWER | actor Kenneth Colley | Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British surreal comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show Monty Python's Flying Circus, which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series. The Python phenomenon developed from the television series into something larger in scope and influence, including touring stage shows, films, albums, books and musicals. The Pythons' influence on comedy has been compared to the Beatles' influence on music. Regarded as an enduring icon of 1970s pop culture, their sketch show has been referred to as being "an important moment in the evolution of television comedy".
Broadcast by the BBC between 1969 and 1974, Monty Python's Flying Circus was conceived, written and performed by its members Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin. Loosely structured as a sketch show, but with an innovative stream-of-consciousness approach aided by Gilliam's animation, it pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable in style and content. A self-contained comedy team responsible for both writing and performing their work, the Pythons had creative control which allowed them to experiment with form and content, discarding rules of television comedy. Following their television work, they began making films, including Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), Life of Brian (1979) and The Meaning of Life (1983). Their influence on British comedy has been apparent for years, while in North America, it has coloured the work of cult performers from the early editions of Saturday Night Live through to more recent absurdist trends in television comedy. "Pythonesque" has entered the English lexicon as a result.
At the 41st British Academy Film Awards in 1988, Monty Python received the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema. In 1998, they were awarded the AFI Star Award by the American Film Institute. Many sketches from their TV show and films are well-known and widely quoted. Both Holy Grail and Life of Brian are frequently ranked in lists of greatest comedy films. In a 2005 poll of over 300 comics, comedy writers, producers and directors throughout the English-speaking world to find "The Comedian's Comedian", three of the six Pythons members were voted to be among the top 50 greatest comedians ever: Cleese at No. 2, Idle at No. 21, and Palin at No. 30.
Before Flying Circus
Jones and Palin met at Oxford University, where they performed together with the Oxford Revue. Chapman and Cleese met at Cambridge University. Idle was also at Cambridge, but started a year after Chapman and Cleese. Cleese met Gilliam in New York City while on tour with the Cambridge University Footlights revue Cambridge Circus (originally entitled A Clump of Plinths). Chapman, Cleese, and Idle were members of the Footlights, which at that time also included the future Goodies (Tim Brooke-Taylor, Bill Oddie, and Graeme Garden), and Jonathan Lynn (co-writer of Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister). During Idle's presidency of the club, feminist writer Germaine Greer and broadcaster Clive James were members. Recordings of Footlights' revues (called "Smokers") at Pembroke College include sketches and performances by Cleese and Idle, which, along with tapes of Idle's performances in some of the drama society's theatrical productions, are kept in the archives of the Pembroke Players.
The six Python members appeared in or wrote these shows before Flying Circus:
I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (radio) (1964–1973): Cleese (cast member and writer), Idle and Chapman (writers)
The Frost Report (1966–1967): Cleese (cast member and writer), Idle (writer of Frost's monologues), Chapman, Palin and Jones (writers)
At Last the 1948 Show (1967): Chapman and Cleese (writers and cast members), Idle (guest star and writer)
Twice a Fortnight (1967): Palin and Jones (cast members and writers)
Do Not Adjust Your Set (1967–1969): Idle, Jones, and Palin (cast members and writers), Gilliam (animation) + Bonzo Dog Band (musical interludes)
We Have Ways of Making You Laugh (1968): Idle (cast member and writer), Gilliam (animation)
How to Irritate People (1968): Cleese and Chapman (cast members and writers), Palin (cast member)
The Complete and Utter History of Britain (1969): Palin and Jones (cast members and writers)
Doctor in the House (1969), Cleese and Chapman (writers)
The BBC's satirical television show The Frost Report, broadcast from March 1966 to December 1967, is credited as first uniting the British Pythons and providing an environment in which they could develop their particular styles.
Following the success of Do Not Adjust Your Set, broadcast on ITV from December 1967 to May 1969, Thames Television offered Gilliam, Idle, Jones, and Palin their own late-night adult comedy series together. At the same time, Chapman and Cleese were offered a show by the BBC, which had been impressed by their work on The Frost Report and At Last the 1948 Show. Cleese was reluctant to do a two-man show for various reasons, including Chapman's supposedly difficult and erratic personality. Cleese had fond memories of working with Palin on How to Irritate People and invited him to join the team. With no studio available at Thames until summer 1970 for the late-night show, Palin agreed to join Cleese and Chapman, and suggested the involvement of his writing partner Jones and colleague Idle—who in turn wanted Gilliam to provide animations for the projected series. Much has been made of the fact that the Monty Python troupe is the result of Cleese's desire to work with Palin and the chance circumstances that brought the other four members into the fold.
By contrast, according to John Cleese's autobiography, the origins of Monty Python lay in the admiration that writing partners Cleese and Chapman had for the new type of comedy being done on Do Not Adjust Your Set; as a result, a meeting was initiated by Cleese between Chapman, Idle, Jones, Palin, and himself at which it was agreed to pool their writing and performing efforts and jointly seek production sponsorship. According to their official website, the group was born from a Kashmir tandoori restaurant in Hampstead on 11 May 1969, following a taping of Do Not Adjust Your Set which Cleese and Chapman attended. It was the first time all six got together, reportedly going back to Cleese's apartment on nearby Basil Street afterwards to continue discussions.
Monty Python's Flying Circus
Development of the series
The Pythons had a definite idea about what they wanted to do with the series. They were admirers of the work of Peter Cook, Alan Bennett, Jonathan Miller, and Dudley Moore on Beyond the Fringe—seminal to the British "satire boom"—and had worked on Frost, which was similar in style. They enjoyed Cook and Moore's sketch show Not Only... But Also. One problem the Pythons perceived with these programmes was that though the body of the sketch would be strong, the writers would often struggle to then find a punchline funny enough to end on, and this would detract from the overall sketch quality. They decided that they would simply not bother to "cap" their sketches in the traditional manner, and early episodes of the Flying Circus series make great play of this abandonment of the punchline (one scene has Cleese turn to Idle, as the sketch descends into chaos, and remark that "This is the silliest sketch I've ever been in"—they all resolve not to carry on and simply walk off the set). However, as they began assembling material for the show, the Pythons watched one of their collective heroes, Spike Milligan, whom they had admired on The Goon Show (a show the Pythons regard as their biggest influence, which also featured Peter Sellers, whom Cleese called "the greatest voice man of all time") recording his groundbreaking BBC series Q... (1969). Not only was Q... more irreverent and anarchic than any previous television comedy, but Milligan also would often "give up" on sketches halfway through and wander off set (often muttering "Did I write this?"). It was clear that their new series would now seem less original, and Jones in particular became determined the Pythons should innovate. Michael Palin recalls "Terry Jones and I adored the Q... shows...[Milligan] was the first writer to play with the conventions of television."
After much debate, Jones remembered an animation Gilliam had created for Do Not Adjust Your Set called "Beware of the Elephants", which had intrigued him with its stream-of-consciousness style. Jones felt it would be a good concept to apply to the series: allowing sketches to blend into one another. Palin had been equally fascinated by another of Gilliam's efforts, entitled "Christmas Cards", and agreed that it represented "a way of doing things differently". Since Cleese, Chapman, and Idle were less concerned with the overall flow of the programme, Jones, Palin, and Gilliam became largely responsible for the presentation style of the Flying Circus series, in which disparate sketches are linked to give each episode the appearance of a single stream-of-consciousness (often using a Gilliam animation to move from the closing image of one sketch to the opening scene of another). The BBC states, "Gilliam's unique animation style became crucial, segueing seamlessly between any two completely unrelated ideas and making the stream-of-consciousness work."
Writing started at 9 am and finished at 5 pm. Typically, Cleese and Chapman worked as one pair isolated from the others, as did Jones and Palin, while Idle wrote alone. After a few days, they would join with Gilliam, critique their scripts, and exchange ideas. Their approach to writing was democratic. If the majority found an idea humorous, it was included in the show. The casting of roles for the sketches was a similarly unselfish process, since each member viewed himself primarily as a "writer", rather than an actor eager for screen time. When the themes for sketches were chosen, Gilliam had a free hand in bridging them with animations, using a camera, scissors, and airbrush.
While the show was a collaborative process, different factions within Python were responsible for elements of the team's humour. In general, the work of the Oxford-educated members (Jones and Palin) was more visual, and more fanciful conceptually (e.g., the arrival of the Spanish Inquisition in a suburban front room), while the Cambridge graduates' sketches tended to be more verbal and more aggressive (for example, Cleese and Chapman's many "confrontation" sketches, where one character intimidates or hurls abuse, or Idle's characters with bizarre verbal quirks, such as "The Man Who Speaks In Anagrams"). Cleese confirmed that "most of the sketches with heavy abuse were Graham's and mine, anything that started with a slow pan across countryside and impressive music was Mike and Terry's, and anything that got utterly involved with words and disappeared up any personal orifice was Eric's". Gilliam's animations ranged from the whimsical to the savage (the cartoon format allowing him to create some astonishingly violent scenes without fear of censorship).
Several names for the show were considered before Monty Python's Flying Circus was settled upon. Some were Owl Stretching Time, The Toad Elevating Moment, A Horse, a Spoon and a Bucket, Vaseline Review, and Bun, Wackett, Buzzard, Stubble and Boot. Flying Circus stuck when the BBC explained it had printed that name in its schedules and was not prepared to amend it. Many variations on the name in front of this title then came and went (popular legend holds that the BBC considered Monty Python's Flying Circus to be a ridiculous name, at which point the group threatened to change their name every week until the BBC relented). Gwen Dibley's Flying Circus was named after a woman Palin had read about in the newspaper, thinking it would be amusing if she were to discover she had her own TV show. Baron Von Took's Flying Circus was considered as an affectionate tribute to Barry Took, the man who had brought them together. Arthur Megapode's Flying Circus was suggested, then discarded. The name Baron Von Took's Flying Circus had the form of Baron Manfred von Richthofen's Flying Circus of WWI fame, and the new group was forming in a time when the Royal Guardsmen's 1966 song "Snoopy vs. the Red Baron" had peaked. The term 'flying circus' was also another name for the popular entertainment of the 1920s known as barnstorming, where multiple performers collaborated with their stunts to perform a combined set of acts.
Differing, somewhat confusing accounts are given of the origins of the Python name, although the members agree that its only "significance" was that they thought it sounded funny. In the 1998 documentary Live at Aspen during the US Comedy Arts Festival, where the troupe was awarded the AFI Star Award by the American Film Institute, the group implied that "Monty" was selected (Eric Idle's idea) as a gently mocking tribute to Field Marshal Lord Montgomery, a British general of World War II; requiring a "slippery-sounding" surname, they settled on "Python". On other occasions, Idle has claimed that the name "Monty" was that of a popular and rotund fellow who drank in his local pub; people would often walk in and ask the barman, "Has Monty been in yet?", forcing the name to become stuck in his mind. The name Monty Python was later described by the BBC as being "envisaged by the team as the perfect name for a sleazy entertainment agent".
Style of the show
Flying Circus popularised innovative formal techniques, such as the cold open, in which an episode began without the traditional opening titles or announcements. An example of this is the "It's" man: Palin, outfitted in Robinson Crusoe garb, making a tortuous journey across various terrains, before finally approaching the camera to state, "It's ...", only to be then cut off by the title sequence and theme music. On several occasions, the cold open lasted until mid-show, after which the regular opening titles ran. Occasionally, the Pythons tricked viewers by rolling the closing credits halfway through the show, usually continuing the joke by fading to the familiar globe logo used for BBC continuity, over which Cleese would parody the clipped tones of a BBC announcer. On one occasion, the credits ran directly after the opening titles. On the subversive nature of the show (and their subsequent films), Cleese states "anti-authoritarianism was deeply ingrained in Python".
Because of their dislike of finishing with punchlines, they experimented with ending the sketches by cutting abruptly to another scene or animation, walking offstage, addressing the camera (breaking the fourth wall), or introducing a totally unrelated event or character. A classic example of this approach was the use of Chapman's "anti-silliness" character of "the Colonel", who walked into several sketches and ordered them to be stopped because things were becoming "far too silly".
Another favourite way of ending sketches was to drop a cartoonish "16-ton weight" prop on one of the characters when the sketch seemed to be losing momentum, or a knight in full armour (played by Terry Gilliam) would wander on-set and hit characters over the head with a rubber chicken, before cutting to the next scene. Yet another way of changing scenes was when John Cleese, usually outfitted in a dinner suit, would come in as a radio commentator and, in a rather pompous manner, make the formal and determined announcement "And now for something completely different.", which later became the title of the first Monty Python film.
The Python theme music is the Band of the Grenadier Guards' rendition of John Philip Sousa's "The Liberty Bell" which was first published in 1893. Under the Berne Convention's "country of origin" concept, the composition was subject to United States copyright law which states that any work first published prior to 1924 was in the public domain, owing to copyright expiration. This enabled Gilliam to co-opt the march for the series without having to make any royalty payments.
The use of Gilliam's surreal, collage stop motion animations was another innovative intertextual element of the Python style. Many of the images Gilliam used were lifted from famous works of art, and from Victorian illustrations and engravings. The giant foot which crushes the show's title at the end of the opening credits is in fact the foot of Cupid, cut from a reproduction of the Renaissance masterpiece Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time by Bronzino. This foot, and Gilliam's style in general, are visual trademarks of the programme.
The Pythons used the British tradition of cross-dressing comedy by donning frocks and makeup and playing female roles themselves while speaking in falsetto. Jones specialised in playing the working-class housewife, or "ratbag old women" as termed by the BBC. Palin and Idle generally played the role more posh, with Idle playing more feminine women. Cleese played female roles more sparsely, while Chapman was frequently paired with Jones as a ratbag woman or with Idle portraying middle-class women commenting upon TV. Generally speaking, female roles were played by women only when the scene specifically required that the character be sexually attractive (although sometimes they used Idle for this). The troupe later turned to Carol Cleveland, who co-starred in numerous episodes after 1970. In some episodes, and later in the stoning scene in Monty Python's Life of Brian, they took the idea one step further by playing women who impersonated men.
Many sketches are well-known and widely quoted. "Dead Parrot sketch", "The Lumberjack Song", "Spam" (which led to the coining of the term email spam), "Nudge Nudge", "The Spanish Inquisition", "Upper Class Twit of the Year", "Cheese Shop", "The Ministry of Silly Walks", "Argument Clinic", "The Funniest Joke in the World" (a sketch referenced in Google Translate), and Four Yorkshiremen sketch" are just a few examples. Most of the show’s sketches satirise areas of public life, such as: Dead Parrot (poor customer service), Silly Walks (bureaucratic inefficiency), Spam (ubiquity of Spam post World War II), and Four Yorkshiremen (nostalgic conversations). Featuring regularly in skits, Gumbys (characters of limited intelligence and vocabulary) were part of the Pythons' satirical view of television of the 1970s which condescendingly encouraged more involvement from the "man on the street".
Introduction to North America and the world
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) added Monty Python's Flying Circus to its national September 1970 fall line-up. They aired the 13 episodes of series 1, which had first run on the BBC the previous autumn (October 1969 to January 1970), as well as the first six episodes of series 2 only a few weeks after they first appeared on the BBC (September to November 1970). The CBC dropped the show when it returned to regular programming after the Christmas 1970 break, choosing to not place the remaining seven episodes of series 2 on the January 1971 CBC schedule. Within a week, the CBC received hundreds of calls complaining of the cancellation, and more than 100 people staged a demonstration at the CBC's Montreal studios. The show eventually returned, becoming a fixture on the network during the first half of the 1970s.
Sketches from Monty Python's Flying Circus were introduced to American audiences in August 1972, with the release of the Python film And Now for Something Completely Different, featuring sketches from series 1 and 2 of the television show. This 1972 release met with limited box office success.
The ability to show Monty Python's Flying Circus under the American NTSC standard had been made possible by the commercial actions of American television producer Greg Garrison. Garrison produced the NBC series The Dean Martin Comedy World, which ran during the summer of 1974. The concept was to show clips from comedy shows produced in other countries, including tape of the Python sketches "Bicycle Repairman" and "The Dull Life of a Stockbroker". Payment for use of these two sketches was enough to allow Time-Life Films to convert the entire Python library to NTSC standard, allowing for the sale to the PBS network stations which then brought the entire show to US audiences.
Through the efforts of Python's American manager Nancy Lewis, during the summer of 1974, Ron Devillier, the programming director for nonprofit PBS television station KERA in Dallas, Texas, started airing episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus. Ratings shot through the roof, providing an encouraging sign to the other 100 PBS stations that had signed up to begin airing the show in October 1974—exactly five years after their BBC debut. There was also cross-promotion from FM radio stations across the US, whose airing of tracks from the Python LPs had already introduced American audiences to this bizarre brand of comedy. The popularity on PBS resulted in the 1974 re-release of the 1972 ...Completely Different film, with much greater box office success. The success of the show was captured by a March 1975 article headline in The New York Times, "Monty Python's Flying Circus Is Barnstorming Here". Asked what challenges were left, now that they had made TV shows, films, written books, and produced records, Chapman responded, "Well, actually world supremacy would be very nice", before Idle cautioned, "Yes, but that sort of thing has got to be done properly".
In 1975 ABC broadcast two 90-minute Monty Python specials, each with three shows, but cut out a total of 24 minutes from each, in part to make time for commercials, and in part to avoid upsetting their audience. As the judge observed in Gilliam v. American Broadcasting Companies, Inc., where Monty Python sued for damages caused by broadcast of the mutilated version, "According to the network, appellants should have anticipated that most of the excised material contained scatological references inappropriate for American television and that these scenes would be replaced with commercials, which presumably are more palatable to the American public." Monty Python won the case.
With the popularity of Python throughout the rest of the 1970s and through most of the 1980s, PBS stations looked at other British comedies, leading to UK shows such as Are You Being Served? gaining a US audience, and leading, over time, to many PBS stations having a "British Comedy Night" which airs many popular UK comedies.
In 1976, Monty Python became the top rated show in Japan. The literal translation of the Japanese title was The Gay Dragon Boys Show. The popularity of the show in the Netherlands saw the town of Spijkenisse near Rotterdam open a 'silly walks' road crossing in 2018. Believed to be a world first, the official sign asks pedestrians to cross the road in a comical manner.
Departure of Cleese
Having considered the possibility at the end of the second season, Cleese left the Flying Circus at the end of the third. He later explained that he felt he no longer had anything fresh to offer the show, and claimed that only two Cleese- and Chapman-penned sketches in the third series ("Dennis Moore" and the "Cheese Shop") were truly original, and that the others were bits and pieces from previous work cobbled together in slightly different contexts. He was also finding Chapman, who was at that point in the full throes of alcoholism, difficult to work with. According to an interview with Idle, "It was on an Air Canada flight on the way to Toronto, when John (Cleese) turned to all of us and said 'I want out.' Why? I don't know. He gets bored more easily than the rest of us. He's a difficult man, not easy to be friendly with. He's so funny because he never wanted to be liked. That gives him a certain fascinating, arrogant freedom." Jones noted his reticence in 2012, "He was good at it, when he did it he was professional, but he’d rather not have done it. The others all loved it, but he got more and more pissed off about having to come out and do filming, and the one that really swung it, in my view, was when we had to do the day on the Newhaven lifeboat."
The rest of the group carried on for one more "half" season before calling a halt to the programme in 1974. While the first three seasons contained 13 episodes each, the fourth ended after just six. The name Monty Python's Flying Circus appears in the opening animation for season four, but in the end credits, the show is listed as simply Monty Python. Although Cleese left the show, he was credited as a writer for three of the six episodes, largely concentrated in the "Michael Ellis" episode, which had begun life as one of the many drafts of the "Holy Grail" motion picture. When a new direction for "Grail" was decided upon, the subplot of Arthur and his knights wandering around a strange department store in modern times was lifted out and recycled as the aforementioned TV episode. Songwriter Neil Innes contributed to some sketches, including "Appeal on Behalf of Very Rich People".
Life beyond the Flying Circus
Filmography
And Now for Something Completely Different (1971)
The Pythons' first feature film was directed by Ian MacNaughton, reprising his role from the television series. It consisted of sketches from the first two seasons of the Flying Circus, reshot on a low budget (and often slightly edited) for cinema release. Material selected for the film includes: "Dead Parrot", "The Lumberjack Song", "Upper Class Twit of the Year", "Hell's Grannies", "Self-Defence Class", "How Not to Be Seen", and "Nudge Nudge". Financed by Playboys UK executive Victor Lownes, it was intended as a way of breaking Monty Python into America, and although it was ultimately unsuccessful in this, the film did good business in the UK, and later in the US on the "Midnight movie" circuit after their breakthrough television and film success, this being in the era before home video would make the original material much more accessible. The group did not consider the film a success.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
In 1974, between production on the third and fourth seasons, the group decided to embark on their first "proper" feature film, containing entirely new material. Monty Python and the Holy Grail was based on Arthurian legend and was directed by Jones and Gilliam. Again, the latter also contributed linking animations (and put together the opening credits). Along with the rest of the Pythons, Jones and Gilliam performed several roles in the film, but Chapman took the lead as King Arthur. Cleese returned to the group for the film, feeling that they were once again breaking new ground. Holy Grail was filmed on location, in picturesque rural areas of Scotland, with a budget of only £229,000; the money was raised in part with investments from rock groups such as Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, and Led Zeppelin, as well as UK music industry entrepreneur Tony Stratton-Smith (founder and owner of the Charisma Records label, for which the Pythons recorded their comedy albums).
The backers of the film wanted to cut the famous Black Knight scene (a Sam Peckinpah send-up in which the Black Knight loses his limbs in a duel), but it was eventually kept in the movie. "Tis but a scratch" and "It's just a flesh wound…" are often quoted. Holy Grail was selected as the second-best comedy of all time in the ABC special Best in Film: The Greatest Movies of Our Time. and viewers in a Channel 4 poll placed it sixth.
Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)
Following the success of Holy Grail, reporters asked for the title of the next Python film, though the team had not even begun to consider a third one. Eventually, Idle flippantly replied "Jesus Christ – Lust for Glory", which became the group's stock answer to such questions. However, they soon began to seriously consider a film lampooning the New Testament era in the same way Holy Grail had lampooned Arthurian legend. Despite sharing a distrust of organised religion, they agreed not to mock Jesus or his teachings directly. They also mentioned that they could not think of anything legitimate to make fun of about him. Instead, they decided to write a satire on credulity and hypocrisy among the followers of someone [Brian] who had been mistaken for the "Messiah", but who had no desire to be followed as such. Terry Jones adds it was a satire on those who for the next 2,000 years "couldn't agree on what Jesus was saying about peace and love".
The focus therefore shifted to a separate individual, Brian Cohen, born at the same time, and in a neighbouring stable. When Jesus appears in the film (first, as a baby in the stable, and then later on the Mount, speaking the Beatitudes), he is played straight (by actor Kenneth Colley) and portrayed with respect. The comedy begins when members of the crowd mishear his statements of peace, love, and tolerance ("I think he said, 'Blessed are the cheesemakers).
Directing duties were handled solely by Jones, having amicably agreed with Gilliam that Jones' approach to film-making was better suited for Python's general performing style. Holy Grail's production had often been stilted by their differences behind the camera. Gilliam again contributed two animated sequences (one being the opening credits) and took charge of set design. The film was shot on location in Tunisia, the finances being provided this time by The Beatles' George Harrison, who together with Denis O'Brien formed the production company Hand-Made Films for the movie. Harrison had a cameo role as the "owner of the Mount".
Despite its subject matter attracting controversy, particularly upon its initial release, it has (together with its predecessor) been ranked among the greatest comedy films. In 2006 it was ranked first on a Channel 4 list of the 50 Greatest Comedy Films. In 2013, Richard Burridge, a theologian decorated by Pope Francis, called Life of Brian an "extraordinary tribute to the life and work and teaching of Jesus—that they couldn't actually blaspheme or make a joke out of it. They did a great satire on closed minds and people who follow blindly. Then you have them splitting into factions...it is a wonderful satire on the way that Jesus's own teaching has been used to persecute others. They were satirising fundamentalism and persecution of others and at the same time saying the one person who rises above all this was Jesus".
Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1982)
Filmed at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles during preparations for The Meaning of Life in September 1980, this was a concert film (directed by Terry Hughes) in which the Pythons performed sketches from the television series in front of an audience. The released film also incorporated footage from the German television specials (the inclusion of which gives Ian MacNaughton his first on-screen credit for Python since the end of Flying Circus) and live performances of several songs from the troupe's then-current Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album.
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983)
The Pythons' final film returned to something structurally closer to the style of Flying Circus. A series of sketches loosely follows the ages of man from birth to death. Directed again by Jones solo, The Meaning of Life is embellished with some of the group's most bizarre and disturbing moments, as well as various elaborate musical numbers, which include "Galaxy Song" (performed by Idle) and "Every Sperm Is Sacred" (performed by Palin and Jones). The film is by far their darkest work, containing a great deal of black humour, garnished by some spectacular violence (including an operation to remove a liver from a living patient without anaesthetic and the morbidly obese Mr. Creosote exploding over several restaurant patrons after finally giving in to the smooth maître d' telling him to eat a mint – "It's only a wafer-thin mint..."). At the time of its release, the Pythons confessed their aim was to offend "absolutely everyone", adding "It is guaranteed to offend".
The Liver Donor scene (which sees someone come to a man's door to take his liver, to which he says: "No, no, I'm not dead", before being told: "Oooh, it doesn't say that on the form"), is a satire on bureaucracy, a common Python trope. Besides the opening credits and the fish sequence, Gilliam, by now an established live-action director, no longer wanted to produce any linking cartoons, offering instead to direct one sketch, "The Crimson Permanent Assurance". Under his helm, though, the segment grew so ambitious and tangential that it was cut from the movie and used as a supporting feature in its own right. (Television screenings also use it as a prologue.) This was the last project on which all six Pythons collaborated, except for the 1989 compilation Parrot Sketch Not Included, where they are all seen sitting in a closet for four seconds. This was the last time Chapman appeared on screen with the Pythons.
Secret Policeman's Ball benefit shows
Members of Python contributed their services to charitable endeavours and causes—sometimes as an ensemble, at other times as individuals. The cause that has been the most frequent and consistent beneficiary has been the human rights work of Amnesty International. Between 1976 and 1981, the troupe or its members appeared in four major fund-raisers for Amnesty—known collectively as the Secret Policeman's Ball shows—which were turned into multiple films, TV shows, videos, record albums, and books. The brainchild of John Cleese, these benefit shows in London and their many spin-offs raised considerable sums of money for Amnesty, raised public and media awareness of the human rights cause, and influenced many other members of the entertainment community (especially rock musicians) to become involved in political and social issues. Among the many musicians who have publicly attributed their activism—and the organisation of their own benefit events—to the inspiration of the work in this field of Monty Python are Bob Geldof (organiser of Live Aid), U2, Pete Townshend, and Sting. Bono told Rolling Stone in 1986, "I saw The Secret Policeman’s Ball and it became a part of me. It sowed a seed..." Sting states, "before [the Ball] I did not know about Amnesty, I did not know about its work, I did not know about torture in the world." On the impact of the Ball on Geldof, Sting states, "he took the ‘Ball’ and ran with it."
Ball co-founder Cleese and Jones had an involvement (as performer, writer or director) in all four Amnesty benefit shows, Palin in three, Chapman in two, and Gilliam in one. Idle did not participate in the Amnesty shows. Notwithstanding Idle's lack of participation, the other five members (together with "Associate Pythons" Carol Cleveland and Neil Innes) all appeared together in the first Secret Policeman's Ball benefit—the 1976 A Poke in the Eye held at Her Majesty's Theatre in London's West End—where they performed several Python sketches. In this first show, they were collectively billed as Monty Python. Peter Cook deputised for the absent Idle in a courtroom sketch. In the next three shows, the participating Python members performed many Python sketches, but were billed under their individual names rather than under the collective Python banner. The second show featured newcomer Rowan Atkinson and Scottish comedian Billy Connolly. The Secret Policeman's Ball were the first stage shows in the UK to present comedic performers (such as Monty Python and Rowan Atkinson) in the same setting and shows as their contemporaries in rock music (which included Eric Clapton, Sting and Phil Collins). After a six-year break, Amnesty resumed producing Secret Policeman's Ball benefit shows which were held at the London Palladium in 1987 (sometimes with, and sometimes without, variants of the title) and by 2006 had presented a total of twelve shows. Since 1987 the Balls featured newer generations of British comedic performers, such as Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, and puppets from the satirical TV show Spitting Image, with many attributing their participation in the show to their desire to emulate the Python's pioneering work for Amnesty. Cleese and Palin made a brief cameo appearance in the 1989 Amnesty show; apart from that, the Pythons have not appeared in shows after the first four.
Going solo
Each member has pursued various film, television, and stage projects since the break-up of the group, but often continued to work with one another. Many of these collaborations were very successful, most notably A Fish Called Wanda (1988), written by Cleese, in which he starred along with Palin. The pair also appeared in Time Bandits (1981), a film directed by Gilliam, who wrote it together with Palin. Gilliam directed Jabberwocky (1977), and also directed and co-wrote Brazil (1985), which featured Palin, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), which featured Idle; he followed these with writing and directing an additional six (as of 2021) films.
Yellowbeard (1983) was co-written by Chapman and featured Chapman, Idle, and Cleese, as well as many other English comedians including Peter Cook, Spike Milligan, and Marty Feldman.
Palin and Jones wrote the comedic TV series Ripping Yarns (1976–79), starring Palin. Jones also appeared in the pilot episode and Cleese appeared in a nonspeaking part in the episode "Golden Gordon". Jones' film Erik the Viking also has Cleese playing a small part. In 1996 Terry Jones wrote and directed an adaptation of Kenneth Grahame's novel The Wind in the Willows. It featured four members of Monty Python: Jones as Mr. Toad, Idle as Ratty, Cleese as Mr. Toad's lawyer, and Palin as the Sun. Gilliam was considered for the voice of the river. The film included Steve Coogan who played Mole.
Cleese has the most prolific solo career, appearing in dozens of films, several TV shows or series (including Cheers, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Q's assistant in the James Bond movies, and Will & Grace), many direct-to-video productions, some video games and a number of commercials. His BBC sitcom Fawlty Towers (written by and starring Cleese together with his wife Connie Booth) is the only comedy series to rank higher than the Flying Circus on the BFI TV 100's list, topping the whole poll. Cleese's character, Basil Fawlty, was ranked second (to Homer Simpson) on Channel 4's 2001 list of the 100 Greatest TV Characters.
Idle enjoyed critical success with Rutland Weekend Television in the mid-1970s, out of which came the Beatles parody the Rutles (responsible for the cult mockumentary All You Need Is Cash), and as an actor in Nuns on the Run (1990) with Robbie Coltrane. In 1976 Idle directed music videos for George Harrison songs "This Song" and "Crackerbox Palace", the latter of which also featured cameo appearances from Neil Innes and John Cleese. Idle has had success with Python songs: "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" went to no. 3 in the UK singles chart in 1991. The song had been revived by Simon Mayo on BBC Radio 1, and was consequently released as a single that year. The theatrical phenomenon of the Python musical Spamalot has made Idle the most financially successful of the troupe after Python. Written by Idle (and featuring a pre-recorded cameo of Cleese as the voice of God), it has proved to be an enormous hit on Broadway, London's West End and Las Vegas. This was followed by Not the Messiah, which revises The Life of Brian as an oratorio. For the work's 2007 premiere at the Luminato festival in Toronto (which commissioned the work), Idle himself sang the "baritone-ish" part.
After Python reunions
Since The Meaning of Life, their last project as a team, the Pythons have often been the subject of reunion rumours. In 1988 Monty Python won the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema, with four of the six Pythons (Jones, Palin, Gilliam and Chapman) collecting the award. The final appearance of all six together occurred during the 1989 Parrot Sketch Not Included – 20 Years of Monty Python TV special. The death of Chapman in October 1989 put an end to the speculation of any further reunions. Several occasions since 1989 have occurred when the surviving five members have gathered together for appearances—albeit not formal reunions. In 1996 Jones, Idle, Cleese, and Palin were featured in a film adaptation of The Wind in the Willows, which was later renamed Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. In 1997 Palin and Cleese rolled out a new version of the "Dead Parrot sketch" for Saturday Night Live.
Monty Python were the inaugural recipients of the Empire Inspiration Award in 1997. Palin, Jones and Gilliam received the award on stage in London from Elton John while Cleese and Idle appeared via satellite from Los Angeles. In 1998 during the US Comedy Arts Festival, where the troupe were awarded the AFI Star Award by the American Film Institute, the five remaining members, along with what was purported to be Chapman's ashes, were reunited on stage for the first time in 18 years. The occasion was in the form of an interview called Monty Python Live at Aspen, (hosted by Robert Klein, with an appearance by Eddie Izzard) in which the team looked back at some of their work and performed a few new sketches. On 9 October 1999, to commemorate 30 years since the first Flying Circus television broadcast, BBC2 devoted an evening to Python programmes, including a documentary charting the history of the team, interspersed with new sketches by the Monty Python team filmed especially for the event.
The surviving Pythons had agreed in principle to perform a live tour of America in 1999. Several shows were to be linked with Q&A meetings in various cities. Although all had said yes, Palin later changed his mind, much to the annoyance of Idle, who had begun work organising the tour. This led to Idle refusing to take part in the new material shot for the BBC anniversary evening. In 2002, four of the surviving members, bar Cleese, performed "The Lumberjack Song" and "Sit on My Face" for George Harrison's memorial concert. The reunion also included regular supporting contributors Neil Innes and Carol Cleveland, with a special appearance from Tom Hanks.
In an interview to publicise the DVD release of The Meaning of Life, Cleese said a further reunion was unlikely. "It is absolutely impossible to get even a majority of us together in a room, and I'm not joking," Cleese said. He said that the problem was one of busyness rather than one of bad feelings. A sketch appears on the same DVD spoofing the impossibility of a full reunion, bringing the members "together" in a deliberately unconvincing fashion with modern bluescreen/greenscreen techniques.
Idle responded to queries about a Python reunion by adapting a line used by George Harrison in response to queries about a possible Beatles reunion. When asked in November 1989 about such a possibility, Harrison responded: "As far as I'm concerned, there won't be a Beatles reunion as long as John Lennon remains dead." Idle's version of this was that he expected to see a proper Python reunion, "just as soon as Graham Chapman comes back from the dead", but added, "we're talking to his agent about terms."
The Pythons Autobiography by The Pythons (2003), compiled from interviews with the surviving members, reveals that a series of disputes in 1998, over a possible sequel to Holy Grail that had been conceived by Idle, may have resulted in the group's split. Cleese's feeling was that The Meaning of Life had been personally difficult and ultimately mediocre, and did not wish to be involved in another Python project for a variety of reasons (not least amongst them was the absence of Chapman, whose straight man-like central roles in the Grail and Brian films had been considered to be an essential anchoring performance). The book also reveals that Cleese saw Chapman as his "greatest sounding board. If Graham thought something was funny, then it almost certainly was funny. You cannot believe how invaluable that is.' Ultimately it was Cleese who ended the possibility of another Python movie.
A full, if nonperforming, reunion of the surviving Python members appeared at the March 2005 premiere of Idle's musical Spamalot, based on Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It opened in Chicago and has since played in New York on Broadway, London, and numerous other major cities across the world. In 2004 it was nominated for 14 Tony Awards and won three: Best Musical, Best Direction of a Musical for Mike Nichols, and Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical for Sara Ramirez, who played the Lady of the Lake, a character specially added for the musical. The original Broadway cast included Tim Curry as King Arthur, Michael McGrath as Patsy, David Hyde Pierce as Sir Robin, Hank Azaria as Sir Lancelot and other roles (e.g., the French Taunter, Knight of Ni, and Tim the Enchanter), Christopher Sieber as Sir Galahad and other roles (e.g., the Black Knight and Prince Herbert's Father). Cleese played the voice of God, a role played in the film by Chapman.
Owing in part to the success of Spamalot, PBS announced on 13 July 2005 that it would begin to re-air the entire run of Monty Python's Flying Circus and new one-hour specials focusing on each member of the group, called Monty Python's Personal Best. Each episode was written and produced by the individual being honoured, with the five remaining Pythons collaborating on Chapman's programme, the only one of the editions to take on a serious tone with its new material.
In 2009, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the first episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus, a six-part documentary entitled Monty Python: Almost the Truth (Lawyers Cut) was released, featuring interviews with the surviving members of the team, as well as archive interviews with Graham Chapman and numerous excerpts from the television series and films. Each episode opens with a different re-recording of the theme song from Life of Brian, with Iron Maiden vocalist and Python fan Bruce Dickinson performing the sixth.
Also in commemoration of the 40th anniversary, Idle, Palin, Jones, and Gilliam appeared in a production of Not the Messiah at the Royal Albert Hall. The European premiere was held on 23 October 2009. An official 40th anniversary Monty Python reunion event took place in New York City on 15 October 2009, where the team received a Special Award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
In June 2011, it was announced that A Liar's Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman, an animated 3D movie based on the memoir of Graham Chapman, was in the making. The memoir A Liar's Autobiography was published in 1980 and details Chapman's journey through medical school, alcoholism, acknowledgement of his gay identity, and the tolls of surreal comedy. Asked what was true in a deliberately fanciful account by Chapman of his life, Terry Jones joked: "Nothing ... it's all a downright, absolute, blackguardly lie." The film uses Chapman's own voice—from a reading of his autobiography shortly before he died of cancer—and entertainment channel Epix announced the film's release in early 2012 in both 2D and 3D formats. Produced and directed by London-based Bill Jones, Ben Timlett, and Jeff Simpson, the new film has 15 animation companies working on chapters that will range from three to 12 minutes in length, each in a different style. John Cleese recorded dialogue which was matched with Chapman's voice. Michael Palin voiced Chapman's father and Terry Jones voiced his mother. Terry Gilliam voiced Graham's psychiatrist. They all play various other roles. Among the original Python group, only Eric Idle was not involved.
On 26 January 2012, Terry Jones announced that the five surviving Pythons would reunite in a sci-fi comedy film called Absolutely Anything. The film would combine computer-generated imagery and live action. It would be directed by Jones based on a script by Jones and Gavin Scott, and in addition to the Python members it would also star Simon Pegg, Kate Beckinsale and Robin Williams (in his final film role). The plot revolves around a teacher who discovers aliens (voiced by the Pythons) have given him magical powers to do "absolutely anything". Eric Idle responded via Twitter that he would not, in fact, be participating, although he was later added to the cast.
Monty Python Live (Mostly): One Down, Five to Go
In 2013, the Pythons lost a legal case to Mark Forstater, the film producer of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, over royalties for the derivative work Spamalot. They owed a combined £800,000 in legal fees and back royalties to Forstater. They proposed a reunion show to pay their legal bill.
On 19 November 2013, a new reunion was reported, following months of "secret talks". The original plan was for a live, one-off stage show at the O2 Arena in London on 1 July 2014, with "some of Monty Python's greatest hits, with modern, topical, Pythonesque twists" according to a press release. The tickets for this show went on sale in November 2013 and sold out in just 43 seconds. Nine additional shows were added, all of them at the O2, the last on 20 July. They have said that their reunion was inspired by South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who are massive Monty Python fans.
Mick Jagger featured in a promotional video for the shows: "Who wants to see that again, really? It's a bunch of wrinkly old men trying to relive their youth and make a load of money—the best one died years ago!" Michael Palin stated that the final reunion show on 20 July 2014 would be the last time that the troupe would perform together. It was screened to 2,000 cinemas around the world. Prior to the final night, Idle stated, "It is a world event and that’s really quite exciting. It means we’re actually going to say goodbye publicly on one show. Nobody ever has the chance to do that. The Beatles didn’t get a last good night." The last show was broadcast in the UK on Gold TV and internationally in cinemas by Fathom Events through a Dish Network satellite link.
Python members
Graham Chapman was originally a medical student, joining the Footlights at Cambridge. He completed his medical training and was legally entitled to practise as a doctor. Chapman is best remembered for the lead roles in Holy Grail, as King Arthur, and Life of Brian, as Brian Cohen. He died of metastatic throat cancer on 4 October 1989. At Chapman's memorial service, Cleese delivered an irreverent eulogy that included all the euphemisms for being dead from the "Dead Parrot" sketch, which they had written. Chapman's comedic fictional memoir, A Liar's Autobiography, was adapted into an animated 3D movie in 2012.
John Cleese is the oldest Python. He met his future Python writing partner, Chapman, in Cambridge. Outside of Python, he is best known for setting up the Video Arts group and for the sitcom Fawlty Towers (co-written with Connie Booth, whom Cleese met during work on Python and to whom he was married for a decade). Cleese has also co-authored several books on psychology and wrote the screenplay for the award-winning A Fish Called Wanda, in which he starred with Michael Palin.
Terry Gilliam, an American by birth, is the only member of the troupe of non-British origin. He started off as an animator and strip cartoonist for Harvey Kurtzman's Help! magazine, one issue of which featured Cleese. Moving from the US to England, he animated features for Do Not Adjust Your Set and was then asked by its makers to join them on their next project: Monty Python's Flying Circus. He co-directed Monty Python and the Holy Grail and directed short segments of other Python films (for instance "The Crimson Permanent Assurance", the short film that appears before The Meaning of Life).
When Monty Python was first formed, two writing partnerships were already in place: Cleese and Chapman, Jones and Palin. That left two in their own corners: Gilliam, operating solo due to the nature of his work, and Eric Idle. Regular themes in Idle's contributions were elaborate wordplay and musical numbers. After Flying Circus, he hosted Saturday Night Live four times in the first five seasons. Idle's initially successful solo career faltered in the 1990s with the failures of his 1993 film Splitting Heirs (written, produced by, and starring him) and 1998's An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (in which he starred). He revived his career by returning to the source of his worldwide fame, adapting Monty Python material for other media. Idle wrote the Tony Award-winning musical Spamalot, based on Holy Grail. Following the success of the musical he wrote Not the Messiah, an oratorio derived from the Life of Brian. Representing Monty Python, Idle featured in a one-hour symphony of British Music when he performed at the London 2012 Olympic Games closing ceremony.
Terry Jones has been described by other members of the team as the "heart" of the operation. Jones had a lead role in maintaining the group's unity and creative independence. Python biographer George Perry has commented that should "[you] speak to him on subjects as diverse as fossil fuels, or Rupert Bear, or mercenaries in the Middle Ages or Modern China ... in a moment you will find yourself hopelessly out of your depth, floored by his knowledge." Many others agree that Jones is characterised by his irrepressible, good-natured enthusiasm. However, Jones' passion often led to prolonged arguments with other group members—in particular Cleese—with Jones often unwilling to back down. Since his major contributions were largely behind the scenes (direction, writing), and he often deferred to the other members of the group as an actor, Jones' importance to Python was often under-rated. However, he does have the legacy of delivering possibly the most famous line in all of Python, as Brian's mother Mandy in Life of Brian, "He's not the Messiah, he's a very naughty boy!", a line voted the funniest in film history on two occasions. Jones died on 21 January 2020 from complications of dementia.
Sir Michael Palin attended Oxford, where he met his Python writing partner Jones. The two also wrote the series Ripping Yarns together. Palin and Jones originally wrote face-to-face, but soon found it was more productive to write apart and then come together to review what the other had written. Therefore, Jones and Palin's sketches tended to be more focused than that of the others, taking one bizarre situation, sticking to it, and building on it. After Flying Circus, Palin hosted Saturday Night Live four times in the first 10 seasons. His comedy output began to decrease in amount following the increasing success of his travel documentaries for the BBC. Palin released a book of diaries from the Python years entitled Michael Palin Diaries 1969–1979, published in 2007. Palin was awarded a knighthood in the 2019 New Year Honours, which was announced by Buckingham Palace in December 2018.
Associate Pythons
Several people have been accorded unofficial "associate Python" status over the years. Occasionally such people have been referred to as the 'seventh Python', in a style reminiscent of George Martin (or other associates of the Beatles) being dubbed "the Fifth Beatle". The two collaborators with the most meaningful and plentiful contributions have been Neil Innes and Carol Cleveland. Both were present and presented as Associate Pythons at the official Monty Python 25th-anniversary celebrations held in Los Angeles in July 1994.
Neil Innes is the only non-Python besides Douglas Adams to be credited with writing material for Flying Circus. He appeared in sketches and the Python films, as well as performing some of his songs in Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl. He was also a regular stand-in for absent team members on the rare occasions when they recreated sketches. For example, he took the place of Cleese at the Concert for George. Gilliam once noted that if anyone qualified for the title of the seventh Python, it would be Innes. He was one of the creative talents in the off-beat Bonzo Dog Band. He would later portray Ron Nasty of the Rutles and write all of the Rutles' compositions for All You Need Is Cash (1978), a mockumentary film co-directed by Idle. By 2005, a falling out had occurred between Idle and Innes over additional Rutles projects, the results being Innes' critically acclaimed Rutles "reunion" album The Rutles: Archaeology and Idle's straight-to-DVD The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch, each undertaken without the other's participation. According to an interview with Idle in the Chicago Tribune in May 2005, his attitude is that Innes and he go back "too far. And no further." Innes died of a heart attack on 29 December 2019 near Toulouse, where he had lived for several years.
Carol Cleveland was the most important female performer in the Monty Python ensemble, commonly referred to as "the female Python". She was originally hired by producer/director John Howard Davies for just the first five episodes of the Flying Circus. The Pythons then pushed to make Cleveland a permanent recurring performer after producer/director Ian MacNaughton brought in several other actresses who were not as good as she was. Cleveland went on to appear in about two-thirds of the episodes, as well as in all of the Python films, and in most of their stage shows, as well. According to Time, her most recognisable film roles are playing Zoot and Dingo, two maidens in the Castle Anthrax in Holy Grail.
Other contributors
Cleese's first wife, Connie Booth, appeared as various characters in all four series of Flying Circus. Her most significant role was the "best girl" of the eponymous Lumberjack in "The Lumberjack Song", though this role was sometimes played by Carol Cleveland. Booth appeared in a total of six sketches and also played one-off characters in Python feature films And Now for Something Completely Different and Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Douglas Adams was "discovered" by Chapman when a version of Footlights Revue (a 1974 BBC2 television show featuring some of Adams' early work) was performed live in London's West End. In Cleese's absence from the final TV series, the two formed a brief writing partnership, with Adams earning a writing credit in one episode for a sketch called "Patient Abuse". In the sketch—a satire on mind-boggling bureaucracy—a man who had been stabbed by a nurse arrives at his doctor's office bleeding profusely from the stomach, when the doctor makes him fill in numerous senseless forms before he can administer treatment. He also had two cameo appearances in this season. Firstly, in the episode "The Light Entertainment War", Adams shows up in a surgeon's mask (as Dr. Emile Koning, according to the on-screen captions), pulling on gloves, while Palin narrates a sketch that introduces one person after another, and never actually gets started. Secondly, at the beginning of "Mr. Neutron", Adams is dressed in a "pepperpot" outfit and loads a missile onto a cart being driven by Terry Jones, who is calling out for scrap metal ("Any old iron ..."). Adams and Chapman also subsequently attempted a few non-Python projects, including Out of the Trees. He also contributed to a sketch on the soundtrack album for Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Other than Carol Cleveland, the only other non-Python to make a significant number of appearances in the Flying Circus was Ian Davidson. He appeared in the first two series of the show, and played over 10 roles. While Davidson is primarily known as a scriptwriter, it is not known if he had any contribution toward the writing of the sketches, as he is only credited as a performer. In total, Davidson is credited as appearing in eight episodes of the show, which is more than any other male actor who was not a Python. Despite this, Davidson did not appear in any Python-related media subsequent to series 2, though footage of him was shown on the documentary Python Night – 30 Years of Monty Python.
Stand-up comedian Eddie Izzard, a devoted fan of the group, has occasionally stood in for absent members. When the BBC held a "Python Night" in 1999 to celebrate 30 years of the first broadcast of Flying Circus, the Pythons recorded some new material with Izzard standing in for Idle, who had declined to partake in person (she taped a solo contribution from the US). Izzard hosted The Life of Python (1999), a history of the group that was part of Python Night and appeared with them at a festival/tribute in Aspen, Colorado, in 1998 (released on DVD as Live at Aspen). Izzard has said that Monty Python was a significant influence on her style of comedy and Cleese has referred to her as "the lost Python".
Series director of Flying Circus, Ian MacNaughton, is also regularly associated with the group and made a few on-screen appearances in the show and in the film And Now for Something Completely Different. Apart from Neil Innes, others to contribute musically included Fred Tomlinson and the Fred Tomlinson Singers. They made appearances in songs such as "The Lumberjack Song" as a backup choir. Other contributors and performers for the Pythons included John Howard Davies, John Hughman, Lyn Ashley, Bob Raymond, John Young, Rita Davies, Stanley Mason, Maureen Flanagan, and David Ballantyne.
Cultural influence and legacy
By the time of Monty Python's 25th anniversary, in 1994, the point was already being made that "the five surviving members had with the passing years begun to occupy an institutional position in the edifice of British social culture that they had once had so much fun trying to demolish". A similar point is made in a 2006 book on the relationship between Python and philosophy: "It is remarkable, after all, not only that the utterly bizarre Monty Python's Flying Circus was sponsored by the BBC in the first place, but that Monty Python itself grew into an institution of enormous cultural influence."
A self-contained comedy unit responsible for both writing and performing their work, Monty Python's influence on comedy has been compared to the Beatles' influence on music. Author Neil Gaiman writes, "A strange combination of individuals gave us Python. And you needed those people, just in the same way that with the Beatles you had four talented people, but together you had the Beatles. And I think that's so incredibly true when it comes to Python."
Comedy stylists
Monty Python have been named as being influential to the comedy stylings of a great many people including: Sacha Baron Cohen, David Cross, Rowan Atkinson, Seth MacFarlane, Seth Meyers, Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Vic and Bob, Mike Myers, and "Weird Al" Yankovic. Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons, was influenced by Python's "high velocity sense of the absurd and not stopping to explain yourself", and pays tribute through a couch gag used in seasons five and six. Appearing on Monty Python's Best Bits (Mostly), Jim Carrey—who refers to Monty Python as the "Super Justice League of comedy"—recalled the effect on him of Ernest Scribbler (played by Palin) laughing himself to death in "The Funniest Joke in the World" sketch. Monty Python's Flying Circus served as an inspiration for voice actor Rob Paulsen in voicing Pinky from the animated television series Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain, giving the character "a goofy whack job" of a British accent.
Comedian John Oliver states, "Writing about the importance of Monty Python is basically pointless. Citing them as an influence is almost redundant. It's assumed. This strange group of wildly talented, appropriately disrespectful, hugely imaginative and massively inspirational idiots changed what comedy could be for their generation and for those that followed." On how Python's freeform style influenced sketch comedy, Tina Fey of the US television show Saturday Night Live states, "Sketch endings are overrated. Their key was to do something as long as it was funny and then just stop and do something else."
Places
In space
Seven asteroids are named after Monty Python or its members: 9617 Grahamchapman, 9618 Johncleese, 9619 Terrygilliam, 9620 Ericidle, 9621 Michaelpalin, 9622 Terryjones, and 13681 Monty Python.
In 2010, the commercial space company SpaceX launched a wheel of cheese into low earth orbit and returned it safely to Earth on COTS Demo Flight 1. Elon Musk, CEO and CTO of SpaceX, said this was done as a tribute to Monty Python.
Terrestrial
After John Cleese spoke negatively about the town of Palmerston North in New Zealand, recommending it as a good place to commit suicide, the town renamed a compost heap "Mt. Cleese".
"Pythonesque"
Among the more visible cultural influences of Monty Python is the inclusion of terms either directly from, or derived from, Monty Python, into the lexicon of the English language.
The most obvious of these is the term "Pythonesque", which has become a byword in surreal humour, and is included in standard dictionaries. Terry Jones commented on his disappointment at the existence of such a term, claiming the initial aim of Monty Python was to create something new and impossible to categorise, and "the fact that Pythonesque is now a word in the Oxford English Dictionary shows the extent to which we failed".
The term has been applied to animations similar to those constructed by Gilliam (e.g., the cut-out style of South Park, whose creators have often acknowledged a debt to Python, including contributing material to the aforementioned 30th-anniversary theme night).
Good Eats creator Alton Brown cited Python as one of the influences that shaped how he created the series, as well as how he authors the script for each episode. Later episodes included Gilliam-style animations to illustrate key points.
Film critic Robbie Collin writes, "You can find the Pythonesque everywhere in cinema. Most successful Hollywood comedies bear some kind of Python-print. The Austin Powers series chugs along on Pythonisms. Then there are Christopher Guest's mockumentaries, such as Waiting for Guffman and Best in Show, which revel in the quiet absurdity of the everyday—well-staked-out Python territory. And there's a tensile weirdness in the films of Will Ferrell that's also deeply Pythonesque."
TV
The Japanese anime series, Girls und Panzer, featured the special episode, "Survival War!", which referenced the 'Spam' sketch, but the word "spam" was censored to avoid legal issue with the Pythons.
Things named after Monty Python
Beyond a dictionary definition, Python terms have entered the lexicon in other ways.
The term "spam" in reference to bulk, unsolicited email is derived from the show's 1970 "Spam" sketch. As the waitress recites the Spam-filled menu, a chorus of Viking patrons drown out all conversations with a song, repeating "Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam… Spammity Spam! Wonderful Spam!".
The Python programming language by Guido van Rossum is named after the troupe, and Monty Python references are often found in sample code created for that language. The default integrated development environment of the programming language is named IDLE, an alternative one is named eric, both in honour of Eric Idle. Additionally, a 2001 April Fool's Day joke by van Rossum and Larry Wall involving the merger of Python with Perl was dubbed "Parrot" after the Dead Parrot sketch. The name "Parrot" was later used for a project to develop a virtual machine for running bytecode for interpreted languages such as Perl and Python. Its package index is also known as the "Cheese Shop" after the sketch of the same name. There is also a python refactoring tool called bicyclerepair named after Bicycle Repair Man sketch.
In 1985, a fossil of a previously unknown species of gigantic prehistoric snake from the Miocene was discovered in Riversleigh, Queensland, Australia. The Australian palaeontologist who discovered the fossil snake was a Monty Python fan, and he gave the snake the taxonomic name of Montypythonoides riversleighensis in honour of the Monty Python team.
In 2006, Ben & Jerry's, known for their "celebrity flavours", introduced to the line-up "Vermonty Python", a coffee liqueur ice cream with a chocolate cookie crumb swirl and fudge cows. The name "Minty Python" had been suggested before in 1996 in a contest to select the quintessential British ice cream flavour.
In 1999, in connection with the group's 30th anniversary, a beer named "Holy Grail Ale" was released by the Black Sheep Brewery in North Yorkshire.
The endangered Bemaraha woolly lemur (Avahi cleesei) is named after John Cleese.
Geneticists discovered a mutant gene which caused mutant flies to live twice as long as normal ones. They dubbed the gene "Indy," which is an acronym for the line of dialogue: "I'm not dead yet!", from the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
The band Toad the Wet Sprocket took its name from the Rock Notes sketch on the comedy album, Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album.
World records
On St George's Day, 23 April 2007, the cast and creators of Spamalot gathered in Trafalgar Square under the tutelage of the two Terrys (Jones and Gilliam) to set a new record for the world's largest coconut orchestra. They led 5,567 people "clip-clopping" in time to the Python classic, "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life", for the Guinness World Records attempt.
On 5 October 2019, to mark the 50th anniversary of Monty Python's first show, the "first official Monty Python Guinness world record attempt" tried to break the record for "the largest gathering of people dressed as Gumbys." A recurring character on the show, a Gumby wears a handkerchief on their head, has spectacles, braces, a knitted tank top, and wellington boots. The shirt sleeves and trouser legs are always rolled up, exposing their socks and knees. Dimwitted, their most famous catchphrases are "My brain hurts!" and repeated shouts of "Hello!" and "Sorry!".
Timeline
Media
Television
Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969–74) The show that started the Python phenomenon, see also List of Monty Python's Flying Circus episodes.
Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus (1972) Two 45-minute specials were made by WDR for West German television. The first was recorded in German, while the second was in English with German dubbing.
Monty Python's Personal Best (2006) Six one-hour specials, each episode presenting the best of one member's work.
Films
Five Monty Python productions were released as theatrical films:
And Now for Something Completely Different (1971) A collection of sketches from the first and second TV series of Monty Python's Flying Circus re-enacted and shot for film.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) King Arthur and his knights embark on a low-budget search for the Holy Grail, encountering humorous obstacles along the way. Some of these turned into stand-alone sketches.
Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) Brian is born on the first Christmas, in the stable next to Jesus'. He spends his life being mistaken for a messiah.
Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1982) A videotape recording directed by Terry Hughes of a live performance of sketches, it was originally intended for a TV/video special. It was transferred to 35 mm and given a limited theatrical release in the US.
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983) An examination of the meaning of life in a series of sketches from conception to death and beyond.
Albums
Monty Python's Flying Circus (1970)
Another Monty Python Record (1971)
Monty Python's Previous Record (1972)
The Monty Python Matching Tie and Handkerchief (1973)
Monty Python Live at Drury Lane (1974)
The Album of the Soundtrack of the Trailer of the Film of Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
Monty Python Live at City Center (1976)
The Monty Python Instant Record Collection (1977)
Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)
Monty Python Examines The Life of Brian (promo) (1979)
Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album (1980)
The Monty Python Instant Record Collection (US version) (1981)
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983)
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life: Audio Press Kit (promo) (1983)
The Final Rip Off (1987)
Monty Python Sings (1989)
The Ultimate Monty Python Rip Off (1994)
Monty Python Sings Again (2014)
The Hastily Cobbled Together for a Fast Buck Album (unreleased)
Theatre
Monty Python's Flying Circus Between 1974 and 1980 (Live at the Hollywood Bowl was released in 1982, but was performed in 1980), the Pythons made three sketch-based stage shows, comprising mainly material from the original television series.
Monty Python's Spamalot Written by Idle and directed by Mike Nichols, with music and lyrics by John Du Prez and Idle, it starred Hank Azaria, Tim Curry, and David Hyde Pierce; Spamalot is a musical adaptation of the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It ran in Chicago from 21 December 2004 to 23 January 2005, and began performances on Broadway on 17 March 2005. It won three Tony Awards. It was one of eight UK musicals commemorated on Royal Mail stamps, issued in February 2011.
Not the Messiah the Toronto Symphony Orchestra commissioned Idle and John Du Prez to write the music and lyrics of an oratorio based on Monty Python's Life of Brian. Entitled Not the Messiah, it had its world premiere as part of Luminato, a "festival of arts and creativity" taking place 1–10 June 2007 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Not the Messiah was conducted by Peter Oundjian, music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, who is Idle's cousin. It was performed by a narrator, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, with guest soloists and choir. According to Idle, "I promise it will be funnier than Handel, though probably not as good".
Monty Python Live One Down, Five to Go : (1–5, 15–16, 18–20 July 2014). The Pythons have stated this is the last live reunion of the remaining members of Monty Python. Held at London's O2 Arena, tickets for the first night's show sold out in 43 seconds. The set list included a mix of live performances of their most popular sketches, clips from their shows, and elaborate dance numbers. Each night featured a different celebrity "victim" of the "Blackmail" sketch. The final show was screened to 2,000 cinemas around the world.
Books
Monty Python's Big Red Book (1971) .
The Brand New Monty Python Bok (1973) .
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1977) .
Monty Python's The Life of Brian/MONTYPYTHONSCRAPBOOK (1979, plus script-only reprint) .
The Complete Works of Shakespeare and Monty Python. Volume One – Monty Python (1981) .
Monty Python: The Case Against (by Robert Hewison) (1981)
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983) .
The Monty Python Gift Boks (1986)
Monty Python's Flying Circus – Just The Words Volume 1 (1989) .
Monty Python's Flying Circus – Just The Words Volume 2 (1989) .
The Fairly Incomplete & Rather Badly Illustrated Monty Python Song Book (1994)
Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus (edited by Alfred Biolek) (1998)
Monty Python Speaks! (edited by David Morgan) (1999)
A Pocketful of Python Volume 1 (edited by Terry Jones) (1999)
A Pocketful of Python Volume 2 (edited by John Cleese) (1999)
A Pocketful of Python Volume 3 (edited by Terry Gilliam) (2000)
A Pocketful of Python Volume 4 (edited by Michael Palin) (2000)
A Pocketful of Python Volume 5 (edited by Eric Idle) (2002)
The Pythons Autobiography by The Pythons (edited by Bob McCabe) (2003, plus various reformatted editions)
Monty Python Live! (2009)
Monty Python at Work (by Michael Palin, compilation of republished diary entries) (2014)
So, Anyway ... (by John Cleese, Autobiography to age 30) (2014)
Always Look on the Bright Side of Life (by Eric Idle, Autobiography) (2018) .
Games
Monty Python's Flying Circus (1990) a computer game released by Virgin Games for 8-bit systems such as the Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, and for the 32-bit Amiga
Monty Python's Complete Waste of Time (1994) released by 7th Level for PC / Mac / DOS
Monty Python & the Quest for the Holy Grail (1996), official game released by 7th Level
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1997), also released by 7th Level.
Python-opoly (2007), a Monty Python-themed property game released by Toy Vault Inc.
Monty Python Fluxx (2008), a card game released by Looney Labs
Monty Python's Cow Tossing (2011), a smartphone game.
The Ministry of Silly Walks (2014), a smartphone game
See also
List of recurring characters in Monty Python's Flying Circus
Python (Monty) Pictures
The Firesign Theatre
References
Further reading
The Secret Policeman's Balls, 3-DVD set (2009)
Monty Python: 40 Years of Insanity
The Life of Python – 20 Greatest Monty Python Sketches (40th Anniversary)
External links
Monty Python – Official YouTube page
40 Years of Monty Python – photo essay by TIME magazine
2014 interview on return to live shows
Monty Python on youtube
British comedy troupes
British television comedy
British surrealist artists
British surrealist writers
Surreal comedy
Surrealist groups
Virgin Records artists
Arista Records artists
BAFTA Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award
European Film Awards winners (people)
Charisma Records artists
1969 establishments in England
1983 disestablishments in England
British comedy musicians
British novelty song performers
Black comedy
Religious comedy and humour | true | [
"Stewart Ginn (c. 192220 September 1971) was an Australian radio, stage and television actor, best known as the character Nancarrow in the 1960s television comedy My Name's McGooley, What's Yours?.\n\nRadio\nStewart Ginn first became known in radio, where he played the main role in The Air Adventures of Hop Harrigan (1954), among other roles.\n\nStage \nHe then became a stage actor, his credits including:\n Sidney Howard's They Knew What They Wanted (1953), with Zoe Caldwell\n His Excellency (1954), with Barry Humphries; he won the Erik Kuttner Award for his performance\n The Heiress (1954), with Zoe Caldwell\n Garson Kanin's Born Yesterday (1954), with Zoe Caldwell and Ray Lawler\n Shakespeare's Henry V, at the 1964 Adelaide Festival of Arts, with John Bell, Dennis Olsen, Anna Volska and Max Meldrum\n John Mortimer's Lunch Hour (1965)\n Eugene O'Neill's A Moon for the Misbegotten (1966), with Ron Haddrick\n Arthur Miller's The Price (1970).\n\nTelevision \nIn 1959 he appeared in the television play They Were Big, They Were Blue, They Were Beautiful. Between 1966 and 1968 he appeared as Peregrine Nancarrow in the television comedy My Name's McGooley, What's Yours?, alongside Gordon Chater, John Meillon and Judi Farr. In 1968 he won a Penguin Award as Best Supporting Actor for Nancarrow. That year he reprised Nancarrow in the spin-off series Rita and Wally.\n\nHe also appeared in television programs such as Homicide, Matlock Police, Division 4, Spyforce and Birds in the Bush, and in the 1971 feature film Demonstrator.\n\nDeath \nHe died suddenly in September 1971, aged 49. He was in Melbourne, where he was filming an episode of Division 4.\n\nLegacy \nHector Crawford praised his performance in the Matlock Police episode \"The Word is Progress\" as \"one of the finest pieces of drama acting to come out of the Crawfords company\".\n\nReferences\n\n1920s births\n1971 deaths\nAustralian male television actors\nAustralian male radio actors\nAustralian male stage actors\nAustralian male film actors\n20th-century Australian male actors",
"Javier \"Harvey\" Guillén (; born ) is an American actor who is best known for his role as the human familiar Guillermo de la Cruz in the 2019 television series What We Do in the Shadows.\n\nCareer\nGuillén has appeared in recurring roles on a number of television series, such as Alistair Delgado on Huge (2010), Cousin Blobbin on The Thundermans (2013–2018), George Reyes in Eye Candy (2015), and Benedict Pickwick on The Magicians (2017–2018). He also appeared in the 2013 film The Internship.\n\nBeginning in 2019, Guillén has played the role of Guillermo, the vampires' human familiar, in the FX television series What We Do in the Shadows. He was also set to appear in Quibi's science fiction drama series Don't Look Deeper, before the platform shut down in December 2020.\n\nGuillén has received considerable acclaim for his role as Guillermo. TheWrap included Guillén in a list of \"2019 Emmy Contenders\". Hank Steuver, in his review of What We Do in the Shadows in The Chicago Tribune, stated that Guillén \"provides at least half the big laughs\" in the show.\n\nGuillén provides the voice of Funny the Magic House in Mickey Mouse Funhouse.\n\nPersonal life\nGuillén is the son of Mexican immigrants. He adopted the stage name \"Harvey\" when his teachers could not pronounce his first name.\n\nHe identifies as queer.\n\nFilmography\n\nFilm\n\nTelevision\n\nNomination\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\n21st-century American male actors\nAmerican male film actors\nAmerican male television actors\nLGBT actors from the United States\nLGBT male actors\nLiving people\nQueer actors\nQueer men\n1990 births\nPlace of birth missing (living people)\nAmerican actors of Mexican descent\nActors from Orange County, California\nAmerican male actors of Mexican descent"
]
|
[
"Monty Python",
"Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)",
"Who was in Life of Brian?",
"Chapman was cast in the lead role of Brian.",
"What other actors were in it?",
"actor Kenneth Colley"
]
| C_29c65da14d78435e8e89a0869d5380cb_0 | What role did Kenneth Colley play? | 3 | What role did Kenneth Colley play in Monty Python's Life of Brian? | Monty Python | Following the success of Holy Grail, reporters asked for the title of the next Python film, despite the fact that the team had not even begun to consider a third one. Eventually, Idle flippantly replied "Jesus Christ - Lust for Glory", which became the group's stock answer once they realised that it shut reporters up. However, they soon began to seriously consider a film lampooning the New Testament era in the same way Holy Grail had lampooned Arthurian legend. Despite them all sharing a distrust of organised religion, they agreed not to mock Jesus or his teachings directly. They also mentioned that they could not think of anything legitimate to make fun of about him. Instead, they decided to write a satire on credulity and hypocrisy among the followers of someone who had been mistaken for the "Messiah", but who had no desire to be followed as such. Chapman was cast in the lead role of Brian. The focus therefore shifted to a separate individual born at the same time, in a neighbouring stable. When Jesus appears in the film (first, as a baby in the stable, and then later on the Mount, speaking the Beatitudes), he is played straight (by actor Kenneth Colley) and portrayed with respect. The comedy begins when members of the crowd mishear his statements of peace, love, and tolerance ("I think he said, 'Blessed are the cheesemakers'"). Directing duties were handled solely by Jones, having amicably agreed with Gilliam that Jones' approach to film-making was better suited for Python's general performing style. Holy Grail's production had often been stilted by their differences behind the camera. Gilliam again contributed two animated sequences (one being the opening credits) and took charge of set design. The film was shot on location in Tunisia, the finances being provided this time by former Beatle George Harrison, who together with Denis O'Brien formed the production company Hand-Made Films for the movie. Harrison had a cameo role as the "owner of the Mount". Despite its subject matter attracting controversy, particularly upon its initial release, it has (together with its predecessor) been ranked among the greatest comedy films. A Channel 4 poll in 2005 ranked Holy Grail in sixth place, with Life of Brian at the top. CANNOTANSWER | When Jesus appears in the film | Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British surreal comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show Monty Python's Flying Circus, which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series. The Python phenomenon developed from the television series into something larger in scope and influence, including touring stage shows, films, albums, books and musicals. The Pythons' influence on comedy has been compared to the Beatles' influence on music. Regarded as an enduring icon of 1970s pop culture, their sketch show has been referred to as being "an important moment in the evolution of television comedy".
Broadcast by the BBC between 1969 and 1974, Monty Python's Flying Circus was conceived, written and performed by its members Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin. Loosely structured as a sketch show, but with an innovative stream-of-consciousness approach aided by Gilliam's animation, it pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable in style and content. A self-contained comedy team responsible for both writing and performing their work, the Pythons had creative control which allowed them to experiment with form and content, discarding rules of television comedy. Following their television work, they began making films, including Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), Life of Brian (1979) and The Meaning of Life (1983). Their influence on British comedy has been apparent for years, while in North America, it has coloured the work of cult performers from the early editions of Saturday Night Live through to more recent absurdist trends in television comedy. "Pythonesque" has entered the English lexicon as a result.
At the 41st British Academy Film Awards in 1988, Monty Python received the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema. In 1998, they were awarded the AFI Star Award by the American Film Institute. Many sketches from their TV show and films are well-known and widely quoted. Both Holy Grail and Life of Brian are frequently ranked in lists of greatest comedy films. In a 2005 poll of over 300 comics, comedy writers, producers and directors throughout the English-speaking world to find "The Comedian's Comedian", three of the six Pythons members were voted to be among the top 50 greatest comedians ever: Cleese at No. 2, Idle at No. 21, and Palin at No. 30.
Before Flying Circus
Jones and Palin met at Oxford University, where they performed together with the Oxford Revue. Chapman and Cleese met at Cambridge University. Idle was also at Cambridge, but started a year after Chapman and Cleese. Cleese met Gilliam in New York City while on tour with the Cambridge University Footlights revue Cambridge Circus (originally entitled A Clump of Plinths). Chapman, Cleese, and Idle were members of the Footlights, which at that time also included the future Goodies (Tim Brooke-Taylor, Bill Oddie, and Graeme Garden), and Jonathan Lynn (co-writer of Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister). During Idle's presidency of the club, feminist writer Germaine Greer and broadcaster Clive James were members. Recordings of Footlights' revues (called "Smokers") at Pembroke College include sketches and performances by Cleese and Idle, which, along with tapes of Idle's performances in some of the drama society's theatrical productions, are kept in the archives of the Pembroke Players.
The six Python members appeared in or wrote these shows before Flying Circus:
I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (radio) (1964–1973): Cleese (cast member and writer), Idle and Chapman (writers)
The Frost Report (1966–1967): Cleese (cast member and writer), Idle (writer of Frost's monologues), Chapman, Palin and Jones (writers)
At Last the 1948 Show (1967): Chapman and Cleese (writers and cast members), Idle (guest star and writer)
Twice a Fortnight (1967): Palin and Jones (cast members and writers)
Do Not Adjust Your Set (1967–1969): Idle, Jones, and Palin (cast members and writers), Gilliam (animation) + Bonzo Dog Band (musical interludes)
We Have Ways of Making You Laugh (1968): Idle (cast member and writer), Gilliam (animation)
How to Irritate People (1968): Cleese and Chapman (cast members and writers), Palin (cast member)
The Complete and Utter History of Britain (1969): Palin and Jones (cast members and writers)
Doctor in the House (1969), Cleese and Chapman (writers)
The BBC's satirical television show The Frost Report, broadcast from March 1966 to December 1967, is credited as first uniting the British Pythons and providing an environment in which they could develop their particular styles.
Following the success of Do Not Adjust Your Set, broadcast on ITV from December 1967 to May 1969, Thames Television offered Gilliam, Idle, Jones, and Palin their own late-night adult comedy series together. At the same time, Chapman and Cleese were offered a show by the BBC, which had been impressed by their work on The Frost Report and At Last the 1948 Show. Cleese was reluctant to do a two-man show for various reasons, including Chapman's supposedly difficult and erratic personality. Cleese had fond memories of working with Palin on How to Irritate People and invited him to join the team. With no studio available at Thames until summer 1970 for the late-night show, Palin agreed to join Cleese and Chapman, and suggested the involvement of his writing partner Jones and colleague Idle—who in turn wanted Gilliam to provide animations for the projected series. Much has been made of the fact that the Monty Python troupe is the result of Cleese's desire to work with Palin and the chance circumstances that brought the other four members into the fold.
By contrast, according to John Cleese's autobiography, the origins of Monty Python lay in the admiration that writing partners Cleese and Chapman had for the new type of comedy being done on Do Not Adjust Your Set; as a result, a meeting was initiated by Cleese between Chapman, Idle, Jones, Palin, and himself at which it was agreed to pool their writing and performing efforts and jointly seek production sponsorship. According to their official website, the group was born from a Kashmir tandoori restaurant in Hampstead on 11 May 1969, following a taping of Do Not Adjust Your Set which Cleese and Chapman attended. It was the first time all six got together, reportedly going back to Cleese's apartment on nearby Basil Street afterwards to continue discussions.
Monty Python's Flying Circus
Development of the series
The Pythons had a definite idea about what they wanted to do with the series. They were admirers of the work of Peter Cook, Alan Bennett, Jonathan Miller, and Dudley Moore on Beyond the Fringe—seminal to the British "satire boom"—and had worked on Frost, which was similar in style. They enjoyed Cook and Moore's sketch show Not Only... But Also. One problem the Pythons perceived with these programmes was that though the body of the sketch would be strong, the writers would often struggle to then find a punchline funny enough to end on, and this would detract from the overall sketch quality. They decided that they would simply not bother to "cap" their sketches in the traditional manner, and early episodes of the Flying Circus series make great play of this abandonment of the punchline (one scene has Cleese turn to Idle, as the sketch descends into chaos, and remark that "This is the silliest sketch I've ever been in"—they all resolve not to carry on and simply walk off the set). However, as they began assembling material for the show, the Pythons watched one of their collective heroes, Spike Milligan, whom they had admired on The Goon Show (a show the Pythons regard as their biggest influence, which also featured Peter Sellers, whom Cleese called "the greatest voice man of all time") recording his groundbreaking BBC series Q... (1969). Not only was Q... more irreverent and anarchic than any previous television comedy, but Milligan also would often "give up" on sketches halfway through and wander off set (often muttering "Did I write this?"). It was clear that their new series would now seem less original, and Jones in particular became determined the Pythons should innovate. Michael Palin recalls "Terry Jones and I adored the Q... shows...[Milligan] was the first writer to play with the conventions of television."
After much debate, Jones remembered an animation Gilliam had created for Do Not Adjust Your Set called "Beware of the Elephants", which had intrigued him with its stream-of-consciousness style. Jones felt it would be a good concept to apply to the series: allowing sketches to blend into one another. Palin had been equally fascinated by another of Gilliam's efforts, entitled "Christmas Cards", and agreed that it represented "a way of doing things differently". Since Cleese, Chapman, and Idle were less concerned with the overall flow of the programme, Jones, Palin, and Gilliam became largely responsible for the presentation style of the Flying Circus series, in which disparate sketches are linked to give each episode the appearance of a single stream-of-consciousness (often using a Gilliam animation to move from the closing image of one sketch to the opening scene of another). The BBC states, "Gilliam's unique animation style became crucial, segueing seamlessly between any two completely unrelated ideas and making the stream-of-consciousness work."
Writing started at 9 am and finished at 5 pm. Typically, Cleese and Chapman worked as one pair isolated from the others, as did Jones and Palin, while Idle wrote alone. After a few days, they would join with Gilliam, critique their scripts, and exchange ideas. Their approach to writing was democratic. If the majority found an idea humorous, it was included in the show. The casting of roles for the sketches was a similarly unselfish process, since each member viewed himself primarily as a "writer", rather than an actor eager for screen time. When the themes for sketches were chosen, Gilliam had a free hand in bridging them with animations, using a camera, scissors, and airbrush.
While the show was a collaborative process, different factions within Python were responsible for elements of the team's humour. In general, the work of the Oxford-educated members (Jones and Palin) was more visual, and more fanciful conceptually (e.g., the arrival of the Spanish Inquisition in a suburban front room), while the Cambridge graduates' sketches tended to be more verbal and more aggressive (for example, Cleese and Chapman's many "confrontation" sketches, where one character intimidates or hurls abuse, or Idle's characters with bizarre verbal quirks, such as "The Man Who Speaks In Anagrams"). Cleese confirmed that "most of the sketches with heavy abuse were Graham's and mine, anything that started with a slow pan across countryside and impressive music was Mike and Terry's, and anything that got utterly involved with words and disappeared up any personal orifice was Eric's". Gilliam's animations ranged from the whimsical to the savage (the cartoon format allowing him to create some astonishingly violent scenes without fear of censorship).
Several names for the show were considered before Monty Python's Flying Circus was settled upon. Some were Owl Stretching Time, The Toad Elevating Moment, A Horse, a Spoon and a Bucket, Vaseline Review, and Bun, Wackett, Buzzard, Stubble and Boot. Flying Circus stuck when the BBC explained it had printed that name in its schedules and was not prepared to amend it. Many variations on the name in front of this title then came and went (popular legend holds that the BBC considered Monty Python's Flying Circus to be a ridiculous name, at which point the group threatened to change their name every week until the BBC relented). Gwen Dibley's Flying Circus was named after a woman Palin had read about in the newspaper, thinking it would be amusing if she were to discover she had her own TV show. Baron Von Took's Flying Circus was considered as an affectionate tribute to Barry Took, the man who had brought them together. Arthur Megapode's Flying Circus was suggested, then discarded. The name Baron Von Took's Flying Circus had the form of Baron Manfred von Richthofen's Flying Circus of WWI fame, and the new group was forming in a time when the Royal Guardsmen's 1966 song "Snoopy vs. the Red Baron" had peaked. The term 'flying circus' was also another name for the popular entertainment of the 1920s known as barnstorming, where multiple performers collaborated with their stunts to perform a combined set of acts.
Differing, somewhat confusing accounts are given of the origins of the Python name, although the members agree that its only "significance" was that they thought it sounded funny. In the 1998 documentary Live at Aspen during the US Comedy Arts Festival, where the troupe was awarded the AFI Star Award by the American Film Institute, the group implied that "Monty" was selected (Eric Idle's idea) as a gently mocking tribute to Field Marshal Lord Montgomery, a British general of World War II; requiring a "slippery-sounding" surname, they settled on "Python". On other occasions, Idle has claimed that the name "Monty" was that of a popular and rotund fellow who drank in his local pub; people would often walk in and ask the barman, "Has Monty been in yet?", forcing the name to become stuck in his mind. The name Monty Python was later described by the BBC as being "envisaged by the team as the perfect name for a sleazy entertainment agent".
Style of the show
Flying Circus popularised innovative formal techniques, such as the cold open, in which an episode began without the traditional opening titles or announcements. An example of this is the "It's" man: Palin, outfitted in Robinson Crusoe garb, making a tortuous journey across various terrains, before finally approaching the camera to state, "It's ...", only to be then cut off by the title sequence and theme music. On several occasions, the cold open lasted until mid-show, after which the regular opening titles ran. Occasionally, the Pythons tricked viewers by rolling the closing credits halfway through the show, usually continuing the joke by fading to the familiar globe logo used for BBC continuity, over which Cleese would parody the clipped tones of a BBC announcer. On one occasion, the credits ran directly after the opening titles. On the subversive nature of the show (and their subsequent films), Cleese states "anti-authoritarianism was deeply ingrained in Python".
Because of their dislike of finishing with punchlines, they experimented with ending the sketches by cutting abruptly to another scene or animation, walking offstage, addressing the camera (breaking the fourth wall), or introducing a totally unrelated event or character. A classic example of this approach was the use of Chapman's "anti-silliness" character of "the Colonel", who walked into several sketches and ordered them to be stopped because things were becoming "far too silly".
Another favourite way of ending sketches was to drop a cartoonish "16-ton weight" prop on one of the characters when the sketch seemed to be losing momentum, or a knight in full armour (played by Terry Gilliam) would wander on-set and hit characters over the head with a rubber chicken, before cutting to the next scene. Yet another way of changing scenes was when John Cleese, usually outfitted in a dinner suit, would come in as a radio commentator and, in a rather pompous manner, make the formal and determined announcement "And now for something completely different.", which later became the title of the first Monty Python film.
The Python theme music is the Band of the Grenadier Guards' rendition of John Philip Sousa's "The Liberty Bell" which was first published in 1893. Under the Berne Convention's "country of origin" concept, the composition was subject to United States copyright law which states that any work first published prior to 1924 was in the public domain, owing to copyright expiration. This enabled Gilliam to co-opt the march for the series without having to make any royalty payments.
The use of Gilliam's surreal, collage stop motion animations was another innovative intertextual element of the Python style. Many of the images Gilliam used were lifted from famous works of art, and from Victorian illustrations and engravings. The giant foot which crushes the show's title at the end of the opening credits is in fact the foot of Cupid, cut from a reproduction of the Renaissance masterpiece Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time by Bronzino. This foot, and Gilliam's style in general, are visual trademarks of the programme.
The Pythons used the British tradition of cross-dressing comedy by donning frocks and makeup and playing female roles themselves while speaking in falsetto. Jones specialised in playing the working-class housewife, or "ratbag old women" as termed by the BBC. Palin and Idle generally played the role more posh, with Idle playing more feminine women. Cleese played female roles more sparsely, while Chapman was frequently paired with Jones as a ratbag woman or with Idle portraying middle-class women commenting upon TV. Generally speaking, female roles were played by women only when the scene specifically required that the character be sexually attractive (although sometimes they used Idle for this). The troupe later turned to Carol Cleveland, who co-starred in numerous episodes after 1970. In some episodes, and later in the stoning scene in Monty Python's Life of Brian, they took the idea one step further by playing women who impersonated men.
Many sketches are well-known and widely quoted. "Dead Parrot sketch", "The Lumberjack Song", "Spam" (which led to the coining of the term email spam), "Nudge Nudge", "The Spanish Inquisition", "Upper Class Twit of the Year", "Cheese Shop", "The Ministry of Silly Walks", "Argument Clinic", "The Funniest Joke in the World" (a sketch referenced in Google Translate), and Four Yorkshiremen sketch" are just a few examples. Most of the show’s sketches satirise areas of public life, such as: Dead Parrot (poor customer service), Silly Walks (bureaucratic inefficiency), Spam (ubiquity of Spam post World War II), and Four Yorkshiremen (nostalgic conversations). Featuring regularly in skits, Gumbys (characters of limited intelligence and vocabulary) were part of the Pythons' satirical view of television of the 1970s which condescendingly encouraged more involvement from the "man on the street".
Introduction to North America and the world
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) added Monty Python's Flying Circus to its national September 1970 fall line-up. They aired the 13 episodes of series 1, which had first run on the BBC the previous autumn (October 1969 to January 1970), as well as the first six episodes of series 2 only a few weeks after they first appeared on the BBC (September to November 1970). The CBC dropped the show when it returned to regular programming after the Christmas 1970 break, choosing to not place the remaining seven episodes of series 2 on the January 1971 CBC schedule. Within a week, the CBC received hundreds of calls complaining of the cancellation, and more than 100 people staged a demonstration at the CBC's Montreal studios. The show eventually returned, becoming a fixture on the network during the first half of the 1970s.
Sketches from Monty Python's Flying Circus were introduced to American audiences in August 1972, with the release of the Python film And Now for Something Completely Different, featuring sketches from series 1 and 2 of the television show. This 1972 release met with limited box office success.
The ability to show Monty Python's Flying Circus under the American NTSC standard had been made possible by the commercial actions of American television producer Greg Garrison. Garrison produced the NBC series The Dean Martin Comedy World, which ran during the summer of 1974. The concept was to show clips from comedy shows produced in other countries, including tape of the Python sketches "Bicycle Repairman" and "The Dull Life of a Stockbroker". Payment for use of these two sketches was enough to allow Time-Life Films to convert the entire Python library to NTSC standard, allowing for the sale to the PBS network stations which then brought the entire show to US audiences.
Through the efforts of Python's American manager Nancy Lewis, during the summer of 1974, Ron Devillier, the programming director for nonprofit PBS television station KERA in Dallas, Texas, started airing episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus. Ratings shot through the roof, providing an encouraging sign to the other 100 PBS stations that had signed up to begin airing the show in October 1974—exactly five years after their BBC debut. There was also cross-promotion from FM radio stations across the US, whose airing of tracks from the Python LPs had already introduced American audiences to this bizarre brand of comedy. The popularity on PBS resulted in the 1974 re-release of the 1972 ...Completely Different film, with much greater box office success. The success of the show was captured by a March 1975 article headline in The New York Times, "Monty Python's Flying Circus Is Barnstorming Here". Asked what challenges were left, now that they had made TV shows, films, written books, and produced records, Chapman responded, "Well, actually world supremacy would be very nice", before Idle cautioned, "Yes, but that sort of thing has got to be done properly".
In 1975 ABC broadcast two 90-minute Monty Python specials, each with three shows, but cut out a total of 24 minutes from each, in part to make time for commercials, and in part to avoid upsetting their audience. As the judge observed in Gilliam v. American Broadcasting Companies, Inc., where Monty Python sued for damages caused by broadcast of the mutilated version, "According to the network, appellants should have anticipated that most of the excised material contained scatological references inappropriate for American television and that these scenes would be replaced with commercials, which presumably are more palatable to the American public." Monty Python won the case.
With the popularity of Python throughout the rest of the 1970s and through most of the 1980s, PBS stations looked at other British comedies, leading to UK shows such as Are You Being Served? gaining a US audience, and leading, over time, to many PBS stations having a "British Comedy Night" which airs many popular UK comedies.
In 1976, Monty Python became the top rated show in Japan. The literal translation of the Japanese title was The Gay Dragon Boys Show. The popularity of the show in the Netherlands saw the town of Spijkenisse near Rotterdam open a 'silly walks' road crossing in 2018. Believed to be a world first, the official sign asks pedestrians to cross the road in a comical manner.
Departure of Cleese
Having considered the possibility at the end of the second season, Cleese left the Flying Circus at the end of the third. He later explained that he felt he no longer had anything fresh to offer the show, and claimed that only two Cleese- and Chapman-penned sketches in the third series ("Dennis Moore" and the "Cheese Shop") were truly original, and that the others were bits and pieces from previous work cobbled together in slightly different contexts. He was also finding Chapman, who was at that point in the full throes of alcoholism, difficult to work with. According to an interview with Idle, "It was on an Air Canada flight on the way to Toronto, when John (Cleese) turned to all of us and said 'I want out.' Why? I don't know. He gets bored more easily than the rest of us. He's a difficult man, not easy to be friendly with. He's so funny because he never wanted to be liked. That gives him a certain fascinating, arrogant freedom." Jones noted his reticence in 2012, "He was good at it, when he did it he was professional, but he’d rather not have done it. The others all loved it, but he got more and more pissed off about having to come out and do filming, and the one that really swung it, in my view, was when we had to do the day on the Newhaven lifeboat."
The rest of the group carried on for one more "half" season before calling a halt to the programme in 1974. While the first three seasons contained 13 episodes each, the fourth ended after just six. The name Monty Python's Flying Circus appears in the opening animation for season four, but in the end credits, the show is listed as simply Monty Python. Although Cleese left the show, he was credited as a writer for three of the six episodes, largely concentrated in the "Michael Ellis" episode, which had begun life as one of the many drafts of the "Holy Grail" motion picture. When a new direction for "Grail" was decided upon, the subplot of Arthur and his knights wandering around a strange department store in modern times was lifted out and recycled as the aforementioned TV episode. Songwriter Neil Innes contributed to some sketches, including "Appeal on Behalf of Very Rich People".
Life beyond the Flying Circus
Filmography
And Now for Something Completely Different (1971)
The Pythons' first feature film was directed by Ian MacNaughton, reprising his role from the television series. It consisted of sketches from the first two seasons of the Flying Circus, reshot on a low budget (and often slightly edited) for cinema release. Material selected for the film includes: "Dead Parrot", "The Lumberjack Song", "Upper Class Twit of the Year", "Hell's Grannies", "Self-Defence Class", "How Not to Be Seen", and "Nudge Nudge". Financed by Playboys UK executive Victor Lownes, it was intended as a way of breaking Monty Python into America, and although it was ultimately unsuccessful in this, the film did good business in the UK, and later in the US on the "Midnight movie" circuit after their breakthrough television and film success, this being in the era before home video would make the original material much more accessible. The group did not consider the film a success.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
In 1974, between production on the third and fourth seasons, the group decided to embark on their first "proper" feature film, containing entirely new material. Monty Python and the Holy Grail was based on Arthurian legend and was directed by Jones and Gilliam. Again, the latter also contributed linking animations (and put together the opening credits). Along with the rest of the Pythons, Jones and Gilliam performed several roles in the film, but Chapman took the lead as King Arthur. Cleese returned to the group for the film, feeling that they were once again breaking new ground. Holy Grail was filmed on location, in picturesque rural areas of Scotland, with a budget of only £229,000; the money was raised in part with investments from rock groups such as Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, and Led Zeppelin, as well as UK music industry entrepreneur Tony Stratton-Smith (founder and owner of the Charisma Records label, for which the Pythons recorded their comedy albums).
The backers of the film wanted to cut the famous Black Knight scene (a Sam Peckinpah send-up in which the Black Knight loses his limbs in a duel), but it was eventually kept in the movie. "Tis but a scratch" and "It's just a flesh wound…" are often quoted. Holy Grail was selected as the second-best comedy of all time in the ABC special Best in Film: The Greatest Movies of Our Time. and viewers in a Channel 4 poll placed it sixth.
Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)
Following the success of Holy Grail, reporters asked for the title of the next Python film, though the team had not even begun to consider a third one. Eventually, Idle flippantly replied "Jesus Christ – Lust for Glory", which became the group's stock answer to such questions. However, they soon began to seriously consider a film lampooning the New Testament era in the same way Holy Grail had lampooned Arthurian legend. Despite sharing a distrust of organised religion, they agreed not to mock Jesus or his teachings directly. They also mentioned that they could not think of anything legitimate to make fun of about him. Instead, they decided to write a satire on credulity and hypocrisy among the followers of someone [Brian] who had been mistaken for the "Messiah", but who had no desire to be followed as such. Terry Jones adds it was a satire on those who for the next 2,000 years "couldn't agree on what Jesus was saying about peace and love".
The focus therefore shifted to a separate individual, Brian Cohen, born at the same time, and in a neighbouring stable. When Jesus appears in the film (first, as a baby in the stable, and then later on the Mount, speaking the Beatitudes), he is played straight (by actor Kenneth Colley) and portrayed with respect. The comedy begins when members of the crowd mishear his statements of peace, love, and tolerance ("I think he said, 'Blessed are the cheesemakers).
Directing duties were handled solely by Jones, having amicably agreed with Gilliam that Jones' approach to film-making was better suited for Python's general performing style. Holy Grail's production had often been stilted by their differences behind the camera. Gilliam again contributed two animated sequences (one being the opening credits) and took charge of set design. The film was shot on location in Tunisia, the finances being provided this time by The Beatles' George Harrison, who together with Denis O'Brien formed the production company Hand-Made Films for the movie. Harrison had a cameo role as the "owner of the Mount".
Despite its subject matter attracting controversy, particularly upon its initial release, it has (together with its predecessor) been ranked among the greatest comedy films. In 2006 it was ranked first on a Channel 4 list of the 50 Greatest Comedy Films. In 2013, Richard Burridge, a theologian decorated by Pope Francis, called Life of Brian an "extraordinary tribute to the life and work and teaching of Jesus—that they couldn't actually blaspheme or make a joke out of it. They did a great satire on closed minds and people who follow blindly. Then you have them splitting into factions...it is a wonderful satire on the way that Jesus's own teaching has been used to persecute others. They were satirising fundamentalism and persecution of others and at the same time saying the one person who rises above all this was Jesus".
Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1982)
Filmed at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles during preparations for The Meaning of Life in September 1980, this was a concert film (directed by Terry Hughes) in which the Pythons performed sketches from the television series in front of an audience. The released film also incorporated footage from the German television specials (the inclusion of which gives Ian MacNaughton his first on-screen credit for Python since the end of Flying Circus) and live performances of several songs from the troupe's then-current Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album.
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983)
The Pythons' final film returned to something structurally closer to the style of Flying Circus. A series of sketches loosely follows the ages of man from birth to death. Directed again by Jones solo, The Meaning of Life is embellished with some of the group's most bizarre and disturbing moments, as well as various elaborate musical numbers, which include "Galaxy Song" (performed by Idle) and "Every Sperm Is Sacred" (performed by Palin and Jones). The film is by far their darkest work, containing a great deal of black humour, garnished by some spectacular violence (including an operation to remove a liver from a living patient without anaesthetic and the morbidly obese Mr. Creosote exploding over several restaurant patrons after finally giving in to the smooth maître d' telling him to eat a mint – "It's only a wafer-thin mint..."). At the time of its release, the Pythons confessed their aim was to offend "absolutely everyone", adding "It is guaranteed to offend".
The Liver Donor scene (which sees someone come to a man's door to take his liver, to which he says: "No, no, I'm not dead", before being told: "Oooh, it doesn't say that on the form"), is a satire on bureaucracy, a common Python trope. Besides the opening credits and the fish sequence, Gilliam, by now an established live-action director, no longer wanted to produce any linking cartoons, offering instead to direct one sketch, "The Crimson Permanent Assurance". Under his helm, though, the segment grew so ambitious and tangential that it was cut from the movie and used as a supporting feature in its own right. (Television screenings also use it as a prologue.) This was the last project on which all six Pythons collaborated, except for the 1989 compilation Parrot Sketch Not Included, where they are all seen sitting in a closet for four seconds. This was the last time Chapman appeared on screen with the Pythons.
Secret Policeman's Ball benefit shows
Members of Python contributed their services to charitable endeavours and causes—sometimes as an ensemble, at other times as individuals. The cause that has been the most frequent and consistent beneficiary has been the human rights work of Amnesty International. Between 1976 and 1981, the troupe or its members appeared in four major fund-raisers for Amnesty—known collectively as the Secret Policeman's Ball shows—which were turned into multiple films, TV shows, videos, record albums, and books. The brainchild of John Cleese, these benefit shows in London and their many spin-offs raised considerable sums of money for Amnesty, raised public and media awareness of the human rights cause, and influenced many other members of the entertainment community (especially rock musicians) to become involved in political and social issues. Among the many musicians who have publicly attributed their activism—and the organisation of their own benefit events—to the inspiration of the work in this field of Monty Python are Bob Geldof (organiser of Live Aid), U2, Pete Townshend, and Sting. Bono told Rolling Stone in 1986, "I saw The Secret Policeman’s Ball and it became a part of me. It sowed a seed..." Sting states, "before [the Ball] I did not know about Amnesty, I did not know about its work, I did not know about torture in the world." On the impact of the Ball on Geldof, Sting states, "he took the ‘Ball’ and ran with it."
Ball co-founder Cleese and Jones had an involvement (as performer, writer or director) in all four Amnesty benefit shows, Palin in three, Chapman in two, and Gilliam in one. Idle did not participate in the Amnesty shows. Notwithstanding Idle's lack of participation, the other five members (together with "Associate Pythons" Carol Cleveland and Neil Innes) all appeared together in the first Secret Policeman's Ball benefit—the 1976 A Poke in the Eye held at Her Majesty's Theatre in London's West End—where they performed several Python sketches. In this first show, they were collectively billed as Monty Python. Peter Cook deputised for the absent Idle in a courtroom sketch. In the next three shows, the participating Python members performed many Python sketches, but were billed under their individual names rather than under the collective Python banner. The second show featured newcomer Rowan Atkinson and Scottish comedian Billy Connolly. The Secret Policeman's Ball were the first stage shows in the UK to present comedic performers (such as Monty Python and Rowan Atkinson) in the same setting and shows as their contemporaries in rock music (which included Eric Clapton, Sting and Phil Collins). After a six-year break, Amnesty resumed producing Secret Policeman's Ball benefit shows which were held at the London Palladium in 1987 (sometimes with, and sometimes without, variants of the title) and by 2006 had presented a total of twelve shows. Since 1987 the Balls featured newer generations of British comedic performers, such as Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, and puppets from the satirical TV show Spitting Image, with many attributing their participation in the show to their desire to emulate the Python's pioneering work for Amnesty. Cleese and Palin made a brief cameo appearance in the 1989 Amnesty show; apart from that, the Pythons have not appeared in shows after the first four.
Going solo
Each member has pursued various film, television, and stage projects since the break-up of the group, but often continued to work with one another. Many of these collaborations were very successful, most notably A Fish Called Wanda (1988), written by Cleese, in which he starred along with Palin. The pair also appeared in Time Bandits (1981), a film directed by Gilliam, who wrote it together with Palin. Gilliam directed Jabberwocky (1977), and also directed and co-wrote Brazil (1985), which featured Palin, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), which featured Idle; he followed these with writing and directing an additional six (as of 2021) films.
Yellowbeard (1983) was co-written by Chapman and featured Chapman, Idle, and Cleese, as well as many other English comedians including Peter Cook, Spike Milligan, and Marty Feldman.
Palin and Jones wrote the comedic TV series Ripping Yarns (1976–79), starring Palin. Jones also appeared in the pilot episode and Cleese appeared in a nonspeaking part in the episode "Golden Gordon". Jones' film Erik the Viking also has Cleese playing a small part. In 1996 Terry Jones wrote and directed an adaptation of Kenneth Grahame's novel The Wind in the Willows. It featured four members of Monty Python: Jones as Mr. Toad, Idle as Ratty, Cleese as Mr. Toad's lawyer, and Palin as the Sun. Gilliam was considered for the voice of the river. The film included Steve Coogan who played Mole.
Cleese has the most prolific solo career, appearing in dozens of films, several TV shows or series (including Cheers, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Q's assistant in the James Bond movies, and Will & Grace), many direct-to-video productions, some video games and a number of commercials. His BBC sitcom Fawlty Towers (written by and starring Cleese together with his wife Connie Booth) is the only comedy series to rank higher than the Flying Circus on the BFI TV 100's list, topping the whole poll. Cleese's character, Basil Fawlty, was ranked second (to Homer Simpson) on Channel 4's 2001 list of the 100 Greatest TV Characters.
Idle enjoyed critical success with Rutland Weekend Television in the mid-1970s, out of which came the Beatles parody the Rutles (responsible for the cult mockumentary All You Need Is Cash), and as an actor in Nuns on the Run (1990) with Robbie Coltrane. In 1976 Idle directed music videos for George Harrison songs "This Song" and "Crackerbox Palace", the latter of which also featured cameo appearances from Neil Innes and John Cleese. Idle has had success with Python songs: "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" went to no. 3 in the UK singles chart in 1991. The song had been revived by Simon Mayo on BBC Radio 1, and was consequently released as a single that year. The theatrical phenomenon of the Python musical Spamalot has made Idle the most financially successful of the troupe after Python. Written by Idle (and featuring a pre-recorded cameo of Cleese as the voice of God), it has proved to be an enormous hit on Broadway, London's West End and Las Vegas. This was followed by Not the Messiah, which revises The Life of Brian as an oratorio. For the work's 2007 premiere at the Luminato festival in Toronto (which commissioned the work), Idle himself sang the "baritone-ish" part.
After Python reunions
Since The Meaning of Life, their last project as a team, the Pythons have often been the subject of reunion rumours. In 1988 Monty Python won the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema, with four of the six Pythons (Jones, Palin, Gilliam and Chapman) collecting the award. The final appearance of all six together occurred during the 1989 Parrot Sketch Not Included – 20 Years of Monty Python TV special. The death of Chapman in October 1989 put an end to the speculation of any further reunions. Several occasions since 1989 have occurred when the surviving five members have gathered together for appearances—albeit not formal reunions. In 1996 Jones, Idle, Cleese, and Palin were featured in a film adaptation of The Wind in the Willows, which was later renamed Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. In 1997 Palin and Cleese rolled out a new version of the "Dead Parrot sketch" for Saturday Night Live.
Monty Python were the inaugural recipients of the Empire Inspiration Award in 1997. Palin, Jones and Gilliam received the award on stage in London from Elton John while Cleese and Idle appeared via satellite from Los Angeles. In 1998 during the US Comedy Arts Festival, where the troupe were awarded the AFI Star Award by the American Film Institute, the five remaining members, along with what was purported to be Chapman's ashes, were reunited on stage for the first time in 18 years. The occasion was in the form of an interview called Monty Python Live at Aspen, (hosted by Robert Klein, with an appearance by Eddie Izzard) in which the team looked back at some of their work and performed a few new sketches. On 9 October 1999, to commemorate 30 years since the first Flying Circus television broadcast, BBC2 devoted an evening to Python programmes, including a documentary charting the history of the team, interspersed with new sketches by the Monty Python team filmed especially for the event.
The surviving Pythons had agreed in principle to perform a live tour of America in 1999. Several shows were to be linked with Q&A meetings in various cities. Although all had said yes, Palin later changed his mind, much to the annoyance of Idle, who had begun work organising the tour. This led to Idle refusing to take part in the new material shot for the BBC anniversary evening. In 2002, four of the surviving members, bar Cleese, performed "The Lumberjack Song" and "Sit on My Face" for George Harrison's memorial concert. The reunion also included regular supporting contributors Neil Innes and Carol Cleveland, with a special appearance from Tom Hanks.
In an interview to publicise the DVD release of The Meaning of Life, Cleese said a further reunion was unlikely. "It is absolutely impossible to get even a majority of us together in a room, and I'm not joking," Cleese said. He said that the problem was one of busyness rather than one of bad feelings. A sketch appears on the same DVD spoofing the impossibility of a full reunion, bringing the members "together" in a deliberately unconvincing fashion with modern bluescreen/greenscreen techniques.
Idle responded to queries about a Python reunion by adapting a line used by George Harrison in response to queries about a possible Beatles reunion. When asked in November 1989 about such a possibility, Harrison responded: "As far as I'm concerned, there won't be a Beatles reunion as long as John Lennon remains dead." Idle's version of this was that he expected to see a proper Python reunion, "just as soon as Graham Chapman comes back from the dead", but added, "we're talking to his agent about terms."
The Pythons Autobiography by The Pythons (2003), compiled from interviews with the surviving members, reveals that a series of disputes in 1998, over a possible sequel to Holy Grail that had been conceived by Idle, may have resulted in the group's split. Cleese's feeling was that The Meaning of Life had been personally difficult and ultimately mediocre, and did not wish to be involved in another Python project for a variety of reasons (not least amongst them was the absence of Chapman, whose straight man-like central roles in the Grail and Brian films had been considered to be an essential anchoring performance). The book also reveals that Cleese saw Chapman as his "greatest sounding board. If Graham thought something was funny, then it almost certainly was funny. You cannot believe how invaluable that is.' Ultimately it was Cleese who ended the possibility of another Python movie.
A full, if nonperforming, reunion of the surviving Python members appeared at the March 2005 premiere of Idle's musical Spamalot, based on Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It opened in Chicago and has since played in New York on Broadway, London, and numerous other major cities across the world. In 2004 it was nominated for 14 Tony Awards and won three: Best Musical, Best Direction of a Musical for Mike Nichols, and Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical for Sara Ramirez, who played the Lady of the Lake, a character specially added for the musical. The original Broadway cast included Tim Curry as King Arthur, Michael McGrath as Patsy, David Hyde Pierce as Sir Robin, Hank Azaria as Sir Lancelot and other roles (e.g., the French Taunter, Knight of Ni, and Tim the Enchanter), Christopher Sieber as Sir Galahad and other roles (e.g., the Black Knight and Prince Herbert's Father). Cleese played the voice of God, a role played in the film by Chapman.
Owing in part to the success of Spamalot, PBS announced on 13 July 2005 that it would begin to re-air the entire run of Monty Python's Flying Circus and new one-hour specials focusing on each member of the group, called Monty Python's Personal Best. Each episode was written and produced by the individual being honoured, with the five remaining Pythons collaborating on Chapman's programme, the only one of the editions to take on a serious tone with its new material.
In 2009, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the first episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus, a six-part documentary entitled Monty Python: Almost the Truth (Lawyers Cut) was released, featuring interviews with the surviving members of the team, as well as archive interviews with Graham Chapman and numerous excerpts from the television series and films. Each episode opens with a different re-recording of the theme song from Life of Brian, with Iron Maiden vocalist and Python fan Bruce Dickinson performing the sixth.
Also in commemoration of the 40th anniversary, Idle, Palin, Jones, and Gilliam appeared in a production of Not the Messiah at the Royal Albert Hall. The European premiere was held on 23 October 2009. An official 40th anniversary Monty Python reunion event took place in New York City on 15 October 2009, where the team received a Special Award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
In June 2011, it was announced that A Liar's Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman, an animated 3D movie based on the memoir of Graham Chapman, was in the making. The memoir A Liar's Autobiography was published in 1980 and details Chapman's journey through medical school, alcoholism, acknowledgement of his gay identity, and the tolls of surreal comedy. Asked what was true in a deliberately fanciful account by Chapman of his life, Terry Jones joked: "Nothing ... it's all a downright, absolute, blackguardly lie." The film uses Chapman's own voice—from a reading of his autobiography shortly before he died of cancer—and entertainment channel Epix announced the film's release in early 2012 in both 2D and 3D formats. Produced and directed by London-based Bill Jones, Ben Timlett, and Jeff Simpson, the new film has 15 animation companies working on chapters that will range from three to 12 minutes in length, each in a different style. John Cleese recorded dialogue which was matched with Chapman's voice. Michael Palin voiced Chapman's father and Terry Jones voiced his mother. Terry Gilliam voiced Graham's psychiatrist. They all play various other roles. Among the original Python group, only Eric Idle was not involved.
On 26 January 2012, Terry Jones announced that the five surviving Pythons would reunite in a sci-fi comedy film called Absolutely Anything. The film would combine computer-generated imagery and live action. It would be directed by Jones based on a script by Jones and Gavin Scott, and in addition to the Python members it would also star Simon Pegg, Kate Beckinsale and Robin Williams (in his final film role). The plot revolves around a teacher who discovers aliens (voiced by the Pythons) have given him magical powers to do "absolutely anything". Eric Idle responded via Twitter that he would not, in fact, be participating, although he was later added to the cast.
Monty Python Live (Mostly): One Down, Five to Go
In 2013, the Pythons lost a legal case to Mark Forstater, the film producer of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, over royalties for the derivative work Spamalot. They owed a combined £800,000 in legal fees and back royalties to Forstater. They proposed a reunion show to pay their legal bill.
On 19 November 2013, a new reunion was reported, following months of "secret talks". The original plan was for a live, one-off stage show at the O2 Arena in London on 1 July 2014, with "some of Monty Python's greatest hits, with modern, topical, Pythonesque twists" according to a press release. The tickets for this show went on sale in November 2013 and sold out in just 43 seconds. Nine additional shows were added, all of them at the O2, the last on 20 July. They have said that their reunion was inspired by South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who are massive Monty Python fans.
Mick Jagger featured in a promotional video for the shows: "Who wants to see that again, really? It's a bunch of wrinkly old men trying to relive their youth and make a load of money—the best one died years ago!" Michael Palin stated that the final reunion show on 20 July 2014 would be the last time that the troupe would perform together. It was screened to 2,000 cinemas around the world. Prior to the final night, Idle stated, "It is a world event and that’s really quite exciting. It means we’re actually going to say goodbye publicly on one show. Nobody ever has the chance to do that. The Beatles didn’t get a last good night." The last show was broadcast in the UK on Gold TV and internationally in cinemas by Fathom Events through a Dish Network satellite link.
Python members
Graham Chapman was originally a medical student, joining the Footlights at Cambridge. He completed his medical training and was legally entitled to practise as a doctor. Chapman is best remembered for the lead roles in Holy Grail, as King Arthur, and Life of Brian, as Brian Cohen. He died of metastatic throat cancer on 4 October 1989. At Chapman's memorial service, Cleese delivered an irreverent eulogy that included all the euphemisms for being dead from the "Dead Parrot" sketch, which they had written. Chapman's comedic fictional memoir, A Liar's Autobiography, was adapted into an animated 3D movie in 2012.
John Cleese is the oldest Python. He met his future Python writing partner, Chapman, in Cambridge. Outside of Python, he is best known for setting up the Video Arts group and for the sitcom Fawlty Towers (co-written with Connie Booth, whom Cleese met during work on Python and to whom he was married for a decade). Cleese has also co-authored several books on psychology and wrote the screenplay for the award-winning A Fish Called Wanda, in which he starred with Michael Palin.
Terry Gilliam, an American by birth, is the only member of the troupe of non-British origin. He started off as an animator and strip cartoonist for Harvey Kurtzman's Help! magazine, one issue of which featured Cleese. Moving from the US to England, he animated features for Do Not Adjust Your Set and was then asked by its makers to join them on their next project: Monty Python's Flying Circus. He co-directed Monty Python and the Holy Grail and directed short segments of other Python films (for instance "The Crimson Permanent Assurance", the short film that appears before The Meaning of Life).
When Monty Python was first formed, two writing partnerships were already in place: Cleese and Chapman, Jones and Palin. That left two in their own corners: Gilliam, operating solo due to the nature of his work, and Eric Idle. Regular themes in Idle's contributions were elaborate wordplay and musical numbers. After Flying Circus, he hosted Saturday Night Live four times in the first five seasons. Idle's initially successful solo career faltered in the 1990s with the failures of his 1993 film Splitting Heirs (written, produced by, and starring him) and 1998's An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (in which he starred). He revived his career by returning to the source of his worldwide fame, adapting Monty Python material for other media. Idle wrote the Tony Award-winning musical Spamalot, based on Holy Grail. Following the success of the musical he wrote Not the Messiah, an oratorio derived from the Life of Brian. Representing Monty Python, Idle featured in a one-hour symphony of British Music when he performed at the London 2012 Olympic Games closing ceremony.
Terry Jones has been described by other members of the team as the "heart" of the operation. Jones had a lead role in maintaining the group's unity and creative independence. Python biographer George Perry has commented that should "[you] speak to him on subjects as diverse as fossil fuels, or Rupert Bear, or mercenaries in the Middle Ages or Modern China ... in a moment you will find yourself hopelessly out of your depth, floored by his knowledge." Many others agree that Jones is characterised by his irrepressible, good-natured enthusiasm. However, Jones' passion often led to prolonged arguments with other group members—in particular Cleese—with Jones often unwilling to back down. Since his major contributions were largely behind the scenes (direction, writing), and he often deferred to the other members of the group as an actor, Jones' importance to Python was often under-rated. However, he does have the legacy of delivering possibly the most famous line in all of Python, as Brian's mother Mandy in Life of Brian, "He's not the Messiah, he's a very naughty boy!", a line voted the funniest in film history on two occasions. Jones died on 21 January 2020 from complications of dementia.
Sir Michael Palin attended Oxford, where he met his Python writing partner Jones. The two also wrote the series Ripping Yarns together. Palin and Jones originally wrote face-to-face, but soon found it was more productive to write apart and then come together to review what the other had written. Therefore, Jones and Palin's sketches tended to be more focused than that of the others, taking one bizarre situation, sticking to it, and building on it. After Flying Circus, Palin hosted Saturday Night Live four times in the first 10 seasons. His comedy output began to decrease in amount following the increasing success of his travel documentaries for the BBC. Palin released a book of diaries from the Python years entitled Michael Palin Diaries 1969–1979, published in 2007. Palin was awarded a knighthood in the 2019 New Year Honours, which was announced by Buckingham Palace in December 2018.
Associate Pythons
Several people have been accorded unofficial "associate Python" status over the years. Occasionally such people have been referred to as the 'seventh Python', in a style reminiscent of George Martin (or other associates of the Beatles) being dubbed "the Fifth Beatle". The two collaborators with the most meaningful and plentiful contributions have been Neil Innes and Carol Cleveland. Both were present and presented as Associate Pythons at the official Monty Python 25th-anniversary celebrations held in Los Angeles in July 1994.
Neil Innes is the only non-Python besides Douglas Adams to be credited with writing material for Flying Circus. He appeared in sketches and the Python films, as well as performing some of his songs in Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl. He was also a regular stand-in for absent team members on the rare occasions when they recreated sketches. For example, he took the place of Cleese at the Concert for George. Gilliam once noted that if anyone qualified for the title of the seventh Python, it would be Innes. He was one of the creative talents in the off-beat Bonzo Dog Band. He would later portray Ron Nasty of the Rutles and write all of the Rutles' compositions for All You Need Is Cash (1978), a mockumentary film co-directed by Idle. By 2005, a falling out had occurred between Idle and Innes over additional Rutles projects, the results being Innes' critically acclaimed Rutles "reunion" album The Rutles: Archaeology and Idle's straight-to-DVD The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch, each undertaken without the other's participation. According to an interview with Idle in the Chicago Tribune in May 2005, his attitude is that Innes and he go back "too far. And no further." Innes died of a heart attack on 29 December 2019 near Toulouse, where he had lived for several years.
Carol Cleveland was the most important female performer in the Monty Python ensemble, commonly referred to as "the female Python". She was originally hired by producer/director John Howard Davies for just the first five episodes of the Flying Circus. The Pythons then pushed to make Cleveland a permanent recurring performer after producer/director Ian MacNaughton brought in several other actresses who were not as good as she was. Cleveland went on to appear in about two-thirds of the episodes, as well as in all of the Python films, and in most of their stage shows, as well. According to Time, her most recognisable film roles are playing Zoot and Dingo, two maidens in the Castle Anthrax in Holy Grail.
Other contributors
Cleese's first wife, Connie Booth, appeared as various characters in all four series of Flying Circus. Her most significant role was the "best girl" of the eponymous Lumberjack in "The Lumberjack Song", though this role was sometimes played by Carol Cleveland. Booth appeared in a total of six sketches and also played one-off characters in Python feature films And Now for Something Completely Different and Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Douglas Adams was "discovered" by Chapman when a version of Footlights Revue (a 1974 BBC2 television show featuring some of Adams' early work) was performed live in London's West End. In Cleese's absence from the final TV series, the two formed a brief writing partnership, with Adams earning a writing credit in one episode for a sketch called "Patient Abuse". In the sketch—a satire on mind-boggling bureaucracy—a man who had been stabbed by a nurse arrives at his doctor's office bleeding profusely from the stomach, when the doctor makes him fill in numerous senseless forms before he can administer treatment. He also had two cameo appearances in this season. Firstly, in the episode "The Light Entertainment War", Adams shows up in a surgeon's mask (as Dr. Emile Koning, according to the on-screen captions), pulling on gloves, while Palin narrates a sketch that introduces one person after another, and never actually gets started. Secondly, at the beginning of "Mr. Neutron", Adams is dressed in a "pepperpot" outfit and loads a missile onto a cart being driven by Terry Jones, who is calling out for scrap metal ("Any old iron ..."). Adams and Chapman also subsequently attempted a few non-Python projects, including Out of the Trees. He also contributed to a sketch on the soundtrack album for Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Other than Carol Cleveland, the only other non-Python to make a significant number of appearances in the Flying Circus was Ian Davidson. He appeared in the first two series of the show, and played over 10 roles. While Davidson is primarily known as a scriptwriter, it is not known if he had any contribution toward the writing of the sketches, as he is only credited as a performer. In total, Davidson is credited as appearing in eight episodes of the show, which is more than any other male actor who was not a Python. Despite this, Davidson did not appear in any Python-related media subsequent to series 2, though footage of him was shown on the documentary Python Night – 30 Years of Monty Python.
Stand-up comedian Eddie Izzard, a devoted fan of the group, has occasionally stood in for absent members. When the BBC held a "Python Night" in 1999 to celebrate 30 years of the first broadcast of Flying Circus, the Pythons recorded some new material with Izzard standing in for Idle, who had declined to partake in person (she taped a solo contribution from the US). Izzard hosted The Life of Python (1999), a history of the group that was part of Python Night and appeared with them at a festival/tribute in Aspen, Colorado, in 1998 (released on DVD as Live at Aspen). Izzard has said that Monty Python was a significant influence on her style of comedy and Cleese has referred to her as "the lost Python".
Series director of Flying Circus, Ian MacNaughton, is also regularly associated with the group and made a few on-screen appearances in the show and in the film And Now for Something Completely Different. Apart from Neil Innes, others to contribute musically included Fred Tomlinson and the Fred Tomlinson Singers. They made appearances in songs such as "The Lumberjack Song" as a backup choir. Other contributors and performers for the Pythons included John Howard Davies, John Hughman, Lyn Ashley, Bob Raymond, John Young, Rita Davies, Stanley Mason, Maureen Flanagan, and David Ballantyne.
Cultural influence and legacy
By the time of Monty Python's 25th anniversary, in 1994, the point was already being made that "the five surviving members had with the passing years begun to occupy an institutional position in the edifice of British social culture that they had once had so much fun trying to demolish". A similar point is made in a 2006 book on the relationship between Python and philosophy: "It is remarkable, after all, not only that the utterly bizarre Monty Python's Flying Circus was sponsored by the BBC in the first place, but that Monty Python itself grew into an institution of enormous cultural influence."
A self-contained comedy unit responsible for both writing and performing their work, Monty Python's influence on comedy has been compared to the Beatles' influence on music. Author Neil Gaiman writes, "A strange combination of individuals gave us Python. And you needed those people, just in the same way that with the Beatles you had four talented people, but together you had the Beatles. And I think that's so incredibly true when it comes to Python."
Comedy stylists
Monty Python have been named as being influential to the comedy stylings of a great many people including: Sacha Baron Cohen, David Cross, Rowan Atkinson, Seth MacFarlane, Seth Meyers, Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Vic and Bob, Mike Myers, and "Weird Al" Yankovic. Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons, was influenced by Python's "high velocity sense of the absurd and not stopping to explain yourself", and pays tribute through a couch gag used in seasons five and six. Appearing on Monty Python's Best Bits (Mostly), Jim Carrey—who refers to Monty Python as the "Super Justice League of comedy"—recalled the effect on him of Ernest Scribbler (played by Palin) laughing himself to death in "The Funniest Joke in the World" sketch. Monty Python's Flying Circus served as an inspiration for voice actor Rob Paulsen in voicing Pinky from the animated television series Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain, giving the character "a goofy whack job" of a British accent.
Comedian John Oliver states, "Writing about the importance of Monty Python is basically pointless. Citing them as an influence is almost redundant. It's assumed. This strange group of wildly talented, appropriately disrespectful, hugely imaginative and massively inspirational idiots changed what comedy could be for their generation and for those that followed." On how Python's freeform style influenced sketch comedy, Tina Fey of the US television show Saturday Night Live states, "Sketch endings are overrated. Their key was to do something as long as it was funny and then just stop and do something else."
Places
In space
Seven asteroids are named after Monty Python or its members: 9617 Grahamchapman, 9618 Johncleese, 9619 Terrygilliam, 9620 Ericidle, 9621 Michaelpalin, 9622 Terryjones, and 13681 Monty Python.
In 2010, the commercial space company SpaceX launched a wheel of cheese into low earth orbit and returned it safely to Earth on COTS Demo Flight 1. Elon Musk, CEO and CTO of SpaceX, said this was done as a tribute to Monty Python.
Terrestrial
After John Cleese spoke negatively about the town of Palmerston North in New Zealand, recommending it as a good place to commit suicide, the town renamed a compost heap "Mt. Cleese".
"Pythonesque"
Among the more visible cultural influences of Monty Python is the inclusion of terms either directly from, or derived from, Monty Python, into the lexicon of the English language.
The most obvious of these is the term "Pythonesque", which has become a byword in surreal humour, and is included in standard dictionaries. Terry Jones commented on his disappointment at the existence of such a term, claiming the initial aim of Monty Python was to create something new and impossible to categorise, and "the fact that Pythonesque is now a word in the Oxford English Dictionary shows the extent to which we failed".
The term has been applied to animations similar to those constructed by Gilliam (e.g., the cut-out style of South Park, whose creators have often acknowledged a debt to Python, including contributing material to the aforementioned 30th-anniversary theme night).
Good Eats creator Alton Brown cited Python as one of the influences that shaped how he created the series, as well as how he authors the script for each episode. Later episodes included Gilliam-style animations to illustrate key points.
Film critic Robbie Collin writes, "You can find the Pythonesque everywhere in cinema. Most successful Hollywood comedies bear some kind of Python-print. The Austin Powers series chugs along on Pythonisms. Then there are Christopher Guest's mockumentaries, such as Waiting for Guffman and Best in Show, which revel in the quiet absurdity of the everyday—well-staked-out Python territory. And there's a tensile weirdness in the films of Will Ferrell that's also deeply Pythonesque."
TV
The Japanese anime series, Girls und Panzer, featured the special episode, "Survival War!", which referenced the 'Spam' sketch, but the word "spam" was censored to avoid legal issue with the Pythons.
Things named after Monty Python
Beyond a dictionary definition, Python terms have entered the lexicon in other ways.
The term "spam" in reference to bulk, unsolicited email is derived from the show's 1970 "Spam" sketch. As the waitress recites the Spam-filled menu, a chorus of Viking patrons drown out all conversations with a song, repeating "Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam… Spammity Spam! Wonderful Spam!".
The Python programming language by Guido van Rossum is named after the troupe, and Monty Python references are often found in sample code created for that language. The default integrated development environment of the programming language is named IDLE, an alternative one is named eric, both in honour of Eric Idle. Additionally, a 2001 April Fool's Day joke by van Rossum and Larry Wall involving the merger of Python with Perl was dubbed "Parrot" after the Dead Parrot sketch. The name "Parrot" was later used for a project to develop a virtual machine for running bytecode for interpreted languages such as Perl and Python. Its package index is also known as the "Cheese Shop" after the sketch of the same name. There is also a python refactoring tool called bicyclerepair named after Bicycle Repair Man sketch.
In 1985, a fossil of a previously unknown species of gigantic prehistoric snake from the Miocene was discovered in Riversleigh, Queensland, Australia. The Australian palaeontologist who discovered the fossil snake was a Monty Python fan, and he gave the snake the taxonomic name of Montypythonoides riversleighensis in honour of the Monty Python team.
In 2006, Ben & Jerry's, known for their "celebrity flavours", introduced to the line-up "Vermonty Python", a coffee liqueur ice cream with a chocolate cookie crumb swirl and fudge cows. The name "Minty Python" had been suggested before in 1996 in a contest to select the quintessential British ice cream flavour.
In 1999, in connection with the group's 30th anniversary, a beer named "Holy Grail Ale" was released by the Black Sheep Brewery in North Yorkshire.
The endangered Bemaraha woolly lemur (Avahi cleesei) is named after John Cleese.
Geneticists discovered a mutant gene which caused mutant flies to live twice as long as normal ones. They dubbed the gene "Indy," which is an acronym for the line of dialogue: "I'm not dead yet!", from the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
The band Toad the Wet Sprocket took its name from the Rock Notes sketch on the comedy album, Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album.
World records
On St George's Day, 23 April 2007, the cast and creators of Spamalot gathered in Trafalgar Square under the tutelage of the two Terrys (Jones and Gilliam) to set a new record for the world's largest coconut orchestra. They led 5,567 people "clip-clopping" in time to the Python classic, "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life", for the Guinness World Records attempt.
On 5 October 2019, to mark the 50th anniversary of Monty Python's first show, the "first official Monty Python Guinness world record attempt" tried to break the record for "the largest gathering of people dressed as Gumbys." A recurring character on the show, a Gumby wears a handkerchief on their head, has spectacles, braces, a knitted tank top, and wellington boots. The shirt sleeves and trouser legs are always rolled up, exposing their socks and knees. Dimwitted, their most famous catchphrases are "My brain hurts!" and repeated shouts of "Hello!" and "Sorry!".
Timeline
Media
Television
Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969–74) The show that started the Python phenomenon, see also List of Monty Python's Flying Circus episodes.
Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus (1972) Two 45-minute specials were made by WDR for West German television. The first was recorded in German, while the second was in English with German dubbing.
Monty Python's Personal Best (2006) Six one-hour specials, each episode presenting the best of one member's work.
Films
Five Monty Python productions were released as theatrical films:
And Now for Something Completely Different (1971) A collection of sketches from the first and second TV series of Monty Python's Flying Circus re-enacted and shot for film.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) King Arthur and his knights embark on a low-budget search for the Holy Grail, encountering humorous obstacles along the way. Some of these turned into stand-alone sketches.
Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) Brian is born on the first Christmas, in the stable next to Jesus'. He spends his life being mistaken for a messiah.
Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1982) A videotape recording directed by Terry Hughes of a live performance of sketches, it was originally intended for a TV/video special. It was transferred to 35 mm and given a limited theatrical release in the US.
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983) An examination of the meaning of life in a series of sketches from conception to death and beyond.
Albums
Monty Python's Flying Circus (1970)
Another Monty Python Record (1971)
Monty Python's Previous Record (1972)
The Monty Python Matching Tie and Handkerchief (1973)
Monty Python Live at Drury Lane (1974)
The Album of the Soundtrack of the Trailer of the Film of Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
Monty Python Live at City Center (1976)
The Monty Python Instant Record Collection (1977)
Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)
Monty Python Examines The Life of Brian (promo) (1979)
Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album (1980)
The Monty Python Instant Record Collection (US version) (1981)
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983)
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life: Audio Press Kit (promo) (1983)
The Final Rip Off (1987)
Monty Python Sings (1989)
The Ultimate Monty Python Rip Off (1994)
Monty Python Sings Again (2014)
The Hastily Cobbled Together for a Fast Buck Album (unreleased)
Theatre
Monty Python's Flying Circus Between 1974 and 1980 (Live at the Hollywood Bowl was released in 1982, but was performed in 1980), the Pythons made three sketch-based stage shows, comprising mainly material from the original television series.
Monty Python's Spamalot Written by Idle and directed by Mike Nichols, with music and lyrics by John Du Prez and Idle, it starred Hank Azaria, Tim Curry, and David Hyde Pierce; Spamalot is a musical adaptation of the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It ran in Chicago from 21 December 2004 to 23 January 2005, and began performances on Broadway on 17 March 2005. It won three Tony Awards. It was one of eight UK musicals commemorated on Royal Mail stamps, issued in February 2011.
Not the Messiah the Toronto Symphony Orchestra commissioned Idle and John Du Prez to write the music and lyrics of an oratorio based on Monty Python's Life of Brian. Entitled Not the Messiah, it had its world premiere as part of Luminato, a "festival of arts and creativity" taking place 1–10 June 2007 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Not the Messiah was conducted by Peter Oundjian, music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, who is Idle's cousin. It was performed by a narrator, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, with guest soloists and choir. According to Idle, "I promise it will be funnier than Handel, though probably not as good".
Monty Python Live One Down, Five to Go : (1–5, 15–16, 18–20 July 2014). The Pythons have stated this is the last live reunion of the remaining members of Monty Python. Held at London's O2 Arena, tickets for the first night's show sold out in 43 seconds. The set list included a mix of live performances of their most popular sketches, clips from their shows, and elaborate dance numbers. Each night featured a different celebrity "victim" of the "Blackmail" sketch. The final show was screened to 2,000 cinemas around the world.
Books
Monty Python's Big Red Book (1971) .
The Brand New Monty Python Bok (1973) .
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1977) .
Monty Python's The Life of Brian/MONTYPYTHONSCRAPBOOK (1979, plus script-only reprint) .
The Complete Works of Shakespeare and Monty Python. Volume One – Monty Python (1981) .
Monty Python: The Case Against (by Robert Hewison) (1981)
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983) .
The Monty Python Gift Boks (1986)
Monty Python's Flying Circus – Just The Words Volume 1 (1989) .
Monty Python's Flying Circus – Just The Words Volume 2 (1989) .
The Fairly Incomplete & Rather Badly Illustrated Monty Python Song Book (1994)
Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus (edited by Alfred Biolek) (1998)
Monty Python Speaks! (edited by David Morgan) (1999)
A Pocketful of Python Volume 1 (edited by Terry Jones) (1999)
A Pocketful of Python Volume 2 (edited by John Cleese) (1999)
A Pocketful of Python Volume 3 (edited by Terry Gilliam) (2000)
A Pocketful of Python Volume 4 (edited by Michael Palin) (2000)
A Pocketful of Python Volume 5 (edited by Eric Idle) (2002)
The Pythons Autobiography by The Pythons (edited by Bob McCabe) (2003, plus various reformatted editions)
Monty Python Live! (2009)
Monty Python at Work (by Michael Palin, compilation of republished diary entries) (2014)
So, Anyway ... (by John Cleese, Autobiography to age 30) (2014)
Always Look on the Bright Side of Life (by Eric Idle, Autobiography) (2018) .
Games
Monty Python's Flying Circus (1990) a computer game released by Virgin Games for 8-bit systems such as the Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, and for the 32-bit Amiga
Monty Python's Complete Waste of Time (1994) released by 7th Level for PC / Mac / DOS
Monty Python & the Quest for the Holy Grail (1996), official game released by 7th Level
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1997), also released by 7th Level.
Python-opoly (2007), a Monty Python-themed property game released by Toy Vault Inc.
Monty Python Fluxx (2008), a card game released by Looney Labs
Monty Python's Cow Tossing (2011), a smartphone game.
The Ministry of Silly Walks (2014), a smartphone game
See also
List of recurring characters in Monty Python's Flying Circus
Python (Monty) Pictures
The Firesign Theatre
References
Further reading
The Secret Policeman's Balls, 3-DVD set (2009)
Monty Python: 40 Years of Insanity
The Life of Python – 20 Greatest Monty Python Sketches (40th Anniversary)
External links
Monty Python – Official YouTube page
40 Years of Monty Python – photo essay by TIME magazine
2014 interview on return to live shows
Monty Python on youtube
British comedy troupes
British television comedy
British surrealist artists
British surrealist writers
Surreal comedy
Surrealist groups
Virgin Records artists
Arista Records artists
BAFTA Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award
European Film Awards winners (people)
Charisma Records artists
1969 establishments in England
1983 disestablishments in England
British comedy musicians
British novelty song performers
Black comedy
Religious comedy and humour | true | [
"Kenneth Colley (born 7 December 1937) is an English film and television actor whose career spans 50 years. He came to wider prominence through his role as Admiral Piett in the Star Wars films The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983).\n\nCareer\nColley was born in Manchester, Lancashire. One of his early appearances on British television was as Noah Riley in the 1970s police drama The Sweeney, in an episode entitled Trap. He played Jesus in The Life of Brian, having also appeared in the earlier Monty Python-related production Ripping Yarns episode \"The Testing of Eric Olthwaite\" alongside Michael Palin. As a Shakespearean actor he played the Duke of Vienna in the BBC Television Shakespeare production of Measure for Measure in 1979.\n\nColley worked extensively with British director Ken Russell from the early 1970s to the early 1990s as part of a repertory of actors who appeared across Russell's television and film work. He played the role of Modest Tchaikovsky in the film The Music Lovers (1971). He went on to play the role of LeGrand in Russell's The Devils (also 1971); he played the journalist Krenek in the biopic Mahler (1974); the composer Frédéric Chopin in Lisztomania (1975); Mr Brunt in Russell's adaptation of The Rainbow (1989) by D. H. Lawrence. His last role for Russell was as Captain Dreyfus in the film Prisoner of Honor (1991), which dealt with the Dreyfus affair.\n\nFor his work in the Star Wars franchise, Colley's role as Admiral Piett is noted for differing from the other ill-fated Imperial officers who appeared alongside him in The Empire Strikes Back (1980), as Colley was the only actor to play an Imperial officer in a second Star Wars film, reprising his role in Return of the Jedi (1983). Colley reprised his role as Piett in the Cartoon Network animated special Lego Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out in September 2012. Coincidentally, Colley and David Prowse had a part in the fantasy film Jabberwocky (1977).\n\nColley also played a notable role in the 1982 Clint Eastwood film Firefox, where he played a Soviet colonel tasked with the protection of the Firefox and its secrets. He went on to play SS-Standartenführer Paul Blobel in the Second World War drama War and Remembrance.\n\nColley has directed one film to date, Greetings (2007), a horror film starring Kirsty Cox, Henry Dunn and Ben Shockley.\n\nPersonal life\n\nColley lives in Hythe, Kent.\n\nAccording to comments which Terry Gilliam (who directed him in Jabberwocky and acted with him in Life of Brian) made in the DVD audio commentaries for both films, Colley has a stammer in real life. When he had a role in a film, however, he could recite the lines perfectly. Stuttering is a character trait, however, in his role as the Accordion Man in the 1978 BBC television drama, Pennies from Heaven.\n\nFilmography\n\nFilm\n\nTelevision\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\n1937 births\nMale actors from Manchester\nEnglish male film actors\nEnglish male television actors\nLiving people\nPeople from Hythe, Kent",
"Joshua Robert Colley is an American musical theatre actor.\n\nPersonal life\nJoshua Colley and his twin brother Cameron were born on January 20, 2002, to Brad and Robbie Lynn Colley. Colley was raised in Trinity, Florida.\n\nCareer\nColley played the role of Les in the musical Newsies between March 11, 2013 and February 2, 2014. In January 2014, it was announced that Colley would play the role of Gavroche in the Broadway revival of Les Misérables, alternating in that role with Gaten Matarazzo. Colley started with the show when it began previews on March 1, 2014 and performed until March 1, 2015. The Huffington Post called Colley's performance \"'grounded and believable and anything but an outtake from Oliver!\"\n\nIn 2014, Colley was cast as the voice of Pig Robinson in the Nick Jr. animated television show Peter Rabbit. He voiced the role from 2014 to 2015.\n\nColley played the lead role in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown at the York Theater Company from May 24, 2016 to June 26, 2016. The cast album was released on November 18, 2016 by Broadway Records.\n\nHe took one week off of the run to perform in The Little Mermaid at the Hollywood Bowl. Colley played the role of Flounder, alongside Sara Bareilles, Tituss Burgess, John Stamos, and Rebel Wilson in the first week of June 2016.\n\nIn 2021, he joined the cast of Hulu's Sex Appeal as well as upcoming American comedy film Senior Year.\n\nFilmography\n\nTheatre credits\n\nReferences\n\nAmerican male musical theatre actors\nAmerican male child actors\nLiving people\n2002 births"
]
|
[
"Monty Python",
"Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)",
"Who was in Life of Brian?",
"Chapman was cast in the lead role of Brian.",
"What other actors were in it?",
"actor Kenneth Colley",
"What role did Kenneth Colley play?",
"When Jesus appears in the film"
]
| C_29c65da14d78435e8e89a0869d5380cb_0 | Was Life of Brian popular? | 4 | Was Monty Python's Life of Brian popular? | Monty Python | Following the success of Holy Grail, reporters asked for the title of the next Python film, despite the fact that the team had not even begun to consider a third one. Eventually, Idle flippantly replied "Jesus Christ - Lust for Glory", which became the group's stock answer once they realised that it shut reporters up. However, they soon began to seriously consider a film lampooning the New Testament era in the same way Holy Grail had lampooned Arthurian legend. Despite them all sharing a distrust of organised religion, they agreed not to mock Jesus or his teachings directly. They also mentioned that they could not think of anything legitimate to make fun of about him. Instead, they decided to write a satire on credulity and hypocrisy among the followers of someone who had been mistaken for the "Messiah", but who had no desire to be followed as such. Chapman was cast in the lead role of Brian. The focus therefore shifted to a separate individual born at the same time, in a neighbouring stable. When Jesus appears in the film (first, as a baby in the stable, and then later on the Mount, speaking the Beatitudes), he is played straight (by actor Kenneth Colley) and portrayed with respect. The comedy begins when members of the crowd mishear his statements of peace, love, and tolerance ("I think he said, 'Blessed are the cheesemakers'"). Directing duties were handled solely by Jones, having amicably agreed with Gilliam that Jones' approach to film-making was better suited for Python's general performing style. Holy Grail's production had often been stilted by their differences behind the camera. Gilliam again contributed two animated sequences (one being the opening credits) and took charge of set design. The film was shot on location in Tunisia, the finances being provided this time by former Beatle George Harrison, who together with Denis O'Brien formed the production company Hand-Made Films for the movie. Harrison had a cameo role as the "owner of the Mount". Despite its subject matter attracting controversy, particularly upon its initial release, it has (together with its predecessor) been ranked among the greatest comedy films. A Channel 4 poll in 2005 ranked Holy Grail in sixth place, with Life of Brian at the top. CANNOTANSWER | it has (together with its predecessor) been ranked among the greatest comedy films. | Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British surreal comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show Monty Python's Flying Circus, which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series. The Python phenomenon developed from the television series into something larger in scope and influence, including touring stage shows, films, albums, books and musicals. The Pythons' influence on comedy has been compared to the Beatles' influence on music. Regarded as an enduring icon of 1970s pop culture, their sketch show has been referred to as being "an important moment in the evolution of television comedy".
Broadcast by the BBC between 1969 and 1974, Monty Python's Flying Circus was conceived, written and performed by its members Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin. Loosely structured as a sketch show, but with an innovative stream-of-consciousness approach aided by Gilliam's animation, it pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable in style and content. A self-contained comedy team responsible for both writing and performing their work, the Pythons had creative control which allowed them to experiment with form and content, discarding rules of television comedy. Following their television work, they began making films, including Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), Life of Brian (1979) and The Meaning of Life (1983). Their influence on British comedy has been apparent for years, while in North America, it has coloured the work of cult performers from the early editions of Saturday Night Live through to more recent absurdist trends in television comedy. "Pythonesque" has entered the English lexicon as a result.
At the 41st British Academy Film Awards in 1988, Monty Python received the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema. In 1998, they were awarded the AFI Star Award by the American Film Institute. Many sketches from their TV show and films are well-known and widely quoted. Both Holy Grail and Life of Brian are frequently ranked in lists of greatest comedy films. In a 2005 poll of over 300 comics, comedy writers, producers and directors throughout the English-speaking world to find "The Comedian's Comedian", three of the six Pythons members were voted to be among the top 50 greatest comedians ever: Cleese at No. 2, Idle at No. 21, and Palin at No. 30.
Before Flying Circus
Jones and Palin met at Oxford University, where they performed together with the Oxford Revue. Chapman and Cleese met at Cambridge University. Idle was also at Cambridge, but started a year after Chapman and Cleese. Cleese met Gilliam in New York City while on tour with the Cambridge University Footlights revue Cambridge Circus (originally entitled A Clump of Plinths). Chapman, Cleese, and Idle were members of the Footlights, which at that time also included the future Goodies (Tim Brooke-Taylor, Bill Oddie, and Graeme Garden), and Jonathan Lynn (co-writer of Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister). During Idle's presidency of the club, feminist writer Germaine Greer and broadcaster Clive James were members. Recordings of Footlights' revues (called "Smokers") at Pembroke College include sketches and performances by Cleese and Idle, which, along with tapes of Idle's performances in some of the drama society's theatrical productions, are kept in the archives of the Pembroke Players.
The six Python members appeared in or wrote these shows before Flying Circus:
I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (radio) (1964–1973): Cleese (cast member and writer), Idle and Chapman (writers)
The Frost Report (1966–1967): Cleese (cast member and writer), Idle (writer of Frost's monologues), Chapman, Palin and Jones (writers)
At Last the 1948 Show (1967): Chapman and Cleese (writers and cast members), Idle (guest star and writer)
Twice a Fortnight (1967): Palin and Jones (cast members and writers)
Do Not Adjust Your Set (1967–1969): Idle, Jones, and Palin (cast members and writers), Gilliam (animation) + Bonzo Dog Band (musical interludes)
We Have Ways of Making You Laugh (1968): Idle (cast member and writer), Gilliam (animation)
How to Irritate People (1968): Cleese and Chapman (cast members and writers), Palin (cast member)
The Complete and Utter History of Britain (1969): Palin and Jones (cast members and writers)
Doctor in the House (1969), Cleese and Chapman (writers)
The BBC's satirical television show The Frost Report, broadcast from March 1966 to December 1967, is credited as first uniting the British Pythons and providing an environment in which they could develop their particular styles.
Following the success of Do Not Adjust Your Set, broadcast on ITV from December 1967 to May 1969, Thames Television offered Gilliam, Idle, Jones, and Palin their own late-night adult comedy series together. At the same time, Chapman and Cleese were offered a show by the BBC, which had been impressed by their work on The Frost Report and At Last the 1948 Show. Cleese was reluctant to do a two-man show for various reasons, including Chapman's supposedly difficult and erratic personality. Cleese had fond memories of working with Palin on How to Irritate People and invited him to join the team. With no studio available at Thames until summer 1970 for the late-night show, Palin agreed to join Cleese and Chapman, and suggested the involvement of his writing partner Jones and colleague Idle—who in turn wanted Gilliam to provide animations for the projected series. Much has been made of the fact that the Monty Python troupe is the result of Cleese's desire to work with Palin and the chance circumstances that brought the other four members into the fold.
By contrast, according to John Cleese's autobiography, the origins of Monty Python lay in the admiration that writing partners Cleese and Chapman had for the new type of comedy being done on Do Not Adjust Your Set; as a result, a meeting was initiated by Cleese between Chapman, Idle, Jones, Palin, and himself at which it was agreed to pool their writing and performing efforts and jointly seek production sponsorship. According to their official website, the group was born from a Kashmir tandoori restaurant in Hampstead on 11 May 1969, following a taping of Do Not Adjust Your Set which Cleese and Chapman attended. It was the first time all six got together, reportedly going back to Cleese's apartment on nearby Basil Street afterwards to continue discussions.
Monty Python's Flying Circus
Development of the series
The Pythons had a definite idea about what they wanted to do with the series. They were admirers of the work of Peter Cook, Alan Bennett, Jonathan Miller, and Dudley Moore on Beyond the Fringe—seminal to the British "satire boom"—and had worked on Frost, which was similar in style. They enjoyed Cook and Moore's sketch show Not Only... But Also. One problem the Pythons perceived with these programmes was that though the body of the sketch would be strong, the writers would often struggle to then find a punchline funny enough to end on, and this would detract from the overall sketch quality. They decided that they would simply not bother to "cap" their sketches in the traditional manner, and early episodes of the Flying Circus series make great play of this abandonment of the punchline (one scene has Cleese turn to Idle, as the sketch descends into chaos, and remark that "This is the silliest sketch I've ever been in"—they all resolve not to carry on and simply walk off the set). However, as they began assembling material for the show, the Pythons watched one of their collective heroes, Spike Milligan, whom they had admired on The Goon Show (a show the Pythons regard as their biggest influence, which also featured Peter Sellers, whom Cleese called "the greatest voice man of all time") recording his groundbreaking BBC series Q... (1969). Not only was Q... more irreverent and anarchic than any previous television comedy, but Milligan also would often "give up" on sketches halfway through and wander off set (often muttering "Did I write this?"). It was clear that their new series would now seem less original, and Jones in particular became determined the Pythons should innovate. Michael Palin recalls "Terry Jones and I adored the Q... shows...[Milligan] was the first writer to play with the conventions of television."
After much debate, Jones remembered an animation Gilliam had created for Do Not Adjust Your Set called "Beware of the Elephants", which had intrigued him with its stream-of-consciousness style. Jones felt it would be a good concept to apply to the series: allowing sketches to blend into one another. Palin had been equally fascinated by another of Gilliam's efforts, entitled "Christmas Cards", and agreed that it represented "a way of doing things differently". Since Cleese, Chapman, and Idle were less concerned with the overall flow of the programme, Jones, Palin, and Gilliam became largely responsible for the presentation style of the Flying Circus series, in which disparate sketches are linked to give each episode the appearance of a single stream-of-consciousness (often using a Gilliam animation to move from the closing image of one sketch to the opening scene of another). The BBC states, "Gilliam's unique animation style became crucial, segueing seamlessly between any two completely unrelated ideas and making the stream-of-consciousness work."
Writing started at 9 am and finished at 5 pm. Typically, Cleese and Chapman worked as one pair isolated from the others, as did Jones and Palin, while Idle wrote alone. After a few days, they would join with Gilliam, critique their scripts, and exchange ideas. Their approach to writing was democratic. If the majority found an idea humorous, it was included in the show. The casting of roles for the sketches was a similarly unselfish process, since each member viewed himself primarily as a "writer", rather than an actor eager for screen time. When the themes for sketches were chosen, Gilliam had a free hand in bridging them with animations, using a camera, scissors, and airbrush.
While the show was a collaborative process, different factions within Python were responsible for elements of the team's humour. In general, the work of the Oxford-educated members (Jones and Palin) was more visual, and more fanciful conceptually (e.g., the arrival of the Spanish Inquisition in a suburban front room), while the Cambridge graduates' sketches tended to be more verbal and more aggressive (for example, Cleese and Chapman's many "confrontation" sketches, where one character intimidates or hurls abuse, or Idle's characters with bizarre verbal quirks, such as "The Man Who Speaks In Anagrams"). Cleese confirmed that "most of the sketches with heavy abuse were Graham's and mine, anything that started with a slow pan across countryside and impressive music was Mike and Terry's, and anything that got utterly involved with words and disappeared up any personal orifice was Eric's". Gilliam's animations ranged from the whimsical to the savage (the cartoon format allowing him to create some astonishingly violent scenes without fear of censorship).
Several names for the show were considered before Monty Python's Flying Circus was settled upon. Some were Owl Stretching Time, The Toad Elevating Moment, A Horse, a Spoon and a Bucket, Vaseline Review, and Bun, Wackett, Buzzard, Stubble and Boot. Flying Circus stuck when the BBC explained it had printed that name in its schedules and was not prepared to amend it. Many variations on the name in front of this title then came and went (popular legend holds that the BBC considered Monty Python's Flying Circus to be a ridiculous name, at which point the group threatened to change their name every week until the BBC relented). Gwen Dibley's Flying Circus was named after a woman Palin had read about in the newspaper, thinking it would be amusing if she were to discover she had her own TV show. Baron Von Took's Flying Circus was considered as an affectionate tribute to Barry Took, the man who had brought them together. Arthur Megapode's Flying Circus was suggested, then discarded. The name Baron Von Took's Flying Circus had the form of Baron Manfred von Richthofen's Flying Circus of WWI fame, and the new group was forming in a time when the Royal Guardsmen's 1966 song "Snoopy vs. the Red Baron" had peaked. The term 'flying circus' was also another name for the popular entertainment of the 1920s known as barnstorming, where multiple performers collaborated with their stunts to perform a combined set of acts.
Differing, somewhat confusing accounts are given of the origins of the Python name, although the members agree that its only "significance" was that they thought it sounded funny. In the 1998 documentary Live at Aspen during the US Comedy Arts Festival, where the troupe was awarded the AFI Star Award by the American Film Institute, the group implied that "Monty" was selected (Eric Idle's idea) as a gently mocking tribute to Field Marshal Lord Montgomery, a British general of World War II; requiring a "slippery-sounding" surname, they settled on "Python". On other occasions, Idle has claimed that the name "Monty" was that of a popular and rotund fellow who drank in his local pub; people would often walk in and ask the barman, "Has Monty been in yet?", forcing the name to become stuck in his mind. The name Monty Python was later described by the BBC as being "envisaged by the team as the perfect name for a sleazy entertainment agent".
Style of the show
Flying Circus popularised innovative formal techniques, such as the cold open, in which an episode began without the traditional opening titles or announcements. An example of this is the "It's" man: Palin, outfitted in Robinson Crusoe garb, making a tortuous journey across various terrains, before finally approaching the camera to state, "It's ...", only to be then cut off by the title sequence and theme music. On several occasions, the cold open lasted until mid-show, after which the regular opening titles ran. Occasionally, the Pythons tricked viewers by rolling the closing credits halfway through the show, usually continuing the joke by fading to the familiar globe logo used for BBC continuity, over which Cleese would parody the clipped tones of a BBC announcer. On one occasion, the credits ran directly after the opening titles. On the subversive nature of the show (and their subsequent films), Cleese states "anti-authoritarianism was deeply ingrained in Python".
Because of their dislike of finishing with punchlines, they experimented with ending the sketches by cutting abruptly to another scene or animation, walking offstage, addressing the camera (breaking the fourth wall), or introducing a totally unrelated event or character. A classic example of this approach was the use of Chapman's "anti-silliness" character of "the Colonel", who walked into several sketches and ordered them to be stopped because things were becoming "far too silly".
Another favourite way of ending sketches was to drop a cartoonish "16-ton weight" prop on one of the characters when the sketch seemed to be losing momentum, or a knight in full armour (played by Terry Gilliam) would wander on-set and hit characters over the head with a rubber chicken, before cutting to the next scene. Yet another way of changing scenes was when John Cleese, usually outfitted in a dinner suit, would come in as a radio commentator and, in a rather pompous manner, make the formal and determined announcement "And now for something completely different.", which later became the title of the first Monty Python film.
The Python theme music is the Band of the Grenadier Guards' rendition of John Philip Sousa's "The Liberty Bell" which was first published in 1893. Under the Berne Convention's "country of origin" concept, the composition was subject to United States copyright law which states that any work first published prior to 1924 was in the public domain, owing to copyright expiration. This enabled Gilliam to co-opt the march for the series without having to make any royalty payments.
The use of Gilliam's surreal, collage stop motion animations was another innovative intertextual element of the Python style. Many of the images Gilliam used were lifted from famous works of art, and from Victorian illustrations and engravings. The giant foot which crushes the show's title at the end of the opening credits is in fact the foot of Cupid, cut from a reproduction of the Renaissance masterpiece Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time by Bronzino. This foot, and Gilliam's style in general, are visual trademarks of the programme.
The Pythons used the British tradition of cross-dressing comedy by donning frocks and makeup and playing female roles themselves while speaking in falsetto. Jones specialised in playing the working-class housewife, or "ratbag old women" as termed by the BBC. Palin and Idle generally played the role more posh, with Idle playing more feminine women. Cleese played female roles more sparsely, while Chapman was frequently paired with Jones as a ratbag woman or with Idle portraying middle-class women commenting upon TV. Generally speaking, female roles were played by women only when the scene specifically required that the character be sexually attractive (although sometimes they used Idle for this). The troupe later turned to Carol Cleveland, who co-starred in numerous episodes after 1970. In some episodes, and later in the stoning scene in Monty Python's Life of Brian, they took the idea one step further by playing women who impersonated men.
Many sketches are well-known and widely quoted. "Dead Parrot sketch", "The Lumberjack Song", "Spam" (which led to the coining of the term email spam), "Nudge Nudge", "The Spanish Inquisition", "Upper Class Twit of the Year", "Cheese Shop", "The Ministry of Silly Walks", "Argument Clinic", "The Funniest Joke in the World" (a sketch referenced in Google Translate), and Four Yorkshiremen sketch" are just a few examples. Most of the show’s sketches satirise areas of public life, such as: Dead Parrot (poor customer service), Silly Walks (bureaucratic inefficiency), Spam (ubiquity of Spam post World War II), and Four Yorkshiremen (nostalgic conversations). Featuring regularly in skits, Gumbys (characters of limited intelligence and vocabulary) were part of the Pythons' satirical view of television of the 1970s which condescendingly encouraged more involvement from the "man on the street".
Introduction to North America and the world
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) added Monty Python's Flying Circus to its national September 1970 fall line-up. They aired the 13 episodes of series 1, which had first run on the BBC the previous autumn (October 1969 to January 1970), as well as the first six episodes of series 2 only a few weeks after they first appeared on the BBC (September to November 1970). The CBC dropped the show when it returned to regular programming after the Christmas 1970 break, choosing to not place the remaining seven episodes of series 2 on the January 1971 CBC schedule. Within a week, the CBC received hundreds of calls complaining of the cancellation, and more than 100 people staged a demonstration at the CBC's Montreal studios. The show eventually returned, becoming a fixture on the network during the first half of the 1970s.
Sketches from Monty Python's Flying Circus were introduced to American audiences in August 1972, with the release of the Python film And Now for Something Completely Different, featuring sketches from series 1 and 2 of the television show. This 1972 release met with limited box office success.
The ability to show Monty Python's Flying Circus under the American NTSC standard had been made possible by the commercial actions of American television producer Greg Garrison. Garrison produced the NBC series The Dean Martin Comedy World, which ran during the summer of 1974. The concept was to show clips from comedy shows produced in other countries, including tape of the Python sketches "Bicycle Repairman" and "The Dull Life of a Stockbroker". Payment for use of these two sketches was enough to allow Time-Life Films to convert the entire Python library to NTSC standard, allowing for the sale to the PBS network stations which then brought the entire show to US audiences.
Through the efforts of Python's American manager Nancy Lewis, during the summer of 1974, Ron Devillier, the programming director for nonprofit PBS television station KERA in Dallas, Texas, started airing episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus. Ratings shot through the roof, providing an encouraging sign to the other 100 PBS stations that had signed up to begin airing the show in October 1974—exactly five years after their BBC debut. There was also cross-promotion from FM radio stations across the US, whose airing of tracks from the Python LPs had already introduced American audiences to this bizarre brand of comedy. The popularity on PBS resulted in the 1974 re-release of the 1972 ...Completely Different film, with much greater box office success. The success of the show was captured by a March 1975 article headline in The New York Times, "Monty Python's Flying Circus Is Barnstorming Here". Asked what challenges were left, now that they had made TV shows, films, written books, and produced records, Chapman responded, "Well, actually world supremacy would be very nice", before Idle cautioned, "Yes, but that sort of thing has got to be done properly".
In 1975 ABC broadcast two 90-minute Monty Python specials, each with three shows, but cut out a total of 24 minutes from each, in part to make time for commercials, and in part to avoid upsetting their audience. As the judge observed in Gilliam v. American Broadcasting Companies, Inc., where Monty Python sued for damages caused by broadcast of the mutilated version, "According to the network, appellants should have anticipated that most of the excised material contained scatological references inappropriate for American television and that these scenes would be replaced with commercials, which presumably are more palatable to the American public." Monty Python won the case.
With the popularity of Python throughout the rest of the 1970s and through most of the 1980s, PBS stations looked at other British comedies, leading to UK shows such as Are You Being Served? gaining a US audience, and leading, over time, to many PBS stations having a "British Comedy Night" which airs many popular UK comedies.
In 1976, Monty Python became the top rated show in Japan. The literal translation of the Japanese title was The Gay Dragon Boys Show. The popularity of the show in the Netherlands saw the town of Spijkenisse near Rotterdam open a 'silly walks' road crossing in 2018. Believed to be a world first, the official sign asks pedestrians to cross the road in a comical manner.
Departure of Cleese
Having considered the possibility at the end of the second season, Cleese left the Flying Circus at the end of the third. He later explained that he felt he no longer had anything fresh to offer the show, and claimed that only two Cleese- and Chapman-penned sketches in the third series ("Dennis Moore" and the "Cheese Shop") were truly original, and that the others were bits and pieces from previous work cobbled together in slightly different contexts. He was also finding Chapman, who was at that point in the full throes of alcoholism, difficult to work with. According to an interview with Idle, "It was on an Air Canada flight on the way to Toronto, when John (Cleese) turned to all of us and said 'I want out.' Why? I don't know. He gets bored more easily than the rest of us. He's a difficult man, not easy to be friendly with. He's so funny because he never wanted to be liked. That gives him a certain fascinating, arrogant freedom." Jones noted his reticence in 2012, "He was good at it, when he did it he was professional, but he’d rather not have done it. The others all loved it, but he got more and more pissed off about having to come out and do filming, and the one that really swung it, in my view, was when we had to do the day on the Newhaven lifeboat."
The rest of the group carried on for one more "half" season before calling a halt to the programme in 1974. While the first three seasons contained 13 episodes each, the fourth ended after just six. The name Monty Python's Flying Circus appears in the opening animation for season four, but in the end credits, the show is listed as simply Monty Python. Although Cleese left the show, he was credited as a writer for three of the six episodes, largely concentrated in the "Michael Ellis" episode, which had begun life as one of the many drafts of the "Holy Grail" motion picture. When a new direction for "Grail" was decided upon, the subplot of Arthur and his knights wandering around a strange department store in modern times was lifted out and recycled as the aforementioned TV episode. Songwriter Neil Innes contributed to some sketches, including "Appeal on Behalf of Very Rich People".
Life beyond the Flying Circus
Filmography
And Now for Something Completely Different (1971)
The Pythons' first feature film was directed by Ian MacNaughton, reprising his role from the television series. It consisted of sketches from the first two seasons of the Flying Circus, reshot on a low budget (and often slightly edited) for cinema release. Material selected for the film includes: "Dead Parrot", "The Lumberjack Song", "Upper Class Twit of the Year", "Hell's Grannies", "Self-Defence Class", "How Not to Be Seen", and "Nudge Nudge". Financed by Playboys UK executive Victor Lownes, it was intended as a way of breaking Monty Python into America, and although it was ultimately unsuccessful in this, the film did good business in the UK, and later in the US on the "Midnight movie" circuit after their breakthrough television and film success, this being in the era before home video would make the original material much more accessible. The group did not consider the film a success.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
In 1974, between production on the third and fourth seasons, the group decided to embark on their first "proper" feature film, containing entirely new material. Monty Python and the Holy Grail was based on Arthurian legend and was directed by Jones and Gilliam. Again, the latter also contributed linking animations (and put together the opening credits). Along with the rest of the Pythons, Jones and Gilliam performed several roles in the film, but Chapman took the lead as King Arthur. Cleese returned to the group for the film, feeling that they were once again breaking new ground. Holy Grail was filmed on location, in picturesque rural areas of Scotland, with a budget of only £229,000; the money was raised in part with investments from rock groups such as Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, and Led Zeppelin, as well as UK music industry entrepreneur Tony Stratton-Smith (founder and owner of the Charisma Records label, for which the Pythons recorded their comedy albums).
The backers of the film wanted to cut the famous Black Knight scene (a Sam Peckinpah send-up in which the Black Knight loses his limbs in a duel), but it was eventually kept in the movie. "Tis but a scratch" and "It's just a flesh wound…" are often quoted. Holy Grail was selected as the second-best comedy of all time in the ABC special Best in Film: The Greatest Movies of Our Time. and viewers in a Channel 4 poll placed it sixth.
Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)
Following the success of Holy Grail, reporters asked for the title of the next Python film, though the team had not even begun to consider a third one. Eventually, Idle flippantly replied "Jesus Christ – Lust for Glory", which became the group's stock answer to such questions. However, they soon began to seriously consider a film lampooning the New Testament era in the same way Holy Grail had lampooned Arthurian legend. Despite sharing a distrust of organised religion, they agreed not to mock Jesus or his teachings directly. They also mentioned that they could not think of anything legitimate to make fun of about him. Instead, they decided to write a satire on credulity and hypocrisy among the followers of someone [Brian] who had been mistaken for the "Messiah", but who had no desire to be followed as such. Terry Jones adds it was a satire on those who for the next 2,000 years "couldn't agree on what Jesus was saying about peace and love".
The focus therefore shifted to a separate individual, Brian Cohen, born at the same time, and in a neighbouring stable. When Jesus appears in the film (first, as a baby in the stable, and then later on the Mount, speaking the Beatitudes), he is played straight (by actor Kenneth Colley) and portrayed with respect. The comedy begins when members of the crowd mishear his statements of peace, love, and tolerance ("I think he said, 'Blessed are the cheesemakers).
Directing duties were handled solely by Jones, having amicably agreed with Gilliam that Jones' approach to film-making was better suited for Python's general performing style. Holy Grail's production had often been stilted by their differences behind the camera. Gilliam again contributed two animated sequences (one being the opening credits) and took charge of set design. The film was shot on location in Tunisia, the finances being provided this time by The Beatles' George Harrison, who together with Denis O'Brien formed the production company Hand-Made Films for the movie. Harrison had a cameo role as the "owner of the Mount".
Despite its subject matter attracting controversy, particularly upon its initial release, it has (together with its predecessor) been ranked among the greatest comedy films. In 2006 it was ranked first on a Channel 4 list of the 50 Greatest Comedy Films. In 2013, Richard Burridge, a theologian decorated by Pope Francis, called Life of Brian an "extraordinary tribute to the life and work and teaching of Jesus—that they couldn't actually blaspheme or make a joke out of it. They did a great satire on closed minds and people who follow blindly. Then you have them splitting into factions...it is a wonderful satire on the way that Jesus's own teaching has been used to persecute others. They were satirising fundamentalism and persecution of others and at the same time saying the one person who rises above all this was Jesus".
Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1982)
Filmed at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles during preparations for The Meaning of Life in September 1980, this was a concert film (directed by Terry Hughes) in which the Pythons performed sketches from the television series in front of an audience. The released film also incorporated footage from the German television specials (the inclusion of which gives Ian MacNaughton his first on-screen credit for Python since the end of Flying Circus) and live performances of several songs from the troupe's then-current Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album.
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983)
The Pythons' final film returned to something structurally closer to the style of Flying Circus. A series of sketches loosely follows the ages of man from birth to death. Directed again by Jones solo, The Meaning of Life is embellished with some of the group's most bizarre and disturbing moments, as well as various elaborate musical numbers, which include "Galaxy Song" (performed by Idle) and "Every Sperm Is Sacred" (performed by Palin and Jones). The film is by far their darkest work, containing a great deal of black humour, garnished by some spectacular violence (including an operation to remove a liver from a living patient without anaesthetic and the morbidly obese Mr. Creosote exploding over several restaurant patrons after finally giving in to the smooth maître d' telling him to eat a mint – "It's only a wafer-thin mint..."). At the time of its release, the Pythons confessed their aim was to offend "absolutely everyone", adding "It is guaranteed to offend".
The Liver Donor scene (which sees someone come to a man's door to take his liver, to which he says: "No, no, I'm not dead", before being told: "Oooh, it doesn't say that on the form"), is a satire on bureaucracy, a common Python trope. Besides the opening credits and the fish sequence, Gilliam, by now an established live-action director, no longer wanted to produce any linking cartoons, offering instead to direct one sketch, "The Crimson Permanent Assurance". Under his helm, though, the segment grew so ambitious and tangential that it was cut from the movie and used as a supporting feature in its own right. (Television screenings also use it as a prologue.) This was the last project on which all six Pythons collaborated, except for the 1989 compilation Parrot Sketch Not Included, where they are all seen sitting in a closet for four seconds. This was the last time Chapman appeared on screen with the Pythons.
Secret Policeman's Ball benefit shows
Members of Python contributed their services to charitable endeavours and causes—sometimes as an ensemble, at other times as individuals. The cause that has been the most frequent and consistent beneficiary has been the human rights work of Amnesty International. Between 1976 and 1981, the troupe or its members appeared in four major fund-raisers for Amnesty—known collectively as the Secret Policeman's Ball shows—which were turned into multiple films, TV shows, videos, record albums, and books. The brainchild of John Cleese, these benefit shows in London and their many spin-offs raised considerable sums of money for Amnesty, raised public and media awareness of the human rights cause, and influenced many other members of the entertainment community (especially rock musicians) to become involved in political and social issues. Among the many musicians who have publicly attributed their activism—and the organisation of their own benefit events—to the inspiration of the work in this field of Monty Python are Bob Geldof (organiser of Live Aid), U2, Pete Townshend, and Sting. Bono told Rolling Stone in 1986, "I saw The Secret Policeman’s Ball and it became a part of me. It sowed a seed..." Sting states, "before [the Ball] I did not know about Amnesty, I did not know about its work, I did not know about torture in the world." On the impact of the Ball on Geldof, Sting states, "he took the ‘Ball’ and ran with it."
Ball co-founder Cleese and Jones had an involvement (as performer, writer or director) in all four Amnesty benefit shows, Palin in three, Chapman in two, and Gilliam in one. Idle did not participate in the Amnesty shows. Notwithstanding Idle's lack of participation, the other five members (together with "Associate Pythons" Carol Cleveland and Neil Innes) all appeared together in the first Secret Policeman's Ball benefit—the 1976 A Poke in the Eye held at Her Majesty's Theatre in London's West End—where they performed several Python sketches. In this first show, they were collectively billed as Monty Python. Peter Cook deputised for the absent Idle in a courtroom sketch. In the next three shows, the participating Python members performed many Python sketches, but were billed under their individual names rather than under the collective Python banner. The second show featured newcomer Rowan Atkinson and Scottish comedian Billy Connolly. The Secret Policeman's Ball were the first stage shows in the UK to present comedic performers (such as Monty Python and Rowan Atkinson) in the same setting and shows as their contemporaries in rock music (which included Eric Clapton, Sting and Phil Collins). After a six-year break, Amnesty resumed producing Secret Policeman's Ball benefit shows which were held at the London Palladium in 1987 (sometimes with, and sometimes without, variants of the title) and by 2006 had presented a total of twelve shows. Since 1987 the Balls featured newer generations of British comedic performers, such as Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, and puppets from the satirical TV show Spitting Image, with many attributing their participation in the show to their desire to emulate the Python's pioneering work for Amnesty. Cleese and Palin made a brief cameo appearance in the 1989 Amnesty show; apart from that, the Pythons have not appeared in shows after the first four.
Going solo
Each member has pursued various film, television, and stage projects since the break-up of the group, but often continued to work with one another. Many of these collaborations were very successful, most notably A Fish Called Wanda (1988), written by Cleese, in which he starred along with Palin. The pair also appeared in Time Bandits (1981), a film directed by Gilliam, who wrote it together with Palin. Gilliam directed Jabberwocky (1977), and also directed and co-wrote Brazil (1985), which featured Palin, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), which featured Idle; he followed these with writing and directing an additional six (as of 2021) films.
Yellowbeard (1983) was co-written by Chapman and featured Chapman, Idle, and Cleese, as well as many other English comedians including Peter Cook, Spike Milligan, and Marty Feldman.
Palin and Jones wrote the comedic TV series Ripping Yarns (1976–79), starring Palin. Jones also appeared in the pilot episode and Cleese appeared in a nonspeaking part in the episode "Golden Gordon". Jones' film Erik the Viking also has Cleese playing a small part. In 1996 Terry Jones wrote and directed an adaptation of Kenneth Grahame's novel The Wind in the Willows. It featured four members of Monty Python: Jones as Mr. Toad, Idle as Ratty, Cleese as Mr. Toad's lawyer, and Palin as the Sun. Gilliam was considered for the voice of the river. The film included Steve Coogan who played Mole.
Cleese has the most prolific solo career, appearing in dozens of films, several TV shows or series (including Cheers, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Q's assistant in the James Bond movies, and Will & Grace), many direct-to-video productions, some video games and a number of commercials. His BBC sitcom Fawlty Towers (written by and starring Cleese together with his wife Connie Booth) is the only comedy series to rank higher than the Flying Circus on the BFI TV 100's list, topping the whole poll. Cleese's character, Basil Fawlty, was ranked second (to Homer Simpson) on Channel 4's 2001 list of the 100 Greatest TV Characters.
Idle enjoyed critical success with Rutland Weekend Television in the mid-1970s, out of which came the Beatles parody the Rutles (responsible for the cult mockumentary All You Need Is Cash), and as an actor in Nuns on the Run (1990) with Robbie Coltrane. In 1976 Idle directed music videos for George Harrison songs "This Song" and "Crackerbox Palace", the latter of which also featured cameo appearances from Neil Innes and John Cleese. Idle has had success with Python songs: "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" went to no. 3 in the UK singles chart in 1991. The song had been revived by Simon Mayo on BBC Radio 1, and was consequently released as a single that year. The theatrical phenomenon of the Python musical Spamalot has made Idle the most financially successful of the troupe after Python. Written by Idle (and featuring a pre-recorded cameo of Cleese as the voice of God), it has proved to be an enormous hit on Broadway, London's West End and Las Vegas. This was followed by Not the Messiah, which revises The Life of Brian as an oratorio. For the work's 2007 premiere at the Luminato festival in Toronto (which commissioned the work), Idle himself sang the "baritone-ish" part.
After Python reunions
Since The Meaning of Life, their last project as a team, the Pythons have often been the subject of reunion rumours. In 1988 Monty Python won the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema, with four of the six Pythons (Jones, Palin, Gilliam and Chapman) collecting the award. The final appearance of all six together occurred during the 1989 Parrot Sketch Not Included – 20 Years of Monty Python TV special. The death of Chapman in October 1989 put an end to the speculation of any further reunions. Several occasions since 1989 have occurred when the surviving five members have gathered together for appearances—albeit not formal reunions. In 1996 Jones, Idle, Cleese, and Palin were featured in a film adaptation of The Wind in the Willows, which was later renamed Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. In 1997 Palin and Cleese rolled out a new version of the "Dead Parrot sketch" for Saturday Night Live.
Monty Python were the inaugural recipients of the Empire Inspiration Award in 1997. Palin, Jones and Gilliam received the award on stage in London from Elton John while Cleese and Idle appeared via satellite from Los Angeles. In 1998 during the US Comedy Arts Festival, where the troupe were awarded the AFI Star Award by the American Film Institute, the five remaining members, along with what was purported to be Chapman's ashes, were reunited on stage for the first time in 18 years. The occasion was in the form of an interview called Monty Python Live at Aspen, (hosted by Robert Klein, with an appearance by Eddie Izzard) in which the team looked back at some of their work and performed a few new sketches. On 9 October 1999, to commemorate 30 years since the first Flying Circus television broadcast, BBC2 devoted an evening to Python programmes, including a documentary charting the history of the team, interspersed with new sketches by the Monty Python team filmed especially for the event.
The surviving Pythons had agreed in principle to perform a live tour of America in 1999. Several shows were to be linked with Q&A meetings in various cities. Although all had said yes, Palin later changed his mind, much to the annoyance of Idle, who had begun work organising the tour. This led to Idle refusing to take part in the new material shot for the BBC anniversary evening. In 2002, four of the surviving members, bar Cleese, performed "The Lumberjack Song" and "Sit on My Face" for George Harrison's memorial concert. The reunion also included regular supporting contributors Neil Innes and Carol Cleveland, with a special appearance from Tom Hanks.
In an interview to publicise the DVD release of The Meaning of Life, Cleese said a further reunion was unlikely. "It is absolutely impossible to get even a majority of us together in a room, and I'm not joking," Cleese said. He said that the problem was one of busyness rather than one of bad feelings. A sketch appears on the same DVD spoofing the impossibility of a full reunion, bringing the members "together" in a deliberately unconvincing fashion with modern bluescreen/greenscreen techniques.
Idle responded to queries about a Python reunion by adapting a line used by George Harrison in response to queries about a possible Beatles reunion. When asked in November 1989 about such a possibility, Harrison responded: "As far as I'm concerned, there won't be a Beatles reunion as long as John Lennon remains dead." Idle's version of this was that he expected to see a proper Python reunion, "just as soon as Graham Chapman comes back from the dead", but added, "we're talking to his agent about terms."
The Pythons Autobiography by The Pythons (2003), compiled from interviews with the surviving members, reveals that a series of disputes in 1998, over a possible sequel to Holy Grail that had been conceived by Idle, may have resulted in the group's split. Cleese's feeling was that The Meaning of Life had been personally difficult and ultimately mediocre, and did not wish to be involved in another Python project for a variety of reasons (not least amongst them was the absence of Chapman, whose straight man-like central roles in the Grail and Brian films had been considered to be an essential anchoring performance). The book also reveals that Cleese saw Chapman as his "greatest sounding board. If Graham thought something was funny, then it almost certainly was funny. You cannot believe how invaluable that is.' Ultimately it was Cleese who ended the possibility of another Python movie.
A full, if nonperforming, reunion of the surviving Python members appeared at the March 2005 premiere of Idle's musical Spamalot, based on Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It opened in Chicago and has since played in New York on Broadway, London, and numerous other major cities across the world. In 2004 it was nominated for 14 Tony Awards and won three: Best Musical, Best Direction of a Musical for Mike Nichols, and Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical for Sara Ramirez, who played the Lady of the Lake, a character specially added for the musical. The original Broadway cast included Tim Curry as King Arthur, Michael McGrath as Patsy, David Hyde Pierce as Sir Robin, Hank Azaria as Sir Lancelot and other roles (e.g., the French Taunter, Knight of Ni, and Tim the Enchanter), Christopher Sieber as Sir Galahad and other roles (e.g., the Black Knight and Prince Herbert's Father). Cleese played the voice of God, a role played in the film by Chapman.
Owing in part to the success of Spamalot, PBS announced on 13 July 2005 that it would begin to re-air the entire run of Monty Python's Flying Circus and new one-hour specials focusing on each member of the group, called Monty Python's Personal Best. Each episode was written and produced by the individual being honoured, with the five remaining Pythons collaborating on Chapman's programme, the only one of the editions to take on a serious tone with its new material.
In 2009, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the first episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus, a six-part documentary entitled Monty Python: Almost the Truth (Lawyers Cut) was released, featuring interviews with the surviving members of the team, as well as archive interviews with Graham Chapman and numerous excerpts from the television series and films. Each episode opens with a different re-recording of the theme song from Life of Brian, with Iron Maiden vocalist and Python fan Bruce Dickinson performing the sixth.
Also in commemoration of the 40th anniversary, Idle, Palin, Jones, and Gilliam appeared in a production of Not the Messiah at the Royal Albert Hall. The European premiere was held on 23 October 2009. An official 40th anniversary Monty Python reunion event took place in New York City on 15 October 2009, where the team received a Special Award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
In June 2011, it was announced that A Liar's Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman, an animated 3D movie based on the memoir of Graham Chapman, was in the making. The memoir A Liar's Autobiography was published in 1980 and details Chapman's journey through medical school, alcoholism, acknowledgement of his gay identity, and the tolls of surreal comedy. Asked what was true in a deliberately fanciful account by Chapman of his life, Terry Jones joked: "Nothing ... it's all a downright, absolute, blackguardly lie." The film uses Chapman's own voice—from a reading of his autobiography shortly before he died of cancer—and entertainment channel Epix announced the film's release in early 2012 in both 2D and 3D formats. Produced and directed by London-based Bill Jones, Ben Timlett, and Jeff Simpson, the new film has 15 animation companies working on chapters that will range from three to 12 minutes in length, each in a different style. John Cleese recorded dialogue which was matched with Chapman's voice. Michael Palin voiced Chapman's father and Terry Jones voiced his mother. Terry Gilliam voiced Graham's psychiatrist. They all play various other roles. Among the original Python group, only Eric Idle was not involved.
On 26 January 2012, Terry Jones announced that the five surviving Pythons would reunite in a sci-fi comedy film called Absolutely Anything. The film would combine computer-generated imagery and live action. It would be directed by Jones based on a script by Jones and Gavin Scott, and in addition to the Python members it would also star Simon Pegg, Kate Beckinsale and Robin Williams (in his final film role). The plot revolves around a teacher who discovers aliens (voiced by the Pythons) have given him magical powers to do "absolutely anything". Eric Idle responded via Twitter that he would not, in fact, be participating, although he was later added to the cast.
Monty Python Live (Mostly): One Down, Five to Go
In 2013, the Pythons lost a legal case to Mark Forstater, the film producer of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, over royalties for the derivative work Spamalot. They owed a combined £800,000 in legal fees and back royalties to Forstater. They proposed a reunion show to pay their legal bill.
On 19 November 2013, a new reunion was reported, following months of "secret talks". The original plan was for a live, one-off stage show at the O2 Arena in London on 1 July 2014, with "some of Monty Python's greatest hits, with modern, topical, Pythonesque twists" according to a press release. The tickets for this show went on sale in November 2013 and sold out in just 43 seconds. Nine additional shows were added, all of them at the O2, the last on 20 July. They have said that their reunion was inspired by South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who are massive Monty Python fans.
Mick Jagger featured in a promotional video for the shows: "Who wants to see that again, really? It's a bunch of wrinkly old men trying to relive their youth and make a load of money—the best one died years ago!" Michael Palin stated that the final reunion show on 20 July 2014 would be the last time that the troupe would perform together. It was screened to 2,000 cinemas around the world. Prior to the final night, Idle stated, "It is a world event and that’s really quite exciting. It means we’re actually going to say goodbye publicly on one show. Nobody ever has the chance to do that. The Beatles didn’t get a last good night." The last show was broadcast in the UK on Gold TV and internationally in cinemas by Fathom Events through a Dish Network satellite link.
Python members
Graham Chapman was originally a medical student, joining the Footlights at Cambridge. He completed his medical training and was legally entitled to practise as a doctor. Chapman is best remembered for the lead roles in Holy Grail, as King Arthur, and Life of Brian, as Brian Cohen. He died of metastatic throat cancer on 4 October 1989. At Chapman's memorial service, Cleese delivered an irreverent eulogy that included all the euphemisms for being dead from the "Dead Parrot" sketch, which they had written. Chapman's comedic fictional memoir, A Liar's Autobiography, was adapted into an animated 3D movie in 2012.
John Cleese is the oldest Python. He met his future Python writing partner, Chapman, in Cambridge. Outside of Python, he is best known for setting up the Video Arts group and for the sitcom Fawlty Towers (co-written with Connie Booth, whom Cleese met during work on Python and to whom he was married for a decade). Cleese has also co-authored several books on psychology and wrote the screenplay for the award-winning A Fish Called Wanda, in which he starred with Michael Palin.
Terry Gilliam, an American by birth, is the only member of the troupe of non-British origin. He started off as an animator and strip cartoonist for Harvey Kurtzman's Help! magazine, one issue of which featured Cleese. Moving from the US to England, he animated features for Do Not Adjust Your Set and was then asked by its makers to join them on their next project: Monty Python's Flying Circus. He co-directed Monty Python and the Holy Grail and directed short segments of other Python films (for instance "The Crimson Permanent Assurance", the short film that appears before The Meaning of Life).
When Monty Python was first formed, two writing partnerships were already in place: Cleese and Chapman, Jones and Palin. That left two in their own corners: Gilliam, operating solo due to the nature of his work, and Eric Idle. Regular themes in Idle's contributions were elaborate wordplay and musical numbers. After Flying Circus, he hosted Saturday Night Live four times in the first five seasons. Idle's initially successful solo career faltered in the 1990s with the failures of his 1993 film Splitting Heirs (written, produced by, and starring him) and 1998's An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (in which he starred). He revived his career by returning to the source of his worldwide fame, adapting Monty Python material for other media. Idle wrote the Tony Award-winning musical Spamalot, based on Holy Grail. Following the success of the musical he wrote Not the Messiah, an oratorio derived from the Life of Brian. Representing Monty Python, Idle featured in a one-hour symphony of British Music when he performed at the London 2012 Olympic Games closing ceremony.
Terry Jones has been described by other members of the team as the "heart" of the operation. Jones had a lead role in maintaining the group's unity and creative independence. Python biographer George Perry has commented that should "[you] speak to him on subjects as diverse as fossil fuels, or Rupert Bear, or mercenaries in the Middle Ages or Modern China ... in a moment you will find yourself hopelessly out of your depth, floored by his knowledge." Many others agree that Jones is characterised by his irrepressible, good-natured enthusiasm. However, Jones' passion often led to prolonged arguments with other group members—in particular Cleese—with Jones often unwilling to back down. Since his major contributions were largely behind the scenes (direction, writing), and he often deferred to the other members of the group as an actor, Jones' importance to Python was often under-rated. However, he does have the legacy of delivering possibly the most famous line in all of Python, as Brian's mother Mandy in Life of Brian, "He's not the Messiah, he's a very naughty boy!", a line voted the funniest in film history on two occasions. Jones died on 21 January 2020 from complications of dementia.
Sir Michael Palin attended Oxford, where he met his Python writing partner Jones. The two also wrote the series Ripping Yarns together. Palin and Jones originally wrote face-to-face, but soon found it was more productive to write apart and then come together to review what the other had written. Therefore, Jones and Palin's sketches tended to be more focused than that of the others, taking one bizarre situation, sticking to it, and building on it. After Flying Circus, Palin hosted Saturday Night Live four times in the first 10 seasons. His comedy output began to decrease in amount following the increasing success of his travel documentaries for the BBC. Palin released a book of diaries from the Python years entitled Michael Palin Diaries 1969–1979, published in 2007. Palin was awarded a knighthood in the 2019 New Year Honours, which was announced by Buckingham Palace in December 2018.
Associate Pythons
Several people have been accorded unofficial "associate Python" status over the years. Occasionally such people have been referred to as the 'seventh Python', in a style reminiscent of George Martin (or other associates of the Beatles) being dubbed "the Fifth Beatle". The two collaborators with the most meaningful and plentiful contributions have been Neil Innes and Carol Cleveland. Both were present and presented as Associate Pythons at the official Monty Python 25th-anniversary celebrations held in Los Angeles in July 1994.
Neil Innes is the only non-Python besides Douglas Adams to be credited with writing material for Flying Circus. He appeared in sketches and the Python films, as well as performing some of his songs in Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl. He was also a regular stand-in for absent team members on the rare occasions when they recreated sketches. For example, he took the place of Cleese at the Concert for George. Gilliam once noted that if anyone qualified for the title of the seventh Python, it would be Innes. He was one of the creative talents in the off-beat Bonzo Dog Band. He would later portray Ron Nasty of the Rutles and write all of the Rutles' compositions for All You Need Is Cash (1978), a mockumentary film co-directed by Idle. By 2005, a falling out had occurred between Idle and Innes over additional Rutles projects, the results being Innes' critically acclaimed Rutles "reunion" album The Rutles: Archaeology and Idle's straight-to-DVD The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch, each undertaken without the other's participation. According to an interview with Idle in the Chicago Tribune in May 2005, his attitude is that Innes and he go back "too far. And no further." Innes died of a heart attack on 29 December 2019 near Toulouse, where he had lived for several years.
Carol Cleveland was the most important female performer in the Monty Python ensemble, commonly referred to as "the female Python". She was originally hired by producer/director John Howard Davies for just the first five episodes of the Flying Circus. The Pythons then pushed to make Cleveland a permanent recurring performer after producer/director Ian MacNaughton brought in several other actresses who were not as good as she was. Cleveland went on to appear in about two-thirds of the episodes, as well as in all of the Python films, and in most of their stage shows, as well. According to Time, her most recognisable film roles are playing Zoot and Dingo, two maidens in the Castle Anthrax in Holy Grail.
Other contributors
Cleese's first wife, Connie Booth, appeared as various characters in all four series of Flying Circus. Her most significant role was the "best girl" of the eponymous Lumberjack in "The Lumberjack Song", though this role was sometimes played by Carol Cleveland. Booth appeared in a total of six sketches and also played one-off characters in Python feature films And Now for Something Completely Different and Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Douglas Adams was "discovered" by Chapman when a version of Footlights Revue (a 1974 BBC2 television show featuring some of Adams' early work) was performed live in London's West End. In Cleese's absence from the final TV series, the two formed a brief writing partnership, with Adams earning a writing credit in one episode for a sketch called "Patient Abuse". In the sketch—a satire on mind-boggling bureaucracy—a man who had been stabbed by a nurse arrives at his doctor's office bleeding profusely from the stomach, when the doctor makes him fill in numerous senseless forms before he can administer treatment. He also had two cameo appearances in this season. Firstly, in the episode "The Light Entertainment War", Adams shows up in a surgeon's mask (as Dr. Emile Koning, according to the on-screen captions), pulling on gloves, while Palin narrates a sketch that introduces one person after another, and never actually gets started. Secondly, at the beginning of "Mr. Neutron", Adams is dressed in a "pepperpot" outfit and loads a missile onto a cart being driven by Terry Jones, who is calling out for scrap metal ("Any old iron ..."). Adams and Chapman also subsequently attempted a few non-Python projects, including Out of the Trees. He also contributed to a sketch on the soundtrack album for Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Other than Carol Cleveland, the only other non-Python to make a significant number of appearances in the Flying Circus was Ian Davidson. He appeared in the first two series of the show, and played over 10 roles. While Davidson is primarily known as a scriptwriter, it is not known if he had any contribution toward the writing of the sketches, as he is only credited as a performer. In total, Davidson is credited as appearing in eight episodes of the show, which is more than any other male actor who was not a Python. Despite this, Davidson did not appear in any Python-related media subsequent to series 2, though footage of him was shown on the documentary Python Night – 30 Years of Monty Python.
Stand-up comedian Eddie Izzard, a devoted fan of the group, has occasionally stood in for absent members. When the BBC held a "Python Night" in 1999 to celebrate 30 years of the first broadcast of Flying Circus, the Pythons recorded some new material with Izzard standing in for Idle, who had declined to partake in person (she taped a solo contribution from the US). Izzard hosted The Life of Python (1999), a history of the group that was part of Python Night and appeared with them at a festival/tribute in Aspen, Colorado, in 1998 (released on DVD as Live at Aspen). Izzard has said that Monty Python was a significant influence on her style of comedy and Cleese has referred to her as "the lost Python".
Series director of Flying Circus, Ian MacNaughton, is also regularly associated with the group and made a few on-screen appearances in the show and in the film And Now for Something Completely Different. Apart from Neil Innes, others to contribute musically included Fred Tomlinson and the Fred Tomlinson Singers. They made appearances in songs such as "The Lumberjack Song" as a backup choir. Other contributors and performers for the Pythons included John Howard Davies, John Hughman, Lyn Ashley, Bob Raymond, John Young, Rita Davies, Stanley Mason, Maureen Flanagan, and David Ballantyne.
Cultural influence and legacy
By the time of Monty Python's 25th anniversary, in 1994, the point was already being made that "the five surviving members had with the passing years begun to occupy an institutional position in the edifice of British social culture that they had once had so much fun trying to demolish". A similar point is made in a 2006 book on the relationship between Python and philosophy: "It is remarkable, after all, not only that the utterly bizarre Monty Python's Flying Circus was sponsored by the BBC in the first place, but that Monty Python itself grew into an institution of enormous cultural influence."
A self-contained comedy unit responsible for both writing and performing their work, Monty Python's influence on comedy has been compared to the Beatles' influence on music. Author Neil Gaiman writes, "A strange combination of individuals gave us Python. And you needed those people, just in the same way that with the Beatles you had four talented people, but together you had the Beatles. And I think that's so incredibly true when it comes to Python."
Comedy stylists
Monty Python have been named as being influential to the comedy stylings of a great many people including: Sacha Baron Cohen, David Cross, Rowan Atkinson, Seth MacFarlane, Seth Meyers, Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Vic and Bob, Mike Myers, and "Weird Al" Yankovic. Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons, was influenced by Python's "high velocity sense of the absurd and not stopping to explain yourself", and pays tribute through a couch gag used in seasons five and six. Appearing on Monty Python's Best Bits (Mostly), Jim Carrey—who refers to Monty Python as the "Super Justice League of comedy"—recalled the effect on him of Ernest Scribbler (played by Palin) laughing himself to death in "The Funniest Joke in the World" sketch. Monty Python's Flying Circus served as an inspiration for voice actor Rob Paulsen in voicing Pinky from the animated television series Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain, giving the character "a goofy whack job" of a British accent.
Comedian John Oliver states, "Writing about the importance of Monty Python is basically pointless. Citing them as an influence is almost redundant. It's assumed. This strange group of wildly talented, appropriately disrespectful, hugely imaginative and massively inspirational idiots changed what comedy could be for their generation and for those that followed." On how Python's freeform style influenced sketch comedy, Tina Fey of the US television show Saturday Night Live states, "Sketch endings are overrated. Their key was to do something as long as it was funny and then just stop and do something else."
Places
In space
Seven asteroids are named after Monty Python or its members: 9617 Grahamchapman, 9618 Johncleese, 9619 Terrygilliam, 9620 Ericidle, 9621 Michaelpalin, 9622 Terryjones, and 13681 Monty Python.
In 2010, the commercial space company SpaceX launched a wheel of cheese into low earth orbit and returned it safely to Earth on COTS Demo Flight 1. Elon Musk, CEO and CTO of SpaceX, said this was done as a tribute to Monty Python.
Terrestrial
After John Cleese spoke negatively about the town of Palmerston North in New Zealand, recommending it as a good place to commit suicide, the town renamed a compost heap "Mt. Cleese".
"Pythonesque"
Among the more visible cultural influences of Monty Python is the inclusion of terms either directly from, or derived from, Monty Python, into the lexicon of the English language.
The most obvious of these is the term "Pythonesque", which has become a byword in surreal humour, and is included in standard dictionaries. Terry Jones commented on his disappointment at the existence of such a term, claiming the initial aim of Monty Python was to create something new and impossible to categorise, and "the fact that Pythonesque is now a word in the Oxford English Dictionary shows the extent to which we failed".
The term has been applied to animations similar to those constructed by Gilliam (e.g., the cut-out style of South Park, whose creators have often acknowledged a debt to Python, including contributing material to the aforementioned 30th-anniversary theme night).
Good Eats creator Alton Brown cited Python as one of the influences that shaped how he created the series, as well as how he authors the script for each episode. Later episodes included Gilliam-style animations to illustrate key points.
Film critic Robbie Collin writes, "You can find the Pythonesque everywhere in cinema. Most successful Hollywood comedies bear some kind of Python-print. The Austin Powers series chugs along on Pythonisms. Then there are Christopher Guest's mockumentaries, such as Waiting for Guffman and Best in Show, which revel in the quiet absurdity of the everyday—well-staked-out Python territory. And there's a tensile weirdness in the films of Will Ferrell that's also deeply Pythonesque."
TV
The Japanese anime series, Girls und Panzer, featured the special episode, "Survival War!", which referenced the 'Spam' sketch, but the word "spam" was censored to avoid legal issue with the Pythons.
Things named after Monty Python
Beyond a dictionary definition, Python terms have entered the lexicon in other ways.
The term "spam" in reference to bulk, unsolicited email is derived from the show's 1970 "Spam" sketch. As the waitress recites the Spam-filled menu, a chorus of Viking patrons drown out all conversations with a song, repeating "Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam… Spammity Spam! Wonderful Spam!".
The Python programming language by Guido van Rossum is named after the troupe, and Monty Python references are often found in sample code created for that language. The default integrated development environment of the programming language is named IDLE, an alternative one is named eric, both in honour of Eric Idle. Additionally, a 2001 April Fool's Day joke by van Rossum and Larry Wall involving the merger of Python with Perl was dubbed "Parrot" after the Dead Parrot sketch. The name "Parrot" was later used for a project to develop a virtual machine for running bytecode for interpreted languages such as Perl and Python. Its package index is also known as the "Cheese Shop" after the sketch of the same name. There is also a python refactoring tool called bicyclerepair named after Bicycle Repair Man sketch.
In 1985, a fossil of a previously unknown species of gigantic prehistoric snake from the Miocene was discovered in Riversleigh, Queensland, Australia. The Australian palaeontologist who discovered the fossil snake was a Monty Python fan, and he gave the snake the taxonomic name of Montypythonoides riversleighensis in honour of the Monty Python team.
In 2006, Ben & Jerry's, known for their "celebrity flavours", introduced to the line-up "Vermonty Python", a coffee liqueur ice cream with a chocolate cookie crumb swirl and fudge cows. The name "Minty Python" had been suggested before in 1996 in a contest to select the quintessential British ice cream flavour.
In 1999, in connection with the group's 30th anniversary, a beer named "Holy Grail Ale" was released by the Black Sheep Brewery in North Yorkshire.
The endangered Bemaraha woolly lemur (Avahi cleesei) is named after John Cleese.
Geneticists discovered a mutant gene which caused mutant flies to live twice as long as normal ones. They dubbed the gene "Indy," which is an acronym for the line of dialogue: "I'm not dead yet!", from the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
The band Toad the Wet Sprocket took its name from the Rock Notes sketch on the comedy album, Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album.
World records
On St George's Day, 23 April 2007, the cast and creators of Spamalot gathered in Trafalgar Square under the tutelage of the two Terrys (Jones and Gilliam) to set a new record for the world's largest coconut orchestra. They led 5,567 people "clip-clopping" in time to the Python classic, "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life", for the Guinness World Records attempt.
On 5 October 2019, to mark the 50th anniversary of Monty Python's first show, the "first official Monty Python Guinness world record attempt" tried to break the record for "the largest gathering of people dressed as Gumbys." A recurring character on the show, a Gumby wears a handkerchief on their head, has spectacles, braces, a knitted tank top, and wellington boots. The shirt sleeves and trouser legs are always rolled up, exposing their socks and knees. Dimwitted, their most famous catchphrases are "My brain hurts!" and repeated shouts of "Hello!" and "Sorry!".
Timeline
Media
Television
Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969–74) The show that started the Python phenomenon, see also List of Monty Python's Flying Circus episodes.
Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus (1972) Two 45-minute specials were made by WDR for West German television. The first was recorded in German, while the second was in English with German dubbing.
Monty Python's Personal Best (2006) Six one-hour specials, each episode presenting the best of one member's work.
Films
Five Monty Python productions were released as theatrical films:
And Now for Something Completely Different (1971) A collection of sketches from the first and second TV series of Monty Python's Flying Circus re-enacted and shot for film.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) King Arthur and his knights embark on a low-budget search for the Holy Grail, encountering humorous obstacles along the way. Some of these turned into stand-alone sketches.
Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) Brian is born on the first Christmas, in the stable next to Jesus'. He spends his life being mistaken for a messiah.
Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1982) A videotape recording directed by Terry Hughes of a live performance of sketches, it was originally intended for a TV/video special. It was transferred to 35 mm and given a limited theatrical release in the US.
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983) An examination of the meaning of life in a series of sketches from conception to death and beyond.
Albums
Monty Python's Flying Circus (1970)
Another Monty Python Record (1971)
Monty Python's Previous Record (1972)
The Monty Python Matching Tie and Handkerchief (1973)
Monty Python Live at Drury Lane (1974)
The Album of the Soundtrack of the Trailer of the Film of Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
Monty Python Live at City Center (1976)
The Monty Python Instant Record Collection (1977)
Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)
Monty Python Examines The Life of Brian (promo) (1979)
Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album (1980)
The Monty Python Instant Record Collection (US version) (1981)
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983)
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life: Audio Press Kit (promo) (1983)
The Final Rip Off (1987)
Monty Python Sings (1989)
The Ultimate Monty Python Rip Off (1994)
Monty Python Sings Again (2014)
The Hastily Cobbled Together for a Fast Buck Album (unreleased)
Theatre
Monty Python's Flying Circus Between 1974 and 1980 (Live at the Hollywood Bowl was released in 1982, but was performed in 1980), the Pythons made three sketch-based stage shows, comprising mainly material from the original television series.
Monty Python's Spamalot Written by Idle and directed by Mike Nichols, with music and lyrics by John Du Prez and Idle, it starred Hank Azaria, Tim Curry, and David Hyde Pierce; Spamalot is a musical adaptation of the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It ran in Chicago from 21 December 2004 to 23 January 2005, and began performances on Broadway on 17 March 2005. It won three Tony Awards. It was one of eight UK musicals commemorated on Royal Mail stamps, issued in February 2011.
Not the Messiah the Toronto Symphony Orchestra commissioned Idle and John Du Prez to write the music and lyrics of an oratorio based on Monty Python's Life of Brian. Entitled Not the Messiah, it had its world premiere as part of Luminato, a "festival of arts and creativity" taking place 1–10 June 2007 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Not the Messiah was conducted by Peter Oundjian, music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, who is Idle's cousin. It was performed by a narrator, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, with guest soloists and choir. According to Idle, "I promise it will be funnier than Handel, though probably not as good".
Monty Python Live One Down, Five to Go : (1–5, 15–16, 18–20 July 2014). The Pythons have stated this is the last live reunion of the remaining members of Monty Python. Held at London's O2 Arena, tickets for the first night's show sold out in 43 seconds. The set list included a mix of live performances of their most popular sketches, clips from their shows, and elaborate dance numbers. Each night featured a different celebrity "victim" of the "Blackmail" sketch. The final show was screened to 2,000 cinemas around the world.
Books
Monty Python's Big Red Book (1971) .
The Brand New Monty Python Bok (1973) .
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1977) .
Monty Python's The Life of Brian/MONTYPYTHONSCRAPBOOK (1979, plus script-only reprint) .
The Complete Works of Shakespeare and Monty Python. Volume One – Monty Python (1981) .
Monty Python: The Case Against (by Robert Hewison) (1981)
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983) .
The Monty Python Gift Boks (1986)
Monty Python's Flying Circus – Just The Words Volume 1 (1989) .
Monty Python's Flying Circus – Just The Words Volume 2 (1989) .
The Fairly Incomplete & Rather Badly Illustrated Monty Python Song Book (1994)
Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus (edited by Alfred Biolek) (1998)
Monty Python Speaks! (edited by David Morgan) (1999)
A Pocketful of Python Volume 1 (edited by Terry Jones) (1999)
A Pocketful of Python Volume 2 (edited by John Cleese) (1999)
A Pocketful of Python Volume 3 (edited by Terry Gilliam) (2000)
A Pocketful of Python Volume 4 (edited by Michael Palin) (2000)
A Pocketful of Python Volume 5 (edited by Eric Idle) (2002)
The Pythons Autobiography by The Pythons (edited by Bob McCabe) (2003, plus various reformatted editions)
Monty Python Live! (2009)
Monty Python at Work (by Michael Palin, compilation of republished diary entries) (2014)
So, Anyway ... (by John Cleese, Autobiography to age 30) (2014)
Always Look on the Bright Side of Life (by Eric Idle, Autobiography) (2018) .
Games
Monty Python's Flying Circus (1990) a computer game released by Virgin Games for 8-bit systems such as the Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, and for the 32-bit Amiga
Monty Python's Complete Waste of Time (1994) released by 7th Level for PC / Mac / DOS
Monty Python & the Quest for the Holy Grail (1996), official game released by 7th Level
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1997), also released by 7th Level.
Python-opoly (2007), a Monty Python-themed property game released by Toy Vault Inc.
Monty Python Fluxx (2008), a card game released by Looney Labs
Monty Python's Cow Tossing (2011), a smartphone game.
The Ministry of Silly Walks (2014), a smartphone game
See also
List of recurring characters in Monty Python's Flying Circus
Python (Monty) Pictures
The Firesign Theatre
References
Further reading
The Secret Policeman's Balls, 3-DVD set (2009)
Monty Python: 40 Years of Insanity
The Life of Python – 20 Greatest Monty Python Sketches (40th Anniversary)
External links
Monty Python – Official YouTube page
40 Years of Monty Python – photo essay by TIME magazine
2014 interview on return to live shows
Monty Python on youtube
British comedy troupes
British television comedy
British surrealist artists
British surrealist writers
Surreal comedy
Surrealist groups
Virgin Records artists
Arista Records artists
BAFTA Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award
European Film Awards winners (people)
Charisma Records artists
1969 establishments in England
1983 disestablishments in England
British comedy musicians
British novelty song performers
Black comedy
Religious comedy and humour | true | [
"\"Love of My Life\" is 2001 single by the American R&B singer Brian McKnight from his album Superhero. The song peaked at number 51 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 11 on the R&B/Hip-Hop chart.\n\nIn popular culture\nIn an episode of Season 3 of The Parkers, \"Crazy Love\", Professor Stanley Oglevee (played by Dorien Wilson) was lip-syncing the song when he was trying to seduce Nikki Parker (played by Mo'Nique) with the help of Brian McKnight (playing himself in the episode).\n\nCharts\n\nWeekly charts\n\nYear-end charts\n\nReferences\n\n2001 singles\nBrian McKnight songs\nSongs written by Brian McKnight\nMotown singles\n2001 songs",
"Jack Reed is a series of popular made for TV crime drama films fictionalizing the career of real-life Cook County Sheriff's Homicide Investigator Jack Reed. The first film, Deadly Matrimony, a two-part drama based on the Barbara Schaaf non-fiction book about the Dianne Masters murder case, Shattered Hopes, was first broadcast in 1992. It was written by Andrew Laskos, directed by John Korty, and starred Brian Dennehy as Reed.\n\nDeadly Matrimony was well-enough received that it was followed, the next year by Badge of Honor, also written by Laskos, and directed by Kevin Connor. Dennehy, who had pushed to get more films based on Reed's career made, was the co-executive producer.\n\nFurther sequels, also starring Dennehy, were also all directed by him.\n\nAll the films were loosely based on cases Reed had investigated during his police career.\n\nIn the films, Reed was depicted as a sergeant. In real life, by the time the films were being broadcast, Reed was a lieutenant, in charge of the Sheriff's cold case detail. When he retired from the Sheriff's Police after thirty-five years, he entered private security.\n\nThe series includes the TV films:\n1992: Deadly Matrimony directed by John Korty\n1993: Jack Reed: Badge of Honor directed by Kevin Connor\n1994: Jack Reed: A Search for Justice directed by Brian Dennehy\n1995: Jack Reed: One of Our Own directed by Brian Dennehy\n1996: Jack Reed: A Killer Among Us directed by Brian Dennehy\n1996: Jack Reed: Death and Vengeance directed by Brian Dennehy\n\nAmerican crime drama films\nAmerican films\nAmerican television films"
]
|
[
"Monty Python",
"Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)",
"Who was in Life of Brian?",
"Chapman was cast in the lead role of Brian.",
"What other actors were in it?",
"actor Kenneth Colley",
"What role did Kenneth Colley play?",
"When Jesus appears in the film",
"Was Life of Brian popular?",
"it has (together with its predecessor) been ranked among the greatest comedy films."
]
| C_29c65da14d78435e8e89a0869d5380cb_0 | What was its predecessor? | 5 | What was Monty Python's Life of Brian's predecessor? | Monty Python | Following the success of Holy Grail, reporters asked for the title of the next Python film, despite the fact that the team had not even begun to consider a third one. Eventually, Idle flippantly replied "Jesus Christ - Lust for Glory", which became the group's stock answer once they realised that it shut reporters up. However, they soon began to seriously consider a film lampooning the New Testament era in the same way Holy Grail had lampooned Arthurian legend. Despite them all sharing a distrust of organised religion, they agreed not to mock Jesus or his teachings directly. They also mentioned that they could not think of anything legitimate to make fun of about him. Instead, they decided to write a satire on credulity and hypocrisy among the followers of someone who had been mistaken for the "Messiah", but who had no desire to be followed as such. Chapman was cast in the lead role of Brian. The focus therefore shifted to a separate individual born at the same time, in a neighbouring stable. When Jesus appears in the film (first, as a baby in the stable, and then later on the Mount, speaking the Beatitudes), he is played straight (by actor Kenneth Colley) and portrayed with respect. The comedy begins when members of the crowd mishear his statements of peace, love, and tolerance ("I think he said, 'Blessed are the cheesemakers'"). Directing duties were handled solely by Jones, having amicably agreed with Gilliam that Jones' approach to film-making was better suited for Python's general performing style. Holy Grail's production had often been stilted by their differences behind the camera. Gilliam again contributed two animated sequences (one being the opening credits) and took charge of set design. The film was shot on location in Tunisia, the finances being provided this time by former Beatle George Harrison, who together with Denis O'Brien formed the production company Hand-Made Films for the movie. Harrison had a cameo role as the "owner of the Mount". Despite its subject matter attracting controversy, particularly upon its initial release, it has (together with its predecessor) been ranked among the greatest comedy films. A Channel 4 poll in 2005 ranked Holy Grail in sixth place, with Life of Brian at the top. CANNOTANSWER | Holy Grail, | Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British surreal comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show Monty Python's Flying Circus, which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series. The Python phenomenon developed from the television series into something larger in scope and influence, including touring stage shows, films, albums, books and musicals. The Pythons' influence on comedy has been compared to the Beatles' influence on music. Regarded as an enduring icon of 1970s pop culture, their sketch show has been referred to as being "an important moment in the evolution of television comedy".
Broadcast by the BBC between 1969 and 1974, Monty Python's Flying Circus was conceived, written and performed by its members Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin. Loosely structured as a sketch show, but with an innovative stream-of-consciousness approach aided by Gilliam's animation, it pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable in style and content. A self-contained comedy team responsible for both writing and performing their work, the Pythons had creative control which allowed them to experiment with form and content, discarding rules of television comedy. Following their television work, they began making films, including Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), Life of Brian (1979) and The Meaning of Life (1983). Their influence on British comedy has been apparent for years, while in North America, it has coloured the work of cult performers from the early editions of Saturday Night Live through to more recent absurdist trends in television comedy. "Pythonesque" has entered the English lexicon as a result.
At the 41st British Academy Film Awards in 1988, Monty Python received the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema. In 1998, they were awarded the AFI Star Award by the American Film Institute. Many sketches from their TV show and films are well-known and widely quoted. Both Holy Grail and Life of Brian are frequently ranked in lists of greatest comedy films. In a 2005 poll of over 300 comics, comedy writers, producers and directors throughout the English-speaking world to find "The Comedian's Comedian", three of the six Pythons members were voted to be among the top 50 greatest comedians ever: Cleese at No. 2, Idle at No. 21, and Palin at No. 30.
Before Flying Circus
Jones and Palin met at Oxford University, where they performed together with the Oxford Revue. Chapman and Cleese met at Cambridge University. Idle was also at Cambridge, but started a year after Chapman and Cleese. Cleese met Gilliam in New York City while on tour with the Cambridge University Footlights revue Cambridge Circus (originally entitled A Clump of Plinths). Chapman, Cleese, and Idle were members of the Footlights, which at that time also included the future Goodies (Tim Brooke-Taylor, Bill Oddie, and Graeme Garden), and Jonathan Lynn (co-writer of Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister). During Idle's presidency of the club, feminist writer Germaine Greer and broadcaster Clive James were members. Recordings of Footlights' revues (called "Smokers") at Pembroke College include sketches and performances by Cleese and Idle, which, along with tapes of Idle's performances in some of the drama society's theatrical productions, are kept in the archives of the Pembroke Players.
The six Python members appeared in or wrote these shows before Flying Circus:
I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (radio) (1964–1973): Cleese (cast member and writer), Idle and Chapman (writers)
The Frost Report (1966–1967): Cleese (cast member and writer), Idle (writer of Frost's monologues), Chapman, Palin and Jones (writers)
At Last the 1948 Show (1967): Chapman and Cleese (writers and cast members), Idle (guest star and writer)
Twice a Fortnight (1967): Palin and Jones (cast members and writers)
Do Not Adjust Your Set (1967–1969): Idle, Jones, and Palin (cast members and writers), Gilliam (animation) + Bonzo Dog Band (musical interludes)
We Have Ways of Making You Laugh (1968): Idle (cast member and writer), Gilliam (animation)
How to Irritate People (1968): Cleese and Chapman (cast members and writers), Palin (cast member)
The Complete and Utter History of Britain (1969): Palin and Jones (cast members and writers)
Doctor in the House (1969), Cleese and Chapman (writers)
The BBC's satirical television show The Frost Report, broadcast from March 1966 to December 1967, is credited as first uniting the British Pythons and providing an environment in which they could develop their particular styles.
Following the success of Do Not Adjust Your Set, broadcast on ITV from December 1967 to May 1969, Thames Television offered Gilliam, Idle, Jones, and Palin their own late-night adult comedy series together. At the same time, Chapman and Cleese were offered a show by the BBC, which had been impressed by their work on The Frost Report and At Last the 1948 Show. Cleese was reluctant to do a two-man show for various reasons, including Chapman's supposedly difficult and erratic personality. Cleese had fond memories of working with Palin on How to Irritate People and invited him to join the team. With no studio available at Thames until summer 1970 for the late-night show, Palin agreed to join Cleese and Chapman, and suggested the involvement of his writing partner Jones and colleague Idle—who in turn wanted Gilliam to provide animations for the projected series. Much has been made of the fact that the Monty Python troupe is the result of Cleese's desire to work with Palin and the chance circumstances that brought the other four members into the fold.
By contrast, according to John Cleese's autobiography, the origins of Monty Python lay in the admiration that writing partners Cleese and Chapman had for the new type of comedy being done on Do Not Adjust Your Set; as a result, a meeting was initiated by Cleese between Chapman, Idle, Jones, Palin, and himself at which it was agreed to pool their writing and performing efforts and jointly seek production sponsorship. According to their official website, the group was born from a Kashmir tandoori restaurant in Hampstead on 11 May 1969, following a taping of Do Not Adjust Your Set which Cleese and Chapman attended. It was the first time all six got together, reportedly going back to Cleese's apartment on nearby Basil Street afterwards to continue discussions.
Monty Python's Flying Circus
Development of the series
The Pythons had a definite idea about what they wanted to do with the series. They were admirers of the work of Peter Cook, Alan Bennett, Jonathan Miller, and Dudley Moore on Beyond the Fringe—seminal to the British "satire boom"—and had worked on Frost, which was similar in style. They enjoyed Cook and Moore's sketch show Not Only... But Also. One problem the Pythons perceived with these programmes was that though the body of the sketch would be strong, the writers would often struggle to then find a punchline funny enough to end on, and this would detract from the overall sketch quality. They decided that they would simply not bother to "cap" their sketches in the traditional manner, and early episodes of the Flying Circus series make great play of this abandonment of the punchline (one scene has Cleese turn to Idle, as the sketch descends into chaos, and remark that "This is the silliest sketch I've ever been in"—they all resolve not to carry on and simply walk off the set). However, as they began assembling material for the show, the Pythons watched one of their collective heroes, Spike Milligan, whom they had admired on The Goon Show (a show the Pythons regard as their biggest influence, which also featured Peter Sellers, whom Cleese called "the greatest voice man of all time") recording his groundbreaking BBC series Q... (1969). Not only was Q... more irreverent and anarchic than any previous television comedy, but Milligan also would often "give up" on sketches halfway through and wander off set (often muttering "Did I write this?"). It was clear that their new series would now seem less original, and Jones in particular became determined the Pythons should innovate. Michael Palin recalls "Terry Jones and I adored the Q... shows...[Milligan] was the first writer to play with the conventions of television."
After much debate, Jones remembered an animation Gilliam had created for Do Not Adjust Your Set called "Beware of the Elephants", which had intrigued him with its stream-of-consciousness style. Jones felt it would be a good concept to apply to the series: allowing sketches to blend into one another. Palin had been equally fascinated by another of Gilliam's efforts, entitled "Christmas Cards", and agreed that it represented "a way of doing things differently". Since Cleese, Chapman, and Idle were less concerned with the overall flow of the programme, Jones, Palin, and Gilliam became largely responsible for the presentation style of the Flying Circus series, in which disparate sketches are linked to give each episode the appearance of a single stream-of-consciousness (often using a Gilliam animation to move from the closing image of one sketch to the opening scene of another). The BBC states, "Gilliam's unique animation style became crucial, segueing seamlessly between any two completely unrelated ideas and making the stream-of-consciousness work."
Writing started at 9 am and finished at 5 pm. Typically, Cleese and Chapman worked as one pair isolated from the others, as did Jones and Palin, while Idle wrote alone. After a few days, they would join with Gilliam, critique their scripts, and exchange ideas. Their approach to writing was democratic. If the majority found an idea humorous, it was included in the show. The casting of roles for the sketches was a similarly unselfish process, since each member viewed himself primarily as a "writer", rather than an actor eager for screen time. When the themes for sketches were chosen, Gilliam had a free hand in bridging them with animations, using a camera, scissors, and airbrush.
While the show was a collaborative process, different factions within Python were responsible for elements of the team's humour. In general, the work of the Oxford-educated members (Jones and Palin) was more visual, and more fanciful conceptually (e.g., the arrival of the Spanish Inquisition in a suburban front room), while the Cambridge graduates' sketches tended to be more verbal and more aggressive (for example, Cleese and Chapman's many "confrontation" sketches, where one character intimidates or hurls abuse, or Idle's characters with bizarre verbal quirks, such as "The Man Who Speaks In Anagrams"). Cleese confirmed that "most of the sketches with heavy abuse were Graham's and mine, anything that started with a slow pan across countryside and impressive music was Mike and Terry's, and anything that got utterly involved with words and disappeared up any personal orifice was Eric's". Gilliam's animations ranged from the whimsical to the savage (the cartoon format allowing him to create some astonishingly violent scenes without fear of censorship).
Several names for the show were considered before Monty Python's Flying Circus was settled upon. Some were Owl Stretching Time, The Toad Elevating Moment, A Horse, a Spoon and a Bucket, Vaseline Review, and Bun, Wackett, Buzzard, Stubble and Boot. Flying Circus stuck when the BBC explained it had printed that name in its schedules and was not prepared to amend it. Many variations on the name in front of this title then came and went (popular legend holds that the BBC considered Monty Python's Flying Circus to be a ridiculous name, at which point the group threatened to change their name every week until the BBC relented). Gwen Dibley's Flying Circus was named after a woman Palin had read about in the newspaper, thinking it would be amusing if she were to discover she had her own TV show. Baron Von Took's Flying Circus was considered as an affectionate tribute to Barry Took, the man who had brought them together. Arthur Megapode's Flying Circus was suggested, then discarded. The name Baron Von Took's Flying Circus had the form of Baron Manfred von Richthofen's Flying Circus of WWI fame, and the new group was forming in a time when the Royal Guardsmen's 1966 song "Snoopy vs. the Red Baron" had peaked. The term 'flying circus' was also another name for the popular entertainment of the 1920s known as barnstorming, where multiple performers collaborated with their stunts to perform a combined set of acts.
Differing, somewhat confusing accounts are given of the origins of the Python name, although the members agree that its only "significance" was that they thought it sounded funny. In the 1998 documentary Live at Aspen during the US Comedy Arts Festival, where the troupe was awarded the AFI Star Award by the American Film Institute, the group implied that "Monty" was selected (Eric Idle's idea) as a gently mocking tribute to Field Marshal Lord Montgomery, a British general of World War II; requiring a "slippery-sounding" surname, they settled on "Python". On other occasions, Idle has claimed that the name "Monty" was that of a popular and rotund fellow who drank in his local pub; people would often walk in and ask the barman, "Has Monty been in yet?", forcing the name to become stuck in his mind. The name Monty Python was later described by the BBC as being "envisaged by the team as the perfect name for a sleazy entertainment agent".
Style of the show
Flying Circus popularised innovative formal techniques, such as the cold open, in which an episode began without the traditional opening titles or announcements. An example of this is the "It's" man: Palin, outfitted in Robinson Crusoe garb, making a tortuous journey across various terrains, before finally approaching the camera to state, "It's ...", only to be then cut off by the title sequence and theme music. On several occasions, the cold open lasted until mid-show, after which the regular opening titles ran. Occasionally, the Pythons tricked viewers by rolling the closing credits halfway through the show, usually continuing the joke by fading to the familiar globe logo used for BBC continuity, over which Cleese would parody the clipped tones of a BBC announcer. On one occasion, the credits ran directly after the opening titles. On the subversive nature of the show (and their subsequent films), Cleese states "anti-authoritarianism was deeply ingrained in Python".
Because of their dislike of finishing with punchlines, they experimented with ending the sketches by cutting abruptly to another scene or animation, walking offstage, addressing the camera (breaking the fourth wall), or introducing a totally unrelated event or character. A classic example of this approach was the use of Chapman's "anti-silliness" character of "the Colonel", who walked into several sketches and ordered them to be stopped because things were becoming "far too silly".
Another favourite way of ending sketches was to drop a cartoonish "16-ton weight" prop on one of the characters when the sketch seemed to be losing momentum, or a knight in full armour (played by Terry Gilliam) would wander on-set and hit characters over the head with a rubber chicken, before cutting to the next scene. Yet another way of changing scenes was when John Cleese, usually outfitted in a dinner suit, would come in as a radio commentator and, in a rather pompous manner, make the formal and determined announcement "And now for something completely different.", which later became the title of the first Monty Python film.
The Python theme music is the Band of the Grenadier Guards' rendition of John Philip Sousa's "The Liberty Bell" which was first published in 1893. Under the Berne Convention's "country of origin" concept, the composition was subject to United States copyright law which states that any work first published prior to 1924 was in the public domain, owing to copyright expiration. This enabled Gilliam to co-opt the march for the series without having to make any royalty payments.
The use of Gilliam's surreal, collage stop motion animations was another innovative intertextual element of the Python style. Many of the images Gilliam used were lifted from famous works of art, and from Victorian illustrations and engravings. The giant foot which crushes the show's title at the end of the opening credits is in fact the foot of Cupid, cut from a reproduction of the Renaissance masterpiece Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time by Bronzino. This foot, and Gilliam's style in general, are visual trademarks of the programme.
The Pythons used the British tradition of cross-dressing comedy by donning frocks and makeup and playing female roles themselves while speaking in falsetto. Jones specialised in playing the working-class housewife, or "ratbag old women" as termed by the BBC. Palin and Idle generally played the role more posh, with Idle playing more feminine women. Cleese played female roles more sparsely, while Chapman was frequently paired with Jones as a ratbag woman or with Idle portraying middle-class women commenting upon TV. Generally speaking, female roles were played by women only when the scene specifically required that the character be sexually attractive (although sometimes they used Idle for this). The troupe later turned to Carol Cleveland, who co-starred in numerous episodes after 1970. In some episodes, and later in the stoning scene in Monty Python's Life of Brian, they took the idea one step further by playing women who impersonated men.
Many sketches are well-known and widely quoted. "Dead Parrot sketch", "The Lumberjack Song", "Spam" (which led to the coining of the term email spam), "Nudge Nudge", "The Spanish Inquisition", "Upper Class Twit of the Year", "Cheese Shop", "The Ministry of Silly Walks", "Argument Clinic", "The Funniest Joke in the World" (a sketch referenced in Google Translate), and Four Yorkshiremen sketch" are just a few examples. Most of the show’s sketches satirise areas of public life, such as: Dead Parrot (poor customer service), Silly Walks (bureaucratic inefficiency), Spam (ubiquity of Spam post World War II), and Four Yorkshiremen (nostalgic conversations). Featuring regularly in skits, Gumbys (characters of limited intelligence and vocabulary) were part of the Pythons' satirical view of television of the 1970s which condescendingly encouraged more involvement from the "man on the street".
Introduction to North America and the world
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) added Monty Python's Flying Circus to its national September 1970 fall line-up. They aired the 13 episodes of series 1, which had first run on the BBC the previous autumn (October 1969 to January 1970), as well as the first six episodes of series 2 only a few weeks after they first appeared on the BBC (September to November 1970). The CBC dropped the show when it returned to regular programming after the Christmas 1970 break, choosing to not place the remaining seven episodes of series 2 on the January 1971 CBC schedule. Within a week, the CBC received hundreds of calls complaining of the cancellation, and more than 100 people staged a demonstration at the CBC's Montreal studios. The show eventually returned, becoming a fixture on the network during the first half of the 1970s.
Sketches from Monty Python's Flying Circus were introduced to American audiences in August 1972, with the release of the Python film And Now for Something Completely Different, featuring sketches from series 1 and 2 of the television show. This 1972 release met with limited box office success.
The ability to show Monty Python's Flying Circus under the American NTSC standard had been made possible by the commercial actions of American television producer Greg Garrison. Garrison produced the NBC series The Dean Martin Comedy World, which ran during the summer of 1974. The concept was to show clips from comedy shows produced in other countries, including tape of the Python sketches "Bicycle Repairman" and "The Dull Life of a Stockbroker". Payment for use of these two sketches was enough to allow Time-Life Films to convert the entire Python library to NTSC standard, allowing for the sale to the PBS network stations which then brought the entire show to US audiences.
Through the efforts of Python's American manager Nancy Lewis, during the summer of 1974, Ron Devillier, the programming director for nonprofit PBS television station KERA in Dallas, Texas, started airing episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus. Ratings shot through the roof, providing an encouraging sign to the other 100 PBS stations that had signed up to begin airing the show in October 1974—exactly five years after their BBC debut. There was also cross-promotion from FM radio stations across the US, whose airing of tracks from the Python LPs had already introduced American audiences to this bizarre brand of comedy. The popularity on PBS resulted in the 1974 re-release of the 1972 ...Completely Different film, with much greater box office success. The success of the show was captured by a March 1975 article headline in The New York Times, "Monty Python's Flying Circus Is Barnstorming Here". Asked what challenges were left, now that they had made TV shows, films, written books, and produced records, Chapman responded, "Well, actually world supremacy would be very nice", before Idle cautioned, "Yes, but that sort of thing has got to be done properly".
In 1975 ABC broadcast two 90-minute Monty Python specials, each with three shows, but cut out a total of 24 minutes from each, in part to make time for commercials, and in part to avoid upsetting their audience. As the judge observed in Gilliam v. American Broadcasting Companies, Inc., where Monty Python sued for damages caused by broadcast of the mutilated version, "According to the network, appellants should have anticipated that most of the excised material contained scatological references inappropriate for American television and that these scenes would be replaced with commercials, which presumably are more palatable to the American public." Monty Python won the case.
With the popularity of Python throughout the rest of the 1970s and through most of the 1980s, PBS stations looked at other British comedies, leading to UK shows such as Are You Being Served? gaining a US audience, and leading, over time, to many PBS stations having a "British Comedy Night" which airs many popular UK comedies.
In 1976, Monty Python became the top rated show in Japan. The literal translation of the Japanese title was The Gay Dragon Boys Show. The popularity of the show in the Netherlands saw the town of Spijkenisse near Rotterdam open a 'silly walks' road crossing in 2018. Believed to be a world first, the official sign asks pedestrians to cross the road in a comical manner.
Departure of Cleese
Having considered the possibility at the end of the second season, Cleese left the Flying Circus at the end of the third. He later explained that he felt he no longer had anything fresh to offer the show, and claimed that only two Cleese- and Chapman-penned sketches in the third series ("Dennis Moore" and the "Cheese Shop") were truly original, and that the others were bits and pieces from previous work cobbled together in slightly different contexts. He was also finding Chapman, who was at that point in the full throes of alcoholism, difficult to work with. According to an interview with Idle, "It was on an Air Canada flight on the way to Toronto, when John (Cleese) turned to all of us and said 'I want out.' Why? I don't know. He gets bored more easily than the rest of us. He's a difficult man, not easy to be friendly with. He's so funny because he never wanted to be liked. That gives him a certain fascinating, arrogant freedom." Jones noted his reticence in 2012, "He was good at it, when he did it he was professional, but he’d rather not have done it. The others all loved it, but he got more and more pissed off about having to come out and do filming, and the one that really swung it, in my view, was when we had to do the day on the Newhaven lifeboat."
The rest of the group carried on for one more "half" season before calling a halt to the programme in 1974. While the first three seasons contained 13 episodes each, the fourth ended after just six. The name Monty Python's Flying Circus appears in the opening animation for season four, but in the end credits, the show is listed as simply Monty Python. Although Cleese left the show, he was credited as a writer for three of the six episodes, largely concentrated in the "Michael Ellis" episode, which had begun life as one of the many drafts of the "Holy Grail" motion picture. When a new direction for "Grail" was decided upon, the subplot of Arthur and his knights wandering around a strange department store in modern times was lifted out and recycled as the aforementioned TV episode. Songwriter Neil Innes contributed to some sketches, including "Appeal on Behalf of Very Rich People".
Life beyond the Flying Circus
Filmography
And Now for Something Completely Different (1971)
The Pythons' first feature film was directed by Ian MacNaughton, reprising his role from the television series. It consisted of sketches from the first two seasons of the Flying Circus, reshot on a low budget (and often slightly edited) for cinema release. Material selected for the film includes: "Dead Parrot", "The Lumberjack Song", "Upper Class Twit of the Year", "Hell's Grannies", "Self-Defence Class", "How Not to Be Seen", and "Nudge Nudge". Financed by Playboys UK executive Victor Lownes, it was intended as a way of breaking Monty Python into America, and although it was ultimately unsuccessful in this, the film did good business in the UK, and later in the US on the "Midnight movie" circuit after their breakthrough television and film success, this being in the era before home video would make the original material much more accessible. The group did not consider the film a success.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
In 1974, between production on the third and fourth seasons, the group decided to embark on their first "proper" feature film, containing entirely new material. Monty Python and the Holy Grail was based on Arthurian legend and was directed by Jones and Gilliam. Again, the latter also contributed linking animations (and put together the opening credits). Along with the rest of the Pythons, Jones and Gilliam performed several roles in the film, but Chapman took the lead as King Arthur. Cleese returned to the group for the film, feeling that they were once again breaking new ground. Holy Grail was filmed on location, in picturesque rural areas of Scotland, with a budget of only £229,000; the money was raised in part with investments from rock groups such as Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, and Led Zeppelin, as well as UK music industry entrepreneur Tony Stratton-Smith (founder and owner of the Charisma Records label, for which the Pythons recorded their comedy albums).
The backers of the film wanted to cut the famous Black Knight scene (a Sam Peckinpah send-up in which the Black Knight loses his limbs in a duel), but it was eventually kept in the movie. "Tis but a scratch" and "It's just a flesh wound…" are often quoted. Holy Grail was selected as the second-best comedy of all time in the ABC special Best in Film: The Greatest Movies of Our Time. and viewers in a Channel 4 poll placed it sixth.
Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)
Following the success of Holy Grail, reporters asked for the title of the next Python film, though the team had not even begun to consider a third one. Eventually, Idle flippantly replied "Jesus Christ – Lust for Glory", which became the group's stock answer to such questions. However, they soon began to seriously consider a film lampooning the New Testament era in the same way Holy Grail had lampooned Arthurian legend. Despite sharing a distrust of organised religion, they agreed not to mock Jesus or his teachings directly. They also mentioned that they could not think of anything legitimate to make fun of about him. Instead, they decided to write a satire on credulity and hypocrisy among the followers of someone [Brian] who had been mistaken for the "Messiah", but who had no desire to be followed as such. Terry Jones adds it was a satire on those who for the next 2,000 years "couldn't agree on what Jesus was saying about peace and love".
The focus therefore shifted to a separate individual, Brian Cohen, born at the same time, and in a neighbouring stable. When Jesus appears in the film (first, as a baby in the stable, and then later on the Mount, speaking the Beatitudes), he is played straight (by actor Kenneth Colley) and portrayed with respect. The comedy begins when members of the crowd mishear his statements of peace, love, and tolerance ("I think he said, 'Blessed are the cheesemakers).
Directing duties were handled solely by Jones, having amicably agreed with Gilliam that Jones' approach to film-making was better suited for Python's general performing style. Holy Grail's production had often been stilted by their differences behind the camera. Gilliam again contributed two animated sequences (one being the opening credits) and took charge of set design. The film was shot on location in Tunisia, the finances being provided this time by The Beatles' George Harrison, who together with Denis O'Brien formed the production company Hand-Made Films for the movie. Harrison had a cameo role as the "owner of the Mount".
Despite its subject matter attracting controversy, particularly upon its initial release, it has (together with its predecessor) been ranked among the greatest comedy films. In 2006 it was ranked first on a Channel 4 list of the 50 Greatest Comedy Films. In 2013, Richard Burridge, a theologian decorated by Pope Francis, called Life of Brian an "extraordinary tribute to the life and work and teaching of Jesus—that they couldn't actually blaspheme or make a joke out of it. They did a great satire on closed minds and people who follow blindly. Then you have them splitting into factions...it is a wonderful satire on the way that Jesus's own teaching has been used to persecute others. They were satirising fundamentalism and persecution of others and at the same time saying the one person who rises above all this was Jesus".
Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1982)
Filmed at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles during preparations for The Meaning of Life in September 1980, this was a concert film (directed by Terry Hughes) in which the Pythons performed sketches from the television series in front of an audience. The released film also incorporated footage from the German television specials (the inclusion of which gives Ian MacNaughton his first on-screen credit for Python since the end of Flying Circus) and live performances of several songs from the troupe's then-current Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album.
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983)
The Pythons' final film returned to something structurally closer to the style of Flying Circus. A series of sketches loosely follows the ages of man from birth to death. Directed again by Jones solo, The Meaning of Life is embellished with some of the group's most bizarre and disturbing moments, as well as various elaborate musical numbers, which include "Galaxy Song" (performed by Idle) and "Every Sperm Is Sacred" (performed by Palin and Jones). The film is by far their darkest work, containing a great deal of black humour, garnished by some spectacular violence (including an operation to remove a liver from a living patient without anaesthetic and the morbidly obese Mr. Creosote exploding over several restaurant patrons after finally giving in to the smooth maître d' telling him to eat a mint – "It's only a wafer-thin mint..."). At the time of its release, the Pythons confessed their aim was to offend "absolutely everyone", adding "It is guaranteed to offend".
The Liver Donor scene (which sees someone come to a man's door to take his liver, to which he says: "No, no, I'm not dead", before being told: "Oooh, it doesn't say that on the form"), is a satire on bureaucracy, a common Python trope. Besides the opening credits and the fish sequence, Gilliam, by now an established live-action director, no longer wanted to produce any linking cartoons, offering instead to direct one sketch, "The Crimson Permanent Assurance". Under his helm, though, the segment grew so ambitious and tangential that it was cut from the movie and used as a supporting feature in its own right. (Television screenings also use it as a prologue.) This was the last project on which all six Pythons collaborated, except for the 1989 compilation Parrot Sketch Not Included, where they are all seen sitting in a closet for four seconds. This was the last time Chapman appeared on screen with the Pythons.
Secret Policeman's Ball benefit shows
Members of Python contributed their services to charitable endeavours and causes—sometimes as an ensemble, at other times as individuals. The cause that has been the most frequent and consistent beneficiary has been the human rights work of Amnesty International. Between 1976 and 1981, the troupe or its members appeared in four major fund-raisers for Amnesty—known collectively as the Secret Policeman's Ball shows—which were turned into multiple films, TV shows, videos, record albums, and books. The brainchild of John Cleese, these benefit shows in London and their many spin-offs raised considerable sums of money for Amnesty, raised public and media awareness of the human rights cause, and influenced many other members of the entertainment community (especially rock musicians) to become involved in political and social issues. Among the many musicians who have publicly attributed their activism—and the organisation of their own benefit events—to the inspiration of the work in this field of Monty Python are Bob Geldof (organiser of Live Aid), U2, Pete Townshend, and Sting. Bono told Rolling Stone in 1986, "I saw The Secret Policeman’s Ball and it became a part of me. It sowed a seed..." Sting states, "before [the Ball] I did not know about Amnesty, I did not know about its work, I did not know about torture in the world." On the impact of the Ball on Geldof, Sting states, "he took the ‘Ball’ and ran with it."
Ball co-founder Cleese and Jones had an involvement (as performer, writer or director) in all four Amnesty benefit shows, Palin in three, Chapman in two, and Gilliam in one. Idle did not participate in the Amnesty shows. Notwithstanding Idle's lack of participation, the other five members (together with "Associate Pythons" Carol Cleveland and Neil Innes) all appeared together in the first Secret Policeman's Ball benefit—the 1976 A Poke in the Eye held at Her Majesty's Theatre in London's West End—where they performed several Python sketches. In this first show, they were collectively billed as Monty Python. Peter Cook deputised for the absent Idle in a courtroom sketch. In the next three shows, the participating Python members performed many Python sketches, but were billed under their individual names rather than under the collective Python banner. The second show featured newcomer Rowan Atkinson and Scottish comedian Billy Connolly. The Secret Policeman's Ball were the first stage shows in the UK to present comedic performers (such as Monty Python and Rowan Atkinson) in the same setting and shows as their contemporaries in rock music (which included Eric Clapton, Sting and Phil Collins). After a six-year break, Amnesty resumed producing Secret Policeman's Ball benefit shows which were held at the London Palladium in 1987 (sometimes with, and sometimes without, variants of the title) and by 2006 had presented a total of twelve shows. Since 1987 the Balls featured newer generations of British comedic performers, such as Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, and puppets from the satirical TV show Spitting Image, with many attributing their participation in the show to their desire to emulate the Python's pioneering work for Amnesty. Cleese and Palin made a brief cameo appearance in the 1989 Amnesty show; apart from that, the Pythons have not appeared in shows after the first four.
Going solo
Each member has pursued various film, television, and stage projects since the break-up of the group, but often continued to work with one another. Many of these collaborations were very successful, most notably A Fish Called Wanda (1988), written by Cleese, in which he starred along with Palin. The pair also appeared in Time Bandits (1981), a film directed by Gilliam, who wrote it together with Palin. Gilliam directed Jabberwocky (1977), and also directed and co-wrote Brazil (1985), which featured Palin, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), which featured Idle; he followed these with writing and directing an additional six (as of 2021) films.
Yellowbeard (1983) was co-written by Chapman and featured Chapman, Idle, and Cleese, as well as many other English comedians including Peter Cook, Spike Milligan, and Marty Feldman.
Palin and Jones wrote the comedic TV series Ripping Yarns (1976–79), starring Palin. Jones also appeared in the pilot episode and Cleese appeared in a nonspeaking part in the episode "Golden Gordon". Jones' film Erik the Viking also has Cleese playing a small part. In 1996 Terry Jones wrote and directed an adaptation of Kenneth Grahame's novel The Wind in the Willows. It featured four members of Monty Python: Jones as Mr. Toad, Idle as Ratty, Cleese as Mr. Toad's lawyer, and Palin as the Sun. Gilliam was considered for the voice of the river. The film included Steve Coogan who played Mole.
Cleese has the most prolific solo career, appearing in dozens of films, several TV shows or series (including Cheers, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Q's assistant in the James Bond movies, and Will & Grace), many direct-to-video productions, some video games and a number of commercials. His BBC sitcom Fawlty Towers (written by and starring Cleese together with his wife Connie Booth) is the only comedy series to rank higher than the Flying Circus on the BFI TV 100's list, topping the whole poll. Cleese's character, Basil Fawlty, was ranked second (to Homer Simpson) on Channel 4's 2001 list of the 100 Greatest TV Characters.
Idle enjoyed critical success with Rutland Weekend Television in the mid-1970s, out of which came the Beatles parody the Rutles (responsible for the cult mockumentary All You Need Is Cash), and as an actor in Nuns on the Run (1990) with Robbie Coltrane. In 1976 Idle directed music videos for George Harrison songs "This Song" and "Crackerbox Palace", the latter of which also featured cameo appearances from Neil Innes and John Cleese. Idle has had success with Python songs: "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" went to no. 3 in the UK singles chart in 1991. The song had been revived by Simon Mayo on BBC Radio 1, and was consequently released as a single that year. The theatrical phenomenon of the Python musical Spamalot has made Idle the most financially successful of the troupe after Python. Written by Idle (and featuring a pre-recorded cameo of Cleese as the voice of God), it has proved to be an enormous hit on Broadway, London's West End and Las Vegas. This was followed by Not the Messiah, which revises The Life of Brian as an oratorio. For the work's 2007 premiere at the Luminato festival in Toronto (which commissioned the work), Idle himself sang the "baritone-ish" part.
After Python reunions
Since The Meaning of Life, their last project as a team, the Pythons have often been the subject of reunion rumours. In 1988 Monty Python won the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema, with four of the six Pythons (Jones, Palin, Gilliam and Chapman) collecting the award. The final appearance of all six together occurred during the 1989 Parrot Sketch Not Included – 20 Years of Monty Python TV special. The death of Chapman in October 1989 put an end to the speculation of any further reunions. Several occasions since 1989 have occurred when the surviving five members have gathered together for appearances—albeit not formal reunions. In 1996 Jones, Idle, Cleese, and Palin were featured in a film adaptation of The Wind in the Willows, which was later renamed Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. In 1997 Palin and Cleese rolled out a new version of the "Dead Parrot sketch" for Saturday Night Live.
Monty Python were the inaugural recipients of the Empire Inspiration Award in 1997. Palin, Jones and Gilliam received the award on stage in London from Elton John while Cleese and Idle appeared via satellite from Los Angeles. In 1998 during the US Comedy Arts Festival, where the troupe were awarded the AFI Star Award by the American Film Institute, the five remaining members, along with what was purported to be Chapman's ashes, were reunited on stage for the first time in 18 years. The occasion was in the form of an interview called Monty Python Live at Aspen, (hosted by Robert Klein, with an appearance by Eddie Izzard) in which the team looked back at some of their work and performed a few new sketches. On 9 October 1999, to commemorate 30 years since the first Flying Circus television broadcast, BBC2 devoted an evening to Python programmes, including a documentary charting the history of the team, interspersed with new sketches by the Monty Python team filmed especially for the event.
The surviving Pythons had agreed in principle to perform a live tour of America in 1999. Several shows were to be linked with Q&A meetings in various cities. Although all had said yes, Palin later changed his mind, much to the annoyance of Idle, who had begun work organising the tour. This led to Idle refusing to take part in the new material shot for the BBC anniversary evening. In 2002, four of the surviving members, bar Cleese, performed "The Lumberjack Song" and "Sit on My Face" for George Harrison's memorial concert. The reunion also included regular supporting contributors Neil Innes and Carol Cleveland, with a special appearance from Tom Hanks.
In an interview to publicise the DVD release of The Meaning of Life, Cleese said a further reunion was unlikely. "It is absolutely impossible to get even a majority of us together in a room, and I'm not joking," Cleese said. He said that the problem was one of busyness rather than one of bad feelings. A sketch appears on the same DVD spoofing the impossibility of a full reunion, bringing the members "together" in a deliberately unconvincing fashion with modern bluescreen/greenscreen techniques.
Idle responded to queries about a Python reunion by adapting a line used by George Harrison in response to queries about a possible Beatles reunion. When asked in November 1989 about such a possibility, Harrison responded: "As far as I'm concerned, there won't be a Beatles reunion as long as John Lennon remains dead." Idle's version of this was that he expected to see a proper Python reunion, "just as soon as Graham Chapman comes back from the dead", but added, "we're talking to his agent about terms."
The Pythons Autobiography by The Pythons (2003), compiled from interviews with the surviving members, reveals that a series of disputes in 1998, over a possible sequel to Holy Grail that had been conceived by Idle, may have resulted in the group's split. Cleese's feeling was that The Meaning of Life had been personally difficult and ultimately mediocre, and did not wish to be involved in another Python project for a variety of reasons (not least amongst them was the absence of Chapman, whose straight man-like central roles in the Grail and Brian films had been considered to be an essential anchoring performance). The book also reveals that Cleese saw Chapman as his "greatest sounding board. If Graham thought something was funny, then it almost certainly was funny. You cannot believe how invaluable that is.' Ultimately it was Cleese who ended the possibility of another Python movie.
A full, if nonperforming, reunion of the surviving Python members appeared at the March 2005 premiere of Idle's musical Spamalot, based on Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It opened in Chicago and has since played in New York on Broadway, London, and numerous other major cities across the world. In 2004 it was nominated for 14 Tony Awards and won three: Best Musical, Best Direction of a Musical for Mike Nichols, and Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical for Sara Ramirez, who played the Lady of the Lake, a character specially added for the musical. The original Broadway cast included Tim Curry as King Arthur, Michael McGrath as Patsy, David Hyde Pierce as Sir Robin, Hank Azaria as Sir Lancelot and other roles (e.g., the French Taunter, Knight of Ni, and Tim the Enchanter), Christopher Sieber as Sir Galahad and other roles (e.g., the Black Knight and Prince Herbert's Father). Cleese played the voice of God, a role played in the film by Chapman.
Owing in part to the success of Spamalot, PBS announced on 13 July 2005 that it would begin to re-air the entire run of Monty Python's Flying Circus and new one-hour specials focusing on each member of the group, called Monty Python's Personal Best. Each episode was written and produced by the individual being honoured, with the five remaining Pythons collaborating on Chapman's programme, the only one of the editions to take on a serious tone with its new material.
In 2009, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the first episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus, a six-part documentary entitled Monty Python: Almost the Truth (Lawyers Cut) was released, featuring interviews with the surviving members of the team, as well as archive interviews with Graham Chapman and numerous excerpts from the television series and films. Each episode opens with a different re-recording of the theme song from Life of Brian, with Iron Maiden vocalist and Python fan Bruce Dickinson performing the sixth.
Also in commemoration of the 40th anniversary, Idle, Palin, Jones, and Gilliam appeared in a production of Not the Messiah at the Royal Albert Hall. The European premiere was held on 23 October 2009. An official 40th anniversary Monty Python reunion event took place in New York City on 15 October 2009, where the team received a Special Award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
In June 2011, it was announced that A Liar's Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman, an animated 3D movie based on the memoir of Graham Chapman, was in the making. The memoir A Liar's Autobiography was published in 1980 and details Chapman's journey through medical school, alcoholism, acknowledgement of his gay identity, and the tolls of surreal comedy. Asked what was true in a deliberately fanciful account by Chapman of his life, Terry Jones joked: "Nothing ... it's all a downright, absolute, blackguardly lie." The film uses Chapman's own voice—from a reading of his autobiography shortly before he died of cancer—and entertainment channel Epix announced the film's release in early 2012 in both 2D and 3D formats. Produced and directed by London-based Bill Jones, Ben Timlett, and Jeff Simpson, the new film has 15 animation companies working on chapters that will range from three to 12 minutes in length, each in a different style. John Cleese recorded dialogue which was matched with Chapman's voice. Michael Palin voiced Chapman's father and Terry Jones voiced his mother. Terry Gilliam voiced Graham's psychiatrist. They all play various other roles. Among the original Python group, only Eric Idle was not involved.
On 26 January 2012, Terry Jones announced that the five surviving Pythons would reunite in a sci-fi comedy film called Absolutely Anything. The film would combine computer-generated imagery and live action. It would be directed by Jones based on a script by Jones and Gavin Scott, and in addition to the Python members it would also star Simon Pegg, Kate Beckinsale and Robin Williams (in his final film role). The plot revolves around a teacher who discovers aliens (voiced by the Pythons) have given him magical powers to do "absolutely anything". Eric Idle responded via Twitter that he would not, in fact, be participating, although he was later added to the cast.
Monty Python Live (Mostly): One Down, Five to Go
In 2013, the Pythons lost a legal case to Mark Forstater, the film producer of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, over royalties for the derivative work Spamalot. They owed a combined £800,000 in legal fees and back royalties to Forstater. They proposed a reunion show to pay their legal bill.
On 19 November 2013, a new reunion was reported, following months of "secret talks". The original plan was for a live, one-off stage show at the O2 Arena in London on 1 July 2014, with "some of Monty Python's greatest hits, with modern, topical, Pythonesque twists" according to a press release. The tickets for this show went on sale in November 2013 and sold out in just 43 seconds. Nine additional shows were added, all of them at the O2, the last on 20 July. They have said that their reunion was inspired by South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who are massive Monty Python fans.
Mick Jagger featured in a promotional video for the shows: "Who wants to see that again, really? It's a bunch of wrinkly old men trying to relive their youth and make a load of money—the best one died years ago!" Michael Palin stated that the final reunion show on 20 July 2014 would be the last time that the troupe would perform together. It was screened to 2,000 cinemas around the world. Prior to the final night, Idle stated, "It is a world event and that’s really quite exciting. It means we’re actually going to say goodbye publicly on one show. Nobody ever has the chance to do that. The Beatles didn’t get a last good night." The last show was broadcast in the UK on Gold TV and internationally in cinemas by Fathom Events through a Dish Network satellite link.
Python members
Graham Chapman was originally a medical student, joining the Footlights at Cambridge. He completed his medical training and was legally entitled to practise as a doctor. Chapman is best remembered for the lead roles in Holy Grail, as King Arthur, and Life of Brian, as Brian Cohen. He died of metastatic throat cancer on 4 October 1989. At Chapman's memorial service, Cleese delivered an irreverent eulogy that included all the euphemisms for being dead from the "Dead Parrot" sketch, which they had written. Chapman's comedic fictional memoir, A Liar's Autobiography, was adapted into an animated 3D movie in 2012.
John Cleese is the oldest Python. He met his future Python writing partner, Chapman, in Cambridge. Outside of Python, he is best known for setting up the Video Arts group and for the sitcom Fawlty Towers (co-written with Connie Booth, whom Cleese met during work on Python and to whom he was married for a decade). Cleese has also co-authored several books on psychology and wrote the screenplay for the award-winning A Fish Called Wanda, in which he starred with Michael Palin.
Terry Gilliam, an American by birth, is the only member of the troupe of non-British origin. He started off as an animator and strip cartoonist for Harvey Kurtzman's Help! magazine, one issue of which featured Cleese. Moving from the US to England, he animated features for Do Not Adjust Your Set and was then asked by its makers to join them on their next project: Monty Python's Flying Circus. He co-directed Monty Python and the Holy Grail and directed short segments of other Python films (for instance "The Crimson Permanent Assurance", the short film that appears before The Meaning of Life).
When Monty Python was first formed, two writing partnerships were already in place: Cleese and Chapman, Jones and Palin. That left two in their own corners: Gilliam, operating solo due to the nature of his work, and Eric Idle. Regular themes in Idle's contributions were elaborate wordplay and musical numbers. After Flying Circus, he hosted Saturday Night Live four times in the first five seasons. Idle's initially successful solo career faltered in the 1990s with the failures of his 1993 film Splitting Heirs (written, produced by, and starring him) and 1998's An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (in which he starred). He revived his career by returning to the source of his worldwide fame, adapting Monty Python material for other media. Idle wrote the Tony Award-winning musical Spamalot, based on Holy Grail. Following the success of the musical he wrote Not the Messiah, an oratorio derived from the Life of Brian. Representing Monty Python, Idle featured in a one-hour symphony of British Music when he performed at the London 2012 Olympic Games closing ceremony.
Terry Jones has been described by other members of the team as the "heart" of the operation. Jones had a lead role in maintaining the group's unity and creative independence. Python biographer George Perry has commented that should "[you] speak to him on subjects as diverse as fossil fuels, or Rupert Bear, or mercenaries in the Middle Ages or Modern China ... in a moment you will find yourself hopelessly out of your depth, floored by his knowledge." Many others agree that Jones is characterised by his irrepressible, good-natured enthusiasm. However, Jones' passion often led to prolonged arguments with other group members—in particular Cleese—with Jones often unwilling to back down. Since his major contributions were largely behind the scenes (direction, writing), and he often deferred to the other members of the group as an actor, Jones' importance to Python was often under-rated. However, he does have the legacy of delivering possibly the most famous line in all of Python, as Brian's mother Mandy in Life of Brian, "He's not the Messiah, he's a very naughty boy!", a line voted the funniest in film history on two occasions. Jones died on 21 January 2020 from complications of dementia.
Sir Michael Palin attended Oxford, where he met his Python writing partner Jones. The two also wrote the series Ripping Yarns together. Palin and Jones originally wrote face-to-face, but soon found it was more productive to write apart and then come together to review what the other had written. Therefore, Jones and Palin's sketches tended to be more focused than that of the others, taking one bizarre situation, sticking to it, and building on it. After Flying Circus, Palin hosted Saturday Night Live four times in the first 10 seasons. His comedy output began to decrease in amount following the increasing success of his travel documentaries for the BBC. Palin released a book of diaries from the Python years entitled Michael Palin Diaries 1969–1979, published in 2007. Palin was awarded a knighthood in the 2019 New Year Honours, which was announced by Buckingham Palace in December 2018.
Associate Pythons
Several people have been accorded unofficial "associate Python" status over the years. Occasionally such people have been referred to as the 'seventh Python', in a style reminiscent of George Martin (or other associates of the Beatles) being dubbed "the Fifth Beatle". The two collaborators with the most meaningful and plentiful contributions have been Neil Innes and Carol Cleveland. Both were present and presented as Associate Pythons at the official Monty Python 25th-anniversary celebrations held in Los Angeles in July 1994.
Neil Innes is the only non-Python besides Douglas Adams to be credited with writing material for Flying Circus. He appeared in sketches and the Python films, as well as performing some of his songs in Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl. He was also a regular stand-in for absent team members on the rare occasions when they recreated sketches. For example, he took the place of Cleese at the Concert for George. Gilliam once noted that if anyone qualified for the title of the seventh Python, it would be Innes. He was one of the creative talents in the off-beat Bonzo Dog Band. He would later portray Ron Nasty of the Rutles and write all of the Rutles' compositions for All You Need Is Cash (1978), a mockumentary film co-directed by Idle. By 2005, a falling out had occurred between Idle and Innes over additional Rutles projects, the results being Innes' critically acclaimed Rutles "reunion" album The Rutles: Archaeology and Idle's straight-to-DVD The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch, each undertaken without the other's participation. According to an interview with Idle in the Chicago Tribune in May 2005, his attitude is that Innes and he go back "too far. And no further." Innes died of a heart attack on 29 December 2019 near Toulouse, where he had lived for several years.
Carol Cleveland was the most important female performer in the Monty Python ensemble, commonly referred to as "the female Python". She was originally hired by producer/director John Howard Davies for just the first five episodes of the Flying Circus. The Pythons then pushed to make Cleveland a permanent recurring performer after producer/director Ian MacNaughton brought in several other actresses who were not as good as she was. Cleveland went on to appear in about two-thirds of the episodes, as well as in all of the Python films, and in most of their stage shows, as well. According to Time, her most recognisable film roles are playing Zoot and Dingo, two maidens in the Castle Anthrax in Holy Grail.
Other contributors
Cleese's first wife, Connie Booth, appeared as various characters in all four series of Flying Circus. Her most significant role was the "best girl" of the eponymous Lumberjack in "The Lumberjack Song", though this role was sometimes played by Carol Cleveland. Booth appeared in a total of six sketches and also played one-off characters in Python feature films And Now for Something Completely Different and Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Douglas Adams was "discovered" by Chapman when a version of Footlights Revue (a 1974 BBC2 television show featuring some of Adams' early work) was performed live in London's West End. In Cleese's absence from the final TV series, the two formed a brief writing partnership, with Adams earning a writing credit in one episode for a sketch called "Patient Abuse". In the sketch—a satire on mind-boggling bureaucracy—a man who had been stabbed by a nurse arrives at his doctor's office bleeding profusely from the stomach, when the doctor makes him fill in numerous senseless forms before he can administer treatment. He also had two cameo appearances in this season. Firstly, in the episode "The Light Entertainment War", Adams shows up in a surgeon's mask (as Dr. Emile Koning, according to the on-screen captions), pulling on gloves, while Palin narrates a sketch that introduces one person after another, and never actually gets started. Secondly, at the beginning of "Mr. Neutron", Adams is dressed in a "pepperpot" outfit and loads a missile onto a cart being driven by Terry Jones, who is calling out for scrap metal ("Any old iron ..."). Adams and Chapman also subsequently attempted a few non-Python projects, including Out of the Trees. He also contributed to a sketch on the soundtrack album for Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Other than Carol Cleveland, the only other non-Python to make a significant number of appearances in the Flying Circus was Ian Davidson. He appeared in the first two series of the show, and played over 10 roles. While Davidson is primarily known as a scriptwriter, it is not known if he had any contribution toward the writing of the sketches, as he is only credited as a performer. In total, Davidson is credited as appearing in eight episodes of the show, which is more than any other male actor who was not a Python. Despite this, Davidson did not appear in any Python-related media subsequent to series 2, though footage of him was shown on the documentary Python Night – 30 Years of Monty Python.
Stand-up comedian Eddie Izzard, a devoted fan of the group, has occasionally stood in for absent members. When the BBC held a "Python Night" in 1999 to celebrate 30 years of the first broadcast of Flying Circus, the Pythons recorded some new material with Izzard standing in for Idle, who had declined to partake in person (she taped a solo contribution from the US). Izzard hosted The Life of Python (1999), a history of the group that was part of Python Night and appeared with them at a festival/tribute in Aspen, Colorado, in 1998 (released on DVD as Live at Aspen). Izzard has said that Monty Python was a significant influence on her style of comedy and Cleese has referred to her as "the lost Python".
Series director of Flying Circus, Ian MacNaughton, is also regularly associated with the group and made a few on-screen appearances in the show and in the film And Now for Something Completely Different. Apart from Neil Innes, others to contribute musically included Fred Tomlinson and the Fred Tomlinson Singers. They made appearances in songs such as "The Lumberjack Song" as a backup choir. Other contributors and performers for the Pythons included John Howard Davies, John Hughman, Lyn Ashley, Bob Raymond, John Young, Rita Davies, Stanley Mason, Maureen Flanagan, and David Ballantyne.
Cultural influence and legacy
By the time of Monty Python's 25th anniversary, in 1994, the point was already being made that "the five surviving members had with the passing years begun to occupy an institutional position in the edifice of British social culture that they had once had so much fun trying to demolish". A similar point is made in a 2006 book on the relationship between Python and philosophy: "It is remarkable, after all, not only that the utterly bizarre Monty Python's Flying Circus was sponsored by the BBC in the first place, but that Monty Python itself grew into an institution of enormous cultural influence."
A self-contained comedy unit responsible for both writing and performing their work, Monty Python's influence on comedy has been compared to the Beatles' influence on music. Author Neil Gaiman writes, "A strange combination of individuals gave us Python. And you needed those people, just in the same way that with the Beatles you had four talented people, but together you had the Beatles. And I think that's so incredibly true when it comes to Python."
Comedy stylists
Monty Python have been named as being influential to the comedy stylings of a great many people including: Sacha Baron Cohen, David Cross, Rowan Atkinson, Seth MacFarlane, Seth Meyers, Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Vic and Bob, Mike Myers, and "Weird Al" Yankovic. Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons, was influenced by Python's "high velocity sense of the absurd and not stopping to explain yourself", and pays tribute through a couch gag used in seasons five and six. Appearing on Monty Python's Best Bits (Mostly), Jim Carrey—who refers to Monty Python as the "Super Justice League of comedy"—recalled the effect on him of Ernest Scribbler (played by Palin) laughing himself to death in "The Funniest Joke in the World" sketch. Monty Python's Flying Circus served as an inspiration for voice actor Rob Paulsen in voicing Pinky from the animated television series Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain, giving the character "a goofy whack job" of a British accent.
Comedian John Oliver states, "Writing about the importance of Monty Python is basically pointless. Citing them as an influence is almost redundant. It's assumed. This strange group of wildly talented, appropriately disrespectful, hugely imaginative and massively inspirational idiots changed what comedy could be for their generation and for those that followed." On how Python's freeform style influenced sketch comedy, Tina Fey of the US television show Saturday Night Live states, "Sketch endings are overrated. Their key was to do something as long as it was funny and then just stop and do something else."
Places
In space
Seven asteroids are named after Monty Python or its members: 9617 Grahamchapman, 9618 Johncleese, 9619 Terrygilliam, 9620 Ericidle, 9621 Michaelpalin, 9622 Terryjones, and 13681 Monty Python.
In 2010, the commercial space company SpaceX launched a wheel of cheese into low earth orbit and returned it safely to Earth on COTS Demo Flight 1. Elon Musk, CEO and CTO of SpaceX, said this was done as a tribute to Monty Python.
Terrestrial
After John Cleese spoke negatively about the town of Palmerston North in New Zealand, recommending it as a good place to commit suicide, the town renamed a compost heap "Mt. Cleese".
"Pythonesque"
Among the more visible cultural influences of Monty Python is the inclusion of terms either directly from, or derived from, Monty Python, into the lexicon of the English language.
The most obvious of these is the term "Pythonesque", which has become a byword in surreal humour, and is included in standard dictionaries. Terry Jones commented on his disappointment at the existence of such a term, claiming the initial aim of Monty Python was to create something new and impossible to categorise, and "the fact that Pythonesque is now a word in the Oxford English Dictionary shows the extent to which we failed".
The term has been applied to animations similar to those constructed by Gilliam (e.g., the cut-out style of South Park, whose creators have often acknowledged a debt to Python, including contributing material to the aforementioned 30th-anniversary theme night).
Good Eats creator Alton Brown cited Python as one of the influences that shaped how he created the series, as well as how he authors the script for each episode. Later episodes included Gilliam-style animations to illustrate key points.
Film critic Robbie Collin writes, "You can find the Pythonesque everywhere in cinema. Most successful Hollywood comedies bear some kind of Python-print. The Austin Powers series chugs along on Pythonisms. Then there are Christopher Guest's mockumentaries, such as Waiting for Guffman and Best in Show, which revel in the quiet absurdity of the everyday—well-staked-out Python territory. And there's a tensile weirdness in the films of Will Ferrell that's also deeply Pythonesque."
TV
The Japanese anime series, Girls und Panzer, featured the special episode, "Survival War!", which referenced the 'Spam' sketch, but the word "spam" was censored to avoid legal issue with the Pythons.
Things named after Monty Python
Beyond a dictionary definition, Python terms have entered the lexicon in other ways.
The term "spam" in reference to bulk, unsolicited email is derived from the show's 1970 "Spam" sketch. As the waitress recites the Spam-filled menu, a chorus of Viking patrons drown out all conversations with a song, repeating "Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam… Spammity Spam! Wonderful Spam!".
The Python programming language by Guido van Rossum is named after the troupe, and Monty Python references are often found in sample code created for that language. The default integrated development environment of the programming language is named IDLE, an alternative one is named eric, both in honour of Eric Idle. Additionally, a 2001 April Fool's Day joke by van Rossum and Larry Wall involving the merger of Python with Perl was dubbed "Parrot" after the Dead Parrot sketch. The name "Parrot" was later used for a project to develop a virtual machine for running bytecode for interpreted languages such as Perl and Python. Its package index is also known as the "Cheese Shop" after the sketch of the same name. There is also a python refactoring tool called bicyclerepair named after Bicycle Repair Man sketch.
In 1985, a fossil of a previously unknown species of gigantic prehistoric snake from the Miocene was discovered in Riversleigh, Queensland, Australia. The Australian palaeontologist who discovered the fossil snake was a Monty Python fan, and he gave the snake the taxonomic name of Montypythonoides riversleighensis in honour of the Monty Python team.
In 2006, Ben & Jerry's, known for their "celebrity flavours", introduced to the line-up "Vermonty Python", a coffee liqueur ice cream with a chocolate cookie crumb swirl and fudge cows. The name "Minty Python" had been suggested before in 1996 in a contest to select the quintessential British ice cream flavour.
In 1999, in connection with the group's 30th anniversary, a beer named "Holy Grail Ale" was released by the Black Sheep Brewery in North Yorkshire.
The endangered Bemaraha woolly lemur (Avahi cleesei) is named after John Cleese.
Geneticists discovered a mutant gene which caused mutant flies to live twice as long as normal ones. They dubbed the gene "Indy," which is an acronym for the line of dialogue: "I'm not dead yet!", from the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
The band Toad the Wet Sprocket took its name from the Rock Notes sketch on the comedy album, Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album.
World records
On St George's Day, 23 April 2007, the cast and creators of Spamalot gathered in Trafalgar Square under the tutelage of the two Terrys (Jones and Gilliam) to set a new record for the world's largest coconut orchestra. They led 5,567 people "clip-clopping" in time to the Python classic, "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life", for the Guinness World Records attempt.
On 5 October 2019, to mark the 50th anniversary of Monty Python's first show, the "first official Monty Python Guinness world record attempt" tried to break the record for "the largest gathering of people dressed as Gumbys." A recurring character on the show, a Gumby wears a handkerchief on their head, has spectacles, braces, a knitted tank top, and wellington boots. The shirt sleeves and trouser legs are always rolled up, exposing their socks and knees. Dimwitted, their most famous catchphrases are "My brain hurts!" and repeated shouts of "Hello!" and "Sorry!".
Timeline
Media
Television
Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969–74) The show that started the Python phenomenon, see also List of Monty Python's Flying Circus episodes.
Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus (1972) Two 45-minute specials were made by WDR for West German television. The first was recorded in German, while the second was in English with German dubbing.
Monty Python's Personal Best (2006) Six one-hour specials, each episode presenting the best of one member's work.
Films
Five Monty Python productions were released as theatrical films:
And Now for Something Completely Different (1971) A collection of sketches from the first and second TV series of Monty Python's Flying Circus re-enacted and shot for film.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) King Arthur and his knights embark on a low-budget search for the Holy Grail, encountering humorous obstacles along the way. Some of these turned into stand-alone sketches.
Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) Brian is born on the first Christmas, in the stable next to Jesus'. He spends his life being mistaken for a messiah.
Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1982) A videotape recording directed by Terry Hughes of a live performance of sketches, it was originally intended for a TV/video special. It was transferred to 35 mm and given a limited theatrical release in the US.
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983) An examination of the meaning of life in a series of sketches from conception to death and beyond.
Albums
Monty Python's Flying Circus (1970)
Another Monty Python Record (1971)
Monty Python's Previous Record (1972)
The Monty Python Matching Tie and Handkerchief (1973)
Monty Python Live at Drury Lane (1974)
The Album of the Soundtrack of the Trailer of the Film of Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
Monty Python Live at City Center (1976)
The Monty Python Instant Record Collection (1977)
Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)
Monty Python Examines The Life of Brian (promo) (1979)
Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album (1980)
The Monty Python Instant Record Collection (US version) (1981)
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983)
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life: Audio Press Kit (promo) (1983)
The Final Rip Off (1987)
Monty Python Sings (1989)
The Ultimate Monty Python Rip Off (1994)
Monty Python Sings Again (2014)
The Hastily Cobbled Together for a Fast Buck Album (unreleased)
Theatre
Monty Python's Flying Circus Between 1974 and 1980 (Live at the Hollywood Bowl was released in 1982, but was performed in 1980), the Pythons made three sketch-based stage shows, comprising mainly material from the original television series.
Monty Python's Spamalot Written by Idle and directed by Mike Nichols, with music and lyrics by John Du Prez and Idle, it starred Hank Azaria, Tim Curry, and David Hyde Pierce; Spamalot is a musical adaptation of the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It ran in Chicago from 21 December 2004 to 23 January 2005, and began performances on Broadway on 17 March 2005. It won three Tony Awards. It was one of eight UK musicals commemorated on Royal Mail stamps, issued in February 2011.
Not the Messiah the Toronto Symphony Orchestra commissioned Idle and John Du Prez to write the music and lyrics of an oratorio based on Monty Python's Life of Brian. Entitled Not the Messiah, it had its world premiere as part of Luminato, a "festival of arts and creativity" taking place 1–10 June 2007 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Not the Messiah was conducted by Peter Oundjian, music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, who is Idle's cousin. It was performed by a narrator, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, with guest soloists and choir. According to Idle, "I promise it will be funnier than Handel, though probably not as good".
Monty Python Live One Down, Five to Go : (1–5, 15–16, 18–20 July 2014). The Pythons have stated this is the last live reunion of the remaining members of Monty Python. Held at London's O2 Arena, tickets for the first night's show sold out in 43 seconds. The set list included a mix of live performances of their most popular sketches, clips from their shows, and elaborate dance numbers. Each night featured a different celebrity "victim" of the "Blackmail" sketch. The final show was screened to 2,000 cinemas around the world.
Books
Monty Python's Big Red Book (1971) .
The Brand New Monty Python Bok (1973) .
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1977) .
Monty Python's The Life of Brian/MONTYPYTHONSCRAPBOOK (1979, plus script-only reprint) .
The Complete Works of Shakespeare and Monty Python. Volume One – Monty Python (1981) .
Monty Python: The Case Against (by Robert Hewison) (1981)
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983) .
The Monty Python Gift Boks (1986)
Monty Python's Flying Circus – Just The Words Volume 1 (1989) .
Monty Python's Flying Circus – Just The Words Volume 2 (1989) .
The Fairly Incomplete & Rather Badly Illustrated Monty Python Song Book (1994)
Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus (edited by Alfred Biolek) (1998)
Monty Python Speaks! (edited by David Morgan) (1999)
A Pocketful of Python Volume 1 (edited by Terry Jones) (1999)
A Pocketful of Python Volume 2 (edited by John Cleese) (1999)
A Pocketful of Python Volume 3 (edited by Terry Gilliam) (2000)
A Pocketful of Python Volume 4 (edited by Michael Palin) (2000)
A Pocketful of Python Volume 5 (edited by Eric Idle) (2002)
The Pythons Autobiography by The Pythons (edited by Bob McCabe) (2003, plus various reformatted editions)
Monty Python Live! (2009)
Monty Python at Work (by Michael Palin, compilation of republished diary entries) (2014)
So, Anyway ... (by John Cleese, Autobiography to age 30) (2014)
Always Look on the Bright Side of Life (by Eric Idle, Autobiography) (2018) .
Games
Monty Python's Flying Circus (1990) a computer game released by Virgin Games for 8-bit systems such as the Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, and for the 32-bit Amiga
Monty Python's Complete Waste of Time (1994) released by 7th Level for PC / Mac / DOS
Monty Python & the Quest for the Holy Grail (1996), official game released by 7th Level
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1997), also released by 7th Level.
Python-opoly (2007), a Monty Python-themed property game released by Toy Vault Inc.
Monty Python Fluxx (2008), a card game released by Looney Labs
Monty Python's Cow Tossing (2011), a smartphone game.
The Ministry of Silly Walks (2014), a smartphone game
See also
List of recurring characters in Monty Python's Flying Circus
Python (Monty) Pictures
The Firesign Theatre
References
Further reading
The Secret Policeman's Balls, 3-DVD set (2009)
Monty Python: 40 Years of Insanity
The Life of Python – 20 Greatest Monty Python Sketches (40th Anniversary)
External links
Monty Python – Official YouTube page
40 Years of Monty Python – photo essay by TIME magazine
2014 interview on return to live shows
Monty Python on youtube
British comedy troupes
British television comedy
British surrealist artists
British surrealist writers
Surreal comedy
Surrealist groups
Virgin Records artists
Arista Records artists
BAFTA Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award
European Film Awards winners (people)
Charisma Records artists
1969 establishments in England
1983 disestablishments in England
British comedy musicians
British novelty song performers
Black comedy
Religious comedy and humour | true | [
"Buima was a Basoga chiefdom in what is today Uganda. It was founded before 1818 and lasted until the end of the nineteenth century.\n\nReferences\nBusoga Predecessor States\n\nHistory of Uganda",
"Vijayabahu II (1186–1187) was king of the Kingdom of Polonnaruwa, in what is now Sri Lanka. He was the nephew of his predecessor, Parakramabahu I.\n\nSee also\n Mahavamsa\n List of monarchs of Sri Lanka\n History of Sri Lanka\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Kings & Rulers of Sri Lanka\n Codrington's Short History of Ceylon\n\nMonarchs of Polonnaruwa\nV\nV\nV"
]
|
[
"Monty Python",
"Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)",
"Who was in Life of Brian?",
"Chapman was cast in the lead role of Brian.",
"What other actors were in it?",
"actor Kenneth Colley",
"What role did Kenneth Colley play?",
"When Jesus appears in the film",
"Was Life of Brian popular?",
"it has (together with its predecessor) been ranked among the greatest comedy films.",
"What was its predecessor?",
"Holy Grail,"
]
| C_29c65da14d78435e8e89a0869d5380cb_0 | Did Life of Brian win any awards? | 6 | Did Monty Python's Life of Brian win any awards? | Monty Python | Following the success of Holy Grail, reporters asked for the title of the next Python film, despite the fact that the team had not even begun to consider a third one. Eventually, Idle flippantly replied "Jesus Christ - Lust for Glory", which became the group's stock answer once they realised that it shut reporters up. However, they soon began to seriously consider a film lampooning the New Testament era in the same way Holy Grail had lampooned Arthurian legend. Despite them all sharing a distrust of organised religion, they agreed not to mock Jesus or his teachings directly. They also mentioned that they could not think of anything legitimate to make fun of about him. Instead, they decided to write a satire on credulity and hypocrisy among the followers of someone who had been mistaken for the "Messiah", but who had no desire to be followed as such. Chapman was cast in the lead role of Brian. The focus therefore shifted to a separate individual born at the same time, in a neighbouring stable. When Jesus appears in the film (first, as a baby in the stable, and then later on the Mount, speaking the Beatitudes), he is played straight (by actor Kenneth Colley) and portrayed with respect. The comedy begins when members of the crowd mishear his statements of peace, love, and tolerance ("I think he said, 'Blessed are the cheesemakers'"). Directing duties were handled solely by Jones, having amicably agreed with Gilliam that Jones' approach to film-making was better suited for Python's general performing style. Holy Grail's production had often been stilted by their differences behind the camera. Gilliam again contributed two animated sequences (one being the opening credits) and took charge of set design. The film was shot on location in Tunisia, the finances being provided this time by former Beatle George Harrison, who together with Denis O'Brien formed the production company Hand-Made Films for the movie. Harrison had a cameo role as the "owner of the Mount". Despite its subject matter attracting controversy, particularly upon its initial release, it has (together with its predecessor) been ranked among the greatest comedy films. A Channel 4 poll in 2005 ranked Holy Grail in sixth place, with Life of Brian at the top. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British surreal comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show Monty Python's Flying Circus, which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series. The Python phenomenon developed from the television series into something larger in scope and influence, including touring stage shows, films, albums, books and musicals. The Pythons' influence on comedy has been compared to the Beatles' influence on music. Regarded as an enduring icon of 1970s pop culture, their sketch show has been referred to as being "an important moment in the evolution of television comedy".
Broadcast by the BBC between 1969 and 1974, Monty Python's Flying Circus was conceived, written and performed by its members Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin. Loosely structured as a sketch show, but with an innovative stream-of-consciousness approach aided by Gilliam's animation, it pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable in style and content. A self-contained comedy team responsible for both writing and performing their work, the Pythons had creative control which allowed them to experiment with form and content, discarding rules of television comedy. Following their television work, they began making films, including Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), Life of Brian (1979) and The Meaning of Life (1983). Their influence on British comedy has been apparent for years, while in North America, it has coloured the work of cult performers from the early editions of Saturday Night Live through to more recent absurdist trends in television comedy. "Pythonesque" has entered the English lexicon as a result.
At the 41st British Academy Film Awards in 1988, Monty Python received the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema. In 1998, they were awarded the AFI Star Award by the American Film Institute. Many sketches from their TV show and films are well-known and widely quoted. Both Holy Grail and Life of Brian are frequently ranked in lists of greatest comedy films. In a 2005 poll of over 300 comics, comedy writers, producers and directors throughout the English-speaking world to find "The Comedian's Comedian", three of the six Pythons members were voted to be among the top 50 greatest comedians ever: Cleese at No. 2, Idle at No. 21, and Palin at No. 30.
Before Flying Circus
Jones and Palin met at Oxford University, where they performed together with the Oxford Revue. Chapman and Cleese met at Cambridge University. Idle was also at Cambridge, but started a year after Chapman and Cleese. Cleese met Gilliam in New York City while on tour with the Cambridge University Footlights revue Cambridge Circus (originally entitled A Clump of Plinths). Chapman, Cleese, and Idle were members of the Footlights, which at that time also included the future Goodies (Tim Brooke-Taylor, Bill Oddie, and Graeme Garden), and Jonathan Lynn (co-writer of Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister). During Idle's presidency of the club, feminist writer Germaine Greer and broadcaster Clive James were members. Recordings of Footlights' revues (called "Smokers") at Pembroke College include sketches and performances by Cleese and Idle, which, along with tapes of Idle's performances in some of the drama society's theatrical productions, are kept in the archives of the Pembroke Players.
The six Python members appeared in or wrote these shows before Flying Circus:
I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (radio) (1964–1973): Cleese (cast member and writer), Idle and Chapman (writers)
The Frost Report (1966–1967): Cleese (cast member and writer), Idle (writer of Frost's monologues), Chapman, Palin and Jones (writers)
At Last the 1948 Show (1967): Chapman and Cleese (writers and cast members), Idle (guest star and writer)
Twice a Fortnight (1967): Palin and Jones (cast members and writers)
Do Not Adjust Your Set (1967–1969): Idle, Jones, and Palin (cast members and writers), Gilliam (animation) + Bonzo Dog Band (musical interludes)
We Have Ways of Making You Laugh (1968): Idle (cast member and writer), Gilliam (animation)
How to Irritate People (1968): Cleese and Chapman (cast members and writers), Palin (cast member)
The Complete and Utter History of Britain (1969): Palin and Jones (cast members and writers)
Doctor in the House (1969), Cleese and Chapman (writers)
The BBC's satirical television show The Frost Report, broadcast from March 1966 to December 1967, is credited as first uniting the British Pythons and providing an environment in which they could develop their particular styles.
Following the success of Do Not Adjust Your Set, broadcast on ITV from December 1967 to May 1969, Thames Television offered Gilliam, Idle, Jones, and Palin their own late-night adult comedy series together. At the same time, Chapman and Cleese were offered a show by the BBC, which had been impressed by their work on The Frost Report and At Last the 1948 Show. Cleese was reluctant to do a two-man show for various reasons, including Chapman's supposedly difficult and erratic personality. Cleese had fond memories of working with Palin on How to Irritate People and invited him to join the team. With no studio available at Thames until summer 1970 for the late-night show, Palin agreed to join Cleese and Chapman, and suggested the involvement of his writing partner Jones and colleague Idle—who in turn wanted Gilliam to provide animations for the projected series. Much has been made of the fact that the Monty Python troupe is the result of Cleese's desire to work with Palin and the chance circumstances that brought the other four members into the fold.
By contrast, according to John Cleese's autobiography, the origins of Monty Python lay in the admiration that writing partners Cleese and Chapman had for the new type of comedy being done on Do Not Adjust Your Set; as a result, a meeting was initiated by Cleese between Chapman, Idle, Jones, Palin, and himself at which it was agreed to pool their writing and performing efforts and jointly seek production sponsorship. According to their official website, the group was born from a Kashmir tandoori restaurant in Hampstead on 11 May 1969, following a taping of Do Not Adjust Your Set which Cleese and Chapman attended. It was the first time all six got together, reportedly going back to Cleese's apartment on nearby Basil Street afterwards to continue discussions.
Monty Python's Flying Circus
Development of the series
The Pythons had a definite idea about what they wanted to do with the series. They were admirers of the work of Peter Cook, Alan Bennett, Jonathan Miller, and Dudley Moore on Beyond the Fringe—seminal to the British "satire boom"—and had worked on Frost, which was similar in style. They enjoyed Cook and Moore's sketch show Not Only... But Also. One problem the Pythons perceived with these programmes was that though the body of the sketch would be strong, the writers would often struggle to then find a punchline funny enough to end on, and this would detract from the overall sketch quality. They decided that they would simply not bother to "cap" their sketches in the traditional manner, and early episodes of the Flying Circus series make great play of this abandonment of the punchline (one scene has Cleese turn to Idle, as the sketch descends into chaos, and remark that "This is the silliest sketch I've ever been in"—they all resolve not to carry on and simply walk off the set). However, as they began assembling material for the show, the Pythons watched one of their collective heroes, Spike Milligan, whom they had admired on The Goon Show (a show the Pythons regard as their biggest influence, which also featured Peter Sellers, whom Cleese called "the greatest voice man of all time") recording his groundbreaking BBC series Q... (1969). Not only was Q... more irreverent and anarchic than any previous television comedy, but Milligan also would often "give up" on sketches halfway through and wander off set (often muttering "Did I write this?"). It was clear that their new series would now seem less original, and Jones in particular became determined the Pythons should innovate. Michael Palin recalls "Terry Jones and I adored the Q... shows...[Milligan] was the first writer to play with the conventions of television."
After much debate, Jones remembered an animation Gilliam had created for Do Not Adjust Your Set called "Beware of the Elephants", which had intrigued him with its stream-of-consciousness style. Jones felt it would be a good concept to apply to the series: allowing sketches to blend into one another. Palin had been equally fascinated by another of Gilliam's efforts, entitled "Christmas Cards", and agreed that it represented "a way of doing things differently". Since Cleese, Chapman, and Idle were less concerned with the overall flow of the programme, Jones, Palin, and Gilliam became largely responsible for the presentation style of the Flying Circus series, in which disparate sketches are linked to give each episode the appearance of a single stream-of-consciousness (often using a Gilliam animation to move from the closing image of one sketch to the opening scene of another). The BBC states, "Gilliam's unique animation style became crucial, segueing seamlessly between any two completely unrelated ideas and making the stream-of-consciousness work."
Writing started at 9 am and finished at 5 pm. Typically, Cleese and Chapman worked as one pair isolated from the others, as did Jones and Palin, while Idle wrote alone. After a few days, they would join with Gilliam, critique their scripts, and exchange ideas. Their approach to writing was democratic. If the majority found an idea humorous, it was included in the show. The casting of roles for the sketches was a similarly unselfish process, since each member viewed himself primarily as a "writer", rather than an actor eager for screen time. When the themes for sketches were chosen, Gilliam had a free hand in bridging them with animations, using a camera, scissors, and airbrush.
While the show was a collaborative process, different factions within Python were responsible for elements of the team's humour. In general, the work of the Oxford-educated members (Jones and Palin) was more visual, and more fanciful conceptually (e.g., the arrival of the Spanish Inquisition in a suburban front room), while the Cambridge graduates' sketches tended to be more verbal and more aggressive (for example, Cleese and Chapman's many "confrontation" sketches, where one character intimidates or hurls abuse, or Idle's characters with bizarre verbal quirks, such as "The Man Who Speaks In Anagrams"). Cleese confirmed that "most of the sketches with heavy abuse were Graham's and mine, anything that started with a slow pan across countryside and impressive music was Mike and Terry's, and anything that got utterly involved with words and disappeared up any personal orifice was Eric's". Gilliam's animations ranged from the whimsical to the savage (the cartoon format allowing him to create some astonishingly violent scenes without fear of censorship).
Several names for the show were considered before Monty Python's Flying Circus was settled upon. Some were Owl Stretching Time, The Toad Elevating Moment, A Horse, a Spoon and a Bucket, Vaseline Review, and Bun, Wackett, Buzzard, Stubble and Boot. Flying Circus stuck when the BBC explained it had printed that name in its schedules and was not prepared to amend it. Many variations on the name in front of this title then came and went (popular legend holds that the BBC considered Monty Python's Flying Circus to be a ridiculous name, at which point the group threatened to change their name every week until the BBC relented). Gwen Dibley's Flying Circus was named after a woman Palin had read about in the newspaper, thinking it would be amusing if she were to discover she had her own TV show. Baron Von Took's Flying Circus was considered as an affectionate tribute to Barry Took, the man who had brought them together. Arthur Megapode's Flying Circus was suggested, then discarded. The name Baron Von Took's Flying Circus had the form of Baron Manfred von Richthofen's Flying Circus of WWI fame, and the new group was forming in a time when the Royal Guardsmen's 1966 song "Snoopy vs. the Red Baron" had peaked. The term 'flying circus' was also another name for the popular entertainment of the 1920s known as barnstorming, where multiple performers collaborated with their stunts to perform a combined set of acts.
Differing, somewhat confusing accounts are given of the origins of the Python name, although the members agree that its only "significance" was that they thought it sounded funny. In the 1998 documentary Live at Aspen during the US Comedy Arts Festival, where the troupe was awarded the AFI Star Award by the American Film Institute, the group implied that "Monty" was selected (Eric Idle's idea) as a gently mocking tribute to Field Marshal Lord Montgomery, a British general of World War II; requiring a "slippery-sounding" surname, they settled on "Python". On other occasions, Idle has claimed that the name "Monty" was that of a popular and rotund fellow who drank in his local pub; people would often walk in and ask the barman, "Has Monty been in yet?", forcing the name to become stuck in his mind. The name Monty Python was later described by the BBC as being "envisaged by the team as the perfect name for a sleazy entertainment agent".
Style of the show
Flying Circus popularised innovative formal techniques, such as the cold open, in which an episode began without the traditional opening titles or announcements. An example of this is the "It's" man: Palin, outfitted in Robinson Crusoe garb, making a tortuous journey across various terrains, before finally approaching the camera to state, "It's ...", only to be then cut off by the title sequence and theme music. On several occasions, the cold open lasted until mid-show, after which the regular opening titles ran. Occasionally, the Pythons tricked viewers by rolling the closing credits halfway through the show, usually continuing the joke by fading to the familiar globe logo used for BBC continuity, over which Cleese would parody the clipped tones of a BBC announcer. On one occasion, the credits ran directly after the opening titles. On the subversive nature of the show (and their subsequent films), Cleese states "anti-authoritarianism was deeply ingrained in Python".
Because of their dislike of finishing with punchlines, they experimented with ending the sketches by cutting abruptly to another scene or animation, walking offstage, addressing the camera (breaking the fourth wall), or introducing a totally unrelated event or character. A classic example of this approach was the use of Chapman's "anti-silliness" character of "the Colonel", who walked into several sketches and ordered them to be stopped because things were becoming "far too silly".
Another favourite way of ending sketches was to drop a cartoonish "16-ton weight" prop on one of the characters when the sketch seemed to be losing momentum, or a knight in full armour (played by Terry Gilliam) would wander on-set and hit characters over the head with a rubber chicken, before cutting to the next scene. Yet another way of changing scenes was when John Cleese, usually outfitted in a dinner suit, would come in as a radio commentator and, in a rather pompous manner, make the formal and determined announcement "And now for something completely different.", which later became the title of the first Monty Python film.
The Python theme music is the Band of the Grenadier Guards' rendition of John Philip Sousa's "The Liberty Bell" which was first published in 1893. Under the Berne Convention's "country of origin" concept, the composition was subject to United States copyright law which states that any work first published prior to 1924 was in the public domain, owing to copyright expiration. This enabled Gilliam to co-opt the march for the series without having to make any royalty payments.
The use of Gilliam's surreal, collage stop motion animations was another innovative intertextual element of the Python style. Many of the images Gilliam used were lifted from famous works of art, and from Victorian illustrations and engravings. The giant foot which crushes the show's title at the end of the opening credits is in fact the foot of Cupid, cut from a reproduction of the Renaissance masterpiece Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time by Bronzino. This foot, and Gilliam's style in general, are visual trademarks of the programme.
The Pythons used the British tradition of cross-dressing comedy by donning frocks and makeup and playing female roles themselves while speaking in falsetto. Jones specialised in playing the working-class housewife, or "ratbag old women" as termed by the BBC. Palin and Idle generally played the role more posh, with Idle playing more feminine women. Cleese played female roles more sparsely, while Chapman was frequently paired with Jones as a ratbag woman or with Idle portraying middle-class women commenting upon TV. Generally speaking, female roles were played by women only when the scene specifically required that the character be sexually attractive (although sometimes they used Idle for this). The troupe later turned to Carol Cleveland, who co-starred in numerous episodes after 1970. In some episodes, and later in the stoning scene in Monty Python's Life of Brian, they took the idea one step further by playing women who impersonated men.
Many sketches are well-known and widely quoted. "Dead Parrot sketch", "The Lumberjack Song", "Spam" (which led to the coining of the term email spam), "Nudge Nudge", "The Spanish Inquisition", "Upper Class Twit of the Year", "Cheese Shop", "The Ministry of Silly Walks", "Argument Clinic", "The Funniest Joke in the World" (a sketch referenced in Google Translate), and Four Yorkshiremen sketch" are just a few examples. Most of the show’s sketches satirise areas of public life, such as: Dead Parrot (poor customer service), Silly Walks (bureaucratic inefficiency), Spam (ubiquity of Spam post World War II), and Four Yorkshiremen (nostalgic conversations). Featuring regularly in skits, Gumbys (characters of limited intelligence and vocabulary) were part of the Pythons' satirical view of television of the 1970s which condescendingly encouraged more involvement from the "man on the street".
Introduction to North America and the world
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) added Monty Python's Flying Circus to its national September 1970 fall line-up. They aired the 13 episodes of series 1, which had first run on the BBC the previous autumn (October 1969 to January 1970), as well as the first six episodes of series 2 only a few weeks after they first appeared on the BBC (September to November 1970). The CBC dropped the show when it returned to regular programming after the Christmas 1970 break, choosing to not place the remaining seven episodes of series 2 on the January 1971 CBC schedule. Within a week, the CBC received hundreds of calls complaining of the cancellation, and more than 100 people staged a demonstration at the CBC's Montreal studios. The show eventually returned, becoming a fixture on the network during the first half of the 1970s.
Sketches from Monty Python's Flying Circus were introduced to American audiences in August 1972, with the release of the Python film And Now for Something Completely Different, featuring sketches from series 1 and 2 of the television show. This 1972 release met with limited box office success.
The ability to show Monty Python's Flying Circus under the American NTSC standard had been made possible by the commercial actions of American television producer Greg Garrison. Garrison produced the NBC series The Dean Martin Comedy World, which ran during the summer of 1974. The concept was to show clips from comedy shows produced in other countries, including tape of the Python sketches "Bicycle Repairman" and "The Dull Life of a Stockbroker". Payment for use of these two sketches was enough to allow Time-Life Films to convert the entire Python library to NTSC standard, allowing for the sale to the PBS network stations which then brought the entire show to US audiences.
Through the efforts of Python's American manager Nancy Lewis, during the summer of 1974, Ron Devillier, the programming director for nonprofit PBS television station KERA in Dallas, Texas, started airing episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus. Ratings shot through the roof, providing an encouraging sign to the other 100 PBS stations that had signed up to begin airing the show in October 1974—exactly five years after their BBC debut. There was also cross-promotion from FM radio stations across the US, whose airing of tracks from the Python LPs had already introduced American audiences to this bizarre brand of comedy. The popularity on PBS resulted in the 1974 re-release of the 1972 ...Completely Different film, with much greater box office success. The success of the show was captured by a March 1975 article headline in The New York Times, "Monty Python's Flying Circus Is Barnstorming Here". Asked what challenges were left, now that they had made TV shows, films, written books, and produced records, Chapman responded, "Well, actually world supremacy would be very nice", before Idle cautioned, "Yes, but that sort of thing has got to be done properly".
In 1975 ABC broadcast two 90-minute Monty Python specials, each with three shows, but cut out a total of 24 minutes from each, in part to make time for commercials, and in part to avoid upsetting their audience. As the judge observed in Gilliam v. American Broadcasting Companies, Inc., where Monty Python sued for damages caused by broadcast of the mutilated version, "According to the network, appellants should have anticipated that most of the excised material contained scatological references inappropriate for American television and that these scenes would be replaced with commercials, which presumably are more palatable to the American public." Monty Python won the case.
With the popularity of Python throughout the rest of the 1970s and through most of the 1980s, PBS stations looked at other British comedies, leading to UK shows such as Are You Being Served? gaining a US audience, and leading, over time, to many PBS stations having a "British Comedy Night" which airs many popular UK comedies.
In 1976, Monty Python became the top rated show in Japan. The literal translation of the Japanese title was The Gay Dragon Boys Show. The popularity of the show in the Netherlands saw the town of Spijkenisse near Rotterdam open a 'silly walks' road crossing in 2018. Believed to be a world first, the official sign asks pedestrians to cross the road in a comical manner.
Departure of Cleese
Having considered the possibility at the end of the second season, Cleese left the Flying Circus at the end of the third. He later explained that he felt he no longer had anything fresh to offer the show, and claimed that only two Cleese- and Chapman-penned sketches in the third series ("Dennis Moore" and the "Cheese Shop") were truly original, and that the others were bits and pieces from previous work cobbled together in slightly different contexts. He was also finding Chapman, who was at that point in the full throes of alcoholism, difficult to work with. According to an interview with Idle, "It was on an Air Canada flight on the way to Toronto, when John (Cleese) turned to all of us and said 'I want out.' Why? I don't know. He gets bored more easily than the rest of us. He's a difficult man, not easy to be friendly with. He's so funny because he never wanted to be liked. That gives him a certain fascinating, arrogant freedom." Jones noted his reticence in 2012, "He was good at it, when he did it he was professional, but he’d rather not have done it. The others all loved it, but he got more and more pissed off about having to come out and do filming, and the one that really swung it, in my view, was when we had to do the day on the Newhaven lifeboat."
The rest of the group carried on for one more "half" season before calling a halt to the programme in 1974. While the first three seasons contained 13 episodes each, the fourth ended after just six. The name Monty Python's Flying Circus appears in the opening animation for season four, but in the end credits, the show is listed as simply Monty Python. Although Cleese left the show, he was credited as a writer for three of the six episodes, largely concentrated in the "Michael Ellis" episode, which had begun life as one of the many drafts of the "Holy Grail" motion picture. When a new direction for "Grail" was decided upon, the subplot of Arthur and his knights wandering around a strange department store in modern times was lifted out and recycled as the aforementioned TV episode. Songwriter Neil Innes contributed to some sketches, including "Appeal on Behalf of Very Rich People".
Life beyond the Flying Circus
Filmography
And Now for Something Completely Different (1971)
The Pythons' first feature film was directed by Ian MacNaughton, reprising his role from the television series. It consisted of sketches from the first two seasons of the Flying Circus, reshot on a low budget (and often slightly edited) for cinema release. Material selected for the film includes: "Dead Parrot", "The Lumberjack Song", "Upper Class Twit of the Year", "Hell's Grannies", "Self-Defence Class", "How Not to Be Seen", and "Nudge Nudge". Financed by Playboys UK executive Victor Lownes, it was intended as a way of breaking Monty Python into America, and although it was ultimately unsuccessful in this, the film did good business in the UK, and later in the US on the "Midnight movie" circuit after their breakthrough television and film success, this being in the era before home video would make the original material much more accessible. The group did not consider the film a success.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
In 1974, between production on the third and fourth seasons, the group decided to embark on their first "proper" feature film, containing entirely new material. Monty Python and the Holy Grail was based on Arthurian legend and was directed by Jones and Gilliam. Again, the latter also contributed linking animations (and put together the opening credits). Along with the rest of the Pythons, Jones and Gilliam performed several roles in the film, but Chapman took the lead as King Arthur. Cleese returned to the group for the film, feeling that they were once again breaking new ground. Holy Grail was filmed on location, in picturesque rural areas of Scotland, with a budget of only £229,000; the money was raised in part with investments from rock groups such as Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, and Led Zeppelin, as well as UK music industry entrepreneur Tony Stratton-Smith (founder and owner of the Charisma Records label, for which the Pythons recorded their comedy albums).
The backers of the film wanted to cut the famous Black Knight scene (a Sam Peckinpah send-up in which the Black Knight loses his limbs in a duel), but it was eventually kept in the movie. "Tis but a scratch" and "It's just a flesh wound…" are often quoted. Holy Grail was selected as the second-best comedy of all time in the ABC special Best in Film: The Greatest Movies of Our Time. and viewers in a Channel 4 poll placed it sixth.
Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)
Following the success of Holy Grail, reporters asked for the title of the next Python film, though the team had not even begun to consider a third one. Eventually, Idle flippantly replied "Jesus Christ – Lust for Glory", which became the group's stock answer to such questions. However, they soon began to seriously consider a film lampooning the New Testament era in the same way Holy Grail had lampooned Arthurian legend. Despite sharing a distrust of organised religion, they agreed not to mock Jesus or his teachings directly. They also mentioned that they could not think of anything legitimate to make fun of about him. Instead, they decided to write a satire on credulity and hypocrisy among the followers of someone [Brian] who had been mistaken for the "Messiah", but who had no desire to be followed as such. Terry Jones adds it was a satire on those who for the next 2,000 years "couldn't agree on what Jesus was saying about peace and love".
The focus therefore shifted to a separate individual, Brian Cohen, born at the same time, and in a neighbouring stable. When Jesus appears in the film (first, as a baby in the stable, and then later on the Mount, speaking the Beatitudes), he is played straight (by actor Kenneth Colley) and portrayed with respect. The comedy begins when members of the crowd mishear his statements of peace, love, and tolerance ("I think he said, 'Blessed are the cheesemakers).
Directing duties were handled solely by Jones, having amicably agreed with Gilliam that Jones' approach to film-making was better suited for Python's general performing style. Holy Grail's production had often been stilted by their differences behind the camera. Gilliam again contributed two animated sequences (one being the opening credits) and took charge of set design. The film was shot on location in Tunisia, the finances being provided this time by The Beatles' George Harrison, who together with Denis O'Brien formed the production company Hand-Made Films for the movie. Harrison had a cameo role as the "owner of the Mount".
Despite its subject matter attracting controversy, particularly upon its initial release, it has (together with its predecessor) been ranked among the greatest comedy films. In 2006 it was ranked first on a Channel 4 list of the 50 Greatest Comedy Films. In 2013, Richard Burridge, a theologian decorated by Pope Francis, called Life of Brian an "extraordinary tribute to the life and work and teaching of Jesus—that they couldn't actually blaspheme or make a joke out of it. They did a great satire on closed minds and people who follow blindly. Then you have them splitting into factions...it is a wonderful satire on the way that Jesus's own teaching has been used to persecute others. They were satirising fundamentalism and persecution of others and at the same time saying the one person who rises above all this was Jesus".
Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1982)
Filmed at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles during preparations for The Meaning of Life in September 1980, this was a concert film (directed by Terry Hughes) in which the Pythons performed sketches from the television series in front of an audience. The released film also incorporated footage from the German television specials (the inclusion of which gives Ian MacNaughton his first on-screen credit for Python since the end of Flying Circus) and live performances of several songs from the troupe's then-current Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album.
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983)
The Pythons' final film returned to something structurally closer to the style of Flying Circus. A series of sketches loosely follows the ages of man from birth to death. Directed again by Jones solo, The Meaning of Life is embellished with some of the group's most bizarre and disturbing moments, as well as various elaborate musical numbers, which include "Galaxy Song" (performed by Idle) and "Every Sperm Is Sacred" (performed by Palin and Jones). The film is by far their darkest work, containing a great deal of black humour, garnished by some spectacular violence (including an operation to remove a liver from a living patient without anaesthetic and the morbidly obese Mr. Creosote exploding over several restaurant patrons after finally giving in to the smooth maître d' telling him to eat a mint – "It's only a wafer-thin mint..."). At the time of its release, the Pythons confessed their aim was to offend "absolutely everyone", adding "It is guaranteed to offend".
The Liver Donor scene (which sees someone come to a man's door to take his liver, to which he says: "No, no, I'm not dead", before being told: "Oooh, it doesn't say that on the form"), is a satire on bureaucracy, a common Python trope. Besides the opening credits and the fish sequence, Gilliam, by now an established live-action director, no longer wanted to produce any linking cartoons, offering instead to direct one sketch, "The Crimson Permanent Assurance". Under his helm, though, the segment grew so ambitious and tangential that it was cut from the movie and used as a supporting feature in its own right. (Television screenings also use it as a prologue.) This was the last project on which all six Pythons collaborated, except for the 1989 compilation Parrot Sketch Not Included, where they are all seen sitting in a closet for four seconds. This was the last time Chapman appeared on screen with the Pythons.
Secret Policeman's Ball benefit shows
Members of Python contributed their services to charitable endeavours and causes—sometimes as an ensemble, at other times as individuals. The cause that has been the most frequent and consistent beneficiary has been the human rights work of Amnesty International. Between 1976 and 1981, the troupe or its members appeared in four major fund-raisers for Amnesty—known collectively as the Secret Policeman's Ball shows—which were turned into multiple films, TV shows, videos, record albums, and books. The brainchild of John Cleese, these benefit shows in London and their many spin-offs raised considerable sums of money for Amnesty, raised public and media awareness of the human rights cause, and influenced many other members of the entertainment community (especially rock musicians) to become involved in political and social issues. Among the many musicians who have publicly attributed their activism—and the organisation of their own benefit events—to the inspiration of the work in this field of Monty Python are Bob Geldof (organiser of Live Aid), U2, Pete Townshend, and Sting. Bono told Rolling Stone in 1986, "I saw The Secret Policeman’s Ball and it became a part of me. It sowed a seed..." Sting states, "before [the Ball] I did not know about Amnesty, I did not know about its work, I did not know about torture in the world." On the impact of the Ball on Geldof, Sting states, "he took the ‘Ball’ and ran with it."
Ball co-founder Cleese and Jones had an involvement (as performer, writer or director) in all four Amnesty benefit shows, Palin in three, Chapman in two, and Gilliam in one. Idle did not participate in the Amnesty shows. Notwithstanding Idle's lack of participation, the other five members (together with "Associate Pythons" Carol Cleveland and Neil Innes) all appeared together in the first Secret Policeman's Ball benefit—the 1976 A Poke in the Eye held at Her Majesty's Theatre in London's West End—where they performed several Python sketches. In this first show, they were collectively billed as Monty Python. Peter Cook deputised for the absent Idle in a courtroom sketch. In the next three shows, the participating Python members performed many Python sketches, but were billed under their individual names rather than under the collective Python banner. The second show featured newcomer Rowan Atkinson and Scottish comedian Billy Connolly. The Secret Policeman's Ball were the first stage shows in the UK to present comedic performers (such as Monty Python and Rowan Atkinson) in the same setting and shows as their contemporaries in rock music (which included Eric Clapton, Sting and Phil Collins). After a six-year break, Amnesty resumed producing Secret Policeman's Ball benefit shows which were held at the London Palladium in 1987 (sometimes with, and sometimes without, variants of the title) and by 2006 had presented a total of twelve shows. Since 1987 the Balls featured newer generations of British comedic performers, such as Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, and puppets from the satirical TV show Spitting Image, with many attributing their participation in the show to their desire to emulate the Python's pioneering work for Amnesty. Cleese and Palin made a brief cameo appearance in the 1989 Amnesty show; apart from that, the Pythons have not appeared in shows after the first four.
Going solo
Each member has pursued various film, television, and stage projects since the break-up of the group, but often continued to work with one another. Many of these collaborations were very successful, most notably A Fish Called Wanda (1988), written by Cleese, in which he starred along with Palin. The pair also appeared in Time Bandits (1981), a film directed by Gilliam, who wrote it together with Palin. Gilliam directed Jabberwocky (1977), and also directed and co-wrote Brazil (1985), which featured Palin, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), which featured Idle; he followed these with writing and directing an additional six (as of 2021) films.
Yellowbeard (1983) was co-written by Chapman and featured Chapman, Idle, and Cleese, as well as many other English comedians including Peter Cook, Spike Milligan, and Marty Feldman.
Palin and Jones wrote the comedic TV series Ripping Yarns (1976–79), starring Palin. Jones also appeared in the pilot episode and Cleese appeared in a nonspeaking part in the episode "Golden Gordon". Jones' film Erik the Viking also has Cleese playing a small part. In 1996 Terry Jones wrote and directed an adaptation of Kenneth Grahame's novel The Wind in the Willows. It featured four members of Monty Python: Jones as Mr. Toad, Idle as Ratty, Cleese as Mr. Toad's lawyer, and Palin as the Sun. Gilliam was considered for the voice of the river. The film included Steve Coogan who played Mole.
Cleese has the most prolific solo career, appearing in dozens of films, several TV shows or series (including Cheers, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Q's assistant in the James Bond movies, and Will & Grace), many direct-to-video productions, some video games and a number of commercials. His BBC sitcom Fawlty Towers (written by and starring Cleese together with his wife Connie Booth) is the only comedy series to rank higher than the Flying Circus on the BFI TV 100's list, topping the whole poll. Cleese's character, Basil Fawlty, was ranked second (to Homer Simpson) on Channel 4's 2001 list of the 100 Greatest TV Characters.
Idle enjoyed critical success with Rutland Weekend Television in the mid-1970s, out of which came the Beatles parody the Rutles (responsible for the cult mockumentary All You Need Is Cash), and as an actor in Nuns on the Run (1990) with Robbie Coltrane. In 1976 Idle directed music videos for George Harrison songs "This Song" and "Crackerbox Palace", the latter of which also featured cameo appearances from Neil Innes and John Cleese. Idle has had success with Python songs: "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" went to no. 3 in the UK singles chart in 1991. The song had been revived by Simon Mayo on BBC Radio 1, and was consequently released as a single that year. The theatrical phenomenon of the Python musical Spamalot has made Idle the most financially successful of the troupe after Python. Written by Idle (and featuring a pre-recorded cameo of Cleese as the voice of God), it has proved to be an enormous hit on Broadway, London's West End and Las Vegas. This was followed by Not the Messiah, which revises The Life of Brian as an oratorio. For the work's 2007 premiere at the Luminato festival in Toronto (which commissioned the work), Idle himself sang the "baritone-ish" part.
After Python reunions
Since The Meaning of Life, their last project as a team, the Pythons have often been the subject of reunion rumours. In 1988 Monty Python won the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema, with four of the six Pythons (Jones, Palin, Gilliam and Chapman) collecting the award. The final appearance of all six together occurred during the 1989 Parrot Sketch Not Included – 20 Years of Monty Python TV special. The death of Chapman in October 1989 put an end to the speculation of any further reunions. Several occasions since 1989 have occurred when the surviving five members have gathered together for appearances—albeit not formal reunions. In 1996 Jones, Idle, Cleese, and Palin were featured in a film adaptation of The Wind in the Willows, which was later renamed Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. In 1997 Palin and Cleese rolled out a new version of the "Dead Parrot sketch" for Saturday Night Live.
Monty Python were the inaugural recipients of the Empire Inspiration Award in 1997. Palin, Jones and Gilliam received the award on stage in London from Elton John while Cleese and Idle appeared via satellite from Los Angeles. In 1998 during the US Comedy Arts Festival, where the troupe were awarded the AFI Star Award by the American Film Institute, the five remaining members, along with what was purported to be Chapman's ashes, were reunited on stage for the first time in 18 years. The occasion was in the form of an interview called Monty Python Live at Aspen, (hosted by Robert Klein, with an appearance by Eddie Izzard) in which the team looked back at some of their work and performed a few new sketches. On 9 October 1999, to commemorate 30 years since the first Flying Circus television broadcast, BBC2 devoted an evening to Python programmes, including a documentary charting the history of the team, interspersed with new sketches by the Monty Python team filmed especially for the event.
The surviving Pythons had agreed in principle to perform a live tour of America in 1999. Several shows were to be linked with Q&A meetings in various cities. Although all had said yes, Palin later changed his mind, much to the annoyance of Idle, who had begun work organising the tour. This led to Idle refusing to take part in the new material shot for the BBC anniversary evening. In 2002, four of the surviving members, bar Cleese, performed "The Lumberjack Song" and "Sit on My Face" for George Harrison's memorial concert. The reunion also included regular supporting contributors Neil Innes and Carol Cleveland, with a special appearance from Tom Hanks.
In an interview to publicise the DVD release of The Meaning of Life, Cleese said a further reunion was unlikely. "It is absolutely impossible to get even a majority of us together in a room, and I'm not joking," Cleese said. He said that the problem was one of busyness rather than one of bad feelings. A sketch appears on the same DVD spoofing the impossibility of a full reunion, bringing the members "together" in a deliberately unconvincing fashion with modern bluescreen/greenscreen techniques.
Idle responded to queries about a Python reunion by adapting a line used by George Harrison in response to queries about a possible Beatles reunion. When asked in November 1989 about such a possibility, Harrison responded: "As far as I'm concerned, there won't be a Beatles reunion as long as John Lennon remains dead." Idle's version of this was that he expected to see a proper Python reunion, "just as soon as Graham Chapman comes back from the dead", but added, "we're talking to his agent about terms."
The Pythons Autobiography by The Pythons (2003), compiled from interviews with the surviving members, reveals that a series of disputes in 1998, over a possible sequel to Holy Grail that had been conceived by Idle, may have resulted in the group's split. Cleese's feeling was that The Meaning of Life had been personally difficult and ultimately mediocre, and did not wish to be involved in another Python project for a variety of reasons (not least amongst them was the absence of Chapman, whose straight man-like central roles in the Grail and Brian films had been considered to be an essential anchoring performance). The book also reveals that Cleese saw Chapman as his "greatest sounding board. If Graham thought something was funny, then it almost certainly was funny. You cannot believe how invaluable that is.' Ultimately it was Cleese who ended the possibility of another Python movie.
A full, if nonperforming, reunion of the surviving Python members appeared at the March 2005 premiere of Idle's musical Spamalot, based on Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It opened in Chicago and has since played in New York on Broadway, London, and numerous other major cities across the world. In 2004 it was nominated for 14 Tony Awards and won three: Best Musical, Best Direction of a Musical for Mike Nichols, and Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical for Sara Ramirez, who played the Lady of the Lake, a character specially added for the musical. The original Broadway cast included Tim Curry as King Arthur, Michael McGrath as Patsy, David Hyde Pierce as Sir Robin, Hank Azaria as Sir Lancelot and other roles (e.g., the French Taunter, Knight of Ni, and Tim the Enchanter), Christopher Sieber as Sir Galahad and other roles (e.g., the Black Knight and Prince Herbert's Father). Cleese played the voice of God, a role played in the film by Chapman.
Owing in part to the success of Spamalot, PBS announced on 13 July 2005 that it would begin to re-air the entire run of Monty Python's Flying Circus and new one-hour specials focusing on each member of the group, called Monty Python's Personal Best. Each episode was written and produced by the individual being honoured, with the five remaining Pythons collaborating on Chapman's programme, the only one of the editions to take on a serious tone with its new material.
In 2009, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the first episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus, a six-part documentary entitled Monty Python: Almost the Truth (Lawyers Cut) was released, featuring interviews with the surviving members of the team, as well as archive interviews with Graham Chapman and numerous excerpts from the television series and films. Each episode opens with a different re-recording of the theme song from Life of Brian, with Iron Maiden vocalist and Python fan Bruce Dickinson performing the sixth.
Also in commemoration of the 40th anniversary, Idle, Palin, Jones, and Gilliam appeared in a production of Not the Messiah at the Royal Albert Hall. The European premiere was held on 23 October 2009. An official 40th anniversary Monty Python reunion event took place in New York City on 15 October 2009, where the team received a Special Award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
In June 2011, it was announced that A Liar's Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman, an animated 3D movie based on the memoir of Graham Chapman, was in the making. The memoir A Liar's Autobiography was published in 1980 and details Chapman's journey through medical school, alcoholism, acknowledgement of his gay identity, and the tolls of surreal comedy. Asked what was true in a deliberately fanciful account by Chapman of his life, Terry Jones joked: "Nothing ... it's all a downright, absolute, blackguardly lie." The film uses Chapman's own voice—from a reading of his autobiography shortly before he died of cancer—and entertainment channel Epix announced the film's release in early 2012 in both 2D and 3D formats. Produced and directed by London-based Bill Jones, Ben Timlett, and Jeff Simpson, the new film has 15 animation companies working on chapters that will range from three to 12 minutes in length, each in a different style. John Cleese recorded dialogue which was matched with Chapman's voice. Michael Palin voiced Chapman's father and Terry Jones voiced his mother. Terry Gilliam voiced Graham's psychiatrist. They all play various other roles. Among the original Python group, only Eric Idle was not involved.
On 26 January 2012, Terry Jones announced that the five surviving Pythons would reunite in a sci-fi comedy film called Absolutely Anything. The film would combine computer-generated imagery and live action. It would be directed by Jones based on a script by Jones and Gavin Scott, and in addition to the Python members it would also star Simon Pegg, Kate Beckinsale and Robin Williams (in his final film role). The plot revolves around a teacher who discovers aliens (voiced by the Pythons) have given him magical powers to do "absolutely anything". Eric Idle responded via Twitter that he would not, in fact, be participating, although he was later added to the cast.
Monty Python Live (Mostly): One Down, Five to Go
In 2013, the Pythons lost a legal case to Mark Forstater, the film producer of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, over royalties for the derivative work Spamalot. They owed a combined £800,000 in legal fees and back royalties to Forstater. They proposed a reunion show to pay their legal bill.
On 19 November 2013, a new reunion was reported, following months of "secret talks". The original plan was for a live, one-off stage show at the O2 Arena in London on 1 July 2014, with "some of Monty Python's greatest hits, with modern, topical, Pythonesque twists" according to a press release. The tickets for this show went on sale in November 2013 and sold out in just 43 seconds. Nine additional shows were added, all of them at the O2, the last on 20 July. They have said that their reunion was inspired by South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who are massive Monty Python fans.
Mick Jagger featured in a promotional video for the shows: "Who wants to see that again, really? It's a bunch of wrinkly old men trying to relive their youth and make a load of money—the best one died years ago!" Michael Palin stated that the final reunion show on 20 July 2014 would be the last time that the troupe would perform together. It was screened to 2,000 cinemas around the world. Prior to the final night, Idle stated, "It is a world event and that’s really quite exciting. It means we’re actually going to say goodbye publicly on one show. Nobody ever has the chance to do that. The Beatles didn’t get a last good night." The last show was broadcast in the UK on Gold TV and internationally in cinemas by Fathom Events through a Dish Network satellite link.
Python members
Graham Chapman was originally a medical student, joining the Footlights at Cambridge. He completed his medical training and was legally entitled to practise as a doctor. Chapman is best remembered for the lead roles in Holy Grail, as King Arthur, and Life of Brian, as Brian Cohen. He died of metastatic throat cancer on 4 October 1989. At Chapman's memorial service, Cleese delivered an irreverent eulogy that included all the euphemisms for being dead from the "Dead Parrot" sketch, which they had written. Chapman's comedic fictional memoir, A Liar's Autobiography, was adapted into an animated 3D movie in 2012.
John Cleese is the oldest Python. He met his future Python writing partner, Chapman, in Cambridge. Outside of Python, he is best known for setting up the Video Arts group and for the sitcom Fawlty Towers (co-written with Connie Booth, whom Cleese met during work on Python and to whom he was married for a decade). Cleese has also co-authored several books on psychology and wrote the screenplay for the award-winning A Fish Called Wanda, in which he starred with Michael Palin.
Terry Gilliam, an American by birth, is the only member of the troupe of non-British origin. He started off as an animator and strip cartoonist for Harvey Kurtzman's Help! magazine, one issue of which featured Cleese. Moving from the US to England, he animated features for Do Not Adjust Your Set and was then asked by its makers to join them on their next project: Monty Python's Flying Circus. He co-directed Monty Python and the Holy Grail and directed short segments of other Python films (for instance "The Crimson Permanent Assurance", the short film that appears before The Meaning of Life).
When Monty Python was first formed, two writing partnerships were already in place: Cleese and Chapman, Jones and Palin. That left two in their own corners: Gilliam, operating solo due to the nature of his work, and Eric Idle. Regular themes in Idle's contributions were elaborate wordplay and musical numbers. After Flying Circus, he hosted Saturday Night Live four times in the first five seasons. Idle's initially successful solo career faltered in the 1990s with the failures of his 1993 film Splitting Heirs (written, produced by, and starring him) and 1998's An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (in which he starred). He revived his career by returning to the source of his worldwide fame, adapting Monty Python material for other media. Idle wrote the Tony Award-winning musical Spamalot, based on Holy Grail. Following the success of the musical he wrote Not the Messiah, an oratorio derived from the Life of Brian. Representing Monty Python, Idle featured in a one-hour symphony of British Music when he performed at the London 2012 Olympic Games closing ceremony.
Terry Jones has been described by other members of the team as the "heart" of the operation. Jones had a lead role in maintaining the group's unity and creative independence. Python biographer George Perry has commented that should "[you] speak to him on subjects as diverse as fossil fuels, or Rupert Bear, or mercenaries in the Middle Ages or Modern China ... in a moment you will find yourself hopelessly out of your depth, floored by his knowledge." Many others agree that Jones is characterised by his irrepressible, good-natured enthusiasm. However, Jones' passion often led to prolonged arguments with other group members—in particular Cleese—with Jones often unwilling to back down. Since his major contributions were largely behind the scenes (direction, writing), and he often deferred to the other members of the group as an actor, Jones' importance to Python was often under-rated. However, he does have the legacy of delivering possibly the most famous line in all of Python, as Brian's mother Mandy in Life of Brian, "He's not the Messiah, he's a very naughty boy!", a line voted the funniest in film history on two occasions. Jones died on 21 January 2020 from complications of dementia.
Sir Michael Palin attended Oxford, where he met his Python writing partner Jones. The two also wrote the series Ripping Yarns together. Palin and Jones originally wrote face-to-face, but soon found it was more productive to write apart and then come together to review what the other had written. Therefore, Jones and Palin's sketches tended to be more focused than that of the others, taking one bizarre situation, sticking to it, and building on it. After Flying Circus, Palin hosted Saturday Night Live four times in the first 10 seasons. His comedy output began to decrease in amount following the increasing success of his travel documentaries for the BBC. Palin released a book of diaries from the Python years entitled Michael Palin Diaries 1969–1979, published in 2007. Palin was awarded a knighthood in the 2019 New Year Honours, which was announced by Buckingham Palace in December 2018.
Associate Pythons
Several people have been accorded unofficial "associate Python" status over the years. Occasionally such people have been referred to as the 'seventh Python', in a style reminiscent of George Martin (or other associates of the Beatles) being dubbed "the Fifth Beatle". The two collaborators with the most meaningful and plentiful contributions have been Neil Innes and Carol Cleveland. Both were present and presented as Associate Pythons at the official Monty Python 25th-anniversary celebrations held in Los Angeles in July 1994.
Neil Innes is the only non-Python besides Douglas Adams to be credited with writing material for Flying Circus. He appeared in sketches and the Python films, as well as performing some of his songs in Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl. He was also a regular stand-in for absent team members on the rare occasions when they recreated sketches. For example, he took the place of Cleese at the Concert for George. Gilliam once noted that if anyone qualified for the title of the seventh Python, it would be Innes. He was one of the creative talents in the off-beat Bonzo Dog Band. He would later portray Ron Nasty of the Rutles and write all of the Rutles' compositions for All You Need Is Cash (1978), a mockumentary film co-directed by Idle. By 2005, a falling out had occurred between Idle and Innes over additional Rutles projects, the results being Innes' critically acclaimed Rutles "reunion" album The Rutles: Archaeology and Idle's straight-to-DVD The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch, each undertaken without the other's participation. According to an interview with Idle in the Chicago Tribune in May 2005, his attitude is that Innes and he go back "too far. And no further." Innes died of a heart attack on 29 December 2019 near Toulouse, where he had lived for several years.
Carol Cleveland was the most important female performer in the Monty Python ensemble, commonly referred to as "the female Python". She was originally hired by producer/director John Howard Davies for just the first five episodes of the Flying Circus. The Pythons then pushed to make Cleveland a permanent recurring performer after producer/director Ian MacNaughton brought in several other actresses who were not as good as she was. Cleveland went on to appear in about two-thirds of the episodes, as well as in all of the Python films, and in most of their stage shows, as well. According to Time, her most recognisable film roles are playing Zoot and Dingo, two maidens in the Castle Anthrax in Holy Grail.
Other contributors
Cleese's first wife, Connie Booth, appeared as various characters in all four series of Flying Circus. Her most significant role was the "best girl" of the eponymous Lumberjack in "The Lumberjack Song", though this role was sometimes played by Carol Cleveland. Booth appeared in a total of six sketches and also played one-off characters in Python feature films And Now for Something Completely Different and Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Douglas Adams was "discovered" by Chapman when a version of Footlights Revue (a 1974 BBC2 television show featuring some of Adams' early work) was performed live in London's West End. In Cleese's absence from the final TV series, the two formed a brief writing partnership, with Adams earning a writing credit in one episode for a sketch called "Patient Abuse". In the sketch—a satire on mind-boggling bureaucracy—a man who had been stabbed by a nurse arrives at his doctor's office bleeding profusely from the stomach, when the doctor makes him fill in numerous senseless forms before he can administer treatment. He also had two cameo appearances in this season. Firstly, in the episode "The Light Entertainment War", Adams shows up in a surgeon's mask (as Dr. Emile Koning, according to the on-screen captions), pulling on gloves, while Palin narrates a sketch that introduces one person after another, and never actually gets started. Secondly, at the beginning of "Mr. Neutron", Adams is dressed in a "pepperpot" outfit and loads a missile onto a cart being driven by Terry Jones, who is calling out for scrap metal ("Any old iron ..."). Adams and Chapman also subsequently attempted a few non-Python projects, including Out of the Trees. He also contributed to a sketch on the soundtrack album for Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Other than Carol Cleveland, the only other non-Python to make a significant number of appearances in the Flying Circus was Ian Davidson. He appeared in the first two series of the show, and played over 10 roles. While Davidson is primarily known as a scriptwriter, it is not known if he had any contribution toward the writing of the sketches, as he is only credited as a performer. In total, Davidson is credited as appearing in eight episodes of the show, which is more than any other male actor who was not a Python. Despite this, Davidson did not appear in any Python-related media subsequent to series 2, though footage of him was shown on the documentary Python Night – 30 Years of Monty Python.
Stand-up comedian Eddie Izzard, a devoted fan of the group, has occasionally stood in for absent members. When the BBC held a "Python Night" in 1999 to celebrate 30 years of the first broadcast of Flying Circus, the Pythons recorded some new material with Izzard standing in for Idle, who had declined to partake in person (she taped a solo contribution from the US). Izzard hosted The Life of Python (1999), a history of the group that was part of Python Night and appeared with them at a festival/tribute in Aspen, Colorado, in 1998 (released on DVD as Live at Aspen). Izzard has said that Monty Python was a significant influence on her style of comedy and Cleese has referred to her as "the lost Python".
Series director of Flying Circus, Ian MacNaughton, is also regularly associated with the group and made a few on-screen appearances in the show and in the film And Now for Something Completely Different. Apart from Neil Innes, others to contribute musically included Fred Tomlinson and the Fred Tomlinson Singers. They made appearances in songs such as "The Lumberjack Song" as a backup choir. Other contributors and performers for the Pythons included John Howard Davies, John Hughman, Lyn Ashley, Bob Raymond, John Young, Rita Davies, Stanley Mason, Maureen Flanagan, and David Ballantyne.
Cultural influence and legacy
By the time of Monty Python's 25th anniversary, in 1994, the point was already being made that "the five surviving members had with the passing years begun to occupy an institutional position in the edifice of British social culture that they had once had so much fun trying to demolish". A similar point is made in a 2006 book on the relationship between Python and philosophy: "It is remarkable, after all, not only that the utterly bizarre Monty Python's Flying Circus was sponsored by the BBC in the first place, but that Monty Python itself grew into an institution of enormous cultural influence."
A self-contained comedy unit responsible for both writing and performing their work, Monty Python's influence on comedy has been compared to the Beatles' influence on music. Author Neil Gaiman writes, "A strange combination of individuals gave us Python. And you needed those people, just in the same way that with the Beatles you had four talented people, but together you had the Beatles. And I think that's so incredibly true when it comes to Python."
Comedy stylists
Monty Python have been named as being influential to the comedy stylings of a great many people including: Sacha Baron Cohen, David Cross, Rowan Atkinson, Seth MacFarlane, Seth Meyers, Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Vic and Bob, Mike Myers, and "Weird Al" Yankovic. Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons, was influenced by Python's "high velocity sense of the absurd and not stopping to explain yourself", and pays tribute through a couch gag used in seasons five and six. Appearing on Monty Python's Best Bits (Mostly), Jim Carrey—who refers to Monty Python as the "Super Justice League of comedy"—recalled the effect on him of Ernest Scribbler (played by Palin) laughing himself to death in "The Funniest Joke in the World" sketch. Monty Python's Flying Circus served as an inspiration for voice actor Rob Paulsen in voicing Pinky from the animated television series Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain, giving the character "a goofy whack job" of a British accent.
Comedian John Oliver states, "Writing about the importance of Monty Python is basically pointless. Citing them as an influence is almost redundant. It's assumed. This strange group of wildly talented, appropriately disrespectful, hugely imaginative and massively inspirational idiots changed what comedy could be for their generation and for those that followed." On how Python's freeform style influenced sketch comedy, Tina Fey of the US television show Saturday Night Live states, "Sketch endings are overrated. Their key was to do something as long as it was funny and then just stop and do something else."
Places
In space
Seven asteroids are named after Monty Python or its members: 9617 Grahamchapman, 9618 Johncleese, 9619 Terrygilliam, 9620 Ericidle, 9621 Michaelpalin, 9622 Terryjones, and 13681 Monty Python.
In 2010, the commercial space company SpaceX launched a wheel of cheese into low earth orbit and returned it safely to Earth on COTS Demo Flight 1. Elon Musk, CEO and CTO of SpaceX, said this was done as a tribute to Monty Python.
Terrestrial
After John Cleese spoke negatively about the town of Palmerston North in New Zealand, recommending it as a good place to commit suicide, the town renamed a compost heap "Mt. Cleese".
"Pythonesque"
Among the more visible cultural influences of Monty Python is the inclusion of terms either directly from, or derived from, Monty Python, into the lexicon of the English language.
The most obvious of these is the term "Pythonesque", which has become a byword in surreal humour, and is included in standard dictionaries. Terry Jones commented on his disappointment at the existence of such a term, claiming the initial aim of Monty Python was to create something new and impossible to categorise, and "the fact that Pythonesque is now a word in the Oxford English Dictionary shows the extent to which we failed".
The term has been applied to animations similar to those constructed by Gilliam (e.g., the cut-out style of South Park, whose creators have often acknowledged a debt to Python, including contributing material to the aforementioned 30th-anniversary theme night).
Good Eats creator Alton Brown cited Python as one of the influences that shaped how he created the series, as well as how he authors the script for each episode. Later episodes included Gilliam-style animations to illustrate key points.
Film critic Robbie Collin writes, "You can find the Pythonesque everywhere in cinema. Most successful Hollywood comedies bear some kind of Python-print. The Austin Powers series chugs along on Pythonisms. Then there are Christopher Guest's mockumentaries, such as Waiting for Guffman and Best in Show, which revel in the quiet absurdity of the everyday—well-staked-out Python territory. And there's a tensile weirdness in the films of Will Ferrell that's also deeply Pythonesque."
TV
The Japanese anime series, Girls und Panzer, featured the special episode, "Survival War!", which referenced the 'Spam' sketch, but the word "spam" was censored to avoid legal issue with the Pythons.
Things named after Monty Python
Beyond a dictionary definition, Python terms have entered the lexicon in other ways.
The term "spam" in reference to bulk, unsolicited email is derived from the show's 1970 "Spam" sketch. As the waitress recites the Spam-filled menu, a chorus of Viking patrons drown out all conversations with a song, repeating "Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam… Spammity Spam! Wonderful Spam!".
The Python programming language by Guido van Rossum is named after the troupe, and Monty Python references are often found in sample code created for that language. The default integrated development environment of the programming language is named IDLE, an alternative one is named eric, both in honour of Eric Idle. Additionally, a 2001 April Fool's Day joke by van Rossum and Larry Wall involving the merger of Python with Perl was dubbed "Parrot" after the Dead Parrot sketch. The name "Parrot" was later used for a project to develop a virtual machine for running bytecode for interpreted languages such as Perl and Python. Its package index is also known as the "Cheese Shop" after the sketch of the same name. There is also a python refactoring tool called bicyclerepair named after Bicycle Repair Man sketch.
In 1985, a fossil of a previously unknown species of gigantic prehistoric snake from the Miocene was discovered in Riversleigh, Queensland, Australia. The Australian palaeontologist who discovered the fossil snake was a Monty Python fan, and he gave the snake the taxonomic name of Montypythonoides riversleighensis in honour of the Monty Python team.
In 2006, Ben & Jerry's, known for their "celebrity flavours", introduced to the line-up "Vermonty Python", a coffee liqueur ice cream with a chocolate cookie crumb swirl and fudge cows. The name "Minty Python" had been suggested before in 1996 in a contest to select the quintessential British ice cream flavour.
In 1999, in connection with the group's 30th anniversary, a beer named "Holy Grail Ale" was released by the Black Sheep Brewery in North Yorkshire.
The endangered Bemaraha woolly lemur (Avahi cleesei) is named after John Cleese.
Geneticists discovered a mutant gene which caused mutant flies to live twice as long as normal ones. They dubbed the gene "Indy," which is an acronym for the line of dialogue: "I'm not dead yet!", from the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
The band Toad the Wet Sprocket took its name from the Rock Notes sketch on the comedy album, Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album.
World records
On St George's Day, 23 April 2007, the cast and creators of Spamalot gathered in Trafalgar Square under the tutelage of the two Terrys (Jones and Gilliam) to set a new record for the world's largest coconut orchestra. They led 5,567 people "clip-clopping" in time to the Python classic, "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life", for the Guinness World Records attempt.
On 5 October 2019, to mark the 50th anniversary of Monty Python's first show, the "first official Monty Python Guinness world record attempt" tried to break the record for "the largest gathering of people dressed as Gumbys." A recurring character on the show, a Gumby wears a handkerchief on their head, has spectacles, braces, a knitted tank top, and wellington boots. The shirt sleeves and trouser legs are always rolled up, exposing their socks and knees. Dimwitted, their most famous catchphrases are "My brain hurts!" and repeated shouts of "Hello!" and "Sorry!".
Timeline
Media
Television
Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969–74) The show that started the Python phenomenon, see also List of Monty Python's Flying Circus episodes.
Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus (1972) Two 45-minute specials were made by WDR for West German television. The first was recorded in German, while the second was in English with German dubbing.
Monty Python's Personal Best (2006) Six one-hour specials, each episode presenting the best of one member's work.
Films
Five Monty Python productions were released as theatrical films:
And Now for Something Completely Different (1971) A collection of sketches from the first and second TV series of Monty Python's Flying Circus re-enacted and shot for film.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) King Arthur and his knights embark on a low-budget search for the Holy Grail, encountering humorous obstacles along the way. Some of these turned into stand-alone sketches.
Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) Brian is born on the first Christmas, in the stable next to Jesus'. He spends his life being mistaken for a messiah.
Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1982) A videotape recording directed by Terry Hughes of a live performance of sketches, it was originally intended for a TV/video special. It was transferred to 35 mm and given a limited theatrical release in the US.
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983) An examination of the meaning of life in a series of sketches from conception to death and beyond.
Albums
Monty Python's Flying Circus (1970)
Another Monty Python Record (1971)
Monty Python's Previous Record (1972)
The Monty Python Matching Tie and Handkerchief (1973)
Monty Python Live at Drury Lane (1974)
The Album of the Soundtrack of the Trailer of the Film of Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
Monty Python Live at City Center (1976)
The Monty Python Instant Record Collection (1977)
Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)
Monty Python Examines The Life of Brian (promo) (1979)
Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album (1980)
The Monty Python Instant Record Collection (US version) (1981)
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983)
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life: Audio Press Kit (promo) (1983)
The Final Rip Off (1987)
Monty Python Sings (1989)
The Ultimate Monty Python Rip Off (1994)
Monty Python Sings Again (2014)
The Hastily Cobbled Together for a Fast Buck Album (unreleased)
Theatre
Monty Python's Flying Circus Between 1974 and 1980 (Live at the Hollywood Bowl was released in 1982, but was performed in 1980), the Pythons made three sketch-based stage shows, comprising mainly material from the original television series.
Monty Python's Spamalot Written by Idle and directed by Mike Nichols, with music and lyrics by John Du Prez and Idle, it starred Hank Azaria, Tim Curry, and David Hyde Pierce; Spamalot is a musical adaptation of the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It ran in Chicago from 21 December 2004 to 23 January 2005, and began performances on Broadway on 17 March 2005. It won three Tony Awards. It was one of eight UK musicals commemorated on Royal Mail stamps, issued in February 2011.
Not the Messiah the Toronto Symphony Orchestra commissioned Idle and John Du Prez to write the music and lyrics of an oratorio based on Monty Python's Life of Brian. Entitled Not the Messiah, it had its world premiere as part of Luminato, a "festival of arts and creativity" taking place 1–10 June 2007 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Not the Messiah was conducted by Peter Oundjian, music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, who is Idle's cousin. It was performed by a narrator, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, with guest soloists and choir. According to Idle, "I promise it will be funnier than Handel, though probably not as good".
Monty Python Live One Down, Five to Go : (1–5, 15–16, 18–20 July 2014). The Pythons have stated this is the last live reunion of the remaining members of Monty Python. Held at London's O2 Arena, tickets for the first night's show sold out in 43 seconds. The set list included a mix of live performances of their most popular sketches, clips from their shows, and elaborate dance numbers. Each night featured a different celebrity "victim" of the "Blackmail" sketch. The final show was screened to 2,000 cinemas around the world.
Books
Monty Python's Big Red Book (1971) .
The Brand New Monty Python Bok (1973) .
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1977) .
Monty Python's The Life of Brian/MONTYPYTHONSCRAPBOOK (1979, plus script-only reprint) .
The Complete Works of Shakespeare and Monty Python. Volume One – Monty Python (1981) .
Monty Python: The Case Against (by Robert Hewison) (1981)
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983) .
The Monty Python Gift Boks (1986)
Monty Python's Flying Circus – Just The Words Volume 1 (1989) .
Monty Python's Flying Circus – Just The Words Volume 2 (1989) .
The Fairly Incomplete & Rather Badly Illustrated Monty Python Song Book (1994)
Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus (edited by Alfred Biolek) (1998)
Monty Python Speaks! (edited by David Morgan) (1999)
A Pocketful of Python Volume 1 (edited by Terry Jones) (1999)
A Pocketful of Python Volume 2 (edited by John Cleese) (1999)
A Pocketful of Python Volume 3 (edited by Terry Gilliam) (2000)
A Pocketful of Python Volume 4 (edited by Michael Palin) (2000)
A Pocketful of Python Volume 5 (edited by Eric Idle) (2002)
The Pythons Autobiography by The Pythons (edited by Bob McCabe) (2003, plus various reformatted editions)
Monty Python Live! (2009)
Monty Python at Work (by Michael Palin, compilation of republished diary entries) (2014)
So, Anyway ... (by John Cleese, Autobiography to age 30) (2014)
Always Look on the Bright Side of Life (by Eric Idle, Autobiography) (2018) .
Games
Monty Python's Flying Circus (1990) a computer game released by Virgin Games for 8-bit systems such as the Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, and for the 32-bit Amiga
Monty Python's Complete Waste of Time (1994) released by 7th Level for PC / Mac / DOS
Monty Python & the Quest for the Holy Grail (1996), official game released by 7th Level
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1997), also released by 7th Level.
Python-opoly (2007), a Monty Python-themed property game released by Toy Vault Inc.
Monty Python Fluxx (2008), a card game released by Looney Labs
Monty Python's Cow Tossing (2011), a smartphone game.
The Ministry of Silly Walks (2014), a smartphone game
See also
List of recurring characters in Monty Python's Flying Circus
Python (Monty) Pictures
The Firesign Theatre
References
Further reading
The Secret Policeman's Balls, 3-DVD set (2009)
Monty Python: 40 Years of Insanity
The Life of Python – 20 Greatest Monty Python Sketches (40th Anniversary)
External links
Monty Python – Official YouTube page
40 Years of Monty Python – photo essay by TIME magazine
2014 interview on return to live shows
Monty Python on youtube
British comedy troupes
British television comedy
British surrealist artists
British surrealist writers
Surreal comedy
Surrealist groups
Virgin Records artists
Arista Records artists
BAFTA Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award
European Film Awards winners (people)
Charisma Records artists
1969 establishments in England
1983 disestablishments in England
British comedy musicians
British novelty song performers
Black comedy
Religious comedy and humour | false | [
"Brian Conway is a contemporary Irish fiddler.\n\nBrian Conway is an American born Irish Fiddler. Born in 1961 to parents from County Tyrone in Northern Ireland, Brian Conway first studied with Limerick born fiddle player Martin Mulvihill. Brian soon also studied with Sligo born fiddle master Martin Wynne with whom Brian became lifelong friends. A little over a year after starting the fiddle, Brian won the under 12 All Ireland Fiddle championship. The adjudicator was Sean Keane of the Chieftains. Brian went on to win several additional All-Ireland medals including the senior All -Ireland fiddle championship in 1986. Brian also established a reputation for teaching students who went on to win All-Ireland fiddle awards including Patrick Mangan, Maeve Flanagan and Haley Richardson.\n\nReferences \n\n1961 births\nIrish fiddlers\nLiving people\nPlace of birth missing (living people)\n21st-century violinists\nGreen Linnet Records artists",
"The 23rd Fangoria Chainsaw Awards is an award ceremony presented for horror films that were released in 2020. The nominees were announced on January 20, 2021. The film The Invisible Man won five of its five nominations, including Best Wide Release, as well as the write-in poll of Best Kill. Color Out Of Space and Possessor each took two awards. His House did not win any of its seven nominations. The ceremony was exclusively livestreamed for the first time on the SHUDDER horror streaming service.\n\nWinners and nominees\n\nReferences\n\nFangoria Chainsaw Awards"
]
|
[
"Monty Python",
"Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)",
"Who was in Life of Brian?",
"Chapman was cast in the lead role of Brian.",
"What other actors were in it?",
"actor Kenneth Colley",
"What role did Kenneth Colley play?",
"When Jesus appears in the film",
"Was Life of Brian popular?",
"it has (together with its predecessor) been ranked among the greatest comedy films.",
"What was its predecessor?",
"Holy Grail,",
"Did Life of Brian win any awards?",
"I don't know."
]
| C_29c65da14d78435e8e89a0869d5380cb_0 | What was Life of Brian rated? | 7 | What was Monty Python's Life of Brian rated? | Monty Python | Following the success of Holy Grail, reporters asked for the title of the next Python film, despite the fact that the team had not even begun to consider a third one. Eventually, Idle flippantly replied "Jesus Christ - Lust for Glory", which became the group's stock answer once they realised that it shut reporters up. However, they soon began to seriously consider a film lampooning the New Testament era in the same way Holy Grail had lampooned Arthurian legend. Despite them all sharing a distrust of organised religion, they agreed not to mock Jesus or his teachings directly. They also mentioned that they could not think of anything legitimate to make fun of about him. Instead, they decided to write a satire on credulity and hypocrisy among the followers of someone who had been mistaken for the "Messiah", but who had no desire to be followed as such. Chapman was cast in the lead role of Brian. The focus therefore shifted to a separate individual born at the same time, in a neighbouring stable. When Jesus appears in the film (first, as a baby in the stable, and then later on the Mount, speaking the Beatitudes), he is played straight (by actor Kenneth Colley) and portrayed with respect. The comedy begins when members of the crowd mishear his statements of peace, love, and tolerance ("I think he said, 'Blessed are the cheesemakers'"). Directing duties were handled solely by Jones, having amicably agreed with Gilliam that Jones' approach to film-making was better suited for Python's general performing style. Holy Grail's production had often been stilted by their differences behind the camera. Gilliam again contributed two animated sequences (one being the opening credits) and took charge of set design. The film was shot on location in Tunisia, the finances being provided this time by former Beatle George Harrison, who together with Denis O'Brien formed the production company Hand-Made Films for the movie. Harrison had a cameo role as the "owner of the Mount". Despite its subject matter attracting controversy, particularly upon its initial release, it has (together with its predecessor) been ranked among the greatest comedy films. A Channel 4 poll in 2005 ranked Holy Grail in sixth place, with Life of Brian at the top. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British surreal comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show Monty Python's Flying Circus, which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series. The Python phenomenon developed from the television series into something larger in scope and influence, including touring stage shows, films, albums, books and musicals. The Pythons' influence on comedy has been compared to the Beatles' influence on music. Regarded as an enduring icon of 1970s pop culture, their sketch show has been referred to as being "an important moment in the evolution of television comedy".
Broadcast by the BBC between 1969 and 1974, Monty Python's Flying Circus was conceived, written and performed by its members Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin. Loosely structured as a sketch show, but with an innovative stream-of-consciousness approach aided by Gilliam's animation, it pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable in style and content. A self-contained comedy team responsible for both writing and performing their work, the Pythons had creative control which allowed them to experiment with form and content, discarding rules of television comedy. Following their television work, they began making films, including Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), Life of Brian (1979) and The Meaning of Life (1983). Their influence on British comedy has been apparent for years, while in North America, it has coloured the work of cult performers from the early editions of Saturday Night Live through to more recent absurdist trends in television comedy. "Pythonesque" has entered the English lexicon as a result.
At the 41st British Academy Film Awards in 1988, Monty Python received the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema. In 1998, they were awarded the AFI Star Award by the American Film Institute. Many sketches from their TV show and films are well-known and widely quoted. Both Holy Grail and Life of Brian are frequently ranked in lists of greatest comedy films. In a 2005 poll of over 300 comics, comedy writers, producers and directors throughout the English-speaking world to find "The Comedian's Comedian", three of the six Pythons members were voted to be among the top 50 greatest comedians ever: Cleese at No. 2, Idle at No. 21, and Palin at No. 30.
Before Flying Circus
Jones and Palin met at Oxford University, where they performed together with the Oxford Revue. Chapman and Cleese met at Cambridge University. Idle was also at Cambridge, but started a year after Chapman and Cleese. Cleese met Gilliam in New York City while on tour with the Cambridge University Footlights revue Cambridge Circus (originally entitled A Clump of Plinths). Chapman, Cleese, and Idle were members of the Footlights, which at that time also included the future Goodies (Tim Brooke-Taylor, Bill Oddie, and Graeme Garden), and Jonathan Lynn (co-writer of Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister). During Idle's presidency of the club, feminist writer Germaine Greer and broadcaster Clive James were members. Recordings of Footlights' revues (called "Smokers") at Pembroke College include sketches and performances by Cleese and Idle, which, along with tapes of Idle's performances in some of the drama society's theatrical productions, are kept in the archives of the Pembroke Players.
The six Python members appeared in or wrote these shows before Flying Circus:
I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (radio) (1964–1973): Cleese (cast member and writer), Idle and Chapman (writers)
The Frost Report (1966–1967): Cleese (cast member and writer), Idle (writer of Frost's monologues), Chapman, Palin and Jones (writers)
At Last the 1948 Show (1967): Chapman and Cleese (writers and cast members), Idle (guest star and writer)
Twice a Fortnight (1967): Palin and Jones (cast members and writers)
Do Not Adjust Your Set (1967–1969): Idle, Jones, and Palin (cast members and writers), Gilliam (animation) + Bonzo Dog Band (musical interludes)
We Have Ways of Making You Laugh (1968): Idle (cast member and writer), Gilliam (animation)
How to Irritate People (1968): Cleese and Chapman (cast members and writers), Palin (cast member)
The Complete and Utter History of Britain (1969): Palin and Jones (cast members and writers)
Doctor in the House (1969), Cleese and Chapman (writers)
The BBC's satirical television show The Frost Report, broadcast from March 1966 to December 1967, is credited as first uniting the British Pythons and providing an environment in which they could develop their particular styles.
Following the success of Do Not Adjust Your Set, broadcast on ITV from December 1967 to May 1969, Thames Television offered Gilliam, Idle, Jones, and Palin their own late-night adult comedy series together. At the same time, Chapman and Cleese were offered a show by the BBC, which had been impressed by their work on The Frost Report and At Last the 1948 Show. Cleese was reluctant to do a two-man show for various reasons, including Chapman's supposedly difficult and erratic personality. Cleese had fond memories of working with Palin on How to Irritate People and invited him to join the team. With no studio available at Thames until summer 1970 for the late-night show, Palin agreed to join Cleese and Chapman, and suggested the involvement of his writing partner Jones and colleague Idle—who in turn wanted Gilliam to provide animations for the projected series. Much has been made of the fact that the Monty Python troupe is the result of Cleese's desire to work with Palin and the chance circumstances that brought the other four members into the fold.
By contrast, according to John Cleese's autobiography, the origins of Monty Python lay in the admiration that writing partners Cleese and Chapman had for the new type of comedy being done on Do Not Adjust Your Set; as a result, a meeting was initiated by Cleese between Chapman, Idle, Jones, Palin, and himself at which it was agreed to pool their writing and performing efforts and jointly seek production sponsorship. According to their official website, the group was born from a Kashmir tandoori restaurant in Hampstead on 11 May 1969, following a taping of Do Not Adjust Your Set which Cleese and Chapman attended. It was the first time all six got together, reportedly going back to Cleese's apartment on nearby Basil Street afterwards to continue discussions.
Monty Python's Flying Circus
Development of the series
The Pythons had a definite idea about what they wanted to do with the series. They were admirers of the work of Peter Cook, Alan Bennett, Jonathan Miller, and Dudley Moore on Beyond the Fringe—seminal to the British "satire boom"—and had worked on Frost, which was similar in style. They enjoyed Cook and Moore's sketch show Not Only... But Also. One problem the Pythons perceived with these programmes was that though the body of the sketch would be strong, the writers would often struggle to then find a punchline funny enough to end on, and this would detract from the overall sketch quality. They decided that they would simply not bother to "cap" their sketches in the traditional manner, and early episodes of the Flying Circus series make great play of this abandonment of the punchline (one scene has Cleese turn to Idle, as the sketch descends into chaos, and remark that "This is the silliest sketch I've ever been in"—they all resolve not to carry on and simply walk off the set). However, as they began assembling material for the show, the Pythons watched one of their collective heroes, Spike Milligan, whom they had admired on The Goon Show (a show the Pythons regard as their biggest influence, which also featured Peter Sellers, whom Cleese called "the greatest voice man of all time") recording his groundbreaking BBC series Q... (1969). Not only was Q... more irreverent and anarchic than any previous television comedy, but Milligan also would often "give up" on sketches halfway through and wander off set (often muttering "Did I write this?"). It was clear that their new series would now seem less original, and Jones in particular became determined the Pythons should innovate. Michael Palin recalls "Terry Jones and I adored the Q... shows...[Milligan] was the first writer to play with the conventions of television."
After much debate, Jones remembered an animation Gilliam had created for Do Not Adjust Your Set called "Beware of the Elephants", which had intrigued him with its stream-of-consciousness style. Jones felt it would be a good concept to apply to the series: allowing sketches to blend into one another. Palin had been equally fascinated by another of Gilliam's efforts, entitled "Christmas Cards", and agreed that it represented "a way of doing things differently". Since Cleese, Chapman, and Idle were less concerned with the overall flow of the programme, Jones, Palin, and Gilliam became largely responsible for the presentation style of the Flying Circus series, in which disparate sketches are linked to give each episode the appearance of a single stream-of-consciousness (often using a Gilliam animation to move from the closing image of one sketch to the opening scene of another). The BBC states, "Gilliam's unique animation style became crucial, segueing seamlessly between any two completely unrelated ideas and making the stream-of-consciousness work."
Writing started at 9 am and finished at 5 pm. Typically, Cleese and Chapman worked as one pair isolated from the others, as did Jones and Palin, while Idle wrote alone. After a few days, they would join with Gilliam, critique their scripts, and exchange ideas. Their approach to writing was democratic. If the majority found an idea humorous, it was included in the show. The casting of roles for the sketches was a similarly unselfish process, since each member viewed himself primarily as a "writer", rather than an actor eager for screen time. When the themes for sketches were chosen, Gilliam had a free hand in bridging them with animations, using a camera, scissors, and airbrush.
While the show was a collaborative process, different factions within Python were responsible for elements of the team's humour. In general, the work of the Oxford-educated members (Jones and Palin) was more visual, and more fanciful conceptually (e.g., the arrival of the Spanish Inquisition in a suburban front room), while the Cambridge graduates' sketches tended to be more verbal and more aggressive (for example, Cleese and Chapman's many "confrontation" sketches, where one character intimidates or hurls abuse, or Idle's characters with bizarre verbal quirks, such as "The Man Who Speaks In Anagrams"). Cleese confirmed that "most of the sketches with heavy abuse were Graham's and mine, anything that started with a slow pan across countryside and impressive music was Mike and Terry's, and anything that got utterly involved with words and disappeared up any personal orifice was Eric's". Gilliam's animations ranged from the whimsical to the savage (the cartoon format allowing him to create some astonishingly violent scenes without fear of censorship).
Several names for the show were considered before Monty Python's Flying Circus was settled upon. Some were Owl Stretching Time, The Toad Elevating Moment, A Horse, a Spoon and a Bucket, Vaseline Review, and Bun, Wackett, Buzzard, Stubble and Boot. Flying Circus stuck when the BBC explained it had printed that name in its schedules and was not prepared to amend it. Many variations on the name in front of this title then came and went (popular legend holds that the BBC considered Monty Python's Flying Circus to be a ridiculous name, at which point the group threatened to change their name every week until the BBC relented). Gwen Dibley's Flying Circus was named after a woman Palin had read about in the newspaper, thinking it would be amusing if she were to discover she had her own TV show. Baron Von Took's Flying Circus was considered as an affectionate tribute to Barry Took, the man who had brought them together. Arthur Megapode's Flying Circus was suggested, then discarded. The name Baron Von Took's Flying Circus had the form of Baron Manfred von Richthofen's Flying Circus of WWI fame, and the new group was forming in a time when the Royal Guardsmen's 1966 song "Snoopy vs. the Red Baron" had peaked. The term 'flying circus' was also another name for the popular entertainment of the 1920s known as barnstorming, where multiple performers collaborated with their stunts to perform a combined set of acts.
Differing, somewhat confusing accounts are given of the origins of the Python name, although the members agree that its only "significance" was that they thought it sounded funny. In the 1998 documentary Live at Aspen during the US Comedy Arts Festival, where the troupe was awarded the AFI Star Award by the American Film Institute, the group implied that "Monty" was selected (Eric Idle's idea) as a gently mocking tribute to Field Marshal Lord Montgomery, a British general of World War II; requiring a "slippery-sounding" surname, they settled on "Python". On other occasions, Idle has claimed that the name "Monty" was that of a popular and rotund fellow who drank in his local pub; people would often walk in and ask the barman, "Has Monty been in yet?", forcing the name to become stuck in his mind. The name Monty Python was later described by the BBC as being "envisaged by the team as the perfect name for a sleazy entertainment agent".
Style of the show
Flying Circus popularised innovative formal techniques, such as the cold open, in which an episode began without the traditional opening titles or announcements. An example of this is the "It's" man: Palin, outfitted in Robinson Crusoe garb, making a tortuous journey across various terrains, before finally approaching the camera to state, "It's ...", only to be then cut off by the title sequence and theme music. On several occasions, the cold open lasted until mid-show, after which the regular opening titles ran. Occasionally, the Pythons tricked viewers by rolling the closing credits halfway through the show, usually continuing the joke by fading to the familiar globe logo used for BBC continuity, over which Cleese would parody the clipped tones of a BBC announcer. On one occasion, the credits ran directly after the opening titles. On the subversive nature of the show (and their subsequent films), Cleese states "anti-authoritarianism was deeply ingrained in Python".
Because of their dislike of finishing with punchlines, they experimented with ending the sketches by cutting abruptly to another scene or animation, walking offstage, addressing the camera (breaking the fourth wall), or introducing a totally unrelated event or character. A classic example of this approach was the use of Chapman's "anti-silliness" character of "the Colonel", who walked into several sketches and ordered them to be stopped because things were becoming "far too silly".
Another favourite way of ending sketches was to drop a cartoonish "16-ton weight" prop on one of the characters when the sketch seemed to be losing momentum, or a knight in full armour (played by Terry Gilliam) would wander on-set and hit characters over the head with a rubber chicken, before cutting to the next scene. Yet another way of changing scenes was when John Cleese, usually outfitted in a dinner suit, would come in as a radio commentator and, in a rather pompous manner, make the formal and determined announcement "And now for something completely different.", which later became the title of the first Monty Python film.
The Python theme music is the Band of the Grenadier Guards' rendition of John Philip Sousa's "The Liberty Bell" which was first published in 1893. Under the Berne Convention's "country of origin" concept, the composition was subject to United States copyright law which states that any work first published prior to 1924 was in the public domain, owing to copyright expiration. This enabled Gilliam to co-opt the march for the series without having to make any royalty payments.
The use of Gilliam's surreal, collage stop motion animations was another innovative intertextual element of the Python style. Many of the images Gilliam used were lifted from famous works of art, and from Victorian illustrations and engravings. The giant foot which crushes the show's title at the end of the opening credits is in fact the foot of Cupid, cut from a reproduction of the Renaissance masterpiece Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time by Bronzino. This foot, and Gilliam's style in general, are visual trademarks of the programme.
The Pythons used the British tradition of cross-dressing comedy by donning frocks and makeup and playing female roles themselves while speaking in falsetto. Jones specialised in playing the working-class housewife, or "ratbag old women" as termed by the BBC. Palin and Idle generally played the role more posh, with Idle playing more feminine women. Cleese played female roles more sparsely, while Chapman was frequently paired with Jones as a ratbag woman or with Idle portraying middle-class women commenting upon TV. Generally speaking, female roles were played by women only when the scene specifically required that the character be sexually attractive (although sometimes they used Idle for this). The troupe later turned to Carol Cleveland, who co-starred in numerous episodes after 1970. In some episodes, and later in the stoning scene in Monty Python's Life of Brian, they took the idea one step further by playing women who impersonated men.
Many sketches are well-known and widely quoted. "Dead Parrot sketch", "The Lumberjack Song", "Spam" (which led to the coining of the term email spam), "Nudge Nudge", "The Spanish Inquisition", "Upper Class Twit of the Year", "Cheese Shop", "The Ministry of Silly Walks", "Argument Clinic", "The Funniest Joke in the World" (a sketch referenced in Google Translate), and Four Yorkshiremen sketch" are just a few examples. Most of the show’s sketches satirise areas of public life, such as: Dead Parrot (poor customer service), Silly Walks (bureaucratic inefficiency), Spam (ubiquity of Spam post World War II), and Four Yorkshiremen (nostalgic conversations). Featuring regularly in skits, Gumbys (characters of limited intelligence and vocabulary) were part of the Pythons' satirical view of television of the 1970s which condescendingly encouraged more involvement from the "man on the street".
Introduction to North America and the world
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) added Monty Python's Flying Circus to its national September 1970 fall line-up. They aired the 13 episodes of series 1, which had first run on the BBC the previous autumn (October 1969 to January 1970), as well as the first six episodes of series 2 only a few weeks after they first appeared on the BBC (September to November 1970). The CBC dropped the show when it returned to regular programming after the Christmas 1970 break, choosing to not place the remaining seven episodes of series 2 on the January 1971 CBC schedule. Within a week, the CBC received hundreds of calls complaining of the cancellation, and more than 100 people staged a demonstration at the CBC's Montreal studios. The show eventually returned, becoming a fixture on the network during the first half of the 1970s.
Sketches from Monty Python's Flying Circus were introduced to American audiences in August 1972, with the release of the Python film And Now for Something Completely Different, featuring sketches from series 1 and 2 of the television show. This 1972 release met with limited box office success.
The ability to show Monty Python's Flying Circus under the American NTSC standard had been made possible by the commercial actions of American television producer Greg Garrison. Garrison produced the NBC series The Dean Martin Comedy World, which ran during the summer of 1974. The concept was to show clips from comedy shows produced in other countries, including tape of the Python sketches "Bicycle Repairman" and "The Dull Life of a Stockbroker". Payment for use of these two sketches was enough to allow Time-Life Films to convert the entire Python library to NTSC standard, allowing for the sale to the PBS network stations which then brought the entire show to US audiences.
Through the efforts of Python's American manager Nancy Lewis, during the summer of 1974, Ron Devillier, the programming director for nonprofit PBS television station KERA in Dallas, Texas, started airing episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus. Ratings shot through the roof, providing an encouraging sign to the other 100 PBS stations that had signed up to begin airing the show in October 1974—exactly five years after their BBC debut. There was also cross-promotion from FM radio stations across the US, whose airing of tracks from the Python LPs had already introduced American audiences to this bizarre brand of comedy. The popularity on PBS resulted in the 1974 re-release of the 1972 ...Completely Different film, with much greater box office success. The success of the show was captured by a March 1975 article headline in The New York Times, "Monty Python's Flying Circus Is Barnstorming Here". Asked what challenges were left, now that they had made TV shows, films, written books, and produced records, Chapman responded, "Well, actually world supremacy would be very nice", before Idle cautioned, "Yes, but that sort of thing has got to be done properly".
In 1975 ABC broadcast two 90-minute Monty Python specials, each with three shows, but cut out a total of 24 minutes from each, in part to make time for commercials, and in part to avoid upsetting their audience. As the judge observed in Gilliam v. American Broadcasting Companies, Inc., where Monty Python sued for damages caused by broadcast of the mutilated version, "According to the network, appellants should have anticipated that most of the excised material contained scatological references inappropriate for American television and that these scenes would be replaced with commercials, which presumably are more palatable to the American public." Monty Python won the case.
With the popularity of Python throughout the rest of the 1970s and through most of the 1980s, PBS stations looked at other British comedies, leading to UK shows such as Are You Being Served? gaining a US audience, and leading, over time, to many PBS stations having a "British Comedy Night" which airs many popular UK comedies.
In 1976, Monty Python became the top rated show in Japan. The literal translation of the Japanese title was The Gay Dragon Boys Show. The popularity of the show in the Netherlands saw the town of Spijkenisse near Rotterdam open a 'silly walks' road crossing in 2018. Believed to be a world first, the official sign asks pedestrians to cross the road in a comical manner.
Departure of Cleese
Having considered the possibility at the end of the second season, Cleese left the Flying Circus at the end of the third. He later explained that he felt he no longer had anything fresh to offer the show, and claimed that only two Cleese- and Chapman-penned sketches in the third series ("Dennis Moore" and the "Cheese Shop") were truly original, and that the others were bits and pieces from previous work cobbled together in slightly different contexts. He was also finding Chapman, who was at that point in the full throes of alcoholism, difficult to work with. According to an interview with Idle, "It was on an Air Canada flight on the way to Toronto, when John (Cleese) turned to all of us and said 'I want out.' Why? I don't know. He gets bored more easily than the rest of us. He's a difficult man, not easy to be friendly with. He's so funny because he never wanted to be liked. That gives him a certain fascinating, arrogant freedom." Jones noted his reticence in 2012, "He was good at it, when he did it he was professional, but he’d rather not have done it. The others all loved it, but he got more and more pissed off about having to come out and do filming, and the one that really swung it, in my view, was when we had to do the day on the Newhaven lifeboat."
The rest of the group carried on for one more "half" season before calling a halt to the programme in 1974. While the first three seasons contained 13 episodes each, the fourth ended after just six. The name Monty Python's Flying Circus appears in the opening animation for season four, but in the end credits, the show is listed as simply Monty Python. Although Cleese left the show, he was credited as a writer for three of the six episodes, largely concentrated in the "Michael Ellis" episode, which had begun life as one of the many drafts of the "Holy Grail" motion picture. When a new direction for "Grail" was decided upon, the subplot of Arthur and his knights wandering around a strange department store in modern times was lifted out and recycled as the aforementioned TV episode. Songwriter Neil Innes contributed to some sketches, including "Appeal on Behalf of Very Rich People".
Life beyond the Flying Circus
Filmography
And Now for Something Completely Different (1971)
The Pythons' first feature film was directed by Ian MacNaughton, reprising his role from the television series. It consisted of sketches from the first two seasons of the Flying Circus, reshot on a low budget (and often slightly edited) for cinema release. Material selected for the film includes: "Dead Parrot", "The Lumberjack Song", "Upper Class Twit of the Year", "Hell's Grannies", "Self-Defence Class", "How Not to Be Seen", and "Nudge Nudge". Financed by Playboys UK executive Victor Lownes, it was intended as a way of breaking Monty Python into America, and although it was ultimately unsuccessful in this, the film did good business in the UK, and later in the US on the "Midnight movie" circuit after their breakthrough television and film success, this being in the era before home video would make the original material much more accessible. The group did not consider the film a success.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
In 1974, between production on the third and fourth seasons, the group decided to embark on their first "proper" feature film, containing entirely new material. Monty Python and the Holy Grail was based on Arthurian legend and was directed by Jones and Gilliam. Again, the latter also contributed linking animations (and put together the opening credits). Along with the rest of the Pythons, Jones and Gilliam performed several roles in the film, but Chapman took the lead as King Arthur. Cleese returned to the group for the film, feeling that they were once again breaking new ground. Holy Grail was filmed on location, in picturesque rural areas of Scotland, with a budget of only £229,000; the money was raised in part with investments from rock groups such as Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, and Led Zeppelin, as well as UK music industry entrepreneur Tony Stratton-Smith (founder and owner of the Charisma Records label, for which the Pythons recorded their comedy albums).
The backers of the film wanted to cut the famous Black Knight scene (a Sam Peckinpah send-up in which the Black Knight loses his limbs in a duel), but it was eventually kept in the movie. "Tis but a scratch" and "It's just a flesh wound…" are often quoted. Holy Grail was selected as the second-best comedy of all time in the ABC special Best in Film: The Greatest Movies of Our Time. and viewers in a Channel 4 poll placed it sixth.
Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)
Following the success of Holy Grail, reporters asked for the title of the next Python film, though the team had not even begun to consider a third one. Eventually, Idle flippantly replied "Jesus Christ – Lust for Glory", which became the group's stock answer to such questions. However, they soon began to seriously consider a film lampooning the New Testament era in the same way Holy Grail had lampooned Arthurian legend. Despite sharing a distrust of organised religion, they agreed not to mock Jesus or his teachings directly. They also mentioned that they could not think of anything legitimate to make fun of about him. Instead, they decided to write a satire on credulity and hypocrisy among the followers of someone [Brian] who had been mistaken for the "Messiah", but who had no desire to be followed as such. Terry Jones adds it was a satire on those who for the next 2,000 years "couldn't agree on what Jesus was saying about peace and love".
The focus therefore shifted to a separate individual, Brian Cohen, born at the same time, and in a neighbouring stable. When Jesus appears in the film (first, as a baby in the stable, and then later on the Mount, speaking the Beatitudes), he is played straight (by actor Kenneth Colley) and portrayed with respect. The comedy begins when members of the crowd mishear his statements of peace, love, and tolerance ("I think he said, 'Blessed are the cheesemakers).
Directing duties were handled solely by Jones, having amicably agreed with Gilliam that Jones' approach to film-making was better suited for Python's general performing style. Holy Grail's production had often been stilted by their differences behind the camera. Gilliam again contributed two animated sequences (one being the opening credits) and took charge of set design. The film was shot on location in Tunisia, the finances being provided this time by The Beatles' George Harrison, who together with Denis O'Brien formed the production company Hand-Made Films for the movie. Harrison had a cameo role as the "owner of the Mount".
Despite its subject matter attracting controversy, particularly upon its initial release, it has (together with its predecessor) been ranked among the greatest comedy films. In 2006 it was ranked first on a Channel 4 list of the 50 Greatest Comedy Films. In 2013, Richard Burridge, a theologian decorated by Pope Francis, called Life of Brian an "extraordinary tribute to the life and work and teaching of Jesus—that they couldn't actually blaspheme or make a joke out of it. They did a great satire on closed minds and people who follow blindly. Then you have them splitting into factions...it is a wonderful satire on the way that Jesus's own teaching has been used to persecute others. They were satirising fundamentalism and persecution of others and at the same time saying the one person who rises above all this was Jesus".
Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1982)
Filmed at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles during preparations for The Meaning of Life in September 1980, this was a concert film (directed by Terry Hughes) in which the Pythons performed sketches from the television series in front of an audience. The released film also incorporated footage from the German television specials (the inclusion of which gives Ian MacNaughton his first on-screen credit for Python since the end of Flying Circus) and live performances of several songs from the troupe's then-current Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album.
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983)
The Pythons' final film returned to something structurally closer to the style of Flying Circus. A series of sketches loosely follows the ages of man from birth to death. Directed again by Jones solo, The Meaning of Life is embellished with some of the group's most bizarre and disturbing moments, as well as various elaborate musical numbers, which include "Galaxy Song" (performed by Idle) and "Every Sperm Is Sacred" (performed by Palin and Jones). The film is by far their darkest work, containing a great deal of black humour, garnished by some spectacular violence (including an operation to remove a liver from a living patient without anaesthetic and the morbidly obese Mr. Creosote exploding over several restaurant patrons after finally giving in to the smooth maître d' telling him to eat a mint – "It's only a wafer-thin mint..."). At the time of its release, the Pythons confessed their aim was to offend "absolutely everyone", adding "It is guaranteed to offend".
The Liver Donor scene (which sees someone come to a man's door to take his liver, to which he says: "No, no, I'm not dead", before being told: "Oooh, it doesn't say that on the form"), is a satire on bureaucracy, a common Python trope. Besides the opening credits and the fish sequence, Gilliam, by now an established live-action director, no longer wanted to produce any linking cartoons, offering instead to direct one sketch, "The Crimson Permanent Assurance". Under his helm, though, the segment grew so ambitious and tangential that it was cut from the movie and used as a supporting feature in its own right. (Television screenings also use it as a prologue.) This was the last project on which all six Pythons collaborated, except for the 1989 compilation Parrot Sketch Not Included, where they are all seen sitting in a closet for four seconds. This was the last time Chapman appeared on screen with the Pythons.
Secret Policeman's Ball benefit shows
Members of Python contributed their services to charitable endeavours and causes—sometimes as an ensemble, at other times as individuals. The cause that has been the most frequent and consistent beneficiary has been the human rights work of Amnesty International. Between 1976 and 1981, the troupe or its members appeared in four major fund-raisers for Amnesty—known collectively as the Secret Policeman's Ball shows—which were turned into multiple films, TV shows, videos, record albums, and books. The brainchild of John Cleese, these benefit shows in London and their many spin-offs raised considerable sums of money for Amnesty, raised public and media awareness of the human rights cause, and influenced many other members of the entertainment community (especially rock musicians) to become involved in political and social issues. Among the many musicians who have publicly attributed their activism—and the organisation of their own benefit events—to the inspiration of the work in this field of Monty Python are Bob Geldof (organiser of Live Aid), U2, Pete Townshend, and Sting. Bono told Rolling Stone in 1986, "I saw The Secret Policeman’s Ball and it became a part of me. It sowed a seed..." Sting states, "before [the Ball] I did not know about Amnesty, I did not know about its work, I did not know about torture in the world." On the impact of the Ball on Geldof, Sting states, "he took the ‘Ball’ and ran with it."
Ball co-founder Cleese and Jones had an involvement (as performer, writer or director) in all four Amnesty benefit shows, Palin in three, Chapman in two, and Gilliam in one. Idle did not participate in the Amnesty shows. Notwithstanding Idle's lack of participation, the other five members (together with "Associate Pythons" Carol Cleveland and Neil Innes) all appeared together in the first Secret Policeman's Ball benefit—the 1976 A Poke in the Eye held at Her Majesty's Theatre in London's West End—where they performed several Python sketches. In this first show, they were collectively billed as Monty Python. Peter Cook deputised for the absent Idle in a courtroom sketch. In the next three shows, the participating Python members performed many Python sketches, but were billed under their individual names rather than under the collective Python banner. The second show featured newcomer Rowan Atkinson and Scottish comedian Billy Connolly. The Secret Policeman's Ball were the first stage shows in the UK to present comedic performers (such as Monty Python and Rowan Atkinson) in the same setting and shows as their contemporaries in rock music (which included Eric Clapton, Sting and Phil Collins). After a six-year break, Amnesty resumed producing Secret Policeman's Ball benefit shows which were held at the London Palladium in 1987 (sometimes with, and sometimes without, variants of the title) and by 2006 had presented a total of twelve shows. Since 1987 the Balls featured newer generations of British comedic performers, such as Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, and puppets from the satirical TV show Spitting Image, with many attributing their participation in the show to their desire to emulate the Python's pioneering work for Amnesty. Cleese and Palin made a brief cameo appearance in the 1989 Amnesty show; apart from that, the Pythons have not appeared in shows after the first four.
Going solo
Each member has pursued various film, television, and stage projects since the break-up of the group, but often continued to work with one another. Many of these collaborations were very successful, most notably A Fish Called Wanda (1988), written by Cleese, in which he starred along with Palin. The pair also appeared in Time Bandits (1981), a film directed by Gilliam, who wrote it together with Palin. Gilliam directed Jabberwocky (1977), and also directed and co-wrote Brazil (1985), which featured Palin, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), which featured Idle; he followed these with writing and directing an additional six (as of 2021) films.
Yellowbeard (1983) was co-written by Chapman and featured Chapman, Idle, and Cleese, as well as many other English comedians including Peter Cook, Spike Milligan, and Marty Feldman.
Palin and Jones wrote the comedic TV series Ripping Yarns (1976–79), starring Palin. Jones also appeared in the pilot episode and Cleese appeared in a nonspeaking part in the episode "Golden Gordon". Jones' film Erik the Viking also has Cleese playing a small part. In 1996 Terry Jones wrote and directed an adaptation of Kenneth Grahame's novel The Wind in the Willows. It featured four members of Monty Python: Jones as Mr. Toad, Idle as Ratty, Cleese as Mr. Toad's lawyer, and Palin as the Sun. Gilliam was considered for the voice of the river. The film included Steve Coogan who played Mole.
Cleese has the most prolific solo career, appearing in dozens of films, several TV shows or series (including Cheers, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Q's assistant in the James Bond movies, and Will & Grace), many direct-to-video productions, some video games and a number of commercials. His BBC sitcom Fawlty Towers (written by and starring Cleese together with his wife Connie Booth) is the only comedy series to rank higher than the Flying Circus on the BFI TV 100's list, topping the whole poll. Cleese's character, Basil Fawlty, was ranked second (to Homer Simpson) on Channel 4's 2001 list of the 100 Greatest TV Characters.
Idle enjoyed critical success with Rutland Weekend Television in the mid-1970s, out of which came the Beatles parody the Rutles (responsible for the cult mockumentary All You Need Is Cash), and as an actor in Nuns on the Run (1990) with Robbie Coltrane. In 1976 Idle directed music videos for George Harrison songs "This Song" and "Crackerbox Palace", the latter of which also featured cameo appearances from Neil Innes and John Cleese. Idle has had success with Python songs: "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" went to no. 3 in the UK singles chart in 1991. The song had been revived by Simon Mayo on BBC Radio 1, and was consequently released as a single that year. The theatrical phenomenon of the Python musical Spamalot has made Idle the most financially successful of the troupe after Python. Written by Idle (and featuring a pre-recorded cameo of Cleese as the voice of God), it has proved to be an enormous hit on Broadway, London's West End and Las Vegas. This was followed by Not the Messiah, which revises The Life of Brian as an oratorio. For the work's 2007 premiere at the Luminato festival in Toronto (which commissioned the work), Idle himself sang the "baritone-ish" part.
After Python reunions
Since The Meaning of Life, their last project as a team, the Pythons have often been the subject of reunion rumours. In 1988 Monty Python won the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema, with four of the six Pythons (Jones, Palin, Gilliam and Chapman) collecting the award. The final appearance of all six together occurred during the 1989 Parrot Sketch Not Included – 20 Years of Monty Python TV special. The death of Chapman in October 1989 put an end to the speculation of any further reunions. Several occasions since 1989 have occurred when the surviving five members have gathered together for appearances—albeit not formal reunions. In 1996 Jones, Idle, Cleese, and Palin were featured in a film adaptation of The Wind in the Willows, which was later renamed Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. In 1997 Palin and Cleese rolled out a new version of the "Dead Parrot sketch" for Saturday Night Live.
Monty Python were the inaugural recipients of the Empire Inspiration Award in 1997. Palin, Jones and Gilliam received the award on stage in London from Elton John while Cleese and Idle appeared via satellite from Los Angeles. In 1998 during the US Comedy Arts Festival, where the troupe were awarded the AFI Star Award by the American Film Institute, the five remaining members, along with what was purported to be Chapman's ashes, were reunited on stage for the first time in 18 years. The occasion was in the form of an interview called Monty Python Live at Aspen, (hosted by Robert Klein, with an appearance by Eddie Izzard) in which the team looked back at some of their work and performed a few new sketches. On 9 October 1999, to commemorate 30 years since the first Flying Circus television broadcast, BBC2 devoted an evening to Python programmes, including a documentary charting the history of the team, interspersed with new sketches by the Monty Python team filmed especially for the event.
The surviving Pythons had agreed in principle to perform a live tour of America in 1999. Several shows were to be linked with Q&A meetings in various cities. Although all had said yes, Palin later changed his mind, much to the annoyance of Idle, who had begun work organising the tour. This led to Idle refusing to take part in the new material shot for the BBC anniversary evening. In 2002, four of the surviving members, bar Cleese, performed "The Lumberjack Song" and "Sit on My Face" for George Harrison's memorial concert. The reunion also included regular supporting contributors Neil Innes and Carol Cleveland, with a special appearance from Tom Hanks.
In an interview to publicise the DVD release of The Meaning of Life, Cleese said a further reunion was unlikely. "It is absolutely impossible to get even a majority of us together in a room, and I'm not joking," Cleese said. He said that the problem was one of busyness rather than one of bad feelings. A sketch appears on the same DVD spoofing the impossibility of a full reunion, bringing the members "together" in a deliberately unconvincing fashion with modern bluescreen/greenscreen techniques.
Idle responded to queries about a Python reunion by adapting a line used by George Harrison in response to queries about a possible Beatles reunion. When asked in November 1989 about such a possibility, Harrison responded: "As far as I'm concerned, there won't be a Beatles reunion as long as John Lennon remains dead." Idle's version of this was that he expected to see a proper Python reunion, "just as soon as Graham Chapman comes back from the dead", but added, "we're talking to his agent about terms."
The Pythons Autobiography by The Pythons (2003), compiled from interviews with the surviving members, reveals that a series of disputes in 1998, over a possible sequel to Holy Grail that had been conceived by Idle, may have resulted in the group's split. Cleese's feeling was that The Meaning of Life had been personally difficult and ultimately mediocre, and did not wish to be involved in another Python project for a variety of reasons (not least amongst them was the absence of Chapman, whose straight man-like central roles in the Grail and Brian films had been considered to be an essential anchoring performance). The book also reveals that Cleese saw Chapman as his "greatest sounding board. If Graham thought something was funny, then it almost certainly was funny. You cannot believe how invaluable that is.' Ultimately it was Cleese who ended the possibility of another Python movie.
A full, if nonperforming, reunion of the surviving Python members appeared at the March 2005 premiere of Idle's musical Spamalot, based on Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It opened in Chicago and has since played in New York on Broadway, London, and numerous other major cities across the world. In 2004 it was nominated for 14 Tony Awards and won three: Best Musical, Best Direction of a Musical for Mike Nichols, and Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical for Sara Ramirez, who played the Lady of the Lake, a character specially added for the musical. The original Broadway cast included Tim Curry as King Arthur, Michael McGrath as Patsy, David Hyde Pierce as Sir Robin, Hank Azaria as Sir Lancelot and other roles (e.g., the French Taunter, Knight of Ni, and Tim the Enchanter), Christopher Sieber as Sir Galahad and other roles (e.g., the Black Knight and Prince Herbert's Father). Cleese played the voice of God, a role played in the film by Chapman.
Owing in part to the success of Spamalot, PBS announced on 13 July 2005 that it would begin to re-air the entire run of Monty Python's Flying Circus and new one-hour specials focusing on each member of the group, called Monty Python's Personal Best. Each episode was written and produced by the individual being honoured, with the five remaining Pythons collaborating on Chapman's programme, the only one of the editions to take on a serious tone with its new material.
In 2009, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the first episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus, a six-part documentary entitled Monty Python: Almost the Truth (Lawyers Cut) was released, featuring interviews with the surviving members of the team, as well as archive interviews with Graham Chapman and numerous excerpts from the television series and films. Each episode opens with a different re-recording of the theme song from Life of Brian, with Iron Maiden vocalist and Python fan Bruce Dickinson performing the sixth.
Also in commemoration of the 40th anniversary, Idle, Palin, Jones, and Gilliam appeared in a production of Not the Messiah at the Royal Albert Hall. The European premiere was held on 23 October 2009. An official 40th anniversary Monty Python reunion event took place in New York City on 15 October 2009, where the team received a Special Award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
In June 2011, it was announced that A Liar's Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman, an animated 3D movie based on the memoir of Graham Chapman, was in the making. The memoir A Liar's Autobiography was published in 1980 and details Chapman's journey through medical school, alcoholism, acknowledgement of his gay identity, and the tolls of surreal comedy. Asked what was true in a deliberately fanciful account by Chapman of his life, Terry Jones joked: "Nothing ... it's all a downright, absolute, blackguardly lie." The film uses Chapman's own voice—from a reading of his autobiography shortly before he died of cancer—and entertainment channel Epix announced the film's release in early 2012 in both 2D and 3D formats. Produced and directed by London-based Bill Jones, Ben Timlett, and Jeff Simpson, the new film has 15 animation companies working on chapters that will range from three to 12 minutes in length, each in a different style. John Cleese recorded dialogue which was matched with Chapman's voice. Michael Palin voiced Chapman's father and Terry Jones voiced his mother. Terry Gilliam voiced Graham's psychiatrist. They all play various other roles. Among the original Python group, only Eric Idle was not involved.
On 26 January 2012, Terry Jones announced that the five surviving Pythons would reunite in a sci-fi comedy film called Absolutely Anything. The film would combine computer-generated imagery and live action. It would be directed by Jones based on a script by Jones and Gavin Scott, and in addition to the Python members it would also star Simon Pegg, Kate Beckinsale and Robin Williams (in his final film role). The plot revolves around a teacher who discovers aliens (voiced by the Pythons) have given him magical powers to do "absolutely anything". Eric Idle responded via Twitter that he would not, in fact, be participating, although he was later added to the cast.
Monty Python Live (Mostly): One Down, Five to Go
In 2013, the Pythons lost a legal case to Mark Forstater, the film producer of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, over royalties for the derivative work Spamalot. They owed a combined £800,000 in legal fees and back royalties to Forstater. They proposed a reunion show to pay their legal bill.
On 19 November 2013, a new reunion was reported, following months of "secret talks". The original plan was for a live, one-off stage show at the O2 Arena in London on 1 July 2014, with "some of Monty Python's greatest hits, with modern, topical, Pythonesque twists" according to a press release. The tickets for this show went on sale in November 2013 and sold out in just 43 seconds. Nine additional shows were added, all of them at the O2, the last on 20 July. They have said that their reunion was inspired by South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who are massive Monty Python fans.
Mick Jagger featured in a promotional video for the shows: "Who wants to see that again, really? It's a bunch of wrinkly old men trying to relive their youth and make a load of money—the best one died years ago!" Michael Palin stated that the final reunion show on 20 July 2014 would be the last time that the troupe would perform together. It was screened to 2,000 cinemas around the world. Prior to the final night, Idle stated, "It is a world event and that’s really quite exciting. It means we’re actually going to say goodbye publicly on one show. Nobody ever has the chance to do that. The Beatles didn’t get a last good night." The last show was broadcast in the UK on Gold TV and internationally in cinemas by Fathom Events through a Dish Network satellite link.
Python members
Graham Chapman was originally a medical student, joining the Footlights at Cambridge. He completed his medical training and was legally entitled to practise as a doctor. Chapman is best remembered for the lead roles in Holy Grail, as King Arthur, and Life of Brian, as Brian Cohen. He died of metastatic throat cancer on 4 October 1989. At Chapman's memorial service, Cleese delivered an irreverent eulogy that included all the euphemisms for being dead from the "Dead Parrot" sketch, which they had written. Chapman's comedic fictional memoir, A Liar's Autobiography, was adapted into an animated 3D movie in 2012.
John Cleese is the oldest Python. He met his future Python writing partner, Chapman, in Cambridge. Outside of Python, he is best known for setting up the Video Arts group and for the sitcom Fawlty Towers (co-written with Connie Booth, whom Cleese met during work on Python and to whom he was married for a decade). Cleese has also co-authored several books on psychology and wrote the screenplay for the award-winning A Fish Called Wanda, in which he starred with Michael Palin.
Terry Gilliam, an American by birth, is the only member of the troupe of non-British origin. He started off as an animator and strip cartoonist for Harvey Kurtzman's Help! magazine, one issue of which featured Cleese. Moving from the US to England, he animated features for Do Not Adjust Your Set and was then asked by its makers to join them on their next project: Monty Python's Flying Circus. He co-directed Monty Python and the Holy Grail and directed short segments of other Python films (for instance "The Crimson Permanent Assurance", the short film that appears before The Meaning of Life).
When Monty Python was first formed, two writing partnerships were already in place: Cleese and Chapman, Jones and Palin. That left two in their own corners: Gilliam, operating solo due to the nature of his work, and Eric Idle. Regular themes in Idle's contributions were elaborate wordplay and musical numbers. After Flying Circus, he hosted Saturday Night Live four times in the first five seasons. Idle's initially successful solo career faltered in the 1990s with the failures of his 1993 film Splitting Heirs (written, produced by, and starring him) and 1998's An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (in which he starred). He revived his career by returning to the source of his worldwide fame, adapting Monty Python material for other media. Idle wrote the Tony Award-winning musical Spamalot, based on Holy Grail. Following the success of the musical he wrote Not the Messiah, an oratorio derived from the Life of Brian. Representing Monty Python, Idle featured in a one-hour symphony of British Music when he performed at the London 2012 Olympic Games closing ceremony.
Terry Jones has been described by other members of the team as the "heart" of the operation. Jones had a lead role in maintaining the group's unity and creative independence. Python biographer George Perry has commented that should "[you] speak to him on subjects as diverse as fossil fuels, or Rupert Bear, or mercenaries in the Middle Ages or Modern China ... in a moment you will find yourself hopelessly out of your depth, floored by his knowledge." Many others agree that Jones is characterised by his irrepressible, good-natured enthusiasm. However, Jones' passion often led to prolonged arguments with other group members—in particular Cleese—with Jones often unwilling to back down. Since his major contributions were largely behind the scenes (direction, writing), and he often deferred to the other members of the group as an actor, Jones' importance to Python was often under-rated. However, he does have the legacy of delivering possibly the most famous line in all of Python, as Brian's mother Mandy in Life of Brian, "He's not the Messiah, he's a very naughty boy!", a line voted the funniest in film history on two occasions. Jones died on 21 January 2020 from complications of dementia.
Sir Michael Palin attended Oxford, where he met his Python writing partner Jones. The two also wrote the series Ripping Yarns together. Palin and Jones originally wrote face-to-face, but soon found it was more productive to write apart and then come together to review what the other had written. Therefore, Jones and Palin's sketches tended to be more focused than that of the others, taking one bizarre situation, sticking to it, and building on it. After Flying Circus, Palin hosted Saturday Night Live four times in the first 10 seasons. His comedy output began to decrease in amount following the increasing success of his travel documentaries for the BBC. Palin released a book of diaries from the Python years entitled Michael Palin Diaries 1969–1979, published in 2007. Palin was awarded a knighthood in the 2019 New Year Honours, which was announced by Buckingham Palace in December 2018.
Associate Pythons
Several people have been accorded unofficial "associate Python" status over the years. Occasionally such people have been referred to as the 'seventh Python', in a style reminiscent of George Martin (or other associates of the Beatles) being dubbed "the Fifth Beatle". The two collaborators with the most meaningful and plentiful contributions have been Neil Innes and Carol Cleveland. Both were present and presented as Associate Pythons at the official Monty Python 25th-anniversary celebrations held in Los Angeles in July 1994.
Neil Innes is the only non-Python besides Douglas Adams to be credited with writing material for Flying Circus. He appeared in sketches and the Python films, as well as performing some of his songs in Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl. He was also a regular stand-in for absent team members on the rare occasions when they recreated sketches. For example, he took the place of Cleese at the Concert for George. Gilliam once noted that if anyone qualified for the title of the seventh Python, it would be Innes. He was one of the creative talents in the off-beat Bonzo Dog Band. He would later portray Ron Nasty of the Rutles and write all of the Rutles' compositions for All You Need Is Cash (1978), a mockumentary film co-directed by Idle. By 2005, a falling out had occurred between Idle and Innes over additional Rutles projects, the results being Innes' critically acclaimed Rutles "reunion" album The Rutles: Archaeology and Idle's straight-to-DVD The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch, each undertaken without the other's participation. According to an interview with Idle in the Chicago Tribune in May 2005, his attitude is that Innes and he go back "too far. And no further." Innes died of a heart attack on 29 December 2019 near Toulouse, where he had lived for several years.
Carol Cleveland was the most important female performer in the Monty Python ensemble, commonly referred to as "the female Python". She was originally hired by producer/director John Howard Davies for just the first five episodes of the Flying Circus. The Pythons then pushed to make Cleveland a permanent recurring performer after producer/director Ian MacNaughton brought in several other actresses who were not as good as she was. Cleveland went on to appear in about two-thirds of the episodes, as well as in all of the Python films, and in most of their stage shows, as well. According to Time, her most recognisable film roles are playing Zoot and Dingo, two maidens in the Castle Anthrax in Holy Grail.
Other contributors
Cleese's first wife, Connie Booth, appeared as various characters in all four series of Flying Circus. Her most significant role was the "best girl" of the eponymous Lumberjack in "The Lumberjack Song", though this role was sometimes played by Carol Cleveland. Booth appeared in a total of six sketches and also played one-off characters in Python feature films And Now for Something Completely Different and Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Douglas Adams was "discovered" by Chapman when a version of Footlights Revue (a 1974 BBC2 television show featuring some of Adams' early work) was performed live in London's West End. In Cleese's absence from the final TV series, the two formed a brief writing partnership, with Adams earning a writing credit in one episode for a sketch called "Patient Abuse". In the sketch—a satire on mind-boggling bureaucracy—a man who had been stabbed by a nurse arrives at his doctor's office bleeding profusely from the stomach, when the doctor makes him fill in numerous senseless forms before he can administer treatment. He also had two cameo appearances in this season. Firstly, in the episode "The Light Entertainment War", Adams shows up in a surgeon's mask (as Dr. Emile Koning, according to the on-screen captions), pulling on gloves, while Palin narrates a sketch that introduces one person after another, and never actually gets started. Secondly, at the beginning of "Mr. Neutron", Adams is dressed in a "pepperpot" outfit and loads a missile onto a cart being driven by Terry Jones, who is calling out for scrap metal ("Any old iron ..."). Adams and Chapman also subsequently attempted a few non-Python projects, including Out of the Trees. He also contributed to a sketch on the soundtrack album for Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Other than Carol Cleveland, the only other non-Python to make a significant number of appearances in the Flying Circus was Ian Davidson. He appeared in the first two series of the show, and played over 10 roles. While Davidson is primarily known as a scriptwriter, it is not known if he had any contribution toward the writing of the sketches, as he is only credited as a performer. In total, Davidson is credited as appearing in eight episodes of the show, which is more than any other male actor who was not a Python. Despite this, Davidson did not appear in any Python-related media subsequent to series 2, though footage of him was shown on the documentary Python Night – 30 Years of Monty Python.
Stand-up comedian Eddie Izzard, a devoted fan of the group, has occasionally stood in for absent members. When the BBC held a "Python Night" in 1999 to celebrate 30 years of the first broadcast of Flying Circus, the Pythons recorded some new material with Izzard standing in for Idle, who had declined to partake in person (she taped a solo contribution from the US). Izzard hosted The Life of Python (1999), a history of the group that was part of Python Night and appeared with them at a festival/tribute in Aspen, Colorado, in 1998 (released on DVD as Live at Aspen). Izzard has said that Monty Python was a significant influence on her style of comedy and Cleese has referred to her as "the lost Python".
Series director of Flying Circus, Ian MacNaughton, is also regularly associated with the group and made a few on-screen appearances in the show and in the film And Now for Something Completely Different. Apart from Neil Innes, others to contribute musically included Fred Tomlinson and the Fred Tomlinson Singers. They made appearances in songs such as "The Lumberjack Song" as a backup choir. Other contributors and performers for the Pythons included John Howard Davies, John Hughman, Lyn Ashley, Bob Raymond, John Young, Rita Davies, Stanley Mason, Maureen Flanagan, and David Ballantyne.
Cultural influence and legacy
By the time of Monty Python's 25th anniversary, in 1994, the point was already being made that "the five surviving members had with the passing years begun to occupy an institutional position in the edifice of British social culture that they had once had so much fun trying to demolish". A similar point is made in a 2006 book on the relationship between Python and philosophy: "It is remarkable, after all, not only that the utterly bizarre Monty Python's Flying Circus was sponsored by the BBC in the first place, but that Monty Python itself grew into an institution of enormous cultural influence."
A self-contained comedy unit responsible for both writing and performing their work, Monty Python's influence on comedy has been compared to the Beatles' influence on music. Author Neil Gaiman writes, "A strange combination of individuals gave us Python. And you needed those people, just in the same way that with the Beatles you had four talented people, but together you had the Beatles. And I think that's so incredibly true when it comes to Python."
Comedy stylists
Monty Python have been named as being influential to the comedy stylings of a great many people including: Sacha Baron Cohen, David Cross, Rowan Atkinson, Seth MacFarlane, Seth Meyers, Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Vic and Bob, Mike Myers, and "Weird Al" Yankovic. Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons, was influenced by Python's "high velocity sense of the absurd and not stopping to explain yourself", and pays tribute through a couch gag used in seasons five and six. Appearing on Monty Python's Best Bits (Mostly), Jim Carrey—who refers to Monty Python as the "Super Justice League of comedy"—recalled the effect on him of Ernest Scribbler (played by Palin) laughing himself to death in "The Funniest Joke in the World" sketch. Monty Python's Flying Circus served as an inspiration for voice actor Rob Paulsen in voicing Pinky from the animated television series Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain, giving the character "a goofy whack job" of a British accent.
Comedian John Oliver states, "Writing about the importance of Monty Python is basically pointless. Citing them as an influence is almost redundant. It's assumed. This strange group of wildly talented, appropriately disrespectful, hugely imaginative and massively inspirational idiots changed what comedy could be for their generation and for those that followed." On how Python's freeform style influenced sketch comedy, Tina Fey of the US television show Saturday Night Live states, "Sketch endings are overrated. Their key was to do something as long as it was funny and then just stop and do something else."
Places
In space
Seven asteroids are named after Monty Python or its members: 9617 Grahamchapman, 9618 Johncleese, 9619 Terrygilliam, 9620 Ericidle, 9621 Michaelpalin, 9622 Terryjones, and 13681 Monty Python.
In 2010, the commercial space company SpaceX launched a wheel of cheese into low earth orbit and returned it safely to Earth on COTS Demo Flight 1. Elon Musk, CEO and CTO of SpaceX, said this was done as a tribute to Monty Python.
Terrestrial
After John Cleese spoke negatively about the town of Palmerston North in New Zealand, recommending it as a good place to commit suicide, the town renamed a compost heap "Mt. Cleese".
"Pythonesque"
Among the more visible cultural influences of Monty Python is the inclusion of terms either directly from, or derived from, Monty Python, into the lexicon of the English language.
The most obvious of these is the term "Pythonesque", which has become a byword in surreal humour, and is included in standard dictionaries. Terry Jones commented on his disappointment at the existence of such a term, claiming the initial aim of Monty Python was to create something new and impossible to categorise, and "the fact that Pythonesque is now a word in the Oxford English Dictionary shows the extent to which we failed".
The term has been applied to animations similar to those constructed by Gilliam (e.g., the cut-out style of South Park, whose creators have often acknowledged a debt to Python, including contributing material to the aforementioned 30th-anniversary theme night).
Good Eats creator Alton Brown cited Python as one of the influences that shaped how he created the series, as well as how he authors the script for each episode. Later episodes included Gilliam-style animations to illustrate key points.
Film critic Robbie Collin writes, "You can find the Pythonesque everywhere in cinema. Most successful Hollywood comedies bear some kind of Python-print. The Austin Powers series chugs along on Pythonisms. Then there are Christopher Guest's mockumentaries, such as Waiting for Guffman and Best in Show, which revel in the quiet absurdity of the everyday—well-staked-out Python territory. And there's a tensile weirdness in the films of Will Ferrell that's also deeply Pythonesque."
TV
The Japanese anime series, Girls und Panzer, featured the special episode, "Survival War!", which referenced the 'Spam' sketch, but the word "spam" was censored to avoid legal issue with the Pythons.
Things named after Monty Python
Beyond a dictionary definition, Python terms have entered the lexicon in other ways.
The term "spam" in reference to bulk, unsolicited email is derived from the show's 1970 "Spam" sketch. As the waitress recites the Spam-filled menu, a chorus of Viking patrons drown out all conversations with a song, repeating "Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam… Spammity Spam! Wonderful Spam!".
The Python programming language by Guido van Rossum is named after the troupe, and Monty Python references are often found in sample code created for that language. The default integrated development environment of the programming language is named IDLE, an alternative one is named eric, both in honour of Eric Idle. Additionally, a 2001 April Fool's Day joke by van Rossum and Larry Wall involving the merger of Python with Perl was dubbed "Parrot" after the Dead Parrot sketch. The name "Parrot" was later used for a project to develop a virtual machine for running bytecode for interpreted languages such as Perl and Python. Its package index is also known as the "Cheese Shop" after the sketch of the same name. There is also a python refactoring tool called bicyclerepair named after Bicycle Repair Man sketch.
In 1985, a fossil of a previously unknown species of gigantic prehistoric snake from the Miocene was discovered in Riversleigh, Queensland, Australia. The Australian palaeontologist who discovered the fossil snake was a Monty Python fan, and he gave the snake the taxonomic name of Montypythonoides riversleighensis in honour of the Monty Python team.
In 2006, Ben & Jerry's, known for their "celebrity flavours", introduced to the line-up "Vermonty Python", a coffee liqueur ice cream with a chocolate cookie crumb swirl and fudge cows. The name "Minty Python" had been suggested before in 1996 in a contest to select the quintessential British ice cream flavour.
In 1999, in connection with the group's 30th anniversary, a beer named "Holy Grail Ale" was released by the Black Sheep Brewery in North Yorkshire.
The endangered Bemaraha woolly lemur (Avahi cleesei) is named after John Cleese.
Geneticists discovered a mutant gene which caused mutant flies to live twice as long as normal ones. They dubbed the gene "Indy," which is an acronym for the line of dialogue: "I'm not dead yet!", from the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
The band Toad the Wet Sprocket took its name from the Rock Notes sketch on the comedy album, Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album.
World records
On St George's Day, 23 April 2007, the cast and creators of Spamalot gathered in Trafalgar Square under the tutelage of the two Terrys (Jones and Gilliam) to set a new record for the world's largest coconut orchestra. They led 5,567 people "clip-clopping" in time to the Python classic, "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life", for the Guinness World Records attempt.
On 5 October 2019, to mark the 50th anniversary of Monty Python's first show, the "first official Monty Python Guinness world record attempt" tried to break the record for "the largest gathering of people dressed as Gumbys." A recurring character on the show, a Gumby wears a handkerchief on their head, has spectacles, braces, a knitted tank top, and wellington boots. The shirt sleeves and trouser legs are always rolled up, exposing their socks and knees. Dimwitted, their most famous catchphrases are "My brain hurts!" and repeated shouts of "Hello!" and "Sorry!".
Timeline
Media
Television
Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969–74) The show that started the Python phenomenon, see also List of Monty Python's Flying Circus episodes.
Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus (1972) Two 45-minute specials were made by WDR for West German television. The first was recorded in German, while the second was in English with German dubbing.
Monty Python's Personal Best (2006) Six one-hour specials, each episode presenting the best of one member's work.
Films
Five Monty Python productions were released as theatrical films:
And Now for Something Completely Different (1971) A collection of sketches from the first and second TV series of Monty Python's Flying Circus re-enacted and shot for film.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) King Arthur and his knights embark on a low-budget search for the Holy Grail, encountering humorous obstacles along the way. Some of these turned into stand-alone sketches.
Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) Brian is born on the first Christmas, in the stable next to Jesus'. He spends his life being mistaken for a messiah.
Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1982) A videotape recording directed by Terry Hughes of a live performance of sketches, it was originally intended for a TV/video special. It was transferred to 35 mm and given a limited theatrical release in the US.
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983) An examination of the meaning of life in a series of sketches from conception to death and beyond.
Albums
Monty Python's Flying Circus (1970)
Another Monty Python Record (1971)
Monty Python's Previous Record (1972)
The Monty Python Matching Tie and Handkerchief (1973)
Monty Python Live at Drury Lane (1974)
The Album of the Soundtrack of the Trailer of the Film of Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
Monty Python Live at City Center (1976)
The Monty Python Instant Record Collection (1977)
Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)
Monty Python Examines The Life of Brian (promo) (1979)
Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album (1980)
The Monty Python Instant Record Collection (US version) (1981)
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983)
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life: Audio Press Kit (promo) (1983)
The Final Rip Off (1987)
Monty Python Sings (1989)
The Ultimate Monty Python Rip Off (1994)
Monty Python Sings Again (2014)
The Hastily Cobbled Together for a Fast Buck Album (unreleased)
Theatre
Monty Python's Flying Circus Between 1974 and 1980 (Live at the Hollywood Bowl was released in 1982, but was performed in 1980), the Pythons made three sketch-based stage shows, comprising mainly material from the original television series.
Monty Python's Spamalot Written by Idle and directed by Mike Nichols, with music and lyrics by John Du Prez and Idle, it starred Hank Azaria, Tim Curry, and David Hyde Pierce; Spamalot is a musical adaptation of the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It ran in Chicago from 21 December 2004 to 23 January 2005, and began performances on Broadway on 17 March 2005. It won three Tony Awards. It was one of eight UK musicals commemorated on Royal Mail stamps, issued in February 2011.
Not the Messiah the Toronto Symphony Orchestra commissioned Idle and John Du Prez to write the music and lyrics of an oratorio based on Monty Python's Life of Brian. Entitled Not the Messiah, it had its world premiere as part of Luminato, a "festival of arts and creativity" taking place 1–10 June 2007 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Not the Messiah was conducted by Peter Oundjian, music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, who is Idle's cousin. It was performed by a narrator, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, with guest soloists and choir. According to Idle, "I promise it will be funnier than Handel, though probably not as good".
Monty Python Live One Down, Five to Go : (1–5, 15–16, 18–20 July 2014). The Pythons have stated this is the last live reunion of the remaining members of Monty Python. Held at London's O2 Arena, tickets for the first night's show sold out in 43 seconds. The set list included a mix of live performances of their most popular sketches, clips from their shows, and elaborate dance numbers. Each night featured a different celebrity "victim" of the "Blackmail" sketch. The final show was screened to 2,000 cinemas around the world.
Books
Monty Python's Big Red Book (1971) .
The Brand New Monty Python Bok (1973) .
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1977) .
Monty Python's The Life of Brian/MONTYPYTHONSCRAPBOOK (1979, plus script-only reprint) .
The Complete Works of Shakespeare and Monty Python. Volume One – Monty Python (1981) .
Monty Python: The Case Against (by Robert Hewison) (1981)
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983) .
The Monty Python Gift Boks (1986)
Monty Python's Flying Circus – Just The Words Volume 1 (1989) .
Monty Python's Flying Circus – Just The Words Volume 2 (1989) .
The Fairly Incomplete & Rather Badly Illustrated Monty Python Song Book (1994)
Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus (edited by Alfred Biolek) (1998)
Monty Python Speaks! (edited by David Morgan) (1999)
A Pocketful of Python Volume 1 (edited by Terry Jones) (1999)
A Pocketful of Python Volume 2 (edited by John Cleese) (1999)
A Pocketful of Python Volume 3 (edited by Terry Gilliam) (2000)
A Pocketful of Python Volume 4 (edited by Michael Palin) (2000)
A Pocketful of Python Volume 5 (edited by Eric Idle) (2002)
The Pythons Autobiography by The Pythons (edited by Bob McCabe) (2003, plus various reformatted editions)
Monty Python Live! (2009)
Monty Python at Work (by Michael Palin, compilation of republished diary entries) (2014)
So, Anyway ... (by John Cleese, Autobiography to age 30) (2014)
Always Look on the Bright Side of Life (by Eric Idle, Autobiography) (2018) .
Games
Monty Python's Flying Circus (1990) a computer game released by Virgin Games for 8-bit systems such as the Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, and for the 32-bit Amiga
Monty Python's Complete Waste of Time (1994) released by 7th Level for PC / Mac / DOS
Monty Python & the Quest for the Holy Grail (1996), official game released by 7th Level
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1997), also released by 7th Level.
Python-opoly (2007), a Monty Python-themed property game released by Toy Vault Inc.
Monty Python Fluxx (2008), a card game released by Looney Labs
Monty Python's Cow Tossing (2011), a smartphone game.
The Ministry of Silly Walks (2014), a smartphone game
See also
List of recurring characters in Monty Python's Flying Circus
Python (Monty) Pictures
The Firesign Theatre
References
Further reading
The Secret Policeman's Balls, 3-DVD set (2009)
Monty Python: 40 Years of Insanity
The Life of Python – 20 Greatest Monty Python Sketches (40th Anniversary)
External links
Monty Python – Official YouTube page
40 Years of Monty Python – photo essay by TIME magazine
2014 interview on return to live shows
Monty Python on youtube
British comedy troupes
British television comedy
British surrealist artists
British surrealist writers
Surreal comedy
Surrealist groups
Virgin Records artists
Arista Records artists
BAFTA Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award
European Film Awards winners (people)
Charisma Records artists
1969 establishments in England
1983 disestablishments in England
British comedy musicians
British novelty song performers
Black comedy
Religious comedy and humour | false | [
"Wonders of Life is a 2013 television documentary series presented by physicist Brian Cox. The series was produced by the BBC and Chinese state television network CCTV-9 and aired in the United Kingdom from 27 January 2013 at 9:00 pm on BBC Two. An accompanying book with the same title was also published.\n\nEpisodes\n\n1. \"What is Life?\"\nBrian Cox journeys to Southeast Asia to see how life began on Earth and how the flow of energy created and supports life.\n\n2. \"Expanding Universe\"\nIn the second episode, Brian travels to the U.S. to showcase how the laws of science allowed senses to arise.\n\n3. \"Endless Forms Most Beautiful\"\nBrian travels to Africa and Madagascar to analyse why Earth is a fertile place and how it allows complex life to exist.\n\n4. \"Size Matters\"\nThe fourth episode sees Brian in Australia, looking at how the size of each plant and animal affects how long it can survive.\n\n5. \"Home\"\nIn the final episode, Cox travels to Mexico to explain what makes Earth a home for life and ask what ingredients were required for complex life to begin.\n\nMerchandise\nThe Region 2 DVD discs were released on 4 March 2013.\n\nA book related to the series was authored by Andrew Cohen and Brian Cox. The book was published on 24 January 2013.\n\nSee also\nWonders of the Solar System\nWonders of the Universe\nHuman Universe\nForces of Nature (TV series)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n \n\n2013 British television series debuts\n2013 British television series endings\nBBC high definition shows\nBBC television documentaries about science\nEnglish-language television shows",
"HMS Clarence was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 11 April 1812 at Turnchapel.\n\nClarence was among a number of vessels that shared in the proceeds of the recapture of Wolf's Cove on 1 December 1813.\n\nIn 1826 Clarence was re-rated as a fourth rate, and was broken up in 1828.\n\nNotes, citations, and references\nNotes\n\nCitations\n\nReferences\n\nLavery, Brian (2003) The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850. Conway Maritime Press. .\n\nShips of the line of the Royal Navy\nVengeur-class ships of the line\nShips built in Devon\n1812 ships"
]
|
[
"Mark Cuban",
"Dallas Mavericks"
]
| C_7b991ba6f6f749caaaa8e46abff79b4f_0 | Was he an owner of the Dallas Mavericks? | 1 | Was Mark Cuban an owner of the Dallas Mavericks? | Mark Cuban | On January 4, 2000, Cuban purchased a majority stake in the NBA's Dallas Mavericks for $285 million from H. Ross Perot, Jr. In the 20 years before Cuban bought the team, the Mavericks won only 40% of their games, and a playoff record of 21-32. In the 10 years following, the team won 69 percent of their regular season games and reached the playoffs in each of those seasons except for one. The Mavericks' playoff record with Cuban is 49 wins and 57 losses, including their first trip to the NBA Finals in 2006, where they lost to the Miami Heat. On June 12, 2011, the Mavericks defeated the Heat to win the NBA Finals. Historically, NBA team owners publicly play more passive roles and watch basketball games from skyboxes; Cuban sits alongside fans while donning team jerseys. Cuban travels in his private airplane--a Gulfstream V--to attend road games. In May 2010, H. Ross Perot, Jr., who retained 5% ownership, filed a lawsuit against Cuban, alleging the franchise was insolvent or in imminent danger of insolvency. In June 2010, Cuban responded in a court filing maintaining Perot is wrongly seeking money to offset some $100 million in losses on the Victory Park real estate development. The lawsuit was dismissed in 2011, due in part to Cuban asserting proper management of the team due to its recent victory in the 2011 NBA Finals. In 2014, the 5th Circuit Court affirmed that decision on appeal. Following his initial defeat, Perot attempted to shut out Mavericks fans from use of the parking lots he controlled near the American Airlines Center. In January 2018, Cuban announced the Mavericks would be accepting Bitcoin as payment for tickets in the following season. CANNOTANSWER | Cuban purchased a majority stake in the NBA's Dallas Mavericks | Mark Cuban (born July 31, 1958) is an American billionaire entrepreneur, television personality, and media proprietor whose net worth is an estimated $4.3 billion, according to Forbes, and ranked #177 on the 2020 Forbes 400 list. He is the owner of the Dallas Mavericks professional basketball team of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the co-owner of 2929 Entertainment. He is also one of the main "shark" investors on the ABC reality television series Shark Tank.
Early life and education
Cuban was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His father, Norton Cuban, was an automobile upholsterer. Cuban described his mother, Shirley, as someone with "a different job or different career goal every other week."
Cuban grew up in Mount Lebanon, a suburb of Pittsburgh, in a Jewish working-class family. His paternal grandfather changed the family name from Chabenisky to Cuban after his family emigrated from Russia through Ellis Island. His maternal grandparents, who were also Jewish, came from Romania.
Cuban first ventured into business at age 12. He sold garbage bags to pay for a pair of expensive basketball shoes. Some years later, he earned money by selling stamps and coins. At age 16, Cuban took advantage of a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette strike by running newspapers from Cleveland to Pittsburgh.
Instead of attending high school for his senior year, he enrolled as a full-time student at the University of Pittsburgh, where he joined the Pi Lambda Phi fraternity. He is a fan of Pittsburgh's "beloved" NFL team, the Pittsburgh Steelers. After one year at the University of Pittsburgh, Cuban transferred to Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, where he graduated from the Kelley School of Business in 1981 with a Bachelor of Science degree in management. He chose Indiana's Kelley School of Business without even visiting the campus because it "had the least expensive tuition of all the business schools on the top 10 list". During college, he had various business ventures, including a bar, disco lessons, and a chain letter.
After graduating, Cuban returned to Pittsburgh and took a job with Mellon Bank. He immersed himself in the study of machines and networking.
Career
On July 7, 1982, Cuban moved to Dallas, Texas, where he first found work as a bartender for a Greenville Avenue bar called Elan and then as a salesperson for Your Business Software, one of the earliest PC software retailers in Dallas. He was fired less than a year later, after meeting with a client to procure new business instead of opening the store.
Cuban started his own company, MicroSolutions, with help from his previous customers from Your Business Software. MicroSolutions was initially a system integrator and software reseller. The company was an early proponent of technologies such as Carbon Copy, Lotus Notes, and CompuServe. One of the company's largest clients was Perot Systems.
The company grew to more than $30 million in revenue, and in 1990, Cuban sold MicroSolutions to CompuServe—then a subsidiary of H&R Block—for $6 million. He made approximately $2 million after taxes on the deal.
Audionet and Broadcast.com
In 1995, Cuban and fellow Indiana University alumnus Todd Wagner joined Audionet (founded in 1989 by Chris Jaeb who retained 10% of the company), combining their mutual interest in Indiana Hoosier college basketball and webcasting. With a single server and an ISDN line, Audionet became Broadcast.com in 1998. By 1999, Broadcast.com had grown to 330 employees and $13.5 million in revenue for the second quarter. In 1999, Broadcast.com helped launch the first live-streamed Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. That year, during the dot com boom, Broadcast.com was acquired by Yahoo! for $5.7 billion in Yahoo! stock.
After the sale of Broadcast.com, Cuban hedged against the risk of a decline in the value of the Yahoo! shares he received in the deal. The Guinness Book of Records credits Cuban with the "largest single e-commerce transaction", after he purchased a Gulfstream V jet for $40 million over the internet in October 1999.
Yahoo!'s costly purchase of Broadcast.com is now regarded as one of the worst internet acquisitions of all time. Broadcast.com along with Yahoo!'s other broadcasting services were discontinued within a few years after the acquisition. Cuban has repeatedly described himself as very lucky to have sold the company before the dot-com bubble burst. However, he also emphasized that he hedged against the Yahoo! shares he received from the sale, and that he would have lost most of his fortune if he had not done so.
Cuban continues to work with Wagner in another venture, 2929 Entertainment, which provides vertically integrated production and distribution of films and video.
On September 24, 2003, the firm purchased Landmark Theatres, a chain of 58 arthouse movie theaters. The company is also responsible for the updated version of the TV show Star Search, which was broadcast on CBS. 2929 Entertainment released Bubble, a movie directed by Steven Soderbergh, in 2006.
Cuban was featured on the cover of the November 2003 premiere issue of Best magazine announcing the arrival of high-definition television. Cuban also was co-founder (with Philip Garvin) of AXS TV (formerly HDNet), the first high-definition satellite television network.
In February 2004, Cuban announced that he would be working with ABC television to produce a reality television series, The Benefactor. The premise of the six-episode series involved 16 contestants trying to win $1 million by participating in various contests, with their performances being judged by Cuban. It premiered on September 13, 2004, but due to poor ratings, the series was canceled before the full season aired.
In 2018, Cuban was No.190 on Forbes list of "World's Richest People", with a net worth of $3.9 billion.
Cuban financially supported Grokster in the Supreme Court case MGM v. Grokster. He is also a partner in Synergy Sports Technology, a web based basketball scouting and video delivery tool, used by many NBA teams.
Investments in startups
Cuban has also assisted ventures in the social software and distributed networking industries. He was an owner of IceRocket, a search engine that scours the blogosphere for content. Cuban was a partner in RedSwoosh—a company which uses peer-to-peer technology to deliver rich media, including video and software, to a user's PC—later acquired by Akamai. He was also an investor in Weblogs, Inc., which was acquired by AOL.
In 2005, Cuban invested in Brondell Inc., a San Francisco startup making a high-tech toilet seat called a Swash that works like a bidet but mounts on a standard toilet. "People tend to approach technology the same way, whether it's in front of them, or behind them", Cuban joked. He also invested in Goowy Media Inc., a San Diego Internet software startup. In April 2006, Sirius Satellite Radio announced that Cuban would host his own weekly radio talk show, Mark Cuban's Radio Maverick. However, the show has not materialized.
In July 2006, Cuban financed Sharesleuth.com, a website created by former St. Louis Post-Dispatch investigative reporter Christopher Carey to uncover fraud and misinformation in publicly traded companies. Experimenting with a new business model for making online journalism financially viable, Cuban disclosed that he would take positions in the shares of companies mentioned in Sharesleuth.com in advance of publication. Business and legal analysts questioned the appropriateness of shorting a stock prior to making public pronouncements which are likely to result in losses in that stock's value. Cuban insisted that the practice is legal in view of full disclosure.
In April 2007, Cuban partnered with Mascot Books to publish his first children's book, Let's Go, Mavs!. In November 2011, he wrote a 30,000-word e-book, How to Win at the Sport of Business: If I Can Do It, You Can Do It, which he described as "a way to get motivated".
In October 2008, Cuban started Bailoutsleuth.com as a grassroots, online portal for oversight over the U.S. government's $700 billion "bailout" of financial institutions.
In September 2010, Cuban provided an undisclosed amount of venture capital to store-front analytics company Motionloft. According to the company's CEO Jon Mills, he cold-emailed Cuban on a whim with the business proposition and claimed Cuban quickly responded that he would like to hear more. Mills credited that sentence for launching the company. In November 2013, several investors questioned Cuban about Mills' representation of a pending acquisition of Motionloft. Cuban denied an acquisition was in place. Mills was terminated as CEO of Motionloft by stockholders on December 1, 2013, and in February 2014 was arrested by the FBI and charged with wire fraud, it being alleged that Mills misrepresented to investors that Motionloft was going to be acquired by Cisco. Cuban has gone on record to state that the technology, which at least in part is meant to serve the commercial real estate industry, is "game changing" for tenants.
In 2019, Cuban, Ashton Kutcher, Steve Watts and Watts' wife Angela, invested a 50% stake in Veldskoen shoes fledgling U.S. business. In 2021, Cuban, Pantera Capital, BlockTower, Hashed, Cadenza Ventures (backed by 100x Group), CMS and QCP Capital backed a layer-2 decentralized exchange protocol, Injective Protocol and their CEO Eric Chen. Also in late 2021, Cuban purchased the entire town of Mustang, Texas, a 77-acre town in Navarro County. He told the Dallas Morning News that a buddy needed to sell it and, "I don't know what if anything I will do with it."
Shark Tank
Cuban has been a "shark" investor on the ABC reality program Shark Tank since season two in 2011.
As of May 2015, he has invested in 85 deals across 111 Shark Tank episodes, for a total of $19.9 million invested. The actual numbers vary because the investment happens after the handshake deal on live television, after the due diligence is performed to ensure the accuracy of the information presented in the pitch room. For instance, Hy-Conn, a manufacturer of removable fire hoses, after agreeing to a deal of $1.25 million for 100% of the company with Cuban, did not go through with the deal.
Cuban's top three deals, all with at least $1 million invested, are Ten Thirty One Productions, Rugged Maniac Obstacle Race, and BeatBox Beverages.
Since Cuban joined the show in 2011, the ratings for Shark Tank have increased, and also during his tenure, the show has won three Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Structured Reality Program (from 2014 – 2016). As of 2022, Cuban is the richest of all Sharks to appear on the show after Sir Richard Branson.
Magnolia Pictures
Cuban owns film distributor Magnolia Pictures. Through Magnolia, he financed Redacted, a fictional dramatization based on the 2006 Mahmudiyah killings, written and directed by Brian De Palma. In September 2007, Cuban, in his capacity as owner of Magnolia Pictures, removed disturbing photographs from the concluding moments of the Redacted, citing copyrights/permissions issues.
Also in 2007, Cuban was reportedly interested in distributing through Magnolia an edition of the film Loose Change, which posits a 9/11 conspiracy theory, with Charlie Sheen narrating. Cuban told the New York Post, "We are having discussions about distributing the existing video with Charlie's involvement as a narrator, not in making a new feature. We are also looking for productions with an opposing viewpoint. We like controversial subjects, but we are agnostic to which side the controversy comes from."
In April 2011, Cuban put Magnolia Pictures and Landmark Theatres up for sale, but said, "If we don't get the price and premium we want, we are happy to continue to make money from the properties."
SEC insider trading allegation
On November 17, 2008, it was reported that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a civil suit against Cuban relating to alleged insider trading in the shares of Mamma.com, now known as Copernic. A stock dilution occurred shortly after a trade in June 2004, giving hints of inside knowledge at the time of the trade, and Cuban allegedly was saved from a loss of $750,000. The SEC claimed that Cuban ordered the sale of his holdings in Mamma.com after he had been confidentially approached by the company to participate in a transaction likely to dilute shares of current shareholders. Cuban disputed the charges, saying he had not agreed to keep the information secret. On his blog, Cuban contended the allegations were false and that the investigation was "a product of gross abuse of prosecutorial discretion". DealBook, a section of The New York Times, reported through an anonymous source that Cuban believed the investigation was motivated by an SEC employee having taken offense to his interest in possibly distributing the film Loose Change.
In July 2009, the U.S. District Court dismissed the charges against Cuban, and the SEC appealed. In September 2010, an appeals court said that the district court had erred and that further proceedings would be necessary to address the merits of the suit.
A federal jury in Texas found in favor of Cuban on October 16, 2013. The nine-member jury issued the verdict after deliberating 3 hours and 35 minutes.
In March 2014, Cuban was on air at CNBC criticizing high-frequency trading (HFT). Those against HFT, such as Cuban, believe the technology is equivalent to automated insider trading.
Sports businesses
Dallas Mavericks
On January 4, 2000, Cuban purchased a majority stake in the NBA's Dallas Mavericks for $285 million from H. Ross Perot Jr.
In the 20 years before Cuban bought the team, the Mavericks won only 40% of their games and had a playoff record of 21–32. In the 10 years following, the team won 69 percent of their regular season games and reached the playoffs in each of those seasons except for one. The Mavericks' playoff record with Cuban is 49–57, including their first trip to the NBA Finals in 2006, where they lost to the Miami Heat.
Historically, NBA team owners publicly play more passive roles and watch basketball games from skyboxes; Cuban sits alongside fans while donning team jerseys. Cuban travels in his private airplane—a Gulfstream V—to attend road games.
In May 2010, H. Ross Perot Jr., who retained 5% ownership, filed a lawsuit against Cuban, alleging the franchise was insolvent or in imminent danger of insolvency. In June 2010, Cuban responded in a court filing maintaining Perot is wrongly seeking money to offset some $100 million in losses on the Victory Park real estate development. The lawsuit was dismissed in 2011, due in part to Cuban asserting proper management of the team due to its recent victory in the 2011 NBA Finals. In 2014, the 5th Circuit Court affirmed that decision on appeal. Following his initial defeat, Perot attempted to shut out Mavericks fans from use of the parking lots he controlled near the American Airlines Center.
In January 2018, Cuban announced the Mavericks would be accepting Bitcoin as payment for tickets in the following season.
NBA fines
Cuban's ownership has been the source of extensive media attention and controversy involving league policies.
Cuban has been fined by the NBA, mostly for critical statements about the league and referees, at least $1.665 million for 13 incidents. In a June 30, 2006 interview, Mavericks player Dirk Nowitzki said about Cuban:
In an interview with the Associated Press, Cuban said that he matches NBA fines with charitable donations of equal amounts. In a nationally publicized incident in 2002, he criticized the league's manager of officials, Ed T. Rush, saying that he "wouldn't be able to manage a Dairy Queen." Dairy Queen management took offense to Cuban's comments and invited him to manage a Dairy Queen restaurant for a day. Cuban accepted the company's invitation and worked for a day at a Dairy Queen in Coppell, Texas, where fans lined up in the street to get a Blizzard from the owner of the Mavericks.
During the 2005–06 NBA season, Cuban started a booing campaign when former Mavericks player Michael Finley returned to play against the Mavericks as a member of the San Antonio Spurs. In a playoff series between the Mavericks and Spurs, Cuban cursed Spurs forward Bruce Bowen and was fined $25,000 by the NBA for rushing onto the court and criticizing NBA officials. After the 2006 NBA Finals, Cuban was fined $250,000 by the NBA for repeated misconduct following the Mavericks' loss to the Miami Heat in Game Five of the 2006 NBA Finals.
In February 2007, Cuban publicly criticized NBA Finals MVP Dwyane Wade and declared that he would get fined if he made any comments about what he thought really happened in the 2006 NBA Finals.
On January 16, 2009, the league fined Cuban $25,000 for yelling at Denver Nuggets player J. R. Smith at the end of the first half on a Mavericks-at-Nuggets game played on January 13. Cuban was apparently incensed that Smith had thrown an elbow that barely missed Mavericks forward Antoine Wright. Cuban offered to match the fine with a donation to a charity of Smith's choosing. Cuban stated that if he doesn't hear from Smith, then he will donate the money to the NHL Players' Association Goals and Dreams Fund in the names of Todd Bertuzzi and Steve Moore. In May 2009, Cuban made a reference to the Denver Nuggets being "thugs" after a loss to the Nuggets in game 3 of the Western Conference Semifinals. The statement was geared towards the Nuggets and their fans. As he passed Kenyon Martin's mother, who was seated near Cuban as he left the arena, he pointed at her and said, "that includes your son." This controversial comment revisited media attention on Cuban yet again. Cuban issued an apology the next day referencing the poor treatment of away fans in arenas around the league. The league issued a statement stating that they would not fine him.
On May 22, 2010, Cuban was fined $100,000 for comments he made during a television interview about trying to sign LeBron James.
Despite his history, he was notably silent during the Mavericks' 2011 championship playoff run.
Despite Cuban's history with David Stern, he believed the NBA Commissioner would leave a lasting legacy "of a focus on growth and recognizing that the NBA is in the entertainment business and that it's a global product, not just a local product. Whatever platforms that took us to, he was ready to go. He wasn't protective at all. He was wide open. I think that was great."
On January 18, 2014, Cuban was once again fined $100,000 for confronting referees and using inappropriate language toward them. As with previous fines, Cuban confirmed that he would match the fine with a donation to charity, however, with the condition that he reaches two million followers on his Twitter account. Cuban also jokingly commented that he could not let Stern leave without a proper farewell.
On February 21, 2018, Cuban was fined $600,000 by the NBA for stating that the Dallas Mavericks should "tank for the rest of the season." Commissioner Adam Silver stated that the fine was "for public statements detrimental to the NBA."
On March 6, 2020, Cuban was fined $500,000 by the NBA for "public criticism and detrimental conduct regarding NBA officiating", according to the league.
Major League Baseball
Cuban has repeatedly expressed interest in owning a Major League Baseball franchise and has unsuccessfully attempted to purchase at least three franchises. In 2008, he submitted an initial bid of $1.3 billion to buy the Chicago Cubs and was invited to participate in a second round of bidding along with several other potential ownership groups. Cuban was not selected to participate in the final bidding process in January 2009. In August 2010, Cuban actively bid to buy the Texas Rangers with Jeffrey L. Beck. Cuban stopped bids after 1 a.m., having placed bids totaling almost $600 million. He had outbid a competing ownership group led by ex-pitcher and Rangers executive Nolan Ryan, but lost the deal before the Rangers played the San Francisco Giants in the 2010 World Series.
In January 2012, Cuban placed an initial bid for the Los Angeles Dodgers, but was eliminated before the second round of bidding. Cuban felt that the value of the Dodgers' TV rights deal drove the price of the franchise too high. He had previously said that he would not be interested in buying the franchise at $1 billion, telling the Los Angeles Times in November 2011 "I don't think the Dodgers franchise is worth twice what the Rangers are worth." However, as the bidding process drew near many speculated that the sale would surpass $1.5 billion, with Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reporting on Twitter that at least one bid in the $1–1.5 billion range was placed in the initial round of the bidding process. Ultimately, the Dodgers sold for $2.15 billion to Guggenheim Baseball Management.
Cuban also previously expressed interest in becoming a minority owner of the New York Mets after owner Fred Wilpon announced in 2011 that he was planning to sell up to a 25% stake in the team.
Cuban has wanted to purchase his hometown Pittsburgh Pirates, but was rebuffed by then owner Kevin McClatchy in 2005.
Other sports businesses
In 2005, Cuban expressed interest in buying the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins. In 2006, Cuban joined an investment group along with Dan Marino, Kevin Millevoi, Andy Murstein, and Walnut Capital principals Gregg Perelman and Todd Reidbord to attempt to acquire the Penguins. The franchise ultimately rejected the group's bid when team owners Mario Lemieux and Ronald Burkle took the team off the market.
At WWE's Survivor Series in 2003, Cuban was involved in a staged altercation with Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff and Raw wrestler Randy Orton. On December 7, 2009, Cuban acted as the guest host of Raw, getting revenge on Orton when he was the guest referee in Orton's match against Kofi Kingston, giving Kingston a fast count victory. He then announced that Orton would face Kingston at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs. At the end of the show, Cuban was slammed through a table by the number one contender for the WWE Championship, Sheamus.
On September 12, 2007, Cuban said that he was in talks with WWE Chairman Vince McMahon to create a mixed martial arts company that would compete with UFC. He is now a bondholder of Zuffa, which was formerly UFC's parent company.
Cuban followed up his intentions by organizing "HDNet Fights", a mixed martial arts promotion which airs exclusively on HDNet and premiered on October 13, 2007, with a card headlined by a fight between Erik Paulson and Jeff Ford as well as fights featuring veterans Drew Fickett and Justin Eilers.
Since 2009, Cuban has been a panelist at the annual MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference.
In April 2010, Cuban loaned the newly formed United Football League (UFL) $5 million. He did not own a franchise, and he was not involved in day-to-day operations of the league nor of any of its teams. In January 2011, he filed a federal lawsuit against the UFL for their failure to repay the loan by the October 6, 2010 deadline.
In June 2015, Cuban invested in the esports betting platform Unikrn.
In February 2016, Cuban purchased a principal ownership stake in the Professional Futsal League.
Political activity
Cuban is an admirer of author and philosopher Ayn Rand. About Rand's novel The Fountainhead, he said, that it "was incredibly motivating to me. It encouraged me to think as an individual, take risks to reach my goals, and responsibility for my successes and failures. I loved it." His political views have leaned toward libertarianism. He held a position on the centrist Unity08 political organization's advisory council. While leaning towards libertarianism, Cuban posted an entry on his blog claiming paying more taxes to be the most patriotic thing someone can do.
In 2012, Cuban donated $7,000 to political campaigns, with $6,000 going to Republican Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah and $1,000 to Democratic California Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren.
On February 8, 2008, Cuban voiced his support for the draft Bloomberg movement attempting to convince New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to run in the U.S. presidential election of 2008 on his blog. Cuban concluded a post lamenting the current state of U.S. politics: "Are you listening, Mayor Bloomberg? For less than the cost of opening a tent pole movie, you can change the status quo." He eventually voted for Barack Obama in the 2008 election.
In November 2012, in response to Donald Trump offering President Obama $5 million to a charity of President Obama's choosing if he released passport applications and college transcripts to the public, Cuban offered Trump $1 million to a charity of Trump's choosing if Trump shaved his head.
On December 19, 2012, Cuban donated $250,000 to the Electronic Frontier Foundation to support its work on patent reform. Part of his donation funded a new title for EFF's staff attorney Julie Samuels: The Mark Cuban Chair to Eliminate Stupid Patents.
At the Code/Media conference in February 2015, Cuban said of net neutrality that "having [the FCC] overseeing the Internet scares the shit out of me".
Cuban formally endorsed Hillary Clinton for president at a July 30, 2016, rally in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. During that campaign stop, Cuban said of Republican nominee Donald Trump, "You know what we call a person like that in Pittsburgh? A jagoff ... Is there any bigger jagoff in the world than Donald Trump?"
On November 22, 2016, Cuban met with the then President-elect Trump's key advisor Steve Bannon, according to reports.
During an appearance on an episode of Hannity in May 2020, Cuban voiced his support for former Vice President Joe Biden in the 2020 U.S. presidential election.
On February 2, 2021, Cuban joined Reddit's WallStreetBets "Ask Me Anything" forum with millions of community members and fielded user questions related to the widely publicized battle between retail traders and Wall Street short sellers over GameStop shares. In the previous days, GameStop shares experienced a meteoric rise to as much as $489 on January 28, 2021, up from $17.15 on January 4, 2021. The growth was mainly brought on by an organized group of Reddit users named "WallStreetBets" that noticed GameStop stock was heavily shorted by Wall Street hedge firms and launched an ensuing campaign to buy enough shares to raise share value and produce a GameStop short squeeze. In the aftermath, the stock became heavily volatile as hedge firms repositioned themselves in the market. Firms like Melvin Capital required bailouts exceeding $2B and retail traders experienced excessive but temporary gains, whereas GameStop share value dropped to below $100 within a few days of closing at over $300. The consistent decline into February raised a lot of questions about next steps for retail traders and prompted Cuban to step in and provide advice to the Reddit community. Amid the volatility, Cuban had been an outspoken supporter of the WallStreetBets community alongside other wealthy financial figureheads like Chamath Palihapitiya, Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss. In the AMA session, Cuban publicly called the trust of the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission into question as well as the capabilities of zero commission brokerage firms, like Robinhood, that restricted retail traders from purchasing GameStop shares and other shorted stocks which he said crippled demand. Cuban's advice to Reddit users was to hold GameStop shares if they could afford it in anticipation of additional short sales by Wall Street firms, but ultimately acknowledged that the odds were stacked against them and to use it as a learning lesson. He offered insight into his trading technique suggesting that traders know why they are buying something and to "HODL"(hold on for dear life) until they learn that something has changed. Cuban noted a need for policy change to better support retail traders, credited the WallStreetBets community for leading the charge, and expressed optimism about blockchain trading as a more efficient, transparent and trustworthy form of trading for retail traders in the future.
Fallen Patriot Fund
Cuban started the Fallen Patriot Fund to help families of U.S. military personnel killed or injured during the Iraq War, personally matching the first $1 million in contributions with funds from the Mark Cuban Foundation, which is run by his brother Brian Cuban.
Speculation of a presidential run
In September 2015, Cuban stated in an interview that running for president was "a fun idea to toss around", and that, if he were running in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, he "could beat both Trump and Clinton". This was interpreted by many media outlets as indication that Cuban was considering running, but he clarified soon afterward that he had no intention to do so.
In October 2015, Cuban posted on Twitter, "Maybe I'll run for Speaker of the House." At the time, there was no clear front-runner to replace the outgoing John Boehner; the Speaker of the House does not have to be a member of Congress.
Cuban told Meet the Press in May 2016 that he would be open to being Clinton's running mate in the election, though he would seek to alter some of her positions in order to do so. In the same interview, the self-described "fiercely independent" Cuban also said that he would consider running as Republican nominee Trump's running mate after having a meeting with Trump about understanding the issues, Trump's positions on them, and coming up with solutions. Cuban also described Trump as "that friend that you just shake your head at. He's that guy who'd get drunk and fall over all the time, or just says dumb shit all the time, but he's your friend." On July 21, 2016, Cuban appeared on a live segment on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert entitled "Gloves Off: Mark Cuban Edition" in which he mocked Trump, including referencing the Trump companies' multiple bankruptcies and the failed Trump University program, and questioning the size of Trump's actual net worth.
In a September 2016 interview with NPR's Scott Simon, Cuban effectively positioned himself to support Clinton. He posited that the best strategy to beat Trump was to attack his insecurities, especially that of his intellect. He also added that Trump is the least qualified to be president and is not informed about policies.
Later in September 2016, during a post-presidential debate interview, Cuban criticized Trump's characterization that paying the minimum required taxes 'is smart' and criticized Trump for not paying back into the system that allowed him to amass such wealth.
In October 2017, Cuban said that he would "definitely" run for president if he were single. Later that month, Cuban claimed that if he ran for president in 2020, it would be as a Republican, and described himself as "socially a centrist ... but very fiscally conservative". It had also been speculated that he could have challenged president Donald Trump in 2020 as a Democrat. However, in a March 2019 interview with the New York Daily News, Cuban stated that he was "strongly considering running" for president as an independent candidate. In May 2019, Cuban said: "It would take the perfect storm for me to do it. There's some things that could open the door, but I'm not projecting or predicting it right now."
In a June 2020 interview with CNN and former Obama advisor David Axelrod, Cuban revealed that he had seriously considered running for president that year as an independent candidate. He went so far as to commission a national poll, which, according to Cuban, showed he would only receive 25 percent of the vote in a hypothetical matchup with President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden. Cuban also said that the poll showed his candidacy would have pulled votes from both Trump and Biden.
In early 2021, he decided to stop playing the National Anthem at Dallas Mavericks games in order to "respect those whose believed the anthem did not represent them." He also supported the movement as far back as late 2020. The NBA responded by requiring every team to play it, citing it as their "long-standing policy". Cuban did not complain, and ended up playing the anthem.
Personal life
Cuban has two brothers, Brian and Jeff.
In September 2002, Cuban married Tiffany Stewart in a private ceremony in Barbados. They have two daughters, born in 2003 and 2006, and a son born in 2010. They live in a mansion in the Preston Hollow area of Dallas, Texas.
In April 2019, after missing a taping of The View, Cuban revealed he had a procedure done to treat his atrial fibrillation. His diagnosis was first revealed in 2017 on Twitter.
Cuban is a vegetarian.
Philanthropy
In 2003, Cuban founded the Fallen Patriot Fund to help families of U.S. military personnel killed or injured during the Iraq War.
In June 2015, Cuban made a $5 million donation to Indiana University at Bloomington for the "Mark Cuban Center for Sports Media and Technology", which was built inside Assembly Hall, the school's basketball arena.
In March 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Cuban posted an offer on LinkedIn to small business owners who had questions about what to do in order to survive the economic downturn being caused by the pandemic. He said people could ask him anything, but that his preference was "going to be helping small biz trying to avoid layoffs and hourly reductions." There were more than 10,000 comments in response to his offer.
In 2020, Cuban picked up homeless former NBA player Delonte West from a gas station in Dallas. He paid for a hotel room for West along with his treatment at a drug rehabilitation center.
Sexual assault complaint
In a March 6, 2018 article, Willamette Week reported on an alleged April 2011 incident between Cuban and a female patron of a Portland, Oregon bar called the Barrel Room. The woman told Portland police that Cuban sexually groped her while she posed for pictures with him. She submitted seven photographs, two of which Portland Police Detective Brendan McGuire referred to as "significant". Cuban denied the allegations, and his attorney provided the results of a polygraph test taken by Cuban and written statements from two medical doctors stating that the actions described were anatomically improbable. The Portland District Attorney's office declined to prosecute, citing a lack of concrete evidence to support the claim and the woman's preference not to proceed with charges, and concluding that "no crime can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt". The NBA announced on March 8, 2018, that it was reviewing the matter.
Awards and honors
Business
1998 Kelley School of Business Alumni Award – Distinguished Entrepreneur: 1998
2011 D Magazine CEO of the Year
Sports
2011 NBA Champion (as owner of the Dallas Mavericks)
Media
2011 Outstanding Team ESPY Award (as owner of the Dallas Mavericks)
Filmography
Film
Television
Bibliography
How to Win at the Sport of Business: If I Can Do It, You Can Do It. Diversion Publishing. 2011.
Let's Go, Mavs!. Mascot Books. 2007.
References
External links
Blog
Mark Cuban collected news and commentary at The Guardian
1958 births
Living people
20th-century American businesspeople
20th-century American Jews
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century American businesspeople
21st-century American Jews
21st-century American male writers
21st-century American non-fiction writers
2929 Entertainment holdings
American bartenders
American billionaires
American bloggers
American book publishers (people)
American business writers
American chairpersons of corporations
American children's writers
American computer businesspeople
American corporate directors
American financiers
American film producers
American investors
American libertarians
American male bloggers
American male non-fiction writers
American mass media owners
American people of Romanian-Jewish descent
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
American philanthropists
American reality television producers
American retail chief executives
American salespeople
American technology chief executives
American technology company founders
American technology writers
American television company founders
American television executives
American venture capitalists
Businesspeople from Indiana
Businesspeople from Pittsburgh
Businesspeople from Texas
Businesspeople in information technology
Businesspeople in software
Copyright activists
Dallas Mavericks owners
Esports businesspeople
Film producers from Indiana
Film producers from Pennsylvania
Film producers from Texas
Jewish activists
Jewish American writers
Kelley School of Business alumni
Participants in American reality television series
People from Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania
People from Navarro County, Texas
Television personalities from Pittsburgh
Television producers from Indiana
Television producers from Pennsylvania
Television producers from Texas
Texas Independents
University of Pittsburgh alumni
Writers from Dallas
Writers from Indiana
Writers from Pittsburgh | true | [
"Donald J. Carter (July 5, 1933 – February 14, 2018) was an American investor and businessman who was a founding owner of the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Dallas Sidekicks of the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL). At the time of his death he was a minority partner in the Mavericks and a familiar courtside presence at the team's home games, always wearing a cowboy hat.\n\nEarly life\nCarter was born into a poor family in Arkansas on July 5, 1933. Carter's mother remarried when he was 15. He dropped out of high school and got a job at a gas station that paid enough to keep the car he used for drag racing running.\n\nAfter doing his military service in the U.S. Air Force, he joined his mother, Mary C. Crowley, in the successful company she founded selling interior decoration with a home party plan, Home Interiors and Gifts. The business was sold to Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst and netted Carter millions of dollars.\n\nCareer\nCarter, along with Norm Sonju, founded an NBA expansion team, the Dallas Mavericks, in 1980. When Sonju had difficulty securing the funds needed for the US$12 million expansion entry fee, Carter stepped forward to guarantee its payment. This initial investment in the team (US$ in today's terms) eventually earned him US$125 million (US$ in today's terms) when he sold the team in 1996 to an investment group led by Ross Perot Jr.\n\nOver the years, Carter owned many different types of businesses, including a Rolls-Royce dealership. Other businesses include banks, trucking firms, hotels, rodeo arenas, and cattle ranches. In the 2011 championship win by the Dallas Mavericks over the Miami Heat he was given the honor of receiving the Larry O'Brien trophy by Mark Cuban as the first owner. He retained a minority stake in the Mavericks (4% at the time of his death) and frequently attended Mavericks games until his death in 2018.\n\nPersonal life and death\nCarter had two sons, Donald J. “Joey” Carter, Jr. and Ronald L. Carter, and a daughter, Christi Carter Urschel with his wife of 58 years, Linda Jo.\n\nCarter died at his home in Dallas, Texas on February 14, 2018, at the age of 84.\n\nSee also \nDallas Mavericks\nDallas Sidekicks\n\nReferences\n\nBibliography\n\nExternal links\n Drape, Joe. \"Mavericks' Founder Finally Gets His Title,\" The New York Times, Sunday, June 19, 2011.\n\n1933 births\n2018 deaths\nAmerican soccer chairmen and investors\nAmerican sports businesspeople\nDallas Mavericks owners\nPeople from Arkansas\n20th-century American businesspeople",
"Derek Ricardo Harper (born October 13, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player. A second-team All-American at the University of Illinois, he was the 11th overall pick of the 1983 NBA draft and spent 16 seasons as a point guard in the National Basketball Association with the Dallas Mavericks, New York Knicks, Orlando Magic and Los Angeles Lakers. Harper is widely regarded as one of the best players to never have been selected to an All-Star game.\n\nCollege\nAfter graduating from Roosevelt Junior High School and then North Shore High School in West Palm Beach, Harper played three seasons for the Fighting Illini and coach Lou Henson having his best season in 1982–1983, when he led the Fighting Illini in scoring with 15.4 points per game. Harper was named First-Team All-Big Ten and Second-Team All-American in 1983, and was Honorable Mention All-Big Ten in both 1981 and 1982. Harper averaged 4.7 assists per game for his collegiate career, and led the Big Ten in assists in the 1981–1982 season. Harper was elected to the \"Illini Men's Basketball All-Century Team\" in 2004.\n\nProfessional career\n\nDallas Mavericks (1983-1993)\nAt 6 ft 4 in, Harper was drafted by the Dallas Mavericks with the 11th overall pick of the 1983 NBA draft. He spent his first ten seasons with them, averaging 15 points and 6.1 assists. For almost the entire time in his first stint with the team, he was part of the starting backcourt tandem with All-Star shooting guard Rolando Blackman. The Mavericks made the playoffs 6 out of the 10 years of Harper's tenure with the team, and they made it to the Western Conference Finals in the 1987-1988 season, but they were never able to replicate that success for any other season of Harper's time in Dallas. He had multiple seasons of averaging well over 10 PPG easily, he became well known for being a great scorer and defender. His best season came in 1990-1991 where he averaged 19.7 PPG. But he still wasn't selected to be an all star and the Mavericks finished that year with an unpleasant 28-54 record. Harper still played well for the rest of his time in Dallas, but the team was atrocious. In the 1992-1993 season especially, the Mavericks finished 11-71 which is one of the worst records of all time. Harper spent 2 more seasons with the Mavericks before leaving the team during the 1993-1994 season.\n\nNew York Knicks (1993-1996)\nHarper was traded to the New York Knicks (where he was reunited with Blackman) 28 games into the 1993–94 season. The Knicks were looking for a defensive point guard to replace the injured Doc Rivers, who was sidelined for the rest of the season. The shift sent him from a team that finished 13–69 to being an integral part of one that came within one game of winning the 1994 NBA Championship. His stats declined as he had to adjust to having less of an individual role, but his best season with the Knicks came in his last year with the team where he averaged 14.0 PPG. On July 14, 1996 he was released by the Knicks and became a free agent.\n\nReturn to Dallas (1996-1997)\nHarper returned to Dallas after signing with the Mavericks on July 26. In his return he averaged 10.0 PPG and 4.3 APG. He played well at the age of 35 but the Mavericks were still a bad team, finishing the season with only 24 wins. This would be the final season that he would play for the Mavericks.\n\nOrlando Magic (1997-1998) \nHarper was traded by the Mavericks with Ed O'Bannon to the Orlando Magic for Dennis Scott and cash. He played one season for the Magic, his scoring and overall play dropped off but he was still a solid bench player. The Magic had a decent roster but the team was very old. 16 out of the 22 players on the roster were either 30 years old or older, Harper was one of those 16 players (he was 36 at the time). The team had an average record of 41-41 and missed the playoffs. Harper's contract expired in the 1998 offseason and he left the team.\n\nLos Angeles Lakers (1999) \nHarper signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers were a great team and had a young Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant who lead the way. They made the playoffs and it was the first time Harper had reached the playoffs since 1996 with the Knicks. The Lakers made it to the second round but got swept by the San Antonio Spurs. This would be the final year of Harper's career.\n\nRetirement \nIn the 1999 offseason, the Lakers traded Harper to the Detroit Pistons, but he didn't report to the team. He retired from the NBA shortly after.\n\nOn December 18, 2017, the Mavericks announced that they were planning to retire Harper's no. 12 jersey, which was eventually retired on January 7, 2018.\n\nPersonal life\nHarper lives in Dallas with his family. His daughter Dana Harper was a contestant on season 11 of The Voice. He is now a game analyst for the Dallas Mavericks on their locally broadcast games. Beginning in fall 2005, he was the weekend sports anchor at KTXA serving the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex until the station ended its newscasts. The Dallas Mavericks retired Harper's #12 jersey during halftime of a game between the New York Knicks and Dallas Mavericks on Sunday, January 7, 2018.\n\nHonors\n\nBasketball\n 1981 - Honorable Mention All-Big Ten\n 1982 - Honorable Mention All-Big Ten\n 1983 - Team Captain\n 1983 - Team MVP\n 1983 - 1st Team All-Big Ten\n 1983 - 2nd Team All-American\n 2004 - Elected to the \"Illini Men's Basketball All-Century Team\".\n 2008 - Honored as one of the 33 honored jerseys which hang in the State Farm Center to show regard for being the most decorated basketball players in the University of Illinois' history.\n 2018 - Dallas Mavericks #12 jersey retired\n\nCollege statistics\n\nNBA career statistics\nHarper played in 1,199 regular season games in his career, tying him for 35th in NBA history (as of the 2013–14 NBA season). He retired having the 11th-most steals and the 17th-most assists in NBA history. He is also the Mavericks' career leader in those categories.\n\nRegular season\n\n|-\n| style=\"text-align:left;\"| \n| style=\"text-align:left;\"| Dallas\n| 82 || 1 || 20.9 || .443 || .115 || .673 || 2.1 || 2.9 || 1.2 || .3 || 5.7\n|-\n| style=\"text-align:left;\"| \n| style=\"text-align:left;\"| Dallas\n| 82 || 1 || 27.0 || .520 || .344 || .721 || 2.4 || 4.4 || 1.8 || .5 || 9.6\n|-\n| style=\"text-align:left;\"| \n| style=\"text-align:left;\"| Dallas\n| 79 || 39 || 27.2 || .534 || .235 || .747 || 2.9 || 5.3 || 1.9 || .3 || 12.2\n|-\n| style=\"text-align:left;\"| \n| style=\"text-align:left;\"| Dallas\n| 77 || 76 || 33.2 || .501 || .358 || .684 || 2.6 || 7.9 || 2.2 || .3 || 16.0\n|-\n| style=\"text-align:left;\"| \n| style=\"text-align:left;\"| Dallas\n| 82 || 82 || 37.0 || .459 || .313 || .759 || 3.0 || 7.7 || 2.0 || .4 || 17.0\n|-\n| style=\"text-align:left;\"| \n| style=\"text-align:left;\"| Dallas\n| 81 || 81 || 36.6 || .477 || .356 || .806 || 2.8 || 7.0 || 2.1 || .5 || 17.3\n|-\n| style=\"text-align:left;\"| \n| style=\"text-align:left;\"| Dallas\n| 82 || 82 || 36.7 || .488 || .371 || .794 || 3.0 || 7.4 || 2.3 || .3 || 18.0\n|-\n| style=\"text-align:left;\"| \n| style=\"text-align:left;\"| Dallas\n| 77 || 77 || 37.4 || .467 || .362 || .731 || 3.0 || 7.1 || 1.9 || .2 || 19.7\n|-\n| style=\"text-align:left;\"| \n| style=\"text-align:left;\"| Dallas\n| 65 || 64 || 34.6 || .443 || .312 || .759 || 2.6 || 5.7 || 1.6 || .3 || 17.7\n|-\n| style=\"text-align:left;\"| \n| style=\"text-align:left;\"| Dallas\n| 62 || 60 || 34.0 || .419 || .393 || .756 || 2.0 || 5.4 || 1.3 || .3 || 18.2\n|-\n| style=\"text-align:left;\"| \n| style=\"text-align:left;\"| Dallas\n| 28 || 28 || 31.9 || .380 || .352 || .560 || 2.0 || 3.5 || 1.6 || .1 || 11.6\n|-\n| style=\"text-align:left;\"|\n| style=\"text-align:left;\"| New York\n| 54 || 27 || 24.3 || .430 || .367 || .743 || 1.6 || 4.4 || 1.5 || .1 || 8.6\n|-\n| style=\"text-align:left;\"| \n| style=\"text-align:left;\"| New York\n| 80 || 80 || 34.0 || .446 || .363 || .724 || 2.4 || 5.7 || 1.0 || .1 || 11.5\n|-\n| style=\"text-align:left;\"| \n| style=\"text-align:left;\"| New York\n| 82 || 82 || 35.3 || .464 || .372 || .757 || 2.5 || 4.3 || 1.6 || .1 || 14.0\n|-\n| style=\"text-align:left;\"| \n| style=\"text-align:left;\"| Dallas\n| 75 || 29 || 29.5 || .444 || .341 || .742 || 1.8 || 4.3 || 1.2 || .2 || 10.0\n|-\n| style=\"text-align:left;\"| \n| style=\"text-align:left;\"| Orlando\n| 66 || 45 || 26.7 || .417 || .360 || .696 || 1.6 || 3.5 || 1.1 || .2 || 8.6\n|-\n| style=\"text-align:left;\"| \n| style=\"text-align:left;\"| L. A. Lakers\n| 45 || 29 || 24.9 || .412 || .368 || .813 || 1.5 || 4.2 || 1.0 || .1 || 6.9\n|- class=\"sortbottom\"\n| style=\"text-align:center;\" colspan=\"2\"| Career\n| 1,199 || 883 || 31.5 || .463 || .354 || .745 || 2.4 || 5.5 || 1.6 || .3 || 13.3\n\nPlayoffs\n\n|-\n| style=\"text-align:left;\"| 1984\n| style=\"text-align:left;\"| Dallas\n| 10 || – || 22.6 || .389 || .375 || .714 || 2.0 || 2.8 || 1.1 || .2 || 5.0\n|-\n| style=\"text-align:left;\"| 1985\n| style=\"text-align:left;\"| Dallas\n| 4 || 0 || 33.0 || .476 || .333 || .714 || 3.0 || 5.0 || 1.5 || .3 || 6.5\n|-\n| style=\"text-align:left;\"| 1986\n| style=\"text-align:left;\"| Dallas\n| 10 || 10 || 34.8 || .533 || .571 || .750 || 1.9 || 7.6 || 2.3 || .0 || 13.4\n|-\n| style=\"text-align:left;\"| 1987\n| style=\"text-align:left;\"| Dallas\n| 4 || 4 || 30.8 || .500 || .222 || .800 || 3.0 || 6.8 || 1.8 || .0 || 16.5\n|-\n| style=\"text-align:left;\"| 1988\n| style=\"text-align:left;\"| Dallas\n| 17 || 17 || 35.4 || .441 || .250 || .729 || 2.5 || 7.1 || 1.9 || .3 || 13.5\n|-\n| style=\"text-align:left;\"| 1990\n| style=\"text-align:left;\"| Dallas\n| 3 || 3 || 39.7 || .438 || .313 || .688 || 2.7 || 7.7 || 1.3 || .0 || 19.3\n|-\n| style=\"text-align:left;\"| 1994\n| style=\"text-align:left;\"| New York\n| 23 || 22 || 32.6 || .429 || .341 || .643 || 2.3 || 4.5 || 1.8 || .0 || 11.4\n|-\n| style=\"text-align:left;\"| 1995\n| style=\"text-align:left;\"| New York\n| 11 || 11 || 35.3 || .514 || .574 || .750 || 3.5 || 5.6 || 1.0 || .1 || 14.3\n|-\n| style=\"text-align:left;\"| 1996\n| style=\"text-align:left;\"| New York\n| 8 || 8 || 36.6 || .354 || .314 || .733 || 2.1 || 4.8 || 1.3 || .1 || 10.0\n|-\n| style=\"text-align:left;\"| 1999\n| style=\"text-align:left;\"| L. A. Lakers\n| 7 || 0 || 16.1 || .419 || .100 || .500 || 1.4 || 2.1 || .3 || .0 || 4.3\n|- class=\"sortbottom\"\n| style=\"text-align:center;\" colspan=\"2\"| Career\n| 97 || 75 || 31.9 || .449 || .365 || .712 || 2.4 || 5.3 || 1.5 || .1 || 11.3\n\nSee also\n List of National Basketball Association career games played leaders\n List of National Basketball Association career assists leaders\n List of National Basketball Association career steals leaders\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Career Statistics at basketball-reference.com\n Profile at cbs11tv.com\n\n1961 births\nLiving people\nAfrican-American basketball players\nAll-American college men's basketball players\nAmerican men's basketball players\nAmerican sports announcers\nBasketball players from Georgia (U.S. state)\nDallas Mavericks draft picks\nDallas Mavericks players\nIllinois Fighting Illini men's basketball players\nLos Angeles Lakers players\nMcDonald's High School All-Americans\nNational Basketball Association players with retired numbers\nNew York Knicks players\nOrlando Magic players\nParade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball)\nPeople from Elbert County, Georgia\nPoint guards\n21st-century African-American people\n20th-century African-American sportspeople"
]
|
[
"Mark Cuban",
"Dallas Mavericks",
"Was he an owner of the Dallas Mavericks?",
"Cuban purchased a majority stake in the NBA's Dallas Mavericks"
]
| C_7b991ba6f6f749caaaa8e46abff79b4f_0 | Did he make good money on them? | 2 | Did Mark Cuban make good money on the Dallas Mavericks? | Mark Cuban | On January 4, 2000, Cuban purchased a majority stake in the NBA's Dallas Mavericks for $285 million from H. Ross Perot, Jr. In the 20 years before Cuban bought the team, the Mavericks won only 40% of their games, and a playoff record of 21-32. In the 10 years following, the team won 69 percent of their regular season games and reached the playoffs in each of those seasons except for one. The Mavericks' playoff record with Cuban is 49 wins and 57 losses, including their first trip to the NBA Finals in 2006, where they lost to the Miami Heat. On June 12, 2011, the Mavericks defeated the Heat to win the NBA Finals. Historically, NBA team owners publicly play more passive roles and watch basketball games from skyboxes; Cuban sits alongside fans while donning team jerseys. Cuban travels in his private airplane--a Gulfstream V--to attend road games. In May 2010, H. Ross Perot, Jr., who retained 5% ownership, filed a lawsuit against Cuban, alleging the franchise was insolvent or in imminent danger of insolvency. In June 2010, Cuban responded in a court filing maintaining Perot is wrongly seeking money to offset some $100 million in losses on the Victory Park real estate development. The lawsuit was dismissed in 2011, due in part to Cuban asserting proper management of the team due to its recent victory in the 2011 NBA Finals. In 2014, the 5th Circuit Court affirmed that decision on appeal. Following his initial defeat, Perot attempted to shut out Mavericks fans from use of the parking lots he controlled near the American Airlines Center. In January 2018, Cuban announced the Mavericks would be accepting Bitcoin as payment for tickets in the following season. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Mark Cuban (born July 31, 1958) is an American billionaire entrepreneur, television personality, and media proprietor whose net worth is an estimated $4.3 billion, according to Forbes, and ranked #177 on the 2020 Forbes 400 list. He is the owner of the Dallas Mavericks professional basketball team of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the co-owner of 2929 Entertainment. He is also one of the main "shark" investors on the ABC reality television series Shark Tank.
Early life and education
Cuban was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His father, Norton Cuban, was an automobile upholsterer. Cuban described his mother, Shirley, as someone with "a different job or different career goal every other week."
Cuban grew up in Mount Lebanon, a suburb of Pittsburgh, in a Jewish working-class family. His paternal grandfather changed the family name from Chabenisky to Cuban after his family emigrated from Russia through Ellis Island. His maternal grandparents, who were also Jewish, came from Romania.
Cuban first ventured into business at age 12. He sold garbage bags to pay for a pair of expensive basketball shoes. Some years later, he earned money by selling stamps and coins. At age 16, Cuban took advantage of a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette strike by running newspapers from Cleveland to Pittsburgh.
Instead of attending high school for his senior year, he enrolled as a full-time student at the University of Pittsburgh, where he joined the Pi Lambda Phi fraternity. He is a fan of Pittsburgh's "beloved" NFL team, the Pittsburgh Steelers. After one year at the University of Pittsburgh, Cuban transferred to Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, where he graduated from the Kelley School of Business in 1981 with a Bachelor of Science degree in management. He chose Indiana's Kelley School of Business without even visiting the campus because it "had the least expensive tuition of all the business schools on the top 10 list". During college, he had various business ventures, including a bar, disco lessons, and a chain letter.
After graduating, Cuban returned to Pittsburgh and took a job with Mellon Bank. He immersed himself in the study of machines and networking.
Career
On July 7, 1982, Cuban moved to Dallas, Texas, where he first found work as a bartender for a Greenville Avenue bar called Elan and then as a salesperson for Your Business Software, one of the earliest PC software retailers in Dallas. He was fired less than a year later, after meeting with a client to procure new business instead of opening the store.
Cuban started his own company, MicroSolutions, with help from his previous customers from Your Business Software. MicroSolutions was initially a system integrator and software reseller. The company was an early proponent of technologies such as Carbon Copy, Lotus Notes, and CompuServe. One of the company's largest clients was Perot Systems.
The company grew to more than $30 million in revenue, and in 1990, Cuban sold MicroSolutions to CompuServe—then a subsidiary of H&R Block—for $6 million. He made approximately $2 million after taxes on the deal.
Audionet and Broadcast.com
In 1995, Cuban and fellow Indiana University alumnus Todd Wagner joined Audionet (founded in 1989 by Chris Jaeb who retained 10% of the company), combining their mutual interest in Indiana Hoosier college basketball and webcasting. With a single server and an ISDN line, Audionet became Broadcast.com in 1998. By 1999, Broadcast.com had grown to 330 employees and $13.5 million in revenue for the second quarter. In 1999, Broadcast.com helped launch the first live-streamed Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. That year, during the dot com boom, Broadcast.com was acquired by Yahoo! for $5.7 billion in Yahoo! stock.
After the sale of Broadcast.com, Cuban hedged against the risk of a decline in the value of the Yahoo! shares he received in the deal. The Guinness Book of Records credits Cuban with the "largest single e-commerce transaction", after he purchased a Gulfstream V jet for $40 million over the internet in October 1999.
Yahoo!'s costly purchase of Broadcast.com is now regarded as one of the worst internet acquisitions of all time. Broadcast.com along with Yahoo!'s other broadcasting services were discontinued within a few years after the acquisition. Cuban has repeatedly described himself as very lucky to have sold the company before the dot-com bubble burst. However, he also emphasized that he hedged against the Yahoo! shares he received from the sale, and that he would have lost most of his fortune if he had not done so.
Cuban continues to work with Wagner in another venture, 2929 Entertainment, which provides vertically integrated production and distribution of films and video.
On September 24, 2003, the firm purchased Landmark Theatres, a chain of 58 arthouse movie theaters. The company is also responsible for the updated version of the TV show Star Search, which was broadcast on CBS. 2929 Entertainment released Bubble, a movie directed by Steven Soderbergh, in 2006.
Cuban was featured on the cover of the November 2003 premiere issue of Best magazine announcing the arrival of high-definition television. Cuban also was co-founder (with Philip Garvin) of AXS TV (formerly HDNet), the first high-definition satellite television network.
In February 2004, Cuban announced that he would be working with ABC television to produce a reality television series, The Benefactor. The premise of the six-episode series involved 16 contestants trying to win $1 million by participating in various contests, with their performances being judged by Cuban. It premiered on September 13, 2004, but due to poor ratings, the series was canceled before the full season aired.
In 2018, Cuban was No.190 on Forbes list of "World's Richest People", with a net worth of $3.9 billion.
Cuban financially supported Grokster in the Supreme Court case MGM v. Grokster. He is also a partner in Synergy Sports Technology, a web based basketball scouting and video delivery tool, used by many NBA teams.
Investments in startups
Cuban has also assisted ventures in the social software and distributed networking industries. He was an owner of IceRocket, a search engine that scours the blogosphere for content. Cuban was a partner in RedSwoosh—a company which uses peer-to-peer technology to deliver rich media, including video and software, to a user's PC—later acquired by Akamai. He was also an investor in Weblogs, Inc., which was acquired by AOL.
In 2005, Cuban invested in Brondell Inc., a San Francisco startup making a high-tech toilet seat called a Swash that works like a bidet but mounts on a standard toilet. "People tend to approach technology the same way, whether it's in front of them, or behind them", Cuban joked. He also invested in Goowy Media Inc., a San Diego Internet software startup. In April 2006, Sirius Satellite Radio announced that Cuban would host his own weekly radio talk show, Mark Cuban's Radio Maverick. However, the show has not materialized.
In July 2006, Cuban financed Sharesleuth.com, a website created by former St. Louis Post-Dispatch investigative reporter Christopher Carey to uncover fraud and misinformation in publicly traded companies. Experimenting with a new business model for making online journalism financially viable, Cuban disclosed that he would take positions in the shares of companies mentioned in Sharesleuth.com in advance of publication. Business and legal analysts questioned the appropriateness of shorting a stock prior to making public pronouncements which are likely to result in losses in that stock's value. Cuban insisted that the practice is legal in view of full disclosure.
In April 2007, Cuban partnered with Mascot Books to publish his first children's book, Let's Go, Mavs!. In November 2011, he wrote a 30,000-word e-book, How to Win at the Sport of Business: If I Can Do It, You Can Do It, which he described as "a way to get motivated".
In October 2008, Cuban started Bailoutsleuth.com as a grassroots, online portal for oversight over the U.S. government's $700 billion "bailout" of financial institutions.
In September 2010, Cuban provided an undisclosed amount of venture capital to store-front analytics company Motionloft. According to the company's CEO Jon Mills, he cold-emailed Cuban on a whim with the business proposition and claimed Cuban quickly responded that he would like to hear more. Mills credited that sentence for launching the company. In November 2013, several investors questioned Cuban about Mills' representation of a pending acquisition of Motionloft. Cuban denied an acquisition was in place. Mills was terminated as CEO of Motionloft by stockholders on December 1, 2013, and in February 2014 was arrested by the FBI and charged with wire fraud, it being alleged that Mills misrepresented to investors that Motionloft was going to be acquired by Cisco. Cuban has gone on record to state that the technology, which at least in part is meant to serve the commercial real estate industry, is "game changing" for tenants.
In 2019, Cuban, Ashton Kutcher, Steve Watts and Watts' wife Angela, invested a 50% stake in Veldskoen shoes fledgling U.S. business. In 2021, Cuban, Pantera Capital, BlockTower, Hashed, Cadenza Ventures (backed by 100x Group), CMS and QCP Capital backed a layer-2 decentralized exchange protocol, Injective Protocol and their CEO Eric Chen. Also in late 2021, Cuban purchased the entire town of Mustang, Texas, a 77-acre town in Navarro County. He told the Dallas Morning News that a buddy needed to sell it and, "I don't know what if anything I will do with it."
Shark Tank
Cuban has been a "shark" investor on the ABC reality program Shark Tank since season two in 2011.
As of May 2015, he has invested in 85 deals across 111 Shark Tank episodes, for a total of $19.9 million invested. The actual numbers vary because the investment happens after the handshake deal on live television, after the due diligence is performed to ensure the accuracy of the information presented in the pitch room. For instance, Hy-Conn, a manufacturer of removable fire hoses, after agreeing to a deal of $1.25 million for 100% of the company with Cuban, did not go through with the deal.
Cuban's top three deals, all with at least $1 million invested, are Ten Thirty One Productions, Rugged Maniac Obstacle Race, and BeatBox Beverages.
Since Cuban joined the show in 2011, the ratings for Shark Tank have increased, and also during his tenure, the show has won three Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Structured Reality Program (from 2014 – 2016). As of 2022, Cuban is the richest of all Sharks to appear on the show after Sir Richard Branson.
Magnolia Pictures
Cuban owns film distributor Magnolia Pictures. Through Magnolia, he financed Redacted, a fictional dramatization based on the 2006 Mahmudiyah killings, written and directed by Brian De Palma. In September 2007, Cuban, in his capacity as owner of Magnolia Pictures, removed disturbing photographs from the concluding moments of the Redacted, citing copyrights/permissions issues.
Also in 2007, Cuban was reportedly interested in distributing through Magnolia an edition of the film Loose Change, which posits a 9/11 conspiracy theory, with Charlie Sheen narrating. Cuban told the New York Post, "We are having discussions about distributing the existing video with Charlie's involvement as a narrator, not in making a new feature. We are also looking for productions with an opposing viewpoint. We like controversial subjects, but we are agnostic to which side the controversy comes from."
In April 2011, Cuban put Magnolia Pictures and Landmark Theatres up for sale, but said, "If we don't get the price and premium we want, we are happy to continue to make money from the properties."
SEC insider trading allegation
On November 17, 2008, it was reported that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a civil suit against Cuban relating to alleged insider trading in the shares of Mamma.com, now known as Copernic. A stock dilution occurred shortly after a trade in June 2004, giving hints of inside knowledge at the time of the trade, and Cuban allegedly was saved from a loss of $750,000. The SEC claimed that Cuban ordered the sale of his holdings in Mamma.com after he had been confidentially approached by the company to participate in a transaction likely to dilute shares of current shareholders. Cuban disputed the charges, saying he had not agreed to keep the information secret. On his blog, Cuban contended the allegations were false and that the investigation was "a product of gross abuse of prosecutorial discretion". DealBook, a section of The New York Times, reported through an anonymous source that Cuban believed the investigation was motivated by an SEC employee having taken offense to his interest in possibly distributing the film Loose Change.
In July 2009, the U.S. District Court dismissed the charges against Cuban, and the SEC appealed. In September 2010, an appeals court said that the district court had erred and that further proceedings would be necessary to address the merits of the suit.
A federal jury in Texas found in favor of Cuban on October 16, 2013. The nine-member jury issued the verdict after deliberating 3 hours and 35 minutes.
In March 2014, Cuban was on air at CNBC criticizing high-frequency trading (HFT). Those against HFT, such as Cuban, believe the technology is equivalent to automated insider trading.
Sports businesses
Dallas Mavericks
On January 4, 2000, Cuban purchased a majority stake in the NBA's Dallas Mavericks for $285 million from H. Ross Perot Jr.
In the 20 years before Cuban bought the team, the Mavericks won only 40% of their games and had a playoff record of 21–32. In the 10 years following, the team won 69 percent of their regular season games and reached the playoffs in each of those seasons except for one. The Mavericks' playoff record with Cuban is 49–57, including their first trip to the NBA Finals in 2006, where they lost to the Miami Heat.
Historically, NBA team owners publicly play more passive roles and watch basketball games from skyboxes; Cuban sits alongside fans while donning team jerseys. Cuban travels in his private airplane—a Gulfstream V—to attend road games.
In May 2010, H. Ross Perot Jr., who retained 5% ownership, filed a lawsuit against Cuban, alleging the franchise was insolvent or in imminent danger of insolvency. In June 2010, Cuban responded in a court filing maintaining Perot is wrongly seeking money to offset some $100 million in losses on the Victory Park real estate development. The lawsuit was dismissed in 2011, due in part to Cuban asserting proper management of the team due to its recent victory in the 2011 NBA Finals. In 2014, the 5th Circuit Court affirmed that decision on appeal. Following his initial defeat, Perot attempted to shut out Mavericks fans from use of the parking lots he controlled near the American Airlines Center.
In January 2018, Cuban announced the Mavericks would be accepting Bitcoin as payment for tickets in the following season.
NBA fines
Cuban's ownership has been the source of extensive media attention and controversy involving league policies.
Cuban has been fined by the NBA, mostly for critical statements about the league and referees, at least $1.665 million for 13 incidents. In a June 30, 2006 interview, Mavericks player Dirk Nowitzki said about Cuban:
In an interview with the Associated Press, Cuban said that he matches NBA fines with charitable donations of equal amounts. In a nationally publicized incident in 2002, he criticized the league's manager of officials, Ed T. Rush, saying that he "wouldn't be able to manage a Dairy Queen." Dairy Queen management took offense to Cuban's comments and invited him to manage a Dairy Queen restaurant for a day. Cuban accepted the company's invitation and worked for a day at a Dairy Queen in Coppell, Texas, where fans lined up in the street to get a Blizzard from the owner of the Mavericks.
During the 2005–06 NBA season, Cuban started a booing campaign when former Mavericks player Michael Finley returned to play against the Mavericks as a member of the San Antonio Spurs. In a playoff series between the Mavericks and Spurs, Cuban cursed Spurs forward Bruce Bowen and was fined $25,000 by the NBA for rushing onto the court and criticizing NBA officials. After the 2006 NBA Finals, Cuban was fined $250,000 by the NBA for repeated misconduct following the Mavericks' loss to the Miami Heat in Game Five of the 2006 NBA Finals.
In February 2007, Cuban publicly criticized NBA Finals MVP Dwyane Wade and declared that he would get fined if he made any comments about what he thought really happened in the 2006 NBA Finals.
On January 16, 2009, the league fined Cuban $25,000 for yelling at Denver Nuggets player J. R. Smith at the end of the first half on a Mavericks-at-Nuggets game played on January 13. Cuban was apparently incensed that Smith had thrown an elbow that barely missed Mavericks forward Antoine Wright. Cuban offered to match the fine with a donation to a charity of Smith's choosing. Cuban stated that if he doesn't hear from Smith, then he will donate the money to the NHL Players' Association Goals and Dreams Fund in the names of Todd Bertuzzi and Steve Moore. In May 2009, Cuban made a reference to the Denver Nuggets being "thugs" after a loss to the Nuggets in game 3 of the Western Conference Semifinals. The statement was geared towards the Nuggets and their fans. As he passed Kenyon Martin's mother, who was seated near Cuban as he left the arena, he pointed at her and said, "that includes your son." This controversial comment revisited media attention on Cuban yet again. Cuban issued an apology the next day referencing the poor treatment of away fans in arenas around the league. The league issued a statement stating that they would not fine him.
On May 22, 2010, Cuban was fined $100,000 for comments he made during a television interview about trying to sign LeBron James.
Despite his history, he was notably silent during the Mavericks' 2011 championship playoff run.
Despite Cuban's history with David Stern, he believed the NBA Commissioner would leave a lasting legacy "of a focus on growth and recognizing that the NBA is in the entertainment business and that it's a global product, not just a local product. Whatever platforms that took us to, he was ready to go. He wasn't protective at all. He was wide open. I think that was great."
On January 18, 2014, Cuban was once again fined $100,000 for confronting referees and using inappropriate language toward them. As with previous fines, Cuban confirmed that he would match the fine with a donation to charity, however, with the condition that he reaches two million followers on his Twitter account. Cuban also jokingly commented that he could not let Stern leave without a proper farewell.
On February 21, 2018, Cuban was fined $600,000 by the NBA for stating that the Dallas Mavericks should "tank for the rest of the season." Commissioner Adam Silver stated that the fine was "for public statements detrimental to the NBA."
On March 6, 2020, Cuban was fined $500,000 by the NBA for "public criticism and detrimental conduct regarding NBA officiating", according to the league.
Major League Baseball
Cuban has repeatedly expressed interest in owning a Major League Baseball franchise and has unsuccessfully attempted to purchase at least three franchises. In 2008, he submitted an initial bid of $1.3 billion to buy the Chicago Cubs and was invited to participate in a second round of bidding along with several other potential ownership groups. Cuban was not selected to participate in the final bidding process in January 2009. In August 2010, Cuban actively bid to buy the Texas Rangers with Jeffrey L. Beck. Cuban stopped bids after 1 a.m., having placed bids totaling almost $600 million. He had outbid a competing ownership group led by ex-pitcher and Rangers executive Nolan Ryan, but lost the deal before the Rangers played the San Francisco Giants in the 2010 World Series.
In January 2012, Cuban placed an initial bid for the Los Angeles Dodgers, but was eliminated before the second round of bidding. Cuban felt that the value of the Dodgers' TV rights deal drove the price of the franchise too high. He had previously said that he would not be interested in buying the franchise at $1 billion, telling the Los Angeles Times in November 2011 "I don't think the Dodgers franchise is worth twice what the Rangers are worth." However, as the bidding process drew near many speculated that the sale would surpass $1.5 billion, with Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reporting on Twitter that at least one bid in the $1–1.5 billion range was placed in the initial round of the bidding process. Ultimately, the Dodgers sold for $2.15 billion to Guggenheim Baseball Management.
Cuban also previously expressed interest in becoming a minority owner of the New York Mets after owner Fred Wilpon announced in 2011 that he was planning to sell up to a 25% stake in the team.
Cuban has wanted to purchase his hometown Pittsburgh Pirates, but was rebuffed by then owner Kevin McClatchy in 2005.
Other sports businesses
In 2005, Cuban expressed interest in buying the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins. In 2006, Cuban joined an investment group along with Dan Marino, Kevin Millevoi, Andy Murstein, and Walnut Capital principals Gregg Perelman and Todd Reidbord to attempt to acquire the Penguins. The franchise ultimately rejected the group's bid when team owners Mario Lemieux and Ronald Burkle took the team off the market.
At WWE's Survivor Series in 2003, Cuban was involved in a staged altercation with Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff and Raw wrestler Randy Orton. On December 7, 2009, Cuban acted as the guest host of Raw, getting revenge on Orton when he was the guest referee in Orton's match against Kofi Kingston, giving Kingston a fast count victory. He then announced that Orton would face Kingston at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs. At the end of the show, Cuban was slammed through a table by the number one contender for the WWE Championship, Sheamus.
On September 12, 2007, Cuban said that he was in talks with WWE Chairman Vince McMahon to create a mixed martial arts company that would compete with UFC. He is now a bondholder of Zuffa, which was formerly UFC's parent company.
Cuban followed up his intentions by organizing "HDNet Fights", a mixed martial arts promotion which airs exclusively on HDNet and premiered on October 13, 2007, with a card headlined by a fight between Erik Paulson and Jeff Ford as well as fights featuring veterans Drew Fickett and Justin Eilers.
Since 2009, Cuban has been a panelist at the annual MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference.
In April 2010, Cuban loaned the newly formed United Football League (UFL) $5 million. He did not own a franchise, and he was not involved in day-to-day operations of the league nor of any of its teams. In January 2011, he filed a federal lawsuit against the UFL for their failure to repay the loan by the October 6, 2010 deadline.
In June 2015, Cuban invested in the esports betting platform Unikrn.
In February 2016, Cuban purchased a principal ownership stake in the Professional Futsal League.
Political activity
Cuban is an admirer of author and philosopher Ayn Rand. About Rand's novel The Fountainhead, he said, that it "was incredibly motivating to me. It encouraged me to think as an individual, take risks to reach my goals, and responsibility for my successes and failures. I loved it." His political views have leaned toward libertarianism. He held a position on the centrist Unity08 political organization's advisory council. While leaning towards libertarianism, Cuban posted an entry on his blog claiming paying more taxes to be the most patriotic thing someone can do.
In 2012, Cuban donated $7,000 to political campaigns, with $6,000 going to Republican Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah and $1,000 to Democratic California Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren.
On February 8, 2008, Cuban voiced his support for the draft Bloomberg movement attempting to convince New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to run in the U.S. presidential election of 2008 on his blog. Cuban concluded a post lamenting the current state of U.S. politics: "Are you listening, Mayor Bloomberg? For less than the cost of opening a tent pole movie, you can change the status quo." He eventually voted for Barack Obama in the 2008 election.
In November 2012, in response to Donald Trump offering President Obama $5 million to a charity of President Obama's choosing if he released passport applications and college transcripts to the public, Cuban offered Trump $1 million to a charity of Trump's choosing if Trump shaved his head.
On December 19, 2012, Cuban donated $250,000 to the Electronic Frontier Foundation to support its work on patent reform. Part of his donation funded a new title for EFF's staff attorney Julie Samuels: The Mark Cuban Chair to Eliminate Stupid Patents.
At the Code/Media conference in February 2015, Cuban said of net neutrality that "having [the FCC] overseeing the Internet scares the shit out of me".
Cuban formally endorsed Hillary Clinton for president at a July 30, 2016, rally in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. During that campaign stop, Cuban said of Republican nominee Donald Trump, "You know what we call a person like that in Pittsburgh? A jagoff ... Is there any bigger jagoff in the world than Donald Trump?"
On November 22, 2016, Cuban met with the then President-elect Trump's key advisor Steve Bannon, according to reports.
During an appearance on an episode of Hannity in May 2020, Cuban voiced his support for former Vice President Joe Biden in the 2020 U.S. presidential election.
On February 2, 2021, Cuban joined Reddit's WallStreetBets "Ask Me Anything" forum with millions of community members and fielded user questions related to the widely publicized battle between retail traders and Wall Street short sellers over GameStop shares. In the previous days, GameStop shares experienced a meteoric rise to as much as $489 on January 28, 2021, up from $17.15 on January 4, 2021. The growth was mainly brought on by an organized group of Reddit users named "WallStreetBets" that noticed GameStop stock was heavily shorted by Wall Street hedge firms and launched an ensuing campaign to buy enough shares to raise share value and produce a GameStop short squeeze. In the aftermath, the stock became heavily volatile as hedge firms repositioned themselves in the market. Firms like Melvin Capital required bailouts exceeding $2B and retail traders experienced excessive but temporary gains, whereas GameStop share value dropped to below $100 within a few days of closing at over $300. The consistent decline into February raised a lot of questions about next steps for retail traders and prompted Cuban to step in and provide advice to the Reddit community. Amid the volatility, Cuban had been an outspoken supporter of the WallStreetBets community alongside other wealthy financial figureheads like Chamath Palihapitiya, Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss. In the AMA session, Cuban publicly called the trust of the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission into question as well as the capabilities of zero commission brokerage firms, like Robinhood, that restricted retail traders from purchasing GameStop shares and other shorted stocks which he said crippled demand. Cuban's advice to Reddit users was to hold GameStop shares if they could afford it in anticipation of additional short sales by Wall Street firms, but ultimately acknowledged that the odds were stacked against them and to use it as a learning lesson. He offered insight into his trading technique suggesting that traders know why they are buying something and to "HODL"(hold on for dear life) until they learn that something has changed. Cuban noted a need for policy change to better support retail traders, credited the WallStreetBets community for leading the charge, and expressed optimism about blockchain trading as a more efficient, transparent and trustworthy form of trading for retail traders in the future.
Fallen Patriot Fund
Cuban started the Fallen Patriot Fund to help families of U.S. military personnel killed or injured during the Iraq War, personally matching the first $1 million in contributions with funds from the Mark Cuban Foundation, which is run by his brother Brian Cuban.
Speculation of a presidential run
In September 2015, Cuban stated in an interview that running for president was "a fun idea to toss around", and that, if he were running in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, he "could beat both Trump and Clinton". This was interpreted by many media outlets as indication that Cuban was considering running, but he clarified soon afterward that he had no intention to do so.
In October 2015, Cuban posted on Twitter, "Maybe I'll run for Speaker of the House." At the time, there was no clear front-runner to replace the outgoing John Boehner; the Speaker of the House does not have to be a member of Congress.
Cuban told Meet the Press in May 2016 that he would be open to being Clinton's running mate in the election, though he would seek to alter some of her positions in order to do so. In the same interview, the self-described "fiercely independent" Cuban also said that he would consider running as Republican nominee Trump's running mate after having a meeting with Trump about understanding the issues, Trump's positions on them, and coming up with solutions. Cuban also described Trump as "that friend that you just shake your head at. He's that guy who'd get drunk and fall over all the time, or just says dumb shit all the time, but he's your friend." On July 21, 2016, Cuban appeared on a live segment on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert entitled "Gloves Off: Mark Cuban Edition" in which he mocked Trump, including referencing the Trump companies' multiple bankruptcies and the failed Trump University program, and questioning the size of Trump's actual net worth.
In a September 2016 interview with NPR's Scott Simon, Cuban effectively positioned himself to support Clinton. He posited that the best strategy to beat Trump was to attack his insecurities, especially that of his intellect. He also added that Trump is the least qualified to be president and is not informed about policies.
Later in September 2016, during a post-presidential debate interview, Cuban criticized Trump's characterization that paying the minimum required taxes 'is smart' and criticized Trump for not paying back into the system that allowed him to amass such wealth.
In October 2017, Cuban said that he would "definitely" run for president if he were single. Later that month, Cuban claimed that if he ran for president in 2020, it would be as a Republican, and described himself as "socially a centrist ... but very fiscally conservative". It had also been speculated that he could have challenged president Donald Trump in 2020 as a Democrat. However, in a March 2019 interview with the New York Daily News, Cuban stated that he was "strongly considering running" for president as an independent candidate. In May 2019, Cuban said: "It would take the perfect storm for me to do it. There's some things that could open the door, but I'm not projecting or predicting it right now."
In a June 2020 interview with CNN and former Obama advisor David Axelrod, Cuban revealed that he had seriously considered running for president that year as an independent candidate. He went so far as to commission a national poll, which, according to Cuban, showed he would only receive 25 percent of the vote in a hypothetical matchup with President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden. Cuban also said that the poll showed his candidacy would have pulled votes from both Trump and Biden.
In early 2021, he decided to stop playing the National Anthem at Dallas Mavericks games in order to "respect those whose believed the anthem did not represent them." He also supported the movement as far back as late 2020. The NBA responded by requiring every team to play it, citing it as their "long-standing policy". Cuban did not complain, and ended up playing the anthem.
Personal life
Cuban has two brothers, Brian and Jeff.
In September 2002, Cuban married Tiffany Stewart in a private ceremony in Barbados. They have two daughters, born in 2003 and 2006, and a son born in 2010. They live in a mansion in the Preston Hollow area of Dallas, Texas.
In April 2019, after missing a taping of The View, Cuban revealed he had a procedure done to treat his atrial fibrillation. His diagnosis was first revealed in 2017 on Twitter.
Cuban is a vegetarian.
Philanthropy
In 2003, Cuban founded the Fallen Patriot Fund to help families of U.S. military personnel killed or injured during the Iraq War.
In June 2015, Cuban made a $5 million donation to Indiana University at Bloomington for the "Mark Cuban Center for Sports Media and Technology", which was built inside Assembly Hall, the school's basketball arena.
In March 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Cuban posted an offer on LinkedIn to small business owners who had questions about what to do in order to survive the economic downturn being caused by the pandemic. He said people could ask him anything, but that his preference was "going to be helping small biz trying to avoid layoffs and hourly reductions." There were more than 10,000 comments in response to his offer.
In 2020, Cuban picked up homeless former NBA player Delonte West from a gas station in Dallas. He paid for a hotel room for West along with his treatment at a drug rehabilitation center.
Sexual assault complaint
In a March 6, 2018 article, Willamette Week reported on an alleged April 2011 incident between Cuban and a female patron of a Portland, Oregon bar called the Barrel Room. The woman told Portland police that Cuban sexually groped her while she posed for pictures with him. She submitted seven photographs, two of which Portland Police Detective Brendan McGuire referred to as "significant". Cuban denied the allegations, and his attorney provided the results of a polygraph test taken by Cuban and written statements from two medical doctors stating that the actions described were anatomically improbable. The Portland District Attorney's office declined to prosecute, citing a lack of concrete evidence to support the claim and the woman's preference not to proceed with charges, and concluding that "no crime can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt". The NBA announced on March 8, 2018, that it was reviewing the matter.
Awards and honors
Business
1998 Kelley School of Business Alumni Award – Distinguished Entrepreneur: 1998
2011 D Magazine CEO of the Year
Sports
2011 NBA Champion (as owner of the Dallas Mavericks)
Media
2011 Outstanding Team ESPY Award (as owner of the Dallas Mavericks)
Filmography
Film
Television
Bibliography
How to Win at the Sport of Business: If I Can Do It, You Can Do It. Diversion Publishing. 2011.
Let's Go, Mavs!. Mascot Books. 2007.
References
External links
Blog
Mark Cuban collected news and commentary at The Guardian
1958 births
Living people
20th-century American businesspeople
20th-century American Jews
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century American businesspeople
21st-century American Jews
21st-century American male writers
21st-century American non-fiction writers
2929 Entertainment holdings
American bartenders
American billionaires
American bloggers
American book publishers (people)
American business writers
American chairpersons of corporations
American children's writers
American computer businesspeople
American corporate directors
American financiers
American film producers
American investors
American libertarians
American male bloggers
American male non-fiction writers
American mass media owners
American people of Romanian-Jewish descent
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
American philanthropists
American reality television producers
American retail chief executives
American salespeople
American technology chief executives
American technology company founders
American technology writers
American television company founders
American television executives
American venture capitalists
Businesspeople from Indiana
Businesspeople from Pittsburgh
Businesspeople from Texas
Businesspeople in information technology
Businesspeople in software
Copyright activists
Dallas Mavericks owners
Esports businesspeople
Film producers from Indiana
Film producers from Pennsylvania
Film producers from Texas
Jewish activists
Jewish American writers
Kelley School of Business alumni
Participants in American reality television series
People from Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania
People from Navarro County, Texas
Television personalities from Pittsburgh
Television producers from Indiana
Television producers from Pennsylvania
Television producers from Texas
Texas Independents
University of Pittsburgh alumni
Writers from Dallas
Writers from Indiana
Writers from Pittsburgh | false | [
"Ed Humenik (born June 29, 1959) is an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour and the Nationwide Tour.\n\nHumenik joined the PGA Tour in 1989, gaining his Tour card through qualifying school. After struggling on his rookie year on Tour, he joined the Nationwide Tour in 1990. He won two events, the Ben Hogan Macon Open and the Ben Hogan Santa Rosa Open en route to a 5th-place finish on the money list which earned him his PGA Tour card for 1991. In 1991, he finished 121st on the money list, just good enough to retain his Tour card, he recorded two top-10 finishes. He bettered his performance in 1992, finishing 100th on the money list, including finishing in a tie for fourth at the Buick Southern Open. He finished 105th on the money list in 1993 and recorded three top-10 finishes. In 1994 he finished 108th on the money list, with the highlight of his year coming at the Greater Greensboro Open where he finished in a tie for second. He did not do as well in 1995 and failed to retain his Tour card. He did not play full-time on Tour again until 1999 when he played on the Nationwide Tour, his final season on Tour. He played in the U.S. Senior Open in 2009 and missed the cut.\n\nProfessional wins (3)\n\nBen Hogan Tour wins (2)\n\nOther wins (1)\n1988 Michigan Open\n\nResults in major championships\n\nCUT = missed the half-way cut\n\"T\" = tied\nNote: Humenik only played in the U.S. Open.\n\nSee also\n1988 PGA Tour Qualifying School graduates\n1990 Ben Hogan Tour graduates\n\nExternal links\n\nAmerican male golfers\nMichigan Wolverines men's golfers\nPGA Tour golfers\nKorn Ferry Tour graduates\nGolfers from Detroit\n1959 births\nLiving people",
"\"It's Good\" is a song by American rapper Lil Wayne and features American rapper Jadakiss and Canadian rapper Drake. The song is the fourteenth track off Wayne's ninth studio album, Tha Carter IV. It was solicited to radio on September 13, 2011 as the album's fifth single.\n\nCritical reception\n\nAllmusic complimented \"It's Good\" and said it was a track to \"marvel\" at it also commented on the controversial lyrics by saying the track is \"where a Jay-Z diss meets an Alan Parsons sample\". Chicago Tribune reviewed Lil Wayne's part of the song saying \"Next to Drake (and Jadakiss), Wayne just sounds petty. It’s a telling role reversal: once Wayne used to hop on other rappers’ tracks and blow them away. Now his guests magnify his lack of engagement.\" Pitchfork complimented Drake's verses by saying \"And it's Drake who provides the record's most impassioned verse about his mentor's 2010 prison stint for criminal gun possession: \"Rikers Island on this flow, eight months for that pistol/ But at least they had some bad bitches workin' in that shit hole.\"\n\nControversy\n\"It's Good\" gained considerable notice on various social networks because a portion of the song's lyrics performed by Lil Wayne in which he raps \"I got your baby money / Kidnap your bitch, get that how much you love your lady money\" which has been interpreted by various sources to be a response back at Jay-Z's verse on H.A.M. from Watch the Throne in which he raps \"Really you got baby money ... You ain't got my lady's money.\" Kanye West played the track for Wayne but his response was \"I wouldn’t ask him about a Jay-Z line because he’s not Jay-Z.\" Lil Wayne further elaborated on the alleged attack by saying \"I know there won’t be any repercussions behind what I did. I know for a fact music is about perception. You can’t do anything but perceive what you hear. I know that for a fact. So I can’t ever be upset about someone’s reaction. I’m not going to say I don’t know what would happen before I even say [something on record]. I do know what will happen. I’m aware of it. But it is what it is.\" Jadakiss has distanced himself from all conflict as well and commented that he isn't involved on any attack on any rap artist. Slant commented on the alleged attack by saying that the track \"generated more buzz than any other track on Tha Carter IV, not because it's especially good, but because Wayne appears to take some shots at Jay-Z, referencing an ongoing feud about who makes more money and maybe threatening to kidnap and ransom Beyoncé (\"Kidnap your bitch/Get that 'How much you love your lady?' money\").\n\nChart performance\n\nRelease history\n\nReferences\n\n2011 songs\nLil Wayne songs\nDrake (musician) songs\nJadakiss songs\nSongs written by Lil Wayne\nSongs written by Drake (musician)\nGangsta rap songs\nSongs written by Jadakiss\nSongs written by Marcello Valenzano\nSongs written by Dre (producer)\nSong recordings produced by Cool & Dre"
]
|
[
"Mark Cuban",
"Dallas Mavericks",
"Was he an owner of the Dallas Mavericks?",
"Cuban purchased a majority stake in the NBA's Dallas Mavericks",
"Did he make good money on them?",
"I don't know."
]
| C_7b991ba6f6f749caaaa8e46abff79b4f_0 | Was there any controversy around this? | 3 | Was there any controversy around Mark Cuban buying the Dallas Mavericks? | Mark Cuban | On January 4, 2000, Cuban purchased a majority stake in the NBA's Dallas Mavericks for $285 million from H. Ross Perot, Jr. In the 20 years before Cuban bought the team, the Mavericks won only 40% of their games, and a playoff record of 21-32. In the 10 years following, the team won 69 percent of their regular season games and reached the playoffs in each of those seasons except for one. The Mavericks' playoff record with Cuban is 49 wins and 57 losses, including their first trip to the NBA Finals in 2006, where they lost to the Miami Heat. On June 12, 2011, the Mavericks defeated the Heat to win the NBA Finals. Historically, NBA team owners publicly play more passive roles and watch basketball games from skyboxes; Cuban sits alongside fans while donning team jerseys. Cuban travels in his private airplane--a Gulfstream V--to attend road games. In May 2010, H. Ross Perot, Jr., who retained 5% ownership, filed a lawsuit against Cuban, alleging the franchise was insolvent or in imminent danger of insolvency. In June 2010, Cuban responded in a court filing maintaining Perot is wrongly seeking money to offset some $100 million in losses on the Victory Park real estate development. The lawsuit was dismissed in 2011, due in part to Cuban asserting proper management of the team due to its recent victory in the 2011 NBA Finals. In 2014, the 5th Circuit Court affirmed that decision on appeal. Following his initial defeat, Perot attempted to shut out Mavericks fans from use of the parking lots he controlled near the American Airlines Center. In January 2018, Cuban announced the Mavericks would be accepting Bitcoin as payment for tickets in the following season. CANNOTANSWER | In May 2010, H. Ross Perot, Jr., who retained 5% ownership, filed a lawsuit against Cuban, alleging the franchise was insolvent or in imminent danger of insolvency. | Mark Cuban (born July 31, 1958) is an American billionaire entrepreneur, television personality, and media proprietor whose net worth is an estimated $4.3 billion, according to Forbes, and ranked #177 on the 2020 Forbes 400 list. He is the owner of the Dallas Mavericks professional basketball team of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the co-owner of 2929 Entertainment. He is also one of the main "shark" investors on the ABC reality television series Shark Tank.
Early life and education
Cuban was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His father, Norton Cuban, was an automobile upholsterer. Cuban described his mother, Shirley, as someone with "a different job or different career goal every other week."
Cuban grew up in Mount Lebanon, a suburb of Pittsburgh, in a Jewish working-class family. His paternal grandfather changed the family name from Chabenisky to Cuban after his family emigrated from Russia through Ellis Island. His maternal grandparents, who were also Jewish, came from Romania.
Cuban first ventured into business at age 12. He sold garbage bags to pay for a pair of expensive basketball shoes. Some years later, he earned money by selling stamps and coins. At age 16, Cuban took advantage of a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette strike by running newspapers from Cleveland to Pittsburgh.
Instead of attending high school for his senior year, he enrolled as a full-time student at the University of Pittsburgh, where he joined the Pi Lambda Phi fraternity. He is a fan of Pittsburgh's "beloved" NFL team, the Pittsburgh Steelers. After one year at the University of Pittsburgh, Cuban transferred to Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, where he graduated from the Kelley School of Business in 1981 with a Bachelor of Science degree in management. He chose Indiana's Kelley School of Business without even visiting the campus because it "had the least expensive tuition of all the business schools on the top 10 list". During college, he had various business ventures, including a bar, disco lessons, and a chain letter.
After graduating, Cuban returned to Pittsburgh and took a job with Mellon Bank. He immersed himself in the study of machines and networking.
Career
On July 7, 1982, Cuban moved to Dallas, Texas, where he first found work as a bartender for a Greenville Avenue bar called Elan and then as a salesperson for Your Business Software, one of the earliest PC software retailers in Dallas. He was fired less than a year later, after meeting with a client to procure new business instead of opening the store.
Cuban started his own company, MicroSolutions, with help from his previous customers from Your Business Software. MicroSolutions was initially a system integrator and software reseller. The company was an early proponent of technologies such as Carbon Copy, Lotus Notes, and CompuServe. One of the company's largest clients was Perot Systems.
The company grew to more than $30 million in revenue, and in 1990, Cuban sold MicroSolutions to CompuServe—then a subsidiary of H&R Block—for $6 million. He made approximately $2 million after taxes on the deal.
Audionet and Broadcast.com
In 1995, Cuban and fellow Indiana University alumnus Todd Wagner joined Audionet (founded in 1989 by Chris Jaeb who retained 10% of the company), combining their mutual interest in Indiana Hoosier college basketball and webcasting. With a single server and an ISDN line, Audionet became Broadcast.com in 1998. By 1999, Broadcast.com had grown to 330 employees and $13.5 million in revenue for the second quarter. In 1999, Broadcast.com helped launch the first live-streamed Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. That year, during the dot com boom, Broadcast.com was acquired by Yahoo! for $5.7 billion in Yahoo! stock.
After the sale of Broadcast.com, Cuban hedged against the risk of a decline in the value of the Yahoo! shares he received in the deal. The Guinness Book of Records credits Cuban with the "largest single e-commerce transaction", after he purchased a Gulfstream V jet for $40 million over the internet in October 1999.
Yahoo!'s costly purchase of Broadcast.com is now regarded as one of the worst internet acquisitions of all time. Broadcast.com along with Yahoo!'s other broadcasting services were discontinued within a few years after the acquisition. Cuban has repeatedly described himself as very lucky to have sold the company before the dot-com bubble burst. However, he also emphasized that he hedged against the Yahoo! shares he received from the sale, and that he would have lost most of his fortune if he had not done so.
Cuban continues to work with Wagner in another venture, 2929 Entertainment, which provides vertically integrated production and distribution of films and video.
On September 24, 2003, the firm purchased Landmark Theatres, a chain of 58 arthouse movie theaters. The company is also responsible for the updated version of the TV show Star Search, which was broadcast on CBS. 2929 Entertainment released Bubble, a movie directed by Steven Soderbergh, in 2006.
Cuban was featured on the cover of the November 2003 premiere issue of Best magazine announcing the arrival of high-definition television. Cuban also was co-founder (with Philip Garvin) of AXS TV (formerly HDNet), the first high-definition satellite television network.
In February 2004, Cuban announced that he would be working with ABC television to produce a reality television series, The Benefactor. The premise of the six-episode series involved 16 contestants trying to win $1 million by participating in various contests, with their performances being judged by Cuban. It premiered on September 13, 2004, but due to poor ratings, the series was canceled before the full season aired.
In 2018, Cuban was No.190 on Forbes list of "World's Richest People", with a net worth of $3.9 billion.
Cuban financially supported Grokster in the Supreme Court case MGM v. Grokster. He is also a partner in Synergy Sports Technology, a web based basketball scouting and video delivery tool, used by many NBA teams.
Investments in startups
Cuban has also assisted ventures in the social software and distributed networking industries. He was an owner of IceRocket, a search engine that scours the blogosphere for content. Cuban was a partner in RedSwoosh—a company which uses peer-to-peer technology to deliver rich media, including video and software, to a user's PC—later acquired by Akamai. He was also an investor in Weblogs, Inc., which was acquired by AOL.
In 2005, Cuban invested in Brondell Inc., a San Francisco startup making a high-tech toilet seat called a Swash that works like a bidet but mounts on a standard toilet. "People tend to approach technology the same way, whether it's in front of them, or behind them", Cuban joked. He also invested in Goowy Media Inc., a San Diego Internet software startup. In April 2006, Sirius Satellite Radio announced that Cuban would host his own weekly radio talk show, Mark Cuban's Radio Maverick. However, the show has not materialized.
In July 2006, Cuban financed Sharesleuth.com, a website created by former St. Louis Post-Dispatch investigative reporter Christopher Carey to uncover fraud and misinformation in publicly traded companies. Experimenting with a new business model for making online journalism financially viable, Cuban disclosed that he would take positions in the shares of companies mentioned in Sharesleuth.com in advance of publication. Business and legal analysts questioned the appropriateness of shorting a stock prior to making public pronouncements which are likely to result in losses in that stock's value. Cuban insisted that the practice is legal in view of full disclosure.
In April 2007, Cuban partnered with Mascot Books to publish his first children's book, Let's Go, Mavs!. In November 2011, he wrote a 30,000-word e-book, How to Win at the Sport of Business: If I Can Do It, You Can Do It, which he described as "a way to get motivated".
In October 2008, Cuban started Bailoutsleuth.com as a grassroots, online portal for oversight over the U.S. government's $700 billion "bailout" of financial institutions.
In September 2010, Cuban provided an undisclosed amount of venture capital to store-front analytics company Motionloft. According to the company's CEO Jon Mills, he cold-emailed Cuban on a whim with the business proposition and claimed Cuban quickly responded that he would like to hear more. Mills credited that sentence for launching the company. In November 2013, several investors questioned Cuban about Mills' representation of a pending acquisition of Motionloft. Cuban denied an acquisition was in place. Mills was terminated as CEO of Motionloft by stockholders on December 1, 2013, and in February 2014 was arrested by the FBI and charged with wire fraud, it being alleged that Mills misrepresented to investors that Motionloft was going to be acquired by Cisco. Cuban has gone on record to state that the technology, which at least in part is meant to serve the commercial real estate industry, is "game changing" for tenants.
In 2019, Cuban, Ashton Kutcher, Steve Watts and Watts' wife Angela, invested a 50% stake in Veldskoen shoes fledgling U.S. business. In 2021, Cuban, Pantera Capital, BlockTower, Hashed, Cadenza Ventures (backed by 100x Group), CMS and QCP Capital backed a layer-2 decentralized exchange protocol, Injective Protocol and their CEO Eric Chen. Also in late 2021, Cuban purchased the entire town of Mustang, Texas, a 77-acre town in Navarro County. He told the Dallas Morning News that a buddy needed to sell it and, "I don't know what if anything I will do with it."
Shark Tank
Cuban has been a "shark" investor on the ABC reality program Shark Tank since season two in 2011.
As of May 2015, he has invested in 85 deals across 111 Shark Tank episodes, for a total of $19.9 million invested. The actual numbers vary because the investment happens after the handshake deal on live television, after the due diligence is performed to ensure the accuracy of the information presented in the pitch room. For instance, Hy-Conn, a manufacturer of removable fire hoses, after agreeing to a deal of $1.25 million for 100% of the company with Cuban, did not go through with the deal.
Cuban's top three deals, all with at least $1 million invested, are Ten Thirty One Productions, Rugged Maniac Obstacle Race, and BeatBox Beverages.
Since Cuban joined the show in 2011, the ratings for Shark Tank have increased, and also during his tenure, the show has won three Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Structured Reality Program (from 2014 – 2016). As of 2022, Cuban is the richest of all Sharks to appear on the show after Sir Richard Branson.
Magnolia Pictures
Cuban owns film distributor Magnolia Pictures. Through Magnolia, he financed Redacted, a fictional dramatization based on the 2006 Mahmudiyah killings, written and directed by Brian De Palma. In September 2007, Cuban, in his capacity as owner of Magnolia Pictures, removed disturbing photographs from the concluding moments of the Redacted, citing copyrights/permissions issues.
Also in 2007, Cuban was reportedly interested in distributing through Magnolia an edition of the film Loose Change, which posits a 9/11 conspiracy theory, with Charlie Sheen narrating. Cuban told the New York Post, "We are having discussions about distributing the existing video with Charlie's involvement as a narrator, not in making a new feature. We are also looking for productions with an opposing viewpoint. We like controversial subjects, but we are agnostic to which side the controversy comes from."
In April 2011, Cuban put Magnolia Pictures and Landmark Theatres up for sale, but said, "If we don't get the price and premium we want, we are happy to continue to make money from the properties."
SEC insider trading allegation
On November 17, 2008, it was reported that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a civil suit against Cuban relating to alleged insider trading in the shares of Mamma.com, now known as Copernic. A stock dilution occurred shortly after a trade in June 2004, giving hints of inside knowledge at the time of the trade, and Cuban allegedly was saved from a loss of $750,000. The SEC claimed that Cuban ordered the sale of his holdings in Mamma.com after he had been confidentially approached by the company to participate in a transaction likely to dilute shares of current shareholders. Cuban disputed the charges, saying he had not agreed to keep the information secret. On his blog, Cuban contended the allegations were false and that the investigation was "a product of gross abuse of prosecutorial discretion". DealBook, a section of The New York Times, reported through an anonymous source that Cuban believed the investigation was motivated by an SEC employee having taken offense to his interest in possibly distributing the film Loose Change.
In July 2009, the U.S. District Court dismissed the charges against Cuban, and the SEC appealed. In September 2010, an appeals court said that the district court had erred and that further proceedings would be necessary to address the merits of the suit.
A federal jury in Texas found in favor of Cuban on October 16, 2013. The nine-member jury issued the verdict after deliberating 3 hours and 35 minutes.
In March 2014, Cuban was on air at CNBC criticizing high-frequency trading (HFT). Those against HFT, such as Cuban, believe the technology is equivalent to automated insider trading.
Sports businesses
Dallas Mavericks
On January 4, 2000, Cuban purchased a majority stake in the NBA's Dallas Mavericks for $285 million from H. Ross Perot Jr.
In the 20 years before Cuban bought the team, the Mavericks won only 40% of their games and had a playoff record of 21–32. In the 10 years following, the team won 69 percent of their regular season games and reached the playoffs in each of those seasons except for one. The Mavericks' playoff record with Cuban is 49–57, including their first trip to the NBA Finals in 2006, where they lost to the Miami Heat.
Historically, NBA team owners publicly play more passive roles and watch basketball games from skyboxes; Cuban sits alongside fans while donning team jerseys. Cuban travels in his private airplane—a Gulfstream V—to attend road games.
In May 2010, H. Ross Perot Jr., who retained 5% ownership, filed a lawsuit against Cuban, alleging the franchise was insolvent or in imminent danger of insolvency. In June 2010, Cuban responded in a court filing maintaining Perot is wrongly seeking money to offset some $100 million in losses on the Victory Park real estate development. The lawsuit was dismissed in 2011, due in part to Cuban asserting proper management of the team due to its recent victory in the 2011 NBA Finals. In 2014, the 5th Circuit Court affirmed that decision on appeal. Following his initial defeat, Perot attempted to shut out Mavericks fans from use of the parking lots he controlled near the American Airlines Center.
In January 2018, Cuban announced the Mavericks would be accepting Bitcoin as payment for tickets in the following season.
NBA fines
Cuban's ownership has been the source of extensive media attention and controversy involving league policies.
Cuban has been fined by the NBA, mostly for critical statements about the league and referees, at least $1.665 million for 13 incidents. In a June 30, 2006 interview, Mavericks player Dirk Nowitzki said about Cuban:
In an interview with the Associated Press, Cuban said that he matches NBA fines with charitable donations of equal amounts. In a nationally publicized incident in 2002, he criticized the league's manager of officials, Ed T. Rush, saying that he "wouldn't be able to manage a Dairy Queen." Dairy Queen management took offense to Cuban's comments and invited him to manage a Dairy Queen restaurant for a day. Cuban accepted the company's invitation and worked for a day at a Dairy Queen in Coppell, Texas, where fans lined up in the street to get a Blizzard from the owner of the Mavericks.
During the 2005–06 NBA season, Cuban started a booing campaign when former Mavericks player Michael Finley returned to play against the Mavericks as a member of the San Antonio Spurs. In a playoff series between the Mavericks and Spurs, Cuban cursed Spurs forward Bruce Bowen and was fined $25,000 by the NBA for rushing onto the court and criticizing NBA officials. After the 2006 NBA Finals, Cuban was fined $250,000 by the NBA for repeated misconduct following the Mavericks' loss to the Miami Heat in Game Five of the 2006 NBA Finals.
In February 2007, Cuban publicly criticized NBA Finals MVP Dwyane Wade and declared that he would get fined if he made any comments about what he thought really happened in the 2006 NBA Finals.
On January 16, 2009, the league fined Cuban $25,000 for yelling at Denver Nuggets player J. R. Smith at the end of the first half on a Mavericks-at-Nuggets game played on January 13. Cuban was apparently incensed that Smith had thrown an elbow that barely missed Mavericks forward Antoine Wright. Cuban offered to match the fine with a donation to a charity of Smith's choosing. Cuban stated that if he doesn't hear from Smith, then he will donate the money to the NHL Players' Association Goals and Dreams Fund in the names of Todd Bertuzzi and Steve Moore. In May 2009, Cuban made a reference to the Denver Nuggets being "thugs" after a loss to the Nuggets in game 3 of the Western Conference Semifinals. The statement was geared towards the Nuggets and their fans. As he passed Kenyon Martin's mother, who was seated near Cuban as he left the arena, he pointed at her and said, "that includes your son." This controversial comment revisited media attention on Cuban yet again. Cuban issued an apology the next day referencing the poor treatment of away fans in arenas around the league. The league issued a statement stating that they would not fine him.
On May 22, 2010, Cuban was fined $100,000 for comments he made during a television interview about trying to sign LeBron James.
Despite his history, he was notably silent during the Mavericks' 2011 championship playoff run.
Despite Cuban's history with David Stern, he believed the NBA Commissioner would leave a lasting legacy "of a focus on growth and recognizing that the NBA is in the entertainment business and that it's a global product, not just a local product. Whatever platforms that took us to, he was ready to go. He wasn't protective at all. He was wide open. I think that was great."
On January 18, 2014, Cuban was once again fined $100,000 for confronting referees and using inappropriate language toward them. As with previous fines, Cuban confirmed that he would match the fine with a donation to charity, however, with the condition that he reaches two million followers on his Twitter account. Cuban also jokingly commented that he could not let Stern leave without a proper farewell.
On February 21, 2018, Cuban was fined $600,000 by the NBA for stating that the Dallas Mavericks should "tank for the rest of the season." Commissioner Adam Silver stated that the fine was "for public statements detrimental to the NBA."
On March 6, 2020, Cuban was fined $500,000 by the NBA for "public criticism and detrimental conduct regarding NBA officiating", according to the league.
Major League Baseball
Cuban has repeatedly expressed interest in owning a Major League Baseball franchise and has unsuccessfully attempted to purchase at least three franchises. In 2008, he submitted an initial bid of $1.3 billion to buy the Chicago Cubs and was invited to participate in a second round of bidding along with several other potential ownership groups. Cuban was not selected to participate in the final bidding process in January 2009. In August 2010, Cuban actively bid to buy the Texas Rangers with Jeffrey L. Beck. Cuban stopped bids after 1 a.m., having placed bids totaling almost $600 million. He had outbid a competing ownership group led by ex-pitcher and Rangers executive Nolan Ryan, but lost the deal before the Rangers played the San Francisco Giants in the 2010 World Series.
In January 2012, Cuban placed an initial bid for the Los Angeles Dodgers, but was eliminated before the second round of bidding. Cuban felt that the value of the Dodgers' TV rights deal drove the price of the franchise too high. He had previously said that he would not be interested in buying the franchise at $1 billion, telling the Los Angeles Times in November 2011 "I don't think the Dodgers franchise is worth twice what the Rangers are worth." However, as the bidding process drew near many speculated that the sale would surpass $1.5 billion, with Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reporting on Twitter that at least one bid in the $1–1.5 billion range was placed in the initial round of the bidding process. Ultimately, the Dodgers sold for $2.15 billion to Guggenheim Baseball Management.
Cuban also previously expressed interest in becoming a minority owner of the New York Mets after owner Fred Wilpon announced in 2011 that he was planning to sell up to a 25% stake in the team.
Cuban has wanted to purchase his hometown Pittsburgh Pirates, but was rebuffed by then owner Kevin McClatchy in 2005.
Other sports businesses
In 2005, Cuban expressed interest in buying the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins. In 2006, Cuban joined an investment group along with Dan Marino, Kevin Millevoi, Andy Murstein, and Walnut Capital principals Gregg Perelman and Todd Reidbord to attempt to acquire the Penguins. The franchise ultimately rejected the group's bid when team owners Mario Lemieux and Ronald Burkle took the team off the market.
At WWE's Survivor Series in 2003, Cuban was involved in a staged altercation with Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff and Raw wrestler Randy Orton. On December 7, 2009, Cuban acted as the guest host of Raw, getting revenge on Orton when he was the guest referee in Orton's match against Kofi Kingston, giving Kingston a fast count victory. He then announced that Orton would face Kingston at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs. At the end of the show, Cuban was slammed through a table by the number one contender for the WWE Championship, Sheamus.
On September 12, 2007, Cuban said that he was in talks with WWE Chairman Vince McMahon to create a mixed martial arts company that would compete with UFC. He is now a bondholder of Zuffa, which was formerly UFC's parent company.
Cuban followed up his intentions by organizing "HDNet Fights", a mixed martial arts promotion which airs exclusively on HDNet and premiered on October 13, 2007, with a card headlined by a fight between Erik Paulson and Jeff Ford as well as fights featuring veterans Drew Fickett and Justin Eilers.
Since 2009, Cuban has been a panelist at the annual MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference.
In April 2010, Cuban loaned the newly formed United Football League (UFL) $5 million. He did not own a franchise, and he was not involved in day-to-day operations of the league nor of any of its teams. In January 2011, he filed a federal lawsuit against the UFL for their failure to repay the loan by the October 6, 2010 deadline.
In June 2015, Cuban invested in the esports betting platform Unikrn.
In February 2016, Cuban purchased a principal ownership stake in the Professional Futsal League.
Political activity
Cuban is an admirer of author and philosopher Ayn Rand. About Rand's novel The Fountainhead, he said, that it "was incredibly motivating to me. It encouraged me to think as an individual, take risks to reach my goals, and responsibility for my successes and failures. I loved it." His political views have leaned toward libertarianism. He held a position on the centrist Unity08 political organization's advisory council. While leaning towards libertarianism, Cuban posted an entry on his blog claiming paying more taxes to be the most patriotic thing someone can do.
In 2012, Cuban donated $7,000 to political campaigns, with $6,000 going to Republican Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah and $1,000 to Democratic California Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren.
On February 8, 2008, Cuban voiced his support for the draft Bloomberg movement attempting to convince New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to run in the U.S. presidential election of 2008 on his blog. Cuban concluded a post lamenting the current state of U.S. politics: "Are you listening, Mayor Bloomberg? For less than the cost of opening a tent pole movie, you can change the status quo." He eventually voted for Barack Obama in the 2008 election.
In November 2012, in response to Donald Trump offering President Obama $5 million to a charity of President Obama's choosing if he released passport applications and college transcripts to the public, Cuban offered Trump $1 million to a charity of Trump's choosing if Trump shaved his head.
On December 19, 2012, Cuban donated $250,000 to the Electronic Frontier Foundation to support its work on patent reform. Part of his donation funded a new title for EFF's staff attorney Julie Samuels: The Mark Cuban Chair to Eliminate Stupid Patents.
At the Code/Media conference in February 2015, Cuban said of net neutrality that "having [the FCC] overseeing the Internet scares the shit out of me".
Cuban formally endorsed Hillary Clinton for president at a July 30, 2016, rally in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. During that campaign stop, Cuban said of Republican nominee Donald Trump, "You know what we call a person like that in Pittsburgh? A jagoff ... Is there any bigger jagoff in the world than Donald Trump?"
On November 22, 2016, Cuban met with the then President-elect Trump's key advisor Steve Bannon, according to reports.
During an appearance on an episode of Hannity in May 2020, Cuban voiced his support for former Vice President Joe Biden in the 2020 U.S. presidential election.
On February 2, 2021, Cuban joined Reddit's WallStreetBets "Ask Me Anything" forum with millions of community members and fielded user questions related to the widely publicized battle between retail traders and Wall Street short sellers over GameStop shares. In the previous days, GameStop shares experienced a meteoric rise to as much as $489 on January 28, 2021, up from $17.15 on January 4, 2021. The growth was mainly brought on by an organized group of Reddit users named "WallStreetBets" that noticed GameStop stock was heavily shorted by Wall Street hedge firms and launched an ensuing campaign to buy enough shares to raise share value and produce a GameStop short squeeze. In the aftermath, the stock became heavily volatile as hedge firms repositioned themselves in the market. Firms like Melvin Capital required bailouts exceeding $2B and retail traders experienced excessive but temporary gains, whereas GameStop share value dropped to below $100 within a few days of closing at over $300. The consistent decline into February raised a lot of questions about next steps for retail traders and prompted Cuban to step in and provide advice to the Reddit community. Amid the volatility, Cuban had been an outspoken supporter of the WallStreetBets community alongside other wealthy financial figureheads like Chamath Palihapitiya, Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss. In the AMA session, Cuban publicly called the trust of the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission into question as well as the capabilities of zero commission brokerage firms, like Robinhood, that restricted retail traders from purchasing GameStop shares and other shorted stocks which he said crippled demand. Cuban's advice to Reddit users was to hold GameStop shares if they could afford it in anticipation of additional short sales by Wall Street firms, but ultimately acknowledged that the odds were stacked against them and to use it as a learning lesson. He offered insight into his trading technique suggesting that traders know why they are buying something and to "HODL"(hold on for dear life) until they learn that something has changed. Cuban noted a need for policy change to better support retail traders, credited the WallStreetBets community for leading the charge, and expressed optimism about blockchain trading as a more efficient, transparent and trustworthy form of trading for retail traders in the future.
Fallen Patriot Fund
Cuban started the Fallen Patriot Fund to help families of U.S. military personnel killed or injured during the Iraq War, personally matching the first $1 million in contributions with funds from the Mark Cuban Foundation, which is run by his brother Brian Cuban.
Speculation of a presidential run
In September 2015, Cuban stated in an interview that running for president was "a fun idea to toss around", and that, if he were running in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, he "could beat both Trump and Clinton". This was interpreted by many media outlets as indication that Cuban was considering running, but he clarified soon afterward that he had no intention to do so.
In October 2015, Cuban posted on Twitter, "Maybe I'll run for Speaker of the House." At the time, there was no clear front-runner to replace the outgoing John Boehner; the Speaker of the House does not have to be a member of Congress.
Cuban told Meet the Press in May 2016 that he would be open to being Clinton's running mate in the election, though he would seek to alter some of her positions in order to do so. In the same interview, the self-described "fiercely independent" Cuban also said that he would consider running as Republican nominee Trump's running mate after having a meeting with Trump about understanding the issues, Trump's positions on them, and coming up with solutions. Cuban also described Trump as "that friend that you just shake your head at. He's that guy who'd get drunk and fall over all the time, or just says dumb shit all the time, but he's your friend." On July 21, 2016, Cuban appeared on a live segment on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert entitled "Gloves Off: Mark Cuban Edition" in which he mocked Trump, including referencing the Trump companies' multiple bankruptcies and the failed Trump University program, and questioning the size of Trump's actual net worth.
In a September 2016 interview with NPR's Scott Simon, Cuban effectively positioned himself to support Clinton. He posited that the best strategy to beat Trump was to attack his insecurities, especially that of his intellect. He also added that Trump is the least qualified to be president and is not informed about policies.
Later in September 2016, during a post-presidential debate interview, Cuban criticized Trump's characterization that paying the minimum required taxes 'is smart' and criticized Trump for not paying back into the system that allowed him to amass such wealth.
In October 2017, Cuban said that he would "definitely" run for president if he were single. Later that month, Cuban claimed that if he ran for president in 2020, it would be as a Republican, and described himself as "socially a centrist ... but very fiscally conservative". It had also been speculated that he could have challenged president Donald Trump in 2020 as a Democrat. However, in a March 2019 interview with the New York Daily News, Cuban stated that he was "strongly considering running" for president as an independent candidate. In May 2019, Cuban said: "It would take the perfect storm for me to do it. There's some things that could open the door, but I'm not projecting or predicting it right now."
In a June 2020 interview with CNN and former Obama advisor David Axelrod, Cuban revealed that he had seriously considered running for president that year as an independent candidate. He went so far as to commission a national poll, which, according to Cuban, showed he would only receive 25 percent of the vote in a hypothetical matchup with President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden. Cuban also said that the poll showed his candidacy would have pulled votes from both Trump and Biden.
In early 2021, he decided to stop playing the National Anthem at Dallas Mavericks games in order to "respect those whose believed the anthem did not represent them." He also supported the movement as far back as late 2020. The NBA responded by requiring every team to play it, citing it as their "long-standing policy". Cuban did not complain, and ended up playing the anthem.
Personal life
Cuban has two brothers, Brian and Jeff.
In September 2002, Cuban married Tiffany Stewart in a private ceremony in Barbados. They have two daughters, born in 2003 and 2006, and a son born in 2010. They live in a mansion in the Preston Hollow area of Dallas, Texas.
In April 2019, after missing a taping of The View, Cuban revealed he had a procedure done to treat his atrial fibrillation. His diagnosis was first revealed in 2017 on Twitter.
Cuban is a vegetarian.
Philanthropy
In 2003, Cuban founded the Fallen Patriot Fund to help families of U.S. military personnel killed or injured during the Iraq War.
In June 2015, Cuban made a $5 million donation to Indiana University at Bloomington for the "Mark Cuban Center for Sports Media and Technology", which was built inside Assembly Hall, the school's basketball arena.
In March 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Cuban posted an offer on LinkedIn to small business owners who had questions about what to do in order to survive the economic downturn being caused by the pandemic. He said people could ask him anything, but that his preference was "going to be helping small biz trying to avoid layoffs and hourly reductions." There were more than 10,000 comments in response to his offer.
In 2020, Cuban picked up homeless former NBA player Delonte West from a gas station in Dallas. He paid for a hotel room for West along with his treatment at a drug rehabilitation center.
Sexual assault complaint
In a March 6, 2018 article, Willamette Week reported on an alleged April 2011 incident between Cuban and a female patron of a Portland, Oregon bar called the Barrel Room. The woman told Portland police that Cuban sexually groped her while she posed for pictures with him. She submitted seven photographs, two of which Portland Police Detective Brendan McGuire referred to as "significant". Cuban denied the allegations, and his attorney provided the results of a polygraph test taken by Cuban and written statements from two medical doctors stating that the actions described were anatomically improbable. The Portland District Attorney's office declined to prosecute, citing a lack of concrete evidence to support the claim and the woman's preference not to proceed with charges, and concluding that "no crime can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt". The NBA announced on March 8, 2018, that it was reviewing the matter.
Awards and honors
Business
1998 Kelley School of Business Alumni Award – Distinguished Entrepreneur: 1998
2011 D Magazine CEO of the Year
Sports
2011 NBA Champion (as owner of the Dallas Mavericks)
Media
2011 Outstanding Team ESPY Award (as owner of the Dallas Mavericks)
Filmography
Film
Television
Bibliography
How to Win at the Sport of Business: If I Can Do It, You Can Do It. Diversion Publishing. 2011.
Let's Go, Mavs!. Mascot Books. 2007.
References
External links
Blog
Mark Cuban collected news and commentary at The Guardian
1958 births
Living people
20th-century American businesspeople
20th-century American Jews
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century American businesspeople
21st-century American Jews
21st-century American male writers
21st-century American non-fiction writers
2929 Entertainment holdings
American bartenders
American billionaires
American bloggers
American book publishers (people)
American business writers
American chairpersons of corporations
American children's writers
American computer businesspeople
American corporate directors
American financiers
American film producers
American investors
American libertarians
American male bloggers
American male non-fiction writers
American mass media owners
American people of Romanian-Jewish descent
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
American philanthropists
American reality television producers
American retail chief executives
American salespeople
American technology chief executives
American technology company founders
American technology writers
American television company founders
American television executives
American venture capitalists
Businesspeople from Indiana
Businesspeople from Pittsburgh
Businesspeople from Texas
Businesspeople in information technology
Businesspeople in software
Copyright activists
Dallas Mavericks owners
Esports businesspeople
Film producers from Indiana
Film producers from Pennsylvania
Film producers from Texas
Jewish activists
Jewish American writers
Kelley School of Business alumni
Participants in American reality television series
People from Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania
People from Navarro County, Texas
Television personalities from Pittsburgh
Television producers from Indiana
Television producers from Pennsylvania
Television producers from Texas
Texas Independents
University of Pittsburgh alumni
Writers from Dallas
Writers from Indiana
Writers from Pittsburgh | false | [
"Street Charge is a solar-powered phone charging station developed by NRG Energy, Inc., designed to grant free phone charging services to pedestrians and tourists. The charging stations can also be modified to emit Wi-Fi signals and display advertisements. The appliance was released in 2013, and the original prototype was tested in Brooklyn, New York.\n\nImplementation and controversy\n\nThere is currently a collaboration between NRG Energy, Inc. and AT&T to implement Street Charge units throughout New York City, which will each offer six USB ports in total. This project will cost around $300,000-500,000. As of 2013 there was a controversy surrounding Street Charge appliances in that there were no plans implemented to protect appliances and users utilizing the device. The concern was that the wiring might be modified by malicious users to steal or wipe data from devices plugged into the device.\n\nReferences\n\nMobile phone culture",
"Battersea Park was home to the only motor racing circuit located in London, England from 2015 to 2016. It hosted the final two races of the 2014–15 Formula E season, and also the second season. The track was in length and featured 17 turns.\n\nThere was controversy over circuit's installation in a Grade II* listed park, and it was announced in 2016 that the Formula E race would not be held there again.\n\nHistory\nThe track was designed by Formula E's London event team and British architect Simon Gibbons. Wandsworth Council approved of the circuit and the double race on 19 February 2015.\n\nThe circuit was criticized for being too narrow and too bumpy, with Jérôme d'Ambrosio suffering broken suspension. A last-minute change to turn 1 had to be implemented and the race had to be started under a pace car.\n\nThere was controversy over the park circuit taking place in a Grade II* listed park, with opposition to the disruption the races and subsequent build period would cause to a free public space. Around the race weekends a majority of the park was closed to the public for four days with a three-week disruption period. The local community set up a group to oppose any further races in the park.\n\nIn June 2016 Formula E announced that, on the basis of understanding between Formula E and the Battersea Park Action Group, Formula E will not return.\n\nReferences\n\nBuildings and structures in Battersea\nSports venues in London\nMotorsport venues in England\nDefunct motorsport venues in England\nFormula E circuits\nLondon ePrix"
]
|
[
"Mark Cuban",
"Dallas Mavericks",
"Was he an owner of the Dallas Mavericks?",
"Cuban purchased a majority stake in the NBA's Dallas Mavericks",
"Did he make good money on them?",
"I don't know.",
"Was there any controversy around this?",
"In May 2010, H. Ross Perot, Jr., who retained 5% ownership, filed a lawsuit against Cuban, alleging the franchise was insolvent or in imminent danger of insolvency."
]
| C_7b991ba6f6f749caaaa8e46abff79b4f_0 | What was Cuban's response? | 4 | What was Cuban's response to H. Ross Perot, Jr., who retained 5% ownership, filing a lawsuit against Cuban, alleging the franchise was insolvent or in imminent danger of insolvency? | Mark Cuban | On January 4, 2000, Cuban purchased a majority stake in the NBA's Dallas Mavericks for $285 million from H. Ross Perot, Jr. In the 20 years before Cuban bought the team, the Mavericks won only 40% of their games, and a playoff record of 21-32. In the 10 years following, the team won 69 percent of their regular season games and reached the playoffs in each of those seasons except for one. The Mavericks' playoff record with Cuban is 49 wins and 57 losses, including their first trip to the NBA Finals in 2006, where they lost to the Miami Heat. On June 12, 2011, the Mavericks defeated the Heat to win the NBA Finals. Historically, NBA team owners publicly play more passive roles and watch basketball games from skyboxes; Cuban sits alongside fans while donning team jerseys. Cuban travels in his private airplane--a Gulfstream V--to attend road games. In May 2010, H. Ross Perot, Jr., who retained 5% ownership, filed a lawsuit against Cuban, alleging the franchise was insolvent or in imminent danger of insolvency. In June 2010, Cuban responded in a court filing maintaining Perot is wrongly seeking money to offset some $100 million in losses on the Victory Park real estate development. The lawsuit was dismissed in 2011, due in part to Cuban asserting proper management of the team due to its recent victory in the 2011 NBA Finals. In 2014, the 5th Circuit Court affirmed that decision on appeal. Following his initial defeat, Perot attempted to shut out Mavericks fans from use of the parking lots he controlled near the American Airlines Center. In January 2018, Cuban announced the Mavericks would be accepting Bitcoin as payment for tickets in the following season. CANNOTANSWER | In June 2010, Cuban responded in a court filing maintaining Perot is wrongly seeking money to offset some $100 million in losses on the Victory Park real estate development. | Mark Cuban (born July 31, 1958) is an American billionaire entrepreneur, television personality, and media proprietor whose net worth is an estimated $4.3 billion, according to Forbes, and ranked #177 on the 2020 Forbes 400 list. He is the owner of the Dallas Mavericks professional basketball team of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the co-owner of 2929 Entertainment. He is also one of the main "shark" investors on the ABC reality television series Shark Tank.
Early life and education
Cuban was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His father, Norton Cuban, was an automobile upholsterer. Cuban described his mother, Shirley, as someone with "a different job or different career goal every other week."
Cuban grew up in Mount Lebanon, a suburb of Pittsburgh, in a Jewish working-class family. His paternal grandfather changed the family name from Chabenisky to Cuban after his family emigrated from Russia through Ellis Island. His maternal grandparents, who were also Jewish, came from Romania.
Cuban first ventured into business at age 12. He sold garbage bags to pay for a pair of expensive basketball shoes. Some years later, he earned money by selling stamps and coins. At age 16, Cuban took advantage of a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette strike by running newspapers from Cleveland to Pittsburgh.
Instead of attending high school for his senior year, he enrolled as a full-time student at the University of Pittsburgh, where he joined the Pi Lambda Phi fraternity. He is a fan of Pittsburgh's "beloved" NFL team, the Pittsburgh Steelers. After one year at the University of Pittsburgh, Cuban transferred to Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, where he graduated from the Kelley School of Business in 1981 with a Bachelor of Science degree in management. He chose Indiana's Kelley School of Business without even visiting the campus because it "had the least expensive tuition of all the business schools on the top 10 list". During college, he had various business ventures, including a bar, disco lessons, and a chain letter.
After graduating, Cuban returned to Pittsburgh and took a job with Mellon Bank. He immersed himself in the study of machines and networking.
Career
On July 7, 1982, Cuban moved to Dallas, Texas, where he first found work as a bartender for a Greenville Avenue bar called Elan and then as a salesperson for Your Business Software, one of the earliest PC software retailers in Dallas. He was fired less than a year later, after meeting with a client to procure new business instead of opening the store.
Cuban started his own company, MicroSolutions, with help from his previous customers from Your Business Software. MicroSolutions was initially a system integrator and software reseller. The company was an early proponent of technologies such as Carbon Copy, Lotus Notes, and CompuServe. One of the company's largest clients was Perot Systems.
The company grew to more than $30 million in revenue, and in 1990, Cuban sold MicroSolutions to CompuServe—then a subsidiary of H&R Block—for $6 million. He made approximately $2 million after taxes on the deal.
Audionet and Broadcast.com
In 1995, Cuban and fellow Indiana University alumnus Todd Wagner joined Audionet (founded in 1989 by Chris Jaeb who retained 10% of the company), combining their mutual interest in Indiana Hoosier college basketball and webcasting. With a single server and an ISDN line, Audionet became Broadcast.com in 1998. By 1999, Broadcast.com had grown to 330 employees and $13.5 million in revenue for the second quarter. In 1999, Broadcast.com helped launch the first live-streamed Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. That year, during the dot com boom, Broadcast.com was acquired by Yahoo! for $5.7 billion in Yahoo! stock.
After the sale of Broadcast.com, Cuban hedged against the risk of a decline in the value of the Yahoo! shares he received in the deal. The Guinness Book of Records credits Cuban with the "largest single e-commerce transaction", after he purchased a Gulfstream V jet for $40 million over the internet in October 1999.
Yahoo!'s costly purchase of Broadcast.com is now regarded as one of the worst internet acquisitions of all time. Broadcast.com along with Yahoo!'s other broadcasting services were discontinued within a few years after the acquisition. Cuban has repeatedly described himself as very lucky to have sold the company before the dot-com bubble burst. However, he also emphasized that he hedged against the Yahoo! shares he received from the sale, and that he would have lost most of his fortune if he had not done so.
Cuban continues to work with Wagner in another venture, 2929 Entertainment, which provides vertically integrated production and distribution of films and video.
On September 24, 2003, the firm purchased Landmark Theatres, a chain of 58 arthouse movie theaters. The company is also responsible for the updated version of the TV show Star Search, which was broadcast on CBS. 2929 Entertainment released Bubble, a movie directed by Steven Soderbergh, in 2006.
Cuban was featured on the cover of the November 2003 premiere issue of Best magazine announcing the arrival of high-definition television. Cuban also was co-founder (with Philip Garvin) of AXS TV (formerly HDNet), the first high-definition satellite television network.
In February 2004, Cuban announced that he would be working with ABC television to produce a reality television series, The Benefactor. The premise of the six-episode series involved 16 contestants trying to win $1 million by participating in various contests, with their performances being judged by Cuban. It premiered on September 13, 2004, but due to poor ratings, the series was canceled before the full season aired.
In 2018, Cuban was No.190 on Forbes list of "World's Richest People", with a net worth of $3.9 billion.
Cuban financially supported Grokster in the Supreme Court case MGM v. Grokster. He is also a partner in Synergy Sports Technology, a web based basketball scouting and video delivery tool, used by many NBA teams.
Investments in startups
Cuban has also assisted ventures in the social software and distributed networking industries. He was an owner of IceRocket, a search engine that scours the blogosphere for content. Cuban was a partner in RedSwoosh—a company which uses peer-to-peer technology to deliver rich media, including video and software, to a user's PC—later acquired by Akamai. He was also an investor in Weblogs, Inc., which was acquired by AOL.
In 2005, Cuban invested in Brondell Inc., a San Francisco startup making a high-tech toilet seat called a Swash that works like a bidet but mounts on a standard toilet. "People tend to approach technology the same way, whether it's in front of them, or behind them", Cuban joked. He also invested in Goowy Media Inc., a San Diego Internet software startup. In April 2006, Sirius Satellite Radio announced that Cuban would host his own weekly radio talk show, Mark Cuban's Radio Maverick. However, the show has not materialized.
In July 2006, Cuban financed Sharesleuth.com, a website created by former St. Louis Post-Dispatch investigative reporter Christopher Carey to uncover fraud and misinformation in publicly traded companies. Experimenting with a new business model for making online journalism financially viable, Cuban disclosed that he would take positions in the shares of companies mentioned in Sharesleuth.com in advance of publication. Business and legal analysts questioned the appropriateness of shorting a stock prior to making public pronouncements which are likely to result in losses in that stock's value. Cuban insisted that the practice is legal in view of full disclosure.
In April 2007, Cuban partnered with Mascot Books to publish his first children's book, Let's Go, Mavs!. In November 2011, he wrote a 30,000-word e-book, How to Win at the Sport of Business: If I Can Do It, You Can Do It, which he described as "a way to get motivated".
In October 2008, Cuban started Bailoutsleuth.com as a grassroots, online portal for oversight over the U.S. government's $700 billion "bailout" of financial institutions.
In September 2010, Cuban provided an undisclosed amount of venture capital to store-front analytics company Motionloft. According to the company's CEO Jon Mills, he cold-emailed Cuban on a whim with the business proposition and claimed Cuban quickly responded that he would like to hear more. Mills credited that sentence for launching the company. In November 2013, several investors questioned Cuban about Mills' representation of a pending acquisition of Motionloft. Cuban denied an acquisition was in place. Mills was terminated as CEO of Motionloft by stockholders on December 1, 2013, and in February 2014 was arrested by the FBI and charged with wire fraud, it being alleged that Mills misrepresented to investors that Motionloft was going to be acquired by Cisco. Cuban has gone on record to state that the technology, which at least in part is meant to serve the commercial real estate industry, is "game changing" for tenants.
In 2019, Cuban, Ashton Kutcher, Steve Watts and Watts' wife Angela, invested a 50% stake in Veldskoen shoes fledgling U.S. business. In 2021, Cuban, Pantera Capital, BlockTower, Hashed, Cadenza Ventures (backed by 100x Group), CMS and QCP Capital backed a layer-2 decentralized exchange protocol, Injective Protocol and their CEO Eric Chen. Also in late 2021, Cuban purchased the entire town of Mustang, Texas, a 77-acre town in Navarro County. He told the Dallas Morning News that a buddy needed to sell it and, "I don't know what if anything I will do with it."
Shark Tank
Cuban has been a "shark" investor on the ABC reality program Shark Tank since season two in 2011.
As of May 2015, he has invested in 85 deals across 111 Shark Tank episodes, for a total of $19.9 million invested. The actual numbers vary because the investment happens after the handshake deal on live television, after the due diligence is performed to ensure the accuracy of the information presented in the pitch room. For instance, Hy-Conn, a manufacturer of removable fire hoses, after agreeing to a deal of $1.25 million for 100% of the company with Cuban, did not go through with the deal.
Cuban's top three deals, all with at least $1 million invested, are Ten Thirty One Productions, Rugged Maniac Obstacle Race, and BeatBox Beverages.
Since Cuban joined the show in 2011, the ratings for Shark Tank have increased, and also during his tenure, the show has won three Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Structured Reality Program (from 2014 – 2016). As of 2022, Cuban is the richest of all Sharks to appear on the show after Sir Richard Branson.
Magnolia Pictures
Cuban owns film distributor Magnolia Pictures. Through Magnolia, he financed Redacted, a fictional dramatization based on the 2006 Mahmudiyah killings, written and directed by Brian De Palma. In September 2007, Cuban, in his capacity as owner of Magnolia Pictures, removed disturbing photographs from the concluding moments of the Redacted, citing copyrights/permissions issues.
Also in 2007, Cuban was reportedly interested in distributing through Magnolia an edition of the film Loose Change, which posits a 9/11 conspiracy theory, with Charlie Sheen narrating. Cuban told the New York Post, "We are having discussions about distributing the existing video with Charlie's involvement as a narrator, not in making a new feature. We are also looking for productions with an opposing viewpoint. We like controversial subjects, but we are agnostic to which side the controversy comes from."
In April 2011, Cuban put Magnolia Pictures and Landmark Theatres up for sale, but said, "If we don't get the price and premium we want, we are happy to continue to make money from the properties."
SEC insider trading allegation
On November 17, 2008, it was reported that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a civil suit against Cuban relating to alleged insider trading in the shares of Mamma.com, now known as Copernic. A stock dilution occurred shortly after a trade in June 2004, giving hints of inside knowledge at the time of the trade, and Cuban allegedly was saved from a loss of $750,000. The SEC claimed that Cuban ordered the sale of his holdings in Mamma.com after he had been confidentially approached by the company to participate in a transaction likely to dilute shares of current shareholders. Cuban disputed the charges, saying he had not agreed to keep the information secret. On his blog, Cuban contended the allegations were false and that the investigation was "a product of gross abuse of prosecutorial discretion". DealBook, a section of The New York Times, reported through an anonymous source that Cuban believed the investigation was motivated by an SEC employee having taken offense to his interest in possibly distributing the film Loose Change.
In July 2009, the U.S. District Court dismissed the charges against Cuban, and the SEC appealed. In September 2010, an appeals court said that the district court had erred and that further proceedings would be necessary to address the merits of the suit.
A federal jury in Texas found in favor of Cuban on October 16, 2013. The nine-member jury issued the verdict after deliberating 3 hours and 35 minutes.
In March 2014, Cuban was on air at CNBC criticizing high-frequency trading (HFT). Those against HFT, such as Cuban, believe the technology is equivalent to automated insider trading.
Sports businesses
Dallas Mavericks
On January 4, 2000, Cuban purchased a majority stake in the NBA's Dallas Mavericks for $285 million from H. Ross Perot Jr.
In the 20 years before Cuban bought the team, the Mavericks won only 40% of their games and had a playoff record of 21–32. In the 10 years following, the team won 69 percent of their regular season games and reached the playoffs in each of those seasons except for one. The Mavericks' playoff record with Cuban is 49–57, including their first trip to the NBA Finals in 2006, where they lost to the Miami Heat.
Historically, NBA team owners publicly play more passive roles and watch basketball games from skyboxes; Cuban sits alongside fans while donning team jerseys. Cuban travels in his private airplane—a Gulfstream V—to attend road games.
In May 2010, H. Ross Perot Jr., who retained 5% ownership, filed a lawsuit against Cuban, alleging the franchise was insolvent or in imminent danger of insolvency. In June 2010, Cuban responded in a court filing maintaining Perot is wrongly seeking money to offset some $100 million in losses on the Victory Park real estate development. The lawsuit was dismissed in 2011, due in part to Cuban asserting proper management of the team due to its recent victory in the 2011 NBA Finals. In 2014, the 5th Circuit Court affirmed that decision on appeal. Following his initial defeat, Perot attempted to shut out Mavericks fans from use of the parking lots he controlled near the American Airlines Center.
In January 2018, Cuban announced the Mavericks would be accepting Bitcoin as payment for tickets in the following season.
NBA fines
Cuban's ownership has been the source of extensive media attention and controversy involving league policies.
Cuban has been fined by the NBA, mostly for critical statements about the league and referees, at least $1.665 million for 13 incidents. In a June 30, 2006 interview, Mavericks player Dirk Nowitzki said about Cuban:
In an interview with the Associated Press, Cuban said that he matches NBA fines with charitable donations of equal amounts. In a nationally publicized incident in 2002, he criticized the league's manager of officials, Ed T. Rush, saying that he "wouldn't be able to manage a Dairy Queen." Dairy Queen management took offense to Cuban's comments and invited him to manage a Dairy Queen restaurant for a day. Cuban accepted the company's invitation and worked for a day at a Dairy Queen in Coppell, Texas, where fans lined up in the street to get a Blizzard from the owner of the Mavericks.
During the 2005–06 NBA season, Cuban started a booing campaign when former Mavericks player Michael Finley returned to play against the Mavericks as a member of the San Antonio Spurs. In a playoff series between the Mavericks and Spurs, Cuban cursed Spurs forward Bruce Bowen and was fined $25,000 by the NBA for rushing onto the court and criticizing NBA officials. After the 2006 NBA Finals, Cuban was fined $250,000 by the NBA for repeated misconduct following the Mavericks' loss to the Miami Heat in Game Five of the 2006 NBA Finals.
In February 2007, Cuban publicly criticized NBA Finals MVP Dwyane Wade and declared that he would get fined if he made any comments about what he thought really happened in the 2006 NBA Finals.
On January 16, 2009, the league fined Cuban $25,000 for yelling at Denver Nuggets player J. R. Smith at the end of the first half on a Mavericks-at-Nuggets game played on January 13. Cuban was apparently incensed that Smith had thrown an elbow that barely missed Mavericks forward Antoine Wright. Cuban offered to match the fine with a donation to a charity of Smith's choosing. Cuban stated that if he doesn't hear from Smith, then he will donate the money to the NHL Players' Association Goals and Dreams Fund in the names of Todd Bertuzzi and Steve Moore. In May 2009, Cuban made a reference to the Denver Nuggets being "thugs" after a loss to the Nuggets in game 3 of the Western Conference Semifinals. The statement was geared towards the Nuggets and their fans. As he passed Kenyon Martin's mother, who was seated near Cuban as he left the arena, he pointed at her and said, "that includes your son." This controversial comment revisited media attention on Cuban yet again. Cuban issued an apology the next day referencing the poor treatment of away fans in arenas around the league. The league issued a statement stating that they would not fine him.
On May 22, 2010, Cuban was fined $100,000 for comments he made during a television interview about trying to sign LeBron James.
Despite his history, he was notably silent during the Mavericks' 2011 championship playoff run.
Despite Cuban's history with David Stern, he believed the NBA Commissioner would leave a lasting legacy "of a focus on growth and recognizing that the NBA is in the entertainment business and that it's a global product, not just a local product. Whatever platforms that took us to, he was ready to go. He wasn't protective at all. He was wide open. I think that was great."
On January 18, 2014, Cuban was once again fined $100,000 for confronting referees and using inappropriate language toward them. As with previous fines, Cuban confirmed that he would match the fine with a donation to charity, however, with the condition that he reaches two million followers on his Twitter account. Cuban also jokingly commented that he could not let Stern leave without a proper farewell.
On February 21, 2018, Cuban was fined $600,000 by the NBA for stating that the Dallas Mavericks should "tank for the rest of the season." Commissioner Adam Silver stated that the fine was "for public statements detrimental to the NBA."
On March 6, 2020, Cuban was fined $500,000 by the NBA for "public criticism and detrimental conduct regarding NBA officiating", according to the league.
Major League Baseball
Cuban has repeatedly expressed interest in owning a Major League Baseball franchise and has unsuccessfully attempted to purchase at least three franchises. In 2008, he submitted an initial bid of $1.3 billion to buy the Chicago Cubs and was invited to participate in a second round of bidding along with several other potential ownership groups. Cuban was not selected to participate in the final bidding process in January 2009. In August 2010, Cuban actively bid to buy the Texas Rangers with Jeffrey L. Beck. Cuban stopped bids after 1 a.m., having placed bids totaling almost $600 million. He had outbid a competing ownership group led by ex-pitcher and Rangers executive Nolan Ryan, but lost the deal before the Rangers played the San Francisco Giants in the 2010 World Series.
In January 2012, Cuban placed an initial bid for the Los Angeles Dodgers, but was eliminated before the second round of bidding. Cuban felt that the value of the Dodgers' TV rights deal drove the price of the franchise too high. He had previously said that he would not be interested in buying the franchise at $1 billion, telling the Los Angeles Times in November 2011 "I don't think the Dodgers franchise is worth twice what the Rangers are worth." However, as the bidding process drew near many speculated that the sale would surpass $1.5 billion, with Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reporting on Twitter that at least one bid in the $1–1.5 billion range was placed in the initial round of the bidding process. Ultimately, the Dodgers sold for $2.15 billion to Guggenheim Baseball Management.
Cuban also previously expressed interest in becoming a minority owner of the New York Mets after owner Fred Wilpon announced in 2011 that he was planning to sell up to a 25% stake in the team.
Cuban has wanted to purchase his hometown Pittsburgh Pirates, but was rebuffed by then owner Kevin McClatchy in 2005.
Other sports businesses
In 2005, Cuban expressed interest in buying the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins. In 2006, Cuban joined an investment group along with Dan Marino, Kevin Millevoi, Andy Murstein, and Walnut Capital principals Gregg Perelman and Todd Reidbord to attempt to acquire the Penguins. The franchise ultimately rejected the group's bid when team owners Mario Lemieux and Ronald Burkle took the team off the market.
At WWE's Survivor Series in 2003, Cuban was involved in a staged altercation with Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff and Raw wrestler Randy Orton. On December 7, 2009, Cuban acted as the guest host of Raw, getting revenge on Orton when he was the guest referee in Orton's match against Kofi Kingston, giving Kingston a fast count victory. He then announced that Orton would face Kingston at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs. At the end of the show, Cuban was slammed through a table by the number one contender for the WWE Championship, Sheamus.
On September 12, 2007, Cuban said that he was in talks with WWE Chairman Vince McMahon to create a mixed martial arts company that would compete with UFC. He is now a bondholder of Zuffa, which was formerly UFC's parent company.
Cuban followed up his intentions by organizing "HDNet Fights", a mixed martial arts promotion which airs exclusively on HDNet and premiered on October 13, 2007, with a card headlined by a fight between Erik Paulson and Jeff Ford as well as fights featuring veterans Drew Fickett and Justin Eilers.
Since 2009, Cuban has been a panelist at the annual MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference.
In April 2010, Cuban loaned the newly formed United Football League (UFL) $5 million. He did not own a franchise, and he was not involved in day-to-day operations of the league nor of any of its teams. In January 2011, he filed a federal lawsuit against the UFL for their failure to repay the loan by the October 6, 2010 deadline.
In June 2015, Cuban invested in the esports betting platform Unikrn.
In February 2016, Cuban purchased a principal ownership stake in the Professional Futsal League.
Political activity
Cuban is an admirer of author and philosopher Ayn Rand. About Rand's novel The Fountainhead, he said, that it "was incredibly motivating to me. It encouraged me to think as an individual, take risks to reach my goals, and responsibility for my successes and failures. I loved it." His political views have leaned toward libertarianism. He held a position on the centrist Unity08 political organization's advisory council. While leaning towards libertarianism, Cuban posted an entry on his blog claiming paying more taxes to be the most patriotic thing someone can do.
In 2012, Cuban donated $7,000 to political campaigns, with $6,000 going to Republican Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah and $1,000 to Democratic California Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren.
On February 8, 2008, Cuban voiced his support for the draft Bloomberg movement attempting to convince New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to run in the U.S. presidential election of 2008 on his blog. Cuban concluded a post lamenting the current state of U.S. politics: "Are you listening, Mayor Bloomberg? For less than the cost of opening a tent pole movie, you can change the status quo." He eventually voted for Barack Obama in the 2008 election.
In November 2012, in response to Donald Trump offering President Obama $5 million to a charity of President Obama's choosing if he released passport applications and college transcripts to the public, Cuban offered Trump $1 million to a charity of Trump's choosing if Trump shaved his head.
On December 19, 2012, Cuban donated $250,000 to the Electronic Frontier Foundation to support its work on patent reform. Part of his donation funded a new title for EFF's staff attorney Julie Samuels: The Mark Cuban Chair to Eliminate Stupid Patents.
At the Code/Media conference in February 2015, Cuban said of net neutrality that "having [the FCC] overseeing the Internet scares the shit out of me".
Cuban formally endorsed Hillary Clinton for president at a July 30, 2016, rally in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. During that campaign stop, Cuban said of Republican nominee Donald Trump, "You know what we call a person like that in Pittsburgh? A jagoff ... Is there any bigger jagoff in the world than Donald Trump?"
On November 22, 2016, Cuban met with the then President-elect Trump's key advisor Steve Bannon, according to reports.
During an appearance on an episode of Hannity in May 2020, Cuban voiced his support for former Vice President Joe Biden in the 2020 U.S. presidential election.
On February 2, 2021, Cuban joined Reddit's WallStreetBets "Ask Me Anything" forum with millions of community members and fielded user questions related to the widely publicized battle between retail traders and Wall Street short sellers over GameStop shares. In the previous days, GameStop shares experienced a meteoric rise to as much as $489 on January 28, 2021, up from $17.15 on January 4, 2021. The growth was mainly brought on by an organized group of Reddit users named "WallStreetBets" that noticed GameStop stock was heavily shorted by Wall Street hedge firms and launched an ensuing campaign to buy enough shares to raise share value and produce a GameStop short squeeze. In the aftermath, the stock became heavily volatile as hedge firms repositioned themselves in the market. Firms like Melvin Capital required bailouts exceeding $2B and retail traders experienced excessive but temporary gains, whereas GameStop share value dropped to below $100 within a few days of closing at over $300. The consistent decline into February raised a lot of questions about next steps for retail traders and prompted Cuban to step in and provide advice to the Reddit community. Amid the volatility, Cuban had been an outspoken supporter of the WallStreetBets community alongside other wealthy financial figureheads like Chamath Palihapitiya, Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss. In the AMA session, Cuban publicly called the trust of the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission into question as well as the capabilities of zero commission brokerage firms, like Robinhood, that restricted retail traders from purchasing GameStop shares and other shorted stocks which he said crippled demand. Cuban's advice to Reddit users was to hold GameStop shares if they could afford it in anticipation of additional short sales by Wall Street firms, but ultimately acknowledged that the odds were stacked against them and to use it as a learning lesson. He offered insight into his trading technique suggesting that traders know why they are buying something and to "HODL"(hold on for dear life) until they learn that something has changed. Cuban noted a need for policy change to better support retail traders, credited the WallStreetBets community for leading the charge, and expressed optimism about blockchain trading as a more efficient, transparent and trustworthy form of trading for retail traders in the future.
Fallen Patriot Fund
Cuban started the Fallen Patriot Fund to help families of U.S. military personnel killed or injured during the Iraq War, personally matching the first $1 million in contributions with funds from the Mark Cuban Foundation, which is run by his brother Brian Cuban.
Speculation of a presidential run
In September 2015, Cuban stated in an interview that running for president was "a fun idea to toss around", and that, if he were running in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, he "could beat both Trump and Clinton". This was interpreted by many media outlets as indication that Cuban was considering running, but he clarified soon afterward that he had no intention to do so.
In October 2015, Cuban posted on Twitter, "Maybe I'll run for Speaker of the House." At the time, there was no clear front-runner to replace the outgoing John Boehner; the Speaker of the House does not have to be a member of Congress.
Cuban told Meet the Press in May 2016 that he would be open to being Clinton's running mate in the election, though he would seek to alter some of her positions in order to do so. In the same interview, the self-described "fiercely independent" Cuban also said that he would consider running as Republican nominee Trump's running mate after having a meeting with Trump about understanding the issues, Trump's positions on them, and coming up with solutions. Cuban also described Trump as "that friend that you just shake your head at. He's that guy who'd get drunk and fall over all the time, or just says dumb shit all the time, but he's your friend." On July 21, 2016, Cuban appeared on a live segment on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert entitled "Gloves Off: Mark Cuban Edition" in which he mocked Trump, including referencing the Trump companies' multiple bankruptcies and the failed Trump University program, and questioning the size of Trump's actual net worth.
In a September 2016 interview with NPR's Scott Simon, Cuban effectively positioned himself to support Clinton. He posited that the best strategy to beat Trump was to attack his insecurities, especially that of his intellect. He also added that Trump is the least qualified to be president and is not informed about policies.
Later in September 2016, during a post-presidential debate interview, Cuban criticized Trump's characterization that paying the minimum required taxes 'is smart' and criticized Trump for not paying back into the system that allowed him to amass such wealth.
In October 2017, Cuban said that he would "definitely" run for president if he were single. Later that month, Cuban claimed that if he ran for president in 2020, it would be as a Republican, and described himself as "socially a centrist ... but very fiscally conservative". It had also been speculated that he could have challenged president Donald Trump in 2020 as a Democrat. However, in a March 2019 interview with the New York Daily News, Cuban stated that he was "strongly considering running" for president as an independent candidate. In May 2019, Cuban said: "It would take the perfect storm for me to do it. There's some things that could open the door, but I'm not projecting or predicting it right now."
In a June 2020 interview with CNN and former Obama advisor David Axelrod, Cuban revealed that he had seriously considered running for president that year as an independent candidate. He went so far as to commission a national poll, which, according to Cuban, showed he would only receive 25 percent of the vote in a hypothetical matchup with President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden. Cuban also said that the poll showed his candidacy would have pulled votes from both Trump and Biden.
In early 2021, he decided to stop playing the National Anthem at Dallas Mavericks games in order to "respect those whose believed the anthem did not represent them." He also supported the movement as far back as late 2020. The NBA responded by requiring every team to play it, citing it as their "long-standing policy". Cuban did not complain, and ended up playing the anthem.
Personal life
Cuban has two brothers, Brian and Jeff.
In September 2002, Cuban married Tiffany Stewart in a private ceremony in Barbados. They have two daughters, born in 2003 and 2006, and a son born in 2010. They live in a mansion in the Preston Hollow area of Dallas, Texas.
In April 2019, after missing a taping of The View, Cuban revealed he had a procedure done to treat his atrial fibrillation. His diagnosis was first revealed in 2017 on Twitter.
Cuban is a vegetarian.
Philanthropy
In 2003, Cuban founded the Fallen Patriot Fund to help families of U.S. military personnel killed or injured during the Iraq War.
In June 2015, Cuban made a $5 million donation to Indiana University at Bloomington for the "Mark Cuban Center for Sports Media and Technology", which was built inside Assembly Hall, the school's basketball arena.
In March 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Cuban posted an offer on LinkedIn to small business owners who had questions about what to do in order to survive the economic downturn being caused by the pandemic. He said people could ask him anything, but that his preference was "going to be helping small biz trying to avoid layoffs and hourly reductions." There were more than 10,000 comments in response to his offer.
In 2020, Cuban picked up homeless former NBA player Delonte West from a gas station in Dallas. He paid for a hotel room for West along with his treatment at a drug rehabilitation center.
Sexual assault complaint
In a March 6, 2018 article, Willamette Week reported on an alleged April 2011 incident between Cuban and a female patron of a Portland, Oregon bar called the Barrel Room. The woman told Portland police that Cuban sexually groped her while she posed for pictures with him. She submitted seven photographs, two of which Portland Police Detective Brendan McGuire referred to as "significant". Cuban denied the allegations, and his attorney provided the results of a polygraph test taken by Cuban and written statements from two medical doctors stating that the actions described were anatomically improbable. The Portland District Attorney's office declined to prosecute, citing a lack of concrete evidence to support the claim and the woman's preference not to proceed with charges, and concluding that "no crime can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt". The NBA announced on March 8, 2018, that it was reviewing the matter.
Awards and honors
Business
1998 Kelley School of Business Alumni Award – Distinguished Entrepreneur: 1998
2011 D Magazine CEO of the Year
Sports
2011 NBA Champion (as owner of the Dallas Mavericks)
Media
2011 Outstanding Team ESPY Award (as owner of the Dallas Mavericks)
Filmography
Film
Television
Bibliography
How to Win at the Sport of Business: If I Can Do It, You Can Do It. Diversion Publishing. 2011.
Let's Go, Mavs!. Mascot Books. 2007.
References
External links
Blog
Mark Cuban collected news and commentary at The Guardian
1958 births
Living people
20th-century American businesspeople
20th-century American Jews
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century American businesspeople
21st-century American Jews
21st-century American male writers
21st-century American non-fiction writers
2929 Entertainment holdings
American bartenders
American billionaires
American bloggers
American book publishers (people)
American business writers
American chairpersons of corporations
American children's writers
American computer businesspeople
American corporate directors
American financiers
American film producers
American investors
American libertarians
American male bloggers
American male non-fiction writers
American mass media owners
American people of Romanian-Jewish descent
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
American philanthropists
American reality television producers
American retail chief executives
American salespeople
American technology chief executives
American technology company founders
American technology writers
American television company founders
American television executives
American venture capitalists
Businesspeople from Indiana
Businesspeople from Pittsburgh
Businesspeople from Texas
Businesspeople in information technology
Businesspeople in software
Copyright activists
Dallas Mavericks owners
Esports businesspeople
Film producers from Indiana
Film producers from Pennsylvania
Film producers from Texas
Jewish activists
Jewish American writers
Kelley School of Business alumni
Participants in American reality television series
People from Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania
People from Navarro County, Texas
Television personalities from Pittsburgh
Television producers from Indiana
Television producers from Pennsylvania
Television producers from Texas
Texas Independents
University of Pittsburgh alumni
Writers from Dallas
Writers from Indiana
Writers from Pittsburgh | false | [
"Gustavo Arcos Bergnes (December 19, 1926 in Caibarién, Cuba – August 8, 2006 in Havana, Cuba) was a fellow Cuban revolutionary alongside Fidel Castro who later became an imprisoned dissident of the government. Arcos has been described as \"a symbol of the opposition, and the dean of the opposition\".\n\nBorn in the small town of Caibarién, Arcos met Castro while the two attended law school at the University of Havana. He participated in the 1953 attack on Moncada Barracks that jump-started the Cuban Revolution against then-leader Fulgencio Batista, where he suffered a gunshot wound to the back that partially disabled his right leg and left him a legacy of lifelong pain.\n\nFreed under a pardon, Arcos spent the next several years gathering support, money, and munitions throughout Mexico, South America, and the United States. Following the success of the revolution in 1959, Arcos became Cuba's ambassador to Belgium. However, while Arcos was away, he grew disillusioned both by Cuba's alliance with the Soviet Union, and what he saw to be the dictatorial tendencies of Fidel Castro.\n\nUpon his return, he began expressing dissent against Castro and the Cuban government. In response, he was arrested and sentenced to 10 years as a counterrevolutionary. He was released after a long hunger strike in 1969, but his request to leave the country was refused.\n\nAn illegal attempt to leave the country put Arcos in jail again in 1981. He was released in 1988, and quickly became the executive secretary of the Cuban Committee for Human Rights, which he had joined in the early 1980s. His brother, Sebastian Arcos Bergnes was appointed vice-President of the Committee and was responsible for expanding it from a small Havana-based group into a nationwide organization. Gustavo decided not to leave Cuba and spent the rest of his life trying to improve human rights in the island and promoting a peaceful transition to democracy, stoically suffering repeated harassment, arrests, and \"acts of repudiation\".\n\nArcos died on August 8, 2006 after an illness. He was 79. In a number of respects his life story resembles that of Mario Chanes de Armas, another Moncada veteran.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Obituary (Houston Chronicle)\n http://www.fiu.edu/~fcf/gustav.html\n\n1926 births\n2006 deaths\nPeople from Caibarién\nOpposition to Fidel Castro\nCuban politicians\nCuban diplomats\nAmbassadors of Cuba to Belgium\nCuban revolutionaries\nPeople of the Cuban Revolution",
"Henry Reeve (April 4, 1850 — August 4, 1876) was a Brigadier General in Cuba's (Army of Liberation) – more commonly known as the – during the Ten Years' War (1868–1878). In his youth, he was a drummer boy in the Union Army during the American Civil War.\n\nBiography \nHe was born in Brooklyn, New York, United States, on April 4, 1850, son of Alexander Reeve and Maddie Carroll, and died in Matanzas, Cuba on August 4, 1876. Reeve was 26 years old at the time of his death, and had served in the Cuban Army for seven years, having participated in over 400 engagements against the Spanish Army.\n\nLegacy \nReeve was honored by the Cuban government in 1976 on the centenary of his death with a postal stamp.\n\nIn response to Hurricane Katrina, Cuba proposed sending a group of 1,586 doctors to assist humanitarian efforts in the United States. The offer was declined, and in September 2005 Cuban president Fidel Castro renamed the group the Henry Reeve Brigade in honor of Reeve.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Speech by Fidel Castro initiating the Henry Reeve's Contingent\n \n\n1850 births\n1876 deaths\nCuban soldiers\nPeople of the Ten Years' War\nAmerican emigrants to Cuba\nMilitary personnel from New York City\nPeople from Brooklyn"
]
|
[
"Mark Cuban",
"Dallas Mavericks",
"Was he an owner of the Dallas Mavericks?",
"Cuban purchased a majority stake in the NBA's Dallas Mavericks",
"Did he make good money on them?",
"I don't know.",
"Was there any controversy around this?",
"In May 2010, H. Ross Perot, Jr., who retained 5% ownership, filed a lawsuit against Cuban, alleging the franchise was insolvent or in imminent danger of insolvency.",
"What was Cuban's response?",
"In June 2010, Cuban responded in a court filing maintaining Perot is wrongly seeking money to offset some $100 million in losses on the Victory Park real estate development."
]
| C_7b991ba6f6f749caaaa8e46abff79b4f_0 | Did Perot win the suit? | 5 | Did Perot win the Dallas Mavericks suit? | Mark Cuban | On January 4, 2000, Cuban purchased a majority stake in the NBA's Dallas Mavericks for $285 million from H. Ross Perot, Jr. In the 20 years before Cuban bought the team, the Mavericks won only 40% of their games, and a playoff record of 21-32. In the 10 years following, the team won 69 percent of their regular season games and reached the playoffs in each of those seasons except for one. The Mavericks' playoff record with Cuban is 49 wins and 57 losses, including their first trip to the NBA Finals in 2006, where they lost to the Miami Heat. On June 12, 2011, the Mavericks defeated the Heat to win the NBA Finals. Historically, NBA team owners publicly play more passive roles and watch basketball games from skyboxes; Cuban sits alongside fans while donning team jerseys. Cuban travels in his private airplane--a Gulfstream V--to attend road games. In May 2010, H. Ross Perot, Jr., who retained 5% ownership, filed a lawsuit against Cuban, alleging the franchise was insolvent or in imminent danger of insolvency. In June 2010, Cuban responded in a court filing maintaining Perot is wrongly seeking money to offset some $100 million in losses on the Victory Park real estate development. The lawsuit was dismissed in 2011, due in part to Cuban asserting proper management of the team due to its recent victory in the 2011 NBA Finals. In 2014, the 5th Circuit Court affirmed that decision on appeal. Following his initial defeat, Perot attempted to shut out Mavericks fans from use of the parking lots he controlled near the American Airlines Center. In January 2018, Cuban announced the Mavericks would be accepting Bitcoin as payment for tickets in the following season. CANNOTANSWER | The lawsuit was dismissed in 2011, due in part to Cuban asserting proper management of the team due to its recent victory in the 2011 NBA Finals. | Mark Cuban (born July 31, 1958) is an American billionaire entrepreneur, television personality, and media proprietor whose net worth is an estimated $4.3 billion, according to Forbes, and ranked #177 on the 2020 Forbes 400 list. He is the owner of the Dallas Mavericks professional basketball team of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the co-owner of 2929 Entertainment. He is also one of the main "shark" investors on the ABC reality television series Shark Tank.
Early life and education
Cuban was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His father, Norton Cuban, was an automobile upholsterer. Cuban described his mother, Shirley, as someone with "a different job or different career goal every other week."
Cuban grew up in Mount Lebanon, a suburb of Pittsburgh, in a Jewish working-class family. His paternal grandfather changed the family name from Chabenisky to Cuban after his family emigrated from Russia through Ellis Island. His maternal grandparents, who were also Jewish, came from Romania.
Cuban first ventured into business at age 12. He sold garbage bags to pay for a pair of expensive basketball shoes. Some years later, he earned money by selling stamps and coins. At age 16, Cuban took advantage of a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette strike by running newspapers from Cleveland to Pittsburgh.
Instead of attending high school for his senior year, he enrolled as a full-time student at the University of Pittsburgh, where he joined the Pi Lambda Phi fraternity. He is a fan of Pittsburgh's "beloved" NFL team, the Pittsburgh Steelers. After one year at the University of Pittsburgh, Cuban transferred to Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, where he graduated from the Kelley School of Business in 1981 with a Bachelor of Science degree in management. He chose Indiana's Kelley School of Business without even visiting the campus because it "had the least expensive tuition of all the business schools on the top 10 list". During college, he had various business ventures, including a bar, disco lessons, and a chain letter.
After graduating, Cuban returned to Pittsburgh and took a job with Mellon Bank. He immersed himself in the study of machines and networking.
Career
On July 7, 1982, Cuban moved to Dallas, Texas, where he first found work as a bartender for a Greenville Avenue bar called Elan and then as a salesperson for Your Business Software, one of the earliest PC software retailers in Dallas. He was fired less than a year later, after meeting with a client to procure new business instead of opening the store.
Cuban started his own company, MicroSolutions, with help from his previous customers from Your Business Software. MicroSolutions was initially a system integrator and software reseller. The company was an early proponent of technologies such as Carbon Copy, Lotus Notes, and CompuServe. One of the company's largest clients was Perot Systems.
The company grew to more than $30 million in revenue, and in 1990, Cuban sold MicroSolutions to CompuServe—then a subsidiary of H&R Block—for $6 million. He made approximately $2 million after taxes on the deal.
Audionet and Broadcast.com
In 1995, Cuban and fellow Indiana University alumnus Todd Wagner joined Audionet (founded in 1989 by Chris Jaeb who retained 10% of the company), combining their mutual interest in Indiana Hoosier college basketball and webcasting. With a single server and an ISDN line, Audionet became Broadcast.com in 1998. By 1999, Broadcast.com had grown to 330 employees and $13.5 million in revenue for the second quarter. In 1999, Broadcast.com helped launch the first live-streamed Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. That year, during the dot com boom, Broadcast.com was acquired by Yahoo! for $5.7 billion in Yahoo! stock.
After the sale of Broadcast.com, Cuban hedged against the risk of a decline in the value of the Yahoo! shares he received in the deal. The Guinness Book of Records credits Cuban with the "largest single e-commerce transaction", after he purchased a Gulfstream V jet for $40 million over the internet in October 1999.
Yahoo!'s costly purchase of Broadcast.com is now regarded as one of the worst internet acquisitions of all time. Broadcast.com along with Yahoo!'s other broadcasting services were discontinued within a few years after the acquisition. Cuban has repeatedly described himself as very lucky to have sold the company before the dot-com bubble burst. However, he also emphasized that he hedged against the Yahoo! shares he received from the sale, and that he would have lost most of his fortune if he had not done so.
Cuban continues to work with Wagner in another venture, 2929 Entertainment, which provides vertically integrated production and distribution of films and video.
On September 24, 2003, the firm purchased Landmark Theatres, a chain of 58 arthouse movie theaters. The company is also responsible for the updated version of the TV show Star Search, which was broadcast on CBS. 2929 Entertainment released Bubble, a movie directed by Steven Soderbergh, in 2006.
Cuban was featured on the cover of the November 2003 premiere issue of Best magazine announcing the arrival of high-definition television. Cuban also was co-founder (with Philip Garvin) of AXS TV (formerly HDNet), the first high-definition satellite television network.
In February 2004, Cuban announced that he would be working with ABC television to produce a reality television series, The Benefactor. The premise of the six-episode series involved 16 contestants trying to win $1 million by participating in various contests, with their performances being judged by Cuban. It premiered on September 13, 2004, but due to poor ratings, the series was canceled before the full season aired.
In 2018, Cuban was No.190 on Forbes list of "World's Richest People", with a net worth of $3.9 billion.
Cuban financially supported Grokster in the Supreme Court case MGM v. Grokster. He is also a partner in Synergy Sports Technology, a web based basketball scouting and video delivery tool, used by many NBA teams.
Investments in startups
Cuban has also assisted ventures in the social software and distributed networking industries. He was an owner of IceRocket, a search engine that scours the blogosphere for content. Cuban was a partner in RedSwoosh—a company which uses peer-to-peer technology to deliver rich media, including video and software, to a user's PC—later acquired by Akamai. He was also an investor in Weblogs, Inc., which was acquired by AOL.
In 2005, Cuban invested in Brondell Inc., a San Francisco startup making a high-tech toilet seat called a Swash that works like a bidet but mounts on a standard toilet. "People tend to approach technology the same way, whether it's in front of them, or behind them", Cuban joked. He also invested in Goowy Media Inc., a San Diego Internet software startup. In April 2006, Sirius Satellite Radio announced that Cuban would host his own weekly radio talk show, Mark Cuban's Radio Maverick. However, the show has not materialized.
In July 2006, Cuban financed Sharesleuth.com, a website created by former St. Louis Post-Dispatch investigative reporter Christopher Carey to uncover fraud and misinformation in publicly traded companies. Experimenting with a new business model for making online journalism financially viable, Cuban disclosed that he would take positions in the shares of companies mentioned in Sharesleuth.com in advance of publication. Business and legal analysts questioned the appropriateness of shorting a stock prior to making public pronouncements which are likely to result in losses in that stock's value. Cuban insisted that the practice is legal in view of full disclosure.
In April 2007, Cuban partnered with Mascot Books to publish his first children's book, Let's Go, Mavs!. In November 2011, he wrote a 30,000-word e-book, How to Win at the Sport of Business: If I Can Do It, You Can Do It, which he described as "a way to get motivated".
In October 2008, Cuban started Bailoutsleuth.com as a grassroots, online portal for oversight over the U.S. government's $700 billion "bailout" of financial institutions.
In September 2010, Cuban provided an undisclosed amount of venture capital to store-front analytics company Motionloft. According to the company's CEO Jon Mills, he cold-emailed Cuban on a whim with the business proposition and claimed Cuban quickly responded that he would like to hear more. Mills credited that sentence for launching the company. In November 2013, several investors questioned Cuban about Mills' representation of a pending acquisition of Motionloft. Cuban denied an acquisition was in place. Mills was terminated as CEO of Motionloft by stockholders on December 1, 2013, and in February 2014 was arrested by the FBI and charged with wire fraud, it being alleged that Mills misrepresented to investors that Motionloft was going to be acquired by Cisco. Cuban has gone on record to state that the technology, which at least in part is meant to serve the commercial real estate industry, is "game changing" for tenants.
In 2019, Cuban, Ashton Kutcher, Steve Watts and Watts' wife Angela, invested a 50% stake in Veldskoen shoes fledgling U.S. business. In 2021, Cuban, Pantera Capital, BlockTower, Hashed, Cadenza Ventures (backed by 100x Group), CMS and QCP Capital backed a layer-2 decentralized exchange protocol, Injective Protocol and their CEO Eric Chen. Also in late 2021, Cuban purchased the entire town of Mustang, Texas, a 77-acre town in Navarro County. He told the Dallas Morning News that a buddy needed to sell it and, "I don't know what if anything I will do with it."
Shark Tank
Cuban has been a "shark" investor on the ABC reality program Shark Tank since season two in 2011.
As of May 2015, he has invested in 85 deals across 111 Shark Tank episodes, for a total of $19.9 million invested. The actual numbers vary because the investment happens after the handshake deal on live television, after the due diligence is performed to ensure the accuracy of the information presented in the pitch room. For instance, Hy-Conn, a manufacturer of removable fire hoses, after agreeing to a deal of $1.25 million for 100% of the company with Cuban, did not go through with the deal.
Cuban's top three deals, all with at least $1 million invested, are Ten Thirty One Productions, Rugged Maniac Obstacle Race, and BeatBox Beverages.
Since Cuban joined the show in 2011, the ratings for Shark Tank have increased, and also during his tenure, the show has won three Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Structured Reality Program (from 2014 – 2016). As of 2022, Cuban is the richest of all Sharks to appear on the show after Sir Richard Branson.
Magnolia Pictures
Cuban owns film distributor Magnolia Pictures. Through Magnolia, he financed Redacted, a fictional dramatization based on the 2006 Mahmudiyah killings, written and directed by Brian De Palma. In September 2007, Cuban, in his capacity as owner of Magnolia Pictures, removed disturbing photographs from the concluding moments of the Redacted, citing copyrights/permissions issues.
Also in 2007, Cuban was reportedly interested in distributing through Magnolia an edition of the film Loose Change, which posits a 9/11 conspiracy theory, with Charlie Sheen narrating. Cuban told the New York Post, "We are having discussions about distributing the existing video with Charlie's involvement as a narrator, not in making a new feature. We are also looking for productions with an opposing viewpoint. We like controversial subjects, but we are agnostic to which side the controversy comes from."
In April 2011, Cuban put Magnolia Pictures and Landmark Theatres up for sale, but said, "If we don't get the price and premium we want, we are happy to continue to make money from the properties."
SEC insider trading allegation
On November 17, 2008, it was reported that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a civil suit against Cuban relating to alleged insider trading in the shares of Mamma.com, now known as Copernic. A stock dilution occurred shortly after a trade in June 2004, giving hints of inside knowledge at the time of the trade, and Cuban allegedly was saved from a loss of $750,000. The SEC claimed that Cuban ordered the sale of his holdings in Mamma.com after he had been confidentially approached by the company to participate in a transaction likely to dilute shares of current shareholders. Cuban disputed the charges, saying he had not agreed to keep the information secret. On his blog, Cuban contended the allegations were false and that the investigation was "a product of gross abuse of prosecutorial discretion". DealBook, a section of The New York Times, reported through an anonymous source that Cuban believed the investigation was motivated by an SEC employee having taken offense to his interest in possibly distributing the film Loose Change.
In July 2009, the U.S. District Court dismissed the charges against Cuban, and the SEC appealed. In September 2010, an appeals court said that the district court had erred and that further proceedings would be necessary to address the merits of the suit.
A federal jury in Texas found in favor of Cuban on October 16, 2013. The nine-member jury issued the verdict after deliberating 3 hours and 35 minutes.
In March 2014, Cuban was on air at CNBC criticizing high-frequency trading (HFT). Those against HFT, such as Cuban, believe the technology is equivalent to automated insider trading.
Sports businesses
Dallas Mavericks
On January 4, 2000, Cuban purchased a majority stake in the NBA's Dallas Mavericks for $285 million from H. Ross Perot Jr.
In the 20 years before Cuban bought the team, the Mavericks won only 40% of their games and had a playoff record of 21–32. In the 10 years following, the team won 69 percent of their regular season games and reached the playoffs in each of those seasons except for one. The Mavericks' playoff record with Cuban is 49–57, including their first trip to the NBA Finals in 2006, where they lost to the Miami Heat.
Historically, NBA team owners publicly play more passive roles and watch basketball games from skyboxes; Cuban sits alongside fans while donning team jerseys. Cuban travels in his private airplane—a Gulfstream V—to attend road games.
In May 2010, H. Ross Perot Jr., who retained 5% ownership, filed a lawsuit against Cuban, alleging the franchise was insolvent or in imminent danger of insolvency. In June 2010, Cuban responded in a court filing maintaining Perot is wrongly seeking money to offset some $100 million in losses on the Victory Park real estate development. The lawsuit was dismissed in 2011, due in part to Cuban asserting proper management of the team due to its recent victory in the 2011 NBA Finals. In 2014, the 5th Circuit Court affirmed that decision on appeal. Following his initial defeat, Perot attempted to shut out Mavericks fans from use of the parking lots he controlled near the American Airlines Center.
In January 2018, Cuban announced the Mavericks would be accepting Bitcoin as payment for tickets in the following season.
NBA fines
Cuban's ownership has been the source of extensive media attention and controversy involving league policies.
Cuban has been fined by the NBA, mostly for critical statements about the league and referees, at least $1.665 million for 13 incidents. In a June 30, 2006 interview, Mavericks player Dirk Nowitzki said about Cuban:
In an interview with the Associated Press, Cuban said that he matches NBA fines with charitable donations of equal amounts. In a nationally publicized incident in 2002, he criticized the league's manager of officials, Ed T. Rush, saying that he "wouldn't be able to manage a Dairy Queen." Dairy Queen management took offense to Cuban's comments and invited him to manage a Dairy Queen restaurant for a day. Cuban accepted the company's invitation and worked for a day at a Dairy Queen in Coppell, Texas, where fans lined up in the street to get a Blizzard from the owner of the Mavericks.
During the 2005–06 NBA season, Cuban started a booing campaign when former Mavericks player Michael Finley returned to play against the Mavericks as a member of the San Antonio Spurs. In a playoff series between the Mavericks and Spurs, Cuban cursed Spurs forward Bruce Bowen and was fined $25,000 by the NBA for rushing onto the court and criticizing NBA officials. After the 2006 NBA Finals, Cuban was fined $250,000 by the NBA for repeated misconduct following the Mavericks' loss to the Miami Heat in Game Five of the 2006 NBA Finals.
In February 2007, Cuban publicly criticized NBA Finals MVP Dwyane Wade and declared that he would get fined if he made any comments about what he thought really happened in the 2006 NBA Finals.
On January 16, 2009, the league fined Cuban $25,000 for yelling at Denver Nuggets player J. R. Smith at the end of the first half on a Mavericks-at-Nuggets game played on January 13. Cuban was apparently incensed that Smith had thrown an elbow that barely missed Mavericks forward Antoine Wright. Cuban offered to match the fine with a donation to a charity of Smith's choosing. Cuban stated that if he doesn't hear from Smith, then he will donate the money to the NHL Players' Association Goals and Dreams Fund in the names of Todd Bertuzzi and Steve Moore. In May 2009, Cuban made a reference to the Denver Nuggets being "thugs" after a loss to the Nuggets in game 3 of the Western Conference Semifinals. The statement was geared towards the Nuggets and their fans. As he passed Kenyon Martin's mother, who was seated near Cuban as he left the arena, he pointed at her and said, "that includes your son." This controversial comment revisited media attention on Cuban yet again. Cuban issued an apology the next day referencing the poor treatment of away fans in arenas around the league. The league issued a statement stating that they would not fine him.
On May 22, 2010, Cuban was fined $100,000 for comments he made during a television interview about trying to sign LeBron James.
Despite his history, he was notably silent during the Mavericks' 2011 championship playoff run.
Despite Cuban's history with David Stern, he believed the NBA Commissioner would leave a lasting legacy "of a focus on growth and recognizing that the NBA is in the entertainment business and that it's a global product, not just a local product. Whatever platforms that took us to, he was ready to go. He wasn't protective at all. He was wide open. I think that was great."
On January 18, 2014, Cuban was once again fined $100,000 for confronting referees and using inappropriate language toward them. As with previous fines, Cuban confirmed that he would match the fine with a donation to charity, however, with the condition that he reaches two million followers on his Twitter account. Cuban also jokingly commented that he could not let Stern leave without a proper farewell.
On February 21, 2018, Cuban was fined $600,000 by the NBA for stating that the Dallas Mavericks should "tank for the rest of the season." Commissioner Adam Silver stated that the fine was "for public statements detrimental to the NBA."
On March 6, 2020, Cuban was fined $500,000 by the NBA for "public criticism and detrimental conduct regarding NBA officiating", according to the league.
Major League Baseball
Cuban has repeatedly expressed interest in owning a Major League Baseball franchise and has unsuccessfully attempted to purchase at least three franchises. In 2008, he submitted an initial bid of $1.3 billion to buy the Chicago Cubs and was invited to participate in a second round of bidding along with several other potential ownership groups. Cuban was not selected to participate in the final bidding process in January 2009. In August 2010, Cuban actively bid to buy the Texas Rangers with Jeffrey L. Beck. Cuban stopped bids after 1 a.m., having placed bids totaling almost $600 million. He had outbid a competing ownership group led by ex-pitcher and Rangers executive Nolan Ryan, but lost the deal before the Rangers played the San Francisco Giants in the 2010 World Series.
In January 2012, Cuban placed an initial bid for the Los Angeles Dodgers, but was eliminated before the second round of bidding. Cuban felt that the value of the Dodgers' TV rights deal drove the price of the franchise too high. He had previously said that he would not be interested in buying the franchise at $1 billion, telling the Los Angeles Times in November 2011 "I don't think the Dodgers franchise is worth twice what the Rangers are worth." However, as the bidding process drew near many speculated that the sale would surpass $1.5 billion, with Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reporting on Twitter that at least one bid in the $1–1.5 billion range was placed in the initial round of the bidding process. Ultimately, the Dodgers sold for $2.15 billion to Guggenheim Baseball Management.
Cuban also previously expressed interest in becoming a minority owner of the New York Mets after owner Fred Wilpon announced in 2011 that he was planning to sell up to a 25% stake in the team.
Cuban has wanted to purchase his hometown Pittsburgh Pirates, but was rebuffed by then owner Kevin McClatchy in 2005.
Other sports businesses
In 2005, Cuban expressed interest in buying the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins. In 2006, Cuban joined an investment group along with Dan Marino, Kevin Millevoi, Andy Murstein, and Walnut Capital principals Gregg Perelman and Todd Reidbord to attempt to acquire the Penguins. The franchise ultimately rejected the group's bid when team owners Mario Lemieux and Ronald Burkle took the team off the market.
At WWE's Survivor Series in 2003, Cuban was involved in a staged altercation with Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff and Raw wrestler Randy Orton. On December 7, 2009, Cuban acted as the guest host of Raw, getting revenge on Orton when he was the guest referee in Orton's match against Kofi Kingston, giving Kingston a fast count victory. He then announced that Orton would face Kingston at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs. At the end of the show, Cuban was slammed through a table by the number one contender for the WWE Championship, Sheamus.
On September 12, 2007, Cuban said that he was in talks with WWE Chairman Vince McMahon to create a mixed martial arts company that would compete with UFC. He is now a bondholder of Zuffa, which was formerly UFC's parent company.
Cuban followed up his intentions by organizing "HDNet Fights", a mixed martial arts promotion which airs exclusively on HDNet and premiered on October 13, 2007, with a card headlined by a fight between Erik Paulson and Jeff Ford as well as fights featuring veterans Drew Fickett and Justin Eilers.
Since 2009, Cuban has been a panelist at the annual MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference.
In April 2010, Cuban loaned the newly formed United Football League (UFL) $5 million. He did not own a franchise, and he was not involved in day-to-day operations of the league nor of any of its teams. In January 2011, he filed a federal lawsuit against the UFL for their failure to repay the loan by the October 6, 2010 deadline.
In June 2015, Cuban invested in the esports betting platform Unikrn.
In February 2016, Cuban purchased a principal ownership stake in the Professional Futsal League.
Political activity
Cuban is an admirer of author and philosopher Ayn Rand. About Rand's novel The Fountainhead, he said, that it "was incredibly motivating to me. It encouraged me to think as an individual, take risks to reach my goals, and responsibility for my successes and failures. I loved it." His political views have leaned toward libertarianism. He held a position on the centrist Unity08 political organization's advisory council. While leaning towards libertarianism, Cuban posted an entry on his blog claiming paying more taxes to be the most patriotic thing someone can do.
In 2012, Cuban donated $7,000 to political campaigns, with $6,000 going to Republican Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah and $1,000 to Democratic California Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren.
On February 8, 2008, Cuban voiced his support for the draft Bloomberg movement attempting to convince New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to run in the U.S. presidential election of 2008 on his blog. Cuban concluded a post lamenting the current state of U.S. politics: "Are you listening, Mayor Bloomberg? For less than the cost of opening a tent pole movie, you can change the status quo." He eventually voted for Barack Obama in the 2008 election.
In November 2012, in response to Donald Trump offering President Obama $5 million to a charity of President Obama's choosing if he released passport applications and college transcripts to the public, Cuban offered Trump $1 million to a charity of Trump's choosing if Trump shaved his head.
On December 19, 2012, Cuban donated $250,000 to the Electronic Frontier Foundation to support its work on patent reform. Part of his donation funded a new title for EFF's staff attorney Julie Samuels: The Mark Cuban Chair to Eliminate Stupid Patents.
At the Code/Media conference in February 2015, Cuban said of net neutrality that "having [the FCC] overseeing the Internet scares the shit out of me".
Cuban formally endorsed Hillary Clinton for president at a July 30, 2016, rally in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. During that campaign stop, Cuban said of Republican nominee Donald Trump, "You know what we call a person like that in Pittsburgh? A jagoff ... Is there any bigger jagoff in the world than Donald Trump?"
On November 22, 2016, Cuban met with the then President-elect Trump's key advisor Steve Bannon, according to reports.
During an appearance on an episode of Hannity in May 2020, Cuban voiced his support for former Vice President Joe Biden in the 2020 U.S. presidential election.
On February 2, 2021, Cuban joined Reddit's WallStreetBets "Ask Me Anything" forum with millions of community members and fielded user questions related to the widely publicized battle between retail traders and Wall Street short sellers over GameStop shares. In the previous days, GameStop shares experienced a meteoric rise to as much as $489 on January 28, 2021, up from $17.15 on January 4, 2021. The growth was mainly brought on by an organized group of Reddit users named "WallStreetBets" that noticed GameStop stock was heavily shorted by Wall Street hedge firms and launched an ensuing campaign to buy enough shares to raise share value and produce a GameStop short squeeze. In the aftermath, the stock became heavily volatile as hedge firms repositioned themselves in the market. Firms like Melvin Capital required bailouts exceeding $2B and retail traders experienced excessive but temporary gains, whereas GameStop share value dropped to below $100 within a few days of closing at over $300. The consistent decline into February raised a lot of questions about next steps for retail traders and prompted Cuban to step in and provide advice to the Reddit community. Amid the volatility, Cuban had been an outspoken supporter of the WallStreetBets community alongside other wealthy financial figureheads like Chamath Palihapitiya, Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss. In the AMA session, Cuban publicly called the trust of the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission into question as well as the capabilities of zero commission brokerage firms, like Robinhood, that restricted retail traders from purchasing GameStop shares and other shorted stocks which he said crippled demand. Cuban's advice to Reddit users was to hold GameStop shares if they could afford it in anticipation of additional short sales by Wall Street firms, but ultimately acknowledged that the odds were stacked against them and to use it as a learning lesson. He offered insight into his trading technique suggesting that traders know why they are buying something and to "HODL"(hold on for dear life) until they learn that something has changed. Cuban noted a need for policy change to better support retail traders, credited the WallStreetBets community for leading the charge, and expressed optimism about blockchain trading as a more efficient, transparent and trustworthy form of trading for retail traders in the future.
Fallen Patriot Fund
Cuban started the Fallen Patriot Fund to help families of U.S. military personnel killed or injured during the Iraq War, personally matching the first $1 million in contributions with funds from the Mark Cuban Foundation, which is run by his brother Brian Cuban.
Speculation of a presidential run
In September 2015, Cuban stated in an interview that running for president was "a fun idea to toss around", and that, if he were running in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, he "could beat both Trump and Clinton". This was interpreted by many media outlets as indication that Cuban was considering running, but he clarified soon afterward that he had no intention to do so.
In October 2015, Cuban posted on Twitter, "Maybe I'll run for Speaker of the House." At the time, there was no clear front-runner to replace the outgoing John Boehner; the Speaker of the House does not have to be a member of Congress.
Cuban told Meet the Press in May 2016 that he would be open to being Clinton's running mate in the election, though he would seek to alter some of her positions in order to do so. In the same interview, the self-described "fiercely independent" Cuban also said that he would consider running as Republican nominee Trump's running mate after having a meeting with Trump about understanding the issues, Trump's positions on them, and coming up with solutions. Cuban also described Trump as "that friend that you just shake your head at. He's that guy who'd get drunk and fall over all the time, or just says dumb shit all the time, but he's your friend." On July 21, 2016, Cuban appeared on a live segment on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert entitled "Gloves Off: Mark Cuban Edition" in which he mocked Trump, including referencing the Trump companies' multiple bankruptcies and the failed Trump University program, and questioning the size of Trump's actual net worth.
In a September 2016 interview with NPR's Scott Simon, Cuban effectively positioned himself to support Clinton. He posited that the best strategy to beat Trump was to attack his insecurities, especially that of his intellect. He also added that Trump is the least qualified to be president and is not informed about policies.
Later in September 2016, during a post-presidential debate interview, Cuban criticized Trump's characterization that paying the minimum required taxes 'is smart' and criticized Trump for not paying back into the system that allowed him to amass such wealth.
In October 2017, Cuban said that he would "definitely" run for president if he were single. Later that month, Cuban claimed that if he ran for president in 2020, it would be as a Republican, and described himself as "socially a centrist ... but very fiscally conservative". It had also been speculated that he could have challenged president Donald Trump in 2020 as a Democrat. However, in a March 2019 interview with the New York Daily News, Cuban stated that he was "strongly considering running" for president as an independent candidate. In May 2019, Cuban said: "It would take the perfect storm for me to do it. There's some things that could open the door, but I'm not projecting or predicting it right now."
In a June 2020 interview with CNN and former Obama advisor David Axelrod, Cuban revealed that he had seriously considered running for president that year as an independent candidate. He went so far as to commission a national poll, which, according to Cuban, showed he would only receive 25 percent of the vote in a hypothetical matchup with President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden. Cuban also said that the poll showed his candidacy would have pulled votes from both Trump and Biden.
In early 2021, he decided to stop playing the National Anthem at Dallas Mavericks games in order to "respect those whose believed the anthem did not represent them." He also supported the movement as far back as late 2020. The NBA responded by requiring every team to play it, citing it as their "long-standing policy". Cuban did not complain, and ended up playing the anthem.
Personal life
Cuban has two brothers, Brian and Jeff.
In September 2002, Cuban married Tiffany Stewart in a private ceremony in Barbados. They have two daughters, born in 2003 and 2006, and a son born in 2010. They live in a mansion in the Preston Hollow area of Dallas, Texas.
In April 2019, after missing a taping of The View, Cuban revealed he had a procedure done to treat his atrial fibrillation. His diagnosis was first revealed in 2017 on Twitter.
Cuban is a vegetarian.
Philanthropy
In 2003, Cuban founded the Fallen Patriot Fund to help families of U.S. military personnel killed or injured during the Iraq War.
In June 2015, Cuban made a $5 million donation to Indiana University at Bloomington for the "Mark Cuban Center for Sports Media and Technology", which was built inside Assembly Hall, the school's basketball arena.
In March 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Cuban posted an offer on LinkedIn to small business owners who had questions about what to do in order to survive the economic downturn being caused by the pandemic. He said people could ask him anything, but that his preference was "going to be helping small biz trying to avoid layoffs and hourly reductions." There were more than 10,000 comments in response to his offer.
In 2020, Cuban picked up homeless former NBA player Delonte West from a gas station in Dallas. He paid for a hotel room for West along with his treatment at a drug rehabilitation center.
Sexual assault complaint
In a March 6, 2018 article, Willamette Week reported on an alleged April 2011 incident between Cuban and a female patron of a Portland, Oregon bar called the Barrel Room. The woman told Portland police that Cuban sexually groped her while she posed for pictures with him. She submitted seven photographs, two of which Portland Police Detective Brendan McGuire referred to as "significant". Cuban denied the allegations, and his attorney provided the results of a polygraph test taken by Cuban and written statements from two medical doctors stating that the actions described were anatomically improbable. The Portland District Attorney's office declined to prosecute, citing a lack of concrete evidence to support the claim and the woman's preference not to proceed with charges, and concluding that "no crime can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt". The NBA announced on March 8, 2018, that it was reviewing the matter.
Awards and honors
Business
1998 Kelley School of Business Alumni Award – Distinguished Entrepreneur: 1998
2011 D Magazine CEO of the Year
Sports
2011 NBA Champion (as owner of the Dallas Mavericks)
Media
2011 Outstanding Team ESPY Award (as owner of the Dallas Mavericks)
Filmography
Film
Television
Bibliography
How to Win at the Sport of Business: If I Can Do It, You Can Do It. Diversion Publishing. 2011.
Let's Go, Mavs!. Mascot Books. 2007.
References
External links
Blog
Mark Cuban collected news and commentary at The Guardian
1958 births
Living people
20th-century American businesspeople
20th-century American Jews
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century American businesspeople
21st-century American Jews
21st-century American male writers
21st-century American non-fiction writers
2929 Entertainment holdings
American bartenders
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American book publishers (people)
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American chairpersons of corporations
American children's writers
American computer businesspeople
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American investors
American libertarians
American male bloggers
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American mass media owners
American people of Romanian-Jewish descent
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Writers from Indiana
Writers from Pittsburgh | true | [
"The 1992 United States presidential election in Maine took place on November 3, 1992, as part of the 1992 United States presidential election. Voters chose four representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.\n\nMaine was won by Governor Bill Clinton (D-Arkansas) with 38.77% of the popular vote over businessman Ross Perot (I-Texas) with 30.44%. Incumbent President George H. W. Bush (R-Texas) finished in third, close behind Perot, with 30.39% of the popular vote. Despite the Bush family having ties to Maine, with Bush owning a house in Kennebunkport, Maine, Perot beat Bush for second place in the state by a slim margin of 316 votes, making Maine one of two states where Perot finished better than third place, the other being Utah, though Maine was the only state of the two where Perot won any counties. Clinton ultimately won the national vote, defeating both incumbent President Bush and Perot. Perot's 30.44% would prove Maine as his strongest state in the 1992 election. Ross Perot came within 4.55% of winning an electoral vote in Maine’s second congressional district, the closest he came to winning an electoral vote. In Maine's first congressional district, Bush finished in second place, with the 8.11% margin being the closest Bush would come in 1992 to winning an electoral vote in New England after New Hampshire and Connecticut.\n\nClinton was the first Democrat to carry the state of Maine since 1968 when Hubert Humphrey, running with Maine Senator Edmund Muskie as vice-presidential candidate, did so. He was also the first Democrat to win any county in Maine since Jimmy Carter in 1980, the first to win Kennebec County and York County since Carter in 1976, the first to carry the counties of Franklin, Oxford, Penobscot, Sagadahoc and Washington since 1968, and the first to carry Hancock, Knox and Lincoln Counties since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964. Maine would not vote Republican again, though Donald Trump would carry a single electoral vote from Maine's 2nd district in 2016 and 2020.\n\nAs of 2021, this is the last time that a sitting president finished third in a state or that a non-major party candidate would come in second or better.\n\nResults\n\nResults by county\n\nSee also\n United States presidential elections in Maine\n Presidency of Bill Clinton\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\nMaine\n1992\n1992 Maine elections",
"The 1992 United States presidential election in Mississippi took place on November 3, 1992, as part of the 1992 United States presidential election. Voters chose seven representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.\n\nMississippi was won by incumbent President George H. W. Bush (R-Texas) with 49.68% of the popular vote over Governor Bill Clinton (D-Arkansas) with 40.77%. Businessman Ross Perot (I-Texas) finished in third, with 8.72% of the popular vote. Clinton ultimately won the national vote, defeating both incumbent President Bush and Perot.\n\nPercentage-wise, Mississippi was President Bush's strongest state in the 1992 election. It was also Ross Perot's weakest state, and the only one where he failed to win more than 10% of the vote. He only did worse in the District of Columbia. , this is the last election in which Hinds County voted for a Republican presidential candidate and the last election in which Tishomingo County voted for a Democratic presidential candidate. This is the only state in the 1992 election in which the combined vote totals of Ross Perot and Bill Clinton would be insufficient to defeat Bush.\n\nResults\n\nResults by county\n\nReferences\n\nMississippi\n1992\n1992 Mississippi elections"
]
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[
"Mark Cuban",
"Dallas Mavericks",
"Was he an owner of the Dallas Mavericks?",
"Cuban purchased a majority stake in the NBA's Dallas Mavericks",
"Did he make good money on them?",
"I don't know.",
"Was there any controversy around this?",
"In May 2010, H. Ross Perot, Jr., who retained 5% ownership, filed a lawsuit against Cuban, alleging the franchise was insolvent or in imminent danger of insolvency.",
"What was Cuban's response?",
"In June 2010, Cuban responded in a court filing maintaining Perot is wrongly seeking money to offset some $100 million in losses on the Victory Park real estate development.",
"Did Perot win the suit?",
"The lawsuit was dismissed in 2011, due in part to Cuban asserting proper management of the team due to its recent victory in the 2011 NBA Finals."
]
| C_7b991ba6f6f749caaaa8e46abff79b4f_0 | Was there an appeal? | 6 | Was there an appeal for the Dallas Mavericks suit against Mark Cuban? | Mark Cuban | On January 4, 2000, Cuban purchased a majority stake in the NBA's Dallas Mavericks for $285 million from H. Ross Perot, Jr. In the 20 years before Cuban bought the team, the Mavericks won only 40% of their games, and a playoff record of 21-32. In the 10 years following, the team won 69 percent of their regular season games and reached the playoffs in each of those seasons except for one. The Mavericks' playoff record with Cuban is 49 wins and 57 losses, including their first trip to the NBA Finals in 2006, where they lost to the Miami Heat. On June 12, 2011, the Mavericks defeated the Heat to win the NBA Finals. Historically, NBA team owners publicly play more passive roles and watch basketball games from skyboxes; Cuban sits alongside fans while donning team jerseys. Cuban travels in his private airplane--a Gulfstream V--to attend road games. In May 2010, H. Ross Perot, Jr., who retained 5% ownership, filed a lawsuit against Cuban, alleging the franchise was insolvent or in imminent danger of insolvency. In June 2010, Cuban responded in a court filing maintaining Perot is wrongly seeking money to offset some $100 million in losses on the Victory Park real estate development. The lawsuit was dismissed in 2011, due in part to Cuban asserting proper management of the team due to its recent victory in the 2011 NBA Finals. In 2014, the 5th Circuit Court affirmed that decision on appeal. Following his initial defeat, Perot attempted to shut out Mavericks fans from use of the parking lots he controlled near the American Airlines Center. In January 2018, Cuban announced the Mavericks would be accepting Bitcoin as payment for tickets in the following season. CANNOTANSWER | In 2014, the 5th Circuit Court affirmed that decision on appeal. | Mark Cuban (born July 31, 1958) is an American billionaire entrepreneur, television personality, and media proprietor whose net worth is an estimated $4.3 billion, according to Forbes, and ranked #177 on the 2020 Forbes 400 list. He is the owner of the Dallas Mavericks professional basketball team of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the co-owner of 2929 Entertainment. He is also one of the main "shark" investors on the ABC reality television series Shark Tank.
Early life and education
Cuban was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His father, Norton Cuban, was an automobile upholsterer. Cuban described his mother, Shirley, as someone with "a different job or different career goal every other week."
Cuban grew up in Mount Lebanon, a suburb of Pittsburgh, in a Jewish working-class family. His paternal grandfather changed the family name from Chabenisky to Cuban after his family emigrated from Russia through Ellis Island. His maternal grandparents, who were also Jewish, came from Romania.
Cuban first ventured into business at age 12. He sold garbage bags to pay for a pair of expensive basketball shoes. Some years later, he earned money by selling stamps and coins. At age 16, Cuban took advantage of a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette strike by running newspapers from Cleveland to Pittsburgh.
Instead of attending high school for his senior year, he enrolled as a full-time student at the University of Pittsburgh, where he joined the Pi Lambda Phi fraternity. He is a fan of Pittsburgh's "beloved" NFL team, the Pittsburgh Steelers. After one year at the University of Pittsburgh, Cuban transferred to Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, where he graduated from the Kelley School of Business in 1981 with a Bachelor of Science degree in management. He chose Indiana's Kelley School of Business without even visiting the campus because it "had the least expensive tuition of all the business schools on the top 10 list". During college, he had various business ventures, including a bar, disco lessons, and a chain letter.
After graduating, Cuban returned to Pittsburgh and took a job with Mellon Bank. He immersed himself in the study of machines and networking.
Career
On July 7, 1982, Cuban moved to Dallas, Texas, where he first found work as a bartender for a Greenville Avenue bar called Elan and then as a salesperson for Your Business Software, one of the earliest PC software retailers in Dallas. He was fired less than a year later, after meeting with a client to procure new business instead of opening the store.
Cuban started his own company, MicroSolutions, with help from his previous customers from Your Business Software. MicroSolutions was initially a system integrator and software reseller. The company was an early proponent of technologies such as Carbon Copy, Lotus Notes, and CompuServe. One of the company's largest clients was Perot Systems.
The company grew to more than $30 million in revenue, and in 1990, Cuban sold MicroSolutions to CompuServe—then a subsidiary of H&R Block—for $6 million. He made approximately $2 million after taxes on the deal.
Audionet and Broadcast.com
In 1995, Cuban and fellow Indiana University alumnus Todd Wagner joined Audionet (founded in 1989 by Chris Jaeb who retained 10% of the company), combining their mutual interest in Indiana Hoosier college basketball and webcasting. With a single server and an ISDN line, Audionet became Broadcast.com in 1998. By 1999, Broadcast.com had grown to 330 employees and $13.5 million in revenue for the second quarter. In 1999, Broadcast.com helped launch the first live-streamed Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. That year, during the dot com boom, Broadcast.com was acquired by Yahoo! for $5.7 billion in Yahoo! stock.
After the sale of Broadcast.com, Cuban hedged against the risk of a decline in the value of the Yahoo! shares he received in the deal. The Guinness Book of Records credits Cuban with the "largest single e-commerce transaction", after he purchased a Gulfstream V jet for $40 million over the internet in October 1999.
Yahoo!'s costly purchase of Broadcast.com is now regarded as one of the worst internet acquisitions of all time. Broadcast.com along with Yahoo!'s other broadcasting services were discontinued within a few years after the acquisition. Cuban has repeatedly described himself as very lucky to have sold the company before the dot-com bubble burst. However, he also emphasized that he hedged against the Yahoo! shares he received from the sale, and that he would have lost most of his fortune if he had not done so.
Cuban continues to work with Wagner in another venture, 2929 Entertainment, which provides vertically integrated production and distribution of films and video.
On September 24, 2003, the firm purchased Landmark Theatres, a chain of 58 arthouse movie theaters. The company is also responsible for the updated version of the TV show Star Search, which was broadcast on CBS. 2929 Entertainment released Bubble, a movie directed by Steven Soderbergh, in 2006.
Cuban was featured on the cover of the November 2003 premiere issue of Best magazine announcing the arrival of high-definition television. Cuban also was co-founder (with Philip Garvin) of AXS TV (formerly HDNet), the first high-definition satellite television network.
In February 2004, Cuban announced that he would be working with ABC television to produce a reality television series, The Benefactor. The premise of the six-episode series involved 16 contestants trying to win $1 million by participating in various contests, with their performances being judged by Cuban. It premiered on September 13, 2004, but due to poor ratings, the series was canceled before the full season aired.
In 2018, Cuban was No.190 on Forbes list of "World's Richest People", with a net worth of $3.9 billion.
Cuban financially supported Grokster in the Supreme Court case MGM v. Grokster. He is also a partner in Synergy Sports Technology, a web based basketball scouting and video delivery tool, used by many NBA teams.
Investments in startups
Cuban has also assisted ventures in the social software and distributed networking industries. He was an owner of IceRocket, a search engine that scours the blogosphere for content. Cuban was a partner in RedSwoosh—a company which uses peer-to-peer technology to deliver rich media, including video and software, to a user's PC—later acquired by Akamai. He was also an investor in Weblogs, Inc., which was acquired by AOL.
In 2005, Cuban invested in Brondell Inc., a San Francisco startup making a high-tech toilet seat called a Swash that works like a bidet but mounts on a standard toilet. "People tend to approach technology the same way, whether it's in front of them, or behind them", Cuban joked. He also invested in Goowy Media Inc., a San Diego Internet software startup. In April 2006, Sirius Satellite Radio announced that Cuban would host his own weekly radio talk show, Mark Cuban's Radio Maverick. However, the show has not materialized.
In July 2006, Cuban financed Sharesleuth.com, a website created by former St. Louis Post-Dispatch investigative reporter Christopher Carey to uncover fraud and misinformation in publicly traded companies. Experimenting with a new business model for making online journalism financially viable, Cuban disclosed that he would take positions in the shares of companies mentioned in Sharesleuth.com in advance of publication. Business and legal analysts questioned the appropriateness of shorting a stock prior to making public pronouncements which are likely to result in losses in that stock's value. Cuban insisted that the practice is legal in view of full disclosure.
In April 2007, Cuban partnered with Mascot Books to publish his first children's book, Let's Go, Mavs!. In November 2011, he wrote a 30,000-word e-book, How to Win at the Sport of Business: If I Can Do It, You Can Do It, which he described as "a way to get motivated".
In October 2008, Cuban started Bailoutsleuth.com as a grassroots, online portal for oversight over the U.S. government's $700 billion "bailout" of financial institutions.
In September 2010, Cuban provided an undisclosed amount of venture capital to store-front analytics company Motionloft. According to the company's CEO Jon Mills, he cold-emailed Cuban on a whim with the business proposition and claimed Cuban quickly responded that he would like to hear more. Mills credited that sentence for launching the company. In November 2013, several investors questioned Cuban about Mills' representation of a pending acquisition of Motionloft. Cuban denied an acquisition was in place. Mills was terminated as CEO of Motionloft by stockholders on December 1, 2013, and in February 2014 was arrested by the FBI and charged with wire fraud, it being alleged that Mills misrepresented to investors that Motionloft was going to be acquired by Cisco. Cuban has gone on record to state that the technology, which at least in part is meant to serve the commercial real estate industry, is "game changing" for tenants.
In 2019, Cuban, Ashton Kutcher, Steve Watts and Watts' wife Angela, invested a 50% stake in Veldskoen shoes fledgling U.S. business. In 2021, Cuban, Pantera Capital, BlockTower, Hashed, Cadenza Ventures (backed by 100x Group), CMS and QCP Capital backed a layer-2 decentralized exchange protocol, Injective Protocol and their CEO Eric Chen. Also in late 2021, Cuban purchased the entire town of Mustang, Texas, a 77-acre town in Navarro County. He told the Dallas Morning News that a buddy needed to sell it and, "I don't know what if anything I will do with it."
Shark Tank
Cuban has been a "shark" investor on the ABC reality program Shark Tank since season two in 2011.
As of May 2015, he has invested in 85 deals across 111 Shark Tank episodes, for a total of $19.9 million invested. The actual numbers vary because the investment happens after the handshake deal on live television, after the due diligence is performed to ensure the accuracy of the information presented in the pitch room. For instance, Hy-Conn, a manufacturer of removable fire hoses, after agreeing to a deal of $1.25 million for 100% of the company with Cuban, did not go through with the deal.
Cuban's top three deals, all with at least $1 million invested, are Ten Thirty One Productions, Rugged Maniac Obstacle Race, and BeatBox Beverages.
Since Cuban joined the show in 2011, the ratings for Shark Tank have increased, and also during his tenure, the show has won three Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Structured Reality Program (from 2014 – 2016). As of 2022, Cuban is the richest of all Sharks to appear on the show after Sir Richard Branson.
Magnolia Pictures
Cuban owns film distributor Magnolia Pictures. Through Magnolia, he financed Redacted, a fictional dramatization based on the 2006 Mahmudiyah killings, written and directed by Brian De Palma. In September 2007, Cuban, in his capacity as owner of Magnolia Pictures, removed disturbing photographs from the concluding moments of the Redacted, citing copyrights/permissions issues.
Also in 2007, Cuban was reportedly interested in distributing through Magnolia an edition of the film Loose Change, which posits a 9/11 conspiracy theory, with Charlie Sheen narrating. Cuban told the New York Post, "We are having discussions about distributing the existing video with Charlie's involvement as a narrator, not in making a new feature. We are also looking for productions with an opposing viewpoint. We like controversial subjects, but we are agnostic to which side the controversy comes from."
In April 2011, Cuban put Magnolia Pictures and Landmark Theatres up for sale, but said, "If we don't get the price and premium we want, we are happy to continue to make money from the properties."
SEC insider trading allegation
On November 17, 2008, it was reported that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a civil suit against Cuban relating to alleged insider trading in the shares of Mamma.com, now known as Copernic. A stock dilution occurred shortly after a trade in June 2004, giving hints of inside knowledge at the time of the trade, and Cuban allegedly was saved from a loss of $750,000. The SEC claimed that Cuban ordered the sale of his holdings in Mamma.com after he had been confidentially approached by the company to participate in a transaction likely to dilute shares of current shareholders. Cuban disputed the charges, saying he had not agreed to keep the information secret. On his blog, Cuban contended the allegations were false and that the investigation was "a product of gross abuse of prosecutorial discretion". DealBook, a section of The New York Times, reported through an anonymous source that Cuban believed the investigation was motivated by an SEC employee having taken offense to his interest in possibly distributing the film Loose Change.
In July 2009, the U.S. District Court dismissed the charges against Cuban, and the SEC appealed. In September 2010, an appeals court said that the district court had erred and that further proceedings would be necessary to address the merits of the suit.
A federal jury in Texas found in favor of Cuban on October 16, 2013. The nine-member jury issued the verdict after deliberating 3 hours and 35 minutes.
In March 2014, Cuban was on air at CNBC criticizing high-frequency trading (HFT). Those against HFT, such as Cuban, believe the technology is equivalent to automated insider trading.
Sports businesses
Dallas Mavericks
On January 4, 2000, Cuban purchased a majority stake in the NBA's Dallas Mavericks for $285 million from H. Ross Perot Jr.
In the 20 years before Cuban bought the team, the Mavericks won only 40% of their games and had a playoff record of 21–32. In the 10 years following, the team won 69 percent of their regular season games and reached the playoffs in each of those seasons except for one. The Mavericks' playoff record with Cuban is 49–57, including their first trip to the NBA Finals in 2006, where they lost to the Miami Heat.
Historically, NBA team owners publicly play more passive roles and watch basketball games from skyboxes; Cuban sits alongside fans while donning team jerseys. Cuban travels in his private airplane—a Gulfstream V—to attend road games.
In May 2010, H. Ross Perot Jr., who retained 5% ownership, filed a lawsuit against Cuban, alleging the franchise was insolvent or in imminent danger of insolvency. In June 2010, Cuban responded in a court filing maintaining Perot is wrongly seeking money to offset some $100 million in losses on the Victory Park real estate development. The lawsuit was dismissed in 2011, due in part to Cuban asserting proper management of the team due to its recent victory in the 2011 NBA Finals. In 2014, the 5th Circuit Court affirmed that decision on appeal. Following his initial defeat, Perot attempted to shut out Mavericks fans from use of the parking lots he controlled near the American Airlines Center.
In January 2018, Cuban announced the Mavericks would be accepting Bitcoin as payment for tickets in the following season.
NBA fines
Cuban's ownership has been the source of extensive media attention and controversy involving league policies.
Cuban has been fined by the NBA, mostly for critical statements about the league and referees, at least $1.665 million for 13 incidents. In a June 30, 2006 interview, Mavericks player Dirk Nowitzki said about Cuban:
In an interview with the Associated Press, Cuban said that he matches NBA fines with charitable donations of equal amounts. In a nationally publicized incident in 2002, he criticized the league's manager of officials, Ed T. Rush, saying that he "wouldn't be able to manage a Dairy Queen." Dairy Queen management took offense to Cuban's comments and invited him to manage a Dairy Queen restaurant for a day. Cuban accepted the company's invitation and worked for a day at a Dairy Queen in Coppell, Texas, where fans lined up in the street to get a Blizzard from the owner of the Mavericks.
During the 2005–06 NBA season, Cuban started a booing campaign when former Mavericks player Michael Finley returned to play against the Mavericks as a member of the San Antonio Spurs. In a playoff series between the Mavericks and Spurs, Cuban cursed Spurs forward Bruce Bowen and was fined $25,000 by the NBA for rushing onto the court and criticizing NBA officials. After the 2006 NBA Finals, Cuban was fined $250,000 by the NBA for repeated misconduct following the Mavericks' loss to the Miami Heat in Game Five of the 2006 NBA Finals.
In February 2007, Cuban publicly criticized NBA Finals MVP Dwyane Wade and declared that he would get fined if he made any comments about what he thought really happened in the 2006 NBA Finals.
On January 16, 2009, the league fined Cuban $25,000 for yelling at Denver Nuggets player J. R. Smith at the end of the first half on a Mavericks-at-Nuggets game played on January 13. Cuban was apparently incensed that Smith had thrown an elbow that barely missed Mavericks forward Antoine Wright. Cuban offered to match the fine with a donation to a charity of Smith's choosing. Cuban stated that if he doesn't hear from Smith, then he will donate the money to the NHL Players' Association Goals and Dreams Fund in the names of Todd Bertuzzi and Steve Moore. In May 2009, Cuban made a reference to the Denver Nuggets being "thugs" after a loss to the Nuggets in game 3 of the Western Conference Semifinals. The statement was geared towards the Nuggets and their fans. As he passed Kenyon Martin's mother, who was seated near Cuban as he left the arena, he pointed at her and said, "that includes your son." This controversial comment revisited media attention on Cuban yet again. Cuban issued an apology the next day referencing the poor treatment of away fans in arenas around the league. The league issued a statement stating that they would not fine him.
On May 22, 2010, Cuban was fined $100,000 for comments he made during a television interview about trying to sign LeBron James.
Despite his history, he was notably silent during the Mavericks' 2011 championship playoff run.
Despite Cuban's history with David Stern, he believed the NBA Commissioner would leave a lasting legacy "of a focus on growth and recognizing that the NBA is in the entertainment business and that it's a global product, not just a local product. Whatever platforms that took us to, he was ready to go. He wasn't protective at all. He was wide open. I think that was great."
On January 18, 2014, Cuban was once again fined $100,000 for confronting referees and using inappropriate language toward them. As with previous fines, Cuban confirmed that he would match the fine with a donation to charity, however, with the condition that he reaches two million followers on his Twitter account. Cuban also jokingly commented that he could not let Stern leave without a proper farewell.
On February 21, 2018, Cuban was fined $600,000 by the NBA for stating that the Dallas Mavericks should "tank for the rest of the season." Commissioner Adam Silver stated that the fine was "for public statements detrimental to the NBA."
On March 6, 2020, Cuban was fined $500,000 by the NBA for "public criticism and detrimental conduct regarding NBA officiating", according to the league.
Major League Baseball
Cuban has repeatedly expressed interest in owning a Major League Baseball franchise and has unsuccessfully attempted to purchase at least three franchises. In 2008, he submitted an initial bid of $1.3 billion to buy the Chicago Cubs and was invited to participate in a second round of bidding along with several other potential ownership groups. Cuban was not selected to participate in the final bidding process in January 2009. In August 2010, Cuban actively bid to buy the Texas Rangers with Jeffrey L. Beck. Cuban stopped bids after 1 a.m., having placed bids totaling almost $600 million. He had outbid a competing ownership group led by ex-pitcher and Rangers executive Nolan Ryan, but lost the deal before the Rangers played the San Francisco Giants in the 2010 World Series.
In January 2012, Cuban placed an initial bid for the Los Angeles Dodgers, but was eliminated before the second round of bidding. Cuban felt that the value of the Dodgers' TV rights deal drove the price of the franchise too high. He had previously said that he would not be interested in buying the franchise at $1 billion, telling the Los Angeles Times in November 2011 "I don't think the Dodgers franchise is worth twice what the Rangers are worth." However, as the bidding process drew near many speculated that the sale would surpass $1.5 billion, with Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reporting on Twitter that at least one bid in the $1–1.5 billion range was placed in the initial round of the bidding process. Ultimately, the Dodgers sold for $2.15 billion to Guggenheim Baseball Management.
Cuban also previously expressed interest in becoming a minority owner of the New York Mets after owner Fred Wilpon announced in 2011 that he was planning to sell up to a 25% stake in the team.
Cuban has wanted to purchase his hometown Pittsburgh Pirates, but was rebuffed by then owner Kevin McClatchy in 2005.
Other sports businesses
In 2005, Cuban expressed interest in buying the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins. In 2006, Cuban joined an investment group along with Dan Marino, Kevin Millevoi, Andy Murstein, and Walnut Capital principals Gregg Perelman and Todd Reidbord to attempt to acquire the Penguins. The franchise ultimately rejected the group's bid when team owners Mario Lemieux and Ronald Burkle took the team off the market.
At WWE's Survivor Series in 2003, Cuban was involved in a staged altercation with Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff and Raw wrestler Randy Orton. On December 7, 2009, Cuban acted as the guest host of Raw, getting revenge on Orton when he was the guest referee in Orton's match against Kofi Kingston, giving Kingston a fast count victory. He then announced that Orton would face Kingston at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs. At the end of the show, Cuban was slammed through a table by the number one contender for the WWE Championship, Sheamus.
On September 12, 2007, Cuban said that he was in talks with WWE Chairman Vince McMahon to create a mixed martial arts company that would compete with UFC. He is now a bondholder of Zuffa, which was formerly UFC's parent company.
Cuban followed up his intentions by organizing "HDNet Fights", a mixed martial arts promotion which airs exclusively on HDNet and premiered on October 13, 2007, with a card headlined by a fight between Erik Paulson and Jeff Ford as well as fights featuring veterans Drew Fickett and Justin Eilers.
Since 2009, Cuban has been a panelist at the annual MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference.
In April 2010, Cuban loaned the newly formed United Football League (UFL) $5 million. He did not own a franchise, and he was not involved in day-to-day operations of the league nor of any of its teams. In January 2011, he filed a federal lawsuit against the UFL for their failure to repay the loan by the October 6, 2010 deadline.
In June 2015, Cuban invested in the esports betting platform Unikrn.
In February 2016, Cuban purchased a principal ownership stake in the Professional Futsal League.
Political activity
Cuban is an admirer of author and philosopher Ayn Rand. About Rand's novel The Fountainhead, he said, that it "was incredibly motivating to me. It encouraged me to think as an individual, take risks to reach my goals, and responsibility for my successes and failures. I loved it." His political views have leaned toward libertarianism. He held a position on the centrist Unity08 political organization's advisory council. While leaning towards libertarianism, Cuban posted an entry on his blog claiming paying more taxes to be the most patriotic thing someone can do.
In 2012, Cuban donated $7,000 to political campaigns, with $6,000 going to Republican Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah and $1,000 to Democratic California Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren.
On February 8, 2008, Cuban voiced his support for the draft Bloomberg movement attempting to convince New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to run in the U.S. presidential election of 2008 on his blog. Cuban concluded a post lamenting the current state of U.S. politics: "Are you listening, Mayor Bloomberg? For less than the cost of opening a tent pole movie, you can change the status quo." He eventually voted for Barack Obama in the 2008 election.
In November 2012, in response to Donald Trump offering President Obama $5 million to a charity of President Obama's choosing if he released passport applications and college transcripts to the public, Cuban offered Trump $1 million to a charity of Trump's choosing if Trump shaved his head.
On December 19, 2012, Cuban donated $250,000 to the Electronic Frontier Foundation to support its work on patent reform. Part of his donation funded a new title for EFF's staff attorney Julie Samuels: The Mark Cuban Chair to Eliminate Stupid Patents.
At the Code/Media conference in February 2015, Cuban said of net neutrality that "having [the FCC] overseeing the Internet scares the shit out of me".
Cuban formally endorsed Hillary Clinton for president at a July 30, 2016, rally in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. During that campaign stop, Cuban said of Republican nominee Donald Trump, "You know what we call a person like that in Pittsburgh? A jagoff ... Is there any bigger jagoff in the world than Donald Trump?"
On November 22, 2016, Cuban met with the then President-elect Trump's key advisor Steve Bannon, according to reports.
During an appearance on an episode of Hannity in May 2020, Cuban voiced his support for former Vice President Joe Biden in the 2020 U.S. presidential election.
On February 2, 2021, Cuban joined Reddit's WallStreetBets "Ask Me Anything" forum with millions of community members and fielded user questions related to the widely publicized battle between retail traders and Wall Street short sellers over GameStop shares. In the previous days, GameStop shares experienced a meteoric rise to as much as $489 on January 28, 2021, up from $17.15 on January 4, 2021. The growth was mainly brought on by an organized group of Reddit users named "WallStreetBets" that noticed GameStop stock was heavily shorted by Wall Street hedge firms and launched an ensuing campaign to buy enough shares to raise share value and produce a GameStop short squeeze. In the aftermath, the stock became heavily volatile as hedge firms repositioned themselves in the market. Firms like Melvin Capital required bailouts exceeding $2B and retail traders experienced excessive but temporary gains, whereas GameStop share value dropped to below $100 within a few days of closing at over $300. The consistent decline into February raised a lot of questions about next steps for retail traders and prompted Cuban to step in and provide advice to the Reddit community. Amid the volatility, Cuban had been an outspoken supporter of the WallStreetBets community alongside other wealthy financial figureheads like Chamath Palihapitiya, Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss. In the AMA session, Cuban publicly called the trust of the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission into question as well as the capabilities of zero commission brokerage firms, like Robinhood, that restricted retail traders from purchasing GameStop shares and other shorted stocks which he said crippled demand. Cuban's advice to Reddit users was to hold GameStop shares if they could afford it in anticipation of additional short sales by Wall Street firms, but ultimately acknowledged that the odds were stacked against them and to use it as a learning lesson. He offered insight into his trading technique suggesting that traders know why they are buying something and to "HODL"(hold on for dear life) until they learn that something has changed. Cuban noted a need for policy change to better support retail traders, credited the WallStreetBets community for leading the charge, and expressed optimism about blockchain trading as a more efficient, transparent and trustworthy form of trading for retail traders in the future.
Fallen Patriot Fund
Cuban started the Fallen Patriot Fund to help families of U.S. military personnel killed or injured during the Iraq War, personally matching the first $1 million in contributions with funds from the Mark Cuban Foundation, which is run by his brother Brian Cuban.
Speculation of a presidential run
In September 2015, Cuban stated in an interview that running for president was "a fun idea to toss around", and that, if he were running in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, he "could beat both Trump and Clinton". This was interpreted by many media outlets as indication that Cuban was considering running, but he clarified soon afterward that he had no intention to do so.
In October 2015, Cuban posted on Twitter, "Maybe I'll run for Speaker of the House." At the time, there was no clear front-runner to replace the outgoing John Boehner; the Speaker of the House does not have to be a member of Congress.
Cuban told Meet the Press in May 2016 that he would be open to being Clinton's running mate in the election, though he would seek to alter some of her positions in order to do so. In the same interview, the self-described "fiercely independent" Cuban also said that he would consider running as Republican nominee Trump's running mate after having a meeting with Trump about understanding the issues, Trump's positions on them, and coming up with solutions. Cuban also described Trump as "that friend that you just shake your head at. He's that guy who'd get drunk and fall over all the time, or just says dumb shit all the time, but he's your friend." On July 21, 2016, Cuban appeared on a live segment on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert entitled "Gloves Off: Mark Cuban Edition" in which he mocked Trump, including referencing the Trump companies' multiple bankruptcies and the failed Trump University program, and questioning the size of Trump's actual net worth.
In a September 2016 interview with NPR's Scott Simon, Cuban effectively positioned himself to support Clinton. He posited that the best strategy to beat Trump was to attack his insecurities, especially that of his intellect. He also added that Trump is the least qualified to be president and is not informed about policies.
Later in September 2016, during a post-presidential debate interview, Cuban criticized Trump's characterization that paying the minimum required taxes 'is smart' and criticized Trump for not paying back into the system that allowed him to amass such wealth.
In October 2017, Cuban said that he would "definitely" run for president if he were single. Later that month, Cuban claimed that if he ran for president in 2020, it would be as a Republican, and described himself as "socially a centrist ... but very fiscally conservative". It had also been speculated that he could have challenged president Donald Trump in 2020 as a Democrat. However, in a March 2019 interview with the New York Daily News, Cuban stated that he was "strongly considering running" for president as an independent candidate. In May 2019, Cuban said: "It would take the perfect storm for me to do it. There's some things that could open the door, but I'm not projecting or predicting it right now."
In a June 2020 interview with CNN and former Obama advisor David Axelrod, Cuban revealed that he had seriously considered running for president that year as an independent candidate. He went so far as to commission a national poll, which, according to Cuban, showed he would only receive 25 percent of the vote in a hypothetical matchup with President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden. Cuban also said that the poll showed his candidacy would have pulled votes from both Trump and Biden.
In early 2021, he decided to stop playing the National Anthem at Dallas Mavericks games in order to "respect those whose believed the anthem did not represent them." He also supported the movement as far back as late 2020. The NBA responded by requiring every team to play it, citing it as their "long-standing policy". Cuban did not complain, and ended up playing the anthem.
Personal life
Cuban has two brothers, Brian and Jeff.
In September 2002, Cuban married Tiffany Stewart in a private ceremony in Barbados. They have two daughters, born in 2003 and 2006, and a son born in 2010. They live in a mansion in the Preston Hollow area of Dallas, Texas.
In April 2019, after missing a taping of The View, Cuban revealed he had a procedure done to treat his atrial fibrillation. His diagnosis was first revealed in 2017 on Twitter.
Cuban is a vegetarian.
Philanthropy
In 2003, Cuban founded the Fallen Patriot Fund to help families of U.S. military personnel killed or injured during the Iraq War.
In June 2015, Cuban made a $5 million donation to Indiana University at Bloomington for the "Mark Cuban Center for Sports Media and Technology", which was built inside Assembly Hall, the school's basketball arena.
In March 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Cuban posted an offer on LinkedIn to small business owners who had questions about what to do in order to survive the economic downturn being caused by the pandemic. He said people could ask him anything, but that his preference was "going to be helping small biz trying to avoid layoffs and hourly reductions." There were more than 10,000 comments in response to his offer.
In 2020, Cuban picked up homeless former NBA player Delonte West from a gas station in Dallas. He paid for a hotel room for West along with his treatment at a drug rehabilitation center.
Sexual assault complaint
In a March 6, 2018 article, Willamette Week reported on an alleged April 2011 incident between Cuban and a female patron of a Portland, Oregon bar called the Barrel Room. The woman told Portland police that Cuban sexually groped her while she posed for pictures with him. She submitted seven photographs, two of which Portland Police Detective Brendan McGuire referred to as "significant". Cuban denied the allegations, and his attorney provided the results of a polygraph test taken by Cuban and written statements from two medical doctors stating that the actions described were anatomically improbable. The Portland District Attorney's office declined to prosecute, citing a lack of concrete evidence to support the claim and the woman's preference not to proceed with charges, and concluding that "no crime can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt". The NBA announced on March 8, 2018, that it was reviewing the matter.
Awards and honors
Business
1998 Kelley School of Business Alumni Award – Distinguished Entrepreneur: 1998
2011 D Magazine CEO of the Year
Sports
2011 NBA Champion (as owner of the Dallas Mavericks)
Media
2011 Outstanding Team ESPY Award (as owner of the Dallas Mavericks)
Filmography
Film
Television
Bibliography
How to Win at the Sport of Business: If I Can Do It, You Can Do It. Diversion Publishing. 2011.
Let's Go, Mavs!. Mascot Books. 2007.
References
External links
Blog
Mark Cuban collected news and commentary at The Guardian
1958 births
Living people
20th-century American businesspeople
20th-century American Jews
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century American businesspeople
21st-century American Jews
21st-century American male writers
21st-century American non-fiction writers
2929 Entertainment holdings
American bartenders
American billionaires
American bloggers
American book publishers (people)
American business writers
American chairpersons of corporations
American children's writers
American computer businesspeople
American corporate directors
American financiers
American film producers
American investors
American libertarians
American male bloggers
American male non-fiction writers
American mass media owners
American people of Romanian-Jewish descent
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
American philanthropists
American reality television producers
American retail chief executives
American salespeople
American technology chief executives
American technology company founders
American technology writers
American television company founders
American television executives
American venture capitalists
Businesspeople from Indiana
Businesspeople from Pittsburgh
Businesspeople from Texas
Businesspeople in information technology
Businesspeople in software
Copyright activists
Dallas Mavericks owners
Esports businesspeople
Film producers from Indiana
Film producers from Pennsylvania
Film producers from Texas
Jewish activists
Jewish American writers
Kelley School of Business alumni
Participants in American reality television series
People from Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania
People from Navarro County, Texas
Television personalities from Pittsburgh
Television producers from Indiana
Television producers from Pennsylvania
Television producers from Texas
Texas Independents
University of Pittsburgh alumni
Writers from Dallas
Writers from Indiana
Writers from Pittsburgh | true | [
"In S v Sikhipha (2006), Sikhipha was convicted of raping a thirteen-year-old girl and sentenced to life imprisonment. On appeal, Sikhipha contended on that the trial had been vitiated by various irregularities. Among these was the contention that he had been unrepresented, and that his rights had not been properly explained to him.\n\nThe court noted that whether an irregularity resulted in an unfair trial depended on whether or not the accused had been prejudiced.\n\nIn the present case the court held that Sikhipha had been apprised of his rights, and there was no indication that he had been prejudiced by the absence of a legal representative. There was no irregularity in this respect.\n\nWhere, however, an accused faces a charge as serious as that of rape, with a possible life sentence, he should not only be advised of his right to a legal representative, but encouraged to exercise it.\n\nOn the present facts, the accused had not been prejudiced. The appeal against conviction was dismissed, although there was an appeal against sentence which was upheld: The sentence of life imprisonment was set aside and a sentence of twenty years' imprisonment imposed instead.\n\nNotes \nS v Sikhipha 2006 (2) SACR 439 (SCA)\nAnnual Survey of South African Law 2006, pp 749 & 790\n\nSouth African case law\n2006 in case law\n2006 in South African law",
"Bishopsgate Investment Management Ltd v Homan [1994] EWCA Civ 33 is an English trusts law case about whether a beneficiary whose fiduciary breaches trust, may trace assets through an overdrawn account to its destination.\n\nFacts\nMr Homan, a PriceWaterhouseCoopers partner, administered the insolvent companies of Robert Maxwell. After Maxwell fell off his luxury yacht and died, it was revealed that he had taken his employees' pension money. Bishopsgate Investment Management Ltd. was the trustee of pension moneys belonging to the employees of Maxwell Communications Corporation plc. In breach of trust, Maxwell paid the pension money into the overdrawn accounts of MCC. Upon liquidation, Bishopsgate claimed it was entitled to trace the pension money to create an equitable charge over all the assets of MCC, and thus priority over unsecured creditors of MCC.\n\nJudgment\n\nHigh Court\nVinelott J held that there could be no equitable charge. He accepted there could be backwards tracing if (1) property is acquired with money from an overdrawn account, because the defendant could be presumed to intend to pay off the overdraft (2) if trust money is paid into an overdrawn account to free up the limit and enable purchase of another\n\nCourt of Appeal\nThe Court of Appeal held that a tracing chain between the misappropriated money and the present assets of MCC could not be established. The misappropriated money was paid into an overdrawn account. At that point the mixed fund was exhausted. Unless there was evidence that payments were made to the overdrawn account with the intention of benefiting the trust fund from which monies had been withdrawn, which in Maxwell’s case appeared highly unlikely, no equitable charge could be imputed against the credit balance. BIM could therefore not recover any of the misappropriated pension fund monies from MCC in priority to the unsecured creditors.\n\nDillon LJ held there was no particular asset into which property could be traced, if an account were overdrawn. He endorsed Vinelott J’s, saying it was ‘at least arguable’ that there would be an equitable charge.\n\nLeggatt LJ held that backwards tracing was impossible.\n\nHenry LJ concurred.\n\nThe House of Lords dismissed the petition to appeal.\n\nSee also\n\nEnglish trusts law\nBishopsgate Investment Management Ltd v Maxwell (No 2) [1993] BCLC 814, director's duty to act for proper purposes\nMacmillan Inc v Bishopsgate Investment Trust plc (No 3)\n\nNotes\n\nEnglish trusts case law\n1994 in British law\n1994 in case law\nCourt of Appeal (England and Wales) cases"
]
|
[
"Mark Cuban",
"Dallas Mavericks",
"Was he an owner of the Dallas Mavericks?",
"Cuban purchased a majority stake in the NBA's Dallas Mavericks",
"Did he make good money on them?",
"I don't know.",
"Was there any controversy around this?",
"In May 2010, H. Ross Perot, Jr., who retained 5% ownership, filed a lawsuit against Cuban, alleging the franchise was insolvent or in imminent danger of insolvency.",
"What was Cuban's response?",
"In June 2010, Cuban responded in a court filing maintaining Perot is wrongly seeking money to offset some $100 million in losses on the Victory Park real estate development.",
"Did Perot win the suit?",
"The lawsuit was dismissed in 2011, due in part to Cuban asserting proper management of the team due to its recent victory in the 2011 NBA Finals.",
"Was there an appeal?",
"In 2014, the 5th Circuit Court affirmed that decision on appeal."
]
| C_7b991ba6f6f749caaaa8e46abff79b4f_0 | Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | 7 | Besides the suit against Mark Cuban,Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | Mark Cuban | On January 4, 2000, Cuban purchased a majority stake in the NBA's Dallas Mavericks for $285 million from H. Ross Perot, Jr. In the 20 years before Cuban bought the team, the Mavericks won only 40% of their games, and a playoff record of 21-32. In the 10 years following, the team won 69 percent of their regular season games and reached the playoffs in each of those seasons except for one. The Mavericks' playoff record with Cuban is 49 wins and 57 losses, including their first trip to the NBA Finals in 2006, where they lost to the Miami Heat. On June 12, 2011, the Mavericks defeated the Heat to win the NBA Finals. Historically, NBA team owners publicly play more passive roles and watch basketball games from skyboxes; Cuban sits alongside fans while donning team jerseys. Cuban travels in his private airplane--a Gulfstream V--to attend road games. In May 2010, H. Ross Perot, Jr., who retained 5% ownership, filed a lawsuit against Cuban, alleging the franchise was insolvent or in imminent danger of insolvency. In June 2010, Cuban responded in a court filing maintaining Perot is wrongly seeking money to offset some $100 million in losses on the Victory Park real estate development. The lawsuit was dismissed in 2011, due in part to Cuban asserting proper management of the team due to its recent victory in the 2011 NBA Finals. In 2014, the 5th Circuit Court affirmed that decision on appeal. Following his initial defeat, Perot attempted to shut out Mavericks fans from use of the parking lots he controlled near the American Airlines Center. In January 2018, Cuban announced the Mavericks would be accepting Bitcoin as payment for tickets in the following season. CANNOTANSWER | In the 20 years before Cuban bought the team, the Mavericks won only 40% of their games, and a playoff record of 21-32. | Mark Cuban (born July 31, 1958) is an American billionaire entrepreneur, television personality, and media proprietor whose net worth is an estimated $4.3 billion, according to Forbes, and ranked #177 on the 2020 Forbes 400 list. He is the owner of the Dallas Mavericks professional basketball team of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the co-owner of 2929 Entertainment. He is also one of the main "shark" investors on the ABC reality television series Shark Tank.
Early life and education
Cuban was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His father, Norton Cuban, was an automobile upholsterer. Cuban described his mother, Shirley, as someone with "a different job or different career goal every other week."
Cuban grew up in Mount Lebanon, a suburb of Pittsburgh, in a Jewish working-class family. His paternal grandfather changed the family name from Chabenisky to Cuban after his family emigrated from Russia through Ellis Island. His maternal grandparents, who were also Jewish, came from Romania.
Cuban first ventured into business at age 12. He sold garbage bags to pay for a pair of expensive basketball shoes. Some years later, he earned money by selling stamps and coins. At age 16, Cuban took advantage of a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette strike by running newspapers from Cleveland to Pittsburgh.
Instead of attending high school for his senior year, he enrolled as a full-time student at the University of Pittsburgh, where he joined the Pi Lambda Phi fraternity. He is a fan of Pittsburgh's "beloved" NFL team, the Pittsburgh Steelers. After one year at the University of Pittsburgh, Cuban transferred to Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, where he graduated from the Kelley School of Business in 1981 with a Bachelor of Science degree in management. He chose Indiana's Kelley School of Business without even visiting the campus because it "had the least expensive tuition of all the business schools on the top 10 list". During college, he had various business ventures, including a bar, disco lessons, and a chain letter.
After graduating, Cuban returned to Pittsburgh and took a job with Mellon Bank. He immersed himself in the study of machines and networking.
Career
On July 7, 1982, Cuban moved to Dallas, Texas, where he first found work as a bartender for a Greenville Avenue bar called Elan and then as a salesperson for Your Business Software, one of the earliest PC software retailers in Dallas. He was fired less than a year later, after meeting with a client to procure new business instead of opening the store.
Cuban started his own company, MicroSolutions, with help from his previous customers from Your Business Software. MicroSolutions was initially a system integrator and software reseller. The company was an early proponent of technologies such as Carbon Copy, Lotus Notes, and CompuServe. One of the company's largest clients was Perot Systems.
The company grew to more than $30 million in revenue, and in 1990, Cuban sold MicroSolutions to CompuServe—then a subsidiary of H&R Block—for $6 million. He made approximately $2 million after taxes on the deal.
Audionet and Broadcast.com
In 1995, Cuban and fellow Indiana University alumnus Todd Wagner joined Audionet (founded in 1989 by Chris Jaeb who retained 10% of the company), combining their mutual interest in Indiana Hoosier college basketball and webcasting. With a single server and an ISDN line, Audionet became Broadcast.com in 1998. By 1999, Broadcast.com had grown to 330 employees and $13.5 million in revenue for the second quarter. In 1999, Broadcast.com helped launch the first live-streamed Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. That year, during the dot com boom, Broadcast.com was acquired by Yahoo! for $5.7 billion in Yahoo! stock.
After the sale of Broadcast.com, Cuban hedged against the risk of a decline in the value of the Yahoo! shares he received in the deal. The Guinness Book of Records credits Cuban with the "largest single e-commerce transaction", after he purchased a Gulfstream V jet for $40 million over the internet in October 1999.
Yahoo!'s costly purchase of Broadcast.com is now regarded as one of the worst internet acquisitions of all time. Broadcast.com along with Yahoo!'s other broadcasting services were discontinued within a few years after the acquisition. Cuban has repeatedly described himself as very lucky to have sold the company before the dot-com bubble burst. However, he also emphasized that he hedged against the Yahoo! shares he received from the sale, and that he would have lost most of his fortune if he had not done so.
Cuban continues to work with Wagner in another venture, 2929 Entertainment, which provides vertically integrated production and distribution of films and video.
On September 24, 2003, the firm purchased Landmark Theatres, a chain of 58 arthouse movie theaters. The company is also responsible for the updated version of the TV show Star Search, which was broadcast on CBS. 2929 Entertainment released Bubble, a movie directed by Steven Soderbergh, in 2006.
Cuban was featured on the cover of the November 2003 premiere issue of Best magazine announcing the arrival of high-definition television. Cuban also was co-founder (with Philip Garvin) of AXS TV (formerly HDNet), the first high-definition satellite television network.
In February 2004, Cuban announced that he would be working with ABC television to produce a reality television series, The Benefactor. The premise of the six-episode series involved 16 contestants trying to win $1 million by participating in various contests, with their performances being judged by Cuban. It premiered on September 13, 2004, but due to poor ratings, the series was canceled before the full season aired.
In 2018, Cuban was No.190 on Forbes list of "World's Richest People", with a net worth of $3.9 billion.
Cuban financially supported Grokster in the Supreme Court case MGM v. Grokster. He is also a partner in Synergy Sports Technology, a web based basketball scouting and video delivery tool, used by many NBA teams.
Investments in startups
Cuban has also assisted ventures in the social software and distributed networking industries. He was an owner of IceRocket, a search engine that scours the blogosphere for content. Cuban was a partner in RedSwoosh—a company which uses peer-to-peer technology to deliver rich media, including video and software, to a user's PC—later acquired by Akamai. He was also an investor in Weblogs, Inc., which was acquired by AOL.
In 2005, Cuban invested in Brondell Inc., a San Francisco startup making a high-tech toilet seat called a Swash that works like a bidet but mounts on a standard toilet. "People tend to approach technology the same way, whether it's in front of them, or behind them", Cuban joked. He also invested in Goowy Media Inc., a San Diego Internet software startup. In April 2006, Sirius Satellite Radio announced that Cuban would host his own weekly radio talk show, Mark Cuban's Radio Maverick. However, the show has not materialized.
In July 2006, Cuban financed Sharesleuth.com, a website created by former St. Louis Post-Dispatch investigative reporter Christopher Carey to uncover fraud and misinformation in publicly traded companies. Experimenting with a new business model for making online journalism financially viable, Cuban disclosed that he would take positions in the shares of companies mentioned in Sharesleuth.com in advance of publication. Business and legal analysts questioned the appropriateness of shorting a stock prior to making public pronouncements which are likely to result in losses in that stock's value. Cuban insisted that the practice is legal in view of full disclosure.
In April 2007, Cuban partnered with Mascot Books to publish his first children's book, Let's Go, Mavs!. In November 2011, he wrote a 30,000-word e-book, How to Win at the Sport of Business: If I Can Do It, You Can Do It, which he described as "a way to get motivated".
In October 2008, Cuban started Bailoutsleuth.com as a grassroots, online portal for oversight over the U.S. government's $700 billion "bailout" of financial institutions.
In September 2010, Cuban provided an undisclosed amount of venture capital to store-front analytics company Motionloft. According to the company's CEO Jon Mills, he cold-emailed Cuban on a whim with the business proposition and claimed Cuban quickly responded that he would like to hear more. Mills credited that sentence for launching the company. In November 2013, several investors questioned Cuban about Mills' representation of a pending acquisition of Motionloft. Cuban denied an acquisition was in place. Mills was terminated as CEO of Motionloft by stockholders on December 1, 2013, and in February 2014 was arrested by the FBI and charged with wire fraud, it being alleged that Mills misrepresented to investors that Motionloft was going to be acquired by Cisco. Cuban has gone on record to state that the technology, which at least in part is meant to serve the commercial real estate industry, is "game changing" for tenants.
In 2019, Cuban, Ashton Kutcher, Steve Watts and Watts' wife Angela, invested a 50% stake in Veldskoen shoes fledgling U.S. business. In 2021, Cuban, Pantera Capital, BlockTower, Hashed, Cadenza Ventures (backed by 100x Group), CMS and QCP Capital backed a layer-2 decentralized exchange protocol, Injective Protocol and their CEO Eric Chen. Also in late 2021, Cuban purchased the entire town of Mustang, Texas, a 77-acre town in Navarro County. He told the Dallas Morning News that a buddy needed to sell it and, "I don't know what if anything I will do with it."
Shark Tank
Cuban has been a "shark" investor on the ABC reality program Shark Tank since season two in 2011.
As of May 2015, he has invested in 85 deals across 111 Shark Tank episodes, for a total of $19.9 million invested. The actual numbers vary because the investment happens after the handshake deal on live television, after the due diligence is performed to ensure the accuracy of the information presented in the pitch room. For instance, Hy-Conn, a manufacturer of removable fire hoses, after agreeing to a deal of $1.25 million for 100% of the company with Cuban, did not go through with the deal.
Cuban's top three deals, all with at least $1 million invested, are Ten Thirty One Productions, Rugged Maniac Obstacle Race, and BeatBox Beverages.
Since Cuban joined the show in 2011, the ratings for Shark Tank have increased, and also during his tenure, the show has won three Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Structured Reality Program (from 2014 – 2016). As of 2022, Cuban is the richest of all Sharks to appear on the show after Sir Richard Branson.
Magnolia Pictures
Cuban owns film distributor Magnolia Pictures. Through Magnolia, he financed Redacted, a fictional dramatization based on the 2006 Mahmudiyah killings, written and directed by Brian De Palma. In September 2007, Cuban, in his capacity as owner of Magnolia Pictures, removed disturbing photographs from the concluding moments of the Redacted, citing copyrights/permissions issues.
Also in 2007, Cuban was reportedly interested in distributing through Magnolia an edition of the film Loose Change, which posits a 9/11 conspiracy theory, with Charlie Sheen narrating. Cuban told the New York Post, "We are having discussions about distributing the existing video with Charlie's involvement as a narrator, not in making a new feature. We are also looking for productions with an opposing viewpoint. We like controversial subjects, but we are agnostic to which side the controversy comes from."
In April 2011, Cuban put Magnolia Pictures and Landmark Theatres up for sale, but said, "If we don't get the price and premium we want, we are happy to continue to make money from the properties."
SEC insider trading allegation
On November 17, 2008, it was reported that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a civil suit against Cuban relating to alleged insider trading in the shares of Mamma.com, now known as Copernic. A stock dilution occurred shortly after a trade in June 2004, giving hints of inside knowledge at the time of the trade, and Cuban allegedly was saved from a loss of $750,000. The SEC claimed that Cuban ordered the sale of his holdings in Mamma.com after he had been confidentially approached by the company to participate in a transaction likely to dilute shares of current shareholders. Cuban disputed the charges, saying he had not agreed to keep the information secret. On his blog, Cuban contended the allegations were false and that the investigation was "a product of gross abuse of prosecutorial discretion". DealBook, a section of The New York Times, reported through an anonymous source that Cuban believed the investigation was motivated by an SEC employee having taken offense to his interest in possibly distributing the film Loose Change.
In July 2009, the U.S. District Court dismissed the charges against Cuban, and the SEC appealed. In September 2010, an appeals court said that the district court had erred and that further proceedings would be necessary to address the merits of the suit.
A federal jury in Texas found in favor of Cuban on October 16, 2013. The nine-member jury issued the verdict after deliberating 3 hours and 35 minutes.
In March 2014, Cuban was on air at CNBC criticizing high-frequency trading (HFT). Those against HFT, such as Cuban, believe the technology is equivalent to automated insider trading.
Sports businesses
Dallas Mavericks
On January 4, 2000, Cuban purchased a majority stake in the NBA's Dallas Mavericks for $285 million from H. Ross Perot Jr.
In the 20 years before Cuban bought the team, the Mavericks won only 40% of their games and had a playoff record of 21–32. In the 10 years following, the team won 69 percent of their regular season games and reached the playoffs in each of those seasons except for one. The Mavericks' playoff record with Cuban is 49–57, including their first trip to the NBA Finals in 2006, where they lost to the Miami Heat.
Historically, NBA team owners publicly play more passive roles and watch basketball games from skyboxes; Cuban sits alongside fans while donning team jerseys. Cuban travels in his private airplane—a Gulfstream V—to attend road games.
In May 2010, H. Ross Perot Jr., who retained 5% ownership, filed a lawsuit against Cuban, alleging the franchise was insolvent or in imminent danger of insolvency. In June 2010, Cuban responded in a court filing maintaining Perot is wrongly seeking money to offset some $100 million in losses on the Victory Park real estate development. The lawsuit was dismissed in 2011, due in part to Cuban asserting proper management of the team due to its recent victory in the 2011 NBA Finals. In 2014, the 5th Circuit Court affirmed that decision on appeal. Following his initial defeat, Perot attempted to shut out Mavericks fans from use of the parking lots he controlled near the American Airlines Center.
In January 2018, Cuban announced the Mavericks would be accepting Bitcoin as payment for tickets in the following season.
NBA fines
Cuban's ownership has been the source of extensive media attention and controversy involving league policies.
Cuban has been fined by the NBA, mostly for critical statements about the league and referees, at least $1.665 million for 13 incidents. In a June 30, 2006 interview, Mavericks player Dirk Nowitzki said about Cuban:
In an interview with the Associated Press, Cuban said that he matches NBA fines with charitable donations of equal amounts. In a nationally publicized incident in 2002, he criticized the league's manager of officials, Ed T. Rush, saying that he "wouldn't be able to manage a Dairy Queen." Dairy Queen management took offense to Cuban's comments and invited him to manage a Dairy Queen restaurant for a day. Cuban accepted the company's invitation and worked for a day at a Dairy Queen in Coppell, Texas, where fans lined up in the street to get a Blizzard from the owner of the Mavericks.
During the 2005–06 NBA season, Cuban started a booing campaign when former Mavericks player Michael Finley returned to play against the Mavericks as a member of the San Antonio Spurs. In a playoff series between the Mavericks and Spurs, Cuban cursed Spurs forward Bruce Bowen and was fined $25,000 by the NBA for rushing onto the court and criticizing NBA officials. After the 2006 NBA Finals, Cuban was fined $250,000 by the NBA for repeated misconduct following the Mavericks' loss to the Miami Heat in Game Five of the 2006 NBA Finals.
In February 2007, Cuban publicly criticized NBA Finals MVP Dwyane Wade and declared that he would get fined if he made any comments about what he thought really happened in the 2006 NBA Finals.
On January 16, 2009, the league fined Cuban $25,000 for yelling at Denver Nuggets player J. R. Smith at the end of the first half on a Mavericks-at-Nuggets game played on January 13. Cuban was apparently incensed that Smith had thrown an elbow that barely missed Mavericks forward Antoine Wright. Cuban offered to match the fine with a donation to a charity of Smith's choosing. Cuban stated that if he doesn't hear from Smith, then he will donate the money to the NHL Players' Association Goals and Dreams Fund in the names of Todd Bertuzzi and Steve Moore. In May 2009, Cuban made a reference to the Denver Nuggets being "thugs" after a loss to the Nuggets in game 3 of the Western Conference Semifinals. The statement was geared towards the Nuggets and their fans. As he passed Kenyon Martin's mother, who was seated near Cuban as he left the arena, he pointed at her and said, "that includes your son." This controversial comment revisited media attention on Cuban yet again. Cuban issued an apology the next day referencing the poor treatment of away fans in arenas around the league. The league issued a statement stating that they would not fine him.
On May 22, 2010, Cuban was fined $100,000 for comments he made during a television interview about trying to sign LeBron James.
Despite his history, he was notably silent during the Mavericks' 2011 championship playoff run.
Despite Cuban's history with David Stern, he believed the NBA Commissioner would leave a lasting legacy "of a focus on growth and recognizing that the NBA is in the entertainment business and that it's a global product, not just a local product. Whatever platforms that took us to, he was ready to go. He wasn't protective at all. He was wide open. I think that was great."
On January 18, 2014, Cuban was once again fined $100,000 for confronting referees and using inappropriate language toward them. As with previous fines, Cuban confirmed that he would match the fine with a donation to charity, however, with the condition that he reaches two million followers on his Twitter account. Cuban also jokingly commented that he could not let Stern leave without a proper farewell.
On February 21, 2018, Cuban was fined $600,000 by the NBA for stating that the Dallas Mavericks should "tank for the rest of the season." Commissioner Adam Silver stated that the fine was "for public statements detrimental to the NBA."
On March 6, 2020, Cuban was fined $500,000 by the NBA for "public criticism and detrimental conduct regarding NBA officiating", according to the league.
Major League Baseball
Cuban has repeatedly expressed interest in owning a Major League Baseball franchise and has unsuccessfully attempted to purchase at least three franchises. In 2008, he submitted an initial bid of $1.3 billion to buy the Chicago Cubs and was invited to participate in a second round of bidding along with several other potential ownership groups. Cuban was not selected to participate in the final bidding process in January 2009. In August 2010, Cuban actively bid to buy the Texas Rangers with Jeffrey L. Beck. Cuban stopped bids after 1 a.m., having placed bids totaling almost $600 million. He had outbid a competing ownership group led by ex-pitcher and Rangers executive Nolan Ryan, but lost the deal before the Rangers played the San Francisco Giants in the 2010 World Series.
In January 2012, Cuban placed an initial bid for the Los Angeles Dodgers, but was eliminated before the second round of bidding. Cuban felt that the value of the Dodgers' TV rights deal drove the price of the franchise too high. He had previously said that he would not be interested in buying the franchise at $1 billion, telling the Los Angeles Times in November 2011 "I don't think the Dodgers franchise is worth twice what the Rangers are worth." However, as the bidding process drew near many speculated that the sale would surpass $1.5 billion, with Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reporting on Twitter that at least one bid in the $1–1.5 billion range was placed in the initial round of the bidding process. Ultimately, the Dodgers sold for $2.15 billion to Guggenheim Baseball Management.
Cuban also previously expressed interest in becoming a minority owner of the New York Mets after owner Fred Wilpon announced in 2011 that he was planning to sell up to a 25% stake in the team.
Cuban has wanted to purchase his hometown Pittsburgh Pirates, but was rebuffed by then owner Kevin McClatchy in 2005.
Other sports businesses
In 2005, Cuban expressed interest in buying the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins. In 2006, Cuban joined an investment group along with Dan Marino, Kevin Millevoi, Andy Murstein, and Walnut Capital principals Gregg Perelman and Todd Reidbord to attempt to acquire the Penguins. The franchise ultimately rejected the group's bid when team owners Mario Lemieux and Ronald Burkle took the team off the market.
At WWE's Survivor Series in 2003, Cuban was involved in a staged altercation with Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff and Raw wrestler Randy Orton. On December 7, 2009, Cuban acted as the guest host of Raw, getting revenge on Orton when he was the guest referee in Orton's match against Kofi Kingston, giving Kingston a fast count victory. He then announced that Orton would face Kingston at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs. At the end of the show, Cuban was slammed through a table by the number one contender for the WWE Championship, Sheamus.
On September 12, 2007, Cuban said that he was in talks with WWE Chairman Vince McMahon to create a mixed martial arts company that would compete with UFC. He is now a bondholder of Zuffa, which was formerly UFC's parent company.
Cuban followed up his intentions by organizing "HDNet Fights", a mixed martial arts promotion which airs exclusively on HDNet and premiered on October 13, 2007, with a card headlined by a fight between Erik Paulson and Jeff Ford as well as fights featuring veterans Drew Fickett and Justin Eilers.
Since 2009, Cuban has been a panelist at the annual MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference.
In April 2010, Cuban loaned the newly formed United Football League (UFL) $5 million. He did not own a franchise, and he was not involved in day-to-day operations of the league nor of any of its teams. In January 2011, he filed a federal lawsuit against the UFL for their failure to repay the loan by the October 6, 2010 deadline.
In June 2015, Cuban invested in the esports betting platform Unikrn.
In February 2016, Cuban purchased a principal ownership stake in the Professional Futsal League.
Political activity
Cuban is an admirer of author and philosopher Ayn Rand. About Rand's novel The Fountainhead, he said, that it "was incredibly motivating to me. It encouraged me to think as an individual, take risks to reach my goals, and responsibility for my successes and failures. I loved it." His political views have leaned toward libertarianism. He held a position on the centrist Unity08 political organization's advisory council. While leaning towards libertarianism, Cuban posted an entry on his blog claiming paying more taxes to be the most patriotic thing someone can do.
In 2012, Cuban donated $7,000 to political campaigns, with $6,000 going to Republican Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah and $1,000 to Democratic California Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren.
On February 8, 2008, Cuban voiced his support for the draft Bloomberg movement attempting to convince New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to run in the U.S. presidential election of 2008 on his blog. Cuban concluded a post lamenting the current state of U.S. politics: "Are you listening, Mayor Bloomberg? For less than the cost of opening a tent pole movie, you can change the status quo." He eventually voted for Barack Obama in the 2008 election.
In November 2012, in response to Donald Trump offering President Obama $5 million to a charity of President Obama's choosing if he released passport applications and college transcripts to the public, Cuban offered Trump $1 million to a charity of Trump's choosing if Trump shaved his head.
On December 19, 2012, Cuban donated $250,000 to the Electronic Frontier Foundation to support its work on patent reform. Part of his donation funded a new title for EFF's staff attorney Julie Samuels: The Mark Cuban Chair to Eliminate Stupid Patents.
At the Code/Media conference in February 2015, Cuban said of net neutrality that "having [the FCC] overseeing the Internet scares the shit out of me".
Cuban formally endorsed Hillary Clinton for president at a July 30, 2016, rally in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. During that campaign stop, Cuban said of Republican nominee Donald Trump, "You know what we call a person like that in Pittsburgh? A jagoff ... Is there any bigger jagoff in the world than Donald Trump?"
On November 22, 2016, Cuban met with the then President-elect Trump's key advisor Steve Bannon, according to reports.
During an appearance on an episode of Hannity in May 2020, Cuban voiced his support for former Vice President Joe Biden in the 2020 U.S. presidential election.
On February 2, 2021, Cuban joined Reddit's WallStreetBets "Ask Me Anything" forum with millions of community members and fielded user questions related to the widely publicized battle between retail traders and Wall Street short sellers over GameStop shares. In the previous days, GameStop shares experienced a meteoric rise to as much as $489 on January 28, 2021, up from $17.15 on January 4, 2021. The growth was mainly brought on by an organized group of Reddit users named "WallStreetBets" that noticed GameStop stock was heavily shorted by Wall Street hedge firms and launched an ensuing campaign to buy enough shares to raise share value and produce a GameStop short squeeze. In the aftermath, the stock became heavily volatile as hedge firms repositioned themselves in the market. Firms like Melvin Capital required bailouts exceeding $2B and retail traders experienced excessive but temporary gains, whereas GameStop share value dropped to below $100 within a few days of closing at over $300. The consistent decline into February raised a lot of questions about next steps for retail traders and prompted Cuban to step in and provide advice to the Reddit community. Amid the volatility, Cuban had been an outspoken supporter of the WallStreetBets community alongside other wealthy financial figureheads like Chamath Palihapitiya, Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss. In the AMA session, Cuban publicly called the trust of the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission into question as well as the capabilities of zero commission brokerage firms, like Robinhood, that restricted retail traders from purchasing GameStop shares and other shorted stocks which he said crippled demand. Cuban's advice to Reddit users was to hold GameStop shares if they could afford it in anticipation of additional short sales by Wall Street firms, but ultimately acknowledged that the odds were stacked against them and to use it as a learning lesson. He offered insight into his trading technique suggesting that traders know why they are buying something and to "HODL"(hold on for dear life) until they learn that something has changed. Cuban noted a need for policy change to better support retail traders, credited the WallStreetBets community for leading the charge, and expressed optimism about blockchain trading as a more efficient, transparent and trustworthy form of trading for retail traders in the future.
Fallen Patriot Fund
Cuban started the Fallen Patriot Fund to help families of U.S. military personnel killed or injured during the Iraq War, personally matching the first $1 million in contributions with funds from the Mark Cuban Foundation, which is run by his brother Brian Cuban.
Speculation of a presidential run
In September 2015, Cuban stated in an interview that running for president was "a fun idea to toss around", and that, if he were running in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, he "could beat both Trump and Clinton". This was interpreted by many media outlets as indication that Cuban was considering running, but he clarified soon afterward that he had no intention to do so.
In October 2015, Cuban posted on Twitter, "Maybe I'll run for Speaker of the House." At the time, there was no clear front-runner to replace the outgoing John Boehner; the Speaker of the House does not have to be a member of Congress.
Cuban told Meet the Press in May 2016 that he would be open to being Clinton's running mate in the election, though he would seek to alter some of her positions in order to do so. In the same interview, the self-described "fiercely independent" Cuban also said that he would consider running as Republican nominee Trump's running mate after having a meeting with Trump about understanding the issues, Trump's positions on them, and coming up with solutions. Cuban also described Trump as "that friend that you just shake your head at. He's that guy who'd get drunk and fall over all the time, or just says dumb shit all the time, but he's your friend." On July 21, 2016, Cuban appeared on a live segment on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert entitled "Gloves Off: Mark Cuban Edition" in which he mocked Trump, including referencing the Trump companies' multiple bankruptcies and the failed Trump University program, and questioning the size of Trump's actual net worth.
In a September 2016 interview with NPR's Scott Simon, Cuban effectively positioned himself to support Clinton. He posited that the best strategy to beat Trump was to attack his insecurities, especially that of his intellect. He also added that Trump is the least qualified to be president and is not informed about policies.
Later in September 2016, during a post-presidential debate interview, Cuban criticized Trump's characterization that paying the minimum required taxes 'is smart' and criticized Trump for not paying back into the system that allowed him to amass such wealth.
In October 2017, Cuban said that he would "definitely" run for president if he were single. Later that month, Cuban claimed that if he ran for president in 2020, it would be as a Republican, and described himself as "socially a centrist ... but very fiscally conservative". It had also been speculated that he could have challenged president Donald Trump in 2020 as a Democrat. However, in a March 2019 interview with the New York Daily News, Cuban stated that he was "strongly considering running" for president as an independent candidate. In May 2019, Cuban said: "It would take the perfect storm for me to do it. There's some things that could open the door, but I'm not projecting or predicting it right now."
In a June 2020 interview with CNN and former Obama advisor David Axelrod, Cuban revealed that he had seriously considered running for president that year as an independent candidate. He went so far as to commission a national poll, which, according to Cuban, showed he would only receive 25 percent of the vote in a hypothetical matchup with President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden. Cuban also said that the poll showed his candidacy would have pulled votes from both Trump and Biden.
In early 2021, he decided to stop playing the National Anthem at Dallas Mavericks games in order to "respect those whose believed the anthem did not represent them." He also supported the movement as far back as late 2020. The NBA responded by requiring every team to play it, citing it as their "long-standing policy". Cuban did not complain, and ended up playing the anthem.
Personal life
Cuban has two brothers, Brian and Jeff.
In September 2002, Cuban married Tiffany Stewart in a private ceremony in Barbados. They have two daughters, born in 2003 and 2006, and a son born in 2010. They live in a mansion in the Preston Hollow area of Dallas, Texas.
In April 2019, after missing a taping of The View, Cuban revealed he had a procedure done to treat his atrial fibrillation. His diagnosis was first revealed in 2017 on Twitter.
Cuban is a vegetarian.
Philanthropy
In 2003, Cuban founded the Fallen Patriot Fund to help families of U.S. military personnel killed or injured during the Iraq War.
In June 2015, Cuban made a $5 million donation to Indiana University at Bloomington for the "Mark Cuban Center for Sports Media and Technology", which was built inside Assembly Hall, the school's basketball arena.
In March 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Cuban posted an offer on LinkedIn to small business owners who had questions about what to do in order to survive the economic downturn being caused by the pandemic. He said people could ask him anything, but that his preference was "going to be helping small biz trying to avoid layoffs and hourly reductions." There were more than 10,000 comments in response to his offer.
In 2020, Cuban picked up homeless former NBA player Delonte West from a gas station in Dallas. He paid for a hotel room for West along with his treatment at a drug rehabilitation center.
Sexual assault complaint
In a March 6, 2018 article, Willamette Week reported on an alleged April 2011 incident between Cuban and a female patron of a Portland, Oregon bar called the Barrel Room. The woman told Portland police that Cuban sexually groped her while she posed for pictures with him. She submitted seven photographs, two of which Portland Police Detective Brendan McGuire referred to as "significant". Cuban denied the allegations, and his attorney provided the results of a polygraph test taken by Cuban and written statements from two medical doctors stating that the actions described were anatomically improbable. The Portland District Attorney's office declined to prosecute, citing a lack of concrete evidence to support the claim and the woman's preference not to proceed with charges, and concluding that "no crime can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt". The NBA announced on March 8, 2018, that it was reviewing the matter.
Awards and honors
Business
1998 Kelley School of Business Alumni Award – Distinguished Entrepreneur: 1998
2011 D Magazine CEO of the Year
Sports
2011 NBA Champion (as owner of the Dallas Mavericks)
Media
2011 Outstanding Team ESPY Award (as owner of the Dallas Mavericks)
Filmography
Film
Television
Bibliography
How to Win at the Sport of Business: If I Can Do It, You Can Do It. Diversion Publishing. 2011.
Let's Go, Mavs!. Mascot Books. 2007.
References
External links
Blog
Mark Cuban collected news and commentary at The Guardian
1958 births
Living people
20th-century American businesspeople
20th-century American Jews
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century American businesspeople
21st-century American Jews
21st-century American male writers
21st-century American non-fiction writers
2929 Entertainment holdings
American bartenders
American billionaires
American bloggers
American book publishers (people)
American business writers
American chairpersons of corporations
American children's writers
American computer businesspeople
American corporate directors
American financiers
American film producers
American investors
American libertarians
American male bloggers
American male non-fiction writers
American mass media owners
American people of Romanian-Jewish descent
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
American philanthropists
American reality television producers
American retail chief executives
American salespeople
American technology chief executives
American technology company founders
American technology writers
American television company founders
American television executives
American venture capitalists
Businesspeople from Indiana
Businesspeople from Pittsburgh
Businesspeople from Texas
Businesspeople in information technology
Businesspeople in software
Copyright activists
Dallas Mavericks owners
Esports businesspeople
Film producers from Indiana
Film producers from Pennsylvania
Film producers from Texas
Jewish activists
Jewish American writers
Kelley School of Business alumni
Participants in American reality television series
People from Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania
People from Navarro County, Texas
Television personalities from Pittsburgh
Television producers from Indiana
Television producers from Pennsylvania
Television producers from Texas
Texas Independents
University of Pittsburgh alumni
Writers from Dallas
Writers from Indiana
Writers from Pittsburgh | 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"
]
|
[
"Mark Cuban",
"Dallas Mavericks",
"Was he an owner of the Dallas Mavericks?",
"Cuban purchased a majority stake in the NBA's Dallas Mavericks",
"Did he make good money on them?",
"I don't know.",
"Was there any controversy around this?",
"In May 2010, H. Ross Perot, Jr., who retained 5% ownership, filed a lawsuit against Cuban, alleging the franchise was insolvent or in imminent danger of insolvency.",
"What was Cuban's response?",
"In June 2010, Cuban responded in a court filing maintaining Perot is wrongly seeking money to offset some $100 million in losses on the Victory Park real estate development.",
"Did Perot win the suit?",
"The lawsuit was dismissed in 2011, due in part to Cuban asserting proper management of the team due to its recent victory in the 2011 NBA Finals.",
"Was there an appeal?",
"In 2014, the 5th Circuit Court affirmed that decision on appeal.",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"In the 20 years before Cuban bought the team, the Mavericks won only 40% of their games, and a playoff record of 21-32."
]
| C_7b991ba6f6f749caaaa8e46abff79b4f_0 | How did they do after he bought them? | 8 | How did the Dallas Mavericks do after Mark Cuban bought them? | Mark Cuban | On January 4, 2000, Cuban purchased a majority stake in the NBA's Dallas Mavericks for $285 million from H. Ross Perot, Jr. In the 20 years before Cuban bought the team, the Mavericks won only 40% of their games, and a playoff record of 21-32. In the 10 years following, the team won 69 percent of their regular season games and reached the playoffs in each of those seasons except for one. The Mavericks' playoff record with Cuban is 49 wins and 57 losses, including their first trip to the NBA Finals in 2006, where they lost to the Miami Heat. On June 12, 2011, the Mavericks defeated the Heat to win the NBA Finals. Historically, NBA team owners publicly play more passive roles and watch basketball games from skyboxes; Cuban sits alongside fans while donning team jerseys. Cuban travels in his private airplane--a Gulfstream V--to attend road games. In May 2010, H. Ross Perot, Jr., who retained 5% ownership, filed a lawsuit against Cuban, alleging the franchise was insolvent or in imminent danger of insolvency. In June 2010, Cuban responded in a court filing maintaining Perot is wrongly seeking money to offset some $100 million in losses on the Victory Park real estate development. The lawsuit was dismissed in 2011, due in part to Cuban asserting proper management of the team due to its recent victory in the 2011 NBA Finals. In 2014, the 5th Circuit Court affirmed that decision on appeal. Following his initial defeat, Perot attempted to shut out Mavericks fans from use of the parking lots he controlled near the American Airlines Center. In January 2018, Cuban announced the Mavericks would be accepting Bitcoin as payment for tickets in the following season. CANNOTANSWER | In the 10 years following, the team won 69 percent of their regular season games and reached the playoffs in each of those seasons except for one. | Mark Cuban (born July 31, 1958) is an American billionaire entrepreneur, television personality, and media proprietor whose net worth is an estimated $4.3 billion, according to Forbes, and ranked #177 on the 2020 Forbes 400 list. He is the owner of the Dallas Mavericks professional basketball team of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the co-owner of 2929 Entertainment. He is also one of the main "shark" investors on the ABC reality television series Shark Tank.
Early life and education
Cuban was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His father, Norton Cuban, was an automobile upholsterer. Cuban described his mother, Shirley, as someone with "a different job or different career goal every other week."
Cuban grew up in Mount Lebanon, a suburb of Pittsburgh, in a Jewish working-class family. His paternal grandfather changed the family name from Chabenisky to Cuban after his family emigrated from Russia through Ellis Island. His maternal grandparents, who were also Jewish, came from Romania.
Cuban first ventured into business at age 12. He sold garbage bags to pay for a pair of expensive basketball shoes. Some years later, he earned money by selling stamps and coins. At age 16, Cuban took advantage of a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette strike by running newspapers from Cleveland to Pittsburgh.
Instead of attending high school for his senior year, he enrolled as a full-time student at the University of Pittsburgh, where he joined the Pi Lambda Phi fraternity. He is a fan of Pittsburgh's "beloved" NFL team, the Pittsburgh Steelers. After one year at the University of Pittsburgh, Cuban transferred to Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, where he graduated from the Kelley School of Business in 1981 with a Bachelor of Science degree in management. He chose Indiana's Kelley School of Business without even visiting the campus because it "had the least expensive tuition of all the business schools on the top 10 list". During college, he had various business ventures, including a bar, disco lessons, and a chain letter.
After graduating, Cuban returned to Pittsburgh and took a job with Mellon Bank. He immersed himself in the study of machines and networking.
Career
On July 7, 1982, Cuban moved to Dallas, Texas, where he first found work as a bartender for a Greenville Avenue bar called Elan and then as a salesperson for Your Business Software, one of the earliest PC software retailers in Dallas. He was fired less than a year later, after meeting with a client to procure new business instead of opening the store.
Cuban started his own company, MicroSolutions, with help from his previous customers from Your Business Software. MicroSolutions was initially a system integrator and software reseller. The company was an early proponent of technologies such as Carbon Copy, Lotus Notes, and CompuServe. One of the company's largest clients was Perot Systems.
The company grew to more than $30 million in revenue, and in 1990, Cuban sold MicroSolutions to CompuServe—then a subsidiary of H&R Block—for $6 million. He made approximately $2 million after taxes on the deal.
Audionet and Broadcast.com
In 1995, Cuban and fellow Indiana University alumnus Todd Wagner joined Audionet (founded in 1989 by Chris Jaeb who retained 10% of the company), combining their mutual interest in Indiana Hoosier college basketball and webcasting. With a single server and an ISDN line, Audionet became Broadcast.com in 1998. By 1999, Broadcast.com had grown to 330 employees and $13.5 million in revenue for the second quarter. In 1999, Broadcast.com helped launch the first live-streamed Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. That year, during the dot com boom, Broadcast.com was acquired by Yahoo! for $5.7 billion in Yahoo! stock.
After the sale of Broadcast.com, Cuban hedged against the risk of a decline in the value of the Yahoo! shares he received in the deal. The Guinness Book of Records credits Cuban with the "largest single e-commerce transaction", after he purchased a Gulfstream V jet for $40 million over the internet in October 1999.
Yahoo!'s costly purchase of Broadcast.com is now regarded as one of the worst internet acquisitions of all time. Broadcast.com along with Yahoo!'s other broadcasting services were discontinued within a few years after the acquisition. Cuban has repeatedly described himself as very lucky to have sold the company before the dot-com bubble burst. However, he also emphasized that he hedged against the Yahoo! shares he received from the sale, and that he would have lost most of his fortune if he had not done so.
Cuban continues to work with Wagner in another venture, 2929 Entertainment, which provides vertically integrated production and distribution of films and video.
On September 24, 2003, the firm purchased Landmark Theatres, a chain of 58 arthouse movie theaters. The company is also responsible for the updated version of the TV show Star Search, which was broadcast on CBS. 2929 Entertainment released Bubble, a movie directed by Steven Soderbergh, in 2006.
Cuban was featured on the cover of the November 2003 premiere issue of Best magazine announcing the arrival of high-definition television. Cuban also was co-founder (with Philip Garvin) of AXS TV (formerly HDNet), the first high-definition satellite television network.
In February 2004, Cuban announced that he would be working with ABC television to produce a reality television series, The Benefactor. The premise of the six-episode series involved 16 contestants trying to win $1 million by participating in various contests, with their performances being judged by Cuban. It premiered on September 13, 2004, but due to poor ratings, the series was canceled before the full season aired.
In 2018, Cuban was No.190 on Forbes list of "World's Richest People", with a net worth of $3.9 billion.
Cuban financially supported Grokster in the Supreme Court case MGM v. Grokster. He is also a partner in Synergy Sports Technology, a web based basketball scouting and video delivery tool, used by many NBA teams.
Investments in startups
Cuban has also assisted ventures in the social software and distributed networking industries. He was an owner of IceRocket, a search engine that scours the blogosphere for content. Cuban was a partner in RedSwoosh—a company which uses peer-to-peer technology to deliver rich media, including video and software, to a user's PC—later acquired by Akamai. He was also an investor in Weblogs, Inc., which was acquired by AOL.
In 2005, Cuban invested in Brondell Inc., a San Francisco startup making a high-tech toilet seat called a Swash that works like a bidet but mounts on a standard toilet. "People tend to approach technology the same way, whether it's in front of them, or behind them", Cuban joked. He also invested in Goowy Media Inc., a San Diego Internet software startup. In April 2006, Sirius Satellite Radio announced that Cuban would host his own weekly radio talk show, Mark Cuban's Radio Maverick. However, the show has not materialized.
In July 2006, Cuban financed Sharesleuth.com, a website created by former St. Louis Post-Dispatch investigative reporter Christopher Carey to uncover fraud and misinformation in publicly traded companies. Experimenting with a new business model for making online journalism financially viable, Cuban disclosed that he would take positions in the shares of companies mentioned in Sharesleuth.com in advance of publication. Business and legal analysts questioned the appropriateness of shorting a stock prior to making public pronouncements which are likely to result in losses in that stock's value. Cuban insisted that the practice is legal in view of full disclosure.
In April 2007, Cuban partnered with Mascot Books to publish his first children's book, Let's Go, Mavs!. In November 2011, he wrote a 30,000-word e-book, How to Win at the Sport of Business: If I Can Do It, You Can Do It, which he described as "a way to get motivated".
In October 2008, Cuban started Bailoutsleuth.com as a grassroots, online portal for oversight over the U.S. government's $700 billion "bailout" of financial institutions.
In September 2010, Cuban provided an undisclosed amount of venture capital to store-front analytics company Motionloft. According to the company's CEO Jon Mills, he cold-emailed Cuban on a whim with the business proposition and claimed Cuban quickly responded that he would like to hear more. Mills credited that sentence for launching the company. In November 2013, several investors questioned Cuban about Mills' representation of a pending acquisition of Motionloft. Cuban denied an acquisition was in place. Mills was terminated as CEO of Motionloft by stockholders on December 1, 2013, and in February 2014 was arrested by the FBI and charged with wire fraud, it being alleged that Mills misrepresented to investors that Motionloft was going to be acquired by Cisco. Cuban has gone on record to state that the technology, which at least in part is meant to serve the commercial real estate industry, is "game changing" for tenants.
In 2019, Cuban, Ashton Kutcher, Steve Watts and Watts' wife Angela, invested a 50% stake in Veldskoen shoes fledgling U.S. business. In 2021, Cuban, Pantera Capital, BlockTower, Hashed, Cadenza Ventures (backed by 100x Group), CMS and QCP Capital backed a layer-2 decentralized exchange protocol, Injective Protocol and their CEO Eric Chen. Also in late 2021, Cuban purchased the entire town of Mustang, Texas, a 77-acre town in Navarro County. He told the Dallas Morning News that a buddy needed to sell it and, "I don't know what if anything I will do with it."
Shark Tank
Cuban has been a "shark" investor on the ABC reality program Shark Tank since season two in 2011.
As of May 2015, he has invested in 85 deals across 111 Shark Tank episodes, for a total of $19.9 million invested. The actual numbers vary because the investment happens after the handshake deal on live television, after the due diligence is performed to ensure the accuracy of the information presented in the pitch room. For instance, Hy-Conn, a manufacturer of removable fire hoses, after agreeing to a deal of $1.25 million for 100% of the company with Cuban, did not go through with the deal.
Cuban's top three deals, all with at least $1 million invested, are Ten Thirty One Productions, Rugged Maniac Obstacle Race, and BeatBox Beverages.
Since Cuban joined the show in 2011, the ratings for Shark Tank have increased, and also during his tenure, the show has won three Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Structured Reality Program (from 2014 – 2016). As of 2022, Cuban is the richest of all Sharks to appear on the show after Sir Richard Branson.
Magnolia Pictures
Cuban owns film distributor Magnolia Pictures. Through Magnolia, he financed Redacted, a fictional dramatization based on the 2006 Mahmudiyah killings, written and directed by Brian De Palma. In September 2007, Cuban, in his capacity as owner of Magnolia Pictures, removed disturbing photographs from the concluding moments of the Redacted, citing copyrights/permissions issues.
Also in 2007, Cuban was reportedly interested in distributing through Magnolia an edition of the film Loose Change, which posits a 9/11 conspiracy theory, with Charlie Sheen narrating. Cuban told the New York Post, "We are having discussions about distributing the existing video with Charlie's involvement as a narrator, not in making a new feature. We are also looking for productions with an opposing viewpoint. We like controversial subjects, but we are agnostic to which side the controversy comes from."
In April 2011, Cuban put Magnolia Pictures and Landmark Theatres up for sale, but said, "If we don't get the price and premium we want, we are happy to continue to make money from the properties."
SEC insider trading allegation
On November 17, 2008, it was reported that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a civil suit against Cuban relating to alleged insider trading in the shares of Mamma.com, now known as Copernic. A stock dilution occurred shortly after a trade in June 2004, giving hints of inside knowledge at the time of the trade, and Cuban allegedly was saved from a loss of $750,000. The SEC claimed that Cuban ordered the sale of his holdings in Mamma.com after he had been confidentially approached by the company to participate in a transaction likely to dilute shares of current shareholders. Cuban disputed the charges, saying he had not agreed to keep the information secret. On his blog, Cuban contended the allegations were false and that the investigation was "a product of gross abuse of prosecutorial discretion". DealBook, a section of The New York Times, reported through an anonymous source that Cuban believed the investigation was motivated by an SEC employee having taken offense to his interest in possibly distributing the film Loose Change.
In July 2009, the U.S. District Court dismissed the charges against Cuban, and the SEC appealed. In September 2010, an appeals court said that the district court had erred and that further proceedings would be necessary to address the merits of the suit.
A federal jury in Texas found in favor of Cuban on October 16, 2013. The nine-member jury issued the verdict after deliberating 3 hours and 35 minutes.
In March 2014, Cuban was on air at CNBC criticizing high-frequency trading (HFT). Those against HFT, such as Cuban, believe the technology is equivalent to automated insider trading.
Sports businesses
Dallas Mavericks
On January 4, 2000, Cuban purchased a majority stake in the NBA's Dallas Mavericks for $285 million from H. Ross Perot Jr.
In the 20 years before Cuban bought the team, the Mavericks won only 40% of their games and had a playoff record of 21–32. In the 10 years following, the team won 69 percent of their regular season games and reached the playoffs in each of those seasons except for one. The Mavericks' playoff record with Cuban is 49–57, including their first trip to the NBA Finals in 2006, where they lost to the Miami Heat.
Historically, NBA team owners publicly play more passive roles and watch basketball games from skyboxes; Cuban sits alongside fans while donning team jerseys. Cuban travels in his private airplane—a Gulfstream V—to attend road games.
In May 2010, H. Ross Perot Jr., who retained 5% ownership, filed a lawsuit against Cuban, alleging the franchise was insolvent or in imminent danger of insolvency. In June 2010, Cuban responded in a court filing maintaining Perot is wrongly seeking money to offset some $100 million in losses on the Victory Park real estate development. The lawsuit was dismissed in 2011, due in part to Cuban asserting proper management of the team due to its recent victory in the 2011 NBA Finals. In 2014, the 5th Circuit Court affirmed that decision on appeal. Following his initial defeat, Perot attempted to shut out Mavericks fans from use of the parking lots he controlled near the American Airlines Center.
In January 2018, Cuban announced the Mavericks would be accepting Bitcoin as payment for tickets in the following season.
NBA fines
Cuban's ownership has been the source of extensive media attention and controversy involving league policies.
Cuban has been fined by the NBA, mostly for critical statements about the league and referees, at least $1.665 million for 13 incidents. In a June 30, 2006 interview, Mavericks player Dirk Nowitzki said about Cuban:
In an interview with the Associated Press, Cuban said that he matches NBA fines with charitable donations of equal amounts. In a nationally publicized incident in 2002, he criticized the league's manager of officials, Ed T. Rush, saying that he "wouldn't be able to manage a Dairy Queen." Dairy Queen management took offense to Cuban's comments and invited him to manage a Dairy Queen restaurant for a day. Cuban accepted the company's invitation and worked for a day at a Dairy Queen in Coppell, Texas, where fans lined up in the street to get a Blizzard from the owner of the Mavericks.
During the 2005–06 NBA season, Cuban started a booing campaign when former Mavericks player Michael Finley returned to play against the Mavericks as a member of the San Antonio Spurs. In a playoff series between the Mavericks and Spurs, Cuban cursed Spurs forward Bruce Bowen and was fined $25,000 by the NBA for rushing onto the court and criticizing NBA officials. After the 2006 NBA Finals, Cuban was fined $250,000 by the NBA for repeated misconduct following the Mavericks' loss to the Miami Heat in Game Five of the 2006 NBA Finals.
In February 2007, Cuban publicly criticized NBA Finals MVP Dwyane Wade and declared that he would get fined if he made any comments about what he thought really happened in the 2006 NBA Finals.
On January 16, 2009, the league fined Cuban $25,000 for yelling at Denver Nuggets player J. R. Smith at the end of the first half on a Mavericks-at-Nuggets game played on January 13. Cuban was apparently incensed that Smith had thrown an elbow that barely missed Mavericks forward Antoine Wright. Cuban offered to match the fine with a donation to a charity of Smith's choosing. Cuban stated that if he doesn't hear from Smith, then he will donate the money to the NHL Players' Association Goals and Dreams Fund in the names of Todd Bertuzzi and Steve Moore. In May 2009, Cuban made a reference to the Denver Nuggets being "thugs" after a loss to the Nuggets in game 3 of the Western Conference Semifinals. The statement was geared towards the Nuggets and their fans. As he passed Kenyon Martin's mother, who was seated near Cuban as he left the arena, he pointed at her and said, "that includes your son." This controversial comment revisited media attention on Cuban yet again. Cuban issued an apology the next day referencing the poor treatment of away fans in arenas around the league. The league issued a statement stating that they would not fine him.
On May 22, 2010, Cuban was fined $100,000 for comments he made during a television interview about trying to sign LeBron James.
Despite his history, he was notably silent during the Mavericks' 2011 championship playoff run.
Despite Cuban's history with David Stern, he believed the NBA Commissioner would leave a lasting legacy "of a focus on growth and recognizing that the NBA is in the entertainment business and that it's a global product, not just a local product. Whatever platforms that took us to, he was ready to go. He wasn't protective at all. He was wide open. I think that was great."
On January 18, 2014, Cuban was once again fined $100,000 for confronting referees and using inappropriate language toward them. As with previous fines, Cuban confirmed that he would match the fine with a donation to charity, however, with the condition that he reaches two million followers on his Twitter account. Cuban also jokingly commented that he could not let Stern leave without a proper farewell.
On February 21, 2018, Cuban was fined $600,000 by the NBA for stating that the Dallas Mavericks should "tank for the rest of the season." Commissioner Adam Silver stated that the fine was "for public statements detrimental to the NBA."
On March 6, 2020, Cuban was fined $500,000 by the NBA for "public criticism and detrimental conduct regarding NBA officiating", according to the league.
Major League Baseball
Cuban has repeatedly expressed interest in owning a Major League Baseball franchise and has unsuccessfully attempted to purchase at least three franchises. In 2008, he submitted an initial bid of $1.3 billion to buy the Chicago Cubs and was invited to participate in a second round of bidding along with several other potential ownership groups. Cuban was not selected to participate in the final bidding process in January 2009. In August 2010, Cuban actively bid to buy the Texas Rangers with Jeffrey L. Beck. Cuban stopped bids after 1 a.m., having placed bids totaling almost $600 million. He had outbid a competing ownership group led by ex-pitcher and Rangers executive Nolan Ryan, but lost the deal before the Rangers played the San Francisco Giants in the 2010 World Series.
In January 2012, Cuban placed an initial bid for the Los Angeles Dodgers, but was eliminated before the second round of bidding. Cuban felt that the value of the Dodgers' TV rights deal drove the price of the franchise too high. He had previously said that he would not be interested in buying the franchise at $1 billion, telling the Los Angeles Times in November 2011 "I don't think the Dodgers franchise is worth twice what the Rangers are worth." However, as the bidding process drew near many speculated that the sale would surpass $1.5 billion, with Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reporting on Twitter that at least one bid in the $1–1.5 billion range was placed in the initial round of the bidding process. Ultimately, the Dodgers sold for $2.15 billion to Guggenheim Baseball Management.
Cuban also previously expressed interest in becoming a minority owner of the New York Mets after owner Fred Wilpon announced in 2011 that he was planning to sell up to a 25% stake in the team.
Cuban has wanted to purchase his hometown Pittsburgh Pirates, but was rebuffed by then owner Kevin McClatchy in 2005.
Other sports businesses
In 2005, Cuban expressed interest in buying the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins. In 2006, Cuban joined an investment group along with Dan Marino, Kevin Millevoi, Andy Murstein, and Walnut Capital principals Gregg Perelman and Todd Reidbord to attempt to acquire the Penguins. The franchise ultimately rejected the group's bid when team owners Mario Lemieux and Ronald Burkle took the team off the market.
At WWE's Survivor Series in 2003, Cuban was involved in a staged altercation with Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff and Raw wrestler Randy Orton. On December 7, 2009, Cuban acted as the guest host of Raw, getting revenge on Orton when he was the guest referee in Orton's match against Kofi Kingston, giving Kingston a fast count victory. He then announced that Orton would face Kingston at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs. At the end of the show, Cuban was slammed through a table by the number one contender for the WWE Championship, Sheamus.
On September 12, 2007, Cuban said that he was in talks with WWE Chairman Vince McMahon to create a mixed martial arts company that would compete with UFC. He is now a bondholder of Zuffa, which was formerly UFC's parent company.
Cuban followed up his intentions by organizing "HDNet Fights", a mixed martial arts promotion which airs exclusively on HDNet and premiered on October 13, 2007, with a card headlined by a fight between Erik Paulson and Jeff Ford as well as fights featuring veterans Drew Fickett and Justin Eilers.
Since 2009, Cuban has been a panelist at the annual MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference.
In April 2010, Cuban loaned the newly formed United Football League (UFL) $5 million. He did not own a franchise, and he was not involved in day-to-day operations of the league nor of any of its teams. In January 2011, he filed a federal lawsuit against the UFL for their failure to repay the loan by the October 6, 2010 deadline.
In June 2015, Cuban invested in the esports betting platform Unikrn.
In February 2016, Cuban purchased a principal ownership stake in the Professional Futsal League.
Political activity
Cuban is an admirer of author and philosopher Ayn Rand. About Rand's novel The Fountainhead, he said, that it "was incredibly motivating to me. It encouraged me to think as an individual, take risks to reach my goals, and responsibility for my successes and failures. I loved it." His political views have leaned toward libertarianism. He held a position on the centrist Unity08 political organization's advisory council. While leaning towards libertarianism, Cuban posted an entry on his blog claiming paying more taxes to be the most patriotic thing someone can do.
In 2012, Cuban donated $7,000 to political campaigns, with $6,000 going to Republican Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah and $1,000 to Democratic California Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren.
On February 8, 2008, Cuban voiced his support for the draft Bloomberg movement attempting to convince New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to run in the U.S. presidential election of 2008 on his blog. Cuban concluded a post lamenting the current state of U.S. politics: "Are you listening, Mayor Bloomberg? For less than the cost of opening a tent pole movie, you can change the status quo." He eventually voted for Barack Obama in the 2008 election.
In November 2012, in response to Donald Trump offering President Obama $5 million to a charity of President Obama's choosing if he released passport applications and college transcripts to the public, Cuban offered Trump $1 million to a charity of Trump's choosing if Trump shaved his head.
On December 19, 2012, Cuban donated $250,000 to the Electronic Frontier Foundation to support its work on patent reform. Part of his donation funded a new title for EFF's staff attorney Julie Samuels: The Mark Cuban Chair to Eliminate Stupid Patents.
At the Code/Media conference in February 2015, Cuban said of net neutrality that "having [the FCC] overseeing the Internet scares the shit out of me".
Cuban formally endorsed Hillary Clinton for president at a July 30, 2016, rally in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. During that campaign stop, Cuban said of Republican nominee Donald Trump, "You know what we call a person like that in Pittsburgh? A jagoff ... Is there any bigger jagoff in the world than Donald Trump?"
On November 22, 2016, Cuban met with the then President-elect Trump's key advisor Steve Bannon, according to reports.
During an appearance on an episode of Hannity in May 2020, Cuban voiced his support for former Vice President Joe Biden in the 2020 U.S. presidential election.
On February 2, 2021, Cuban joined Reddit's WallStreetBets "Ask Me Anything" forum with millions of community members and fielded user questions related to the widely publicized battle between retail traders and Wall Street short sellers over GameStop shares. In the previous days, GameStop shares experienced a meteoric rise to as much as $489 on January 28, 2021, up from $17.15 on January 4, 2021. The growth was mainly brought on by an organized group of Reddit users named "WallStreetBets" that noticed GameStop stock was heavily shorted by Wall Street hedge firms and launched an ensuing campaign to buy enough shares to raise share value and produce a GameStop short squeeze. In the aftermath, the stock became heavily volatile as hedge firms repositioned themselves in the market. Firms like Melvin Capital required bailouts exceeding $2B and retail traders experienced excessive but temporary gains, whereas GameStop share value dropped to below $100 within a few days of closing at over $300. The consistent decline into February raised a lot of questions about next steps for retail traders and prompted Cuban to step in and provide advice to the Reddit community. Amid the volatility, Cuban had been an outspoken supporter of the WallStreetBets community alongside other wealthy financial figureheads like Chamath Palihapitiya, Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss. In the AMA session, Cuban publicly called the trust of the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission into question as well as the capabilities of zero commission brokerage firms, like Robinhood, that restricted retail traders from purchasing GameStop shares and other shorted stocks which he said crippled demand. Cuban's advice to Reddit users was to hold GameStop shares if they could afford it in anticipation of additional short sales by Wall Street firms, but ultimately acknowledged that the odds were stacked against them and to use it as a learning lesson. He offered insight into his trading technique suggesting that traders know why they are buying something and to "HODL"(hold on for dear life) until they learn that something has changed. Cuban noted a need for policy change to better support retail traders, credited the WallStreetBets community for leading the charge, and expressed optimism about blockchain trading as a more efficient, transparent and trustworthy form of trading for retail traders in the future.
Fallen Patriot Fund
Cuban started the Fallen Patriot Fund to help families of U.S. military personnel killed or injured during the Iraq War, personally matching the first $1 million in contributions with funds from the Mark Cuban Foundation, which is run by his brother Brian Cuban.
Speculation of a presidential run
In September 2015, Cuban stated in an interview that running for president was "a fun idea to toss around", and that, if he were running in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, he "could beat both Trump and Clinton". This was interpreted by many media outlets as indication that Cuban was considering running, but he clarified soon afterward that he had no intention to do so.
In October 2015, Cuban posted on Twitter, "Maybe I'll run for Speaker of the House." At the time, there was no clear front-runner to replace the outgoing John Boehner; the Speaker of the House does not have to be a member of Congress.
Cuban told Meet the Press in May 2016 that he would be open to being Clinton's running mate in the election, though he would seek to alter some of her positions in order to do so. In the same interview, the self-described "fiercely independent" Cuban also said that he would consider running as Republican nominee Trump's running mate after having a meeting with Trump about understanding the issues, Trump's positions on them, and coming up with solutions. Cuban also described Trump as "that friend that you just shake your head at. He's that guy who'd get drunk and fall over all the time, or just says dumb shit all the time, but he's your friend." On July 21, 2016, Cuban appeared on a live segment on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert entitled "Gloves Off: Mark Cuban Edition" in which he mocked Trump, including referencing the Trump companies' multiple bankruptcies and the failed Trump University program, and questioning the size of Trump's actual net worth.
In a September 2016 interview with NPR's Scott Simon, Cuban effectively positioned himself to support Clinton. He posited that the best strategy to beat Trump was to attack his insecurities, especially that of his intellect. He also added that Trump is the least qualified to be president and is not informed about policies.
Later in September 2016, during a post-presidential debate interview, Cuban criticized Trump's characterization that paying the minimum required taxes 'is smart' and criticized Trump for not paying back into the system that allowed him to amass such wealth.
In October 2017, Cuban said that he would "definitely" run for president if he were single. Later that month, Cuban claimed that if he ran for president in 2020, it would be as a Republican, and described himself as "socially a centrist ... but very fiscally conservative". It had also been speculated that he could have challenged president Donald Trump in 2020 as a Democrat. However, in a March 2019 interview with the New York Daily News, Cuban stated that he was "strongly considering running" for president as an independent candidate. In May 2019, Cuban said: "It would take the perfect storm for me to do it. There's some things that could open the door, but I'm not projecting or predicting it right now."
In a June 2020 interview with CNN and former Obama advisor David Axelrod, Cuban revealed that he had seriously considered running for president that year as an independent candidate. He went so far as to commission a national poll, which, according to Cuban, showed he would only receive 25 percent of the vote in a hypothetical matchup with President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden. Cuban also said that the poll showed his candidacy would have pulled votes from both Trump and Biden.
In early 2021, he decided to stop playing the National Anthem at Dallas Mavericks games in order to "respect those whose believed the anthem did not represent them." He also supported the movement as far back as late 2020. The NBA responded by requiring every team to play it, citing it as their "long-standing policy". Cuban did not complain, and ended up playing the anthem.
Personal life
Cuban has two brothers, Brian and Jeff.
In September 2002, Cuban married Tiffany Stewart in a private ceremony in Barbados. They have two daughters, born in 2003 and 2006, and a son born in 2010. They live in a mansion in the Preston Hollow area of Dallas, Texas.
In April 2019, after missing a taping of The View, Cuban revealed he had a procedure done to treat his atrial fibrillation. His diagnosis was first revealed in 2017 on Twitter.
Cuban is a vegetarian.
Philanthropy
In 2003, Cuban founded the Fallen Patriot Fund to help families of U.S. military personnel killed or injured during the Iraq War.
In June 2015, Cuban made a $5 million donation to Indiana University at Bloomington for the "Mark Cuban Center for Sports Media and Technology", which was built inside Assembly Hall, the school's basketball arena.
In March 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Cuban posted an offer on LinkedIn to small business owners who had questions about what to do in order to survive the economic downturn being caused by the pandemic. He said people could ask him anything, but that his preference was "going to be helping small biz trying to avoid layoffs and hourly reductions." There were more than 10,000 comments in response to his offer.
In 2020, Cuban picked up homeless former NBA player Delonte West from a gas station in Dallas. He paid for a hotel room for West along with his treatment at a drug rehabilitation center.
Sexual assault complaint
In a March 6, 2018 article, Willamette Week reported on an alleged April 2011 incident between Cuban and a female patron of a Portland, Oregon bar called the Barrel Room. The woman told Portland police that Cuban sexually groped her while she posed for pictures with him. She submitted seven photographs, two of which Portland Police Detective Brendan McGuire referred to as "significant". Cuban denied the allegations, and his attorney provided the results of a polygraph test taken by Cuban and written statements from two medical doctors stating that the actions described were anatomically improbable. The Portland District Attorney's office declined to prosecute, citing a lack of concrete evidence to support the claim and the woman's preference not to proceed with charges, and concluding that "no crime can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt". The NBA announced on March 8, 2018, that it was reviewing the matter.
Awards and honors
Business
1998 Kelley School of Business Alumni Award – Distinguished Entrepreneur: 1998
2011 D Magazine CEO of the Year
Sports
2011 NBA Champion (as owner of the Dallas Mavericks)
Media
2011 Outstanding Team ESPY Award (as owner of the Dallas Mavericks)
Filmography
Film
Television
Bibliography
How to Win at the Sport of Business: If I Can Do It, You Can Do It. Diversion Publishing. 2011.
Let's Go, Mavs!. Mascot Books. 2007.
References
External links
Blog
Mark Cuban collected news and commentary at The Guardian
1958 births
Living people
20th-century American businesspeople
20th-century American Jews
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century American businesspeople
21st-century American Jews
21st-century American male writers
21st-century American non-fiction writers
2929 Entertainment holdings
American bartenders
American billionaires
American bloggers
American book publishers (people)
American business writers
American chairpersons of corporations
American children's writers
American computer businesspeople
American corporate directors
American financiers
American film producers
American investors
American libertarians
American male bloggers
American male non-fiction writers
American mass media owners
American people of Romanian-Jewish descent
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
American philanthropists
American reality television producers
American retail chief executives
American salespeople
American technology chief executives
American technology company founders
American technology writers
American television company founders
American television executives
American venture capitalists
Businesspeople from Indiana
Businesspeople from Pittsburgh
Businesspeople from Texas
Businesspeople in information technology
Businesspeople in software
Copyright activists
Dallas Mavericks owners
Esports businesspeople
Film producers from Indiana
Film producers from Pennsylvania
Film producers from Texas
Jewish activists
Jewish American writers
Kelley School of Business alumni
Participants in American reality television series
People from Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania
People from Navarro County, Texas
Television personalities from Pittsburgh
Television producers from Indiana
Television producers from Pennsylvania
Television producers from Texas
Texas Independents
University of Pittsburgh alumni
Writers from Dallas
Writers from Indiana
Writers from Pittsburgh | true | [
"Hiram F. \"Okanogan\" Smith (1829 – September 9, 1893) was one of the first American settlers in the Pacific Northwest. Smith was born in Maine and learned the printer's trade, working on papers in Detroit and with Horace Greeley in New York. He came to California during the 1849 Gold Rush, and remained there until the Terry-Broderick duel, an affair he lamented deeply as an intimate of both parties. He then went to The Dalles in Oregon, where he operated a pack train, and prospected gold in the Fraser River valley of British Columbia. Unsuccessful in that venture, he located a claim on the east bank of Osoyoos Lake, near today's Oroville, Washington, in 1859, where he opened a trading post.\n\nThe post became an oasis in a wilderness for traders and travelling miners, and earned Smith a reputation for hospitality. He introduced vegetable farming and fruit orcharding to the region, and is remembered is a pioneer of Washington's apple industry. His fair dealings with the Indians won him their respect, and he was often consulted as an arbiter. According to Tonasket, a chief of the Okanogans, Smith was a better friend to the Indians than the government:\n\nThe government was always promising what it would do and never doing it, and the [government] agent was always telling the Indians what they must do, and did not know how to do it himself; and that if Smith promised them a thing, they got it; and if he told them how to do something, he showed them how to do it; also that Smith never lied to them, and the government did.\n\nHe married a woman named Mary, the daughter of a Similkameen chief. In 1865, he began a series of terms in the territorial, and later the state legislatures.\n\nHe may have averted a massacre in 1891 when the frenzied citizenry at the camps of Ruby and Conconully feared an imminent Indian attack. Before the people could arm themselves, Smith counseled, \"The Okanogan Indians are peaceful. They have taken little stock in the Messiah craze, nor is it likely that they will join with the Canadian Indians.\"\n\nHe died in Olympia, Washington at the age of 62 of a cold and dysentery.\n\nIn 1960, he was inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.\n\nReferences\n\n Briley, \"Hiram F. Smith, First Settler of the Okanoogan,\" Pacific Northwest Quarterly, 43:1952 \n\n1829 births\n1893 deaths\nAmerican pioneers\nHistory of Washington (state)\nMembers of the Washington House of Representatives\nInfectious disease deaths in Washington (state)\nDeaths from dysentery\n19th-century American politicians\nPeople from Okanogan County, Washington\nMembers of the Washington Territorial Legislature",
"Reflections is the third and last studio album by After 7 before the group split in 1997. The album reunites them with producer Babyface, who along with his then partner L.A. Reid, wrote and produced the majority of their self-titled debut. They also enlist the production talents of Babyface proteges Jon B and Keith Andes as well as newcomers The Boom Brothers. Reflections is the first album where the members of the group have credits as songwriters as well as executive producers. The music video for the first single \"'Til You Do Me Right\" was directed by photographer Randee St. Nicholas. Reflections peaked at #40 on the Billboard 200 and was certified gold by the RIAA on November 16, 1995.\n\nTrack listing\n\"'Til You Do Me Right\" (Babyface, Kevon Edmonds, Melvin Edmonds) (4:55)\n\"Cryin' for It\" (Babyface) (5:02)\n\"Save It Up\" (Jon B.) (4:09)\n\"Damn Thing Called Love\" (Jon B.) (5:30)\n\"How Did He Love You\" (Jon B.) (5:17)\n\"What U R 2 Me\" (Jon B.) (4:38)\n\"How Do You Tell the One\" (Babyface) (4:47)\n\"Sprung On It\" (Tony Boom, Chuck Boom) (4:06)\n\"How Could You Leave\" (Keith Andes, Ricky Jones) (5:01)\n\"Givin Up This Good Thing\" (Keith Andes, Ricky Jones) (4:49)\n\"I Like It Like That\" (Keith Andes, Melvin Edmonds, Kevon Edmonds) (4:24)\n\"Honey (Oh How I Need You)\" (Keith Andes, Ricky Jones, Warres Casey) (3:39)\n\nPersonnel\nKeyboards: Babyface, Jon B., Keith Andes, The Boom Brothers\nDrum Programming: Babyface, Jon B., Keith Andes, The Boom Brothers\nBass: Reggie Hamilton on \"'Til You Do Me Right\" and \"How Do You Tell The One\", Babyface on \"Cryin' for It\"\nMidi Programming: Randy Walker, Keith Andes, The Boom Brothers\nGuest vocals: Babyface on \"Honey (Oh How I Need You)\"\nBackground vocals: After 7, Jon B. on \"Save It Up\", Babyface on \"What U R 2 Me\", The Boom Brothers on \"Sprung On It\"\nSaxophone: Everette Harp on \"What U R 2 Me\"\n\nReferences\n\n1995 albums\nAfter 7 albums"
]
|
[
"Bill Veeck",
"Milwaukee Brewers"
]
| C_4a77e6c8b92945ebb5fd221afd516d59_1 | Was did Bill have to do with the Milwaukee Brewers? | 1 | Was did Bill Veeck have to do with the Milwaukee Brewers? | Bill Veeck | In 1942, Veeck left Chicago and, in partnership with former Cubs star and manager Charlie Grimm, purchased the American Association Triple-A Milwaukee Brewers. After winning three pennants in five years Veeck sold his Milwaukee franchise in 1945 for a $275,000 profit. According to his autobiography Veeck - As in Wreck, Veeck claimed to have installed a screen to make the right field target a little more difficult for left-handed pull hitters of the opposing team. The screen was on wheels, so any given day it might be in place or not, depending on the batting strength of the opposing team. There was no rule against that activity as such, but Veeck then took it to an extreme, rolling it out when the opponents batted, and pulling it back when the Brewers batted. Veeck reported that the league passed a rule against it the very next day. However, extensive research by two members of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) suggests that this story was made up by Veeck. The two researchers could not find any references to a moveable fence or any reference to the gear required for a moveable fence to work. While a half-owner of the Brewers, Veeck served for nearly three years in the United States Marine Corps during World War II in an artillery unit. During this time a recoiling artillery piece crushed his leg, requiring amputation first of the foot, and shortly after of the leg above the knee. Over the course of his life he had 36 operations on the leg. He had a series of wooden legs and, as an inveterate smoker, cut holes in them to use as an ashtray. CANNOTANSWER | Veeck left Chicago and, in partnership with former Cubs star and manager Charlie Grimm, purchased the American Association Triple-A Milwaukee Brewers. | William Louis Veeck Jr. (; February 9, 1914 – January 2, 1986), also known as "Sport Shirt Bill", was an American Major League Baseball franchise owner and promoter. Veeck was at various times the owner of the Cleveland Indians, St. Louis Browns and Chicago White Sox. As owner and team president of the Indians in 1947, Veeck signed Larry Doby, thus beginning the integration of the American League, and the following year won a World Series title as Cleveland's owner/president.
Veeck was the last owner to purchase a baseball franchise without an independent fortune, and is responsible for many innovations and contributions to baseball.
Unable to compete in the new era of salary escalation ignited by arbitration and free agency, Veeck sold his ownership interests after the 1980 Chicago White Sox season. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991.
Early life
Bill Veeck was born on February 9, 1914, in Chicago, Illinois. While Veeck was growing up in Hinsdale, Illinois, his father, William Veeck Sr., became president of the Chicago Cubs. Veeck Sr. was a local sports writer who wrote numerous columns about how he would run the Cubs differently, and the team's owner, William Wrigley Jr., took him up on the implied offer. While growing up, the younger Veeck worked as a popcorn vendor for the Cubs and also as a part-time concession salesman for the crosstown Chicago White Sox. Later, in 1937, he came up with the idea of planting ivy on the walls of Wrigley Field. Veeck attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. In 1933, when his father died, Veeck left Kenyon College and eventually became club treasurer for the Cubs. In 1935, he married his first wife, Eleanor.
Franchise owner
Minor League Baseball
Milwaukee Brewers
In 1940, Veeck left Chicago and, in a syndicate with former Cubs star and manager Charlie Grimm, purchased the American Association Triple-A Milwaukee Brewers. After winning three pennants in five years Veeck sold his Milwaukee franchise in 1945 for a $275,000 profit.
According to his autobiography Veeck – As in Wreck, Veeck claimed to have installed a screen to make the right field target a little more difficult for left-handed pull hitters of the opposing team. The screen was on wheels, so any given day it might be in place or not, depending on the batting strength of the opposing team. There was no rule against that activity as such, but Veeck then took it to an extreme, rolling it out when the opponents batted, and pulling it back when the Brewers batted. Veeck reported that the league passed a rule against it the very next day. However, extensive research by two members of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) suggests that this story was made up by Veeck. The two researchers could not find any references to a moveable fence or any reference to the gear required for a moveable fence to work.
While a co-owner of the Brewers, Veeck served for nearly three years in the United States Marine Corps during World War II in an artillery unit. During this time a recoiling artillery piece crushed his right leg, requiring amputation first of the foot, and shortly after of the leg above the knee. Over the course of his life he had 36 operations on the leg. He had a series of wooden legs and, as an inveterate smoker, cut holes in them to use as an ashtray.
Major League Baseball
Attempted purchase of Philadelphia Phillies
Veeck had been a fan of the Negro leagues since his early teens. He had also admired Abe Saperstein's Harlem Globetrotters basketball team, which was based in Chicago. Saperstein saved Veeck from financial disaster early on in Milwaukee by giving him the right to promote the Globetrotters in the upper Midwest in the winter of 1941–42.
In the fall of 1942, Veeck met with Gerry Nugent, president of the Philadelphia Phillies, to discuss the possibility of buying the struggling National League team. He later wrote in his memoirs that he intended to buy the Phillies and stock the team's roster with stars from the Negro leagues. Although no formal rules barred African-American players from the majors, none had appeared in organized baseball since the 1890s.
Veeck quickly secured financing to buy the Phillies, and agreed in principle to buy the team from Nugent. While on his way to Philadelphia to close on the purchase, Veeck decided to alert MLB Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis of his intentions.
Although Veeck knew Landis was an ardent segregationist, he did not believe Landis would dare say black players were unwelcome while blacks were fighting in World War II. However, when Veeck arrived in Philadelphia, he was surprised to discover that the National League had taken over the Phillies and was seeking a new owner (the Phillies were ultimately sold to lumber baron William D. Cox).
The authors of a controversial article in the 1998 issue of SABR's The National Pastime argued that Veeck invented the story of buying the Phillies and filling their roster with Negro leaguers, claiming Philadelphia's black press made no mention of a prospective sale to Veeck.
Subsequently, the article was criticized by historian Jules Tygiel, who reviewed it point-by-point in an article in the 2006 issue of SABR's The Baseball Research Journal, and in an appendix, entitled "Did Bill Veeck Lie About His Plan to Purchase the '43 Phillies?", published in Paul Dickson's biography, Bill Veeck: Baseball's Greatest Maverick. In the SABR article, Tygiel explained that Veeck and others had mentioned the alleged scheme to buy and stock the Phillies up to fifteen years before the publication of Veeck's memoir, but conceded that, "In all of these accounts the only voice telling the story remains Veeck's." The Tygiel article also conceded, "The overall assessment of Jordan, et al. - that Veeck's notion of buying the Phillies and fielding a team of Negro League stars never quite moved as far from the drawing board as Veeck claimed - may still be true. We still lack any solid evidence that confirms that Veeck had not only conceptualized this action, but made a firm offer to buy the Phillies and met a rebuff by Landis and Frick."
Joseph Thomas Moore wrote in his biography of Larry Doby, "Bill Veeck planned to buy the Philadelphia Phillies with the as yet unannounced intention of breaking that color line."
Cleveland Indians
In 1946, having sold his interest in the Class AAA Milwaukee Brewers, Veeck became the owner of a major league team, the Cleveland Indians. He immediately put all the team's games on radio (previously, only limited games had been broadcast). He also moved the team to Cleveland Municipal Stadium permanently in 1947. The team had split their games between the larger Municipal Stadium and the smaller League Park since the 1930s, but Veeck concluded that League Park was far too small and deteriorated to be viable.
In July of that year, he signed Larry Doby, the first black player to play in the American League. Doby's first game was on July 5 and before the game, Doby was introduced to his teammates by player-manager Lou Boudreau. "One by one, Lou introduced me to each player. 'This is Joe Gordon,' and Gordon put his hand out. 'This is Bob Lemon,' and Lemon put his hand out. 'This is Jim Hegan,' and Hegan put his hand out. All the guys put their hand out, all but three. As soon as he could, Bill Veeck got rid of those three", Doby said. The following year Veeck signed Satchel Paige to a contract, making the hurler the oldest rookie in major league history.
To take advantage of the large size of Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Veeck had a portable center field fence installed in 1947, which he could move in or out depending on how the distance favored the Indians against their opponents in a given series. The fence moved as much as between series opponents. Following the 1947 season, the American League countered with a rule change that fixed the distance of an outfield wall for the duration of a season.
As in Milwaukee, Veeck took a unique approach to promotions, hiring Max Patkin, the "Clown Prince of Baseball", as a coach. Patkin's appearance in the coaching box delighted fans and infuriated the front office of the American League.
Although Veeck had become extremely popular, an attempt in 1947 to trade Boudreau to the St. Louis Browns led to mass protests and petitions supporting Boudreau. Veeck, in response, said he would listen to the fans, and re-signed Boudreau to a new two-year contract. Veeck claimed later that the trade talks had already broken down before they became public, but he seized the opportunity to promote the concept he had dropped the idea of the trade in response to public outcry.
By 1948, led by Boudreau's .355 batting average, Cleveland won its first pennant and World Series since 1920. Famously, the following season Veeck buried the 1948 flag, once it became mathematically certain the team could not repeat its championship in 1949. Later that year, Veeck's first wife, Eleanor, filed for divorce. Most of his money was tied up in the Indians, so he was forced to sell the team to fund the divorce settlement. One year later, Veeck married his second wife Mary Frances Ackerman in 1950. He had met her the previous year while in Cleveland.
St. Louis Browns
After marrying Mary Frances Ackerman, Veeck bought an 80% stake in the St. Louis Browns in 1951. Hoping to force the NL's St. Louis Cardinals out of town, Veeck hired Cardinal greats Rogers Hornsby and Marty Marion as managers, and Dizzy Dean as an announcer; and he decorated their shared home park, Sportsman's Park, exclusively with Browns memorabilia. Ironically the Cardinals had been the Browns' tenants since 1920, even though they had long since passed the Browns as St. Louis' favorite team.
Some of Veeck's most memorable publicity stunts occurred during his tenure with the Browns, including the appearance on August 19, 1951, by Eddie Gaedel, who stood tall and is the shortest person to appear in a Major League Baseball game. Veeck sent Gaedel to pinch hit in the bottom of the first of the game. Wearing "1/8" as his uniform number, Gaedel was walked on four straight pitches and then was pulled for a pinch runner.
Shortly afterwards "Grandstand Manager's Day" – involving Veeck, Connie Mack, and thousands of regular fans, enabled the crowd to vote on various in-game strategic decisions by holding up placards: the Browns won, 5–3, snapping a four-game losing streak.
After the 1952 season, Veeck suggested that the American League clubs share radio and television revenue with visiting clubs, a proposal anathema to the powerful Yankees, whose broadcasting revenues dwarfed all the other AL franchises.
Outvoted, he refused to allow the Browns' opponents to broadcast games played against his team on the road. The league responded by eliminating the lucrative Friday night games in St. Louis.
A year later, Cardinals owner Fred Saigh was convicted of tax evasion. Facing certain banishment from baseball, he was forced to put the Cardinals up for sale. At first, the only credible offers came from out-of-town interests, and it appeared that Veeck would succeed in driving the Cardinals out of town.
However, just as Saigh was about to sell the Cardinals to interests who would have moved them to Houston, Texas, he instead accepted a much lower bid from St. Louis-based brewing giant Anheuser-Busch, who entered the picture with the specific intent of keeping the Cardinals in town. It has long been claimed that Saigh was persuaded to accept Anheuser-Busch's bid more out of civic duty than money. However, according to Anheuser-Busch historian William Knoedelseder, Saigh's first preference all along was to sell the Cardinals to interests who would keep the team in St. Louis.
What is beyond dispute is that as soon as Anheuser-Busch closed on its purchase of the Cardinals, Veeck knew he was finished in St. Louis. He quickly realized that with Anheuser-Busch's wealth behind them, the Cardinals now had more financial resources than he could even begin to match, especially since he had no other source of income. Reluctantly, he decided to move the Browns elsewhere. As a preliminary step, he sold Sportsman's Park to the Cardinals.
At first Veeck considered moving the Browns back to Milwaukee (where they had played their inaugural season in 1901). Milwaukee used recently built Milwaukee County Stadium in an attempt to entice the Browns.
However, the decision was in the hands of the Boston Braves, the parent team of the Brewers. Under major league rules of the time, the Braves held the major league rights to Milwaukee. The Braves wanted another team with the same talent if the Brewers were shut down, and an agreement was not made in time for the start of the 1953 season. Ironically, a few weeks later, the Braves themselves moved to Milwaukee. St. Louis was known to want the team to stay, so some in St. Louis campaigned for the removal of Veeck.
Undaunted, Veeck got in touch with a group that was looking to bring a Major League franchise to Baltimore, Maryland. After the 1953 season, Veeck agreed in principle to sell half his stock to Baltimore attorney Clarence Miles, the front man of the Baltimore group, and his other partners. He would have remained the principal owner, with approximately a 40% interest. Even though league president Will Harridge told him approval was certain, only four owners—two short of the necessary six for passage—supported it. Realizing the other owners simply wanted him out of the picture (indeed, he was facing threats of having his franchise canceled), Veeck agreed to sell his entire stake to Miles' group, who then moved the Browns to Baltimore, where they were renamed as the Orioles, which has been their name ever since.
Chicago White Sox
Taking advantage of inter-familial friction within the Comiskey family, in 1959, Veeck became head of a group that purchased a controlling interest in the Chicago White Sox. Following Veeck's acquisition of the team, the White Sox went on to win their first pennant in 40 years. That year the White Sox broke a team attendance record for home games with 1.4 million. The next year the team broke the same record with 1.6 million visitors to Comiskey Park with the addition of the first "exploding scoreboard" in the major leagues – producing electrical and sound effects, and shooting fireworks whenever the White Sox hit a home run. The "exploding scoreboard" was carried over to the "new" Comiskey Park (now Guaranteed Rate Field) when it opened in 1991.
One year later in 1960, Veeck and former Detroit Tigers great Hank Greenberg, his partner with the Indians and White Sox, reportedly made a strong bid for the American League expansion franchise in Los Angeles. Greenberg would have been the principal owner, with Veeck as a minority partner. However Los Angeles Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley was not willing to compete with a team owned by Veeck, even if he would only be a minority partner. When O'Malley heard of the deal, he invoked his exclusive franchise rights for Southern California. Any potential owner of an American League team in the area would have had to have O'Malley's approval, and it was apparent that O'Malley would not allow any team to set up shop with Veeck as a major shareholder. Rather than try to persuade his friend to back out, Greenberg abandoned his bid for what became the Los Angeles Angels.
In 1961, due to poor health, Veeck sold his share of the White Sox to John and Arthur Allyn for $2.5 million. After selling the White Sox, Veeck worked intermittently as a television commentator for ABC. Veeck then moved to the Eastern Shore of Maryland with his family to convalesce.
When his health improved, Veeck made an unsuccessful attempt to buy the Washington Senators, then operated the Suffolk Downs race track in Boston in 1969–70. Veeck was not heard from again in baseball ownership circles until 1975, when he repurchased the White Sox from John Allyn (sole owner since 1969). Veeck's return rankled baseball's establishment, most owners viewing him as a pariah after exposing industry politics and maneuvering in his 1961 book Veeck As In Wreck. The owners were also unhappy with Veeck's extensive unfavorable discussion of the 1964 purchase of the New York Yankees by CBS in 1965's The Hustler's Handbook (a move Veeck felt exposed MLB to dangerous antitrust liabilities and endangered the antitrust exemption established in a 1922 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court).
However, he was the only potential buyer willing to keep the White Sox in Chicago after an offer was made to buy the team and move it to Seattle, Washington. After an initial vote by AL owners rejected his White Sox bid, Veeck discussed a possible lawsuit; another vote was taken and Veeck was approved by one vote.
Almost immediately after reassuming control of the Sox, Veeck unleashed another publicity stunt. He and general manager Roland Hemond conducted four trades in a hotel lobby, in full view of the public; other owners considered this undignified. Two weeks later, however, arbitrator Peter Seitz's ruling struck down the reserve clause and ushered in the era of free agency, leading to dramatic increases in player salaries. Ironically Veeck had been the only baseball owner to testify in support of Curt Flood during his landmark court case, at which Flood had attempted to gain free agency after being traded to the Philadelphia Phillies. Veeck had proposed a gradual transition to a free-agent system in which players would gain free agency rights after a certain amount of service time. The owners gambled that Seitz would rule in their favor and maintain the reserve clause; he did not.
On the field, Veeck presented a Bicentennial-themed "Spirit of '76" parade on Opening Day in 1976, casting himself as the peg-legged fifer bringing up the rear. In the same year he reactivated Minnie Miñoso for eight at-bats, in order to give Miñoso a claim towards playing in four decades; he did so again in 1980, to expand the claim to five. He also unveiled radically altered uniforms for the players, including clamdigger pants and even shorts, which the Sox wore for the first time against the Kansas City Royals on August 8, 1976.
In an attempt to adapt to free agency he developed a "rent-a-player" model, centering on the acquisition of other clubs' stars in their option years. The gambit was moderately successful: in 1977 the White Sox won 90 games, and finished in third place with additions like Oscar Gamble and Richie Zisk.
During this last run, Veeck decided to have announcer Harry Caray sing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" during the seventh-inning stretch. Veeck asked Caray to sing for the entire park, but he refused. Veeck replied that he already had a recording, so Caray would be heard either way. Caray reluctantly agreed to sing it live, accompanied by White Sox organist Nancy Faust, and went on to become famous for singing the tune, continuing to do so at Wrigley Field after becoming the broadcaster of the Chicago Cubs.
The 1979 season was filled with more promotions. On April 10 he offered fans free admission the day after a 10–2 Opening Day defeat by the Toronto Blue Jays. On July 12, Veeck, with assistance from son Mike and radio personality Steve Dahl, held one of his most infamous promotions, Disco Demolition Night, between games of a scheduled doubleheader, which resulted in a riot at Comiskey Park and a forfeit to the visiting Detroit Tigers.
Life after baseball
Finding himself no longer able to financially compete in the free agent era, Veeck sold the White Sox in January 1981. Following the sale, new White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf made several negative references to Veeck's tenure with the team; in response, Veeck publicly transferred his allegiance back to the Chicago Cubs, the team his father had operated in his youth. Veeck retired to his home in Chicago but in summer could often be found in the Wrigley Field bleachers.
Veeck also wrote occasional articles for magazines and newspapers, usually opining on the overall state of baseball.
Poor health and death
Veeck had been a heavy smoker and drinker until 1980. In 1984, Veeck underwent two operations for lung cancer. Two years later, on the day after New Year's Day, 1986, he died at the age of 71 from cancer. He was elected five years later to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
When he died at age 71, he was survived by his wife, Mary Frances, and eight of his nine children. Two of the surviving children, Peter and Ellen, were from his first marriage, and the others (Mike, Marya, Greg, Lisa, Julie and Chris) were from his second marriage. He was predeceased by his eldest child, William III, who died in 1985. His body was cremated. Mike Veeck became owner of the independent minor-league St. Paul Saints and still is a partner in the team. The younger Veeck and co-owner actor Bill Murray emulated many of Bill Veeck's promotional stunts with the Saints. Greg Veeck earned a Ph.D. at University of Georgia in 1988 and is a geography professor at Western Michigan University focusing on urban geology and East Asia.
Books by Veeck
Veeck wrote three autobiographical works, each a collaboration with journalist Ed Linn. The first two were reissued in updated editions in the 1980s following Veeck's return to baseball ownership. The books include:
Veeck As In Wreck (1962) – a straightforward autobiography, written after Veeck's then-declining health forced him to sell his interest in the White Sox
The Hustler's Handbook (1965) – a sequel and extension of Wreck, divulging his experiences in operating as an outsider in the major leagues, detailing many episodes of behind-the-scenes drama in baseball, including the 1965 acquisition of the New York Yankees by CBS and the maneuvering involved in the move of the Milwaukee Braves to Atlanta, and also a recounting of the 1919 Black Sox Scandal through a diary by Harry Grabiner, business manager of the White Sox in 1919 and much later, an associate of Veeck with the Indians in 1948.
Thirty Tons A Day (1972) – chronicling the time he spent running Suffolk Downs racetrack in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The title refers to the daily quantity of waste (horse excrement, used hay and straw, etc.) that had to be disposed of.
Awards and honors
1948 World Series champion (as owner/president of the Cleveland Indians)
National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum (Class of 1991)
The Baseball Reliquary's Shrine of the Eternals (class of 1999).
In 2013, the Bob Feller Act of Valor Award honored Veeck as one of 37 Baseball Hall of Fame members for his service in the United States Marine Corps during World War II.
See also
List of members of the Baseball Hall of Fame
Notes
References
External links
In Praise of Bill Veeck – slideshow by Life magazine
1914 births
1986 deaths
20th-century American businesspeople
American amputees
Businesspeople from Chicago
Chicago White Sox executives
Chicago White Sox owners
Cleveland Indians executives
Cleveland Indians owners
Deaths from cancer in Illinois
Deaths from lung cancer
Kenyon College alumni
Major League Baseball executives
Major League Baseball general managers
Major League Baseball owners
Minor league baseball executives
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
People from Hinsdale, Illinois
People from St. Michaels, Maryland
Phillips Academy alumni
St. Louis Browns executives
St. Louis Browns owners
Suffolk Downs executives
United States Marines
United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II | false | [
"The Milwaukee Brewers' 1998 season was the first season for the franchise as a member of the National League. The Brewers finished in fifth in the NL Central, 28 games behind the Houston Astros, with a record of 74 wins and 88 losses. Before the 1998 regular season began, two new teams—the Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Devil Rays—were added by Major League Baseball. This resulted in the American League and National League having fifteen teams. However, in order for MLB officials to continue primarily intraleague play, both leagues would need to carry a number of teams that was divisible by two, so the decision was made to move one club from the AL Central to the NL Central.\n\nThis realignment was widely considered to have great financial benefit to the club moving. However, to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest, Commissioner (then club owner) Bud Selig decided another team should have the first chance to switch leagues. The choice was offered to the Kansas City Royals, who ultimately decided to stay in the American League. The choice then fell to the Brewers, who, on November 6, 1997, elected to move to the National League. Had the Brewers elected not to move to the National League, the Minnesota Twins would have been offered the opportunity to switch leagues.\n\nAlso, Milwaukee was not totally unfamiliar with the National League, having been the home of the NL Braves for 13 seasons (1953–1965).\n\nOffseason\n December 1, 1997: Jack Voigt was released by the Brewers.\n December 8, 1997: Mike Fetters, Ben McDonald, and Ron Villone were traded by the Brewers to the Cleveland Indians for Marquis Grissom and Jeff Juden.\n January 14, 1998: Bob Hamelin was signed as a free agent by the Brewers.\n March 11, 1998: Mark Watson was traded by the Brewers to the Cleveland Indians for Ben McDonald.\n\nRegular season\n\nSeason standings\n\nRecord vs. opponents\n\nNotable transactions\n June 2, 1998: J. J. Putz was drafted by the Brewers in the 17th round of the 1998 Major League Baseball draft, but did not sign.\n June 24, 1998: Dave Weathers was selected off waivers by the Milwaukee Brewers from the Cincinnati Reds.\n July 23, 1998: Doug Jones was traded by the Brewers to the Cleveland Indians for Eric Plunk.\n July 31, 1998: Mike Kinkade was traded by the Brewers to the New York Mets for Bill Pulsipher.\n August 7, 1998: Jeff Juden was selected off waivers from the Brewers by the Anaheim Angels.\n\nRoster\n\nPlayer stats\n\nBatting\n\nStarters by position\nNote: Pos = position; G = Games played; AB = At Bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting Average; HR = Home Runs; RBI = Runs Batted In; SB = Stolen Bases\n\nOther batters\n\nPitching\n\nStarting pitchers\n\nOther pitchers\n\nRelief pitchers\n\nFarm system\n\nThe Brewers' farm system consisted of eight minor league affiliates in 1998. The Brewers operated a Venezuelan Summer League team as a co-op with the Florida Marlins and San Francisco Giants. VSL Guacara 1 won the Venezuelan Summer League championship.\n\nReferences\n\n1998 Milwaukee Brewers team at Baseball-Reference\n1998 Milwaukee Brewers team page at www.baseball-almanac.com\n\nMilwaukee Brewers seasons\nMilwaukee Brewers season\nMilwaukee Brew",
"The Milwaukee Brewers' 2004 season involved the Brewers' finishing 6th in the National League Central with a record of 67 wins and 94 losses. The main highlight of the Brewers season was on the big screen, as the franchise was portrayed fictionally in the sports comedy Mr. 3000, starting Bernie Mac.\n\nOffseason\n November 13, 2003: Chris Coste signed as a Free Agent with the Milwaukee Brewers.\nDecember 1, 2003: Lyle Overbay was traded by the Arizona Diamondbacks with Chris Capuano, Craig Counsell, Chad Moeller, Jorge de la Rosa, and Junior Spivey to the Milwaukee Brewers for a player to be named later, Richie Sexson, and Shane Nance. The Milwaukee Brewers sent Noochie Varner (minors) (December 15, 2003) to the Arizona Diamondbacks to complete the trade.\nJanuary 26, 2004: Scott Sheldon was signed as a Free Agent with the Milwaukee Brewers.\n\nRegular season\n\nSeason standings\n\nNational League Central\n\nRecord vs. opponents\n\nTransactions\nJune 14, 2004: Scott Sheldon was released by the Milwaukee Brewers.\nJuly 26, 2004: Russell Branyan was sent to the Milwaukee Brewers by the Cleveland Indians as part of a conditional deal.\n\nRoster\n\nFarm system\n\nThe Brewers' farm system consisted of six minor league affiliates in 2004.\n\nReferences\n\n2004 Milwaukee Brewers team at Baseball-Reference\n2004 Milwaukee Brewers team page at baseball-almanac.com\n\nMilwaukee Brewers seasons\nMilwaukee Brew\nMilwaukee Brewers"
]
|
[
"Bill Veeck",
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"Veeck left Chicago and, in partnership with former Cubs star and manager Charlie Grimm, purchased the American Association Triple-A Milwaukee Brewers."
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| C_4a77e6c8b92945ebb5fd221afd516d59_1 | Did this team have a lot of wins? | 2 | Did Milwaukee Brewers team have a lot of wins? | Bill Veeck | In 1942, Veeck left Chicago and, in partnership with former Cubs star and manager Charlie Grimm, purchased the American Association Triple-A Milwaukee Brewers. After winning three pennants in five years Veeck sold his Milwaukee franchise in 1945 for a $275,000 profit. According to his autobiography Veeck - As in Wreck, Veeck claimed to have installed a screen to make the right field target a little more difficult for left-handed pull hitters of the opposing team. The screen was on wheels, so any given day it might be in place or not, depending on the batting strength of the opposing team. There was no rule against that activity as such, but Veeck then took it to an extreme, rolling it out when the opponents batted, and pulling it back when the Brewers batted. Veeck reported that the league passed a rule against it the very next day. However, extensive research by two members of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) suggests that this story was made up by Veeck. The two researchers could not find any references to a moveable fence or any reference to the gear required for a moveable fence to work. While a half-owner of the Brewers, Veeck served for nearly three years in the United States Marine Corps during World War II in an artillery unit. During this time a recoiling artillery piece crushed his leg, requiring amputation first of the foot, and shortly after of the leg above the knee. Over the course of his life he had 36 operations on the leg. He had a series of wooden legs and, as an inveterate smoker, cut holes in them to use as an ashtray. CANNOTANSWER | After winning three pennants in five years Veeck sold his Milwaukee franchise in 1945 for a $275,000 profit. | William Louis Veeck Jr. (; February 9, 1914 – January 2, 1986), also known as "Sport Shirt Bill", was an American Major League Baseball franchise owner and promoter. Veeck was at various times the owner of the Cleveland Indians, St. Louis Browns and Chicago White Sox. As owner and team president of the Indians in 1947, Veeck signed Larry Doby, thus beginning the integration of the American League, and the following year won a World Series title as Cleveland's owner/president.
Veeck was the last owner to purchase a baseball franchise without an independent fortune, and is responsible for many innovations and contributions to baseball.
Unable to compete in the new era of salary escalation ignited by arbitration and free agency, Veeck sold his ownership interests after the 1980 Chicago White Sox season. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991.
Early life
Bill Veeck was born on February 9, 1914, in Chicago, Illinois. While Veeck was growing up in Hinsdale, Illinois, his father, William Veeck Sr., became president of the Chicago Cubs. Veeck Sr. was a local sports writer who wrote numerous columns about how he would run the Cubs differently, and the team's owner, William Wrigley Jr., took him up on the implied offer. While growing up, the younger Veeck worked as a popcorn vendor for the Cubs and also as a part-time concession salesman for the crosstown Chicago White Sox. Later, in 1937, he came up with the idea of planting ivy on the walls of Wrigley Field. Veeck attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. In 1933, when his father died, Veeck left Kenyon College and eventually became club treasurer for the Cubs. In 1935, he married his first wife, Eleanor.
Franchise owner
Minor League Baseball
Milwaukee Brewers
In 1940, Veeck left Chicago and, in a syndicate with former Cubs star and manager Charlie Grimm, purchased the American Association Triple-A Milwaukee Brewers. After winning three pennants in five years Veeck sold his Milwaukee franchise in 1945 for a $275,000 profit.
According to his autobiography Veeck – As in Wreck, Veeck claimed to have installed a screen to make the right field target a little more difficult for left-handed pull hitters of the opposing team. The screen was on wheels, so any given day it might be in place or not, depending on the batting strength of the opposing team. There was no rule against that activity as such, but Veeck then took it to an extreme, rolling it out when the opponents batted, and pulling it back when the Brewers batted. Veeck reported that the league passed a rule against it the very next day. However, extensive research by two members of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) suggests that this story was made up by Veeck. The two researchers could not find any references to a moveable fence or any reference to the gear required for a moveable fence to work.
While a co-owner of the Brewers, Veeck served for nearly three years in the United States Marine Corps during World War II in an artillery unit. During this time a recoiling artillery piece crushed his right leg, requiring amputation first of the foot, and shortly after of the leg above the knee. Over the course of his life he had 36 operations on the leg. He had a series of wooden legs and, as an inveterate smoker, cut holes in them to use as an ashtray.
Major League Baseball
Attempted purchase of Philadelphia Phillies
Veeck had been a fan of the Negro leagues since his early teens. He had also admired Abe Saperstein's Harlem Globetrotters basketball team, which was based in Chicago. Saperstein saved Veeck from financial disaster early on in Milwaukee by giving him the right to promote the Globetrotters in the upper Midwest in the winter of 1941–42.
In the fall of 1942, Veeck met with Gerry Nugent, president of the Philadelphia Phillies, to discuss the possibility of buying the struggling National League team. He later wrote in his memoirs that he intended to buy the Phillies and stock the team's roster with stars from the Negro leagues. Although no formal rules barred African-American players from the majors, none had appeared in organized baseball since the 1890s.
Veeck quickly secured financing to buy the Phillies, and agreed in principle to buy the team from Nugent. While on his way to Philadelphia to close on the purchase, Veeck decided to alert MLB Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis of his intentions.
Although Veeck knew Landis was an ardent segregationist, he did not believe Landis would dare say black players were unwelcome while blacks were fighting in World War II. However, when Veeck arrived in Philadelphia, he was surprised to discover that the National League had taken over the Phillies and was seeking a new owner (the Phillies were ultimately sold to lumber baron William D. Cox).
The authors of a controversial article in the 1998 issue of SABR's The National Pastime argued that Veeck invented the story of buying the Phillies and filling their roster with Negro leaguers, claiming Philadelphia's black press made no mention of a prospective sale to Veeck.
Subsequently, the article was criticized by historian Jules Tygiel, who reviewed it point-by-point in an article in the 2006 issue of SABR's The Baseball Research Journal, and in an appendix, entitled "Did Bill Veeck Lie About His Plan to Purchase the '43 Phillies?", published in Paul Dickson's biography, Bill Veeck: Baseball's Greatest Maverick. In the SABR article, Tygiel explained that Veeck and others had mentioned the alleged scheme to buy and stock the Phillies up to fifteen years before the publication of Veeck's memoir, but conceded that, "In all of these accounts the only voice telling the story remains Veeck's." The Tygiel article also conceded, "The overall assessment of Jordan, et al. - that Veeck's notion of buying the Phillies and fielding a team of Negro League stars never quite moved as far from the drawing board as Veeck claimed - may still be true. We still lack any solid evidence that confirms that Veeck had not only conceptualized this action, but made a firm offer to buy the Phillies and met a rebuff by Landis and Frick."
Joseph Thomas Moore wrote in his biography of Larry Doby, "Bill Veeck planned to buy the Philadelphia Phillies with the as yet unannounced intention of breaking that color line."
Cleveland Indians
In 1946, having sold his interest in the Class AAA Milwaukee Brewers, Veeck became the owner of a major league team, the Cleveland Indians. He immediately put all the team's games on radio (previously, only limited games had been broadcast). He also moved the team to Cleveland Municipal Stadium permanently in 1947. The team had split their games between the larger Municipal Stadium and the smaller League Park since the 1930s, but Veeck concluded that League Park was far too small and deteriorated to be viable.
In July of that year, he signed Larry Doby, the first black player to play in the American League. Doby's first game was on July 5 and before the game, Doby was introduced to his teammates by player-manager Lou Boudreau. "One by one, Lou introduced me to each player. 'This is Joe Gordon,' and Gordon put his hand out. 'This is Bob Lemon,' and Lemon put his hand out. 'This is Jim Hegan,' and Hegan put his hand out. All the guys put their hand out, all but three. As soon as he could, Bill Veeck got rid of those three", Doby said. The following year Veeck signed Satchel Paige to a contract, making the hurler the oldest rookie in major league history.
To take advantage of the large size of Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Veeck had a portable center field fence installed in 1947, which he could move in or out depending on how the distance favored the Indians against their opponents in a given series. The fence moved as much as between series opponents. Following the 1947 season, the American League countered with a rule change that fixed the distance of an outfield wall for the duration of a season.
As in Milwaukee, Veeck took a unique approach to promotions, hiring Max Patkin, the "Clown Prince of Baseball", as a coach. Patkin's appearance in the coaching box delighted fans and infuriated the front office of the American League.
Although Veeck had become extremely popular, an attempt in 1947 to trade Boudreau to the St. Louis Browns led to mass protests and petitions supporting Boudreau. Veeck, in response, said he would listen to the fans, and re-signed Boudreau to a new two-year contract. Veeck claimed later that the trade talks had already broken down before they became public, but he seized the opportunity to promote the concept he had dropped the idea of the trade in response to public outcry.
By 1948, led by Boudreau's .355 batting average, Cleveland won its first pennant and World Series since 1920. Famously, the following season Veeck buried the 1948 flag, once it became mathematically certain the team could not repeat its championship in 1949. Later that year, Veeck's first wife, Eleanor, filed for divorce. Most of his money was tied up in the Indians, so he was forced to sell the team to fund the divorce settlement. One year later, Veeck married his second wife Mary Frances Ackerman in 1950. He had met her the previous year while in Cleveland.
St. Louis Browns
After marrying Mary Frances Ackerman, Veeck bought an 80% stake in the St. Louis Browns in 1951. Hoping to force the NL's St. Louis Cardinals out of town, Veeck hired Cardinal greats Rogers Hornsby and Marty Marion as managers, and Dizzy Dean as an announcer; and he decorated their shared home park, Sportsman's Park, exclusively with Browns memorabilia. Ironically the Cardinals had been the Browns' tenants since 1920, even though they had long since passed the Browns as St. Louis' favorite team.
Some of Veeck's most memorable publicity stunts occurred during his tenure with the Browns, including the appearance on August 19, 1951, by Eddie Gaedel, who stood tall and is the shortest person to appear in a Major League Baseball game. Veeck sent Gaedel to pinch hit in the bottom of the first of the game. Wearing "1/8" as his uniform number, Gaedel was walked on four straight pitches and then was pulled for a pinch runner.
Shortly afterwards "Grandstand Manager's Day" – involving Veeck, Connie Mack, and thousands of regular fans, enabled the crowd to vote on various in-game strategic decisions by holding up placards: the Browns won, 5–3, snapping a four-game losing streak.
After the 1952 season, Veeck suggested that the American League clubs share radio and television revenue with visiting clubs, a proposal anathema to the powerful Yankees, whose broadcasting revenues dwarfed all the other AL franchises.
Outvoted, he refused to allow the Browns' opponents to broadcast games played against his team on the road. The league responded by eliminating the lucrative Friday night games in St. Louis.
A year later, Cardinals owner Fred Saigh was convicted of tax evasion. Facing certain banishment from baseball, he was forced to put the Cardinals up for sale. At first, the only credible offers came from out-of-town interests, and it appeared that Veeck would succeed in driving the Cardinals out of town.
However, just as Saigh was about to sell the Cardinals to interests who would have moved them to Houston, Texas, he instead accepted a much lower bid from St. Louis-based brewing giant Anheuser-Busch, who entered the picture with the specific intent of keeping the Cardinals in town. It has long been claimed that Saigh was persuaded to accept Anheuser-Busch's bid more out of civic duty than money. However, according to Anheuser-Busch historian William Knoedelseder, Saigh's first preference all along was to sell the Cardinals to interests who would keep the team in St. Louis.
What is beyond dispute is that as soon as Anheuser-Busch closed on its purchase of the Cardinals, Veeck knew he was finished in St. Louis. He quickly realized that with Anheuser-Busch's wealth behind them, the Cardinals now had more financial resources than he could even begin to match, especially since he had no other source of income. Reluctantly, he decided to move the Browns elsewhere. As a preliminary step, he sold Sportsman's Park to the Cardinals.
At first Veeck considered moving the Browns back to Milwaukee (where they had played their inaugural season in 1901). Milwaukee used recently built Milwaukee County Stadium in an attempt to entice the Browns.
However, the decision was in the hands of the Boston Braves, the parent team of the Brewers. Under major league rules of the time, the Braves held the major league rights to Milwaukee. The Braves wanted another team with the same talent if the Brewers were shut down, and an agreement was not made in time for the start of the 1953 season. Ironically, a few weeks later, the Braves themselves moved to Milwaukee. St. Louis was known to want the team to stay, so some in St. Louis campaigned for the removal of Veeck.
Undaunted, Veeck got in touch with a group that was looking to bring a Major League franchise to Baltimore, Maryland. After the 1953 season, Veeck agreed in principle to sell half his stock to Baltimore attorney Clarence Miles, the front man of the Baltimore group, and his other partners. He would have remained the principal owner, with approximately a 40% interest. Even though league president Will Harridge told him approval was certain, only four owners—two short of the necessary six for passage—supported it. Realizing the other owners simply wanted him out of the picture (indeed, he was facing threats of having his franchise canceled), Veeck agreed to sell his entire stake to Miles' group, who then moved the Browns to Baltimore, where they were renamed as the Orioles, which has been their name ever since.
Chicago White Sox
Taking advantage of inter-familial friction within the Comiskey family, in 1959, Veeck became head of a group that purchased a controlling interest in the Chicago White Sox. Following Veeck's acquisition of the team, the White Sox went on to win their first pennant in 40 years. That year the White Sox broke a team attendance record for home games with 1.4 million. The next year the team broke the same record with 1.6 million visitors to Comiskey Park with the addition of the first "exploding scoreboard" in the major leagues – producing electrical and sound effects, and shooting fireworks whenever the White Sox hit a home run. The "exploding scoreboard" was carried over to the "new" Comiskey Park (now Guaranteed Rate Field) when it opened in 1991.
One year later in 1960, Veeck and former Detroit Tigers great Hank Greenberg, his partner with the Indians and White Sox, reportedly made a strong bid for the American League expansion franchise in Los Angeles. Greenberg would have been the principal owner, with Veeck as a minority partner. However Los Angeles Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley was not willing to compete with a team owned by Veeck, even if he would only be a minority partner. When O'Malley heard of the deal, he invoked his exclusive franchise rights for Southern California. Any potential owner of an American League team in the area would have had to have O'Malley's approval, and it was apparent that O'Malley would not allow any team to set up shop with Veeck as a major shareholder. Rather than try to persuade his friend to back out, Greenberg abandoned his bid for what became the Los Angeles Angels.
In 1961, due to poor health, Veeck sold his share of the White Sox to John and Arthur Allyn for $2.5 million. After selling the White Sox, Veeck worked intermittently as a television commentator for ABC. Veeck then moved to the Eastern Shore of Maryland with his family to convalesce.
When his health improved, Veeck made an unsuccessful attempt to buy the Washington Senators, then operated the Suffolk Downs race track in Boston in 1969–70. Veeck was not heard from again in baseball ownership circles until 1975, when he repurchased the White Sox from John Allyn (sole owner since 1969). Veeck's return rankled baseball's establishment, most owners viewing him as a pariah after exposing industry politics and maneuvering in his 1961 book Veeck As In Wreck. The owners were also unhappy with Veeck's extensive unfavorable discussion of the 1964 purchase of the New York Yankees by CBS in 1965's The Hustler's Handbook (a move Veeck felt exposed MLB to dangerous antitrust liabilities and endangered the antitrust exemption established in a 1922 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court).
However, he was the only potential buyer willing to keep the White Sox in Chicago after an offer was made to buy the team and move it to Seattle, Washington. After an initial vote by AL owners rejected his White Sox bid, Veeck discussed a possible lawsuit; another vote was taken and Veeck was approved by one vote.
Almost immediately after reassuming control of the Sox, Veeck unleashed another publicity stunt. He and general manager Roland Hemond conducted four trades in a hotel lobby, in full view of the public; other owners considered this undignified. Two weeks later, however, arbitrator Peter Seitz's ruling struck down the reserve clause and ushered in the era of free agency, leading to dramatic increases in player salaries. Ironically Veeck had been the only baseball owner to testify in support of Curt Flood during his landmark court case, at which Flood had attempted to gain free agency after being traded to the Philadelphia Phillies. Veeck had proposed a gradual transition to a free-agent system in which players would gain free agency rights after a certain amount of service time. The owners gambled that Seitz would rule in their favor and maintain the reserve clause; he did not.
On the field, Veeck presented a Bicentennial-themed "Spirit of '76" parade on Opening Day in 1976, casting himself as the peg-legged fifer bringing up the rear. In the same year he reactivated Minnie Miñoso for eight at-bats, in order to give Miñoso a claim towards playing in four decades; he did so again in 1980, to expand the claim to five. He also unveiled radically altered uniforms for the players, including clamdigger pants and even shorts, which the Sox wore for the first time against the Kansas City Royals on August 8, 1976.
In an attempt to adapt to free agency he developed a "rent-a-player" model, centering on the acquisition of other clubs' stars in their option years. The gambit was moderately successful: in 1977 the White Sox won 90 games, and finished in third place with additions like Oscar Gamble and Richie Zisk.
During this last run, Veeck decided to have announcer Harry Caray sing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" during the seventh-inning stretch. Veeck asked Caray to sing for the entire park, but he refused. Veeck replied that he already had a recording, so Caray would be heard either way. Caray reluctantly agreed to sing it live, accompanied by White Sox organist Nancy Faust, and went on to become famous for singing the tune, continuing to do so at Wrigley Field after becoming the broadcaster of the Chicago Cubs.
The 1979 season was filled with more promotions. On April 10 he offered fans free admission the day after a 10–2 Opening Day defeat by the Toronto Blue Jays. On July 12, Veeck, with assistance from son Mike and radio personality Steve Dahl, held one of his most infamous promotions, Disco Demolition Night, between games of a scheduled doubleheader, which resulted in a riot at Comiskey Park and a forfeit to the visiting Detroit Tigers.
Life after baseball
Finding himself no longer able to financially compete in the free agent era, Veeck sold the White Sox in January 1981. Following the sale, new White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf made several negative references to Veeck's tenure with the team; in response, Veeck publicly transferred his allegiance back to the Chicago Cubs, the team his father had operated in his youth. Veeck retired to his home in Chicago but in summer could often be found in the Wrigley Field bleachers.
Veeck also wrote occasional articles for magazines and newspapers, usually opining on the overall state of baseball.
Poor health and death
Veeck had been a heavy smoker and drinker until 1980. In 1984, Veeck underwent two operations for lung cancer. Two years later, on the day after New Year's Day, 1986, he died at the age of 71 from cancer. He was elected five years later to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
When he died at age 71, he was survived by his wife, Mary Frances, and eight of his nine children. Two of the surviving children, Peter and Ellen, were from his first marriage, and the others (Mike, Marya, Greg, Lisa, Julie and Chris) were from his second marriage. He was predeceased by his eldest child, William III, who died in 1985. His body was cremated. Mike Veeck became owner of the independent minor-league St. Paul Saints and still is a partner in the team. The younger Veeck and co-owner actor Bill Murray emulated many of Bill Veeck's promotional stunts with the Saints. Greg Veeck earned a Ph.D. at University of Georgia in 1988 and is a geography professor at Western Michigan University focusing on urban geology and East Asia.
Books by Veeck
Veeck wrote three autobiographical works, each a collaboration with journalist Ed Linn. The first two were reissued in updated editions in the 1980s following Veeck's return to baseball ownership. The books include:
Veeck As In Wreck (1962) – a straightforward autobiography, written after Veeck's then-declining health forced him to sell his interest in the White Sox
The Hustler's Handbook (1965) – a sequel and extension of Wreck, divulging his experiences in operating as an outsider in the major leagues, detailing many episodes of behind-the-scenes drama in baseball, including the 1965 acquisition of the New York Yankees by CBS and the maneuvering involved in the move of the Milwaukee Braves to Atlanta, and also a recounting of the 1919 Black Sox Scandal through a diary by Harry Grabiner, business manager of the White Sox in 1919 and much later, an associate of Veeck with the Indians in 1948.
Thirty Tons A Day (1972) – chronicling the time he spent running Suffolk Downs racetrack in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The title refers to the daily quantity of waste (horse excrement, used hay and straw, etc.) that had to be disposed of.
Awards and honors
1948 World Series champion (as owner/president of the Cleveland Indians)
National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum (Class of 1991)
The Baseball Reliquary's Shrine of the Eternals (class of 1999).
In 2013, the Bob Feller Act of Valor Award honored Veeck as one of 37 Baseball Hall of Fame members for his service in the United States Marine Corps during World War II.
See also
List of members of the Baseball Hall of Fame
Notes
References
External links
In Praise of Bill Veeck – slideshow by Life magazine
1914 births
1986 deaths
20th-century American businesspeople
American amputees
Businesspeople from Chicago
Chicago White Sox executives
Chicago White Sox owners
Cleveland Indians executives
Cleveland Indians owners
Deaths from cancer in Illinois
Deaths from lung cancer
Kenyon College alumni
Major League Baseball executives
Major League Baseball general managers
Major League Baseball owners
Minor league baseball executives
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
People from Hinsdale, Illinois
People from St. Michaels, Maryland
Phillips Academy alumni
St. Louis Browns executives
St. Louis Browns owners
Suffolk Downs executives
United States Marines
United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II | true | [
"This is a list of seasons completed by the BYU Cougars men's basketball team since the team's formation in 1902. They have been conference regular season champions 30 times and conference tournament champions 3 times. They have also appeared in 29 NCAA basketball tournaments, reaching the Elite Eight 3 times.\n\nSeasons\n\n Adjusted record is 1–10 (25 wins and 1 loss vacated) and 0–5 (11 wins vacated) in conference. One win was not vacated; Nick Emery (the player who was ruled ineligible) did not play in one of BYU's wins.\n Adjusted record is 0–11 (22 wins and 1 loss vacated) and 0–6 (12 wins vacated) in conference.\n\nReferences\n\n \nByu",
"The following is a list of the top National Football League (NFL) quarterbacks in regular season wins. In the NFL, the starting quarterback is the only position that is credited with records of wins and losses. \n\nTom Brady holds the record for the most regular season wins with 243. Among active players, Aaron Rodgers has the most regular season wins with 139. Otto Graham holds the record for the highest winning percentage with a minimum of 50 starts at (57–13–1).\n\nBrady also holds the record for the most postseason wins with 35, and the record for combined wins in the regular season and postseason, with 278.\n\nList\n\nThis sortable table shows the top 100 NFL quarterbacks in order of regular season wins, since the start of the modern era, 1950. The table also shows every team that a quarterback played for and his record with each team.\n\nNotes\nThe NFL did not officially count ties in the standings until . Therefore, ties occurring prior to 1972 do not count toward a quarterback's win percentage, while ties occurring in 1972 or later count as half-win, half-loss.\n Bobby Layne is listed as having started all 12 games for the Bulldogs (NFL) in 1949, and that team finished 1–10–1. Combined with his official post–1949 won–loss–tied record of 80–51–4 (.607), his overall estimated won–loss–tied record is 81–61–5 (.568).\nThe 1950 Baltimore Colts are a defunct NFL team and not affiliated with the current Indianapolis Colts.\nConerly is estimated to have gone 7–8–0 as a starter from 1948–1949. Combined with his official post-1949 record of 58–31–1 (), his overall estimated record is 65–39–1 ().\nGraham also started 55 games for the Cleveland Browns when they were in the All-America Football Conference (1946–1949), and is estimated to have gone 48-4-3. Combined with his NFL record of 57-13-1 (), his overall estimated professional record (AAFC and NFL) is 105–17–4 ().\n\nPostseason wins\n\nCombined regular and postseason wins\n\nSee also \nNFL individual wins records\nNFL starting quarterback playoff records\nList of most consecutive starts by a National Football League quarterback\n\nReferences \n\nQuarterback wins leaders\nWins\nNational Football League lists"
]
|
[
"Bill Veeck",
"Milwaukee Brewers",
"Was did Bill have to do with the Milwaukee Brewers?",
"Veeck left Chicago and, in partnership with former Cubs star and manager Charlie Grimm, purchased the American Association Triple-A Milwaukee Brewers.",
"Did this team have a lot of wins?",
"After winning three pennants in five years Veeck sold his Milwaukee franchise in 1945 for a $275,000 profit."
]
| C_4a77e6c8b92945ebb5fd221afd516d59_1 | Why did he sell the team? | 3 | Why did Bill Veeck sell the Milwaukee Brewers team? | Bill Veeck | In 1942, Veeck left Chicago and, in partnership with former Cubs star and manager Charlie Grimm, purchased the American Association Triple-A Milwaukee Brewers. After winning three pennants in five years Veeck sold his Milwaukee franchise in 1945 for a $275,000 profit. According to his autobiography Veeck - As in Wreck, Veeck claimed to have installed a screen to make the right field target a little more difficult for left-handed pull hitters of the opposing team. The screen was on wheels, so any given day it might be in place or not, depending on the batting strength of the opposing team. There was no rule against that activity as such, but Veeck then took it to an extreme, rolling it out when the opponents batted, and pulling it back when the Brewers batted. Veeck reported that the league passed a rule against it the very next day. However, extensive research by two members of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) suggests that this story was made up by Veeck. The two researchers could not find any references to a moveable fence or any reference to the gear required for a moveable fence to work. While a half-owner of the Brewers, Veeck served for nearly three years in the United States Marine Corps during World War II in an artillery unit. During this time a recoiling artillery piece crushed his leg, requiring amputation first of the foot, and shortly after of the leg above the knee. Over the course of his life he had 36 operations on the leg. He had a series of wooden legs and, as an inveterate smoker, cut holes in them to use as an ashtray. CANNOTANSWER | Veeck claimed to have installed a screen to make the right field target a little more difficult for left-handed pull hitters of the opposing team. | William Louis Veeck Jr. (; February 9, 1914 – January 2, 1986), also known as "Sport Shirt Bill", was an American Major League Baseball franchise owner and promoter. Veeck was at various times the owner of the Cleveland Indians, St. Louis Browns and Chicago White Sox. As owner and team president of the Indians in 1947, Veeck signed Larry Doby, thus beginning the integration of the American League, and the following year won a World Series title as Cleveland's owner/president.
Veeck was the last owner to purchase a baseball franchise without an independent fortune, and is responsible for many innovations and contributions to baseball.
Unable to compete in the new era of salary escalation ignited by arbitration and free agency, Veeck sold his ownership interests after the 1980 Chicago White Sox season. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991.
Early life
Bill Veeck was born on February 9, 1914, in Chicago, Illinois. While Veeck was growing up in Hinsdale, Illinois, his father, William Veeck Sr., became president of the Chicago Cubs. Veeck Sr. was a local sports writer who wrote numerous columns about how he would run the Cubs differently, and the team's owner, William Wrigley Jr., took him up on the implied offer. While growing up, the younger Veeck worked as a popcorn vendor for the Cubs and also as a part-time concession salesman for the crosstown Chicago White Sox. Later, in 1937, he came up with the idea of planting ivy on the walls of Wrigley Field. Veeck attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. In 1933, when his father died, Veeck left Kenyon College and eventually became club treasurer for the Cubs. In 1935, he married his first wife, Eleanor.
Franchise owner
Minor League Baseball
Milwaukee Brewers
In 1940, Veeck left Chicago and, in a syndicate with former Cubs star and manager Charlie Grimm, purchased the American Association Triple-A Milwaukee Brewers. After winning three pennants in five years Veeck sold his Milwaukee franchise in 1945 for a $275,000 profit.
According to his autobiography Veeck – As in Wreck, Veeck claimed to have installed a screen to make the right field target a little more difficult for left-handed pull hitters of the opposing team. The screen was on wheels, so any given day it might be in place or not, depending on the batting strength of the opposing team. There was no rule against that activity as such, but Veeck then took it to an extreme, rolling it out when the opponents batted, and pulling it back when the Brewers batted. Veeck reported that the league passed a rule against it the very next day. However, extensive research by two members of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) suggests that this story was made up by Veeck. The two researchers could not find any references to a moveable fence or any reference to the gear required for a moveable fence to work.
While a co-owner of the Brewers, Veeck served for nearly three years in the United States Marine Corps during World War II in an artillery unit. During this time a recoiling artillery piece crushed his right leg, requiring amputation first of the foot, and shortly after of the leg above the knee. Over the course of his life he had 36 operations on the leg. He had a series of wooden legs and, as an inveterate smoker, cut holes in them to use as an ashtray.
Major League Baseball
Attempted purchase of Philadelphia Phillies
Veeck had been a fan of the Negro leagues since his early teens. He had also admired Abe Saperstein's Harlem Globetrotters basketball team, which was based in Chicago. Saperstein saved Veeck from financial disaster early on in Milwaukee by giving him the right to promote the Globetrotters in the upper Midwest in the winter of 1941–42.
In the fall of 1942, Veeck met with Gerry Nugent, president of the Philadelphia Phillies, to discuss the possibility of buying the struggling National League team. He later wrote in his memoirs that he intended to buy the Phillies and stock the team's roster with stars from the Negro leagues. Although no formal rules barred African-American players from the majors, none had appeared in organized baseball since the 1890s.
Veeck quickly secured financing to buy the Phillies, and agreed in principle to buy the team from Nugent. While on his way to Philadelphia to close on the purchase, Veeck decided to alert MLB Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis of his intentions.
Although Veeck knew Landis was an ardent segregationist, he did not believe Landis would dare say black players were unwelcome while blacks were fighting in World War II. However, when Veeck arrived in Philadelphia, he was surprised to discover that the National League had taken over the Phillies and was seeking a new owner (the Phillies were ultimately sold to lumber baron William D. Cox).
The authors of a controversial article in the 1998 issue of SABR's The National Pastime argued that Veeck invented the story of buying the Phillies and filling their roster with Negro leaguers, claiming Philadelphia's black press made no mention of a prospective sale to Veeck.
Subsequently, the article was criticized by historian Jules Tygiel, who reviewed it point-by-point in an article in the 2006 issue of SABR's The Baseball Research Journal, and in an appendix, entitled "Did Bill Veeck Lie About His Plan to Purchase the '43 Phillies?", published in Paul Dickson's biography, Bill Veeck: Baseball's Greatest Maverick. In the SABR article, Tygiel explained that Veeck and others had mentioned the alleged scheme to buy and stock the Phillies up to fifteen years before the publication of Veeck's memoir, but conceded that, "In all of these accounts the only voice telling the story remains Veeck's." The Tygiel article also conceded, "The overall assessment of Jordan, et al. - that Veeck's notion of buying the Phillies and fielding a team of Negro League stars never quite moved as far from the drawing board as Veeck claimed - may still be true. We still lack any solid evidence that confirms that Veeck had not only conceptualized this action, but made a firm offer to buy the Phillies and met a rebuff by Landis and Frick."
Joseph Thomas Moore wrote in his biography of Larry Doby, "Bill Veeck planned to buy the Philadelphia Phillies with the as yet unannounced intention of breaking that color line."
Cleveland Indians
In 1946, having sold his interest in the Class AAA Milwaukee Brewers, Veeck became the owner of a major league team, the Cleveland Indians. He immediately put all the team's games on radio (previously, only limited games had been broadcast). He also moved the team to Cleveland Municipal Stadium permanently in 1947. The team had split their games between the larger Municipal Stadium and the smaller League Park since the 1930s, but Veeck concluded that League Park was far too small and deteriorated to be viable.
In July of that year, he signed Larry Doby, the first black player to play in the American League. Doby's first game was on July 5 and before the game, Doby was introduced to his teammates by player-manager Lou Boudreau. "One by one, Lou introduced me to each player. 'This is Joe Gordon,' and Gordon put his hand out. 'This is Bob Lemon,' and Lemon put his hand out. 'This is Jim Hegan,' and Hegan put his hand out. All the guys put their hand out, all but three. As soon as he could, Bill Veeck got rid of those three", Doby said. The following year Veeck signed Satchel Paige to a contract, making the hurler the oldest rookie in major league history.
To take advantage of the large size of Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Veeck had a portable center field fence installed in 1947, which he could move in or out depending on how the distance favored the Indians against their opponents in a given series. The fence moved as much as between series opponents. Following the 1947 season, the American League countered with a rule change that fixed the distance of an outfield wall for the duration of a season.
As in Milwaukee, Veeck took a unique approach to promotions, hiring Max Patkin, the "Clown Prince of Baseball", as a coach. Patkin's appearance in the coaching box delighted fans and infuriated the front office of the American League.
Although Veeck had become extremely popular, an attempt in 1947 to trade Boudreau to the St. Louis Browns led to mass protests and petitions supporting Boudreau. Veeck, in response, said he would listen to the fans, and re-signed Boudreau to a new two-year contract. Veeck claimed later that the trade talks had already broken down before they became public, but he seized the opportunity to promote the concept he had dropped the idea of the trade in response to public outcry.
By 1948, led by Boudreau's .355 batting average, Cleveland won its first pennant and World Series since 1920. Famously, the following season Veeck buried the 1948 flag, once it became mathematically certain the team could not repeat its championship in 1949. Later that year, Veeck's first wife, Eleanor, filed for divorce. Most of his money was tied up in the Indians, so he was forced to sell the team to fund the divorce settlement. One year later, Veeck married his second wife Mary Frances Ackerman in 1950. He had met her the previous year while in Cleveland.
St. Louis Browns
After marrying Mary Frances Ackerman, Veeck bought an 80% stake in the St. Louis Browns in 1951. Hoping to force the NL's St. Louis Cardinals out of town, Veeck hired Cardinal greats Rogers Hornsby and Marty Marion as managers, and Dizzy Dean as an announcer; and he decorated their shared home park, Sportsman's Park, exclusively with Browns memorabilia. Ironically the Cardinals had been the Browns' tenants since 1920, even though they had long since passed the Browns as St. Louis' favorite team.
Some of Veeck's most memorable publicity stunts occurred during his tenure with the Browns, including the appearance on August 19, 1951, by Eddie Gaedel, who stood tall and is the shortest person to appear in a Major League Baseball game. Veeck sent Gaedel to pinch hit in the bottom of the first of the game. Wearing "1/8" as his uniform number, Gaedel was walked on four straight pitches and then was pulled for a pinch runner.
Shortly afterwards "Grandstand Manager's Day" – involving Veeck, Connie Mack, and thousands of regular fans, enabled the crowd to vote on various in-game strategic decisions by holding up placards: the Browns won, 5–3, snapping a four-game losing streak.
After the 1952 season, Veeck suggested that the American League clubs share radio and television revenue with visiting clubs, a proposal anathema to the powerful Yankees, whose broadcasting revenues dwarfed all the other AL franchises.
Outvoted, he refused to allow the Browns' opponents to broadcast games played against his team on the road. The league responded by eliminating the lucrative Friday night games in St. Louis.
A year later, Cardinals owner Fred Saigh was convicted of tax evasion. Facing certain banishment from baseball, he was forced to put the Cardinals up for sale. At first, the only credible offers came from out-of-town interests, and it appeared that Veeck would succeed in driving the Cardinals out of town.
However, just as Saigh was about to sell the Cardinals to interests who would have moved them to Houston, Texas, he instead accepted a much lower bid from St. Louis-based brewing giant Anheuser-Busch, who entered the picture with the specific intent of keeping the Cardinals in town. It has long been claimed that Saigh was persuaded to accept Anheuser-Busch's bid more out of civic duty than money. However, according to Anheuser-Busch historian William Knoedelseder, Saigh's first preference all along was to sell the Cardinals to interests who would keep the team in St. Louis.
What is beyond dispute is that as soon as Anheuser-Busch closed on its purchase of the Cardinals, Veeck knew he was finished in St. Louis. He quickly realized that with Anheuser-Busch's wealth behind them, the Cardinals now had more financial resources than he could even begin to match, especially since he had no other source of income. Reluctantly, he decided to move the Browns elsewhere. As a preliminary step, he sold Sportsman's Park to the Cardinals.
At first Veeck considered moving the Browns back to Milwaukee (where they had played their inaugural season in 1901). Milwaukee used recently built Milwaukee County Stadium in an attempt to entice the Browns.
However, the decision was in the hands of the Boston Braves, the parent team of the Brewers. Under major league rules of the time, the Braves held the major league rights to Milwaukee. The Braves wanted another team with the same talent if the Brewers were shut down, and an agreement was not made in time for the start of the 1953 season. Ironically, a few weeks later, the Braves themselves moved to Milwaukee. St. Louis was known to want the team to stay, so some in St. Louis campaigned for the removal of Veeck.
Undaunted, Veeck got in touch with a group that was looking to bring a Major League franchise to Baltimore, Maryland. After the 1953 season, Veeck agreed in principle to sell half his stock to Baltimore attorney Clarence Miles, the front man of the Baltimore group, and his other partners. He would have remained the principal owner, with approximately a 40% interest. Even though league president Will Harridge told him approval was certain, only four owners—two short of the necessary six for passage—supported it. Realizing the other owners simply wanted him out of the picture (indeed, he was facing threats of having his franchise canceled), Veeck agreed to sell his entire stake to Miles' group, who then moved the Browns to Baltimore, where they were renamed as the Orioles, which has been their name ever since.
Chicago White Sox
Taking advantage of inter-familial friction within the Comiskey family, in 1959, Veeck became head of a group that purchased a controlling interest in the Chicago White Sox. Following Veeck's acquisition of the team, the White Sox went on to win their first pennant in 40 years. That year the White Sox broke a team attendance record for home games with 1.4 million. The next year the team broke the same record with 1.6 million visitors to Comiskey Park with the addition of the first "exploding scoreboard" in the major leagues – producing electrical and sound effects, and shooting fireworks whenever the White Sox hit a home run. The "exploding scoreboard" was carried over to the "new" Comiskey Park (now Guaranteed Rate Field) when it opened in 1991.
One year later in 1960, Veeck and former Detroit Tigers great Hank Greenberg, his partner with the Indians and White Sox, reportedly made a strong bid for the American League expansion franchise in Los Angeles. Greenberg would have been the principal owner, with Veeck as a minority partner. However Los Angeles Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley was not willing to compete with a team owned by Veeck, even if he would only be a minority partner. When O'Malley heard of the deal, he invoked his exclusive franchise rights for Southern California. Any potential owner of an American League team in the area would have had to have O'Malley's approval, and it was apparent that O'Malley would not allow any team to set up shop with Veeck as a major shareholder. Rather than try to persuade his friend to back out, Greenberg abandoned his bid for what became the Los Angeles Angels.
In 1961, due to poor health, Veeck sold his share of the White Sox to John and Arthur Allyn for $2.5 million. After selling the White Sox, Veeck worked intermittently as a television commentator for ABC. Veeck then moved to the Eastern Shore of Maryland with his family to convalesce.
When his health improved, Veeck made an unsuccessful attempt to buy the Washington Senators, then operated the Suffolk Downs race track in Boston in 1969–70. Veeck was not heard from again in baseball ownership circles until 1975, when he repurchased the White Sox from John Allyn (sole owner since 1969). Veeck's return rankled baseball's establishment, most owners viewing him as a pariah after exposing industry politics and maneuvering in his 1961 book Veeck As In Wreck. The owners were also unhappy with Veeck's extensive unfavorable discussion of the 1964 purchase of the New York Yankees by CBS in 1965's The Hustler's Handbook (a move Veeck felt exposed MLB to dangerous antitrust liabilities and endangered the antitrust exemption established in a 1922 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court).
However, he was the only potential buyer willing to keep the White Sox in Chicago after an offer was made to buy the team and move it to Seattle, Washington. After an initial vote by AL owners rejected his White Sox bid, Veeck discussed a possible lawsuit; another vote was taken and Veeck was approved by one vote.
Almost immediately after reassuming control of the Sox, Veeck unleashed another publicity stunt. He and general manager Roland Hemond conducted four trades in a hotel lobby, in full view of the public; other owners considered this undignified. Two weeks later, however, arbitrator Peter Seitz's ruling struck down the reserve clause and ushered in the era of free agency, leading to dramatic increases in player salaries. Ironically Veeck had been the only baseball owner to testify in support of Curt Flood during his landmark court case, at which Flood had attempted to gain free agency after being traded to the Philadelphia Phillies. Veeck had proposed a gradual transition to a free-agent system in which players would gain free agency rights after a certain amount of service time. The owners gambled that Seitz would rule in their favor and maintain the reserve clause; he did not.
On the field, Veeck presented a Bicentennial-themed "Spirit of '76" parade on Opening Day in 1976, casting himself as the peg-legged fifer bringing up the rear. In the same year he reactivated Minnie Miñoso for eight at-bats, in order to give Miñoso a claim towards playing in four decades; he did so again in 1980, to expand the claim to five. He also unveiled radically altered uniforms for the players, including clamdigger pants and even shorts, which the Sox wore for the first time against the Kansas City Royals on August 8, 1976.
In an attempt to adapt to free agency he developed a "rent-a-player" model, centering on the acquisition of other clubs' stars in their option years. The gambit was moderately successful: in 1977 the White Sox won 90 games, and finished in third place with additions like Oscar Gamble and Richie Zisk.
During this last run, Veeck decided to have announcer Harry Caray sing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" during the seventh-inning stretch. Veeck asked Caray to sing for the entire park, but he refused. Veeck replied that he already had a recording, so Caray would be heard either way. Caray reluctantly agreed to sing it live, accompanied by White Sox organist Nancy Faust, and went on to become famous for singing the tune, continuing to do so at Wrigley Field after becoming the broadcaster of the Chicago Cubs.
The 1979 season was filled with more promotions. On April 10 he offered fans free admission the day after a 10–2 Opening Day defeat by the Toronto Blue Jays. On July 12, Veeck, with assistance from son Mike and radio personality Steve Dahl, held one of his most infamous promotions, Disco Demolition Night, between games of a scheduled doubleheader, which resulted in a riot at Comiskey Park and a forfeit to the visiting Detroit Tigers.
Life after baseball
Finding himself no longer able to financially compete in the free agent era, Veeck sold the White Sox in January 1981. Following the sale, new White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf made several negative references to Veeck's tenure with the team; in response, Veeck publicly transferred his allegiance back to the Chicago Cubs, the team his father had operated in his youth. Veeck retired to his home in Chicago but in summer could often be found in the Wrigley Field bleachers.
Veeck also wrote occasional articles for magazines and newspapers, usually opining on the overall state of baseball.
Poor health and death
Veeck had been a heavy smoker and drinker until 1980. In 1984, Veeck underwent two operations for lung cancer. Two years later, on the day after New Year's Day, 1986, he died at the age of 71 from cancer. He was elected five years later to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
When he died at age 71, he was survived by his wife, Mary Frances, and eight of his nine children. Two of the surviving children, Peter and Ellen, were from his first marriage, and the others (Mike, Marya, Greg, Lisa, Julie and Chris) were from his second marriage. He was predeceased by his eldest child, William III, who died in 1985. His body was cremated. Mike Veeck became owner of the independent minor-league St. Paul Saints and still is a partner in the team. The younger Veeck and co-owner actor Bill Murray emulated many of Bill Veeck's promotional stunts with the Saints. Greg Veeck earned a Ph.D. at University of Georgia in 1988 and is a geography professor at Western Michigan University focusing on urban geology and East Asia.
Books by Veeck
Veeck wrote three autobiographical works, each a collaboration with journalist Ed Linn. The first two were reissued in updated editions in the 1980s following Veeck's return to baseball ownership. The books include:
Veeck As In Wreck (1962) – a straightforward autobiography, written after Veeck's then-declining health forced him to sell his interest in the White Sox
The Hustler's Handbook (1965) – a sequel and extension of Wreck, divulging his experiences in operating as an outsider in the major leagues, detailing many episodes of behind-the-scenes drama in baseball, including the 1965 acquisition of the New York Yankees by CBS and the maneuvering involved in the move of the Milwaukee Braves to Atlanta, and also a recounting of the 1919 Black Sox Scandal through a diary by Harry Grabiner, business manager of the White Sox in 1919 and much later, an associate of Veeck with the Indians in 1948.
Thirty Tons A Day (1972) – chronicling the time he spent running Suffolk Downs racetrack in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The title refers to the daily quantity of waste (horse excrement, used hay and straw, etc.) that had to be disposed of.
Awards and honors
1948 World Series champion (as owner/president of the Cleveland Indians)
National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum (Class of 1991)
The Baseball Reliquary's Shrine of the Eternals (class of 1999).
In 2013, the Bob Feller Act of Valor Award honored Veeck as one of 37 Baseball Hall of Fame members for his service in the United States Marine Corps during World War II.
See also
List of members of the Baseball Hall of Fame
Notes
References
External links
In Praise of Bill Veeck – slideshow by Life magazine
1914 births
1986 deaths
20th-century American businesspeople
American amputees
Businesspeople from Chicago
Chicago White Sox executives
Chicago White Sox owners
Cleveland Indians executives
Cleveland Indians owners
Deaths from cancer in Illinois
Deaths from lung cancer
Kenyon College alumni
Major League Baseball executives
Major League Baseball general managers
Major League Baseball owners
Minor league baseball executives
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
People from Hinsdale, Illinois
People from St. Michaels, Maryland
Phillips Academy alumni
St. Louis Browns executives
St. Louis Browns owners
Suffolk Downs executives
United States Marines
United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II | true | [
"\"Seasons of My Heart\" is a song written by George Jones and Darrell Edwards. The song was released as the b-side to the #4 hit \"Why Baby Why\" in 1955. The song was also recorded by Johnny Cash and, released in 1960, it became a #10 hit.\n\nThe song was one of Jones' best early ballads, included on many of his early studio and compilation albums with Starday and Mercury Records in the late 1950s. The song was even included on his debut 1957 album \"The Grand Ole Opry's New Star\", which was Starday's first album release in the label's history.\n\nBackground\n\"Seasons of My Heart\" originally appeared as the B-side to George Jones' first chart hit \"Why Baby Why\" in 1955. The imagery-laden song was an early showcase of Jones' abilities as a balladeer, although he sang in much higher during this period than he would later in his career. Former Starday Records president Don Pierce later explained to Jones biographer Bob Allen, \"Pappy realized George's strength as a balladeer long before I did. He felt that 'Seasons Of My Heart' was a big song. I knew that, in those days, it took much longer to sell a ballad, because it had to make it on the radio first...I also knew that an upbeat song like 'Why, Baby Why' would be easier to sell directly to the jukebox distributors for the beer-drinkin' trade.\"\n\nPersonnel \n(For the 1955 Original recording)\nGeorge Jones (vocals, acoustic)\nHerb Remington (steel)\nLew Brisby (bass)\nTony Sepolio (fiddle)\nDon Lewis (piano)\n\nOther versions \n Johnny Cash recorded the song for his 1960 album Now, There Was a Song!.\n Kitty Wells recorded the song as a title track to her 1960 album.\n Jerry Lee Lewis recorded the song for his 1965 album, Country Songs for City Folks.\n Willie Nelson recorded the song for his 1966 album Country Favorites-Willie Nelson Style.\n The Grateful Dead rehearsed the song in 1969 at Alembic Studios.\n The Grateful Dead performed the song 1-31-1970 at The Warehouse, New Orleans, LA.\n\nJohnny Cash songs\nGeorge Jones songs\n1955 songs\nSong recordings produced by Pappy Daily\nSongs written by George Jones",
"Why Worry may refer to:\n\nFilm and TV\n Why Worry?, a 1923 Harold Lloyd film\n\nMusic\nWhy Worry, a 1986 album by Nana Mouskouri\n\nSongs\n\"Why Worry?\" (Clannad song), a 1991 single\n\"Why Worry Blues\" by Jack Prentice (words) and Bud Shepard, George Webb and Vic Sell (music) for the silent film Why Worry?\n\"Why Worry\", a 1952 song by The Andrews Sisters\n\"Why Worry\", a 1952 single by Eddie \"Piano\" Miller\n\"Why Worry\", a 1967 song by Aaron Neville Davis, Diamond\n\"Why Worry\", a 1973 single by The Africans\n\"Why Worry\", a 1977 single by Israel Vibration\n\"Why Worry\", a 1985 song by Dire Straits from the album Brothers in Arms\n\"Why Worry\", a song by Johnny Maddox And The Rhythmasters\n\"Why Worry\", a 2002 song by The All-American Rejects from the album The All-American Rejects\n\"Why Worry\", a 2020 song by Isaiah Rashad"
]
|
[
"Bill Veeck",
"Milwaukee Brewers",
"Was did Bill have to do with the Milwaukee Brewers?",
"Veeck left Chicago and, in partnership with former Cubs star and manager Charlie Grimm, purchased the American Association Triple-A Milwaukee Brewers.",
"Did this team have a lot of wins?",
"After winning three pennants in five years Veeck sold his Milwaukee franchise in 1945 for a $275,000 profit.",
"Why did he sell the team?",
"Veeck claimed to have installed a screen to make the right field target a little more difficult for left-handed pull hitters of the opposing team."
]
| C_4a77e6c8b92945ebb5fd221afd516d59_1 | Did he make this happen? | 4 | Did Bill Veeck make efforts to benefit his team players? | Bill Veeck | In 1942, Veeck left Chicago and, in partnership with former Cubs star and manager Charlie Grimm, purchased the American Association Triple-A Milwaukee Brewers. After winning three pennants in five years Veeck sold his Milwaukee franchise in 1945 for a $275,000 profit. According to his autobiography Veeck - As in Wreck, Veeck claimed to have installed a screen to make the right field target a little more difficult for left-handed pull hitters of the opposing team. The screen was on wheels, so any given day it might be in place or not, depending on the batting strength of the opposing team. There was no rule against that activity as such, but Veeck then took it to an extreme, rolling it out when the opponents batted, and pulling it back when the Brewers batted. Veeck reported that the league passed a rule against it the very next day. However, extensive research by two members of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) suggests that this story was made up by Veeck. The two researchers could not find any references to a moveable fence or any reference to the gear required for a moveable fence to work. While a half-owner of the Brewers, Veeck served for nearly three years in the United States Marine Corps during World War II in an artillery unit. During this time a recoiling artillery piece crushed his leg, requiring amputation first of the foot, and shortly after of the leg above the knee. Over the course of his life he had 36 operations on the leg. He had a series of wooden legs and, as an inveterate smoker, cut holes in them to use as an ashtray. CANNOTANSWER | The screen was on wheels, so any given day it might be in place or not, depending on the batting strength of the opposing team. | William Louis Veeck Jr. (; February 9, 1914 – January 2, 1986), also known as "Sport Shirt Bill", was an American Major League Baseball franchise owner and promoter. Veeck was at various times the owner of the Cleveland Indians, St. Louis Browns and Chicago White Sox. As owner and team president of the Indians in 1947, Veeck signed Larry Doby, thus beginning the integration of the American League, and the following year won a World Series title as Cleveland's owner/president.
Veeck was the last owner to purchase a baseball franchise without an independent fortune, and is responsible for many innovations and contributions to baseball.
Unable to compete in the new era of salary escalation ignited by arbitration and free agency, Veeck sold his ownership interests after the 1980 Chicago White Sox season. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991.
Early life
Bill Veeck was born on February 9, 1914, in Chicago, Illinois. While Veeck was growing up in Hinsdale, Illinois, his father, William Veeck Sr., became president of the Chicago Cubs. Veeck Sr. was a local sports writer who wrote numerous columns about how he would run the Cubs differently, and the team's owner, William Wrigley Jr., took him up on the implied offer. While growing up, the younger Veeck worked as a popcorn vendor for the Cubs and also as a part-time concession salesman for the crosstown Chicago White Sox. Later, in 1937, he came up with the idea of planting ivy on the walls of Wrigley Field. Veeck attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. In 1933, when his father died, Veeck left Kenyon College and eventually became club treasurer for the Cubs. In 1935, he married his first wife, Eleanor.
Franchise owner
Minor League Baseball
Milwaukee Brewers
In 1940, Veeck left Chicago and, in a syndicate with former Cubs star and manager Charlie Grimm, purchased the American Association Triple-A Milwaukee Brewers. After winning three pennants in five years Veeck sold his Milwaukee franchise in 1945 for a $275,000 profit.
According to his autobiography Veeck – As in Wreck, Veeck claimed to have installed a screen to make the right field target a little more difficult for left-handed pull hitters of the opposing team. The screen was on wheels, so any given day it might be in place or not, depending on the batting strength of the opposing team. There was no rule against that activity as such, but Veeck then took it to an extreme, rolling it out when the opponents batted, and pulling it back when the Brewers batted. Veeck reported that the league passed a rule against it the very next day. However, extensive research by two members of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) suggests that this story was made up by Veeck. The two researchers could not find any references to a moveable fence or any reference to the gear required for a moveable fence to work.
While a co-owner of the Brewers, Veeck served for nearly three years in the United States Marine Corps during World War II in an artillery unit. During this time a recoiling artillery piece crushed his right leg, requiring amputation first of the foot, and shortly after of the leg above the knee. Over the course of his life he had 36 operations on the leg. He had a series of wooden legs and, as an inveterate smoker, cut holes in them to use as an ashtray.
Major League Baseball
Attempted purchase of Philadelphia Phillies
Veeck had been a fan of the Negro leagues since his early teens. He had also admired Abe Saperstein's Harlem Globetrotters basketball team, which was based in Chicago. Saperstein saved Veeck from financial disaster early on in Milwaukee by giving him the right to promote the Globetrotters in the upper Midwest in the winter of 1941–42.
In the fall of 1942, Veeck met with Gerry Nugent, president of the Philadelphia Phillies, to discuss the possibility of buying the struggling National League team. He later wrote in his memoirs that he intended to buy the Phillies and stock the team's roster with stars from the Negro leagues. Although no formal rules barred African-American players from the majors, none had appeared in organized baseball since the 1890s.
Veeck quickly secured financing to buy the Phillies, and agreed in principle to buy the team from Nugent. While on his way to Philadelphia to close on the purchase, Veeck decided to alert MLB Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis of his intentions.
Although Veeck knew Landis was an ardent segregationist, he did not believe Landis would dare say black players were unwelcome while blacks were fighting in World War II. However, when Veeck arrived in Philadelphia, he was surprised to discover that the National League had taken over the Phillies and was seeking a new owner (the Phillies were ultimately sold to lumber baron William D. Cox).
The authors of a controversial article in the 1998 issue of SABR's The National Pastime argued that Veeck invented the story of buying the Phillies and filling their roster with Negro leaguers, claiming Philadelphia's black press made no mention of a prospective sale to Veeck.
Subsequently, the article was criticized by historian Jules Tygiel, who reviewed it point-by-point in an article in the 2006 issue of SABR's The Baseball Research Journal, and in an appendix, entitled "Did Bill Veeck Lie About His Plan to Purchase the '43 Phillies?", published in Paul Dickson's biography, Bill Veeck: Baseball's Greatest Maverick. In the SABR article, Tygiel explained that Veeck and others had mentioned the alleged scheme to buy and stock the Phillies up to fifteen years before the publication of Veeck's memoir, but conceded that, "In all of these accounts the only voice telling the story remains Veeck's." The Tygiel article also conceded, "The overall assessment of Jordan, et al. - that Veeck's notion of buying the Phillies and fielding a team of Negro League stars never quite moved as far from the drawing board as Veeck claimed - may still be true. We still lack any solid evidence that confirms that Veeck had not only conceptualized this action, but made a firm offer to buy the Phillies and met a rebuff by Landis and Frick."
Joseph Thomas Moore wrote in his biography of Larry Doby, "Bill Veeck planned to buy the Philadelphia Phillies with the as yet unannounced intention of breaking that color line."
Cleveland Indians
In 1946, having sold his interest in the Class AAA Milwaukee Brewers, Veeck became the owner of a major league team, the Cleveland Indians. He immediately put all the team's games on radio (previously, only limited games had been broadcast). He also moved the team to Cleveland Municipal Stadium permanently in 1947. The team had split their games between the larger Municipal Stadium and the smaller League Park since the 1930s, but Veeck concluded that League Park was far too small and deteriorated to be viable.
In July of that year, he signed Larry Doby, the first black player to play in the American League. Doby's first game was on July 5 and before the game, Doby was introduced to his teammates by player-manager Lou Boudreau. "One by one, Lou introduced me to each player. 'This is Joe Gordon,' and Gordon put his hand out. 'This is Bob Lemon,' and Lemon put his hand out. 'This is Jim Hegan,' and Hegan put his hand out. All the guys put their hand out, all but three. As soon as he could, Bill Veeck got rid of those three", Doby said. The following year Veeck signed Satchel Paige to a contract, making the hurler the oldest rookie in major league history.
To take advantage of the large size of Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Veeck had a portable center field fence installed in 1947, which he could move in or out depending on how the distance favored the Indians against their opponents in a given series. The fence moved as much as between series opponents. Following the 1947 season, the American League countered with a rule change that fixed the distance of an outfield wall for the duration of a season.
As in Milwaukee, Veeck took a unique approach to promotions, hiring Max Patkin, the "Clown Prince of Baseball", as a coach. Patkin's appearance in the coaching box delighted fans and infuriated the front office of the American League.
Although Veeck had become extremely popular, an attempt in 1947 to trade Boudreau to the St. Louis Browns led to mass protests and petitions supporting Boudreau. Veeck, in response, said he would listen to the fans, and re-signed Boudreau to a new two-year contract. Veeck claimed later that the trade talks had already broken down before they became public, but he seized the opportunity to promote the concept he had dropped the idea of the trade in response to public outcry.
By 1948, led by Boudreau's .355 batting average, Cleveland won its first pennant and World Series since 1920. Famously, the following season Veeck buried the 1948 flag, once it became mathematically certain the team could not repeat its championship in 1949. Later that year, Veeck's first wife, Eleanor, filed for divorce. Most of his money was tied up in the Indians, so he was forced to sell the team to fund the divorce settlement. One year later, Veeck married his second wife Mary Frances Ackerman in 1950. He had met her the previous year while in Cleveland.
St. Louis Browns
After marrying Mary Frances Ackerman, Veeck bought an 80% stake in the St. Louis Browns in 1951. Hoping to force the NL's St. Louis Cardinals out of town, Veeck hired Cardinal greats Rogers Hornsby and Marty Marion as managers, and Dizzy Dean as an announcer; and he decorated their shared home park, Sportsman's Park, exclusively with Browns memorabilia. Ironically the Cardinals had been the Browns' tenants since 1920, even though they had long since passed the Browns as St. Louis' favorite team.
Some of Veeck's most memorable publicity stunts occurred during his tenure with the Browns, including the appearance on August 19, 1951, by Eddie Gaedel, who stood tall and is the shortest person to appear in a Major League Baseball game. Veeck sent Gaedel to pinch hit in the bottom of the first of the game. Wearing "1/8" as his uniform number, Gaedel was walked on four straight pitches and then was pulled for a pinch runner.
Shortly afterwards "Grandstand Manager's Day" – involving Veeck, Connie Mack, and thousands of regular fans, enabled the crowd to vote on various in-game strategic decisions by holding up placards: the Browns won, 5–3, snapping a four-game losing streak.
After the 1952 season, Veeck suggested that the American League clubs share radio and television revenue with visiting clubs, a proposal anathema to the powerful Yankees, whose broadcasting revenues dwarfed all the other AL franchises.
Outvoted, he refused to allow the Browns' opponents to broadcast games played against his team on the road. The league responded by eliminating the lucrative Friday night games in St. Louis.
A year later, Cardinals owner Fred Saigh was convicted of tax evasion. Facing certain banishment from baseball, he was forced to put the Cardinals up for sale. At first, the only credible offers came from out-of-town interests, and it appeared that Veeck would succeed in driving the Cardinals out of town.
However, just as Saigh was about to sell the Cardinals to interests who would have moved them to Houston, Texas, he instead accepted a much lower bid from St. Louis-based brewing giant Anheuser-Busch, who entered the picture with the specific intent of keeping the Cardinals in town. It has long been claimed that Saigh was persuaded to accept Anheuser-Busch's bid more out of civic duty than money. However, according to Anheuser-Busch historian William Knoedelseder, Saigh's first preference all along was to sell the Cardinals to interests who would keep the team in St. Louis.
What is beyond dispute is that as soon as Anheuser-Busch closed on its purchase of the Cardinals, Veeck knew he was finished in St. Louis. He quickly realized that with Anheuser-Busch's wealth behind them, the Cardinals now had more financial resources than he could even begin to match, especially since he had no other source of income. Reluctantly, he decided to move the Browns elsewhere. As a preliminary step, he sold Sportsman's Park to the Cardinals.
At first Veeck considered moving the Browns back to Milwaukee (where they had played their inaugural season in 1901). Milwaukee used recently built Milwaukee County Stadium in an attempt to entice the Browns.
However, the decision was in the hands of the Boston Braves, the parent team of the Brewers. Under major league rules of the time, the Braves held the major league rights to Milwaukee. The Braves wanted another team with the same talent if the Brewers were shut down, and an agreement was not made in time for the start of the 1953 season. Ironically, a few weeks later, the Braves themselves moved to Milwaukee. St. Louis was known to want the team to stay, so some in St. Louis campaigned for the removal of Veeck.
Undaunted, Veeck got in touch with a group that was looking to bring a Major League franchise to Baltimore, Maryland. After the 1953 season, Veeck agreed in principle to sell half his stock to Baltimore attorney Clarence Miles, the front man of the Baltimore group, and his other partners. He would have remained the principal owner, with approximately a 40% interest. Even though league president Will Harridge told him approval was certain, only four owners—two short of the necessary six for passage—supported it. Realizing the other owners simply wanted him out of the picture (indeed, he was facing threats of having his franchise canceled), Veeck agreed to sell his entire stake to Miles' group, who then moved the Browns to Baltimore, where they were renamed as the Orioles, which has been their name ever since.
Chicago White Sox
Taking advantage of inter-familial friction within the Comiskey family, in 1959, Veeck became head of a group that purchased a controlling interest in the Chicago White Sox. Following Veeck's acquisition of the team, the White Sox went on to win their first pennant in 40 years. That year the White Sox broke a team attendance record for home games with 1.4 million. The next year the team broke the same record with 1.6 million visitors to Comiskey Park with the addition of the first "exploding scoreboard" in the major leagues – producing electrical and sound effects, and shooting fireworks whenever the White Sox hit a home run. The "exploding scoreboard" was carried over to the "new" Comiskey Park (now Guaranteed Rate Field) when it opened in 1991.
One year later in 1960, Veeck and former Detroit Tigers great Hank Greenberg, his partner with the Indians and White Sox, reportedly made a strong bid for the American League expansion franchise in Los Angeles. Greenberg would have been the principal owner, with Veeck as a minority partner. However Los Angeles Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley was not willing to compete with a team owned by Veeck, even if he would only be a minority partner. When O'Malley heard of the deal, he invoked his exclusive franchise rights for Southern California. Any potential owner of an American League team in the area would have had to have O'Malley's approval, and it was apparent that O'Malley would not allow any team to set up shop with Veeck as a major shareholder. Rather than try to persuade his friend to back out, Greenberg abandoned his bid for what became the Los Angeles Angels.
In 1961, due to poor health, Veeck sold his share of the White Sox to John and Arthur Allyn for $2.5 million. After selling the White Sox, Veeck worked intermittently as a television commentator for ABC. Veeck then moved to the Eastern Shore of Maryland with his family to convalesce.
When his health improved, Veeck made an unsuccessful attempt to buy the Washington Senators, then operated the Suffolk Downs race track in Boston in 1969–70. Veeck was not heard from again in baseball ownership circles until 1975, when he repurchased the White Sox from John Allyn (sole owner since 1969). Veeck's return rankled baseball's establishment, most owners viewing him as a pariah after exposing industry politics and maneuvering in his 1961 book Veeck As In Wreck. The owners were also unhappy with Veeck's extensive unfavorable discussion of the 1964 purchase of the New York Yankees by CBS in 1965's The Hustler's Handbook (a move Veeck felt exposed MLB to dangerous antitrust liabilities and endangered the antitrust exemption established in a 1922 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court).
However, he was the only potential buyer willing to keep the White Sox in Chicago after an offer was made to buy the team and move it to Seattle, Washington. After an initial vote by AL owners rejected his White Sox bid, Veeck discussed a possible lawsuit; another vote was taken and Veeck was approved by one vote.
Almost immediately after reassuming control of the Sox, Veeck unleashed another publicity stunt. He and general manager Roland Hemond conducted four trades in a hotel lobby, in full view of the public; other owners considered this undignified. Two weeks later, however, arbitrator Peter Seitz's ruling struck down the reserve clause and ushered in the era of free agency, leading to dramatic increases in player salaries. Ironically Veeck had been the only baseball owner to testify in support of Curt Flood during his landmark court case, at which Flood had attempted to gain free agency after being traded to the Philadelphia Phillies. Veeck had proposed a gradual transition to a free-agent system in which players would gain free agency rights after a certain amount of service time. The owners gambled that Seitz would rule in their favor and maintain the reserve clause; he did not.
On the field, Veeck presented a Bicentennial-themed "Spirit of '76" parade on Opening Day in 1976, casting himself as the peg-legged fifer bringing up the rear. In the same year he reactivated Minnie Miñoso for eight at-bats, in order to give Miñoso a claim towards playing in four decades; he did so again in 1980, to expand the claim to five. He also unveiled radically altered uniforms for the players, including clamdigger pants and even shorts, which the Sox wore for the first time against the Kansas City Royals on August 8, 1976.
In an attempt to adapt to free agency he developed a "rent-a-player" model, centering on the acquisition of other clubs' stars in their option years. The gambit was moderately successful: in 1977 the White Sox won 90 games, and finished in third place with additions like Oscar Gamble and Richie Zisk.
During this last run, Veeck decided to have announcer Harry Caray sing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" during the seventh-inning stretch. Veeck asked Caray to sing for the entire park, but he refused. Veeck replied that he already had a recording, so Caray would be heard either way. Caray reluctantly agreed to sing it live, accompanied by White Sox organist Nancy Faust, and went on to become famous for singing the tune, continuing to do so at Wrigley Field after becoming the broadcaster of the Chicago Cubs.
The 1979 season was filled with more promotions. On April 10 he offered fans free admission the day after a 10–2 Opening Day defeat by the Toronto Blue Jays. On July 12, Veeck, with assistance from son Mike and radio personality Steve Dahl, held one of his most infamous promotions, Disco Demolition Night, between games of a scheduled doubleheader, which resulted in a riot at Comiskey Park and a forfeit to the visiting Detroit Tigers.
Life after baseball
Finding himself no longer able to financially compete in the free agent era, Veeck sold the White Sox in January 1981. Following the sale, new White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf made several negative references to Veeck's tenure with the team; in response, Veeck publicly transferred his allegiance back to the Chicago Cubs, the team his father had operated in his youth. Veeck retired to his home in Chicago but in summer could often be found in the Wrigley Field bleachers.
Veeck also wrote occasional articles for magazines and newspapers, usually opining on the overall state of baseball.
Poor health and death
Veeck had been a heavy smoker and drinker until 1980. In 1984, Veeck underwent two operations for lung cancer. Two years later, on the day after New Year's Day, 1986, he died at the age of 71 from cancer. He was elected five years later to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
When he died at age 71, he was survived by his wife, Mary Frances, and eight of his nine children. Two of the surviving children, Peter and Ellen, were from his first marriage, and the others (Mike, Marya, Greg, Lisa, Julie and Chris) were from his second marriage. He was predeceased by his eldest child, William III, who died in 1985. His body was cremated. Mike Veeck became owner of the independent minor-league St. Paul Saints and still is a partner in the team. The younger Veeck and co-owner actor Bill Murray emulated many of Bill Veeck's promotional stunts with the Saints. Greg Veeck earned a Ph.D. at University of Georgia in 1988 and is a geography professor at Western Michigan University focusing on urban geology and East Asia.
Books by Veeck
Veeck wrote three autobiographical works, each a collaboration with journalist Ed Linn. The first two were reissued in updated editions in the 1980s following Veeck's return to baseball ownership. The books include:
Veeck As In Wreck (1962) – a straightforward autobiography, written after Veeck's then-declining health forced him to sell his interest in the White Sox
The Hustler's Handbook (1965) – a sequel and extension of Wreck, divulging his experiences in operating as an outsider in the major leagues, detailing many episodes of behind-the-scenes drama in baseball, including the 1965 acquisition of the New York Yankees by CBS and the maneuvering involved in the move of the Milwaukee Braves to Atlanta, and also a recounting of the 1919 Black Sox Scandal through a diary by Harry Grabiner, business manager of the White Sox in 1919 and much later, an associate of Veeck with the Indians in 1948.
Thirty Tons A Day (1972) – chronicling the time he spent running Suffolk Downs racetrack in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The title refers to the daily quantity of waste (horse excrement, used hay and straw, etc.) that had to be disposed of.
Awards and honors
1948 World Series champion (as owner/president of the Cleveland Indians)
National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum (Class of 1991)
The Baseball Reliquary's Shrine of the Eternals (class of 1999).
In 2013, the Bob Feller Act of Valor Award honored Veeck as one of 37 Baseball Hall of Fame members for his service in the United States Marine Corps during World War II.
See also
List of members of the Baseball Hall of Fame
Notes
References
External links
In Praise of Bill Veeck – slideshow by Life magazine
1914 births
1986 deaths
20th-century American businesspeople
American amputees
Businesspeople from Chicago
Chicago White Sox executives
Chicago White Sox owners
Cleveland Indians executives
Cleveland Indians owners
Deaths from cancer in Illinois
Deaths from lung cancer
Kenyon College alumni
Major League Baseball executives
Major League Baseball general managers
Major League Baseball owners
Minor league baseball executives
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
People from Hinsdale, Illinois
People from St. Michaels, Maryland
Phillips Academy alumni
St. Louis Browns executives
St. Louis Browns owners
Suffolk Downs executives
United States Marines
United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II | true | [
"Make It Happen may refer to:\n Make It Happen (film), a 2008 film\nMake It Happen (Smokey Robinson & The Miracles album) or The Tears of a Clown (1967)\nMake It Happen (Nizlopi album) (2008)\n\"Make It Happen\" (Mariah Carey song) (1991)\n\"Make It Happen\" (Electronic song) (1999)\n\"Make It Happen\", a 2011 song by Namie Amuro from Checkmate!\n\"Make It Happen\", a 2004 song by The Tough Alliance\n\"Make It Happen\", a 2008 song by The Teenagers\n\"Make It Happen\", an episode of Wizards of Waverly Place",
"\"Make It Happen\" is a dance/rock song written and performed by the Bernard Sumner/Johnny Marr band Electronic. Produced by Electronic with Arthur Baker, it is the first track on their third album Twisted Tenderness.\n\nSumner and Marr both contribute vocals and guitar, while Jimi Goodwin from Doves provides bass and Jed Lynch plays drums and percussion. Merv de Peyer is credited with programming and keyboards plus audio mixing. Arthur Baker with scratching.\n\nIntended as the first single from the album (an honour which went to \"Vivid\"), \"Make It Happen\" was eventually issued as a promotional 10\" single on clear vinyl, like the previous promo \"Prodigal Son\". This featured an Ice-T sample that was cut from the album version due to a clearance problem. Around eleven seconds longer, it had been released on promo versions of the album but the legal issues had prevented its inclusion on the commercial edition. The version with the sample did appear on Electronic's last single \"Late at Night\", however.\n\nCopies of the album with the Ice T sample were reviewed in the music press. Pat Gilbert in Mojo magazine wrote: \"The opener, 'Make It Happen', lurches in with a grinding, fucked-up, hip hop beat, and the portentous promise that, 'This is not a pop album'\". Andrew Collins described its production as \"so old-fashioned it’s instantly refreshing\".\n\nTrack listing\n \"Make It Happen (Original Mix)\" (7:48)\n \"Make It Happen (Darren Price Mix)\" (5:58)\n \"Prodigal Son (Cevin Fisher Mix)\" (8:20)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n feel every beat (unofficial website)\n worldinmotion.net (unofficial website)\n\nElectronic (band) songs\n1999 singles\nSongs written by Johnny Marr\nSongs written by Bernard Sumner\n1999 songs\nParlophone singles\nSong recordings produced by Arthur Baker (musician)"
]
|
[
"Bill Veeck",
"Milwaukee Brewers",
"Was did Bill have to do with the Milwaukee Brewers?",
"Veeck left Chicago and, in partnership with former Cubs star and manager Charlie Grimm, purchased the American Association Triple-A Milwaukee Brewers.",
"Did this team have a lot of wins?",
"After winning three pennants in five years Veeck sold his Milwaukee franchise in 1945 for a $275,000 profit.",
"Why did he sell the team?",
"Veeck claimed to have installed a screen to make the right field target a little more difficult for left-handed pull hitters of the opposing team.",
"Did he make this happen?",
"The screen was on wheels, so any given day it might be in place or not, depending on the batting strength of the opposing team."
]
| C_4a77e6c8b92945ebb5fd221afd516d59_1 | What else did he do? | 5 | Along with being with his Milwaukee Brewers team, What else did Bill Veeck do? | Bill Veeck | In 1942, Veeck left Chicago and, in partnership with former Cubs star and manager Charlie Grimm, purchased the American Association Triple-A Milwaukee Brewers. After winning three pennants in five years Veeck sold his Milwaukee franchise in 1945 for a $275,000 profit. According to his autobiography Veeck - As in Wreck, Veeck claimed to have installed a screen to make the right field target a little more difficult for left-handed pull hitters of the opposing team. The screen was on wheels, so any given day it might be in place or not, depending on the batting strength of the opposing team. There was no rule against that activity as such, but Veeck then took it to an extreme, rolling it out when the opponents batted, and pulling it back when the Brewers batted. Veeck reported that the league passed a rule against it the very next day. However, extensive research by two members of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) suggests that this story was made up by Veeck. The two researchers could not find any references to a moveable fence or any reference to the gear required for a moveable fence to work. While a half-owner of the Brewers, Veeck served for nearly three years in the United States Marine Corps during World War II in an artillery unit. During this time a recoiling artillery piece crushed his leg, requiring amputation first of the foot, and shortly after of the leg above the knee. Over the course of his life he had 36 operations on the leg. He had a series of wooden legs and, as an inveterate smoker, cut holes in them to use as an ashtray. CANNOTANSWER | There was no rule against that activity as such, but Veeck then took it to an extreme, rolling it out when the opponents batted, and pulling it back | William Louis Veeck Jr. (; February 9, 1914 – January 2, 1986), also known as "Sport Shirt Bill", was an American Major League Baseball franchise owner and promoter. Veeck was at various times the owner of the Cleveland Indians, St. Louis Browns and Chicago White Sox. As owner and team president of the Indians in 1947, Veeck signed Larry Doby, thus beginning the integration of the American League, and the following year won a World Series title as Cleveland's owner/president.
Veeck was the last owner to purchase a baseball franchise without an independent fortune, and is responsible for many innovations and contributions to baseball.
Unable to compete in the new era of salary escalation ignited by arbitration and free agency, Veeck sold his ownership interests after the 1980 Chicago White Sox season. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991.
Early life
Bill Veeck was born on February 9, 1914, in Chicago, Illinois. While Veeck was growing up in Hinsdale, Illinois, his father, William Veeck Sr., became president of the Chicago Cubs. Veeck Sr. was a local sports writer who wrote numerous columns about how he would run the Cubs differently, and the team's owner, William Wrigley Jr., took him up on the implied offer. While growing up, the younger Veeck worked as a popcorn vendor for the Cubs and also as a part-time concession salesman for the crosstown Chicago White Sox. Later, in 1937, he came up with the idea of planting ivy on the walls of Wrigley Field. Veeck attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. In 1933, when his father died, Veeck left Kenyon College and eventually became club treasurer for the Cubs. In 1935, he married his first wife, Eleanor.
Franchise owner
Minor League Baseball
Milwaukee Brewers
In 1940, Veeck left Chicago and, in a syndicate with former Cubs star and manager Charlie Grimm, purchased the American Association Triple-A Milwaukee Brewers. After winning three pennants in five years Veeck sold his Milwaukee franchise in 1945 for a $275,000 profit.
According to his autobiography Veeck – As in Wreck, Veeck claimed to have installed a screen to make the right field target a little more difficult for left-handed pull hitters of the opposing team. The screen was on wheels, so any given day it might be in place or not, depending on the batting strength of the opposing team. There was no rule against that activity as such, but Veeck then took it to an extreme, rolling it out when the opponents batted, and pulling it back when the Brewers batted. Veeck reported that the league passed a rule against it the very next day. However, extensive research by two members of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) suggests that this story was made up by Veeck. The two researchers could not find any references to a moveable fence or any reference to the gear required for a moveable fence to work.
While a co-owner of the Brewers, Veeck served for nearly three years in the United States Marine Corps during World War II in an artillery unit. During this time a recoiling artillery piece crushed his right leg, requiring amputation first of the foot, and shortly after of the leg above the knee. Over the course of his life he had 36 operations on the leg. He had a series of wooden legs and, as an inveterate smoker, cut holes in them to use as an ashtray.
Major League Baseball
Attempted purchase of Philadelphia Phillies
Veeck had been a fan of the Negro leagues since his early teens. He had also admired Abe Saperstein's Harlem Globetrotters basketball team, which was based in Chicago. Saperstein saved Veeck from financial disaster early on in Milwaukee by giving him the right to promote the Globetrotters in the upper Midwest in the winter of 1941–42.
In the fall of 1942, Veeck met with Gerry Nugent, president of the Philadelphia Phillies, to discuss the possibility of buying the struggling National League team. He later wrote in his memoirs that he intended to buy the Phillies and stock the team's roster with stars from the Negro leagues. Although no formal rules barred African-American players from the majors, none had appeared in organized baseball since the 1890s.
Veeck quickly secured financing to buy the Phillies, and agreed in principle to buy the team from Nugent. While on his way to Philadelphia to close on the purchase, Veeck decided to alert MLB Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis of his intentions.
Although Veeck knew Landis was an ardent segregationist, he did not believe Landis would dare say black players were unwelcome while blacks were fighting in World War II. However, when Veeck arrived in Philadelphia, he was surprised to discover that the National League had taken over the Phillies and was seeking a new owner (the Phillies were ultimately sold to lumber baron William D. Cox).
The authors of a controversial article in the 1998 issue of SABR's The National Pastime argued that Veeck invented the story of buying the Phillies and filling their roster with Negro leaguers, claiming Philadelphia's black press made no mention of a prospective sale to Veeck.
Subsequently, the article was criticized by historian Jules Tygiel, who reviewed it point-by-point in an article in the 2006 issue of SABR's The Baseball Research Journal, and in an appendix, entitled "Did Bill Veeck Lie About His Plan to Purchase the '43 Phillies?", published in Paul Dickson's biography, Bill Veeck: Baseball's Greatest Maverick. In the SABR article, Tygiel explained that Veeck and others had mentioned the alleged scheme to buy and stock the Phillies up to fifteen years before the publication of Veeck's memoir, but conceded that, "In all of these accounts the only voice telling the story remains Veeck's." The Tygiel article also conceded, "The overall assessment of Jordan, et al. - that Veeck's notion of buying the Phillies and fielding a team of Negro League stars never quite moved as far from the drawing board as Veeck claimed - may still be true. We still lack any solid evidence that confirms that Veeck had not only conceptualized this action, but made a firm offer to buy the Phillies and met a rebuff by Landis and Frick."
Joseph Thomas Moore wrote in his biography of Larry Doby, "Bill Veeck planned to buy the Philadelphia Phillies with the as yet unannounced intention of breaking that color line."
Cleveland Indians
In 1946, having sold his interest in the Class AAA Milwaukee Brewers, Veeck became the owner of a major league team, the Cleveland Indians. He immediately put all the team's games on radio (previously, only limited games had been broadcast). He also moved the team to Cleveland Municipal Stadium permanently in 1947. The team had split their games between the larger Municipal Stadium and the smaller League Park since the 1930s, but Veeck concluded that League Park was far too small and deteriorated to be viable.
In July of that year, he signed Larry Doby, the first black player to play in the American League. Doby's first game was on July 5 and before the game, Doby was introduced to his teammates by player-manager Lou Boudreau. "One by one, Lou introduced me to each player. 'This is Joe Gordon,' and Gordon put his hand out. 'This is Bob Lemon,' and Lemon put his hand out. 'This is Jim Hegan,' and Hegan put his hand out. All the guys put their hand out, all but three. As soon as he could, Bill Veeck got rid of those three", Doby said. The following year Veeck signed Satchel Paige to a contract, making the hurler the oldest rookie in major league history.
To take advantage of the large size of Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Veeck had a portable center field fence installed in 1947, which he could move in or out depending on how the distance favored the Indians against their opponents in a given series. The fence moved as much as between series opponents. Following the 1947 season, the American League countered with a rule change that fixed the distance of an outfield wall for the duration of a season.
As in Milwaukee, Veeck took a unique approach to promotions, hiring Max Patkin, the "Clown Prince of Baseball", as a coach. Patkin's appearance in the coaching box delighted fans and infuriated the front office of the American League.
Although Veeck had become extremely popular, an attempt in 1947 to trade Boudreau to the St. Louis Browns led to mass protests and petitions supporting Boudreau. Veeck, in response, said he would listen to the fans, and re-signed Boudreau to a new two-year contract. Veeck claimed later that the trade talks had already broken down before they became public, but he seized the opportunity to promote the concept he had dropped the idea of the trade in response to public outcry.
By 1948, led by Boudreau's .355 batting average, Cleveland won its first pennant and World Series since 1920. Famously, the following season Veeck buried the 1948 flag, once it became mathematically certain the team could not repeat its championship in 1949. Later that year, Veeck's first wife, Eleanor, filed for divorce. Most of his money was tied up in the Indians, so he was forced to sell the team to fund the divorce settlement. One year later, Veeck married his second wife Mary Frances Ackerman in 1950. He had met her the previous year while in Cleveland.
St. Louis Browns
After marrying Mary Frances Ackerman, Veeck bought an 80% stake in the St. Louis Browns in 1951. Hoping to force the NL's St. Louis Cardinals out of town, Veeck hired Cardinal greats Rogers Hornsby and Marty Marion as managers, and Dizzy Dean as an announcer; and he decorated their shared home park, Sportsman's Park, exclusively with Browns memorabilia. Ironically the Cardinals had been the Browns' tenants since 1920, even though they had long since passed the Browns as St. Louis' favorite team.
Some of Veeck's most memorable publicity stunts occurred during his tenure with the Browns, including the appearance on August 19, 1951, by Eddie Gaedel, who stood tall and is the shortest person to appear in a Major League Baseball game. Veeck sent Gaedel to pinch hit in the bottom of the first of the game. Wearing "1/8" as his uniform number, Gaedel was walked on four straight pitches and then was pulled for a pinch runner.
Shortly afterwards "Grandstand Manager's Day" – involving Veeck, Connie Mack, and thousands of regular fans, enabled the crowd to vote on various in-game strategic decisions by holding up placards: the Browns won, 5–3, snapping a four-game losing streak.
After the 1952 season, Veeck suggested that the American League clubs share radio and television revenue with visiting clubs, a proposal anathema to the powerful Yankees, whose broadcasting revenues dwarfed all the other AL franchises.
Outvoted, he refused to allow the Browns' opponents to broadcast games played against his team on the road. The league responded by eliminating the lucrative Friday night games in St. Louis.
A year later, Cardinals owner Fred Saigh was convicted of tax evasion. Facing certain banishment from baseball, he was forced to put the Cardinals up for sale. At first, the only credible offers came from out-of-town interests, and it appeared that Veeck would succeed in driving the Cardinals out of town.
However, just as Saigh was about to sell the Cardinals to interests who would have moved them to Houston, Texas, he instead accepted a much lower bid from St. Louis-based brewing giant Anheuser-Busch, who entered the picture with the specific intent of keeping the Cardinals in town. It has long been claimed that Saigh was persuaded to accept Anheuser-Busch's bid more out of civic duty than money. However, according to Anheuser-Busch historian William Knoedelseder, Saigh's first preference all along was to sell the Cardinals to interests who would keep the team in St. Louis.
What is beyond dispute is that as soon as Anheuser-Busch closed on its purchase of the Cardinals, Veeck knew he was finished in St. Louis. He quickly realized that with Anheuser-Busch's wealth behind them, the Cardinals now had more financial resources than he could even begin to match, especially since he had no other source of income. Reluctantly, he decided to move the Browns elsewhere. As a preliminary step, he sold Sportsman's Park to the Cardinals.
At first Veeck considered moving the Browns back to Milwaukee (where they had played their inaugural season in 1901). Milwaukee used recently built Milwaukee County Stadium in an attempt to entice the Browns.
However, the decision was in the hands of the Boston Braves, the parent team of the Brewers. Under major league rules of the time, the Braves held the major league rights to Milwaukee. The Braves wanted another team with the same talent if the Brewers were shut down, and an agreement was not made in time for the start of the 1953 season. Ironically, a few weeks later, the Braves themselves moved to Milwaukee. St. Louis was known to want the team to stay, so some in St. Louis campaigned for the removal of Veeck.
Undaunted, Veeck got in touch with a group that was looking to bring a Major League franchise to Baltimore, Maryland. After the 1953 season, Veeck agreed in principle to sell half his stock to Baltimore attorney Clarence Miles, the front man of the Baltimore group, and his other partners. He would have remained the principal owner, with approximately a 40% interest. Even though league president Will Harridge told him approval was certain, only four owners—two short of the necessary six for passage—supported it. Realizing the other owners simply wanted him out of the picture (indeed, he was facing threats of having his franchise canceled), Veeck agreed to sell his entire stake to Miles' group, who then moved the Browns to Baltimore, where they were renamed as the Orioles, which has been their name ever since.
Chicago White Sox
Taking advantage of inter-familial friction within the Comiskey family, in 1959, Veeck became head of a group that purchased a controlling interest in the Chicago White Sox. Following Veeck's acquisition of the team, the White Sox went on to win their first pennant in 40 years. That year the White Sox broke a team attendance record for home games with 1.4 million. The next year the team broke the same record with 1.6 million visitors to Comiskey Park with the addition of the first "exploding scoreboard" in the major leagues – producing electrical and sound effects, and shooting fireworks whenever the White Sox hit a home run. The "exploding scoreboard" was carried over to the "new" Comiskey Park (now Guaranteed Rate Field) when it opened in 1991.
One year later in 1960, Veeck and former Detroit Tigers great Hank Greenberg, his partner with the Indians and White Sox, reportedly made a strong bid for the American League expansion franchise in Los Angeles. Greenberg would have been the principal owner, with Veeck as a minority partner. However Los Angeles Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley was not willing to compete with a team owned by Veeck, even if he would only be a minority partner. When O'Malley heard of the deal, he invoked his exclusive franchise rights for Southern California. Any potential owner of an American League team in the area would have had to have O'Malley's approval, and it was apparent that O'Malley would not allow any team to set up shop with Veeck as a major shareholder. Rather than try to persuade his friend to back out, Greenberg abandoned his bid for what became the Los Angeles Angels.
In 1961, due to poor health, Veeck sold his share of the White Sox to John and Arthur Allyn for $2.5 million. After selling the White Sox, Veeck worked intermittently as a television commentator for ABC. Veeck then moved to the Eastern Shore of Maryland with his family to convalesce.
When his health improved, Veeck made an unsuccessful attempt to buy the Washington Senators, then operated the Suffolk Downs race track in Boston in 1969–70. Veeck was not heard from again in baseball ownership circles until 1975, when he repurchased the White Sox from John Allyn (sole owner since 1969). Veeck's return rankled baseball's establishment, most owners viewing him as a pariah after exposing industry politics and maneuvering in his 1961 book Veeck As In Wreck. The owners were also unhappy with Veeck's extensive unfavorable discussion of the 1964 purchase of the New York Yankees by CBS in 1965's The Hustler's Handbook (a move Veeck felt exposed MLB to dangerous antitrust liabilities and endangered the antitrust exemption established in a 1922 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court).
However, he was the only potential buyer willing to keep the White Sox in Chicago after an offer was made to buy the team and move it to Seattle, Washington. After an initial vote by AL owners rejected his White Sox bid, Veeck discussed a possible lawsuit; another vote was taken and Veeck was approved by one vote.
Almost immediately after reassuming control of the Sox, Veeck unleashed another publicity stunt. He and general manager Roland Hemond conducted four trades in a hotel lobby, in full view of the public; other owners considered this undignified. Two weeks later, however, arbitrator Peter Seitz's ruling struck down the reserve clause and ushered in the era of free agency, leading to dramatic increases in player salaries. Ironically Veeck had been the only baseball owner to testify in support of Curt Flood during his landmark court case, at which Flood had attempted to gain free agency after being traded to the Philadelphia Phillies. Veeck had proposed a gradual transition to a free-agent system in which players would gain free agency rights after a certain amount of service time. The owners gambled that Seitz would rule in their favor and maintain the reserve clause; he did not.
On the field, Veeck presented a Bicentennial-themed "Spirit of '76" parade on Opening Day in 1976, casting himself as the peg-legged fifer bringing up the rear. In the same year he reactivated Minnie Miñoso for eight at-bats, in order to give Miñoso a claim towards playing in four decades; he did so again in 1980, to expand the claim to five. He also unveiled radically altered uniforms for the players, including clamdigger pants and even shorts, which the Sox wore for the first time against the Kansas City Royals on August 8, 1976.
In an attempt to adapt to free agency he developed a "rent-a-player" model, centering on the acquisition of other clubs' stars in their option years. The gambit was moderately successful: in 1977 the White Sox won 90 games, and finished in third place with additions like Oscar Gamble and Richie Zisk.
During this last run, Veeck decided to have announcer Harry Caray sing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" during the seventh-inning stretch. Veeck asked Caray to sing for the entire park, but he refused. Veeck replied that he already had a recording, so Caray would be heard either way. Caray reluctantly agreed to sing it live, accompanied by White Sox organist Nancy Faust, and went on to become famous for singing the tune, continuing to do so at Wrigley Field after becoming the broadcaster of the Chicago Cubs.
The 1979 season was filled with more promotions. On April 10 he offered fans free admission the day after a 10–2 Opening Day defeat by the Toronto Blue Jays. On July 12, Veeck, with assistance from son Mike and radio personality Steve Dahl, held one of his most infamous promotions, Disco Demolition Night, between games of a scheduled doubleheader, which resulted in a riot at Comiskey Park and a forfeit to the visiting Detroit Tigers.
Life after baseball
Finding himself no longer able to financially compete in the free agent era, Veeck sold the White Sox in January 1981. Following the sale, new White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf made several negative references to Veeck's tenure with the team; in response, Veeck publicly transferred his allegiance back to the Chicago Cubs, the team his father had operated in his youth. Veeck retired to his home in Chicago but in summer could often be found in the Wrigley Field bleachers.
Veeck also wrote occasional articles for magazines and newspapers, usually opining on the overall state of baseball.
Poor health and death
Veeck had been a heavy smoker and drinker until 1980. In 1984, Veeck underwent two operations for lung cancer. Two years later, on the day after New Year's Day, 1986, he died at the age of 71 from cancer. He was elected five years later to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
When he died at age 71, he was survived by his wife, Mary Frances, and eight of his nine children. Two of the surviving children, Peter and Ellen, were from his first marriage, and the others (Mike, Marya, Greg, Lisa, Julie and Chris) were from his second marriage. He was predeceased by his eldest child, William III, who died in 1985. His body was cremated. Mike Veeck became owner of the independent minor-league St. Paul Saints and still is a partner in the team. The younger Veeck and co-owner actor Bill Murray emulated many of Bill Veeck's promotional stunts with the Saints. Greg Veeck earned a Ph.D. at University of Georgia in 1988 and is a geography professor at Western Michigan University focusing on urban geology and East Asia.
Books by Veeck
Veeck wrote three autobiographical works, each a collaboration with journalist Ed Linn. The first two were reissued in updated editions in the 1980s following Veeck's return to baseball ownership. The books include:
Veeck As In Wreck (1962) – a straightforward autobiography, written after Veeck's then-declining health forced him to sell his interest in the White Sox
The Hustler's Handbook (1965) – a sequel and extension of Wreck, divulging his experiences in operating as an outsider in the major leagues, detailing many episodes of behind-the-scenes drama in baseball, including the 1965 acquisition of the New York Yankees by CBS and the maneuvering involved in the move of the Milwaukee Braves to Atlanta, and also a recounting of the 1919 Black Sox Scandal through a diary by Harry Grabiner, business manager of the White Sox in 1919 and much later, an associate of Veeck with the Indians in 1948.
Thirty Tons A Day (1972) – chronicling the time he spent running Suffolk Downs racetrack in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The title refers to the daily quantity of waste (horse excrement, used hay and straw, etc.) that had to be disposed of.
Awards and honors
1948 World Series champion (as owner/president of the Cleveland Indians)
National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum (Class of 1991)
The Baseball Reliquary's Shrine of the Eternals (class of 1999).
In 2013, the Bob Feller Act of Valor Award honored Veeck as one of 37 Baseball Hall of Fame members for his service in the United States Marine Corps during World War II.
See also
List of members of the Baseball Hall of Fame
Notes
References
External links
In Praise of Bill Veeck – slideshow by Life magazine
1914 births
1986 deaths
20th-century American businesspeople
American amputees
Businesspeople from Chicago
Chicago White Sox executives
Chicago White Sox owners
Cleveland Indians executives
Cleveland Indians owners
Deaths from cancer in Illinois
Deaths from lung cancer
Kenyon College alumni
Major League Baseball executives
Major League Baseball general managers
Major League Baseball owners
Minor league baseball executives
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
People from Hinsdale, Illinois
People from St. Michaels, Maryland
Phillips Academy alumni
St. Louis Browns executives
St. Louis Browns owners
Suffolk Downs executives
United States Marines
United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II | true | [
"What Else Do You Do? (A Compilation of Quiet Music) is a various artists compilation album, released in 1990 by Shimmy Disc.\n\nTrack listing\n\nPersonnel \nAdapted from the What Else Do You Do? (A Compilation of Quiet Music) liner notes.\n Kramer – production, engineering\n\nRelease history\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n \n\n1990 compilation albums\nAlbums produced by Kramer (musician)\nShimmy Disc compilation albums",
"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"
]
|
[
"Bill Veeck",
"Milwaukee Brewers",
"Was did Bill have to do with the Milwaukee Brewers?",
"Veeck left Chicago and, in partnership with former Cubs star and manager Charlie Grimm, purchased the American Association Triple-A Milwaukee Brewers.",
"Did this team have a lot of wins?",
"After winning three pennants in five years Veeck sold his Milwaukee franchise in 1945 for a $275,000 profit.",
"Why did he sell the team?",
"Veeck claimed to have installed a screen to make the right field target a little more difficult for left-handed pull hitters of the opposing team.",
"Did he make this happen?",
"The screen was on wheels, so any given day it might be in place or not, depending on the batting strength of the opposing team.",
"What else did he do?",
"There was no rule against that activity as such, but Veeck then took it to an extreme, rolling it out when the opponents batted, and pulling it back"
]
| C_4a77e6c8b92945ebb5fd221afd516d59_1 | Was he known for anything? | 6 | Was Bill Veeck known for anything? | Bill Veeck | In 1942, Veeck left Chicago and, in partnership with former Cubs star and manager Charlie Grimm, purchased the American Association Triple-A Milwaukee Brewers. After winning three pennants in five years Veeck sold his Milwaukee franchise in 1945 for a $275,000 profit. According to his autobiography Veeck - As in Wreck, Veeck claimed to have installed a screen to make the right field target a little more difficult for left-handed pull hitters of the opposing team. The screen was on wheels, so any given day it might be in place or not, depending on the batting strength of the opposing team. There was no rule against that activity as such, but Veeck then took it to an extreme, rolling it out when the opponents batted, and pulling it back when the Brewers batted. Veeck reported that the league passed a rule against it the very next day. However, extensive research by two members of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) suggests that this story was made up by Veeck. The two researchers could not find any references to a moveable fence or any reference to the gear required for a moveable fence to work. While a half-owner of the Brewers, Veeck served for nearly three years in the United States Marine Corps during World War II in an artillery unit. During this time a recoiling artillery piece crushed his leg, requiring amputation first of the foot, and shortly after of the leg above the knee. Over the course of his life he had 36 operations on the leg. He had a series of wooden legs and, as an inveterate smoker, cut holes in them to use as an ashtray. CANNOTANSWER | However, extensive research by two members of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) suggests that this story was made up by Veeck. | William Louis Veeck Jr. (; February 9, 1914 – January 2, 1986), also known as "Sport Shirt Bill", was an American Major League Baseball franchise owner and promoter. Veeck was at various times the owner of the Cleveland Indians, St. Louis Browns and Chicago White Sox. As owner and team president of the Indians in 1947, Veeck signed Larry Doby, thus beginning the integration of the American League, and the following year won a World Series title as Cleveland's owner/president.
Veeck was the last owner to purchase a baseball franchise without an independent fortune, and is responsible for many innovations and contributions to baseball.
Unable to compete in the new era of salary escalation ignited by arbitration and free agency, Veeck sold his ownership interests after the 1980 Chicago White Sox season. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991.
Early life
Bill Veeck was born on February 9, 1914, in Chicago, Illinois. While Veeck was growing up in Hinsdale, Illinois, his father, William Veeck Sr., became president of the Chicago Cubs. Veeck Sr. was a local sports writer who wrote numerous columns about how he would run the Cubs differently, and the team's owner, William Wrigley Jr., took him up on the implied offer. While growing up, the younger Veeck worked as a popcorn vendor for the Cubs and also as a part-time concession salesman for the crosstown Chicago White Sox. Later, in 1937, he came up with the idea of planting ivy on the walls of Wrigley Field. Veeck attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. In 1933, when his father died, Veeck left Kenyon College and eventually became club treasurer for the Cubs. In 1935, he married his first wife, Eleanor.
Franchise owner
Minor League Baseball
Milwaukee Brewers
In 1940, Veeck left Chicago and, in a syndicate with former Cubs star and manager Charlie Grimm, purchased the American Association Triple-A Milwaukee Brewers. After winning three pennants in five years Veeck sold his Milwaukee franchise in 1945 for a $275,000 profit.
According to his autobiography Veeck – As in Wreck, Veeck claimed to have installed a screen to make the right field target a little more difficult for left-handed pull hitters of the opposing team. The screen was on wheels, so any given day it might be in place or not, depending on the batting strength of the opposing team. There was no rule against that activity as such, but Veeck then took it to an extreme, rolling it out when the opponents batted, and pulling it back when the Brewers batted. Veeck reported that the league passed a rule against it the very next day. However, extensive research by two members of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) suggests that this story was made up by Veeck. The two researchers could not find any references to a moveable fence or any reference to the gear required for a moveable fence to work.
While a co-owner of the Brewers, Veeck served for nearly three years in the United States Marine Corps during World War II in an artillery unit. During this time a recoiling artillery piece crushed his right leg, requiring amputation first of the foot, and shortly after of the leg above the knee. Over the course of his life he had 36 operations on the leg. He had a series of wooden legs and, as an inveterate smoker, cut holes in them to use as an ashtray.
Major League Baseball
Attempted purchase of Philadelphia Phillies
Veeck had been a fan of the Negro leagues since his early teens. He had also admired Abe Saperstein's Harlem Globetrotters basketball team, which was based in Chicago. Saperstein saved Veeck from financial disaster early on in Milwaukee by giving him the right to promote the Globetrotters in the upper Midwest in the winter of 1941–42.
In the fall of 1942, Veeck met with Gerry Nugent, president of the Philadelphia Phillies, to discuss the possibility of buying the struggling National League team. He later wrote in his memoirs that he intended to buy the Phillies and stock the team's roster with stars from the Negro leagues. Although no formal rules barred African-American players from the majors, none had appeared in organized baseball since the 1890s.
Veeck quickly secured financing to buy the Phillies, and agreed in principle to buy the team from Nugent. While on his way to Philadelphia to close on the purchase, Veeck decided to alert MLB Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis of his intentions.
Although Veeck knew Landis was an ardent segregationist, he did not believe Landis would dare say black players were unwelcome while blacks were fighting in World War II. However, when Veeck arrived in Philadelphia, he was surprised to discover that the National League had taken over the Phillies and was seeking a new owner (the Phillies were ultimately sold to lumber baron William D. Cox).
The authors of a controversial article in the 1998 issue of SABR's The National Pastime argued that Veeck invented the story of buying the Phillies and filling their roster with Negro leaguers, claiming Philadelphia's black press made no mention of a prospective sale to Veeck.
Subsequently, the article was criticized by historian Jules Tygiel, who reviewed it point-by-point in an article in the 2006 issue of SABR's The Baseball Research Journal, and in an appendix, entitled "Did Bill Veeck Lie About His Plan to Purchase the '43 Phillies?", published in Paul Dickson's biography, Bill Veeck: Baseball's Greatest Maverick. In the SABR article, Tygiel explained that Veeck and others had mentioned the alleged scheme to buy and stock the Phillies up to fifteen years before the publication of Veeck's memoir, but conceded that, "In all of these accounts the only voice telling the story remains Veeck's." The Tygiel article also conceded, "The overall assessment of Jordan, et al. - that Veeck's notion of buying the Phillies and fielding a team of Negro League stars never quite moved as far from the drawing board as Veeck claimed - may still be true. We still lack any solid evidence that confirms that Veeck had not only conceptualized this action, but made a firm offer to buy the Phillies and met a rebuff by Landis and Frick."
Joseph Thomas Moore wrote in his biography of Larry Doby, "Bill Veeck planned to buy the Philadelphia Phillies with the as yet unannounced intention of breaking that color line."
Cleveland Indians
In 1946, having sold his interest in the Class AAA Milwaukee Brewers, Veeck became the owner of a major league team, the Cleveland Indians. He immediately put all the team's games on radio (previously, only limited games had been broadcast). He also moved the team to Cleveland Municipal Stadium permanently in 1947. The team had split their games between the larger Municipal Stadium and the smaller League Park since the 1930s, but Veeck concluded that League Park was far too small and deteriorated to be viable.
In July of that year, he signed Larry Doby, the first black player to play in the American League. Doby's first game was on July 5 and before the game, Doby was introduced to his teammates by player-manager Lou Boudreau. "One by one, Lou introduced me to each player. 'This is Joe Gordon,' and Gordon put his hand out. 'This is Bob Lemon,' and Lemon put his hand out. 'This is Jim Hegan,' and Hegan put his hand out. All the guys put their hand out, all but three. As soon as he could, Bill Veeck got rid of those three", Doby said. The following year Veeck signed Satchel Paige to a contract, making the hurler the oldest rookie in major league history.
To take advantage of the large size of Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Veeck had a portable center field fence installed in 1947, which he could move in or out depending on how the distance favored the Indians against their opponents in a given series. The fence moved as much as between series opponents. Following the 1947 season, the American League countered with a rule change that fixed the distance of an outfield wall for the duration of a season.
As in Milwaukee, Veeck took a unique approach to promotions, hiring Max Patkin, the "Clown Prince of Baseball", as a coach. Patkin's appearance in the coaching box delighted fans and infuriated the front office of the American League.
Although Veeck had become extremely popular, an attempt in 1947 to trade Boudreau to the St. Louis Browns led to mass protests and petitions supporting Boudreau. Veeck, in response, said he would listen to the fans, and re-signed Boudreau to a new two-year contract. Veeck claimed later that the trade talks had already broken down before they became public, but he seized the opportunity to promote the concept he had dropped the idea of the trade in response to public outcry.
By 1948, led by Boudreau's .355 batting average, Cleveland won its first pennant and World Series since 1920. Famously, the following season Veeck buried the 1948 flag, once it became mathematically certain the team could not repeat its championship in 1949. Later that year, Veeck's first wife, Eleanor, filed for divorce. Most of his money was tied up in the Indians, so he was forced to sell the team to fund the divorce settlement. One year later, Veeck married his second wife Mary Frances Ackerman in 1950. He had met her the previous year while in Cleveland.
St. Louis Browns
After marrying Mary Frances Ackerman, Veeck bought an 80% stake in the St. Louis Browns in 1951. Hoping to force the NL's St. Louis Cardinals out of town, Veeck hired Cardinal greats Rogers Hornsby and Marty Marion as managers, and Dizzy Dean as an announcer; and he decorated their shared home park, Sportsman's Park, exclusively with Browns memorabilia. Ironically the Cardinals had been the Browns' tenants since 1920, even though they had long since passed the Browns as St. Louis' favorite team.
Some of Veeck's most memorable publicity stunts occurred during his tenure with the Browns, including the appearance on August 19, 1951, by Eddie Gaedel, who stood tall and is the shortest person to appear in a Major League Baseball game. Veeck sent Gaedel to pinch hit in the bottom of the first of the game. Wearing "1/8" as his uniform number, Gaedel was walked on four straight pitches and then was pulled for a pinch runner.
Shortly afterwards "Grandstand Manager's Day" – involving Veeck, Connie Mack, and thousands of regular fans, enabled the crowd to vote on various in-game strategic decisions by holding up placards: the Browns won, 5–3, snapping a four-game losing streak.
After the 1952 season, Veeck suggested that the American League clubs share radio and television revenue with visiting clubs, a proposal anathema to the powerful Yankees, whose broadcasting revenues dwarfed all the other AL franchises.
Outvoted, he refused to allow the Browns' opponents to broadcast games played against his team on the road. The league responded by eliminating the lucrative Friday night games in St. Louis.
A year later, Cardinals owner Fred Saigh was convicted of tax evasion. Facing certain banishment from baseball, he was forced to put the Cardinals up for sale. At first, the only credible offers came from out-of-town interests, and it appeared that Veeck would succeed in driving the Cardinals out of town.
However, just as Saigh was about to sell the Cardinals to interests who would have moved them to Houston, Texas, he instead accepted a much lower bid from St. Louis-based brewing giant Anheuser-Busch, who entered the picture with the specific intent of keeping the Cardinals in town. It has long been claimed that Saigh was persuaded to accept Anheuser-Busch's bid more out of civic duty than money. However, according to Anheuser-Busch historian William Knoedelseder, Saigh's first preference all along was to sell the Cardinals to interests who would keep the team in St. Louis.
What is beyond dispute is that as soon as Anheuser-Busch closed on its purchase of the Cardinals, Veeck knew he was finished in St. Louis. He quickly realized that with Anheuser-Busch's wealth behind them, the Cardinals now had more financial resources than he could even begin to match, especially since he had no other source of income. Reluctantly, he decided to move the Browns elsewhere. As a preliminary step, he sold Sportsman's Park to the Cardinals.
At first Veeck considered moving the Browns back to Milwaukee (where they had played their inaugural season in 1901). Milwaukee used recently built Milwaukee County Stadium in an attempt to entice the Browns.
However, the decision was in the hands of the Boston Braves, the parent team of the Brewers. Under major league rules of the time, the Braves held the major league rights to Milwaukee. The Braves wanted another team with the same talent if the Brewers were shut down, and an agreement was not made in time for the start of the 1953 season. Ironically, a few weeks later, the Braves themselves moved to Milwaukee. St. Louis was known to want the team to stay, so some in St. Louis campaigned for the removal of Veeck.
Undaunted, Veeck got in touch with a group that was looking to bring a Major League franchise to Baltimore, Maryland. After the 1953 season, Veeck agreed in principle to sell half his stock to Baltimore attorney Clarence Miles, the front man of the Baltimore group, and his other partners. He would have remained the principal owner, with approximately a 40% interest. Even though league president Will Harridge told him approval was certain, only four owners—two short of the necessary six for passage—supported it. Realizing the other owners simply wanted him out of the picture (indeed, he was facing threats of having his franchise canceled), Veeck agreed to sell his entire stake to Miles' group, who then moved the Browns to Baltimore, where they were renamed as the Orioles, which has been their name ever since.
Chicago White Sox
Taking advantage of inter-familial friction within the Comiskey family, in 1959, Veeck became head of a group that purchased a controlling interest in the Chicago White Sox. Following Veeck's acquisition of the team, the White Sox went on to win their first pennant in 40 years. That year the White Sox broke a team attendance record for home games with 1.4 million. The next year the team broke the same record with 1.6 million visitors to Comiskey Park with the addition of the first "exploding scoreboard" in the major leagues – producing electrical and sound effects, and shooting fireworks whenever the White Sox hit a home run. The "exploding scoreboard" was carried over to the "new" Comiskey Park (now Guaranteed Rate Field) when it opened in 1991.
One year later in 1960, Veeck and former Detroit Tigers great Hank Greenberg, his partner with the Indians and White Sox, reportedly made a strong bid for the American League expansion franchise in Los Angeles. Greenberg would have been the principal owner, with Veeck as a minority partner. However Los Angeles Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley was not willing to compete with a team owned by Veeck, even if he would only be a minority partner. When O'Malley heard of the deal, he invoked his exclusive franchise rights for Southern California. Any potential owner of an American League team in the area would have had to have O'Malley's approval, and it was apparent that O'Malley would not allow any team to set up shop with Veeck as a major shareholder. Rather than try to persuade his friend to back out, Greenberg abandoned his bid for what became the Los Angeles Angels.
In 1961, due to poor health, Veeck sold his share of the White Sox to John and Arthur Allyn for $2.5 million. After selling the White Sox, Veeck worked intermittently as a television commentator for ABC. Veeck then moved to the Eastern Shore of Maryland with his family to convalesce.
When his health improved, Veeck made an unsuccessful attempt to buy the Washington Senators, then operated the Suffolk Downs race track in Boston in 1969–70. Veeck was not heard from again in baseball ownership circles until 1975, when he repurchased the White Sox from John Allyn (sole owner since 1969). Veeck's return rankled baseball's establishment, most owners viewing him as a pariah after exposing industry politics and maneuvering in his 1961 book Veeck As In Wreck. The owners were also unhappy with Veeck's extensive unfavorable discussion of the 1964 purchase of the New York Yankees by CBS in 1965's The Hustler's Handbook (a move Veeck felt exposed MLB to dangerous antitrust liabilities and endangered the antitrust exemption established in a 1922 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court).
However, he was the only potential buyer willing to keep the White Sox in Chicago after an offer was made to buy the team and move it to Seattle, Washington. After an initial vote by AL owners rejected his White Sox bid, Veeck discussed a possible lawsuit; another vote was taken and Veeck was approved by one vote.
Almost immediately after reassuming control of the Sox, Veeck unleashed another publicity stunt. He and general manager Roland Hemond conducted four trades in a hotel lobby, in full view of the public; other owners considered this undignified. Two weeks later, however, arbitrator Peter Seitz's ruling struck down the reserve clause and ushered in the era of free agency, leading to dramatic increases in player salaries. Ironically Veeck had been the only baseball owner to testify in support of Curt Flood during his landmark court case, at which Flood had attempted to gain free agency after being traded to the Philadelphia Phillies. Veeck had proposed a gradual transition to a free-agent system in which players would gain free agency rights after a certain amount of service time. The owners gambled that Seitz would rule in their favor and maintain the reserve clause; he did not.
On the field, Veeck presented a Bicentennial-themed "Spirit of '76" parade on Opening Day in 1976, casting himself as the peg-legged fifer bringing up the rear. In the same year he reactivated Minnie Miñoso for eight at-bats, in order to give Miñoso a claim towards playing in four decades; he did so again in 1980, to expand the claim to five. He also unveiled radically altered uniforms for the players, including clamdigger pants and even shorts, which the Sox wore for the first time against the Kansas City Royals on August 8, 1976.
In an attempt to adapt to free agency he developed a "rent-a-player" model, centering on the acquisition of other clubs' stars in their option years. The gambit was moderately successful: in 1977 the White Sox won 90 games, and finished in third place with additions like Oscar Gamble and Richie Zisk.
During this last run, Veeck decided to have announcer Harry Caray sing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" during the seventh-inning stretch. Veeck asked Caray to sing for the entire park, but he refused. Veeck replied that he already had a recording, so Caray would be heard either way. Caray reluctantly agreed to sing it live, accompanied by White Sox organist Nancy Faust, and went on to become famous for singing the tune, continuing to do so at Wrigley Field after becoming the broadcaster of the Chicago Cubs.
The 1979 season was filled with more promotions. On April 10 he offered fans free admission the day after a 10–2 Opening Day defeat by the Toronto Blue Jays. On July 12, Veeck, with assistance from son Mike and radio personality Steve Dahl, held one of his most infamous promotions, Disco Demolition Night, between games of a scheduled doubleheader, which resulted in a riot at Comiskey Park and a forfeit to the visiting Detroit Tigers.
Life after baseball
Finding himself no longer able to financially compete in the free agent era, Veeck sold the White Sox in January 1981. Following the sale, new White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf made several negative references to Veeck's tenure with the team; in response, Veeck publicly transferred his allegiance back to the Chicago Cubs, the team his father had operated in his youth. Veeck retired to his home in Chicago but in summer could often be found in the Wrigley Field bleachers.
Veeck also wrote occasional articles for magazines and newspapers, usually opining on the overall state of baseball.
Poor health and death
Veeck had been a heavy smoker and drinker until 1980. In 1984, Veeck underwent two operations for lung cancer. Two years later, on the day after New Year's Day, 1986, he died at the age of 71 from cancer. He was elected five years later to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
When he died at age 71, he was survived by his wife, Mary Frances, and eight of his nine children. Two of the surviving children, Peter and Ellen, were from his first marriage, and the others (Mike, Marya, Greg, Lisa, Julie and Chris) were from his second marriage. He was predeceased by his eldest child, William III, who died in 1985. His body was cremated. Mike Veeck became owner of the independent minor-league St. Paul Saints and still is a partner in the team. The younger Veeck and co-owner actor Bill Murray emulated many of Bill Veeck's promotional stunts with the Saints. Greg Veeck earned a Ph.D. at University of Georgia in 1988 and is a geography professor at Western Michigan University focusing on urban geology and East Asia.
Books by Veeck
Veeck wrote three autobiographical works, each a collaboration with journalist Ed Linn. The first two were reissued in updated editions in the 1980s following Veeck's return to baseball ownership. The books include:
Veeck As In Wreck (1962) – a straightforward autobiography, written after Veeck's then-declining health forced him to sell his interest in the White Sox
The Hustler's Handbook (1965) – a sequel and extension of Wreck, divulging his experiences in operating as an outsider in the major leagues, detailing many episodes of behind-the-scenes drama in baseball, including the 1965 acquisition of the New York Yankees by CBS and the maneuvering involved in the move of the Milwaukee Braves to Atlanta, and also a recounting of the 1919 Black Sox Scandal through a diary by Harry Grabiner, business manager of the White Sox in 1919 and much later, an associate of Veeck with the Indians in 1948.
Thirty Tons A Day (1972) – chronicling the time he spent running Suffolk Downs racetrack in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The title refers to the daily quantity of waste (horse excrement, used hay and straw, etc.) that had to be disposed of.
Awards and honors
1948 World Series champion (as owner/president of the Cleveland Indians)
National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum (Class of 1991)
The Baseball Reliquary's Shrine of the Eternals (class of 1999).
In 2013, the Bob Feller Act of Valor Award honored Veeck as one of 37 Baseball Hall of Fame members for his service in the United States Marine Corps during World War II.
See also
List of members of the Baseball Hall of Fame
Notes
References
External links
In Praise of Bill Veeck – slideshow by Life magazine
1914 births
1986 deaths
20th-century American businesspeople
American amputees
Businesspeople from Chicago
Chicago White Sox executives
Chicago White Sox owners
Cleveland Indians executives
Cleveland Indians owners
Deaths from cancer in Illinois
Deaths from lung cancer
Kenyon College alumni
Major League Baseball executives
Major League Baseball general managers
Major League Baseball owners
Minor league baseball executives
National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
People from Hinsdale, Illinois
People from St. Michaels, Maryland
Phillips Academy alumni
St. Louis Browns executives
St. Louis Browns owners
Suffolk Downs executives
United States Marines
United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II | true | [
"I Fly Anything is an American old-time radio adventure drama. It was broadcast on ABC from November 29, 1950, until July 19, 1951.\n\nDockery Crane was a freelance pilot who used his Douglas DC-4 plane for any job that was legal and would earn money. He was assisted by co-pilot Buzz and secretary June.\n\nI Fly Anything was unusual in that it featured two men who were not known primarily as actors. Dick Haymes, who starred as Crane, was best known for his singing; the program was his debut as far as a straight dramatic role was concerned.\n\nGeorge Fenneman, who played Buzz, was usually heard as an announcer on radio and television. He was not in the show's original cast but was first heard in the January 23, 1951, episode, the same one in which Georgia Ellis joined the cast as Crane's secretary.\n\nJay Arlen and Lou Cook were the announcers, while Frank Cooper and Sy Fisher were producers. Dwight Hauser and Clark Andrews directed the program. Writers were Arnold Perl, Abe Ginniss, and Les Crutchfield.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nLogs\nPartial log of episodes of I Fly Anything from Jerry Haendiges Vintage Radio Logs\n Partial log of episodes of I Fly Anything from Old Time Radio Researchers Group\nPartial log of episodes of I Fly Anything from radioGOLDINdex\n\nStreaming\nSelected episodes of I Fly Anything from Dumb.com\nSelected episodes of I Fly Anything from the Internet Archive\n\n1950 radio programme debuts\n1951 radio programme endings\n1950s American radio programs\nABC radio programs\nFictional aviators",
"Lee Lapin, 1948–2009, was a popular surveillance and espionage author, best known for his offbeat, grammatically questionable, yet information-rich instructional book series, How to Get Anything On Anybody. The series is published by Paladin Press, is now in its third revision, and is frequently included in library collections across North America.\n\nLapin reportedly lived on a small island off the coast of Marin County, California where, for relaxation, he raised wolves.\n\nLee Lapin was the nom de plume of Scott French. He died January 11, 2009, at the home of his son in Colorado.\n\nExternal links\nHow To Get Anything on Anybody Book 3\n\n2009 deaths\n1948 births"
]
|
[
"Erich Honecker",
"Family"
]
| C_92bef31fd20145178978ed83b356e8f6_0 | Who was Honecker's father? | 1 | Who was Erich Honecker's father? | Erich Honecker | Honecker was married three times. After being liberated from prison in 1945 he married the prison warden Charlotte Schanuel (nee Drost), nine years his senior, on 23 December 1946. She died suddenly from a brain tumour in June 1947. Details of this marriage were not revealed until 2003, well after his death. By the time of her death, Honecker was already romantically involved with the Free German Youth official Edith Baumann, whom he met on a trip to Moscow. With her he had a daughter, Erika (b. 1950), who later gave him his granddaughter Anke. Sources differ on whether Honecker and Baumann married in 1947 or 1949, but in 1952 he fathered an illegitimate daughter, Sonja (b. December 1952), with Margot Feist, a People's Chamber member and chairperson of the Ernst Thalmann Pioneer Organisation. In September 1950, Baumann wrote directly to Walter Ulbricht to inform him of her husband's extramarital activity in the hope of him pressuring Honecker to end his relationship with Feist. Following his divorce and reportedly under pressure from the Politburo, he married Feist, however sources again differ on both the year of his divorce from Baumann and of his marriage to Feist; depending on the source, the events took place either in 1953 or 1955. For more than twenty years, Margot Honecker served as Minister of National Education. In 2012 intelligence reports collated by West German spies alleged that both Erich and his wife had secret affairs but did not divorce for political reasons, however, his bodyguard Bernd Bruckner in a book about his time spent in Honecker's service, refuted the claims. Honecker had three grandchildren from his daughter Sonja, who had married the Chilean-born exile Leonardo Yanez Betancourt; Roberto, (b. 1974) Mariana, (b. 1985) who died in 1988 at the age of two leaving Honecker himself heartbroken, and Vivian (b. 1988). Roberto's origins are debated; he is claimed to be the illegally adopted son of Mrs. Heidi Stein, Dirk Schiller, born on 13 June 1975 in Gorlitz, who disappeared in March 1979, due to alleged physical similarities between Dirk and Leonardo Mrs Stein suspecting that her son might have been kidnapped at 3 years old by Stasi agents for Honecker's younger daughter. Honecker's daughter, (who divorced Leonardo in 1993) grandson and granddaughter still live in Santiago. CANNOTANSWER | CANNOTANSWER | Erich Ernst Paul Honecker (; 25 August 1912 – 29 May 1994) was a German communist politician who led the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 1971 until shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall in October 1989. He held the posts of General Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) and Chairman of the National Defence Council; in 1976, he replaced Willi Stoph as Chairman of the State Council, the official head of state. As the leader of East Germany, Honecker had close ties to the Soviet Union, which maintained a large army in the country.
Honecker's political career began in the 1930s when he became an official of the Communist Party of Germany, a position for which he was imprisoned by the Nazis. Following World War II, he was freed by the Soviet army and relaunched his political activities, founding the SED's youth organisation, the Free German Youth, in 1946 and serving as the group's chairman until 1955. As the Security Secretary of the SED Central Committee, he was the prime organiser of the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961 and, in this function, bore administrative responsibility for the "order to fire" along the Wall and the larger inner German border.
In 1970, Honecker initiated a political power struggle that led, with support of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, to him replacing Walter Ulbricht as General Secretary of the SED and chairman of the National Defence Council. Under his command, the country adopted a programme of "consumer socialism" and moved towards the international community by normalizing relations with West Germany and also becoming a full member of the UN, in what is considered one of his greatest political successes.
As Cold War tensions eased in the late 1980s with the advent of perestroika and glasnost—the liberal reforms introduced by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev—Honecker refused all but cosmetic changes to the East German political system. He cited the continual hardliner attitudes of Kim Il-sung and Fidel Castro, whose respective countries of governance of North Korea and Cuba had been critical of reforms. As anti-government protests grew, Honecker begged Gorbachev to intervene with the Soviet army to suppress the protests to maintain communist rule in East Germany as Moscow had done with Czechoslovakia in the Prague Spring of 1968 and with the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, but Gorbachev refused. Honecker was forced to resign by the SED Politburo in October 1989 in a bid to improve the government's image in the eyes of the public; the effort was unsuccessful, and the regime would collapse entirely the following month.
Following German reunification in 1990, Honecker sought asylum in the Chilean embassy in Moscow, but was extradited back to Germany in 1992, after the fall of the Soviet Union, to stand trial for his role in the human rights abuses committed by the East German government. However, the proceedings were abandoned, as Honecker was suffering from terminal liver cancer. He was freed from custody to join his family in exile in Chile, where he died in May 1994.
Childhood and youth
Honecker was born in Neunkirchen, in what is now Saarland, to Wilhelm Honecker (1881–1969), a coal miner and political activist, and his wife Caroline Catharine Weidenhof (1883–1963). The couple, married in 1905, had six children: Katharina (Käthe, 1906–1925), Wilhelm (Willi, 1907–1944), Frieda (1909–1974), Erich, Gertrud (1917–2010) and Karl-Robert (1923–1947). Erich, their fourth child, was born on 25 August 1912 during the period in which the family resided on Max-Braun-Straße, before later moving to Kuchenbergstraße 88 in the present-day Neunkirchen city district of Wiebelskirchen.
After World War I, the Territory of the Saar Basin was occupied by France. This change from the strict rule of to French military occupation provided the backdrop for what Wilhelm Honecker understood as proletarian exploitation, and introduced young Erich to communism. After his tenth birthday in 1922, Erich Honecker became a member of the Spartacus League's children's group in Wiebelskirchen. Aged 14 he entered the KJVD, the Young Communist League of Germany, for whom he later served the organisation's leader of Saarland from 1931.
Honecker did not find an apprenticeship immediately after leaving school, but instead worked for a farmer in Pomerania for almost two years. In 1928 he returned to Wiebelskirchen and began a traineeship as a roofer with his uncle, but quit to attend the International Lenin School in Moscow and Magnitogorsk after the KJVD handpicked him for a course of study there. There, sharing a room with Anton Ackermann, he studied under the cover name "Fritz Malter".
Opposition to the Nazis and imprisonment
In 1930, aged 18, Honecker entered the KPD, the Communist Party of Germany. His political mentor was Otto Niebergall, who later represented the KPD in the Reichstag. After returning from Moscow in 1931 following his studies at the International Lenin School, he became the leader of the KJVD in the Saar region. After the Nazi seizure of power in 1933, Communist activities within Germany were only possible undercover; the Saar region however still remained outside the German Reich under a League of Nations mandate. Honecker was arrested in Essen, Germany but soon released. Following this he fled to the Netherlands and from there oversaw KJVD's activities in Pfalz, Hesse and Baden-Württemberg.
Honecker returned to the Saar in 1934 and worked alongside Johannes Hoffmann on the campaign against the region's re-incorporation into Germany. A referendum on the area's future in January 1935 however saw 90.73% vote in favour of reunifying with Germany. Like 4,000 to 8,000 others, Honecker then fled the region, initially relocating to Paris.
On 28 August 1935 he illegally travelled to Berlin under the alias "Marten Tjaden", with a printing press in his luggage. From there he worked closely together with KPD official Herbert Wehner in opposition/resistance to the Nazi state. On 4 December 1935 Honecker was detained by the Gestapo and until 1937 remanded in Berlin's Moabit detention centre. On 3 July 1937 he was sentenced to ten years imprisonment for the "preparation of high treason alongside the severe falsification of documents".
Honecker spent the majority of his incarceration in the Brandenburg-Görden Prison, where he also carried out tasks as a handyman. In early 1945 he was moved to the Barnimstraße Women's Prison in Berlin due to good behaviour and to be put to work repairing the bomb-damaged building, as he was a skilled roofer. During an Allied bombing raid on 6 March 1945 he managed to escape and hid himself at the apartment of Lotte Grund, a female prison guard. After several days she persuaded him to turn himself in and his escape was then covered up by the guard. Honecker spent most of his time in prison under solitary confinement.
After the liberation of the prisons by advancing Soviet troops on 27 April 1945, Honecker remained in Berlin. His "escape" from prison and his relationships during his captivity later led to him experiencing difficulties within the Socialist Unity Party, as well as straining his relations with his former inmates. In later interviews and in his personal memoirs, Honecker falsified many of the details of his life during this period. Material from the East German State Security Service has been used to allege that, to be released from prison, Honecker offered the Gestapo evidence incriminating fellow imprisoned Communists, claimed he had renounced Communism "for good", and was willing to serve in the German army.
Post-war return to politics
In May 1945 Honecker was "picked up" by chance in Berlin by Hans Mahle and taken to the Ulbricht Group, a collective of exiled German communists that had returned from the Soviet Union to Germany after the end of the Nazi regime. Through Waldemar Schmidt, Honecker befriended Walter Ulbricht, who had not been aware of him at that point. Honecker's future role in the group was still undecided until well into the summer months, as he had yet to face a party process. This ended in a reprimand due to his "undisciplined conduct" in fleeing from prison at the start of the year, an action which was debated upon it jeopardizing the other (communist) inmates.
In 1946, Honecker became the co-founder of the Free German Youth (FDJ), whose chairmanship he also undertook. After the formation of the SED, the Socialist Unity Party, in April 1946 through a merger of the KPD and SPD, Honecker swiftly became a leading party member and took his place in the party's Central Committee.
On 7 October 1949, the German Democratic Republic was formed with the adoption of a new constitution, establishing a political system similar to that of the Soviet Union. Within the state's socialist single party government, Honecker determinedly resumed his political career and the following year was nominated as a candidate for the Politbüro of the SED's Central Committee. As President of the Free German Youth movement, he organised the inaugural "Deutschlandtreffen der Jugend" in East Berlin in May 1950 and the 3rd World Festival of Youth and Students in 1951, although the latter was beset with organisational problems.
During the internal party unrest following the suppressed uprising of June 1953, Honecker sided with First Secretary Walter Ulbricht, despite the majority of the Politburo attempting to depose Ulbricht in favour of Rudolf Herrnstadt. Honecker himself though faced questioning from party members about his inadequate qualifications for his position. On 27 May 1955 he handed the Presidency of the FDJ over to Karl Namokel, and departed for Moscow to study for two years at the School of the Soviet Communist Party at Ulbricht's request. During this period he witnessed the 20th Congress of the Soviet Communist Party in person, where its First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev denounced Joseph Stalin.
After returning to East Germany in 1958, Honecker became a fully-fledged member of the Politburo, taking over responsibility for military and security issues. As the Party Security Secretary he was the prime organiser of the building of the Berlin Wall in August 1961 and also a proponent of the "order to fire" along the Inner German border.
Leadership of East Germany
While Ulbricht had replaced the state's command economy with, firstly the "New Economic System", then the Economic System of Socialism, as he sought to improve the country's failing economy, Honecker declared the main task to in fact be the "unity of economic and social politics", essentially through which living standards (with increased consumer goods) would be raised in exchange for political loyalty. Tensions had already led to his once-mentor Ulbricht removing Honecker from the position of Second Secretary in July 1970, only for the Soviet leadership to swiftly reinstate him. Honecker played up the thawing East-West German relationship as Ulbricht's strategy, to win the support of the Soviet leadership under Leonid Brezhnev. With this secured, Honecker was appointed First Secretary (from 1976 titled general secretary) of the Central Committee on 3 May 1971 after the Soviet leadership forced Ulbricht to step aside "for health reasons".
After also succeeding Ulbricht as Chairman of the National Defence Council in 1971, Honecker was eventually also elected Chairman of the State Council (a post equivalent to that of president) on 29 October 1976. With this, Honecker reached the height of power within East Germany. From there on, he, along with Economic Secretary Günter Mittag and Minister of State Security Erich Mielke, made all key government decisions. Until 1989 the "little strategic clique" composed of these three men was unchallenged as the top level of East Germany's ruling class. Honecker's closest colleague was , the SED's Agitation and Propaganda Secretary. Alongside him, Honecker held daily meetings concerning the party's media representation in which the layout of the party's own newspaper Neues Deutschland, as well as the sequencing of news items in the national news bulletin Aktuelle Kamera, were determined.
Under Honecker's leadership, East Germany adopted a programme of "consumer socialism", which resulted in a marked improvement in living standards already the highest among the Eastern bloc countries. More attention was placed on the availability of consumer goods, and the construction of new housing was accelerated, with Honecker promising to "settle the housing problem as an issue of social relevance". His policies were initially marked by a liberalisation toward culture and art, though this was less about the replacement of Ulbricht by Honecker and more for propaganda purposes. While 1973 brought the World Festival of Youth and Students to East Berlin, soon dissident artists such as Wolf Biermann were expelled and the Ministry for State Security raised its efforts to suppress political resistance. Honecker remained committed to the expansion of the Inner German border and the "order to fire" policy along it. During his time in office around 125 East German citizens were killed while trying to reach the West.
After the Federal Republic had secured an agreement with the Soviet Union on cooperation and a policy of non-violence, it became possible to reach a similar agreement with the GDR. The Basic Treaty between East and West Germany in 1972 sought to normalise contacts between the two governments.
East Germany also participated in the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe held in Helsinki in 1975, which attempted to improve relations between the West and the Eastern Bloc, and became a full member of the United Nations. These acts of diplomacy were considered Honecker’s greatest successes in foreign politics.
Honecker received additional high-profile personal recognitions including honorary doctorates of humane letters from North Korea’s Kim Il-Sung University in 1974, Cuba's University of Las Tunas in 1979 and Iraq's Saddam University in 1983, honorary doctorates of business administration from East Berlin's Humboldt University in 1976, Tokyo's Nihon University in 1981 and the London School of Economics in 1984 and the Olympic Order from the IOC in 1985. In September 1987, he became the first East German head of state to visit West Germany, where he was received with full state honours by West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl in an act that seemed to confirm West Germany's acceptance of East Germany's existence. During this trip he also journeyed to his birthplace in Saarland, where he held an emotional speech in which he spoke of a day when Germans would no longer be separated by borders, but unified under communist rule. This trip had been planned twice before, including September 1984, but was initially blocked by the Soviet leadership which mistrusted the special East-West German relationship, particularly efforts to expand East Germany's limited independence in the realm of foreign policy.
Illness, downfall and resignation
In the late 1980s, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev introduced glasnost and perestroika, reforms to liberalise socialist planned economy. Frictions between him and Honecker had grown over these policies and numerous additional issues from 1985 onward. East Germany refused to implement similar reforms, with Honecker reportedly telling Gorbachev: "We have done our perestroika; we have nothing to restructure". Gorbachev grew to dislike Honecker, and by 1988 was lumping him in with Bulgaria's Todor Zhivkov, Czechoslovakia's Gustáv Husák and Romania's Nicolae Ceaușescu as a "Gang of Four": a group of inflexible hardliners unwilling to make reforms.
According to White House experts Philip Zelikow and Condoleezza Rice, Gorbachev looked to Communist leaders in Eastern Europe to follow his example of perestroika and glasnost. They argue:
Gorbachev himself had no particular sympathy for Erich Honecker, chairman of the East German Communist Party, and his hard-line comrades and the government. As early as 1985... [Gorbachev] had told East German party officials that kindergarten was over; no one would lead them by the hand. They were responsible for their own people. The relations between Gorbachev and Honecker went downhill from there.
Western analysts, according to Zelikow and Rice, believed in 1989 that Communism was still secure in East Germany:
Bolstered by relatively greater affluence than his country's Eastern European neighbors enjoyed in a fantastically elaborate system of internal controls, East Germany's longtime leader Eric Honecker seemed secure in his position. His government had long dealt with dissent through a mixture of brutal repression, forced emigration, and the vent of allowing occasional, limited travel to the West for a substantial part of the population.
Honecker felt betrayed by Gorbachev in his German policy and ensured that official texts of the Soviet Union, especially those concerning perestroika, could no longer be published or sold in East Germany.
At the Warsaw Pact summit on 7–8 July 1989 in Bucharest, the Soviet Union reaffirmed its shift from the Brezhnev Doctrine of the limited sovereignty of its member states, and announced "freedom of choice". The Bucharest statement prescribed that its nations henceforth developed their "own political line, strategy and tactics without external intervention". This called into question the Soviet guarantee of existence for the Communist states in Europe. Already in May 1989 Hungary had begun dismantling its border with Austria, creating the first gap in the so-called Iron Curtain, through which later several thousand East Germans quickly fled in hopes of reaching West Germany by way of Austria. But with the mass exodus at the Pan-European Picnic in August 1989 (which was based on an idea by Otto von Habsburg to test Gorbachev's reaction to the opening of the border), the subsequent hesitant behaviour of the Socialist Unity Party of East Germany and the non-intervention of the Soviet Union opened the floodgates. Thus the united front of the Eastern Bloc was broken. The reaction to this from Erich Honecker in the Daily Mirror of August 19, 1989 was too late and showed the current loss of power: “Habsburg distributed leaflets far into Poland, on which the East German holidaymakers were invited to a picnic. When they came to the picnic, they were given gifts, food and Deutsche Mark, and then they were persuaded to come to the West.” Later, after his fall, Honecker said of Otto von Habsburg in connection with the summer of 1989: "That this Habsburg drove the nail into my coffin." Now tens of thousands of media-informed East Germans made their way to Hungary, which was no longer ready to keep its borders completely closed or to oblige its border troops to use force of arms. A 1969 treaty required the Hungarian government to send the East Germans back home; however, starting on 11 September 1989, the Hungarians let them pass into Austria, telling their outraged East German counterparts that they were refugees and that international treaties on refugees took precedence.
At the time, Honecker was sidelined through illness, leaving his colleagues unable to act decisively. He had been taken ill with biliary colic during the Warsaw Pact summit. He was shortly afterwards flown home to East Berlin. After an initial stabilisation in his health, he underwent surgery on 18 August 1989 to remove his inflamed gallbladder and, due to a perforation, part of his colon. According to the urologist Peter Althaus, the surgeons left a suspected carcinogenic nodule in Honecker’s right kidney due to his weak condition, and also failed to inform the patient of the suspected cancer; other sources say the tumour was simply undetected. As a result of this operation, Honecker was away from his office until late September 1989.
Back in office, Honecker had to contend with the rising number and strength of demonstrations across East Germany that had first been sparked by reports in the West German media of fraudulent results in local elections on 7 May 1989, the same results he had labelled a "convincing reflection" of the populace's faith in his leadership. He also had to deal with a new refugee problem. Several thousand East Germans tried to go to West Germany by way of Czechoslovakia, only to have that government bar them from passing. Several thousands of them headed straight for the West German embassy in Prague and demanded safe passage to West Germany. With some reluctance, Honecker allowed them to go – but forced them to go back through East Germany on sealed trains and stripped them of their East German citizenship. Several members of the SED Politbüro realised this was a serious blunder and made plans to get rid of him.
As unrest visibly grew, large numbers began fleeing the country through the West German embassies in Prague and Budapest, as well as over the borders of the "socialist brother" states. Each month saw tens of thousands more exit. On 3 October 1989 East Germany closed its borders to its eastern neighbours and prevented visa-free travel to Czechoslovakia; a day later these measures were also extended to travel to Bulgaria and Romania. East Germany was now not only behind the Iron Curtain to the West, but also cordoned off from most other Eastern bloc states.
On 6–7 October 1989 the national celebrations of the 40th anniversary of the East German state took place with Gorbachev in attendance. To the surprise of Honecker and the other SED leaders in attendance, several hundred members of the Free German Youth — reckoned as the future vanguard of the party and nation — began chanting, "Gorby, help us! Gorby, save us!". In a private conversation between the two leaders Honecker praised the success of the nation, but Gorbachev knew that, in reality, it faced bankruptcy; East Germany had already accepted billions of dollars in loans from West Germany during the decade as it sought to stabilise its economy. Attempting to make Honecker accept a need for reforms, Gorbachev warned Honecker that "He who is too late is punished by life", yet Honecker maintained that "we will solve our problems ourselves with socialist means". Protests outside the reception at the Palace of the Republic led to hundreds of arrests in which many were brutally beaten by soldiers and police.
As the reform movement spread throughout Central and Eastern Europe, mass demonstrations against the East German government erupted, most prominently in Leipzig—the first of several demonstrations which took place on Monday nights across the country. In response, an elite paratroop unit was dispatched to Leipzig—almost certainly on Honecker's orders, since he was commander-in-chief of the Army. A bloodbath was averted only when local party officials themselves ordered the troops to pull back. In the following week, Honecker faced a torrent of criticism. This gave his Politburo comrades the impetus they needed to replace him.
After a crisis meeting of the Politburo on 10–11 October 1989, Honecker's planned state visit to Denmark was cancelled and, despite his resistance, at the insistence of the government's number-two-man, Egon Krenz, a public statement was issued that called for "suggestions for attractive socialism". Over the following days Krenz worked to secure himself the support of the military and the Stasi and arranged a meeting between Gorbachev and Politburo member Harry Tisch, who was in Moscow, to inform the Kremlin about the now-planned removal of Honecker; Gorbachev reportedly wished them good luck.
The sitting of the SED Central Committee planned for the end of November 1989 was pulled forward a week, with the most urgent item on the agenda now being the composition of the Politburo. Krenz and Mielke attempted by telephone on the night of 16 October to win other Politburo members over to remove Honecker. At the beginning of the session on 17 October, Honecker asked his routine question of "Are there any suggestions for the agenda?" Stoph replied, "Please, general secretary, Erich, I propose that a new item be placed on the agenda. It is the release of Erich Honecker as general secretary and the election of Egon Krenz in his place." Honecker reportedly calmly responded: "Well, then I open the debate".
All those present then spoke, in turn, but none in favour of Honecker. Günter Schabowski even extended the dismissal of Honecker to also include his posts in the State Council and as Chairman of the National Defence Council while childhood friend Günter Mittag moved away from Honecker. Mielke supposedly blamed Honecker for almost all the country's current ills and threatened to publish compromising information that he possessed, if Honecker refused to resign. A ZDF documentary on the matter claims this information was contained in a large red briefcase found in Mielke's possession in 1990. After three hours the Politburo voted to remove Honecker. In accordance with longstanding practice, Honecker voted for his own removal. When the public announcement was made, it was branded as a voluntary decision on Honecker's part, ostensibly "due to health reasons". Krenz was unanimously elected as his successor as General Secretary.
Start of prosecution and asylum attempts
Communist rule in East Germany survived Honecker's removal by only two months. Three weeks after Honecker's ousting the Berlin Wall fell, and the SED swiftly lost control of the country. On 1 December, its guaranteed right to rule was removed from the East German constitution. Two days later he was expelled from the SED along with other former officials. He went on to join the newly founded Communist Party of Germany in 1990, remaining a member until his death.
During November the People's Chamber had already set up a committee to investigate corruption and abuses of office, with Honecker being alleged to have received annual donations from the National Academy of Architecture of around 20,000 marks as an "honorary member". On 5 December 1989 the chief public prosecutor in East Germany formally launched a judicial inquiry against him on charges of high treason, abuses of confidence and embezzlement to the serious disadvantage of socialist property (the charge of high treason was dropped in March 1990). As a result, Honecker was placed under house arrest for a month.
Following the lifting of his house arrest, Honecker and his wife Margot were forced to vacate their apartment in the Waldsiedlung housing area in Wandlitz, exclusively used by senior SED party members, after the People's Chamber decided to put it to use as a sanatorium for the disabled. In any case, Honecker spent the majority of January 1990 in hospital after having the error of the tumour missed in 1989 corrected after the suspicion of cancer was confirmed. Upon leaving the hospital on 29 January he was re-arrested and held at the Berlin-Rummelsburg remand centre. However, on the evening of the following day, 30 January, Honecker was again released from custody: The district court had annulled the arrest warrant and, due to medical reports, certified him unfit for detention and interrogation.
Lacking a home, Honecker instructed his lawyer Wolfgang Vogel to ask the Evangelical Church in Berlin-Brandenburg for help. Pastor Uwe Holmer, leader of the Hoffnungstal Institute in Lobetal, Bernau bei Berlin, offered the couple a home in his vicarage. This drew immediate condemnation and later demonstrations against the church for assisting the Honeckers, given they had both discriminated against Christians who did not conform with the SED leadership's ideology. Aside from a stay at a holiday home in Lindow in March 1990 that lasted only one day before protests swiftly brought it to an end, the couple resided at the Holmer residence until 3 April 1990.
The couple then moved into a three-room living quarters within the Soviet military hospital in Beelitz. Here, doctors diagnosed a malignant liver tumour following another re-examination. Following German reunification, prosecutors in Berlin issued a further arrest warrant for Honecker in November 1990 on charges that he gave the order to fire on escapees at the Inner German border in 1961 and had repeatedly reiterated that command (most specifically in 1974). However, this warrant was not enforceable because Honecker lay under the protection of Soviet authorities in Beelitz. On 13 March 1991 the Honeckers fled Germany from the Soviet-controlled Sperenberg Airfield to Moscow on a military jet with the aid of Soviet hardliners.
The German Chancellery had only been informed by Soviet diplomats about the Honeckers’ flight to Moscow one hour in advance. It limited its response to a public protest, claiming the existence of an arrest warrant meant the Soviet Union was breaching international law by admitting Honecker. The initial Soviet reaction was that Honecker was now too ill to travel and was receiving medical treatment after a deterioration of his health. He underwent further surgery the following month.
On 11 December 1991 the Honeckers sought refuge in the Chilean Embassy in Moscow, while also applying for political asylum in the Soviet Union. Despite an offer of help from North Korea, Honecker instead reached out to the Chilean government under Christian Democrat Patricio Aylwin. Under Honecker's rule, East Germany had granted many Chileans exile following the military coup of 1973 by Augusto Pinochet. In addition his daughter Sonja was married to a Chilean. Chilean authorities, however, stated he could not enter their country without a valid German passport.
Mikhail Gorbachev agreed to the dissolution of the Soviet Union on 25 December 1991 and gave all his powers to Russian president Boris Yeltsin. Russian authorities had long been keen on expelling Honecker, against the wishes of Gorbachev, and the new government now demanded that he leave the country or else face deportation.
In June 1992, Chilean President Patricio Aylwin, leader of a center-left coalition, finally assured German Chancellor Helmut Kohl that Honecker would be leaving the embassy in Moscow. Reportedly against his will, Honecker was ejected from the embassy on 29 July 1992 and flown to Berlin's Tegel Airport, where he was arrested and detained in Moabit Prison. By contrast, his wife Margot travelled on a direct flight from Moscow to Santiago, Chile, where she initially stayed with her daughter Sonja. Honecker's lawyers unsuccessfully appealed for him to be released from detention in the period leading up to his trial.
Criminal trial and death
On 12 May 1992, while under protection in the Chilean embassy in Moscow, Honecker, along with several co-defendants, including Erich Mielke, Willi Stoph, Heinz Kessler, Fritz Streletz and Hans Albrecht, was accused in a 783-page indictment of taking part in the "collective manslaughter" of 68 people as they attempted to flee East Germany. It was alleged that Honecker, in his role as Chairman of the National Defence Council, had both given the decisive order in 1961 for the construction of the Berlin Wall and also, at subsequent meetings, ordered the extensive expansion of the border fortifications around West Berlin and the barriers to the West so as to make any passing impossible. In addition, specifically at a May 1974 sitting of the National Defence Council, he had stated that the development of the border must continue, that lines of fire were warranted along the whole border and, as prior, the use of firearms was essential: "Comrades who have successfully used their firearms [are] to be praised". Honecker, in his role of chairman of the party, was responsible for the deaths of many more than the 68 mentioned above. As of 22 April 2015, well over 1,000 deaths have been discovered mainly through secret East German documentation: "It is still not known for sure how many people died on the inner German border or who they were, as the East German state treated such information as a closely guarded secret. But numbers have risen steadily since unification, as evidence has been gathered from East German records. Current unofficial estimates put the figure at up to 1,100 people." From the same article, "In 1974, Erich Honecker, as Chairman of the GDR's National Defence Council, ordered: 'Firearms are to be ruthlessly used in the event of attempts to break through the border, and the comrades who have successfully used their firearms are to be commended.'"
The charges were approved by the Berlin District Court on 19 October 1992 at the opening of the trial. On the same day, it was decided that the hearing of 56 charges would be postponed and the remaining twelve cases would be the subject of the trial to begin on 12 November 1992. The question of under which laws the former East German leader could be tried was highly controversial and, in the view of many jurists, the process had an uncertain outcome.
During his 70-minute-long statement to the court on 3 December 1992, Honecker said that he had political responsibility for the building of the Berlin Wall and subsequent deaths at the borders, but claimed he was "without juridical, legal or moral guilt". He blamed the escalation of the Cold War for the building of the Berlin Wall, saying the decision had not been taken solely by the East German leadership but all the Warsaw Pact nations that had collectively concluded in 1961 that a "Third World War with millions dead" would be unavoidable without this action. He quoted several West German politicians who had opined that the wall had indeed reduced and stabilised the two factions. He stated that he had always regretted every death, both from a human point of view and due to the political damage they caused.
Making reference to past trials in Germany against communists and socialists such as Karl Marx and August Bebel, he claimed that the legal process against him was politically motivated and a "show trial" against communism. He stated that no court lying in the territory of West Germany had the legal right to place him, his co-defendants or any East German citizen on trial, and that the portrayal of East Germany as an "Unrechtsstaat" was contradictory to its recognition by over one hundred other nations and the UN Security Council. Furthermore, he questioned how a German court could now legally judge his political decisions in the light of the lack of legal action taken over various military operations that had been carried out by Western nations with either overt support or absence of condemnation from (West) Germany. He dismissed public criticism of the Stasi, arguing that journalists in Western countries were praised for denouncing others. While accepting political responsibility for the deaths at the Wall, he believed he was free of any "legal or moral guilt", and thought that East Germany would go down in history as "a sign that socialism is possible and is better than capitalism."
By the time of the proceedings Honecker was already seriously ill. A new CT scan in August 1992 had confirmed an ultrasound examination made in Moscow and the existence of a malignant tumour in the right lobe of his liver. Based on these findings and additional medical testimonies, Honecker’s lawyers requested that the legal proceedings, as far as they were aimed against their client, be abandoned and the arrest warrant against him withdrawn; the cases against both Mielke and Stoph had already been postponed due to their ill health. Arguing that his life expectancy was estimated to be three to six months, while the legal process was forecast to take at least two years, his lawyers questioned whether it was humane to try a dying man. Their application was rejected on 21 December 1992 when the court concluded that, given the seriousness of the charges, no obstacle to the proceedings existed.
Honecker lodged a constitutional complaint to the recently created Berlin Constitutional Court, stating that the decision to proceed violated his fundamental right to human dignity, which was an overriding principle in the Constitution of Berlin, above even the state penal system and criminal justice. On 12 January 1993 Honecker's complaint was upheld and the Berlin District Court therefore abandoned the case and withdrew their arrest warrant. An application for a new arrest warrant was rejected on 13 January. The court also refused to commence with the trial related to the indictment of 12 November 1992, and withdrew the second arrest warrant related to these charges. After a total of 169 days Honecker was released from custody, drawing protests both from victims of the East German state as well as German political figures.
Honecker flew via Brazil to Santiago, Chile, to reunite with his wife and his daughter Sonja, who lived there with her son Roberto. Upon his arrival he was greeted by the leaders of the Chilean Communist and Socialist parties. In contrast, his co-defendants Heinz Kessler, Fritz Streletz and Hans Albrecht were sentenced on 16 September 1993 to imprisonment of between four and seven-and-a-half years. On 13 April 1993 a final attempt to separate and continue the trial against Honecker in his absence was discontinued. Four days later, on the 66th birthday of his wife Margot, he gave a final public speech, ending with the words: "Socialism is the opposite of what we have now in Germany. For that I would like to say that our beautiful memories of the German Democratic Republic are testimony of a new and just society. And we want to always remain loyal to these things".
On 29 May 1994, Honecker died of liver cancer at the age of 81 in a terraced house in the La Reina district of Santiago. His funeral, arranged by the Communist Party of Chile, was conducted the following day at central cemetery in Santiago.
Family
Honecker was married three times. After being liberated from prison in 1945, he married the prison warden Charlotte Schanuel (née Drost), nine years his senior, on 23 December 1946. She died suddenly from a brain tumour in June 1947. Details of this marriage were not revealed until 2003, well after his death.
By the time of her death, Honecker was already romantically involved with the Free German Youth official Edith Baumann, whom he met on a trip to Moscow. With her, he had a daughter, Erika (b. 1950), who later gave him his granddaughter Anke. Sources differ on whether Honecker and Baumann married in 1947 or 1949, but in 1952 he fathered an illegitimate daughter, Sonja (b. December 1952), with Margot Feist, a People's Chamber member and chairperson of the Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Organisation.
In September 1950, Baumann wrote directly to Walter Ulbricht to inform him of her husband's extramarital activity in the hope of him pressuring Honecker to end his relationship with Feist. Following his divorce and reportedly under pressure from the Politburo, he married Feist. However, sources again differ on both the year of his divorce from Baumann and of his marriage to Feist; depending on the source, the events took place either in 1953 or 1955. For more than twenty years, Margot Honecker served as Minister of National Education. In 2012 intelligence reports collated by West German spies alleged that both Honecker and his wife had secret affairs but did not divorce for political reasons; however, his bodyguard Bernd Brückner, in a book about his time spent in Honecker's service, denied the claims.
Honecker had three grandchildren from his daughter Sonja, who had married the Chilean-born exile Leonardo Yáñez Betancourt: Roberto (b. 1974), Mariana (b. 1985), who died in 1988 at the age of two leaving Honecker himself heartbroken, and Vivian (b. 1988). Roberto's origins are debated; he is claimed to be the illegally adopted son of Heidi Stein, Dirk Schiller, born on 13 June 1975 in Görlitz, who disappeared in March 1979, due to alleged physical similarities between Dirk and Yáñez, Stein suspecting that her son might have been kidnapped at three years old by Stasi agents for Honecker's younger daughter.
Honecker's daughter divorced Yáñez in 1993. She and her two surviving children still live in Santiago.
Honours and awards
:
Hero of the German Democratic Republic (twice)
Hero of Labour
Patriotic Order of Merit (Honor clasp, in Gold)
Order of Karl Marx (five times)
Order of the Banner of Labor
:
Hero of the Soviet Union
Order of Lenin (thrice)
Order of the October Revolution
Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin"
Other countries:
Grand Star of the Order of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria (Austria)
Order of Georgi Dimitrov (Bulgaria)
Order of José Martí (Cuba)
Order of Playa Girón (Cuba)
Order of Klement Gottwald (Czechoslovakia)
Grand Cross of the White Rose of Finland (Finland)
Order of Augusto Cesar Sandino, 1st class (Nicaragua)
Order of the "Victory of Socialism" (Romania)
Order of Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam)
Olympic Order (International Olympic Committee)
In popular culture
Dmitri Vrubel's 1990 mural on the Berlin Wall My God, Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love, depicting a socialist "fraternal kiss" between Honecker and Leonid Brezhnev, became known around the world.
A traffic signal inspired by Honecker wearing a jaunty straw hat was used in parts of East Germany (Ost-Ampelmännchen) and has become a symbol of Ostalgie.
Notes
References
Further reading
Bryson, Phillip J., and Manfred Melzer eds. The end of the East German economy: from Honecker to reunification (Palgrave Macmillan, 1991).
Childs, David, ed. Honecker's Germany (London: Taylor & Francis, 1985).
Collier Jr, Irwin L. "GDR economic policy during the honecker era." Eastern European Economics 29.1 (1990): 5–29.
Dennis, Mike. Social and Economic Modernization in Eastern Germany from Honecker to Kohl (Burns & Oates, 1993).
Dennis, Mike. "The East German Ministry of State Security and East German Society During the Honecker Era, 1971–1989." in German Writers and the Politics of Culture (Palgrave Macmillan, London, 200)3. 3–24 on the STASI
Fulbrook, Mary. (2008) The people's state: East German society from Hitler to Honecker. Yale University Press.
Grix, Jonathan. "Competing approaches to the collapse of the GDR: ‘Top‐down’ vs ‘bottom‐up’," Journal of Area Studies 6#13:121–142, DOI: 10.1080/02613539808455836, Historiography.
Lippmann, Heinz. Honecker and the new politics of Europe (New York: Macmillan, 1972).
McAdams, A. James. "The Honecker trial: the East German past and the German future." Review of Politics 58.1 (1996): 53–80. online
Weitz, Eric D. Creating German Communism, 1890–1990: From Popular Protests to Socialist State (Princeton UP, 1997).
Wilsford, David, ed. Political leaders of contemporary Western Europe: a biographical dictionary (Greenwood, 1995) pp. 195–201.
Primary sources
Honecker, Erich. (1981) From My Life. New York: Pergamon, 1981. .
External links
Honecker im Internet (in German)
www.warheroes.ru – Erich Honecker (in Russian)
Welcoming Address to 1979 Session of the World Peace Council Erich Honecker's speech to the WPC
A Successful Policy Seared to the Needs of the People Volkskammer pamphlet including material by Honecker
1912 births
1994 deaths
People from Neunkirchen, Saarland
People from the Rhine Province
Communist Party of Germany politicians
Members of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany
Members of the Provisional Volkskammer
Members of the 1st Volkskammer
Members of the 2nd Volkskammer
Members of the 3rd Volkskammer
Members of the 4th Volkskammer
Members of the 5th Volkskammer
Members of the 6th Volkskammer
Members of the 7th Volkskammer
Members of the 8th Volkskammer
Members of the 9th Volkskammer
Free German Youth members
Communist rulers
Communists in the German Resistance
Collaborators with the Soviet Union
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German expatriates in Chile
German expatriates in the Soviet Union
Exiled politicians
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People extradited to Germany
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Heads of government who were later imprisoned
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Recipients of the Olympic Order
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Recipients of the Grand Star of the Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria
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Deaths from liver cancer
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People of the Cold War | false | [
"The visit of Erich Honecker to West Germany took place between 7–11 September 1987 in his official capacity as General Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) and Chairman of the State Council of the German Democratic Republic. It was the first and only visit of this kind undertaken during the partition of Germany. The five-day event was rated as an important step in the development of cross-German relations as well as Ostpolitik, which was implemented beginning with Willy Brandt, Chancellor of West Germany from 1969 to 1974.\n\nPreparations\nUntil 1986, Moscow blocked a possible visit by Honecker to the FRG. In 1984, Soviet leader Konstantin Chernenko and Honecker announced at a summit meeting that \"the goal is not cooperation but demarcation\". Soviet objections to Honecker's travel to the west were related both to Soviet interests in the block confrontation and to the policies of the Schmidt and Kohl governments in the NATO Double-Track Decision. It was also related to efforts to expand East Germany's limited independence in the realm of foreign policy. In March 1985, Chancellor Kohl renewed his invitation for Honecker to visit Bonn during Chernenko's state funeral. In autumn 1986, Mikhail Gorbachev sent a message to Honecker giving him consent to visit Bonn, which was a result of his own efforts to establish closer contacts with Western countries as part of the reorientation of Soviet politics through the policies of Glasnost and Perestroika. Discussions began in May 1987 on the organization of the visit to the FRG. To solidify this, Federal President Richard von Weizsäcker was received by Gorbachev in the Moscow Kremlin on 7 July 1987 to discuss the visit. The announcement of the abolition of capital punishment in the GDR on 17 July 1987 by the State Council was also related to Honecker's planned visit.\n\nMeetings and ceremonies\n\n7 September\n\nHonecker arrived at Cologne Bonn Airport in a Transportfliegergeschwader 44 Ilyushin Il-62. He was officially met by Wolfgang Schäuble, Chief of the Chancellery. From there he was transported in a motorcade to the Federal Chancellery where he arrived at half past nine in the morning. Upon his arrival, he was met by West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and was given full state honours.\n\nAfter an initial exchange of pleasantries between the two leaders, Honecker was invited into the neighboring Hammerschmidt Villa for a meeting with Federal President Weizsäcker for a working lunch. In his speech to the table Weizsäcker welcomed the guest as a \"German among Germans\" and called for further \"system-opening cooperation\". The afternoon of the first day of visit was mainly devoted to discussions in the Federal Chancellery, where it mainly went to topics such as travel and visitor traffic, border determination in the Elbe section, minimum exchange, town twinning and the shooting order.\n\nIn the evening, the federal government gave hosted a dinner for the delegations in the Redoute, where in the table speeches the basic political positions of the heads of state were exchanged. Chancellor Kohl had insisted in advance that the table speeches of the two heads of government are broadcast live on state television both in the FRG and in the GDR. The Chancellor emphasized the \"awareness of the unity of the nation\" and followed that up by saying that \"the will to preserve it is unbroken\". Honecker spent the night at Schloss Gymnich, which was used at that time as a state guest house.\n\n8 September\nAfter the drive from Schloss Gymnich to Bonn's government district, Honecker conferred once again with Kohl and Schäuble in a small meeting. The Palais Schaumburg was also used during the visit for political discussions, receptions and contract signings. It was followed by Honecker meeting with Bundestag President Philipp Jenninger, and former President Karl Carstens as well as the chairmen of the parties represented in the Bundestag, including the Leader of the Social Democratic Party Hans-Jochen Vogel.\n\nIn the evening, Honecker gave a counter invitation to dinner at the Hotel Bristol, where he delivered a speech with Kohl. Also on 8 September a joint communiqué was published, in which the governments of the FRG and the GDR affirmed their intention \"to develop normal good neighborly relations based on equality within the meaning of the Basic Treaty\".\n\n9 September\nOn the third day Honecker visited North Rhine-Westphalia. He flew to Nörvenich Air Base by a helicopter provided by the Federal Border Police and then was driven to Düsseldorf, where he with Minister-President Johannes Rau met at Schloss Benrath. With 200 guests with Honecker and Rau during their lunch, where, among other things, Sauerbraten was served. Honecker and Rau agreed at the meeting, in the future, at least every six months to make contact talks especially on environmental protection techniques.\n\nHonecker's journey then led to Essen, where he landed in front of Villa Hügel. In the villa he met with leading representatives of the German economy, including Berthold Beitz, head of the Krupp steel conglomerate) and Carl H. Hahn of Volkswagen. In the Cologne Chamber of Commerce, Honecker met with over 300 representatives of large-scale industry and medium-sized businesses. In Wuppertal, Honecker together with Minister Rau visited the house in which Friedrich Engels had grown up.\n\n10 September\n\nOn the fourth day of his visit, Honecker went to Trier, where he was received by Minister President of Rhineland-Palatinate Bernhard Vogel in front of the Electoral Palace. With Vogel he then discussed opportunities for economic and cultural relations between the GDR and the state, followed by a working lunch followed. In the afternoon, Honecker visited the Karl Marx House Museum, the birthplace of Karl Marx and laid down 50 roses there.\n\nFrom Trier, Honecker traveled via a German Air Force Boeing 707 to Saarland, where he was received at the Saarbrücken Airport by Minister President Oskar Lafontaine with military honours from the German Army and then officially welcomed in the State Chancellery. From there Honecker traveled by motorcade to Neunkirchen, where he visited in the Wiebelskirchen district his younger sister Gertrud Hoppstädter (1917-2010) and the grave of his parents Wilhelm (1881-1969) and Caroline Catharina Honecker (1883-1963). Honecker also met childhood friends. The day after his visit to the city, the Bavarian leader told Honecker the importance of his visit to his hometown, telling him \"Maybe it would be a sign of your comprehension if the same desires could be realized by our countrymen\", hinting at a policy of the reunification of families.\n\nThe visit ended with a reception by the Lord Mayor Neuber in the community center of Neunkirchen. In his speech there, Honecker gave an emotional speech in which he spoke of a day when Germans would no longer be separated by borders. He said specifically:\n\nAfter this private part of the visit, Honecker participated in a dinner with Minister President Lafontaine and representatives of the Saarland business and political community at the Dillinger Hütte Casino.\n\n11 September\nOn 11 September 1987, at 11 o'clock in the morning, Honecker left Saarland aboard the same passenger aircraft he used to arrive in the city. Honecker's last day during his visit to the FRG was spent in Munich, Bavaria, where Minister-President of Bavaria Franz Josef Strauss picked him up at Munich-Riem Airport and conferred with him in the Bavarian State Chancellery. Strauss then hosted a lunch in honor of Honecker in the Hall of the Antiquarium in the Munich Residenz, at which about 130 representatives from Bavarian politics and the economic sphere attended. He then visited the Dachau concentration camp where he met with survivors of the camp. After the farewell he was given in the afternoon, Honecker flew from Munich back to East Berlin on a Soviet Ilyushin Il-62, landing at Berlin Schönefeld Airport a short time later.\n\nProtocol\n\nAs the visit was already controversial as it deemed to confirm West Germany's acceptance of East Germany's existence, the former government went to great lengths to lower its status. The differing views on the significance of Honecker's visit gave diplomatic protocol services particular challenges. While the political leadership of the GDR expected that Honecker would receive customary diplomatic practices in accordance with the internationally recognized institutions, the West Germans tried to avoid such a protocol which would be considered a recognition of the GDR as an independent state and an endorsement of the communist system. Honecker arrived at the chancllory in a Mercedes-Benz 600, where he was treated to a welcoming ceremony. The Wachbataillon from the Federal Ministry of Defence provided the honours for the ceremony and the Staff Band of the Bundeswehr performed Auferstanden aus Ruinen and Deutschlandlied. As a concession to West German concerns, the red carpet was a few feet shorter than usual on official state visits, the motorcycle escort had 17 policemen instead of 21 and the two aforementioned pieces of music played at the military reception were mentioned in the official program merely as \"hymns\" instead of \"national anthems\". In accordance with the protocol of the Federal Chancellery, Weizsäcker referred to Honecker as \"Mr. General Secretary\" instead of \"Mr. Chairman\" as the latter implies Honecker's head of state status.\n\nMedia reception and West German reactions\nThe visit of Honecker in the Federal Republic enjoyed worldwide attention, with approximately 2,400 journalists were accredited. The \"symbolism of the recognition of German dual nationality\" dominated the media coverage. Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF), a West German television network said his comments in Saarland were \"the most important made by Honecker during his visit\". A government spokesman reinforced this belief by saying that it \"indicated East Germany was moving in the right direction\".\n\nReferences\n\nEast Germany–West Germany relations\nHistory of East Germany\nHistory of West Germany\n1987 in West Germany\n1987 in East Germany\n20th-century diplomatic conferences\nLists of diplomatic visits by heads of state\n1987 in international relations\nSeptember 1987 events in Europe",
"Margot Honecker (née Feist; 17 April 1927 – 6 May 2016) was an East German politician who was an influential member of that country's Communist regime until 1989. From 1963 until 1989, she was Minister of National Education (Ministerin für Volksbildung) of the GDR. She was married to Erich Honecker, the leader of East Germany's ruling Socialist Unity Party from 1971 to 1989 and concurrently from 1976 to 1989 the country's head of state.\n\nMargot Honecker was widely known as the \"Purple Witch\" for her tinted hair and hardline Stalinist views, and was described as \"the most hated person\" in East Germany next to Stasi chief Erich Mielke by former Bundestag president Wolfgang Thierse. She was responsible for the enactment of the \"Uniform Socialist Education System\" in 1965 and mandatory military training in schools to prepare pupils for a future war with the west. She was alleged to have been responsible for the regime's forced adoption of children of jailed dissidents or people who attempted to desert from the GDR, and she is considered to have \"left a cruel legacy of separated families.\" She also established prison-like institutions for children, including a camp at Torgau known as \"Margot's concentration camp.\" She was one of the few spouses of a ruling Communist Party leader who held significant power in her own right, as her prominence in the regime predated her husband's ascension to the leadership of the SED.\n\nFollowing the downfall of the communist regime in 1990, Honecker fled to the Soviet Union with her husband to avoid criminal charges from the government of reunified Germany. Fearing extradition to Germany, they took refuge in the Chilean embassy in Moscow in 1991, but in 1992 her husband was extradited to Germany by Yeltsin's Russian government to face criminal trial, and was detained in the Moabit prison. Margot Honecker then fled from Moscow to Chile to avoid a similar fate. At the time of her death, she lived in Chile with her daughter Sonja. \n\nShe left the party in 1990, after her husband's expulsion, and both later became members of the small fringe party Communist Party of Germany, which is considered extremist by the German authorities. Formed in East Berlin in January 1990, the party claims to be the direct successor of the historical party formed in 1918 and is known for its open support for North Korea's totalitarian government, however it operates only in the territory of the former East Germany.\n\nEarly life\nHonecker was born Margot Feist in Halle on 17 April 1927, the daughter of a shoemaker, Gotthard Feist (1906–1993), and a factory worker, Helene Feist ( 1906–1940). Her parents were members of Communist Party of Germany (KPD). Her father was imprisoned in Lichtenburg concentration camp in the 1930s and from 1937 until 1939 in Buchenwald concentration camp. Gestapo agents searched their apartment for evidence of subversive activities on several occasions. After graduating from elementary school, she was a member of the Nazi Party's girls' organisation Bund Deutscher Mädel from 1938 to 1945, whose membership was obligatory. Her mother died in 1940 when Margot was 13 years old.\n\nHer brother, Manfred Feist, later became the leader of the Foreign Information department within the party's Central Committee.\n\nParty\n\nIn 1945 Margot Feist joined the KPD. After April 1946, with the contentious merger of the SPD and KPD, she became a member of East Germany's next ruling party, the Socialist Unity Party (Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands / SED), working in Halle as a shorthand typist with the FDGB (Trades Union Federation) regional executive for Saxony-Anhalt.\n\nIn 1946 she also joined the regional secretariat of the Free German Youth (FDJ)—effectively the youth wing of the ruling party—in Halle. She then began a meteoric rise through its various departments. In 1947 she became the leader of the culture and education department in the FDJ's regional executive and in 1948 secretary of the FDJ's central council as well as chairperson of the Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Organisation.\n\nBy 1949 Feist was a member of the GDR's precursor parliament (). In 1949 at the age of 22 she was elected as a representative in the newly founded People's Chamber ().\n\nMargot Feist met her future husband, Erich Honecker, at FDJ meetings when he was the chairman of the Freie Deutsche Jugend. Honecker was 15 years older and married. The relationship between them nevertheless moved on when Feist in her capacity as leader of the \"Ernst Thälmann young pioneers\", was a member of the delegation that traveled to Moscow for the celebration of Stalin's official birthday. The East German delegation was led by Erich Honecker. After she became pregnant and gave birth to their daughter Sonja in 1952, Honecker divorced his second wife Edith and married Margot.\n\nMinister of National Education\n\nIn 1963 Honecker became Minister of National Education (), after a period of occupying the office as Acting Minister. On 25 February 1965 she introduced the law that made \"the uniform socialist education system\" standard in all schools, colleges and universities throughout East Germany.\n\nFor her work as Minister of National Education, she was awarded the Order of Karl Marx, the nation's highest award, in 1977.\n\nIn 1978 Honecker introduced, against the opposition of the churches and many parents, military lessons () for 9th and 10th grade high school students (this included training on weapons such as aerial guns and the KK-MPi). Her tenure lasted until early November 1989.\n\nShe was, allegedly but never proven, responsible for the regime's kidnapping and forced adoption of children of jailed dissidents or people who attempted to desert from GDR, and she is considered to have \"left a cruel legacy of separated families.\" Margot dismissed the allegations that she had directed a program of forced adoptions: \"It didn’t exist\". She also established prison-like institutions for children, including a camp at Torgau known as \"Margot's concentration camp.\"\n\nIn 1990, charges were made against Honecker as Minister of Education. These included accusations that she had arranged politically motivated arrests, had separated children against their will from their parents and made compulsory adoptions of children from persons deemed unreliable by the state.\n\nLoss of power\n\nThroughout the Peaceful Revolution of 1989 Honecker briefly remained in office after her husband's ouster as leader of the Socialist Unity Party in October 1989, but was sacked from cabinet on 2 November. On 4 February 1990 she resigned from the Party of Democratic Socialism, successor of the SED; her husband had been expelled two months earlier. She later joined the newly refounded Communist Party of Germany (KPD).\n\nFlight to Moscow and Chile\nA new arrest warrant against Erich Honecker was issued in December 1990, but there was no immediate arrest. In March 1991, the couple were flown in a Soviet military jet to Moscow from the Sperenberg Airfield near Berlin. As soon as they arrived in Moscow, Margot's husband was taken directly to a Red Army hospital where his cancer was diagnosed. The two of them were then installed in a government dacha and treated as honoured guests, while one by one their Kremlin comrades fell from power. Boris Yeltsin was already busy building up his power base in Moscow, and Erich Honecker's desperate last letter to President Gorbachev went unanswered. \n\nAs the Soviet Union collapsed, and fearing that they might find themselves handed over to the German authorities, in August 1991 the Honeckers took refuge in the Chilean embassy, where for nearly a year they lived out of a suitcase in a small room. \n\nThey hoped to be able to fly directly from Moscow to a Chilean exile, but the German government had other ideas. The Russian leadership refused to become involved: it fell to the German Chancellor, Helmut Kohl, and the Chilean President, Patricio Aylwin, to negotiate a future for the Honeckers. There was public and political pressure in Germany for the East German leadership to be held accountable for the killings of people attempting to escape over the Berlin Wall between 1961 and 1989, while Chile had itself only recently emerged from dictatorship: Margot's own son-in-law was one among several thousand Chilean political dissidents from the Pinochet years who had reason to be grateful to the old East German political establishment that had welcomed them as political exiles during the 1970s and 1980s. \n\nFormally, the negotiations between Kohl and Aylwin were defined by tensions between the Chilean determination to uphold the Honeckers' right to political asylum and Germany's legal agreements on extradition: for some months the discussions were characterised by mutual intransigence. In the end, on 29 July 1992, Erich Honecker was sent on a special flight to face trial in Berlin, but his wife did not accompany him. Margot Honecker instead flew to Santiago to join her daughter Sonja and her family, who had been living in Chile since 1990.\n\nPost-GDR exile\n\nAfter 1992, Margot Honecker lived in Santiago, Chile, with her daughter, son-in-law, and grandson: Sonja Honecker de Yáñez, Leo Yáñez Betancourt, and Roberto Yáñez Honecker. \n\nIn January 1993, Erich Honecker's trial in Berlin, which some felt had by that stage already descended into farce, was cut short because of the rapidly deteriorating health of the accused. He left Berlin for the last time on 13 March 1993, bound for Chile. Honecker lived with his wife and daughter, whose own twenty year marriage ended in divorce the year after her parents moved in. \nHe died of liver cancer at the age of 81 on 29 May 1994 in Santiago. His body was cremated.\n\nIn 1999, Honecker failed in her legal attempt to sue the German government for €60,300 of property confiscated following reunification. In 2001, her appeal to ECtHR failed. She received a survivor's pension and the old-age pension of the German old-age pension insurance federation of about 1,500 euros, which she regarded as insolently sparse.\n\nIn 2000, Luis Corvalán, the former General Secretary of the Communist Party of Chile, published the book The Other Germany – the GDR. Discussions with Margot Honecker, in which Honecker speaks about the history of the GDR from her perspective.\n\nOn 19 July 2008, on the occasion of the 29th anniversary of the Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua, Honecker was awarded the order for cultural independence \"Rubén Dario\" from President Daniel Ortega. The award was in recognition of Honecker's untiring support of the national campaign against illiteracy in the 1980s. This honor was Honecker's first public appearance since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Honecker was reported to have said she was grateful for the honor; but said nothing publicly. The left-wing heads of state of Paraguay and Venezuela, Fernando Lugo and Hugo Chávez, also took part in the celebrations in Managua.\n\nTo the day she died, Honecker continued to defend the old East Germany and identified herself as a hardline Communist. In October 2009, Honecker celebrated the 60th anniversary of the founding of the GDR with former Chilean exiles who had sought asylum in East Germany. She participated in singing a patriotic East German song and gave a short speech in which she stated that East Germans \"had a good life in the GDR\" and that many felt that capitalism has made their lives worse. In 2011, author Frank Schuhmann published a book entitled Letzte Aufzeichnungen – Für Margot (Final Notes – For Margot in English) based on the 400-page diary kept by Erich Honecker during his stay in Berlin's Moabit prison beginning in July 1992. The diary was given to the author by Margot Honecker.\n\nOn 2 April 2012, Honecker gave an interview where she defended the GDR, attacked those who helped to \"destroy\" it, and complained about her pension. She felt that there was no need for people to climb over the Berlin Wall and lose their lives. She suggested that the GDR was a good country and that the demonstrations were driven by the GDR's enemies. \"The GDR also had its foes. That's why we had the Stasi,\" she said.\n\nIn a 2012 interview with Das Erste she labelled Mikhail Gorbachev a \"traitor\" for his reforms and called the defectors of East Germany \"criminals and terrorists.\" She said that the Federal Republic of Germany, the European Union, and the United States will collapse. She also said that she supports Russian president Vladimir Putin.\n\nDeath\n\nMargot Honecker died in Santiago on 6 May 2016, at the age of 89. On her death the historian Hubertus Knabe, director of the Berlin-Hohenschönhausen Memorial, said that \"she never critically reflected on what she had done. Up until her death she was an evil, unrepentant woman.\" Her funeral was described by German media as \"bizarre\" and featuring 50 \"diehard\" communists with East German flags. Victims associations and Roland Jahn, Federal Commissioner for the Stasi Records, criticised the funeral.\n\nGallery\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\nFurther reading\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n1927 births\n2016 deaths\nPeople from Halle (Saale)\nPeople from the Province of Saxony\nCommunist Party of Germany politicians\nMembers of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany\nGovernment ministers of East Germany\nMembers of the Provisional Volkskammer\nMembers of the 1st Volkskammer\nMembers of the 5th Volkskammer\nMembers of the 6th Volkskammer\nMembers of the 7th Volkskammer\nMembers of the 8th Volkskammer\nMembers of the 9th Volkskammer\nFree German Youth members\nFirst Ladies of East Germany\nSpouses of German politicians\nWomen government ministers of East Germany\nFemale members of the Volkskammer\nPeople granted political asylum in the Soviet Union\nArticle 1 of Protocol No. 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights\nEuropean Court of Human Rights cases involving Germany\nGerman expatriates in Chile\nRecipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in gold"
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"Erich Honecker",
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"Who was Honecker's father?",
"I don't know."
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| C_92bef31fd20145178978ed83b356e8f6_0 | Did Honecker marry? | 2 | Did Erich Honecker marry? | Erich Honecker | Honecker was married three times. After being liberated from prison in 1945 he married the prison warden Charlotte Schanuel (nee Drost), nine years his senior, on 23 December 1946. She died suddenly from a brain tumour in June 1947. Details of this marriage were not revealed until 2003, well after his death. By the time of her death, Honecker was already romantically involved with the Free German Youth official Edith Baumann, whom he met on a trip to Moscow. With her he had a daughter, Erika (b. 1950), who later gave him his granddaughter Anke. Sources differ on whether Honecker and Baumann married in 1947 or 1949, but in 1952 he fathered an illegitimate daughter, Sonja (b. December 1952), with Margot Feist, a People's Chamber member and chairperson of the Ernst Thalmann Pioneer Organisation. In September 1950, Baumann wrote directly to Walter Ulbricht to inform him of her husband's extramarital activity in the hope of him pressuring Honecker to end his relationship with Feist. Following his divorce and reportedly under pressure from the Politburo, he married Feist, however sources again differ on both the year of his divorce from Baumann and of his marriage to Feist; depending on the source, the events took place either in 1953 or 1955. For more than twenty years, Margot Honecker served as Minister of National Education. In 2012 intelligence reports collated by West German spies alleged that both Erich and his wife had secret affairs but did not divorce for political reasons, however, his bodyguard Bernd Bruckner in a book about his time spent in Honecker's service, refuted the claims. Honecker had three grandchildren from his daughter Sonja, who had married the Chilean-born exile Leonardo Yanez Betancourt; Roberto, (b. 1974) Mariana, (b. 1985) who died in 1988 at the age of two leaving Honecker himself heartbroken, and Vivian (b. 1988). Roberto's origins are debated; he is claimed to be the illegally adopted son of Mrs. Heidi Stein, Dirk Schiller, born on 13 June 1975 in Gorlitz, who disappeared in March 1979, due to alleged physical similarities between Dirk and Leonardo Mrs Stein suspecting that her son might have been kidnapped at 3 years old by Stasi agents for Honecker's younger daughter. Honecker's daughter, (who divorced Leonardo in 1993) grandson and granddaughter still live in Santiago. CANNOTANSWER | Honecker was married three times. | Erich Ernst Paul Honecker (; 25 August 1912 – 29 May 1994) was a German communist politician who led the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 1971 until shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall in October 1989. He held the posts of General Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) and Chairman of the National Defence Council; in 1976, he replaced Willi Stoph as Chairman of the State Council, the official head of state. As the leader of East Germany, Honecker had close ties to the Soviet Union, which maintained a large army in the country.
Honecker's political career began in the 1930s when he became an official of the Communist Party of Germany, a position for which he was imprisoned by the Nazis. Following World War II, he was freed by the Soviet army and relaunched his political activities, founding the SED's youth organisation, the Free German Youth, in 1946 and serving as the group's chairman until 1955. As the Security Secretary of the SED Central Committee, he was the prime organiser of the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961 and, in this function, bore administrative responsibility for the "order to fire" along the Wall and the larger inner German border.
In 1970, Honecker initiated a political power struggle that led, with support of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, to him replacing Walter Ulbricht as General Secretary of the SED and chairman of the National Defence Council. Under his command, the country adopted a programme of "consumer socialism" and moved towards the international community by normalizing relations with West Germany and also becoming a full member of the UN, in what is considered one of his greatest political successes.
As Cold War tensions eased in the late 1980s with the advent of perestroika and glasnost—the liberal reforms introduced by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev—Honecker refused all but cosmetic changes to the East German political system. He cited the continual hardliner attitudes of Kim Il-sung and Fidel Castro, whose respective countries of governance of North Korea and Cuba had been critical of reforms. As anti-government protests grew, Honecker begged Gorbachev to intervene with the Soviet army to suppress the protests to maintain communist rule in East Germany as Moscow had done with Czechoslovakia in the Prague Spring of 1968 and with the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, but Gorbachev refused. Honecker was forced to resign by the SED Politburo in October 1989 in a bid to improve the government's image in the eyes of the public; the effort was unsuccessful, and the regime would collapse entirely the following month.
Following German reunification in 1990, Honecker sought asylum in the Chilean embassy in Moscow, but was extradited back to Germany in 1992, after the fall of the Soviet Union, to stand trial for his role in the human rights abuses committed by the East German government. However, the proceedings were abandoned, as Honecker was suffering from terminal liver cancer. He was freed from custody to join his family in exile in Chile, where he died in May 1994.
Childhood and youth
Honecker was born in Neunkirchen, in what is now Saarland, to Wilhelm Honecker (1881–1969), a coal miner and political activist, and his wife Caroline Catharine Weidenhof (1883–1963). The couple, married in 1905, had six children: Katharina (Käthe, 1906–1925), Wilhelm (Willi, 1907–1944), Frieda (1909–1974), Erich, Gertrud (1917–2010) and Karl-Robert (1923–1947). Erich, their fourth child, was born on 25 August 1912 during the period in which the family resided on Max-Braun-Straße, before later moving to Kuchenbergstraße 88 in the present-day Neunkirchen city district of Wiebelskirchen.
After World War I, the Territory of the Saar Basin was occupied by France. This change from the strict rule of to French military occupation provided the backdrop for what Wilhelm Honecker understood as proletarian exploitation, and introduced young Erich to communism. After his tenth birthday in 1922, Erich Honecker became a member of the Spartacus League's children's group in Wiebelskirchen. Aged 14 he entered the KJVD, the Young Communist League of Germany, for whom he later served the organisation's leader of Saarland from 1931.
Honecker did not find an apprenticeship immediately after leaving school, but instead worked for a farmer in Pomerania for almost two years. In 1928 he returned to Wiebelskirchen and began a traineeship as a roofer with his uncle, but quit to attend the International Lenin School in Moscow and Magnitogorsk after the KJVD handpicked him for a course of study there. There, sharing a room with Anton Ackermann, he studied under the cover name "Fritz Malter".
Opposition to the Nazis and imprisonment
In 1930, aged 18, Honecker entered the KPD, the Communist Party of Germany. His political mentor was Otto Niebergall, who later represented the KPD in the Reichstag. After returning from Moscow in 1931 following his studies at the International Lenin School, he became the leader of the KJVD in the Saar region. After the Nazi seizure of power in 1933, Communist activities within Germany were only possible undercover; the Saar region however still remained outside the German Reich under a League of Nations mandate. Honecker was arrested in Essen, Germany but soon released. Following this he fled to the Netherlands and from there oversaw KJVD's activities in Pfalz, Hesse and Baden-Württemberg.
Honecker returned to the Saar in 1934 and worked alongside Johannes Hoffmann on the campaign against the region's re-incorporation into Germany. A referendum on the area's future in January 1935 however saw 90.73% vote in favour of reunifying with Germany. Like 4,000 to 8,000 others, Honecker then fled the region, initially relocating to Paris.
On 28 August 1935 he illegally travelled to Berlin under the alias "Marten Tjaden", with a printing press in his luggage. From there he worked closely together with KPD official Herbert Wehner in opposition/resistance to the Nazi state. On 4 December 1935 Honecker was detained by the Gestapo and until 1937 remanded in Berlin's Moabit detention centre. On 3 July 1937 he was sentenced to ten years imprisonment for the "preparation of high treason alongside the severe falsification of documents".
Honecker spent the majority of his incarceration in the Brandenburg-Görden Prison, where he also carried out tasks as a handyman. In early 1945 he was moved to the Barnimstraße Women's Prison in Berlin due to good behaviour and to be put to work repairing the bomb-damaged building, as he was a skilled roofer. During an Allied bombing raid on 6 March 1945 he managed to escape and hid himself at the apartment of Lotte Grund, a female prison guard. After several days she persuaded him to turn himself in and his escape was then covered up by the guard. Honecker spent most of his time in prison under solitary confinement.
After the liberation of the prisons by advancing Soviet troops on 27 April 1945, Honecker remained in Berlin. His "escape" from prison and his relationships during his captivity later led to him experiencing difficulties within the Socialist Unity Party, as well as straining his relations with his former inmates. In later interviews and in his personal memoirs, Honecker falsified many of the details of his life during this period. Material from the East German State Security Service has been used to allege that, to be released from prison, Honecker offered the Gestapo evidence incriminating fellow imprisoned Communists, claimed he had renounced Communism "for good", and was willing to serve in the German army.
Post-war return to politics
In May 1945 Honecker was "picked up" by chance in Berlin by Hans Mahle and taken to the Ulbricht Group, a collective of exiled German communists that had returned from the Soviet Union to Germany after the end of the Nazi regime. Through Waldemar Schmidt, Honecker befriended Walter Ulbricht, who had not been aware of him at that point. Honecker's future role in the group was still undecided until well into the summer months, as he had yet to face a party process. This ended in a reprimand due to his "undisciplined conduct" in fleeing from prison at the start of the year, an action which was debated upon it jeopardizing the other (communist) inmates.
In 1946, Honecker became the co-founder of the Free German Youth (FDJ), whose chairmanship he also undertook. After the formation of the SED, the Socialist Unity Party, in April 1946 through a merger of the KPD and SPD, Honecker swiftly became a leading party member and took his place in the party's Central Committee.
On 7 October 1949, the German Democratic Republic was formed with the adoption of a new constitution, establishing a political system similar to that of the Soviet Union. Within the state's socialist single party government, Honecker determinedly resumed his political career and the following year was nominated as a candidate for the Politbüro of the SED's Central Committee. As President of the Free German Youth movement, he organised the inaugural "Deutschlandtreffen der Jugend" in East Berlin in May 1950 and the 3rd World Festival of Youth and Students in 1951, although the latter was beset with organisational problems.
During the internal party unrest following the suppressed uprising of June 1953, Honecker sided with First Secretary Walter Ulbricht, despite the majority of the Politburo attempting to depose Ulbricht in favour of Rudolf Herrnstadt. Honecker himself though faced questioning from party members about his inadequate qualifications for his position. On 27 May 1955 he handed the Presidency of the FDJ over to Karl Namokel, and departed for Moscow to study for two years at the School of the Soviet Communist Party at Ulbricht's request. During this period he witnessed the 20th Congress of the Soviet Communist Party in person, where its First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev denounced Joseph Stalin.
After returning to East Germany in 1958, Honecker became a fully-fledged member of the Politburo, taking over responsibility for military and security issues. As the Party Security Secretary he was the prime organiser of the building of the Berlin Wall in August 1961 and also a proponent of the "order to fire" along the Inner German border.
Leadership of East Germany
While Ulbricht had replaced the state's command economy with, firstly the "New Economic System", then the Economic System of Socialism, as he sought to improve the country's failing economy, Honecker declared the main task to in fact be the "unity of economic and social politics", essentially through which living standards (with increased consumer goods) would be raised in exchange for political loyalty. Tensions had already led to his once-mentor Ulbricht removing Honecker from the position of Second Secretary in July 1970, only for the Soviet leadership to swiftly reinstate him. Honecker played up the thawing East-West German relationship as Ulbricht's strategy, to win the support of the Soviet leadership under Leonid Brezhnev. With this secured, Honecker was appointed First Secretary (from 1976 titled general secretary) of the Central Committee on 3 May 1971 after the Soviet leadership forced Ulbricht to step aside "for health reasons".
After also succeeding Ulbricht as Chairman of the National Defence Council in 1971, Honecker was eventually also elected Chairman of the State Council (a post equivalent to that of president) on 29 October 1976. With this, Honecker reached the height of power within East Germany. From there on, he, along with Economic Secretary Günter Mittag and Minister of State Security Erich Mielke, made all key government decisions. Until 1989 the "little strategic clique" composed of these three men was unchallenged as the top level of East Germany's ruling class. Honecker's closest colleague was , the SED's Agitation and Propaganda Secretary. Alongside him, Honecker held daily meetings concerning the party's media representation in which the layout of the party's own newspaper Neues Deutschland, as well as the sequencing of news items in the national news bulletin Aktuelle Kamera, were determined.
Under Honecker's leadership, East Germany adopted a programme of "consumer socialism", which resulted in a marked improvement in living standards already the highest among the Eastern bloc countries. More attention was placed on the availability of consumer goods, and the construction of new housing was accelerated, with Honecker promising to "settle the housing problem as an issue of social relevance". His policies were initially marked by a liberalisation toward culture and art, though this was less about the replacement of Ulbricht by Honecker and more for propaganda purposes. While 1973 brought the World Festival of Youth and Students to East Berlin, soon dissident artists such as Wolf Biermann were expelled and the Ministry for State Security raised its efforts to suppress political resistance. Honecker remained committed to the expansion of the Inner German border and the "order to fire" policy along it. During his time in office around 125 East German citizens were killed while trying to reach the West.
After the Federal Republic had secured an agreement with the Soviet Union on cooperation and a policy of non-violence, it became possible to reach a similar agreement with the GDR. The Basic Treaty between East and West Germany in 1972 sought to normalise contacts between the two governments.
East Germany also participated in the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe held in Helsinki in 1975, which attempted to improve relations between the West and the Eastern Bloc, and became a full member of the United Nations. These acts of diplomacy were considered Honecker’s greatest successes in foreign politics.
Honecker received additional high-profile personal recognitions including honorary doctorates of humane letters from North Korea’s Kim Il-Sung University in 1974, Cuba's University of Las Tunas in 1979 and Iraq's Saddam University in 1983, honorary doctorates of business administration from East Berlin's Humboldt University in 1976, Tokyo's Nihon University in 1981 and the London School of Economics in 1984 and the Olympic Order from the IOC in 1985. In September 1987, he became the first East German head of state to visit West Germany, where he was received with full state honours by West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl in an act that seemed to confirm West Germany's acceptance of East Germany's existence. During this trip he also journeyed to his birthplace in Saarland, where he held an emotional speech in which he spoke of a day when Germans would no longer be separated by borders, but unified under communist rule. This trip had been planned twice before, including September 1984, but was initially blocked by the Soviet leadership which mistrusted the special East-West German relationship, particularly efforts to expand East Germany's limited independence in the realm of foreign policy.
Illness, downfall and resignation
In the late 1980s, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev introduced glasnost and perestroika, reforms to liberalise socialist planned economy. Frictions between him and Honecker had grown over these policies and numerous additional issues from 1985 onward. East Germany refused to implement similar reforms, with Honecker reportedly telling Gorbachev: "We have done our perestroika; we have nothing to restructure". Gorbachev grew to dislike Honecker, and by 1988 was lumping him in with Bulgaria's Todor Zhivkov, Czechoslovakia's Gustáv Husák and Romania's Nicolae Ceaușescu as a "Gang of Four": a group of inflexible hardliners unwilling to make reforms.
According to White House experts Philip Zelikow and Condoleezza Rice, Gorbachev looked to Communist leaders in Eastern Europe to follow his example of perestroika and glasnost. They argue:
Gorbachev himself had no particular sympathy for Erich Honecker, chairman of the East German Communist Party, and his hard-line comrades and the government. As early as 1985... [Gorbachev] had told East German party officials that kindergarten was over; no one would lead them by the hand. They were responsible for their own people. The relations between Gorbachev and Honecker went downhill from there.
Western analysts, according to Zelikow and Rice, believed in 1989 that Communism was still secure in East Germany:
Bolstered by relatively greater affluence than his country's Eastern European neighbors enjoyed in a fantastically elaborate system of internal controls, East Germany's longtime leader Eric Honecker seemed secure in his position. His government had long dealt with dissent through a mixture of brutal repression, forced emigration, and the vent of allowing occasional, limited travel to the West for a substantial part of the population.
Honecker felt betrayed by Gorbachev in his German policy and ensured that official texts of the Soviet Union, especially those concerning perestroika, could no longer be published or sold in East Germany.
At the Warsaw Pact summit on 7–8 July 1989 in Bucharest, the Soviet Union reaffirmed its shift from the Brezhnev Doctrine of the limited sovereignty of its member states, and announced "freedom of choice". The Bucharest statement prescribed that its nations henceforth developed their "own political line, strategy and tactics without external intervention". This called into question the Soviet guarantee of existence for the Communist states in Europe. Already in May 1989 Hungary had begun dismantling its border with Austria, creating the first gap in the so-called Iron Curtain, through which later several thousand East Germans quickly fled in hopes of reaching West Germany by way of Austria. But with the mass exodus at the Pan-European Picnic in August 1989 (which was based on an idea by Otto von Habsburg to test Gorbachev's reaction to the opening of the border), the subsequent hesitant behaviour of the Socialist Unity Party of East Germany and the non-intervention of the Soviet Union opened the floodgates. Thus the united front of the Eastern Bloc was broken. The reaction to this from Erich Honecker in the Daily Mirror of August 19, 1989 was too late and showed the current loss of power: “Habsburg distributed leaflets far into Poland, on which the East German holidaymakers were invited to a picnic. When they came to the picnic, they were given gifts, food and Deutsche Mark, and then they were persuaded to come to the West.” Later, after his fall, Honecker said of Otto von Habsburg in connection with the summer of 1989: "That this Habsburg drove the nail into my coffin." Now tens of thousands of media-informed East Germans made their way to Hungary, which was no longer ready to keep its borders completely closed or to oblige its border troops to use force of arms. A 1969 treaty required the Hungarian government to send the East Germans back home; however, starting on 11 September 1989, the Hungarians let them pass into Austria, telling their outraged East German counterparts that they were refugees and that international treaties on refugees took precedence.
At the time, Honecker was sidelined through illness, leaving his colleagues unable to act decisively. He had been taken ill with biliary colic during the Warsaw Pact summit. He was shortly afterwards flown home to East Berlin. After an initial stabilisation in his health, he underwent surgery on 18 August 1989 to remove his inflamed gallbladder and, due to a perforation, part of his colon. According to the urologist Peter Althaus, the surgeons left a suspected carcinogenic nodule in Honecker’s right kidney due to his weak condition, and also failed to inform the patient of the suspected cancer; other sources say the tumour was simply undetected. As a result of this operation, Honecker was away from his office until late September 1989.
Back in office, Honecker had to contend with the rising number and strength of demonstrations across East Germany that had first been sparked by reports in the West German media of fraudulent results in local elections on 7 May 1989, the same results he had labelled a "convincing reflection" of the populace's faith in his leadership. He also had to deal with a new refugee problem. Several thousand East Germans tried to go to West Germany by way of Czechoslovakia, only to have that government bar them from passing. Several thousands of them headed straight for the West German embassy in Prague and demanded safe passage to West Germany. With some reluctance, Honecker allowed them to go – but forced them to go back through East Germany on sealed trains and stripped them of their East German citizenship. Several members of the SED Politbüro realised this was a serious blunder and made plans to get rid of him.
As unrest visibly grew, large numbers began fleeing the country through the West German embassies in Prague and Budapest, as well as over the borders of the "socialist brother" states. Each month saw tens of thousands more exit. On 3 October 1989 East Germany closed its borders to its eastern neighbours and prevented visa-free travel to Czechoslovakia; a day later these measures were also extended to travel to Bulgaria and Romania. East Germany was now not only behind the Iron Curtain to the West, but also cordoned off from most other Eastern bloc states.
On 6–7 October 1989 the national celebrations of the 40th anniversary of the East German state took place with Gorbachev in attendance. To the surprise of Honecker and the other SED leaders in attendance, several hundred members of the Free German Youth — reckoned as the future vanguard of the party and nation — began chanting, "Gorby, help us! Gorby, save us!". In a private conversation between the two leaders Honecker praised the success of the nation, but Gorbachev knew that, in reality, it faced bankruptcy; East Germany had already accepted billions of dollars in loans from West Germany during the decade as it sought to stabilise its economy. Attempting to make Honecker accept a need for reforms, Gorbachev warned Honecker that "He who is too late is punished by life", yet Honecker maintained that "we will solve our problems ourselves with socialist means". Protests outside the reception at the Palace of the Republic led to hundreds of arrests in which many were brutally beaten by soldiers and police.
As the reform movement spread throughout Central and Eastern Europe, mass demonstrations against the East German government erupted, most prominently in Leipzig—the first of several demonstrations which took place on Monday nights across the country. In response, an elite paratroop unit was dispatched to Leipzig—almost certainly on Honecker's orders, since he was commander-in-chief of the Army. A bloodbath was averted only when local party officials themselves ordered the troops to pull back. In the following week, Honecker faced a torrent of criticism. This gave his Politburo comrades the impetus they needed to replace him.
After a crisis meeting of the Politburo on 10–11 October 1989, Honecker's planned state visit to Denmark was cancelled and, despite his resistance, at the insistence of the government's number-two-man, Egon Krenz, a public statement was issued that called for "suggestions for attractive socialism". Over the following days Krenz worked to secure himself the support of the military and the Stasi and arranged a meeting between Gorbachev and Politburo member Harry Tisch, who was in Moscow, to inform the Kremlin about the now-planned removal of Honecker; Gorbachev reportedly wished them good luck.
The sitting of the SED Central Committee planned for the end of November 1989 was pulled forward a week, with the most urgent item on the agenda now being the composition of the Politburo. Krenz and Mielke attempted by telephone on the night of 16 October to win other Politburo members over to remove Honecker. At the beginning of the session on 17 October, Honecker asked his routine question of "Are there any suggestions for the agenda?" Stoph replied, "Please, general secretary, Erich, I propose that a new item be placed on the agenda. It is the release of Erich Honecker as general secretary and the election of Egon Krenz in his place." Honecker reportedly calmly responded: "Well, then I open the debate".
All those present then spoke, in turn, but none in favour of Honecker. Günter Schabowski even extended the dismissal of Honecker to also include his posts in the State Council and as Chairman of the National Defence Council while childhood friend Günter Mittag moved away from Honecker. Mielke supposedly blamed Honecker for almost all the country's current ills and threatened to publish compromising information that he possessed, if Honecker refused to resign. A ZDF documentary on the matter claims this information was contained in a large red briefcase found in Mielke's possession in 1990. After three hours the Politburo voted to remove Honecker. In accordance with longstanding practice, Honecker voted for his own removal. When the public announcement was made, it was branded as a voluntary decision on Honecker's part, ostensibly "due to health reasons". Krenz was unanimously elected as his successor as General Secretary.
Start of prosecution and asylum attempts
Communist rule in East Germany survived Honecker's removal by only two months. Three weeks after Honecker's ousting the Berlin Wall fell, and the SED swiftly lost control of the country. On 1 December, its guaranteed right to rule was removed from the East German constitution. Two days later he was expelled from the SED along with other former officials. He went on to join the newly founded Communist Party of Germany in 1990, remaining a member until his death.
During November the People's Chamber had already set up a committee to investigate corruption and abuses of office, with Honecker being alleged to have received annual donations from the National Academy of Architecture of around 20,000 marks as an "honorary member". On 5 December 1989 the chief public prosecutor in East Germany formally launched a judicial inquiry against him on charges of high treason, abuses of confidence and embezzlement to the serious disadvantage of socialist property (the charge of high treason was dropped in March 1990). As a result, Honecker was placed under house arrest for a month.
Following the lifting of his house arrest, Honecker and his wife Margot were forced to vacate their apartment in the Waldsiedlung housing area in Wandlitz, exclusively used by senior SED party members, after the People's Chamber decided to put it to use as a sanatorium for the disabled. In any case, Honecker spent the majority of January 1990 in hospital after having the error of the tumour missed in 1989 corrected after the suspicion of cancer was confirmed. Upon leaving the hospital on 29 January he was re-arrested and held at the Berlin-Rummelsburg remand centre. However, on the evening of the following day, 30 January, Honecker was again released from custody: The district court had annulled the arrest warrant and, due to medical reports, certified him unfit for detention and interrogation.
Lacking a home, Honecker instructed his lawyer Wolfgang Vogel to ask the Evangelical Church in Berlin-Brandenburg for help. Pastor Uwe Holmer, leader of the Hoffnungstal Institute in Lobetal, Bernau bei Berlin, offered the couple a home in his vicarage. This drew immediate condemnation and later demonstrations against the church for assisting the Honeckers, given they had both discriminated against Christians who did not conform with the SED leadership's ideology. Aside from a stay at a holiday home in Lindow in March 1990 that lasted only one day before protests swiftly brought it to an end, the couple resided at the Holmer residence until 3 April 1990.
The couple then moved into a three-room living quarters within the Soviet military hospital in Beelitz. Here, doctors diagnosed a malignant liver tumour following another re-examination. Following German reunification, prosecutors in Berlin issued a further arrest warrant for Honecker in November 1990 on charges that he gave the order to fire on escapees at the Inner German border in 1961 and had repeatedly reiterated that command (most specifically in 1974). However, this warrant was not enforceable because Honecker lay under the protection of Soviet authorities in Beelitz. On 13 March 1991 the Honeckers fled Germany from the Soviet-controlled Sperenberg Airfield to Moscow on a military jet with the aid of Soviet hardliners.
The German Chancellery had only been informed by Soviet diplomats about the Honeckers’ flight to Moscow one hour in advance. It limited its response to a public protest, claiming the existence of an arrest warrant meant the Soviet Union was breaching international law by admitting Honecker. The initial Soviet reaction was that Honecker was now too ill to travel and was receiving medical treatment after a deterioration of his health. He underwent further surgery the following month.
On 11 December 1991 the Honeckers sought refuge in the Chilean Embassy in Moscow, while also applying for political asylum in the Soviet Union. Despite an offer of help from North Korea, Honecker instead reached out to the Chilean government under Christian Democrat Patricio Aylwin. Under Honecker's rule, East Germany had granted many Chileans exile following the military coup of 1973 by Augusto Pinochet. In addition his daughter Sonja was married to a Chilean. Chilean authorities, however, stated he could not enter their country without a valid German passport.
Mikhail Gorbachev agreed to the dissolution of the Soviet Union on 25 December 1991 and gave all his powers to Russian president Boris Yeltsin. Russian authorities had long been keen on expelling Honecker, against the wishes of Gorbachev, and the new government now demanded that he leave the country or else face deportation.
In June 1992, Chilean President Patricio Aylwin, leader of a center-left coalition, finally assured German Chancellor Helmut Kohl that Honecker would be leaving the embassy in Moscow. Reportedly against his will, Honecker was ejected from the embassy on 29 July 1992 and flown to Berlin's Tegel Airport, where he was arrested and detained in Moabit Prison. By contrast, his wife Margot travelled on a direct flight from Moscow to Santiago, Chile, where she initially stayed with her daughter Sonja. Honecker's lawyers unsuccessfully appealed for him to be released from detention in the period leading up to his trial.
Criminal trial and death
On 12 May 1992, while under protection in the Chilean embassy in Moscow, Honecker, along with several co-defendants, including Erich Mielke, Willi Stoph, Heinz Kessler, Fritz Streletz and Hans Albrecht, was accused in a 783-page indictment of taking part in the "collective manslaughter" of 68 people as they attempted to flee East Germany. It was alleged that Honecker, in his role as Chairman of the National Defence Council, had both given the decisive order in 1961 for the construction of the Berlin Wall and also, at subsequent meetings, ordered the extensive expansion of the border fortifications around West Berlin and the barriers to the West so as to make any passing impossible. In addition, specifically at a May 1974 sitting of the National Defence Council, he had stated that the development of the border must continue, that lines of fire were warranted along the whole border and, as prior, the use of firearms was essential: "Comrades who have successfully used their firearms [are] to be praised". Honecker, in his role of chairman of the party, was responsible for the deaths of many more than the 68 mentioned above. As of 22 April 2015, well over 1,000 deaths have been discovered mainly through secret East German documentation: "It is still not known for sure how many people died on the inner German border or who they were, as the East German state treated such information as a closely guarded secret. But numbers have risen steadily since unification, as evidence has been gathered from East German records. Current unofficial estimates put the figure at up to 1,100 people." From the same article, "In 1974, Erich Honecker, as Chairman of the GDR's National Defence Council, ordered: 'Firearms are to be ruthlessly used in the event of attempts to break through the border, and the comrades who have successfully used their firearms are to be commended.'"
The charges were approved by the Berlin District Court on 19 October 1992 at the opening of the trial. On the same day, it was decided that the hearing of 56 charges would be postponed and the remaining twelve cases would be the subject of the trial to begin on 12 November 1992. The question of under which laws the former East German leader could be tried was highly controversial and, in the view of many jurists, the process had an uncertain outcome.
During his 70-minute-long statement to the court on 3 December 1992, Honecker said that he had political responsibility for the building of the Berlin Wall and subsequent deaths at the borders, but claimed he was "without juridical, legal or moral guilt". He blamed the escalation of the Cold War for the building of the Berlin Wall, saying the decision had not been taken solely by the East German leadership but all the Warsaw Pact nations that had collectively concluded in 1961 that a "Third World War with millions dead" would be unavoidable without this action. He quoted several West German politicians who had opined that the wall had indeed reduced and stabilised the two factions. He stated that he had always regretted every death, both from a human point of view and due to the political damage they caused.
Making reference to past trials in Germany against communists and socialists such as Karl Marx and August Bebel, he claimed that the legal process against him was politically motivated and a "show trial" against communism. He stated that no court lying in the territory of West Germany had the legal right to place him, his co-defendants or any East German citizen on trial, and that the portrayal of East Germany as an "Unrechtsstaat" was contradictory to its recognition by over one hundred other nations and the UN Security Council. Furthermore, he questioned how a German court could now legally judge his political decisions in the light of the lack of legal action taken over various military operations that had been carried out by Western nations with either overt support or absence of condemnation from (West) Germany. He dismissed public criticism of the Stasi, arguing that journalists in Western countries were praised for denouncing others. While accepting political responsibility for the deaths at the Wall, he believed he was free of any "legal or moral guilt", and thought that East Germany would go down in history as "a sign that socialism is possible and is better than capitalism."
By the time of the proceedings Honecker was already seriously ill. A new CT scan in August 1992 had confirmed an ultrasound examination made in Moscow and the existence of a malignant tumour in the right lobe of his liver. Based on these findings and additional medical testimonies, Honecker’s lawyers requested that the legal proceedings, as far as they were aimed against their client, be abandoned and the arrest warrant against him withdrawn; the cases against both Mielke and Stoph had already been postponed due to their ill health. Arguing that his life expectancy was estimated to be three to six months, while the legal process was forecast to take at least two years, his lawyers questioned whether it was humane to try a dying man. Their application was rejected on 21 December 1992 when the court concluded that, given the seriousness of the charges, no obstacle to the proceedings existed.
Honecker lodged a constitutional complaint to the recently created Berlin Constitutional Court, stating that the decision to proceed violated his fundamental right to human dignity, which was an overriding principle in the Constitution of Berlin, above even the state penal system and criminal justice. On 12 January 1993 Honecker's complaint was upheld and the Berlin District Court therefore abandoned the case and withdrew their arrest warrant. An application for a new arrest warrant was rejected on 13 January. The court also refused to commence with the trial related to the indictment of 12 November 1992, and withdrew the second arrest warrant related to these charges. After a total of 169 days Honecker was released from custody, drawing protests both from victims of the East German state as well as German political figures.
Honecker flew via Brazil to Santiago, Chile, to reunite with his wife and his daughter Sonja, who lived there with her son Roberto. Upon his arrival he was greeted by the leaders of the Chilean Communist and Socialist parties. In contrast, his co-defendants Heinz Kessler, Fritz Streletz and Hans Albrecht were sentenced on 16 September 1993 to imprisonment of between four and seven-and-a-half years. On 13 April 1993 a final attempt to separate and continue the trial against Honecker in his absence was discontinued. Four days later, on the 66th birthday of his wife Margot, he gave a final public speech, ending with the words: "Socialism is the opposite of what we have now in Germany. For that I would like to say that our beautiful memories of the German Democratic Republic are testimony of a new and just society. And we want to always remain loyal to these things".
On 29 May 1994, Honecker died of liver cancer at the age of 81 in a terraced house in the La Reina district of Santiago. His funeral, arranged by the Communist Party of Chile, was conducted the following day at central cemetery in Santiago.
Family
Honecker was married three times. After being liberated from prison in 1945, he married the prison warden Charlotte Schanuel (née Drost), nine years his senior, on 23 December 1946. She died suddenly from a brain tumour in June 1947. Details of this marriage were not revealed until 2003, well after his death.
By the time of her death, Honecker was already romantically involved with the Free German Youth official Edith Baumann, whom he met on a trip to Moscow. With her, he had a daughter, Erika (b. 1950), who later gave him his granddaughter Anke. Sources differ on whether Honecker and Baumann married in 1947 or 1949, but in 1952 he fathered an illegitimate daughter, Sonja (b. December 1952), with Margot Feist, a People's Chamber member and chairperson of the Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Organisation.
In September 1950, Baumann wrote directly to Walter Ulbricht to inform him of her husband's extramarital activity in the hope of him pressuring Honecker to end his relationship with Feist. Following his divorce and reportedly under pressure from the Politburo, he married Feist. However, sources again differ on both the year of his divorce from Baumann and of his marriage to Feist; depending on the source, the events took place either in 1953 or 1955. For more than twenty years, Margot Honecker served as Minister of National Education. In 2012 intelligence reports collated by West German spies alleged that both Honecker and his wife had secret affairs but did not divorce for political reasons; however, his bodyguard Bernd Brückner, in a book about his time spent in Honecker's service, denied the claims.
Honecker had three grandchildren from his daughter Sonja, who had married the Chilean-born exile Leonardo Yáñez Betancourt: Roberto (b. 1974), Mariana (b. 1985), who died in 1988 at the age of two leaving Honecker himself heartbroken, and Vivian (b. 1988). Roberto's origins are debated; he is claimed to be the illegally adopted son of Heidi Stein, Dirk Schiller, born on 13 June 1975 in Görlitz, who disappeared in March 1979, due to alleged physical similarities between Dirk and Yáñez, Stein suspecting that her son might have been kidnapped at three years old by Stasi agents for Honecker's younger daughter.
Honecker's daughter divorced Yáñez in 1993. She and her two surviving children still live in Santiago.
Honours and awards
:
Hero of the German Democratic Republic (twice)
Hero of Labour
Patriotic Order of Merit (Honor clasp, in Gold)
Order of Karl Marx (five times)
Order of the Banner of Labor
:
Hero of the Soviet Union
Order of Lenin (thrice)
Order of the October Revolution
Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin"
Other countries:
Grand Star of the Order of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria (Austria)
Order of Georgi Dimitrov (Bulgaria)
Order of José Martí (Cuba)
Order of Playa Girón (Cuba)
Order of Klement Gottwald (Czechoslovakia)
Grand Cross of the White Rose of Finland (Finland)
Order of Augusto Cesar Sandino, 1st class (Nicaragua)
Order of the "Victory of Socialism" (Romania)
Order of Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam)
Olympic Order (International Olympic Committee)
In popular culture
Dmitri Vrubel's 1990 mural on the Berlin Wall My God, Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love, depicting a socialist "fraternal kiss" between Honecker and Leonid Brezhnev, became known around the world.
A traffic signal inspired by Honecker wearing a jaunty straw hat was used in parts of East Germany (Ost-Ampelmännchen) and has become a symbol of Ostalgie.
Notes
References
Further reading
Bryson, Phillip J., and Manfred Melzer eds. The end of the East German economy: from Honecker to reunification (Palgrave Macmillan, 1991).
Childs, David, ed. Honecker's Germany (London: Taylor & Francis, 1985).
Collier Jr, Irwin L. "GDR economic policy during the honecker era." Eastern European Economics 29.1 (1990): 5–29.
Dennis, Mike. Social and Economic Modernization in Eastern Germany from Honecker to Kohl (Burns & Oates, 1993).
Dennis, Mike. "The East German Ministry of State Security and East German Society During the Honecker Era, 1971–1989." in German Writers and the Politics of Culture (Palgrave Macmillan, London, 200)3. 3–24 on the STASI
Fulbrook, Mary. (2008) The people's state: East German society from Hitler to Honecker. Yale University Press.
Grix, Jonathan. "Competing approaches to the collapse of the GDR: ‘Top‐down’ vs ‘bottom‐up’," Journal of Area Studies 6#13:121–142, DOI: 10.1080/02613539808455836, Historiography.
Lippmann, Heinz. Honecker and the new politics of Europe (New York: Macmillan, 1972).
McAdams, A. James. "The Honecker trial: the East German past and the German future." Review of Politics 58.1 (1996): 53–80. online
Weitz, Eric D. Creating German Communism, 1890–1990: From Popular Protests to Socialist State (Princeton UP, 1997).
Wilsford, David, ed. Political leaders of contemporary Western Europe: a biographical dictionary (Greenwood, 1995) pp. 195–201.
Primary sources
Honecker, Erich. (1981) From My Life. New York: Pergamon, 1981. .
External links
Honecker im Internet (in German)
www.warheroes.ru – Erich Honecker (in Russian)
Welcoming Address to 1979 Session of the World Peace Council Erich Honecker's speech to the WPC
A Successful Policy Seared to the Needs of the People Volkskammer pamphlet including material by Honecker
1912 births
1994 deaths
People from Neunkirchen, Saarland
People from the Rhine Province
Communist Party of Germany politicians
Members of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany
Members of the Provisional Volkskammer
Members of the 1st Volkskammer
Members of the 2nd Volkskammer
Members of the 3rd Volkskammer
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Members of the 9th Volkskammer
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Exiled politicians
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Deaths from liver cancer
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People of the Cold War | true | [
"Honecker is a German surname.\n\nThose bearing it include:\n\n Martin Honecker (1888–1941), German philosopher & psychologist\n Erich Honecker (1912–1994), German Communist politician\n Margot Honecker (1927–2016), German Communist politician & political-family member",
"The visit of Erich Honecker to West Germany took place between 7–11 September 1987 in his official capacity as General Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) and Chairman of the State Council of the German Democratic Republic. It was the first and only visit of this kind undertaken during the partition of Germany. The five-day event was rated as an important step in the development of cross-German relations as well as Ostpolitik, which was implemented beginning with Willy Brandt, Chancellor of West Germany from 1969 to 1974.\n\nPreparations\nUntil 1986, Moscow blocked a possible visit by Honecker to the FRG. In 1984, Soviet leader Konstantin Chernenko and Honecker announced at a summit meeting that \"the goal is not cooperation but demarcation\". Soviet objections to Honecker's travel to the west were related both to Soviet interests in the block confrontation and to the policies of the Schmidt and Kohl governments in the NATO Double-Track Decision. It was also related to efforts to expand East Germany's limited independence in the realm of foreign policy. In March 1985, Chancellor Kohl renewed his invitation for Honecker to visit Bonn during Chernenko's state funeral. In autumn 1986, Mikhail Gorbachev sent a message to Honecker giving him consent to visit Bonn, which was a result of his own efforts to establish closer contacts with Western countries as part of the reorientation of Soviet politics through the policies of Glasnost and Perestroika. Discussions began in May 1987 on the organization of the visit to the FRG. To solidify this, Federal President Richard von Weizsäcker was received by Gorbachev in the Moscow Kremlin on 7 July 1987 to discuss the visit. The announcement of the abolition of capital punishment in the GDR on 17 July 1987 by the State Council was also related to Honecker's planned visit.\n\nMeetings and ceremonies\n\n7 September\n\nHonecker arrived at Cologne Bonn Airport in a Transportfliegergeschwader 44 Ilyushin Il-62. He was officially met by Wolfgang Schäuble, Chief of the Chancellery. From there he was transported in a motorcade to the Federal Chancellery where he arrived at half past nine in the morning. Upon his arrival, he was met by West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and was given full state honours.\n\nAfter an initial exchange of pleasantries between the two leaders, Honecker was invited into the neighboring Hammerschmidt Villa for a meeting with Federal President Weizsäcker for a working lunch. In his speech to the table Weizsäcker welcomed the guest as a \"German among Germans\" and called for further \"system-opening cooperation\". The afternoon of the first day of visit was mainly devoted to discussions in the Federal Chancellery, where it mainly went to topics such as travel and visitor traffic, border determination in the Elbe section, minimum exchange, town twinning and the shooting order.\n\nIn the evening, the federal government gave hosted a dinner for the delegations in the Redoute, where in the table speeches the basic political positions of the heads of state were exchanged. Chancellor Kohl had insisted in advance that the table speeches of the two heads of government are broadcast live on state television both in the FRG and in the GDR. The Chancellor emphasized the \"awareness of the unity of the nation\" and followed that up by saying that \"the will to preserve it is unbroken\". Honecker spent the night at Schloss Gymnich, which was used at that time as a state guest house.\n\n8 September\nAfter the drive from Schloss Gymnich to Bonn's government district, Honecker conferred once again with Kohl and Schäuble in a small meeting. The Palais Schaumburg was also used during the visit for political discussions, receptions and contract signings. It was followed by Honecker meeting with Bundestag President Philipp Jenninger, and former President Karl Carstens as well as the chairmen of the parties represented in the Bundestag, including the Leader of the Social Democratic Party Hans-Jochen Vogel.\n\nIn the evening, Honecker gave a counter invitation to dinner at the Hotel Bristol, where he delivered a speech with Kohl. Also on 8 September a joint communiqué was published, in which the governments of the FRG and the GDR affirmed their intention \"to develop normal good neighborly relations based on equality within the meaning of the Basic Treaty\".\n\n9 September\nOn the third day Honecker visited North Rhine-Westphalia. He flew to Nörvenich Air Base by a helicopter provided by the Federal Border Police and then was driven to Düsseldorf, where he with Minister-President Johannes Rau met at Schloss Benrath. With 200 guests with Honecker and Rau during their lunch, where, among other things, Sauerbraten was served. Honecker and Rau agreed at the meeting, in the future, at least every six months to make contact talks especially on environmental protection techniques.\n\nHonecker's journey then led to Essen, where he landed in front of Villa Hügel. In the villa he met with leading representatives of the German economy, including Berthold Beitz, head of the Krupp steel conglomerate) and Carl H. Hahn of Volkswagen. In the Cologne Chamber of Commerce, Honecker met with over 300 representatives of large-scale industry and medium-sized businesses. In Wuppertal, Honecker together with Minister Rau visited the house in which Friedrich Engels had grown up.\n\n10 September\n\nOn the fourth day of his visit, Honecker went to Trier, where he was received by Minister President of Rhineland-Palatinate Bernhard Vogel in front of the Electoral Palace. With Vogel he then discussed opportunities for economic and cultural relations between the GDR and the state, followed by a working lunch followed. In the afternoon, Honecker visited the Karl Marx House Museum, the birthplace of Karl Marx and laid down 50 roses there.\n\nFrom Trier, Honecker traveled via a German Air Force Boeing 707 to Saarland, where he was received at the Saarbrücken Airport by Minister President Oskar Lafontaine with military honours from the German Army and then officially welcomed in the State Chancellery. From there Honecker traveled by motorcade to Neunkirchen, where he visited in the Wiebelskirchen district his younger sister Gertrud Hoppstädter (1917-2010) and the grave of his parents Wilhelm (1881-1969) and Caroline Catharina Honecker (1883-1963). Honecker also met childhood friends. The day after his visit to the city, the Bavarian leader told Honecker the importance of his visit to his hometown, telling him \"Maybe it would be a sign of your comprehension if the same desires could be realized by our countrymen\", hinting at a policy of the reunification of families.\n\nThe visit ended with a reception by the Lord Mayor Neuber in the community center of Neunkirchen. In his speech there, Honecker gave an emotional speech in which he spoke of a day when Germans would no longer be separated by borders. He said specifically:\n\nAfter this private part of the visit, Honecker participated in a dinner with Minister President Lafontaine and representatives of the Saarland business and political community at the Dillinger Hütte Casino.\n\n11 September\nOn 11 September 1987, at 11 o'clock in the morning, Honecker left Saarland aboard the same passenger aircraft he used to arrive in the city. Honecker's last day during his visit to the FRG was spent in Munich, Bavaria, where Minister-President of Bavaria Franz Josef Strauss picked him up at Munich-Riem Airport and conferred with him in the Bavarian State Chancellery. Strauss then hosted a lunch in honor of Honecker in the Hall of the Antiquarium in the Munich Residenz, at which about 130 representatives from Bavarian politics and the economic sphere attended. He then visited the Dachau concentration camp where he met with survivors of the camp. After the farewell he was given in the afternoon, Honecker flew from Munich back to East Berlin on a Soviet Ilyushin Il-62, landing at Berlin Schönefeld Airport a short time later.\n\nProtocol\n\nAs the visit was already controversial as it deemed to confirm West Germany's acceptance of East Germany's existence, the former government went to great lengths to lower its status. The differing views on the significance of Honecker's visit gave diplomatic protocol services particular challenges. While the political leadership of the GDR expected that Honecker would receive customary diplomatic practices in accordance with the internationally recognized institutions, the West Germans tried to avoid such a protocol which would be considered a recognition of the GDR as an independent state and an endorsement of the communist system. Honecker arrived at the chancllory in a Mercedes-Benz 600, where he was treated to a welcoming ceremony. The Wachbataillon from the Federal Ministry of Defence provided the honours for the ceremony and the Staff Band of the Bundeswehr performed Auferstanden aus Ruinen and Deutschlandlied. As a concession to West German concerns, the red carpet was a few feet shorter than usual on official state visits, the motorcycle escort had 17 policemen instead of 21 and the two aforementioned pieces of music played at the military reception were mentioned in the official program merely as \"hymns\" instead of \"national anthems\". In accordance with the protocol of the Federal Chancellery, Weizsäcker referred to Honecker as \"Mr. General Secretary\" instead of \"Mr. Chairman\" as the latter implies Honecker's head of state status.\n\nMedia reception and West German reactions\nThe visit of Honecker in the Federal Republic enjoyed worldwide attention, with approximately 2,400 journalists were accredited. The \"symbolism of the recognition of German dual nationality\" dominated the media coverage. Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF), a West German television network said his comments in Saarland were \"the most important made by Honecker during his visit\". A government spokesman reinforced this belief by saying that it \"indicated East Germany was moving in the right direction\".\n\nReferences\n\nEast Germany–West Germany relations\nHistory of East Germany\nHistory of West Germany\n1987 in West Germany\n1987 in East Germany\n20th-century diplomatic conferences\nLists of diplomatic visits by heads of state\n1987 in international relations\nSeptember 1987 events in Europe"
]
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"Erich Honecker",
"Family",
"Who was Honecker's father?",
"I don't know.",
"Did Honecker marry?",
"Honecker was married three times."
]
| C_92bef31fd20145178978ed83b356e8f6_0 | Who was his 1st wife? | 3 | Who was Erich Honecker 1st wife? | Erich Honecker | Honecker was married three times. After being liberated from prison in 1945 he married the prison warden Charlotte Schanuel (nee Drost), nine years his senior, on 23 December 1946. She died suddenly from a brain tumour in June 1947. Details of this marriage were not revealed until 2003, well after his death. By the time of her death, Honecker was already romantically involved with the Free German Youth official Edith Baumann, whom he met on a trip to Moscow. With her he had a daughter, Erika (b. 1950), who later gave him his granddaughter Anke. Sources differ on whether Honecker and Baumann married in 1947 or 1949, but in 1952 he fathered an illegitimate daughter, Sonja (b. December 1952), with Margot Feist, a People's Chamber member and chairperson of the Ernst Thalmann Pioneer Organisation. In September 1950, Baumann wrote directly to Walter Ulbricht to inform him of her husband's extramarital activity in the hope of him pressuring Honecker to end his relationship with Feist. Following his divorce and reportedly under pressure from the Politburo, he married Feist, however sources again differ on both the year of his divorce from Baumann and of his marriage to Feist; depending on the source, the events took place either in 1953 or 1955. For more than twenty years, Margot Honecker served as Minister of National Education. In 2012 intelligence reports collated by West German spies alleged that both Erich and his wife had secret affairs but did not divorce for political reasons, however, his bodyguard Bernd Bruckner in a book about his time spent in Honecker's service, refuted the claims. Honecker had three grandchildren from his daughter Sonja, who had married the Chilean-born exile Leonardo Yanez Betancourt; Roberto, (b. 1974) Mariana, (b. 1985) who died in 1988 at the age of two leaving Honecker himself heartbroken, and Vivian (b. 1988). Roberto's origins are debated; he is claimed to be the illegally adopted son of Mrs. Heidi Stein, Dirk Schiller, born on 13 June 1975 in Gorlitz, who disappeared in March 1979, due to alleged physical similarities between Dirk and Leonardo Mrs Stein suspecting that her son might have been kidnapped at 3 years old by Stasi agents for Honecker's younger daughter. Honecker's daughter, (who divorced Leonardo in 1993) grandson and granddaughter still live in Santiago. CANNOTANSWER | he married the prison warden Charlotte Schanuel | Erich Ernst Paul Honecker (; 25 August 1912 – 29 May 1994) was a German communist politician who led the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 1971 until shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall in October 1989. He held the posts of General Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) and Chairman of the National Defence Council; in 1976, he replaced Willi Stoph as Chairman of the State Council, the official head of state. As the leader of East Germany, Honecker had close ties to the Soviet Union, which maintained a large army in the country.
Honecker's political career began in the 1930s when he became an official of the Communist Party of Germany, a position for which he was imprisoned by the Nazis. Following World War II, he was freed by the Soviet army and relaunched his political activities, founding the SED's youth organisation, the Free German Youth, in 1946 and serving as the group's chairman until 1955. As the Security Secretary of the SED Central Committee, he was the prime organiser of the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961 and, in this function, bore administrative responsibility for the "order to fire" along the Wall and the larger inner German border.
In 1970, Honecker initiated a political power struggle that led, with support of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, to him replacing Walter Ulbricht as General Secretary of the SED and chairman of the National Defence Council. Under his command, the country adopted a programme of "consumer socialism" and moved towards the international community by normalizing relations with West Germany and also becoming a full member of the UN, in what is considered one of his greatest political successes.
As Cold War tensions eased in the late 1980s with the advent of perestroika and glasnost—the liberal reforms introduced by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev—Honecker refused all but cosmetic changes to the East German political system. He cited the continual hardliner attitudes of Kim Il-sung and Fidel Castro, whose respective countries of governance of North Korea and Cuba had been critical of reforms. As anti-government protests grew, Honecker begged Gorbachev to intervene with the Soviet army to suppress the protests to maintain communist rule in East Germany as Moscow had done with Czechoslovakia in the Prague Spring of 1968 and with the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, but Gorbachev refused. Honecker was forced to resign by the SED Politburo in October 1989 in a bid to improve the government's image in the eyes of the public; the effort was unsuccessful, and the regime would collapse entirely the following month.
Following German reunification in 1990, Honecker sought asylum in the Chilean embassy in Moscow, but was extradited back to Germany in 1992, after the fall of the Soviet Union, to stand trial for his role in the human rights abuses committed by the East German government. However, the proceedings were abandoned, as Honecker was suffering from terminal liver cancer. He was freed from custody to join his family in exile in Chile, where he died in May 1994.
Childhood and youth
Honecker was born in Neunkirchen, in what is now Saarland, to Wilhelm Honecker (1881–1969), a coal miner and political activist, and his wife Caroline Catharine Weidenhof (1883–1963). The couple, married in 1905, had six children: Katharina (Käthe, 1906–1925), Wilhelm (Willi, 1907–1944), Frieda (1909–1974), Erich, Gertrud (1917–2010) and Karl-Robert (1923–1947). Erich, their fourth child, was born on 25 August 1912 during the period in which the family resided on Max-Braun-Straße, before later moving to Kuchenbergstraße 88 in the present-day Neunkirchen city district of Wiebelskirchen.
After World War I, the Territory of the Saar Basin was occupied by France. This change from the strict rule of to French military occupation provided the backdrop for what Wilhelm Honecker understood as proletarian exploitation, and introduced young Erich to communism. After his tenth birthday in 1922, Erich Honecker became a member of the Spartacus League's children's group in Wiebelskirchen. Aged 14 he entered the KJVD, the Young Communist League of Germany, for whom he later served the organisation's leader of Saarland from 1931.
Honecker did not find an apprenticeship immediately after leaving school, but instead worked for a farmer in Pomerania for almost two years. In 1928 he returned to Wiebelskirchen and began a traineeship as a roofer with his uncle, but quit to attend the International Lenin School in Moscow and Magnitogorsk after the KJVD handpicked him for a course of study there. There, sharing a room with Anton Ackermann, he studied under the cover name "Fritz Malter".
Opposition to the Nazis and imprisonment
In 1930, aged 18, Honecker entered the KPD, the Communist Party of Germany. His political mentor was Otto Niebergall, who later represented the KPD in the Reichstag. After returning from Moscow in 1931 following his studies at the International Lenin School, he became the leader of the KJVD in the Saar region. After the Nazi seizure of power in 1933, Communist activities within Germany were only possible undercover; the Saar region however still remained outside the German Reich under a League of Nations mandate. Honecker was arrested in Essen, Germany but soon released. Following this he fled to the Netherlands and from there oversaw KJVD's activities in Pfalz, Hesse and Baden-Württemberg.
Honecker returned to the Saar in 1934 and worked alongside Johannes Hoffmann on the campaign against the region's re-incorporation into Germany. A referendum on the area's future in January 1935 however saw 90.73% vote in favour of reunifying with Germany. Like 4,000 to 8,000 others, Honecker then fled the region, initially relocating to Paris.
On 28 August 1935 he illegally travelled to Berlin under the alias "Marten Tjaden", with a printing press in his luggage. From there he worked closely together with KPD official Herbert Wehner in opposition/resistance to the Nazi state. On 4 December 1935 Honecker was detained by the Gestapo and until 1937 remanded in Berlin's Moabit detention centre. On 3 July 1937 he was sentenced to ten years imprisonment for the "preparation of high treason alongside the severe falsification of documents".
Honecker spent the majority of his incarceration in the Brandenburg-Görden Prison, where he also carried out tasks as a handyman. In early 1945 he was moved to the Barnimstraße Women's Prison in Berlin due to good behaviour and to be put to work repairing the bomb-damaged building, as he was a skilled roofer. During an Allied bombing raid on 6 March 1945 he managed to escape and hid himself at the apartment of Lotte Grund, a female prison guard. After several days she persuaded him to turn himself in and his escape was then covered up by the guard. Honecker spent most of his time in prison under solitary confinement.
After the liberation of the prisons by advancing Soviet troops on 27 April 1945, Honecker remained in Berlin. His "escape" from prison and his relationships during his captivity later led to him experiencing difficulties within the Socialist Unity Party, as well as straining his relations with his former inmates. In later interviews and in his personal memoirs, Honecker falsified many of the details of his life during this period. Material from the East German State Security Service has been used to allege that, to be released from prison, Honecker offered the Gestapo evidence incriminating fellow imprisoned Communists, claimed he had renounced Communism "for good", and was willing to serve in the German army.
Post-war return to politics
In May 1945 Honecker was "picked up" by chance in Berlin by Hans Mahle and taken to the Ulbricht Group, a collective of exiled German communists that had returned from the Soviet Union to Germany after the end of the Nazi regime. Through Waldemar Schmidt, Honecker befriended Walter Ulbricht, who had not been aware of him at that point. Honecker's future role in the group was still undecided until well into the summer months, as he had yet to face a party process. This ended in a reprimand due to his "undisciplined conduct" in fleeing from prison at the start of the year, an action which was debated upon it jeopardizing the other (communist) inmates.
In 1946, Honecker became the co-founder of the Free German Youth (FDJ), whose chairmanship he also undertook. After the formation of the SED, the Socialist Unity Party, in April 1946 through a merger of the KPD and SPD, Honecker swiftly became a leading party member and took his place in the party's Central Committee.
On 7 October 1949, the German Democratic Republic was formed with the adoption of a new constitution, establishing a political system similar to that of the Soviet Union. Within the state's socialist single party government, Honecker determinedly resumed his political career and the following year was nominated as a candidate for the Politbüro of the SED's Central Committee. As President of the Free German Youth movement, he organised the inaugural "Deutschlandtreffen der Jugend" in East Berlin in May 1950 and the 3rd World Festival of Youth and Students in 1951, although the latter was beset with organisational problems.
During the internal party unrest following the suppressed uprising of June 1953, Honecker sided with First Secretary Walter Ulbricht, despite the majority of the Politburo attempting to depose Ulbricht in favour of Rudolf Herrnstadt. Honecker himself though faced questioning from party members about his inadequate qualifications for his position. On 27 May 1955 he handed the Presidency of the FDJ over to Karl Namokel, and departed for Moscow to study for two years at the School of the Soviet Communist Party at Ulbricht's request. During this period he witnessed the 20th Congress of the Soviet Communist Party in person, where its First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev denounced Joseph Stalin.
After returning to East Germany in 1958, Honecker became a fully-fledged member of the Politburo, taking over responsibility for military and security issues. As the Party Security Secretary he was the prime organiser of the building of the Berlin Wall in August 1961 and also a proponent of the "order to fire" along the Inner German border.
Leadership of East Germany
While Ulbricht had replaced the state's command economy with, firstly the "New Economic System", then the Economic System of Socialism, as he sought to improve the country's failing economy, Honecker declared the main task to in fact be the "unity of economic and social politics", essentially through which living standards (with increased consumer goods) would be raised in exchange for political loyalty. Tensions had already led to his once-mentor Ulbricht removing Honecker from the position of Second Secretary in July 1970, only for the Soviet leadership to swiftly reinstate him. Honecker played up the thawing East-West German relationship as Ulbricht's strategy, to win the support of the Soviet leadership under Leonid Brezhnev. With this secured, Honecker was appointed First Secretary (from 1976 titled general secretary) of the Central Committee on 3 May 1971 after the Soviet leadership forced Ulbricht to step aside "for health reasons".
After also succeeding Ulbricht as Chairman of the National Defence Council in 1971, Honecker was eventually also elected Chairman of the State Council (a post equivalent to that of president) on 29 October 1976. With this, Honecker reached the height of power within East Germany. From there on, he, along with Economic Secretary Günter Mittag and Minister of State Security Erich Mielke, made all key government decisions. Until 1989 the "little strategic clique" composed of these three men was unchallenged as the top level of East Germany's ruling class. Honecker's closest colleague was , the SED's Agitation and Propaganda Secretary. Alongside him, Honecker held daily meetings concerning the party's media representation in which the layout of the party's own newspaper Neues Deutschland, as well as the sequencing of news items in the national news bulletin Aktuelle Kamera, were determined.
Under Honecker's leadership, East Germany adopted a programme of "consumer socialism", which resulted in a marked improvement in living standards already the highest among the Eastern bloc countries. More attention was placed on the availability of consumer goods, and the construction of new housing was accelerated, with Honecker promising to "settle the housing problem as an issue of social relevance". His policies were initially marked by a liberalisation toward culture and art, though this was less about the replacement of Ulbricht by Honecker and more for propaganda purposes. While 1973 brought the World Festival of Youth and Students to East Berlin, soon dissident artists such as Wolf Biermann were expelled and the Ministry for State Security raised its efforts to suppress political resistance. Honecker remained committed to the expansion of the Inner German border and the "order to fire" policy along it. During his time in office around 125 East German citizens were killed while trying to reach the West.
After the Federal Republic had secured an agreement with the Soviet Union on cooperation and a policy of non-violence, it became possible to reach a similar agreement with the GDR. The Basic Treaty between East and West Germany in 1972 sought to normalise contacts between the two governments.
East Germany also participated in the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe held in Helsinki in 1975, which attempted to improve relations between the West and the Eastern Bloc, and became a full member of the United Nations. These acts of diplomacy were considered Honecker’s greatest successes in foreign politics.
Honecker received additional high-profile personal recognitions including honorary doctorates of humane letters from North Korea’s Kim Il-Sung University in 1974, Cuba's University of Las Tunas in 1979 and Iraq's Saddam University in 1983, honorary doctorates of business administration from East Berlin's Humboldt University in 1976, Tokyo's Nihon University in 1981 and the London School of Economics in 1984 and the Olympic Order from the IOC in 1985. In September 1987, he became the first East German head of state to visit West Germany, where he was received with full state honours by West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl in an act that seemed to confirm West Germany's acceptance of East Germany's existence. During this trip he also journeyed to his birthplace in Saarland, where he held an emotional speech in which he spoke of a day when Germans would no longer be separated by borders, but unified under communist rule. This trip had been planned twice before, including September 1984, but was initially blocked by the Soviet leadership which mistrusted the special East-West German relationship, particularly efforts to expand East Germany's limited independence in the realm of foreign policy.
Illness, downfall and resignation
In the late 1980s, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev introduced glasnost and perestroika, reforms to liberalise socialist planned economy. Frictions between him and Honecker had grown over these policies and numerous additional issues from 1985 onward. East Germany refused to implement similar reforms, with Honecker reportedly telling Gorbachev: "We have done our perestroika; we have nothing to restructure". Gorbachev grew to dislike Honecker, and by 1988 was lumping him in with Bulgaria's Todor Zhivkov, Czechoslovakia's Gustáv Husák and Romania's Nicolae Ceaușescu as a "Gang of Four": a group of inflexible hardliners unwilling to make reforms.
According to White House experts Philip Zelikow and Condoleezza Rice, Gorbachev looked to Communist leaders in Eastern Europe to follow his example of perestroika and glasnost. They argue:
Gorbachev himself had no particular sympathy for Erich Honecker, chairman of the East German Communist Party, and his hard-line comrades and the government. As early as 1985... [Gorbachev] had told East German party officials that kindergarten was over; no one would lead them by the hand. They were responsible for their own people. The relations between Gorbachev and Honecker went downhill from there.
Western analysts, according to Zelikow and Rice, believed in 1989 that Communism was still secure in East Germany:
Bolstered by relatively greater affluence than his country's Eastern European neighbors enjoyed in a fantastically elaborate system of internal controls, East Germany's longtime leader Eric Honecker seemed secure in his position. His government had long dealt with dissent through a mixture of brutal repression, forced emigration, and the vent of allowing occasional, limited travel to the West for a substantial part of the population.
Honecker felt betrayed by Gorbachev in his German policy and ensured that official texts of the Soviet Union, especially those concerning perestroika, could no longer be published or sold in East Germany.
At the Warsaw Pact summit on 7–8 July 1989 in Bucharest, the Soviet Union reaffirmed its shift from the Brezhnev Doctrine of the limited sovereignty of its member states, and announced "freedom of choice". The Bucharest statement prescribed that its nations henceforth developed their "own political line, strategy and tactics without external intervention". This called into question the Soviet guarantee of existence for the Communist states in Europe. Already in May 1989 Hungary had begun dismantling its border with Austria, creating the first gap in the so-called Iron Curtain, through which later several thousand East Germans quickly fled in hopes of reaching West Germany by way of Austria. But with the mass exodus at the Pan-European Picnic in August 1989 (which was based on an idea by Otto von Habsburg to test Gorbachev's reaction to the opening of the border), the subsequent hesitant behaviour of the Socialist Unity Party of East Germany and the non-intervention of the Soviet Union opened the floodgates. Thus the united front of the Eastern Bloc was broken. The reaction to this from Erich Honecker in the Daily Mirror of August 19, 1989 was too late and showed the current loss of power: “Habsburg distributed leaflets far into Poland, on which the East German holidaymakers were invited to a picnic. When they came to the picnic, they were given gifts, food and Deutsche Mark, and then they were persuaded to come to the West.” Later, after his fall, Honecker said of Otto von Habsburg in connection with the summer of 1989: "That this Habsburg drove the nail into my coffin." Now tens of thousands of media-informed East Germans made their way to Hungary, which was no longer ready to keep its borders completely closed or to oblige its border troops to use force of arms. A 1969 treaty required the Hungarian government to send the East Germans back home; however, starting on 11 September 1989, the Hungarians let them pass into Austria, telling their outraged East German counterparts that they were refugees and that international treaties on refugees took precedence.
At the time, Honecker was sidelined through illness, leaving his colleagues unable to act decisively. He had been taken ill with biliary colic during the Warsaw Pact summit. He was shortly afterwards flown home to East Berlin. After an initial stabilisation in his health, he underwent surgery on 18 August 1989 to remove his inflamed gallbladder and, due to a perforation, part of his colon. According to the urologist Peter Althaus, the surgeons left a suspected carcinogenic nodule in Honecker’s right kidney due to his weak condition, and also failed to inform the patient of the suspected cancer; other sources say the tumour was simply undetected. As a result of this operation, Honecker was away from his office until late September 1989.
Back in office, Honecker had to contend with the rising number and strength of demonstrations across East Germany that had first been sparked by reports in the West German media of fraudulent results in local elections on 7 May 1989, the same results he had labelled a "convincing reflection" of the populace's faith in his leadership. He also had to deal with a new refugee problem. Several thousand East Germans tried to go to West Germany by way of Czechoslovakia, only to have that government bar them from passing. Several thousands of them headed straight for the West German embassy in Prague and demanded safe passage to West Germany. With some reluctance, Honecker allowed them to go – but forced them to go back through East Germany on sealed trains and stripped them of their East German citizenship. Several members of the SED Politbüro realised this was a serious blunder and made plans to get rid of him.
As unrest visibly grew, large numbers began fleeing the country through the West German embassies in Prague and Budapest, as well as over the borders of the "socialist brother" states. Each month saw tens of thousands more exit. On 3 October 1989 East Germany closed its borders to its eastern neighbours and prevented visa-free travel to Czechoslovakia; a day later these measures were also extended to travel to Bulgaria and Romania. East Germany was now not only behind the Iron Curtain to the West, but also cordoned off from most other Eastern bloc states.
On 6–7 October 1989 the national celebrations of the 40th anniversary of the East German state took place with Gorbachev in attendance. To the surprise of Honecker and the other SED leaders in attendance, several hundred members of the Free German Youth — reckoned as the future vanguard of the party and nation — began chanting, "Gorby, help us! Gorby, save us!". In a private conversation between the two leaders Honecker praised the success of the nation, but Gorbachev knew that, in reality, it faced bankruptcy; East Germany had already accepted billions of dollars in loans from West Germany during the decade as it sought to stabilise its economy. Attempting to make Honecker accept a need for reforms, Gorbachev warned Honecker that "He who is too late is punished by life", yet Honecker maintained that "we will solve our problems ourselves with socialist means". Protests outside the reception at the Palace of the Republic led to hundreds of arrests in which many were brutally beaten by soldiers and police.
As the reform movement spread throughout Central and Eastern Europe, mass demonstrations against the East German government erupted, most prominently in Leipzig—the first of several demonstrations which took place on Monday nights across the country. In response, an elite paratroop unit was dispatched to Leipzig—almost certainly on Honecker's orders, since he was commander-in-chief of the Army. A bloodbath was averted only when local party officials themselves ordered the troops to pull back. In the following week, Honecker faced a torrent of criticism. This gave his Politburo comrades the impetus they needed to replace him.
After a crisis meeting of the Politburo on 10–11 October 1989, Honecker's planned state visit to Denmark was cancelled and, despite his resistance, at the insistence of the government's number-two-man, Egon Krenz, a public statement was issued that called for "suggestions for attractive socialism". Over the following days Krenz worked to secure himself the support of the military and the Stasi and arranged a meeting between Gorbachev and Politburo member Harry Tisch, who was in Moscow, to inform the Kremlin about the now-planned removal of Honecker; Gorbachev reportedly wished them good luck.
The sitting of the SED Central Committee planned for the end of November 1989 was pulled forward a week, with the most urgent item on the agenda now being the composition of the Politburo. Krenz and Mielke attempted by telephone on the night of 16 October to win other Politburo members over to remove Honecker. At the beginning of the session on 17 October, Honecker asked his routine question of "Are there any suggestions for the agenda?" Stoph replied, "Please, general secretary, Erich, I propose that a new item be placed on the agenda. It is the release of Erich Honecker as general secretary and the election of Egon Krenz in his place." Honecker reportedly calmly responded: "Well, then I open the debate".
All those present then spoke, in turn, but none in favour of Honecker. Günter Schabowski even extended the dismissal of Honecker to also include his posts in the State Council and as Chairman of the National Defence Council while childhood friend Günter Mittag moved away from Honecker. Mielke supposedly blamed Honecker for almost all the country's current ills and threatened to publish compromising information that he possessed, if Honecker refused to resign. A ZDF documentary on the matter claims this information was contained in a large red briefcase found in Mielke's possession in 1990. After three hours the Politburo voted to remove Honecker. In accordance with longstanding practice, Honecker voted for his own removal. When the public announcement was made, it was branded as a voluntary decision on Honecker's part, ostensibly "due to health reasons". Krenz was unanimously elected as his successor as General Secretary.
Start of prosecution and asylum attempts
Communist rule in East Germany survived Honecker's removal by only two months. Three weeks after Honecker's ousting the Berlin Wall fell, and the SED swiftly lost control of the country. On 1 December, its guaranteed right to rule was removed from the East German constitution. Two days later he was expelled from the SED along with other former officials. He went on to join the newly founded Communist Party of Germany in 1990, remaining a member until his death.
During November the People's Chamber had already set up a committee to investigate corruption and abuses of office, with Honecker being alleged to have received annual donations from the National Academy of Architecture of around 20,000 marks as an "honorary member". On 5 December 1989 the chief public prosecutor in East Germany formally launched a judicial inquiry against him on charges of high treason, abuses of confidence and embezzlement to the serious disadvantage of socialist property (the charge of high treason was dropped in March 1990). As a result, Honecker was placed under house arrest for a month.
Following the lifting of his house arrest, Honecker and his wife Margot were forced to vacate their apartment in the Waldsiedlung housing area in Wandlitz, exclusively used by senior SED party members, after the People's Chamber decided to put it to use as a sanatorium for the disabled. In any case, Honecker spent the majority of January 1990 in hospital after having the error of the tumour missed in 1989 corrected after the suspicion of cancer was confirmed. Upon leaving the hospital on 29 January he was re-arrested and held at the Berlin-Rummelsburg remand centre. However, on the evening of the following day, 30 January, Honecker was again released from custody: The district court had annulled the arrest warrant and, due to medical reports, certified him unfit for detention and interrogation.
Lacking a home, Honecker instructed his lawyer Wolfgang Vogel to ask the Evangelical Church in Berlin-Brandenburg for help. Pastor Uwe Holmer, leader of the Hoffnungstal Institute in Lobetal, Bernau bei Berlin, offered the couple a home in his vicarage. This drew immediate condemnation and later demonstrations against the church for assisting the Honeckers, given they had both discriminated against Christians who did not conform with the SED leadership's ideology. Aside from a stay at a holiday home in Lindow in March 1990 that lasted only one day before protests swiftly brought it to an end, the couple resided at the Holmer residence until 3 April 1990.
The couple then moved into a three-room living quarters within the Soviet military hospital in Beelitz. Here, doctors diagnosed a malignant liver tumour following another re-examination. Following German reunification, prosecutors in Berlin issued a further arrest warrant for Honecker in November 1990 on charges that he gave the order to fire on escapees at the Inner German border in 1961 and had repeatedly reiterated that command (most specifically in 1974). However, this warrant was not enforceable because Honecker lay under the protection of Soviet authorities in Beelitz. On 13 March 1991 the Honeckers fled Germany from the Soviet-controlled Sperenberg Airfield to Moscow on a military jet with the aid of Soviet hardliners.
The German Chancellery had only been informed by Soviet diplomats about the Honeckers’ flight to Moscow one hour in advance. It limited its response to a public protest, claiming the existence of an arrest warrant meant the Soviet Union was breaching international law by admitting Honecker. The initial Soviet reaction was that Honecker was now too ill to travel and was receiving medical treatment after a deterioration of his health. He underwent further surgery the following month.
On 11 December 1991 the Honeckers sought refuge in the Chilean Embassy in Moscow, while also applying for political asylum in the Soviet Union. Despite an offer of help from North Korea, Honecker instead reached out to the Chilean government under Christian Democrat Patricio Aylwin. Under Honecker's rule, East Germany had granted many Chileans exile following the military coup of 1973 by Augusto Pinochet. In addition his daughter Sonja was married to a Chilean. Chilean authorities, however, stated he could not enter their country without a valid German passport.
Mikhail Gorbachev agreed to the dissolution of the Soviet Union on 25 December 1991 and gave all his powers to Russian president Boris Yeltsin. Russian authorities had long been keen on expelling Honecker, against the wishes of Gorbachev, and the new government now demanded that he leave the country or else face deportation.
In June 1992, Chilean President Patricio Aylwin, leader of a center-left coalition, finally assured German Chancellor Helmut Kohl that Honecker would be leaving the embassy in Moscow. Reportedly against his will, Honecker was ejected from the embassy on 29 July 1992 and flown to Berlin's Tegel Airport, where he was arrested and detained in Moabit Prison. By contrast, his wife Margot travelled on a direct flight from Moscow to Santiago, Chile, where she initially stayed with her daughter Sonja. Honecker's lawyers unsuccessfully appealed for him to be released from detention in the period leading up to his trial.
Criminal trial and death
On 12 May 1992, while under protection in the Chilean embassy in Moscow, Honecker, along with several co-defendants, including Erich Mielke, Willi Stoph, Heinz Kessler, Fritz Streletz and Hans Albrecht, was accused in a 783-page indictment of taking part in the "collective manslaughter" of 68 people as they attempted to flee East Germany. It was alleged that Honecker, in his role as Chairman of the National Defence Council, had both given the decisive order in 1961 for the construction of the Berlin Wall and also, at subsequent meetings, ordered the extensive expansion of the border fortifications around West Berlin and the barriers to the West so as to make any passing impossible. In addition, specifically at a May 1974 sitting of the National Defence Council, he had stated that the development of the border must continue, that lines of fire were warranted along the whole border and, as prior, the use of firearms was essential: "Comrades who have successfully used their firearms [are] to be praised". Honecker, in his role of chairman of the party, was responsible for the deaths of many more than the 68 mentioned above. As of 22 April 2015, well over 1,000 deaths have been discovered mainly through secret East German documentation: "It is still not known for sure how many people died on the inner German border or who they were, as the East German state treated such information as a closely guarded secret. But numbers have risen steadily since unification, as evidence has been gathered from East German records. Current unofficial estimates put the figure at up to 1,100 people." From the same article, "In 1974, Erich Honecker, as Chairman of the GDR's National Defence Council, ordered: 'Firearms are to be ruthlessly used in the event of attempts to break through the border, and the comrades who have successfully used their firearms are to be commended.'"
The charges were approved by the Berlin District Court on 19 October 1992 at the opening of the trial. On the same day, it was decided that the hearing of 56 charges would be postponed and the remaining twelve cases would be the subject of the trial to begin on 12 November 1992. The question of under which laws the former East German leader could be tried was highly controversial and, in the view of many jurists, the process had an uncertain outcome.
During his 70-minute-long statement to the court on 3 December 1992, Honecker said that he had political responsibility for the building of the Berlin Wall and subsequent deaths at the borders, but claimed he was "without juridical, legal or moral guilt". He blamed the escalation of the Cold War for the building of the Berlin Wall, saying the decision had not been taken solely by the East German leadership but all the Warsaw Pact nations that had collectively concluded in 1961 that a "Third World War with millions dead" would be unavoidable without this action. He quoted several West German politicians who had opined that the wall had indeed reduced and stabilised the two factions. He stated that he had always regretted every death, both from a human point of view and due to the political damage they caused.
Making reference to past trials in Germany against communists and socialists such as Karl Marx and August Bebel, he claimed that the legal process against him was politically motivated and a "show trial" against communism. He stated that no court lying in the territory of West Germany had the legal right to place him, his co-defendants or any East German citizen on trial, and that the portrayal of East Germany as an "Unrechtsstaat" was contradictory to its recognition by over one hundred other nations and the UN Security Council. Furthermore, he questioned how a German court could now legally judge his political decisions in the light of the lack of legal action taken over various military operations that had been carried out by Western nations with either overt support or absence of condemnation from (West) Germany. He dismissed public criticism of the Stasi, arguing that journalists in Western countries were praised for denouncing others. While accepting political responsibility for the deaths at the Wall, he believed he was free of any "legal or moral guilt", and thought that East Germany would go down in history as "a sign that socialism is possible and is better than capitalism."
By the time of the proceedings Honecker was already seriously ill. A new CT scan in August 1992 had confirmed an ultrasound examination made in Moscow and the existence of a malignant tumour in the right lobe of his liver. Based on these findings and additional medical testimonies, Honecker’s lawyers requested that the legal proceedings, as far as they were aimed against their client, be abandoned and the arrest warrant against him withdrawn; the cases against both Mielke and Stoph had already been postponed due to their ill health. Arguing that his life expectancy was estimated to be three to six months, while the legal process was forecast to take at least two years, his lawyers questioned whether it was humane to try a dying man. Their application was rejected on 21 December 1992 when the court concluded that, given the seriousness of the charges, no obstacle to the proceedings existed.
Honecker lodged a constitutional complaint to the recently created Berlin Constitutional Court, stating that the decision to proceed violated his fundamental right to human dignity, which was an overriding principle in the Constitution of Berlin, above even the state penal system and criminal justice. On 12 January 1993 Honecker's complaint was upheld and the Berlin District Court therefore abandoned the case and withdrew their arrest warrant. An application for a new arrest warrant was rejected on 13 January. The court also refused to commence with the trial related to the indictment of 12 November 1992, and withdrew the second arrest warrant related to these charges. After a total of 169 days Honecker was released from custody, drawing protests both from victims of the East German state as well as German political figures.
Honecker flew via Brazil to Santiago, Chile, to reunite with his wife and his daughter Sonja, who lived there with her son Roberto. Upon his arrival he was greeted by the leaders of the Chilean Communist and Socialist parties. In contrast, his co-defendants Heinz Kessler, Fritz Streletz and Hans Albrecht were sentenced on 16 September 1993 to imprisonment of between four and seven-and-a-half years. On 13 April 1993 a final attempt to separate and continue the trial against Honecker in his absence was discontinued. Four days later, on the 66th birthday of his wife Margot, he gave a final public speech, ending with the words: "Socialism is the opposite of what we have now in Germany. For that I would like to say that our beautiful memories of the German Democratic Republic are testimony of a new and just society. And we want to always remain loyal to these things".
On 29 May 1994, Honecker died of liver cancer at the age of 81 in a terraced house in the La Reina district of Santiago. His funeral, arranged by the Communist Party of Chile, was conducted the following day at central cemetery in Santiago.
Family
Honecker was married three times. After being liberated from prison in 1945, he married the prison warden Charlotte Schanuel (née Drost), nine years his senior, on 23 December 1946. She died suddenly from a brain tumour in June 1947. Details of this marriage were not revealed until 2003, well after his death.
By the time of her death, Honecker was already romantically involved with the Free German Youth official Edith Baumann, whom he met on a trip to Moscow. With her, he had a daughter, Erika (b. 1950), who later gave him his granddaughter Anke. Sources differ on whether Honecker and Baumann married in 1947 or 1949, but in 1952 he fathered an illegitimate daughter, Sonja (b. December 1952), with Margot Feist, a People's Chamber member and chairperson of the Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Organisation.
In September 1950, Baumann wrote directly to Walter Ulbricht to inform him of her husband's extramarital activity in the hope of him pressuring Honecker to end his relationship with Feist. Following his divorce and reportedly under pressure from the Politburo, he married Feist. However, sources again differ on both the year of his divorce from Baumann and of his marriage to Feist; depending on the source, the events took place either in 1953 or 1955. For more than twenty years, Margot Honecker served as Minister of National Education. In 2012 intelligence reports collated by West German spies alleged that both Honecker and his wife had secret affairs but did not divorce for political reasons; however, his bodyguard Bernd Brückner, in a book about his time spent in Honecker's service, denied the claims.
Honecker had three grandchildren from his daughter Sonja, who had married the Chilean-born exile Leonardo Yáñez Betancourt: Roberto (b. 1974), Mariana (b. 1985), who died in 1988 at the age of two leaving Honecker himself heartbroken, and Vivian (b. 1988). Roberto's origins are debated; he is claimed to be the illegally adopted son of Heidi Stein, Dirk Schiller, born on 13 June 1975 in Görlitz, who disappeared in March 1979, due to alleged physical similarities between Dirk and Yáñez, Stein suspecting that her son might have been kidnapped at three years old by Stasi agents for Honecker's younger daughter.
Honecker's daughter divorced Yáñez in 1993. She and her two surviving children still live in Santiago.
Honours and awards
:
Hero of the German Democratic Republic (twice)
Hero of Labour
Patriotic Order of Merit (Honor clasp, in Gold)
Order of Karl Marx (five times)
Order of the Banner of Labor
:
Hero of the Soviet Union
Order of Lenin (thrice)
Order of the October Revolution
Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin"
Other countries:
Grand Star of the Order of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria (Austria)
Order of Georgi Dimitrov (Bulgaria)
Order of José Martí (Cuba)
Order of Playa Girón (Cuba)
Order of Klement Gottwald (Czechoslovakia)
Grand Cross of the White Rose of Finland (Finland)
Order of Augusto Cesar Sandino, 1st class (Nicaragua)
Order of the "Victory of Socialism" (Romania)
Order of Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam)
Olympic Order (International Olympic Committee)
In popular culture
Dmitri Vrubel's 1990 mural on the Berlin Wall My God, Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love, depicting a socialist "fraternal kiss" between Honecker and Leonid Brezhnev, became known around the world.
A traffic signal inspired by Honecker wearing a jaunty straw hat was used in parts of East Germany (Ost-Ampelmännchen) and has become a symbol of Ostalgie.
Notes
References
Further reading
Bryson, Phillip J., and Manfred Melzer eds. The end of the East German economy: from Honecker to reunification (Palgrave Macmillan, 1991).
Childs, David, ed. Honecker's Germany (London: Taylor & Francis, 1985).
Collier Jr, Irwin L. "GDR economic policy during the honecker era." Eastern European Economics 29.1 (1990): 5–29.
Dennis, Mike. Social and Economic Modernization in Eastern Germany from Honecker to Kohl (Burns & Oates, 1993).
Dennis, Mike. "The East German Ministry of State Security and East German Society During the Honecker Era, 1971–1989." in German Writers and the Politics of Culture (Palgrave Macmillan, London, 200)3. 3–24 on the STASI
Fulbrook, Mary. (2008) The people's state: East German society from Hitler to Honecker. Yale University Press.
Grix, Jonathan. "Competing approaches to the collapse of the GDR: ‘Top‐down’ vs ‘bottom‐up’," Journal of Area Studies 6#13:121–142, DOI: 10.1080/02613539808455836, Historiography.
Lippmann, Heinz. Honecker and the new politics of Europe (New York: Macmillan, 1972).
McAdams, A. James. "The Honecker trial: the East German past and the German future." Review of Politics 58.1 (1996): 53–80. online
Weitz, Eric D. Creating German Communism, 1890–1990: From Popular Protests to Socialist State (Princeton UP, 1997).
Wilsford, David, ed. Political leaders of contemporary Western Europe: a biographical dictionary (Greenwood, 1995) pp. 195–201.
Primary sources
Honecker, Erich. (1981) From My Life. New York: Pergamon, 1981. .
External links
Honecker im Internet (in German)
www.warheroes.ru – Erich Honecker (in Russian)
Welcoming Address to 1979 Session of the World Peace Council Erich Honecker's speech to the WPC
A Successful Policy Seared to the Needs of the People Volkskammer pamphlet including material by Honecker
1912 births
1994 deaths
People from Neunkirchen, Saarland
People from the Rhine Province
Communist Party of Germany politicians
Members of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany
Members of the Provisional Volkskammer
Members of the 1st Volkskammer
Members of the 2nd Volkskammer
Members of the 3rd Volkskammer
Members of the 4th Volkskammer
Members of the 5th Volkskammer
Members of the 6th Volkskammer
Members of the 7th Volkskammer
Members of the 8th Volkskammer
Members of the 9th Volkskammer
Free German Youth members
Communist rulers
Communists in the German Resistance
Collaborators with the Soviet Union
German atheists
German expatriates in Chile
German expatriates in the Soviet Union
Exiled politicians
International Lenin School alumni
People condemned by Nazi courts
People extradited from Russia
People extradited to Germany
German politicians convicted of crimes
Heads of government who were later imprisoned
Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit (honor clasp)
Recipients of the Banner of Labor
Recipients of the Olympic Order
Recipients of the Order of Ho Chi Minh
Recipients of the Grand Star of the Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria
Foreign Heroes of the Soviet Union
Recipients of the Order of Lenin
Deaths from liver cancer
Deaths from cancer in Chile
People of the Cold War | true | [
"James Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley (c. 1394 – 22 October 1463), also known as \"James the Just\", was an English peer.\n\nBerkeley was the son of Sir James de Berkeley and his wife Elizabeth (née Bluet). He was made heir to his uncle Thomas de Berkeley, 5th Baron Berkeley. He was married four times. His third wife was Lady Isabel, daughter of Thomas Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk; and his fourth wife was the Lady Joan Talbot, daughter of John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury. Lord Berkeley was involved in a bitter feud with his cousin Elizabeth, daughter of the fifth Baron Berkeley and wife of Richard de Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick. He was unable initially to claim Berkeley Castle, as it was taken in possession by the Earl and Countess of Warwick. In 1421, when the Warwicks finally gave up Berkeley Castle, James was summoned to Parliament by writ as Lord Berkeley. The feud did not end there as his third wife Isabel was captured by the Countess of Warwick's son-in-law the Earl of Shrewsbury, and held imprisoned until her death in 1452.\n\nLord Berkeley was succeeded by his son from his third marriage, William, who was created Marquess of Berkeley in 1489.\n\nMarriages and issue\nHe firstly married the daughter of John St. John on 9 April 1410, by contract, and had no issue.\n\nHis second marriage was to the daughter of Sir Humphrey Stafford of Hook Dorset in 1415. No issue came from this marriage.\n\nIn about 1424, he was wed to Lady Isabel de Mowbray (b. 1396 - d. 29 November 1452), in which James was her second husband and Henry Ferrers was her first. They had the following issue:\n\nElizabeth de Berkeley (b. 1425 - d. 1482)\nSir William de Berkeley, Earl of Nottingham (c. 1427 - 1492); William became the 2nd Baron Berkeley sometime after his father's death in 1463.\nJames de Berkeley, Esquire (b. 1429)\nAlice de Berkeley (b. 1432)\nSir Maurice de Berkeley VI, Lord Berkeley (c. 1435 - 1 September 1506), who was married to Isabel Meade, daughter of merchant Phillip Meade and his wife Isabel, in 1465 and had issue.\nThomas de Berkeley, Esquire (b. 1435 - d. 1484), who married Margaret Guy, and had issue. \nIsabel de Berkeley (b. 1438 - d. 1482)\n\nHis fourth marriage to Joan Talbot was before 25 July 1457.\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\nKidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990.\n\n1390s births\n1463 deaths\n1\nJames\nPeers created by Henry V",
"Sir Charles Morrison, 1st Baronet (18 April 1587 – 20 August 1628) (also Moryson) of Cashiobury in Watford, Hertfordshire, was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1621 and 1628.\n\nOrigins\nMorrison was the only son and heir of Sir Charles Morrison (d. 1599), MP, of Cashiobury, by his wife Dorothea Clark, daughter of Nicholas Clark.\n\nCareer\nHe succeeded to the estate of Cashiobury on the death of his father on 31 March 1599. He was made Knight of the Bath (KB) in 1603 at the English coronation of King James I and was created a baronet on 29 June 1611.\n \nIn 1621 Morrison was elected Member of Parliament for Hertfordshire and was re-elected in 1624. He was elected MP for St Albans in 1625 and 1626. In 1628 he was elected MP for Hertford and sat until his death. Prior to his first appearance in Parliament in May 1621, Morrison was reportedly assaulted on the Parliament stairs by the MP for Dunwich, Clement Cooke. After an enquiry, Cooke was imprisoned in the Tower of London for the attack.\n\nMarriage and progeny\nOn 4 December 1606 at Low Leyton, Essex, Morrison married Mary Hicks, daughter of Baptist Hicks, 1st Viscount Campden. She survived him and remarried (as his second wife) to Sir John Cooper, 1st Baronet of Rockbourne, Hampshire. By his wife he had two sons who died in infancy and a surviving daughter:\n\nElizabeth Morrison, baptised 1610/11, wife of Arthur Capell, 1st Baron Capell of Hadham and mother of Arthur Capell, 1st Earl of Essex (1631–1683).\n\nDeath\n\nMorrison died in 1628 at the age of 41 and was buried in the mortuary chapel of the Morrison and Essex families in St. Mary's Parish Church, Watford. His large, elaborate monument was executed by Nicholas Stone, a celebrated sculptor of the day. It sits opposite the tomb of his father, who died in 1599 and is designed in a similar style. The monument features reclining effigies of Sir Charles and his wife Mary sculpted in marble. Sir Charles is depicted wearing armour, resting on his elbow, with a scroll under his hand, while his wife is represented reclining on a cushion, wearing a richly embroidered dress. Below them are the kneeling figures of a youth, a boy and a young lady kneeling.\n\nSuccession\nSir Charles left no surviving sons and thus the Morrison baronetcy became extinct on his death. The Cashiobury estate was inherited by his only daughter and sole heiress, Elizabeth Morrison, wife of Arthur Capell, 1st Baron Capell of Hadham. The estate thus passed into the Capell family, and was the seat of her eldest son Arthur Capell, 1st Earl of Essex (1631–1683).\n\nReferences\n\n \n\n1587 births\n1628 deaths\nBurials in Hertfordshire\nPeople from Watford\nPeople from St Albans\nMembers of the Parliament of England for Hertfordshire\nEnglish MPs 1621–1622\nEnglish MPs 1624–1625\nEnglish MPs 1625\nEnglish MPs 1626\nEnglish MPs 1628–1629\nKnights of the Bath\nBaronets in the Baronetage of England"
]
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[
"Erich Honecker",
"Family",
"Who was Honecker's father?",
"I don't know.",
"Did Honecker marry?",
"Honecker was married three times.",
"Who was his 1st wife?",
"he married the prison warden Charlotte Schanuel"
]
| C_92bef31fd20145178978ed83b356e8f6_0 | Who was his 2nd wife? | 4 | Who was Erich Honecker 2nd wife? | Erich Honecker | Honecker was married three times. After being liberated from prison in 1945 he married the prison warden Charlotte Schanuel (nee Drost), nine years his senior, on 23 December 1946. She died suddenly from a brain tumour in June 1947. Details of this marriage were not revealed until 2003, well after his death. By the time of her death, Honecker was already romantically involved with the Free German Youth official Edith Baumann, whom he met on a trip to Moscow. With her he had a daughter, Erika (b. 1950), who later gave him his granddaughter Anke. Sources differ on whether Honecker and Baumann married in 1947 or 1949, but in 1952 he fathered an illegitimate daughter, Sonja (b. December 1952), with Margot Feist, a People's Chamber member and chairperson of the Ernst Thalmann Pioneer Organisation. In September 1950, Baumann wrote directly to Walter Ulbricht to inform him of her husband's extramarital activity in the hope of him pressuring Honecker to end his relationship with Feist. Following his divorce and reportedly under pressure from the Politburo, he married Feist, however sources again differ on both the year of his divorce from Baumann and of his marriage to Feist; depending on the source, the events took place either in 1953 or 1955. For more than twenty years, Margot Honecker served as Minister of National Education. In 2012 intelligence reports collated by West German spies alleged that both Erich and his wife had secret affairs but did not divorce for political reasons, however, his bodyguard Bernd Bruckner in a book about his time spent in Honecker's service, refuted the claims. Honecker had three grandchildren from his daughter Sonja, who had married the Chilean-born exile Leonardo Yanez Betancourt; Roberto, (b. 1974) Mariana, (b. 1985) who died in 1988 at the age of two leaving Honecker himself heartbroken, and Vivian (b. 1988). Roberto's origins are debated; he is claimed to be the illegally adopted son of Mrs. Heidi Stein, Dirk Schiller, born on 13 June 1975 in Gorlitz, who disappeared in March 1979, due to alleged physical similarities between Dirk and Leonardo Mrs Stein suspecting that her son might have been kidnapped at 3 years old by Stasi agents for Honecker's younger daughter. Honecker's daughter, (who divorced Leonardo in 1993) grandson and granddaughter still live in Santiago. CANNOTANSWER | By the time of her death, Honecker was already romantically involved with the Free German Youth official Edith Baumann, | Erich Ernst Paul Honecker (; 25 August 1912 – 29 May 1994) was a German communist politician who led the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 1971 until shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall in October 1989. He held the posts of General Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) and Chairman of the National Defence Council; in 1976, he replaced Willi Stoph as Chairman of the State Council, the official head of state. As the leader of East Germany, Honecker had close ties to the Soviet Union, which maintained a large army in the country.
Honecker's political career began in the 1930s when he became an official of the Communist Party of Germany, a position for which he was imprisoned by the Nazis. Following World War II, he was freed by the Soviet army and relaunched his political activities, founding the SED's youth organisation, the Free German Youth, in 1946 and serving as the group's chairman until 1955. As the Security Secretary of the SED Central Committee, he was the prime organiser of the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961 and, in this function, bore administrative responsibility for the "order to fire" along the Wall and the larger inner German border.
In 1970, Honecker initiated a political power struggle that led, with support of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, to him replacing Walter Ulbricht as General Secretary of the SED and chairman of the National Defence Council. Under his command, the country adopted a programme of "consumer socialism" and moved towards the international community by normalizing relations with West Germany and also becoming a full member of the UN, in what is considered one of his greatest political successes.
As Cold War tensions eased in the late 1980s with the advent of perestroika and glasnost—the liberal reforms introduced by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev—Honecker refused all but cosmetic changes to the East German political system. He cited the continual hardliner attitudes of Kim Il-sung and Fidel Castro, whose respective countries of governance of North Korea and Cuba had been critical of reforms. As anti-government protests grew, Honecker begged Gorbachev to intervene with the Soviet army to suppress the protests to maintain communist rule in East Germany as Moscow had done with Czechoslovakia in the Prague Spring of 1968 and with the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, but Gorbachev refused. Honecker was forced to resign by the SED Politburo in October 1989 in a bid to improve the government's image in the eyes of the public; the effort was unsuccessful, and the regime would collapse entirely the following month.
Following German reunification in 1990, Honecker sought asylum in the Chilean embassy in Moscow, but was extradited back to Germany in 1992, after the fall of the Soviet Union, to stand trial for his role in the human rights abuses committed by the East German government. However, the proceedings were abandoned, as Honecker was suffering from terminal liver cancer. He was freed from custody to join his family in exile in Chile, where he died in May 1994.
Childhood and youth
Honecker was born in Neunkirchen, in what is now Saarland, to Wilhelm Honecker (1881–1969), a coal miner and political activist, and his wife Caroline Catharine Weidenhof (1883–1963). The couple, married in 1905, had six children: Katharina (Käthe, 1906–1925), Wilhelm (Willi, 1907–1944), Frieda (1909–1974), Erich, Gertrud (1917–2010) and Karl-Robert (1923–1947). Erich, their fourth child, was born on 25 August 1912 during the period in which the family resided on Max-Braun-Straße, before later moving to Kuchenbergstraße 88 in the present-day Neunkirchen city district of Wiebelskirchen.
After World War I, the Territory of the Saar Basin was occupied by France. This change from the strict rule of to French military occupation provided the backdrop for what Wilhelm Honecker understood as proletarian exploitation, and introduced young Erich to communism. After his tenth birthday in 1922, Erich Honecker became a member of the Spartacus League's children's group in Wiebelskirchen. Aged 14 he entered the KJVD, the Young Communist League of Germany, for whom he later served the organisation's leader of Saarland from 1931.
Honecker did not find an apprenticeship immediately after leaving school, but instead worked for a farmer in Pomerania for almost two years. In 1928 he returned to Wiebelskirchen and began a traineeship as a roofer with his uncle, but quit to attend the International Lenin School in Moscow and Magnitogorsk after the KJVD handpicked him for a course of study there. There, sharing a room with Anton Ackermann, he studied under the cover name "Fritz Malter".
Opposition to the Nazis and imprisonment
In 1930, aged 18, Honecker entered the KPD, the Communist Party of Germany. His political mentor was Otto Niebergall, who later represented the KPD in the Reichstag. After returning from Moscow in 1931 following his studies at the International Lenin School, he became the leader of the KJVD in the Saar region. After the Nazi seizure of power in 1933, Communist activities within Germany were only possible undercover; the Saar region however still remained outside the German Reich under a League of Nations mandate. Honecker was arrested in Essen, Germany but soon released. Following this he fled to the Netherlands and from there oversaw KJVD's activities in Pfalz, Hesse and Baden-Württemberg.
Honecker returned to the Saar in 1934 and worked alongside Johannes Hoffmann on the campaign against the region's re-incorporation into Germany. A referendum on the area's future in January 1935 however saw 90.73% vote in favour of reunifying with Germany. Like 4,000 to 8,000 others, Honecker then fled the region, initially relocating to Paris.
On 28 August 1935 he illegally travelled to Berlin under the alias "Marten Tjaden", with a printing press in his luggage. From there he worked closely together with KPD official Herbert Wehner in opposition/resistance to the Nazi state. On 4 December 1935 Honecker was detained by the Gestapo and until 1937 remanded in Berlin's Moabit detention centre. On 3 July 1937 he was sentenced to ten years imprisonment for the "preparation of high treason alongside the severe falsification of documents".
Honecker spent the majority of his incarceration in the Brandenburg-Görden Prison, where he also carried out tasks as a handyman. In early 1945 he was moved to the Barnimstraße Women's Prison in Berlin due to good behaviour and to be put to work repairing the bomb-damaged building, as he was a skilled roofer. During an Allied bombing raid on 6 March 1945 he managed to escape and hid himself at the apartment of Lotte Grund, a female prison guard. After several days she persuaded him to turn himself in and his escape was then covered up by the guard. Honecker spent most of his time in prison under solitary confinement.
After the liberation of the prisons by advancing Soviet troops on 27 April 1945, Honecker remained in Berlin. His "escape" from prison and his relationships during his captivity later led to him experiencing difficulties within the Socialist Unity Party, as well as straining his relations with his former inmates. In later interviews and in his personal memoirs, Honecker falsified many of the details of his life during this period. Material from the East German State Security Service has been used to allege that, to be released from prison, Honecker offered the Gestapo evidence incriminating fellow imprisoned Communists, claimed he had renounced Communism "for good", and was willing to serve in the German army.
Post-war return to politics
In May 1945 Honecker was "picked up" by chance in Berlin by Hans Mahle and taken to the Ulbricht Group, a collective of exiled German communists that had returned from the Soviet Union to Germany after the end of the Nazi regime. Through Waldemar Schmidt, Honecker befriended Walter Ulbricht, who had not been aware of him at that point. Honecker's future role in the group was still undecided until well into the summer months, as he had yet to face a party process. This ended in a reprimand due to his "undisciplined conduct" in fleeing from prison at the start of the year, an action which was debated upon it jeopardizing the other (communist) inmates.
In 1946, Honecker became the co-founder of the Free German Youth (FDJ), whose chairmanship he also undertook. After the formation of the SED, the Socialist Unity Party, in April 1946 through a merger of the KPD and SPD, Honecker swiftly became a leading party member and took his place in the party's Central Committee.
On 7 October 1949, the German Democratic Republic was formed with the adoption of a new constitution, establishing a political system similar to that of the Soviet Union. Within the state's socialist single party government, Honecker determinedly resumed his political career and the following year was nominated as a candidate for the Politbüro of the SED's Central Committee. As President of the Free German Youth movement, he organised the inaugural "Deutschlandtreffen der Jugend" in East Berlin in May 1950 and the 3rd World Festival of Youth and Students in 1951, although the latter was beset with organisational problems.
During the internal party unrest following the suppressed uprising of June 1953, Honecker sided with First Secretary Walter Ulbricht, despite the majority of the Politburo attempting to depose Ulbricht in favour of Rudolf Herrnstadt. Honecker himself though faced questioning from party members about his inadequate qualifications for his position. On 27 May 1955 he handed the Presidency of the FDJ over to Karl Namokel, and departed for Moscow to study for two years at the School of the Soviet Communist Party at Ulbricht's request. During this period he witnessed the 20th Congress of the Soviet Communist Party in person, where its First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev denounced Joseph Stalin.
After returning to East Germany in 1958, Honecker became a fully-fledged member of the Politburo, taking over responsibility for military and security issues. As the Party Security Secretary he was the prime organiser of the building of the Berlin Wall in August 1961 and also a proponent of the "order to fire" along the Inner German border.
Leadership of East Germany
While Ulbricht had replaced the state's command economy with, firstly the "New Economic System", then the Economic System of Socialism, as he sought to improve the country's failing economy, Honecker declared the main task to in fact be the "unity of economic and social politics", essentially through which living standards (with increased consumer goods) would be raised in exchange for political loyalty. Tensions had already led to his once-mentor Ulbricht removing Honecker from the position of Second Secretary in July 1970, only for the Soviet leadership to swiftly reinstate him. Honecker played up the thawing East-West German relationship as Ulbricht's strategy, to win the support of the Soviet leadership under Leonid Brezhnev. With this secured, Honecker was appointed First Secretary (from 1976 titled general secretary) of the Central Committee on 3 May 1971 after the Soviet leadership forced Ulbricht to step aside "for health reasons".
After also succeeding Ulbricht as Chairman of the National Defence Council in 1971, Honecker was eventually also elected Chairman of the State Council (a post equivalent to that of president) on 29 October 1976. With this, Honecker reached the height of power within East Germany. From there on, he, along with Economic Secretary Günter Mittag and Minister of State Security Erich Mielke, made all key government decisions. Until 1989 the "little strategic clique" composed of these three men was unchallenged as the top level of East Germany's ruling class. Honecker's closest colleague was , the SED's Agitation and Propaganda Secretary. Alongside him, Honecker held daily meetings concerning the party's media representation in which the layout of the party's own newspaper Neues Deutschland, as well as the sequencing of news items in the national news bulletin Aktuelle Kamera, were determined.
Under Honecker's leadership, East Germany adopted a programme of "consumer socialism", which resulted in a marked improvement in living standards already the highest among the Eastern bloc countries. More attention was placed on the availability of consumer goods, and the construction of new housing was accelerated, with Honecker promising to "settle the housing problem as an issue of social relevance". His policies were initially marked by a liberalisation toward culture and art, though this was less about the replacement of Ulbricht by Honecker and more for propaganda purposes. While 1973 brought the World Festival of Youth and Students to East Berlin, soon dissident artists such as Wolf Biermann were expelled and the Ministry for State Security raised its efforts to suppress political resistance. Honecker remained committed to the expansion of the Inner German border and the "order to fire" policy along it. During his time in office around 125 East German citizens were killed while trying to reach the West.
After the Federal Republic had secured an agreement with the Soviet Union on cooperation and a policy of non-violence, it became possible to reach a similar agreement with the GDR. The Basic Treaty between East and West Germany in 1972 sought to normalise contacts between the two governments.
East Germany also participated in the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe held in Helsinki in 1975, which attempted to improve relations between the West and the Eastern Bloc, and became a full member of the United Nations. These acts of diplomacy were considered Honecker’s greatest successes in foreign politics.
Honecker received additional high-profile personal recognitions including honorary doctorates of humane letters from North Korea’s Kim Il-Sung University in 1974, Cuba's University of Las Tunas in 1979 and Iraq's Saddam University in 1983, honorary doctorates of business administration from East Berlin's Humboldt University in 1976, Tokyo's Nihon University in 1981 and the London School of Economics in 1984 and the Olympic Order from the IOC in 1985. In September 1987, he became the first East German head of state to visit West Germany, where he was received with full state honours by West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl in an act that seemed to confirm West Germany's acceptance of East Germany's existence. During this trip he also journeyed to his birthplace in Saarland, where he held an emotional speech in which he spoke of a day when Germans would no longer be separated by borders, but unified under communist rule. This trip had been planned twice before, including September 1984, but was initially blocked by the Soviet leadership which mistrusted the special East-West German relationship, particularly efforts to expand East Germany's limited independence in the realm of foreign policy.
Illness, downfall and resignation
In the late 1980s, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev introduced glasnost and perestroika, reforms to liberalise socialist planned economy. Frictions between him and Honecker had grown over these policies and numerous additional issues from 1985 onward. East Germany refused to implement similar reforms, with Honecker reportedly telling Gorbachev: "We have done our perestroika; we have nothing to restructure". Gorbachev grew to dislike Honecker, and by 1988 was lumping him in with Bulgaria's Todor Zhivkov, Czechoslovakia's Gustáv Husák and Romania's Nicolae Ceaușescu as a "Gang of Four": a group of inflexible hardliners unwilling to make reforms.
According to White House experts Philip Zelikow and Condoleezza Rice, Gorbachev looked to Communist leaders in Eastern Europe to follow his example of perestroika and glasnost. They argue:
Gorbachev himself had no particular sympathy for Erich Honecker, chairman of the East German Communist Party, and his hard-line comrades and the government. As early as 1985... [Gorbachev] had told East German party officials that kindergarten was over; no one would lead them by the hand. They were responsible for their own people. The relations between Gorbachev and Honecker went downhill from there.
Western analysts, according to Zelikow and Rice, believed in 1989 that Communism was still secure in East Germany:
Bolstered by relatively greater affluence than his country's Eastern European neighbors enjoyed in a fantastically elaborate system of internal controls, East Germany's longtime leader Eric Honecker seemed secure in his position. His government had long dealt with dissent through a mixture of brutal repression, forced emigration, and the vent of allowing occasional, limited travel to the West for a substantial part of the population.
Honecker felt betrayed by Gorbachev in his German policy and ensured that official texts of the Soviet Union, especially those concerning perestroika, could no longer be published or sold in East Germany.
At the Warsaw Pact summit on 7–8 July 1989 in Bucharest, the Soviet Union reaffirmed its shift from the Brezhnev Doctrine of the limited sovereignty of its member states, and announced "freedom of choice". The Bucharest statement prescribed that its nations henceforth developed their "own political line, strategy and tactics without external intervention". This called into question the Soviet guarantee of existence for the Communist states in Europe. Already in May 1989 Hungary had begun dismantling its border with Austria, creating the first gap in the so-called Iron Curtain, through which later several thousand East Germans quickly fled in hopes of reaching West Germany by way of Austria. But with the mass exodus at the Pan-European Picnic in August 1989 (which was based on an idea by Otto von Habsburg to test Gorbachev's reaction to the opening of the border), the subsequent hesitant behaviour of the Socialist Unity Party of East Germany and the non-intervention of the Soviet Union opened the floodgates. Thus the united front of the Eastern Bloc was broken. The reaction to this from Erich Honecker in the Daily Mirror of August 19, 1989 was too late and showed the current loss of power: “Habsburg distributed leaflets far into Poland, on which the East German holidaymakers were invited to a picnic. When they came to the picnic, they were given gifts, food and Deutsche Mark, and then they were persuaded to come to the West.” Later, after his fall, Honecker said of Otto von Habsburg in connection with the summer of 1989: "That this Habsburg drove the nail into my coffin." Now tens of thousands of media-informed East Germans made their way to Hungary, which was no longer ready to keep its borders completely closed or to oblige its border troops to use force of arms. A 1969 treaty required the Hungarian government to send the East Germans back home; however, starting on 11 September 1989, the Hungarians let them pass into Austria, telling their outraged East German counterparts that they were refugees and that international treaties on refugees took precedence.
At the time, Honecker was sidelined through illness, leaving his colleagues unable to act decisively. He had been taken ill with biliary colic during the Warsaw Pact summit. He was shortly afterwards flown home to East Berlin. After an initial stabilisation in his health, he underwent surgery on 18 August 1989 to remove his inflamed gallbladder and, due to a perforation, part of his colon. According to the urologist Peter Althaus, the surgeons left a suspected carcinogenic nodule in Honecker’s right kidney due to his weak condition, and also failed to inform the patient of the suspected cancer; other sources say the tumour was simply undetected. As a result of this operation, Honecker was away from his office until late September 1989.
Back in office, Honecker had to contend with the rising number and strength of demonstrations across East Germany that had first been sparked by reports in the West German media of fraudulent results in local elections on 7 May 1989, the same results he had labelled a "convincing reflection" of the populace's faith in his leadership. He also had to deal with a new refugee problem. Several thousand East Germans tried to go to West Germany by way of Czechoslovakia, only to have that government bar them from passing. Several thousands of them headed straight for the West German embassy in Prague and demanded safe passage to West Germany. With some reluctance, Honecker allowed them to go – but forced them to go back through East Germany on sealed trains and stripped them of their East German citizenship. Several members of the SED Politbüro realised this was a serious blunder and made plans to get rid of him.
As unrest visibly grew, large numbers began fleeing the country through the West German embassies in Prague and Budapest, as well as over the borders of the "socialist brother" states. Each month saw tens of thousands more exit. On 3 October 1989 East Germany closed its borders to its eastern neighbours and prevented visa-free travel to Czechoslovakia; a day later these measures were also extended to travel to Bulgaria and Romania. East Germany was now not only behind the Iron Curtain to the West, but also cordoned off from most other Eastern bloc states.
On 6–7 October 1989 the national celebrations of the 40th anniversary of the East German state took place with Gorbachev in attendance. To the surprise of Honecker and the other SED leaders in attendance, several hundred members of the Free German Youth — reckoned as the future vanguard of the party and nation — began chanting, "Gorby, help us! Gorby, save us!". In a private conversation between the two leaders Honecker praised the success of the nation, but Gorbachev knew that, in reality, it faced bankruptcy; East Germany had already accepted billions of dollars in loans from West Germany during the decade as it sought to stabilise its economy. Attempting to make Honecker accept a need for reforms, Gorbachev warned Honecker that "He who is too late is punished by life", yet Honecker maintained that "we will solve our problems ourselves with socialist means". Protests outside the reception at the Palace of the Republic led to hundreds of arrests in which many were brutally beaten by soldiers and police.
As the reform movement spread throughout Central and Eastern Europe, mass demonstrations against the East German government erupted, most prominently in Leipzig—the first of several demonstrations which took place on Monday nights across the country. In response, an elite paratroop unit was dispatched to Leipzig—almost certainly on Honecker's orders, since he was commander-in-chief of the Army. A bloodbath was averted only when local party officials themselves ordered the troops to pull back. In the following week, Honecker faced a torrent of criticism. This gave his Politburo comrades the impetus they needed to replace him.
After a crisis meeting of the Politburo on 10–11 October 1989, Honecker's planned state visit to Denmark was cancelled and, despite his resistance, at the insistence of the government's number-two-man, Egon Krenz, a public statement was issued that called for "suggestions for attractive socialism". Over the following days Krenz worked to secure himself the support of the military and the Stasi and arranged a meeting between Gorbachev and Politburo member Harry Tisch, who was in Moscow, to inform the Kremlin about the now-planned removal of Honecker; Gorbachev reportedly wished them good luck.
The sitting of the SED Central Committee planned for the end of November 1989 was pulled forward a week, with the most urgent item on the agenda now being the composition of the Politburo. Krenz and Mielke attempted by telephone on the night of 16 October to win other Politburo members over to remove Honecker. At the beginning of the session on 17 October, Honecker asked his routine question of "Are there any suggestions for the agenda?" Stoph replied, "Please, general secretary, Erich, I propose that a new item be placed on the agenda. It is the release of Erich Honecker as general secretary and the election of Egon Krenz in his place." Honecker reportedly calmly responded: "Well, then I open the debate".
All those present then spoke, in turn, but none in favour of Honecker. Günter Schabowski even extended the dismissal of Honecker to also include his posts in the State Council and as Chairman of the National Defence Council while childhood friend Günter Mittag moved away from Honecker. Mielke supposedly blamed Honecker for almost all the country's current ills and threatened to publish compromising information that he possessed, if Honecker refused to resign. A ZDF documentary on the matter claims this information was contained in a large red briefcase found in Mielke's possession in 1990. After three hours the Politburo voted to remove Honecker. In accordance with longstanding practice, Honecker voted for his own removal. When the public announcement was made, it was branded as a voluntary decision on Honecker's part, ostensibly "due to health reasons". Krenz was unanimously elected as his successor as General Secretary.
Start of prosecution and asylum attempts
Communist rule in East Germany survived Honecker's removal by only two months. Three weeks after Honecker's ousting the Berlin Wall fell, and the SED swiftly lost control of the country. On 1 December, its guaranteed right to rule was removed from the East German constitution. Two days later he was expelled from the SED along with other former officials. He went on to join the newly founded Communist Party of Germany in 1990, remaining a member until his death.
During November the People's Chamber had already set up a committee to investigate corruption and abuses of office, with Honecker being alleged to have received annual donations from the National Academy of Architecture of around 20,000 marks as an "honorary member". On 5 December 1989 the chief public prosecutor in East Germany formally launched a judicial inquiry against him on charges of high treason, abuses of confidence and embezzlement to the serious disadvantage of socialist property (the charge of high treason was dropped in March 1990). As a result, Honecker was placed under house arrest for a month.
Following the lifting of his house arrest, Honecker and his wife Margot were forced to vacate their apartment in the Waldsiedlung housing area in Wandlitz, exclusively used by senior SED party members, after the People's Chamber decided to put it to use as a sanatorium for the disabled. In any case, Honecker spent the majority of January 1990 in hospital after having the error of the tumour missed in 1989 corrected after the suspicion of cancer was confirmed. Upon leaving the hospital on 29 January he was re-arrested and held at the Berlin-Rummelsburg remand centre. However, on the evening of the following day, 30 January, Honecker was again released from custody: The district court had annulled the arrest warrant and, due to medical reports, certified him unfit for detention and interrogation.
Lacking a home, Honecker instructed his lawyer Wolfgang Vogel to ask the Evangelical Church in Berlin-Brandenburg for help. Pastor Uwe Holmer, leader of the Hoffnungstal Institute in Lobetal, Bernau bei Berlin, offered the couple a home in his vicarage. This drew immediate condemnation and later demonstrations against the church for assisting the Honeckers, given they had both discriminated against Christians who did not conform with the SED leadership's ideology. Aside from a stay at a holiday home in Lindow in March 1990 that lasted only one day before protests swiftly brought it to an end, the couple resided at the Holmer residence until 3 April 1990.
The couple then moved into a three-room living quarters within the Soviet military hospital in Beelitz. Here, doctors diagnosed a malignant liver tumour following another re-examination. Following German reunification, prosecutors in Berlin issued a further arrest warrant for Honecker in November 1990 on charges that he gave the order to fire on escapees at the Inner German border in 1961 and had repeatedly reiterated that command (most specifically in 1974). However, this warrant was not enforceable because Honecker lay under the protection of Soviet authorities in Beelitz. On 13 March 1991 the Honeckers fled Germany from the Soviet-controlled Sperenberg Airfield to Moscow on a military jet with the aid of Soviet hardliners.
The German Chancellery had only been informed by Soviet diplomats about the Honeckers’ flight to Moscow one hour in advance. It limited its response to a public protest, claiming the existence of an arrest warrant meant the Soviet Union was breaching international law by admitting Honecker. The initial Soviet reaction was that Honecker was now too ill to travel and was receiving medical treatment after a deterioration of his health. He underwent further surgery the following month.
On 11 December 1991 the Honeckers sought refuge in the Chilean Embassy in Moscow, while also applying for political asylum in the Soviet Union. Despite an offer of help from North Korea, Honecker instead reached out to the Chilean government under Christian Democrat Patricio Aylwin. Under Honecker's rule, East Germany had granted many Chileans exile following the military coup of 1973 by Augusto Pinochet. In addition his daughter Sonja was married to a Chilean. Chilean authorities, however, stated he could not enter their country without a valid German passport.
Mikhail Gorbachev agreed to the dissolution of the Soviet Union on 25 December 1991 and gave all his powers to Russian president Boris Yeltsin. Russian authorities had long been keen on expelling Honecker, against the wishes of Gorbachev, and the new government now demanded that he leave the country or else face deportation.
In June 1992, Chilean President Patricio Aylwin, leader of a center-left coalition, finally assured German Chancellor Helmut Kohl that Honecker would be leaving the embassy in Moscow. Reportedly against his will, Honecker was ejected from the embassy on 29 July 1992 and flown to Berlin's Tegel Airport, where he was arrested and detained in Moabit Prison. By contrast, his wife Margot travelled on a direct flight from Moscow to Santiago, Chile, where she initially stayed with her daughter Sonja. Honecker's lawyers unsuccessfully appealed for him to be released from detention in the period leading up to his trial.
Criminal trial and death
On 12 May 1992, while under protection in the Chilean embassy in Moscow, Honecker, along with several co-defendants, including Erich Mielke, Willi Stoph, Heinz Kessler, Fritz Streletz and Hans Albrecht, was accused in a 783-page indictment of taking part in the "collective manslaughter" of 68 people as they attempted to flee East Germany. It was alleged that Honecker, in his role as Chairman of the National Defence Council, had both given the decisive order in 1961 for the construction of the Berlin Wall and also, at subsequent meetings, ordered the extensive expansion of the border fortifications around West Berlin and the barriers to the West so as to make any passing impossible. In addition, specifically at a May 1974 sitting of the National Defence Council, he had stated that the development of the border must continue, that lines of fire were warranted along the whole border and, as prior, the use of firearms was essential: "Comrades who have successfully used their firearms [are] to be praised". Honecker, in his role of chairman of the party, was responsible for the deaths of many more than the 68 mentioned above. As of 22 April 2015, well over 1,000 deaths have been discovered mainly through secret East German documentation: "It is still not known for sure how many people died on the inner German border or who they were, as the East German state treated such information as a closely guarded secret. But numbers have risen steadily since unification, as evidence has been gathered from East German records. Current unofficial estimates put the figure at up to 1,100 people." From the same article, "In 1974, Erich Honecker, as Chairman of the GDR's National Defence Council, ordered: 'Firearms are to be ruthlessly used in the event of attempts to break through the border, and the comrades who have successfully used their firearms are to be commended.'"
The charges were approved by the Berlin District Court on 19 October 1992 at the opening of the trial. On the same day, it was decided that the hearing of 56 charges would be postponed and the remaining twelve cases would be the subject of the trial to begin on 12 November 1992. The question of under which laws the former East German leader could be tried was highly controversial and, in the view of many jurists, the process had an uncertain outcome.
During his 70-minute-long statement to the court on 3 December 1992, Honecker said that he had political responsibility for the building of the Berlin Wall and subsequent deaths at the borders, but claimed he was "without juridical, legal or moral guilt". He blamed the escalation of the Cold War for the building of the Berlin Wall, saying the decision had not been taken solely by the East German leadership but all the Warsaw Pact nations that had collectively concluded in 1961 that a "Third World War with millions dead" would be unavoidable without this action. He quoted several West German politicians who had opined that the wall had indeed reduced and stabilised the two factions. He stated that he had always regretted every death, both from a human point of view and due to the political damage they caused.
Making reference to past trials in Germany against communists and socialists such as Karl Marx and August Bebel, he claimed that the legal process against him was politically motivated and a "show trial" against communism. He stated that no court lying in the territory of West Germany had the legal right to place him, his co-defendants or any East German citizen on trial, and that the portrayal of East Germany as an "Unrechtsstaat" was contradictory to its recognition by over one hundred other nations and the UN Security Council. Furthermore, he questioned how a German court could now legally judge his political decisions in the light of the lack of legal action taken over various military operations that had been carried out by Western nations with either overt support or absence of condemnation from (West) Germany. He dismissed public criticism of the Stasi, arguing that journalists in Western countries were praised for denouncing others. While accepting political responsibility for the deaths at the Wall, he believed he was free of any "legal or moral guilt", and thought that East Germany would go down in history as "a sign that socialism is possible and is better than capitalism."
By the time of the proceedings Honecker was already seriously ill. A new CT scan in August 1992 had confirmed an ultrasound examination made in Moscow and the existence of a malignant tumour in the right lobe of his liver. Based on these findings and additional medical testimonies, Honecker’s lawyers requested that the legal proceedings, as far as they were aimed against their client, be abandoned and the arrest warrant against him withdrawn; the cases against both Mielke and Stoph had already been postponed due to their ill health. Arguing that his life expectancy was estimated to be three to six months, while the legal process was forecast to take at least two years, his lawyers questioned whether it was humane to try a dying man. Their application was rejected on 21 December 1992 when the court concluded that, given the seriousness of the charges, no obstacle to the proceedings existed.
Honecker lodged a constitutional complaint to the recently created Berlin Constitutional Court, stating that the decision to proceed violated his fundamental right to human dignity, which was an overriding principle in the Constitution of Berlin, above even the state penal system and criminal justice. On 12 January 1993 Honecker's complaint was upheld and the Berlin District Court therefore abandoned the case and withdrew their arrest warrant. An application for a new arrest warrant was rejected on 13 January. The court also refused to commence with the trial related to the indictment of 12 November 1992, and withdrew the second arrest warrant related to these charges. After a total of 169 days Honecker was released from custody, drawing protests both from victims of the East German state as well as German political figures.
Honecker flew via Brazil to Santiago, Chile, to reunite with his wife and his daughter Sonja, who lived there with her son Roberto. Upon his arrival he was greeted by the leaders of the Chilean Communist and Socialist parties. In contrast, his co-defendants Heinz Kessler, Fritz Streletz and Hans Albrecht were sentenced on 16 September 1993 to imprisonment of between four and seven-and-a-half years. On 13 April 1993 a final attempt to separate and continue the trial against Honecker in his absence was discontinued. Four days later, on the 66th birthday of his wife Margot, he gave a final public speech, ending with the words: "Socialism is the opposite of what we have now in Germany. For that I would like to say that our beautiful memories of the German Democratic Republic are testimony of a new and just society. And we want to always remain loyal to these things".
On 29 May 1994, Honecker died of liver cancer at the age of 81 in a terraced house in the La Reina district of Santiago. His funeral, arranged by the Communist Party of Chile, was conducted the following day at central cemetery in Santiago.
Family
Honecker was married three times. After being liberated from prison in 1945, he married the prison warden Charlotte Schanuel (née Drost), nine years his senior, on 23 December 1946. She died suddenly from a brain tumour in June 1947. Details of this marriage were not revealed until 2003, well after his death.
By the time of her death, Honecker was already romantically involved with the Free German Youth official Edith Baumann, whom he met on a trip to Moscow. With her, he had a daughter, Erika (b. 1950), who later gave him his granddaughter Anke. Sources differ on whether Honecker and Baumann married in 1947 or 1949, but in 1952 he fathered an illegitimate daughter, Sonja (b. December 1952), with Margot Feist, a People's Chamber member and chairperson of the Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Organisation.
In September 1950, Baumann wrote directly to Walter Ulbricht to inform him of her husband's extramarital activity in the hope of him pressuring Honecker to end his relationship with Feist. Following his divorce and reportedly under pressure from the Politburo, he married Feist. However, sources again differ on both the year of his divorce from Baumann and of his marriage to Feist; depending on the source, the events took place either in 1953 or 1955. For more than twenty years, Margot Honecker served as Minister of National Education. In 2012 intelligence reports collated by West German spies alleged that both Honecker and his wife had secret affairs but did not divorce for political reasons; however, his bodyguard Bernd Brückner, in a book about his time spent in Honecker's service, denied the claims.
Honecker had three grandchildren from his daughter Sonja, who had married the Chilean-born exile Leonardo Yáñez Betancourt: Roberto (b. 1974), Mariana (b. 1985), who died in 1988 at the age of two leaving Honecker himself heartbroken, and Vivian (b. 1988). Roberto's origins are debated; he is claimed to be the illegally adopted son of Heidi Stein, Dirk Schiller, born on 13 June 1975 in Görlitz, who disappeared in March 1979, due to alleged physical similarities between Dirk and Yáñez, Stein suspecting that her son might have been kidnapped at three years old by Stasi agents for Honecker's younger daughter.
Honecker's daughter divorced Yáñez in 1993. She and her two surviving children still live in Santiago.
Honours and awards
:
Hero of the German Democratic Republic (twice)
Hero of Labour
Patriotic Order of Merit (Honor clasp, in Gold)
Order of Karl Marx (five times)
Order of the Banner of Labor
:
Hero of the Soviet Union
Order of Lenin (thrice)
Order of the October Revolution
Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin"
Other countries:
Grand Star of the Order of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria (Austria)
Order of Georgi Dimitrov (Bulgaria)
Order of José Martí (Cuba)
Order of Playa Girón (Cuba)
Order of Klement Gottwald (Czechoslovakia)
Grand Cross of the White Rose of Finland (Finland)
Order of Augusto Cesar Sandino, 1st class (Nicaragua)
Order of the "Victory of Socialism" (Romania)
Order of Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam)
Olympic Order (International Olympic Committee)
In popular culture
Dmitri Vrubel's 1990 mural on the Berlin Wall My God, Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love, depicting a socialist "fraternal kiss" between Honecker and Leonid Brezhnev, became known around the world.
A traffic signal inspired by Honecker wearing a jaunty straw hat was used in parts of East Germany (Ost-Ampelmännchen) and has become a symbol of Ostalgie.
Notes
References
Further reading
Bryson, Phillip J., and Manfred Melzer eds. The end of the East German economy: from Honecker to reunification (Palgrave Macmillan, 1991).
Childs, David, ed. Honecker's Germany (London: Taylor & Francis, 1985).
Collier Jr, Irwin L. "GDR economic policy during the honecker era." Eastern European Economics 29.1 (1990): 5–29.
Dennis, Mike. Social and Economic Modernization in Eastern Germany from Honecker to Kohl (Burns & Oates, 1993).
Dennis, Mike. "The East German Ministry of State Security and East German Society During the Honecker Era, 1971–1989." in German Writers and the Politics of Culture (Palgrave Macmillan, London, 200)3. 3–24 on the STASI
Fulbrook, Mary. (2008) The people's state: East German society from Hitler to Honecker. Yale University Press.
Grix, Jonathan. "Competing approaches to the collapse of the GDR: ‘Top‐down’ vs ‘bottom‐up’," Journal of Area Studies 6#13:121–142, DOI: 10.1080/02613539808455836, Historiography.
Lippmann, Heinz. Honecker and the new politics of Europe (New York: Macmillan, 1972).
McAdams, A. James. "The Honecker trial: the East German past and the German future." Review of Politics 58.1 (1996): 53–80. online
Weitz, Eric D. Creating German Communism, 1890–1990: From Popular Protests to Socialist State (Princeton UP, 1997).
Wilsford, David, ed. Political leaders of contemporary Western Europe: a biographical dictionary (Greenwood, 1995) pp. 195–201.
Primary sources
Honecker, Erich. (1981) From My Life. New York: Pergamon, 1981. .
External links
Honecker im Internet (in German)
www.warheroes.ru – Erich Honecker (in Russian)
Welcoming Address to 1979 Session of the World Peace Council Erich Honecker's speech to the WPC
A Successful Policy Seared to the Needs of the People Volkskammer pamphlet including material by Honecker
1912 births
1994 deaths
People from Neunkirchen, Saarland
People from the Rhine Province
Communist Party of Germany politicians
Members of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany
Members of the Provisional Volkskammer
Members of the 1st Volkskammer
Members of the 2nd Volkskammer
Members of the 3rd Volkskammer
Members of the 4th Volkskammer
Members of the 5th Volkskammer
Members of the 6th Volkskammer
Members of the 7th Volkskammer
Members of the 8th Volkskammer
Members of the 9th Volkskammer
Free German Youth members
Communist rulers
Communists in the German Resistance
Collaborators with the Soviet Union
German atheists
German expatriates in Chile
German expatriates in the Soviet Union
Exiled politicians
International Lenin School alumni
People condemned by Nazi courts
People extradited from Russia
People extradited to Germany
German politicians convicted of crimes
Heads of government who were later imprisoned
Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit (honor clasp)
Recipients of the Banner of Labor
Recipients of the Olympic Order
Recipients of the Order of Ho Chi Minh
Recipients of the Grand Star of the Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria
Foreign Heroes of the Soviet Union
Recipients of the Order of Lenin
Deaths from liver cancer
Deaths from cancer in Chile
People of the Cold War | true | [
"Princess Yeondeok (연덕궁주, 延德宮主; ) was a title given to the Goryeo Queen Consort or Royal Consort. Those who held this title may lived in Yeondeok Palace (연덕궁, 延德宮), they may refer to: \nQueen Wonhye (원혜왕후), the first consort who held this title. She was King Hyeonjong's 4th wife.\nQueen Inye (인예왕후), the second consort who held this title. She was King Munjong's 3rd wife.\nQueen Myeongui (명의왕후), the third consort who held this title. She was King Sukjong's only wife.\nQueen Sundeok (순덕왕후), the fourth consort who held this title. She was King Yejong's 2nd wife.\nDeposed Queen Yi (폐비 이씨), the fifth consort who held this title. She was King Injong's 1st wife.\nQueen Gongye (공예왕후), the sixth consort who held this title. She was King Injong's 3rd wife. \nQueen Wondeok (원덕왕후), the seventh consort who held this title. She was King Gangjong's 2nd wife.",
"Patrick Maule, 1st Earl of Panmure (1585-1661) was a Scottish courtier and aristocrat.\n\nHe was a son of Patrick Maule (died 1605) and Margaret Erskine (died 1599), a daughter of John Erskine of Dun and Elizabeth Lindsay.\n\nPatrick Maule was a page in the household of James VI and I. At the Union of Crowns in 1603 he accompanied the court to London. He was subsequently appointed a Gentleman of the Bedchamber.\n\n1n 1610 Maule was granted the Barony of Panmure, and lands in Northamptonshire, including Collyweston in 1625. He was made Sheriff Principal of Forfarshire in 1632.\n\nMaule was a Royalist and fought for Charles I at York in 1642. He was a Colonel in the Scottish Army at Oxford in 1646. He was created Earl of Panmure and Lord Maule of Brechin and Navar.\n\nPatrick Maule died in 1661 was buried at Panbride in Angus.\n\nMarriages and family\n\nHis first wife, Frances Stanhope, died in 1624. Their children included:\n George Maule, 2nd Earl of Panmure\n Elizabeth Maule (1622-1650), who married John Lyon, 2nd Earl of Kinghorne\n Anna Maule (1618-1623)\n Jean Maule, who married David Carnegie, 2nd Earl of Northesk\n Henry Maule, who married Jean Wemyss, daughter of John Wemyss, 1st Earl of Wemyss\n\nHis second wife, Mary Waldrum or Waldrone (died 1636), was a maid of honour to Henrietta Maria. \nHis third wife, Mary Erskine, was a daughter of John Erskine, 2nd Earl of Mar and Marie Erskine, and widow of William Keith, 6th Earl Marischal. They married at Keith Marischal in East Lothian in July 1639.\n\nReferences\n\nPeers of Scotland created by Charles I\n1585 births\n1661 deaths"
]
|
[
"Erich Honecker",
"Family",
"Who was Honecker's father?",
"I don't know.",
"Did Honecker marry?",
"Honecker was married three times.",
"Who was his 1st wife?",
"he married the prison warden Charlotte Schanuel",
"Who was his 2nd wife?",
"By the time of her death, Honecker was already romantically involved with the Free German Youth official Edith Baumann,"
]
| C_92bef31fd20145178978ed83b356e8f6_0 | Who was his 3rd wife? | 5 | Who was Erich Honecker 3rd wife? | Erich Honecker | Honecker was married three times. After being liberated from prison in 1945 he married the prison warden Charlotte Schanuel (nee Drost), nine years his senior, on 23 December 1946. She died suddenly from a brain tumour in June 1947. Details of this marriage were not revealed until 2003, well after his death. By the time of her death, Honecker was already romantically involved with the Free German Youth official Edith Baumann, whom he met on a trip to Moscow. With her he had a daughter, Erika (b. 1950), who later gave him his granddaughter Anke. Sources differ on whether Honecker and Baumann married in 1947 or 1949, but in 1952 he fathered an illegitimate daughter, Sonja (b. December 1952), with Margot Feist, a People's Chamber member and chairperson of the Ernst Thalmann Pioneer Organisation. In September 1950, Baumann wrote directly to Walter Ulbricht to inform him of her husband's extramarital activity in the hope of him pressuring Honecker to end his relationship with Feist. Following his divorce and reportedly under pressure from the Politburo, he married Feist, however sources again differ on both the year of his divorce from Baumann and of his marriage to Feist; depending on the source, the events took place either in 1953 or 1955. For more than twenty years, Margot Honecker served as Minister of National Education. In 2012 intelligence reports collated by West German spies alleged that both Erich and his wife had secret affairs but did not divorce for political reasons, however, his bodyguard Bernd Bruckner in a book about his time spent in Honecker's service, refuted the claims. Honecker had three grandchildren from his daughter Sonja, who had married the Chilean-born exile Leonardo Yanez Betancourt; Roberto, (b. 1974) Mariana, (b. 1985) who died in 1988 at the age of two leaving Honecker himself heartbroken, and Vivian (b. 1988). Roberto's origins are debated; he is claimed to be the illegally adopted son of Mrs. Heidi Stein, Dirk Schiller, born on 13 June 1975 in Gorlitz, who disappeared in March 1979, due to alleged physical similarities between Dirk and Leonardo Mrs Stein suspecting that her son might have been kidnapped at 3 years old by Stasi agents for Honecker's younger daughter. Honecker's daughter, (who divorced Leonardo in 1993) grandson and granddaughter still live in Santiago. CANNOTANSWER | Following his divorce and reportedly under pressure from the Politburo, he married Feist, | Erich Ernst Paul Honecker (; 25 August 1912 – 29 May 1994) was a German communist politician who led the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 1971 until shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall in October 1989. He held the posts of General Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) and Chairman of the National Defence Council; in 1976, he replaced Willi Stoph as Chairman of the State Council, the official head of state. As the leader of East Germany, Honecker had close ties to the Soviet Union, which maintained a large army in the country.
Honecker's political career began in the 1930s when he became an official of the Communist Party of Germany, a position for which he was imprisoned by the Nazis. Following World War II, he was freed by the Soviet army and relaunched his political activities, founding the SED's youth organisation, the Free German Youth, in 1946 and serving as the group's chairman until 1955. As the Security Secretary of the SED Central Committee, he was the prime organiser of the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961 and, in this function, bore administrative responsibility for the "order to fire" along the Wall and the larger inner German border.
In 1970, Honecker initiated a political power struggle that led, with support of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, to him replacing Walter Ulbricht as General Secretary of the SED and chairman of the National Defence Council. Under his command, the country adopted a programme of "consumer socialism" and moved towards the international community by normalizing relations with West Germany and also becoming a full member of the UN, in what is considered one of his greatest political successes.
As Cold War tensions eased in the late 1980s with the advent of perestroika and glasnost—the liberal reforms introduced by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev—Honecker refused all but cosmetic changes to the East German political system. He cited the continual hardliner attitudes of Kim Il-sung and Fidel Castro, whose respective countries of governance of North Korea and Cuba had been critical of reforms. As anti-government protests grew, Honecker begged Gorbachev to intervene with the Soviet army to suppress the protests to maintain communist rule in East Germany as Moscow had done with Czechoslovakia in the Prague Spring of 1968 and with the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, but Gorbachev refused. Honecker was forced to resign by the SED Politburo in October 1989 in a bid to improve the government's image in the eyes of the public; the effort was unsuccessful, and the regime would collapse entirely the following month.
Following German reunification in 1990, Honecker sought asylum in the Chilean embassy in Moscow, but was extradited back to Germany in 1992, after the fall of the Soviet Union, to stand trial for his role in the human rights abuses committed by the East German government. However, the proceedings were abandoned, as Honecker was suffering from terminal liver cancer. He was freed from custody to join his family in exile in Chile, where he died in May 1994.
Childhood and youth
Honecker was born in Neunkirchen, in what is now Saarland, to Wilhelm Honecker (1881–1969), a coal miner and political activist, and his wife Caroline Catharine Weidenhof (1883–1963). The couple, married in 1905, had six children: Katharina (Käthe, 1906–1925), Wilhelm (Willi, 1907–1944), Frieda (1909–1974), Erich, Gertrud (1917–2010) and Karl-Robert (1923–1947). Erich, their fourth child, was born on 25 August 1912 during the period in which the family resided on Max-Braun-Straße, before later moving to Kuchenbergstraße 88 in the present-day Neunkirchen city district of Wiebelskirchen.
After World War I, the Territory of the Saar Basin was occupied by France. This change from the strict rule of to French military occupation provided the backdrop for what Wilhelm Honecker understood as proletarian exploitation, and introduced young Erich to communism. After his tenth birthday in 1922, Erich Honecker became a member of the Spartacus League's children's group in Wiebelskirchen. Aged 14 he entered the KJVD, the Young Communist League of Germany, for whom he later served the organisation's leader of Saarland from 1931.
Honecker did not find an apprenticeship immediately after leaving school, but instead worked for a farmer in Pomerania for almost two years. In 1928 he returned to Wiebelskirchen and began a traineeship as a roofer with his uncle, but quit to attend the International Lenin School in Moscow and Magnitogorsk after the KJVD handpicked him for a course of study there. There, sharing a room with Anton Ackermann, he studied under the cover name "Fritz Malter".
Opposition to the Nazis and imprisonment
In 1930, aged 18, Honecker entered the KPD, the Communist Party of Germany. His political mentor was Otto Niebergall, who later represented the KPD in the Reichstag. After returning from Moscow in 1931 following his studies at the International Lenin School, he became the leader of the KJVD in the Saar region. After the Nazi seizure of power in 1933, Communist activities within Germany were only possible undercover; the Saar region however still remained outside the German Reich under a League of Nations mandate. Honecker was arrested in Essen, Germany but soon released. Following this he fled to the Netherlands and from there oversaw KJVD's activities in Pfalz, Hesse and Baden-Württemberg.
Honecker returned to the Saar in 1934 and worked alongside Johannes Hoffmann on the campaign against the region's re-incorporation into Germany. A referendum on the area's future in January 1935 however saw 90.73% vote in favour of reunifying with Germany. Like 4,000 to 8,000 others, Honecker then fled the region, initially relocating to Paris.
On 28 August 1935 he illegally travelled to Berlin under the alias "Marten Tjaden", with a printing press in his luggage. From there he worked closely together with KPD official Herbert Wehner in opposition/resistance to the Nazi state. On 4 December 1935 Honecker was detained by the Gestapo and until 1937 remanded in Berlin's Moabit detention centre. On 3 July 1937 he was sentenced to ten years imprisonment for the "preparation of high treason alongside the severe falsification of documents".
Honecker spent the majority of his incarceration in the Brandenburg-Görden Prison, where he also carried out tasks as a handyman. In early 1945 he was moved to the Barnimstraße Women's Prison in Berlin due to good behaviour and to be put to work repairing the bomb-damaged building, as he was a skilled roofer. During an Allied bombing raid on 6 March 1945 he managed to escape and hid himself at the apartment of Lotte Grund, a female prison guard. After several days she persuaded him to turn himself in and his escape was then covered up by the guard. Honecker spent most of his time in prison under solitary confinement.
After the liberation of the prisons by advancing Soviet troops on 27 April 1945, Honecker remained in Berlin. His "escape" from prison and his relationships during his captivity later led to him experiencing difficulties within the Socialist Unity Party, as well as straining his relations with his former inmates. In later interviews and in his personal memoirs, Honecker falsified many of the details of his life during this period. Material from the East German State Security Service has been used to allege that, to be released from prison, Honecker offered the Gestapo evidence incriminating fellow imprisoned Communists, claimed he had renounced Communism "for good", and was willing to serve in the German army.
Post-war return to politics
In May 1945 Honecker was "picked up" by chance in Berlin by Hans Mahle and taken to the Ulbricht Group, a collective of exiled German communists that had returned from the Soviet Union to Germany after the end of the Nazi regime. Through Waldemar Schmidt, Honecker befriended Walter Ulbricht, who had not been aware of him at that point. Honecker's future role in the group was still undecided until well into the summer months, as he had yet to face a party process. This ended in a reprimand due to his "undisciplined conduct" in fleeing from prison at the start of the year, an action which was debated upon it jeopardizing the other (communist) inmates.
In 1946, Honecker became the co-founder of the Free German Youth (FDJ), whose chairmanship he also undertook. After the formation of the SED, the Socialist Unity Party, in April 1946 through a merger of the KPD and SPD, Honecker swiftly became a leading party member and took his place in the party's Central Committee.
On 7 October 1949, the German Democratic Republic was formed with the adoption of a new constitution, establishing a political system similar to that of the Soviet Union. Within the state's socialist single party government, Honecker determinedly resumed his political career and the following year was nominated as a candidate for the Politbüro of the SED's Central Committee. As President of the Free German Youth movement, he organised the inaugural "Deutschlandtreffen der Jugend" in East Berlin in May 1950 and the 3rd World Festival of Youth and Students in 1951, although the latter was beset with organisational problems.
During the internal party unrest following the suppressed uprising of June 1953, Honecker sided with First Secretary Walter Ulbricht, despite the majority of the Politburo attempting to depose Ulbricht in favour of Rudolf Herrnstadt. Honecker himself though faced questioning from party members about his inadequate qualifications for his position. On 27 May 1955 he handed the Presidency of the FDJ over to Karl Namokel, and departed for Moscow to study for two years at the School of the Soviet Communist Party at Ulbricht's request. During this period he witnessed the 20th Congress of the Soviet Communist Party in person, where its First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev denounced Joseph Stalin.
After returning to East Germany in 1958, Honecker became a fully-fledged member of the Politburo, taking over responsibility for military and security issues. As the Party Security Secretary he was the prime organiser of the building of the Berlin Wall in August 1961 and also a proponent of the "order to fire" along the Inner German border.
Leadership of East Germany
While Ulbricht had replaced the state's command economy with, firstly the "New Economic System", then the Economic System of Socialism, as he sought to improve the country's failing economy, Honecker declared the main task to in fact be the "unity of economic and social politics", essentially through which living standards (with increased consumer goods) would be raised in exchange for political loyalty. Tensions had already led to his once-mentor Ulbricht removing Honecker from the position of Second Secretary in July 1970, only for the Soviet leadership to swiftly reinstate him. Honecker played up the thawing East-West German relationship as Ulbricht's strategy, to win the support of the Soviet leadership under Leonid Brezhnev. With this secured, Honecker was appointed First Secretary (from 1976 titled general secretary) of the Central Committee on 3 May 1971 after the Soviet leadership forced Ulbricht to step aside "for health reasons".
After also succeeding Ulbricht as Chairman of the National Defence Council in 1971, Honecker was eventually also elected Chairman of the State Council (a post equivalent to that of president) on 29 October 1976. With this, Honecker reached the height of power within East Germany. From there on, he, along with Economic Secretary Günter Mittag and Minister of State Security Erich Mielke, made all key government decisions. Until 1989 the "little strategic clique" composed of these three men was unchallenged as the top level of East Germany's ruling class. Honecker's closest colleague was , the SED's Agitation and Propaganda Secretary. Alongside him, Honecker held daily meetings concerning the party's media representation in which the layout of the party's own newspaper Neues Deutschland, as well as the sequencing of news items in the national news bulletin Aktuelle Kamera, were determined.
Under Honecker's leadership, East Germany adopted a programme of "consumer socialism", which resulted in a marked improvement in living standards already the highest among the Eastern bloc countries. More attention was placed on the availability of consumer goods, and the construction of new housing was accelerated, with Honecker promising to "settle the housing problem as an issue of social relevance". His policies were initially marked by a liberalisation toward culture and art, though this was less about the replacement of Ulbricht by Honecker and more for propaganda purposes. While 1973 brought the World Festival of Youth and Students to East Berlin, soon dissident artists such as Wolf Biermann were expelled and the Ministry for State Security raised its efforts to suppress political resistance. Honecker remained committed to the expansion of the Inner German border and the "order to fire" policy along it. During his time in office around 125 East German citizens were killed while trying to reach the West.
After the Federal Republic had secured an agreement with the Soviet Union on cooperation and a policy of non-violence, it became possible to reach a similar agreement with the GDR. The Basic Treaty between East and West Germany in 1972 sought to normalise contacts between the two governments.
East Germany also participated in the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe held in Helsinki in 1975, which attempted to improve relations between the West and the Eastern Bloc, and became a full member of the United Nations. These acts of diplomacy were considered Honecker’s greatest successes in foreign politics.
Honecker received additional high-profile personal recognitions including honorary doctorates of humane letters from North Korea’s Kim Il-Sung University in 1974, Cuba's University of Las Tunas in 1979 and Iraq's Saddam University in 1983, honorary doctorates of business administration from East Berlin's Humboldt University in 1976, Tokyo's Nihon University in 1981 and the London School of Economics in 1984 and the Olympic Order from the IOC in 1985. In September 1987, he became the first East German head of state to visit West Germany, where he was received with full state honours by West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl in an act that seemed to confirm West Germany's acceptance of East Germany's existence. During this trip he also journeyed to his birthplace in Saarland, where he held an emotional speech in which he spoke of a day when Germans would no longer be separated by borders, but unified under communist rule. This trip had been planned twice before, including September 1984, but was initially blocked by the Soviet leadership which mistrusted the special East-West German relationship, particularly efforts to expand East Germany's limited independence in the realm of foreign policy.
Illness, downfall and resignation
In the late 1980s, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev introduced glasnost and perestroika, reforms to liberalise socialist planned economy. Frictions between him and Honecker had grown over these policies and numerous additional issues from 1985 onward. East Germany refused to implement similar reforms, with Honecker reportedly telling Gorbachev: "We have done our perestroika; we have nothing to restructure". Gorbachev grew to dislike Honecker, and by 1988 was lumping him in with Bulgaria's Todor Zhivkov, Czechoslovakia's Gustáv Husák and Romania's Nicolae Ceaușescu as a "Gang of Four": a group of inflexible hardliners unwilling to make reforms.
According to White House experts Philip Zelikow and Condoleezza Rice, Gorbachev looked to Communist leaders in Eastern Europe to follow his example of perestroika and glasnost. They argue:
Gorbachev himself had no particular sympathy for Erich Honecker, chairman of the East German Communist Party, and his hard-line comrades and the government. As early as 1985... [Gorbachev] had told East German party officials that kindergarten was over; no one would lead them by the hand. They were responsible for their own people. The relations between Gorbachev and Honecker went downhill from there.
Western analysts, according to Zelikow and Rice, believed in 1989 that Communism was still secure in East Germany:
Bolstered by relatively greater affluence than his country's Eastern European neighbors enjoyed in a fantastically elaborate system of internal controls, East Germany's longtime leader Eric Honecker seemed secure in his position. His government had long dealt with dissent through a mixture of brutal repression, forced emigration, and the vent of allowing occasional, limited travel to the West for a substantial part of the population.
Honecker felt betrayed by Gorbachev in his German policy and ensured that official texts of the Soviet Union, especially those concerning perestroika, could no longer be published or sold in East Germany.
At the Warsaw Pact summit on 7–8 July 1989 in Bucharest, the Soviet Union reaffirmed its shift from the Brezhnev Doctrine of the limited sovereignty of its member states, and announced "freedom of choice". The Bucharest statement prescribed that its nations henceforth developed their "own political line, strategy and tactics without external intervention". This called into question the Soviet guarantee of existence for the Communist states in Europe. Already in May 1989 Hungary had begun dismantling its border with Austria, creating the first gap in the so-called Iron Curtain, through which later several thousand East Germans quickly fled in hopes of reaching West Germany by way of Austria. But with the mass exodus at the Pan-European Picnic in August 1989 (which was based on an idea by Otto von Habsburg to test Gorbachev's reaction to the opening of the border), the subsequent hesitant behaviour of the Socialist Unity Party of East Germany and the non-intervention of the Soviet Union opened the floodgates. Thus the united front of the Eastern Bloc was broken. The reaction to this from Erich Honecker in the Daily Mirror of August 19, 1989 was too late and showed the current loss of power: “Habsburg distributed leaflets far into Poland, on which the East German holidaymakers were invited to a picnic. When they came to the picnic, they were given gifts, food and Deutsche Mark, and then they were persuaded to come to the West.” Later, after his fall, Honecker said of Otto von Habsburg in connection with the summer of 1989: "That this Habsburg drove the nail into my coffin." Now tens of thousands of media-informed East Germans made their way to Hungary, which was no longer ready to keep its borders completely closed or to oblige its border troops to use force of arms. A 1969 treaty required the Hungarian government to send the East Germans back home; however, starting on 11 September 1989, the Hungarians let them pass into Austria, telling their outraged East German counterparts that they were refugees and that international treaties on refugees took precedence.
At the time, Honecker was sidelined through illness, leaving his colleagues unable to act decisively. He had been taken ill with biliary colic during the Warsaw Pact summit. He was shortly afterwards flown home to East Berlin. After an initial stabilisation in his health, he underwent surgery on 18 August 1989 to remove his inflamed gallbladder and, due to a perforation, part of his colon. According to the urologist Peter Althaus, the surgeons left a suspected carcinogenic nodule in Honecker’s right kidney due to his weak condition, and also failed to inform the patient of the suspected cancer; other sources say the tumour was simply undetected. As a result of this operation, Honecker was away from his office until late September 1989.
Back in office, Honecker had to contend with the rising number and strength of demonstrations across East Germany that had first been sparked by reports in the West German media of fraudulent results in local elections on 7 May 1989, the same results he had labelled a "convincing reflection" of the populace's faith in his leadership. He also had to deal with a new refugee problem. Several thousand East Germans tried to go to West Germany by way of Czechoslovakia, only to have that government bar them from passing. Several thousands of them headed straight for the West German embassy in Prague and demanded safe passage to West Germany. With some reluctance, Honecker allowed them to go – but forced them to go back through East Germany on sealed trains and stripped them of their East German citizenship. Several members of the SED Politbüro realised this was a serious blunder and made plans to get rid of him.
As unrest visibly grew, large numbers began fleeing the country through the West German embassies in Prague and Budapest, as well as over the borders of the "socialist brother" states. Each month saw tens of thousands more exit. On 3 October 1989 East Germany closed its borders to its eastern neighbours and prevented visa-free travel to Czechoslovakia; a day later these measures were also extended to travel to Bulgaria and Romania. East Germany was now not only behind the Iron Curtain to the West, but also cordoned off from most other Eastern bloc states.
On 6–7 October 1989 the national celebrations of the 40th anniversary of the East German state took place with Gorbachev in attendance. To the surprise of Honecker and the other SED leaders in attendance, several hundred members of the Free German Youth — reckoned as the future vanguard of the party and nation — began chanting, "Gorby, help us! Gorby, save us!". In a private conversation between the two leaders Honecker praised the success of the nation, but Gorbachev knew that, in reality, it faced bankruptcy; East Germany had already accepted billions of dollars in loans from West Germany during the decade as it sought to stabilise its economy. Attempting to make Honecker accept a need for reforms, Gorbachev warned Honecker that "He who is too late is punished by life", yet Honecker maintained that "we will solve our problems ourselves with socialist means". Protests outside the reception at the Palace of the Republic led to hundreds of arrests in which many were brutally beaten by soldiers and police.
As the reform movement spread throughout Central and Eastern Europe, mass demonstrations against the East German government erupted, most prominently in Leipzig—the first of several demonstrations which took place on Monday nights across the country. In response, an elite paratroop unit was dispatched to Leipzig—almost certainly on Honecker's orders, since he was commander-in-chief of the Army. A bloodbath was averted only when local party officials themselves ordered the troops to pull back. In the following week, Honecker faced a torrent of criticism. This gave his Politburo comrades the impetus they needed to replace him.
After a crisis meeting of the Politburo on 10–11 October 1989, Honecker's planned state visit to Denmark was cancelled and, despite his resistance, at the insistence of the government's number-two-man, Egon Krenz, a public statement was issued that called for "suggestions for attractive socialism". Over the following days Krenz worked to secure himself the support of the military and the Stasi and arranged a meeting between Gorbachev and Politburo member Harry Tisch, who was in Moscow, to inform the Kremlin about the now-planned removal of Honecker; Gorbachev reportedly wished them good luck.
The sitting of the SED Central Committee planned for the end of November 1989 was pulled forward a week, with the most urgent item on the agenda now being the composition of the Politburo. Krenz and Mielke attempted by telephone on the night of 16 October to win other Politburo members over to remove Honecker. At the beginning of the session on 17 October, Honecker asked his routine question of "Are there any suggestions for the agenda?" Stoph replied, "Please, general secretary, Erich, I propose that a new item be placed on the agenda. It is the release of Erich Honecker as general secretary and the election of Egon Krenz in his place." Honecker reportedly calmly responded: "Well, then I open the debate".
All those present then spoke, in turn, but none in favour of Honecker. Günter Schabowski even extended the dismissal of Honecker to also include his posts in the State Council and as Chairman of the National Defence Council while childhood friend Günter Mittag moved away from Honecker. Mielke supposedly blamed Honecker for almost all the country's current ills and threatened to publish compromising information that he possessed, if Honecker refused to resign. A ZDF documentary on the matter claims this information was contained in a large red briefcase found in Mielke's possession in 1990. After three hours the Politburo voted to remove Honecker. In accordance with longstanding practice, Honecker voted for his own removal. When the public announcement was made, it was branded as a voluntary decision on Honecker's part, ostensibly "due to health reasons". Krenz was unanimously elected as his successor as General Secretary.
Start of prosecution and asylum attempts
Communist rule in East Germany survived Honecker's removal by only two months. Three weeks after Honecker's ousting the Berlin Wall fell, and the SED swiftly lost control of the country. On 1 December, its guaranteed right to rule was removed from the East German constitution. Two days later he was expelled from the SED along with other former officials. He went on to join the newly founded Communist Party of Germany in 1990, remaining a member until his death.
During November the People's Chamber had already set up a committee to investigate corruption and abuses of office, with Honecker being alleged to have received annual donations from the National Academy of Architecture of around 20,000 marks as an "honorary member". On 5 December 1989 the chief public prosecutor in East Germany formally launched a judicial inquiry against him on charges of high treason, abuses of confidence and embezzlement to the serious disadvantage of socialist property (the charge of high treason was dropped in March 1990). As a result, Honecker was placed under house arrest for a month.
Following the lifting of his house arrest, Honecker and his wife Margot were forced to vacate their apartment in the Waldsiedlung housing area in Wandlitz, exclusively used by senior SED party members, after the People's Chamber decided to put it to use as a sanatorium for the disabled. In any case, Honecker spent the majority of January 1990 in hospital after having the error of the tumour missed in 1989 corrected after the suspicion of cancer was confirmed. Upon leaving the hospital on 29 January he was re-arrested and held at the Berlin-Rummelsburg remand centre. However, on the evening of the following day, 30 January, Honecker was again released from custody: The district court had annulled the arrest warrant and, due to medical reports, certified him unfit for detention and interrogation.
Lacking a home, Honecker instructed his lawyer Wolfgang Vogel to ask the Evangelical Church in Berlin-Brandenburg for help. Pastor Uwe Holmer, leader of the Hoffnungstal Institute in Lobetal, Bernau bei Berlin, offered the couple a home in his vicarage. This drew immediate condemnation and later demonstrations against the church for assisting the Honeckers, given they had both discriminated against Christians who did not conform with the SED leadership's ideology. Aside from a stay at a holiday home in Lindow in March 1990 that lasted only one day before protests swiftly brought it to an end, the couple resided at the Holmer residence until 3 April 1990.
The couple then moved into a three-room living quarters within the Soviet military hospital in Beelitz. Here, doctors diagnosed a malignant liver tumour following another re-examination. Following German reunification, prosecutors in Berlin issued a further arrest warrant for Honecker in November 1990 on charges that he gave the order to fire on escapees at the Inner German border in 1961 and had repeatedly reiterated that command (most specifically in 1974). However, this warrant was not enforceable because Honecker lay under the protection of Soviet authorities in Beelitz. On 13 March 1991 the Honeckers fled Germany from the Soviet-controlled Sperenberg Airfield to Moscow on a military jet with the aid of Soviet hardliners.
The German Chancellery had only been informed by Soviet diplomats about the Honeckers’ flight to Moscow one hour in advance. It limited its response to a public protest, claiming the existence of an arrest warrant meant the Soviet Union was breaching international law by admitting Honecker. The initial Soviet reaction was that Honecker was now too ill to travel and was receiving medical treatment after a deterioration of his health. He underwent further surgery the following month.
On 11 December 1991 the Honeckers sought refuge in the Chilean Embassy in Moscow, while also applying for political asylum in the Soviet Union. Despite an offer of help from North Korea, Honecker instead reached out to the Chilean government under Christian Democrat Patricio Aylwin. Under Honecker's rule, East Germany had granted many Chileans exile following the military coup of 1973 by Augusto Pinochet. In addition his daughter Sonja was married to a Chilean. Chilean authorities, however, stated he could not enter their country without a valid German passport.
Mikhail Gorbachev agreed to the dissolution of the Soviet Union on 25 December 1991 and gave all his powers to Russian president Boris Yeltsin. Russian authorities had long been keen on expelling Honecker, against the wishes of Gorbachev, and the new government now demanded that he leave the country or else face deportation.
In June 1992, Chilean President Patricio Aylwin, leader of a center-left coalition, finally assured German Chancellor Helmut Kohl that Honecker would be leaving the embassy in Moscow. Reportedly against his will, Honecker was ejected from the embassy on 29 July 1992 and flown to Berlin's Tegel Airport, where he was arrested and detained in Moabit Prison. By contrast, his wife Margot travelled on a direct flight from Moscow to Santiago, Chile, where she initially stayed with her daughter Sonja. Honecker's lawyers unsuccessfully appealed for him to be released from detention in the period leading up to his trial.
Criminal trial and death
On 12 May 1992, while under protection in the Chilean embassy in Moscow, Honecker, along with several co-defendants, including Erich Mielke, Willi Stoph, Heinz Kessler, Fritz Streletz and Hans Albrecht, was accused in a 783-page indictment of taking part in the "collective manslaughter" of 68 people as they attempted to flee East Germany. It was alleged that Honecker, in his role as Chairman of the National Defence Council, had both given the decisive order in 1961 for the construction of the Berlin Wall and also, at subsequent meetings, ordered the extensive expansion of the border fortifications around West Berlin and the barriers to the West so as to make any passing impossible. In addition, specifically at a May 1974 sitting of the National Defence Council, he had stated that the development of the border must continue, that lines of fire were warranted along the whole border and, as prior, the use of firearms was essential: "Comrades who have successfully used their firearms [are] to be praised". Honecker, in his role of chairman of the party, was responsible for the deaths of many more than the 68 mentioned above. As of 22 April 2015, well over 1,000 deaths have been discovered mainly through secret East German documentation: "It is still not known for sure how many people died on the inner German border or who they were, as the East German state treated such information as a closely guarded secret. But numbers have risen steadily since unification, as evidence has been gathered from East German records. Current unofficial estimates put the figure at up to 1,100 people." From the same article, "In 1974, Erich Honecker, as Chairman of the GDR's National Defence Council, ordered: 'Firearms are to be ruthlessly used in the event of attempts to break through the border, and the comrades who have successfully used their firearms are to be commended.'"
The charges were approved by the Berlin District Court on 19 October 1992 at the opening of the trial. On the same day, it was decided that the hearing of 56 charges would be postponed and the remaining twelve cases would be the subject of the trial to begin on 12 November 1992. The question of under which laws the former East German leader could be tried was highly controversial and, in the view of many jurists, the process had an uncertain outcome.
During his 70-minute-long statement to the court on 3 December 1992, Honecker said that he had political responsibility for the building of the Berlin Wall and subsequent deaths at the borders, but claimed he was "without juridical, legal or moral guilt". He blamed the escalation of the Cold War for the building of the Berlin Wall, saying the decision had not been taken solely by the East German leadership but all the Warsaw Pact nations that had collectively concluded in 1961 that a "Third World War with millions dead" would be unavoidable without this action. He quoted several West German politicians who had opined that the wall had indeed reduced and stabilised the two factions. He stated that he had always regretted every death, both from a human point of view and due to the political damage they caused.
Making reference to past trials in Germany against communists and socialists such as Karl Marx and August Bebel, he claimed that the legal process against him was politically motivated and a "show trial" against communism. He stated that no court lying in the territory of West Germany had the legal right to place him, his co-defendants or any East German citizen on trial, and that the portrayal of East Germany as an "Unrechtsstaat" was contradictory to its recognition by over one hundred other nations and the UN Security Council. Furthermore, he questioned how a German court could now legally judge his political decisions in the light of the lack of legal action taken over various military operations that had been carried out by Western nations with either overt support or absence of condemnation from (West) Germany. He dismissed public criticism of the Stasi, arguing that journalists in Western countries were praised for denouncing others. While accepting political responsibility for the deaths at the Wall, he believed he was free of any "legal or moral guilt", and thought that East Germany would go down in history as "a sign that socialism is possible and is better than capitalism."
By the time of the proceedings Honecker was already seriously ill. A new CT scan in August 1992 had confirmed an ultrasound examination made in Moscow and the existence of a malignant tumour in the right lobe of his liver. Based on these findings and additional medical testimonies, Honecker’s lawyers requested that the legal proceedings, as far as they were aimed against their client, be abandoned and the arrest warrant against him withdrawn; the cases against both Mielke and Stoph had already been postponed due to their ill health. Arguing that his life expectancy was estimated to be three to six months, while the legal process was forecast to take at least two years, his lawyers questioned whether it was humane to try a dying man. Their application was rejected on 21 December 1992 when the court concluded that, given the seriousness of the charges, no obstacle to the proceedings existed.
Honecker lodged a constitutional complaint to the recently created Berlin Constitutional Court, stating that the decision to proceed violated his fundamental right to human dignity, which was an overriding principle in the Constitution of Berlin, above even the state penal system and criminal justice. On 12 January 1993 Honecker's complaint was upheld and the Berlin District Court therefore abandoned the case and withdrew their arrest warrant. An application for a new arrest warrant was rejected on 13 January. The court also refused to commence with the trial related to the indictment of 12 November 1992, and withdrew the second arrest warrant related to these charges. After a total of 169 days Honecker was released from custody, drawing protests both from victims of the East German state as well as German political figures.
Honecker flew via Brazil to Santiago, Chile, to reunite with his wife and his daughter Sonja, who lived there with her son Roberto. Upon his arrival he was greeted by the leaders of the Chilean Communist and Socialist parties. In contrast, his co-defendants Heinz Kessler, Fritz Streletz and Hans Albrecht were sentenced on 16 September 1993 to imprisonment of between four and seven-and-a-half years. On 13 April 1993 a final attempt to separate and continue the trial against Honecker in his absence was discontinued. Four days later, on the 66th birthday of his wife Margot, he gave a final public speech, ending with the words: "Socialism is the opposite of what we have now in Germany. For that I would like to say that our beautiful memories of the German Democratic Republic are testimony of a new and just society. And we want to always remain loyal to these things".
On 29 May 1994, Honecker died of liver cancer at the age of 81 in a terraced house in the La Reina district of Santiago. His funeral, arranged by the Communist Party of Chile, was conducted the following day at central cemetery in Santiago.
Family
Honecker was married three times. After being liberated from prison in 1945, he married the prison warden Charlotte Schanuel (née Drost), nine years his senior, on 23 December 1946. She died suddenly from a brain tumour in June 1947. Details of this marriage were not revealed until 2003, well after his death.
By the time of her death, Honecker was already romantically involved with the Free German Youth official Edith Baumann, whom he met on a trip to Moscow. With her, he had a daughter, Erika (b. 1950), who later gave him his granddaughter Anke. Sources differ on whether Honecker and Baumann married in 1947 or 1949, but in 1952 he fathered an illegitimate daughter, Sonja (b. December 1952), with Margot Feist, a People's Chamber member and chairperson of the Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Organisation.
In September 1950, Baumann wrote directly to Walter Ulbricht to inform him of her husband's extramarital activity in the hope of him pressuring Honecker to end his relationship with Feist. Following his divorce and reportedly under pressure from the Politburo, he married Feist. However, sources again differ on both the year of his divorce from Baumann and of his marriage to Feist; depending on the source, the events took place either in 1953 or 1955. For more than twenty years, Margot Honecker served as Minister of National Education. In 2012 intelligence reports collated by West German spies alleged that both Honecker and his wife had secret affairs but did not divorce for political reasons; however, his bodyguard Bernd Brückner, in a book about his time spent in Honecker's service, denied the claims.
Honecker had three grandchildren from his daughter Sonja, who had married the Chilean-born exile Leonardo Yáñez Betancourt: Roberto (b. 1974), Mariana (b. 1985), who died in 1988 at the age of two leaving Honecker himself heartbroken, and Vivian (b. 1988). Roberto's origins are debated; he is claimed to be the illegally adopted son of Heidi Stein, Dirk Schiller, born on 13 June 1975 in Görlitz, who disappeared in March 1979, due to alleged physical similarities between Dirk and Yáñez, Stein suspecting that her son might have been kidnapped at three years old by Stasi agents for Honecker's younger daughter.
Honecker's daughter divorced Yáñez in 1993. She and her two surviving children still live in Santiago.
Honours and awards
:
Hero of the German Democratic Republic (twice)
Hero of Labour
Patriotic Order of Merit (Honor clasp, in Gold)
Order of Karl Marx (five times)
Order of the Banner of Labor
:
Hero of the Soviet Union
Order of Lenin (thrice)
Order of the October Revolution
Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin"
Other countries:
Grand Star of the Order of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria (Austria)
Order of Georgi Dimitrov (Bulgaria)
Order of José Martí (Cuba)
Order of Playa Girón (Cuba)
Order of Klement Gottwald (Czechoslovakia)
Grand Cross of the White Rose of Finland (Finland)
Order of Augusto Cesar Sandino, 1st class (Nicaragua)
Order of the "Victory of Socialism" (Romania)
Order of Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam)
Olympic Order (International Olympic Committee)
In popular culture
Dmitri Vrubel's 1990 mural on the Berlin Wall My God, Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love, depicting a socialist "fraternal kiss" between Honecker and Leonid Brezhnev, became known around the world.
A traffic signal inspired by Honecker wearing a jaunty straw hat was used in parts of East Germany (Ost-Ampelmännchen) and has become a symbol of Ostalgie.
Notes
References
Further reading
Bryson, Phillip J., and Manfred Melzer eds. The end of the East German economy: from Honecker to reunification (Palgrave Macmillan, 1991).
Childs, David, ed. Honecker's Germany (London: Taylor & Francis, 1985).
Collier Jr, Irwin L. "GDR economic policy during the honecker era." Eastern European Economics 29.1 (1990): 5–29.
Dennis, Mike. Social and Economic Modernization in Eastern Germany from Honecker to Kohl (Burns & Oates, 1993).
Dennis, Mike. "The East German Ministry of State Security and East German Society During the Honecker Era, 1971–1989." in German Writers and the Politics of Culture (Palgrave Macmillan, London, 200)3. 3–24 on the STASI
Fulbrook, Mary. (2008) The people's state: East German society from Hitler to Honecker. Yale University Press.
Grix, Jonathan. "Competing approaches to the collapse of the GDR: ‘Top‐down’ vs ‘bottom‐up’," Journal of Area Studies 6#13:121–142, DOI: 10.1080/02613539808455836, Historiography.
Lippmann, Heinz. Honecker and the new politics of Europe (New York: Macmillan, 1972).
McAdams, A. James. "The Honecker trial: the East German past and the German future." Review of Politics 58.1 (1996): 53–80. online
Weitz, Eric D. Creating German Communism, 1890–1990: From Popular Protests to Socialist State (Princeton UP, 1997).
Wilsford, David, ed. Political leaders of contemporary Western Europe: a biographical dictionary (Greenwood, 1995) pp. 195–201.
Primary sources
Honecker, Erich. (1981) From My Life. New York: Pergamon, 1981. .
External links
Honecker im Internet (in German)
www.warheroes.ru – Erich Honecker (in Russian)
Welcoming Address to 1979 Session of the World Peace Council Erich Honecker's speech to the WPC
A Successful Policy Seared to the Needs of the People Volkskammer pamphlet including material by Honecker
1912 births
1994 deaths
People from Neunkirchen, Saarland
People from the Rhine Province
Communist Party of Germany politicians
Members of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany
Members of the Provisional Volkskammer
Members of the 1st Volkskammer
Members of the 2nd Volkskammer
Members of the 3rd Volkskammer
Members of the 4th Volkskammer
Members of the 5th Volkskammer
Members of the 6th Volkskammer
Members of the 7th Volkskammer
Members of the 8th Volkskammer
Members of the 9th Volkskammer
Free German Youth members
Communist rulers
Communists in the German Resistance
Collaborators with the Soviet Union
German atheists
German expatriates in Chile
German expatriates in the Soviet Union
Exiled politicians
International Lenin School alumni
People condemned by Nazi courts
People extradited from Russia
People extradited to Germany
German politicians convicted of crimes
Heads of government who were later imprisoned
Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit (honor clasp)
Recipients of the Banner of Labor
Recipients of the Olympic Order
Recipients of the Order of Ho Chi Minh
Recipients of the Grand Star of the Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria
Foreign Heroes of the Soviet Union
Recipients of the Order of Lenin
Deaths from liver cancer
Deaths from cancer in Chile
People of the Cold War | false | [
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"Princess Yeondeok (연덕궁주, 延德宮主; ) was a title given to the Goryeo Queen Consort or Royal Consort. Those who held this title may lived in Yeondeok Palace (연덕궁, 延德宮), they may refer to: \nQueen Wonhye (원혜왕후), the first consort who held this title. She was King Hyeonjong's 4th wife.\nQueen Inye (인예왕후), the second consort who held this title. She was King Munjong's 3rd wife.\nQueen Myeongui (명의왕후), the third consort who held this title. She was King Sukjong's only wife.\nQueen Sundeok (순덕왕후), the fourth consort who held this title. She was King Yejong's 2nd wife.\nDeposed Queen Yi (폐비 이씨), the fifth consort who held this title. She was King Injong's 1st wife.\nQueen Gongye (공예왕후), the sixth consort who held this title. She was King Injong's 3rd wife. \nQueen Wondeok (원덕왕후), the seventh consort who held this title. She was King Gangjong's 2nd wife."
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"Erich Honecker",
"Family",
"Who was Honecker's father?",
"I don't know.",
"Did Honecker marry?",
"Honecker was married three times.",
"Who was his 1st wife?",
"he married the prison warden Charlotte Schanuel",
"Who was his 2nd wife?",
"By the time of her death, Honecker was already romantically involved with the Free German Youth official Edith Baumann,",
"Who was his 3rd wife?",
"Following his divorce and reportedly under pressure from the Politburo, he married Feist,"
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| C_92bef31fd20145178978ed83b356e8f6_0 | Why was he under pressure from Politburo and/or what does that have to do with remarrying? | 6 | Why was Erich Honecker under pressure from Politburo and/or what does that have to do with remarrying? | Erich Honecker | Honecker was married three times. After being liberated from prison in 1945 he married the prison warden Charlotte Schanuel (nee Drost), nine years his senior, on 23 December 1946. She died suddenly from a brain tumour in June 1947. Details of this marriage were not revealed until 2003, well after his death. By the time of her death, Honecker was already romantically involved with the Free German Youth official Edith Baumann, whom he met on a trip to Moscow. With her he had a daughter, Erika (b. 1950), who later gave him his granddaughter Anke. Sources differ on whether Honecker and Baumann married in 1947 or 1949, but in 1952 he fathered an illegitimate daughter, Sonja (b. December 1952), with Margot Feist, a People's Chamber member and chairperson of the Ernst Thalmann Pioneer Organisation. In September 1950, Baumann wrote directly to Walter Ulbricht to inform him of her husband's extramarital activity in the hope of him pressuring Honecker to end his relationship with Feist. Following his divorce and reportedly under pressure from the Politburo, he married Feist, however sources again differ on both the year of his divorce from Baumann and of his marriage to Feist; depending on the source, the events took place either in 1953 or 1955. For more than twenty years, Margot Honecker served as Minister of National Education. In 2012 intelligence reports collated by West German spies alleged that both Erich and his wife had secret affairs but did not divorce for political reasons, however, his bodyguard Bernd Bruckner in a book about his time spent in Honecker's service, refuted the claims. Honecker had three grandchildren from his daughter Sonja, who had married the Chilean-born exile Leonardo Yanez Betancourt; Roberto, (b. 1974) Mariana, (b. 1985) who died in 1988 at the age of two leaving Honecker himself heartbroken, and Vivian (b. 1988). Roberto's origins are debated; he is claimed to be the illegally adopted son of Mrs. Heidi Stein, Dirk Schiller, born on 13 June 1975 in Gorlitz, who disappeared in March 1979, due to alleged physical similarities between Dirk and Leonardo Mrs Stein suspecting that her son might have been kidnapped at 3 years old by Stasi agents for Honecker's younger daughter. Honecker's daughter, (who divorced Leonardo in 1993) grandson and granddaughter still live in Santiago. CANNOTANSWER | political reasons, | Erich Ernst Paul Honecker (; 25 August 1912 – 29 May 1994) was a German communist politician who led the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 1971 until shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall in October 1989. He held the posts of General Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) and Chairman of the National Defence Council; in 1976, he replaced Willi Stoph as Chairman of the State Council, the official head of state. As the leader of East Germany, Honecker had close ties to the Soviet Union, which maintained a large army in the country.
Honecker's political career began in the 1930s when he became an official of the Communist Party of Germany, a position for which he was imprisoned by the Nazis. Following World War II, he was freed by the Soviet army and relaunched his political activities, founding the SED's youth organisation, the Free German Youth, in 1946 and serving as the group's chairman until 1955. As the Security Secretary of the SED Central Committee, he was the prime organiser of the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961 and, in this function, bore administrative responsibility for the "order to fire" along the Wall and the larger inner German border.
In 1970, Honecker initiated a political power struggle that led, with support of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, to him replacing Walter Ulbricht as General Secretary of the SED and chairman of the National Defence Council. Under his command, the country adopted a programme of "consumer socialism" and moved towards the international community by normalizing relations with West Germany and also becoming a full member of the UN, in what is considered one of his greatest political successes.
As Cold War tensions eased in the late 1980s with the advent of perestroika and glasnost—the liberal reforms introduced by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev—Honecker refused all but cosmetic changes to the East German political system. He cited the continual hardliner attitudes of Kim Il-sung and Fidel Castro, whose respective countries of governance of North Korea and Cuba had been critical of reforms. As anti-government protests grew, Honecker begged Gorbachev to intervene with the Soviet army to suppress the protests to maintain communist rule in East Germany as Moscow had done with Czechoslovakia in the Prague Spring of 1968 and with the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, but Gorbachev refused. Honecker was forced to resign by the SED Politburo in October 1989 in a bid to improve the government's image in the eyes of the public; the effort was unsuccessful, and the regime would collapse entirely the following month.
Following German reunification in 1990, Honecker sought asylum in the Chilean embassy in Moscow, but was extradited back to Germany in 1992, after the fall of the Soviet Union, to stand trial for his role in the human rights abuses committed by the East German government. However, the proceedings were abandoned, as Honecker was suffering from terminal liver cancer. He was freed from custody to join his family in exile in Chile, where he died in May 1994.
Childhood and youth
Honecker was born in Neunkirchen, in what is now Saarland, to Wilhelm Honecker (1881–1969), a coal miner and political activist, and his wife Caroline Catharine Weidenhof (1883–1963). The couple, married in 1905, had six children: Katharina (Käthe, 1906–1925), Wilhelm (Willi, 1907–1944), Frieda (1909–1974), Erich, Gertrud (1917–2010) and Karl-Robert (1923–1947). Erich, their fourth child, was born on 25 August 1912 during the period in which the family resided on Max-Braun-Straße, before later moving to Kuchenbergstraße 88 in the present-day Neunkirchen city district of Wiebelskirchen.
After World War I, the Territory of the Saar Basin was occupied by France. This change from the strict rule of to French military occupation provided the backdrop for what Wilhelm Honecker understood as proletarian exploitation, and introduced young Erich to communism. After his tenth birthday in 1922, Erich Honecker became a member of the Spartacus League's children's group in Wiebelskirchen. Aged 14 he entered the KJVD, the Young Communist League of Germany, for whom he later served the organisation's leader of Saarland from 1931.
Honecker did not find an apprenticeship immediately after leaving school, but instead worked for a farmer in Pomerania for almost two years. In 1928 he returned to Wiebelskirchen and began a traineeship as a roofer with his uncle, but quit to attend the International Lenin School in Moscow and Magnitogorsk after the KJVD handpicked him for a course of study there. There, sharing a room with Anton Ackermann, he studied under the cover name "Fritz Malter".
Opposition to the Nazis and imprisonment
In 1930, aged 18, Honecker entered the KPD, the Communist Party of Germany. His political mentor was Otto Niebergall, who later represented the KPD in the Reichstag. After returning from Moscow in 1931 following his studies at the International Lenin School, he became the leader of the KJVD in the Saar region. After the Nazi seizure of power in 1933, Communist activities within Germany were only possible undercover; the Saar region however still remained outside the German Reich under a League of Nations mandate. Honecker was arrested in Essen, Germany but soon released. Following this he fled to the Netherlands and from there oversaw KJVD's activities in Pfalz, Hesse and Baden-Württemberg.
Honecker returned to the Saar in 1934 and worked alongside Johannes Hoffmann on the campaign against the region's re-incorporation into Germany. A referendum on the area's future in January 1935 however saw 90.73% vote in favour of reunifying with Germany. Like 4,000 to 8,000 others, Honecker then fled the region, initially relocating to Paris.
On 28 August 1935 he illegally travelled to Berlin under the alias "Marten Tjaden", with a printing press in his luggage. From there he worked closely together with KPD official Herbert Wehner in opposition/resistance to the Nazi state. On 4 December 1935 Honecker was detained by the Gestapo and until 1937 remanded in Berlin's Moabit detention centre. On 3 July 1937 he was sentenced to ten years imprisonment for the "preparation of high treason alongside the severe falsification of documents".
Honecker spent the majority of his incarceration in the Brandenburg-Görden Prison, where he also carried out tasks as a handyman. In early 1945 he was moved to the Barnimstraße Women's Prison in Berlin due to good behaviour and to be put to work repairing the bomb-damaged building, as he was a skilled roofer. During an Allied bombing raid on 6 March 1945 he managed to escape and hid himself at the apartment of Lotte Grund, a female prison guard. After several days she persuaded him to turn himself in and his escape was then covered up by the guard. Honecker spent most of his time in prison under solitary confinement.
After the liberation of the prisons by advancing Soviet troops on 27 April 1945, Honecker remained in Berlin. His "escape" from prison and his relationships during his captivity later led to him experiencing difficulties within the Socialist Unity Party, as well as straining his relations with his former inmates. In later interviews and in his personal memoirs, Honecker falsified many of the details of his life during this period. Material from the East German State Security Service has been used to allege that, to be released from prison, Honecker offered the Gestapo evidence incriminating fellow imprisoned Communists, claimed he had renounced Communism "for good", and was willing to serve in the German army.
Post-war return to politics
In May 1945 Honecker was "picked up" by chance in Berlin by Hans Mahle and taken to the Ulbricht Group, a collective of exiled German communists that had returned from the Soviet Union to Germany after the end of the Nazi regime. Through Waldemar Schmidt, Honecker befriended Walter Ulbricht, who had not been aware of him at that point. Honecker's future role in the group was still undecided until well into the summer months, as he had yet to face a party process. This ended in a reprimand due to his "undisciplined conduct" in fleeing from prison at the start of the year, an action which was debated upon it jeopardizing the other (communist) inmates.
In 1946, Honecker became the co-founder of the Free German Youth (FDJ), whose chairmanship he also undertook. After the formation of the SED, the Socialist Unity Party, in April 1946 through a merger of the KPD and SPD, Honecker swiftly became a leading party member and took his place in the party's Central Committee.
On 7 October 1949, the German Democratic Republic was formed with the adoption of a new constitution, establishing a political system similar to that of the Soviet Union. Within the state's socialist single party government, Honecker determinedly resumed his political career and the following year was nominated as a candidate for the Politbüro of the SED's Central Committee. As President of the Free German Youth movement, he organised the inaugural "Deutschlandtreffen der Jugend" in East Berlin in May 1950 and the 3rd World Festival of Youth and Students in 1951, although the latter was beset with organisational problems.
During the internal party unrest following the suppressed uprising of June 1953, Honecker sided with First Secretary Walter Ulbricht, despite the majority of the Politburo attempting to depose Ulbricht in favour of Rudolf Herrnstadt. Honecker himself though faced questioning from party members about his inadequate qualifications for his position. On 27 May 1955 he handed the Presidency of the FDJ over to Karl Namokel, and departed for Moscow to study for two years at the School of the Soviet Communist Party at Ulbricht's request. During this period he witnessed the 20th Congress of the Soviet Communist Party in person, where its First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev denounced Joseph Stalin.
After returning to East Germany in 1958, Honecker became a fully-fledged member of the Politburo, taking over responsibility for military and security issues. As the Party Security Secretary he was the prime organiser of the building of the Berlin Wall in August 1961 and also a proponent of the "order to fire" along the Inner German border.
Leadership of East Germany
While Ulbricht had replaced the state's command economy with, firstly the "New Economic System", then the Economic System of Socialism, as he sought to improve the country's failing economy, Honecker declared the main task to in fact be the "unity of economic and social politics", essentially through which living standards (with increased consumer goods) would be raised in exchange for political loyalty. Tensions had already led to his once-mentor Ulbricht removing Honecker from the position of Second Secretary in July 1970, only for the Soviet leadership to swiftly reinstate him. Honecker played up the thawing East-West German relationship as Ulbricht's strategy, to win the support of the Soviet leadership under Leonid Brezhnev. With this secured, Honecker was appointed First Secretary (from 1976 titled general secretary) of the Central Committee on 3 May 1971 after the Soviet leadership forced Ulbricht to step aside "for health reasons".
After also succeeding Ulbricht as Chairman of the National Defence Council in 1971, Honecker was eventually also elected Chairman of the State Council (a post equivalent to that of president) on 29 October 1976. With this, Honecker reached the height of power within East Germany. From there on, he, along with Economic Secretary Günter Mittag and Minister of State Security Erich Mielke, made all key government decisions. Until 1989 the "little strategic clique" composed of these three men was unchallenged as the top level of East Germany's ruling class. Honecker's closest colleague was , the SED's Agitation and Propaganda Secretary. Alongside him, Honecker held daily meetings concerning the party's media representation in which the layout of the party's own newspaper Neues Deutschland, as well as the sequencing of news items in the national news bulletin Aktuelle Kamera, were determined.
Under Honecker's leadership, East Germany adopted a programme of "consumer socialism", which resulted in a marked improvement in living standards already the highest among the Eastern bloc countries. More attention was placed on the availability of consumer goods, and the construction of new housing was accelerated, with Honecker promising to "settle the housing problem as an issue of social relevance". His policies were initially marked by a liberalisation toward culture and art, though this was less about the replacement of Ulbricht by Honecker and more for propaganda purposes. While 1973 brought the World Festival of Youth and Students to East Berlin, soon dissident artists such as Wolf Biermann were expelled and the Ministry for State Security raised its efforts to suppress political resistance. Honecker remained committed to the expansion of the Inner German border and the "order to fire" policy along it. During his time in office around 125 East German citizens were killed while trying to reach the West.
After the Federal Republic had secured an agreement with the Soviet Union on cooperation and a policy of non-violence, it became possible to reach a similar agreement with the GDR. The Basic Treaty between East and West Germany in 1972 sought to normalise contacts between the two governments.
East Germany also participated in the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe held in Helsinki in 1975, which attempted to improve relations between the West and the Eastern Bloc, and became a full member of the United Nations. These acts of diplomacy were considered Honecker’s greatest successes in foreign politics.
Honecker received additional high-profile personal recognitions including honorary doctorates of humane letters from North Korea’s Kim Il-Sung University in 1974, Cuba's University of Las Tunas in 1979 and Iraq's Saddam University in 1983, honorary doctorates of business administration from East Berlin's Humboldt University in 1976, Tokyo's Nihon University in 1981 and the London School of Economics in 1984 and the Olympic Order from the IOC in 1985. In September 1987, he became the first East German head of state to visit West Germany, where he was received with full state honours by West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl in an act that seemed to confirm West Germany's acceptance of East Germany's existence. During this trip he also journeyed to his birthplace in Saarland, where he held an emotional speech in which he spoke of a day when Germans would no longer be separated by borders, but unified under communist rule. This trip had been planned twice before, including September 1984, but was initially blocked by the Soviet leadership which mistrusted the special East-West German relationship, particularly efforts to expand East Germany's limited independence in the realm of foreign policy.
Illness, downfall and resignation
In the late 1980s, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev introduced glasnost and perestroika, reforms to liberalise socialist planned economy. Frictions between him and Honecker had grown over these policies and numerous additional issues from 1985 onward. East Germany refused to implement similar reforms, with Honecker reportedly telling Gorbachev: "We have done our perestroika; we have nothing to restructure". Gorbachev grew to dislike Honecker, and by 1988 was lumping him in with Bulgaria's Todor Zhivkov, Czechoslovakia's Gustáv Husák and Romania's Nicolae Ceaușescu as a "Gang of Four": a group of inflexible hardliners unwilling to make reforms.
According to White House experts Philip Zelikow and Condoleezza Rice, Gorbachev looked to Communist leaders in Eastern Europe to follow his example of perestroika and glasnost. They argue:
Gorbachev himself had no particular sympathy for Erich Honecker, chairman of the East German Communist Party, and his hard-line comrades and the government. As early as 1985... [Gorbachev] had told East German party officials that kindergarten was over; no one would lead them by the hand. They were responsible for their own people. The relations between Gorbachev and Honecker went downhill from there.
Western analysts, according to Zelikow and Rice, believed in 1989 that Communism was still secure in East Germany:
Bolstered by relatively greater affluence than his country's Eastern European neighbors enjoyed in a fantastically elaborate system of internal controls, East Germany's longtime leader Eric Honecker seemed secure in his position. His government had long dealt with dissent through a mixture of brutal repression, forced emigration, and the vent of allowing occasional, limited travel to the West for a substantial part of the population.
Honecker felt betrayed by Gorbachev in his German policy and ensured that official texts of the Soviet Union, especially those concerning perestroika, could no longer be published or sold in East Germany.
At the Warsaw Pact summit on 7–8 July 1989 in Bucharest, the Soviet Union reaffirmed its shift from the Brezhnev Doctrine of the limited sovereignty of its member states, and announced "freedom of choice". The Bucharest statement prescribed that its nations henceforth developed their "own political line, strategy and tactics without external intervention". This called into question the Soviet guarantee of existence for the Communist states in Europe. Already in May 1989 Hungary had begun dismantling its border with Austria, creating the first gap in the so-called Iron Curtain, through which later several thousand East Germans quickly fled in hopes of reaching West Germany by way of Austria. But with the mass exodus at the Pan-European Picnic in August 1989 (which was based on an idea by Otto von Habsburg to test Gorbachev's reaction to the opening of the border), the subsequent hesitant behaviour of the Socialist Unity Party of East Germany and the non-intervention of the Soviet Union opened the floodgates. Thus the united front of the Eastern Bloc was broken. The reaction to this from Erich Honecker in the Daily Mirror of August 19, 1989 was too late and showed the current loss of power: “Habsburg distributed leaflets far into Poland, on which the East German holidaymakers were invited to a picnic. When they came to the picnic, they were given gifts, food and Deutsche Mark, and then they were persuaded to come to the West.” Later, after his fall, Honecker said of Otto von Habsburg in connection with the summer of 1989: "That this Habsburg drove the nail into my coffin." Now tens of thousands of media-informed East Germans made their way to Hungary, which was no longer ready to keep its borders completely closed or to oblige its border troops to use force of arms. A 1969 treaty required the Hungarian government to send the East Germans back home; however, starting on 11 September 1989, the Hungarians let them pass into Austria, telling their outraged East German counterparts that they were refugees and that international treaties on refugees took precedence.
At the time, Honecker was sidelined through illness, leaving his colleagues unable to act decisively. He had been taken ill with biliary colic during the Warsaw Pact summit. He was shortly afterwards flown home to East Berlin. After an initial stabilisation in his health, he underwent surgery on 18 August 1989 to remove his inflamed gallbladder and, due to a perforation, part of his colon. According to the urologist Peter Althaus, the surgeons left a suspected carcinogenic nodule in Honecker’s right kidney due to his weak condition, and also failed to inform the patient of the suspected cancer; other sources say the tumour was simply undetected. As a result of this operation, Honecker was away from his office until late September 1989.
Back in office, Honecker had to contend with the rising number and strength of demonstrations across East Germany that had first been sparked by reports in the West German media of fraudulent results in local elections on 7 May 1989, the same results he had labelled a "convincing reflection" of the populace's faith in his leadership. He also had to deal with a new refugee problem. Several thousand East Germans tried to go to West Germany by way of Czechoslovakia, only to have that government bar them from passing. Several thousands of them headed straight for the West German embassy in Prague and demanded safe passage to West Germany. With some reluctance, Honecker allowed them to go – but forced them to go back through East Germany on sealed trains and stripped them of their East German citizenship. Several members of the SED Politbüro realised this was a serious blunder and made plans to get rid of him.
As unrest visibly grew, large numbers began fleeing the country through the West German embassies in Prague and Budapest, as well as over the borders of the "socialist brother" states. Each month saw tens of thousands more exit. On 3 October 1989 East Germany closed its borders to its eastern neighbours and prevented visa-free travel to Czechoslovakia; a day later these measures were also extended to travel to Bulgaria and Romania. East Germany was now not only behind the Iron Curtain to the West, but also cordoned off from most other Eastern bloc states.
On 6–7 October 1989 the national celebrations of the 40th anniversary of the East German state took place with Gorbachev in attendance. To the surprise of Honecker and the other SED leaders in attendance, several hundred members of the Free German Youth — reckoned as the future vanguard of the party and nation — began chanting, "Gorby, help us! Gorby, save us!". In a private conversation between the two leaders Honecker praised the success of the nation, but Gorbachev knew that, in reality, it faced bankruptcy; East Germany had already accepted billions of dollars in loans from West Germany during the decade as it sought to stabilise its economy. Attempting to make Honecker accept a need for reforms, Gorbachev warned Honecker that "He who is too late is punished by life", yet Honecker maintained that "we will solve our problems ourselves with socialist means". Protests outside the reception at the Palace of the Republic led to hundreds of arrests in which many were brutally beaten by soldiers and police.
As the reform movement spread throughout Central and Eastern Europe, mass demonstrations against the East German government erupted, most prominently in Leipzig—the first of several demonstrations which took place on Monday nights across the country. In response, an elite paratroop unit was dispatched to Leipzig—almost certainly on Honecker's orders, since he was commander-in-chief of the Army. A bloodbath was averted only when local party officials themselves ordered the troops to pull back. In the following week, Honecker faced a torrent of criticism. This gave his Politburo comrades the impetus they needed to replace him.
After a crisis meeting of the Politburo on 10–11 October 1989, Honecker's planned state visit to Denmark was cancelled and, despite his resistance, at the insistence of the government's number-two-man, Egon Krenz, a public statement was issued that called for "suggestions for attractive socialism". Over the following days Krenz worked to secure himself the support of the military and the Stasi and arranged a meeting between Gorbachev and Politburo member Harry Tisch, who was in Moscow, to inform the Kremlin about the now-planned removal of Honecker; Gorbachev reportedly wished them good luck.
The sitting of the SED Central Committee planned for the end of November 1989 was pulled forward a week, with the most urgent item on the agenda now being the composition of the Politburo. Krenz and Mielke attempted by telephone on the night of 16 October to win other Politburo members over to remove Honecker. At the beginning of the session on 17 October, Honecker asked his routine question of "Are there any suggestions for the agenda?" Stoph replied, "Please, general secretary, Erich, I propose that a new item be placed on the agenda. It is the release of Erich Honecker as general secretary and the election of Egon Krenz in his place." Honecker reportedly calmly responded: "Well, then I open the debate".
All those present then spoke, in turn, but none in favour of Honecker. Günter Schabowski even extended the dismissal of Honecker to also include his posts in the State Council and as Chairman of the National Defence Council while childhood friend Günter Mittag moved away from Honecker. Mielke supposedly blamed Honecker for almost all the country's current ills and threatened to publish compromising information that he possessed, if Honecker refused to resign. A ZDF documentary on the matter claims this information was contained in a large red briefcase found in Mielke's possession in 1990. After three hours the Politburo voted to remove Honecker. In accordance with longstanding practice, Honecker voted for his own removal. When the public announcement was made, it was branded as a voluntary decision on Honecker's part, ostensibly "due to health reasons". Krenz was unanimously elected as his successor as General Secretary.
Start of prosecution and asylum attempts
Communist rule in East Germany survived Honecker's removal by only two months. Three weeks after Honecker's ousting the Berlin Wall fell, and the SED swiftly lost control of the country. On 1 December, its guaranteed right to rule was removed from the East German constitution. Two days later he was expelled from the SED along with other former officials. He went on to join the newly founded Communist Party of Germany in 1990, remaining a member until his death.
During November the People's Chamber had already set up a committee to investigate corruption and abuses of office, with Honecker being alleged to have received annual donations from the National Academy of Architecture of around 20,000 marks as an "honorary member". On 5 December 1989 the chief public prosecutor in East Germany formally launched a judicial inquiry against him on charges of high treason, abuses of confidence and embezzlement to the serious disadvantage of socialist property (the charge of high treason was dropped in March 1990). As a result, Honecker was placed under house arrest for a month.
Following the lifting of his house arrest, Honecker and his wife Margot were forced to vacate their apartment in the Waldsiedlung housing area in Wandlitz, exclusively used by senior SED party members, after the People's Chamber decided to put it to use as a sanatorium for the disabled. In any case, Honecker spent the majority of January 1990 in hospital after having the error of the tumour missed in 1989 corrected after the suspicion of cancer was confirmed. Upon leaving the hospital on 29 January he was re-arrested and held at the Berlin-Rummelsburg remand centre. However, on the evening of the following day, 30 January, Honecker was again released from custody: The district court had annulled the arrest warrant and, due to medical reports, certified him unfit for detention and interrogation.
Lacking a home, Honecker instructed his lawyer Wolfgang Vogel to ask the Evangelical Church in Berlin-Brandenburg for help. Pastor Uwe Holmer, leader of the Hoffnungstal Institute in Lobetal, Bernau bei Berlin, offered the couple a home in his vicarage. This drew immediate condemnation and later demonstrations against the church for assisting the Honeckers, given they had both discriminated against Christians who did not conform with the SED leadership's ideology. Aside from a stay at a holiday home in Lindow in March 1990 that lasted only one day before protests swiftly brought it to an end, the couple resided at the Holmer residence until 3 April 1990.
The couple then moved into a three-room living quarters within the Soviet military hospital in Beelitz. Here, doctors diagnosed a malignant liver tumour following another re-examination. Following German reunification, prosecutors in Berlin issued a further arrest warrant for Honecker in November 1990 on charges that he gave the order to fire on escapees at the Inner German border in 1961 and had repeatedly reiterated that command (most specifically in 1974). However, this warrant was not enforceable because Honecker lay under the protection of Soviet authorities in Beelitz. On 13 March 1991 the Honeckers fled Germany from the Soviet-controlled Sperenberg Airfield to Moscow on a military jet with the aid of Soviet hardliners.
The German Chancellery had only been informed by Soviet diplomats about the Honeckers’ flight to Moscow one hour in advance. It limited its response to a public protest, claiming the existence of an arrest warrant meant the Soviet Union was breaching international law by admitting Honecker. The initial Soviet reaction was that Honecker was now too ill to travel and was receiving medical treatment after a deterioration of his health. He underwent further surgery the following month.
On 11 December 1991 the Honeckers sought refuge in the Chilean Embassy in Moscow, while also applying for political asylum in the Soviet Union. Despite an offer of help from North Korea, Honecker instead reached out to the Chilean government under Christian Democrat Patricio Aylwin. Under Honecker's rule, East Germany had granted many Chileans exile following the military coup of 1973 by Augusto Pinochet. In addition his daughter Sonja was married to a Chilean. Chilean authorities, however, stated he could not enter their country without a valid German passport.
Mikhail Gorbachev agreed to the dissolution of the Soviet Union on 25 December 1991 and gave all his powers to Russian president Boris Yeltsin. Russian authorities had long been keen on expelling Honecker, against the wishes of Gorbachev, and the new government now demanded that he leave the country or else face deportation.
In June 1992, Chilean President Patricio Aylwin, leader of a center-left coalition, finally assured German Chancellor Helmut Kohl that Honecker would be leaving the embassy in Moscow. Reportedly against his will, Honecker was ejected from the embassy on 29 July 1992 and flown to Berlin's Tegel Airport, where he was arrested and detained in Moabit Prison. By contrast, his wife Margot travelled on a direct flight from Moscow to Santiago, Chile, where she initially stayed with her daughter Sonja. Honecker's lawyers unsuccessfully appealed for him to be released from detention in the period leading up to his trial.
Criminal trial and death
On 12 May 1992, while under protection in the Chilean embassy in Moscow, Honecker, along with several co-defendants, including Erich Mielke, Willi Stoph, Heinz Kessler, Fritz Streletz and Hans Albrecht, was accused in a 783-page indictment of taking part in the "collective manslaughter" of 68 people as they attempted to flee East Germany. It was alleged that Honecker, in his role as Chairman of the National Defence Council, had both given the decisive order in 1961 for the construction of the Berlin Wall and also, at subsequent meetings, ordered the extensive expansion of the border fortifications around West Berlin and the barriers to the West so as to make any passing impossible. In addition, specifically at a May 1974 sitting of the National Defence Council, he had stated that the development of the border must continue, that lines of fire were warranted along the whole border and, as prior, the use of firearms was essential: "Comrades who have successfully used their firearms [are] to be praised". Honecker, in his role of chairman of the party, was responsible for the deaths of many more than the 68 mentioned above. As of 22 April 2015, well over 1,000 deaths have been discovered mainly through secret East German documentation: "It is still not known for sure how many people died on the inner German border or who they were, as the East German state treated such information as a closely guarded secret. But numbers have risen steadily since unification, as evidence has been gathered from East German records. Current unofficial estimates put the figure at up to 1,100 people." From the same article, "In 1974, Erich Honecker, as Chairman of the GDR's National Defence Council, ordered: 'Firearms are to be ruthlessly used in the event of attempts to break through the border, and the comrades who have successfully used their firearms are to be commended.'"
The charges were approved by the Berlin District Court on 19 October 1992 at the opening of the trial. On the same day, it was decided that the hearing of 56 charges would be postponed and the remaining twelve cases would be the subject of the trial to begin on 12 November 1992. The question of under which laws the former East German leader could be tried was highly controversial and, in the view of many jurists, the process had an uncertain outcome.
During his 70-minute-long statement to the court on 3 December 1992, Honecker said that he had political responsibility for the building of the Berlin Wall and subsequent deaths at the borders, but claimed he was "without juridical, legal or moral guilt". He blamed the escalation of the Cold War for the building of the Berlin Wall, saying the decision had not been taken solely by the East German leadership but all the Warsaw Pact nations that had collectively concluded in 1961 that a "Third World War with millions dead" would be unavoidable without this action. He quoted several West German politicians who had opined that the wall had indeed reduced and stabilised the two factions. He stated that he had always regretted every death, both from a human point of view and due to the political damage they caused.
Making reference to past trials in Germany against communists and socialists such as Karl Marx and August Bebel, he claimed that the legal process against him was politically motivated and a "show trial" against communism. He stated that no court lying in the territory of West Germany had the legal right to place him, his co-defendants or any East German citizen on trial, and that the portrayal of East Germany as an "Unrechtsstaat" was contradictory to its recognition by over one hundred other nations and the UN Security Council. Furthermore, he questioned how a German court could now legally judge his political decisions in the light of the lack of legal action taken over various military operations that had been carried out by Western nations with either overt support or absence of condemnation from (West) Germany. He dismissed public criticism of the Stasi, arguing that journalists in Western countries were praised for denouncing others. While accepting political responsibility for the deaths at the Wall, he believed he was free of any "legal or moral guilt", and thought that East Germany would go down in history as "a sign that socialism is possible and is better than capitalism."
By the time of the proceedings Honecker was already seriously ill. A new CT scan in August 1992 had confirmed an ultrasound examination made in Moscow and the existence of a malignant tumour in the right lobe of his liver. Based on these findings and additional medical testimonies, Honecker’s lawyers requested that the legal proceedings, as far as they were aimed against their client, be abandoned and the arrest warrant against him withdrawn; the cases against both Mielke and Stoph had already been postponed due to their ill health. Arguing that his life expectancy was estimated to be three to six months, while the legal process was forecast to take at least two years, his lawyers questioned whether it was humane to try a dying man. Their application was rejected on 21 December 1992 when the court concluded that, given the seriousness of the charges, no obstacle to the proceedings existed.
Honecker lodged a constitutional complaint to the recently created Berlin Constitutional Court, stating that the decision to proceed violated his fundamental right to human dignity, which was an overriding principle in the Constitution of Berlin, above even the state penal system and criminal justice. On 12 January 1993 Honecker's complaint was upheld and the Berlin District Court therefore abandoned the case and withdrew their arrest warrant. An application for a new arrest warrant was rejected on 13 January. The court also refused to commence with the trial related to the indictment of 12 November 1992, and withdrew the second arrest warrant related to these charges. After a total of 169 days Honecker was released from custody, drawing protests both from victims of the East German state as well as German political figures.
Honecker flew via Brazil to Santiago, Chile, to reunite with his wife and his daughter Sonja, who lived there with her son Roberto. Upon his arrival he was greeted by the leaders of the Chilean Communist and Socialist parties. In contrast, his co-defendants Heinz Kessler, Fritz Streletz and Hans Albrecht were sentenced on 16 September 1993 to imprisonment of between four and seven-and-a-half years. On 13 April 1993 a final attempt to separate and continue the trial against Honecker in his absence was discontinued. Four days later, on the 66th birthday of his wife Margot, he gave a final public speech, ending with the words: "Socialism is the opposite of what we have now in Germany. For that I would like to say that our beautiful memories of the German Democratic Republic are testimony of a new and just society. And we want to always remain loyal to these things".
On 29 May 1994, Honecker died of liver cancer at the age of 81 in a terraced house in the La Reina district of Santiago. His funeral, arranged by the Communist Party of Chile, was conducted the following day at central cemetery in Santiago.
Family
Honecker was married three times. After being liberated from prison in 1945, he married the prison warden Charlotte Schanuel (née Drost), nine years his senior, on 23 December 1946. She died suddenly from a brain tumour in June 1947. Details of this marriage were not revealed until 2003, well after his death.
By the time of her death, Honecker was already romantically involved with the Free German Youth official Edith Baumann, whom he met on a trip to Moscow. With her, he had a daughter, Erika (b. 1950), who later gave him his granddaughter Anke. Sources differ on whether Honecker and Baumann married in 1947 or 1949, but in 1952 he fathered an illegitimate daughter, Sonja (b. December 1952), with Margot Feist, a People's Chamber member and chairperson of the Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Organisation.
In September 1950, Baumann wrote directly to Walter Ulbricht to inform him of her husband's extramarital activity in the hope of him pressuring Honecker to end his relationship with Feist. Following his divorce and reportedly under pressure from the Politburo, he married Feist. However, sources again differ on both the year of his divorce from Baumann and of his marriage to Feist; depending on the source, the events took place either in 1953 or 1955. For more than twenty years, Margot Honecker served as Minister of National Education. In 2012 intelligence reports collated by West German spies alleged that both Honecker and his wife had secret affairs but did not divorce for political reasons; however, his bodyguard Bernd Brückner, in a book about his time spent in Honecker's service, denied the claims.
Honecker had three grandchildren from his daughter Sonja, who had married the Chilean-born exile Leonardo Yáñez Betancourt: Roberto (b. 1974), Mariana (b. 1985), who died in 1988 at the age of two leaving Honecker himself heartbroken, and Vivian (b. 1988). Roberto's origins are debated; he is claimed to be the illegally adopted son of Heidi Stein, Dirk Schiller, born on 13 June 1975 in Görlitz, who disappeared in March 1979, due to alleged physical similarities between Dirk and Yáñez, Stein suspecting that her son might have been kidnapped at three years old by Stasi agents for Honecker's younger daughter.
Honecker's daughter divorced Yáñez in 1993. She and her two surviving children still live in Santiago.
Honours and awards
:
Hero of the German Democratic Republic (twice)
Hero of Labour
Patriotic Order of Merit (Honor clasp, in Gold)
Order of Karl Marx (five times)
Order of the Banner of Labor
:
Hero of the Soviet Union
Order of Lenin (thrice)
Order of the October Revolution
Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin"
Other countries:
Grand Star of the Order of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria (Austria)
Order of Georgi Dimitrov (Bulgaria)
Order of José Martí (Cuba)
Order of Playa Girón (Cuba)
Order of Klement Gottwald (Czechoslovakia)
Grand Cross of the White Rose of Finland (Finland)
Order of Augusto Cesar Sandino, 1st class (Nicaragua)
Order of the "Victory of Socialism" (Romania)
Order of Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam)
Olympic Order (International Olympic Committee)
In popular culture
Dmitri Vrubel's 1990 mural on the Berlin Wall My God, Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love, depicting a socialist "fraternal kiss" between Honecker and Leonid Brezhnev, became known around the world.
A traffic signal inspired by Honecker wearing a jaunty straw hat was used in parts of East Germany (Ost-Ampelmännchen) and has become a symbol of Ostalgie.
Notes
References
Further reading
Bryson, Phillip J., and Manfred Melzer eds. The end of the East German economy: from Honecker to reunification (Palgrave Macmillan, 1991).
Childs, David, ed. Honecker's Germany (London: Taylor & Francis, 1985).
Collier Jr, Irwin L. "GDR economic policy during the honecker era." Eastern European Economics 29.1 (1990): 5–29.
Dennis, Mike. Social and Economic Modernization in Eastern Germany from Honecker to Kohl (Burns & Oates, 1993).
Dennis, Mike. "The East German Ministry of State Security and East German Society During the Honecker Era, 1971–1989." in German Writers and the Politics of Culture (Palgrave Macmillan, London, 200)3. 3–24 on the STASI
Fulbrook, Mary. (2008) The people's state: East German society from Hitler to Honecker. Yale University Press.
Grix, Jonathan. "Competing approaches to the collapse of the GDR: ‘Top‐down’ vs ‘bottom‐up’," Journal of Area Studies 6#13:121–142, DOI: 10.1080/02613539808455836, Historiography.
Lippmann, Heinz. Honecker and the new politics of Europe (New York: Macmillan, 1972).
McAdams, A. James. "The Honecker trial: the East German past and the German future." Review of Politics 58.1 (1996): 53–80. online
Weitz, Eric D. Creating German Communism, 1890–1990: From Popular Protests to Socialist State (Princeton UP, 1997).
Wilsford, David, ed. Political leaders of contemporary Western Europe: a biographical dictionary (Greenwood, 1995) pp. 195–201.
Primary sources
Honecker, Erich. (1981) From My Life. New York: Pergamon, 1981. .
External links
Honecker im Internet (in German)
www.warheroes.ru – Erich Honecker (in Russian)
Welcoming Address to 1979 Session of the World Peace Council Erich Honecker's speech to the WPC
A Successful Policy Seared to the Needs of the People Volkskammer pamphlet including material by Honecker
1912 births
1994 deaths
People from Neunkirchen, Saarland
People from the Rhine Province
Communist Party of Germany politicians
Members of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany
Members of the Provisional Volkskammer
Members of the 1st Volkskammer
Members of the 2nd Volkskammer
Members of the 3rd Volkskammer
Members of the 4th Volkskammer
Members of the 5th Volkskammer
Members of the 6th Volkskammer
Members of the 7th Volkskammer
Members of the 8th Volkskammer
Members of the 9th Volkskammer
Free German Youth members
Communist rulers
Communists in the German Resistance
Collaborators with the Soviet Union
German atheists
German expatriates in Chile
German expatriates in the Soviet Union
Exiled politicians
International Lenin School alumni
People condemned by Nazi courts
People extradited from Russia
People extradited to Germany
German politicians convicted of crimes
Heads of government who were later imprisoned
Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit (honor clasp)
Recipients of the Banner of Labor
Recipients of the Olympic Order
Recipients of the Order of Ho Chi Minh
Recipients of the Grand Star of the Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria
Foreign Heroes of the Soviet Union
Recipients of the Order of Lenin
Deaths from liver cancer
Deaths from cancer in Chile
People of the Cold War | false | [
"The Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (or Politburo, ; abbreviated: ) was the highest policy-making authority within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. It was founded in October 1917, and refounded in March 1919, at the 8th Congress of the Bolshevik Party. It was known as the Presidium from 1952 to 1966. The existence of the Politburo ended in 1991 upon the breakup of the Soviet Union.\n\nHistory\n\nBackground\nOn August 18, 1917, the top Bolshevik leader, Vladimir Lenin, set up a political bureau—known first as Narrow composition, and after October 23, 1917, as Political bureau—specifically to direct the October Revolution, with only seven members (Lenin, Leon Trotsky, Grigory Zinoviev, Lev Kamenev, Joseph Stalin, Grigori Sokolnikov, and Andrei Bubnov), but this precursor did not outlast the event; the Central Committee continued with the political functions. However, due to practical reasons, usually fewer than half of the members attended the regular Central Committee meetings during this time, even though they decided all key questions.\n\nThe 8th Party Congress in 1919 formalized this reality and re-established what would later on become the true center of political power in the Soviet Union. It ordered the Central Committee to appoint a five-member Politburo to decide on questions too urgent to await full Central Committee deliberation. The original members of the Politburo were Lenin, Trotsky, Stalin, Kamenev, and Nikolai Krestinsky.\n\nEarly years: 1919–1934\nThe Soviet system was based upon the system conceived by Lenin, often referred to as Leninism. Certain historians and political scientists credit Lenin for the evolution of the Soviet political system after his death. Others, such as Leonard Schapiro, argue that the system itself, from 1921, evolved an inner-party democratic system to a monolithic one in 1921, with the establishment of the Control Commission, the ban on factions and the power of the Central Committee to expel members they deemed unqualified. These rules were implemented to strengthen party discipline. However, the party continued under Lenin and the early post-Lenin years to try to establish democratic procedures within the party. For instance, by 1929, leading party members began criticizing the party apparatus, represented by the Secretariat headed by Stalin, of having too much control over personnel decisions. Lenin addressed such questions in 1923, in his articles \"How We Should Reorganize the Workers' and Peasants' Inspectorate\" and \"Better Fewer but Better\". In these, Lenin wrote of his plan to turn the combined meetings of the Central Committee and the Control Commission into the party's \"parliament\". The combined meetings of these two would hold the Politburo responsible, while at the same time guard the Politburo from factionalism. Admitting that organizational barriers may be inadequate to safeguard the party from one-man dictatorship, Lenin recognized the importance of individuals. His testament tried to solve this crisis by reducing both Stalin's and Leon Trotsky's powers.\n\nAlthough some of his contemporaries accused Lenin of creating a one-man dictatorship within the party, Lenin countered, stating that he, like any other, could only implement policies by persuading the party. This happened on several occasions, such as in 1917 when he threatened to leave the party if it did not go along with the October Revolution, when he persuaded the party to sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, or with the introduction of the New Economic Policy (NEP). Lenin, a noted factionalist before the Bolshevik seizure of power, supported the promotion of people he had previously clashed with on important issues to the Politburo; Trotsky and Lenin had had several years of violent polemics between them, while Grigori Zinoviev and Lev Kamenev both opposed the Central Committee resolution that initiated the October Revolution.\n\nFrom 1917 to the mid-1920s, congresses were held annually, the Central Committee was convened at least once a month and the Politburo met once a week. With Joseph Stalin's consolidation of power, the frequency of formal meetings declined. By the mid-1930s, the Central Committee met only once a month, and the Politburo convened at most once every third week. The Politburo was established, and worked within the framework of democratic centralism (that is a system in which higher bodies are responsible to lower bodies and where every member is subordinate to party decisions). The nature of democratic centralism had changed by 1929, and freedom of expression, which had been previously tolerated within the party, was replaced with monolithic unity. This was achieved with Stalin's defeat of rival factions such as the Left Opposition and the Right Opposition. It is generally believed that under Stalin the Politburo's powers were reduced compared to the General Secretary.\n\nStalin defeated the Left Opposition led by Trotsky by allying himself with the rightists within the Politburo; Nikolai Bukharin, Aleksey Rykov, and Mikhail Tomsky. After defeating the Left Opposition, Stalin began attacking the rightists (referred to as the Right Opposition) through his supporters in the Politburo, the Central Committee, and the Control Commission. Stalin and his companion supported an undemocratic interpretation of Lenin's What Is to Be Done?. Throughout the late-1920s, Politburo member Lazar Kaganovich (a Stalin ally), wrote and campaigned for a party organisational by-law which reduced intra-party democracy in favour of hierarchy and centralism. With the defeat of the other factions, these interpretations became party law. To strengthen the system of centralised decision-making, Stalin appointed his allies to high offices outside the Politburo. For instance, Vyacheslav Molotov succeeded Rykov as Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars in 1930, to reduce the chance of another independent locus of centralised power forming form which could threaten Stalin and the Politburo, Secretariat, and Orgburo.\n\nDuring this period, the office of the General Secretary became paramount. The Politburo, which was nominally responsible to the Central Committee and the Party Congress, became responsible to the General Secretary. The General Secretary, the formal head of the Secretariat and the Orgburo, \"came to exercise enormous weight in decision-making.\" The Secretariat and Orgburo were responsible for personnel appointments in the whole party, and so were used as a machine by Stalin and his allies to promote like-minded individuals. Molotov and Kaganovich played a key role in strengthening the role of the Secretariat and the Orgburo in Party affairs.\n\nStalin years: 1934–1953\n\nThe 17th Politburo was elected at the 1st Plenary Session of the 17th Central Committee, in the aftermath of the 17th Congress. Outwardly, the Politburo remained united, but on 4 February Grigory Ordzhonikidze, the People's Commissar for Heavy Industry, refused to acknowledge Stalin's projected economic growth targets, claiming that the majority in the Politburo supported his position. Sergey Kirov, who had turned down an offer to take Stalin's place as General Secretary before the 17th Congress, opposed many of Stalin's repressive policies, and tried throughout 1934 to moderate them. Several scholars have viewed Ordzhonikidze's and Kirov's outspokenness as the rise of a moderate Stalinist faction with the party. On 1 December 1934, Kirov was shot dead – whether he was the victim of a madman or killed on Stalin's orders remains unknown. Not long after, on 21 January 1935, Valerian Kuybyshev died of natural causes, and a month later, Anastas Mikoyan and Vlas Chubar were elected Politburo full members. Andrei Zhdanov, the First Secretary of the Leningrad City Committee and member of the Secretariat, and Robert Eikhe, the First Secretary of the Siberian and West-Siberian District Committee, were elected Politburo candidate members.\n \n1936 signaled the beginning of the Great Purge, a nationwide purge of what Stalin deemed as anti-socialist elements. The first victims of the purge were members and leaders of economic organizations. Not everyone in the Politburo agreed with the purges, or the scope of them. Ordzhonikidze ridiculed the purge, and tried to save officials working in the People's Commissariat for Heavy Industry. Stalin expected that Ordzhonikidze would support the purges, at least officially, but instead he wrote a speech condemning them. On 18 February 1937, Ordzhonikidze was found dead in his house, having killed himself. At the Central Committee plenum in February 1937, Stalin, Molotov, Zhdanov and Nikolai Yezhov began accusing leading officials of anti-socialist behavior, but they met opposition. Pavel Postyshev, a Politburo candidate member and First Secretary of the Ukrainian Communist Branch, in response to them accusing a member of the Ukrainian Central Committee of being anti-socialist said; \"I don't believe it.\" When Yezhov proposed killing Bukharin and Rykov, Postyshev along with Stanislav Kosior and Grigory Petrovsky, opposed such a measure, proposing instead of handing them over to the courts. Molotov and Kliment Voroshilov, supported a compromise brokered by Stalin, which handed over Bukharin and Rykov to the NKVD. Despite this opposition, Stalin and his closest associates began purging officials nationwide. In May 1937, Jānis Rudzutaks became the first Politburo member to be purged. In 1938, four other Politburo members were purged; Chubar, who personally telephoned Stalin crying trying to assure his innocence, Kosior, who confessed for anti-socialist crimes after his daughter was raped in front of him, Postyshev and Eikhe. Petrovsky in contrast, was rather lucky, instead of being purged he was not reelected to the Politburo at the 18th Congress. The purging of Rudzutaks, Eikhe, and Kosior testified to Stalin's growing power; the Politburo were not even notified of the decision. Postyshev was purged because \"of too much zeal in persecuting people.\"\n\nKhrushchev: 1953–1964\n\nBrezhnev Era: 1964–1982\n\nGorbachev: 1985–1991\n\nDuties and responsibilities\n\nStatus\nThe Politburo was the highest organ of the party when the party Congress and the Central Committee were not in session. The Politburo, along with the Secretariat and the Organizational Bureau (Orgburo) until 1952, was one of three permanent bodies of the party. The General Secretary, the party leader, served as ex officio chairman of the Politburo (however, no formal rule stipulated such activity). 28 politburos were elected throughout the existence of the USSR.\n\nWhile nominally subordinate to the Central Committee and the Party Congress, in practice the Politburo was the true center of power in the CPSU, and its decisions de facto had the force of law.\n\nDecision-making process\nArkady Shevchenko, like many Soviet technical experts, once attended the part of a Politburo meeting that touched on his area of expertise, and he often prepared his boss Andrei Gromyko for meetings. He described the working style of the Politburo's weekly meeting during the Brezhnev era as \"quiet, orderly, and methodical. Although an agenda is prepared, there is no quorum call or other form of parliamentary procedure.\" Shevchenko's memoir makes it clear that the tense political struggle that could often occur among Politburo members usually did not take place openly during its meetings, but rather behind the backs of one's rivals. In practice, Soviet Leninism's democratic centralism often followed a style of unanimous consent rather than majority vote. This style of consensus decision-making had roots not only in the era of the Great Terror, also known as the Yezhovshchina, but also in Brezhnev's carefully cultivated culture of collective decision-making. Shevchenko said, \"While the Politburo considered the item for which I was responsible, I sat with Kuznetsov, Kornienko, and [Vasily] Makarov, behind Gromyko at the long table in the Kremlin. Brezhnev asked whether all members of the Politburo had received the draft U.S.-Soviet documents in time and if they had studied them. Most of the members nodded silent assent. 'Can I assume that the draft is approved?' Brezhnev asked. No one spoke. 'The draft is approved,' said Brezhnev after a few more moments of silence. Makarov put his hand on my shoulder, whispering, 'Okay, Arkady, that's it. You can go.'\"\n\nNevertheless, there were times where the General Secretary would override all the other members by making his opinion clear and implying that dissent wouldn't be tolerated. Mikhail Smirtyukov, recalled one such Politburo meeting. While Brezhnev was on vacation, Mikhail Suslov, who hated the idea that in front of the Lenin Mausoleum in Red Square there was a Department Store (GUM), attempted to turn GUM into an exhibition hall and museum showcasing Soviet and Communist history. \n\nAfter the decision was drawn up, Brezhnev was immediately reported. When he returned from vacation, before the first meeting of the Politburo he said: \"Some idiot here invented a plan to close GUM and open some kind of cabinet of curiosities there.\" After everyone sat down, he asks: \"Well, has the GUM issue been resolved?\" Everyone, including Suslov, nodded their heads. The problem was closed once and for all without discussion.\n\nRelation to the Secretariat\n\nMembers\n\nElection\nTo be elected to the Politburo, a member had to serve on the Central Committee. The Central Committee formally elected the Politburo in the aftermath of a party Congress. Members of the Central Committee were given a predetermined list of candidates for the Politburo (having only one candidate for each seat); for this reason, the election of the Politburo was usually passed unanimously. The more power the CPSU General Secretary had, the stronger the chance was that the Politburo membership were passed without serious dissent.\n\nArticle 25 of the party Charter, said little to nothing on the actual relationship between the Politburo and the Central Committee. Until 1961, Article 25 stated (with several changes) that the Central Committee \"forms\" or \"organizes\" the Politburo. It was not until 1961, under Nikita Khrushchev, that the party Charter was amended; stating that the Politburo was appointed through \"secret elections\". The amended party Charter stated that at least one-third of the Politburo (as well as the Central Committee) had to step down at each election to the Politburo, and that no members could be elected for more than three terms. The initiator of these changes, Khrushchev, the CPSU General Secretary, had served in the Politburo for 22 years. Instead of stepping down, Khrushchev made a rule which stated that members \"who enjoyed great authority and possessed exceptional ability\" could serve more than three terms, if they received more than 75 percent approval votes from the Central Committee, upon elections. These amendments were removed from the party Charter under Leonid Brezhnev, and Article 25 now stated; \"In the election of all party organs, from the primary party organization to the Central Committee of the CPSU, the principle of systematic replacement of personnel and the continuity of leadership is to be observed.\" The Brezhnev period saw, in complete contrast to Khrushchev's amendment, the greatest continuity in the Politburo in its history. Article 25 of the Charter remained unchanged under the successive leadership of Yuri Andropov, Konstantin Chernenko and Mikhail Gorbachev.\n\nBetween 1919 and 1990, 42 members who served as candidate members were not promoted to full member status of the Politburo. Similarly, 32 full members of the Politburo never served as candidate members. Six members who had served as full members were demoted to candidate status during the Politburo's existence.\n\nPosts\nServing in the Politburo was a part-time function, and members served concurrently in either the party, state, trade union, security or military administrations (or all of them concurrently). Until the 1950s, most members served in state positions, but this changed at the 20th Congress (held in 1956) when 47% percent of Politburo members served in the central party apparatus while another 47% served in the state administration. From the 20th Congress until the 28th Congress, the share of Politburo members serving in the central party apparatus increased, while those serving in the state administration declined. The majority of Politburo members had leading central posts; the highest share of republican officials serving in the Politburo came at the 22nd Congress (held in 1961) when 50 percent of members held offices at the republican-level.\n\nSecurity officials had historically had a low-profile on the Politburo. From 1953 until 1973, no officials representing the security sector served in the Politburo as full members; the last two being Lavrentiy Beria and Nikolay Ignatov. This tradition was put to an end with the elevation of Yuri Andropov, the KGB Chairman, to full membership (having served as a candidate member since 1967). Alexander Shelepin had served as KGB Chairman, but was elected to the Politburo through his work in the Komsomol, while Eduard Shevardnadze, who had served as the Georgian Minister of Internal Affairs until 1972, became a candidate member of the Politburo through his work as First Secretary of the Georgian Communist Party. Similarly in 1973, the Minister of Defense Andrei Grechko was appointed to the Politburo. However, unlike the security sector, the military sector had had representatives in the Politburo since the 8th Politburo (in 1919). Defense ministers who had served in the Politburo are Leon Trotsky, Mikhail Frunze, Kliment Voroshilov, Nikolai Bulganin, Georgy Zhukov and Dmitry Ustinov among others. Similarly, several leading Politburo officials had participated in either the Russian Revolution, the Russian Civil War or World War II.\n\nEthnicity, age and sex\nEthnic Slavs dominated the Politburo from its establishment in 1919. This isn't surprising, since the three most populous republics within the Soviet Union were ethnic Slavic; Byelorussia, Ukraine and Russia. From 1919 until 1991, 89 members of the Politburo were Russians (which makes up 68 percent). In distant second were Ukrainians, who had 11 members in the Politburo, making up 8 percent. In third place are both ethnic Jews and Georgians, who had 4 members respectively. In general, in the first half of the Politburo's existence, there was a higher ethnic representation than the second half. It was not until the 28th Politburo that every republic had a representative at the Politburo. The Politburo never tried to fix the ethnic imbalance within the Politburo. Instead, the Soviet Union at the central level was mostly ruled by Russians.\n\nDespite the ideological rhetoric about equality between the sexes, the Politburo came to be composed largely of men. Only four women ever served in the Politburo; Elena Stasova, Yekaterina Furtseva, Alexandra Biryukova and Galina Semenova. Furtseva, Biryukova and Semenova reached the Politburo under the leadership of reformist party leaders; Nikita Khrushchev and Mikhail Gorbachev.\n\nThe average age of the Politburo was 39 in 1919, and the Politburo continued to age more-or-less consistently until 1985. The reason for this being that the Central Committee treated Politburo replenishment as the responsibility of the Politburo itself. Politburo members usually picked successors who were around the same age, the end result being the establishment of the gerontocracy of the Brezhnev Era. While the age steadily crept up during Khrushchev's leadership, members were replaced; for instance, 70 percent of the members elected to the Politburo in 1956 lost their seats in 1961. In contrast, all the Politburo members elected in 1966 were reelected in 1971. Even more worrisome, 12 out of 19 members elected in 1966 were reelected in 1981. By the time of Brezhnev's death in 1982, the median age of the politburo was 70. This age development was finally put to a halt under Gorbachev. From 1985 onwards, the age of Politburo members steadily declined.\n\nOrigin and education\nFifty-nine percent of Politburo members (both candidate and full) were of rural origins, while 41 percent were urban. The first members of the Politburo were predominantly from urban areas. For instance, on the 9th Politburo, two out of eight (Trotsky and Mikhail Kalinin) were born in rural areas. From the 1930s onwards, the majority of Politburo members had a father who worked either as a peasant or as a worker. This is strange, considering that one would assume a rise in representation of the intelligentsia as the Soviet Union became more advanced. From the 1960s onwards the majority of new members had workers' backgrounds, as expected. What is strange, however, is that from 1975 to 1981, a sudden increase of people of peasant background took place. When looking at first profession, the majority of members had worked as workers, but the majority of them had attended higher education later in their life (the majority of them choosing engineering). 43 percent of Politburo members attained higher education credentials during their life, while in a close second place, 32 percent of members earned an education in technical engineering.\n\nSee also\n Organisation of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union\n Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union\n Secretariat\n General Secretary\n Orgburo\n\nNotes\n\nBibliography\n\nFurther reading\n\nExternal links\nLeadership of the CPSU Full list of members and candidate members of the Politburo includes dates on the body and year of death (or execution).\nSuccession of Power in the USSR from the Dean Peter Krogh Foreign Affairs Archives\n\n1917 establishments in Russia\n1991 disestablishments in the Soviet Union\nBodies of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union\nOrganizations established in 1917\nPolitburos",
"Keith Robertson (born in New Zealand) is a former head coach of Glasgow Rugby, now known as the Glasgow Warriors. He took over the club from fellow New Zealander Kevin Greene in November 1997 when it was felt that the head coach position should be a full-time post.\n\nPreviously a coach of Rugby Southland and an assistant coach of Otago Highlanders, Robertson applied for the Glasgow job when the Highlanders were on a tour of the UK. He was already earmarked as a potential candidate head coach by Jim Telfer in May 1997.\n\nThis was a difficult period for the fledgling professional rugby game in Scotland. During Robertson's tenure at the club the 4 districts of Scotland were merged into two. The Glasgow club merged with the Caledonia Reds to become known as the Glasgow Caledonians. Meanwhile, Edinburgh Rugby merged with the Border Reivers to become the Edinburgh Reivers.\n\nRobertson's philosophy was to learn with the players and belief was key. He stated \"When I come over I am not going to be saying to the boys that this or that is the way we do things in New Zealand, I fully expect that I will learn from Glasgow's players and they will tell me what they do. I enjoy motivating players to see what they can do more than dictating to them.\"\n\nHe also tried to put losses and rugby in perspective: \"A loss in sport is a loss, you pick yourself up, examine why you lost, and then go forward.... Don't talk to me about sporting pressure. The bloke with no money in Drumchapel has more pressure than any rugby player.\"\n\nRobertson thought the Glasgow team in 1998 could have competed in the Super12 and won the European Cup. In the Heineken Cup of 1998–99 Glasgow recorded only 2 wins out of the 6 group games; the others of the group consisting of Pontypridd, Benetton Treviso and Colomiers.\n\nIt was thought that Robertson struggled to cope with merging the Glasgow and Caledonia Reds players into one team.\n\nHe was replaced by Richie Dixon in January 1999. Robertson moved to helping the Scotland Under 21 side with Roy Laidlaw but left at the end of the season.\n\nRobertson is now the coach of Clyde-Earnscleugh in New Zealand.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n Profile of Keith Robertson\n\nLiving people\nGlasgow Warriors coaches\nYear of birth missing (living people)"
]
|
[
"Erich Honecker",
"Family",
"Who was Honecker's father?",
"I don't know.",
"Did Honecker marry?",
"Honecker was married three times.",
"Who was his 1st wife?",
"he married the prison warden Charlotte Schanuel",
"Who was his 2nd wife?",
"By the time of her death, Honecker was already romantically involved with the Free German Youth official Edith Baumann,",
"Who was his 3rd wife?",
"Following his divorce and reportedly under pressure from the Politburo, he married Feist,",
"Why was he under pressure from Politburo and/or what does that have to do with remarrying?",
"political reasons,"
]
| C_92bef31fd20145178978ed83b356e8f6_0 | Why did he divorce his second wife? | 7 | Why did Erich Honecker divorce his second wife? | Erich Honecker | Honecker was married three times. After being liberated from prison in 1945 he married the prison warden Charlotte Schanuel (nee Drost), nine years his senior, on 23 December 1946. She died suddenly from a brain tumour in June 1947. Details of this marriage were not revealed until 2003, well after his death. By the time of her death, Honecker was already romantically involved with the Free German Youth official Edith Baumann, whom he met on a trip to Moscow. With her he had a daughter, Erika (b. 1950), who later gave him his granddaughter Anke. Sources differ on whether Honecker and Baumann married in 1947 or 1949, but in 1952 he fathered an illegitimate daughter, Sonja (b. December 1952), with Margot Feist, a People's Chamber member and chairperson of the Ernst Thalmann Pioneer Organisation. In September 1950, Baumann wrote directly to Walter Ulbricht to inform him of her husband's extramarital activity in the hope of him pressuring Honecker to end his relationship with Feist. Following his divorce and reportedly under pressure from the Politburo, he married Feist, however sources again differ on both the year of his divorce from Baumann and of his marriage to Feist; depending on the source, the events took place either in 1953 or 1955. For more than twenty years, Margot Honecker served as Minister of National Education. In 2012 intelligence reports collated by West German spies alleged that both Erich and his wife had secret affairs but did not divorce for political reasons, however, his bodyguard Bernd Bruckner in a book about his time spent in Honecker's service, refuted the claims. Honecker had three grandchildren from his daughter Sonja, who had married the Chilean-born exile Leonardo Yanez Betancourt; Roberto, (b. 1974) Mariana, (b. 1985) who died in 1988 at the age of two leaving Honecker himself heartbroken, and Vivian (b. 1988). Roberto's origins are debated; he is claimed to be the illegally adopted son of Mrs. Heidi Stein, Dirk Schiller, born on 13 June 1975 in Gorlitz, who disappeared in March 1979, due to alleged physical similarities between Dirk and Leonardo Mrs Stein suspecting that her son might have been kidnapped at 3 years old by Stasi agents for Honecker's younger daughter. Honecker's daughter, (who divorced Leonardo in 1993) grandson and granddaughter still live in Santiago. CANNOTANSWER | he fathered an illegitimate daughter, | Erich Ernst Paul Honecker (; 25 August 1912 – 29 May 1994) was a German communist politician who led the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 1971 until shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall in October 1989. He held the posts of General Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) and Chairman of the National Defence Council; in 1976, he replaced Willi Stoph as Chairman of the State Council, the official head of state. As the leader of East Germany, Honecker had close ties to the Soviet Union, which maintained a large army in the country.
Honecker's political career began in the 1930s when he became an official of the Communist Party of Germany, a position for which he was imprisoned by the Nazis. Following World War II, he was freed by the Soviet army and relaunched his political activities, founding the SED's youth organisation, the Free German Youth, in 1946 and serving as the group's chairman until 1955. As the Security Secretary of the SED Central Committee, he was the prime organiser of the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961 and, in this function, bore administrative responsibility for the "order to fire" along the Wall and the larger inner German border.
In 1970, Honecker initiated a political power struggle that led, with support of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, to him replacing Walter Ulbricht as General Secretary of the SED and chairman of the National Defence Council. Under his command, the country adopted a programme of "consumer socialism" and moved towards the international community by normalizing relations with West Germany and also becoming a full member of the UN, in what is considered one of his greatest political successes.
As Cold War tensions eased in the late 1980s with the advent of perestroika and glasnost—the liberal reforms introduced by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev—Honecker refused all but cosmetic changes to the East German political system. He cited the continual hardliner attitudes of Kim Il-sung and Fidel Castro, whose respective countries of governance of North Korea and Cuba had been critical of reforms. As anti-government protests grew, Honecker begged Gorbachev to intervene with the Soviet army to suppress the protests to maintain communist rule in East Germany as Moscow had done with Czechoslovakia in the Prague Spring of 1968 and with the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, but Gorbachev refused. Honecker was forced to resign by the SED Politburo in October 1989 in a bid to improve the government's image in the eyes of the public; the effort was unsuccessful, and the regime would collapse entirely the following month.
Following German reunification in 1990, Honecker sought asylum in the Chilean embassy in Moscow, but was extradited back to Germany in 1992, after the fall of the Soviet Union, to stand trial for his role in the human rights abuses committed by the East German government. However, the proceedings were abandoned, as Honecker was suffering from terminal liver cancer. He was freed from custody to join his family in exile in Chile, where he died in May 1994.
Childhood and youth
Honecker was born in Neunkirchen, in what is now Saarland, to Wilhelm Honecker (1881–1969), a coal miner and political activist, and his wife Caroline Catharine Weidenhof (1883–1963). The couple, married in 1905, had six children: Katharina (Käthe, 1906–1925), Wilhelm (Willi, 1907–1944), Frieda (1909–1974), Erich, Gertrud (1917–2010) and Karl-Robert (1923–1947). Erich, their fourth child, was born on 25 August 1912 during the period in which the family resided on Max-Braun-Straße, before later moving to Kuchenbergstraße 88 in the present-day Neunkirchen city district of Wiebelskirchen.
After World War I, the Territory of the Saar Basin was occupied by France. This change from the strict rule of to French military occupation provided the backdrop for what Wilhelm Honecker understood as proletarian exploitation, and introduced young Erich to communism. After his tenth birthday in 1922, Erich Honecker became a member of the Spartacus League's children's group in Wiebelskirchen. Aged 14 he entered the KJVD, the Young Communist League of Germany, for whom he later served the organisation's leader of Saarland from 1931.
Honecker did not find an apprenticeship immediately after leaving school, but instead worked for a farmer in Pomerania for almost two years. In 1928 he returned to Wiebelskirchen and began a traineeship as a roofer with his uncle, but quit to attend the International Lenin School in Moscow and Magnitogorsk after the KJVD handpicked him for a course of study there. There, sharing a room with Anton Ackermann, he studied under the cover name "Fritz Malter".
Opposition to the Nazis and imprisonment
In 1930, aged 18, Honecker entered the KPD, the Communist Party of Germany. His political mentor was Otto Niebergall, who later represented the KPD in the Reichstag. After returning from Moscow in 1931 following his studies at the International Lenin School, he became the leader of the KJVD in the Saar region. After the Nazi seizure of power in 1933, Communist activities within Germany were only possible undercover; the Saar region however still remained outside the German Reich under a League of Nations mandate. Honecker was arrested in Essen, Germany but soon released. Following this he fled to the Netherlands and from there oversaw KJVD's activities in Pfalz, Hesse and Baden-Württemberg.
Honecker returned to the Saar in 1934 and worked alongside Johannes Hoffmann on the campaign against the region's re-incorporation into Germany. A referendum on the area's future in January 1935 however saw 90.73% vote in favour of reunifying with Germany. Like 4,000 to 8,000 others, Honecker then fled the region, initially relocating to Paris.
On 28 August 1935 he illegally travelled to Berlin under the alias "Marten Tjaden", with a printing press in his luggage. From there he worked closely together with KPD official Herbert Wehner in opposition/resistance to the Nazi state. On 4 December 1935 Honecker was detained by the Gestapo and until 1937 remanded in Berlin's Moabit detention centre. On 3 July 1937 he was sentenced to ten years imprisonment for the "preparation of high treason alongside the severe falsification of documents".
Honecker spent the majority of his incarceration in the Brandenburg-Görden Prison, where he also carried out tasks as a handyman. In early 1945 he was moved to the Barnimstraße Women's Prison in Berlin due to good behaviour and to be put to work repairing the bomb-damaged building, as he was a skilled roofer. During an Allied bombing raid on 6 March 1945 he managed to escape and hid himself at the apartment of Lotte Grund, a female prison guard. After several days she persuaded him to turn himself in and his escape was then covered up by the guard. Honecker spent most of his time in prison under solitary confinement.
After the liberation of the prisons by advancing Soviet troops on 27 April 1945, Honecker remained in Berlin. His "escape" from prison and his relationships during his captivity later led to him experiencing difficulties within the Socialist Unity Party, as well as straining his relations with his former inmates. In later interviews and in his personal memoirs, Honecker falsified many of the details of his life during this period. Material from the East German State Security Service has been used to allege that, to be released from prison, Honecker offered the Gestapo evidence incriminating fellow imprisoned Communists, claimed he had renounced Communism "for good", and was willing to serve in the German army.
Post-war return to politics
In May 1945 Honecker was "picked up" by chance in Berlin by Hans Mahle and taken to the Ulbricht Group, a collective of exiled German communists that had returned from the Soviet Union to Germany after the end of the Nazi regime. Through Waldemar Schmidt, Honecker befriended Walter Ulbricht, who had not been aware of him at that point. Honecker's future role in the group was still undecided until well into the summer months, as he had yet to face a party process. This ended in a reprimand due to his "undisciplined conduct" in fleeing from prison at the start of the year, an action which was debated upon it jeopardizing the other (communist) inmates.
In 1946, Honecker became the co-founder of the Free German Youth (FDJ), whose chairmanship he also undertook. After the formation of the SED, the Socialist Unity Party, in April 1946 through a merger of the KPD and SPD, Honecker swiftly became a leading party member and took his place in the party's Central Committee.
On 7 October 1949, the German Democratic Republic was formed with the adoption of a new constitution, establishing a political system similar to that of the Soviet Union. Within the state's socialist single party government, Honecker determinedly resumed his political career and the following year was nominated as a candidate for the Politbüro of the SED's Central Committee. As President of the Free German Youth movement, he organised the inaugural "Deutschlandtreffen der Jugend" in East Berlin in May 1950 and the 3rd World Festival of Youth and Students in 1951, although the latter was beset with organisational problems.
During the internal party unrest following the suppressed uprising of June 1953, Honecker sided with First Secretary Walter Ulbricht, despite the majority of the Politburo attempting to depose Ulbricht in favour of Rudolf Herrnstadt. Honecker himself though faced questioning from party members about his inadequate qualifications for his position. On 27 May 1955 he handed the Presidency of the FDJ over to Karl Namokel, and departed for Moscow to study for two years at the School of the Soviet Communist Party at Ulbricht's request. During this period he witnessed the 20th Congress of the Soviet Communist Party in person, where its First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev denounced Joseph Stalin.
After returning to East Germany in 1958, Honecker became a fully-fledged member of the Politburo, taking over responsibility for military and security issues. As the Party Security Secretary he was the prime organiser of the building of the Berlin Wall in August 1961 and also a proponent of the "order to fire" along the Inner German border.
Leadership of East Germany
While Ulbricht had replaced the state's command economy with, firstly the "New Economic System", then the Economic System of Socialism, as he sought to improve the country's failing economy, Honecker declared the main task to in fact be the "unity of economic and social politics", essentially through which living standards (with increased consumer goods) would be raised in exchange for political loyalty. Tensions had already led to his once-mentor Ulbricht removing Honecker from the position of Second Secretary in July 1970, only for the Soviet leadership to swiftly reinstate him. Honecker played up the thawing East-West German relationship as Ulbricht's strategy, to win the support of the Soviet leadership under Leonid Brezhnev. With this secured, Honecker was appointed First Secretary (from 1976 titled general secretary) of the Central Committee on 3 May 1971 after the Soviet leadership forced Ulbricht to step aside "for health reasons".
After also succeeding Ulbricht as Chairman of the National Defence Council in 1971, Honecker was eventually also elected Chairman of the State Council (a post equivalent to that of president) on 29 October 1976. With this, Honecker reached the height of power within East Germany. From there on, he, along with Economic Secretary Günter Mittag and Minister of State Security Erich Mielke, made all key government decisions. Until 1989 the "little strategic clique" composed of these three men was unchallenged as the top level of East Germany's ruling class. Honecker's closest colleague was , the SED's Agitation and Propaganda Secretary. Alongside him, Honecker held daily meetings concerning the party's media representation in which the layout of the party's own newspaper Neues Deutschland, as well as the sequencing of news items in the national news bulletin Aktuelle Kamera, were determined.
Under Honecker's leadership, East Germany adopted a programme of "consumer socialism", which resulted in a marked improvement in living standards already the highest among the Eastern bloc countries. More attention was placed on the availability of consumer goods, and the construction of new housing was accelerated, with Honecker promising to "settle the housing problem as an issue of social relevance". His policies were initially marked by a liberalisation toward culture and art, though this was less about the replacement of Ulbricht by Honecker and more for propaganda purposes. While 1973 brought the World Festival of Youth and Students to East Berlin, soon dissident artists such as Wolf Biermann were expelled and the Ministry for State Security raised its efforts to suppress political resistance. Honecker remained committed to the expansion of the Inner German border and the "order to fire" policy along it. During his time in office around 125 East German citizens were killed while trying to reach the West.
After the Federal Republic had secured an agreement with the Soviet Union on cooperation and a policy of non-violence, it became possible to reach a similar agreement with the GDR. The Basic Treaty between East and West Germany in 1972 sought to normalise contacts between the two governments.
East Germany also participated in the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe held in Helsinki in 1975, which attempted to improve relations between the West and the Eastern Bloc, and became a full member of the United Nations. These acts of diplomacy were considered Honecker’s greatest successes in foreign politics.
Honecker received additional high-profile personal recognitions including honorary doctorates of humane letters from North Korea’s Kim Il-Sung University in 1974, Cuba's University of Las Tunas in 1979 and Iraq's Saddam University in 1983, honorary doctorates of business administration from East Berlin's Humboldt University in 1976, Tokyo's Nihon University in 1981 and the London School of Economics in 1984 and the Olympic Order from the IOC in 1985. In September 1987, he became the first East German head of state to visit West Germany, where he was received with full state honours by West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl in an act that seemed to confirm West Germany's acceptance of East Germany's existence. During this trip he also journeyed to his birthplace in Saarland, where he held an emotional speech in which he spoke of a day when Germans would no longer be separated by borders, but unified under communist rule. This trip had been planned twice before, including September 1984, but was initially blocked by the Soviet leadership which mistrusted the special East-West German relationship, particularly efforts to expand East Germany's limited independence in the realm of foreign policy.
Illness, downfall and resignation
In the late 1980s, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev introduced glasnost and perestroika, reforms to liberalise socialist planned economy. Frictions between him and Honecker had grown over these policies and numerous additional issues from 1985 onward. East Germany refused to implement similar reforms, with Honecker reportedly telling Gorbachev: "We have done our perestroika; we have nothing to restructure". Gorbachev grew to dislike Honecker, and by 1988 was lumping him in with Bulgaria's Todor Zhivkov, Czechoslovakia's Gustáv Husák and Romania's Nicolae Ceaușescu as a "Gang of Four": a group of inflexible hardliners unwilling to make reforms.
According to White House experts Philip Zelikow and Condoleezza Rice, Gorbachev looked to Communist leaders in Eastern Europe to follow his example of perestroika and glasnost. They argue:
Gorbachev himself had no particular sympathy for Erich Honecker, chairman of the East German Communist Party, and his hard-line comrades and the government. As early as 1985... [Gorbachev] had told East German party officials that kindergarten was over; no one would lead them by the hand. They were responsible for their own people. The relations between Gorbachev and Honecker went downhill from there.
Western analysts, according to Zelikow and Rice, believed in 1989 that Communism was still secure in East Germany:
Bolstered by relatively greater affluence than his country's Eastern European neighbors enjoyed in a fantastically elaborate system of internal controls, East Germany's longtime leader Eric Honecker seemed secure in his position. His government had long dealt with dissent through a mixture of brutal repression, forced emigration, and the vent of allowing occasional, limited travel to the West for a substantial part of the population.
Honecker felt betrayed by Gorbachev in his German policy and ensured that official texts of the Soviet Union, especially those concerning perestroika, could no longer be published or sold in East Germany.
At the Warsaw Pact summit on 7–8 July 1989 in Bucharest, the Soviet Union reaffirmed its shift from the Brezhnev Doctrine of the limited sovereignty of its member states, and announced "freedom of choice". The Bucharest statement prescribed that its nations henceforth developed their "own political line, strategy and tactics without external intervention". This called into question the Soviet guarantee of existence for the Communist states in Europe. Already in May 1989 Hungary had begun dismantling its border with Austria, creating the first gap in the so-called Iron Curtain, through which later several thousand East Germans quickly fled in hopes of reaching West Germany by way of Austria. But with the mass exodus at the Pan-European Picnic in August 1989 (which was based on an idea by Otto von Habsburg to test Gorbachev's reaction to the opening of the border), the subsequent hesitant behaviour of the Socialist Unity Party of East Germany and the non-intervention of the Soviet Union opened the floodgates. Thus the united front of the Eastern Bloc was broken. The reaction to this from Erich Honecker in the Daily Mirror of August 19, 1989 was too late and showed the current loss of power: “Habsburg distributed leaflets far into Poland, on which the East German holidaymakers were invited to a picnic. When they came to the picnic, they were given gifts, food and Deutsche Mark, and then they were persuaded to come to the West.” Later, after his fall, Honecker said of Otto von Habsburg in connection with the summer of 1989: "That this Habsburg drove the nail into my coffin." Now tens of thousands of media-informed East Germans made their way to Hungary, which was no longer ready to keep its borders completely closed or to oblige its border troops to use force of arms. A 1969 treaty required the Hungarian government to send the East Germans back home; however, starting on 11 September 1989, the Hungarians let them pass into Austria, telling their outraged East German counterparts that they were refugees and that international treaties on refugees took precedence.
At the time, Honecker was sidelined through illness, leaving his colleagues unable to act decisively. He had been taken ill with biliary colic during the Warsaw Pact summit. He was shortly afterwards flown home to East Berlin. After an initial stabilisation in his health, he underwent surgery on 18 August 1989 to remove his inflamed gallbladder and, due to a perforation, part of his colon. According to the urologist Peter Althaus, the surgeons left a suspected carcinogenic nodule in Honecker’s right kidney due to his weak condition, and also failed to inform the patient of the suspected cancer; other sources say the tumour was simply undetected. As a result of this operation, Honecker was away from his office until late September 1989.
Back in office, Honecker had to contend with the rising number and strength of demonstrations across East Germany that had first been sparked by reports in the West German media of fraudulent results in local elections on 7 May 1989, the same results he had labelled a "convincing reflection" of the populace's faith in his leadership. He also had to deal with a new refugee problem. Several thousand East Germans tried to go to West Germany by way of Czechoslovakia, only to have that government bar them from passing. Several thousands of them headed straight for the West German embassy in Prague and demanded safe passage to West Germany. With some reluctance, Honecker allowed them to go – but forced them to go back through East Germany on sealed trains and stripped them of their East German citizenship. Several members of the SED Politbüro realised this was a serious blunder and made plans to get rid of him.
As unrest visibly grew, large numbers began fleeing the country through the West German embassies in Prague and Budapest, as well as over the borders of the "socialist brother" states. Each month saw tens of thousands more exit. On 3 October 1989 East Germany closed its borders to its eastern neighbours and prevented visa-free travel to Czechoslovakia; a day later these measures were also extended to travel to Bulgaria and Romania. East Germany was now not only behind the Iron Curtain to the West, but also cordoned off from most other Eastern bloc states.
On 6–7 October 1989 the national celebrations of the 40th anniversary of the East German state took place with Gorbachev in attendance. To the surprise of Honecker and the other SED leaders in attendance, several hundred members of the Free German Youth — reckoned as the future vanguard of the party and nation — began chanting, "Gorby, help us! Gorby, save us!". In a private conversation between the two leaders Honecker praised the success of the nation, but Gorbachev knew that, in reality, it faced bankruptcy; East Germany had already accepted billions of dollars in loans from West Germany during the decade as it sought to stabilise its economy. Attempting to make Honecker accept a need for reforms, Gorbachev warned Honecker that "He who is too late is punished by life", yet Honecker maintained that "we will solve our problems ourselves with socialist means". Protests outside the reception at the Palace of the Republic led to hundreds of arrests in which many were brutally beaten by soldiers and police.
As the reform movement spread throughout Central and Eastern Europe, mass demonstrations against the East German government erupted, most prominently in Leipzig—the first of several demonstrations which took place on Monday nights across the country. In response, an elite paratroop unit was dispatched to Leipzig—almost certainly on Honecker's orders, since he was commander-in-chief of the Army. A bloodbath was averted only when local party officials themselves ordered the troops to pull back. In the following week, Honecker faced a torrent of criticism. This gave his Politburo comrades the impetus they needed to replace him.
After a crisis meeting of the Politburo on 10–11 October 1989, Honecker's planned state visit to Denmark was cancelled and, despite his resistance, at the insistence of the government's number-two-man, Egon Krenz, a public statement was issued that called for "suggestions for attractive socialism". Over the following days Krenz worked to secure himself the support of the military and the Stasi and arranged a meeting between Gorbachev and Politburo member Harry Tisch, who was in Moscow, to inform the Kremlin about the now-planned removal of Honecker; Gorbachev reportedly wished them good luck.
The sitting of the SED Central Committee planned for the end of November 1989 was pulled forward a week, with the most urgent item on the agenda now being the composition of the Politburo. Krenz and Mielke attempted by telephone on the night of 16 October to win other Politburo members over to remove Honecker. At the beginning of the session on 17 October, Honecker asked his routine question of "Are there any suggestions for the agenda?" Stoph replied, "Please, general secretary, Erich, I propose that a new item be placed on the agenda. It is the release of Erich Honecker as general secretary and the election of Egon Krenz in his place." Honecker reportedly calmly responded: "Well, then I open the debate".
All those present then spoke, in turn, but none in favour of Honecker. Günter Schabowski even extended the dismissal of Honecker to also include his posts in the State Council and as Chairman of the National Defence Council while childhood friend Günter Mittag moved away from Honecker. Mielke supposedly blamed Honecker for almost all the country's current ills and threatened to publish compromising information that he possessed, if Honecker refused to resign. A ZDF documentary on the matter claims this information was contained in a large red briefcase found in Mielke's possession in 1990. After three hours the Politburo voted to remove Honecker. In accordance with longstanding practice, Honecker voted for his own removal. When the public announcement was made, it was branded as a voluntary decision on Honecker's part, ostensibly "due to health reasons". Krenz was unanimously elected as his successor as General Secretary.
Start of prosecution and asylum attempts
Communist rule in East Germany survived Honecker's removal by only two months. Three weeks after Honecker's ousting the Berlin Wall fell, and the SED swiftly lost control of the country. On 1 December, its guaranteed right to rule was removed from the East German constitution. Two days later he was expelled from the SED along with other former officials. He went on to join the newly founded Communist Party of Germany in 1990, remaining a member until his death.
During November the People's Chamber had already set up a committee to investigate corruption and abuses of office, with Honecker being alleged to have received annual donations from the National Academy of Architecture of around 20,000 marks as an "honorary member". On 5 December 1989 the chief public prosecutor in East Germany formally launched a judicial inquiry against him on charges of high treason, abuses of confidence and embezzlement to the serious disadvantage of socialist property (the charge of high treason was dropped in March 1990). As a result, Honecker was placed under house arrest for a month.
Following the lifting of his house arrest, Honecker and his wife Margot were forced to vacate their apartment in the Waldsiedlung housing area in Wandlitz, exclusively used by senior SED party members, after the People's Chamber decided to put it to use as a sanatorium for the disabled. In any case, Honecker spent the majority of January 1990 in hospital after having the error of the tumour missed in 1989 corrected after the suspicion of cancer was confirmed. Upon leaving the hospital on 29 January he was re-arrested and held at the Berlin-Rummelsburg remand centre. However, on the evening of the following day, 30 January, Honecker was again released from custody: The district court had annulled the arrest warrant and, due to medical reports, certified him unfit for detention and interrogation.
Lacking a home, Honecker instructed his lawyer Wolfgang Vogel to ask the Evangelical Church in Berlin-Brandenburg for help. Pastor Uwe Holmer, leader of the Hoffnungstal Institute in Lobetal, Bernau bei Berlin, offered the couple a home in his vicarage. This drew immediate condemnation and later demonstrations against the church for assisting the Honeckers, given they had both discriminated against Christians who did not conform with the SED leadership's ideology. Aside from a stay at a holiday home in Lindow in March 1990 that lasted only one day before protests swiftly brought it to an end, the couple resided at the Holmer residence until 3 April 1990.
The couple then moved into a three-room living quarters within the Soviet military hospital in Beelitz. Here, doctors diagnosed a malignant liver tumour following another re-examination. Following German reunification, prosecutors in Berlin issued a further arrest warrant for Honecker in November 1990 on charges that he gave the order to fire on escapees at the Inner German border in 1961 and had repeatedly reiterated that command (most specifically in 1974). However, this warrant was not enforceable because Honecker lay under the protection of Soviet authorities in Beelitz. On 13 March 1991 the Honeckers fled Germany from the Soviet-controlled Sperenberg Airfield to Moscow on a military jet with the aid of Soviet hardliners.
The German Chancellery had only been informed by Soviet diplomats about the Honeckers’ flight to Moscow one hour in advance. It limited its response to a public protest, claiming the existence of an arrest warrant meant the Soviet Union was breaching international law by admitting Honecker. The initial Soviet reaction was that Honecker was now too ill to travel and was receiving medical treatment after a deterioration of his health. He underwent further surgery the following month.
On 11 December 1991 the Honeckers sought refuge in the Chilean Embassy in Moscow, while also applying for political asylum in the Soviet Union. Despite an offer of help from North Korea, Honecker instead reached out to the Chilean government under Christian Democrat Patricio Aylwin. Under Honecker's rule, East Germany had granted many Chileans exile following the military coup of 1973 by Augusto Pinochet. In addition his daughter Sonja was married to a Chilean. Chilean authorities, however, stated he could not enter their country without a valid German passport.
Mikhail Gorbachev agreed to the dissolution of the Soviet Union on 25 December 1991 and gave all his powers to Russian president Boris Yeltsin. Russian authorities had long been keen on expelling Honecker, against the wishes of Gorbachev, and the new government now demanded that he leave the country or else face deportation.
In June 1992, Chilean President Patricio Aylwin, leader of a center-left coalition, finally assured German Chancellor Helmut Kohl that Honecker would be leaving the embassy in Moscow. Reportedly against his will, Honecker was ejected from the embassy on 29 July 1992 and flown to Berlin's Tegel Airport, where he was arrested and detained in Moabit Prison. By contrast, his wife Margot travelled on a direct flight from Moscow to Santiago, Chile, where she initially stayed with her daughter Sonja. Honecker's lawyers unsuccessfully appealed for him to be released from detention in the period leading up to his trial.
Criminal trial and death
On 12 May 1992, while under protection in the Chilean embassy in Moscow, Honecker, along with several co-defendants, including Erich Mielke, Willi Stoph, Heinz Kessler, Fritz Streletz and Hans Albrecht, was accused in a 783-page indictment of taking part in the "collective manslaughter" of 68 people as they attempted to flee East Germany. It was alleged that Honecker, in his role as Chairman of the National Defence Council, had both given the decisive order in 1961 for the construction of the Berlin Wall and also, at subsequent meetings, ordered the extensive expansion of the border fortifications around West Berlin and the barriers to the West so as to make any passing impossible. In addition, specifically at a May 1974 sitting of the National Defence Council, he had stated that the development of the border must continue, that lines of fire were warranted along the whole border and, as prior, the use of firearms was essential: "Comrades who have successfully used their firearms [are] to be praised". Honecker, in his role of chairman of the party, was responsible for the deaths of many more than the 68 mentioned above. As of 22 April 2015, well over 1,000 deaths have been discovered mainly through secret East German documentation: "It is still not known for sure how many people died on the inner German border or who they were, as the East German state treated such information as a closely guarded secret. But numbers have risen steadily since unification, as evidence has been gathered from East German records. Current unofficial estimates put the figure at up to 1,100 people." From the same article, "In 1974, Erich Honecker, as Chairman of the GDR's National Defence Council, ordered: 'Firearms are to be ruthlessly used in the event of attempts to break through the border, and the comrades who have successfully used their firearms are to be commended.'"
The charges were approved by the Berlin District Court on 19 October 1992 at the opening of the trial. On the same day, it was decided that the hearing of 56 charges would be postponed and the remaining twelve cases would be the subject of the trial to begin on 12 November 1992. The question of under which laws the former East German leader could be tried was highly controversial and, in the view of many jurists, the process had an uncertain outcome.
During his 70-minute-long statement to the court on 3 December 1992, Honecker said that he had political responsibility for the building of the Berlin Wall and subsequent deaths at the borders, but claimed he was "without juridical, legal or moral guilt". He blamed the escalation of the Cold War for the building of the Berlin Wall, saying the decision had not been taken solely by the East German leadership but all the Warsaw Pact nations that had collectively concluded in 1961 that a "Third World War with millions dead" would be unavoidable without this action. He quoted several West German politicians who had opined that the wall had indeed reduced and stabilised the two factions. He stated that he had always regretted every death, both from a human point of view and due to the political damage they caused.
Making reference to past trials in Germany against communists and socialists such as Karl Marx and August Bebel, he claimed that the legal process against him was politically motivated and a "show trial" against communism. He stated that no court lying in the territory of West Germany had the legal right to place him, his co-defendants or any East German citizen on trial, and that the portrayal of East Germany as an "Unrechtsstaat" was contradictory to its recognition by over one hundred other nations and the UN Security Council. Furthermore, he questioned how a German court could now legally judge his political decisions in the light of the lack of legal action taken over various military operations that had been carried out by Western nations with either overt support or absence of condemnation from (West) Germany. He dismissed public criticism of the Stasi, arguing that journalists in Western countries were praised for denouncing others. While accepting political responsibility for the deaths at the Wall, he believed he was free of any "legal or moral guilt", and thought that East Germany would go down in history as "a sign that socialism is possible and is better than capitalism."
By the time of the proceedings Honecker was already seriously ill. A new CT scan in August 1992 had confirmed an ultrasound examination made in Moscow and the existence of a malignant tumour in the right lobe of his liver. Based on these findings and additional medical testimonies, Honecker’s lawyers requested that the legal proceedings, as far as they were aimed against their client, be abandoned and the arrest warrant against him withdrawn; the cases against both Mielke and Stoph had already been postponed due to their ill health. Arguing that his life expectancy was estimated to be three to six months, while the legal process was forecast to take at least two years, his lawyers questioned whether it was humane to try a dying man. Their application was rejected on 21 December 1992 when the court concluded that, given the seriousness of the charges, no obstacle to the proceedings existed.
Honecker lodged a constitutional complaint to the recently created Berlin Constitutional Court, stating that the decision to proceed violated his fundamental right to human dignity, which was an overriding principle in the Constitution of Berlin, above even the state penal system and criminal justice. On 12 January 1993 Honecker's complaint was upheld and the Berlin District Court therefore abandoned the case and withdrew their arrest warrant. An application for a new arrest warrant was rejected on 13 January. The court also refused to commence with the trial related to the indictment of 12 November 1992, and withdrew the second arrest warrant related to these charges. After a total of 169 days Honecker was released from custody, drawing protests both from victims of the East German state as well as German political figures.
Honecker flew via Brazil to Santiago, Chile, to reunite with his wife and his daughter Sonja, who lived there with her son Roberto. Upon his arrival he was greeted by the leaders of the Chilean Communist and Socialist parties. In contrast, his co-defendants Heinz Kessler, Fritz Streletz and Hans Albrecht were sentenced on 16 September 1993 to imprisonment of between four and seven-and-a-half years. On 13 April 1993 a final attempt to separate and continue the trial against Honecker in his absence was discontinued. Four days later, on the 66th birthday of his wife Margot, he gave a final public speech, ending with the words: "Socialism is the opposite of what we have now in Germany. For that I would like to say that our beautiful memories of the German Democratic Republic are testimony of a new and just society. And we want to always remain loyal to these things".
On 29 May 1994, Honecker died of liver cancer at the age of 81 in a terraced house in the La Reina district of Santiago. His funeral, arranged by the Communist Party of Chile, was conducted the following day at central cemetery in Santiago.
Family
Honecker was married three times. After being liberated from prison in 1945, he married the prison warden Charlotte Schanuel (née Drost), nine years his senior, on 23 December 1946. She died suddenly from a brain tumour in June 1947. Details of this marriage were not revealed until 2003, well after his death.
By the time of her death, Honecker was already romantically involved with the Free German Youth official Edith Baumann, whom he met on a trip to Moscow. With her, he had a daughter, Erika (b. 1950), who later gave him his granddaughter Anke. Sources differ on whether Honecker and Baumann married in 1947 or 1949, but in 1952 he fathered an illegitimate daughter, Sonja (b. December 1952), with Margot Feist, a People's Chamber member and chairperson of the Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Organisation.
In September 1950, Baumann wrote directly to Walter Ulbricht to inform him of her husband's extramarital activity in the hope of him pressuring Honecker to end his relationship with Feist. Following his divorce and reportedly under pressure from the Politburo, he married Feist. However, sources again differ on both the year of his divorce from Baumann and of his marriage to Feist; depending on the source, the events took place either in 1953 or 1955. For more than twenty years, Margot Honecker served as Minister of National Education. In 2012 intelligence reports collated by West German spies alleged that both Honecker and his wife had secret affairs but did not divorce for political reasons; however, his bodyguard Bernd Brückner, in a book about his time spent in Honecker's service, denied the claims.
Honecker had three grandchildren from his daughter Sonja, who had married the Chilean-born exile Leonardo Yáñez Betancourt: Roberto (b. 1974), Mariana (b. 1985), who died in 1988 at the age of two leaving Honecker himself heartbroken, and Vivian (b. 1988). Roberto's origins are debated; he is claimed to be the illegally adopted son of Heidi Stein, Dirk Schiller, born on 13 June 1975 in Görlitz, who disappeared in March 1979, due to alleged physical similarities between Dirk and Yáñez, Stein suspecting that her son might have been kidnapped at three years old by Stasi agents for Honecker's younger daughter.
Honecker's daughter divorced Yáñez in 1993. She and her two surviving children still live in Santiago.
Honours and awards
:
Hero of the German Democratic Republic (twice)
Hero of Labour
Patriotic Order of Merit (Honor clasp, in Gold)
Order of Karl Marx (five times)
Order of the Banner of Labor
:
Hero of the Soviet Union
Order of Lenin (thrice)
Order of the October Revolution
Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin"
Other countries:
Grand Star of the Order of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria (Austria)
Order of Georgi Dimitrov (Bulgaria)
Order of José Martí (Cuba)
Order of Playa Girón (Cuba)
Order of Klement Gottwald (Czechoslovakia)
Grand Cross of the White Rose of Finland (Finland)
Order of Augusto Cesar Sandino, 1st class (Nicaragua)
Order of the "Victory of Socialism" (Romania)
Order of Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam)
Olympic Order (International Olympic Committee)
In popular culture
Dmitri Vrubel's 1990 mural on the Berlin Wall My God, Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love, depicting a socialist "fraternal kiss" between Honecker and Leonid Brezhnev, became known around the world.
A traffic signal inspired by Honecker wearing a jaunty straw hat was used in parts of East Germany (Ost-Ampelmännchen) and has become a symbol of Ostalgie.
Notes
References
Further reading
Bryson, Phillip J., and Manfred Melzer eds. The end of the East German economy: from Honecker to reunification (Palgrave Macmillan, 1991).
Childs, David, ed. Honecker's Germany (London: Taylor & Francis, 1985).
Collier Jr, Irwin L. "GDR economic policy during the honecker era." Eastern European Economics 29.1 (1990): 5–29.
Dennis, Mike. Social and Economic Modernization in Eastern Germany from Honecker to Kohl (Burns & Oates, 1993).
Dennis, Mike. "The East German Ministry of State Security and East German Society During the Honecker Era, 1971–1989." in German Writers and the Politics of Culture (Palgrave Macmillan, London, 200)3. 3–24 on the STASI
Fulbrook, Mary. (2008) The people's state: East German society from Hitler to Honecker. Yale University Press.
Grix, Jonathan. "Competing approaches to the collapse of the GDR: ‘Top‐down’ vs ‘bottom‐up’," Journal of Area Studies 6#13:121–142, DOI: 10.1080/02613539808455836, Historiography.
Lippmann, Heinz. Honecker and the new politics of Europe (New York: Macmillan, 1972).
McAdams, A. James. "The Honecker trial: the East German past and the German future." Review of Politics 58.1 (1996): 53–80. online
Weitz, Eric D. Creating German Communism, 1890–1990: From Popular Protests to Socialist State (Princeton UP, 1997).
Wilsford, David, ed. Political leaders of contemporary Western Europe: a biographical dictionary (Greenwood, 1995) pp. 195–201.
Primary sources
Honecker, Erich. (1981) From My Life. New York: Pergamon, 1981. .
External links
Honecker im Internet (in German)
www.warheroes.ru – Erich Honecker (in Russian)
Welcoming Address to 1979 Session of the World Peace Council Erich Honecker's speech to the WPC
A Successful Policy Seared to the Needs of the People Volkskammer pamphlet including material by Honecker
1912 births
1994 deaths
People from Neunkirchen, Saarland
People from the Rhine Province
Communist Party of Germany politicians
Members of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany
Members of the Provisional Volkskammer
Members of the 1st Volkskammer
Members of the 2nd Volkskammer
Members of the 3rd Volkskammer
Members of the 4th Volkskammer
Members of the 5th Volkskammer
Members of the 6th Volkskammer
Members of the 7th Volkskammer
Members of the 8th Volkskammer
Members of the 9th Volkskammer
Free German Youth members
Communist rulers
Communists in the German Resistance
Collaborators with the Soviet Union
German atheists
German expatriates in Chile
German expatriates in the Soviet Union
Exiled politicians
International Lenin School alumni
People condemned by Nazi courts
People extradited from Russia
People extradited to Germany
German politicians convicted of crimes
Heads of government who were later imprisoned
Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit (honor clasp)
Recipients of the Banner of Labor
Recipients of the Olympic Order
Recipients of the Order of Ho Chi Minh
Recipients of the Grand Star of the Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria
Foreign Heroes of the Soviet Union
Recipients of the Order of Lenin
Deaths from liver cancer
Deaths from cancer in Chile
People of the Cold War | true | [
"Colasterion (from the Greek word for \"instrument of punishment\" or \"house of correction\") was published by John Milton with his Tetrachordon on 4 March 1645. The tract is a response to an anonymous pamphlet attacking the first edition of The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce. Milton makes no new arguments, but harshly takes to task the \"trivial author\".\n\nBackground\n\nMilton married in Spring 1642, and shortly after, his wife Marie Powell, left him and returned to live with her mother. The legal statutes of England did not allow for Milton to apply for a divorce and he resorted to promoting the lawfulness of divorce. Although the laws did not change, he wrote four tracts on the topic of divorce, with The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce as his first tract. The first tract was created during a time of humiliation, and Milton was motivated towards writing on the topic after reading the work of Martin Bucer on divorce. Although it is impossible to know why exactly Powell separated from Milton, it is possible that Powell's family, a strong royalist family, caused a political difference that was exacerbated by the English Civil War.\n\nDuring the time of composing the tracts, Milton attempted to pursue another woman known only as Miss Davis, but this resulted in failure. He continued to pursue the topic until his wife returned to him and they were to reconcile. This reconciliation could have come in part from the failure of the royalists, including Powell's family, to prevail during the English Civil War and lacking justification to further distance themselves from Milton. According to George Thomason, an early collector of English Civil War tracts, Colasterion was published on 4 March 1645 along with Tetrachordon.\n\nTract\nColasterion is a personal response to the anonymous pamphlet An Answer to a Book, Intituled, The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce, or, A Pleas for Ladies and Gentlewomen, and all other Married Women against Divorce (1644). The work contains many insults against the anonymous author, including \"wind-egg\", \"Serving-man\", and \"conspicuous gull\". In the tract, Milton promotes an idea of separation, and, in his situation, a separation from his previous wife.\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n Miller, Leo. John Milton among the Polygamophiles. New York: Loewenthal Press, 1974.\n Milton, John. Complete Prose Works of John Milton Vol II ed. Don Wolfe. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1959.\n Patterson, Annabel. \"Milton, Marriage and Divorce\" in A Companion to Milton. Ed. Thomas Corns. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2003.\n\nWorks by John Milton\n1645 books",
"Elizabeth Hamilton, Duchess of Hamilton (20 April 1757 – 17 January 1837) was the wife of Douglas Hamilton, 8th Duke of Hamilton. Their divorce, in 1794, was a cause célèbre; following this, she became the third wife of Henry Cecil, 1st Marquess of Exeter.\n\nElizabeth was the daughter of Peter Burrell of Beckenham, a barrister. Her brother, Peter, became 1st Baron Gwydyr. Both of her sisters married into the aristocracy, Isabella becoming Countess of Beverley, and Frances becoming Duchess of Northumberland.\n\nThe duke had been living abroad when, aged 21, he returned and met Elizabeth Burrell; they were married in London on 5 April 1778. Hamilton's mother, the Duchess of Argyll (formerly Elizabeth Gunning, is said to have disapproved of the match, stating that 'the daughter of a private gentleman, however accomplished, was not qualified to be allied to her'. The couple, at first apparently happy, separated in 1793.\n\nIn 1794, the couple divorced, by Act of Parliament after 16 years of marriage which had produced no children. The Duchess brought divorce proceedings on the grounds of her husband's adultery with the actress Harriet Pye Esten, and alleged previous adultery with an unnamed lady (actually Frances Twysden, second wife of the Earl of Eglinton. Lord Eglinton had divorced his wife in 1788 on the grounds of her adultery with the duke, after she had borne a child, possibly Lady Susannah Montgomerie (1788-1805) supposed to be the Duke's. The duchess did not, however, use the Eglinton divorce to support her own case. The 1794 divorce was apparently agreed on beforehand, according to Lawrence Stone in his book Alienated Affections: Divorce and Separation in Scotland 1684-1830. The duke did not defend the case, and the duchess obtained her divorce. However, she did not re-marry until after the death of the duke, in 1799.\n\nIn 1800 the duchess married the Earl of Exeter, whose second wife had died in childbirth in 1797. He was created Marquess of Exeter in 1801, but died in 1804, and she did not remarry. Elizabeth, then Dowager Marchioness of Exeter, died at Privy Gardens, Whitehall, London, in January 1837, aged 79.\n\nThe title of a country dance named \"Hamilton House\", involving many changes of partner, was said to have been a reference to the affairs conducted by both the duke and the duchess during their marriage.\n\nReferences\n\n1757 births\n1837 deaths\nBritish duchesses by marriage\nExeter\nPeerage of Scotland"
]
|
[
"Erich Honecker",
"Family",
"Who was Honecker's father?",
"I don't know.",
"Did Honecker marry?",
"Honecker was married three times.",
"Who was his 1st wife?",
"he married the prison warden Charlotte Schanuel",
"Who was his 2nd wife?",
"By the time of her death, Honecker was already romantically involved with the Free German Youth official Edith Baumann,",
"Who was his 3rd wife?",
"Following his divorce and reportedly under pressure from the Politburo, he married Feist,",
"Why was he under pressure from Politburo and/or what does that have to do with remarrying?",
"political reasons,",
"Why did he divorce his second wife?",
"he fathered an illegitimate daughter,"
]
| C_92bef31fd20145178978ed83b356e8f6_0 | From whom? | 8 | From whom did Erich Honecker father an illegitimate daughter? | Erich Honecker | Honecker was married three times. After being liberated from prison in 1945 he married the prison warden Charlotte Schanuel (nee Drost), nine years his senior, on 23 December 1946. She died suddenly from a brain tumour in June 1947. Details of this marriage were not revealed until 2003, well after his death. By the time of her death, Honecker was already romantically involved with the Free German Youth official Edith Baumann, whom he met on a trip to Moscow. With her he had a daughter, Erika (b. 1950), who later gave him his granddaughter Anke. Sources differ on whether Honecker and Baumann married in 1947 or 1949, but in 1952 he fathered an illegitimate daughter, Sonja (b. December 1952), with Margot Feist, a People's Chamber member and chairperson of the Ernst Thalmann Pioneer Organisation. In September 1950, Baumann wrote directly to Walter Ulbricht to inform him of her husband's extramarital activity in the hope of him pressuring Honecker to end his relationship with Feist. Following his divorce and reportedly under pressure from the Politburo, he married Feist, however sources again differ on both the year of his divorce from Baumann and of his marriage to Feist; depending on the source, the events took place either in 1953 or 1955. For more than twenty years, Margot Honecker served as Minister of National Education. In 2012 intelligence reports collated by West German spies alleged that both Erich and his wife had secret affairs but did not divorce for political reasons, however, his bodyguard Bernd Bruckner in a book about his time spent in Honecker's service, refuted the claims. Honecker had three grandchildren from his daughter Sonja, who had married the Chilean-born exile Leonardo Yanez Betancourt; Roberto, (b. 1974) Mariana, (b. 1985) who died in 1988 at the age of two leaving Honecker himself heartbroken, and Vivian (b. 1988). Roberto's origins are debated; he is claimed to be the illegally adopted son of Mrs. Heidi Stein, Dirk Schiller, born on 13 June 1975 in Gorlitz, who disappeared in March 1979, due to alleged physical similarities between Dirk and Leonardo Mrs Stein suspecting that her son might have been kidnapped at 3 years old by Stasi agents for Honecker's younger daughter. Honecker's daughter, (who divorced Leonardo in 1993) grandson and granddaughter still live in Santiago. CANNOTANSWER | Feist. | Erich Ernst Paul Honecker (; 25 August 1912 – 29 May 1994) was a German communist politician who led the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 1971 until shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall in October 1989. He held the posts of General Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) and Chairman of the National Defence Council; in 1976, he replaced Willi Stoph as Chairman of the State Council, the official head of state. As the leader of East Germany, Honecker had close ties to the Soviet Union, which maintained a large army in the country.
Honecker's political career began in the 1930s when he became an official of the Communist Party of Germany, a position for which he was imprisoned by the Nazis. Following World War II, he was freed by the Soviet army and relaunched his political activities, founding the SED's youth organisation, the Free German Youth, in 1946 and serving as the group's chairman until 1955. As the Security Secretary of the SED Central Committee, he was the prime organiser of the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961 and, in this function, bore administrative responsibility for the "order to fire" along the Wall and the larger inner German border.
In 1970, Honecker initiated a political power struggle that led, with support of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, to him replacing Walter Ulbricht as General Secretary of the SED and chairman of the National Defence Council. Under his command, the country adopted a programme of "consumer socialism" and moved towards the international community by normalizing relations with West Germany and also becoming a full member of the UN, in what is considered one of his greatest political successes.
As Cold War tensions eased in the late 1980s with the advent of perestroika and glasnost—the liberal reforms introduced by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev—Honecker refused all but cosmetic changes to the East German political system. He cited the continual hardliner attitudes of Kim Il-sung and Fidel Castro, whose respective countries of governance of North Korea and Cuba had been critical of reforms. As anti-government protests grew, Honecker begged Gorbachev to intervene with the Soviet army to suppress the protests to maintain communist rule in East Germany as Moscow had done with Czechoslovakia in the Prague Spring of 1968 and with the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, but Gorbachev refused. Honecker was forced to resign by the SED Politburo in October 1989 in a bid to improve the government's image in the eyes of the public; the effort was unsuccessful, and the regime would collapse entirely the following month.
Following German reunification in 1990, Honecker sought asylum in the Chilean embassy in Moscow, but was extradited back to Germany in 1992, after the fall of the Soviet Union, to stand trial for his role in the human rights abuses committed by the East German government. However, the proceedings were abandoned, as Honecker was suffering from terminal liver cancer. He was freed from custody to join his family in exile in Chile, where he died in May 1994.
Childhood and youth
Honecker was born in Neunkirchen, in what is now Saarland, to Wilhelm Honecker (1881–1969), a coal miner and political activist, and his wife Caroline Catharine Weidenhof (1883–1963). The couple, married in 1905, had six children: Katharina (Käthe, 1906–1925), Wilhelm (Willi, 1907–1944), Frieda (1909–1974), Erich, Gertrud (1917–2010) and Karl-Robert (1923–1947). Erich, their fourth child, was born on 25 August 1912 during the period in which the family resided on Max-Braun-Straße, before later moving to Kuchenbergstraße 88 in the present-day Neunkirchen city district of Wiebelskirchen.
After World War I, the Territory of the Saar Basin was occupied by France. This change from the strict rule of to French military occupation provided the backdrop for what Wilhelm Honecker understood as proletarian exploitation, and introduced young Erich to communism. After his tenth birthday in 1922, Erich Honecker became a member of the Spartacus League's children's group in Wiebelskirchen. Aged 14 he entered the KJVD, the Young Communist League of Germany, for whom he later served the organisation's leader of Saarland from 1931.
Honecker did not find an apprenticeship immediately after leaving school, but instead worked for a farmer in Pomerania for almost two years. In 1928 he returned to Wiebelskirchen and began a traineeship as a roofer with his uncle, but quit to attend the International Lenin School in Moscow and Magnitogorsk after the KJVD handpicked him for a course of study there. There, sharing a room with Anton Ackermann, he studied under the cover name "Fritz Malter".
Opposition to the Nazis and imprisonment
In 1930, aged 18, Honecker entered the KPD, the Communist Party of Germany. His political mentor was Otto Niebergall, who later represented the KPD in the Reichstag. After returning from Moscow in 1931 following his studies at the International Lenin School, he became the leader of the KJVD in the Saar region. After the Nazi seizure of power in 1933, Communist activities within Germany were only possible undercover; the Saar region however still remained outside the German Reich under a League of Nations mandate. Honecker was arrested in Essen, Germany but soon released. Following this he fled to the Netherlands and from there oversaw KJVD's activities in Pfalz, Hesse and Baden-Württemberg.
Honecker returned to the Saar in 1934 and worked alongside Johannes Hoffmann on the campaign against the region's re-incorporation into Germany. A referendum on the area's future in January 1935 however saw 90.73% vote in favour of reunifying with Germany. Like 4,000 to 8,000 others, Honecker then fled the region, initially relocating to Paris.
On 28 August 1935 he illegally travelled to Berlin under the alias "Marten Tjaden", with a printing press in his luggage. From there he worked closely together with KPD official Herbert Wehner in opposition/resistance to the Nazi state. On 4 December 1935 Honecker was detained by the Gestapo and until 1937 remanded in Berlin's Moabit detention centre. On 3 July 1937 he was sentenced to ten years imprisonment for the "preparation of high treason alongside the severe falsification of documents".
Honecker spent the majority of his incarceration in the Brandenburg-Görden Prison, where he also carried out tasks as a handyman. In early 1945 he was moved to the Barnimstraße Women's Prison in Berlin due to good behaviour and to be put to work repairing the bomb-damaged building, as he was a skilled roofer. During an Allied bombing raid on 6 March 1945 he managed to escape and hid himself at the apartment of Lotte Grund, a female prison guard. After several days she persuaded him to turn himself in and his escape was then covered up by the guard. Honecker spent most of his time in prison under solitary confinement.
After the liberation of the prisons by advancing Soviet troops on 27 April 1945, Honecker remained in Berlin. His "escape" from prison and his relationships during his captivity later led to him experiencing difficulties within the Socialist Unity Party, as well as straining his relations with his former inmates. In later interviews and in his personal memoirs, Honecker falsified many of the details of his life during this period. Material from the East German State Security Service has been used to allege that, to be released from prison, Honecker offered the Gestapo evidence incriminating fellow imprisoned Communists, claimed he had renounced Communism "for good", and was willing to serve in the German army.
Post-war return to politics
In May 1945 Honecker was "picked up" by chance in Berlin by Hans Mahle and taken to the Ulbricht Group, a collective of exiled German communists that had returned from the Soviet Union to Germany after the end of the Nazi regime. Through Waldemar Schmidt, Honecker befriended Walter Ulbricht, who had not been aware of him at that point. Honecker's future role in the group was still undecided until well into the summer months, as he had yet to face a party process. This ended in a reprimand due to his "undisciplined conduct" in fleeing from prison at the start of the year, an action which was debated upon it jeopardizing the other (communist) inmates.
In 1946, Honecker became the co-founder of the Free German Youth (FDJ), whose chairmanship he also undertook. After the formation of the SED, the Socialist Unity Party, in April 1946 through a merger of the KPD and SPD, Honecker swiftly became a leading party member and took his place in the party's Central Committee.
On 7 October 1949, the German Democratic Republic was formed with the adoption of a new constitution, establishing a political system similar to that of the Soviet Union. Within the state's socialist single party government, Honecker determinedly resumed his political career and the following year was nominated as a candidate for the Politbüro of the SED's Central Committee. As President of the Free German Youth movement, he organised the inaugural "Deutschlandtreffen der Jugend" in East Berlin in May 1950 and the 3rd World Festival of Youth and Students in 1951, although the latter was beset with organisational problems.
During the internal party unrest following the suppressed uprising of June 1953, Honecker sided with First Secretary Walter Ulbricht, despite the majority of the Politburo attempting to depose Ulbricht in favour of Rudolf Herrnstadt. Honecker himself though faced questioning from party members about his inadequate qualifications for his position. On 27 May 1955 he handed the Presidency of the FDJ over to Karl Namokel, and departed for Moscow to study for two years at the School of the Soviet Communist Party at Ulbricht's request. During this period he witnessed the 20th Congress of the Soviet Communist Party in person, where its First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev denounced Joseph Stalin.
After returning to East Germany in 1958, Honecker became a fully-fledged member of the Politburo, taking over responsibility for military and security issues. As the Party Security Secretary he was the prime organiser of the building of the Berlin Wall in August 1961 and also a proponent of the "order to fire" along the Inner German border.
Leadership of East Germany
While Ulbricht had replaced the state's command economy with, firstly the "New Economic System", then the Economic System of Socialism, as he sought to improve the country's failing economy, Honecker declared the main task to in fact be the "unity of economic and social politics", essentially through which living standards (with increased consumer goods) would be raised in exchange for political loyalty. Tensions had already led to his once-mentor Ulbricht removing Honecker from the position of Second Secretary in July 1970, only for the Soviet leadership to swiftly reinstate him. Honecker played up the thawing East-West German relationship as Ulbricht's strategy, to win the support of the Soviet leadership under Leonid Brezhnev. With this secured, Honecker was appointed First Secretary (from 1976 titled general secretary) of the Central Committee on 3 May 1971 after the Soviet leadership forced Ulbricht to step aside "for health reasons".
After also succeeding Ulbricht as Chairman of the National Defence Council in 1971, Honecker was eventually also elected Chairman of the State Council (a post equivalent to that of president) on 29 October 1976. With this, Honecker reached the height of power within East Germany. From there on, he, along with Economic Secretary Günter Mittag and Minister of State Security Erich Mielke, made all key government decisions. Until 1989 the "little strategic clique" composed of these three men was unchallenged as the top level of East Germany's ruling class. Honecker's closest colleague was , the SED's Agitation and Propaganda Secretary. Alongside him, Honecker held daily meetings concerning the party's media representation in which the layout of the party's own newspaper Neues Deutschland, as well as the sequencing of news items in the national news bulletin Aktuelle Kamera, were determined.
Under Honecker's leadership, East Germany adopted a programme of "consumer socialism", which resulted in a marked improvement in living standards already the highest among the Eastern bloc countries. More attention was placed on the availability of consumer goods, and the construction of new housing was accelerated, with Honecker promising to "settle the housing problem as an issue of social relevance". His policies were initially marked by a liberalisation toward culture and art, though this was less about the replacement of Ulbricht by Honecker and more for propaganda purposes. While 1973 brought the World Festival of Youth and Students to East Berlin, soon dissident artists such as Wolf Biermann were expelled and the Ministry for State Security raised its efforts to suppress political resistance. Honecker remained committed to the expansion of the Inner German border and the "order to fire" policy along it. During his time in office around 125 East German citizens were killed while trying to reach the West.
After the Federal Republic had secured an agreement with the Soviet Union on cooperation and a policy of non-violence, it became possible to reach a similar agreement with the GDR. The Basic Treaty between East and West Germany in 1972 sought to normalise contacts between the two governments.
East Germany also participated in the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe held in Helsinki in 1975, which attempted to improve relations between the West and the Eastern Bloc, and became a full member of the United Nations. These acts of diplomacy were considered Honecker’s greatest successes in foreign politics.
Honecker received additional high-profile personal recognitions including honorary doctorates of humane letters from North Korea’s Kim Il-Sung University in 1974, Cuba's University of Las Tunas in 1979 and Iraq's Saddam University in 1983, honorary doctorates of business administration from East Berlin's Humboldt University in 1976, Tokyo's Nihon University in 1981 and the London School of Economics in 1984 and the Olympic Order from the IOC in 1985. In September 1987, he became the first East German head of state to visit West Germany, where he was received with full state honours by West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl in an act that seemed to confirm West Germany's acceptance of East Germany's existence. During this trip he also journeyed to his birthplace in Saarland, where he held an emotional speech in which he spoke of a day when Germans would no longer be separated by borders, but unified under communist rule. This trip had been planned twice before, including September 1984, but was initially blocked by the Soviet leadership which mistrusted the special East-West German relationship, particularly efforts to expand East Germany's limited independence in the realm of foreign policy.
Illness, downfall and resignation
In the late 1980s, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev introduced glasnost and perestroika, reforms to liberalise socialist planned economy. Frictions between him and Honecker had grown over these policies and numerous additional issues from 1985 onward. East Germany refused to implement similar reforms, with Honecker reportedly telling Gorbachev: "We have done our perestroika; we have nothing to restructure". Gorbachev grew to dislike Honecker, and by 1988 was lumping him in with Bulgaria's Todor Zhivkov, Czechoslovakia's Gustáv Husák and Romania's Nicolae Ceaușescu as a "Gang of Four": a group of inflexible hardliners unwilling to make reforms.
According to White House experts Philip Zelikow and Condoleezza Rice, Gorbachev looked to Communist leaders in Eastern Europe to follow his example of perestroika and glasnost. They argue:
Gorbachev himself had no particular sympathy for Erich Honecker, chairman of the East German Communist Party, and his hard-line comrades and the government. As early as 1985... [Gorbachev] had told East German party officials that kindergarten was over; no one would lead them by the hand. They were responsible for their own people. The relations between Gorbachev and Honecker went downhill from there.
Western analysts, according to Zelikow and Rice, believed in 1989 that Communism was still secure in East Germany:
Bolstered by relatively greater affluence than his country's Eastern European neighbors enjoyed in a fantastically elaborate system of internal controls, East Germany's longtime leader Eric Honecker seemed secure in his position. His government had long dealt with dissent through a mixture of brutal repression, forced emigration, and the vent of allowing occasional, limited travel to the West for a substantial part of the population.
Honecker felt betrayed by Gorbachev in his German policy and ensured that official texts of the Soviet Union, especially those concerning perestroika, could no longer be published or sold in East Germany.
At the Warsaw Pact summit on 7–8 July 1989 in Bucharest, the Soviet Union reaffirmed its shift from the Brezhnev Doctrine of the limited sovereignty of its member states, and announced "freedom of choice". The Bucharest statement prescribed that its nations henceforth developed their "own political line, strategy and tactics without external intervention". This called into question the Soviet guarantee of existence for the Communist states in Europe. Already in May 1989 Hungary had begun dismantling its border with Austria, creating the first gap in the so-called Iron Curtain, through which later several thousand East Germans quickly fled in hopes of reaching West Germany by way of Austria. But with the mass exodus at the Pan-European Picnic in August 1989 (which was based on an idea by Otto von Habsburg to test Gorbachev's reaction to the opening of the border), the subsequent hesitant behaviour of the Socialist Unity Party of East Germany and the non-intervention of the Soviet Union opened the floodgates. Thus the united front of the Eastern Bloc was broken. The reaction to this from Erich Honecker in the Daily Mirror of August 19, 1989 was too late and showed the current loss of power: “Habsburg distributed leaflets far into Poland, on which the East German holidaymakers were invited to a picnic. When they came to the picnic, they were given gifts, food and Deutsche Mark, and then they were persuaded to come to the West.” Later, after his fall, Honecker said of Otto von Habsburg in connection with the summer of 1989: "That this Habsburg drove the nail into my coffin." Now tens of thousands of media-informed East Germans made their way to Hungary, which was no longer ready to keep its borders completely closed or to oblige its border troops to use force of arms. A 1969 treaty required the Hungarian government to send the East Germans back home; however, starting on 11 September 1989, the Hungarians let them pass into Austria, telling their outraged East German counterparts that they were refugees and that international treaties on refugees took precedence.
At the time, Honecker was sidelined through illness, leaving his colleagues unable to act decisively. He had been taken ill with biliary colic during the Warsaw Pact summit. He was shortly afterwards flown home to East Berlin. After an initial stabilisation in his health, he underwent surgery on 18 August 1989 to remove his inflamed gallbladder and, due to a perforation, part of his colon. According to the urologist Peter Althaus, the surgeons left a suspected carcinogenic nodule in Honecker’s right kidney due to his weak condition, and also failed to inform the patient of the suspected cancer; other sources say the tumour was simply undetected. As a result of this operation, Honecker was away from his office until late September 1989.
Back in office, Honecker had to contend with the rising number and strength of demonstrations across East Germany that had first been sparked by reports in the West German media of fraudulent results in local elections on 7 May 1989, the same results he had labelled a "convincing reflection" of the populace's faith in his leadership. He also had to deal with a new refugee problem. Several thousand East Germans tried to go to West Germany by way of Czechoslovakia, only to have that government bar them from passing. Several thousands of them headed straight for the West German embassy in Prague and demanded safe passage to West Germany. With some reluctance, Honecker allowed them to go – but forced them to go back through East Germany on sealed trains and stripped them of their East German citizenship. Several members of the SED Politbüro realised this was a serious blunder and made plans to get rid of him.
As unrest visibly grew, large numbers began fleeing the country through the West German embassies in Prague and Budapest, as well as over the borders of the "socialist brother" states. Each month saw tens of thousands more exit. On 3 October 1989 East Germany closed its borders to its eastern neighbours and prevented visa-free travel to Czechoslovakia; a day later these measures were also extended to travel to Bulgaria and Romania. East Germany was now not only behind the Iron Curtain to the West, but also cordoned off from most other Eastern bloc states.
On 6–7 October 1989 the national celebrations of the 40th anniversary of the East German state took place with Gorbachev in attendance. To the surprise of Honecker and the other SED leaders in attendance, several hundred members of the Free German Youth — reckoned as the future vanguard of the party and nation — began chanting, "Gorby, help us! Gorby, save us!". In a private conversation between the two leaders Honecker praised the success of the nation, but Gorbachev knew that, in reality, it faced bankruptcy; East Germany had already accepted billions of dollars in loans from West Germany during the decade as it sought to stabilise its economy. Attempting to make Honecker accept a need for reforms, Gorbachev warned Honecker that "He who is too late is punished by life", yet Honecker maintained that "we will solve our problems ourselves with socialist means". Protests outside the reception at the Palace of the Republic led to hundreds of arrests in which many were brutally beaten by soldiers and police.
As the reform movement spread throughout Central and Eastern Europe, mass demonstrations against the East German government erupted, most prominently in Leipzig—the first of several demonstrations which took place on Monday nights across the country. In response, an elite paratroop unit was dispatched to Leipzig—almost certainly on Honecker's orders, since he was commander-in-chief of the Army. A bloodbath was averted only when local party officials themselves ordered the troops to pull back. In the following week, Honecker faced a torrent of criticism. This gave his Politburo comrades the impetus they needed to replace him.
After a crisis meeting of the Politburo on 10–11 October 1989, Honecker's planned state visit to Denmark was cancelled and, despite his resistance, at the insistence of the government's number-two-man, Egon Krenz, a public statement was issued that called for "suggestions for attractive socialism". Over the following days Krenz worked to secure himself the support of the military and the Stasi and arranged a meeting between Gorbachev and Politburo member Harry Tisch, who was in Moscow, to inform the Kremlin about the now-planned removal of Honecker; Gorbachev reportedly wished them good luck.
The sitting of the SED Central Committee planned for the end of November 1989 was pulled forward a week, with the most urgent item on the agenda now being the composition of the Politburo. Krenz and Mielke attempted by telephone on the night of 16 October to win other Politburo members over to remove Honecker. At the beginning of the session on 17 October, Honecker asked his routine question of "Are there any suggestions for the agenda?" Stoph replied, "Please, general secretary, Erich, I propose that a new item be placed on the agenda. It is the release of Erich Honecker as general secretary and the election of Egon Krenz in his place." Honecker reportedly calmly responded: "Well, then I open the debate".
All those present then spoke, in turn, but none in favour of Honecker. Günter Schabowski even extended the dismissal of Honecker to also include his posts in the State Council and as Chairman of the National Defence Council while childhood friend Günter Mittag moved away from Honecker. Mielke supposedly blamed Honecker for almost all the country's current ills and threatened to publish compromising information that he possessed, if Honecker refused to resign. A ZDF documentary on the matter claims this information was contained in a large red briefcase found in Mielke's possession in 1990. After three hours the Politburo voted to remove Honecker. In accordance with longstanding practice, Honecker voted for his own removal. When the public announcement was made, it was branded as a voluntary decision on Honecker's part, ostensibly "due to health reasons". Krenz was unanimously elected as his successor as General Secretary.
Start of prosecution and asylum attempts
Communist rule in East Germany survived Honecker's removal by only two months. Three weeks after Honecker's ousting the Berlin Wall fell, and the SED swiftly lost control of the country. On 1 December, its guaranteed right to rule was removed from the East German constitution. Two days later he was expelled from the SED along with other former officials. He went on to join the newly founded Communist Party of Germany in 1990, remaining a member until his death.
During November the People's Chamber had already set up a committee to investigate corruption and abuses of office, with Honecker being alleged to have received annual donations from the National Academy of Architecture of around 20,000 marks as an "honorary member". On 5 December 1989 the chief public prosecutor in East Germany formally launched a judicial inquiry against him on charges of high treason, abuses of confidence and embezzlement to the serious disadvantage of socialist property (the charge of high treason was dropped in March 1990). As a result, Honecker was placed under house arrest for a month.
Following the lifting of his house arrest, Honecker and his wife Margot were forced to vacate their apartment in the Waldsiedlung housing area in Wandlitz, exclusively used by senior SED party members, after the People's Chamber decided to put it to use as a sanatorium for the disabled. In any case, Honecker spent the majority of January 1990 in hospital after having the error of the tumour missed in 1989 corrected after the suspicion of cancer was confirmed. Upon leaving the hospital on 29 January he was re-arrested and held at the Berlin-Rummelsburg remand centre. However, on the evening of the following day, 30 January, Honecker was again released from custody: The district court had annulled the arrest warrant and, due to medical reports, certified him unfit for detention and interrogation.
Lacking a home, Honecker instructed his lawyer Wolfgang Vogel to ask the Evangelical Church in Berlin-Brandenburg for help. Pastor Uwe Holmer, leader of the Hoffnungstal Institute in Lobetal, Bernau bei Berlin, offered the couple a home in his vicarage. This drew immediate condemnation and later demonstrations against the church for assisting the Honeckers, given they had both discriminated against Christians who did not conform with the SED leadership's ideology. Aside from a stay at a holiday home in Lindow in March 1990 that lasted only one day before protests swiftly brought it to an end, the couple resided at the Holmer residence until 3 April 1990.
The couple then moved into a three-room living quarters within the Soviet military hospital in Beelitz. Here, doctors diagnosed a malignant liver tumour following another re-examination. Following German reunification, prosecutors in Berlin issued a further arrest warrant for Honecker in November 1990 on charges that he gave the order to fire on escapees at the Inner German border in 1961 and had repeatedly reiterated that command (most specifically in 1974). However, this warrant was not enforceable because Honecker lay under the protection of Soviet authorities in Beelitz. On 13 March 1991 the Honeckers fled Germany from the Soviet-controlled Sperenberg Airfield to Moscow on a military jet with the aid of Soviet hardliners.
The German Chancellery had only been informed by Soviet diplomats about the Honeckers’ flight to Moscow one hour in advance. It limited its response to a public protest, claiming the existence of an arrest warrant meant the Soviet Union was breaching international law by admitting Honecker. The initial Soviet reaction was that Honecker was now too ill to travel and was receiving medical treatment after a deterioration of his health. He underwent further surgery the following month.
On 11 December 1991 the Honeckers sought refuge in the Chilean Embassy in Moscow, while also applying for political asylum in the Soviet Union. Despite an offer of help from North Korea, Honecker instead reached out to the Chilean government under Christian Democrat Patricio Aylwin. Under Honecker's rule, East Germany had granted many Chileans exile following the military coup of 1973 by Augusto Pinochet. In addition his daughter Sonja was married to a Chilean. Chilean authorities, however, stated he could not enter their country without a valid German passport.
Mikhail Gorbachev agreed to the dissolution of the Soviet Union on 25 December 1991 and gave all his powers to Russian president Boris Yeltsin. Russian authorities had long been keen on expelling Honecker, against the wishes of Gorbachev, and the new government now demanded that he leave the country or else face deportation.
In June 1992, Chilean President Patricio Aylwin, leader of a center-left coalition, finally assured German Chancellor Helmut Kohl that Honecker would be leaving the embassy in Moscow. Reportedly against his will, Honecker was ejected from the embassy on 29 July 1992 and flown to Berlin's Tegel Airport, where he was arrested and detained in Moabit Prison. By contrast, his wife Margot travelled on a direct flight from Moscow to Santiago, Chile, where she initially stayed with her daughter Sonja. Honecker's lawyers unsuccessfully appealed for him to be released from detention in the period leading up to his trial.
Criminal trial and death
On 12 May 1992, while under protection in the Chilean embassy in Moscow, Honecker, along with several co-defendants, including Erich Mielke, Willi Stoph, Heinz Kessler, Fritz Streletz and Hans Albrecht, was accused in a 783-page indictment of taking part in the "collective manslaughter" of 68 people as they attempted to flee East Germany. It was alleged that Honecker, in his role as Chairman of the National Defence Council, had both given the decisive order in 1961 for the construction of the Berlin Wall and also, at subsequent meetings, ordered the extensive expansion of the border fortifications around West Berlin and the barriers to the West so as to make any passing impossible. In addition, specifically at a May 1974 sitting of the National Defence Council, he had stated that the development of the border must continue, that lines of fire were warranted along the whole border and, as prior, the use of firearms was essential: "Comrades who have successfully used their firearms [are] to be praised". Honecker, in his role of chairman of the party, was responsible for the deaths of many more than the 68 mentioned above. As of 22 April 2015, well over 1,000 deaths have been discovered mainly through secret East German documentation: "It is still not known for sure how many people died on the inner German border or who they were, as the East German state treated such information as a closely guarded secret. But numbers have risen steadily since unification, as evidence has been gathered from East German records. Current unofficial estimates put the figure at up to 1,100 people." From the same article, "In 1974, Erich Honecker, as Chairman of the GDR's National Defence Council, ordered: 'Firearms are to be ruthlessly used in the event of attempts to break through the border, and the comrades who have successfully used their firearms are to be commended.'"
The charges were approved by the Berlin District Court on 19 October 1992 at the opening of the trial. On the same day, it was decided that the hearing of 56 charges would be postponed and the remaining twelve cases would be the subject of the trial to begin on 12 November 1992. The question of under which laws the former East German leader could be tried was highly controversial and, in the view of many jurists, the process had an uncertain outcome.
During his 70-minute-long statement to the court on 3 December 1992, Honecker said that he had political responsibility for the building of the Berlin Wall and subsequent deaths at the borders, but claimed he was "without juridical, legal or moral guilt". He blamed the escalation of the Cold War for the building of the Berlin Wall, saying the decision had not been taken solely by the East German leadership but all the Warsaw Pact nations that had collectively concluded in 1961 that a "Third World War with millions dead" would be unavoidable without this action. He quoted several West German politicians who had opined that the wall had indeed reduced and stabilised the two factions. He stated that he had always regretted every death, both from a human point of view and due to the political damage they caused.
Making reference to past trials in Germany against communists and socialists such as Karl Marx and August Bebel, he claimed that the legal process against him was politically motivated and a "show trial" against communism. He stated that no court lying in the territory of West Germany had the legal right to place him, his co-defendants or any East German citizen on trial, and that the portrayal of East Germany as an "Unrechtsstaat" was contradictory to its recognition by over one hundred other nations and the UN Security Council. Furthermore, he questioned how a German court could now legally judge his political decisions in the light of the lack of legal action taken over various military operations that had been carried out by Western nations with either overt support or absence of condemnation from (West) Germany. He dismissed public criticism of the Stasi, arguing that journalists in Western countries were praised for denouncing others. While accepting political responsibility for the deaths at the Wall, he believed he was free of any "legal or moral guilt", and thought that East Germany would go down in history as "a sign that socialism is possible and is better than capitalism."
By the time of the proceedings Honecker was already seriously ill. A new CT scan in August 1992 had confirmed an ultrasound examination made in Moscow and the existence of a malignant tumour in the right lobe of his liver. Based on these findings and additional medical testimonies, Honecker’s lawyers requested that the legal proceedings, as far as they were aimed against their client, be abandoned and the arrest warrant against him withdrawn; the cases against both Mielke and Stoph had already been postponed due to their ill health. Arguing that his life expectancy was estimated to be three to six months, while the legal process was forecast to take at least two years, his lawyers questioned whether it was humane to try a dying man. Their application was rejected on 21 December 1992 when the court concluded that, given the seriousness of the charges, no obstacle to the proceedings existed.
Honecker lodged a constitutional complaint to the recently created Berlin Constitutional Court, stating that the decision to proceed violated his fundamental right to human dignity, which was an overriding principle in the Constitution of Berlin, above even the state penal system and criminal justice. On 12 January 1993 Honecker's complaint was upheld and the Berlin District Court therefore abandoned the case and withdrew their arrest warrant. An application for a new arrest warrant was rejected on 13 January. The court also refused to commence with the trial related to the indictment of 12 November 1992, and withdrew the second arrest warrant related to these charges. After a total of 169 days Honecker was released from custody, drawing protests both from victims of the East German state as well as German political figures.
Honecker flew via Brazil to Santiago, Chile, to reunite with his wife and his daughter Sonja, who lived there with her son Roberto. Upon his arrival he was greeted by the leaders of the Chilean Communist and Socialist parties. In contrast, his co-defendants Heinz Kessler, Fritz Streletz and Hans Albrecht were sentenced on 16 September 1993 to imprisonment of between four and seven-and-a-half years. On 13 April 1993 a final attempt to separate and continue the trial against Honecker in his absence was discontinued. Four days later, on the 66th birthday of his wife Margot, he gave a final public speech, ending with the words: "Socialism is the opposite of what we have now in Germany. For that I would like to say that our beautiful memories of the German Democratic Republic are testimony of a new and just society. And we want to always remain loyal to these things".
On 29 May 1994, Honecker died of liver cancer at the age of 81 in a terraced house in the La Reina district of Santiago. His funeral, arranged by the Communist Party of Chile, was conducted the following day at central cemetery in Santiago.
Family
Honecker was married three times. After being liberated from prison in 1945, he married the prison warden Charlotte Schanuel (née Drost), nine years his senior, on 23 December 1946. She died suddenly from a brain tumour in June 1947. Details of this marriage were not revealed until 2003, well after his death.
By the time of her death, Honecker was already romantically involved with the Free German Youth official Edith Baumann, whom he met on a trip to Moscow. With her, he had a daughter, Erika (b. 1950), who later gave him his granddaughter Anke. Sources differ on whether Honecker and Baumann married in 1947 or 1949, but in 1952 he fathered an illegitimate daughter, Sonja (b. December 1952), with Margot Feist, a People's Chamber member and chairperson of the Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Organisation.
In September 1950, Baumann wrote directly to Walter Ulbricht to inform him of her husband's extramarital activity in the hope of him pressuring Honecker to end his relationship with Feist. Following his divorce and reportedly under pressure from the Politburo, he married Feist. However, sources again differ on both the year of his divorce from Baumann and of his marriage to Feist; depending on the source, the events took place either in 1953 or 1955. For more than twenty years, Margot Honecker served as Minister of National Education. In 2012 intelligence reports collated by West German spies alleged that both Honecker and his wife had secret affairs but did not divorce for political reasons; however, his bodyguard Bernd Brückner, in a book about his time spent in Honecker's service, denied the claims.
Honecker had three grandchildren from his daughter Sonja, who had married the Chilean-born exile Leonardo Yáñez Betancourt: Roberto (b. 1974), Mariana (b. 1985), who died in 1988 at the age of two leaving Honecker himself heartbroken, and Vivian (b. 1988). Roberto's origins are debated; he is claimed to be the illegally adopted son of Heidi Stein, Dirk Schiller, born on 13 June 1975 in Görlitz, who disappeared in March 1979, due to alleged physical similarities between Dirk and Yáñez, Stein suspecting that her son might have been kidnapped at three years old by Stasi agents for Honecker's younger daughter.
Honecker's daughter divorced Yáñez in 1993. She and her two surviving children still live in Santiago.
Honours and awards
:
Hero of the German Democratic Republic (twice)
Hero of Labour
Patriotic Order of Merit (Honor clasp, in Gold)
Order of Karl Marx (five times)
Order of the Banner of Labor
:
Hero of the Soviet Union
Order of Lenin (thrice)
Order of the October Revolution
Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin"
Other countries:
Grand Star of the Order of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria (Austria)
Order of Georgi Dimitrov (Bulgaria)
Order of José Martí (Cuba)
Order of Playa Girón (Cuba)
Order of Klement Gottwald (Czechoslovakia)
Grand Cross of the White Rose of Finland (Finland)
Order of Augusto Cesar Sandino, 1st class (Nicaragua)
Order of the "Victory of Socialism" (Romania)
Order of Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam)
Olympic Order (International Olympic Committee)
In popular culture
Dmitri Vrubel's 1990 mural on the Berlin Wall My God, Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love, depicting a socialist "fraternal kiss" between Honecker and Leonid Brezhnev, became known around the world.
A traffic signal inspired by Honecker wearing a jaunty straw hat was used in parts of East Germany (Ost-Ampelmännchen) and has become a symbol of Ostalgie.
Notes
References
Further reading
Bryson, Phillip J., and Manfred Melzer eds. The end of the East German economy: from Honecker to reunification (Palgrave Macmillan, 1991).
Childs, David, ed. Honecker's Germany (London: Taylor & Francis, 1985).
Collier Jr, Irwin L. "GDR economic policy during the honecker era." Eastern European Economics 29.1 (1990): 5–29.
Dennis, Mike. Social and Economic Modernization in Eastern Germany from Honecker to Kohl (Burns & Oates, 1993).
Dennis, Mike. "The East German Ministry of State Security and East German Society During the Honecker Era, 1971–1989." in German Writers and the Politics of Culture (Palgrave Macmillan, London, 200)3. 3–24 on the STASI
Fulbrook, Mary. (2008) The people's state: East German society from Hitler to Honecker. Yale University Press.
Grix, Jonathan. "Competing approaches to the collapse of the GDR: ‘Top‐down’ vs ‘bottom‐up’," Journal of Area Studies 6#13:121–142, DOI: 10.1080/02613539808455836, Historiography.
Lippmann, Heinz. Honecker and the new politics of Europe (New York: Macmillan, 1972).
McAdams, A. James. "The Honecker trial: the East German past and the German future." Review of Politics 58.1 (1996): 53–80. online
Weitz, Eric D. Creating German Communism, 1890–1990: From Popular Protests to Socialist State (Princeton UP, 1997).
Wilsford, David, ed. Political leaders of contemporary Western Europe: a biographical dictionary (Greenwood, 1995) pp. 195–201.
Primary sources
Honecker, Erich. (1981) From My Life. New York: Pergamon, 1981. .
External links
Honecker im Internet (in German)
www.warheroes.ru – Erich Honecker (in Russian)
Welcoming Address to 1979 Session of the World Peace Council Erich Honecker's speech to the WPC
A Successful Policy Seared to the Needs of the People Volkskammer pamphlet including material by Honecker
1912 births
1994 deaths
People from Neunkirchen, Saarland
People from the Rhine Province
Communist Party of Germany politicians
Members of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany
Members of the Provisional Volkskammer
Members of the 1st Volkskammer
Members of the 2nd Volkskammer
Members of the 3rd Volkskammer
Members of the 4th Volkskammer
Members of the 5th Volkskammer
Members of the 6th Volkskammer
Members of the 7th Volkskammer
Members of the 8th Volkskammer
Members of the 9th Volkskammer
Free German Youth members
Communist rulers
Communists in the German Resistance
Collaborators with the Soviet Union
German atheists
German expatriates in Chile
German expatriates in the Soviet Union
Exiled politicians
International Lenin School alumni
People condemned by Nazi courts
People extradited from Russia
People extradited to Germany
German politicians convicted of crimes
Heads of government who were later imprisoned
Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit (honor clasp)
Recipients of the Banner of Labor
Recipients of the Olympic Order
Recipients of the Order of Ho Chi Minh
Recipients of the Grand Star of the Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria
Foreign Heroes of the Soviet Union
Recipients of the Order of Lenin
Deaths from liver cancer
Deaths from cancer in Chile
People of the Cold War | true | [
"For Whom the Bell Tolls is a 1940 novel by Ernest Hemingway. Its title originated from John Donne's 1624 work Devotions upon Emergent Occasions.\n\nFor Whom the Bell Tolls may also refer to:\n\nMusic\n \"For Whom the Bell Tolls\" (Bee Gees song)\n \"For Whom the Bell Tolls\" (J. Cole song)\n \"For Whom the Bell Tolls\" (Metallica song)\n \"For Whom the Bell Tolls\", a song by Fad Gadget\n \"For Whom the Bell Tolls\", a song by London from Don't Cry Wolf\n \"For Whom the Bell Tolls\", a song by Sabaton from Heroes\n \"For Whom the Bell Tolls\", a song by Saxon from Destiny\n \"For Whom the Bell Tolls\", a song by W.A.S.P.\n\nTelevision\n For Whom the Bell Tolls (TV series), a BBC television adaptation of Hemingway's novel\n For Whom the Bell Tolls (Playhouse 90), a 1959 adaptation of the Hemingway novel on Playhouse 90\n \"For Whom the Bell Tolls\" (Pretty Little Liars), an episode of Pretty Little Liars\n \"For Whom the Bell Tolls\" (The Vampire Diaries), an episode of The Vampire Diaries\n \"For Whom the Bell Tolls\", an episode of Andromeda\n \"For Whom the Bell Tolls\", an episode of Married... with Children\n \"For Whom the Bells Toll\", an episode of The Wedding Bells\n\nOther uses\n For Whom the Bell Tolls (film), a 1943 film based on Hemingway's novel\n For Whom the Bell Tolls (painting), a 1942 painting by Jean Bellette\n \"For whom the bell tolls\", a line by John Donne from his 1624 work Devotions upon Emergent Occasions; the source for Hemingway's title and later uses\n For Whom the Bell Tolls, a volume of the manga One Piece\n\nSee also\n \"For Whom the Pig Oinks\", an episode of Disenchantment",
"Down Under (1975) is the 21st album by Bill Cosby.\n\nIt is his third compilation album containing favorites from his tenure with Warner Bros. Records.\n\nTrack listing\n\nSide One\nBaseball (from To Russell, My Brother, Whom I Slept With)\n$75 Car (from Why Is There Air?)\nBurlesque Shows (from It's True! It's True!)\nHelicopters (from It's True! It's True!)\nNiagara Falls (from Wonderfulness)\n\nSide Two\nMothers And Fathers (from 200 M.P.H.)\nThe Wife (from 200 M.P.H.)\nThe Toothache (from Why Is There Air?)\nThe Losers (from To Russell, My Brother, Whom I Slept With)\n\nBill Cosby compilation albums\nSpoken word albums by American artists\nLive spoken word albums\n1975 compilation albums\nWarner Records compilation albums\n1970s comedy albums"
]
|
[
"Erich Honecker",
"Family",
"Who was Honecker's father?",
"I don't know.",
"Did Honecker marry?",
"Honecker was married three times.",
"Who was his 1st wife?",
"he married the prison warden Charlotte Schanuel",
"Who was his 2nd wife?",
"By the time of her death, Honecker was already romantically involved with the Free German Youth official Edith Baumann,",
"Who was his 3rd wife?",
"Following his divorce and reportedly under pressure from the Politburo, he married Feist,",
"Why was he under pressure from Politburo and/or what does that have to do with remarrying?",
"political reasons,",
"Why did he divorce his second wife?",
"he fathered an illegitimate daughter,",
"From whom?",
"Feist."
]
| C_92bef31fd20145178978ed83b356e8f6_0 | Did he have any other children? | 9 | In addition to his daughter, did Erich Honecker have any other children? | Erich Honecker | Honecker was married three times. After being liberated from prison in 1945 he married the prison warden Charlotte Schanuel (nee Drost), nine years his senior, on 23 December 1946. She died suddenly from a brain tumour in June 1947. Details of this marriage were not revealed until 2003, well after his death. By the time of her death, Honecker was already romantically involved with the Free German Youth official Edith Baumann, whom he met on a trip to Moscow. With her he had a daughter, Erika (b. 1950), who later gave him his granddaughter Anke. Sources differ on whether Honecker and Baumann married in 1947 or 1949, but in 1952 he fathered an illegitimate daughter, Sonja (b. December 1952), with Margot Feist, a People's Chamber member and chairperson of the Ernst Thalmann Pioneer Organisation. In September 1950, Baumann wrote directly to Walter Ulbricht to inform him of her husband's extramarital activity in the hope of him pressuring Honecker to end his relationship with Feist. Following his divorce and reportedly under pressure from the Politburo, he married Feist, however sources again differ on both the year of his divorce from Baumann and of his marriage to Feist; depending on the source, the events took place either in 1953 or 1955. For more than twenty years, Margot Honecker served as Minister of National Education. In 2012 intelligence reports collated by West German spies alleged that both Erich and his wife had secret affairs but did not divorce for political reasons, however, his bodyguard Bernd Bruckner in a book about his time spent in Honecker's service, refuted the claims. Honecker had three grandchildren from his daughter Sonja, who had married the Chilean-born exile Leonardo Yanez Betancourt; Roberto, (b. 1974) Mariana, (b. 1985) who died in 1988 at the age of two leaving Honecker himself heartbroken, and Vivian (b. 1988). Roberto's origins are debated; he is claimed to be the illegally adopted son of Mrs. Heidi Stein, Dirk Schiller, born on 13 June 1975 in Gorlitz, who disappeared in March 1979, due to alleged physical similarities between Dirk and Leonardo Mrs Stein suspecting that her son might have been kidnapped at 3 years old by Stasi agents for Honecker's younger daughter. Honecker's daughter, (who divorced Leonardo in 1993) grandson and granddaughter still live in Santiago. CANNOTANSWER | a daughter, Erika | Erich Ernst Paul Honecker (; 25 August 1912 – 29 May 1994) was a German communist politician who led the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 1971 until shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall in October 1989. He held the posts of General Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) and Chairman of the National Defence Council; in 1976, he replaced Willi Stoph as Chairman of the State Council, the official head of state. As the leader of East Germany, Honecker had close ties to the Soviet Union, which maintained a large army in the country.
Honecker's political career began in the 1930s when he became an official of the Communist Party of Germany, a position for which he was imprisoned by the Nazis. Following World War II, he was freed by the Soviet army and relaunched his political activities, founding the SED's youth organisation, the Free German Youth, in 1946 and serving as the group's chairman until 1955. As the Security Secretary of the SED Central Committee, he was the prime organiser of the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961 and, in this function, bore administrative responsibility for the "order to fire" along the Wall and the larger inner German border.
In 1970, Honecker initiated a political power struggle that led, with support of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, to him replacing Walter Ulbricht as General Secretary of the SED and chairman of the National Defence Council. Under his command, the country adopted a programme of "consumer socialism" and moved towards the international community by normalizing relations with West Germany and also becoming a full member of the UN, in what is considered one of his greatest political successes.
As Cold War tensions eased in the late 1980s with the advent of perestroika and glasnost—the liberal reforms introduced by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev—Honecker refused all but cosmetic changes to the East German political system. He cited the continual hardliner attitudes of Kim Il-sung and Fidel Castro, whose respective countries of governance of North Korea and Cuba had been critical of reforms. As anti-government protests grew, Honecker begged Gorbachev to intervene with the Soviet army to suppress the protests to maintain communist rule in East Germany as Moscow had done with Czechoslovakia in the Prague Spring of 1968 and with the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, but Gorbachev refused. Honecker was forced to resign by the SED Politburo in October 1989 in a bid to improve the government's image in the eyes of the public; the effort was unsuccessful, and the regime would collapse entirely the following month.
Following German reunification in 1990, Honecker sought asylum in the Chilean embassy in Moscow, but was extradited back to Germany in 1992, after the fall of the Soviet Union, to stand trial for his role in the human rights abuses committed by the East German government. However, the proceedings were abandoned, as Honecker was suffering from terminal liver cancer. He was freed from custody to join his family in exile in Chile, where he died in May 1994.
Childhood and youth
Honecker was born in Neunkirchen, in what is now Saarland, to Wilhelm Honecker (1881–1969), a coal miner and political activist, and his wife Caroline Catharine Weidenhof (1883–1963). The couple, married in 1905, had six children: Katharina (Käthe, 1906–1925), Wilhelm (Willi, 1907–1944), Frieda (1909–1974), Erich, Gertrud (1917–2010) and Karl-Robert (1923–1947). Erich, their fourth child, was born on 25 August 1912 during the period in which the family resided on Max-Braun-Straße, before later moving to Kuchenbergstraße 88 in the present-day Neunkirchen city district of Wiebelskirchen.
After World War I, the Territory of the Saar Basin was occupied by France. This change from the strict rule of to French military occupation provided the backdrop for what Wilhelm Honecker understood as proletarian exploitation, and introduced young Erich to communism. After his tenth birthday in 1922, Erich Honecker became a member of the Spartacus League's children's group in Wiebelskirchen. Aged 14 he entered the KJVD, the Young Communist League of Germany, for whom he later served the organisation's leader of Saarland from 1931.
Honecker did not find an apprenticeship immediately after leaving school, but instead worked for a farmer in Pomerania for almost two years. In 1928 he returned to Wiebelskirchen and began a traineeship as a roofer with his uncle, but quit to attend the International Lenin School in Moscow and Magnitogorsk after the KJVD handpicked him for a course of study there. There, sharing a room with Anton Ackermann, he studied under the cover name "Fritz Malter".
Opposition to the Nazis and imprisonment
In 1930, aged 18, Honecker entered the KPD, the Communist Party of Germany. His political mentor was Otto Niebergall, who later represented the KPD in the Reichstag. After returning from Moscow in 1931 following his studies at the International Lenin School, he became the leader of the KJVD in the Saar region. After the Nazi seizure of power in 1933, Communist activities within Germany were only possible undercover; the Saar region however still remained outside the German Reich under a League of Nations mandate. Honecker was arrested in Essen, Germany but soon released. Following this he fled to the Netherlands and from there oversaw KJVD's activities in Pfalz, Hesse and Baden-Württemberg.
Honecker returned to the Saar in 1934 and worked alongside Johannes Hoffmann on the campaign against the region's re-incorporation into Germany. A referendum on the area's future in January 1935 however saw 90.73% vote in favour of reunifying with Germany. Like 4,000 to 8,000 others, Honecker then fled the region, initially relocating to Paris.
On 28 August 1935 he illegally travelled to Berlin under the alias "Marten Tjaden", with a printing press in his luggage. From there he worked closely together with KPD official Herbert Wehner in opposition/resistance to the Nazi state. On 4 December 1935 Honecker was detained by the Gestapo and until 1937 remanded in Berlin's Moabit detention centre. On 3 July 1937 he was sentenced to ten years imprisonment for the "preparation of high treason alongside the severe falsification of documents".
Honecker spent the majority of his incarceration in the Brandenburg-Görden Prison, where he also carried out tasks as a handyman. In early 1945 he was moved to the Barnimstraße Women's Prison in Berlin due to good behaviour and to be put to work repairing the bomb-damaged building, as he was a skilled roofer. During an Allied bombing raid on 6 March 1945 he managed to escape and hid himself at the apartment of Lotte Grund, a female prison guard. After several days she persuaded him to turn himself in and his escape was then covered up by the guard. Honecker spent most of his time in prison under solitary confinement.
After the liberation of the prisons by advancing Soviet troops on 27 April 1945, Honecker remained in Berlin. His "escape" from prison and his relationships during his captivity later led to him experiencing difficulties within the Socialist Unity Party, as well as straining his relations with his former inmates. In later interviews and in his personal memoirs, Honecker falsified many of the details of his life during this period. Material from the East German State Security Service has been used to allege that, to be released from prison, Honecker offered the Gestapo evidence incriminating fellow imprisoned Communists, claimed he had renounced Communism "for good", and was willing to serve in the German army.
Post-war return to politics
In May 1945 Honecker was "picked up" by chance in Berlin by Hans Mahle and taken to the Ulbricht Group, a collective of exiled German communists that had returned from the Soviet Union to Germany after the end of the Nazi regime. Through Waldemar Schmidt, Honecker befriended Walter Ulbricht, who had not been aware of him at that point. Honecker's future role in the group was still undecided until well into the summer months, as he had yet to face a party process. This ended in a reprimand due to his "undisciplined conduct" in fleeing from prison at the start of the year, an action which was debated upon it jeopardizing the other (communist) inmates.
In 1946, Honecker became the co-founder of the Free German Youth (FDJ), whose chairmanship he also undertook. After the formation of the SED, the Socialist Unity Party, in April 1946 through a merger of the KPD and SPD, Honecker swiftly became a leading party member and took his place in the party's Central Committee.
On 7 October 1949, the German Democratic Republic was formed with the adoption of a new constitution, establishing a political system similar to that of the Soviet Union. Within the state's socialist single party government, Honecker determinedly resumed his political career and the following year was nominated as a candidate for the Politbüro of the SED's Central Committee. As President of the Free German Youth movement, he organised the inaugural "Deutschlandtreffen der Jugend" in East Berlin in May 1950 and the 3rd World Festival of Youth and Students in 1951, although the latter was beset with organisational problems.
During the internal party unrest following the suppressed uprising of June 1953, Honecker sided with First Secretary Walter Ulbricht, despite the majority of the Politburo attempting to depose Ulbricht in favour of Rudolf Herrnstadt. Honecker himself though faced questioning from party members about his inadequate qualifications for his position. On 27 May 1955 he handed the Presidency of the FDJ over to Karl Namokel, and departed for Moscow to study for two years at the School of the Soviet Communist Party at Ulbricht's request. During this period he witnessed the 20th Congress of the Soviet Communist Party in person, where its First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev denounced Joseph Stalin.
After returning to East Germany in 1958, Honecker became a fully-fledged member of the Politburo, taking over responsibility for military and security issues. As the Party Security Secretary he was the prime organiser of the building of the Berlin Wall in August 1961 and also a proponent of the "order to fire" along the Inner German border.
Leadership of East Germany
While Ulbricht had replaced the state's command economy with, firstly the "New Economic System", then the Economic System of Socialism, as he sought to improve the country's failing economy, Honecker declared the main task to in fact be the "unity of economic and social politics", essentially through which living standards (with increased consumer goods) would be raised in exchange for political loyalty. Tensions had already led to his once-mentor Ulbricht removing Honecker from the position of Second Secretary in July 1970, only for the Soviet leadership to swiftly reinstate him. Honecker played up the thawing East-West German relationship as Ulbricht's strategy, to win the support of the Soviet leadership under Leonid Brezhnev. With this secured, Honecker was appointed First Secretary (from 1976 titled general secretary) of the Central Committee on 3 May 1971 after the Soviet leadership forced Ulbricht to step aside "for health reasons".
After also succeeding Ulbricht as Chairman of the National Defence Council in 1971, Honecker was eventually also elected Chairman of the State Council (a post equivalent to that of president) on 29 October 1976. With this, Honecker reached the height of power within East Germany. From there on, he, along with Economic Secretary Günter Mittag and Minister of State Security Erich Mielke, made all key government decisions. Until 1989 the "little strategic clique" composed of these three men was unchallenged as the top level of East Germany's ruling class. Honecker's closest colleague was , the SED's Agitation and Propaganda Secretary. Alongside him, Honecker held daily meetings concerning the party's media representation in which the layout of the party's own newspaper Neues Deutschland, as well as the sequencing of news items in the national news bulletin Aktuelle Kamera, were determined.
Under Honecker's leadership, East Germany adopted a programme of "consumer socialism", which resulted in a marked improvement in living standards already the highest among the Eastern bloc countries. More attention was placed on the availability of consumer goods, and the construction of new housing was accelerated, with Honecker promising to "settle the housing problem as an issue of social relevance". His policies were initially marked by a liberalisation toward culture and art, though this was less about the replacement of Ulbricht by Honecker and more for propaganda purposes. While 1973 brought the World Festival of Youth and Students to East Berlin, soon dissident artists such as Wolf Biermann were expelled and the Ministry for State Security raised its efforts to suppress political resistance. Honecker remained committed to the expansion of the Inner German border and the "order to fire" policy along it. During his time in office around 125 East German citizens were killed while trying to reach the West.
After the Federal Republic had secured an agreement with the Soviet Union on cooperation and a policy of non-violence, it became possible to reach a similar agreement with the GDR. The Basic Treaty between East and West Germany in 1972 sought to normalise contacts between the two governments.
East Germany also participated in the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe held in Helsinki in 1975, which attempted to improve relations between the West and the Eastern Bloc, and became a full member of the United Nations. These acts of diplomacy were considered Honecker’s greatest successes in foreign politics.
Honecker received additional high-profile personal recognitions including honorary doctorates of humane letters from North Korea’s Kim Il-Sung University in 1974, Cuba's University of Las Tunas in 1979 and Iraq's Saddam University in 1983, honorary doctorates of business administration from East Berlin's Humboldt University in 1976, Tokyo's Nihon University in 1981 and the London School of Economics in 1984 and the Olympic Order from the IOC in 1985. In September 1987, he became the first East German head of state to visit West Germany, where he was received with full state honours by West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl in an act that seemed to confirm West Germany's acceptance of East Germany's existence. During this trip he also journeyed to his birthplace in Saarland, where he held an emotional speech in which he spoke of a day when Germans would no longer be separated by borders, but unified under communist rule. This trip had been planned twice before, including September 1984, but was initially blocked by the Soviet leadership which mistrusted the special East-West German relationship, particularly efforts to expand East Germany's limited independence in the realm of foreign policy.
Illness, downfall and resignation
In the late 1980s, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev introduced glasnost and perestroika, reforms to liberalise socialist planned economy. Frictions between him and Honecker had grown over these policies and numerous additional issues from 1985 onward. East Germany refused to implement similar reforms, with Honecker reportedly telling Gorbachev: "We have done our perestroika; we have nothing to restructure". Gorbachev grew to dislike Honecker, and by 1988 was lumping him in with Bulgaria's Todor Zhivkov, Czechoslovakia's Gustáv Husák and Romania's Nicolae Ceaușescu as a "Gang of Four": a group of inflexible hardliners unwilling to make reforms.
According to White House experts Philip Zelikow and Condoleezza Rice, Gorbachev looked to Communist leaders in Eastern Europe to follow his example of perestroika and glasnost. They argue:
Gorbachev himself had no particular sympathy for Erich Honecker, chairman of the East German Communist Party, and his hard-line comrades and the government. As early as 1985... [Gorbachev] had told East German party officials that kindergarten was over; no one would lead them by the hand. They were responsible for their own people. The relations between Gorbachev and Honecker went downhill from there.
Western analysts, according to Zelikow and Rice, believed in 1989 that Communism was still secure in East Germany:
Bolstered by relatively greater affluence than his country's Eastern European neighbors enjoyed in a fantastically elaborate system of internal controls, East Germany's longtime leader Eric Honecker seemed secure in his position. His government had long dealt with dissent through a mixture of brutal repression, forced emigration, and the vent of allowing occasional, limited travel to the West for a substantial part of the population.
Honecker felt betrayed by Gorbachev in his German policy and ensured that official texts of the Soviet Union, especially those concerning perestroika, could no longer be published or sold in East Germany.
At the Warsaw Pact summit on 7–8 July 1989 in Bucharest, the Soviet Union reaffirmed its shift from the Brezhnev Doctrine of the limited sovereignty of its member states, and announced "freedom of choice". The Bucharest statement prescribed that its nations henceforth developed their "own political line, strategy and tactics without external intervention". This called into question the Soviet guarantee of existence for the Communist states in Europe. Already in May 1989 Hungary had begun dismantling its border with Austria, creating the first gap in the so-called Iron Curtain, through which later several thousand East Germans quickly fled in hopes of reaching West Germany by way of Austria. But with the mass exodus at the Pan-European Picnic in August 1989 (which was based on an idea by Otto von Habsburg to test Gorbachev's reaction to the opening of the border), the subsequent hesitant behaviour of the Socialist Unity Party of East Germany and the non-intervention of the Soviet Union opened the floodgates. Thus the united front of the Eastern Bloc was broken. The reaction to this from Erich Honecker in the Daily Mirror of August 19, 1989 was too late and showed the current loss of power: “Habsburg distributed leaflets far into Poland, on which the East German holidaymakers were invited to a picnic. When they came to the picnic, they were given gifts, food and Deutsche Mark, and then they were persuaded to come to the West.” Later, after his fall, Honecker said of Otto von Habsburg in connection with the summer of 1989: "That this Habsburg drove the nail into my coffin." Now tens of thousands of media-informed East Germans made their way to Hungary, which was no longer ready to keep its borders completely closed or to oblige its border troops to use force of arms. A 1969 treaty required the Hungarian government to send the East Germans back home; however, starting on 11 September 1989, the Hungarians let them pass into Austria, telling their outraged East German counterparts that they were refugees and that international treaties on refugees took precedence.
At the time, Honecker was sidelined through illness, leaving his colleagues unable to act decisively. He had been taken ill with biliary colic during the Warsaw Pact summit. He was shortly afterwards flown home to East Berlin. After an initial stabilisation in his health, he underwent surgery on 18 August 1989 to remove his inflamed gallbladder and, due to a perforation, part of his colon. According to the urologist Peter Althaus, the surgeons left a suspected carcinogenic nodule in Honecker’s right kidney due to his weak condition, and also failed to inform the patient of the suspected cancer; other sources say the tumour was simply undetected. As a result of this operation, Honecker was away from his office until late September 1989.
Back in office, Honecker had to contend with the rising number and strength of demonstrations across East Germany that had first been sparked by reports in the West German media of fraudulent results in local elections on 7 May 1989, the same results he had labelled a "convincing reflection" of the populace's faith in his leadership. He also had to deal with a new refugee problem. Several thousand East Germans tried to go to West Germany by way of Czechoslovakia, only to have that government bar them from passing. Several thousands of them headed straight for the West German embassy in Prague and demanded safe passage to West Germany. With some reluctance, Honecker allowed them to go – but forced them to go back through East Germany on sealed trains and stripped them of their East German citizenship. Several members of the SED Politbüro realised this was a serious blunder and made plans to get rid of him.
As unrest visibly grew, large numbers began fleeing the country through the West German embassies in Prague and Budapest, as well as over the borders of the "socialist brother" states. Each month saw tens of thousands more exit. On 3 October 1989 East Germany closed its borders to its eastern neighbours and prevented visa-free travel to Czechoslovakia; a day later these measures were also extended to travel to Bulgaria and Romania. East Germany was now not only behind the Iron Curtain to the West, but also cordoned off from most other Eastern bloc states.
On 6–7 October 1989 the national celebrations of the 40th anniversary of the East German state took place with Gorbachev in attendance. To the surprise of Honecker and the other SED leaders in attendance, several hundred members of the Free German Youth — reckoned as the future vanguard of the party and nation — began chanting, "Gorby, help us! Gorby, save us!". In a private conversation between the two leaders Honecker praised the success of the nation, but Gorbachev knew that, in reality, it faced bankruptcy; East Germany had already accepted billions of dollars in loans from West Germany during the decade as it sought to stabilise its economy. Attempting to make Honecker accept a need for reforms, Gorbachev warned Honecker that "He who is too late is punished by life", yet Honecker maintained that "we will solve our problems ourselves with socialist means". Protests outside the reception at the Palace of the Republic led to hundreds of arrests in which many were brutally beaten by soldiers and police.
As the reform movement spread throughout Central and Eastern Europe, mass demonstrations against the East German government erupted, most prominently in Leipzig—the first of several demonstrations which took place on Monday nights across the country. In response, an elite paratroop unit was dispatched to Leipzig—almost certainly on Honecker's orders, since he was commander-in-chief of the Army. A bloodbath was averted only when local party officials themselves ordered the troops to pull back. In the following week, Honecker faced a torrent of criticism. This gave his Politburo comrades the impetus they needed to replace him.
After a crisis meeting of the Politburo on 10–11 October 1989, Honecker's planned state visit to Denmark was cancelled and, despite his resistance, at the insistence of the government's number-two-man, Egon Krenz, a public statement was issued that called for "suggestions for attractive socialism". Over the following days Krenz worked to secure himself the support of the military and the Stasi and arranged a meeting between Gorbachev and Politburo member Harry Tisch, who was in Moscow, to inform the Kremlin about the now-planned removal of Honecker; Gorbachev reportedly wished them good luck.
The sitting of the SED Central Committee planned for the end of November 1989 was pulled forward a week, with the most urgent item on the agenda now being the composition of the Politburo. Krenz and Mielke attempted by telephone on the night of 16 October to win other Politburo members over to remove Honecker. At the beginning of the session on 17 October, Honecker asked his routine question of "Are there any suggestions for the agenda?" Stoph replied, "Please, general secretary, Erich, I propose that a new item be placed on the agenda. It is the release of Erich Honecker as general secretary and the election of Egon Krenz in his place." Honecker reportedly calmly responded: "Well, then I open the debate".
All those present then spoke, in turn, but none in favour of Honecker. Günter Schabowski even extended the dismissal of Honecker to also include his posts in the State Council and as Chairman of the National Defence Council while childhood friend Günter Mittag moved away from Honecker. Mielke supposedly blamed Honecker for almost all the country's current ills and threatened to publish compromising information that he possessed, if Honecker refused to resign. A ZDF documentary on the matter claims this information was contained in a large red briefcase found in Mielke's possession in 1990. After three hours the Politburo voted to remove Honecker. In accordance with longstanding practice, Honecker voted for his own removal. When the public announcement was made, it was branded as a voluntary decision on Honecker's part, ostensibly "due to health reasons". Krenz was unanimously elected as his successor as General Secretary.
Start of prosecution and asylum attempts
Communist rule in East Germany survived Honecker's removal by only two months. Three weeks after Honecker's ousting the Berlin Wall fell, and the SED swiftly lost control of the country. On 1 December, its guaranteed right to rule was removed from the East German constitution. Two days later he was expelled from the SED along with other former officials. He went on to join the newly founded Communist Party of Germany in 1990, remaining a member until his death.
During November the People's Chamber had already set up a committee to investigate corruption and abuses of office, with Honecker being alleged to have received annual donations from the National Academy of Architecture of around 20,000 marks as an "honorary member". On 5 December 1989 the chief public prosecutor in East Germany formally launched a judicial inquiry against him on charges of high treason, abuses of confidence and embezzlement to the serious disadvantage of socialist property (the charge of high treason was dropped in March 1990). As a result, Honecker was placed under house arrest for a month.
Following the lifting of his house arrest, Honecker and his wife Margot were forced to vacate their apartment in the Waldsiedlung housing area in Wandlitz, exclusively used by senior SED party members, after the People's Chamber decided to put it to use as a sanatorium for the disabled. In any case, Honecker spent the majority of January 1990 in hospital after having the error of the tumour missed in 1989 corrected after the suspicion of cancer was confirmed. Upon leaving the hospital on 29 January he was re-arrested and held at the Berlin-Rummelsburg remand centre. However, on the evening of the following day, 30 January, Honecker was again released from custody: The district court had annulled the arrest warrant and, due to medical reports, certified him unfit for detention and interrogation.
Lacking a home, Honecker instructed his lawyer Wolfgang Vogel to ask the Evangelical Church in Berlin-Brandenburg for help. Pastor Uwe Holmer, leader of the Hoffnungstal Institute in Lobetal, Bernau bei Berlin, offered the couple a home in his vicarage. This drew immediate condemnation and later demonstrations against the church for assisting the Honeckers, given they had both discriminated against Christians who did not conform with the SED leadership's ideology. Aside from a stay at a holiday home in Lindow in March 1990 that lasted only one day before protests swiftly brought it to an end, the couple resided at the Holmer residence until 3 April 1990.
The couple then moved into a three-room living quarters within the Soviet military hospital in Beelitz. Here, doctors diagnosed a malignant liver tumour following another re-examination. Following German reunification, prosecutors in Berlin issued a further arrest warrant for Honecker in November 1990 on charges that he gave the order to fire on escapees at the Inner German border in 1961 and had repeatedly reiterated that command (most specifically in 1974). However, this warrant was not enforceable because Honecker lay under the protection of Soviet authorities in Beelitz. On 13 March 1991 the Honeckers fled Germany from the Soviet-controlled Sperenberg Airfield to Moscow on a military jet with the aid of Soviet hardliners.
The German Chancellery had only been informed by Soviet diplomats about the Honeckers’ flight to Moscow one hour in advance. It limited its response to a public protest, claiming the existence of an arrest warrant meant the Soviet Union was breaching international law by admitting Honecker. The initial Soviet reaction was that Honecker was now too ill to travel and was receiving medical treatment after a deterioration of his health. He underwent further surgery the following month.
On 11 December 1991 the Honeckers sought refuge in the Chilean Embassy in Moscow, while also applying for political asylum in the Soviet Union. Despite an offer of help from North Korea, Honecker instead reached out to the Chilean government under Christian Democrat Patricio Aylwin. Under Honecker's rule, East Germany had granted many Chileans exile following the military coup of 1973 by Augusto Pinochet. In addition his daughter Sonja was married to a Chilean. Chilean authorities, however, stated he could not enter their country without a valid German passport.
Mikhail Gorbachev agreed to the dissolution of the Soviet Union on 25 December 1991 and gave all his powers to Russian president Boris Yeltsin. Russian authorities had long been keen on expelling Honecker, against the wishes of Gorbachev, and the new government now demanded that he leave the country or else face deportation.
In June 1992, Chilean President Patricio Aylwin, leader of a center-left coalition, finally assured German Chancellor Helmut Kohl that Honecker would be leaving the embassy in Moscow. Reportedly against his will, Honecker was ejected from the embassy on 29 July 1992 and flown to Berlin's Tegel Airport, where he was arrested and detained in Moabit Prison. By contrast, his wife Margot travelled on a direct flight from Moscow to Santiago, Chile, where she initially stayed with her daughter Sonja. Honecker's lawyers unsuccessfully appealed for him to be released from detention in the period leading up to his trial.
Criminal trial and death
On 12 May 1992, while under protection in the Chilean embassy in Moscow, Honecker, along with several co-defendants, including Erich Mielke, Willi Stoph, Heinz Kessler, Fritz Streletz and Hans Albrecht, was accused in a 783-page indictment of taking part in the "collective manslaughter" of 68 people as they attempted to flee East Germany. It was alleged that Honecker, in his role as Chairman of the National Defence Council, had both given the decisive order in 1961 for the construction of the Berlin Wall and also, at subsequent meetings, ordered the extensive expansion of the border fortifications around West Berlin and the barriers to the West so as to make any passing impossible. In addition, specifically at a May 1974 sitting of the National Defence Council, he had stated that the development of the border must continue, that lines of fire were warranted along the whole border and, as prior, the use of firearms was essential: "Comrades who have successfully used their firearms [are] to be praised". Honecker, in his role of chairman of the party, was responsible for the deaths of many more than the 68 mentioned above. As of 22 April 2015, well over 1,000 deaths have been discovered mainly through secret East German documentation: "It is still not known for sure how many people died on the inner German border or who they were, as the East German state treated such information as a closely guarded secret. But numbers have risen steadily since unification, as evidence has been gathered from East German records. Current unofficial estimates put the figure at up to 1,100 people." From the same article, "In 1974, Erich Honecker, as Chairman of the GDR's National Defence Council, ordered: 'Firearms are to be ruthlessly used in the event of attempts to break through the border, and the comrades who have successfully used their firearms are to be commended.'"
The charges were approved by the Berlin District Court on 19 October 1992 at the opening of the trial. On the same day, it was decided that the hearing of 56 charges would be postponed and the remaining twelve cases would be the subject of the trial to begin on 12 November 1992. The question of under which laws the former East German leader could be tried was highly controversial and, in the view of many jurists, the process had an uncertain outcome.
During his 70-minute-long statement to the court on 3 December 1992, Honecker said that he had political responsibility for the building of the Berlin Wall and subsequent deaths at the borders, but claimed he was "without juridical, legal or moral guilt". He blamed the escalation of the Cold War for the building of the Berlin Wall, saying the decision had not been taken solely by the East German leadership but all the Warsaw Pact nations that had collectively concluded in 1961 that a "Third World War with millions dead" would be unavoidable without this action. He quoted several West German politicians who had opined that the wall had indeed reduced and stabilised the two factions. He stated that he had always regretted every death, both from a human point of view and due to the political damage they caused.
Making reference to past trials in Germany against communists and socialists such as Karl Marx and August Bebel, he claimed that the legal process against him was politically motivated and a "show trial" against communism. He stated that no court lying in the territory of West Germany had the legal right to place him, his co-defendants or any East German citizen on trial, and that the portrayal of East Germany as an "Unrechtsstaat" was contradictory to its recognition by over one hundred other nations and the UN Security Council. Furthermore, he questioned how a German court could now legally judge his political decisions in the light of the lack of legal action taken over various military operations that had been carried out by Western nations with either overt support or absence of condemnation from (West) Germany. He dismissed public criticism of the Stasi, arguing that journalists in Western countries were praised for denouncing others. While accepting political responsibility for the deaths at the Wall, he believed he was free of any "legal or moral guilt", and thought that East Germany would go down in history as "a sign that socialism is possible and is better than capitalism."
By the time of the proceedings Honecker was already seriously ill. A new CT scan in August 1992 had confirmed an ultrasound examination made in Moscow and the existence of a malignant tumour in the right lobe of his liver. Based on these findings and additional medical testimonies, Honecker’s lawyers requested that the legal proceedings, as far as they were aimed against their client, be abandoned and the arrest warrant against him withdrawn; the cases against both Mielke and Stoph had already been postponed due to their ill health. Arguing that his life expectancy was estimated to be three to six months, while the legal process was forecast to take at least two years, his lawyers questioned whether it was humane to try a dying man. Their application was rejected on 21 December 1992 when the court concluded that, given the seriousness of the charges, no obstacle to the proceedings existed.
Honecker lodged a constitutional complaint to the recently created Berlin Constitutional Court, stating that the decision to proceed violated his fundamental right to human dignity, which was an overriding principle in the Constitution of Berlin, above even the state penal system and criminal justice. On 12 January 1993 Honecker's complaint was upheld and the Berlin District Court therefore abandoned the case and withdrew their arrest warrant. An application for a new arrest warrant was rejected on 13 January. The court also refused to commence with the trial related to the indictment of 12 November 1992, and withdrew the second arrest warrant related to these charges. After a total of 169 days Honecker was released from custody, drawing protests both from victims of the East German state as well as German political figures.
Honecker flew via Brazil to Santiago, Chile, to reunite with his wife and his daughter Sonja, who lived there with her son Roberto. Upon his arrival he was greeted by the leaders of the Chilean Communist and Socialist parties. In contrast, his co-defendants Heinz Kessler, Fritz Streletz and Hans Albrecht were sentenced on 16 September 1993 to imprisonment of between four and seven-and-a-half years. On 13 April 1993 a final attempt to separate and continue the trial against Honecker in his absence was discontinued. Four days later, on the 66th birthday of his wife Margot, he gave a final public speech, ending with the words: "Socialism is the opposite of what we have now in Germany. For that I would like to say that our beautiful memories of the German Democratic Republic are testimony of a new and just society. And we want to always remain loyal to these things".
On 29 May 1994, Honecker died of liver cancer at the age of 81 in a terraced house in the La Reina district of Santiago. His funeral, arranged by the Communist Party of Chile, was conducted the following day at central cemetery in Santiago.
Family
Honecker was married three times. After being liberated from prison in 1945, he married the prison warden Charlotte Schanuel (née Drost), nine years his senior, on 23 December 1946. She died suddenly from a brain tumour in June 1947. Details of this marriage were not revealed until 2003, well after his death.
By the time of her death, Honecker was already romantically involved with the Free German Youth official Edith Baumann, whom he met on a trip to Moscow. With her, he had a daughter, Erika (b. 1950), who later gave him his granddaughter Anke. Sources differ on whether Honecker and Baumann married in 1947 or 1949, but in 1952 he fathered an illegitimate daughter, Sonja (b. December 1952), with Margot Feist, a People's Chamber member and chairperson of the Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Organisation.
In September 1950, Baumann wrote directly to Walter Ulbricht to inform him of her husband's extramarital activity in the hope of him pressuring Honecker to end his relationship with Feist. Following his divorce and reportedly under pressure from the Politburo, he married Feist. However, sources again differ on both the year of his divorce from Baumann and of his marriage to Feist; depending on the source, the events took place either in 1953 or 1955. For more than twenty years, Margot Honecker served as Minister of National Education. In 2012 intelligence reports collated by West German spies alleged that both Honecker and his wife had secret affairs but did not divorce for political reasons; however, his bodyguard Bernd Brückner, in a book about his time spent in Honecker's service, denied the claims.
Honecker had three grandchildren from his daughter Sonja, who had married the Chilean-born exile Leonardo Yáñez Betancourt: Roberto (b. 1974), Mariana (b. 1985), who died in 1988 at the age of two leaving Honecker himself heartbroken, and Vivian (b. 1988). Roberto's origins are debated; he is claimed to be the illegally adopted son of Heidi Stein, Dirk Schiller, born on 13 June 1975 in Görlitz, who disappeared in March 1979, due to alleged physical similarities between Dirk and Yáñez, Stein suspecting that her son might have been kidnapped at three years old by Stasi agents for Honecker's younger daughter.
Honecker's daughter divorced Yáñez in 1993. She and her two surviving children still live in Santiago.
Honours and awards
:
Hero of the German Democratic Republic (twice)
Hero of Labour
Patriotic Order of Merit (Honor clasp, in Gold)
Order of Karl Marx (five times)
Order of the Banner of Labor
:
Hero of the Soviet Union
Order of Lenin (thrice)
Order of the October Revolution
Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin"
Other countries:
Grand Star of the Order of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria (Austria)
Order of Georgi Dimitrov (Bulgaria)
Order of José Martí (Cuba)
Order of Playa Girón (Cuba)
Order of Klement Gottwald (Czechoslovakia)
Grand Cross of the White Rose of Finland (Finland)
Order of Augusto Cesar Sandino, 1st class (Nicaragua)
Order of the "Victory of Socialism" (Romania)
Order of Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam)
Olympic Order (International Olympic Committee)
In popular culture
Dmitri Vrubel's 1990 mural on the Berlin Wall My God, Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love, depicting a socialist "fraternal kiss" between Honecker and Leonid Brezhnev, became known around the world.
A traffic signal inspired by Honecker wearing a jaunty straw hat was used in parts of East Germany (Ost-Ampelmännchen) and has become a symbol of Ostalgie.
Notes
References
Further reading
Bryson, Phillip J., and Manfred Melzer eds. The end of the East German economy: from Honecker to reunification (Palgrave Macmillan, 1991).
Childs, David, ed. Honecker's Germany (London: Taylor & Francis, 1985).
Collier Jr, Irwin L. "GDR economic policy during the honecker era." Eastern European Economics 29.1 (1990): 5–29.
Dennis, Mike. Social and Economic Modernization in Eastern Germany from Honecker to Kohl (Burns & Oates, 1993).
Dennis, Mike. "The East German Ministry of State Security and East German Society During the Honecker Era, 1971–1989." in German Writers and the Politics of Culture (Palgrave Macmillan, London, 200)3. 3–24 on the STASI
Fulbrook, Mary. (2008) The people's state: East German society from Hitler to Honecker. Yale University Press.
Grix, Jonathan. "Competing approaches to the collapse of the GDR: ‘Top‐down’ vs ‘bottom‐up’," Journal of Area Studies 6#13:121–142, DOI: 10.1080/02613539808455836, Historiography.
Lippmann, Heinz. Honecker and the new politics of Europe (New York: Macmillan, 1972).
McAdams, A. James. "The Honecker trial: the East German past and the German future." Review of Politics 58.1 (1996): 53–80. online
Weitz, Eric D. Creating German Communism, 1890–1990: From Popular Protests to Socialist State (Princeton UP, 1997).
Wilsford, David, ed. Political leaders of contemporary Western Europe: a biographical dictionary (Greenwood, 1995) pp. 195–201.
Primary sources
Honecker, Erich. (1981) From My Life. New York: Pergamon, 1981. .
External links
Honecker im Internet (in German)
www.warheroes.ru – Erich Honecker (in Russian)
Welcoming Address to 1979 Session of the World Peace Council Erich Honecker's speech to the WPC
A Successful Policy Seared to the Needs of the People Volkskammer pamphlet including material by Honecker
1912 births
1994 deaths
People from Neunkirchen, Saarland
People from the Rhine Province
Communist Party of Germany politicians
Members of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany
Members of the Provisional Volkskammer
Members of the 1st Volkskammer
Members of the 2nd Volkskammer
Members of the 3rd Volkskammer
Members of the 4th Volkskammer
Members of the 5th Volkskammer
Members of the 6th Volkskammer
Members of the 7th Volkskammer
Members of the 8th Volkskammer
Members of the 9th Volkskammer
Free German Youth members
Communist rulers
Communists in the German Resistance
Collaborators with the Soviet Union
German atheists
German expatriates in Chile
German expatriates in the Soviet Union
Exiled politicians
International Lenin School alumni
People condemned by Nazi courts
People extradited from Russia
People extradited to Germany
German politicians convicted of crimes
Heads of government who were later imprisoned
Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit (honor clasp)
Recipients of the Banner of Labor
Recipients of the Olympic Order
Recipients of the Order of Ho Chi Minh
Recipients of the Grand Star of the Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria
Foreign Heroes of the Soviet Union
Recipients of the Order of Lenin
Deaths from liver cancer
Deaths from cancer in Chile
People of the Cold War | true | [
"John H. Bailey (September 22, 1864 – August 27, 1940) was a senator and a representative from the state of Texas.\n\nLife\nJohn H. Bailey was born on September 22, 1864 to Luther Rice Bailey (May 3, 1837- April 28, 1918) and Mary Ellen Crank (1842-1920), one of their nine children. He never married and did not have any children.\n\nPolitics\nHe first was a Texas representative from the 24th-26th sessions (about 6 years). And then served as a Texas Senator from the 34th-39th sessions (15 years 5 months).\n\nReferences\n\n1864 births\n1940 deaths\nTexas state senators\nMembers of the Texas House of Representatives",
"Else Hansen (Cathrine Marie Mahs Hansen) also called de Hansen (1720 – 4 September 1784), was the royal mistress of king Frederick V of Denmark. She is his most famous mistress and known in history as Madam Hansen, and was, alongside Charlotte Amalie Winge, one of only two women known to have been long term lovers of the king.\n\nLife\n\nThe background of Else Hansen does not appear to be known. Tradition claims her to be the sister of Frederick's chamber servant Henrik Vilhelm Tillisch, who in 1743 reportedly smuggled in his sister to the king at night, but modern research does not support them to be the same person.\n\nRoyal mistress\nIt is not known exactly when and how Hansen became the lover of the king. Frederick V was known for his debauched life style. According to Dorothea Biehl, the king was known to participate in orgies or 'Bacchus parties', in which he drank alcohol with his male friends while watching female prostitutes stripped naked and danced, after which the king would sometime beat them with his stick and whip them after having been intoxicated by alcohol. These women where economically compensated, but none of them seem to have had any status of a long term mistress, nor did any of the noblewomen and maids-of-honors, which according to rumors where offered to the king by their families in hope of advantages but simply married of as soon as they became pregnant without any potential relationship having been anything but a secret. The relationship between the king and Else Hansen was therefore uncommon.\n\nElse Hansen gave birth to five children with the king between 1746 and 1751, which is why the affair is presumed to have started in 1746 at the latest and ended in 1751 at the earliest. At least her three younger children where all born at the manor Ulriksholm on Funen, a manor owned by Ulrik Frederik von Heinen, brother-in-law of the de facto ruler of Denmark, the kings favorite Adam Gottlob Moltke, who likely arranged the matter. The manor was named after the royal Ulrik Christian Gyldenlove, illegitimate son of a previous king. The king's children with Hansen where baptized in the local parish church near the manor, where they were officially listed as the legitimate children of the wife of a non existent man called \"Frederick Hansen, ship writer from Gothenburg to China\". The frequent trips to Ulriksholm by Hansen as soon as her pregnancies with the king became evident was publicly noted. Neither Else Hansen nor any other of the king's mistresses where ever any official mistress introduced at the royal court, nor did they have any influence upon state affairs whatever, as politics where entrusted by the king to his favorite Moltke.\n\nIn 1752, the relationship between the king and Hansen may have ended – in any case, it was not mentioned more or resulted in any more children. She settled in the property Kejrup near Ulriksholm with her children, officially with the status of \"widow of the late sea captain de Hansen\".\n\nLater life\nAfter the death of Frederick in 1766, she acquired the estate Klarskov on Funen. She sold Klarskov and moved to Odense in 1768. In 1771, however, she bought Klarskov a second time and continued to live there until her death.\n\nHer children were not officially recognized, but unofficially they were taken care of by the royal court: her daughters were given a dowry and married to royal officials and the sons careers where protected, and her grandchildren where also provided with an allowance from the royal house.\n\nAfter Hansen, the king did not have any long term mistress until Charlotte Amalie Winge (1762–66).\n\nLegacy\nAt Frederiksborgmuseet, there are three paintings of Hansen by Jens Thrane the younger from 1764. Hansen is known by Dorothea Biehl's depiction of the decadent court life of Frederick V.\n\nIssue \nHer children were officially listed with the father \"Frederick Hansen, sea captain\".\nFrederikke Margarethe de Hansen (1747–1802)\nFrederikke Catherine de Hansen (1748–1822)\nAnna Marie de Hansen (1749–1812)\nSophie Charlotte de Hansen (1750–1779)\nUlrik Frederik de Hansen (1751–1752)\n\nSources\n Charlotte Dorothea Biehl, Interiører fra Frederik V's Hof, udgivet af Louis Bobé.\n Aage Christens, Slægten de Hansen, 1968.\n\nReferences\n\n1720 births\n1784 deaths\nMistresses of Danish royalty\n18th-century Danish people\n18th-century Danish women landowners\n18th-century Danish landowners"
]
|
[
"Matt Groening",
"Futurama"
]
| C_f3b8e9e3d21f48a999ee0f39c304a0b6_0 | How is Groening connected to Futurama? | 1 | How is Groening connected to Futurama? | Matt Groening | After spending a few years researching science fiction, Groening got together with Simpsons writer/producer David X. Cohen (known as David S. Cohen at the time) in 1997 and developed Futurama, an animated series about life in the year 3000. By the time they pitched the series to Fox in April 1998, Groening and Cohen had composed many characters and storylines; Groening claimed they had gone "overboard" in their discussions. Groening described trying to get the show on the air as "by far the worst experience of [his] grown-up life." The show premiered on March 28, 1999. Groening's writing credits for the show are for the premiere episode, "Space Pilot 3000" (co-written with Cohen), "Rebirth" (story) and "In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela" (story). After four years on the air, the show was canceled by Fox. In a situation similar to Family Guy, however, strong DVD sales and very stable ratings on Adult Swim brought Futurama back to life. When Comedy Central began negotiating for the rights to air Futurama reruns, Fox suggested that there was a possibility of also creating new episodes. When Comedy Central committed to sixteen new episodes, it was decided that four straight-to-DVD films - Bender's Big Score (2007), The Beast with a Billion Backs (2008), Bender's Game (2008) and Into the Wild Green Yonder (2009) - would be produced. Since no new Futurama projects were in production, the movie Into the Wild Green Yonder was designed to stand as the Futurama series finale. However, Groening had expressed a desire to continue the Futurama franchise in some form, including as a theatrical film. In an interview with CNN, Groening said that "we have a great relationship with Comedy Central and we would love to do more episodes for them, but I don't know... We're having discussions and there is some enthusiasm but I can't tell if it's just me". Comedy Central commissioned an additional 26 new episodes, and began airing them in 2010. The show continued in to 2013, before Comedy Central announced in April 2013 that they would not be renewing it beyond its seventh season. The final episode aired on September 4, 2013. CANNOTANSWER | Groening got together with Simpsons writer/producer David X. Cohen (known as David S. Cohen at the time) in 1997 and developed Futurama, | Matthew Abram Groening ( ; born February 15, 1954) is an American cartoonist, writer, producer, and animator. He is the creator of the comic strip Life in Hell (1977–2012) and the television series The Simpsons (1989–present), Futurama (1999–2003, 2008–2013, 2023), and Disenchantment (2018–present). The Simpsons is the longest-running U.S. primetime-television series in history and the longest-running U.S. animated series and sitcom.
Groening made his first professional cartoon sale of Life in Hell to the avant-garde magazine Wet in 1978. At its peak, the cartoon was carried in 250 weekly newspapers. Life in Hell caught the attention of American producer James L. Brooks. In 1985, Brooks contacted Groening about adapting Life in Hell for animated sequences for the Fox variety show The Tracey Ullman Show. Fearing the loss of ownership rights, Groening created a new set of characters, the Simpson family. The shorts were spun off into their own series, The Simpsons, which has since aired episodes.
In 1997, Groening and former Simpsons writer David X. Cohen developed Futurama, an animated series about life in the year 3000, which premiered in 1999, running for four years on Fox, then picked up by Comedy Central for additional seasons. In 2016, Groening developed a new series for Netflix, Disenchantment, which premiered in August 2018.
Groening has won 13 Primetime Emmy Awards, 11 for The Simpsons and 2 for Futurama, and a British Comedy Award for "outstanding contribution to comedy" in 2004. In 2002, he won the National Cartoonist Society Reuben Award for his work on Life in Hell. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on February 14, 2012.
Early life
Groening was born on February 15, 1954 in Portland, Oregon, the middle of five children (older brother Mark and sister Patty were born in 1950 and 1952, while the younger sisters Lisa and Maggie in 1956 and 1958, respectively). His Norwegian American mother, Margaret Ruth (née Wiggum; March 23, 1919 – April 22, 2013), was once a teacher, and his Russian Mennonite father, Homer Philip Groening (December 30, 1919 – March 15, 1996), was a filmmaker, advertiser, writer and cartoonist. Homer, born in Main Centre, Saskatchewan, Canada, grew up in a Mennonite, Plautdietsch-speaking family.
Matt's grandfather, Abraham Groening, was a professor at Tabor College, a Mennonite Brethren liberal arts college in Hillsboro, Kansas before moving to Albany College (now known as Lewis and Clark College) in Oregon in 1930.
Groening grew up in Portland, and attended Ainsworth Elementary School and Lincoln High School. From 1972 to 1977, Groening attended The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, a liberal arts school that he described as "a hippie college, with no grades or required classes, that drew every weirdo in the Northwest". He served as the editor of the campus newspaper, The Cooper Point Journal, for which he also wrote articles and drew cartoons. He befriended fellow cartoonist Lynda Barry after discovering that she had written a fan letter to Joseph Heller, one of Groening's favorite authors, and had received a reply. Groening has credited Barry with being "probably [his] biggest inspiration." He first became interested in cartoons after watching the Disney animated film One Hundred and One Dalmatians, and he has also cited Robert Crumb, Ernie Bushmiller, Ronald Searle, Monty Python, and Charles M. Schulz as inspirations.
Career
Early career
In 1977, at the age of 23, Groening moved to Los Angeles to become a writer. He went through what he described as "a series of lousy jobs," including being an extra in the television movie When Every Day Was the Fourth of July, busing tables, washing dishes at a nursing home, clerking at the Hollywood Licorice Pizza record store, landscaping in a sewage treatment plant, and chauffeuring and ghostwriting for a retired Western director.
Life in Hell
Groening described life in Los Angeles to his friends in the form of the self-published comic book Life in Hell, which was loosely inspired by the chapter "How to Go to Hell" in Walter Kaufmann's book Critique of Religion and Philosophy. Groening distributed the comic book in the book corner of Licorice Pizza, a record store in which he worked. He made his first professional cartoon sale to the avant-garde Wet magazine in 1978. The strip, titled "Forbidden Words," appeared in the September/October issue of that year.
Groening had gained employment at the Los Angeles Reader, a newly formed alternative newspaper, delivering papers, typesetting, editing and answering phones. He showed his cartoons to the editor, James Vowell, who was impressed and eventually gave him a spot in the paper. Life in Hell made its official debut as a comic strip in the Reader on April 25, 1980. Vowell also gave Groening his own weekly music column, "Sound Mix," in 1982. However, the column would rarely actually be about music, as he would often write about his "various enthusiasms, obsessions, pet peeves and problems" instead. In an effort to add more music to the column, he "just made stuff up," concocting and reviewing fictional bands and nonexistent records. In the following week's column, he would confess to fabricating everything in the previous column and swear that everything in the new column was true. Eventually, he was finally asked to give up the "music" column. Among the fans of the column was Harry Shearer, who would later become a voice on The Simpsons.
Life in Hell became popular almost immediately. In November 1984, Deborah Caplan, Groening's then-girlfriend and co-worker at the Reader, offered to publish "Love is Hell", a series of relationship-themed Life in Hell strips, in book form. Released a month later, the book was an underground success, selling 22,000 copies in its first two printings. Work is Hell soon followed, also published by Caplan. Soon afterward, Caplan and Groening left and put together the Life in Hell Co., which handled merchandising for Life in Hell. Groening also started Acme Features Syndicate, which initially syndicated Life in Hell as well as work by Lynda Barry and John Callahan, but would eventually only syndicate Life in Hell. At the end of its run, Life in Hell was carried in 250 weekly newspapers and has been anthologized in a series of books, including School is Hell, Childhood is Hell, The Big Book of Hell, and The Huge Book of Hell. Although Groening previously stated, "I'll never give up the comic strip. It's my foundation," the June 16, 2012 strip marked Life in Hells conclusion. After Groening ended the strip, the Center for Cartoon Studies commissioned a poster that was presented to Groening in honor of his work. The poster contained tribute cartoons by 22 of Groening's cartoonist friends who were influenced by Life in Hell.
The Simpsons
Creation
Life in Hell caught the attention of Hollywood writer-producer and Gracie Films founder James L. Brooks, who had been shown the strip by fellow producer Polly Platt. In 1985, Brooks contacted Groening with the proposition of working in animation on an undefined future project, which would turn out to be developing a series of short animated skits, called "bumpers," for the Fox variety show The Tracey Ullman Show. Originally, Brooks wanted Groening to adapt his Life in Hell characters for the show. Groening feared that he would have to give up his ownership rights, and that the show would fail and would take down his comic strip with it. Groening conceived of the idea for the Simpsons in the lobby of James L. Brooks's office and hurriedly sketched out his version of a dysfunctional family: Homer, the overweight father; Marge, the slim mother; Bart, the bratty oldest child; Lisa, the intelligent middle child; and Maggie, the baby. Groening famously named the main Simpson characters after members of his own family: his parents, Homer and Marge (Margaret or Marjorie in full), and his younger sisters, Lisa and Margaret (Maggie). Claiming that it was a bit too obvious to name a character after himself, he chose the name "Bart," an anagram of brat. However, he stresses that aside from some of the sibling rivalry, his family is nothing like the Simpsons. Groening also has an older brother and sister, Mark and Patty, and in a 1995 interview Groening divulged that Mark "is the actual inspiration for Bart."
Maggie Groening has co-written a few Simpsons books featuring her cartoon namesake.
The Tracey Ullman Show
The family was crudely drawn, because Groening had submitted basic sketches to the animators, assuming they would clean them up; instead, they just traced over his drawings. The entire Simpson family was designed so that they would be recognizable in silhouette. When Groening originally designed Homer, he put his own initials into the character's hairline and ear: the hairline resembled an 'M', and the right ear resembled a 'G'. Groening decided that this would be too distracting though, and redesigned the ear to look normal. He still draws the ear as a 'G' when he draws pictures of Homer for fans. Marge's distinct beehive hairstyle was inspired by Bride of Frankenstein and the style that Margaret Groening wore during the 1960s, although her hair was never blue. Bart's original design, which appeared in the first shorts, had spikier hair, and the spikes were of different lengths. The number was later limited to nine spikes, all of the same size. At the time Groening was primarily drawing in black and "not thinking that [Bart] would eventually be drawn in color" gave him spikes that appear to be an extension of his head. Lisa's physical features are generally not used in other characters; for example, in the later seasons, no character other than Maggie shares her hairline. While designing Lisa, Groening "couldn't be bothered to even think about girls' hair styles". When designing Lisa and Maggie, he "just gave them this kind of spiky starfish hair style, not thinking that they would eventually be drawn in color". Groening storyboarded and scripted every short (now known as The Simpsons shorts), which were then animated by a team including David Silverman and Wes Archer, both of whom would later become directors on the series.
The Simpsons shorts first appeared in The Tracey Ullman Show on April 19, 1987. Another family member, Grampa Simpson, was introduced in the later shorts. Years later, during the early seasons of The Simpsons, when it came time to give Grampa a first name, Groening says he refused to name him after his own grandfather, Abraham Groening, leaving it to other writers to choose a name. By coincidence, they chose "Abraham", unaware that it was the name of Groening's grandfather.
Half-hour
Although The Tracey Ullman Show was not a big hit, the popularity of the shorts led to a half-hour spin-off in 1989. A team of production companies adapted The Simpsons into a half-hour series for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The team included what is now the Klasky Csupo animation house. James L. Brooks negotiated a provision in the contract with the Fox network that prevented Fox from interfering with the show's content. Groening said his goal in creating the show was to offer the audience an alternative to what he called "the mainstream trash" that they were watching. The half-hour series premiered on December 17, 1989 with "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", a Christmas special. "Some Enchanted Evening" was the first full-length episode produced, but it did not broadcast until May 1990, as the last episode of the first season, because of animation problems.
The series quickly became a worldwide phenomenon, to the surprise of many. Groening said: "Nobody thought The Simpsons was going to be a big hit. It sneaked up on everybody." The Simpsons was co-developed by Groening, Brooks, and Sam Simon, a writer-producer with whom Brooks had worked on previous projects. Groening and Simon, however, did not get along and were often in conflict over the show; Groening once described their relationship as "very contentious." Simon eventually left the show in 1993 over creative differences.
Like the main family members, several characters from the show have names that were inspired by people, locations or films. The name "Wiggum" for police chief Chief Wiggum is Groening's mother's maiden name. The names of a few other characters were taken from major street names in Groening's hometown of Portland, Oregon, including Flanders, Lovejoy, Powell, Quimby and Kearney. Despite common fan belief that Sideshow Bob Terwilliger was named after SW Terwilliger Boulevard in Portland, he was actually named after the character Dr. Terwilliker from the film The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T.
Although Groening has pitched a number of spin-offs from The Simpsons, those attempts have been unsuccessful. In 1994, Groening and other Simpsons producers pitched a live-action spin-off about Krusty the Clown (with Dan Castellaneta playing the lead role), but were unsuccessful in getting it off the ground. Groening has also pitched "Young Homer" and a spin-off about the non-Simpsons citizens of Springfield.
In 1995, Groening got into a major disagreement with Brooks and other Simpsons producers over "A Star Is Burns", a crossover episode with The Critic, an animated show also produced by Brooks and staffed with many former Simpsons crew members. Groening claimed that he feared viewers would "see it as nothing but a pathetic attempt to advertise The Critic at the expense of The Simpsons," and was concerned about the possible implication that he had created or produced The Critic. He requested his name be taken off the episode.
Groening is credited with writing or co-writing the episodes "Some Enchanted Evening", "The Telltale Head", "Colonel Homer" and "22 Short Films About Springfield", as well as The Simpsons Movie, released in 2007. He has had several cameo appearances in the show, with a speaking role in the episode "My Big Fat Geek Wedding". He currently serves at The Simpsons as an executive producer and creative consultant.
Futurama
After spending a few years researching science fiction, Groening got together with Simpsons writer/producer David X. Cohen (known as David S. Cohen at the time) in 1997 and developed Futurama, an animated series about life in the year 3000. By the time they pitched the series to Fox in April 1998, Groening and Cohen had composed many characters and storylines; Groening claimed they had gone "overboard" in their discussions. Groening described trying to get the show on the air as "by far the worst experience of [his] grown-up life." The show premiered on March 28, 1999. Groening's writing credits for the show are for the premiere episode, "Space Pilot 3000" (co-written with Cohen), "Rebirth" (story) and "In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela" (story).
After four years on the air, the show was canceled by Fox. In a situation similar to Family Guy, however, strong DVD sales and very stable ratings on Adult Swim brought Futurama back to life. When Comedy Central began negotiating for the rights to air Futurama reruns, Fox suggested that there was a possibility of also creating new episodes. When Comedy Central committed to sixteen new episodes, it was decided that four straight-to-DVD films – Bender's Big Score (2007), The Beast with a Billion Backs (2008), Bender's Game (2008) and Into the Wild Green Yonder (2009) – would be produced.
Since no new Futurama projects were in production, the movie Into the Wild Green Yonder was designed to stand as the Futurama series finale. However, Groening had expressed a desire to continue the Futurama franchise in some form, including as a theatrical film. In an interview with CNN, Groening said that "we have a great relationship with Comedy Central and we would love to do more episodes for them, but I don't know... We're having discussions and there is some enthusiasm but I can't tell if it's just me". Comedy Central commissioned an additional 26 new episodes, and began airing them in 2010. The show continued in to 2013, before Comedy Central announced in April 2013 that they would not be renewing it beyond its seventh season. The final episode aired on September 4, 2013.
On February 9, 2022, the series was revived at Hulu, set for a 2023 release.
Disenchantment
On January 15, 2016, it was announced that Groening was in talks with Netflix to develop a new animated series. On July 25, 2017 the series, Disenchantment, was ordered by Netflix. The first ten episodes premiered on the streaming service in August 2018, with the remaining ten episodes of the initial order scheduled to air in September 2019. Netflix has renewed the series for twenty additional episodes, which are expected to debut in ten-episode batches in 2020 and 2021.
Groening described the fantasy-oriented series as originating in a sketchbook full of "fantastic creatures we couldn't do on The Simpsons." The show's cast includes Abbi Jacobson, Eric Andre, and Nat Faxon.
Other pursuits
In 1994, Groening formed Bongo Comics (named after the character Bongo from Life in Hell) with Steve Vance, Cindy Vance and Bill Morrison, which publishes comic books based on The Simpsons and Futurama (including Futurama Simpsons Infinitely Secret Crossover Crisis, a crossover between the two), as well as a few original titles. According to Groening, the goal with Bongo is to "[try] to bring humor into the fairly grim comic book market." He also formed Zongo Comics in 1995, an imprint of Bongo that published comics for more mature readers, which included three issues of Mary Fleener's Fleener and seven issues of his close friend Gary Panter's Jimbo comics.
Groening is known for his eclectic taste in music. His favorite artist is Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention and his favorite album is Trout Mask Replica by Captain Beefheart (which was produced by Zappa). He guest-edited Da Capo Press's Best Music Writing 2003 and curated a US All Tomorrow's Parties music festival in 2003. He illustrated the cover of Frank Zappa's posthumous album Frank Zappa Plays the Music of Frank Zappa: A Memorial Tribute (1996). In May 2010, he curated another edition of All Tomorrow's Parties in Minehead, England. He also plays the drums in the all-author rock and roll band The Rock Bottom Remainders (although he is listed as the cowbell player), whose other members include Dave Barry, Ridley Pearson, Scott Turow, Amy Tan, James McBride, Mitch Albom, Roy Blount Jr., Stephen King, Kathi Kamen Goldmark, Sam Barry and Greg Iles. In July 2013, Groening co-authored Hard Listening (2013) with the rest of the Rock Bottom Remainders (published by Coliloquy, LLC).
Personal life
Groening and Deborah Caplan married in 1986 and had two sons together, Homer (who goes by Will) and Abe, both of whom Groening occasionally portrays as rabbits in Life in Hell. The couple divorced in 1999.
In 2011, Groening married Argentine artist Agustina Picasso after a four-year relationship, and became stepfather to her daughter Camila Costantini. In May 2013, Picasso gave birth to Nathaniel Philip Picasso Groening, named after writer Nathanael West. She joked that "his godfather is SpongeBob's creator Stephen Hillenburg". In 2015, Groening's daughters Luna Margaret and India Mia were born. On June 16, 2018, he became the father of twins for a second time when his wife gave birth to Sol Matthew and Venus Ruth, announced via Instagram.
Matt is the brother-in-law of Hey Arnold!, Dinosaur Train and Ready Jet Go! creator, Craig Bartlett, who is married to Groening's sister, Lisa. Bartlett used to appear in Simpsons Illustrated.
Groening is a self-identified agnostic.
Groening was mentioned in a lawsuit by Virginia Giuffre over allegedly being forced by sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein to massage his Groening's feet while on Epstein's jet in 2001.
Politics
Groening has made a number of campaign contributions, all towards Democratic Party candidates and organizations. He has donated money to the unsuccessful presidential campaigns of Democratic candidates Al Gore in 2000 and John Kerry in 2004, as well as previously donating to Kerry's Massachusetts senator campaign. Groening also collectively donated to the Democratic senatorial campaign committee and to the Senate campaigns of Barbara Boxer (California), Dianne Feinstein (California), Paul Simon (Illinois), Ted Kennedy (Massachusetts), Carl Levin (Michigan), Hillary Clinton (New York), Harvey Gantt (North Carolina), Horward Metzenbaum (Ohio), and Tom Bruggere (Oregon). He also donated to the now-defunct Hollywood Women's Political Committee, which supported and campaigned for the Democratic Party. His first cousin, Laurie Monnes Anderson, was a member of the Oregon State Senate, representing eastern Multnomah County.
Filmography
Film
Television
Video games
Music video
Theme park
Awards
Groening has been nominated for 41 Emmy Awards and has won thirteen, eleven for The Simpsons and two for Futurama in the "Outstanding Animated Program (for programming one hour or less)" category. Groening received the 2002 National Cartoonist Society Reuben Award, and had been nominated for the same award in 2000. He received a British Comedy Award for "outstanding contribution to comedy" in 2004. In 2007, he was ranked fourth (and highest American by birth) in a list of the "top 100 living geniuses", published by British newspaper The Daily Telegraph.
He was awarded the Inkpot Award in 1988.
He received the 2,459th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on February 14, 2012.
Bibliography
Groening, Matt (1977–2012). Life in Hell
Love Is Hell (1986)
Work Is Hell (1986)
School Is Hell (1987)
Box Full of Hell (1988)
Childhood Is Hell (1988)
Greetings from Hell (1989)
Akbar and Jeff's Guide to Life (1989)
The Big Book of Hell (1990)
With Love from Hell (1991)
How to Go to Hell (1991)
The Road to Hell (1992)
Binky's Guide to Love (1994)
Love Is Hell: Special Ultra Jumbo 10th Anniversary Edition (1994)
The Huge Book of Hell (1997)
Will and Abe's Guide to the Universe (2007)
References
External links
1954 births
Living people
Album-cover and concert-poster artists
Alternative cartoonists
American agnostics
American comic strip cartoonists
American male television writers
American people of Canadian descent
American Mennonites
American people of Norwegian descent
American satirists
American male screenwriters
American television producers
American television writers
Animators from Oregon
Annie Award winners
Artists from Portland, Oregon
Evergreen State College alumni
Inkpot Award winners
Lincoln High School (Portland, Oregon) alumni
Mennonite writers
Oregon Democrats
Peabody Award winners
Primetime Emmy Award winners
Reuben Award winners
Rock Bottom Remainders members
Screenwriters from Oregon
Showrunners
Writers from Portland, Oregon | true | [
"Futurama is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening. \n\nFuturama may also refer to:\n\nFuturama (New York World's Fair), an exhibit/ride at the 1939 New York World's Fair\nFuturama (Be-Bop Deluxe album), 1975\nFuturama (Supercar album), a 2000 album from the Japanese rock group Supercar\nFuturama (video game), a 2003 3D platform game based on the science fiction cartoon series\nA United Kingdom guitar brand, known as \"Kent\" in the United States",
"The first season of Futurama began airing on March 28, 1999 and concluded on November 14, 1999 after 13 episodes.\n\nThe original 72-episode run of Futurama was produced as four seasons; Fox broadcast the episodes out of the intended order, resulting in five aired seasons. \nAs a consequence, the show's canon is disrupted by the broadcast order, and more, different regions and networks use different ordering for the episodes.\n\nThe list below features the episodes in original production order, as featured on the DVD box sets.\n\nThe entire season is included within the Volume One DVD box set, which was released on March 25, 2003. The last four episodes were pre-empted by sporting events and pushed into the second broadcast season.\n\nThe full thirteen episodes of the season have been released on a box set called Futurama: Volume One, on DVD and VHS. It was released in the United Kingdom, on January 28, 2002, in Australia on November 27, 2002 and in the United States and Canada on March 25, 2003. The season was re-released as Futurama: Volume 1, with entirely different packaging to match the newer season releases on July 17, 2012.\n\nProduction\n\nMatt Groening initially conceived of Futurama in the mid-1990s. In 1996, he enlisted David X. Cohen, then a Simpsons writer and producer, to assist in developing the series; the two then spent time researching science fiction books, television shows, and films of the past. By the time they pitched the series to Fox in April 1998, Groening and Cohen had composed many characters and story lines. During that first meeting, Fox ordered thirteen episodes. Shortly after, however, Groening and Fox executives argued over whether the network would have any creative input into the show. With The Simpsons the network has no input. Groening explains, \"When they tried to give me notes on Futurama, I just said: 'No, we're going to do this just the way we did Simpsons.' And they said, 'Well, we don't do business that way anymore.' And I said, 'Oh, well, that's the only way I do business.'\" After negotiations, he received the same independence with Futurama. The name \"Futurama\" comes from a pavilion at the 1939 New York World's Fair. Designed by Norman Bel Geddes, the Futurama pavilion depicted how he imagined the world would look in 1959.\n\nReception\nThe first season of Futurama received positive reviews from critics. Patrick Lee of Science Fiction Weekly commented, based on a viewing of \"Space Pilot 3000\" alone, that Futurama was not as funny as The Simpsons, particularly as \"the satire is leavened with treacly sentimental bits about free will and loneliness\". The episode was rated as an \"A- pick\" and found to \"warrant further viewing\" despite these concerns. Rob Owen of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette noted that although the series' premiere contained the same skewed humor as The Simpsons, it was not as smart and funny, and he attributed this to the large amount of exposition and character introduction required of a television series pilot, noting that the show was \"off to a good start.\" Andrew Billen of New Statesman found the premise of \"Space Pilot 3000\" to be unoriginal, but remained somewhat enthusiastic about the future of the series. While he praised the humorous details of the episode, such as the background scenes while Fry was frozen, he also criticized the show's dependence on in-jokes such as Groening's head being present in the head museum. The episode was ranked in 2006 by IGN as number 14 in their list of the top 25 Futurama episodes. In the 2013/2019 reranking, the episode dropped to number 17. Tal Blevins of IGN had positive review on the season and said \"You really can't go wrong wherever you look in Futurama Volume One, and there are no stinkers in this collection.\" The season tied for 89th in the seasonal ratings tied with Profiler with an average viewership of 8.9 million viewers.\n\nThe series' premiere \"Space Pilot 3000\" garnered \"unprecedented strong numbers\" with a Nielsen rating of 11.2/17 in homes and 9.6/23 in adults 18–49. The Futurama premiere was watched by more people than either its lead-in show (The Simpsons) or the show following it (The X-Files), and it was the number one show among men aged 18–49 and teenagers for the week.\n\nEpisodes\n\nHome releases\n\nReferences\n\nFuturama lists\n1999 American television seasons\n \nFuturama seasons"
]
|
[
"Matt Groening",
"Futurama",
"How is Groening connected to Futurama?",
"Groening got together with Simpsons writer/producer David X. Cohen (known as David S. Cohen at the time) in 1997 and developed Futurama,"
]
| C_f3b8e9e3d21f48a999ee0f39c304a0b6_0 | What is Futurama? | 2 | What is Futurama? | Matt Groening | After spending a few years researching science fiction, Groening got together with Simpsons writer/producer David X. Cohen (known as David S. Cohen at the time) in 1997 and developed Futurama, an animated series about life in the year 3000. By the time they pitched the series to Fox in April 1998, Groening and Cohen had composed many characters and storylines; Groening claimed they had gone "overboard" in their discussions. Groening described trying to get the show on the air as "by far the worst experience of [his] grown-up life." The show premiered on March 28, 1999. Groening's writing credits for the show are for the premiere episode, "Space Pilot 3000" (co-written with Cohen), "Rebirth" (story) and "In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela" (story). After four years on the air, the show was canceled by Fox. In a situation similar to Family Guy, however, strong DVD sales and very stable ratings on Adult Swim brought Futurama back to life. When Comedy Central began negotiating for the rights to air Futurama reruns, Fox suggested that there was a possibility of also creating new episodes. When Comedy Central committed to sixteen new episodes, it was decided that four straight-to-DVD films - Bender's Big Score (2007), The Beast with a Billion Backs (2008), Bender's Game (2008) and Into the Wild Green Yonder (2009) - would be produced. Since no new Futurama projects were in production, the movie Into the Wild Green Yonder was designed to stand as the Futurama series finale. However, Groening had expressed a desire to continue the Futurama franchise in some form, including as a theatrical film. In an interview with CNN, Groening said that "we have a great relationship with Comedy Central and we would love to do more episodes for them, but I don't know... We're having discussions and there is some enthusiasm but I can't tell if it's just me". Comedy Central commissioned an additional 26 new episodes, and began airing them in 2010. The show continued in to 2013, before Comedy Central announced in April 2013 that they would not be renewing it beyond its seventh season. The final episode aired on September 4, 2013. CANNOTANSWER | an animated series about life in the year 3000. | Matthew Abram Groening ( ; born February 15, 1954) is an American cartoonist, writer, producer, and animator. He is the creator of the comic strip Life in Hell (1977–2012) and the television series The Simpsons (1989–present), Futurama (1999–2003, 2008–2013, 2023), and Disenchantment (2018–present). The Simpsons is the longest-running U.S. primetime-television series in history and the longest-running U.S. animated series and sitcom.
Groening made his first professional cartoon sale of Life in Hell to the avant-garde magazine Wet in 1978. At its peak, the cartoon was carried in 250 weekly newspapers. Life in Hell caught the attention of American producer James L. Brooks. In 1985, Brooks contacted Groening about adapting Life in Hell for animated sequences for the Fox variety show The Tracey Ullman Show. Fearing the loss of ownership rights, Groening created a new set of characters, the Simpson family. The shorts were spun off into their own series, The Simpsons, which has since aired episodes.
In 1997, Groening and former Simpsons writer David X. Cohen developed Futurama, an animated series about life in the year 3000, which premiered in 1999, running for four years on Fox, then picked up by Comedy Central for additional seasons. In 2016, Groening developed a new series for Netflix, Disenchantment, which premiered in August 2018.
Groening has won 13 Primetime Emmy Awards, 11 for The Simpsons and 2 for Futurama, and a British Comedy Award for "outstanding contribution to comedy" in 2004. In 2002, he won the National Cartoonist Society Reuben Award for his work on Life in Hell. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on February 14, 2012.
Early life
Groening was born on February 15, 1954 in Portland, Oregon, the middle of five children (older brother Mark and sister Patty were born in 1950 and 1952, while the younger sisters Lisa and Maggie in 1956 and 1958, respectively). His Norwegian American mother, Margaret Ruth (née Wiggum; March 23, 1919 – April 22, 2013), was once a teacher, and his Russian Mennonite father, Homer Philip Groening (December 30, 1919 – March 15, 1996), was a filmmaker, advertiser, writer and cartoonist. Homer, born in Main Centre, Saskatchewan, Canada, grew up in a Mennonite, Plautdietsch-speaking family.
Matt's grandfather, Abraham Groening, was a professor at Tabor College, a Mennonite Brethren liberal arts college in Hillsboro, Kansas before moving to Albany College (now known as Lewis and Clark College) in Oregon in 1930.
Groening grew up in Portland, and attended Ainsworth Elementary School and Lincoln High School. From 1972 to 1977, Groening attended The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, a liberal arts school that he described as "a hippie college, with no grades or required classes, that drew every weirdo in the Northwest". He served as the editor of the campus newspaper, The Cooper Point Journal, for which he also wrote articles and drew cartoons. He befriended fellow cartoonist Lynda Barry after discovering that she had written a fan letter to Joseph Heller, one of Groening's favorite authors, and had received a reply. Groening has credited Barry with being "probably [his] biggest inspiration." He first became interested in cartoons after watching the Disney animated film One Hundred and One Dalmatians, and he has also cited Robert Crumb, Ernie Bushmiller, Ronald Searle, Monty Python, and Charles M. Schulz as inspirations.
Career
Early career
In 1977, at the age of 23, Groening moved to Los Angeles to become a writer. He went through what he described as "a series of lousy jobs," including being an extra in the television movie When Every Day Was the Fourth of July, busing tables, washing dishes at a nursing home, clerking at the Hollywood Licorice Pizza record store, landscaping in a sewage treatment plant, and chauffeuring and ghostwriting for a retired Western director.
Life in Hell
Groening described life in Los Angeles to his friends in the form of the self-published comic book Life in Hell, which was loosely inspired by the chapter "How to Go to Hell" in Walter Kaufmann's book Critique of Religion and Philosophy. Groening distributed the comic book in the book corner of Licorice Pizza, a record store in which he worked. He made his first professional cartoon sale to the avant-garde Wet magazine in 1978. The strip, titled "Forbidden Words," appeared in the September/October issue of that year.
Groening had gained employment at the Los Angeles Reader, a newly formed alternative newspaper, delivering papers, typesetting, editing and answering phones. He showed his cartoons to the editor, James Vowell, who was impressed and eventually gave him a spot in the paper. Life in Hell made its official debut as a comic strip in the Reader on April 25, 1980. Vowell also gave Groening his own weekly music column, "Sound Mix," in 1982. However, the column would rarely actually be about music, as he would often write about his "various enthusiasms, obsessions, pet peeves and problems" instead. In an effort to add more music to the column, he "just made stuff up," concocting and reviewing fictional bands and nonexistent records. In the following week's column, he would confess to fabricating everything in the previous column and swear that everything in the new column was true. Eventually, he was finally asked to give up the "music" column. Among the fans of the column was Harry Shearer, who would later become a voice on The Simpsons.
Life in Hell became popular almost immediately. In November 1984, Deborah Caplan, Groening's then-girlfriend and co-worker at the Reader, offered to publish "Love is Hell", a series of relationship-themed Life in Hell strips, in book form. Released a month later, the book was an underground success, selling 22,000 copies in its first two printings. Work is Hell soon followed, also published by Caplan. Soon afterward, Caplan and Groening left and put together the Life in Hell Co., which handled merchandising for Life in Hell. Groening also started Acme Features Syndicate, which initially syndicated Life in Hell as well as work by Lynda Barry and John Callahan, but would eventually only syndicate Life in Hell. At the end of its run, Life in Hell was carried in 250 weekly newspapers and has been anthologized in a series of books, including School is Hell, Childhood is Hell, The Big Book of Hell, and The Huge Book of Hell. Although Groening previously stated, "I'll never give up the comic strip. It's my foundation," the June 16, 2012 strip marked Life in Hells conclusion. After Groening ended the strip, the Center for Cartoon Studies commissioned a poster that was presented to Groening in honor of his work. The poster contained tribute cartoons by 22 of Groening's cartoonist friends who were influenced by Life in Hell.
The Simpsons
Creation
Life in Hell caught the attention of Hollywood writer-producer and Gracie Films founder James L. Brooks, who had been shown the strip by fellow producer Polly Platt. In 1985, Brooks contacted Groening with the proposition of working in animation on an undefined future project, which would turn out to be developing a series of short animated skits, called "bumpers," for the Fox variety show The Tracey Ullman Show. Originally, Brooks wanted Groening to adapt his Life in Hell characters for the show. Groening feared that he would have to give up his ownership rights, and that the show would fail and would take down his comic strip with it. Groening conceived of the idea for the Simpsons in the lobby of James L. Brooks's office and hurriedly sketched out his version of a dysfunctional family: Homer, the overweight father; Marge, the slim mother; Bart, the bratty oldest child; Lisa, the intelligent middle child; and Maggie, the baby. Groening famously named the main Simpson characters after members of his own family: his parents, Homer and Marge (Margaret or Marjorie in full), and his younger sisters, Lisa and Margaret (Maggie). Claiming that it was a bit too obvious to name a character after himself, he chose the name "Bart," an anagram of brat. However, he stresses that aside from some of the sibling rivalry, his family is nothing like the Simpsons. Groening also has an older brother and sister, Mark and Patty, and in a 1995 interview Groening divulged that Mark "is the actual inspiration for Bart."
Maggie Groening has co-written a few Simpsons books featuring her cartoon namesake.
The Tracey Ullman Show
The family was crudely drawn, because Groening had submitted basic sketches to the animators, assuming they would clean them up; instead, they just traced over his drawings. The entire Simpson family was designed so that they would be recognizable in silhouette. When Groening originally designed Homer, he put his own initials into the character's hairline and ear: the hairline resembled an 'M', and the right ear resembled a 'G'. Groening decided that this would be too distracting though, and redesigned the ear to look normal. He still draws the ear as a 'G' when he draws pictures of Homer for fans. Marge's distinct beehive hairstyle was inspired by Bride of Frankenstein and the style that Margaret Groening wore during the 1960s, although her hair was never blue. Bart's original design, which appeared in the first shorts, had spikier hair, and the spikes were of different lengths. The number was later limited to nine spikes, all of the same size. At the time Groening was primarily drawing in black and "not thinking that [Bart] would eventually be drawn in color" gave him spikes that appear to be an extension of his head. Lisa's physical features are generally not used in other characters; for example, in the later seasons, no character other than Maggie shares her hairline. While designing Lisa, Groening "couldn't be bothered to even think about girls' hair styles". When designing Lisa and Maggie, he "just gave them this kind of spiky starfish hair style, not thinking that they would eventually be drawn in color". Groening storyboarded and scripted every short (now known as The Simpsons shorts), which were then animated by a team including David Silverman and Wes Archer, both of whom would later become directors on the series.
The Simpsons shorts first appeared in The Tracey Ullman Show on April 19, 1987. Another family member, Grampa Simpson, was introduced in the later shorts. Years later, during the early seasons of The Simpsons, when it came time to give Grampa a first name, Groening says he refused to name him after his own grandfather, Abraham Groening, leaving it to other writers to choose a name. By coincidence, they chose "Abraham", unaware that it was the name of Groening's grandfather.
Half-hour
Although The Tracey Ullman Show was not a big hit, the popularity of the shorts led to a half-hour spin-off in 1989. A team of production companies adapted The Simpsons into a half-hour series for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The team included what is now the Klasky Csupo animation house. James L. Brooks negotiated a provision in the contract with the Fox network that prevented Fox from interfering with the show's content. Groening said his goal in creating the show was to offer the audience an alternative to what he called "the mainstream trash" that they were watching. The half-hour series premiered on December 17, 1989 with "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", a Christmas special. "Some Enchanted Evening" was the first full-length episode produced, but it did not broadcast until May 1990, as the last episode of the first season, because of animation problems.
The series quickly became a worldwide phenomenon, to the surprise of many. Groening said: "Nobody thought The Simpsons was going to be a big hit. It sneaked up on everybody." The Simpsons was co-developed by Groening, Brooks, and Sam Simon, a writer-producer with whom Brooks had worked on previous projects. Groening and Simon, however, did not get along and were often in conflict over the show; Groening once described their relationship as "very contentious." Simon eventually left the show in 1993 over creative differences.
Like the main family members, several characters from the show have names that were inspired by people, locations or films. The name "Wiggum" for police chief Chief Wiggum is Groening's mother's maiden name. The names of a few other characters were taken from major street names in Groening's hometown of Portland, Oregon, including Flanders, Lovejoy, Powell, Quimby and Kearney. Despite common fan belief that Sideshow Bob Terwilliger was named after SW Terwilliger Boulevard in Portland, he was actually named after the character Dr. Terwilliker from the film The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T.
Although Groening has pitched a number of spin-offs from The Simpsons, those attempts have been unsuccessful. In 1994, Groening and other Simpsons producers pitched a live-action spin-off about Krusty the Clown (with Dan Castellaneta playing the lead role), but were unsuccessful in getting it off the ground. Groening has also pitched "Young Homer" and a spin-off about the non-Simpsons citizens of Springfield.
In 1995, Groening got into a major disagreement with Brooks and other Simpsons producers over "A Star Is Burns", a crossover episode with The Critic, an animated show also produced by Brooks and staffed with many former Simpsons crew members. Groening claimed that he feared viewers would "see it as nothing but a pathetic attempt to advertise The Critic at the expense of The Simpsons," and was concerned about the possible implication that he had created or produced The Critic. He requested his name be taken off the episode.
Groening is credited with writing or co-writing the episodes "Some Enchanted Evening", "The Telltale Head", "Colonel Homer" and "22 Short Films About Springfield", as well as The Simpsons Movie, released in 2007. He has had several cameo appearances in the show, with a speaking role in the episode "My Big Fat Geek Wedding". He currently serves at The Simpsons as an executive producer and creative consultant.
Futurama
After spending a few years researching science fiction, Groening got together with Simpsons writer/producer David X. Cohen (known as David S. Cohen at the time) in 1997 and developed Futurama, an animated series about life in the year 3000. By the time they pitched the series to Fox in April 1998, Groening and Cohen had composed many characters and storylines; Groening claimed they had gone "overboard" in their discussions. Groening described trying to get the show on the air as "by far the worst experience of [his] grown-up life." The show premiered on March 28, 1999. Groening's writing credits for the show are for the premiere episode, "Space Pilot 3000" (co-written with Cohen), "Rebirth" (story) and "In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela" (story).
After four years on the air, the show was canceled by Fox. In a situation similar to Family Guy, however, strong DVD sales and very stable ratings on Adult Swim brought Futurama back to life. When Comedy Central began negotiating for the rights to air Futurama reruns, Fox suggested that there was a possibility of also creating new episodes. When Comedy Central committed to sixteen new episodes, it was decided that four straight-to-DVD films – Bender's Big Score (2007), The Beast with a Billion Backs (2008), Bender's Game (2008) and Into the Wild Green Yonder (2009) – would be produced.
Since no new Futurama projects were in production, the movie Into the Wild Green Yonder was designed to stand as the Futurama series finale. However, Groening had expressed a desire to continue the Futurama franchise in some form, including as a theatrical film. In an interview with CNN, Groening said that "we have a great relationship with Comedy Central and we would love to do more episodes for them, but I don't know... We're having discussions and there is some enthusiasm but I can't tell if it's just me". Comedy Central commissioned an additional 26 new episodes, and began airing them in 2010. The show continued in to 2013, before Comedy Central announced in April 2013 that they would not be renewing it beyond its seventh season. The final episode aired on September 4, 2013.
On February 9, 2022, the series was revived at Hulu, set for a 2023 release.
Disenchantment
On January 15, 2016, it was announced that Groening was in talks with Netflix to develop a new animated series. On July 25, 2017 the series, Disenchantment, was ordered by Netflix. The first ten episodes premiered on the streaming service in August 2018, with the remaining ten episodes of the initial order scheduled to air in September 2019. Netflix has renewed the series for twenty additional episodes, which are expected to debut in ten-episode batches in 2020 and 2021.
Groening described the fantasy-oriented series as originating in a sketchbook full of "fantastic creatures we couldn't do on The Simpsons." The show's cast includes Abbi Jacobson, Eric Andre, and Nat Faxon.
Other pursuits
In 1994, Groening formed Bongo Comics (named after the character Bongo from Life in Hell) with Steve Vance, Cindy Vance and Bill Morrison, which publishes comic books based on The Simpsons and Futurama (including Futurama Simpsons Infinitely Secret Crossover Crisis, a crossover between the two), as well as a few original titles. According to Groening, the goal with Bongo is to "[try] to bring humor into the fairly grim comic book market." He also formed Zongo Comics in 1995, an imprint of Bongo that published comics for more mature readers, which included three issues of Mary Fleener's Fleener and seven issues of his close friend Gary Panter's Jimbo comics.
Groening is known for his eclectic taste in music. His favorite artist is Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention and his favorite album is Trout Mask Replica by Captain Beefheart (which was produced by Zappa). He guest-edited Da Capo Press's Best Music Writing 2003 and curated a US All Tomorrow's Parties music festival in 2003. He illustrated the cover of Frank Zappa's posthumous album Frank Zappa Plays the Music of Frank Zappa: A Memorial Tribute (1996). In May 2010, he curated another edition of All Tomorrow's Parties in Minehead, England. He also plays the drums in the all-author rock and roll band The Rock Bottom Remainders (although he is listed as the cowbell player), whose other members include Dave Barry, Ridley Pearson, Scott Turow, Amy Tan, James McBride, Mitch Albom, Roy Blount Jr., Stephen King, Kathi Kamen Goldmark, Sam Barry and Greg Iles. In July 2013, Groening co-authored Hard Listening (2013) with the rest of the Rock Bottom Remainders (published by Coliloquy, LLC).
Personal life
Groening and Deborah Caplan married in 1986 and had two sons together, Homer (who goes by Will) and Abe, both of whom Groening occasionally portrays as rabbits in Life in Hell. The couple divorced in 1999.
In 2011, Groening married Argentine artist Agustina Picasso after a four-year relationship, and became stepfather to her daughter Camila Costantini. In May 2013, Picasso gave birth to Nathaniel Philip Picasso Groening, named after writer Nathanael West. She joked that "his godfather is SpongeBob's creator Stephen Hillenburg". In 2015, Groening's daughters Luna Margaret and India Mia were born. On June 16, 2018, he became the father of twins for a second time when his wife gave birth to Sol Matthew and Venus Ruth, announced via Instagram.
Matt is the brother-in-law of Hey Arnold!, Dinosaur Train and Ready Jet Go! creator, Craig Bartlett, who is married to Groening's sister, Lisa. Bartlett used to appear in Simpsons Illustrated.
Groening is a self-identified agnostic.
Groening was mentioned in a lawsuit by Virginia Giuffre over allegedly being forced by sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein to massage his Groening's feet while on Epstein's jet in 2001.
Politics
Groening has made a number of campaign contributions, all towards Democratic Party candidates and organizations. He has donated money to the unsuccessful presidential campaigns of Democratic candidates Al Gore in 2000 and John Kerry in 2004, as well as previously donating to Kerry's Massachusetts senator campaign. Groening also collectively donated to the Democratic senatorial campaign committee and to the Senate campaigns of Barbara Boxer (California), Dianne Feinstein (California), Paul Simon (Illinois), Ted Kennedy (Massachusetts), Carl Levin (Michigan), Hillary Clinton (New York), Harvey Gantt (North Carolina), Horward Metzenbaum (Ohio), and Tom Bruggere (Oregon). He also donated to the now-defunct Hollywood Women's Political Committee, which supported and campaigned for the Democratic Party. His first cousin, Laurie Monnes Anderson, was a member of the Oregon State Senate, representing eastern Multnomah County.
Filmography
Film
Television
Video games
Music video
Theme park
Awards
Groening has been nominated for 41 Emmy Awards and has won thirteen, eleven for The Simpsons and two for Futurama in the "Outstanding Animated Program (for programming one hour or less)" category. Groening received the 2002 National Cartoonist Society Reuben Award, and had been nominated for the same award in 2000. He received a British Comedy Award for "outstanding contribution to comedy" in 2004. In 2007, he was ranked fourth (and highest American by birth) in a list of the "top 100 living geniuses", published by British newspaper The Daily Telegraph.
He was awarded the Inkpot Award in 1988.
He received the 2,459th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on February 14, 2012.
Bibliography
Groening, Matt (1977–2012). Life in Hell
Love Is Hell (1986)
Work Is Hell (1986)
School Is Hell (1987)
Box Full of Hell (1988)
Childhood Is Hell (1988)
Greetings from Hell (1989)
Akbar and Jeff's Guide to Life (1989)
The Big Book of Hell (1990)
With Love from Hell (1991)
How to Go to Hell (1991)
The Road to Hell (1992)
Binky's Guide to Love (1994)
Love Is Hell: Special Ultra Jumbo 10th Anniversary Edition (1994)
The Huge Book of Hell (1997)
Will and Abe's Guide to the Universe (2007)
References
External links
1954 births
Living people
Album-cover and concert-poster artists
Alternative cartoonists
American agnostics
American comic strip cartoonists
American male television writers
American people of Canadian descent
American Mennonites
American people of Norwegian descent
American satirists
American male screenwriters
American television producers
American television writers
Animators from Oregon
Annie Award winners
Artists from Portland, Oregon
Evergreen State College alumni
Inkpot Award winners
Lincoln High School (Portland, Oregon) alumni
Mennonite writers
Oregon Democrats
Peabody Award winners
Primetime Emmy Award winners
Reuben Award winners
Rock Bottom Remainders members
Screenwriters from Oregon
Showrunners
Writers from Portland, Oregon | true | [
"The ULULU Company, formerly The Curiosity Company until August 17, 2018, is an American production company and animation studio founded by Matt Groening, the creator of The Simpsons. It is behind television series Futurama and Disenchantment and the 1999 television film Olive, the Other Reindeer.\n\nProductions\nFuturama (1999–2013 2023-)\nOlive, the Other Reindeer (1999) \nFuturama: Bender's Big Score (2007)\nFuturama: The Beast with a Billion Backs (2008) \nFuturama: Bender's Game (2009) \nFuturama: Into the Wild Green Yonder (2009) \nDisenchantment (2018–present)\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\n \nAdult animation studios\nAmerican animation studios\nMass media companies established in 1997\nTelevision production companies of the United States",
"Futurama is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening. \n\nFuturama may also refer to:\n\nFuturama (New York World's Fair), an exhibit/ride at the 1939 New York World's Fair\nFuturama (Be-Bop Deluxe album), 1975\nFuturama (Supercar album), a 2000 album from the Japanese rock group Supercar\nFuturama (video game), a 2003 3D platform game based on the science fiction cartoon series\nA United Kingdom guitar brand, known as \"Kent\" in the United States"
]
|
[
"Matt Groening",
"Futurama",
"How is Groening connected to Futurama?",
"Groening got together with Simpsons writer/producer David X. Cohen (known as David S. Cohen at the time) in 1997 and developed Futurama,",
"What is Futurama?",
"an animated series about life in the year 3000."
]
| C_f3b8e9e3d21f48a999ee0f39c304a0b6_0 | Was the show popular? | 3 | Was the show Futurama popular? | Matt Groening | After spending a few years researching science fiction, Groening got together with Simpsons writer/producer David X. Cohen (known as David S. Cohen at the time) in 1997 and developed Futurama, an animated series about life in the year 3000. By the time they pitched the series to Fox in April 1998, Groening and Cohen had composed many characters and storylines; Groening claimed they had gone "overboard" in their discussions. Groening described trying to get the show on the air as "by far the worst experience of [his] grown-up life." The show premiered on March 28, 1999. Groening's writing credits for the show are for the premiere episode, "Space Pilot 3000" (co-written with Cohen), "Rebirth" (story) and "In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela" (story). After four years on the air, the show was canceled by Fox. In a situation similar to Family Guy, however, strong DVD sales and very stable ratings on Adult Swim brought Futurama back to life. When Comedy Central began negotiating for the rights to air Futurama reruns, Fox suggested that there was a possibility of also creating new episodes. When Comedy Central committed to sixteen new episodes, it was decided that four straight-to-DVD films - Bender's Big Score (2007), The Beast with a Billion Backs (2008), Bender's Game (2008) and Into the Wild Green Yonder (2009) - would be produced. Since no new Futurama projects were in production, the movie Into the Wild Green Yonder was designed to stand as the Futurama series finale. However, Groening had expressed a desire to continue the Futurama franchise in some form, including as a theatrical film. In an interview with CNN, Groening said that "we have a great relationship with Comedy Central and we would love to do more episodes for them, but I don't know... We're having discussions and there is some enthusiasm but I can't tell if it's just me". Comedy Central commissioned an additional 26 new episodes, and began airing them in 2010. The show continued in to 2013, before Comedy Central announced in April 2013 that they would not be renewing it beyond its seventh season. The final episode aired on September 4, 2013. CANNOTANSWER | the show was canceled by Fox. In a situation similar to Family Guy, however, strong DVD sales and very stable ratings on Adult Swim brought Futurama back to life. | Matthew Abram Groening ( ; born February 15, 1954) is an American cartoonist, writer, producer, and animator. He is the creator of the comic strip Life in Hell (1977–2012) and the television series The Simpsons (1989–present), Futurama (1999–2003, 2008–2013, 2023), and Disenchantment (2018–present). The Simpsons is the longest-running U.S. primetime-television series in history and the longest-running U.S. animated series and sitcom.
Groening made his first professional cartoon sale of Life in Hell to the avant-garde magazine Wet in 1978. At its peak, the cartoon was carried in 250 weekly newspapers. Life in Hell caught the attention of American producer James L. Brooks. In 1985, Brooks contacted Groening about adapting Life in Hell for animated sequences for the Fox variety show The Tracey Ullman Show. Fearing the loss of ownership rights, Groening created a new set of characters, the Simpson family. The shorts were spun off into their own series, The Simpsons, which has since aired episodes.
In 1997, Groening and former Simpsons writer David X. Cohen developed Futurama, an animated series about life in the year 3000, which premiered in 1999, running for four years on Fox, then picked up by Comedy Central for additional seasons. In 2016, Groening developed a new series for Netflix, Disenchantment, which premiered in August 2018.
Groening has won 13 Primetime Emmy Awards, 11 for The Simpsons and 2 for Futurama, and a British Comedy Award for "outstanding contribution to comedy" in 2004. In 2002, he won the National Cartoonist Society Reuben Award for his work on Life in Hell. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on February 14, 2012.
Early life
Groening was born on February 15, 1954 in Portland, Oregon, the middle of five children (older brother Mark and sister Patty were born in 1950 and 1952, while the younger sisters Lisa and Maggie in 1956 and 1958, respectively). His Norwegian American mother, Margaret Ruth (née Wiggum; March 23, 1919 – April 22, 2013), was once a teacher, and his Russian Mennonite father, Homer Philip Groening (December 30, 1919 – March 15, 1996), was a filmmaker, advertiser, writer and cartoonist. Homer, born in Main Centre, Saskatchewan, Canada, grew up in a Mennonite, Plautdietsch-speaking family.
Matt's grandfather, Abraham Groening, was a professor at Tabor College, a Mennonite Brethren liberal arts college in Hillsboro, Kansas before moving to Albany College (now known as Lewis and Clark College) in Oregon in 1930.
Groening grew up in Portland, and attended Ainsworth Elementary School and Lincoln High School. From 1972 to 1977, Groening attended The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, a liberal arts school that he described as "a hippie college, with no grades or required classes, that drew every weirdo in the Northwest". He served as the editor of the campus newspaper, The Cooper Point Journal, for which he also wrote articles and drew cartoons. He befriended fellow cartoonist Lynda Barry after discovering that she had written a fan letter to Joseph Heller, one of Groening's favorite authors, and had received a reply. Groening has credited Barry with being "probably [his] biggest inspiration." He first became interested in cartoons after watching the Disney animated film One Hundred and One Dalmatians, and he has also cited Robert Crumb, Ernie Bushmiller, Ronald Searle, Monty Python, and Charles M. Schulz as inspirations.
Career
Early career
In 1977, at the age of 23, Groening moved to Los Angeles to become a writer. He went through what he described as "a series of lousy jobs," including being an extra in the television movie When Every Day Was the Fourth of July, busing tables, washing dishes at a nursing home, clerking at the Hollywood Licorice Pizza record store, landscaping in a sewage treatment plant, and chauffeuring and ghostwriting for a retired Western director.
Life in Hell
Groening described life in Los Angeles to his friends in the form of the self-published comic book Life in Hell, which was loosely inspired by the chapter "How to Go to Hell" in Walter Kaufmann's book Critique of Religion and Philosophy. Groening distributed the comic book in the book corner of Licorice Pizza, a record store in which he worked. He made his first professional cartoon sale to the avant-garde Wet magazine in 1978. The strip, titled "Forbidden Words," appeared in the September/October issue of that year.
Groening had gained employment at the Los Angeles Reader, a newly formed alternative newspaper, delivering papers, typesetting, editing and answering phones. He showed his cartoons to the editor, James Vowell, who was impressed and eventually gave him a spot in the paper. Life in Hell made its official debut as a comic strip in the Reader on April 25, 1980. Vowell also gave Groening his own weekly music column, "Sound Mix," in 1982. However, the column would rarely actually be about music, as he would often write about his "various enthusiasms, obsessions, pet peeves and problems" instead. In an effort to add more music to the column, he "just made stuff up," concocting and reviewing fictional bands and nonexistent records. In the following week's column, he would confess to fabricating everything in the previous column and swear that everything in the new column was true. Eventually, he was finally asked to give up the "music" column. Among the fans of the column was Harry Shearer, who would later become a voice on The Simpsons.
Life in Hell became popular almost immediately. In November 1984, Deborah Caplan, Groening's then-girlfriend and co-worker at the Reader, offered to publish "Love is Hell", a series of relationship-themed Life in Hell strips, in book form. Released a month later, the book was an underground success, selling 22,000 copies in its first two printings. Work is Hell soon followed, also published by Caplan. Soon afterward, Caplan and Groening left and put together the Life in Hell Co., which handled merchandising for Life in Hell. Groening also started Acme Features Syndicate, which initially syndicated Life in Hell as well as work by Lynda Barry and John Callahan, but would eventually only syndicate Life in Hell. At the end of its run, Life in Hell was carried in 250 weekly newspapers and has been anthologized in a series of books, including School is Hell, Childhood is Hell, The Big Book of Hell, and The Huge Book of Hell. Although Groening previously stated, "I'll never give up the comic strip. It's my foundation," the June 16, 2012 strip marked Life in Hells conclusion. After Groening ended the strip, the Center for Cartoon Studies commissioned a poster that was presented to Groening in honor of his work. The poster contained tribute cartoons by 22 of Groening's cartoonist friends who were influenced by Life in Hell.
The Simpsons
Creation
Life in Hell caught the attention of Hollywood writer-producer and Gracie Films founder James L. Brooks, who had been shown the strip by fellow producer Polly Platt. In 1985, Brooks contacted Groening with the proposition of working in animation on an undefined future project, which would turn out to be developing a series of short animated skits, called "bumpers," for the Fox variety show The Tracey Ullman Show. Originally, Brooks wanted Groening to adapt his Life in Hell characters for the show. Groening feared that he would have to give up his ownership rights, and that the show would fail and would take down his comic strip with it. Groening conceived of the idea for the Simpsons in the lobby of James L. Brooks's office and hurriedly sketched out his version of a dysfunctional family: Homer, the overweight father; Marge, the slim mother; Bart, the bratty oldest child; Lisa, the intelligent middle child; and Maggie, the baby. Groening famously named the main Simpson characters after members of his own family: his parents, Homer and Marge (Margaret or Marjorie in full), and his younger sisters, Lisa and Margaret (Maggie). Claiming that it was a bit too obvious to name a character after himself, he chose the name "Bart," an anagram of brat. However, he stresses that aside from some of the sibling rivalry, his family is nothing like the Simpsons. Groening also has an older brother and sister, Mark and Patty, and in a 1995 interview Groening divulged that Mark "is the actual inspiration for Bart."
Maggie Groening has co-written a few Simpsons books featuring her cartoon namesake.
The Tracey Ullman Show
The family was crudely drawn, because Groening had submitted basic sketches to the animators, assuming they would clean them up; instead, they just traced over his drawings. The entire Simpson family was designed so that they would be recognizable in silhouette. When Groening originally designed Homer, he put his own initials into the character's hairline and ear: the hairline resembled an 'M', and the right ear resembled a 'G'. Groening decided that this would be too distracting though, and redesigned the ear to look normal. He still draws the ear as a 'G' when he draws pictures of Homer for fans. Marge's distinct beehive hairstyle was inspired by Bride of Frankenstein and the style that Margaret Groening wore during the 1960s, although her hair was never blue. Bart's original design, which appeared in the first shorts, had spikier hair, and the spikes were of different lengths. The number was later limited to nine spikes, all of the same size. At the time Groening was primarily drawing in black and "not thinking that [Bart] would eventually be drawn in color" gave him spikes that appear to be an extension of his head. Lisa's physical features are generally not used in other characters; for example, in the later seasons, no character other than Maggie shares her hairline. While designing Lisa, Groening "couldn't be bothered to even think about girls' hair styles". When designing Lisa and Maggie, he "just gave them this kind of spiky starfish hair style, not thinking that they would eventually be drawn in color". Groening storyboarded and scripted every short (now known as The Simpsons shorts), which were then animated by a team including David Silverman and Wes Archer, both of whom would later become directors on the series.
The Simpsons shorts first appeared in The Tracey Ullman Show on April 19, 1987. Another family member, Grampa Simpson, was introduced in the later shorts. Years later, during the early seasons of The Simpsons, when it came time to give Grampa a first name, Groening says he refused to name him after his own grandfather, Abraham Groening, leaving it to other writers to choose a name. By coincidence, they chose "Abraham", unaware that it was the name of Groening's grandfather.
Half-hour
Although The Tracey Ullman Show was not a big hit, the popularity of the shorts led to a half-hour spin-off in 1989. A team of production companies adapted The Simpsons into a half-hour series for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The team included what is now the Klasky Csupo animation house. James L. Brooks negotiated a provision in the contract with the Fox network that prevented Fox from interfering with the show's content. Groening said his goal in creating the show was to offer the audience an alternative to what he called "the mainstream trash" that they were watching. The half-hour series premiered on December 17, 1989 with "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", a Christmas special. "Some Enchanted Evening" was the first full-length episode produced, but it did not broadcast until May 1990, as the last episode of the first season, because of animation problems.
The series quickly became a worldwide phenomenon, to the surprise of many. Groening said: "Nobody thought The Simpsons was going to be a big hit. It sneaked up on everybody." The Simpsons was co-developed by Groening, Brooks, and Sam Simon, a writer-producer with whom Brooks had worked on previous projects. Groening and Simon, however, did not get along and were often in conflict over the show; Groening once described their relationship as "very contentious." Simon eventually left the show in 1993 over creative differences.
Like the main family members, several characters from the show have names that were inspired by people, locations or films. The name "Wiggum" for police chief Chief Wiggum is Groening's mother's maiden name. The names of a few other characters were taken from major street names in Groening's hometown of Portland, Oregon, including Flanders, Lovejoy, Powell, Quimby and Kearney. Despite common fan belief that Sideshow Bob Terwilliger was named after SW Terwilliger Boulevard in Portland, he was actually named after the character Dr. Terwilliker from the film The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T.
Although Groening has pitched a number of spin-offs from The Simpsons, those attempts have been unsuccessful. In 1994, Groening and other Simpsons producers pitched a live-action spin-off about Krusty the Clown (with Dan Castellaneta playing the lead role), but were unsuccessful in getting it off the ground. Groening has also pitched "Young Homer" and a spin-off about the non-Simpsons citizens of Springfield.
In 1995, Groening got into a major disagreement with Brooks and other Simpsons producers over "A Star Is Burns", a crossover episode with The Critic, an animated show also produced by Brooks and staffed with many former Simpsons crew members. Groening claimed that he feared viewers would "see it as nothing but a pathetic attempt to advertise The Critic at the expense of The Simpsons," and was concerned about the possible implication that he had created or produced The Critic. He requested his name be taken off the episode.
Groening is credited with writing or co-writing the episodes "Some Enchanted Evening", "The Telltale Head", "Colonel Homer" and "22 Short Films About Springfield", as well as The Simpsons Movie, released in 2007. He has had several cameo appearances in the show, with a speaking role in the episode "My Big Fat Geek Wedding". He currently serves at The Simpsons as an executive producer and creative consultant.
Futurama
After spending a few years researching science fiction, Groening got together with Simpsons writer/producer David X. Cohen (known as David S. Cohen at the time) in 1997 and developed Futurama, an animated series about life in the year 3000. By the time they pitched the series to Fox in April 1998, Groening and Cohen had composed many characters and storylines; Groening claimed they had gone "overboard" in their discussions. Groening described trying to get the show on the air as "by far the worst experience of [his] grown-up life." The show premiered on March 28, 1999. Groening's writing credits for the show are for the premiere episode, "Space Pilot 3000" (co-written with Cohen), "Rebirth" (story) and "In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela" (story).
After four years on the air, the show was canceled by Fox. In a situation similar to Family Guy, however, strong DVD sales and very stable ratings on Adult Swim brought Futurama back to life. When Comedy Central began negotiating for the rights to air Futurama reruns, Fox suggested that there was a possibility of also creating new episodes. When Comedy Central committed to sixteen new episodes, it was decided that four straight-to-DVD films – Bender's Big Score (2007), The Beast with a Billion Backs (2008), Bender's Game (2008) and Into the Wild Green Yonder (2009) – would be produced.
Since no new Futurama projects were in production, the movie Into the Wild Green Yonder was designed to stand as the Futurama series finale. However, Groening had expressed a desire to continue the Futurama franchise in some form, including as a theatrical film. In an interview with CNN, Groening said that "we have a great relationship with Comedy Central and we would love to do more episodes for them, but I don't know... We're having discussions and there is some enthusiasm but I can't tell if it's just me". Comedy Central commissioned an additional 26 new episodes, and began airing them in 2010. The show continued in to 2013, before Comedy Central announced in April 2013 that they would not be renewing it beyond its seventh season. The final episode aired on September 4, 2013.
On February 9, 2022, the series was revived at Hulu, set for a 2023 release.
Disenchantment
On January 15, 2016, it was announced that Groening was in talks with Netflix to develop a new animated series. On July 25, 2017 the series, Disenchantment, was ordered by Netflix. The first ten episodes premiered on the streaming service in August 2018, with the remaining ten episodes of the initial order scheduled to air in September 2019. Netflix has renewed the series for twenty additional episodes, which are expected to debut in ten-episode batches in 2020 and 2021.
Groening described the fantasy-oriented series as originating in a sketchbook full of "fantastic creatures we couldn't do on The Simpsons." The show's cast includes Abbi Jacobson, Eric Andre, and Nat Faxon.
Other pursuits
In 1994, Groening formed Bongo Comics (named after the character Bongo from Life in Hell) with Steve Vance, Cindy Vance and Bill Morrison, which publishes comic books based on The Simpsons and Futurama (including Futurama Simpsons Infinitely Secret Crossover Crisis, a crossover between the two), as well as a few original titles. According to Groening, the goal with Bongo is to "[try] to bring humor into the fairly grim comic book market." He also formed Zongo Comics in 1995, an imprint of Bongo that published comics for more mature readers, which included three issues of Mary Fleener's Fleener and seven issues of his close friend Gary Panter's Jimbo comics.
Groening is known for his eclectic taste in music. His favorite artist is Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention and his favorite album is Trout Mask Replica by Captain Beefheart (which was produced by Zappa). He guest-edited Da Capo Press's Best Music Writing 2003 and curated a US All Tomorrow's Parties music festival in 2003. He illustrated the cover of Frank Zappa's posthumous album Frank Zappa Plays the Music of Frank Zappa: A Memorial Tribute (1996). In May 2010, he curated another edition of All Tomorrow's Parties in Minehead, England. He also plays the drums in the all-author rock and roll band The Rock Bottom Remainders (although he is listed as the cowbell player), whose other members include Dave Barry, Ridley Pearson, Scott Turow, Amy Tan, James McBride, Mitch Albom, Roy Blount Jr., Stephen King, Kathi Kamen Goldmark, Sam Barry and Greg Iles. In July 2013, Groening co-authored Hard Listening (2013) with the rest of the Rock Bottom Remainders (published by Coliloquy, LLC).
Personal life
Groening and Deborah Caplan married in 1986 and had two sons together, Homer (who goes by Will) and Abe, both of whom Groening occasionally portrays as rabbits in Life in Hell. The couple divorced in 1999.
In 2011, Groening married Argentine artist Agustina Picasso after a four-year relationship, and became stepfather to her daughter Camila Costantini. In May 2013, Picasso gave birth to Nathaniel Philip Picasso Groening, named after writer Nathanael West. She joked that "his godfather is SpongeBob's creator Stephen Hillenburg". In 2015, Groening's daughters Luna Margaret and India Mia were born. On June 16, 2018, he became the father of twins for a second time when his wife gave birth to Sol Matthew and Venus Ruth, announced via Instagram.
Matt is the brother-in-law of Hey Arnold!, Dinosaur Train and Ready Jet Go! creator, Craig Bartlett, who is married to Groening's sister, Lisa. Bartlett used to appear in Simpsons Illustrated.
Groening is a self-identified agnostic.
Groening was mentioned in a lawsuit by Virginia Giuffre over allegedly being forced by sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein to massage his Groening's feet while on Epstein's jet in 2001.
Politics
Groening has made a number of campaign contributions, all towards Democratic Party candidates and organizations. He has donated money to the unsuccessful presidential campaigns of Democratic candidates Al Gore in 2000 and John Kerry in 2004, as well as previously donating to Kerry's Massachusetts senator campaign. Groening also collectively donated to the Democratic senatorial campaign committee and to the Senate campaigns of Barbara Boxer (California), Dianne Feinstein (California), Paul Simon (Illinois), Ted Kennedy (Massachusetts), Carl Levin (Michigan), Hillary Clinton (New York), Harvey Gantt (North Carolina), Horward Metzenbaum (Ohio), and Tom Bruggere (Oregon). He also donated to the now-defunct Hollywood Women's Political Committee, which supported and campaigned for the Democratic Party. His first cousin, Laurie Monnes Anderson, was a member of the Oregon State Senate, representing eastern Multnomah County.
Filmography
Film
Television
Video games
Music video
Theme park
Awards
Groening has been nominated for 41 Emmy Awards and has won thirteen, eleven for The Simpsons and two for Futurama in the "Outstanding Animated Program (for programming one hour or less)" category. Groening received the 2002 National Cartoonist Society Reuben Award, and had been nominated for the same award in 2000. He received a British Comedy Award for "outstanding contribution to comedy" in 2004. In 2007, he was ranked fourth (and highest American by birth) in a list of the "top 100 living geniuses", published by British newspaper The Daily Telegraph.
He was awarded the Inkpot Award in 1988.
He received the 2,459th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on February 14, 2012.
Bibliography
Groening, Matt (1977–2012). Life in Hell
Love Is Hell (1986)
Work Is Hell (1986)
School Is Hell (1987)
Box Full of Hell (1988)
Childhood Is Hell (1988)
Greetings from Hell (1989)
Akbar and Jeff's Guide to Life (1989)
The Big Book of Hell (1990)
With Love from Hell (1991)
How to Go to Hell (1991)
The Road to Hell (1992)
Binky's Guide to Love (1994)
Love Is Hell: Special Ultra Jumbo 10th Anniversary Edition (1994)
The Huge Book of Hell (1997)
Will and Abe's Guide to the Universe (2007)
References
External links
1954 births
Living people
Album-cover and concert-poster artists
Alternative cartoonists
American agnostics
American comic strip cartoonists
American male television writers
American people of Canadian descent
American Mennonites
American people of Norwegian descent
American satirists
American male screenwriters
American television producers
American television writers
Animators from Oregon
Annie Award winners
Artists from Portland, Oregon
Evergreen State College alumni
Inkpot Award winners
Lincoln High School (Portland, Oregon) alumni
Mennonite writers
Oregon Democrats
Peabody Award winners
Primetime Emmy Award winners
Reuben Award winners
Rock Bottom Remainders members
Screenwriters from Oregon
Showrunners
Writers from Portland, Oregon | true | [
"The Silver Logie for Most Popular Australian Program was an award presented at the Australian TV Week Logie Awards. The award was given to recognise the popularity of Australian programs, originally state based awards and then awarded nationally.\n\nIt was first awarded at the 3rd Annual TV Week Logie Awards ceremony, held in 1961 when the award was originally called Most Popular Program. This award category was eliminated in 1966 and replaced by the Most Popular Live Show category. It was reintroduced in 1968 and renamed Best Show. Over the years, this category has also been known as Best Local Show (1970), Most Popular Show (1971, 1973–1985), Most Popular Series (1993–1997) and Most Popular Australian Program (2003–2004).\n\nState Affair holds the record for the most wins, with fifteen, followed by Adelaide Tonight, The Mike Walsh Show and Neighbours with nine wins each.\n\nNational\n\nStates\n\nNew South Wales\n\nQueensland\n\nSouth Australia\n\nTasmania\n\nVictoria\n\nWestern Australia\n\nReferences\n\nAwards established in 1961",
"The Logie for Most Popular Comedy Program is an award presented annually at the Australian TV Week Logie Awards. It recognises the popularity of an Australian comedy program, which over the years have included scripted comedy series, sketch comedy, variety comedy shows and panel comedy shows.\n\nIt was first awarded at the 19th Annual TV Week Logie Awards, held in 1977 when the award was originally called Most Popular Australian Comedy. Over the years, it has been known as Most Popular Variety/Panel Comedy Show (1978), Most Popular Comedy Show (1979, 1981, 1983), Most Popular Variety/Comedy Show (1980), Most Popular Comedy Series (1982), Most Popular Comedy Series (1985).\n\nThe award was discontinued in 1986 when nominees were included in the Most Popular Australian Light Entertainment Program category. From 1989 to 1992, that award was known as the Most Popular Light Entertainment Program/Comedy award.\n\nThe category was reinstated as the Most Comedy Program in 1993 until 1999. In 2000, the categories were again combined as the Most Popular Comedy/Light Entertainment Program award. From 2018, the award category name was restored as Most Popular Comedy Program.\n\nThe winner and nominees of this category are chosen by the public through an online voting survey on the TV Week website. Full Frontal holds the record for the most wins, with four, followed by The Paul Hogan Show and Fast Forward with three each.\n\nWinners and nominees\n\nFrom 2000 to 2017, comedy nominees were included in the Logie Award for Most Popular Entertainment Program category.\n\nMultiple wins\n\nSee also\n Logie Award for Most Popular Entertainment Program\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nAwards established in 1977"
]
|
[
"Matt Groening",
"Futurama",
"How is Groening connected to Futurama?",
"Groening got together with Simpsons writer/producer David X. Cohen (known as David S. Cohen at the time) in 1997 and developed Futurama,",
"What is Futurama?",
"an animated series about life in the year 3000.",
"Was the show popular?",
"the show was canceled by Fox. In a situation similar to Family Guy, however, strong DVD sales and very stable ratings on Adult Swim brought Futurama back to life."
]
| C_f3b8e9e3d21f48a999ee0f39c304a0b6_0 | how long was the show on? | 4 | how long was the show Futurama on? | Matt Groening | After spending a few years researching science fiction, Groening got together with Simpsons writer/producer David X. Cohen (known as David S. Cohen at the time) in 1997 and developed Futurama, an animated series about life in the year 3000. By the time they pitched the series to Fox in April 1998, Groening and Cohen had composed many characters and storylines; Groening claimed they had gone "overboard" in their discussions. Groening described trying to get the show on the air as "by far the worst experience of [his] grown-up life." The show premiered on March 28, 1999. Groening's writing credits for the show are for the premiere episode, "Space Pilot 3000" (co-written with Cohen), "Rebirth" (story) and "In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela" (story). After four years on the air, the show was canceled by Fox. In a situation similar to Family Guy, however, strong DVD sales and very stable ratings on Adult Swim brought Futurama back to life. When Comedy Central began negotiating for the rights to air Futurama reruns, Fox suggested that there was a possibility of also creating new episodes. When Comedy Central committed to sixteen new episodes, it was decided that four straight-to-DVD films - Bender's Big Score (2007), The Beast with a Billion Backs (2008), Bender's Game (2008) and Into the Wild Green Yonder (2009) - would be produced. Since no new Futurama projects were in production, the movie Into the Wild Green Yonder was designed to stand as the Futurama series finale. However, Groening had expressed a desire to continue the Futurama franchise in some form, including as a theatrical film. In an interview with CNN, Groening said that "we have a great relationship with Comedy Central and we would love to do more episodes for them, but I don't know... We're having discussions and there is some enthusiasm but I can't tell if it's just me". Comedy Central commissioned an additional 26 new episodes, and began airing them in 2010. The show continued in to 2013, before Comedy Central announced in April 2013 that they would not be renewing it beyond its seventh season. The final episode aired on September 4, 2013. CANNOTANSWER | four years on the air, | Matthew Abram Groening ( ; born February 15, 1954) is an American cartoonist, writer, producer, and animator. He is the creator of the comic strip Life in Hell (1977–2012) and the television series The Simpsons (1989–present), Futurama (1999–2003, 2008–2013, 2023), and Disenchantment (2018–present). The Simpsons is the longest-running U.S. primetime-television series in history and the longest-running U.S. animated series and sitcom.
Groening made his first professional cartoon sale of Life in Hell to the avant-garde magazine Wet in 1978. At its peak, the cartoon was carried in 250 weekly newspapers. Life in Hell caught the attention of American producer James L. Brooks. In 1985, Brooks contacted Groening about adapting Life in Hell for animated sequences for the Fox variety show The Tracey Ullman Show. Fearing the loss of ownership rights, Groening created a new set of characters, the Simpson family. The shorts were spun off into their own series, The Simpsons, which has since aired episodes.
In 1997, Groening and former Simpsons writer David X. Cohen developed Futurama, an animated series about life in the year 3000, which premiered in 1999, running for four years on Fox, then picked up by Comedy Central for additional seasons. In 2016, Groening developed a new series for Netflix, Disenchantment, which premiered in August 2018.
Groening has won 13 Primetime Emmy Awards, 11 for The Simpsons and 2 for Futurama, and a British Comedy Award for "outstanding contribution to comedy" in 2004. In 2002, he won the National Cartoonist Society Reuben Award for his work on Life in Hell. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on February 14, 2012.
Early life
Groening was born on February 15, 1954 in Portland, Oregon, the middle of five children (older brother Mark and sister Patty were born in 1950 and 1952, while the younger sisters Lisa and Maggie in 1956 and 1958, respectively). His Norwegian American mother, Margaret Ruth (née Wiggum; March 23, 1919 – April 22, 2013), was once a teacher, and his Russian Mennonite father, Homer Philip Groening (December 30, 1919 – March 15, 1996), was a filmmaker, advertiser, writer and cartoonist. Homer, born in Main Centre, Saskatchewan, Canada, grew up in a Mennonite, Plautdietsch-speaking family.
Matt's grandfather, Abraham Groening, was a professor at Tabor College, a Mennonite Brethren liberal arts college in Hillsboro, Kansas before moving to Albany College (now known as Lewis and Clark College) in Oregon in 1930.
Groening grew up in Portland, and attended Ainsworth Elementary School and Lincoln High School. From 1972 to 1977, Groening attended The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, a liberal arts school that he described as "a hippie college, with no grades or required classes, that drew every weirdo in the Northwest". He served as the editor of the campus newspaper, The Cooper Point Journal, for which he also wrote articles and drew cartoons. He befriended fellow cartoonist Lynda Barry after discovering that she had written a fan letter to Joseph Heller, one of Groening's favorite authors, and had received a reply. Groening has credited Barry with being "probably [his] biggest inspiration." He first became interested in cartoons after watching the Disney animated film One Hundred and One Dalmatians, and he has also cited Robert Crumb, Ernie Bushmiller, Ronald Searle, Monty Python, and Charles M. Schulz as inspirations.
Career
Early career
In 1977, at the age of 23, Groening moved to Los Angeles to become a writer. He went through what he described as "a series of lousy jobs," including being an extra in the television movie When Every Day Was the Fourth of July, busing tables, washing dishes at a nursing home, clerking at the Hollywood Licorice Pizza record store, landscaping in a sewage treatment plant, and chauffeuring and ghostwriting for a retired Western director.
Life in Hell
Groening described life in Los Angeles to his friends in the form of the self-published comic book Life in Hell, which was loosely inspired by the chapter "How to Go to Hell" in Walter Kaufmann's book Critique of Religion and Philosophy. Groening distributed the comic book in the book corner of Licorice Pizza, a record store in which he worked. He made his first professional cartoon sale to the avant-garde Wet magazine in 1978. The strip, titled "Forbidden Words," appeared in the September/October issue of that year.
Groening had gained employment at the Los Angeles Reader, a newly formed alternative newspaper, delivering papers, typesetting, editing and answering phones. He showed his cartoons to the editor, James Vowell, who was impressed and eventually gave him a spot in the paper. Life in Hell made its official debut as a comic strip in the Reader on April 25, 1980. Vowell also gave Groening his own weekly music column, "Sound Mix," in 1982. However, the column would rarely actually be about music, as he would often write about his "various enthusiasms, obsessions, pet peeves and problems" instead. In an effort to add more music to the column, he "just made stuff up," concocting and reviewing fictional bands and nonexistent records. In the following week's column, he would confess to fabricating everything in the previous column and swear that everything in the new column was true. Eventually, he was finally asked to give up the "music" column. Among the fans of the column was Harry Shearer, who would later become a voice on The Simpsons.
Life in Hell became popular almost immediately. In November 1984, Deborah Caplan, Groening's then-girlfriend and co-worker at the Reader, offered to publish "Love is Hell", a series of relationship-themed Life in Hell strips, in book form. Released a month later, the book was an underground success, selling 22,000 copies in its first two printings. Work is Hell soon followed, also published by Caplan. Soon afterward, Caplan and Groening left and put together the Life in Hell Co., which handled merchandising for Life in Hell. Groening also started Acme Features Syndicate, which initially syndicated Life in Hell as well as work by Lynda Barry and John Callahan, but would eventually only syndicate Life in Hell. At the end of its run, Life in Hell was carried in 250 weekly newspapers and has been anthologized in a series of books, including School is Hell, Childhood is Hell, The Big Book of Hell, and The Huge Book of Hell. Although Groening previously stated, "I'll never give up the comic strip. It's my foundation," the June 16, 2012 strip marked Life in Hells conclusion. After Groening ended the strip, the Center for Cartoon Studies commissioned a poster that was presented to Groening in honor of his work. The poster contained tribute cartoons by 22 of Groening's cartoonist friends who were influenced by Life in Hell.
The Simpsons
Creation
Life in Hell caught the attention of Hollywood writer-producer and Gracie Films founder James L. Brooks, who had been shown the strip by fellow producer Polly Platt. In 1985, Brooks contacted Groening with the proposition of working in animation on an undefined future project, which would turn out to be developing a series of short animated skits, called "bumpers," for the Fox variety show The Tracey Ullman Show. Originally, Brooks wanted Groening to adapt his Life in Hell characters for the show. Groening feared that he would have to give up his ownership rights, and that the show would fail and would take down his comic strip with it. Groening conceived of the idea for the Simpsons in the lobby of James L. Brooks's office and hurriedly sketched out his version of a dysfunctional family: Homer, the overweight father; Marge, the slim mother; Bart, the bratty oldest child; Lisa, the intelligent middle child; and Maggie, the baby. Groening famously named the main Simpson characters after members of his own family: his parents, Homer and Marge (Margaret or Marjorie in full), and his younger sisters, Lisa and Margaret (Maggie). Claiming that it was a bit too obvious to name a character after himself, he chose the name "Bart," an anagram of brat. However, he stresses that aside from some of the sibling rivalry, his family is nothing like the Simpsons. Groening also has an older brother and sister, Mark and Patty, and in a 1995 interview Groening divulged that Mark "is the actual inspiration for Bart."
Maggie Groening has co-written a few Simpsons books featuring her cartoon namesake.
The Tracey Ullman Show
The family was crudely drawn, because Groening had submitted basic sketches to the animators, assuming they would clean them up; instead, they just traced over his drawings. The entire Simpson family was designed so that they would be recognizable in silhouette. When Groening originally designed Homer, he put his own initials into the character's hairline and ear: the hairline resembled an 'M', and the right ear resembled a 'G'. Groening decided that this would be too distracting though, and redesigned the ear to look normal. He still draws the ear as a 'G' when he draws pictures of Homer for fans. Marge's distinct beehive hairstyle was inspired by Bride of Frankenstein and the style that Margaret Groening wore during the 1960s, although her hair was never blue. Bart's original design, which appeared in the first shorts, had spikier hair, and the spikes were of different lengths. The number was later limited to nine spikes, all of the same size. At the time Groening was primarily drawing in black and "not thinking that [Bart] would eventually be drawn in color" gave him spikes that appear to be an extension of his head. Lisa's physical features are generally not used in other characters; for example, in the later seasons, no character other than Maggie shares her hairline. While designing Lisa, Groening "couldn't be bothered to even think about girls' hair styles". When designing Lisa and Maggie, he "just gave them this kind of spiky starfish hair style, not thinking that they would eventually be drawn in color". Groening storyboarded and scripted every short (now known as The Simpsons shorts), which were then animated by a team including David Silverman and Wes Archer, both of whom would later become directors on the series.
The Simpsons shorts first appeared in The Tracey Ullman Show on April 19, 1987. Another family member, Grampa Simpson, was introduced in the later shorts. Years later, during the early seasons of The Simpsons, when it came time to give Grampa a first name, Groening says he refused to name him after his own grandfather, Abraham Groening, leaving it to other writers to choose a name. By coincidence, they chose "Abraham", unaware that it was the name of Groening's grandfather.
Half-hour
Although The Tracey Ullman Show was not a big hit, the popularity of the shorts led to a half-hour spin-off in 1989. A team of production companies adapted The Simpsons into a half-hour series for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The team included what is now the Klasky Csupo animation house. James L. Brooks negotiated a provision in the contract with the Fox network that prevented Fox from interfering with the show's content. Groening said his goal in creating the show was to offer the audience an alternative to what he called "the mainstream trash" that they were watching. The half-hour series premiered on December 17, 1989 with "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", a Christmas special. "Some Enchanted Evening" was the first full-length episode produced, but it did not broadcast until May 1990, as the last episode of the first season, because of animation problems.
The series quickly became a worldwide phenomenon, to the surprise of many. Groening said: "Nobody thought The Simpsons was going to be a big hit. It sneaked up on everybody." The Simpsons was co-developed by Groening, Brooks, and Sam Simon, a writer-producer with whom Brooks had worked on previous projects. Groening and Simon, however, did not get along and were often in conflict over the show; Groening once described their relationship as "very contentious." Simon eventually left the show in 1993 over creative differences.
Like the main family members, several characters from the show have names that were inspired by people, locations or films. The name "Wiggum" for police chief Chief Wiggum is Groening's mother's maiden name. The names of a few other characters were taken from major street names in Groening's hometown of Portland, Oregon, including Flanders, Lovejoy, Powell, Quimby and Kearney. Despite common fan belief that Sideshow Bob Terwilliger was named after SW Terwilliger Boulevard in Portland, he was actually named after the character Dr. Terwilliker from the film The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T.
Although Groening has pitched a number of spin-offs from The Simpsons, those attempts have been unsuccessful. In 1994, Groening and other Simpsons producers pitched a live-action spin-off about Krusty the Clown (with Dan Castellaneta playing the lead role), but were unsuccessful in getting it off the ground. Groening has also pitched "Young Homer" and a spin-off about the non-Simpsons citizens of Springfield.
In 1995, Groening got into a major disagreement with Brooks and other Simpsons producers over "A Star Is Burns", a crossover episode with The Critic, an animated show also produced by Brooks and staffed with many former Simpsons crew members. Groening claimed that he feared viewers would "see it as nothing but a pathetic attempt to advertise The Critic at the expense of The Simpsons," and was concerned about the possible implication that he had created or produced The Critic. He requested his name be taken off the episode.
Groening is credited with writing or co-writing the episodes "Some Enchanted Evening", "The Telltale Head", "Colonel Homer" and "22 Short Films About Springfield", as well as The Simpsons Movie, released in 2007. He has had several cameo appearances in the show, with a speaking role in the episode "My Big Fat Geek Wedding". He currently serves at The Simpsons as an executive producer and creative consultant.
Futurama
After spending a few years researching science fiction, Groening got together with Simpsons writer/producer David X. Cohen (known as David S. Cohen at the time) in 1997 and developed Futurama, an animated series about life in the year 3000. By the time they pitched the series to Fox in April 1998, Groening and Cohen had composed many characters and storylines; Groening claimed they had gone "overboard" in their discussions. Groening described trying to get the show on the air as "by far the worst experience of [his] grown-up life." The show premiered on March 28, 1999. Groening's writing credits for the show are for the premiere episode, "Space Pilot 3000" (co-written with Cohen), "Rebirth" (story) and "In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela" (story).
After four years on the air, the show was canceled by Fox. In a situation similar to Family Guy, however, strong DVD sales and very stable ratings on Adult Swim brought Futurama back to life. When Comedy Central began negotiating for the rights to air Futurama reruns, Fox suggested that there was a possibility of also creating new episodes. When Comedy Central committed to sixteen new episodes, it was decided that four straight-to-DVD films – Bender's Big Score (2007), The Beast with a Billion Backs (2008), Bender's Game (2008) and Into the Wild Green Yonder (2009) – would be produced.
Since no new Futurama projects were in production, the movie Into the Wild Green Yonder was designed to stand as the Futurama series finale. However, Groening had expressed a desire to continue the Futurama franchise in some form, including as a theatrical film. In an interview with CNN, Groening said that "we have a great relationship with Comedy Central and we would love to do more episodes for them, but I don't know... We're having discussions and there is some enthusiasm but I can't tell if it's just me". Comedy Central commissioned an additional 26 new episodes, and began airing them in 2010. The show continued in to 2013, before Comedy Central announced in April 2013 that they would not be renewing it beyond its seventh season. The final episode aired on September 4, 2013.
On February 9, 2022, the series was revived at Hulu, set for a 2023 release.
Disenchantment
On January 15, 2016, it was announced that Groening was in talks with Netflix to develop a new animated series. On July 25, 2017 the series, Disenchantment, was ordered by Netflix. The first ten episodes premiered on the streaming service in August 2018, with the remaining ten episodes of the initial order scheduled to air in September 2019. Netflix has renewed the series for twenty additional episodes, which are expected to debut in ten-episode batches in 2020 and 2021.
Groening described the fantasy-oriented series as originating in a sketchbook full of "fantastic creatures we couldn't do on The Simpsons." The show's cast includes Abbi Jacobson, Eric Andre, and Nat Faxon.
Other pursuits
In 1994, Groening formed Bongo Comics (named after the character Bongo from Life in Hell) with Steve Vance, Cindy Vance and Bill Morrison, which publishes comic books based on The Simpsons and Futurama (including Futurama Simpsons Infinitely Secret Crossover Crisis, a crossover between the two), as well as a few original titles. According to Groening, the goal with Bongo is to "[try] to bring humor into the fairly grim comic book market." He also formed Zongo Comics in 1995, an imprint of Bongo that published comics for more mature readers, which included three issues of Mary Fleener's Fleener and seven issues of his close friend Gary Panter's Jimbo comics.
Groening is known for his eclectic taste in music. His favorite artist is Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention and his favorite album is Trout Mask Replica by Captain Beefheart (which was produced by Zappa). He guest-edited Da Capo Press's Best Music Writing 2003 and curated a US All Tomorrow's Parties music festival in 2003. He illustrated the cover of Frank Zappa's posthumous album Frank Zappa Plays the Music of Frank Zappa: A Memorial Tribute (1996). In May 2010, he curated another edition of All Tomorrow's Parties in Minehead, England. He also plays the drums in the all-author rock and roll band The Rock Bottom Remainders (although he is listed as the cowbell player), whose other members include Dave Barry, Ridley Pearson, Scott Turow, Amy Tan, James McBride, Mitch Albom, Roy Blount Jr., Stephen King, Kathi Kamen Goldmark, Sam Barry and Greg Iles. In July 2013, Groening co-authored Hard Listening (2013) with the rest of the Rock Bottom Remainders (published by Coliloquy, LLC).
Personal life
Groening and Deborah Caplan married in 1986 and had two sons together, Homer (who goes by Will) and Abe, both of whom Groening occasionally portrays as rabbits in Life in Hell. The couple divorced in 1999.
In 2011, Groening married Argentine artist Agustina Picasso after a four-year relationship, and became stepfather to her daughter Camila Costantini. In May 2013, Picasso gave birth to Nathaniel Philip Picasso Groening, named after writer Nathanael West. She joked that "his godfather is SpongeBob's creator Stephen Hillenburg". In 2015, Groening's daughters Luna Margaret and India Mia were born. On June 16, 2018, he became the father of twins for a second time when his wife gave birth to Sol Matthew and Venus Ruth, announced via Instagram.
Matt is the brother-in-law of Hey Arnold!, Dinosaur Train and Ready Jet Go! creator, Craig Bartlett, who is married to Groening's sister, Lisa. Bartlett used to appear in Simpsons Illustrated.
Groening is a self-identified agnostic.
Groening was mentioned in a lawsuit by Virginia Giuffre over allegedly being forced by sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein to massage his Groening's feet while on Epstein's jet in 2001.
Politics
Groening has made a number of campaign contributions, all towards Democratic Party candidates and organizations. He has donated money to the unsuccessful presidential campaigns of Democratic candidates Al Gore in 2000 and John Kerry in 2004, as well as previously donating to Kerry's Massachusetts senator campaign. Groening also collectively donated to the Democratic senatorial campaign committee and to the Senate campaigns of Barbara Boxer (California), Dianne Feinstein (California), Paul Simon (Illinois), Ted Kennedy (Massachusetts), Carl Levin (Michigan), Hillary Clinton (New York), Harvey Gantt (North Carolina), Horward Metzenbaum (Ohio), and Tom Bruggere (Oregon). He also donated to the now-defunct Hollywood Women's Political Committee, which supported and campaigned for the Democratic Party. His first cousin, Laurie Monnes Anderson, was a member of the Oregon State Senate, representing eastern Multnomah County.
Filmography
Film
Television
Video games
Music video
Theme park
Awards
Groening has been nominated for 41 Emmy Awards and has won thirteen, eleven for The Simpsons and two for Futurama in the "Outstanding Animated Program (for programming one hour or less)" category. Groening received the 2002 National Cartoonist Society Reuben Award, and had been nominated for the same award in 2000. He received a British Comedy Award for "outstanding contribution to comedy" in 2004. In 2007, he was ranked fourth (and highest American by birth) in a list of the "top 100 living geniuses", published by British newspaper The Daily Telegraph.
He was awarded the Inkpot Award in 1988.
He received the 2,459th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on February 14, 2012.
Bibliography
Groening, Matt (1977–2012). Life in Hell
Love Is Hell (1986)
Work Is Hell (1986)
School Is Hell (1987)
Box Full of Hell (1988)
Childhood Is Hell (1988)
Greetings from Hell (1989)
Akbar and Jeff's Guide to Life (1989)
The Big Book of Hell (1990)
With Love from Hell (1991)
How to Go to Hell (1991)
The Road to Hell (1992)
Binky's Guide to Love (1994)
Love Is Hell: Special Ultra Jumbo 10th Anniversary Edition (1994)
The Huge Book of Hell (1997)
Will and Abe's Guide to the Universe (2007)
References
External links
1954 births
Living people
Album-cover and concert-poster artists
Alternative cartoonists
American agnostics
American comic strip cartoonists
American male television writers
American people of Canadian descent
American Mennonites
American people of Norwegian descent
American satirists
American male screenwriters
American television producers
American television writers
Animators from Oregon
Annie Award winners
Artists from Portland, Oregon
Evergreen State College alumni
Inkpot Award winners
Lincoln High School (Portland, Oregon) alumni
Mennonite writers
Oregon Democrats
Peabody Award winners
Primetime Emmy Award winners
Reuben Award winners
Rock Bottom Remainders members
Screenwriters from Oregon
Showrunners
Writers from Portland, Oregon | true | [
"One Woman's Insanity is the second album by dance singer-songwriter Ultra Naté. The record, which incorporated R&B influences as well as Naté's signature House music, was released on October 5, 1993, by Warner Bros. Records. The lead single, \"Show Me\", was a dance club hit, becoming Naté's first number-one on the US dance charts and also entering the singles charts in the United States and the United Kingdom. Follow-up singles \"Joy\" and \"How Long\" also became top-five hits on the dance charts. \n\nUpon its release, the album received a mixed critical reception. However, it has received favorable recognition in retrospect, with some critics regarding it as a highlight of her discography.\n\nRelease\n\"Show Me\" was released in advance of One Woman's Insanity as the album's lead single; it was further promoted with a music video.\n\nReception\n\nCommercial\nThree of the tracks on One Woman's Insanity entered the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart. \"How Long\" and \"Show Me\", in particular, became dance club hits. Lead single \"Show Me\" topped the chart dated January 8, 1994, becoming her first chart entry to peak at number one; it spent a total of 14 weeks on the chart. \"Joy\" and \"How Long\" each entered the Dance Club Songs chart as well and each peaked at number two, in October 1993 and June 1994, respectively. \n\n\"Show Me\" also entered the non-genre-specific Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart, an extension of the Hot 100, peaking at number 22 on the chart dated December 25, 1993. On the Dance Singles Sales chart, the double-A-side release of \"Show Me\"/\"Joy\" peaked at number 21 on the September 4, 1993, chart. The single also proved a minor hit outside of the United States, entering the UK Singles Chart and peaking at number 62 on the chart dated January 29, 1994.\n\nCritical\n\nInitial critical response to the album was mixed. Allmusic awarded the album two and a half stars out of five, commending the album's rhythms as \"among the best of their time\" and Naté as \"more than capable\", but also arguing that the album at times strayed into \"formulaic territory\". However, the album has received some praise in retrospect. In a review of Naté's 2001 album, Stranger than Fiction, Out reflected that One Woman's Insanity was a superior record, calling it a \"masterpiece\" and evidence that she has \"done better\" than on Fiction. In 2002, Vibe retrospectively deemed the album \"slick and clever\".\n\nTrack listing\n\"How Long\"\n\"You're Not the Only One\"\n\"Show Me\"\n\"I'm Not Afraid\"\n\"Incredibly You\"\n\"Joy\"\n\"I Specialize in Loneliness\"\n\"One Woman's Insanity\"\n\"Feelin' Fine\"\n\"Love is a Many-Splendored Thing\"\n\nCharts\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nUltra Naté – One Woman's Insanity\n\n1994 albums\nUltra Naté albums\nAlbums produced by Nellee Hooper\nWarner Records albums",
"\"Show Me How\" is a song recorded by R&B group the Emotions for their 1971 album Untouched. It was released as the album's first single in September 1971 by Volt Records and reached No. 11 on the Cashbox Top R&B Singles chart and No. 13 on the Billboard Hot R&B Singles chart.\n\nOverview\n\"Show Me How\" was produced and arranged by Isaac Hayes who composed the song along with David Porter. With a duration of 3 minutes and 4 seconds the song was also arranged by Hayes and Dale Warren.\n\nCritical reception\nCashbox described Show Me How as an \"enticing ballad\".\n\nSamples\n\"Show Me How\" was sampled by Awon on the track Undefeated off his 2013 album For the Grimy (Searching for Soulville).\n\nAppearances in other media\nDuring November 1971 The Emotions performed Show Me How on an episode of Soul Train.\n\nReferences\n\n1971 songs\n1971 singles\nThe Emotions songs\nStax Records singles\nSongs written by Isaac Hayes\nSongs written by David Porter (musician)"
]
|
[
"Matt Groening",
"Futurama",
"How is Groening connected to Futurama?",
"Groening got together with Simpsons writer/producer David X. Cohen (known as David S. Cohen at the time) in 1997 and developed Futurama,",
"What is Futurama?",
"an animated series about life in the year 3000.",
"Was the show popular?",
"the show was canceled by Fox. In a situation similar to Family Guy, however, strong DVD sales and very stable ratings on Adult Swim brought Futurama back to life.",
"how long was the show on?",
"four years on the air,"
]
| C_f3b8e9e3d21f48a999ee0f39c304a0b6_0 | What did Groening do? | 5 | What did Groening do on the show Futurama? | Matt Groening | After spending a few years researching science fiction, Groening got together with Simpsons writer/producer David X. Cohen (known as David S. Cohen at the time) in 1997 and developed Futurama, an animated series about life in the year 3000. By the time they pitched the series to Fox in April 1998, Groening and Cohen had composed many characters and storylines; Groening claimed they had gone "overboard" in their discussions. Groening described trying to get the show on the air as "by far the worst experience of [his] grown-up life." The show premiered on March 28, 1999. Groening's writing credits for the show are for the premiere episode, "Space Pilot 3000" (co-written with Cohen), "Rebirth" (story) and "In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela" (story). After four years on the air, the show was canceled by Fox. In a situation similar to Family Guy, however, strong DVD sales and very stable ratings on Adult Swim brought Futurama back to life. When Comedy Central began negotiating for the rights to air Futurama reruns, Fox suggested that there was a possibility of also creating new episodes. When Comedy Central committed to sixteen new episodes, it was decided that four straight-to-DVD films - Bender's Big Score (2007), The Beast with a Billion Backs (2008), Bender's Game (2008) and Into the Wild Green Yonder (2009) - would be produced. Since no new Futurama projects were in production, the movie Into the Wild Green Yonder was designed to stand as the Futurama series finale. However, Groening had expressed a desire to continue the Futurama franchise in some form, including as a theatrical film. In an interview with CNN, Groening said that "we have a great relationship with Comedy Central and we would love to do more episodes for them, but I don't know... We're having discussions and there is some enthusiasm but I can't tell if it's just me". Comedy Central commissioned an additional 26 new episodes, and began airing them in 2010. The show continued in to 2013, before Comedy Central announced in April 2013 that they would not be renewing it beyond its seventh season. The final episode aired on September 4, 2013. CANNOTANSWER | Groening's writing credits for the show are for the premiere episode, "Space Pilot 3000" (co-written with Cohen), "Rebirth" (story) and "In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela" (story). | Matthew Abram Groening ( ; born February 15, 1954) is an American cartoonist, writer, producer, and animator. He is the creator of the comic strip Life in Hell (1977–2012) and the television series The Simpsons (1989–present), Futurama (1999–2003, 2008–2013, 2023), and Disenchantment (2018–present). The Simpsons is the longest-running U.S. primetime-television series in history and the longest-running U.S. animated series and sitcom.
Groening made his first professional cartoon sale of Life in Hell to the avant-garde magazine Wet in 1978. At its peak, the cartoon was carried in 250 weekly newspapers. Life in Hell caught the attention of American producer James L. Brooks. In 1985, Brooks contacted Groening about adapting Life in Hell for animated sequences for the Fox variety show The Tracey Ullman Show. Fearing the loss of ownership rights, Groening created a new set of characters, the Simpson family. The shorts were spun off into their own series, The Simpsons, which has since aired episodes.
In 1997, Groening and former Simpsons writer David X. Cohen developed Futurama, an animated series about life in the year 3000, which premiered in 1999, running for four years on Fox, then picked up by Comedy Central for additional seasons. In 2016, Groening developed a new series for Netflix, Disenchantment, which premiered in August 2018.
Groening has won 13 Primetime Emmy Awards, 11 for The Simpsons and 2 for Futurama, and a British Comedy Award for "outstanding contribution to comedy" in 2004. In 2002, he won the National Cartoonist Society Reuben Award for his work on Life in Hell. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on February 14, 2012.
Early life
Groening was born on February 15, 1954 in Portland, Oregon, the middle of five children (older brother Mark and sister Patty were born in 1950 and 1952, while the younger sisters Lisa and Maggie in 1956 and 1958, respectively). His Norwegian American mother, Margaret Ruth (née Wiggum; March 23, 1919 – April 22, 2013), was once a teacher, and his Russian Mennonite father, Homer Philip Groening (December 30, 1919 – March 15, 1996), was a filmmaker, advertiser, writer and cartoonist. Homer, born in Main Centre, Saskatchewan, Canada, grew up in a Mennonite, Plautdietsch-speaking family.
Matt's grandfather, Abraham Groening, was a professor at Tabor College, a Mennonite Brethren liberal arts college in Hillsboro, Kansas before moving to Albany College (now known as Lewis and Clark College) in Oregon in 1930.
Groening grew up in Portland, and attended Ainsworth Elementary School and Lincoln High School. From 1972 to 1977, Groening attended The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, a liberal arts school that he described as "a hippie college, with no grades or required classes, that drew every weirdo in the Northwest". He served as the editor of the campus newspaper, The Cooper Point Journal, for which he also wrote articles and drew cartoons. He befriended fellow cartoonist Lynda Barry after discovering that she had written a fan letter to Joseph Heller, one of Groening's favorite authors, and had received a reply. Groening has credited Barry with being "probably [his] biggest inspiration." He first became interested in cartoons after watching the Disney animated film One Hundred and One Dalmatians, and he has also cited Robert Crumb, Ernie Bushmiller, Ronald Searle, Monty Python, and Charles M. Schulz as inspirations.
Career
Early career
In 1977, at the age of 23, Groening moved to Los Angeles to become a writer. He went through what he described as "a series of lousy jobs," including being an extra in the television movie When Every Day Was the Fourth of July, busing tables, washing dishes at a nursing home, clerking at the Hollywood Licorice Pizza record store, landscaping in a sewage treatment plant, and chauffeuring and ghostwriting for a retired Western director.
Life in Hell
Groening described life in Los Angeles to his friends in the form of the self-published comic book Life in Hell, which was loosely inspired by the chapter "How to Go to Hell" in Walter Kaufmann's book Critique of Religion and Philosophy. Groening distributed the comic book in the book corner of Licorice Pizza, a record store in which he worked. He made his first professional cartoon sale to the avant-garde Wet magazine in 1978. The strip, titled "Forbidden Words," appeared in the September/October issue of that year.
Groening had gained employment at the Los Angeles Reader, a newly formed alternative newspaper, delivering papers, typesetting, editing and answering phones. He showed his cartoons to the editor, James Vowell, who was impressed and eventually gave him a spot in the paper. Life in Hell made its official debut as a comic strip in the Reader on April 25, 1980. Vowell also gave Groening his own weekly music column, "Sound Mix," in 1982. However, the column would rarely actually be about music, as he would often write about his "various enthusiasms, obsessions, pet peeves and problems" instead. In an effort to add more music to the column, he "just made stuff up," concocting and reviewing fictional bands and nonexistent records. In the following week's column, he would confess to fabricating everything in the previous column and swear that everything in the new column was true. Eventually, he was finally asked to give up the "music" column. Among the fans of the column was Harry Shearer, who would later become a voice on The Simpsons.
Life in Hell became popular almost immediately. In November 1984, Deborah Caplan, Groening's then-girlfriend and co-worker at the Reader, offered to publish "Love is Hell", a series of relationship-themed Life in Hell strips, in book form. Released a month later, the book was an underground success, selling 22,000 copies in its first two printings. Work is Hell soon followed, also published by Caplan. Soon afterward, Caplan and Groening left and put together the Life in Hell Co., which handled merchandising for Life in Hell. Groening also started Acme Features Syndicate, which initially syndicated Life in Hell as well as work by Lynda Barry and John Callahan, but would eventually only syndicate Life in Hell. At the end of its run, Life in Hell was carried in 250 weekly newspapers and has been anthologized in a series of books, including School is Hell, Childhood is Hell, The Big Book of Hell, and The Huge Book of Hell. Although Groening previously stated, "I'll never give up the comic strip. It's my foundation," the June 16, 2012 strip marked Life in Hells conclusion. After Groening ended the strip, the Center for Cartoon Studies commissioned a poster that was presented to Groening in honor of his work. The poster contained tribute cartoons by 22 of Groening's cartoonist friends who were influenced by Life in Hell.
The Simpsons
Creation
Life in Hell caught the attention of Hollywood writer-producer and Gracie Films founder James L. Brooks, who had been shown the strip by fellow producer Polly Platt. In 1985, Brooks contacted Groening with the proposition of working in animation on an undefined future project, which would turn out to be developing a series of short animated skits, called "bumpers," for the Fox variety show The Tracey Ullman Show. Originally, Brooks wanted Groening to adapt his Life in Hell characters for the show. Groening feared that he would have to give up his ownership rights, and that the show would fail and would take down his comic strip with it. Groening conceived of the idea for the Simpsons in the lobby of James L. Brooks's office and hurriedly sketched out his version of a dysfunctional family: Homer, the overweight father; Marge, the slim mother; Bart, the bratty oldest child; Lisa, the intelligent middle child; and Maggie, the baby. Groening famously named the main Simpson characters after members of his own family: his parents, Homer and Marge (Margaret or Marjorie in full), and his younger sisters, Lisa and Margaret (Maggie). Claiming that it was a bit too obvious to name a character after himself, he chose the name "Bart," an anagram of brat. However, he stresses that aside from some of the sibling rivalry, his family is nothing like the Simpsons. Groening also has an older brother and sister, Mark and Patty, and in a 1995 interview Groening divulged that Mark "is the actual inspiration for Bart."
Maggie Groening has co-written a few Simpsons books featuring her cartoon namesake.
The Tracey Ullman Show
The family was crudely drawn, because Groening had submitted basic sketches to the animators, assuming they would clean them up; instead, they just traced over his drawings. The entire Simpson family was designed so that they would be recognizable in silhouette. When Groening originally designed Homer, he put his own initials into the character's hairline and ear: the hairline resembled an 'M', and the right ear resembled a 'G'. Groening decided that this would be too distracting though, and redesigned the ear to look normal. He still draws the ear as a 'G' when he draws pictures of Homer for fans. Marge's distinct beehive hairstyle was inspired by Bride of Frankenstein and the style that Margaret Groening wore during the 1960s, although her hair was never blue. Bart's original design, which appeared in the first shorts, had spikier hair, and the spikes were of different lengths. The number was later limited to nine spikes, all of the same size. At the time Groening was primarily drawing in black and "not thinking that [Bart] would eventually be drawn in color" gave him spikes that appear to be an extension of his head. Lisa's physical features are generally not used in other characters; for example, in the later seasons, no character other than Maggie shares her hairline. While designing Lisa, Groening "couldn't be bothered to even think about girls' hair styles". When designing Lisa and Maggie, he "just gave them this kind of spiky starfish hair style, not thinking that they would eventually be drawn in color". Groening storyboarded and scripted every short (now known as The Simpsons shorts), which were then animated by a team including David Silverman and Wes Archer, both of whom would later become directors on the series.
The Simpsons shorts first appeared in The Tracey Ullman Show on April 19, 1987. Another family member, Grampa Simpson, was introduced in the later shorts. Years later, during the early seasons of The Simpsons, when it came time to give Grampa a first name, Groening says he refused to name him after his own grandfather, Abraham Groening, leaving it to other writers to choose a name. By coincidence, they chose "Abraham", unaware that it was the name of Groening's grandfather.
Half-hour
Although The Tracey Ullman Show was not a big hit, the popularity of the shorts led to a half-hour spin-off in 1989. A team of production companies adapted The Simpsons into a half-hour series for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The team included what is now the Klasky Csupo animation house. James L. Brooks negotiated a provision in the contract with the Fox network that prevented Fox from interfering with the show's content. Groening said his goal in creating the show was to offer the audience an alternative to what he called "the mainstream trash" that they were watching. The half-hour series premiered on December 17, 1989 with "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", a Christmas special. "Some Enchanted Evening" was the first full-length episode produced, but it did not broadcast until May 1990, as the last episode of the first season, because of animation problems.
The series quickly became a worldwide phenomenon, to the surprise of many. Groening said: "Nobody thought The Simpsons was going to be a big hit. It sneaked up on everybody." The Simpsons was co-developed by Groening, Brooks, and Sam Simon, a writer-producer with whom Brooks had worked on previous projects. Groening and Simon, however, did not get along and were often in conflict over the show; Groening once described their relationship as "very contentious." Simon eventually left the show in 1993 over creative differences.
Like the main family members, several characters from the show have names that were inspired by people, locations or films. The name "Wiggum" for police chief Chief Wiggum is Groening's mother's maiden name. The names of a few other characters were taken from major street names in Groening's hometown of Portland, Oregon, including Flanders, Lovejoy, Powell, Quimby and Kearney. Despite common fan belief that Sideshow Bob Terwilliger was named after SW Terwilliger Boulevard in Portland, he was actually named after the character Dr. Terwilliker from the film The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T.
Although Groening has pitched a number of spin-offs from The Simpsons, those attempts have been unsuccessful. In 1994, Groening and other Simpsons producers pitched a live-action spin-off about Krusty the Clown (with Dan Castellaneta playing the lead role), but were unsuccessful in getting it off the ground. Groening has also pitched "Young Homer" and a spin-off about the non-Simpsons citizens of Springfield.
In 1995, Groening got into a major disagreement with Brooks and other Simpsons producers over "A Star Is Burns", a crossover episode with The Critic, an animated show also produced by Brooks and staffed with many former Simpsons crew members. Groening claimed that he feared viewers would "see it as nothing but a pathetic attempt to advertise The Critic at the expense of The Simpsons," and was concerned about the possible implication that he had created or produced The Critic. He requested his name be taken off the episode.
Groening is credited with writing or co-writing the episodes "Some Enchanted Evening", "The Telltale Head", "Colonel Homer" and "22 Short Films About Springfield", as well as The Simpsons Movie, released in 2007. He has had several cameo appearances in the show, with a speaking role in the episode "My Big Fat Geek Wedding". He currently serves at The Simpsons as an executive producer and creative consultant.
Futurama
After spending a few years researching science fiction, Groening got together with Simpsons writer/producer David X. Cohen (known as David S. Cohen at the time) in 1997 and developed Futurama, an animated series about life in the year 3000. By the time they pitched the series to Fox in April 1998, Groening and Cohen had composed many characters and storylines; Groening claimed they had gone "overboard" in their discussions. Groening described trying to get the show on the air as "by far the worst experience of [his] grown-up life." The show premiered on March 28, 1999. Groening's writing credits for the show are for the premiere episode, "Space Pilot 3000" (co-written with Cohen), "Rebirth" (story) and "In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela" (story).
After four years on the air, the show was canceled by Fox. In a situation similar to Family Guy, however, strong DVD sales and very stable ratings on Adult Swim brought Futurama back to life. When Comedy Central began negotiating for the rights to air Futurama reruns, Fox suggested that there was a possibility of also creating new episodes. When Comedy Central committed to sixteen new episodes, it was decided that four straight-to-DVD films – Bender's Big Score (2007), The Beast with a Billion Backs (2008), Bender's Game (2008) and Into the Wild Green Yonder (2009) – would be produced.
Since no new Futurama projects were in production, the movie Into the Wild Green Yonder was designed to stand as the Futurama series finale. However, Groening had expressed a desire to continue the Futurama franchise in some form, including as a theatrical film. In an interview with CNN, Groening said that "we have a great relationship with Comedy Central and we would love to do more episodes for them, but I don't know... We're having discussions and there is some enthusiasm but I can't tell if it's just me". Comedy Central commissioned an additional 26 new episodes, and began airing them in 2010. The show continued in to 2013, before Comedy Central announced in April 2013 that they would not be renewing it beyond its seventh season. The final episode aired on September 4, 2013.
On February 9, 2022, the series was revived at Hulu, set for a 2023 release.
Disenchantment
On January 15, 2016, it was announced that Groening was in talks with Netflix to develop a new animated series. On July 25, 2017 the series, Disenchantment, was ordered by Netflix. The first ten episodes premiered on the streaming service in August 2018, with the remaining ten episodes of the initial order scheduled to air in September 2019. Netflix has renewed the series for twenty additional episodes, which are expected to debut in ten-episode batches in 2020 and 2021.
Groening described the fantasy-oriented series as originating in a sketchbook full of "fantastic creatures we couldn't do on The Simpsons." The show's cast includes Abbi Jacobson, Eric Andre, and Nat Faxon.
Other pursuits
In 1994, Groening formed Bongo Comics (named after the character Bongo from Life in Hell) with Steve Vance, Cindy Vance and Bill Morrison, which publishes comic books based on The Simpsons and Futurama (including Futurama Simpsons Infinitely Secret Crossover Crisis, a crossover between the two), as well as a few original titles. According to Groening, the goal with Bongo is to "[try] to bring humor into the fairly grim comic book market." He also formed Zongo Comics in 1995, an imprint of Bongo that published comics for more mature readers, which included three issues of Mary Fleener's Fleener and seven issues of his close friend Gary Panter's Jimbo comics.
Groening is known for his eclectic taste in music. His favorite artist is Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention and his favorite album is Trout Mask Replica by Captain Beefheart (which was produced by Zappa). He guest-edited Da Capo Press's Best Music Writing 2003 and curated a US All Tomorrow's Parties music festival in 2003. He illustrated the cover of Frank Zappa's posthumous album Frank Zappa Plays the Music of Frank Zappa: A Memorial Tribute (1996). In May 2010, he curated another edition of All Tomorrow's Parties in Minehead, England. He also plays the drums in the all-author rock and roll band The Rock Bottom Remainders (although he is listed as the cowbell player), whose other members include Dave Barry, Ridley Pearson, Scott Turow, Amy Tan, James McBride, Mitch Albom, Roy Blount Jr., Stephen King, Kathi Kamen Goldmark, Sam Barry and Greg Iles. In July 2013, Groening co-authored Hard Listening (2013) with the rest of the Rock Bottom Remainders (published by Coliloquy, LLC).
Personal life
Groening and Deborah Caplan married in 1986 and had two sons together, Homer (who goes by Will) and Abe, both of whom Groening occasionally portrays as rabbits in Life in Hell. The couple divorced in 1999.
In 2011, Groening married Argentine artist Agustina Picasso after a four-year relationship, and became stepfather to her daughter Camila Costantini. In May 2013, Picasso gave birth to Nathaniel Philip Picasso Groening, named after writer Nathanael West. She joked that "his godfather is SpongeBob's creator Stephen Hillenburg". In 2015, Groening's daughters Luna Margaret and India Mia were born. On June 16, 2018, he became the father of twins for a second time when his wife gave birth to Sol Matthew and Venus Ruth, announced via Instagram.
Matt is the brother-in-law of Hey Arnold!, Dinosaur Train and Ready Jet Go! creator, Craig Bartlett, who is married to Groening's sister, Lisa. Bartlett used to appear in Simpsons Illustrated.
Groening is a self-identified agnostic.
Groening was mentioned in a lawsuit by Virginia Giuffre over allegedly being forced by sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein to massage his Groening's feet while on Epstein's jet in 2001.
Politics
Groening has made a number of campaign contributions, all towards Democratic Party candidates and organizations. He has donated money to the unsuccessful presidential campaigns of Democratic candidates Al Gore in 2000 and John Kerry in 2004, as well as previously donating to Kerry's Massachusetts senator campaign. Groening also collectively donated to the Democratic senatorial campaign committee and to the Senate campaigns of Barbara Boxer (California), Dianne Feinstein (California), Paul Simon (Illinois), Ted Kennedy (Massachusetts), Carl Levin (Michigan), Hillary Clinton (New York), Harvey Gantt (North Carolina), Horward Metzenbaum (Ohio), and Tom Bruggere (Oregon). He also donated to the now-defunct Hollywood Women's Political Committee, which supported and campaigned for the Democratic Party. His first cousin, Laurie Monnes Anderson, was a member of the Oregon State Senate, representing eastern Multnomah County.
Filmography
Film
Television
Video games
Music video
Theme park
Awards
Groening has been nominated for 41 Emmy Awards and has won thirteen, eleven for The Simpsons and two for Futurama in the "Outstanding Animated Program (for programming one hour or less)" category. Groening received the 2002 National Cartoonist Society Reuben Award, and had been nominated for the same award in 2000. He received a British Comedy Award for "outstanding contribution to comedy" in 2004. In 2007, he was ranked fourth (and highest American by birth) in a list of the "top 100 living geniuses", published by British newspaper The Daily Telegraph.
He was awarded the Inkpot Award in 1988.
He received the 2,459th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on February 14, 2012.
Bibliography
Groening, Matt (1977–2012). Life in Hell
Love Is Hell (1986)
Work Is Hell (1986)
School Is Hell (1987)
Box Full of Hell (1988)
Childhood Is Hell (1988)
Greetings from Hell (1989)
Akbar and Jeff's Guide to Life (1989)
The Big Book of Hell (1990)
With Love from Hell (1991)
How to Go to Hell (1991)
The Road to Hell (1992)
Binky's Guide to Love (1994)
Love Is Hell: Special Ultra Jumbo 10th Anniversary Edition (1994)
The Huge Book of Hell (1997)
Will and Abe's Guide to the Universe (2007)
References
External links
1954 births
Living people
Album-cover and concert-poster artists
Alternative cartoonists
American agnostics
American comic strip cartoonists
American male television writers
American people of Canadian descent
American Mennonites
American people of Norwegian descent
American satirists
American male screenwriters
American television producers
American television writers
Animators from Oregon
Annie Award winners
Artists from Portland, Oregon
Evergreen State College alumni
Inkpot Award winners
Lincoln High School (Portland, Oregon) alumni
Mennonite writers
Oregon Democrats
Peabody Award winners
Primetime Emmy Award winners
Reuben Award winners
Rock Bottom Remainders members
Screenwriters from Oregon
Showrunners
Writers from Portland, Oregon | true | [
"Life in Hell is a comic strip by Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons, Futurama, and Disenchantment, which was published weekly from 1977 to 2012. The strip features anthropomorphic rabbits and a gay couple. The comic covers a wide range of subjects, such as love, sex, work, and death, and explores themes of angst, social alienation, self-loathing, and fear of inevitable doom.\n\nHistory\n\nLife in Hell started in 1977 as a self-published comic book Groening used to describe life in Los Angeles to his friends. It was inspired by his move to the city that year; in an interview with Playboy, Groening commented on his arrival: \"I got [to Los Angeles] on a Friday night in August; it was about a hundred and two degrees; my car broke down in the fast lane of the Hollywood Freeway while I was listening to a drunken DJ who was giving his last program on a local rock station and bitterly denouncing the station's management. And then I had a series of lousy jobs.\" In the comic book, Groening attacked what many young adults found repellent: school, work, and love. He described it as \"every ex-campus protester's, every Boomer idealist's, conception of what adult existence in the '80s had turned out to be.\"\n\nGroening photocopied and distributed the magazines to friends, and also sold them for two dollars a copy at the punk corner of the record store in which he worked, Licorice Pizza on Sunset Boulevard. These magazines contained comic strips, comedy sketches, letters, and photo collages. The magazine covers were humorous as well: the first issue saw Binky, a rabbit-humanoid character, standing in a cloud of smog and declaring, \"What you see is what you breathe.\" Groening also worked real photos into the covers, such as drawings from Jules Verne's books or a picture of his family's living room.\n\nAn editor from Wet magazine bought one of the magazines and liked it, and offered Groening a spot in the magazine; soon after, in 1978, Life in Hell debuted as a comic strip in the avant-garde Wet, to which Groening made his first professional cartoon sale. The first strip, entitled \"Forbidden Words\", appeared in the September/October issue. Popular in the underground, Life in Hell was picked up by the Los Angeles Reader (an alternative weekly newspaper where Groening also worked as a typesetter, editor, paste-up artist and music critic) in 1980, where it began appearing weekly. Then-publisher of the Reader Jane Levine said Groening arrived at editor-in-chief James Vowell's office one day, showing him his \"silly cartoons with the rabbit with one ear.\" After Groening left, Vowell came out of his office saying, \"This guy is gonna be famous someday.\"\n\nThe character designs of Akbar and Jeff were, in fact, failed attempts by Groening to draw Charlie Brown. In a 1999 interview, Groening said that he added Akbar and Jeff to the comic to appease his girlfriend. Early on in the comic, Groening used Binky and his wife to mirror the arguments Groening himself had with his girlfriend. However, she grew irritated with Groening because she felt he was portraying her unfairly. The addition of the twin-like Akbar and Jeff was meant to act as a mask of anonymity to hide who was who in such arguments. According to Groening, however, she still told him, \"You think you're Akbar, but you’re really Jeff.\"\n\nIn a 1991 interview about The Simpsons, Groening said that Life in Hell was done entirely by himself, describing the comic as \"Matt Groening pure and simple,\" and explained that the strips were often weird or entirely different every week because of however he was feeling at the time of a strip's creation.\n\nThe strip was frequently a serial, discussing various topics such as \"Love is Hell\", a 1984 \"13-chapter miniseries\" pontificating on love and relationships. In November of that year, Groening's then-girlfriend (and co-worker at the Reader) Deborah Caplan offered to publish \"Love is Hell\" in book form. The book was an underground success, selling 22,000 copies in its first two printings. Soon afterward, Caplan and Groening left the Reader and put together the Life in Hell Co., which handled syndication and merchandising for Groening's projects.\n\nLife in Hell reached the attention of Hollywood producer James L. Brooks, who received one strip—\"The Los Angeles Way of Death\" from 1982—as a gift from fellow producer Polly Platt. In 1985, Brooks contacted Groening with the proposition of developing a series of short animated skits, called \"bumpers\", for The Tracey Ullman Show. Originally, Brooks had wanted Groening to adapt his Life in Hell characters for the show. Fearing the loss of ownership rights to his characters, Groening instead created an entirely new batch of characters: the Simpsons.\n\nAs television began to place more demands on his time, however, Groening came to almost exclusively feature single-panel strips or 16-panel grids in which Akbar and Jeff exchange terse jabs. This later period also saw the increase of autobiographical strips, perhaps because Groening was influenced by this burgeoning trend in alternative comics.\n\nTelevision has also made the strip \"safe enough for a number of newspapers to print\", according to Groening, who says he has not \"toned the strip down at all, other than no longer using profanity\" as a concession to daily papers that carry the strip.\n\nOn December 7, 1998, Groening registered the domain mattgroening.com to publish Life in Hell online; however, the website has remained in its \"under construction\" state since then, although Groening insists he will \"get around to it ... [when he is] ready to wade in on a regular basis.\" As of May 20, 2021, the domain leads to sponsored ad listings with a \"This page is under construction - Coming soon!\" message in the top right corner below the Network Solutions banner.\n\nGroening decided in 2007, in the wake of the 2006 U.S. election results, to write \"Life Is Swell\" above the comic instead of \"Life in Hell\". Though Groening had previously stated that he would never give up the comic strip, in 2009 he indicated that due to troubling times for print newspapers and constant involvement with The Simpsons and Futurama, he would likely one day drop the strip. Three years later, Groening announced the strip's conclusion and the final new strip ran on June 16, 2012. The final strip shows Akbar or Jeff dancing naked, while the other tells him to stop. At the end of the strip he gives up and dances along with him, saying \"Well, I tried.\"\n\nFormat\n\nThe strip was published in a perfect square, unlike most Sunday strips which are published in rectangles. He had different types of format. He would make 4 rows of boxes, each row with 4 in it, when Akbar and Jeff were discussing love. He did 3 boxes by 3, very rarely did he use 4 boxes. Single boxes were often quick and comedic, and 4 x 4 boxes often had a storyline. This is based on the way Lynda Barry made comics when they were in college, and the way it was published originally in the Reader. Atop each strip, he quickly writes out \"Life in Hell\" and Copyright Matt Groening and the year it was made. Sometimes though, he changed the way he wrote the title on top. Instead of being quickly written, sometimes it would be in balloons, or bubble letters, or fireworks, old English handwriting, etc., he also wrote \"This is your\" above the \"Life in Hell.\" He also sometimes changed the way he wrote his name and date but not very often. In one strip \"Why men growl\" from 1982, he wrote his name as Matt Grrrrroening. In another strip, \"Are you Easily Provoked?\" He misspelled his name 3 times until getting it right and writing \"godamnit\" underneath. If he gets help from another cartoonist, he writes their names underneath his. Sometimes a message such as \"My back feels better, thank you\" would appear. He sometimes put where he was when he was making the strip; he'd write Chicago or Portland underneath his name.\n\nCharacters\nBinky is a stressed and thus \"normal\" rabbit and star of the cartoon. He usually embodies dread and alienation. Binky is usually stuck in a dead end job, has a bad apartment and regularly sees a therapist. Binky usually is full of wise old sayings.\nSheba is Binky's estranged girlfriend. Her character design is \"basically Binky in drag\". Binky and Sheba met at a coffee shop in a 1981 storyline, and are often used as a generic couple whenever Groening needs one.\nBongo is Binky's illegitimate son, the product of a drunken night of \"jungle passion.\" He was introduced in a 1983 storyline in which his mother, Hulga, left him to Binky so she could seek her fortune in New York. Bongo's defining physical attribute is his one ear, which Groening admits is solely so that the casual viewer can tell him apart from Binky. Bongo made an appearance in the Futurama episode \"Xmas Story\", where he is seen being sold in a pet shop. He also appeared in The Simpsons episode \"Treehouse of Horror XII\" as one of the rabbits that Homer catches in the trap. He appears in The Simpsons again in another episode as a plush toy in Lisa's room, though he is called Madam Bunny. He is shown as a plush toy in \"The Fool Monty\" where Mr. Burns is eating it in Bart's closet. He has a cameo in \"Simpsorama\" as one of the rabbit-like creatures rampaging New New York, where he writes on a wall \"Crossovers are hell\".\nAkbar & Jeff are described in various strips and interviews as \"either brothers or lovers — or both. Whatever offends you most, that’s what they are\". In one interview, Groening says they are gay. They have large noses and wear fezzes and Charlie Brown-like striped shirts. They have run numerous businesses over the years, including Akbar & Jeff's Tofu Hut, Akbar & Jeff's Earthquake T-shirt Hut, and Akbar & Jeff's Bootleg \"Akbar & Jeff\" T-shirt Hut. Like Binky and Sheba, Akbar and Jeff are often used as a generic couple when needed. According to Groening, \"the reason why I draw a strip with Akbar and Jeff instead of Binky and Sheba is that I figure that no one can accuse me of trying to score points against men or women if the characters are identical.\" They have been given cameo appearances in The Simpsons, such as during \"Homer's Triple Bypass\", where Homer uses finger puppets resembling the characters to describe his surgery to Bart and Lisa.\nMatt Groening appears in the strip as a bearded, bespectacled rabbit. He is also sometimes represented as Binky.\nWill and Abe are Matt Groening's two sons, represented in rabbit form. They usually talk about vampires, zombies, and other child-fantasy topics.\nSnarla, a cat, is Bongo's classmate and love interest. She bears a resemblance to Lisa Simpson.\nBart Simpson, has never spoken—except when he uttered his former catch phrase \"Don't have a cow, man!\" in a \"forbidden words\" strip—but is seen in the background of a number of strips.\nMr. Simpson is Binky's anthropomorphic dog boss at his job. His name predates The Simpsons.\nGooey, Screwy, and Ratatouille are Akbar and/or Jeff's triplet nephews. The names are an obvious spoof of the Disney characters Huey, Dewey and Louie (Donald Duck's nephews).\n\nRecurring jokes and situations\nFake magazines such as \"Lonely Tyrant: The magazine for abusive bosses whose employees hate their guts\". Stories inside include, \"The fine art of the meaningless memo\".\nThe X types of Y: The 9 types of college teachers, the 81 types of high school students, the 16 types of brothers, the 9 types of relationships.\nHow-To Guides: Examples include \"So You Want to Be an Unrecognized Genius\", \"How to Be a Clever Film Critic\", and \"How to Get into the College of Your Choice\".\nMiniseries – A series of strips focusing on a particular theme in a mock textbook manner, such as \"School is Hell\" and \"Love is Hell\", both of which have been collected in their entirety in book form.\nAkbar & Jeff discussing their relationship – Arguably the most common set-up. A 1992 strip, \"The Dart Game of Love\", was prefaced with \"I hope this cartoon pleases you gripers who whined about all those Akbar & Jeff strips where they stared at each other.\"\nBinky attempting to meditate\nAdvertisements for disreputable businesses run by Akbar & Jeff such as \"Akbar & Jeff's Lucky Psychic Hut\".\nBongo locked in a detention room or orphanage - Usually, with 1 or 2 pairs of eyes watching him.\nBongo unsatisfied with the huge assortment of presents he has received on Christmas morning\nShadow rabbit – Binky's looming shadow towers over Bongo, who has clearly committed a crime despite his assurances to the contrary. Several of Bongo's excuses parodied those of politicians, such as \"Mistakes were made\". Occasionally there would also be a shadow Akbar & Jeff looming over Bongo and their nephews, or Binky looming over Bongo, Jeff, and Akbar, whom are pointing fingers at each other. One comic showed Bongo's shadow looming over Binky.\nPledge of Allegiance: Bongo's class is forced to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. Bongo intentionally butchers the Pledge, usually criticizing the government in the process (\"and to the Republicans which I can't stand\"). One strip, released after the death of musician Frank Zappa in 1993, has Bongo replacing most of the words of the Pledge with names of Zappa albums (\"With yellow sharks and hot rats for all\"). The comic would always end with Bongo's teacher angrily leering at him, and often Bongo would be tied to his desk and gagged as punishment.\nForbidden Words – An annual compilation of buzzwords used over the past year that Groening has deemed \"forbidden\". This topic was the first ever comic by Groening, published in 1980. These also appear in Simpsons annuals.\n\"How to draw Binky\" - Often comedic ways on how to draw Binky, usually one of which is drawing randomly with your eyes closed.\n\nMerchandise and advertising\nAfter the success of Love Is Hell, more book collections followed, including Work Is Hell and Childhood Is Hell. To date, 15 books have been released.\n\nIn addition to the books, the comic also spawned T-shirts, greeting cards, posters, coffee mugs, and a short-lived newsletter called the \"Life in Hell Times\". There is also an annual calendar.\n\nIn the late 1980s, Groening drew several print advertisements for Apple Computer in the form of Life in Hell comic strips.\n\nAt the 2005 Comic-Con in San Diego, a series of deluxe Life in Hell vinyl figurines manufactured by CritterBox Toys was announced.\n\nBinky and Bongo appear as background and enemy characters in the Simpsons arcade video game (coin-op).\n\nBooks\n1984 – Love Is Hell – ()\n1986 – Work Is Hell – ()\n1987 – School Is Hell – ()\n1988 – Box Full of Hell – ()\n1988 – Childhood Is Hell – ()\n1989 – Greetings from Hell – ()\n1989 – Akbar and Jeff's Guide to Life – ()\n1990 – The Big Book of Hell – ()\n1991 – With Love From Hell – ()\n1991 – How to Go to Hell – ()\n1992 – The Road to Hell – ()\n1994 – Binky's Guide to Love – ()\n1994 – Love Is Hell: Special Ultra Jumbo 10th Anniversary Edition – ()\n1997 – The Huge Book of Hell – ()\n2007 – Will and Abe's Guide to the Universe – ()\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nLife In Hell References On The Simpsons\nLife In Hell at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on August 31, 2015.\n\n1977 comics debuts\n2012 comics endings\nAmerican comic strips\nBlack comedy comics\nComics about animals\nComics about Leporidae\nHumor comics\nGag-a-day comics\nSatirical comics\nMetafictional comics\nAutobiographical comics\nSlice of life comics\nComics set in the 1970s\nComics set in the 1980s\nComics set in the 1990s\nComics set in the 2000s\nComics set in the 2010s\nPolitical comic strips\nWorks by Matt Groening\nUnderground comix\nLGBT-related comic strips\n2012 disestablishments in the United States\nAmerican satire\nAmerican political satire",
"Torrie Groening, born in 1961 in Port Alberni, British Columbia, is a photographer and artist based out of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Her art practice includes drawing, painting, printmaking, and installation art. Groening is an alumna of the Visual Arts department of The Banff Centre and attended Emily Carr College of Art & Design (now called Emily Carr University of Art and Design) where she studied printmaking.\n\nEducation and career \nIn 1978 Torrie Groening attended The Banff Centre, in Banff, Alberta, followed by courses at Langara College in Vancouver, which lead her to completing her degree, graduating from the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design in 1983. After graduating, Groening became a member of the Malaspina Printmakers Society of Vancouver and exhibited her work at the Dundarave Print workshop. In 1984, a watershed date in the artist's career, Groening's work was included at the Pressing Matters: Prints by BC Artists exhibition at the Surrey Art Gallery.\n\nGroening worked as a printmaking instructor at Open Studio in Toronto, Ontario later becoming the Director of the Lithography section in 1986. During her time in Toronto Groening worked alongside Janet Cardiff, Harold Klunder, Don Holman, and Otis Tamasausken. In 1989 she went on to teach printmaking at the University of Guelf. That same year she returned to her home of British Columbia, back to Vancouver where she established a printmaking studio called Prior Editions Studios which she ran until 1999. In the 1990s, Groening took on teaching work at both the University of Victoria and Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design. Further along in her career Groening worked with artists including Molly Bobak, Carel Moiseiwitsch, Toni Onley, Gathie Falk, Takao Tanabe, Gordon Smith, Doug Biden, Joe Average, and Jack Shadbolt.\n\nAfter the closure of her printmaking studio in 1999, Groening moved to San Francisco, California in the United States of America, where the artist joined the Achenbach Graphic Arts Council Board within the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and continued her printmaking practices.\n\nExhibitions \nTorrie Groening's CV boasts numerous solo and group exhibitions. Her work has been shown at the Vancouver based Capture Photo Festival in 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019. In partnership with Art Rental & Sales at the Vancouver Art Gallery, Groening exhibited Out of Studio at the Listel Hotel Vancouver in 2017. And her work is in the permanent collections of such galleries and institutions as the Vancouver Art Gallery, the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, the Burnaby Art Gallery, the Surrey Art Gallery, and the Art Gallery of Hamilton.\n\nReferences\n\nLiving people\n1961 births\nPeople from Port Alberni\n21st-century Canadian photographers\nEmily Carr University of Art and Design alumni\nLangara College people"
]
|
[
"Matt Groening",
"Futurama",
"How is Groening connected to Futurama?",
"Groening got together with Simpsons writer/producer David X. Cohen (known as David S. Cohen at the time) in 1997 and developed Futurama,",
"What is Futurama?",
"an animated series about life in the year 3000.",
"Was the show popular?",
"the show was canceled by Fox. In a situation similar to Family Guy, however, strong DVD sales and very stable ratings on Adult Swim brought Futurama back to life.",
"how long was the show on?",
"four years on the air,",
"What did Groening do?",
"Groening's writing credits for the show are for the premiere episode, \"Space Pilot 3000\" (co-written with Cohen), \"Rebirth\" (story) and \"In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela\" (story)."
]
| C_f3b8e9e3d21f48a999ee0f39c304a0b6_0 | Did he do anything besides write? | 6 | Did Groening do anything besides write for Futurama? | Matt Groening | After spending a few years researching science fiction, Groening got together with Simpsons writer/producer David X. Cohen (known as David S. Cohen at the time) in 1997 and developed Futurama, an animated series about life in the year 3000. By the time they pitched the series to Fox in April 1998, Groening and Cohen had composed many characters and storylines; Groening claimed they had gone "overboard" in their discussions. Groening described trying to get the show on the air as "by far the worst experience of [his] grown-up life." The show premiered on March 28, 1999. Groening's writing credits for the show are for the premiere episode, "Space Pilot 3000" (co-written with Cohen), "Rebirth" (story) and "In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela" (story). After four years on the air, the show was canceled by Fox. In a situation similar to Family Guy, however, strong DVD sales and very stable ratings on Adult Swim brought Futurama back to life. When Comedy Central began negotiating for the rights to air Futurama reruns, Fox suggested that there was a possibility of also creating new episodes. When Comedy Central committed to sixteen new episodes, it was decided that four straight-to-DVD films - Bender's Big Score (2007), The Beast with a Billion Backs (2008), Bender's Game (2008) and Into the Wild Green Yonder (2009) - would be produced. Since no new Futurama projects were in production, the movie Into the Wild Green Yonder was designed to stand as the Futurama series finale. However, Groening had expressed a desire to continue the Futurama franchise in some form, including as a theatrical film. In an interview with CNN, Groening said that "we have a great relationship with Comedy Central and we would love to do more episodes for them, but I don't know... We're having discussions and there is some enthusiasm but I can't tell if it's just me". Comedy Central commissioned an additional 26 new episodes, and began airing them in 2010. The show continued in to 2013, before Comedy Central announced in April 2013 that they would not be renewing it beyond its seventh season. The final episode aired on September 4, 2013. CANNOTANSWER | Groening and Cohen had composed many characters and storylines; | Matthew Abram Groening ( ; born February 15, 1954) is an American cartoonist, writer, producer, and animator. He is the creator of the comic strip Life in Hell (1977–2012) and the television series The Simpsons (1989–present), Futurama (1999–2003, 2008–2013, 2023), and Disenchantment (2018–present). The Simpsons is the longest-running U.S. primetime-television series in history and the longest-running U.S. animated series and sitcom.
Groening made his first professional cartoon sale of Life in Hell to the avant-garde magazine Wet in 1978. At its peak, the cartoon was carried in 250 weekly newspapers. Life in Hell caught the attention of American producer James L. Brooks. In 1985, Brooks contacted Groening about adapting Life in Hell for animated sequences for the Fox variety show The Tracey Ullman Show. Fearing the loss of ownership rights, Groening created a new set of characters, the Simpson family. The shorts were spun off into their own series, The Simpsons, which has since aired episodes.
In 1997, Groening and former Simpsons writer David X. Cohen developed Futurama, an animated series about life in the year 3000, which premiered in 1999, running for four years on Fox, then picked up by Comedy Central for additional seasons. In 2016, Groening developed a new series for Netflix, Disenchantment, which premiered in August 2018.
Groening has won 13 Primetime Emmy Awards, 11 for The Simpsons and 2 for Futurama, and a British Comedy Award for "outstanding contribution to comedy" in 2004. In 2002, he won the National Cartoonist Society Reuben Award for his work on Life in Hell. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on February 14, 2012.
Early life
Groening was born on February 15, 1954 in Portland, Oregon, the middle of five children (older brother Mark and sister Patty were born in 1950 and 1952, while the younger sisters Lisa and Maggie in 1956 and 1958, respectively). His Norwegian American mother, Margaret Ruth (née Wiggum; March 23, 1919 – April 22, 2013), was once a teacher, and his Russian Mennonite father, Homer Philip Groening (December 30, 1919 – March 15, 1996), was a filmmaker, advertiser, writer and cartoonist. Homer, born in Main Centre, Saskatchewan, Canada, grew up in a Mennonite, Plautdietsch-speaking family.
Matt's grandfather, Abraham Groening, was a professor at Tabor College, a Mennonite Brethren liberal arts college in Hillsboro, Kansas before moving to Albany College (now known as Lewis and Clark College) in Oregon in 1930.
Groening grew up in Portland, and attended Ainsworth Elementary School and Lincoln High School. From 1972 to 1977, Groening attended The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, a liberal arts school that he described as "a hippie college, with no grades or required classes, that drew every weirdo in the Northwest". He served as the editor of the campus newspaper, The Cooper Point Journal, for which he also wrote articles and drew cartoons. He befriended fellow cartoonist Lynda Barry after discovering that she had written a fan letter to Joseph Heller, one of Groening's favorite authors, and had received a reply. Groening has credited Barry with being "probably [his] biggest inspiration." He first became interested in cartoons after watching the Disney animated film One Hundred and One Dalmatians, and he has also cited Robert Crumb, Ernie Bushmiller, Ronald Searle, Monty Python, and Charles M. Schulz as inspirations.
Career
Early career
In 1977, at the age of 23, Groening moved to Los Angeles to become a writer. He went through what he described as "a series of lousy jobs," including being an extra in the television movie When Every Day Was the Fourth of July, busing tables, washing dishes at a nursing home, clerking at the Hollywood Licorice Pizza record store, landscaping in a sewage treatment plant, and chauffeuring and ghostwriting for a retired Western director.
Life in Hell
Groening described life in Los Angeles to his friends in the form of the self-published comic book Life in Hell, which was loosely inspired by the chapter "How to Go to Hell" in Walter Kaufmann's book Critique of Religion and Philosophy. Groening distributed the comic book in the book corner of Licorice Pizza, a record store in which he worked. He made his first professional cartoon sale to the avant-garde Wet magazine in 1978. The strip, titled "Forbidden Words," appeared in the September/October issue of that year.
Groening had gained employment at the Los Angeles Reader, a newly formed alternative newspaper, delivering papers, typesetting, editing and answering phones. He showed his cartoons to the editor, James Vowell, who was impressed and eventually gave him a spot in the paper. Life in Hell made its official debut as a comic strip in the Reader on April 25, 1980. Vowell also gave Groening his own weekly music column, "Sound Mix," in 1982. However, the column would rarely actually be about music, as he would often write about his "various enthusiasms, obsessions, pet peeves and problems" instead. In an effort to add more music to the column, he "just made stuff up," concocting and reviewing fictional bands and nonexistent records. In the following week's column, he would confess to fabricating everything in the previous column and swear that everything in the new column was true. Eventually, he was finally asked to give up the "music" column. Among the fans of the column was Harry Shearer, who would later become a voice on The Simpsons.
Life in Hell became popular almost immediately. In November 1984, Deborah Caplan, Groening's then-girlfriend and co-worker at the Reader, offered to publish "Love is Hell", a series of relationship-themed Life in Hell strips, in book form. Released a month later, the book was an underground success, selling 22,000 copies in its first two printings. Work is Hell soon followed, also published by Caplan. Soon afterward, Caplan and Groening left and put together the Life in Hell Co., which handled merchandising for Life in Hell. Groening also started Acme Features Syndicate, which initially syndicated Life in Hell as well as work by Lynda Barry and John Callahan, but would eventually only syndicate Life in Hell. At the end of its run, Life in Hell was carried in 250 weekly newspapers and has been anthologized in a series of books, including School is Hell, Childhood is Hell, The Big Book of Hell, and The Huge Book of Hell. Although Groening previously stated, "I'll never give up the comic strip. It's my foundation," the June 16, 2012 strip marked Life in Hells conclusion. After Groening ended the strip, the Center for Cartoon Studies commissioned a poster that was presented to Groening in honor of his work. The poster contained tribute cartoons by 22 of Groening's cartoonist friends who were influenced by Life in Hell.
The Simpsons
Creation
Life in Hell caught the attention of Hollywood writer-producer and Gracie Films founder James L. Brooks, who had been shown the strip by fellow producer Polly Platt. In 1985, Brooks contacted Groening with the proposition of working in animation on an undefined future project, which would turn out to be developing a series of short animated skits, called "bumpers," for the Fox variety show The Tracey Ullman Show. Originally, Brooks wanted Groening to adapt his Life in Hell characters for the show. Groening feared that he would have to give up his ownership rights, and that the show would fail and would take down his comic strip with it. Groening conceived of the idea for the Simpsons in the lobby of James L. Brooks's office and hurriedly sketched out his version of a dysfunctional family: Homer, the overweight father; Marge, the slim mother; Bart, the bratty oldest child; Lisa, the intelligent middle child; and Maggie, the baby. Groening famously named the main Simpson characters after members of his own family: his parents, Homer and Marge (Margaret or Marjorie in full), and his younger sisters, Lisa and Margaret (Maggie). Claiming that it was a bit too obvious to name a character after himself, he chose the name "Bart," an anagram of brat. However, he stresses that aside from some of the sibling rivalry, his family is nothing like the Simpsons. Groening also has an older brother and sister, Mark and Patty, and in a 1995 interview Groening divulged that Mark "is the actual inspiration for Bart."
Maggie Groening has co-written a few Simpsons books featuring her cartoon namesake.
The Tracey Ullman Show
The family was crudely drawn, because Groening had submitted basic sketches to the animators, assuming they would clean them up; instead, they just traced over his drawings. The entire Simpson family was designed so that they would be recognizable in silhouette. When Groening originally designed Homer, he put his own initials into the character's hairline and ear: the hairline resembled an 'M', and the right ear resembled a 'G'. Groening decided that this would be too distracting though, and redesigned the ear to look normal. He still draws the ear as a 'G' when he draws pictures of Homer for fans. Marge's distinct beehive hairstyle was inspired by Bride of Frankenstein and the style that Margaret Groening wore during the 1960s, although her hair was never blue. Bart's original design, which appeared in the first shorts, had spikier hair, and the spikes were of different lengths. The number was later limited to nine spikes, all of the same size. At the time Groening was primarily drawing in black and "not thinking that [Bart] would eventually be drawn in color" gave him spikes that appear to be an extension of his head. Lisa's physical features are generally not used in other characters; for example, in the later seasons, no character other than Maggie shares her hairline. While designing Lisa, Groening "couldn't be bothered to even think about girls' hair styles". When designing Lisa and Maggie, he "just gave them this kind of spiky starfish hair style, not thinking that they would eventually be drawn in color". Groening storyboarded and scripted every short (now known as The Simpsons shorts), which were then animated by a team including David Silverman and Wes Archer, both of whom would later become directors on the series.
The Simpsons shorts first appeared in The Tracey Ullman Show on April 19, 1987. Another family member, Grampa Simpson, was introduced in the later shorts. Years later, during the early seasons of The Simpsons, when it came time to give Grampa a first name, Groening says he refused to name him after his own grandfather, Abraham Groening, leaving it to other writers to choose a name. By coincidence, they chose "Abraham", unaware that it was the name of Groening's grandfather.
Half-hour
Although The Tracey Ullman Show was not a big hit, the popularity of the shorts led to a half-hour spin-off in 1989. A team of production companies adapted The Simpsons into a half-hour series for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The team included what is now the Klasky Csupo animation house. James L. Brooks negotiated a provision in the contract with the Fox network that prevented Fox from interfering with the show's content. Groening said his goal in creating the show was to offer the audience an alternative to what he called "the mainstream trash" that they were watching. The half-hour series premiered on December 17, 1989 with "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", a Christmas special. "Some Enchanted Evening" was the first full-length episode produced, but it did not broadcast until May 1990, as the last episode of the first season, because of animation problems.
The series quickly became a worldwide phenomenon, to the surprise of many. Groening said: "Nobody thought The Simpsons was going to be a big hit. It sneaked up on everybody." The Simpsons was co-developed by Groening, Brooks, and Sam Simon, a writer-producer with whom Brooks had worked on previous projects. Groening and Simon, however, did not get along and were often in conflict over the show; Groening once described their relationship as "very contentious." Simon eventually left the show in 1993 over creative differences.
Like the main family members, several characters from the show have names that were inspired by people, locations or films. The name "Wiggum" for police chief Chief Wiggum is Groening's mother's maiden name. The names of a few other characters were taken from major street names in Groening's hometown of Portland, Oregon, including Flanders, Lovejoy, Powell, Quimby and Kearney. Despite common fan belief that Sideshow Bob Terwilliger was named after SW Terwilliger Boulevard in Portland, he was actually named after the character Dr. Terwilliker from the film The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T.
Although Groening has pitched a number of spin-offs from The Simpsons, those attempts have been unsuccessful. In 1994, Groening and other Simpsons producers pitched a live-action spin-off about Krusty the Clown (with Dan Castellaneta playing the lead role), but were unsuccessful in getting it off the ground. Groening has also pitched "Young Homer" and a spin-off about the non-Simpsons citizens of Springfield.
In 1995, Groening got into a major disagreement with Brooks and other Simpsons producers over "A Star Is Burns", a crossover episode with The Critic, an animated show also produced by Brooks and staffed with many former Simpsons crew members. Groening claimed that he feared viewers would "see it as nothing but a pathetic attempt to advertise The Critic at the expense of The Simpsons," and was concerned about the possible implication that he had created or produced The Critic. He requested his name be taken off the episode.
Groening is credited with writing or co-writing the episodes "Some Enchanted Evening", "The Telltale Head", "Colonel Homer" and "22 Short Films About Springfield", as well as The Simpsons Movie, released in 2007. He has had several cameo appearances in the show, with a speaking role in the episode "My Big Fat Geek Wedding". He currently serves at The Simpsons as an executive producer and creative consultant.
Futurama
After spending a few years researching science fiction, Groening got together with Simpsons writer/producer David X. Cohen (known as David S. Cohen at the time) in 1997 and developed Futurama, an animated series about life in the year 3000. By the time they pitched the series to Fox in April 1998, Groening and Cohen had composed many characters and storylines; Groening claimed they had gone "overboard" in their discussions. Groening described trying to get the show on the air as "by far the worst experience of [his] grown-up life." The show premiered on March 28, 1999. Groening's writing credits for the show are for the premiere episode, "Space Pilot 3000" (co-written with Cohen), "Rebirth" (story) and "In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela" (story).
After four years on the air, the show was canceled by Fox. In a situation similar to Family Guy, however, strong DVD sales and very stable ratings on Adult Swim brought Futurama back to life. When Comedy Central began negotiating for the rights to air Futurama reruns, Fox suggested that there was a possibility of also creating new episodes. When Comedy Central committed to sixteen new episodes, it was decided that four straight-to-DVD films – Bender's Big Score (2007), The Beast with a Billion Backs (2008), Bender's Game (2008) and Into the Wild Green Yonder (2009) – would be produced.
Since no new Futurama projects were in production, the movie Into the Wild Green Yonder was designed to stand as the Futurama series finale. However, Groening had expressed a desire to continue the Futurama franchise in some form, including as a theatrical film. In an interview with CNN, Groening said that "we have a great relationship with Comedy Central and we would love to do more episodes for them, but I don't know... We're having discussions and there is some enthusiasm but I can't tell if it's just me". Comedy Central commissioned an additional 26 new episodes, and began airing them in 2010. The show continued in to 2013, before Comedy Central announced in April 2013 that they would not be renewing it beyond its seventh season. The final episode aired on September 4, 2013.
On February 9, 2022, the series was revived at Hulu, set for a 2023 release.
Disenchantment
On January 15, 2016, it was announced that Groening was in talks with Netflix to develop a new animated series. On July 25, 2017 the series, Disenchantment, was ordered by Netflix. The first ten episodes premiered on the streaming service in August 2018, with the remaining ten episodes of the initial order scheduled to air in September 2019. Netflix has renewed the series for twenty additional episodes, which are expected to debut in ten-episode batches in 2020 and 2021.
Groening described the fantasy-oriented series as originating in a sketchbook full of "fantastic creatures we couldn't do on The Simpsons." The show's cast includes Abbi Jacobson, Eric Andre, and Nat Faxon.
Other pursuits
In 1994, Groening formed Bongo Comics (named after the character Bongo from Life in Hell) with Steve Vance, Cindy Vance and Bill Morrison, which publishes comic books based on The Simpsons and Futurama (including Futurama Simpsons Infinitely Secret Crossover Crisis, a crossover between the two), as well as a few original titles. According to Groening, the goal with Bongo is to "[try] to bring humor into the fairly grim comic book market." He also formed Zongo Comics in 1995, an imprint of Bongo that published comics for more mature readers, which included three issues of Mary Fleener's Fleener and seven issues of his close friend Gary Panter's Jimbo comics.
Groening is known for his eclectic taste in music. His favorite artist is Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention and his favorite album is Trout Mask Replica by Captain Beefheart (which was produced by Zappa). He guest-edited Da Capo Press's Best Music Writing 2003 and curated a US All Tomorrow's Parties music festival in 2003. He illustrated the cover of Frank Zappa's posthumous album Frank Zappa Plays the Music of Frank Zappa: A Memorial Tribute (1996). In May 2010, he curated another edition of All Tomorrow's Parties in Minehead, England. He also plays the drums in the all-author rock and roll band The Rock Bottom Remainders (although he is listed as the cowbell player), whose other members include Dave Barry, Ridley Pearson, Scott Turow, Amy Tan, James McBride, Mitch Albom, Roy Blount Jr., Stephen King, Kathi Kamen Goldmark, Sam Barry and Greg Iles. In July 2013, Groening co-authored Hard Listening (2013) with the rest of the Rock Bottom Remainders (published by Coliloquy, LLC).
Personal life
Groening and Deborah Caplan married in 1986 and had two sons together, Homer (who goes by Will) and Abe, both of whom Groening occasionally portrays as rabbits in Life in Hell. The couple divorced in 1999.
In 2011, Groening married Argentine artist Agustina Picasso after a four-year relationship, and became stepfather to her daughter Camila Costantini. In May 2013, Picasso gave birth to Nathaniel Philip Picasso Groening, named after writer Nathanael West. She joked that "his godfather is SpongeBob's creator Stephen Hillenburg". In 2015, Groening's daughters Luna Margaret and India Mia were born. On June 16, 2018, he became the father of twins for a second time when his wife gave birth to Sol Matthew and Venus Ruth, announced via Instagram.
Matt is the brother-in-law of Hey Arnold!, Dinosaur Train and Ready Jet Go! creator, Craig Bartlett, who is married to Groening's sister, Lisa. Bartlett used to appear in Simpsons Illustrated.
Groening is a self-identified agnostic.
Groening was mentioned in a lawsuit by Virginia Giuffre over allegedly being forced by sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein to massage his Groening's feet while on Epstein's jet in 2001.
Politics
Groening has made a number of campaign contributions, all towards Democratic Party candidates and organizations. He has donated money to the unsuccessful presidential campaigns of Democratic candidates Al Gore in 2000 and John Kerry in 2004, as well as previously donating to Kerry's Massachusetts senator campaign. Groening also collectively donated to the Democratic senatorial campaign committee and to the Senate campaigns of Barbara Boxer (California), Dianne Feinstein (California), Paul Simon (Illinois), Ted Kennedy (Massachusetts), Carl Levin (Michigan), Hillary Clinton (New York), Harvey Gantt (North Carolina), Horward Metzenbaum (Ohio), and Tom Bruggere (Oregon). He also donated to the now-defunct Hollywood Women's Political Committee, which supported and campaigned for the Democratic Party. His first cousin, Laurie Monnes Anderson, was a member of the Oregon State Senate, representing eastern Multnomah County.
Filmography
Film
Television
Video games
Music video
Theme park
Awards
Groening has been nominated for 41 Emmy Awards and has won thirteen, eleven for The Simpsons and two for Futurama in the "Outstanding Animated Program (for programming one hour or less)" category. Groening received the 2002 National Cartoonist Society Reuben Award, and had been nominated for the same award in 2000. He received a British Comedy Award for "outstanding contribution to comedy" in 2004. In 2007, he was ranked fourth (and highest American by birth) in a list of the "top 100 living geniuses", published by British newspaper The Daily Telegraph.
He was awarded the Inkpot Award in 1988.
He received the 2,459th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on February 14, 2012.
Bibliography
Groening, Matt (1977–2012). Life in Hell
Love Is Hell (1986)
Work Is Hell (1986)
School Is Hell (1987)
Box Full of Hell (1988)
Childhood Is Hell (1988)
Greetings from Hell (1989)
Akbar and Jeff's Guide to Life (1989)
The Big Book of Hell (1990)
With Love from Hell (1991)
How to Go to Hell (1991)
The Road to Hell (1992)
Binky's Guide to Love (1994)
Love Is Hell: Special Ultra Jumbo 10th Anniversary Edition (1994)
The Huge Book of Hell (1997)
Will and Abe's Guide to the Universe (2007)
References
External links
1954 births
Living people
Album-cover and concert-poster artists
Alternative cartoonists
American agnostics
American comic strip cartoonists
American male television writers
American people of Canadian descent
American Mennonites
American people of Norwegian descent
American satirists
American male screenwriters
American television producers
American television writers
Animators from Oregon
Annie Award winners
Artists from Portland, Oregon
Evergreen State College alumni
Inkpot Award winners
Lincoln High School (Portland, Oregon) alumni
Mennonite writers
Oregon Democrats
Peabody Award winners
Primetime Emmy Award winners
Reuben Award winners
Rock Bottom Remainders members
Screenwriters from Oregon
Showrunners
Writers from Portland, Oregon | true | [
"The Verse of Loan (, ) is verse 282 in chapter Al-Baqara (Q2:282). This verse is the longest verse at the longest chapter in Quran. The concept of borrowing was explained in the verse.\n\nText and meaning\n\n[] \n²⁸² O you who have believed, when you contract a debt for a specified term, write it down. \n\n[] \nAnd let a scribe write [it] between you in justice. \n\n[] \nLet no scribe refuse to write as has taught him. \n\n[] \nSo let him write and let the one who has the obligation [i.e., the debtor] dictate. And let him fear , his Lord, and not leave anything out of it. \n\n[] \nBut if the one who has the obligation is of limited understanding or weak or unable to dictate himself, then let his guardian dictate in justice. \n\n[] \nAnd bring to witness two witnesses from among your men. \n\n[] \nAnd if there are not two men [available], then a man and two women from those whom you accept as witnesses – so that if one of them [i.e., the women] errs, then the other can remind her. \n\n[] \nAnd let not the witnesses refuse when they are called upon. \n\n[] \nAnd do not be [too] weary to write it, whether it is small or large, for its [specified] term. \n \n[] \nThat is more just in the sight of and stronger as evidence and more likely to prevent doubt between you, \n\n[] \nexcept when it is an immediate transaction which you conduct among yourselves. For [then] there is no blame upon you if you do not write it. \n\n[] \nAnd take witnesses when you conclude a contract. \n\n[] \nLet no scribe be harmed or any witness. \n\n[] \nFor if you do so, indeed, it is [grave] disobedience in you. \n\n[] \nAnd fear . \n \n[] \nAnd teaches you. \n\n[] \nAnd Allāh is Knowing of all things.\n\nMeaning\n O you who believe! When you contract a debt for a fixed period, write it down. Let a scribe write it down in justice between you. Let not the scribe refuse to write as Allah has taught him, so let him write. Let him (the debtor) who incurs the liability dictate, and he must fear Allah, his Lord, and diminish not anything of what he owes. But if the debtor is of poor understanding, or weak, or is unable himself to dictate, then let his guardian dictate in justice. And get two witnesses out of your own men. And if there are not two men (available), then a man and two women, such as you agree for witnesses, so that if one of them (two women) errs, the other can remind her. And the witnesses should not refuse when they are called on (for evidence). You should not become weary to write it (your contract), whether it be small or big, for its fixed term, that is more just with Allah; more solid as evidence, and more convenient to prevent doubts among yourselves, save when it is a present trade which you carry out on the spot among yourselves, then there is no sin on you if you do not write it down. But take witnesses whenever you make a commercial contract. Let neither scribe nor witness suffer any harm, but if you do (such harm), it would be wickedness in you. So be afraid of Allah; and Allah teaches you. And Allah is the All-Knower of each and everything.\n\nSee also \n Qard al-Hasan\n The verse of Ikmal al-Din\n The verse of Wilayah\n The warning verse\n Verse of brotherhood\n The verse of purification\n Muhammad in the Quran\n The verse of evil eye\n The obedience verse\n The verse of Mawadda\n\nReferences \n\nQuranic verses\nIslamic ethics\nShia Islam\nSunni Islam\nSharia\nAl-Baqara",
"I'd Do Anything may refer to:\nI'd Do Anything (2004 TV series), a 2004 American reality series that aired on ESPN\nI'd Do Anything (2008 TV series), a 2008 talent show-themed television series that aired on the BBC\n\"I'd Do Anything\" (Oliver! song), from the musical Oliver!\n\"I'd Do Anything\" (Simple Plan song)\n\"I'd Do Anything\" (Dead or Alive song)"
]
|
[
"Robert Todd Carroll",
"Views on religion"
]
| C_46925cfff01d4cb695410ce27ce4cfbc_0 | What did Carroll think about religion? | 1 | What did Robert Todd Carroll think about religion? | Robert Todd Carroll | Carroll did not believe in an omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent god. However, in his essay "Why I am not an atheist", Carroll described his dislike of the term "atheist" because he feels that the term is being exploited by theists and used as a straw man argument. He felt that the term implies a dogmatic set of beliefs and carries its own share of negative baggage. So, Carroll suggested that atheists might as well adopt the term "Brights" with all its negative connotations. The only religion that Carroll found attractive after abandoning Catholicism, despite never following it, is Buddhism as taught by the Dalai Lama. Carroll has always maintained the opinion that people have to be more skeptical of religion than they are now. He said in multiple interviews that religion is an area that skeptics don't target enough, and that pure faith is winning the race against critical thinking. Carroll tended to have a moderate outlook on religion. He believed that religion has a role to play in people's lives and he didn't condemn religion for terrorism. When asked about the relationship between violence and religion he said that he can't recall anything negative about his religious upbringing, and that maybe Catholicism can provide more good than harm. He didn't believe religion causes wars, he rather believed that it serves as an excuse for people who will go to war regardless of religion's existence. Carroll believed that some people rely on religion as their only source of morality and as a source of comfort. However, he found it distressing that some people are unable to find meaning in their lives without religion. In an interview with Beyond a Doubt he said "There is nothing dull about a life without fairies, Easter bunnies, devils, ghosts, magic crystals, etc. Life is only boring to boring people." CANNOTANSWER | Carroll tended to have a moderate outlook on religion. He believed that religion has a role to play in people's lives and he didn't condemn religion for terrorism. | Robert Todd Carroll (May 18, 1945 – August 25, 2016) was an American writer and academic, best known for The Skeptic's Dictionary. In 2010 he was elected a fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. He described himself as a naturalist, an atheist, a materialist, a metaphysical libertarian, and a positivist.
His published books include Becoming a Critical Thinker; The Skeptic's Dictionary; The Skeptic's Dictionary for Kids; The Critical Thinker's Dictionary; Unnatural Acts: Critical Thinking, Skepticism, and Science Exposed!; The Commonsense Philosophy of Religion of Edward Stillingfleet; Student Success Guide: Writing Skills and Student Success Guide: Reading Skills.
He was a professor of philosophy at Sacramento City College from 1977 until his retirement in 2007.
Life
Carroll was born in Joliet, Illinois, on May 18, 1945. His father worked in a coal processing plant. In 1954 the family moved to San Diego, where Carroll grew up. He described his early years in Ocean Beach as an ideal childhood. He was raised Catholic.
Carroll went to the University of San Diego High School and then received a Catholic education in the University of Notre Dame. He went into seminary in Notre Dame, but after a short time he left, in 1965, and went back to San Diego. Carroll earned his Ph.D. in philosophy in 1974 at the University of California, San Diego, writing his doctoral thesis under the direction of Richard H. Popkin on the religious philosophy of Edward Stillingfleet, who had defended the Anglican church passionately against Catholics, deists and atheists before becoming Bishop of Worcester. Carroll's thesis was published in 1975. By then Carroll was married, with two daughters. The new family moved to Susanville, California, where he started teaching philosophy at Lassen Community College. He later moved to the Sacramento area and from 1977 lived in Davis.
Carroll said he never went through a religious deconversion moment but instead had a long journey to disbelief. He first started doubting Catholicism, he said, when he went into seminary in Notre Dame. After leaving the seminary he became intrigued by eastern religions and, inspired by Alan Watts, started looking at their holy books. Carroll became interested in Paramahansa Yogananda and attended meetings of his Self-Realization Fellowship to do yoga and chanting. At the time, he identified as agnostic. After leaving the Fellowship, he said, he spent years thinking about his religion. He later said, "The more I thought about religious ideas, the more false and absurd they seem to me." Carroll took up Kierkegaard's idea that religious beliefs require a leap of faith because they cannot be rationally proven. But Carroll decided to leap in the other direction. He said he "found many reasons for disbelief and absolutely no reasons for belief."
In May 2014, Carroll was diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic neuroendocrine cancer and liver metastasis. In May 2016 he announced he would no longer be able to write the Skeptic's Dictionary monthly newsletter on account of his illness. On August 25, 2016, Carroll died in a local hospital in Davis, California. He was survived by his wife and his two daughters and two grandchildren.
Career
Professor
Carroll started teaching philosophy part time at Lassen Community College. Then he taught philosophy of religion at American River College for two years. Thereafter he taught full time at Sacramento City College, where from 1977 through 2007 he taught introductory philosophy; logic and critical reasoning; law, justice, and punishment; and critical thinking about the paranormal. For several years he served as chairman of the philosophy department.
Writer
Drawing on his classwork, Carroll wrote Becoming a Critical Thinker: A Guide for a New Millennium, an introductory textbook for logic and critical thinking. Pearson Educational published the first edition in 2000. A second edition was published in 2005.
In 2003 John Wiley & Son published a paperback edition of The Skeptic's Dictionary, derived from Carroll's website of the same name. The book provides essays on subjects Carroll considered supernatural, occult, paranormal, or pseudoscientific. He assumed that something is false until proven otherwise. In the last chapter, Carroll offered ways to improve critical thinking and skepticism. The book is also available in Dutch, English, Japanese, Korean, and Russian.
In 2011 Carroll published online a children's version of The Skeptic's Dictionary. In 2013, it came out as a book under the title Mysteries and Science: Exploring Aliens, Ghosts, Monsters, the End of the World and Other Weird Things. Carroll also wrote Unnatural Acts: Critical Thinking, Skepticism, and Science Exposed!, which was published as an e-book in 2011 by the James Randi Educational Foundation. A paperback version is available from Lulu. In 2013 Carroll also published The Critical Thinker's Dictionary, which features short articles about cognitive biases and logical fallacies.
Skeptic
Carroll said he had been investigating controversial beliefs since he was seven years old when he had doubts about Santa Claus. Carroll described the importance of critical thinking and open-mindedness thus:
"If you are willing to be open minded, accept that reasonable probabilities rather than absolute certainties are the best information in many things that matter, and hold your most precious beliefs tentatively, then you can overcome some of the hindrances to critical thinking at least some of the time. And also that one's world view can be a major hindrance to being fair-minded. The minimum requirement of fair-mindedness is a willingness to take seriously viewpoints opposed to your own. In other words, you have to be willing to admit that you are wrong. Or that you might be wrong."
Carroll started writing skeptical content in 1992, when both his best friend and his father-in-law died within the same week. He later said, "It was like the deaths of these two people had forced me to start looking at everything and not take anything for granted."
After Carroll and his wife attended free training in 1994 in which they learned about the Internet and HTML code, Carroll started the Skeptic's Dictionary website (skepdic.com) with ten articles written for his students and expanded it from there. Although the website was a one-man project, volunteers later assisted in editing it and translated it into more than a dozen languages. The Skeptic's Dictionary, Carroll said, was inspired by Pierre Bayle's Historical and Critical Dictionary in both its name and its biased stance.
Carroll created skeptical blogs such as Mass Media Bunk and Mass Media Funk (they were replaced by Skeptimedia in 2007). In addition to skepdic.com, he also maintained blogs at Skeptimedia and Suburban Myths.
On March 27, 2012, Carroll began a regular segment on the podcast Skepticality entitled Unnatural Virtue in which he commented on topics in critical thinking and skepticism. The segment ran for thirty-one episodes, until April 29, 2014.
Carroll spoke at several skeptic conferences. In 2003 he spoke at the first Amaz!ng Meeting and at a conference of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal on frauds and hoaxes. In 2004 he spoke to the Irish Skeptics in Dublin. In 2007 he conducted a critical-thinking workshop at the 5th Amazing Meeting. In 2011 he led a discussion on "Five Myths About Skeptics" at the second annual SkeptiCalCon event, held in Berkeley, CA.
He was also interviewed by groups promoting scientific skepticism, such as the New England Skeptical Society and Media Man Australia. In January 2010 he was elected a Fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.
In an interview with Point of Inquiry's Karen Stollznow, Carroll said he did not earn much money from his skeptical work: "If we talk about the money we make from skepticism we might set a record for the shortest interview ever." But everybody should be a skeptic, he said, because it is a healthy way of approaching life. He said that skeptics' meetups and conferences, as well as the positive feedback he received on his work, were his main motivations.
Criticism
Richard Milton
After Carroll published a piece online labelling Richard Milton's writings on alternative science "Internet Bunk," Milton responded by accusing Carroll of being a "pseudo-skeptic" and said that Carroll had fabricated quotations and misrepresented his arguments. Carroll replied to these accusations in an addendum to his piece.
Rupert Sheldrake
Carroll wrote two Skeptic's Dictionary entries that criticize Rupert Sheldrake's ideas. The first criticized Sheldrake's N'kisi Project, a set of experiments meant to test the possibility of a telepathic link between N'kisi (a grey parrot) and its owner, Aimee Morgana. Carroll charged that when calculating the statistical significance of the parrot's responses, Sheldrake had omitted 60% of the data. Carroll also criticized Jane Goodall for her involvement in the Project. The second entry challenged Sheldrake's morphic resonance idea, in which Sheldrake proposed that, in addition to genetic influences, a "morphogenetic field" for each species evolves similarly to how the species' genes might evolve, that these fields organize the nervous system's activity and can act as a collective memory for the whole species, and that these fields get passed down into the species.
Sheldrake replied to Carroll's criticism by defending his own arguments and accusing Carroll of committing several logical fallacies, including using false dilemmas and misrepresenting Sheldrake's position. He also criticized The Skeptic's Dictionary, claiming that it would not survive had it been subject to independent peer reviews.
Publications
Becoming a Critical Thinker – A Guide for the New Millennium, 2nd ed., .
"Unnatural Acts: Critical Thinking, Skepticism, and Science Exposed!", Los Angeles: James Randi Educational Foundation, 2011, .
the Skeptic's Dictionary: A Collection of Strange Beliefs, Amusing Deceptions, and Dangerous Delusions, New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2003, .
The Common-sense Philosophy of Religion of Bishop Edward Stillingfleet 1635–1699, . (1974 doctoral dissertation, under the direction of Richard Popkin, University of California at San Diego).
References
External links
The Skeptic's Dictionary
1945 births
2016 deaths
American philosophers
American skeptics
Critics of alternative medicine
Critics of parapsychology
Writers from Joliet, Illinois
Writers from San Diego
University of California, San Diego alumni
Former Roman Catholics | false | [
"Alfred Henry Carroll (March 2, 1846 — June 9, 1924) was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1903 to 1914, as a member of the Conservative Party.\n\nEarly life\nCarroll was born in the township of West Zorra, Oxford County, Canada West (now Ontario), the son of Daniel Carroll. He was educated at Woodstock, and first worked in the lumbering trade in Virginia. Carroll next was a merchant in Walkerton, Ontario.\n\nCareer\nHe was first elected to the Manitoba legislature in the 1903 provincial election, defeating Liberal candidate John Watson by twelve votes in South Brandon. The Conservatives won this election, and Carroll served in the legislature as a backbench supporter of Rodmond Roblin's administration.\n\nHe was re-elected by nine votes in the 1907 election, and by ten votes in 1910. He did not seek re-election in 1914.\n\nPersonal life\nHe married Mary Ellen Dent in 1877. In 1881, he came to Manitoba, where he was a farmer. Carroll served as a councillor and reeve for the Rural Municipality of Oakland. In religion, he was a member of the Church of England.\n\nDeath\nIn 1915, Carroll moved to Beachville, Ontario, where he died at the age of 78.\n\nReferences\n\n1846 births\n1924 deaths\nProgressive Conservative Party of Manitoba MLAs\nPeople from Oxford County, Ontario",
"Stuart Carroll is professor of history at the University of York. He won the J. Russell Major Prize of the American Historical Association in 2011 for the best French history book of the year for his Martyrs and Murderers: The Guise Family and the Making of Europe (2009).\n\nCarroll did his BA at the University of Bristol and PhD at the University of London.\n\nSelected publications\nMartyrs and Murderers: The Guise Family and the Making of Europe. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009.\nCultures of Violence: Interpersonal Violence in Historical Perspective (editor). Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.\nBlood and Violence in Early Modern France. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.\nNoble Power during the French Wars of Religion: the Guise Affinity and the Catholic Cause in Normandy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nStuart Carroll on Homicide and the Civilizing Process.\nStrata: Stuart Carroll.\n\nAcademics of the University of York\nLiving people\nBritish historians\nAlumni of the University of London\nAlumni of the University of Bristol\nYear of birth missing (living people)"
]
|
[
"Robert Todd Carroll",
"Views on religion",
"What did Carroll think about religion?",
"Carroll tended to have a moderate outlook on religion. He believed that religion has a role to play in people's lives and he didn't condemn religion for terrorism."
]
| C_46925cfff01d4cb695410ce27ce4cfbc_0 | What is significant about his views? | 2 | What is significant about Robert Todd Carroll's views? | Robert Todd Carroll | Carroll did not believe in an omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent god. However, in his essay "Why I am not an atheist", Carroll described his dislike of the term "atheist" because he feels that the term is being exploited by theists and used as a straw man argument. He felt that the term implies a dogmatic set of beliefs and carries its own share of negative baggage. So, Carroll suggested that atheists might as well adopt the term "Brights" with all its negative connotations. The only religion that Carroll found attractive after abandoning Catholicism, despite never following it, is Buddhism as taught by the Dalai Lama. Carroll has always maintained the opinion that people have to be more skeptical of religion than they are now. He said in multiple interviews that religion is an area that skeptics don't target enough, and that pure faith is winning the race against critical thinking. Carroll tended to have a moderate outlook on religion. He believed that religion has a role to play in people's lives and he didn't condemn religion for terrorism. When asked about the relationship between violence and religion he said that he can't recall anything negative about his religious upbringing, and that maybe Catholicism can provide more good than harm. He didn't believe religion causes wars, he rather believed that it serves as an excuse for people who will go to war regardless of religion's existence. Carroll believed that some people rely on religion as their only source of morality and as a source of comfort. However, he found it distressing that some people are unable to find meaning in their lives without religion. In an interview with Beyond a Doubt he said "There is nothing dull about a life without fairies, Easter bunnies, devils, ghosts, magic crystals, etc. Life is only boring to boring people." CANNOTANSWER | He said in multiple interviews that religion is an area that skeptics don't target enough, and that pure faith is winning the race against critical thinking. | Robert Todd Carroll (May 18, 1945 – August 25, 2016) was an American writer and academic, best known for The Skeptic's Dictionary. In 2010 he was elected a fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. He described himself as a naturalist, an atheist, a materialist, a metaphysical libertarian, and a positivist.
His published books include Becoming a Critical Thinker; The Skeptic's Dictionary; The Skeptic's Dictionary for Kids; The Critical Thinker's Dictionary; Unnatural Acts: Critical Thinking, Skepticism, and Science Exposed!; The Commonsense Philosophy of Religion of Edward Stillingfleet; Student Success Guide: Writing Skills and Student Success Guide: Reading Skills.
He was a professor of philosophy at Sacramento City College from 1977 until his retirement in 2007.
Life
Carroll was born in Joliet, Illinois, on May 18, 1945. His father worked in a coal processing plant. In 1954 the family moved to San Diego, where Carroll grew up. He described his early years in Ocean Beach as an ideal childhood. He was raised Catholic.
Carroll went to the University of San Diego High School and then received a Catholic education in the University of Notre Dame. He went into seminary in Notre Dame, but after a short time he left, in 1965, and went back to San Diego. Carroll earned his Ph.D. in philosophy in 1974 at the University of California, San Diego, writing his doctoral thesis under the direction of Richard H. Popkin on the religious philosophy of Edward Stillingfleet, who had defended the Anglican church passionately against Catholics, deists and atheists before becoming Bishop of Worcester. Carroll's thesis was published in 1975. By then Carroll was married, with two daughters. The new family moved to Susanville, California, where he started teaching philosophy at Lassen Community College. He later moved to the Sacramento area and from 1977 lived in Davis.
Carroll said he never went through a religious deconversion moment but instead had a long journey to disbelief. He first started doubting Catholicism, he said, when he went into seminary in Notre Dame. After leaving the seminary he became intrigued by eastern religions and, inspired by Alan Watts, started looking at their holy books. Carroll became interested in Paramahansa Yogananda and attended meetings of his Self-Realization Fellowship to do yoga and chanting. At the time, he identified as agnostic. After leaving the Fellowship, he said, he spent years thinking about his religion. He later said, "The more I thought about religious ideas, the more false and absurd they seem to me." Carroll took up Kierkegaard's idea that religious beliefs require a leap of faith because they cannot be rationally proven. But Carroll decided to leap in the other direction. He said he "found many reasons for disbelief and absolutely no reasons for belief."
In May 2014, Carroll was diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic neuroendocrine cancer and liver metastasis. In May 2016 he announced he would no longer be able to write the Skeptic's Dictionary monthly newsletter on account of his illness. On August 25, 2016, Carroll died in a local hospital in Davis, California. He was survived by his wife and his two daughters and two grandchildren.
Career
Professor
Carroll started teaching philosophy part time at Lassen Community College. Then he taught philosophy of religion at American River College for two years. Thereafter he taught full time at Sacramento City College, where from 1977 through 2007 he taught introductory philosophy; logic and critical reasoning; law, justice, and punishment; and critical thinking about the paranormal. For several years he served as chairman of the philosophy department.
Writer
Drawing on his classwork, Carroll wrote Becoming a Critical Thinker: A Guide for a New Millennium, an introductory textbook for logic and critical thinking. Pearson Educational published the first edition in 2000. A second edition was published in 2005.
In 2003 John Wiley & Son published a paperback edition of The Skeptic's Dictionary, derived from Carroll's website of the same name. The book provides essays on subjects Carroll considered supernatural, occult, paranormal, or pseudoscientific. He assumed that something is false until proven otherwise. In the last chapter, Carroll offered ways to improve critical thinking and skepticism. The book is also available in Dutch, English, Japanese, Korean, and Russian.
In 2011 Carroll published online a children's version of The Skeptic's Dictionary. In 2013, it came out as a book under the title Mysteries and Science: Exploring Aliens, Ghosts, Monsters, the End of the World and Other Weird Things. Carroll also wrote Unnatural Acts: Critical Thinking, Skepticism, and Science Exposed!, which was published as an e-book in 2011 by the James Randi Educational Foundation. A paperback version is available from Lulu. In 2013 Carroll also published The Critical Thinker's Dictionary, which features short articles about cognitive biases and logical fallacies.
Skeptic
Carroll said he had been investigating controversial beliefs since he was seven years old when he had doubts about Santa Claus. Carroll described the importance of critical thinking and open-mindedness thus:
"If you are willing to be open minded, accept that reasonable probabilities rather than absolute certainties are the best information in many things that matter, and hold your most precious beliefs tentatively, then you can overcome some of the hindrances to critical thinking at least some of the time. And also that one's world view can be a major hindrance to being fair-minded. The minimum requirement of fair-mindedness is a willingness to take seriously viewpoints opposed to your own. In other words, you have to be willing to admit that you are wrong. Or that you might be wrong."
Carroll started writing skeptical content in 1992, when both his best friend and his father-in-law died within the same week. He later said, "It was like the deaths of these two people had forced me to start looking at everything and not take anything for granted."
After Carroll and his wife attended free training in 1994 in which they learned about the Internet and HTML code, Carroll started the Skeptic's Dictionary website (skepdic.com) with ten articles written for his students and expanded it from there. Although the website was a one-man project, volunteers later assisted in editing it and translated it into more than a dozen languages. The Skeptic's Dictionary, Carroll said, was inspired by Pierre Bayle's Historical and Critical Dictionary in both its name and its biased stance.
Carroll created skeptical blogs such as Mass Media Bunk and Mass Media Funk (they were replaced by Skeptimedia in 2007). In addition to skepdic.com, he also maintained blogs at Skeptimedia and Suburban Myths.
On March 27, 2012, Carroll began a regular segment on the podcast Skepticality entitled Unnatural Virtue in which he commented on topics in critical thinking and skepticism. The segment ran for thirty-one episodes, until April 29, 2014.
Carroll spoke at several skeptic conferences. In 2003 he spoke at the first Amaz!ng Meeting and at a conference of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal on frauds and hoaxes. In 2004 he spoke to the Irish Skeptics in Dublin. In 2007 he conducted a critical-thinking workshop at the 5th Amazing Meeting. In 2011 he led a discussion on "Five Myths About Skeptics" at the second annual SkeptiCalCon event, held in Berkeley, CA.
He was also interviewed by groups promoting scientific skepticism, such as the New England Skeptical Society and Media Man Australia. In January 2010 he was elected a Fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.
In an interview with Point of Inquiry's Karen Stollznow, Carroll said he did not earn much money from his skeptical work: "If we talk about the money we make from skepticism we might set a record for the shortest interview ever." But everybody should be a skeptic, he said, because it is a healthy way of approaching life. He said that skeptics' meetups and conferences, as well as the positive feedback he received on his work, were his main motivations.
Criticism
Richard Milton
After Carroll published a piece online labelling Richard Milton's writings on alternative science "Internet Bunk," Milton responded by accusing Carroll of being a "pseudo-skeptic" and said that Carroll had fabricated quotations and misrepresented his arguments. Carroll replied to these accusations in an addendum to his piece.
Rupert Sheldrake
Carroll wrote two Skeptic's Dictionary entries that criticize Rupert Sheldrake's ideas. The first criticized Sheldrake's N'kisi Project, a set of experiments meant to test the possibility of a telepathic link between N'kisi (a grey parrot) and its owner, Aimee Morgana. Carroll charged that when calculating the statistical significance of the parrot's responses, Sheldrake had omitted 60% of the data. Carroll also criticized Jane Goodall for her involvement in the Project. The second entry challenged Sheldrake's morphic resonance idea, in which Sheldrake proposed that, in addition to genetic influences, a "morphogenetic field" for each species evolves similarly to how the species' genes might evolve, that these fields organize the nervous system's activity and can act as a collective memory for the whole species, and that these fields get passed down into the species.
Sheldrake replied to Carroll's criticism by defending his own arguments and accusing Carroll of committing several logical fallacies, including using false dilemmas and misrepresenting Sheldrake's position. He also criticized The Skeptic's Dictionary, claiming that it would not survive had it been subject to independent peer reviews.
Publications
Becoming a Critical Thinker – A Guide for the New Millennium, 2nd ed., .
"Unnatural Acts: Critical Thinking, Skepticism, and Science Exposed!", Los Angeles: James Randi Educational Foundation, 2011, .
the Skeptic's Dictionary: A Collection of Strange Beliefs, Amusing Deceptions, and Dangerous Delusions, New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2003, .
The Common-sense Philosophy of Religion of Bishop Edward Stillingfleet 1635–1699, . (1974 doctoral dissertation, under the direction of Richard Popkin, University of California at San Diego).
References
External links
The Skeptic's Dictionary
1945 births
2016 deaths
American philosophers
American skeptics
Critics of alternative medicine
Critics of parapsychology
Writers from Joliet, Illinois
Writers from San Diego
University of California, San Diego alumni
Former Roman Catholics | false | [
"In Buddhism, unanswered questions or undeclared questions (Sanskrit: , Pali: - \"unfathomable, unexpounded\") are a set of common philosophical questions that Buddha refused to answer, according to Buddhist texts. The Pali texts give only ten, the Sanskrit texts fourteen questions.\n\nFourteen questions\n1. Is the world eternal?\n\n2. ...or not?\n\n3. ...or both?\n\n4. ...or neither?\n\n(Pali texts omit \"both\" and \"neither\")\n\n5. Is the world finite?\n\n6. ...or not?\n\n7. ...or both?\n\n8. ...or neither?\n\n(Pali texts omit \"both\" and \"neither\")\n\n9. Is the self identical with the body?\n\n10. ...or is it different from the body?\n\n11. Does the Tathagata (Buddha) exist after death?\n\n12. ...or not?\n\n13. ...or both?\n\n14. ...or neither?\n\nPali Canon\nMajjhima Nikaya 63 and 72 in the Pali Canon contain a list of ten unanswered questions about certain views (ditthi):\n\nThe world is eternal.\nThe world is not eternal.\nThe world is (spatially) infinite.\nThe world is not (spatially) infinite.\nThe being imbued with a life force is identical with the body.\nThe being imbued with a life force is not identical with the body.\nThe Tathagata (a perfectly enlightened being) exists after death.\nThe Tathagata does not exist after death.\nThe Tathagata both exists and does not exist after death.\nThe Tathagata neither exists nor does not exist after death.\n\nSabbasava-Sutta\nThe Sabbasava Sutta (Majjhima Nikaya 2) also mentions 16 questions which are seen as \"unwise reflection\" and lead to attachment to views relating to a self.\n\nWhat am I?\nHow am I?\nAm I?\nAm I not?\nDid I exist in the past?\nDid I not exist in the past?\nWhat was I in the past?\nHow was I in the past?\nHaving been what, did I become what in the past?\nShall I exist in future?\nShall I not exist in future?\nWhat shall I be in future?\nHow shall I be in future?\nHaving been what, shall I become what in future?\nWhence came this person?\nWhither will he go?\n\nThe Buddha states that it is unwise to be attached to both views of having and perceiving a self and views about not having a self. Any view which sees the self as \"permanent, stable, everlasting, unchanging, remaining the same for ever and ever\" is \"becoming enmeshed in views, a jungle of views, a wilderness of views; scuffling in views, the agitation (struggle) of views, the fetter of views.\"\n\nSee also\nNoble Silence\nSimilarities between Pyrrhonism and Buddhism\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nKaccayanagotta Sutta: To Kaccayana Gotta (on Right View)\nCula-Malunkyovada Sutta: The Shorter Instructions to Malunkya\nAggi-Vacchagotta Sutta: To Vacchagotta on Fire\nPeter Della Santina, The Tree of Enlightenment: An Introduction to the Major Traditions of Buddhism, Philosophy and Psychology in the Abhidharma\nText of the Cula Malunkyaputta Sutta\n\nFurther reading\nKarunadasa, Yakupitiyage (2007). The Unanswered Questions: Why were They Unanswered? A Re-examination of the Textual Data, Pacific World: Third Series 9, 3-31 \nNicholson, Hugh (2012). Unanswered Questions and the Limits of Knowledge, Journal of Indian Philosophy 40 (5), 533-552\n\nBuddhist cosmology",
"What is truth may refer to:\n\nJohn 18:38, a verse from the Bible, also known as \"What is truth?\"\nEdi Nijam, a 1965 Telugu film whose English title is What is Truth\n\"What Is Truth\", a 1970 single by Johnny Cash\nWhat is Truth?, a 1976 book by philosopher C. J. F. Williams\n\nSee also\nTruth\nReligious views on truth"
]
|
[
"Robert Todd Carroll",
"Views on religion",
"What did Carroll think about religion?",
"Carroll tended to have a moderate outlook on religion. He believed that religion has a role to play in people's lives and he didn't condemn religion for terrorism.",
"What is significant about his views?",
"He said in multiple interviews that religion is an area that skeptics don't target enough, and that pure faith is winning the race against critical thinking."
]
| C_46925cfff01d4cb695410ce27ce4cfbc_0 | What else did he say about religion? | 3 | What else did Robert Todd Carroll say about religion other than not being targeted by skeptics enough and Robert's moderate outlook? | Robert Todd Carroll | Carroll did not believe in an omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent god. However, in his essay "Why I am not an atheist", Carroll described his dislike of the term "atheist" because he feels that the term is being exploited by theists and used as a straw man argument. He felt that the term implies a dogmatic set of beliefs and carries its own share of negative baggage. So, Carroll suggested that atheists might as well adopt the term "Brights" with all its negative connotations. The only religion that Carroll found attractive after abandoning Catholicism, despite never following it, is Buddhism as taught by the Dalai Lama. Carroll has always maintained the opinion that people have to be more skeptical of religion than they are now. He said in multiple interviews that religion is an area that skeptics don't target enough, and that pure faith is winning the race against critical thinking. Carroll tended to have a moderate outlook on religion. He believed that religion has a role to play in people's lives and he didn't condemn religion for terrorism. When asked about the relationship between violence and religion he said that he can't recall anything negative about his religious upbringing, and that maybe Catholicism can provide more good than harm. He didn't believe religion causes wars, he rather believed that it serves as an excuse for people who will go to war regardless of religion's existence. Carroll believed that some people rely on religion as their only source of morality and as a source of comfort. However, he found it distressing that some people are unable to find meaning in their lives without religion. In an interview with Beyond a Doubt he said "There is nothing dull about a life without fairies, Easter bunnies, devils, ghosts, magic crystals, etc. Life is only boring to boring people." CANNOTANSWER | He didn't believe religion causes wars, he rather believed that it serves as an excuse for people who will go to war regardless of religion's existence. | Robert Todd Carroll (May 18, 1945 – August 25, 2016) was an American writer and academic, best known for The Skeptic's Dictionary. In 2010 he was elected a fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. He described himself as a naturalist, an atheist, a materialist, a metaphysical libertarian, and a positivist.
His published books include Becoming a Critical Thinker; The Skeptic's Dictionary; The Skeptic's Dictionary for Kids; The Critical Thinker's Dictionary; Unnatural Acts: Critical Thinking, Skepticism, and Science Exposed!; The Commonsense Philosophy of Religion of Edward Stillingfleet; Student Success Guide: Writing Skills and Student Success Guide: Reading Skills.
He was a professor of philosophy at Sacramento City College from 1977 until his retirement in 2007.
Life
Carroll was born in Joliet, Illinois, on May 18, 1945. His father worked in a coal processing plant. In 1954 the family moved to San Diego, where Carroll grew up. He described his early years in Ocean Beach as an ideal childhood. He was raised Catholic.
Carroll went to the University of San Diego High School and then received a Catholic education in the University of Notre Dame. He went into seminary in Notre Dame, but after a short time he left, in 1965, and went back to San Diego. Carroll earned his Ph.D. in philosophy in 1974 at the University of California, San Diego, writing his doctoral thesis under the direction of Richard H. Popkin on the religious philosophy of Edward Stillingfleet, who had defended the Anglican church passionately against Catholics, deists and atheists before becoming Bishop of Worcester. Carroll's thesis was published in 1975. By then Carroll was married, with two daughters. The new family moved to Susanville, California, where he started teaching philosophy at Lassen Community College. He later moved to the Sacramento area and from 1977 lived in Davis.
Carroll said he never went through a religious deconversion moment but instead had a long journey to disbelief. He first started doubting Catholicism, he said, when he went into seminary in Notre Dame. After leaving the seminary he became intrigued by eastern religions and, inspired by Alan Watts, started looking at their holy books. Carroll became interested in Paramahansa Yogananda and attended meetings of his Self-Realization Fellowship to do yoga and chanting. At the time, he identified as agnostic. After leaving the Fellowship, he said, he spent years thinking about his religion. He later said, "The more I thought about religious ideas, the more false and absurd they seem to me." Carroll took up Kierkegaard's idea that religious beliefs require a leap of faith because they cannot be rationally proven. But Carroll decided to leap in the other direction. He said he "found many reasons for disbelief and absolutely no reasons for belief."
In May 2014, Carroll was diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic neuroendocrine cancer and liver metastasis. In May 2016 he announced he would no longer be able to write the Skeptic's Dictionary monthly newsletter on account of his illness. On August 25, 2016, Carroll died in a local hospital in Davis, California. He was survived by his wife and his two daughters and two grandchildren.
Career
Professor
Carroll started teaching philosophy part time at Lassen Community College. Then he taught philosophy of religion at American River College for two years. Thereafter he taught full time at Sacramento City College, where from 1977 through 2007 he taught introductory philosophy; logic and critical reasoning; law, justice, and punishment; and critical thinking about the paranormal. For several years he served as chairman of the philosophy department.
Writer
Drawing on his classwork, Carroll wrote Becoming a Critical Thinker: A Guide for a New Millennium, an introductory textbook for logic and critical thinking. Pearson Educational published the first edition in 2000. A second edition was published in 2005.
In 2003 John Wiley & Son published a paperback edition of The Skeptic's Dictionary, derived from Carroll's website of the same name. The book provides essays on subjects Carroll considered supernatural, occult, paranormal, or pseudoscientific. He assumed that something is false until proven otherwise. In the last chapter, Carroll offered ways to improve critical thinking and skepticism. The book is also available in Dutch, English, Japanese, Korean, and Russian.
In 2011 Carroll published online a children's version of The Skeptic's Dictionary. In 2013, it came out as a book under the title Mysteries and Science: Exploring Aliens, Ghosts, Monsters, the End of the World and Other Weird Things. Carroll also wrote Unnatural Acts: Critical Thinking, Skepticism, and Science Exposed!, which was published as an e-book in 2011 by the James Randi Educational Foundation. A paperback version is available from Lulu. In 2013 Carroll also published The Critical Thinker's Dictionary, which features short articles about cognitive biases and logical fallacies.
Skeptic
Carroll said he had been investigating controversial beliefs since he was seven years old when he had doubts about Santa Claus. Carroll described the importance of critical thinking and open-mindedness thus:
"If you are willing to be open minded, accept that reasonable probabilities rather than absolute certainties are the best information in many things that matter, and hold your most precious beliefs tentatively, then you can overcome some of the hindrances to critical thinking at least some of the time. And also that one's world view can be a major hindrance to being fair-minded. The minimum requirement of fair-mindedness is a willingness to take seriously viewpoints opposed to your own. In other words, you have to be willing to admit that you are wrong. Or that you might be wrong."
Carroll started writing skeptical content in 1992, when both his best friend and his father-in-law died within the same week. He later said, "It was like the deaths of these two people had forced me to start looking at everything and not take anything for granted."
After Carroll and his wife attended free training in 1994 in which they learned about the Internet and HTML code, Carroll started the Skeptic's Dictionary website (skepdic.com) with ten articles written for his students and expanded it from there. Although the website was a one-man project, volunteers later assisted in editing it and translated it into more than a dozen languages. The Skeptic's Dictionary, Carroll said, was inspired by Pierre Bayle's Historical and Critical Dictionary in both its name and its biased stance.
Carroll created skeptical blogs such as Mass Media Bunk and Mass Media Funk (they were replaced by Skeptimedia in 2007). In addition to skepdic.com, he also maintained blogs at Skeptimedia and Suburban Myths.
On March 27, 2012, Carroll began a regular segment on the podcast Skepticality entitled Unnatural Virtue in which he commented on topics in critical thinking and skepticism. The segment ran for thirty-one episodes, until April 29, 2014.
Carroll spoke at several skeptic conferences. In 2003 he spoke at the first Amaz!ng Meeting and at a conference of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal on frauds and hoaxes. In 2004 he spoke to the Irish Skeptics in Dublin. In 2007 he conducted a critical-thinking workshop at the 5th Amazing Meeting. In 2011 he led a discussion on "Five Myths About Skeptics" at the second annual SkeptiCalCon event, held in Berkeley, CA.
He was also interviewed by groups promoting scientific skepticism, such as the New England Skeptical Society and Media Man Australia. In January 2010 he was elected a Fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.
In an interview with Point of Inquiry's Karen Stollznow, Carroll said he did not earn much money from his skeptical work: "If we talk about the money we make from skepticism we might set a record for the shortest interview ever." But everybody should be a skeptic, he said, because it is a healthy way of approaching life. He said that skeptics' meetups and conferences, as well as the positive feedback he received on his work, were his main motivations.
Criticism
Richard Milton
After Carroll published a piece online labelling Richard Milton's writings on alternative science "Internet Bunk," Milton responded by accusing Carroll of being a "pseudo-skeptic" and said that Carroll had fabricated quotations and misrepresented his arguments. Carroll replied to these accusations in an addendum to his piece.
Rupert Sheldrake
Carroll wrote two Skeptic's Dictionary entries that criticize Rupert Sheldrake's ideas. The first criticized Sheldrake's N'kisi Project, a set of experiments meant to test the possibility of a telepathic link between N'kisi (a grey parrot) and its owner, Aimee Morgana. Carroll charged that when calculating the statistical significance of the parrot's responses, Sheldrake had omitted 60% of the data. Carroll also criticized Jane Goodall for her involvement in the Project. The second entry challenged Sheldrake's morphic resonance idea, in which Sheldrake proposed that, in addition to genetic influences, a "morphogenetic field" for each species evolves similarly to how the species' genes might evolve, that these fields organize the nervous system's activity and can act as a collective memory for the whole species, and that these fields get passed down into the species.
Sheldrake replied to Carroll's criticism by defending his own arguments and accusing Carroll of committing several logical fallacies, including using false dilemmas and misrepresenting Sheldrake's position. He also criticized The Skeptic's Dictionary, claiming that it would not survive had it been subject to independent peer reviews.
Publications
Becoming a Critical Thinker – A Guide for the New Millennium, 2nd ed., .
"Unnatural Acts: Critical Thinking, Skepticism, and Science Exposed!", Los Angeles: James Randi Educational Foundation, 2011, .
the Skeptic's Dictionary: A Collection of Strange Beliefs, Amusing Deceptions, and Dangerous Delusions, New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2003, .
The Common-sense Philosophy of Religion of Bishop Edward Stillingfleet 1635–1699, . (1974 doctoral dissertation, under the direction of Richard Popkin, University of California at San Diego).
References
External links
The Skeptic's Dictionary
1945 births
2016 deaths
American philosophers
American skeptics
Critics of alternative medicine
Critics of parapsychology
Writers from Joliet, Illinois
Writers from San Diego
University of California, San Diego alumni
Former Roman Catholics | false | [
"Truth and Tolerance () is a book written by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI).\n\nThe book discusses faith, religion, culture, freedom, and truth, with special emphasis on the Christian religion and how it relates to these and if it can continue to make an absolute claim as the true religion.\n\nIn the preface, he states that \"beyond all particular questions, the real problem lies in the question about truth.\" He first tries to understand what culture is and how cultures relate to one another. Then he tries to understand man, what he is and how he can become himself. Then, in the end, he deals with the question of whether man is made for the truth and in what way he can put the question of truth.\n\nReviews\nReview by Sarah Donahue for the Acton Institute\nReview by Ignatius Insight\nReview by Cathy Duff\nReview by Paul J. Griffiths in First Things\nIs It Arrogant to Say Christ Is the Only Savior? Asks Cardinal Ratzinger\n\nReferences\n\nBooks by Pope Benedict XVI\nBooks about Christianity\n2004 non-fiction books\n2004 in Christianity",
"Al-Kāfirūn (, \"The Unbelievers\") is the name of the 109th chapter (sūrah) of the Quran. It has six ayat or verses as follows:\n Say, \"O disbelievers,\n I do not worship what you worship.\n Nor are you worshippers of what I worship.\n Nor will I be a worshipper of what you worship.\n Nor will you be worshippers of what I worship.\n For you is your religion, and for me is my religion.\"\n\nText and meaning\n\nText and transliteration\nHafs from Aasim ibn Abi al-Najud\n\n¹ \n\n² \n\n³ \n\n⁴ \n\n⁵ \n\n⁶ \n\nWarsh from Nafiʽ al-Madani\n\n¹ \n\n² \n\n³ \n\n⁴ \n\n⁵ \n\n⁶\n\nMeanings\n\nSay (O Muhammad (Peace be upon him) to these Mushrikun and Kafirun): \"O Al-Kafirun (disbelievers in Allah, in His Oneness, in His Angels, in His Books, in His Messengers, in the Day of Resurrection, and in Al-Qadar, etc.)!\n\n\"I worship not that which you worship,\n\n\"Nor will you worship that which I worship.\n\n\"And I shall not worship that which you are worshipping.\n\n\"Nor will you worship that which I worship.\n\n\"To you be your religion, and to me my religion (Islamic Monotheism).\"\n\nSay, \"O disbelievers,\n\nI do not worship what you worship.\n\nNor are you worshippers of what I worship.\n\nNor will I be a worshipper of what you worship.\n\nNor will you be worshippers of what I worship.\n\nFor you is your religion, and for me is my religion.\"\n\nSay: O ye that reject Faith!\n\nI worship not that which ye worship,\n\nNor will ye worship that which I worship.\n\nAnd I will not worship that which ye have been wont to worship,\n\nNor will ye worship that which I worship.\n\nTo you be your Way, and to me mine.\n\nSay: O disbelievers!\n\nI worship not that which ye worship;\n\nNor worship ye that which I worship.\n\nAnd I shall not worship that which ye worship.\n\nNor will ye worship that which I worship.\n\nUnto you your religion, and unto me my religion.\n\nSummary\n1-6 Muhammad declines to compromise with idolatry \n\nLike many of the shorter surahs, the surah of the unbelievers takes the form of an invocation, telling the reader something they must ask for or say aloud. Here, the passage asks one to keep in mind the separation between belief and unbelief both in the past and the present, ending with the often cited line \"To you your religion, and to me mine\". Although some view this as an argument against religious intolerance, others see it as a more time-specific revelation, warning the newly founded Muslim minority in Mecca against being induced (by the Quraysh Arab tribe majority) to collude with disbelievers.\n\nIt was revealed in Mecca when the Muslims were persecuted by the polytheists of Mecca.\n\nCause of revelation\n\"Wahb ibn Munabbih has related that the people of Quraish said to Allah's Messenger: 'If you like we would enter your faith for a year and you would enter our faith for a year.'\" (Abd bin Humaid, Ibn Abi Hatim). \"...In this way, if what you have brought us is better than what we have, we would partake of it and take our share of goodness from it; and if what we have is better than what you have brought, you would partake of it and take your share of goodness from it.\"\n\nHadith\nAs for the esteem in which Muhammad held this surah, it can be judged from the following few hadith:\n\n Abdullah ibn Umar has related that on many an occasions he heard Muhammad recite Surahs Qul Ya- ayyuhal- kafirun and Qul Huwu-Allahu ahad in the two before the obligatory prayer and in the two after Maghrib prayer.\n Khabbab ibn al-Aratt says: \"The Holy Prophet (upon whom be peace) said to me: when you lie down in bed to sleep, recite , and this was the Holy Prophet's own practice also; when he lay down to sleep, he recited this .\"\n According to Ibn Abbas, Muhammad said to the people: \"Should I tell you the word which will protect you from polytheism? It is that you should recite when you go to bed.\"\n Anas says that Muhammad said to Mu'adh bin Jabal; \"Recite at the time you go to bed, for this is immunity from polytheism.\"\n Both Fardah bin Naufal and Abdur Rahman bin Naufal have stated that their father, Naufal bin Muawiyah al-Ashjai, said to Muhammad: \"Teach me something which I may recite at the time I go to bed.\" Muhammad replied: \"Recite to the end and then sleep, for this is immunity from polytheism.\" A similar request was made by Jabalah bin Harithah, brother of Said bin Harithah, to Muhammad and to him also he gave the same reply.\n Muhammad recited in the two before the morning prayer and the two after the sunset prayer on ten or twenty occasions: Say and say He is God, the One (surah 112: al-Ikhlas).\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nQuran 109 Clear Quran translation\n4 Qul in Quran, protection surahs\n\nKafirun"
]
|
[
"Robert Todd Carroll",
"Views on religion",
"What did Carroll think about religion?",
"Carroll tended to have a moderate outlook on religion. He believed that religion has a role to play in people's lives and he didn't condemn religion for terrorism.",
"What is significant about his views?",
"He said in multiple interviews that religion is an area that skeptics don't target enough, and that pure faith is winning the race against critical thinking.",
"What else did he say about religion?",
"He didn't believe religion causes wars, he rather believed that it serves as an excuse for people who will go to war regardless of religion's existence."
]
| C_46925cfff01d4cb695410ce27ce4cfbc_0 | Why is this significant? | 4 | Why is Robert Todd Carroll's moderate outlook, and Robert's disbelief that religion causes wars significant? | Robert Todd Carroll | Carroll did not believe in an omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent god. However, in his essay "Why I am not an atheist", Carroll described his dislike of the term "atheist" because he feels that the term is being exploited by theists and used as a straw man argument. He felt that the term implies a dogmatic set of beliefs and carries its own share of negative baggage. So, Carroll suggested that atheists might as well adopt the term "Brights" with all its negative connotations. The only religion that Carroll found attractive after abandoning Catholicism, despite never following it, is Buddhism as taught by the Dalai Lama. Carroll has always maintained the opinion that people have to be more skeptical of religion than they are now. He said in multiple interviews that religion is an area that skeptics don't target enough, and that pure faith is winning the race against critical thinking. Carroll tended to have a moderate outlook on religion. He believed that religion has a role to play in people's lives and he didn't condemn religion for terrorism. When asked about the relationship between violence and religion he said that he can't recall anything negative about his religious upbringing, and that maybe Catholicism can provide more good than harm. He didn't believe religion causes wars, he rather believed that it serves as an excuse for people who will go to war regardless of religion's existence. Carroll believed that some people rely on religion as their only source of morality and as a source of comfort. However, he found it distressing that some people are unable to find meaning in their lives without religion. In an interview with Beyond a Doubt he said "There is nothing dull about a life without fairies, Easter bunnies, devils, ghosts, magic crystals, etc. Life is only boring to boring people." CANNOTANSWER | Carroll believed that some people rely on religion as their only source of morality and as a source of comfort. | Robert Todd Carroll (May 18, 1945 – August 25, 2016) was an American writer and academic, best known for The Skeptic's Dictionary. In 2010 he was elected a fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. He described himself as a naturalist, an atheist, a materialist, a metaphysical libertarian, and a positivist.
His published books include Becoming a Critical Thinker; The Skeptic's Dictionary; The Skeptic's Dictionary for Kids; The Critical Thinker's Dictionary; Unnatural Acts: Critical Thinking, Skepticism, and Science Exposed!; The Commonsense Philosophy of Religion of Edward Stillingfleet; Student Success Guide: Writing Skills and Student Success Guide: Reading Skills.
He was a professor of philosophy at Sacramento City College from 1977 until his retirement in 2007.
Life
Carroll was born in Joliet, Illinois, on May 18, 1945. His father worked in a coal processing plant. In 1954 the family moved to San Diego, where Carroll grew up. He described his early years in Ocean Beach as an ideal childhood. He was raised Catholic.
Carroll went to the University of San Diego High School and then received a Catholic education in the University of Notre Dame. He went into seminary in Notre Dame, but after a short time he left, in 1965, and went back to San Diego. Carroll earned his Ph.D. in philosophy in 1974 at the University of California, San Diego, writing his doctoral thesis under the direction of Richard H. Popkin on the religious philosophy of Edward Stillingfleet, who had defended the Anglican church passionately against Catholics, deists and atheists before becoming Bishop of Worcester. Carroll's thesis was published in 1975. By then Carroll was married, with two daughters. The new family moved to Susanville, California, where he started teaching philosophy at Lassen Community College. He later moved to the Sacramento area and from 1977 lived in Davis.
Carroll said he never went through a religious deconversion moment but instead had a long journey to disbelief. He first started doubting Catholicism, he said, when he went into seminary in Notre Dame. After leaving the seminary he became intrigued by eastern religions and, inspired by Alan Watts, started looking at their holy books. Carroll became interested in Paramahansa Yogananda and attended meetings of his Self-Realization Fellowship to do yoga and chanting. At the time, he identified as agnostic. After leaving the Fellowship, he said, he spent years thinking about his religion. He later said, "The more I thought about religious ideas, the more false and absurd they seem to me." Carroll took up Kierkegaard's idea that religious beliefs require a leap of faith because they cannot be rationally proven. But Carroll decided to leap in the other direction. He said he "found many reasons for disbelief and absolutely no reasons for belief."
In May 2014, Carroll was diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic neuroendocrine cancer and liver metastasis. In May 2016 he announced he would no longer be able to write the Skeptic's Dictionary monthly newsletter on account of his illness. On August 25, 2016, Carroll died in a local hospital in Davis, California. He was survived by his wife and his two daughters and two grandchildren.
Career
Professor
Carroll started teaching philosophy part time at Lassen Community College. Then he taught philosophy of religion at American River College for two years. Thereafter he taught full time at Sacramento City College, where from 1977 through 2007 he taught introductory philosophy; logic and critical reasoning; law, justice, and punishment; and critical thinking about the paranormal. For several years he served as chairman of the philosophy department.
Writer
Drawing on his classwork, Carroll wrote Becoming a Critical Thinker: A Guide for a New Millennium, an introductory textbook for logic and critical thinking. Pearson Educational published the first edition in 2000. A second edition was published in 2005.
In 2003 John Wiley & Son published a paperback edition of The Skeptic's Dictionary, derived from Carroll's website of the same name. The book provides essays on subjects Carroll considered supernatural, occult, paranormal, or pseudoscientific. He assumed that something is false until proven otherwise. In the last chapter, Carroll offered ways to improve critical thinking and skepticism. The book is also available in Dutch, English, Japanese, Korean, and Russian.
In 2011 Carroll published online a children's version of The Skeptic's Dictionary. In 2013, it came out as a book under the title Mysteries and Science: Exploring Aliens, Ghosts, Monsters, the End of the World and Other Weird Things. Carroll also wrote Unnatural Acts: Critical Thinking, Skepticism, and Science Exposed!, which was published as an e-book in 2011 by the James Randi Educational Foundation. A paperback version is available from Lulu. In 2013 Carroll also published The Critical Thinker's Dictionary, which features short articles about cognitive biases and logical fallacies.
Skeptic
Carroll said he had been investigating controversial beliefs since he was seven years old when he had doubts about Santa Claus. Carroll described the importance of critical thinking and open-mindedness thus:
"If you are willing to be open minded, accept that reasonable probabilities rather than absolute certainties are the best information in many things that matter, and hold your most precious beliefs tentatively, then you can overcome some of the hindrances to critical thinking at least some of the time. And also that one's world view can be a major hindrance to being fair-minded. The minimum requirement of fair-mindedness is a willingness to take seriously viewpoints opposed to your own. In other words, you have to be willing to admit that you are wrong. Or that you might be wrong."
Carroll started writing skeptical content in 1992, when both his best friend and his father-in-law died within the same week. He later said, "It was like the deaths of these two people had forced me to start looking at everything and not take anything for granted."
After Carroll and his wife attended free training in 1994 in which they learned about the Internet and HTML code, Carroll started the Skeptic's Dictionary website (skepdic.com) with ten articles written for his students and expanded it from there. Although the website was a one-man project, volunteers later assisted in editing it and translated it into more than a dozen languages. The Skeptic's Dictionary, Carroll said, was inspired by Pierre Bayle's Historical and Critical Dictionary in both its name and its biased stance.
Carroll created skeptical blogs such as Mass Media Bunk and Mass Media Funk (they were replaced by Skeptimedia in 2007). In addition to skepdic.com, he also maintained blogs at Skeptimedia and Suburban Myths.
On March 27, 2012, Carroll began a regular segment on the podcast Skepticality entitled Unnatural Virtue in which he commented on topics in critical thinking and skepticism. The segment ran for thirty-one episodes, until April 29, 2014.
Carroll spoke at several skeptic conferences. In 2003 he spoke at the first Amaz!ng Meeting and at a conference of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal on frauds and hoaxes. In 2004 he spoke to the Irish Skeptics in Dublin. In 2007 he conducted a critical-thinking workshop at the 5th Amazing Meeting. In 2011 he led a discussion on "Five Myths About Skeptics" at the second annual SkeptiCalCon event, held in Berkeley, CA.
He was also interviewed by groups promoting scientific skepticism, such as the New England Skeptical Society and Media Man Australia. In January 2010 he was elected a Fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.
In an interview with Point of Inquiry's Karen Stollznow, Carroll said he did not earn much money from his skeptical work: "If we talk about the money we make from skepticism we might set a record for the shortest interview ever." But everybody should be a skeptic, he said, because it is a healthy way of approaching life. He said that skeptics' meetups and conferences, as well as the positive feedback he received on his work, were his main motivations.
Criticism
Richard Milton
After Carroll published a piece online labelling Richard Milton's writings on alternative science "Internet Bunk," Milton responded by accusing Carroll of being a "pseudo-skeptic" and said that Carroll had fabricated quotations and misrepresented his arguments. Carroll replied to these accusations in an addendum to his piece.
Rupert Sheldrake
Carroll wrote two Skeptic's Dictionary entries that criticize Rupert Sheldrake's ideas. The first criticized Sheldrake's N'kisi Project, a set of experiments meant to test the possibility of a telepathic link between N'kisi (a grey parrot) and its owner, Aimee Morgana. Carroll charged that when calculating the statistical significance of the parrot's responses, Sheldrake had omitted 60% of the data. Carroll also criticized Jane Goodall for her involvement in the Project. The second entry challenged Sheldrake's morphic resonance idea, in which Sheldrake proposed that, in addition to genetic influences, a "morphogenetic field" for each species evolves similarly to how the species' genes might evolve, that these fields organize the nervous system's activity and can act as a collective memory for the whole species, and that these fields get passed down into the species.
Sheldrake replied to Carroll's criticism by defending his own arguments and accusing Carroll of committing several logical fallacies, including using false dilemmas and misrepresenting Sheldrake's position. He also criticized The Skeptic's Dictionary, claiming that it would not survive had it been subject to independent peer reviews.
Publications
Becoming a Critical Thinker – A Guide for the New Millennium, 2nd ed., .
"Unnatural Acts: Critical Thinking, Skepticism, and Science Exposed!", Los Angeles: James Randi Educational Foundation, 2011, .
the Skeptic's Dictionary: A Collection of Strange Beliefs, Amusing Deceptions, and Dangerous Delusions, New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2003, .
The Common-sense Philosophy of Religion of Bishop Edward Stillingfleet 1635–1699, . (1974 doctoral dissertation, under the direction of Richard Popkin, University of California at San Diego).
References
External links
The Skeptic's Dictionary
1945 births
2016 deaths
American philosophers
American skeptics
Critics of alternative medicine
Critics of parapsychology
Writers from Joliet, Illinois
Writers from San Diego
University of California, San Diego alumni
Former Roman Catholics | false | [
"This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things may refer to:\n\nMusic\n This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, an album by Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band, 2003\n This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things, an album by Alter Der Ruine, 2010\n \"I Don't Care (This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things)\", a song by The Blackout from the album The Best in Town\n \"This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things\", a song by Taylor Swift from the album Reputation, 2017\n\nOther\nThis is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, a book by David Carol (2011)",
"Obinkita is one of 19 villages of Arochukwu. It was the capital of the Ibibio kingdom of Obong Okon Ita before its conquest by Igbo and Akpa invaders in 1690–1720. This town is significant in Aro History because Obinkita became the center where defeated Ibibio warriors were judged. This is why all Aro villages assemble at Obinkita during the Ikeji festival.\n\nExternal links \nhttp://www.aro-okigbo.com/history_of_the_aros.htm\nhttps://web.archive.org/web/20080828190518/http://www.aronetwork.org/others/confederancy.html\nhttp://www.aronewsonline.com/origincivilization.html\n\nTowns in Abia State"
]
|
[
"Boyz II Men",
"1997-98: Evolution and label conflicts"
]
| C_8f95b254b0fd4b59ad645c7e25273c01_1 | What were the label conflicts? | 1 | What were the label conflicts with Boyz II Men? | Boyz II Men | Motown issued The Remix Collection, a compilation of remixes of various Boyz II Men songs from Cooleyhighharmony and II. The group itself had opposed the release of the collection, because they felt the compilation did not represent Boyz II Men's best work. After the label released the album without their permission, there was a dispute between the company and the group. Boyz II Men initiated their own recording company Stonecreek (which released material by artists such as Uncle Sam), and they arranged for Stonecreek's distribution by Epic Records, not Motown. Boyz II Men's third studio album, Evolution, was released during 1997 to mixed reviews and sold three million copies, far below the stratospheric success of II's (12 million copies) and Cooleyhighharmony (9 million). Only one of Evolution's singles, the Jam/Lewis-penned "Four Seasons of Loneliness", reached number 1 on the Hot 100 chart. The second single, the Babyface-helmed "A Song for Mama" (the theme song to the Babyface-produced film Soul Food) was a Top 10 success, but the follow-up "Can't Let Her Go" underperformed. The global tour began in 1997 to promote Evolution was very successful in terms of ticket sales, but behind the scenes, Boyz II Men was wracked by conflicts with their record label and internal conflicts among the members of the group. Making matters worse, health problems began to take their toll on the group as well. While on tour to support the Evolution album, Wanya Morris developed a polyp on his vocal cords, and the group was forced to postpone part of the tour until he recovered. McCary's scoliosis meant that he was unable to participate in most of the group's dance routines. Boyz II Men were nominated for 2 Grammys in 1998: Best R&B Album for Evolution and Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group for "A Song for Mama". CANNOTANSWER | After the label released the album without their permission, there was a dispute between the company and the group. | Boyz II Men (pronounced boys to men), also known as B2M, is an American vocal harmony group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. They are currently a trio composed of baritone Nathan Morris alongside tenors Wanya Morris and Shawn Stockman. During the 1990s, Boyz II Men found fame on Motown Records as a quartet including bass Michael McCary, who left the group in 2003 due to back spasms that were eventually diagnosed as multiple sclerosis.
During the 1990s, Boyz II Men gained international success. This began with the release of top 5 singles "Motownphilly" and "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" in 1991, followed by the number one single "End of the Road" in 1992, which reached the top of charts worldwide. "End of the Road" set a new record for longevity, staying at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for thirteen weeks. Boyz II Men proceeded to break this record with the subsequent releases of "I'll Make Love to You" and "One Sweet Day" (with Mariah Carey), which, at fourteen and sixteen weeks, respectively, each set new records for the total number of weeks at number one. "I'll Make Love to You" also topped the charts in Australia (for four weeks) and garnered international success.
Consequently, Boyz II Men is among the music industry's elite with regard to time spent at number one in Billboard history with 50 cumulative weeks, ranking sixth behind Drake, the Beatles, Rihanna, Elvis Presley and Carey. Furthermore, when "On Bended Knee" took the number one spot away from "I'll Make Love to You", Boyz II Men became only the third artists ever (after the Beatles and Presley) to replace themselves at the top of the Billboard Hot 100. These achievements were enough to earn Boyz II Men recognition as Billboard magazine's biggest boy band during the period of 1987 to 2012. Boyz II Men has received four Grammy Awards.
Boyz II Men continue to perform worldwide, as a trio. Their most recent studio album, Under the Streetlight, was released in 2017.
In June 2017, a section of Broad Street (from Christian to Carpenter Streets) in Philadelphia was renamed "Boyz II Men Boulevard". This section of the street is near the High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, where the members once attended.
History
1985–1990: Beginnings
The group, originally known as Unique Attraction, was started by friends Nathan Morris and Marc Nelson at the Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA) along with fellow schoolmates George Baldi, Jon Shoats, and Marguerite Walker in 1985. In 1987, Wanya Morris, who sang in the school's choir along with the members of Unique Attraction, joined the group and became a permanent member when he was only a freshman. In 1988 Baldi, Shoats, and Walker all left the group due to graduation. They then recruited Shawn Stockman after seeing him perform a solo in the school's choir. One day, Nate, Marc, Wanya and Shawn were practicing harmonies in a school bathroom and in walked Michael McCary who started singing along with the group and eventually became the group's new bass singer. Now with a permanent lineup of members, the group rehearsed in the high school's bathrooms, due to the excellent acoustics, and on the corners of their schools and local hangouts. They found inspiration in New Edition's harmonies and routines, and eventually renamed the group "Boyz II Men", after one of New Edition's songs, "Boys to Men", from their 1988 album Heart Break. After performing at a Valentine's Day party at school in 1989 they got their big break when they snuck into a concert put on by local radio station Power 99 at the Philadelphia Civic Center. Their plan was to find Will Smith backstage and perform for him. But while looking for Smith, they happened to cross paths with New Edition member Michael Bivins, who along with fellow groupmates Ricky Bell and Ronnie DeVoe just announced they were forming a New Edition spin-off trio Bell Biv DeVoe. After they sang New Edition's "Can You Stand the Rain" for him, Bivins and everyone in attendance including other celebrities were impressed. He then gave the group his number and told them to give him a call. Nate eventually called him, and he agreed to manage and helped produce the group.
The delay before recording their own material and reported personality conflicts led founding member Marc Nelson to leave the group, making Boyz II Men into the quartet that found international fame: Michael McCary, Nathan Morris, Wanya Morris, and Shawn Stockman.
1991–1992: Cooleyhighharmony and "End of the Road"
Boyz II Men's first album, Cooleyhighharmony, was released on Motown in 1991 and was produced by Michael Bivins. Cooleyhighharmonys drum-heavy new jack swing sound and multi-layered sampled backdrops were similar to that of Bell Biv DeVoe's own work, but featured classic-soul styled vocals in place of BBD's rapping and brassier singing. This style was dubbed "hip hop doo-wop" by the group and Bivins, who presented Boyz II Men and adolescent R&B group Another Bad Creation to the public as BBD's protégés.
From the beginning, Boyz II Men featured all four members as leads, avoiding the usual R&B group arrangement of one or two lead singers and a team of background singers. The multiple-lead arrangement became a Boyz II Men trademark, and it became typical to hear Wanya Morris' vibrato-heavy tenor, Shawn Stockman's tenor voice, Nathan Morris' baritone, and Michael McCary's bass (often used in spoken-word sections of many Boyz II Men hits) trading bars in each song.
The album's liner notes identified unique nicknames for each member of the group. These nicknames were devised in collaboration with Bivins in an attempt at marketing. Wanya was "Squirt", Shawn was "Slim", Michael was simply "Bass", and Nathan assumed the name "Alex Vanderpool", after a soap opera character who brandished a nerdy style.
Boyz II Men's first single, the Dallas Austin-produced "Motownphilly" featured a rap cameo by Michael Bivins that gives the story of how he met Boyz II Men. The single's release was accompanied with a music video that presented the group in hip hop style. (The video also included cameos from fellow Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts alumni Black Thought and Questlove of The Roots.) Cooleyhighharmonys second single was an a cappella cover of a classic Motown tune, G.C. Cameron's "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" from the 1975 film Cooley High, while "Uhh Ahh" served as the third single.
Cooleyhighharmony achieved major success, eventually selling over nine million copies and winning the Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the 1992 Grammy Awards. Boyz II Men were also nominated for Best New Artist, along with British singer-songwriter Seal, fellow R&B group Color Me Badd, as well as dance group C+C Music Factory, but the Grammy was awarded to singer-songwriter Marc Cohn. "Motownphilly" and "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" were number 1 R&B hits and top five U.S. pop hits.
In 1992, Boyz II Men joined MC Hammer's high-profile 2 Legit 2 Quit tour as an opening act. While traveling the country, their tour manager Khalil Roundtree was murdered in Chicago, and the group's future performances of "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" were dedicated to him. As a result of this unfortunate experience, the song helped advance their success.
While touring during 1992, Boyz II Men returned briefly to the studio to record the single "End of the Road", co-written and produced by Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, for the soundtrack to Eddie Murphy's film Boomerang. This song, released as a single on June 30, 1992, became Boyz II Men's biggest hit. It reached the number one position on the Billboard Hot 100 on August 15, remaining there for a record-setting 13 weeks, until November 14, 1992. The success of "End of the Road" instantly transformed Boyz II Men from up-and-coming R&B stars into mainstream music celebrities.
A revamped Cooleyhighharmony was reissued during 1993, with "End of the Road" added as a special bonus track, but "End of the Road" initially appeared only on the Boomerang soundtrack. Later the track was included on a collection of singles produced by Michael Bivins called "East Coast Family, Vol. 1". Shortly after the release of this compilation, Boyz II Men and Michael Bivins parted ways professionally. Boyz II Men continued to work with Babyface and other high-profile record producers over the next several years.
1994: II and "I'll Make Love to You"
After releasing a Christmas compilation, Christmas Interpretations in 1993, Boyz II Men returned to the studio for their highly anticipated sophomore effort. In 1994, II was released. II sold more than copies in the United States alone, becoming one of the best-selling albums ever released by an R&B group act, and one of the biggest albums of the decade. II later won two awards at the 1995 Grammy Awards including Best R&B Album.
Most of the tracks on II were written and produced by Tim & Bob—Tim Kelley and Bob Robinson (5), Babyface (2) and the successful team of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis (2). Several of IIs tracks became major singles, among them Jam & Lewis's "On Bended Knee", and Babyface's "I'll Make Love to You" and "Water Runs Dry".
"I'll Make Love to You" broke "End of the Road's" 13-week record at number 1, by spending 14 weeks at the top of the chart (a feat equaled earlier that year by Whitney Houston's cover of "I Will Always Love You"). "On Bended Knee" replaced "I'll Make Love to You" at number 1, making Boyz II Men only the third act ever to replace itself at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, after Elvis Presley and the Beatles.
In 1995, the group appeared as backing vocalists on "HIStory" from Michael Jackson's Grammy-nominated ninth album of the same name.
1997–1998: Evolution and label conflicts
Motown issued The Remix Collection, a compilation of remixes of various Boyz II Men songs from Cooleyhighharmony and II. The group itself had opposed the release of the collection because they felt the compilation did not represent Boyz II Men's best work. After the label released the album without their permission, there was a dispute between the company and the group. Boyz II Men initiated their own recording company Stonecreek (which released material by artists such as Uncle Sam), and they arranged for Stonecreek's distribution by Epic Records, not Motown.
Boyz II Men's third studio album, Evolution, was released during 1997 to mixed reviews and sold three million copies, far below the stratospheric success of IIs ( copies) and Cooleyhighharmony (). Only one of Evolutions singles, the Jam/Lewis-penned "Four Seasons of Loneliness", reached number 1 on the Hot 100 chart. The second single, the Babyface-helmed "A Song for Mama" (the theme song to the Babyface-produced film Soul Food) was a Top 10 success, but the follow-up "Can't Let Her Go" underperformed.
The global tour began in 1997 to promote Evolution was successful in terms of ticket sales, but behind the scenes, Boyz II Men was wracked by conflicts with their record label and internal conflicts among the members of the group. Making matters worse, health problems began to take their toll on the group. While on tour to support the Evolution album, Wanya Morris developed a polyp on his vocal cords, and the group was forced to postpone part of the tour until he recovered. McCary's multiple sclerosis meant that he was unable to participate in most of the group's dance routines.
Boyz II Men were nominated for 2 Grammys in 1998: Best R&B Album for Evolution and Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group for "A Song for Mama".
1999–2001: Nathan Michael Shawn Wanya
In 1999, Motown's parent company, PolyGram, was bought by Universal Music Group. Amidst the major corporate restructure, Motown was merged with UMG's Universal Records, where Boyz II Men found themselves reassigned.
Their only studio LP album for Universal, 2000's Nathan Michael Shawn Wanya, was chiefly written and produced by the group itself, in an attempt to update their sound and ward off critics who questioned the group's reliance on Babyface's hit-making songcraft. While the critics were more receptive to Nathan Michael Shawn Wanya than they had been to its predecessor, the LP sold only 500,000 copies in the US, copies worldwide, and although its two singles, "Pass You By" and "Thank You in Advance" received media attention, neither became hits.
Boyz II Men departed from Universal in 2001, ending their relationship with the company that brought them to international stardom in 1991. The label released a very successful greatest hits compilation, Legacy: The Greatest Hits Collection, to close out their contract.
2002–2003: Full Circle and "The Color of Love"
Signing a new deal with Arista Records in 2002, Boyz II Men began recording the Full Circle album, and recruited Babyface for a new single, "The Color of Love". In an attempt to recapture the massive success the group had enjoyed a decade earlier, the album received a significant promotional budget. Arista commissioned a high-budget music video, shot in four different locales by four different directors: supervising director Little X filmed scenes featuring Michael McCary in India, Hype Williams filmed Shawn Stockman in Tokyo, Benny Boom filmed Nathan Morris in Ghana, and Chris Robinson filmed Wanya Morris in Puerto Rico and finally all were filmed in New York. The resulting music video had a debut on BET, but failed to have a great effect, and Full Circle, like Nathan Michael Shawn Wanya before it, sold slightly more than 500,000 copies in the US and copies worldwide.
Full Circle became Boyz II Men's final album as a quartet, and their last effort to receive extensive promotion from a major record company. On , 2003, Michael McCary left Boyz II Men due to chronic back problems resulting from multiple sclerosis (MS) and personal problems. Arista terminated Boyz II Men's contract on , and the remaining three members took a temporary hiatus from the music industry.
2004–2006: Throwback, Vol. 1 and The Remedy
After a year out of the spotlight, Boyz II Men created the independent label MSM Music Group (distributed through Koch Records), and released the Throwback, Vol. 1 LP in 2004. The album is a collection of covers of classic R&B and soul songs such as The Dazz Band's "Let It Whip", Michael Jackson's "Human Nature", and, as the single, Bobby Caldwell's "What You Won't Do for Love". For this record, Nathan took on the bass lines as well as the baritone vocals that he sang when Boyz II Men was a quartet. Throwback, Vol. 1 reached number 59 on the Billboard 200. The group launched an independent tour of North America and Asia in support of the Throwback series. The album sold over 200,000 copies with little to no promotion aside from the group's independent tour.
In 2005 Boyz II Men recorded a CD with Anderson Cameau called "Apocalypse", a project meant to benefit Haiti.
In 2006, Boyz II Men's seventh studio album, The Remedy, was released exclusively in Japan, where they found a thriving fan base. In other regions, The Remedy was made available online through the group's website on , 2007.
2007–2008: Hitsville USA
In mid-2007, the group re-signed with Universal Records and released the LP Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA through the Decca Records label. The LP is a cover album featuring songs from the Motown Records catalog, co-produced by Randy Jackson of American Idol fame. The Motown album includes covers of songs by The Temptations ("Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)"), Marvin Gaye ("Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing", "Mercy Mercy Me"), Smokey Robinson & the Miracles ("The Tracks of My Tears"), and even Boyz II Men themselves (an a cappella version of "End of the Road").
Commercially, Motown found some success. It peaked at number 6 on the US R&B chart and was certified Gold in the UK. The album was also a critical success. For the 51st Annual Grammy Awards in 2009, Boyz II Men received two nominations for the album Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA (Best R&B Album and Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for "Ribbon in the Sky").
In 2008, Boyz II Men's three members appeared on Celebrity Don't Forget the Lyrics and created a sensation with their performance. They earned $500,000 for their two nominated charities; the appearance also generated interest in their next release.
2009: Love
In 2009, Boyz II Men announced plans for a new cover album, that covers "artists I don't think people would expect us to cover!" according to Shawn Stockman. Entitled Love, the album was released on , 2009. The album contains remakes of love songs from outside the R&B genre.
2011–2012: Love Cruise and Twenty
Boyz II Men headlined a "Love Cruise" in honor of their 20th anniversary and in observance of Valentine's Day. The cruise took place –14, 2011, and traveled from Miami, Florida, to Nassau, Bahamas. Cruise passengers received a Boyz II Men welcome cocktail party, a concert performance by Boyz II Men, an additional fan appreciation concert by Boyz II Men, a photo session with Boyz II Men (in small groups), a formal prom night, a poker tournament, a deck party with Boyz II Men and a guest DJ, a singles mixer, a gift bag, and onboard drawings for other Boyz II Men events. Couples were able to renew their wedding vows in a special ceremony with Boyz II Men.
Twenty, named in recognition of Boyz II Men's twenty years in the music business, is a double CD album with thirteen original songs and eight rerecorded Boyz II Men classics. It was released on October 25, 2011. Twenty is the group's fourth release through MSM Music Group. It was released in Japan 13 days before its official US release date with the help of Avex Group, the biggest Japanese independent record label.
Originally, Boyz II Men announced a reunion with original member Michael McCary for the Twenty album. On September 6, 2009, at a concert in Virginia Beach, Virginia, Stockman announced that their upcoming 20th anniversary album would "include all 4 members", sparking a tremendous applause.
But soon after that announcement, McCary declined and did not join the project.
As a trio, Boyz II Men performed as special guests on VH1's highly rated VH1 Divas Celebrate Soul concert.
Boyz II Men contributed a cover of Japanese rock band L'Arc~en~Ciel's song "Snow Drop" to their 2012 tribute album.
2013–present: The Package Tour, Collide, and Geico Commercials
On January 22, 2013, the group appeared on The View along with New Kids on the Block and 98 Degrees to announce their joint tour that took place in summer 2013. As of February 20, 2013, Boyz II Men announced that beginning March 1, 2013, they will stop touring and begin performing shows at the Mirage Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
On January 13, 2014, the trio appeared at the end of an episode of How I Met Your Mother titled "Slapsgiving 3: Slappointment in Slapmarra", performing an a cappella version of the show's song "You Just Got Slapped". Their eleventh album, titled Collide, was released on October 21, 2014.
In 2016, the trio appeared in Grease: Live as the Teen Angels and sang Beauty School Dropout.
Wanya placed 4th for the 22nd season of the ABC realty competition series Dancing With The Stars. They also did music for an animated adaptation of The Snowy Day.
In 2017, the group began starring in television commercials for GEICO Auto Insurance.
On June 24, 2017, a section of Broad Street in Philadelphia, from Christian to Carpenter Streets, was renamed, “Boyz II Men Boulevard” by the city council. Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, where the members of Boyz II Men were once students, is on this section of Broad Street.
In August 2017, it was announced they were releasing a new album titled Under the Streetlight in the Fall. It was released on October 20, 2017.
On January 4, 2018, the group was featured in a new track released by Charlie Puth, titled "If You Leave Me Now", created for Charlie Puth's album Voicenotes.
On September 6, 2018, the group performed at the NFL 2018–2019 season kickoff at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, PA.
On October 2, 2018, the group performed "Ladies Man" on ABC's Dancing with the Stars. DeMarcus Ware and Lindsay Arnold danced a quickstep to the song.
The group is featured on a re-imagined version of Take That's song Love Ain't Here Anymore from their number one selling album Odyssey. Howard Donald revealed during an interview with Magic Radio that "he fulfilled a dream when they recorded this song".
On December 15, 2018, the group staged a concert at the Smart Araneta Coliseum with Filipino girl group DIVAS—a group composed of Kyla, Yeng Constantino, KZ Tandingan and Angeline Quinto titled Boyz II Men with DIVAS.
On September 18, 2019, it was reported that the group would play themselves on the ABC comedy series Schooled.
On September 30, 2019, Boyz II Men announced their Asia Tour, which is slated to take place after returning from their US tour and residency in Las Vegas. They will be visiting cities such as Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok (December 7), Singapore (December 9) and Manila.
Style and influence
Boyz II Men is among the biggest names in a cappella and R&B. With what was called "crossover appeal", Boyz II Men found themselves at the vanguard of the 1990s movement to take R&B back into the mainstream, where it had been back in the 1970s. Their use of hip-hop beats in combination with R&B was not unique, but it was Boyz II Men's enormous success with mainstream audiences in "putting harmony over the hip-hop tracks" that helped usher in the near-total dominance of the R&B genre on the pop charts in the 2000s and 2010s. On January 5, 2012, Boyz II Men were awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. They were featured on the first episode of the 2021 Netflix series This Is Pop, called "The Boyz II Men Effect", about their impact on the boy band scene in the 1990s.
Members
Current
Nathan Morris (1985–present)
Wanya Morris (1987–present)
Shawn Stockman (1988–present)
Former
Michael McCary (1988–2003)
Marc Nelson (1985–1990)
George Baldi (1985–1988)
Jon Shoats (1985–1988)
Marguerite Walker (1985–1988)
Discography
Studio albums
Cooleyhighharmony (1991)
Christmas Interpretations (1993)
II (1994)
Evolution (1997)
Nathan Michael Shawn Wanya (2000)
Full Circle (2002)
Throwback, Vol. 1 (2004)
The Remedy (2006)
Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA (2007)
Love (2009)
Twenty (2011)
Collide (2014)
Under the Streetlight (2017)
Filmography
"Going Home" (1995): A Disney Channel concert special filmed during Boyz II Men's "All Around the World Tour" live from the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
The group makes a guest appearance in fourth season episode "Twas the Night Before Christening of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in which they sing at Nicky's christening (1993).
"Living In Paradise?" (2000): They appeared as themselves on the hit show Moesha.
Long Shot: They appear as themselves performing at a charity event.
This Is Pop (2021): They are featured on the episode "The Boyz II Men Effect".
Celebrity Wheel of Fortune (2021): Wanya and Shawn play to win money for charities of their choice.
A Very Boyband Christmas (2021): Wanya and Shawn join members of 'Nsync, 98 Degrees and other boy bands to celebrate the holidays.
Live in Front of a Studio Audience (2021): The group performs the theme song of Diff'rent Strokes as the intro to the special’s reenactment of "Willis’s Privacy".
Awards and nominations
American Music Awards
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "5" | 1992
!scope="row" rowspan= "3" |Boyz II Men
|Favorite Soul/R&B New Artist
|
|-
|Favorite Pop/Rock New Artist
|
|-
|Favorite Soul/R&B Band/Duo/Group
|
|-
|"Motownphilly"
|Favorite Soul/R&B Single
|
|-
|Cooleyhighharmony
|Favorite Soul/R&B Album
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 1993
|"End of the Road"
|Favorite Pop/Rock Song
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "3"|Boyz II Men
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|Favorite Soul/R&B Band/Duo/Group
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "4" | 1995
|
|-
|Favorite Adult Contemporary Artist
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|"I'll Make Love to You"
|Favorite Soul/R&B Single
|
|-
|Favorite Pop/Rock Song
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "5" | 1996
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|II
|Favorite Soul/R&B Album
|
|-
|Favorite Pop/Rock Album
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "4"|Boyz II Men
|Artist of the Year
|
|-
|Favorite Pop/Rock Band/Duo/Group
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|Favorite Soul/R&B Band/Duo/Group
|
|-
| 1998
|
|-
Billboard Music Awards
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 1992
|Boyz II Men
|Top Hot 100 Artist
|
|-
|"End of the Road"
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | Top Hot 100 Song
|
|-
| 1994
|"I'll Make Love to You"
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "3" | 1995
|II
|Top Billboard 200 Album
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | Boyz II Men
|Top Artist
|
|-
|Top R&B Artist
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 1996
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | "One Sweet Day" (with Mariah Carey)
|Top Hot 100 Song
|
|-
|Billboard Music Special Hot 100
|
|-
Grammy Awards
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 1992
|Boyz II Men
|Best New Artist
|
|-
|Cooleyhighharmony
!scope="row" rowspan= "4"|Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
|
|-
| 1993
|"End of the Road"
|
|-
| 1994
|"Let It Snow"
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "3" | 1995
|!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|"I'll Make Love To You"
|
|-
|Record of the Year
|
|-
|II
|Best R&B Album
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 1996
|!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|"One Sweet Day" (with Mariah Carey)
|Record of the Year
|
|-
|Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 1998
|"A Song For Mama"
|Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
|
|-
|Evolution
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|Best R&B Album
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 2001
|Nathan Michael Shawn Wanya
|
|-
|"Pass You By"
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|Best R&B Performance By a Duo or Group with Vocal
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 2009
|"Ribbon In The Sky"
|
|-
|Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA
|Best R&B Album
|
|-
MTV Video Music Awards
!Ref.
|-
| 1993
| "End of the Road"
| rowspan=2|Best R&B Video
|
| rowspan=4|
|-
| rowspan=2|1995
| rowspan=2|"Water Runs Dry"
|
|-
| Best Cinematography
|
|-
| 1996
| "One Sweet Day" (with Mariah Carey)
| Best R&B Video
|
Soul Train Music Awards
|-
|1992
|Boyz II Men
|Best New R&B/Soul Artist
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "3"|1993
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|"End of the Road"
|Song of the Year
|
|-
|Best R&B Music Video
|
|-
|"Please Don't Go"
|Best R&B Single – Group, Band or Duo
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|1995
|II
|R&B/Soul Album Group, Band or Duo
|
|-
|"I'll Make Love to You"
|R&B/Soul Single Group, Band or Duo
|
|-
|1996
|Boyz II Men
|Entertainer of the Year
|
|-
|1998
|Evolution
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|Best R&B/Soul Album - Group, Band or Duo
|
|-
|2003
|Full Circle
|
|-
See also
List of best-selling music artists
List of artists who reached number one in the United States
References
External links
African-American musical groups
American contemporary R&B musical groups
American vocal groups
Ballad music groups
American boy bands
Grammy Award winners
Motown artists
Musical groups established in 1988
Musical groups from Philadelphia
Musical quartets
Musical trios
Sony Music Publishing artists
Vocal quartets
Vocal trios
Avex Group artists | true | [
"The Rappenkrieg was a conflict that lasted from July 1612 until September 1614 in the Further Austrian district of Breisgau. It involved the Austrian rulers putting down a peasant uprising. The uprising occurred in what is now the Swiss Canton of Aargau and in the southern portion of what is now the German State of Baden-Württemberg. It is not to be confused with the Rappenkrieg in Basel-Stadt, Switzerland (1591–1594), although it had similar causes.\n\nSee also\n Battles of the Old Swiss Confederacy\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n1610s conflicts\n17th-century rebellions\n1610s in Germany\nPeasant revolts\nConflicts in 1612\nConflicts in 1613\nConflicts in 1614",
"Lir, stylized on album covers as LiR, are a rock band formed in the late 1980s in Dublin, Ireland.\n\nHistory\n\nThe band became known during the 1990s through their live performances in Dublin. Attention from major labels in the early portion of their career led some critics to draw comparisons to U2. The band signed with U.S. label What Are Records? in 1993, which pushed for the band's success in the US through an intensive touring schedule that had the band playing in North America nine months out of the year. Lir continued on this schedule from 1993 to 1997, before conflicts with their management led to a long hiatus.\n\nIt would be 13 years before the band's next full-length release, Nest, under the independent label 1969 Records. Lir failed to secure a contract with an established record label.Their Art Teacher once said to them \"Best of Music in The Luck Business\" ... Sadly Luck never played its part....\n\nA documentary on the band, directed by Shimmy Marcus and entitled \"Good Cake Bad Cake: The Story of LIR\" was released in 2011, but was pulled from the Dublin International Film Festival due to a legal dispute between the band and their former management.\n\nThe band still reconvenes annually to play shows in and around Dublin.\n\nDiscography\n\nAll Machines Hum in A - 1992\nMagico Magico! (Velo Records - Ireland + EU only) - 1993\nMagico Magico! (What Are Records? - US release) - 1994\nNest (What Are Records? - US release) - 1995\nThis Appeared - EP (Velo Records - Ireland + EU only) - 1995\n7000 Apes 600 - EP (Velo Records - Ireland + EU only) - 1997\nI Went Down: Music from the original motion picture soundtrack (Prophecy Ent.) - 1997\n06/93 Acoustic Sessions (What Are Records? - US Release) - 2006\nLir Live (1969 Records - UK only) - 2008\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \n\nIrish alternative rock groups\nMusical groups from Dublin (city)"
]
|
[
"Boyz II Men",
"1997-98: Evolution and label conflicts",
"What were the label conflicts?",
"After the label released the album without their permission, there was a dispute between the company and the group."
]
| C_8f95b254b0fd4b59ad645c7e25273c01_1 | What was the resolution of this? | 2 | What was the resolution of Boyz II Men's label conflicts? | Boyz II Men | Motown issued The Remix Collection, a compilation of remixes of various Boyz II Men songs from Cooleyhighharmony and II. The group itself had opposed the release of the collection, because they felt the compilation did not represent Boyz II Men's best work. After the label released the album without their permission, there was a dispute between the company and the group. Boyz II Men initiated their own recording company Stonecreek (which released material by artists such as Uncle Sam), and they arranged for Stonecreek's distribution by Epic Records, not Motown. Boyz II Men's third studio album, Evolution, was released during 1997 to mixed reviews and sold three million copies, far below the stratospheric success of II's (12 million copies) and Cooleyhighharmony (9 million). Only one of Evolution's singles, the Jam/Lewis-penned "Four Seasons of Loneliness", reached number 1 on the Hot 100 chart. The second single, the Babyface-helmed "A Song for Mama" (the theme song to the Babyface-produced film Soul Food) was a Top 10 success, but the follow-up "Can't Let Her Go" underperformed. The global tour began in 1997 to promote Evolution was very successful in terms of ticket sales, but behind the scenes, Boyz II Men was wracked by conflicts with their record label and internal conflicts among the members of the group. Making matters worse, health problems began to take their toll on the group as well. While on tour to support the Evolution album, Wanya Morris developed a polyp on his vocal cords, and the group was forced to postpone part of the tour until he recovered. McCary's scoliosis meant that he was unable to participate in most of the group's dance routines. Boyz II Men were nominated for 2 Grammys in 1998: Best R&B Album for Evolution and Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group for "A Song for Mama". CANNOTANSWER | group. Boyz II Men initiated their own recording company Stonecreek (which released material by artists such as Uncle Sam), and they arranged for Stonecreek's distribution by Epic Records, not Motown. | Boyz II Men (pronounced boys to men), also known as B2M, is an American vocal harmony group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. They are currently a trio composed of baritone Nathan Morris alongside tenors Wanya Morris and Shawn Stockman. During the 1990s, Boyz II Men found fame on Motown Records as a quartet including bass Michael McCary, who left the group in 2003 due to back spasms that were eventually diagnosed as multiple sclerosis.
During the 1990s, Boyz II Men gained international success. This began with the release of top 5 singles "Motownphilly" and "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" in 1991, followed by the number one single "End of the Road" in 1992, which reached the top of charts worldwide. "End of the Road" set a new record for longevity, staying at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for thirteen weeks. Boyz II Men proceeded to break this record with the subsequent releases of "I'll Make Love to You" and "One Sweet Day" (with Mariah Carey), which, at fourteen and sixteen weeks, respectively, each set new records for the total number of weeks at number one. "I'll Make Love to You" also topped the charts in Australia (for four weeks) and garnered international success.
Consequently, Boyz II Men is among the music industry's elite with regard to time spent at number one in Billboard history with 50 cumulative weeks, ranking sixth behind Drake, the Beatles, Rihanna, Elvis Presley and Carey. Furthermore, when "On Bended Knee" took the number one spot away from "I'll Make Love to You", Boyz II Men became only the third artists ever (after the Beatles and Presley) to replace themselves at the top of the Billboard Hot 100. These achievements were enough to earn Boyz II Men recognition as Billboard magazine's biggest boy band during the period of 1987 to 2012. Boyz II Men has received four Grammy Awards.
Boyz II Men continue to perform worldwide, as a trio. Their most recent studio album, Under the Streetlight, was released in 2017.
In June 2017, a section of Broad Street (from Christian to Carpenter Streets) in Philadelphia was renamed "Boyz II Men Boulevard". This section of the street is near the High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, where the members once attended.
History
1985–1990: Beginnings
The group, originally known as Unique Attraction, was started by friends Nathan Morris and Marc Nelson at the Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA) along with fellow schoolmates George Baldi, Jon Shoats, and Marguerite Walker in 1985. In 1987, Wanya Morris, who sang in the school's choir along with the members of Unique Attraction, joined the group and became a permanent member when he was only a freshman. In 1988 Baldi, Shoats, and Walker all left the group due to graduation. They then recruited Shawn Stockman after seeing him perform a solo in the school's choir. One day, Nate, Marc, Wanya and Shawn were practicing harmonies in a school bathroom and in walked Michael McCary who started singing along with the group and eventually became the group's new bass singer. Now with a permanent lineup of members, the group rehearsed in the high school's bathrooms, due to the excellent acoustics, and on the corners of their schools and local hangouts. They found inspiration in New Edition's harmonies and routines, and eventually renamed the group "Boyz II Men", after one of New Edition's songs, "Boys to Men", from their 1988 album Heart Break. After performing at a Valentine's Day party at school in 1989 they got their big break when they snuck into a concert put on by local radio station Power 99 at the Philadelphia Civic Center. Their plan was to find Will Smith backstage and perform for him. But while looking for Smith, they happened to cross paths with New Edition member Michael Bivins, who along with fellow groupmates Ricky Bell and Ronnie DeVoe just announced they were forming a New Edition spin-off trio Bell Biv DeVoe. After they sang New Edition's "Can You Stand the Rain" for him, Bivins and everyone in attendance including other celebrities were impressed. He then gave the group his number and told them to give him a call. Nate eventually called him, and he agreed to manage and helped produce the group.
The delay before recording their own material and reported personality conflicts led founding member Marc Nelson to leave the group, making Boyz II Men into the quartet that found international fame: Michael McCary, Nathan Morris, Wanya Morris, and Shawn Stockman.
1991–1992: Cooleyhighharmony and "End of the Road"
Boyz II Men's first album, Cooleyhighharmony, was released on Motown in 1991 and was produced by Michael Bivins. Cooleyhighharmonys drum-heavy new jack swing sound and multi-layered sampled backdrops were similar to that of Bell Biv DeVoe's own work, but featured classic-soul styled vocals in place of BBD's rapping and brassier singing. This style was dubbed "hip hop doo-wop" by the group and Bivins, who presented Boyz II Men and adolescent R&B group Another Bad Creation to the public as BBD's protégés.
From the beginning, Boyz II Men featured all four members as leads, avoiding the usual R&B group arrangement of one or two lead singers and a team of background singers. The multiple-lead arrangement became a Boyz II Men trademark, and it became typical to hear Wanya Morris' vibrato-heavy tenor, Shawn Stockman's tenor voice, Nathan Morris' baritone, and Michael McCary's bass (often used in spoken-word sections of many Boyz II Men hits) trading bars in each song.
The album's liner notes identified unique nicknames for each member of the group. These nicknames were devised in collaboration with Bivins in an attempt at marketing. Wanya was "Squirt", Shawn was "Slim", Michael was simply "Bass", and Nathan assumed the name "Alex Vanderpool", after a soap opera character who brandished a nerdy style.
Boyz II Men's first single, the Dallas Austin-produced "Motownphilly" featured a rap cameo by Michael Bivins that gives the story of how he met Boyz II Men. The single's release was accompanied with a music video that presented the group in hip hop style. (The video also included cameos from fellow Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts alumni Black Thought and Questlove of The Roots.) Cooleyhighharmonys second single was an a cappella cover of a classic Motown tune, G.C. Cameron's "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" from the 1975 film Cooley High, while "Uhh Ahh" served as the third single.
Cooleyhighharmony achieved major success, eventually selling over nine million copies and winning the Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the 1992 Grammy Awards. Boyz II Men were also nominated for Best New Artist, along with British singer-songwriter Seal, fellow R&B group Color Me Badd, as well as dance group C+C Music Factory, but the Grammy was awarded to singer-songwriter Marc Cohn. "Motownphilly" and "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" were number 1 R&B hits and top five U.S. pop hits.
In 1992, Boyz II Men joined MC Hammer's high-profile 2 Legit 2 Quit tour as an opening act. While traveling the country, their tour manager Khalil Roundtree was murdered in Chicago, and the group's future performances of "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" were dedicated to him. As a result of this unfortunate experience, the song helped advance their success.
While touring during 1992, Boyz II Men returned briefly to the studio to record the single "End of the Road", co-written and produced by Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, for the soundtrack to Eddie Murphy's film Boomerang. This song, released as a single on June 30, 1992, became Boyz II Men's biggest hit. It reached the number one position on the Billboard Hot 100 on August 15, remaining there for a record-setting 13 weeks, until November 14, 1992. The success of "End of the Road" instantly transformed Boyz II Men from up-and-coming R&B stars into mainstream music celebrities.
A revamped Cooleyhighharmony was reissued during 1993, with "End of the Road" added as a special bonus track, but "End of the Road" initially appeared only on the Boomerang soundtrack. Later the track was included on a collection of singles produced by Michael Bivins called "East Coast Family, Vol. 1". Shortly after the release of this compilation, Boyz II Men and Michael Bivins parted ways professionally. Boyz II Men continued to work with Babyface and other high-profile record producers over the next several years.
1994: II and "I'll Make Love to You"
After releasing a Christmas compilation, Christmas Interpretations in 1993, Boyz II Men returned to the studio for their highly anticipated sophomore effort. In 1994, II was released. II sold more than copies in the United States alone, becoming one of the best-selling albums ever released by an R&B group act, and one of the biggest albums of the decade. II later won two awards at the 1995 Grammy Awards including Best R&B Album.
Most of the tracks on II were written and produced by Tim & Bob—Tim Kelley and Bob Robinson (5), Babyface (2) and the successful team of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis (2). Several of IIs tracks became major singles, among them Jam & Lewis's "On Bended Knee", and Babyface's "I'll Make Love to You" and "Water Runs Dry".
"I'll Make Love to You" broke "End of the Road's" 13-week record at number 1, by spending 14 weeks at the top of the chart (a feat equaled earlier that year by Whitney Houston's cover of "I Will Always Love You"). "On Bended Knee" replaced "I'll Make Love to You" at number 1, making Boyz II Men only the third act ever to replace itself at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, after Elvis Presley and the Beatles.
In 1995, the group appeared as backing vocalists on "HIStory" from Michael Jackson's Grammy-nominated ninth album of the same name.
1997–1998: Evolution and label conflicts
Motown issued The Remix Collection, a compilation of remixes of various Boyz II Men songs from Cooleyhighharmony and II. The group itself had opposed the release of the collection because they felt the compilation did not represent Boyz II Men's best work. After the label released the album without their permission, there was a dispute between the company and the group. Boyz II Men initiated their own recording company Stonecreek (which released material by artists such as Uncle Sam), and they arranged for Stonecreek's distribution by Epic Records, not Motown.
Boyz II Men's third studio album, Evolution, was released during 1997 to mixed reviews and sold three million copies, far below the stratospheric success of IIs ( copies) and Cooleyhighharmony (). Only one of Evolutions singles, the Jam/Lewis-penned "Four Seasons of Loneliness", reached number 1 on the Hot 100 chart. The second single, the Babyface-helmed "A Song for Mama" (the theme song to the Babyface-produced film Soul Food) was a Top 10 success, but the follow-up "Can't Let Her Go" underperformed.
The global tour began in 1997 to promote Evolution was successful in terms of ticket sales, but behind the scenes, Boyz II Men was wracked by conflicts with their record label and internal conflicts among the members of the group. Making matters worse, health problems began to take their toll on the group. While on tour to support the Evolution album, Wanya Morris developed a polyp on his vocal cords, and the group was forced to postpone part of the tour until he recovered. McCary's multiple sclerosis meant that he was unable to participate in most of the group's dance routines.
Boyz II Men were nominated for 2 Grammys in 1998: Best R&B Album for Evolution and Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group for "A Song for Mama".
1999–2001: Nathan Michael Shawn Wanya
In 1999, Motown's parent company, PolyGram, was bought by Universal Music Group. Amidst the major corporate restructure, Motown was merged with UMG's Universal Records, where Boyz II Men found themselves reassigned.
Their only studio LP album for Universal, 2000's Nathan Michael Shawn Wanya, was chiefly written and produced by the group itself, in an attempt to update their sound and ward off critics who questioned the group's reliance on Babyface's hit-making songcraft. While the critics were more receptive to Nathan Michael Shawn Wanya than they had been to its predecessor, the LP sold only 500,000 copies in the US, copies worldwide, and although its two singles, "Pass You By" and "Thank You in Advance" received media attention, neither became hits.
Boyz II Men departed from Universal in 2001, ending their relationship with the company that brought them to international stardom in 1991. The label released a very successful greatest hits compilation, Legacy: The Greatest Hits Collection, to close out their contract.
2002–2003: Full Circle and "The Color of Love"
Signing a new deal with Arista Records in 2002, Boyz II Men began recording the Full Circle album, and recruited Babyface for a new single, "The Color of Love". In an attempt to recapture the massive success the group had enjoyed a decade earlier, the album received a significant promotional budget. Arista commissioned a high-budget music video, shot in four different locales by four different directors: supervising director Little X filmed scenes featuring Michael McCary in India, Hype Williams filmed Shawn Stockman in Tokyo, Benny Boom filmed Nathan Morris in Ghana, and Chris Robinson filmed Wanya Morris in Puerto Rico and finally all were filmed in New York. The resulting music video had a debut on BET, but failed to have a great effect, and Full Circle, like Nathan Michael Shawn Wanya before it, sold slightly more than 500,000 copies in the US and copies worldwide.
Full Circle became Boyz II Men's final album as a quartet, and their last effort to receive extensive promotion from a major record company. On , 2003, Michael McCary left Boyz II Men due to chronic back problems resulting from multiple sclerosis (MS) and personal problems. Arista terminated Boyz II Men's contract on , and the remaining three members took a temporary hiatus from the music industry.
2004–2006: Throwback, Vol. 1 and The Remedy
After a year out of the spotlight, Boyz II Men created the independent label MSM Music Group (distributed through Koch Records), and released the Throwback, Vol. 1 LP in 2004. The album is a collection of covers of classic R&B and soul songs such as The Dazz Band's "Let It Whip", Michael Jackson's "Human Nature", and, as the single, Bobby Caldwell's "What You Won't Do for Love". For this record, Nathan took on the bass lines as well as the baritone vocals that he sang when Boyz II Men was a quartet. Throwback, Vol. 1 reached number 59 on the Billboard 200. The group launched an independent tour of North America and Asia in support of the Throwback series. The album sold over 200,000 copies with little to no promotion aside from the group's independent tour.
In 2005 Boyz II Men recorded a CD with Anderson Cameau called "Apocalypse", a project meant to benefit Haiti.
In 2006, Boyz II Men's seventh studio album, The Remedy, was released exclusively in Japan, where they found a thriving fan base. In other regions, The Remedy was made available online through the group's website on , 2007.
2007–2008: Hitsville USA
In mid-2007, the group re-signed with Universal Records and released the LP Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA through the Decca Records label. The LP is a cover album featuring songs from the Motown Records catalog, co-produced by Randy Jackson of American Idol fame. The Motown album includes covers of songs by The Temptations ("Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)"), Marvin Gaye ("Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing", "Mercy Mercy Me"), Smokey Robinson & the Miracles ("The Tracks of My Tears"), and even Boyz II Men themselves (an a cappella version of "End of the Road").
Commercially, Motown found some success. It peaked at number 6 on the US R&B chart and was certified Gold in the UK. The album was also a critical success. For the 51st Annual Grammy Awards in 2009, Boyz II Men received two nominations for the album Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA (Best R&B Album and Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for "Ribbon in the Sky").
In 2008, Boyz II Men's three members appeared on Celebrity Don't Forget the Lyrics and created a sensation with their performance. They earned $500,000 for their two nominated charities; the appearance also generated interest in their next release.
2009: Love
In 2009, Boyz II Men announced plans for a new cover album, that covers "artists I don't think people would expect us to cover!" according to Shawn Stockman. Entitled Love, the album was released on , 2009. The album contains remakes of love songs from outside the R&B genre.
2011–2012: Love Cruise and Twenty
Boyz II Men headlined a "Love Cruise" in honor of their 20th anniversary and in observance of Valentine's Day. The cruise took place –14, 2011, and traveled from Miami, Florida, to Nassau, Bahamas. Cruise passengers received a Boyz II Men welcome cocktail party, a concert performance by Boyz II Men, an additional fan appreciation concert by Boyz II Men, a photo session with Boyz II Men (in small groups), a formal prom night, a poker tournament, a deck party with Boyz II Men and a guest DJ, a singles mixer, a gift bag, and onboard drawings for other Boyz II Men events. Couples were able to renew their wedding vows in a special ceremony with Boyz II Men.
Twenty, named in recognition of Boyz II Men's twenty years in the music business, is a double CD album with thirteen original songs and eight rerecorded Boyz II Men classics. It was released on October 25, 2011. Twenty is the group's fourth release through MSM Music Group. It was released in Japan 13 days before its official US release date with the help of Avex Group, the biggest Japanese independent record label.
Originally, Boyz II Men announced a reunion with original member Michael McCary for the Twenty album. On September 6, 2009, at a concert in Virginia Beach, Virginia, Stockman announced that their upcoming 20th anniversary album would "include all 4 members", sparking a tremendous applause.
But soon after that announcement, McCary declined and did not join the project.
As a trio, Boyz II Men performed as special guests on VH1's highly rated VH1 Divas Celebrate Soul concert.
Boyz II Men contributed a cover of Japanese rock band L'Arc~en~Ciel's song "Snow Drop" to their 2012 tribute album.
2013–present: The Package Tour, Collide, and Geico Commercials
On January 22, 2013, the group appeared on The View along with New Kids on the Block and 98 Degrees to announce their joint tour that took place in summer 2013. As of February 20, 2013, Boyz II Men announced that beginning March 1, 2013, they will stop touring and begin performing shows at the Mirage Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
On January 13, 2014, the trio appeared at the end of an episode of How I Met Your Mother titled "Slapsgiving 3: Slappointment in Slapmarra", performing an a cappella version of the show's song "You Just Got Slapped". Their eleventh album, titled Collide, was released on October 21, 2014.
In 2016, the trio appeared in Grease: Live as the Teen Angels and sang Beauty School Dropout.
Wanya placed 4th for the 22nd season of the ABC realty competition series Dancing With The Stars. They also did music for an animated adaptation of The Snowy Day.
In 2017, the group began starring in television commercials for GEICO Auto Insurance.
On June 24, 2017, a section of Broad Street in Philadelphia, from Christian to Carpenter Streets, was renamed, “Boyz II Men Boulevard” by the city council. Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, where the members of Boyz II Men were once students, is on this section of Broad Street.
In August 2017, it was announced they were releasing a new album titled Under the Streetlight in the Fall. It was released on October 20, 2017.
On January 4, 2018, the group was featured in a new track released by Charlie Puth, titled "If You Leave Me Now", created for Charlie Puth's album Voicenotes.
On September 6, 2018, the group performed at the NFL 2018–2019 season kickoff at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, PA.
On October 2, 2018, the group performed "Ladies Man" on ABC's Dancing with the Stars. DeMarcus Ware and Lindsay Arnold danced a quickstep to the song.
The group is featured on a re-imagined version of Take That's song Love Ain't Here Anymore from their number one selling album Odyssey. Howard Donald revealed during an interview with Magic Radio that "he fulfilled a dream when they recorded this song".
On December 15, 2018, the group staged a concert at the Smart Araneta Coliseum with Filipino girl group DIVAS—a group composed of Kyla, Yeng Constantino, KZ Tandingan and Angeline Quinto titled Boyz II Men with DIVAS.
On September 18, 2019, it was reported that the group would play themselves on the ABC comedy series Schooled.
On September 30, 2019, Boyz II Men announced their Asia Tour, which is slated to take place after returning from their US tour and residency in Las Vegas. They will be visiting cities such as Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok (December 7), Singapore (December 9) and Manila.
Style and influence
Boyz II Men is among the biggest names in a cappella and R&B. With what was called "crossover appeal", Boyz II Men found themselves at the vanguard of the 1990s movement to take R&B back into the mainstream, where it had been back in the 1970s. Their use of hip-hop beats in combination with R&B was not unique, but it was Boyz II Men's enormous success with mainstream audiences in "putting harmony over the hip-hop tracks" that helped usher in the near-total dominance of the R&B genre on the pop charts in the 2000s and 2010s. On January 5, 2012, Boyz II Men were awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. They were featured on the first episode of the 2021 Netflix series This Is Pop, called "The Boyz II Men Effect", about their impact on the boy band scene in the 1990s.
Members
Current
Nathan Morris (1985–present)
Wanya Morris (1987–present)
Shawn Stockman (1988–present)
Former
Michael McCary (1988–2003)
Marc Nelson (1985–1990)
George Baldi (1985–1988)
Jon Shoats (1985–1988)
Marguerite Walker (1985–1988)
Discography
Studio albums
Cooleyhighharmony (1991)
Christmas Interpretations (1993)
II (1994)
Evolution (1997)
Nathan Michael Shawn Wanya (2000)
Full Circle (2002)
Throwback, Vol. 1 (2004)
The Remedy (2006)
Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA (2007)
Love (2009)
Twenty (2011)
Collide (2014)
Under the Streetlight (2017)
Filmography
"Going Home" (1995): A Disney Channel concert special filmed during Boyz II Men's "All Around the World Tour" live from the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
The group makes a guest appearance in fourth season episode "Twas the Night Before Christening of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in which they sing at Nicky's christening (1993).
"Living In Paradise?" (2000): They appeared as themselves on the hit show Moesha.
Long Shot: They appear as themselves performing at a charity event.
This Is Pop (2021): They are featured on the episode "The Boyz II Men Effect".
Celebrity Wheel of Fortune (2021): Wanya and Shawn play to win money for charities of their choice.
A Very Boyband Christmas (2021): Wanya and Shawn join members of 'Nsync, 98 Degrees and other boy bands to celebrate the holidays.
Live in Front of a Studio Audience (2021): The group performs the theme song of Diff'rent Strokes as the intro to the special’s reenactment of "Willis’s Privacy".
Awards and nominations
American Music Awards
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "5" | 1992
!scope="row" rowspan= "3" |Boyz II Men
|Favorite Soul/R&B New Artist
|
|-
|Favorite Pop/Rock New Artist
|
|-
|Favorite Soul/R&B Band/Duo/Group
|
|-
|"Motownphilly"
|Favorite Soul/R&B Single
|
|-
|Cooleyhighharmony
|Favorite Soul/R&B Album
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 1993
|"End of the Road"
|Favorite Pop/Rock Song
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "3"|Boyz II Men
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|Favorite Soul/R&B Band/Duo/Group
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "4" | 1995
|
|-
|Favorite Adult Contemporary Artist
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|"I'll Make Love to You"
|Favorite Soul/R&B Single
|
|-
|Favorite Pop/Rock Song
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "5" | 1996
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|II
|Favorite Soul/R&B Album
|
|-
|Favorite Pop/Rock Album
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "4"|Boyz II Men
|Artist of the Year
|
|-
|Favorite Pop/Rock Band/Duo/Group
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|Favorite Soul/R&B Band/Duo/Group
|
|-
| 1998
|
|-
Billboard Music Awards
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 1992
|Boyz II Men
|Top Hot 100 Artist
|
|-
|"End of the Road"
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | Top Hot 100 Song
|
|-
| 1994
|"I'll Make Love to You"
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "3" | 1995
|II
|Top Billboard 200 Album
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | Boyz II Men
|Top Artist
|
|-
|Top R&B Artist
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 1996
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | "One Sweet Day" (with Mariah Carey)
|Top Hot 100 Song
|
|-
|Billboard Music Special Hot 100
|
|-
Grammy Awards
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 1992
|Boyz II Men
|Best New Artist
|
|-
|Cooleyhighharmony
!scope="row" rowspan= "4"|Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
|
|-
| 1993
|"End of the Road"
|
|-
| 1994
|"Let It Snow"
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "3" | 1995
|!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|"I'll Make Love To You"
|
|-
|Record of the Year
|
|-
|II
|Best R&B Album
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 1996
|!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|"One Sweet Day" (with Mariah Carey)
|Record of the Year
|
|-
|Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 1998
|"A Song For Mama"
|Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
|
|-
|Evolution
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|Best R&B Album
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 2001
|Nathan Michael Shawn Wanya
|
|-
|"Pass You By"
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|Best R&B Performance By a Duo or Group with Vocal
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 2009
|"Ribbon In The Sky"
|
|-
|Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA
|Best R&B Album
|
|-
MTV Video Music Awards
!Ref.
|-
| 1993
| "End of the Road"
| rowspan=2|Best R&B Video
|
| rowspan=4|
|-
| rowspan=2|1995
| rowspan=2|"Water Runs Dry"
|
|-
| Best Cinematography
|
|-
| 1996
| "One Sweet Day" (with Mariah Carey)
| Best R&B Video
|
Soul Train Music Awards
|-
|1992
|Boyz II Men
|Best New R&B/Soul Artist
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "3"|1993
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|"End of the Road"
|Song of the Year
|
|-
|Best R&B Music Video
|
|-
|"Please Don't Go"
|Best R&B Single – Group, Band or Duo
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|1995
|II
|R&B/Soul Album Group, Band or Duo
|
|-
|"I'll Make Love to You"
|R&B/Soul Single Group, Band or Duo
|
|-
|1996
|Boyz II Men
|Entertainer of the Year
|
|-
|1998
|Evolution
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|Best R&B/Soul Album - Group, Band or Duo
|
|-
|2003
|Full Circle
|
|-
See also
List of best-selling music artists
List of artists who reached number one in the United States
References
External links
African-American musical groups
American contemporary R&B musical groups
American vocal groups
Ballad music groups
American boy bands
Grammy Award winners
Motown artists
Musical groups established in 1988
Musical groups from Philadelphia
Musical quartets
Musical trios
Sony Music Publishing artists
Vocal quartets
Vocal trios
Avex Group artists | true | [
"\"Resolution\" is a song by American singer-songwriter Nick Lachey, released as the third and final single from his second solo album What's Left of Me in 2006. An exclusive EP of the song, titled Resolution (Full Band Mix) - EP, was released on iTunes on February 20, 2007. The single went for adds at mainstream radio in January 2007. The song was not released as a full single because Lachey at the time was working on his third studio album (he later released A Father's Lullaby and re-formed 98 Degrees), and as a result the song only peaked #77 on the Billboard Pop 100 and failed to match up to the success of \"What's Left of Me\". The original version of \"Resolution\" that appears on What's Left of Me was recorded as a demo, on the day it was written. Jive loved it so much, they insisted on it being the final version on the record.\n\nTrack list\nResolution (Full Band Mix) - EP:\n\"Resolution\" (full band version)\n\"What's Left of Me\" (The Passengerz remix) [radio edit]\n\"What's Left of Me\" (Jack D. Elliot remix)\n\nChart performance\n\nReferences\n\n2006 singles\nNick Lachey songs\nSongs written by Lindy Robbins\nSongs written by Nick Lachey\nSongs written by Jess Cates\nSongs written by Rob Wells",
"United Nations Security Council Resolution 217, adopted unanimously on November 20, 1965, determined that the situation resulting from the Unilateral Declaration of Independence was extremely grave and that the Government of the United Kingdom should put an end to it as it constitutes a threat to international peace and security. The Council also called upon nations not to recognize what it deemed \"this illegal authority\" or entertain diplomatic relations with it. It also asked all states to refrain from economic relations with Rhodesia.\n\nThe resolution was adopted by ten votes to one; France abstained.\n\nThe interception of Joanna V was an action of the British Navy Beira Patrol carried out in accordance to this resolution on 4 April. However this action proved ineffective and United Nations Security Council Resolution 221 was then adopted on 9 April to grant more powers to the Beira Patrol.\n\nSee also\nList of United Nations Security Council Resolutions 201 to 300 (1965–1971)\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n \nText of the Resolution at undocs.org\n\n 0217\n 0217\n1965 in Rhodesia\nNovember 1965 events"
]
|
[
"Boyz II Men",
"1997-98: Evolution and label conflicts",
"What were the label conflicts?",
"After the label released the album without their permission, there was a dispute between the company and the group.",
"What was the resolution of this?",
"group. Boyz II Men initiated their own recording company Stonecreek (which released material by artists such as Uncle Sam), and they arranged for Stonecreek's distribution by Epic Records, not Motown."
]
| C_8f95b254b0fd4b59ad645c7e25273c01_1 | Did they stay with Stonecreek after that? | 3 | Did Boyz II Men stay with Stonecreek after distribution by Epic Records? | Boyz II Men | Motown issued The Remix Collection, a compilation of remixes of various Boyz II Men songs from Cooleyhighharmony and II. The group itself had opposed the release of the collection, because they felt the compilation did not represent Boyz II Men's best work. After the label released the album without their permission, there was a dispute between the company and the group. Boyz II Men initiated their own recording company Stonecreek (which released material by artists such as Uncle Sam), and they arranged for Stonecreek's distribution by Epic Records, not Motown. Boyz II Men's third studio album, Evolution, was released during 1997 to mixed reviews and sold three million copies, far below the stratospheric success of II's (12 million copies) and Cooleyhighharmony (9 million). Only one of Evolution's singles, the Jam/Lewis-penned "Four Seasons of Loneliness", reached number 1 on the Hot 100 chart. The second single, the Babyface-helmed "A Song for Mama" (the theme song to the Babyface-produced film Soul Food) was a Top 10 success, but the follow-up "Can't Let Her Go" underperformed. The global tour began in 1997 to promote Evolution was very successful in terms of ticket sales, but behind the scenes, Boyz II Men was wracked by conflicts with their record label and internal conflicts among the members of the group. Making matters worse, health problems began to take their toll on the group as well. While on tour to support the Evolution album, Wanya Morris developed a polyp on his vocal cords, and the group was forced to postpone part of the tour until he recovered. McCary's scoliosis meant that he was unable to participate in most of the group's dance routines. Boyz II Men were nominated for 2 Grammys in 1998: Best R&B Album for Evolution and Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group for "A Song for Mama". CANNOTANSWER | Stonecreek (which released material by artists such as Uncle Sam), and they arranged for Stonecreek's distribution by Epic Records, not Motown. | Boyz II Men (pronounced boys to men), also known as B2M, is an American vocal harmony group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. They are currently a trio composed of baritone Nathan Morris alongside tenors Wanya Morris and Shawn Stockman. During the 1990s, Boyz II Men found fame on Motown Records as a quartet including bass Michael McCary, who left the group in 2003 due to back spasms that were eventually diagnosed as multiple sclerosis.
During the 1990s, Boyz II Men gained international success. This began with the release of top 5 singles "Motownphilly" and "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" in 1991, followed by the number one single "End of the Road" in 1992, which reached the top of charts worldwide. "End of the Road" set a new record for longevity, staying at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for thirteen weeks. Boyz II Men proceeded to break this record with the subsequent releases of "I'll Make Love to You" and "One Sweet Day" (with Mariah Carey), which, at fourteen and sixteen weeks, respectively, each set new records for the total number of weeks at number one. "I'll Make Love to You" also topped the charts in Australia (for four weeks) and garnered international success.
Consequently, Boyz II Men is among the music industry's elite with regard to time spent at number one in Billboard history with 50 cumulative weeks, ranking sixth behind Drake, the Beatles, Rihanna, Elvis Presley and Carey. Furthermore, when "On Bended Knee" took the number one spot away from "I'll Make Love to You", Boyz II Men became only the third artists ever (after the Beatles and Presley) to replace themselves at the top of the Billboard Hot 100. These achievements were enough to earn Boyz II Men recognition as Billboard magazine's biggest boy band during the period of 1987 to 2012. Boyz II Men has received four Grammy Awards.
Boyz II Men continue to perform worldwide, as a trio. Their most recent studio album, Under the Streetlight, was released in 2017.
In June 2017, a section of Broad Street (from Christian to Carpenter Streets) in Philadelphia was renamed "Boyz II Men Boulevard". This section of the street is near the High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, where the members once attended.
History
1985–1990: Beginnings
The group, originally known as Unique Attraction, was started by friends Nathan Morris and Marc Nelson at the Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA) along with fellow schoolmates George Baldi, Jon Shoats, and Marguerite Walker in 1985. In 1987, Wanya Morris, who sang in the school's choir along with the members of Unique Attraction, joined the group and became a permanent member when he was only a freshman. In 1988 Baldi, Shoats, and Walker all left the group due to graduation. They then recruited Shawn Stockman after seeing him perform a solo in the school's choir. One day, Nate, Marc, Wanya and Shawn were practicing harmonies in a school bathroom and in walked Michael McCary who started singing along with the group and eventually became the group's new bass singer. Now with a permanent lineup of members, the group rehearsed in the high school's bathrooms, due to the excellent acoustics, and on the corners of their schools and local hangouts. They found inspiration in New Edition's harmonies and routines, and eventually renamed the group "Boyz II Men", after one of New Edition's songs, "Boys to Men", from their 1988 album Heart Break. After performing at a Valentine's Day party at school in 1989 they got their big break when they snuck into a concert put on by local radio station Power 99 at the Philadelphia Civic Center. Their plan was to find Will Smith backstage and perform for him. But while looking for Smith, they happened to cross paths with New Edition member Michael Bivins, who along with fellow groupmates Ricky Bell and Ronnie DeVoe just announced they were forming a New Edition spin-off trio Bell Biv DeVoe. After they sang New Edition's "Can You Stand the Rain" for him, Bivins and everyone in attendance including other celebrities were impressed. He then gave the group his number and told them to give him a call. Nate eventually called him, and he agreed to manage and helped produce the group.
The delay before recording their own material and reported personality conflicts led founding member Marc Nelson to leave the group, making Boyz II Men into the quartet that found international fame: Michael McCary, Nathan Morris, Wanya Morris, and Shawn Stockman.
1991–1992: Cooleyhighharmony and "End of the Road"
Boyz II Men's first album, Cooleyhighharmony, was released on Motown in 1991 and was produced by Michael Bivins. Cooleyhighharmonys drum-heavy new jack swing sound and multi-layered sampled backdrops were similar to that of Bell Biv DeVoe's own work, but featured classic-soul styled vocals in place of BBD's rapping and brassier singing. This style was dubbed "hip hop doo-wop" by the group and Bivins, who presented Boyz II Men and adolescent R&B group Another Bad Creation to the public as BBD's protégés.
From the beginning, Boyz II Men featured all four members as leads, avoiding the usual R&B group arrangement of one or two lead singers and a team of background singers. The multiple-lead arrangement became a Boyz II Men trademark, and it became typical to hear Wanya Morris' vibrato-heavy tenor, Shawn Stockman's tenor voice, Nathan Morris' baritone, and Michael McCary's bass (often used in spoken-word sections of many Boyz II Men hits) trading bars in each song.
The album's liner notes identified unique nicknames for each member of the group. These nicknames were devised in collaboration with Bivins in an attempt at marketing. Wanya was "Squirt", Shawn was "Slim", Michael was simply "Bass", and Nathan assumed the name "Alex Vanderpool", after a soap opera character who brandished a nerdy style.
Boyz II Men's first single, the Dallas Austin-produced "Motownphilly" featured a rap cameo by Michael Bivins that gives the story of how he met Boyz II Men. The single's release was accompanied with a music video that presented the group in hip hop style. (The video also included cameos from fellow Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts alumni Black Thought and Questlove of The Roots.) Cooleyhighharmonys second single was an a cappella cover of a classic Motown tune, G.C. Cameron's "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" from the 1975 film Cooley High, while "Uhh Ahh" served as the third single.
Cooleyhighharmony achieved major success, eventually selling over nine million copies and winning the Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the 1992 Grammy Awards. Boyz II Men were also nominated for Best New Artist, along with British singer-songwriter Seal, fellow R&B group Color Me Badd, as well as dance group C+C Music Factory, but the Grammy was awarded to singer-songwriter Marc Cohn. "Motownphilly" and "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" were number 1 R&B hits and top five U.S. pop hits.
In 1992, Boyz II Men joined MC Hammer's high-profile 2 Legit 2 Quit tour as an opening act. While traveling the country, their tour manager Khalil Roundtree was murdered in Chicago, and the group's future performances of "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" were dedicated to him. As a result of this unfortunate experience, the song helped advance their success.
While touring during 1992, Boyz II Men returned briefly to the studio to record the single "End of the Road", co-written and produced by Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, for the soundtrack to Eddie Murphy's film Boomerang. This song, released as a single on June 30, 1992, became Boyz II Men's biggest hit. It reached the number one position on the Billboard Hot 100 on August 15, remaining there for a record-setting 13 weeks, until November 14, 1992. The success of "End of the Road" instantly transformed Boyz II Men from up-and-coming R&B stars into mainstream music celebrities.
A revamped Cooleyhighharmony was reissued during 1993, with "End of the Road" added as a special bonus track, but "End of the Road" initially appeared only on the Boomerang soundtrack. Later the track was included on a collection of singles produced by Michael Bivins called "East Coast Family, Vol. 1". Shortly after the release of this compilation, Boyz II Men and Michael Bivins parted ways professionally. Boyz II Men continued to work with Babyface and other high-profile record producers over the next several years.
1994: II and "I'll Make Love to You"
After releasing a Christmas compilation, Christmas Interpretations in 1993, Boyz II Men returned to the studio for their highly anticipated sophomore effort. In 1994, II was released. II sold more than copies in the United States alone, becoming one of the best-selling albums ever released by an R&B group act, and one of the biggest albums of the decade. II later won two awards at the 1995 Grammy Awards including Best R&B Album.
Most of the tracks on II were written and produced by Tim & Bob—Tim Kelley and Bob Robinson (5), Babyface (2) and the successful team of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis (2). Several of IIs tracks became major singles, among them Jam & Lewis's "On Bended Knee", and Babyface's "I'll Make Love to You" and "Water Runs Dry".
"I'll Make Love to You" broke "End of the Road's" 13-week record at number 1, by spending 14 weeks at the top of the chart (a feat equaled earlier that year by Whitney Houston's cover of "I Will Always Love You"). "On Bended Knee" replaced "I'll Make Love to You" at number 1, making Boyz II Men only the third act ever to replace itself at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, after Elvis Presley and the Beatles.
In 1995, the group appeared as backing vocalists on "HIStory" from Michael Jackson's Grammy-nominated ninth album of the same name.
1997–1998: Evolution and label conflicts
Motown issued The Remix Collection, a compilation of remixes of various Boyz II Men songs from Cooleyhighharmony and II. The group itself had opposed the release of the collection because they felt the compilation did not represent Boyz II Men's best work. After the label released the album without their permission, there was a dispute between the company and the group. Boyz II Men initiated their own recording company Stonecreek (which released material by artists such as Uncle Sam), and they arranged for Stonecreek's distribution by Epic Records, not Motown.
Boyz II Men's third studio album, Evolution, was released during 1997 to mixed reviews and sold three million copies, far below the stratospheric success of IIs ( copies) and Cooleyhighharmony (). Only one of Evolutions singles, the Jam/Lewis-penned "Four Seasons of Loneliness", reached number 1 on the Hot 100 chart. The second single, the Babyface-helmed "A Song for Mama" (the theme song to the Babyface-produced film Soul Food) was a Top 10 success, but the follow-up "Can't Let Her Go" underperformed.
The global tour began in 1997 to promote Evolution was successful in terms of ticket sales, but behind the scenes, Boyz II Men was wracked by conflicts with their record label and internal conflicts among the members of the group. Making matters worse, health problems began to take their toll on the group. While on tour to support the Evolution album, Wanya Morris developed a polyp on his vocal cords, and the group was forced to postpone part of the tour until he recovered. McCary's multiple sclerosis meant that he was unable to participate in most of the group's dance routines.
Boyz II Men were nominated for 2 Grammys in 1998: Best R&B Album for Evolution and Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group for "A Song for Mama".
1999–2001: Nathan Michael Shawn Wanya
In 1999, Motown's parent company, PolyGram, was bought by Universal Music Group. Amidst the major corporate restructure, Motown was merged with UMG's Universal Records, where Boyz II Men found themselves reassigned.
Their only studio LP album for Universal, 2000's Nathan Michael Shawn Wanya, was chiefly written and produced by the group itself, in an attempt to update their sound and ward off critics who questioned the group's reliance on Babyface's hit-making songcraft. While the critics were more receptive to Nathan Michael Shawn Wanya than they had been to its predecessor, the LP sold only 500,000 copies in the US, copies worldwide, and although its two singles, "Pass You By" and "Thank You in Advance" received media attention, neither became hits.
Boyz II Men departed from Universal in 2001, ending their relationship with the company that brought them to international stardom in 1991. The label released a very successful greatest hits compilation, Legacy: The Greatest Hits Collection, to close out their contract.
2002–2003: Full Circle and "The Color of Love"
Signing a new deal with Arista Records in 2002, Boyz II Men began recording the Full Circle album, and recruited Babyface for a new single, "The Color of Love". In an attempt to recapture the massive success the group had enjoyed a decade earlier, the album received a significant promotional budget. Arista commissioned a high-budget music video, shot in four different locales by four different directors: supervising director Little X filmed scenes featuring Michael McCary in India, Hype Williams filmed Shawn Stockman in Tokyo, Benny Boom filmed Nathan Morris in Ghana, and Chris Robinson filmed Wanya Morris in Puerto Rico and finally all were filmed in New York. The resulting music video had a debut on BET, but failed to have a great effect, and Full Circle, like Nathan Michael Shawn Wanya before it, sold slightly more than 500,000 copies in the US and copies worldwide.
Full Circle became Boyz II Men's final album as a quartet, and their last effort to receive extensive promotion from a major record company. On , 2003, Michael McCary left Boyz II Men due to chronic back problems resulting from multiple sclerosis (MS) and personal problems. Arista terminated Boyz II Men's contract on , and the remaining three members took a temporary hiatus from the music industry.
2004–2006: Throwback, Vol. 1 and The Remedy
After a year out of the spotlight, Boyz II Men created the independent label MSM Music Group (distributed through Koch Records), and released the Throwback, Vol. 1 LP in 2004. The album is a collection of covers of classic R&B and soul songs such as The Dazz Band's "Let It Whip", Michael Jackson's "Human Nature", and, as the single, Bobby Caldwell's "What You Won't Do for Love". For this record, Nathan took on the bass lines as well as the baritone vocals that he sang when Boyz II Men was a quartet. Throwback, Vol. 1 reached number 59 on the Billboard 200. The group launched an independent tour of North America and Asia in support of the Throwback series. The album sold over 200,000 copies with little to no promotion aside from the group's independent tour.
In 2005 Boyz II Men recorded a CD with Anderson Cameau called "Apocalypse", a project meant to benefit Haiti.
In 2006, Boyz II Men's seventh studio album, The Remedy, was released exclusively in Japan, where they found a thriving fan base. In other regions, The Remedy was made available online through the group's website on , 2007.
2007–2008: Hitsville USA
In mid-2007, the group re-signed with Universal Records and released the LP Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA through the Decca Records label. The LP is a cover album featuring songs from the Motown Records catalog, co-produced by Randy Jackson of American Idol fame. The Motown album includes covers of songs by The Temptations ("Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)"), Marvin Gaye ("Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing", "Mercy Mercy Me"), Smokey Robinson & the Miracles ("The Tracks of My Tears"), and even Boyz II Men themselves (an a cappella version of "End of the Road").
Commercially, Motown found some success. It peaked at number 6 on the US R&B chart and was certified Gold in the UK. The album was also a critical success. For the 51st Annual Grammy Awards in 2009, Boyz II Men received two nominations for the album Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA (Best R&B Album and Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for "Ribbon in the Sky").
In 2008, Boyz II Men's three members appeared on Celebrity Don't Forget the Lyrics and created a sensation with their performance. They earned $500,000 for their two nominated charities; the appearance also generated interest in their next release.
2009: Love
In 2009, Boyz II Men announced plans for a new cover album, that covers "artists I don't think people would expect us to cover!" according to Shawn Stockman. Entitled Love, the album was released on , 2009. The album contains remakes of love songs from outside the R&B genre.
2011–2012: Love Cruise and Twenty
Boyz II Men headlined a "Love Cruise" in honor of their 20th anniversary and in observance of Valentine's Day. The cruise took place –14, 2011, and traveled from Miami, Florida, to Nassau, Bahamas. Cruise passengers received a Boyz II Men welcome cocktail party, a concert performance by Boyz II Men, an additional fan appreciation concert by Boyz II Men, a photo session with Boyz II Men (in small groups), a formal prom night, a poker tournament, a deck party with Boyz II Men and a guest DJ, a singles mixer, a gift bag, and onboard drawings for other Boyz II Men events. Couples were able to renew their wedding vows in a special ceremony with Boyz II Men.
Twenty, named in recognition of Boyz II Men's twenty years in the music business, is a double CD album with thirteen original songs and eight rerecorded Boyz II Men classics. It was released on October 25, 2011. Twenty is the group's fourth release through MSM Music Group. It was released in Japan 13 days before its official US release date with the help of Avex Group, the biggest Japanese independent record label.
Originally, Boyz II Men announced a reunion with original member Michael McCary for the Twenty album. On September 6, 2009, at a concert in Virginia Beach, Virginia, Stockman announced that their upcoming 20th anniversary album would "include all 4 members", sparking a tremendous applause.
But soon after that announcement, McCary declined and did not join the project.
As a trio, Boyz II Men performed as special guests on VH1's highly rated VH1 Divas Celebrate Soul concert.
Boyz II Men contributed a cover of Japanese rock band L'Arc~en~Ciel's song "Snow Drop" to their 2012 tribute album.
2013–present: The Package Tour, Collide, and Geico Commercials
On January 22, 2013, the group appeared on The View along with New Kids on the Block and 98 Degrees to announce their joint tour that took place in summer 2013. As of February 20, 2013, Boyz II Men announced that beginning March 1, 2013, they will stop touring and begin performing shows at the Mirage Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
On January 13, 2014, the trio appeared at the end of an episode of How I Met Your Mother titled "Slapsgiving 3: Slappointment in Slapmarra", performing an a cappella version of the show's song "You Just Got Slapped". Their eleventh album, titled Collide, was released on October 21, 2014.
In 2016, the trio appeared in Grease: Live as the Teen Angels and sang Beauty School Dropout.
Wanya placed 4th for the 22nd season of the ABC realty competition series Dancing With The Stars. They also did music for an animated adaptation of The Snowy Day.
In 2017, the group began starring in television commercials for GEICO Auto Insurance.
On June 24, 2017, a section of Broad Street in Philadelphia, from Christian to Carpenter Streets, was renamed, “Boyz II Men Boulevard” by the city council. Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, where the members of Boyz II Men were once students, is on this section of Broad Street.
In August 2017, it was announced they were releasing a new album titled Under the Streetlight in the Fall. It was released on October 20, 2017.
On January 4, 2018, the group was featured in a new track released by Charlie Puth, titled "If You Leave Me Now", created for Charlie Puth's album Voicenotes.
On September 6, 2018, the group performed at the NFL 2018–2019 season kickoff at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, PA.
On October 2, 2018, the group performed "Ladies Man" on ABC's Dancing with the Stars. DeMarcus Ware and Lindsay Arnold danced a quickstep to the song.
The group is featured on a re-imagined version of Take That's song Love Ain't Here Anymore from their number one selling album Odyssey. Howard Donald revealed during an interview with Magic Radio that "he fulfilled a dream when they recorded this song".
On December 15, 2018, the group staged a concert at the Smart Araneta Coliseum with Filipino girl group DIVAS—a group composed of Kyla, Yeng Constantino, KZ Tandingan and Angeline Quinto titled Boyz II Men with DIVAS.
On September 18, 2019, it was reported that the group would play themselves on the ABC comedy series Schooled.
On September 30, 2019, Boyz II Men announced their Asia Tour, which is slated to take place after returning from their US tour and residency in Las Vegas. They will be visiting cities such as Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok (December 7), Singapore (December 9) and Manila.
Style and influence
Boyz II Men is among the biggest names in a cappella and R&B. With what was called "crossover appeal", Boyz II Men found themselves at the vanguard of the 1990s movement to take R&B back into the mainstream, where it had been back in the 1970s. Their use of hip-hop beats in combination with R&B was not unique, but it was Boyz II Men's enormous success with mainstream audiences in "putting harmony over the hip-hop tracks" that helped usher in the near-total dominance of the R&B genre on the pop charts in the 2000s and 2010s. On January 5, 2012, Boyz II Men were awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. They were featured on the first episode of the 2021 Netflix series This Is Pop, called "The Boyz II Men Effect", about their impact on the boy band scene in the 1990s.
Members
Current
Nathan Morris (1985–present)
Wanya Morris (1987–present)
Shawn Stockman (1988–present)
Former
Michael McCary (1988–2003)
Marc Nelson (1985–1990)
George Baldi (1985–1988)
Jon Shoats (1985–1988)
Marguerite Walker (1985–1988)
Discography
Studio albums
Cooleyhighharmony (1991)
Christmas Interpretations (1993)
II (1994)
Evolution (1997)
Nathan Michael Shawn Wanya (2000)
Full Circle (2002)
Throwback, Vol. 1 (2004)
The Remedy (2006)
Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA (2007)
Love (2009)
Twenty (2011)
Collide (2014)
Under the Streetlight (2017)
Filmography
"Going Home" (1995): A Disney Channel concert special filmed during Boyz II Men's "All Around the World Tour" live from the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
The group makes a guest appearance in fourth season episode "Twas the Night Before Christening of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in which they sing at Nicky's christening (1993).
"Living In Paradise?" (2000): They appeared as themselves on the hit show Moesha.
Long Shot: They appear as themselves performing at a charity event.
This Is Pop (2021): They are featured on the episode "The Boyz II Men Effect".
Celebrity Wheel of Fortune (2021): Wanya and Shawn play to win money for charities of their choice.
A Very Boyband Christmas (2021): Wanya and Shawn join members of 'Nsync, 98 Degrees and other boy bands to celebrate the holidays.
Live in Front of a Studio Audience (2021): The group performs the theme song of Diff'rent Strokes as the intro to the special’s reenactment of "Willis’s Privacy".
Awards and nominations
American Music Awards
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "5" | 1992
!scope="row" rowspan= "3" |Boyz II Men
|Favorite Soul/R&B New Artist
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|Favorite Pop/Rock New Artist
|
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|Favorite Soul/R&B Band/Duo/Group
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|"Motownphilly"
|Favorite Soul/R&B Single
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|Cooleyhighharmony
|Favorite Soul/R&B Album
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!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 1993
|"End of the Road"
|Favorite Pop/Rock Song
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "3"|Boyz II Men
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|Favorite Soul/R&B Band/Duo/Group
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!scope="row" rowspan= "4" | 1995
|
|-
|Favorite Adult Contemporary Artist
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|"I'll Make Love to You"
|Favorite Soul/R&B Single
|
|-
|Favorite Pop/Rock Song
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "5" | 1996
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|II
|Favorite Soul/R&B Album
|
|-
|Favorite Pop/Rock Album
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "4"|Boyz II Men
|Artist of the Year
|
|-
|Favorite Pop/Rock Band/Duo/Group
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|Favorite Soul/R&B Band/Duo/Group
|
|-
| 1998
|
|-
Billboard Music Awards
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 1992
|Boyz II Men
|Top Hot 100 Artist
|
|-
|"End of the Road"
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | Top Hot 100 Song
|
|-
| 1994
|"I'll Make Love to You"
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "3" | 1995
|II
|Top Billboard 200 Album
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | Boyz II Men
|Top Artist
|
|-
|Top R&B Artist
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 1996
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | "One Sweet Day" (with Mariah Carey)
|Top Hot 100 Song
|
|-
|Billboard Music Special Hot 100
|
|-
Grammy Awards
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 1992
|Boyz II Men
|Best New Artist
|
|-
|Cooleyhighharmony
!scope="row" rowspan= "4"|Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
|
|-
| 1993
|"End of the Road"
|
|-
| 1994
|"Let It Snow"
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "3" | 1995
|!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|"I'll Make Love To You"
|
|-
|Record of the Year
|
|-
|II
|Best R&B Album
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 1996
|!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|"One Sweet Day" (with Mariah Carey)
|Record of the Year
|
|-
|Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 1998
|"A Song For Mama"
|Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
|
|-
|Evolution
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|Best R&B Album
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 2001
|Nathan Michael Shawn Wanya
|
|-
|"Pass You By"
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|Best R&B Performance By a Duo or Group with Vocal
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 2009
|"Ribbon In The Sky"
|
|-
|Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA
|Best R&B Album
|
|-
MTV Video Music Awards
!Ref.
|-
| 1993
| "End of the Road"
| rowspan=2|Best R&B Video
|
| rowspan=4|
|-
| rowspan=2|1995
| rowspan=2|"Water Runs Dry"
|
|-
| Best Cinematography
|
|-
| 1996
| "One Sweet Day" (with Mariah Carey)
| Best R&B Video
|
Soul Train Music Awards
|-
|1992
|Boyz II Men
|Best New R&B/Soul Artist
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "3"|1993
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|"End of the Road"
|Song of the Year
|
|-
|Best R&B Music Video
|
|-
|"Please Don't Go"
|Best R&B Single – Group, Band or Duo
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|1995
|II
|R&B/Soul Album Group, Band or Duo
|
|-
|"I'll Make Love to You"
|R&B/Soul Single Group, Band or Duo
|
|-
|1996
|Boyz II Men
|Entertainer of the Year
|
|-
|1998
|Evolution
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|Best R&B/Soul Album - Group, Band or Duo
|
|-
|2003
|Full Circle
|
|-
See also
List of best-selling music artists
List of artists who reached number one in the United States
References
External links
African-American musical groups
American contemporary R&B musical groups
American vocal groups
Ballad music groups
American boy bands
Grammy Award winners
Motown artists
Musical groups established in 1988
Musical groups from Philadelphia
Musical quartets
Musical trios
Sony Music Publishing artists
Vocal quartets
Vocal trios
Avex Group artists | true | [
"Bank of Ireland v O'Donnell & ors [2015] IESC 90 is an Irish Supreme Court case that centred around whether the appellants had any right or capacity to bring a motion before the court. They wanted to seek an order of a stay on Mr Justice McGovern's order dated 24 July 2014. In their appeal, they referred to the principle of objective bias and Mr Justice McGovern's refusal to recuse himself. The Supreme Court rejected the application for a stay and held that the law regarding objective bias was clearly stated in the lower court.\n\nBackground \nThe case began in 2011, but had been moved to the desk of McGovern J after Kelly J was accused of objective bias. \n\nBrian and Mary Patricia O'Donnell, the appellants, were a married couple who brought a motion to the Court in order to remove any ownership they had in a variety of companies and properties. They sought to transfer them to their two sons, Blake O'Donnell and Bruce O'Donnell, the other two appellants. They had applied to the Supreme Court for a stay on an order made by McGovern J, which adjudicated their relationship with the plaintiffs in that case and Bank of Ireland, the respondent in this case.\n\nHolding of the Supreme Court \nThe Supreme Court, made up of Denham C.J , MacMenamin J and Laffoy J in a unanimous decision dismissed the motion. The ruling was split into two parts, dealing with Mr and Mrs O'Donnell and their sons separately. \n\nBrian and Mary Patricia O' Donnell were declared bankrupt in 2013 and thus, their property rights were conferred to the Official Assignee as per section 44 of the Bankruptcy Act 1988. They sought an order of a stay on the order of McGovern J. Under section 3 of the same Act, the term 'property' includes the right to litigate, which now rested with the Official Assignee as Mr and Mrs O'Donnell were declared bankrupt. Therefore, the Court found that this meant the first two appellants, Brian O'Donnell and Mary Patricia O'Donnell did not have locus standi. Although, some personal actions may rest with the appellants as opposed to the Official Assignee, litigation is not one of them. Subsequently, Mr and Mrs O'Donnell did not have the capacity to bring a motion before the court. The order for a stay could only be accepted if it is initiated by the Official Assignee in this case. Thus, the Court decided that Mr and Mrs O'Donnell could not raise a motion before the court as they did not have the capacity to do so and so dismissed their application for a stay. \n\nThe remaining appellants, Bruce and Blake O'Donnell faced the same result. The Court found no reasons as to why they should be given a stay. They questioned McGovern J's previous connection with Bank of Ireland and alleged it could be the sole reason for his partiality towards the respondents (Bank of Ireland). However, the Court rejected their arguments of objective bias by referring to McGovern J's statement on that matter. He stated that he at the time had no outstanding debt with Bank of Ireland, although he had had in the past. Ultimately, the fact that McGovern J had a mortgage loan with Bank of Ireland in the past is not a valid reason for his recusal, as to do so is unreasonable. The only account he has with them is a current or savings account. Merely having a bank account with the said bank for his own private matters is irrelevant to this case as neither was he a shareholder nor did Bank of Ireland owe him any money. Furthermore, McGovern J went on to make the point that in a banking sector as small as Ireland's it would be impractical for every judge to step down each time they came upon a case in which the respondents were the ones they had personal banking arrangements with. In the matter of adjudicating the judgement for a stay the Court relied on Danske Bank v. McFadden. The Court also held that \"[t]he law as to objective bias has been clearly stated by this Court: see Bula Ltd v. Tara Mines Ltd [2000] 4 I.R. 412; Kenny v. Trinity College Dublin [2008] 2 IR 40; O’Callaghan v. Mahon [2008] 2 IR 514; O’Ceallaigh v. An Bord Altranais [2011] IESC 50.\" Blake O'Donnell and Bruce O'Donnell, were not, therefore, granted an order for a stay either. However, the court did agree to prioritise this appeal case and hold a directions hearing with the parties concerned. \n\nThe Court therefore denied the application for a stay, and the motion was dismissed.\n\nSubsequent developments \n\nMr Brian O'Donnell claimed he would be taking his case to the European courts as he was deeply unsatisfied with the decision of the Supreme Court. However, the Supreme Court in its ruling said there are no solid issues on the basis of which the case can be referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union.\n\nSee also \n\n Supreme Court of Ireland\n Standing (law)\n\nExternal links\nBank of Ireland v O'Donnell & ors\n\nReferences\n\nSupreme Court of Ireland cases\n2015 in case law\n2015 in Irish law\n2015 in the Republic of Ireland",
"\"Stay with Me\" is a 1995 song by British synthpop duo Erasure, released as the lead single from their self-titled, seventh studio album, Erasure. Written by Vince Clarke and Andy Bell, it is a slow love ballad. Starting with simple synth chords from Clarke and subdued vocal from Bell, the song builds to a mid-tempo gospel-influenced conclusion, complete with vocal contributions from the London Community Gospel Choir. Like the other two singles from this album, it was edited for its release. It was not as successful as prior Erasure singles, reaching number fifteen on the UK Singles Chart, and it did not chart in the United States or Germany. In Denmark, it peaked at number 10 while it reached number 13 in Sweden. In an interview with John Marshall from Lincs FM in 2009, Bell stated that \"Stay With Me\" was one of his favourite Erasure songs.\n\nThe single's B-side, \"True Love Wars\", is an extension of the Erasure album opener \"Intro: Guess I'm Into Feeling\". Both tracks use the same instrumental track and share several vocal elements, although they are different songs.\n\nCritical reception\nNed Raggett from AllMusic described the song as \"quietly intoxicating\". Larry Flick from Billboard said it stands among the duo's \"most enchanting and hitworthy recordings to date.\" He noted that the music \"blends delicate music-box-like keyboards with Andy Bell's gorgeous, theatrical vocal performance\", and added further that \"this ballad soars to a beautiful conclusion, as Bell is surrounded by a gospel choir that adds spiritual depth to the song's sweet, romantic lyrics.\" Ross Jones from The Guardian stated that it \"is one of their best; a salty slowie more beautiful than this world deserves.\" Chris Gerard from Metro Weekly commented, \"If anybody ever doubts that Andy Bell is a first-rate vocalist, play them \"Stay With Me\" immediately. The layers of sound that he develops, along with Clarke's simple keyboard line, are simply magical.\" Music & Media said, \"The question is which version are you going to air? ACE is best advised to take the Guitar Mix of the sad love song, EHR won't have problems with the electronic Flow Mix, while \"dance\" can do the rest.\" Music Week rated it three out of five, declaring it as \"a delicate but powerful electronic ballad, produced by The Orb's Thomas Fehlmann.\" They added that the \"slow-burning\" song \"is heard best in context, where Clarke's churchy keyboard patterns are played against a classic, impassioned performance by Bell.\" People Magazine wrote, \"Thanks to an emphasis on gorgeous torch tunes like \"Rock Me Gently\" and \"Stay with Me\", lead singer Andy Bell's always operatic vocals take on a newfound luster\". Darren Lee from The Quietus said that it \"remain [a] serviceable enough\" ballad, \"but lack the pizzazz and charm of earlier releases.\"\n\nMusic video\nA music video was made to accompany the song. It was published on YouTube in September 2014, and as of November 2020, it has got more than 310 000 views.\n\nTrack listings\n\n Cassette single (CMUTE174)\n \"Stay With Me\" (Single Edit)\n \"True Love Wars\"\n\n 12\" single (12MUTE174)\n \"Stay With Me\" (NY Mix)\n \"Stay With Me\" (Flow Mix)\n \"True Love Wars\" (Omni Mix)\n \"Stay With Me\" (Guitar Mix)\n\n CD single #1 (CDMUTE174)\n \"Stay With Me\"\n \"True Love Wars\"\n \"Stay With Me\" (Basic Mix)\n \"True Love Wars\" (Omni Mix)\n\n CD single #2 (LCDMUTE174)\n \"Stay With Me\" (Flow Mix)\n \"Stay With Me\" (NY Mix)\n \"Stay With Me\" (Guitar Mix)\n \"Stay With Me\" (Castaway Dub)\n\n U.S. maxi-single (66084-2)\n \"Stay With Me\" (Commercial Mix)\n \"Stay With Me\" (Basic Mix)\n \"Stay With Me\" (Flow Mix)\n \"Stay With Me\" (Guitar Mix)\n \"Stay With Me\" (NY Mix)\n \"True Love Wars\"\n\nCharts\n\nReferences \n\n1995 singles\nErasure songs\nSongs written by Vince Clarke\nSongs written by Andy Bell (singer)\nSong recordings produced by Gareth Jones\nMute Records singles\nElektra Records singles"
]
|
[
"Boyz II Men",
"1997-98: Evolution and label conflicts",
"What were the label conflicts?",
"After the label released the album without their permission, there was a dispute between the company and the group.",
"What was the resolution of this?",
"group. Boyz II Men initiated their own recording company Stonecreek (which released material by artists such as Uncle Sam), and they arranged for Stonecreek's distribution by Epic Records, not Motown.",
"Did they stay with Stonecreek after that?",
"Stonecreek (which released material by artists such as Uncle Sam), and they arranged for Stonecreek's distribution by Epic Records, not Motown."
]
| C_8f95b254b0fd4b59ad645c7e25273c01_1 | Tell me about Evolution? | 4 | Tell me about Boyz II Men Evolution? | Boyz II Men | Motown issued The Remix Collection, a compilation of remixes of various Boyz II Men songs from Cooleyhighharmony and II. The group itself had opposed the release of the collection, because they felt the compilation did not represent Boyz II Men's best work. After the label released the album without their permission, there was a dispute between the company and the group. Boyz II Men initiated their own recording company Stonecreek (which released material by artists such as Uncle Sam), and they arranged for Stonecreek's distribution by Epic Records, not Motown. Boyz II Men's third studio album, Evolution, was released during 1997 to mixed reviews and sold three million copies, far below the stratospheric success of II's (12 million copies) and Cooleyhighharmony (9 million). Only one of Evolution's singles, the Jam/Lewis-penned "Four Seasons of Loneliness", reached number 1 on the Hot 100 chart. The second single, the Babyface-helmed "A Song for Mama" (the theme song to the Babyface-produced film Soul Food) was a Top 10 success, but the follow-up "Can't Let Her Go" underperformed. The global tour began in 1997 to promote Evolution was very successful in terms of ticket sales, but behind the scenes, Boyz II Men was wracked by conflicts with their record label and internal conflicts among the members of the group. Making matters worse, health problems began to take their toll on the group as well. While on tour to support the Evolution album, Wanya Morris developed a polyp on his vocal cords, and the group was forced to postpone part of the tour until he recovered. McCary's scoliosis meant that he was unable to participate in most of the group's dance routines. Boyz II Men were nominated for 2 Grammys in 1998: Best R&B Album for Evolution and Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group for "A Song for Mama". CANNOTANSWER | Evolution, was released during 1997 to mixed reviews and sold three million | Boyz II Men (pronounced boys to men), also known as B2M, is an American vocal harmony group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. They are currently a trio composed of baritone Nathan Morris alongside tenors Wanya Morris and Shawn Stockman. During the 1990s, Boyz II Men found fame on Motown Records as a quartet including bass Michael McCary, who left the group in 2003 due to back spasms that were eventually diagnosed as multiple sclerosis.
During the 1990s, Boyz II Men gained international success. This began with the release of top 5 singles "Motownphilly" and "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" in 1991, followed by the number one single "End of the Road" in 1992, which reached the top of charts worldwide. "End of the Road" set a new record for longevity, staying at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for thirteen weeks. Boyz II Men proceeded to break this record with the subsequent releases of "I'll Make Love to You" and "One Sweet Day" (with Mariah Carey), which, at fourteen and sixteen weeks, respectively, each set new records for the total number of weeks at number one. "I'll Make Love to You" also topped the charts in Australia (for four weeks) and garnered international success.
Consequently, Boyz II Men is among the music industry's elite with regard to time spent at number one in Billboard history with 50 cumulative weeks, ranking sixth behind Drake, the Beatles, Rihanna, Elvis Presley and Carey. Furthermore, when "On Bended Knee" took the number one spot away from "I'll Make Love to You", Boyz II Men became only the third artists ever (after the Beatles and Presley) to replace themselves at the top of the Billboard Hot 100. These achievements were enough to earn Boyz II Men recognition as Billboard magazine's biggest boy band during the period of 1987 to 2012. Boyz II Men has received four Grammy Awards.
Boyz II Men continue to perform worldwide, as a trio. Their most recent studio album, Under the Streetlight, was released in 2017.
In June 2017, a section of Broad Street (from Christian to Carpenter Streets) in Philadelphia was renamed "Boyz II Men Boulevard". This section of the street is near the High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, where the members once attended.
History
1985–1990: Beginnings
The group, originally known as Unique Attraction, was started by friends Nathan Morris and Marc Nelson at the Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA) along with fellow schoolmates George Baldi, Jon Shoats, and Marguerite Walker in 1985. In 1987, Wanya Morris, who sang in the school's choir along with the members of Unique Attraction, joined the group and became a permanent member when he was only a freshman. In 1988 Baldi, Shoats, and Walker all left the group due to graduation. They then recruited Shawn Stockman after seeing him perform a solo in the school's choir. One day, Nate, Marc, Wanya and Shawn were practicing harmonies in a school bathroom and in walked Michael McCary who started singing along with the group and eventually became the group's new bass singer. Now with a permanent lineup of members, the group rehearsed in the high school's bathrooms, due to the excellent acoustics, and on the corners of their schools and local hangouts. They found inspiration in New Edition's harmonies and routines, and eventually renamed the group "Boyz II Men", after one of New Edition's songs, "Boys to Men", from their 1988 album Heart Break. After performing at a Valentine's Day party at school in 1989 they got their big break when they snuck into a concert put on by local radio station Power 99 at the Philadelphia Civic Center. Their plan was to find Will Smith backstage and perform for him. But while looking for Smith, they happened to cross paths with New Edition member Michael Bivins, who along with fellow groupmates Ricky Bell and Ronnie DeVoe just announced they were forming a New Edition spin-off trio Bell Biv DeVoe. After they sang New Edition's "Can You Stand the Rain" for him, Bivins and everyone in attendance including other celebrities were impressed. He then gave the group his number and told them to give him a call. Nate eventually called him, and he agreed to manage and helped produce the group.
The delay before recording their own material and reported personality conflicts led founding member Marc Nelson to leave the group, making Boyz II Men into the quartet that found international fame: Michael McCary, Nathan Morris, Wanya Morris, and Shawn Stockman.
1991–1992: Cooleyhighharmony and "End of the Road"
Boyz II Men's first album, Cooleyhighharmony, was released on Motown in 1991 and was produced by Michael Bivins. Cooleyhighharmonys drum-heavy new jack swing sound and multi-layered sampled backdrops were similar to that of Bell Biv DeVoe's own work, but featured classic-soul styled vocals in place of BBD's rapping and brassier singing. This style was dubbed "hip hop doo-wop" by the group and Bivins, who presented Boyz II Men and adolescent R&B group Another Bad Creation to the public as BBD's protégés.
From the beginning, Boyz II Men featured all four members as leads, avoiding the usual R&B group arrangement of one or two lead singers and a team of background singers. The multiple-lead arrangement became a Boyz II Men trademark, and it became typical to hear Wanya Morris' vibrato-heavy tenor, Shawn Stockman's tenor voice, Nathan Morris' baritone, and Michael McCary's bass (often used in spoken-word sections of many Boyz II Men hits) trading bars in each song.
The album's liner notes identified unique nicknames for each member of the group. These nicknames were devised in collaboration with Bivins in an attempt at marketing. Wanya was "Squirt", Shawn was "Slim", Michael was simply "Bass", and Nathan assumed the name "Alex Vanderpool", after a soap opera character who brandished a nerdy style.
Boyz II Men's first single, the Dallas Austin-produced "Motownphilly" featured a rap cameo by Michael Bivins that gives the story of how he met Boyz II Men. The single's release was accompanied with a music video that presented the group in hip hop style. (The video also included cameos from fellow Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts alumni Black Thought and Questlove of The Roots.) Cooleyhighharmonys second single was an a cappella cover of a classic Motown tune, G.C. Cameron's "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" from the 1975 film Cooley High, while "Uhh Ahh" served as the third single.
Cooleyhighharmony achieved major success, eventually selling over nine million copies and winning the Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the 1992 Grammy Awards. Boyz II Men were also nominated for Best New Artist, along with British singer-songwriter Seal, fellow R&B group Color Me Badd, as well as dance group C+C Music Factory, but the Grammy was awarded to singer-songwriter Marc Cohn. "Motownphilly" and "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" were number 1 R&B hits and top five U.S. pop hits.
In 1992, Boyz II Men joined MC Hammer's high-profile 2 Legit 2 Quit tour as an opening act. While traveling the country, their tour manager Khalil Roundtree was murdered in Chicago, and the group's future performances of "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" were dedicated to him. As a result of this unfortunate experience, the song helped advance their success.
While touring during 1992, Boyz II Men returned briefly to the studio to record the single "End of the Road", co-written and produced by Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, for the soundtrack to Eddie Murphy's film Boomerang. This song, released as a single on June 30, 1992, became Boyz II Men's biggest hit. It reached the number one position on the Billboard Hot 100 on August 15, remaining there for a record-setting 13 weeks, until November 14, 1992. The success of "End of the Road" instantly transformed Boyz II Men from up-and-coming R&B stars into mainstream music celebrities.
A revamped Cooleyhighharmony was reissued during 1993, with "End of the Road" added as a special bonus track, but "End of the Road" initially appeared only on the Boomerang soundtrack. Later the track was included on a collection of singles produced by Michael Bivins called "East Coast Family, Vol. 1". Shortly after the release of this compilation, Boyz II Men and Michael Bivins parted ways professionally. Boyz II Men continued to work with Babyface and other high-profile record producers over the next several years.
1994: II and "I'll Make Love to You"
After releasing a Christmas compilation, Christmas Interpretations in 1993, Boyz II Men returned to the studio for their highly anticipated sophomore effort. In 1994, II was released. II sold more than copies in the United States alone, becoming one of the best-selling albums ever released by an R&B group act, and one of the biggest albums of the decade. II later won two awards at the 1995 Grammy Awards including Best R&B Album.
Most of the tracks on II were written and produced by Tim & Bob—Tim Kelley and Bob Robinson (5), Babyface (2) and the successful team of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis (2). Several of IIs tracks became major singles, among them Jam & Lewis's "On Bended Knee", and Babyface's "I'll Make Love to You" and "Water Runs Dry".
"I'll Make Love to You" broke "End of the Road's" 13-week record at number 1, by spending 14 weeks at the top of the chart (a feat equaled earlier that year by Whitney Houston's cover of "I Will Always Love You"). "On Bended Knee" replaced "I'll Make Love to You" at number 1, making Boyz II Men only the third act ever to replace itself at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, after Elvis Presley and the Beatles.
In 1995, the group appeared as backing vocalists on "HIStory" from Michael Jackson's Grammy-nominated ninth album of the same name.
1997–1998: Evolution and label conflicts
Motown issued The Remix Collection, a compilation of remixes of various Boyz II Men songs from Cooleyhighharmony and II. The group itself had opposed the release of the collection because they felt the compilation did not represent Boyz II Men's best work. After the label released the album without their permission, there was a dispute between the company and the group. Boyz II Men initiated their own recording company Stonecreek (which released material by artists such as Uncle Sam), and they arranged for Stonecreek's distribution by Epic Records, not Motown.
Boyz II Men's third studio album, Evolution, was released during 1997 to mixed reviews and sold three million copies, far below the stratospheric success of IIs ( copies) and Cooleyhighharmony (). Only one of Evolutions singles, the Jam/Lewis-penned "Four Seasons of Loneliness", reached number 1 on the Hot 100 chart. The second single, the Babyface-helmed "A Song for Mama" (the theme song to the Babyface-produced film Soul Food) was a Top 10 success, but the follow-up "Can't Let Her Go" underperformed.
The global tour began in 1997 to promote Evolution was successful in terms of ticket sales, but behind the scenes, Boyz II Men was wracked by conflicts with their record label and internal conflicts among the members of the group. Making matters worse, health problems began to take their toll on the group. While on tour to support the Evolution album, Wanya Morris developed a polyp on his vocal cords, and the group was forced to postpone part of the tour until he recovered. McCary's multiple sclerosis meant that he was unable to participate in most of the group's dance routines.
Boyz II Men were nominated for 2 Grammys in 1998: Best R&B Album for Evolution and Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group for "A Song for Mama".
1999–2001: Nathan Michael Shawn Wanya
In 1999, Motown's parent company, PolyGram, was bought by Universal Music Group. Amidst the major corporate restructure, Motown was merged with UMG's Universal Records, where Boyz II Men found themselves reassigned.
Their only studio LP album for Universal, 2000's Nathan Michael Shawn Wanya, was chiefly written and produced by the group itself, in an attempt to update their sound and ward off critics who questioned the group's reliance on Babyface's hit-making songcraft. While the critics were more receptive to Nathan Michael Shawn Wanya than they had been to its predecessor, the LP sold only 500,000 copies in the US, copies worldwide, and although its two singles, "Pass You By" and "Thank You in Advance" received media attention, neither became hits.
Boyz II Men departed from Universal in 2001, ending their relationship with the company that brought them to international stardom in 1991. The label released a very successful greatest hits compilation, Legacy: The Greatest Hits Collection, to close out their contract.
2002–2003: Full Circle and "The Color of Love"
Signing a new deal with Arista Records in 2002, Boyz II Men began recording the Full Circle album, and recruited Babyface for a new single, "The Color of Love". In an attempt to recapture the massive success the group had enjoyed a decade earlier, the album received a significant promotional budget. Arista commissioned a high-budget music video, shot in four different locales by four different directors: supervising director Little X filmed scenes featuring Michael McCary in India, Hype Williams filmed Shawn Stockman in Tokyo, Benny Boom filmed Nathan Morris in Ghana, and Chris Robinson filmed Wanya Morris in Puerto Rico and finally all were filmed in New York. The resulting music video had a debut on BET, but failed to have a great effect, and Full Circle, like Nathan Michael Shawn Wanya before it, sold slightly more than 500,000 copies in the US and copies worldwide.
Full Circle became Boyz II Men's final album as a quartet, and their last effort to receive extensive promotion from a major record company. On , 2003, Michael McCary left Boyz II Men due to chronic back problems resulting from multiple sclerosis (MS) and personal problems. Arista terminated Boyz II Men's contract on , and the remaining three members took a temporary hiatus from the music industry.
2004–2006: Throwback, Vol. 1 and The Remedy
After a year out of the spotlight, Boyz II Men created the independent label MSM Music Group (distributed through Koch Records), and released the Throwback, Vol. 1 LP in 2004. The album is a collection of covers of classic R&B and soul songs such as The Dazz Band's "Let It Whip", Michael Jackson's "Human Nature", and, as the single, Bobby Caldwell's "What You Won't Do for Love". For this record, Nathan took on the bass lines as well as the baritone vocals that he sang when Boyz II Men was a quartet. Throwback, Vol. 1 reached number 59 on the Billboard 200. The group launched an independent tour of North America and Asia in support of the Throwback series. The album sold over 200,000 copies with little to no promotion aside from the group's independent tour.
In 2005 Boyz II Men recorded a CD with Anderson Cameau called "Apocalypse", a project meant to benefit Haiti.
In 2006, Boyz II Men's seventh studio album, The Remedy, was released exclusively in Japan, where they found a thriving fan base. In other regions, The Remedy was made available online through the group's website on , 2007.
2007–2008: Hitsville USA
In mid-2007, the group re-signed with Universal Records and released the LP Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA through the Decca Records label. The LP is a cover album featuring songs from the Motown Records catalog, co-produced by Randy Jackson of American Idol fame. The Motown album includes covers of songs by The Temptations ("Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)"), Marvin Gaye ("Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing", "Mercy Mercy Me"), Smokey Robinson & the Miracles ("The Tracks of My Tears"), and even Boyz II Men themselves (an a cappella version of "End of the Road").
Commercially, Motown found some success. It peaked at number 6 on the US R&B chart and was certified Gold in the UK. The album was also a critical success. For the 51st Annual Grammy Awards in 2009, Boyz II Men received two nominations for the album Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA (Best R&B Album and Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for "Ribbon in the Sky").
In 2008, Boyz II Men's three members appeared on Celebrity Don't Forget the Lyrics and created a sensation with their performance. They earned $500,000 for their two nominated charities; the appearance also generated interest in their next release.
2009: Love
In 2009, Boyz II Men announced plans for a new cover album, that covers "artists I don't think people would expect us to cover!" according to Shawn Stockman. Entitled Love, the album was released on , 2009. The album contains remakes of love songs from outside the R&B genre.
2011–2012: Love Cruise and Twenty
Boyz II Men headlined a "Love Cruise" in honor of their 20th anniversary and in observance of Valentine's Day. The cruise took place –14, 2011, and traveled from Miami, Florida, to Nassau, Bahamas. Cruise passengers received a Boyz II Men welcome cocktail party, a concert performance by Boyz II Men, an additional fan appreciation concert by Boyz II Men, a photo session with Boyz II Men (in small groups), a formal prom night, a poker tournament, a deck party with Boyz II Men and a guest DJ, a singles mixer, a gift bag, and onboard drawings for other Boyz II Men events. Couples were able to renew their wedding vows in a special ceremony with Boyz II Men.
Twenty, named in recognition of Boyz II Men's twenty years in the music business, is a double CD album with thirteen original songs and eight rerecorded Boyz II Men classics. It was released on October 25, 2011. Twenty is the group's fourth release through MSM Music Group. It was released in Japan 13 days before its official US release date with the help of Avex Group, the biggest Japanese independent record label.
Originally, Boyz II Men announced a reunion with original member Michael McCary for the Twenty album. On September 6, 2009, at a concert in Virginia Beach, Virginia, Stockman announced that their upcoming 20th anniversary album would "include all 4 members", sparking a tremendous applause.
But soon after that announcement, McCary declined and did not join the project.
As a trio, Boyz II Men performed as special guests on VH1's highly rated VH1 Divas Celebrate Soul concert.
Boyz II Men contributed a cover of Japanese rock band L'Arc~en~Ciel's song "Snow Drop" to their 2012 tribute album.
2013–present: The Package Tour, Collide, and Geico Commercials
On January 22, 2013, the group appeared on The View along with New Kids on the Block and 98 Degrees to announce their joint tour that took place in summer 2013. As of February 20, 2013, Boyz II Men announced that beginning March 1, 2013, they will stop touring and begin performing shows at the Mirage Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
On January 13, 2014, the trio appeared at the end of an episode of How I Met Your Mother titled "Slapsgiving 3: Slappointment in Slapmarra", performing an a cappella version of the show's song "You Just Got Slapped". Their eleventh album, titled Collide, was released on October 21, 2014.
In 2016, the trio appeared in Grease: Live as the Teen Angels and sang Beauty School Dropout.
Wanya placed 4th for the 22nd season of the ABC realty competition series Dancing With The Stars. They also did music for an animated adaptation of The Snowy Day.
In 2017, the group began starring in television commercials for GEICO Auto Insurance.
On June 24, 2017, a section of Broad Street in Philadelphia, from Christian to Carpenter Streets, was renamed, “Boyz II Men Boulevard” by the city council. Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, where the members of Boyz II Men were once students, is on this section of Broad Street.
In August 2017, it was announced they were releasing a new album titled Under the Streetlight in the Fall. It was released on October 20, 2017.
On January 4, 2018, the group was featured in a new track released by Charlie Puth, titled "If You Leave Me Now", created for Charlie Puth's album Voicenotes.
On September 6, 2018, the group performed at the NFL 2018–2019 season kickoff at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, PA.
On October 2, 2018, the group performed "Ladies Man" on ABC's Dancing with the Stars. DeMarcus Ware and Lindsay Arnold danced a quickstep to the song.
The group is featured on a re-imagined version of Take That's song Love Ain't Here Anymore from their number one selling album Odyssey. Howard Donald revealed during an interview with Magic Radio that "he fulfilled a dream when they recorded this song".
On December 15, 2018, the group staged a concert at the Smart Araneta Coliseum with Filipino girl group DIVAS—a group composed of Kyla, Yeng Constantino, KZ Tandingan and Angeline Quinto titled Boyz II Men with DIVAS.
On September 18, 2019, it was reported that the group would play themselves on the ABC comedy series Schooled.
On September 30, 2019, Boyz II Men announced their Asia Tour, which is slated to take place after returning from their US tour and residency in Las Vegas. They will be visiting cities such as Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok (December 7), Singapore (December 9) and Manila.
Style and influence
Boyz II Men is among the biggest names in a cappella and R&B. With what was called "crossover appeal", Boyz II Men found themselves at the vanguard of the 1990s movement to take R&B back into the mainstream, where it had been back in the 1970s. Their use of hip-hop beats in combination with R&B was not unique, but it was Boyz II Men's enormous success with mainstream audiences in "putting harmony over the hip-hop tracks" that helped usher in the near-total dominance of the R&B genre on the pop charts in the 2000s and 2010s. On January 5, 2012, Boyz II Men were awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. They were featured on the first episode of the 2021 Netflix series This Is Pop, called "The Boyz II Men Effect", about their impact on the boy band scene in the 1990s.
Members
Current
Nathan Morris (1985–present)
Wanya Morris (1987–present)
Shawn Stockman (1988–present)
Former
Michael McCary (1988–2003)
Marc Nelson (1985–1990)
George Baldi (1985–1988)
Jon Shoats (1985–1988)
Marguerite Walker (1985–1988)
Discography
Studio albums
Cooleyhighharmony (1991)
Christmas Interpretations (1993)
II (1994)
Evolution (1997)
Nathan Michael Shawn Wanya (2000)
Full Circle (2002)
Throwback, Vol. 1 (2004)
The Remedy (2006)
Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA (2007)
Love (2009)
Twenty (2011)
Collide (2014)
Under the Streetlight (2017)
Filmography
"Going Home" (1995): A Disney Channel concert special filmed during Boyz II Men's "All Around the World Tour" live from the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
The group makes a guest appearance in fourth season episode "Twas the Night Before Christening of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in which they sing at Nicky's christening (1993).
"Living In Paradise?" (2000): They appeared as themselves on the hit show Moesha.
Long Shot: They appear as themselves performing at a charity event.
This Is Pop (2021): They are featured on the episode "The Boyz II Men Effect".
Celebrity Wheel of Fortune (2021): Wanya and Shawn play to win money for charities of their choice.
A Very Boyband Christmas (2021): Wanya and Shawn join members of 'Nsync, 98 Degrees and other boy bands to celebrate the holidays.
Live in Front of a Studio Audience (2021): The group performs the theme song of Diff'rent Strokes as the intro to the special’s reenactment of "Willis’s Privacy".
Awards and nominations
American Music Awards
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "5" | 1992
!scope="row" rowspan= "3" |Boyz II Men
|Favorite Soul/R&B New Artist
|
|-
|Favorite Pop/Rock New Artist
|
|-
|Favorite Soul/R&B Band/Duo/Group
|
|-
|"Motownphilly"
|Favorite Soul/R&B Single
|
|-
|Cooleyhighharmony
|Favorite Soul/R&B Album
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 1993
|"End of the Road"
|Favorite Pop/Rock Song
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "3"|Boyz II Men
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|Favorite Soul/R&B Band/Duo/Group
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "4" | 1995
|
|-
|Favorite Adult Contemporary Artist
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|"I'll Make Love to You"
|Favorite Soul/R&B Single
|
|-
|Favorite Pop/Rock Song
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "5" | 1996
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|II
|Favorite Soul/R&B Album
|
|-
|Favorite Pop/Rock Album
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "4"|Boyz II Men
|Artist of the Year
|
|-
|Favorite Pop/Rock Band/Duo/Group
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|Favorite Soul/R&B Band/Duo/Group
|
|-
| 1998
|
|-
Billboard Music Awards
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 1992
|Boyz II Men
|Top Hot 100 Artist
|
|-
|"End of the Road"
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | Top Hot 100 Song
|
|-
| 1994
|"I'll Make Love to You"
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "3" | 1995
|II
|Top Billboard 200 Album
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | Boyz II Men
|Top Artist
|
|-
|Top R&B Artist
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 1996
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | "One Sweet Day" (with Mariah Carey)
|Top Hot 100 Song
|
|-
|Billboard Music Special Hot 100
|
|-
Grammy Awards
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 1992
|Boyz II Men
|Best New Artist
|
|-
|Cooleyhighharmony
!scope="row" rowspan= "4"|Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
|
|-
| 1993
|"End of the Road"
|
|-
| 1994
|"Let It Snow"
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "3" | 1995
|!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|"I'll Make Love To You"
|
|-
|Record of the Year
|
|-
|II
|Best R&B Album
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 1996
|!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|"One Sweet Day" (with Mariah Carey)
|Record of the Year
|
|-
|Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 1998
|"A Song For Mama"
|Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
|
|-
|Evolution
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|Best R&B Album
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 2001
|Nathan Michael Shawn Wanya
|
|-
|"Pass You By"
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|Best R&B Performance By a Duo or Group with Vocal
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 2009
|"Ribbon In The Sky"
|
|-
|Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA
|Best R&B Album
|
|-
MTV Video Music Awards
!Ref.
|-
| 1993
| "End of the Road"
| rowspan=2|Best R&B Video
|
| rowspan=4|
|-
| rowspan=2|1995
| rowspan=2|"Water Runs Dry"
|
|-
| Best Cinematography
|
|-
| 1996
| "One Sweet Day" (with Mariah Carey)
| Best R&B Video
|
Soul Train Music Awards
|-
|1992
|Boyz II Men
|Best New R&B/Soul Artist
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "3"|1993
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|"End of the Road"
|Song of the Year
|
|-
|Best R&B Music Video
|
|-
|"Please Don't Go"
|Best R&B Single – Group, Band or Duo
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|1995
|II
|R&B/Soul Album Group, Band or Duo
|
|-
|"I'll Make Love to You"
|R&B/Soul Single Group, Band or Duo
|
|-
|1996
|Boyz II Men
|Entertainer of the Year
|
|-
|1998
|Evolution
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|Best R&B/Soul Album - Group, Band or Duo
|
|-
|2003
|Full Circle
|
|-
See also
List of best-selling music artists
List of artists who reached number one in the United States
References
External links
African-American musical groups
American contemporary R&B musical groups
American vocal groups
Ballad music groups
American boy bands
Grammy Award winners
Motown artists
Musical groups established in 1988
Musical groups from Philadelphia
Musical quartets
Musical trios
Sony Music Publishing artists
Vocal quartets
Vocal trios
Avex Group artists | true | [
"Tell Me a Story may refer to:\n\nMusic\n \"Tell Me a Story\" (1927 song), 1990\n \"Tell Me a Story (About the Night Before)\", a song by Hilary Duff\n \"Tell Me a Story\" (Terry Gilkyson song), 1953, written by Terry Gilkyson and recorded by Jimmy Boyd & Frankie Laine\n \"Tell Me a Story\", a song by Iggy Pop from New Values\n\nLiterature\n Tell Me a Story (book), a children's book by Mary Louisa Molesworth\n Tell Me a Story: Fifty Years and 60 Minutes in Television, a book by Don Hewitt\n Tell Me a Story: A New Look at Real and Artificial Memory, a book by Roger Schank\n \"Tell Me a Story\", a newspaper column carried by Universal Press Syndicate\n\nTelevision\n Tell Me a Story (TV series), CBS All Access series",
"Mary Alice Jones (1898–1980) was an author of religious books for children.\n\nMary Alice Jones was born in Dallas, Texas in 1898. She was involved in religion from an early age, joining the Methodist Church at age 10. She received her initial college education at the University of Texas before attending Northwestern University, earning a master's degree in religious education, and then receiving a Ph.D. from Yale University. She served as the director of children's work for the South Carolina Annual Conference and also for the International Council of Religious Education. She was the first woman teacher at the Yale Divinity School.\n\nShe became a children's book editor at Rand McNally & Company in 1945, before transitioning into writing work, authoring such books as Prayers for Little Children, which sold over 2 million copies, and Tell Me About God.\n\nIn 1951 she left Rand McNally and became the director of children's work for the General Board of Education of the Methodist Church.\n\nBibliography\nTell Me About God (1943)\nTell me About Jesus (1944)\nTell Me About the Bible (1945)\nTell Me About Prayer (1948)\nFirst Prayers for Little Children (1949)\nStories of the Christ Child (1953)\nBible Stories: Old Testament (Elizabeth Webbe illustrator; Chicago: Rand McNally, 1954)\nGod Is Good (Elizabeth Webbe illustrator; Chicago: Rand McNally, 1955)\nPrayers and Graces for a Small Child (Elizabeth Webbe illustrator; Chicago: Rand McNally, 1955)\nTell Me About Heaven (Marjorie Cooper illustrator; Chicago: Rand McNally, 1956)\nTell Me About Christmas (Marjorie Cooper illustrator; Chicago: Rand McNally, 1958)\nThe Baby Jesus (Elizabeth Webbe illustrator; Chicago: Rand McNally, 1961)\nGod Loves Me (Elizabeth Webbe illustrator; Chicago: Rand McNally, 1961)\nTell Me About God's Plan for Me (1965)\nBible Stories for Children (1983)\n\nReferences\n\n1898 births\nAmerican children's writers\nAmerican Methodists\nMethodist writers\nPeople from Dallas\nWriters from Texas\nNorthwestern University alumni\nYale Divinity School faculty\nYear of death missing"
]
|
[
"Boyz II Men",
"1997-98: Evolution and label conflicts",
"What were the label conflicts?",
"After the label released the album without their permission, there was a dispute between the company and the group.",
"What was the resolution of this?",
"group. Boyz II Men initiated their own recording company Stonecreek (which released material by artists such as Uncle Sam), and they arranged for Stonecreek's distribution by Epic Records, not Motown.",
"Did they stay with Stonecreek after that?",
"Stonecreek (which released material by artists such as Uncle Sam), and they arranged for Stonecreek's distribution by Epic Records, not Motown.",
"Tell me about Evolution?",
"Evolution, was released during 1997 to mixed reviews and sold three million"
]
| C_8f95b254b0fd4b59ad645c7e25273c01_1 | Did they have the label conflicts after Evolution? | 5 | Did Boyz II Men have the label conflicts after Evolution? | Boyz II Men | Motown issued The Remix Collection, a compilation of remixes of various Boyz II Men songs from Cooleyhighharmony and II. The group itself had opposed the release of the collection, because they felt the compilation did not represent Boyz II Men's best work. After the label released the album without their permission, there was a dispute between the company and the group. Boyz II Men initiated their own recording company Stonecreek (which released material by artists such as Uncle Sam), and they arranged for Stonecreek's distribution by Epic Records, not Motown. Boyz II Men's third studio album, Evolution, was released during 1997 to mixed reviews and sold three million copies, far below the stratospheric success of II's (12 million copies) and Cooleyhighharmony (9 million). Only one of Evolution's singles, the Jam/Lewis-penned "Four Seasons of Loneliness", reached number 1 on the Hot 100 chart. The second single, the Babyface-helmed "A Song for Mama" (the theme song to the Babyface-produced film Soul Food) was a Top 10 success, but the follow-up "Can't Let Her Go" underperformed. The global tour began in 1997 to promote Evolution was very successful in terms of ticket sales, but behind the scenes, Boyz II Men was wracked by conflicts with their record label and internal conflicts among the members of the group. Making matters worse, health problems began to take their toll on the group as well. While on tour to support the Evolution album, Wanya Morris developed a polyp on his vocal cords, and the group was forced to postpone part of the tour until he recovered. McCary's scoliosis meant that he was unable to participate in most of the group's dance routines. Boyz II Men were nominated for 2 Grammys in 1998: Best R&B Album for Evolution and Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group for "A Song for Mama". CANNOTANSWER | far below the stratospheric success of II's (12 million copies) and Cooleyhighharmony (9 million). | Boyz II Men (pronounced boys to men), also known as B2M, is an American vocal harmony group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. They are currently a trio composed of baritone Nathan Morris alongside tenors Wanya Morris and Shawn Stockman. During the 1990s, Boyz II Men found fame on Motown Records as a quartet including bass Michael McCary, who left the group in 2003 due to back spasms that were eventually diagnosed as multiple sclerosis.
During the 1990s, Boyz II Men gained international success. This began with the release of top 5 singles "Motownphilly" and "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" in 1991, followed by the number one single "End of the Road" in 1992, which reached the top of charts worldwide. "End of the Road" set a new record for longevity, staying at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for thirteen weeks. Boyz II Men proceeded to break this record with the subsequent releases of "I'll Make Love to You" and "One Sweet Day" (with Mariah Carey), which, at fourteen and sixteen weeks, respectively, each set new records for the total number of weeks at number one. "I'll Make Love to You" also topped the charts in Australia (for four weeks) and garnered international success.
Consequently, Boyz II Men is among the music industry's elite with regard to time spent at number one in Billboard history with 50 cumulative weeks, ranking sixth behind Drake, the Beatles, Rihanna, Elvis Presley and Carey. Furthermore, when "On Bended Knee" took the number one spot away from "I'll Make Love to You", Boyz II Men became only the third artists ever (after the Beatles and Presley) to replace themselves at the top of the Billboard Hot 100. These achievements were enough to earn Boyz II Men recognition as Billboard magazine's biggest boy band during the period of 1987 to 2012. Boyz II Men has received four Grammy Awards.
Boyz II Men continue to perform worldwide, as a trio. Their most recent studio album, Under the Streetlight, was released in 2017.
In June 2017, a section of Broad Street (from Christian to Carpenter Streets) in Philadelphia was renamed "Boyz II Men Boulevard". This section of the street is near the High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, where the members once attended.
History
1985–1990: Beginnings
The group, originally known as Unique Attraction, was started by friends Nathan Morris and Marc Nelson at the Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA) along with fellow schoolmates George Baldi, Jon Shoats, and Marguerite Walker in 1985. In 1987, Wanya Morris, who sang in the school's choir along with the members of Unique Attraction, joined the group and became a permanent member when he was only a freshman. In 1988 Baldi, Shoats, and Walker all left the group due to graduation. They then recruited Shawn Stockman after seeing him perform a solo in the school's choir. One day, Nate, Marc, Wanya and Shawn were practicing harmonies in a school bathroom and in walked Michael McCary who started singing along with the group and eventually became the group's new bass singer. Now with a permanent lineup of members, the group rehearsed in the high school's bathrooms, due to the excellent acoustics, and on the corners of their schools and local hangouts. They found inspiration in New Edition's harmonies and routines, and eventually renamed the group "Boyz II Men", after one of New Edition's songs, "Boys to Men", from their 1988 album Heart Break. After performing at a Valentine's Day party at school in 1989 they got their big break when they snuck into a concert put on by local radio station Power 99 at the Philadelphia Civic Center. Their plan was to find Will Smith backstage and perform for him. But while looking for Smith, they happened to cross paths with New Edition member Michael Bivins, who along with fellow groupmates Ricky Bell and Ronnie DeVoe just announced they were forming a New Edition spin-off trio Bell Biv DeVoe. After they sang New Edition's "Can You Stand the Rain" for him, Bivins and everyone in attendance including other celebrities were impressed. He then gave the group his number and told them to give him a call. Nate eventually called him, and he agreed to manage and helped produce the group.
The delay before recording their own material and reported personality conflicts led founding member Marc Nelson to leave the group, making Boyz II Men into the quartet that found international fame: Michael McCary, Nathan Morris, Wanya Morris, and Shawn Stockman.
1991–1992: Cooleyhighharmony and "End of the Road"
Boyz II Men's first album, Cooleyhighharmony, was released on Motown in 1991 and was produced by Michael Bivins. Cooleyhighharmonys drum-heavy new jack swing sound and multi-layered sampled backdrops were similar to that of Bell Biv DeVoe's own work, but featured classic-soul styled vocals in place of BBD's rapping and brassier singing. This style was dubbed "hip hop doo-wop" by the group and Bivins, who presented Boyz II Men and adolescent R&B group Another Bad Creation to the public as BBD's protégés.
From the beginning, Boyz II Men featured all four members as leads, avoiding the usual R&B group arrangement of one or two lead singers and a team of background singers. The multiple-lead arrangement became a Boyz II Men trademark, and it became typical to hear Wanya Morris' vibrato-heavy tenor, Shawn Stockman's tenor voice, Nathan Morris' baritone, and Michael McCary's bass (often used in spoken-word sections of many Boyz II Men hits) trading bars in each song.
The album's liner notes identified unique nicknames for each member of the group. These nicknames were devised in collaboration with Bivins in an attempt at marketing. Wanya was "Squirt", Shawn was "Slim", Michael was simply "Bass", and Nathan assumed the name "Alex Vanderpool", after a soap opera character who brandished a nerdy style.
Boyz II Men's first single, the Dallas Austin-produced "Motownphilly" featured a rap cameo by Michael Bivins that gives the story of how he met Boyz II Men. The single's release was accompanied with a music video that presented the group in hip hop style. (The video also included cameos from fellow Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts alumni Black Thought and Questlove of The Roots.) Cooleyhighharmonys second single was an a cappella cover of a classic Motown tune, G.C. Cameron's "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" from the 1975 film Cooley High, while "Uhh Ahh" served as the third single.
Cooleyhighharmony achieved major success, eventually selling over nine million copies and winning the Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the 1992 Grammy Awards. Boyz II Men were also nominated for Best New Artist, along with British singer-songwriter Seal, fellow R&B group Color Me Badd, as well as dance group C+C Music Factory, but the Grammy was awarded to singer-songwriter Marc Cohn. "Motownphilly" and "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" were number 1 R&B hits and top five U.S. pop hits.
In 1992, Boyz II Men joined MC Hammer's high-profile 2 Legit 2 Quit tour as an opening act. While traveling the country, their tour manager Khalil Roundtree was murdered in Chicago, and the group's future performances of "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" were dedicated to him. As a result of this unfortunate experience, the song helped advance their success.
While touring during 1992, Boyz II Men returned briefly to the studio to record the single "End of the Road", co-written and produced by Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, for the soundtrack to Eddie Murphy's film Boomerang. This song, released as a single on June 30, 1992, became Boyz II Men's biggest hit. It reached the number one position on the Billboard Hot 100 on August 15, remaining there for a record-setting 13 weeks, until November 14, 1992. The success of "End of the Road" instantly transformed Boyz II Men from up-and-coming R&B stars into mainstream music celebrities.
A revamped Cooleyhighharmony was reissued during 1993, with "End of the Road" added as a special bonus track, but "End of the Road" initially appeared only on the Boomerang soundtrack. Later the track was included on a collection of singles produced by Michael Bivins called "East Coast Family, Vol. 1". Shortly after the release of this compilation, Boyz II Men and Michael Bivins parted ways professionally. Boyz II Men continued to work with Babyface and other high-profile record producers over the next several years.
1994: II and "I'll Make Love to You"
After releasing a Christmas compilation, Christmas Interpretations in 1993, Boyz II Men returned to the studio for their highly anticipated sophomore effort. In 1994, II was released. II sold more than copies in the United States alone, becoming one of the best-selling albums ever released by an R&B group act, and one of the biggest albums of the decade. II later won two awards at the 1995 Grammy Awards including Best R&B Album.
Most of the tracks on II were written and produced by Tim & Bob—Tim Kelley and Bob Robinson (5), Babyface (2) and the successful team of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis (2). Several of IIs tracks became major singles, among them Jam & Lewis's "On Bended Knee", and Babyface's "I'll Make Love to You" and "Water Runs Dry".
"I'll Make Love to You" broke "End of the Road's" 13-week record at number 1, by spending 14 weeks at the top of the chart (a feat equaled earlier that year by Whitney Houston's cover of "I Will Always Love You"). "On Bended Knee" replaced "I'll Make Love to You" at number 1, making Boyz II Men only the third act ever to replace itself at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, after Elvis Presley and the Beatles.
In 1995, the group appeared as backing vocalists on "HIStory" from Michael Jackson's Grammy-nominated ninth album of the same name.
1997–1998: Evolution and label conflicts
Motown issued The Remix Collection, a compilation of remixes of various Boyz II Men songs from Cooleyhighharmony and II. The group itself had opposed the release of the collection because they felt the compilation did not represent Boyz II Men's best work. After the label released the album without their permission, there was a dispute between the company and the group. Boyz II Men initiated their own recording company Stonecreek (which released material by artists such as Uncle Sam), and they arranged for Stonecreek's distribution by Epic Records, not Motown.
Boyz II Men's third studio album, Evolution, was released during 1997 to mixed reviews and sold three million copies, far below the stratospheric success of IIs ( copies) and Cooleyhighharmony (). Only one of Evolutions singles, the Jam/Lewis-penned "Four Seasons of Loneliness", reached number 1 on the Hot 100 chart. The second single, the Babyface-helmed "A Song for Mama" (the theme song to the Babyface-produced film Soul Food) was a Top 10 success, but the follow-up "Can't Let Her Go" underperformed.
The global tour began in 1997 to promote Evolution was successful in terms of ticket sales, but behind the scenes, Boyz II Men was wracked by conflicts with their record label and internal conflicts among the members of the group. Making matters worse, health problems began to take their toll on the group. While on tour to support the Evolution album, Wanya Morris developed a polyp on his vocal cords, and the group was forced to postpone part of the tour until he recovered. McCary's multiple sclerosis meant that he was unable to participate in most of the group's dance routines.
Boyz II Men were nominated for 2 Grammys in 1998: Best R&B Album for Evolution and Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group for "A Song for Mama".
1999–2001: Nathan Michael Shawn Wanya
In 1999, Motown's parent company, PolyGram, was bought by Universal Music Group. Amidst the major corporate restructure, Motown was merged with UMG's Universal Records, where Boyz II Men found themselves reassigned.
Their only studio LP album for Universal, 2000's Nathan Michael Shawn Wanya, was chiefly written and produced by the group itself, in an attempt to update their sound and ward off critics who questioned the group's reliance on Babyface's hit-making songcraft. While the critics were more receptive to Nathan Michael Shawn Wanya than they had been to its predecessor, the LP sold only 500,000 copies in the US, copies worldwide, and although its two singles, "Pass You By" and "Thank You in Advance" received media attention, neither became hits.
Boyz II Men departed from Universal in 2001, ending their relationship with the company that brought them to international stardom in 1991. The label released a very successful greatest hits compilation, Legacy: The Greatest Hits Collection, to close out their contract.
2002–2003: Full Circle and "The Color of Love"
Signing a new deal with Arista Records in 2002, Boyz II Men began recording the Full Circle album, and recruited Babyface for a new single, "The Color of Love". In an attempt to recapture the massive success the group had enjoyed a decade earlier, the album received a significant promotional budget. Arista commissioned a high-budget music video, shot in four different locales by four different directors: supervising director Little X filmed scenes featuring Michael McCary in India, Hype Williams filmed Shawn Stockman in Tokyo, Benny Boom filmed Nathan Morris in Ghana, and Chris Robinson filmed Wanya Morris in Puerto Rico and finally all were filmed in New York. The resulting music video had a debut on BET, but failed to have a great effect, and Full Circle, like Nathan Michael Shawn Wanya before it, sold slightly more than 500,000 copies in the US and copies worldwide.
Full Circle became Boyz II Men's final album as a quartet, and their last effort to receive extensive promotion from a major record company. On , 2003, Michael McCary left Boyz II Men due to chronic back problems resulting from multiple sclerosis (MS) and personal problems. Arista terminated Boyz II Men's contract on , and the remaining three members took a temporary hiatus from the music industry.
2004–2006: Throwback, Vol. 1 and The Remedy
After a year out of the spotlight, Boyz II Men created the independent label MSM Music Group (distributed through Koch Records), and released the Throwback, Vol. 1 LP in 2004. The album is a collection of covers of classic R&B and soul songs such as The Dazz Band's "Let It Whip", Michael Jackson's "Human Nature", and, as the single, Bobby Caldwell's "What You Won't Do for Love". For this record, Nathan took on the bass lines as well as the baritone vocals that he sang when Boyz II Men was a quartet. Throwback, Vol. 1 reached number 59 on the Billboard 200. The group launched an independent tour of North America and Asia in support of the Throwback series. The album sold over 200,000 copies with little to no promotion aside from the group's independent tour.
In 2005 Boyz II Men recorded a CD with Anderson Cameau called "Apocalypse", a project meant to benefit Haiti.
In 2006, Boyz II Men's seventh studio album, The Remedy, was released exclusively in Japan, where they found a thriving fan base. In other regions, The Remedy was made available online through the group's website on , 2007.
2007–2008: Hitsville USA
In mid-2007, the group re-signed with Universal Records and released the LP Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA through the Decca Records label. The LP is a cover album featuring songs from the Motown Records catalog, co-produced by Randy Jackson of American Idol fame. The Motown album includes covers of songs by The Temptations ("Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)"), Marvin Gaye ("Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing", "Mercy Mercy Me"), Smokey Robinson & the Miracles ("The Tracks of My Tears"), and even Boyz II Men themselves (an a cappella version of "End of the Road").
Commercially, Motown found some success. It peaked at number 6 on the US R&B chart and was certified Gold in the UK. The album was also a critical success. For the 51st Annual Grammy Awards in 2009, Boyz II Men received two nominations for the album Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA (Best R&B Album and Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for "Ribbon in the Sky").
In 2008, Boyz II Men's three members appeared on Celebrity Don't Forget the Lyrics and created a sensation with their performance. They earned $500,000 for their two nominated charities; the appearance also generated interest in their next release.
2009: Love
In 2009, Boyz II Men announced plans for a new cover album, that covers "artists I don't think people would expect us to cover!" according to Shawn Stockman. Entitled Love, the album was released on , 2009. The album contains remakes of love songs from outside the R&B genre.
2011–2012: Love Cruise and Twenty
Boyz II Men headlined a "Love Cruise" in honor of their 20th anniversary and in observance of Valentine's Day. The cruise took place –14, 2011, and traveled from Miami, Florida, to Nassau, Bahamas. Cruise passengers received a Boyz II Men welcome cocktail party, a concert performance by Boyz II Men, an additional fan appreciation concert by Boyz II Men, a photo session with Boyz II Men (in small groups), a formal prom night, a poker tournament, a deck party with Boyz II Men and a guest DJ, a singles mixer, a gift bag, and onboard drawings for other Boyz II Men events. Couples were able to renew their wedding vows in a special ceremony with Boyz II Men.
Twenty, named in recognition of Boyz II Men's twenty years in the music business, is a double CD album with thirteen original songs and eight rerecorded Boyz II Men classics. It was released on October 25, 2011. Twenty is the group's fourth release through MSM Music Group. It was released in Japan 13 days before its official US release date with the help of Avex Group, the biggest Japanese independent record label.
Originally, Boyz II Men announced a reunion with original member Michael McCary for the Twenty album. On September 6, 2009, at a concert in Virginia Beach, Virginia, Stockman announced that their upcoming 20th anniversary album would "include all 4 members", sparking a tremendous applause.
But soon after that announcement, McCary declined and did not join the project.
As a trio, Boyz II Men performed as special guests on VH1's highly rated VH1 Divas Celebrate Soul concert.
Boyz II Men contributed a cover of Japanese rock band L'Arc~en~Ciel's song "Snow Drop" to their 2012 tribute album.
2013–present: The Package Tour, Collide, and Geico Commercials
On January 22, 2013, the group appeared on The View along with New Kids on the Block and 98 Degrees to announce their joint tour that took place in summer 2013. As of February 20, 2013, Boyz II Men announced that beginning March 1, 2013, they will stop touring and begin performing shows at the Mirage Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
On January 13, 2014, the trio appeared at the end of an episode of How I Met Your Mother titled "Slapsgiving 3: Slappointment in Slapmarra", performing an a cappella version of the show's song "You Just Got Slapped". Their eleventh album, titled Collide, was released on October 21, 2014.
In 2016, the trio appeared in Grease: Live as the Teen Angels and sang Beauty School Dropout.
Wanya placed 4th for the 22nd season of the ABC realty competition series Dancing With The Stars. They also did music for an animated adaptation of The Snowy Day.
In 2017, the group began starring in television commercials for GEICO Auto Insurance.
On June 24, 2017, a section of Broad Street in Philadelphia, from Christian to Carpenter Streets, was renamed, “Boyz II Men Boulevard” by the city council. Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, where the members of Boyz II Men were once students, is on this section of Broad Street.
In August 2017, it was announced they were releasing a new album titled Under the Streetlight in the Fall. It was released on October 20, 2017.
On January 4, 2018, the group was featured in a new track released by Charlie Puth, titled "If You Leave Me Now", created for Charlie Puth's album Voicenotes.
On September 6, 2018, the group performed at the NFL 2018–2019 season kickoff at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, PA.
On October 2, 2018, the group performed "Ladies Man" on ABC's Dancing with the Stars. DeMarcus Ware and Lindsay Arnold danced a quickstep to the song.
The group is featured on a re-imagined version of Take That's song Love Ain't Here Anymore from their number one selling album Odyssey. Howard Donald revealed during an interview with Magic Radio that "he fulfilled a dream when they recorded this song".
On December 15, 2018, the group staged a concert at the Smart Araneta Coliseum with Filipino girl group DIVAS—a group composed of Kyla, Yeng Constantino, KZ Tandingan and Angeline Quinto titled Boyz II Men with DIVAS.
On September 18, 2019, it was reported that the group would play themselves on the ABC comedy series Schooled.
On September 30, 2019, Boyz II Men announced their Asia Tour, which is slated to take place after returning from their US tour and residency in Las Vegas. They will be visiting cities such as Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok (December 7), Singapore (December 9) and Manila.
Style and influence
Boyz II Men is among the biggest names in a cappella and R&B. With what was called "crossover appeal", Boyz II Men found themselves at the vanguard of the 1990s movement to take R&B back into the mainstream, where it had been back in the 1970s. Their use of hip-hop beats in combination with R&B was not unique, but it was Boyz II Men's enormous success with mainstream audiences in "putting harmony over the hip-hop tracks" that helped usher in the near-total dominance of the R&B genre on the pop charts in the 2000s and 2010s. On January 5, 2012, Boyz II Men were awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. They were featured on the first episode of the 2021 Netflix series This Is Pop, called "The Boyz II Men Effect", about their impact on the boy band scene in the 1990s.
Members
Current
Nathan Morris (1985–present)
Wanya Morris (1987–present)
Shawn Stockman (1988–present)
Former
Michael McCary (1988–2003)
Marc Nelson (1985–1990)
George Baldi (1985–1988)
Jon Shoats (1985–1988)
Marguerite Walker (1985–1988)
Discography
Studio albums
Cooleyhighharmony (1991)
Christmas Interpretations (1993)
II (1994)
Evolution (1997)
Nathan Michael Shawn Wanya (2000)
Full Circle (2002)
Throwback, Vol. 1 (2004)
The Remedy (2006)
Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA (2007)
Love (2009)
Twenty (2011)
Collide (2014)
Under the Streetlight (2017)
Filmography
"Going Home" (1995): A Disney Channel concert special filmed during Boyz II Men's "All Around the World Tour" live from the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
The group makes a guest appearance in fourth season episode "Twas the Night Before Christening of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in which they sing at Nicky's christening (1993).
"Living In Paradise?" (2000): They appeared as themselves on the hit show Moesha.
Long Shot: They appear as themselves performing at a charity event.
This Is Pop (2021): They are featured on the episode "The Boyz II Men Effect".
Celebrity Wheel of Fortune (2021): Wanya and Shawn play to win money for charities of their choice.
A Very Boyband Christmas (2021): Wanya and Shawn join members of 'Nsync, 98 Degrees and other boy bands to celebrate the holidays.
Live in Front of a Studio Audience (2021): The group performs the theme song of Diff'rent Strokes as the intro to the special’s reenactment of "Willis’s Privacy".
Awards and nominations
American Music Awards
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "5" | 1992
!scope="row" rowspan= "3" |Boyz II Men
|Favorite Soul/R&B New Artist
|
|-
|Favorite Pop/Rock New Artist
|
|-
|Favorite Soul/R&B Band/Duo/Group
|
|-
|"Motownphilly"
|Favorite Soul/R&B Single
|
|-
|Cooleyhighharmony
|Favorite Soul/R&B Album
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 1993
|"End of the Road"
|Favorite Pop/Rock Song
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "3"|Boyz II Men
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|Favorite Soul/R&B Band/Duo/Group
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "4" | 1995
|
|-
|Favorite Adult Contemporary Artist
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|"I'll Make Love to You"
|Favorite Soul/R&B Single
|
|-
|Favorite Pop/Rock Song
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "5" | 1996
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|II
|Favorite Soul/R&B Album
|
|-
|Favorite Pop/Rock Album
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "4"|Boyz II Men
|Artist of the Year
|
|-
|Favorite Pop/Rock Band/Duo/Group
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|Favorite Soul/R&B Band/Duo/Group
|
|-
| 1998
|
|-
Billboard Music Awards
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 1992
|Boyz II Men
|Top Hot 100 Artist
|
|-
|"End of the Road"
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | Top Hot 100 Song
|
|-
| 1994
|"I'll Make Love to You"
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "3" | 1995
|II
|Top Billboard 200 Album
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | Boyz II Men
|Top Artist
|
|-
|Top R&B Artist
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 1996
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | "One Sweet Day" (with Mariah Carey)
|Top Hot 100 Song
|
|-
|Billboard Music Special Hot 100
|
|-
Grammy Awards
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 1992
|Boyz II Men
|Best New Artist
|
|-
|Cooleyhighharmony
!scope="row" rowspan= "4"|Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
|
|-
| 1993
|"End of the Road"
|
|-
| 1994
|"Let It Snow"
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "3" | 1995
|!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|"I'll Make Love To You"
|
|-
|Record of the Year
|
|-
|II
|Best R&B Album
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 1996
|!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|"One Sweet Day" (with Mariah Carey)
|Record of the Year
|
|-
|Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 1998
|"A Song For Mama"
|Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
|
|-
|Evolution
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|Best R&B Album
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 2001
|Nathan Michael Shawn Wanya
|
|-
|"Pass You By"
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|Best R&B Performance By a Duo or Group with Vocal
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 2009
|"Ribbon In The Sky"
|
|-
|Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA
|Best R&B Album
|
|-
MTV Video Music Awards
!Ref.
|-
| 1993
| "End of the Road"
| rowspan=2|Best R&B Video
|
| rowspan=4|
|-
| rowspan=2|1995
| rowspan=2|"Water Runs Dry"
|
|-
| Best Cinematography
|
|-
| 1996
| "One Sweet Day" (with Mariah Carey)
| Best R&B Video
|
Soul Train Music Awards
|-
|1992
|Boyz II Men
|Best New R&B/Soul Artist
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "3"|1993
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|"End of the Road"
|Song of the Year
|
|-
|Best R&B Music Video
|
|-
|"Please Don't Go"
|Best R&B Single – Group, Band or Duo
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|1995
|II
|R&B/Soul Album Group, Band or Duo
|
|-
|"I'll Make Love to You"
|R&B/Soul Single Group, Band or Duo
|
|-
|1996
|Boyz II Men
|Entertainer of the Year
|
|-
|1998
|Evolution
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|Best R&B/Soul Album - Group, Band or Duo
|
|-
|2003
|Full Circle
|
|-
See also
List of best-selling music artists
List of artists who reached number one in the United States
References
External links
African-American musical groups
American contemporary R&B musical groups
American vocal groups
Ballad music groups
American boy bands
Grammy Award winners
Motown artists
Musical groups established in 1988
Musical groups from Philadelphia
Musical quartets
Musical trios
Sony Music Publishing artists
Vocal quartets
Vocal trios
Avex Group artists | false | [
"I See Monstas (often stylised I See MONSTAS, and previously called MONSTA), are a British electronic music group. The group was formed in 2012 and consists of producers Rocky and Rufio (also known collectively as Pegasus) as well as singer Bryn Christopher (also known as Skaar). The trio have officially remixed Labrinth (\"Last Time\"), Zedd (\"Spectrum\"), and Tinie Tempah (\"Trampoline\") among others. They have also produced for Ellie Goulding the songs \"Figure 8\" and \"Ritual\" from her second studio album Halcyon.\n\nAs Monsta, they released an eponymous EP on Skrillex's label OWSLA on 23 October 2012. In 2013 they signed the original tracks from the EP (\"Holdin' On\", \"Messiah\" and \"Where Did I Go?\") to Polydor Records. They released the Messiah EP with remixes from Dirty South and Feed Me on 2 June 2013 through Polydor. Their next single \"Evolution\" was released on 3 October 2013 shortly after their name change to I See Monstas, and an extended play featuring \"Evolution\" and three more tracks was released on 18 October 2013.\n\nDiscography\n\nExtended plays\n Monsta (2012)\n Evolution (2013)\n\nSingles\n\nRemixes \n\n Spectrum (by Zedd featuring Mathew Koma) (2012)\n Circles (by I See Monstas) (2014)\n Hanging On (by Ellie Goulding) (2014)\n Wasted Love (by Steve Angello) (2014)\n All Over the World (by Above & Beyond featuring Alex Vargas) (2015)\n\nReferences\n\nEnglish electronic music groups\nBritish musical trios\nPolydor Records artists\nInterscope Records artists\nOwsla artists\nMonstercat artists",
"Eusocial insects have developed from their organization an ability to recognize one another within their society. This recognition of others, from recognizing individuals to groups, is an indication of society, and creates an identity colony wide for each insect.\n\nIndividuality thesis \n\nGhiselin (1969, 1974) and David Hull (1976, 1978) asserted that complex or high level social insects are individuals rather than being like organisms. This claim originally related to the issues regards the nature and reality of species, but can be interpreted to relate to inter colonial developments. Within the colonies of social insects such as ants, dynamic social recognition systems make their advanced societies possible. The mediator for the social recognition systems included a blend of hydrocarbons that each individual within a colony carried as a way to recognize others from within the same colony. The individuality of the sole insect and the cohesion of the colony are very similar in the ways that they approach recognition and solve conflicts.\n\nIn the eusocial wasp Metapolybia cingulata, every individual fulfils a specific role in the colony in terms of nest building and for this reason the colony is able to thrive and actually have a nest. The roles have been categorized as: specialized water foragers, specialized pulp foragers, active builders, active generalists, and idle workers. If even one of these roles, even the \"idle workers\", did not accomplish their goal, the colony as a whole would be unsuccessful in maintaining a nest and would ultimately die.\n\nRecognition through hydrocarbons \n\nSome species of ants have evolved to have the ability to recognize other individuals from their colony to avoid aggression when met. The mechanics of this recognition are mediated by a mixture of specific signatures emanating from the individual, this mixture is a blend of hydrocarbons that emanate from the individual through the insects cuticles. The mixture of hydrocarbons is specific to the insect’s colony and is called the insect’s label. Upon one insect’s interaction with other insects, the perceived label is compared with its internal colony odor, the “template”. If the perceived label doesn't match the ingrained template then the encountered individual will be rejected.\nThe process of recognition by the individual is split into three components: production, perception, and action. The production factor includes the making of the label; in ants and other social insects the label is a signature mixture of long-chain hydrocarbons (cuticular hydrocarbons, CHCs). The perception factor involves the specific individual detecting the label on the other's cuticle and comparing what they perceive to their own innate template. A template-label differential is what is perceived and if that differential exceeds a certain point the ants will turn to aggression and if not they will accept or ignore the other individual.\n\nConflicts \n\nOrganisations built from individuals rather than cells face innate problems when it comes to reproduction. A collection of individuals that make up the colony result in a less-than-one relatedness which therefore causes conflict over the allocation of reproduction. The effects of these differences cost the whole colony as the colony must produce offspring that have genes suppressing the behaviors that allow conflict to arise.\n\nReferences \n\nSociobiology"
]
|
[
"Boyz II Men",
"1997-98: Evolution and label conflicts",
"What were the label conflicts?",
"After the label released the album without their permission, there was a dispute between the company and the group.",
"What was the resolution of this?",
"group. Boyz II Men initiated their own recording company Stonecreek (which released material by artists such as Uncle Sam), and they arranged for Stonecreek's distribution by Epic Records, not Motown.",
"Did they stay with Stonecreek after that?",
"Stonecreek (which released material by artists such as Uncle Sam), and they arranged for Stonecreek's distribution by Epic Records, not Motown.",
"Tell me about Evolution?",
"Evolution, was released during 1997 to mixed reviews and sold three million",
"Did they have the label conflicts after Evolution?",
"far below the stratospheric success of II's (12 million copies) and Cooleyhighharmony (9 million)."
]
| C_8f95b254b0fd4b59ad645c7e25273c01_1 | Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | 6 | Besides Boyz II Men's label conflicts are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | Boyz II Men | Motown issued The Remix Collection, a compilation of remixes of various Boyz II Men songs from Cooleyhighharmony and II. The group itself had opposed the release of the collection, because they felt the compilation did not represent Boyz II Men's best work. After the label released the album without their permission, there was a dispute between the company and the group. Boyz II Men initiated their own recording company Stonecreek (which released material by artists such as Uncle Sam), and they arranged for Stonecreek's distribution by Epic Records, not Motown. Boyz II Men's third studio album, Evolution, was released during 1997 to mixed reviews and sold three million copies, far below the stratospheric success of II's (12 million copies) and Cooleyhighharmony (9 million). Only one of Evolution's singles, the Jam/Lewis-penned "Four Seasons of Loneliness", reached number 1 on the Hot 100 chart. The second single, the Babyface-helmed "A Song for Mama" (the theme song to the Babyface-produced film Soul Food) was a Top 10 success, but the follow-up "Can't Let Her Go" underperformed. The global tour began in 1997 to promote Evolution was very successful in terms of ticket sales, but behind the scenes, Boyz II Men was wracked by conflicts with their record label and internal conflicts among the members of the group. Making matters worse, health problems began to take their toll on the group as well. While on tour to support the Evolution album, Wanya Morris developed a polyp on his vocal cords, and the group was forced to postpone part of the tour until he recovered. McCary's scoliosis meant that he was unable to participate in most of the group's dance routines. Boyz II Men were nominated for 2 Grammys in 1998: Best R&B Album for Evolution and Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group for "A Song for Mama". CANNOTANSWER | Boyz II Men were nominated for 2 Grammys in 1998: | Boyz II Men (pronounced boys to men), also known as B2M, is an American vocal harmony group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. They are currently a trio composed of baritone Nathan Morris alongside tenors Wanya Morris and Shawn Stockman. During the 1990s, Boyz II Men found fame on Motown Records as a quartet including bass Michael McCary, who left the group in 2003 due to back spasms that were eventually diagnosed as multiple sclerosis.
During the 1990s, Boyz II Men gained international success. This began with the release of top 5 singles "Motownphilly" and "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" in 1991, followed by the number one single "End of the Road" in 1992, which reached the top of charts worldwide. "End of the Road" set a new record for longevity, staying at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for thirteen weeks. Boyz II Men proceeded to break this record with the subsequent releases of "I'll Make Love to You" and "One Sweet Day" (with Mariah Carey), which, at fourteen and sixteen weeks, respectively, each set new records for the total number of weeks at number one. "I'll Make Love to You" also topped the charts in Australia (for four weeks) and garnered international success.
Consequently, Boyz II Men is among the music industry's elite with regard to time spent at number one in Billboard history with 50 cumulative weeks, ranking sixth behind Drake, the Beatles, Rihanna, Elvis Presley and Carey. Furthermore, when "On Bended Knee" took the number one spot away from "I'll Make Love to You", Boyz II Men became only the third artists ever (after the Beatles and Presley) to replace themselves at the top of the Billboard Hot 100. These achievements were enough to earn Boyz II Men recognition as Billboard magazine's biggest boy band during the period of 1987 to 2012. Boyz II Men has received four Grammy Awards.
Boyz II Men continue to perform worldwide, as a trio. Their most recent studio album, Under the Streetlight, was released in 2017.
In June 2017, a section of Broad Street (from Christian to Carpenter Streets) in Philadelphia was renamed "Boyz II Men Boulevard". This section of the street is near the High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, where the members once attended.
History
1985–1990: Beginnings
The group, originally known as Unique Attraction, was started by friends Nathan Morris and Marc Nelson at the Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA) along with fellow schoolmates George Baldi, Jon Shoats, and Marguerite Walker in 1985. In 1987, Wanya Morris, who sang in the school's choir along with the members of Unique Attraction, joined the group and became a permanent member when he was only a freshman. In 1988 Baldi, Shoats, and Walker all left the group due to graduation. They then recruited Shawn Stockman after seeing him perform a solo in the school's choir. One day, Nate, Marc, Wanya and Shawn were practicing harmonies in a school bathroom and in walked Michael McCary who started singing along with the group and eventually became the group's new bass singer. Now with a permanent lineup of members, the group rehearsed in the high school's bathrooms, due to the excellent acoustics, and on the corners of their schools and local hangouts. They found inspiration in New Edition's harmonies and routines, and eventually renamed the group "Boyz II Men", after one of New Edition's songs, "Boys to Men", from their 1988 album Heart Break. After performing at a Valentine's Day party at school in 1989 they got their big break when they snuck into a concert put on by local radio station Power 99 at the Philadelphia Civic Center. Their plan was to find Will Smith backstage and perform for him. But while looking for Smith, they happened to cross paths with New Edition member Michael Bivins, who along with fellow groupmates Ricky Bell and Ronnie DeVoe just announced they were forming a New Edition spin-off trio Bell Biv DeVoe. After they sang New Edition's "Can You Stand the Rain" for him, Bivins and everyone in attendance including other celebrities were impressed. He then gave the group his number and told them to give him a call. Nate eventually called him, and he agreed to manage and helped produce the group.
The delay before recording their own material and reported personality conflicts led founding member Marc Nelson to leave the group, making Boyz II Men into the quartet that found international fame: Michael McCary, Nathan Morris, Wanya Morris, and Shawn Stockman.
1991–1992: Cooleyhighharmony and "End of the Road"
Boyz II Men's first album, Cooleyhighharmony, was released on Motown in 1991 and was produced by Michael Bivins. Cooleyhighharmonys drum-heavy new jack swing sound and multi-layered sampled backdrops were similar to that of Bell Biv DeVoe's own work, but featured classic-soul styled vocals in place of BBD's rapping and brassier singing. This style was dubbed "hip hop doo-wop" by the group and Bivins, who presented Boyz II Men and adolescent R&B group Another Bad Creation to the public as BBD's protégés.
From the beginning, Boyz II Men featured all four members as leads, avoiding the usual R&B group arrangement of one or two lead singers and a team of background singers. The multiple-lead arrangement became a Boyz II Men trademark, and it became typical to hear Wanya Morris' vibrato-heavy tenor, Shawn Stockman's tenor voice, Nathan Morris' baritone, and Michael McCary's bass (often used in spoken-word sections of many Boyz II Men hits) trading bars in each song.
The album's liner notes identified unique nicknames for each member of the group. These nicknames were devised in collaboration with Bivins in an attempt at marketing. Wanya was "Squirt", Shawn was "Slim", Michael was simply "Bass", and Nathan assumed the name "Alex Vanderpool", after a soap opera character who brandished a nerdy style.
Boyz II Men's first single, the Dallas Austin-produced "Motownphilly" featured a rap cameo by Michael Bivins that gives the story of how he met Boyz II Men. The single's release was accompanied with a music video that presented the group in hip hop style. (The video also included cameos from fellow Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts alumni Black Thought and Questlove of The Roots.) Cooleyhighharmonys second single was an a cappella cover of a classic Motown tune, G.C. Cameron's "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" from the 1975 film Cooley High, while "Uhh Ahh" served as the third single.
Cooleyhighharmony achieved major success, eventually selling over nine million copies and winning the Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the 1992 Grammy Awards. Boyz II Men were also nominated for Best New Artist, along with British singer-songwriter Seal, fellow R&B group Color Me Badd, as well as dance group C+C Music Factory, but the Grammy was awarded to singer-songwriter Marc Cohn. "Motownphilly" and "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" were number 1 R&B hits and top five U.S. pop hits.
In 1992, Boyz II Men joined MC Hammer's high-profile 2 Legit 2 Quit tour as an opening act. While traveling the country, their tour manager Khalil Roundtree was murdered in Chicago, and the group's future performances of "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" were dedicated to him. As a result of this unfortunate experience, the song helped advance their success.
While touring during 1992, Boyz II Men returned briefly to the studio to record the single "End of the Road", co-written and produced by Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, for the soundtrack to Eddie Murphy's film Boomerang. This song, released as a single on June 30, 1992, became Boyz II Men's biggest hit. It reached the number one position on the Billboard Hot 100 on August 15, remaining there for a record-setting 13 weeks, until November 14, 1992. The success of "End of the Road" instantly transformed Boyz II Men from up-and-coming R&B stars into mainstream music celebrities.
A revamped Cooleyhighharmony was reissued during 1993, with "End of the Road" added as a special bonus track, but "End of the Road" initially appeared only on the Boomerang soundtrack. Later the track was included on a collection of singles produced by Michael Bivins called "East Coast Family, Vol. 1". Shortly after the release of this compilation, Boyz II Men and Michael Bivins parted ways professionally. Boyz II Men continued to work with Babyface and other high-profile record producers over the next several years.
1994: II and "I'll Make Love to You"
After releasing a Christmas compilation, Christmas Interpretations in 1993, Boyz II Men returned to the studio for their highly anticipated sophomore effort. In 1994, II was released. II sold more than copies in the United States alone, becoming one of the best-selling albums ever released by an R&B group act, and one of the biggest albums of the decade. II later won two awards at the 1995 Grammy Awards including Best R&B Album.
Most of the tracks on II were written and produced by Tim & Bob—Tim Kelley and Bob Robinson (5), Babyface (2) and the successful team of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis (2). Several of IIs tracks became major singles, among them Jam & Lewis's "On Bended Knee", and Babyface's "I'll Make Love to You" and "Water Runs Dry".
"I'll Make Love to You" broke "End of the Road's" 13-week record at number 1, by spending 14 weeks at the top of the chart (a feat equaled earlier that year by Whitney Houston's cover of "I Will Always Love You"). "On Bended Knee" replaced "I'll Make Love to You" at number 1, making Boyz II Men only the third act ever to replace itself at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, after Elvis Presley and the Beatles.
In 1995, the group appeared as backing vocalists on "HIStory" from Michael Jackson's Grammy-nominated ninth album of the same name.
1997–1998: Evolution and label conflicts
Motown issued The Remix Collection, a compilation of remixes of various Boyz II Men songs from Cooleyhighharmony and II. The group itself had opposed the release of the collection because they felt the compilation did not represent Boyz II Men's best work. After the label released the album without their permission, there was a dispute between the company and the group. Boyz II Men initiated their own recording company Stonecreek (which released material by artists such as Uncle Sam), and they arranged for Stonecreek's distribution by Epic Records, not Motown.
Boyz II Men's third studio album, Evolution, was released during 1997 to mixed reviews and sold three million copies, far below the stratospheric success of IIs ( copies) and Cooleyhighharmony (). Only one of Evolutions singles, the Jam/Lewis-penned "Four Seasons of Loneliness", reached number 1 on the Hot 100 chart. The second single, the Babyface-helmed "A Song for Mama" (the theme song to the Babyface-produced film Soul Food) was a Top 10 success, but the follow-up "Can't Let Her Go" underperformed.
The global tour began in 1997 to promote Evolution was successful in terms of ticket sales, but behind the scenes, Boyz II Men was wracked by conflicts with their record label and internal conflicts among the members of the group. Making matters worse, health problems began to take their toll on the group. While on tour to support the Evolution album, Wanya Morris developed a polyp on his vocal cords, and the group was forced to postpone part of the tour until he recovered. McCary's multiple sclerosis meant that he was unable to participate in most of the group's dance routines.
Boyz II Men were nominated for 2 Grammys in 1998: Best R&B Album for Evolution and Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group for "A Song for Mama".
1999–2001: Nathan Michael Shawn Wanya
In 1999, Motown's parent company, PolyGram, was bought by Universal Music Group. Amidst the major corporate restructure, Motown was merged with UMG's Universal Records, where Boyz II Men found themselves reassigned.
Their only studio LP album for Universal, 2000's Nathan Michael Shawn Wanya, was chiefly written and produced by the group itself, in an attempt to update their sound and ward off critics who questioned the group's reliance on Babyface's hit-making songcraft. While the critics were more receptive to Nathan Michael Shawn Wanya than they had been to its predecessor, the LP sold only 500,000 copies in the US, copies worldwide, and although its two singles, "Pass You By" and "Thank You in Advance" received media attention, neither became hits.
Boyz II Men departed from Universal in 2001, ending their relationship with the company that brought them to international stardom in 1991. The label released a very successful greatest hits compilation, Legacy: The Greatest Hits Collection, to close out their contract.
2002–2003: Full Circle and "The Color of Love"
Signing a new deal with Arista Records in 2002, Boyz II Men began recording the Full Circle album, and recruited Babyface for a new single, "The Color of Love". In an attempt to recapture the massive success the group had enjoyed a decade earlier, the album received a significant promotional budget. Arista commissioned a high-budget music video, shot in four different locales by four different directors: supervising director Little X filmed scenes featuring Michael McCary in India, Hype Williams filmed Shawn Stockman in Tokyo, Benny Boom filmed Nathan Morris in Ghana, and Chris Robinson filmed Wanya Morris in Puerto Rico and finally all were filmed in New York. The resulting music video had a debut on BET, but failed to have a great effect, and Full Circle, like Nathan Michael Shawn Wanya before it, sold slightly more than 500,000 copies in the US and copies worldwide.
Full Circle became Boyz II Men's final album as a quartet, and their last effort to receive extensive promotion from a major record company. On , 2003, Michael McCary left Boyz II Men due to chronic back problems resulting from multiple sclerosis (MS) and personal problems. Arista terminated Boyz II Men's contract on , and the remaining three members took a temporary hiatus from the music industry.
2004–2006: Throwback, Vol. 1 and The Remedy
After a year out of the spotlight, Boyz II Men created the independent label MSM Music Group (distributed through Koch Records), and released the Throwback, Vol. 1 LP in 2004. The album is a collection of covers of classic R&B and soul songs such as The Dazz Band's "Let It Whip", Michael Jackson's "Human Nature", and, as the single, Bobby Caldwell's "What You Won't Do for Love". For this record, Nathan took on the bass lines as well as the baritone vocals that he sang when Boyz II Men was a quartet. Throwback, Vol. 1 reached number 59 on the Billboard 200. The group launched an independent tour of North America and Asia in support of the Throwback series. The album sold over 200,000 copies with little to no promotion aside from the group's independent tour.
In 2005 Boyz II Men recorded a CD with Anderson Cameau called "Apocalypse", a project meant to benefit Haiti.
In 2006, Boyz II Men's seventh studio album, The Remedy, was released exclusively in Japan, where they found a thriving fan base. In other regions, The Remedy was made available online through the group's website on , 2007.
2007–2008: Hitsville USA
In mid-2007, the group re-signed with Universal Records and released the LP Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA through the Decca Records label. The LP is a cover album featuring songs from the Motown Records catalog, co-produced by Randy Jackson of American Idol fame. The Motown album includes covers of songs by The Temptations ("Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)"), Marvin Gaye ("Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing", "Mercy Mercy Me"), Smokey Robinson & the Miracles ("The Tracks of My Tears"), and even Boyz II Men themselves (an a cappella version of "End of the Road").
Commercially, Motown found some success. It peaked at number 6 on the US R&B chart and was certified Gold in the UK. The album was also a critical success. For the 51st Annual Grammy Awards in 2009, Boyz II Men received two nominations for the album Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA (Best R&B Album and Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for "Ribbon in the Sky").
In 2008, Boyz II Men's three members appeared on Celebrity Don't Forget the Lyrics and created a sensation with their performance. They earned $500,000 for their two nominated charities; the appearance also generated interest in their next release.
2009: Love
In 2009, Boyz II Men announced plans for a new cover album, that covers "artists I don't think people would expect us to cover!" according to Shawn Stockman. Entitled Love, the album was released on , 2009. The album contains remakes of love songs from outside the R&B genre.
2011–2012: Love Cruise and Twenty
Boyz II Men headlined a "Love Cruise" in honor of their 20th anniversary and in observance of Valentine's Day. The cruise took place –14, 2011, and traveled from Miami, Florida, to Nassau, Bahamas. Cruise passengers received a Boyz II Men welcome cocktail party, a concert performance by Boyz II Men, an additional fan appreciation concert by Boyz II Men, a photo session with Boyz II Men (in small groups), a formal prom night, a poker tournament, a deck party with Boyz II Men and a guest DJ, a singles mixer, a gift bag, and onboard drawings for other Boyz II Men events. Couples were able to renew their wedding vows in a special ceremony with Boyz II Men.
Twenty, named in recognition of Boyz II Men's twenty years in the music business, is a double CD album with thirteen original songs and eight rerecorded Boyz II Men classics. It was released on October 25, 2011. Twenty is the group's fourth release through MSM Music Group. It was released in Japan 13 days before its official US release date with the help of Avex Group, the biggest Japanese independent record label.
Originally, Boyz II Men announced a reunion with original member Michael McCary for the Twenty album. On September 6, 2009, at a concert in Virginia Beach, Virginia, Stockman announced that their upcoming 20th anniversary album would "include all 4 members", sparking a tremendous applause.
But soon after that announcement, McCary declined and did not join the project.
As a trio, Boyz II Men performed as special guests on VH1's highly rated VH1 Divas Celebrate Soul concert.
Boyz II Men contributed a cover of Japanese rock band L'Arc~en~Ciel's song "Snow Drop" to their 2012 tribute album.
2013–present: The Package Tour, Collide, and Geico Commercials
On January 22, 2013, the group appeared on The View along with New Kids on the Block and 98 Degrees to announce their joint tour that took place in summer 2013. As of February 20, 2013, Boyz II Men announced that beginning March 1, 2013, they will stop touring and begin performing shows at the Mirage Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
On January 13, 2014, the trio appeared at the end of an episode of How I Met Your Mother titled "Slapsgiving 3: Slappointment in Slapmarra", performing an a cappella version of the show's song "You Just Got Slapped". Their eleventh album, titled Collide, was released on October 21, 2014.
In 2016, the trio appeared in Grease: Live as the Teen Angels and sang Beauty School Dropout.
Wanya placed 4th for the 22nd season of the ABC realty competition series Dancing With The Stars. They also did music for an animated adaptation of The Snowy Day.
In 2017, the group began starring in television commercials for GEICO Auto Insurance.
On June 24, 2017, a section of Broad Street in Philadelphia, from Christian to Carpenter Streets, was renamed, “Boyz II Men Boulevard” by the city council. Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, where the members of Boyz II Men were once students, is on this section of Broad Street.
In August 2017, it was announced they were releasing a new album titled Under the Streetlight in the Fall. It was released on October 20, 2017.
On January 4, 2018, the group was featured in a new track released by Charlie Puth, titled "If You Leave Me Now", created for Charlie Puth's album Voicenotes.
On September 6, 2018, the group performed at the NFL 2018–2019 season kickoff at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, PA.
On October 2, 2018, the group performed "Ladies Man" on ABC's Dancing with the Stars. DeMarcus Ware and Lindsay Arnold danced a quickstep to the song.
The group is featured on a re-imagined version of Take That's song Love Ain't Here Anymore from their number one selling album Odyssey. Howard Donald revealed during an interview with Magic Radio that "he fulfilled a dream when they recorded this song".
On December 15, 2018, the group staged a concert at the Smart Araneta Coliseum with Filipino girl group DIVAS—a group composed of Kyla, Yeng Constantino, KZ Tandingan and Angeline Quinto titled Boyz II Men with DIVAS.
On September 18, 2019, it was reported that the group would play themselves on the ABC comedy series Schooled.
On September 30, 2019, Boyz II Men announced their Asia Tour, which is slated to take place after returning from their US tour and residency in Las Vegas. They will be visiting cities such as Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok (December 7), Singapore (December 9) and Manila.
Style and influence
Boyz II Men is among the biggest names in a cappella and R&B. With what was called "crossover appeal", Boyz II Men found themselves at the vanguard of the 1990s movement to take R&B back into the mainstream, where it had been back in the 1970s. Their use of hip-hop beats in combination with R&B was not unique, but it was Boyz II Men's enormous success with mainstream audiences in "putting harmony over the hip-hop tracks" that helped usher in the near-total dominance of the R&B genre on the pop charts in the 2000s and 2010s. On January 5, 2012, Boyz II Men were awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. They were featured on the first episode of the 2021 Netflix series This Is Pop, called "The Boyz II Men Effect", about their impact on the boy band scene in the 1990s.
Members
Current
Nathan Morris (1985–present)
Wanya Morris (1987–present)
Shawn Stockman (1988–present)
Former
Michael McCary (1988–2003)
Marc Nelson (1985–1990)
George Baldi (1985–1988)
Jon Shoats (1985–1988)
Marguerite Walker (1985–1988)
Discography
Studio albums
Cooleyhighharmony (1991)
Christmas Interpretations (1993)
II (1994)
Evolution (1997)
Nathan Michael Shawn Wanya (2000)
Full Circle (2002)
Throwback, Vol. 1 (2004)
The Remedy (2006)
Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA (2007)
Love (2009)
Twenty (2011)
Collide (2014)
Under the Streetlight (2017)
Filmography
"Going Home" (1995): A Disney Channel concert special filmed during Boyz II Men's "All Around the World Tour" live from the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
The group makes a guest appearance in fourth season episode "Twas the Night Before Christening of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in which they sing at Nicky's christening (1993).
"Living In Paradise?" (2000): They appeared as themselves on the hit show Moesha.
Long Shot: They appear as themselves performing at a charity event.
This Is Pop (2021): They are featured on the episode "The Boyz II Men Effect".
Celebrity Wheel of Fortune (2021): Wanya and Shawn play to win money for charities of their choice.
A Very Boyband Christmas (2021): Wanya and Shawn join members of 'Nsync, 98 Degrees and other boy bands to celebrate the holidays.
Live in Front of a Studio Audience (2021): The group performs the theme song of Diff'rent Strokes as the intro to the special’s reenactment of "Willis’s Privacy".
Awards and nominations
American Music Awards
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "5" | 1992
!scope="row" rowspan= "3" |Boyz II Men
|Favorite Soul/R&B New Artist
|
|-
|Favorite Pop/Rock New Artist
|
|-
|Favorite Soul/R&B Band/Duo/Group
|
|-
|"Motownphilly"
|Favorite Soul/R&B Single
|
|-
|Cooleyhighharmony
|Favorite Soul/R&B Album
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 1993
|"End of the Road"
|Favorite Pop/Rock Song
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "3"|Boyz II Men
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|Favorite Soul/R&B Band/Duo/Group
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "4" | 1995
|
|-
|Favorite Adult Contemporary Artist
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|"I'll Make Love to You"
|Favorite Soul/R&B Single
|
|-
|Favorite Pop/Rock Song
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "5" | 1996
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|II
|Favorite Soul/R&B Album
|
|-
|Favorite Pop/Rock Album
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "4"|Boyz II Men
|Artist of the Year
|
|-
|Favorite Pop/Rock Band/Duo/Group
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|Favorite Soul/R&B Band/Duo/Group
|
|-
| 1998
|
|-
Billboard Music Awards
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 1992
|Boyz II Men
|Top Hot 100 Artist
|
|-
|"End of the Road"
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | Top Hot 100 Song
|
|-
| 1994
|"I'll Make Love to You"
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "3" | 1995
|II
|Top Billboard 200 Album
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | Boyz II Men
|Top Artist
|
|-
|Top R&B Artist
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 1996
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | "One Sweet Day" (with Mariah Carey)
|Top Hot 100 Song
|
|-
|Billboard Music Special Hot 100
|
|-
Grammy Awards
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 1992
|Boyz II Men
|Best New Artist
|
|-
|Cooleyhighharmony
!scope="row" rowspan= "4"|Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
|
|-
| 1993
|"End of the Road"
|
|-
| 1994
|"Let It Snow"
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "3" | 1995
|!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|"I'll Make Love To You"
|
|-
|Record of the Year
|
|-
|II
|Best R&B Album
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 1996
|!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|"One Sweet Day" (with Mariah Carey)
|Record of the Year
|
|-
|Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 1998
|"A Song For Mama"
|Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
|
|-
|Evolution
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|Best R&B Album
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 2001
|Nathan Michael Shawn Wanya
|
|-
|"Pass You By"
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|Best R&B Performance By a Duo or Group with Vocal
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 2009
|"Ribbon In The Sky"
|
|-
|Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA
|Best R&B Album
|
|-
MTV Video Music Awards
!Ref.
|-
| 1993
| "End of the Road"
| rowspan=2|Best R&B Video
|
| rowspan=4|
|-
| rowspan=2|1995
| rowspan=2|"Water Runs Dry"
|
|-
| Best Cinematography
|
|-
| 1996
| "One Sweet Day" (with Mariah Carey)
| Best R&B Video
|
Soul Train Music Awards
|-
|1992
|Boyz II Men
|Best New R&B/Soul Artist
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "3"|1993
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|"End of the Road"
|Song of the Year
|
|-
|Best R&B Music Video
|
|-
|"Please Don't Go"
|Best R&B Single – Group, Band or Duo
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|1995
|II
|R&B/Soul Album Group, Band or Duo
|
|-
|"I'll Make Love to You"
|R&B/Soul Single Group, Band or Duo
|
|-
|1996
|Boyz II Men
|Entertainer of the Year
|
|-
|1998
|Evolution
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|Best R&B/Soul Album - Group, Band or Duo
|
|-
|2003
|Full Circle
|
|-
See also
List of best-selling music artists
List of artists who reached number one in the United States
References
External links
African-American musical groups
American contemporary R&B musical groups
American vocal groups
Ballad music groups
American boy bands
Grammy Award winners
Motown artists
Musical groups established in 1988
Musical groups from Philadelphia
Musical quartets
Musical trios
Sony Music Publishing artists
Vocal quartets
Vocal trios
Avex Group artists | true | [
"Přírodní park Třebíčsko (before Oblast klidu Třebíčsko) is a natural park near Třebíč in the Czech Republic. There are many interesting plants. The park was founded in 1983.\n\nKobylinec and Ptáčovský kopeček\n\nKobylinec is a natural monument situated ca 0,5 km from the village of Trnava.\nThe area of this monument is 0,44 ha. Pulsatilla grandis can be found here and in the Ptáčovský kopeček park near Ptáčov near Třebíč. Both monuments are very popular for tourists.\n\nPonds\n\nIn the natural park there are some interesting ponds such as Velký Bor, Malý Bor, Buršík near Přeckov and a brook Březinka. Dams on the brook are examples of European beaver activity.\n\nSyenitové skály near Pocoucov\n\nSyenitové skály (rocks of syenit) near Pocoucov is one of famed locations. There are interesting granite boulders. The area of the reservation is 0,77 ha.\n\nExternal links\nParts of this article or all article was translated from Czech. The original article is :cs:Přírodní park Třebíčsko.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\nNature near the village Trnava which is there\n\nTřebíč\nParks in the Czech Republic\nTourist attractions in the Vysočina Region",
"Damn Interesting is an independent website founded by Alan Bellows in 2005. The website presents true stories from science, history, and psychology, primarily as long-form articles, often illustrated with original artwork. Works are written by various authors, and published at irregular intervals. The website openly rejects advertising, relying on reader and listener donations to cover operating costs.\n\nAs of October 2012, each article is also published as a podcast under the same name. In November 2019, a second podcast was launched under the title Damn Interesting Week, featuring unscripted commentary on an assortment of news articles featured on the website's \"Curated Links\" section that week. In mid-2020, a third podcast called Damn Interesting Curio Cabinet began highlighting the website's periodic short-form articles in the same radioplay format as the original podcast.\n\nIn July 2009, Damn Interesting published the print book Alien Hand Syndrome through Workman Publishing. It contains some favorites from the site and some exclusive content.\n\nAwards and recognition \nIn August 2007, PC Magazine named Damn Interesting one of the \"Top 100 Undiscovered Web Sites\".\nThe article \"The Zero-Armed Bandit\" by Alan Bellows won a 2015 Sidney Award from David Brooks in The New York Times.\nThe article \"Ghoulish Acts and Dastardly Deeds\" by Alan Bellows was cited as \"nonfiction journalism from 2017 that will stand the test of time\" by Conor Friedersdorf in The Atlantic.\nThe article \"Dupes and Duplicity\" by Jennifer Lee Noonan won a 2020 Sidney Award from David Brooks in the New York Times.\n\nAccusing The Dollop of plagiarism \n\nOn July 9, 2015, Bellows posted an open letter accusing The Dollop, a comedy podcast about history, of plagiarism due to their repeated use of verbatim text from Damn Interesting articles without permission or attribution. Dave Anthony, the writer of The Dollop, responded on reddit, admitting to using Damn Interesting content, but claiming that the use was protected by fair use, and that \"historical facts are not copyrightable.\" In an article about the controversy on Plagiarism Today, Jonathan Bailey concluded, \"Any way one looks at it, The Dollop failed its ethical obligations to all of the people, not just those writing for Damn Interesting, who put in the time, energy and expertise into writing the original content upon which their show is based.\"\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n Official website\n\n2005 podcast debuts"
]
|
[
"Boyz II Men",
"1997-98: Evolution and label conflicts",
"What were the label conflicts?",
"After the label released the album without their permission, there was a dispute between the company and the group.",
"What was the resolution of this?",
"group. Boyz II Men initiated their own recording company Stonecreek (which released material by artists such as Uncle Sam), and they arranged for Stonecreek's distribution by Epic Records, not Motown.",
"Did they stay with Stonecreek after that?",
"Stonecreek (which released material by artists such as Uncle Sam), and they arranged for Stonecreek's distribution by Epic Records, not Motown.",
"Tell me about Evolution?",
"Evolution, was released during 1997 to mixed reviews and sold three million",
"Did they have the label conflicts after Evolution?",
"far below the stratospheric success of II's (12 million copies) and Cooleyhighharmony (9 million).",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Boyz II Men were nominated for 2 Grammys in 1998:"
]
| C_8f95b254b0fd4b59ad645c7e25273c01_1 | Did they win the Grammys? | 7 | Did Boyz II Men win the Grammys? | Boyz II Men | Motown issued The Remix Collection, a compilation of remixes of various Boyz II Men songs from Cooleyhighharmony and II. The group itself had opposed the release of the collection, because they felt the compilation did not represent Boyz II Men's best work. After the label released the album without their permission, there was a dispute between the company and the group. Boyz II Men initiated their own recording company Stonecreek (which released material by artists such as Uncle Sam), and they arranged for Stonecreek's distribution by Epic Records, not Motown. Boyz II Men's third studio album, Evolution, was released during 1997 to mixed reviews and sold three million copies, far below the stratospheric success of II's (12 million copies) and Cooleyhighharmony (9 million). Only one of Evolution's singles, the Jam/Lewis-penned "Four Seasons of Loneliness", reached number 1 on the Hot 100 chart. The second single, the Babyface-helmed "A Song for Mama" (the theme song to the Babyface-produced film Soul Food) was a Top 10 success, but the follow-up "Can't Let Her Go" underperformed. The global tour began in 1997 to promote Evolution was very successful in terms of ticket sales, but behind the scenes, Boyz II Men was wracked by conflicts with their record label and internal conflicts among the members of the group. Making matters worse, health problems began to take their toll on the group as well. While on tour to support the Evolution album, Wanya Morris developed a polyp on his vocal cords, and the group was forced to postpone part of the tour until he recovered. McCary's scoliosis meant that he was unable to participate in most of the group's dance routines. Boyz II Men were nominated for 2 Grammys in 1998: Best R&B Album for Evolution and Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group for "A Song for Mama". CANNOTANSWER | Best R&B Vocal Performance | Boyz II Men (pronounced boys to men), also known as B2M, is an American vocal harmony group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. They are currently a trio composed of baritone Nathan Morris alongside tenors Wanya Morris and Shawn Stockman. During the 1990s, Boyz II Men found fame on Motown Records as a quartet including bass Michael McCary, who left the group in 2003 due to back spasms that were eventually diagnosed as multiple sclerosis.
During the 1990s, Boyz II Men gained international success. This began with the release of top 5 singles "Motownphilly" and "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" in 1991, followed by the number one single "End of the Road" in 1992, which reached the top of charts worldwide. "End of the Road" set a new record for longevity, staying at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for thirteen weeks. Boyz II Men proceeded to break this record with the subsequent releases of "I'll Make Love to You" and "One Sweet Day" (with Mariah Carey), which, at fourteen and sixteen weeks, respectively, each set new records for the total number of weeks at number one. "I'll Make Love to You" also topped the charts in Australia (for four weeks) and garnered international success.
Consequently, Boyz II Men is among the music industry's elite with regard to time spent at number one in Billboard history with 50 cumulative weeks, ranking sixth behind Drake, the Beatles, Rihanna, Elvis Presley and Carey. Furthermore, when "On Bended Knee" took the number one spot away from "I'll Make Love to You", Boyz II Men became only the third artists ever (after the Beatles and Presley) to replace themselves at the top of the Billboard Hot 100. These achievements were enough to earn Boyz II Men recognition as Billboard magazine's biggest boy band during the period of 1987 to 2012. Boyz II Men has received four Grammy Awards.
Boyz II Men continue to perform worldwide, as a trio. Their most recent studio album, Under the Streetlight, was released in 2017.
In June 2017, a section of Broad Street (from Christian to Carpenter Streets) in Philadelphia was renamed "Boyz II Men Boulevard". This section of the street is near the High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, where the members once attended.
History
1985–1990: Beginnings
The group, originally known as Unique Attraction, was started by friends Nathan Morris and Marc Nelson at the Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA) along with fellow schoolmates George Baldi, Jon Shoats, and Marguerite Walker in 1985. In 1987, Wanya Morris, who sang in the school's choir along with the members of Unique Attraction, joined the group and became a permanent member when he was only a freshman. In 1988 Baldi, Shoats, and Walker all left the group due to graduation. They then recruited Shawn Stockman after seeing him perform a solo in the school's choir. One day, Nate, Marc, Wanya and Shawn were practicing harmonies in a school bathroom and in walked Michael McCary who started singing along with the group and eventually became the group's new bass singer. Now with a permanent lineup of members, the group rehearsed in the high school's bathrooms, due to the excellent acoustics, and on the corners of their schools and local hangouts. They found inspiration in New Edition's harmonies and routines, and eventually renamed the group "Boyz II Men", after one of New Edition's songs, "Boys to Men", from their 1988 album Heart Break. After performing at a Valentine's Day party at school in 1989 they got their big break when they snuck into a concert put on by local radio station Power 99 at the Philadelphia Civic Center. Their plan was to find Will Smith backstage and perform for him. But while looking for Smith, they happened to cross paths with New Edition member Michael Bivins, who along with fellow groupmates Ricky Bell and Ronnie DeVoe just announced they were forming a New Edition spin-off trio Bell Biv DeVoe. After they sang New Edition's "Can You Stand the Rain" for him, Bivins and everyone in attendance including other celebrities were impressed. He then gave the group his number and told them to give him a call. Nate eventually called him, and he agreed to manage and helped produce the group.
The delay before recording their own material and reported personality conflicts led founding member Marc Nelson to leave the group, making Boyz II Men into the quartet that found international fame: Michael McCary, Nathan Morris, Wanya Morris, and Shawn Stockman.
1991–1992: Cooleyhighharmony and "End of the Road"
Boyz II Men's first album, Cooleyhighharmony, was released on Motown in 1991 and was produced by Michael Bivins. Cooleyhighharmonys drum-heavy new jack swing sound and multi-layered sampled backdrops were similar to that of Bell Biv DeVoe's own work, but featured classic-soul styled vocals in place of BBD's rapping and brassier singing. This style was dubbed "hip hop doo-wop" by the group and Bivins, who presented Boyz II Men and adolescent R&B group Another Bad Creation to the public as BBD's protégés.
From the beginning, Boyz II Men featured all four members as leads, avoiding the usual R&B group arrangement of one or two lead singers and a team of background singers. The multiple-lead arrangement became a Boyz II Men trademark, and it became typical to hear Wanya Morris' vibrato-heavy tenor, Shawn Stockman's tenor voice, Nathan Morris' baritone, and Michael McCary's bass (often used in spoken-word sections of many Boyz II Men hits) trading bars in each song.
The album's liner notes identified unique nicknames for each member of the group. These nicknames were devised in collaboration with Bivins in an attempt at marketing. Wanya was "Squirt", Shawn was "Slim", Michael was simply "Bass", and Nathan assumed the name "Alex Vanderpool", after a soap opera character who brandished a nerdy style.
Boyz II Men's first single, the Dallas Austin-produced "Motownphilly" featured a rap cameo by Michael Bivins that gives the story of how he met Boyz II Men. The single's release was accompanied with a music video that presented the group in hip hop style. (The video also included cameos from fellow Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts alumni Black Thought and Questlove of The Roots.) Cooleyhighharmonys second single was an a cappella cover of a classic Motown tune, G.C. Cameron's "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" from the 1975 film Cooley High, while "Uhh Ahh" served as the third single.
Cooleyhighharmony achieved major success, eventually selling over nine million copies and winning the Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the 1992 Grammy Awards. Boyz II Men were also nominated for Best New Artist, along with British singer-songwriter Seal, fellow R&B group Color Me Badd, as well as dance group C+C Music Factory, but the Grammy was awarded to singer-songwriter Marc Cohn. "Motownphilly" and "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" were number 1 R&B hits and top five U.S. pop hits.
In 1992, Boyz II Men joined MC Hammer's high-profile 2 Legit 2 Quit tour as an opening act. While traveling the country, their tour manager Khalil Roundtree was murdered in Chicago, and the group's future performances of "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" were dedicated to him. As a result of this unfortunate experience, the song helped advance their success.
While touring during 1992, Boyz II Men returned briefly to the studio to record the single "End of the Road", co-written and produced by Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, for the soundtrack to Eddie Murphy's film Boomerang. This song, released as a single on June 30, 1992, became Boyz II Men's biggest hit. It reached the number one position on the Billboard Hot 100 on August 15, remaining there for a record-setting 13 weeks, until November 14, 1992. The success of "End of the Road" instantly transformed Boyz II Men from up-and-coming R&B stars into mainstream music celebrities.
A revamped Cooleyhighharmony was reissued during 1993, with "End of the Road" added as a special bonus track, but "End of the Road" initially appeared only on the Boomerang soundtrack. Later the track was included on a collection of singles produced by Michael Bivins called "East Coast Family, Vol. 1". Shortly after the release of this compilation, Boyz II Men and Michael Bivins parted ways professionally. Boyz II Men continued to work with Babyface and other high-profile record producers over the next several years.
1994: II and "I'll Make Love to You"
After releasing a Christmas compilation, Christmas Interpretations in 1993, Boyz II Men returned to the studio for their highly anticipated sophomore effort. In 1994, II was released. II sold more than copies in the United States alone, becoming one of the best-selling albums ever released by an R&B group act, and one of the biggest albums of the decade. II later won two awards at the 1995 Grammy Awards including Best R&B Album.
Most of the tracks on II were written and produced by Tim & Bob—Tim Kelley and Bob Robinson (5), Babyface (2) and the successful team of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis (2). Several of IIs tracks became major singles, among them Jam & Lewis's "On Bended Knee", and Babyface's "I'll Make Love to You" and "Water Runs Dry".
"I'll Make Love to You" broke "End of the Road's" 13-week record at number 1, by spending 14 weeks at the top of the chart (a feat equaled earlier that year by Whitney Houston's cover of "I Will Always Love You"). "On Bended Knee" replaced "I'll Make Love to You" at number 1, making Boyz II Men only the third act ever to replace itself at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, after Elvis Presley and the Beatles.
In 1995, the group appeared as backing vocalists on "HIStory" from Michael Jackson's Grammy-nominated ninth album of the same name.
1997–1998: Evolution and label conflicts
Motown issued The Remix Collection, a compilation of remixes of various Boyz II Men songs from Cooleyhighharmony and II. The group itself had opposed the release of the collection because they felt the compilation did not represent Boyz II Men's best work. After the label released the album without their permission, there was a dispute between the company and the group. Boyz II Men initiated their own recording company Stonecreek (which released material by artists such as Uncle Sam), and they arranged for Stonecreek's distribution by Epic Records, not Motown.
Boyz II Men's third studio album, Evolution, was released during 1997 to mixed reviews and sold three million copies, far below the stratospheric success of IIs ( copies) and Cooleyhighharmony (). Only one of Evolutions singles, the Jam/Lewis-penned "Four Seasons of Loneliness", reached number 1 on the Hot 100 chart. The second single, the Babyface-helmed "A Song for Mama" (the theme song to the Babyface-produced film Soul Food) was a Top 10 success, but the follow-up "Can't Let Her Go" underperformed.
The global tour began in 1997 to promote Evolution was successful in terms of ticket sales, but behind the scenes, Boyz II Men was wracked by conflicts with their record label and internal conflicts among the members of the group. Making matters worse, health problems began to take their toll on the group. While on tour to support the Evolution album, Wanya Morris developed a polyp on his vocal cords, and the group was forced to postpone part of the tour until he recovered. McCary's multiple sclerosis meant that he was unable to participate in most of the group's dance routines.
Boyz II Men were nominated for 2 Grammys in 1998: Best R&B Album for Evolution and Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group for "A Song for Mama".
1999–2001: Nathan Michael Shawn Wanya
In 1999, Motown's parent company, PolyGram, was bought by Universal Music Group. Amidst the major corporate restructure, Motown was merged with UMG's Universal Records, where Boyz II Men found themselves reassigned.
Their only studio LP album for Universal, 2000's Nathan Michael Shawn Wanya, was chiefly written and produced by the group itself, in an attempt to update their sound and ward off critics who questioned the group's reliance on Babyface's hit-making songcraft. While the critics were more receptive to Nathan Michael Shawn Wanya than they had been to its predecessor, the LP sold only 500,000 copies in the US, copies worldwide, and although its two singles, "Pass You By" and "Thank You in Advance" received media attention, neither became hits.
Boyz II Men departed from Universal in 2001, ending their relationship with the company that brought them to international stardom in 1991. The label released a very successful greatest hits compilation, Legacy: The Greatest Hits Collection, to close out their contract.
2002–2003: Full Circle and "The Color of Love"
Signing a new deal with Arista Records in 2002, Boyz II Men began recording the Full Circle album, and recruited Babyface for a new single, "The Color of Love". In an attempt to recapture the massive success the group had enjoyed a decade earlier, the album received a significant promotional budget. Arista commissioned a high-budget music video, shot in four different locales by four different directors: supervising director Little X filmed scenes featuring Michael McCary in India, Hype Williams filmed Shawn Stockman in Tokyo, Benny Boom filmed Nathan Morris in Ghana, and Chris Robinson filmed Wanya Morris in Puerto Rico and finally all were filmed in New York. The resulting music video had a debut on BET, but failed to have a great effect, and Full Circle, like Nathan Michael Shawn Wanya before it, sold slightly more than 500,000 copies in the US and copies worldwide.
Full Circle became Boyz II Men's final album as a quartet, and their last effort to receive extensive promotion from a major record company. On , 2003, Michael McCary left Boyz II Men due to chronic back problems resulting from multiple sclerosis (MS) and personal problems. Arista terminated Boyz II Men's contract on , and the remaining three members took a temporary hiatus from the music industry.
2004–2006: Throwback, Vol. 1 and The Remedy
After a year out of the spotlight, Boyz II Men created the independent label MSM Music Group (distributed through Koch Records), and released the Throwback, Vol. 1 LP in 2004. The album is a collection of covers of classic R&B and soul songs such as The Dazz Band's "Let It Whip", Michael Jackson's "Human Nature", and, as the single, Bobby Caldwell's "What You Won't Do for Love". For this record, Nathan took on the bass lines as well as the baritone vocals that he sang when Boyz II Men was a quartet. Throwback, Vol. 1 reached number 59 on the Billboard 200. The group launched an independent tour of North America and Asia in support of the Throwback series. The album sold over 200,000 copies with little to no promotion aside from the group's independent tour.
In 2005 Boyz II Men recorded a CD with Anderson Cameau called "Apocalypse", a project meant to benefit Haiti.
In 2006, Boyz II Men's seventh studio album, The Remedy, was released exclusively in Japan, where they found a thriving fan base. In other regions, The Remedy was made available online through the group's website on , 2007.
2007–2008: Hitsville USA
In mid-2007, the group re-signed with Universal Records and released the LP Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA through the Decca Records label. The LP is a cover album featuring songs from the Motown Records catalog, co-produced by Randy Jackson of American Idol fame. The Motown album includes covers of songs by The Temptations ("Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)"), Marvin Gaye ("Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing", "Mercy Mercy Me"), Smokey Robinson & the Miracles ("The Tracks of My Tears"), and even Boyz II Men themselves (an a cappella version of "End of the Road").
Commercially, Motown found some success. It peaked at number 6 on the US R&B chart and was certified Gold in the UK. The album was also a critical success. For the 51st Annual Grammy Awards in 2009, Boyz II Men received two nominations for the album Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA (Best R&B Album and Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for "Ribbon in the Sky").
In 2008, Boyz II Men's three members appeared on Celebrity Don't Forget the Lyrics and created a sensation with their performance. They earned $500,000 for their two nominated charities; the appearance also generated interest in their next release.
2009: Love
In 2009, Boyz II Men announced plans for a new cover album, that covers "artists I don't think people would expect us to cover!" according to Shawn Stockman. Entitled Love, the album was released on , 2009. The album contains remakes of love songs from outside the R&B genre.
2011–2012: Love Cruise and Twenty
Boyz II Men headlined a "Love Cruise" in honor of their 20th anniversary and in observance of Valentine's Day. The cruise took place –14, 2011, and traveled from Miami, Florida, to Nassau, Bahamas. Cruise passengers received a Boyz II Men welcome cocktail party, a concert performance by Boyz II Men, an additional fan appreciation concert by Boyz II Men, a photo session with Boyz II Men (in small groups), a formal prom night, a poker tournament, a deck party with Boyz II Men and a guest DJ, a singles mixer, a gift bag, and onboard drawings for other Boyz II Men events. Couples were able to renew their wedding vows in a special ceremony with Boyz II Men.
Twenty, named in recognition of Boyz II Men's twenty years in the music business, is a double CD album with thirteen original songs and eight rerecorded Boyz II Men classics. It was released on October 25, 2011. Twenty is the group's fourth release through MSM Music Group. It was released in Japan 13 days before its official US release date with the help of Avex Group, the biggest Japanese independent record label.
Originally, Boyz II Men announced a reunion with original member Michael McCary for the Twenty album. On September 6, 2009, at a concert in Virginia Beach, Virginia, Stockman announced that their upcoming 20th anniversary album would "include all 4 members", sparking a tremendous applause.
But soon after that announcement, McCary declined and did not join the project.
As a trio, Boyz II Men performed as special guests on VH1's highly rated VH1 Divas Celebrate Soul concert.
Boyz II Men contributed a cover of Japanese rock band L'Arc~en~Ciel's song "Snow Drop" to their 2012 tribute album.
2013–present: The Package Tour, Collide, and Geico Commercials
On January 22, 2013, the group appeared on The View along with New Kids on the Block and 98 Degrees to announce their joint tour that took place in summer 2013. As of February 20, 2013, Boyz II Men announced that beginning March 1, 2013, they will stop touring and begin performing shows at the Mirage Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
On January 13, 2014, the trio appeared at the end of an episode of How I Met Your Mother titled "Slapsgiving 3: Slappointment in Slapmarra", performing an a cappella version of the show's song "You Just Got Slapped". Their eleventh album, titled Collide, was released on October 21, 2014.
In 2016, the trio appeared in Grease: Live as the Teen Angels and sang Beauty School Dropout.
Wanya placed 4th for the 22nd season of the ABC realty competition series Dancing With The Stars. They also did music for an animated adaptation of The Snowy Day.
In 2017, the group began starring in television commercials for GEICO Auto Insurance.
On June 24, 2017, a section of Broad Street in Philadelphia, from Christian to Carpenter Streets, was renamed, “Boyz II Men Boulevard” by the city council. Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, where the members of Boyz II Men were once students, is on this section of Broad Street.
In August 2017, it was announced they were releasing a new album titled Under the Streetlight in the Fall. It was released on October 20, 2017.
On January 4, 2018, the group was featured in a new track released by Charlie Puth, titled "If You Leave Me Now", created for Charlie Puth's album Voicenotes.
On September 6, 2018, the group performed at the NFL 2018–2019 season kickoff at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, PA.
On October 2, 2018, the group performed "Ladies Man" on ABC's Dancing with the Stars. DeMarcus Ware and Lindsay Arnold danced a quickstep to the song.
The group is featured on a re-imagined version of Take That's song Love Ain't Here Anymore from their number one selling album Odyssey. Howard Donald revealed during an interview with Magic Radio that "he fulfilled a dream when they recorded this song".
On December 15, 2018, the group staged a concert at the Smart Araneta Coliseum with Filipino girl group DIVAS—a group composed of Kyla, Yeng Constantino, KZ Tandingan and Angeline Quinto titled Boyz II Men with DIVAS.
On September 18, 2019, it was reported that the group would play themselves on the ABC comedy series Schooled.
On September 30, 2019, Boyz II Men announced their Asia Tour, which is slated to take place after returning from their US tour and residency in Las Vegas. They will be visiting cities such as Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok (December 7), Singapore (December 9) and Manila.
Style and influence
Boyz II Men is among the biggest names in a cappella and R&B. With what was called "crossover appeal", Boyz II Men found themselves at the vanguard of the 1990s movement to take R&B back into the mainstream, where it had been back in the 1970s. Their use of hip-hop beats in combination with R&B was not unique, but it was Boyz II Men's enormous success with mainstream audiences in "putting harmony over the hip-hop tracks" that helped usher in the near-total dominance of the R&B genre on the pop charts in the 2000s and 2010s. On January 5, 2012, Boyz II Men were awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. They were featured on the first episode of the 2021 Netflix series This Is Pop, called "The Boyz II Men Effect", about their impact on the boy band scene in the 1990s.
Members
Current
Nathan Morris (1985–present)
Wanya Morris (1987–present)
Shawn Stockman (1988–present)
Former
Michael McCary (1988–2003)
Marc Nelson (1985–1990)
George Baldi (1985–1988)
Jon Shoats (1985–1988)
Marguerite Walker (1985–1988)
Discography
Studio albums
Cooleyhighharmony (1991)
Christmas Interpretations (1993)
II (1994)
Evolution (1997)
Nathan Michael Shawn Wanya (2000)
Full Circle (2002)
Throwback, Vol. 1 (2004)
The Remedy (2006)
Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA (2007)
Love (2009)
Twenty (2011)
Collide (2014)
Under the Streetlight (2017)
Filmography
"Going Home" (1995): A Disney Channel concert special filmed during Boyz II Men's "All Around the World Tour" live from the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
The group makes a guest appearance in fourth season episode "Twas the Night Before Christening of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in which they sing at Nicky's christening (1993).
"Living In Paradise?" (2000): They appeared as themselves on the hit show Moesha.
Long Shot: They appear as themselves performing at a charity event.
This Is Pop (2021): They are featured on the episode "The Boyz II Men Effect".
Celebrity Wheel of Fortune (2021): Wanya and Shawn play to win money for charities of their choice.
A Very Boyband Christmas (2021): Wanya and Shawn join members of 'Nsync, 98 Degrees and other boy bands to celebrate the holidays.
Live in Front of a Studio Audience (2021): The group performs the theme song of Diff'rent Strokes as the intro to the special’s reenactment of "Willis’s Privacy".
Awards and nominations
American Music Awards
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "5" | 1992
!scope="row" rowspan= "3" |Boyz II Men
|Favorite Soul/R&B New Artist
|
|-
|Favorite Pop/Rock New Artist
|
|-
|Favorite Soul/R&B Band/Duo/Group
|
|-
|"Motownphilly"
|Favorite Soul/R&B Single
|
|-
|Cooleyhighharmony
|Favorite Soul/R&B Album
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 1993
|"End of the Road"
|Favorite Pop/Rock Song
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "3"|Boyz II Men
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|Favorite Soul/R&B Band/Duo/Group
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "4" | 1995
|
|-
|Favorite Adult Contemporary Artist
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|"I'll Make Love to You"
|Favorite Soul/R&B Single
|
|-
|Favorite Pop/Rock Song
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "5" | 1996
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|II
|Favorite Soul/R&B Album
|
|-
|Favorite Pop/Rock Album
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "4"|Boyz II Men
|Artist of the Year
|
|-
|Favorite Pop/Rock Band/Duo/Group
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|Favorite Soul/R&B Band/Duo/Group
|
|-
| 1998
|
|-
Billboard Music Awards
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 1992
|Boyz II Men
|Top Hot 100 Artist
|
|-
|"End of the Road"
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | Top Hot 100 Song
|
|-
| 1994
|"I'll Make Love to You"
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "3" | 1995
|II
|Top Billboard 200 Album
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | Boyz II Men
|Top Artist
|
|-
|Top R&B Artist
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 1996
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | "One Sweet Day" (with Mariah Carey)
|Top Hot 100 Song
|
|-
|Billboard Music Special Hot 100
|
|-
Grammy Awards
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 1992
|Boyz II Men
|Best New Artist
|
|-
|Cooleyhighharmony
!scope="row" rowspan= "4"|Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
|
|-
| 1993
|"End of the Road"
|
|-
| 1994
|"Let It Snow"
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "3" | 1995
|!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|"I'll Make Love To You"
|
|-
|Record of the Year
|
|-
|II
|Best R&B Album
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 1996
|!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|"One Sweet Day" (with Mariah Carey)
|Record of the Year
|
|-
|Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 1998
|"A Song For Mama"
|Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
|
|-
|Evolution
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|Best R&B Album
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 2001
|Nathan Michael Shawn Wanya
|
|-
|"Pass You By"
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|Best R&B Performance By a Duo or Group with Vocal
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 2009
|"Ribbon In The Sky"
|
|-
|Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA
|Best R&B Album
|
|-
MTV Video Music Awards
!Ref.
|-
| 1993
| "End of the Road"
| rowspan=2|Best R&B Video
|
| rowspan=4|
|-
| rowspan=2|1995
| rowspan=2|"Water Runs Dry"
|
|-
| Best Cinematography
|
|-
| 1996
| "One Sweet Day" (with Mariah Carey)
| Best R&B Video
|
Soul Train Music Awards
|-
|1992
|Boyz II Men
|Best New R&B/Soul Artist
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "3"|1993
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|"End of the Road"
|Song of the Year
|
|-
|Best R&B Music Video
|
|-
|"Please Don't Go"
|Best R&B Single – Group, Band or Duo
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|1995
|II
|R&B/Soul Album Group, Band or Duo
|
|-
|"I'll Make Love to You"
|R&B/Soul Single Group, Band or Duo
|
|-
|1996
|Boyz II Men
|Entertainer of the Year
|
|-
|1998
|Evolution
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|Best R&B/Soul Album - Group, Band or Duo
|
|-
|2003
|Full Circle
|
|-
See also
List of best-selling music artists
List of artists who reached number one in the United States
References
External links
African-American musical groups
American contemporary R&B musical groups
American vocal groups
Ballad music groups
American boy bands
Grammy Award winners
Motown artists
Musical groups established in 1988
Musical groups from Philadelphia
Musical quartets
Musical trios
Sony Music Publishing artists
Vocal quartets
Vocal trios
Avex Group artists | true | [
"Throughout the history of the Grammy Awards, many significant records have been set. This page only includes the competitive awards which have been won by various artists. This does not include the various special awards that are presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences such as Lifetime Achievement Awards, Trustees Awards, Technical Awards or Legend Awards. The page however does include other non-performance related Grammys (known as the Craft & Production Fields) that may have been presented to the artist(s).\n\nAwards\n\nMost Grammys won\n\nThe record for the most Grammy Awards won in a lifetime is held by Georg Solti, a Hungarian-British conductor who was music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for twenty-two years (1969-1991). He won 31 competitive Grammy Awards out of 74 nominations and was also awarded the first Grammy Trustees Award in 1967 and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1996.\n\nMost Grammys won by a male artist\nGeorg Solti has won 31 Grammy Awards.\n\nMost Grammys won by a female artist\n\nAs a solo artist, collaborator, and songwriter, Beyoncé has won 28 Grammy Awards.\n\nMost Grammys won by a group\n\nU2 holds the record for most Grammy Awards won by a group. They have won 22 awards.\n\nMost Grammys won by a producer\n\nQuincy Jones with 28 awards holds the record for most Grammy Awards won by a producer (and eleven of those were awarded for production duties. Jones also received Grammys as an arranger and a performing artist). Some producers have also won awards as engineers, mixers and/or mastering engineers.\n\nMost Grammys won by a rapper \n\nJay-Z, with 23 awards, has won more Grammy Awards than any other rapper. Kanye West is second with 22 Grammy Awards, while Lauryn Hill is the most awarded female rapper, with 8 Grammy Awards.\n\nMost Grammys won by an engineer or mixer \nAl Schmitt, with 20 awards, has won more Grammy Awards than any other engineer or mixer. Serban Ghenea is second with 18 Grammy Awards.\n\nYoungest winners\n\nThe Peasall Sisters are the youngest Grammy winners, when they were credited artists on the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack, which won Album of the Year in 2002. Blue Ivy Carter is the youngest individually credited winner. She was 9 years old when she won her first award in 2021, after she was credited on her mother Beyoncé's song \"Brown Skin Girl\", released in 2019. LeAnn Rimes is the youngest individual winner. She was 14 years old when she won her first two awards in 1997. She was also the first Country artist to win the Best New Artist Grammy.\n\nYoungest artists to win Album of the Year\n\nBillie Eilish is the youngest artist to win Album of the Year as a lead. She was 18 years old, while winning for her album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? in 2020.\n\nYoungest artists to win Record of the Year\n\nAt 18 years of age, Billie Eilish became the youngest artist to win Record of the Year when she won for “Bad Guy” in 2020.\n\nYoungest artist to win Song of the Year\n\nAt 17 years of age, Lorde became the youngest artist to win Song of the Year when she won for “Royals” in 2014.\n\nYoungest artist to win Best New Artist\n\nAt 14 years of age, LeAnn Rimes became the youngest Best New Artist winner when she won in 1997.\n\nOldest winners\n\nPinetop Perkins is the oldest person to win a Grammy. In 2011 he was awarded with Best Traditional Blues Album for Joined At The Hip, at 97 years of age.\n\nNote: Sources vary on the birth year of Elizabeth Cotten, with some stating it as 1893, while others say 1895. The above information credits it as 1895. With either year, Cotten is the oldest female Grammy winner.\n\nMost honored albums\nSantana's Supernatural and U2's How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb hold the record for most honoured album having won nine awards. Supernatural won nine awards in 2000 and How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb won three awards in 2005 and won a further six in 2006 giving it a total of nine awards.\n\nMost Album of the Year wins\n\nThe record for most Album of the Year wins is four. Two engineer/mixers and one mastering engineer have won the award four times;\n \n Serban Ghenea, engineer/mixer — 1989 (2016), 25 (2017), 24K Magic (2018), Folklore (2021)\n John Hanes, engineer/mixer — 1989 (2016), 25 (2017), 24K Magic (2018), Folklore (2021)\n Tom Coyne, mastering engineer — 21 (2012), 1989 (2016), 25 (2017), 24K Magic (2018)\n\nFour recording artists, four record producers, two engineer/mixers and one mastering engineers have won the award three times;\n\n Frank Sinatra, artist — Come Dance with Me! (1960), September of My Years (1966), A Man and His Music (1967)\n Stevie Wonder, artist — Innervisions (1974), Fulfillingness' First Finale (1975), Songs in the Key of Life (1977)\n Paul Simon, artist — Bridge over Troubled Water (1971), Still Crazy After All These Years (1976), Graceland (1987)\n Taylor Swift, artist — Fearless (2010), 1989 (2016), Folklore (2021)\n David Foster, producer — Unforgettable... with Love (1992), The Bodyguard - Original Soundtrack Album (1994), Falling into You (1997)\n Phil Ramone, producer — Still Crazy After All These Years (1976), 52nd Street (1980), Genius Loves Company (2005)\n Daniel Lanois, producer — The Joshua Tree (1988), Time Out of Mind (1998), How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (2006)\n Ryan Tedder, producer — 21 (2012), 1989 (2016), 25 (2017)\n Mike Piersante, engineer/mixer — O Brother, Where Art Thou? – Soundtrack (2002), Raising Sand (2009), 25 (2017)\n Tom Elmhirst, engineer/mixer — 21 (2012), Morning Phase (2015), 25 (2017)\n Bob Ludwig, mastering engineer — Babel (2013), Random Access Memories (2014), Morning Phase (2015)\n\nMost Record of the Year wins\nThe record for most Record of the Year wins is four. One mastering engineer has won the award four consecutive times;\n\n Tom Coyne, mastering engineer — “Stay with Me (Darkchild Version)” (2015), “Uptown Funk” (2016), “Hello” (2017), “24K Magic” (2018)\n\nOne recording artist and one engineer/mixer have won the award three times;\n\n Paul Simon, artist — “Mrs. Robinson” (1969), “Bridge over Troubled Water” (1971), “Graceland” (1988)\n Tom Elmhirst, engineer/mixer — “Rehab” (2008), “Rolling in the Deep” (2012), “Hello” (2017)\n\nMost Song of the Year wins\n\nThe record for the most Song of the Year wins is two. Six songwriters have won in this category twice;\n \n Henry Mancini - “Moon River” (1962), “Days of Wine and Roses” (1964)\n Johnny Mercer - “Moon River” (1962), “Days of Wine and Roses” (1964) \n James Horner - “Somewhere Out There” (1988), “My Heart Will Go On” (1999) \n Will Jennings - “Tears in Heaven” (1993), “My Heart Will Go On” (1999) \n U2 - “Beautiful Day” (2001), “Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own” (2006)\n Adele - \"Rolling in the Deep” (2012), “Hello” (2017)\n\nMost Grammys won for consecutive studio albums\nAlison Krauss and Union Station, Beyoncé (including Everything Is Love), Pat Metheny (along with the Pat Metheny Group), and The Manhattan Transfer have won seven consecutive awards for seven consecutive studio albums.\n\nMost consecutive Grammys won for the same category\n\nArtists who have won all four General Field awards\n\nThere have been only three artists who have won all four General Field awards: Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist.\n\nIn 1981, Christopher Cross became the first artist to win all four awards, as well as the first act to win them all in a single year.\n\nIn 2009, Adele won Best New Artist, earned three other awards in both 2012 and 2017. She was the second artist to win all four accolades throughout her career, and the first to do so on separate occasions.\n\nIn 2020, Billie Eilish became the third musician to win all four awards, and first female artist to win them during a single ceremony.\n\nSingle ceremony\n\nMost Grammys won in one night\nThe record for most Grammys won in one night is eight. Michael Jackson won eight in 1984 and Santana tied Jackson's record in 2000.\n\nMost Grammys won by a male artist in one night\n\nThe record for most Grammys won by a male artist in one night is eight. Michael Jackson won eight in 1984.\n\nMost Grammys won by a female artist in one night\n\nThe record for most Grammys won by a female artist in one night is six. Beyoncé and Adele each won six in 2010 and 2012, respectively.\n\nMost Grammys won by a group in one night\n\nThe record for most Grammys won by a group artist in one night is eight. Santana won eight in 2000.\n\nMost Grammys won by a record producer in one night\n\nThe record for most awards won by a producer in one night is six. The record was set by Quincy Jones who won six awards in 1991, including Album of the Year, Best Arrangement On An Instrumental, Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocal(s), Best Jazz Fusion Performance, Best Pop Instrumental Performance, Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group, as well as Producer of the Year, Non-Classical for his own studio album Back on the Block.\n\nFinneas O'Connell tied the record in 2020, winning Producer of the Year, Non-Classical and five additional awards, including Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical, and Best Pop Vocal Album for his contribution on Billie Eilish's When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?.\n\nMost Grammys won by an engineer or mixer in one night\n\nThe most Grammys won by an engineer or mixer in one night is six. At the 59th Annual Grammy Awards in 2017, Tom Elmhirst won Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Album, Best Rock Album, Best Alternative Music Album, as well as Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical for his work on Adele's 25, Cage the Elephant's Tell Me I'm Pretty, and David Bowie's Blackstar respectively.\n\nArtists who have won all four General Field Awards at a single ceremony\n\nChristopher Cross (1981) and Billie Eilish (2020) are the only artists who have received all four General Field awards in one night.\n\nArtists who have won Album, Record, and Song of the Year in one night\n\nThe three biggest Grammy Awards are Album of the Year, Record of the Year and Song of the Year. Eight artists have won all three in one night. Adele is the first and only artist in Grammy history to accomplish this feat twice.\n\nMost Grammys won by an album in one night\n\nThe most awards awarded to an album in one night is nine. At the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2000 Santana's Supernatural was awarded nine awards. It won Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals, Best Pop Instrumental Performance, Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals, Best Rock Instrumental Performance, Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, and Best Rock Album.\n\nMost posthumous Grammys won in one night\n\n \nRay Charles holds the record for most posthumous awards won in one night. He was awarded five Grammy Awards at the 47th Annual Grammy Awards in 2005, including both Record of the Year and Album of the Year.\n\nNominations\n\nMost Grammy nominations\n\nJay-Z holds the record for the most Grammy nominations with 83.\n\nMost nominations in one night\n\nMichael Jackson and Babyface hold the record for most Grammy nominations in one night with 12 nominations.\n\nMost nominations without winning\n\nWith 18 nominations, Zubin Mehta has received the most Grammy nominations without winning.\n\nMost nominations in one night without winning\n\nThe record for most Grammy nominations without a win in one night is 9, held by Paul McCartney. The record was set in 1966.\n\nGrammy nominations in the most fields\n\nArtists who had been nominated for all four General Field awards in one night\n\nOnly thirteen artists have been nominated for all four General Field awards in one night. Lizzo is the oldest person to be nominated for all four awards in one night, at 31 years old; while the youngest person to be nominated is Billie Eilish at 17 years old. Both were nominated in 2020, making it the first time that two artists were nominated for all four awards in one night. In 1968, Bobbie Gentry became the first person and first female artist to be nominated for all four awards, followed by Christopher Cross in 1981 and Fun. in 2013, becoming the first male artist and first group to be nominated, respectively. In addition, Finneas O'Connell was nominated for all four General Field awards in 2022, but was nominated as a producer or songwriter in three of the four categories.\n\nYoungest nominees\nLeah Peasall of The Peasall Sisters is the youngest ever Grammy nominee (and winner) as one of the credited artists on the O Brother, Where Art Thou? - Soundtrack in 2002. Deleon Richards is the youngest performer to receive an individual nomination, for Best Soul/Gospel performance.\n\nSee also\n\nLatin Grammy Award records\nList of Academy Award records\nList of people who have won Academy, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Awards\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\nOfficial Grammy Awards website\n\nRecords\nRecords (superlatives)",
"Throughout the thirteen-year history of the Latin Grammy Awards, multiple records have been set. This page includes competitive awards only and does not include special awards such as Lifetime Achievement awards or any other non-competitive awards presented by the Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences.\n\nAwards\n\nMost Latin Grammys won\nRené Pérez Joglar \"Residente\" has won the most Latin Grammy Awards, winning a total of 27 awards.\n\nMost Latin Grammys won by a male artist\n\nRené Pérez Joglar \"Residente\" with 27 awards, has won more than any other male artist.\n\nMost Latin Grammys won by a female artist\n\nNatalia Lafourcade with 14 awards is the most awarded female artist, followed by Shakira with 12 awards.\n\nMost Latin Grammys won by a group\n\nCalle 13 has won 22 awards, more than any other group.\n\nMost Latin Grammys won by a producer\n\nJuan Luis Guerra with 21 awards has won more awards than any other producer.\n\nMost Latin Grammys won by an engineer or mixer\nThom Russo with 11 awards, has won more than any other engineer or mixer.\n\nYoungest Winner\n\nMiguelito is the youngest Latin Grammy winner. In 2008 he won Best Latin Children's Album at nine years of age.\n\nOldest Winner\n\nColombian musician Magín Díaz was awarded Best Recording Package for his album, El Orisha de la rosa at age 94 in 2017.\n\nMost Honored Albums\n\nEntren Los Que Quieran by Calle 13 is the most honored album in Latin Grammy history. It won nine awards in 2011.\n\nMost Record of the Year wins\n\nThe Record of the Year award is given to the performers, producers, recording engineers, mixing engineers and mastering engineers for commercially released singles or tracks of new vocal or instrumental recordings in Spanish or Portuguese language. Due to the increasing musical changes in the industry, from 2012 the category includes 10 nominees. Alejandro Sanz has won the most awards in the category with five wins out of nine nominations.\n\nPerformers\n\nProducers/engineers\n\nMost Album of the Year wins\n\nThe Album of the Year award is given to the performers, producers, recording engineers, mixing engineers and mastering engineers for vocal or instrumental albums with 51% of newly recorded material. Due to the increasing musical changes in the industry, from 2012 the category includes 10 nominees. Beginning in 2018, songwriters are eligible for the accolade if 33% of the playing time are written by them. Juan Luis Guerra is the performer with the most wins in the category with four awards, including one as a producer, while Allan Leschhorn has also received four awards as recording and mixing engineer.\n\nPerformers\n\nProducers/engineers\n\nMost Song of the Year wins\n\nThe Song of the Year award is given to the songwriters of new songs containing at least 51% of lyrics in Spanish or Portuguese language. Instrumental songs and cover versions are not eligible. Due to the increasing musical changes in the industry, from 2012 the category includes 10 nominees. Alejandro Sanz is the most awarded songwriter in the category with four wins out of eight nominations.\n\nSingle Ceremony\n\nMost Latin Grammys won in one night\n\nCalle 13 holds the record for most Latin Grammys won in one night with nine wins in 2011.\n\nMost Latin Grammys won by a male artist is one night\n\nJuanes and Juan Luis Guerra share the record for most Latin Grammys won in one night which is five. Juanes won five awards in 2003 and again in 2008. Juan Luis Guerra won five awards in 2007.\n\nMost Latin Grammys won by a female artist in one night\n\nShakira and Natalia Lafourcade hold the record for most Latin Grammys won in one night by a female artist which is four. Shakira won four awards in 2006, while Natalia Lafourcade won four awards in 2015.\n\nMost Latin Grammys won by a group in one night\n\nCalle 13 with nine wins in 2011, holds the record for most wins by a group in one night.\n\nMost Latin Grammys awarded to an album on one night\n\nIn 2011 Calle 13's Entren Los Que Quieran won nine awards. It won Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Urban Album, Best Urban Song, Best Alternative Song, Best Tropical Song, Producer of the Year and Best Short Form Music Video.\n\nNominations\n\nMost Latin Grammy nominations\n\nResidente holds the record of most Latin Grammy nominations with 42.\n\nMost Nominations in one night\n\nJ Balvin was nominated for thirteen Latin Grammy Awards in 2020.\nCalle 13 was nominated for ten Latin Grammy Awards in 2011.\nEduardo Cabra was nominated for ten Latin Grammy Awards in 2014.\n\nSee also\n\nGrammy Award records\n\nNotes\n\nReferences\n\nLatin Grammy Awards"
]
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[
"Boyz II Men",
"1997-98: Evolution and label conflicts",
"What were the label conflicts?",
"After the label released the album without their permission, there was a dispute between the company and the group.",
"What was the resolution of this?",
"group. Boyz II Men initiated their own recording company Stonecreek (which released material by artists such as Uncle Sam), and they arranged for Stonecreek's distribution by Epic Records, not Motown.",
"Did they stay with Stonecreek after that?",
"Stonecreek (which released material by artists such as Uncle Sam), and they arranged for Stonecreek's distribution by Epic Records, not Motown.",
"Tell me about Evolution?",
"Evolution, was released during 1997 to mixed reviews and sold three million",
"Did they have the label conflicts after Evolution?",
"far below the stratospheric success of II's (12 million copies) and Cooleyhighharmony (9 million).",
"Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?",
"Boyz II Men were nominated for 2 Grammys in 1998:",
"Did they win the Grammys?",
"Best R&B Vocal Performance"
]
| C_8f95b254b0fd4b59ad645c7e25273c01_1 | Did anything else happen in 1998? | 8 | Besides Boyz II Men winning the Grammy, did anything else happen with them in 1998 ? | Boyz II Men | Motown issued The Remix Collection, a compilation of remixes of various Boyz II Men songs from Cooleyhighharmony and II. The group itself had opposed the release of the collection, because they felt the compilation did not represent Boyz II Men's best work. After the label released the album without their permission, there was a dispute between the company and the group. Boyz II Men initiated their own recording company Stonecreek (which released material by artists such as Uncle Sam), and they arranged for Stonecreek's distribution by Epic Records, not Motown. Boyz II Men's third studio album, Evolution, was released during 1997 to mixed reviews and sold three million copies, far below the stratospheric success of II's (12 million copies) and Cooleyhighharmony (9 million). Only one of Evolution's singles, the Jam/Lewis-penned "Four Seasons of Loneliness", reached number 1 on the Hot 100 chart. The second single, the Babyface-helmed "A Song for Mama" (the theme song to the Babyface-produced film Soul Food) was a Top 10 success, but the follow-up "Can't Let Her Go" underperformed. The global tour began in 1997 to promote Evolution was very successful in terms of ticket sales, but behind the scenes, Boyz II Men was wracked by conflicts with their record label and internal conflicts among the members of the group. Making matters worse, health problems began to take their toll on the group as well. While on tour to support the Evolution album, Wanya Morris developed a polyp on his vocal cords, and the group was forced to postpone part of the tour until he recovered. McCary's scoliosis meant that he was unable to participate in most of the group's dance routines. Boyz II Men were nominated for 2 Grammys in 1998: Best R&B Album for Evolution and Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group for "A Song for Mama". CANNOTANSWER | for "A Song for Mama". | Boyz II Men (pronounced boys to men), also known as B2M, is an American vocal harmony group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. They are currently a trio composed of baritone Nathan Morris alongside tenors Wanya Morris and Shawn Stockman. During the 1990s, Boyz II Men found fame on Motown Records as a quartet including bass Michael McCary, who left the group in 2003 due to back spasms that were eventually diagnosed as multiple sclerosis.
During the 1990s, Boyz II Men gained international success. This began with the release of top 5 singles "Motownphilly" and "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" in 1991, followed by the number one single "End of the Road" in 1992, which reached the top of charts worldwide. "End of the Road" set a new record for longevity, staying at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for thirteen weeks. Boyz II Men proceeded to break this record with the subsequent releases of "I'll Make Love to You" and "One Sweet Day" (with Mariah Carey), which, at fourteen and sixteen weeks, respectively, each set new records for the total number of weeks at number one. "I'll Make Love to You" also topped the charts in Australia (for four weeks) and garnered international success.
Consequently, Boyz II Men is among the music industry's elite with regard to time spent at number one in Billboard history with 50 cumulative weeks, ranking sixth behind Drake, the Beatles, Rihanna, Elvis Presley and Carey. Furthermore, when "On Bended Knee" took the number one spot away from "I'll Make Love to You", Boyz II Men became only the third artists ever (after the Beatles and Presley) to replace themselves at the top of the Billboard Hot 100. These achievements were enough to earn Boyz II Men recognition as Billboard magazine's biggest boy band during the period of 1987 to 2012. Boyz II Men has received four Grammy Awards.
Boyz II Men continue to perform worldwide, as a trio. Their most recent studio album, Under the Streetlight, was released in 2017.
In June 2017, a section of Broad Street (from Christian to Carpenter Streets) in Philadelphia was renamed "Boyz II Men Boulevard". This section of the street is near the High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, where the members once attended.
History
1985–1990: Beginnings
The group, originally known as Unique Attraction, was started by friends Nathan Morris and Marc Nelson at the Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA) along with fellow schoolmates George Baldi, Jon Shoats, and Marguerite Walker in 1985. In 1987, Wanya Morris, who sang in the school's choir along with the members of Unique Attraction, joined the group and became a permanent member when he was only a freshman. In 1988 Baldi, Shoats, and Walker all left the group due to graduation. They then recruited Shawn Stockman after seeing him perform a solo in the school's choir. One day, Nate, Marc, Wanya and Shawn were practicing harmonies in a school bathroom and in walked Michael McCary who started singing along with the group and eventually became the group's new bass singer. Now with a permanent lineup of members, the group rehearsed in the high school's bathrooms, due to the excellent acoustics, and on the corners of their schools and local hangouts. They found inspiration in New Edition's harmonies and routines, and eventually renamed the group "Boyz II Men", after one of New Edition's songs, "Boys to Men", from their 1988 album Heart Break. After performing at a Valentine's Day party at school in 1989 they got their big break when they snuck into a concert put on by local radio station Power 99 at the Philadelphia Civic Center. Their plan was to find Will Smith backstage and perform for him. But while looking for Smith, they happened to cross paths with New Edition member Michael Bivins, who along with fellow groupmates Ricky Bell and Ronnie DeVoe just announced they were forming a New Edition spin-off trio Bell Biv DeVoe. After they sang New Edition's "Can You Stand the Rain" for him, Bivins and everyone in attendance including other celebrities were impressed. He then gave the group his number and told them to give him a call. Nate eventually called him, and he agreed to manage and helped produce the group.
The delay before recording their own material and reported personality conflicts led founding member Marc Nelson to leave the group, making Boyz II Men into the quartet that found international fame: Michael McCary, Nathan Morris, Wanya Morris, and Shawn Stockman.
1991–1992: Cooleyhighharmony and "End of the Road"
Boyz II Men's first album, Cooleyhighharmony, was released on Motown in 1991 and was produced by Michael Bivins. Cooleyhighharmonys drum-heavy new jack swing sound and multi-layered sampled backdrops were similar to that of Bell Biv DeVoe's own work, but featured classic-soul styled vocals in place of BBD's rapping and brassier singing. This style was dubbed "hip hop doo-wop" by the group and Bivins, who presented Boyz II Men and adolescent R&B group Another Bad Creation to the public as BBD's protégés.
From the beginning, Boyz II Men featured all four members as leads, avoiding the usual R&B group arrangement of one or two lead singers and a team of background singers. The multiple-lead arrangement became a Boyz II Men trademark, and it became typical to hear Wanya Morris' vibrato-heavy tenor, Shawn Stockman's tenor voice, Nathan Morris' baritone, and Michael McCary's bass (often used in spoken-word sections of many Boyz II Men hits) trading bars in each song.
The album's liner notes identified unique nicknames for each member of the group. These nicknames were devised in collaboration with Bivins in an attempt at marketing. Wanya was "Squirt", Shawn was "Slim", Michael was simply "Bass", and Nathan assumed the name "Alex Vanderpool", after a soap opera character who brandished a nerdy style.
Boyz II Men's first single, the Dallas Austin-produced "Motownphilly" featured a rap cameo by Michael Bivins that gives the story of how he met Boyz II Men. The single's release was accompanied with a music video that presented the group in hip hop style. (The video also included cameos from fellow Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts alumni Black Thought and Questlove of The Roots.) Cooleyhighharmonys second single was an a cappella cover of a classic Motown tune, G.C. Cameron's "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" from the 1975 film Cooley High, while "Uhh Ahh" served as the third single.
Cooleyhighharmony achieved major success, eventually selling over nine million copies and winning the Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the 1992 Grammy Awards. Boyz II Men were also nominated for Best New Artist, along with British singer-songwriter Seal, fellow R&B group Color Me Badd, as well as dance group C+C Music Factory, but the Grammy was awarded to singer-songwriter Marc Cohn. "Motownphilly" and "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" were number 1 R&B hits and top five U.S. pop hits.
In 1992, Boyz II Men joined MC Hammer's high-profile 2 Legit 2 Quit tour as an opening act. While traveling the country, their tour manager Khalil Roundtree was murdered in Chicago, and the group's future performances of "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" were dedicated to him. As a result of this unfortunate experience, the song helped advance their success.
While touring during 1992, Boyz II Men returned briefly to the studio to record the single "End of the Road", co-written and produced by Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, for the soundtrack to Eddie Murphy's film Boomerang. This song, released as a single on June 30, 1992, became Boyz II Men's biggest hit. It reached the number one position on the Billboard Hot 100 on August 15, remaining there for a record-setting 13 weeks, until November 14, 1992. The success of "End of the Road" instantly transformed Boyz II Men from up-and-coming R&B stars into mainstream music celebrities.
A revamped Cooleyhighharmony was reissued during 1993, with "End of the Road" added as a special bonus track, but "End of the Road" initially appeared only on the Boomerang soundtrack. Later the track was included on a collection of singles produced by Michael Bivins called "East Coast Family, Vol. 1". Shortly after the release of this compilation, Boyz II Men and Michael Bivins parted ways professionally. Boyz II Men continued to work with Babyface and other high-profile record producers over the next several years.
1994: II and "I'll Make Love to You"
After releasing a Christmas compilation, Christmas Interpretations in 1993, Boyz II Men returned to the studio for their highly anticipated sophomore effort. In 1994, II was released. II sold more than copies in the United States alone, becoming one of the best-selling albums ever released by an R&B group act, and one of the biggest albums of the decade. II later won two awards at the 1995 Grammy Awards including Best R&B Album.
Most of the tracks on II were written and produced by Tim & Bob—Tim Kelley and Bob Robinson (5), Babyface (2) and the successful team of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis (2). Several of IIs tracks became major singles, among them Jam & Lewis's "On Bended Knee", and Babyface's "I'll Make Love to You" and "Water Runs Dry".
"I'll Make Love to You" broke "End of the Road's" 13-week record at number 1, by spending 14 weeks at the top of the chart (a feat equaled earlier that year by Whitney Houston's cover of "I Will Always Love You"). "On Bended Knee" replaced "I'll Make Love to You" at number 1, making Boyz II Men only the third act ever to replace itself at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, after Elvis Presley and the Beatles.
In 1995, the group appeared as backing vocalists on "HIStory" from Michael Jackson's Grammy-nominated ninth album of the same name.
1997–1998: Evolution and label conflicts
Motown issued The Remix Collection, a compilation of remixes of various Boyz II Men songs from Cooleyhighharmony and II. The group itself had opposed the release of the collection because they felt the compilation did not represent Boyz II Men's best work. After the label released the album without their permission, there was a dispute between the company and the group. Boyz II Men initiated their own recording company Stonecreek (which released material by artists such as Uncle Sam), and they arranged for Stonecreek's distribution by Epic Records, not Motown.
Boyz II Men's third studio album, Evolution, was released during 1997 to mixed reviews and sold three million copies, far below the stratospheric success of IIs ( copies) and Cooleyhighharmony (). Only one of Evolutions singles, the Jam/Lewis-penned "Four Seasons of Loneliness", reached number 1 on the Hot 100 chart. The second single, the Babyface-helmed "A Song for Mama" (the theme song to the Babyface-produced film Soul Food) was a Top 10 success, but the follow-up "Can't Let Her Go" underperformed.
The global tour began in 1997 to promote Evolution was successful in terms of ticket sales, but behind the scenes, Boyz II Men was wracked by conflicts with their record label and internal conflicts among the members of the group. Making matters worse, health problems began to take their toll on the group. While on tour to support the Evolution album, Wanya Morris developed a polyp on his vocal cords, and the group was forced to postpone part of the tour until he recovered. McCary's multiple sclerosis meant that he was unable to participate in most of the group's dance routines.
Boyz II Men were nominated for 2 Grammys in 1998: Best R&B Album for Evolution and Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group for "A Song for Mama".
1999–2001: Nathan Michael Shawn Wanya
In 1999, Motown's parent company, PolyGram, was bought by Universal Music Group. Amidst the major corporate restructure, Motown was merged with UMG's Universal Records, where Boyz II Men found themselves reassigned.
Their only studio LP album for Universal, 2000's Nathan Michael Shawn Wanya, was chiefly written and produced by the group itself, in an attempt to update their sound and ward off critics who questioned the group's reliance on Babyface's hit-making songcraft. While the critics were more receptive to Nathan Michael Shawn Wanya than they had been to its predecessor, the LP sold only 500,000 copies in the US, copies worldwide, and although its two singles, "Pass You By" and "Thank You in Advance" received media attention, neither became hits.
Boyz II Men departed from Universal in 2001, ending their relationship with the company that brought them to international stardom in 1991. The label released a very successful greatest hits compilation, Legacy: The Greatest Hits Collection, to close out their contract.
2002–2003: Full Circle and "The Color of Love"
Signing a new deal with Arista Records in 2002, Boyz II Men began recording the Full Circle album, and recruited Babyface for a new single, "The Color of Love". In an attempt to recapture the massive success the group had enjoyed a decade earlier, the album received a significant promotional budget. Arista commissioned a high-budget music video, shot in four different locales by four different directors: supervising director Little X filmed scenes featuring Michael McCary in India, Hype Williams filmed Shawn Stockman in Tokyo, Benny Boom filmed Nathan Morris in Ghana, and Chris Robinson filmed Wanya Morris in Puerto Rico and finally all were filmed in New York. The resulting music video had a debut on BET, but failed to have a great effect, and Full Circle, like Nathan Michael Shawn Wanya before it, sold slightly more than 500,000 copies in the US and copies worldwide.
Full Circle became Boyz II Men's final album as a quartet, and their last effort to receive extensive promotion from a major record company. On , 2003, Michael McCary left Boyz II Men due to chronic back problems resulting from multiple sclerosis (MS) and personal problems. Arista terminated Boyz II Men's contract on , and the remaining three members took a temporary hiatus from the music industry.
2004–2006: Throwback, Vol. 1 and The Remedy
After a year out of the spotlight, Boyz II Men created the independent label MSM Music Group (distributed through Koch Records), and released the Throwback, Vol. 1 LP in 2004. The album is a collection of covers of classic R&B and soul songs such as The Dazz Band's "Let It Whip", Michael Jackson's "Human Nature", and, as the single, Bobby Caldwell's "What You Won't Do for Love". For this record, Nathan took on the bass lines as well as the baritone vocals that he sang when Boyz II Men was a quartet. Throwback, Vol. 1 reached number 59 on the Billboard 200. The group launched an independent tour of North America and Asia in support of the Throwback series. The album sold over 200,000 copies with little to no promotion aside from the group's independent tour.
In 2005 Boyz II Men recorded a CD with Anderson Cameau called "Apocalypse", a project meant to benefit Haiti.
In 2006, Boyz II Men's seventh studio album, The Remedy, was released exclusively in Japan, where they found a thriving fan base. In other regions, The Remedy was made available online through the group's website on , 2007.
2007–2008: Hitsville USA
In mid-2007, the group re-signed with Universal Records and released the LP Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA through the Decca Records label. The LP is a cover album featuring songs from the Motown Records catalog, co-produced by Randy Jackson of American Idol fame. The Motown album includes covers of songs by The Temptations ("Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)"), Marvin Gaye ("Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing", "Mercy Mercy Me"), Smokey Robinson & the Miracles ("The Tracks of My Tears"), and even Boyz II Men themselves (an a cappella version of "End of the Road").
Commercially, Motown found some success. It peaked at number 6 on the US R&B chart and was certified Gold in the UK. The album was also a critical success. For the 51st Annual Grammy Awards in 2009, Boyz II Men received two nominations for the album Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA (Best R&B Album and Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for "Ribbon in the Sky").
In 2008, Boyz II Men's three members appeared on Celebrity Don't Forget the Lyrics and created a sensation with their performance. They earned $500,000 for their two nominated charities; the appearance also generated interest in their next release.
2009: Love
In 2009, Boyz II Men announced plans for a new cover album, that covers "artists I don't think people would expect us to cover!" according to Shawn Stockman. Entitled Love, the album was released on , 2009. The album contains remakes of love songs from outside the R&B genre.
2011–2012: Love Cruise and Twenty
Boyz II Men headlined a "Love Cruise" in honor of their 20th anniversary and in observance of Valentine's Day. The cruise took place –14, 2011, and traveled from Miami, Florida, to Nassau, Bahamas. Cruise passengers received a Boyz II Men welcome cocktail party, a concert performance by Boyz II Men, an additional fan appreciation concert by Boyz II Men, a photo session with Boyz II Men (in small groups), a formal prom night, a poker tournament, a deck party with Boyz II Men and a guest DJ, a singles mixer, a gift bag, and onboard drawings for other Boyz II Men events. Couples were able to renew their wedding vows in a special ceremony with Boyz II Men.
Twenty, named in recognition of Boyz II Men's twenty years in the music business, is a double CD album with thirteen original songs and eight rerecorded Boyz II Men classics. It was released on October 25, 2011. Twenty is the group's fourth release through MSM Music Group. It was released in Japan 13 days before its official US release date with the help of Avex Group, the biggest Japanese independent record label.
Originally, Boyz II Men announced a reunion with original member Michael McCary for the Twenty album. On September 6, 2009, at a concert in Virginia Beach, Virginia, Stockman announced that their upcoming 20th anniversary album would "include all 4 members", sparking a tremendous applause.
But soon after that announcement, McCary declined and did not join the project.
As a trio, Boyz II Men performed as special guests on VH1's highly rated VH1 Divas Celebrate Soul concert.
Boyz II Men contributed a cover of Japanese rock band L'Arc~en~Ciel's song "Snow Drop" to their 2012 tribute album.
2013–present: The Package Tour, Collide, and Geico Commercials
On January 22, 2013, the group appeared on The View along with New Kids on the Block and 98 Degrees to announce their joint tour that took place in summer 2013. As of February 20, 2013, Boyz II Men announced that beginning March 1, 2013, they will stop touring and begin performing shows at the Mirage Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
On January 13, 2014, the trio appeared at the end of an episode of How I Met Your Mother titled "Slapsgiving 3: Slappointment in Slapmarra", performing an a cappella version of the show's song "You Just Got Slapped". Their eleventh album, titled Collide, was released on October 21, 2014.
In 2016, the trio appeared in Grease: Live as the Teen Angels and sang Beauty School Dropout.
Wanya placed 4th for the 22nd season of the ABC realty competition series Dancing With The Stars. They also did music for an animated adaptation of The Snowy Day.
In 2017, the group began starring in television commercials for GEICO Auto Insurance.
On June 24, 2017, a section of Broad Street in Philadelphia, from Christian to Carpenter Streets, was renamed, “Boyz II Men Boulevard” by the city council. Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, where the members of Boyz II Men were once students, is on this section of Broad Street.
In August 2017, it was announced they were releasing a new album titled Under the Streetlight in the Fall. It was released on October 20, 2017.
On January 4, 2018, the group was featured in a new track released by Charlie Puth, titled "If You Leave Me Now", created for Charlie Puth's album Voicenotes.
On September 6, 2018, the group performed at the NFL 2018–2019 season kickoff at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, PA.
On October 2, 2018, the group performed "Ladies Man" on ABC's Dancing with the Stars. DeMarcus Ware and Lindsay Arnold danced a quickstep to the song.
The group is featured on a re-imagined version of Take That's song Love Ain't Here Anymore from their number one selling album Odyssey. Howard Donald revealed during an interview with Magic Radio that "he fulfilled a dream when they recorded this song".
On December 15, 2018, the group staged a concert at the Smart Araneta Coliseum with Filipino girl group DIVAS—a group composed of Kyla, Yeng Constantino, KZ Tandingan and Angeline Quinto titled Boyz II Men with DIVAS.
On September 18, 2019, it was reported that the group would play themselves on the ABC comedy series Schooled.
On September 30, 2019, Boyz II Men announced their Asia Tour, which is slated to take place after returning from their US tour and residency in Las Vegas. They will be visiting cities such as Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok (December 7), Singapore (December 9) and Manila.
Style and influence
Boyz II Men is among the biggest names in a cappella and R&B. With what was called "crossover appeal", Boyz II Men found themselves at the vanguard of the 1990s movement to take R&B back into the mainstream, where it had been back in the 1970s. Their use of hip-hop beats in combination with R&B was not unique, but it was Boyz II Men's enormous success with mainstream audiences in "putting harmony over the hip-hop tracks" that helped usher in the near-total dominance of the R&B genre on the pop charts in the 2000s and 2010s. On January 5, 2012, Boyz II Men were awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. They were featured on the first episode of the 2021 Netflix series This Is Pop, called "The Boyz II Men Effect", about their impact on the boy band scene in the 1990s.
Members
Current
Nathan Morris (1985–present)
Wanya Morris (1987–present)
Shawn Stockman (1988–present)
Former
Michael McCary (1988–2003)
Marc Nelson (1985–1990)
George Baldi (1985–1988)
Jon Shoats (1985–1988)
Marguerite Walker (1985–1988)
Discography
Studio albums
Cooleyhighharmony (1991)
Christmas Interpretations (1993)
II (1994)
Evolution (1997)
Nathan Michael Shawn Wanya (2000)
Full Circle (2002)
Throwback, Vol. 1 (2004)
The Remedy (2006)
Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA (2007)
Love (2009)
Twenty (2011)
Collide (2014)
Under the Streetlight (2017)
Filmography
"Going Home" (1995): A Disney Channel concert special filmed during Boyz II Men's "All Around the World Tour" live from the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
The group makes a guest appearance in fourth season episode "Twas the Night Before Christening of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in which they sing at Nicky's christening (1993).
"Living In Paradise?" (2000): They appeared as themselves on the hit show Moesha.
Long Shot: They appear as themselves performing at a charity event.
This Is Pop (2021): They are featured on the episode "The Boyz II Men Effect".
Celebrity Wheel of Fortune (2021): Wanya and Shawn play to win money for charities of their choice.
A Very Boyband Christmas (2021): Wanya and Shawn join members of 'Nsync, 98 Degrees and other boy bands to celebrate the holidays.
Live in Front of a Studio Audience (2021): The group performs the theme song of Diff'rent Strokes as the intro to the special’s reenactment of "Willis’s Privacy".
Awards and nominations
American Music Awards
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "5" | 1992
!scope="row" rowspan= "3" |Boyz II Men
|Favorite Soul/R&B New Artist
|
|-
|Favorite Pop/Rock New Artist
|
|-
|Favorite Soul/R&B Band/Duo/Group
|
|-
|"Motownphilly"
|Favorite Soul/R&B Single
|
|-
|Cooleyhighharmony
|Favorite Soul/R&B Album
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 1993
|"End of the Road"
|Favorite Pop/Rock Song
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "3"|Boyz II Men
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|Favorite Soul/R&B Band/Duo/Group
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "4" | 1995
|
|-
|Favorite Adult Contemporary Artist
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|"I'll Make Love to You"
|Favorite Soul/R&B Single
|
|-
|Favorite Pop/Rock Song
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "5" | 1996
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|II
|Favorite Soul/R&B Album
|
|-
|Favorite Pop/Rock Album
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "4"|Boyz II Men
|Artist of the Year
|
|-
|Favorite Pop/Rock Band/Duo/Group
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|Favorite Soul/R&B Band/Duo/Group
|
|-
| 1998
|
|-
Billboard Music Awards
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 1992
|Boyz II Men
|Top Hot 100 Artist
|
|-
|"End of the Road"
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | Top Hot 100 Song
|
|-
| 1994
|"I'll Make Love to You"
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "3" | 1995
|II
|Top Billboard 200 Album
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | Boyz II Men
|Top Artist
|
|-
|Top R&B Artist
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 1996
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | "One Sweet Day" (with Mariah Carey)
|Top Hot 100 Song
|
|-
|Billboard Music Special Hot 100
|
|-
Grammy Awards
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 1992
|Boyz II Men
|Best New Artist
|
|-
|Cooleyhighharmony
!scope="row" rowspan= "4"|Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
|
|-
| 1993
|"End of the Road"
|
|-
| 1994
|"Let It Snow"
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "3" | 1995
|!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|"I'll Make Love To You"
|
|-
|Record of the Year
|
|-
|II
|Best R&B Album
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 1996
|!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|"One Sweet Day" (with Mariah Carey)
|Record of the Year
|
|-
|Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 1998
|"A Song For Mama"
|Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
|
|-
|Evolution
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|Best R&B Album
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 2001
|Nathan Michael Shawn Wanya
|
|-
|"Pass You By"
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|Best R&B Performance By a Duo or Group with Vocal
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2" | 2009
|"Ribbon In The Sky"
|
|-
|Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA
|Best R&B Album
|
|-
MTV Video Music Awards
!Ref.
|-
| 1993
| "End of the Road"
| rowspan=2|Best R&B Video
|
| rowspan=4|
|-
| rowspan=2|1995
| rowspan=2|"Water Runs Dry"
|
|-
| Best Cinematography
|
|-
| 1996
| "One Sweet Day" (with Mariah Carey)
| Best R&B Video
|
Soul Train Music Awards
|-
|1992
|Boyz II Men
|Best New R&B/Soul Artist
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "3"|1993
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|"End of the Road"
|Song of the Year
|
|-
|Best R&B Music Video
|
|-
|"Please Don't Go"
|Best R&B Single – Group, Band or Duo
|
|-
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|1995
|II
|R&B/Soul Album Group, Band or Duo
|
|-
|"I'll Make Love to You"
|R&B/Soul Single Group, Band or Duo
|
|-
|1996
|Boyz II Men
|Entertainer of the Year
|
|-
|1998
|Evolution
!scope="row" rowspan= "2"|Best R&B/Soul Album - Group, Band or Duo
|
|-
|2003
|Full Circle
|
|-
See also
List of best-selling music artists
List of artists who reached number one in the United States
References
External links
African-American musical groups
American contemporary R&B musical groups
American vocal groups
Ballad music groups
American boy bands
Grammy Award winners
Motown artists
Musical groups established in 1988
Musical groups from Philadelphia
Musical quartets
Musical trios
Sony Music Publishing artists
Vocal quartets
Vocal trios
Avex Group artists | 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"
]
|
[
"Judith Butler",
"Early life and education"
]
| C_d9b9c91dd063459692c2b13e18d4a5e6_1 | Where did Butler study? | 1 | Where did Judith Butler study? | Judith Butler | Judith Butler was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to a family of Hungarian-Jewish and Russian-Jewish descent. Most of her maternal grandmother's family perished in the Holocaust. As a child and teenager, she attended both Hebrew school and special classes on Jewish ethics, where she received her "first training in philosophy". Butler stated in a 2010 interview with Haaretz that she began the ethics classes at the age of 14 and that they were created as a form of punishment by her Hebrew school's Rabbi because she was "too talkative in class". Butler also stated that she was "thrilled" by the idea of these tutorials, and when asked what she wanted to study in these special sessions, she responded with three questions preoccupying her at the time: "Why was Spinoza excommunicated from the synagogue? Could German Idealism be held accountable for Nazism? And how was one to understand existential theology, including the work of Martin Buber?" Butler attended Bennington College and then Yale University where she studied philosophy, receiving her B.A. in 1978 and her Ph.D. in 1984. She spent one academic year at Heidelberg University as a Fulbright-Scholar. She taught at Wesleyan University, George Washington University, and Johns Hopkins University before joining University of California, Berkeley, in 1993. In 2002 she held the Spinoza Chair of Philosophy at the University of Amsterdam. In addition, she joined the department of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University as Wun Tsun Tam Mellon Visiting Professor of the Humanities in the spring semesters of 2012, 2013 and 2014 with the option of remaining as full-time faculty. Butler serves on the editorial board or advisory board of academic journals including JAC: A Journal of Rhetoric, Culture, and Politics and Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society. CANNOTANSWER | she attended both Hebrew school and special classes on Jewish ethics, | Judith Pamela Butler (born February 24, 1956) is an American philosopher and gender theorist whose work has influenced political philosophy, ethics, and the fields of third-wave feminism, queer theory, and literary theory. In 1993, Butler began teaching at the University of California, Berkeley, where they have served, beginning in 1998, as the Maxine Elliot Professor in the Department of Comparative Literature and the Program of Critical Theory. They are also the Hannah Arendt Chair at the European Graduate School.
Butler is best known for their books Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity (1990) and Bodies That Matter: On the Discursive Limits of Sex (1993), in which they challenge conventional notions of gender and develop their theory of gender performativity. This theory has had a major influence on feminist and queer scholarship. Their work is often studied and debated in film studies courses emphasizing gender studies and performativity in discourse.
Butler has supported lesbian and gay rights movements, and they have spoken out on many contemporary political issues, including criticism of Israeli politics.
Early life and education
Judith Butler was born on February 24, 1956, in Cleveland, Ohio, to a family of Hungarian-Jewish and Russian-Jewish descent. Most of their maternal grandmother's family perished in the Holocaust. Butler's parents were practicing Reform Jews. Their mother was raised Orthodox, eventually becoming Conservative and then Reform, while their father was raised Reform. As a child and teenager, Butler attended both Hebrew school and special classes on Jewish ethics, where they received their "first training in philosophy". Butler stated in a 2010 interview with Haaretz that they began the ethics classes at the age of 14 and that they were created as a form of punishment by Butler's Hebrew school's Rabbi because they were "too talkative in class". Butler also stated that they were "thrilled" by the idea of these tutorials, and when asked what they wanted to study in these special sessions, they responded with three questions preoccupying them at the time: "Why was Spinoza excommunicated from the synagogue? Could German Idealism be held accountable for Nazism? And how was one to understand existential theology, including the work of Martin Buber?"
Butler attended Bennington College before transferring to Yale University, where they studied philosophy and received a Bachelor of Arts in 1978 and a Doctor of Philosophy in 1984. They spent one academic year at Heidelberg University as a Fulbright Scholar. Butler taught at Wesleyan University, George Washington University, and Johns Hopkins University before joining University of California, Berkeley, in 1993. In 2002, they held the Spinoza Chair of Philosophy at the University of Amsterdam. In addition, they joined the department of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University as Wun Tsun Tam Mellon Visiting Professor of the Humanities in the spring semesters of 2012, 2013 and 2014 with the option of remaining as full-time faculty.
Butler serves on the editorial board or advisory board of several academic journals, including Janus Unbound: Journal of Critical Studies, JAC: A Journal of Rhetoric, Culture, and Politics and Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society.
Overview of major works
Performative Acts and Gender Constitution (1988)
In the essay "Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory" Judith Butler proposes that gender is performative. Because gender identity is established through behavior, there is a possibility to construct different genders via different behaviors.
Gender Trouble (1990)
Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity was first published in 1990, selling over 100,000 copies internationally, in multiple languages. Gender Trouble discusses the works of Sigmund Freud, Simone de Beauvoir, Julia Kristeva, Jacques Lacan, Luce Irigaray, Monique Wittig, Jacques Derrida, and Michel Foucault.
Butler offers a critique of the terms gender and sex as they have been used by feminists. Butler argues that feminism made a mistake in trying to make "women" a discrete, ahistorical group with common characteristics. Butler writes that this approach reinforces the binary view of gender relations. Butler believes that feminists should not try to define "women" and they also believe that feminists should "focus on providing an account of how power functions and shapes our understandings of womanhood not only in the society at large but also within the feminist movement." Finally, Butler aims to break the supposed links between sex and gender so that gender and desire can be "flexible, free floating and not caused by other stable factors". The idea of identity as free and flexible and gender as a performance, not an essence, is one of the foundations of queer theory.
Imitation and Gender Insubordination (1991)
This is Butler's contribution to Inside/Out: Lesbian Theories, Gay Theories, a collection of the writings of gay and lesbian social theorists. Butler argues that no transparent revelation is afforded by the terms "gay" or "lesbian" yet there is a political imperative to do so. Butler employs "the concepts of play/performance, drag, and imitation to describe the formation of gender and sexuality as continually created subjectivities always at risk of dissolution from non-performance."
Bodies That Matter (1993)
Bodies That Matter: On the Discursive Limits of "Sex" seeks to clear up readings and supposed misreadings of performativity that view the enactment of sex/gender as a daily choice. Butler emphasizes the role of repetition in performativity, making use of Derrida's theory of iterability, which is a form of citationality:
Performativity cannot be understood outside of a process of iterability, a regularized and constrained repetition of norms. And this repetition is not performed by a subject; this repetition is what enables a subject and constitutes the temporal condition for the subject. This iterability implies that 'performance' is not a singular 'act' or event, but a ritualized production, a ritual reiterated under and through constraint, under and through the force of prohibition and taboo, with the threat of ostracism and even death controlling and compelling the shape of the production, but not, I will insist, determining it fully in advance.
Excitable Speech (1997)
In Excitable Speech: A Politics of the Performative, Butler surveys the problems of hate speech and censorship. They argue that censorship is difficult to evaluate, and that in some cases it may be useful or even necessary, while in others it may be worse than tolerance.
Butler argues that hate speech exists retrospectively, only after being declared such by state authorities. In this way, the state reserves for itself the power to define hate speech and, conversely, the limits of acceptable discourse. In this connection, Butler criticizes feminist legal scholar Catharine MacKinnon's argument against pornography for its unquestioning acceptance of the state's power to censor.
Deploying Foucault's argument from the first volume of The History of Sexuality, Butler claims that any attempt at censorship, legal or otherwise, necessarily propagates the very language it seeks to forbid. As Foucault argues, for example, the strict sexual mores of 19th-century Western Europe did nothing but amplify the discourse of sexuality they sought to control. Extending this argument using Derrida and Lacan, Butler claims that censorship is primitive to language, and that the linguistic "I" is a mere effect of an originary censorship. In this way, Butler questions the possibility of any genuinely oppositional discourse; "If speech depends upon censorship, then the principle that one might seek to oppose is at once the formative principle of oppositional speech".
Undoing Gender (2004)
Undoing Gender collects Butler's reflections on gender, sex, sexuality, psychoanalysis and the medical treatment of intersex people for a more general readership than many of their other books. Butler revisits and refines their notion of performativity and focuses on the question of undoing "restrictively normative conceptions of sexual and gendered life".
Butler discusses how gender is performed without one being conscious of it, but says that it does not mean this performativity is "automatic or mechanical". They argue that we have desires that do not originate from our personhood, but rather, from social norms. The writer also debates our notions of "human" and "less-than-human" and how these culturally imposed ideas can keep one from having a "viable life" as the biggest concerns are usually about whether a person will be accepted if their desires differ from normality. Butler states that one may feel the need of being recognized in order to live, but that at the same time, the conditions to be recognized make life "unlivable". The writer proposes an interrogation of such conditions so that people who resist them may have more possibilities of living.
In Butler's discussion of intersex issues and people, Butler addresses the case of David Reimer, a person whose sex was medically "reassigned" from male to female after a botched circumcision at eight months of age. Reimer was "made" female by doctors, but later in life identified as "really" male, married and became a stepfather to his wife's three children, and went on to tell his story in As Nature Made Him: The Boy Who Was Raised as a Girl, which he wrote with John Colapinto. Reimer died by suicide in 2004.
Giving an Account of Oneself (2005)
In Giving an Account of Oneself, Butler develops an ethics based on the opacity of the subject to itself; in other words, the limits of self-knowledge. Primarily borrowing from Theodor Adorno, Michel Foucault, Friedrich Nietzsche, Jean Laplanche, Adriana Cavarero and Emmanuel Levinas, Butler develops a theory of the formation of the subject. Butler theorizes the subject in relation to the social – a community of others and their norms – which is beyond the control of the subject it forms, as precisely the very condition of that subject's formation, the resources by which the subject becomes recognizably human, a grammatical "I", in the first place.
Butler accepts the claim that if the subject is opaque to itself the limitations of its free ethical responsibility and obligations are due to the limits of narrative, presuppositions of language and projection.
Instead Butler argues for an ethics based precisely on the limits of self-knowledge as the limits of responsibility itself. Any concept of responsibility which demands the full transparency of the self to itself, an entirely accountable self, necessarily does violence to the opacity which marks the constitution of the self it addresses. The scene of address by which responsibility is enabled is always already a relation between subjects who are variably opaque to themselves and to each other. The ethics that Butler envisions is therefore one in which the responsible self knows the limits of its knowing, recognizes the limits of its capacity to give an account of itself to others, and respects those limits as symptomatically human. To take seriously one's opacity to oneself in ethical deliberation means then to critically interrogate the social world in which one comes to be human in the first place and which remains precisely that which one cannot know about oneself. In this way, Butler locates social and political critique at the core of ethical practice.
Notes Toward a Performative Theory of Assembly (2015)
In Notes Toward a Performative Theory of Assembly, Butler discusses the power of public gatherings, considering what they signify and how they work. They use this framework to analyze the power and possibilities of protests, such as the Black Lives Matter protests regarding the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner in 2014.
The Force of Nonviolence (2020)
In The Force of Nonviolence: An Ethico-Political Bind, Butler connects the ideologies of nonviolence and the political struggle for social equality. They review the traditional understanding of "nonviolence," stating that it "is often misunderstood as a passive practice that emanates from a calm region of the soul, or as an individualist ethical relation to existing forms of power." Instead of this understanding, Butler argues that "nonviolence is an ethical position found in the midst of the political field."
Reception
Butler's work has been influential in feminist and queer theory, cultural studies, and continental philosophy. Yet their contribution to a range of other disciplines—such as psychoanalysis, literary, film, and performance studies as well as visual arts—has also been significant. Their theory of gender performativity as well as their conception of "critically queer" have not only transformed understandings of gender and queer identity in the academic world, but have shaped and mobilized various kinds of political activism, particularly queer activism, across the globe. Butler's work has also entered into contemporary debates on the teaching of gender, gay parenting, and the depathologization of transgender people. Before election to the papacy, Pope Benedict XVI wrote several pages challenging Butler's arguments on gender. In several countries, Butler became the symbol of the destruction of traditional gender roles for reactionary movements. This was particularly the case in France during the anti-gay marriage protests. Bruno Perreau has written that Butler was literally depicted as an "antichrist", both because of their gender and their Jewish identity, the fear of minority politics and critical studies being expressed through fantasies of a corrupted body.
Some academics and political activists maintain that Butler's radical departure from the sex/gender dichotomy and Butler's non-essentialist conception of gender—along with their insistence that power helps form the subject—revolutionized feminist and queer praxis, thought, and studies. Darin Barney of McGill University wrote that:
In 1998, Denis Dutton's journal Philosophy and Literature awarded Butler first prize in its fourth annual "Bad Writing Competition", which set out to "celebrate bad writing from the most stylistically lamentable passages found in scholarly books and articles." Butler's unwitting entry, which ran in a 1997 issue of the scholarly journal Diacritics, ran thus:
Some critics have accused Butler of elitism due to their difficult prose style, while others claim that Butler reduces gender to "discourse" or promotes a form of gender voluntarism. Susan Bordo, for example, has argued that Butler reduces gender to language and has contended that the body is a major part of gender, in opposition to Butler's conception of gender as performative. A particularly vocal critic has been feminist Martha Nussbaum, who has argued that Butler misreads J. L. Austin's idea of performative utterance, makes erroneous legal claims, forecloses an essential site of resistance by repudiating pre-cultural agency, and provides no "normative theory of social justice and human dignity." Finally, Nancy Fraser's critique of Butler was part of a famous exchange between the two theorists. Fraser has suggested that Butler's focus on performativity distances them from "everyday ways of talking and thinking about ourselves. ... Why should we use such a self-distancing idiom?"
Butler responded to criticisms of their prose in the preface to the 1999 edition of their book, Gender Trouble.
More recently, several critics—most prominently, Viviane Namaste
—have criticised Judith Butler's Undoing Gender for under-emphasizing the intersectional aspects of gender-based violence. For example, Timothy Laurie notes that Butler's use of phrases like "gender politics" and "gender violence" in relation to assaults on transgender individuals in the United States can "[scour] a landscape filled with class and labour relations, racialised urban stratification, and complex interactions between sexual identity, sexual practices and sex work", and produce instead "a clean surface on which struggles over 'the human' are imagined to play out".
German feminist Alice Schwarzer speaks of Butler's "radical intellectual games" that would not change how society classifies and treats a woman; thus, by eliminating female and male identity Butler would have abolished the discourse about sexism in the queer community. Schwarzer also accuses Butler of remaining silent about the oppression of women and homosexuals in the Islamic world, while readily exercising their right to same-sex-marriage in the United States; instead, Butler would sweepingly defend Islam, including Islamism, from critics.
Political activism
Much of Butler's early political activism centered around queer and feminist issues, and they served, for a period of time, as the chair of the board of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission. Over the years, Butler has been particularly active in the gay and lesbian rights, feminist, and anti-war movements. They have also written and spoken out on issues ranging from affirmative action and gay marriage to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the prisoners detained at Guantanamo Bay. More recently, Butler has been active in the Occupy movement and has publicly expressed support for a version of the 2005 BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) campaign against Israel. They emphasize that Israel does not and should not be taken to represent all Jews or Jewish opinion.
On September 7, 2006, Butler participated in a faculty-organized teach-in against the 2006 Lebanon War at the University of California, Berkeley. Another widely publicized moment occurred in June 2010, when Butler refused the Civil Courage Award (Zivilcouragepreis) of the Christopher Street Day (CSD) Parade in Berlin, Germany at the award ceremony. They cited racist comments on the part of organizers and a general failure of CSD organizations to distance themselves from racism in general and from anti-Muslim excuses for war more specifically. Criticizing the event's commercialism, Butler went on to name several groups that they commended as stronger opponents of "homophobia, transphobia, sexism, racism, and militarism".
In October 2011, Butler attended Occupy Wall Street and, in reference to calls for clarification of the protesters' demands, they said:
People have asked, so what are the demands? What are the demands all of these people are making? Either they say there are no demands and that leaves your critics confused, or they say that the demands for social equality and economic justice are impossible demands. And the impossible demands, they say, are just not practical. If hope is an impossible demand, then we demand the impossible – that the right to shelter, food and employment are impossible demands, then we demand the impossible. If it is impossible to demand that those who profit from the recession redistribute their wealth and cease their greed, then yes, we demand the impossible.
Butler is an executive member of FFIPP – Educational Network for Human Rights in Israel/Palestine. They are also a member of the advisory board of Jewish Voice for Peace. In mainstream US politics, they expressed support for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election.
Adorno Prize affair
When Butler received the 2012 Adorno Prize, the prize committee came under attack from Israel's Ambassador to Germany Yakov Hadas-Handelsman; the director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center's office in Jerusalem, Efraim Zuroff; and the German Central Council of Jews. They were upset at Butler's selection because of Butler's remarks about Israel and specifically Butler's "calls for a boycott against Israel". Butler responded saying that "[Butler] did not take attacks from German Jewish leaders personally". Rather, they wrote, the attacks are "directed against everyone who is critical against Israel and its current policies".
In a letter to the Mondoweiss website, Butler asserted that they developed strong ethical views on the basis of Jewish philosophical thought and that it is "blatantly untrue, absurd, and painful for anyone to argue that those who formulate a criticism of the State of Israel is anti-Semitic or, if Jewish, self-hating".
Comments on Hamas and Hezbollah
Butler was criticized for statements they had made about Hamas and Hezbollah. Butler was accused of describing them as "social movements that are progressive, that are on the Left, that are part of a global Left." They were accused of defending "Hezbollah and Hamas as progressive organizations" and supporting their tactics.
Butler responded to these criticisms by stating that their remarks on Hamas and Hezbollah were taken completely out of context and, in so doing, their established views on non-violence were contradicted and misrepresented. Butler describes the origin of their remarks on Hamas and Hezbollah in the following way:
I was asked by a member of an academic audience a few years ago whether I thought Hamas and Hezbollah belonged to "the global left" and I replied with two points. My first point was merely descriptive: those political organizations define themselves as anti-imperialist, and anti-imperialism is one characteristic of the global left, so on that basis one could describe them as part of the global left. My second point was then critical: as with any group on the left, one has to decide whether one is for that group or against that group, and one needs to critically evaluate their stand.
Comments on Black Lives Matter
In a January 2015 interview with George Yancy of The New York Times, Butler discussed the Black Lives Matter movement. They said:
What is implied by this statement [Black Lives Matter], a statement that should be obviously true, but apparently is not? If black lives do not matter, then they are not really regarded as lives, since a life is supposed to matter. So what we see is that some lives matter more than others, that some lives matter so much that they need to be protected at all costs, and that other lives matter less, or not at all. And when that becomes the situation, then the lives that do not matter so much, or do not matter at all, can be killed or lost, can be exposed to conditions of destitution, and there is no concern, or even worse, that is regarded as the way it is supposed to be...When people engage in concerted actions across racial lines to build communities based on equality, to defend the rights of those who are disproportionately imperiled to have a chance to live without the fear of dying quite suddenly at the hands of the police. There are many ways to do this, in the street, the office, the home, and in the media. Only through such an ever-growing cross-racial struggle against racism can we begin to achieve a sense of all the lives that really do matter.
The dialogue draws heavily on their 2004 book Precarious Life: The Powers of Mourning and Violence.
Avital Ronell sexual harassment case
On May 11, 2018, Butler led a group of scholars in writing a letter to New York University following the sexual harassment suit filed by a former NYU graduate student against his advisor Avital Ronell. The signatories acknowledged not having had access to the confidential findings of the investigation that followed the Title IX complaint against Ronell. Nonetheless, they accused the complainant of waging a "malicious campaign" against Ronell. The signatories also wrote that the presumed "malicious intention has animated and sustained this legal nightmare" for a highly regarded scholar. "If she were to be terminated or relieved of her duties, the injustice would be widely recognized and opposed." Butler, the chief signatory, invoked their title as President Elect of the Modern Language Association. James J. Marino, a professor at Cleveland State University and a member of the MLA, started a petition to demand Butler's resignation or removal from their post. He argued that "Protesting against one instance of punishment is only a means to the larger end of preserving senior faculty's privilege of impunity. ... [Butler] was standing up for an old, corrupt, and long-standing way of doing business. The time for doing business that way is over. We should never look back." Some three months later, Butler apologized to the MLA for the letter. "I acknowledged that I should not have allowed the MLA affiliation to go forward with my name," Butler wrote to the Chronicle of Higher Education. "I expressed regret to the MLA officers and staff, and my colleagues accepted my apology. I extend that same apology to MLA members."
Comments on the anti-gender movement and trans-exclusionary radical feminism
Butler said in 2020 that trans-exclusionary radical feminism is "a fringe movement that is seeking to speak in the name of the mainstream, and that our responsibility is to refuse to let that happen." In 2021 they described the anti-gender movements as fascist trends and cautioned self-declared feminists from allying with such movements in targeting trans, non-binary, and genderqueer people. Butler also explored the issue in a 2019 paper in which they argued that "the confusion of discourses is part of what constitutes the fascist structure and appeal of at least some of these [anti-gender] movements. One can oppose gender as a cultural import from the North at the same time that one can see that very opposition as a social movement against further colonization of the South. The result is not a turn to the Left, but an embrace of ethno-nationalism."
The Guardian interview
On September 7, 2021, The Guardian published an interview of Butler by Jules Gleeson that included Butler's critique of trans-exclusionary feminists ("gender critical feminists" or "TERFs"). In response to a question about the Wi Spa controversy, Butler stated that "The anti-gender ideology is one of the dominant strains of fascism in our times." Within a few hours of publication, three paragraphs including this statement were removed, with a note explaining "This article was edited on 7 September 2021 to reflect developments which occurred after the interview took place."
The Guardian was then accused of censoring Judith Butler for having compared TERFs to fascists. British writer Roz Kaveney called it "a truly shocking moment of bigoted dishonesty", while British transgender activist and writer Juno Dawson, among others, observed that The Guardian had inadvertently triggered the Streisand effect, in which an attempt to censor yields the unintended consequence of increasing awareness of a topic. The next day, The Guardian acknowledged "a failure in our editorial standards".
Personal life
Butler is a lesbian, legally non-binary, and goes by she or they pronouns, but said in 2020 that they prefer "they", and indicated that they were "never at home" with being assigned "female" at birth. They live in Berkeley with their partner Wendy Brown and son, Isaac.
Selected honors and awards
Butler has had a visiting appointment at Birkbeck, University of London (2009–).
1999: Guggenheim Fellowship
2007: Elected to the American Philosophical Society
2008: Mellon Award for their exemplary contributions to scholarship in the humanities
2010: "25 Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World", Utne Reader
2012: Theodor W. Adorno Award
2013: Doctorate of Letters, honoris causa, University of St. Andrews
2013: Doctorate of Letters, honoris causa, McGill University
2014: Doctorate of Letters, honoris causa, University of Fribourg
2014: Named one of PinkNews's top 11 Jewish gay and lesbian icons
2015: Elected as a Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy
2018: Doctorate of Letters, honoris causa, University of Belgrade
2018: Butler delivered the Gifford Lectures with their series entitled 'My Life, Your Life: Equality and the Philosophy of Non-Violence'
2019: Elected as Fellow to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Publications
All of Butler's books have been translated into numerous languages; Gender Trouble, alone, has been translated into twenty-seven languages. In addition, they have co-authored and edited over a dozen volumes—the most recent of which is Dispossession: The Performative in the Political (2013), coauthored with Athena Athanasiou. Over the years Butler has also published many influential essays, interviews, and public presentations. Butler is considered by many as "one of the most influential voices in contemporary political theory," and as the most widely read and influential gender theorist in the world.
The following is a partial list of Butler's publications.
Books
[Their doctoral dissertation.]
Book chapters
A collection of essays on the work of Avital Ronell.
Details.
Notes
References
Further reading
Chambers, Samuel A. and Terrell Carver. 'Judith Butler and Political Theory: Troubling Politics. New York: Routledge, 2008.
Cheah, Pheng, "Mattering," Diacritics, Volume 26, Number 1, Spring 1996, pp. 108–139.
Kirby, Vicki. Judith Butler: Live Theory. London: Continuum, 2006.
Eldred, Michael, [http://www.arte-fact.org/mtphysfm.html 'Metaphysics of Feminism: A Critical Note on Judith Butler's Gender Trouble] 2008.
From the paper's abstract: In this paper we contribute to these [sexualization of culture] debates by presenting 'technologies of sexiness', a theoretical framework that draws on Foucauldian theorizing of technologies of the self and Butler's work on performativity.
Pdf. Considers performativity from a linguistic perspective.
Perreau, Bruno. Queer Theory: The French Response, Stanford, CA, Stanford University Press, 2016.
Salih, Sarah. The Judith Butler Reader. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell, 2004.
—. Routledge Critical Thinkers: Judith Butler. New York: Routledge, 2002.
Schippers, Birgit. The Political Philosophy of Judith Butler. New York: Routledge, 2014.
Thiem, Annika. Unbecoming Subjects: Judith Butler, Moral Philosophy, and Critical Responsibility. New York: Fordham University Press, 2008.
External links
Biography – University of California, Berkeley
approach the notion of affinity through a discussion of "Disruptive Kinship," co-sponsored by Villa Gillet and the School of Writing at The New School for Public Engagement.
Interview of Judith Butler about their new book "Frames of War" on New Statesman
Review of "Giving an Account of Oneself. Ethical Violence and Responsibility", by Judith Butler, Barcelona Metropolis Autumn 2010.
"Dictionary of Literary Biography on Judith P. Butler (page 3)"
Interview with Judith Butler about politics, economy, control societies, gender and identity (2011)
1956 births
Living people
20th-century American non-fiction writers
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Anti-Zionism in the United States
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Columbia University faculty
Continental philosophers
Corresponding Fellows of the British Academy
Critical theorists
Critics of neoconservatism
Critics of religions
Cultural critics
Environmental philosophers
Epistemologists
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Feminist philosophers
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Gender studies academics
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Lesbian academics
Lesbian scientists
Lesbian feminists
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Literary theorists
Literature educators
Mass media theorists
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Non-binary writers
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Phenomenologists
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Transfeminists
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University of California, Berkeley faculty
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Yale University alumni
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American women critics | false | [
"The Butler Did It may refer to:\n\n \"The butler did it\", a phrase associated with the 1930 novel The Door by Mary Roberts Rinehart\n \"The Butler Did It\", a 1973 single by Skogie\n \"The Butler Did It (A Bird in the Hand)\", an episode of Police Squad!\n \"The Butler Did It\" (Arthur), a season 20 episode of Arthur\n \"The Butler Did It\" (Dynasty), a 2018 episode of Dynasty\n \"The Butler Did It\" (The Batman), a season 2 episode of The Batman\n \"The Butler Did It\", a 1965 episode of Petticoat Junction\n Something Fishy, a 1957 novel by P. G. Wodehouse",
"Percy Milton Butler (19 July 1912 – 7 February 2015) was a British zoologist and palaeontologist. He proposed that dental characters are expressed in morphogenetic gradients along the dentition, which could therefore be used to study evolution. This became known as Butler's Field Theory. He was Professor of Zoology at Royal Holloway, University of London, where he was the Head of the Department of Zoology from 1956 to 1972, and where he established the first course on mammalogy in the UK.\n\nEarly life\nHe was born on 19 July 1912 in Lewisham, London, son of a civil servant, Herbert Butler, and his wife Amy. As a child he was already interested in natural history. He graduated and did his PhD under supervision of Clive Forster-Cooper at Pembroke College, Cambridge.\n\nCareer\nAfter receiving his undergraduate degree in 1933 Butler received Commonwealth \nFund Fellowship to visit Columbia University in 1936. He studied fossil mammal teeth in various museum collections and was associated with William King Gregory at the American Museum of Natural History. He also collected fossil mammals, including a molar of Megacerops. His study of fossil teeth brought him to consider the mechanics of teeth, which led to his field theory, published in 1939.\n\nAfter appointments at Exeter and Manchester University, he joined Royal Holloway College in 1956. He retired at 60, and as an emeritus professor turned to full-time research, much of it done at the Natural History Museum, London.\n\nButler was an internationally recognised expert in the origins of early mammals from the Mesozoic. He later got interested in tertiary mammals from East-Africa and the fauna of the Olduvai Gorge, on which he worked with Louis Leakey. In his 80s he still worked on the early mammalian clade Haramiyida.\n\nAwards and recognition\n\nButler was awarded the American Geological Association’s Gold Medal. In 1986 he received the silver medal of the city of Paris. In 1994 received and honorary membership of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, and in 1996 received the society's prestigious Romer-Simpson Medal.\n\nPersonal life\n\nButler married Lillan Temple in 1941. He was a talented artist. His drawings feature in many of his publications and Royal Holloway College held an exhibition of his watercolours.\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links\n\n Tribute to Percy Milton Butler 1912–2015, J. Hooker (2017) Historical Biology, 30:1-2, 2-6, DOI: 10.1080/08912963.2017.1338518 \n\nBritish palaeontologists\n1912 births\nAcademics of Royal Holloway, University of London\n2015 deaths\n20th-century British zoologists\nPeople from Lewisham\nScientists from London\nBritish centenarians\nMen centenarians"
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| C_d9b9c91dd063459692c2b13e18d4a5e6_1 | Where did she go to college? | 2 | Where did Judith Butler go to college? | Judith Butler | Judith Butler was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to a family of Hungarian-Jewish and Russian-Jewish descent. Most of her maternal grandmother's family perished in the Holocaust. As a child and teenager, she attended both Hebrew school and special classes on Jewish ethics, where she received her "first training in philosophy". Butler stated in a 2010 interview with Haaretz that she began the ethics classes at the age of 14 and that they were created as a form of punishment by her Hebrew school's Rabbi because she was "too talkative in class". Butler also stated that she was "thrilled" by the idea of these tutorials, and when asked what she wanted to study in these special sessions, she responded with three questions preoccupying her at the time: "Why was Spinoza excommunicated from the synagogue? Could German Idealism be held accountable for Nazism? And how was one to understand existential theology, including the work of Martin Buber?" Butler attended Bennington College and then Yale University where she studied philosophy, receiving her B.A. in 1978 and her Ph.D. in 1984. She spent one academic year at Heidelberg University as a Fulbright-Scholar. She taught at Wesleyan University, George Washington University, and Johns Hopkins University before joining University of California, Berkeley, in 1993. In 2002 she held the Spinoza Chair of Philosophy at the University of Amsterdam. In addition, she joined the department of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University as Wun Tsun Tam Mellon Visiting Professor of the Humanities in the spring semesters of 2012, 2013 and 2014 with the option of remaining as full-time faculty. Butler serves on the editorial board or advisory board of academic journals including JAC: A Journal of Rhetoric, Culture, and Politics and Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society. CANNOTANSWER | Bennington College | Judith Pamela Butler (born February 24, 1956) is an American philosopher and gender theorist whose work has influenced political philosophy, ethics, and the fields of third-wave feminism, queer theory, and literary theory. In 1993, Butler began teaching at the University of California, Berkeley, where they have served, beginning in 1998, as the Maxine Elliot Professor in the Department of Comparative Literature and the Program of Critical Theory. They are also the Hannah Arendt Chair at the European Graduate School.
Butler is best known for their books Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity (1990) and Bodies That Matter: On the Discursive Limits of Sex (1993), in which they challenge conventional notions of gender and develop their theory of gender performativity. This theory has had a major influence on feminist and queer scholarship. Their work is often studied and debated in film studies courses emphasizing gender studies and performativity in discourse.
Butler has supported lesbian and gay rights movements, and they have spoken out on many contemporary political issues, including criticism of Israeli politics.
Early life and education
Judith Butler was born on February 24, 1956, in Cleveland, Ohio, to a family of Hungarian-Jewish and Russian-Jewish descent. Most of their maternal grandmother's family perished in the Holocaust. Butler's parents were practicing Reform Jews. Their mother was raised Orthodox, eventually becoming Conservative and then Reform, while their father was raised Reform. As a child and teenager, Butler attended both Hebrew school and special classes on Jewish ethics, where they received their "first training in philosophy". Butler stated in a 2010 interview with Haaretz that they began the ethics classes at the age of 14 and that they were created as a form of punishment by Butler's Hebrew school's Rabbi because they were "too talkative in class". Butler also stated that they were "thrilled" by the idea of these tutorials, and when asked what they wanted to study in these special sessions, they responded with three questions preoccupying them at the time: "Why was Spinoza excommunicated from the synagogue? Could German Idealism be held accountable for Nazism? And how was one to understand existential theology, including the work of Martin Buber?"
Butler attended Bennington College before transferring to Yale University, where they studied philosophy and received a Bachelor of Arts in 1978 and a Doctor of Philosophy in 1984. They spent one academic year at Heidelberg University as a Fulbright Scholar. Butler taught at Wesleyan University, George Washington University, and Johns Hopkins University before joining University of California, Berkeley, in 1993. In 2002, they held the Spinoza Chair of Philosophy at the University of Amsterdam. In addition, they joined the department of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University as Wun Tsun Tam Mellon Visiting Professor of the Humanities in the spring semesters of 2012, 2013 and 2014 with the option of remaining as full-time faculty.
Butler serves on the editorial board or advisory board of several academic journals, including Janus Unbound: Journal of Critical Studies, JAC: A Journal of Rhetoric, Culture, and Politics and Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society.
Overview of major works
Performative Acts and Gender Constitution (1988)
In the essay "Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory" Judith Butler proposes that gender is performative. Because gender identity is established through behavior, there is a possibility to construct different genders via different behaviors.
Gender Trouble (1990)
Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity was first published in 1990, selling over 100,000 copies internationally, in multiple languages. Gender Trouble discusses the works of Sigmund Freud, Simone de Beauvoir, Julia Kristeva, Jacques Lacan, Luce Irigaray, Monique Wittig, Jacques Derrida, and Michel Foucault.
Butler offers a critique of the terms gender and sex as they have been used by feminists. Butler argues that feminism made a mistake in trying to make "women" a discrete, ahistorical group with common characteristics. Butler writes that this approach reinforces the binary view of gender relations. Butler believes that feminists should not try to define "women" and they also believe that feminists should "focus on providing an account of how power functions and shapes our understandings of womanhood not only in the society at large but also within the feminist movement." Finally, Butler aims to break the supposed links between sex and gender so that gender and desire can be "flexible, free floating and not caused by other stable factors". The idea of identity as free and flexible and gender as a performance, not an essence, is one of the foundations of queer theory.
Imitation and Gender Insubordination (1991)
This is Butler's contribution to Inside/Out: Lesbian Theories, Gay Theories, a collection of the writings of gay and lesbian social theorists. Butler argues that no transparent revelation is afforded by the terms "gay" or "lesbian" yet there is a political imperative to do so. Butler employs "the concepts of play/performance, drag, and imitation to describe the formation of gender and sexuality as continually created subjectivities always at risk of dissolution from non-performance."
Bodies That Matter (1993)
Bodies That Matter: On the Discursive Limits of "Sex" seeks to clear up readings and supposed misreadings of performativity that view the enactment of sex/gender as a daily choice. Butler emphasizes the role of repetition in performativity, making use of Derrida's theory of iterability, which is a form of citationality:
Performativity cannot be understood outside of a process of iterability, a regularized and constrained repetition of norms. And this repetition is not performed by a subject; this repetition is what enables a subject and constitutes the temporal condition for the subject. This iterability implies that 'performance' is not a singular 'act' or event, but a ritualized production, a ritual reiterated under and through constraint, under and through the force of prohibition and taboo, with the threat of ostracism and even death controlling and compelling the shape of the production, but not, I will insist, determining it fully in advance.
Excitable Speech (1997)
In Excitable Speech: A Politics of the Performative, Butler surveys the problems of hate speech and censorship. They argue that censorship is difficult to evaluate, and that in some cases it may be useful or even necessary, while in others it may be worse than tolerance.
Butler argues that hate speech exists retrospectively, only after being declared such by state authorities. In this way, the state reserves for itself the power to define hate speech and, conversely, the limits of acceptable discourse. In this connection, Butler criticizes feminist legal scholar Catharine MacKinnon's argument against pornography for its unquestioning acceptance of the state's power to censor.
Deploying Foucault's argument from the first volume of The History of Sexuality, Butler claims that any attempt at censorship, legal or otherwise, necessarily propagates the very language it seeks to forbid. As Foucault argues, for example, the strict sexual mores of 19th-century Western Europe did nothing but amplify the discourse of sexuality they sought to control. Extending this argument using Derrida and Lacan, Butler claims that censorship is primitive to language, and that the linguistic "I" is a mere effect of an originary censorship. In this way, Butler questions the possibility of any genuinely oppositional discourse; "If speech depends upon censorship, then the principle that one might seek to oppose is at once the formative principle of oppositional speech".
Undoing Gender (2004)
Undoing Gender collects Butler's reflections on gender, sex, sexuality, psychoanalysis and the medical treatment of intersex people for a more general readership than many of their other books. Butler revisits and refines their notion of performativity and focuses on the question of undoing "restrictively normative conceptions of sexual and gendered life".
Butler discusses how gender is performed without one being conscious of it, but says that it does not mean this performativity is "automatic or mechanical". They argue that we have desires that do not originate from our personhood, but rather, from social norms. The writer also debates our notions of "human" and "less-than-human" and how these culturally imposed ideas can keep one from having a "viable life" as the biggest concerns are usually about whether a person will be accepted if their desires differ from normality. Butler states that one may feel the need of being recognized in order to live, but that at the same time, the conditions to be recognized make life "unlivable". The writer proposes an interrogation of such conditions so that people who resist them may have more possibilities of living.
In Butler's discussion of intersex issues and people, Butler addresses the case of David Reimer, a person whose sex was medically "reassigned" from male to female after a botched circumcision at eight months of age. Reimer was "made" female by doctors, but later in life identified as "really" male, married and became a stepfather to his wife's three children, and went on to tell his story in As Nature Made Him: The Boy Who Was Raised as a Girl, which he wrote with John Colapinto. Reimer died by suicide in 2004.
Giving an Account of Oneself (2005)
In Giving an Account of Oneself, Butler develops an ethics based on the opacity of the subject to itself; in other words, the limits of self-knowledge. Primarily borrowing from Theodor Adorno, Michel Foucault, Friedrich Nietzsche, Jean Laplanche, Adriana Cavarero and Emmanuel Levinas, Butler develops a theory of the formation of the subject. Butler theorizes the subject in relation to the social – a community of others and their norms – which is beyond the control of the subject it forms, as precisely the very condition of that subject's formation, the resources by which the subject becomes recognizably human, a grammatical "I", in the first place.
Butler accepts the claim that if the subject is opaque to itself the limitations of its free ethical responsibility and obligations are due to the limits of narrative, presuppositions of language and projection.
Instead Butler argues for an ethics based precisely on the limits of self-knowledge as the limits of responsibility itself. Any concept of responsibility which demands the full transparency of the self to itself, an entirely accountable self, necessarily does violence to the opacity which marks the constitution of the self it addresses. The scene of address by which responsibility is enabled is always already a relation between subjects who are variably opaque to themselves and to each other. The ethics that Butler envisions is therefore one in which the responsible self knows the limits of its knowing, recognizes the limits of its capacity to give an account of itself to others, and respects those limits as symptomatically human. To take seriously one's opacity to oneself in ethical deliberation means then to critically interrogate the social world in which one comes to be human in the first place and which remains precisely that which one cannot know about oneself. In this way, Butler locates social and political critique at the core of ethical practice.
Notes Toward a Performative Theory of Assembly (2015)
In Notes Toward a Performative Theory of Assembly, Butler discusses the power of public gatherings, considering what they signify and how they work. They use this framework to analyze the power and possibilities of protests, such as the Black Lives Matter protests regarding the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner in 2014.
The Force of Nonviolence (2020)
In The Force of Nonviolence: An Ethico-Political Bind, Butler connects the ideologies of nonviolence and the political struggle for social equality. They review the traditional understanding of "nonviolence," stating that it "is often misunderstood as a passive practice that emanates from a calm region of the soul, or as an individualist ethical relation to existing forms of power." Instead of this understanding, Butler argues that "nonviolence is an ethical position found in the midst of the political field."
Reception
Butler's work has been influential in feminist and queer theory, cultural studies, and continental philosophy. Yet their contribution to a range of other disciplines—such as psychoanalysis, literary, film, and performance studies as well as visual arts—has also been significant. Their theory of gender performativity as well as their conception of "critically queer" have not only transformed understandings of gender and queer identity in the academic world, but have shaped and mobilized various kinds of political activism, particularly queer activism, across the globe. Butler's work has also entered into contemporary debates on the teaching of gender, gay parenting, and the depathologization of transgender people. Before election to the papacy, Pope Benedict XVI wrote several pages challenging Butler's arguments on gender. In several countries, Butler became the symbol of the destruction of traditional gender roles for reactionary movements. This was particularly the case in France during the anti-gay marriage protests. Bruno Perreau has written that Butler was literally depicted as an "antichrist", both because of their gender and their Jewish identity, the fear of minority politics and critical studies being expressed through fantasies of a corrupted body.
Some academics and political activists maintain that Butler's radical departure from the sex/gender dichotomy and Butler's non-essentialist conception of gender—along with their insistence that power helps form the subject—revolutionized feminist and queer praxis, thought, and studies. Darin Barney of McGill University wrote that:
In 1998, Denis Dutton's journal Philosophy and Literature awarded Butler first prize in its fourth annual "Bad Writing Competition", which set out to "celebrate bad writing from the most stylistically lamentable passages found in scholarly books and articles." Butler's unwitting entry, which ran in a 1997 issue of the scholarly journal Diacritics, ran thus:
Some critics have accused Butler of elitism due to their difficult prose style, while others claim that Butler reduces gender to "discourse" or promotes a form of gender voluntarism. Susan Bordo, for example, has argued that Butler reduces gender to language and has contended that the body is a major part of gender, in opposition to Butler's conception of gender as performative. A particularly vocal critic has been feminist Martha Nussbaum, who has argued that Butler misreads J. L. Austin's idea of performative utterance, makes erroneous legal claims, forecloses an essential site of resistance by repudiating pre-cultural agency, and provides no "normative theory of social justice and human dignity." Finally, Nancy Fraser's critique of Butler was part of a famous exchange between the two theorists. Fraser has suggested that Butler's focus on performativity distances them from "everyday ways of talking and thinking about ourselves. ... Why should we use such a self-distancing idiom?"
Butler responded to criticisms of their prose in the preface to the 1999 edition of their book, Gender Trouble.
More recently, several critics—most prominently, Viviane Namaste
—have criticised Judith Butler's Undoing Gender for under-emphasizing the intersectional aspects of gender-based violence. For example, Timothy Laurie notes that Butler's use of phrases like "gender politics" and "gender violence" in relation to assaults on transgender individuals in the United States can "[scour] a landscape filled with class and labour relations, racialised urban stratification, and complex interactions between sexual identity, sexual practices and sex work", and produce instead "a clean surface on which struggles over 'the human' are imagined to play out".
German feminist Alice Schwarzer speaks of Butler's "radical intellectual games" that would not change how society classifies and treats a woman; thus, by eliminating female and male identity Butler would have abolished the discourse about sexism in the queer community. Schwarzer also accuses Butler of remaining silent about the oppression of women and homosexuals in the Islamic world, while readily exercising their right to same-sex-marriage in the United States; instead, Butler would sweepingly defend Islam, including Islamism, from critics.
Political activism
Much of Butler's early political activism centered around queer and feminist issues, and they served, for a period of time, as the chair of the board of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission. Over the years, Butler has been particularly active in the gay and lesbian rights, feminist, and anti-war movements. They have also written and spoken out on issues ranging from affirmative action and gay marriage to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the prisoners detained at Guantanamo Bay. More recently, Butler has been active in the Occupy movement and has publicly expressed support for a version of the 2005 BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) campaign against Israel. They emphasize that Israel does not and should not be taken to represent all Jews or Jewish opinion.
On September 7, 2006, Butler participated in a faculty-organized teach-in against the 2006 Lebanon War at the University of California, Berkeley. Another widely publicized moment occurred in June 2010, when Butler refused the Civil Courage Award (Zivilcouragepreis) of the Christopher Street Day (CSD) Parade in Berlin, Germany at the award ceremony. They cited racist comments on the part of organizers and a general failure of CSD organizations to distance themselves from racism in general and from anti-Muslim excuses for war more specifically. Criticizing the event's commercialism, Butler went on to name several groups that they commended as stronger opponents of "homophobia, transphobia, sexism, racism, and militarism".
In October 2011, Butler attended Occupy Wall Street and, in reference to calls for clarification of the protesters' demands, they said:
People have asked, so what are the demands? What are the demands all of these people are making? Either they say there are no demands and that leaves your critics confused, or they say that the demands for social equality and economic justice are impossible demands. And the impossible demands, they say, are just not practical. If hope is an impossible demand, then we demand the impossible – that the right to shelter, food and employment are impossible demands, then we demand the impossible. If it is impossible to demand that those who profit from the recession redistribute their wealth and cease their greed, then yes, we demand the impossible.
Butler is an executive member of FFIPP – Educational Network for Human Rights in Israel/Palestine. They are also a member of the advisory board of Jewish Voice for Peace. In mainstream US politics, they expressed support for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election.
Adorno Prize affair
When Butler received the 2012 Adorno Prize, the prize committee came under attack from Israel's Ambassador to Germany Yakov Hadas-Handelsman; the director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center's office in Jerusalem, Efraim Zuroff; and the German Central Council of Jews. They were upset at Butler's selection because of Butler's remarks about Israel and specifically Butler's "calls for a boycott against Israel". Butler responded saying that "[Butler] did not take attacks from German Jewish leaders personally". Rather, they wrote, the attacks are "directed against everyone who is critical against Israel and its current policies".
In a letter to the Mondoweiss website, Butler asserted that they developed strong ethical views on the basis of Jewish philosophical thought and that it is "blatantly untrue, absurd, and painful for anyone to argue that those who formulate a criticism of the State of Israel is anti-Semitic or, if Jewish, self-hating".
Comments on Hamas and Hezbollah
Butler was criticized for statements they had made about Hamas and Hezbollah. Butler was accused of describing them as "social movements that are progressive, that are on the Left, that are part of a global Left." They were accused of defending "Hezbollah and Hamas as progressive organizations" and supporting their tactics.
Butler responded to these criticisms by stating that their remarks on Hamas and Hezbollah were taken completely out of context and, in so doing, their established views on non-violence were contradicted and misrepresented. Butler describes the origin of their remarks on Hamas and Hezbollah in the following way:
I was asked by a member of an academic audience a few years ago whether I thought Hamas and Hezbollah belonged to "the global left" and I replied with two points. My first point was merely descriptive: those political organizations define themselves as anti-imperialist, and anti-imperialism is one characteristic of the global left, so on that basis one could describe them as part of the global left. My second point was then critical: as with any group on the left, one has to decide whether one is for that group or against that group, and one needs to critically evaluate their stand.
Comments on Black Lives Matter
In a January 2015 interview with George Yancy of The New York Times, Butler discussed the Black Lives Matter movement. They said:
What is implied by this statement [Black Lives Matter], a statement that should be obviously true, but apparently is not? If black lives do not matter, then they are not really regarded as lives, since a life is supposed to matter. So what we see is that some lives matter more than others, that some lives matter so much that they need to be protected at all costs, and that other lives matter less, or not at all. And when that becomes the situation, then the lives that do not matter so much, or do not matter at all, can be killed or lost, can be exposed to conditions of destitution, and there is no concern, or even worse, that is regarded as the way it is supposed to be...When people engage in concerted actions across racial lines to build communities based on equality, to defend the rights of those who are disproportionately imperiled to have a chance to live without the fear of dying quite suddenly at the hands of the police. There are many ways to do this, in the street, the office, the home, and in the media. Only through such an ever-growing cross-racial struggle against racism can we begin to achieve a sense of all the lives that really do matter.
The dialogue draws heavily on their 2004 book Precarious Life: The Powers of Mourning and Violence.
Avital Ronell sexual harassment case
On May 11, 2018, Butler led a group of scholars in writing a letter to New York University following the sexual harassment suit filed by a former NYU graduate student against his advisor Avital Ronell. The signatories acknowledged not having had access to the confidential findings of the investigation that followed the Title IX complaint against Ronell. Nonetheless, they accused the complainant of waging a "malicious campaign" against Ronell. The signatories also wrote that the presumed "malicious intention has animated and sustained this legal nightmare" for a highly regarded scholar. "If she were to be terminated or relieved of her duties, the injustice would be widely recognized and opposed." Butler, the chief signatory, invoked their title as President Elect of the Modern Language Association. James J. Marino, a professor at Cleveland State University and a member of the MLA, started a petition to demand Butler's resignation or removal from their post. He argued that "Protesting against one instance of punishment is only a means to the larger end of preserving senior faculty's privilege of impunity. ... [Butler] was standing up for an old, corrupt, and long-standing way of doing business. The time for doing business that way is over. We should never look back." Some three months later, Butler apologized to the MLA for the letter. "I acknowledged that I should not have allowed the MLA affiliation to go forward with my name," Butler wrote to the Chronicle of Higher Education. "I expressed regret to the MLA officers and staff, and my colleagues accepted my apology. I extend that same apology to MLA members."
Comments on the anti-gender movement and trans-exclusionary radical feminism
Butler said in 2020 that trans-exclusionary radical feminism is "a fringe movement that is seeking to speak in the name of the mainstream, and that our responsibility is to refuse to let that happen." In 2021 they described the anti-gender movements as fascist trends and cautioned self-declared feminists from allying with such movements in targeting trans, non-binary, and genderqueer people. Butler also explored the issue in a 2019 paper in which they argued that "the confusion of discourses is part of what constitutes the fascist structure and appeal of at least some of these [anti-gender] movements. One can oppose gender as a cultural import from the North at the same time that one can see that very opposition as a social movement against further colonization of the South. The result is not a turn to the Left, but an embrace of ethno-nationalism."
The Guardian interview
On September 7, 2021, The Guardian published an interview of Butler by Jules Gleeson that included Butler's critique of trans-exclusionary feminists ("gender critical feminists" or "TERFs"). In response to a question about the Wi Spa controversy, Butler stated that "The anti-gender ideology is one of the dominant strains of fascism in our times." Within a few hours of publication, three paragraphs including this statement were removed, with a note explaining "This article was edited on 7 September 2021 to reflect developments which occurred after the interview took place."
The Guardian was then accused of censoring Judith Butler for having compared TERFs to fascists. British writer Roz Kaveney called it "a truly shocking moment of bigoted dishonesty", while British transgender activist and writer Juno Dawson, among others, observed that The Guardian had inadvertently triggered the Streisand effect, in which an attempt to censor yields the unintended consequence of increasing awareness of a topic. The next day, The Guardian acknowledged "a failure in our editorial standards".
Personal life
Butler is a lesbian, legally non-binary, and goes by she or they pronouns, but said in 2020 that they prefer "they", and indicated that they were "never at home" with being assigned "female" at birth. They live in Berkeley with their partner Wendy Brown and son, Isaac.
Selected honors and awards
Butler has had a visiting appointment at Birkbeck, University of London (2009–).
1999: Guggenheim Fellowship
2007: Elected to the American Philosophical Society
2008: Mellon Award for their exemplary contributions to scholarship in the humanities
2010: "25 Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World", Utne Reader
2012: Theodor W. Adorno Award
2013: Doctorate of Letters, honoris causa, University of St. Andrews
2013: Doctorate of Letters, honoris causa, McGill University
2014: Doctorate of Letters, honoris causa, University of Fribourg
2014: Named one of PinkNews's top 11 Jewish gay and lesbian icons
2015: Elected as a Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy
2018: Doctorate of Letters, honoris causa, University of Belgrade
2018: Butler delivered the Gifford Lectures with their series entitled 'My Life, Your Life: Equality and the Philosophy of Non-Violence'
2019: Elected as Fellow to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Publications
All of Butler's books have been translated into numerous languages; Gender Trouble, alone, has been translated into twenty-seven languages. In addition, they have co-authored and edited over a dozen volumes—the most recent of which is Dispossession: The Performative in the Political (2013), coauthored with Athena Athanasiou. Over the years Butler has also published many influential essays, interviews, and public presentations. Butler is considered by many as "one of the most influential voices in contemporary political theory," and as the most widely read and influential gender theorist in the world.
The following is a partial list of Butler's publications.
Books
[Their doctoral dissertation.]
Book chapters
A collection of essays on the work of Avital Ronell.
Details.
Notes
References
Further reading
Chambers, Samuel A. and Terrell Carver. 'Judith Butler and Political Theory: Troubling Politics. New York: Routledge, 2008.
Cheah, Pheng, "Mattering," Diacritics, Volume 26, Number 1, Spring 1996, pp. 108–139.
Kirby, Vicki. Judith Butler: Live Theory. London: Continuum, 2006.
Eldred, Michael, [http://www.arte-fact.org/mtphysfm.html 'Metaphysics of Feminism: A Critical Note on Judith Butler's Gender Trouble] 2008.
From the paper's abstract: In this paper we contribute to these [sexualization of culture] debates by presenting 'technologies of sexiness', a theoretical framework that draws on Foucauldian theorizing of technologies of the self and Butler's work on performativity.
Pdf. Considers performativity from a linguistic perspective.
Perreau, Bruno. Queer Theory: The French Response, Stanford, CA, Stanford University Press, 2016.
Salih, Sarah. The Judith Butler Reader. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell, 2004.
—. Routledge Critical Thinkers: Judith Butler. New York: Routledge, 2002.
Schippers, Birgit. The Political Philosophy of Judith Butler. New York: Routledge, 2014.
Thiem, Annika. Unbecoming Subjects: Judith Butler, Moral Philosophy, and Critical Responsibility. New York: Fordham University Press, 2008.
External links
Biography – University of California, Berkeley
approach the notion of affinity through a discussion of "Disruptive Kinship," co-sponsored by Villa Gillet and the School of Writing at The New School for Public Engagement.
Interview of Judith Butler about their new book "Frames of War" on New Statesman
Review of "Giving an Account of Oneself. Ethical Violence and Responsibility", by Judith Butler, Barcelona Metropolis Autumn 2010.
"Dictionary of Literary Biography on Judith P. Butler (page 3)"
Interview with Judith Butler about politics, economy, control societies, gender and identity (2011)
1956 births
Living people
20th-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century American philosophers
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American women critics | true | [
"Beloved () is a 1965 Soviet romance film directed by Richard Viktorov.\n\nPlot \nThe film tells about a girl named Ira, who planned to go to college, but after meeting the builder she decided that she would work at a construction site, where she began to conflict with colleagues who did not like her personal qualities.\n\nCast \n Aleksandra Nazarova as Ira Yegorova\n Vitali Solomin as Volodya Levadov\n Igor Dobrolyubov as Rostik\n Svetlana Druzhinina as Sofya\n Vyacheslav Brovkin as Dementiy Pavlovich Blyakhin (as V. Brovkin)\n Boris Platonov as Ivan Yegorovich\n Yelena Maksimova as Nina Petrovna\n Aleksey Baranovsky as Bit-Part\n Anna Dubrovina as Ksyusha\n Roman Filippov as Loader\n\nReferences\n\nExternal links \n \n\n1965 films\nRussian-language films\nSoviet romance films\nSoviet films\n1960s romance films\nSoviet black-and-white films\nSoviet teen films",
"Liza Figueroa Kravinsky (born 1962) is an American composer, filmmaker, and actress living in Arlington, Virginia, USA. She is best known for composing the Go-Go Symphony and founding the Go-Go Symphony ensemble. She is also the filmmaker of the documentary Beauty in the Eyes of the Beheld.\n\nEarly life\nKravinsky was born in Summit, New Jersey, USA to Filipino immigrants. Her birth name is Elizabeth Teopaco Figueroa, with \"Liza\" as a nickname. Her father Armando Borja Figueroa was a medical doctor and her mother Elnora Teopaco Figueroa was a professional pianist and violinist. After moving to New York State, the Philippines, and northern Virginia; her family settled down in Fort Washington, Maryland where she grew up with her brother Kenneth Figueroa, now a medical doctor. She attended St. Stephens & St. Agnes School in Alexandria, Virginia; and Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio; where she studied music composition and theory. She is married to filmmaker and former ABC News video editor Michael Kravinsky.\n\nMusical work\nKravinsky composed and played keyboards for local pop, R&B, and go-go bands in the Washington DC area after she graduated from college. From 1988 to 1990, she toured with Motown recording artist Stacy Lattisaw; TRJ, a faction of go-go band Trouble Funk; and go-go band Pleasure. In 1991, she composed for, directed, and performed with Robin Power and the Uptown Dames, a Paisley Park project created by Prince (musician).\n\nIn 1994, Kravinsky became an in-house composer at American Film and Video production company in Silver Spring, Maryland. While working in this company, she learned how to produce videos.\n\nIn 1999, Kravinsky's song \"New Little Girl\" appeared on the \"Octaves Beyond Silence\" compilation album, along with songs by Eve Ensler, The Indigo Girls and Meshell Ndegeocello.\n\nIn 2012, she composed the Go-Go Symphony, an innovative symphony that combines Washington DC’s go-go dance beats with classical, jazz, and funk genres. She founded the Go-Go Symphony ensemble to perform it, along with other similar compositions; in partnership with full symphony orchestras, or as a stand-alone ensemble.\n\nFilm work\nIn 1996, Kravinsky co-founded Art Palette Productions, Inc., which produces videos, documentaries, and original music. She created Beauty in the Eyes of the Beheld; a documentary about the lives of ordinary American women who are considered physically beautiful. Among other corporate video productions, she produced “The First Three to Five Seconds,” a widely viewed Arab and Muslim cultural sensitivity training video for the United States Department of Justice. She has also composed scores for independent films and acted in television commercials and video productions.\n\nReferences\n\n Freeman, Macy (2014-06-26). \"Go-Go Symphony Adds A Classical Note to Washington's Unique Sound\", Washington Post.\n Paarlberg, Mike (2014-01-16). “Go-Go and Classical, Together at Last”, Washington City Paper.\n Regan, Tim (2014-06-27). “Go-Go Symphony at Atlas Performing Arts Center”, Washington City Paper.\n Figueroa Kravinsky, Liza (2014-02-13). “Living up to the hype”, Arts Journal.com.\n Brookes, Stephen (2014-02-23). “Go-Go Symphony, at Atlas Performing Arts Center, is well worth a listen”, Washington Post.\n Hammond, Kato (2014-02-18). “Go-Go Symphony – An Intersection Where We Can Feel It All Over”, TMOTTGoGo Radio.\n Sandow, Greg (2012-12-21). “Final mavericks: Jade Simmons and a Go-Go symphony”, Arts Journal.com.\n Unsung (2010-04-12). “Unsung: Stacy Lattisaw”, IMDb.\n Ramonas, Andrew (2015-03-18). “Go-Go Symphony Returning to H Street with Chuck Brown Drummer”, Hill Now.\n Ostrow, Lori (2014-05-30). “Go-Go Symphony”, On Tap Online.\n Hammond, Kato (2013-03-29). \"Go-Go Symphony: A Melodic Interview Session with Liza Figueroa Kravinsky\", TMOTTGoGo Radio.\n\n1962 births\nLiving people\nAmerican women composers\n21st-century American composers\nAmerican filmmakers\n20th-century American actresses\n21st-century American actresses\n21st-century American women musicians\n21st-century women composers"
]
|
[
"Judith Butler",
"Early life and education",
"Where did Butler study?",
"she attended both Hebrew school and special classes on Jewish ethics,",
"Where did she go to college?",
"Bennington College"
]
| C_d9b9c91dd063459692c2b13e18d4a5e6_1 | When did she graduate from Bennington? | 3 | When did Judith Butler graduate from Bennington? | Judith Butler | Judith Butler was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to a family of Hungarian-Jewish and Russian-Jewish descent. Most of her maternal grandmother's family perished in the Holocaust. As a child and teenager, she attended both Hebrew school and special classes on Jewish ethics, where she received her "first training in philosophy". Butler stated in a 2010 interview with Haaretz that she began the ethics classes at the age of 14 and that they were created as a form of punishment by her Hebrew school's Rabbi because she was "too talkative in class". Butler also stated that she was "thrilled" by the idea of these tutorials, and when asked what she wanted to study in these special sessions, she responded with three questions preoccupying her at the time: "Why was Spinoza excommunicated from the synagogue? Could German Idealism be held accountable for Nazism? And how was one to understand existential theology, including the work of Martin Buber?" Butler attended Bennington College and then Yale University where she studied philosophy, receiving her B.A. in 1978 and her Ph.D. in 1984. She spent one academic year at Heidelberg University as a Fulbright-Scholar. She taught at Wesleyan University, George Washington University, and Johns Hopkins University before joining University of California, Berkeley, in 1993. In 2002 she held the Spinoza Chair of Philosophy at the University of Amsterdam. In addition, she joined the department of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University as Wun Tsun Tam Mellon Visiting Professor of the Humanities in the spring semesters of 2012, 2013 and 2014 with the option of remaining as full-time faculty. Butler serves on the editorial board or advisory board of academic journals including JAC: A Journal of Rhetoric, Culture, and Politics and Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society. CANNOTANSWER | receiving her B.A. in 1978 | Judith Pamela Butler (born February 24, 1956) is an American philosopher and gender theorist whose work has influenced political philosophy, ethics, and the fields of third-wave feminism, queer theory, and literary theory. In 1993, Butler began teaching at the University of California, Berkeley, where they have served, beginning in 1998, as the Maxine Elliot Professor in the Department of Comparative Literature and the Program of Critical Theory. They are also the Hannah Arendt Chair at the European Graduate School.
Butler is best known for their books Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity (1990) and Bodies That Matter: On the Discursive Limits of Sex (1993), in which they challenge conventional notions of gender and develop their theory of gender performativity. This theory has had a major influence on feminist and queer scholarship. Their work is often studied and debated in film studies courses emphasizing gender studies and performativity in discourse.
Butler has supported lesbian and gay rights movements, and they have spoken out on many contemporary political issues, including criticism of Israeli politics.
Early life and education
Judith Butler was born on February 24, 1956, in Cleveland, Ohio, to a family of Hungarian-Jewish and Russian-Jewish descent. Most of their maternal grandmother's family perished in the Holocaust. Butler's parents were practicing Reform Jews. Their mother was raised Orthodox, eventually becoming Conservative and then Reform, while their father was raised Reform. As a child and teenager, Butler attended both Hebrew school and special classes on Jewish ethics, where they received their "first training in philosophy". Butler stated in a 2010 interview with Haaretz that they began the ethics classes at the age of 14 and that they were created as a form of punishment by Butler's Hebrew school's Rabbi because they were "too talkative in class". Butler also stated that they were "thrilled" by the idea of these tutorials, and when asked what they wanted to study in these special sessions, they responded with three questions preoccupying them at the time: "Why was Spinoza excommunicated from the synagogue? Could German Idealism be held accountable for Nazism? And how was one to understand existential theology, including the work of Martin Buber?"
Butler attended Bennington College before transferring to Yale University, where they studied philosophy and received a Bachelor of Arts in 1978 and a Doctor of Philosophy in 1984. They spent one academic year at Heidelberg University as a Fulbright Scholar. Butler taught at Wesleyan University, George Washington University, and Johns Hopkins University before joining University of California, Berkeley, in 1993. In 2002, they held the Spinoza Chair of Philosophy at the University of Amsterdam. In addition, they joined the department of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University as Wun Tsun Tam Mellon Visiting Professor of the Humanities in the spring semesters of 2012, 2013 and 2014 with the option of remaining as full-time faculty.
Butler serves on the editorial board or advisory board of several academic journals, including Janus Unbound: Journal of Critical Studies, JAC: A Journal of Rhetoric, Culture, and Politics and Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society.
Overview of major works
Performative Acts and Gender Constitution (1988)
In the essay "Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory" Judith Butler proposes that gender is performative. Because gender identity is established through behavior, there is a possibility to construct different genders via different behaviors.
Gender Trouble (1990)
Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity was first published in 1990, selling over 100,000 copies internationally, in multiple languages. Gender Trouble discusses the works of Sigmund Freud, Simone de Beauvoir, Julia Kristeva, Jacques Lacan, Luce Irigaray, Monique Wittig, Jacques Derrida, and Michel Foucault.
Butler offers a critique of the terms gender and sex as they have been used by feminists. Butler argues that feminism made a mistake in trying to make "women" a discrete, ahistorical group with common characteristics. Butler writes that this approach reinforces the binary view of gender relations. Butler believes that feminists should not try to define "women" and they also believe that feminists should "focus on providing an account of how power functions and shapes our understandings of womanhood not only in the society at large but also within the feminist movement." Finally, Butler aims to break the supposed links between sex and gender so that gender and desire can be "flexible, free floating and not caused by other stable factors". The idea of identity as free and flexible and gender as a performance, not an essence, is one of the foundations of queer theory.
Imitation and Gender Insubordination (1991)
This is Butler's contribution to Inside/Out: Lesbian Theories, Gay Theories, a collection of the writings of gay and lesbian social theorists. Butler argues that no transparent revelation is afforded by the terms "gay" or "lesbian" yet there is a political imperative to do so. Butler employs "the concepts of play/performance, drag, and imitation to describe the formation of gender and sexuality as continually created subjectivities always at risk of dissolution from non-performance."
Bodies That Matter (1993)
Bodies That Matter: On the Discursive Limits of "Sex" seeks to clear up readings and supposed misreadings of performativity that view the enactment of sex/gender as a daily choice. Butler emphasizes the role of repetition in performativity, making use of Derrida's theory of iterability, which is a form of citationality:
Performativity cannot be understood outside of a process of iterability, a regularized and constrained repetition of norms. And this repetition is not performed by a subject; this repetition is what enables a subject and constitutes the temporal condition for the subject. This iterability implies that 'performance' is not a singular 'act' or event, but a ritualized production, a ritual reiterated under and through constraint, under and through the force of prohibition and taboo, with the threat of ostracism and even death controlling and compelling the shape of the production, but not, I will insist, determining it fully in advance.
Excitable Speech (1997)
In Excitable Speech: A Politics of the Performative, Butler surveys the problems of hate speech and censorship. They argue that censorship is difficult to evaluate, and that in some cases it may be useful or even necessary, while in others it may be worse than tolerance.
Butler argues that hate speech exists retrospectively, only after being declared such by state authorities. In this way, the state reserves for itself the power to define hate speech and, conversely, the limits of acceptable discourse. In this connection, Butler criticizes feminist legal scholar Catharine MacKinnon's argument against pornography for its unquestioning acceptance of the state's power to censor.
Deploying Foucault's argument from the first volume of The History of Sexuality, Butler claims that any attempt at censorship, legal or otherwise, necessarily propagates the very language it seeks to forbid. As Foucault argues, for example, the strict sexual mores of 19th-century Western Europe did nothing but amplify the discourse of sexuality they sought to control. Extending this argument using Derrida and Lacan, Butler claims that censorship is primitive to language, and that the linguistic "I" is a mere effect of an originary censorship. In this way, Butler questions the possibility of any genuinely oppositional discourse; "If speech depends upon censorship, then the principle that one might seek to oppose is at once the formative principle of oppositional speech".
Undoing Gender (2004)
Undoing Gender collects Butler's reflections on gender, sex, sexuality, psychoanalysis and the medical treatment of intersex people for a more general readership than many of their other books. Butler revisits and refines their notion of performativity and focuses on the question of undoing "restrictively normative conceptions of sexual and gendered life".
Butler discusses how gender is performed without one being conscious of it, but says that it does not mean this performativity is "automatic or mechanical". They argue that we have desires that do not originate from our personhood, but rather, from social norms. The writer also debates our notions of "human" and "less-than-human" and how these culturally imposed ideas can keep one from having a "viable life" as the biggest concerns are usually about whether a person will be accepted if their desires differ from normality. Butler states that one may feel the need of being recognized in order to live, but that at the same time, the conditions to be recognized make life "unlivable". The writer proposes an interrogation of such conditions so that people who resist them may have more possibilities of living.
In Butler's discussion of intersex issues and people, Butler addresses the case of David Reimer, a person whose sex was medically "reassigned" from male to female after a botched circumcision at eight months of age. Reimer was "made" female by doctors, but later in life identified as "really" male, married and became a stepfather to his wife's three children, and went on to tell his story in As Nature Made Him: The Boy Who Was Raised as a Girl, which he wrote with John Colapinto. Reimer died by suicide in 2004.
Giving an Account of Oneself (2005)
In Giving an Account of Oneself, Butler develops an ethics based on the opacity of the subject to itself; in other words, the limits of self-knowledge. Primarily borrowing from Theodor Adorno, Michel Foucault, Friedrich Nietzsche, Jean Laplanche, Adriana Cavarero and Emmanuel Levinas, Butler develops a theory of the formation of the subject. Butler theorizes the subject in relation to the social – a community of others and their norms – which is beyond the control of the subject it forms, as precisely the very condition of that subject's formation, the resources by which the subject becomes recognizably human, a grammatical "I", in the first place.
Butler accepts the claim that if the subject is opaque to itself the limitations of its free ethical responsibility and obligations are due to the limits of narrative, presuppositions of language and projection.
Instead Butler argues for an ethics based precisely on the limits of self-knowledge as the limits of responsibility itself. Any concept of responsibility which demands the full transparency of the self to itself, an entirely accountable self, necessarily does violence to the opacity which marks the constitution of the self it addresses. The scene of address by which responsibility is enabled is always already a relation between subjects who are variably opaque to themselves and to each other. The ethics that Butler envisions is therefore one in which the responsible self knows the limits of its knowing, recognizes the limits of its capacity to give an account of itself to others, and respects those limits as symptomatically human. To take seriously one's opacity to oneself in ethical deliberation means then to critically interrogate the social world in which one comes to be human in the first place and which remains precisely that which one cannot know about oneself. In this way, Butler locates social and political critique at the core of ethical practice.
Notes Toward a Performative Theory of Assembly (2015)
In Notes Toward a Performative Theory of Assembly, Butler discusses the power of public gatherings, considering what they signify and how they work. They use this framework to analyze the power and possibilities of protests, such as the Black Lives Matter protests regarding the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner in 2014.
The Force of Nonviolence (2020)
In The Force of Nonviolence: An Ethico-Political Bind, Butler connects the ideologies of nonviolence and the political struggle for social equality. They review the traditional understanding of "nonviolence," stating that it "is often misunderstood as a passive practice that emanates from a calm region of the soul, or as an individualist ethical relation to existing forms of power." Instead of this understanding, Butler argues that "nonviolence is an ethical position found in the midst of the political field."
Reception
Butler's work has been influential in feminist and queer theory, cultural studies, and continental philosophy. Yet their contribution to a range of other disciplines—such as psychoanalysis, literary, film, and performance studies as well as visual arts—has also been significant. Their theory of gender performativity as well as their conception of "critically queer" have not only transformed understandings of gender and queer identity in the academic world, but have shaped and mobilized various kinds of political activism, particularly queer activism, across the globe. Butler's work has also entered into contemporary debates on the teaching of gender, gay parenting, and the depathologization of transgender people. Before election to the papacy, Pope Benedict XVI wrote several pages challenging Butler's arguments on gender. In several countries, Butler became the symbol of the destruction of traditional gender roles for reactionary movements. This was particularly the case in France during the anti-gay marriage protests. Bruno Perreau has written that Butler was literally depicted as an "antichrist", both because of their gender and their Jewish identity, the fear of minority politics and critical studies being expressed through fantasies of a corrupted body.
Some academics and political activists maintain that Butler's radical departure from the sex/gender dichotomy and Butler's non-essentialist conception of gender—along with their insistence that power helps form the subject—revolutionized feminist and queer praxis, thought, and studies. Darin Barney of McGill University wrote that:
In 1998, Denis Dutton's journal Philosophy and Literature awarded Butler first prize in its fourth annual "Bad Writing Competition", which set out to "celebrate bad writing from the most stylistically lamentable passages found in scholarly books and articles." Butler's unwitting entry, which ran in a 1997 issue of the scholarly journal Diacritics, ran thus:
Some critics have accused Butler of elitism due to their difficult prose style, while others claim that Butler reduces gender to "discourse" or promotes a form of gender voluntarism. Susan Bordo, for example, has argued that Butler reduces gender to language and has contended that the body is a major part of gender, in opposition to Butler's conception of gender as performative. A particularly vocal critic has been feminist Martha Nussbaum, who has argued that Butler misreads J. L. Austin's idea of performative utterance, makes erroneous legal claims, forecloses an essential site of resistance by repudiating pre-cultural agency, and provides no "normative theory of social justice and human dignity." Finally, Nancy Fraser's critique of Butler was part of a famous exchange between the two theorists. Fraser has suggested that Butler's focus on performativity distances them from "everyday ways of talking and thinking about ourselves. ... Why should we use such a self-distancing idiom?"
Butler responded to criticisms of their prose in the preface to the 1999 edition of their book, Gender Trouble.
More recently, several critics—most prominently, Viviane Namaste
—have criticised Judith Butler's Undoing Gender for under-emphasizing the intersectional aspects of gender-based violence. For example, Timothy Laurie notes that Butler's use of phrases like "gender politics" and "gender violence" in relation to assaults on transgender individuals in the United States can "[scour] a landscape filled with class and labour relations, racialised urban stratification, and complex interactions between sexual identity, sexual practices and sex work", and produce instead "a clean surface on which struggles over 'the human' are imagined to play out".
German feminist Alice Schwarzer speaks of Butler's "radical intellectual games" that would not change how society classifies and treats a woman; thus, by eliminating female and male identity Butler would have abolished the discourse about sexism in the queer community. Schwarzer also accuses Butler of remaining silent about the oppression of women and homosexuals in the Islamic world, while readily exercising their right to same-sex-marriage in the United States; instead, Butler would sweepingly defend Islam, including Islamism, from critics.
Political activism
Much of Butler's early political activism centered around queer and feminist issues, and they served, for a period of time, as the chair of the board of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission. Over the years, Butler has been particularly active in the gay and lesbian rights, feminist, and anti-war movements. They have also written and spoken out on issues ranging from affirmative action and gay marriage to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the prisoners detained at Guantanamo Bay. More recently, Butler has been active in the Occupy movement and has publicly expressed support for a version of the 2005 BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) campaign against Israel. They emphasize that Israel does not and should not be taken to represent all Jews or Jewish opinion.
On September 7, 2006, Butler participated in a faculty-organized teach-in against the 2006 Lebanon War at the University of California, Berkeley. Another widely publicized moment occurred in June 2010, when Butler refused the Civil Courage Award (Zivilcouragepreis) of the Christopher Street Day (CSD) Parade in Berlin, Germany at the award ceremony. They cited racist comments on the part of organizers and a general failure of CSD organizations to distance themselves from racism in general and from anti-Muslim excuses for war more specifically. Criticizing the event's commercialism, Butler went on to name several groups that they commended as stronger opponents of "homophobia, transphobia, sexism, racism, and militarism".
In October 2011, Butler attended Occupy Wall Street and, in reference to calls for clarification of the protesters' demands, they said:
People have asked, so what are the demands? What are the demands all of these people are making? Either they say there are no demands and that leaves your critics confused, or they say that the demands for social equality and economic justice are impossible demands. And the impossible demands, they say, are just not practical. If hope is an impossible demand, then we demand the impossible – that the right to shelter, food and employment are impossible demands, then we demand the impossible. If it is impossible to demand that those who profit from the recession redistribute their wealth and cease their greed, then yes, we demand the impossible.
Butler is an executive member of FFIPP – Educational Network for Human Rights in Israel/Palestine. They are also a member of the advisory board of Jewish Voice for Peace. In mainstream US politics, they expressed support for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election.
Adorno Prize affair
When Butler received the 2012 Adorno Prize, the prize committee came under attack from Israel's Ambassador to Germany Yakov Hadas-Handelsman; the director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center's office in Jerusalem, Efraim Zuroff; and the German Central Council of Jews. They were upset at Butler's selection because of Butler's remarks about Israel and specifically Butler's "calls for a boycott against Israel". Butler responded saying that "[Butler] did not take attacks from German Jewish leaders personally". Rather, they wrote, the attacks are "directed against everyone who is critical against Israel and its current policies".
In a letter to the Mondoweiss website, Butler asserted that they developed strong ethical views on the basis of Jewish philosophical thought and that it is "blatantly untrue, absurd, and painful for anyone to argue that those who formulate a criticism of the State of Israel is anti-Semitic or, if Jewish, self-hating".
Comments on Hamas and Hezbollah
Butler was criticized for statements they had made about Hamas and Hezbollah. Butler was accused of describing them as "social movements that are progressive, that are on the Left, that are part of a global Left." They were accused of defending "Hezbollah and Hamas as progressive organizations" and supporting their tactics.
Butler responded to these criticisms by stating that their remarks on Hamas and Hezbollah were taken completely out of context and, in so doing, their established views on non-violence were contradicted and misrepresented. Butler describes the origin of their remarks on Hamas and Hezbollah in the following way:
I was asked by a member of an academic audience a few years ago whether I thought Hamas and Hezbollah belonged to "the global left" and I replied with two points. My first point was merely descriptive: those political organizations define themselves as anti-imperialist, and anti-imperialism is one characteristic of the global left, so on that basis one could describe them as part of the global left. My second point was then critical: as with any group on the left, one has to decide whether one is for that group or against that group, and one needs to critically evaluate their stand.
Comments on Black Lives Matter
In a January 2015 interview with George Yancy of The New York Times, Butler discussed the Black Lives Matter movement. They said:
What is implied by this statement [Black Lives Matter], a statement that should be obviously true, but apparently is not? If black lives do not matter, then they are not really regarded as lives, since a life is supposed to matter. So what we see is that some lives matter more than others, that some lives matter so much that they need to be protected at all costs, and that other lives matter less, or not at all. And when that becomes the situation, then the lives that do not matter so much, or do not matter at all, can be killed or lost, can be exposed to conditions of destitution, and there is no concern, or even worse, that is regarded as the way it is supposed to be...When people engage in concerted actions across racial lines to build communities based on equality, to defend the rights of those who are disproportionately imperiled to have a chance to live without the fear of dying quite suddenly at the hands of the police. There are many ways to do this, in the street, the office, the home, and in the media. Only through such an ever-growing cross-racial struggle against racism can we begin to achieve a sense of all the lives that really do matter.
The dialogue draws heavily on their 2004 book Precarious Life: The Powers of Mourning and Violence.
Avital Ronell sexual harassment case
On May 11, 2018, Butler led a group of scholars in writing a letter to New York University following the sexual harassment suit filed by a former NYU graduate student against his advisor Avital Ronell. The signatories acknowledged not having had access to the confidential findings of the investigation that followed the Title IX complaint against Ronell. Nonetheless, they accused the complainant of waging a "malicious campaign" against Ronell. The signatories also wrote that the presumed "malicious intention has animated and sustained this legal nightmare" for a highly regarded scholar. "If she were to be terminated or relieved of her duties, the injustice would be widely recognized and opposed." Butler, the chief signatory, invoked their title as President Elect of the Modern Language Association. James J. Marino, a professor at Cleveland State University and a member of the MLA, started a petition to demand Butler's resignation or removal from their post. He argued that "Protesting against one instance of punishment is only a means to the larger end of preserving senior faculty's privilege of impunity. ... [Butler] was standing up for an old, corrupt, and long-standing way of doing business. The time for doing business that way is over. We should never look back." Some three months later, Butler apologized to the MLA for the letter. "I acknowledged that I should not have allowed the MLA affiliation to go forward with my name," Butler wrote to the Chronicle of Higher Education. "I expressed regret to the MLA officers and staff, and my colleagues accepted my apology. I extend that same apology to MLA members."
Comments on the anti-gender movement and trans-exclusionary radical feminism
Butler said in 2020 that trans-exclusionary radical feminism is "a fringe movement that is seeking to speak in the name of the mainstream, and that our responsibility is to refuse to let that happen." In 2021 they described the anti-gender movements as fascist trends and cautioned self-declared feminists from allying with such movements in targeting trans, non-binary, and genderqueer people. Butler also explored the issue in a 2019 paper in which they argued that "the confusion of discourses is part of what constitutes the fascist structure and appeal of at least some of these [anti-gender] movements. One can oppose gender as a cultural import from the North at the same time that one can see that very opposition as a social movement against further colonization of the South. The result is not a turn to the Left, but an embrace of ethno-nationalism."
The Guardian interview
On September 7, 2021, The Guardian published an interview of Butler by Jules Gleeson that included Butler's critique of trans-exclusionary feminists ("gender critical feminists" or "TERFs"). In response to a question about the Wi Spa controversy, Butler stated that "The anti-gender ideology is one of the dominant strains of fascism in our times." Within a few hours of publication, three paragraphs including this statement were removed, with a note explaining "This article was edited on 7 September 2021 to reflect developments which occurred after the interview took place."
The Guardian was then accused of censoring Judith Butler for having compared TERFs to fascists. British writer Roz Kaveney called it "a truly shocking moment of bigoted dishonesty", while British transgender activist and writer Juno Dawson, among others, observed that The Guardian had inadvertently triggered the Streisand effect, in which an attempt to censor yields the unintended consequence of increasing awareness of a topic. The next day, The Guardian acknowledged "a failure in our editorial standards".
Personal life
Butler is a lesbian, legally non-binary, and goes by she or they pronouns, but said in 2020 that they prefer "they", and indicated that they were "never at home" with being assigned "female" at birth. They live in Berkeley with their partner Wendy Brown and son, Isaac.
Selected honors and awards
Butler has had a visiting appointment at Birkbeck, University of London (2009–).
1999: Guggenheim Fellowship
2007: Elected to the American Philosophical Society
2008: Mellon Award for their exemplary contributions to scholarship in the humanities
2010: "25 Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World", Utne Reader
2012: Theodor W. Adorno Award
2013: Doctorate of Letters, honoris causa, University of St. Andrews
2013: Doctorate of Letters, honoris causa, McGill University
2014: Doctorate of Letters, honoris causa, University of Fribourg
2014: Named one of PinkNews's top 11 Jewish gay and lesbian icons
2015: Elected as a Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy
2018: Doctorate of Letters, honoris causa, University of Belgrade
2018: Butler delivered the Gifford Lectures with their series entitled 'My Life, Your Life: Equality and the Philosophy of Non-Violence'
2019: Elected as Fellow to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Publications
All of Butler's books have been translated into numerous languages; Gender Trouble, alone, has been translated into twenty-seven languages. In addition, they have co-authored and edited over a dozen volumes—the most recent of which is Dispossession: The Performative in the Political (2013), coauthored with Athena Athanasiou. Over the years Butler has also published many influential essays, interviews, and public presentations. Butler is considered by many as "one of the most influential voices in contemporary political theory," and as the most widely read and influential gender theorist in the world.
The following is a partial list of Butler's publications.
Books
[Their doctoral dissertation.]
Book chapters
A collection of essays on the work of Avital Ronell.
Details.
Notes
References
Further reading
Chambers, Samuel A. and Terrell Carver. 'Judith Butler and Political Theory: Troubling Politics. New York: Routledge, 2008.
Cheah, Pheng, "Mattering," Diacritics, Volume 26, Number 1, Spring 1996, pp. 108–139.
Kirby, Vicki. Judith Butler: Live Theory. London: Continuum, 2006.
Eldred, Michael, [http://www.arte-fact.org/mtphysfm.html 'Metaphysics of Feminism: A Critical Note on Judith Butler's Gender Trouble] 2008.
From the paper's abstract: In this paper we contribute to these [sexualization of culture] debates by presenting 'technologies of sexiness', a theoretical framework that draws on Foucauldian theorizing of technologies of the self and Butler's work on performativity.
Pdf. Considers performativity from a linguistic perspective.
Perreau, Bruno. Queer Theory: The French Response, Stanford, CA, Stanford University Press, 2016.
Salih, Sarah. The Judith Butler Reader. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell, 2004.
—. Routledge Critical Thinkers: Judith Butler. New York: Routledge, 2002.
Schippers, Birgit. The Political Philosophy of Judith Butler. New York: Routledge, 2014.
Thiem, Annika. Unbecoming Subjects: Judith Butler, Moral Philosophy, and Critical Responsibility. New York: Fordham University Press, 2008.
External links
Biography – University of California, Berkeley
approach the notion of affinity through a discussion of "Disruptive Kinship," co-sponsored by Villa Gillet and the School of Writing at The New School for Public Engagement.
Interview of Judith Butler about their new book "Frames of War" on New Statesman
Review of "Giving an Account of Oneself. Ethical Violence and Responsibility", by Judith Butler, Barcelona Metropolis Autumn 2010.
"Dictionary of Literary Biography on Judith P. Butler (page 3)"
Interview with Judith Butler about politics, economy, control societies, gender and identity (2011)
1956 births
Living people
20th-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century American philosophers
21st-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century American philosophers
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American ethicists
American feminist writers
American literary critics
American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent
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American political philosophers
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Anti-Zionism in the United States
American Ashkenazi Jews
Columbia University faculty
Continental philosophers
Corresponding Fellows of the British Academy
Critical theorists
Critics of neoconservatism
Critics of religions
Cultural critics
Environmental philosophers
Epistemologists
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Feminist philosophers
Feminist studies scholars
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Gender studies academics
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Jewish ethicists
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LGBT people from Ohio
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Literary theorists
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Ontologists
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Phenomenologists
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Philosophers of culture
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LGBT philosophers
American women critics | false | [
"Yvette Hardman Edmondson (born Yvette Hardman) was the editor of Limnology and Oceanography the premier journal of the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (1968 to 1986) and was an aquatic scientist known for her research on bacteria in aquatic systems.\n\nEducation and personal life \nEdmondson graduated from the Walden School in New York City in 1932. She obtained her undergraduate degree in literature from Bennington College in 1936, which was the first class to graduate from Bennington College. In 1938, Edmondson obtained an M.S. in Bacteriology from University of Minnesota and minor in Agricultural Biochemistry with a thesis examining filamentous bacteria in lakes. Edmonson then moved to the University of Wisconsin Madison where she worked with Elizabeth McCoy and Perry Wilson. She completed a Ph.D. in Bacteriology in 1940 with a dissertation titled \"The influence of solid surfaces upon lake bacteria\", research that was later published in the scientific literature.\n\nIn the first term of her Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin Madison, she met Walles T. Edmondson ('Tommy') whom she helped collect rotifers for his research. They were married in New Haven on September 26, 1941 while Tommy was working working at Yale University.\n\nIn 1990, a newsletter from the University of Wisconsin asked Edmondson about the lack of women in sciences in 1930s and 1940s and her response was:\n\nCareer \nFollowing her Ph.D., Edmondson was a teaching fellow in science at Bennington College and she remained there during World War Two. In 1945 a Science news article described her leave of absence from Bennington to work at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution on salt water ponds. There she first worked with her husband quantifying how the addition of nutrients altered the growth of phytoplankton with the goal of estimating options for aquaculture; she focused on how oysters responded to higher levels of food that resulted from fertilization of the water. In 1937, Edmondson (then Yvette Hardman) was a visiting investigator at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, where she worked with Selman Waksman and others on marine microbiology. During the same period, Kenneth Thimann, Edmondson, and Babette Radner published their work on the production of anthrocyanins by cultures of Spirodela. In 1949, Yvette and her husband moved to Seattle when Tommy took a position at the University of Washington.\n\nEdmondson worked with the ecologist G. Evelyn Hutchinson and co-authored Hutchinson's final Treatise on Limnology that was published in 1993. In 1971, Edmondson dedicated a special issue of Limnology and Oceanography to the life and accomplishments of G. Evelyn Hutchinson. Edmondson also memorialized Hutchinson in Limnology and Oceanography after his death in 1991.\n\nFrom 1968 (volume 13) until 1986 (volume 31), Edmondson was the editor of Limnology & Oceanography, the journal of the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography. In her work as editor, Edmondson was deliberate in sharing details about the scope of the journal, the types of manuscripts acceptable for publication, the key role of reviewers that may be unnoticed by a manuscript's authors, and a detailed accounting of each step in the review process at the journal. While some authors, e.g., the microbiologist Richard Morita, were disappointed to learn their manuscripts did not meet the criteria for the journal, Edmondson's work as editor was recognized in the obituary Robert Paine wrote for the Limnology and Oceanography Bulletin upon the occasion of her death in 2006 when he emphasized her contributions to the evolution of the journal, a portion of which she had described in her final issue as editor.\n\nHonors \n Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanographys Distinguished Service Award renamed the Tommy and Yvette Edmondson Distinguished Service Award (2009)\n University of Washington award: W.T. and Yvette H. Edmondson Graduate Student Award for graduate student research in biological limnology\nDistinguished Service Award, American Society of Limnology and Oceanography (1999)\nAlumni award, Bennington College (1979)\n\nReference section\n\nExternal links \n Photo of Yvette Hardman in Bennington College's collection of entering students (1932-1939)\n\n2006 deaths\n1915 births\nAcademic journal editors\nAmerican microbiologists\nBennington College alumni\nUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison alumni\nUniversity of Minnesota alumni\nUniversity of Washington faculty",
"Andrea Woodner is an American artist, architect, and philanthropist. She is the founder of the New York City-based Design Trust for Public Space, a nonprofit organization which \"brings together government agencies, community groups, and private-sector experts to transform and evolve the city's landscape.\"\n\nEarly life \nAndrea Woodner is the daughter of Ruth Lyon and Ian Woodner. She has two siblings, Dian and Jonathan Woodner.\n\nWoodner was raised in New York City and loved art from an early age, often visiting the Frick Collection during her teenage years. She earned a BA with a concentration in ceramics and sculpture from Bennington College in the class of 1970. Later, she took classes at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, then earned a master's in architecture from the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation.\n\nCareer \nIn 1995, Woodner founded the nonprofit organization Design Trust for Public Space to connect design thought and incubation to the public good of New York City. She chaired the organization's board of directors until January 2016, when she was succeeded by Eric Rothman. She continues to be active in fundraising for Design Trust.\n\nUpon their father's death in November 1990, Andrea and Dian Woodner inherited the Ian Woodner Family Collection. In 1991, the Woodner sisters variously sold and donated 143 works of art from his collection to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, including drawings by Albrecht Dürer, Benvenuto Cellini, and Giorgio Vasari. In July 2000, the sisters donated nearly 100 works of art by Odilon Redon to the Museum of Modern Art, including paintings, pastels, watercolors, drawings, prints and illustrated books.\n\nWoodner's art has been exhibited at the Palmer Gallery of Vassar College.\n\nReferences \n\nLiving people\n20th-century American women artists\nAmerican women architects\nYear of birth missing (living people)\nBennington College alumni\nHarvard Graduate School of Design alumni\nColumbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation alumni\nAmerican women philanthropists\n20th-century American philanthropists\n20th-century American artists\nArchitects from New York City\nArtists from New York City\nPhilanthropists from New York (state)\n21st-century American women"
]
|
[
"Judith Butler",
"Early life and education",
"Where did Butler study?",
"she attended both Hebrew school and special classes on Jewish ethics,",
"Where did she go to college?",
"Bennington College",
"When did she graduate from Bennington?",
"receiving her B.A. in 1978"
]
| C_d9b9c91dd063459692c2b13e18d4a5e6_1 | Did she go on to graduate school? | 4 | Did Judith Butler go on to graduate school? | Judith Butler | Judith Butler was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to a family of Hungarian-Jewish and Russian-Jewish descent. Most of her maternal grandmother's family perished in the Holocaust. As a child and teenager, she attended both Hebrew school and special classes on Jewish ethics, where she received her "first training in philosophy". Butler stated in a 2010 interview with Haaretz that she began the ethics classes at the age of 14 and that they were created as a form of punishment by her Hebrew school's Rabbi because she was "too talkative in class". Butler also stated that she was "thrilled" by the idea of these tutorials, and when asked what she wanted to study in these special sessions, she responded with three questions preoccupying her at the time: "Why was Spinoza excommunicated from the synagogue? Could German Idealism be held accountable for Nazism? And how was one to understand existential theology, including the work of Martin Buber?" Butler attended Bennington College and then Yale University where she studied philosophy, receiving her B.A. in 1978 and her Ph.D. in 1984. She spent one academic year at Heidelberg University as a Fulbright-Scholar. She taught at Wesleyan University, George Washington University, and Johns Hopkins University before joining University of California, Berkeley, in 1993. In 2002 she held the Spinoza Chair of Philosophy at the University of Amsterdam. In addition, she joined the department of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University as Wun Tsun Tam Mellon Visiting Professor of the Humanities in the spring semesters of 2012, 2013 and 2014 with the option of remaining as full-time faculty. Butler serves on the editorial board or advisory board of academic journals including JAC: A Journal of Rhetoric, Culture, and Politics and Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society. CANNOTANSWER | then Yale University | Judith Pamela Butler (born February 24, 1956) is an American philosopher and gender theorist whose work has influenced political philosophy, ethics, and the fields of third-wave feminism, queer theory, and literary theory. In 1993, Butler began teaching at the University of California, Berkeley, where they have served, beginning in 1998, as the Maxine Elliot Professor in the Department of Comparative Literature and the Program of Critical Theory. They are also the Hannah Arendt Chair at the European Graduate School.
Butler is best known for their books Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity (1990) and Bodies That Matter: On the Discursive Limits of Sex (1993), in which they challenge conventional notions of gender and develop their theory of gender performativity. This theory has had a major influence on feminist and queer scholarship. Their work is often studied and debated in film studies courses emphasizing gender studies and performativity in discourse.
Butler has supported lesbian and gay rights movements, and they have spoken out on many contemporary political issues, including criticism of Israeli politics.
Early life and education
Judith Butler was born on February 24, 1956, in Cleveland, Ohio, to a family of Hungarian-Jewish and Russian-Jewish descent. Most of their maternal grandmother's family perished in the Holocaust. Butler's parents were practicing Reform Jews. Their mother was raised Orthodox, eventually becoming Conservative and then Reform, while their father was raised Reform. As a child and teenager, Butler attended both Hebrew school and special classes on Jewish ethics, where they received their "first training in philosophy". Butler stated in a 2010 interview with Haaretz that they began the ethics classes at the age of 14 and that they were created as a form of punishment by Butler's Hebrew school's Rabbi because they were "too talkative in class". Butler also stated that they were "thrilled" by the idea of these tutorials, and when asked what they wanted to study in these special sessions, they responded with three questions preoccupying them at the time: "Why was Spinoza excommunicated from the synagogue? Could German Idealism be held accountable for Nazism? And how was one to understand existential theology, including the work of Martin Buber?"
Butler attended Bennington College before transferring to Yale University, where they studied philosophy and received a Bachelor of Arts in 1978 and a Doctor of Philosophy in 1984. They spent one academic year at Heidelberg University as a Fulbright Scholar. Butler taught at Wesleyan University, George Washington University, and Johns Hopkins University before joining University of California, Berkeley, in 1993. In 2002, they held the Spinoza Chair of Philosophy at the University of Amsterdam. In addition, they joined the department of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University as Wun Tsun Tam Mellon Visiting Professor of the Humanities in the spring semesters of 2012, 2013 and 2014 with the option of remaining as full-time faculty.
Butler serves on the editorial board or advisory board of several academic journals, including Janus Unbound: Journal of Critical Studies, JAC: A Journal of Rhetoric, Culture, and Politics and Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society.
Overview of major works
Performative Acts and Gender Constitution (1988)
In the essay "Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory" Judith Butler proposes that gender is performative. Because gender identity is established through behavior, there is a possibility to construct different genders via different behaviors.
Gender Trouble (1990)
Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity was first published in 1990, selling over 100,000 copies internationally, in multiple languages. Gender Trouble discusses the works of Sigmund Freud, Simone de Beauvoir, Julia Kristeva, Jacques Lacan, Luce Irigaray, Monique Wittig, Jacques Derrida, and Michel Foucault.
Butler offers a critique of the terms gender and sex as they have been used by feminists. Butler argues that feminism made a mistake in trying to make "women" a discrete, ahistorical group with common characteristics. Butler writes that this approach reinforces the binary view of gender relations. Butler believes that feminists should not try to define "women" and they also believe that feminists should "focus on providing an account of how power functions and shapes our understandings of womanhood not only in the society at large but also within the feminist movement." Finally, Butler aims to break the supposed links between sex and gender so that gender and desire can be "flexible, free floating and not caused by other stable factors". The idea of identity as free and flexible and gender as a performance, not an essence, is one of the foundations of queer theory.
Imitation and Gender Insubordination (1991)
This is Butler's contribution to Inside/Out: Lesbian Theories, Gay Theories, a collection of the writings of gay and lesbian social theorists. Butler argues that no transparent revelation is afforded by the terms "gay" or "lesbian" yet there is a political imperative to do so. Butler employs "the concepts of play/performance, drag, and imitation to describe the formation of gender and sexuality as continually created subjectivities always at risk of dissolution from non-performance."
Bodies That Matter (1993)
Bodies That Matter: On the Discursive Limits of "Sex" seeks to clear up readings and supposed misreadings of performativity that view the enactment of sex/gender as a daily choice. Butler emphasizes the role of repetition in performativity, making use of Derrida's theory of iterability, which is a form of citationality:
Performativity cannot be understood outside of a process of iterability, a regularized and constrained repetition of norms. And this repetition is not performed by a subject; this repetition is what enables a subject and constitutes the temporal condition for the subject. This iterability implies that 'performance' is not a singular 'act' or event, but a ritualized production, a ritual reiterated under and through constraint, under and through the force of prohibition and taboo, with the threat of ostracism and even death controlling and compelling the shape of the production, but not, I will insist, determining it fully in advance.
Excitable Speech (1997)
In Excitable Speech: A Politics of the Performative, Butler surveys the problems of hate speech and censorship. They argue that censorship is difficult to evaluate, and that in some cases it may be useful or even necessary, while in others it may be worse than tolerance.
Butler argues that hate speech exists retrospectively, only after being declared such by state authorities. In this way, the state reserves for itself the power to define hate speech and, conversely, the limits of acceptable discourse. In this connection, Butler criticizes feminist legal scholar Catharine MacKinnon's argument against pornography for its unquestioning acceptance of the state's power to censor.
Deploying Foucault's argument from the first volume of The History of Sexuality, Butler claims that any attempt at censorship, legal or otherwise, necessarily propagates the very language it seeks to forbid. As Foucault argues, for example, the strict sexual mores of 19th-century Western Europe did nothing but amplify the discourse of sexuality they sought to control. Extending this argument using Derrida and Lacan, Butler claims that censorship is primitive to language, and that the linguistic "I" is a mere effect of an originary censorship. In this way, Butler questions the possibility of any genuinely oppositional discourse; "If speech depends upon censorship, then the principle that one might seek to oppose is at once the formative principle of oppositional speech".
Undoing Gender (2004)
Undoing Gender collects Butler's reflections on gender, sex, sexuality, psychoanalysis and the medical treatment of intersex people for a more general readership than many of their other books. Butler revisits and refines their notion of performativity and focuses on the question of undoing "restrictively normative conceptions of sexual and gendered life".
Butler discusses how gender is performed without one being conscious of it, but says that it does not mean this performativity is "automatic or mechanical". They argue that we have desires that do not originate from our personhood, but rather, from social norms. The writer also debates our notions of "human" and "less-than-human" and how these culturally imposed ideas can keep one from having a "viable life" as the biggest concerns are usually about whether a person will be accepted if their desires differ from normality. Butler states that one may feel the need of being recognized in order to live, but that at the same time, the conditions to be recognized make life "unlivable". The writer proposes an interrogation of such conditions so that people who resist them may have more possibilities of living.
In Butler's discussion of intersex issues and people, Butler addresses the case of David Reimer, a person whose sex was medically "reassigned" from male to female after a botched circumcision at eight months of age. Reimer was "made" female by doctors, but later in life identified as "really" male, married and became a stepfather to his wife's three children, and went on to tell his story in As Nature Made Him: The Boy Who Was Raised as a Girl, which he wrote with John Colapinto. Reimer died by suicide in 2004.
Giving an Account of Oneself (2005)
In Giving an Account of Oneself, Butler develops an ethics based on the opacity of the subject to itself; in other words, the limits of self-knowledge. Primarily borrowing from Theodor Adorno, Michel Foucault, Friedrich Nietzsche, Jean Laplanche, Adriana Cavarero and Emmanuel Levinas, Butler develops a theory of the formation of the subject. Butler theorizes the subject in relation to the social – a community of others and their norms – which is beyond the control of the subject it forms, as precisely the very condition of that subject's formation, the resources by which the subject becomes recognizably human, a grammatical "I", in the first place.
Butler accepts the claim that if the subject is opaque to itself the limitations of its free ethical responsibility and obligations are due to the limits of narrative, presuppositions of language and projection.
Instead Butler argues for an ethics based precisely on the limits of self-knowledge as the limits of responsibility itself. Any concept of responsibility which demands the full transparency of the self to itself, an entirely accountable self, necessarily does violence to the opacity which marks the constitution of the self it addresses. The scene of address by which responsibility is enabled is always already a relation between subjects who are variably opaque to themselves and to each other. The ethics that Butler envisions is therefore one in which the responsible self knows the limits of its knowing, recognizes the limits of its capacity to give an account of itself to others, and respects those limits as symptomatically human. To take seriously one's opacity to oneself in ethical deliberation means then to critically interrogate the social world in which one comes to be human in the first place and which remains precisely that which one cannot know about oneself. In this way, Butler locates social and political critique at the core of ethical practice.
Notes Toward a Performative Theory of Assembly (2015)
In Notes Toward a Performative Theory of Assembly, Butler discusses the power of public gatherings, considering what they signify and how they work. They use this framework to analyze the power and possibilities of protests, such as the Black Lives Matter protests regarding the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner in 2014.
The Force of Nonviolence (2020)
In The Force of Nonviolence: An Ethico-Political Bind, Butler connects the ideologies of nonviolence and the political struggle for social equality. They review the traditional understanding of "nonviolence," stating that it "is often misunderstood as a passive practice that emanates from a calm region of the soul, or as an individualist ethical relation to existing forms of power." Instead of this understanding, Butler argues that "nonviolence is an ethical position found in the midst of the political field."
Reception
Butler's work has been influential in feminist and queer theory, cultural studies, and continental philosophy. Yet their contribution to a range of other disciplines—such as psychoanalysis, literary, film, and performance studies as well as visual arts—has also been significant. Their theory of gender performativity as well as their conception of "critically queer" have not only transformed understandings of gender and queer identity in the academic world, but have shaped and mobilized various kinds of political activism, particularly queer activism, across the globe. Butler's work has also entered into contemporary debates on the teaching of gender, gay parenting, and the depathologization of transgender people. Before election to the papacy, Pope Benedict XVI wrote several pages challenging Butler's arguments on gender. In several countries, Butler became the symbol of the destruction of traditional gender roles for reactionary movements. This was particularly the case in France during the anti-gay marriage protests. Bruno Perreau has written that Butler was literally depicted as an "antichrist", both because of their gender and their Jewish identity, the fear of minority politics and critical studies being expressed through fantasies of a corrupted body.
Some academics and political activists maintain that Butler's radical departure from the sex/gender dichotomy and Butler's non-essentialist conception of gender—along with their insistence that power helps form the subject—revolutionized feminist and queer praxis, thought, and studies. Darin Barney of McGill University wrote that:
In 1998, Denis Dutton's journal Philosophy and Literature awarded Butler first prize in its fourth annual "Bad Writing Competition", which set out to "celebrate bad writing from the most stylistically lamentable passages found in scholarly books and articles." Butler's unwitting entry, which ran in a 1997 issue of the scholarly journal Diacritics, ran thus:
Some critics have accused Butler of elitism due to their difficult prose style, while others claim that Butler reduces gender to "discourse" or promotes a form of gender voluntarism. Susan Bordo, for example, has argued that Butler reduces gender to language and has contended that the body is a major part of gender, in opposition to Butler's conception of gender as performative. A particularly vocal critic has been feminist Martha Nussbaum, who has argued that Butler misreads J. L. Austin's idea of performative utterance, makes erroneous legal claims, forecloses an essential site of resistance by repudiating pre-cultural agency, and provides no "normative theory of social justice and human dignity." Finally, Nancy Fraser's critique of Butler was part of a famous exchange between the two theorists. Fraser has suggested that Butler's focus on performativity distances them from "everyday ways of talking and thinking about ourselves. ... Why should we use such a self-distancing idiom?"
Butler responded to criticisms of their prose in the preface to the 1999 edition of their book, Gender Trouble.
More recently, several critics—most prominently, Viviane Namaste
—have criticised Judith Butler's Undoing Gender for under-emphasizing the intersectional aspects of gender-based violence. For example, Timothy Laurie notes that Butler's use of phrases like "gender politics" and "gender violence" in relation to assaults on transgender individuals in the United States can "[scour] a landscape filled with class and labour relations, racialised urban stratification, and complex interactions between sexual identity, sexual practices and sex work", and produce instead "a clean surface on which struggles over 'the human' are imagined to play out".
German feminist Alice Schwarzer speaks of Butler's "radical intellectual games" that would not change how society classifies and treats a woman; thus, by eliminating female and male identity Butler would have abolished the discourse about sexism in the queer community. Schwarzer also accuses Butler of remaining silent about the oppression of women and homosexuals in the Islamic world, while readily exercising their right to same-sex-marriage in the United States; instead, Butler would sweepingly defend Islam, including Islamism, from critics.
Political activism
Much of Butler's early political activism centered around queer and feminist issues, and they served, for a period of time, as the chair of the board of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission. Over the years, Butler has been particularly active in the gay and lesbian rights, feminist, and anti-war movements. They have also written and spoken out on issues ranging from affirmative action and gay marriage to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the prisoners detained at Guantanamo Bay. More recently, Butler has been active in the Occupy movement and has publicly expressed support for a version of the 2005 BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) campaign against Israel. They emphasize that Israel does not and should not be taken to represent all Jews or Jewish opinion.
On September 7, 2006, Butler participated in a faculty-organized teach-in against the 2006 Lebanon War at the University of California, Berkeley. Another widely publicized moment occurred in June 2010, when Butler refused the Civil Courage Award (Zivilcouragepreis) of the Christopher Street Day (CSD) Parade in Berlin, Germany at the award ceremony. They cited racist comments on the part of organizers and a general failure of CSD organizations to distance themselves from racism in general and from anti-Muslim excuses for war more specifically. Criticizing the event's commercialism, Butler went on to name several groups that they commended as stronger opponents of "homophobia, transphobia, sexism, racism, and militarism".
In October 2011, Butler attended Occupy Wall Street and, in reference to calls for clarification of the protesters' demands, they said:
People have asked, so what are the demands? What are the demands all of these people are making? Either they say there are no demands and that leaves your critics confused, or they say that the demands for social equality and economic justice are impossible demands. And the impossible demands, they say, are just not practical. If hope is an impossible demand, then we demand the impossible – that the right to shelter, food and employment are impossible demands, then we demand the impossible. If it is impossible to demand that those who profit from the recession redistribute their wealth and cease their greed, then yes, we demand the impossible.
Butler is an executive member of FFIPP – Educational Network for Human Rights in Israel/Palestine. They are also a member of the advisory board of Jewish Voice for Peace. In mainstream US politics, they expressed support for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election.
Adorno Prize affair
When Butler received the 2012 Adorno Prize, the prize committee came under attack from Israel's Ambassador to Germany Yakov Hadas-Handelsman; the director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center's office in Jerusalem, Efraim Zuroff; and the German Central Council of Jews. They were upset at Butler's selection because of Butler's remarks about Israel and specifically Butler's "calls for a boycott against Israel". Butler responded saying that "[Butler] did not take attacks from German Jewish leaders personally". Rather, they wrote, the attacks are "directed against everyone who is critical against Israel and its current policies".
In a letter to the Mondoweiss website, Butler asserted that they developed strong ethical views on the basis of Jewish philosophical thought and that it is "blatantly untrue, absurd, and painful for anyone to argue that those who formulate a criticism of the State of Israel is anti-Semitic or, if Jewish, self-hating".
Comments on Hamas and Hezbollah
Butler was criticized for statements they had made about Hamas and Hezbollah. Butler was accused of describing them as "social movements that are progressive, that are on the Left, that are part of a global Left." They were accused of defending "Hezbollah and Hamas as progressive organizations" and supporting their tactics.
Butler responded to these criticisms by stating that their remarks on Hamas and Hezbollah were taken completely out of context and, in so doing, their established views on non-violence were contradicted and misrepresented. Butler describes the origin of their remarks on Hamas and Hezbollah in the following way:
I was asked by a member of an academic audience a few years ago whether I thought Hamas and Hezbollah belonged to "the global left" and I replied with two points. My first point was merely descriptive: those political organizations define themselves as anti-imperialist, and anti-imperialism is one characteristic of the global left, so on that basis one could describe them as part of the global left. My second point was then critical: as with any group on the left, one has to decide whether one is for that group or against that group, and one needs to critically evaluate their stand.
Comments on Black Lives Matter
In a January 2015 interview with George Yancy of The New York Times, Butler discussed the Black Lives Matter movement. They said:
What is implied by this statement [Black Lives Matter], a statement that should be obviously true, but apparently is not? If black lives do not matter, then they are not really regarded as lives, since a life is supposed to matter. So what we see is that some lives matter more than others, that some lives matter so much that they need to be protected at all costs, and that other lives matter less, or not at all. And when that becomes the situation, then the lives that do not matter so much, or do not matter at all, can be killed or lost, can be exposed to conditions of destitution, and there is no concern, or even worse, that is regarded as the way it is supposed to be...When people engage in concerted actions across racial lines to build communities based on equality, to defend the rights of those who are disproportionately imperiled to have a chance to live without the fear of dying quite suddenly at the hands of the police. There are many ways to do this, in the street, the office, the home, and in the media. Only through such an ever-growing cross-racial struggle against racism can we begin to achieve a sense of all the lives that really do matter.
The dialogue draws heavily on their 2004 book Precarious Life: The Powers of Mourning and Violence.
Avital Ronell sexual harassment case
On May 11, 2018, Butler led a group of scholars in writing a letter to New York University following the sexual harassment suit filed by a former NYU graduate student against his advisor Avital Ronell. The signatories acknowledged not having had access to the confidential findings of the investigation that followed the Title IX complaint against Ronell. Nonetheless, they accused the complainant of waging a "malicious campaign" against Ronell. The signatories also wrote that the presumed "malicious intention has animated and sustained this legal nightmare" for a highly regarded scholar. "If she were to be terminated or relieved of her duties, the injustice would be widely recognized and opposed." Butler, the chief signatory, invoked their title as President Elect of the Modern Language Association. James J. Marino, a professor at Cleveland State University and a member of the MLA, started a petition to demand Butler's resignation or removal from their post. He argued that "Protesting against one instance of punishment is only a means to the larger end of preserving senior faculty's privilege of impunity. ... [Butler] was standing up for an old, corrupt, and long-standing way of doing business. The time for doing business that way is over. We should never look back." Some three months later, Butler apologized to the MLA for the letter. "I acknowledged that I should not have allowed the MLA affiliation to go forward with my name," Butler wrote to the Chronicle of Higher Education. "I expressed regret to the MLA officers and staff, and my colleagues accepted my apology. I extend that same apology to MLA members."
Comments on the anti-gender movement and trans-exclusionary radical feminism
Butler said in 2020 that trans-exclusionary radical feminism is "a fringe movement that is seeking to speak in the name of the mainstream, and that our responsibility is to refuse to let that happen." In 2021 they described the anti-gender movements as fascist trends and cautioned self-declared feminists from allying with such movements in targeting trans, non-binary, and genderqueer people. Butler also explored the issue in a 2019 paper in which they argued that "the confusion of discourses is part of what constitutes the fascist structure and appeal of at least some of these [anti-gender] movements. One can oppose gender as a cultural import from the North at the same time that one can see that very opposition as a social movement against further colonization of the South. The result is not a turn to the Left, but an embrace of ethno-nationalism."
The Guardian interview
On September 7, 2021, The Guardian published an interview of Butler by Jules Gleeson that included Butler's critique of trans-exclusionary feminists ("gender critical feminists" or "TERFs"). In response to a question about the Wi Spa controversy, Butler stated that "The anti-gender ideology is one of the dominant strains of fascism in our times." Within a few hours of publication, three paragraphs including this statement were removed, with a note explaining "This article was edited on 7 September 2021 to reflect developments which occurred after the interview took place."
The Guardian was then accused of censoring Judith Butler for having compared TERFs to fascists. British writer Roz Kaveney called it "a truly shocking moment of bigoted dishonesty", while British transgender activist and writer Juno Dawson, among others, observed that The Guardian had inadvertently triggered the Streisand effect, in which an attempt to censor yields the unintended consequence of increasing awareness of a topic. The next day, The Guardian acknowledged "a failure in our editorial standards".
Personal life
Butler is a lesbian, legally non-binary, and goes by she or they pronouns, but said in 2020 that they prefer "they", and indicated that they were "never at home" with being assigned "female" at birth. They live in Berkeley with their partner Wendy Brown and son, Isaac.
Selected honors and awards
Butler has had a visiting appointment at Birkbeck, University of London (2009–).
1999: Guggenheim Fellowship
2007: Elected to the American Philosophical Society
2008: Mellon Award for their exemplary contributions to scholarship in the humanities
2010: "25 Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World", Utne Reader
2012: Theodor W. Adorno Award
2013: Doctorate of Letters, honoris causa, University of St. Andrews
2013: Doctorate of Letters, honoris causa, McGill University
2014: Doctorate of Letters, honoris causa, University of Fribourg
2014: Named one of PinkNews's top 11 Jewish gay and lesbian icons
2015: Elected as a Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy
2018: Doctorate of Letters, honoris causa, University of Belgrade
2018: Butler delivered the Gifford Lectures with their series entitled 'My Life, Your Life: Equality and the Philosophy of Non-Violence'
2019: Elected as Fellow to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Publications
All of Butler's books have been translated into numerous languages; Gender Trouble, alone, has been translated into twenty-seven languages. In addition, they have co-authored and edited over a dozen volumes—the most recent of which is Dispossession: The Performative in the Political (2013), coauthored with Athena Athanasiou. Over the years Butler has also published many influential essays, interviews, and public presentations. Butler is considered by many as "one of the most influential voices in contemporary political theory," and as the most widely read and influential gender theorist in the world.
The following is a partial list of Butler's publications.
Books
[Their doctoral dissertation.]
Book chapters
A collection of essays on the work of Avital Ronell.
Details.
Notes
References
Further reading
Chambers, Samuel A. and Terrell Carver. 'Judith Butler and Political Theory: Troubling Politics. New York: Routledge, 2008.
Cheah, Pheng, "Mattering," Diacritics, Volume 26, Number 1, Spring 1996, pp. 108–139.
Kirby, Vicki. Judith Butler: Live Theory. London: Continuum, 2006.
Eldred, Michael, [http://www.arte-fact.org/mtphysfm.html 'Metaphysics of Feminism: A Critical Note on Judith Butler's Gender Trouble] 2008.
From the paper's abstract: In this paper we contribute to these [sexualization of culture] debates by presenting 'technologies of sexiness', a theoretical framework that draws on Foucauldian theorizing of technologies of the self and Butler's work on performativity.
Pdf. Considers performativity from a linguistic perspective.
Perreau, Bruno. Queer Theory: The French Response, Stanford, CA, Stanford University Press, 2016.
Salih, Sarah. The Judith Butler Reader. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell, 2004.
—. Routledge Critical Thinkers: Judith Butler. New York: Routledge, 2002.
Schippers, Birgit. The Political Philosophy of Judith Butler. New York: Routledge, 2014.
Thiem, Annika. Unbecoming Subjects: Judith Butler, Moral Philosophy, and Critical Responsibility. New York: Fordham University Press, 2008.
External links
Biography – University of California, Berkeley
approach the notion of affinity through a discussion of "Disruptive Kinship," co-sponsored by Villa Gillet and the School of Writing at The New School for Public Engagement.
Interview of Judith Butler about their new book "Frames of War" on New Statesman
Review of "Giving an Account of Oneself. Ethical Violence and Responsibility", by Judith Butler, Barcelona Metropolis Autumn 2010.
"Dictionary of Literary Biography on Judith P. Butler (page 3)"
Interview with Judith Butler about politics, economy, control societies, gender and identity (2011)
1956 births
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American women critics | false | [
"Gladys Kleinwort Bowles (1917-2009) was a rural sociologist and professional demographer who spent 40 years working for the U.S. Federal Government focusing mostly on statistics of net migration of the U.S. population from 1950 to 1960 as well as 1960-1970. Gladys Bowles was born on her family farm on August 23, 1917 to parents Sherwin A. Kleinwort and Irma Lubiens Kleinwort in St. Ansgar, Iowa where she would also go on to attend high school. She would go on to Mason City to attend Hamilton Business School, graduating in 1938.\n\nCareer\nAfter Hamilton Business School, Bowles would start her long career in the federal government as a clerk typist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. While there she quickly found encouragement from rural sociologist, Margaret Jarman Hagood, who often went out of her way to help mentor young women at the USDA. Hagwood would go on to promote Bowles from a secretary to professional staffer, wherein Bowles would eventually find herself in charge of all farm and labor studies for the entire Department of Agriculture. Hagwood also encouraged Bowles to pursue graduate school at the University of Wisconsin where she ultimately got a degree in sociology and demography. Gladys Bowles would also continue on to further her graduate studies at the University of Maryland and the American University in Washington D.C.\n\nDuring her career at the USDA she constructed, researched and published many articles, papers and statistical databases on the net migration of the U.S. population from 1950 to 1960 as well as from 1960 to 1970. This project was a massive undertaking and was by and large her greatest achievement. The study documented the movement of the population by age, race and sex for every county and major division of all states. She also explored the poverty implications of migration from rural to urban spaces.\n\nGladys Bowles received many accolades throughout her career. She also participated in and helped to run many professional demographic and sociology organizations. She served as Vice President of the Population Association of America and President of the Southern Demographic Association. Bowles worked tirelessly in her field, continuing to work long after her retirement. After she left her decades long job with the USDA, Bowles moved to Athens, Georgia and spent her years in retirement there, establishing and running her own self-titled research facility, Bowles Demographic Research.\n\nReferences \n\n1917 births\n2009 deaths",
"Cloverdale Learning Centre is a public high school in Surrey, British Columbia part of School District 36 Surrey. It is a school providing an alternative schooling option, It is for students that struggle in or were removed from Mainstream schools.\n\nTeachers give the students units to work on, and once they are done the unit, they do a test.\n\nStudents have a variety of times to come to the school: morning, afternoon.\n\nThey can work ahead to graduate faster, or go at their own pace. Most students go to school for 3 hours from Monday to Thursday, but some choose to go for 6 hours. However long the student goes, depends on the amount of work they want to get done. Teachers are around and are able to help the student if they need that extra help.\n\nStudents may choose to continue on to graduate at the centre or return to the mainstream school if approved by the School Administration.\n\nReferences\n\nCloverdale Learning Centre\nSchool District 36 Surrey School Profile: Cloverdale Learning Centre\n\nExternal links\nProvincial School Profile\n\nHigh schools in British Columbia\nEducational institutions in Canada with year of establishment missing"
]
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